The Prophetic Elder Paisios and the Misuse of His Words

By Monk Moses the Athonite

Very much has been said and written about the blessed Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924-1994). Already 16 years have passed since his blessed repose. He passed away on 07/12/1994 in the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti, Thessaloniki and is buried there. His tomb is a pan-Orthodox place of pilgrimage. People of all ages come from far away to light a candle and invoke help for their needs.

Those who mention his name today do so with emotion, respect and love together with the Holy Mountain. He was indeed a true man of God, ascetic, humble, modest, non-possessive, respected, loved and charismatic. Those of us who knew him remember well the grace of his words, his goodness, his kindness and his sincerity. He was never flattered, never falsely comforting, never fake and never chatty. His words were life, graceful, heaven-sent, substantial and significant. Even with some of his jokes he tried to comfort the listener's pain.

For this reason great attention is required in the distribution of his words. Sometimes his words were only for the person he was personally speaking with, and certainly not for everyone. It is not correct to generalize, distort, deform, and alter his words. Some of his prophetic words are magnified by some who love extremes and want to pass their own message by using the words of the ever-memorable Elder. There are always some who are inclined towards fanaticism, zealotism, terrorism and fearful eschatology.

The blessed Elder Paisios often spoke of "holy philotimo", "holy solitude", "holy silence", "holy humility" and "holy levendia". Throughout his life he was philotimos, ascetic, humble and a levendis. He would say: "The Gospel and secular logic are incompatible. In the Gospel there is love. In logic is self-interest." Is this not how it is? In difficult times we need to reconnect with the Divine. Elder Paisios is another bridge to heaven. He would say: "In our love towards our neighbor hides our love for Christ." He was always full of love for his neighbor. His words are kept carefully in books with high circulation. The world's search for true comfort has not ceased. His teachings illumine, quench the thirst, rouse, bring one back to their senses, and strengthen.

He would say thoughtfully and proactively: "People today suffer from cultures." Or: "We will see the most incredible things." Further: "If things are not shared with the Gospel they will be shared with a knife." Thirty years ago he said: "People will leave the cities because of culture. Culture now brings sicknesses." He advised: "God will allow a strong jolt. Difficult years are coming. Let us live spiritually. The choice is clear, we are with Christ or with the Devil. It is a storm and the struggle has value." He would knowingly admonish: "The current situation can only be addressed spiritually, not in a worldly way. In this situation you will see, some will have a salary and others will pay their debts. God will put things in their place, but each of us will answer for what we did in these difficult years...."

Is he not right? Is he too much? He is prophetic. Recent references to his appearance, in which he said to gather food, have no justification, no basis, but are fantasies of the naive....

Source: Protaton, Oct.-Dec. 2010.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

See also:

The Holy Community of Mount Athos Responds to the Alleged Appearance of Elder Paisios

A Question Regarding the So-Called "Prophecies" of Holy Elders

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Saint Tatiana the Martyr of Rome

St. Tatiana the Roman (Feast Day - January 12)

The Holy Virgin Martyr Tatiana was born into an illustrious Roman family, and her father was elected consul three times. He was secretly a Christian and raised his daughter to be devoted to God and the Church. When she reached the age of maturity, Tatiana decided to remain a virgin, betrothing herself to Christ. Disdaining earthly riches, she sought instead the imperishable wealth of Heaven. She was made a deaconess in one of the Roman churches and served God in fasting and prayer, tending the sick and helping the needy.

When Rome was ruled by the sixteen-year-old Alexander Severus (222-235), all power was concentrated in the hands of the regent Ulpian, an evil enemy and persecutor of Christians. Christian blood flowed like water. Tatiana was also arrested, and they brought her into the temple of Apollo to force her to offer sacrifice to the idol. The saint began praying, and suddenly there was an earthquake. The idol was smashed into pieces, and part of the temple collapsed and fell down on the pagan priests and many pagans. The demon inhabiting the idol fled screeching from that place. Those present saw its shadow flying through the air.

Then they tore holy virgin's eyes out with hooks, but she bravely endured everything, praying for her tormentors that the Lord would open their spiritual eyes. And the Lord heard the prayer of His servant. The executioners saw four angels encircle the saint and beat her tormentors. A voice was heard from the heavens speaking to the holy virgin. Eight men believed in Christ and fell on their knees before St Tatiana, begging them to forgive them their sin against her. For confessing themselves Christians they were tortured and executed, receiving Baptism by blood.

The next day St Tatiana was brought before the wicked judge. Seeing her completely healed of all her wounds, they stripped her and beat her, and slashed her body with razors. A wondrous fragrance then filled the air. Then she was stretched out on the ground and beaten for so long that the servants had to be replaced several times. The torturers became exhausted and said that an invisible power was beating them with iron rods. Indeed, the angels warded off the blows directed at her and turned them upon the tormentors, causing nine of them to fall dead. They then threw the saint in prison, where she prayed all night and sang praises to the Lord with the angels.

A new morning began, and they took St Tatiana to the tribunal once more. The torturers beheld with astonishment that after such terrible torments she appeared completely healthy and even more radiant and beautiful than before. They began to urge her to offer sacrifice to the goddess Diana. The saint seemed agreeable, and they took her to the heathen temple. St Tatiana made the Sign of the Cross and began to pray. Suddenly, there was a crash of deafening thunder, and lightning struck the idol, the sacrificial offerings and the pagan priests.

Once again, the martyr was fiercely tortured. She was hung up and scraped with iron claws, and her breasts were cut off. That night, angels appeared to her in prison and healed her wounds as before. On the following day, they took St Tatiana to the circus and loosed a hungry lion on her. The beast did not harm the saint, but meekly licked her feet.

As they were taking the lion back to its cage, it killed one of the torturers. They threw Tatiana into a fire, but the fire did not harm the martyr. The pagans, thinking that she was a sorceress, cut her hair to take away her magical powers, then locked her up in the temple of Zeus.

On the third day, pagan priests came to the temple intending to offer sacrifice to Zeus. They beheld the idol on the floor, shattered to pieces, and the holy martyr Tatiana joyously praising the Lord Jesus Christ. The judge then condemned the valiant sufferer to be beheaded with a sword. Her father was also executed with her, because he had raised her to love Christ.

Source

Brief Life of Saint Tatiana the Roman

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Tatiana was a Roman whose parents were of great nobility. She was a Christian and a deaconess in the church. After the death of Emperor Heliogabalus, Emperor Alexander, whose mother Mammaea was a Christian, reigned in Rome. The emperor himself was wavering and indecisive in the Faith for he kept statues of Christ, Apollo, Abraham and Orpheus in his palace. His chief assistants persecuted the Christians without the emperor's orders. When they brought out the virgin Tatiana for torture, she prayed to God for her torturers. And behold, their eyes were opened and they saw four angels around the martyr. Seeing this, eight of them believed in Christ for which they also were tortured and slain. The tormentors continued to torture St. Tatiana. They whipped her, cut off parts of her body; they scraped her with irons. So all disfigured and bloody, Tatiana was thrown into the dungeon that evening so that the next day, they could, again, begin anew with different tortures. But God sent His angels to the dungeon to encourage her and to heal her wounds so that, each morning, Tatiana appeared before the torturers completely healed. They threw her before a lion, but the lion endeared himself to her and did her no harm. They cut off her hair, thinking, according to their pagan reasoning, that some sorcery or some magical power was concealed in her hair. Finally, Tatiana along with her father were both beheaded. Thus, Tatiana ended her earthly life about the year 225 A.D., and this heroic virgin, who had the fragile body of a woman but a robust and valiant spirit, was crowned with the immortal wreath of glory.

HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT TATIANA

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

You grieve over the youth of your body, Oh, be reasonable!
Youth which passes, is it worthwhile to grieve over; you judge!
There is only one youth, youth in eternity,
That is the true youth, youth without aging,
This is worthwhile to ask for, and for it, to shed tears,
Even if you have to pay for it with the death of the body.
Tatiana purchased the costly with the less costly.
For dust and water, the Divine wine;
For the body that ages, eternal youth
And for a few tears, Cherubic joy.
Betrothed to Christ, the Immortal King,
She remained faithful to her Betrothed;
By the power of a pure spirit, crushed temptations
And bravely endured frightening tortures.
Around her were heard angelic footsteps;
As a wrinkled cloth, her body she shed,
And a soul free of earthly ties
Was raised to the wedding feast in the Kingdom without tears.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
O Lord Jesus, unto Thee Thy lamb doth cry with a great voice: O my Bridegroom, Thee I love; and seeking Thee, I now contest, and with Thy baptism am crucified and buried. I suffer for Thy sake, that I may reign with Thee; for Thy sake I die, that I may live in Thee: accept me offered out of longing to Thee as a spotless sacrifice. Lord, save our souls through her intercessions, since Thou art great in mercy.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Strengthened by the power of faith, thou didst contend for Christ our God, O glorious Tatiana; thou didst endure every affliction and by thy courage put Belial to shame. We beseech thee to deliver us from the power of the evil one.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Thou didst shine resplendently, Martyr Tatiana, in thy sacred sufferings and in the crimson of thy blood, soaring to Heaven like a fair dove; hence ever pray Christ for all them that honour thee.

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The Sexual Passions and Perversions of Muhammad

By Ralph H. Sidway

Even though the Koran was supposed to be the pre-eternal and unalterable word of God, many of the "revelations" came at just the right time to help out Muhammad when he wanted to: marry another wife, attack another tribe, refute another interlocutor, etc. Indeed, when many such convenient verses were "revealed", the child-bride Aisha would sharply remark to the "prophet" that, "Verily, your Lord (Allah) is ever quick to fulfill your whims and desires" (Hadith from al-Siyuti, v.6)....

A convenient "revelation" (Sura 33:50) allowed the "prophet" to have as many wives as he wished, though his followers could only have four (Sura 4:3), not counting "what your right hand possesses," that is, slave concubines captured as booty. When looking simply at the authorized hadiths and biographies, one counts that Muhammad had intimate relations with sixty-six females (adult women and young - even pre-pubescent - girls, both wives and concubines). Indeed, Fr. Zakaria Botros rips away the thin veil of piety Muslim apologists rip around Muhammad using Islam's own authorized hadiths and texts: "According to Sirat Al-Halabi, Muhammad can have a woman no matter what, even against her will; and if Muhammad desired a married woman, her husband would have had to divorce her. According to Ibn Sa'ad, who wrote another authorized biographical account of Muhammad, 'The prophet did not die till all women were permitted him'" (Kitab Al Tabaqat Al Kubra, v.8). Muhammad's compulsive preoccupation with women (and indeed, every imaginable sexual perversion) is documented in numerous hadiths, such as this "from Faid al-Qabir (3:371), wherein Muhammad is on record saying, 'My greatest loves are women and perfume: the hungry is satisfied after eating, but I never have enough of women.' Another hadith: 'I can hold back from food and drink, but not from women.'" (Fr. Botros). Indeed, the "prophet" had a rotating schedule to manage his conjugal relations with his wives, and if one of them was not available, he would quickly find one of his concubines with whom to satisfy his urges ("The Prophet was given the sexual strength of thirty men", Bukhari 1:5:268). Muhammad sometimes even had sex with all his wives (eleven or nine, depending on the hadith) sequentially in one night (Bukhari 1:5:268).

This whole thread of "revelations" and authorized hadiths regarding Muhammad's insatiable lust for women and his desert soap-opera harem of wives and concubines (and there is much more and far worse than what we have taken time to survey here) cannot but lead a moral, thinking person inevitably to the unraveling of the entire false tapestry of the Koran and therefore of Islam itself.

As disgraceful as the foregoing references have been, the most obscene and vile claim in any of the recorded sayings of Muhammad must be from a hadith in al-Siyuti (6:395), where Muhammad asserts that: "In heaven, Mary mother of Jesus, will be one of my wives." No Orthodox Christian worthy of the name can regard such filth or the one who utters it with anything less than contempt.

From Facing Islam: What the Anceint Church Has To Say About the Religion of Muhammad, pp. 97-101.

Read also:

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet" Part I

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet," Part II

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet" Part III

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet" Part IV

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet" Part V

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The Popska Icon of the Mother of God in Hilandari

Popska Icon of the Holy Virgin (Feast Day - January 12)

The Popska Icon of the Mother of God ("of the Priest" or Popadiki) stands in the katholikon of Hilandari Monastery by the northeast column of the left kliros.

A certain heretical priest, having declared himself Orthodox, acted at the Hilandari Monastery with evil purpose, but he was punished. During the procession for the blessing of water he took this icon but stumbled, fell into the sea and drowned. Since that time the cross procession is always done with this icon, and invariably a priest carries it, so it was called "Priestly" by the Serbs.

Some say the heretical priest was rebuked for his heresy by Christ, which is why the hand of the Christ child is in an unusual position.

On its reverse side there is a painting of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin, by one of the best painters of the time. The same painter executed in 1360 the Great Deesis on the iconostasis of the Hilandari church, as well as the miniatures of the Evangelists in the Roman’s Gospel. The Virgin Popska was repainted in the 16th or 17th centuries, while the Presentation of the Virgin has retained its original form.

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"Icons of Evolution" 10th Anniversary Celebration

Ten years ago, a relatively unknown biologist published a little book called Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? Why much of what we teach about evolution is wrong (http://www.iconsofevolution.com). This book shook the allegedly rock solid evidentiary foundation of Darwinian evolution. One by one, Jonathan Wells exposed how many of the textbook examples of "evidence" for Darwinism are speculative at best and in some cases even based on falsified information. Ten years later, the book is legendary.

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Former Patriarch Irineos Still Imprisoned in Jerusalem

Josh Lederman
January 6, 2011
The Associated Press

Six years ago, Irineos I was the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem with about 100,000 followers. Today, he sits behind locked doors in his Old City apartment, claiming he has been imprisoned by the successor who ousted him in a dispute over sale of church land to Israelis.

The only way Irineos could speak to The Associated Press Thursday was through a wireless microphone hoisted at the end of a rope to his roof — in the same black shopping bag supporters use nightly to deliver him groceries.

Reporters who tried to gain access to Irineos through the compound’s massive metal door were denied entry by church guards peering out through a crack.

“They allow nobody out and nobody in to visit me,” said Irineos. “They are afraid of the people because I’m loved by the people, and I love the people,” he said into the AP microphone, peering over the edge of his roof.

It is a harsh comedown for a man who ruled his flock for four years as a revered spiritual figure.

Irineos said his successor, Theofilos III, will not allow attorneys, doctors or visitors to enter the home he has lived in for almost 40 years, which sits inside a large church-owned complex. He said he’s been detained for three years over his refusal to concede the patriarchate.

Theofilos replaced Irineos in 2005 after allegations he sold church property to Israelis seeking to expand the Jewish presence in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim for the capital of a future state.

Palestinians consider sale of land to Jews a serious crime. Most Orthodox Christians in Jerusalem are Palestinians.

Irineos maintains he was unaware of the transactions and did nothing wrong. A report commissioned by the Palestinian Authority in 2005 concluded he didn’t participate in any of the sales.

“I ask God every day to reveal the truth,” he said. “There is no patriarch. I’m the patriarch.”


