 Our times
The majority of people in our times rush around at high worldly speed. But inasmuch as they do not possess the fear of God, – and “the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord,” – they have no brakes, and at such a speed, and with no brakes, they invariably finish up the race in a deep hole. People are extremely upset by difficulties and are, to a great extent, being brainwashed by various influences. They have lost their guideposts and little by little have reached the stage where they no longer have control over themselves.
One can see tempests and great agitation in all the nations. I can now appreciate the torment which the prophets suffered. The greatest martyrs were the prophets! They were martyrs to a greater extent than all the known martyrs, despite the fact that not all of them died a martyric death. This is because martyrs suffered comparatively briefly, while the prophets witnessed the doing of evil and suffered constantly. They cried out and cried out, but the others continued to blow their own horns. And when, due to these others, God’s wrath came down on people, the prophets suffered together with all the rest. But at least in those times men’s minds were limited, and they simply left God to worship idols. Now, when people abandon God consciously, – this leads to the greatest idolatry and paganism.
We have not yet realized that the devil has hurled himself forth to destroy God’s creations. The devil is enraged because the world has begun experiencing concern over the loss of goodness. He is in a frenzy, because he knows that he has little time left to act. He is now behaving like a criminal, who, upon being caught, cries out: “I can’t save myself, they’ll catch me,” – and begins wrecking everything both right and left. The world is burning! Do you realize that? The devil has lit such a conflagration that even if all the firemen were to gather together, they could never extinguish this fire. In a spiritual fire nothing remains undamaged. The only thing left for us is to pray that God have mercy upon us.
The entire world is coming to a single end. Universal destruction. We cannot say: “A window or something like that is slightly broken in the house, let me fix it.” The entire house has fallen apart. The state of affairs has already spun out of control. Only God can do something from above.
We do not have enough living examples in our era
Why does St. Cyril of Jerusalem say that the martyrs of the end times will be higher-standing than all the martyrs? Because previously there were many giants of the spirit, while in our era there is a dearth of living examples, – I am speaking about the Church and monasticism in general. In our times words and books have multiplied, but living experience has become impoverished. We only admire the saints of our Church without understanding how great was their labor. In order to understand it we must labor ourselves, we must get to love the saints and make an effort to be like them. The good God will naturally take into consideration the character of our times and the conditions in which we have to live, and will ask an accounting from us accordingly. Thus, if we undertake even the smallest spiritual effort, we will be rewarded more than the early Christians.
A spirit of asceticism prevailed in ancient times. Each person tried to imitate the other. Under such circumstances neither evil, nor negligence could hold out. There was an abundance of goodness, there was a spirit of asceticism, and thus a negligent person could not persist in his laxness. He was pulled along by the general stream of Godliness. But today, if a person wishes to live honestly, spiritually, – he has a very hard time, there is no place for him in the world. And if he is inattentive, he will roll downhill, he will be carried away by the current of worldliness.
In former times there was an abundance of goodness, an abundance of virtue, there was a sufficient number of good examples, and evil drowned amid the vastness of good. The comparatively small amount of illicitness that existed in the world and in the monasteries was inconspicuous and did not do much harm to people. But what do we see nowadays? There is an abundance of bad examples, while the miniscule amount of goodness that is left is not valued a single jot. In other words, the complete opposite is taking place now: a small amount of good is being drowned in a mass of evil, and evil is at the helm.
If one or several persons possess an ascetic spirit, it is of great help to others, because if a person is perfecting himself spiritually, not only will he benefit from this himself, but also those who watch his endeavors. The same thing happens with a lax person – he influences others in like manner. And if one person becomes debilitated, and then another, gradually and unnoticeably nothing good is left around us. For this reason an ascetic spirit helps greatly amid the laxness that reigns all around us. We must be extremely attentive in this respect, because modern-day people, unfortunately, have reached the point at which they even accept laws that engender laxness and moral turpitude. Even ascetics are being forced to submit to these laws. Therefore, those who are engaged in spiritual labor should not only not fall under the influence of the spirit of worldliness, but should also refrain from comparing themselves with the people of this world. In comparing themselves to worldly people, Christians begin to feel themselves quite saintly, and proceed to become lax, and as a result they become worse than the ones to whom they were comparing themselves. Our points of comparison in spiritual life should be the saints and not the people of this world. It would be well for us to do the following in regard to every virtue: find a saint who was distinguished by this virtue and read his life very attentively. Then we will see that we have not achieved anything yet, and we will continue our spiritual life in humility. Runners competing in a stadium do not turn around to look at those who are lagging behind, for if they look at the last ones, they will become last themselves. If I try to follow the example of those who are succeeding, my conscience becomes finer, while if I look back at those who are in the rear, I find all kinds of excuses for myself and decide that my own sins are not so terrible in comparison with theirs. I calm myself with the thought that there are people worse than I am. In this manner I choke off my conscience, or in other words, I end up with an unfeeling heart.
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God does not leave us to the mercy of fate
Being currently in such a horrible state, people do anything that comes into their head. Some live on pills, others on drugs. From time to time three or four deluded individuals create some kind of new religion. Others are tired of life and want to put an end to themselves or create a great hullabaloo by committing a spectacularly evil act. This does not refer to people whose desires along such lines simply take the form of blasphemous thoughts which they are able to chase away. We are speaking of people who have become tired of life and do not know what to do with themselves. It is precisely such people who are used by certain forces for evil purposes.
Despite the fact that we have brought ourselves to such a state, God does not leave us to the mercy of fate. God proceeds to guard the modern world with both hands so-to-speak. Today, when mankind is surrounded by so many dangers, God protects it like a mother does her child. Currently Christ, the Most-holy Theotokos and the saints help us much more than in past times, only we do not realize it. And what would happen to the world if this help were not available?!… The majority of people live on pills and are in a state too terrible for words. One is drunk, another has given up on life, a third is high on drugs, a fourth suffers from insomnia. And one sees how all these people drive cars, ride motorcycles, operate dangerous machinery. Are they all in perfect condition to do so? How many people could already have become crippled! How strongly God protects us, but we are not aware of it…
I remember how in the past our parents went off to work in the fields and left us in the care of a neighbor. We played together with her children. In those times children were more tranquil. The neighbor only needed to look in on us once in a while and then continued with her daily chores while we quietly played. In the same manner Christ, the Mother of God, and the saints used to only look in on the world, but today Christ, the Mother of God, and the saints are continuously either supporting someone somewhere or restraining another one from something, because people nowadays are unbalanced. God forbid the kind of things that are happening nowadays!… It’s just like a mother with several difficult children: one of them has climbed up too high and is in danger of falling off, another takes a knife and wants to cut his throat, a third is planning to trip up a fourth one, etc… The mother cannot relax, cannot close her eyes for a single moment, but watches her children constantly, while they do not understand her anxiety. Similarly the world does not understand that God is helping it. If God were not helping us, with the amount of dangerous technology that we currently have in the world we would all have been crippled long ago. But, fortunately, we have protectors: our Father – God, our Mother – the Most-holy Theotokos, our brothers and sisters – the saints and the angels.
How great is the devil’s hatred of mankind! How strong is the enemy’s desire to destroy us! And yet we forget with whom we are doing battle. If only you knew how many times the devil has already wound his tail around the earth, planning to destroy it! However, God does not allow him to do it, He ruins all his plans. God extracts benefit even from the evil which the devil attempts to do to us; God turns this evil into good.
Look: the merciful God never allows great trials to continue for more than three generations. He always leaves some good stock available. Prior to the Babylonian captivity the Israelis concealed the fire from their last offering to God in an empty well, in order to afterwards light the fire for new offerings. And, in fact, when they returned from captivity seventy years later, the fire used for the first offering to God was lit from the one they found in the well. In difficult times not everyone inclines towards evil. God keeps a good stock for future generations. The Communists held up for 75 years – exactly three generations. And the Zionists, despite going strong for so many years, at the end will not last even seven.
Hard times are coming
God is now allowing a great upheaval to take place. Hard times are coming. Terrible trials await us. Let us treat this matter seriously and let us live in a spiritual manner. Circumstances force us and will continue to force us to engage in spiritual labor. However, this spiritual endeavor will be of value only if we do it joyously, of our own accord, and not because we have been forced to it by sorrows. Many saints would have wished to live in our times, in order to engage in spiritual feats.
In former times a war would begin and a person would go off to fight the enemy, in order to defend his homeland and his people. At the present we are not engaging in combat for the sake of defending our homeland. We are not going into battle in order to prevent barbarians from burning our homes or dishonoring us. We are not conducting war for any national interests, nor for any kind of ideology. We are now fighting either on the side of Christ or on the side of the devil. Who is with whom – the deployment of forces is crystal clear. During the occupation you became a hero if you did not consort with the Germans. Now you become a hero if you do not consort with the devil.
Be that as it may, we are on the verge of witnessing terrible events. Spiritual battles will take place. Saintly people will become even holier, while evil people will become even fouler. We are in for a great thunderstorm, and our battle has great value, because our present enemy is not Ali Pasha, or Hitler, or Mussolini, but the devil himself. And for this combat our reward will be a reward in heaven.
Sin has become fashionable
The greatest barbarianism in the world is not war, but moral catastrophe. People are deteriorating both spiritually and physically. Some people try to justify the situation by saying that sinful life did not begin in our times. “Look at what was going on in ancient Rome!” – they say.
