The Miracles of Fr Arsenie Boca

Born in the county of Hunedoara, Romania, Fr. Arsenie Boca (September 29, 1910 – 1989) was one of the most important Romanian monastic figures of the 20th century. Ordained as a celibate Dean by Metropolitan Nicolae Bălan in 1935, he spends three months at the Romanian Prodromu Skete in Mount Athos, and is then established at the Sâmbăta de Sus Monastery (Braşov county), and receives tonsure in 1940. In 1942, he is ordained a Priest. By 1940, he had already sparkled in Sâmbăta de Sus what one of his contemporaries would describe as: “That uplifting time when the whole of Transylvania would make its way on singing pilgrimages defying chest-deep snow, to Sâmbăta de Sus, built by Martyr Voivode Constantin Brâncoveanu.”

Besides his outstanding contribution to the translation of the Philokaly alongside another reputed theological figure, Fr. Dumitru Stăniloae, he will always be remembered for his activity as a Priest, which earned him the surname of the “guider of souls”. Persecuted by the communist regime but highly respected and loved by the faithful, he was buried at the Prislop Monastery, which is now one of the country’s most important pilgrimage places.

“Fr. Arsenie was a unique phenomenon in the history of Romanian monasticism; a figure of high monastic stature, of a kind that the Romanian Orthodox Church never had before him.” Fr. Dumitru STĂNILOAE

Encounter with Fr. Arsenie

[…] Times were rapidly succeeding one another and godless communism was thrusting its claws ever more deeply into the country’s body. By providing Christian help to the anti-communist fighters in the Făgăraş Mountains, Father Arsenie got into the Security’s “visual field” and was arrested in 1948, for the first time. Forcibly moved out from Sâmbăta to Prislop, he eventually became Abbot of the latter and after the monastic abode was changed into a nunnery, he stayed there as a Confessor Priest, until 1959, when the communists dismantled the monastic community. In between, he had been arrested once more and taken to the Canal*, where he had spent almost a year. Then followed his exile to Bucharest, where he was kept outside actual priestly activity, being retained only as a church painter, always under the dog’s eye of the atheistic regime. During the last part of his life he grew very attached to two places: Drăgănescu (where he painted the church for 15 years, starting from 1968 and left us a true “sermon in images”, even if perhaps artistically somewhat unusual by the traditional iconography canons) and Sinaia (where, in 1969, he had his cell and his painter workshop, where he would retire more often and where he reposed in the Lord in early 1989, aged 79).

“Once, I went to Drăgănescu to talk with the Father. Upon arriving at the church, I looked around but didn’t see any bearded man, dressed in monastic clothes, as I had imagined that Fr. Arsenie must look like. There was just a man in a white overall, wearing a cap on his head. When I saw I couldn’t find the Father, I decided to leave. At that point, I saw the man in the overall come up to me and ask:

- What are you looking for?

I turned to him and told him that I was looking for Arsenie, the painter.

- Why are you looking for Arsenie the painter? – he asked.

- I have some business with him, I replied.

The man said:

- Come closer. And he asked me again why I wanted to see Arsenie the painter and I told him again that I had a few things I wanted to talk to him about. Then I turned around to leave, when the man said in a kind voice:

- Come, man — let me tell you why you’re looking for Arsenie the painter. And he started telling me why I was looking for Fr. Arsenie. When I saw he was telling me my own thoughts and why I had come to see him, I realized that the man in the white overall couldn’t be anyone else but Fr. Arsenie Boca. I told him:

- It’s you. You are the painter AND Father Arsenie. And he asked me:

- What do you base your statement on, when you’re saying it’s me? and I replied:

- You’ve told me my own thoughts and the reason why I’ve come here, and there isn’t anyone else except Father Arsenie who could do that. And I added: Father, there isn’t anybody else like you in Romania.

He then said:

- You go, man — and caressed my face with his hands.”

Matei Biliboacă, Săvăstreni village   

 ______________________________________________

*The Danube-Black Sea Canal, one of Ceauşescu’s ambitions, where many “convicts” were sent and which was the end of many.

The main writings that have been left from Father Arsenie (and which for a long time circulated “under the table”, in typed copies and sometimes without his signature) were published after 1990: from Cărarea Împărăţiei (“The Path to the Kingdom”) to the recent volume titled Părintele Arsenie Boca – mare îndrumător de suflete din secolul XX. O sinteză a gândirii Părintelui Arsenie în 800 de capete(“Father Arsenie, Great Guider of Souls of the 20^th Century. A Summary of Father Arsenie’s Thinking, in 800 Points”), compiled by Ioan Gânscă, supported by Father Archimandrite Teofil Părăian […].

“We Should Tell the Truth, Come What May”

Interview with Fr. Pantelimon of Ghighiu about Father Arsenie Boca by Claudiu Târziu

Words and Examples for One’s Spiritual Awakening

-        Do you remember any particular advice that Fr. Arsenie Boca would give to people?

-        Father Arsenie could see that people loved him and he was afraid they might fall into idolatry. He used to tell everyone: “You all come here for useful advice and then expect me to save you, but I cannot do that. I can only wake you up from the sins you have been living in. Because this life is short and the other one is eternal and I wouldn’t want to see you cry on the Judgement Day”.

This is why Father Arsenie wouldn’t let people kiss his hand. And yet, he would allow some to do that.

Once, I asked him why he would let some of the people who would come to see him, kiss his hand.

He told me: “These ones see me for their last time.”

They were from among those who opposed communism and who died afterwards up in the mountains or in prisons.

-         Did you ever see Fr. Arsenie get agry?

-         No. He had the serenity of a great prayer. But when something would upset him, he would only frown a little – but his face would never turn angry. And if you were guilty, he would look at you and you’d feel that you couldn’t hide anything from him.

