Papa Dimitri Gagastathis: Life and Teachings

Fr. Dimitrios was born in the village of Platanos in the prefecture of Trikala, Greece, on August 1, 1902. His parents Chrerstos and Catherine Gagastathis were pious men. On April 10, 1921, he was drafted into the army in Asia Minor. He also served in several places in Macedonia. On June 18, 1924, he was discharged from the army. In February 1928, he married Elisabeth Koutsimpiris from Platanos. The same year he was ordained reader by the Bishop of Trikki Polycarp. On Mary 24, 1931, he was ordained deacon, and on the 26th of the same month he was ordained priest by the same bishop.

From his marriage he had nine daughters. Five of the six that live today are married, while the youngest one became a nun, consecrated to the worship of God. For forty-two whole consecutive years, he served as the parish priest of his village. On October 1, 1973, he resigned for reasons of health. Since then, he remained confined at home, living as a saint with incessant prayer, glorifying and thanking God for the trial of his illness. He delivered his holy soul to the hands of the living God on January 29, 1975, in peace.

Throughout his life, he was pious, just, simple, humble, merciful, industrious, full of faith and love for God and for his neighbor, praying incessantly for the sake of the whole world. He tended his rational sheep as a good shepherd and became a teacher to everyone, instructing by his words, his letters and, above all, by his holy life.

The ever memorable Fr. Dimitrios worked for the Holy Church of Christ with all his strength. We believe that the Good God, Whom he unselfishly loved and self-denyingly served, and Whose infinite mercy he constantly begged for, has already taken him in the joyous dwellings of Paradise, to rejoice eternally in the blessedness of His Kingdom, through the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Queen of all the Holy Archangels, his protectors, and of all the Saints.


Gleanings From Papa Dimitri's Writings

On Prayer

I'm definitely not educated, but I can empirically tell you - that's what life has taught me - that it's at night and on en empty stomach that one can pray better.

We haven't placed Christ inside us and that's why we don't know what's love, peace, concord, etc.

Since I can't preach, let me at least weep for my sins and for those who have gone astray.

Prayer is a telephone, a wireless, by which one communicates directly with God. You dial the number on the telephone of prayer to speak with God and He answers. You hear Him clearly, you feel Him very close.

Prayer comes first in the larynx, then goes up to the brain and then down to the heart. And then well, theaters come to the eyes. From that point on there's nothing more to be said. It's true that in the beginning, you'll have difficulties. You'll try to pray and at time so you won't be able to, at times you'll have wandering thoughts and temptations, and at other times you won't be able to wake up at night. But you must insist. The Lord, seeing your disposition, will uphold you and deliver you from all temptations. We must not waste the whole night sleeping, because then Satan does whatever he wants with us.

Nightly prayer is of great value. The people sleep and God listens.

No matter where I go, I stick to my program, which was been called "According to the order of Melchisedek" and has been countersigned by many spiritual Fathers.

Vespers, Supplication prayers, preaching, Compline with the Salutations of the Theotokos - a most blessed job...

I have seen many things in my life, one of them being that prayers, supplications and Divine Liturgies have caused many to return to the Church's fold.

I entreat God and His Saints to enlighten all those astray so that may believe and come back to the bosom of the Church, which always keeps her arms open and waits for them. This is all I know to say and keep bothering God, the Most Holy Theotokos, the Archangels and all the Saints. If they don't like this, may they forgive me, as I'm unlearned and don't know what I should be asking for.

We must not with too much boldness to God and to the Most Holy Theotokos. We are all sinners and God doesn't hear a sinner's voice.

Despite that I'm a sinner, I kept asking persistently based on "Ask, and it shall be given you, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matt. 7:7). This is what I understood in my life: What is impossible with men, is possible with God (Luke 18:27).

Fasting

Fasting is a great thing. Adam was expelled for not keeping it. We must love fasting, because through it the passions go away, the heart and body are purified, and once we are made thus free, we can pray better. Our fasting must be accompanied with a lot of obedience and humility. We must do whatever God wants. We must have a lot of humility. We are nothing in the sea of God's love and goodness. What does God say? "Upon whom shall I look, except upon the meek and the humble and the one who fears my words?"

Humility And Obedience

The great vitures are three: humility, obedience, and love.

When there is no love and obedience to the local bishop, everything is ruined.

We cannot have boldness before God when we are not obedient, humble. Our heart must be simple in order to receive the word of God. No selfishness or hard-heartedness. Simplicity of heart makes us similar to God and to the saints. Everything is simple. The simple man is neither wicked nor can he think something wicked. He is resettles. He is like a child. His prayer is readily received. He prays for the others and for his sins.

How can you not weep when you see how much you've grieved God, the Angels and the Saints, who wait for you in Heaven and benefit you while on earth?

Love

Love cannot be limited to one person alone nor can the fruits of one's work be confined in a single environment. The lamp that is put on the table enlightens the whole house and everyone in it Matt. 5:15).

I can't find rest. I want to help everyone who asks me for help, even the whole world.

When you love God and all men with your heart, then you are in God's law. We shall be judged because we don't love.

I don't pray for myself. I love men so much that I pray only for the others.

How can you not pray for the afflicted, the sick, the poor?

Never be afraid for a man who loves. In him God dwells.

You ask me to make a Liturgy for you so that God may enlighten you to do well in the exam. I'm serving Forty Liturgies for you and you ask for one?

Have love among you, humility and obedience. God and the Angels rejoice in these... Love all the Most Holy Theotokos, Her who so much helps out human and sinful race.

The purpose of whatever prayers and services we do is to come closer to God and get to love Him more.

Demons

Satan doesn't know our thoughts. He knows only whatever he himself puts in our minds, as well as whatever he figures out from our movements, and whatever he hears from our words... Satan opposes every Christian who strives sincerely. However, no one must be afraid of the demons. They are smoke, dust and stench. They don't have power over men. God allows the temptations to try men's faith. They can be found even in the church, even during the time of Divine Liturgy. The put bad thoughts in the minds of the people and distract them from prayer and attention to the divine mystery. However, at the time of the Cherubic Hymn and of the Great Entrance, they depart. Only Lucifer, their leader, can enter in the sanctuary. No one else. I was once serving liturgy at night, when they came into the church and started overturning the chairs. The archdemon came into the sanctuary, shut the window and grabbed me by the throat to strangle me. I asked help from the Archangels, and when they roosters crowed in the morning, they all went away. "This generation goes away only through prayer and fasting" (Mark 9:29). Satan must not find any cowards, because he does whatever he wants with them. Satan is afraid of the pure and sincere confession, of humility and love. Where these exist, he just cannot enter.

On The Calendar Issue

How do the old-calendarists say that our Sacraments are invalid? In 1947, while I was doing the service of Sanctification and chanting "Great art Thou, O Lord, and Great art Thy works," a smoke came out of the cup and the water was heated up. Even in the cups that pious Christians held, the water was heated up. How then can you tell me that the Sacraments are invalid?

How can God work miracles with the new calendar, if it is not right? How did the miracle of Saint Bessarion happen in the village of Dousiko? This is enough to show to us that the right faith, love and the keeping of the commandments play an important role in the sanctification of man. I take account of nothing else. I wrote about this matter to Fr. Philotheos Zervakos (St. Nectarios' disciple) and he responded to me rightly - and so also I believe, the unlearned one, from my life's experience - that thirteen days can neither take you out from or put you into the Kingdom of Heaven... I also asked the Archangels about it and they told me "Stay where you are."

Contemporary World

We find it impossible in this day and age to work well in this life according to God's will, because we lack the two wings of love and humility.

God saved us from communism, but Satan delivered us to materialism.

Now it's time to weep and pray for the condition of today's world. We must pray that God may enlighten them to see the way of God, the way of truth and of righteousness.

Both clergy and people today have lost their spirituality. They constantly talk only about material and political things.

Through her weeping icon, the Theotokos shows that she's sad, because she sees what Russia suffers by the atheists, and because she's blasphemed by many.

Living Faith

Our Faith is alive, but we abandoned it because selfishness and materialism drew us away.

Indeed our Faith is alive, but we don't want to follow it, because it's a bit heavy and requires some commitments from our part. People want freedom and a depending slope so that they don't get tired and sweat, buy they don't know that this descent leads to a bad end. The way of perdition looks initially good, happy and easy. It offers artificial delights and pleasures, but all this vanishes quickly. We must pray incessantly on their behalf. Perhaps some soul might be save. In particular, we - the priests - have a tremendous responsibility before God and men.

Miracles happen every minute, but we don't perceive them because we are stone hearted. Soft-heartedness and simplicity are what's needed...

Church Services

The good chanter and the priest play a great role in good church services.

When chanting, you must understand and feel what you say. Don't get proud that you supposedly chant beautifully. You must live what you say. Once I was chanting a hymn of Apostle Peter that was about his denial. When I said "...and he cried bitterly," I saw tears coming out from his icon. The saint must have been pleased...

The priest's cassock is superior to trousers. It's got double grace...

Retribution

God will definitely give whatever He owes to us; we'll get paid according to our work. It must not strike us bad...

In my wallet I carry Christ's icon. He takes care of every human need. I always have the wallet open, and it's always full. Whatever one may give, God gives back double. ONe one hand man gives away, and on the other hand God brings in.

Sickness And Suffering

We patch up the body. But what is more important and we should always keep healthy is the soul. As we run to doctors and to spas and spend a lot of money for the body, so also we must turn to the spiritual father for the soul - which, moreover, is free-of-charge...

