Venerable Paul of Xeropotamou (X)
The Venerable Paul of Xeropotamou (in the world Procopius) was the son of Michael Kouropalates, Emperor of Byzantium. The prince, deeply and thoroughly educated, was one of the most learned men of his time. The blessed one withdrew from all that passes away and went to the Holy Mountain, to a place called Xeropotamou. Here the monastery built by the Empress Pulcheria in the name of the holy Forty Martyrs had already fallen into ruin. Among the deserted ruins the saint made himself a small cell and settled in it; soon he became a monk and began his labours under the name Paul. Out of humility the venerable father showed his learning to no one, but his strict ascetic life soon made him famous. The venerable father was called Paul of Xeropotamou, and the monastery where he laboured is still called Xeropotamou (the Dry Stream) to this day.
When a kinsman of Saint Paul, the Emperor Romanos, ascended the imperial throne of Byzantium, he managed through the Protaton of the Holy Mountain to persuade the blessed father to come to Constantinople. Amid the splendour and luxury of the palace the saint appeared with a cross in his hand, in his old, tattered garment, and healed the gravely ill emperor by touching his head. The grateful Romanos offered him to stay at court, but the venerable father did not wish to return to the vain existence so alien to his soul; he asked only one thing: that the autocrat take care to restore the ruined monastery of Xeropotamou. The saint’s wish was fulfilled: the monastery was restored. When the church was consecrated, a piece of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, given to Paul by the emperor, was placed on the holy altar. Little by little the monastery filled with monks, and the silence-loving superior handed over the care of the brotherhood to one of his disciples and himself went to a distant desert to labour. Soon his spiritual children, who did not wish to be parted from their teacher, disturbed the blessed one’s peace here too. Then he again asked the Emperor Romanos for the necessary means, built a new monastery dedicated to Saint George, and translated the pieces of the Life-giving Cross there.
The approach of his end was revealed to the Venerable Paul by the Lord beforehand. He called together the brethren of Xeropotamou and of the monastery of Saint George and instructed them for the last time. On the day of his repose the holy father put on his mantle, with his usual humility said the prayer of Joannicius the Great, which he repeated without ceasing: “My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my shelter is the Holy Spirit: O Holy Trinity, glory to Thee,” and received Communion of the holy Blood and Body of Christ. The blessed one had asked that his body be buried on the peninsula of Longos, opposite the Holy Mountain, but by divine providence the ship came to shore at Constantinople. The emperor and the patriarch reverently received the precious remains and solemnly translated them to the church of Hagia Sophia. After the Crusaders sacked Constantinople, Saint Paul’s incorrupt relics were taken to Venice.
