IN MEMORIAM.. THE MAN WHO Thomas M. T. Niles MET AT THE HOLY MOUNTAIN
We convey this testimony exactly as it was given to us by a brother concerning his meeting and acquaintance with the blessed and holy Hieromonk Joachim.
2019–2021: My experience with the holy Elder Joachim
In 2019, both my parents departed this life: my father at the beginning of the year and my mother toward its end.
Although I had many obligations—debts and various unresolved matters—I settled them as best I could with the help of certain brethren. Then I departed in order to find rest and to fulfill the promise I had made to the Lord and to His All-Holy Mother, in gratitude for the burdensome yet deeply soul-strengthening work of caring for my parents in their old age—a duty I fulfilled with all my heart and strength, though not without faults, omissions, and sins.
From that year onward, I was to live through many things for the first time in my life. Among them, I celebrated Christmas twice that year: once in the world and once in departure (the Holy Mountain celebrates 13 days later)
I wandered for thirteen days seeking shelter until, at last, by God’s grace, I was found worthy to arrive at the place of Father Joachim—for such was the plan of our All-Good God!
He received me as his own son, and like a true father in the image of the Heavenly Father, he welcomed me into his flock—above all, into his fatherly heart. That heart embraced me wholly, together with all my problems and burdens, and wondrously extinguished forever the Herculean load of pain, sorrow, and humiliation that I had carried with me into the wilderness.
His words still echo in my heart to this day as an ever-burning light: “The Theotokos has sent you here. From this day forward, you are my child, and I am your father. Whatever troubles you, you will come and tell me.”
I lived and tasted many good things in the abundance of his love. Indeed, I was counted worthy in the summer of 2020 to serve alongside him as his assistant. I could write an entire book about the countless details and experiences of our time together, but I choose to speak primarily—indeed, almost exclusively—of one single event that left an indelible and inextinguishable mark upon my memory and heart.
Despite his advanced age, the Elder scarcely slept, allowing himself only the briefest rest strictly necessary. Night after night he kept vigil, praying and walking among the cells of his spiritual children, sometimes pausing to stand in silence before their doors.
It happened once, twice, and indeed many times, that when I quietly left my own cell—so as not to disturb the brethren—I suddenly found myself an eyewitness to this sacred scene.
Because it was deep night, the corridor was unlit, and my departure was utterly silent, I had the precious moments needed to observe without being noticed. I drew back a little, not wishing to intrude, and he remained unaware of my presence (or maybe he knew).
By the grace and providence of God, I was granted to behold a soul-shaking sight: tears welled up like fountains from the eyes of that white-haired Elder and fell upon the doors of the cells of his beloved spiritual children.
An unforgettable, indelible image.
Thus, by the grace of the Holy God, I became a direct witness of the Elder’s proven, self-sacrificial, and utterly genuine love for his children—a love which, to my great sorrow, I myself had never offered as I ought, and as sacred duty required, to my own natural children as their earthly father.
Brethren, this is how we must love our children.
This is how natural parents must love their natural children, and spiritual fathers their spiritual children.
When I later returned to the world, determined to fill that very void in my own life, I found my daughter as though dead in soul. Yet now, by the grace of the Holy God, she is rising again—through tears that wet my cheeks day and night—with the hope that one day I too may be made worthy of Father Joachim’s prayer, that my own tears may likewise flow for the beloved children God has given me.
And then, my brethren—oh, then!—if all of us, both natural and spiritual parents, would unite in this same love, then this world in which we now live would cease to be driven by Satan and would become truly moved by God!
Let us all, therefore, set our hands to this holy work, with the prayer of our holy Father Joachim, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, of His All-Holy Mother, and of all His saints.
And then—oh, then!—no family will ever be broken, no child will ever be lost, and our world will truly become divine and heavenly.