Political feuds inside the Greek Orthodox community, always complicated, have turned vicious in recent years. When Irineos was deposed, his defenders said the land sale charges were trumped up by his political opponents.

The number of Christians in the West Bank and Jerusalem has been dwindling for decades, as followers seek better economic opportunities elsewhere. Also, Christians speak of persecution by the Muslim majority in the West Bank, but always anonymously, fearing retribution.

Irineos’ replacement was not recognized by the three governments with jurisdiction over the patriarchate — Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority — until 2007.

A senior patriarchate official in Athens, Greece, denied Irineos is under house arrest, and several top aides to Theofilos declined to comment, other than to say Irineos is a liar. Theofilos made public Christmas appearances Thursday in Bethlehem, but was unavailable for comment.

Two officials close to the Jerusalem patriarchate, one a prominent bishop who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, confirmed Theofilos is holding Irineos against his will over their feud and fears Irineos will try reclaim his old position.

“The new patriarch is punishing the old one, keeping him behind closed doors to secure his position,” said Marwan Tubasi, head of the Council of Arab Orthodox Organizations and a Palestinian Authority official who works closely with church leaders.

Irineos said he spends his isolated days praying, reading and writing. He still wears the traditional black garb and hat of Greek Orthodox clergy.

As Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas Thursday, Irineos said he performed Mass by himself, banned from entering a church just a few steps away. He offered blessings to supporters using a cell phone — his primary link with the outside world.


From time to time supporters would shout greetings up to him from the street, and he responded with wishes for a happy new year.

A Palestinian Muslim from Jerusalem’s Old City, who called himself Abu Amar, said he has been sending bread, vegetables and water up to the former patriarch, hauling it up by rope, for almost three years. Despite their difference in religion, he feels a humanitarian urge to provide for Irineos’ needs.

“I had a good relationship with him, and I still do,” Amar said. “I cannot neglect him.”

Israeli police said they haven’t responded to the alleged imprisonment because no complaint has been filed. Irineos believes his plight should be handled within the church and not through police intervention, and the power to free and redeem Irineos lies in God’s hands, said Daniel Robbins, an attorney who was able to visit Irineos twice in recent weeks.

Robbins said while representing a different client in a case in which Irineos was a witness, a court order forced church officials to allow him to enter his home.

“He has no family, no one that visits him and his life and everything is the patriarchate,” Robbins said.

___

Associated Press writers Fadwa Hodali in Jerusalem and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

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Eldress Evlambia Romanides

By Fr. Lambros Fotopoulou

Origins

Evlambia Romanides, mother of Father John Romanides, had her origins in Aravisso of Cappadocia, a region which never ceased to discuss theological matters, even after the great Cappadocian Fathers (Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa).

Born before the disaster (in 1895), she grew up in a place of deep faith. In this area, Orthodoxy was first in value, while language and origin was secondary. She belonged to the magnificent people of Karamanlis (or Karamanlides), who with their own unique Greek writing, their important monuments, and their unique customs and traditions were able to translate the experience of Orthodox ascetics and saints into everyday practice.

The theological model of the Cappadocians is the imitation of the strict hesychasts, such as the as stylite saints Symeon and Daniel, of Saint Alexis the Man of God, etc. The personality of St. Alexis, in particular, had a strong impression on the Cappadocians, due to his excessive fasting, vigils and hard asceticism, so that many songs written for him which are still sung today. Each Great Lent in Cappadocia there prevailed contemplation, memory of death, prayer and asceticism. The center of social life in Cappadocia was the church and intellectual achievement was to engage in mental prayer. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the breathing of Cappadocia was the rhythm of the Prayer "Lord Jesus Christ (inhalation), have mercy on me (exhalation)".

It was within this spiritual environment that Evlambia Romanides was raised.

Childhood Years

The childhood of Eldress Evlambia was one of pain. The pain was deep, but salvific. The twelve-year old girl saw the terrible slaughter of her parents, an event which imprinted itself on her young eyes and deep within her soul. However, this experience, rather than being catastrophic for Evlambia, was the heavenly message for her to choose the good path, to love Christ and the Church.

Socially Evlambia was left orphaned, but she gained powerful spiritual protection. The Queen of Heaven, the assistant of orphans, took her under her own protection. With admirable simplicity for so magnificent an experience the Eldress later spoke to her nuns the Panagia would appear to her, how she would take her by the hand and saved her from various psychological dangers. When celebrations took place around her it would trouble her, and she would distance herself. Then she would make herself very available for prayer. In this way a small child would communicate through prayer to God!

One wonders, what kind of prayer did the little orphan Evlambia say? In a written confession that she left, she said the following: "When I was twelve years old, the prayer that I said was this - Paraklesis, Six Psalms, Compline, Old and New Testaments. So I spent my time. Those words I would not allow to leave my mind night and day. Good Lord, do not deprive me of any of Your goods, and to listen to your words. From indecent things, with Your help my Lord, guard me. Lord, according to Your command, as you know Lord, whatever my throat utters is Yours. Our Queen the Panagia, with her intercessions and that of the saints ... And with all these You are blessed forever and ever. Amen."

In Exile

After the Asia Minor Catastrophe she came to Greece and settled in Piraeus. She married her fellow Cappadocian Savva Romanides and bore her first child, a boy. She dedicated him to the refugee Saint John the Russian. When the child was two years old, she was found worthy to fulfill her vow and to have him baptized, the future Father John, in Prokopi in Euboea, where his sacred relics were deposited.

Life in Greece was difficult for the Romanides family so they migrated to America in 1927.

In the United States of America Evlambia Romanides helped her husband in couture, a profession that enabled them to raise their two children. The multicultural society, with its colorful and different religious values, did not affect her, but rather gave the challenge for missionary work. She battled with any forces holding the Protestant milieu. The heat of her faith had made an impression. The heterodox foresaw that it would be a great success for them if they convert this Cappadocian with a lot of faith to their ideas. They did not recognize the well-trained opponent. They organized a real "project" for her conversion, involving 10-15 people. They visited her and tried through the Holy Bible, with their well-known arguments, to weaken her. Evlambia had other, greater and more compelling, arguments. Leaving them alone for awhile she resorted to the saints, which is the "icon-corner" of her room. She prayed fervently to God to enlighten her. And, O! the miracle! a loud noise came out of the icons. The Protestants heard this and frightened they stampeded out the door. Since then they never bothered her.

The Missionary

Eldress Evlambia was convinced that the only truth is the Orthodox Faith and there is no other way of salvation but by Orthodox Holy Baptism. So when she learned that her daughter was married in New Zealand to a heterodox named Malcolm, a senior government official, she realized what exactly was her task. She went to New Zealand and stayed there until she catechized properly the groom to be baptized Orthodox with the name Mark. She did not leave New Zealand before she fulfilled her other sacred purpose: To establish an Orthodox Church in Christchurch, the second largest city in this country.

A seamstress refugee from America, without missionary assistance, and incremental financial support, alone with only God in her heart, is Equal to the Apostles and established the Orthodox Church in the far reaches of the earth ....

The Nun

After the death of her husband she offered her services as a seamstress in the male Monastery of the Transfiguration in Boston while at the same time beginning to exercised by herself the monastic life. In this way she firmly decided to become a nun. The opportunity was not too late to give. Her son, Father John, returned with his family to Greece and the eldress followed at the same time informing him of her intentions.

With the aid of Father John and the assistance of the (now) Bishop of Tyroloë and Serention Panteleimon Rodopoulou and Father Polycarp Mantzaroglou she went to the Holy Monastery "Evangelist John the Theologian" in Souroti of Thessaloniki, where she became a novice on 1/17/1971. On 5/4/1973 she was tonsured to the Great Schema, without changing her baptismal name, at the request of Father John.

