On Those Who Choose to Embrace Monasticism.. ΠΕΡΙ ΤΟΙΣ ΕΛΟΜΕΝΟΙΣ ΜΟΝΑΣΑΙ
ΟΜΟΛΟΓΙΑ ΥΠΕΡ ΤΗΣ ΠΙΣΤΕΩΣ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΔΟΣ
CONFESS FOR FAITH AND HOMELAND-FATHERLAND
To refrain from doing evil is holy.
On Those Who Choose to Embrace Monasticism
Introduction: The Path of Holiness, Confession, and Martyrdom
To refrain from doing evil is holy.
To refuse to repay evil with evil is the mark of a confessor.
But to return good and virtuous deeds in response to the evil done against you, to forgive every person always, to consider oneself the least of all and beneath all creation, and to offer even one’s own life, if necessary, for the sanctification and salvation of one’s brother—or even more, for one’s enemy—is the mark of a martyr.
This latter state is the essence, the heart of the Monastic Polity, the highest degree of faith, the path of the perfect, the complete imitation of the God-Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, in all things, accomplished in the light of the Divine Will and obedience to it.
How do we arrive at these conclusions?
Because the Lord said:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you” (Matt. 5:43–44).
Thus, we too may radiate the light of God’s love and righteousness, just as He does, toward all people. For this is the righteousness of God: perfect love, perfect forgiveness, perfect remission of sins. “Let your light so shine before men” (Matt. 5:16), and “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, who makes His sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). And not only in the physical sense, but above all in the spiritual, that is, through the grace, mercy, and consolation of the Lord.
Elsewhere, He says:
“Whoever takes away your tunic, let him have your cloak also; and whoever strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other” (Matt. 5:40, 39).
Ultimately, stretched upon the Precious and Life-Giving Cross—the Tree of Life—He pleads with God the Father to forgive His crucifiers (that is, all of us), having already forgiven them Himself. And since fallen humanity, failing in the image and likeness of God, became as a crucified thief, the God-Man, our Lord, became the image and likeness of a crucified thief. For the Word of the Lord is and remains unfailing through the ages, so that even the utterly degraded and condemned person may encounter Him in the final hour of life and be saved through repentance, banishing all despair from the face of the earth.
At the Crucifixion of the Lord, all creation shuddered and trembled, and His blood flowed upon the earth, watering the skull of Adam. Death and Hades were plundered, the devil was bound and lost the power he once held. The Lord became the Victor over life and death, being Himself Life, through His three-day burial and Resurrection. Having deified His human nature through His glorious Ascension, on the day of Pentecost, He established His Most Holy Church [the Most Holy Orthodoxy] through the Paraclete (the Holy Spirit). In this Church, He grants the fruit of immortality—Himself, His Precious Blood and Body—through the Supreme Mystery of the Divine Eucharist, for the remission of sins and eternal life, for the salvation and sanctification of the entire cosmos.
Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ is the first Monk and the Founder of the Monastic Polity, just as His Most Holy Mother is the first Nun. For this very reason, every monk and every nun must be an icon of our Holy Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Holy Mother.
The first holy monastery, the twelvefold company of the Holy Disciples and Apostles, was homeless and dwelt in the open air.
In the fourth century, St. Pachomios the Great, a disciple of St. Palamon, became the founder of cenobitic monasticism, having been taught by an angel. To him was delivered the monastic schema and the order of the cenobium. He did not introduce the priesthood into monasticism, so as to avoid rivalry among monks and scandal to the unity of the bond of love and the spiritual cohesion of the holy cenobium. He himself was not a priest and invited priests from the churches in the world to serve the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and major feasts. He was the founder of seven holy monasteries and the father of seven thousand monks.
The Monastic Polity rests on four spiritual and natural foundations:
- **Renunciation, withdrawal, and exile from the world**
- **Poverty (aktimesia)**
- **Virginity (parthenia)**
- **Obedience (ypakoi)**
If, therefore, my brother, you intend and plan to become a monk, it is perhaps worthwhile to reflect briefly on the following lines, so that you may approach this arena as prepared and informed as possible regarding the prerequisites, obligations, and peculiarities of the Monastic Polity, especially in the era in which we live.
A Defense of the Monastic Polity in the Last Times
A) On Renunciation, Exile, and Withdrawal from the World
Consider, brother, what you are leaving behind and where you are going. You leave behind noise and distraction to enter into stillness. You abandon many cares to embrace freedom from worldly concerns. You forsake preoccupation with many things to focus solely on the salvation of your soul. Be mindful, therefore, of where you are going, lest you fail to find what you seek—or worse, encounter something that disturbs your peaceful conscience and opens the back door to temptations and afflictions within the very harbor of salvation, potentially leading to incalculable shipwreck. For this movement is undertaken for one reason alone: the struggle, by God’s grace, for the salvation of your soul. It is unthinkable that where you go, anything contrary or obstructive to this purpose should be present, posing a serious risk to your goal.
Be cautious, for you are not going as a casual or occasional pilgrim but as a permanent and lifelong resident. For this reason, you must go prepared as a guest, confessing your sins, serving, participating in every activity and sacred service, in obedience, zeal, and fear of God. You will live in this way in the holy monastery and test, before the formal period of probation, whether what you experience is truly what you seek, whether you love it and can endure it with all your strength, and whether you decide to spend the rest of your life there, freely and willingly, with purity and a spirit of sacrificial offering. This dedication is to the Most Holy God, not to earthly authorities, powers, or conventions.
Beware lest you stumble over matters of faith or heterodox teachings, or find there a way of life that is errant and contrary to the Gospel. Much could be said on this matter.
Surely you have a spiritual father in whom you find rest and to whom you submit in obedience. Pay special attention to this, for if you go to a place without the blessing of your spiritual father and do not find spiritual rest as you do with him, **you must not go**. For there is a grave and serious danger to your soul, as salvation is not achieved through buildings, rituals, places, or monasteries, but through those entrusted with this work—competent and suitable clergy of the Orthodox Church. Be mindful also because the spiritual father, the Geronda, is irreplaceable, especially if he was the one who first guided you in the faith of truth and in whom you have found complete rest over time. Take heed, for without a serious reason—indeed, without any reason—this foundation is neither lost nor exchanged. As a venerable Athonite hieromonk, over eighty years old, affirmed about a month before his holy repose, the primary goal is the salvation of the soul.
A spiritual child once declared, “With my Geronda, I would descend even into Hades; without my Geronda, not even to Paradise!” This statement, though paradoxical or even oxymoronic, is perfectly explained when we understand that without the Geronda, Paradise is neither experienced nor secured. Moreover, with the Geronda, even Hades becomes bearable due to the great paternal love and spiritual consolation in the fatherly relationship. Recall the words of St. Paul: “For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel” (1 Cor. 4:15).
This, therefore, is the first thing you must heed, for the spiritual and conscientious matter is the primary concern.
There is, of course, the possibility that the spiritual father, as described by St. Paul, may be in the chosen holy monastery, or that there is already a spiritual bond between your spiritual father in the world and the chosen monastery. There is also the case where your spiritual father in the world is prevented, for a very serious reason, from continuing his duties as a spiritual father, in which case his absence does not constitute a matter of choice or decision. In these cases, the situation is different. However, in every case, the aspiring monk must find complete rest in his new spiritual guide. Furthermore, the primary spiritual fatherhood is neither nullified nor abolished, even if “we have ten thousand instructors in Christ” (1 Cor. 4:15).
