Sickness nad Pain Are A Gift of God: Saint Panteleimon Comes to the Aid of Monk Daniel

In the Kalyva of Saint Chrysostomos of the Skete of Koutloumousiou of the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon on Mount Athos, there lived years ago Monk Daniel who for 20 years was sick and had headaches and backaches, kidney and heart problems, leg problems and pain sometimes throughout his entire body.

Many times he travelled to doctors and received numerous X-ray examinations and radiographies, but the outcome was always the same. The doctors could not find any physical explanation for his sickness. Yet Monk Daniel continued to suffer his sicknesses and there was not a physician or scientist to be found that could help him.

One 27th of July, during the vigil of Saint Panteleimon, brother Daniel prayed with tears in his eyes and pleaded with Saint Panteleimon saying: "Saint of God and protector of our Skete, you who are a physician and for the love of Christ was martyred and spilled your blood, show your love and plead to the Master Christ to grant me health, so that with health I could glorify His name and psalmodize during the vigils."

Having said this, Monk Daniel grew a bit tired and took some sleep. He then in a vision saw Saint Panteleimon kneeling before the throne of God pleading for the health of Daniel. Monk Daniel heard the Master Christ say to Saint Panteleimon: "My brother Great-Martyr Panteleimon, do you think you are more compassionate than me? Do you think you love humanity more than me? I understand that out of love for me you spilled your blood, but did I not also spill mine and daily spill my blood for the salvation of people's souls? Learn that it is my will in which it happens many times for the body to suffer in order for the soul to be saved. This is how I want many people to be saved."

When brother Daniel heard this he awoke and glorified the name of God, thanked Saint Panteleimon for his effort and mediation, and immediately, as the same monk related, a great burden was lifted off of him and related that we must endure with patience, joy and thanksgiving the cross and situation of our sicknesses.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Papoulakis: Saint Joachim of Vatopaidi (5)

Vatopaidi Monastery

...continued from Part 4

HIS RETURN TO HESYCHIA

When the tempest of the war subsided by the mercy of God, though only after a multitude of casualties in the liberation of the nation, blessed Joachim Papoulakis withdrew to his beloved hesychia. However, he did not return to Athos and Vatopaidi, the monastery of his repentance, but preferred instead the quiet areas of the land of his birth, Ithaki; but this was not by human design. Holy men always speak and act “not by their own will, but as they are moved by the Holy Spirit” (see 2 Peter 1:21). This devout athlete in the spiritual arena and instrument for the twofold love of God and man not only always disregarded his own interest, but also directed his every action to the benefit of the people; this was his reason for residing outside of Athos. Throughout the entire course of his lifelong struggle, according to those who knew him, he always linked compassion for others with his own personal asceticism. This is why he preferred to live the hesychastic life within the world, binding together these two callings. Having arrived in Ithaki, he chose to reside in the forest called Aphentikos Longos, meaning “Master’s Thicket.” He remained there for about five years in strict asceticism, barefoot and half-naked, living in fasting and hardships.

During this period, Elder Joachim’s chief occupation was prayer; and he went about it using all of the rules and principles of spiritual inwardness and sobriety that he had practiced so intently during his stay on Athos. His five years of extreme asceticism in his carefree surroundings, coupled with his earlier training, raised him to the level of godly illumination; and Divine Grace elevated him to deified theoria — now a normal state for him — at which point his blessed soul was adorned with clairvoyance and foreknowledge. What is more blessed than the mind that has been illumined and the heart that has been purified? The person who is found worthy of these things sees, by means of them, God and the things of God. How very little we know about the life of holy men — and only in a faint way do they become known to us — and this from glimpses of their life that they themselves have allowed us to see.

Everyone drew attention to the Saint’s prophetic and therapeutic charismata, which were usually revealed when he associated with the people for their benefit. But what struggle did this spiritual giant undergo in order to put off the “old man” (Eph. 4:22) of corruption and lies, to mortify the “members which are on the earth” (Col. 3:5), and to crush the beast of egocentricity — which is truly the “abomination of desolation” (Matt. 24:15) — so that “mortality might be swallowed up by life” (2 Cor. 5:4)? Only fellow spiritual athletes who are one in heart, in way of life, and belief know these things; those who take up the cross of Christ; those who have hurled themselves with zeal into the sea of painstaking diligence and have fully embraced “spiritual poverty” (see Matt. 5:3) by means of voluntary obedience and submission. “As many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them” (Gal. 6:16), and this is precisely what the blessed Elder Joachim Papoulakis did. “By their fruits you will know them” (Matt. 7:20), says our Lord. The spiritual charismata that adorned his benevolent soul and his innumerable miracles, through which he still today benefits the faithful, tell us of his spiritual riches and of the boldness he has before God.

When people hear about a miracle - a supernatural manifestation of Divine Grace - being done through a holy person, they usually express their wonder and astonishment. They are more amazed, however, by the supernatural occurrence than by the person that Divine Grace has acted through and about how much boldness and holiness he has been found worthy of. Every supernatural occurrence is a work of Divine Grace, a work of the uncreated divine energies, by which the All-wise and Almighty God fashioned and maintains the created universe. These divine energies keep the entire creation balanced, so that it continues to behave in character precisely and faithfully in terms of appropriate seasons and processes. When a miracle occurs, however, this is precisely a “supernatural” movement of the laws and rules of nature, an intervention by God who rules and governs it. For this to happen, some familiar intermediary must mediate before the Divine Majesty, one whose status and candour before God are such that He will alter the workings of the laws of nature. This extraordinary intermediary, who as a friend of God has the candour to transform the earthly elements, is a holy person who either lives on the earth and belongs to the Church Militant or has been translated from this life and is now found in the Church Triumphant in the Kingdom of Heaven.

What we have written at this point has been to show how someone becomes holy, becomes a saint, because only in this way can he become a friend of God. These remarks of ours are intended to demonstrate the high standing and worthiness of a saint, showing how much he had to labor and struggle in order to arrive, by the grace of God, at this state. In our times, there are very few heroes and giants who achieve this state, even if it is a favor and a gift of God. Our blessed Father Joachim, whom we are describing here, is not a spiritual athlete from “that time” but a contemporary offspring of our Church. How many, many people there are even today who remember stories about his life that were told to them by their parents and relatives who lived with him, saw and heard him, and in general received benefit from him.

THE ACTIVITY OF SAINT JOACHIM

Living in strict asceticism in the ravine known as Gouves, Elder Joachim was becoming known especially by the nearby inhabitants. At first, a few elderly women were visiting him for their spiritual benefit, something that often happens with the Greek people. Those that benefited from their visits spoke about it to others, and soon Papoulakis, as they called him, became the centre of interest for the people of Ithaki. With his winsome and eloquent manner of expression, he captivated the masses, but even more so he consoled the distressed, supported the weak and infirm, and continually promoted piety and a virtuous morality, which during that period of foreign occupation had been brushed aside. He gave more of his attention to the poor and destitute, and whatever money or material goods were given to him, he distributed to them. To those, however, whose needs were spiritual rather than material, blessed Papoulakis repeated the saying of the Chief Apostle Peter: “What I do have I give you” (Acts 3:6); and by means of the clairvoyant gift that Divine Grace had so lavishly bestowed upon him, he resolved the uncertainties that troubled believers, rescuing them from dangers or harm that they would have suffered had they followed their own devices. He thwarted plots and retaliatory murders that were being planned in absolute secrecy, freed people from sterility, foretold future events that would happen to various persons, and revealed things about people who were missing or were far away.

The virtuous life and continual teaching of this blessed man so influenced this forsaken people that it brought about a palpable transformation in their moral behaviour. The otherwise unchecked crime was significantly reduced, and a moral life and order became the general rule on the island. But out of resentment for this spiritual progress and prosperity, Satan, that evil leader, incited others to make his first assault in order to hinder the Elder. Some envious and malicious men spread rumours that the Elder had prophesied that a great earthquake was about to happen, and because of it, the pregnant women would miscarry their children, something that upset the British governor of the area. This pompous fellow summoned Papoulakis and arrogantly began to threaten him. With a humble demeanour, the blessed Elder answered in defence that he had never said such a thing, that it was slander. However, the haughty governor reproached the Elder, and monasticism in general, and in anger rose from his seat in order to mistreat the humble monk. But, O Thy wonders, Lord All-bountiful and our King! The armchair of the governor was spontaneously shattered into pieces, and he fell to the ground unconscious. His guards moved him immediately to his bed, where he came to after several hours following medical intervention. As soon as he got up, this previously presumptuous man fell at the Elder’s feet and asked his forgiveness. He gave him permission to go about freely wherever he wanted and to exercise his spiritual duties, and proclaimed to everyone that he was a saint. This was one of the first acts by which the most blessed Elder revealed the supernatural power of Grace that had come to reside in his soul, because God’s holy ones, according to the sacred verse, “judge all things, yet they themselves are judged by no one” (see 1 Cor. 2:15).

According to the description of his first biographer, the blessed Elder was in this supernatural state of Grace from the initial stage of his repentance at Vatopaidi Monastery. At some nearby harbour - which most certainly would have been that of Vatopaidi Monastery - some vessels were mooring in order to exchange goods? Blessed Joachim foresaw approaching bad weather and warned the ships’ captains to leave the area where they were docked and to move to a safer place, which most likely he himself indicated. All of them complied with his advice except one, who instead mocked the Elder. Suddenly, however, such a tempest arose that only those who believed him and fled were saved, whereas the ship of the man who scorned his warning was destroyed.

Another time, while still a monk on Athos, when he had been sent for duties out in the world — perhaps to the dependencies of the Monastery which at that time were outside the Holy Mountain — he met a family man in a wretched state that belied his misfortune. The Saint asked him the reason for his trouble, and he explained that he was living as a bondservant to a doctor. He owed the doctor money because he had healed his wife and his children from a serious disease, and he had nothing else to offer him. Thus, for recompense, he became his permanent servant; consequently, his family was suffering from abject poverty. Blessed Joachim’s heart went out to the man, and he suggested that he allow him to take his place, if the doctor would agree to the arrangement. Hence, with the agreement of the doctor as well, Papoulakis stayed on as a servant in place of the poor householder, and he continued his duties. Seeing the monk’s earnestness, the doctor was filled with admiration for him. He bought him a new pair of shoes so that he would not have to go about barefoot and suffering. The next day, he saw him once again barefoot and asked where his new shoes were. The monk told him that he had given them to some poor person. Afterwards, he bought him some clothes, since his own were little more than rags, but these shared the same fate as the shoes. After this, the doctor, seeing among other things his austere way of life, relieved him of his servitude because, as he admitted, he could not bear to be waited on by such a holy person. Papoulakis himself disclosed this to the doctor’s former bondservant when the poor man saw him going about freely and asked how he was released from his service to the doctor.


To be continued…Part 6

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Role of Saint Panteleimon in the Life of Saint Nicholas Planas

Saint Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Unmercenary (Feast Day - July 27)

Saint Panteleimon is one of Orthodoxy's most beloved Saints and in our modern times has become the companion and protector of many of our contemporary saints. Below are given some details from the life of Saint Nicholas Planas. Other contemporary saints in which Saint Panteleimon plays an important role are the blessed Elder Paisios the Athonite and the recently reposed Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi.

On March 2, 1885 St. Nicholas Planas was ordained a priest. He always served at three churches: Saint Panteleimon's near Ilissus, Saint John the Hunter's and Prophet Elisseus' behind the Old Barracks.

