1.Σὲ ξέχασαν; Δὲ σὲ πῆραν οὔτε ἕνα τηλέφωνο; Δὲν πειράζει. Καὶ προπαντὸς μὴν παραπονεῖσαι.
2.Σὲ ἀδίκησαν; Ξέχασε τό.
3.Σὲ περιφρόνησαν; Νὰ χαίρεσαι.
4.Σὲ κατηγοροῦν; Μὴν ἀντιλέγεις.
5.Σὲ κοροϊδεύουν; Μὴν ἀπαντᾶς.
6.Σὲ βρίζουν; Σιωπὴ καὶ προσευχή.
7.Σοὺ ἀφαιροῦν τὸ λόγο; Σὲ διακόπτουν; Μὴ λυπᾶσαι.
8.Σὲ κακολογοῦν; Μὴν ἀντιμάχεσαι.
9.Σοὺ μεταδίδουν εὐθύνες τὰ παιδιά σου; Οἱ συγγενεῖς σου, οἱ δικοί σου οἱ ἄνθρωποι;Μὴ διαμαρτύρεσαι.
10.Θυμώνουν μαζί σου; Νὰ παραμένεις ἤρεμος.
11.Σοὺ κλέβουν φανερά; Κᾶνε τὸν τυφλό.
12.Σὲ εἰρωνεύονται; Νὰ μακροθυμεῖς.
13.Δὲν ἀκοῦνε τὶς συμβουλές σου; Ἰδίως δὲν ἀκοῦνε τὶς συμβουλές σου τὰ παιδιά σου;Πέσε στὰ γόνατα καὶ κᾶνε...προσευχή.
14.Ἐκνευρισμὸς στὸ ἀντρόγυνο; Ἐσὺ φταῖς. Κι ἐσὺ φταῖς. Ὄχι ὁ ἄλλος.
15.Ἔφταιξες; Ζήτησε συγγνώμη.
16.Δὲν ἔφταιξες; Πάλι ζήτησε συγγνώμη.
17.Ἔχεις ὑγεία; Δόξαζε τὸν Θεόν.
18.Ἔχεις ἀρρώστια; Ἔχεις καρκίνο, ταλαιπωρεῖσαι, ὑποφέρεις, βασανίζεσαι, πονᾶς;Δόξαζε τὸν Θεόν.
19.Γκρίνια, ἀνεργία, φτώχεια μέσα στὸ σπίτι; Νήστευσε. Ἀγρύπνησε. Κᾶνε προσευχή.
20.Γιὰ ὅλους καὶ γιὰ ὅλα προσευχή. Πολλὴ προσευχή. Πολλὴ προσευχή. Νηστεία καὶ προσευχὴ διότι “τοῦτο τὸ γένος τῶν παθῶν καὶ τῶν δαιμόνων οὐκ ἐκπορεύεται παρὰ μόνο μὲ νηστεία καὶ προσευχή”.
“Είθε ἀδελφοί μου, νὰ ἀκολουθήσουμε ὅλοι μας, καὶ πρῶτος ἐγώ, τὶς ταπεινὲς αὐτὲς συμβουλές, καὶ νὰ εἶστε βέβαιοι ὅτι θὰ σωθοῦμε.”
http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2012/10/20.html
The following is taken from the autobiography of Elder Philotheos Zervakos regarding the final meeting he had with his spiritual father, Saint Nektarios:
I considered it my divine obligation and duty to see my spiritual father, St. Nektarios, before returning to the holy monastery of my repentance [in Paros]. Therefore, I went to see him at the Rizareios Theological School. However, I learned that he had resigned from his post and was now living in Aegina, so I went to Aegina. It was August now, and the sun was burning fiercely when I arrived outside the convent about 1:00 PM. I was just outside the gates when I saw an elderly man with a white beard, a shabby cassock held by a belt, and a straw hat to protect his head from the sun. He was digging with a pickax, filling a small barrel with dirt, and spreading the dirt around a 15 sq. yard area to level the convent's courtyard. I thought that he was either one of the conven't workers to whom they had given an old cassock so as not to soil his clothes, or an old novice from the monastery. Approaching the elder, I greeted him and asked, "Elder, is the Bishop here?"
