Paul of St Paul's

Paul of St Paul's, with the secular name Constantine Karasavvas, son of Elias, was born in 1939 in Alexandria, Egypt. He studied at the Higher School of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering of the University of Rome. He came to Saint Paul's Monastery in 1963 and was tonsured a monk in 1964. He loved his monastery ardently and served it tirelessly, humbly and quietly. He was ordained deacon and priest in 1965. Monk Moses the Athonite writes that he knew and benefited from his modesty and approachability: "He was superior of the monastery, a regular parish priest, a beloved brother, a well-⁠formed hieromonk and faithful to Orthodox thought and the Athonite ethos. His sudden repose grieved many who esteemed and loved him for his virtue."

He reposed in the Lord on 20 June 1995. In his obituary the abbot Parthenios said, among other things: "He gave himself to the zealous service of God and men, serving the altar for thirty consecutive years. Known to all is his daily zeal in celebrating the Divine Liturgy, in which he always abundantly offered prayers for every grieving and burdened soul, as a compassionate man. Always meek, always unperturbed, he was found worthy to serve the Church of God both from the ministry of confessor-⁠spiritual father and from the administrative position of superior and steward in this monastery." In a letter of 1990 to a young lover of monasticism he wrote: "You will have great spiritual benefit if you say the Akathist daily. Humility and perseverance will win, will bend the mercy of the Lord, and confession to a good confessor shames the enemy and humbles pride. I wish you success. I have written your names in my diptych and gladly commemorate them." He is venerated by the faithful, without synodal canonization.