A Letter to the Rulers of Nations Who Love War (Elder Philotheos Zervakos)

Listen oh Kings and Rulers of the nations and take into consideration oh ye lovers of war!

The Almighty God and Creator of all things has made you Kings, Lords and Rulers of nations and peoples, and the people have entrusted you with their rule, to rule your subjects with justice and truth and, as affectionate fathers and excellent rulers to provide and take care for the prosperity, happiness and salvation of your peoples.

Why do you forget your destiny? Listen and take into consideration! You killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people, handing them over to slaughter, fire and the depths of the sea! Hundreds of thousands of people have become very unfortunate, miserable, poor, hungry, naked and homeless!

Homily for the Sunday of All Saints (Elder Philotheos Zervakos)

By Elder Philotheos Zervakos

(Delivered in the Church of All Saints in Paros in 1965)

Today our Holy Church celebrates the memory of all the Saints, those who were born and sanctified from the creation of the world, and those who will be sanctified until the end of the ages. This feast is the greatest of all feasts (besides the Despotic ones), because not only one Saint celebrates, nor ten nor a hundred nor a thousand nor two thousand or a hundred thousand, but millions.

All the millions of Saints today celebrate, and on this feast is also the feast of the Queen of Heaven, the All-Holy Mother of God, all the Angelic Orders, all the Prophets, the Apostles, the Martyrs, the Hieromartyrs, the Confessors and all the Saints. And therefore every believer today celebrates their feast, because all faithful Christians have the names of Saints.

The Lord, always for the benefit of His creatures, dispensed His benefits and chose from the human race His Saints, whom He astonished by miracles and signs and made them, together with His Mother, mediators, protectors, guardians and shelters of the people, of Christians.

The Great Miracle at the Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring in Paros in July of 1944

Monastery of Longovarda of the Life-Giving Spring in Paros

On May 14, 1944, an English submarine anchored in the bay of Piso Livadi, Paros, and the soldiers were divided into three groups led by the residents of the island Antonios Delenta, Manolis Gryllakis and Nikolaos Stella. They went up to the village of Tsimpidos (Marpissa) and captured seven German soldiers that were sleeping, killed two radio operators who had just managed to send out a telegram about the raid, and injured the commander of the airport Lieutenant Tampe; communication cables were also found cut. In retaliation, the Germans arrested the young Nikolaos Stella from Leukes at the airport the next morning. Having reasonable suspicions against him, they killed him, hanging him on a tree in a high place to be seen by the surrounding villages for intimidation on May 21st.

Homily on the All-Revered Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos (Elder Philotheos Zervakos)

By Elder Philotheos Zervakos

When the Patriarch Jacob fled from his father's presence because of the threat posed to him by his brother Esau, he came to a deserted place around sunset, took a rock, put it under his head, and fell asleep. Then he saw a ladder resting on the earth, and its top reached to heaven, and the Angels of God ascended and descended on it, and the Lord supported it above. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he said: “How awesome this place is! This is none other than the house of God and this is the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28:17).

That mystical ladder was a type and image of the noetic ladder, of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, whose revered Dormition we joyously celebrate.

On the Feast of the Foremost Apostles Peter and Paul (Elder Philotheos Zervakos)

By Elder Philotheos Zervakos

I am in awe and wonder, how the Holy Apostles that we celebrate today, achieved such great and extraordinary miracles! How can one not be in wonder and in awe?

Consider, my brethren, what was the Apostle Peter before? A fisherman. He knew nothing more than fishing, catching fish with a net on Lake Gennesaret. And suddenly you see him preaching to the whole universe. His words were so graceful and sweet that in one of his speeches three thousand and sometimes five thousand believed, whom he then baptized.

The Veneration of Saint Nektarios in the Village of Sykia in Laconia, Greece

In 1959 the sailor Antonios Karastateris from Lachi in Neapolis spoke with the priest Fr. Dimitrios Anastasakis, who was originally from Sykia, about St. Nektarios and his miracles. He also gave him a book by Metropolitan Titus of Paramithia about the life and miracles of the Saint.

Though St. Nektarios had net yet been officially canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, he was still honored and venerated on November 9th, which was the day of his repose. Fr. Dimitrios Anastasakis decided to celebrate the feast of the Saint on his feast day, and he informed his parishioners about this at the Church of Saint John of Monemvasia, instructing them to attend the Divine Liturgy, but they did not want to, having never heard of him before.