His first assignment was as a parish priest at Saint Panteleimon's in Neos Kosmos, Athens. When he arrived the church was totally abandoned and overgrown with weeds, and shepherds would go and pasture their flocks there. Papa-Nicholas got the weeds out of the church and was the first to serve there.

Saint Panteleimon's parish consisted of -- thirteen families! During his term as parish priest, another priest without a parish visited him and asked to concelebrate in the Liturgy, and he, good and simple as he was, accepted him wholeheartedly. However, this priest made an agreement with the then church wardens of Saint Panteleimon's and they fired Papa-Nicholas and sent him to the Church of Saint John ("the Hunter," as they called the church in those days) on Vouliagmeni Road. The parish of this church consisted of -- eight families! And the priest's salary was a piece of meat from the lamb of Meat-fare Sunday or Christmas. That didn't bother Papa-Nicholas at all; he thought fasting was the corner-stone of virtue. It was enough that he had a church so that he could serve the Liturgy.

His dismissal from the Church of Saint Panteleimon caused him great spiritual sorrow. One night, as he left Saint John's to go home, he was weeping on the road. The place was deserted at that hour. Suddenly, he saw on the road a fine young man who said to him, "Why do you weep, my Father?"

"I weep, my child, because they chased me out of Saint Panteleimon's."

"Don't be grieved, my Father. I am always with you."

Papa-Nicholas said, "Who are you, my child?"

"I," he said, "am Panteleimon, who lives at Neos Kosmos." And immediately he disappeared from in front of him.

He himself described this vision word for word to a daughter of his synodia.

Every year, on the feast of St. Panteleimon, he would go to the Saint's church in Neo Kosmo and do a vigil. One year, as he himself related, he was sick and had a fever. His relative did not allow him to go for his customary vigil. But because of the love which Father Nicholas had for the Saint, he went anyway.

"That night," he himself said, "after the vigil, exhausted, I leaned on the edge of the Holy Table. In the delirium of the fever I saw the Saint in front of me, young and vigorous, holding a small glass full of medicine, and he told me, 'Drink it, my Father, to become well.' I took it from the hand and drank it and became completely well. The fever left me! For a whole week I had the sweetness in my throat. I thought it was a sin and ungrateful not to mention it. I came out through the Royal Gate and said, 'My children, I was very sick tonight, and at this moment Saint Panteliemon gave me medicine and I drank and became well.' Everyone believed it and knelt down, glorifying the Saint."

Saint Nicholas Planas

In the year 1923, one of his spiritual children who was exceptionally beloved by the Elder - a gentleman full of health and vigor - suffered a rupture of the appendix, and lived only eight days more. During those few days, Father Nicholas brought heaven down to earth with his unceasing and heartfelt prayer that his beloved child might live! One night when he came home, he said, grief-stricken, to his family, "Elias is going to die; Saint John and Saint Panteleimon told me." And truly, his beloved spiritual child departed - his child whom he would embrace every time he met him.

Three months passed before the sister of the deceased was able - because of her inexpressible grief - to ask exactly how he had seen the vision. He told her then, "At the time when I was serving Liturgy, I saw across from me, behind the Holy Table, Saint John and Saint Panteleimon, and they said to me, 'We conveyed your request to our Master, Christ, who told us that he would die.'"

"A higher command", they told him.

We bowed our heads, somewhat comforted.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Grotto-Shrine of Saint Paraskevi in Woodlawn, New York

The GROTTO-SHRINE OF THE MIRACULOUS HEALING HOLY WATERS OF SAINT PARASKEVI

Since the day of the healing of the Emperor’s eyes, the spring at Therapia in Turkey, has been commonly known as the "Spring of St. Paraskevi". Subsequently, it was discovered that this water had been blessed with miraculous healing powers, especially in reference to eye disorders. For this reason, the Orthodox Church proclaimed this spring a Shrine of the Miraculous Healing Holy Water of St. Paraskevi, and the Saint herself, the "patron saint of the blind". In due time the faithful of the area erected a stone grotto over the Holy Spring. This grotto and Spring still exist today as a silent, but clear manifestation of the love and mercy of God. Even more humbling and sobering is the record of literally tens of thousands of healings that have occurred over the years.

The memory and presence of St. Paraskevi is very much alive on Eastern Long Island. Both our parish in Greenlawn, New York and the underground Grotto-Shrine, which is adjacent to the church, are dedicated to her memory. This constitutes a unique distinction because our Church and Shrine are the only Greek Orthodox houses of worship in the Americas that bear her name. Furthermore, our Grotto-Shrine is the only Greek Orthodox Shrine of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. The erection of the Grotto-Shrine in our parish is the result of a life-long love and devotion to St. Paraskevi by the Yakovou Family. John, the son, being nurtured in piety and devotion to St. Paraskevi by his mother, Anastasia, and being blessed with the material means, decided to share the joy and depth of his spiritual experience with the community at large. This overflow of the heart and soul was translated into a visible reality with the construction of the Grotto-Shrine in the year 1969. Mr. Yakovou, the inspirer and sole benefactor of this spiritual jewel took great pains to ensure that our Grotto-Shrine would be an exact replica of the original Shrine at Therapia. On July 26, 1969. Archbishop Iakovos, personally brought a vial of Holy Water from the Shrine at Therapia, and consecrated the waters of our Grotto-Shrine by mixing the two.

Since then, thousands of pilgrims have visited the Shrine and have experienced the humbling privilege and joy of being in it. The stark simplicity of the interior, and the soft trickle of the water flowing from the mouth of the fountain create an atmosphere of serenity and purity. The inscription over the entrance, "Dedicated to my mother, Anastasia, who taught me to see", captures and conveys the mystique of the Grotto-Shrine. "Vision and sight", according to John Yakovou, "do not refer exclusively to physical blindness, but to the ability to see truth and to face it courageously." While most pilgrims are granted only this mystical experience, many have atso been granted the gift of physical vision. Hardly a week passes that some miraculous healing isn’t reported. There is no logical explanation, special pattern, unique procedure or formula, the healings occur at the will of God. Truly, "He works in strange and wondrous ways"; most often above our level of comprehension, but always with a definite purpose and goal. For example, it is highly significant that the healing of the Emperor would take place at Therapia, which is the Greek word for therapy.

The message was loud and clear. Likewise, it was not merely coincidence that John Yakovou and the late Theodore Synod is proposed, almost three years before the erection of the Grotto-Shrine, the name Shrine Place as the most appropriate name for the street in front of our church. One pilgrim who received both the mystical experience and the physical vision was Cecile Lessner of Bethpage, Long Island. In May of 1973, Cecile, who is Jewish, was cured of an unchecked growth of cells in one of her retinas. She visited the Grotto-Shrine, took Holy Water, and rubbed her eyes daily for two weeks with the Holy Water. When she was admitted for surgery at the Nassau County Medical Center, her doctors were astounded to discover that the disorder had disappeared completely.


On another occasion a member of the parish mailed a bottle of Holy Water to her mother in Greece, who was afflicted with cataracts. The mother’s eyesight was restored immediately after she anointed her eyes.

An even more dramatic healing occurred on September 14, 1975, to an elderly woman of the parish. This woman, who wished to remain anonymous, had been legally blind in the left eye for fifteen years as a result of a blood clot that burst. On the weekend of September 14th, she felt another clot forming in her eye. At the suggestion of her doctor, she began applying cold compresses to her eye. Shortly thereafter, a lady friend from the parish visited her, and suggested that she add Holy Water to the cold compresses. After a few applications, she felt intense heat emanating from her eye. Simultaneously the redness of the eye was disappearing. The next thing she realized was that she could see from that so called "legally blind" eye.

Mary Costides of Astoria, New York, was scheduled for a cornea transplant. She too visited our Grotto-Shrine; prayed; took Holy Water, and rubbed her eyes with it daily for ten days. When she returned to the doctor in March of this year for further tests, he told her that, "at least for now, you have no need for an operation."

These are just a few of the miraculous healings we have witnessed. There have been numerous healings involving glaucoma, cataracts, detached retinas, and a whole host of other eye disorders. Other maladies such as bone marrow disease, skin cancer, lung cancer, and nervous disorders have also been cured. Pilgrims have come from far and near to venerate the Holy Icon and Holy Relics of St. Paraskevi and to partake of the Holy Water. Likewise, requests for Holy Water have come from throughout the United States, from both Orthodox and non-Orthodox.


The Shrine is open daily, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Every Thursday evening a Paraklesis is chanted and names are read. Once a month a Divine Liturgy is celebrated. All visitors are welcome to participate in the services and to partake of the Holy Water and the blessings of Saint Paraskevi.

To send prayer requests, light a candle, buy an icon or receive some Holy Water from this miraculous shrine, you can write or email to the addresses below or visit here. For information on setting up a pilgrimage to this shrine to venerate the relics of St. Paraskevi and St. Panteleimon, see here.

It should be noted that they also have a shrine dedicated to St. Panteleimon (celebrated July 27), and this information is here. St. Paraskevi shrine information is here.

Saint Paraskevi Greek Orthodox Shrine Church
Shrine Place
Greenlawn, NY 11740
voice: (631) 261-7272
fax: (631) 261-7295

E-mail: shrine@stparaskevi.org

Read also:

Lives of Saint Paraskevi the Virgin Martyr

7 Astonishing Miracles of Saint Paraskevi

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Papoulakis: Saint Joachim of Vatopaidi (4)

...continued from Part 3

JOHN’S NEW WAY OF LIFE

John was now a novice at Vatopaidi. Although he was quite young, he was not ignorant of worldly vanity. He began working at a very early age and, because of his profession, had travelled about the various ports of trade of that time. He came into direct contact with life’s realities; consequently, he had no juvenile and dreamy fantasies about the world like others his age. For him, this was a solid base for the beginning of his new life, because he had acquired many spoils that would be useful in the upcoming combat and battles of the invisible warfare that the monastic life entails.

By our experience, we are convinced that it is not only a good intent and an innocent nature that are conducive to a good beginning toward a virtuous life, but also a strict and practical life full of difficulties, and we find the sacred words of the Psalms appropriate in the case of our exceptional John: “You have enlarged me when I was in distress” (Ps. 4:2). Both his good nature and his moral character played an important role toward this end. We learned that even when he was nursing as an infant, he kept the fast days. In general, for human life as a whole, restrictions and afflictions are of benefit, whereas ease is disorienting.

The young novice began his trial period with zeal and ardour, and his experienced guides, with equally significant circumspection and prudence, led him along the patristic lines of our sacred tradition. With the active life as a “rung toward theoria” as the fathers put it, the zealous spiritual athlete gave himself over to submission and obedience as a basis for a love of labour, by which the meaning of the Cross is conveyed. These qualities, as well as the ensuing prayer, which nurtures the continual remembrance of God, became for him his “bread day and night” (Ps. 41:4 LXX). His continual confession to his spiritual father, which, according to the Fathers, is a precise revelation of the secret thoughts of the heart, soon brought about the holy sense of mourning, by which the knocking on the door through the “unutterable groaning” (see Rom. 8:25) of the crushed heart and the noetic supplications of grace uphold those who mourn.

Under the ever-watchful supervision of the wise elders, the ardent John was not slow to produce fruit “like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season” (Ps. 1:3). And in fact, he did bear the utmost fruit — “a hundredfold,” to use the expression of the Divine Scriptures. With his vigorous nature, bright mind, and unparalleled courage, he quickly succeeded in proving himself in his life as a novice to be worthy of the monastic tonsure, and was advanced by his elder to the Small Schema as a monk. His name was changed from John to Joachim.

