Venerable Euphrosynus the Cook (9th Century) — September 11 / September 24 (Julian Calendar)

On this day, September 11 according to the Julian Calendar (September 24 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Venerable Euphrosynus the Cook.

Venerable Euphrosynus was a monk of a monastery in Palestine and carried out his obedience in the kitchen. He served the brethren diligently, while his mind never departed from God. The saint’s patience was astonishing: without murmuring he bore every reproach, very often undeserved. A fervent man of prayer and a strict faster, Euphrosynus advanced greatly in the spiritual life through his hidden labors and became well-pleasing to the Lord, and the King of Heaven Himself revealed this to the brotherhood.

One of the priests of the monastery asked in prayer to be made worthy to behold the eternal blessedness prepared for the righteous. God heard him and in his sleep showed him the indescribable beauty of Paradise. Suddenly the priest-monk noticed a monk of his own monastery, Euphrosynus the cook, and, astonished at such a meeting, asked how he came to be there. “By the ineffable mercy of God!” the saint replied. The priest asked whether he dared to give him something from that garden, and Euphrosynus invited him to choose whatever he wished. The priest pointed to some beautiful apples. The humble monk picked three fruits from the tree of Paradise, wrapped them in a cloth, and handed them to him. Waking before Matins, the father took the vision for an ordinary dream, but soon his attention was drawn to the wondrously fragrant apples wrapped in the cloth. He sought out Venerable Euphrosynus in the church and asked him to reveal where he had been during the night. The blessed one answered: “I was there where you were. The Lord fulfilled your request, showed you Paradise, and gave you its fruits by the hand of His unworthy servant Euphrosynus.”

After Matins the priest told all this to the brethren, revealed to them the spiritual height of Saint Euphrosynus, a hidden God-pleaser, and showed them the fruits of Paradise. Shaken by what they heard, the monks hurried to the kitchen to bow before the holy father, but could not find him anywhere: the blessed one had fled human glory and left the monastery. Where their fellow ascetic had withdrawn remained unknown to the brethren, but they always remembered that by the ineffable mercy of God the gates of Paradise had been opened to Euphrosynus, and that those who are saved would meet him there. The monks kept the apples of Paradise with reverence and distributed them in small pieces for the healing of ailments of soul and body.