"He is here," he told me.
"Inside?" I asked. "Is he in the monastery?"
"Yes," the elder said, "he is inside."
"Good, go and tell him that a spiritual child of his is here, a deacon, who wants to see him."
"May it be blessed," he responded humbly, and putting down the pickax, he showed me to a new room about fifteen yards away from the convent's entrance. He told me, "Wait here and I will go tell him to come."
Five minutes had not gone by, when - what a surprise, what depth of immeasurable humility! Surprised and shocked, I saw that the man whom I had thought to be a worker, a villager, or a peasant and to whom I had spoken harshly and ordered around, was the Bishop himself! Neither had I even considered that this was the afternoon rest hour, when everyone slept! I should have never told him to do anything, but instead, waited patiently for the time of Vespers. No, I the disciple had shown my extreme pride while my teacher and spiritual father had shown his extreme and complete humility! I was struck speechless and knelt down, tearfully begging him to forgive me for my pride and bad manners. He being guileless, meek and humble of heart, of course, forgave me. We sat down and he began to guide me, as he always has, along the way of the Lord.
"Father," I asked, "how can I be delivered from this God-hated pride?" And with love and humility (the two great virtues which God had bestowed upon him), he responded:
"My dear spiritual child in the Lord, our Holy Fathers have told us, that each sin, whether great and deadly, or small and pardonable, is defeated by the opposite corresponding virtue: that is envy is defeated by love; pride by humility; avarice by poverty; greed and hard-heartedness by charity and compassion; negligence by diligence; gluttony and servitude to the stomach by fasting and restraint; idle talk by silence; criticism and slander by self-reproach and prayer; lewdness, fornication, adultery and other sins of the flesh by remembrance of death, the Last Judgment to come, and the recompense of Hell. In general, every evil is defeate by every virtue. As the Prophet David says, 'Turn away from evil and do good.' If you wish to be delivered also from the sin of pride, the mother and cause of all sin and evil, you will be delivered through humility.
"Because we are not able to do anything on our own (as the Lord says, 'Without Me, ye can do nothing') let us ask the All-Good and man-loving God with compunction and humility, with sighs and tears, to deliver us from demonic pride. Let us sigh like the Publican, cry like the adultress, repent like the Prodigal Son, saying, 'O All-Good compassionate and man-loving Father, we have sinned before You; accept our repentance and make us as one of Your paid servants.' Let us pray and beseech the Lord as the divine Chrysostom did in his daily prayers: 'O Lord, grant us humility, a humble way of thought and obedience; O Lord grant us patience, longsuffering and meekness; O Lord, implant in our hearts the root of good, Your fear; O Lord, grant us to love You with all our soul and heart and to keep Your divine commandments.'
"Likewise, so that we may be delivered from satanic and all-destructive pride, let us look to the example of our Heavenly Teacher, and to the lesson He gave to His disciples, to us, and to all Christians of every generation and age: 'Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest in your souls,' and 'When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say: We are unprifitable servants, we have done that which is our duty to do.'"
Receiving this and other beneficial counsel from my holy spiritual father Nektarios, I left joyous and spiritually gladdened; and at the beginning of September, 1910, I returned through Syros to the island of Paros and the monastery of my repentance.
St. Nektarios with his saintly spiritual children, (from left to right) Elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos, Saint Savvas of Kalymnos, Elder Amphilochios Makris and Elder Philotheos Zervakos. This icon is in the Cathedral dedicated to St. Nektarios in Aegina.
http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2013/06/lesson-in-humility-given-by-saint.html
Părintele Ştefan Karouliótul (zis și „Sârbul”), după ce a vieţuit în jur de cincizeci de ani la Sfântul Munte (1950-2000), a plecat în ţara sa natală, Serbia, unde a şi trecut la Domnul, în oraşul Belgrad, la vârsta de 80 de ani (1922-2001), la 21 noiembrie 2001 de sărbătoarea Intrării în Templu a Maicii Domnului.
