Do Figures Like Elders Paisios and Porphyrios Exist Today?

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Fortunately, we knew these really enlightened Elders, Fathers Paisios and Porphyrios and other patristic personalities, who showed us what the Church is and how God shows, through the Church, his friends. Many of us felt God's love near them. These elders comforted thousands of people and in many cases brought rest to the most unruly children of God. We must feel unworthy of such a gift.

However, since God and the Church exist, such holy figures always exist. As I said before, the saints are the offspring of the Church, having passed through the Cross and Resurrection of Christ, and Pentecost, and give testimony of the new life which God brought to earth.

Alas if there are no such figures today. It's like thinking that the Church has ceased to exist or is barren and cannot give birth. The truth is that when saints cease to exist, then will occur the Second Coming of Christ.

On Mount Athos today there are many blessed monks who glorify God and are glorified by Him. Mount Athos is still a great light, which, when those who see it do not have adequate vision, they are blinded and they blame the monks who live there. And outside Mount Athos also, in monasteries and communities there are blessed children of God and the Church, which illuminate those who understand this and have need.

The problem is that we do not see the saints, do not feel them, do not smell their presence. This is because we do not have high pursuits, we do not have spiritual senses to recognize them and to feel them. We can apply in this case the words of Christ: "For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened" (Matt. 7:8). Those who truly seek God and His saints, they will certainly encounter them, or rather the living modern saints themselves will go to find them and fill them with the gifts of God. Such is our God. He comes secretly, He likes to reverse all logical possibilities, He shows His love loudly, suddenly and surprisingly to those who hurt and are looking for Him. Soberly intoxicated are those who seek "the good wine", the strong wine.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes

March 2, 2011
Catholic Online

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, also known as the Church of the Multiplication is a church in Tabgha, or ancient Heptapegon on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. The modern church stands on the site of 4th and 5th-century churches. The church preserves a splendid early Christian mosaic as well as the traditional stone on which the miraculous meal was laid.

The feeding of five thousand people is described in Mark 6:30-44, just before Jesus walks on water. The Gospel does not specify where it took place; only that it was in a "remote place" (6:32,35) on the shores of Galilee.


While it is remotely possible that this is the actual site of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, it's not likely. Scholar Jerome Murphy O'Connor attributes the selection of the site to pilgrims' associations with the area.

"It was perhaps inevitable that this well-watered area with its shade trees on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, where Byzantine pilgrims ate their picnics, should have been identified as the location of two episodes involving the consumption of food, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes and the conferral on Peter of the responsibility of leadership after a fish breakfast. Then it became convenient to localize the Sermon of the Mount on the small hill nearby."


A church of the Feeding of the Five Thousand was first built on this site in 350 AD. The church was small and on a slightly different orientation than the later versions. The Spanish pilgrim Egeria visited this church in the 380s, and reported:

Visiting the church today, visitors will find under the altar table a block of limestone venerated as the table of the Lord. Pilgrims are no longer permitted to chip away at it. In front of the altar is a lovely restored mosaic of two fish flanking a basket of loaves.

Besides its sacred importance as the place of a miracle of Jesus, the main highlight of the Church of the Loaves and Fishes is this beautiful 5th-century figurative mosaic floor. It is the earliest known example of a figured pavement in Palestinian Christian art.

The main mosaic covers the two transepts and the intervals between the pillars. The rest of the floor has a mosaic in a simple geometric pattern, mostly restored. The principal mosaic was clearly designed by a great master who was able to create a free-flowing design without need of any repetitious pattern.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Tomb(s) of Noah

In Lebanon, just northeast of the city of Zahle, there is a small village named Karak Nouh. Karak Nouh is located in the Beqaa at the eastern foot of the Mt. Lebanon range. In a building adjoining the village mosque, there is a long sarcophagus draped in a green cloth. It is claimed this is the tomb of Noah.

Karak Nouh, Lebanon

Mark Twain wrote about his visit to Karak Nouh in The Innocents Abroad.

"Noah's tomb is built of stone, and is covered with a long stone building. Bucksheesh let us in. The building had to be long, because the grave of the honored old navigator is two hundred and ten feet long itself! It is only about four feet high, though. He must have cast a shadow like a lightning-rod. The proof that this is the genuine spot where Noah was buried can only be doubted by uncommonly incredulous people. The evidence is pretty straight. Shem the son of Noah, was present at the burial, and showed the place to his descendants, who transmitted the knowledge to their descendants, and the lineal descendants of these introduced themselves to us to-day. It was pleasant to make the acquaintance of members of so respectable a family. It was a thing to be proud of. It was the next thing to being acquainted with Noah himself."

There is another tomb of Noah in the city of Cizre, Turkey (pronounced Jizre). Cizre is on the Tigris River, north of the location where Iraq, Turkey, and Syria all meet. To the east is Cudi Dağ, identified as Mt. Ararat in some traditions.

Tomb of Noah, Cizre, Turkey

Evidently, there is also a shrine to Noah name Hazrat Nuh in Kerak, Jordan. I have not visited this one, nor do I know if there is a tomb associated with the shrine. I believe the shrine is the small, turquoise building at the far left in this photograph. It is located in a cemetery on the northwestern edge of the modern town.

Kerak, Jordan

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Fr. Alexis Trader's New Book On Orthodoxy and Psychotherapy

The following is the first in a series of four guest posts from Fr. Alexis Trader, a priestmonk and spiritual father of Karakallou Monastery on the Holy Mountain, and author of In Peace Let Us Pray to the Lord: An Orthodox Interpretation of the Gifts of the Spirit. Fr. Alexis has recently released a new book and it is about his new book that he now writes. (The second through fourth posts will be posted elsewhere, please see the posting schedule at the end of this post.)

Behind Ancient Christian Wisdom and Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy: A Meeting of Minds

Monks are by nature introspective creatures. We turn inward in prayer in order to meet our Savior. We also try to stay active in mind and body. We turn to serve our brother in love and in so doing we encounter our Lord once again. The union of theoria and praxis, thought and action, makes for a joyous monastic life. Sometimes, however, sincere monastics get bogged down and their lives seem quite different from what is described in the lives of the Saints and books by contemporary luminaries. Critical thoughts take hold of our minds and sluggishness characterizes actions that should be a source of joy and gladness.

What goes wrong? Certainly, a large part of the answer to this question lies in the passions and the providential withdraw of divine grace. But perhaps, another part of the answer can be found in the monk’s personal history, tendencies, and vulnerabilities that made up his personality long before entering the monastery. In that case, might a contemporary school of psychotherapy, grounded in empirical study and focused on cognition and behavior have something important to say?

