+ 9 September
“I remember dear little Mother Akylina . Her bent figure eagerly recommending books in the bookstore, hardly seeing her over the counter but an eagerness to impart a clear voiced wisdom learned from ascetic struggle. May her memory be eternal and may she pray for us in the nearer presence of Christ” (Little Abouna)
The aerial toll houses, the demons, our guardian angel and the Sacrament of Confession by + Elder Efraim, St. Andrew Skete
“… From the moment the soul leaves the body and until the third day is completed —counting with our own earthly time, because the soul does not experience time, unlike us who both measure and experience it— the soul passes through the aerial toll houses during this three-day period. As the demons fell at the words of Archangel Michael “Let us stand aright!”, some remained in the highest layers while descending and remained in the air… These are the so-called aerial toll houses. (1)
So as the soul of every Orthodox Christian ascends to Heavens after death, every soul without exception passes through the aerial toll houses. However, not everyone is forced to stop at the aerial toll houses. Only those who have unconfessed sins… The faithful who have repented and confessed their sins in the Sacrament of Confession, pass through the customs like a … rocket ! By express! That is, they are not forced to stop anywhere, their way upwards is not blocked…
They will stop somewhere, mid-way, only in the case where there is still an unconfessed sin. If it is not a mortal sin (2), this sin is “weighed” and overcome with any good acts they have committed, and they continue to the next aerial toll house, and so on and so forth, until they arrive in front of our Christ! If anyone’s upward movement is blocked midway by some mortal unconfessed sin, then they are destroyed on the spot and fall straight to hell…
We have cases, mostly of women, who have committed adultery or fornication, and who have confessed heavier, worse sins, but these sins they did not confess, out of shame, because of our old self and of the enemy who incited them to act in this way. So, they did not confess them at the risk of losing their souls. In the case of clergy this is even more terrible! Therefore, special attention must be paid here. Allow me to repeat this: when someone has confessed all his sins to a priest, he passes through the aerial toll houses without being hindered or stopped by anyone.
The worst aerial toll houses that today imprison and prosecute people are: First, of witchcraft, second, of homosexuality and immorality, then of selfishness, avarice, blasphemy… Mainly the first two that I mentioned. Satanism and immorality in their most extreme form worldwide…
During the first three days, the soul goes through the aerial toll houses, and when we pass through all of them, then the Guardian Angel of each one of us leads our soul to Christ, to the humanity of the Lord, because the Divinity is not visible… We then see our Christ as we see Him in the icons. Christ has exactly this form, the form that He had in the flesh.
This is the form He has when man stands before Him and worships Him. Our Christ then blesses him without saying anything at all. The soul worships Him and He only blesses it without saying anything. It is our first personal worship of Christ.
*
(1) Cf. The Holy Anaphora in Divine Liturgy:
Deacon: Let us stand aright! Let us stand in awe! Let us be attentive, that we may present the Holy Offering in peace.
The Holy Anaphora echoes the following incident:
The leader of all the angelic hosts — the six-winged Seraphim, the many-eyed Cherubim, the God-bearing Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels — is the Archangel Michael. When Satan, Lucifer, fell away from God and drew a part of the angels with him to destruction, then Archangel Michael stood up and cried out before the faithful angels: “Let us attend! Let us stand aright! Let us stand with fear!” and all of the faithful angelic heavenly hosts cried out: “Holy! Holy! Holy! Lord God of Sabaoth! Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory!”
(2) According to Gennadios Scholarios, George Koressios, the Orthodox Confession, and Chrysanthos of Jerusalem, mortal sins are those voluntary sins which either corrupt the love for God alone, or the love for neighbor and for God, and which render the one committing them an enemy of God and liable to the eternal death of hell. Generally speaking, they are: pride, love of money, sexual immorality, envy, gluttony, anger, and despondency, or indifference.”
