The Three Hierarchs and the Calendar Issue (Elder Cleopa Ilie)

Fr. Calistrat Bobu (+ 1975)

While serving as head sacristan, Brother Constantine (Elder Cleopa Ilie before his tonsure) was an eyewitness to several miracles which occurred during the Divine Liturgy at Sihastria. He recalled these in later years and would recount them to those who came to him for their spiritual edification. Among these he recalled the following:

"Look at at what happened to a very good priest, Fr. Calistrat Bobu. He was a known spiritual father and confessor, but he went to see a nun who was living as a hermitess in the forest. At that time there were about fifty known monks and nuns living alone like that in the woods. This particular nun continued to adhere to the Old Calendar, in opposition to the decision of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. When Fr. Calistrat visited her, she said:

A Miracle of the Holy Cross in India

By Elder Cleopas of Sihastria

India is a very large country in which the majority are Hindus. This country received the gospel from the Apostle Thomas, however most inhabitants remained idolaters.

Once a missionary, after catechizing and baptizing several Indian families, raised a beautifully adorned wooden Cross with the Crucified One on it.

One day the idolaters went to the Crucified One and started to laugh while throwing dirt on His face, spitting, and hitting Him with batons. Suddenly Christ turned His face to the right, and looking at them He said: "Why do you laugh at Me?" The people stood still like pillars of salt, and some even died from fear. Others ran to their teachers and told them of this miracle. When they returned with their teachers they saw that the face of Christ was still turned to the right, and they were so surprised that they asked to be baptized immediately.

Today on the spot where the Crucified One was stands their Cathedral, and the wooden Cross survives in the Holy Altar.

Source: From Stories of Elder Cleopas. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Six Holy Elders Who Reposed on December 2nd

 

Today is major day for Orthodox Christians, as we remember six contemporary Holy Elders and Spiritual Pillars of our time that reposed on December 2nd. They are:

 

1. Elder Porphyrios of Kausokalyva (1906 - 1991)

  

2. Elder Ambrose of Dadiou (1914 - 2006)

  

3. Elder Cleopa Ilie of Romania (1912 - 1998)

  

4. Elder Elpidios  of New Skete (1913 - 1983)

 

5. Elder Anastasios of Koudoumas (+ 2013)

 

6. Elder Luke “the Guestmaster” of Valaam (+ 1965)

  

Eternal be their Memory! May we all be in their prayers! 

 

 

On the Types of Witchcraft (Elder Cleopa Ilie)

By Elder Cleopa of Romania

Inquirer: Father Cleopa, what is witchcraft and how many types of it are there?

Elder Cleopa: By the word witchcraft we understand the invocation of demonic powers – instead of God – in order to help people to fulfil human wishes. Witchcraft used to be practiced both among the Jews of the Old Testament, and among the New Testament Christians, until today. In the Old Testament, the one who asked for the devil’s help, by resorting to witches, was King Saul, and he was severely punished by God. Both Barlaam and the three Magi, who practiced astrology, were wizards.

According to St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite’s teachings, witchcraft is divided into several categories; namely:

Witchcraft per se, which involves calling upon the devils to disclose hidden treasures, lost items, and other such things.

Divination, the second type of witchcraft, through which certain people tell fortunes by palm reading – otherwise called chiromancy – and reading into other objects (maize kernels, playing cards, coffee, etc).

Enchantments, spiritism – that is, calling upon devils in dark rooms or nearby tombs, to punish living persons. Enchanters claim that they call the dead people’s souls from hell, like fortune-tellers during the times of Prophet Samuel (I Kings 21:3), in order to find out future events or take revenge on someone. Nowadays, the enchantment that is practiced among some Christians consists in things like extinguishing coal, uttering certain words in combination with prayers, for sick people whom they claim to have been “charmed”, etc.

“Ghitia” [in Romanian], or fortune-telling by using holy things, such as the Psalm book; fortune-telling by using church items, such as scraps of clerical garments; the church key; censer ashes; writing names on the tocsin, bells, or church walls or introducing them inside the icon lamp, etc.

Spellcasting, in other words, charming young people to marry each other or separate them from one another, by calling in the devil’s help, otherwise called “fate-spelling” by the populace.

Fortune-telling by reading into animal entrails, otherwise called “iconoscopy”. This type of witchcraft also includes dreams, zodiacal signs, good and bad “hours”.

Fortune-telling by the body parts – also called "presaging" (ear-ringing, eyelid-twitching, palm-itching).

Stringing, which involves wearing satanic symbols such as threads, keys, objects (amulets) or dyed fabric, either on one’s hand or chest, with a view to protect the person from illness, danger, and harm, after having previously invoked upon them the devils’ power.

The devil callers (“clindons”) are the ones who foretell the future with the devils’ aid. Among them are the people who make fires in front of houses and jump through them.

Entrail readers; ventriloquist fortune-tellers, as well as the ones practicing entrail reading or render livestock unproductive – a kind of witchcraft which is still practiced in our times.

Astrology is a type of witchcraft that has been practiced since ancient times. It consists in foretelling things by the movements of stars, planets, winds, clouds, and other elements. Astrologers claim that each person has his/her own star.

These are a few of the most current types of witchcraft – some that are almost forgotten, others still practiced in our days, which we combat and of which we must run away, as they are devilish fabrications which mislead and deceive many Christians, much to their perdition.

Inq.: Can the devil really help people through witchcraft, more than the power and grace of God?

EC: Let us make it clear that devils have no power whatsoever to heal someone, neither can they help to disclose damages or their perpetrators. They can never work genuine miracles, but it is only through illusions that they deceive the unfaithful and the ones of weak faith. St. John Chrysostom shows us this truth, when he says:

“Can’t you see how the devils weren’t even able to heal the wizards and charmers who served them, of the blisters and abscesses given by Moses in Egypt – and do you think they will heal you? (Exodus 9:11). And if the devils don’t take pity on your soul, how will they grow sad over the pain of your body?

If the devils do their best to push you out of God’s Kingdom, how will they save you from illness? This is mere reason for laughter and fairy tales. Therefore, do not fool yourself, Christian, as the wolf can never turn into sheep, nor can the devil ever turn into a doctor. It is rather easier for fire to cause freezing and for snow to provide warmth, than it is for the devil to heal you for real.”

Therefore, whenever we fall ill or have any problem or are unjustly treated, or suffer from some damage, or have marriageable sons or daughters – or any other family issues, let us not resort to the help of the devil and his servants – the wizards and the fortune-tellers – but to the Church and Priests, to fasting and praying, and we will instantly receive help from our Good Father, Who made us and has mercy on us.

Inq.: What are the consequences of the sin of witchcraft?

