Gebet und Tugend - Aus den Briefen des hl Makarius (4.Jh n.Chr.)

Nachdem also dargetan ist, welches das Ziel der Frömmigkeit ist, das denen vor Augen schweben muß, die ein gottesfürchtiges Leben führen wollen, das Reinigung der Seele und Einwohnung des Heiligen Geistes mit Antrieb zu guten Werken ist, so soll ein jeder von euch für das vorgeführte Ziel seine Seele vorbereiten, Gott aufs höchste lieben und sich so seinem Willen gemäß dem Gebet und Fasten ergeben, indem ihr dessen gedenket, der zum unablässigen Beten auffordert, und am Gebet und den Verheißungen des Herrn festhaltet, der ja versichert: „Um wieviel mehr wird Gott denen Gerechtigkeit schenken, die Tag und Nacht zu ihm rufen". „Er sagte aber“, heißt es, „auch ein Gleichnis, daß man allezeit beten und nicht nachlassen müsse“. Daß aber der Eifer im Gebete Großes verleiht und der Geist selbst den Seelen innewohnt, das geht deutlich aus den Mahnworten hervor, die der Apostel an uns richtet: „Unter Gebet und Flehen jeglicher Art bittet zu aller Zeit im Geiste und machet euch eben darum Sorge in aller Beharrlichkeit und Flehen“. 

Wer von den Brüdern sich dieser Beschäftigung, der des Gebetes meine ich, widmet, beschäftigt sich mit einem herrlichen Schatz, der ein reizender, überaus großer Besitz ist, wenn er es nur mit festem, richtigem Gewissen tut, nie freiwillige Zerstreuungen in seinem Geiste zulässt und es nicht wie eine unfreiwillige Sache aus Zwang verrichtet, sondern die Liebe und Sehnsucht der Seele vollkommen macht und allen die guten Früchte der Beharrlichkeit zeigt. Es müssen aber auch die übrigen einem solchen Zeit lassen und sich mitfreuen über seine Ausdauer im Gebete, damit auch sie an den guten Früchten teil haben, da sie ja eben durch Mitfreude Genossen eines solchen Lebens werden. Es wird aber auch der Herr selbst den Bittenden ein Gebet verleihen, wie es sein soll, nach dem Spruche: „Dem Betenden verleiht er Gebet“. 

Man muß also bitten und wissen: Je stärker einer im Gebete, in dem so wichtigen Geschäfte, beharrt, mit desto mehr Eifer und größerer Kraft hält er den Kampf aus. Denn die großen Kämpfe fordern auch große Mühen, da die Bosheit vorzüglich solchen (die große Kämpfe zu bestehen haben) von allen Seiten auflauert; sie kümmert sich um Dinge, die sie nichts angehen, wandert herum und sucht den Eifer zu zerstören. Daher kommen Schlaf und Leibesbeschwerde und Seelenschwäche, Trägheit, Nachlässigkeit, Kleinmut sowie die übrigen Leiden und Wirkungen der Bosheit, derentwegen die Seele zugrunde geht, da sie sich teils gewaltsam hinreissen läßt, teils freiwillig zu ihrem Feinde übergeht. Darum muß der Mensch wie ein kluger Steuermann seine Gedanken auf das Gebet richten, darf seinen Sinn nicht vom bösen Geiste beunruhigen, sich von seinen Wogen nicht umherwerfen lassen, sondern muß gerade auf den oberen (himmlischen) Hafen schauen und seine Seele unbefleckt Gott zurückgeben, Der sie ihm anvertraut hat und wieder von ihm fordert. Denn nicht das Niederfallen aufs Knie und das Ausgestrecktsein nach Art derer, die beim Gebete liegen, ist der Schrift nach gut und gottgefällig, falls der Geist fern von Gott schweift, sondern das (gilt als sittlich gut und wohlgefällig), daß man alle leichtsinnigen Gedanken und alle ungerechte Gesinnung entfernt und mit dem Leibe auch die ganze Seele dem Gebete hingibt.

Die Früchte des Gebetes aber sind Einfalt (Einachheit im Herzen mit Gottvertrauen), Liebe, Demut, Stärke, Keuschheit und solches, was vor den ewigen Früchten die Mühe des gebetseifrigen Menschen schon hier im Leben hervorbringt. Mit diesen Früchten schmückt sich das Gebet; entbehrt es aber dieser, dann ist die Mühe vergebens. (...) Ist aber jemand dieser (Früchte) beraubt, so bleibt ihm nur mehr ein leerer Name und er gleicht den törichten Jungfrauen, die zur Zeit des Bedarfs kein Öl im Brautgemach zur Hand hatten. 

Sie hatten nämlich in ihren Seelen nicht das Licht, die Frucht der Tugend, und nicht die Leuchte des Geistes in ihrem Verstand. Darum nennt auch die Schrift sie mit Recht töricht, weil ihre Tugend fort war, ehe der Bräutigam kam, und deshalb hat er die Unglücklichen vom oberen (himmlischen) Brautgemach ausgeschlossen. Denn er rechnete ihnen den Eifer in der Jungfräulichkeit nicht an, weil die Kraft des Geistes fehlte. Und ganz mit Recht. Denn was nützt ein sorgsam gepflegter Weinstock, wenn keine Früchte da sind, derentwegen der Weingärtner die Mühe auf sich nimmt? Welchen Gewinn bringt Fasten, Beten und Wachen, wenn Friede und Liebe und die übrigen Früchte der Geistesgnade fehlen, die der heilige Apostel aufzählt? Denn wer seine himmlische Heimat liebt, nimmt um dieser willen, durch die der Geist angezogen wird, jede Mühe auf sich. Er erhält Anteil an der heiligen Gnade von dort, trägt Früchte und zieht mit Freude Nutzen von dem Ackerbau, den die Gnade des Heiligen Geistes in ihrer Demut und in ihrem Arbeitseifer besorgt hat. Man muß also die Mühen des Gebetes und des Fastens und der übrigen Werke mit großer Freude und guter Hoffnung auf sich nehmen, die Blüten der Mühen aber und die Früchte für Wirkungen des Heiligen Geistes ansehen. Denn wollte jemand diese sich selbst zurechnen und das Ganze seinen Mühen zuschreiben, so würden einem solchen statt jener reinen Früchte Anmaßung und ein gewisser Hochmut wachsen. Diese Leidenschaften verderben und vernichten wie eine Fäulnis, die in den Seelen der Leichtfertigen entsteht, die Mühen.