With that introduction in place, I should mention that I have been an Orthodox monk for nearly twenty-five years. I lived on the Holy Mountain for a decade during which time I got to know some wonderful fathers who tasted the most sweet fruits of the prayer of the heart and intimate communion with Christ. I also encountered novices and monks discouraged by the struggle and wondering why those same fruits seemed beyond their reach. I saw acts of self-sacrifice and love that moved me deeply. I also was saddened to see others who were so obsessed with certain thoughts that they missed opportunities to serve their brethren and although they desired to act virtuously and to love sincerely, insecurities, feelings of inferiority, and suspicions compelled them to react in ways that they themselves deplored. My heart went out to those monastics. I prayed for them, but what else could I do?

While at the Monastery of Karakallou on the Holy Mountain, I came across the works of the influential spiritual father, Father Simeon Kragiopoulos. In his Do You Know Yourself? [in Greek], he offered a Christian Orthodox reading of Karen Horney’s Our Inner Conflicts. In this and other works by Fr. Simeon, he suggests that certain psychological problems can prevent a person from progressing in the Christian life and need to be resolved so that the Fathers’ teachings can be received and applied in a way that is salutary and salvific. This suggestion was the seed for Ancient Christian Wisdom and Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy: A Meeting of Minds, but in the full life of an Athonite Monastery, I lacked the time for any serious exploration of such topics.

In 2005, when I was sent to celebrate the liturgical services at a dependency of Karakallou, the Monastery of Saint Demetrius at Nea Kerdyllia, I developed a heart condition that made it impossible for me to return to the Holy Mountain and follow the way of life there. With more time on my hands and in order to avoid idleness, that mother of the vices, I decided with my Elder’s blessing to begin to explore the teachings of the Church Fathers and modern psychologists on the thoughts. I was already quite familiar with traditional ascetic literature such as The Philokalia, The Ladder of St. John Climacus, The Homilies of Saint Isaac the Syrian, and other holy fathers as well as the writings of contemporary elders, in particular the Elder Paisios who repeatedly emphasized the need for good thoughts [logismoi]. Psychology was at the time an unexplored terrain that I had been somewhat suspicious of in the past. After reading the works of Karen Horney, Harry Stack Sullivan, Eric Erickson, Sigmund Freud, Victor Frankl, Albert Bandura and others, I came across the works of Aaron Beck. What struck me concerning this final figure was that Beck’s works were simply an application of the scientific method to thoughts and behavior without an inordinate amount of esoteric theories around nebulous concepts. His ideas could be observed, tested, and verified easily in day-to-day life. I should mention that I was originally trained in the hard sciences before becoming a monk and Beck’s approach meshed well with my scientific background. So my thinking went if I could find a way to connect Beck’s insights with those of the Fathers, I would have something valuable to offer spiritual fathers and those who are suffering. Thus inspired, I began reading more intently, researching more extensively, and praying more earnestly until I had about 5,000 note cards (As a writer, I am rather old school) with citations from the Fathers and cognitive therapists on mental/spiritual health. As I sorted and sifted, an amazing amount of common ground began to emerge and I could see the framework of a book taking shape.

In order to make sure that I would not stray from the Fathers’ teachings, I contacted Professor Anestis Keselopoulos, a specialist in the writings of Saint Gregory Palamas and author of the book, Passions and the Virtues, which I had translated many years earlier. Realizing the dangers of trusting in one’s own judgments and opinions, I wanted to pass every chapter that I would write by him. And so the book also became a doctoral dissertation. Professor Keselopoulos was very enthusiastic about the work as were the other six professors present at the defense, including specialists in psychiatry, dogmatics, pastoral counseling, patristics, and the interface between Christianity and culture. They all were emphatic that this dissertation should not only be published in book-form and enter the university libraries of the West but also find its way into the hands of pastors and counselors helping those who suffer.

Peter Lang International Academic Publishing Group has now published this work, which can be ordered from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1433113627.

(For those unfamiliar with academic presses that produce a limited number of monographs for university libraries, the book will unfortunately seem rather expensive. I would encourage those who wish to read the book, but find it outside their budget, to approach their local college or public library about the possibility of purchasing it. Perhaps, groups of five could purchase it as a donation for their parish library or the pastor’s library. If the hardbound copies sell well, a less expensive paperback may be on the way).

If you would like to read more, please follow the rest of this series of blog posts:
Post #2 – March 25th: http://janotec.typepad.com/terrace/
Post #3 – March 28th: http://voxstefani.wordpress.com/
Post #4 – March 31st: http://www.bombaxo.com/blog/

For More:
http://orthodoxinfo.com/phronema/introduction-to-ancient-christian-wisdom-and-aaron-becks-cognitive-therapy.aspx

HTTP://ORTHODOXINFO.COM/PHRONEMA/CULTIVATING-THE-GARDEN-OF-THE-HEART-CH-9-ANCIENT-CHRISTIAN-WISDOM-AND-AARON-BECKS-COGNITIVE-THERAPY.ASPX

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Russia's Trend For Dipping Children In Frozen Rivers

Katia Moskvitch
March 22, 2011
BBC News

When an amateur video of a screaming, naked boy being plunged by a priest into an ice hole in Siberia appeared on the web, it caused a massive outcry in the Russian media and blogosphere.

The boy appears to be no more than five or six years old.

At first, he is seen wrapped up in a blanket, already crying, as adults in fur coats carry him towards an ice hole carved in a frozen lake or river.

He is then unwrapped and fully immersed three times into the water - obviously against his will - while an Orthodox priest conducts a baptism ceremony.

"Where did this happen? Who is the priest? Who are the parents?" wrote one blogger, stating his determination to gather information about the "sadistic" incident and make it public.

The ceremony is reported to have taken place not far from a Siberian city of Irkutsk on 19 January, the Russian Orthodox festival of Epiphany, commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ.

Religion was frowned upon during Soviet times, but since the fall of Communism it has made a big comeback.

There is now no shortage of people of all ages, eager to fast during Lent, mark the resurrection at Easter with traditional bread, get married in church and christened in holy water.

And since Jesus Christ was baptised in January - according to the Russian Orthodox church - many regard stripping down and diving into icy water as a good way to erase their sins.


No sneezes

Some take their children with them, dipping newborns and older ones alike.

Not everyone, though, does it for religious reasons.

"My son was eight when I first took him to an ice hole in a river, four years ago," says Andrei Roletski, a musician living in Saint Petersburg.

Now they swim every winter weekend, carving a hole in the ice with axes.

But he never forced his son to dive into icy water - Igor actually asked his dad if he could come along.

"I myself started ice swimming five years ago, and at the same time I began getting Igor used to cold water by splashing it on his feet in the bath every night. He was fine with it," says Mr Roletski.

"Then, one day, he asked me to pour cold water over him so that he was completely wet, and a few months later, when I said I was going for a dive in January, he said he wanted to come too."

