“In one of my visits to Greece,” recounts Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, “when I went to confess to Elder Porphyrios, he was holding the book of Saint John of the Ladder — at that time the edition of the book had been published by the Sacred Monastery of Parakletos, which included both the text and commentary — and he said to me:
"My child, this cannot be… I have seen which angel had taken his hand and was writing."
"What was he writing, Elder?"
And the Elder was trying to find a passage that had especially impressed him, but at that moment something interrupted us, and unfortunately we did not note that point and that detail escaped us. Later we realized that this passage from the Ladder had impressed him because he had seen that an Angel of the Lord was guiding the hand of Saint John.
"My child, this cannot be… I have seen which angel had taken his hand and was writing."
"What was he writing, Elder?"
And the Elder was trying to find a passage that had especially impressed him, but at that moment something interrupted us, and unfortunately we did not note that point and that detail escaped us. Later we realized that this passage from the Ladder had impressed him because he had seen that an Angel of the Lord was guiding the hand of Saint John.
Once, when I saw Elder Porphyrios, he said to me:
"Listen — when you have the means and the possibility to go up to the Holy Summit (of Sinai), go exactly to this spot" (and he described precisely where), "and sit on that rock, but the sun must be setting, and the sun must be striking the little chapel of the Holy Summit — and there you will see things and wonders."
But he told me not to say these things everywhere.
Since I myself did not go up to the Holy Summit, I told this to the fathers of the Monastery, in case someone might go, having the desire, and be deemed worthy to see what the Elder was saying. When I told this to the fathers, someone told me that Patriarch Nektarios of Jerusalem, formerly Bishop of Sinai, mentions in his book that there is a wondrous place near the Holy Summit where, if you stand there at sunset, you see extraordinary things.
Source: From the book: Saint Porphyrios (Testimonies – Narratives – Counsels). Vol. 1. Testimonies. Published by Enomeni Romiosini, p. 180. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.
