Saint Philoumenos Intervenes in the Rehabilitation of a Drug Addict

Helen N., who comes from Rhodes, was a drug user for seven years. Even though she had made some attempts at rehab, she kept going back to the same things.

She could not work and her relationship with her family had become very difficult.

In a last ditch effort by her mother to help her, they moved to Athens, where she was admitted to a rehab center. But there she did not cooperate with the experts at all; she shouted, got angry, hit them.

Her mother desperately prayed to Saint Philoumenos, about whom she had heard a lot, and begged him to help her.

Holy New Hieromartyr Zacharias of Prousa (+ 1802)

St. Zacharias the Hieromartyr of Prousa (Feast Day - May 22)

Zacharias was from Prousa in Asia Minor, where he served as a monastic priest. One day, under the influence of alcohol, he denied his faith in Christ and accepted Islam. When he sobered up from his drunken stupor, Zacharias realized what he had done, and he grieved and repented with bitter tears.

Since his denial was done publicly and his repentance was done privately, he wanted to make known that he was indeed a Christian, and therefore resolved to confess Christ before all. However, Zacharias was an alcoholic, so when he drank again, his zeal was consumed and it did not allow him to think straight. He feared the torture that would come his way as well.

Synaxis of the Icon of the Mother of God the Inexhaustible Chalice

Icon of the Inexhaustible Cup (Feast Day - May 5)

The Inexhaustible Chalice Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was revealed in Russia in 1878. A retired soldier from Tula had spent his pension on alcohol, ruining his health. Though he was no longer able to walk, he continued to drink.

One night a holy Elder appeared to him in a dream and told him to go to the Vladychny Convent of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple in Serpukhov. “Have a Molieben served before her Icon the Inexhaustible Chalice." Since he had no money and could not walk, the man paid no attention to the dream. Then the Elder appeared a second and third time, speaking to him with increasing severity.

Synaxarion of the Holy Martyr Boniface and his Holy Mistress Aglaia

Sts. Boniface and Aglaia (Feast Day - December 19)

Verses

Boniface sought the bones of the Martyrs,
He found himself to be a Martyr beheaded by the sword.
On the nineteenth Boniface was beheaded.

This Saint lived during the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-305), and was the servant of a senatorial woman named Aglaia, daughter of Akakios the proconsul of Rome. In so far as he was a man, he was conquered by wine and passionate love for his mistress. But he was merciful and hospitable. Eager to help those who were in need, he had compassion and sympathy towards the misfortunes and supplications of those who hurt. His mistress also was merciful, and loved the Martyrs of Christ. One day she said to Boniface: "Go to the East, where the Saints are being martyred, and bring back relics of the Saints, that we may have them as an aid towards the salvation of our souls." Boniface smiled and responded: "If I bring back my own relic, will you accept it?" Aglaia said to him: "It is not the time to joke." Placing much value in these, she put in his heart the fear of God. Praying that he return with a fortunate return she sent him off, where the Martyrs of Christ were being tormented.

Miracles of Saint Basil of Ostrog (5 of 5)

...continued from part four.

THE VISION OF THE ITALIAN GUARDS

Maksim Jovovic wrote down the story in 1959:

“In the village of Zupci, near Bar, people still talk of the incident that happened to some Italian guards in the World War II.

It took place one dark night in 1942 when the occupying Italian army was guarding its positions at Ribnjak, in a church dedicated to St. Basil of Ostrog which was had been by King Nikola.

As the Italian soldiers were building a fire in the church and preparing their supper, suddenly the entire church was bathed in a strange light. A white-bearded Elder clad in the robes of an Orthodox Bishop appeared before them.

He ordered them sternly to clean up the church and leave at once. The church went dark and the elder disappeared in the darkness. The soldiers were filled with fright and ran out of the church and all the way down to the foot of the hill. They prepared their supper there and would not on any account ever eat and prepare food in the church again.

One day one of the Italian guards saw an icon of St. Basil of Ostrog in the home of a local family. He said: 'This is exactly what the Bishop who turned us out of the church looked like!'"

