Venerable Hierotheus the Younger of Iviron

Hierotheus the Younger of Iviron was an eighteenth-century monk of the Monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos, remembered as a learned hesychast, hieromonk, and missionary preacher. He was born in 1686 at Kalamata in the Peloponnesos to a wealthy and devout family; the tradition records his parents' names as Demos and Asimina. He is commemorated on September 13, and is also styled Hierotheos the New of Iveron.

After a thorough education in Latin, Greek, and philosophy, he turned from secular learning to the monastic life. He came to Mount Athos, first placing himself under a hermit near the cell of Saint Artemios before entering the brotherhood of Iviron Monastery, where he received the monastic tonsure. He afterward pursued further studies in Venice, and on returning to the Holy Mountain settled as a solitary in the Khaga wilderness near Iviron, where, according to the testimony of his contemporaries, he led a strict hermit's life centered on the unceasing Jesus Prayer.

Hierotheus was ordained deacon by Metropolitan Auxentios of Sofia and later elevated to the priesthood by Metropolitan James of Neocaesarea. With several Athonite companions he left the Holy Mountain to serve the people of the island of Skopelos, where he labored for eight years. As the end of his life drew near he withdrew to the secluded island of Gioura with his disciples, and there he reposed on September 13, 1745, at the age of fifty-nine. Three years after his death his head was translated to Iviron Monastery, where it was honored as a relic reported to give off a heavenly fragrance.