EC: Those who practice witchcraft and go to witches commit a great sin against the Holy Spirit, as they leave God and ask for the devils’ help. They relinquish Christ’s servants – the holy Priests – and go to Satan’s servants. That is, they abandon the Living Water – the priest – and the Church’s grace and, for the sake of their passionate and human interests, they call in the help of Christ’s enemies – the wizards and witches. They cast off the Truth and instead, they receive lying, as all the wizards’ words are nothing but devilish lies and deception. Such a great sin that those guilty of it commit against the Holy Spirit aren't forgiven – neither during the current age, nor in the next age, as Christ Himself says, unless they repent throughout their lives. All sorts of misfortunes and dangers befall those guilty of such sin, those who resort to charmers. First of all, one will face the remorse of one’s own conscience for having abandoned God and called for the help of God’s enemy.

Then there is the penance, over several years, from taking the Holy Eucharist, which can last from 7 to 15 years, or even 20. Then the ones who believe in, and resort to, charmers chase God’s grace from their hearts and bring the devil’s spirit into their house and heart. Then, people who cast spells and believe in them cast off Christ and unite with the devil. Then, people who cast spells and resort to such people that perform them are no longer entitled to the name of Christians, but of apostates. Then, the ones who are guilty of such a serious sin are punished by God with severe and unrecoverable illnesses, with suffering in their families, damage, conflicts, poverty, and terrible death. And if they don’t confess to a priest and do not repent for their sin, with tears, all their lives, they cannot be saved.

If they do not abandon their practices and do not repent, wizards and people who believe in them and who resort to the devil’s help “abandon the Church completely”; that is, they separate from Christ and give themselves willingly into the hands of the enemy, and if they die in that sin, they will not even be allowed to have a priest at their funeral; but rather, just as pagans and the fallen from faith, they will be sent into the toils of Hell for their eternal punishment. These are the terrible consequences of witchcraft.

Inq.: What canons do the Holy Fathers give to wizards and to people who resort to them?

EC: St. Basil the Great lays down the most severe punishments for wizards. This is what he says in Canon 72: “The person who entrusts himself to charmers or anyone similar shall be punished with the Canon that applies to murderers” (St. Basil, 72; St. Gregory of Nyssa, 3; Laodicea, 36). He places wizards among people-killers and the ones who have been cast off by God; that is, he stops them from taking the Holy Mysteries for a period of 10 to 20 years. In Canon 65, the same St. Basil the Great says: “Any woman who will cast spells on strangers or on her own people (is to be forbidden to take the Holy Mysteries) for 9 years and she is also to genuflect 500 times a day.”

Canon 61 of the 6th Ecumenical Synod withholds the Holy Eucharist for six years from those who frequent fortune-tellers, card-readers and other such people, in order to find out future events. And “if they persist in such things and do not stay away from these soul-losing and pagan crafts, we decide that they be abandoned completely by the Church, as the Holy Canons teach, too.” St. John the Faster shortens the canon for wizards and people resorting to witchcraft to only 3 years of Eucharist interdiction, if they confess their sins, give it up completely, fast every day until three in the afternoon, and do 250 genuflections a day.

But even the Holy Scripture indicates how hard God’s punishment is to the people who resorted to wizards, as it reads: ”Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18). And it also says: “A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones; their blood shall be upon them” (Leviticus 20:27). And also: “And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people” (Leviticus 20:6).

We see that Emperor Manasseh was punished by God with bitter and heavy captivity in Babylon, for having “caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger” (II Chronicles 33:6). Emperor Saul was punished by God with the loss of his kingdom and a disgraceful death, for having abandoned God and having resorted to a ventriloquist woman and followed her divination practices (I Kings 28:7) and Emperor Ahaziah was the object of great wrath by God, for having sent envoys to ask questions to the witch of Ekron.

Inq.: Please tell us more about the sin of foretelling based on holy books, or, as they are commonly called, “the opening of the Law”, which is usual nowadays among believers.

EC: Magic with holy items and books is the fourth type of witchcraft and is called “ghitia”. These wizards mix their witchcraft with prayers, psalms, and other holy words, addressed to the Mother of God and the Saints, so that they can fool those of weak faith more easily. Such witchcraft is common especially among ill-meaning, the old, as well as Gypsy women, and is aimed at deceiving those who have a weak mind.

This is what St. John the Chrysostom says about this:

“You say that that old woman is a Christian, and that man is a Christian diviner, and when they enchant or open the Book, they neither say, nor write any other names than those of Christ, the Holy Theotokos and the Saints; so what harm do they do? To this, I answer you that for such acts it is right to hate that bad woman and that evil charmer and book diviner even more, as they use God’s name in a shameful and dishonourable way.

Even if they are Christian, they work like pagans. Because even devils themselves, despite naming the name of God, are still devils. Some, wishing to justify themselves, say that the enchanter woman is Christian and that she says nothing else but the name of God. It is precisely for that reason that I hate her and turn away from her even more, because she uses God’s name in a shameful manner. Despite calling herself Christian, she shows herself to be working the pagans’ work.”

The ones who tell fortunes by opening the Psalm book and other holy books are forbidden to take the Eucharist for up to 7 years, because the Psalm book is holy and contains many prophecies, it has been inspired by the Holy Spirit, and is aimed for prayers and not for divination and profit-making, to one’s eternal punishment. The same sin is perpetrated by some priests, who “open the book”, as they call it colloquially, and thus fall under heavy punishment, along with those who ask them to open the Holy Gospel.

Inq.: Why have some Christians fallen into the sin of witchcraft?

EC: Because their faith and fear of God have gone weak; because today’s Christians don’t pray enough to fulfill their demands through prayer and not divination; because they don’t read the Holy Scriptures to see the kind of punishment that awaits wizards, and because they don’t go to Church regularly, do not confess during the four main Lents and don’t ask for the advice and prayers of their Priests when they need something. Some Christians also resort to divination because they have forgotten the promises they made to Christ during Holy Baptism, when they said: “I cast thee off, Satan, and all of your things, and all his service…” Also, Christians resort to the devil when the Church does not fulfill their demands or because they forget about death and Christ’s Judgement Day.

Which is why the Holy Fathers urge us to run only to God, only to the Church and to the Priests, and not to the devils and their servants. And St. John Chrysostom advises us: “I entreat you, stay clear of such deceit… and every time you step out of your house, say this first: I cast thee off, Satan, and your honoring, and your service, and I unite with you, Christ! Never step out of your house without this thought. May this be your walking cane, your weapon, your defense fortress, and while saying these words, also do the sign of the cross on your forehead. Thus armed everywhere, were you to encounter not only man, but even the devil himself, they will not be able to do you any harm”.

Inq.: How can Christians keep away from witchcraft and all the other kinds of magic that the devil produces?

EC: Whoever has a firm belief in God, who prays to God incessantly, and goes to the Holy Church regularly, will never resort to devils and wizards for help, as they are the enemies of God.