All that we have mentioned is worthy of great attention and study, both for the sake of practical experience and because it holds true in the Holy Tradition of our Church. Otherwise, as the saying goes, “we learn through suffering.” We emphasize again that in every case, the salvation of the soul takes precedence, which is also the primary will of the Lord, as stated in 1 Timothy 2:3–4: “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Particularly and specifically regarding the Monastic Polity, the two fundamental prerequisites for choosing it are the presence of two inclinations: the divine calling, recognized and manifested through the spiritual fire, and the natural, free, unforced, spontaneous, and voluntary desire of the one choosing to become a monk. Both must be true and confirmed by the spiritual father, who seals them with his blessing and the subsequent informal initial testing, verifying the reality of the situation. It is beneficial and advantageous to undertake this informal trial visit to the preferred holy monastery, during which, before the formal probation, the candidate will participate in obedience in all activities, services, and the daily life of the monastery. If all goes well and he is assured of this, with the blessing of his spiritual father and the hegumen of the monastery, he may proceed to the formal and official probation, which must last at least three years. During this time, it is absolutely necessary to submit unreservedly to a discerning and unerring guide—the hegumen or one appointed by him—who, after the candidate’s successful service, will recommend him for tonsure as a monk. During these three years, the candidate will be tested evangelically, with precision and discernment, in obedience, love for the services, zeal, general conduct (character and ethos), devotion to God, and love for his brethren.
The Pre-Fall State
After this period, which is the minimum necessary time (or as long as may be required, but not more than ten years), and only if the candidate fulfills all the aforementioned prerequisites and already conducts himself as a true monk, with the decision and responsibility of the hegumen’s council and the candidate himself, and only if his zeal remains steadfast, let him be tonsured as a monk. Only then should he don the monastic rason and receive the full Angelic Schema, for neither the rason nor the Angelic Schema is to be worn and removed at will or abandoned. The Angelic Schema is not divided into Small and Great, as it is one and unique according to the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church (St. Pachomios the Great, St. Basil the Great, St. Theodore the Studite—also great—and all other relevant Fathers). Nor is it right or in accordance with Holy Tradition to read a “rason prayer” after only a year of probation, after which the candidate is dressed as a monk and called a monk, though he is only in schema and not in truth, and is addressed as “Father” or “Elder”—sometimes even before receiving the rason. This inconsistency, innovation, and novelty is unacceptable. The Angelic Schema is bound by solemn promises before God and men, for a true monk, not a mere type or likeness of a monk, signifies being an icon of our Lord Jesus Christ, His Most Holy Mother, and the Holy Apostles, choosing to walk in their footsteps, bearing his cross, and becoming obedient to Christ the God through his Geronda until death.
After the monastic tonsure, there must be no retreat or renunciation of these promises, nor contempt or casting off of the schema. Whatever happens, however serious—whether a spiritual or moral issue—it must be faced within the schema, even if it involves persecution or martyrdom. In such a case, the monk, for the sake of obedience and to avoid the “danger from the right” (self-will, pride), must not act independently (“in much counsel a man is saved”), but again with the guidance of an approved spiritual father, unless this is not feasible at the time.
The monk is like a Spartan warrior who must return from battle “either with his shield or on it” (that is, victorious with the shield of faith or honorably dead upon it). The monk must honor the Monastic Polity and the schema, even unto death, depending on the severity of the circumstances and if required, just as our Holy Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ became obedient to God the Father unto death, even death on a Cross: “having become obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross” (Phil. 2:8).
If, my dear brother, you see, or in testing find, that all the aforementioned conditions are not met, remain and struggle in the world, keeping all of God’s commandments with perfect obedience to your spiritual father, and you will still be saved. In this matter, recall the angel who exchanged the bones of the reposed in both the cemeteries of the Holy Mountain and those in the world. There have been many laypeople who lived as monks (and some who pleased God with perfect choice and resolve in life, such as a blessed simple lay brother from Paros who exuded myrrh after his repose), and many monks who lived as laypeople, some unfortunately as worldly people. It is safer to be a layperson with monastic inclinations than a monk with lay tendencies. For, as we have repeatedly emphasized, the primary importance lies in the salvation of the soul, and secondarily, according to each person’s character and conditions, the manner in which salvation is achieved.
Always, frequently and fervently, recall the unfailing and unshakable words of the Lord:
“The kingdom of heaven is within you” (Luke 17:21).
And that most revelatory, prophetic, and vivid phrase of the Lord to the Equal-to-the-Apostles and Great Martyr Photini the Samaritan Woman (John 4:21–24):
“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’”
We live in an era that is particularly anti-spiritual, characterized by widespread secularization (among both clergy and laity), a flood of sin, impiety, blasphemy, and openly anti-Christian laws and practices of those in power, compounded by the looming specter of accursed ecumenism, which threatens and demands conformity everywhere as a mandate of the new era and new world order, dragging along, unfortunately, many ecclesiastical figures, even those who remain indifferent, into its abominable vortex.
Already, so-called “new technologies” have infiltrated holy monasteries, with many monks now possessing and using iPhones, smartphones, or laptops. These are gateways for the worldly spirit to enter even into the cells, driving out stillness, solitude, sobriety, and prayer, and fundamentally altering the very way of monastic life. Sometimes, alongside these, one may encounter diving suits and spearguns, basketball hoops, ping-pong tables, or even massage therapy—and the Lord knows what else, related or unrelated.
In addition, various new machines, methods, and technologies have become associated with “modern” monasticism. Yet it is clear, and even synodically declared (by the Seventh Ecumenical Council), that all innovation and novelty in the Church, especially in monasticism—which is its heart and core—are expressly forbidden.
While some places may lack electricity, there are such advanced and extensive solar energy systems that they function as if connected to a regular power supply, enabling the use of all kinds of electrical appliances, as in a modern home or business.
Added to this is the abundance, variety, and richness of meals (even pizza is available, albeit without meat). In many cases, there is an informal breakfast, lunch, and dinner, formal or informal, even on fasting days, including during Great Lent. While oil-free fasting and related practices are observed on designated days, the quantity and seasonings often, or even frequently, exceed moderation. In ascetic hesychasm, the norm is one meal per day, after the Ninth Hour, and a coffee if an all-night vigil follows.
The result of all this, combined with noise and so-called conveniences, is the direct intrusion of worldly means and ways, distorting the traditional monastic way, which was rooted in ascetic hesychasm.
These incompatible and disconnected elements are now, unfortunately, found even in the rocks or stones of “ascetic” places. Thus, even “the rock” tends to become a “refuge for hares.”
But the situation, sadly, does not end here. There is now an extensive presence of laypeople who, for largely opportunistic reasons, settle in monasteries as employees, workers, apparent pilgrims, servers, or even candidates for monasticism, when in reality none of these are true. They mingle with the monks, inevitably influencing them, intentionally or not, with their worldly spirit, mindset, and behavior. Many are salaried and provided with free lodging, heating, and food. The usual excuse for this anti-spiritual presence is “we need them,” and thus, the cycle of technologies, conveniences, and secularization gradually—or rather, rapidly—expels the ascetic and hesychastic spirit, the very essence of Orthodox monasticism, introducing preoccupation, distraction, noise, and secularization. This aligns with the prophecy of St. Nilos the Myrrh-Streaming and the vision of St. Pachomios concerning monks in the last times.
Naturally, there is no longer talk of repentance or the fear of God, which are the two absolutely essential wings of the Angelic Schema, without which a monk cannot find his path to God. For this reason, in another vision, St. Pachomios saw monks of the last times cast into a thorny, rugged, and steep ravine, with only a few, with great effort, managing to find their way upward to salvation. In another vision, he saw them as blind in the darkness, laboring in vain, circling in the same place while seeking the way out to the light.
