On the Resurrection of Lazarus (Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi)

 

By Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

I will remind you of a beautiful saying of our great father Epiphanios, Bishop of Cyprus, who once spoke at the beginning of one of his discourses. "Six days before Pascha, through the five senses, He who was four days dead was given by He who rose on the third day, to the two sisters, their one brother."

Our Lord Jesus Christ, who completed His mission and healed the universal wound and in six days would surrender to His all-immaculate passion, where He would seal the success of our salvation, showed, as a prelude to us His disciples and to all the world, that there is a resurrection of the dead and that He is indeed "the Resurrection and the Life".

On the Feast of Saint Savvas the Sanctified (Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi)

 

By Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi (+ 2009)

One of the great spiritual figures of monasticism, Saint Savvas, is honored today. Yet he is not well known here on the Holy Mountain. This great guiding light is a great consolation to us. In the way he lived we are able to find the most essential elements of our monastic capacity. We will refer to some of these.

He started his life with absolute devotion to the Lord, enforcing the prophetic verse: ‘Blessed is he who carries the yoke (of the Lord) from a young age’. Even though his parents were wealthy they placed no obstacles in his path towards monasticism. He arrived in the East to become a monk. He excelled as a novice and ended up in Palestine, where he joined the Lavra of Saint Euthymios. He became subordinate to some of the greatest fathers honoring the eastern region in his day and was proven to be not only a perfect monk but also a great reviver of monasticism.

The Horrible Martyrdom of Saint Charitina

 

 By Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

(Addressing the Brotherhood of Vatopaidi Monastery 

on one October 5th - the feast of Saint Charitina)

Today, we celebrate a young maiden. Charitina is her name!

She was abducted because she was a Christian. They said to her: "Will you deny Christ? Will you worship idols?" She said: "No!"

Then, they shaved her head and put burning coals on it.

Then, they pierced her with skewers, struck her with sticks, tortured her.

She refused to deny.

They tied a large stone around her neck and threw her into the sea. Angels untied her and brought her out alive.

They took her again a second time and they pulled out her nails, they pulled out her teeth, they removed her skin.

What will we, my brothers, say now? Wasn't this maiden in pain?

She endured because her faith was above it.

Indeed, these are our ancestors, my brothers.

 

 

Contesting for the Faith: The Holy Forefathers of Christ (Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi)

By Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

The apolytikion for the feast of the Holy Forefathers, says: "You [i.e. Christ] justified the forefathers in faith, and through them betrothed Yourself, in advance, to the Church taken from out of the Gentiles." These words, if you look at them carefully, are full of profound meaning. The Forefathers were justified, as being the foundation of the Church and as making manifest the cause of the relationship between God and us.

Who were the forefathers of God? Gentiles, of course. Everybody was a gentile then. After the fall, people lost their way and followed their own path. From these, God chose a few and called upon them to believe in Him and to follow Him. And they were convinced. Through faith they accepted the call from God and became His friends, so that, when God was revealed, it could be said of Him: "I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob."

Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi and the Study of the Church Fathers

By Archimandrite Ephraim of Vatopaidi

Once, in order to encourage us to study the writings of the Fathers, Elder Joseph said that benefits came not only from their teachings and paternal instructions, but also from their intercessions. We have to invoke them while we study their works.

In his hesychastic cell at New Skete, while studying the works of Saint Symeon the New Theologian and praying at the same time to the Saint, the presence of the Saint became so noticeable that it caused him to be modest and shy. "I stopped myself," he said, "lest I touch him."

The Trophy-Bearer of Love

By Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

Our Church today celebrates the feast of a martyr. If we try to pay any tribute to the celebrated martyr, we will demean him. This particular Saint is the glory of all martyrs, the boast of the Saints and the prestige of the Heavens and the Church Triumphant. He is the most-great George. No Christian exists who has not called upon George’s sweet name, be it a baby or a man on his deathbed. There is no Christian country which does not boast of a church dedicated to his name, even if it is now in ruins. This guiding light of a Saint hides a great mystery not properly deciphered yet. Why do people love him so much? His love for people is so great that he prevents us from forgetting him. Instead we are constantly calling on his name. There’s always someone called 'George' among any given three or four families. There is no family which has not received the assistance of the love of this Saint.

