Fr. John Romanides on Extraterrestrial Alien Life

[It was reported this week that the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church. The Director of the Vatican Observatory commented that the discovery of possible alien life would have "many philosophical and theological implications" for Catholics. In 1965 Fr. John Romanides offered a valuable resource on this topic for a series run by the Boston Globe in which he gives the unique Orthodox perspective. The full text is below: - J.S.]

All Planets the Same: Religion’s Response to Space Life V

Rev. John S. Romanides, PhD.,
The Boston Globe
April 8, 1965, page 18.

I can foresee no way in which the teachings of the Orthodox Christian tradition could be affected by the discovery of intelligent beings on another planet. Some of my colleagues feel that even a discussion of the consequences of such a possibility is in itself a waste of time for serious theology and borders on the fringes of foolishness.

I am tempted to agree with them for several reasons.

As I understand the problem, the discovery of intelligent life on another planet would raise questions concerning traditional Roman Catholic and Protestant teachings regarding creation, the fall, man as the image of God, redemption and Biblical inerrancy.

First one should point out that in contrast to the traditions deriving from Latin Christianity, Greek Christianity never had a fundamentalist or literalist understanding of Biblical inspiration and was never committed to the inerrancy of scripture in matters concerning the structure of the universe and life in it. In this regard some modern attempts at de-mything the Bible are interesting and at times amusing.

Since the very first centuries of Christianity, theologians of the Greek tradition did not believe, as did the Latins, that humanity was created in a state of perfection from which it fell. Rather the Orthodox always believed that man [was] created imperfect, or at a low level of perfection, with the destiny of evolving to higher levels of perfection.

The fall of each man, therefore, entails a failure to reach perfection, rather than any collective fall from perfection.

Also spiritual evolution does not end in a static beatific vision. It is a never ending process which will go on even into eternity.

Also Orthodox Christianity, like Judaism, never knew the Latin and Protestant doctrine of original sin as an inherited Adamic guilt putting all humanity under a divine wrath which was supposedly satisfied by the death of Christ.

Thus the solidarity of the human race in Adamic guilt and the need for satisfaction of divine justice in order to avoid hell are unknown in the Greek Fathers.

This means that the interdependence and solidarity of creation and its need for redemption and perfection are seen in a different light.

The Orthodox believe that all creation is destined to share in the glory of God. Both damned and glorified will be saved. In other words both will have vision of God in his uncreated glory, with the difference that for the unjust this same uncreated glory of God will be the eternal fires of hell.

God is light for those who learn to love Him and a consuming fire for those who will not. God has no positive intent to punish.

For those not properly prepared, to see God is a cleansing experience, but one which does not move eternally toward higher reaches of perfection.

In contrast, hell is a static state of perfection somewhat similar to Platonic bliss.

In view of this the Orthodox never saw in the Bible any three story universe with a hell of created fire underneath the earth and a heaven beyond the stars.

For the Orthodox discovery of intelligent life on another planet would raise the question of how far advanced these beings are in their love and preparation for divine glory.

As on this planet, so on any other, the fact that one may have not as yet learned about the Lord of Glory of the Old and New Testament, does not mean that he is automatically condemned to hell, just as one who believes in Christ is not automatically destined to be involved in the eternal movement toward perfection.

It is also important to bear in mind that the Greek Fathers of the Church maintain that the soul of man is part of material creation, although a high form of it, and by nature mortal.

Only God is purely immaterial.

Life beyond death is not due to the nature of man but to the will of God. Thus man is not strictly speaking the image of God. Only the Lord of Glory, or the Angel of the Lord of Old and New Testament revelation is the image of God.

Man was created according to the image of God, which means that his destiny is to become like Christ who is the Incarnate Image of God.

Thus the possibility of intelligent beings on another planet being images of God as men on earth are supposed to be is not even a valid question from an Orthodox point of view.

Finally one could point out that the Orthodox Fathers rejected the Platonic belief in immutable archetypes of which this world of change is a poor copy.

This universe and the forms in it are unique and change is of the very essence of creation and not a product of the fall.

Furthermore the categories of change, motion and history belong to the eternal dimensions of salvation-history and are not to be discarded in some kind of eternal bliss.

Thus the existence of intelligent life on another planet behind or way ahead of us in intellectual and spiritual attainment will change little in the traditional beliefs of Orthodox Christianity.

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Saint Menas the Great Martyr and Miracle Worker

St. Menas the Miracle Worker (Feast Day - November 11). This icon of his life is taken from the Cathedral of St. Menas in Herakleion, Crete.

Life of the Great Martyr Saint Menas
by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Menas was an Egyptian by birth and a soldier by profession. As a true Christian, he was not able to witness the abominable sacrificial offerings to the idols and left the army, the town, the people and everything else, and went to a deserted mountain, for it was easier for him to live among the wild beasts than with pagans. One day Menas clairvoyantly discerned a pagan celebration in the town of Cotyaeus. He descended into the town and openly declared his faith in Christ the Living God. He denounced idolatry and paganism as falsehood and darkness. Pyrrhus, eparch of that town, asked Menas who he was and where he was from. The saint replied: ``My fatherland is Egypt, my name is Menas. I was an officer, but witnessing the worship of idols, I renounced your honors. I now come before you all to proclaim my Christ as the true God, that He may proclaim me as His servant in the Heavenly Kingdom.'' Hearing this, Pyrrhus subjected St. Menas to severe tortures. They flogged him, scraped him with iron claws, burned him with torches, and tortured him by various other means, and finally beheaded him with the sword. They threw his body into a fire so that Christians would not be able to retrieve it, but Christians recovered several parts of his body from the fire nevertheless. They reverently buried those remains, which were later transferred to Alexandria and buried there, where a church was built over them. St. Menas suffered in about the year 304 and went to the Kingdom of Christ. He was and remains a great miracle-worker, both on earth and in heaven. Whoever glorifies St. Menas and invokes his help with faith, receives his help. The saint has often appeared as a warrior on horseback, arriving to help the faithful or punish the unfaithful.


Miracles

One of the most popular pilgrimage centers of the early Middle Ages was located in the Egyptian desert southwest of Alexandria and Lake Mareotis and consisted of a large complex of buildings whose full extent was brought to light by the excavations of Carl Maria Kauffmann in 1905. St. Sophronios of Jerusalem in the early seventh century described the saint's shrine as "the pride of all Lybia". The following five miracles are taken from the account of miracles gathered by Patriarch Timothy of Alexandria (380-384).

1. There was a man once who having gone to pray at the saint's church was given a place to stay by a certain individual. And because the man who received him realized that the guest was carrying gold on his person, he got up in the middle of the night and set upon him with a murderous hand. And cutting his body into pieces he put him in a basket, suspended it, and waited for morning. And then he was filled with anxiety about when and where he might take (the remains) to hide them in some remote place.

Now while his mind was preoccupied with these things, Christ's saintly martyr appeared on horseback dressed as a military man and began to inquire about the stranger who had spent the night there. And although the murderer assured him he knew nothing, the saint dismounted from his horse, went into the inner part of the building and bringing down the basket and fixing a fearsome stare on the murderer, he said: "What is this?" And the man, going into a state of shock from fright, cast himself at the feet of the saint like a wretched corpse.

The saint then reassembled the severed limbs and, having prayed, he raised up the dead man, saying: "Give glory to God." While he, rising as if from sleep and realizing the extent of his sufferings at the hands of the man who had given him lodging, praised God, and thanking the person dressed as a military officer he made obeissance to him. And when the murderer got up, the saint took the gold from him and gave it to the other saying: "Continue your journey." And turning to the murderer he chastised him as was fitting and lectured him as well, granting him pardon for the crime. Then he offered a prayer on the man's behalf, got on his horse and disappeared from his sight.

2. There was a man living in Alexandria named Eutropius who vowed to give a silver platter to the Church of Saint Menas. He summoned a smith and asked him to make two silver dishes and to inscribe on one, "the platter of the Holy Great Martyr Menas," and on the other, "the platter of Eutropius, a citizen of Alexandria." The silversmith did as he was told, and when he finished the work it could be seen that Saint Menas' platter was the more handsome and brilliant of the two. After inscribing the dishes, the smith gave them to Eutropius.

