02 — Obedience at Katounakia
The making of St. Ephraim in the school of obedience: the two elders of his hut — the aged founder Ephraim and the severe Elder Nikephoros — and the decades of hard, unresisting submission under Nikephoros that forged him into the model of monastic obedience and gave him his lifelong theme, “obedience is life, disobedience is death.”
Tradition: Greek Orthodox / Athonite
This section treats obedience, the defining reality of St. Ephraim’s life. The first file examines the two elders of the hut and the frank portrait of Nikephoros’s harshness; the second develops obedience as both the cross laid on him and the path by which he was saved — the teaching he would make the center of everything.
Files
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| The Two Elders and Elder Nikephoros | The founder Ephraim and the severe Nikephoros; the candid portrait of Nikephoros’s harshness; obedience under a hard elder; the succession to the eldership. |
| Obedience as Cross and Path | Obedience as the sum of his life and teaching; “obedience is life, disobedience is death”; obedience as cross and as the safeguard of prayer; the questions it raises. |
See Also
- 01 — Foundations — his entry into the hut and its elders
- 03 — Joseph the Hesychast — obedience placed even above the desire for a greater teacher
- 05 — The Teaching — the fuller exposition of obedience and prayer