The Terrible Process of Execution and Its Peaceful Confrontation by Anthony (Frank Atwood - Monk Ephraim)

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

In previous posts I referred to the issue of Anthony's death sentence and asked for a prayer for Anthony, so that he could deal peacefully with the fact of his execution. His execution took place on June 8th in Arizona.

The well-known story of Frank Atwood, who was sentenced to death for a murder which he himself claimed until the last moment that he did not commit, who while in prison under the highest security was baptized Orthodox with the name Anthony, the patron of the Sacred Monastery of Saint Anthony in Arizona, and shortly before his execution was tonsured a monk with the name Ephraim, after the founder of the Sacred Monastery, Archimandrite Ephraim the Hagiorite and Arizonite.

Frank Atwood, Who Was Tonsured a Monk With the Name Ephraim, Has Been Executed

It was confirmed not long ago that Frank Atwood was executed this morning by the State of Arizona through lethal injection. Atwood was sedated at 10:10 a.m. and was pronounced dead at 10:16 a.m., media witnesses said. He was 66 years old, having been sentenced in 1987 for the kidnapping and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Pima County, Vicki Lynne Hoskinson. Frank maintained his innocence till the end.

“Today marks final justice for our daughter Vicki Lynne. Our family has waited 37 years, eight months and 22 days for this day to come,” Debbie Carlson, Vicki Lynne's mother, said while choking back tears during the media briefing following the execution. “Vicki was a vibrant little girl with an infectious laugh and a smile that would melt your heart."

A Final Correspondence Between Anthony (Frank) Atwood and Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos Before His Execution

 By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

In a previous text I announced that Anthony, Frank Atwood, had been scheduled to be executed in Arizona in the United States in early June. His lawyers did some work to turn the death sentence into a life sentence, to postpone the execution, due to a problem with the poisons, but in the end everything was rejected.

For so many years he has been declaring that even though he made many mistakes in his life, he did not commit the murder for which he was sentenced to death. And I personally believe in his innocence.

Thus, Anthony will be executed on Wednesday, June 8, at 10 a.m. in Arizona of America, that is at 8 p.m. in Greece.

The Death Prayer of Venerable Parthenius of Kiev

 The Death Prayer

By Venerable Parthenius of Kiev

1. When I, dejected by illness, feel the approach of the end of my earthly existence: Lord, have mercy on me.

2. When my poor heart, in its last beats, will languish and pine in deathly torments: Lord, have mercy on me.

3. When my eyes are watered for the last time with tears at the thought that during my life I offended You, O God, with my sins: Lord, have mercy on me.

Second Homily for the Day of the Reception of the Lord (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation"  (Luke 2:29-30).

The holy righteous Symeon, as he saw the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, became calm, although he immediately remembered that he would die soon after this, because it was so predicted to him by the Holy Spirit. Seeing the Savior before him, he was not afraid to see his own death. "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation ...." Christian listeners! When we remember that we will have to die sometime without fail, a lot of things disturb us, trouble us, frighten us, terrify us; but if at the same time we remember our Savior, then we can easily calm ourselves in everything.

On the Death of Children and the Slaughter of the Innocents (St. Paisios the Athonite)

"Having in mind that God will reward in Heaven whoever goes through trials and knowing what awaits them in the next life, this makes them able to 'endure' the pain.

Herod allowed so many crimes to be committed. He slaughtered fourteen thousand infants and how many parents, who did not let the soldiers kill their children, killed them too! The barbarian
soldiers, in order to look better to their leaders, cut the children into pieces.

Monk Ghenadie of Neamt, Who Died on his Knees in Prayer at the Age of 96

 

Monk Ghenadie of Neamt Monastery in Romania was born on 19 May 1927 and reposed on 3 September 2021. He was found in his monastic cell dead on his knees while in prayer.

Iconographer Daniel Codrescu, the artist who created the mosaic works at the Cathedral of the Salvation of the Nation, had a meeting with Monk Ghenadie at the Neamt Monastery on August 21, 2021.

After making his portrait on the bench on which he usually sat, with his eyes looking at the crowds of believers, he said to him: “Pray for me that God will end my good life and remember me.”

"He went to the Lord on his knees in prayer on September 3, and the funeral service will be on Tuesday at the Neamt Monastery, at 10 o'clock. God grant him rest among the righteous!", Daniel Codrescu transmitted, and published as a tribute the sketches from that August day, which we reproduce.

 

 

 

 

 

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An Old Local Liturgical Custom Came to Light Last Week in Crete

Greek media reported a great tragedy last week, when on Wednesday afternoon a little boy who was two and a half years old was found in a barrel with limewater, under unknown circumstances, in the village of Ligortynos in the municipality of Archanes Asterousia of Heraklion, and while his death was initially confirmed, after 2 hours and 40 minutes he developed a pulse.

The little boy was hospitalized in critical condition and intubated in the Intensive Care Unit of the University General Hospital of Heraklion, from Wednesday night.

