St Euthymius the Great

Euthymius was born in Armenia, marked early for the service of the Church, and in time drawn to the great ascetic landscape of Palestine, where so many eastern saints sought a hidden life near the holy places. He never lost his love of solitude, yet somehow became useful to almost everyone around him. Disciples gathered, monasteries formed, Arabs were converted, bishops and nobles sought counsel, and imperial controversies over the faith reached even into the desert. Euthymius moved among all this with unusual calm.

He healed, instructed, reconciled, and defended orthodoxy, but tried to preserve silence and recollection by handing over much ordinary administration to others. His laura near Jerusalem became one of the important centers of Palestinian monasticism, and the saint himself was remembered for tears, humility, miracles, and authority that came from holiness rather than office. He leaves the impression of a man who never stopped being a solitary even when the whole region had begun to treat him like a father.