About a year ago, on April 17, 2019, Christian
Europe and the whole world were shocked by
the results of the devastating fire in the
iconic church of Notre Dame de Paris.
A warning point is that God has withdrawn
His grace and this is obviously unpleasant.
But there is in this particular event the
pleasant message that I am not, as many want
to believe, the Great Absent One.
I am everywhere and I send a message because
I love you.
I am not indifferent to the wrong and dead-end
itinerary of your life.
And the message is what Saint Porphyrios also
left us as a legacy.
"But may the Plan of God come, that men may
gain an awareness, see the chaos in full light,
all alive before them, and say: Eh!
We fall into chaos, we are lost.
All back, turn back, we've gone astray.
And let them come again to the path of God,
and let the Orthodox faith shine".
Exactly one year from then, on Easter 2020,
churches throughout Christian Europe, Mount
Athos, Russia, Serbia, etc., will operate
behind closed doors.
Let's look at what Christ tells us about the
signs of the times: "... hypocrites, you can
discern only the face of the sky, but the
signs of the times you cannot know?"
(Mat. 16,3)
Wasn't what happened to the iconic Notre Dame
in Paris, the Temple symbol of the West, a
"sign of the times", at least for those who
still remain well-intentioned?
Greece is the only state in the world in which
the Constitution (preamble), from the first
revolutionary Constitution of Epidaurus (1823),
explicitly invokes the name of the Holy and
Co-Own and Indivisible Trinity and at the
same time since the prevailing religion in
Greece is Orthodoxy, essentially the head
of this state is the head of the Church, our
Lord Jesus Christ.
So simply and clearly the Greek constitution,
which was written in blood during the struggle
for freedom, indicates but also reminds us
throughout time, that Christ is the head of
this small nation and it is as if repeating
almost the same words of Theodore Kolokotronis,
that God signed the freedom of Greece and
does not take back his signature.
Christianity in the rest of Europe had a path
contrary to Orthodoxy.
There was almost always a clear separation
of state and church.
In the European treaties, there are no ties
to any religion and not the slightest reference
to Christianity.
And while Orthodoxy experienced most of the
persecutions and wars against it, on the contrary,
the "Christianity" of Europe experienced glories
and carried out wars against not only peoples
but also individually against people who dared
to say something different from the beliefs
developed by "Christian" Europe of the Middle
Ages.
All historically recorded events.
The end of the West by Constantine the Great,
the transfer of the capital from Rome to the
New Rome, Constantinople, and the tremendous
prosperity experienced by Byzantium centered
on Hellenism, it was obvious that they provoked
envy, that is why from the first moment the
heresies, which later brought the schisms,
the Crusades and much suffering.
The coronation of Charlemagne confirms this
very envy, questioning the ecumenical status
of the Byzantine Emperor and the Ecumenical
Patriarch.
The Pope of Rome had now found his own patron
and the way to the schism had been opened.
Catholicism quickly showed its face.
Holy examination, crusades, etc.
From the holy examination alone the victims
are counted by historians in the tens of thousands,
maybe even hundreds.
Catholicism, which believed in the infallibility
of the Pope and his councils, found in the
person of one of its own children, Luther,
its challenger, who instead of approaching
Orthodoxy, even, moved further away.
On the contrary, Orthodoxy not only did not
carry out crusades and persecutions but carried
on their backs a heavy Cross of trials.
She was also accused when the "Christian"
West "Christianized" the people with the
sword and violence, while Byzantium, through
Cyril and Methodius preached Christ to the
Slavs, through the Scriptures, culture, and
Greek education and with the following important
difference.
The Greek alphabet was not imposed on them,
even in a peaceful way, but he created the
Cyrillic alphabet, compatible with the language
of the Slavs, in the spirit of freedom.
"But the Lord is the Spirit; where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is freedom" (Cor. 3:17).
So those Slavs, like the Greeks, as genuine
children of Christ were trained a lot in
history.