Aus: Brief des hl Makarius, BKV

The relice of Saint Herman of Alaska

Schema-Archimandrit Gabriel Bunge

Heiliger Johannes Klimakos - Über Sanftmut und Einfachheit

 

Über die Tugend der Sanftmut, der Einfachheit und der Güte, die nach weiser Besinnung erworbenen und nicht von Natur aus gegebenen (Auszüge)

1.Dem Sonnenaufgang geht das Morgenlicht voraus wie der Demut die Sanftmut. Doch auch das Licht selbst, Christus nämlich, führt diese (Tugenden) in derselben Reihenfolge an: „Lernt von mir“, so sprach Er, „denn ich bin sanftmütig und von Herzen demütig“ (Mt 11,29). Es entspricht der Natur der Dinge, uns vor dem Erscheinen der Sonne vom Morgenlicht erleuchten zu lassen, um uns daraufhin reichlich am Anblick der Sonne zu laben. Denn wahrlich unmöglich ist es, wie uns auch von der Natur aufgezeigt wird, dass einer die Sonne erblickt, das heißt die Demut, bevor er das Morgenlicht, das heißt die Sanftmut, erfahren hat.

2.Die Sanftmut ist ein beständiger Zustand des Geistes, der sich durch Lob oder Verschmähung nicht wandelt. Sanftmut bedeutet, für den Nächsten aufrichtig zu beten, ohne die Zerstreuungen, die dadurch entstehen, als Störung zu empfinden. Die Sanftmut ist wie ein Felsen über dem schäumenden Meer, der unerschütterlich alle Wellen bricht, die auf ihm aufschlagen.

6.Die Einfachheit ist eine Gewohnheit und Seelengesinnung. Ihr Geist ist kein herumwandernder und neigt nicht zu bösen Gedanken. Die Güte hingegen ist ein seelischer Zustand, der (den Menschen) mit geistiger Süße und Freude erfüllt, und vollkommen frei von bösen Gedanken und Argwohn ist.

7.Wichtigstes Merkmal des Kindesalters ist die Einfachheit. Solange Adam diese besaß, sah er weder seine seelische noch seine körperliche Blöße.

19.Die Hinterlistigkeit ist eine Wissenschaft, oder besser gesagt eine Schandtat der Dämonen, der es an Wahrheit fehlt, was sie zu verbergen versucht, um viele hinters Licht zu führen.

20.Heuchelei ist der Zustand, in dem der Leib, das heißt die äußeren Bekundungen, zu der Seele im Gegensatz stehen. Dieser Zustand ist verflochten mit bösen Gedanken aller Art und Lügenwerken.

23.Ein Fall hat schon oft die Bösen und Hinterlistigen ohne eigenen Vorsatz zur Besinnung gebracht und Gutmütigkeit und Erlösung geschenkt.

24.Bemühe dich darum, deine Vernunft und dein Urteil als verblendet anzusehen, um Erlösung und Aufrichtigkeit in unserem Herrn Jesus Christus zu finden. Amen.

Übersetzung aus dem Griechischen: Alexia Ghika-Kyriazi

Heiliger Johannes Klimakos - Die Himmelsleiter (Klimax)

St John of the Ladder

To Western eyes, the monk, increasingly, is a figure of yesterday, and the commonest images of him are of the kind to make easy the patronizing smile, the confidently dismissive gesture, or that special tolerance extended to the dotty and the eccentric. Around Friar Tuck, with his cheerful obesity, and Brother Francis, harming no-one as he talks to birds and animals, vaguer ghosts manage to cluster, gaunt, cowled, faintly sinister, eyes averted or looking heaven-wards, a skull clutched in a wasted hand, with gloom arising, and laughter dead.

Somewhere in the background there are bells and hymns, and psalms chanted well after midnight; and, as if to confirm that these are only the leftovers of a past surely and mercifully gone, there is the dumb presence of all those European monasteries visited for ten scheduled minutes during a guided tour, or else sought out on warmer evenings by courting couples.

But for Christians, that is, for someone who believes that there is a God, that God has manifested Himself in historical surroundings in the person of Christ, and that insights and obligations are thereby held up to everybody, the monk cannot easily be shrugged off…

       A linguistic usage, so long employed by Christians that it has the look of being quite simply “natural” surrounds the individual monk with a wall of venerable words, a wall more solid and endurable than any that may set the boundaries of the area where he actually lives. For the talk is of  “withdrawal” from “the world”, of “renunciation”, of a “monastic life” in contrast with the way other people happen to live, of being “apart from”, “away from” the rest of mankind, of pursuing a “dedicated” and “consecrated” path. And this language, with its emphasis on the difference between the monk and all others, very quickly begins to generate something more than a set of descriptions. It begins to imply a value system, a yardstick of achievement and worth until at last, and not surprisingly, there grows the irresistible urge to speak of a “higher”, “fuller”, and “more perfect” way of life…

       Given those circumstances, it is reasonable to wonder how a Christian may now cope with the vast literature to which he is heir. It is also reasonable to anticipate that he will approach it with something less than automatic deference. And amid all the competing voices, his capacity to deploy a commitment and a sustained interest may well diminish as he strives to assemble for himself and for his friends criteria of evaluation that make some kind of accepted sense. How, for instance, is he to approach a work like The Ladder of Divine Ascent by John Climacus?

       The setting at least can be readily established. The Ladder is a product of that great surge of monasticism which appeared first in Egypt during the third century, spread rapidly through all of Christendom, and eventually reached the West by way of the mediating zeal of figures such as John Casssian. The general history of this most influential development in the life of the early Church is well known, even if details and certain interpretations continue to preoccupy scholars, and there is no need to attempt here a sketch of what has been so well described by others…

       That many of the first monks had glimpsed a connection between the experience of hardship and an enhanced spirituality is evident in the writings of the early Church. And in the neighborhood of that perceived connection were other sources of the resolve to enter on a monastic life. There was, for instance, the belief that, given the right conditions and preparation, a man may even in this life work his passage upward into the actual presence of God; and there, if God so chooses, he can receive a direct and intimate knowledge of the Divine Being. Such knowledge is not the automatic or the guaranteed conclusion of a process.

It is not like the logical outcome of a faultlessly constructed argument. There is no assurance that a man will come to it at the end of a long journey. But to many it was a prize and a prospect so glittering that all else looked puny by comparison; and, besides, there were tales told of some who, so it seemed, had actually been granted that supreme gift of a rendezvous…

       There is now in the consciousness of the West a terminology and set of value judgments centered on the person. From the era of the Renaissance and the Reformation up to the present time, there has been a steady progress in the insistence on the reality and the inherent worth of the individual. Some philosophers, of course, would argue that man the word-spinner has in this merely demonstrated once again his capacity to sublimate reality and has only succeeded in hiding from himself that he is no more – and no less- than a very complex organism.