A 12-Minute Documentary on Elder Philotheos Zervakos

This is a 12-minute documentary about Elder Philotheos Zervakos with various photos associated with his life, film footage without sound shot in May of 1979 on the island of Paros, as well as footage from his funeral in May of 1980. The voice of Elder Philotheos can be heard throughout the film, either speaking or chanting. Among the hymns he chants is the Apolytikion to his spiritual father Saint Nektarios of Aegina, as well as "All Who Have Been Baptized Into Christ", "Christ is Risen", and the Doxastikon of the Praises to Saint John the Theologian for whom he had a special devotion. Among the words of the Elder is his reading of the Catechetical Homily of Pascha by Saint John Chrysostom, some words from a homily on repentance, and a tearful prayer for the cessation of the earthquake of Thessaloniki in 1978. There is also testimony from someone who was healed by Saint Nektarios. The documentary ends with the chanting of "Eternal Memory" done at the Elder's Forty Day Memorial.

5 Testified Miracles of the Holy Zoni of the Theotokos

1. The Healing of Elder Philotheos Zervakos

The blessed Elder Philotheos Zervakos describes how he was cured of unbearable pains which caused him constant headaches. Here is how he recounts the event.

Elder Philotheos Zervakos: "Impiety Has Reached a High Point"

The Holy Elder Philotheos Zervakos of Paros wrote the following to a Greek General in 1955, which is a timely and timeless piece of observation and advice that remains even more accurate and vital in our days, some 60 years after its authorship.

The impiety, corruption, senselessness and lack of conscience of people, both lay-people and clergymen, men and women, rich and poor, generals and soldiers, the rulers and the ruled over has reached a high point and is speedily progressing in leaps and bounds till it reaches the greatest precipice.

What is countering this pitiful progression of spiritual impiety? It is: the infinite compassion of God; His immeasurable mercy and unimaginable long-suffering; the intercessions of His all immaculate Mother and of all the Saints; the little virtue, faith, hope and love of the few people; their prayers and petitions to the Lord for the salvation of the whole world; the lack of evil in the babes and infants (although even the majority of the babies from their birth receive from their evil and corrupted parents as an inheritance and partake of the wickedness, the evil and bad habits of their birth-givers). All the above things restrain the most just wrath and the most righteous anger of the merciful and infinitely compassionate God.

The Holy Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring of Longovarda in Paros

On the road between Paroikia and Naousa on the island of Paros is the male Holy Monastery of the Life-Giving Spring of Longovarda, one of the most important monasteries in 19th and 20th century Greece, especially when the late holy Elder Philotheos Zervakos was its Abbot for many decades until his repose in 1980.

The Monastery was founded in 1638 by the elected official of Naousa, Christopher Palaiologos. In 1652 Longovarda Monastery became Patriarchal and Stavropegic. The Katholikon was built in 1657. It went through some tough trials, so that from between 1800 and 1825 it was deserted and abandoned. But divine providence presented new founders: Philotheos Georgiou and Hierotheos Ioanou, together with the nephews of the latter named Philotheos and Hierotheos Vosyniotis, who were brothers from Peloponnesos. This period of Longovarda Monastery (1825-1930) is known as its "golden age", when the saintly and wise anchorites from the Holy Monastery of Zoodochos Pege in Poros, Philotheos and Hierotheos, reestablished the Monastery and served as its Abbot.

Elder Philotheos: "It Is Not With Ease That the Saints Went to Paradise"

By Elder Philotheos Zervakos

It is not with ease that the saints went to Paradise, but they worked and struggled against the three enemies - the flesh, the world, and the devil. To be willing and great, however, they overcame the devil and the desires of the world and the flesh. We need prayer and vigilance.

All the saints were sanctified by humility, because humility generates love and all the virtues. The humble person is the dwelling place of God and the bearer of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. If all the virtues are present and humility is absent, then they are empty, unprofitable, and harmful.

Divine Chrysostom when asked, "when will the end be?", responded, "when shame will be absent from women". And an unspoken prophecy says that the end will come when men will become women and women men. In our days we see these fulfilled.

Be careful, my beloved children, to not have in your mind the earthly, the perishable, and the vain of this world, but raise it to the country above, to heaven. May you remember always the Kingdom of God and quickly you will gain it.

