Saint Euphrosynos the Cook

Born to a peasant family in the ninth century, Euphrosynos was a simple man with no schooling. A very faithful servant of God, he became a monk in Palestine and humbly toiled as a cook for the brethren. When a priest of the monastery asked God to show him the good things awaiting the righteous in the age to come, he slept and saw an indescribably beautiful garden and there he also saw Euphrosynos. The cook told the priest they were in Paradise by God's great mercy and gave him three apples that were growing on a tree. When he awoke, he discovered the ineffably fragrant apples lying next to him. He found Euphrosynos and asked where he had been during the night. The saint hesitated but then told him, the same place as you. The priest told the brethren what had happened and showed them the heavenly fruit. They all went to the kitchen to offer respect to Saint Euphrosynos, but he had already left the monastery. Fleeing human glory, he lived alone in the desert for the rest of his days.