But this is not a widely shared view. Instead, there is much talk of human rights, of one man’s being as good as another, of the right of the poor to share in the goods of the world, of one-man-one-vote. What all this has done to a belief in God is a theme of major import. However, on a more restricted plane, a difficulty for anyone today reading The Ladder of Divine Ascent or similar texts is that in these a somewhat different view of the person is at work. If modern Christianity has invested heavily in the notion of the value of the individual person, it has been at the cost of a seeming incompatibility with much that was felt and believed in the early Church.

Altvater Tadej - Deine Gedanken bestimmen dein Leben

Saint Maximus the Greek, the tireless preacher of Patristic Tradition

During its long historical past the Great Holy Vatopedi Monastery has proved to have played a double role in its spiritual activities. It pursued both a  hesychastic life and freedom from worldly care, that are the basics to achieve theosis, and it also sent its saintly children out on missionary work  to be the living examples of the Orthodox Athonian Tradition  and thus support the people of God, something not alien in the life of the Church through the centuries. We can here say that it excelled in this role so much that the lot of missionary work fell on it not only within Greece but out of it too.

St. Maxim Vatopedinos, known as “St. Maxim the Greek”, was one of the most erudite monks , who stood out as a theologian, philosopher and poet during the first half of the 16^th century, and became known as “the illuminator of the Russian people.”

He was born in Arta, a town in the northwest of Greece in 1470. He came from a well-to-do, illustrious and God-fearing family, and his name was Michael Trivolis. His parents sent him to school in Arta and then to Corfu. At the age of twenty he went to Italy, where he studied at the universities of Venice, Padua, Ferrara, Florence and Milan for fifteen years. E. Golubinski, one of the most reputable of St. Maxim’ biographers, states that if he had decided to stay on in Italy, he would have become one of the most eminent professors at any one of those universities at the time.

But St. Maxim began to search in earnest for the authentic way of Christian life, because he realized man’s poverty without God’s grace, after having a taste of the Renaissance Humanism in Italy where it was at its peak just then. He saw that moralism had turned people towards the irrational passions of hypocrisy, greed, inhumanity and vice. He happened to hear about the monastic community of Mt. Athos and, fervently wishing to reach the highest human achievement that of theosis, after having a first hand taste of the futility of all kinds of human glory and wisdom, he decided to become a monk and dedicate himself to God. So he went to Mt. Athos, this renowned cradle of Eastern Orthodox Tradition, and finally settled at the Great Holy Vatopedi Monastery.

An Anchorite in Mt. Athos

At the Vatopedi Monastery he lived a life of ascesis for about 10 years. He practised the fundamental virtues of obedience and abstinence, which helped him overcome all human passions actually, because he cut off his own will, desire, greed and pride. His unquenchable desire to acquire virtues and his admirable application of them, made him reach the high virtues of   humility, poverty and love. These virtues turned him into a man of constant self-sacrifice towards his fellow ascetics and fellow men. At the same time, by practising constant prayer, he merged his soul with God and turned it into a temple of the Holy Spirit.

The extensive library of the Monastery offered spiritual food to the saint. He never stopped taking delight in its books. His studying of the rare manuscripts of the library, helped him harvest the wisdom of the preceding hosii of Orthodoxy, while the example of the other scholarly fathers of the monastery was the signal-light and guide of his angelic monastic life.

The other fathers of the brotherhood soon became aware of his cultivated and rich in virtues and charismata soul, and they entrusted him with some necessary jobs outside the monastery walls. This gave the saint the chance to help our orthodox people who were suffering because of their illiteracy, the Turkish yoke and the heresies from the West.

In 1515, the Tsar Vasilius Ivanovitz, asked both the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the “Protos” of Mt. Athos to send him an experienced scholar and virtuous monk to translate various ecclesiastic texts into the Russian language and also to emend the incorrect translations and copies of the Holy Bible and the Patristic texts in existence. Monk Savvas from Vatopedi was initially chosen, but he declined because of his advanced years; then the lot fell to the eminent monk Maxim.

His going to Russia

Maxim left Mt. Athos in 1516. The Moscow Metropolitan Valaam and the Tsar Vasilius Ivanovitz welcomed the Athonian monk and his followers on behalf of the Russian people. Unfortunately, during that time the Russian nation was suffering because of various newfangled ideas that had also found their way into the orthodox ecclesiastic books maybe not inadvertently. Maxim worked hard and wrote many books of spiritual content, translations, emendations and hermeneutic works. His upright and virtuous behaviour soon attracted the Tsar, the Metropolitan and the simple people together with some prominent men that saw in him the wise monk, who- with God’s help- could solve, by his wise teachings and advice, the many and various problems of people from all walks of life. In this way he began his advisory work mainly towards the Russian ruler and the Metropolitan, who governed the state and the church.

It is worth mentioning here that St. Maxim Vatopedinos was the first to introduce the Russians to the ancient Greek philosophy and literature due to his long scientific studies in Italy. He was also the first to introduce printing in Russia, having close ties with the famous scholar and printer Aldus Manutius. In general, the illuminator and isapostle Maximus worked wisely in various ways, taking care to educate as many people as possible, who in turn continued the colossal work of the Orthodox enlightenment of the Russian people for the glory and joy of the Church God. All these cultural activities of St. Maxim underline the various and beneficial efforts of the Saint, that prove him to be not only a missionary but also a civilization worker for the Russian people, at a time when Russia was in a state of illiteracy and ignorance.

St. Maxim missionary work lasted for eight years. His confessional work, though, resulted in a heavy cross he had to bear, or, to put it in other words, the Devil, the enemy of all truth tried to destroy Maxim’s work but he failed, because the grain of seed ‘ fell into the good ground, and grew, and brought forth fruit a hundredfold’ ( Luk. 8. 8)

Conflict with the state and church authorities

We have to make it quite clear here that because of the many wrongdoings of certain political and church people- which sometimes happened because of ignorance- the Athonite Father had to protest and castigate some people, based on the teachings of the Bible and according to the authority bestowed upon him by the Russian Church and the Emperor. Unfortunately, this, instead of helping ameliorate things, it bought him the enmity of the people concerned. Among them we find the Tsar himself and the new  Metropolitan of Russia Daniel, who did not understand the real concern of the saint for the salvation and the adherence to the right dogma of the Russian Church.

Dachau 1945: The Souls of All Are Aflame

In 1945, a Paschal Liturgy like no other was performed. Just days after their liberation by the US military on April 29, 1945, hundreds of Orthodox Christian prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp gathered to celebrate the Resurrection service and to give thanks.

by Douglas Cramer

The Dachau concentration camp was opened in 1933 in a former gunpowder factory. The first prisoners interred there were political opponents of Adolf Hitler, who had become German chancellor that same year. During the twelve years of the camp's existence, over 200,000 prisoners were brought there. The majority of prisoners at Dachau were Christians, including Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox clergy and lay people.