 

 

Recollections of St. Nicholas Planas by Elder Philotheos Zervakos

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By Elder Philotheos Zervakos

At the Vigils there used to come a certain man named Alekos who chanted, but who also used to drink; and when he was drunk, he chanted with compunction and with tears. Whenever he heard him chanting compunctionately, Papadiamantis, who knew him, used to say, "Alekos has wino-compunction," and many times he would chase him out of church. But in accordance with the words of the wise author of Proverbs, "a guileless man believeth in all" (Prov. 14:15). Papa-Nicholas, as one simple and guileless, used to say, "He's good, he's good, Alekos is a good man," and right after the Vigil, he would give him a small reward also. This became the cause for Alekos to become closer to Papa-Nicholas, and familiar with and inseparable from him. But for those of us who knew him, he was also the cause of scandal to certain brethren and to me, who was a young man of twenty-two or twenty-three years of age. Certain ones told Papa-Nicholas to get rid of Alekos, because he was a drunkard and a cause of scandal to the brethren. But with his customary simplicity, Papa-Nicholas would say, "He's good, he's good, Alekos is a good man; he loves the church, he chants well." As a result Alekos grew bolder, and would deftly put his hand into Papa-Nicholas' pocket and take the money which the pious Christians gave him for the commemoration of the names of their beloved parents, children, brothers, sisters and kinsmen during the Vigils and Liturgies. On one occasion, Papa-Nicholas had a considerable amount of coins in his pocket, and Alekos put his hand in and tried to take them all. Papa-Nicholas perceived this and without growing angry, without insulting him or rebuking him, was content only to say meekly, "Aleko, easy, easy; easy Aleko, I'm ticklish." Alekos continued fearlessly, and later began to enter even into the holy sanctuary and would take whatever he had. Since Papa-Nicholas was the parish priest of the Church of Saint John, he would often leave after the Vigil, and, in order to get to his parish on time, he was often obliged to go by cab. It so happened one day that he got down from the carriage, and prepared to pay the carriage-driver; he searched his pockets well. He couldn't find even an obol! Good Alekos had taken everything! He said to the cab-driver, "I don't have any money now. I'll have to pay you another time." "You're going to pay me now," said the cab-driver angrily. "But - since I don't have any?" "Since you don't have any, you shouldn't have asked to come by cab. I want you to pay me, and if you don't have any money, I'm going to take your raso." Papa-Nicholas took off his raso and gave it to him with pleasure, and they parted. As for Papa-Nicholas, he went on his way to church without a raso in order to serve the Liturgy. The carriage-driver, on the other hand, headed for home, contemplating how and where he might sell the raso and make a seven-fold profit from it. But after five minutes, at the very moment when Papa-Nicholas was entering the church, the carriage-driver returned hastily and shouted to him, "Papa-Nicholas, take back your raso, and I don't even want any money!" Who knows what happened to him!

Whenever he served the Liturgy, Papa-Nicholas had the habit of saying three or four Gospels. I would say to him, "The Typicon of the Church specifies one Gospel; in the monasteries they say two. Here, since the Vigils and services are celebrated as they would be in the monasteries, two Gospels should be said." And Papa-Nicholas replied, "Let's say one for this saint, and one for that saint, so that they'll be pleased!" Thus I would give in. When he commemorated names at the holy prothesis, he would commemorate for hours on end. When he commemorated the saints, he wished, if it were possible, to commemorate every single saint - as many as were found in the Synaxaristes, each one separately by name. Since much time was consumed, some would begin to cry out to him, "Papa-Nicholas! say '...and of all Thy saints!'"; but he, without becoming troubled in the least, would continue to the end.

From Papa-Nicholas Planas: The Simple Shephard of the Simple Sheep, by Nun Martha, 1981, pp. 95-96.

Icons of the Spiritual Children of Saint Nektarios

The following depiction is in the Church of Saint Nektarios in Aegina:

Saint Nektarios in the center extending his blessing over the island of Aegina.

