The ‘hidden’ Fr Antonio’s Gikizas and his close relationship with St Porfyrios –he even knew St Nektarios! — wasanother mystery revealed to us during our recent pilgrimage to Athens and Aegina, another link in the chain of holiness to His Kingdom, another stepping-stone on the Way! Glory to God for all things! What a Joy on Heaven and earth when a new Saint reveals himself to the Church, when new “living stones of His Temple” are revealed. “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5)
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Who would have imagined that on one of Athens’ busiest avenues, at 59 Alexandras Avenue, in the semi-basement of an apartment building, lived an elder like those we read in the Desert Fathers, with profound humility, compassion and great discernment! It was to this humble, ‘hidden’ priest, Saint Porfyrios would regularly go for Confession, a fact not widely known. One would lay hands on the other and they would confess. One wonders what it was that tied these two elders together.
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This venerable cleric, Father Antonio’s Gikizas, was born in Kranidi, Argolis, on January 7, 1910, and died in Athens, at the age of 89, on September 30, 1999. His academic knowledge was admirable not only for his time but also for ours with his four bachelor degrees and six foreign languages and many more. This academic excellence should normally separate him from the illiterate St Porphyrios, but Father Antonios, despite his great qualifications, always tried to avoid the high offices that were offered to him throughout his life. His humility was profound. When he was still a small child, he met Saint Nektarios, for whom he had a special reverence. And later in his life, he met St Porfyrios. His acquaintance with the elder – and later Saint of the Church – Porphyrios took place when he served for a short time as a preacher in Kymi of Evia.
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So, what was it that tied these two elders together? Fathers believe that it was their profound humility and their focus on repentance and the Sacrament of Confession throughout their lives. Father Antonios of blessed memory insisted that what we all need, more than anything else, is “repentance, this gift from God. … Repentance is the key for our entry into the heavenly world, in His Uncreated Church…”. Clearly this was the focus of Saint Porphyrios’ life too, as revealed in his Testament to his Spiritual children, six months before he fell asleep in the Lord: “From a small child I was in sins——But the world thought I was good and everyone shouts that I am a saint. As for me, I feel that I am the most sinful person in the world.——whatever I remembered, of course I have confessed —-But now I have a feeling that my spiritual sins are too many and I ask those of you who have known me to pray for me because I too humbly prayed for you while I lived!” I truly wonders why would such holy men feel that sinful and regularly go to Confession until old age… To confess what? And if they felt and acted thus, what about us?
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How inter-connected Holiness, Saints are in God’s Providence! Glory to God for all things! “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21)
Written by Andreas Christoforou – associate of the St Therapon church; Transl. little city hermit
My beloved Athens, Thank you for hosting us for so many years and making us partakers of the Life of your Saints! Athens of Agios Nektarios! There in Aretaia hospital is still the bed where the sanctified soul of Saint Nektarios left his aching body to ascend to the King of Heaven! There somewhere in Koukaki was the poor house where he lived chased by the slanderers, not having to pay the rent. There he was seen by the indignant, unpaid landlady when she burst open his room, and to her amazement she saw him rapt in deep prayer, with hands raised to God!
Agios Nektarios: On the 2nd floor of the Aretaia hospital on Vasilisis Sophia in Athens is the ward where he was hospitalized for about 2 months and on November 8, 1920, Agios Nektarios fell asleep.St Nektarios
There, on Vouliagmenis Avenue, Saint Nikolaos Planas worked and distributed “Eternal Life”! There in “Infectious Diseases” Hospital in Aegaleo, next to the Sacred Way, a leper, Saint Nikiforos left with the Martyrdom of Leprosy, a “smell of spiritual fragrance” and a successor, Great Fr. Eumenios Saridakis with his endless services and endless Repentance. There in the place of avoidance a secret group of anonymous lepers sanctified you daily, my Athens! While the old man Eumenios was leaving Loimodon Noson for Evangelism for his last hospitalization, on the way he blessed Athens and said: “How beautiful Athens is! Blessed Athens!” He blessed the streets, Omonia, the Agora, the Metropolis, the Parliament, the whole city! What else could the Holy Elder see in Athens, apart from the seal of Holiness that so many of its Saints, visible and hidden, ancient and modern, left on their path?