The most reputable contemporary spiritual fathers say that ascetic hesychasm no longer exists, while the holiest simply remain silent, not denying but acknowledging the widespread spiritual disorder, inconsistency, and decline.
In any case, all the above must be taken very seriously by one aspiring to live ascetically and hesychastically as a monk, especially by someone already accustomed to such a life in the world.
Take care to settle all matters here before you depart, for I fear, my brother, that God will not accept you or consent to your purpose. Great issues and difficulties will arise, even a “tightening” of the soul, both figuratively and literally, forcing you to return and confront your mistakes, omissions, errors, and shortcomings. Especially, my brother, if you leave behind souls you have wronged or grieved, particularly those under your care, protection, or responsibility. Do not even consider departing without first seeking reconciliation, restoration, and acknowledgment. Pay close attention to this matter, for you are not justified in seeking God locally while having wronged, grieved, or rejected Him in the person of your brother. For it is said, “The second commandment is like the first: you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39). It is absolutely necessary to depart in peace, having settled all matters and obligations, both spiritual and practical. Do not think of leaving behind people who are embittered, wronged, or grieving, for, as we have said, in the person of each such individual, you have grieved and wronged God Himself. How can you truly depart to become an even greater friend of God, having previously grieved and wronged Him, not once but many times, in many different persons? Have you not yet understood, as I, the wretched one, that to love your neighbor as yourself—the second commandment, like the first—means literally to see God in the face of every person and to treat them as you would the God-Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, without insulting, blaspheming, tempting, betraying, tormenting, grieving, ignoring, or crucifying Him? Or do you, like me, the miserable one, neglect and forget that man was made in the image and likeness of God and remains so, and that the Prototype of this image is the God-Man Himself? Now examine yourself, as if standing before Him on the fearful day of the universal Judgment, whether your purpose is true and whether all the necessary conditions are met, even in the settling of practical matters, leaving no outstanding issues, so that the blessing of your spiritual father may seal and confirm the Divine Will.
Only when all these conditions are met should you depart. [And do not cite “whoever has left…” and so forth, for it nowhere says, “whoever has left them unsettled, unreconciled, abandoned, grieving, afflicted, or unconsoled…”]
It is possible, after all this, that someone might think, “And who can become a monk?” The answer is here: “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27), and “Without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Amen, truly!
Again, regarding “whoever has left…,” the Lord adds, “…for My sake and the gospel’s” (Mark 10:29). Did He ask this of you? Did your spiritual father ask this of you? Did the Lord Himself call you from the tax booth to follow Him? Did He come and take you, like St. Peter, from your family?
Even St. Peter, as the Epitome of Clement clarifies, kept his family near him throughout his apostolic mission and ministry, even in Rome. Did He ask you, like Sts. Andrew and John, to follow Him, or like the other Holy Disciples and Apostles? Or did you ask Him, and He accepted you? Or, instead of all this, by departing rashly, impulsively, and enthusiastically, do you forget that you are forsaking Him, leaving without His call, violating and rejecting the Holy Gospel, leaving behind brothers, Orthodox Christians, loved ones, for whom you have responsibilities and obligations to settle, and whose consent you must obtain, so that you may depart in peace with the prayer and blessing of your spiritual father? Only then, perhaps, will you truly leave for the sake of the Lord and the Gospel. For, as we have carefully seen, it matters where you go, to whom you submit (the most important), in what environment, and in what manner you will live. There are many monks in schema, but true monks are few. There are also other particular issues related to the characteristics of our modern era and the general ecclesiastical and worldly situation. Many laypeople already live more spiritually, ascetically, and confessionally than many monks. There are also spiritual fathers in the world with far greater discernment and grace than many contemporary hegumens and hieromonks. Take care, lest the All-Good God has granted you such a spiritual father, for whom—believe me, the sinner—you will weep bitterly if you exchange him for something “cheaper” or “lesser.”
As a reputable elder said, “What matters is the person, not the walls.”
To give you a small taste of the current state—or rather, the current decline—we remind you that in our brief investigation, we encountered ping-pong tables, basketball hoops, spearguns, diving suits, massage therapy, rich and varied meals served two or three times daily, idle lay workers wandering among the monks, internet, Wi-Fi, computers, laptops, IT support offices, iPhones, smartphones, advanced solar-electric systems, all kinds of machines and vehicles, professional-grade electronic stoves (though elsewhere, to their credit, they had wood-fired ovens, but perhaps with other issues carrying their own spiritual weight). And this is not all. We heard heterodox teachings in some places, encountered hypochondriac situations, and found many monks with unfeigned worldly quirks and eccentricities. Of course, we also met very good people, very good Christians, very good monks, and… saints.
Take care, therefore, lest you encounter something related to the negative aspects we described, with which you could not coexist due to weakness or spiritual sensitivity, as they are entirely foreign to the Holy Monastic Tradition, which is synonymous with ascetic hesychasm, even in the context of a large cenobium.
Listen again to this: many reputable Athonite hieromonks say that ascetic hesychasm no longer exists, not even on the Holy Mountain! (The Lord sees and knows, and since some—or a few—remain silent on this question, it likely still exists, but for the worthy.) But you, my brother, who may be weak like me, how will you cultivate your repentance and prepare for the fearful day of the Lord in such an environment? Unless you are seeking something else, I urge you to take care that it does not contradict the terms of the Monastic Polity, for then, dear brother, the gehenna will be double! You must take care again, for the new era, the new world order, and the modern heretical current of ecumenism—the backdoor to pan-religion—have not left monasteries unaffected. This vile and foul plague has, unfortunately, entered the courtyards and inner sanctums of holy monasteries, along with all other human passions, such as ambition and vainglory, and it tends to overtake everything. Therefore, you must take great care, lest, through a humanly motivated, anti-Orthodox, and anti-Patristic obedience—which in this case is disobedience to the Church—you be compelled to bear the mantle of an ecumenist, a heretic, or one indulging in heterodox teachings, or even condoning and justifying sodomy or other unrepented sins, and be required to offer repentance to such a one.
There are, my brother, places more spiritual, others less spiritual, and others with strong worldly characteristics.
In every case, when choosing where to go, the primary value lies in the person (who must be an icon of our Holy Lord Jesus Christ), not the “walls,” as a highly respected Athonite spiritual father recently stated. We must also remember that we humans are transient and passing.
Furthermore, I urge you, dear brother, to take seriously the widespread condition of preoccupation and over-concern, as described in the prophecy of St. Nilos the Myrrh-Streaming and noted since the time of St. Pachomios, lest this condition has overtaken the place you intend to go.
Now, due to so-called “religious tourism” (a term that is blasphemous, heretical, and unacceptable in itself), monasteries often become service providers for many, varied, and indifferent visitors—rather, tourists—rather than true pilgrims. All this you must know well, for the decision to become a monk or to make a vow is a lifelong commitment and dedication to God Himself, which is why true monasticism is called the Angelic Polity.
If you wish, dear brother, to see what true cenobitic monasticism and the true, unerring Monastic Polity are, diligently study the life of St. Pachomios, as described in volumes 40 and 41 of the *Library of Greek Fathers and Ecclesiastical Writers* (published by the Apostolic Diakonia of the Church of Greece), in four complementary and perfectly harmonious accounts, similar to the Holy Gospels.
If you wish to be a true monk, do not settle for anything less than this.
I venture to add a few humble thoughts on some lighter matters, which nonetheless have their significance, as similar things are sometimes observed in various monastic places, uncommon even in the world. For example, headlamps and lotus fruits at the table (we may recall the trials of Odysseus until he retrieved his companions from the land of the lotus-eaters). As for the former, in our days when halos are exceedingly rare, they may serve as an inspiring reminder or nostalgia.
