Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira & Great Britain

St Sophrony
A Contemporary Saint
 Read in this issue

Editorial
Εκ της Συντάξεως
Editorial p. 2

A short biography p. 4-5

His Theology p. 8-13

Painting the Icon p. 14-15

Αγαπητοί αναγνώστες,
The First Liturgy p. 16-19

Ο Ορθόδοξος Κήρυξ, η περιοδική έκδοση της Ιεράς Αρχιεπισκοπής Θυατείρων και

Μεγάλης Βρεταννίας, αφιερώνει την τελευταία τριμηνιαία έκδοση του 2020 στον
προσφάτως υπό της Ιεράς Συνόδου του Οικουμενικού Πατριαρχείου καταταχθέντα
Βίος και Θεολογία p. 20-24

μεταξύ των Αγίων της Ορθοδόξου Εκκλησίας Σωφρόνιο του Έσσεξ. Modern Saints P. 25

Η αφιέρωση αυτή τιμά τον Άγιο που συνέστησε την Ιερά Πατριαρχική και
Σταυροπηγιακή Μονή Τιμίου Προδρόμου στην Αγγλία, μια προκεχωρημένη φρυκτωρία
Ορθοδοξίας στον δυτικό κόσμο και έναν οικουμενικό πόλο έλξης για τους Ορθόδοξους
πιστούς και όχι μόνο.
Η αφιέρωση αυτή φωτίζει πλευρές της ζωής και της θεολογικής σκέψης του Αγίου, ο
οποίος, μεταξύ άλλων, υπέδειξε την άσκηση και την προσευχή ως βασικούς δρόμους
βίωσης της αδιάλειπτης παρουσίας του Θεού στον κόσμο και για τον κόσμο.
Η αφιέρωση αυτή θυμίζει ότι, όσο και αν ο κόσμος απομακρύνεται από το θέλημα του
Θεού με τραγικές συνέπειες για την ανθρωπότητα, Εκείνος δεν θα πάψει να
αναδεικνύει αγιασμένες μορφές, όπως ο Σωφρόνιος του Έσσεξ, προς παρηγορία και
ενίσχυση του πεπτωκότος ανθρώπου.

Ἐκ τῆς Συντάξεως
Orthodox Herald
Bulletin of the Archdiocese of
Thyateira & Gr. Britain
Dear Readers,

T he Orthodox Herald, the periodic edition of the Holy Archdiocese of Thyateira and
Great Britain, dedicates the latest quarterly edition of 2020 to Saint Sophrony of
Essex, who has been recently canonized among the Saints of the Orthodox Church by
the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
This dedication honors the Saint who founded in England the Holy Patriarchal and
Stavropigial Monastery of Saint John the Forerunner, a bastion of Orthodoxy in the
Western world, and an ecumenical point of reference for the Orthodox faithful and
beyond.
This dedication illuminates aspects of Saint Sophrony’ life and theological thinking,
ascesis and prayer pointed by him as essential ways of experiencing God’ s
uninterrupted presence in the world and for the world. This dedication reminds us that,
as much as the world moves away from God’s will with tragic consequences, God will
not cease to endow the world with Saints, such as Saint Sophrony of Essex, for the
comfort and aid of the fallen humanity.

From the Editors

Issue 3 / Year I (LV)
St Sophrony
1986-1993
 Saint Sophrony of Essex (1896 – 1993)
A short biography

S
aint Sophrony (Sergei Symeonovich Sakharov) was born on September 23, 1896, to
Orthodox parents in tsarist Russia. As a child, Sergei would read widely and pray daily,
claiming to have experienced the Uncreated Light. Later, he described the Uncreated
Light as God manifesting as a light, which defies place and volume notions. Moreover,
Sergei nurtured a deep longing to penetrate to the heart of divine eternity by
contemplating the visible world.
This longing led his steps to the Academy of Arts in Moscow. There Sergei fell away from his
youth's Orthodoxy and enquired into Indian mystical religions. Eastern mysticism seemed to him
more profound than Christianity, the concept of a supra-personal Absolute more convincing than
that of a Personal God.
Sergei studied at the Academy of Arts between 1915 and 1917. He continued his studies at the
Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture between 1920 and 1921. He used art as a
means to discover eternal beauty. Later, this would help him to distinguish between human
intellectual light and God's Uncreated Light.
Yet, living in post-Revolutionary Russia was not easy for artists. After searching for ways and
means of emigrating to Europe, Sergei left Russia in 1921. He went first to Italy, after to Berlin, and
finally, in 1922, he settled in Paris, where his artistic exhibitions attracted the attention of the
French media.
Nonetheless, he was not able to express purity through art. Furthermore, he was trying to find
answers to the big question of death, and art seemed incapable of giving him the proper answers
regarding the human soul's immortality. He returned to Christianity on a Holy Saturday, after
experiencing Uncreated Light.
As a result, he distanced himself from his art. He enrolled in the then recently opened St Sergius
Orthodox Theological Institute, where Fr Sergius Bulgakov and Nicholas Berdayev lectured him.
Yet, formal theology did not satisfy his spiritual thirst, and, in 1925, he left behind formal
theological study for Mount Athos.
He entered the Monastery of St Panteleimon, aiming to learn how to pray and have the right attitude toward God. In 1930 he was ordained to
the diaconate by Elder (later Saint) Nicolai (Velimirovic) of Zicha. He became a disciple of Elder (later Saint) Silouanos the Athonite, who had a significant
influence on Fr Sophrony. Elder Silouanos had no formal system of theology. Yet his living of theology taught Fr Sophrony volumes. For eight years, he sat
at his feet, learning the 'laws' of spiritual life.
After Elder Silouanos' death, in 1938, he asked for the Monastery Superior and Council's blessing to depart into the Athonite desert, first at Karoulia, then
at a cave near St Paul's Monastery. Soon after, the Second World War broke out, and his prayer became even more intense for all humanity. He would
spend the night hours prone on the earth floor of his cave. He prayed for those killed, for those killing, for all in torment. In 1941 Fr Sophrony was ordained
to the priesthood and became a spiritual father to many Athonite monks.
From 1932 to 1946, Fr Sophrony exchanged letters with Fr David Balfour, a Catholic who converted to Orthodoxy. These letters reveal Fr Sophrony'
knowledge of many Fathers of the Church and express his theological thought, demonstrating the differences between Western and Eastern theology.
Many of Fr Sophrony later thoughts would arise out of the same topics addressed in this correspondence.
After the Second World War, the idea came to him of writing a book about Elder Silouanos to record the teachings that helped him fight his spiritual
combat. To carry out this project, he would have to go back to France. In 1947, Elder Sophrony moved to Paris. Balfour helped him gain a passport.
St Sergius Institute allowed Elder Sophrony to sit the whole course's examinations, providing for his needs. However, the Institute insisted on Elder
Sophrony denying by silence Moscow Patriarchate's grace. Elder Sophrony refused to do so. He settled in Russian House, a nursing home, in St Genevieve-
des-Bois, assisting the priest and acting as the father confessor.
His first intention was to stay for a year, but then he realized more time was necessary. Working in difficult conditions, he fell dangerously ill. An operation
left him an invalid, causing him to lay aside all thought of returning to a desert cave on Mount Athos.
In 1948, Elder Sophrony produced the first mimeographed edition of his book on Elder Silouanos on a hand-roneo. A printed edition followed in 1952.
After that, the translations began: first into English, then German, Greek, French, Serbian, with excerpts in still other languages. In this book, Elder
Sophrony outlined Elder Silouanos' theology principles,
explaining fundamental concepts, such as prayer for the whole world, God-forsakenness, and the idea of all humanity being connected. The reaction of the
ascetics of the Holy Mountain was of extreme importance to the author. They confirmed the book as a true reflection of the ancient traditions of Eastern
monasticism.
In 1950, Elder Sophrony worked with Vladimir Lossky on
the Messager de l' Exarchate du Patriarche Russe en Europe
Occidentale until 1957. Lossky influenced Elder Sophrony'
thoughts on many contemporary issues and complimented Elder
Sophrony' work on Trinitarian thought and its application to the
Church and humanity.
By 1958 Elder Sophrony had many people living near him and
seeking the monastic life. A property at Tolleshunt Knights,
Maldon, Essex, England, was inspected. In 1959, accompanied
by his disciples, he left for England, where he founded the
Monastery of Saint John the Baptist under
Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh.
In 1965 the Monastery of St John the Baptist, with the blessing
of Patriarch Alexy, moved under the Ecumenical Patriarchate's
omophorion. Later, the Ecumenical Patriarchate would upgrade
the Monastery to Stavropegic. Having been a coenobitic monk
and a hermit, Elder Sophrony would be a witness to the light at
the heart of the world.
In 1973, a complete translation of the life of Elder Silouanos,
under the title Monk of Mount Athos, was published, followed
by the publication of Wisdom of Mount Athos, the writings of
Elder Silouanos. Elder Sophrony moved to his works after this,
publishing in 1977 His Life is Mine, and in 1985 We Shall See Him As He Is; a spiritual autobiography. In 1987, the Ecumenical Patriarchate canonized St
Silouan the Athonite as a Saint of the Orthodox Church, undoubtedly assisted by his fame from Elder Sophrony' works.
On July 11, 1993, Elder Sophrony slept in the Lord. The local authorities had already informed the monastery that the only way to bury people on its
property was to build an underground crypt. Elder Sophrony said that he would not pass away until the crypt was ready. Then, having been told of the
expected completion date of July 12, 1993, Elder Sophrony stated that he would be ready.
His funeral and burial, on July 14, 1993, were attended by monastics from around the world. Mother Elizabeth, the eldest nun, slept in the Lord soon after,
on July 24, 1993, confirming Elder Sophrony' words that he would leave first, and she would follow quickly after him.
On Prayer, a book containing Elder Sophrony' writings on prayer – particularly the Jesus Prayer – was published posthumously. His cousin Nicholas
Sakharov later published a comprehensive look at Elder Sophrony' theology. On November 27, 2019, the Ecumenical Patriarchate announced the
canonization of Elder Sophrony as a Saint of the Orthodox Church.
Today, the Monastery of Saint John the Baptist is a place that welcomes hundreds of pilgrims from all over the world. It is not only one of the leading
Orthodox centers in the West but also a strong affirmation of Orthodox universality.
There is no better way to summarise St Sophrony' life than in his own words:

"No one on this earth can avoid affliction; and, although the afflictions, which the Lord sends, are not great, men imagine them beyond their
strength and are crushed by them. This is because they will not humble their souls and commit themselves to the will of God. But the Lord Himself
guides with His grace those who are given over to God's will, and they bear all things with fortitude for the sake of God, Whom they have so loved
and with Whom they are glorified for ever. It is impossible to escape tribulation in this world, but the man who is given over to the will of God bears
tribulation easily, seeing it but putting his trust in the Lord, and so his tribulations pass."