-         Was it sheer authority, or was it love, too?

-         As I said before, if you knew Fr. Arsenie, you would feel his love. He was like those peasants who kiss their children only when they’re asleep. When you’d do something wrong, he wouldn’t raise his voice, but he would just look at you in a certain way. Just as when you deserved to be praised — he wouldn’t make a big case about how well you had done, he’d only look at you and youknew that you deserved to be praised.

-         Did you ever see him cry?

-         Yes. He would cry when he was praying. Once, I caught him in his cell with tears running down his face. Then I also saw him tearful at the altar, during the Liturgy. He would cry for people’s sins. He was suffering for the fact that people wouldn’t do the right things and thus turn away from God’s Face.

-         Father Arsenie is considered to be a Saint, especially by the people of Transylvania. Why is there such a cult for Father Arsenie, in Transylvania?

-         Because of his good deeds. He was exactly according to the word of God. He took people out of darkness. He taught them how to live according to God’s teachings. The people felt his love for them. Because he was good seed; and that seed, which Fr. Arsenie sowed has been bearing fruit to this day.

-         How would he speak: directly or through examples? 

-         Most often, Fr. Arsenie would speak about sins openly, he would speak about them in public, but the issues of a more personal nature, he would talk about them through examples. He used to tell the sins of some directly, so that the others could hear and learn. After the Liturgy, many people would gather in the monastery yard and Fr. Arsenie would walk through and stop and exchange a few words with each of them.

- Once, a woman told him: “Father, things aren’t going well for me at all”. And he said:

 “I know, but you know why, too; remember the ones you have killed.” – The woman had had several abortions.

Another time, a young man and a girl came to him and asked him to give them his blessing, so that they could marry each other; Fr. Arsenie told them not to, because they were brother and sister and that they would go through much suffering if they did that sin. They didn’t believe him and they got married, had three children and one of them was deaf and dumb and two were possessed.

-         You were confessed by His Holiness. How was he as a confessor Priest, was he tough, or was he lenient?

-         He was very patient. He wouldn’t confess anyone and wouldn’t give penance. Because he knew that you can do your penance in a formal way while your mind would continue to live in sin. Whereas if he didn’t give you penance, but you’d be truly sorry for your sins, you’d have more zeal for prayer and would refrain from sinning, better.

-         Were there also people who would doubt Father Arsenie?

-         Yes, there were. There are always people like that. Once, a peasant swore at some people who were going to Fr. Arsenie - and the moment he did that, his mouth got wry in a funny way and stayed like that. He was no longer able to open it - not even for as much as a glass of water. The people took him to the monastery and when the Father approached the cart in which this unfortunate fellow was, he asked him: “Hey, man, what has that guy, Arsenie, done to you? Come on, open your mouth and tell me!” And the man was instantly able to open his mouth and speak, then he fell to his knees and started crying and saying how sorry he was for the things he had said.

A Miracle of Fr. Arsenie, After His Death 

-         How long did you stay around Father Arsenie?

-         Not too much; for about a year, because he was arrested, afterwards. Later on, we were arrested, too – myself and five other monks, because we didn’t want to leave the monastery and hence were considered “mystical agitators”.

-         Do you know how Fr. Arsenie was arrested?

-         One day, five men from the Security came, together with an attorney. But Fr. Arsenie had known beforehand that they would come to pick him up, because that was his gift. And when they arrived, he met them with the words: ”You guys, I know why you’ve come, but why don’t you go back home, because if the people see that you’re taking me away, they’ll chase you off with stones. I’ll come to you myself, tomorrow morning.”

The guys didn’t say anything, they just left with their heads down.

-         Were they afraid of him?

-         Maybe not. But they were afraid of the people possibly rioting, because it was early in the period of terror; the worse hadn’t started yet, it was around ’48, when they weren’t sure how the people would react and there were already rumors about the partisans in the mountains. Fr. Arsenie knew about the partisans, as he would help them and receive them for confession. Maybe the Security guys were afraid of the partisans, too.

-         Did you see Fr. Arsenie again later on?

-         Yes, all the time, until the end. After he got out of prison, Fr. Arsenie was taken under Patriarch Justinian’s protection… He was painting the Maicilor Skete (*in Bucharest) and that’s where I saw him again for the first time after he came out of prison. And once, when I was talking to him, he told me, all of a sudden: “You go home, in Făgăraş, and start badmouthing me, [you hear?] – and if you don’t badmouth me, don’t come back here to see me, any more!” I asked him what I should say.

And he said: “That’s ok, you’ll think of something.” (What he meant was that we all knew how to badmouth, if we wanted to.) I didn’t say anything, but I didn’t do what he had asked me to.

-         And what did he say later on, when you saw him again?

-         He was painting – and as I opened the door, he told me: “I told you not to come back to me any more if you didn’t badmouth me.” I replied: “Well, if I had badmouthed you, Father, you wouldn’t have seen me any more.” ”Why?” “Because they would have broken my head.” He laughed.

 -         What was the reason for this test?

 -         I think there were two reasons: first, to find out how the people felt about him, whether they’d stand up for him if they heard someone say anything bad about him… And then, to see if I had kept my sound judgement after having come out of prison.

-         Have you ever experienced any miracle that was related to the Father’s spiritual power?

-         Several, but I can’t talk about them, because people wouldn’t understand. He told me once:

“You [all] come to me, I give you advice, but you also expect miracles. But let me tell you this: I will help you more after I have gone to the Lord, than I do now.” And he was right. I have always felt his help after he passed away. And I lived a miracle, three years ago. I went to the Commemoration that they hold for Fr. Arsenie every year at the Prislop Monastery. I had not been there before so I had set my mind on going there and serving the Liturgy before I [get too old and] die. It was very beautiful.