To be continued … Part 1
*https://www.decani.org/en/spirituality/on-celebration-of-holy-archangel-michael
http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/exo_sintypes.aspx
https://thedepartureofthesoul.org
Where the Soul goes away after death—The Great Journey
+ Elder Efraim, St. Andrew Skete
Our soul is taken out by Christ, with the executive minister Archangel Michael, to whom He gives the command. Archangel Michael is the one who “takes out” our soul by the command of the Lord. It is a supreme honour for us Orthodox that our Christ has appointed the leader of the Angels, Archangel Michael, to take out the soul of every Orthodox Christian.
When the leader comes to take the soul, not the officer, the soldier, but the leader, it means that we are princes! Like likes like. “Birds of a feather flock together”. The baptized Orthodox are the spiritual princes of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is the greatest honor that Michael, the leader of all Angels, comes!! He is cheerful, joyful and not at all strict, as some want to present or depict him… Angels have nothing to do with fear, terror and ugliness… Especially the Archangels Michael and Gabriel… If some are afraid, it is not from the sight of the Angel, but from the sight of their own unrepentant state… As at the sight of our Christ, some are demonized and go to hell because the unrepentant people themselves are not receptive to the divine vision.
So the Angels come, the demons come, the Saints come, the senses are dulled, and when the eyes, the physical eyes, fall asleep, then the soul with the mind sees everything. The soul has already entered the sphere of eternity of the other world before it even leaves the body. These are the last moments, the last photographs from which we can determine whether this soul is judged or is saved…
These are some secrets that the saints have revealed to Gerondes to pay attention to and discern … That is, if there is anxiety or sweating… the movements of the eyes right and left, up and down, the movements of the hands, the change of colour, screams or blasphemous expressions, a stench emitted from the mouth of the soul-bleeding person or from the environment, or agitation and fear, an increased heart rate and sweating, shared by the rest of us, in an incomprehensible way… all these mean that we have the presence of demons and that something is wrong… We must then be very careful and perform many forty-five liturgies.
But when he falls asleep, from the moment the guardian angel receives the soul, then such grace and cheerfulness are painted on the reliquary that you constantly want to be near him without fear or hesitation… These are perhaps the last moments because time is measured as the burial and at that moment we are given the opportunity by God to experience this mystical spectacle…
This is very important for us. We do not feel the separation… We want to be constantly close to the dying person… There was a monk that his “death-agony” lasted fifteen whole hours, and I was by his side all this time until his final breath. He had a little difficulty, but in the end he was saved… His death-agony lasted many hours and was exhausting for everyone…
So Archangel Michael takes the soul and delivers it into the hands of other Angels who depart for the aerial toll houses. As for the Guardian Angel, he stands next to the relic and does not leave until the burial. When there are cases when the burial is delayed (due to some circumstances, e.g. group deaths) the Guardian Angel remains near the deceased relic until the body is buried… As a debt of honour!
This is very important! Nonetheless, the soul, together with the other Angels, begins its journey…
To Be Cont.
Physical (biological) death vs “brain death”
Is physical death the same as “brain death”? No! A “brain dead” patient may be in a coma and apnea, but most of his organs are functioning with appropriate medical support; so, when his organs are removed, he is still warm, his heart is still working, and his blood is circulating! (1)
They will tell you that organs are taken when the person is dead. This is not true. There are several recorded cases of “brain dead” people who came back from this state. The vital organs of the “donors” are taken while they are still ALIVE, resulting in a violent interruption of their life during the process of taking their organs. Many leading scientists in Greece and abroad (2) express serious scientific objections and do not hesitate to even propose the complete abandonment of the concept of “Brain Death”.
Professor of Pediatric Anesthesiology at the leading University of the USA, Harvard, and Director of the Intensive Care Unit at the University Children’s Hospital, Boston, Dr. Robert D. Truog states: “Brain Death remains incoherent in theory and confusing in practice. Furthermore, the only purpose that this concept (of brain death) serves is to facilitate the search for organs for transplantation. That is why, after all, the concept of “brain death” was “invented” only in 1968 by some Harvard scientists.”
