Ephraim of Arizona

Archimandrite Ephraim died at St. Anthony Monastery, Arizona, on December 7, 2019, at the age of 91.

Archimandrite Ephraim devoted his entire life to missionary work, which was based on the opening of Orthodox monasteries in the United States and Canada, which soon became spiritual centers. The first monastery was founded in 1989 (the convent of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania). In 1995, Archimandrite Ephrem founded the now-famous monastery in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona in honor of Anthony the Great, where he settled. Totally 19 monasteries were established in the United States and Canada as a result of his work.

In 1979, Ephrem visited North American cities and met with members of the Greek diaspora.

Ephraim moved to Mount Athos in 1947, where he was a disciple of the Athonite elder St. Joseph the Hesychast. On July 13, 1948, he was tonsured and given the monastic name Ephraim. When his spiritual master Joseph the Hesychast died on August 15, 1959, he became the geronda (elder) of the hut of Annunciation of the Theotokos in New Skete. Ephraim soon became the head of his own brotherhood (which grew to 80 monks in 1981) and moved with them to the skete of Provata in 1968. From October 1, 1973 to 1991, Ephraim served as the abbot of Philotheou Monastery. Through the efforts of Archimandrite Ephrem, monastic life was restored in several sketes on Mount Athos, as his disciples also repopulated the monasteries of Philotheou, Xeropotamou, Konstamonitou, and Karakallou.

Archimandrite Ephraim (Moraitis, also known as Ephraim of Philotheos, Greek: Εφραίμ Φιλοθεΐτης and Ephraim of Arizona, Greek: Εφραίμ Αριζόνας). (June 24, 1928, Volos, Thessaly, Greece – December 7, 2019, St. Anthony Monastery, Arizona, USA) was a Greek clergyman of the American Archdiocese of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople.

On June 24, 1928, he was born Ioannis Moraitis (Ιωάννης Μωραΐτης) in Volos, Greece. His parents were Demetrios and Victoria Moraitis.