According to the Scripture, “when a lamp has been lit, it is not put in a secret place, or under a basket, but it is set on a lamp stand” (see Luke 11:33). Thus Father Joachim, after he was judged fit for the monastic habit, no longer remained hidden, but took on various responsible obediences for his holy Monastery according to his abilities, and he distinguished himself in these tasks, in the opinion of his elders. Because of this, he was advanced to the monastic Great Schema, and he took on even more important and responsible positions in the administration of the Monastery, continuously satisfying the brethren and everyone else. Besides his eloquence and other charismata, he had such gifts of kindness and persuasion that he was loved and welcomed wherever he happened to be. His pure disposition, coupled with the innate compassion that he always cultivated, compelled him to sympathize with the pain of the people of God. And at that time, this sympathy of his was overflowing because of the subjugation and the accompanying misfortunes that were afflicting our martyred nation. His unquenchable zeal and his exacting observance of the monastic rules, in which he was instructed from the beginning by the scholarly and very discerning fathers of his monastery, rendered him a spiritual instrument and a recipient of divine illumination capable of discerning persons, things, and situations when his monastery installed him as steward, overseer, and adviser in whatever concerned its management and administration.

We think it proper, as we continue, to mention the ongoing policy and actions of this eminent Monastery — because the extent of its activities should not be overlooked by the Greek people — particularly during the entire period of the people’s subjugation, when dangers extended to the whole nation and everything was handed over without resistance. Throughout the Monastery’s lengthy history, there were almost always scholarly and educated monks living the monastic life within it. It was natural then, that this combination of education with piety and virtue should link together the two chief virtues of love of God and love of neighbour, in which the personhood and destiny of man find their fulfilment. In this holy Monastery, it appears that there always was felt the need to apportion the activities and duties between these two salvific poles — that is, of twofold love — and never did it cease to stand in solidarity, to the extent that it was able, with the needs of the Church and the nation. Erudite men, brothers of the Monastery, educated in the dual instruction both of Grace and of external wisdom, were installed as metropolitans, bishops, archimandrites, preachers, and spiritual fathers, not only throughout the Greek lands, but even in the countries along the Danube. They supported the peoples, upheld the banner of faith, preserved the morals, and, especially, as unshakable bulwarks, restrained the papal tempest that raged against our Orthodox Faith. Guardians and helpers in the poverty of our people, they stood together with them in their pain, safeguarded family life, and paid off the debts of communities and cities, which the insatiable Islamic dragon never ceased to threaten. What then can we say about the non-existent education that left the nation sunk in illiteracy?

Beside the fact that there were scholarly monks who by various means took on the education of the children throughout the land, in 1748 the Monastery’s desire to found a school within the Holy Mountain became a reality, and moreover, within its own precincts, where today its ruins bear witness to its former glory. In this school, which was rather a Theological Academy, students were accepted from the entire Balkan Peninsula and our nation in general. The school’s deeper aim, of course, was the regeneration of Romanity and the unity of all the Orthodox peoples within the Ottoman Empire. This outlook produced results, for the school also promoted the Greek language and a classical education; its fruits were splendid, and its harvest bountiful. Eminent professors and adept scholars taught there, with Evgenios Voulgaris at the top of the list. Once, however, this high purpose became evident, the powerful, as always, sowed their weeds and began their machinations; as their crowning achievement, they even destroyed the building. As a diversionary tactic, they created the theory of Pan-Slavism, which plagued and disturbed the peace of our nation.

The purpose of this slight diversion from our story of the Saint was simply to show the long-standing social contribution of this sacred monastery, a policy that was continued by blessed Joachim Papoulakis, and, moreover, during the most apt times of upheaval. I repeat here verbatim the characterization of the Saint by his first biographer, the devout physician Panos D. Raftopoulos, who was well-acquainted with his life and work through eyewitness accounts.

“Having all his hope ever fixed in God, he never wavered before any danger. He walked tirelessly from place to place, and at a good pace; no one was able to keep up with him. Having great discretion and insight with regards to activities, he was appointed a counsellor for the Monastery by the Abbot, a position he held until he was sent out from it as a missionary for the liberty of the nation.”

The days of the revolution were drawing near, and the entire nation was in a state of preparation. The Church, with its clerics at the forefront, made her presence known. Emotions ran high at the monasteries, and all those initiated into the struggle — orators, priests, and monks — each took on his responsibilities in the area where his presence was needed. At that time, Vatopaidi Monastery provided both material and human aid, as in the case of the indefatigable blessed Joachim, “fervent in spirit” (Rom. 12:11) and an ever-ready supporter of our shaken people. Saint Joachim, the ascetic and diligent monk, the former steward of his sacred monastery, was re-assigned to the protection of the distressed population, and all his attention was given to the consolation and support of those living under persecution by the Turkish savagery.

This tireless labourer of compassion and love moved about from place to place, wherever our stricken people called him, and gave himself with zeal as a support and instructor. He consoled, he taught, and he constantly bolstered the morale of the people, especially of the non-combatant civilians, who were driven to wander about without food or shelter.

At times, he boarded vessels and served as a sailor, transporting food and other necessities to those who had fled the fierce carnage of the oppressors, who were trying with all the viciousness that characterized them to quell the revolutionary movement. In the Ionian Islands — the islands along the western shore of Greece — he rescued entire families from certain annihilation; more importantly, however, he raised the religious morale of the people, who were endangered by the lack of goods combined with the lavish promises and assurances of the Turks.

Once when he was just off the coast of the Peloponnesus, and within shouting distance of shore, a little after nine o’clock at night, he heard desperate cries from some people who were in danger from an attack by the Turkish army. The night was dark, with only faint moonlight, and the situation was critical. There was no chance of help from others, and those imperilled by the enemy were mostly women and children. Aboard the vessel, Blessed Papoulakis was shaken by the frightful event. He appealed with faith and a wounded heart for divine help, particularly to our Lady Theotokos, whom he especially loved and revered from the monastery of his repentance, and rushed with all the speed at his command to the scene of the drama. The miracle of faith happened; even though the enemy turned their weapons toward the boat and the bullets were falling like rain, he managed to collect all who were there without anyone being lost. He took up one of the oars of the boat for defence, turning to flight — by the Grace of God — the thick ranks of the spineless enemy.

To be continued…Part 5

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Saint Jacob Netsvetov, the Enlightener of the Peoples of Alaska

St. Jacob Netsvetov (Feast Day - July 26)

Father Jacob (Netsvetov) of Alaska was born of pious parents in 1802 on Atka Island, Alaska. His father, Yegor Vasil'evich Netsvetov was a Russian from Tobolsk. His mother, Maria Alekseevna, was an Aleut from Atka island. Yegor and Maria had four children who survived infancy; Jacob was the first born, followed by Osip (Joseph), Elena, and Antony. Yegor and Maria were devoted to their children and, though of meager means, did all they could to provide them with the education which would help them in this life as well as in the life to come. Osip and Antony were eventually able to study at the St Petersburg Naval Academy in Russia, becoming a naval officer and a shipbuilder, respectively. Their sister, Elena, married a successful and respected clerk for the Russian-American Company. But Jacob yearned for a different kind of success, a success that the world might consider failure for "the righteous live forever, their reward is with the Lord" (Wis. Sol. 5:15). And so, when the family moved to Irkutsk in 1823, Jacob enrolled in the Irkutsk Theological Seminary and placed all his hope in Christ by seeking first the Kingdom of God (Mt. 6:33).

Jacob was tonsured as a Subdeacon on October 1, 1825. He married a Russian woman (perhaps also a Creole) named Anna Simeonovna, and in 1826 graduated from the Seminary with certificates in history and theology. On October 31, 1826, he was ordained to the Holy Diaconate and assigned to serve the altar of the Holy Trinity-St Peter Church in Irkutsk. Two years later, on March 4, 1828, Archbishop Michael, who had earlier ordained Father John Veniaminov (St Innocent), elevated the godly deacon Jacob to the Holy Priesthood. This, however, was no ordinary ordination. As if he were a new Patrick, hearing the mystical call of his distant flock, Father Jacob yearned to return to his native Alaska. And the all-good God, who (satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness" (Ps.107:9) heard the prayer of his servant.

Archbishop Michael provided Father Jacob with two antimensia: one for the new Church which would be dedicated to the glory of God in honor of St Nicholas the Wonderworker in Atka, and one to be used for missionary activity. On May 1, 1828 a molieben for travelers was served, and Father Jacob, his father, Yegor, (now tonsured as reader for the Atka Church), and his matushka, Anna, set out for Alaska.

Who can tell of the perils and trials associated with such a journey? Travel in those days was never easy, either overland or over the waves of the sea. Nevertheless, aided by prayer and confidence in God's providence, the Netsvetov family arrived safely in Atka over a year later, on June 15, 1829. The new assignment for the newly-ordained Father Jacob would also prove to be quite a challenge. The Atka "parish" comprised a territory stretching for nearly 2,000 miles and included Amchitka, Attu, Copper, Bering and Kurile Islands. But this did not deter the godly young priest, for when he was clothed in the garments of the Priesthood, he was found to be "clad with zeal as a cloak' (Is. 59:17), and so he threw himself wholly into his sacred ministry. His deep love for God and for his flock was evident in everything that he did. Both in Atka and in the distant villages and settlements which he visited, Father Jacob offered himself as a "living sacrifice" (Rom 12:1). Having "no worry about his life" (Mt. 6:25 ff), the holy one endured manifold tortures of cold, wet, wind, illness, hunger and exhaustion, for to him life was Christ (Phil 1:21). Showing himself as a "rule of faith," his example brought his people to a deep commitment to their own salvation. Being fully bilingual and bicultural, Father Jacob was uniquely blessed by God to care for the souls of his fellow Alaskans.

When he arrived in Atka, the Church of St Nicholas had not yet been built. So, with his own hands Father Jacob constructed a large tent (Acts 18:3) in which he conducted the services. For Father Jacob the services of the Church were life: life for his people and life for himself. It was in the worship of God that he found both strength and joy. Later he would transport this tent with him on his missionary journeys, and like Moses in the wilderness, the grace of God was found wherever this tent was taken (Num 4:1 ff; 10:17 ff).

When his first six months had ended (end of 1829), Father Jacob recorded that he had baptized 16, chrismated 442, married 53 couples, and buried 8.

Once the church was constructed, Father Jacob turned his attention to the building of a school in which the children would learn to read and write both Russian and Unangan Aleut. The Russian American Company provided some of the support initially, with the students providing the remainder. This continued until 1841, when it was reorganized as a parish school and ties with the company ceased. Father Jacob proved to be a talented educator and translator whose students became distinguished Aleut leaders in the next generation.

Father Netsvetov led an active physical and intellectual life, hunting and gathering for his own subsistence needs, preparing specimens of fish and marine animals for the natural history museums of Moscow and St Petersburg, corresponding with St Innocent (Veniaminov) on matters of linguistics and translations. He labored over the creation of an adequate alphabet for the Unangan-Aleut language, and the translation of the Holy Scriptures and other appropriate literature into that language. St Innocent praised the young pastor for his holiness of life, his teaching, and for continuing this work of translating which he, himself, had begun earlier among the native peoples. After fifteen years of service, Father Jacob was awarded the Nabedrennik, Kamilavka, and Gold Cross. Later, he would be made Archpriest and receive the Order of St Anna.

