Peter the Athonite

Onuphrius, Macarius of Egypt, and Peter of Athos

Peter the Athonite (d. before 883) is reputed to have been the first hermit to settle upon the Mount Athos. Peter is known to history primarily through unattributable legend. It is recorded that Peter was once a soldier who, through the miraculous aid of St. Nicholas and St. Simeon the Righteous, was freed from a Muslim military prison. From prison St. Peter traveled to Rome to fulfill a promise to God that he would take the monastic habit. It is held that Peter received his habit from the Pope himself who also formed the saint in monastic discipline. Receiving a vision of the Blessed Virgin and Theotokos Mary, Peter travelled to Mt. Athos and there lived for some fifty years.

Saint Peter of Mount Athos is commemorated on 12 June^[1] in Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Roman Catholic Churches.

See also

• Silouan the Athonite

References

1. Great Synaxaristes: (Greek) Ὁ Ὅσιος Πέτρος ὁ ἐν τῷ Ἁγίῳ Ὄρει ἀσκήσας. 12 Ιουνίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.

Sources

• Dimitri E. Conomos; Graham Speake (1 January 2005). Mount Athos, the Sacred Bridge: The Spirituality of the Holy Mountain. Peter Lang. pp. 69–. ISBN 978-3-03910-064-4.
• Venerable Peter of Mt. Athos. OCA - Feasts and Saints.
• St. Peter of Mount Athos. Catholic Online.