One day, while Eutropius was at sea, he took out both the new plates, wishing to eat. Seeing that the plate on which the name of Saint Menas was inscribed was more beautiful than his, he did not wish to give it away. Instead, he ordered his servant to serve his food on the martyr's plate, and he decided to send his own plate to the Church of Saint Menas. After he had eaten, the servant took the martyr's dish, went to the side of the boat, and began to wash it in the sea. As he was doing so, he saw a man emerge from the water, take the platter from his hand, and then disappear. The servant began to shake with fear and threw himself into the sea, hoping to retrieve the plate. The master saw him sink beneath the waves, and became terrified. He cried out, weeping, "Woe is me, the wretch! I desired the saint's platter, and now I have lost both the platter and my servant! Be not wroth with me until the end, O Lord my God, and have mercy upon my servant. I vow unto Thee that if I find the corpse of my servnt, I shall have another dish made as a gift for Thy favorite Menas, or else I shall give the price of the dish to the saint's church!"

When the ship reached harbor, Eutropius began to look about for the servant's body, hoping that the waves had brought it to land, for he wished to give it burial. He searched carefully, and lo, he beheld his servant washing ashore, holding the platter! Overcome by fear, he cried out, "Glory to God! Truly great is the Holy Martyr Menas!"

The people on the boat, now disembarking, also saw the servant holding the platter, and were amazed and glorified God. They asked the servant how he had remained alive in the sea and emerged unharmed, and he replied, "As soon as I cast myself into the sea, a man of commanding appearance, accompanied by two others, rescued me, and brought me here."

The man took the platter and his servant and went to the Church of Saint Menas. He worshipped there, and, in parting, donated the plate he had promised the saint, giving thanks unto God and glory to his favorite, Menas.

3. A certain woman, while she was on her way to venerate at the Church of Saint Menas, was forcibly seized by a man who wanted shameful intercourse with her. She asked the saint for help and he did not ignore her, but making an example of the rapist he kept her unharmed. For the man had tied his horse to his right foot while he was busy with the woman. But the horse grew enraged at his own master and thus not only interrupted the disgraceful act, but dragged the man along the ground and did not stop until he reached the shrine of the saint. And straightaway he began to neigh loudly and without interruption, drawing a crowd of onlookers, for since it happened to be a feastday, there were many people on hand.

And the man, having gone through this ordeal and seeing the crowd of people who had gathered, while the horse grew wilder and no one was coming to his aid, fearing that his horse might do him greater harm, he denounced without a blush before all his unlawful deed. And the horse immediately stopped and stood calm. Once untied, the rider approached the saint's church and, prostrating himself, he pleaded with him not to be subjected to further tribulation.

4. Once a crippled man and a mute woman were staying in the shrine of the saint with many others waiting to be cured. In the middle of the night, while all were busy sleeping, the saint appeared to the cripple and said: "Go while it is still quiet and take hold of the mute woman's cloak and you will be cured." And having gone over and taken hold of it, she, bereft of her covering, cried out blaming to all appearances the cripple. And the woman was cured when her tongue became untied; while the crippled man, feeling ashamed, immediately got up with the intention of fleeing. And when they both realized the miracle which had been brought about for them by the saint, they gave glory to God.

5. There was once a Jew who was close friends with a Christian and, as he travelled often to distant lands, he would leave behind considerable amounts of gold with him. On one occasion he entrusted to him a money-bag containing five hundred nomismata, and the Christian plotted in his heart to deny that it had been left in his care, which he in fact did. For when the Jew came and asked (for the money) in the usual manner, the Christian did not hand it over, saying: "You did not leave with me this time what you are asking for." The Jew, not expecting to hear this, was beside himself. When he regained his composure he said to the Christian: "An oath will resolve the issue, without any witnesses." And he asked that the one who was lying be refuted by Saint Menas.

Both men went to the Church of Saint Menas, and the Christian swore to the Jew before God that he did not take the gold for safe-keeping. Both men then left the church and mounted their horses. Immediately the Christian's horse began to buck so violently that it could not be restrained. Breaking its reins, it began to gallop, and tossed its master to the ground. As the Christian fell from the horse, his ring slid from his hand and a key from his pouch.

He got up, pursued his horse, calmed it, and then rode off again with the Jew. When they had gone a way, the Christian said to the Jew, "Friend, this is a convenient place to dismount and eat."

They dismounted their horses and let them graze, and themselves began to eat. The Christian then looked up and saw his servant standing before him, holding the Jew's chest in one hand and the ring and the key in the other. He was overcome by terror and asked the servant, "What is the meaning of the this?"

The servant replied, "A fearsome soldier went to my lady [the Christian's wife] and giving her this key and ring, said to her, 'Return the chest to the Jew without delay, lest your husband fall into misfortune.' Therefore, she sent me to you with these things as the soldier commanded."

When the Jew saw this, he rejoiced, and together with the Christian, returned to the Church of Saint Menas. There he fell to the ground and asked for Holy Baptism, confessing that because he had witnessed this great miracle, he had come to believe. The Christian begged the saint to forgive him, acknowledging that he had transgressed God's commandment. Both received what they desired: one Holy Baptism and the other forgiveness of his sin, and they returned to their homes, rejoicing and glorifying God and exalting Saint Menas.

Two More Miracles

1. This miracle of Saint Menas took place in 1826 in Herakleion, Crete. Five years prior was the beginning of the Greek Revolution and the Turks had slaughtered a great number of Greeks in Crete, most noteworthy being the Metropolitan of Crete together with many of his bishops of various districts on June 24, 1821 in the Cathedral of Saint Menas, together with the officiating priest who was slaughtered on the very altar during the Divine Liturgy.

Five years later the Turks were devising another slaughter of the Christians on April 18, 1826, which was the Feast of Pascha when all Christians of the city would gather to celebrate the Feast of Feasts. To distract them they set fires on Pascha in various areas of the city and many gathered towards the church to celebrate the feast and sing "Christ is risen!"

As the gospel was being read proclaiming the Resurrection Feast suddenly a gray haired man appeared and began running around the church holding a sword, and the faithful saw him chase away the Turks who were devising the slaughter.

The Turks thought the man was a fellow Muslim who was sent by the governor of the city to call off the slaughter. However the governor assured them he had sent no one and in fact had not left his home that night. It was then that the Turks realized that this was a miracle of Saint Menas to save the Greeks. It is for this reason that Muslims began honoring Saint Menas and bringing gifts to the church.

This miracle is celebrated every year on Bright Tuesday following Pascha in the city of Herakleion. It is also during the Vespers Service of the feast that the relic of Saint Menas is displayed for veneration by the faithful.

2. One of Orthodoxy's modern saints is Elder Hadji-Georgis the Athonite (1809-1886). This great ascetic lived many years on the Holy Mountain in Kerasia in the large Cell of Saint Demetrios and Saint Menas. He began here as a novice under Papa-Neophytos and later as Elder of the brotherhood from 1848 and on.

One day as he was busy doing his handiwork, he placed a needle in his mouth and by mistake swallowed the needle. He prayed to Saint Menas. Saint Menas then appeared by the elders side and put his hand on his throat and the needle was removed.

This Egyptian icon from the Coptic Monastery of St. Menas depicts St. Menas with Jesus and is considered one of the oldest icons in existence dating to the 6th century.

The Discovery of the Ancient Shrine of Saint Menas

Though the Shrine of Saint Menas was one of the most popular pilgrimage sites of the early Middle Ages, it fell into oblivion over the centuries with the Muslim occupation and was even believed by many scholars to be a myth. Following its discovery in 1905, the ruins of the fabled city of St. Menas were placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 as one of the five most historically important sites in Egypt. The following is taken from an article published by Al-Ahram:

The city was thought to be legendary until 1905 when German archaeologist Carl Maria Kaufmann, travelling from Athens to North Africa through Alexandria and Maryut, made a scientific investigation of early Christian monasteries that had earlier been investigated only superficially, or not at all. The city -- described in glowing terms by the Arab geographer Al-Bakri in the early 11th century, and in accounts by numerous mediaeval historians and pilgrims who spoke of superb buildings decorated with statues and mosaics, situated in a fertile region with vineyards -- had totally disappeared. It was even thought to be a figment of the imagination.

When Kaufmann came upon extensive ruins near Maryut (formerly Lake Mareotis) southwest of Alexandria he was certain that he had discovered the famous place to which thousands of pilgrims reputedly flocked from all over the Christian world. Discovery of the actual tomb of St Menas dispelled all doubt. Thirty marble stairs led down to a crypt, and the tomb of the patron saint lay some 10 metres beneath the high altar of the ruins of a basilica constructed in the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine by Bishop Athanasius the Great. Kaufmann found baths and tiny pottery ampullae shaped like a flat, two-handled jar stamped with the figure of the saint between two camels. These the pilgrims filled with sacred water and took home as curative souvenirs.

