SaintPorphyrios (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."
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. Panteimon and Fr. Ionnakios. 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. In 2017 the holy synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church formally approved the inclusion of St. Porphyrios the Kavoskalyvite into the Church’s calendar on December 2 as well, including his troparion, kontakion, Synaxarion, and icon.
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
Elder Porphyrios from Kausokalibia; Life and Speeches, edition of monastery of Chrysopegi, Chania, Crete, Greece, copyright 2008 email [email protected]
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)
Wounded by Love: The Life and the Wisdom of Saint Porphyrios (Denise Harvey: Limni 2005), ISBN 978-960-7120-19-9, 9th reprinting.
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.
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.