True, but the people in Rome were pagans and worshipped idols. And Apostle Paul in his Epistle to the Romans addressed himself to these pagans, who had become baptized, but had not yet foresworn their bad habits. We should not follow the examples of the greatest decadence in each epoch. Just think – we are Orthodox people, and where have we landed! About other people nothing can be said at all… But the worst thing is that modern people, while engaging in sin on a wholesale basis and seeing that someone is not following the spirit of the times and is not sinning, but demonstrates an iota of piety, – call such a person backward, a retrograde. These people are upset that someone is not sinning. They equate sin with progress. And that is absolutely the worst thing. If modern people, living in sin, would at least recognize it, God would have mercy upon them. But they try to justify that which has no justification, and they laud sin. Moreover, to count sin as progress and to say that morality has outlived its time is, beside everything else, a most horrible blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if someone living in this world engages in spiritual endeavor and keeps his life pure, – that has great value. Such people are due to be immensely rewarded,
In olden times a lecher or a drunkard was ashamed even to go the market-place, because people would have started laughing at him. And a woman who played around was afraid even to show her nose outside the door. One can say that this situation served to place a certain restraint upon sin. Yet today, if someone lives righteously, particularly a maiden, people say about her: “Well, well, did she come from another planet?” In general, when lay people committed sin in former times, the poor wretches felt their sinfulness and became a little humbler. They did not mock those who lived spiritually, but on the contrary, they admired them. In our times, however, those who sin do not feel guilty. They likewise have no respect for others. Everything has been flattened down to the ground. If a person does not live in a worldly manner, sinners make a mockery of him.
However, in trying to justify that which has no justification, people feel tormented in their souls and do not find peace anywhere. They are all internally unnerved, and so the miserable ones seek amusement for themselves, they run around bars and discos, get drunk, watch television incessantly… In other words, their conscience bothers them, and in order to forget about it they engage in trivialities. Every person has a conscience. Conscience is the very first Holy Scripture, given by God to the first-created people. No matter how much an individual tries to override his conscience, it will always denounce him from within. There is nothing sweeter than a peaceful and tranquil conscience. Such a person feels himself internally uplifted.
In forsaking God, man experiences the torment of hell.
Men have forsaken God and have therefore been deprived of divine comfort. The further away man moves from God, the harder it is for him. And yet if one has God with him, one does not need to have anything else – nor wish for anything else. If man has everything, but does not have God, he feels inner torment. Therefore, we should get as close as possible to God. Only near God does man find joy – real, eternal joy. In living far removed from the Sweetest Jesus, we drink from a bitter cup. When our mortal self becomes a son of the King, it is nourished by divine pleasure and heavenly sweetness, and already in this life partially experiences the joy of paradise. From lesser paradisiacal joy man progresses to greater and greater joy. His heart is overwhelmed, it trembles with joy, he wants to soar – because the earth and all that is earthly now seem to him to be trivial and of no consequence.
In the beginning man had contact with God. However, later he became estranged from God, but felt as though having originally lived in a palace and afterwards finding himself expulsed forever from the palace gates, he looked at the palace from afar and wept. Just as a child suffers when he is away from his mother, so suffers a man who has distanced himself from God. In forsaking God, man experiences the torment of hell. How terrible it is! However, the greatest torment is suffered by the devil, for he has moved away from God and from love farthest of all.
A person who forsakes God invites demonic influence upon himself, while the one who lives with God receives divine grace. The grace of God will increase in the one who possesses it. However, if a person possesses a little bit of grace, but does not handle it with due reverence, even that small bit is taken away from him. Modern men lack the grace of God, because in sinning they throw away even those crumbs of grace which they possess. And when divine grace leaves a person, the demons furiously attack him.
To the extent to which men have forsaken God, they experience chagrin in this life. In the next life they will experience eternal chagrin. To the extent that a person lives according to the will of God, he will to some degree taste the sweetness of paradise while still living on earth. A person feels joy in doing good and suffers when he sins. The more good a person does, the more joy he feels, while the more he sins, the stronger his soul suffers. Even when a person receives something from another person, he does not experience the joy he feels when giving something himself. But if he offends someone, in that case there is no question of joy! You only have to look at those who offend and deceive others: what ugly faces they have, how hideously they grimace!
People who have moved away from God never receive any comfort and are doubly tormented. Anyone who does not believe in God and eternal life is not only deprived of comfort, but also sentences himself to eternal torment. A man will be paid by the master for whom he works. If you work for a black master, he will make your life black already here on earth. If you work for sin, you will be paid by the devil. If you cultivate virtue, you will be paid by Christ. And the more you work for Christ, the brighter and more joyous you become. Christ suffered the Crucifixion in order to redeem us from sin, in order to purify the whole of man-kind. Just think of what Christ did for us, and what do we do for Him?
People want to sin and to have a God Who would forgive us while we continued to sin. People do not believe and, therefore, throw themselves insatiably into sin. This, i.e. disbelief, is the beginning of all evil. People do not believe in the afterlife and, consequently, do not care about anything. They offend and deceive each other, they abandon their children… The tongue even refuses to speak of the things that are going on. The gravest sins. Such sins that even the Holy Fathers did not foresee anything like it in the Holy Canons. As God said about Sodom and Gomorrah: “I cannot believe it – is it true that such sins are being committed? Let Me go and look.”
If men do not repent, do not return to God, they will lose eternal life. A person must help himself understand the deepest meaning of life. He must come to his senses, in order to feel divine comfort. The task is not simply to abstain from sin, but to grow spiritually. |
Sonntag, 4. Mai 2014
Contemporary Mankind Reflections of elder Paisius the Athonite (1924 – 1994)
Saint Sophia ("Myrtidiotissa") of Kleisoura
Life of the Saint
Sophia Saoulidi, the "ascetic of the Panagia", was born of Amanatiou and Maria Saoulidi in a village of Trebizond in Pontus of Asia Minor in 1883. She was also married there years later in 1907 to Jordan Hortokoridou, but after seven years her husband disappeared (likely not of his own will) in 1914 and she was left with a newborn son who soon thereafter died. These tragedies helped shape her piety and repentant spirit, making her rely solely upon God. Her asceticism began in Pontus on a mountain away from her relatives. It was there that one day Saint George appeared to her and warned her to notify the villagers of a coming persecution and to flee, and in this way she saved the village.
Her soul breathed Christ and the Panagia with her simple and humble love. "One is the Lord and one is the Lady", she would say of Christ and the Panagia, "the rest of us are all siblings."
She was a teacher of the simple, especially of women, and every word that came from her lips was spoken with humility and love. As with many "fools for Christ" of the past, the proud and the educated didn't recognize her worth as much as those who possessed simple and humble hearts.
She came to Greece in 1919 as an exile. The name of the ship that carried her was Saint Nicholas, so when they arrived in Greece the Panagia appeared to her and said: "Come to my house." Sophia asked: "Where are you and where is your house?" The Panagia responded: "I am in Kleisoura." Therefore she went and settled at the Monastery of the Birth of the Theotokos in Kleisoura of Kastoria when she was 44 years old. There the abbot of the Monastery was Gregorios Magdalis, an Athonite of great virtue. Sophia learned much from him and always spoke his name with the highest respect.
By the command of the Panagia, Sophia lived within the fireplace of the Monastery in the kitchen, which was also used to cook the food. She would sleep there two hours a night and the rest of the night pray on her knees. In the winter it was especially cold there, while during the rain water would drip on her. At times she would light a little fire, but this did not help much. At the window she would always have a candle lit before the fresco of the Panagia. This is where she ate and spent her time, and when visitors came to see her she would say their names before they even introduced themselves to her. People came from Thessaloniki and the surrounding areas, even as far as from Athens, just to see her. She would tell people their names and their family problems without being told beforehand. Among those who came was Fr. Leonidas Paraskevopoulos, who later became Metropolitan, and he would say: "You have a great treasure up there".
She dressed poorly and had a blanket with holes. Her sandals had holes also. Visitors would see how she suffered in the cold and humidity and give her clothes, but she would take them with one hand and give them away to the poor with the other. She also always wore a black scarf, and since her days in Pontus never bathed. Her fasting was constant and only allowed herself oil on the weekends. She cared little for what she ate, eating only to survive, and cared less about cleanliness so that she would even eat food without washing them. And despite the germs and the worms, she always remained healthy.
Visitors would often give her money, which she would hide anywhere she could. And when someone had need, she would go and give the money immediately.
She saw many scandalous things done by priests and lay people, but never criticized anyone. "Cover things, so that God will cover you", she would say.
Her popularity arose rapidly, so that people came not only from all over Greece, but even places like France and Israel to see her. Some villagers made fun of her however, calling her "Crazy-Sophia". To many she looked like Saint Mary of Egypt, as thin as a bone and all dried up. Within however she contained the same beauty of Saint Mary.
Wondrous Events
Her love for God and humanity was powerful and she had impressive experiences with the Panagia and various Saints.
As the ship carried the passengers from Asia Minor to Greece in 1919 a storm hit that put the passengers at great risk. Eventually the storm ceased and everyone survived, but the captain said after making the sign of the cross: "You must have a righteous person among you that saved you", and everyone looked at Sophia who was standing at the corner of the ship the entire journey praying. This incident actually exists on videotape, where she herself recounts what happened:
"The waves were filled with angels and the Panagia appeared, saying, 'Humanity will be lost, because they are very sinful.' And I said: 'Panagia, let me be lost because I am a sinner, so let the world be saved.'"
In 1967 Sophia became very sick and was in great pain. Her stomach had open sores that smelled. She took the pain courageously, saying: "The Panagia will come to take away my pain. She promised me." Some Athenians have her on videotape explaining what happened soon thereafter:
"The Panagia came with the Archangel Gabriel and Saint George, as well as other Saints. The Archangel said: 'We will cut you now'. I said: 'I am a sinner, I must confess, receive communion, then you can cut me'. 'You will not die', he said, 'we are doing a surgery on you', and he cut me open."