No further excavations were carried out until 1951, when a team from the Coptic Museum found souvenir shops and evidence of glass and pottery manufacturing. Ten years later, in 1961, the German Archaeological Institute began serious excavation of the site under the direction of Peter Grossman, which continues until today. Over successive seasons the ancient religious community came to life. The team found a transept or T-shaped basilica with a domed roof supported by 56 marble columns, the sockets of which could still be seen, with the pillardrums scattered around. The basilica, built of limestone, was 34.7 metreslong and 20 wide. Above the saint's grave on the east side was the altar. On one aisle was a deep shaft leading down to the well where the sick were purportedly healed. In the tomb itself was found an icon of the saint, exactly as described by Al-Bakri. The mission also located a potter's workshop where souvenir objects including jugs, lamps and flasks had been fired some 1,500 years earlier for sale to pilgrims.

St Menas was one of the few Egyptian martyrs with an international reputation. The original church built over his grave soon became too small to accommodate the number of pilgrims, and the Emperor Arcadius (395-408) built another, to which the saint's relics were transferred. Subsequent Roman emperors erected the Great Basilica, to which thousands of pilgrims made the pilgrimage from as far afield as England, France, Germany, Spain and Turkey. Cures were attributed to the therapeutic effects of the water which came from springs in the limestone rocks, which have since dried up. Baths were built beside the church after Constantine's only daughter, who suffered from leprosy, was reputedly healed there. The number of little flasks stamped with the saint's image and filled with healing water became an industry to cater to the needs of the worshippers and have been found around the world. Indeed, they are familiar objects in many museums.

The German team also found evidence that shops and workshops lined a colonnaded route leading to the Church of the Martyr, which was rebuilt during the reign of Justinian (528-565). As excavations progressed, it was possible to deduce that pilgrims gathered in a great square where a semi-circular structure may have been a resting place for the sick. Discoveries included a double Roman bath for men and women, two hospitals and a building which may have been used for church administrators. Surrounding the square were hostels on the north, where the monks took care of the sick, bath houses and wells. Surrounding the labyrinthine ruins were cells and refectories.

This great place of pilgrimage, so threatened today from another cause, was destroyed on three earlier occasions. The first was during the Persian invasion in 619 when countless Christian churches and shrines were ravaged along the northern coast. The second was in 628 when the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius overthrew the Persians and himself destroyed religious buildings belonging to the Egyptian Church (later the Coptic Orthodox Church) who did not adhere to the dogma as laid down at the Council of Chalcedon in 451; and the third was after the Arab conquest when, following the withdrawal of the Melkite Patriarch from Alexandria, the monastery of St Menas became subject to dispute between the Greek Orthodox and the Coptic Orthodox churches on the question of jurisdiction. By the eighth century, when the government decreed that the shrine belonged to the Coptic Orthodox Church, the site had been ravaged by Bedouins. Stones had been usurped, including valuable marble, for reuse elsewhere. Bedouin attacks continued for 30 years, and earthquakes added to the final devastation. Yet so great was the religious community that even as late as the year 1000 Al-Bakry described lights burning in the shrine of the saint night and day and "the beautiful water of St Menas that drives away pain."


Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
With great valour of soul, thou didst strive in martyrdom, and having fought the good fight, O divine Great Martyr Menas, thou from Heaven hast received the gift of miracles; for God hath shown thee to the world as a worker of great signs, and He made thee our protector and a swift help in afflictions and ever-vigilant defence from harm.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
As godly-minded athletes and Martyrs who strove for piety, the Church doth honour and glorify this day the godly contests and travails of Menas the prizewinner, noble Victor, brave Vincent, and valiant Stephanie, and lovingly doth cry out and glorify Christ, the Friend of man.

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Marine Reservist Attacked Greek Priest He Mistook for Terrorist

Priest's Plea for Help Nets Beating

By Alexandra Zayas and Demorris A. Lee
Published Tuesday, November 10, 2009
St. Petersburg Times

TAMPA — Marine reservist Jasen Bruce was getting clothes out of the trunk of his car Monday evening when a bearded man in a robe approached him.

That man, a Greek Orthodox priest named Father Alexios Marakis, speaks little English and was lost, police said. He wanted directions.

What the priest got instead, police say, was a tire iron to the head. Then he was chased for three blocks and pinned to the ground — as the Marine kept a 911 operator on the phone, saying he had captured a terrorist.

Police say Bruce offered several reasons to explain his actions:

The man tried to rob him.

The man grabbed Bruce's crotch and made an overt sexual advance in perfect English.

The man yelled "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," the same words some witnesses said the Fort Hood shooting suspect uttered last week.

"That's what they tell you right before they blow you up," police say Bruce told them.

Bruce ended up in jail, accused of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. He was released Tuesday on $7,500 bail. Marakis ended up at the hospital with stitches. He told the police he didn't want to press charges, espousing biblical forgiveness.

But Tuesday, Bruce wasn't saying sorry.


The two men are a year apart in age, and a world apart in life experiences.

Father Michael Eaccarino of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tarpon Springs says Marakis, 29, entered a Greek monastery as a teenager and became a priest nine years ago. He is studying theology at Holy Cross, a Greek Orthodox school in Massachusetts, and traveled to Tarpon Springs two months ago to work on his master's thesis. He has taken a vow of celibacy.

Eaccarino says the visiting priest got lost Monday after ministering to the elderly in a nursing home.

Jasen Bruce, 28, enlisted as a reserve Marine as a teenager, was discharged honorably when he finished his contract, and enlisted again this March. He has never been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, a Marine Corps spokesman said. He got married last month in full dress uniform.

Bruce is a sales manager for APS Pharmacy in Palm Harbor. His blog entries tout the benefits of increasing testosterone and human growth hormones. He was charged with misdemeanor battery in 2007 for hopping over the bed of a tow truck and shoving its driver. He pleaded no contest.

Online photo galleries depict him flexing big muscles wearing little clothing.

An exterior surveillance video of Tuesday's chase captured the two men in motion, said Tampa Police Department spokeswoman Laura McElroy:

"You see a very short, small man running, and an enormous, large muscular man chasing after him."

This is what police say happened at 6:35 p.m. Monday:

The priest's GPS gave him the wrong directions, leading him off Interstate 275 and into downtown Tampa. He followed a line of cars into a garage at the Seaport Channelside condominium to ask for help.

He found Bruce, whose back was turned, bending over the trunk of his car, and he tapped his shoulder before saying, in broken English, "please" and "help."

That's when Bruce reached for the tire iron. Police say that by the end of the chase, he had hit the priest four times.

Hours after his release from Orient Road Jail on Tuesday, Bruce stood silently as his attorney, Jeff Brown, told his version:

The bearded man wearing a robe and sandals was clearly trespassing in the garage. In a sudden move, the stranger made a verbal sexual advance and grabbed Bruce's genitals. The Marine defended himself. And immediately, he called 911 as he chased him.

Brown said the police initially called the Marine a "hero" and said the priest was "mentally ill."

He called the police's account "one-sided" and said the department should investigate a sergeant he said made derogatory comments about the Marine's military background.

Police said that sergeant is, himself, a veteran. They say that the priest was disoriented when they found him at the corner of Madison and Meridian avenues, but a translator at Tampa General Hospital helped him communicate. And that the GPS corroborates the priest's story.

When police arrived at Bruce's apartment at 1:30 a.m., before they had mentioned charges, he had already called an attorney.

Television news stations showed the priest's photo on Tuesday and mentioned what the Marine said he did. If the priest had watched, he wouldn't have understood it.

He'd spent the day in great spirits, his fellow priest said. His main worry was that he inconvenienced the others who had to care for him. Then, a man named Jerry Theophilopoulos got in touch with him. He's a lawyer, speaks Greek and served as a former board member of the church. The lawyer said he told the priest what the Marine said. Marakis was stunned. His eyes grew wide. He said it was a lie.

Times researcher John Martin and staff writer Jamal Thalji contributed to this report.

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Saint Orestes' Revelation to Saint Dimitri Rostov

Life of St. Orestes (Feast Day - November 10)
by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Orestes was from the town of Tyana in Cappadocia. He was a Christian from birth and a physician by profession. He was harshly tortured by a certain wicked eparch Maximus during the reign of Diocletian. When the eparch at first advised him to deny Christ and worship idols, Orestes replied: "If you knew the power of the Crucified One, you would reject idolatrous falsehoods and worship the true God.'' For this, he was savagely beaten, scraped, pulled apart on the rack, burned with a red-hot iron, and cast into prison to die of starvation. The young Orestes spent seven days without bread or water. On the eighth day, he was again brought before the eparch who threatened him with frightening tortures. Orestes answered: "I am prepared to endure every pain, having the sign of my Lord Jesus Christ inscribed on my heart.'' The governor condemned him, and the torturers hammered twenty iron nails into his feet and tied him to a horse, dragging him over thorns and rocks until the martyr of God breathed his last. On the place where they discarded Orestes's body, a man bright as the sun appeared, gathered Orestes's relics, and carried them to a hill near the town of Tyana, honorably burying them there. This wonderful saint appeared to St. Dimitri of Rostov after his repose, and showed him all the wounds on his body.