Fr Apostolos Trifyllis
The decision of the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the
canonization of St Sophrony
 The Seven Basic Points of the
Theology of Saint Sophrony
Archimandrite Zacharias

T
he life of Elder Sophrony spans nearly a century. Our main sources of information about his life are his writings and our many years of personal
contact with him. In his autobiographical texts and other writings, Father Sophrony focused on describing the experiences given to him by God
and referred very little to the external events of his life. He broadly sketched out his inner journey and intense quest for the ways of salvation for
himself and all Adam.
He was born in Moscow on the 22nd September 1896. His name in the world was Sergius. He studied painting at the State School of Fine Art of his birthplace
and in 1921 during the Bolshevik Revolution, he left Russia. He travelled to Italy, a short while later to Germany, and finally, in 1922, he settled in France,
where he zealously dedicated himself to painting, and began to be renowned as a young painter. Apart from his abundant natural gifts, God also endowed
him with exceptional spiritual gifts from the beginning of his life. From a young age, he assimilated the Spirit of the Living God of the Fathers and he loved
prayer.
In his youth, he was gripped by thirst for the Absolute and gravely concerned by the existential problems of his era and environment. His intense
metaphysical search led him to a painful awareness of the tragic character of humanity. The problem of eternity dominated his existence. During his struggle
to know the truth, he disparaged the idea that the Absolute can be encompassed by the ‘psyche’ of Gospel love and distanced himself from the Christian
path. Attracted by the vision of the eastern religions, as a rational solution to the horrendous spectacle of suffering and pain, for about seven or eight years,
Father Sophrony practised meditation on the supra-personal Absolute, a philosophical delusion.
His return to the Church was caused by the Bible text of the revelation on Mount Sinai: ‘I Am that I Am’. Helped by the grace of God he understood that
Absolute Being without beginning was nothing other than the personal God, who was revealed first to Moses and ‘Hath in these last days spoken unto us by
the Only-begotten Son,’ of God, through Jesus Christ. From the moment of his personal meeting with the One Who truly Is, he was continuously initiated
into the mystery of God’s revelation with great propensity, entering ever more profoundly into the infinite magnitude of the Hypostasis of Christ, in the
image of Whom man was made. Over the following decades, he lamented and wept sorely over his delusory attachment to the imaginary and impersonal
Absolute of the Indian type. He considered his fall equal to that of Adam, as suicide on a metaphysical level. In his book ‘We Shall See Him as He Is’, his
spiritual biography, he describes how he himself lived his repentance.

Mount Athos
In 1925 after a short period of studying at the theological Institute of St Sergius in Paris, he departed
for the Holy Mountain, where he lived for 22 years. At first, he resided in the Monastery of St
Panteleimon. On 30th April 1930 he was ordained deacon by the Holy Metropolitan Nikolaj
Velimirovich, the Bishop of Zica and Ochrid and in 1939 withdrew to the awesome desert of
Karoulia, from whence on 2nd February 1941 he was invited by the Holy Monastery of Saint Paul to
be ordained priest and to serve as spiritual father. His ministry as spiritual father would encompass
also the holy Monasteries of Simonos Petras, Gregoriou and Xenophontos, as well as many small
cells and hermits. In order to facilitate his ministry, he left Karoulia and settled in the cell of the Holy
Trinity close to the port of the holy Monastery of St Paul.
Elder Sophrony resided in the cave of the Holy Trinity for three years. In the last year there was a
heavy winter and the cave began to leak internally and fill with water. The damp and his ascetic
labouring undermined his health and he was forced to move to the skete of St Andrew in Karyes. In
February 1947, with the blessing and release of the Monastery of Vatopedi, he departed from
Mount Athos with the purpose of residing for a year in Paris to publish texts entrusted to him by his
elder, Saint Silouan, shortly before his death.

France, St Genevieve du Bois

In spite of the deterioration of his health and his extreme poverty in France, Father Sophrony
worked very hard and in 1948 managed to publish the first book about Saint Silouan in Roneotype, designing and typesetting it himself. However, the
hardship of the previous years and the deprivations he underwent during the Second World War created a major ulcer in his stomach and finally he was
forced to undergo an almost entire gastrectomy. He remained in the hospital for about 80 days and only just managed to survive. He was transferred as an
invalid to a Russian old people’s home in the suburb of Paris, St Genevieve du Bois. As soon as he regained his strength a little, he started to perform services
in the chapel of the home. The residents of the old people’s home took part in the services and some of them were inspired to become monks and nuns.
Thus, within the old people’s home a small monastic community was created. During this time, the book of Saint Silouan and some small articles by Elder
Sophrony were published and this began to attract some young people to the services, which lasted for three hours in the morning and three hours in the
evening.
The Foundation of the Monastery in Essex

With the passing of the year, Young people started to persistently express the desire that Saint Sophrony found a Monastery where they could leave the monastic life
beside him. In the beginning, due to his severe ill health, he was reluctant. However, he finally yielded out of compassion, and began to search for a place. Through English
friends, who translated and published his book in English, a place was found in Essex where his Monastery is located today. By the providence of God, Father Sophrony
managed quite miraculously to gain permission from the English authorities and on 5 March 1959 he came to England with a small group of two elderly nuns and a few
young people. At that time the area was almost deserted and Elder Sophrony rejoiced because, as he said, no one would want the place and therefore he had not deprived
anyone of it. Elder Sophrony gave himself over completely to the spiritual service of the people who came to the Monastery, which received everyone night and day.

Final years
The Lord preserved Saint Sophrony unto old age and through his word and prayers he supported the brethren of the monastery till his blessed repose. As the spiritual
father and founder of the monastery, he passed down only those elements of the Athonite tradition which would help his monastery become the holy mountain of God,
the place where God abides. He emphasised those aspects of Holy Tradition that are truly essential and necessary for the fulfilment of the monastic vocation. When he felt
that he was drawing nigh to his end, he said to one of his monks: ‘I
have said everything to God, now I have to go.’ He wrote a moving
epistle to our All Holy Patriarch, wherein he thanks him with
humility from the heart for all the care he had shown to his
monastery and sought his blessing to depart ‘towards the longed-for
Light of Christ’s Resurrection’. Although he usually slept only for
short intervals on an armchair, during the last four days of his life he
retired to his bed, then he closed his eyes and did not answer us
anymore. When we asked for his blessing, he would only lift his
hand to bless us. He departed this life for the beloved God of his
Fathers while praying on Sunday 11th July 1993.
We saw several miracles occurring during the elder’s life, on the day
of his death, and after his death. Through his teaching, innumerable
people were inspired and many reading his books decided to
become monks and nuns in Orthodox monasteries in Greece and in
other countries, and even in non-Orthodox monasteries, France, and
other places. The Saint prayed extensively with great intensity for
those who suffered but he did not seek miracles. He sought a word
from God, so he could co-work the greatest and most important
miracle possible within temporal being, the union of man’s heart
with the Spirit of the Living and eternal God. He strove to diminish
people’s pain, but when his word and prayer transformed their
hearts, he rejoiced even more over the miracle.

The spiritual relationship between Saint Silouan and Saint Sophrony

The greatest event of the life of our holy elder, as he himself related and wrote, was his meeting with his holy Father, Silouan. The historical fact of this spiritual bond had
definitive importance for the later spiritual development and theology of Saint Sophrony. In the figure of Saint Silouan, he apprehended the authentic dimensions of
Christian life. He gained such faith in him and such devotion that he venerated with his spirit the traces of his steps. His communication with the Saint affirmed the spirit of
repentance with which he had been imbued. He was fully assured by the Saint’s teaching and with unshakeable faith in his word acquired steadfastness in his ascetic life
and was led towards dispassion.
In Saint Sophrony’s teaching on personhood, he never ceases to sketch the portrait of his teacher. In his theology he presents the writings of Saint Silouan, and interprets
them with a certain boldness, because he was similar to him in spirit. The measure of Saint Silouan is the same as Saint Sophrony. Saint Sophrony writes: ‘By the prayers of
Saint Silouan, I, too, was placed in the same spiritual perspective... It was given to me, the least of men, to live approximately the same experience.’ And the two together,
Silouan and Sophrony, combine as one unique event. God gave his word directly to Saint Silouan, but
Saint Sophrony, as he bore a similar spiritual experience, became the interpreter and transmitter of the
experience of his great teacher. Thus, when Saint Sophrony does theology, it consists of two
simultaneous acts: on the one hand it narrates and interprets the event of St. Silouan’s wondrous
experience, in whose person is recapitulated the age old tradition of the Church, and on the other, it
also confides and describes a portion of the divine gifts he was given from above while striving in fiery
prayer and inconsolable mourning over many years.

Hesychast and Priest

Elder Sophrony was a hesychast in every aspect of his life, as a monk, spiritual father, teacher, priest and
icon painter. As a shepherd he wanted to amend the world as one man, himself, and his spirit sent up
‘groanings which cannot be uttered’ that surged unrelentingly towards God, the One Who Truly Is. He
speaks of the indescribably wondrous world of Christian prayer that was revealed to him and
vouchsafed him communion with the true God. As a child he had delighted when the Holy Spirit
sojourned within him. With the golden chisel of prayer he carved into every significant matter and
tormented each major decision over days and weeks, until he clearly discerned the will of God. Saint
Sophrony dedicated some of his most important writings to prayer. In his book ‘On Prayer’, he presents
the different forms of prayer according to the experience bestowed upon him by God. He speaks about
prayer as infinite creation, the path towards knowledge of God, and an outlet from the tragedy of
mankind. He also states that prayer of repentance is the most honest prayer, and notes that only this
kind of prayer responds to our true self. In three chapters he describes the essential aspects of the Jesus
Prayer and its ontological relationship with the Person of the Lord. He lived the Divine Liturgy with great
fervour praying for all the world, without any doubt that: ‘as long as this sacrifice of love is being
accomplished in the world, the world will be kept in existence.’ He assured us, furthermore, that if we prepare beforehand and humbly offer each Liturgy, we can savour
within it the same experience that the holy hesychasts found in the desert.
Elder Sophrony did not want to dispute dogmatic themes with Christians of other confessions, but he encouraged us to present the true experience of the Orthodox
Tradition in a positive way, so that its singularity, incomparable with any other religious or philosophical tradition, would become clear.