At about 4 in the afternoon, I left to go back to Bucharest, with somebody who had a car. It was only the driver and myself. But throughout our way back, we felt like there was someone else with us in the car, in the backseat. And I can honestly state that the car didn’t touch the ground until we arrived here in Bărcăneşti. (*village outside Bucharest)

-         What do you mean?

-         It was like floating… We got back in three hours, although when we had left to get there, we had driven for eight hours. On our way back, we came across stops, accidents, but we didn’t stop, we drove through all of them as if we were going through the air. I was looking at the driver and was wondering, why does he cross on the red light, is he asleep? He didn’t say anything; neither did I. It was like we were both afraid to speak. When we got closer to the Monastery here in Bărcăneşti, we could hear how the car was [finally] running on the ground.

And the driver said: “Our car is running on the ground.” I asked him: “My good man, what did you feel?”

He said: “I felt like there’s been someone in the backseat; that’s all. I wasn’t the one driving all the way up here; all I know is that the car went by itself”. At that point I heard a voice in the back: “That’s as far as I will accompany you.” When I turned around to see who had been talking, there was nobody.

 -         Have you told this to anyone else?

 -         No, because today’s people don’t believe any more.

 -         What is the most valuable teaching that you are left with from Father Arsenie?

 -         We should be prepared for the moment of our death by the way in which we lead our lives here, so that we can give a good answer at the Last Judgement. And through the courage of our confession, we should tell the truth, come what may. I have listened to him, which is why I was put in prison.

-         Were you ready to die?

-         Yes. I am now, too.

Again, About Judging

By Fr. Arsenie Boca

There is this vicious circle in which the souls of many get tangled: the circle of confusion. For some “reasons”, these persons do not want to listen to the Priests of the Church. Hence, by not listening to the Orthodox teachings and their advice on how to lead a life in God, they damage their mind with their own thoughts. This causes them to get deeper and deeper into a sinful life, as a result of their disobedience. Hence, man’s mind grows darker before the Truth and takes his errancy for the right thing.

Some do wake up and realise that they have lived in error. The enemy – to whom they have listened by deception - does not want to lose his grasp on them and starts presenting them people’s faults and shortcomings, as well as those of the legal servants of the Church, whilst obscuring their gifts and grace. And this is how he leads them on, to build their own “faith”, which ignores the mystery of repentance - exclusively and validly administered by priests and bishops, regardless of their human shortcomings. 

The Mystery of Matrimony

By Fr. Arsenie Boca

“Jesus renders the bodily union of man and wife holy,

raising marriage to the height of great Mistery

– in Christ and in the Church.”

Fr. Arsenie Boca

 One Body

For as long as all the leaders of this world are not redundant, we shall render the money printed with their names; for as long as all people are not like angels, our nations need to multiply.

The family and the government – lowly institutions when we think about the happiness that exists in heaven – are necessary during our earthly awaiting of Heaven. However, for as long as these institutions are necessary, they will have to avoid being too unclean and rickety, as much as possible.

Whoever is in a leading position (the government) should feel the responsibility just as much as the one who serves; and the union between man and woman (the family) should be eternal and non-deceitful.

Jesus Christ sees marriage above all (spiritually speaking) as the union of two bodies. Here, He strengthens the word of the Old Testament: “[...] and the two shall become one flesh.” The bride and the groom shall be one body, impossible to separate. The man shall have no other woman; the woman shall have no other man, until death does them part. Man’s union with woman, when it is not the release of a vagrant luxury/pleasure or of furtive prostitution, when it is the meeting and the “offering” of two healthy virginities, when preceded by unforced choice, by pure/good passion, by an agreement that is known and consecrated by the world, acquires an almost mystical character, which no one can remove. The choice is without change, the pure passion is consecrated, the agreement is eternal. In the two bodies that embrace each other in their longing are two souls that find one another in love. The two bodies become one body, the two souls become one soul.

The two mix their blood; but from this union, a new being is born, who is made from their life: the visible embodiment of their mergence. Love makes them similar to God: makers of the ever new and miraculous creation.

But this bodily and ritualistic vanity, which is the most perfect among all the other imperfect humanly organizations - the Christian matrimony – must not be ever disturbed or interrupted. Adultery deteriorates it; divorce puts and end to it. Adultery is the shrewd betrayal of unity; divorce is its definitive denial. Adultery is a secret divorce, based on lying and betrayal; divorce – followed by a new marriage – is legalized adultery.

Jesus always condemns – solemnly and clearly – adultery and divorce. His whole being would rebel against terrible acts, against unfaithfulness and betrayal. The day will come, He prophesies, speaking about life in heavens, when men and women will no longer marry each other (Luke 20, 34-36); however, marriage should at least be aware of all the virtues that are allowed during one’s earthly life.

Jesus, Who always goes from the visible things to the invisible things, doesn’t call adulterous only the person who steals his brother’s wife, but also the person who looks at her with lustful eyes (Matthew 5, 27-28), while she may walk past. An adulterous man isn’t only the one who meets with someone else’s woman in secret, but also the one who, after having chased away his own wife, marries another one. There seems to be only one situation in which divorce is admitted: the adulterous woman’s husband; however, the abandoned wife’s guilt would by no means justify the betrayed husband’s crime of marrying another.

Before such an absolute and reckless Law, even the Apostles get up on their feet (Matthew 19:10). Since things must be that way, why would man ever get married? Still, He answers them: “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it!” (Matthew 19, 12:12).

Marriage is a favor done to human nature and to life propagation. Not everyone is able to keep themselves pure, virgin, and single, “but only those to whom it has been given.” (Matthew 19, 11). Perfect celibacy is a gift, a reward of the soul’s victory over one’s body.

