Our Venerable Father Antipas of Calapodești, the Hesychast of Valaam
Life
Antipas of Valaam was a nineteenth-century Moldavian monastic who pursued the hesychast life of inner prayer across three settings — a Wallachian monastery, the sketes of Mount Athos, and finally the island monastery of Valaam in Russian Finland, where he reposed in 1882.
Born Alexander in the village of Calapodești in Moldavia in 1816, he was the son of a village deacon. He was tonsured first in his homeland and later as a schemamonk on Mount Athos, where he spent roughly two decades and was ordained to the priesthood.
After years of fundraising travels through Moldavia and Russia on behalf of a Romanian monastic foundation on Athos, he settled at Valaam in 1865 and lived as a recluse devoted to unceasing prayer. He is remembered as the only Romanian monk of Mount Athos to be formally canonized.
Timeline 6 moments
ReadHide
1816Birth in CalapodeștiBorn and baptized Alexander in the village of Calapodești in Bacău county, Moldavia. His father, Gheorghe Constantin Luchian, was a deacon in the village church; his mother, Ecaterina Manase, later entered monastic life as the nun Elisabeth.
c. 1836Entry into monastic lifeBy tradition, at about the age of twenty and following a vision of divine light, he entered the Călderușani monastery in Wallachia as a novice. A long-time recluse named Gideon instructed him in the practice of inner prayer before his confessor directed him toward Mount Athos.
c. 1840–1860Two decades on Mount AthosHe was tonsured a rassaphore at Brazi Skete in Vrancea county and renamed Alipie, then went to Mount Athos. At the cenobitic Monastery of Esphigmenou he served in the kitchen and was tonsured a schemamonk with the name Antipas; he was later ordained hierodeacon and hieromonk and lived also at Lakkou (Lacu) Skete.
1865Arrival at ValaamHaving completed his fundraising missions in Russia, he came to Valaam Monastery from Mount Athos on November 6, 1865, and withdrew to a small isolated cell belonging to the Skete of All Saints.
January 10, 1882Repose at ValaamAfter a decline that began when he caught a chill, he fell asleep in the Lord in his cell at Valaam at the age of sixty-six.
1906 / 1992GlorificationIn 1906 the Russian monks of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos enlisted him in the Russian menaion on 10 January. In 1992 the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church included him in its calendar, commemorated on the day of his repose, 10 January.
Contributions & Legacy
3 contributions
ReadHide
Mount Athos and the work of fundraising
On Athos the Moldavian hieromonks Father Niphon and Father Nectarius first directed Antipas to the Monastery of Esphigmenou, where he spent four years working in the kitchen and, according to his life, struggled with acedia and dryness in prayer. After completing his novitiate and being tonsured, he moved to a ruined hermitage, where he is said to have found an old icon of the Mother of God darkened with age that was afterward renewed.
Father Niphon appointed him cellarer and building deputy in connection with a Romanian monastic foundation on Athos. Antipas was later sent to Iași as steward of the community's metochion and was appointed confessor of two women's monasteries, drawing many who sought spiritual direction. He subsequently assisted Father Niphon in Russia in collecting funds, and after his elder returned to Moldavia he remained, settling as a recluse on the estate of pious merchants. When a shipment of more than 30,000 rubles and other valuables was lost at sea en route to Mount Athos, he continued the fundraising mission in St. Petersburg.
Ascetic life at Valaam
At Valaam he lived essentially as a hermit. Beyond the prescribed services he is reported to have recited two akathists to the Mother of God and performed more than three hundred great prostrations daily, devoting nearly all his remaining time to inner prayer. He attended the main monastery only a few times each year while receiving pilgrims for spiritual conversation.
He was remembered for the gift of clairvoyance. His life records that in his final winter the icon of the Mother of God he kept moved of its own accord.
Relics & Shrines
His relics were uncovered on 14 May 1991 and placed in the church of Saints Sergius and Herman at Valaam, where they are preserved. Particles of his relics are kept at Christiana Monastery in Bucharest, at Calapodești Monastery, and at the Prodromou Romanian Skete on Mount Athos.
Works & Further Reading
ReadHide
Further Reading
Sources
Venerable Antipas of Valaam Monastery
— Orthodox Church in America
Saint Pious Antipas of Calapodești (10 January, † 1882)
— Basilica.ro (Romanian Patriarchate)
Saint Antipas the Hesychast of Moldavia (+1882)
— John Sanidopoulos, Mystagogy
His companions & kin
His father, a deacon in the village church of Calapodești.
Gheorghe Constantin Luchian
His mother, who ended her life in a women's monastery as a schemanun.