Countless prisoners died at Dachau, and hundreds were forced to participate in the cruel medical experiments conducted by Dr. Sigmund Rascher. When prisoners arrived at the camp they were beaten, insulted, shorn of their hair, and had all their belongings taken from them. The SS guards could kill whenever they thought it was appropriate. Punishments included being hung on hooks for hours, high enough that heels did not touch the ground; being stretched on trestles; being whipped with soaked leather whips; and being placed in solitary confinement for days on end in rooms too small to lie down in.

The abuse of the prisoners reached its end in the spring of 1945. The events of that Holy Week were later recorded by one of the prisoners, Gleb Rahr. Rahr grew up in Latvia and fled with his family to Nazi Germany when the Russians invaded. He was arrested by the Gestapo because of his membership in an organization that opposed both fascism and communism. Originally imprisoned in Buchenwald, he was transported to Dachau near the end of the war.

In fact, Rahr was one of the survivors of the infamous “death trains,” as they were called by the American G.I.’s who discovered them. Thousands of prisoners from different camps had been sent to Dachau in open rail cars. The vast majority of them died horrific deaths from starvation, dehydration, exposure, sickness, and execution.

In a letter to his parents the day after the liberation, G.I. William Cowling wrote, “As we crossed the track and looked back into the cars the most horrible sight I have ever seen met my eyes. The cars were loaded with dead bodies. Most of them were naked and all of them skin and bones. Honest their legs and arms were only a couple of inches around and they had no buttocks at all. Many of the bodies had bullet holes in the back of their heads.”

Marcus Smith, one of the US Army personnel assigned to Dachau, also described the scene in his 1972 book, The Harrowing of Hell.

Refuse and excrement are spread over the cars and grounds. More of the dead lie near piles of clothing, shoes, and trash. Apparently some had crawled or fallen out of the cars when the doors were opened, and died on the grounds. One of our men counts the boxcars and says that there are thirty-nine. Later I hear that there were fifty, that the train had arrived at the camp during the evening of April 27, by which time all of the passengers were supposed to be dead so that the bodies could be disposed of in the camp crematorium. But this could not be done because there was no more coal to stoke the furnaces. Mutilated bodies of German soldiers are also on the ground, and occasionally we see an inmate scream at the body of his former tormentor and kick it. Retribution!

Rahr was one of the over 4,000 Russian prisoners at Dachau at the time of the liberation. The liberated prisoners also included over 1,200 Christian clergymen. After the war, Rahr immigrated to the United States, where he taught Russian History at the University of Maryland. He later worked for Radio Free Europe. His account of the events at Dachau in 1945 begins with his arrival at the camp:

April 27^th: The last transport of prisoners arrives from Buchenwald. Of the 5,000 originally destined for Dachau, I was among the 1,300 who had survived the trip. Many were shot, some starved to death, while others died of typhus. . . .

April 28th: I and my fellow prisoners can hear the bombardment of Munich taking place some 30 km from our concentration camp. As the sound of artillery approaches ever nearer from the west and the north, orders are given proscribing prisoners from leaving their barracks under any circumstances. SS-soldiers patrol the camp on motorcycles as machine guns are directed at us from the watch-towers, which surround the camp.

April 29th: The booming sound of artillery has been joined by the staccato bursts of machine gun fire. Shells whistle over the camp from all directions. Suddenly white flags appear on the towers—a sign of hope that the SS would surrender rather than shoot all prisoners and fight to the last man. Then, at about 6:00 p.m., a strange sound can be detected emanating from somewhere near the camp gate which swiftly increases in volume. . . .

The sound came from the dawning recognition of freedom. Lt. Col. Walter Fellenz of the US Seventh Army described the greeting from his point of view:

Several hundred yards inside the main gate, we encountered the concentration enclosure, itself. There before us, behind an electrically charged, barbed wire fence, stood a mass of cheering, half-mad men, women and children, waving and shouting with happiness—their liberators had come! The noise was beyond comprehension! Every individual (over 32,000) who could utter a sound, was cheering. Our hearts wept as we saw the tears of happiness fall from their cheeks.

Rahr’s account continues:

Finally all 32,600 prisoners join in the cry as the first American soldiers appear just behind the wire fence of the camp. After a short while electric power is turned off, the gates open and the American G.I.’s make their entrance. As they stare wide-eyed at our lot, half-starved as we are and suffering from typhus and dysentery, they appear more like fifteen-year-old boys than battle-weary soldiers. . . .

An international committee of prisoners is formed to take over the administration of the camp. Food from SS stores is put at the disposal of the camp kitchen. A US military unit also contributes some provision, thereby providing me with my first opportunity to taste American corn. By order of an American officer radio-receivers are confiscated from prominent Nazis in the town of Dachau and distributed to the various national groups of prisoners. The news comes in: Hitler has committed suicide, the Russians have taken Berlin, and German troops have surrendered in the South and in the North. But the fighting still rages in Austria and Czechoslovakia....

Naturally, I was ever cognizant of the fact that these momentous events were unfolding during Holy Week. But how could we mark it, other than through our silent, individual prayers? A fellow-prisoner and chief interpreter of the International Prisoner's Committee, Boris F., paid a visit to my typhus-infested barrack—“Block 27”—to inform me that efforts were underway in conjunction with the Yugoslav and Greek National Prisoner's Committees to arrange an Orthodox service for Easter day, May 6th.

There were Orthodox priests, deacons, and a group of monks from Mount Athos among the prisoners. But there were no vestments, no books whatsoever, no icons, no candles, no prosphoras, no wine. . . . Efforts to acquire all these items from the Russian church in Munich failed, as the Americans just could not locate anyone from that parish in the devastated city. Nevertheless, some of the problems could be solved. The approximately four hundred Catholic priests detained in Dachau had been allowed to remain together in one barrack and recite mass every morning before going to work. They offered us Orthodox the use of their prayer room in “Block 26,” which was just across the road from my own “block.”

The chapel was bare, save for a wooden table and a Czenstochowa icon of the Theotokos hanging on the wall above the table—an icon which had originated in Constantinople and was later brought to Belz in Galicia, where it was subsequently taken from the Orthodox by a Polish king. When the Russian Army drove Napoleon's troops from Czenstochowa, however, the abbot of the Czenstochowa Monastery gave a copy of the icon to czar Alexander I, who placed it in the Kazan Cathedral in Saint-Petersburg where it was venerated until the Bolshevik seizure of power. A creative solution to the problem of the vestments was also found. New linen towels were taken from the hospital of our former SS-guards. When sewn together lengthwise, two towels formed an epitrachilion and when sewn together at the ends they became an orarion. Red crosses, originally intended to be worn by the medical personnel of the SS guards, were put on the towel-vestments.