Anyone who wishes to dedicate all the love s/he is capable of to great deeds shall have to “condemn” himself/herself to remaining chaste. The man who must carry out a heavy mission, which will require all of his days, up until his last one, cannot link himself to a woman.

Marriage requires you to leave your being into the will of another; the Savior will give all souls the union of two souls; but this would prove insufficient, as it would make it difficult – even impossible – to unite all souls with all the other souls. Responsibilities that follow the choosing of a woman, child-bearing, and settling one’s own small living space amidst the greater one – are so heavy, that they would raise daily obstacles to his other duties, that are extremely demanding.

The man who wishes to lead and change others cannot make a lifetime commitment to a single being. He would have to be unfaithful either to his wife or to his calling. He loves the endless world of his brothers and sisters too much to love only one of his sisters. A hero is always alone. His loneliness is punishment and greatness. He will deprive himself of the joys of domestic life while the love he has within him will multiply, to be shared with all people, in a sacrificial sublimation, which exceeds all earthly ecstasies. The man without a woman is lonely, but free; his soul, unconquered by worldly thoughts, may rise more highly. He does not bear children of flesh and bones, but helps the children of his soul [his spiritual children] to be reborn into a new life.

Yet not everyone is able to put up with abstinence. “The one who can accept this, should accept it!”  The Kingdom of Heaven requires people who will dedicate all their souls; the bodily dedication, even when limited by a rightful marriage, will soften up the vigor of the person who is called upon to look into spiritual matters.

Those who will rise on the great Day of victory will no longer face temptations in the Kingdom of Heaven. Man’s union with woman, even when consecrated through the eternal bond of matrimony, will be removed. Its great goal is bearing new people; but at that point, death will be defeated and there will no longer be a need for the eternal renewal of nations. “The sons of this age marry and [its daughters] are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that Age and to the Resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the Resurrection.” (Luke 20:34-36).

By acquiring eternal life and angelic nature – the two promises and creeds of Christ – what seemed to be possible to stand becomes unthinkable; what seemed clean becomes lowly; and what seemed holy, becomes unworthy. In that supreme world, all the tribulations that humanity is required to go through will have already been negotiated.

To the sinful beastly male, his transitory union with a stolen woman is enough;a man will rise to the marriage level, to his sole union with his sole woman; whereas the saint will rise to a much higher level, reaching chastity of his own will. Yet more, the archangel-like man in heavens, who has been turned into a spirit full of love, will have defeated even the memory of his body; his love, in a world where there are no more poor, ill, suffering people and enemies, will have changed into a contemplation which is above the earthly realm.

The cycle of births will have ended. The fourth Kingdom will have been established once and for all. The citizens of that Kingdom will be eternally the same, throughout the ages. Woman will no longer bear forth in pain. The strain of the exile will have been over; the snake will have been defeated. The Father will kiss his lost child again; Heaven will be found a second time, never to be lost again. 
 Source: VALAHIA

From the Miracles of St. Justin Popovich (of Chelije) - Feast Day: June 1st

 

THE YEAR 1952

    In 1952 there occurred a great miracle in the bakery of Chelije Monas­tery. In the monastery there were forty sisters, and Mother Nina was assigned to the kitchen. Having prepared bread for supper, she realized that there remained only one cup of flour. As she lamented this prob­lem to the other sisters during dinner, Fr. Justin said: “Pray to God-the Lord will take care of us!” Early the next morning, as Mother Nina entered the bakery, she found two large canisters of flour. Fr. Justin, Mother Sarah and all the other sisters witnessed this miracle, and all together gave thanks unto God.

THE YEAR 1953

    Stojka Jankovich from the village of Leskovac, in the vicinity of the city ofValjevo, had been ill for twelve years from demonic possession. She frequently saw demons, which beat, tortured and wounded her. When her family censed the house, she saw the demons fleeing from the incense. She went frequently to Fr. Justin for Holy Confession and Communion, and was eventually healed. Later she accepted the mo­nastic vocation, and is now Sister Tatijana.

THE YEAR 1959

    The daughter of one Nicholas, from Strmne Gore near Lelich, was ill. For three years she lay immobile in her bed. Once, they took her by car to the monastery and, using a blanket, carried her into church. Fr. Justin read a prayer service over her. After the prayer service she was able to sit up, and after three years she was able to walk. As she had the first time, she again came to the monastery by car and was carried into church. After the prayer service, she walked back to the car by herself. The engine, however, would not start. The men began to push the car, but all was in vain. But when she got out of the car, the motor did start; however, as soon as she entered the car again, the motor stopped. Then she said, “I’ll walk up the hill” (there are a number of hills around the monastery). She was accompanied by a small child. Taking the child by the hand, she proceeded to walk up the highest of the hills.

THE YEAR 1963

    On the Feast of the Transfiguration, Fr. Justin was serving the Di­vine Liturgy. The church was full and all partook of Holy Commu­nion. Present among the people was a Muslim who was in the employment of a construction company (“Zhegrap”) that was working on the railway from Belgrade to Bar (a coastal city in Montenegro). His name was Ismet, and until then Fr. Justin had never met him. When the people came forward for Holy Communion, he went for­ward with them. When he came before the Holy Chalice, Fr. Justin looked at him and said, “You cannot commune, since you’re not baptized.”

  

   Radisha Miljokovich, a six-year-old boy from the village ofTrlicha, in the vicinity of the town of Ub, suffered from fainting spells. Fr. Justin held a prayer service for him, and he was healed.

   Slavko Molovich from the village of Pambukovice, in the vicinity ofUb, did not have children. He came to Fr. Justin for a prayer service. He was subsequently blessed with two sons.

