Peter Athos

Rev. Peter of Athos, Greek by birth. He was a governor in the imperial troops and lived in Constantinople . In 667, during the war with the Syrians, Peter was captured and imprisoned in the fortress of Samara on the Euphrates River.

For a long time while in prison, he reflected on what sins had been punished by God. And then Peter remembered that he once had the intention of leaving worldly life and going to the monastery , but he never fulfilled it. He began to observe strict fast in prison, prayed earnestly , and especially he asked for the intercession before God from St. Nicholas the Wonderworker . Once in a dream, Saint Nicholas himself appeared to him and gave advice to call for the help of St. Simeon the God-Receiver . A little later, St. Nicholas again appeared to him in a dream and strengthened the prisoner in patience and hope . The third time, he appeared with Saint Simeon the God-Receiver in reality, who touched the rod of Peter's chains, and the iron melted like wax , and the doors of the prison opened themselves, and Peter was released. Saint Simeon the God-Receiver became invisible, and Saint Nicholas escorted Peter to the border where the Greek lands began. After which, recalling this vow , St. Nicholas also became invisible. Then Peter came to Rome to take tonsure in a monastic image at the tomb of the Apostle Peter . On the eve of St. Peter’s arrival in Rome, St. Nicholas appeared in a dream to the Pope and told about all the circumstances of the release of St. Peter from captivity, instructing the Pope to tonsure the former prisoner as a monk .

The next day, with a large gathering of people during the service , the Pope said loudly:

"Peter, who came from Greek land, whom St. Nicholas freed from prison in Samara, come to me . "

Saint Peter came and appeared before the Pope, who tonsured him as a monk at the tomb of the Apostle Peter. The pope taught Peter the rules of monastic life and kept this monk with him for some time, and then with blessing he released the Monk Peter to where God deigned to direct him.

In 681, Peter got on a ship that was sailing east, and then in a dream the Most Holy Mother of God appeared to him and indicated the place where he was supposed to live until the end of his days - the Holy Mount Athos . When the ship sailed past Athos, it itself stopped, and Saint Peter in this place went ashore.

At first, demons tried to force the reverend to leave the cave: they appeared to him in the form of armed warriors, or ferocious animals and reptiles , ready to tear the hermit down . But with a fervent prayer to God and the Mother of God, the Monk Peter defeated all demonic attacks. Then the enemy began to appear under the guise of a lad sent to him from his native home, who tearfully begged the reverend to leave the desert and return to his native home. The monk shed a tear, but answered without hesitation:

"The Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos brought me here to me, without Her permission I will not go from here . "

And then having heard the name of the Mother of God, the demon disappeared. Seven years later, a demon appeared before the reverend in the form of a bright Angel and said that God commands him to go into the world to enlighten and save people who need his spiritual guidance. And then the already experienced ascetic again replied that without the command of the Mother of God he would not leave the desert. The demon disappeared and no longer dared to proceed to the reverend, and the Mother of God appeared to the reverend Peter in a dream together with Saint Nicholas and told the courageous hermit that every 40 days an angel would bring him the heavenly manna . Since that time, the Monk Peter fasted for 40 days, and on the fortieth day was reinforced with Heavenly manna, receiving a fortress for further forty-day abstinence.

The Monk Peter spent 53 years in the deserted places of Mount Athos, not meeting any of the people: his clothes completely decayed, and his hair and beard grew so much that they covered his whole body instead of clothes. Once, a certain hunter was chasing a deer and saw a naked man, overgrown with hair and worn a belt of foliage. He was frightened and rushed to run, but the Monk Peter stopped him and told about his life. The hunter asked for permission to stay with him, but the reverend sent him home and gave the hunter a year for self-testing, forbidding him to talk about a meeting with him.

A year later, the hunter returned with his brother, possessed by a demon, and other companions, and when they entered the cave of St. Peter, they saw that he had already passed away to God. The hunter, with bitter weeping, told his companions about the life of the Monk Peter, and his brother, as soon as he touched the body of the saint, received healing. The Monk Peter died in 734 and his holy relics were on Mount Athos in the monastery of St. Clement , but during the iconoclasm they were hidden, and in 969 they were transferred to the Thracian village of Fotokami. The name of the Monk Peter of Athos is associated with the revelation and sacred covenant of the Mother of God about his earthly destiny - Mount Athos:

“In Athos of the Mountain there will be his rest, that is, My lot from My Son and God, given to Me, excommunicating worldly rumors and amusing spiritual in strength of his exploits, by faith and love from the soul he calls My name, there they spend their temporary lives without sorrows, and God-pleasing for the sake of their affairs, they will receive eternal life: I love you that place and I want to multiply the monastic rank on that, and the mercy of My Son and God to those who are of the solemnity will not be ruined forever, and even they will keep the saving commandments; and I will spread them in the Mountain to the south and north, and they will prevail from world to world, and their name in all the sunflower will praise and defend those who will be patient in fasting in the fasting . ”

• The Monk Peter of Athos on the site Orthodoxy.Ru
• Rev. Peter of Athos on the ABC of Faith website.