Mr Roletski says Igor enjoyed the experience and "hasn't even sneezed once for the past two years as his body has become much more resistant to cold viruses and infections".

Huge shock

But Irina Yefremova, a paediatrician from a Moscow Sports Medicine Centre, warns that plunging a child into an ice hole even for a few seconds could lead to all sorts of problems - from the common cold to loss of consciousness.

The heart could simply stop beating, she says.

Newborns, in particular, she explains, have an underdeveloped thermoregulation system.

"Such a great temperature change is a huge shock for the body - one minute the child is dressed, the next he or she is in icy water. It is very stressful for the system, especially for the heart."

Natalya, aged 22, was one of those who plunged into an ice hole cut in shape of a cross on the frozen Moscow River this year.

It was a last-minute decision, spurred on by a friend who showed her the Epiphany swimming page on social networking site vkontakte.ru.

"I'd never even taken a cold shower before that and I was scared a bit, but everyone was saying that the water is sacred and it will take all your sins away, so I went along," she says.

She jumped into the water feet first, going under with her head, and loved the experience - though with an air temperature of -26C she admits it was painful.

"It was like getting your body pricked by a thousand needles at once - and my head was really, really cold," she says.


Creating the past

The popular belief that diving three times into an ice hole on Epiphany will erase your sins is not actually endorsed by the Orthodox Church.

And christening does not have to be done outside in the cold - or done on Epiphany at all, explains Father Yakov Krotov, an Orthodox priest from Moscow.

"Christening, while being beneficial for the soul, does not have to be harmful for the body," he says.

"And although in the ancient times Christening was done in rivers, it does not mean that nowadays Baptising someone in a church by pouring warm water over the head is somehow less beneficial," he adds.

Besides, he says, the practice of plunging into ice holes on Epiphany, is not really a centuries-old ritual. Before the October Revolution of 1917, only a few people would do it - nothing like the numbers that have taken it up since the 1990s.

"This is not going back to our traditions - no, this is just an attempt [by the masses] to create some kind of great past," he says.

And regarding the case of a young boy being forcefully christened in an ice hole somewhere in Siberia, Mr Krotov says that he does not approve of those parents - and priests - who disregard the opinion of the child who is old enough to have his or her own stance on Christening.

"It does not matter if it happens in an ice hole or in a Church, a priest cannot ever be abusive," he says.

"This is not right."

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Conversion of French Photographer Frère Jean (Gérard Gascuel) to Orthodoxy

March 22, 2011
Interfax

Photographer Gérard Gascuel who worked with Marcel Marceau and Salvador Dali and now is Hieromonk Gerasimos says he decided to become a monk after hearing an Athonite monk singing.

"I was 33 when the editor in chief of an influential Japanese magazine sent me to Greece to make a report about the life of Athonite monks," Father Gerasimos was quoted as saying by the Rossijskaya Gazeta daily on Tuesday.

Going around the monasteries he came upon a monastery where there is an ancient tradition to keep skulls of deceased monks.

"I went into the crypt and then life was divided: 'before' and 'after'. When I was going back I met a Greek monk and we talked about the meaning of life. His English was poor... And suddenly he started singing!" Father Gerasimos recalls.

According to him, it was then that he decided to become a monk.

"I made a decision in few seconds. Having returned to France, I delivered my report to the magazine, sold my estate and became an ordinary monk on Athos. I spent many years in the Holy Land at St. Savvas Monastery in the Judean desert. I met my spiritual father there. I realized that death is not the end," Father Gerasimos tells about his spiritual way.

He became a monk, but he is still a photographer, though he managed to found and become rector of an Orthodox monastery in the French town of Cévennes.

Frère Jean's (or Brother John, as he is known among artists under this name) exhibition will take places in Nizhny Novgorod.

Read more here.

See his official website here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Fr. Theodoros Zisis Responds To St. Justin Popovich

Panagioti Antoniou Andriopoulou, theologian
March 21, 2011
Amen.gr

In our days "anti-ecumenists" have a common reference point: the recently proclaimed saint in the Serbian Church, Father Justin Popovich. They use this saint to "brandish" the heads of "heretical ecumenists".

As has been written repeatedly and demonstrated de facto, the Emeritus Professor of Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Father Theodoros Zisis has played a leading role in the "anti-ecumenist struggle" and is revered by "anti-ecumenists".

If someone researches Volume 9, No. II of the magazine Klironomia (Publication of the Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies, Thessaloniki, July 1977) they will find a very interesting and topical article (p. 433-460) of the lecturer of the University of Thessaloniki Theodoros N. Zisis, titled:

THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE AND ARCHIMANDRITE JUSTIN POPOVICH (A Positive Response)

Fr. Theodoros Zisis answers the criticisms of Fr. Justin Popovich concerning the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in preparation for the Great Council of Orthodoxy, which he had delivered as a relevant memorandum to the hierarchy of the Serbian Church. Fr. Theodoros refutes the objections of Father Justin, making a brief review of the history and contribution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate during the Turkish period. Attacking the Autocephaly of Greece he refers to the deduction of theology in Greece, and stresses that "Orthodoxy was protected by the Ecumenical Patriarchate also in the precincts of the ancient Patriarchates of the East under hardship, where foreign propaganda strongly clouded through proselytism."

Fr. Theodoros considers as "unfounded" the criticisms of Fr. Justin Popovich against the Ecumenical Patriarchate and bases the "unfair criticism" of Fr. Justin on a misunderstanding of his attitude towards Orthodox monasticism and "incomplete and incorrect information" by Fr. Justin.

Father Theodoros Zisis emerges in the pages of the article as a great champion of the entire "political" (ecclesiastical, that is) stance of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Patriarch Athenagoras, who was "anathematized" by the "anti-ecumenists" then and now, is, according to Fr. Theodoros, a personality "who is written about with golden letters in the pages of Orthodox history." The Ecumenical Patriarchate during Patriarch Demetrios also "treaded on this road of genuine observance of Orthodoxy." And to make it clear, Fr. Theodoros refers to a speech of Bartholomew of Philadelphia (now Ecumenical Patriarch) on the Sunday of Orthodoxy in 1976, to an interview with Damascene of Tranoupolis (later of Switzerland and now Adrianople) in an Italian magazine, and, finally, to a sermon of the late Meliton of Chalcedon, who explains the distinction between eastern and western piety.

In this article, Fr. Theodoros describes Moscow as "neopapist"! He writes: "And today Moscow is the only example of an Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which does not comply with the Orthodox stance, but treads according to a neopapist way considering itself correct."