We must be glad in our trials and take special care lest we become indignant at the last minute and be punished in hell. Our life is a meal. Whether the meal is prepared well or not depends on us. But even if the meal is prepared well, we may not partake of it, should we kick over the table at the last minute. "Taste and see" (Ps. 34:8) that Christ is the Lord of eternal life.

Monasticism

Monasticism is Christ's army and Satan's enemy. The monasteries are the outposts of the Church. Without outposts, the enemy will capture us. Prayer in monasteries reaches God like a bullet. As a foreign army fears the aircraft and hides, so also Satan fear the prayer of the monastics and goes away.

Heresies

When the dignitaries of the foreign churches came to Trikala, I went at first to see them, but then I said to myself: "Papa Dimitri, get out of here fast and don't even look back..." We must not accept them. I've been following this principle many hears now. It was somewhat rude of me. But better be on good terms with God, rather than with the people...

We've been encircled by Free-Masonry and many fight our Church, but I believe that they try in vain, as the chief of the Church is Christ Himself, and she's not going to perish.

We must all pray, both old and young, that God and the Most Holy Theotokos enlighten the high-ranking men of the Church so that they may love one another and work for the Church which is being under attack by the foreign heresies.

Truth

I think I've grieved then a little, but truth is bitter and must needs be revealed for the benefit and salvation of their souls.

Youth

The young, male and female, have take the way downhill and they will neither see nor hear, while no one goes out there to stop them. But how could he, anyway, as the adults are worse?...

Daily Life Problems

I never worried anxiously about anything. I cared for my children without weariness and anxiety. God Who gave them to me took also care of everything.

The one who runs to magicians and fortune-tellers is called a rascal and loses protection even from God.

Self appraisal

I don't remember anything from this life; only heavy load of my sins.

If you learn that I left this world, don't get sad, but rather be happy because the Church will have gotten rid of the most sinful and unlearned priest of the era.

Prayers Composed by Papa Dimitri

Prayer Of A Priest

Jesus, the good Shepherd, I thank You, because you gave even to me, the small and weak one, the same command that You gave to Your apostles, when You told him: Feed my lambs, feed my sheep" (John 21:17).

Never would I dare, O Lord, to accept such a heavy mission, if I didn't believe that Your grace remedies what is weak and makes up for what is lacking.

Therefore, in this moment, in which I feel my shortcomings so intensely, I, your priest, Your sacrificer, the small shepherd of Your flock, implore You.

Uphold me, O Lord, keep my heart pure, whole, free from money and attached to Your commandments.

Take away from Your servants selfishness, ostentation and worldliness.

Keep him from anger, rancor, envy and jealously.

Make me a man of prayer, so that not only with my lips, but also with my heart I may praise and glorify Your Holy Name.

Help me not forget the holy feelings of my first liturgy, and by them to chase away the germ of habit, which every so often comes into me.

Help Your priest, O Lord, be always an angel of comfort for the afflicted, a source of spiritual invigoration for the disheartened, a guide towards Your peace, and a source of joy for the wounded.

Help me, my Savior, combine in my life and work tenderness with firmness, tact with strength, sensitivity with strictness.

Reduce my faults, so that no one may fall because of my weakness.

Teach me, Lord, how to instruct the children, inspire the youth, advise the adults, turn back the sinners, encourage those who are about to die.

Teach me, O Lord who know the hearts of men, how to perform the Mysteries of Your Church and especially the Mystery of Holy Confession. During that time, make me be a perfect psychologist and an affectionate father.

Help me in my parish an inspiration of good works and a leader in God pleasing endeavors, so that all may be won over for their own happiness and for the glory of Your Name. Amen.

Daily Prayer

O God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of those far off in the sea, the Good Shepherd, Who gave Your soul as ransom for Your rational sheep, Who do not desire the death of a sinner, but that he may turn back and live, the Forbearing, the All merciful, the All compassionate, Who gave us repentance for the remission of sins, Who are full of mercy and love for mankind, forgive all our sins that we have committed since our childhood, in words, in ignorance, in mind, voluntarily and involuntarily; forgive also all sinners and blasphemers and give to us, to those, and to all men, true repentance, pure and sincere one, to enlighten, guide instruct, uphold, strengthen and confirm us on the unshakable rock of the Faith, the rock of Your divine commandments, so that having put off the old man of sin and put on the new man in Christ, we may live the remaining time of our life in chastity, holiness, justice, piety and in God pleasing manner and be made worthy of Your Heavenly Kingdom; may that we all attain this through the prayers of YOur most pure Mother and of all Your saints. Amen.

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God and the Devil

By Fr. John Romanides

God also loves the devil. There is no chance the devil will be saved however. God loves everyone. The issue is not about if God loves me, then I will be saved. The issue is if one undergoes therapy, which is necessary in order to be found in a state of illumination, so that, when found before the vision of the glory of God, we will see the glory of God as light and not as eternal fire and outer darkness.

The devil had no law in his sight. He is not one who makes war, as we today make war, when we say things like "you know the Treaty of Lausanne says...." The devil does not recognize any regulation of good conduct in his battle against people. For this reason it is very difficult for anyone to become an Orthodox theologian. The first concern of the devil is for us not to hear the name of Christ, nothing about the name of Christ. If by a mistake of the devil, we hear of Christ and begin to take interest, well, then he changes tactics. As long as he loses that battle, he has other strongholds. He makes war elsewhere.

There are people who think that when they have noble intentions, such as when they see a poor person and have compassion, these are human sympathies that exist. And when we have good feelings, we say that they are inspired by God. Yes, but good feelings can be inspired from the devil also. Inspirations are many. In the patristic tradition, the only nondelusional feeling that can exist in humans, is when the very Holy Spirit prays within man.

Source: From the new book of Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos titled Emperical Dogmatics.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Hegumen Filaret Bulekov: France Respects Orthodoxy

January 28, 2011
Voice of Russia

Russian Orthodoxy has been arousing great interest and respect in France in the past few decades. The head of the Orthodox community in Strasbourg Hegumen Filaret Bulekov, in a Voice of Russia interview, said that plans were being made to build new Orthodox churches in Strasbourg and Paris.

The first Orthodox parishes in France appeared in the 19th century and have gradually evolved into what is now the world’s largest Russian-speaking Orthodox community outside Russia, Hegumen Filaret said.

Historically, France has a very large Russian diaspora, which is owed to special relations between our countries. Hundreds of thousands of Russians fled their homeland to France in the post-revolutionary years of the past century. They took care to organize their church life and opened numerous parishes. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, it’s a different situation. Relationships between our countries have grown simpler. Lots of people come here to take temporary or permanent jobs, or to spend a weekend or vacations. There are lots of Russians in France now. And the existing number of churches is certainly insufficient to cater for their spiritual needs.

Last year, Russia won a land purchase tender for the construction of a cathedral not far from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. And just a couple of weeks ago, Strasbourg authorities allotted a plot of land to the local All Saints Orthodox parish to build what will be the city’s first Orthodox church.

The Strasbourg Orthodox parish is relatively young. It was founded in 2005, Hegumen Filaret says. Immediately, we sought a premise we could use as a church or permission to build our own church. Things started to move along in 2007 when His Holiness, the late Patriarch Alexi II, visited Strasbourg. Meeting with the city mayor, he emphasized the urgency of organizing spiritual life for our compatriots in Strasbourg.

The design project for the future church in Strasbourg has been completed and approved by Patriarch Kirill. This will be a pyramid-domed church, an organic blend of Russian and European architecture.

The church was designed by Yuri Kirs, a talented architect from St. Petersburg, well experienced in designing and building Russian churches in a way that would make them fit harmoniously into the surrounding environment, Hegumen Filaret says. The idea of his Strasbourg church is that its Orthodox features should be easy to recognize, while at the same time it should not look like something entirely alien to the local architecture.

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The Relationship of St. Ephraim the Syrian and St. Basil the Great

When Saint Ephraim visited Caesarea, he desired to meet the great Basil, the fountain of Orthodox dogmas and the champion of piety. Saint Ephraim, who was a clairvoyant, greatly commended the Archbishop of Ceasarea, whom he beheld with the eyes of his soul. In his vision he beheld the great Basil with a dove, flashing forth light as brilliant as the sun on the hierarch's right and speaking in his ear. Ephraim then observed Saint Basil teaching the people whatever he heard being uttered by the divine dove. This same dove also illumine the mind of the venerable Ephraim that what was taking place was through the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, and he rejoiced in spirit.

Saint Ephraim's vision was also confirmed by the good report of the wonders of Saint Basil. Thereupon, Ephraim supplicated God to reveal to him of what sort was the saint. Then Ephraim was vouchsafed to behold a pillar of fire, which rose up into the heaven; and he heard a voice saying: "Ephraim, Ephraim, even as this pillar of fire, so is the great Basil!"Then, without the least anxiety, Ephraim took along with him an interpreter who knew both the Greek and Syriac tongues, and went to Ceasarea. It was then the Feast of Theophany. He entered the church and observed Saint Basil clothed in splendid and costly vestments, celebrating the sacred Liturgy with great boldness. Ephraim then reproached himself and said to his interpreter: "In vain have we labored, brother, because this man, though he is found in such glory, is not as I saw."