On Easter Sunday, May 6th (April 23rd according to the Church calendar)—which ominously fell that year on Saint George the Victory-Bearer's Day—Serbs, Greeks and Russians gathered at the Catholic priests’ barracks. Although Russians comprised about 40 percent of the Dachau inmates, only a few managed to attend the service. By that time “repatriation officers” of the special Smersh units had arrived in Dachau by American military planes, and begun the process of erecting new lines of barbed wire for the purpose of isolating Soviet citizens from the rest of the prisoners, which was the first step in preparing them for their eventual forced repatriation.

In the entire history of the Orthodox Church there has probably never been an Easter service like the one at Dachau in 1945. Greek and Serbian priests together with a Serbian deacon wore the make-shift “vestments” over their blue and gray-striped prisoner’s uniforms. Then they began to chant, changing from Greek to Slavonic, and then back again to Greek. The Easter Canon, the Easter Sticheras—everything was recited from memory. The Gospel—“In the beginning was the Word”—also from memory.

And finally, the Homily of Saint John Chrysostom—also from memory. A young Greek monk from the Holy Mountain stood up in front of us and recited it with such infectious enthusiasm that we shall never forget him as long as we live. Saint John Chrysostomos himself seemed to speak through him to us and to the rest of the world as well! Eighteen Orthodox priests and one deacon—most of whom were Serbs—participated in this unforgettable service. Like the sick man who had been lowered through the roof of a house and placed in front of the feet of Christ the Savior, the Greek Archimandrite Meletios was carried on a stretcher into the chapel, where he remained prostrate for the duration of the service.

Other prisoners at Dachau included the recently canonized Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, who later became the first administrator of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the US and Canada; and the Very Reverend Archimandrite Dionysios, who after the war was made Metropolitan of Trikkis and Stagnon in Greece.

Fr. Dionysios had been arrested in 1942 for giving asylum to an English officer fleeing the Nazis. He was tortured for not revealing the names of others involved in aiding Allied soldiers and was then imprisoned for eighteen months in Thessalonica before being transferred to Dachau. During his two years at Dachau, he witnessed Nazi atrocities and suffered greatly himself. He recorded many harrowing experiences in his book Ieroi Palmoi. Among these were regular marches to the firing squad, where he would be spared at the last moment, ridiculed, and then returned to the destitution of the prisoners’ block.

After the liberation, Fr. Dionysios helped the Allies to relocate former Dachau inmates and to bring some normalcy to their disrupted lives. Before his death, Metropolitan Dionysios returned to Dachau from Greece and celebrated the first peacetime Orthodox Liturgy there. Writing in 1949, Fr. Dionysios remembered Pascha 1945 in these words:

In the open air, behind the shanty, the Orthodox gather together, Greeks and Serbs. In the center, both priests, the Serb and the Greek. They aren't wearing golden vestments. They don't even have cassocks. No tapers, no service books in their hands. But now they don't need external, material lights to hymn the joy. The souls of all are aflame, swimming in light.

Blessed is our God. My little paper-bound New Testament has come into its glory. We chant “Christ is Risen” many times, and its echo reverberates everywhere and sanctifies this place.

Hitler's Germany, the tragic symbol of the world without Christ, no longer exists. And the hymn of the life of faith was going up from all the souls; the life that proceeds buoyantly toward the Crucified One of the verdant hill of Stein.

On April 29, 1995—the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Dachau—the Russian Orthodox Memorial Chapel of Dachau was consecrated. Dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ, the chapel holds an icon depicting angels opening the gates of the concentration camp and Christ Himself leading the prisoners to freedom. The simple wooden block conical architecture of the chapel is representative of the traditional funeral chapels of the Russian North. The sections of the chapel were constructed by experienced craftsmen in the Vladimir region of Russia, and assembled in Dachau by veterans of the Western Group of Russian Forces just before their departure from Germany in 1994. The priests who participated in the 1945 Paschal Liturgy are commemorated at every service held in the chapel, along with all Orthodox Christians who lost their lives “at this place, or at another place of torture.”

Christ Opening the Gates of Dachau

Douglas Cramer is Chair of the Department of Internet Ministry of the Antiochian Archdiocese, and editor of Antiochian.org. He is a writer, editor, and graphic designer with over twenty years of experience in the field of communications. Douglas has served as managing editor of AGAIN Magazine and as staff writer for Orthodox Christian Network. He is a member of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church of Santa Fe, New Mexico. This article originally appeared in AGAIN Magazine Vol. 26 No. 1.

http://www.antiochian.org/souls-aflame

Erzengel Gabriel- Der Bote der Geheimnisse Gottes

                             

Am 26. Juli und am 26 März feiert die Orthodoxe Kirche den Tag des heiligen Erzengels Gabriel.

Aus  dem jüdischen übersetzt bedeutet Gabriel: Festung Gottes, Kraft Gottes. Der Erzengel Gabriel ist einer von sieben Erzengeln die den Menschen, von Gott, zur Verkündigung seines Willens geschickt wurden und werden. Erzengel Gabriel ist einer der höchsten Engel. Er ist ein unsterblicher körperloser Geist, ein Diener Gottes. Engel wurden als Wesen mit freiem Willen erschaffen. Ein Teil der Engel hat seinen freien Willen missbraucht und ist von Gott abgefallen. Sie, die gefallenen Engel, wurden zu Dämonen. Die anderen haben dem Schöpfer die Treue gehalten und blieben die Engel des Lichts. Engel werden in der Bibel und den Apokryphen erwähnt. Nach der Lehre der Kirche gibt es eine Hierarchie der Engel welche jedoch nicht eindeutig ist. Sie wird durch die Nähe zu Gott bzw. zu den Menschen charakterisiert. Es gibt die Seraphim, Cherubim, Throne, Herrschaften, Mächte, Gewalten, Fürsten, Erzengel und Engel.