These ecclesiastical awards do not tell of the personal sufferings of this warrior for Christ. In March of 1836, his precious wife, Anna, died of cancer; his home burned to the ground in July of 1836; and his dear father, Yegor, died of an undetermined illness in 1837. Who can utter the depth of sorrow felt by this God-pleaser? Yet he lifted up his voice with that ancient sufferer and cried, "shall we indeed accept good from God and shall we not accept adversity? In all this he did not sin with his lips" (Job 2:10). In his journal Father Jacob attributed all to "the Will of Him whose Providence and Will are inscrutable and whose actions toward men are incomprehensible." He patiently endured hardships and sufferings like the Holy Apostle Paul. He saw in these misfortunes not a Victory by the hater of men's souls (i.e. the devil) but a call from God to even greater spiritual struggles. With this in mind, Father Jacob petitioned his ruling bishop to return to Irkutsk in order to enter the monastic life. A year later, word reached him that permission was granted contingent upon the arrival of a replacement. None ever came.

Instead, Bishop Innocent soon came to Atka and asked Father Jacob to accompany him on a voyage by ship to Kamchatka. Who can know the heavenly discourse enjoyed by these two lovers of Christ as they traveled over the waves? This, however, is clear, the holy archpastor was able to accomplish three things in Father Netsvetov. Firstly, he applied the healing salve of the Spirit with words of comfort; secondly, he dissuaded Father Jacob from entering the monastery; and thirdly, he revealed to the godly priest the true plan of the Savior for his life, that he 'might preach (Christ) among the Gentiles" (Gal. 1: 16) deep in the Alaskan interior. Father Jacob continued to serve his far-flung flock of the Atka parish until December 30, 1844. A new zeal had taken hold of him, and it was then that St Innocent appointed him to head the new Kvikhpak Mission in order to bring the light of Christ to the people of the Yukon. Here, aided by two young Creole assistants, Innokentii Shayashnikov and Konstantin Lukin, together with his young nephew, Vasilii Netsvetov, Father Jacob "settled' in the wilderness of Alaska.

He learned new languages, embraced new peoples and cultures, devised another alphabet, built another church and Orthodox community, and for the next twenty years, until his health and eyesight failed, continued to be an evangelical beacon of the grace of God in southwestern Alaska.

Establishing his headquarters in the Yup'ik Eskimo village of Ikogmiute (today's 'Russian Mission') he traveled to native settlements hundreds of miles up and down Alaska's longest river (the Yukon) as well as the Kuskokwim River region. At the insistence of Indian leaders, he traveled as far as the middle of the Innoko River baptizing hundreds of Indians from various, and often formerly hostile, tribes. "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" (Ps 133:1). He built the first Christian temple in this region, and dedicated it to the feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross. Here Father Jacob, in spite of failing health, joyfully celebrated the Church's cycle of services, including all of the services prescribed for Holy Week and Pascha.

Finally, in 1863, the evil One, who "walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (I Pet 5:8), sought one last time to get the better of the righteous one. So the devil, the father of lies, (John 8:44), inspired an assistant of Father Jacob to level spurious and slanderous charges against his master. This resulted in a summons to Sitka, issued by Bishop Peter. The godly pastor was quickly cleared of all charges, but due to his ever-worsening health, he remained in Sitka for his final year serving a Tlingit chapel. He died on July 26, 1864 at the age of 60 and was buried on the third day at the entry of the chapel. During his final missionary travels in the Kuskokwim/Yukon delta region, he had baptized 1,320 people - distinguishing himself as the evangelizer of the Yup'ik Eskimo and Athabascan Indian peoples.

This brief history has recounted the basic chronology of the saint's life and labors, but we must not neglect to relate his other deeds, that the light be not "hidden under a bushel" (Mt.5:15). In 184 1, Father Jacob encountered a group of women from his flock in Amlia who had fallen victim to certain demonic influences and teachings. Blaming himself for the seduction and fall of his spiritual children by the evil one, he informed the leader among them that he was going to pay them a visit.

Upon arriving, he found one of the women paralyzed, semi-conscious and unable to speak. He ordered that she be removed to another house apart, and on the next day when this was accomplished, he lit the lampada before the icons of the beautiful corner, vested himself in his priestly epitrachilion (stole), sprinkled holy water throughout the room, and began the first prayers of exorcism. He then left.

During the night he was notified that the woman had begun to speak but incoherently. He came immediately to her and performed a second exorcism. This time, she sprang out of her bed and stood next to the saint, joined her prayer to his, and accompanied them with prostrations. When the prayers were finished, Father Jacob again sprinkled her with holy water and gave her the precious cross to kiss. She regained full consciousness, a state of health and true reason - that is, even the false teachings of the evil spirits had no more part in her.

Once in November of 1845, Father Jacob was preaching in the village of Kalskag, where the local chief was also the head shaman. He spoke for all of the villagers and resisted the Word of God forcefully. But the saint, calm and full of the Holy Spirit, continued to sow the seeds of right belief and piety. After many hours, the chief fell silent and finally came to believe. The villagers, in solidarity with their leader, also joyously expressed their belief in the Triune God and sought Holy Baptism.

Father Jacob was a physician of bodies as well as souls. He often cared for the sick among his flock even to his own detriment. During the winter of 1850-1851 the saint was himself ravaged with illness. Yet he cared for the sick and dispensed medicine to them every day. Father Jacob's preaching often brought together in the Holy Faith tribes who were traditional enemies. One example from his journal reads:

"Beginning in the morning, upon my invitation, all the Kol'chane and Ingalit from the Yukon and the local ones gathered at my place and I preached the word of God, concluding at noon. Everyone listened to the preaching with attention and without discussion or dissent, and in the end they all expressed faith and their wish to accept Holy Baptism, both the Kol'chane and the Ingatit (formerly traditional enemies). I made a count by families and in groups, and then in the afternoon began the baptismal service. First I baptized 50 Kol'chane and Ingalit men, the latter from the Yukon and Innoko. It was already evening when I completed the service. March 21, 1853."

So it was that this apostolic man, this new Job, conducted himself during his earthly course. There are many other deeds and wonders which he performed, many known and many more known only to God. Few missionaries in history have had to endure the hardships which Father Jacob faced, yet he did so with patience and humility. His life of faith and piety are the legacy which he leaves to us, his spiritual children in America, and indeed to all Christians throughout the world.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Lives of Saint Paraskevi the Virgin Martyr

Righteous Paraskevi the Virgin Martyr (Feast Day - July 26)

St. Kosmas Aitolos in one of his sermons taught about the Parable of the Sower which can be found in the follwing sections of the Gospels: Matt 13:3-23; Mk 4:2-20; Lk 8:4-15. In interpreting this parable, he explains: "Rock is the heart of the person who hears God's word and accepts it with joy but has little reverence for Christ, and when he's tempted, he denies Christ and goes with the devil. The thorns represent the person who hears God's word and to whom evil passions later come and choke and who remains barren. The good earth is the person who is perfect, who brought forth a hundredfold; the middle person who brought forth sixty-fold; and the lesser person who brought forth thirty-fold." Besides explaining the parable in this way, he brings up lives of the Saints to illustrate each point. After citing examples of each he comes to explain a Saint who yielded a hundred-fold and lifts up this example to his hearers for those who wish to imitate this Saint and yield a hundred-fold as well. This Saint he chose was St. Paraskevi.

Saint Paraskevi the Virgin Martyr

By Saint Kosmas Aitolos

Let us say something about the good earth. St. Paraskevi was a twelve year old maiden from a noble house. Left an orphan, she divided up all her possessions among the poor, and with these she purchased Paradise.

In place of cosmetics, she wore tears, remembering her sins. In place of earings, she kept her ears open to hear the Sacred Scriptures. In place of a necklace, she fasted often, which made her neck shine like the sun. In place of rings, she acquired calluses on her fingers from the many prostrations she made. In place of a golden belt, she had her virginity which she guarded all her life. In place of a dress, she was covered by modesty and fear of God. This is how the Saint decked herself.

If there is any maiden who wishes to adorn herself, let her consider what this Saint did and let her do the same if she wishes to be saved.

In this way, brethren, St. Paraskevi acquired learning and became very wise. Because of her purity, God found her worthy to perform miracles. She cured the blind, the deaf and she raised the dead.

Two Jews, sons of the devil, seeing the Saint perform miracles, envied her and betrayed her to King Antoninus as a Christian. So the King summoned her and asked her to deny Christ and to worship the gods and she would become queen.

The Saint replied: "I am not foolish like you to deny my Christ and to go to the devil; to leave life and go to death. May you leave the darkness and come to the light."

Do you hear, my brethren, how outspoken a young girl was before a king?

Whoever has Christ in his heart fears nothing in the world. If we too wish not to fear either people or demons, let us have God in our hearts.

The King said to the Saint: "I'll give you three days to obey; if you don't I'll put you to death."

The Saint replied: "O King, what you wish to do in three days time, do it now, for I will not deny my Christ."

The King then ordered a big fire to be lighted and over it a large pot was placed, filled with tar and sulfar. Seeing the pot, the Saint rejoiced, for she was to depart from this false world and to go to that which is real and eternal.

The King ordered the Saint to be put into the pot to be boiled. The Saint made the sign of the Cross and got in the pot. The king waited two, three hours and seeing she was not being boiled, he said: "Paraskevi, why aren't you burning?"

The Saint said: "Because Christ cooled the water and I don't burn."

The King replied: "Sprinkle me with the water so I can see whether it burns or not."

The Saint took some water in her two hands and threw it into his face, and immediately behold the miracle - he became blind and his face was flayed.

The King then shouted: "Great is the God of the Christians. In him I also believe. Come out and baptize me."

The Saint got out and baptized him and his entire kingdom. Later another king beheaded her and she went to Paradise to rejoice forever.

This woman yielded a hundred-fold, according to the Lord's word.

From The Prologue From Ochrid by Saint Nikolai Velimirovich

Paraskeve was born in Rome of Christian parents and from her youth was instructed in the Faith of Christ. With great fervence, St. Paraskeve endeavored to fulfill all the commandments of God in her life. Believing strongly and living according to her faith, Paraskeve directed others on the path [of salvation] with the help of the True Faith and pious living.

When her parents died Paraskeve distributed all of her property to the poor and was tonsured a nun. As a nun she preached the Faith of Christ with an even greater zeal, not hiding from anyone, even though at that time the Roman authorities bloodily persecuted the Faith of Christ.

First the pernicious Jews accused St. Paraskeve of preaching the prohibited Faith. She was brought to trial before Emperor Antoninus. All the flatteries of the emperor did not help in the least to cause her to waver in the Faith. They then subjected her to fiery torments and placed a red-hot helmet on her head. The Lord miraculously saved her and Paraskeve was delivered and left Rome.

She again traveled from city to city to convert the pagan people there to the True Faith. In two more cities she was brought before princes and judges and was tortured for her Lord, at the same time working great miracles and by the power of God quickly recuperated from her pains and wounds. The pagans, as always, ascribed her miracles to magic and her power of recovery to the mercy of their gods.

St. Paraskeve once said to the prince who tortured her: “It is not your gods, O prince, who healed me but my Christ the True God.” Finally Prince Tarasius beheaded her. Thus this Saint gloriously ended her fruitful life. Her relics were later translated to Constantinople. She suffered honorably for Christ in the second century.