Saint Agatha and our Proper Intention (Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi)

By Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

The Lord always seeks to find the proper intention in man, for it is said that ‘Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver’ (2 Cor. 9:7). He also urges: ‘Let your reasonableness be known to everyone’ (Philip. 4:5) which has almost the same meaning.

Our Church celebrates tomorrow the memory of Saint Agatha. Even though she was a young girl, she fought the good fight so fiercely that she surprised even the Heavens so much that after her martyrdom an angel wrote on her tomb: ‘A venerable mind of its own free will, was honored by the Lord and delivered the country’ (Νούς όσιος αυτοπροαίρετος, τιμή εκ Θεού και πατρίδος λύτρωσις).

Did Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi Support Abortion?

By John Sanidopoulos

In early 2014 there circulated on various Greek websites an alleged recording of Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi (+ July 1, 2009), which scandalized many because he seems to support abortions of the fetus in the first trimester. Soon after the fathers of Vatopaidi Monastery issued a response to these accusations, saying that such teachings were never heard by them coming from Elder Joseph, and that in fact he spoke against abortion, supporting the possibility that the recording may be a fake. Thinking at the time that this response was sufficient, I translated and published it and put the issue to rest.

A Letter of Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi to the Seminarians of Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston in 1959

Elder Jospeh of Vatopaidi in 1961 at New Skete

I have translated a letter below from the archives of Vatopaidi Monastery that was written by the late Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi (+ 2009) which he sent to the students of Holy Cross School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1959 at the request of a certain professor of this school. The request was made for the renowned Elder Joseph the Hesychast to write the letter to the students, but due to his failing health which brought about his repose a few months later (August 15, 1959), he had his disciple the monk Joseph write it. We do not know exactly the professor who requested this letter, but three professors who had deep ties with Mount Athos that could have requested this letter at the time were Fr. John Romanides, Dr. Constantine Cavarnos and Bishop Gerasimos of Abydos.

A Poem to Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi (chanted by Vatopaidi Choir)

Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi (+ July 1, 2009)

With lyrics set to music, a poem about the life of Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi, written and chanted by the fathers of the Sacred Monastery of Vatopaidi on Mount Athos in 15 syllable verses. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Announcement of Vatopaidi Monastery on Elder Joseph and His View on Abortion

February 22, 2014

The blessed Elder Joseph, a monk by his words and most especially by his example, taught us to endure with silence and humility every temptation, every libel and every slander against us. But when the criticism relates to our Orthodox Faith then we are to reply that we are neither heretics now nor by the grace of Christ will we be.

On the Mystery of the Faith of the Saints (Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi)

By Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi

You see what a great thing is faith? This is precisely what God asks of humanity. And we continuously hear that beautiful hymn of the Apostle Paul. For it is not simply an epistle, or a letter, which was written by an illumined man. This is a God-revealed hymn: "[All the Saints] through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the mouth of the sword, were made powerful out of infirmities, became strong in battle. Women received by a rising again their dead, and others were tortured, not accepting the redemption, that a better rising again they might receive, and others of mockings and scourgings did receive trial, and yet of bonds and imprisonment; they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tried; in the killing of the sword they died; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins -- being destitute, afflicted, injuriously treated..."(Heb. 11:33-37). And as you know, the splendid hymn continues.

All these prizes, all these triumphs which renew and complete the relationship of the human race with God, were born from faith. This is what saves us. Faith is what extends to each of us, the choir of the faithful, and is what justifies everything.

We now come to a deeper mystery. All these Forefathers were those who were inclined towards revelation and hence to these people it was granted to be given the blessing; for God pre-ordained them and called them and dwelled among them, that He may boast of being their God. These also received the immediate promises and spoke face to face with God. And still all of these despite the certainty of the promises which were effectively revealed from above, won their divine reverence, their piety, and in general their turning to God, with a comprehensive cross, that is to say, with sadness, with grief, with persecution, with discomfort, and nearly expired from this world without seeing anything of all that which was promised by God, except for symbols and periods of various experiences. Do you see the mystery? In this valley of lamentations, the divine promises are partly seen, partly known, and partly revealed. This is precisely where we apply the following: "Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the mercy of the Lord" (Ps. 106:43 LXX).

This is the way by which we the chosen through faith abide in and keep our relationship with God and His promises. Again, interpreting through faith, in the midst of immense long-suffering, patience and endurance, in the midst of the trials of temptations, we will be perfected like all the saints.