   Milovan from the village of Stave, in the vicinity of Valjevo, a teacher by profession, was severely sick spiritually. One evening, his mother brought him to Chelije Monastery for Vespers, and they spent the night there. At four in the morning they arose for Matins. Walking to the church with Sister Anisija, at the entrance Milovan became ill and fell unconscious. His mother knew that when this state came upon him, calamity and dangers followed, so she shouted to the sister to flee. At that time, the chapel was being built in the monastery, and twenty workers were present. Every morning, at four a.m., they first went to the church for services and then proceeded to work. Milovan began to throw stones at his mother, forcing her to flee to the building where the workers were staying and preparing to go to church. In front of the building there was a lamp. Throwing stones, Milovan damaged all the doors and walls of the building. He threw stones at it without ceasing, so that it was impossible for anyone to exit. Besides the workers, Frs. Makarije and Mardarije from the Rezhvich Monastery, the construc­tion manager, and some other men were present in the building. The whole time he was throwing stones, Milovan was shrieking, “Black one, white one, yellow one, help! Strike! Rapid fire!”-and he contin­ued to heap stones before the door.

   Above the monastery was a hill with a road on it. People who were traveling on the road heard what was happening. Their astonished voices could be heard in the monastery: “What’s happening in the monastery? This is something dangerous!”

   For two hours, Fr. Mardarije and Fr. Makarije were unable to sub­due Milovan. When at last they caught him, they bound him and took him into the church. In the church they bound his hands and feet and, during the Divine Liturgy, five men guarded him. Mter the Divine Lit­urgy, Fr. Justin performed the Holy Mystery of Unction over him. For the first half of the service he showed no sign of change. At the halfway point, he said: “Untie my hands, they’re hurting me.” By the end of the service, he had fully recovered. He had breakfast with the tradesmen and returned home with his mother, completely healthy and normal. A few days later, Fr. Justin went to Belgrade. When he returned, Milovan, now completely normal and healthy, approached him with thanks. Thereafter, he and his mother came frequently to the monastery.

   In the village of Stubo, in the vicinity of V alj evo, lived three sisters: Milenja, Obrenija and Krynija. All three suffered from neuroses. Milenja was the first to become ill and, after a few years, so did the other two. All three came to the monastery. Fr. Justin read prayers for them, confessed and communed them. All three recovered to full health, and Krynija became the nunParaskeva.

THE YEAR 1964

   A mother from the village of Velika Plane brought her daughter Slavka, who suffered from demonic possession, to the monastery. Slavka was twenty-six years old, and the demon spoke through her. Fr. Justin prayed much for her. On the eve of the Feast of the Holy Arch­angel Michael, the church was filled with people, and Fr. Justin was reading the Holy Gospel, when the demon spoke through the girl. Fr. Justin stopped and said: “It is not she who is speaking, but the demon in her!” To this the demon replied: “I would enter into you, but I can’t.”

   Slavka was in the monastery for a long time and Fr. Justin read prayers for her every day. Three times he performed the Holy Mystery of Unction over her. During this time she went to Holy Confession and  Holy Communion, but her condition did not improve. Fr. Justin said: “I am ceasing my prayers; there is some great unconfessed sin here.” He instructed the sisters that perhaps Slavka did not know what sin encom­passed, and that they should converse with her regarding this.

   In conversations with the sisters, Slavka confessed her sin: “My par­ents had myself and my brother. My brother became engaged to a girl named Dushica. She was an only child and worked as a telephone oper­ator, as did my brother. He asked my mother and me to come and see his future wife. The girl was fine and pretty, but she had a clubfoot; this was unacceptable to both of us, and we were against the engagement. My brother called her on the phone while she was at work and canceled the engagement. Later, her fellow workers said that although she had al­ways gone home the same way, on this day she had gone down a road that crossed the railway. From a distance a train was approaching and she began to run. At that moment, an elderly gentleman (who later told of all this) approached her, grabbed her by the hand, and said: “Where are you going, child?” She freed herself from his grasp and at the last moment threw herself in front of the train. In relating this to the sisters, Slavka did not realize that she had committed a sin.

   Afterwards, Slavka went to Confession, and sent an appeal to the bishop that a funeral service be held for Dushica. The funeral service was performed at Dushica’s grave, and Fr. Justin served forty Divine Liturgies for the departed. When all was completed, Slavka then de­parted for home completely healthy.

THE YEAR 1969

   One day, a student by the name of Milica arrived. She came to the monastery before Vespers. Fr. Justin was going toward the church, and they met in the church’s courtyard. This was the first time in her life that she had seen Fr. Justin, and he her. Nevertheless, Fr. Justin greeted her: “God’s help to you, sister Milica; have you arrived? Thanks be to God; rest yourself a little.” That Milica is now the nun Makarija.

   Milena, a seven-year-old girl from Ljubinica, could not speak. Her mother brought her to the monastery where she spent an entire month. During this time, Fr. Justin read prayers for her daily and she was healed.

   Sreten from Gornje Leskovice (in the vicinity of Valjevo), had an extreme case of mental illness. He slept in the forest, shrieked, chased people, and beat them with stones. He had even killed his own uncle. Once, during the Divine Services, he ran into the church, venerated all the icons and prayed aloud. Fr. Justin read prayers for him, and he be­came healthy.

   The granddaughter of a certain Radovan, Snezhana from Popuchka, in the vicinity of Valjevo, was six years old and could not walk. Her mother brought her to the monastery, and Fr. Justin read prayers for her. She began to walk normally, and often comes to the monastery.

‘Translated by Fr. Milorad Orlic from Banatski Vesnik: Banat Messenger: Journal of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Banat), vol. 51, no. 11, June 1991.”

