Larnaca, Cyprus, October 19, 2017

Reports have appeared in both Greek and English about a recent miracle of Elder Ephraim (Moraitis) of St. Anthony’s Monastery in Florence, AZ. According to the information reported, Elder Ephraim miraculously prevented a plane crash on a flight from Larnaca, Cyprus to Haifa, Israel.

The incident occurred on October 9, when a TUS-Airways flight began to show engine problems about 10 minutes prior to landing in Haifa. The Cypriot pilot, Panagioti, fainted, but awoke to the sensation of two warm hands taking over the yoke of the plane.

The passengers were in a panic, except for an Archimandrite Andrea from Nazareth who was silently saying the Jesus Prayer on his prayer rope.

The plane landed safely, and the pilot, reverently kissing Fr. Andrea’s hand and visibly shaken, asked what happened to the other priest who was sitting next to the archimandrite. Fr. Andrea replied that no one had been sitting next to him. “There was a short, very skinny, white-bearded elder who held my hands,” the pilot insisted. “He is the one that saved us!”

The archimandrite then showed the pilot a photo of Elder Ephraim of Arizona, and he was dumbfounded, realizing that was the man who had saved the plane and everyone aboard.