Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) of Kafsokalivia

Saint Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) the Kapsokalyvite (7 February 1906 – 2 December 1991) was an Athonite hieromonk known for his gifts of spiritual discernment, a type of clairvoyance which he sometimes called "spiritual television."

Saint Porphyrios Bairaktaris
Icon of Saint Porphyrios (found in the monastery of Panagia Eleousa, Achaea, Greece)
Hieromonk
Born(1906-02-07)February 7, 1906
Evia, Kingdom of Greece
HometownAgios Ioannis
ResidenceMount Athos, Athens, Oropos, Attica
DiedDecember 2, 1991(1991-12-02) (aged 85)
Mount Athos, Hellenic Republic
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
CanonizedNovember 27th, 2013 by Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
FeastDecember 2

He was born February 7 in the little village of St. John Karystia, in the province of Evia. His parents, Leonidas and Eleni Bairaktaris (daughter of Antonios Lambrou), baptized him Evangelos. He was fourth out of five siblings.

He was tonsured a monk at the age of fourteen or fifteen with the monastic name Nikitas. He served in the Athonite skete of Kafsokalyvia, in the Cell of St. George, under two spiritual fathers: Fr. Panteleimon and Fr. Ioannikios. Forced by pleurisy to depart the Holy Mountain, he returned to his birthplace, where he was unexpectedly elevated to the priesthood at the age of 21 by Porphyrios III, Archbishop of Mount Sinai and Raithu.

With the outbreak of World War II he became a hospital chaplain in Athens, in which post he continued for three decades (1940–1970). His later years were devoted to the construction of the Holy Convent of the Transfiguration of the Savior.

After 1984 he returned to Mount Athos, occupying the same cell which he had earlier in life been forced to abandon. Through his role as spiritual father, Elder Porphyrios became known to an ever-wider circle of Orthodox followers. Several compilations of stories and sayings attributed to him have been published.

His sainthood was declared by the synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on November 27, 2013.[1][2] In 2014, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church decreed that St. Porphyrios' name be added to their church calendar and commemorated on December 2.[3] In 2017, the holy synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church also added him to their calendar on December 2, and included his troparion, kontakion, Synaxarion, and icon.[4]

Quotes
  • This is the way we should see Christ. He is our friend, our brother; He is whatever is good and beautiful. He is everything. Yet, He is still a friend and He shouts it out, "You're my friends, don't you understand that? We're brothers. I'm not...I don't hold hell in my hands. I am not threatening you. I love you. I want you to enjoy life together with me."
  • Love Christ and put nothing before His Love. He is joy, He is life, He is light. Christ is Everything. He is the ultimate desire, He is everything. Everything beautiful is in Christ.
  • Somebody who is Christ's must love Christ, and when he loves Christ he is delivered from the Devil, from hell and from death.
  • The life of the parents is the only thing that makes good children. Parents should be very patient and ‘saintlike’ to their children. They should truly love their children. And the children will share this love! For the bad attitude of the children, says father Porphyrios, the ones who are usually responsible for it are their parents themselves. The parents don’t help their children by lecturing them and repeating to them ‘advices’, or by making them obeying strict rules in order to impose discipline. If the parents do not become ‘saints’ and truly love their children and if they don’t struggle for it, then they make a huge mistake. With their wrong and/or negative attitude the parents convey to their children their negative feelings. Then their children become reactive and insecure not only to their home, but to the society as well.

Books
  • Klitos Ioannidis. Elder Porphyrios: Testimonies and Experiences. The Holy Convent of the Transfiguration of the Savior: Athens, 1995. 978-9608538258
  • Constantine Yannitsiotis. With Elder Porphyrios: A Spiritual Child Remembers. The Holy Convent of the Transfiguration of the Savior:Athens, 2001.
  • Wounded by Love: The Life and the Wisdom of Saint Porphyrios (Denise Harvey: Limni 2005), ISBN 978-960-7120-19-9, 9th reprinting.
  • Elder Porphyrios from Kausokalibia; Life and Speeches, edition of monastery of Chrysopegi, Chania, Crete, Greece, copyright 2008 email imx@otenet.gr
  • A Hesychast from the Holy Mountain in the Heart of a City, by Athanasios N.Papathanasiou (Denise Harvey: Limni 2014), ISBN 978-960-7120-35-9.
  • Ἁγίου Πορφυρίου. «Θὰ σᾶς πῶ». Ἱερὸν Ἡσυχαστήριον «Ἡ Μεταμόρφωσις τοῦ Σωτῆρος». 2015 („I will tell you“. Written narratives from recordings of the Saint about his life)
  • Ησυχαστήριον Οσίου Πορφυρίου Καυσοκαλυβίτου. «Ανθολόγιο Θαυμάτων», 2017.
  • Ἁγίου Πορφυρίου. Θεία Λειτουργία με τον Άγιο Πορφύριο τον Καυσοκαλυβίτη. Βιβλίο με δίσκο. 2018
  • Ησυχαστήριον Οσίου Πορφυρίου Καυσοκαλυβίτου. «΄Ενας να με ακούσει και θα του στείλει ο Θεός πλούσια τη χάρη του», 2018.
  • Ησυχαστήριον Οσίου Πορφυρίου Καυσοκαλυβίτου. «Συμβουλές για την πνευματική ζωή στην οικογένεια», 2018. (Advices for the spiritual life within the family)

References
  1. Announcement by the Holy and Sacred Synod Archived 2013-12-01 at the Wayback Machine. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Wednesday, November 27, 2013.
  2. Canonization of Two New Saints by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Ecumenical Patriarchate - Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong and South East Asia (OMHKSEA). November 27, 2013.
  3. THE NAME OF ST. PORPHYRIOS THE KAPSOKALIVITE HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH CALENDAR FOR COMMEMORATION. Orthodox Christianity. Moscow, December 27, 2014. Retrieved: 11 June 2020.
  4. ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH ACCEPTS PROPOSAL TO CANONIZE ICONOGRAPHER MONK PAPHNUTIUS. Orthodox Christianity. Bucharest, July 6, 2017. Retrieved: 10 July 2017.
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