Excerpts from:  “The Orthodox Word” No. 256, 2007, p. 226-230 @St Herman Press (Edition dedicated entirely to Archimandrite Justin Popovich)

Source: http://orthodoxword.wordpress.com/2010/05/02/from-the-miracles-of-st-justin-popovich-of-chelije/

Gerontissa Nantieznta (Hope) of Sevastopol: a Spiritual Daughter of St. Luke of Simferopol

Below is an account by Father Nektarios Antonopoulos, the Abbot of the Holy Monastery of the Transfiguration of Christ - Sagmata, about his meetings with the Gerontissa (Eldress) Nantieznta on his trips to Simferopol. Fr. Nektarios has written a lot about St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol, has helped the Monastery of Sagmata become a pilgrimage of St. Luke in Greece, and also has visited the Ukraine many times leading pilgrimages. These are some comments of his about a very spiritual nun who was and remains under the spiritual direction of St. Luke. The text is translated from: http://www.agiosloukas.org/nantienznta.html and http://www.agiosloukas.org/nantienznta1a.html.

"It was June 10th 2000, the eve of the celebration of St Luke the [Surgeon], Archbishop of Simferopol and Crimea. I was in the church of the Holy Trinity in Simferopol for the festival Vespers and Matins. Among the thousands of pilgrims I saw an elderly Great-schema nun.

From the first moment I was impressed with her presence and kindness. Her relatives related to me that Gerontissa was a spiritual child of St Luke. I saw her again the following year in Sevastopol. We talked a little more and I began to understand that this was a spiritual treasure, but unfortunately I was unable to stay longer. I bid her farewell, saying that if God wills, next year we will meet at her home.
It was Gerontissa Nantieznta (Hope) from Sevastopol. F

Indeed in June of 2002, I visited her residence on the ground floor of an old building. The small apartment consisted of a room connected by a narrow corridor to a small kitchen, small and unadorned [áíÞëéï êáé áðåñéðïßçôï?], in a terrible state, as well the rest of apartment. Gerontissa lives with her daughter and granddaughter. The wall above her bed was covered with icons, and in the center was a table with an ever-burning lapada [olive-oil votive lamp].

She welcomed us full of joy: «Welcome! What a great blessing this is, that you came to me the sinner...». She took a single orange from the table and gave it to me.


«I saved it for you.» She continued.

«You know a month ago I was very in very bad shape. I felt my forces starting to leave, my blood pressure fell, and I understood that I would soon be leaving for that Great Journey. The priest came and communed me, but at some point I remembered your words and what you told me when you left.

Then I entreated St. Luke and I told him: «My St. Luke, Fr. Nektarios said that in one month he would come to see me. If you want, let me live until then I can go. Indeed the Saint heard me, my strength returned, my blood pressure rose, and now I am well». I was surprised and somewhat uneasy to hear this, and I said: «But I also wanted to see you alive». Very charismatically she replied. «And I tried to live».

Icon of St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol the Surgeon (taken from: http://www.agiosloukas.org/eikona-1.html)


I asked her about her life.
«I was born in 1906. I lived through a lot in my life. Poverty, hunger, misery, revolutions, wars...». It's noteworthy that Sevastopol belongs to those cities which have especially suffered. Shortly after the October Revolution, civil war erupted between «Whites» and «Reds», which took nearly four years. Millions were the dead and many more the other victims and the injured.


The most bloody phase of this war took place in the Crimea. Following the withdrawal of «Whites», the massacres reached their peak. Within one and a half months around 50,000 people were executed. Sevastopol lived through horrific days, and that is why we called the «City of the Hung». The central avenue was full of corpses. They gathered those that they had hung in the streets to terrorize the population, while the town was dominated by posters with the slogan «Death to traitors».

In the Second World War, Sevastopol once again sawthe horrors of war. The location is of strategic importance and the two rivals fought rabidly and had countless deaths. Sevastopol was kept for 249 days and all the while mercilessly bombed. When the fighting stopped, only seven buildings were left standing, the rest of the city had been steamrollered.

The Gerontissa continued: «Since early on we have experienced the horrors of civil war. I was a little girl and then our town lived through many misfortunes. There was a lot of blood spilled then. In the decade of the 1930s I got married and had two girls. Soon the Second World War erupted and my husband left for the front. The Germans arrested him as a prisoner and he was kept for some time in German camps.

After the war the prisoners returned, but not to their homes; they were sent to Siberia. It was an absurd policy of Stalin. Those miserable Russian prisoners who survived the suffering of the German camps, were considered by Stalin to be poisoned by the «miasma of capitalism» and therefore should be subjected to the «detoxification» anti-Capitalist treatment.
So in this way all the soldiers were driven to the gulag camps! I never saw my husband again. With great difficulty I raised my two children. My only consolation and hope was in faith in God. Since I was small I was in the church, and this supported me. Let His name be glorified».

Acquaintance with Saint Luke

I met Saint Luke in 1951 and this acquaintance was the greatest blessing of my life. For ten years I made him the prosphoro [holy bread] for the Divine Liturgy, and I never missed his sermons. Many times I visited his office, and we would talk frequently and often we ate together.

He helped us a lot, as long as the whole world. He often stayed hungry so that others could eat. But while St. Luke seemed austere, he actually wasn't. When you approaching him you saw a sweet man, full of love.

All of us loved him and we thought of him as our father. Although the situation was difficult - the Church was under persecution and we were at risk of losing our jobs - we ran to be close to him and to listen to the sermons. And when the Divine Liturgy was finished, we did not leave, but we waited for him and then followed him up to his house.
When we would reach his home, he turned around full of love and blessed us.

When my daughter was small, she had a problem with appendicitis and the doctors had recommended surgery. I went to St. Luke, he examined her and told us: «No, do not do surgery, there is nothing». Indeed, since then it did not bother her again.

I remember that I saw him a few days before his dormition. He was in his bed, very weak, and he couldn't speak well. He only whispered something to me and I received his blessing. I was present at his funeral. The two evenings when his body remained in the church I was there and I read the psalter. The second evening, as I read the psalter, I saw him in front of me, very much alive. He sat down not too far away at a table. I was speechless.