But prefer, my brother, the weightier matters over the lighter ones to make your decisions more correctly.
It has been written, heard, and perhaps confirmed that perhaps one-third or more of Athonite monks, prompted by the coronavirus (or rather, the “satan-virus”), were vaccinated, often at the urging of their hegumens or as a requirement of obedience! These “vaccines,” as is now widely and indisputably confirmed by reputable and serious scientists, are not in the category of traditional vaccines with weakened viruses. They contain everything from nano-scrap to mRNA genetic cell modifiers. We highlight this because it is an eminently spiritual and moral issue, gravely serious, as it constitutes a direct intervention in the human genetic code—the creative seal of God upon His image and likeness in man. Moreover, the graphene and other nano-scrap in these “vaccines” are potential causes of cardiac, arterial, and cerebral incidents and deaths—colloquially known as “suddenitis.” They certainly do not serve as a spiritual or physical antidote to the coronavirus and its variants, as many “vaccinated” individuals fall ill and die, often more certainly or frequently than the unvaccinated!
Other behaviors displayed and practices imposed by many are utterly anti-evangelical, dishonoring both the priesthood and the schema they bear. There is almost always the constant excuse of pressure exerted by worldly authorities against the Church, a misunderstood and anti-evangelical obedience that is, in essence, disobedience to the Church. For there is also the confession and even martyrdom of the confessors of the faith. What matters is which of these two the Christian chooses, and by God’s grace, the latter, for “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
Here we note the statement of a truth-loving and simple Athonite spiritual father that “state and Church are one!”—not in essence, but in practice, collaboration, or in many or few matters, a situation of intense anti-ecclesiastical secularizing phenomena and conditions within the Church (concerning certain or many persons, as occurred in the Lord’s time with ecclesiastical authorities, but in no way the divinely instituted institution itself).
Yet we do not despair; we take courage in the Lord’s word:
“The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). And precisely for this reason, by the grace of the Lord, we struggle.
This is the first global pandemic—or rather, the first globally manufactured anti-Christian attempt to reduce the earth’s population (the virus is an artificial laboratory creation from the Big Brother city of Wuhan, China, where, for about forty years, deadly experiments with genetically modified viruses have been conducted to reduce the country’s billion-plus population—see our related article “COVID-19”).
It is the first time the clergy openly wear masks, at least they should not wear them in church, especially in the sanctuary, or when venerating holy icons and relics, as this constitutes impiety or denial of the faith. Moreover, black masks distort the image of the schema; a monk or nun (or clergy in general) should not appear as if wearing a burqa! In cases of absolute necessity, only surgical-type masks should be worn. The holy clergy and faithful laity must not wear masks in places of worship. St. Basil the Great, St. Eumenios, and countless saints of our Church served as leper attendants without masks, often without even basic precautions. Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, His Holy Apostles, and all the healing saints touched all in every disease directly with their hands in faith, without measures or precautions.
As it appears, the masks of Herodian and Pharisaic leaven have brought forth the coronavirus masks.
Study, therefore, my brother, all these matters and decide.
Incidentally, let us mention other related signs of the times, which have their significance, value, and symbolism:
In one place, liturgical vestments were thrown into a sink to be washed.
Elsewhere, a series of throat-clearings by the officiating priest in the sanctuary lasted for a long time with notable intensity.
A Latin papist communed, having declared his identity.
In an ascetic place, one bite was followed by the next before the first was swallowed.
Decorative prayer icons for pilgrims were priced.
For these and other reasons, an urban elder advised not to test many places, as it is dangerous.
Another said, “It is enough to be saved.”
On the Holy Mountain, among other things, there is now widespread illegal hunting of wild boars, in which the “guards” sometimes participate!
Of the ten points listed on the back of the diamonitirion regarding the obligations and matters pilgrims must observe, at least half are violated, often with the tolerance, knowledge, or awareness of those responsible.
The situation at the Athonite Academy, regarding order, interest, and student behavior, was, at least until recently, poor, with an increased proportion of foreign students compared to Greeks and many instances of delinquent behavior.
While it is easy for large groups of Romanian and Russian pilgrims to enter, it is equally difficult for small groups of Greek pilgrims to do so. We hope there is no hidden issue of internationalizing the Holy Mountain or any connection or perception of connection with “Russism” (we write much on this very serious matter).
We saw pilgrims, albeit unintentionally, stepping on a clearly printed cross on a rug placed before a most holy icon prior to venerating it (we imply no intentionality, either by those who placed the rug or those who stepped on the clearly visible—and large—cross, but it constitutes a serious matter of spiritual sensitivity, as does the following).
Elsewhere, they burned seed oil in the vigil lamps (again, not intentionally but for practical reasons of “better burning”), instead of pure olive oil, which was abundant in that place.
We saw “handicrafts” brought from the world and displayed alongside monastic products, similar to these phenomena.
Elsewhere, praise was given to an innovator and heterodox teacher.
Elsewhere, a reading from a novelistic synaxarion called Origen great, while the truly great St. Pachomios said, “Throw all of Origen into the Nile” (his writings, that is, not into the fire, due to their reference to divine names).
Instead of traditional monastic readings at the trapeza, we found in one place a laptop broadcasting edifying content, and in two different places, the readings were not according to the Holy Monastic Tradition but of a newer type, again via digital technology.
Elsewhere, we encountered mirrors, hairdryers, and many other elements outside the Holy Monastic Tradition, and we realized that many cells, on the one hand, have all the “comforts,” and on the other, function as model cottage industries or small businesses producing and selling monastic goods, even online.
Sometimes, for this or that omission or violation, the excuse is heard: “It is not unto death.” But after one, two, three, four, five, and more such omissions or violations, might they, in sum, lead to death? We wonder, or rather, we confirm, that the accumulation of evils may indeed bring death: “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
These final points were mentioned as signs contributing to the demonstration of the broader spiritual decline in the ecclesiastical sphere, monasticism in general, and even the Holy Mountain, which, if nothing else, are far—perhaps very far—from the spiritual sensitivity that characterized the holy Elder Paisios, who re-evangelized clergy and laity as a new Patrocosmas for the Christian and Monastic Polity.
For this reason, another elder, revered by Elder Paisios, said, “Today, the entire Mountain is upside down,” and that there is danger if one is not careful and is led astray.
Finally, take heed, my brother, and provided all other conditions are met, under no circumstances depart to become a monk out of compulsion, necessity, fear, disturbance, or disorder—in short, without peace, maturity, and above all, without the will of God, confirmed through your spiritual father.
The weightier and most important matters we will address in the chapter on obedience, the fourth and final chapter of this treatise.
B) On Poverty (Aktimesia)
**Important Note**: This chapter should not be read unless the first chapter has been read and thoroughly understood.
Take care, brother, before you depart, to leave nothing behind in bank accounts, inheritances, or property in your name, for these will pull you back. Even if they do not bring you back physically, they will always pull you back mentally, preventing you from giving yourself wholly to your purpose.
Moreover, bring no material possessions or objects with you. If you have something for reasons of piety or prayer (an icon, prayer book, etc.), make it known to the porter or the person responsible for receiving new candidates for monasticism, and keep only what he permits, handing over the rest. However, in any case, bring a modest travel bag with the absolutely essential items: underwear, socks, hygiene products, a second pair of pants and shirt, a jacket, and perhaps a black cap and a watch-alarm clock.
Always bring the Holy Bible, as there may not be a copy in your cell, and its provision by the monastery’s responsible person may be delayed.
