Elder Ephraim of Arizona: "She is my best nun!" – The blessed Eldress Taxiarchia, Abbess of the Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos, Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, USA

When one studies the few testimonies circulating on the internet about the sanctified Eldress Taxiarchia (Douka) (1937 – 1994), the first Abbess of the Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Pennsylvania, one is truly amazed by the height of her virtue. And just as what our Lord Jesus Christ Himself testified about the Honorable Forerunner – that is, that he is the greatest of men who have been born – overshadows every other praise and eulogy and renders them rather superfluous, so, on a smaller scale of course, for Eldress Taxiarchia the testimony of her own blessed and sanctified Elder Ephraim: “She is my best nun!”, which we shall see in a certain testimony further on in the article, overshadows every other praise and renders every other proof of the height of her virtue superfluous. Naturally, even greater is the testimony of the Lord Himself, who permitted the appearance of myrrh with a heavenly fragrance on her face after her repose.

In the only recorded talk we were able to find on the internet, which is included at the end of the article, anyone can immediately discern that without any doubt this is a very rare soul, with great spiritual experiences. Her experiential and so sweet and serene word does not tire one in the least, and, being not simply (or even primarily) “cerebral”, but coming from the center of a sanctified heart, it succeeds in communicating directly with human hearts, in touching them effortlessly, and in general in giving rest to and benefiting its listeners. Its main theme is love and obedience toward the Elder and, through him, toward God. If one considers that it was precisely these two things – love and obedience toward the Elder – that Saint Ephraim of Katounakia, the spiritual brother of the Elder of Eldress Taxiarchia, Ephraim of Arizona (as both were spiritual children of Saint Joseph the Hesychast), constantly emphasized and underscored at every opportunity as the basis and foundation of all the other monastic virtues, one easily understands that Eldress Taxiarchia herself excelled in this area. Indeed, according to Saint Ephraim of Katounakia, obedience is the root of the monastic virtues and precedes even prayer, because prayer flows from obedience, whose quality and precision correspondingly determine the working and the quality of prayer. As a natural consequence, then, Eldress Taxiarchia, achieving excellence in obedience, excelled overall as a nun as well and attained her purpose to the utmost.

In 1989, from the Greek monastery of Panagia Hodegetria, Eldress Taxiarchia went to the USA, with the blessing of her spiritual father, the Athonite Elder Ephraim of Philotheou (Moraïtis). Eldress Taxiarchia became the first resident and abbess of the Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, in the American town of Saxonburg in the state of Pennsylvania. This monastery is the first of the monasteries that Elder Ephraim of Philotheou founded in America, even before the Holy Monastery of Saint Anthony in Arizona.

The blessed Eldress Taxiarchia acquired the gifts of unceasing prayer, of the healing of souls and bodies, of clairvoyance, of fiery faith and of the love of Christ. There have been cases in which patients with cancer were healed through her prayers. After the blessed repose of Eldress Taxiarchia, as mentioned above, the Lord confirmed her struggle, as myrrh with a heavenly fragrance appeared on her face.

Let us then come to know her better through some testimonies of people who lived near her or knew her while she lived in this world.

Eleana Mitchell, spiritual child of Elder Ephraim:

“From a very young age she was a true bride of Christ”

– The blessed Eldress Taxiarchia was born and raised in the village of Agria near Volos. At a very young age, during the civil war, she was left without a father. Her worldly name was Aphrodite Douka. The blessed Eldress was very beautiful, both outwardly and inwardly. From a very young age she was, one might say, a true bride of Christ.

At a very young age she had been diagnosed with a serious heart condition. From then on, the struggle for her health began. She was often obliged to be admitted to the hospital in Thessaloniki, for at least two months at a time. When her ordeal began, although she was very young, she had been forced to go to the hospital in Thessaloniki completely alone, as the family did not have the necessary financial means. No one visited her, as happened with the other patients. No one brought her anything as a gift. Then, for the first time, the nobility of her soul was revealed.

Completely alone, in a foreign city, among unknown people, worn down and weakened, the young girl patiently struggled alone with her illness. The only thing she dreamed of was to see her mother as soon as possible and to complain to her about her hardships. However, when this longed-for day finally arrived, and her mother had come to visit her, Aphrodite, as if she heard the Voice of God enlightening her, restrained herself and did not speak of her sufferings. Her "ego" was, as it were, set aside into the background.

She began to reason wisely, something that was unexpected considering her young age: “Oh, how much I will grieve my poor mother, the poor widow! Does she not love me? Is she not worried about me in any case?” And, as she recognized the Voice of God in this inner voice, Aphrodite said to her mother:

– Ah, my beloved mother! I am well in the hospital. They take care of me here, they feed me! Various women visit me here and bring me sweets, chocolates, books. The time has passed so quickly!