So, those who have steadfast faith in God should ask Him for His help at all times. And the ones who have weak faith, who have resorted to wizards, if they wish to be saved, first of all they must confess their sin and then ask for a canon (penance). Then they should never resort to Satan’s help any more, no matter what need they might have – but only to God’s help. Then, they should pray as much as possible, with prayers and tears that come from the heart (Deuteronomy 4:29; Psalm 119:58; Jeremiah 29:13) and thus, with patience and faith, they will be saved from witchcraft and will receive the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Inq.: What are dreams and sightings, what is the difference between them and of how many types are they?

EC: I shall answer you with the words of St. John of the Ladder, who says: “Dreaming is the movement of one’s mind during the stillness of the body. And apparitions (fake sightings) are the illusion of the eyes, when thinking is asleep. Apparitions are the mind’s exit when the body is awake. Apparitions are the sighting of something without hypostasis (not real)”. So this is what dreams and sightings are. They are of two kinds: good and bad – dreams and visions. The difference between them is this: the good dreams and visions are from God, and they reveal His great will, but only to those who are completely accomplished and saintly and who obey His commandments. Such a person was Joseph, to whom Archangel Gabriel showed himself in his dream, ordering him to flee with the Infant Jesus and Virgin Mary to Egypt. Good dreams come from the angels and remind us of death and punishment and after we wake up, they drive us to prayer and repentance. On the contrary, bad dreams and sightings are from the devils, who take the form of angels of light or saints and deceive us while we sleep and make us believe that we are good and worthy of entering Heaven; and after we wake up, “we sink into pride and joy”.

Inq.: Is it sinful for Christians to believe in dreams and visions?

EC: St. John of the Ladder says that “whoever believes in dreams is like the one who chases one’s own shadow and tries to catch it”. He also says that “the devils of empty glory (vanity) are prophets, in one’s dreams. They shrewdly invent images of future things and tell us about them in advance. And if the sightings come true, we wonder at them and take pride in that, as if we had the gift of foreseeing (prophecy). Those who listen to the devil have often turned into fake prophets”. And he continues: “Devils know nothing about future things based on prior knowledge, since doctors, too, can tell us that we will die, beforehand.” Then he concludes, by saying: “The moment we start to believe the devils’ dreams, they begin to mock us even when we are awake. Whoever believes in dreams and sleep visions is completely inexperienced. And the one who doesn’t believe either is a philosopher.”

So, it is a sin to believe in dreams and visions, because it is through such things that devils deceive us very easily and throw us into the terrible sin of pride and vanity, to the point where man ends up trusting himself more than the word of God. With this tempting contrivance, the devil has deceived many Christians and monks, eventually throwing them into the pit of perdition. And if, however, someone doubts one’s dream or visions, one should confess to one’s Priest and ask for his advice, as it is through one’s spiritual Father that God speaks.

Inq.: How many reasons are there for people to deceive themselves by empty visions and dreams?

EC: There are seven reasons for which Christians are deceived by visions and dreams into believing that they are from God: pride; vanity – which is the first daughter of pride; a weak and inexperienced mind; the thoughtless zeal of some Christians, who pray and fast a lot so that they can have visions, and of whom St. Isaac the Syrian says: “It is from great illness that the one who has false zeal suffers.” The fifth reason for deception through visions and dreams is failure to listen to one’s Spiritual Father and the stubbornness of some believers – especially the proud ones – which makes them easy pray to the devil; the sixth reason has to do with people failing to disclose all their personal lives (inaccurate confession) to the Priest. The last reason for Christians’ deception through dreams and false visions is failure to know oneself and to read the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers.

Wise Sirach talks about these matters also, when he says: “Divinations and omens and dreams are folly, […] for dreams have deceived many, and those who put their hope in them have failed” (Sirach 34:1-7). May the ones who believe in dreams and visions easily, without much searching and advice, receive penance, just as the ones who resort to magic and enchantments – namely, may they be stopped from taking the Holy Eucharist for up to seven years.

Excerpt from “Ne vorbeşte Părintele Cleopa”, 4th vol.

 

 

On Occultism, Spiritualism and Necromancy (Elder Cleopa Ilie)

By Elder Cleopa of Romania

Inquirer: I know that many people, in pain caused by the death of their beloved relatives, take recourse to spiritualism, fortune-telling, occultism, or even aim at conversing with their dead relatives. Why doesn’t the Church allow this?

Elder Cleopa: In both Holy Scripture and throughout the writings of the Holy Fathers there are a host of testimonies clearly showing that God punishes those that become involved with occultism and necromancy (seeking to speak with the dead). Our Saviour teaches us that “blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed” (Jn. 20:29). The Apostle Paul shows us who believe in Christ that we must seek after the power of faith and not the perception of our material eyes, saying “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). The prowling demons, however, instruct certain men not to be satisfied with the teaching of the Saviour and of His Apostle - to walk with trust in the faith of Christ - but rather to seek by every means to view with their sensible eyes that which is accessible only to the eyes of faith. The man who resorts to black magic and necromancy is an enemy of God, disobedient to His commandments, not content with the salvatory lessons God teaches him through the Scriptures, but rather, prompted by the demons in this illegitimate work, he seeks to investigate things rationally. And so, believing in these fantasies, he withdraws from God and the teaching of our Church.

Those who concern themselves with this and call upon the spirits of the dead, bring in as support the example of Saul who sought from the sorceress the invocation of the soul of Samuel (1 Sam. 28). Those who have fallen into this delusion of Saul should know from his punishment that they are culpable before God. For, because of this very transgression, Saul lost his kingdom and his life and was punished by God to be killed with his own sword. The punishment of Saul for his unlawful conversing with the dead is related in Holy Scripture thus: “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse” (1 Chr. 10:13-14).

In the Old Testament the Lord commands the following: “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God” (Lev. 19:31). And elsewhere: “A man or also woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them” (Lev. 20:27). The invocation of the spirits of the dead is hateful before God Who has never given it sanction among His people: “ . . . there shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD” (Deut. 18:9-14). God considers this abomination one of man’s greatest revolts against His Will.

We have no need to communicate with the dead since God has revealed to us everything He knows to be necessary and beneficial for our salvation. For example, conversing with the dead is not able to prove to us that the souls of the dead live as they once lived in this present life. This reality of the next life is not news to us since we know it from Divine Revelation and it is a matter of faith, without there being the need for research and examination with our bodily senses. Divine Revelation offers us every assurance of truth. If someone wants to inspect and feel this with their visible senses it means placing in doubt the truths which were revealed by God. Furthermore, in these spiritual discourses there is no assurance that the spirit of the dead that was called for will appear and speak, for the evil spirits, the demons, mimic the righteous spirits, as Saint Paul teaches us: “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (1 Cor. 11:14). And the Evangelist John tells us the following: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God” (1 Jn. 4:1-3).