De la el au rămas mai multe istorisiri despre cuvioși bătrâni din pustia Karuliei din Sfântul Munte, îndeosebi întâmplări despre Bătrânul Nicodim Karouliótul.
Acest fericit bătrân era de origine din Rusia, fiind născut la Moscova. La o vârstă fragedă a plecat în părţile Siberiei şi acolo a rămas vreme de aproximativ cincisprezece ani, făcând diferite munci pentru a se întreţine. Când a hotărât să revină acasă definitiv, la întoarcere a înnoptat la o familie foarte săracă. Noaptea s-a pornit o furtună foarte puternică, iar acoperişul casei – care era construită din crengi şi lut – a cedat, iar apa a inundat întreaga casă. Sărmana familie! Erau aşa de săraci că nici apă nu aveau după ce să bea. Copiii începuseră să plângă. Era o privelişte cu adevărat tare tristă. Toată noaptea nu a putut să închidă un ochi. Când s-a făcut dimineaţă, a chemat-o la el pe mama copiilor şi i-a spus:,,Uite, ia toţi banii aceştia şi încearcă să încropeşti cu ei ceea ce poţi pentru tine şi pentru copii”. I-a dat femeii economiile sale strânse cu multă trudă, vreme de cincisprezece ani. Ce jertfă a făcut!
Părintele Ștefan din Karulia
Sărmana femeie era să leşine când, pentru prima dată în viaţa ei văzuse atâţia bani la un loc. Nu s-a putut stăpâni şi a început să-i sărute mâinile şi picioarele.
După această întâmplare, părintele Nicodim a plecat şi s-a stabilit definitiv la Sfântul Munte. Mormântul lui şi chilioara în care a locuit se găsesc foarte aproape de coliba părintelui Ştefan. A trecut la Domnul la vârsta de 98 de ani, în urmă cu câţiva ani, şi foarte mulţi l-au văzut în vis şi au înţeles că părintele Nicodim a dobândit Împărăţia Cerurilor. Și cum să nu fi dobândit raiul, când a arătat atâta milostenie pentru familia aceea? Economiile atâtor ani petrecuţi în condiţii vitrege în îndepărtata Siberie, să le dea, aşa, într-o clipă, din dragoste pentru semeni? Dacă nici aceasta nu este dragoste…
Vieţuirea ascetică a Bătrânului Nicodim era cunoscută de către toţi în vremea aceea. Era prezent la toate privegherile şi stătea toată slujba numai în picioare, nu se aşeza deloc în strană să se odihnească. În primele zile din Postul Mare, fiindcă stomacul este obişnuit să mistuie multe alimente, la început te ,,înnebuneşte” şi ,,cere” de mâncare. De aceea, părintele Nicodim, pentru a trece de încercarea aceasta, se făcea că ,,uită” că trebuie să mănânce. Slăbea foarte mult în această perioadă, chiar şi câte cincisprezece kilograme, fiindcă nu mânca mai nimic. Mâinile i se ,,stafideau”, mai ales de la coate în jos. Abia după Înviere revenea la greutatea normală, atunci când începea din nou să mănânce.
Părintele Ştefan a avut o mare prețuire pentru Gheronda Nicodim, datorită nevoinţei pe care o făcea şi, în general, pentru modul cum vieţuia acela.
Să avem parte de rugăciunile lor!
Sursa: Învăţături duhovniceşti ortodoxe. Părintele Ştefan Karuliotul «Sârbul». Ediţie îngrijită de Ioánnis Stóias
http://www.pemptousia.ro/
Ἕνας πολύπειρος γέροντας Ἀσκητὴς τοῦ Ἁγίου Ὄρους σ’ ὅσους τὸν ἐπισκέπτονταν στὸ κελλί του καὶ ζητοῦσαν κάποια συμβουλή του ἐπανελάμβανε: «Νὰ κοιτᾶτε ψηλά, νὰ κοιτᾶτε ψηλά!».
