Carolingian Manipulation of the Definition of ‘Romans’

The Letter of Emperor Louis to Emperor Basil in 871

By Alexandros Hourani

Louis was the son of Lothair, son of Louis, son of Charlemagne. In 844, he became King of Italy. In 850, he was crowned as Emperor (of Rome) by Pope Leo IV. In 871, Emperor Basil reprehended him for using the title ‘Emperor of the Romans’. Consequently, Louis sent him a letter giving pretexts for holding the title. Here are excerpts from the letter showing how the Carolingians manipulated the definition of ‘Romans’ for their own interest. The consequences of this manipulation are still in effect nowadays.

Original:
“Lodoguicus divina ordinante providentia imperator augustus Romanorum dilectissimo spiritualique fratri nostro Basilio gloriosissimo et piissimo atque imperatori novae Romae.”

Translation:
“Louis, ordained by divine providence August Emperor of the Romans, to our most beloved and spiritual brother Basil, the most glorious and the most pious Emperor of New Rome.”

Commentary:
‘Emperor of the Romans’ means ‘Emperor of Rome’. Louis puts this title in opposition to ‘Emperor of New Rome’.

Original:
“Praeterea mirari se dilecta fraternitas tua significat, quod non Francorum set Romanorum imperatores appellemus set scire te convenit, quia nisi Romanorum imperatores essemus, utique nec Francorum.”

Translation:
“Besides, your beloved brotherhood signified your wondering why we call ourselves not Emperors of the Franks but Emperors of the Romans. However, it is convenient that you know that, unless we were Emperors of the Romans, certainly we would not be Emperors of the Franks.”

Commentary:
Basil understood by ‘Romans’ all the Romans of the East and West, and not just the inhabitants of Rome. Thus, for Basil, ruling Rome was not sufficient for Louis to carry this title because the majority of the Romans were under Basil’s rule. On the other hand, Louis understood (intentionally or unintentionally) by ‘Romans’ only the inhabitants of Rome, hence the misunderstanding and the two different perceptions. The definition upheld by Louis, be it intentional or unintentional, served his own interest. If Louis were to recognize the Romans of Basil as Romans not as Greeks, then he would be recognizing that Rome should be under Basil not under him. Obviously, this was not in his interest.

Original:
“A Romanis enim hoc nomen et dignitatem assumpsimus, apud quos profecto primum tantae culmen sublimitatis et appellationis effulsit, quorumque gentem et urbem divinitus gubernandam et matrem omnium ecclesiarum Dei defendendam atque sublimandam suscepimus, a qua et regnandi prius et postmodum imperandi auctoritatem prosapiae nostrae seminarium sumpsit. Nam Francorum principes primo reges, deinde vero imperatores dicti sunt, hii dumtaxat qui a Romano pontifice ad hoc oleo sancto perfusi sunt. In qua etiam Karolus Magnus, abavus noster, unctione huiusmodi per summum pontificem delibutus primus ex gente ac genealogia nostra pietate in eo habundante et imperator dictus et christus Domini factus est, praesertim cum saepe tales ad imperium sint asciti, qui nulla divina operatione per pontificum ministerium proposita solum a senatu et populo nichil horum curantibus imperatoria dignitate positi sunt; nonnulli vero nec sic, set tantum a militibus sunt clamati et in imperio stabiliti sunt, ita ut etiam horum quidam a feminis, quidam autem hoc atque alio modo ad imperii Romani sceptra promoti sunt. Porro si calumpniaris Romanum pontificem, quod gesserit, calumpniari poteris et Samuel, quod spreto Saule, quem ipse unxerat, David in regem ungere non renuerit.”

Translation:
“In fact, we took this name and dignity from the Romans, among whom certainly at first the summit of such a height and appellation shined out, whose nation and town we received from God to govern, and whose mother of all the churches of God we received from God to defend and to elevate. From this church also, the seed-planter of our family received the ability to be king first and, a little after, to be emperor. For the chiefs of the Franks were first called kings. Then those who were moistened with the sacred oil by the Roman pontiff were called emperors truly. Being anointed in this unction through this manner by the High Pontiff, Charlemagne, our great-grandfather, because of the piety abounding in him, was the first of our tribe who was called emperor and who was made christ of the Lord. Especially that, many times before, such persons have attained the empire as those who were posed in the imperatorial dignity by no divine operation set forth by pontifical ministry but only by the senate and the people without taking care of any of these. Some were acclaimed and put in the empire by soldiers very often indeed. Others arrived to the scepters of the Roman Empire through women or through other means. So, if you accuse the Roman Pontiff for what he did, you can accuse Samuel who did not refuse to anoint David as king after the rejection of Saul whom he anointed by himself.”

Commentary:
Here Louis is giving the pretext for holding the title. He says that he holds the title and dignity because he took the title from the Romans themselves, i.e. the people of Rome. He argues that this title and dignity appeared first in Rome and that he received from God Rome, the people of Rome and the Church of Rome. From this Church, his ancestor, Charlemagne, received the title of king, then of emperor, when the Pope anointed him as emperor. Because he was anointed by the Pope, Charlemagne became christ of the Lord, i.e. anointed by the Lord. Christ here means anointed. Louis says that the manner by which he and Charlemagne became emperors was different from the manner by which previous emperors attained this dignity. He says that most of those emperors came to power though the senate and the people, through soldiers, through women (here implying Irene), or through other means. On the contrary, he and Charlemagne were anointed by the Pope, hence by God. In this manner, by claiming that God made him Emperor of the Romans, while previous emperors were made emperors through non-divine manners, he is asserting the lawfulness of his title and dignity.

Original:
“Ergo cum ita sit, cur nos satagis reprehendere, quoniam ex Francis oriundi Romani moderamur habenas imperii, cum in omni gente qui timet Deum acceptus sit illi? Et certe Theodosius maior et filii eius, Arcadius et Honorius, atque Theodosius minor, Arcadii filius, ex Hispanis ad imperii Romani culmen assumpti sunt, nec tamen invenimus quod aliqui clamaverint vel reprehenderint, quod non Romanus, sed Hispanus existeret, vel restiterint aut prohibuerint filios eius in loco patris et honore succedere.”

Translation:
“Since this is how things are, why are you always busy reprehending us that, while we originate from the Franks, we are holding the reins of the Roman Empire, while among all the nations that fear God this thing is accepted? In fact, Theodosius senior and his sons, Arcadius and Honorius, and Theodosius junior, son of Arcadius, originating all from the Spaniards, rose to the height of the Roman Empire, but we did not find anyone who claimed or reprehended him that he was Spaniard not Roman or anyone who prohibited his sons from succeeding to their father’s position and honor.”

Commentary:
According to Basil and to Roman custom, non-Romans could not become emperors. All Roman emperors until Basil were Romans. This is what Basil implied when he reprehended Louis for holding this title although he was a Frank. However, the definition of ‘Romans’ by Louis was different from the definition of Basil. That is why Louis wonders about why Basil was reprehending him. He proceeds to give a justification of his title based on an erroneous understanding of history. He says that although Theodosius was a Spaniard, nobody claimed that he was not Roman, and nobody prohibited his sons from succeeding to their father’s position. Here, he is comparing Theodosius with Charlemagne and the sons of Theodosius with himself. This passage shows that Louis did not know the historic meaning of ‘Romans’, which was still preserved by Basil and his Romans, and that he did not know the situation during the time of Theodosius. The pretext of Louis makes sense only if ‘Romans’ is defined as ‘the people of Rome’. Had Louis known that ‘Romans’ did not mean only this, his pretext would have been useless. By projecting his own definition and perception onto earlier times, he was providing a pretext that served his interest in preserving his rule. Thus, intentionally or unintentionally, his definition of ‘Romans’ served his interest, which meant that he would never adopt the full definition of ‘Romans’ because that would threaten his rule.

Original:
“Sicut ergo potuit Deus de lapidibus suscitare filios Abrahae, ita potuit de Francorum duritia Romani suscitare successores imperii; et sicut si Christi sumus, secundum apostolum Abrahae semen existimus, ita si sumus Christi, omnia possumus per gratiam ipsius, quae possunt illi, qui videntur existere Christi; et sicut nos per fidem Christi Habrahae semen existimus Iudaeique propter perfidiam Abrahae filii esse desierunt, ita quoque nobis propter bonam opinionem, orthodosiam, regimen imperii Romani suscepimus; Graeci propter kacodosiam, id est malam opinionem, Romanorum imperatores existere cessaverunt, deserentes videlicet non solum urbem et sedes imperii, set et gentem Romanam et ipsam quoque linguam penitus amittentes atque ad aliam urbem, sedem, gentem et linguam per omnia transmigrantes.”

Translation:
“As God was able to raise up children of Abraham from stones, thus he was able to raise up the successors of the Roman Empire from the hardness of the Franks. And since, if we are from Christ, according to the apostle, we are the seed of Abraham; thus, if we are from Christ, by his grace we have power of everything that those, who are seen to be from Christ, have power of. And as we, for our faith in Christ, are the seed of Abraham, and the Jews, for their faithlessness, ceased to be the children of Abraham, thus, for our good opinion, that is orthodoxy, we took the command of the Roman Empire, while, for their cacodoxy, that is bad opinion, the Greeks ceased to be Emperors of the Romans. The Greeks have abandoned not only the town and the seat of the empire, but also have lost the Roman nation and that language itself, having transmigrated in everything into another town, seat, nation and language.”

