Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia — Love, Prayer & the Transformation of the Heart

Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia was a modern saint formed by the ancient spiritual tradition of the Orthodox Church. Born in Greece in 1906, he entered the monastic life on Mount Athos while still very young. Later, illness brought him back into the world, where he became a priest, confessor and spiritual father. For more than three decades he served at the Athens Polyclinic, encountering suffering, illness, fear and death in the heart of a modern city. He reposed in 1991 and was formally numbered among the saints of the Orthodox Church in 2013. Yet Saint Porphyrios did not teach Christians to become preoccupied with darkness. He taught them to turn toward Christ. In this episode of The Orthodox Journey, we explore the life and spiritual wisdom of Saint Porphyrios and place his teaching alongside the ancient tradition preserved in the Philokalia. Saint Porphyrios offers a remarkably simple direction: rather than continually staring at the darkness within us, we learn to turn the heart toward Christ. His teaching reminds us that holiness is not reserved for monasteries. The Philokalia teaches us to guard the heart. Saint Porphyrios teaches us what to place inside it: Christ. The Orthodox Journey — Ancient Wisdom for the Journey Today. Saint Porphyrios is commemorated on December 2. #SaintPorphyrios #OrthodoxChristianity #OrthodoxChurch #EasternOrthodoxy #OrthodoxSaints #Philokalia #JesusPrayer #PrayerOfTheHeart #SpiritualWarfare #ChristianSpirituality #MountAthos #OrthodoxWisdom #ChristianMysticism #Theosis #Hesychasm #ChurchFathers #ChristianPrayer #LoveOfChrist #OrthodoxJourney #philokalia