Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra (b. 1934) has been the abbot of Simonopetra Monastery from 1974 to 2000 when he retired. Fr. Aimilianos contributed significantly to the revival of spiritual life on Mount Athos, together with Fr. Ephraim of Philotheou and Fr. Vassilios of Stavronikita.
In this audio recording he talks about saints and how they are now living among us.

Wisdom from Mount Athos (WMA) Series
Subtitles: English, Romanian

Fr. Aimilianos:

“Let us also learn from the nowadays saints, those who are still alive. God has blessed our land with great saints. We do not need to go to the edges of the earth to find a holy person. The Lord arranged it so that even nowadays we have so many saints who are still alive and some who recently departed. Look! St. Silouan [the Athonite], when did he live? How many years have passed since then? And he became a saint! Let us also mention Saint Nectarios [of Aegina]! How many years have passed? So many people still remember his presence! Amphilochios of Patmos [Makris]: a saint! Not only do his relics emanate a sweet-smelling fragrance but they also perform miracles. But we have lived with him and we know he is a saint. He was already a saint! He has not become a saint only now. If he had not been a saint during his life, he would not have been a saint now. This means that those who tomorrow will become saints, they are now saints living among us. Let’s give another example: Philotheos [Zervakos] of Paros. A holy man, a giant who warmed and embraced billions of people with a hug. Do you know how many saints exist? How many ascetics, poor, humble, known, unknown, repentant sinners, people who were saints starting from their childhood? Therefore, everywhere there are living saints! Maybe we do not know them, but if we have humility, we will find people in our lands or in other places… we can meet these people, listen to them, ask for their advice, so that we may also receive from their holiness.”

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