Holy New Martyr George of Ephesus (+ 1801)

St. George the Neomartyr of Ephesus (Feast Day - April 5)

Verses

Sentenced to beheading by the sword O George,

With joy you went off to the land of joy.

Holy New Martyr George was born in New Ephesus in 1756 to a father from Samos. He married and had several children. One day in June of 1798, he got drunk and in that state was induced to deny his Orthodox Christian faith and become a Muslim, though he was not circumcised. When he became sober, he felt shame for what he did, so he denounced Islam and fled New Ephesus for Samos.

Old Man Makarios of Kapsala, the Drunk Hesychast

By Athanasios Rakovalis

All monks are not the same, nor are all athletes or doctors or anyone else. Some make progress and become distinguished while others are mediocre, some excel while others fail in their purpose. However, they all have their place in life, and God's criteria for them may be different than ours ... much different.

In God's eyes poor Lazarus was successful, who lived life as a beggar, and not the foolish Rich Man, with his many riches and worldly "success". In God's eyes the sinful Publican was successful, who was devastated by the sins he actually committed, and dared not to lift his eyes to heaven, but merely begged God humbly: "God be merciful to me, a sinner." In God's eyes the Pharisee was unsuccessful, who although was religious and kept God's commandments, yet his soul was inflated with pride and considered himself superior to the Publican and others. God abhorred him.

We must therefore be careful with things. Let us not judge what we see. For what happens in the depth of the human heart we cannot see. Therefore, "let us stand well, let us stand with fear." I came to know of the existence of Elder Makarios by hearing him. One evening I heard him yelling.

Saint John Cassian the Roman as a Model for our Lives

St. Cassian the Roman (Feast Day - February 29)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint John Cassian is a great Father and Teacher of the Church. Born in Rome of pious parents, they made sure to raise him "in the education and admonition of the Lord". Together with maternal milk he suckled on the pure milk of the Orthodox Faith from the living breast of the Church. From his parents he learned to love Christ, the Head of the Church, as well as the saints, her authentic members.

His acquaintance and fellowship from his childhood with holy people affected him beneficially by shaping his personality and entire way of life. Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite writes: "He went to various places and met with saints and renowned venerable ones, and the virtues of all he aggregated in himself, like a diligent bee; so that he also became to others another standard and example of all kinds of virtues. Thus by elevating himself above the passions and purifying his nous, he came to know perfect victory against the passions."

The Simple Woman Who Taught a Bishop To Pray

By Metropolitan Nicholas (Selentis) of Halkida

A simple woman taught me to pray with devotion and tears. She lived in Perama of Piraeus and was contemptuously called not by her name but by her nickname "Avgoulou",* because she sold fresh eggs to make her "daily bread".

Saint George the Trophy-Bearer as a Model for our Lives

St. George the Great Martyr (Feast Day - April 23)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Every spring, together with the "feast of feasts and festival of festivals", the bright-bearing Resurrection which is a spiritual spring, "the spring of Grace", Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate the memory of a great martyr of our Church, Saint George the Trophy-Bearer (April 23 or the second day of Pascha if this date falls before). "Behold, the spring of Grace has risen, the Resurrection of Christ has shined upon all, and George the Martyr shines with it, on this all-celebratory and light-bearing day."

Elder Paisios and the Hashish Addict

The Testimony of Lemoni Euthymiou of Thessaloniki, 

former officer of Mount Athos

After two months I returned to Mount Athos and to Elder Paisios, with three other friends. Next to me sat a friend who would drink hashish. He even had a "tree" in his house.

Message of the Archbishop of Greece on Drug Abuse

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime launches campaigns to raise awareness of drugs and crime problems. On 26 June every year, UNODC marks the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Below is the message of Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece for this day.

Today it is worth turning our attention and our prayers to all those who are being tested, to all those who sought a life with emotions, but in the wrong way. The antidote to the disease of addiction can only be love and life with meaning and authenticity. No one who lived every day with gratitude and simplicity needed any substance to use as an escape from their everyday life.