If you arrive only with the clothes you are wearing, there is a chance the monks may be scandalized or even reprove you for it.
Just as you should no longer possess material things, take even greater care not to bring worldly perceptions, habits, or practices—anything contrary to the terms of the Monastic Polity.
Ensure that when you go, you have already acquired the foundation of theoretical and practical training in the matters of the Orthodox Faith and the Monastic Polity, which is absolutely necessary. You will have cultivated this preparation as a layperson. This training is gained through your spiritual father and is the only possession you are permitted to bring with you, one that does not violate poverty but is an essential provision for your progress as a monk.
Remember again that the concept of poverty pertains more to spiritual matters than to material ones, though the latter are by no means excused, as we are to be simple stewards of them in obedience, never approaching, possessing, or handling them with passion.
Above all, you must be poor in your will—and all matters pertaining to your life—toward your Geronda, to whom you owe complete and unreserved obedience. This is provided that the commands and directives of your Geronda do not contradict the terms of the Orthodox Faith and the Holy Tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church; otherwise, a serious problem arises with danger to your soul. If, God forbid, such a thing occurs despite the special care given to this matter, do not grow weary or discouraged, but to avoid the “danger from the right” and self-will, as we mentioned earlier, seek out another reputable Orthodox spiritual father and present the issue directly. If his response brings peace to your heart, act as he advises. Otherwise, in the absence of such guidance, see what the Fathers say on the matter and act accordingly. If it is a matter clearly and explicitly addressed by an Ecumenical Council (one of the Holy Seven or those fully in agreement with them), act accordingly. In every case, examine your conscience precisely, impartially, and without bias, for it alone will stand naked and exposed before the Lord on the fearful day of the universal Judgment.
Your Geronda must guide you Orthodoxly in the monastic arena as an excellent spiritual trainer and unerring guide. You, in turn, must be and remain poor in all things, at all times, and for all things, except for two non-negotiable and irreplaceable God-given axioms: your conscience and your free will. These you reveal and entrust only to your Geronda, who—pay close attention to this point—must also be your spiritual father. If this is not the case in the place you intend to go, **do not go**. For whatever you “acquire” during the day, you must deposit at your Geronda’s stole before sunset, so that you retire to your cell for prayer and rest completely clean, settled, and poor of anything superfluous, sinful, or useless that hinders the salvation of your soul. This special “sacred service” you and your Geronda must perform together daily before sunset.
Only then will you be a truly poor monk.
Sadly, today it is difficult even to confess your sins, let alone your thoughts. Without the revelation of thoughts, passions sprout and grow wild, and their later uprooting is burdensome or impossible. A true monk cannot exist without daily confession of thoughts, yet many spiritual fathers do not endure this labor, either because they are convicted by their own thoughts or because they cannot find someone suitable for this task. Today, it is perhaps impossible or extremely difficult to find this order in holy monasteries, even more so in parishes.
Imperfect or deficient confessions (especially regarding thoughts, as a recently reposed, highly respected confessor-spiritual father of Athens stated) are the primary cause and occasion for all kinds of psychological and spiritual problems among brethren.
If you wish, therefore, to progress and cultivate true and spiritual growth as a monk, you must practice complete poverty in all things. You must neither acquire, retain, nor “control” thoughts, words, deeds, objects, money, property, or the slightest thing of this world. Above all, take great care not to harbor malice, envy, or unforgiveness, depositing all these daily at your Geronda’s stole.
And then, you will be a truly poor monk.
C) On Virginity (Parthenia)
Great is the dignity of virginity.
The first Virgin is our Holy Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, perfect God and perfect man, the foundation of the Church and of virginity. His Most Holy Mother, the Theotokos Mary, Ever-Virgin, is called so because she was preserved wholly undefiled by the Most Holy God, of whom she was Daughter, Bride, and above all, Mother. She is perfect in virginity—soul, body, thoughts, words, and deeds—before, during, and after giving birth, thus called Ever-Virgin. She alone holds the threefold dignity of virginity and became synonymous with it, conceiving, bearing, and giving birth to God Himself purely and immutably.
Among the Holy Apostles, only one was called a virgin, though many were virgins in the flesh, because the primary dignity of virginity is spiritual. By God’s grace, one must always remain a virgin in soul, not just in body. St. John the Theologian possessed this dual virginity to the fullest, which is why he was called the Virgin.
All other virgins, male and female, follow in their image and likeness (as in the matters of poverty and renunciation from the world). The Divine Persons lived in the world and associated with people, yet were wholly dedicated and devoted to the Divine Will, Plan, and Economy. Thus, renunciation, exile, and withdrawal from the world are not so much “local” as “modal,” and if they are not primarily modal, the local is of no benefit. However, if they are primarily modal, the absence of the local does not harm or negate it. The ideal, of course, is the harmony of both modal and local.
Those who come from marriage—one man’s wife or one woman’s husband—who keep their marriage bed undefiled and live in continence according to the Holy Tradition of our Church, striving spiritually, will also be counted as virgins in the coming Judgment and Kingdom. Indeed, this order of married persons surpasses those who are virgins in the flesh but careless and unrepentant in shameful thoughts and words.
Virgins will also include those who, according to the Lord’s saying, “made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:12), renouncing their own will for the Divine Will or the carnal and worldly mindset for a spiritual life in the Lord, particularly in the Monastic Polity.
Moreover, there is another virginity, perhaps the most fundamental and significant, without which the others are difficult or impossible to achieve: preserving, by the grace of the Holy God, the faith of piety—the Most Holy Orthodoxy—undefiled and uncorrupted. It is impossible to live rightly without first having right belief.
This is a sacred duty and obligation, especially for us Orthodox Greeks.
For the monk, virginity must be threefold: spiritual, psychic, and bodily. Spiritual virginity is the Orthodox Faith and Truth, in which the monk—and the layperson—must remain steadfast, even if patriarchs deviate. For this reason, if you do not find a Pachomios, a Basil, a Studite, or a true and unerring icon of them, do not go.
Psychic virginity means that all the soul’s faculties must be in the service of God and His will (with all your soul, heart, mind, strength, and understanding), in obedience to your spiritual father, without any care or distraction for worldly matters.
As for bodily virginity, if you are already a virgin, guard it more than the apple of your eye. If you are not, or come from marriage, you must henceforth remain inviolably virgin, making this a lifelong law and rule. And you must remain virgin not only in body but also in senses, thoughts, words, and deeds—especially in deeds, for “whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28).
In general, the monk must remain virgin in all the principles and values of monasticism and not abandon them, even unto death if required. The sacrifice and offering for the Faith are accomplished only by God’s grace.
D) On Obedience (Ypakoi)
In the Old Testament
Obedience to the Divine Will
Blessed Obedience
True Obedience and the True Meaning of Obedience
Obedience to the Faith of Truth, which is Obedience to the Church
No other obedience exists, is known, or is recognized.
The Sacrifice of Isaac
Abraham, the Patriarch of Faith, took his son Isaac, along with all that was necessary for the sacrifice, as an offering to God. His devotion was rewarded when the Holy One substituted a ram for Isaac (a prefiguration of the Divine Passion).
There is much to marvel at and ponder with holy reflection in this most true biblical story from Genesis, the Pentateuch of our Holy Tradition.