A man of the word of God

Saint Sophrony had many natural gifts and was adorned by many great gifts of the Holy Spirit. The most impressive of
all was the gift of the word of God that he snatched in his prayer and actively conceived in his heart. His word was
sealed with grace and those who heard it became partakers of Christ’s incorruptible consolation. He would utter a
routine word, but it would transmit a strange energy for regeneration. He drew the Word of God down to earth and
became for our generation an opening to God, life and vision, because his word came out of his heart which was hot
and overflowing with the humble love of Christ, and imparted the energy of grace, that informed the hearts of the
faithful with the assurance of truth.
The disciples woke the Lord when he slept in the stern of the ship during the storm and he immediately rebuked the
wind and the sea became calm. We experienced something similar living alongside Saint Sophrony. Towards the end,
whenever we needed his help, we went to his cell and lightly nudged his armchair on which he rested. He would open
his eyes and give us a word immediately that came from another world and provided a perfect answer to our problem.
We could never grow accustomed to that wondrous man of God. Ten minutes with him was like centuries. When he
spoke with us we had the same impression that the Apostles had of their Teacher: ‘Never man spake like this man.’
Saint Sophrony had the ability to impart the state that he was in himself to others through prayer. Sometimes it
happened that he would just say a joke and his listeners would be filled with contrition. He would say an amiable word
and warm the hearts of all his listeners, and they would find rest so they could regenerate entirely.
The world expressed by his holy teacher, Saint Silouan, on the day of his meeting with the ascetic from the Caucasus,
Father Stratonicos: ‘The perfect never say anything of themselves, they only say what the Spirit inspires them to say’,
characterises the spiritually perfect man of God, Saint Sophrony, who abode continually in the living presence of the
true God through the prayer of his repentance. The authority that he gained through continually abiding in the
presence of God cannot be compared to the authority of the men of this world. It was a spiritual power based on
humble service, love for all the world and hope for their regeneration.
Since a prophet in the New Testament is not someone who foretells the future, but rather someone who knows the mystery of the ways of salvation for every soul, then
we can say with assurance Saint Sophrony possessed a true prophetic gift. His words were uttered in the Spirit of the eternal and unchanging truth, which revealed the
One ‘which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty’ Christ.

A sign of God for his generation and a friend of God

No phenomenon of spiritual life could surprise our holy elder. He had traversed all the path. He extended simultaneously over impenetrable depths and unattested
heights. The upsurge of his repentance was unrelenting and he knew the changes and the energies of noetic prayer. He was trained in the renewing word of Christ and
assimilated into His martyric priesthood. He had a passionate love for the liturgy and was convinced that when it was performed correctly it bears the same fruit on the
level of prayer as hesychastic prayer in the desert.
Father Sophrony saw things from two different perspectives, that of God and that of man. In his writings, in his prophetic sayings and in his prayers he always spoke and
prayed for a mystery, the mystery of the knowledge of the ways of salvation. He said that it was enough for man to be snatched up just once into the other world and then
in that moment of time this knowledge would be given. The mystery of the ways of salvation would become manifest for that person, first his own path and later those of
other men. Thus he clearly had a dual vision: from the one side the grace of man’s true state, as it was conceived of by God before the foundation of the world, and from
the other, his tragic degradation with the increasing dynamic of the Fall. This knowledge of the ways of salvation and the dual vision it begets, made Father Sophrony both
a sign of God for his generation and established him as a friend of Christ. A sign of God, because he knew and lived the tragedy, the anxieties, the self-examination, and
contention of the much afflicted 20th-century, and through his life, prayer and word gave answers to the burning questions of contemporaries. He was a friend of Christ as
well, because through his life in Christ he became a partaker of the mystery of His theology. The anointing of the Holy Spirit was bestowed upon him, so he became taught
of God and had the ‘mind’ to know and confirm the testimony of the true God.

True Theologian, ‘It is one thing to believe in God, and another to know God’
The Saints of all the centuries become theological events through their holy life and their words, preserving unquenched the light of faith and the living sense of the
personal God. Saint Sophrony is one such theological event for our time.
If Christ is ‘the same yesterday, and today, and forever’, then also each Saint is an invaluable treasure bearing knowledge of God for all generations. According to Saint
Silouan, ‘The Saints speak of that which they have indeed seen
and know’. Thus Elder Sophrony is a theologian in the essence
of the term, because his theology is the fruit of spiritual
erudition, not a delusive theory based on logical consideration
and the mind’s contrivance, but empirical knowledge and the
narration of the event of his personal meeting with the Living
God.. The Elder writes: ‘When man, as happened to the
Apostles, has been caught up by grace into a vision of Divine
Light, he afterwards translates into theology the things he has
seen and known.’. For Saint Sophrony, theology is a spiritual
state and above all it is ‘abiding in God’, which is accompanied
by the saving and renewing power of the Spirit. It is the
narration God’s meeting with man within the uncreated Light,
Person to person. Father Sophrony strictly warned us all about
this, saying: ‘What is the use of declaiming about the light of
Tabor if one does not dwell in it existentially…and has not felt
within himself the holy strength of the Father, the gentle love of
the Son, the uncreated light of the Holy Ghost?’
Elder Sophrony emphasised love for enemies as a pre-requisite
and infallible criteria of true and life-bearing theology.
Wherever this commandment is fulfilled the Holy Spirit is
present, as ‘power from on high‘, that bestows the perfect gift
of theology and testifies through the intact, untainted teaching
of Christ to the true being of the Church.
His teaching

Elder Sophrony presents his teaching in a graphic way that characterises him as an artist. He often uses images and figures, for instance he depicts the whole of mankind as
a tree, the upsurge of prayer as the air current thrust out of a powerful engine and the overturning of the oppressive and godless pyramid of social being as an inverted
pyramid at the summit of which Christ is found voluntarily, through His self-emptying, untainted by corruption, and in His indescribable humility. He comments on the
Gospel with exceptional originality, giving a spiritual interpretation that draws on his profound and abundant experience, and his assimilation to the mystery of the word
God. For example, he defines the first grace that is given freely to man as the ‘unrighteous mammon’ and ‘unjust’ and ‘foreign’ riches.
The teaching of Saint Sophrony is set out in all his works, however, his theology is most comprehensively and systematically presented in his confession and spiritual
autobiography, the book ‘We Shall See Him as He Is’, his most perfect spiritual edifice. His account of his theology in this book is founded on faith accompanied by the
charismatic remembrance of death that engenders a paradoxical fear of God and repentance which in its perfect form is experienced to ontological dimensions,
fundamentally regenerating man. He continues with the themes of spiritual freedom, abandonment by God, love unto self-hatred, presenting each theme with a unique
power and strength that stems from his long years of exceptional testing in the furnace of God’s chastisement. As the crown, Saint Sophrony presents the vision of the
uncreated Light and its fruit, which is called the hypostasis – Person.
In the following sections, we will give a brief account of seven central points within the Saint’s theology. The originality of this theology lies in its interpretation of various
aspects of Christian revelation offering a response to the theological problems of our times.

Central Points of the Theology of Saint Sophrony

I. The Hypostatic Principle

T
he most significant dimension of the theology of Elder Sophrony is his teaching about the concept and manifestations of the hypostatic principle in God and
man. The Person is the specific and perfect realisation of man, who was created in the beginning ‘according to the image and likeness of God’. The gift of the
hypostatic principle is manifested mainly in love for enemies and prayer for the whole world.
The theology of Elder Sophrony contains four basic points about the person or hypostasis:
1: God was revealed to Moses as Being ‘I Am that I Am’, thus as Person. First of all, God is a Person, the unique Person, the Living God.’
2: Man was made according to the image and unto the likeness of God, thus man is also a person and reflects his Archetype, God.
3: The Person - Hypostasis is revealed to us through the incarnation of Christ. By taking on flesh, The Word of God showed us the true dimensions of the Person. Through
His earthly life, he revealed to us what a Person is, in how He lives, in how He acts and takes away the sins of all the world. He revealed to us the content of His Person,
which is His love ‘unto the end’. Through His incarnation Christ gives us to comprehend the pre-eternal plan of the Father for man, for all Adam.
4: We are realised as Persons through the imitation of the example and the life of Christ. Man as the image and
likeness of God must become commensurate to the Incarnate Word, that is have the same thoughts, the same
mind and the same dispositions. The Lord saved us through
receive salvation through enslaving ourselves to works of
his love for God is accompanied by the self-hatred of his
« WHEN WE HATE OURSELVES FOR THE
His self emptying, he assumed the form of a servant and we
repentance and humility. Man emerges as a person, when
renunciation of all that is foreign to Divine Goodness, this
EVIL THAT LIVES IN US, THEN IT IS
self hatred is a paradoxical abhorrence of ourself, and more specifically an abhorrence of our old self.
THAT THE BOUNDLESS HORIZONS OF
Saint Sophrony writes: ‘When we hate ourselves for the evil THE LOVE COMMANDED OF US ARE that lives in us, then it is that the boundless horizons of the
love commanded of us are revealed.’ Only repentance REVEALED accompanied by holy self-hatred has the power to free man
from the bonds of self-love and the vain attachments of this world and lead him into the indescribable and wondrous
world of the love of Christ, ‘who loved us unto the end’. This love unto self-hatred has as its source the Crucified Christ, and is the true content of human hypostasis that
ascends steadily towards the perfection of its likeness to the Author and Perfecter of its faith, the Lord Jesus. Elder Sophrony expresses this incomprehensible and
paradoxical experience as follows: ‘Detest yourself for love of God and you will embrace all that exists with your love.’

