Abbess Photini

from her notebook, her correspondence and the memories of those who loved her

The life, work and personality of the ever-memorable Abbess Photini of the Birth of the Theotokos Monastery (Pelagia) in the Holy Metropolis of Thiva, Levadia and Avlida.

Blessed by God with many gifts, dynamic and exuberant, with simplicity of heart, an intense and hidden inner life, a powerful impulse towards God, and love for the monastic life, she left indelible memories and a living spiritual inheritance in the hearts of all who knew her and loved her.

She worked enthusiastically and zealously with the Community for the renewal and reconstruction of the buildings of the Holy Monastery, under the aegis and fatherly protection of the then Metropolitan Hieronymus of Thiva and Levadia, now Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, who tonsured her as a nun and enthroned her as Abbess.

The spiritual path of Abbess Photini was so pure and unsullied, with such unlimited zeal, intense love and unswerving orientation towards God from her childhood until her death, that it can serve as an example of sincere struggle and dedication to God for many people who share her longings.