The holy hierarch, having been informed in the Spirit of these words which were uttered by Saint Ephraim, called one of his deacons to him, and instructed him: "Go to the western door of the church, and you will see two monks standing there: the one is beardless, tall, and thin; and the other has a black beard. Address the beardless monk, saying, 'You are to come to the holy bema, for thy father, the archbishop calls you.'" Thereupon, the deacon went; and with force he managed to make his way through the multitude. He announced the words of Saint Basil to the righteous Ephraim who, through the interpreter, answered: "You are in error, brother, because we are strangers and unknown. How then does the archbishop know us?" Unable to answer, the deacon returned to the archbishop. He related the words of Saint Ephraim to the sacred hierarch, who again sent him forth, instructing him: "Go and say, 'Lord Ephraim, come into the holy bema, because the archbishop calls you." Therefore, the deacon went a second time. Greeting Ephraim with a prostration, he reported the message of the hierarch to the venerable monk. In turn, the righteous Ephraim made a prostration to the deacon, declaring: "Truly, the great Basil is a pillar of fire, for I beseech him that I may speak alone with him in the sacristy." When Saint Basil finished celebrating the Divine Liturgy, he summoned Saint Ephraim. After he greeted him with a holy kiss, he conversed with the desert father on spiritual matters and divine purposes and design. He then encouraged Ephraim that if there were any hidden matter in the heart to tell him of it.


The righteous Ephraim spoke through the interpreter, saying: "I ask one favor of your prelacy, slave of God." Basil interjected: "Whatever you desire, ask; for I am greatly obliged to you on account of your labor which you endeavored for the sake of my lowliness." Saint Ephraim continued: "I know, holy master, that if you should make supplication for something to God, He would bestow it. Well, I desire that you would supplicate God that I might speak Greek, for I dot at all know this language of yours." Saint Basil responded: "Your request, holy father, is beyond my power. But inasmuch as you have asked this with faith, let us both entreat God, even as the One is able to make your request a reality; for even the Prophet David uttered, 'The will of them who fear Him shall He do, and their supplication shall He hear, and He shall save them'" (Ps. 144:20). After Saint Basil said this, he stood together with Saint Ephraim for a long while in entreaty. And when they finished their prayer, the saint cried with a loud voice: "The grace of the Holy Spirit be with you, and speak Greek!" Straightway, as Saint Basil uttered this command - O the wonder! - Saint Ephraim opened his mouth and was speaking Greek, even as Saint Basil and the Christians of that place.

Afterward, they say that the holy hierarch ordained the venerable Ephraim to the diaconate and his translator to the priesthood. Now Saint Ephraim remained with Saint Basil for three days and greatly profited by his teaching. Afterward, he departed again for the wilderness, glorifying and blessing God....

Now Saint Basil had been a great admirer of the holy Ephraim and was amazed at his erudition, though Ephraim had received no formal instruction. About this time Saint Basil desired for the holy hymnographer to return to Ceasarea with the intention of elevating him in clerical rank, but Ephraim was resolved not to accept such a dignity, and decided to feign madness. He went about the streets indecorously, dragging multicolored clothes, chewing on bread while drooling. Saint Basil's messengers were appalled at such conduct, and reported to him that they found his candidate to be a madman. Saint Basil exclaimed: "O hidden pearl of great price, whom the world knows not! You are the madmen, and he the sane one!"

From The Great Synaxarion of the Orthodox Church (January), translated by Holy Apostle Convent, pp. 1101-1107.

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The Feast Day of St. Isaac the Syrian on September 28th

St. Isaac the Syrian (Feast Day - January 28 and September 28)

In the Greek Orthodox calendar there is no official feast day of St. Isaac the Syrian. Traditionally, however, he has been celebrated on January 28th together with the other great Syriac father of the Church, St. Ephraim the Syrian. The Slavic Churches celebrate St. Isaac officially on January 28th.

Not too many years ago Elder Paisios (+1993) sought to change this fact due to his great veneration for St. Isaac. He commissioned a Service to be written in his honor and chose to celebrate his feast on September 28th. The Service was written by the eminent hymnographer Fr. Gerasimos Mikragiannanites (+ 2002). Today the feast of St. Isaac is celebrated on Mount Athos on September 28th.

Furthermore, the first church dedicated to St. Isaac was built on Mount Athos, in the cell of a monk of the brotherhood of Elder Paisios in Kapsala.

Elder Paisios, who would read the Ascetical Homilies of St. Isaac beneath the icon of the Saint, would say of St. Isaac: "If anyone went to a psychiatric hospital and read to the patients Abba Isaac, all those who believed in God would get well, because they would recognize the deeper meaning of life."

He also said:

"First you must read the Gerontikon, Philotheos History, and Evergetinos. All these books are practical not theoretical. Their simple patristic spirit and holiness will help you remove secular logic from your mind. Next, you should read Abba Isaac, and this way you will not see him as a philosopher, but as a man illumined by God."

It should also be noted that before the establishment of September 28th as the feast of St. Isaac by Elder Paisios, when he heard rumors that scholars accused St. Isaac of being a Nestorian, he prayed about this situation. Through divine revelation it was revealed to him that in fact St. Isaac was Orthodox and he wrote in his Menaion for January 28th the following words after the description of the feast of St. Ephraim the Syrian: "...and Isaac the Great Hesychast and much unjustly accused."

Below is the text of the Service in honor of St. Isaac commissioned by Elder Paisios. It is distributed by the Kalyva of the Resurrection of Christ in Kapsala on Mount Athos, where lived Fr. Isaac of Lebanon, a spiritual child of Elder Paisios. His ascetical tradition is maintained by Fr. Euthymios and his brotherhood.

isaak syrian

Read also: Ὁ Ἀββᾶς Ἰσαάκ ὁ Σύρος, στό στόχαστρο τοῦ Οἰκουμενισμοῦ (pdf)

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Saint Isaak of Syria and the Responsibility of Each for All

Scott Cairns
August 21, 2010
The Huffington Post

While it may not seem a purely spiritual practice, I've made a habit of re-reading Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov every summer for the past 15 years.

Early on, I wasn't sure why this novel held so much power for me; I only knew that it did. It wasn't until I got some four years into my habit that I finally noticed how powerfully Saint Isaak of Syria (seventh century) figures in Dostoevsky's work. The author kept a copy of Saint Isaak's Ascetical Homilies readily at hand, poring over its pages throughout his life. As it happens, many years ago, as I was making my own slow way toward the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Isaak's Homilies helped tug my heart home.

One passage from the recently discovered "second part" of Saint Isaak's text proved especially helpful:

"[Both] the Kingdom and Gehenna are matters belonging to mercy. ... That we should say or think that the matter [of Gehenna] is not full of love and mingled with compassion would be an opinion full of blasphemy and insult to our Lord God. ... Among all His actions there is none which is not entirely a matter of mercy, love, and compassion: this constitutes the beginning and the end of His dealings with us."

All of the God's actions, the saint insists, have to do with our recovery, our healing, our becoming whole. None is unrelated to the overarching mercy, love, and compassion He bears for us.

The psalmist says, "The Lord has chastened me sorely, but he has not given me over to death."

The Psalmist says, "He will not maintain His anger, nor will He forever keep His wrath."

Such figures as "His anger" and "His wrath" finally come to be seen as provisional metaphors, garments He will one day discard.

"He did not deal with us according to our sins,
Nor reward us according to our transgressions;
For according to the height of heaven from earth,
So the Lord reigns in mercy over those who fear Him;
As far as the East is from the West,
So He removes our transgressions from us."

For Isaak, then -- and now also for me -- all suffering is understood to be remedial; it is understood as a means to our recovery -- and no end in itself.

In The Brothers Karamazov, Saint Isaak is mentioned by name several times, and his Ascetical Homilies acknowledged twice. While both old Grigory and odd Smerdyakov are shown to have held these homilies in hand, it is the Elder Zosimas who carries Saint Isaak's words written upon his heart; Elder Zosimas is the one who receives the saint's words, incorporates them into his own speech, and -- more to our point of the moment -- he is the one who has found a way to embody them, to perform them.

During his one and only meeting with Dmitri Karamazov, the elder surprises all present with evidence of this:

"[Zosimas] stepped towards Dmitri Fyodorovich and, having come close to him, knelt before him. Alyosha thought for a moment that he had fallen from weakness, but it was something else. Kneeling in front of Dmitri Fyodorovich, the elder bowed down at his feet with a full, distinct, conscious bow, and even touched the floor with his forehead. Alyosha was so amazed that he failed to support him as he got to his feet. A weak smile barely glimmered on his lips.

'Forgive me! Forgive me, all of you!' he said, bowing on all sides to his guests."

Thereafter, preparing to die, the elder counsels his brothers. "Love animals, love plants, love each thing," he says. "If you love each thing, you will perceive the mystery of God in things. Once you have perceived it, you will begin tirelessly to perceive more and more of it every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an entire, universal love."

Elsewhere -- paraphrasing Saint Isaak -- he avers:

"Every day and whenever you can, repeat within yourself: "Lord, have mercy upon all who come before you today." For every hour and every moment thousands of people leave their life on this earth, and their souls come before the Lord -- and so many of them part this earth in isolation, unknown to anyone, in sadness and sorrow that no one will mourn for them, or even know whether they had lived or not. And so, perhaps from the other end of the earth, your prayer for his repose will rise up to the Lord, though you did not know him at all, nor he you. How moving it is for his soul, coming in fear before the Lord, to feel at that moment that someone is praying for him, too, that there is still a human being on earth who loves him."