"For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, but
he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."
(Heb. 12,6)
Who can forget the millions of martyrs and
ethnic martyrs, the persecutions, the persecutions,
and the deaths, especially in the last 400
years of Turkish rule?
Patriarchs to become martyrs, priests and
monks to be slaughtered inside the monasteries
and testify?
And let all of them be the first to support
the uprising of the Greeks.
If Kapodistrias had not been present at the
conference of Laibach (Ljubljana, Slovenia),
to say that the Greeks are claiming the self-evident,
i.e. their freedom, the "Christian" powers
of the West, with their representative Metternich,
(his timeless ideas), they would have smothered
in blood the Greek revolutionaries of 1821.
And when our "friends" finally managed to
get I. Kapodistrias out of the way, the Bavarians
took over the reins of our homeland, they
closed (!) the majority of monasteries and
since then a multitude of priests and archpriests,
up to our days, fled for studies (theological)
in Germany.
In 1967 (another study in Germany), Hieronymos
I Kotsonis was illegally installed by the
Junta as Archbishop of Athens and All of Greece.
During the period of his high priesthood,
many bishops and metropolitans were removed,
irregularly, and many were forced to resign.
For those priests and high priests who collaborated
after Jerome I, Saint Porphyrios was clear:
"They had to be deposed", he told us.
For this reason, when the order was later
restored with the election of the Blessed Archbishop
Seraphim Tikas, some began to call him "Tikas"
derogatorily, while Saint Porphyrios, most
of them, never in their souls, accepted him
as a Saint of God to this day.
But it was not only Orthodox Greece that suffered.
Who can forget the incredible persecution
of the Bolsheviks in Russia against Christians?
And there, all recorded in history.
Orthodox Russia was a problem for the rest
of Europe.
The persecution of Tsar Nicholas, the rise
of the Bolsheviks and World War I ended the
Russian Empire.
In the online library, we find that between
1917-1935 in Russia alone, 130,000 priests
were imprisoned and 95,000 were executed.
And the numbers, for all the years of the
the communist regime is simply terrifying.
The Turks themselves today boast that with
thousands of tons of armaments and money they
took from the Bolsheviks, they managed to
throw the Greeks into the sea of Smyrna
in 1922 on Kemal.
Of course, the neighbors avoid mentioning
the "allies" of the Greeks who also helped
them.
They forget to mention the "Christian" governments
of France, Germany, and Italy, which took
care of the extermination of Hellenism in
Asia Minor.
It was the eve of World War I and "Christian"
Germany had already invaded the "great patient"
Ottoman Empire.
The Greeks are their only obstacle.
Propaganda leaflets from the German Bank of
Palestine urged the Turks to stop all transactions
with the Greeks, while German soldiers indicated
the displacement of the Greek populations
of Eastern Thrace and Asia Minor, intending
to systematically plan the mass transportation
of thousands of Greeks to the interior, theoretically
for "military reasons", which in its implementation,
aimed at their physical extermination.
In all the displacements suffered by Hellenism,
methods inspired by German advisers were used.
And the Greeks dead, disabled, and refugees...
And then again besieged by the "Christian"
Italian troops of 1940, who, thanks to the
the heroism of the Greeks and the protection of
the Virgin Mary was massacred in the Albanian
mountains, and then again by the "Christian"
German boot, to complete what the Italians
failed to do.
Distomo, Kalavryta, Crete, occupation, hunger,
executions, death.
These from a country that during Nazism had
religious organizations of German Christians
and the Protestant Church of the Reich and
at the same time Hilter in his speech to the
Reichstag in 1933 stated that "Christian ideals
are the basic shield of defense of the soul
of the German people".
Complete confusion and paranoia.
But we didn't lack paranoia either.
How else could the event be characterized
when people and clergy take up arms against
the Germans and Italians, write glorious pages
in history, and then write bloody pages of
civil war that leveled the country?