Τί σπουδαία πραγματικὰ συμβουλή! Αὐτὸ καὶ μόνο ἔλεγε ὁ γέροντας καὶ ὅμως ἔλεγε πολλά.
Καὶ κάποιος ἀείμνηστος τώρα δάσκαλος – πέθανε πολὺ νωρίς – μὰ τί δάσκαλος ἦταν αὐτός! Λὲς καὶ μάγευε τὰ παιδιὰ καὶ κρεμόντουσαν ἀπὸ τὰ χείλη του καὶ δένονταν μὲ τὴ ματιά του, τὰ μάθαινε νὰ τραγουδοῦν: «Σήκωσε ψηλὰ τὰ μάτια, στεῖλε πιὸ ψηλὰ τὸ νοῦ...».
Τί ἐννοοῦσαν ὁ γέροντας καὶ ὁ δάσκαλος προτρέποντας τοὺς μεγάλους καὶ τοὺς μικροὺς νὰ στρέφουν τὰ μάτια πρὸς τὰ ὕψη, πρὸς τὰ οὐράνια; Δὲν εἶναι καλὴ καὶ ἡ γῆ μὲ τὰ θαυμάσια τῆς Δημιουργίας; Ὁ Θεὸς δὲν «ἐποίησε πάντα τὰ ὡραῖα τῆς γῆς», ὅπως ψάλλει ὁ Δαβίδ (Ψαλ. ογ΄ [73] 17), γιὰ νὰ τὰ χαίρεται καὶ νὰ τὰ ἀπολαμβάνει ὁ ἄνθρωπος; Τὰ βουνά, τὰ ποτάμια, τὶς θάλασσες, τὰ δέντρα, τὰ λουλούδια τὰ πολύχρωμα; Ὅλα μιλοῦν γιὰ τὴ σοφία τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅλα μιλοῦν γιὰ τὴν ἀγάπη Του πρὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπο.
Ἀναμφιβόλως ὅλα αὐτὰ εἶναι σωστά. Ὁ ἅγιος Νικόδημος ὁ Ἁγιορείτης μάλιστα γράφει σ’ ἕνα ἀπὸ τὰ πολλὰ καὶ σπουδαῖα βιβλία του ὅτι ἡ ὀμορφιὰ τῆς ὑλικῆς Δημιουργίας, τοῦ κόσμου, ποὺ δημιούργησε ὁ Θεός, εἶναι μιὰ ἀμυδρὴ εἰκόνα τῆς ὡραιότητας τοῦ οὐρανίου κόσμου, τοῦ Παραδείσου, ποὺ μᾶς περιμένει(*).
Ὅμως ἀφότου μπῆκε στὴ μέση ὁ Διάβολος καὶ παρέσυρε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους στὴν ἁμαρτία καὶ πλήθυναν οἱ ἁμαρτίες, ἀπὸ τότε καὶ ἡ ὀμορφιὰ τῆς Δημιουργίας μολύνθηκε. Μόνοι μας οἱ ἄνθρωποι μολύναμε τὸ περιβάλλον μας. Μὲ τὶς πλεονεξίες μας, μὲ τὶς ἀδικίες καὶ τοὺς πολέμους καταστρέψαμε τὸν ὄμορφο κόσμο ποὺ μᾶς εἶχε φτιάξει καὶ παραδώσει ὁ Θεός. Καὶ ὁ παμπόνηρος σατανᾶς κατάφερε νὰ πείσει πολλοὺς ὅτι ἡ Δημιουργία ἡ τόσο ὡραία δὲν ἔχει ἀνάγκη ἀπὸ κανένα Δημιουργό. «Ἔδιωξαν» ἔτσι μὲ τὴν εἰσήγηση τοῦ Διαβόλου τὸν Οἰκοδεσπότη ἀπὸ τὸ σπίτι Του. Ἄφησαν τὶς κρυστάλλινες πηγὲς τοῦ θείου Νόμου καὶ τρέχουν στὶς θολὲς πηγὲς τῆς ἁμαρτωλῆς ζωῆς, ποὺ ὑποδεικνύει ὁ εἰσηγητὴς τῆς ἁμαρτίας Διάβολος. Βυθίσθηκαν στὴ ζωὴ τῆς σαρκικότητας, τῆς ἀδικίας, τῆς ἐκμεταλλεύσεως τῶν ἀδυνάτων καὶ φτωχῶν, τοῦ πλουτισμοῦ μὲ ὁποιοδήποτε μέσο, ἀκόμη καὶ παράνομο καὶ ἀθέμιτο.