ΙΙ. Uncreated Light

As a divine seer initiated into the great gift of God, Saint Sophrony describes his experiences of the Uncreated Light which he was vouchsafed to behold many times. Even
though in relation to such a theme originality in description is not of much consequence, Saint Sophrony, as an empirical Father of the Church, presents the brightness of
the heart illumined by the Divine Light in a unique and personal way. Since the era of Saint Gregory Palamas no one else has expressed this experience with such
knowledge and profundity. It would be impossible to encompass in a short introduction everything related to the Divine and Uncreated Light that Elder Sophrony bears
witness to and delivers to the Church. The fruits he describes are searchless and the meaning his words impart is highly exalted.
The vision of the Heavenly Light is particularly important for our generation, because it brings man into true self-knowledge and shows him the Creator’s pre-eternal plan
for him as well as his distance from its fulfilment. Τhe vision of the Heavenly Light renders man fit to fulfil his purpose, that is to become a true likeness of God. ‘Through
the action of this Light within the repentant sinner a wondrous flower blossoms - the persona, the hypostasis. And we perceive that it is natural for this hypostatic principle
in us through love to comprise in eternity inexpressibly grandiose and holy life’. When just one beam of light from the uncreated Sun pierces man’s heart, it imparts such
an enlargement, that he sees all the world within the divine ray and embraces it, in a way that is
pleasing to God, through hypostatic prayer. We see this in the life of Saint Benedict and we are read
of it also in the works of Saint Gregory Palamas.

III. Ascetic and Ontological Repentance, Personal and Universal

Elder Sophrony discerned two types of repentance: 1) Imperfect repentance accomplished on the
psychological and ethical level, and 2) Perfect repentance accomplished on the spiritual or ontological
level through the power of the Holy Spirit.
On the psychological level, repentance encompasses all of man’s struggle to convince God that he is
His by the cry: ‘I am Thine, save me.’ On the ontological level, repentance occurs through the
inspiration of the holy self-hatred of the man who has seen the holiness of Christ and been
vouchsafed the grace of adoption, receiving the answer from God: ‘Thou art my Son, this day have I
begotten thee.’ Ontological repentance deadens man to sin and has no end on earth. It is both the pre
-requisite and consequence of man’s illumination by the uncreated Light. The place where all great
spiritual events are played out is the deep heart of man, the centre of his personhood and the target
of the Lord’s visitation.
Furthermore, Saint Sophrony distinguished repentance into the personal, supracosmic and universal. During the first movement of personal repentance, man directs his
strength against the sins that live within him. When he makes contact with Christ in his heart, he is healed by His grace. Then through Christ he regains the world within
him, and is united to it by a bond of love for all eternity. He offers God repentance firstly for himself and later for all his fellow men of like passions. From the beginning, he
lives the drama of his fall and separation from God and, later on, in a natural way, strengthened by the Spirit of Christ, he extends with adamic consciousness to experience
the tragedy of the whole world and intercede for the salvation of all. The whole Adam becomes the content of his life and his prayer. This prayer is a realisation of Christ’s
hypostatic prayer that he offered for the redemption of the world in the garden of Gethsemane. It is participation in the atoning work of Christ who took upon Himself the
weight of the sins of the world. Ontological repentance proceeds from hypostatic repentance and prayer for the world.
Elder Sophrony’s reference to repentance is extensive and fundamental, so as to show, as he bore witness, that pain ‘is the leitmotiv’ of his ‘life in God’. He writes that ‘The
fiercer the spiritual pain, the more vigorous the attraction to God. The more dynamic our plunge into the depths of the shoreless ocean of suffering, the surer our spirit's
ascent into heaven.’
Saint Sophrony believed that man is true only when he repents and confesses the universal truth of his fall and that of the whole world. Then, because he is true, he
attracts the Spirit of Truth, which in its turn cleanses him and justifies him.

IV. Humility
In the spiritual life, we have need of humility above all, which is the nobility of the disciple of Christ. There are
two forms of humility: firstly, ascetic humility, the fruit of lawful striving and hard work, and secondly,
charismatic humility, an indescribable state and the fruit of the vision of Christ. Saint Sophrony writes: ‘God is
humility’ and ‘The humility of God is searchless, unconditioned, without parallel: it is an attribute of Divine
Love, giving of itself without measure.’
Ascetic humility is expressed through the painful struggle that man takes on with the purpose a) to be freed of
the spirit of pride which deadens the soul and b) to conform his mind to the quickening will and Spirit of God.
All the asceticism that is involved, fasting, self-control, self accusation and so on, aims at this and draws from
this its power. The highest level of ascetic humility is attained when man acquires the consciousness that he is
worse than all.
Following his teacher, Saint Silouan, Saint Sophrony speaks about indescribable and divine humility, the gift of
the Holy Spirit, possessed by all who have seen the Light of Christ and which has no human comparison, but is
a predicate of Divine Love. Thus man does not compare himself with other mortals around him, but with his Prototype, Christ. Charismatic humility is imparted at the
moment of the vision and then is never forgotten, but becomes the main petition in all prayer from then on, as we see in the entreaty that Saint Silouan taught us: ‘O Lord
grant me Thy humility, that Thy divine love might dwell within me.’ Through this humility, inspiration becomes endless and the Spirit witnesses to the soul of salvation.

V. Pure prayer
Saint Sophrony sets forth the following word of his holy teacher: 'If prayer is interrupted by some alien thought, then that prayer is not "pure". Our two holy Fathers,
Silouan and Sophrony, have the same theory in relation to pure prayer. Firstly, they define pure prayer, as that state in which man does not feel whether he is in the body
or out of the body, as his spirit is entirely submerged in the Spirit of God. We see that the exercise of obedience is a path towards pure prayer, by which man can be freed
from every attachment and every thought of the material world and deliver himself to the will of God. In this perfect surrender he receives a divine state, praying ‘face to
Face’, thereafter his human will conforms freely and fully to the great and perfect will of God. Pure prayer is a state of deification, because the ascetic has uprooted the
law of corruption and sin from within him, and as a new creation in Christ, has established the law of the commandments of Christ as the sole and eternal law of his
existence.
For Saint Silouan, prayer for the whole world is preceded by pure prayer and for Saint Sophrony, it follows profound repentance with self-hatred as its main attribute. In
‘We Shall See Him As He Is’, Saint Sophrony writes: ‘In all creation there was only God and myself, a pitiful monster.’
Pure prayer leads to prayer for all Adam, which is also the realisation of the true hypostasis within man’s being and the perfection of his purpose of likeness unto God.

VI. Hypostatic Prayer

Prayer for the whole world is the gift of the Holy Spirit that incontrovertibly proves man a true theologian, a partake of the theological event of the prayer of the Lord in
the Garden of Gethsemane.
When the Christian enters into profound repentance with self-hatred, the mystery of the Cross works within him in power, the
enlargement of divine love, which unbinds him from the vanity of this world and unites him unbreakably with the Lord Jesus, the
Son of love and the goodwill of the Father. Then he acquires hypostatic prayer for the whole world. Saint Sophrony writes: ‘For us
men, the final measure possible is to pray for all Adam as we pray for ourselves. This prayer is a sign that the ‘image’ that was
given to man in the beginning is restored’ (See Gen. 1:26)’. For Saint Sophrony prayer for all Adam is the realisation of the
hypostatic principle in man. That is, only then man becomes a true hypostasis or person in the image of the New Adam, Christ in
the Person of Whom is recapitulated all that is heavenly and all that is earthly. When through the grace of Christ, man
encompasses all the world and bears every creature before God in his prayer of intercession, it is clear that the pre-eternal plan
of God is realised in him and he has become ‘according unto the image and likeness of God’, in a complete and perfect way.
Therefore, Elder Sophrony makes bold to express the hard and definitive word: ‘Whoever has not come close to this state should
hesitate to call himself a Christian, knowing and feeling shame for his unworthiness.’
According to the teaching of Saint Sophrony hypostatic prayer is:
Firstly, the prayer of the Lord in Gethsemane, where the Lord prayed with an anguish beyond nature and sweat like drops of
blood that the will of His Father for the salvation of all the world might come to fruition. In His supernatural prayer, the Lord
embraced all things, each man and creature, as the content of His heart, accompanying Him to the Cross, to the tomb and in His
ascent above the Heavens. After His awesome sufferings, Christ lifted up his body on the Cross. He died and His soul descended
to hell and on the third day He was resurrected to make us the heirs of His Covenant and His Life.
In a similar way, the disciple of the Cross, in his humble striving for his renewal and salvation, will also follow a path downwards,
undergoing affliction and pain, in order to show his fidelity and gratitude to his Benefactor God. As it has been written: ‘we must
through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.’
Secondly, the prayer of intercession of the Mother of God and all the Saints for the salvation of the world. The saints, and imitators of Christ, attain to hypostatic prayer for
all the world and worthily glorify the Saviour God, who is proven wondrous ‘in His Saints’. One Saint and intercessor for the world is an extraordinarily precious
phenomenon and universal event, thanks to him, divine blessing is preserved on earth. The gift of the Saints is the cohesive power that holds the world together. It is the
guiding light that inspires the faithful, and according to the word of the Apostle Paul, it is the power that binds everything fast and supports the word.
Thirdly, liturgical prayer that covers all the needs of humanity, and leads the faithful into the blessed communion of the gifts of all the Saints. Saint Sophrony had a strong
passion for the Divine Liturgy celebrating it each time as an unrepeatable and unique event. He likens it to the prayer of the Lord in Gethsemane that he offered for the
salvation of the whole world. He believed that its attentive performance could bring the same fruits of grace on the level of prayer, as the hesychastic prayer of the desert.
VII. The Three Stages of Spiritual Life
Experience and knowledge of the theory of Saint Sophrony about the three stages of spiritual life answers a great need for all of us, not only for our safe passage through
the temptations on our path towards God, but also for the reigniting of our inspiration.
According to Saint Sophrony, in the first stage of spiritual life, God concludes a covenant with man. The first grace of God’s visitation is the gift of His good pleasure.
Through this first experience of grace the foundations of the Christian’s new life in God are made firm in agreement with that which is given in Revelation. ‘His heart is alive
with feeling during this initial stage which abounds in such powerful experiences that the entire mind is drawn to take part in them.’ The blessing of God is upon man in a
clear and wondrous way, as heaven lies open to his petitions and gives ear to his prayers. The man called to faith acquires knowledge and vision of the great mystery of
devotion, he becomes intimate with the Gospel word, he is possessed by divine longing. He feels fulfilled and understands that the meaning and purpose of his life is ‘to be
with Christ’. He lives the true feast of passing from death to life. Saint Sophrony writes: ‘It is impossible to preserve this grace, to continue faithful in all the things it has
taught us, without years of profound weeping (cf. Luke 16:9-12).’
After a short period of time, the length of which depends only on God’s will, the wealth of this preliminary grace is removed from man as ‘unrighteous’. The strength of
that life and the love that had inspired him the beginning depart. The withdrawal of grace and the period of ‘the fiery trial ‘ are God’s dispensation to transform man’s
nature. He must undergo the lawful chastening of God and be speed taught the mystery of the precepts of adoption. He must increase and mature by being trained in the
perfect will of God. The basic reason for this abandonment according to God’s providence is described by Saint Sophrony as pride, ‘the tendency to self-divinisation’. Now
the potential is granted to the believer to develop his hypostatic principal in a relationship of love with God unto the end, a love which is stronger than the death of which
he now tastes. This period in the life of the Christian is by definition extremely creative and important, and if it is traversed lawfully and in a godly manner it charismatically
enriches his being. The purpose of this heavy trial, the withdrawal grace and self-emptying during the time of abandonment by God, is the assimilation of the first gift by
man to the extent that it becomes his inalienable possession for all eternity. ‘And so the mystery of Divine Love is revealed to us - utter self-emptying precedes the fulness
of perfection’.
The perfect regeneration of man is accomplished with his entrance into the third stage, when the grace of God returns in power and is appreciably preserved through the
wisdom and common sense gained in the previous experience. In this stage the state of deification is imparted to man. This final stage of the struggle after the acquisition
of grace is characterised by steadfastness in the love of God and compassion for all Adam and it is obvious that it cannot last many years.
The recognition of the path of God and stability of godly life is the fruit of passing through the three stages of spiritual life that we have described. The man of faith is no
longer ‘untrained’ on the path of salvation, but on the contrary is ‘taught of God’.