St Nikolaos PlanasSt Nikolaos PlanasSt Nikolaos Planas
At the Red Cross, a tireless deacon of everything, the wonderful Father Elpidios, brother of Saint Philomenos of the Holy Sepulchre, gave his testimony to the sick and the helpless! Buried, he sanctifies the Rhodopolis of Stamata together with the recently buried recently canonised Saint Athanasios Hamakiotis! The air of Athens was filled with fragrance in the 20th Century! And behold, the Roman figure of the sanctified Father Simon of Arvanitis and his successor, an accomplished Levite, the practical keeper of the Gospel, the Preacher of the Commandments of God, the humble and meek Father Markos Manolis appears! Who knew him and did not feel his Holiness? A man of overnight and continuous Repentance and prayer, of secret but also practical ministry?
On the left, Elder Father Elpidios (1913-1983) and his twin brother Hieromartyr Filoumenos (1913-1979).St Athanasios outside Neratziotissa, Athens suburbGerondas Simon ArvanitisFather Markos Manolis in Holy Land, Christ’s Prison cell
Who knew the secret Father Antonios Gikizas who defamed and sanctified Alexandra Avenue, in the heart of the traffic in the semi-basement apartment? Who knew that this was the resting place of Saint Porphyry? Who would have imagined that in the heart of Athens, where trade, prostitution, illegal transactions, the stock market, the central market, give and take and bring, a huge figure of Holiness, an illiterate omniscient, an tireless Minister, would be consecrated in a small church of Agios Gerasimos, Saint Porphyrios?
Father Antonios Gikizas— some Fathers claim he was the unknown spiritual father of Saint PorfyriosSaint Porphyrios of Kafsokalyvia
Oh my Holy Athens! O bustling Holy Desert Athens! Oh Noble Athens, humble one, who produced so many great modern Saints who continued the Holiness of Saint Philothei, you remained Unknown as a place of Sanctification of the 20th and 21st Centuries! Everyone runs to worship! Where are you going; Did you go to Aretaiio? Did you go to St. Gerasimos at the Polyclinic? Did you go to Agios Ioannis on Vouliagmenis Avenue? Did you go to the Church of Saints Anargyroi at Infectious Diseases Hospital in Aegaleo? Did you go to Rodopolis? Did you go to Dionysus at the Church of St. George at the tomb of Fr. Mark?
Holy humble princess Athens! Have you smelled the Fragrant Air of these and many unknown Saints buried in her bowels? You have raised many Saints, my Athens, and you have them in your heart! The Tradition continues. Saint Nektarios opened the door of the 20th Century, and all the above and even more secret, unknown holy men and women have walked through it. Secret successors of the Holy Spirit still walk it today. Noise, chaos, traffic, marches, cars, pedestrians, traffic lights, trolleys and buses all move non-stop. And yet there are apartments – cells and retreats – in apartment buildings that secretly weave the thread of Life at night, invisible hesychasts, men and women, God rests in them, who are “poor in Spirit” and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven!
Everyone is anxious about the Judgment for the coming great war that will shake the world, but few know that the course of the world is determined by the few, hidden, “insignificant” workers of Repentance who change with the tears of their own repentance the wrath of God for the wild debauchery, into Mercy and Providence for all the world. As long as God sees the Repentance of the few, he overlooks the sin of the many and life continues, the war is postponed, because new people repent and enter the Church!
Extend your Mercy to them! My despised Athens, you used to be the most beautiful city, then got ugly and humiliated, and now, you are full of Saints, old and modern! My Athens, thank you!
Andreas Christoforou, Refugee from Cyprus in Athens for 44 years!