Τὸ ἀποτέλεσμα; Τὸ ζοῦμε καθημερινὰ καὶ κλαίει ἡ καρδιά μας. Πτωχεύουν τὸ ἕνα μετὰ τὸ ἄλλο τὰ κράτη τῆς γῆς. Πεθαίνουν ἑκατομμύρια παιδιὰ κάθε χρόνο στὸν κόσμο ἀπὸ τὴν πείνα. Οἱ πόλεμοι εἶναι ἀσταμάτητοι, γιὰ νὰ πλουτίζουν οἱ πολεμικὲς βιομηχανίες. Οἱ ἀσθένειες ποὺ ὀφείλονται σὲ ἁμαρτίες αὐξάνονται ἁλματωδῶς. Ἡ κτηνώδης ἁμαρτία ξεδιάντροπη παρελαύνει μὲ αὐθάδεια στοὺς δρόμους. Οἱ ὑπόνομοι τῶν πόλεων γεμίζουν μὲ ἀνθρώπινα ἔμβρυα. Τί νὰ δεῖ κανεὶς σήμερα στὴ γῆ καὶ νὰ μὴν πονέσει;
Ποῦ νὰ στρέψει τὸ βλέμμα του καὶ νὰ μὴ λυπηθεῖ; Ἀκόμη καὶ τὰ ὡραιότερα μέρη τῆς γῆς τὰ μολύνει ὁ ἄνθρωπος μὲ τὶς ἁμαρτίες του.
Αὐτὰ ἀσφαλῶς εἶχαν ὑπ’ ὄψιν τους ὁ Ἀσκητὴς καὶ ὁ δάσκαλος, γι’ αὐτὸ συμβούλευαν νὰ ὑψώνουμε ψηλὰ τὰ μάτια. Ὄχι στὰ γήινα καὶ χαμηλά, στὰ κατώτερα καὶ μολυσμένα, γιατὶ ὅπου καὶ νὰ δεῖς σ’ αὐτά, κινδυνεύεις νὰ μολυνθεῖς· ἀλλὰ στὰ ψηλά, στὰ οὐράνια τὰ μάτια μας, διότι εἶναι καθαρά, ἀφοῦ ἐκεῖ κατοικεῖ ὁ Θεός, μὲ ὅλους τοὺς Ἁγίους καὶ ἐπικεφαλῆς τὴν Παναγία· ἐκεῖ ἡ χορεία τῶν Ἀγγέλων, ἐκεῖ ὁ Παράδεισος μᾶς περιμένει.
Κι ἂν κάποτε εἴμαστε πεσμένοι ψυχικά, ἂν κάποια ἀσθένεια, κάποια οἰκονομικὴ δυσχέρεια, κάποια οἰκογενειακὴ δυσκολία ἢ ἄλλη αἰτία ἔχουν ρίξει τὸ ἠθικό μας, τότε προπάντων νὰ μὴ λησμονοῦμε νὰ κοιτᾶμε ψηλά. Τότε μᾶς χρειάζεται ἐπειγόντως νὰ σηκώνουμε ψηλὰ τὰ μάτια. Ψηλά! Πρὸς Ἐκεῖνον ποὺ μᾶς ἀγαπᾶ καὶ μπορεῖ νὰ μᾶς βγάλει ἀπὸ κάθε ἀδιέξοδο.
