Smaragda Smyrnaiou

The series presents the life of Saint Paisios and his family and records his path to monasticism. The shooting took place in places where Saint Paisios lived, such as Konitsa and Mount Athos, Greece.

The story of Saint Paisios, or else known as Arsenios Eznepidis. After being uprooted from Farasa of Cappadocia as refugees, the family of young Arsenios settles in Konitsa, Epirus where he grows up with his mother and grandmother, who inherit to him their deep faith in Christ as well as their love for all people. Fast forward to many years later, his time in Mounth Athos and his move to Filotheos monastery play a catalytic role in his religious journey. Eventually, he sends a photograph of himself to his mother, bidding her farewell and telling her that from then on the Virgin Mary will be his mother. He no longer signs using the name Arsenios, but Paisios.

At the turn of the twentieth century a young merchant is abducted by a group of brigands who are sheltered in a remote mountainous area of Greece aiming to extract ransom from his wealthy family. The young man develops a kind of sympathy to the arch-brigand and realizes that the underground life and moral code of his kidnappers actually represent a more genuine expression of “New Hellenism” than his bourgeois well-being.

After 20 years in Paris, an inheritance brings Kostas back to his hometown Mytilini. Thats where he will meet again with a young girl who he firstly met in France, and his relatives bringing back memories of his childhood.