Radical as it appears to us in the habitual isolations of the twenty-first century, this is not as uncommon a disposition as we might suppose. Even today, the monks of Mount Athos -- and holy men and women throughout the world -- are intentional in living this mystery of our unity and of our mutual responsibility, keen on living into it. With wholehearted struggle, they bear one another's afflictions; they carry one another in prayer; they ask forgiveness for their personal sins, for those of their brothers, and -- puzzling as this may seem to us -- they ask God to forgive them and us for our sins as well.

One of the continuing misconceptions about monastics past and present is that these people have rejected the world altogether, and that by withdrawing from it they are primarily concerned with their own spiritual well-being. That may be how their choice appears to us outside their enclaves. From the inside, however, one can witness something else. Imitating Christ, they are -- in daily and deliberate acts -- performing the greatest love of all, that of giving their lives for their friends.

Granted, these men and women are apprehending their own salvation, but -- as their ascetic lives develop -- their labors and their most earnest prayers are for the salvation of the entire world, for all of creation, for each and every one of us; that is to say, their salvation and our salvation are in their hearts bound together.

Virtually every monk of Mount Athos struggles to acquire this understanding, as do increasing numbers of Christians worldwide who have worked to recover what has been for the most part a lost -- one might even say a squandered -- tradition. These men and women act upon the knowledge that, as members of the Body of Christ, each of us is utterly responsible for every other member, and, as human persons, each is responsible for all.

For all of their apparent separation from "the world" and its madding crowd, these monastics are more attentive to its troubles than many of us who remain distractedly within it. While many of us live in heart-numbing isolation even in the midst of a teeming city, certain of these ascetics, in distant enclaves or in solitary caves, live in deliberate communion with each other, and with all of humankind. Unlike the great majority of us, they are actively laboring toward our common recovery from our long illness.

About the fruits of this compassion, Saint Isaak of Syria has written a great deal, including this:

"And what is a merciful heart? It is the heart's burning for the sake of the entire creation, for men, for birds, for animals, for demons, and for every created thing; and by the recollection and sight of them the eyes of a merciful man pour forth abundant tears. From the strong and vehement mercy that grips his heart and from his great compassion, his heart is humbled and he cannot bear to hear of or to see any injury or the slight suffering of anything in creation. For this reason he offers up tearful prayer continually even for irrational beasts, for the enemies of truth, for those who harm him, that they be protected and receive mercy. And in like manner he even prays for the lowest as a result of the great compassion which -- after the likeness of God -- is poured out beyond measure within his heart."

The consensus of scriptural witness and of the broader tradition agrees that by the fact of our humanity, we are all of us already dwelling in "the image of God"; the trick lies in our proceeding into His likeness, wedding our hearts to His all-compassionate heart.

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On Church Attendance and Understanding What Is Being Said

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

Why Go To Church If You Don't Understand What's Going On?

The devil, wanting to prevent some Christians from not going to church, puts even this supposedly blessed thought into their heads: "Why would you want to go to church? Even if you go to church with your body, you are not in there with your mind, but outside."

You, however, should not listen to this evil thought, but willingly go to the church of God and strive as much as possible to gather your mind and do not let it run to things of life outside it, so that the following hymn does not apply to you:

"Often, when I stand to sing the hymns, I am found to be committing sins. With my tongue I am singing praises, but with my soul I am considering inappropriate things. But correct both through repentance, O Christ God, and save me" (Aposticha of Sunday Vespers).

If, however, you are in the church with your body, and your mind is scattered outward, do not be upset, but still return to the church and to yourself. And if it runs outside again, then again have it return and gather it in your heart, and do not let it leave from the church.

Beware also, my brethren, of the thought which says: "You're uneducated and ignorant and do not understand the things being said in the church; why then should you go?" An Abba from the "Gerontikon" answers saying that if you do not understand what is being said in the church, the devil understands, and this frightens and scares him, and will leave you.

I leave you with this, that even if you do not understand everything said in the church, yet much of what is said you do understand and of this receive benefit. I will also add that if you frequently go to church and hear the divine words, this frequency will in time make you understand that which you did not understand before, as Chrysostom says, because God, Who is watching your willingness, will open your mind and illuminate it to understanding.

How Can We Guard That Which Benefits Us By Attending Church?

In what way can you guard immaculately outside the church that pure thing which you received within the church? I will tell you: if you always remember that which you heard and learned in the church.

Indeed in this way you can guard all the pure and pious things you received from the church if you attend often and refresh yourselves with new teachings leading you towards the good, illuminating your mind with the light of divine knowledge, warming your will and your heart with the love of the Lord's commandments. For as clothing is not dirtied the more often it is washed and as plants are not dried up as long as they are watered, so also the Christian, the more often he goes to the church of Christ and is washed and watered with the spring of divine instruction, he will keep clean and not be contaminated, nor will the fruit of his virtues and piety dry up, but will increase day by day bearing immortal fruits worthy of the warehouse of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Therefore, do not imitate, my brethren, that crow which Noah sent from the Ark to see if the flood waters stopped and it did not return because it sat on the corpses and ate. No, but imitate the dove which he sent and returned again to the Ark because it did not find rest anywhere, since there was much water left upon the earth.

Today also the entire world is filled with the flood waters of sin and passions and the suffering Christian soul cannot find rest outside the holy church, which is a place of refuge and salvation.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Metr. Ephraim of Hydra: "The Life Of A Bishop Is A Continuous Golgotha"

Metropolitan Ephraim of Hydra, on the feast of his patron saint Ephraim the Syrian, 28 January 2011, said the following in his homily during the Divine Liturgy:

"The life of a bishop is a continuous Golgotha. In the ten years of my hierarchy, the only joy I've tasted is only when I am in the Holy Altar and liturgizing."

He also said:

"The image of a bishop is not the 'gold' vestments which you see, because when the bishop is alone in his cell with his black rason praying in solitude, with the strength of God he encounters everyone's crosses and bitterness. Meanwhile, however, he is illuminated by God and inspired for his work."

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Saint John Chrysostom and the Translation of His Relics

Translation of the Relics of St. John Chrysostom to Constantinople (Feast Day - January 27)

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The memory of this illuminary of the Church is celebrated on November 13 and January 30 but, on this date, the Church celebrates the translation of his honorable relics from the Armenian village of Comana, where he died in exile, to Constantinople, where earlier he had governed the Church.

Thirty years after his death, Patriarch Proclus delivered a homily in memory of his spiritual father and teacher. He so enflamed the love of the people and Emperor Theodosius the Younger toward this great saint that all of them desired that Chrysostom's relics be translated to Constantinople.

It was said that the sarcophagus, containing the relics of St. John Chrysostom, did not allow itself to be moved from its resting place until the emperor wrote a letter to Chrysostom begging him for forgiveness (for Theodosius' mother, Eudoxia, was the culprit responsible for the banishment of this saint) and appealing to him to come to Constantinople, his former residence. When this letter of repentance was placed on the sarcophagus, its weight became extremely light. At the time of the translation of his relics, many who were ill and who touched the sarcophagus were healed.

When the relics arrived in the capital, then the emperor in the name of his mother as though she herself was speaking over the relics, again, prayed to the saint for forgiveness. "While I lived in this transient life, I did you malice and, now, when you live the immortal life, be beneficial to my soul. My glory passed away and it helped nothing. Help me, father; in your glory, help me before I am condemned at the Judgment of Christ!"

When the saint was brought into the Church of the Twelve Apostles and placed on the patriarchal throne, the masses of people heard the words from St. Chrysostom's mouth saying: "Peace be to you all."

The translation of the relics of St. John Chrysostom was accomplished in the year 438 A.D.


Read also:

Translation of the Relics of St. John Chrysostom

Video: The Return of the Relics of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Theologian to Constantinople

Contemporary Miracles of St. John Chrysostom

The Sarcophagus of St. John Chrysostom in Komani, Georgia

HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Saint John, a trumpet forged of gold,
Heralded to mankind, the mercy of God,
Miraculous mercy, which even loves the sinners,
Wonderful mercy, that shines through the sun,
And with the moon, amazes the earth,
In the cradle of the stars, mercy, he is rocking,
The awesome mercy from bloody Golgatha,
Where God Crucified forgives the crime of the world,
Mercy of fear, forgiveness and glory,
Mercy which the angels sing,
Of which the whole of creation drinks,
Which only the saints glorify,
Mercy which is a balm to the ill,
Joy to the simple, foolishness to the scribes,
Antidote for the proud and a punishment for the vain;
The mercy of God, which all creation enjoys,
Which is poured out like a current of air,
Mercy that covers all sins -
Such mercy - unknown until Christ,
Eternal glow, from Christ radiated.
O Teacher of God's mercy,
Pray to God that He forgives our sins.

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
The grace of your words illuminated the universe like a shining beacon. It amassed treasures of munificence in the world. It demonstrated the greatness of humility, teaching us by your own words; therefore, O Father John Chrysostom, intercede to Christ the Logos for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion in the First Tone
The holy and august Church is mystically gladdened today on the translation of thy holy relics. And though she had kept them hid in concealment like precious gold, by thine intercessions she unceasingly granteth, unto them that praise thee, the divine grace of healing, O Father John Chrysostom.

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Archbishop Damaskinos of Greece and the Jews

By Margie Burns

Archbishop Damaskinos Papandreou was born Dimitrios Papandreou in Dorvitsa, Greece in 1890. He enlisted in the Greek army during the Balkan Wars. Ordained a priest of the Greek Orthodox Church in 1917, he was appointed archbishop of Athens in 1941.

During the Holocaust, Archbishop Damaskinos and Athens police chief Angelos Evert saved thousands of Greek Jews.