Λοιπόν, ψηλὰ τὰ μάτια καὶ ψηλότερα ἡ καρδιά!
(*) Νικοδήμου τοῦ Ἁγιορείτου, Ἀόρατος Πόλεμος, κεφ. κα΄.
Saint Hilarion the Georgian was the son of a Kakheti aristocrat. There were other children in the family, but only Hilarion was dedicated to God from his very birth. Hilarion’s father built a monastery on his own land, and there the boy was raised.
At the age of fourteen Hilarion left the monastery and his father’s guardianship and settled in a small cave in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness. There he remained for ten years.
Soon report spread through all of eastern Georgia of the angelic faster and tireless intercessor in prayer. Crowds flocked to his cave to receive instruction, blessings, and counsel. When the bishop of Rustavi came to visit Hilarion, he ordained him a priest. Soon he was made abbot of St. Davit of Gareji Lavra.
After his ordination, the holy father was praised even more among his people, and he decided to leave his motherland. Hilarion chose one of the brothers to replace him as abbot of the monastery and set off on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
On the way Venerable Hilarion was attacked by a band of vicious thieves. They sought to kill the holy father, but their hands suddenly withered. When the terrified thieves realized that God had punished them for raising their hands to kill the saint, they fell to their knees before St. Hilarion and begged his forgiveness. The venerable father blessed them with the sign of the Cross, healed them and let them depart in peace.
St. Hilarion venerated the holy places in Jerusalem, then settled in a cave in the Jordan wilderness (according to tradition, the holy prophet Elijah had dwelt in that same cave).
One night St. Hilarion saw a vision: He was standing before the Most Holy Theotokos, in the midst of twelve men, on the Mount of Olives, the place of our Lord’s Ascension. The Holy Virgin said to him, “Hilarion! Return to your home and prepare a meal for the Lord, my Son!”
Upon waking, Hilarion understood this vision with both his heart and mind and immediately set off for his motherland.
When he returned to Georgia, St. Hilarion learned of the repose of his father and brothers. His mother gave her only living son the family inheritance.
Blessed Hilarion founded a convent with the resources he had inherited, donated lands to the monastic community, and established its rules. Then he gathered seventy-six worthy monk-ascetics and founded a monastery for men. He distributed his remaining property to the poor and disabled.
As before, the news of St. Hilarion’s virtuous deeds spread quickly through all of Georgia. Again many desired to receive his blessing and counsel, but when the clergy announced their intention to consecrate him a bishop, he abandoned Georgia for the second time. He took two companions and journeyed to Constantinople.
After the long journey, Hilarion and his companions finally reached Mt. Olympus in Asia Minor and settled in a small, forsaken church. During the evening services on Cheese-fare Saturday, the lamplighter from the Monastery of St. Ioannicius the Great came to the church to light an icon lamp, and seeing that several people had settled there, he brought them some food.
The next Saturday, the feast of St. Theodore the Tyro, the same monk returned to the church and saw that the brothers had gone the whole week eating nothing but a few lentils. They had not touched the food he had brought them. So the monk asked St. Hilarion what they needed, and Hilarion requested prosphora and wine for the Bloodless Sacrifice. Then St. Hilarion celebrated the Liturgy at the appropriate time, received Holy Communion, and served the Holy Gifts to the brothers.
When the abbot of the Great Lavra heard that a service had been celebrated by an unknown priest in a language other than Greek, he was infuriated and ordered his steward and several of the monks to chase the strangers off the monastery property. But St. Hilarion responded to the steward in Greek and asked for permission to spend the night in the church, promising to depart in the morning.
That night the Theotokos appeared to the abbot of the lavra in a vision. She stood at the foot of his bed and rebuked him, saying, “Foolish one! What has moved you to cast out these strangers, who left their own country for the love of my Son and God? Why have you broken the commandment to receive and show mercy to strangers and the poor? Do you not know that there are many living on this mountain that speak the same language as they? They are also praising God here. He who fails to receive them is my enemy, for my Son entrusted me to protect them and to ensure that their Orthodox Faith is not shaken. They believe in my Son and have been baptized in His name!”
