By Olga Sibert
Come on in. Sit down. Rest yourself. Settin’s cheaper’n standin’.
Here in the Appalachians we have a person known as a Granny Woman. I was privileged to grow up with one and I pray, God willing, I will be one myself someday. On this past May 6th, as I was researching and reading up on the Saints of the day, I was introduced to a Saint I had yet to meet, and I instantly fell head-over heels in love with her.
Her name is St. Sophia, the Ascetic of Kleisoura. She was born in 1883 and reposed in 1974. She was named among the Saints in 2011.
St. Sophia’s story is truly amazing. Widowed at a young age, after her only child died she was told by The Panagia to go and live in the Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos in Kleisoura. She stayed there all her life, living in humble circumstances showing grace, humility, love, and a Christ-like, mystical insight. She was a wild Fool-for-Christ with a shabby appearance, long, unkempt, graying hair, and a dark ragged cloak. She healed herself through the power of prayer alone, slept in the cinders, and preached God’s word to her visitors whom she always showed great hospitality.
Remind you Appalachians of anybody? A Granny Woman perhaps?
According to Appalachian History, a Granny Woman is “… usually [an] elder woman in the community, the ones people come to with their problems. They do not wear any special garb or have any physical attributes, other than being elderly, that a person can identify them by. The Granny women are recognized throughout the community by their actions.”
“For example, Granny women do not expect to be paid for their services. Furthermore, they are expected to be ethical, and never do harm to another human being. Many Granny women are fundamentalist Christians and are looked to as religious leaders in their communities. Yet they are not in control over anyone. Instead, they are just looked at as wise, good women who unselfishly help the community.”
Many people came to Saint Sophia with their problems. She always greeted them cheerfully saying, “Welcome my birds!” She knew of these visits beforehand, greeting folks seeking her counsel by their names before she even turned around to see them.
“They come to us, Sophia,” The Panagia told her. “Those who are good come to us, and those who are bad also come.”
At left St. Sophia and at right with some “birds.” Granny Woman in middle.
As an Orthodox Christian woman, she was as “fundamental” as they come. She was a religious leader to those who recognized her, yet she was never tonsured a monastic and had no control or hierarchal authority over anyone. She was a wise, good woman who unselfishly helped her community and reminded those she comforted to not be afraid, that The Panagia hangs around the Monastery and protects it.
In the Appalachian dialect you’ll hear Granny Women saying things like, “I ain’t been in his shoes, and I can’t gauge his footsteps.” St. Sophia would agree. She never condemned anyone but instead would say, “Cover things, so that God will cover you.” Or, “Did you see? Did you hear? Shut your mouth!”
Hunched and barefoot, St. Sophia and her diet of pickles, dry bread, and tomatoes would be a familiar sight in the rural Appalachians where women have rarely been known for their fancy footwear (or any footwear at all for that matter), and dry bread, pickles, and tomatoes are staple foods.
Granny Women are known for their ability to deliver babies without any formal schooling. Likewise, Eldress Sophia helped deliver precious souls to her beloved Lord and Panagia through her intercessions. “What can’t be cured must be endured,” Granny Women say and Grannies, as well as St. Sophia, endure all their hardships for Christ.
May you be well. May you have joy! Repent, my children … May you have prayer … day and night … wherever you walk, wherever you are found, wherever you are standing, always you should say: ‘My Christ, have mercy on me!’ With a sweet tongue speak to God, that your prayer might reach Him.
— Saint Sophia
Apolytikion St. Sophia, the Ascetic of Kleisoura in the Third Tone:
O blessed mother Sophia, you became wise, and the adornment of the Mother of God, and you lived your life in the Monastery ascetically, from which have spread the praise of your struggles, striking the ranks of the demons. And as you stand as an intercessor before Christ, do not neglect those who honor you with fervor.
Originally published May 13, 2021, at Eastern Chestnut.
Olga Sibert is a 14th generation Southerner born in Appalachia. She is the mother of 7 children. Her line was reunited to Orthodoxy in 2019 when her family was baptized and chrismated. Every Sunday, Olga turns down the Alan Jackson before whipping her minivan up the gravel driveway to her ROCOR parish. You can follow her at her blog Eastern Chestnut: Restoring Strength to the South Through Orthodoxy and on Instagram.