The Revelation of St. Orestes the Martyr to St. Dimitri Rostov
By St. Dimitry Rostov

In the year 1685, the author of this Life was preparing it to be printed at the Holy and Great Lavra of the Kiev Caves. One night, during the holy fast before the feast of the Nativity of Christ, when he had already completed this account, he fell asleep for a short while before the beginning of Matins and learned that the saint suffered still more torments than those described in his Life. The Holy Martyr Orestes appeared to him in a dream, and looking upon him with joyful countenance, said, "I suffered more torments for Christ than these!" Then the martyr bared his breast and showed the author of his Life a great wound on his left side which penetrated to his bowels. He said, "Here they pierced me with a spear."

The saint also showed the wound at his right elbow, and said, "Here they cut off my arm!" The sinews in the wound had all been severed.

Next he showed his left arm, which bore a similar wound at the same place, and said, "They cut off this arm here." After this he bent over, bared one leg, and showed a wound behind the knee, and then uncovered the other leg, which was wounded at the same place. He said, "My legs were cut off with a scythe."

Having said this, the martyr stood up, looked the writer in the face, and declared, "You now see that I suffered more torments for Christ than you described!"

The writer began to wonder which Orestes the saint was, and thought that perhaps he was the soldier Orestes, one of the Five Martyrs of Sebaste [celebrated December 13]. As if to answer his thought, the holy martyr said, "I am not the Orestes who was one of the Five Martyrs, but he whose life you have just completed."

With that, the bells rang for Matins, and the vision came to an end.

HYMN OF PRAISE: The Holy Martyr Orestes
By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The young Orestes did not spare his youth,
But boasted of Christ before the judge,
The Living God, One and Holy,
Crucified on the Cross for mankind.
They flogged St. Orestes's back,
As he mocked the lifeless idols;
And they burned wondrous Orestes in the fire,
Which was cooled by the dew of God's Spirit.
They drove nails into his feet,
And covered his whole body with wounds.
Strengthened by the Spirit, Orestes prayed,
And gave thanks to God
That he was made worthy of such sufferings,
That God had adopted him as a son.
O Orestes, the God-pleaser,
Courageous martyr for Christ,
Help us unto the last day-
By your prayers, come to our aid-
That we may honorably end our lives,
And be made worthy of Paradise with you.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
Thine invincibility in contest, O Martyr, was accepted and rewarded by Christ, the Prize-bestower; and He hath granted thee the crown of life and the divine power to work healings, O Orestes, since He is the Friend of man.

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The Apologetic Methods of Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos

Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos (Reposed on November 10, 1989)

Apologetic Method

- "When you write, my child, do not present all your arguments at first. Keep a few in reserve, so that, if there is someone who answers, you can implement the golden 'law of reserves'. Thus, you support your positions better."


Religious Seekers

- Once, a lawyer who met the Elder for the first time asked him about reincarnation. Father Epiphanios answered him. After a lengthy period of discussion, the lawyer insisted on continuing on the same subject. So the Elder said to him:

"All right, but don't you pity your time dealing with these things?"

"Is it evil, Father?"

"No, my little child, it is not evil in the sense that you are researching a topic, but you are wasting your time in vain."

"I like searching."

"How old are you?"

"About forty."

"So, you are forty years old and you are still searching? And when will you settle? And after you settle, will you then have years before you in which to regulate your life in accordance with your settled convictions? Life is very short and leaves quickly! You can't make the search the aim of your life. You must, of course, settle somewhere."

"Father, I don't accept the approach 'believe and don't research'."

"But I am not telling you not to research. I am simply telling you that sometime you have to settle somewhere. You are already late."

After a little while, the lawyer departed and the Elder commented:

"Do you know what it is for your tongue to have dried up from thirst, to have a little spring next to you and yet not approach it to be refreshed, but instead settle for swampy waters? Do you know what it is to tremble from the cold, for the fire to be next to you and for you not to extend your hands to get warm? Miserable people!"


Atheism and Skepticism

- For an excellent dialogue the Elder had with an atheist, please read here.

----------------------

- "Sin is that which prevents us from believing. Not logic. For this reason, if you tell an unbeliever to live for six months according to the ethics of the Gospel, and he does it, he will become a believer without even realizing it."

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- "'God does not exist' is usually said by people who are lewd and unethical. There has not been found nor will there be found an ethical, continent, virtuous, etc. man who will rather easily say: 'God does not exist!'"

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- Once, Father mentioned the following anecdote:

A certain scholar, after quite a bit of argumentation to prove that God does not exist, said:

"If God exists, let him kill me this instant!"

And because, of course, nothing happened, he continued:

"You see? If He existed He would have killed me."

Then, an elderly lady told him:

"Do you have children?"

"Yes", he answered.

"How many?"

"Three."

"Are they well behaved?"

"Well, not all of them...the two listen to me, but the third...."

"In other words?" asked the lady.

"Well", said the scholar, "he talks back to me, he doesn't listen to what I tell him, he acts wayward...."

"Well then, you should kill him!" the lady told him.

"My child?" the scholar said, amazed.

"Oh, so if you don't want to kill your child, how then do you imagine God would kill you, Who loves you incomparably more than you love your child?"

--------------------

- Once, a certain father (who was strongly materialistic) of one of the Elder's spiritual children visited him to complain that he was exerting an "unacceptable" influence upοn his son. At one moment, furthermore, he said, smiling mock­ingly at the Elder:

"And don't tell me, Father Epiphanios, that you, such a smart man, believe the things about Christ, Paradise, Hell, etc."

Then, the Elder got up automatically, set his politeness and meekness aside and, with a loud voice, told him:

"Listen, Mister! If Ι did not believe all these things, Ι would prefer to be selling lemons at Omonia Square, rather than to be fooling you! Ι would prefer to be a completely illiterate la­borer, rather than a lettered liar!"

After this, the visitor departed with his head bowed . . . .

--------------------

- Once, the Elder visited a certain spiritual child of his who was ill. There were also some other visitors, among whom was also a certain atheist doctor. After a little while, the conversation turned to religious topics and lasted quite a while. Ιn the end, the Elder addressed the doctor:

"Μy doctor, despite your objections, Ι discern in the depth of your soul a good will and disposition. Without being a prophet, Ι believe that God will not leave you. Ι would like to submit to you one request. Would it be diffi­cult, once a day, to say the following small expression: 'God, if you exist, come to find me.' Ι think it will not cost you anything nor does it clash with your conscience."

He accepted.

Α few months later, the doctor diagnosed in himself neo­plasm of the bones, in other words: cancer. He departed abroad. There, the doctors advised him to return to Greece, because it was a rapidly spreading form of cancer and he was quickly approaching his end.

Before taking the return road home, he asked to confess and commune. He died in repentance a little while after his return to Greece.


Critics of Christianity

- Once, when he was studying in the School of Theology, his fellow students sought him out to help them in a dialogue which they had opened with students of another school during a certain break. As soon as Eteoklis (the later Father Epiphanios) arrived at the place of discussion, a handicapped student happened to be accusing Christianity of being useless. Eteoklis presented a multitude of arguments, but the student would not retreat for anything. So finally Eteoklis told him:

"Don't continue because you will put me in a difficult position. I specialize in this subject."

The student insisted. And Eteoklis continued:

"Especially to you, Christianity has offered life itself! If Christianity did not exist, you being handicapped, would have been thrown into some Kaiada! [Note: a pit or underground cavern where corpses were thrown in ancient times.]

And the conversation ended.

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- "For all the foolishness to be refuted, which is written against Christianity, the mountains would have to be minds, the trees to be pen holders, the sea to be ink, and the fields, paper!"

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- "Many people write as they smoke and smoke as they write and write whatever the smoke blows."


Miracles

- Once he was asked:

"Elder, have you ever seen a vision?"

"No, my child. Nor do I wish to see any. The only thing I want to see are my sins."

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- A strange, religious person once asked the Elder:

"Father, have you seen miracles in your life?"