Although an estimated 87% of the nation’s Jewish population — 60,000 to 70,000 Greek Jews — perished during the Holocaust, 10,000 survived, largely due to the Greek people’s refusal to cooperate with German plans for deportations.

With the arrival of the Axis occupation, deportations from cities like the northern port of Thessaloniki proceeded at a rapid pace. Many Jews fleeing persecution in the north found a safe haven in Athens.

On September 20, 1943, Dieter Wisliceny — a deputy of Adolph Eichmann, the administrator of the Nazi Final Solution — arrived in Athens. Wisliceny ordered Chief Rabbi Elias Barzilai to appear before him, to provide accurate figures about the Jewish population in Athens and to create a Judernat. Made up of Jews who were coerced into joining, a Judernat made compliant Jews ”responsible” for keeping law and order in a Jewish community, and used them as a liaison between the German authorities and the Jewish population.

Wisliceny ordered Barzilai to provide the names and address of all members of Athens’ Jewish community, the names of all foreign Jews living in the area, the names of Italian Jews in Athens, and the names of those who had assisted Jews who had escaped to Palestine. He also commanded Barzilai to compile a list of individuals willing to serve on a new council — of which Barzilai was to be president — that would create a Jewish police force to carry out Nazi demands; and unveiled plans to create identity cards for all of Athens’ Jewish population.

Shaken by his encounter with the Nazi commander, the Rabbi contacted Archbishop Damaskinos and told him about the meeting.

Since Damaskinos knew what had taken place in the north, he suggested that the entire Jewish community should take flight, because it couldn’t be protected.

Rabbi Barzilai asked the Germans for more time to compose the requested lists, and then, after meeting with other leaders of the Jewish community, he destroyed the community records and advised the Jewish people to flee. A few days later, the Rabbi himself left the capital and joined the resistance.

The Church of Greece, under Damaskinos’ leadership, condemned Hitler’s plans for the country and instructed priests to announce its position in their sermons.

Jew had participated freely with other Greeks in all walks of life for 2,300 years, co-existing in harmony with their Orthodox countrymen, contributing good work in numerous fields. Jews had lived in Athens since the time of Alexander the Great, in the mid-fourth century, many having sought sanctuary in Greece after having been expelled from Spain in 1492. During the Holocaust, the Greek Jewish population was almost completely destroyed.

As they prepared to implement the deportation and mass murder of their Final Solution, the Nazis compiled intelligence reports about the Jewish population of Athens. They chose important Jewish holidays for their monstrous acts, beginning with an order on the eve of Yom Kippur, signed by the German military commander in Athens, S.S. General Jurgen Stroop, which organized the city’s Jewish community under Nazi supervision.

The Jewish population in Athens had increased since the outbreak of the war. Damaskinos’ and the Rabbi’s work had transformed the city in a safe refuge. Since many of the newly arrived Jews had no fixed place of residence, German intelligence about the Jewish population was often wrong.

Under the order issued by Stroop, Jews were commanded to appear at community offices within five days to declare their residences and register their names. Despite the threat of dire consequences for failing to appear, only 200 showed up.

In a similar instance, the German authorities announced that they were planning to bring a special flour to Athens for Passover, so the Jewish population could prepare matzoh — provided they were willing to reveal themselves and register with the authorities. Although the false act of kindness tempted some, many more Jews registered because they were afraid the Nazis would enact reprisals on their Christian neighbors, who had been shielding them from the persecution.

When the Germans started rounding up Jews, over 600 Greek Orthodox priests were arrested and deported because of their actions in helping Jews, and many Jews were saved by the Greek police, the clergy and the resistance. Damaskinos and Evert faced the threat of death for their efforts, and would surely been killed if the extent of their assistance had become known to the Germans.

There were several means of escape. Many left by boat from Oropos in Attica, where they were frequently force to pay enormous fees for a three week journey to Turkey. Some young men without families escaped to partisan camps in the mountains. False baptismal certificate and new identity papers from the Greek Orthodox Church could also help a desperate fleeing Jew.

Archbishop Damaskinos oversaw the creation of several thousand such certificates, and Athens police chief Evert provided more than 27,000 false identify papers to desperate Jews seeking protection from the Nazis.

The Archbishop also ordered monasteries and convents in Athens to shelter Jews, and urged his priests to ask their congregations to hide the Jews in their homes. As a result, more than 250 Jewish children were hidden by Orthodox clergy alone.

When all official appeals to stop the deportations failed, Archbishop Damaskinos spearheaded a direct appeal to the Germans, in the form of a letter composed by the famous Greek poet Angelos Sikelianos and signed by prominent Greek citizens, in a bold attempt to appeal to the hearts and minds of the occupying authorities, in defense of the Jews who were being persecuted.

The letter incited the rage of the Nazi general Stroop, who threatened the Archbishop with death by a firing squad. Damaskinos’ response was, ”Greek religious leaders are not shot, they are hanged. I request that you respect this custom.” The simple courage of the religious leader’s reply caught the Nazi commander off guard, and his life was spared.


The appeal of the Archbishop and his fellow Greeks is unique; there is no similar document of protest of the Nazis during World War II that has come to light in any other European country. It reads, in part:

”The Greek Orthodox Church and the Academic World of Greek People Protest against the Persecution… The Greek people were… deeply grieved to learn that the German Occupation Authorities have already started to put into effect a program of gradual deportation of the Greek Jewish community… and that the first groups of deportees are already on their way to Poland…”

”According to the terms of the armistice, all Greek citizens, without distinction of race or religion, were to be treated equally by the Occupation Authorities. The Greek Jews have proven themselves… valuable contributors to the economic growth of the country [and] law-abiding citizens who fully understand their duties as Greeks. They have made sacrifices for the Greek country, and were always on the front lines of the struggle of the Greek nation to defend its inalienable historical rights…”

”In our national consciousness, all the children of Mother Greece are an inseparable unity: they are equal members of the national body irrespective of religion… Our holy religion does not recognize superior or inferior qualities based on race or religion, as it is stated: ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek’ and thus condemns any attempt to discriminate or create racial or religious differences. Our common fate both in days of glory and in periods of national misfortune forged inseparable bonds between all Greek citizens, without exemption, irrespective of race…”

”Today we are… deeply concerned with the fate of 60,000 of our fellow citizens who are Jews… we have lived together in both slavery and freedom, and we have come to appreciate their feelings, their brotherly attitude, their economic activity, and most important, their indefectible patriotism…”

During World War II, Greece lost 580,000 of its pre-war population of 6.5 million, and an additional 100,000 Greeks were wounded in the fighting. Ordinary Greeks put themselves in mortal danger, protesting against the occupation authorities. In the case of Athens’ Jewish population, assimilation and a strong resistance movement helped at least some Jewish Greeks to survive the Nazi onslaught.

Five thousand Jews remain in Athens, helping to rebuild Jewish life in post-war Greece. The Greek government sees Jewish heritage as part of the country’s national heritage, and has refurbished the Jewish Museum of Greece in Athens. An honored site among the nation’s many historic treasures, the oldest synagogue site in Greece is a ruin from the Fifth Century B.C.E., located in Athens’ ancient marketplace, the agora at the foot of the Acropolis.

After the war, Archbishop Damaskinos served as regent of Greece until King Georgios II returned from exile. When fighting broke out between pro-royalist Greek soldiers and communist partisans in 1945, the Archbishop was appointed Prime Minister. He called for peace and order in the country. He relinquished his leadership position when the king was formally recalled in 1946.

Archbishop Damaskinos died in Athens on May 20, 1949.

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Read also:

The Appeal of Archbishop Damaskinos To the German Nazi's

Letter by Archbishop Damaskinos to Prime Minister K. Logothetopoulos

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Elder Paisios On the Greek Language

- You should see what some people are making out of our language! I was reading a Modern Greek translation of the New Testament the other day. They were rendering "Out of Egypt I call My Son" as "From Egypt I have called My Boy". But that doesn't sound right! This way you cannot tell the sacred from the profane! Supposedly they write this way so that there is uniformity in the written and spoken language. Can you think of anyone, even someone from the most remote village, who would not understand "my Son"?

Once when I was at the Holy Mountain I heard a reading that used vernacular Greek: "The bread (psomi) and wine (krasi) which make up the Holy Communion...." It just doesn't sound right! Is there anyone who doesn't know what the New Testament words bread and wine (artos and oinos) mean? And will they benefit from the translation?

- There are some people who are trying to create a new language. But Greek is not just a language! It is a tongue shaped by the fiery Tongues of Holy Pentecost! It bears the "flame" of Pentecost. No other language can render adequately the dogma of our faith.

This is why the Good Lord even provided for the Old Testament to be translated into Greek by the Seventy (Septuagint), and for the New Testament to be first written in Greek. Anyone seeking to study the Christian doctrines without the knowledge of ancient Greek is very likely to fall into serious error.

And we have abolished the teaching of ancient Greek in our schools! Soon, we'll have Germans teaching ancient Greek in our universities. That's what it will probably take for some people to realize the value of this language. But I suppose someone will have to embarrass them first before they figure it out. And then you will hear them marvel: "See, how the Church has been preserving ancient Greek all along!"

- Today they load students with all kinds of useless subjects and they end up confusing them. They burden them with mere information without a spiritual counterbalance to it. The first thing children should learn at school is to have fear of God. You see these little kids, so young, and they start learning English, French, German - but no ancient Greek - music, you name it. When will they have time to learn all these things?