As with many Saints, she had a special relationship with wild animals, especially with bears in the forest, but also with snakes and birds.
Sophia Saoulidi, the "ascetic of the Panagia", was born of Amanatiou and Maria Saoulidi in a village of Trebizond in Pontus of Asia Minor in 1883. She was also married there years later in 1907 to Jordan Hortokoridou, but after seven years her husband disappeared (likely not of his own will) in 1914 and she was left with a newborn son who soon thereafter died. These tragedies helped shape her piety and repentant spirit, making her rely solely upon God. Her asceticism began in Pontus on a mountain away from her relatives. It was there that one day Saint George appeared to her and warned her to notify the villagers of a coming persecution and to flee, and in this way she saved the village.
Her soul breathed Christ and the Panagia with her simple and humble love. "One is the Lord and one is the Lady", she would say of Christ and the Panagia, "the rest of us are all siblings."
She was a teacher of the simple, especially of women, and every word that came from her lips was spoken with humility and love. As with many "fools for Christ" of the past, the proud and the educated didn't recognize her worth as much as those who possessed simple and humble hearts.
She came to Greece in 1919 as an exile. The name of the ship that carried her was Saint Nicholas, so when they arrived in Greece the Panagia appeared to her and said: "Come to my house." Sophia asked: "Where are you and where is your house?" The Panagia responded: "I am in Kleisoura." Therefore she went and settled at the Monastery of the Birth of the Theotokos in Kleisoura of Kastoria when she was 44 years old. There the abbot of the Monastery was Gregorios Magdalis, an Athonite of great virtue. Sophia learned much from him and always spoke his name with the highest respect.
By the command of the Panagia, Sophia lived within the fireplace of the Monastery in the kitchen, which was also used to cook the food. She would sleep there two hours a night and the rest of the night pray on her knees. In the winter it was especially cold there, while during the rain water would drip on her. At times she would light a little fire, but this did not help much. At the window she would always have a candle lit before the fresco of the Panagia. This is where she ate and spent her time, and when visitors came to see her she would say their names before they even introduced themselves to her. People came from Thessaloniki and the surrounding areas, even as far as from Athens, just to see her. She would tell people their names and their family problems without being told beforehand. Among those who came was Fr. Leonidas Paraskevopoulos, who later became Metropolitan, and he would say: "You have a great treasure up there".
She dressed poorly and had a blanket with holes. Her sandals had holes also. Visitors would see how she suffered in the cold and humidity and give her clothes, but she would take them with one hand and give them away to the poor with the other. She also always wore a black scarf, and since her days in Pontus never bathed. Her fasting was constant and only allowed herself oil on the weekends. She cared little for what she ate, eating only to survive, and cared less about cleanliness so that she would even eat food without washing them. And despite the germs and the worms, she always remained healthy.
Visitors would often give her money, which she would hide anywhere she could. And when someone had need, she would go and give the money immediately.
She saw many scandalous things done by priests and lay people, but never criticized anyone. "Cover things, so that God will cover you", she would say.
Her popularity arose rapidly, so that people came not only from all over Greece, but even places like France and Israel to see her. Some villagers made fun of her however, calling her "Crazy-Sophia". To many she looked like Saint Mary of Egypt, as thin as a bone and all dried up. Within however she contained the same beauty of Saint Mary.
Her love for God and humanity was powerful and she had impressive experiences with the Panagia and various Saints.
As the ship carried the passengers from Asia Minor to Greece in 1919 a storm hit that put the passengers at great risk. Eventually the storm ceased and everyone survived, but the captain said after making the sign of the cross: "You must have a righteous person among you that saved you", and everyone looked at Sophia who was standing at the corner of the ship the entire journey praying. This incident actually exists on videotape, where she herself recounts what happened:
"The waves were filled with angels and the Panagia appeared, saying, 'Humanity will be lost, because they are very sinful.' And I said: 'Panagia, let me be lost because I am a sinner, so let the world be saved.'"
In 1967 Sophia became very sick and was in great pain. Her stomach had open sores that smelled. She took the pain courageously, saying: "The Panagia will come to take away my pain. She promised me." Some Athenians have her on videotape explaining what happened soon thereafter:
"The Panagia came with the Archangel Gabriel and Saint George, as well as other Saints. The Archangel said: 'We will cut you now'. I said: 'I am a sinner, I must confess, receive communion, then you can cut me'. 'You will not die', he said, 'we are doing a surgery on you', and he cut me open."
As with many Saints, she had a special relationship with wild animals, especially with bears in the forest, but also with snakes and birds.
Spiritual Sayings
"The fear of God makes a person wise. What is the fear of God? Not that one should be afraid of God, but to be afraid to sadden someone, to harm someone, to do them no wrong, and to not make accusations. This is wisdom. After all this, God will illumine you as to what to do in your life."
"Look for and find the poor and gather them and help them. This is what God wants, and not to go to church as if to pray."
"Almsgiving should be in secret, for God alone to know."
"Oh, if you only knew what happened to the Lord on Wednesday and Friday, you would put nothing in your mouth. Neither bread, nor oil. Do not break the fast of Wednesday and Friday."
"The angels speak every day. God sends the angels to see if people are repenting."
"The Panagia weeps, she weeps every day. She says to her Son: 'My Son and my God, grant the world wisdom, forgive the world.'"
"Let the mouth become basil and a rose."
Views Of Her Sainthood
In 2009 the Metropolis of Kastoria organized the discussion of the topic "The Saints Honored In Kastoria". Much was discussed of the Eldress' life, and Metropolitan Seraphim of Kastoria gave his own opinion which reflected the opinions of those in the local church of Kastoria, that she was a saint, that hymns had been written and an icon painted of her, and the necessary official requirements for Glorification would be submitted to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The Holy Monastery of Kleisouras
The Monastery of the Birth of the Theotokos is 35 kilometers from Kastoria and 70 kilometers from Florina. It was founded around 1314 by the Hieromonk Neophytos of Kleisoura and once again established in 1813 by Hieromonk Isaiah Pista of Kleisoura who came from Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos after a vision of the Panagia.
During the Liberation War of Macedonia the Monastery gave hospitality to many of the Macedonian fighters, among whom was Pavlos Melas. When the Turks burned down the neighboring village of Variko in 1903 the residents fled to this Monastery for safety. Until 1993 the Monastery was not an organized coenobitic community, and it was during these years that Eldress Sophia lived here in asceticism from the time she left Pontus until she died in her old age. Since 1993 the Monastery serves as a female coenobitic convent and has an aim to "resurrect" it as a center of worship in Western Macedonia.
Eldress Sophia fell asleep in the Lord on May 6, 1974 and was buried on the grounds of the Monastery. She was well-known in Western Macedonia, and many who knew her come to pray at her tomb. Her relics are kept in the Monastery, and upon request to the nuns can be venerated by the faithful.
The current abbess is Anisia Egglezou and the Monastery has six nuns and one novice. The address is Κλεισούρα, Τ.Κ. 52054 and the telephone number is 0030/24670 - 94330.
"The fear of God makes a person wise. What is the fear of God? Not that one should be afraid of God, but to be afraid to sadden someone, to harm someone, to do them no wrong, and to not make accusations. This is wisdom. After all this, God will illumine you as to what to do in your life."
"Look for and find the poor and gather them and help them. This is what God wants, and not to go to church as if to pray."
"Almsgiving should be in secret, for God alone to know."
"Oh, if you only knew what happened to the Lord on Wednesday and Friday, you would put nothing in your mouth. Neither bread, nor oil. Do not break the fast of Wednesday and Friday."
"The angels speak every day. God sends the angels to see if people are repenting."
"The Panagia weeps, she weeps every day. She says to her Son: 'My Son and my God, grant the world wisdom, forgive the world.'"
"Let the mouth become basil and a rose."
Views Of Her Sainthood
In 2009 the Metropolis of Kastoria organized the discussion of the topic "The Saints Honored In Kastoria". Much was discussed of the Eldress' life, and Metropolitan Seraphim of Kastoria gave his own opinion which reflected the opinions of those in the local church of Kastoria, that she was a saint, that hymns had been written and an icon painted of her, and the necessary official requirements for Glorification would be submitted to the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
The Monastery of the Birth of the Theotokos is 35 kilometers from Kastoria and 70 kilometers from Florina. It was founded around 1314 by the Hieromonk Neophytos of Kleisoura and once again established in 1813 by Hieromonk Isaiah Pista of Kleisoura who came from Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos after a vision of the Panagia.
During the Liberation War of Macedonia the Monastery gave hospitality to many of the Macedonian fighters, among whom was Pavlos Melas. When the Turks burned down the neighboring village of Variko in 1903 the residents fled to this Monastery for safety. Until 1993 the Monastery was not an organized coenobitic community, and it was during these years that Eldress Sophia lived here in asceticism from the time she left Pontus until she died in her old age. Since 1993 the Monastery serves as a female coenobitic convent and has an aim to "resurrect" it as a center of worship in Western Macedonia.
Eldress Sophia fell asleep in the Lord on May 6, 1974 and was buried on the grounds of the Monastery. She was well-known in Western Macedonia, and many who knew her come to pray at her tomb. Her relics are kept in the Monastery, and upon request to the nuns can be venerated by the faithful.
The current abbess is Anisia Egglezou and the Monastery has six nuns and one novice. The address is Κλεισούρα, Τ.Κ. 52054 and the telephone number is 0030/24670 - 94330.
Apolytikion in the Third Tone (amateur translations below)
O blessed mother Sophia, you became wise, and the adornment of the Mother of God, and you lived your life in the Monastery ascetically, from which have spread the praise of your struggles, striking the ranks of the demons. And as you stand as an intercessor before Christ, do not neglect those who honor you with fervor.
Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
You became a treasury of Divine wisdom and all-consuming fear [of God], O mother Sophia, through your motherly intercessions, O blessed one, you offer to all the richness of grace.
Megalynarion
Being made spiritually wise, O mother, you passed the whole of your life in utter patience, and now you are made to dwell in the beauty of your Bridegroom, in His bridal chamber.
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
http://o-nekros.blogspot.gr/
CHRISTIAN ENVIRONMENTALISM AND THE TEMPTATION OF FAUX ASCETICISM
by Andrew P. Morriss
by Fr. Michael Butler
It is important to clarify the Church’s teaching on asceticism because many voices in the environmental movement encourage a kind of ascetical lifestyle in the name of “ethical consumption.” Orthodox writers on the environment are not immune to the temptation of putting the ascetical tradition of the Church in the service of another agenda. For example, the conclusion of the Inter-Orthodox Conference on Environmental Protection, held in Crete in 1991, states: “Humanity needs a simpler way of life, a renewed asceticism, for the sake of creation.” Many Orthodox writers call on asceticism—fasting in particular—to reduce consumption. Deacon Dr. John Chryssavgis, the theological advisor to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on environmental issues, has noted that, “In his now classic article entitled ‘The Roots of our Ecological Crisis,’ Lynn White already suspected—although he did not elaborate on—the truth behind asceticism.” Furthermore, Orthodox theologian Elizabeth Theokritoff has pointed out the beneficial effects of Orthodox fasting discipline (which includes abstaining from sexual relations) on population control. Given the temptation to which many have succumbed, a few words on the proper role of asceticism are in order. Asceticism comes from the Greek askēsis, which simply means “exercise.”
Asceticism, therefore, is simply spiritual exercise undertaken for the health of the soul. Here, we must be careful to set aside popular caricatures of asceticism as either a kind of masochistic, self-flagellated misery or a kind of Gnostic attitude which exalts lofty spiritual things over crass material things. (This latter view is often associated with those environmentalists who have constructed a religion of nature worship.) With regard to this caricature of asceticism, Romanian Orthodox theologian Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae noted: Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae According to the current use of the word, asceticism has a negative connotation. It means a negative holding back, a negative restraint, or a negative effort. This is because the sinful tendencies of our nature, the habitual things that lead to its death, have come to be considered as the positive side of life. Ascetical striving, though negative in appearance, confronts the negative element in human nature with the intent to eliminate it by permanent opposition. Viewed in proper balance, asceticism is a positive, life-affirming attitude and set of practices that seeks human freedom by overcoming the passions—the sinful and disordered habits and attitudes that poison our relationships, primarily with God but also with ourselves, our neighbor, and the world. These passions are the “seven deadly sins” of classical spirituality that enslave the heart, cloud the reason, poison relationships, and in general lead to the disintegration and corruption of the soul, and by extension, to the misery of the world caused by corrupted people acting in corrupted ways.
Much could be said about asceticism and the passions, but for our purposes, we might say that to be ascetic is to learn to live rightly on the earth with God, our neighbor, and creation. With regard to our relationships, our ascetic stance before God is one of humility and obedience. Before our neighbor, as the Gospel puts it, we seek to be the last, not the first; humbled, not exalted; the servant, not the master. (Mark 10:13). Before creation, Greek Orthodox theologian Metropolitan John Zizioulas tells us, “Man dies as to his claim to be God in creation, and instead recognizes God as its Lord.” In each case, we are brought to a new relationship with the other; in the case of our relationship to creation, an ascetical stance clearly alters the demands we make on the material world, both what we ask of it and how much we ask. In this respect, Orthodoxy’s call to ascetic striving for the sake of one’s salvation is in line with free market principles of voluntary activity and lifestyle choices. The ascetical tradition of the Orthodox Church includes many practices: prayer, fasting, almsgiving, keeping vigil, inter alia. They are the active part of the spiritual life, our voluntary cooperation with the grace of God. As such, it is important that we not be tempted to use the ascetical practices of the Church for ends they were not designed to serve. Thus, we need to be careful of “environmental consciousness” masquerading as authentic spiritual practice. Moreover, we must keep in mind that it is the believer’s practice of asceticism, not asceticism qua asceticism, that is important. For example, fasting out of ecological conviction, or eating “lower on the food chain” (i.e., avoiding meat or eating a vegan diet) is spiritually useless for the Christian. Fasting is not dieting; neither is it an ecological statement.
For a Christian, fasting is a spiritual discipline that is fruitful when it is joined with prayer and repentance, a discipline that is oriented toward God to effect the purification and transfiguration of the heart. What is more, for Orthodox Christians to use the ascetical discipline of fasting for any other purpose undermines its real purpose. If we do not use ascetical disciplines to grow in a right relationship with God, we will not grow in right relationships with our neighbor or with creation either. This leads us to a deep irony that seems to be lost on those who focus on the superficial similarities between Christian asceticism and environmentalists’ calls for restricting consumption: Concern for the environment that distracts us from the purification and illumination of the heart will actually hinder our ability to transfigure creation and offer it back to Christ. That is to say, concern for environmentalism is inversely proportional to our effectiveness in transfiguring the environment. At this point, we are tempted to leave off writing altogether, lest our efforts undermine the end we are trying to pursue. Having drawn attention to the danger and the temptation, however, we can proceed if we do so with caution. In short, spiritual tools must be used for spiritual ends. We “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well” (Matt. 6:33). As Elizabeth Theokritoff reminds us in her 2010 book, The Salvation of the World and Saving the Earth: An Orthodox Christian Approach: The salvation of the earth is not in our hands, either individually or as a human collective: it is the work of the Creator and Savior, and our task is to conform ourselves to him. Re-created in the image of the new Adam, we are called to image God’s love and compassion for all creation, so fulfilling his economy of salvation by growing into his likeness. What then is the Christian to do to integrate the Church’s ascetical traditions into his or her interactions with God’s creation? First, we must resist the temptation to impose our asceticism on others, as the value of the ascetical practices lie in the voluntary denial of consumption as a means of growing closer to God.
Using the power of the state to compel asceticism in others would thus be counterproductive in a spiritual sense. Moreover, we must distinguish our own practice of asceticism from efforts to deny others’ the benefits of God-given human creativity; we cannot force asceticism onto others. For example, efforts to restrict the increasing use of energy by the world’s poor are at odds both with true asceticism and with our duty to be charitable to our neighbors. Given the horrific costs of indoor air pollution caused by burning dung and similar fuels in homes by the world’s poorest, building electrical power plants in poor countries should be applauded. Second, we must also avoid shifting the costs and burdens of our own “asceticism” onto others. Lobbying for subsidies and mandates for corn-based ethanol that leads to higher food prices, at tremendous cost to the world’s poor, is a particularly pernicious example of faux asceticism in which the warm feelings of doing good among the wealthy are primarily paid for by the poorest. For example, a Tufts University study estimated that U.S. corn ethanol mandates cost Mexico $1.5 to $3 billion through increased food prices from 2006 to 2011. Similarly, the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy imposes tremendous costs on the poor in developing countries by denying them markets for their agricultural products through subsidies to European farmers in the name of promoting sustainable agriculture. Third, we must resist the temptation to seek to subsidize our own consumption. If doctors are enjoined to “first, do no harm,” a similar injunction applies to government policies. Providing ourselves with subsidized goods and services, such as fuels, food, and electricity, not only encourages overconsumption of those goods and services, thus leading us away from both good stewardship and opportunities to practice asceticism, but also causes damage to God’s creation. The vast, federally subsidized water projects in the western United States and the World Bank’s tragic record of supporting destructive “infrastructure” projects such as dams in developing countries are two examples.
No less damaging is the common practice in oil-producing nations of subsidizing consumption of fossil fuels—Venezuela’s 4 cents per gallon of gasoline is similarly a destructive practice. In each case, creation is sacrificed to venal goals—such as purchasing voters’ support for governments—that are inconsistent with our responsibility as stewards. Nature has a right to be transformed and uplifted, spiritualized and revived, and mankind has an obligation to serve that right, to love nature, not for our sake alone, but for its own sake, and not just for the utility that it can provide. But such a realization requires of us an attitude toward the natural world that does not preclude stewardship of the world and its resources to meet human needs but goes beyond it to the fulfillment and perfection of creation for its own sake.
Source: http://www.pravoslavie.ru
Archimandrite Thomas: Saint Jean ( Maximovitch)
Saint Archevêque Jean
Réjouis-toi, Saint Hiérarque Jean,
toi qui allas vers tous les méprisés,
et tous les ignorés,
toi qui t’es approché
des enfants abandonnés et délaissés
pour les accueillir
et leur offrir ta protection.
Très chers frères et sœurs,
Parler du Père Jean semble facile pour autant que l’on n’entre pas dans le détail des évènements de sa vie, car les actions miraculeuses et les lignes forces de sa passion évangélique et christologique étaient caractéristiques de sa vie unique et resplendissante. Mais combien difficile est-il, par contre, de s’efforcer de s’approcher de la profondeur exceptionnelle et de la ténacité inégalée qu’il déployait dans ses activités.
Pour la petite histoire il est toujours agréable de rappeler l’irritation de la noblesse, qui n’hésitait pas à s’adresser à la hiérarchie ecclésiale pour ordonner à ce « va-nu-pieds » d’évêque, de se chausser. Dans la plus parfaite obéissance Vladika accepta les chaussures qu’on lui offrit pour les emporter sous ses bras, déclenchant ainsi l’hilarité de certains mais surtout l’irascibilité d’autres qui n’y comprenaient rien.