And the Elder replied:

"Miracles? Nothing but!"

Curious and with intense interest, he then asked him:

"Will you relate to me the greatest miracle you have ever seen?"

"The greatest miracle which I have seen is that God came to earth to save me, the most sinful of people."

The curious man, frustrated, said:

"Is that all you have to tell me?"

And the Elder answered:

"But is there, my dear child, a greater miracle than that?"

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- On account of all those who have difficulties with the matter of the Lord's miracles, Father stressed: "When someone accepts the Resurrection of Christ - in other words, that Christ is God - then he can easily explain all the miracles."

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- "With miracles, the Lord does not give a certificate of correctness of people's faith. He does them out of love for His creatures."


Heresy

- Once he was asked:

"Elder, it is known that peace reigns only in the soul of the people of God. However, the Evangelicals also maintain that they feel a permanent calmness in their hearts. How is it possible for this to occur, since they are in delusion?"

And he responded:

"In the villages, my child, when the villagers wish to tie their donkey for grazing, it is not necessary to tie it by all four feet. It suffices to tie it by one.

"The devil does the same thing with the Evangelicals. Since he has tied them by the foot of heresy, he does not attack them with other temptations. Thus, it is explained why they feel peace, as they maintain. However, this peace is superficial and temporal."

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- The Protestants maintain that, in the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist, we don't have the actual Body and Blood of our Lord, but that it is a simple remembrance of the Sacrifice of His Crucifixion.

The Elder responded to this:

"As we know, the Body of the Lord upon the Cross not only was not broken up into small pieces, but not even a bone of His was broken. So, how then does the Lord, during the imparting of the Sacrament of the Divine Eucharist, say: 'Take, eat, this is my Body, which is broken' (1 Cor. 11:24). If it were merely a simple remembrance, he would not have said 'which is klomenon' - that is, 'broken into small pieces', because such a thing had not occurred in the crucifixion for them to remember it."


Ecclesiastical Issues

- He was asked:

"Why, in the area of the Church, are improprieties and injustices committed and why can we not find perfection even in the people who are most dedicated to God?"

Responding he said:

"So that we do not base ourselves on persons and things which are related to the earth, and so we can turn our thought constantly to God and toward heaven which is our permanent homeland."


The Problem of Evil

- "Elder, why does God allow righteous and virtuous people to suffer from dreadful illness?"

"In order to be cleansed even from the least traces of their passions and to gain a greater crown in heaven. Furthermore, since He allowed His beloved Son to suffer and to die upon the Cross, what can we say for the people, who, no matter how holy they are, have filth and spots from sins?"

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- "Elder, how does the goodness of God reconcile with the existence of Hell?"

"We must not consider Hell as an expression of the punishing disposition of God. Hell means his complete absence. And, as such, it is a result of our free choice. When someone tells God: 'Depart from me, I do not wish to know your ways' (Job 21:14), then He also, even though All-Good, does not save him by force. Being just, He lets him enjoy his choice - that is, Hell, just as He offers the delight of Paradise to the saint. We choose the place of our eternal dwelling place and God, being just, simply co-signs our choice. In a few words: The justice of God is not exhausted in the selections of our choice."


Children's Questions

- A small child asked him:

"Elder, where was I before I was born?"

"In God's mind, my child."


Science

- "Natural sciences in essence describe and certify. They don't explain."

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- The Elder said: "Professor Louvaris formulated in a first form the following argument, whose strength Ι have experienced in conversations: Marxists proclaim that there exists nothing beyond matter, and natural laws govern everything. However, nature knows οnly the law of strength (survival). The laws of love, compassion and justice are unknown to it. Based οn this logic, the fate of the lamb is for the wolf to eat it and for the rich person to oppress the poor person without ethical respon­sibility. Οnly the acceptance of ethical laws, after the rejection of materialism, can justify the demand for social justice."


Bible Difficulties

- One night, the Elder was returning on foot from the Three Hierarchs Church, accompanied by a certain spiritual child of his, who, utilizing the opportunity, posed different biblical questions to him. So he asked the Elder at one point:

"Elder, how do we say 'Moses signed the Cross' since, in the text of the Old Testament, it is not written that he made the sign of the cross?"

They were then at Saint Constantine Street, waiting for the light to change so they could go across. So, the Elder responded:

"This is concluded if we think of what motions Moses did to achieve a passage way through the Red Sea. If we suppose that Saint Constantine Street is the Red Sea, then for it to be interrupted, the motion of the rod must be vertical toward the road. When we go across - that is, we pass through the 'Red Sea' - in order for the waters to again unite, the motion of the rod must be parallel with the road. Thus, however, in the air the sign of the Precious Cross is formed with the vertical and the parallel signing toward the road/Red Sea."

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- "Elder, isn't cowardice a sin?"

"Yes, my child."

"Didn't the Lord cower at Gethsemene? Then, how is he sinless?"

"What would the Lord face at Golgotha?"

"Death."

"And what is death, according to the Holy Scripture?"

"The wages of sin."

"Well, what relation did the God-Man have with sin and its wages, death?"

"None, whatsoever!"

"The agony, consequently, of the Lord at Gethsemene was not cowardice as a sin, but disgust and aversion, which he felt as God toward sin and its fruits."

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- When again he was asked why the angel Raphael lied to Tobit when he asked him to tell him who he was, and he answered "I am Azarias of Ananias the great, of your brothers" (Tobit 5:13), the Elder said:

"He did not lie. Very simply, he answered according to appearance. He said, that is, that he is Azarias, because he had taken his form. If Ananias was present at the scene, he would be seeing in front of him his son Azaria. And to give you a parallel example so you can understand it, I tell you the following:

"Say that I have in my office someone who is suffering from color-blindness - that is, he sees red for green and vice versa, and at some point in my library I have next to each other a red and green book and I want him to bring me the green one. If I, despite the fact that I want the green one, tell him: 'I want you to bring me the red one', whereas seemingly I am lying, in reality I am not lying, because only if I tell him red, will he see green, which I really want, and he will bring it to me."

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- Once he related:

"A child of High School age, exceptionally misbehaved, had just returned home after his catechetical lesson. He immediately began with great audacity to make fun of his catechist: 'So you can understand how stupid he is, he was telling us that the ass of Balaam spoke like a man.'

"The grandmother scolded her grandson for his impiety to the Old Testament. Then, the grandson turned to his grandmother and with haughtiness and scorn asked her: 'Do you possibly, grandmother, also believe in these stupidities, that the ass was able to speak like a man?'

"And the grandmother responded: 'Since, my child, you who are a man are able to speak like an ass, why should I not believe that the ass also was able to speak like a man?'"

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Saint Arsenios of Cappadocia Heals a Woman of Despair and Saves Her From Suicide

St. Arsenios of Cappadocia (Feast Day - November 10)

by Elder Paisios the Athonite

One time, a Farasiote woman had fallen into despair, because her husband had died a few years after their marriage, and now she did not want to have anythig to do either with her village or with people, and was living on wild plants, in caves, because she had also been a factor in his death.

After about three years, unrecognisable because of what she had been going through, she visited Father Arsenios, and said to him:

"Hatzefendis, your blessing. You turn the world upside down. Can't you bring back my Vasilakis? Is it difficult for you?"

Father Arsenios answered her:

"My child, you've had a very hard time with your mourning. If you want, I give you my blessing to be married."

Said she:

"No, what I want is to see my Vasilakis. Won't you be upset if I kill myself?"

Father Arsenios was deeply pained and begged her:

"Don't do that, child. Don't give your soul to the demons."

But she was in a terrible state and kept saying that she would, too. Then Father Arsenios calmed her down and told her to go back to the cave where she was living and that Vasilakis would appear to her there, so she could see him and be reconciled. And he continuously prayed, with grievous pain.

Hardly had she arrived at the cave when Vasilakis appeared to her in a vision and said to her: "You villain, have you come here as well? But I know who sent you. Hatzefendis, who has great boldness towards God." His repentant wife then begged his forgiveness, and when she had been given it, Vasilakis disappeared once more and she returned peacefully to the village where she now lived quietly and in repentance.

Although the Evil One had played a part in making her, too, a cause of her husband's death, the same Evil One then brought her to despair so she would commit suicide. The Good Lord, however, did not allow her soul to perish, through His faithful servant Arsenios.

Apolytikion in Tone 3
Your godly life well-spent, as a vessel of the Spirit, honourable, you shone, Arsenios inspired by God. Endowed with the grace of miracles, you swiftly send aid to all. Beseech, Blessed Father, Christ our God, to grant us His great mercy.

