Elder Eumenios (in the world, Constantine
Saridakis) was born January 1, 1931 in the Cretan village of Efia, to the
family of the pious George and Sofia Saridakis. He was the eighth and last
child in this poor family, which lost its breadwinner early. The difficult
years of Nazi occupation in Greece did not allow little Constantine to receive
an elementary education. Nevertheless, the boy stood out not only for his
intelligence but also for his special piety. A wondrous event had a decisive
influence on the future elder’s choice of path in life. It happened in 1944.
During a festive dinner an extraordinary, blinding radiance appeared, which, as
Fr. Eumenios later related, penetrated deep into his soul. Amazed and shaken by
the divine light, the youth cried out, “I will become a monk!” Constantine’s
path in life was foreordained. As the elder himself said, “If a person has a
calling from God for something good, then God works and helps him.”
In 1951, Constantine Saradakis entered
the monastery of Prophet Elias not far from his village. In that monastery,
besides the abbot there labored two elderly, blind monks, whom the young novice
served with great love. Three years later Constantine received the monastic
tonsure with the name Sophronios.
