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Elder Ephraim was born in 1927 in Volos, Greece, with in the day of Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and was given a [[baptism]]al name of John(Ioannis). He grew up in poverty and helped his father at work, but always tried to emulate the pious life of his mother Victoria (whom he later tonsured a [[nun]] with the name of Theophano). He began to desire the monastic life around 14 years of age, but he did not get a blessing from his spiritual father to leave and become a [[monk]] until he was 19.  Once, just a month before he left the world, his friends decided to visit elder Joseph the Hesychast. Ioannis did not have any valuable gift to send with them, so he sent a small pouch of vermicelli and wrote a note. When unpacking gifts, elder Joseph said: "This child will become a monk here". When the friends of Ioannis returned and told him these words, he just forgot it - he had no idea about his future monastic life and had no blessing from the spiritual father.  When Ioannis was a little baby, his mother had a vision and understood that he will become a monk at Mt. Athos. So she was preparing him all his life, having this vision in her mind, and when he was 19, she finally decided to send him to elder Joseph. And now the spiritual father did not object as well.