In addition to all of this, the Holy Fathers tells us that in the case of Saul and the witch, it was not the spirit of Samuel that appeared, but a demonic spirit that had supplanted the spirit of Samuel. Saint Gregory of Nyssa says that the spirit was so dreadful and hideous, that the sorceress was frightened by it. Likewise, we see in the case of Adam whom God had called to the height of theosis, that he was deluded by the Devil and, falling from the grace of God, hid himself with Eve. There are many examples in Scripture from which we know that by the delusion of the devil death is inherited instead of life, the lie instead of the truth, and evil instead of good.

Due to the danger of deception from visions and dreams, some of the Holy Fathers didn’t accept any kind of dream before performing a very careful examination. Saint John of the Ladder [Abbot of St. Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai (6th c.) & author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent] says “Whoever does not believe in visions and dreams is a spiritual philosopher,” and also that when the demons of vainglory and pride tempt the weaker brothers with visions and dreams, they make them into “prophets.”

Inq.: The fortune-tellers and enchanters say that Holy Scripture relates cases of the appearances of dead men and angels. They also say that since Scripture attests to our inability to communicate directly with the dead, it follows that conjuring of spirits is not foreign to Christianity, and, above all, is not something anti-Christian.

EC: It is true, indeed, that Holy Scripture relates to us the appearance of Moses and Elias during the transfiguration of the Saviour (Mat. 17:3), and also that after the crucifixion of Christ many dead were raised from the tombs (Mat. 27:52-53). Scripture also attests to the appearance of angels, such as at the news of the birth of Saint John the Baptist, and birth of the Saviour Christ (Lk. 1:11-20), at the Resurrection of the Lord (Lk. 2:9-15), and also to their intervention in the service of certain of the righteous and the saints of the Old and New Testaments (Mat. 28:2-7). They communicated with men either face to face or through dreams (Mat. 1:20, 2:13). However, these appearances did not happen by the will and invocation of men, but by the command of God. These appearances certify the immortality of their souls and their power to be revealed to men in exceptional ways, however, it does not support the prerogative of man to seek out contact with the dead.

Inq.: In the Old Testament necromancy was practiced, as is clear in the case of Saul and the sorceress and elsewhere. In the Christian Church, likewise, that which we call the supplication of saints and angels is practiced. At its base, this is nothing else but an invocation of righteous souls or a communication with the dead, with the aim of helping the living with their particular needs. On account of this, it is claimed that occultism or fortune-telling represents a scriptural teaching that in practice is recognized by the Church.

EC: The truth regarding Saul and the sorceress was clarified earlier. Concerning the entreaty of saints and angels, in no way is it the same as necromancy. In calling upon the saints and angels, we do not have the intention or pretension of speaking sensibly with them, of seeing them, hearing their voice, or of having them appear before us perceptibly in order to reveal to us mysteries which God has determined should remain hidden from man. We speak to the saints and angels in our prayer, by means of our mental (νοερός) eyes and our faith, without the need to see or hear them sensibly.

The conjurors have the aim and the need to call upon the spirits of the dead (I believe, however, that in fact they are spirits of demons which appear in the form of the spirits of the dead) in order that they may reveal to them certain secrets that relate to the future of the dead or other curiosities forbidden by the law of God. Listen to what Holy Scripture has to say: “And when they shall say unto you, seek unto the necromancers and unto the soothsayers, who chirp and who mutter, Shall not a people seek unto their God? On behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead? To the law and the testimony! If they speak not according to this word, for them there is no daybreak” (Is. 8:19-20).

When the unmerciful rich man called upon Abraham to send Lazarus to the house of his father and to make known the situation in which he was found in order to bring his brothers to repentance, Abraham answered him that for the living the revelation of the Law (Moses and the Prophets) was sufficient. Indeed, in the Divine Revelation that was given to us with Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition we lack nothing in the way of knowing about our salvation, nor do we have need to seek from the dead - or better, the demons - something favourable to our salvation.

When God sends us a prophet and it is not revealed to us immediately, this means that he does not want to make other disclosures, knowing that they won’t be profitable for us. When someone who prophesies is not from God, without a doubt he is from the Devil, as were the false-prophets referred to in Scripture. They announced false visions, vanities, and preposterous prophecies relative to the condition of their heart. When they actually do tell us the truth, we should not believe it, since they don’t say it with the aim of benefiting anyone, but rather, from deceptiveness they seek to lead us into delusion. Look at the girl with the unclean spirit of divination in the city of Philippi of Macedonia. Everything that the evil spirit said through her mouth was true, and yet the Apostle Paul admonished it to keep silent, casting out the demonic spirit. (Acts 16:16-18)

As was suggested earlier, with the supplication of the saints and angels we are not curious as to what we will see or what we will hear from them (materially speaking), as are the magicians and fortune-tellers with their invocation of spirits. We seek from God, through the saints, that which He deigns to give us for our salvation, while the psychics and shamans seek, from the demons that appear in the semblance of dead men, that which they themselves want, and even this out of base curiosity.

If, however, by the command of God, one of the saints or angels wanted to appear to us in a material way, there is no transgression in this, for we didn’t desire this or seek after this. Yet, even in such cases, it is necessary for us to be very careful, humble, prudent and full of the fear of God, for knowing that Satan also assumes the guise of an angel, it may well be a fantasy of the Devil (2 Cor. 11:14-15). Of course, even when the vision is from God it is better for us not to receive it. For if we do this with humility God will not be sorrowful because He knows that we are taking heed not to accept within us the wolf instead of the shepherd. We don’t, indeed, have need of seeing the saints and angels, but only to pray with faith and internal vision. Saint Neilos the Ascetic says “Blessed is that intellect which arrives at the point of worshipping God without giving shape to His form within itself.”

Inq.: The occultists and necromancers allege that, according to the teaching of Scripture, being born again or returning to life is accepted by the Scriptures, as in the case recorded of the return of Elias in the person of Saint John the Baptist. The angel said about John: “And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias” (Lk. 1:17). And the Saviour says similar words about John: “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, who was to come,” (Mat. 11:14) in other words, he concerning whom it was revealed by the prophets must come (Mal. 4:4). Another time the disciples asked the Lord, “’Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?’ And Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist” (Jn. 17:10-13). Consequently, John the Baptist is Elias who is to come again into the world. Therefore, Jesus Christ taught that there is a re-awakening or retrieval of life. Isn’t this the case?

EC: Truly, the Prophet Malachi did prophesy the appearance of Elias, however, this was not fulfilled prior to the birth of the Messiah. Rather, Elias will appear just before the coming of the great and illustrious day of the Lord and thereby signify the beginning of the end of the world (Mal. 3:23).