Tout aussi plaisante est l’histoire de l’invitation à dîner qu’il avait reçue et où il avait été placé en tête de table, près de l’épouse de l’hôte qui s’était ornée les lèvres du rouge le plus flamboyant, alors qu’il était bien connu que Vladika avait une sainte horreur du rouge à lèvre. Il feignit ne pas réagir à cet éblouissant spectacle coloré mais au moment où la soupe fut servie, il la porta à sa bouche et la versa sur ses lèvres d’où elle dégoulinait dans sa barbe, la décorant ainsi de vermicelles. Soudain, la dame comprit la raison du comportement étrange de l’évêque et s’empressa, aussitôt, d’essuyer son rouge à lèvre, sur quoi l’évêque poursuivit normalement son repas.
Il n’avait nullement l’intention de se rendre intéressant, ce qu’il faisait, en revanche, c’était de rendre l’assistance attentive à l’importance de vivre sa vie en Christ ; il voulait être un véritable évêque, un berger pour son troupeau, un père pour ses prêtres, un successeur et épigone du Christ, le Bon Pasteur. Et nous savons tous que Vladika Jean fut cet évêque, une icône en chair et en os de son Maître.
Après son sacre, dans sa première homélie comme évêque, il témoigna en paroles de ce qu’il ferait, magistralement, en actes plus tard : il aspirait à se donner à sa tâche corps et âme, afin de, pour reprendre ses propres paroles, achever la mission du Christ : Le Christ est descendu sur la terre pour rétablir en l’homme l’icône de Dieu qui avait été dénaturée ; pour appeler les hommes afin de les ramener à l’unité. Il appartient au berger de renouveler et d’éclairer les hommes. Que peut-il y avoir de plus grand que de recréer la Création de Dieu ? Que peut-on offrir de mieux à son prochain que la préparation à la vie éternelle ? C’est de cela, précisément, qu’il avait fait sa mission : ouvrir à tous les portes du Royaume de Dieu, sans distinction de race, de couleur ou de langue, en disant : Pénétré de l’universalité de l’Eglise, le soin du berger ne saurait se limiter aux seules brebis qui lui ont été confiées, mais il doit porter les yeux de son cœur sur la totalité de l’Eglise du Christ.
Vladika Jean n’appréciait pas le luxe, ni la pompe ni l’éclat. Jamais il ne s’y était associé en donnant pompeusement des ordres depuis les hauteurs de son trône épiscopal. Jamais il ne cherchait à se faire remarquer ou à impressionner, il s’opposait violemment à pareil comportement. Il avait en horreur ceux qui jouent la comédie et il ne supportait pas les ecclésiastiques paradant à l’autel. La vanité dont un éventuel évêque ou archimandrite pouvait se rendre coupable déclenchait inévitablement une réaction ferme de la part de Vladika Jean. Dans ce contexte, le récit cocasse suivant est d’ailleurs bien connu : un évêque que je ne nommerai pas était tellement fier de sa nouvelle mitre que Vladika se rua sur lui et la lui enfonça de ses deux mains jusqu’au narines… la petite taille de Vladika et l’imposante stature de ce grand évêque ne faisait qu’ajouter au tableau… L’évêque était ainsi obligé de continuer à célébrer l’office à l’autel littéralement à « l’aveuglette », aveuglé qu’il était de vanité. Pour Vladika Jean, il n’y avait pas de place pour les honneurs humains ou l’orgueil à l’autel où l’on servait Dieu. Il était toujours et partout un serviteur de Dieu et le vivait humblement tous les instants de sa vie. C’est précisément cela qu’il cherchait à enseigner à tous les chrétiens, et en premier aux prêtres, car tous ceux qui se trouvaient, se trouvent ou se trouveront devant l’autel du Christ s’y trouvent en Son Nom et non en leur nom.
Il abhorrait tout signe d’autorité et défendait l’orthodoxie vraie telle qu’il l’avait pratiquée et vue pratiquée, et voulait transmettre ce savoir à tous ceux qu’il rencontrait, où que ce soit, dans tous pays ou régions, partout où il passait. Il définissait sa mission à Shanghai ainsi : «C’est pour cela qu’on m’envoie en Orient, dans les contrées dites du soleil levant, mais qui ont surtout besoin du rayonnement spirituel du Soleil de Justice. » Annoncer le Christ en paroles, et humblement le prendre en exemple dans ses propres agissements étaient son but, sa mission sur terre. Rien ni personne ne pouvaient l’en détourner
Le Christianisme véritable ne se résume pas à des considérations intellectuelles mais doit être le cœur de la vie. Le Christ n’est pas descendu sur terre pour donner aux hommes des connaissances nouvelles, mais pour les appeler à une vie nouvelle. Son ascèse et sa vie de prière en étaient des exemples vivants et atteignaient une profondeur inimaginable selon les normes modernes. Vladika ne dormait jamais plus de deux heures par nuit, et jamais dans un lit, soit dans une chaise, soit à genoux devant les icônes. Le reste du temps il priait, car son cœur était tellement grand qu’il vivait la douleur ou la tristesse que les fidèles lui confiaient dans ses propres entrailles. Il n’est donc pas surprenant que Dieu l’ait glorifié par des signes extérieurs visibles. Pendant la proscomédie à laquelle il consacrait toujours énormément de temps, il lui arrivait d’être tellement pris par la prière qu’il s’élevait d’un demi mètre au dessus de la terre sans même qu’il ne s’en rendît compte. En célébrant la Divine Liturgie il lui arrivait souvent d’être illuminé de la lumière incréée à la plus grande stupéfaction de nombreux fidèles bien sûr.
Tout aussi remarquables étaient son amour pour l’homme et sa confiance en Dieu.
Dans une allocution il disait : «Dans son souci du salut des âmes, un berger ne peut ignorer les inévitables besoins physiques de l’homme. Il ne devrait pas être permis de prêcher l’Evangile sans effectivement manifester de l’amour. »
Ce n’était pas parce qu’il était évêque qu’il aurait renoncé à se rendre dans les quartiers les plus mal famés et les ruelles les plus sombres de Shanghai pour aller à la recherche de bébés abandonnés dans les immondices, ou d’enfants handicapés ou mutilés rejetés de la société. Il les accueillait tous dans son cœur, et un grand nombre aussi dans son orphelinat. On pourrait même dire qu’il est miraculeux qu’il n’ait pas été assassiné dans ces endroits qui ne connaissaient pas le luxe de l’électricité ; en effet, c’étaient des endroits obscurs, au propre et au figuré, où se passaient des choses qui ne supportent de toute façon pas la lumière.
Peut-être pensait-on que ce petit homme courbé qui déambulait dans les rues de Shanghai était un pauvre petit évêque dépravé à la recherche de quelque bibelot qu’il vendrait pour avoir de l’argent avec lequel s’acheter de l’alcool ou de l’opium. Les prêtres de l’époque auront sans doute également trouvé ce comportement particulièrement choquant. Mais j’ai quand même beaucoup de peine à comprendre qu’il puisse y avoir eu des prêtres qui n’appréciaient pas leur évêque, pire même, qui voulaient sa mort. Mais comment se peut-il donc, que des personnes qui prétendent annoncer et expliquer l’Evangile à l’Eglise, se permettent, pendant la Nuit Pascale, d’ourdir des complots afin d’empoisonner Vladika Jean en mélangeant du poison au vin qu’il utiliserait pour nettoyer le calice, lui, qui était un Evangile vivant, mais en tous points identique à celui que ses détracteurs proclamaient pompeusement ?
Mais il s’attendait à ce genre d’avatars lorsqu’il disait : La tâche d’un berger n’est pas facile, car il doit lutter contre la nature de l’homme contaminée par le péché; souvent il se heurte à l’incompréhension, ou à l’opposition délibérée, voire à la haine de ceux qu’il aime et qu’il essaie de secourir. Le sens du sacrifice de soi, l’amour qu’il porte à son troupeau doivent être incommensurables.
Vivre réellement et foncièrement l’Evangile dans ces proportions radicales là, ne plaît sans doute pas trop à l’homme parce que cela le force à réfléchir et à méditer sur ses propres actes. Pareille introspection interpelle la conscience et suscite des interrogations et des défis que l’on préfère esquiver. Des déclarations grandiloquentes et ronflantes à propos du « multiculturalisme » et de « l’inter religiosité » ne lui étaient pas réservées. Seul comptait son amour chaleureux et cordial pour ceux qui étaient marqués par la vie ou ployaient sous la tristesse et l’échec. C’est à eux que s’adressaient toute son attention et ses soins, sans distinction de race, de couleur, de sexe, d’origine, ou de confession. Entendons ses propres paroles : Le berger doit sentir la douleur de ses brebis. Sa vie ne lui appartient pas, il doit être capable de subir toute vexation ou persécution, voire la mort, pour les guérir..
Quand Vladika Jean agissait, il le faisait dans la plus grande simplicité, comme simple serviteur de Dieu. Lorsqu’un jour il alla, au vu et au su de tout le monde, dans un grand hôpital de Shanghai, il s’y rendit d’abord, à la consternation générale, dans une chambre où une mère juive soignait son fils qui fut guéri par la prière de Vladika, sans qu’il ait tenu compte de la confession de cette personne. Pour Vladika Jean, toute personne, quelle qu’elle soit, était un enfant de Dieu et une icône du Christ. Là où régnait la misère, il était le premier arrivé pour apporter réconfort et consolation. L’Archevêque Jacques, de bienheureuse mémoire, racontait comment, lors du retour de Vladika Jean aux Etats-Unis après une tournée en Europe, il refusa obstinément de prendre la route de l’aéroport de Schiphol où l’avion était prêt pour le départ, pour aller, à la stupéfaction générale, au chevet d’un mourant inconnu dont il avait entendu intérieurement l’appel à l’aide. Le Père Adrien lui dit : « Vladika, vous allez rater l’avion ! » D’un mouvement brusque, il se retourna et répondit sèchement : « Est-ce que c’est vous qui assumerez les conséquences s’il devait mourir …? » Vladika s’est donc rendu à l’hôpital, a prié et entendu la confession du mourant. L’avion, toujours prêt pour le départ, n’a décollé que lorsque Vladika Jean s’était enregistré et était monté à bord.
