Aris Servetalis, who portrayed Saint Nectarios of Aegina in the film Man of God, will play Saint Joseph the Hesychast in a biographical television series to be broadcast in Greece by Mega Channel, according to ope.gr.
The role of the Athonite saint will be portrayed at two stages of life: the younger Joseph will be played by Tasos Lekkas, while Servetalis will depict the saint in his mature years.
The series will consist of 12 episodes, with filming scheduled to begin after Pascha. The production is written and directed by the same team behind the television series Saint Paisios – From Farasa to Heaven: screenwriter Giorgos Tsiakkas and director Stamos Tsamis.
The project is supported by Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos and by the monastery’s St Maximos the Greek Institute, which also backed the film Man of God directed by Yelena Popovic about the life of St Nectarios.
The new series marks Servetalis’ return to television after nearly 25 years since his last TV appearance.
St Joseph the Hesychast was born in 1898 on Paros into a large and devout family and received the name Francis at baptism. After losing his father at an early age, he worked in the port of Piraeus during his youth and later enlisted in the army.
After completing military service in 1921, he distributed all his possessions to the poor and his family, and left for Mount Athos, dedicating himself to an ascetic life and the Jesus Prayer. In 1925, he was tonsured a monk, receiving the monastic name Joseph, and went on to lead a life of strict asceticism while guiding many monks as a spiritual father.
After many years of labour and reviving hesychasm on Mount Athos, the saint fell asleep in the Lord on August 15, 1959. The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople canonised him in 2019.
Photo: Facebook / Man of God