Excerpts from With Pain And Love For Contemporary Man (vol. 1), pp. 321-338.

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Atheism and Orthodoxy in Modern Russia

By Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev

In this talk I propose to outline the history of atheism in Russia during the last hundred years. I will start by considering the kind of atheism present in Russia before the Revolution. Then I will say something about the development of atheism during the Soviet period. And finally I will conclude with some observations concerning the nature of Russian post-Soviet atheism.

I should like to begin with the following questions. How did it happen that the country known as 'Holy Russia', with such a long history of Orthodox Christianity, was in a very short period of time turned by the Bolsheviks into 'the first atheist state in the world'? How was it possible that the very same people who were taught religion in secondary schools in the 1910s with their own hands destroyed churches and burned holy icons in the 1920s? What is the explanation of the fact that the Orthodox Church, which was so powerful in the Russian Empire, was almost reduced to zero by its former members?

I should say at once that I cannot interpret what happened in Russia in 1917 as an accident, the seizure of power by a small group of villains. Rather I perceive in the Russian revolution the ultimate outcome of the processes which were going on within the pre-revolutionary society and so, to a considerable extent, within the Russian Church (as there was no separation between Church and society). I would claim that the Russian revolution was the offspring of both the Russian monarchy and the Church. The roots of the post-revolutionary atheism should be looked for in pre-revolutionary Russian society and in the Church.

It has been said that Russia was baptised but not enlightened. Indeed, as far as the 19th century is concerned, it is clear that enlightenment was very often in conflict with religion: the masses of illiterate peasants kept their traditional beliefs, but more and more educated people, even from a purely religious background, rejected faith and became atheists. Chernyshevsky and Dobroliubov are classic examples: both came from clerical families, both became atheists after studying in theological seminaries. For people like Dostoyevsky religion was something that had to be rediscovered, after having been lost as a result of his education. Tolstoy, on the other hand, came to a certain type of faith in God but remained alien to the Orthodox Church. It is clear, when one looks at the pre-revolutionary period, that there was a huge gap between the Church and the world of educated people, the so-called intelligentsia, and this gap was constantly growing.

But on the eve of the revolution it became more and more clear that atheism had also invaded the mass of ordinary people. Berdyaev wrote at that time that the simple Russian baba, who was supposed to be religious, was no longer a reality but a myth: she had become a nihilist and an atheist. I would like to quote some more from what this great Russian philosopher wrote in 1917, several months before the October revolution:

"The Russian nation always considered itself to be Christian. Many Russian thinkers and artists were even inclined to regard it as a nation which is Christian par excellence. The Slavophils thought that Russian people live by the Orthodox faith, which is the only true faith containing the entire truth... Dostoevsky preached that. The Russian nation is a bearer of God... But, it was here that revolution broke out, and it...revealed a spiritual emptiness in Russian people. This emptiness is a result of a slavery that lasted too long, of a process of degeneration of the old regime that went too far, of a paralysis of the Russian Church and moral degradation of the ecclesiastical authorities that lasted too long. Since long ago the sacred has been exterminated from the people's soul both from the left side and the right, which prepared this cynical attitude towards the sacred that is now being revealed in all its disgust."

Berdyaev blames the Tsarist regime and the Orthodox Church for what happened in 1917. Leaving aside the former, let us look at the role of the Church in the pre-revolutionary period. On the one hand, it was still the State Church, extremely powerful and influential, penetrating all levels of the life of society. There were still living saints within it, like John of Kronstadt, and spiritual life still flourished in at least some monasteries. On the other hand, the Church was governed by the civil authorities, or even by such odd figures as Rasputin, and it is true that it was paralyzed to a considerable extent.

I remember reading a book by Father Georgy Shavelsky, the Protopresbyter of the Russian Army and Navy under Nicholas II. Himself one of the senior members of the Holy Synod, he testified that the Synod was in fact very far from the life of people, that it did very little (if anything) to prevent atheist propaganda from spreading among ordinary people. To show how little remained of the people's traditional devotion to God, Shavelsky cites the following example: when attendance at the Liturgy became, by a special imperial decree, no longer obligatory for Russian soldiers, only ten percent of them continued to go to church.

Another testimony of the same kind is that of Metropolitan Veniamin (Fedchenkov), who became the Bishop of the White Army after the revolution. He writes that none of the students of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, where he had studied, ever went to see Father John of Kronstadt, and that some of the students were atheists. He describes the atmosphere of spiritual coolness inside the Orthodox Church, the lack of prophetic spirit. He claims that it was not by mere chance that there arose people like Rasputin: against the common background of indifference towards religion he appeared as a charismatic figure and was at first accepted as such by the ecclesiastical authorities, who then directed his steps to the imperial palace.

The third testimony which I would like to draw on here is of a more personal kind: it is that of Father Sergei Bulgakov. Himself the son of an Orthodox priest, after studying at a theological seminary, he became an atheist, following the steps of Chernyshevsky and Dobroliubov. In his autobiographical notes he asks himself how this happened, and answers: "It happened, somehow, almost at once and in an imperceptible manner, as something taken for granted, when the poetry of my childhood was replaced by the prose of the theological seminary... When I began to doubt, my critical thoughts were not satisfied with traditional apologetics, but rather found them scandalous... My revolt was strengthened by the compulsory devotion: these long services with akathists (and ritual devotion in general) did not give me satisfaction." Fr Bulgakov gave up his religion easily, without a fight, and neither his clerical origins nor his theological education helped him to resist the temptation of atheism and nihilism.

The picture which one gains when reading the memoirs of those living during the pre-revolutionary period is that of a deep decline in religious belief. Though Orthodox Christianity was still maintained as the official religion of the Russian monarchy, both society and the Church were fatally contaminated by unbelief, nihilism and atheism. Even the seminarists, future priests, balanced on the edge between religion and atheism. Many ordinary Christians, if not the majority, had no faith at all, and it was they who turned against the Church as soon as membership in it stopped being encouraged. The Church at once lost the great majority of its members and remained a small flock of those prepared to die for Christ.

We know what happened with those faithful to the Church: they were either executed or severely persecuted, and only very few of them survived.

There was a certain improvement in the situation of the Church during and after the Second World War, but the Church never regained the position within the Russian society which it occupied before the Revolution.

What sort of atheism was imposed on the Russian people by the Soviet regime? It was not in tact unbelief: it was, rather, a very strong belief in the non-existence of God, in a happy future in this life, in the infallibility of the Communist party and its materialist ideology. The god-like figure of Lenin (for many years together with Stalin, then alone) was dominant everywhere, in all places, in every room of every official building, whether kindergarten or university, shop or hospital. Lenin as god, the only Party as the only church, its leaders (the Politbureau) as an assembly of saints, the works of Lenin as the Bible, etc. The Soviet people were not given atheism, but a pseudo-religion, a religion of the Antichrist. Thus Berdyayev was quite right speaking of the religious character of Russian socialism and atheism. To what extent was this atheist ideology accepted by people, or rather, how many people accepted the ideology and what percentage were able to resist? In the 20s and 30s Russian atheism lived through its most militant stage: it was very active, aggressive and involved the 'masses' of the people. By the late 60s, however, it had certainly lost much of its earlier enthusiasm: it was just taken for granted by the majority, but no longer followed with fanaticism and zeal. So, in terms of the quality of Russian atheism, it is the 30s that should be regarded as its climax. But in terms of the quantity of atheists, I think many more would have been found in the 60s and 70s. During the 30s there were still the babushki, who secretly kept the faith which they inherited from Tsarist times. But by the end of the 70s the pre-revolutionary babushki had mostly died out (I mean those educated before the Revolution) and were replaced by those who had grown up under the atheist regime.

I can illustrate what I have said about the quality of Russian atheism by examples from my own family. All my grandparents were born before the Revolution, but were educated after it: none of them was a believer. Even in the 80s, when almost all the younger members of my family, one after another, came to the Church and were baptised, my grandparents remained outside this process. One of my grandmothers told me at that time: 'I feel like Robinson Crusoe on his uninhabited island: everybody around me goes to church, and I don't..' She was a member of the Communist Party for more than fifty years and, I presume, in the 20s she might well have been a militant atheist. But in the early 80s, when I remember her, she felt nothing against religion, though nothing for it either. Her atheism had become absolutely passive: it was taken for granted and not thought about.

My parents grew up in the atheist society of the 40s and 50s and never were militant atheists. Already in their youth they rejected Soviet ideology and searched for truth outside of it. But there was still tremendous pressure on them from the society in which they had to survive, and they were always afraid that their unbelief in ideology would be uncovered and they would be punished. My mother came to Christianity in the mid-70s, but could not practice her religion openly. To become openly religious then still meant to be expelled from atheist society and perhaps to lose one's job. It was in some secret house, not in church, that I was baptised.

I myself grew up in the late 70s and 80s, which was certainly a period of decline for Russian atheism. Yet it was still dangerous to practice religion openly: for example, I would have been expelled from my school, an elite music school, if they had known that I went to church. During the eleven years of my studies in the school I did not see any pupils who were openly religious. It was taken for granted that everyone was an atheist. At the same time many of my classmates did not share the official ideology and had very liberal views: they were far from the Church, but many of them did not believe in Communist ideas either. It was still difficult openly to believe in God, but it was at least quite possible openly not to believe in the ideology. The atmosphere in my school was quite tolerant, even though on the official level the Communist ideology was maintained.