Saint Savvas the New of Kalymnos (1862-1948)

Elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos of Patras (1877-1964)

Elder Amphilochios Makris of Patmos (1889-1970)

Elder Philotheos Zervakos of Paros (1884-1980)

 

Saint Nektarios Teaches Elder Philotheos Zervakos a Lesson in Humility

The following is taken from the autobiography of Elder Philotheos Zervakos regarding the final meeting he had with his spiritual father, Saint Nektarios:

I considered it my divine obligation and duty to see my spiritual father, St. Nektarios, before returning to the holy monastery of my repentance [in Paros]. Therefore, I went to see him at the Rizareios Theological School. However, I learned that he had resigned from his post and was now living in Aegina, so I went to Aegina. It was August now, and the sun was burning fiercely when I arrived outside the convent about 1:00 PM. I was just outside the gates when I saw an elderly man with a white beard, a shabby cassock held by a belt, and a straw hat to protect his head from the sun. He was digging with a pickax, filling a small barrel with dirt, and spreading the dirt around a 15 sq. yard area to level the convent's courtyard. I thought that he was either one of the convent workers to whom they had given an old cassock so as not to soil his clothes, or an old novice from the monastery. Approaching the elder, I greeted him and asked, "Elder, is the Bishop here?"

"He is here," he told me.

"Inside?" I asked. "Is he in the monastery?"

"Yes," the elder said, "he is inside."

"Good, go and tell him that a spiritual child of his is here, a deacon, who wants to see him."

"May it be blessed," he responded humbly, and putting down the pickax, he showed me to a new room about fifteen yards away from the convent's entrance. He told me, "Wait here and I will go tell him to come."

Five minutes had not gone by, when - what a surprise, what depth of immeasurable humility! Surprised and shocked, I saw that the man whom I had thought to be a worker, a villager, or a peasant and to whom I had spoken harshly and ordered around, was the Bishop himself! Neither had I even considered that this was the afternoon rest hour, when everyone slept! I should have never told him to do anything, but instead, waited patiently for the time of Vespers. No, I the disciple had shown my extreme pride while my teacher and spiritual father had shown his extreme and complete humility! I was struck speechless and knelt down, tearfully begging him to forgive me for my pride and bad manners. He being guileless, meek and humble of heart, of course, forgave me. We sat down and he began to guide me, as he always has, along the way of the Lord.

"Father," I asked, "how can I be delivered from this God-hated pride?" And with love and humility (the two great virtues which God had bestowed upon him), he responded:

"My dear spiritual child in the Lord, our Holy Fathers have told us, that each sin, whether great and deadly, or small and pardonable, is defeated by the opposite corresponding virtue: that is envy is defeated by love; pride by humility; avarice by poverty; greed and hard-heartedness by charity and compassion; negligence by diligence; gluttony and servitude to the stomach by fasting and restraint; idle talk by silence; criticism and slander by self-reproach and prayer; lewdness, fornication, adultery and other sins of the flesh by remembrance of death, the Last Judgment to come, and the recompense of Hell. In general, every evil is defeated by every virtue. As the Prophet David says, 'Turn away from evil and do good.' If you wish to be delivered also from the sin of pride, the mother and cause of all sin and evil, you will be delivered through humility.

"Because we are not able to do anything on our own (as the Lord says, 'Without Me, ye can do nothing') let us ask the All-Good and man-loving God with compunction and humility, with sighs and tears, to deliver us from demonic pride. Let us sigh like the Publican, cry like the adulteress, repent like the Prodigal Son, saying, 'O All-Good compassionate and man-loving Father, we have sinned before You; accept our repentance and make us as one of Your paid servants.' Let us pray and beseech the Lord as the divine Chrysostom did in his daily prayers: 'O Lord, grant us humility, a humble way of thought and obedience; O Lord grant us patience, longsuffering and meekness; O Lord, implant in our hearts the root of good, Your fear; O Lord, grant us to love You with all our soul and heart and to keep Your divine commandments.'

"Likewise, so that we may be delivered from satanic and all-destructive pride, let us look to the example of our Heavenly Teacher, and to the lesson He gave to His disciples, to us, and to all Christians of every generation and age: 'Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest in your souls,' and 'When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which is our duty to do.'"

Receiving this and other beneficial counsel from my holy spiritual father Nektarios, I left joyous and spiritually gladdened; and at the beginning of September, 1910, I returned through Syros to the island of Paros and the monastery of my repentance.

St. Nektarios with his saintly spiritual children, (from left to right) Elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos, Saint Savvas of Kalymnos, Elder Amphilochios Makris and Elder Philotheos Zervakos. This icon is in the Cathedral dedicated to St. Nektarios in Aegina.