As a nun she never failed her monastic rule. At midnight she would pray continuously in the manner that she was used to as a youngster. She would explain in the following manner her characteristic habit: "Then, my child, the sky opens", she said.

In the monastery she lived until 1980, when she slept righteously in the Lord, as she constantly requested of God: "May my name be in the book of life. A Christian end to my life in peace grant me ...."

Having a knowledge of her death (in 1980) she spoke to the sisters who served her about events that would later come to pass (the building of Holy Archangels Church). Moreover, the fact of her death was the meditation of her heart from the age of twelve years: "May I not get death out of my mind, Lord grant to me", she said. God gave her the last months of life with all the necessary information to prepare for her great departure.

"An Everlasting Memorial"

How different is this eldress from all those artificial models "introduced" by the religious "star system" of our time.

Having the grace of the "humble and quiet" Holy Spirit she subjugated herself to the will of the Triune God. She endured being an orphan and refugee with faith in God and unceasing prayer. She lived in the world dedicated to her duties as a wife and mother, and when she decided to become a nun, opted humble obedience in an Orthodox monastery.

Source: (Extract from the magazine "Εφημέριος", June 2003, pp. 11-14)

Translated by John Sanidopoulos



A further note about Eldress Evlambia from the book Fr. John S. Romanides by Fr. George Metallinos (in Greek, p. 85):

"This blessed woman from Asia Minor was a person of prayer. She would pray and do many prostrations. Fr. John would see her as a small child and laugh, saying: "What are you doing, one prostration after another?" And she responded to him: "Joke little John ... you will become a priest."

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Meteorologists Cannot Explain the Miraculous Cloud of Mt. Tabor

January 11, 2011
Interfax

Science cannot explain a mystery of the cloud, that every year descends on Mount Tabor where, according to the Bible, the Transfiguration of the Lord took place.

Sergey Mirov, a participant in the research organized this summer by the working group on miraculous signs at the Synodal Theological Commission, the investigation was conducted by Russian and Israeli meteorologists, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily writes.

According to him, summing up the results, the experts concluded that fog cannot be generated in such dry air and temperature.

Mirov stressed that the "descending of the blessed cloud" takes place only in the territory of the Orthodox monastery. He said that during the festival service (the miraculous phenomenon happens on the Orthodox feast of Transfiguration) a glaring sphere rushes over believers, then the cloud appears above the cross of the Transfiguration Church, it grows in dimensions and descends on believers, covering them and pouring life-giving moisture over them.

In his turn Pavel Florensky, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences academician and head of the working group on miraculous signs, said that his team examined the appearance of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Easter eve with the help of modern highly accurate equipment.

"The conclusion is simple: the appearance of fire is accompanied with powerful piezoelectrical phenomenon in the church and adjacent territories similar to those that take place during thunderstorms, but there was no thunderstorm... Thus, it means that this event can be considered miraculous," he believes.

Read also: The Miraculous Holy Cloud of Mount Tabor

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Saint Theodosius the Great, Teacher of the Desert

St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch (Feast Day - January 11)

Saint Theodosius the Great lived during the fifth-sixth centuries, and was the founder of cenobitic monasticism. He was born in Cappadocia of pious parents. Endowed with a splendid voice, he zealously toiled at church reading and singing. St Theodosius prayed fervently that the Lord would guide him on the way to salvation. In his early years he visited the Holy Land and met with St Simeon the Stylite (September 1), who blessed him and predicted future pastoral service for him.

Yearning for the solitary life, Saint Theodosius settled in Palestine into a desolate cave, in which, according to Tradition, the three Magi had spent the night, having come to worship the Savior after His Nativity. He lived there for thirty years in great abstinence and unceasing prayer. People flocked to the ascetic, wishing to live under his guidance. When the cave could no longer hold all the monks, St Theodosius prayed that the Lord Himself would indicate a place for the monks. Taking a censer with cold charcoal and incense, the monk started walking into the desert.

At a certain spot the charcoal ignited by itself and the incense smoke began to rise. Here the monk established the first cenobitic monastery, or Lavra (meaning "broad" or populous"). Soon the Lavra of St Theodosius became renowned, and up to 700 monks gathered at it. According to the final testament of St Theodosius, the Lavra rendered service to neighbor, giving aid to the poor and providing shelter for wanderers.

St Theodosius was extremely compassionate. Once, when there was a famine in Palestine and a multitude of people gathered at the monastery, the monk gave orders to allow everyone into the monastery enclosure. His disciples were annoyed, knowing that the monastery did not have the means to feed all those who had come. But when they went into the bakery, they saw that through the prayers of the abba, it was filled with bread. This miracle was repeated every time St Theodosius wanted to help the destitute.

At the monastery St Theodosius built an home for taking in strangers, separate infirmaries for monks and laymen, and also a shelter for the dying. Seeing that people from various lands gathered at the Lavra, the saint arranged for services in the various languages: Greek, Georgian and Armenian. All gathered to receive the Holy Mysteries in the large church, where divine services were chanted in Greek.

During the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius (491-518) there arose the heresy of Eutychius and Severus, which recognized neither the sacraments nor the clergy. The emperor accepted the false teaching, and the Orthodox began to suffer persecution. St Theodosius stood firmly in defense of Orthodoxy and wrote a letter to the emperor on behalf of the monks, in which they denounced him and refuted the heresy with the teachings of the Ecumenical Councils. He affirmed moreover, that the desert-dwellers and monks would firmly support the Orthodox teaching. The emperor showed restraint for a short while, but then he renewed his persecution of the Orthodox. The holy Elder then showed great zeal for the truth. Leaving the monastery, he came to Jerusalem and in the church, he stood at the high place and cried out for all to hear: "Whoever does not honor the four Ecumenical Councils, let him be anathema!" For this bold deed the monk was sent to prison, but soon returned after the death of the emperor.

St Theodosiusaccomplished many healings and other miracles during his life, coming to the aid of the needy. Through his prayers he once destroyed the locusts devastating the fields in Palestine. Also by his intercession, soldiers were saved from death, and he also saved those perishing in shipwrecks and those lost in the desert.

Once, the saint gave orders to strike the semandron (a piece of wood hit with a mallet), so that the brethren would gather at prayer. He told them, "The wrath of God draws near the East." After several days it became known that a strong earthquake had destroyed the city of Antioch at the very hour when the saint had summoned the brethren to prayer.

Before his death, St Theodosius summoned to him three beloved bishops and revealed to them that he would soon depart to the Lord. After three days, he died at the age of 105. The saint's body was buried with reverence in the cave in which he lived at the beginning of his ascetic deeds.

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HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT THEODOSIUS

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Those who with fear stand before God,
Those who fear the Living God only,
Only they can witness
That the righteous one receives that for which he prays to God.
By true prayer, God does for people -
The dawn glows to the one who turns to the dawn.
Saint Theodosius, by his prayers
Helped many and also helped us.
For he lives even now as he once did
And works miracles, as he once did and does now -
The Lord bestowed upon him power, because of his faith,
And love for God; love immeasurable.
Wonderful Theodosius, zealot of truth,
Wondrous organizer of the monastic life,
Let him be praised by us, who is glorified by God,
Now a glorious citizen of the Kingdom of Christ

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, your labors have borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles you have become a light, shining upon the world. O Theodosius, our Holy Father, pray to Christ our God, to save our souls.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
As being planted in the courts of Christ thy Lord and God, with holy virtues thou delightfully didst blossom forth and didst multiply thy children amid the desert, who were watered with the showers of thy fervent tears, O chief shepherd of the godly sheepfold of our God. Hence we cry to thee: Rejoice, O Father Theodosius.

