Archimandrite Athanasios Mitilinaios

Elder Athanasios Mitilinaios was born in 1927 in Kifisia, a suburb of Athens,ÂÂ Greece. His father, George was from Mitilini and his mother, Efrosini fromÂÂ Samos. What his parents lacked in formal education they made up in spiritualÂÂ wisdom and piety, richly bequeathed to Athanasios and his sister Grammatiki.
He was drawn to a life of deep piety even before his adolescent years by theÂÂ holiness and compunctionate liturgies of his childhood spiritual father andÂÂ confessor, priest-monk Athanasios Hamakiotis. Athanasios studied the
Scriptures from a very young age, held Bible studies in his neighborhood and inÂÂ the adolescent correctional institution of Averof. He completed the requirementsÂÂ for two radio-electronics technical schools in Athens while serving in the GreekÂÂ air force.
In 1960, when his parish priest-monk, Iakovos Schizas, was elected
Metropolitan of Larisa, Athanasios was asked to join the holy priesthood andÂÂ assist Metropolitan Iakovos in his ministry. After much prayer and with theÂÂ blessing of his father, Athanasios was tonsured as a monk by the MetropolitanÂÂ and was subsequently ordained into the priesthood. His first love, however, wasÂÂ sowing the divine word. He quickly established catechetical classes for all ageÂÂ groups in cities and in the country, in churches and in army barracks. For tenÂÂ years, he cultivated the entire county of Larisa, planting and weeding, confessing,ÂÂ praying, liturgizing, nourishing and serving the people of God.
In November 1970, he gave into the holy desire of his closest disciples to
become their Geronda [Elder], and re-established the abandoned holy monasteryÂÂ of Komnineiou in Stomion, a village thirty miles east of Larisa, overlooking theÂÂ Aegean coastline. Even after his enthronement as abbot, he did not abandon hisÂÂ flock in Larisa, but continued to travel to the city Sunday afternoons andÂÂ Mondays. This rigorous schedule (5-7 lectures per week) along with sleeplessÂÂ nights for over forty years undermined the health of the Elder.
His gift of preaching was such that scores of laity, professionals, and
intellectuals would drive from Athens, Thessaloniki and nearby cities to be
nourished by his pure spiritual milk (Peter 1:3). Dozens of tape recorders andÂÂ video cameras recorded over 4,000 homilies, imbued with the Elder's patristic,ÂÂ ecclesiastical, spiritual, and Orthodox phronema (mind-set). Yet, this is only aÂÂ fraction of his work since most of the Elder's homilies were never recorded. HisÂÂ recorded homilies were aired, and continue to be aired, by radio stations inÂÂ Greece and abroad.ÂÂ
Many monks of Mount Athos were elated by the Elder's great gift and
continue to give the recorded talks to pilgrims who visit there, initially via
audiotape, then cd, and now dvd and mp3's. Recent spiritual giants such as
Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain and Abbess Makrina of Volos also perceivedÂÂ the greatness of the Elder's gifts. The Hagiorite intellectual monk, publisher, andÂÂ writer Theoklitos Dionysiatis said of Elder Athanasios, "In our days, God hasÂÂ given us a man with the gift of the interpretation of Scripture." Today theÂÂ spiritual fruit of the Elder nourishes monastics and laity around the world.ÂÂ On May 23, 2006, at the age of 79, and after a long trial with his failing health,ÂÂ Elder Athanasios entered life eternal. We ask for his intercessions and hisÂÂ blessing upon the work which we are presenting and we pray that one day weÂÂ will all be together in the Kingdom of Heaven.