Others come to the Mount of Saints to find prophets, soothsayers and run around looking for them. The older ones see it on TV and the internet and come to confirm it first hand, and are exploited by the terror they are subjected to. They even exploit even the words and writings of the saintly Paisioy.
The old man as we knew him was a man full of peace, love and kindness. You went to him and he gave you peace of mind, hope, joy for life. Today hundreds of photocopies of a manuscript of his about the Antichrist and 666 are being shared as if that is the main message of the old man.
He was anxious about what was going on. Someone translated a pamphlet from one of the many Protestant pamphlets circulating in America and he took it to heart. All of this had kind of faded away by now in America and we told him, most of us had read it several years before his pamphlet came out. But he insisted. He was also sued by the old man Porphyrios not to continue with these things. Futurism is a religious babble that brings unrest and indifference to the salvation of the soul.
More wrenched souls full of guilt are coming, desperate for salvation.
Unfortunately, our ego, which always seeks justice, does not allow our self-image to be spoiled by the moral transgressions we commit. Not having repentance, that is, a willingness to restore our relationship with God where there is humility and hope, we try on our own to settle ourselves in a senseless way without raising our hands upwards, because of our sinfulness. .We are constantly sinking into a guilty state and many end up wanting to put God out of our lives because, as Dostoevsky says, “If you put God out of your life, anything goes.”
And there are others, who are looking for the big names, for the saints, so that they too can rely not only on Mount Athos. Most of the time these great names are alerted, but Christ and idols are not reconciled.
I think the West has extenuating circumstances in trying to de-Christianize. There the heresy was endorsed and with Christianity was identified the harsh morality, which has tired people for so many centuries, and that is why they want to get rid of this burden of religion that does not give life.
Of course, many of our rulers imitate them, mainly out of complexes, but also because they have not tasted orthodoxy.
Great deception in our church prevailed during the time of the Turkish occupation. Western texts were translated for the supposed spiritual training of our race, with those on the satisfaction of divine justice. You have done a sin you will do a righteous act to satisfy the offended justice of God. Alas, if God were a grocer. And man is in constant anxiety to settle his calculations with God.
What is the Orthodox way? We sin, we realize it, we ask for forgiveness from God who knows everything and if it is something important, through confession we ask for the absolution of the church. Not because we have committed a personal sin, but because by sinning we wound the body of Christ, which is the church. If we sit down to bask in the daily grind, then in the effort of sorting them out we miss the train, life goes on. Our church in every service, especially in the Divine Liturgy, prays for the forgiveness and remission of sins “of all devout and orthodox Christians” and we receive forgiveness when we feel part of our church and not only strive for our individual settlement. We have the truth unadulterated but we don’t experience it.
We are trying and demanding that others build a world made of angels. This is not possible.
The heretical Protestants are vindicated by earning money. Capitalism is their creation. We don’t stick to that. Nor are we disciplined because of our temperament, so that we can catch up to their technological or economic achievements, because we don’t really need them. We Greeks are Orthodox because our souls seek God. We live by the miracle. Our ancient ancestors invented the “by machine god”. Since then we live and rely on the mercy of heaven. We all look to miracles for solutions to health problems, emotional, financial and other difficulties. But we harden our souls and disapprove of those who do not adhere to the formulas of religion and often drive them away in our own way, probably because we are deprived. Christ taught us love. If we do not love and embrace the lost sheep, do not expect to find mercy ourselves. A good word is what we need. Materials may be dwindling, but God is great.
We are culturally, psychologically, about the same as when Christ came 2000 years ago. People followed him because they were desperate, tired, thirsty, and in Christ they saw light. We don’t see that light today because we close our eyes. Let us throw away the scales of misery, misery and selfishness to see the light that alone can help us overcome today’s problems. When we relax our guilt we can, as a balm, manifest to the soul the word of the God who feeds us. Man is not only fed with bread, but also with the life-giving words of God. Happy Resurrection
Archim. Makarios
Elder of the holy chilandari cell of the birth of the theotokos “Marouda” Mount Athos
