The Teachings of Saint Zosimas of Palestine

Scant information about the life and labours of the renowned holy father Zosimas of Palestine (5th c.) has been preserved in the life of Saint Mary of Egypt, from which we learn that Abba Zosimas entered one of the monasteries of Palestine in early boyhood and spent fifty-three years there in strict ascetic struggle; then, at the Lord’s prompting, he went over to the country of the Jordan, and there in the desert he met the venerable Mother Mary of Egypt, who told the elder the story of her life. In the life of Saint Mary of Egypt it is said of Abba Zosimas that he had great experience of monastic life, and for this reason people came to him for advice not only from the monastery where he laboured but even from neighbouring and distant monasteries. It seems that he was better at spoken conversation than at writing. He passed on the story of Saint Mary too to the brethren of the monastery by word of mouth, and one of the brethren, Saint Sophronius, set it down on paper. Most of the saint’s talks were written down in the Lavra of Gerasimus.

Although only a small part of Abba Zosimas’s talks has come down to us, even this little shows clearly how the holy father travelled the road of monastic life over many years, how he passed through all the degrees of Christian perfection and how he climbed to the summit of holiness, which is reached with the help of the grace of God.

The teachings of Saint Zosimas were brilliantly translated into Georgian by the venerable father Euthymius the Athonite (11th c.). To make them understandable to the modern reader, we have put the text into modern Georgian. To make them easy to find we have divided the talks into several chapters, and have added the troparion and kontakion of supplication to the venerable father.

With the streams of thy tears thou didst cultivate the barren desert, and with sighs from the depths of thy soul thou didst make thy labours bear fruit a hundredfold; and thou didst become a luminary of the world, shining with miracles, O our holy father Zosimas: entreat Christ God for mercy upon our souls.

Divinely armed with purity of soul, and holding unceasing prayer in thy hands as a spear, thou didst boldly pierce the hosts of the demons, O wonderworking father Zosimas: pray unceasingly to God for us all.