Hieromonk Anthony (Torp)
His life was intertwined with the upheavals of the nineteenth century: the dissolution of the Georgian Kingdom, its annexation by Russia, and the Greek Insurrection of 1821. Within these events St. Hilarion led a life that encompassed the fullness of Christianity. As a married priest he was the royal confessor, and later as a monk he witnessed to the Faith before the Muslims. He finally became a vessel of the Holy Spirit as a great ascetic and spiritual father on Mount Athos. Where he was called “St. Hilarion the Georgian".
Amid such outward struggles, Fr. Hilarion immersed himself in the sea of spiritual contemplation and noetic prayer; consequently, a bitter spiritual battle began. Many times hordes of demons appeared to him like battle regiments. Approaching the tower, they would scream, as if laying siege, attacking the tower, but they were unable to achieve their ends. Sometimes the entire multitude would try to frighten the elder, crying out, "Three sides have already been taken; there remains one, but we'll take it."