What interests us most is not to declare how much we are against drugs, but how pro-life we are. The Church exists to invite people into the mystery of true life and this is our proposal against the death of dependency. Christ promised people life and abundance of life, and all the young people who went through the ordeal of drugs and are now clean show us that this is not just a promise but a reality because, as they themselves admit, they accomplished this with the help of God.

We are close to all the families suffering from the scourge of narcotic substances and declare our love and support to all those who instead of complacency and indifference choose to fight against addictions. The Orthodox Church struggles beside them, ministering through the vibrant parishes, evoking in this way the healing power of community and the society of persons.

The Archbishop

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Russian Church Helps To Rehabilitate Drug Addicts

A derelict village located eight hours northeast of Moscow by car hosts one of the 60 rehabilitation centers for drug addicts that the Russian Orthodox Church has opened since the early 1990s.

Darya Zagvozdina

January 30, 2013

Gazeta.ru

The parish of St. George is located in a remote village in Ivanovo Region. It is one of 60 drug rehabilitation centers in Russia run by the Russian Orthodox Church. Only 12 people live here – four priests and eight recovering drug addicts from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Tomsk. The center tries not to take addicts from nearby towns, in case they begin to think of escaping.

The village of St. George consists of a telephone box and a couple of buildings on a small hill. Only one or two buildings, perhaps, are inhabited; the rest stand with their roofs fallen in behind collapsing fences. The monastery grounds are spotless – neatly-trimmed strawberry bushes, garden tools tidily packed away, the greenhouse covered for winter, the paths swept and a horse exercising in the paddock. The farmyard is full of well-fed chickens and a sheep dog is keeping an eye on the enclosure. Nearby they are building a cowshed and, as soon as it is feasible, the priests are planning to buy cows.

Rosy-cheeked, burly and well-mannered young men move around the parish. Alexander is bursting with emotion as he holds a chicken in his arms; Anton describes the beautiful sunsets on the Volga River; Andrei remarks shyly about what joy there is in creative work, while the rough-and-ready Konstantin has one of Erich Maria Remarque’s books on his bedside table.

The “students” all have a similar history of substance abuse; they all started drinking and smoking around the age of 13, before experimenting with different “stuff” and becoming unexpectedly hooked... but they never considered themselves drug addicts.

The Rev. Mefody Kondratyev explains that the idea of getting involved in the rehabilitation of drug addicts arose out of desperation. In 1993, the priests took in an addict as a kind of experiment: they accommodated him in a separate building, provided him with an electric hot plate, and tried to keep mostly away from him, not knowing what might happen. Later, there were two addicts, but the priests tried to keep their distance from them, as before.

By the end of the 1990s, however, the priests had begun to realize that things had to be done differently, and over the years that followed they worked out the rehabilitation program they still use to this day.

The center’s residents say that it is not easy to be taken in here, on the banks of the Volga: they had to pass an interview and stay clean for at least 10 days before being accepted. Once taken in, residents sign an agreement that they will obey the clergy, attend church services and carry out their duties (various kinds of assignments).

The day begins with a church service for both the priests and their charges, after which there are some short morning exercises followed by breakfast. After breakfast and lunch, each of the residents gets on with their allotted tasks: for some this means chopping firewood, for others, bringing in hay, and still others clean the dormitories. Evening Service precedes supper. Saturdays and Sundays are rest days and, except for a short church service and their meals, the patients are free to do more or less as they please.

On Saturday evenings, everybody gets together to discuss the week’s results. Each of the parish clergy takes an hour to an hour-and-a-half to go through the previous week’s plan with the residents and assess their progress. On Sundays, the priests prepare the patients for a normal life, discussing different topics with them – how to receive guests, how to arrange a room. Then, after supper, they watch a film. Abbot Siluan chooses the films. The parish’s collection includes films by Tarkovsky and Zvyaginstev, along with Russian and foreign classics. On Monday evenings, the residents discuss the films they have seen with the priests.

There are several stages to the rehabilitation process. During the first stage, residents at the center “come round” and write reflective essays on three standard topics – the story of their addiction, their denial about their dependency (how they justified their dependency), and their powerlessness in the face of their addiction (a description of their inability to deal with their drug dependency, and with dealing with their own thoughts, actions and mistakes concerning their addiction).