In the Epilogue to the article, Fr. Theodoros summarizes his argument:

Fr. Justin had the right and duty to express his views on the "Great Council" and the actions of people working for its preparation. He was wrong however to place on the bench of the accused the Church of Constantinople. All decisions are received democratically and synodically, established jointly by the entire Orthodox Church. He ought by this to grind his teeth towards all directions, and even towards his Church, whose representatives participate always in relevant meetings, and not load everything on the shoulders of the Church of Constantinople, since the hard-hearted sees nothing good. Certainly he does not want to bend the knees of this historic center of Orthodoxy. This will prove a very heavy blow, since the collapse of this pillar will weaken the other foundations, the other institutions.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, loaded with the experience of centuries, proved the ability to maintain the unity of Orthodoxy through the multiplicity of national idiosyncrasies and to develop Orthodox culture, the essence of which is exactly plurality, diversity, and the democratic. What other Orthodox Church could fight to overcome this role without the danger of division, not only by its lack of historical experience, but also through the innovation of this change as well as the possibility of exalting ethno-phylatistic trends?

We will return to this timeless article by Fr. Theodoros Zisis.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

On the Revilers of Orthodox Faith and Greek History

March 10, 2011

By Metropolitan Jeremiah of Gortynos

My sermon today, Christian brethren, I write with much pain, but also with great indignation about things heard lately in our country.

And of course our Church should not remain indifferent to what is heard, because they harm the souls of our Greek Christians, particularly damaging our youth.

For this reason I ask that you please listen carefully to my sermon today, and I do not only seek your compassion in this, but also that you struggle together with us against this twisting of our holy and glorious history.

1. Lately, my beloved, there are some who want to show themselves off as educated and polymath's, but in fact they are ignorant and untrue.

They tell us that the history of our nation, for which we are proud and for which we are admired by all nations, is not - as they say - as we know it.

But how is it? They, as if they are employed by the Turks, tell us that when our nation was subjugated by the Ottomans, it was all nice and pleasant. We enjoyed privileges, we lived in peace and security, and we have achieved growth.

That is like telling us that it was good we were enslaved to the Turks and became organized! These gentlemen say these things to tell us that there was no reason to revolt against the Turks and the so-called Revolution of 1821 had a different meaning and different purpose.

But if, gentlemen, if it is true that under Turkish slavery there was freedom and all were roses, then how does this explain the harsh torture and the horrific suffering of so many many neomartyrs of our faith? The Turks didn't even allow us to become literate.

We, however, who learned from our ancient ancestors to love the sciences, even though enslaved, we found a way to educate the Greek children. Our Church created the "Secret Schools!" But,

2. As for the "Secret Schools" (Κρυφά Σχολειά), these pseudoscientists tell us this is a myth. And as an argument they tell us that there is no testimony for them. I tell you, however, my Christians, that the "Schools" in which Greek students were taught during slavery were not permitted by the Turks, and were not obvious with their permission, which is why they are called "Secret Schools". The monks did this at night in the monasteries. For this reason, during the period of slavery there is no testimony for "Secret Schools".

But when sweet freedom began to emerge, the same students of the "Secret Schools", men that is, spoke clearly in their correspondence and other writings about these schools. The many locations in our country, attested as "Secret Schools", would not be called so if they were all lies and myths.

3. The revilers of our history are bothered that the Revolution of 1821 is tied to the great feast of our Panagia, the Feast of the Annunciation. And they are bothered again that the Church initiated the struggle.

Among other things, more than these two, my Christians, you need to understand that this offensive movement by these gentlemen essentially is a movement against Orthodoxy and against the Church. This is why it requires a battle, a fierce battle.

(A) In fact, brethren, 1821 is closely tied with our faith, the Orthodox faith. Kolokotronis told his students in Pnyka: "When we took up our weapons, we said first this is for faith and after for homeland"!

For this reason they decided to begin the Revolution on March 25, in order to believe that the miracle was done by the Panagia and the free nation would have as its patron our Lady the Theotokos.

Hence the Revolution of 1821 was a holy revolution of an Orthodox Christian nation against a nation of another religion, a revolution of faith and freedom that was not simply a class revolution for one's interests, as revilers want to show us.

(B) Regarding the other, which contrarians deny and are proved historically groundless, that the fight for freedom in our nation was initiated by the Church.

Yes, my Christian!, the threads of the struggle of the Revolution was kept secret by the Dimitsanitis saint Patriarch Gregory V, whom these wretched forgers of history swear at. Shame on them! The other Dimitsanitis, the Bishop of Patras, Germanos of Old Patras, hoisted the banner of the Revolution, and urged men to stream forth in the struggle.

Indeed, Bishop Germanos spared the fighters from the difficult fast of Great Lent, since it was the month of March when the struggle began. Along with the fighters there were fighting clergy, bishops, priests, deacons and monks.

The great French historian Poukevil said that 6,000 clergymen had fallen in the struggle for the liberation of our nation.

4. My Christians! As we should thank God because we are Orthodox, so we should also thank God because we are Greeks with the most glorious history. Our history is sacred because it is fermented with the faith of the Orthodox Church.

Some younger people want to cut the marriage between faith and homeland, who set out to make our country atheistic. We warn them that as we fought against the Turks and won, so we will fight against them and reduce them, because in our struggle we have as an advocate the Champion General the PANAGIA, the patron saint of the Greek nation, the Mother of our Jesus Christ.

The revilers of our Faith and Nation will be ridiculed. They deserve it!

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Saint Drosis, Daughter of Emperor Trajan

The Holy Martyr Drosis, together with Five Virgin-Martyrs Agalida, Apollinaria, Daria, Mamthusa and Thais (Feast Day - March 22)

St Drosis was daughter of the emperor Trajan (98-117), a fierce persecutor of Christians. In the year 99 he revived an earlier law which forbade secret gatherings and was indirectly aimed against Christians. In the year 104 he issued a special law against Christians.

Beginning in that year, the persecutions continued until the end of his reign. During this time the bodies of martyred Christians often remained unburied in order to intimidate others. Five Christian virgins: Aglaida, Apolliniaria, Daria, Mamthusa and Thais, took upon themselves the task of burying such Christians. They secretly gathered up the bodies of martyrs, anointed them with spices, wrapped them in shrouds and buried them. When she learned of this, Drosis, a secret Christian but not yet baptized, asked the holy virgins to take her with them when they went to bury Christians.

On the advice of the court dignitary Adrian, a guard was set over those who had been killed, to arrest anyone who tried to bury them. On the very first night, St Drosis and the five virgins were caught. Learning that one of the captives was his own daughter, Trajan gave orders to hold her separately, in the hope that she would change her mind.