Kontakion in Tone 4
Cappadocia's new-sprung flower and precious vessel of virtues, Holy Arsenios, let me hymn. For as an angel he lived in the flesh, and now resides with all the Saints. With them, he ever prays to Christ to grant us forgiveness of our sins.

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The Holy Archangels and Docheiariou Monastery

On November 9 we commemorate the builders of Docheiariou Monastery on Mount Athos, Saints Efthymios and Neophytos, as well as the great miracle of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel which occurred early in the history of the monastery. Below are the details of this great miracle:

The Archangels Help the Fathers at Docheiariou Monastery

The Docheiariou Monastery is located on the southwest tip of the Athonite promontory, northwest of Xenophontos. Though the origins of the monastery are somewhat obscure, it was first established by Efthymios Docheiarios (the cellarer) in the tenth century.

The saint had a nephew, the patrician Nicholas, whose father had been a duke during the reigns of Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (963-969) and John Tzimiskes (969-976). Since Nicholas' uncle was abbot of an Anthonite monastery, he loved to visit the elder and lavish gifts upon the monastery. At length, Nicholas forsook the world and the things of the world, and joined the brotherhood headed by his venerable uncle. In the holy tonsure, Nicholas was given the name Neophytos by Saint Efthymios. In time,the saint entrusted the holy Neophytos, as one superior in virtue, with the governance and concerns of the monastery. The holy Neophytos renovated, expanded, and improved the monastery. However, his fortune from the world had not sufficed to cover the expenses of iconography for the new and larger church. Nonetheless, our Savior hearkened to his prayer for this God-pleasing endeavor, in the following marvellous manner, during the reign of Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates (r. 1078-1081).

The Chalkidike peninsula of Longos is approximately sixty miles opposite the Holy Mountain. This is where Docheiariou Monastery had its metochion, that is, a monastery holding. Near the monastery's holding there was atop an ancient pillar the following inscription: "Whoever will strike my head will find much gold!" Needless to say, many cast stones at the top of the column, but no treasure was to be had. Yet the riddle meant the top of the shadow that was cast by the pillar - that is where the treasure was hidden. However, God, in His economy, desired to unravel this mystery at the proper time.

At the metochion, there was a lad of about twenty years of age, named Basil, who was paid a wage as a laborer. He, too, with many others, visited the column and wondered at its promise of gold. One day, as the sun was descending, the youth went to the column. He noted where the pillar cast its shadow and began to dig at that spot. Thereupon, he came upon a marble slab. Below the slab, he uncovered a copper vessel filled with gold coins. Upon beholding this enormous find, the youth was completely overcome; but he quickly covered up the spot and hastened to Abbot Neophytos.

Approaching the abbot, he declared, "Holy master, a tremendous amount of gold is buried at our metochion! Send me back with some of the monks that we might transport it here to the monastery." Saint Neophytos then dispatched three monks, who were seemingly pious, with the monastery boat. Thereupon, they went to the spot and took up the gold, its vessel, and the slab which concealed it. They proceeded to the shore and departed.


However, the monks were ill-intentioned. They were enticed by the treasure and plotted to keep it themselves. Therefore, they took up the slab and bound that honest young man to it from his neck. Then - alas! - they cast him into the depths of the sea.

Evening was drawing nigh. Upon being cast overboard, the lad invoked the aid of the holy archangels. Straightway, the bodiless host, Archangels Michael and Gabriel, appeared before him and, as eagles with golden wings, they caught him and took him from the depths of the sea. Then, in a moment, the young man found himself inside the monastery church at Docheiariou. Terror-stricken, he lay motionless in the church.

In the meantime, the three wayward monks divided the treasure among themselves. They hid their portions outside the monastery and then stayed by the dock till morning.


When the hour for Orthros approached, the caretaker of the lights and candles went about his obedience, so they might commence chanting the service. He found the youth in the church, but he thought he beheld a phantom. Therefore, he began to draw back, but then changed his mind and decided to approach, to take a better look at this spectacle. Not quite sure what he was gazing upon, he took to his heels, seeking the abbot. Going up to Saint Neophytos, he cried aloud, "My elder, there is a phantom in the church, and I cannot go inside!"

The abbot answered, "What dost thou fear? Make thy Cross and proceed courageously!" Meanwhile, the other brethren had assembled for the service. They, too, beheld the youth and hastened to Father Neophytos. The abbot then got up and went into the church with the ecclesiarch. As they entered the church, they clearly saw the youth. He was bound and asleep upon the marble slab that was tied to his neck. The abbot then tapped him with his staff to rouse him. The youth awoke, and said, "Tell me, 0 brothers, where am I? I thought I was in the sea where the monks had cast me overboard." Abbot Neophytos then questioned him, saying, "Dost thou not know where thou art? Behold, the monastery; behold, the Church of Docheiariou. Behold, I am Abbot Neophytos. Yet, tell us: How camest thou here?" The youth replied, "Leave me a space to come to myself."


After a short time, he related to the brethren all he had suffered at the hands of the three monks. Abbot Neophytos then said, “Tarry here till the morning. We will chant the service until the three criminals come up from the dock to the monastery. Let them behold the miracle!"

Morning came, and the abbot ordered that the three monks ascend from the dock. As they stood before him, he addressed them, saying, "How goes your discovery, O fathers?" Then, in unison, they replied, "O elder of ours, the inscription played us false. The lad fooled us, and then, when we threatened him, he fled!" Abbot Neophytos then uttered, “Glory be to Thee, 0 God! Let us go into the church and thank God!"

Upon entering the church, when those three malefactors caught sight of the youth bound with the marble slab about his neck, from their astonishment, they stood speechless. The abbot then threatened them. Thereupon, the three men brought the treasure into the monastery. Straightway, Abbot Neophytos expelled them from the brotherhood.

The youth Basil who desired to become a monk, was then tonsured and renamed Barnabas. At length, he succeeded the Elder Neophytos as abbot. Thus, the church was decorated with sacred icons and named in honor of the holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel.

The Finding of Water at Docheiariou

Docheiariou Monastery also has a holy fountain named after the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. A miracle brought into existence this well. In the fourteenth century, during the reign of Emperor Andronikos Palaiologos, the monks of the monastery were compelled to fetch water from a distance of three miles. This caused many hardships and even sickness for the brethren. Monk Theodoulos, a builder at the monastery, planned to lay large underground pipes to convey water. Then, on the eve before the work would commence, the two archangels, Michael and Gabriel, appeared to Theodoulos and said, "0 man, why dost thou labor and exhaust the monastery in vain? Know this: water is inside the monastery." As Theodoulos listened, it seemed to him that he rose up and said to them, "I beseech you, show me where it is." Thereupon, they answered, " Come, and we will show thee." Then, the two archangels took him by the hands and brought him to a spot where, today, a well is located.

Arriving at the indicated site, they took up digging tools and began to work. Not much time passed before the archangels offered water to the monk. Theodoulos partook and found the water very sweet. Straightway, he awakened from sleep and called the brethren, saying, "In my sleep, this night, I beheld a vision wherein the two archangels came and showed me where water is located on the monastery grounds. Therefore, let us dig in that place they showed me!"

The brethren rallied and began digging. Forthwith, a vein of water sprung forth. The monks dug deeper, and drinkable water gushed forth. They glorified God and His archangels. The well exists to this day. The water is reputed to be sanctified; and those who drink with faith find healing from sickness.

These miracles, brethren, which we have recounted are but a few of the countless wonders performed by the archangels. We have recounted these few which sufficiently glorify God and His archangels. O angelic hosts who stand before the throne of God and ever hold chorus, O archangels, and angels, principalities, thrones, and dominions, six-winged seraphim, and divine and many-eyed cherubim, vessels of wisdom, authorities and powers most divine, pray to Christ that He grant our souls peace, great mercy, and His kingdom.





(From the book The Lives of the Monastery Builders of the Holy Mountain Athos by Holy Apostles Convent)

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The Friendship of Saint Nektarios and Elder Daniel of Katounakia

"With the innocent man thou art innocent, with the holy thou art holy, with the elect thou art elect..." says the Psalmist.

Elder Daniel was a brother greatly beloved and esteemed by St. Nektarios. Their acquaintance had begun when the Saint visited the Holy Mountain, and their mutual correspondence and mutual help and prayer day by day forged it into a strong chain. Elder Daniel is one of the elect: an unknown saint close to the recognized Saint whose renown and glory has in our age won over the whole world.

