The Miracle of Saint Athanasios the Athonite

Saint Athanasios, born with the baptismal name Abraham, was born in Trebizond, northern Asia Minor. He was orphaned at an early age and adopted by a nun. After her death, he was taken to Constantinople to the imperial court and began his studies. Desiring to leave the worldly cares of the court, he left Constantinople for Mount Athos. There, after being tonsured a monk, Athanasios developed a friendship with Nikephoros Phocas, future emperor. After a time of ascetic solitude in the wilderness of Mount Athos, Saint Athanasios was contacted by his friend, Emperor Nikephoros Phocas, who desired to build a monastery on the Holy Mountain. Initially hesitant, Saint Athanasios relented and began to select a site for construction. The monastery became known as the Lavra, established under a cenobitic monastic Rule on the model of the old Palestinian monasteries. Monks flocked from all over the world. Turning to this wonderful icon, one year there occurred a famine that many monks began to qu