From the Ecumenical Patriarchate:
Today, Tuesday January 13, 2015, the Holy Synod has gathered for a session presided over by Patriarch Bartholomew. The subject of the session was a report by the Commission for the canonization of saints, in which it was suggested that Elder Paisios be included among the saints.
After careful study of the reported facts, the Synod unanimously included Schemamonk Paisios the Hagiorite among the ranks of the saints.
Patriarch Bartholomew and the Holy Synod.
January 13, 2015
A Brief History of St. Paisios
On January 13, 2015, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Synod unanimously added the blessed Paisius to the roles of the Saints of the Church. This decision was made following the application by the Committee on Canonical issues.
Saint Paisius of Mt. Athos, known to the world as Arsenios Eznepidis was born in 1924 in Farasa Cappadocia. He departed this world in July of 1994. He was a Greek monastic who had become widely recognized for his way of life and his works.
The name of his father was Prodromos and he was the president of the town of Farasa. His mother was named Evlampia. He had eight siblings.
On August 7th, one week before the residents of Farasa left for Greece, he was baptized by the priest of the parish, Fr. Arsenios. Fr. Arsenios has been proclaimed a Saint of the Orthodox Church. Fr. Arsenios insisted that Paisius be given his name “so that I can leave a monk to take my place” as he said.
Five weeks after the baptism of little Arsenios, the Eznepidis family arrived on September 14, 1924 at the town of St. George Piraeus, Greece. The family arrived at this location along with many other from Farasa. From St. George the whole group went on to settle on the Island of Corfu. The family remained in Corfu for one and a half years.
After this the family moved to Igoumenitsa, Greece and from there went to Konitsa, Macedonia. Arsenios attended elementary school in Konitsa and received his certificate of graduation with a citation of exceptional behavior. From an early age, he pondered the miracles of St. Arsenios. He had a special inclination to the monastic life and he desired to be an ascetic.
Arsenios went to Mount Athos in 1949 to become a monk immediately after being discharged from the military. He returned to the secular world for one year in order to help settle his sisters and then he returned to Mount Athos. He stayed for one night at the Monastery of St. John the Theologian in Karyes.
He then went on to live at the Skete of Saint Panteleimon in the cell of the Presentation of the Theotokos. It is there that he met Father Cyril, the Abbot of the Monastery and was faithfully obedient to him.
After many moves to a number of retreat centers of Mount Athos and Mount Sinai, he settled in the Monastery of Koutloumousiou where he became gravely ill and fell asleep in the summer of 1994. He was laid to rest at the Convent of St. John the Theologian in Soureti, Thessaloniki.
From then on, during the 11th and 12th of July, on the anniversary of his repose, a vigil service is held there in the presence of thousands of faithful.
Translated from the Greek by: +Fr. Constantine J. Simones, January 14, 2015
A Miracle by Elder Paisios
I held off talking about this miracle by Elder Paisios publicly until the miracle was complete, which it nearly is. I was asked to write an account of the miracle to be included in the papers sent to the Ecumenical Patriarchate where a decision will be made soon on the canonization of Elder Paisios as a Saint. I offer it here for the glory of God and the edification of the reader.
December 18, 2013
Naples, Florida USA
Early morning on April 2, 2013 I looked down at my phone and saw a text from Jeremiah’s mother Patti, “Jeremiah was in a bad car accident. We are on the way to the hospital.” Jeremiah was 23 years old at the time. She had just received the news from the police who came to her door to tell her.
Read the entire story on the St. Peter the Apostle Orthodox Church website.
We commemorated him just yesterday at Divine Liturgy.
Dear Bart, the more MONKS you canonize, the more IRRELEVANT you make your church. Sincerely, Average Joe.
OOM says: January 19, 2015 at 2:57 pm
Dear Bart, the more MONKS you canonize, the more IRRELEVANT you make your church. Sincerely, Average Joe.
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I urge our anonymous correspondent to call his bishop’s attention to any of the laity whose very holy lives inspire him and others to live for Christ but who haven’t yet been officially recognized as saints.