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Bishop Teodosije Encourages Serbs To Return To Their Homes In Kosovo and Metohija

Dragana Zecevic, 9 January 2011

Conditions for the return of Serbs to Kosovo and Metohija are far from good and there are great difficulties and risks. We cannot, however, wait for others to create better conditions. Everyone should return to their homes and thus contribute to the return process. Examples of those who have done this, although rare, inspire hope that other displaced Serbs will follow them, said the newly enthroned Bishop of Raška-Prizren Teodosije (Šibalić) in an interview with Vecernje Novosti.

He gave a similar message to the people in the Province at the Christmas liturgy in the St. George Cathedral in Prizren. The bishop emphasized that the return of the historical and spiritual center of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren to the city on the Bistrica river, after 11 years of exile, is a kind of invitation to Serbs to return to where they belong.

—What are the prospects of rehabilitation and reconstruction of destroyed Orthodox holy sites in Kosovo?

—Reconstruction of the destroyed sites is our long-term task. By restoring the holy sites, we work on restoration of the church and spiritual life. By restoration of our sites in Pristina, Prizren and Istok, we have in recent months breathed new life into the previously extinguished parishes, and appointed there young priests. We are planning to reopen the parish in Pec, and continue the reconstruction of the Seminary compound in Prizren. We are planning to re-launch the religious educational work there, with God's help.

—The church has been the pillar of survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo and in most difficult times. How do you see the role of the Church in today's circumstances?

—The most important task will be to strengthen the spiritual work and resume humanitarian aid to the vulnerable population. It is also important that the soup-kitchens run by NGO, "Mother of nine Jugovic's," continue to work. Providing conditions, their number will increase. The Church needs to work on building harmony among the people, because only together and with solidarity towards one another we can survive.

—What is the situation in the monasteries, which are no longer protected by KFOR? How do you assess the cooperation with the Kosovo police?

—I think the time has not yet arrived to hand over protection of our most important and vulnerable sites to Kosovo police. In KP we still don't have that confidence which we had built with KFOR, which is more professional, and has established better relations with us. However, we are not in a position to choose, and are forced to accept what is being offered in order to preserve our holy sites and our people.

— More than a decade after the war in Kosovo-Metohija, the Serbs are still in a very difficult situation. They seem to be exhausted. How they can be encouraged to stay in the Province after so many ordeals?

—The Diocese will make every effort to help Serbs to remain in Kosovo. Unlike the previous diocesan administration which talked a lot about patriotism, but hardly worked with the people, we intend to intensify the spiritual life of our people. We cannot make things better if we are embittered with everyone around us. The faith in the crucified Christ, however, teaches us that evil is conquered by kindness, hatred by love, and despair with hope in the Lord. The return of our people to our faith will open new resources of strength.

—Among the Serbs in Kosovo there are also divisions, particularly regarding the recognition of institutions of the so-called state of Kosovo. How are they to overcome the differences that exist?

—The role of the Church is to discourage divisions among the people, regardless of existent political affiliations, and make them feel more that they are one people of God. The Church does not act as a political institution, because she would be reduced to a mere ideology. It is rather obligated to encourage awareness among the people and their leaders that personal interests must not be above the interests of the community. Do not expect that others will understand and support us if we are not to be able to do that for one another.

—The future of Kosovo in Serbia is seen differently. The majority believes that the Province must not be given up, but the voices are heard, and that it has been irretrievably lost.

—Kosovo is not only a political and territorial issue. It is a place of our covenant with God. If we keep returning to this covenant, with Christian faith and hope, no one can take it away from us. The political situation has changed through history, and it will do so in future. If we look at Kosovo-Metohija only as an issue of national ideology and territory, it may seem lost. If, however, we turn to it with our heart, the answer is quite the opposite.

—Do you believe in what politicians announce as a compromise between the two peoples through dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina?

—Dialogue is the only way to solve the problems in Kosovo and Metohija. We cannot wait for others to find a solution to our problems. Most Kosovo Albanians do not currently see the future in any way connected with Serbia. The Serbian people, however, are the first whom they should address to discuss their long-term interests. In the upcoming negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, the priority should be the real interests of the people and peace, and not transient ideologies. It is therefore important that people of good will distance themselves from all those who think to achieve happiness (of their people) by violence.

LOVE IS GREATEST GOOD

—There is an impression that our nation is disoriented. There are also many false goods that are promoted as a true ...

—God has given man the gift of freedom, but to use it reasonably and responsibly and not for personal enjoyment and lust. When passions take control over the soul and body, one becomes incapable of communion with God. Instead of being part of a community, one becomes a loner, suffocated in his own ambitions to find earthly happiness. We can find true joy and happiness only when we realize that service to our neighbor in love is not our loss, but the only good gain. This is the essence of the Church and life in it.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND A SECT

—We hear that a part of the defrocked monks, which the SOC calls a sect, has returned to the Diocese you lead. What will you do about this issue?

—As the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church advised, it is about a sect, which, fortunately, does not have popular support. If necessary, we will be undertaking additional canonical and legal measures in order to preserve the SOC's name, integrity and property. We will not allow such sectarian activities in our Diocese. Divisions are the last thing we need in this moment. It is essential that our people know how to distinguish the Church from the sect, a priest from an impostor, the faith in Christ from a religious and political ideology.

PRESERVE THE FAITH

—What is your message to the Serbian people in Kosovo?

—Our only hope is Christ. We should be more attached to the Church and preserve mutual love and harmony. The Lord is glorified in weakness and suffering, and therefore we must not lose hope in Him. Let us stay in our homes and holy sites, and above all, preserve our faith.

From the official website of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren

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Patriarch Kyrill On the Reason Behind the Economic Crisis In Russia

January 11, 2011
Interfax

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia decisively disagrees with those who believe that Orthodoxy is a reason for the economic failures and low living standards of Russians.

In particular, last year renowned TV anchor Vladimir Pozner addressed such reproaches to the Orthodox Church.

"It's a rather strange discussion, people with poor knowledge of history probably participated in it," the Patriarch said in his interview with Rossija 24 TV channel.

To illustrate his words he pointed out to Byzantium that was a center of culture, education and sciences and "reached such heights in the Middle Ages that no other country had reached, especially Western, which at that time was still barbarian peoples."

Patriarch Kirill noted that Orthodox Russia, that was sometimes still called nation in bast shoes, in the 19th century had the world highest GDP competing with America "as they put it, neck to neck."

Russian peasants did not drink "as it was a sin to drink during the week, it was allowed on feasts, or at least on Sunday after the Liturgy," the Patriarch reminded saying that "there was not any supervisors nearby", but "inner self-control was rooted in the moral tradition of the nation."

"And then everything was broken. Eventually with great efforts, including terror, high economic indicators were reached," the Patriarch said explaining the further collapse of the USSR with the fact that the "backbone of national life was destroyed" in the years of revolution.

"Today our life is worse not because we are Orthodox, but because we ruined our country and spiritual foundation of our life two times during one century. Protestant countries live better not because they are Protestant, but because these countries have not been at war, they developed their economy staying in rather favorable conditions," the Patriarch summed up and wished so that God "gives us reason to save our political, social stability and develop ourselves both spiritually and economically."

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Keeping Our Eye On Eternity

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"We look not to what is seen but to what is unseen" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

We see this material and transient world, but we look to that spiritual and immortal world.

We see earthly joy, often interrupted by tears and sighs and, in the end, always concluded in death; but we look to spiritual joy among the angels and saints of God in the heavens, to joy uninterrupted and eternal.

We see sufferings and failures of the righteous in this life; but we look at their glory and celebration in that world.

We see many successes, glory and honor of the unrighteous in this life, but we see their defeat, condemnation and indescribable torment in eternity.