The remaining holy virgins were sentenced to burning in a furnace for melting copper. They bravely accepted execution and were granted crowns of martyrdom. The copper, mingled with the ashes of the martyrs, was used to make tripods for a new bath of Trajan. But as long as these tripods stood in the bath-house, no man was able to enter it. Anyone crossing the threshold fell down dead. When the pagan priests realized why this happened, they advised that the tripods be removed.

Adrian told the emperor to melt the tripods and to make five statues of naked virgins, in the likeness of the Martyrs. Then he said that these statues should be placed before the entrance to the imperial bath. Trajan agreed. When the statues were set up, the emperor saw in a dream five pure lambs pastured in Paradise, and the Shepherd who said to him, "O most wanton and wicked Caesar! Those whose images you placed there to be mocked have been taken away from you and brought here by the Good and Merciful Pastor. In time your daughter, the pure lamb Drosis, shall also be here."

When he awoke, Trajan flew into a rage and ordered two huge furnaces to be heated. At the ovens an imperial edict was posted: "You who worship the Crucified, save yourselves many agonies, and spare us also from these labors. Offer sacrifice to the gods. If you do not wish to do this, however, then let each of you voluntarily cast himself into this furnace." Many Christians willingly went to martyrdom.

When she heard of this, St Drosis also decided to endure martyrdom for Christ. In her prison she offered prayers asking the Lord to release her. God heard her prayer, amd the guards fell asleep. St Drosis went off to the ovens, but began to wonder: "How can I go to God without a wedding garment (i.e., without being baptized), for I am impure. But, O King of Kings, Lord Jesus Christ, for Your sake I give up my imperial position, so that I may be the lowliest handmaiden in Your Kingdom. Baptize me Yourself with your Holy Spirit."

After praying in this manner, St Drosis anointed herself with myrrh [chrism], which she had taken along with her, and immersing herself in water [in a nearby lake] three times, she said: "The servant of God Drosis is baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." For seven days the saint hid, spending her time in fasting and prayer. Christians found her and learned from her everything that occurred. On the eighth day, the holy Martyr Drosis went to the red-hot ovens and cast herself into the fire.

Source


"For a martyr's death is an encouragement to believers, the Churches' bold speech, Christianity's confirmation, death's dissolution, a proof of resurrection, ridicule of demons, the Devil's condemnation, an instruction in philosophy, advice to disdain the things of the present, also a path for desire for the things to come, a comfort for the disasters that restrain us, a pretext for patience, a starting-point for steadfastness, and a root and spring and mother of all blessings."

- St. John Chrysostom, Homily On Saint Drosis

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Honey and Cinnamon

Facts on honey and cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a “Ram Ban” (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of disease.

Today’s science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada , in its issue dated 17 January, 1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists:

HEART DISEASE:

Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada , various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

ARTHRITIS:

Arthritis patients may take daily, morning, and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 2 00 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

BLADDER INFECTIONS:

Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

TOOTHACHE:

Make a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching tooth. This may be applied three times a day until the tooth stops aching.

CHOLESTEROL:

Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chr onic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS:

Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses.& nbsp;

UPSET STOMACH:

Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.

GAS:

According to the studies done in India and Japan , it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM:

Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.

INDIGESTION:

Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

INFLUENZA:

A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ingredient which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY:

Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder and three cups of water and boi l to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans also increases and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

WEIGHT LOSS:

Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER:

Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three times a day.

FATIGUE:

Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than! than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Byzantine Frescoes of Ancient Philosophers

During the Ottoman occupation (15th-19th cent.) many churches and monasteries throughout Greece served as "secret schools" (Gr. "κρυφό σχολειό") where the writings of the ancients were studied in a private environment and taught by either monastics or clergy. Often these schools were in the narthex of churches, which is why these frescoes are often found in this area of the church. Because many ancient philosophers are said to have foretold the coming of Christ as well, they were revered by Christians for their wisdom, though not as saints (hence their depiction without halos).

The Wise Solon (ca. 638 BC – 558 BC) in the Great Lavra of Mount Athos.

The Wise Solon (c. 638 BC – 558 BC) in the Monastery of Prophet Elias in Siatista.

The Wise Hippocrates (ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC) in the National Library of France dating to 1342.

The Wise Sybil is found at the Monastery of Evangelistria in Zagorohoria and was painted in 1809.

The Wise Plato is found in the dome at the Monastery of Evangelistria in Zagorohoria and was painted in 1809.

In the main gate of the Monastery of Vatopaidi, the visitor is greeted by the Wise Apollonius on the right pillar and Thales the Greek King of Egypt on the left. They were painted in 1870.

The Wise Apollonius painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery ("ἐγώ γὰρ ἐφετμεύω, τρισένα μόνον ὑψιμέδοντα θεόν· οὗν λόγος ἄφθιτος ἐν ἀδαή κόρη ἔγκυμος ἔσεται·")

The Wise Thales painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery ("Ὁ πατήρ γόνος καὶ ὁ γόνος πατήρ, ἄσαρκος σαρκικός γέγονε, θεός ὑπάρχων.")

The Wise Sybil painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery ("Ἥξει οὐρανόθεν βασιλεύς αἰώνων, μέλλων κρῖναι πᾶσαν σάρκα, καὶ κόσμο ἅπαντα.")

The Wise Sophocles painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery ("Ἔστι θεός ἄναρχος ἀπλοῦς τῇ φύσει· ὅς οὐρανόν ἔτευξεν ἅμα καὶ χθόνα.")

The Wise Plato painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery (Gr. "Ὁ παλαιός νέος καὶ νέος ὁ ἀρχαίος, ὁ πατήρ ἐν τῷ γόνῳ καὶ ὁ γόνος ἐν τῷ πατρί. Τό ἕν διαιρείται εἰς τρία καὶ τά τρία εἰς ἕν." Eng. The old is new and the new is ancient. The Father is in the Offspring and the Offspring is in the Father, the One is divided into Three, and the Three constitute One.")

The Wise Aristotle painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery (Gr. "Άκάματος φύσει Θεοῦ γέννησις ἐξ αὐτοῦ γὰρ ὁ αὐτός οὐσιοῦται λόγος." Eng. The begetting of God is by nature inexhaustible, for the Logos derives His substance from Him.")

The Wise Plutarch as depicted in the narthex of the church at the Monastery of Philanthropinon in Ioannina. The Monastery was founded in 1272 and painted in 1542.

The Wise Aristotle as depicted in the narthex of the church at the Monastery of Philanthropinon in Ioannina. The Monastery was founded in 1272 and painted in 1542.

Various ancient Greek philosophers depicted near the geneological tree of Christ in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani. The church was built in 1677.

The Wise Plutarch in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani.

The Wise Aristotle in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani.

The Wise Plato and the Wise Aristotle in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani.

The Wise Solon and the Wise Thucydides in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani.

