St Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia

Porphyrios (Bairaktaris) was born to a poor family on the island of Evia and, inspired as a boy by the Life of St John the Hut-Dweller, ran away to Mount Athos at about twelve, joining two elders at Kavsokalyvia. There, in total obedience, he received while still young the gift of clairvoyance. Illness forced him from the Mountain, and he was ordained priest, serving for over thirty years as chaplain of the Athens Polyclinic beside Omonia Square, hearing confessions in the heart of the noisy city while inwardly dwelling in prayer. Countless people experienced his ability to see distant places, read hearts, and discern illness. In his last years at his convent at Milesi he taught that Christ is our Love, and that the soul is won not by force but by love and longing for God. He returned to die at Kavsokalyvia in 1991 and was canonized in 2013.