And while "Christian" Europe is restoring
its ruins, we are killing brother brother.
"Christian" Europe once again "showed" its
solidarity with the Nation that offered so
much to the world like no other.
In one scene of the film The Godfather, all
of Christian, Europe is described in a short
dialogue.
Cardinal Lamberto takes a wet stone from the
fountain and shows it to Corleone saying,
“Look at this stone.
It has been in the water for a long time, (then
it breaks) but the water has not penetrated
inside.
The same is true of men in Europe.
For centuries (Europe) has been surrounded
by Christianity but Christ has not penetrated,
Christ does not live in them."
And it is true.
In Europe, when many years ago the member
states decided to unite under a common economic
umbrella, they had to rely on a model.
And when we talk about Christian Europe, this
model should be sought within 2000 years of
Christian history.
The first successful economic association
was essentially the first church of the Apostles,
when everyone had everything in common.
Nobody was poor.
On the contrary, today's European Union, one
step before collapse, does not realize that
it constitutes disorder and disorder, with
rich states regulating the destinies of poorer
states, and all this not through war, but
within a common economic union, where the
Christian spirit is demonstrably absent.
It is absent from hearts but triumphs in shop
windows.
Isn't the party that governed Germany in the
years of the Greek memos a showcase of Christ?
And the name of this one?
"Christian Democratic Union".
How hypocritical...
This hypocrisy was also the pity of Saint
Porphyry and for this very reason, he wanted
to do a work equal to the Acts of the Apostles
so that now the Rebirth of the world would
come about based on the Acts of the Apostles.
Re-evangelization of people and building of
society on the model of the first church.
But can everything start from this small corner
of the world, Greece?
And yet the role of Greece is significant.
I think that any nation that experiences only
a little of what the Greeks have suffered
in history would have simply been written
off the books, and would have been erased.
There is a reason Greece still exists, it
resists.
Ten years of crisis and now this unprecedented
crisis of the epidemic, which will apparently
bring even worse situations soon, but the
Greek holds on because he has Christ himself
as his Governor.
"As under your rule, always guarded," says
the priest.
So is.
And yet instead of kneeling down and begging
God to have mercy on us, we say with a worldly
understanding that health is a precious good
when the Apostle Paul tells us: "And comfort
me; my grace is sufficient for you; for my
strength is in sickness."
are ending".
(2 Cor. 12,9) and "For Christ's sake, I rejoice
in sicknesses, in reproaches, in needs, in
persecutions, in distresses; for when I am
sick, then I am strong".
(2 Cor. 12,10) and "I boast, look, I boast
about my illness".
(2 Cor. 11:30).
But if Christ had looked at His health, no
Man would have been saved.
It is prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah: "he
was wounded by our sins and softened by our
iniquities; our teaching of peace is upon
him.
At his bruise we were found."
(Is.
53.5)
Christ did not come to save the world from
the diseases of the body.
He came for the diseases of the soul.
He did not come to give us physical health.
He came to give us spiritual freedom.
But unfortunately fear prevails.
And fear is spreading and some are betting
on it.
And Christians are unaware that fear is removed
from the soul.
Love (Christ) casts out fear.
(1 John 4:18).
Even the Apostles in the face of fear bowed
down, betrayed Christ, denied him, and shut
themselves up in their homes in fear.
It's a matter of faith.
They lost their faith because of this and
Christ said to Peter that he prayed to the
Father that their faith might be strengthened.
"And the Lord said: Simon, Simon, behold,
Satan has made you thin like fine linen; but
I have bound you around so that your faith
does not fail; and when you return, support
your brothers."
(Luke 22:31-32)
Saint Porphyrios used to say: "Christ does
not want fear.
Until the end, the poor Apostles were afraid,
shut up, what happened!
The Spirit that went, that finished them,
Harris finished them.
Fear means we have an absence of Christ.