Photograph from the Funeral of St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol (taken from: http://www.rel.gr/photo/thumbnails.php?album=59)

On the day of the funeral there was a great battle with the police, and we were not allowed either to bring the Relic along the main road or to sing. We will not forget the following amazing fact: When we were having the argument with the police over his coffin, there appeared in the sky thousands of doves which circled and chirped. Everyone followed St. Luke on the main road to the cemetery.

This took approximately three and a half hours. All this time we were chanting «Holy God...» and the doves followed us. When we arrived at the cemetery, the doves sat on the roof of the church. After we finished and started to leave, the doves flew away chirping, and no one ever saw them again. There were thousands of doves and this made a great impression. This was even striking to the «atheists».


All of his spiritual children were convinced that they were near a Saint. We had no doubt, and anything that we asked of in prayer us, he gave to us. Since then he has sometimes visited us. The last time he did I noticed that his robe had few sludges on it. I cleaned it and said said to him: «My Master, [Despota or Vladyka, the proper way to address to a hierarch] how did you get dirty? Next time, be more careful...»



The exhortation of Christ came to my mind, how we must become like children and admire their simplicity and directness.

The Tonsure
«I was tonsured in 1997. For a long time I wanted to become a nun, but was not provided with the opportunity. Eventually, my desire was made known to the Metropolitan, Lazarus, who gave me the blessing to be tonsured. I didn't go to a monastery, because there is none nearby. Furthermore I am very advanced in age, and so I decided to stay here. I split the room in the middle with my daughter (and showing me her bed and icons, she continued) from here is the monastery, and (showing the bed of her daughter across) there is the world.

My day passes with my prayer. What else should I do? I am a nun. Before, all day I would read many Paraklesis [Supplications services] and Xairetismoi [Salutations services] to the Panagia. Now I see almost nothing, nor do I hear well. My daughter reads to me, and the rest of the time I do the komposchoini [prayer rope]. I did the same at night, because I cannot sleep much. I pray: «Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me the sinner».


I pray to our Master for priests, for our monks and for the whole world. I also pray for you that God keeps you well.

She stopped for a moment and then continued: «You know, today I am very happy but also very sad. Tomorrow is the Ascension and our Christ will leave us. I am glad that he will ascend into the heavens, but again I am sorry that he leaves ... I wanted Him to stay!.


But whatever happens I will leave myself, I am now useless. I shouldn't weary them and pester them».


Some time past.

In October 2003 we visited again with a group of children from the Diocese of Thebes and Levadeia. The small room was packed, and most could not even fit in the room, but remained in the corridor. The Gerontissa's joy was very great «What a great joy you've given me. So many people came to me! Thank you for remembering me. You came to me like little birds from heaven, like angels».

Among the other incidents mentioned, the following two stories show what a great heart Gerontissa has. «A few years ago went with my daughter to church. On the road we found a small, destitute [ñáêÝíäõôï?] child. We asked him where he was from and where he was staying. The child was abandoned, and he had neither parents nor home. I told him: «Do you want to come to stay with us?»

He accepted, and so we took the boy home and kept him for three to four years. Later, some relatives of his from Vynitsa were found from very far from here, and they took the child with them.


Unfortunately now we have no contact with the child. They didn't take our phone number and haven't sent us a letter. Never mind, may things go well with the child, as God keeps him well. We could do this and we did».


We admired her nobility. The soul which knows how to love, to offer and to sacrifice does not complain for any ingratitude, or require any permanent dependency from others [ïýôå áðáéôåß ôçí ìüíéìç åîÜñôçóç ôïõ Üëëïõ?].

The second incident is similar.

«One relative of ours was pregnant. Because stumbled financially, she decided to have an abortion.

We entreated her not to do so. She was adamant. She said that she would not be able to raise it. I fell to her feet, and I begged her with tears, saying that she would be committing a crime, she would be killing a human being. She did not change her mind, and then I said that since she could not raise it, she should give it to me, I will adopt it and will raise it. This convinced her. The child was born and we brought her home. Today she is 14 years old».


She appears to be a very good and willing girl, who lives as a gift of the love of her holy grandmother. The remarkable thing is that Gerontissa Nantieznta is not only not rich, but gets a pension of hunger [ðáßñíåé óýíôáîç ðåßíáò, government subsidy for food?]. Only six euro per month and a similar amount from her daughter.
Thus little Anna grew up in Gerontissa's house.

The money is not enough to live, but the Gerontissa is totally devoted [áðüëõôá ðáñáäïìÝíç?] to the will of God.
We sat close to her for over an hour. Her smile was constant on her lips and her words were an outpouring of joy. We did not hear any complaints, only glorification of God. Her countenance was filled with love and kindness.


Her eyes could see little, but the eyes of her soul were wide open. In her hands continuously spun the komposchoini and every so often she would whisper the Jesus Prayer [«Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me the sinner»].

As we were leaving she filled us with prayers: «Go in prayer of God and the Panagia. May your guardian angel be with you. May St. Luke be near you. Write me your names and your city, that I may pray for all of you and your families. Now that you are leaving, I will do the Paraklesis to the Panagia Odigitria ["The Directress"] that she might guide you, and go on the road before you».



Icon of Panagia and Christ "Odigitria" ("The Directress") (Icon courtesy of www.eikonografos.com used with permission)

...She asked her daughter to help her outside to bid us farewell. She sat at the door and with tears in her eyes she crossed us and continued prayers. «May your guardian angel be with you. May Panagia the Odigitria be your guide».

One hour near her was a taste of Paradise."