Comments: When I read this text I felt ashamed that a refugee child came to show us around our house, revealing the spiritual treasures of Athens, which we did not know, while we should have known. I am ashamed but also grateful to him for this spiritual revelation he gave me. Dimitrios Tseleggidis, Professor of Dogmatics, University of Thessaloniki
It all started most unusual. As I was walking in the street, at about 16:00, under the sizzling sun, on my way back to St Porfyrios after an obedience , I saw an old priest, nearly 80 years old waiting, all alone, at the bus stop. I stopped to get his blessing and inquire if he needed any help because this was not the right time for anyone to be all alone in the streets, under the scorching sun, esp. if you are 80+. But this priest was not your ‘ordinary’ elderly priest!
It turned out that Father Methodios was the parish priest at Thessaloniki St Gregory Palamas cathedral, and he was very excited about something and most eager to share his news with me! His tama to St Paisios —to build him a church—would be brought to fruition in just a few days, this Saturday evening before Pentecost, near Sarakina, a small, nearby town, 45’ drive from Thessaloniki. The main church will be consecrated to St Paisios, and the two chapels to St Gregory Palamas and St Porfyrios! Further on, he explained to me how he had offered the donation of 7.5 acres and how the monastery of the Assumption in Panorama had undertaken all the work. In the end, Father Methodios invited me to the the laying of the Foundation Stone for the construction of the Holy Church of Saint Paisios, gave me his private mobile number, supplied all necessary names and references, monastery ones included, offered ample navigation guidance for the trip to the ‘unknown’ he was inviting me, and kept repeating that I should come, that St Paisios had arranged our meeting at the bus stop!
He also described to me most vividly an overnight stay by St Paisios at his house! One evening, late in the night, his doorbell rang and the priest’s sister went to open the door. She returned pale and was utterly dumbfounded! When Father Methodios asked her who was at the door, all she could whisper was “A Saint!”. So Father Methodios went to the door and to his surprise saw St Paisios! ‘Father, how come you are here?’ And St Paisios smiled and told him: ‘Haven’t we been discussing about this visit and overnight stay all this time? Well, now is the time!’ And so he spent the night at his house.
What an amazing experience, a most exciting opportunity! How can one refuse such an opportunity? To tell you the truth, I was a little concerned that I have to drive on your own in these thickets, but how could I refuse? And deep in my heart, I felt that St Paisios would be with me. —And St Porphyrios.
I felt joy even at the prospect! It was such a joy to meet such an old, blessed priest, full of joy, radiating the Holy Spirit under the heat! I felt such joy that such priests still exist 🙏 Glory to God! If only you saw his eyes! These days I had been studying in detail the making of St Porfyrios monastery in Milesi, all the Saint’s work, toil, prayers, the volunteers, all the people who helped in every possible way. And while contemplating all this, I met this priest! Amazing!
So, if St Paisios and St Porfyrios would be travelling with me then it felt safe! Anyway, out of precaution, I also started making inquiries to the Monastery about the precise location —no gps it turned out, I am afraid,only vague road signs, cranes,oh dear…— trying also to find somebody else willing to join in the escapade. It turned out that nearly everybody was planning to be away this long weekend of the Monday of the Holy Spirit (nearly national holiday). Nearly.
Eventually, the Saints and my spiritual father’s prayers have provided me a travel companion for Saturday’s holy expedition. A fellow chanter had another obedience nearby so arrangement were sorted out really fast. And another chanter too, a blessed three tied cord, God will not despise? “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threestrand cord is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12. Glory to God for all things.
Of course it was still a mystery where and what precisely this church was. But Mysteries are revealed not understood!🙂 My spiritual Father assured me that Our Lord said I am the Way the Truth and the Life. Without the way there is no going, without the truth there is no knowing, without the life there is no living. He was assured that the Way would find a way for me. He keeps encouraging me these days to be open to the Holy Spirit and be led by Him.
The ancient saints travelled many miles to many places. I wish I could do some of this traveling together with him. But maybe at hisspiritual stage, it is only conducted in Spirit? The thoughts are spiritual for a spiritual father who travels with his spiritual children, whether in this life or the next.