The fact of death is a great mystery, the Holy Fathers of the Church tell us, and no one knows nor will ever know when (at what exact moment) the soul separates from the body… As long as the heart is functioning, the soul is united with the body.
Saint Paisios of Mount Athos, when asked about transplants, he categorically opposed the transplantation of vital organs (organs without which the donor cannot continue to live), for two reasons: First: “it constitutes an impermissible intervention, opposing the creative work of God, on the one hand, by killing the donor, and on the other by creating in us the conceit of animating the recipient.” And second: “It will become a cause for inventing ways to kill the sick in order to take their organs.”
Saint Porphyrios was also opposed to the transplantation of solid organs from “brain-dead” people. He made the following recommendation to a couple who wanted to donate the organs of their child after a serious accident: “There is only one death. Donate only the cornea of the eyes…” A person in a state of so-called “brain death” is a seriously ill patient but not dead… By taking vital organs from a “brain dead” patient, he is forcibly led to definitive clinical death… this action, by the criteria of Orthodox Theology, is equivalent to Murder.
They will say that organ donation is self-sacrifice and a noble act, an act of humanity and altruism. This is not true… The one who determines when we will die is our Creator and not us. In the Old and New Testaments, as well as in the Hymnography of our Church, it is emphasized that the Creator alone is the master of life and death. Even when there is consent, the “DONATION” of VITAL ORGANS IS NOT SELF-SACRIFICE, because it takes away from the donor the possibility of repentance, that is, to say, even at the last moment, “Forgive me, my God” and for God to possibly save his soul.
By a beloved brother in Christ, Stavros Amfoterodexios (cf. “Ehud the son of Gera, the son of Benjamin, a man equally adept with both of his hands” Judges 3:15)
1. Dr. Alan Shewmon, internationally renowned Professor of Pediatric Neurology at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles).
2. K. Karakatsanis 2001, E. Panagopoulos 1998, M. Vrettos 1999, I. Kountouras 1999, K. Christodoulides 1995, N. Balamoutsos 1999, N. Konstantinidis 1999, M. Giala 1999, A. Avramidis 1995, P. Kougias 1999, A. Goulianos 1999, etc.) and abroad (R.D. Truog 1992, D.A. Shewmon 1997, R.M. Taylor 1997, etc.),
Let us put aside the curses for the guilty and the hypocritical accusations of God – We ourselves first owe to Aggelos (Angel) an apology.
A three-year-old martyr. This is the Angel who made all of Greece cry. A little angel that no one heard, no one saw, no one understood the unspeakable torture he was going through. Not because there were no opportunities. But because in this case the brain-dead person is one: our society.
It is not possible that there was no doctor, an acquaintance or even a passerby who saw signs of abuse. But the same mentality prevails. Where should I go to… to get involved ? Let me not get into any… trouble too. Have we forgotten how a few months ago a girl had fallen prostrate on the road, hit by a car on Athens Avenue, and the passing cars passed her as if she were an inanimate object?
Perhaps little Angel was born to show us the monster in the mirror again. Perhaps he was a destined martyr for our Colosseum. He came with wings and leaves with wreaths. Every blow, every bruise, every cigarette stub, every cry of complaint, is a nail in the coffin of a society that has become alienated. To the point of not realizing that a hell exists next door. Or even worse, pretending not to realize it.
Thousands of prayers have been said for Aggelos, but our materialistic system has evicted miracles. God’s final signature has been replaced by the signature of a doctor. The sacred mystery of death is being mashed up in the gears of godless science. The relatives gave their consent for organ transplant, as soon as it was certified that the brain was not responding. An unfathomable organ that scientists are still “exploring”, but the “court issued its verdict” immediately. Sorrow upon sorrow; the switch of life is being turned off by a human decision. But joy upon joy, that the child will receive his due glory in the ages of ages to come. Fortunately, God has His own laws and draws His own conclusions.