The four kings prophesied by Daniel the Prophet, among whom is Alexander the Great. Saint Achilleos Church in Kozani built in 1740.

Hippocrates holding the words to his oath.

Read more here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Third Week of Great Lent

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

In this week the Holy Church, as in the past weeks, inspires us with the necessity to offer "to Christ our God"; "gifts that are pleasing", "a pure fast and abstinence from evil", abstention from "anger, wrath and every sin", "tears and prayer, to works of compassion, and to a contrite way of life, to upright thoughts and a pure way of life".

In particular the Holy Church, calling us to avoid foods, as "the begetter of passions ", and to love fasting as "the mother of virtues ", in detail it opens, "if it is good, if it is great, if it is grace given by God", it is a fast.

"Let us love the fast", sings the Holy Church, "it makes the stubborn passions of the soul to wither, and gives us strength to do the works of God; it makes our mind ascend to heaven, and gains for us the forgiveness of our sins". "By fasting Elisha gave back to the Shunnamite her child alive", "Daniel in the den tamed the wild beasts with the muzzle of abstinence: let us also subdue the passions by fasting", "for this strengthens the body, and illuminates the mind and heart".

Together with this during all the days of this week the Holy Church prays to the Lord that He grant us to see His Cross. "With our flesh cleansed by abstinence," cries the Holy Church, "and our souls enlightened by prayer, O Lord, grant us to look upon Thy holy and honorable Cross" "and to reverence it uncondemned with fear and love", "to kiss it with undefiled lips", "in psalms and songs let us celebrate the light", "in our illumination". In such a way it follows that the third week is essentially a sort of Forefeast to the Cross of the Lord.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Video: Bishop Danilo Krstic On Orthodoxy and Civilization

Bishop Danilo of blessed memory was born on May 13, 1927 in Novi Sad. He studied law in Belgrade, and graduated from Sorbonne in literature in 1952. From 1954 to 1958 he studied theology at the Saint Sergius' Academy in Paris, whereas he gained doctoral degree at Harvard, USA in 1968. He took monastic vows in 1960, and in 1969 the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church appointed him the auxiliary bishop of the Serbian Patriarch, his official title being the Bishop of Moravice. From 1984 he was the administrator of the Diocese of Budim, and from 1988 he was appointed the hierarch of the Diocese of Budim.

Bishop Danilo was one of the most educated hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church. While being in Belgrade as the auxiliary bishop of the Serbian Patriarch, he used to incite - mostly by his enormous erudition and pastoral words - great interest of young intellectuals, especially the students of the Belgrade University, for the Word of God and Christ's Gospel. Bishop Danilo's numerous theological and literary works are dispersed in numerous publications, magazines and books, published both in the Serbian Orthodox Church and in the issues of other sister Churches.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Why We Fast From Olive Oil and Not From Olives

By Dr. Ioannis Fountoulis

Why in times of fasting do we fast from oil and fish but not from olives and fish roe?

The old and true fast consists of total abstinence of food or xerophagia [only eating dry foods]. Since this cannot be maintained during long periods of fasting in the ecclesiastical year because of difficult living conditions or lack of zeal, several accommodations have been designed for the application of fasting by all believers.

In ancient times Christians after the ninth hour (3:00 pm) on Lenten days partook only of water and bread. Gradually, however, not only was the duration of complete abstinence from food limited to normal time, and on other days Lenten Vespers and the Presanctified Liturgy were moved to the morning because of this, but other types of food were used, such as fruits, legumes, crustaceans, mollusks, etc.

Within this context it can be understood why we eat olives on days you do not eat oil, and fish roe on days we abstain from fish. For the former we can invoke the fact that olives are eaten as fruit, while the ban on oil is on foods prepared with oil. For the latter justification is less reasonable, since the same is not allowed for milk or eggs, but they are prohibited in our fasts as "fruit and produce of animals" in the 56th Canon of the Quinisext Ecumenical Council. I know, however, devout Christians who understand this as "oikonomia", and on the days of great fasts and the night before Holy Communion they abstain from olives and fish roe.

It is true that we often hear this question from well-meaning believers and more than a few who view the fasts as an irony. In both cases we emphasize the flexibility and philanthropy of the customs and rules of the Church, which do not have a purpose to exterminate people but to help them to exercise restraint and dominate the passions. If these foods scandalize them, they can abstain from them without being in "contempt" or "judgement" against the Church for its benevolence, according to the Apostle (Romans 14:3). For the Church to struggle for the liquidation of relevant fasting customs and foods to be eaten or not is not necessary nor is it able to stay within the bounds of seriousness. What is primarily needed is to fast for the spiritual benefit that comes from this, and attempt as far as possible for the faithful to be in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Church, which have severely died down today.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Search For Perfection In Orthodoxy and Society

On March 18, 2011 the New York Times published an article titled "Our Imperfect Search for Perfection" by Carina Chocano. It is published in light of the two recent movies “Limitless” and “The Adjustment Bureau”. In the former "Bradley Cooper plays a failed writer named Eddie Morra who stumbles upon a stash of magical pills that allow him to blossom into the ultimate version of himself," while in the latter David, played by Matt Damon, "is the perfect politician — but he perfects himself only as a human being, the movie suggests, in his struggle for the transcendence of true love." Ultimately both movies present secular notions of perfection within ourselves to fill that dark void as we all long to do. They are about mastering our own destiny in a world where, to the ordinary individual, destiny cannot be mastered. The article goes on to examine the notion of perfection throughout history where "We’ve collectively moved away from thinking about perfection in ethical, moral, aesthetic or social terms, toward the more limited concept of self-perfection — the attainment of a personal competitive edge. Nobody believes that an eight-figure bonus and six-pack abs are achieved in some quest for the greater social good." The quest for perfection in our days has become soulless and a form of lust that only leads a thinking person to greater despair: "That you must outsmart, outwork, outrival and outdream everybody else or consign yourself to a life of frustrated obscurity or worse. Perfection has always held a kind of promise, but this conception of it sounds less like a promise than a threat."

In light of how perfection is currently being portrayed in our culture, the picture Orthodox Christianity gives of perfection is radically different. Whereas in the worldly way of thinking perfection has been reduced to a selfish passion and lust, in Orthodoxy perfection unites us with God's love which inspires the heart to love others in imitation of God's love. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 5:38: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." In context He says this after explaining how we are to love our neighbor with the same love God loves His creation.

Further quotes from Orthodox Christian Saints on the issue of perfection are also enlightening to steer us away from worldly notions of attaining a selfish form of perfection to a selfless love in imitation of Christ - Who is both perfect God and perfect Man.