Commentary:
Here Louis gives more justifications for his position from the Bible and Gospel. He is saying that because he was anointed by the Pope, the successor of Christ, his position is derived from Christ. He gives an analogy between Christians and Jews, on the one hand, and Franks and Greeks, on the other hand. In the same manner as the Christians have become the children of Abraham for their faith while the Jews ceased to be for their faithlessness, thus the Franks have become Emperors of the Romans for their orthodoxy while the Greeks ceased to be because of their cacodoxy. He recognizes that the Greeks were Romans before but that they abandoned the town and the seat of the empire, Rome, and transferred it to Constantinople, that they ceased to be Romans and became Greeks, and that they abandoned Latin and adopted Greek. However, at no time before 871 did part of the Romans suddenly become Greeks, as he is claiming. All these justifications are not based on any historic event, but on his own imagination and explanation of events that suited his interest.

The following conclusions can be deduced from this text:

1) The prime interest of the Carolingians, since Charlemagne, was to keep Rome and the Pope under their rule. Controlling the Pope meant controlling all Western Christians.

2) To keep Rome under their rule, they had to manipulate the definition of ‘Romans’ by defining it as the people of Rome only and by excluding the other Romans from this definition.

3) Their definition of ‘Romans’ meant the destruction of Western Romans who were living under the Carolingians. The reason is the following. If the Romans were just the people of Rome, then the Romans of Gaul and northern Italy would not be Romans because they did not inhabit Rome. In this manner, any solidarity between the Romans of the Carolingian Empire was dissolved and the threat they were posing to the Franks was eliminated. Any solidarity between the Romans of Rome and the Romans of Gaul and northern Italy was also eliminated in this manner.

4) Excluding the Romans of southern Italy and the East from this definition, by calling them only Greeks, was meant to prevent them from claiming Rome. Recognizing the Greeks as Romans meant that the Carolingians were giving the Greeks pretexts to recover Rome. Obviously, this was not in the interest of the Carolingians.

In brief, the Carolingians changed the definition of ‘Romans’ in Latin in order to preserve their interest in keeping Rome under their rule. Their manipulation of the definition is seen in all history books written by the historians of the Carolingians like Paul the Deacon or Eginhard. The historians of the Carolingians are the direct predecessors of all modern historians like Mommsen, Gibbon and others who have dealt with Roman history. The Carolingian point of view is still seen among those historians until now.

Since the Carolingians manipulated definitions and historic events back then in order to suit their interests, why is it that modern historians are still holding to the erroneous Carolingian point of view?

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Chesterton On Materialism As A Worldview

From G. K. Chesterton, an early twentieth century Catholic writer, both anti-materialist and anti-Darwinist, in his Orthodoxy:

As an explanation of the world, materialism has a sort of insane simplicity. It has just the quality of the madman’s argument; we have at once the sense of it covering everything and the sense of it leaving everything out… You can explain a man’s detention at Hanwell[1] by an indifferent public by saying that it is the crucifixion of a god of whom the world is not worthy. The explanation does explain. Similarly you may explain the order in the universe by saying that all things, even the souls of men, are leaves inevitably unfolding on a utterly unconscious tree—the blind destiny of matter. The explanation does explain, though not, of course, so completely as the madman’s. But the point here is that the normal human mind not only objects to both, but feels to both the same objection. Its approximate statement is that if the man in Hanwell is the real God, he is not much of a god. And, similarly, if the cosmos of the materialist is the real cosmos, it is not much of a cosmos. The thing has shrunk. The deity is less divine than many men…

For we must remember that the materialist philosophy… is certainly more limiting than any religion. In one sense, of course, all intelligent ideas are narrow. They cannot be broader than themselves. A Christian is only restricted in the same sense that an atheist is restricted. He cannot think Christianity false and continue to be a Christian; and the atheist cannot think atheism false and continue to be an atheist. But as it happens, there is a very special sense in which materialism has more restriction than spiritualism. Mr McCabe[2] thinks me a slave because I am not allowed to believe in determinism. I think Mr McCabe a slave because he is not allowed to believe in fairies… The sane man knows that he has a touch of the beast, a touch of the devil, a touch of the saint, a touch of the citizen. Nay, the really sane man knows that he has a touch of the madman. But the materialist’s world is quite simple and solid, just as the madman is quite sure he is sane. The materialist is sure that history has been simply and solely a chain of causation, just as the interesting person before mentioned is quite sure that he is simply and solely a chicken. Materialists and madmen never have doubts.

Spiritual doctrines do not actually limit the mind as do materialistic denials. Even if I believe in immortality I need not think about it. But if I disbelieve in immortality I must not think about it… [W]hen materialism leads men to complete fatalism (as it generally does), it is quite idle to pretend that it is in any sense a liberating force. It is absurd to say that you are advancing freedom when you only use free thought to destroy free will… You may say, if you like, that the man is free to think himself a poached egg. But it is surely a more massive and important fact that if he is a poached egg he is not free to eat, drink, sleep, walk, or smoke a cigarette. Similarly, you may say, if you like, that the bold determinist speculator is free to disbelieve in the reality of the will. But it is a much more massive and important fact that he is not free to praise, to curse, to thank, to justify, to urge, to punish, to resist temptations, to incite mobs, to make New Year resolutions, to pardon sinners, to rebuke tyrants, or even to say ‘thank you’ for the mustard. [3]

[1] The Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum

[2] Joseph McCabe (1867-1955) a lapsed Catholic, was ordained a priest in the Franciscan Order in 1890 but left the Order and forsook his religion in favour first of agnosticism and then atheism. He is mentioned in Chesterton’s Heretics. He took Chesterton to task for including humour in his serious writings. Chesterton responded: “Mr McCabe thinks that I am not serious but only funny, because Mr McCabe thinks that funny is the opposite of serious. Funny is the opposite of not-funny and of nothing else.” Cf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_McCabe

[3] G K Chesterton, Orthodoxy, The Bodley Head, London, 1908; Fontana Books , 1963, pp. 22-5.

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Creation and the End of Ages

By Archimandrite Ephraim of Vatopaidi

Man has been trying to make sense of the creation ever since antiquity as it is manifested in the teachings of many religions and philosophies. Generally, we may say that ancient Greek philosophers have offered three explanations as to the creation of the world: a) the Stoics and the Epicureans advocated that the world was self-existent, autonomous and eternal, b) The Pythagoreans argued that the physical elements and laws were divine and c) The Aristotelians attributed the cause of the creation to a god “who was the first mover, unmoved”. We may also argue that all subsequent theories, whether hailing from scientific or philosophical/religious circles, are divided into the following three main categories: the materialists, the pantheists and the theocrats.

However, we derive from the Scriptures definite proof that God created the entire physical and non-material world not from previously existent matter but “from what was not” (2 Maccabees 7:28) and that the Lord lives in the world (see Psalms 138:7-10) and He is not an unmoved being. These are the basic dogmas of our Church. God the Word created every living being: “All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). The creation of the world from nothing does not mean that that which was created subsequently becomes autonomous and independent. It means that God and the world are two different entities which are connected with unbreakable bonds. The uncreated Lord is the only uncreated cause and the world is the created outcome. When the Lord said “Let there be light” and “it was so” or when He said “let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens” and “it was so” or when He finally created everything that was made “and it was very good” He did not withdraw from the world (see Genesis 1:3-31).

The Triune God created the world in His infinite goodness and wisdom. The word ‘kosmos’ (world) means ‘kosmima’ (jewel); a jewel is an artefact which causes pleasure even to the artist. Of course the self-sufficient Lord does not need such gratification, but He wished and became Creator in an outward expression of His excessive love (which is other than the love which exists among the Persons of the Trinity).

The Lord’s presence is continuous throughout the universe; just as with His creative energy He brought all beings into being ‘from what was not’, through His ‘cohesive and observational’ energy He maintains all beings ‘into existence’ (St Gregory Palamas: Writings). The Lord’s cohesive and observational or providential uncreated energy determines all physical and spiritual laws which govern the material and the spiritual worlds. The Lord’s uncreated energy as a cause becomes created as an outcome and is ‘altered’ into various kinds of created powers like physical force, motion, heat, chemical and nuclear power.

The creation is the result of the divine will - which for the Triune God is the same for all three Persons - and not the product of divine substance, otherwise pantheism would govern the universe (St John of Damascus: On the Orthodox Faith). The Triune God through His uncreated energies is connected to the entire creation. As St Gregory Palamas says, the simple beings (the non-living) participate in the substance-creating energy of the Lord; living beings (animals, plants) also participate in His life-giving energy; additionally, rational beings participate in His wisdom-giving energy. Only angels and men, who attain deification, participate in His deifying energy (St Gregory Palamas: Writings).

The Lord first created the spiritual, invisible world, which includes the myriads of angels and then the material world, which became visible through His Word. Finally, He created man, the crown of creation, who as St John of Damascus says, is made of visible and invisible substance. For this reason St Gregory Palamas describes man as “the major in a small world”.