(taken from: http://www.agiosloukas.org/nantienznta.html, and http://www.agiosloukas.org/nantienznta1a.html; for more info on St. Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopol, see: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2008/10/st-luke-archbishop-of-simferopol.html)

St. Luke Archbishop of Simferopol, intercede for us all and help us!
Most-Holy Theotokos, save us!

Elder Paisios of Athos

Douglas Cramer: The Saint Is The Only True Revolutionary

The siren song of our culture is that we should devote our best energies to serve ourselves and see to our own needs before thinking of others. We should avoid entangling ourselves in commitments, relationships and groups that might make demands of us. The great invitation of the Church, which calls us to join with the visible Body of Christ in this world, is a radical invitation. It is a revolutionary alternative to the extreme individualism of our culture.

Sadly, this cult of individualism is not restricted only to unbelievers. Many people who consider themselves Christian have signed on as well. There is a book out by a well-known religious writer named George Barna, titled Revolution. Barna identifies a growing trend among Christians, a movement that centers on a rejection of community and an embrace of individualism. Many of our neighbors have come to believe that the best way to live a Christian life is in isolation from any parish or church, figuring out for themselves how they should pray, act, and understand their faith.

“There is a new breed of Christ-follower in America today,” Barna says, “These are people who are more interested in being the Church than in going to church.” His research has “discovered and described a growing national population of more than twenty million adults who are committed to living their faith and making God the top priority in their life. Some are doing so through the ministries of a local church, but many are not. The emphasis is upon allowing God to transform them in every aspect of their life.”

Now, what is wrong with this? Don’t we all believe that we should allow God to transform us in every aspect of our lives? Of course we do. The problem is that these Christ-followers, perhaps with the best of intentions, have asked a false question, set up a false choice. As Orthodox Christians, we understand that we cannot choose between “being the Church” and “going to church.” The Church is not only an invisible, mystical union. It is a physical body of believers, who are bound together as a holy community in communion with God and His saints.

While this trend saddens me, it does not surprise me. The temptation of individualism has a long history, and as we know it is supported in countless ways by our culture. But the true calling of Christ and His Church offers us a very different path.

There is a Greek word that contains the essence of this truth. That word is koinonia. Koinonia means community, in its most profound and mysterious sense, and it is in community that we find the truth of who we are and how we should live. It is in God’s community, in koinonia, that we find our life as persons.

Orthodox Christianity offers us an alternative to the isolation of individualism – it offers us true personhood. What does this mean? What is the difference between individualism and personhood? The great Orthodox teacher Bishop Kallistos Ware gives us an eloquent answer: “The human person is created for relationship.” True personhood is not found in individuals – it is found in community.

At the heart of this teaching is our affirmation that we are created in the image of God. And as Christians, we proclaim that when we say “God,” we mean the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We understand that God Himself is not in isolation. “God is love,” we read in 1 John 4:8. God is love because God Himself is community. Bishop Kallistos goes on to say, “God is not a unit, but a union. God is love in the sense of shared love, the mutual love of three Persons in one. God is shared love, not self-love. God is openness, exchange, solidarity, self-giving.”

Brothers and sisters, we can only truly understand ourselves, we can only lay claim to the image of God within us, when we recognize that like God the truth of our identities are centered in community. The truth of our very nature demands that we fully embrace our relationships with others. This is the key to personhood according to the Trinitarian image. Not isolated self-awareness, but relationship in mutual love.

Remember the words of Christ in His prayer to the Father at the Last Supper: “That they all may be one, as you, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us.” The mutual love of the Holy Trinity is the model for our human personhood. We are here on earth to reproduce within time the love that passes in eternity between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

How different this understanding of life is from the thin gruel offered by the cult of individualism. But still, we all feel the call of selfishness, of putting ourselves first. This shouldn’t surprise us. Like I said, the temptation of individualism has a long history—in fact, it goes all the way back to our beginnings. The essence of the fall of Adam and Eve in Paradise was the rejection of relationship. When God asked Adam if he had eaten the fruit of the tree, what did he say? “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And what did Eve say? “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Adam and Eve each chose to think only of themselves, of their own needs. They each chose selfishly, and sought to place the blame for their act on someone else.

But we have received a different invitation. God is asking us to join with others, and with himself, in holy fellowship—to come alongside our fellow believers and dedicate ourselves to training in the life of Christ.

Of course, there is one great challenge in living as part of a community. Can you guess what it is? That’s right—other people! Why is it so tempting for us to isolate ourselves, to avoid church, to want to flee from any relationship that might make demands on us? Because when we become involved with others, we will be hurt. There’s no getting away from it. Relationship means pain. It means people will hurt us, and we will hurt them. 

C. S. Lewis put it well:

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is Hell.

If you believe you can protect yourself from pain by holding back, by not engaging with others, you are lying to yourself. We must engage, we must commit, we must come together. We must love. And we will all suffer for it, and cause suffering to others. If you want to live, there is no other way.

We can begin by getting anything that might hinder this bonding out in the open. Forgiveness isn’t just about saying the words, or going through the motions. And it isn’t about excusing or justifying someone’s actions, pretending that they didn’t really cause you pain. True forgiveness means recognizing that someone has sinned against you, and choosing to love that person anyway.

This is our goal – bringing about the breakthrough of the Kingdom of Heaven in to our world. This is what God is calling you to be part of. This is why He wants you to choose to be part of His Church, of this holy community. Remember the saying: “The only thing we can do alone is go to hell.” But together, we can transform our lives by transforming our relationships. We can become more than individuals – we can become true persons in the image of God. We can become saints. Fr. Alexander Schmemann once said, “The saint is the only true revolutionary in this world.”

This reflection is adapted from a speech originally written for Fr. Christopher Metropulos of St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, and SCOBA's Orthodox Christian Network. Learn more about the powerful ministries of OCN on their website, www.myocn.net.

Source: http://www.antiochian.org/node/18159