Many fools blame God for what the Angel suffered. They only demand from God to make amends for what they neglect, for what they are indifferent to, for what they are willfully blind themselves, for what they cover up, for what they allow, for what they vote for, for what they incite with their own sins. As if God is our personal street cleaner, who will work for us while we are having our orgies.
Only a Luciferian mania can lead to such cases of child abuse. These happenings are purely demonic. All Christians discuss this among ourselves. The human race gets crazier and instead of blaming our apostasy for the suffering of children, we blame God.
When He gives us 100-200,000 children a year and we slaughter them before they are born, we say “stay out of it God – Let us commit our genocide”. And when some beasts abuse their own children, we say “where was God?” When He intervenes, they deny him. When they think He is not involved, they curse Him. They have it both ways in their unreasonable self-justification.
Oh Man, sit down and think, before you open your mouth. What conclusions can you draw when you don’t even know what to wish for such a tortured child like Angel? Are you sure that he must live a life that will perhaps be pitch black and scarred? Who will guarantee that he will not carry unspeakable wounds in his soul? Will you guarantee it? Will I guarantee it? We always hope for life, yes. We always hope for a miracle, yes. But how such a child will fare and what his eternal profit is, only God knows.
Have you considered how many thousands of such children like Angel have been saved by charitable organisations, like the Ark and the Smile of the Child, from the claws of such psychopathic parents? Do you understand what it means to be the shield against such beasts? Do you understand the enormous difficulty of managing such children and bringing them out into society? And do you understand why it is a crime for the state to target such structures?
“There is no salvation for our species,” others claim. Salvation does exist, and it has already been offered to us. We are the ones who choose to remain prodigal. We are being transformed into beasts, because you cannot serve two Masters at the same time. Ultimately, you will either resemble the good God, or the absolute evil, the ruler of this world. And our world has become possessed by Satan, for anyone who has even two drams of spiritual perception.
Such a world clips the wings of Angels. Such a world tortured the Angel. If you do not want the next Angel to fall again to other two-legged monsters, keep your eyes open. Keep your ears open. Take an interest in every evil you encounter. Curse your “Oh brother!”. Demand a welfare state. Pray for the children. Support the charitable organisations of the church and other governmental and non-governmental organisations. Regain the alertness of a proper citizen. And the wide embrace of a Christian brother. May evil retreat back to its root, so that all the Angels who find no place to tread together with us, can live free.
Transl. And adapt. By the dear brother in Christ, Elefterios Andronis, Sportime
Police and doctors have never seen, for decades, a child so badly abused, especially at such a young age!
Little Angelos was badly abused by his mother and her partner in Therisos, Iraklio, and was discovered, following a neighbor’s call for emergency assistance. Upon arrival at the hospital, doctors discovered a large subdural hematoma, and the child was rushed into surgery to relieve the pressure. Examinations revealed large subdural hematoma and multiple injuries, including bruises, contusions and burns in various stages of healing, suggesting prolonged abuse. Memory Eternal, our little Angel! Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
My little Angel
My little angel, soul so pure,
How did you suffer such a wound?
Cruel arms, meant to embrace you,
Offered you pain,
Sorrow and death.
A star in dark night your heart,
The earth cried, the heaven moved,
Christ stood at the door
And took you in His arms.
Your body may rest here,
But your soul is now
Joyfully running in roads of Light.
At the feet of God, with radiant eyes,
Your laughter lights a new dawn.
The Theotokos took you in her arms,
“Come my child, here there is no shadow”.
Angels chant in the deep blue
“Welcome, little one, to Paradise.”
Clouds have become a gentle crib,
Stars lull you to sleep
Fear not, dear one, sleep with no fear,
No malice here can reach you.