Paraskevi the Righteous Martyr of Rome

Reading from the Greek Synaxarion:

Saint Paraskevi, who was from a certain village near Rome, was born to pious parents, Agatho and Politia. Since she was born on a Friday (in Greek, "Paraskevi"), she was given this name, which means "Preparation" or "Preparedness" (compare Matt. 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, and John 19:31, where 'Friday' is called "the day of the preparation"). From childhood she was instructed in the sacred letters and devoted herself to the study of the divine Scriptures, while leading a monastic life and guiding many to the Faith of Christ. During the reign of the Emperor Antoninus Pius, she was apprehended because she was a Christian and was urged to worship the idols, but she answered with the words of Jeremias: "Let the gods that have not made heaven and the earth perish from off the earth" (Jer. 10:11). Because of this she endured exceedingly painful torments, and was beheaded in the year 140. The faithful pray to her for the healing of eye ailments.

Paraskeva the Righteous Martyr of Rome

Reading from the Russian Synaxarion:

Holy Virgin Martyr Paraskeva of Rome was the only daughter of Christian parents, Agathon and Politia, and from her early years she dedicated herself to God. She spent much of her time in prayer and the study of the Holy Scriptures. After the death of her parents St Paraskeva distributed all of her inheritance to the poor, and consecrated her virginity to Christ. Emulating the holy Apostles, she began to preach to the pagans about Christ, converting many to Christianity.

She was arrested during the reign of Antoninus Pius (138-161) because she refused to worship the idols. She was brought to trial and fearlessly confessed herself a Christian. Neither enticements of honors and material possessions, nor threats of torture and death shook the firmness of the saint nor turned her from Christ. She was given over to beastly tortures. They put a red-hot helmet on her head and threw her in a cauldron filled with boiling oil and pitch. By the power of God the holy martyr remained unharmed. When the emperor peered into the cauldron, St Paraskeva threw a drop of the hot liquid in his face, and he was burned. The emperor began to ask her for help, and the holy martyr healed him. After this the emperor set her free.

Traveling from one place to another to preach the Gospel, St Paraskeva arrived in a city where the governor was named Asclepius. Here again they tried the saint and sentenced her to death. They took her to an immense serpent living in a cave, so that it would devour her. But St Paraskeva made the Sign of the Cross over the snake and it died. Asclepius and the citizens witnessed this miracle and believed in Christ. She was set free, and continued her preaching. In a city where the governor was a certain Tarasius, St Paraskeva endured fierce tortures and was beheaded in the year 140.

Many miracles took place at the saint's tomb: the blind received sight, the lame walked, and barren women gave birth to children. It is not only in the past that the saint performed her miracles, but even today she helps those who call on her in faith.

Read also:

7 Astonishing Miracles of Saint Paraskevi

The Grotto-Shrine of Saint Paraskevi in Woodlawn, New York


Apolytikion in the First Tone
Appropriate to your calling, O Champion Paraskeve, you worshipped with the readiness your name bears. For an abode you obtained faith, which is your namesake. Wherefore, you pour forth healing and intercede for our souls.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
O most majestic One, we have discovered your temple to be a spiritual clinic wherein all the faithful resoundingly honor you, O famed and venerable martyr Paraskeve.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Hagia Sophia’s Mosaic Seraphim Uncovered After Centuries! (With Video)

Hagia Sophia's Angel Uncovered

SERKAN AKKOÇ
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet
Friday, July 24, 2009

Experts have uncovered one of the six angel mosaics within the world-famous Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul after it had been hidden for 160 years behind plaster and a metal mask.

The mosaic, which measures 1.5 meters by 1 meter, was last seen by Swiss architect Gaspare Fossati, who headed restoration efforts at the museum between 1847 and 1849, and Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid. Experts were surprised to see that the mosaic, believed to date from the 14th century, was so well preserved.

Hagia Sophia, built by the Byzantine emperor Justinian between A.D. 532 and 537, was originally a basilica before it was converted into a mosque when Ottoman Turks conquered the city in 1453. During the conversion process, the Ottomans covered the mosaics with plaster instead of removing them.

The building served as a mosque until 1934, when it was turned into a museum.

The uncovered mosaic is located in the pendentive, an arched triangular section supporting the building’s huge dome. After 10 days of work on the area, experts removed several layers of plaster and the metal mask to uncover the angel.

The mosaic’s true age will be assessed after an analysis by the Hagia Sofia Science Board compares it to similar mosaics. The six-winged figure is though to depict the seraphim, an angel described in the biblical book of Isaiah.

When the plaster covering the mosaics began to fall off, Sultan Abdülmecid ordered Fossati to remove all the old plaster, restore the mosaics and cover them up again. A book prepared by Fossati at the time is seen as the main source about mosaics that did not survive to the present day.

Approximately 2 million visitors visit Hagia Sophia every year.

© 2009 Hurriyet Daily News

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Papoulakis: Saint Joachim of Vatopaidi (3)

...continued from Part 2.

FORWARD TO ENGLISH EDITION OF SAINT JOACHIM PAPOULAKIS

"It is good to guard the secret of a king, but glorious to reveal the works of God." - Tobit 12:7

Once again we shall be speaking about the good testimony of the wonders of God, who throughout the entire expanse of time has shown Himself to be “wondrous in His saints” (Ps. 67:36 LXX). In the illustrious Monastery of Vatopaidi, one of the monasteries of saint-bearing Athos, we find the spiritual birthplace of our blessed and newly-revealed father Joachim — whom we shall be extolling in these pages — whose luminous and marvelous life illumines our lukewarm and humanistic generation.

HIS ORIGINS

According to a brief narrative of the devout physician Panos Raftopoulos, a Christian gentleman in every sense, the amazing hero of our story came from Ithaki. He was born of pious parents in the year 1786 in the village of Kalyvia, in what was at that time the province of Polyktoria. His father was Angelos Patrikios, and his mother, who came from Preveza, was called Agnes. His father, a boat captain by trade, soon lost his first wife and married a second time - to the misfortune of little John ("Ioannis" - his name before becoming a monk). Young John’s stepmother hated him and plotted against him.

From an early age, it was obvious that this young child had a good nature, and that he would reach a high level of virtue. He exhibited nothing childish or disorderly that would be characteristic of small children. For his cruel and loveless stepmother, however, this was another provocation and only increased her hatred toward the innocent John. With this venomous instinct as a basis, the depraved stepmother pressed her naive and good spouse to remove the young boy from their house, because supposedly he was preoccupied with things of the Church and was neglecting his household chores. Consequently, in order to spare young John the malice of his stepmother, he was taken onto his father’s ship to work with the sailors. However, even here he was not left in peace until he was finally exiled far away on a foreign ship, where he remained working as a novice sailor. As acquaintances of his later related, while working on the ship, he did not neglect his spiritual life, and especially prayer, which he considered to be his primary duty.

Young John remained in this occupation until he was seventeen years old, and he visited various ports of trade of that time. He thus at one point arrived at Athos for business reasons. Specifically, they docked at the port of the great monastery of Vatopaidi, where the young sailor John found time to disembark in order to visit and venerate the Monastery. His devout predispositions and his entire spiritual preoccupation had matured him significantly, and he was therefore able to comprehend the monastic ideology. The various lives of Saints that he had read fostered his yearning to live the monastic life. This desire was fulfilled, and moreover at a monastery on Athos, when a suitable opportunity and circumstances presented themselves. His entry into the Monastery, as he later recalled, enchanted him and literally took him captive. He completely forgot about his worldly concerns and affairs to the point that, if there were a way, he would never have to go back, but would be able to remain forever and stand in awe of the sublimity and sanctity of the place.

He was presented to the Abbot, to whom he made a reverence with contrition, and as a confession, humbly revealed to him his yearning and his purpose, beseeching him to keep him there in the brotherhood and to tonsure him as a monk. The Abbot marveled at the decorum and the humility of the boy, as well as at his ardent desire. Having a discerning spirit, the Abbot accurately perceived his future progress and thus did not reject his persistent supplication.

Now a time of testing was beginning for John, who longed for his release from the vanity of the world and from the maritime adventures that came with his occupation. But when the boat’s captain, George Hatzis — who was also the boy’s guardian — looked for him and did not find him, he suspected that he might have left for the monastery and went there looking for him.

When he found John in his cell living as a monk, he confronted the Abbot and demanded to know why John was staying there, pointing out his young age and the reaction of his father, who would hold him accountable. With meekness and prudence, the Abbot replied: “Captain George, we cannot throw a man out of the monastery who freely desires to be a monk. We did not bring him here; he came of his own accord and, moreover, with tears and yearning."

The captain retorted that the Customs Authorities forbade minors to remain in the monasteries without the permission of their custodian. At this point, in the face of his supervisor’s continued insistence that he could not remain, John himself felt the need to intervene in order to defend his position. “Captain George, I myself came here of my own accord with one purpose in mind. Almost since the time I was an infant, I have desired God’s way in order to save my soul. And now you are going to stand in my way and take me back to the world to be lost? I am preordained for this way of life, and if you prevent me, you will see on the day of judgment that you will also have to answer before the dread judgment seat of God.” In fact, the hour of grace had chimed for a favorable verdict for John; the captain’s will softened — so much so, that he professed with emotion that the action of the young man was praiseworthy, and with his blessing, he left him to his new life.

Needless to say, his natural father was extremely sad when he was informed that his son had abandoned the worldly life, while, at the same time, his heartless stepmother was equally delighted to be rid of her stepchild forever, just as she had desired.

To be continued…Part 4

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

National Healthcare and the Church-State Relationship in Romiosini

"Dr. Miller is a learned and enterprising historian with a fascinating theme. He shows beyond a doubt that the Western hospital tradition goes back to the early Byzantine Empire in the fourth century." -- Medical History

Fr. Romanides writes about the relationship between Church and State in the Roman Empire following the conversion to Christianity of Emperor Constantine the Great saying:

"The great struggle between paganism and Christianity in the time of Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) is reflected in the difference between Roman Greeks (meaning Pagans) and Roman Christians. All Pagan Romans were defending their aristocratic ancient Hellenic identity and traditions which was being torn apart by the aristocratic identity of the cure of glorification which was open to all Romans, both gentis and non-gentis, and to all non-Romans."

And elsewhere:

"Biblical Faith is one's cooperation/operation with the Holy Spirit who initiates the cure of the sickness of possessive love caused by the short-circuit in the heart and transforms it into love which does not seek its own. This cure is consummated in glorification (theosis) and constitutes the heart of the Orthodox Catholic Church which replaced paganism as the core of the Hellenic Civilization of the Roman Empire."

And he concludes:

"We are obliged to have a clear picture of the context within which the Church and the State viewed the contribution of the glorified to the cure of the sickness of religion which warps the human personality by means of its search for happiness both in this life and after the death of the body. It is within this context that the Roman Empire legally incorporated the Orthodox Church into its administrative structure. Neither the State nor the Church saw the mission of the Church as the simple forgiveness of sins of the faithful for their entrance into heaven in the next life. This would be equivalent to a doctor's forgiveness of his patients for being sick for their cure in the next life. Both the Church and the State knew well that the forgiveness of sins was only the beginning of the cure of the happiness seeking sickness of humanity. This cure begins by the purification of the heart, it arrives at the restoration of the heart to its natural state of illumination and the whole person begins to be perfected beyond one's natural capacities by the glorification of body and soul by God's uncreated glory (shekina). The result of this cure and perfection was not only the proper preparation for life after the death of one's body, but also the transformation of society here and now from a collection of selfish and self-centered individuals to a society of persons with selfless love 'which does not seek its own.'"

