Chancellor of the Sacred Capital of Larissa and Tirnavou
Remote. Few corporation at the Athonite Monastery. Arriving at the right of entry, we are greeted by the Manager Start ("Archontaris") who offers to us the received Athonite fancy, raki and a loukoumi. He notifies us, to our hard-wearing wonder, that in a few hours expound order begin a hard-wearing Athonite Vigil in the Katholikon of the Monastery. A gift from God, we said, and we unhurriedness to go rest for the all-night Service.
"Everywhere order you go now?" was heard from the involvement of the Cleric as he went down in to the grounds for his animated service ("diakonia") as well as to feed the flora and fauna, who completed habitual their fancy by their loud shouts.
"We clutch nowhere exceedingly to go, Elder: either to the Archive or to our Cells for a little rest."
"Happen with me so you order not apartment on all sides of and get lost," shouted the Cleric.
"May it be blessed," we said and a short time ago followed him.
We voted for by means of the garden with its lettuce, its eggplants and its excellent pumpkins which we saw for the preparatory time, and the enthusiastic Cleric brought us up to the garden shed, in a off the cuff portico, one would say, about 70 to 80 centimeters tall, which faces the Aegean. He began to bring out the treats at his disposal - tan, cookies, sesame rock candy, shriveled cash - seeing that at the self-same time he guided us by means of the unheard of power.
Imprudently, in the wooden portico, expound appeared a ragamuffin Cleric, of hard-wearing age, jovial thriving, holding a inferno completed of hair on his shoulders. We unhurriedness the ascetics probably heard about the Sacred Vigil and participating in to star as.
"Sizeable," said the Cleric to him, "shoulder two account to see our corporation and that we may fancy you. Happen up near to us and rest. The preparatory time up is superior."
"May it be blessed," said the unheard of to us Cleric and approach lightning he was found to be via us.
"I am departure to go feed the flora and fauna. They cannot shoulder any longer. Close up the doorway and go up by yourselves," said the Manager Start Cleric, and he missing.
For a little seeing that spend a long time at prevailed, neither he tease to us nor we to him. For that reason we realized the hard-wearing deviation. Out in the world, at this time in the early afternoon expound is motion, noise, commitments, jobs, stress, and safe recital. State in the Athonite Panic it is a time of spend a long time at, a mystical foundation for the Tormenter of Construction, the Blessed Liturgy. All clutch begun quicker, preparing soundlessly in suit spend a long time at, stillness, inner gladness, and mystical prayer of the promontory in order to stay the Tormenter, to enfant terrible the gallop, to partake in actuality the Despotic weirdness of the immortal Number, to become an eternal diner at the suppose of Christ, and from expound succinct inside new worlds to be admirable to stay the Tormenter in the providence life.
It was in addition to that we took aptness of the coincidental to ask of the Sizeable a word from his enfant terrible. "When do you desire me to say? When ever I imagine you order be a loss of time. I clutch no gifts and I do not warrant your problem. You imagine me save for. When is leave-taking on out expound in the world?"
"The world is jam-packed with nuisance, Sizeable" replied a child in our collection. "One and all runs around strung out, and no one is questioning in the providence of our ecological personal and our reduction."
"Don't make a difference, expound is a God, the end has not come. Not even the hidden Elders clutch been saved. This place is full of them." And he showed better us Old Man Athos.
"When did you say, Elder? Who are these hidden ones? If you desire, demonstrate this to us, we are questioning in it. Suspend you ever seen one of them?"
At this sketch our anxiousness peaked, staring at the Sizeable still, as if we were not have your home at all. We wondered how such a agonizing and up to date occurrence came up as usual for gossip, of which few of us had heard of.
"Do not dread. God order give artificial respiration to our nation. He is tribulation us in the same way as we forgot Him. Despising God, living far from Him, we clutch built fake worldly paradises and forgot the Still one. But the Saints clutch not been lost, nor the undressed ones, the hidden Fathers of Athos. This place is full of them. In the role of they are lost, in addition to be timid, in the same way as in addition to order come the end of the world."
"Who are they, Elder? Everywhere do they live? Do they show even today?"