Part Two:
Well, it was not a wilderness we ended up, after climbing up and down Hortiatis mountain and traversing small villages. We arrived at a pretty ‘civilised’ place, a spiritual centre and a small church in a 7.5 acres land, dedicated to The Mother of God of the Life-giving Spring or Life-giving Font (Greek: Ζωοδόχος Πηγή, translit. Zōodóchos Pēgḗ, part of Father Methodios’ family inheritance. Here, Father Methodios would gather his spiritual children for years for spiritual retreats. Here, he also retreated in hesychia to pray. At its centre, this new church to St Paisios will be erected, a metochion to Panorama Monastery of the Dormition of Our Lady.
This is the original chapel of The Mother of God of the Life-giving Spring and the spiritual centre.
Father Methodios’ mother grave, behind the Theotokos chapel
Why a Cross on the Foundation stone?
“As is well known, the Passion of the Lord culminates in His Crucifixion. On the Cross, the God-man Jesus Christ, being “The King of Glory”, gave the hardest and most terrible battle in human History, defeating the Devil and Sin. With His Holy Blood that was shed on the Cross, He strengthened and secured His Church. That is why we placed the plaque with the engraved Holy Cross on the foundations of the Church, because the Cross is, first of all, the foundation of our faith. And every Orthodox church has not only in its foundations, but also internally, externally and on its roof (in the dome) the sign of the Cross to bear witness to the victory of Christ to all those who may be inside or outside the Church.
Secondly, the Cross is the symbol of Sacrifice. Christ on His Cross gave the unique and unparalleled example of the supreme sacrifice for the human race, in order to teach us that, His earthly Church and Her members must always follow the path of sacrifice for the salvation of the world. This is the role of the Church and her children.
Thirdly, the meaning of the Cross is joy. “Behold, through the Cross joy has come to the world”, we recite every Sunday morning, but also every day for forty days after Easter. As the Apostle Paul writes, “if we die on the cross with Christ” (Gal. 2:20); if we live our personal crucifixion, daily crucifying “our sinful self with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24), then surely true joy will come to us, which, according to the promise of Christ, “no one will be able to take away from us.” (Jn 16:22)
Fourthly, the Cross is hope. Through the Cross, the secured and unwavering hope is born. If we rely on the Cross of Christ, we will never bend under the weight of trials and tribulations in our lives. (Source)
We arrived early and the place was rather empty, other than Father Methodios and some workers. All around us, Nature was enchanting.
Can you spot the squirrel?🐿️
Lots of water and a miracle with water when the original church of the Theotokos was founded.
Everybody is drinking from this abundant, fruit of prayer, holy water, gushing out!
“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” (John 7:37-39)
Gradually, more people started arriving, and the place was crowded, Bishops arrived and the ceremony started.
Bishop Philotheos from Thessaloniki laid the Foundation stone, blessed us all sprinkling holy water to us and the new church’s four corners. We all chanted together the Apolytikion of St Paisios, St Gregory Palamas and St Porfyrios, the two chapels. This is the first church to be dedicated to Saint Paisios and St Porfyrios! The bishop used St Paisios’ holy cross with a piece of the True Cross of Christ, a gift to Father Methodios 52 years ago! Saint Paisios also prayed and blessed his calling to become a hieromonk. Amidst lots of chanting and prayer, Father Methodios thanked us all in tears and told us that he had been praying about this for the last 40 years of his life!
“Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word, for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation: which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people. A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and to be the glory of Thy people Israel (Lk 1.29–32)
Then, a traditional Greek bouffet followed, lots of brothers and sisters all over the region and Thessaloniki to greet.
Night arrived amidst joyful fellowship, we helped clean up and tidy the place, and left, full of joy, nearly midnight! What an experience! May God soon bless us to perform the Consecration of our Holy Church, so that the glorious and majestic name of God always be glorified in it.