On earth, the trees are still crying
Rocks break, shadows watch you,
But your soul feels no pain any longer,
Flies free, like spring snow.
The Theotokos is kissing you on the forehead,
“You will become the sign for every orphan”.
Christ is dressing you with light,
“Live now in peace”. Come,
Enjoy rewards and crowns I have prepared for you.
The moon is holding you in her arms.
Every night from now on,
You will speak secretly to the stars,
Whisper mystically to all who suffer
“Fear not, there is Light here”
Memory Eternal, Little Angel,
Forget us not weary sojourners
Angel of light, flying over wide meadows
Little flower that blossomed in rain
Bring His Life to all child victims.
https://youtu.be/2ma_Ouv74_8?si=Utv5g22QEeGMyQ7q
Such silence and peace at the Monastery of St John the Forerunner, Chalkidiki! Another colour and spiritual hue in the rich tapestry of monastic visits
For years, here, Gerondas Gregorios of blessed memory offered his prayers with tears and his never-to-be-forgotten spiritual guidance. My rebirth in Christ ((John 3:4), my new life literally started here about 40 years ago.
Off to my next pilgrimage, then, on this year’s three-day public holiday for Thessaloniki: 26 Sat, +St. Demetrius, 27 Sun and 28 Mon: Ohi, national holiday. I can’t wait!
Back in 2019, I undertook the same pilgrimage of mine, and precisely on the same dates and days!
More recently, my own spiritual father visited this monastery just last year.
May it be a refreshing and strengthening experience in His Mercy!
In Memoriam: Archpriest James Bernstein
https://youtu.be/YIfavpjvuSs?si=7F8M4x9_u0u1VWKm
Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!
With faith in Christ and hope in the resurrection, we share news of the repose of Archpriest James Bernstein, an alumnus of St Vladimir’s Seminary. Fr James fell asleep in the Lord in the morning hours of June 17, 2024, surrounded by his family.
The Very Rev. A. James Bernstein was born in Lansing, MI on May 6, 1946, and was raised in a conservative Jewish family in Queens, NY. A teenage chess champion, Fr James had a dramatic conversion experience at the age of sixteen after reading the New Testament. His spiritual journey included a number of twists and turns: he was chapter president of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship at Queens College, helped found the Jews for Jesus ministry in San Francisco, was a staff member of the Christian World Liberation Front in Berkeley, served as a pastor of an Evangelical Orthodox Church near Silicon Valley, and in the 1980s was received into the Eastern Orthodox Church. Fr James went on to attend St Vladimir’s Seminary and graduated with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree in 1989. He was ordained to the holy priesthood the year prior.
Fr James’ priestly ministry took him to the state of Washington, where he was assigned pastor of St Paul Antiochian Orthodox Church in Brier. He served there for more than twenty-five years before retiring in 2017. During his parish ministry he also authored numerous works through Ancient Faith Publishing and was a contributor to the Orthodox Study Bible: New Testament and Psalms (Thomas Nelson, 1993). Probably his most famous book is SURPRISED BY CHRIST: My Journey from Judaism to Orthodox Christianity. 2008. (Is in 4th printing). And what a book it is! Mesmerising! I especially enjoy the Audiobook version where one can listen Father himself reading his book.
Fr James is survived by his wife, Kh. Martha (Bonnie); children Kh. Heather (Fr David) Sommer, Holly Bernstein, Peter Bernstein, and Mary (James) Curry; grandchildren John (Audrey), Nicholas, Ephramia, Elizabeth, and Irene Sommer; Violet Bernstein; and Noah, Levi, Lina, and Sarah Curry.
Funeral information may be found on the Antiochian Archdiocese website, here.
A section of this article was adapted from Ancient Faith Ministries’ website.