We see the Church of God often humiliated and persecuted in this world, but we look to the final victory of the Church over all of her enemies and adversaries both visible and invisible.

Brethren, we often see tyrants and abductors as rulers and wealthy men in this age, and we see saints as poor, dejected and forgotten, but we look at the other kingdom, the Kingdom of God, eternal, sinless and immortal in which the saints will reign without one, no, not one tyrant or abductor.

O Lord, most patient and most merciful, open our spiritual vision that we may see that which awaits us after this short-lived life and that we endeavor to fulfill Your law. To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

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The Teaching of Gregory of Nyssa On the Eternality of Hell

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

In many of his texts St. Gregory speaks of man's freedom of choice, which is not abolished by God, and also about the perpetuity of Hell. Both these positions of his remove every notion of the theory of the restoration of all things as affirmed by Origen.

In his great catechetical oration, in which he refers to the Catechism and the value of Baptism, at the end he continues the subject of the change in a man's whole existence which comes about by his choice. He writes that holy Baptism is called birth from above, that is, it is man's rebirth and reconstitution, but it does not alter his characteristic features. This human nature does not of itself admit of any "change by Baptism", and neither is his reason or intelligence changed, nor his cognition nor any other characteristic of human nature. This must take place through man's struggle before and after Baptism. The grace of God which we receive through Baptism does not bring about our rebirth unless we ourselves play a part in it.

St. Gregory reaches the point of making a bold statement, as he himself says. If in spite of Baptism the soul has not removed the stains - which means if our life after Baptism is the same as it was before - then the water of the sacrament is simply water, "because the grace of the Holy Spirit did not appear". In other words, it is as if a man had not received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Whoever trumpets his rebirth through Baptism, but still has the same way of life should listen to the word of God who says: "If anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself"and "As many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God". If anyone asserts that he has received God, he must demonstrate it by his choice. "Manifest in yourself Him Who begot you". And he asks very incisively: "Do you not know that a man becomes a son of God in no other way than by becoming holy?". To become a child of God one must be holy.

Those who do not change their way of life will have many punishments. The life of sinners in the next life will not be similar to the tribulations of the earthly life. St. Gregory speaks of the punishing fire which the sinner will encounter, and not of a rebirth in the next life. He writes incisively: "When you hear the word fire, you have been taught to think of a fire other than the fire we see, owing to something being added to that fire which is not in this. "The fire which man will experience in the next life will be different from the fire of the present life. The fire of this life is extinguished in various ways, whereas the fire of the next life remains unextinguished." That fire, therefore, is something other than this.

If, again, a person hears about a worm which will devour man, it is meant in a completely different way from the worm that lives in the earth. For "the addition that `it does not die' suggests the thought of another reptile than that known here".

From this brief presentation of the teaching of St. Gregory about choice and Hell several truths emerge. First, that the grace of the Holy Spirit, through Baptism, does not regenerate the person if choice is not put into action. Therefore a man's choice has great significance. Secondly, that there exists Hell, in which fire and worm which do not resemble sensory realities hold sway. They are uncreated realities. Indeed, the fact that the things of eternal life will not be like the present day, and that the worm "does not die", shows that both the purifying fire and the tormenting action of the worms is the uncreated energy of God, which will be experienced by those who have not been purified in this life. The combination of the pains of the life after death with endlessness shows that there will be no end to purification, as the studies of St. Gregory suggest.

In other texts of his we read about participating in the light, that is, God. Analysing the life of Moses and regarding Moses as a prototype of perfection for every Christian, he says that Moses saw God in the burning bush that was not consumed, because he had first taken off his sandals.

He applies this to the vision of God, which every man can have. God is truth and this truth is light. The life of virtue leads to this knowledge of the great light. And lest it be thought that St. Gregory is speaking of a human and humanistic virtue, we must say that he links virtue with purity of the soul. It is not possible for sandaled feet to ascend that height where the light of truth is seen. Therefore the soul must be freed from these foundations. It is not a matter of putting off the body, but of freeing the soul from the garments of skin in which nature was wrapped after its insubordination. Thus the light of truth will be seen and the knowledge of being will come about through purifying our opinion about nonbeing, since nonbeing is false and a fantasy. According to St. Gregory, being outside God is nonbeing, from the point of view that it is falsehood and fantasy and not that it is non-existent.

And in this interpretation it is obvious that through purification man attains knowledge of being and casts away nonbeing, which is falsehood and fantasy. This interpretation will be useful when we later study his view of evil, which is nonbeing. It does not mean that the person who experiences evil disappears, but precisely because he lives far from being, which is truth, he lives in falsehood. The man exists, but he does not live according to God. There is a difference between existing and living according to God.

St. Gregory of Nyssa links Paradise and Hell with man's choice. He knows clearly that there is eternal Paradise and eternal Hell. Moreover, even those who are still critical of him do not deny that St. Gregory at many points in his teachings accepts the eternity of Hell. We have already seen one such case before, when he spoke of the worm that never dies. But placed organically within the teaching of the Church, he teaches that Paradise and Hell do not exist from God's point of view, but from man's point of view. It is a subject of man's choice and condition. We can understand the teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa only if we study it within these orthodox presuppositions.

Referring to the double effect of light on the Hebrews and the Egyptians, he says that while the sun of righteousness illuminated them in the same way with its rays, yet "the Hebrews delighted in its light, but the Egyptians were insensitive to its gift". The Egyptians too received the grace of God, but since they were insensitive, they perceived it as darkness.

The same thing happens with other men as well. The same grace, the same light, sends its rays to all men, but some wander in darkness because of evil deeds and the darkness of evil, and others shine, living in the light of virtue.

The Egyptians were punished because their choice worked in that way, when they themselves called forth God's punishment. "The Egyptians' free will caused all these things according to the above principle, and the impartial justice of God followed their free choices and brought upon them what they deserved".

The same is true with tribulations, which we think come from God. The creator of sorrows and tribulations is each person through his own choice. "Each man makes his own plagues through his own free will". The same will be the case in the eternal life. To the one who has lived without sin there is no darkness, no worm, no fire. The same place is a calamity for one and not for another. This means that it is a matter of their choice. Therefore "it is evident that nothing evil can come into existence apart from our free choice". Evil cannot exist without our choice.

This analysis shows clearly that St. Gregory does not deny the existence of Hell, but he says that it is a matter of man's choice. For God, Hell does not exist, nor did God make man for Hell but it is man's free choice.

In the works of St. Gregory it is stated that evil must be thrown out of man's existence, and "that which does not exist in being must cease to exist at all". This does not mean that there will be a period in which beings which have no share and communion with God will cease to exist. In any case, evil does not have being in itself, but it is the deprivation of good. In other words, the person who has been darkened will be deprived of the illuminating quality of God, and so he will be like not existing, while he will live eternally. The illuminating action of God will not be received, but only its caustic and punishing quality. He writes: "Since evil does not exist by its nature outside of free choice, evil will suffer a complete annihilation, because no receptacle remains for it".

The problem arises: what will happen if man does not yield his free choice to God? This is a question for those who are convinced that St. Gregory teaches the restoration of all things in accordance with the views of Origen. And they think that the saint is inconsistent. But there is no contradiction in his work, his teaching can be understood within the tradition of the Church. It means that everyone who does not give his choice to God will have no share of God. They will exist but they will not participate in God. And since God is life and being, therefore those, although they will exist, will live in nonbeing, they will not have communion with God.

Likewise the existence of the punishing fire, which is the purifying grace of God, will be a permanent development and healing for the saint which will go on also in the next life. The purifying fire, as we have indicated, according to the teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa, is uncreated and unending. It is the grace of God, which will purify and sanctify man increasingly, since perfection is unending, as he himself teaches. In this sense he speaks of a purifying fire for the righteous.