Nearby, one also encounters Giorgos Arvanitis’ grave, the only lay person buried in Milesi, a humble presence everywhere in the monastery,even in the Saint’s Cell, next to the Theotokos icon the Saint was photographed with.
It was St Paisios who sent Georgios Arvanitis to St Porfyrios when Georgios asked his counsel on Mount Athos which spiritual father he recommended for him. St Paisios also humbly confessed to all pilgrims that “his TV was only black and white, whereas St Porphyrios’ was a colour one!” 🙂 So Georgios met St Porphyrios and “was captured by him” [his words].
Georgios Arvanitis, the humble angel ministering St Porphyrios for over 30 years
Giorgos Arvanitis was a successful judge who gave up his career at the height of its success; he gave up everything to become the “beloved disciple” of St. Porphyrios, his “right hand” for over 30 years. He lived for years in a tent in the wilderness, next to St Porphyrios, when there was no monastery in Milesi, just forests and fields. In the beginning, he would sleep in his tent after long vigils together with the Saint, put on his suit and head to courts, then in the afternoon, return to his tent, take off his suit, put on his tracksuit and become one of the Saint’s workers. I’m the end, he gave up everything and was by the Saint’s side all the time, living in obedience.
His last interview before his reposal in the Lord, next to his beloved Father
I spent all week studying Giorgos Arvanitis’ diaries and ‘anonymous’ books, and so wished I were him! I cannot begin to imagine what a blessing it must be spending 30+ years by the Saint’s side! Below is an except:
“The relationship between Sts. Porphyrios and Paisios was one of love and spiritual communication. Once, St. Paisios came to the little cell that St. Porphyrios had at first, and after they said whatever they said, St. Paisios left.
Then I [Georgios Arvanitis, the judge] went there, full of curiosity, to St. Paisios and told him: “What did you talk about, Elder? What did you discuss?”
He told me with disarming simplicity: “Eh, the ‘Lord Jesus Christ… [i.e. the Jesus Prayer]”
I expected them to discuss the 666, the 12 bishops, or various ecclesiastical topics. {Georgios Arvanitis, judge in retirement, is laughing} But they prayed together. They found an opportunity to pray together, to “breathe together” in prayer.” (Transcript of the recording here)
After studying closely the writings and memoirs of Archimandtite Mark Manolis of blessed memory and his spiritual children, and those by Georgios Arvantitis, it becomes even more obvious to me how vitally important is to find a spiritual father to do obedience and be in close, if possible, daily interaction with him and his whole spiritual family. God is glorified in His Saints!
The Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ (celebrated August 6th), though technically a dependency, was founded by St. Porphyrios of Kavsokalyvia in Milesi, Attica, geographically between Oropos and Malakassa in the northern suburbs of Athens.
From one’s first step as a pilgrim in the area, one encounters the sanctity of the place and the total silence. One is struck by the astonishing Holy Church and the beautiful green surroundings.
A multitude of people hasten to the holy Hesychasterion which honors the memory of the Venerable Porphyrios on December 2nd, the day of his repose, in order to partake in the grace of this Saintly Elder.
The building of the monastery began in 1981, and the building occurred in stages, with the Katholikon being founded in 1990, with permission of Archbishop Seraphim of Athens. The walls of the church were completed in the spring of 1992, a few months after the repose of St. Porphyrios. (1)
St Porphyrios on his bed at the monastery near the end of his life
Upon arrival, we were blessed with the Supplication to the Saint, chanted by a small group of pilgrims, and personal memories with the Saint treasured and shared by their priest.
The Earthly and the Celestial Pilgrims— Part 1
The first fellow pilgrim to honour is certainly Archimandrite Mark Manolis of blessed memory. Father Mark is the spiritual father of both Father deacon N. and the local “guide/ “driver” M. who helped me throughout this pilgrimage to St Porphyrios. Many a times, all these hours together with both of them, I have wondered if such are Father Mark’s spiritual children, what a blessed spiritual father he must have been.
Upon arrival in Athens, at the airport, M. gave me a recent edition of her late spiritual father’s life, and ever since I started reading this book, on my flight back home, I was unable to put it down before reading it completely at one stretch!