Vladika Jean répondait aux besoins des hommes et ne permettait jamais que la moindre préoccupation sociale empêchât un prêtre de remplir ses fonctions ecclésiales. A son esprit étaient toujours présentes ces paroles de l’Ecriture Sainte : « Il ne convient pas que nous délaissions la parole de Dieu pour le service des tables. » ( Actes 6,2)
Très chers frères et sœurs, la vie de Vladika Jean est truffée de scènes miraculeuses qui faisaient et font encore toujours le tour du monde, même sur l’internet maintenant. Exemplaires et réputés étaient l’élan foncièrement chrétien et la passion évangélique de son parcours de vie : une vie d’humilité dans son amour énorme et à la fois noble pour Dieu, pour l’homme, et pour la vérité de la Foi Orthodoxe. N’est-il pas regrettable que ceux qui suivent son exemple soient si rares?
Source: http://orthodox.be/PRE0016F.html
Samstag, 3. Mai 2014
Let This Mind Be In You- Priest David Moser (Especially important for converts)
Each culture has its own "language," its own mindset, its own "idiom," if you will. Orthodoxy also has its own "language," one that can be and is expressed in many different tongues. Some people seem to have a greater facility than others for learning this language. It has nothing to do with linguistic ability. Rather, it requires humility and obedience; it is a matter of the heart.
Inevitably, those of us who are converts bring with us to the Faith our "baggage", our old way of thinking and understanding. We grew up with a "language" of a different religious culture, be it Protestant, Roman Catholic, Jewish, humanist, or some other. It is not possible to understand the fullness of the Orthodox faith while continuing to use a different "language." Therefore, we must change the way we think; we must acquire the mind of the Church (something which has also been called the mind of Christ, or the mind of the Fathers). This is not accomplished overnight; it is a long process, like learning a foreign language; progress is gradual and requires a great deal of effort. Those of us who were not brought up in the Church and who did not acquire an Orthodox outlook as children, must set aside our old way of thinking, our old way of expressing Christian ideas and replace that old "language" with the "language" of Orthodoxy.
Some of you readers will say, "I've done that. I use words like 'Theotokos,' and 'liturgy' instead of 'mass,' and 'mystery' instead of 'sacrament'." That's not the point. It's not a matter of semantics. What we are talking about here is a profound change of heart and mind. I was raised in the Evangelical Protestant tradition. If I attempt to understand the Orthodox Faith in the context of the Christianity in which I was raised, such an understanding will be incomplete and faulty, because the concepts, the expressions, the meanings are either not there or are different. For example, a Protestant will say, so-and-so is "saved," or someone "got saved," as something that happens when a person accepts Jesus Christ as God and Saviour, whereas in an Orthodox context that person is said to be in the process of being saved (cf. Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, p. 259), of working out his salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12-a passage never quoted by Protestants). Or again, Protestants commonly refer to believers as "saints," and while this is true in the sense in which it is used by St. Paul, within the Orthodox tradition a "saint" is someone worthy of awe and veneration, a model of Christian perfection. To take another example, the word "ascetic" and "asceticism" are virtually missing from the Protestant vocabulary, while they are among Orthodoxy's ABCs. These distinctions have significant ramifications. Until a convert to Orthodoxy turns his back on his former understanding and retrains himself to think and understand in the ways of the Church, he will not be able to comprehend even the simplest spiritual truths.
Over the past five years there has been a growing influx of former Protestants into the Orthodox Church. This is cause for rejoicing. But there are dangers here. Catechism is often inadequate, and assumptions are made about the level of understanding that these new converts have of the Faith, which may not be accurate. The conversions often result in a change of external habits with little change of heart, and, in may cases, no realization that such a change is needed. Outwardly, these converts may be Orthodox (sometimes more Orthodox than those raised in the Faith): they have icons, they fast, they cross themselves; but their mentality is still protestant; they have not acquired the mind of the Church. In order to meet the pastoral needs of these new converts, some of them are taken straight from the Protestant tradition and ordained to Holy Orders (the priesthood or diaconate); before they themselves have learned the "language" of Orthodoxy, they are given the responsibility of teaching others. This is unfortunate. Heterodox training is at best inadequate for passing on the Orthodox Faith. One can be steeped in Orthodoxy intellectually, but this is still not enough.
The Apostle Paul writes: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus...(Phil. 2:5-11). This passage is assigned by the Church to be read at certain feasts of the Mother of God, the paragon of Christian obedience and humility, indicating to us that it is precisely these virtues that are the key to to acquiring the mind of the Church, the mind of Christ. first we must obediently acquire the external appearance, put on the robe of the Church, as it were, resisting the tendency-in our pride of mind-to alter those parts which feel uncomfortable, as if they were simply something"ethnic" which we should "Americanize"; but humbly conforming ourselves to its contours, recognizing that this is the robe of Christ and His saints. Then we must begin to effect that internal change, obediently submitting our mind and heart to the instruction of the Church. This is available to us in many forms: in the guidance of an experienced spiritual father, in the church services, in the writings of the Holy Fathers, in the Lives of Saints (here the "savor" of Orthodox is readily apparent)... If there is some aspect of the Church's teaching or her tradition that doesn't make sense to us we must be patient and humble, realizing that it is our understanding which is still deficient, not the Church.
The most important means of acquiring the mind of the Church is prayer. This again is a learning process; we must learn to pray in the "language" of the Church. The Apostle Paul writes, we know not what we should pray as we ought... (Rom. 8:26), and therefore the Church gives us the prayers of saints-those who have mastered the art-to guide us, to help us develop an Orthodox consciousness, a proper disposition of mind and heart. Here again, we must not rely on our heterodox experience. By carefully attending to the prayers in our prayerbooks and the public prayers of the Church, we will be steered away from the presumption of the pharisee and towards the soul-saving humility and compunction of the publican.
Christian, it is imperative that you acquire the mind of the Church, but to do so you must relinquish your pride, your previous learning and experience outside the Church and become like a little child. Start at the beginning; set aside whatever you think you have, and, humbly and obediently following the direction of the Church, allow yourself to be molded into the image of Christ.
Priest David Moser
St Seraphim Mission, Boise, Idaho
http://orthodoxinfo.com/
Der Sonntag der salbentragenden Frauen
“Die Jüngerinnen bringen Christus wohlriechendes Öl, und ich bringe mit ihnen anstatt des Öls mein Lob." (aus dem Pentekostarion)
Für den dritten Ostersonntag hat unsere Kirche das Gedächtnis der salbentragenden Frauen und gleichzeitig des Josef von Arimathäa, der im Verborgenen Jünger Jesu war, und des Nikodemus, der in einer Nacht zu Christus kam, verordnet. Gleich nach der Auferstehung gab es einige, die dieses Ereig- nis leugneten. Dieses Gerücht verbreitete sich ununterbrochen in verschiedenen Varianten, so dass bis heute noch einige behaupten, Christus sei entweder gar nicht auferstanden, sondern aus dem Grab gestohlen worden, oder er sei gar nicht gestorben, sondern wegen des schweren Leidens in Ohnmacht gefallen und anschließend aufgewacht und geflohen, oder er sei wirklich gestorben, aber nie auferstanden, sondern seine begeisterten Jünger hätten Halluzinationen gehabt und deswegen gemeint, sie hätten Christus gesehen.
Die Kirche berücksichtigte diesen Umstand und ordnete an, dass gleich nach dem Auferstehungsfest einiger Zeugen der Auferstehung Christi gedacht wird. So gedenken wir am Auferstehungs- abend des Kommens Christi bei verschlossenen Türen in die Mitte seiner Jünger. Am zweiten Ostersonntag wird die Erscheinung Christi vor seinen Jüngern (jetzt zusammen mit Thomas, der am Auferstehungsabend fehlte und jetzt zur Berührung der Wunde eingeladen wird) gefeiert. Schließlich wird am dritten Ostersonntag das Gedächtnis einiger Zeugen des gestorbenen und auferstandenen Christus gefeiert. Die jetzt gefeierten Zeugen des Auferstandenen sind einige fromme Frauen, die Christus während seines öffentlichen Wirkens nachgefolgt waren, ihm mit Mut während der Passion beistanden und seinen makel- losen Körper für das Begräbnis vorbereitet hatten. Weil sie dies in Eile wegen des jüdischen Paschafestes gemacht hatten, kamen sie danach zum Grab, um die Einbalsamierung des Leibes Christi zu vollenden. Die heiligen Evangelisten bezeugen, dass die Frauen das Grab leer fanden, als sie am ersten Wochentag (Sonntag) dorthin kamen. Es sind ihnen Engel erschienen, die ihnen die Auferstehungsfreude verkündeten. Nachher aber ver- kündigten sie selbst den Auferstandenen Christus (Mt 28,1-7; Mk 16,1-10; Lk 24,1-10; Joh 20,1, 11-17).
Gegen diejenigen, die behaupten, Christus sei nicht gestorben, bringt die Kirche neben den salbentragenden Frauen, die eigentlich nicht nur Zeugen der Auferstehung, sondern auch des Todes und Begräbnisses Jesu sind, noch zwei Zeugen: Josef und Nikodemus, die den gekreuzigten Christus ins Grab gelegt hatten. Mit diesen Zeugnissen beweist die Kirche an diesem Fest die Bedeutung der zwei Ereignisse (Begräbnis und Auferstehung) im Leben Christi, die zwei Etappen unseres Erlösungswerkes sind.