Thus, though I grew up under the atheist regime, I never felt enough pressure not to be able to resist: I rather remember a total absence of fear and a wonderful feeling of freedom. I am therefore not surprised that it was mostly people of my generation who went on the streets of Moscow in August 1991 to say goodbye to the Communist regime. They were not afraid because they grew up during the period of decline and decomposition of Communist ideology.

One of the main reasons for the bankruptcy of Soviet atheist ideology was simply that people did not believe in it any longer. When atheism lost its religious character, it became empty and it lost its power long before it was officially abandoned. Now what, in brief, is the situation with atheism and religion in Russia now, after the collapse of the Soviet system?

It seems to me that, though the numbers of believers has immensely increased during the last years, Russia is still far from being a Christian country. To be baptised, to be Orthodox has become a fashion. I would not be surprised if the majority of people, when asked whether they are Orthodox, would now give a positive answer. This does not mean, though, that they all go to church. It only means that most of them have assumed a new outward identity to keep up with the ongoing 'religious revival'. I remember asking one teenager who came, together with her mother, to be baptised: 'Do you believe in God?' 'No,' was her answer. 'Why then do you want to be baptised?' I asked. 'Well, everybody gets baptised nowadays,' she said. This case, one of many, illustrates that many people take religion in a very superficial manner, sometimes without even believing in God. Remaining inwardly atheists, they become outwardly Orthodox.

The latest public opinion polls in Russia show that while there is a relatively small number of convinced atheists, practicing Christians are far from being a majority. Most people will say 'we believe in something'. We recognise that there exists something supernatural', but then admit that religious belief does not play an important role in their life. There is another paradox: not all people who claim to be Orthodox do believe in God. Some even take part in Orthodox organisations and movements without practising their religion.

To speak of a religious revival in contemporary Russia has become a commonplace. But people vary in their understanding of what this revival entails. Certainly there is an external revival: many churches, monasteries and theological schools are being reopened, the buildings are being restored. But it is too early to speak of the restoration of the Russian soul. There is no improvement in morality in contemporary Russia. On the contrary, one must admit that moral standards have become much lower than they used to be under the Soviets. Is this not an indication that there is no inward revival of Christian life, that people do not assume Christianity as a norm of living? Is it not striking evidence of the fact that the long-waited repentance, metanoia, as a change in mentality for the better, has not yet taken place in Russia?

Some ascribe this sudden, lowering of moral standards to Western influence: it is from the degenerate West that pornography, prostitution and all sorts of immorality come. This is our way out: to blame everybody except ourselves. But the reality is that, as Berdyaev put it in 1918, 'however bitter it is... the Russian people is now less religious than many peoples of the West... the religious culture of the soul in it is weaker.' This is true if religious culture is understood not as membership in some right-wing Orthodox organisation, but as first of all living according to the norms of Christian morality.

When 'perestroika' started, the Church was challenged by the very high expectations on the part of the society. Many believed the Church would be able to assume the leading role in the spiritual revival of the nation. One has to admit that this did not happen. The Church started to revive itself by rebuilding monastery walls (which is indeed an important and difficult task) but it did not respond adequately to the need for religious and moral enlightenment of the people. The Church's leaders gained access to the civil authorities, but thus far they have been unable (with some exceptions) to gain direct access to ordinary people, especially to those outside the Church. The Orthodox Church is still closed in upon itself; it is still more occupied with its own internal problems than with spiritual demands of modern society. It turned out that the Western Protestant sects took up the initiative of enlightenment of former atheists, and it is not surprising that, with their direct and somewhat insistent behavior, they are gaining the sympathy of more and more ordinary people.

Russian atheism may well one day die, but this will happen when the country has not only been baptized, but has been enlightened and born again.

The Orthodox Church should play a key role in this spiritual rebirth. But this can happen only after it has become a truly national Church: not the Church of the State (whatever the State is), but the Church, of the nation, of the people. To become such, the Church must come out of its shell, must learn to speak the language that the people speak, must face the demands of society and answer them adequately.

At the present time our Church is struggling to find its new identity in post-Communist and post-atheist Russia. There are, it seems to me, two main dangers. The first is that of a return to the pre-revolutionary situation, when there was a State Church which became less and less the Church of the nation. If, at some stage in the development of society, such a role would be offered to the Church by the State, it would be a huge mistake to accept it. In this case the Church will be again rejected by the majority of the nation, as it was rejected in 1917. The seventy years of Soviet persecution were an experience of fiery purgatory for the Russian Church, from which it should have come out entirely renewed. The most dangerous error would be not to learn from what happened and to return to the pre-revolutionary situation, as some members of the clergy wish to do nowadays.

The second danger is that of militant Orthodoxy, which would be a post-atheist counterpart of militant atheism. I mean an Orthodoxy that fights against Jews, against masons, against democracy, against Western culture, against enlightenment. This type of Orthodoxy is being preached even by some key members of the hierarchy, and it has many supporters within the Church. This kind of Orthodoxy, especially if it gains the support of the State, may force Russian atheism to withdraw temporarily to the catacombs. But Russian atheism, will not be vanquished until the transfiguration of the soul and the need to live according to the Gospel have become the
only message of the Russian Orthodox Church.

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Commandments of Saint Basil to Priests

Study, O priest, to make yourself a blameless worker, rightly proclaiming the word of truth.

Never stand at the Synaxis having hatred toward anyone so as not to banish the Comforter.

On the day of the Synaxis do not judge, do not argue, but remain praying and reading in the church until the appointed hour in which you will accomplish the divine and sacred ceremonies; and thus stand with compunction and purity of heart in the holy sanctuary, not looking around here and there, but standing with shuddering and fear before the heavenly King.

Do not, because of human weakness, hasten through or cut short the prayers, neither try to please persons, but look only toward the King Who is present and the hosts of Angels that surround Him.

Make yourself worthy by the holy canons.

Do not concelebrate with whom it is forbidden.

See in Whose presence you stand, how you serve and to whom you dispense.

Do not ignore the Master's commandment and those of the holy Apostles, "Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw pearls before swine."

See that you do not deliver the Son of God into the hands of the unworthy.

Do not feel ashamed before those who are glorious on earth, neither before him who happens to wear the crown at the time.

To those worthy of Communion dispense the Gifts freely, as you also have received.

Do not dispense unto him who does not observe the divine canons.

See that you do not let moth, nor mouse, nor any other thing touch the Divine Mysteries out of negligence, neither allow them to be exposed to dampness or smoke or to be contaminated by the unholy or the unworthy.

These things and such things preserve in order to save yourself and those who heed you.

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New Book About Fr. John Romanides' Orthodox Dogmatics Presented In Athens

Aimilios Polygenis
January 21, 2011
Romfea.gr

On Wednesday 19 January 2011 a presentation was held in the Union Book Gallery (Στο­ά του Βι­βλί­ου) in Athens of a new two-volume work by His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou titled "Empirical Dogmatics of the Orthodox Catholic Church According To The Oral Traditions of Father John Romanides".

The event/presentation was organized by the distributor, the Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos and Pelagia of the Holy Metropolis of Thebes and Levadia.

As the Abbess Silouani said in the opening of the event: "Until now there has been no presentation in Greece of any books by His Eminence, but I found it necessary to have a presentation of this present work 'Empirical Dogmatics of the Orthodox Catholic Church According To The Oral Traditions of Father John Romanides' in order to celebrate and honor the personality of the late Protopresbyter and University Professor, Fr. John, on the occasion of it being a decade from his repose" (+ 11/01/2001).

The event was attended by His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, Bishops (among whom was Metropolitan George of Thebes and Levadia in whose jurisdiction the Monastery belongs), University Professors, Priests, and laity who filled not only Union Book Gallery but also a second room to capacity.

It is worth noting the presence of certain persons, in addition to the speakers, particularly associated with Father John, such as his sister Mrs. Parthenia Romanides - Ott, who traveled from New Zealand to attend the event, and Mr. Athanasios Sakarellos, a student of Fr. John to whom, in his office, was given courses of theology and history before and after Fr. John's retirement, who saved several taped speeches of his, etc.

The speakers who presented the book and spoke about Fr. John Romanides were the Reverend Protopresbyter and Emeritus Professor of the Theological School of the University of Athens Fr. George Metallinos, the Reverend Protopresbyter and Secretary of the Synodal Commission on Inter-Orthodox Relations Fr. Stephanos Avramidis, and Professor of the Theological School of Aristotle University in Thessaloniki Mr. Lambros Siasos.

The event began with a short preface by the Abbess Silouani of the distributor Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos, who spoke of her editorial work, since the Sisterhood "in parallel with other monastic tasks, engages also in editing, translation and distribution of literary works of our Spiritual Father, Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios Mr. Hierotheos. It is a service that resulted from his years of pastoral ministry, his involvement with the texts of the Fathers of the Church, and contributes to his missionary purposes and the preservation of our Monastery."

His Beatitude Mr. Ieronymos thanked as well Metropolitan George of Thebes and Levadia for his paternal protection and practical interest in the Monastery.

His Beatitude Mr. Ieronymos in his address expressed his excitement and joy at the event in which would be examined "a deep look into the issues of Father John Romanides, who possessed very strong hands and a strong mind." The thrill of it was attributed to four main reasons:

First, because of the long acquaintance and good cooperation with the then Clerical Preacher and now Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Mr. Hierotheos and with the Sisterhood of the Holy Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos which he leads and which lives and walks within the Orthodox monastic tradition of the Church. Second, for his personal joy in every new book of the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos. He mentioned that each time one is published, he asks: "How does he have time for all this stuff? How does he have time to be present everywhere at all the events, to give speeches on every issue, to respond to the press, and to leave us all in anticipated surprise, such as in this book?" Third, his personal acquaintance with Fr. John Romanides, with whom His Beatitude had many lengthy discussions. Lastly, because the presentation allowed teachers and clerics to discuss "fixed points which will be trampled" in our days, days of confusion.