We should understand the angel’s words, that John will come “in the spirit and power of Elias,” to mean that he will have the force of Elias in his mission to the world and in his preaching of repentance, with his zeal, deeds, toils and raiment. (2 Kg. 1:8)

The words of the Saviour would seem, indeed, to support the return of Elias in the person of John (Mat. 11:14,17:10-13), and that it would happen then and not at the end of the world. Nevertheless, based on the spirit of the teaching of the Saviour it is not possible for John to be identified with Elias, but only to resemble him. Lucid and unmistakable proof of this is the fact that to the question of the Jews of Jerusalem, addressed to John through the priests and Levites, as to whether he was or was not Elias, he answered them categorically “ I am not” (Jn. 1:21). It is impossible that John would contradict the Saviour and deny his identification with Elias. Furthermore, if Elias was to come in the person of John the Baptist, how was it that he appeared together with Moses on Mount Tabor during the Transfiguration of the Lord? (Mt. 17:3)

The regeneration which the Saviour speaks of to Nicodemos (Jn. 3:3-7) is not a bodily restoration but a spiritual rebirth from above through water and the spirit, that is, through Holy Baptism. The text itself rules out any possibility of a bodily rebirth, as Nicodemos had mistakenly understood, when it stresses that it is not speaking of a second bodily or natural birth.

And yet, neither can the prudent mind accept the possibility of identifying John with that prophet who is to come, Elias. Likewise, disagreeable is that which the spiritualists teach, namely that his return happens for the purpose of moral purification and perfection, since Elias has no need of purification and moral perfecting. According to the Christian teaching there does exist a return of the soul to the body, but only once, and that at the end of the world when all will be raised and the material body will be transfigured in order to participate in eternal life.

Inq.: In relation to this, I found a passage in Holy Scripture difficult to understand. It is the passage which tells the story of the man born blind who washed and was healed in the pool of Siloam. The Apostles asked the Lord, saying, “Master, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (Jn. 9:2) It seems to follow from this that apparently the blind man was in a position to pay off those personal sins committed before his birth. This is what certain occultists and those who believe in reincarnation maintain.

EC: As we said earlier, at the end of the world there will be one re-establishment of soul and body before the final judgement. This forgiveness of personal sins or of the sins of the parents of the blind man is something else entirely. The case of the man born blind is not concerned with who sinned and punished the blind man, as the Apostles mistakenly supposed. Rather, the Saviour brushed aside this opinion of theirs, saying that the man was not blind on account of his sins, but so that the “works of God should be made manifest in him,” (Jn. 9:3) or, so that His therapeutic power may be made manifest. In the teachings of Christ, nowhere does there exist, even in this life, punishment as the fruit of a just reward. The loosing and forgiveness of sins occur in this life as well. However, the definitive loosing from the shackles of sin happens after the Future Judgement, when it will be not for purification but as recompense. Redemption came from the Lord alone for the sake of all mankind and no one, by any means whatsoever, is able to forgive his own sins.

As for the other teachings of the spiritualists, like those presented earlier they are all anti-Christian and their mask has been removed under the scrutiny of the teaching of our Orthodox Church. Our Church teaches us that:

1) Souls have been created directly by God.

2) According to the teaching of our Church, under no circumstances can one speak of the pre-existence of souls.

3) Bodies are creations of God and not of the angels.

4) The place of punishment is Hades, in which the conditions are immutable - something certified by the words of Divine Revelation.

5) The demons cannot be saved.

7) There exists only one resurrection and return of the soul to the resurrected body, which will happen at the end of the world for the final judgement.

No one among the race of men can compel a soul to leave paradise and go to hell, or vice versa, as the deluded spiritualists believe. How can such a thing happen when we know very well that the souls of the just are in the hands of God? Likewise, we also know that between the living and the dead “a great gulf is fixed” and no one from there is able to come to us here (Lk. 16:26). Do you think it possible for one among men to take a soul from the hand of God, against His Will and to request it to engage in a conversation? Can someone cross that impassable chasm referred to in the Gospel and through its invocation bring a soul from the other world to earth? And if we assume that we are benefited by such a medium how can we accept it knowing that it is hateful and an abhorrence to God? (Dt. 18:9-13)

Someone might say that, indeed, the souls of the just are in the hands of God, however, the spiritualists in their meetings don’t call upon souls of the righteous, but of the wicked, who are not in the hands of God, but in Hades.

Are the souls of the branded and accursed found beyond the supervision of God? Listen to what the Lord says in the Revelation of Saint John with reference to this: “Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Rev. 1:17-18)

Consequently, just as the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, so too, those of the wicked in the kingdom of Hades are also under the infinite and indescribable authority of God. They are not to be found at the disposal of certain spiritualists who would like to call upon them to serve them in their lawless work. If, through the medium, spirits appear which they have called, let them know that these are not the spirits of relatives or friends. On the contrary, they are the unclean spirits of darkness which, until the last judgement, God has left free to harass men, and who reside in - according to the witness of Holy Scripture - the uppermost stratum of the atmosphere, or “high places.” (Eph. 6:12) Against these powers and principalities battle the Christians with the weapons God has given them. (Eph. 6:11, 13-17)

Inq.: Could you give us a brief summary of the teaching of those who occupy themselves with the occult, who are called variously: spiritualists, fortune-tellers, sorcerers, necromancers etc.?

EC: The teaching of the spiritualists takes many forms, according to the testimonies of the vanguard of occultism. Here it is in general terms:

1) They deny the dogma of the Holy Trinity, replacing it with one supreme god and other solar-gods considered his sons or with other planets that they compare with the Holy Spirit, and all of it is organized hierarchically.

2) Some speculate that God is not the creator of the cosmos, only its organizer.

3) They say that Jesus is a higher spirit and our sun’s god who guides man but doesn’t save him. They believe that the true revelation comes from the spirits that appear to man by means of the medium.

4) They believe that man is made of flesh and encircled with the spirit; that the soul of man has a casing or husk, can leave the visible world and after death communicate with those of the living that are worthy and believing.

5) They say that salvation is accomplished with the evolution toward the good and with reincarnation. They accept an infinite god having under his authority other, lesser, gods which govern particular planets and areas of heaven, assisted by the angels. Spirits of planets, animals and sentient beings inhabit the universe. The body of man is destroyed, but the shell and spirit is immortal. Human beings that are good have within them the good spirit, while the evil pass over into another body until they also, themselves, become good and so on.

From The Truth of Our Faith: A Discourse from Holy Scripture on the 

Teachings of True Christianity (Ch. 19).

 

 

Eldress Agatha: Mother of Elder Cleopa Ilie

Eldress Agatha Ilie (1876 - 1968), formerly known as Maria before being tonsured a nun, was the mother according to the flesh of one of the greatest hesychasts of modern Romania - Elder Cleopa Ilie.