Human nature was not created by command like the rest of the visible and invisible creation where the Lord “spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Psalm 33:9). In order to create man all three Persons of the Holy Trinity came together and said: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26). Thus the Lord and Creator Himself took dust from the ground and created the body and breathed into his nostrils ‘the breath of life’, namely divine Grace, His uncreated deifying energies. Thus man has acquired “an abundance of life” (John 10:10) more than any other being; namely, his adoption. St Gregory Palamas says that "'the image' of man is higher than ‘the image’ of angels. Man’s soul is the only one with intellect, word and life-giving spirit. Because the angels do not possess a material body they do not have a life-giving spirit which would give life to the attached body, like humans have” (St Gregory Palamas: Writings, Chapters 38-39).

The creation is a mystery for man; a mystery which encompasses the creative and providential presence of the Lord in the world and at the same time proves His divine greatness. Man has the ability to penetrate this mystery and comprehend the love, all-wise and special providence the Lord has for His creatures. Thus, he may choose to live in constant communion with the Lord by giving thanks and glory to the One, who because of His excessive love, gives him everything and especially his deification, namely his ‘likeness’.

According to Christian anthropology, Adam, the first man, having been placed in Paradise, was given the command to ‘work and keep it’ and govern over the entire material creation ‘freely’. In order to preserve the necessary reliance on the Lord- Creator, man was issued with a prohibition; namely not to eat from a certain fruit, in order to test his free will. Adam, being free, did not keep this command and as theology says ‘the forefathers sinned' or 'fell’.

Many explanations are given as to what caused man’s fall. One of the most distinctive, which is harmonized with patristic tradition, is the explanation given by St Irenaias of Lyon. He argues that Adam was like an infant, who was placed in Paradise in order to grow into adulthood by exercising his free will. After his creation, man had to be raised, grow up, multiply and gain spiritual strength before being glorified through his deification. However, he was deceived and acted wrongly. For this reason repentance was given to him as an opportunity to return to Paradise. This was something which was not given to the ‘fallen angels’, who became demons; namely specific evil and crafty beings.

After the fall, the forefathers, Adam and Eve, ‘were clothed with garments of skins’ (Genesis 3:21); namely with corruption, mortality and with the blameless passions: hunger, thirst, sleep and pain. The powers of their soul were also diffused. ‘The image’ was blackened and man’s spiritual energy, with which he was united with the uncreated deifying energy, was hidden. Thus, divine Grace, as a deifying gift, withdrew until the time man was to recall it through repentance. Repentance is an act of man’s free will; the latter remained intact.

Let us cite here the Catholic and Protestant views of the fall. The Catholics believe that after the fall, man was left with ‘the image’ untarnished but lost the special supra-natural (created) Grace he had acquired from God to attain ‘the likeness’. It is from this point onwards that logic prevails in the western theological and social circles. The Protestants on the other hand believe that human nature was totally perverted after the fall, even as to ‘the image’. Thus they advocate the premise on the ‘absolute predestination’.

The fall of man, who was the ‘crown of creation’, has caused the fall of the entire creation which “has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth” (Romans 8"22). This explains the main teaching of our Church, which views the creation as a whole, which is being guided towards perfection and deification; man and nature together. Man and nature are not distinct in the design of the creation. Therefore man has a duty to maintain a good relationship with the rest of the creation. The fact that man remains in the fallen condition perilously prolongs the world enduring in the same condition. Thus man contributes to the perversion and degradation of nature. Therefore, the fall has not only distorted man existentially and morally but also his very same environment.

Thus the person who has an unclean heart relates towards other human beings in a way which serves his passions and acts wrongly towards nature, by abusing it. Christ himself reveals: “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness” (Mark 7:21-22). Man’s heart is full of passions because he does not strive for virtue, neither does he obey the Lord’s commands. St Gregory Palamas stresses: “The mind which has rebelled against God either becomes beastly or diabolical; having rebelled against the laws of nature man does not put a limit to his pleasure” (St Gregory Palamas: Homilies). Abba Dorotheos says that a proper conscience defines a person’s relationship with others, but also with the rest of the creation. Thus in his Homily on the Conscience he says: “To have a proper conscience towards material things means that one does not abuse anything, neither does he let it perish nor throws it away” (Abba Dorotheos: Ascetic Works, Teaching 3).

Nowadays we have reached such a level of irrationality, such a degree of lack of conscience and such an extensive state of rebellion that the entire human race is threatened with partial or total extinction from a nuclear disaster as a result of war or nuclear accident; from the depletion of the ozone layer as a result of the increase of harmful substances in the air and from the increased desertification and the pollution of waters.

For example, it is said that the constantly increasing average temperature of the earth causes the melting of the ice in the poles. If the polar ice melts the average level of the oceans will rise by 70 meters and areas which are inhabited by a quarter of the earth’s population will be submerged in water. It is estimated that every year, 24 billion tons of soil is lost from all continents. During the last few decades the volume of soil lost was equal to the farming land of the entire United States. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) estimates that desertification costs some 40 billion dollars a year. Almost all subsoil waters in Europe have been polluted by substances harmful to man, making them undrinkable. This is the direct result of the over fertilization of farmlands because of intensive farming. The ongoing successes in Genetics which may culminate in human cloning will cause terrible moral and social consequences. Nuclear waste is increasing so much that the United States alone has massed seven hundred thousand tons of depleted uranium, which has become very costly to store and thus it is being used in the creation of bombs. However, these issues will be more extensively dealt with by the scientists who will speak at the conference tomorrow.

Throughout history, mankind has experienced ecological disasters which have been described in the Holy Scriptures. It is worth turning our attention to the causes of these disasters and not to the historical events themselves. In the God inspired passages of the Holy Scriptures, the incarnate Word-God and the Fathers of the Church refer to the various causes and their effects and not to the precise way they took place and progressed; they talk about the causation of beings and not their substance. The latter is something immaterial for the Holy Scriptures and the Patristic Tradition but not for science which treats it as its main subject. Scientific method, relying on the rational faculties of man, contributes towards the development of the material knowledge of substances. Theology, however, which relies on the experiences of the saints and especially on the perception of God exclusively through the mind - as defined by the Patristic writings -, leads man to experience the Uncreated One.

The greatest ecological disaster described in the Scriptures is the flood during Noah’s times; it took place because “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Man rebelled absolutely against God and against anything which had to do with his spiritual existence. Because of the prevailing wickedness those days, which was the result of man abusing his freedom, the Lord is forced to say: “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh” (Genesis 6:3).

By ‘flesh’ it is meant ‘man’s carnal attitude, his beastly and full of passions life’. Thus the flood was not imposed by the Lord as a punishment but was caused by the comprehensive rebellion of mankind. There is a similar situation in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the conversation between Abraham and God, it is revealed that not even ten righteous people could be found in these cities, which would have aborted their destruction (Genesis 18:20-33). However, in the case of Nineveh, peoples’ repentance annulled the city’s destruction (Jonah 3:10). That is, man’s good intention cooperates with God’s will to shape history. The Lord is not the Judge, the Critic. We must not view the Lord through the prism of legal justice.

In the Old Testament we have many passages regarding the end of ages, describing the signs of those times in the writings of the prophets: Amos, Joel, Nahum, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. However, Jesus, the only Savior of mankind, gives an account of the hardships and the destruction which will precede the end of ages. This has been handed over to us by the Evangelist Matthew, and the Evangelists Marc and Luke, the Lord’s disciples. Similarly Peter and Paul, the Apostles, inform the faithful about the circumstances which will prevail during the end of ages and Christ’s Second Coming.

If one studies the passages in the Old and the New Testament which we have mentioned, he will recognize that during those days there will be a general apostasy similar but greater than Noah’s times, since the ‘son of lawlessness’, Antichrist, will reign for a short time. The last book of the New Testament, the Revelation, describes the events which will take place during the end of ages. However, because it is a prophetic book, it remains indecipherable to the many, sealed with ‘seven seals’ (Revelation 5:1). Only those who themselves possess the prophetic charisma are able to comprehend other prophets; therefore, the only authentic explanation of the Revelation is given by the Fathers of our Church.

We will not give an explanation of the Revelation, here; neither will we refer to the specific events mentioned, whether they have already taken place, or determine the time they will happen, since this does not have such significance for theology, neither does it affect our salvation. Because of its contents, this book attracts the interest of both the faithful and the heathen and intrigues them to examine it. For instance, from 1970 to 1987, 700 papers were presented on the issue. One can only imagine how many more presentations were written after the Gulf War in 1991. We, however, will only focus on the main figure of the Revelation, Christ, ‘the Alpha and the Omega’ (Rev. 22:11) and the main event which is the establishment of God’s kingdom, namely the regeneration whereby ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ (Rev. 21:1) will be established.

The forthcoming ecological disasters will take place not because God will inflict them but because man is abusing his freedom. The human race will become perfectly irrational and there will be a general apostasy. The cause of such irrationality, partly seen today, is man’s unclean mind. St Maximus the Confessor stresses that the misuse of thoughts causes the abuse of things (St Maximus the Confessor: Chapters on Love 2, 78). Indeed, man during the end of ages will be constantly abusing things as well as the world itself.

God will not inflict punishment. We must abandon the notion of a vindictive God. “God is love” (1 John 4:8). “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14) so “that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14). The purpose and the cause of the divine incarnation, as well as Christ’s emptying Himself on the Cross, was to abolish death, corruption and the Devil, who is the father of deceit and of all sin. According to Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) Christ, through His sacrifice on the Cross, does not gratify divine justice but “saves the sheep that went astray” (Matthew 18:11), reconciles man with God and grants him deification. St John Chrysostom says that the Lord was never vindictive but it is us, humans, who are spiteful. The Lord does not need anything. He does not offer salvation in order to gain something. He offers salvation because he loves man; and He loves him because He wants to. He saves man by the free and operative love of the body of Christ. In other words, He saves us through His Church.