This organic relationship of Church and State in the Roman Empire created an environment of philanthropy that included both spiritual and physical healing, in imitation of Christ and the Apostles who did not seek their own but showed selflessness in their love for humanity. Since the Church is a spiritual hospital, and Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, it also acquired similar traits for physical ailmants through its vast resources to build entire institutions dedicated to both spiritual (monastery/parish) and physical (hospital) healing.

In this highly recommended book titled The Birth of the Hospital in the Byzantine Empire published by Johns Hopkins University and written by Timothy S. Miller, this medical historian argues that the sophisticated medical facilities of the Byzantine Empire are the true ancestors of modern hospitals and our philanthropic systems. This is further elaborated upon in his book The Orphans of Byzantium: Child Welfare in the Christian Empire.

Christianity always played a key role in the building and maintaining of Hospitals, as it did with most other areas of the Roman Empire. Many Hospitals were built and maintained by Bishops in their respective prefectures, among the first being St. Basil the Great. Hospitals were often, but not always, built near or around churches and great importance was laid on the idea of healing through salvation. When medicine failed doctors would always ask their patients to pray. After the Iconoclastic problems had been resolved, this usually involved relics and icons of Saints such as Saints Cosmas and Damien the Unmercenaries, who were killed by Diocletian in 303, and were the patron Saints of medicine and doctors.

Christianity also played a key role in propagating the idea of charity - medicine was made accessible to all, both rich and poor. This idea, combined with the vast resources Roman (Byzantine) physicians had at their disposal was ONE OF THE FIRST TIMES IN HISTORY THAT A STATE HAS ACTIVELY SOUGHT TO EXPEND RESOURCES ON A PUBLIC HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

What is the Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit According to the Church Fathers?

By John Sanidopoulos

Three of the four Gospel accounts contain a reference to the statement made by Jesus concerning blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. These three passages read as follows.

"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31-32).

"Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation—because they said, 'He has an unclean spirit'" (Mark 3:28-30).

"And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven" (Luke 12:10).

According to St John Chrysostom in his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, the reason blasphemy against the Son of Man is forgiven while that of the Holy Spirit is not is because the Jews knew nothing of the Son of Man, who He might be, but they had ample experience of the Holy Spirit through the words and signs of the Prophets and all in the Old Testament had a high notion of Him. If one is thus at first offended that God has taken on human flesh, then this is pardonable. But throughout the Scriptures the Holy Spirit was amply revealed, and since the Jews of Jesus' time could not discern the same Holy Spirit that the Prophets revealed in the words of Jesus who is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, then they will not be forgiven. On top of that Jesus was casting out devils and working cures among the people in the power of the Holy Spirit and even raising the dead like the Prophets before Him, and they still could not discern that it was the same Holy Spirit doing these things that did them through the Prophets before Him. Instead in their depravity they called the works of the Holy Spirit a product of Satan. This cannot be forgiven. As St. Athanasius the Great says: "The Savior while before He rebuked them for many sins exhorted them to repent; yet when they said, 'He casts out devils by Beelzebub,' He speaks of this no longer as a sin, but as blasphemy so great, that on those who dared this, punishment must come, without escape or pardon." Furthermore, St. Basil the Great explains that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to attribute His operations to the opposite spirit. He says that this is done by attributing any gifts of the Holy Spirit upon the Saints as being from the devil. And the condemnation of the Jews is worsened over the fact that the Gentiles were able to discern the Holy Spirit through the teaching and miracles of the Apostles while these teachers of the Law could not discern Him.

This also applies today when someone accepts the Old Testament but does not receive the New. It also applies to those who accept both the Old and New Testament but do not accept the Saints or the Holy Mysteries. Thus all heresy is a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. St. Symeon the New Theologian explains this in his sermon titled Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit. He further declares that this condemnation comes upon all those who deny that the gifts of the Holy Spirit continue always within the Church. Yet St. Symeon goes to great lengths, as do all the Fathers, to explain that it is always possible to draw near to God through repentance. For such, no sin is unforgivable nor eternal. Stubbornness in one's heresy is unforgivable.

St. Cyril of Alexandria in his Commentary on the Gospel of Luke further says that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is blasphemy against the entire Holy Trinity. If one does not acknowledge the entire Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - then he also blasphemes against the Holy Spirit. St. Gregory of Nyssa affirms this also in his treatise Against the Macedonians: "Perhaps this is the blasphemy against our Law Giver for which the judgment without remission has been decreed; since in Him the entire Being, blessed and divine, is insulted also. As the devout worshipper of the Spirit sees in Him the glory of the Only-begotten, and in that sight beholds the image of the Infinite God, and by means of that image makes an outline, upon his own cognition, of the Original, so most plainly does this condemner (of the Spirit), whenever he advances any of his bold statements against the glory of the Spirit, extend, by virtue of the same reasoning, his profanity to the Son, and beyond Him to the Father."

St. Barsanuphius of Optina told a disciple that when an Orthodox person falls away from the Orthodox Faith, that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

When the blessed Elder Paisios of Mount Athos was asked about what the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is, he responded by saying: "Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is in general disregard for holy and sacred things, provided of course, the person is sane...it is impossible for blasphemy to exist in a devout person." He further says that those impudent people who justify their fall into sin in turn justify the devil, thus committing a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and opening themselves up to demonic attacks. Such a person never enters into God's peace and rest. Thus he says: "Impudent people are at the first level of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Those who despise and scorn the sacred and holy things are at the second level, and at the third level is the devil himself."

In diagnosing blasphemy, St. John of the Ladder simply writes: "Unspeakable blasphemy is the child of dreadful pride."

St. Kosmas Aitolos warned in a sermon: "And how is it that you dare, O foolish and evil man, to blaspheme and take God's name in vain? The same with that of the Saints? Aren't you afraid, you most wretched one, that the earth might open up and swallow you? The devil doesn't dare to curse the name of God because he is afraid that lightning might fall and burn him, and you, insignificant man, open your damned mouth and take God's name in vain? Woe to those who curse the name of God, because a river of flaming fire will burn them forever."

With the same love and concern the blessed Elder Philotheos Zervakos counsels one of his spiritual children when he writes: "For you to say that you will not give up blasphemy is to say that you will not obey God, but rather that you wish to obey the devil who rejoices when you blaspheme against God. You will be condemned with the devil to the eternal fire that is prepared for him and his angels and all those who follow him and repeat his blasphemies. Therefore I entreat you, act like a reasonable person and repent. Sing hymns and spiritual songs to the Lord, not blasphemies, before death comes, for in Hades and after death there is no repentance... Do not put it off, for death comes unexpectedly."

From what we read in the Holy Fathers, therefore, blasphemy against God is every bit as grievous as our Lord Jesus makes it out to be.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Papoulakis: Saint Joachim of Vatopaidi (2)

...continued from Part 1

Patriarchal and Synodal Act of Canonization For St. Joachim of Vatopaidi

To the Very Reverend Abbot Archimandrite Εphraim and the other venerable Fathers of the Holy, Royal, Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vatopaidi on the Holy Mountain, children in the Lord beloved of our humble self. Grace be to you, venerable fathers, and peace from God.

Based on the material submitted by you, beloved and venerable fathers, and on the relative report from our Canonical Commission, which were reviewed in the council of our Holy and Sacred Synod, the Monk Joachim Papoulakis of Vatopaidi from Ithaki – whose blessed life and conduct were distinguished by a genuine Orthodox way of thinking and by a great contribution to the Church – is hereby numbered among the Blessed Ones and Saints of the Church. His commemoration is appointed for the 2nd of March each year, whereas that of the translation of his relics for the 23rd of May.

As we happily make this known to your Reverences through this Patriarchal Letter of Greeting, we heartily rejoice together with you upon the ecclesiastical recognition of the holiness and blessedness of the Saint.

We are also sending you, enclosed herein, an exact fascimile, drawn up and signed, of the XXX Codex of our Holy and Great Church of Christ containing our relevant Patriarchal and Synod Act directed to the Church, according to proper order, to be read at your Holy Monastery and placed in its Archives. Conferring upon you our heartfelt paternal and Patriarchal blessing, we call down upon you the Grace and infinite mercy of God.

Protocol Number 323

Act regarding the enrolment of the Vatopaidi monk Joachim from Ithaki, also called “Papoulakis” (1786-1868), into the Calendar of Saints of the Church.

It is proper and of great benefit for the whole Church that they who excelled in virtues while in the flesh, and are now departed this life, should be venerated, honored, and glorified yearly in services and in hymns of praise, since, according to Saint Gregory the Theologian, the praise given to those who lived virtuously is directed to God Himself, the author of every human virtue. This is because the exaltation of good deeds moves the indolent and idle to desire and acquire virtue, whereas it inspires those who are industrious in virtue to be more so.

The Monk Joachim of Vatopaidi, later known as Papoulakis, from Ithaki, initially lived an ascetic life for twenty years in the Holy, Royal, Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Vatopaidi on the Holy Mountain, in which he received the sacred schema, and which later sent him forth on a mission to bolster the afflicted flock of the Greek mainland, and then for forty years developed a special work on his home island of Ithaki. He lived a blessed and holy life, being a model of citizenship in Christ and a living image of virtue, and showed himself to be an instructor and protector of the harried Christian congregation.

For these reasons, we humbly, together with our most holy and honorable Metropolitans, our behoved brothers and concelebrants in the Holy Spirit, having examined his God-pleasing way of life, his works, and his achievements, and being mindful of the common good of the people, and bearing in mind all that has been presented to the Church regarding these things – submitted, on the one hand, by the Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi on the Holy Mountain, and, on the other, by the Most Reverend Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Seraphim, petitioning that the anniversary of his death be sanctioned as in honor of a Saint – we do decree, in accord with the customary practice of the Church and of our fathers before us, to bestow upon him the honor due to holy men.

Wherefore, as a synod, we decree and ordain, and direct in the Holy Spirit, that from this day hence and forevermore Joachim of Vatopaidi, Papoulakis, be reckoned among the Blessed Ones and Saints of the Church and be honored and glorified yearly in services and in hymns of praise on the second of March, the day on which he departed in blessedness unto the Lord, as well as on the tenth/twenty-third of May, the day of the translation of his holy relics.

In witness thereto, and confirmation, this our present Patriarchal and Synodal Act is made, drawn up and signed in the Sacred Codex of our Holy and Great Church of Christ, and transmitted without change or alteration to the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Seraphim, and to the Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi on the Holy Mountain, to be placed in their Archives.

In the year of salvation, 1998, in the month of March (19th).

To be continued…Part 3

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Salvation According to Saint Paul

To paraphrase St Athanasius from the fourth century: "If one is to vigorously and consistently maintain that Jesus Christ is the unique Savior who has brought salvation to a world in need of salvation, one obviously must know what is the nature of the need which provoked this salvation." The failure to understand the exact nature of the human situation described by the Old and New Testaments implies a perverted understanding of what it is that Christ did and continues to do for us, and what our subsequent relation is to Christ and neighbor within the realm of salvation.