(aus: Die Orthodoxe Spiritualität der Osterzeit; Kommentar zum Pentekostarion. Vater Serafim Pâtrunjel [Weihbischof Sofian], Verlag „Der Christliche Osten“ Würzburg, 1998.)
http://www.rum-orthodox.de/
Sonntag der myrrhetragenden Frauen und des Joseph von Arimathäa
Das Auferstehungstroparion:
Als Du hinabgefahren bist zum Tode, Du unsterbliches Leben, da hast Du die Hölle ertötet durch den blitzenden Glanz Deiner Gottheit; als Du die Verstorbenen auferweckt hast aus den Tiefen der Erde, da riefen alle himmlischen Kräfte Dir zu: Du Lebensspender, Christe unser Gott, Ehre sei Dir.
Das Troparion des Joseph von Arimathäa (2. Ton):
Der edle Joseph nahm vom Kreuz Deinen makellosen Leib; er wickelte ihn in reines Linnen
mit Spezereien und barg ihn mit Sorgfalt in einem neuen Grab.
Du aber erstandest am dritten Tage, Herr, und brachtest der Welt das große Erbarmen.
Das Troparion zum Sonntag der heiligen myrrhetragenden Frauen (2. Ton):
Der Engel, der beim Grabe stand, sprach zu den frommen myrrhetragenden Frauen: Die Myrrhe gebühret den Toten! Doch Christus ist unverweslich. Rufet vielmehr: Der Herr ist erstanden und hat der Welt das große Erbarmen gebracht!
Das Kondakion zum Osterfest (8. Ton):
Obschon Du ins Grab hinabstiegst, Unsterblicher, hast Du
dennoch die Macht des Totenreiches gebrochen. Als Sieger bist Du erstanden, Christus Gott.
Den myrrhetragenden Frauen riefst Du zu: Freuet euch! Und Deinen
Aposteln gabst Du den Frieden; den Gefallenen gewährest Du Auferstehung.
Die Epistel zum Fest der myrrhetragenden Frauen:
Prokimenon: Meine Stärke und mein Lied ist der Herr!
Streng hat der Herr mich gezüchtigt, doch dem Tode nicht preisgegeben!Lesung aus der Apostelgeschichte (Apg 6: 1-7)
In jenen Tagen, als die Zahl der Jünger zunahm, erhob sich ein Murren unter den griechischen Juden in der Gemeinde gegen die hebräischen, weil ihre Witwen übersehen wurden bei der täglichen Versorgung. Da riefen die Zwölf die Menge der Jünger zusammen und sprachen: Es ist nicht recht, dass wir für die Mahlzeiten sorgen und darüber das Wort Gottes vernachlässigen. Darum, ihr lieben Brüder, seht euch um nach sieben Männern in eurer Mitte, die einen guten Ruf haben und voll Heiligen Geistes und Weisheit sind, die wir bestellen wollen zu diesem Dienst. Wir aber wollen ganz beim Gebet und beim Dienst des Wortes bleiben. Und die Rede gefiel der ganzen Menge gut; und sie wählten Stepha- nus, einen Mann voll Glau- bens und Heiligen Geistes, und Philippus und Prochorus und Nikanor und Timon und Parmenas und Nikolaus, den Judengenossen aus Antiochia. Diese Männer stellten sie vor die Apostel; die beteten und legten die Hände auf sie. Und das Wort Gottes breitete sich aus und die Zahl der Jünger wurde sehr groß in Jerusalem. Es wurden auch viele Priester dem Glauben gehorsam.
Das Evangelium zum Fest der myrrhetragenden Frauen: (Mk 15: 43 - 16: 8 )
In jener Zeit kam Josef von Arimathäa, ein angesehener Ratsherr, der auch auf das Reich Gottes wartete, der wagte es und ging hinein zu Pilatus und bat um den Leichnam Jesu. Pi- latus aber wunderte sich, dass er schon tot sei, und rief den Hauptmann und fragte ihn, ob er schon lange gestorben sei. Und als er‘s erkundet hatte von dem Hauptmann, gab er Josef den Leichnam. Und der kaufte ein Leinentuch und nahm ihn ab und wickelte ihn in das Tuch und legte ihn in ein Grab, das war in einen Felsen gehauen, und wälzte einen Stein vor des Grabes Tür. Und als der Sabbat vergangen war, kauften Maria von Magdala und Maria, die Mutter des Jakobus, und Sa- lome wohlriechende Öle, um hinzugehen und ihn zu salben. Und sie kamen zum Grab am ersten Tag der Woche, sehr früh, als die Sonne aufging.
Und sie sprachen untereinan- der: Wer wälzt uns den Stein von des Grabes Tür? Und sie sahen hin und wurden gewahr, dass der Stein weggewälzt war; denn er war sehr groß. Und sie gingen hinein in das Grab und sahen einen Jüngling zur rechten Hand sitzen, der hat- te ein langes weißes Gewand an, und sie entsetzten sich. Er aber sprach zu ihnen: Entsetzt euch nicht! Ihr sucht Jesus von Nazareth, den Gekreuzigten. Er ist auferstanden, er ist nicht hier. Siehe da die Stätte, wo sie ihn hinlegten. Geht aber hin und sagt seinen Jüngern und Petrus, dass er vor euch hin- gehen wird nach Galiläa; dort werdet ihr ihn sehen, wie er euch gesagt hat. Und sie gingen hinaus und flohen von dem Grab; denn Zittern und Entset- zen hatte sie ergriffen. Und sie sagten niemandem etwas; denn sie fürchteten sich.
Do not judge!
My dear, let it be the code and rule of our lives the saying of the Lord: "Do not judge".
Apparently a light commandment. Light, because if we examine it with some attention, we shall see that it is easy to avoid judging, to protect our soul and mouth from it. Besides judging is not something priorly rooted from birth and kneaded with our soul. It is something external, especially when judging is not born out of animosity or hatred but from superficiality and negligence and from the usual tendency to always talk about the others.
In fact, judging is not only a light but also a heavy sin, unfortunately extensively spread. We meet it everywhere. It consists of a much polluted atmosphere which we continually breathe. It is a common phenomenon that one can say it has become the norm for man. "Nothing is more pleasant to man, than to judge the actions of others" says Gregory the Theologian. Exactly because of this extensive spread of judging, makes this sin hard to fight and makes the divine commandment "do not judge" heavy.
No one can dispute this sad condition but also no right thinking person can seriously claim that he is justified in judging, since others judge. Woe to us if we used as criterion and rule of our ethical life the disorderly life of others. Our conscience herself, no matter how much she has been overshadowed by the prevailing confused and disordered condition of our society, will protest and condemn the judging. She will scream that the rule of our life must be not the voice and habits of the world but her voice, which in the final analysis is the voice of God. That is why every person finds the commandment of God "do not judge", correct and just, even if he is swept away in "judging".
"Do not judge!" Truly, why should we judge another? Why should we become involved with what others say or do? Who made us examiners, inspectors and judges of the behaviour of others? No one! Besides don't we sin? On the contrary, the word of God many times and emphatically forbids this judging, this censuring of others. "Do not judge" commands the Lord. For only He has the right of judgment. He is the law maker and the judge. In His presence we are all accountable, all the people whether judging or judged. Therefore, the tendency and habit to judge and condemn the others is usurping and removing the authority and rights of the Lord. It is impiety against the just Judge Himself.
That is why the brother of the Lord James writes on the one who judges: "Do not speak evil against one another, my brothers. He who says evil against his brother or makes himself his brother's judge, says evil against the law and is judging the law; and in judging the law you become not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Judge and Law-giver, even He who is able to save or to destroy; but who are you to be your neighbour's judge?" (James 4:11-12). And for you, yourself, God has enacted to respect and to love your neighbour. However, when you judge your brother, you trample and ignore the law of God, you condemn with your action and make void the law of God. You are no more the defender but the abolisher of the law and you present yourself, you a sinful person, with impudent pretence to judge others and usurp rights of others. This way with your judging you perpetrate a sin, perhaps graver than that which your brother committed.
And the Apostle Paul adds: "You are therefore without excuse, oh man, whoever you are that judges, for when you are judging another you are judging yourself, for you who judges do the same things" (Rom 2:1). We are all responsible in front of the Lord. To Him we will have to give account of our actions. Whenever you judge and condemn the other, what argument would you bring in front of the Lord and how would you dare ask for mercy and leniency? And just because you know how God angers against the sinners-and judging is sin- for this you will be found unforgiven at that great day of the Second Coming. Also consider that the person you judge, could repent, or has repented and could find mercy in front of God, be saved and glorified, while you could remain with the heavy guilt of condemnation. So while you condemn the other, you condemn yourself. Heavy they appear these God inspired predications of the Holy Bible. Serious are the condemnations against judging. And just think they are not few. In many other instances the Holy Bible condemns with just strictness the judging because it considers it an impiety against God and lack of love for one's neighbour. That is what Saint Chrysostom had in mind when he said: "Brothers, let us not be bitter judges and accusers of others that we may not be found seriously responsible against God. Let us not forget that we too have committed serious sins which need greater forgiveness. Let us therefore, be lenient towards the others no matter how badly they have sinned, that we may be assured of the mercy and leniency of God".