The second stage is the spiritual component. The recovering addicts spend several months learning how to deal with their addiction through ascetic self-denial, learning the meaning of fasting, prayer, obedience and the holy sacraments.

The third stage is adaptation, which some also call the “half-way house.” The recovering addicts, without losing touch with their mentors, begin to establish a life outside the center – finding jobs, building social contacts and learning how to live in a drug-free world.

The average rehabilitation period in the parish is between a year and a year-and-a-half. No one is kept against their own will. Once residents feel they are able to live in a secular environment, they discuss it with a priest before leaving.

The priests of the St. George’s parish believe that the rehabilitation method they have developed for treating addiction is successful, although they are not rushing to translate that success into statistics. “We no longer bother keeping numbers,” says Mefody. He believes this is a thankless task, as dependency remains latent for life: one can never tell when someone might falter. This is why the former residents refer to themselves as “recovering,” instead of “recovered.”

Even so, Rev. Silvanus claims that more than half of their former patients remain “clean.” Those who slip back are not taken back at the parish: they set a bad example for the other inmates, and indulging them might derail the others.

Photo Gallery: From Drug Addiction to God Comprehension

Saints Boniface of Tarsus and Aglaia of Rome

Holy Martyr Boniface of Tarsus and  Venerable Aglaida of Rome (Feast Day - December 19)

The Holy Martyr Boniface was the slave of a rich young Roman woman named Aglaia and he dwelt with her in an iniquitous cohabitation. But they both felt the sting of conscience and they wanted somehow to be cleansed of their sin. And the Lord granted them the possibility to wash away their sin with their blood and to finish their life in repentance.

Aglaia learned that whoever keeps relics of the holy martyrs in the home and venerates them receives great help in gaining salvation. Under their influence, sin is diminished and virtue prevails. She arranged for Boniface to go to the East, where there was a fierce persecution against Christians, and she asked him to bring back the relics of some martyr, who would become a guide and protector for them.

As he was leaving, Boniface laughed and asked, "My lady, if I do not find any relics, and if I myself suffer for Christ, will you accept my body with reverence?" Aglaia scolded him, saying that he was a drunkard and he was setting off on a sacred mission, but he was not taking it seriously. Boniface pondered her words, and during the whole journey he thought that he was unworthy of touching the bodies of the martyrs.

Arriving at Tarsus in Cilicia, Boniface left his companions at the inn and proceeded to the city square, where they were torturing Christians. Struck by the beastly horrible torments, and seeing the faces of the holy martyrs radiant with the grace of the Lord, Boniface marveled at their courage. He embraced them and kissed their feet, asking them to pray that he might be found worthy to suffer with them.

The judge asked Boniface who he was. He replied, "I am a Christian," and then refused to offer sacrifice to idols. They stripped him and hung him upside down, beating him so hard that the flesh fell from his body, exposing the bone. They stuck needles under his nails, and finally they poured molten tin down his throat, but by the power of the Lord he remained unharmed. The people who witnessed this miracle shouted, "Great is the God of the Christians!" Then they began to throw stones at the judge, and then they headed for the pagan temple, in order to cast down the idols.

On the following morning, when things had quieted down somewhat, the judge directed that the holy martyr be thrown into a cauldron of boiling tar, but this also caused the sufferer no harm. An angel come down from Heaven and bedewed him as he stepped into the cauldron. The tar overflowed the cauldron, splattering and burning the torturers themselves. St Boniface was then sentenced to beheading by the sword. Blood and a milky fluid flowed from his wounds. Beholding such a miracle, about 550 men believed in Christ.

St Boniface's companions, waiting for two days at the inn for him in vain, began searching for him, thinking that he had gotten drunk somewhere. At first their search was without success, but finally they came across a man who had been an eyewitness to the martyr's death. The man also led them to the place where the decapitated body lay. St Boniface's companions tearfully begged his forgiveness for their unseemly thoughts about him. After they ransomed the martyr's remains, they brought them back to Rome.