Let us approach, by God’s grace, two of the most significant questions raised by this story:
a. How was Abraham so certain and secure that God requested this seemingly unthinkable sacrifice?
b. How, being certain of the Divine Will and obedient to it, did he offer the fruit of his old age (from his previously barren wife Sarah, and Isaac being a type of the God-Man), whom he was to sacrifice with his own hand, despite being a man full of love, philanthropy, and righteousness?
a. Abraham had uninterrupted communion with the Most Holy God, despite coming from an idolatrous race and living among idolaters. No one in his time was in such a spiritual state, sensibility, and knowledge of God, which he particularly cultivated through philanthropy, hosting and comforting weary travelers. He was not only righteous and humble, placing himself below no one, but saw God in every person’s face. For these reasons and his other gifts, which were surely the cause, he was made a chosen vessel of the All-Good God and was ultimately deemed worthy to behold the Holy Trinity itself, in the form of three angels—three men. (Some say these three angels were the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, each expressing and serving distinct divine attributes: Michael, the warrior defending against all enemies and adversaries of the Faith, who prevented the complete fall of the holy angels, thus called Archistrategos; Gabriel, the great mystic and angel of God’s decisions in the Divine Economy, also an Archangel; and Raphael, the Archangel who aids in daily matters, circumstances, difficulties, temptations, and choices in the struggle for sanctification and salvation—see his presence and action in the Book of Tobit in the Old Testament.)
Abraham was not only deemed worthy to see the Holy Trinity but to host, feed, and converse with it face to face, even negotiating that the Sodomites might not perish entirely (though, unfortunately for them, except for Lot, Abraham’s brother, and his family, they were all corrupt and evil, unrepentantly thinking and acting wickedly, desiring to lay hands on the angels themselves to satisfy their vile and damnable desires. Thus, the most patient and All-Good God, having delivered the righteous Lot—who, though living among them, never joined in their lawless desires, remaining faithful to the indwelling Word and God’s presence in his heart—rained fire and brimstone from heaven, utterly destroying the unrepentant Sodomites.)
Not only did Abraham possess all these virtues, graces, and gifts, but he received the wondrous and incomprehensible reward of the promise of a son in his hundredth year, with his ninety-year-old, barren-from-youth wife Sarah.
Thus, we understand who Abraham was: the chosen vessel of God, the progenitor and Patriarch of the Faith. He did not betray his conscience or the indwelling Word in the slightest. His entire will, desire, soul, heart, mind, and strength were directed toward God, with whom he had unbroken communion and communication (such communion with God is exceedingly rare and difficult in our days, though we live in the era of grace, not the Law or pre-Law era in which Abraham lived). For this reason, when God requested this utterly paradoxical and extraordinary sacrifice, Abraham knew with certainty through faith that it was undeniably the Divine Will. This is the answer to the first question.
b. Abraham knew well and saw the idolaters who sacrificed even their children to idols, prompted by the adversary and their own will. He understood that what God asked of him had no connection to the sacrifices of idolaters but could not fully comprehend why God requested the impossible. Yet his faith and trust in God were so firm that they surpassed even his love and pain for his own flesh, the doubt that he might not have another child with Sarah. He considered that Isaac, this miracle of God, this divine gift beyond all expectation, transcending the laws of nature, born to a hundred-year-old man and a ninety-year-old barren woman, belonged first and foremost to his Maker and Creator, who had granted him, even if for a short time. Now, God rightfully requested his return, and Abraham was obliged to offer him without complaint or murmuring. And so he did, approaching the greatest holocaust and sacrifice of all ages, as a prefiguration of the Passion of the Cross, the paramount event of universal history and the Divine Economy. At that moment, God rewarded Abraham’s faith, providing a ram entangled by its horns in the thicket (a type of the Crucified Lord) as a sacrifice in place of his son Isaac. God blessed Abraham, granting him abundant and inexhaustible grace for obeying His voice and preferring the Divine Will over his own, fully submitting his will to the Lord’s. Thus, Abraham became the progenitor and Patriarch of the Faith, the truest and most unerring vessel of God, receiving the promise that from his seed would come the Messiah and Redeemer of the world (Gen. 22:1–19). This, by grace, is the answer to the second question.
In the New Testament
Our Holy Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ says in the Holy Gospel according to John:
- “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me” (John 4:34).
- “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30).
- “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38–40).
- “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority” (John 7:16–17).
- “I know Him [the Father], and I keep His word” (John 8:55).
- “The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me” (John 10:25).
- “That you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him” (John 10:38).
- “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me” (John 12:44–45).
- “I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak… Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak” (John 12:49–50).
In the preceding three passages, the concept of obedience is particularly clarified, and it is fully explained in John 14:8–9, when the Holy Apostle Philip asked the Lord to show him the Father: “Philip said to Him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father…’” Here, the Father speaks through the Son in the Holy Spirit. In the Person of our Holy Lord Jesus Christ, we must always understand not only the incarnate Word but the entire Holy Trinity, consubstantial, inseparable, and indivisible, with equal glory, honor, dignity, power, and might in all three Hypostases, distinguished only in that the Father is unbegotten and begets the Son, the Son is begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Son. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God—each Hypostasis is God, and the three Hypostases together, as consubstantial, inseparable, and indivisible, are one God. In each Hypostasis, we must recognize and understand the other two, consubstantial, inseparable, and indivisible with it. Glory to You, O Holy Trinity, our God! Amen, truly! We must not speak of the “difference” of the Persons but of the distinction of the Hypostases, not merely of a communion of love between them, lest we inadvertently or through “modernization” or corruption—God forbid—alter the Most Holy Dogma of the Faith. For “difference” in our days refers to other things, and the consubstantial, inseparable, and indivisible nature of the Hypostases, being of one will, one decision, and one purpose, is more than a mere communion of love. Sadly, we recently heard paradoxical and erroneous statements from a lay preacher in a parish church of a diocese already burdened with issues of “difference,” who also read the Epistle in the vernacular, thus violating the Seventh Ecumenical Council.
The Lord further says:
- “As I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:10).
The following verses up to 17 further explain the Divine Will and obedience to it.
- “The words which You have given Me I have given to them” (John 17:8).
The Lord’s command to His Holy Apostles and Disciples (and by extension, their successors) is to shepherd the rational flock as good shepherds, laying down their lives for the sheep if necessary (John 10:11, 21:15–17). Regarding the fullness of the Church, concerning the explanation and nature of true obedience, we have the Lord’s clearest reference in Matthew 23:6, 9. Here lies the particular responsibility of shepherds, that their commands and teachings do not nullify or distort the Lord’s commandments and teaching, and certainly do not differ from them.
For monasticism primarily means obedience—obedience to the hegumen and spiritual father, as the Holy Apostles and Disciples were obedient to our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, who was obedient to God the Father unto death, even death on a Cross.
Thus, the hegumen must be an icon of the Lord in word and deed, and the concept of obedience in the Church, especially in monasticism, is utterly incompatible with human commandments and heterodox teachings that contradict, violate, or distort the Holy Tradition of the Church.
Therefore, it is of primary importance to whom we entrust our soul, that he be a true and unerring guide, Orthodox and discerning in the Divine Will and our spiritual guidance, so that we may have complete obedience to him in the likeness of the Lord’s obedience to God the Father, safely and without experimentation or danger, leading us to the harbor of salvation. Ultimately, without complete trust, confession, and obedience to the Geronda, the monastic vocation carries a serious risk.
If the hegumen or spiritual father, as we noted in the first chapter, asks you to do something that violates the Orthodox Faith and Truth, and you are unaware and act accordingly, the responsibility lies entirely with him. However, if you know with certainty that a violation is occurring, you have a sacred obligation to discuss the matter with him or request an exemption. If he persists, and you are absolutely certain, do not act. To avoid the “danger from the right” and self-will, as we mentioned, it is preferable, if possible, to seek the opinion of another reputable, virtuous, unerring, discerning, and precise spiritual father regarding matters of the Orthodox Faith and Holy Tradition. The spiritual father is a “god” with a small “g,” but after God with a capital “G,” and in no way above God, the Holy Tradition of the Orthodox Church, God’s commandments, the decisions, terms, and articles of the Seven Holy Ecumenical Councils, and the teaching of the holy and God-bearing Fathers of the Faith, but rather obedient and submissive to all these.