A basic presupposition of St. Paul's thought is that although the world was created by God and as such is good, yet now there rules in it the power of Satan. The devil, however, is by no means absolute, since God has never abandoned His creation (I Tim. 4:4; I Cor. 15:26, II Cor. 4:3; Rom. 1:20). Thus evil exists, at least temporarily, as a parasitic element alongside and inside of that which God created originally good. A good example of this is one who would do the good according to the "inner man," but finds it impossible because of the indwelling power of sin in the flesh (Rom. 7:15-25). For this reason all men have become sinners (Rom. 3:9-12; 5:19). Satan is no respecter of reasonable rules of good conduct ( II Cor. 4:3; 11:14; Eph. 6:11-17; II Thes. 2:8) and has under his influence all men born under the power of death and corruption (Rom. 8:21).

In regard to the power of Satan to introduce sin into the life of every man, Augustine in combating Pelagianism obviously misread St. Paul by relegating the power of Satan, death, and corruption to the background and pushing to the foreground of controversy the problem of personal guilt in the transmission of Original Sin. Augustine introduced a false moralistic philosophical approach which is foreign to the thinking of St. Paul (Col. 2:8) and which was not accepted by the patristic tradition of the East.

For St. Paul, Satan is active in a dynamic manner, ( Eph. 6:11-17; I Cor. 7:5; II Cor. 2:11; 11:3; Eph. 4:27; I Thes. 3:5; I Tim. 3:6; 3:7; 4:1; 5:14; II Cor. 11:14; 4:3; Eph 2:2; 6:11-17; I Thes. 2:18; 3:5; II Thes. 2:9; I Tim. 2:14; 3:7; II Tim. 2:25-26) fighting for the destruction of creation and not simply waiting passively in a restricted corner to accept those who happen to rationally decide not to follow God and the moral laws inherent in a natural universe. Satan is even capable of transforming himself into an angel of light ( II Cor. 11:15). He has at his disposal miraculous powers of perversion (II Thes. 2:9) and has as co-workers whole armies of invisible powers ( Eph 6:12; Col. 2:15). He is the "god of this age" (II Cor. 4:4), the one who deceived the first woman (II Cor. 11:3; I Tim. 2:14). It is he who led man and all of creation into the path of death and corruption (Rom. 8:19-22). For St. Paul, the destruction of death is parallel to the destruction of the devil and his forces. Salvation from the one is salvation from the other (Col. 2:13-15; I Cor. 15:24-27; 15:54-57).

It becomes obvious from St. Paul's expressions concerning fallen creation, Satan, and death, that there is no room in his thinking for any type of metaphysical dualism, of departmentalization which would make of this world an intermediary domain which for man is merely a stepping stone leading either into the presence of God or into the kingdom of Satan. The idea of a three story universe, whereby God and His company of saints and angels occupy the top floor, the devil the basement, and man in the flesh the middle, has no room in Pauline theology. For Paul, all three orders of existence interpenetrate. In reality, we choose either the kingdom of God or the kingdom of death and destruction in our daily lives. For this reason, the only true victory possible over the devil is the resurrection of the dead (I Cor. 15:1). There is no escape from the battlefield. The only choice possible for every man is either to fight the devil by actively sharing in the victory of Christ, or to accept the deceptions of the devil by wanting to believe that all goes well and everything is normal (Rom. 12:2; I Cor. 2:12; 11:32; II Cor. 4:3; Col. 2:20; II Thess. 2:9; II Tim. 4:10; Col. 2:8; I Cor. 5:10).

Only God can bestow life and this He does freely, according to his own will (Rom. 9:16), in His own way, and at the time of His own choosing (Rom. 3:26; Eph. 2:4-6; I Tim. 6:15). On the other hand, it is a grave mistake to make the justice of God responsible for death and corruption. Nowhere does Paul attribute the beginnings of death and corruption to God. On the contrary, nature was subjected to vanity and corruption by the devil ( II Cor. 11:13; I Tim 2:14), who through the sin and death of the first man managed to lodge himself parasitically within creation, of which he was already a part but at first not yet its tyrant. For Paul, the transgression of the first man opened the way for the entrance of death into the world (Rom. 5:12), but this enemy (I Cor. 15:26) is certainly not the finished product of God. Neither can the death of Adam, or even of each man, be considered the outcome of any decision of God to punish. St. Paul never suggests such an idea.

To get at the basic presuppositions of Biblical thinking, one must abandon any juridical scheme of human justice which demands punishment and rewards according to objective rules of morality. To approach the problem of original sin with the understanding that all share in the guilt of Adam, is to ignore the true nature of the justice of God and deny and real power to the devil. St. Paul's version of the devil is certainly not that of one who is simply obeying general rules of nature and carrying out the will of God by punishing souls in hell. Quite on the contrary, he is fighting God dynamically by means of all possible deception, trying by all his cunning and power to destroy the works of God (Rom. 8:20; I Cor. 10:10; II Cor. 2:11; 4:3; 11:3; 11:14; Eph. 2:1-3; 6:11-17; I Thes. 2:18; 3:5; II Thes. 2:9; I Tim. 2:14; 5:14; II Tim. 2:26). Thus salvation for man and creation cannot come by a simple act of forgiveness of any juridical imputation of sin, nor can it come by any payment of satisfaction to the devil (Origen) or to God (Rome). Salvation can come only by the destruction of the devil and his power (Col. 2:15; I Cor. 15:24-26; 15:53-57; Rom. 8:21).

Thus, according to St. Paul, it is God Himself Who has destroyed "principalities and powers" by nailing the handwriting in ordinances, which was against us, to the cross of Christ (Col. 2:14-15). "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing to them their offences" ( II Cor. 5:19). Although we were in sin, God did not hold this against us, but has declared His own justice to those who believe in Christ (Rom. 3:20-27). The justice of God is not according to that of men, which operates by the law of works (Rom. 10:3; Phil. 3:8). For St. Paul, the justice of God and the love of God are not to be separated for the sake of any juridical doctrine of atonement. The justice of God and the love of God as revealed in Christ are the same thing. In Romans 3:21-26, for example, the expression, "love of God," could very easily be substituted for the "justice of God."

It is interesting to note that every time St. Paul speaks about the wrath of God it is always that which is revealed to those who have become hopelessly enslaved, by their own choosing, to the flesh and the devil (Rom. 1:18). Although creation is held captive in corruption, those without the law are without excuse in worshipping and living falsely, because "the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead" (Rom. 1:20). "Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the desires of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves..." (Rom. 1:24) and again, "God gave them over to reprobate mind" ( Rom. 1:28). This does not mean that God caused them to become what they are, but rather that He gave them up as being completely lost to corruption and the power of the devil. One must also interpret other similar passages in like manner (e.g., Rom. 9:14-18; 11:8).

At the last judgment, all men, whether under the law or not, whether hearers of Christ or not, shall be judged by Christ according to the Gospel as preached by Paul (Rom. 2:16) and not according to any system of natural laws. Even though the invisible things of God "from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead," there is still no such thing as moral law inherent in the universe. The gentiles who "have not the law" but who "do by nature the things contained in the law" are not abiding by any natural system of moral laws in the universe. They rather "show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness." Here, again, one sees Paul's conception of personal relationships between God and man. "God hath showed it unto them (Rom. 1:19), and it is God Who is still speaking to fallen man outside of the law, through the conscience and in the heart, which for Paul is the center of man's thoughts (Rom. 1:21; I Cor. 4:5; 14-25; Eph. 1:17), and for members of the body of Christ the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (II Cor. 1:22; Gal. 4:6) and Christ (Eph. 3;17).

It would be nonsense to try to read into Paul's theology a conception of human destiny which accepts the aspirations and desires of what one would call "natural man" as normal. It is normal for natural man to seek security and happiness in the acquisition and possession of objective goods. The scholastic theologians of the West have often used these aspirations of natural man as proof that he is instinctively seeking after the Absolute, the possession of which is the only possible state of complete happiness, that is, a state wherein it is impossible to desire anything more because nothing better exists. This hedonistic type of approach to human destiny is, of course, possible only for those who accept death and corruption either as normal or, at most, as the outcome of a decision of God to punish. If those who accept God as the ultimate source of death were to really attribute sin to the powers of corruption, they would in effect be making God Himself the source of sin and evil.

For St. Paul, Christians are called to die to this world and the body of sin (Rom. 8:10; 8:13; II Cor. 4:10-11; 6:4-10; Col. 2:11-12; 2:20; 3:3; II Thess. 1:4-5), and even to suffer in the Gospel, according to the power of God (II Tim. 1:8; 2:3-6; 4:5). Paul claims that "all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus shall be persecuted" ( II Tim. 3:12). This is hardly the language of one who is seeking security and happiness (I Tim 6:7-9).

St. Paul claims that "we are co-workers of God" (I Cor. 3:9). Our relationship of love with God is such that in Christ there is now no longer need for law. "If ye be led by the Spirit ye are not under the law" ( Gal. 5:18). The members of the Body of Christ are not called on to live on the level of impersonal ordinances, but are now expected to live according to the love of God as revealed in Christ, which needs no laws because it seeks not its own (I Cor. 13:4), but strives to empty itself for others in the image of the love of Christ (Phil. 2:5-8).

The love and justice of God have been revealed once and for all in Christ (Rom. 3:21-28) by the destruction of the devil (Col. 2:15) and the deliverance of man from the body of death and sin (Rom. 8:24; 66), so that man may actually become an imitator of God Himself (Eph. 5:1), who has predestined His elect to become "conformed to the image of His Son"(Rom. 8:29), who did nothing to please Himself but suffered for others (Rom. 15:1-3). Christ died so that the living should no longer live unto themselves (II Cor. 5:15), but should become perfect men, even "unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Eph. 4:13). Christians are no longer to live according to the rudiments of this world, as though living in this world (Col. 2:20), but are to have the same mind as Christ (I Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:5-8), so that in Christ they may become perfect (Col. 1:28). Men are no longer to love their wives according to the world, but must love their wives exactly "as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it" (Eph. 5:25). The destiny of man is not happiness and self-satisfaction (Phil. 2:20), but rather perfection in Christ. Man must become perfect, as God (Eph. 5:1) and Christ are perfect (Rom. 8:29; I Cor. 10:33; 15:49; II Cor. 3:13; Gal. 4:19; Eph. 4:13; 5:25; Phil. 2:5-8; Col. 1:28; 3:10; 4:12; I Thes. 1:6). Such perfection can come only through the personalistic power of divine and selfless love (I Cor. 13:2-3) "which is the bond of perfection" (Col. 3:14). This love is not to be confused with the love of fallen man who seeks his own (Phil. 2:20). Love in Christ does not seek its own, but that of the other (Rom. 14:7; 15:1-3; I Cor. 10:24; 10:29-11:1; 12:25-26; 13:1 ff; II Cor. 5:14-15; Gal. 5:13; 6:1 Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:4; I Thes. 5:11).

"The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the spirit is life and peace" (Rom. 8:6). Those who live according to the flesh shall die. Those who mortify the deeds of the flesh (through asceticism) by the spirit shall live (Rom. 8:13). The spirit of man, however, deprived of union with the vivifying Spirit of God, is hopelessly weak against the flesh dominated by death and corruption (Rom. 8:9) -"Who shall deliver me from the body of this death" (Rom. 7:24). And, "the law of the pneumatos tes zoes (Spirit of Life) in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). Only those whose spirit has been renewed (Rom. 7:6) by union with the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9) can fight the desires of the flesh. Only those who are given the Spirit of God and hear His voice in the life of the Body of Christ are able to fight against sin (through asceticism). "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God" (Rom. 8:16).