In the Church one experiences the end of ages as time at hand. He experiences the Kingdom of God through the Grace of the Holy Spirit. Particularly during the Holy Eucharist, the entire creation participates and is being offered to the loving Lord for ‘the unity of all’ and not just the faithful, the saints or the angels. The Divine Liturgy is not only about the salvation of the soul. The priest or the congregation does not supplicate for the Lord’s grace in order to sanctify his soul alone but he also prays for his material needs and for the rest of the creation. “For favorable weather, an abundance of the fruits of the earth and temperate seasons. For travelers by land, sea, and air, for the sick, the suffering, the captives, and for their salvation. For peace of the whole world." By praying for the whole world during the Divine Liturgy and by giving thanks for the creation, it is demonstrated that the world has never stopped being God’s world. It also indicates that who we are, what we do, the natural environment in which we live in, can and must go through the hands of the priest as ‘anaphora’ ('offering') to the Lord, so that it does not remain deformed by sin but is regenerated into ‘being good always’, as St Maximus the Confessor says.

Whoever has been initiated into the mystery of the Divine Liturgy experiences it with awareness and full consciousness and comprehends that eternal life will be an incessant Divine Liturgy, a feast of the resurrection. After His Second Coming, Christ, ‘the Lamb’ according to the Revelation, will reign jointly with all the saints and all those saved. According to St Nicholas Cabasilas: “He will be a God amongst gods; beautiful amongst the beautiful, leading the chorus” (St Nicholas Cabasilas: The Life In Christ). Man, as a person, can never become a non-being or be led into a non-existence. St Symeon the New Theologian says that the Second Coming will take place primarily for the people who gratify their passions and live in sin and not for the saints who already experience the presence of Christ (St Symeon the New Theologian: Moral Issues).

Hell and Paradise do not exist because of God but because of man. Indeed, Hell and Paradise exist as two ways of living but God did not cause their creation. God Himself is paradise for the saints and those saved; the same God is hell for the sinners. That is, both the righteous and the sinners will perceive God and will have their nature regenerated as an eternal entity, but the sinners will not be able to participate in the bliss and glory of the Lord. In other words, human will and freedom will not be restored; the Lord will not infringe upon man’s freedom. Righteousness indicates that the soul is healthy; sin is a sign of disease. Therefore, it is not God who punishes; rather, man has not been healed during his abode on earth.

In His Second Coming, Christ will not only restore human nature but the entire creation. Since the rest of the creation fell because of man, it will be regenerated by the sanctified man. When man attains sanctification, his surrounding environment is also sanctified. We find many such examples in the lives of the saints. A lion was attending the needs of St Gerasimos of Jordan; St Seraphim of Sarov was feeding a bear as if it was a tame lamb; Elder Paisios the Hagiorite was known to be keeping company with snakes and other wild animals.

Along with the resurrection and regeneration of man, nature will also be absolved of corruption. According to St Symeon the New Theologian, nature will become non-material and eternal. “During the regeneration, nature will become a non-material abode, beyond human perception” (St Symeon The New Theologian: Moral Issues, 1, 5).

God has created time, space and substance “from what was not”; these will be regenerated into eternity “beyond perception” in the kingdom of God; they will be eternal, immaterial and incorruptible. All these gifts are granted to man by the love of the Lord. However, if man is to receive the Lord’s love, his heart must be open to Him. And that which will open a person’s heart is humility. The more humble one becomes, the closer he comes to the Lord. The more one comprehends the Lord, the more humble he becomes. At the same time, the more selfish one is the further away from God he turns. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). If man properly appreciates the love of the Lord, he will be enthused to fight “the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12) so that not only will he attain eternal life in the kingdom of God, but he will also show his love for his brethren and his respect for the environment while still alive.

The righteous always respect the environment. St Silouan the Athonite writes: “Our heart must sympathize and not only love our brethren but also ache for every being, for everything the Lord has created. Behold! this is a green leaf and you have cut it off for no reason. Even though it is not a sin, how can I say it, it causes an ache; the heart which has learnt to love, feels even for the leaf and for the entire creation” (Arch. Sophrony: St Silouan the Athonite). Blessed Elder Joseph the Hesychast viewed nature as an instrument which gives thanks to the Lord. He wrote: “It is nice here after spring, that is, from Easter up to the Feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos in August. The pretty rocks and the rest of the creation carry on theologizing, as theologians without voice - each with its own voice or its lack of it. If you touch a small twig, it immediately cries out very loudly with its natural fragrance: ‘Ouch! You don’t see me, but you’ve hurt me!’ And so on … Everything has its own voice. As soon as there is a breeze, everything moves in harmony with each other and offer melodic praises to the Lord” (Elder Joseph: An Expression of Monastic Experience).

He who has been cleansed from passions through divine Grace and has attained illumination “is watchful and somber in every circumstance”. He becomes a perfect person and is able to deal successfully with the issues of our times, especially with that of the environment. However, reading from the Scriptures and the Holy Fathers, he recognizes that one day this world will end when Christ will regenerate it during His Second Coming. According to the Revelation, He will regenerate it into the city of the Lord, where the temple and the light will be the Lamb Himself (Revelation 21:22-23).

Let us, therefore, be spiritually prepared at every moment of our lives; so that we are be able to cry along with St John the Theologian and the writer of the Revelation: “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20).

Source: Translated by Olga Konari Kokkinou and edited by John Sanidopoulos.

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Convert Pitfalls: Obstacles In the Orthodox Mission Today

Fr. Seraphim Rose of Platina, himself a convert to Orthodoxy, was once asked to compose a "Manual for Orthodox Converts". In his notes for such a manual, he jotted down the following "convert pitfalls", or what he called "obstacles in the Orthodox mission today":

A. Trusting oneself, samost.

Remedy: sober distrust of oneself, taking counsel of others wiser, guidance from Holy Fathers.

B. Academic approach - overly intellectual, involved, uncommitted, abstract, unreal. Bound up with A. also.

C. Not keeping the secret of the Kingdom, gossip, publicity. Overemphasis on outward side of mission, success. Danger of creating empty shell, form of mission without substance.

Remedy: concentrate on spiritual life, keep out of limelight, stay uninvolved from passionate disputes.

D. "Spiritual Experiences".

Symptoms: feverish excitement, always something "tremendous" happening - the blood is boiling. Inflated vocabulary, indicates puffed up instead of humble. Sources in Protestantism, and in one's own opinions "picked up" in the air.

Remedy: sober distrust of oneself, constant grounding of Holy Fathers and Lives of Saints, counsel.

E. Discouragement, giving up - "Quenched" syndrome.

Cause: overemphasis on outward side, public opinion, etc.

Remedy: emphasis on inward, spiritual struggle, lack of concern for outward success, mindfulness of whom we are followers of (Christ crucified but triumphant).

F. A double axe: broadness on one hand, narrowness on the other.

In another place Fr. Seraphim wrote of the spirit of criticism that often enters converts today:

"My priest (or parish) does everything right - other priests (or parishes) don't." "My priest does everything wrong: others are better." "My monastery is not according to the Holy Fathers or canons, but that monastery over there is perfect, everything according to the Holy Fathers."

Such attitudes are spiritually extremely dangerous. The person holding them is invariably in grave spiritual danger himself, and by uttering his mistaken, self-centered words he spreads the poison of rationalist criticism to others in the Church.

From Not of This World: The Life and Teachings of Fr. Seraphim Rose, pp. 781-82.

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Why God's Innocent Creation Suffers

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Cursed is the ground in thy works" (Genesis 3:17).

After Adam and Eve's sin, God pronounced a punishment. He did not pronounce the punishment immediately but after waiting a period of time for their repentance. This is shown in the conversation into which God entered with Adam after his sin. "Where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9), God asked Adam. And when Adam said that he hid because of his nakedness, God asked him again: "Who told thee that thou wast naked?" (Genesis 3:11). Instead of repenting, Adam then began to accuse his wife. After that, God pronounced the punishment. Upon the serpent, which served as the weapon of the devil, fell the infinite curse. The woman was condemned to bear children in pain and to have her will subject to the authority of her husband. This is not a curse but rather a punishment with hope. Man was condemned to work the land. But what do the words, "Cursed is the ground in thy works", mean? Did God curse the ground as He cursed the serpent with an infinite curse? By no means! The ground is cursed only in the sinful works of man. Because of man's sin, the earth produces thorns; because of sin, there is infertility; because of sin, there are droughts, floods, earthquakes, plagues, and destructive insects such as grasshoppers and caterpillars. That the ground is not cursed in its entirety is clear from this: that the earth also produces good fruits. God, through the prayers of the righteous, has always blessed the fruits of the earth necessary for human life, and even the angels of God, as the guests of Abraham, tasted the earth's harvest (Genesis 18:1-8). For in what way is the earth and all the rest of God's creation (except the serpent) culpable for Adam's sin? Nevertheless, "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" (Romans 8:22). All creation does not groan or travail because of a curse upon itself but rather because of man's sinful works, which are cursed. O my brethren, let us be ashamed of our sin, for which even God's innocent creation suffers.