The more I reflect and distil the blessings, the clearer it becomes to my mind how important it is to be under the obedience of and in close interaction with a true spiritual father. Also: how crucial is to discover and become a member in a spiritual family, cultivate the fellowship in a sisterhood/ brotherhood/ parish for our spiritual growth.
“For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone.” Romans, 14:7
One of the many testimonies about the late Hieromonk Markos Manolis at St. George parish church, in Dionysos, Attica (at the foot of Penteli Mountain, near Athens) is the following:
“I met hieromonk at the age of 23. The heights of his ascetics and self-sacrifice were unparalleled. He never slept and was always there for his spiritual children. A great many of his spiritual children had seen him walking above the ground during the Holy Liturgy. When he first saw me, he called me by my first name. I had never known him before. How come he knew my name?
His great humility and abstention from sleep and unceasing prayers had opened his spiritual eyes and he was endowed with the gift of foresight. He was one of the most militant adversaries of ecumenism, spiritual leader of the “Orthodox Press” newspaper, but above all a true spiritual father and leader of many spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ in villages, towns, hospitals, jails around Athens and in Athens itself.
Hieromonk Markos Manolis possessed the power of foresight which had been validated on multiple occasions . Personally speaking, he had foretold my future encounter with my husband two years before his departure from this world.” (2)
Inscribed on the tombstone: ‘Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” Revelation 14:13
— What is ‘experience’ in spiritual life, dearest Father?
— A comb that you acquire when you go bald.
— So, isn’t it useless?
— No, because you can then use it to comb the hair of others!
Saint Porphyrios’ words; Testimony of Metropolitan Neophytos Morfou
*Photograph above: Saint Porphyrios venerated by bees ☦️🐝
In the region of Kapandriti near Athens, a wonderful thing happens. Ten years ago, a devout beekeeper named Isidoros Ţiminis, thought to place in one of his hives an icon of the Crucifixion of the Lord. Soon thereafter, when he opened the hive, he was amazed that the bees showed respect and devotion to the icon, having “embroidered” it in wax, yet leaving uncovered the face and body of the Lord. Since then, every spring, he puts into the hives icons of the Savior, the Virgin Mary and the Saints, and the result is always the same. He placed a photograph of Elder Porphyrios (before he was canonized) in the hive, and the bees showed the same respect and veneration as towards other saints. (Mystagogy Resource Center)
PREMIERE: “With the Eyes of the Soul”, the long awaited release of a video on the life of Saint Porphyrios, one of Orthodoxy’s most well known contemporary elders who happened to live most of his life working as a priest in a clinic chapel in Athens, Greece. This video uses multiple voice actors and presents both a linear narrative about his life intertwined with accounts of healings and wonders that occurred at various times.
“Nowadays people often feel sadness, despair, lethargy, laziness, apathy, and all things satanic. They are downcast, discontent and melancholy. They disregard their families, spend vast sums on psychoanalysts and take anti-depressants. People explain this as ‘insecurity.’ Our religion believes that these states derive from satanic temptation.
Pain is a psychological power which God implanted in us with a view to doing us good and leading us to love, joy, and prayer. Instead of this, the devil succeeds in taking this power from the battery of our soul and using it for evil. He transforms it into depression and brings the soul into a state of lethargy and apathy. He torments us, takes us captive and makes us psychologically ill.
There is a secret. Turn the satanic energy into good energy. This is difficult and requires some preparation. The requisite preparation is humility. With humility you attract the grace of God. You surrender yourself to the love of God, to worship and to prayer. But even if you do all in the world, you achieve nothing if you haven’t acquired humility. All the evil feelings, insecurity, despair and disenchantment, which come to take control of the soul, disappear with humility. The person who lacks humility, the egotist, doesn’t want you to get in the way of his desires, to make any criticism of him or tell him what to do. He gets upset, irritated and reacts violently and is overcome by depression.
