Who Is A Saint? (Fr. John Romanides)

By Protopresbyter Fr. John Romanides

The distinction between Saints and Fathers does not exist in the Fathers. For the Fathers of the Church, the Saints are Fathers and the Fathers are Saints.

Are those who have arrived at glorification and become saints a reality or are they not a reality? That is the fundamental issue.

The current perception is that if someone is a good human being, law-abiding and so on, then he is a good Christian and a prospective saint. In that case, all our grandmothers and grandfathers are prospective saints, according to the criteria of the moralists. Someone with a moralistic perception of sanctity might see things this way.

Holiness and Martyrdom in our Times: A Beneficial Interview

Holiness, asceticism, discernment and martyrdom are great riches of our Church that move us, attract us, transform us and save us from the distractions and lies of this world in every era.

In an interview with His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou, he gives answers to the questions of a journalist (George Theoharis from Agioritikovima.gr) on these issues, and speaks of other aspects of ecclesiastical life.

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Question: Your Eminence, many people are unsure if saints exist today. What do you say?

Blessed Symeon, the Simple Porter of Piraeus

In 1922 there came from Asia Minor with the refugees a Greek orphan named Symeon. He settled in Piraeus in a small shack and there grew up by himself. He had a carriage by which he did the work of a porter, carrying things to the port of Piraeus. He was illiterate and did not even know many things about our faith. He had blessed simplicity and simple unquestionable faith.

When he came to the age of marriage he was betrothed, had two children, and moved with his family to Nikaia. Every morning he went to the port of Piraeus to make his little bread money. However, each morning he would pass the Church of Saint Spyridon, enter within, and stand before the icon screen. Then he would  remove his hat and say: "Good morning, my Christ, it is Symeon. Help me to make my bread."

At night when he would finish his work and pass the church, he would again enter and stand before the icon screen, saying: "Good evening, my Christ, it is Symeon. I thank you that you helped me today once again."

And so did the years of blessed Symeon pass. Around the year 1950 all the members of his family fell ill with tuberculosis and reposed in the Lord. Symeon was left all alone and continued his job without complaint and never failed to pass by the Church of Saint Spyridon to wish Christ a good morning and a good evening, asking his help and thanking him.

When Symeon aged, he became ill. He entered the hospital and was hospitalized for about a month. A matron from Patras asked him at one point:

"Pappou, you have been here so many days, yet no one has come to visit you. Do you have no one in the world?"

"My child, every morning and evening Christ comes and consoles me."

"And what does he say, Pappou?"

"Good morning Symeon, it is Christ, have patience. Good evening Symeon, it is Christ, have patience."

The matron thought this was strange and invited her Spiritual Father, Fr. Christodoulos Fasos, to come and see Symeon, since perhaps he was deluded. Fr. Christodoulos visited him, they had a conversation, he asked the question of the matron, and Symeon made the same response.

During the same morning and evening hours that Symeon would go to the church and greet Christ, now Christ greeted Symeon. The Spiritual Father asked him:

"Perhaps it is your imagination?"

"No, Father, I am not delusional. It is Christ."

"Did he come today?"

"He came."

"And what did he say?"

"Good morning Symeon, it is Christ, have patience. In three days I will bring you near to me, early in the morning."

The Spiritual Father every day went to the hospital, spoke with him, and learned about his life. He understood that this was perhaps a blessed man. On the third day, in the early morning, he went again to see Symeon to confirm if the foreseeing of his death would come to pass.

Indeed, as they were chatting, Symeon suddenly shouted: "Christ has come!", and he reposed in the sleep of the righteous. May his memory be eternal. Amen.

From Ascetics in the World (ΑΣΚΗΤΕΣ ΜΕΣΑ ΣΤΟΝ ΚΟΣΜΟ), 2008, pp. 350-351, Halkidiki. Translated by John Sanidopoulos. Photo depicts a random sketch of a porter.

The Lay Porter Who Resurrected A Dead Man

Elder Paisios the Athonite related the following wondrous true story:

I once met a man who was very kind and sensitive. Just imagine, he even refused to stay overnight at the monastery, because he didn’t want to be a burden to the monks. I used to be the host monk at the time, at the Iveron Skete, when I went out onto the balcony for a moment at noon and saw a man lying down on the stones outside. Well, well, I wondered, what is he doing out there? So I went down to him.

"What are you doing here, blessed one? Why don’t you come into the monastery, where we can offer you our hospitality?"

"No, no, I’m just fine here, don’t concern yourself," he said.

I pressed him to come in, but he refused. He said: “All through the night, the fathers here were in vigil. They’re tired, they fast, they retire at noon to get some rest, and I’m supposed to disturb them? Its not proper!”

See what kind of good thoughts he made? That is an indication of mental and spiritual health, whereas other visitors come here, demanding to be served, and then they have nothing but malicious thoughts - they even accuse you. I finally convinced him, and brought him into the monastery, where we became better acquainted and eventually became friends.

Now listen to what this man had done. He was orphaned from his youth. He never knew his parents; he grew up in an orphanage. When he grew up, he worked as a porter in the port of Thessaloniki.

He married, and was very happy for that, as he had found the family that he longed for. His in-laws were like parents to him. They moved into a house near his in-laws and he was extremely fond of them. Imagine that, after leaving work every day, he would first go to his in-laws to greet them, to see if they needed anything, and would afterwards go to his own home to see his wife.

He was also very pious. He would repeat the prayer “My Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me”. He would carry loads and pray.

He was concerned however, that his in-laws were not believers. In fact, his father-in-law blasphemed and that made him very sad. So, he prayed to God, asking Him not to take them away from this life, before they had properly repented. He even asked me to pray for this problem.

So, there came a time that his father-in-law became very ill, and had to be taken to hospital. He was in there for days. One day, after work as usual, he went directly to the hospital, without passing by his home first. He looked for his father-in-law, but didn’t find him in his room… He searched everywhere, asking for him. “Who? Him? Oh, he passed away. He’s downstairs, in the morgue, where they keep all the deceased patients”, they told him.

It was as if lightning had struck him. “Why, my Lord, did You take him away, if he wasn’t ready, and he didn’t even have a chance to repent? Why, my God?”

He began to pray fervently, with profound pain: “What is it for God, to bring him back? Nothing!” he thought, and began to beseech God accordingly.

He found his way downstairs, and looked around in the morgue, only to find him frozen, dead. He grabbed his father-in-law by the hand, insisting, “Come on, get up, let’s go home”. The dead man immediately came alive; he got up and followed him.

"Really, Elder, did that really happen?" I asked him, dumbfounded.

"Yes, it is really true."

"And is that man still alive today?"

"No, he has passed away. He lived on for a few more years, he repented, he became a much kinder person, a veritable lamb, and Christ then took him into Paradise."

I was amazed.

"Do things like that actually happen in our day?" I asked with wonder.

"See? And he was an ordinary layman. But he had such simplicity! And such profound faith. Didn’t Christ say: 'Whosoever believes in Me, can do whatever I do, and even greater things'? Why should this incident seem strange? Didn’t Christ resurrect the dead? Lazarus? The widow’s son? Jairus’ daughter? Didn’t the Apostles resurrect the dead? Haven’t we read so many wonders in the lives of the saints? Why should this seem strange?"

Source: From Father Paisios Told Me, by Athanasios Rakovalis, Orthodox Hive Publications, pp. 166-168. Photo depicts a random street porter from Thessaloniki in 1917.