St. Paisios of Mount Athos

 

*Disclaimer: I will speak the truth in this blog. Some might find my words harsh to describe some groups and enemies of the Church. If I offend you, I implore you to seek forgiveness and return to the Orthodox Faith. I do not do this harm you or hate you, for I love all of you dearly. I only do so that you might see the truth and live

Today’s Saint is Saint Paisios. Though today is not his feast day, I have studied St. Paisios since before I was chrismated into the church. St. Paisios has spoken at length along with so many others regarding the masons, Marxists and other enemies of the church. Even those who the world would assume as the people of God, the Jews are fully against God and His Church. Do not have anything to do with those who seek to destroy it. I have been reading once again the remarkable prophecies of St. Paisios and have recorded some in previous articles so that you might find strength and repentance when the time comes. Today we will look at the remarkable life of the saint, and also detail his words of encouragement for the Church. Though he reposed in 1994, two years after I was born I have felt a strong connection to this saint and was one of the names I mulled over in my mind before I took St. Seraphim’s name. I will hopefully do a blog, Lord willing, on St. Seraphim in a few days’ time that looks more in depth at him. St. Paisios though is one of the pinnacles of the recent church and his life can give us hope and encouragement. Let us pray that he will do so through this article.

               He was born Arsenios Eznepidis in Cappadocia, Turkey where many of our most beloved saints have hailed from. From an early age Arsenios was well versed in the theology of the church and the Holy Scriptures, his family was uprooted from their home in Turkey to Epirus in Greece as part of an exchange between the two countries. Though Arsenios would be called to military action during the Greek Civil War, he did not wish to do time as a combatant and served instead as a radio operator. He was noted for his bravery and his concern for others despite not caring for his own safety. He wished to enter the monastic life in 1950, but was also concerned for his sisters, who unmarried were his responsibility as well. Thus, having taken care of his sisters Arsenios finally sought the monastic life. Having entered the monastery as a novice, he was taught the ways of monasticism and prayer and was finally tonsured as a monk in 1954, receiving the new name Averkios. He went to Philotheou Monastery where his uncle resided and was placed under the care of Elder Symeon. There he dwelt in extreme self-denial, focusing purely on his own sins and judging himself very harshly. He was given the small schema in 1956, with the name he would carry the rest of his life…Paisios. From there many visitors would come to seek his counsel, but he would pretend to be a fool so as to preserve his silence and meditation on the holy things of God. In 1958, after groups of protestant heretics began speaking out against the Orthodox Faith, he went home to his village and spoke out against them, encouraging the faithful and returning many back to the apostolic faith. In 1962, he left for Sinai, where he had wished to go for a long time, seeking the desert but also the spiritual desert where he could grow in faith and stature. The Bedouin people of the region became well endowed to St. Paisios and loved him with great love. He would buy the people food from the woodcarving he would do, as he was a trained carpenter. In 1964, after failing health, he returned to Mount Athos, a place where he would rarely leave again. He had part of his lungs removed in 1966. He was finally granted the highest rank of monasticism, the Great Schema, and resided in the hermitage of Elder Tikhon. In 1979 he finally left for his last home on the Holy Mountain that of Panagouda. Because of his extreme asceticism, he was only afforded 2-3 hours of sleep a night. St. Paisios at this time began to receive visitors for hours on end, at a women’s monastery where he could relax and be their spiritual father. He had no choice but to leave the mountain, a few times due to illness and returned without complaining, noting that all was for God’s glory and he did not expect anything in return. Finally due to cancer, St. Paisios left Mount Athos for the final time. In 1993, he was diagnosed with Cancer and sent to Thessaloniki for treatment. He was eventually transferred to a local monastery where despite his suffering and pain he continued to receive visitors and listened intently at their sorrows. On July 11^th, 1994, he received communion for the final time, surrendering his soul to the care of God on July 12^th. Officially declared a saint by the Holy Synod of Constantinople in 2015, he is widely regarded as a living saint while here on earth. The Church only proclaimed what God had already established.