This state is cured by grace. The soul must turn to God’s love. The cure will come when we start to love God passionately. Many of our saints transformed depression into joy with their love for Christ. That is, they took this power of the soul which the devil wished to crush and gave it to God and they transformed it into joy and exultation. Prayer and worship gradually transform depression and turn it into joy, because the grace of God takes effect. Here you need to have the strength to attract the grace of God which will help you to be united with Him. Art is required. When you give yourself to God and become one with him, you will forget the evil spirit which drags at you from behind, and this spirit, when it is disdained, will leave. And the more you devote yourself to the Spirit of God, the less you will look behind to see the spirit that is dragging at you. When grace attracts you, you will be united with God. And when you unite yourself to God and abandon yourself to Him, everything else disappears and is forgotten and you are saved. The great art, the great secret, in order to rid yourself of depression and all that is negative is to give yourself over to the love of God.
Something which can help a person who is depressed is work, interest in life. The garden, plants, flowers, trees, the countryside, a walk in the open air — all these things tear a person away from a state of inactivity and awake other interests. They act like medicines. To occupy oneself with the arts, with music and so on, is very beneficial. The thing that I place top of the list, however, is interest in the Church, in reading Holy Scripture and attending services. As you study the words of God you are cured without being aware of it.
Let me tell you about a girl who came to me. She was suffering from dreadful depression. Drugs had no effect. She had given up everything — her work, her home, her interests. I told her about the love of Christ which takes the soul captive because the grace of God fills the soul and changes it. I explained to her that the force which takes over the soul and transforms the power of the soul into depression is demonic. It throws the soul to the ground, torments it and renders it useless. I advised her to devote herself to things like music which she had formerly enjoyed. I emphasized, however, most of all her need to turn to Christ with love. I told her, moreover, that in our Church a cure is to be found through love for God and prayer, provided this is done with all the heart.”
O much-suffering Stephanie, * with the crown of the gifts of grace * hath the Lord now crowned thee, who gavest up thyself * to willing torments and pains in the nobility of thy soul: * ’twixt two palm trees thou wast bound, * and thereby thou wast rent in twain, * spreading out thy wings, * flying up unto God like a swift sparrow and forsaking to the fowlers * thy mortal body, O wondrous one. [Ainos (Praise) from the Orthros November 11]
*It is said that + Martyr Stephanie in Damascus was 16 years old at the time of her martyrdom.
*
Isn’t that an amazing transfiguration of a horrid death? What a stunning testimony to the transformative power of Christ’s Resurrection! This hymn reminded me today of St. Porphyrios and his precious advice on immersing ourselves in the Church’s hymns for their great healing power to overcome all the gloom, the sadness, the failure, and the death that seem to surround us.
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The Elder Porphyrios once asked a pilgrim visiting him:
— Do you know the troparion that begins, “We celebrate the slaying of death …”?
— Yes, elder, I know it.
— Then say it.
—“We celebrate the slaying of death, the destroying of hell, the beginning of another way of life that is eternal. And leaping for joy, we sing a hymn to the Cause, the only blessed and most glorious God of our fathers.”
—Do you understand it?
—Certainly I understand it.
I thought that he was asking me for a translation into modern Greek.
The Elder then waved his hand dismissively saying,
— Little George, you didn’t understand anything at all! You said it quickly like a chanter in a hurry. Listen to what awesome things are said in this hymn: Through Christ and His resurrection, we do not get across a river, a gorge, a canal, a lake, or even the Red Sea. We have moved across an abyss that no human being could cross on his own. Ages came and went with the world waiting for this Pascha, for this passage. Our Christ passed from death to life! That’s why today “we celebrate the slaying of death, the destroying of hell.” Death is no more. We celebrate today “the beginning of another way of life that is eternal,” a life with Him.