The monk, in turn, must be trained, precise, and unwavering in the dogmas and truth of the Orthodox Faith. The Holy Tradition of our Church designates the faithful laity as guardians of the Orthodox Faith, and even more so, this must apply to monasticism and monks.
It is unthinkable for a monk to be uneducated, uncatechized, or untrained, especially when a layperson spends fifteen or twenty years in school to achieve a worldly profession. The hegumen and spiritual father’s primary responsibility is the training, theological, and practical education of the monk, above all through his own personal example, in the likeness of the Lord.
Great and particular care is needed, especially in our era, when the specter of ecumenism, secularization, ignorance, semi-knowledge, and above all, the lack of good and experienced Orthodox hegumens, shepherds, and spiritual guides tends to overtake everything, as is widely acknowledged.
Those who rightly refuse to obey the violation of the Faith are placed under disfavor and sometimes persecution. This cross may be the greatest a monk might have to bear, for to come into disagreement (God forbid) with his Geronda usually leads to persecution, often after slander and defamation. Therefore, with great fear of God, caution, and wisdom, such situations must be approached, as we have described. Then, the cross a monk may be called to bear will be good and pleasing to God, as it will be a confessional cross for the Orthodox Faith.
Many times, the excuse for this misunderstood obedience—or rather, disobedience to the Church—when the Faith is violated, is that it is better to be with the Church, even in violation of Holy Tradition, than outside it, even for a just and righteous cause. This is clearly a delusion. Let those who invented this notion tell us, first, which saint or synod declared such a thing; second, whether the Church can exist without Truth; third, whether a heretical Church is conceivable. The Church is Christ Himself, and as we have said, the concept of the Church outside of Truth is unthinkable. Confession is exclusively and only within the Body of the Church, never outside it. We have a sacred obligation to confess the Orthodox Faith, in word and deed, in every circumstance, within the walls and Body of the Church, with fear and trembling before our Holy Lord Jesus Christ, always Orthodoxly and in every situation. In no case does obedience in the Church entail violation of the Faith, which is clearly interpreted as betrayal of the Faith and contrary to it—essentially, disobedience to the Church, the very opposite of obedience.
Obedience to ecumenical, pan-religious, or New Age mandates constitutes direct disobedience and infidelity to the Most Holy Orthodox Faith and Church. We speak of evil in the dimension of words and deeds, where what is apparent differs from what is hidden in this gravely serious matter. Disobedience in the rason is weightier than without it, for the rason is a symbol and type of the Orthodox Church. Let us reflect on the Holy Theodores the Inscribed, St. Theodore the Studite, St. Maximos the Confessor, St. Mark of Ephesus, and all the holy confessors and martyrs for the Most Holy Orthodoxy. Not that we should become self-appointed public confessors of the Orthodox Faith, but when the matter reaches each of us personally, we have a sacred duty to confess for the Orthodox Faith. You are with and in the Church only when you are fully in agreement with its Holy Tradition, which consists of all that is true: Holy Scripture (Old and New Testaments), the Apostolic Canons and Decrees, the Seven Holy Ecumenical Councils, and every synod fully in agreement with them and the Orthodox teaching of the holy and God-bearing Fathers of the Faith (Blessed Hieromonk Spyridon Bilalis, “Orthodoxy and Papism”). The Lord urges us to confess the Orthodox Faith: “Whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). Consider what it means when someone calls heresies “churches” and “confessions” and writes them as such in a synodal document (the anti-Orthodox and apostate Council of Crete, 2016). We remain in the Church, not in heresy; we do not follow heretics, innovators, or those who distort and alter the Orthodox Faith. When we see the helmsman steering the ship toward the rocks, we simply cry, “Rocks ahead!” Apart from tears, cries, and prayer, we can do nothing else. The Lord clarified: “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). But this small, humble act we must do, even if we are the lowliest “sailors” on this ship, with pain and true yearning for the correction and salvation of these souls, as we pray for the whole world and ourselves.
We must always remember that the greatest and most extensive struggles for the Orthodox Faith were fought by monks, who in many cases were persecuted, imprisoned, exiled, tortured, and put to death by both worldly and ecclesiastical authorities of their time.
May the Holy God deem the monk worthy never to face such a trial. Yet not as we will, but as He wills.
In our days, living evangelically is a great spiritual feat, even more so living as a true and unerring monk.
According to the prophecies of the saints of the Faith, our era is spiritually twice as heavy as the time of the Flood and greatly prefigures the era of the Antichrist, which will be five times heavier than today.
The fear of God is almost entirely absent, sadly, even among many clergy and monks. As for the remembrance of death, judgment, and the impending gehenna, there is no mention. This preaching is forbidden, excluded, with the excuse that it frightens and disturbs people, though the same does not apply when they turn to perversion, passions, and general transgression. Often, complaints are made by “the faithful” to bishops about such preaching, which is, of course, an essential part of the Orthodox proclamation, as St. John Chrysostom frequently addressed these matters, as did the Lord Himself and His Holy Apostles and Disciples.
In our days, the term “repentance” is considered, at best, anachronistic, obscurantist, and unacceptable by many, as it convicts licentiousness, lawlessness, and the violation of God’s commandments.
Wickedness and perversion have overturned the thrones of the powerful and the “seats”—chairs, armchairs, sofas—of the oppressed.
The Council of Crete is the first synod that, by coercion, willingly or unwillingly, attempted to abolish all previous ones, writing heresies as churches and confessions, violating for the first time the Symbol of Faith, which confesses the One and Only Church of Christ.
We have the criminal silence of ecclesiastical figures regarding the sins of perverse immorality, now introduced even into elementary schools as introductory lessons in corruption and depravity for future generations (see our related article, “The Satanization and Corruption of the World”).
We have the satanic assault on the Holy Mysteries by the supposed guardians of the Orthodox Faith, who preferred Glyfada and Crete over the pure and unadulterated Jordanian streams of the Faith of Truth (the Lord Himself and St. Paul vehemently condemned sodomy).
We note here a great wave of sodomites toward the Garden of our Panagia, many of whom become failed monks, except for a few who, in true, sincere, and unfeigned repentance, find their way. This evil leaven has, sadly, caused great harm to the Holy Mountain. The great tragedy is the excessive tolerance toward these individuals, to the point that many feel, and sometimes live, “as if at home.” They are often preferred over those from lawful marriages attempting the Monastic Polity. (We even saw plucked eyebrows.)
We have our Russian brothers (who are formidable in many ways and plant their “embassies” wherever given space) with their novel and expansionist perceptions and practices, even their intellectual, scholastic “theology,” which often deviates from Holy Tradition and sometimes veers into heresy, entirely outside the pure and unadulterated Orthodox spirit. They are drawn to and covet the Patriarchate, the Holy Mountain, and Jerusalem, and some periodically turn, insult, and revile the Orthodox Greek Fathers.
By the grace of the Holy God, we were deemed worthy to see with our own eyes and touch with our hands their secret, secure, and disguised tunnels, through which they transported crates of gold to their residence at the time, aiming to purchase and Russify the entire Holy Mountain (see our related article, “The Most Greek Holy Monastery of St. Panteleimon on the Holy Mountain,” and the bibliography of Konstantinos Panagiotidis, Manouil Gedeon Library). This was entirely prevented by our Panagia Mother, though they brought the gold from Odessa by ship, which was owned by their residence.
