Αuthors
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
Older articles
22/8/2023:
On sudden death
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
17/8/2023:
How Elder Iosif Resolved the Issue of a Priest-Monk who Mocked Him
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
12/4/2023:
Christ’s Passion Overcomes Death
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
08/9/2022:
“Thy birth, O Theotokos, has proclaimed joy to the whole world…”
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
08/9/2021:
Homily by Elder Ephraim οn the Birth of Our Most Holy Lady
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
12/4/2021:
Repentance according to Saint Gregory Palamas – Part IΙ
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
10/4/2021:
Repentance according to Saint Gregory Palamas - Part I
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
09/3/2021:
‘In Cyprus the aethereal land, does the pure soul live?’
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
18/2/2021:
Saint John Chrysostom and Family Life
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
11/1/2021:
From the Post-Modern Persona to the Person
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
25/12/2020:
The Incarnation of God as the Opposite to Today’s Sinfulness
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
10/10/2020:
It’s genuine
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
08/4/2020:
'This pandemic is not a chance occurrence allowed by God, but a sign of the times; it is a fruit of Divine indignation'
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
15/12/2019:
Children and Grace
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
13/12/2019:
Abundant life
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
06/10/2019:
Directly linked
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
01/5/2019:
The Truth
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
03/12/2018:
The greatest sickness
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
07/11/2018:
It passes imperceptibly
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
20/9/2018:
Watch constantly
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
17/4/2018:
It’s not romanticism
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
17/3/2017:
St Maximus as a monk at the Vatopedi Monastery
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
15/2/2017:
‘God-forsakenness’ according to Elder Sophrony
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
22/7/2016:
More than 1,000 monks and nuns have sprung directly from the ‘root’ of Elder Iosif the Hesychast!
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
20/7/2016:
The necessary incisions for the heart’s purification of the passions
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
18/7/2016:
Obedience to be the most important virtue for a monk
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
16/7/2016:
Elder Iosif the Hesychast and the transmission of the divine Grace to his disciples
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
14/7/2016:
Μonasticism is nothing other than living in the kingdom of heaven
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
12/7/2016:
Elder Iosif Vatopaidinos as a Disciple of Elder Iosif the Hesychast
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
04/7/2016:
Spiritual experience as basis of spiritual guidance
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
02/7/2016:
The revival of Athonite's and women’s monasticism in the 20th century
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
30/6/2016:
The Position of the Elder in Women’s Monasticism
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
17/6/2016:
Saint Luke the Surgeon: What distinguishes the way of Christ from other ways of living
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
15/6/2016:
Saint Luke the Surgeon: Dealing with the betrayal of friends as Christians
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
13/6/2016:
The Sorrows and Persecutions of Saint Luke the Surgeon
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
03/9/2014:
Abortion as a form of genocide – 2
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
25/8/2014:
Abortion as a form of genocide – 1
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
10/5/2014:
The movement of Kollyvades as it appears throughout history and in the present - 3
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
07/5/2014:
The movement of Kollyvades as it appears throughout history and in the present - 2
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
02/5/2014:
The movement of Kollyvades as it appears throughout history and in the present - 1
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
18/12/2013:
The Blessed Elder Amvrosios the Athonite (21/12/1912 - 02/12/2006) - Part 2
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
14/12/2013:
The Blessed Elder Amvrosios the Athonite (21/12/1912 - 02/12/2006) - Part 1
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
09/3/2012:
Greetings to the International Conference on Saint Gregory Palamas
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
07/1/2012:
The Great Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi and Thrace* Chapter 16- Part 4
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
05/1/2012:
The Great Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi and Thrace* Chapter 16- Part 3
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
05/1/2012:
The Great Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi and Thrace* Chapter 16- Part 2
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
05/1/2012:
The Vatopaidi Monastery and the Athonias Academy (3rd part)
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
30/12/2011:
The Great Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi and Thrace* Chapter 16- Part 1
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
24/11/2011:
Vatopaidi Monastery and the Athoniada Academy (1st part)
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery
Short biography
Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery

The Very Reverend Archimandrite Ephraim, Abbot of the Holy Great Monastery of Vatopaidi: his name in the world was Basil Koutsou. He was born in Ammochostos, Cyprus in 1956. He is a graduate of the Theological School of the University of Athens. In 1982 he was tonsured a monk in the brotherhood of Elder Joseph in New Skete, Mount Athos. The brotherhood of Elder Joseph took over the manning of the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi and in 1990 the monastery reverted from the idiorrhythmic to coenobitic life and Elder Ephraim was enthroned as its first Abbot.