- "A person is perfect in this life when as a pledge of what is to come he receives the grace to assimilate himself to the various stages of Christ's life. In the life to come perfection is made manifest through the power of deification." (St. Gregory of Sinai, Philokalia, Vol. 4)

- "When the intellect has been perfected, it unites wholly with God and is illumined by divine light, and the most hidden mysteries are revealed to it. Then it truly learns where wisdom and power lie... While it is still fighting against the passions it cannot as yet enjoy these things... But once the battle is over and it is found worthy of spiritual gifts, then it becomes wholly luminous, powerfully energized by grace and rooted in the contemplation of spiritual realities. A person in whom this happens is not attached to the things of this world but has passed from death to life." (St. Thalassios, Philokalia, Vol. 2)

- "While we are still in this life we shall often waver in our self-determining, hesitating whether to fulfill the commandments or give way to our passions. Gradually, as we struggle, the mystery of Christ will be revealed to us if we devote ourselves totally to obeying His precepts. The moment will come when heart and mind are so suffused by the vision of the infinite holiness and humility of the God-Christ that our whole being will rise in a surge of love for God." (Archimandrite Sophrony, His Life is Mine, Chapter 13)

- "But we also know that the fulfillment of the commandments of God gives true knowledge, since it is through this that the soul gains health. How could a rational soul be healthy, if it is sick in its cognitive faculty? So we know that the commandments of God also grant knowledge, and not that alone, but deification also." (St. Gregory Palamas, The Triads)

- "The dispensation of our God and Saviour concerning man is a recall from the fall, and a return from the alienation caused by disobedience to close communion with God. This is the reason for the sojourn of Christ in the flesh, the pattern of life described in the Gospels, the sufferings, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection; so that the man who is being saved through imitation of Christ receives the old adoption. For perfection of life the imitation of Christ is necessary, not only in the example of gentleness, lowliness, and long suffering set us in His life, but also of His actual death. So Paul, the imitator of Christ, says, `being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.' How then are we made in the likeness of His death? In that we were buried with Him by baptism." (St. John Chrysostom, On The Holy Spirit)

- "We unite ourselves to Him [God], in so far as this is possible, by participating in the godlike virtues and by entering into communion with Him through prayer and praise. Because the virtues are similitudes of God, to participate in them puts us in a fit state to receive the Deity, yet it does not actually unite us to Him. But prayer through its sacral and hieratic power actualizes our ascent to and union with the Deity, for it is a bond between noetic creatures and their Creator." (St. Gregory Palamas, On Prayer and Purity of Heart)

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Synaxarion For the Second Sunday of Great Lent

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

SECOND SUNDAY of LENT

On the same day, the Second Sunday of the Fast, we celebrate the memory of our Father among the Saints, Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica.

Verses

The Fountain of light leadeth unto the unwaning light
The radiant herald of the light and the truly great mind.


Synaxarion

This son of the Divine Light that knows no evening, a true man of God and wondrous servant and minister of Divine things, hailed from Constantinople. His parents were illustrious and notable people, who were zealous to adorn with virtue and education not only the outward and perceptible man, but also, and much more importantly, the inward and invisible man. When Saint Gregory was very young, his father, Constantine, reposed, and his mother, Kalliste, brought up and instructed Saint Gregory, his brothers, and his sisters, educating and admonishing them in the Lord and with sacred literature, and she also saw to it that they be furnished with secular wisdom by studying at school. Saint Gregory, combining eagerness with his innate intelligence, in a short time acquired every kind of philosophical knowledge, but when he was about twenty years old, reckoning all such things to be unspiritual and more illusory than dreams, he sought to ascend to God, the Cause and Bestower of all wisdom, and to dedicate his whole self to Him through a more perfect way of life. Hence, he disclosed to his mother his God-loving purpose and his great longing and ardent love for God; and he found her to be similarly disposed, for she had been thinking along the same lines for a long time, and she rejoiced as much as he did. She immediately gathered her children around her, and, saying with gladness, “Behold, I and the children which God hath given me,” attempted to determine what attitude they had towards good things and revealed to them the intention of their older brother. And he, speaking words of exhortation to them, succeeded in winning them over more quickly than one could reasonably expect, and they all eagerly entertained the same longing as he did, namely, to flee from the world.

Hence, after distributing his property to the poor, in accordance with the Gospel, and forsaking imperial favor and the honors and plaudits of the imperial court, Saint Gregory followed Christ. He settled his mother and sisters in a convent and, taking his brothers with him, went to the mountain that is the namesake of holiness, Mount Athos. But he persuaded his brothers to remain for a time in other monasteries, perhaps because they did not have the opportunity to pursue the spiritual life together. He placed himself under obedience to a wondrous man who lived as a Hesychast with God alone, near the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi, Nikodemos by name, from whom he learned every commandment and every virtue through practice and in humility of soul. There, through a mystical revelation, he received the help and invincible succor of the All-Pure Theotokos in all matters. After Nikodemos departed to God, Saint Gregory spent several years in the Great Lavra, where he lived with the greatest of zeal, having the mind of a venerable Elder, but attracted by love for silence, he withdrew from the Lavra and embraced the solitary life. Ever adding longing to longing and striving to abide with God unceasingly, he gave himself over to extreme austerity, and restraining his senses from all sides with scrupulous attentiveness and raising his mind to God, he devoted every moment to prayer and the study of theology. Living an exceptionally disciplined life and with God as his ally, he mightily conquered the demons that made war on him, and cleansing his soul by standing for whole nights and with fountains of tears, he became a choice vessel of the gifts of the Divine Spirit. He had frequent visions of God, and more wonderful still, even after moving to Thessalonica—on account of the Hagarene onslaughts—and establishing a skete in Berea, and being compelled to have contact with certain of the cities, not even then did he depart from his strict way of life.

After completely purifying both body and soul over a period of many years, he received the great anointing of the Priesthood by Divine decree. He celebrated the Divine Mystagogy like one without a body and, as it were, in a state of ecstasy, such that the mere sight of him aroused compunction in the souls of those who saw him; he was truly great and was known by those who lived godly lives as a Spirit-bearer. He showed himself to be such even to those who only looked at him from the outside, having power over demons, delivering the possessed from their deception and trickery, transforming unfruitful trees into fruitful ones, and foreseeing the future, and he was adorned with all the other gifts and fruits of the Divine Spirit.