Durch die Liebe zu Gott nehmen die Engel an dem Leben der Heiligen Dreifaltigkeit und durch die Liebe zur Welt und den Menschen am Leben der Welt, teil. Sie dienen ihr, obwohl sie unsichtbare Wesen bleiben. So steigen sie unaufhörlich, zwischen Himmel und Erde, auf und ab um Gottes Willen zu verkündigen. Die Kirche Christi verehrt besonders die beiden Erzengel Michael und Gabriel, wegen ihrer besonderen Teilnahme an dem Schicksal der Menschheit. Wie schon im alten Testament, so auch in neueren Zeiten, teilt Erzengel Gabriel den Menschen das rettende Wissen von oben mit, verkündet die Hauptereignisse in der geistigen Geschichte der Menschheit. Als dem Propheten Daniel von Gott die prophetische Vision über das zukünftige Schicksal der Welt offenbart wurde, konnte er sie nicht verstehen, und eine Stimme rief über dem Ulai-Kanal: “Gabriel, Erkläre ihm die Vision!” (Dan. 8; 16). Ein anderes Mal sagt der Prophet:“ während ich also noch mein Gebet sprach, da kam im Flug der Mann Gabriel, den ich früher in der Vision gesehen hatte; er kam um die Zeit des Abendopfers zu mir, redete mit mir und sagte: Daniel, ich bin gesandt worden, um dir klare Einsicht zu geben». Dan. 9; 21-22). Und wirklich, der heilige Bote Gottes hat dem Propheten Daniel alles erklärt und es durchleuchtet, hat ihm das Verständnis der Zahlen gegeben, nach deren Ablauf der Erlöser der Welt geboren werden sollte. Der Erzengel Gabriel leitete auch den Propheten Moses in der Wüste und beim niederschreiben der Offenbarung Gottes, die wir heute als die fünf Bücher Moses (Pentateuch) kennen, beginnend mit der Schöpfung der Welt. Es war der  heilige Erzengel Gabriel der später von Gott  zu Zacharias geschickt wurde um die Geburt Johannes des Täufers und der Allheiligen Jungfrau Maria die Geburt des Erlöser zu verkündigen. (Lk. 1; 5-38). Der Erzengel wurde Jesus im Garten Gethsemane zur Stärkung gesendet und der Gottesmutter verkündigte Er die Entschlafung. Die Myronträgerinnen haben von Ihm die frohe Nachricht über die Auferstehung Christi erhalten. Der Heilige Innocenti, Erzbischof von Cherson, nennt deswegen den Erzengel Gabriel einen „Diener der Wunder“.

Der Erzengel Gabriel wird oft mit einem Zweig aus dem Paradies in der Hand dargestellt. Manchmal ist er auch mit einer Laterne, in der eine Kerze brennt, in der rechten und einem kleinen Spiegel in der linken Hand, zu sehen. Der Spiegel bedeutet, dass der Erzengel Gabriel ein Bote Gottes ist, der Gottes Willen und die Rettung des menschlichen Geschlechtes offenbart. Und die Kerze in der Laterne bedeutet, dass der Wille Gottes bis zur Zeit der Erfüllung eines jeden Schicksals verborgen ist und erst nach seiner Erfüllung nur von denen begriffen wird, die unentwegt  in den Spiegel des Wortes Gottes und des eigene Gewissens schauen.

Heiliger Erzengel Gabriel, erfülle mich mit Freude, bringe mir die gute Nachricht über die Rettung meiner Seele und bete, zu Gott, für mich. Amen.

Quelle: http://www.deutsch-orthodox.de/

Thousands march for life in 600 cities

Thousands march for life in 600 cities throughout Romania, Moldova

Romania; Moldova, March 25, 2019

 

Photo: basilica.ro      

Thousands took to the streets on Saturday throughout Romania and Moldova to raise awareness of fetal rights and the need to boost resources for pregnant women in crisis situations, reports the Basilica News Agency.

The March for Life, which took place in 600 cities throughout Romania and Moldova under the banner “Unique From the First Second,” is the main event in a series of activities being held in March, the Month for Life. Other events include debates, reading and photography workshops for children, conferences, and film screenings.

Approximately 8,000 people participated in Saturday’s march in Iaşi, reports Adevărul. The event began with performances from several children’s choirs from Moldova, followed by several speeches.

“Here is a feast of life, with the name of the unborn children, because in Romania there are many abortions and we want to be a voice for these children and to support the pregnant women in crisis. I think people have responded positively to our initiative because it is a reason for joy, a feast. We have many balloons, the messages on the placards are positive, we are for life and, as we can see, many young people have joined, so a generation that sustains life is being formed,” said Sorina Hângescu of Pro Vita Iaşi.

 

Photo: adevarul.ro     

Thousands participated in Bucharest as well. The event was organized by Students for Life and also featured several special guest speakers and singers. Students for Life president Eliza-Maria Cloţea noted that the day’s event means “we are with you and your child” and that there are “thousands of voices grateful for the gift of life,” according to the Basilica News Agency.

Alexandra Nadane, President of Romania for Life and Executive Director of the St. Alexandra the Empress center for counseling and support pointed out that “behind every abortion is a lack of support” and urged everyone “to do something for women in crisis pregnancies.”

A special place was also given to Monica Radu, who has birthed and raised three children despite being in a wheelchair for 21 years and despite the slim chances given her by doctors to have a successful birth.

“Everything is possible,” she said. “By doing God’s will, everything else is added… If you have an open heart, you realize that a mother has the light of grace around her. For me, I continue to feel grace when my children embrace me.” 

source and my gratitude to: orthochristian.com

Coffee with Sister Vassa - 3rd Week of Lent / Palamas

Source and my gratitude to: 
Sister Vassa, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH-FBwgf93rU-g8BH3xiuUQ

Das Geschenk der Gnade Gottes - Altvater Basilios von Ivoron (Athos)

Kloster Iviron auf Athos, Arsanas.

Werk von Konstantinos Gkeskou

 

Und indem wir ausharren in der Askese, in Demut, in Liebe, geschieht plötzlich etwas. "Plötzlich", sagt Abba Isaak, "ohne dass wir es gewahren, ohne äußere Ursache, unerwartet", geschieht etwas in dir. 
Eine Freude, ein innerer Jubel und Frohmut steigt auf in dir und geht hervor aus dir. Du wunderst dich und sagst: "Das kommt nicht von mir." Es ist dir geschenkt worden. Weshalb? Weil Gott der Allgute ist. Er ist in der Tat der Allgute. Du antwortest: "Aber ich bin doch unwürdig, ich verdiene Bestrafung!" 
Und da begreifst du den Heiligen, der sagt, dass Gott nicht gerecht ist, sondern ungerecht. Warum? Weil Er, wenn Er gerecht wäre, uns alle längst zu Asche verbrannt hätte. Du erinnerst dich an die Worte von Abba Isaak, der sagt, dass man Gott nicht Seiner Macht wegen fürchten soll, sondern Seiner Liebe wegen.