She was from Soulitsa in the district of Botosani. Her husband was named Alexander, who was a cow merchant for a living. God blessed them with ten children. From a young age this pious couple taught their children to love the ecclesiastical services, to pray, and to flee temptations in their personal lives. Nearby their village was the Kozantsea-Botosani Skete, where Fr. Paisios Olarou struggled, who became the spiritual father of Elder Cleopa as well as the entire family. This is where the children of this large family would go to pray and to listen to the teachings of Elder Paisios, as well as help graze the animals of the Skete.

But God, Who alone is All-Good, and Whose ways are beyond comprehension, allowed this large pious family to suffer many bitter trials. One by one each child was taken from this life, much like the children of Job. This occurred between 1915 and 1935, by the will of God. John died at the age of 16. After a year his sister Porphyria died at the age of 18. After two years the 26 year old Maria died. Their mother Maria was in deep sorrow constantly for the loss of her children. She would go to the Skete and Elder Paisios would console her saying that she was sending angels to heaven. Her sorrow would continue after a few years when Basil and George left to become monks at Sihastria Monastery, and in 1931 she was informed that Basil had died as well. George, who had taken the name Gerasimos, would die two years later. One year later another terrible loss came upon Maria, when her daughter Katherine died; she was only 20 years old and was a novice at Agapia Monastery. Eight children had died at this point, and two were left for her consolation. Every time a child was taken from her, Fr. Paisios would say: "Your children are chanting to God like angels, Maria. There you will meet again." In 1949 Maria went to inform Fr. Paisios that her ninth child died, named Michael. He told her: "Your nine children have gone to the Lord and received nine martyric crowns." Shortly after this her husband, Alexander, died. Her last surviving child, Constantine, had already gone to become a novice at Sihastria Monastery in 1936, and came to be known as Cleopas upon his tonsure. Cleopa was urging his mother at this point to become a nun, and Fr. Paisios informed her: "Go Maria, you also become a monastic and pray for the living and the dead."

In the winter of 1946 Maria went to join a convent, at the age of 70, after first visiting Sihastria Monastery to venerate the tombs of her two sons. From there she went by carriage to the Monastery of Old Agapia, where she stayed for good. There she took the name Agatha and lived for another 22 years. All her life she was illiterate and could not read books or the Divine Services. What characterized her was her goodness and innocence of soul. Her soul was child-like, without evil, without pride, without bad thoughts in her mind. Whatever somebody told her, she believed, and whatever she was asked to do, she did with obedience, because she loved everybody and had no discrimination. She spoke with everyone, and cried for the misfortune and pain of all people.

When she was asked what obedience she had at the Monastery, she would respond: "I cut wood with the saw, I take care of the flowers, and I help with the cooking." Another job she had was to go into the woods all day to gather sticks for the kitchen, the whole time praying while she worked, and she would return before sunset.

One year before her repose, she ceased altogether speaking of her children. If a nun happened to ask Sister Agatha about her children, she would groan a little bit, but then be happy as a child, saying: "How good are these sisters. They care for me like a mother. Behold, here I am alone. Abbess Olympia also reposed. I have remained alone."

Her only consolation now was the Church and the Sisters who took care of her in her cell. She lived the 22 years of her monastic life with humility, prayer, silence, love, quietude, and spiritual prayer.

Old Agapia Monastery was a haven for Eldress Agatha. Though she sent all but one of her children to heaven before her own repose, through prayer she was ever near them together with all the saints through the grace of the Holy Spirit. In the Monastery she found comfort and peace of soul. In the summer of 1968 Eldress Agatha began to feel weak. She only had the strength to walk to the balcony of her cell to catch some warmth from the rays of the sun. For a few days she was bedridden. "Eldress Agatha, won't you eat some food? Here are a few apples," said the nuns who took care of her. To this she responded: "Apples I will eat in Paradise, where I am going soon." On 15 September 1968, at the age of 92, her soul went to Paradise, after saying farewell to the entire Sisterhood of the Monastery.

Elder Cleopa On the End Times

1. A Sign of the End Times

One day Elder Cleopa met a holy ascetic in the forest and asked him:

"Tell me, Father, when will the end of the world come?"

And the righteous hesychast told him:

"You know when the end of the world will come? When a road will not exist from one neighborhood to another."

That is to say, when love will not exist from one person to another.

2. Do Not Fear the Coming of Antichrist

A few years ago when people were disturbed that the Antichrist is coming, with wars and similar things, Fr. Cleopa would tell them in a loud voice:

"The Father is at the wheel! Take and read verses 10 and 11 of Psalm 32:

'The Lord scatters abroad the counsels of the nations, and He sets aside the reasoning of the peoples; and He rejects the counsels of rulers. The counsel of the Lord abides forever, the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.'"

He would also encourage them saying:

"Be not disturbed nor afraid, because things will not come to pass as they want. Whatever they want, let them do it. You should not fear. Pray and make the sign of the cross with faith, and the demons shall flee."

3. Learn To Fast

Father Cleopa would say: "Learn to fast, because the time will come when you will eat one potato a week."

4. Spiritual Coldness

A father asked the Elder:

"What will happen, Elder, after your departure to the Lord?"

Elder Cleopa responded:

"There will come stronger cold and hard frost."

Here he of course means spiritual cold, where everyone will be overly involved with earthly things and there will be lack of interest in spiritual things along with a great subservience to the passions.

From The Life and Struggles of Elder Cleopa, Romanian Hesychast and Teacher by Archimandrite Ioanichie Balan. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

Miracles at the Grave of Elder Cleopa

April 14, 2004
Proskinitis

The tomb of Father Cleopa Ilie, who rests at the Sihăstria Monastery, has become a pilgrimage site. Those who met Father Cleopa during the 64 years he spent only at Sihăstria come and worship at his resting place and say that they feel the blessing and the help of the holy man in achieving their requests, just as when he was alive.

Very many ill people have been miraculously cured after having taken earth or flowers from Father Cleopa’s tomb (which they carefully preserved at home) or even oil from the icon lamp at his tomb cross, which they applied on the suffering parts of their body. The miracle of the healings has spread out fast throughout the country and the monks at Sihăstria have to permanently add a layer of earth on the tomb, to replace the amount that is taken for healing.

"Several buses of pilgrims stop over at Father Cleopa’s tomb and ask for permission to take a handful of earth. Some sprinkle it in their gardens, others keep it as a sample of the Elder’s grace to be protected from all evil, while others add just a little bit in their food," a monk told us, adding that several times so far he has had to carry two or three wheelbarrells of earth to Fr. Cleopa’s grave, to fill in the hollows left by the faithful.

