Lessons from St. Peter of Mount Athos.
- Roland Flores
- Feb 26
- 5 min read
Ave María! May Our Lady, the Immaculate Mother of God, together with St. Joseph, St. Peter and all saints, pray for us. As we engage in our Lenten fast and prayers, I think there is a lesson we can learn from St. Peter of Mount Athos. Little is known of St. Peter’s early life except that he was a soldier for Byzantium. He was eventually captured by Muslims during a war with Syrians and imprisoned in the city of Samar. He was then freed through miraculous intervention while in captivity, with St Nicholas and St Simeon the Righteous appearing to assist in his escape. In gratitude, he travelled to Constantinople and then to Rome, to fulfil a vow to become a monk. Some legends say he received his habit directly from the Pope, who also instructed him in ascetic discipline. Following a vision of the Blessed Virgin, St. Peter journeyed to Mount Athos, where he lived as a hermit in a cave for nearly fifty years. St. Peter was the forts monk to live at Mount Athos, sparking the tradition which culminated in the foundation of the great monasteries upon that Holy Mountain. One of the legends of St. Peter’s life is that he was once praying in his cave, and an angel appeared to him. This angel was a brilliant and bright, holding a sword. This Angel then said: come out of your cave, servant of Christ and behold good news!” The wise and cautious St. Peter responded to the Angel: “ Let it be Known to you, I will not go from here until I see the Mother of God, my pillar and everlasting solace, and as well as my unwavering guide St. Nicolas. “ Then upon hearing the Mother of God and St. Nicolas, the Angel of light, who was really the devil, disappeared. Upon reflecting this legend, we can learn to mimic certain practical elements of St. Peter’s method of discernment. The first is to discern everything not for what it claims to be but what it actually is. The first red flag the the supposed Angel of light proposed was that he wanted St. Peter to leave his cave. According to tradition, Our Lady wanted St. Pete of Athos to be a hermit there and he made a vow to the mother of God stay in heaven that cave.
Yet, this angel was asking something against what was desired by Our Lady. So St. Peter tested the Angel by asking for Our Lady, his pillar, and St. Nicolas, his spiritual guide. The Angel then disappeared, which revealed it was never an Angel but a trick of the devil. One lesson we can take from this is the means St. Peter used to discern, chiefly Our Lady and St. Nicolas. Today, in this modern day pantheon, there are many socially normal heresies at our door. “For such false apostles are deceitful workmen, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no wonder: for Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light” ( II Corinthians 11:13-14). The same way that “Angel of light” wanted St. Peter to leave his cave, there may be angels of light trying to get us to leave the Catholic faith. Perhaps the chief of these angels of light is the Novus Ordo Theology and its many false devotions. Like St. Peter, we should fly to the Mother of God and the great saints, fathers, and doctors the Church. Does this new theology like Our Lady? Does it promote her ? Or does it try to shun away her titles and honors ? How does this theology fair against the Councils of the church or the writings of the doctors? What does St. Thomas, the angelic doctor, have to say on the topic? What about St. Alphonsus the moral doctor? What if the early church fathers, such as Ignatius or Athanasius? One can never stray far from the truth, when he flys to Our Lady and the great saints of the Church. For our faith, the Catholic faith, is apostolic, having been given by Christ Himself to the apostles. “And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20). As we know, within the history of the Church there is an apostolic lineage of teachings, doctrine, and liturgy. Despite this, the history of the Church is riddled “false brethren” and “false prophets” or angels of lights, who teach heresy against that which was given to us by Christ through the apostles. “But evil men and seducers shall grow worse and worse: erring, and driving into error. But continue thou in those things which thou hast learned, and which have been committed to thee: knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And because from thy infancy thou hast known the holy scriptures, which can instruct thee to salvation, by the faith which is in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:13-15). This is why the Church has always held councils, to declare and clarify the position of the Church and to exalt dogma over the opinions of men. These councils and dogmatic proclamations serve not only as a means to clarify doctrine but also as a warning to the faithful against heretics. This can be read and understood in a warning from the first Pontiff, St. Peter: “But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be among you lying teachers, who shall bring in sects of perdition, and deny the Lord who bought them: bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their riotousnesses, through whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. Whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their perdition slumbereth not. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but delivered them, drawn down by infernal ropes to the lower hell, unto torments, to be reserved unto judgment: And spared not the original world, but preserved Noe, the eighth person, the preacher of justice, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly” (II Peter 2:1-5). So let us always stand fast to what is authentically Catholic, carefully reading the writings of the doctors and fathers of the Church. Let us never stray in spiritual novelty or into strange doctrines that were made only to destroy the Holy Faith. Instead, let us fly to the Holy Mother of God and to the fathers and doctors of the faith.“But you, my dearly beloved, be mindful of the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who told you, that in the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their own desires in ungodlinesses. These are they, who separate themselves, sensual men, having not the Spirit. But you, my beloved, building yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto life everlasting” (Jude 1: 17-21).
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