– So, my Aphrodite, you are not sad that I cannot visit you often?

– No, my mother, I have no time to be sorrowful and sad! They do not leave me without care!

Her mother was greatly comforted by what her daughter had told her and went home with a calm heart.

The girl was left alone again. Now, however, her pain and her needs no longer mattered so much. Great was her joy that she had met her mother and had reassured her.

At that time, every day, as she herself told us, she prayed that the Lord would take her from this life, because she saw herself as unworthy and useless and as only making the lives of others difficult. She thought of her mother and her siblings.

But the All-Knowing God did not fulfill her plea. Instead, He counted her worthy to receive the angelic schema at the Holy Monastery of Panagia Hodegetria, near Volos, beside the great Eldress Makrina, who taught her and imparted to her, as to the other sisters of the monastery, the virtues of sacrifice, of love, of patience and of obedience.

As I remember from her words, she used to say: “Do you know when I understood why the Lord did not take me then? When Elder Ephraim, in my fiftieth year, had told me that I needed to live in America!”

Blessed is the Lord God, who left this blessed soul on earth so that we might be counted worthy to meet her and to know her! The blessed Eldress was a very devout, pure, kind-hearted and gentle Eldress, ready for self-sacrifice. Also, she was a protectress of orphans (here, in the USA).

The goods of the world and worldly aspirations did not interest her at all. The sole concern of the little mother was the salvation of all, and of her own soul. Day and night, despite her fatigue to the point of exhaustion, she devoted herself to the prayer of the heart. “Have you ever slept standing up, with your eyes open?” – the Eldress would ask us and smile with her own blessed smile, something that filled us with paradisal blessedness. “No, Eldress, never!” – “It has happened to me” – the blessed soul would answer.

Without force, severity, criticism or bitterness, only with her kindness and her tenderness, she could thus simply open a person's heart in order to cleanse it. And she could make each of your days, which you spent beside her, dedicated to the Glory of God! Just as dawn breaks, you immediately say, in spite of yourself: “What can I do to please God?” And you do it involuntarily, out of the fullness of the heart.

Her repose took place on August 3, 1994. From the hospital all the way to the monastery, enormous clear streams of rainwater accompanied her departure. Another miracle was that after her death many fragrant drops of myrrh appeared on her face, shining in the sun. All of us felt a blessed "joyful sorrow" at what was happening.

 

Eldress Theophano, current abbess of the Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos:

– Eldress Taxiarchia came to Pennsylvania in July of 1989, and I came in March of 1990 from New York. In the beginning we had only a small country cottage with two bedrooms, and nothing else. We were three sisters.

“She is my best nun”

When Elder Ephraim had come for the first time to visit our monastery (at that time he was staying three months in America and nine months at the Holy Monastery of Philotheou on Mount Athos), I told him that Eldress Taxiarchia was truly a saint (this was evident at first glance). And he answered me: “I sent here one of my best nuns… No, she is my best nun”.

Eldress Taxiarchia was truly a holy person. She had a problem with her heart. Also, after moving to America she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. In the meantime, other women with cancer were being healed through her prayers. As an example, I mention one case. Once, three or four pilgrim women came to see the Eldress. Among them was a woman, the mother of one of our sisters, who had been diagnosed with cancer. She wanted to tell the Eldress, but the Eldress would not let her speak, but only kept repeating: “It's nothing, it's nothing.” And yet, without asking anything, the Eldress touched the place where the cancer was.

Nuns, usually, avoid touching, but the Eldress touched exactly the sick spot and said to her: “Do not worry, little mother, everything is clear with you.” When this woman returned home, the doctors could no longer find any cancer.

Another pilgrim woman, who also had breast cancer, had come to us together with a group of pilgrims. Eldress Taxiarchia was giving out something for a blessing and this woman also wanted to take her turn. Then the Eldress began to send her away from the line. This pilgrim woman was taken aback and after a little while returned and again stood at the end of the line. The Eldress again asked her to step out of the line. This was repeated several more times, until at some point the Eldress said to her: “You no longer have cancer”.

“Next year you will come here with the child”

Another miracle occurred with a family from Tennessee, whom we knew very well. They had had no children for many years. The Eldress told them: “Do not worry! Next year you will come here with the child.” And so it happened. After one year they came with a newborn baby girl.

There was another case of healing, but this happened after the repose of the Eldress. A woman worked in a hair salon; she was a hairdresser. Because she had worked for many years with chemical substances, the nails on her fingers hurt her very much. She took oil from the vigil lamp that we lit in the church during the Eldress's funeral. We continue to keep this vigil lamp filled with oil. Well, this woman anointed her fingers with oil from the vigil lamp and after this she was healed.

