Paul of Xeropotamou
| Saint Paul of Xeropotamou | |
|---|---|
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| Died | Mount Athos, Greece |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Canonized | Pre-congregation |
| Feast | 28 July |
Saint Paul of Xeropotamou, also Saint Paul of Xiropotamos, and Saint Paul of Xeropotamos, (Greek: Παύλος Ξηροποταμινός) was an ascetic and is the restorer of a monastery and founder of another monastery on Mount Athos. He is commemorated in the Orthodox Church. He lived between the 9th and the 10th century. His feast day is on 28 July..
The Monk Paul of Xeropotamou, born Procopius, allegedly was the son of a Byzantine Emperor which some sources name as Michael I Rangabe. Having received a brilliant education, Procopius was one of the most learned people of his time. His works on the Presentation of Mary, the canon of the Forty Martyrs, the canon of the Holy Cross and other works earned him well-deserved fame. But scholarship and an honourable position in the world did not entice Procopius.
Leaving everything worldly, replacing his rich clothes with beggar's rags, he went to Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain. In the place called Xeropotamou (Greek: Ξηροποτάμου, dry river), he built himself a cell in the ruins of a monastery once founded by the empress Pulcheria in honour of the Forty Martyrs. Procopius was tonsured monk by a hermit named Cosmas and he took the name Paul. Out of humility, the monk did not reveal his erudition to anyone. Through his strict life, Paul quickly became famous throughout the Holy Mountain. He became known as Paul of Xeropotamou, and the monastery where he worked is still called Xeropotamou to this day.
When the Emperor Romanos, a relative of St. Paul, took the throne, he urged the saint to come to Constantinople through the Protos of the Holy Mountain and arranged a magnificent meeting for him. The humble Paul, not betraying his monastic duty, appeared among the courtly splendour and magnificence with a cross and in his tattered rason. Saint Paul reaffirmed that his glory was chosen by God by laying his hands on the Emperor Romanos who had been seriously ill, and miraculously healing him. But the allures of court life, promised by the grateful emperor, did not deceive the saint, and he returned to the Holy Mountain, having asked the emperor only one favour - to restore the Xeropotamou monastery.
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