The little boy, moreover, had not been baptized before the accident. While the child was in intensive care, an air-baptism was given to him Thursday around midnight, where instead of water the child is baptized in the air in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The name he was given was Zacharias after his two grandfathers who also bear the name, but he was also given the middle name Nikitas, which in Greek means "victorious", in the hopes he would emerge victorious in his struggle for life.

Which Is Better for the Dead, Prayer or Almsgiving?

In a recorded discussion, Saint Iakovos Tsalikes said the following:

Someone once told me:

"Father, our relatives drowned while out on a boat."

"Won't you do a memorial for your husband, your relatives?"

"Nah, memorials aren't necessary," she said. "I gave 5,000 drachmas to the Orphanage in Halkida. It's the same thing. My Father, what do you have to say about this?"

Saint Paisios and the Soul of Old Thanasis

 

“As  soon  as  I  went  to  live  at  the  skete,”  recalls  Saint  Paisios, “an elderly  gentleman  whom everyone referred to as old Thanasis and who worked  for  Philotheou  Monastery  as  a  forester,  found  out  about  it  and came  to  see  me.  He  was  a  friend  of  mine,  and  he  brought  me  some blessings, since I had just moved to the skete, and I did not have anything. I  thanked  him,  and  I  told  him  to  write  down  the  names  of  his  departed relatives,  so  that  I  could  commemorate  them.  Influenced  by a certain Jehovah’s  Witness,  he  replied,  ‘When  someone  dies,  there  is  nothing else — after death everything is lost.’

Prayer for the Dead

 

Prayer for the Dead

By John Henry Blunt,
of the Church of England

A custom which has prevailed in many nations, and may be regarded as founded on the instincts of human nature; for when the soul departs into the unseen world it is natural for survivors to pray for its welfare on the same principle that we pray for each other's wellbeing and happiness in this world.

The doctrine and practice came, however, to the Christian Church through the Jews. Christianity, it must be remembered, is not a new religion or the primary revelation of the Divine Will. God revealed Himself to mankind from an early period, and though especially to one nation only, still a revelation of His will had been made, the leading particulars of which were necessarily unchangeable, though, as regards certain unessential points, suited to the Jews only. Christianity, it might therefore be supposed a priori, would not essentially differ from Judaism, each proceeding from the same unchangeable Author. But the connection of the two religions is still closer and more intimate: one was the type and the other the antitype, and thus Christianity may be said to be Judaism in its complete and perfect form and development: signs and types changed into corresponding realities, and the teaching of the Law and Prophets imposed in their full significance and meaning [Matt. v. 17-19]. We cannot therefore expect to find in Christianity what may be called a new revelation of the Divine Will or a complete system of truth, nor can we doubt that the Apostles taught the doctrines or usages of existing Judaism (which generally they were commanded by our Lord to receive (see Matt, xxiii. 2, 3), unless they were manifest corruptions of the Divine Law. But by the fact of their teaching them, such doctrines or usages were stamped with Divine authority or sanction.

Saturday of Souls (Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos)

 

By Archimandrite Epiphanios Theodoropoulos

The Saturday after the Sunday of the Prodigal Son is called the "Saturday of Souls" or "Souls Saturday", because on it the the holy Church performs memorials on behalf of the reposed. From the Horologion of the Church, we copy the following:

"From the Apostolic Constitutions (Bk. 8, Ch. 42) the Church of Christ received the custom to perform the so-called third and ninth and fortieth and so forth memorials for the reposed. This is because many over time have died prematurely, or abroad, or at sea, or on mountains, or on cliffs, or by poverty and thus did not have the honor of such a prescribed memorial. For this reason the divine Fathers, moved by their philanthropy, set forth today as a common memorial of all those who throughout the ages died as pious Christians, so that those few who happened to not have memorials may be included in this common one.

Commemorating the Dead on Meatfare Saturday (St. Theophan the Recluse)

By St. Theophan the Recluse

Now the Holy Church directs our attention beyond the borders of our present life, to our fathers and brothers who have passed on from here. The Church hopes that by reminding us of their state (which we ourselves shall not escape), to prepare us to spend Cheesefare week properly, as well as Great Lent which follows. Let us listen to our mother the Church; and commemorating our fathers and brothers, let us take care to prepare ourselves for our passing over to the other world. Let us bring to mind our sins and mourn them, setting out in the future to keep ourselves pure from any defilement. For nothing unclean will enter the Kingdom of God; and at the judgement, nobody unclean will be justified. After death you cannot expect purification. You will remain as you are when you cross over. You must prepare your cleansing here. Let us hurry, for who can predict how long one will live? Life could be cut off this very hour. How can we appear unclean in the other world? Through what eyes will we look at our fathers and brothers who will meet us? How will we answer their questions: “What is this badness in you? What is this? And what is this?” What shame will cover us! Let us hasten to set right all that is out of order, to arrive at least somewhat tolerable and bearable in the other world.