“Please, take away my asthma!”

Yet another woman, who has now reposed, had suffered from a severe form of asthma since her youth. She had at one time helped Elder Ephraim with the building of our monastery. Before the Eldress reposed, this woman had asked her: “Eldress, may I ask you a favor? Please, take away my asthma!” On the day after the Eldress's repose – and this lady was around eighty – the asthma left her forever.

We have gathered many similar stories. She was a saint, truly a saint. Like Elder Ephraim, she too was able to read our thoughts. She was all love.

And because she was the first nun of the Elder who had come to America, and because she was a person of inexhaustible love, she attracted women from various places, and from places where later other monasteries were also built by Elder Ephraim: from New York, from Chicago, and so on. I remember she used to say to these pilgrim women: “When you build a monastery in your own home, do not forget that you must help your eldress just as you help me.” In this way, she prepared them in advance for this mission.

Once, one of the men had brought us an old icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. He did not know what icon it was. He was an Orthodox man, married to a Protestant woman. His wife wanted to throw out all his icons. By chance, two nuns, a mother and daughter, were passing by and heard their conversation, in which the man was trying to persuade his wife not to throw out the icons. The two nuns suggested that they hand over the icons to the monastery.

This was the man who had come with the icon wrapped up and said to the Eldress: “I will not open it until tomorrow.” He did not know what icon it was. The next day was the feast of the icon of the Panagia “The Unfading Rose.” When they opened the package, they saw that it was precisely the icon “The Unfading Rose.” When the Eldress took out the icon, the whole monastery was filled with fragrance, something that could be felt everywhere, upstairs, downstairs, even in the basement. This icon is still in our monastery.

Eldress Taxiarchia departed to the Lord on August 3, 1994, at the age of fifty-seven. Around a thousand people attended her funeral. It is interesting that each one felt that the Eldress loved him more than all the others…

When the Eldress reposed, before we buried her, myrrh appeared on her face in drops, from which a wondrous fragrance came forth. I collected the myrrh with cotton wool, which I keep even now. Twenty-six years have passed and this cotton wool still gives off fragrance.

 

Nun Nektaria, now the blessed reposed nun of the Holy Monastery of Panagia Hodegetria in Portaria:

– I knew Eldress Taxiarchia from the moment she came to our monastery. She had a problem with her heart and was obliged to undergo two operations: one she had when she still lived in the world, and the second when she was already a nun. Before the first operation, she had made the following vow: if the operation succeeded, she would go to the monastery for six months to help the sisters and to pray, so that in this way she might thank the Most Holy Theotokos.

Having stayed for six months in Portaria, she realized that she loved the monastic life and that she wanted to remain here. She began to ask Eldress Makrina to accept her into the monastery. The Eldress at first hesitated to accept her into the monastery, because she feared that her sick heart would not endure the harsh monastic way of life. But she begged her so much and was so kind-hearted and obedient that the Eldress finally agreed. Elder Ephraim, too, gave his blessing for her to be accepted.

Eldress Taxiarchia very quickly was counted worthy to receive the schema, because, according to the words of Eldress Makrina, "she was absolutely ready for it."

She had two obediences: one in the kitchen and the other in the guesthouse. Eldress Makrina had high blood sugar and Sister Taxiarchia cooked for her. She was very careful in her obedience. She weighed everything precisely, how much and what to put in, so that everything would be in accordance with the doctors' instructions. She loved her Eldress very much.

She embroidered very, very well. She had learned it while she still lived in the world. Her embroideries had such an appearance that it was as if they were not made by a human hand. When Eldress Taxiarchia lived in the monastery, with her own hands she embroidered the golden covering of the Holy Altar for Mount Athos. Also, she had many gifts and grace from God. She loved everyone and was equally kind-hearted with all.

Her second obedience in the monastery was to receive visitors and pilgrims. She had the gift of the word. She knew how to find ways of connecting with any visitor or pilgrim. Her words were always full of love and enlightenment, that is, they enlightened the person. She helped the sisters with other obediences as well and always hastened to help wherever it was needed.

She was a person of God and of great prayer. She was distinguished by her nobility, her almsgiving, her readiness for sacrifice. Prayer came forth from her lips unceasingly. When you spoke with her, you always felt that the Holy Spirit dwelt within her.

Before her departure for America, she was obliged to undergo the second operation as well. She had such faith in God that she was not at all afraid of the surgery. After her departure for America, we continued to keep in touch, we wrote letters to one another.

