St. Euthymius the Great was born in the city of Melitene in Armenia into a pious Christian family. His birth was requested by the long prayers of his parents and was accompanied by a Divine revelation about the baby's future. Having lost his father at an early age, he was devoted to God and raised in a church environment. Having become a monk and ordained a presbyter, Euthymius was distinguished by his austerity of life, obedience, and deep spiritual concentration. However, the administrative service weighed on him, and, striving for silence, he secretly left his hometown and went to Palestine.
Having settled first in the Faransk Lavra and then in the desert, the monk led a strict hermit's life, earning his living by his own labor. Together with the Monk Theoktistos, he asceticized in a cave, where their solitude was discovered by people, and the brethren gradually gathered around the ascetics. This is how the monastic community arose, in which Euthymius became a spiritual mentor. He taught the monks humility, obedience, the memory of death, the combination of prayer with bodily labor, and the avoidance of arbitrary exploits.
The saint possessed the gift of clairvoyance and healing. He baptized many Arabs, including the military commander Aspevet, who later became a bishop. The fame of the monk's miracles spread, which again prompted him to seek solitude. He founded monasteries in deserted places, turned monks away from heresies, affirmed the Orthodox faith and accepted the confession of the Ecumenical Councils, especially the Chalcedonian One, which led many to the truth.
Despite his desire for silence, by the will of God, the brethren gathered around him again. Thus arose the great Lavra of St. Euthymius, consecrated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem. The Lord clearly confirmed the saint's faith: through his prayer, food was multiplied for the pilgrims and the brethren. The monk strictly instructed on the importance of obedience and warned of the spiritual danger of grumbling and flight from the monastery.
Saint Euthymius was distinguished by a special grace-giving power during divine services: some saw fire descending on him during the celebration of the liturgy. He took part in the spiritual formation of many great ascetics, including the young Savva, the future Savva the Sanctified, whose glorification he predicted.
The monk knew about the time of his death in advance. On the feast day of Anthony the Great, he said goodbye to the brethren, gave final instructions on love, humility, fidelity to church rules and mercy to the pilgrims. On January 20, 473, at the age of 97, the Monk Euthymius peacefully departed to the Lord.
After his burial, Saint Dometian, his closest disciple, received a vision from his abba and soon also passed away. Saint Euthymius was glorified as a great ascetic, a confessor of Orthodoxy and the father of monasticism in Palestine. His relics were revered in the monastery he founded, as evidenced by ancient pilgrims.