Euphrosynos the Cook

Also known as Euphrosynos the Monastery Cook

A humble monastery cook revealed to be a saint in a brother's vision.

September 11New Calendar

Feast Day

September 24Old Calendar

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Euphrosynos the Cook

Life

Euphrosynos the Cook was a ninth-century monastic remembered for the hidden sanctity he attained while serving in obscurity as a monastery kitchen worker. Born to simple parents and without formal education, he entered the monastic life and was assigned the lowly obedience of cooking, which he carried out with constant prayer, fasting, and silent endurance of the contempt shown him by some of the brethren on account of his rural background.

His holiness, concealed during his lifetime, was disclosed through a vision granted to a priest of the same monastery, after which Euphrosynos fled to escape the praise of others. He is commemorated on September 11 and is venerated as a model of humility and faithfulness in lowly service.

Customs & Traditions

A humble monastery cook shown in a vision holding the fruits of Paradise; the beloved custom is to bless and share apples on his feast, recalling the three apples he gave the priest - a favorite of children, and he is a patron of cooks.

Troparion & Kontakion3 hymnsReadHide

TroparionTone 4

You lived righteously in great humility,
in labors of asceticism and in guilessness of soul,
O righteous Euphrósynos.
In a mystical vision, you demonstrated most wondrously the heavenly joy which you had found.
Make us worthy to be partakers of it as well, by your intercessions.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 5

(Podoben: “O coeternal Word...”) With a humble heart O Father Euphrósynos,
you offered your service as a cook,
and you were truly filled with the Holy Spirit,
therefore the glory of God became known to us through a venerable priest;
make us partakers of it as well, O God-bearer, by your intercessions.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

KontakionTone 4

(Podoben: “You appeared today...”) You shared in heavenly gladness because of your angelic life,
and you appeared as one equal in honor to the Angels,
with them, O Euphrósynos, intercede for those who honor you.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline3 momentsReadHide

9th centuryMonastic life as a cookEuphrosynos entered a monastery and was given the obedience of working in the kitchen, where he prepared plain meals while keeping to constant prayer and fasting and bearing the scorn of some of the brethren without complaint.
9th centuryThe priest's vision of ParadiseA devout priest of the monastery prayed to be shown the blessings prepared for those who love God. In a dream he beheld Euphrosynos in a garden of Paradise and asked him for a gift; the cook gathered apples, wrapped them in a kerchief, and gave them to him.
9th centuryDeparture from the monasteryWhen the priest woke and revealed the vision to the assembled brethren, Euphrosynos fled the monastery to escape human glory; according to tradition the place where he hid remained unknown, and he reposed in seclusion.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

Character and Service

The accounts of Euphrosynos emphasize the deliberate lowliness of his life. Having worked as a cook before his tonsure, he is said to have practiced self-deprivation rather than exploiting his access to the kitchen, and to have prepared plain food, reportedly telling those who complained that fine cooking was of no use for attaining the Kingdom of Heaven.

Some of the monks scorned him because of his peasant origins, but he is remembered for enduring every unpleasantness in silence, combining his menial obedience with continual prayer and fasting.

The Apples of Paradise

By tradition, the priest who received the vision found upon waking that the apples Euphrosynos had given him in the dream remained wrapped in the cloth, still giving off a wondrous fragrance. The synaxarion relates that the brethren divided the fruit, keeping the pieces for blessing and distributing them especially to the sick, who were said to be healed by them.

This account is the source of Euphrosynos's enduring association with hidden holiness attained in humble labor, and of his veneration as an intercessor for those engaged in lowly service.

Relics & Shrines

A fragment of his relics is reported to be kept at the Monastery of Loukous in Greece.

Related SaintsShowHide

Browse other saints who share his calling and place.

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Ideas for Celebrating This Day5 ideasShowHide

Ways to keep the feast of St Euphrosynos the Cook.

Bless and share apples on his feast, recalling the three fragrant apples of Paradise that Euphrosynos gave the priest in his vision.
Bake an apple treat — pie, sauce, or slices with honey — together, and give a portion to a neighbor or the poor.
Let the children help cook a simple family meal and talk about how Euphrosynos served others humbly in the kitchen while eating only plain food himself.
Honor the "hidden" workers in your parish and home — cooks, cleaners, servers — thanking God that heaven is open to the humble.
Make a small family resolution to do a good deed in secret, as he quietly fled praise, and sing his apolytikion.

Sources: Synaxarion