Guidance for discernment

[Patrick Walsh]

Hello

I am in the process of ascertaining my calling to the monastic life. I am 45 years old, and have severe hearing and visual impairments. I walk with a white cane, and use two hearing aids to hear. I am working very closely with my Spiritual father in the process of discovering the nature of my calling, perhaps to be a priest or a monk, or both. We are already working with the abbot at Holy Cross Hermitage, and I will be spending some time both at Holy Cross Hermitage, and Holy Trinity Monastery.

I am just wondering if there are any blind, or severely visually impaired ascetics/monks in tradition or at the present. I want to learn as much as possible from their examples on how to deal with the hardships. I know of St. Didymus the Blind, and St. Isaac of Syria. Who are some others?

Does tradition say what happened to the "Man born Blind" after his story ends in John 9?

Thanks,
Feofil

[Mother Evfrosinia]

Dear Feofil,

In recent times, in the early 1900's, the first nun to be tonsured and subsequently the first Abbess of the monastery founded by Saint Nektarios on the island of Aegina, the righteous nun Xenia, was blind. Saint Nektarios appointed her superior in spite of her disability. A simple woman of prayer and profound faith, she was known to have the gift of foresight and was seen levitating in the air, rather like Saint Mary of Egypt, and with her countenance illuminated while in prayer, by one of the nuns of her monastery still during her lifetime. She reposed on October 31st 1923, not quite 3 years after Saint Nektarios himself. May the Lord show you your path, Feofil.

With love in Christ, unworthy nun evfrosinia

[Theopesta]

we have in the coptic church a monk reposed on february 2nd 1988, he was blend from born but his soul very illumenated with the inernal light, his monastic life very strong and very example to each monk and nun who want to be actual monastic his name is father: andrew of st. samuel monastery his life but in arabic video named: "visitor from heaven" in this site:

http://tasbeha.org/mp3/Videos/Saint_Videos/Visitor_From_Heaven.html

also, we have another saint: he is simple monk blinded after monasticism but his blindness just in the external eyes not in internal his name is: father mickal El-bahari