On the eve of their arrival an angel appeared to Aglaia in her sleep and told her to prepare herself to receive her former slave, now the brother and fellow-servant of the angels. Aglaia summoned the clergy, and she received the holy relics with great reverence. Then she built a church on the site of his grave and dedicated it to the holy martyr. There she enshrined his relics, glorified by numerous miracles (which today is the Church of Santi Bonifacio e Alessio). After distributing all her wealth to the poor, she withdrew to a monastery, where she spent fifteen years in repentance, then fell asleep in the Lord. She was buried beside St Boniface. The sins of the one were washed away by his blood, the other was purified by her tears and asceticism. Both were found worthy to appear unsullied before our Lord Jesus Christ, Who desires not the death of a sinner, but that he should turn from his wickedness and live (Ezek. 33:11).

We pray to St Boniface for deliverance from drunkenness.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone

You fervently followed the way of the martyrs confessing Christ before unbelievers, O Boniface. You gave your body to modest Aglaia as an imperishable treasure. Healing and mercy flow from it for the world.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone

Willingly you offered yourself as a blameless sacrifice to the One about to be born of the Virgin for our sake, holy crown-bearer, all-wise Boniface.

Source

Elder Paisios and the Alcoholic Monk

Once on Mount Athos there was a monk who lived in Karyes. He drank and got drunk every day and was the cause of scandal to the pilgrims. Eventually he died and this relieved some of the faithful who went on to tell Elder Paisios that they were delighted that this huge problem was finally solved.

Father Paisios answered them that he knew about the death of the monk, after seeing the entire battalion of angels who came to collect his soul. The pilgrims were amazed and some protested and tried to explain to the Elder of whom they were talking about, thinking that the Elder did not understand.

Elder Paisios explained to them: "This particular monk was born in Asia Minor, shortly before the destruction by the Turks when they gathered all the boys. So as not to take him from their parents, they would take him with them to the reaping, and so he wouldn't cry, they just put raki* into his milk in order for him to sleep. Therefore he grew up as an alcoholic. There he found an elder and said to him that he was an alcoholic. The elder told him to do prostrations and prayers every night and beg the Panagia to help him to reduce by one the glasses he drank.

After a year he managed with struggle and repentance to make the 20 glasses he drank into 19 glasses. The struggle continued over the years and he reached 2-3 glasses, with which he would still get drunk."

The world for years saw an alcoholic monk who scandalized the pilgrims, but God saw a fighter who fought a long struggle to reduce his passion.

Without knowing what each one is trying to do what he wants to do, what right do we have to judge his effort?

* Raki is a Turkish unsweetened, anise-flavored hard alcoholic drink that is popular in Turkey, Greece, Albania, Serbia, and other Balkan countries as an apéritif.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

St. Ephraim and the Greek-American Drug Addict

The following account is a timely story which occurred in 1990 to a young Greek-American teenager, heavily addicted to drugs. The Athenian taxi driver wrote this word-for-word as the young man in the story told it to him while being driven to a drug rehabilitation center after an encounter with Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri, who is the patron saint of those suffering from drug addiction. The taxi driver then had the story published in the Greek newspaper Orthdoxos Typos.


It was afternoon, one of the usual tumultuous afternoons in downtown Athens. There was a line of people at the Omonia taxi-stop.

“To Koukaki, please!”

“With pleasure,” I answered. And that was the extent of our dialogue until the end of the drive, because my passenger’s expression and manner did not leave any room for conversation.

He got out at the summit of Agios Ioannis (in Gargareta) on Veikos Street and, a few meters further on, another hand stopped me with the characteristic wave.

My new passenger was young — around twenty-five to twenty-seven years old — and of medium height, and he was holding a suitcase. As I put his things in the trunk, the young man sat down in the front passenger seat.

And with a poetic phrase that I infrequently used to use in the past: “While departing on your journey to Ithaca, I wish that your road be long and your voyage great.” I meant: “Where to?”

“Yes, my friend, to Ithaca, but not to the island, as you would imagine, but to the Ithaca Detoxification Center,” was his answer, which left me speechless for a few seconds. “To the Larisa train station, please,” he added.