What nonsense, OOM! Very few married people have been canonized. I think there are only four or five married female saints in the history of the Church of Russia, for example..SS Olga, Juliana (Lazareva), Xenia of Petersburg and Alexandra. After St Constantine made church membership an obligation, many believers left parish life to enter monasticism, which was exclusively for the religious, as parish churches had been before St. Constantine made them a social and national obligation. Monasticism and massive iconostases were both given a big boost by St. Constantine’s decrees (and those of governments after his).
The troll is here again.
It only makes sense. Canonization does not make a saint, but recognizes them. Monks and nuns are people who strive to live seeking God to the exclusion of all else and they live in a situation where they are under observation by their fellow monks and by the church. It shouldn’t be a surprise that many of the saints that the church recognizes are monastics. Its actually hard for a monk or nun to hide. Its far easier for a truly holy layperson to go unnoticed, since they would not be seeking any recognition. In my opinion, trying to make the church relevant is a sure way to make your church fail, anyway. It sure didn’t help the mainstream protestant denominations.
On the contrary, OOM, nothing is MORE relevant to the world than those who follow the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind…and your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22: 37-39). Someone like St. Paisos, I should think.
From one perspective it is the whole business of monasticism to make itself “irrelevant,” isn’t it?
Pretty much the way Elijah was irrelevant to the concerns of folks in the ninth century Levant , and John the Baptist in the first.
I am trying to figure out what the subsequent history of the world would look like if Benedict of Nursia had not endeavored to make his life irrelevant to the world of his day.
For one thing, we would not be having this discussion in ENGLISH!
So, I suppose you think that all of those vapid Proddy preachers are relevant?
A very thorough and well-done video on the life of the holy elder St. Paisios can be found here.
St. Paisios, intercede with Christ our God that our souls may be saved!
“Dear Bart, the more MONKS you canonize, the more IRRELEVANT you make your church. Sincerely, Average Joe.”
What a foolish comment. If the number of monks who are counted among the saints displeases you, then you could always lead a holy life as well so that Church may glorify you too and balance out the numbers. You better start getting to work.
Through the intercessions of St. Paisios, may God have mercy on us and save us!
Sanctity is obvious in those who humbly possess it … and yet, we are in awe of those who are recognized for it …
Elder Paisios is such an individual of love, faith, and life … may he pray for us
I cannot tell you how happy I was to hear about this. I will be equally as happy when I hear the same thing about Blessed Seraphim Rose. Ayios Paisios is truly holy and has performed many miracles. Fr. Hans tells of a beautiful miracle Ayios Paisios performed on one of his parishioners.
Truly Our God is a Great God and the One and Only God. Glory be to Him.
Peter
Peter,
I humbly, and enthusiastically agree – on both counts. I will now have to re-read “Elder Paisios of Mount Athos” 🙂
The problem is far more serious than canonizing monks that leads to irrelevancy. There is no Gospel or NT calling to monasticism and it is not listed as a spiritual gift in the NT. Jesus and the Apostles were not monastics and so why are the so called direct spiritual line of the Apostles monastic’s? Give your best Orthodox explanation of how John the Baptist was a monastic and I will rationally dissect it.
Yes, Orthodox make monasticism that is not a calling or spiritual gift what your bishops are and then merge the church with the state. Tell me how that is who Jesus came to us as. You can’t and because He didn’t. Period.
The seriousness of the problem that creates irrelevancy does not stop here. His DIVINE ALL-HOLINESS, the EP, is neither divine or holy. I remember Astoria, NY. The Orthodox have a memory problem and that too is a symptom of irrelevancy and because it does not remember the real character of the EP who causes church irrelevancy by his corruption and abuse.
Putting such adjectives in front of his position held in the church is hypocrisy and hypocrisy of this kind is irrelevancy at the highest level possible. What, Orthodox, you don’t think people don’t compare his title to his sexual corruption and the state of the GOC? It is pure irrelevancy thinking to believe that does not happen. If I am slandering him over Astoria, NY then that coward can face me. Bring it on. Like I am known to be intimidated by him or any of his so called direct spiritual line of the Apostles that this corrupt abuser surrounds himself with.
Oh, Ashley, you are so very irreverent we just cannot bear you. You must have an authority problem.
I cannot bear reverence of the known corrupt and abusive church leaders and it shows. Corruption and abuse is what has an authority problem and I call corruption and abuse out and for what it is.
