Published by: Holy Convent of the Transfiguration of the Savior - Athens, 2007.

"Elder, where can we find the solution to our problems?"

"Only holiness will solve your problems."

The realm of the sacred and the transcendent, as expressed by that child of God and true man, Elder Porphyrios, belongs to the category of the unbelievable. It can however become believable because, "sin does not prevail where grace abounds."  Elder Porphyrios was a person filled with grace, a bearer of the power of the Holy Spirit, a child of the Kingdom, a genuine and true tree of paradise.

Whoever wishes to speak about the inner spiritual life of a saint, must be a saint himself. We, the writers of this book, are not saints. We are confined to what we saw and what we heard. We are amongst those many others, who, as St. Luke the Evangelist says, have “taken in hand to set in order a narrative.” We are not trying, with our poor and futile speech, to describe the life of a contemporary saint, but rather we are falteringly trying to express our joy in having met a saint; our joy that Christ lives yesterday, today and forever; our joy that holiness is not a thing of the past, that grace can be felt next to us, that our hands touched a “little father” who really lived the expression “I no longer live, for Christ lives in me.”

Until the Lord reveals the servant who was Elder Porphyrios’ eye-witness, who observed him throughout his life and in all his works and will write about his life accurately and fully, we are forgiven. For we have only seen “in part.” We describe, write about and speak of the miraculous things that God did for us through His servant, Porphyrios. Amin.

From his earliest years Iakovos Tsalikis wanted to become a monk, but he would have to wait. The world had to get to know him and he had to get to know the world. Born in Livisi, a picturesque village in Asia Minor, the Tsalikis family was forcibly uprooted from their ancestral homeland. Leaving the life they knew behind, they took with them what was their true life - their Faith. Resettled in Northern Evia, the future Saint was raised in piety and trained in virtue by his grandmother Despina and mother Theodora. Iakovos worked hard alongside his father, Stavros, and eventually became the provider for the family. At the age of 32, he realized his calling in life by entering the Monastery of Saint David the Elder in Evia, living the rest of his life there as a monk. He rose above insurmountable obstacles, labored ascetically beyond what is human and suffered greatly for the sake of Christ. He received divine gifts as his reward, including clairvoyance and miracle-working, becoming an Elder of great stature. The author of this book, Professor Stylianos Papadopoulos, was blessed to know the Elder personally. His intimate knowledge of the Elder’s life together with his literary talent make the story on these pages come alive. God has not left us without Saints in our age of falsehood and agnosticism. Saint Iakovos intercedes for us today, now glorified among the Saints in heaven. From the vivid, lively stories in this book, may we be moved to glorify God and ask Saint Iakovos to intercede for us!

An Interpretation of the Divine Liturgy Based on Actual Events and Experiences of Holy Priests, Monks and Lay People (Piraeus, Greece, 2008)

"It is a fact that numerous interpretations of the Divine Liturgy which were mainly based on the enlightenment and Grace of the Holy Spirit, were handed on to us by the Church Fathers. What makes this current analysis of my spiritual child Fr Stephanos Anagnostopoulos, of the Divine Liturgy noteworthy as well as beneficial, is the fact that it is offered through the experiences and revelations of worthy Liturgists of the Most High, older and more recent ones.
I, as well as its author, wish that this book will lead us all to the genuine liturgical conscience and life in order to urge us in a spirited way, as grateful servants to try to rest the heart of His feelings so that He will be comforted, according to the Psalter: ‘. . . and because of His servants shall He be comforted’ (Ps. 134:14). May we sense that which God offered us and thus rejoice in the beauty of His eros. Amen. (p. 11)" - Saint Ephraim of Philotheou & Arizona

Translated into English and published by:

Orthodox Kypseli Publications - Thessaloncia, Greece

Translated & Published by: St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite Publication Society

Translated & Published by: Holy Monastery "Evangelist John the Theologian" - Souroti, Thessalonica, Greece 2002.

The Elder Ieronymos of Aegina, written by Peter Botsis

Published & translated into English from the Greek original by the Holy & Great Monastery of VATOPEIDI, Mt. Athos.

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