We have the issues of the New Age and New World Order, which daily strive to conquer everything Orthodox and Greek, as this is their sole target, particularly Orthodox Greek monasticism.
In such a generally anti-spiritual, anti-Patristic, and anti-Orthodox environment, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to find a safe place for a new monk to cultivate and bear fruit Orthodoxly, especially if he is not particularly cautious, as there is a serious risk to his soul.
Isolated cases exist, saints still exist and will never cease to exist forever, and there are well-intentioned and struggling monks, but few—very few—truly and steadfastly find their path to God.
St. Pachomios saw all this in a vision, and the prophecy of St. Nilos the Myrrh-Streaming speaks of it, even referring to the annihilation of the Holy Mountain, where only the peak of Athos will remain to recall it.
If this is to happen to the Holy Mountain, consider what may happen to other monastic places.
The pressure regarding ecumenism is already very strong, and the election of new hegumens is largely tied to this issue, closely monitored, albeit informally, by people from the Phanar, and sometimes in collaboration with like-minded locals who choose to obey men rather than God.
At best, a hegumen, to be acceptable or tolerated by ecclesiastical authority, must, at the very least, display complete indifference to these matters. As for confession, there is neither mention nor discussion. Yet St. Gregory the Theologian declares, “Better a praiseworthy war than a peace that separates us from God.” The great Bryennios cries, “We will not deny you, beloved Orthodoxy, nor will we lie to you, our ancestral reverence. In you we were born, in you we live, in you we shall repose. And if the time calls, we shall die for you a thousand times.” The Holy Inscribed show their inscriptions, St. Theodore the Studite his wounds, St. Mark of Ephesus his patience, suffering, and universal confession for the Orthodox Faith.
But where is the time or the souls today for such feats?
In comfort, we betray and renounce the Faith of our Fathers with the hypocritical and foolish excuse of “obedience,” not to the will of God and the Holy Tradition of the Church, but to that of the world, destined to hear the Lord’s fearful woes.
Epilogue
The Holy Fathers encourage two paths in life: monasticism or married life and that at the path you enter you shall remain. They prefer the Monastic Polity, the Angelic Polity, as the higher spiritual path, and rightly so, provided it is according to God and fully in harmony with the Holy Monastic Tradition of our Church, leading to salvation.
Marriage, in turn (recalling here the first miracle of the Lord, honoring the dignity of this most holy mystery), in our days is perhaps even “heavier” than monasticism—a sign of the times, perhaps.
For both husband and wife must be of one mind, living spiritually and in complete obedience under the same spiritual father, who must be unerring and Orthodox. Where are such things today (though not impossible)? Thus, half divorce, while the other half, save for rare exceptions, persist and suffer.
Here lies the great crime: the innocent children bear the “saddest” cost, with indelible marks of pain and division in their souls, the root cause of all abnormalities, psychological, and spiritual problems and traumas of the young and future generations.
Add to this the “porno-sodomy-school” with its newly introduced anti-Christian teaching, designed to dismantle the last hope of a virtuous, spiritual, and consoling-loving environment for the education and upbringing of children and youth, turning it into a heretical and corrupting den. All these constitute causes for a general spiritual alarm for our salvation and that of our children.
For this general and global decline of humanity, which has now seriously affected our Church and our homeland Greece, the blessed Hieromonk Father Gabriel (of Thera) said from his bed of pain in his old age, months before his holy repose, “It is enough to be saved.”
The holy and blessed Hieromonk Anthimos of the Holy Skete of the Annunciation of the Theotokos in Agia Anna (+1995) said, a year before his venerable and martyric repose, to one aspiring to become a monk, “First and foremost, my child, be an Orthodox Christian and a Greek,” for the confessional crown, and because this is, in our era, far superior to a fallen monasticism that has lost its orientation or a failed monastic life. In such a life, true and spiritually healthy confession is seen as disobedience, rebellion, or delusion, with little or no sensitivity to heretical and damnable deviations by those in ecclesiastical administrative positions, leading the entire ship to the rocks.
Therefore, dear brother, examine with your spiritual father which of the two paths is safer and conducive to your salvation, and above all, what precisely is the will of God in this matter.
We take courage in the Judge of the contest, God, and His unfailing Word: “The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). We also take courage in the Panagia Mother and all the saints. In them we trust, but we must also move our hands and feet, our tears, our voice (cry) to the Lord, our repentance, asking Him to grant us His fear, repentance, and obedience to His Most Holy Will, all that we owe Him. Otherwise, if death overtakes us, it will be too late—far too late!
Study this entire matter carefully and with great attention, as the one concerned must be prudent, restrained, and humble with the fear of God toward himself.
And let us always remember what we have written:
“The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27, Matt. 19:26, Mark 10:27).
Great Anthony – Great Paul of Thebes
Two of the Greatest Saints of the Faith
Article from *Balsam of the Soul*: The Saint of the Heading
“Monk Philaretos?” “I am the wretched one, Mr. Judge”
A Barefoot Ascetic in Court
I have read in Palladius’ *Lausiac History* the following about Abba Hor: “He lived in the desert, eating herbs and sweet roots, drinking water when he found it, spending all his time in prayers and hymns.”
I believe this perfectly captures the ascetic life of Father Philaretos. He was a fragrant flower blooming among the rocks of Karoulia! Truly a friend of virtue, he always walked barefoot.
One day, our Geronda, Father Gerontios, wishing to test whether his great love and simplicity were from God or from egoism, said to him:
“Father Philaretos…”
“Bless, Geronda.”
“You are a hypocrite! You show off walking barefoot in tattered robes to appear humble!”
“Geronda,” he replied, humbly bowing his head, “I am a hypocrite! But what should I do to be healed?”
“Put on shoes and tidy yourself up.”
“Let it be blessed, Geronda; I will do so.”
He made a deep prostration and left.
He immediately found some very old shoes and carried them under his arm. When he reached the door of our hermitage, he put them on and entered! This was done with great pain, for after so many years barefoot, his soles were swollen and could not endure shoes for long. But obedience and humility work wonders!
Virtue is evident when a brother reproves you, and you humble yourself without protest. The devil is burned by such behavior.
“Now, indeed! Now you are truly a humble monk,” our Geronda told him.
“Bless, Geronda, bless,” he said, and after making a prostration, he departed, stumbling like a child.
Wild herbs grew near his hermitage. He would cut them and, though they were essential to him, bring them to us, saying:
“Eat, fathers. These are God’s, and they should be eaten by those who please Him, not by the slothful like me!”
One day, a rason-wearing man who claimed to be a deacon passed by. Seeing the ascetic’s old books, he coveted them and slyly took them. He left with them, heading to Dafni, unaware that outgoing visitors are checked at the customs house. There, they arrested him!
“Where did you get these?” they asked.
“Father Philaretos sold them to me at Karoulia!”
He lied to justify himself and continued his vile slander:
“He is an antiquities dealer! He sells old books!”
The police came to the desert and conducted inquiries. Convinced by this deceitful man, they filed charges against the holy ascetic!
One day, the summons arrived, as everything passes through us. Ascetics know nothing of such matters and generally do not deal with worldly affairs. The summons called for him to be tried!
We informed him, and he said, “I don’t know where to go. Please, you lead me.”
We did what was needed, gave him some clothes—his own were torn from his rugged ascetic life—and asked a lawyer we knew to assist him.
We gave him some money to go to Thessaloniki for the trial. Who? The one whom, we humbly believe, even God