Yes, GO, what happened to young women who was abused at Holy Cross in 2012? Where is she and what happened to her? Have you also forgotten about that problem along with several others I could easily list? I got Pokrov as my resource. Those two women do more to expose corruption and abuse than the so called Orthodox men of God ever will. They are hero’s compared the corruption and abuse of the EP and the cowardice state of the church laity men. Those who disagree can watch their church by cowardice die instead of making a Cappy and Melanie kind of a uncompromising zero tolerance and anti corruption and abuse stand. They have a thankless job and no thanks by the Orthodox is why they do. Frankly, I do not believe you deserve them but by Gods grace you have them. Not a one of you has taken the risk they have or have endured the abuse they have for their stand. Not a one of you even compares to what I KNOW they have had to endure. I consider them trustworthy best friends. They are good company whereas bad company corrupts.
Yes, Orthodox, do a word study on divine and holy and tell me how they match up with the character of the EP. Your church is the set up for irrelevancy failure by its top down authoritarian structure of rule power and control in a closed, isolated and subjective system that has an EXCLUSIVE ‘We are Gods only true church’ divine and all holy viewpoint of itself. What are the real adjectives to be put in front of his EP position that really describe who he is? How about ALL CORRUPT instead of ALL HOLY. No wonder to me why this church is corrupt, failed, irrelevant, incompetent, abusive, cultic and dying. All of your reverence, prop up and submit to corruption and that is idolatry that will kill a church dead.
Orthodox, do you know what is relevant? It Jesus in Philippians 2. Yes, tell me how the EP is remotely close to the humble servant holy Jesus who comes down off the throne of heaven to serve us and be a living sacrifice for us. Explain to me the authoritarian structure and closed system of EP authority is that. Humble servant Jesus leads, but authoritarianism rules! Jesus leads by humble service and other centered self sacrifice and Satan rules by self centered pride in authoritarian dictatorship. One is bottom up and the other one is top down. What is top down pushes you down and what is bottom up raises you up. Orthodox, is your church being pushed down or raised up? That is a spiritual maturity IQ test question. It is corruption test question. It is a denial test question.
Authoritarian structure and closed system hierarchy + authoritarian structure and isolated system monasticism = what kind of a church over time? Does it result in a bottom up and open system church that is Jesus Christ raised up and that is transparent and accountable? Does it result in church growth and relevancy? Does it result in humble servant Jesus leadership leading your church into Christ centered relevancy to the generation and society it is found in?
Has the EP at one time in his life lived on a rock, in a tree, in a cave or in an isolated compound like the monastic elder Jesus and the monastic Apostles did? Just asking that question shows the ridiculousness of the church irrelevancy failure. I ask the Orthodox questions they never seem to ask themselves and I know why they don’t ask them of themselves.
The problem is that what the Orthodox believe is relevant is really is irrelevant. Orthodox, what is relevant to you is really only your exclusive selves. That will not lead to church relevancy growth, but it will make you all feel self righteous good about yourselves in your closed and subjective isolation.
The sick religious codependency misplaced loyalty, respect, honor and reverence of the EP is astounding to behold and it points to the laity itself being as corrupt as the hierarchy. It is called SYSTEMIC CORRUPTION and that means that the church is systemically irrelevant! Get it?
Here is another new issue of concern that I just recently and first found at the OCL website within the last week.
Please go to: http://www.orthodoxchristiancounseling.com/
Would Father Hans Jacobse please explain what his relationship is with this ministry. Inquiring minds of transparency want to know.
Yes, Orthodox, send the victims of Astoria, NY to this Greek counseling ministry. Those abused by the Greek church want Greek abuse counseling. They are just going to line up for that and especially when the website sends the message don’t trust your abuser, but still trust in the church that allowed the abuses and still does.
Can any of you discern any concerns with this ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN COUNSELING ministry? I can list 10.
Pokrov/SNAP has issued a statement about this new counseling ministry. I have personally found some very concerning issues about it and have communicated those concerns to this ministry. Like, where is the full abuse story of the author of this website and ministry? What is the name of the abuser and how did he abuse? What criterion are being used to screen counselors, etc, etc, etc. Its a long list of questions.
