Gerasimos of Kolitsou

Gerasimos of Kolitsou was a Romanian monk of the cell of the Holy Archangels at Kolitsou, on the Holy Mountain, the oldest Romanian monk on Athos. He reposed on 20 February 2018, at ninety-⁠five. He is venerated by the faithful, without a synodal canonization.

He came from the Iasi region and was for a time a driver before becoming a monk; from childhood he had felt God's care for him. He grew up in a large Orthodox family, soon tried by the death of the parents; the brothers were separated, and the wealth of sheep vanished in a moment, so they found themselves alone with God. From this he learned much, and the love of those who raised him made him thankful for God's goodness. He had struggled on Athos for more than three decades.

A visitor describes him in 2008, at eighty-⁠five, digging his garden with unexpected vigour. He had refused to repair his dilapidated cell, so as not to have his mind occupied with materials and lose his stillness: the monk's work is conversation with God, not material things. He said he had left the world because he did not love the world, but loved everyone.