Athonite Elder Raphael (Berestov) reposes in the Lord in Greece

Elder Raphael. Photo: open sources

Renowned Athonite elder Hieroschemamonk Raphael (Berestov) has reposed in the Lord at the age of 93.

Father Raphael spent the final days of his earthly life in a hospital in Thessaloniki, Greece, where he was admitted after suffering a stroke. Doctors performed a craniotomy, but despite their efforts, the elder peacefully reposed in the Lord on July 22, 2026.

In his youth, after a serious illness, he vowed to embrace monastic life. In 1961, he entered the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius as a novice and remained there in ascetic labor for more than 20 years. He was tonsured a monk in 1966, ordained a hieromonk in 1993, and received the Great Schema in 1994.

Over the years, the elder carried out monastic obediences at a mountain skete in Abkhazia, at Valaam Monastery, and at the Monastery of the Cross in the Caucasus. From the late 1990s onward, he lived in ascetic labor on the Holy Mountain of Athos.

Father Raphael was widely known among believers throughout the post-Soviet world as a zealous spiritual father. In his sermons, he criticized ecumenism, warned against accepting digital identification documents, and frequently spoke about the need for repentance and spiritual sobriety.

Hieroschemamonk Raphael is also one of the figures featured in Metropolitan Tikhon Shevkunov’s book Everyday Saints and Other Stories.

As the UOJ previously reported, one of the oldest clergymen of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church had earlier reposed in the Lord. The deaths of renowned spiritual fathers and elders invariably become significant events for the Orthodox faithful, who honor their ascetic lives and spiritual legacy.

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