In fact, judging is not only a light but also a heavy sin, unfortunately extensively spread. We meet it everywhere. It consists of a much polluted atmosphere which we continually breathe. It is a common phenomenon that one can say it has become the norm for man. "Nothing is more pleasant to man, than to judge the actions of others" says Gregory the Theologian. Exactly because of this extensive spread of judging, makes this sin hard to fight and makes the divine commandment "do not judge" heavy.
No one can dispute this sad condition but also no right thinking person can seriously claim that he is justified in judging, since others judge. Woe to us if we used as criterion and rule of our ethical life the disorderly life of others. Our conscience herself, no matter how much she has been overshadowed by the prevailing confused and disordered condition of our society, will protest and condemn the judging. She will scream that the rule of our life must be not the voice and habits of the world but her voice, which in the final analysis is the voice of God. That is why every person finds the commandment of God "do not judge", correct and just, even if he is swept away in "judging".
"Do not judge!" Truly, why should we judge another? Why should we become involved with what others say or do? Who made us examiners, inspectors and judges of the behaviour of others? No one! Besides don't we sin? On the contrary, the word of God many times and emphatically forbids this judging, this censuring of others. "Do not judge" commands the Lord. For only He has the right of judgment. He is the law maker and the judge. In His presence we are all accountable, all the people whether judging or judged. Therefore, the tendency and habit to judge and condemn the others is usurping and removing the authority and rights of the Lord. It is impiety against the just Judge Himself.
That is why the brother of the Lord James writes on the one who judges: "Do not speak evil against one another, my brothers. He who says evil against his brother or makes himself his brother's judge, says evil against the law and is judging the law; and in judging the law you become not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Judge and Law-giver, even He who is able to save or to destroy; but who are you to be your neighbour's judge?" (James 4:11-12). And for you, yourself, God has enacted to respect and to love your neighbour. However, when you judge your brother, you trample and ignore the law of God, you condemn with your action and make void the law of God. You are no more the defender but the abolisher of the law and you present yourself, you a sinful person, with impudent pretence to judge others and usurp rights of others. This way with your judging you perpetrate a sin, perhaps graver than that which your brother committed.
And the Apostle Paul adds: "You are therefore without excuse, oh man, whoever you are that judges, for when you are judging another you are judging yourself, for you who judges do the same things" (Rom 2:1). We are all responsible in front of the Lord. To Him we will have to give account of our actions. Whenever you judge and condemn the other, what argument would you bring in front of the Lord and how would you dare ask for mercy and leniency? And just because you know how God angers against the sinners-and judging is sin- for this you will be found unforgiven at that great day of the Second Coming. Also consider that the person you judge, could repent, or has repented and could find mercy in front of God, be saved and glorified, while you could remain with the heavy guilt of condemnation. So while you condemn the other, you condemn yourself. Heavy they appear these God inspired predications of the Holy Bible. Serious are the condemnations against judging. And just think they are not few. In many other instances the Holy Bible condemns with just strictness the judging because it considers it an impiety against God and lack of love for one's neighbour. That is what Saint Chrysostom had in mind when he said: "Brothers, let us not be bitter judges and accusers of others that we may not be found seriously responsible against God. Let us not forget that we too have committed serious sins which need greater forgiveness. Let us therefore, be lenient towards the others no matter how badly they have sinned, that we may be assured of the mercy and leniency of God".
http://impantokratoros.gr/
L'amour de Dieu, révélation du mystère trinitaire- Boris Bobriskoy
Le message de l'orthodoxie est la proclamation de l'amour infini de Dieu comme amour trinitaire, comme révélation du mystère de la Trinité qui sort de sa transcendance dans l'acte créateur du monde et qui suscite l' homme à son image trinitaire pour le faire participer à la vie divine. Un philosophe russe du siècle dernier disait : "Notre programme, c'est la Trinité". Non pas une spéculation théologique, - ce serait trop facile et trop desséchant -, non pas une speculation sur les processions éternelles, mais la découverte que le rêve d'lsaïe s'est realise : "Ah, si tu déchirais les cieux et si tu descendais!" (Is 63,19), et que contre toute espérance, l' espoir de Job est venu : "Je sais que mon défenseur est vivant et que de ma chair je verrai Dieu" (Job 19,25-26).
Parler au monde de la Trinité, c' est annoncer le Verbe incarné, le Fils du Père, le Christ ressuscité dans la puissance et le feu de l'Esprit Saint. Le mystère du Christ, celui de sa divino-humanité, c'est la certitude que tout dabord "demeure en lui corporellement toute la plénitude de la Divinité" (Col 2,9), - cela contre toute reduction qu'elle soit ancienne ou moderne, de sa nature divine et éternelle. Rappelons que les hérésies du passé constituent des tentations permanentes de l'intelligence humaine. Si la puissance divine et la gloire éternelle sont encore cachées sous le vêtement de la chair, elles pénètrent le corps du Christ qui est aussi notre corps et lEsprit Saint nous communique ainsi un dynamisme de résurrection et d' accession à la vie divine que nous appelons divinisation.
http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/french/bobrins.html
Heilige Matrona die Blinde (2.Mai)
Die hl. Matrona (Nikonowa) wurde 1881 in einer armen Familie des Dorfes Sebino- Epifaniskaja (heute Kimowski) bei Tula geboren, wenige Kilometer vom berühmten Schlachtfeld von Kulikowo entfernt. Sie war blind von Geburt, denn ihren Augen fehlten die Pupillen. Mit Demut ertrug sie dieses Gebrechen, wofür Gott sie zu einem auserwählten Gefäss der Gnade machte. Mit 6 oder 7 Jahren zeigte sich an ihr eine aussergewöhnliche Gabe der Hellsichtigkeit – sie erkannte die Krankheiten der Seele und des Leibs der Menschen, die sie besuchten, offenbarte ihnen ihre versteckten Sünden und Probleme und half ihnen durch ihr Gebet und ihren weisen Rat. Mit 14 Jahren unternahm sie in Begleitung einer treuen Wohltäterin eine Pilgerfahrt zu den bedeutendsten Heiligtümern
Russlands. Als sie nach Kronstadt kamen, um den Segen des hl. Johannes (20.12.) zu empfangen, rief dieser das junge Mädchen mit Namen aus der grossen Menge wartender Pilger. Er sagte auch: „Sie wird meine Nachfolge übernehmen und die achte Säule Russlands sein.” Damals verstand niemand den Sinn dieser Prophetie.
Mit 17 Jahren wurde sie gelähmt und konnte nie wieder gehen. Sie verbrachte den Rest ihres Lebens, mehr als 50 Jahre, mit untergeschlagenen Beinen auf einem Bett sitzend, umgeben von Ikonen. Stets strahlte ihr Gesicht vor Freude. Mit ruhiger Stimme sprach sie zu den unzähligen Besuchern, die kamen, um von ihr himmlischen Trost zu empfangen. Nie beklagte sie sich über ihre Behinderung, sondern dankte dem Herrn dafür. Als einige ihrer Besucher ihr Bedauern ausdrückten darüber, dass sie nicht sehen konnte, antwortete sie: „Eines Tages hat mir Gott die Augen geöffnet und ich habe alles gesehen – das Licht der Sonne, der Sterne und alles, was in der Welt existiert, die Ströme, die Wälder, das Meer, die ganze Schöpfung…” Sie sagte das grosse Unheil voraus, das die bolschewistische Revolution über das Land bringen sollte, und stellte ihre Charismen in den Dienst des Gottesvolks.
Mit 17 Jahren wurde sie gelähmt und konnte nie wieder gehen. Sie verbrachte den Rest ihres Lebens, mehr als 50 Jahre, mit untergeschlagenen Beinen auf einem Bett sitzend, umgeben von Ikonen. Stets strahlte ihr Gesicht vor Freude. Mit ruhiger Stimme sprach sie zu den unzähligen Besuchern, die kamen, um von ihr himmlischen Trost zu empfangen. Nie beklagte sie sich über ihre Behinderung, sondern dankte dem Herrn dafür. Als einige ihrer Besucher ihr Bedauern ausdrückten darüber, dass sie nicht sehen konnte, antwortete sie: „Eines Tages hat mir Gott die Augen geöffnet und ich habe alles gesehen – das Licht der Sonne, der Sterne und alles, was in der Welt existiert, die Ströme, die Wälder, das Meer, die ganze Schöpfung…” Sie sagte das grosse Unheil voraus, das die bolschewistische Revolution über das Land bringen sollte, und stellte ihre Charismen in den Dienst des Gottesvolks.
1925 übersiedelte sie von ihrem Dorf nach Moskau, und nach 1945 musste sie oft den Wohnort wechseln, denn die Kommunisten, die ihren Einfluss beim Volk fürchteten, suchten sie zu ergreifen. Jedesmal aber wusste sie im voraus, dass sie kommen würden. Als man sie fragte, warum die Kirche derart verfolgt werde, antwortete sie: „Der Sünden und des Unglaubens der Christen wegen… Alle Völker, die sich von Gott entfernen, werden schliesslich von der Erdoberfläche verschwinden”, sagte sie. „Es werden schwere Zeiten kommen, doch wir Christen müssen das Kreuz wählen. Christus hat uns auf Seinen Schlitten gesetzt. Er wird uns dahin fuhren, wo Er will.” Sie entschlief in Frieden am 2.5.1952 (19.4. nach dem Alten Kalender). Ihre Reliquien wurden 1998 ins Pokrow- Kloster in Moskau überführt, wo sie täglich von Tausenden verehrt werden.
Durch die Gebete Deiner Heiligen, Herr Jesus Christus, erbarme Dich unser.Amen.
(Ihre Verehrung wurde 1999 für Moskau und 2004 für ganz Russland und die ganze Orthodoxe Kirche anerkannt.)
(aus dem Synaxarion: Kloster des Hl.Jochanes, Kreta)
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