Faces of Mt. Athos: Father Joachim

Faces of Mt. Athos
Father Joachim

Here is Father Joachim. He lived above St. Anna at an altitude of 900-1000 meters above sea level. Winters are cold there, with snow. The once large cell has now completely collapsed. Father Joachim labored in it with several brothers - Romanians. He lived by carving spoons, they were scattered everywhere - ready-made, half-carved ... In the mid-1980s he was left alone, and in 1992 he rested at the age of ninety. Father Joachim came to Mt. Athos in 1912 as a boy. And he didn’t go out anymore. He did not know anything about what was happening in the world. Someone told him that in Romania there is communism. He did not know the word "communism" and thought that it was a "hostel." He also asked: “And what kind of king rules now?”

I remember the story. After the rain there were puddles everywhere, and I exclaimed: “Oh, how heavy rain has passed!” And he:said “Yes, very strong. I was in church at that time, finished Vespers and went out to see. I see: my little rainwater tank is already full. And the big tank cracked and didn’t hold water anyway. I return to the temple and say: “Blessed Virgin Mary! You know that my big tank burst, and the small one is already full. Why so much water? One harm from it then everything flows ... ”And he prayed. The rain stopped pouring. ”

Then I went to him several times, bought spoons. Once he came, and where the church is, behind the altar, stands a cross. That means that he is no longer alive. A year later I returned: the cell collapsed (the roof was bad already during his lifetime). In this ruin, I found a salt shaker, which he hollowed out of a tree, such a rough one. But for me it is very dear as a memory of a person.