O Gracious God, forgive us our past sins and protect us from future sins. O Merciful God, have mercy on all Thine innocent creatures, who suffer because of us, and ease their suffering. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

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No Room In The Inn? Born In A Manger?

It has become a popular cultural tradition around Christmas time to hear that Christ was born in a manger because there was no room in the inn. However the New Testament mentions neither a manger as we understand it nor an inn when describing the Christmas story. For more details on this topic and possible alternative explanations, I recommend the following articles:

The Manger and the Inn

Away in a Manger, but Not in a Barn

"No Room in the Inn"

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An Eternal Perspective On Circulating "Prophecies"

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, commenting in a speech on the various "prophecies" currently circulating, said the following:

Someone asked Elder Paisios: "Elder, will there be a war?"

The Elder responded: "But why my child do you ask?"

"So I can buy bread and milk."

He said to him: "Blessed one, if a war occurs, will you have an appetite to drink milk?"

Children, Fr. Paisios said that we will take Constantinople, but never set time limits. Fr. Paisios saw everything theologically. When he was asked at one time if Cyprus would be freed, he responded to them that this would occur only if the Cypriots freed themselves from their passions.

What will we succeed if we take Constantinople and lose our souls? Of course it would be a joy for this to happen. Of course we will rejoice in that moment. But our concern and goal should be the conquest of the Jerusalem Above. The Gospel also says this: "Seek that which is Above."

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Saint Spyridon Saves His Island In 1940

During the Greek-Italian War of 1940, Kerkyra (Corfu) received for one year daily air strikes by Italian aviators, though losses were minimal.

During these raids, which did not stop even for Christmas, something was very strange. Although the Italian planes were flying normally very low, despite Kerkyra having no antiaircraft defense, the bombs generally did not fall within the city but far away at sea. It was as if a hand was pushing them there. And when once a bomb fell in the female section of the Church of Saint Spyridon, noting the fact that it was full of women and children, the bomb did not explode. The igniter of the mechanism did not work. The Saint did not allow it. Who can remain silent and not to exclaim: "Glory to Your All-Holy Name unto the ages, sweetest Jesus."

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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An Awakening In An Ancient Christian Nation

Ashley Sytsma
December 10, 2011
The Huffington Post

Georgia is a Christian outpost in a largely Islamic part of the world. Despite living farther east than Syria, Egypt, and parts of Iraq, Georgians have a strong Christian tradition. It was the third state to convert to the religion (after Armenia and Constantine's Rome) in the third century A.D., and since then, has resisted many attempts at forced conversion by invaders.

The most recent threat to Georgia's religious traditions came during the decades living under Soviet Union's state-enforced atheism. However, since Georgia's independence in 1992, Orthodox Christianity is experiencing a flourishing revival...one that I couldn't help but get swept up in.

Dutifully following my guidebook's walking tour, I slipped into a small cathedral famed to be the oldest in Tbilisi. Now, I enjoy a good European cathedral as much as the next traveler. But after many years of travel, church fatigue has set in. Another church is worth a peek, but not much more. Plus, I find myself feeling sorry for the few worshippers: Would you want to be photographed by hordes of tourists while conversing with your Lord and Savior? So my intention was to step inside, poke around, read about its history, and continue on my walking tour. But instead I ended up staying for hours.

What first struck me was how busy the church was. Despite it being a Wednesday afternoon, it was packed. Mothers chased unruly toddlers. Husbands wandered arm-in-arm with their wives. Neighbors waved at each other from across the nave. Believers of all ages meandered from icon to icon -- pausing to delicately touch the glass, whisper a prayer, light a candle, kiss the corner of the frame, and rest their foreheads lovingly where they had kissed...all with the tenderness they would show a beloved grandmother.

A half-dozen priests busily performed ceremonies for small clusters of followers. On the right -- a baptism for three babies -- Priests-in-practice shuttled in holy water with large, green-plastic buckets. In the center, a casual wedding -- wearing street clothes, a young couple took their vows. During our trip, we even saw an open-casket funeral -- dead body and all.

Nothing was private. Nothing closed to the public. It was community in its truest form.

The pure, sweet love these believers had for their God was palpable. As I watched quietly from the corner, I was moved to tears by their tender devotion and strong faith.

In every single church we visited, we found a similar scene. If you ever found Georgia's streets empty, you could safely assume everyone was at church. In fact, there's such a demand for church space that in 2005, Tbilisi opened one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in Christendom. It's grand and beautiful, but its interior walls are still bare. They've started a collection to pay for a brand-new set of frescoes.

Many people try to explain away this spiritual revival: Pent-up religious fervor being released after years of Soviet rule. A show of Christian religious strength in an Islamic world. An exhibition of national pride. They may be right. But above all else, what I saw was a deep and real love of God.

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All That Comes From God Is Good, And Sin Is Evil

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1).

Brethren, the first revelation about this world that Holy Scripture communicates to us is that the world proceeded from good and not from evil, from God and not from some power contrary to God and not from some imagined primordial mixture of good and evil. The second revelation, brethren, about this world is that everything that the good God created is good. The light is good; the firmament of heaven is good; the land is good; the sea is good; the grass, the vegetation and the fruitful trees are good; the heavenly lights- the sun, moon and stars-are good; the living creatures in the water and the birds in the air are good; all living beings according to their kind are good; the cattle, the small animals and the beasts of the earth are good. Finally, man - the master, under the lordship of God, over all created things - is also good. "And God saw that it was good." The appraiser of the value of this world is not and cannot be someone who views this world superficially and partially, but can only be He who views all of creation together and each part individually, He who knows their number, name, composition and essence incomparably better than all men on earth. "And God saw that it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). But, nevertheless, there have been men who have slandered the work of God, saying that this world is evil in its essence, that each individual creation is evil, and that matter, from which all earthly beings are formed, is evil. However, evil is found in sin, and sin is from the evil spirit; therefore, evil dwells in the spirit of evil and not in matter. This spirit, fallen from God, is the sower of evil in the world, from whence come the tares in God's wheat. The spirit of evil strives to use both the human spirit and material things in general as his weapons of evil. He is also the one who instills in the human mind the thought that the whole created world is evil and that matter, from which creation was formed, is fundamentally evil. He slanders God's works in order to conceal his own works; he accuses God in order not to be accused. O my brethren, let us guard ourselves from the cunning of the evil spirit. Let us guard ourselves in particular from the evil thoughts that he sows in our minds.

"And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25).

Brethren, only good works proceed from the good Creator. Therefore, let all those who say that both good and evil proceed from God be silent. After His every act, God Himself affirms that it is good. Six times He repeated that what He created was good, and finally, the seventh time, when He saw all in its entirety, He pronounced His judgment that all He had created "was very good" (Genesis 1:31). Therefore, in total He repeated seven times that everything was good that came into existence by His holy will. Is it not a great wonder that some people come up with the godless assertion that both good and evil equally proceed from God? God, as if He knew that such slanders would be cast against Him - or, better to say, that such slanders would be cast throughout the centuries - gave His defense in advance and repeated it seven times, for all times and for all generations. Evil comes from sin, and there is no sin in God. Therefore, God can do no evil. He is called the Almighty because He is powerful to do every good. Wicked and twisted are the commentators on God who claim that God is "Almighty'' because He can do both good and evil. God is the source of good and is darkened by nothing, and nothing can proceed from Him that is contrary to good. It is obvious to every normal man that evil is contrary to good. Know, brethren, that those who speak of duality in God, in the eternal Source of good, are those in whom is found the duality of good and evil. However, all those who love good, follow the path of goodness, and yearn for good have a clear revelation within themselves that God is good, and only good.

"And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1).

Brethren, everything that was created, and the means by which the pure and sinless God created it, is pure and sinless. Every creature of God is pure and sinless as long as it is turned toward God, as long as it is neither separated from God nor hostile to God. Every creature of itself praises and glorifies God as long as it is pure and sinless. That is why the Psalmist sings: "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Alleluia!" (Psalm 150:6). Every intelligent creature of God feels that its natural and primary purpose is to praise the Lord. Thus, brethren, people ask: "If this is so, from whence comes evil into the world?'' It comes from sin, and only from sin. Sin changed a bright angel into a devil. The devil willingly made himself a vessel of sin and then hurried to make other creatures of God similar vessels. By their own free choice, other angels consented to sin with the devil, and afterward the first people, Eve and Adam, consented. From this proceeded the mixture of good and evil in the world. However, even today, that which is of God in creation is good, as it was in the first days of creation. Poison came from sin, for sin is indeed poison, the most bitter poison that exists. Sin was the cause of the curse. It brought about the darkening of minds and caused created things to become hostile toward their Creator. It distanced man from God, and man from man, and man from nature, and nature from man. O my brethren, all that comes from God is good, and all that comes from sin is evil. No evil exists that is bound to God, and there exists no kind of evil that is not bound to sin. Many philosophers have examined the essence of evil, and because of their crude minds they have asserted that evil is in matter and that matter is evil. However, only we Christians know that sin is the essence of evil and that evil has no essence other than sin. It is obvious from this that if we desire to protect ourselves from evil, we must protect ourselves from sin.

"And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31).