Epilogue
The theology of Saint Sophrony is characterised by the wonder that he had for the extreme humility of Christ and His descent into the nethermost parts of the earth. The
holy elder was amazed at the divine love of Christ, who as a Lamb without spot and undefiled ascended to Golgotha, and emptied himself to become the servant of all
humanity, from Adam until the last man ‘to be born of a woman’. His sacrifice embraces everyone, friends and enemies.
Empirical knowledge of the humble love of Christ led Elder Sophrony to set forth a prototype of an inspired theory, the theory of the ‘inverted pyramid’, which explains the
mystery of the love of Christ and how it works and suffers within the world. This theory presents all the being of mankind in the structure of a pyramid. The hierarchy of
upper and lower classes of men, as well as every distinction and inequality between us, are a consequence of the Fall of the first-created. Those who rule at the summit of
the pyramid oppress those who are beneath them, and there is no justice anywhere to be found, even though the spirit of man created in the image of God demands it. In
order for Christ to heal all mankind, to show a way out of the deadlock of man’s injustice and to raise up to the top all those who are humble upon earth, inverting this
pyramid of being, placing the summit at the base, and thus establishing the ultimate perfection. The summit of the inverted pyramid is Christ Himself, as the head of the
body of the ‘new creation’. He took upon himself the weight of the pyramid and as the Apostle Paul writes, ‘being made a curse for us’ And He did that, of course, because
‘Jesus … having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end’. At the depth of the inverted pyramid, the humble and saving Spirit of the crucified
Christ reigns, ‘And there we remark a quite especial life, a quite especial light, an especial fragrance’.
This is the inverted perspective of the Gospel, that appears to be foolishness to the world, but for those who are saved it is the power of God. The Lord says: ‘that which is
highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God’ and the former persecutor Paul writes to the Corinthians: ‘But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a
stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the
foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.’ According to Elder Sophrony, the inverted logic of the Gospel crucifies the
corruptible reason of man because only this brings man humility, that attracts the grace of God and gives birth to true repentance unto self-hatred. Only thus can the
Christian be delivered from the vanity and darkness of this world and united existentially with the Spirit of Christ, which will refashion him unto true likeness to Christ.
Through the humble ethos of Christ and the paradoxical power of the inverted perspective of the Gospel, the foolishness of the God who saves man becomes clear, and
the shameful foolishness of the world that leads man to despair and death. This other logic of the Gospel can be seen in practice in the lives of the Saints and Saint
Sophrony presents this in all the breadth and length of his teaching. In his teaching he continually refers precisely those points that show the wondrous humility of Christ,
such as the grace of His cross, with which he draws all things towards Himself, and begets love for God until self-hatred within man.
The holy elder had this spirit, and he confirmed it
through the teaching of his Holy Father Silouan and the
word that Christ gave him: ‘Keep thy mind in hell and
despair not.’ Elder Sophrony never ceased to wonder at
our great calling in Christ ‘before the foundation of the
world’, and thus he kept his mind humble. Assimilating
his spirit to the Great Science of his teacher, Silouan, he
expressed the same knowledge and vision within his own
words. He wrote: ‘A downward movement, into the
blackness of hell, is indispensable for all of us if we are to
continue steadfast in the Christian spirit. So we must be
ever conscious of our primeval nothingness, continually
condemning ourselves harshly in all things.’ In other
words, Saint Sophrony exhorts us that in order to
become perfect we have to tread the path of Christ, and
that path encompasses the nethermost parts of the
earth also. This is why God permits all His Saints to go
through great trials and their souls to reach hell, not that
they may perish, but they may discover the mystery of
the presence of His Son there and be initiated into His
chastening.
The perfection and splendour of the holiness of Christ, as it was revealed in his divine self-emptying and humble love, so raptured the spirit of Saint Sophrony, that with
deep humility and astonishment he would say: ‘To live as a Christian is impossible: all one can do is 'die daily' (1 Cor. 15:31)’.
Saint Sophrony empirically knew within his life the infinite self emptying love of Christ and became a friend, an intimate, a fellow citizen, a king together with Him and His
co-heir. Through his teaching, he calls us to this knowledge of God, so that we may prove ourselves, even us, faithful unto death to the eternal Covenant of the Lord Jesus.
I
t is a great event when someone that one has known alive suddenly
becomes a saint. With Father Sophrony it was not unexpected, as I
had considered him holy ever since I met him, yet the fact of it being
confirmed by the whole church was a very strong experience.
It was awe inspiring and frightening to be given the responsibility to paint his icon.
Of all the icons that had already been painted, I could only agree with one. (Image
1. Caption: Painted by Joris Van Ael) A friend of the monastery had painted this
icon in 1993 just after he heard the news of Father’s departure. He had left it
unfinished and only put the name, inscription and final touches this year. To me
this icon had the right interior luminosity as well as a transfigured likeness. I could
not agree with the various images painted of him holding a chalice or dressed in
his winter coat, holding one of the buildings of the monastery. One of my
iconography teachers had taught me
that the chalice cannot be attributed
to any particular saint, even not the
ones who encouraged frequent Holy
Communion, because the chalice
can be held by any ordained clergy.
So when I began to paint Father’s
icon, I surrounded myself with his
photos, a few of his own drawings
where he had unknowingly
produced a likeness of himself, as
well as a reproduction of the icon
mentioned above, and with fear and
prayer, set to work, trusting that he
would help me.
The first icon that I painted
expressed a visual summary of him
in iconographic language. I put him
in full monastic clothing, blessing
with his right hand and holding the
icon of his elder, Saint Silouan with
his other hand. He himself considered the main task and purpose in his life was to
make his own elder, Saint Silouan known to the world, first by publishing his
writings, then by writing about him himself and finally by painting his icon and
construct a chapel in his memory.
I only realized later that in fact it is not a convincing likeness. Icons should portray
the transfigured person and be an image of their interior state, but they must also
look like the person, have an exterior
likeness. This is a very delicate point, as
it must not be a photographic likeness
neither a caricature.
The next icon I painted was smaller in
size and it was not possible to paint a
miniature icon of St Silouan in his
hands, so I settled for a second model:
I painted him bare headed, with an
epitrachileon, holding a scroll where
an extract of his own writings could be
written. For the epitrachileon I chose
to paint his own personal one that had
been embroidered for him and which
had the symbol of the monastery on it.
A friend of mine criticized me for this
choice as the result is slightly “sweet”
and Father Sophrony was strongly
opposed to sentimentality.
However this icon has a drawback, as
there is no visual proof that he Image 1
was a monk. Later I corrected
this by replacing the
epitrachileon with the great
schema.
For the next one, which was to
go on his tomb in the crypt, I
dressed him in the vestment he
had been buried in, with a
monk’s hat and veil and holding
an open Gospel with a fitting
inscription. As such it again was a
more iconographically correct
formula, as he was represented
as a hieromonk.
The only drawback here was
that it had to be ready in a hurry
so I used pastels on paper and
then mounted it on a panel of
wood. So, later when there was
more time, I painted a
replacement icon with traditional
materials.
I also had to paint him in
our two refectories. The
newer one, where I had
painted the faces, was not
such a problem; we
changed the Saint standing
next to Saint Silouan who
luckily happened to have
similar traits to our Saint. As
the walls were painted in
real fresco it was not
possible to undo what was
already there, but it was
possible to paint over it.
The other refectory, where
the murals had been
painted by Father himself,
was much more of a
challenge as I had to paint
him in his own style, fitting
in with his own work. But as
it was much more difficult I
have the impression that he
helped me even more and
the end result was better than any of the previous ones.
I have not managed to reach the level of this last image again. However with each
new icon I try to catch even just a fraction of him and, thankfully, he does help.
Sister Gabriela
 With the permission and the blessing of His
All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew, His Eminence Archbishop
Nikitas on Friday, July 10, presided over
Vespers and on Saturday, July 11, presided
over Matins and the Divine Liturgy, on the
occasion of the first commemoration of
Saint Sophrony at the Monastery of Saint
John the Baptist in Essex.
His Eminence was accompanied by the
Very Revd Archimandrite Nikodemos
Anagnostopoulos, Chancellor of the
Archdiocese, the Very Revd Archimandrite
Christodoulos Persopoulos, the Very Revd
Archimandrite Nephon Tsimalis, the Revd
Oeconomos John Hookway, the Revd
Oeconomos Christodoulos Christodoulou
and the Revd Archdeacon Evgenios
Tsaramanidis.