The next day the elder fell to his knees before St. Hilarion, begged forgiveness for his impertinence, and requested that he remain at the monastery. St. Hilarion consoled the elder and agreed to stay.
St. Hilarion spent five years on Mt. Olympus, then journeyed again to Constantinople, to venerate the Life-giving Cross of our Lord. From there he traveled to Rome to venerate the graves of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul. On the way to Rome his prayers healed a paralyzed man. After spending two years in Rome, St. Hilarion set off again for Constantinople. On the way, in the city of Thessalonica, the blessed Hilarion stopped for a rest at the home of the prefect. When he arrived, a servant woman was carrying a paralyzed fourteen-year-old boy out of the house, and she laid him in the sun. The saint asked the woman for water, and when she had gone to bring it, he blessed the child with the sign of the Cross and healed him. Immediately the boy ran to his mother, and St. Hilarion quickly departed from that place.
But the prefect, the boy’s father, had witnessed the miracle, and he ordered that the wonderworker be found. When he had been brought before him, the prefect begged St. Hilarion to remain in Thessalonica and choose for himself a place to continue his miraculous works.
Recognizing the prefect to be a true lover of God, the saint heeded his entreaty and agreed to remain. The prefect built a church in the place that Hilarion had chosen, and before long the entire city had heard about St. Hilarion and his miracles.
St. Hilarion spent the remainder of his days in Thessalonica. When the Lord made known to him the day of his repose, he called for the prefect, thanked him, and instructed him to love the monks and all the suffering and to be just and merciful.
The saint reposed on November 19, 875, and the sorrowful prefect prepared a marble shrine for him. Those who were sick and who approached St. Hilarion’s grave with faith were healed of their infirmities.
The prefect and the archbishop of Thessalonica informed the Byzantine emperor Basil the Macedonian (867-886) about the miracles that had occurred at the holy father’s grave. The emperor in turn informed the monks who came to him from Mt. Olympus, among whom was the elder who once had tried to chase St. Hilarion out of the church. Emperor Basil became intrigued with St. Hilarion’s disciples and fellow countrymen through the stories of Hilarion’s miracles. St. Hilarion’s three disciples were presented to him, and the emperor was so struck by their holiness that he sent them to the patriarch of Constantinople to receive his blessing. Recognizing immediately that the three elders were filled with divine favor, the patriarch advised the emperor to confer great honors upon them.
In response, Emperor Basil invited the elders to choose for themselves and their countrymen one of the monasteries in Constantinople and make it their own. The fathers graciously declined since they did not wish to live in the populous city. Instead the monks asked the emperor to build cells for them outside the capital. So Emperor Basil built a large church dedicated to the Holy Apostles in a place that the Georgian fathers had chosen in a certain ravine, where a spring of cold water flowed from beneath a little hill, and he carved a cell for himself as well. The monastery was called “Romana,” after the nearby brook.
Later the emperor sent his own two sons, Leo and Alexander, to be raised by the holy fathers.
Emperor Basil sought to bury St. Hilarion’s holy relics in the capital, but the people of Thessalonica would not allow the relics to be taken away. In the end, it was necessary for the emperor’s envoys to conceal the sacred shrine and carry it back to Constantinople in secret.
The emperor, the patriarch, and all the people met the arrival of St. Hilarion’s relics with glorious hymns and prayers. Before the special burial vault had been built, the emperor kept St. Hilarion’s holy relics in his own chamber. Three nights after the relics had arrived, Basil awoke to an unusual fragrance. No one in the court could discover its source.
When the emperor dozed off again, St. Hilarion appeared to him in his vestments and said, “You have done a good deed by preparing a shelter for my remains. But the sweet fragrance you smell was acquired in the wilderness, not in the city. Therefore, if you desire to receive the divine blessings in full, take me away to the wilderness!”
The emperor reported this wondrous turn of events to the patriarch and the prefect, and with their consent he brought the holy relics of St. Hilarion to the Monastery of Romana.