Source: St.Vladimir’s
Yesterday, Saturday, June 1st, some friends from St. George Metochion took me to a pilgrimage to various hermitages outside Thessaloniki, near Ossa, where valiant Mothers lead ascetic lives, all alone, together with God, in the mountain wilderness. Surrounded by all these hermitages is the Transfiguration of Our Saviour Orthodox Monastery, in Sochos, a male monastery I have always wanted to visit for the last 12 months, since Josef Van den Berg has reposed there at 74, after an amazing meta-noia, conversion to God. (+ Oct. 16, 2023)
On Friday, October 13th 2023, the famous Dutch actor and puppeteer, Jozef Van den Berg, turned Orthodox Christ hermit reposed in the Lord at the age of 74 at Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Sochos, where he went to live the last few months of his life on earth, due to his failing health. His funeral was held on Tue 17th at the same Monastery and he was buried there. It was a blessing to light a candle and pray at his grave.
Jozef, who was born in Beers of the Netherlands on the 22nd of August 1949, was a very well known actor in the 1970’s and 1980’s in the Netherlands. He was initially an atheist and married with four children. Later, he began a successful career as a wandering puppeteer for children. Then he made his own performances in the theater, for children and adults. Van den Berg travelled the world, from Australia to Canada. In the 1980’s, Jozef Van den Berg played in his last play “Enough Wait” for his brother who was seriously ill and was in a wheelchair. On September 14, 1989, he would bring that performance to the De Sing but then something very special happened.
Let me begin a little earlier. On September 12th, 1989 was the Belgian première of Genoeg Gewacht at Antwerp [Belgium is a predominantly Dutch-speaking country]. That afternoon, Van den Berg had an encounter with God, as he described it later on. Sitting in his dressing room, he wrote a letter he wanted to use that night for the first time in his play. God asked him this question by his own pen: “Why don’t you ever see that I cannot come because I’m already here?” On September 12, 1989 he still played the premiere, which later turned out to be his very last show. Van den Berg was – according to his own words – being called by God, and had to answer that.
Before the evening show on September 14th, 1989 at De Singel Arts Center in Antwerp, he took his Bible and asked God what to do. He opened the Bible at the following words: “Go away from their midst and separate yourself” (II Cor. 6:17).
Before the beginning of the play he said to his audience:
“I will try to explain it to you. I hope that you have one thing for me and that is respect for my decision. I will never play again. I have approached a reality which cannot be played anymore. I have searched for a tremendously long time; have been everywhere. Eventually I came to the conclusion, and this conclusion, I have to admit, is that the seeker seeks but he is found. That’s why tonight is the last time I’m on stage. You don’t believe me, but that’s the deceitful side of theater. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, for this man, for Christ only, have I searched for this peace I wanted. And I know that it is so, and I quit this profession. For me, it’s over. I seek reality. I can’t say things that are not true for me anymore. I wish you a good day. I go. May you all go well. The money you paid can be given back at the box office.”
The audience was stunned. Was this real or was it theater? A deadly silence followed, and the theater audience reacted emotionally. Thus, on September 1989 at 7:55 pm, the theater career of Joseph Van den Berg came to an end.
That night was the beginning of an extraordinary conversion and odyssey. His quest led him to Maldon (Essex), Athens and the Holy Mountain of Athos, to further find out how he had to continue his road with God. His children and wife had difficulties understanding his conversion, and he was left all alone. Alone with God! Jozef gave up everything, job, fortune, family, everything, started living like a beggar, and eventually converted to Orthodox Christianity a year later, after paying visits to Elder Sophrony in Essex, Elder Porphyrios in Athens and Elder Paisos in Mount Athos.
An important event preceeded his conversion: a woman he knew from the Gurdjieff movement died in a serious traffic accident, and she had pointed out that she wanted to be buried in the Orthodox way. This happened on August 17th at Eindhoven. There, he heard the Trisagion for the first time in Dutch. That’s where he began to see that Gurdjieff wasn’t right.