He is here knocking on the door and we look
at the spreading of fear through every means
now used for that purpose and we consent.
And we accept to stay with closed Churches,
without Easter and Mysteries because who told
us so?
The "Christian" West and their friends within
the walls?
Those who built a Europe of crusaders, wars,
memoranda, slavery, economic measures, impoverishment,
lies?
Easter 2020 and an unprecedented betrayal
is being committed against the Greek Orthodox.
The government, allied with the opposition,
announces that M. Week will take place behind
closed doors for the faithful, not even in
open spaces.
The state did not do the right thing by closing
the temples all over the country.
Hospitals across the country are open to treat
patients.
But aren't the Churches a healing place for
souls and bodies?
"heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise
the dead, cast out demons; freely receive,
freely give."
(Mat. 10,8)
In the Church, all the Mysteries are celebrated,
with the Eucharist at the top, and the Church
offers free healing to all people who will
come with deep faith "... your faith will
save you..."
(Luke 7:50).
Free like the Saints Anargyri and not like
the modern healing centers are made for the
few
who can afford it.
In times of extreme poverty and destruction,
people take refuge where the real healing
center is, in the Church.
It is no coincidence that Saint Porphyrios
also wanted his hermitage in Milesi to function
as an on-call hospital for the whole world.
As long as he lived, even when he was in the
polyclinic of Athens, all the doctors bowed
to the grace and knowledge of the Saint.
And not only.
Until the end of his life people of all sciences
bowed to his Grace.
He rarely admitted the doctors.
When I was serving my stint in the Army, I
visited him to get his blessing.
I recently had a thyroid DNA test.
Without telling him anything about the test
because I didn't think it was serious, he
saw it and revealed my visit to the hospital.
I was unaware of the seriousness of the problem.
Then he said to me: "Hey, you know what the
thyroid is for humans.
It is the winder of man.
If they gave you medicines and treatments
they would make you restless, and you would
be useless.
These are healed by love in Christ.
Black doctors don't know it's a mental illness.
Then you go to Mount Athos, as well as Kavsokalyvia,
you wouldn't even do it for a wedding, you'd
be useless."
The Saint once confided somewhere that: "Even
my own human doctors, they did me harm...".
However, Saint Porphyrios showed them some
good doctors.
He once revealed to me that I had a great
illness.
He told me details that stuck with me.
"You went through a great illness, but Christ
made you well.
This doctor is good for taking you in, he
helped you a lot."
The doctor I had visited had indeed immediately
made a correct diagnosis of the problem that
had presented itself to me.
Several times I found the miraculous power
of Saint Porphyry both in my body and in my
soul.
And not only me but also thousands of other
people.
In the past when people did not have the means,
money and comforts and there was poverty,
they took refuge in God with faith.
And faith worked and helped a lot.
Unfortunately, in recent years, the good times
and comforts have made people soft and lazy.
We have turned away from God and become lukewarm.
Our faith waned and that's why we came to this
far.
But everything is granted by God for a reason.
This state has been granted by Him because
of our sins because we have greatly exceeded
and wronged God.
"I am visited with the rod of their iniquities
and in the plague of their iniquities" (Ps.
88,33)
The Orthodox Church lives Holy Pentecost as
a period of repentance, which is why it celebrates
just before Easter, on April 1st, (For the
Church the Fifth Sunday of Lent) Saint Mary
of Egypt, this model of repentance.
She was not allowed to enter the Temple in
Jerusalem so that she could realize her great
sinfulness and have a deep and true repentance.
She lived a full 47 years in the desert and
was credited with partaking in the Immaculate
Mysteries shortly before her final sleep.
May Saint Mary of Egypt become for us, in
these difficulties we are experiencing as
a people, the model of repentance, so that
we can celebrate a true Easter and be truly
resurrected.
To all the Greek Orthodox and throughout Christendom,
HAPPY RESURRECTION!