Brethren, when all the parts of a building are good, then the building in its entirety is very good. Every single brick is good, and every stone, the mortar and the lime, and the beams and the pillars-but man is moved to admiration only when he views the entire structure. Oftentimes, a certain detail in the building seems unintelligible and inappropriate to him, but he forgets about this in a moment when he turns his gaze upon the whole. And, indeed, there are many details in this world, as well as in things and in events, that are unintelligible and inappropriate to us. Only when the entire thing as a whole is revealed to us do we understand and are reassured. We consider many of the sufferings and deprivations in our lives as truly ugly and senseless at the time they occur. However, when days and years pass, those very sufferings and deprivations shine as precious stones in our memory, illumining the later path of our life. Therefore, if something in God's creation offends you, look at the whole; if something in life embitters you, wait patiently with faith and hope for new days and years. And if this entire life seems painful and sorrowful to you, raise your spiritual eyes to the other world, and you will have peace and joy. For this entire visible world is not a perfect whole-the other world also exists. For it is said: "God created the heaven and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Even an artist directs the viewer to look at his painting from a distance, so that he may see it in all its beauty.

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Video: The Real War On Christmas

Read more at The Real War On Christmas.

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Early Christian Histories of Saint Spyridon

Rufinus of Aquileia (340/345 – 410 A.D.) writing of the great men gathered at the First Ecumenical Synod of Nicea in 325 A.D., says the following about Spyridon (Eccl. Hist. Bk. 10, Ch. 5):

If any of their number would have been even more outstanding, it is said to have been Spyridon, a bishop from Cyprus, a man belonging to the order of prophets, so much have we learned from what was said by those who saw him. He remained a shepherd even after he was appointed bishop. Now one night when thieves approached the fence and stretched forth their wicked hands to make an opening to bring out the sheep, they were held fast by invisible bonds and remained so until daybreak as though they had been handed over to torturers. But when the elder got ready to lead the sheep out to pasture in the morning, he saw the youths hanging stretched upon the fence without human bonds. When he had learned the reason for their punishment, he loosed with a word those whom he had deservedly bound, and lest they should have nothing to show for their nocturnal labors, he said, “Take one of the rams for yourselves, lads, so that you will not have come for nothing; but you would have done better to get it by request than by theft.”

They also relate of him the following miracle. He had a daughter named Irene who after she had faithfully served him died a virgin. After her death someone came who said he had entrusted to her a deposit. The father did not know of the affair. A search of the whole house failed to reveal anywhere what was sought. But the one who had left the deposit pressed his claim with weeping and tears, even avowing that he would take his own life if he could not recover what he had deposited. Moved by his tears, the old man hurried to his daughter’s grave and called her by name. She said from the grave, “What do you want, father?” He replied, “Where did you put this man’s deposit?” She explained where it was, saying, “You will find it buried there.” Returning to the house, he found the thing where his daughter, from the grave, had said it was, and returned it to the one who had asked for it. There are many other miracles of his mentioned which are still talked about by all.


Socrates Scholasticus (c. 380 - ?) gets his information from Rufinus about Saint Spyridon, but adds some information he acquired from inhabitants of Cyprus. He writes (Eccl. Hist. Bk. 1, Ch. 12):

With respect to Spyridon, so great was his sanctity while a shepherd, that he was thought worthy of being made a Pastor of men: and having been assigned the bishopric of one of the cities in Cyprus named Trimithus, on account of his extreme humility he continued to feed his sheep during his incumbency of the bishopric. Many extraordinary things are related of him: I shall however record but one or two, lest I should seem to wander from my subject. Once about midnight, thieves having clandestinely entered his sheepfold attempted to carry off some of the sheep. But God who protected the shepherd preserved his sheep also; for the thieves were by an invisible power bound to the folds. At daybreak, when he came to the sheep and found the men with their hands tied behind them, he understood what was done: and after having prayed he liberated the thieves, earnestly admonishing and exhorting them to support themselves by honest labor, and not to take anything unjustly. He then gave them a ram, and sent them away, humorously adding, ‘that ye may not appear to have watched all night in vain.’ This is one of the miracles in connection with Spyridon. Another was of this kind. He had a virgin daughter named Irene, who was a partaker of her father’s piety. An acquaintance entrusted to her keeping an ornament of considerable value: she, to guard it more securely, hid what had been deposited with her in the ground, and not long afterwards died. Subsequently the owner of the property came to claim it; and not finding the virgin, he began an excited conversation with the father, at times accusing him of an attempt to defraud him, and then again beseeching him to restore the deposit. The old man, regarding this person’s loss as his own misfortune, went to the tomb of his daughter, and called upon God to show him before its proper season the promised resurrection. Nor was he disappointed in his hope: for the virgin again reviving appeared to her father, and having pointed out to him the spot where she had hidden the ornament, she once more departed. Such characters as these adorned the churches in the time of the emperor Constantine. These details I obtained from many inhabitants of Cyprus. I have also found a treatise composed in Latin by the presbyter Rufinus, from which I have collected these and some other things which will be hereafter adduced.


Sozomen (c. 400 – c. 450) is the last of the three earliest ancient ecclesiastical historians who refer to Spyridon, following the accounts of his predecessors. He recounts details not mentioned in the other two accounts which are valuable, adding three stories to Rufinus (Eccl. Hist. Bk. 1, Ch. 11):

Spyridon, bishop of Trimythun in Cyprus, flourished at this period. To show his virtues, I think the fame which still prevails about him suffices. The wonderful works which he wrought by Divine assistance are, it appears, generally known by those who dwell in the same region. I shall not conceal the facts which have come to me.

He was a peasant, was married, and had children; yet was not, on this account, deficient in spiritual attainments. It is related that one night some wicked men entered his sheepfold, and were in the act of stealing his sheep, when they were suddenly bound, and yet no one bound them. The next day, when he went to the fold, he found them fettered, and released them from their invisible bonds; but he censured them for having preferred to steal what it was lawful for them to win and take, and also for making such a great exertion by night: yet he felt compassion towards them, and, desirous of affording them instruction, so as to induce them to lead a better life, he said to them, “Go, and take this ram with you; for you are wearied with watching, and it is not just that your labor should be so blamed, that you should return empty-handed from my sheepfold.” This action is well worthy admiration, but not less so is that which I shall now relate. An individual confided a deposit to the care of his daughter, who was a virgin, and was named Irene. For greater security, she buried it; and it so happened that she died soon after, without mentioning the circumstance to any one. The person to whom the deposit belonged came to ask for it. Spyridon knew not what answer to give him, so he searched the whole house for it; but not being able to find it, the man wept, tore his hair, and seemed ready to expire. Spyridon, moved with pity, went to the grave, and called the girl by name; and when she answered, he inquired about the deposit. After obtaining the information desired, he returned, found the treasure in the place that had been signified to him, and gave it to the owner. As I have entered upon this subject, it may not be amiss to add this incident also.

It was a custom with this Spyridon to give a certain portion of his fruits to the poor, and to lend another portion to those who wished it as a gratuity; but neither in giving nor taking back did he ever himself distribute or receive: he merely pointed out the storehouse, and told those who resorted to him to take as much as they needed, or to restore what they had borrowed. A certain man who had borrowed in this way, came as though he were about to return it, and when as usual he was directed to replace his loan in the storehouse, he saw an opportunity for an injustice; imagining that the matter would be concealed, he did not liquidate the debt, but fraudulently pretending to have discharged his obligation, he went away as though he had made the return. This, however, could not be long concealed. After some time the man came back again to borrow, and was sent to the storehouse, with permission to measure out for himself as much as he required. Finding the storehouse empty, he went to acquaint Spyridon, and this latter said to him, “I wonder, O man, how it is that you alone have found the storehouse empty and unsupplied with the articles you require: reflect whether you have restored the first loan, since you are in need a second time: were it otherwise, what you seek would not be lacking. Go, trust, and you will find.” The man felt the reproof and acknowledged his error. The firmness and the accuracy in the administration of ecclesiastical affairs on the part of this divine man are worthy of admiration. It is said that on one occasion thereafter, the bishops of Cyprus met to consult on some particular emergency. Spyridon was present, as likewise Triphyllius, bishop of the Ledri, a man otherwise eloquent, who on account of practicing the law, had lived alone while at Berytus.

When an assembly had convened, having been requested to address the people, Triphyllius had occasion, in the middle of his discourse, to quote the text, “Take up thy bed and walk,” and he substituted the word “couch” (σκίμπους), for the word “bed” (κράββατος ). Spyridon was indignant, and exclaimed, “Art thou greater than he who uttered the word ‘bed,’ that thou art ashamed to use his words?” When he had said this, he turned from the throne of the priest, and looked towards the people; by this act he taught them to keep the man who is proud of eloquence within bounds and he was fit to make such a rebuke; for he was reverenced and most illustrious for his works: at the same time he was the superior of that presbyter in age and in the priesthood.

The reception which Spyridon gave to strangers will appear from the following incident. In the quadragesima, it happened that a traveler came upon a journey to visit him on one of those days in which it was his custom to keep a continuous fast with his household, and on the day appointed for tasting food, he would remain without nourishment to mid-day. Perceiving that the stranger was much fatigued, Spyridon said to his daughter, “Come, wash his feet and set meat before him.” The virgin replying that there was neither bread nor barley-food in the house, for it would have been superfluous to provide such things at the time of the fast, Spyridon first prayed and asked forgiveness, and bade her to cook some salt pork which chanced to be in the house. When it was prepared, he sat down to table with the stranger, partook of the meat, and told him to follow his example. But the stranger declining, under the plea of being a Christian, he said to him, “It is for that very reason that you ought not to decline partaking of the meat; for the Divine word shows that to the pure all things are pure.” Such are the details which I had to relate concerning Spyridon.