A young woman from Cluj, who knew Father Cleopa while he was alive (he had been her spiritual Father), was suffering from a terrible heart disease. She couldn’t manage to get to Sihăstria until after the Elder’s repose. She went to the cemetery and prayed near his grave; when she left, she took a little bit of earth and swallowed it, being certain that the Father’s grace will work upon her. The young woman was healed and the news about the miracle spread throughout the villages around Cluj, the monk added. The Father’s cell has been turned into a museum ever since and has been visited by thousands of pilgrims from inside and outside Romania.

The Photo of Elder Cleopa Unharmed By Fire

On the evening of 17 April 2004 during Bright Week, a fire in Susana Monastery, which is located in the Romanian county of Prahova, destroyed two monastic cells and some of the warehouses. In the midst of the fire, a picture of Elder Cleopa remained intact.

Sister G., whose cell burned, tells us: "When it caught fire I was away. The firefighters began extinguishing the fires in the cells near the church first and no one tried to extinguish the fire in my cell. Everything burned: my bed, wardrobe, and the roof had just been repaired."

As Sister G. said this, not a trace of sadness could be seen in her eyes. "There was ash in the cell reaching my knees", she continued. "I had never met Elder Cleopa personally, but I had a reverence for him after reading his books. The Elder would say that as the grasshopper jumps, so also does the monastic rush towards salvation. I believe these words of the Elder encouraged me to embrace the monastic life (in 1999). Before Pascha I posted his photograph (it is a laminated photo) above my bed. While looking at it, I said: 'When you are canonized, I will place you on the eastern wall'. After the fire, when I returned to the monastery, I met Sister I. whose cell had burned. 'That's alright sister, such was God's will', I told her. I then asked her: 'Has anything of mine been preserved?' Sister V. then answered me: 'Nothing. You have been left only with Fr. Cleopa.' I didn't understand what she meant at the moment. Later I learned the photograph had been untouched by the fire! The firefighters noticed this also. I cannot explain how he was not burned. It was only a cardboard hanging above the bed. I didn't even have a picture frame for it. The bed had a mattress and a quilt of wool, which burned with the bed. An icon of the Virgin Mary also was not burned, which also was made of cardboard, though this was framed. I later found this among the ashes."

The Abbess was later asked to say a few words about this: "Sister G. has great reverence for Elder Cleopa which is why I believe it is a sign of divine mercy. It could have burned, but God said: 'Do you See?' The evil is not that we should rebuild from the beginning what burned - this is the monastic life - but if there should be a lack of spiritual progress."

Source

Sister G. holding the saved photo in front of her burned cell.

 

 

Elder Paisius of Sihastria and Sihla (+ 1990)

Elder Paisius (Olaru) with Elder Cleopa (Ilie) on right. 

 

The great renown of the Romanian elder Paisius (Olaru) (1897– 1990) resulted paradoxically from his struggle to live in obscurity: in meekness, simplicity, and humility. As one writer has stated, “One cannot say precisely what the specific gift of Fr. Paisius is. He does not work miracles. He does not preach; no one has heard him preach in church. Neither is he a good chanter; as a celebrant he is not gifted…. And yet, he has something which captivates. He has grace.”1 And this grace attracted thousands of the faithful to flock to him for counsel and comfort. His direct and unembellished teachings strengthened Romanians, including many of the country’s great spiritual fathers, during the dark years of Communism.

 

Fr. Paisius was born on June 20, 1897 in the Romanian village of Stroesti and was baptized with the name Peter. He grew up in a pious family in the region of Bucovina, renowned for the deeply rooted piety of its people. His father, John, was a forester and provided a comfortable life for his wife Catherine and five children. John Olaru was well known for his honesty, and the local men would often seek his counsel. His youngest child, Peter, was sent to the village school, where he completed the three grades available. In his youth, Peter was deeply moved with love for the monastic life through reading the Lives of the Saints. He was particularly affected by the Life of St. Savvas the Sanctified. Peter served in the First World War and was at the front in Hungary.

 

In 1921 he was released from the army and entered a monastery close to his home village, Cozancea Skete. According to Elder Cleopa (Ilie), “The monks loved him greatly because he took care of all the sick and the elderly with complete love —visiting their cells, taking them food, bringing the priest to commune them, and staying by their side at the hour of death.”

 

He was tonsured a monk at the age of twenty-five and given the name Paisius. After becoming a monk, he visited the monasteries in the Neamts region, and at that time conceived the desire to become a desert-dweller in the Carpathian Mountains. Once, while praying in a meadow a few hundred yards from Cozancea Skete, he heard a heavenly choir beautifully singing church hymns. With a blessing from the Metropolitan of Moldavia, at the spot he built a chapel dedicated to the Holy Great-martyr Menas and, later on, cells.

 

During the day he carried out his obediences in the monastery— working in the church, the vineyard, and the garden—and at night he withdrew to his place of solitude. Fr. Paisius lived there for eighteen years as a simple monk. He was clothed in the great schema in 1933 at the age of thirty-six with the intention ofwithdrawing further into solitude. Fr. Paisius was ordained a deacon in 1943 and a priest in 1947. When he was ordained to the priesthood, he was also appointed abbot of Cozancea Skete. Due to some misunderstandings in the community, he was abbot for only six months.

 

In 1948 Fr. Paisius requested a blessing to move to Sihăstria Skete. Fr. Cleopa was then the abbot of Sihăstria, and went himself to Iasi to request this transfer before the bishop, and it was granted. Fr. Cleopa appointed Fr. Paisius to be the confessor both for the monks and for the faithful who would visit Sihăstria Skete. In August of 1949, Fr. Paisius and about thirty other monks moved with Abbot Cleopa to Slatina Monastery, where he continued to be the confessor for the community. During this time he lived for six months at Rarău Skete, a dependency of Slatina Monastery, before returning to Sihăstria Skete in about 1953. He considered these years at Sihăstria to be the most fruitful period of his life.

 

According to Elder Cleopa, “Next to silence, he greatly loved his spiritual children, whom he would receive for Confession at any hour of the day or night, and for whose salvation he took great care. He was not very harsh in applying the canons, for he kept account of the spiritual state of each one.… With his forgiveness, his patience, and his meekness, he won many thousands of souls, sacrificing himself for others.”

 

With the desire for greater quiet and solitude, Fr. Paisius moved to Sihla Skete, a dependency of Sihăstria, in 1972. However, great numbers of people made the effort to ascend the mountain to Sihla in order to receive his blessing and counsel. In 1985, due to illness, he moved back down to Sihăstria, where he could more easily receive care. He was confined to bed from September 1986 until his repose, still receiving and blessing those who came to him, though to a much lesser degree than before. At dawn, on October 18, 1990 at the age of ninety-three, Fr. Paisius reposed in the Lord, and on October 20 he was buried in the cemetery at Sihăstria. 