My young passenger’s reply was truly unexpected, because nothing about his outward appearance (eyes, expression, clothing, behavior) betrayed the accursed passion of his addiction to drugs. A multitude of feelings (pain, sorrow, sympathy, love) came over me one after another, an intense wringing of my heart made it move irregularly in my chest, and a tear rolled down my cheek over the plight of my brother, God’s creature. I tried to contain myself, as I wanted to learn under what circumstances he had ended up where he did, because I was also a father with children approaching adolescence.

After we introduced ourselves to each other, I asked Paul if he could tell me something about his life and his addiction, if recalling such events would not hurt or tire him. He readily agreed to my request, for which I thank him.

* * *

"To begin with, it has been two months since I’ve taken that poison, and I now feel like any other normal person. I have no desire whatsoever to put it into my bloodstream again, and I owe this not to any effort of my own, but entirely to the wondrous power of God and His Saints. But let me take it from the start, since you so wish to hear about it.

I was born in Athens, in Koukaki to be precise, where you picked me up, and lived there until I was eight years old. I am an only child and my parents love me pathologically and indulge my every whim. When I was eight, my parents and I left for America for a better life.

My relatives there helped my parents find work and I attended school. As I grew up, however, my senseless desires and vices also grew along with me. On account of my character, I easily got mixed up in bad company and very soon tried marijuana and hashish. As the years went by, the light drugs no longer satisfied me or my friends. So we all threw ourselves into the heavy drugs, which we found in the same surroundings and just as easily as the light drugs. These, however, were expensive, and I did not have a job. At first, I stole from my parents’ pockets and wallets. But when, with time, I was in need of greater doses, and when my parents had found me out, it reached the point that I even beat them to take the money. I understood that my condition was critical, but there was no way I could turn back. My parents rushed me to doctors and psychologists in the hope that they could do something, but to no avail; there was no light from anywhere. Some of them, and eminent scientists at that, told them that if I did not soon get out of that environment, I would not have long to live.

During that time, as I was home alone one day in a state of despair, a strange visitor, whom I had never seen before, appeared in front of me. He was of medium height, had large round eyes that rolled about, and black bushy fur that was over fifteen centimeters in length. He also had horns and a tail. His booming, firm voice and fearsome persuasiveness left no room for objections.

He began to make a thoroughly detailed account of my life from the time that I was born up until that very moment, while I simply said, ‘yes.’ ‘You have enjoyed every-thing,’ he said to me at the end, ‘there is nothing more left for you but to come with me....’ ‘How?’ I asked.

'You will take the car,’ he said, ‘and you will follow such-and-such a road. You will speed along so many miles an hour (I don’t remember the number), and I will be waiting for you there....’ The road in question was straight for many miles and at a certain point it had a slight bend, so that whoever was driving at too great a speed would go off the road and crash into a wall and be killed. I had heard about many such accidents at that spot in the past. Doing exactly as he told me, I, too, ended up smashing into the wall. The car was left almost unrecognizable, but they took me out with only minor injuries. After they gave me first aid, I went home.

About ten days had passed since the accident, when the same strange visitor appeared in my house again, in the kitchen this time. A grimace of displeasure was on his wild and imposing face. With a nod of his head backwards, he said to me in the same distinctive voice, ‘You didn’t accomplish anything.’

I was sitting there staring at him, petrified, and could just barely ask, ‘What should I do?’

‘Now you will take triple your usual dose, and you will surely come with me.’

He disappeared, and I did not even ask myself how he had entered the house or who he was.

I immediately put the plan into action.

I prepared the drug in the syringe and tried to find a place on my much-pierced body. The dose was a large one and I immediately fell unconscious. While I was in this condition, I saw a tall man wearing a cassock and a black monastic cap with a Cross engraved on the front. ‘Do not be afraid,’ he told me. ‘You will get well, and when you return to Greece, come to my house. I am Ephraim.’

I got up as if I had not taken the accursed poison at all. I felt a desire to leave for Greece and, when I told my mother of this desire, she marveled and considered it a miracle, because my parents had many times before unsuccessfully tried to get me out of that environment.