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Joyful Revelations in the First Sentence of the Bible

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

How compact and full is God's every word! It is like folded linen, which can be carried under the arm and spread upon the grass over a large area. How many, many priceless good things does this word of God reveal to us: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." First of all, it shows us that God is the only eternal and uncreated One. And this first revelation brings about in us the first inexpressible joy. In this whirlpool of change and transience, we are inexpressibly happy that our Creator is beyond change and transience. It further tells us that the one and only good God is the Creator of the world, and since He is the Creator, He is also both the Almighty and the Provider. And this second revelation brings about in us a second inexpressible joy. The world did not proceed out of chaos or chance, without thought and purpose, rather it proceeded from the All-wise God, omniscient and most-merciful, Who is in control of it and is guiding it toward its intended goal. It further reveals to us that this world had a beginning, and consequently it will have an end. And this third revelation brings about in us inexpressible joy. For it would be sad if this world were eternal, and if all its goals, immediate and distant, were to be found only within itself. This would indeed cause a whirlpool in the mind of the intelligent, and sadness in the heart of the righteous. It finally points out to us that God created two worlds, the heavenly and the earthly, or the incorporeal and the corporeal. And this fourth revelation brings us a fourth inexpressible joy. As we now raise our gaze to the heights and rejoice in the sun, moon and stars above our heads, so we can raise our spirit to the spiritual world, toward the angelic world, which is akin to us but purer and brighter than us. We rejoice, for we know that there is a world better than ours, which we will also enter and, like weary travelers, return home and find rest. Oh, how sadly would men's gaze wander around the world if this were the only world and there were no starry heavens! And how sorrowfully would the spirit of man wander in the material world if there were not a spiritual world, the heavenly!

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

Brethren, this is God's answer through the mouth of the prophet, the answer to the question that we all thirst to know: "Whence comes this world?" God hears our question, spoken or unspoken; He hears and gives an answer. Just as He gives rain to the dry earth, just as He gives health to a sick person, just as He gives bread and clothing to the body, so also does He give an answer to our spirit. He gives an answer to the question that has caused it hunger and thirst, pain and nakedness, until it (the spirit) is nourished and quenched, restored to health, and is clothed with the true answer. This is the question: "Whence, therefore, comes this world?" This is the answer: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." This world is not of itself, just as nothing in this world is of itself, neither is this world of an evil power, neither is this world of many creators, good and evil, but rather it is of the one gracious God. This answer evokes joy in the heart of every man and incites him to good works. And by this we know, among other things, that this is the only correct and true answer. Every other answer, in contradiction to this, evokes sorrow and fear in us and incites us to evil works, and therefore we know, among other things, that such answers are false. Brethren, the world is from God-let us rejoice and be glad! The world is of divine origin, and consequently its end will also be in God. The world is of a good root, and consequently it will bring forth good fruit. It proceeded from the chamber of light, and it will end in light. When we know that the beginning is good, then we know that it tends toward good and that the end will be good. Behold, in these words about the beginning, the prophecy about the end is already hidden. As was the beginning, so also will be the end. He from Whom the beginning came, in Him also is the end. Therefore, let us hold fast to this saving truth, that we may have shining hope and be strengthened in love toward the One Who, out of love, created us.

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1).

Brethren, whatever God desires to reveal to men is revealed, and whatever He does not desire to reveal remains concealed. Moses, the one who beheld God, could say nothing more about heaven than that in the beginning God created it. Having said that, he continued to describe in detail the creation of the earth. Why does Moses not speak in detail about the creation of heaven? Because God did not want to reveal any more to him, since the men of his time were neither mature enough nor capable of understanding heavenly matters beyond their senses. Only when many centuries had passed and God's New Testament had come to men, did God reveal much more of the heavenly world to His faithful and chosen ones. Only Christians began to see the heavens opened. St. John the Theologian bears witness to this: "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven" (Revelation 4:1). St. Stephen the Protomartyr witnesses: "Behold, I see the heavens opened" (Acts 7:56). The Apostle Paul, who was "caught up to the third heaven … and heard unspeakable words" (II Corinthians 12:2, 4), speaks of the angelic choirs, about the thrones, dominions, principalities and powers, and says: "All things were created by Him, and for Him" (Colossians 1:16). His disciple, St. Dionysius, describes the celestial hierarchy in as great a detail as Moses describes the earthly world at its creation. This is how the unfathomable wisdom of God wanted it; that which God did not wish to reveal to Moses, He revealed to the apostles and their followers. What could not be told to children is told to mature men. The revelation of mysteries came through spiritual maturity.

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On Immature Elders

By Monk Moses the Athonite

Some immature, ambitious, inexperienced, totally tasteless of basic spirituality clergy appear as elders, thus satisfying desires, passions and fantasies.

This phenomenon is worthy of carefulness and worthy of tears.

Young people who have never had obedience, seek absolute obedience from their spiritual children.

They themselves live a shallow spiritual life and enforce rules impossible for beginners.

They are strict with others and very lenient on themselves.

They want to make their parishes into monasteries to compel followers to a heavy typikon, only to be admired as traditional and strict.

They want to create fanatic followers, frozen and servile.

They want to afflict souls and ultimately delay the actual spiritual ascent, afflicting them with their occupation with unnecessary and tedious details.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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The Song of Righteous Hannah

My heart rejoices in the LORD;
My horn[a] is exalted in the LORD.
I smile at my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

No one is holy like the LORD,
For there is none besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.

Talk no more so very proudly;
Let no arrogance come from your mouth,
For the LORD is the God of knowledge;
And by Him actions are weighed.

The bows of the mighty men are broken,
And those who stumbled are girded with strength.

Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
And the hungry have ceased to hunger.
Even the barren has borne seven,
And she who has many children has become feeble.

The LORD kills and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and brings up.

The LORD makes poor and makes rich;
He brings low and lifts up.

He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the beggar from the ash heap,
To set them among princes
And make them inherit the throne of glory.

For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s,
And He has set the world upon them.

He will guard the feet of His saints,
But the wicked shall be silent in darkness.

For by strength no man shall prevail.

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken in pieces;
From heaven He will thunder against them.
The LORD will judge the ends of the earth.

He will give strength to His king,
And exalt the horn of His anointed.

Footnotes:
a. That is, strength.

1 Samuel 2:1-10
New King James Version

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18 Contemporary Miracles of Saint Nicholas (Part Two)

Read 18 Contemporary Miracles of Saint Nicholas (Part One)

11. A Miracle Told By A Monk Of Grigoriou Monastery of Mount Athos

In Beroia of Macedonia there is a Metochion of the Monastery. One or two times a year, always in the summer, we communicated by sea with a small boat from the Monastery. One time I was traveling with two brothers to the Metochion. But between Cassandra and Pelion there was an unusual calm even though we rowed regularly. The annoying lull got me thinking of an inevitable great evil. My concern was lively, without reason. It was something like a premonition. And while the brothers begged me for all of us to take a break from paddling to rest, I urged them to accelerate, as if something was leading me away from imminent danger. We had to reach as soon as possible the coast between Pelion and Olympus. A slight breeze helped us considerably. We reached the shore, we disembarked, and we pulled in the boat.

Meanwhile a cloud appeared above Pelion, which grew increasingly dark. It was a harbinger of terrible evil. What a terrible outburst followed! A rare windy storm, a stove pipe as they say. As we arrived all the residents gathered, and they were amazed and perplexed, looking at us while doing their cross. They confessed that Saint Nicholas rescued us. We stayed a few days, equipped ourselves, got food, and departed. What a spectacle we saw when we returned! Wherever we passed, shipwrecks. All the ships anchored in the ports of Livas and Garbi were stranded or submerged. The entire southwest side of Cassandra, Sithonia and Athos were affected by the storm. As we reached the Monastery we saw a shocking sight: the Litochorino ship full of timber was submerged.

Avoiding any comments, I can only emphasize the vague anxiety I felt as we went. Was it not a profound and vivid intervention of the Saint?

12. A Miracle At Grigoriou Monastery on December 6th

During the abbacy of Elder Symeon, spiritual father of his successor Elder Athanasios, Saint Nicholas looked after the needs of Grigoriou Monastery with a great miracle.

Once, as the 6th of December was approaching, all the fathers were gathered in a meeting. With the help of God, all the preparations for the feast were going well. Only the cooks were worried because they did not have enough fish to feed all the monks. On the day before the feast, in the afternoon, they went to the Abbot.

"Elder," they said, "don't you think we ought to plan for salt cod? If so, we will put it in water to soak."

"No, no! Don't think of that. We'll have fresh fish. St. Nicholas will take care of it."

Meanwhile, the all-night vigil began - Compline, Great Vespers, Litany, then Matins with the Six Psalms, the Kathismata, and so on, one thing after the other. Again the anxious cooks went to the Abbot.

"Elder, now it's even too late to cook salt cod. Should we start cooking some beans?"

"No, no! The fish will come."

This was something the cooks could not understand. How were the fish going to come? And when? Matins was half over! What made the Abbot so sure?

The choir began singing the lauds, and the cooks were getting even more upset. Then suddenly joyful noises were heard from the courtyard. The dock master, gasping and excited, was shouting: "Fathers, come down here! Get baskets and come down! The Saint has made a great miracle!"