Speaking with enthusiasm and conviction, the Elder was clearly moved. The elder paused and continued more energetically:
— Now there is no more chaos, no more death, no more slaying, no more Hell. Now everything is joy, thanks to the resurrection of our Christ. Human nature is resurrected with Him. Now we too can rise again that we might live with Him eternally … What bliss is contained in the Resurrection! “And leaping for joy, we sing a hymn to the Cause.” Have you seen how young goats now in the spring frolic on the green grass? They drink some of their mother’s milk and then prance about leaping for joy, and so do we celebrating the ineffable joy of the resurrection of our Lord.
He then stopped speaking. Pure joy was now in the air. And the elder continued,
—Can I give you some advice? In every sorrow, with every failure, in anything that causes you pain, collect yourself for half a minute and slowly say this hymn. Then, you will see that the most important thing in your life and in the life of the entire universe has already been accomplished with the resurrection of Christ. It is our salvation. And then, you realize that all our setbacks are so insignificant, that you don’t need to allow them to spoil your mood.
Because the Elder calls me on the phone every day from 4:00 to 6:00 in the morning and we read Matins, I thought that since the phone call is long-distance, he must be paying a lot of money to OTE [Hellenic Telecommunications Organization]. This is why when I got paid I put 50,000 drachmas in an envelope to give him.
“Elder, I brought some money, because your OTE bill must be big.”
“What are you talking about, foolish one? Here we are building a church and we’re gonna give so much money to OTE? Put it in the box we have for the building of the church.”
I put it in the box. But my thoughts kept telling me: It seems like OTE granted him a line of communication or someone else is paying for it.
“Lift me up. Give me my shoes to put on and tie them.”
He then took his cane and said to me: “Let’s go.”
I was surprised. As I held him I thought: Where are we going? We walked out of the balcony door and headed for the new building which was still a worksite. We went up some stairs and he showed me the new cells. He showed me the lightweight concrete that was being put as insulating material.
We then went up to a cell that had a built-in-bed where from the window was a view of the sea.
“Do you like it here?”
“Yes, it’s very beautiful, ascetical.”
“I love the ascetics very much. This is why my mind is constantly at Kavsokalyva, but they don’t let me go. One day I will go and stay there.”
We returned to the balcony door and I waited for him to want to lie down and rest. He proceeded however towards the entrance of the cell and said to me:
“Now we will go to the old cells that are empty.”
Outside at the corridor many people were waiting and they thought I was in his cell with him all this time. They were waiting for me to leave that they may come in. When they saw the Elder standing in the corridor, they lost it. For some of them it was the first time they saw the Elder standing up. They were shocked and ran to receive his blessing. We proceeded forward and went up to the second floor. The doors of the cells were shut.
“In this cell they have incense.”
I thought: Perhaps he smelled it. He read my thoughts and saw my lack of faith.
“Here they spread out washed wheat to grind it for prosphora.”
Again my thoughts told me: Well, wet wheat also has a certain smell.”
The Elder caught my thoughts again and said about the third cell:
“Here the toilet tank has rusted because we don’t pull on it to flush. Go pour a little water inside.”
Indeed, I opened the door and when I pulled on the toilet tank, the water came out rusted. So I thought: Rust doesn’t smell.
As we returned I heard him answer a telephone call from someone.
“Hello, Go ahead! Yes, yes, do it like that….”
He was giving advice to someone. But there was no telephone in his hands. It was just the two of us. I was motionless. How is he talking to someone without a telephone? I asked myself.
“Alright, hang up now, and come by some day so we can see you.”
He then said to me:
“See, foolish one. He had need of asking me something. He was calling me downstairs in my cell, but since I wasn’t there, I answered it here.”
Then I woke up. Then I understood that the Elder was not talking to me through OTE. He talked to me in a spiritual manner, which is why he told me to put the money in the box for the building of the church.
“Come on, let’s go now.”
Source: From the book Μαθητεία στον Άγιο Πορφύριο, έκδοση “Η Μεταμόρφωσις του Σωτήρος”, Μήλεσι, 2017. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
johnsanidopoulos.com/2018/03/the-mobile-phone-of-saint-porphyrios-of.html
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN FAITH AND LIFE 