St. Nektarios, being the slandered scapegoat of the ecclesiastical leadership of his time, found relief in the friendship of Elder Daniel. The Elder in turn received much support from the Saint in the construction of his hermitage and considered him a "builder and father and abbot of the holy community." Every so often he received copies of the Saint's books inscribed by his hand. The Christology*, the Know Thyself, the Pandects of Antioch, the Priest's Handbook, the Theotokarion, etc., have been preserved up to today in the Library of the Danielioi.

In his turn, the Hierarch was also helped by the Elder. In one of his letters he asks concerning his women's monastery in Aegina: "You would oblige us greatly if you would be pleased to write some spiritual word to the virgins for their encouragement. A dictated epistle by you on action and contemplation would be a strengthening for them in this living teaching, a true spiritual delight and support."

Elder Daniel, performing a work of obedience and love, responded with the "Epistle on Monastic Forms." In this letter he does not only deal in general and abstract terms with obedience, poverty, chastity, prayer, etc., but goes deeper:

... When a sister at the time of prayer smells any kind of fragrance, or sees an interior or exterior light, or the appearance of an Angel or Saint, or Christ, do not accept such a vision, whether they occurred during sleep or wakefulness, because by such fantasies the evil demon has lead many astray.

... If at any time by the envy of the demon there arises a scandal between two sisters, then much exertion is required that the one may forestall (the other) by means of silence, and cease the thoughtless justifications which the demon of accursed quarrels introduces, casting the blame upon herself (even if she has done no wrong), and saying to the other: 'Bless, forgive me for Christ's sake, for I spoke as a foolish one.' This, however, the younger one should do. But when the younger one appears perverse and does not keep in sight the (saying) 'Know Thyself', then let the other do it, as being the wiser, that she might gain the weaker one.... But never let the sun go down without a proper reconciliation.

Such were the counsels - the essence of his deep knowledge and rich experience in spiritual matters. But the newly-revealed Saint would also often support Elder Daniel. Particularly in one serious trial he was an angel of consolation. The events were as follows:

A respectable looking gentleman from the outside world travelled through the Holy Mountain gathering subscriptions for the Collected Works of St. John Chrysostom, which he said he was going to publish. Such a God-pleasing work deserved support, and Elder Daniel did everything he could to assist him. Despite his meagre finances, he did not hesitate to borrow fifty pounds from the Great Lavra and give them to him.

Much time passed, but he heard nothing about the publication of the works of St. Chrysostom. Later he learned that the irreproachable gentleman was a deceitful man who had now been uncovered. What a temptation this was! In his sorrow he wrote to St. Nektarios to tell him of his trouble. St. Nektarios sent him an answer worthy of a Saint, a letter unmatched in philosophical depth. In it he reasons in a masterly way that trials lead the soul to true philosophy, that all Christians are obliged to become "philosophers," and much more the lovers of this philosophy, namely monks. God sends trials, which our imperfection requires in order to reach perfection. Trials open our eyes and mind that they may see and think further, to the unseen and the eternal.

But it is better for us to follow this epistle from the beginning:


Director
Rizarios Ecclesiastical School
Athens

March, 1903

Holiest in Christ Fr. Daniel, I embrace your love as a brother.

Receiving your holy letter, I was grieved to read it and find that sorrow is disturbing your soul's peace. Truly what happened is grievous, but we know that all works together for good for those who love God. By the assurance of the Apostle, the truth of this apostolic saying possesses absolute authority as a divine word. Trusting in the divine love, I believe that I obtain great benefit from trials.

Your holy love knows that trials lead to perfection; no one who is untried is meritorious; no one who is untried is exalted above the earthly level, upon which stands and is supported the ladder of the virtues that reaches to heaven. For the lovers of God, trials become trainers, training the soul in philosophy. Christianity leads to the true philosophy, to which the Christian must hasten; for no one who is not a philosopher comes to the measure of perfection, which he must attain, without this. And if all Christians must become philosophers, so as to become perfect according to the commandment of the Lord, how much more those who are lovers of this consecrate themselves to it? If trials train one in philosophy, and philosophy leads to Christian perfection, then trials are necessary.

The trials that teach one philosophy also teach one patience; for patience is the close sister of philosophy; wherefore no philosopher is impatient, and no one who is impatient is a philosopher. Trials truly test the foundation stone of the virtues - patience, which leads to salvation; by which the philosopher Christian not only does not succumb to evil, but takes courage and endures and rejoices. Yes, truly he rejoices, since according to the Apostle Paul he even glories in afflictions, knowing that afflictions effect patience, patience effects experience, experience effects hope, and hope is not put to shame, for the love of God is poured out into his heart.

Trials, as the follower of true philosophy well knows, happen by divine economy, will, approval, in order that our minds may be aroused to more perfect understanding of the mystery surrounding us. The man who is not tested will be ignorant of the truth. Trials are an indisputable witness of (God's) love and compassion for man, wherefore also he must give thanks in everything. A man's imperfection calls for trials to perfect him; trials open the noetic eyes of the lovers of God to the light of truth, and make them shine and be able to see not only what is near but also what is far away. They make the nous able to understand not only what is comprehensible, but also what is above comprehension; and not only to understand, but also to know exactly, because in perfection there is full knowledge, for full knowledge leads on to perfection. There is therefore need that we be tested that we may be perfected. This is needful not only because, being born according to the image, we must also attain the likeness, but also because we bear the results of the ancestral inheritance. The powers of the soul are attacked and weakened, so that the soul must be stung with a goad to be aroused; and it needs heavenly light for clarity of mind. If, as you know, perfection consists in man created in the image of God to attain to the likeness of God, then this is to be found in the highest step of the spiritual ladder reaching heaven, which step a man must mount. But doesn't it not happen that as he climbs and steadily advances to the heights he is inherently inclined to the earthly, the trials of which are not lacking, while he does not reach to the desired end, towards which he hastens and for which his heart longs?

Brother in Christ, the trials to which, entirely by divine economy, you are submitted, will send you great spiritual profit. Informed by my heart, I say to you that today you are more perfect than you formerly were. Therefore I beg you: cease sorrowing, and glorify the Lord Who has mercy on you.

I am sending you the (volumes of) Chrysostom by freight to Daphne, in a box marked D.A., under your name.

Embracing you and your community with a brotherly greeting in Christ, I beg you to remember us also in your intercession before God.

I remain by necessity your brother in Christ,

Nektarios of Pentapolis

The crate bears the address D.A., Holy Mountain, Katounakia.

When Elder Daniel received the Saint's letter, his sorrow was dispersed. The words of the Metropolitan of Pentapolis were not merely a human consolation, they were "spirit and life", because the Bishop spoke and wrote by the grace of Christ. At all times he held it an inviolable principle to confirm his words with deeds. He therefore made a package of thirteen massive volumes of St. Chrysostom (published in Venice, 1734-1741, Bernardi de Montfaucon) and sent it to Elder Daniel. This was as "dew from Hermon". This was a sea of true love, which did not hesitate to make yet bolder spiritual and material sacrifices. How could Elder Daniel express his happiness or thank the Lord?

The volumes of St. Chrysostom's work are preserved in the Library of the Danielioi, where they witness to the unity and harmony of two souls who now exult in "the union of eternal love" in heaven.


Another Letter of St. Nektarios to Elder Daniel

The following letter of St. Nektarios was also addressed to Elder Daniel, and the original copy is preserved in the Kalyva of the Danielioi:

From the Holy Women's Monastery of the All-Holy Trinity in Aegina, August 18, 1913.

Most Holy Brother in Christ Daniel, I embrace your holiness as a brother.

I take courage, on the basis of your holiness' love for us, to entrust a matter to your sure care, which I consider suitable for the accomplishment of a work of great interest to us.

It is known to you that we desire to purchase a cell on the Holy Mountain, in a level southern location, having a garden, water, and if possible also a church, because at the present time I have it in mind to install there one or two of my spiritual children, who wish to live the monastic life on the Holy Mountain. After some time, when I am released from the many cares which I have undertaken in our Monastery, I will come to the Holy Mountain for a while for spiritual refreshment.

Furthermore, I beg your holiness to take care to find also a good and virtuous Elder, who will undertake to guide our novice spiritual children, who stand in need of a good trainer to introduce them to the arena of contest and to support them by both his example and words in the spiritual struggle. The bearer of my present letter, Luke Kalantzis, will supply you orally with all related information.

Finishing, I embrace your brotherly love, and remain the suppliant before God,

Nektarios of Pentapolis

P.S. By the bearer I am also sending you my two new works, the two volumes On Schism and my two studies on the Church and Holy Tradition.

Awaiting your answer.