What had happened? A large wave had come and strewn the beach with large and succulent bass. It was a gift from God, an obvious miracle of the Saint.Everyone was amazed - especially the cooks. They didn't know what to marvel at first - the miracle of the Saint, or the unshakable faith of the Abbot. At no other feast had they ever had such fresh and tasty fish. The Saint had given them a bountiful - both spiritual and material.

13. St. Nicholas, Patron Saint of the Holy Monastery of Grigoriou

Another miraculous event occurred on a feastday of St. Nicholas during the abbacy of Fr. Symeon. This time, the cellarer informed the Abbot that he would not be able to give any oil to the hermits. (At that time they were accustomed to give a certain amount of oil as a blessing to the poor ascetics who took part in the feast.)

"What is the difficulty?" asked the Abbot.

"We don't have much oil. There is only half a jar left."

"It doesn't matter. Give them what is left."

The cellarer obeyed. Portioning out the oil to the ascetics, he made them happy, but he himself did not feel any great joy. They had a little oil left; now it would be completely gone. These were the thoughts dictated by his logic, and - even more - by his lack of faith. That which followed, however, and which he was the first to ascertain, brought new life to his faith in the providence and power of God. Their kind and compassionate protector, St. Nicholas, again intervened. The level of the oil in the jar did not go down at all, not even by one centimeter. It remained where it was before.

Thus the hermits received their alms, the Monastery suffered no loss, and the monk who was lacking in faith received a valuable lesson.

If someone had the patience to search through the various books and records of the Monastery, he would find countless miracles of St. Nicholas. Many times he protected the Monastery from sure destruction by fire, and saved monks who had fallen down steep cliffs. Many times also he saved boats and ships from certain shipwreck.

In the Katholicon of the Monastery, from the great ring above the chandelier, there hangs a silver model of a schooner. What does it represent? It represents a certain schooner that had come to pick up a load of lumber at the Monastery. The sea was so heavy that it was in danger of foundering. As soon as the sailors called on St. Nicholas, however, the tempest was stilled, and, beyond hope, they were saved from certain death.

Elder Athanasios gave the following advice to his successor Abbot: "The Abbot must be very charitable, as was St. Nicholas, and must assist all who come to the Monastery asking for help. God will never forsake anyone, but will provide so that nothing is lacking."

* All stories about Grigoriou Monastery were written by Archimandrite Cherubim in the book Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos.

14. How the Village of Saint Nicholas in Solia Got Its Name

The village of Saint Nicholas in Solia did not have its name from the beginning. But a miracle of St. Nicholas prompted the residence to rename their village.

One day a farmer, while tilling his field, came upon a difficulty. The ploughshare of the plow was caught under a large stone. With a spade the farmer unearthed the stone and pulled it to the surface of the field. There he noticed the stone had a hole at one end equal to another at the other end. The farmer thought that such a stone was useful, and in the afternoon went home carrying it to his yard. Through the hole he passed the cord of his ox to tie him there. In the morning when he woke up, he found his ox dead. He called his neighbors to tell him how his ox died from the stone, since it may have carried demonic energy. His neighbors said his ox died from some grass, and not from the stone. The farmer insisted, however, to the point that one day an old man told him how the ox died. He said it was a miracle of St. Nicholas, because he heard from his grandfather that in the area where the stone was found a church dedicated to St. Nicholas once existed that was destroyed by the Saracenes.

The farmer suspected the old man to be right. One Saturday night St. Nicholas appeared to him and told him that in the area the stone was found there existed his church which was buried deep. He was then ordered to uncover it.

That Sunday the farmer went to church, and after the Liturgy told the villagers of his vision, and begged them to go there with him to uncover the church. Before sunset they followed him, and they found the walls of the church. They dug around the church till the walls came up to their waists, and they were painted. On one wall was an icon of St. Nicholas full-bodied. The villagers then decided to build a church on that spot and named their village after Saint Nicholas.

15. A Miracle of Saint Nicholas in Limassol, Cyprus

The following was written by Sylvia Leonidou - Onesiphorou:

My grandfather, that is the father of my mother, was named John Kyriakides. He served in the small Church of Saint Nicholas as a sexton for more than thirty years. He was an honest, sincere, humble and good man who loved the Church very much and had a great weakness for Saint Nicholas. He always had him as a protector and helper.

The Holy Metropolis of Kition (Limassol belonged to the Metropolis of Kition) granted to my grandfather one of the two houses that were near the church, where today is housed the Parish Center, and he lived with his wife Helen. In another house the priest lived with his family.

One night in winter, when rain came and went, there came a big storm. It was chaos. Thunder was heard from afar and lightning ripped the sky from east to west. Great desolation and deep darkness reigned everywhere. Nor were there lights, nor moon, nor stars, because the sky was covered with black clouds.

My grandfather had lied down early. The midnight hour passed. My grandmother suddenly heard him get out of bed and hurriedly put on his poor jacket, ready to go out of the house. Immediately my grandmother began to yell: "John, where are you going at this hour?" My grandfather replied with a calm and gentle voice: "Don't be afraid Helen. Saint Nicholas came and told me his silver icon dropped to the floor in the church and I'm going to pick it up."

Despite the exhortations of my grandmother for him to not go out on such a fearful and rainy night, my grandfather quickly went to the church without losing time.

After some time he returned soaking wet like a duck, but satisfied. He was in fact correct. The silver icon of St. Nicholas was on the floor of the church, just like the Saint notified. Grandfather picked up the icon with great respect and placed it back in its permanent position. After doing his cross three times he venerated St. Nicholas and locked the door to the church. He returned in the rain to his poor bed to continue his sleep, delighted and happy now that he had done his full duty.

16. Saint Nicholas Appears To A Pious Christian Woman

The following was written by Sylvia Leonidou - Onesiphorou:

My mother Chrystalla Andrew died on 2/3/1992. She was a very quiet and faithful wife and grew up there in the old homes of the Church of St. Nicholas.

One summer afternoon in 1985 while sitting on the porch with my father Andreas Leonidou and my little sister Angela Leonidou and all spoke together, suddenly my mother got up from her chair, opened her arms and shouted: "Welcome, welcome! Pass through." Her face glowed a little strange and seemed too happy. Others who saw and watched her movements and heard her words said they did not understand, but neither could explain why she did what she did.

After a few minutes she sat quietly in her chair. Concerned the others asked her what was wrong and what happened. Then my mother said naturally: "Didn't you see the three bishops who came to our house? Here with us was St. Nicholas, the Apostle Luke and the third I did not understand who it was. All three were dressed in the garments of a hierarch. I told them to pass through, but St. Nicholas told me that they were all in a hurry. Just at that moment St. Nicholas blessed our house and told me not to fear and that all will go well. All three smiled at me, they left from the yard and proceeded toward the Church of St. Nicholas. You did not see that they were here? Why are you asking me?"

My mother at this time was awake and had her senses. Also my mother was a very positive and honest woman, and said with confidence and enthusiasm that which occurred that summer afternoon in 1985.

17. Helen Ilia Speaks Of Her Father

Around 1920 when I was a little girl, we lived here in Saint Nicholas. We had great poverty. My father was a shepherd and had his own herd. One day he said he was going to cut wood. Where he went he hit at a point in a tree and "lost his light" (he was blinded). People said he beat the "table outside that we saw" (the devil).

He visited several doctors and was not cured. He went to various churches. At the end he decided to walk from Saint Nicholas to Saint Barbara in Zakaki. At night, in his sleep, a Saint said: "You went to all the churches and did not come near me."

"Who are you?" asked my father. And he got the reply: "I am St. Nicholas. I want you to come like this ..." and he raised his robes, showing his feet were clean.

My father asked me to boil water and he bathed. We took him along the reverse path to walk him, with my brother Harry and myself. That night my father slept alone in the Chapel of St. Nicholas. The next morning we went to take him from there but we did not find him. He had become well. Saint Nicholas healed his eyes and when he woke he saw as before. He had gone home to take the herd and drive it to the pasture.

We all praise God and St. Nicholas! The "old ones" had great faith you see.

18. A Miracle of a Prisoner of War During the Turkish Invasion

The following was written in the newspaper "ΣΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ" on 07/19/1998:

The constable Polydoros Georgiadis is not a person that bends easily. He lives life with a cool and unique serenity. When he remembers, however, the 100 days of captivity, in the dungeons of Adana and Amasa, it is impossible though he tries to hide his tears, and even more tears run from his eyes when he recounts the appearance of St. Nicholas in his cell on September 5th. Let him tell us what he saw:

"While I slept at 10pm St. Nicholas appeared, holding in one hand my wife, who wore the same clothes as on the last day that I saw her when I was captured, and in the other arm a baby. 'Here is your wife and the male baby she gave birth to' he said. 'Yes, but we dedicated him to the Apostle Andrew,' I replied. 'I know, but you should baptize him in my church,' said St. Nicholas, and he disappeared. At the same time I saw the Church of St. Nicholas in my village, in Nata of Paphos. A few days later the Red Cross came to the prison, and I wrote down what I saw on the night of September 5 when St. Nicholas appeared. My letter reached, through the Red Cross, the hands of my wife, who later told me she was moved and informed all my neighbors of the appearance of St. Nicholas. On October 28, when released, I went straight to Nata. It was 1:30 in the morning and all my fellow villagers, who were informed, were on foot, while the bell of the Church of St. Nicholas rang joyfully."

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