Consequently the teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa about Paradise and Hell is a part of the patristic framework. At least I personally have not discovered any departure from the orthodox teaching. It is only that St. Gregory's speech is more difficult than that of the other Fathers of the Church.

To read more details on this topic by the same author, read the rest of chapter 8 from "Life After Death" here.

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St. Gregory of Nyssa on Ghosts and Demons

In his treatise On the Soul and the Resurrection, St. Gregory of Nyssa is said to have been taught by his sister St. Macrina regarding eschatological topics as she lay on her death-bed following the repose of their brother, St. Basil the Great. Commenting on the details of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, St. Macrina makes the following observation:

"Why, seeing that Lazarus' soul is occupied with his present blessings and turns round to look at nothing that he has left, while the rich man is still attached, with a cement as it were, even after death, to the life of feeling, which he does not divest himself of even when he has ceased to live, still keeping as he does flesh and blood in his thoughts (for in his entreaty that his kindred may be exempted from his sufferings he plainly shows that he is not freed yet from fleshly feeling)—in such details of the story (she continued) I think our Lord teaches us this; that those still living in the flesh must as much as ever they can separate and free themselves in a way from its attachments by virtuous conduct, in order that after death they may not need a second death to cleanse them from the remnants that are owing to this cement of the flesh, and, when once the bonds are loosed from around the soul, her soaring up to the Good may be swift and unimpeded, with no anguish of the body to distract her. For if any one becomes wholly and thoroughly carnal in thought, such an one, with every motion and energy of the soul absorbed in fleshly desires, is not parted from such attachments, even in the disembodied state; just as those who have lingered long in noisome places do not part with the unpleasantness contracted by that lengthened stay, even when they pass into a sweet atmosphere. So it is that, when the change is made into the impalpable Unseen, not even then will it be possible for the lovers of the flesh to avoid dragging away with them under any circumstances some fleshly foulness; and thereby their torment will be intensified, their soul having been materialized by such surroundings. I think too that this view of the matter harmonizes to a certain extent with the assertion made by some persons that around their graves shadowy phantoms of the departed are often seen. If this is really so, an inordinate attachment of that particular soul to the life in the flesh is proved to have existed, causing it to be unwilling, even when expelled from the flesh, to fly clean away and to admit the complete change of its form into the impalpable; it remains near the frame even after the dissolution of the frame, and though now outside it, hovers regretfully over the place where its material is and continues to haunt it."

Thus we see a possibility from these observations that the spirits of the dead who had fleshly or worldly attachments in this life could be so attached to their life in the flesh that their spirits remain near the bodies from which they separated. We should note that this is set down as a possible theory of why spirits seem to make their appearance near their graves.

Yet St. Gregory also warns that demons can be behind such apparitions. In his Letter Concerning the Sorceress to Bishop Theodoxios, he explains that the so-called spirit of the Prophet Samuel which appeared by the witchcraft of the witch of endor (1 Sam. 28) to King Saul was in fact a demon rather than his actual spirit. This view was held by other Church Fathers also, though some also proposed that this may indeed have been his spirit.

Read the entire letter here.

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Saint Gregory of Nyssa, the "Father of Fathers"

St. Gregory of Nyssa (Feast Day - January 10)

Saint Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa, was a younger brother of St Basil the Great (January 1). His birth and upbringing came at a time when the Arian disputes were at their height. Having received an excellent education, he was at one time a teacher of rhetoric. In the year 372, he was consecrated by St Basil the Great as bishop of the city of Nyssa in Cappadocia.

St Gregory was an ardent advocate for Orthodoxy, and he fought against the Arian heresy with his brother St Basil. Gregory was persecuted by the Arians, by whom he was falsely accused of improper use of church property, and thereby deprived of his See and sent to Ancyra.

In the following year St Gregory was again deposed in absentia by a council of Arian bishops, but he continued to encourage his flock in Orthodoxy, wandering about from place to place. After the death of the emperor Valens (378), St Gregory was restored to his cathedra and was joyously received by his flock. His brother St Basil the Great died in 379.

Only with difficulty did St Gregory survive the loss of his brother and guide. He delivered a funeral oration for him, and completed St Basil's study of the six days of Creation, the Hexaemeron. That same year St Gregory participated in the Council of Antioch against heretics who refused to recognize the perpetual virginity of the Mother of God. Others at the opposite extreme, who worshipped the Mother of God as being God Herself, were also denounced by the Council. He visited the churches of Arabia and Palestine, which were infected with the Arian heresy, to assert the Orthodox teaching about the Most Holy Theotokos. On his return journey St Gregory visited Jerusalem and the Holy Places.

In the year 381 St Gregory was one of the chief figures of the Second Ecumenical Council, convened at Constantinople against the heresy of Macedonius, who incorrectly taught about the Holy Spirit. At this Council, on the initiative of St Gregory, the Nicean Symbol of Faith (the Creed) was completed.

Together with the other bishops St Gregory affirmed St Gregory the Theologian as Archpastor of Constantinople.

In the year 383, St Gregory of Nyssa participated in a Council at Constantinople, where he preached a sermon on the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit. In 386, he was again at Constantinople, and he was asked to speak the funeral oration in memory of the empress Placilla. Again in 394 St Gregory was present in Constantinople at a local Council, convened to resolve church matters in Arabia.

St Gregory of Nyssa was a fiery defender of Orthodox dogmas and a zealous teacher of his flock, a kind and compassionate father to his spiritual children, and their intercessor before the courts. He was distinguished by his magnanimity, patience and love of peace.

Having reached old age, St Gregory of Nyssa died soon after the Council of Constantinople. Together with his great contemporaries, Sts Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian, St Gregory of Nyssa had a significant influence on the Church life of his time. His sister, St Macrina, wrote to him: "You are renowned both in the cities, and gatherings of people, and throughout entire districts. Churches ask you for help." St Gregory is known in history as one of the most profound Christian thinkers of the fourth century. Endowed with philosophical talent, he saw philosophy as a means for a deeper penetration into the authentic meaning of divine revelation.

St Gregory left behind many remarkable works of dogmatic character, as well as sermons and discourses. He has been called "the Father of Fathers."

Source

For more details on his life from The Great Synaxaristes, read here.

Gregory of Nyssa: His Great Ecclesiastical Personality

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

St. Gregory was a truly great spiritual figure. When one reads his works, one delights in the breadth of his thought, the fertility of his teaching, and above all, his great sensitivity. He deals with very difficult topics, and yet he does not depart from the Orthodox Tradition.

In St. Gregory of Nyssa we find the teaching that the deepest task of the Church is to cure man, who is in the process of purification, and that man's goal is deification. Other Fathers too analysed this fact but St. Gregory of Nyssa undertook a delicate analysis. In his work "The Life of Moses", which is a model theological treatise, he makes wonderful elaborations and observations.

In general, St. Gregory of Nyssa, brother of Basil the Great was concerned with subjects which were difficult for the human spirit to work out. His great sensitiveness, which is felt in the conversation that he had with his sister Macrina before she died, and in the way in which he presented her death and faced the separation from her, makes a striking impression. He was a truly great theologian and quite a sensitive spiritual father.

The merit of his great personality was recognised by the whole Church. After the death of his brother Basil the Great in 379, St. Gregory of Nyssa made several ecclesiastical initiatives to fortify the Orthodox faith against the Christological heresies of his time. His presence at the Council of Antioch in 379 was dynamic, as were his peace-making missions for the Church in Pontos and Arabia. Generally speaking, St. Gregory possessed great authority, and therefore he was interested in the regulation of ecclesiastical matters, chiefly on dogmatic questions.