  Diese göttliche Verwunderung und Überraschung bleibt in dir. Diese Freude, dieser Jubel geht nicht vorüber, sondern nimmt zu. Das ist es, was der Herrn meinte, als Er über den Heili-gen Geist sprach, Den die Glaubenden empfangen: "Wer an Mich glaubt, aus dessen Herz werden Ströme lebendigen Wassers fließen" (Joh 7,38-39). Diese Tröstung quillt hervor und durchströmt den ganzen Menschen, "alle Gelenke, die Nieren und das Herz". Du empfindest, dass das geschieht, was im Synaxarion zum Fest Aller Heiligen gesagt ist: "Der Heilige Geist kommt herab, und der Staub steigt empor in die Himmel." 
  Der Staub, der ganze Mensch, wird emporgehoben. Der heilige Gregor Palamas seinerseits sagt, dass Gott dem Menschen einen Leib gab, damit dieser durch unsere Hinwendung zu Ihm geistig werden möchte. Doch durch unsere Hinwendung zum Irdischenhaben wir im Gegenteil sogar unseren Geist zu Fleisch gemacht. Er sagt nicht "fleischlich", sondern "zu Fleisch". Die Heiligen mithin empfangen jene Gnade, nach langer Askese, nach langer Übung in der Demut und vor allem in der Geduld. Sie empfangen jenes Erbarmen Gottes und sind erstaunt über die Gabe. Sie sind verwundert über die Barmherzigkeit und die Liebe Gottes, über die Größe Seiner Gabe. Sie empfinden sich als nichts, als letzte von allen. Sie sehen alle anderen als gut, sie lieben alle unentgeltlich, so wie Gott ihnen Seine Liebe unentgeltlich geschenkt hat. Der Heilige fragt: "Was hat Gott an mir gefunden, dass Er mir Seine Liebe schenkt?".

Übersetzung, Quelle und herzlichen Dank an: 
www.prodromos-verlag.de

Saint Paisios of Mount Athos - Young People, True Love and Purity

The Youth Must Pass the Test of Purity

A few female students came to see me today and told me, "Geronda, pray so that we may pass our exams." I said, "I will pray that you pass your purity exams". This is the most important thing. Everything else falls into place after that." It was the right thing to say, wasn’t’ it? There’s no greater sight than that of modesty and purity in the faces of young people today! No greater sight!

Some traumatized young women come to see me. They live unruly lives with young men and they don’t realize that these men do not have good intentions and, of course, they end up getting hurt. "What must I do, Fa­ther?" they ask. "The tavern owner," I replied, "may have the drunkard as a friend, but he will never accept him as his son-in-law. Stop having relations. If the man really loves you, he will appreciate it; if he leaves you, you will know that he doesn’t love you and this way you will not be wasting your time."

The cunning devil takes advantage of young people, who, on top of everything else, have to deal with the re­bellion of their flesh, and he tries to destroy them during this difficult period of their life, when the mind is not yet mature, the experience is missing and their spiritual reserves are almost non-existent. This is why, during this critical period, young people must always seek the advice of their elders, so that they may not slip down the sweet secular slope, which will only fill their soul with anxiety and separate it eternally from God.

I know that a physiologically healthy young person cannot easily attain a spiritual state where there is neither male nor female. This is why the Spiritual Fathers recommend that young men and women, no matter how spiritual they may be, should not spend time together; at their age, problems will naturally arise and then temptation will step in and take advantage of their youth. It is better for a young man or a young woman to bear this heavy cross and risk being considered a fool by the opposite sex for his or her spiritual prudence and innocence. This heavy cross hides all the power and wisdom of God, making a young man stronger than Sampson and wiser than Solomon. Better, then, that he walk down the street praying rather than looking left and right, even if relatives may misunderstand him and think that he snubbed them by not speaking with them. Otherwise, if he walks looking around with curiosity, he may get in trouble or get misunderstood by lay people who always harbour suspicious thoughts. It’s a thousand times better to leave Church right away, after Liturgy, like a lone animal, and keep his spiritual good sense and whatever he learned intact, rather than stay around and stare at fancy furs or ties, and become spiritually agitated as the enemy starts scratching at his heart.

It is true, unfortunately, that there is so much filth in this world that no matter what path the soul that desires purity may follow, it will get soiled. The difference is that God will not make the same demands on a Christian who wishes to remain pure today that He made in the past. Purity requires nerves of steel; a young man must try every means to resist temptation, and he will surely have Christ’s help. When divine eros is kindled in his heart, the burning is such that every other desire and un­seemly picture will be burned out. When this divine fire is burning in us, we experience pleasures so divine that all other pleasures pale in comparison. When we taste heavenly manna, wild carobs will mean nothing to us. This is why we should hold fast to the steering wheel, make the sign of the cross and not be afraid. After every little struggle, heavenly delights follow. If we are brave when temptation comes, God and the Panaghia will help miraculously.

The Elder Augustinos had told me the following sto­ry. When he was a young novice, he lived in a Monas­tery in his native Russia. Most of the Fathers there were old and so they would use him for various chores such as helping a Monastery employee with fishing, the Monas­tery’s main means of support. One day the daughter of that employee came and asked her father to return home for an emergency and she stayed to help in his place. But the poor girl was seized by temptation, and without think­ing, came on the novice with sinful intentions. Antonios, this was his name when he was in the world, was tak­en aback because everything happened so suddenly. He crossed himself and said, "My Christ, I’d rather drown than sin!" and plunged into the deep river. But the Good Lord, seeing the heroism of this chaste young man, who acted like Saint Martinianos in order to remain chaste, kept him afloat and completely dry! "You see," he ex­plained to me, "I jumped head first into the river and I still cannot figure out how I found myself standing up with my clothes dry!" At that moment, he had felt an in­ternal peace and inexpressible sweetness that made every sinful thought and carnal desire caused by the indecent gestures of the young woman go away. When she saw Antonios standing up on the water, she was overcome by repentance and started weeping, deeply moved by this great miracle.

Christ does not require big things from us to help us in our struggle. He expects very little, a tiny bit. A young man was telling me that he went to Patmos to worship and fell into temptation’s trap. A female tourist jumped on him and hugged him while he was walking. He pushed her away saying, "My Christ I have come for worship not for love" and he went away. That same night in his hotel room, during prayer, he saw Christ immersed in Uncreated Light. Do you see the reward he received for that one push? Others strive for years in the ascetic life and may never be blessed with something like that. And he saw Jesus Christ only because he resisted temp­tation. And this experience, naturally, made him stronger spiritually. Later on, he saw Saint Marcella, Saint Rap­hael, and Saint George more than once. One day, he came and told me "Father, say a prayer for me so that I may see Saint George again and be consoled. I cannot find any consolation in this world!" And then you see where other young people end up.
A young man with his elderly uncle came to the Kalyvi once and told me, "Pray for a young girl who broke her spine in an accident. Her father fell asleep at the wheel, killing himself and injuring her. Let me show you a picture of her." "It’s not necessary", I said. He insisted and they showed me the picture of a girl who was lying down and two men were embracing her. "Who is this young man?" I asked. "A friend" he answered. "Will he marry her?" "No, they are just friends," he replied. "Don’t hold it against them, Father," the uncle told me, "that’s how young peo­ple are today." "I will pray," I thought to myself, "but she does not just need her spine to be straightened out, her mind also needs correction and so does yours, you hope­less man." Where is the respect? His uncle should have told him off. And they were supposedly spiritual people. It is so sad to have spiritual guidance and still be in such a state of spiritual confusion! Even if he intended to marry her, there was no reason for her to be stretched out be­tween the two men, and for the man to be showing me the picture. It never crossed his mind that what he was doing was wrong. I am not bothered by the picture, but it is still not right. What sort of family will these young people have? May God help them come to their senses!