The union of man's spirit with the Spirit of God in baptism (Jn. 3) is no magical guarantee against the possibility of their separation. To become again enslaved to the works of the flesh may very well lead to exclusion from the Body of Christ (Rom. 11:21; I Cor. 5:1-13; II Thes. 3:6; 3:14; II Tim. 3:5). The Spirit of God is given to man that Christ may dwell in the heart (II Cor. 1:22; Gal. 4:6; Eph. 3:16-17). "Now if any have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of His" ( Rom. 8:9). To have the Spirit of God dwelling in the body is to be, also, a member of the body of Christ. To be deprived of the one is to be cut off from the other.

It is clear that, for St. Paul, the union of man's spirit with the Spirit of God in the life of love within the Body of Christ is life and salvation. On the other hand, to live according tot he desires of the flesh, dominated by the powers of death and corruption, means death whether one has verbally accepted Christ or not -- "For the mind of the flesh is death" (Rom. 8:6). St. Paul is dealing throughout his epistles with the categories of life and death. God is life. The devil holds the reins of death and corruption. Unity with God in the Spirit, through the Body of Christ in the life of love, is life and brings salvation and perfection. Separation of man's spirit from the divine life in the Body of Christ is slavery to the powers of death and corruption used by the devil to destroy the works of God. The life of the spirit is unity and love. The life according to the flesh is disunity and dissolution in death and corruption.

The importance that St. Paul attributes to dying to the rudiments of this world in order to live according to the "spirit of life" cannot be exaggerated. To try to pass off his insistence on complete self-denial for salvation as a product of eschatological enthusiasts is to miss completely the very basis of the New Testament message. If the destruction of the devil, death and corruption is salvation and the only condition for life according to man's original destiny, then the means of passing from the realm of death and its consequences to the realm of life, in the victory of Christ over death, must be taken very seriously. For Paul, the way from death to life is communion with the death and life of Christ in baptism and a continuous life of love within the body of Christ. This new life of love within the body of Christ, however, must be accompanied by a continuous death to the ways of this world, which is dominated by the law of death and corruption in the hands of the devil. Participation in the victory over death does not come simply by having a magical faith and a general sentiment of vague love for humanity (Luther). Full membership in the Body of Christ can come only by dying in the waters of baptism with Christ, and living according to the law of the "spirit of life." Catechumens and penitents certainly had faith, but they either had not yet passed through death, in baptism, to the new life, or else, once having died to the flesh in baptism, they failed to remain steadfast and allowed the power of death and corruption to regain its dominance over the "spirit of life."

St. Paul does not say anywhere that the whole human race has been accounted guilty of the sin of Adam and is therefore punished by God with death. Death is an evil force which made its way into the world through sin, lodged itself in the world, and, in the person of Satan, is reigning both in man and creation. For this reason, although man can know the good through the law written in his heart and may wish to do what is good, he cannot because of the sin which is dwelling in his flesh. Therefore, it is not he who does the evil, but sin that dwelleth in him. Because of this sin, he cannot find the means to do good. He must be saved from "the body of this death" ( Rom. 7:13-25). Only then can he do good. What can Paul mean by such statements? A proper answer is to be found only when St. Paul's doctrine of human destiny is taken into account.

If man was created for a life of complete selfless love, whereby his actions would always be directed outward, toward God and neighbor, and never toward himself -- whereby he would be the perfect image and likeness of God -- then it is obvious that the power of death and corruption has now made it impossible to live such a life of perfection. The power of death in the universe has brought with it the will for self-preservation, fear, and anxiety (Heb. 2:14-15), which in turn are the root causes of self-assertion, egoism, hatred, envy and the like. Because man is afraid of becoming meaningless, he is constantly endeavoring to prove, to himself and others, that he is worth something. He thirsts after compliments and is afraid of insults. He seeks his own and is jealous of the successes of others. He likes those who like him, and hates those who hate him. He either seeks security and happiness in wealth, glory and bodily pleasures, or imagines that this destiny is to be happy in the possession of the presence of God by an introverted and individualistic sense and inclined to mistake his desires for self-satisfaction and happiness for his normal destiny. On the other hand, he can become zealous over vague ideological principles of love for humanity and yet hate or turn away from his closest neighbors. These are the works of the flesh of which St. Paul speaks (Gal. 5:19-21). Underlying every movement of what the world has come to regard as normal man, is the quest for security and happiness. But such desires are not normal. They are the consequences of perversion by death and corruption, through which the devil pervades all of creation, dividing and destroying. This power is so great that even if man wishes to live according to his original destiny it is impossible because of the sin which is dwelling in the flesh (Rom. 7) --"Who will deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24).

To share in the love of God, without any concern for one's self, is also to share in the life and truth of God. Love, life and truth in God are one and can be found only in God. The turning away of love from God and neighbor toward the self is breaking of communion with the life and truth of God, which cannot be separated from His love. The breaking of this communion with God can be consummated only in death, because nothing created can continue indefinitely to exist of itself (St. Athanasius). Thus, by the transgression of the first man, the principle of "sin (the devil) entered into the world and through sin death, and so death passed upon all men..." (Rom. 5:12). Not only humanity, but all of creation has become subjected to death and corruption by the devil (Rom. 8:20-22). Because man is inseparably a part of, and in constant communion with, creation and is linked through procreation to the whole historical process of humanity, the fall of creation through one man automatically involves the fall and corruption of all men. It is through death and corruption that all of humanity and creation is held captive to the devil and involved in sin, because it is by death that man falls short of his original destiny, which was to love God and neighbor without concern for the self. Man does not die because he is guilty for the sin of Adam (St. John Chrysostom). He becomes a sinner because he is yoked to the power of the devil through death and its consequences (St. Cyril of Alexandria).

St. Paul clearly says that "the sting of death is sin" (I Cor. 15:56), that "sin reigned in death" (Rom. 5:21), and that death is "the last enemy that shall be destroyed" (I Cor. 15:26). In his epistles, he is especially inspired when he is speaking about the victory of Christ over death and corruption. It would be highly illogical to try to interpret Pauline thought with the presuppositions (1) that death is normal or (2) that at most, it is the outcome of a juridical decision of God to punish the whole human race for one sin, (3) that happiness is the ultimate destiny of man, and (4) that the soul is immaterial, naturally immortal and directly created by God at conception and is therefore normal and pure of defects (Papal scholasticism). The Pauline doctrine of man's inability to do the good which he is capable of acknowledging according to the "inner man" can be understood only if one takes seriously the power of death and corruption in the flesh, which makes it impossible for man to live according to his original destiny.

The moralistic problem raised by Augustine concerning the transmission of death to the descendants of Adam as punishment for the one original transgression is foreign to Paul's thoughts. The death of each man cannot be considered the outcome of personal guilt. St. Paul is not thinking as a philosophical moralist looking for the cause of the fall of humanity and creation in the breaking of objective rules of good behavior (moralism), which demands punishment from a God whose justice is in the image of the justice of this world. Paul is clearly thinking of the fall in terms of a personalistic warfare between God and Satan, in which Satan is not obliged to follow any sort of moral rules if he can help it. It is for this reason that St. Paul can say that the serpent "deceived Eve" (II Cor. 11:3) and that "Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression" (I Tim. 2:14). Man was not punished by God, but taken captive by the devil.

This interpretation is further made clear by the fact that Paul is insisting that "until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression" (Rom. 5:13-14). It is clear that Paul here is denying anything like a general personal guilt for the sin of Adam. Sin was, however, in the world, since death reigned even over them who had not sinned as Adam sinned. Sin here is obviously the person of Satan, who ruled the world through death even before the coming of the law. This is the only possible interpretation of this statement, because it is clearly supported elsewhere by Paul's teachings concerning the extraordinary powers of the devil, especially in Romans 8:19-21. St. Paul's statements should be taken very literally when he says that the last enemy to be destroyed is death ( I Cor. 15:26) and that "the sting of death is sin" (I Cor. 15:56).

None of the Eastern Fathers accepts the teaching that all men are made guilty for the sin of Adam. The theory of the transmission of original sin and guilt is certainly not found in St. Paul, who can be interpreted neither in terms of juridicism nor in terms of any dualism which distinguishes between the material and the allegedly pure, spiritual, and intellectual parts of man. It is no wonder that some Biblical scholars are at a loss when they cannot find in the Old Testament any clear-cut support for what they take to be the Pauline doctrine of original sin in terms of moral guilt and punishment (Col. 3:3).

It is only when one understands the meaning of death and its consequences that one can understand the life of the ancient Church, and especially its attitude toward martyrdom. Being already dead to the world in baptism, and having their life hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3), Christians could not falter in the face of death. They were already dead, and yet living in Christ. To be afraid of death was to be still under the power of the devil--II Timothy 1:7: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind." In trying to convince the Roman Christians not to hinder his martyrdom, St. Ignatius wrote: "The prince of this world would fain carry me away, and corrupt my disposition toward God. Let none of you therefore, who are in Rome, help him." It is in this spirit as well that monasticism began.

The greatest power of the devil is death, which is destroyed only within the body of Christ, where the faithful are continuously engaged in the struggle against Satan by striving for selfless love (through asceticism and good works). This combat against the devil and striving for selfless love is centered in the corporate Eucharistic life of the local community -- "For when you assemble frequently epi to auto (in the same place) the powers of Satan are destroyed and the destruction at which he aims is prevented by the unity of your faith" (St. Ignatius). Anyone, therefore, who does not hear the Spirit within him calling him to the Eucharistic assembly for the corporate life of selfless love is obviously under the sway of the devil. "He, therefore, who does not assemble with the Church, has even by this manifested his pride and condemned himself..." (St. Ignatius). The world outside of the corporate life of love, in the Sacraments, is still under the power of the consequences of death and therefore a slave to the devil. The devil is already defeated only because his power has been destroyed by the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ; and this defeat is perpetuated only in the remnant of those saved before Christ and after Christ. Both those saved before Christ and after Him are saved by His death and resurrection, and make up the New Jerusalem. Against this Church the devil cannot prevail, and by this fact he is already defeated. But his power outside of those who are saved remains the same (Eph. 2:12; 6:11-12; II Thes. 2:8-12). Satan is still "the god of this world" (II Cor. 4:4), and it is for this reason that Christians must live as if not living in this world (Col. 2:20-23).

It is clear that for St. Paul the bodily resurrection of Christ is the destruction of the devil, death, and corruption. Christ is the first fruits from the dead ( I Cor. 15:23). If there is no resurrection there can be no salvation (I Cor. 15:12-19). Since death is a consequence of the discontinuation of communion with the life and love of God, and thereby a captivity of man and creation by the devil, then only a real resurrection can destroy the power of the devil. Christ died so that he could defeat death and be the first fruits of the resurrection whereby he raises others to newness of life both in the present spiritually and in the future physically. This understanding is diametrically opposed to the understanding of the West where Christ died to satisfy God's justice against sin which was the inherited guilt of Adam upon all of humanity.

Salvation is only the union of man with the life of God in the body of Christ, where the devil is being ontologically and really destroyed in the life of love. Outside of the life of unity with each other and Christ in the Sacramental life of corporate love there is no salvation, because the devil is still ruling the world through the consequences of death and corruption. The enemy of life and love can be destroyed only when Christians can confidently say, "we are not ignorant of his thoughts" (II Cor. 2:11). Any theology which cannot define with exactitude the methods and deceptions of the devil is clearly heretical, because such a theology is already deceived by the devil. It is for this reason that the Fathers could assert that heresy is the work of the devil.

[Extracted from Original Sin According to St. Paul by John S. Romanides found here.]

Tweet

Share on Tumblr