-Γέροντα, γιατί πολλοί άνθρωποι , ενώ τα έχουν όλα ,νιώθουν άγχος και στενοχώρια;
-Όταν βλέπετε έναν άνθρωπο να έχη μεγάλο άγχος, στενοχώρια και λύπη, ενώ τίποτε δεν του λείπει, να ξέρετε ότι του λείπει ο Θεός.
Όποιος τα έχει όλα, και υλικά αγαθά και υγεία, και, αντί να ευγνωμονή τον Θεό , έχει παράλογες απαιτήσεις και γκρινιάζει, είναι για την κόλαση με τα παπούτσια. Ο άνθρωπος, όταν έχη ευγνωμοσύνη, με όλα είναι ευχαριστημένος. Σκέφτεται τί του δίνει ο Θεός κάθε μέρα και χαίρεται τα πάντα. Όταν όμως είναι αχάριστος, με τίποτε δεν είναι ευχαριστημένος γκρινιάζει και βασανίζεται με όλα. Αν, ας πούμε, δεν εκτιμάη την λιακάδα και γκρινιάζει, έρχεται ο Βαρδάρης και τον παγώνει ...; Δεν θέλει την λιακάδα θέλει το τουρτούρισμα που προκαλεί ο Βαρδάρης.
-Γέροντα, τί θέλετε να πήτε μ' αυτό;
-Θέλω να πω ότι, αν δεν αναγνωρίζουμε τις ευλογίες που μας δίνει ο Θεός και γκρινιάζουμε, έρχονται οι δοκιμασίες και μαζευόμαστε κουβάρι. Όχι, αλήθεια σας λέω, όποιος έχει αυτό το τυπικό , την συνήθεια της γκρίνιας, να ξέρη ότι θα του έρθη σκαμπιλάκι από τον Θεό, για να ξοφλήση τουλάχιστον λίγο σ' αυτήν την ζωή. Και αν δεν του έρθη σκαμπιλάκι , αυτό θα είναι χειρότερο, γιατί τότε θα τα πληρώση όλα μια και καλή στην άλλη ζωή.
-Δηλαδή , Γέροντα, η γκρίνια μπορεί να είναι συνήθεια;
-Γίνεται συνήθεια, γιατί η γκρίνια φέρνει γκρίνια και η κακομοιριά φέρνει κακομοιριά. Όποιος σπέρνει κακομοιριά, θερίζει κακομοιριά και αποθηκεύει άγχος. Ενώ , όποιος σπέρνει δοξολογία, δέχεται την θεϊκή χαρά και την αιώνια ευλογία. Ο γκρινιάρης, όσες ευλογίες κι αν του δώση ο Θεός, δεν τις αναγνωρίζει. Γι' αυτό απομακρύνεται η Χάρις του Θεού και τον πλησιάζει ο πειρασμός τον κυνηγάει συνέχεια ο πειρασμός και του φέρνει όλο αναποδιές, ενώ τον ευγνώμονα τον κυνηγάει ο Θεός με τις ευλογίες Του.
Η αχαριστία είναι μεγάλη αμαρτία, την οποία ήλεγξε ο Χριστός. «Ουχ οι δέκα εκαθαρίσθησαν; οι δε εννέα πού», είπε στον λεπρό που επέτρεψε να Τον ευχαριστήση . Ο Χριστός ζήτησε την ευγνωμοσύνη από τους δέκα λεπρούς όχι για τον εαυτό Του αλλά για τους ίδιους, γιατί η ευγνωμοσύνη εκείνους θα ωφελούσε.
Ατο βιβλίο: «ΠΑΘΗ ΚΑΙ ΑΡΕΤΕΣ» ΓΕΡΟΝΤΟΣ ΠΑΪΣΙΟΥ ΑΓΙΟΡΕΙΤΟΥ ΛΟΓΟΙ Ε΄
http://agapienxristou.blogspot.ca/2012/11/blog-post_21.html