From the account of Eleni Xenou from Volos. Eleni is 70 years old and has been a spiritual child of Elder Ephraim since the age of 12:

Eldress Taxiarchia came from the village next to ours, Agria. When she was a child, they say, she was very kind-hearted and tender. From her childhood her future character was already apparent – very easygoing and accommodating.

She was a very talented iconographer. She also embroidered handmade icons. The faces of Christ, of the Most Holy Theotokos and of the Saints came out as if alive, because she did it with prayer.

On her face there was a certain special tenderness, and her words were so comforting that you had the sense that you were speaking with an Angel. For this reason, Elder Ephraim, when he opened his first monastery in America, decided to send her there. In the beginning, she was alone in the monastery.

I knew her sisters, who have now departed to the Lord. They all lived in Agria. One of her sisters showed me a little branch of a tree which Eldress Taxiarchia had sent her in one of the letters from America. She wrote: “My little sister, do you see this little branch? It is a little branch of one of the trees that sprout here, around my monastery. Each one of them is watered with the many tears of my loneliness.”

She knew neither the language, nor the customs, nothing. The Elder made the decision and she obeyed blindly. Thus was set up the first monastery of Elder Ephraim in the USA. She had no objection to her Elder's decision, not a word. She accepted it peacefully. She went to America to live there, where she also died.

After a little while, the local Greek immigrants learned about this monastery and began to go there for the sacred services, on Sundays. In the beginning they appeared at the monastery with excessive attention to their attire, with fashionable hairstyles, and went to the monastery in order to converse among themselves. The Greek diaspora in America, at that time, had become very secularized and had fallen under the influence of the Catholic Church. The Eldress very quickly made them Orthodox Christians once again.

The elderly nuns from Portaria used to tell me the following story about Eldress Taxiarchia: While she was in the hospital after the second heart operation in Greece, next to her was an Orthodox Greek priest. At the time she was coming to after the operation, she had very strong pains, to the point of fainting, which was very painful. At the moment she was just coming to, the priest heard her saying: “O, Mother of God, how beautiful you are! You are the most beautiful, the most beautiful in the world!” She saw the Theotokos right in front of her. She also saw the Holy Apostles and spoke with them: “Holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, how beautiful, how beautiful you are! Ah, how beautiful!”

In America, Eldress Taxiarchia practiced asceticism for five years and died due to health problems. After her death, and immediately after the funeral, miracles began to take place at her grave. Thus, a few days after the funeral, a family who used to come to the Eldress in the past came to the monastery. Their daughter had eczema. They learned that the Eldress had died and were saddened. They anointed their daughter's skin with oil from the vigil lamp that they lit at her grave, and the eczema was immediately healed and never appeared again. Many other miracles took place as well.

Yiannis Dvorak, an American of Russian roots, who lives near the Monastery of Saint Anthony the Great in Arizona:

– When we first came with my wife to the monastery in Pennsylvania, I knew nothing about Eldress Taxiarchia and had not even seen her photograph. We did not stay long at the monastery, and were preparing to leave. We had sat in the car when my wife asked me to go back into the church and buy candles. It was evening. There were no people about. Around the church there was no one, except for an elderly nun who was sitting and weaving a prayer rope. In the distance, I saw three deer grazing untroubled.

I approached the nun to greet her and to receive a blessing: “Do you see those three deer? They come here every evening, when I sit and weave a prayer rope. Do you know how to weave a prayer rope?” – she asked me. I answered that I did not know, and then she asked me: “Do you want me to teach you?” I told her that unfortunately I was leaving right now, that people were waiting for me. She said to me: “All right, then I will teach you next time, when you come to visit me, after one year.”

I had no intention of coming here again. I did not react, however. I bade her a polite farewell, bought candles, and we left. After some time, at the home of a friend of mine I saw the photograph of Eldress Taxiarchia and to my surprise I recognized in her that nun who had spoken to me in Pennsylvania. I began to ask about her and with even greater surprise I learned that she had already died. And after one year, I did indeed visit the monastery again. Exactly one year later the exhumation of the relics of the blessed Eldress Taxiarchia was taking place, and the elders Ephraim and Paisios invited me to go with them. Of course, I agreed.

 

What follows is a talk by Eldress Taxiarchia on obedience, love for the Elder, the denial of one's own will so that the will of God may be done, and in general the perfect abandonment of ourselves into the hands of God with absolute trust in His providence and wisdom:

(It should be noted that during the video, by a mistake of its creator, it is stated that Eldress Makrina is speaking, but it is Eldress Taxiarchia, as she herself clearly states at a certain point in her talk, and as is also evident from her voice, which is different from that of Eldress Makrina.)

SOURCE for the testimonies

(republished from 11/2020)