+ Saint Joseph the Hesychast Icon

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We now have a new series of icons to offer you, and we are honored to begin the unveiling with this icon of our illustrious father, the new ascetic Saint Joseph the Hesychast. 

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We often hear saints referred to as "new martyr," by way of indicating that they bore the same witness to Christ that those of the first centuries did. In the same way, it is fitting to refer to Saint Joseph as the "new ascetic." His remarkable life effectively nullifies the contemporary excuse that "people of our times are too weak to follow the spiritual practices of the Fathers of old." After he finished his earthly course in 1959, his influence, through his disciples with whom we lived and labored, initiated a tsunami of spiritual rejuvenation on Athos and throughout the world. 

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And how did he accomplish this? What was the secret behind his miraculous life? No secret--he simply wanted God that much more than we do.

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