 

 

Patriarch Pavle of Serbia and the Turbulent Airplane

 

 

Once, when Patriarch Pavle of Serbia was traveling by airplane, on a flight abroad, they entered into a turbulence zone and a loud bang was heard, causing unrest and there was panic among the passengers, who believed that the plane would fall into the ocean. Some shouted, some screamed at the flight attendants and the pilot, while the Patriarch prayed quietly.

The Last Message of Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovic of Montenegro from the Hospital

 

On October 30th Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovic, Archbishop of Cetinje and Metropolitan of Montenegro and the Littoral, died from a COVID-19 infection. He was diagnosed with the coronavirus on October 6th and had been hospitalised in the Clinical Center of Montenegro, which is in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica, since then. On October 9th he offered the following message from the hospital:

Maria Aroni: The 75 Year Old Vigilant Guardian at the Grave of Archbishop Christodoulos

Maria Aroni is a 75 year old woman who daily visits the grave of the late Archbishop Christodoulos of Athens and All Greece at the First Cemetery of Athens. Every day she cleans and washes the grave with perfume, then she stands a few feet away all day long. She does this because she will never forget what he did for her, and her gratitude extends to the daily upkeep and guarding of his grave after his death. "I want to be with him. I receive strength from him and with my thoughts of him," she says.

Concerning Those Who Are Asleep (St. Gregory of Nyssa)

Concerning Those Who Are Asleep

By St. Gregory of Nyssa

"The divine stamp sealed us right from the beginning, not according to any particular form or color; rather, it reflects the divine beauty insofar as man is adorned with freedom from passion, blessedness and incorruptibility in the image of his archetype."

Anyone who maintains that our [human] nature ends in death and that our passage to the spiritual, incorporeal realm is a tragic calamity, fails, in my opinion, to closely examine [the nature of] this life since our irrational attachment to passing beauty, regardless of what it happens to be, causes intense suffering. Furthermore, persons who by reason and intent base their opinions upon an irrational perspective of life cannot properly evaluate anything beautiful and meaningful; they do not choose it because their passionate attachment to human custom and poor judgement seems pleasing and agreeable. To me, such persons must free themselves from their mistaken outlook in order that we can address them more effectively and with greater understanding. Once this is accomplished they can avoid irrational behavior which arises from their passions. Let us now proceed with the task set before us provided that we first truly seek what is good. Only then we will be able to both contrast and compare our own corporeal existence with the [future] life we are anticipating. Thus our consideration [theoria] of the task set before us will enable us to persuade many persons to exchange their habits for sound reasoning. If we approach this responsibility in such a spirit, we will be in a better position to persuade many persons to exchange their habits for sound reasoning. Every person is naturally impelled towards the good and chooses according to it, whereas bad judgment of the good produces a multitude of sins. When true goodness becomes manifest, we would never deviate from it because it is good by nature; neither would we freely associate with evil if we refrained from performing deeds while having a false image of the good. Let us now set before our minds that which is truly good in order that we may embrace it instead of evil and so avoid deception. Therefore we are compelled to define and describe in advance the object of our investigation and so obtain an accurate understanding of the good.

When Funerals Are Not Beneficial and It Is More Compassionate to the Dead to Not Conduct Them (From the Life of Saint Pachomios the Great)

Life of Saint Pachomios the Great

Chapter Three

And it came to pass once that Abba Pachomios went to another monastery to visit the brethren who were there, and as he was on his journey he met the funeral of a certain brother of the monastery who was dead, and the monks were going to the funeral and were singing as they went; and there were also among them the parents of the man who had died.

Now the brethren saw from a distance the holy man coming towards them, and they set down the bier upon the ground so that he might come and pray over him. And when the blessed man had come, and had said a prayer, he commanded the brethren not to sing any more psalms and hymns over him; and he also commanded them to bring the garments of him that had died, and they brought them, and in the presence of them all he ordered the men to burn them; then, when they had been burned he commanded that the dead body should be taken and buried without any further singing.

"Behold, How a Righteous Man Dies!"

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

A devout elder lay on his death bed. His friends gathered around him and mourned him. With that, the elder laughed three times. The monks asked him: "What are you laughing at?" The elder replied: "I laughed the first time, because all of you are afraid of death; the second time, for none of you are prepared for death; the third time, because I am going from labor to rest." 

The Brightest Paradise is Opened on the First Day of Pascha

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

According to popular belief, the brightest paradise is opened on the first day of Pascha, and its gate remains opened during all of Bright Week. Therefore any one who dies during Bright Week becomes a saint, his soul entering directly into paradise. This idea was easily born in the popular mind partly under the influence of the sacred hymns proclaiming forgiveness in general, partly under the influence of the tradition to keep the Royal Doors open in the temples during all Paschal Week, itself signifying "an opening of the heavens". The Book of Needs explains why very little of the usual Burial Service for the Laymen is kept for their burial during the days of Pascha, saying that "the dead person has died in repentance (during these days); but even if he has not yet made satisfaction for his sins, these are remitted to him through the prayers of the Church and he will be freed from its bond".

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