Eulogy for the Blessed Elder Vasileios of Iviron by the Current Abbot of Iviron Archimandrite Nathanael

Our revered Elder,

You have always liked the doxastikon of the Vespers of Great Saturday: 

 

"And God blessed the seventh day; for this is the blessed Sabbath; this is the day of rest, on which the Only Begotten Son of God rested from all his works through the economy of death, honoring the Sabbath in the flesh."

Today we are honoring your own Sabbath, your own rest and the rest from all works. Normally, respecting your wish, we should not have said anything but in silence and prayer to surrender your tabernacle to the earth and to send you forward to eternity. However, in obedience to dear brothers, I will dare to utter a few unskillful words.

Archimandrite Vasileios Gontikakis, a Prominent Athonite Figure and Author, Has Reposed

On September 17, 2025, the former abbot of the Sacred Monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos, Archimandrite Vasileios Gontikakis, passed away at the age of 90. Hospitalized in Thessaloniki since August 27th, after falling and suffering a spinal injury at his monastery before Vespers on the eve of the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, Elder Vasileios gave up his spirit to God. On September 18, the funeral service took place, when he was buried in the cemetery of the Monastery of Iviron.

The ceremony was attended by the abbots of the monasteries of Mount Athos, representatives of the Holy Community, representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, as well as the Churches of Greece and Cyprus, along with a large number of spiritual children of Archimandrite Vasileios. He was a major figure of Athonite monasticism, as well as an important scholar and teacher of Orthodox theology.

As Archbishop Hieronymos of Athens and All Greece said about him: "He was an authentic witness to the Orthodox tradition in the modern world, noble and at the same time courageous in matters concerning the Church and society, a truly free and genuine man."

The current abbot of the Sacred Monastery of Iviron is Archimandrite Nathanael, who succeeded Elder Vasileios.