 

____________________

 

1 Bishop Anthony Plamadeala, in Tradition and Liberty, pp. 216–18.

Source

 

Two Narrations on the Old Calendar vs. New Calendar Controversy (Elder Cleopa Ilie)

Two Narrations on the Old Calendar vs. New Calendar Controversy 

 

By Elder Cleopa Ilie of Romania

First Narration On Why the Calendar Is Not Holy

The thing that happened once to a priest here, Calistrat Bobu, my God! He was a very good priest. Very good. But one day he dropped by to see a nun who was living in the forest (as at that time there were about fifty hermits living in the woods around here) and she told this young priest:

“Holy Grace doesn’t descend upon you people, because you have shifted to the New Calendar!”

Father Calistrat came back home and told our Elder. My Elder back then was from the Holy Mountain, Hieroschemamonk Ioanichie, from whom I received tonsure. He was the kind of monk that would only eat on Saturdays and Sundays, and during the rest of the week — nothing. On Sundays, he would only ask me: “Would you happen to have a little bit of cabbage juice and a bit of wheat broth?”

For twenty years he served the Holy Liturgy all by himself and took strength only through the Holy Eucharist. When the calendar was adjusted, he fasted for twenty-three days. He didn’t taste anything, until the Holy Three Hierarchs showed themselves to him and told him to listen to the Church! To keep the calendar as our Church would!

So one day this Father, Calistrat Bobu, was performing the service. I was a sexton back then. Now, every time our Elder would prepare the Holy Communion bread, it was white and sweet, while the one that Fr. Calistrat would prepare would always taste sour and have a greenish tinge. I asked our Superior:

"Elder, why is it that when Fr. Calistrat serves, his Communion bread is greenish and sour?"

"My boy, it’s because he serves with doubt in his heart! He’s been to see that mad woman, Isidora, who stirred up so many troubles in the monastery already, and she told him that the grace of the Holy Spirit doesn’t descend because of the calendar change. And I told him he would get into trouble because of doubting that the Holy Spirit descends!"

As I said, I was a sexton then. As Fr. Calistrat got to the point where he would invoke the grace of the Holy Spirit – lo and behold! – he saw the Lamb bread turning into meat and blood was running on the Holy Diskos and on the Holy Antimension. And when he looked into the chalice, he saw blood. He called to me:

"Costică! Come over here, son! What do you see?"

"Oh, Father! It’s turned into meat and blood! Our Superior told you that you would get into trouble if you lose faith in the calendar, because the calendar is neither a holy thing, nor a dogma! It’s just a 'clock' to measure time. It’s already been canonically adjusted a few times until now."

When our Elder came, he asked for the Book of Psalms to be read.

"Well now! Do you believe that the Holy Spirit comes down and turns the Sacraments holy?"

"Forgive me, Father!" And he fell to his knees.

"Look! The Holy Spirit has come! It’s turned into meat! It’s turned into blood! Do you have any more doubts now, Father?"

"I believe it, Father, forgive me!"

"Come on now — and let’s collect the Holy Mysteries!"

And he took a chisel and made a hole into the leg of the Holy Table – because the Holy Table is our Lord’s grave – and he buried the Sacraments in there. And he sanctified the chalice again and washed it and the Holy Antimension and everything else at the holy water place. And we stayed there until the whole Book of Psalms was read, all of it - four hours in all - and then he started the Liturgy from the Holy Proskomedi: “And one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side,…”; and continued from there. And he carried out the Holy Liturgy and the incident didn’t repeat.

"You see? Do you believe it now?"

"I believe it, Father!"

Our Elder gave him a 40-day penance.

“Why don’t you believe it when I tell you to, and instead, you go to old women to teach you about the calendar?” This was in 1932. I was here in the summer of 1932. I came to this place in 1929.


Second Narration On Why the Calendar Is Not Holy

Father, what’s going on with the folks in Slătioara? They say we’ve sold out our faith.

Stylists [Old Calendarists] are defrocked by the Holy Synod, because they care more about the calendar than about the dogmas of our Church and thus have fallen away from obedience.

The Stylists also boast that they have true faith and we don’t.

They have pride and disobedience in that faith. In the summer of 1992, the Elder of the Xeropotamou Monastery [Mount Athos], together with a few monks, visited Romania and toured the whole country while carrying the Holy Cross – a cross that was made in the fifth century by Emperor Martian and Empress Pulcheria – which preserves in it a large part of our Savior’s cross. And I kissed the Holy Cross, which had been stained with the blood of Christ. Twice, I kissed it.

The monks in Mount Athos follow the Old Calendar. Why didn’t they visit the Stylists in Slătioara and instead, they only visited our New Calendar Orthodox monasteries?

They went to many places in our country, and all the monks of the Holy Mountain follow the Old Calendar; they cursed the ones in Romania that still followed the Old Style. As Athonite monks, they didn’t break their obedience to the Church. They follow the Old Calendar but they listen to the Holy Synod of Greece* – and Greeks have all been New Calendar followers since 1924. They do not ordain deacons, priests, churches, they don’t do anything without the approval of their Holy Synod. And they told me: “Tell the Stylists in your country that they are heretics. They started to build their monasteries and churches without the permission of your Holy Synod.”

Why, wasn’t I there myself, at the Holy Mountain? Didn’t I perform the holy services with them? The Old Calendar people here won’t do that with us, but the monks of Mount Athos sure did! We partook in the Eucharist with them. They consider the Old Calendar folks in our country as pagans. These folks have remained just as the Lipovans of Russia here [in Romania]!

The calendar isn’t a holy thing! I went and held a speech about that when our Metropolitan was enthroned in Iaşi. There were Bishops and Metropolitans gathered there, yet they asked [unworthy] me to speak — in the refectory, where there were so many officials! I spoke for almost an hour.

The next day I spoke at the Faculty of Theology in Iaşi and I showed them how the Old Calendar had already been adjusted until now. I showed them the year, the month, the time, and how, when it falls behind again – as the Pedalion says – it will be adjusted again. The calendar is a mere time-keeper.

Are we going to argue about a calendar, now? Is it worth it?

Source

 

 

The Obedience of Elder Cleopa Ilia to Elder Paisios

In 1977 Elder Cleopas went on a pilgrimage to Mount Athos. After visiting many monasteries he finally arrived at the cell of Elder Paisios, to whom he asked: "Father Paisios, I want to stay on Mount Athos. What advice do you have?"

Elder Paisios, who had the gift of foresight, told him:

"Father Cleopas, if you stay on Mount Athos you will be a flower among other spiritual flowers on the Holy Mountain, but if you go to Romania, and this you should do, you will be viewed as an apostle."

After hearing this, the Elder obeyed the words of Elder Paisios as if they came from God Himself, despite the love he had for the Holy Mountain.