The life of St Thomas of Mount Maleon
Only after some years of formation did he receive a blessing to withdraw into complete solitude, and tradition holds that a pillar of fire, associated with the memory of the prophet Elijah, led him by night to the place he was meant to settle, a remote height on Mount Maleon in the eastern reaches near Athos. There he turned the same courage he had once shown against human enemies toward an inward struggle instead, and in time reports of his holiness spread beyond his solitude despite his own wish to remain hidden; people began coming to him for counsel, and the sick who sought him out are said to have recovered through his prayers. He reposed in the tenth century, and even afterward his relics, later divided between the sees of Monemvasia and Sparta, continued to be sought out by those who venerated him, especially in the region of Lakonia where his memory has remained strongest.
