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Hidden up above the quiet bays of Mount Athos, the St. George Kellion of Kolitsou was home to some of the most remarkable Athonite elders of the 20th century. This book gathers their lives, struggles, and spiritual counsel—above all the witness of the recently glorified Elder and Saint Dionysius Ignat (†2004; in Romania, he is known as "Dionisie Ignat de la Colciu"), but also his fellow strugglers such as Hieroschemamonk George (Gamaliel) Boboc, Elder John Shova, and other fathers who lived and prayed in this small corner of the Holy Mountain.

Through eyewitness accounts, pilgrims’ journals, and rare testimonies, Rivers of Living Water opens a window into the Athonite life at Kolitsou: to their nights of stillness and prayer, to their bonds of spiritual brotherhood in Christ, to the hardships of poverty and exile they endured, and to the spiritual wisdom distilled within them through decades of ascetic struggle.

This is not simply a biography of one man but a living memory of a spiritual family, bound together in Christ and dedicated to the Mother of God, the Protectress of the Holy Mountain. Readers will find here not only the history of a Kellion and its fathers, but also guidance, encouragement, and a glimpse of the grace that sustained them.

This is a book for pilgrims, for seekers, and for all who desire to taste the freshness of the Gospel flowing through the monastic heart of Mount Athos.

NOTE: In a historic decision, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate announced on August 31, 2025, the canonization of Elder Dionysius Ignat, Abbot of the Kellion of Saint George at Kolitsou, together with Hieromonk Petronius Tanase of Prodromou Skete. Elder Dionysius, whose life and counsel form the heart of Rivers of Living Water, is now officially numbered among the saints of the Church.

An excerpt from the “Closing Thoughts” chapter:

While there were definite specific moments in the counsels I received from the Fathers in Kolitsou, or in their actions where I felt I experienced split second moments of dimly perceiving the “power of grace being transmitted”.

With Elder George Boboc there was that glimpse into his standing before God in his soul, where it seemed like a living example of the psalm verse “a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 51:17) was standing before me. It was a glimpse of an example of what is really involved in prayer, in standing naked before God in one’s soul, in repentance and gratitude, and an example of the teaching of St. Mark the Ascetic, who said: “The remembrance of God is suffering of heart” or pain of heart “endured in the spirit of devotion.”

With Elder John Shova there was a combination of joy, an innocence, a childlikeness and a pure-hearted love that was intertwined with an almost imperceptible humility that he strove to cloak himself with. This can be seen in his conversation with Fr. Ioanichie Balan, but it was also present in person as well—it could be easy for someone to overlook or miss, but at times it was as if the beauty residing in the depths of his soul “peeked out” through the windows of his clear, blue eyes.

However, the strongest feeling or impression that I received was from Elder Dionysius. It was how integral, how “real”, how completely and utterly down to earth and simple (in the best sense of the word) he was. When he counseled others to have “patience, patience and then more patience” he was not just quoting books, he was speaking from the long, hard decades of restoring the Kellion of St. George – sometimes with a few brothers to help him and sometimes all by himself. He was physically a small man, but had an extremely strong spirit and character forged by years of carrying his difficult crosses of manual labor and hearing the confessions of others, praying and caring for the souls of those who came to him day in and day out. His living example gave a new meaning to “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Mat. 5:5) – the earth here meaning being down to earth, simple, humble and “real”.