               Now a little regarding his prophecies. I said I would speak to the nature of them and will do so now. St. Paisios was always concerned for the wellbeing of the people and for his Greek nation. He often noted the lukewarm nature of many priests and the spiritual deception that was taking place in the world. He also noted that time was coming when Turkey would no longer exist, and that Greece would once again be triumphant. He predicted the beginning of WW3 and what it would entail for the people that participated in that horrific conflict. He has also been proven right in regard to the reestablishment of the Hagia Sophia as a mosque and the call to extend the borders of the Greek nation. All of which precedes the beginning of the end for Turkey and the number of enemies the Church has gathered. He had incredible foresight into the nature of the world and predicted the coming of a great illness (possibly Covid-19).  He spoke out against protestants, against the communists, and against the New World Order. He knew that all of those things would be greatly influential in the coming years though noting that Christ would be victorious. He asked us to guard our hearts from any flight of the devil and to remain steadfast and true. In a world today that seeks to say that truth is unknowable he boldly preached the truth of the Church.

               We know that all of us are not called to the monastic life. Some of us will be married, raise children, and participate in the life of the parish, which it too is for the glory of God. I have not been called to such a position and remain happily married and enjoy life within my own parish in Memphis. While we certainly can learn from the extreme humility and patience that St. Paisios exhibited can be a great comfort and example for us all. May God through his intercession bring us all to repentance that we may live.

               Amen.

A World of Wonder: Orthodox Miracles and Prophecies

 

First before we start, I would like to congratulate newly elected Bishop Alexis of Alaska. His election marks the beginning of a new era in Alaska, one that I pray will be full of blessings and renewal of the Orthodox Faith in the land of Alaska. With that said today we are going to look at something that has been on my mind the past few days. Miracles, Miracles, and more miracles. Oh, and some prophecy too.  We know that God works everything for our good and does not that will harm us or hurt us in any way. Those that blame God for their problems and troubles in life are nothing more than denying their own reality in the fact that they have rejected God and fled far from him. We also know that God only does things that will benefit our salvation. In a time when people are searching for signs and revelations from God in an increasingly bizarre and worsening world, people look to signs to give them comfort, confirmation, or belief. Unfortunately, most of the people searching for these signs are also trying their best to disprove the existence of God.

Miracles have existed since time began. Miracles occurred throughout scripture, beginning with the creation of the world, the exit of Adam and Eve out of the Garden, the mark placed on Cain after he killed Abel, the flood and so on. Miracles were then sent by God to either pronounce judgement or blessing on the people of Israel throughout both the judges period and the kingship period. After this we reach the New Testament where Christ begins his earthly ministry with the changing of water into wine, the healing of blind men, the healing of leprosy and many others that I do not have the time to recount here. The biggest miracle scripturally is the focal point of all Christianity, the raising of Jesus Christ from the dead on the third on Holy Pascha. We also witness the apostles in the book of Acts performing signs and miracles bringing the pagans and Jews out of idolatry and into everlasting life with Jesus Christ. Paul himself uses handkerchiefs and aprons that would heal the sick from illnesses and disease. (by the way noting this it is one of the many examples you can find within scripture in regards to relics being venerated a vital part of Orthodox Christianity) We see that miracles have been performed by the saints of old, and the early church in drawing people to Christ through these wonders and yet people today dismiss them as being only performed in the bible, that miracles today do not happen. I believe this is because people’s faith is not what it once was. People have forsaken the truth found in Holy Orthodoxy and the scriptures for science and the faith of man. They reject anything that they cannot tangibly hold in their hands or explain with reason.