He also said: "I believe that when we have such instructors, whether it be University Professors with this spirit, or revered Bishops of our Church, or scholars of these works and presenters, I think that these particular antibodies in our times will help us tackle the many diseases, and will help us find the path we need."

Finally, the Archbishop ended his speech with his gratitude and blessings: "Thank you very much Your Eminence, Holy One of Nafpaktos, and we pray in our hearts that God gives you much strength and enduring patience - not just patience -, so your work may be fruitful and may be for us a source of optimism, a hope for a difficult path."

Afterwords a few words were spoken by the sister of Fr. John, Mrs. Parthenia, who with the help of translator and presenter at the event Mrs. Efi Mavromichalis, spoke with evident emotion of her personal experiences with her late brother, with whom she had never lost contact; even though they lived literally on opposite sides of the earth.

She spoke of his many excellent skills and talents, his ability to navigate many types of aeroplanes, his music and athletics, she expressed the emotion for being able to attend the event of the presentation with colleagues and friends and people who loved and honored her brother, and expressed gratitude to the author: "Your Eminence Hierotheos, I knew of you very much before I met you. How unfortunate that the first time we met was at the funeral of my brother. I fervently thank you for your kindness because you uphold everything of my brother, and you were strongly loyal and faithful to him. My brother together with my mother are smiling and are very happy."

Fr. George Metallinos spoke next as coordinator of the event. Fr. George paralleled the "resurrection earthquake" which followed the passing of Fr. John in Modern Greek reality with the publication of the present volume, in which the author offers "the very essence of the theology of our new great dogmaticians", in a version that is exemplary and expressed appropriately for this purpose.

He said: "I believe that the Holy One of Nafpaktos was the most suitable for the synthesis of this monumental project and theologically is the best successor of Fr. John, and as an ecclesiastical hierarch even informally expresses to the Holy Synod of our Church constantly the empirical theology of Orthodoxy, the essence of our theology that is." He considers it a very important publication considering the reigning spiritual and theological crisis of our nation.

Briefly he went over his personal assessment of of the work of Fr. John, renewing the belief that we can speak about a pre- and post-Romanides epoch in theological matters in Greece.

Father John "upset all the needlessness, the pietism and magical vision we had for the Church and her mission in the world. He brought back to the surface the need for asceticism and a holy spiritual life, the need for uncreated divine grace and how to acquire it by means of synergy with our God. Above all, he separated us from intellectual theology, and rejoined dogma and worship and tied them with history, enlightened with the light of our tradition, and he saw this in a western academic environment."

Fr. George also spoke of the students of the late ever-memorable Fr. John, the hidden and known, as well as his enemies, which in the person of Fr. John they are at war with the patristic theological tradition.

He also noted the skill of the book by presenting the direct and natural personality of Fr. John Romanides. Finally he ended with words by the ever-memorable Fr. Theoklitos Dionysiatis about Fr. John.

The next talk was delivered by Fr. Stephanos Avramidis, who spoke of his old acquaintance with Fr. John in America, where he was professor at Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston, and how he enjoyed his "exhilarating teaching".

This is where Fr. John "opened their eyes" to theology, he taught them the theological foundations of different methods and lifestyles observed between Orthodox and Catholics and Protestants who dominated the population, giving Orthodox criteria to theologize and choose from and to cease using the heterodox theological counter-rhetoric. He taught them about Orthodox dogma as the experience of deification, introducing them to the scientific study of patristic theological thought on the one hand, and the philosophical background of the heterodox and heretics on the other hand in order to understand in depth the cause of the diversification of their theology. He cleared away concepts of scholastic and philosophical misconceptions from the Bible, etc.

Comparing this with presenting the new book, Fr. Stephanos highlighted three key theological criteria/thoughts of Father John:

A. The distinction between created and uncreated,
B. The lack of any similarity between them,
C. The distinction between essence and energy.

He also spoke of the criticism of the theology of Blessed Augustine and the dogmatic and symbolic works of the Orthodox Church.

As to the similarities which bound him to Fr. John, he emphasized the love of his lessons, their common origin, their common spiritual father Fr. George Florovsky, of whom he made extensive references, the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration in Boston which at one time gave hospitality to the mother of Fr. John, or "Grandma Romanides" (γιά­για-Ρω­μα­νί­δη) as the students called her.

Lastly he spoke of their reacquainting in Greece where they cooperated in their service to the Church and the Holy Synod. Fr. Stephanos finished by saying: "When he left us on 1 November 2001 to go near to Christ Whom he loved so much and served, to all of us who knew him and loved him, and by his personality and teachings made an indelible impression, he left a void within us, which even until now time has not been able to heal. May his memory be eternal."

Professor Lambros Siasos presented the book with a particular eloquence and rhetoric. He spoke of the critical method he read the book taught to him by Fr. John in order to judge the publication, observing even the title and cover, describing "the subtle hand embroidery, the love for beauty, the uncommon, the novel."

He spoke of the remarkable control of the vast material in the hands of the writer, who worked with the method and thought of Fr. John, since the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos was taught by Fr. John Romanides "and now it is something honorable, honoring his teacher."

He presented the original title of the book of two known terms of "empirical theology" and "dogmatic and symbolic theology". He went from the "phenomenon" of the book to the "noumenon", underlining that "the communion of the mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection of Christ occurs with the synthesis of the Holy Mysteries and asceticism."

He presented the book as a cross, at the basis of which is the lamentation of a Bishop for all the changes which hurt the ecclesiastical body, which he does not list with his own words, but "puts the voice of an intractable Cappadocian to recount them".

While ostensibly the book follows the outline of a conventional dogmatics book, it is presented with the Doric form of the Symbol of Faith and "overturns the catering and support to the establishment", with a central axis that elaborates the empirical fact of God's self-manifestation to the purified Prophets, Apostles, and Saints, followed by the recording of the manifestation of that revelation with created words and meanings, with the highest form of theophany being Pentecost.

He described the feat of the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos as "using the teachings of Romanides he completed what Fr. John did not have time to", and introduced the hesychastic, ascetic, and empirical theology in all the chapters of theology, in this case dogmatics, and introduced it, or as the author of the introduction says, he "restored" it, within the ecclesiastical body, that is, within the Holy Mysteries. He stressed two key points concerning the entire work: a) the distinction between nous and logic or noetic energy and logical energy, and b) the distinction between ecclesiastical empirical theology and speculation.

He added that in accordance with St. Gregory Palamas there can be highlighted the distinction between the experience of divine theology and the experience of demonic "theology".

Lastly, he said that the success of the book is already given in terms of traffic, and on the spiritual side will manifest itself every time a person reaches the stage of perfection towards heaven and every time a priest will heal by the Grace of God a person.

Finally the writer His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos spoke, who thanked the presenters and presented the four "how's" which concern the publication of the project, that is, a) how he discovered Fr. John Romanides b) how he appreciated his writings c) how he worked to get done the two-volume work of "empirical dogmatics" and d) how he felt about Fr. John Romanides, particularly as he worked with his writings.

His Eminence stressed the unifying vision that was the theological work of Father John on the basis of the spiritual therapy of Christians, as well as the criticism issued to heretics and heterodox which formed this perspective, in that he saw the heresies and falsehoods as disruptive of the unity of Christians.

He announced that he was studying this particular aspect of the theological offerings of Father John and eventually will publish this study. Finally His Eminence thanked the organizers of the event who helped in editing the book.

In particularly he mentioned the distributor Holy Monastery, Mr. Athanasios Sakarello because in the office of Fr. John he was taught by him and he saved a large number of tapes, "His Eminence Metropolitan of Thebes and Levadia Mr. George, dear brother in Christ, who blessed this effort, which is the missionary work of the Monastery and the handiwork of the nuns," His Beatitude Mr. Ieronymos, "who as Bishop of Thebes and Levadia protected me and the Monastery and was the main cause of all this work, even the distribution." He prayed that "God may rest the soul of the blessed Fr. John Romanides, the Theologian and 'Prophet of Romaniosini' for the hard work he did to teach the 'empirical dogmatics' and, of course, the reminder that we have a duty to care for how dogma will become our food and life."

His Eminence concluded the speech with a quotation from Alexei Komiakov, according to which the leading figures are not leaders of their generation, because they go far ahead their generation that cannot comprehend them because they are not ready, but they lead the subsequent generations.

One such leader was, in accordance with His Eminence, Fr. John Romanides, who affected his generation, but will affect more future generations.

Father George Metallinos closing the whole event thanked His Eminence for everything, and announced the happy event of the translation of works by Fr. John in languages of the Eastern Orthodox, which was "blocked by an invisible hand."

The event ended with a video presentation and audiovisual material was heard with the voice of Father John.

We will close this brief report of the important event/presentation with the words of Fr. George Metallinos: "If the passing of the blessed Fr. John Romanides created a 'resurrection earthquake' in Greek reality, which delivered us from our theological-ecclesiastical babylonian captivity, the same applies to the two-volume work of His Eminence Metropolitan of Nafpaktos and Agios Vlasios Mr. Hierotheos concerning the theology of Father John."

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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