Here is another irrelevancy creating problem. Visit the Pokrov website to see the latest on what the Bulgarian Orthodox are now doing in Alaska. Follow how the hierarchy of this church handles this issue. Find out how the problem came about. Dig deep, deep, deep to uncover the truth. You people are flat scary and scary is irrelevancy.
Orthodox, symptoms point to cause and when you deny the cause that points to you being a symptom of the cause destroying your church in America. Yes, Orthodox, please explain to me how denying the cause does not make you a symptom of the cause. Can a one of you tell me what the cause is that is bringing about the implosion of your church in America? Then can you tell me what the solution to the cause is? Is the solution the DIVINE ALL HOLY EP??? When the problem is the solution you got a serious problem that will not be solved. When the problem is the solution then irrelevancy is the solution to irrelevancy. Irrelevancy as the solution and the problem as the solution is Orthodoxy in America.
This what I know for a Biblical fact. The character of Satan is corruption, shame, thievery, murder and lie. Jesus is living and Satan is dead.
Is your church living or dying? Is your church systemically corrupt, shaming and dying and in a state of self lying denial? Who and what is stealing your church and turning it into systemic corruption? Who sits at the top of the hierarchy ruling your church? What is his real character? Who is the evil spiritual power behind the scenes of this structure and system of authority causing the evil of church corruption and death in Orthodoxy? Is your church being spiritually abused by evil to its church death? Who are the men ruling over the spiritual abuse destruction of your church? Do their characters reflect the character of Jesus or do they reflect the character of evil that corrupts and destroys? What does the real world outcome of your church tell you what the answers to questions are?
Orthodox, profound respect of the corrupt, the Axios of them, will profoundly corrupt you.
In the Orthodox Mind I got the problem and its cause wrong. I state the reality of the situation too graphically and so they refuse to hear. Tough confronting love is seen harsh by them, but pay no attention to how harsh their church treats them in its death. Those leading this harsh church death tell the laity that they love Jesus and those in the church and the laity believes them. Death of this church kind is harsh. That’s the harsh reality of it. Keep bowing to corruption and kissing its ring and watch your church harshly die right before your Orthodox Eyes that are the gateway to your Orthodox Mind that denies what its eyes are being forced to see by the harsh dying state of your church in America.
I invite any Orthodox priest or bishop to make a counter to this. Be very careful if you do and because I can rationally see right through you. I understand church relevancy and growth development and what can kill it dead like not a one of you do. Any clergy takers? Are you afraid of me?
Orthodox, you call the corrupt and abusive authority out. When ever you can you confront them to their face. You never ever compromise with corruption. You do not allow it to coerce, threaten or intimidate you.
Yes, Orthodox, tell me how the state of your church is not compromise with corruption and where all of you are coerced, intimidated and threatened by it. Yes, tell me how those things are not enabling the the enabling religious codependency death of your church in America. How many of your really know what a religious codependent is and what is the idol god of its codependency focus is? Religious codependency idolatry is the worst form of church corruption there is and do you know why it is? Do you know what the compromises of religious codependency are and how they can kill the growth and relevancy of a church idolatry dead?
Passivity, apathy, indifference, denial, enabling, cowardice, carnality, powerlessness and idolatry reverencing propping up the corrupt are all compromises that will kill you church dead in America. They are all character traits of the religious codependent who enables the church to its corruption and abuse death. So, Orthodox laity the next time you blame the hierarchy for the state of the larger EOC or your jurisdiction look into the mirror of objective truth telling Jesus Christ before you do. I just held that mirror up to your faces. Do you see the truth reflection of why your church is corrupted by your religious codependency enabling of that corruption? If you deny it your church will surely die in America.
Religious codependency is HARSH.
Idolatry of corruption and abuse is HARSH.
Yes, Orthodox, now tell me how harsh I am on all of you when in reality you are all being harsh on Jesus and that is why your church is dying a harsh death. The more harsh all of you are towards Jesus the more harshly your church dies powerless without the power of Jesus. You have to kill Jesus in your church midst to kill the power of Jesus that is your only solution. Kill the solution and watch your church die. All of you are powerless to stop your harsh church death and because you codependently bow to what renders you powerless by it stealing your power to prop itself up and then that power is used against you to destroy your church. You are enabling Satan and his corrupt puppet pawn hierarchical rulers to kill your church dead in America. The laity are puppet pawns of the puppet pawn hierarchy who are puppet pawns of the evil one and that is killing your church dead.