In the old days, young women would sacrifice every­thing to keep their chastity! I remember, during the war against Italy, they had drafted some villagers and their animals, and they got trapped on a hill by heavy snowfall. The men gathered under the snow, covered spruce trees and made some shelters using spruce branches to protect themselves. The women were forced to seek protection from their fellow villagers, people they knew. Two of them, one young, one elderly, from a faraway village, had to enter one of these shelters. Now, unfortunately, there are those faithless cowards for whom even a war will not make a difference. They have no feelings whatsoever for their fellow human being, who may die or get injured; if they get the chance, they will do their best to sin, because they are afraid that they may get killed and try to use all the time they have to have fun. When in danger, people should repent.
One of these men, who had sin rather than repentance in his mind, was harassing the young woman so much that she was forced to leave the group. She preferred to freeze to death from the cold rather than lose her chastity. When the elderly woman saw that her young companion had left the shelter, she followed her tracks and found her, thirty minutes away, under a small shed, in a Chap­el dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner. You see how Saint John the Baptist cared about this honest woman and led her to his Chapel which she never knew it existed! And guess what else the Saint did! He appeared to a soldier in his sleep and told him to go to his Chapel as soon as possible.
So the soldier got up in the middle of the snow-lit night and headed to the Chapel; he had a rough idea where it was. When he got there, he saw the two women stuck in the snow up to their knees, blue in the face and frozen from the cold. He immediately opened the Chapel and they all entered and felt better. The soldier had noth­ing else to offer them, besides a scarf for the old lady and a pair of gloves which he told them to share, so that they could warm first one hand and then the other. They then told him about the temptation they had confronted. "Why," the soldier asked the young woman, "did you decide to leave in the middle of the night, with all this snow and head to an unknown place?" And she replied, "I did all that I could do for my part, and I was convinced that Christ would take care of the rest." Feeling their pain and trying to console them, the soldier said spon­taneously, "Your troubles are over, tomorrow you will be home." These words made them happy and they felt even warmer. Sure enough, the Battalion of Mountain Transports opened the road and, in the morning, military trucks came, and the poor women were taken home. It is Greek women like them, vested in divine Grace – rather than stripped of clothes and divine Grace alike – who de­serve our praise and admiration. Later, that beast – may God forgive me for this word – told the Commander that a certain soldier had broken the Chapel’s door and put mules inside! The Commander replied, "I don’t believe the man you accuse would do such a thing." In the end, he was sent to prison. 

– Geronda, it seems that people who want to destroy society, have seized upon its foundation, its roots, our young people, and have destroyed them.
– There is no way that they will succeed. Evil self-de­structs. In Russia, after the revolution, they had destroyed everything and look what is happening now, after three generations! God will not allow it. And He will not judge the sins of today’s youth as strictly as He will judge the sins of our generation. 

– Geronda, how come some young men and women who lead secular lives give very good answers to ques­tions of faith? 
– These young people had good intentions but were not able to apply the brakes on themselves at the right time and so they were swept along. That is why they give the right answers. What I mean to say is that someone, for ex­ample, wants to follow a particular path in life; he wants to go in that direction, but he finds it hard to follow. And when he sees another who succeeds, he has great respect for him. God will not abandon those who want the good, because they lack malice. The time will come when they will find the strength to follow the right path.

 – Geronda, how should we approach young people who have gone astray? 
– Love is the answer. Where there is true and noble love, young people will sense it; they will be informed right away and feel disarmed. Young men, who come to my Kalyvi, come from all walks of life, with all kinds of problems. I welcome them, I give them a treat, we start a conversation and soon enough we become friends. They open their heart to me and accept the love I give them. Among them are some who are so deprived of love! Poor souls, they are thirsty for it! You can tell right away those who have never felt a mother’s or father’s love. If you care for them, if they sense your love, they forget all their problems, even their drug use, all their ills disappear, they stop getting in trouble and end up coming to the Holy Mountain as pious pilgrims. You see, they somehow come to sense God’s love. And I see in them such nobility that it breaks my heart. They refuse financial aid, even though they need it so much, and get a job during the day to make ends meet, and go to school at night. They deserve all the help they can get. Near the New Train Station, in Thessaloniki, some of these young people, men and women, will pull their resources together, and stay under the same roof. You could find as many as fifteen living in one apartment. Many of them come from broken homes. Some of them will steal to make ends meet, but others have philotimo and will not do it. For years, I have been telling many people to approach them, to help them. I had asked for a Church to be built nearby so that they can gather there and have a shelter. Now they have built a small Chapel dedicated to the Apostle and Deacon Philip, the protector of railway workers.
What I have come to realize is that; if we don’t take advantage of the opportunities offered to us when we are young, the devil will exploit this situation. Don’t we have the saying "Strike while the iron is hot"? When ironsmiths wanted to join two pieces of iron together – this was before modern welding – they would put the iron in the fire, pour hot water and borax on it, and then, the moment they removed it, while still spewing sparks, they would join it to another piece. But this would not work, if the iron got cold. It’s the same thing with a young person. When opportunities present themselves and he shows no interest, he will concern himself with other people, judging them, criticizing their ways, and thus slowly losing the Grace of God. But if he is full of divine fervour, he will prosper. This is why parents should help their children as much as they can when they are still young. Children are like empty cassette tapes. If we fill them with Christ, they will stay close to Him forever. If we don’t, it will be easier for them to go astray when they become older. But if we help them when they are young, even if they later stray a bit, they will eventually come to their senses. Wood soaked in oil does not rot. Youth soaked in the "oil" of piety and the fear of God will have nothing to fear later. 

 source: ELDER PAISIOS OF MOUNT ATHOS - SPIRITUAL COUNSELS "WITH PAIN AND LOVE for Contemporary Man", Part 3, Chapter 3, Holy Monastery "Evangelist John the Theologian" SOUROTI, THESSALONIKI, GREECE