I related to my mother all that had happened to me, and she wanted to accompany me on my journey. When we arrived in my old neighborhood, we went to the Priest of the parish there, and I learned from him who the strange visitor had been and what he had wanted from me. It was the Devil and he wanted my immortal soul. I thank God from the depths of my soul. Fifteen days after I had confessed and fasted, the Priest gave me Holy Communion. When I saw the Icon of St. Ephraim, I understood that it was he who had delivered me from my terrible addiction.

I went to Nea Makri and had Liturgy served and thanked the Saint. Now I am going to this institution to get away from the world for a while and to make sure that I do not need the drugs anymore."

Recollections of St. Nicholas Planas by Elder Philotheos Zervakos

0

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.

Orthodox Miracles of Saint Augustine of Hippo

Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (Feast Day - June 15)

The following is by Fr. Nektarios Moulatsiotis, Abbot of the Holy Monastery of Saint Augustine of Hippo and Saint Seraphim of Sarov in the village of Trikorfo of Central Greece. One of the boasts of the monasteries is that it has one of the largest bell towers in the world (400 bells). It is a missionary brotherhood, very well-known in Greece and abroad.

Many youth return to the ways of God and write us letters of miracles which have happened in their lives through the intercessions of Saint Augustine. Below are a few examples:

1. A young 23 year old man, a drug addict, would have visions of a saint who would ask him if he wanted to be saved. The young man would answer that he wanted to be saved from his passion for drugs which brought him to ruin. The saint then told him: "My home is in Trikorfo Doridos. Go there and you will be well." The young man came, told us all that happened to him, and we brought him to the church of the Monastery. When he saw the icon of Saint Augustine, he yelled: "That was him...that was him...!" and fell on his knees to venerate him. The miracle happened. Until today this young man, as he told us, is free of any drug use and even of its desire. (We have not released his name because of his association with drugs.)

2. Mrs. Vissaria Dagla from Lefkada went through a severe trial with her son Panagioti who lives in America. On Christmas of 1994 her son who was married with three children, abandoned his family and home without reason or cause. His mother, once she heard this and unable to do anything, fell on her knees and pleaded with Saint Augustine and his mother Monica to intercede on behalf of her child. It happened that within two months the miracle occurred, her prayers were answered, and Panagiotis returned to his home and family repentant of his error. Saint Augustine interceded for him as he does for thousands of young people.

3. Miss Aspasia Volga, from Trapezaki - Distrato Arta, wrote to us the following:

Beloved Elder,

I watched your program and I was moved to hear that on June 15th, the Feast of Saint Augustine and his mother Saint Monica, the 400 semantra and 62 bells of your Monastery will be struck and the "earth will shake" from the peale. I had suffered from dislocation of the jawbone for 18 years. I had not been able to eat, to laugh, etc. Hearing of the Saints I pleaded with Saint Augustine and his mother to heal me. I crossed my left cheek at that moment as I was watching you speak on television. The miracle happened immediately. I was cured at that moment. Today I can once again laugh, I eat easily and I glorify God and his Saints who healed me.

May God keep you well and give you strength,

The unworthy servant of the Lord,

Aspasia Volga

4. Mrs. Kelaidi-Kastrinaki Aggeliki, former Director of Personnel in Megaron Maximou during the government of Mitsotakis, often visits our Monastery, because she has a great devotion towards Saint Seraphim. Unknowingly, however, she would always venerate the icon of Saint Seraphim and would forget that of Saint Augustine.

However, she wrote us that one night she saw the following in her sleep:

I saw that I was coming to your Monastery, and when I arrived beneath the bell-tower and prior to my entering the holy church, I met before me a saint, who told me:

"Why is it that when you come to our Monastery you do not venerate me?"

"Who are you?"

"Saint Augustine", responded the Saint, and he disappeared from us.

Then I saw that I was moving towards the interior of the church. Seeing the icon of Saint Augustine I immediately recognized the Saint whom I had just recently met.

When Mrs. Keliadi visits our Monastery now, she venerates immediately both of our Saints.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Orthodox Nun Stops Suicide Surge in Russian Village

Nun Stops Suicide Surge in a Village of the Amur Region

Moscow, 14 April 2010, Interfax - An Orthodox nun managed to stop a suicide surge among the residents of Otvazhnoye village of the Amur Region, Russia.