Talk of H.E. the Archbishop of Thyateira and Great Britain Nikita

Most Respected Abbot and Elder, Fr. Petros,
Esteemed and Honourable Former Abbot and Geronta, Fr. Kyrillos,
Fathers, Brothers and Sisters of the sacred Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery,
Beloved Children in the Lord,
Grace and peace be with you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In his love for the world and humanity, our heavenly Father places saintly people in each and every era of human history to guide us, protect us, and keep us on
the path of salvation. While these saints faced many challenges and difficulties in their lives, God called them and—because of the disposition of their hearts—He
selected them and anointed them, as the Judges of old to save us from the power of those who would plunder us, the New Israel, with his grace and love; and
they, in turn—almost appearing out of nowhere—reveal to us the true nature and meaning of God’s commandments. In other words, these saints, whom God
placed in our lives for our own sake and for that of the entire world, revealed that the commandments of Christ are not simply external laws, but revelations of
divine life. Indeed, through these holy men and women, we witnessed that God is love, and that God is humility. Through their examples, we find instruction in
keeping “to the paths of the righteous,” (Proverbs 2) and we learn how to lead our lives in a saintly way.
As history has shown, we see the sacred and prophetic words of the Prophet and King Solomon come to life:
“The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure
was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace. For though in the sight of men they were punished, their
hope is full of immortality. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and
found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted
them. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble. They will govern
nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever. Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect, and he watches over his holy
ones.” (Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9)
«The souls of the
The Good Shepherd and Master saw the innocence and pure heart of the young Sergei, and watched over him, in a
righteous are in the
hand of God, and no
sense, waiting in anticipation for him to realize and respond to his true calling. After living in Russia during very turbulent
times and having fallen away from the true path of Christ, he began to walk the path of a sacred pilgrimage, searching
for the ideals that would quench his thirst for truth. Eventually, as we all know, he left his native land and family, torment will ever
journeying to various countries, and arrived at the Garden of the Virgin Mary, that is, the Holy Mountain of Athos, where
he would cultivate seeds of humility, love, and prayer, which had been planted in his heart years before. While on Mt. touch them
Athos, he was guided and directed by other great ascetics and elders—saintly persons, such as St. Nikolai Velimirovic—
who would assist him with his personal struggles and spiritual life. It was there that he became the disciple of St. Silouan,
the great luminary and pillar of light, from whose heart sprung forth—as from a deep well—spiritual waters for St. Sophrony. It is clear that this refreshing spiritual
guidance gave life to the blossoming flowers of love that were in St. Sophrony’s heart.
 Over the years, St. Sophrony shared the wisdom and teachings that had been provided
to him by all the Athonite elders, especially St. Silouan. In due course, however, he
decided to live in quiet (hesychia) and cultivate the Jesus Prayer even more fully in his
heart. Guided by the Spirit, St. Sophrony came to this blessed land—a land sanctified
by the blood of its Martyrs and the choir of Saints of the British Isles; a land known as
the pulpit of St. Aristoboulos, who was the First Bishop of Britain; a land known as the
arena of the protomartyr St. Alban, as well as the land of King St. Edmund, and the
noetic script of the Venerable Bede. Yes, it was here in the sacred area of Essex that he
established the Monastery dedicated to the Forerunner and Baptist, St. John. This,
certainly, was not by chance, though. For the Baptist, too, fled to the desert and
sought peace, stillness, and silence—far from the noise, distraction, and violence of the
world. Of course, the Baptist himself was not alone. After all, St. John had disciples and
spiritual children within his paternal embrace. He directed them to Christ. And so, St.
Sophrony, in a similar manner, gathered his children under his care—like a hen gathers
her chicks under her wings—in order that he might gather them and lead them
together towards Christ and His unwaning light.
As the great Prophet Elias passed his mantle unto his disciple Elijah, so the blessed
Sophrony passed his mantle to Fr. Kyrillos and now to Fr. Petros, continuing the sacred
tradition of monasticism once brought and planted here by this great saint. Many
people today know St. Sophrony as a skilled theologian and iconographer. But his
influence and deep personal commitment to Christ is not only seen in the sacred icons and theological writings that he produced. For instance, it would be
impossible for us to determine the number of faithful and pious Christians who came to him from all corners of the globe for spiritual guidance and support over
the years. His days and nights were spent in deep prayer, as he asked God to heal the broken hearts of the people. And, of course, this great saint did not give of
his own wisdom and words; rather, he gave Christ and Christ’s words to those thirsty and hungry
for righteousness, truth, and the heavenly kingdom. During his lifetime, St. Sophrony became a
fountain of healing for those suffering in body and soul, especially as he gave peace and comfort to
ease the pain of sin. He saw beauty in all things, especially nature and God’s creation. For him, the
lilies of the field showed the creative hands that wove a masterpiece of wonder, while the birds of
the air sang the praises of heaven in their own way.
On this most joyous of occasions, we are gathered together as a community of pilgrims and stand
as one family celebrating the holiness of the life of St. Sophrony. We have come here, each of us,
to bend our knees and ask not only for his blessing, but also for his prayers and intercessions
before the throne of God. As he served at the Altar here on earth, we now ask that he pray for us
at the celestial Altar in the heavens. As the hymns of the service tell us, St. Sophrony is like a
trumpet, sounding loud the truth of Christ and we have gathered here in Essex to hear the musical
message of love that radiates from his grave.
The Holy and Great Church of Christ, the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, recognized the
sanctity of Sophrony’s life, and he was
formally numbered among the Saints of the
Church. Within the depths of the hearts of
the people of God, though, he was already
accepted as such even during his life. The
Church invites the faithful throughout the
world to give him the proper honour we
offer the true children of God. His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew had hoped to be here and
serve on this most blessed and sacred day, but the unfortunate circumstances around the world did not
allow for it. Nevertheless, our Patriarch and the venerable hierarchs of the Mother Church of
Constantinople are noetically near us all on this day and share with us in the joy of this heavenly
celebration. Naturally, I come not in place of His All-Holiness, but rather with paternal love and blessing, so I
might also share in the joy, honour, and blessings of this first celebration of the feast of St. Sophrony of
Essex, the Athonite, the Elder, the Teacher, and the Father.
It was prevalent in St. Sophrony’s teachings that the institutions of the Church are a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Thus, it is of the utmost importance that we work together here in strengthening the Christian presence and
witness of these lands. May our collaborations be characterized by the nobility of his spirit, especially since
St. Sophrony always treated everyone around him with great deference, as though they were nobility—a
sentiment for which our broken and divided world is currently in great need. Therefore, at this time, I
entreat St. Sophrony to help us with building up the Church here, and to help in preserving and protecting
our Ecumenical Patriarch, the Mother Church, and all those labouring for its rights and equality.

England, the United Kingdom, and the entire oikoumene are now blessed by St. Sophrony, who gave to the world his most precious possession—his heart filled
with love for Christ. Being here present with all of you today, my own heart sings the sacred words from Matins:
“O blessed land of Britain, within you, you received the precious and holy relic of St. Sophrony the Wonderworker, whom the Lord made worthy to become a
venerable dwelling of the Holy Spirit, which endlessly gushes forth, to those who with true faith approach, the gifts of Divine grace.”
Rejoice, then, people of God, and give thanks and praise—that in our day and time our heavenly Father has not forgotten our world. We celebrate the life of this
great luminary and are comforted that we have been found worthy to live in the shadow of his grace. May we have his blessings from above, so we also learn to
walk in the light of Christ.
 Επτα Βασικα Σημεια τησ
Θεολογιασ του Αγιου
Σοφρωνιου του Αγιορειτου