At the end of September 1989 he went to the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint John the Baptist at Maldon, Essex, England, where he talked with Elder Archimandrite Sophrony, and he confirmed the experience God had given him and urged him to repentance. Elder Sophrony told him that he cannot sustain God’s Love if he does not endure the furnace of repentance. At the beginning of January 1990 he had a very important meeting in Athens with the Greek Elder Porphyrios. This last one too confirmed the experience God had given him in Antwerp, and he told him that he has to now to become an Actor of Christ. Saint Porfyrios urged him not to betray Christ and turn down His calling. He was then sent by Father Porphyrios to the Holy Mountain of Athos, where he had a meeting with Father Paisios, who too blessed him.
Back to Netherlands, with the blessing of three saints, things evolved in a different way than expected, everything started going seriously wrong as all three Saints had “warned” him, and he got in more and more trouble on all fronts. He couldn’t sleep anymore and became over-tired. In the middle of this crisis, on June 18, 1990, he asked a priest in order to be accepted into the Orthodox Church. Months passed by in “dead-ends” and “walls” were raised all around him.
During the night of the 1st to the 2nd of June, he realized that he was left alone, and on June 2nd, 1991 he attended the Divine Liturgy at the [small Orthodox] Monastery of the Holy Prophet Elias at St. Hubert. That’s where he left what was left of his money on the collection plate. “Lord, from now on, You have to take care of me. I totally surrender.” There, Archimandrite Pachom read from the Gospel of that Sunday of All Saints: “He that loves father or mother more then me, is not worthy of me: and he that loves son or daughter more then me, is not worthy of me. And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me. He that finds his life, shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake, shall find it” (Matthew 10:37-39). Two hours later, after the Liturgy, he went straight to the Orthodox Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos near Asten, where he stayed for 19 days, and where he left his Mercedes Combi, because it didn’t want to start again. For him. It started for his brother a day later!
His only question was: “How does God want me to shape my calling?” Slowly, peace returned to him. From July 1991, Jozef Van den Berg started living as a hermit, first in the bicycle shed of the town hall in Neerijnen, later in a self-built chapel in the backyard of a fellow villager. There were four poles close to the quince tree, and Joseph understood from this that he had to build the “Pull-Up” under the quince tree. With this “messenger”, he built a small chapel of 2 by 1.5 meters, which still stands today. He prayed and received people every day. He lived on whatever people brought him. He had no connection to any utility whatsoever. Eventually, there was a toilet in the castle garden, which Joseph and his guests could use, and the last few years he hasd a mobile phone for emergencies.He obviously received a lot of a media due to his lifestyle since then…
In the end, he left Neerijnen in August 2023 and traveled to Sochos in Greece, where he reposed on the 13th 2023 at the age of 74 in the Greek Orthodox Transfiguration Monastery.
More about this monastery and its founder and spiritual father, Archimandrite Ioannikios Kotsonis, the theologian and poet, the spiritual son of Saint Porfyrios in the next blogpost.
Taking things for granted is a trap most of us fall into. It is easy to get used to things and to stop noticing. We stop noticing God’s little gifts, little gestures of love of those around us, our comforts and advantages. The last four weeks, since Father J. has been taken gravely ill, have been a time of deep sadness but also of reflection and hopefully of growth.
Familiarity is a dangerous element in our spiritual life. I have spent so much time with Father J. over the last 18 years, I have relied so much on his advice, prayers, lifts to church, on his love, tolerance and good will that I think I have come to take it all for granted. In any crisis, I assume that he will be there to guide me and especially pray for me. In this crisis, for the first time, I had to pray for him and couldn’t ask for his guidance. I felt lost, but I also felt more than ever the power of prayer, the strengthening bonds of fellowship and I experienced once again the manifold grace of brothers and sisters in Christ praying together. For years now, I have felt that father joyfully carried me and every single person in his church on his back like a cross. His care and prayers make up for our negligence and lack of zeal, for all our lack of love towards God, the church and others.
