How To Properly Prepare for Christmas (Metr. Athanasios of Limassol)

 

 By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

The period leading up to Christmas is especially blessed by God, because it leads us liturgically and festively to the main day, where the Orthodox Church celebrates the event of Christ's birth. Like all the feasts of our Church, Christmas does not only have a commemorative character, but the main purpose is for man to share in this grace, which God gives through the feasts of our Church.

It has been observed through the experience of the Saints and Fathers of our Church that these days are distinguished for the overflowing grace that is diffused by God and the Holy Spirit to the faithful and are stations in our lives from which we can draw this grace and the communion of the Holy Spirit.

What Proved to Me the Gospel of Christ Was True (Metr. Athanasios of Limassol)

By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

 

When I first met Elder Paisios, within me - although I was a young child 18-18.5 years old - I said that indeed, what Christ said is true!

Since this man exists and since this man lives and I saw him with my own eyes and I experienced life with him afterwards - I lived with him for 16 whole years - then everything that the Gospel says is true!

When the Saints Sinned They Did Not Suffer Melancholy and Depression (Metr. Athanasios of Limassol)

 

By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

 

You see, the Saints, even when they sinned, had the strength to rise again with a certain simplicity and with a healthy attitude.  

 

If they sinned, they repented from the bottom of their hearts and to the point of death, but they did not suffer from melancholy and depression.  

 

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol on the Execution of Frank Atwood - Monk Ephraim

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol was the first Orthodox Christian Frank Atwood got in contact with in the mid-1990's while he was prison, and the Metropolitan was at that time not a Metropolitan but an abbot of a monastery in Cyprus and former monk of Mount Athos. It was during his prison studies of the blending of Christianity and Oriental religions that Frank came upon and read the book The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality by Kyriacos Markides. In this book, Metropolitan Athanasios (under the pseudonym Father Maximos) gives a profound account of the true nature of Orthodox spirituality from an Athonite perspective, and this moved Frank to get in contact with him. A few years later, in 2000, Frank was baptized with the name Anthony.

Below is a translation of a transcript from a recent audio recording in which Metropolitan Athanasios was asked about the recent execution of Frank Atwood, and he replied as follows:

"When I Went to the Cave of Bethlehem, My Heart Broke There" (St. Ephraim of Katounakia)

By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

I remember the Elder, Saint Ephraim Katounakiotis, saying:

"I was moved everywhere in the Holy Land, but when I went to the Cave of Bethlehem, my heart broke there! It became a thousand pieces! And I said: how was God born in this place, in this cave, without consolation, cast out, outside of the city? This God, who could have done anything for Himself, and yet silently, away from all worldliness, in one night, the coldest night of the year, the longest night of the year, in a completely despised space, the One who created everything - heaven and earth - He was born in that space!

The Reaction of an Old Ascetic of Mount Athos Upon First Seeing Christmas Lights in Thessaloniki

 By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

When I was younger I was very skeptical about the way the Holy Days of Christmas are celebrated. And I can say that I criticized these things with the inexperience that characterized me. I said these are secular, they are not needed, why do they exist, they offer nothing, they lose the spiritual meaning, and everything else that is said that we often hear.

So once I accompanied an old man from Mount Athos because he needed to see a doctor. And because Christmas is celebrated on Mount Athos later on another date due to the Old Calendar, we happened to be in Thessaloniki on Christmas day. Thessaloniki, as in other cities, on the main streets of Egnatia, Tsimiski and others are filled with thousands of lamps, lights that adorn the streets.

Interview With Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol on Issues Concerning the Pandemic, Vaccination, His Personal Battle With the Coronavirus, and his Stance on Ukraine

The following interview was conducted by philenews.com with Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol. Having recently suffered with the coronavirus, the interviewer asks him a series of controversial questions regarding this issue, and being one of the Hierarchs of Cyprus who disagreed with how the Archbishop of Cyprus handled the issue of Ukraine, he clarifies his stance.  

You got sick in March 2021 with the coronavirus. How did you experience the adventure?

Thank God, it was an adventure that passed. At the moment I was walking in the unknown, I did not know what would happen because I also have some underlying diseases. I was scared but then I left it in the hands of God. I said my prayer and asked God to do His will.

You were also hospitalized for a few days.

The doctors told me to do that when I was informed that I was infected with the virus. I was told you have to go to the hospital. Their order was imperative because I might not have gone since I was not feeling bad at the time. Fortunately I went early.

The Roman Catholic Monk From Italy Who Was Left Speechless by Saint Porphyrios of Kavsokalyva

 

 

By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

For every person who approached him, Father Porphyrios was a revelation. And this was also the case with the non-Orthodox. Let me tell you a very typical story.

Once, when we were at New Skete [the brotherhood of Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi], we hosted a Roman Catholic monk, who had come to Mount Athos to know how the monks live here and, in general, the whole ascetic life and conduct of the Holy Mountain.

Daily Radio Show in This Time of Crisis Hosted by Metr. Athanasios of Limassol

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, through his Metropolis radio station, is daily communicating with his flock in this time of crisis and human ordeal, where he communicates by telephone with his flock and offers them comforting words as well as answers to callers questions, especially regarding the ordeal we are going through with the pandemic and the issues that surround it.

Is the Holy Light of Jerusalem a Scam? Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol Responds

Below is translated the response of Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol to certain recent reports that the Holy Light of Jerusalem is a scam and the Patriarch uses a lighter or other light source to light the candles on Holy Saturday. The original video interview from April 2019 is below.

I went to the Holy Land and experienced Holy Week there. I was next to the Patriarch during the ceremony of the Holy Light. Outside of the Tomb, of course. What I can tell you is the following: as to how the Patriarch lights the candles inside the All-Holy Tomb, I did not see. I wasn't inside nor is anyone else inside. Not even the Guardian of the Sepulchre is there. Only the Patriarch knows. Whether he lights it with a lighter or anything else, he knows. We have historical testimonies over many centuries that say the candles of the Patriarch are lit on their own.