His presence at the Second Ecumenical Council, in Constantinople in 381, was important. To be sure, the theology of his brother Basil the Great, who had died two years previous to the convocation of the Council, predominated at this Council, but St. Gregory proved to be the theological voice of the Council.

During the business of the Council, St. Gregory read to St. Gregory the Theologian his treatise opposing the views of Eunomios, who had opposed Basil the Great after the latter had written an attack on the heretical views of Eunomios. The reasoning of Basil the Great so astonished Eunomios that he replied fourteen years later with his work "Apologia for an apologia". But then it was not possible for Basil the Great to answer because he was approaching the end of his life. St. Gregory of Nyssa fulfilled this mission with success. With his three books he literally pulverised the views of Eunomios, defending the Orthodox faith as well as the memory of his brother. These writings are among the finest anti-heretical texts.

In the Second Ecumenical Council he was recognised by all as the theologian par excellence. He read the opening speech at the Synod, pronounced the funeral oration to Meletius of Antioch, who was chairman of the Council, gave the speech at the enthronement of St. Gregory the Theologian at Constantinople, and, as is believed, was the one who gave the final form to the Creed and formulated the article about the Holy Spirit: "And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life; Who proceedeth from the Father; Who with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, Who spake by the Prophets". In particular, it is said that in the iconography of the Second Ecumenical Council St. Gregory is presented as the recording clerk of the Council.

Before the end of the business of this Council the emperor Theodosios gave a decree by which St. Gregory was defined as one of the three bishops who would be a model of the faith for the bishops of Pontos, meaning that all who did not agree with the teaching of St. Gregory and have communion with him were heretics.

After the Council he made trips to Syria, Palestine and Arabia to solve various problems of the Church, as well as taking part in councils for the defence of the Orthodox faith. All these things show that he had a position of great influence in the Orthodox world. Indeed it was assigned to him to give the funeral orations for princess Pulcheria and Queen Plakilla.

After these events, which are known in church history from the ecclesiastical activities of St. Gregory of Nyssa, there are also synodal texts which point to him as a great ecumenical father of the Church. The Third Ecumenical Council, recognising the value of his personality and his theology, named him "second man after his brother in both words and manners". This phrase means that he was second only to his brother Basil the Great. But also four hundred years after his death the Seventh Ecumenical Council gave him the one and only title which it has given to theologians in the Church, naming him "father of fathers". Indeed it is well known how Basil the Great answered the expressions of surprise that he had made such a very valuable man bishop of the unimportant city of Nyssa - and he was not referring to St. Gregory the Theologian, since he used the word `brother'. "Let a Bishop not be proud of the place, but let the place be proud of him".

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His Relics

After the catastrophe which took place in Asia Minor during the 1920s, the precious relics of his sacred skull were removed. Together with the relics of the Great-martyr Theodore and the holy New-hieromartyr George of Neapolis, Saint Gregory's relics were translated to the Church of Saint Efstathios in Perissos, Attike, located in the outskirts of Athens. His jaw is pictured above.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
O God of our Fathers, ever dealing with us according to Thy gentleness: take not Thy mercy from us, but by their entreaties guide our life in peace.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith, an image of humility and a teacher of abstinence; your humility exalted you; your poverty enriched you. Hierarch Father Gregory, entreat Christ our God that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
Rejoicing with the Angels and taking delight in the Divine Light, Gregory of Nyssa, the vigilant mind, the God inspired hierarch of the Church, and wisdom's revered hymnographer, intercedeth unceasingly for us all.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
You kept watch with the eyes of your soul, holy bishop, revealing yourself as a watchful pastor for the world. With the staff of your wisdom and your fervent intercession, you drove away all heretics like wolves. You preserved your flock free from harm, most wise Gregory!

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Saint Theosevia the Deaconess of Nyssa

St. Theosevia (or Theosebia) the Deaconess (Feast Day - January 10)

There is strong evidence that Saint Theosevia the Deaconess was the wife of Saint Gregory of Nyssa, but this is not generally accepted for lack of complete evidence. An ambiguous expression in the Letter of Condolence written by Gregory the Theologian to Gregory of Nyssa upon the death of Theosevia the Deaconess, expressly calls her his "sister" and "consort". The latter word "consort" in Greek is syzigon, which also means "spouse". This and other language certainly indicates a close relationship which scholars generally agree either mean she was Gregory of Nyssa's wife or sister.

It should be mentioned also that in his treatise On Virginity (ch.3), Gregory of Nyssa does indicate that he may have been married, though this also is a bit ambiguous.

Below is Epistle 197 of St. Gregory the Theologian to St. Gregory of Nyssa in honor of St. Theosevia upon her repose:

I had started in all haste to go to you, and had got as far as Euphemias, when I was delayed by the festival which you are celebrating in honour of the Holy Martyrs; partly because I could not take part in it, owing to my bad health, partly because my coming at so unsuitable a time might be inconvenient to you. I had started partly for the sake of seeing you after so long, and partly that I might admire your patience and philosophy (for I had heard of it) at the departure of your holy and blessed sister, as a good and perfect man, a minister of God, who knows better than any the things both of God and man; and who regards as a very light thing that which to others would be most heavy, namely to have lived with such a soul, and to send her away and store her up in the safe garners, like a shock of the threshing floor gathered in due season, (Job 5:26) to use the words of Holy Scripture; and that in such time that she, having tasted the joys of life, escaped its sorrows through the shortness of her life; and before she had to wear mourning for you, was honoured by you with that fair funeral honour which is due to such as she. I too, believe me, long to depart, if not as you do, which were much to say, yet only less than you. But what must we feel in presence of a long prevailing law of God which has now taken my Theosebia (for I call her mine because she lived a godly life; for spiritual kindred is better than bodily), Theosebia, the glory of the church, the adornment of Christ, the helper of our generation, the hope of woman; Theosebia, the most beautiful and glorious among all the beauty of the Brethren; Theosebia, truly sacred, truly consort of a priest, and of equal honour and worthy of the Great Sacraments, Theosebia, whom all future time shall receive, resting on immortal pillars, that is, on the souls of all who have known her now, and of all who shall be hereafter. And do not wonder that I often invoke her name. For I rejoice even in the remembrance of the blessed one. Let this, a great deal in few words, be her epitaph from me, and my word of condolence for you, though you yourself are quite able to console others in this way through your philosophy in all things. Our meeting (which I greatly long for) is prevented by the reason I mentioned. But we pray with one another as long as we are in the world, until the common end, to which we are drawing near, overtake us. Wherefore we must bear all things, since we shall not for long have either to rejoice or to suffer.

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When Is Ecumenism A Heresy?

Fr. Seraphim Rose, though against Orthodox participation in the ecumenical movement, in his later years, reacted strongly against Orthodox who over-reacted in their condemnation of fellow-Orthodox for attending ecumenical gatherings by calling them "heretics". He clearly articulated his thoughts in his "Defense of Fr. Dimitry Dudko" (p. 130), where he wrote:

"Ecumenism is a heresy only if it actually involves the denial that Orthodoxy is the true Church of Christ. A few of the Orthodox leaders of the ecumenical movement have gone this far; but most Orthodox participants in the ecumenical movement have not said this much; and a few (such as the late Fr. Georges Florovsky) have only irritated the Protestants in the ecumenical movement by frequently stating at ecumenical gatherings that Orthodoxy is the Church of Christ. One must certainly criticize the participation of even these latter persons in the ecumenical movement, which at its best is misleading and vague about the nature of Christ's Church; but one cannot call such people 'heretics', nor can one affirm that any but a few Orthodox representatives have actually taught ecumenism as heresy. The battle for true Orthodoxy in our times is not aided by such exaggerations."

For a more contemporary perspective on this issue, see here.

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