From the 1970s, the whole families of the village have committed suicides. People willingly killed themselves almost every month. This trend was turned around only when the former agriculturist Galina Neuman had taken monastic vows and established a parish, reports Wednesday a Far Eastern issue of Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Galina Neuman, now Mother Domnikia, came to live in the village about 40 years ago. After her elder son had hanged himself, she began regularly attending the church and decided to establish a parish in place of the dilapidated state farm office. She spent the whole amount of her retirement pension to renovate the building. However, her initiative found no support with her hometown who used to insult her and even spit her in the face.

After the parish was opened, people brought their whole families to take baptism. Those who used to spit the nun in the face were the first to ask for baptism. The residents of the village ceased to kill themselves on their own free will. Only one man committed suicide during the last three years, because he could not stand the agony of cancer.

The original Russian article here also contains the following detail:

Last February a tired traveler strolled into the village parish. He fell before the icons on his knees, prayed for a long time, then asked the nun to give him some water; and as if confessing told his story:

"I am from the next village. I was walking to the rails of the Trans-Siberian Railroad to lay down under a train [to commit suicide], when I saw an Orthodox Cross appear to me. [And I thought] 'my own legs brought me here. Now I will go back, I have two children at home....'

Mother Domnikia embraced him and, for the first time since the funeral of her son, the nun started to weep aloud, remembering those dozens of villagers who voluntarily were snuffed out of life, while she was struggling for years for state farm harvests (crops).

And now Mother Domnikia on her own is struggling with the village moonshiners, who are selling death and tears. [The suicides are primarily alcohol related].

"I visit their houses, and ask, try to appeal, and try to reach their conscience. I pray for them as they don't know what they do. Money won't bring them happiness," Mother Domnikia believes."

Who Said Orthodox Don't Know How To Party...

[Of course I'm only joking. A somewhat amusing piece below, though sad when you consider this is about the church secretary and a Sunday school teacher. - J.S.]

Church Fined for Over-Serving Booze to Women

By Elizabeth Dinan
Seacoastonline.com
February 12, 2010

PORTSMOUTH — The St. Nicholas Greek Church was penalized by the state Liquor Commission for a July incident when one woman attending a party at the church was hospitalized for intoxication and a second was taken into police custody, also for intoxication.

The church was penalized by the Liquor Commission's Bureau of Enforcement for two counts of serving alcohol to an intoxicated person on July 12, 2009. At its Feb. 6 meeting, the Bureau imposed a $1,000 fine, with half suspended for one year pending no like infractions. The church's “caterer-on-site license” to sell alcoholic beverages was also suspended for three days, with two day held in abeyance pending the same year of no similar infractions.

Liquor Enforcement Chief Eddie Edwards said the incident was brought to his attention by Portsmouth police.

According to a report by Liquor Commission Sgt. Christopher Hutchins, three Portsmouth police officers responded to the Andrew Jarvis Drive church on July 12 at 1:32 a.m. for a complaint about “an intoxicated and belligerent female.” When the officers arrived, they found an “unresponsive” and “uncooperative” woman at the church function hall, who was later identified as a church secretary, according to Hutchins' report.

A witness said the woman consumed “several shots” of liquor at a church party and was transported by ambulance to Portsmouth Regional Hospital “due to her level of intoxication,” according to the report.

A second woman, later identified as a Sunday school teacher, was taken into protective custody for intoxication after police observed her “swaying, stumbling” and “uncooperative,” according to the report. At police headquarters she was “disruptive” and a breath test showed her blood alcohol concentration was .2, according to the report.

She was later released to a sober friend, according to the Liquor Commission.

A supplemental report by the Liquor Commission officer says church leader Father Angelo Pappas was contacted, said he was “shocked” at hearing the Sunday school teacher's BAC, said he would cooperate with the investigation “and understood the concern regarding alcohol service that evening.”

As a result of the Feb. 6 Liquor Commission meeting, all persons “designated to handle alcohol for any purpose” under the church caterer's license are mandated to complete a state course entitled Total Education in Alcohol Management within 30 days.