SEASON 1

Saint Paisios is born in 1924 as Arsenios to a family of Greeks in Turkish Cappadocia. During the first days of his life, his family shares the fate of thousands of Greeks that are forced, after the Lausanne Treaty between Greece and Turkey, to take the long journey back to the mother country. The family endures numerous hardships and adventures in order to reach the Promised Land, but alas, Greece is not the welcoming and long-sought motherland they dreamt of. Instead, they have to face even more trials and difficulties until they settle in the small town of Konitsa. Born and raised as a Greek Orthodox, Arsenios becomes extremely spiritual and devout, and soon enough expresses an avid desire to join the priesthood. In 1945, he joins the Greek Army and after the life changing experience of war, he travels to the monastic community of Mount Athos. During the following years, Arsenios is torn between his wish to join the priesthood and his guilt towards his mother’s dismay. He finally realizes that there is no other way than to follow his calling, and he settles in the Filotheos Monastery. In 1954, he becomes a monk and receives the name Paisios.

SEASON 2

The second season follows Paisios’ new life as a monk. From Mount Athos, he starts his journey back to Epirus to build the Monastery of Stomio that Germans had burnt down. Later he goes to the Sinai Desert to live the monastic life he desires, but his health leads him back to Mount Athos, where thousands of people come to visit him and talk with him. The events spanning from the mid-1950s to his death in 1994 are filled with his ascetic, never-ending struggles, his love and compassion for the common people, his cancer and death acceptance and the many miracles they attributed to him.