Since acting virtuously lies within our power, whereas encountering temptations does not depend on us, and without temptations there is no perfection or demonstration of faith in God (for when, it is said, action and desire come together for the good, the godly man is made perfect), this great Saint was permitted to meet with diverse and constant temptations, in order that through all of these he might be proved truly perfect. What mind can comprehend what subsequently happened? What discourse could recount the machinations of the crafty Adversary, which were greater than before, the libels and slanders hurled against Saint Gregory by the newly-manifest fighters against God, and all the maltreatment that he endured at their hands while contending for the sake of piety, over a period of twenty-three years in all? For the Italian beast, Barlaam of Calabria, puffed up by secular wisdom and fancying in the vanity of his own thoughts that he knew everything, stirred up a terrible war against the Church of Christ, against our godly Faith, and against those who unwaveringly adhered thereto. For in his derangement, he taught that the Grace which is common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that the Light of the age to come, wherein the righteous will shine like the sun, as Christ revealed in advance when He shone on Mount Tabor; and, quite simply, that every power and energy of the Tri-Hypostatic Godhead, and everything that is in any way whatsoever distinct from the Divine Nature, is created. Those who piously profess that that most Divine light and every Divine power and energy are uncreated, since none of the attributes that belongs naturally to God is of recent origin, Barlaam called “ditheists” and “polytheists,” in lengthy orations and writings, as the Jews, Sabellios, and Arios also call us.

On account of this, the Divine Gregory, being an illustrious champion and defender of Orthodoxy, who fought, above all, for the sake of piety and who was slandered for doing so, was summoned by the Church to Constantinople. A Synod was convened by the most godly Emperor Andronikos, the fourth of the Palaiologoi, who was a defender of Orthodoxy. Barlaam came to this Synod, where he presented his heretical doctrines and his accusations against the pious. Filled with the Divine Spirit, the great Saint Gregory, girt with invincible power from on high, stopped that mouth which had been opened against God and finally, by his fiery orations and writings, put Barlaam to shame and reduced his heretical tinder to ashes. Wherefore, unable to endure the shame, this enemy of the true Faith fled to the Latins, whence he came. Immediately after this, before a Synod Saint Gregory confuted Akindynos—or rather, Polykindynos—and tore asunder his writings with refutatory discourses. Not even in the wake of this did those who shared their corrupt way of thinking cease to war against God’s Church. Hereafter, with much pressure from the Holy Synod and from Emperor John Cantacouzenos himself, and, above all, persuaded by Divine decree, Saint Gregory was elevated to the Episcopacy, being appointed Archpastor of the Holy Church in Thessalonica. In this capacity, he valiantly and steadfastly accomplished much greater struggles than before on behalf of the Orthodox Faith. For he destroyed the evil successors of Akindynos and Barlaam, who turned out to be many and vexatious, the frightful offspring of frightful wild beasts, and he refuted both their teachings and their writings in many different ways, not once, or twice, or thrice, but many times and through many discourses and not under one emperor or Patriarch, but under three successive emperors, an equal number of Patriarchs, and not a few Synods with Divinely-inspired orations and treatises, and he finally won a mighty victory over them. There were some who remained impenitent, taking no thought for Divine retribution; for there still exist remnants of all heresies, which speak with effrontery against the Saints who vanquished them, to say nothing of that most insolent Jewish race, which even now rages against Christ.

Such, in brief, and so many were the victories of this great Saint over the impious. God, in His ineffable ways, sent him out also as a teacher to the Orient. He was sent as an envoy from Thessalonica to Constantinople in order to reconcile the Emperors, who were at odds with each other; but when he arrived in Gallipoli, he was arrested by the Hagarenes and detained for an entire year, passing martyrically from place to place and from city to city, dauntlessly teaching the Gospel of Christ. Those who were steadfast he confirmed still more, beseeching them to be loyal to the Orthodox Faith, and he strengthened with Divine wisdom those who were confused about the Faith and who put various difficulties and questions to him regarding current events (that is, the astounding progress and expansion of the most ungodly race of the Hagarenes), applying the most effective remedy to what they had to say. To the rest, the infidels and those Christians who had fallen into pitiful apostasy, converted to Islam, and ridiculed our Faith, he spoke frequently and openly about the Incarnate OEconomy of our Lord and God and about our veneration of the Precious Cross and the Holy Icons; he also talked about Mohammed and about many other questions posed by them. Some admired him, but others were furious at him and stretched out their hands, and they would have put him to a martyric death had they not, by Divine Providence, seen fit to spare him, in the hope of receiving money in exchange for him—which is, in fact, what happened. The great Saint was freed by certain Christ-loving people, and the bloodless Martyr returned in triumph to his flock, being adorned, in addition to his many other great gifts and accomplishments, with the wounds of Christ, having in himself that which was lacking of the afflictions of Christ, according to St. Paul.

Let us indicate some of his characteristic traits. He was exceedingly meek and humble, insofar as the conversation did not have to do with God and things Divine; for in these matters he was very combative. He did not remember wrongs at all and was forbearing; he was eager to requite, as far as possible, with good things those who struck him as being in any way evil. He had a firm aversion to accusations made against other people; he displayed patient endurance and magnanimity in the face of difficulties; he was above pleasure and vainglory; he was always frugal and did not give excessive attention to his bodily needs, despite being in poor health for much of his life; in his patience, he was calm and peaceful, and he was always so gracious that it was quite evident to those who saw him; above all, he was pensive, attentive, and focussed, and as a result of this, his eyes were almost never devoid of tears, but poured forth fountains of tears.

So martyrically did he struggle, from the beginning of his life until its end, against the passions and the demons, driving heretics far away from the Church of Christ and expounding the Orthodox Faith in orations and writings, through which he confirmed practically all of Divinely-inspired Scripture, that his life and words constitute a kind of recapitulation and authentication of the lives and words of the Saints. Having shepherded his flock in an Apostolic and God-pleasing manner for twelve years, adorned it with moral sermons, guided it to the heavenly sheepfold, and proved himself to be, as it were, a fellow-worker with all the Orthodox, both living and yet to come, he was translated to the heavenly life in the year A.D. 1359, having lived for a total of sixty-three years. He committed his spirit into the hands of God, but to his flock he left his sacred body as a Relic, which is preserved in the Metropolis of Thessalonica and which, in due course, became extraordinarily distinguished and glorified as an inheritance and a most precious treasure; for it ever bestows miracles on any who approach it with faith and deliverance from all maladies, not a few of which are recorded in the story of his life.

By his intercessions, O God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
O light of Orthodoxy, teacher of the Church, its confirmation, O ideal of monks and invincible champion of theologians, O wonder-working Gregory, glory of Thessalonica and preacher of grace, always intercede before the Lord that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Now is the time for action! Judgment is at the doors! So let us rise and fast, offering alms with tears of compunction and crying: "Our sins are more in number than the sands of the sea; but forgive us, O Master of All, so that we may receive the incorruptible crowns."

Kontakion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Holy and divine instrument of wisdom, joyful trumpet of theology, together we sing your praises, O God-inspired Gregory. Since you now stand before the Original Mind, guide our minds to Him, O Father, so that we may sing to you: "Rejoice, preacher of grace."

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr