Saint Boukolos, First Bishop of Smyrna

Saint Boukolos (Bucolus or Bucolos) of Smyrna (Feast Day - February 6)

Verses

As a shepherd of Smyrna Boukolos offered the priestly sacrifice,
He was vigilant and died protecting his flock.
Splendid sun, on the sixth the light of Boukolos departed.

In his youth our Holy Father Boukolos cleansed himself of his passions, and became a fit dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, so that when the Holy Apostle and beloved by Christ John the Theologian established the Church of Smyrna, he found him approved and worthy to serve as Bishop and shepherd of that great city. This divine hierarch, illumined by the Holy Spirit, enlightened the pagans who were in the darkness of ignorance, making them sons of the light and children of the day through Holy Baptism, delivering them from those beasts of the night, namely the fierce and dark demons.

The Miracle of the Church of the Prophet Elijah in Chernobyl

The only church in Chernobyl dedicated to the Old Testament Prophet Elijah is first mentioned by chronicles in the 16th century. Following the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in April 1986 the church was closed. Services in it were resumed in 2001. The church contains the revered icons of “The Saviour of Chernobyl” and of St. Nicholas the Wonder-Worker.

In April 2011, on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia visited Chernobyl. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church served a funeral service (panikhida) there for the repose of the accident victims. The Patriarch then noted that the containment and stoppage of the nuclear power station accident “became a great moral feat for thousands of people” and called upon the gathered people not to forget the Chernobyl disaster victims.

Recommended Reading from Saint Porphyrios

In the following conversation, the Holy Elder Porphyrios offers some reading recommendations. He asked a certain visitor:

"Honestly, what books do you read?"

"I have no particular preference. I read all kinds."

"Do you read the lives of Saints?"

"I have read many. And I like them a lot!"

Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos Interviewed About Contemporary Issues of the Church and Society

The following timely and enlightening interview with His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou was conducted by the journalist Alexander Kolliopoulos for the newspaper "Ecclesiology" out of Patras in December 2014.

1. Your Eminence, if you agree, we wanted to begin with a contemporary issue. Many people are worried that a union of the Orthodox Church with the Papal Church will take place without terms and conditions. Please clarify for us how and when is union possible with the Westerners? In the area of the Church are there "red lines" which, if violated, then we can speak about a betrayal of the faith?

Saint Antipas as a Model for our Lives

St. Antipas the Hieromartyr (Feast Day - April 11)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

The sacred hymnographer calls him a divine myrrhgusher, a fellow athlete of the Martyrs, all-famed Hierarch and holder of the first-seat of Pergamon, and great physician of those with dire dental disease. Christ Himself praises him in the Apocalypse by calling him His faithful martyr: "Antipas, My faithful martyr" (2:13).

The Last Days of Elder Anastasios of Koudoumas (4 of 5)

Continued from part three...

I approached him and told him that once when I went to the intensive care unit of the hospital to visit Fr. John Romanides, who had suffered a stroke, and I asked him to tell me what the doctors were saying about the state of his health, he said that he was not interested in the opinion of doctors for his health, but he cared how the ecclesiastical situation in Greece was going. And he began to talk to me about theological issues, even though he was facing the danger of death. I asked Elder Anastasios how he could explain this. He replied:

"The pain from breaking the legs is stronger than the stroke episode." He then continued saying: "In here everyone theologizes."

Obviously he meant that they were in pain and they speak in various ways with God, that is, they are wrestling with Him.

Fr. Antonios Fragakis, referring to some experiences the Elder had a few days prior, said: "The woman clothed with the sun", making reference to the Apocalypse of John. Then I received word to challenge him and said:

"Elder, when I read the Apocalypse of John, I see essentially what is described is the uncreated Divine Liturgy in the uncreated Temple of Paradise. This Divine Liturgy we feel on earth. I think that for the hesychast the nous in the heart unceasingly liturgizes throughout the night and in the morning he goes to the Divine Liturgy in the sacred temple, even though a Divine Liturgy is taking place in his heart. But despite the parallel liturgy in the heart and in the temple, the nous in the heart waits for the Body and Blood of Christ to come in Divine Communion. Namely, is there a relationship between the two liturgies, the one in the heart and the one in the temple?"

The Elder "revved up" and began to say:

"It is exactly like this, Your Eminence. However, this is not lived by many. Indeed, in the Apocalypse of John there is described the uncreated Divine Liturgy in the temple created without hands. There the liturgist is Christ personally. Here, in the created temple, it is officiated through the Priesthood and they officiate His Body and Blood. It truly exists in the created temple, but it does not rest in the place it is officiated, as in the hearts for which it was intended. This is also the meaning of the scripture: 'My son, give me your heart.' There is the noetic liturgy and the reasonable liturgy. The first precedes and waits for the other. With Divine Communion Christ sits on the noetic altar of the heart and becomes a source of all good."

At some point I told him Elder Sophrony writes somewhere that at the beginning of his turn towards the living Christ, after his experience in Eastern philosophy, he felt surrounding the inner world of his heart a lead wall and something like a spear passed through his thickness, which created a capillary slit, from which a ray of light penetrated.

Elder Anastasios, hearing this, said: "This happened to me also." Let it be noted that he loved Elder Sophrony very much, about whom he said in amazement: "Sophrony the Great!" He also loved very much Fr. Paisios and Fr. Ephraim of Philotheou who is in America.

He went on to say:

"In the heart is created a hair-like crevice. I lived this once. From there the nous enters deep into the heart and detects everything. This crack remains, the nous does not depart from there, but the crevice changes. It is not always the same experience. Reason says the prayer, and when it is satiated it gives also to the heart. Christ descends there with the nous. Reason is the place of the nous. Afterwards, reason describes whatever it can express from this experience of the heart. This is the narrow gate of which Lord spoke and it is the gateway to the heart. Through the heart the nous enters the paradise of God. When you arrive at theosis you have everything. The path terminates. Saint Gregory the Theologian said: 'Bend into your heart and you will see heaven.' For there is one gateway to Heaven, and that is the gateway which opens in the heart."

I was amazed by all that I was hearing in the hospital on a bed of pain from an operated man, who hurt, but his theological words were running like a river.

Then we were silent for a time. I did not want to disturb him and tire him even if it appeared he wanted to speak theologically. Regarding these words I spoke to the monks who were standing nearby at the bottom of the bed. I saw that the Elder was looking at me probing with his striking expressive eyes.

Although he hurt, he did not express any dissatisfaction with a certain bodily movement or a facial grimace. He was not bothered with the presence of many people next to his bed.

Eventually he said: "Narrow is the gateway by which one enters the other life. And this alleyway, I traverse already."

I leaned over and embraced him, and stroked his head affectionately. I went behind him and held the pillows upright so he could sit a little on the bed. He was pensive, neither laughing nor expressing his pain. He had a great kindness of soul. He looked like a mature theologian as well as like a little child, and this unity is created by the Grace of God with dispassion in Christ.

In his hand there was serum, but both of his hands were injured and blackened from the needle jabs. Fr. Antonios at one point caressed his hand and he looked without showing that he was bothered. One of the bystanders said that he was in pain at that point from the needle jabs. Then Fr. Antonios told the Elder: "I did not know, Elder. Why didn't you tell me?" And the Elder replied smiling:

"I only have two hands and they couldn't find a third to leave intact."

Some lay people present asked the Elder permission to photograph him and be photographed with him. He replied neither positively nor negatively and remained calm and peaceful.

I told him that it is the heart which feels God. The Elder agreed, but full of wisdom he replied:

"At the same time the heart can be mislead." This occurs when the heart isn't purified of the passions. He went on to say:

"Christ is patience. Christ is everything. He said: 'I will strike, and I will heal.' Sometimes He expresses Himself with austerity, sometimes with sweetness, but with both ways He manifests His love. Relentless is the wrestling with God. This wrestling is not known except by God and the athletes of Christ. It is an unrelenting wrestle, because God is all-powerful. But He is also all-love. And when He shows His 'hardness', essentially He is depicting His love."

Beside the Elder was a patient who was breathing heavily and groaning. I asked him if he was annoyed by the groaning and if he wanted me to ask to transfer him to another room so he could be alone and have quiet. He told me:

"No, thank you, they don't bother me, but they help me. All of these theologize their pain. They also complete my theology."

It's amazing to feel the pain of others as theology. This shows a sensitive heart that has been transformed by the Grace of God.

Most of the time I was near him, I did not speak so as not to weary him. The monks told me that the Elder does not grow weary, but he is glad to speak theology. Indeed, when he was in another room, all night he said the prayer with his mouth and all the sick could hear him.

I sat close to him for about a half hour. I felt calm in my soul and heart, a certain peace and joy. After I received his blessing to leave. He asked me to pray for him. I told him that I am doing it, but I asked for his prayers. He responded: "You say that out of humility." I kissed his hand, he asked to kiss mine, I kissed his forehead, and he told me:

"I wish you eternal glory."

I left with an intense sweetness in my heart. At noon I met with some beloved people, continuing the theological discussion we had with Elder Anastasios. I then went to the airport, where other beloved Christians came to meet me. I boarded the plane, and at 5:50 departed from Heraklion for Athens. At around 10:00 I arrived in Nafpaktos. For fourteen hours that day I was filled with intense emotions. It was a lightning journey, impressed with the lightning of empirical theology of an empirical Elder in a hospital where pain is in excess.

After two days Fr. Antonios sent me two messages which is characteristic of our meeting:

"Elder Anastasios said yesterday: 'The visit of the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos revived me a lot. He came out of love on such an arduous journey. How can I reciprocate? Only with heartfelt thanks.' The Elder then revived a bit, but he did not theologize. He was deep in the mystery of silence."

"Today, Fr. Timothy, a brother from Koudoumas Monastery: 'When the beloved Metropolitan of Nafpaktos came to the Elder, he notably regained communication and waited for him with longing. Then was given the last theological quote from the Elder. He did a concise summary of all of his theology. It was his swan song. After this meeting he passed definitively into silence. To the language of the future life."

The blessed Elder awaited entry into the eternal Divine Liturgy, which he longed for throughout his life, since the time he lived in the caves and the Sacred Monastery.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

PART FIVE

Elder Daniel of Katounakia on 666 and the Antichrist

On 5 September 1925 the late Elder Daniel of Katounakia (1846-1929) sent a letter to S. Bergonin, who had prepared a treatise that dealt with the number 666 and the Antichrist. After nearly 90 years this letter continues to be timely and instructive, as can be read below.

Letter of Elder Daniel of Katounakia (9/5/1925)

With much joy I just received these past days from Father Hilarion, spiritual child of the late Hieromonk Savvas, your letter on May 25th.

I read it with great attention and commend, as it should be, your divine zeal and that as a good Christian you cared to investigate Holy Scripture and to write a study that deals with the number 666, which implies the Antichrist.

Regarding the Chiliasts who complained, you are praiseworthy. The all-good God, who sees your good faith and your good will, will not allow you to fall into delusions, as others have fallen, because they relied on their ego and wanted to interpret the issues of the Apocalypse of John the Theologian.

Proof of the humble ideas you have about yourself is that you feared the right-hand traps of the lurking dragon and did not base things on yourself and your opinions. This is why you did a forty-day Liturgy and other sacred acts and then wrote and sent this study.

In this you are praiseworthy, because you imitated the Apostle Paul, who though he had certainty about what he taught, because he was taught directly by our Savior Jesus, but out of fear lest he was running or ran in vain, every year he would go to Jerusalem to state his thoughts to Peter and James. Led in this way he became an infallible luminary of the universe.

Because you came to trust me in everything, my beloved, and asked with unshakable faith for me to tell you if the opinion you put forward and the conclusions you made about the number 666 have a basis or not, I hasten to say with all honesty what the Holy Fathers of the Church have revealed about this.

Generally they recommend caution to not proceed towards an interpretation of the Apocalypse of Saint John according to our own opinions, because those who attempted to have done so from ancient times became miserably deceived.

Also those who resort to numbers and claim that such and such a number signifies the coming of Antichrist and the time, they do so in vain without the slightest benefit. Anyway, for those dealing with such issues it is impossible for them not to fall into bizarre delusions.

We are assured that the Holy Apostles and all the great Fathers left without explanation the sacred Apocalypse, because it refers to the future in a vague way, which will only be revealed when they come to pass.

In his epistle to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul criticizes those who observe the times and the seasons. He writes to them: "You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain" (Gal. 4:10, 11).

We also see clearly in the sacred Gospel that our Lord Jesus, even though He explained to the disciples all of His supernatural mysteries and the great mystery of the Supra-essential Trinity as well as all that they needed to know for their salvation, He revealed everything. However the time and the season of His Second Coming He hid, saying: "Regarding that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matt. 24:36).

What therefore? Did our God-man Jesus not know anything about this? For one to contemplate such a thing is blasphemous. As consubstantial and co-equal with the Father He knew very well, but it was not in our interest for that day to be spread, especially by the Apostles, and for all of us to know. He only gave us the signs and circumstances that would usher in the coming of the Antichrist and, as we see today, the time is near. Also in the Acts of the Apostles we see that the Lord prohibits us from this unbeneficial study. Luke writes: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has set in His own authority" (Acts 1:7).

And because, as you write, you are a sinful man, as I who write to you also am, and was granted mercy by God by confession and are under a canon, since that is the case, why, my beloved, should we abandon humble self-knowledge to occupy ourselves with matters higher than is within our power? Why occupy ourselves with numbers and subjective guesses to find out the times and the seasons?

Instead of dealing with such dangerous research, is it not better to take care how you can be liked by the Lord with virtuous works and to avoid hidden pride?

As much as the All-Good One is pleased with the humble self-knowledge of ourselves and with one tear we shed for our sins, He is not pleased with countless discoveries of the Old and New Testament.

Proof of this is the thief, who, though he was a criminal and sinner, because he humbled himself and asked mercy for his sins, he was raised so much, that he became the first to enter Paradise.

Concerning the coming of Antichrist, we, my beloved, have the Church as an infallible teacher, having the help of the Holy Spirit. This cannot err. See what the Church says: First will come the prophets Enoch and Elijah. The Antichrist will be born of a Hebrew prostitute, etc., and he will do wonders and signs according to the imagination, and in this way the end will come (see the Triodion, Meatfare Sunday).

These are the salvific truths we must believe, and believing we will be ready to receive the Lord, in accordance with: "Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man will come" (Matt. 25:13).

Truly, how will it benefit us to explain the name of the Antichrist or to delve into numbers, when before the coming of the Antichrist death will catch up to us?

These things are enough, and I believe that as a wise laborer in the vineyard of Christ you will not over interpret what I say, but be convinced that this is the truth.

Therefore, abandon all of these observations and return to the writings of the Fathers, which will benefit you countless times more. And then pray for me, the least of all, who prays for you in all that pertains to salvation.

Katounakia, Mount Athos

5 September 1925

Daniel Monk Katounakiotis

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

The First and Second Resurrection

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

The Resurrection of Christ, which we festively celebrate after several days of fasting, repentance and prayer, is the central mystery of faith and the life in Christ. Without the Resurrection of Christ we would be under the power of death, sin and the devil and there would be no way out of life. That's why the Apostle Paul declares: "If Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile and we remain in our sins" (1 Cor. 15:17). Christ by His Resurrection gave Grace to us to be spiritually resurrected in this life, as well as bodily at the Second Coming of Christ, as we confess in our Symbol of Faith: "I expect the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the future age."

When we examine the issue of the Resurrection in terms of liturgical order, we usually talk about the First Resurrection as that of the Matins and Divine Liturgy which occurs the night of Pascha, and the Second Resurrection as the Service of the Vespers of Agape, which occurs on the day of Pascha, that is, the evening of the Sunday of Pascha. However, in Holy Scripture the expression first and second resurrection is associated with the Christian faithful and refers to the spiritual life. Characteristic is the passage from John the Evangelist which is written in Revelation: "Blessed is he who has a part in the first resurrection" (Rev. 20:5). This means that there is a first resurrection, which the saints participate in, and a second.

To see what is the theological meaning of the first and second resurrection we must first consider what is the first and second death. The first death is the separation of man from God, Who is the real life, and the second death is the definitive separation of sinners from God that will occur at the Second Coming of Christ. Thus, the first resurrection is the communion of man with God, as long as man lives in this world within the Church, and the second resurrection is the communion of man with God at His Second Coming, when his body also will be resurrected.

Therefore, the first resurrection that is within the Church is very important, where man lives biologically. This is the "period of a thousand years". In Revelation, John the Evangelist speaks of those who did not worship the beast and his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand, and who "lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (Rev. 20:4). What is this period of a thousand years?

According to Saint Andrew of Caesarea, the time of a thousand years is symbolic and characterizes a period "from the time of Christ's coming to the appearance of the Antichrist", that is, the period of the Church in history. Those who truly live in the Church with its Mysteries and asceticism live the first resurrection, and the second resurrection will occur when their bodies are raised at the Second Advent of Christ.

Thus, according to Saint Andrew of Caesarea, there are two deaths and two resurrections. The first death is the spiritual and physical death, which came from man's disobedience to the command of God, and the second death is eternal hell. By extension, the first resurrection is "those who are brought to life from dead works", which occurs through Baptism, Chrismation and the deadening of the passions, while the second resurrection is the alteration "from the corruption of the body to incorruption."

This means that when we live in the Orthodox Church, with the Mysteries and asceticism, we partake in the first resurrection, which, as Anthimos of Jerusalem writes, "is the the glory of God and grace", which is received "in this life by the saints". For those living the first resurrection there is no power "in the second death, which is the distancing from God."

John the Evangelist blesses those who partake in the first resurrection who now live this biological life. These are saints: "Blessed and holy are they who have a place in the first resurrection", because "on these the second death has no dominion." Those who partake in the first resurrection will be "priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with them a thousand years" (Rev. 20:6).

The Church, beloved brethren and children in the Lord, with all the splendor in which it celebrates the Resurrection of Christ, wants to encourage and motivate us to live the first resurrection from now, that is, the liberation from the passions and the life of the Resurrection of Christ in our hearts. Thus, we avoid the death of sin acting within us. In this way we will experience Grace, the love and peace of Christ within us, and this life unfolds around us. And then there will be hope for a second resurrection, the eternal communion with Christ.

Source: Paremvasi, "Η πρώτη καί δεύτερη Ανάσταση", April 2011 (Paschal Encyclical, 2011). Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

A Tour of the Cave of the Apocalypse: Video

Read more here.