{"id":2566,"date":"2020-04-17T02:10:18","date_gmt":"2020-04-17T08:10:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/svetisimeon.org\/en\/?p=2566"},"modified":"2020-04-17T02:11:55","modified_gmt":"2020-04-17T08:11:55","slug":"remember-what-you-used-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svetisimeon.org\/en\/?p=2566","title":{"rendered":"Remember what you used to do"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Having entered the fourth week of quarantine, and in view of the coming of the Holy days of Pascha, being pressured by the stress and fear that is being imposed on us; with the pressure developing <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

from trying to govern the monastery under such circumstances and with deep sadness filling my heart from the pain and sadness of the people around us, due to their lack of certain basic necessities but mainly due to the deprivation of the consolation and strength offered by the church attendance and the strongest medicine, Holy Communion, brought me to seclusion and prayer. I implored and I continually implore God to send His ineffable mercy to the world, to heal the sick to strengthen them, to comfort the elderly and those that are struck by loneliness and are living difficult situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was somehow feeling guilty because we at the Monastery, at these times are\ncomforted by the sacramental life, where on the contrary our brethren are\nlacking this, and I was looking for a way to comfort them. Then I heard a voice\ntelling me; \u201cRemember what you used to do?\u201d Then, as if my mind opened, I saw\nand believe me, I relived (in feeling) those unique moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I first entered the Monastery in 1975 (forty five years ago), it was at\na time that the Holy Monastery of Philotheou on Mount Athos did not number many\nmonks and there were very few priests. Therefore there were not enough priests\nto serve the Metochia. Our Monastery was a Metochi (dependence) of the\nMonastery of Philotheou, so for many years we did not have a priest to serve\nour needs. Someone would come, (very rarely), throughout the year, but never on\nGreat Feasts: i.e. the Nativity of Christ, Pascha, Annunciation, Pentecost\u2026, we\nwere always left on these holy days with no priest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If such a situation would take place at a Parish, the parishioners would\ncomplain, would yell, use indecent words, maybe even curse and the only one\nhappy from all of this would be the \u201ctempter\u201d with his angels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For us it would be the opposite. We would fast as if preparing for Holy\nCommunion, we would gather together in our chapel which was an extension to a\nhallway, (\u00bc of the size of our Monastery\u2019s church here). We would read the\nservices and at the end, our Most Holy Gerondissa Makrina would \u201ccommune\u201d us by\ngiving us Great Holy Water and Holy Bread. She would always counsel us that,\n\u201cIf we would be as we should be spiritually, then it is possible noetically to\nreceive Holy Communion from Holy Angels, just like we have read many times in\nthe lives of the Saints.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Believe me, back then we lived many heavenly moments which we never\nencountered again even after when we had a permanent priest and would serve\nforty day liturgies. Now I realize that due to the deprivation but also to the\ngreat zeal and patience we had, the Lord would bless us with grace that\naccompanies martyrdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chapel would be fragrant as if someone had sprinkled it all over with\nmyrrh. Our eyes would stream with endless tears. Our heart would leap from the\nGrace of God. On the days that we supposedly \u201ccommuned\u201d, without even realizing\nit, we would speak softly because we felt as if we had partaken in some sacred\nceremony. Saying the prayer, our mouth would taste as if we had taken a very\nfragrant candy. We would feel the presence of Holy Communion, even though we\nhad not received it, and throughout the day we would be cautious not to spit,\nnor chew gum and throw it out. So great was the sense of the presence of Holy\nCommunion. No matter what I write, it is not possible to describe the feeling\nof Christ\u2019s grace that we lived back in those days of deprivation, because\nthere are not words to express this. A few years later, at the Holy Monastery\nof Philotheou, the number of priests grew and we no longer had a problem needing\na priest; everything found its place in our monastery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 19 years, when obedience brought myself and sister Ephraimia here to\nCanada, we again encountered the same problem; the lack of priests. For 7\nyears, our Monastery did not have a priest. But now it was not so bad because\nthe priests here had the order from the Archbishop to come during the week and\nserve the Divine Liturgy, so that we would commune. However, again Saturdays\nand Sundays and feast days we would not have a priest. The priests had to serve\nat their own parishes and communities. So, we would read the services, on our\nown, decorate the icons, the Cross for the Elevation of the Holy Cross, and for\nthe Sunday of the veneration of the Cross during Great Lent; we would bring out\nthe Lord\u2019s Cross on Holy Thursday; and we would try to raise the morale of the\nyoung novices, who had complete inexperience of these things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These, along with so many more are now a wealth of experiences that exists\ninside of us and whenever it is needed we open the \u201ctreasure box\u201d of\nexperiences and we choose whatever is needed depending on the circumstance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then suddenly, as if my nous opened and I relived all of this spiritual\nstate very intensely, as it being an answer to my prayer; the message being\nthat whoever prepares themselves with humility, without grumbling and\nprotesting, but with much prayer and faith in the Providence of God, and\nreceives Holy water and Holy Bread in replacement of Holy Communion and\ncontemplates that theoretically \u201cGod did not permit me to receive Holy\nCommunion, as being \u201cunworthy and unprepared\u201d, then this person will be filled\nby God\u2019s grace of endurance of martyrdom, of which Saint Luke the doctor would\nsay: \u201cI loved much the grace of martyrdom, which so wonderfully cleanses the soul\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tempter wanted to close the churches; let us make our homes into\nchurches. He shut 11 churches; let us open 11 thousand. May each home become a\nchurch; let prayer be raised like a torch of fire towards heaven; let the\nincense fragrance all the neighbourhoods; may the candle and the vigil lamp\nalways be lit. Let us attend the services through electronic correspondence,\npraying together, and not lying down, or eating, or smoking. If we do this,\ninstead of closing down the churches, they will grow and spread and whole\ncities will become churches. Then God will give His blessing, and seeing our\nrepentance and our faith He will cast away this evil plague and give us the\nfreedom along with our churches to live many years working for Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wish you a Blessed Holy week, a spiritual ascent, a double well-being of\nspirit and soul, patience and unwavering trust in God\u2019s Providence, so that the\nlight of the Resurrection will shine forth in our hearts and replenish us with\nthe gifts of the Most Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlessed and Bright Resurrection!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With infinite love in Christ<\/p>\n\n\n\n

?he least in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gerondissa Thekla & the sisters <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having entered the fourth week of quarantine, and in view of the coming of the Holy days of Pascha, being pressured by the stress and fear that is being imposed on us; with the pressure developing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t