Venerable Acacius the New of Kavsokalyvia

Venerable Acacius the New of Kavsokalyvia was born around 1630 in the village of Golitsa in Epirus, northwestern Greece, to a devout peasant family; baptized Anastasios. From youth he sought monastic life and refused the marriage his parents proposed. He was tonsured at the Monastery of Sourovia near Makrinitsa, founded by St. Dionysius of Olympus, and on his first night as a monk was granted a vision of a burning lamp in his hand. He withdrew to Mount Athos, settling at the skete of Kavsokalyvia ("Burnt Huts"), associated with St. Maximus the Hut-Burner, whose apparitions Acacius repeatedly witnessed. He practiced extreme austerity, eating dried grass instead of bread, and received the gift of unceasing prayer and spiritual discernment. He became a spiritual guide and reviver of monastic life at Kavsokalyvia, forming disciples including the future hieromartyrs Romanos, Pachomios, and Nikodemos of Mount Athos. He reposed on April 12, 1730, at nearly a hundred years of age.