Ἀρχιμανδρίτης Ζαχαρίας

Η
ζωὴ τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος Σωφρονίου ἐκτείνεται σὲ ἕναν σχεδὸν αἰώνα. Οἱ κελὶ τῆς Ἁγίας
κυριότερες πηγὲς γιὰ τὴ ζωή του εἶναι τὰ συγγράμματά του καὶ ἡ ἐπὶ Τριάδος κοντὰ στὸν
πολλὰ ἔτη συνδιαγωγὴ μαζί του. Στὰ αὐτοβιογραφικὰ κείμενα καὶ τοὺς ἀρσανᾶ τῆς Ἱερᾶς
λόγους του ὁ Γέροντας ἑστιάζεται στὴν περιγραφὴ ἑνὸς μέρους τῶν Μονῆς τοῦ Ἁγίου
ἐμπειριῶν ποὺ τοῦ δόθηκαν ἀπὸ τὸν Θεό, καὶ ἐλάχιστα ἀναφέρεται σὲ ἐξωτερικὰ Παύλου. Ἐκεῖ, στὴ
γεγονότα τῆς ζωῆς του. Ἐκτεταμένα ὅμως σκιαγραφεῖ τὴν ἐσωτερικὴ του πορεία καὶ σπηλιὰ τῆς Ἁγίας
τὴ σφοδρὴ ἀναζήτηση τῶν ὁδῶν τῆς σωτηρίας γιὰ τὸν ἑαυτό του καὶ ὅλο τὸν Ἀδάμ. Τριάδος, ὁ ἅγιος
Γεννήθηκε στὴ Μόσχα στὶς 22 Σεπτεμβρίου τοῦ 1896. Τὸ κατὰ κόσμον ὄνομά του Γέροντας παρέμεινε
ἦταν Σέργιος. Σπούδασε ζωγραφικὴ στὴν Κρατικὴ Σχολὴ Καλῶν Τεχνῶν τῆς γιὰ τρία χρόνια. Τὸν
γενέτειράς του καὶ τὸ 1921, κατὰ τὴ διάρκεια τῆς ἐπαναστάσεως τῶν Μπολσεβίκων, τελευταῖο χρόνο εἶχε
ἔφυγε ἀπὸ τὴ Ρωσία. Πρῶτα πῆγε στὴν Ἰταλία, λίγο ἀργότερα στὴ Γερμανία καὶ βαρὺ χειμώνα καὶ ἡ
τελικὰ, τὸ 1922 ἐγκαταστάθηκε στὴ Γαλλία, ὅπου ἀφοσιώθηκε μὲ ζῆλο στὴ σπηλιὰ ἔπαθε
ζωγραφική, καὶ ἀναγνωρίσθηκε ὡς δόκιμος ζωγράφος. Ἐκτὸς ἀπὸ τὰ πλούσια ρωγμὴ ἐσωτερικὰ
φυσικά του χαρίσματα, ὁ Θεὸς τὸν εἶχε προικίσει μὲ ἐξαιρετικὰ πνευματικὰ καὶ γέμιζε νερό. Ἡ ὑγρασία καὶ ὁ κόπος κλόνισαν τὴν ὑγεία του καὶ ἀναγκάσθηκε νὰ
χαρίσματα ἀπὸ τὴν ἀρχὴ τῆς ζωῆς του. Ἀπό μικρὴ ἡλικία ἀφομοίωσε τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ μεταβεῖ στὴ Σκήτη τοῦ Ἁγίου Ἀνδρέα στὶς Καρυές. Τὸ Φεβρουάριο τοῦ 1947, μὲ
Ζῶντος Θεοῦ τῶν πατέρων του καὶ ἀγάπησε τὴν προσευχή. εὐλογία καὶ ἀπολυτήριο τῆς Ἱερᾶς Μονῆς Βατοπαιδίου, ἀναχώρησε ἀπὸ τὸ Ἅγιο
Ὄρος μὲ σκοπὸ νὰ μεταβεῖ γιὰ ἕνα χρόνο στὸ Παρίσι καὶ ἐκεῖ νὰ ἐκδώσει τὰ κείμενα
Στὴ νεότητά του διακατείχετο ἀπὸ τὴ δίψα τοῦ Ἀπολύτου, καὶ ἀσχολήθηκε σοβαρὰ ποὺ τοῦ ἐμπιστεύθηκε ὁ Γέροντάς του, ἅγιος Σιλουανός, λίγο πρὶν ἀπὸ τὸν θάνατό
μὲ τὰ πολλὰ ὑπαρξιακὰ προβλήματα τῆς ἐποχῆς καὶ τοῦ περιβάλλοντός του. Οἱ του.
ἔντονες μεταφυσικὲς ἀναζητήσεις του τὸν ὁδήγησαν στὴν ὀδυνηρὴ συναίσθηση τοῦ
τραγικοῦ χαρακτήρα τοῦ ἀνθρώπινου εἶναι. Τὸ πρόβλημα τῆς αἰωνιότητος Γαλλία, Ἁγία Γενεβιέβη τοῦ Δρυμοῦ
κυριαρχοῦσε στὸ εἶναι του. Μέσα στὴν πάλη του γιὰ τὴν Ἀλήθεια ὑποτίμησε τὴν Παρὰ τὴν ἐπιδείνωση τῆς ὑγείας του καὶ τὴν ἄκρα πτωχεία του στὴ Γαλλία,
ἰδέα ὅτι τὸ Ἀπόλυτο μπορεῖ νὰ περικλεισθεῖ στὸν ψυχισμὸ τῆς εὐαγγελικῆς ἐντολῆς ἐργάσθηκε σκληρὰ καὶ τὸ 1948 κατάφερε νὰ ἐκδώσει τὸ πρῶτο βιβλίο γιὰ τὸν ἅγιο
τῆς ἀγάπης καὶ ἀπομακρύνθηκε ἀπὸ τὴ χριστιανικὴ ὁδό. Ἡ θεωρία τῶν ἀνατολικῶν Σιλουανὸ σὲ πολυγραφημένη ἔκδοση ποὺ ὁ ἴδιος φιλοτέχνησε. Οἱ κακουχίες ὅμως
θρησκειῶν, ὡς λογικὴ λύση στὸ θλιβερὸ θέαμα τῶν παθημάτων καὶ τοῦ πόνου, τῶν προηγουμένων ἐτῶν καὶ οἱ στερήσεις τῆς περιόδου τοῦ δευτέρου παγκοσμίου
εἵλκυσε τὸν Γέροντα, καὶ γιὰ ἑπτὰ ἢ ὀκτὼ περίπου χρόνια ἀσκήθηκε στὸν Πολέμου ποὺ ὑπέστη, τοῦ δημιούργησαν σοβαρὸ ἕλκος στὸ στομάχι καὶ τελικά,
ὑπερβατικὸ διαλογισμὸ τῆς φιλοσοφικῆς αὐτῆς πλάνης τοῦ ὑπερπροσωπικοῦ ὑποβλήθηκε σὲ ὁλικὴ σχεδὸν γαστρεκτομή. Παρέμεινε στὸ νοσοκομεῖο μὲ ὀροὺς γιὰ
Ἀπολύτου. 80 ἡμέρες καὶ μόλις κατόρθωσε νὰ ἐπιβιώσει. Μεταφέρθηκε ὡς ἀνάπηρος στὸ
Τὴν ἐπιστροφή του στὴν Ἐκκλησία προκάλεσε τὸ βιβλικὸ κείμενο τῆς Σιναϊτικῆς ρωσικὸ γηροκομεῖο τοῦ
ἀποκαλύψεως «Ἐγὼ εἰμι ὁ Ὤν». Βοηθούμενος ἀπὸ τὴ χάρη τοῦ Θεοῦ κατανόησε ὅτι προαστείου τῶν Παρισίων
τὸ Ἀπόλυτο καὶ Ἄναρχο Εἶναι δὲν εἶναι ἄλλο ἀπὸ τὸν Προσωπικὸ Θεό, ποὺ τῆς Ἁγίας Γενεβιέβης τοῦ
ἀποκαλύφθηκε πρῶτα στὸν Μωυσῆ καὶ «ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν Δρυμοῦ. Μόλις ἀνέκτησε
ἡμῖν ἐν τῷ Μονογενεῖ Υἱῷ» τοῦ Θεοῦ, διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἀπὸ τὴ στιγμὴ ἐκείνη τῆς λίγο τὶς δυνάμεις του,
προσωπικῆς συναντήσεώς του μὲ τὸν ὄντως Ὄντα, δὲν ἔπαυσε μὲ ἄκρα ἔφεση νὰ ἄρχισε νὰ τελεῖ τὶς
μυεῖται στὸ μυστήριο τοῦ ἀποκαλυφθέντος Θεοῦ καὶ νὰ ἐμβαθύνει στὶς ἄπειρες ἀκολουθίες στὸ
διαστάσεις τῆς Ὑποστάσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατ’ εἰκόνα τοῦ Ὁποίου κτίσθηκε ὁ Παρεκκλήσιο ποὺ ὑπῆρχε
ἄνθρωπος. Τὴν πλάνη του στὸ ἀπρόσωπο καὶ φανταζόμενο Ἀπόλυτο τοῦ ἰνδικοῦ ἐκεῖ. Οἱ οἰκότροφοι τοῦ
τύπου θρήνησε μὲ πένθος ἀκραίας ἐντάσεως ἐπὶ δεκάδες χρόνια, θεωρώντας την Γηροκομείου μετεῖχαν
ὡς πτώση ὅμοια μὲ ἐκείνη τοῦ Ἀδάμ, καὶ ὡς αὐτοκτονία σὲ μεταφυσικὸ ἐπίπεδο. στὶς ἀκολουθίες καὶ
Στὸ ἔργο του «Ὀψόμεθα τὸν Θεὸν καθώς ἐστι», ποὺ εἶναι ἡ πνευματικὴ μάλιστα μερικοὶ ἀπὸ
αὐτοβιογραφία του, περιγράφει, πῶς ὁ ἴδιος ἔζησε τὴ μετάνοιά του. αὐτοὺς πῆραν ἔμπνευση
νὰ γίνουν μοναχοὶ καὶ
Ἅγιο Ὄρος μοναχὲς. Ἔτσι,
Τὸ 1925 μετὰ ἀπὸ μικρὴ περίοδο σπουδῶν στὸ Θεολογικὸ Ἰνστιτοῦτο Παρισίων τοῦ δημιουργήθηκε μέσα στὸ
Ἁγίου Σεργίου, ἀναχώρησε γιὰ τὸ Ἅγιο Ὅρος, ὅπου μόνασε συνολικὰ 22 ἔτη. Ἀρχικὰ γηροκομεῖο μία μικρὴ
ἐγκαταβίωσε στὴ Μονὴ τοῦ Ἁγίου Παντελεήμονος. Στὶς 30 Ἀπριλίου τοῦ 1930 μοναστικὴ ἀδελφότητα.
χειροτονήθηκε διάκονος ἀπὸ τὸν ἅγιο Νικόλαο Βελιμίροβιτς, ἐπίσκοπο Ζίτσας καὶ Ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ ἐκδόθηκαν
Ἀχρίδος καὶ τὸ 1939 ἀπεσύρθη στὴ φρικτὴ ἔρημο τῶν Καρουλίων, ἀπ’ ὅπου στὶς 2 τὸ βιβλίο τοῦ Ἁγίου
Φεβρουαρίου τοῦ 1941 προσκλήθηκε ἀπὸ τὴν Ἱερὰ Μονὴ τοῦ Ἁγίου Παύλου νὰ Σιλουανοῦ καὶ μερικὰ