Its really simple, Orthodox, Satan brings death and Jesus brings life. I know who the god is of a dying dead church. Obviously, the Orthodox who claim to be Gods only true Christians don’t. At the dying rate it is going there will not be many, if any, Gods only true Christians left in America. Spiritually telling is the spiritual reason for that.
Any priest or bishop want to offer a counter to anything here I have said? I didn’t think so, but it is important to challenge them to face what their so called Christ centered and in the power of the Holy Spirit leadership has resulted in as a state of church in America.
The divine all holy one who is neither of those things knows who I am. Oh, yes, he does too. I am notorious to him. I am not afraid of him. I know who and what he really is. If the Orthodox laity would make the same stand that corrupt man and his corrupt enabling hierarchy would be thrown off their high church thrones and onto the cutter of the dirty filthy street where they really live in their corruption and abuse of Holy Jesus.
Oh, but, Ashley you are so harsh we cannot hear you. You turn us off, but our not corrupt and abusive EP turns us on. We glorify, celebrate and reverence his divine all holiness who is not leading us into a harsh church death by corruption and abuse. Every word that comes from his mouth is like Jesus in the flesh talking to us and every action he takes is like Jesus serving us, protecting us and ministering to us in the flesh. His being the highest of the high direct spiritual line of the Apostles is like Paul, Peter and John walking in our midst. He is the holiest of the holy and there is no holy comparison to his divine divinity. He is the foremost Gods only true ruler of Gods only true rulers. No Christian anywhere on the planet can compare to him. (Did I leave anything out?)
Orthodox, deception leads to denial and both of them lead to delusion and all three of them lead to church death.
Another hate-filled post by Ashley. How very sad.
Ashley,
Very sorry for your loss, but this rant sounds like the time-cube guy (I won’t provide a link because of language, but if you want to see in the head of a one of the mentally ill, Google it by all means).
If one were to take the bible in its totality and try to live by all the passages and teachings found there, what would it look like, pray?
More specifically, can you please point out where the person under discussion, Saint Paisios, fell short of these teachings, according to your above screed?
By the way, it sounds as though your complaint is that bad actions by a few spoil the whole harvest. I would recommend reading through Our Lord’s genealogy again, and studying up on the names found therein.
Ashley, I can see that you have been horribly hurt by institutional Greek Orthodoxy, but honestly: when you have obtained one iota of the profound, holy and beautiful relationship with God, with Holy Spirit gifted miracles testified by many eyewitnesses time and again, that Saint (that is, holy-one) Paisios and the other great monastics of the ages have, THEN we can talk. You think angrily typing away in front of a computer monitor is somehow more sanctioned by God than praying for 12 hours a day and standing vigil for hours more? Don’t make me laugh. The pious and upright monks have left mother and father and sacrificed more for Christ than you ever will. Jesus Christ was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness and he fasted a great fast. That’s New Testament teaching. So is the fact that Christ founded the Church (His eternal Bride) and gave it power to bind and loose, and that Church does not consist of a Bible and your best interpretation. Although something like monasticism in its present form dates to the 4th century in Egypt, ascetic hermits have existed clear back into the first century: the John who wrote Revelation on the Isle of Patmos was an ascetic isolated hermit who wanted to get the heck away from society and its “relevance”, not because he was accursed but because he was all about TRUTH.
John was exiled to Patmos, he was not running from the world.
The fact that you claim to be able to “rationally dissect” an explanation of Saint John the Forerunner as a monastic, is so indicative of your Protestantism. Protestantism was the great world revolution of rational dissection, which has rationally dissected faith in God straight out of almost all institutions of ordinary life, and has itself dissected into thousands of sub-movements, too “rational” to even remember why praying constantly or working out our salvation or appointing presbyters or keeping fasts is important (even though it’s all apostolic). Does the Bible ever tell you to “rationally dissect”?
Glory to God in his saints!