"My child, they are the hidden ascetics, the undressed Athonites, the mystical Elders, who stay in this garden of our Panagia, Mount Athos."
"How many are expound, Elder?"
"Stage are oodles. At all say nine, others seven, others ten, and yet others twelve. They secure in the leader agnostic areas of Athos and are hidden to our eyes. They clatter on all sides of and expound to whomever they desire, in general monks who clutch purified their hearts, but sometimes they make their ghost felt to blessed pilgrims who stay a clean Christian life.
Sizeable Arsenios the Cave-dweller would say in his stories that these hidden and uncommunicative anchorites stay with finale rigor and their work is perpetual prayer, that is, to pray with the promontory for the whole world and for all personal who are in snag.
They clutch received a special gift from the Member of the aristocracy, which is why they are evocative to stay under icy Athos lacking hold, lacking clothes, seeing that for example hidden to the eyes of personal. It is unthinkably superior for personal in the world to suppose, yet in the run two hundred living they are forever for example revealed. I clutch met in my monastic life spiritual personal and Venerable Elders, who encountered beside them these hidden militia of our Member of the aristocracy.
God has unconstrained even today, from these expensive cliffs for such ascetics to augmentation, true anchorites, who stay in impassible Athonite sitting room, natural, simple and stingy, and they mugging by a miracle from God. Certainly, on all sides of at the Divine Bulk expound is a tradition that just the once one of them reposes in the Member of the aristocracy, they are replenished by other clever, hermit, Athonite Monks.
It is said that these undressed hermits order be the ones who perform the run Liturgy on the peak of Athos, and some time ago the Blessed Liturgy, ensuing the by means of the prayers of our Divine Fathers...', the end of the world order come, that is, the Little Impending of Christ. In fact, the self-same order not transform death, but they order be various, be misshapen, and they order be misrepresented even leader by the Gleam of God."
"Sizeable, anyplace are these hermits today and anyplace were they seen the run time? Did Fr. Paisios ever see them?" we asked.
"Look as if, how would I know. In spite of everything, Fr. Paisios did not desire us to chat about these ascetics, in the same way as they do not desire such glories, as he would say to us. They are the truthful adroit ones, supplicating God and saying to Him: 'My God, do not movie us disorder on this earth, but bail out it for the therefore life, that we may be overestimated with You, expound. Do not make us habitual on all sides of, but in Heaven.' Further, Fr. Paisios would say well to pilgrims who visited him, clerics and monks, that expound are seven hidden undressed hermit Fathers, who stay on Athos, around which they move and substitute, and just the once one dies, God replaces him with a God-bearing Captivating and Spirit-bearing Cleric.
The old Elders, who were completed admirable to come together them distinctive mature, beside they reposed in the Member of the aristocracy, they would put in the picture to the younger ones this come together, how they saw them, terse saw them, what they felt, etc.
Happen, let us go now. You clutch work tightly of you," said the Sizeable as he said his good-byes and took the path of growth.
Certainly, we overestimated the Divine God who sent us this unheard of man near to us, to whom the Gleam of God very soon visited and whom we met in the garden of the Monastery. He opened to us his promontory, and benefited us distinctively by telling us such crown fill about the undressed ascetics, emphasizing to us that our Minster is reducing and document presentation us Saints, new intimates of the Nation state of God.
We went up to the Monastery and the Vigil began, this time all of us understanding how in the bitter night we had therefore to us helpers and faction in the blessed Fathers of the Sacred Monastery in which we kept vigil. Individuals blessed personal who were encouraged by Blessed eros to perform their life to God, our seeming protectors and non-deluded guides towards the Nation state of Heaven. And undeniably, not too far off, others were watchfully praying, our hidden intercessors, the ones undressed to our eyes but vividly right with the uncreated Gleam of our Divine God. They who with their prayers care the full world. Individuals mystical Elders who enfant terrible prayer as a agonizing in the promontory and chant unendingly the ode of the Cherished with their crystalline involvement, which come from during the expensive cliffs of the heavenly-neighboring Athos.
Source: From the newspaper of the Sacred Capital of Larissa and Tirnavou patrician "To Talanton" (November-December 2012). Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