               I would like then to offer another point of view here. The Orthodox Church has never believed that miracles have ceased to exist. In fact if you look closely you will find miracles all around us. I have been delving into a few that I found interesting that have happened in recent years. Many of these are easily accessible on the internet, and in fact there is a whole YouTube channel dedicated to them that I find very interesting. One such miracle I heard about recently being performed was that of witnessing the Passion of the Christ (not the movie the actual passion) at the site of Golgotha. The person who witnessed this miracle recorded the whole experience and when one watches the video, you can hear the breathing of Christ, the whipping of Christ, the dragging of the cross across the surface of the rock and his heartbeat. I was given chills when I watched the video. I also recently watched a video in which the Eucharist, or Holy Communion, was transformed into the flesh of Christ by the spirit in the form of a dove, and if it was not the same video a very similar video in which the Eucharist was transformed into the broken and disfigured face of Christ. All these miracles have occurred for our benefit, allowing us to see the power of God within the world and to not be scared or frightened of the future no matter what the New World Order and rulers of this world say. Continuing with the miracles that I have recently seen on video, I recently saw a photograph taken by a layman who was swimming in the ocean when a large group of fish began congregating near the bottom of the sea. The person took a photo of the location and when he went to look, there at the bottom of the ocean resting on the sea floor was an elder monk, prayer rope in hand praying for the whole world. Which elder this is I cannot say, some have said St. Kosmas, others St. Paisios. 

Perhaps the most famous Orthodox miracle that I can point to and there are several videos on it, is the Holy Fire of Jerusalem, that occurs on Pascha every year celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Holy Fire only appears on Holy Saturday and has appeared for centuries. The Patriarch of Jerusalem enters the tomb, but only after a non-orthodox Christian checks the entire church for signs that no oil or flames have been left burning so that the Patriarch cannot be accused of lighting it himself. Once the Patriarch has been given the go ahead, he prays special prayers inside the tomb and the Holy Fire descends from Heaven. This fire is described as blue, then regular flame, and it can neither burn nor hurt you. People have put it up to their faces without the faintest hint of a singe. The Holy Fire of Jerusalem is a miracle I personally want to witness myself in person one day. If I could ever get to Jerusalem. Before we talk about prophecies to end this article today, I would like to mention that the first miracle I heard about when inquiring about Orthodoxy was that of the Snakes of Kefalonia. These snakes appear on August 6^TH the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord, and stay until the 15^TH of August at the Dormition of the Theotokos. They are not seen again until the following year. While I could continue on there are too many miracles to count and I would be here all day. So let’s discuss prophecy

I want to discuss prophecies that have been fulfilled in recent years. Especially those of St. Paisios. St. Paisios was a beloved man and elder of our Church who died a few years after I was born. He was gifted with the ability of foresight and knew what was to come. Now we understand that only God knows when the time is that prophecy will be fulfilled and some due to repentance or failure to repent may not come at all. St. Paisios, however of note has two prophecies that I would like to expand on here. The first is that of the Hagia Sophia. As many of this blog will note, the Hagia Sophia was the largest church in the world before its capture by the Muslims in 1453 and transformation into a mosque. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire it was transformed again into a museum so that neither Christians, nor Muslims could claim it as their own. However in 2020, in the midst of Covid-19 it was rededicated as a mosque for use in Islamic worship. St. Paisios predicted this would come to pass and that it was sign that Turkey was going to be brought to its knees. The second prophecy also regarding Turkey is that of the Six-Mile. In recent years there has been talk of extending the Six-Mile to 12 miles and thus the water borders of Greece would be extended further. St. Paisios discussed this at length and said that the time you hear of this, it would not be long before then that the war would begin. In this he also discusses Turkey being separated into three parts, one part killed, one part Christianized, and one part fleeing to the very depths of Turkey never to be a nation again. In this same prophecy he talks about the city of Constantinople being given back to the Greeks and the restoration of the Hagia Sophia. All of this has yet to take place at the time of writing so I could be decades and years away, though personally I think we are closer than anyone knows. I say this because if you look this up, my facts are easily fact checkable. So if you want please do.

There are many signs and wonders in the world today, many of which people leave unnoticed because of the hustle and bustle of the world. I believe if we just would slow down and look at the world we would see a world full of wonder, a world full of beauty, and a world filled with God.

Amen.