Venerable Hierotheus (+1745)

The Venerable Hierotheus was born in 1686 in Greece. He sought to find divine wisdom both in the sciences and in the monastic life. The young man, marked by understanding and diligence, mastered Roman and Greek philosophy deeply. After the death of his parents he withdrew to Mount Athos. At first he became the disciple of a hermit near the cell of Saint Artemius (commemorated 20 October), and then he settled in the brotherhood of the Iveron monastery and was tonsured a monk. Soon Hierotheus was sent to Constantinople on the monastery’s business; then he found himself in Wallachia, where, at the Lord’s direction, he took up his interrupted education again. By his piety the blessed one won the goodwill of Auxentius, Metropolitan of Sofia, and was ordained deacon. Afterwards he continued his education in Venice, and at last returned once more to the Holy Mountain of Athos. Hierotheus settled near the Iveron monastery, in the hermitage of Hagi. By the testimony of his contemporaries, the venerable father lived a wonderfully strict life. At the request of the abbot of Iveron, the saint was ordained priest by Jacob, Metropolitan of Neocaesarea, who had come to the house to rest.

At the request of the people of the island of Skopelos, who had been left without clergy, the ascetic left his life of solitude, celebrated the divine services among them and preached a great deal.

The holy father foresaw the approach of his end, and with three disciples withdrew to the island of Ioura, which was inhabited by criminals condemned to life imprisonment. Here the Venerable Hierotheus committed his soul to the Lord in 1745. His disciples buried the blessed one’s remains on the island, and three years later his precious head was translated to the Iveron monastery.