Dionysius of Athos

Holy Venerable Dionysius of Athos was the founder of the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, now called Dionysiou, on the Holy Mountain. He was born near the Kastoria mountains, in the village of Korisos, of parents of no noble birth, but pious, and departed to the Lord at Trebizond, in the seventy-⁠second year of his life, on 25 June (8 July). He is commemorated on 4 July, in the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of Athos.

Youth and coming to Athos

Dionysius received in his parents' house the beginnings of a classical education and reached such discernment that, like a thirsty deer, he desired to leave everything sensible and temporary in order to gain the spiritual and eternal. He had an older brother, Theodosius, who at eighteen went to Constantinople, to find among the venerable monks guides on the way of life. The patriarch, hearing of his virtuous life, ordained him deacon, then priest, as a man strong in word and wonderful in knowledge of Holy Scripture. After ordination, Theodosius led a stricter life than before and went to the Holy Mountain, where he entered the community of the Philotheou Monastery and, after the death of the abbot, was asked by all the brothers to be their abbot. Receiving the staff, he guided all in such a way that his name filled the Holy Mountain.

Meanwhile Dionysius, left a child, grew up and desired also to give himself to the Lord. Hearing that his brother was on Athos, he resolved to go there, but, learning that too young men were not received in the monasteries, he put off his intention until full age. In the end he set out for the Holy Mountain and came to Philotheou, where his brother was abbot; the joy of the meeting was beyond words. After a few days the abbot tonsured him a monk. Under the wise guidance of Theodosius he began to advance in the labours. Theodosius occupied him especially with the reading of Holy Scripture and the study of the dogmas, then made him ecclesiarch, after that had him ordained deacon by the bishop of Hierissos and, at thirty, priest.

The hermit

Dionysius, desiring higher labours, of fasting, prayer and perfect non-⁠possession, resolved to plunge into the wilderness. After asking the counsel of the elders, he left in secret, climbed almost to the top of Little Athos and found on the southern side a cave, with a spring of good water. There he remained, without bread and without other clothes than those he wore, feeding on the reading of Scripture and on prayer; as bodily food he had chestnuts and wild herbs, and when he wanted bread, he went down to some cell or to the monastery. So three years passed. Then an experienced ascetic appeared, who asked a blessing to settle near his cave, and soon another came; they made huts and submitted to him. His fame spread, and many came to stay under his guidance. At first he told them to go up higher on the mountain, where they would find a suitable place. They built on the northern side cells, with a church in the name of Saint John the Baptist, called to this day the Old Forerunner. Dionysius came to them on Saturdays, for the Liturgy, and stayed two days; in the evening, on Sunday, he took bread and wilderness herbs and returned to his cave. Because in winter it was too cold, they went down, with his blessing, to the western side, built huts, planted vines and built a small boat, for with the growth of the brotherhood they needed provisions. Dionysius worked with them, as an example of diligence, saying that the leader must be an example in everything.

The foundation

Once at matins, on the place where the monastery was later built, Dionysius saw a wondrous lamp, burning until dawn. At first he thought it the work of a hostile power and told no one; but, because the vision repeated, he told it to a farseeing elder, the hieromonk Dometius, of the church of the Mother of God. Dometius came himself and the vision repeated three times in front of him. All the brothers gathered at the stone where the light appeared; Dometius said, in a spirit of prophecy, that God wished a holy monastery built here, where monks would gather and God be glorified, and urged him to begin without care for material things. They cleared the place and raised first a tower, to guard against the pirates from the sea. Money and provisions came through the fame and the high life of Dionysius from people of the whole Holy Mountain and the whole world. Meanwhile his brother, Theodosius, was seized by robbers with other brothers, while fishing before the Annunciation, and sold at Brusa to Christians who freed them. Theodosius came to Constantinople, and when the metropolitan of Trebizond died, the patriarch and the clergy chose him, despite all his resistance, because he was pure of heart and holy in life, handsome in appearance and strong and sweet in speech and knowledgeable of the Church in dogmas and canons. Theodosius was received with joy in Trebizond by Emperor Alexios Komnenos and by the whole Church.

Dionysius, with the blessing of Dometius, went to Trebizond, told his brother of the beginning of the building and asked help, above all intercession before the emperor. Theodosius presented him to the emperor. The emperor, moved by the old man's tears, gladly accepted to be the founder of the monastery and, by a chrysobull, bound also his successors to care for it, ordering that a thousand silver coins be given to the monastery every year from the imperial treasury. On the way back, on the Black Sea, several Turkish ships appeared. Dionysius, hoping firmly in God, asked his companions not to fear, and raised his hands to heaven, with tears, asking deliverance through the prayers of the Mother of God and of the Forerunner. Then the Forerunner appeared to them, with a staff in his right hand, quieted all and threatened the barbarians with death if they came near; the hands of the barbarians went numb at once. Dionysius and his disciples reached the Holy Mountain safely. Dometius told him that every good work needs only a beginning, and the Lord helps further. The saint began the building and raised, in honour of the Forerunner, a great church, made aqueducts and all that belongs to a monastery. So the monastery of the Forerunner of the Lord arose, in the year 6888 from the creation of the world, 1380 from the Birth of Christ.

Captivity and last days

With the sums given from the imperial treasury, the buildings were not finished, and Dionysius thought wall painting necessary in the great church, and went again to Trebizond to the emperor, who listened to him kindly as before. But as he was returning joyfully, the enemy of human salvation prepared, by God's permission, a harsh blow: reaching the Holy Mountain, he found the monastery empty, for the Turks had come and taken all the brothers into captivity, together with the church valuables. The saint grieved greatly, but did not utter a word of reproach against the Lord. After a time he ransomed all his flock and they gathered again, but he had spent all the sums received from the emperor and was left without means. In this strait he asked again the counsel of Dometius, who told him to go once more to the emperor. Dionysius, despite the hardships of the road, obeyed and, leaving, entrusted the monastery to Dometius: I feel that I shall not see it again, nor you, father. Dometius answered, inspired, that they would not see each other on earth, but in heaven they would never be parted. So it happened.

At Trebizond the saint told his brother and then the emperor of the misfortune and asked help. The emperor listened with compassion and comforted him with the hope of help, but Dionysius did not live to the day when the emperor meant to keep his word, for after a few days his last day on earth came. Calling his brother and asking the emperor, he entrusted the monastery to their care, prayed for them and passed quietly to the Lord, on 25 June (8 July), in the seventy-⁠second year of his life. His brother, the metropolitan of Trebizond, buried him with honour. From his body many wonders then flowed for those who called on him for help. The brothers who accompanied him received rich alms from the emperor and the metropolitan and returned to Athos. Hearing the news of the death, all wept for such a father. Dometius wished to withdraw into stillness, but the whole community fell at his feet with tears and begged him not to leave them orphans; he unwillingly took on the leadership of the monastery, until he departed to the Lord, in deep old age.