Sophronios the Athonite

Venerable Sophronios the Athonite was born in Epirus in the eighteenth century to devout parents, and lived as a monk and priest in the Skete of St Anne on Mount Athos. He is commemorated on 18 August as a locally honoured saint; he has no known canonization.

From childhood he was distinguished by a modest life and by reverence for divine things. When he reached marriageable age his parents married him, against his will, to a modest woman, but on the night of the wedding he fled to Mount Athos. There, in the Skete of St Anne, he was tried and tonsured a monk. Later he was ordained a priest and reached great heights of holiness. His life was pure and angelic, and his spiritual perfection was an example not only to the brothers of the skete but to the whole Holy Mountain. After living as a holy man, he fell asleep in peace. His hymn praises him as one who closely imitated the lives of the venerable ones.