As a community, especially the cradle Orthodox, we always take for granted that we shall have a church where the Holy Liturgy will be served every Sunday (take it or leave it as it suits us), that there will be a Father to come bless our house, cars, food and visit us when we are ill, that there will be a Father to sign the papers of church attendance for our children to get a place at a desired school and give us a reference of good character, that this Father will pray for us whenever we ask him, that he will be there to hear our confession whenever
we feel burdened, that he will settle our little squabbles, that he will baptise our children and read us the prayers on our death bed and serve at our funeral. In the case of our parish, we take for granted even more than that, that our Father will make sure everyone has transport to get to church, that he will answer the phone to hear our little troubles at any hour of the day or night, that he will arrive first in church and leave last and generally make sure that everything is well with the church and in our life. The last weeks have forcefully reminded me that all these are not our due or by any means guaranteed to be there and that we are blessed to have had all these for so many years through God’s grace and Father J.’s love, faith and energy.
Umberto Eco said: “Absence is to love as wind is to fire: it extinguishes the little flame, it
fans the big.” I cannot exactly quantify my affection for Father J., but I have thought
of him more over the last month than ever before. In his absence, so many touching memories and images came flooding in bringing along both sadness and joy. One of my favourite mental snapshots is of Father looking up to see somebody come through the church door. Every time his eyes light up with joy when his gaze rests on you as you come in through the door and I noticed that Father’s joy is even greater when someone comes who has not been to the church in months or years. This joyful, loving gaze makes you feel so welcome and loved and somehow special. It makes you feel that you are coming home. And this image lead on to another memory of Father crying when he reads the Gospel of the Return of the prodigal son. I cannot remember him ever reading it without tears in his eyes. His love for all these many prodigal children that we are is so great that he stands by us in prayer before God no matter what we are or have done. I know for sure he has stood by me with gentleness and patience even when I disobeyed his spiritual guidance or I argued back or wanted to leave the church.
St John of the Ladder teaches that it is more fearful to anger your Spiritual Father than to
disobey and anger God himself. If we anger God, our spiritual father has the grace to pray for us, to intercede and obtain forgiveness for us, but if our spiritual father turns away from us, we have no defence or advocate before God. This is how I have felt about my Spiritual Father, about Father J. He has been my advocate before God, my safety rope for the rock climbing. This rope has kept me connected to the rock when I fell, it stopped me from walking away and giving up when the going got too hard.
Fr Seraphim of Mull Monastery tells the story of the advice he received from his spiritual
father just before he was ordained. He told him that the value of his priesthood will be measured in the madness of his love for every single human being who will stand before him irrespective of what they look like, who they are, where they come from, what they have done.
This is exactly how I see Father’s ministry. In his love of all people and in his joyful daily sacrifices for us, I see the reflection of God’s love for all his children. By knowing Father, I feel I have come a step closer to understanding God’s love for every single one of us.
The church or monastery is like a beehive. The spirit of the queen permeates the whole hive and sets the tone for all the bees. If the queen bee is aggressive the whole hive will be an aggressive one, just so when a community has a very loving father, like us, the whole community is loving and gentle. And if at times this isn’t the case, Father dissipates all tension by his prayers and mild spirit.
As Father is recovering from his illness and there is a general sigh of relief in the community and a sense of joy and expectation, I have made a vow not to take my spiritual father for granted ever again or any of God’s gifts to our community, but rejoice in each of them and see them for what they are – signs of God’s love: the beautiful church filled with the gifts from Old parishioners, the people who have prepared the prosphoro, brought the wine, oil and candles and cleaned the church, the people who have come to give and receive and most of all the presence of a father through whose hand a gentle and humble God reaches out to his people. None of my or anyone’s giving of time, money or energy can match the wonder of these gifts.
A. McC.
* Kalo Stadio! A blessed Great Lent!
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN FAITH AND LIFE 