--------------------------

* Concerning the gift of the Christology, St. Nektarios wrote to him: "I was slow to answer your most noble letter, because I also wanted to send you a little keepsake as a sign of love. As the smallest token I am sending you our enclosed photograph and one of our works, the sacred Christology, which treats of the divine character and work of our Savior Jesus Christ." (Letter from Aegina, Nov. 6, 1915)

From Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos, vol. 1, by Archimandrite Cherubim; St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood Press, 1991, pp. 289-296.

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Saint Nektarios Teaches Elder Philotheos Zervakos a Lesson in Humility

The following is taken from the autobiography of Elder Philotheos Zervakos regarding the final meeting he had with his spiritual father, Saint Nektarios:

I considered it my divine obligation and duty to see my spiritual father, St. Nektarios, before returning to the holy monastery of my repentance [in Paros]. Therefore, I went to see him at the Rizareios Theological School. However, I learned that he had resigned from his post and was now living in Aegina, so I went to Aegina. It was August now, and the sun was burning fiercely when I arrived outside the convent about 1:00 PM. I was just outside the gates when I saw an elderly man with a white beard, a shabby cassock held by a belt, and a straw hat to protect his head from the sun. He was digging with a pickax, filling a small barrel with dirt, and spreading the dirt around a 15 sq. yard area to level the convent's courtyard. I thought that he was either one of the conven't workers to whom they had given an old cassock so as not to soil his clothes, or an old novice from the monastery. Approaching the elder, I greeted him and asked, "Elder, is the Bishop here?"

"He is here," he told me.

"Inside?" I asked. "Is he in the monastery?"

"Yes," the elder said, "he is inside."

"Good, go and tell him that a spiritual child of his is here, a deacon, who wants to see him."

"May it be blessed," he responded humbly, and putting down the pickax, he showed me to a new room about fifteen yards away from the convent's entrance. He told me, "Wait here and I will go tell him to come."

Five minutes had not gone by, when - what a surprise, what depth of immeasurable humility! Surprised and shocked, I saw that the man whom I had thought to be a worker, a villager, or a peasant and to whom I had spoken harshly and ordered around, was the Bishop himself! Neither had I even considered that this was the afternoon rest hour, when everyone slept! I should have never told him to do anything, but instead, waited patiently for the time of Vespers. No, I the disciple had shown my extreme pride while my teacher and spiritual father had shown his extreme and complete humility! I was struck speechless and knelt down, tearfully begging him to forgive me for my pride and bad manners. He being guileless, meek and humble of heart, of course, forgave me. We sat down and he began to guide me, as he always has, along the way of the Lord.

"Father," I asked, "how can I be delivered from this God-hated pride?" And with love and humility (the two great virtues which God had bestowed upon him), he responded:

"My dear spiritual child in the Lord, our Holy Fathers have told us, that each sin, whether great and deadly, or small and pardonable, is defeated by the opposite corresponding virtue: that is envy is defeated by love; pride by humility; avarice by poverty; greed and hard-heartedness by charity and compassion; negligence by diligence; gluttony and servitude to the stomach by fasting and restraint; idle talk by silence; criticism and slander by self-reproach and prayer; lewdness, fornication, adultery and other sins of the flesh by remembrance of death, the Last Judgment to come, and the recompense of Hell. In general, every evil is defeate by every virtue. As the Prophet David says, 'Turn away from evil and do good.' If you wish to be delivered also from the sin of pride, the mother and cause of all sin and evil, you will be delivered through humility.

"Because we are not able to do anything on our own (as the Lord says, 'Without Me, ye can do nothing') let us ask the All-Good and man-loving God with compunction and humility, with sighs and tears, to deliver us from demonic pride. Let us sigh like the Publican, cry like the adultress, repent like the Prodigal Son, saying, 'O All-Good compassionate and man-loving Father, we have sinned before You; accept our repentance and make us as one of Your paid servants.' Let us pray and beseech the Lord as the divine Chrysostom did in his daily prayers: 'O Lord, grant us humility, a humble way of thought and obedience; O Lord grant us patience, longsuffering and meekness; O Lord, implant in our hearts the root of good, Your fear; O Lord, grant us to love You with all our soul and heart and to keep Your divine commandments.'

"Likewise, so that we may be delivered from satanic and all-destructive pride, let us look to the example of our Heavenly Teacher, and to the lesson He gave to His disciples, to us, and to all Christians of every generation and age: 'Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest in your souls,' and 'When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say: We are unprifitable servants, we have done that which is our duty to do.'"

Receiving this and other beneficial counsel from my holy spiritual father Nektarios, I left joyous and spiritually gladdened; and at the beginning of September, 1910, I returned through Syros to the island of Paros and the monastery of my repentance.

St. Nektarios with his saintly spiritual children, (from left to right) Elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos, Saint Savvas of Kalymnos, Elder Amphilochios Makris and Elder Philotheos Zervakos. This icon is in the Cathedral dedicated to St. Nektarios in Aegina.

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Saint Nektarios Appears to Villagers in Romania

According to the source of the miracle described below, this miracle was first recorded when a couple visited the Monastery of Saint Nektarios in Aegina and noticed that it was full of Romanian pilgrims. This was in November of 2009. This couple was curious why so many Romanians were there, so they asked. They were told of the miracle recorded below, and this story was confirmed on another Greek blog, Troktiko, who was told the story by a friend who heard it from the same Romanian pilgrims. According to the other source, the aunt of his friend went to the shrine in August or September of 2009 and noticed there were many Romanian pilgrims at the monastery in Aegina. There was a Greek woman who knew a little Romanian and English who inquired why they were there, and she was told the story below by one of the villagers who was an eye-witness to the event.

Yet an older source by about a month dating from mid-October 2009 says that Dimitrios Velaoras and Archimandrite Chrysostomos Milonas first spread this story in Greek as it was told by Romanian nuns to the Ecumenical Patriarch in Crete. We know Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was in Crete on 7 October 2009, so perhaps this was the occasion for the origin of the story in Greece.

St. Nektarios enjoys wide popularity amongst Orthodox throughout the world, and his popularity in Romania has gained over the past few years. Portions of his relics can even be found in such places as Putna Monastery, Radu Voda Monastery in Bucharest, the Church of the Holy Hierarch Nektarios in Iasi, and the Hermitage of Saint John and Nektarios in Bradetu, Arges.

Below is the account as it was told by Romanians to Greeks:

In a village of Romania there was no priest and the residents often went to the Patriarch with the problem in order to fill the empty spot. However the Patriarch did not have the means of satisfying the demand. The villagers often went to the Patriarch, but he would say the same thing, that he did not have a priest to send to the village.

Meanwhile people died unread (no funeral service), others had relationships and children without marriage vows, and the children and adults alike were unbaptized.

Then one day, outside of the church, a car stopped and out stepped a priest. The village was astonished and yelled out that a priest had come.

The villagers went to the church to greet him and asked him, "How did you come to the village after our Patriarch had said that he doesn't have a priest to send us?"

The priest answered, "Isn't this what you wanted? Did you not want a priest? Here I am."

All the villagers were glad in the presence of the new priest.

The priest began immediately working. He went to all the graves and read the funeral service. He baptized and married everyone in the village and administered Holy Communion.

One day he invited all the villagers to church and told them, "I will leave now, my mission is done."

The villagers were confused and asked, "Now that you came, you are leaving?"

However the priest did not listen to the villagers and proceeded with his decision.

When the villagers realized that their wasn't anything they could do, they thanked him for his offering.

After a few days, the villagers went to the Patriarch and they thanked him for sending them a priest and to let him know that they would appreciate it if he could send them another priest soon, but the Patriarch didn't know anything.

He said to them, "I didn't send a priest because I don't have one, however let me check with the chancellor to see if he had sent a priest to you to serve your needs."

He phoned the chancellor, but he too didn't send anyone.

The Patriarch inquired, "What did this priest do in your parish?"

The villagers answered, "He married us, baptized us, performed funerals for our parents, he did what any other priest would have performed for us."

Then the Patriarch asked, "Well, didn't he gave you any papers or log the Mysteries.

"Of course," said the villagers, "he gave us papers and he wrote them in the church's books."

"Then did anyone see what he wrote? And with what name he signed?"

"All the documents were written in Romanian and we are not well educated and the signature he signed in a language we have not seen before."

The Patriarch requested they go bring the books in order to see who was this clergyman.

When they returned with the book the Patriarch remained speechless. He couldn't believe his eyes.

Indeed all the documents were written in Romanian while his name was written in Greek with the name of his signature,

Nektarios, Bishop of Pentapolis

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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