χειροτονηθεῖ ἱερέας καὶ νὰ τὴ διακονήσει ὡς πνευματικός. Ἡ διακονία τοῦ ἁγίου μικρὰ ἄρθρα τοῦ ἁγίου
Γέροντα ὡς πνευματικοῦ συμπεριέλαβε καὶ τὶς Ἱερὲς Μονὲς Σιμωνόπετρας, Γέροντα σὲ περιοδικά καὶ
Γρηγορίου καὶ Ξενοφῶντος, καθὼς ἐπίσης καὶ πολλοὺς κελλιῶτες καὶ ἐρημίτες. Γιὰ ἄρχισε ἡ προσέλευση νέων ἀνθρώπων στὶς ἀκολουθίες, οἱ ὁποῖες διαρκοῦσαν τρεῖς
νὰ διευκολύνεται στὴ διακονία του, ἔφυγε ἀπὸ τὰ Καρούλια καὶ ἐγκαταστάθηκε στὸ ὧρες τὸ πρωΐ καὶ τρεῖς ὧρες τὸ βράδυ.
 Ἵδρυση Μονῆς στὸ
Ἔσσεξ
Μὲ τὴν πάροδο τοῦ
χρόνου οἱ νέοι ἄρχισαν
νὰ ἐκφράζουν μὲ
ἐπίμονο τρόπο τὴν
ἐπιθυμία νὰ ἱδρύσει ὁ
ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος
μοναστήρι, ὅπου θὰ
μποροῦσαν νὰ ζήσουν
κοντά του τὴ μοναχικὴ
ζωή. Ἐκεῖνος ἀρχικά,
λόγῳ τῆς βεβαρυμένης
ὑγείας του, ἦταν ἀπρόθυμος. Τελικὰ ὅμως συγκατένευσε ἀπὸ εὐσπλαγχνία καὶ
ἄρχισε νὰ ἀναζητεῖ τόπο. Μέσῳ Ἄγγλων φίλων, ποὺ μετέφρασαν καὶ ἐξέδωσαν τὸ
βιβλίο του στὴν ἀγγλική γλώσσα, βρέθηκε ὁ τόπος ὅπου βρίσκεται σήμερα ἡ Μονή
του, στὸ Ἔσσεξ τῆς Ἀγγλίας. Μὲ ἕνα ἀπίστευτα θαυμαστὸ τρόπο τῆς Πρόνοιας τοῦ
Θεοῦ κατάφερε νὰ πάρει τὴν ἄδεια ἀπὸ τὶς Ἀγγλικὲς Ἀρχὲς καὶ στὶς 5 Μαρτίου τοῦ
1959 ἔφθασε στὴν Ἀγγλία μὲ μικρὴ ὁμάδα ἀπὸ δύο ἡλικιωμένες μοναχὲς καὶ λίγους
νέους. Τὸ μέρος τὸτε ἦταν σχεδὸν ἔρημο καὶ ὁ Γέροντας χαιρόταν, γιατί, ὅπως
ἔλεγε, κανένας δὲν θὰ τὸ ἐπιθυμοῦσε καὶ ἀπὸ κανένα δὲν θὰ τὸ στεροῦσε. Ὁ
Γέροντας παραδόθηκε πραγματικὰ στὴν πνευματικὴ ὑπηρεσία τῶν προσερχομένων,
ἀφοῦ νυχθημερὸν δεχόταν τοὺς πάντες.
Τελευταὶα χρόνια
Ὁ Θεὸς περικράτησε τὸ γῆρας τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος καὶ μὲ τὶς εὐχὲς καὶ τὸ λόγο του
στὴριξε τὴν Ἀδελφότητα τῆς μονῆς του μέχρι τὴ μακαρία κοίμησή του. Ὡς
πνευματικὸς πατέρας καὶ ἱδρυτὴς τοῦ μοναστηριοῦ, ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος, μετέδωσε
μόνο ἐκεῖνα τὰ στοιχεῖα τῆς Ἀθωνικῆς παραδόσεως, τὰ ὁποῖα θὰ μποροῦσαν νὰ
βοηθήσουν νὰ γίνει ἡ μονή του τὸ ἅγιο ὄρος τοῦ Θεοῦ· τόπος, ὅπου κατοικεῖ ὁ Θεός
καὶ τόνισε ἐκεῖνα τὰ σημεῖα, ποὺ ἀποτελοῦν τὴν οὐσία τῆς ἱερᾶς Παραδόσεως καὶ
εἶναι ἀπαραίτητα γιὰ τὴν ἐκπλήρωση τῆς μοναχικῆς κλήσεως. Ὅταν αἰσθάνθηκε ὅτι
πλησίαζε τὸ τέλος του, εἶπε σὲ κάποιον ἀπὸ τοὺς μοναχούς του: «Ὅλα τὰ ἔχω πεῖ
στὸν Θεό, τώρα πρέπει νὰ πηγαίνω». Ἔγραψε μία συγκινητικὴ ἐπιστολὴ στὸν
Παναγιώτατο Οἰκουμενικὸ Πατριάρχη Βαρθολομαῖο, ὅπου μὲ ταπείνωση τὸν
εὐχαριστοῦσε ἀπὸ καρδίας γιὰ ὅλη τὴν εὔνοια ποὺ ἔδειξε στὴ μονή του καὶ ζητοῦσε
τὴν εὐλογία του γιὰ νὰ ἀπέλθει «πρὸς τὸ ποθούμενον Φῶς τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ
Ἀναστάσεως». Τὶς τελευταῖες τέσσερις ἡμέρες ἀνέβηκε στὴν κλίνη του, μιὰ καὶ
προηγουμένως κοιμόταν πάντοτε κατὰ μικρὰ διαστήματα σὲ μιὰ πολυθρόνα,
ἔκλεισε τὰ μάτια καὶ δὲν ἔδινε ἀπόκριση. Ὅταν ζητούσαμε εὐλογία, σήκωνε μόνο τὸ
χέρι του εὐλογώντας. Προσευχόμενος ἀπῆλθε πρὸς τὸν ἠγαπημένο Θεὸ τῶν
Πατέρων του τὴν Κυριακή, 11η Ἰουλίου 1993.
Ἐν ὅσῳ ζοῦσε ὁ Γέροντας εἴδαμε νὰ γίνονται ἀρκετὰ θαύματα, τὴν ἡμέρα τοῦ
θανάτου του καὶ μετὰ τὸν θάνατό του. Ἀμέτρητοι ζωοποιήθηκαν μὲ τὴ διδασκαλία
του καὶ ἀρκετοὶ διαβάζοντας τὰ βιβλία του πῆραν ἔμπνευση νὰ γίνουν μοναχοὶ καὶ
μοναχὲς σὲ Ὀρθόδοξα μοναστήρια στὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ σὲ ἄλλες χώρες, ὅπως ἐπίσης
καὶ σὲ μὴ Ὀρθόδοξα μοναστήρια στὴ Γαλλία καὶ σὲ ἄλλα μέρη. Ὁ Αγιος
προσευχόταν μὲ ἔνταση ἐκτενῶς γιὰ τοὺς πάσχοντες, ἀλλὰ δὲν ἐπιζητοῦσε
θαύματα. Ζητοῦσε λόγο Θεοῦ, ποὺ συνεργοῦσε στὸ μεγαλύτερο καὶ σημαντικότερο
θαῦμα τῆς πρόσκαιρης ὑπάρξεως, τὴν ἕνωση τῆς καρδιᾶς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μὲ τὸ
Πνεῦμα τοῦ Ζῶντος καὶ Αἰωνίου Θεοῦ. Ἀγωνιζόταν νὰ μειώσει τὸν πόνο τῶν
ἀνθρώπων, ἀλλὰ χαιρόταν περισσότερο καὶ ἀπὸ τὸ θαῦμα, ὅταν ὁ λόγος του καὶ ἡ
προσευχή του μεταποιοῦσαν τὶς καρδιές τους.
Ὁ πνευματικὸς σύνδεσμος μεταξὺ τῶν Ὁσίων Σιλουανοῦ καὶ Σωφρονίου
Τὸ μεγαλύτερο γεγονὸς τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντα, ὅπως ὁ ἴδιος διηγόταν καὶ
ἔγραφε, ἦταν ἡ γνωριμία του μὲ τὸν ὅσιο Πατέρα του, Σιλουανό. Τὸ ἱστορικὸ αὐτὸ
γεγονὸς τοῦ πνευματικοῦ αὐτοῦ συνδέσμου εἶχε καθοριστικὴ σημασία γιὰ τὴ
μετέπειτα πνευματικὴ ἐξέλιξη καὶ θεολογία τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος. Στὸ πρόσωπο τοῦ
ἁγίου Σιλουανοῦ κατόπτευσε τὶς αὐθεντικὲς διαστάσεις τῆς χριστιανικῆς ζωῆς.
Ἀπέκτησε τέτοια πίστη καὶ εὐλάβεια πρὸς αὐτόν, ὥστε μὲ τὸ πνεῦμα του
προσκυνοῦσε καὶ τὰ ἀχνάρια τῶν ποδιῶν του. Ἡ ἐπικοινωνία του μὲ τὸν Ἅγιο τοῦ
ἔδωσε τὴ διαβεβαίωση γιὰ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς μετανοίας μὲ τὸ ὁποῖο καὶ ὁ ἴδιος
ἐμφορεῖτο ἕως τότε. Πληροφορήθηκε στὴ διδαχὴ τοῦ Ἁγίου καὶ μὲ ἀκλόνητη πίστη
στὸ λόγο του ἀπέκτησε σταθερότητα στὴν ἀσκητική του ζωὴ καὶ ὁδηγήθηκε στὴν
ἀπάθεια.
Στὴν περὶ προσώπου διδασκαλία του ὁ Γέροντας δὲν παύει νὰ σκιαγραφεῖ τὸ
ποτραῖτο τοῦ διδασκάλου του. Στὴ θεολογία του παρουσιάζει, καὶ τολμᾶ νὰ
ἑρμηνεύει, τὶς Γραφὲς τοῦ ἁγίου Σιλουανοῦ, διότι ἦταν ὅμοιος μὲ αὐτὸν κατὰ τὸ
πνεῦμα. Τὸ μέτρο τοῦ Σιλουανοῦ εἶναι τὸ ἴδιο μὲ τὸ μέτρο τοῦ Σωφρονίου. Γράφει ὁ
ἅγιος Γέροντας: «Διὰ τῶν εὐχῶν τοῦ Ἁγίου Σιλουανοῦ, τοποθετήθηκα καὶ ἐγὼ στὴν
ἴδια πνευματικὴ προοπτική. Σὲ μὲνα τὸν ἔσχατο ἀπὸ ὅλους τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, δόθηκε
νὰ ζήσω κατὰ προσέγγιση τὴν ἴδια ἐμπειρία». Καὶ οἱ δύο μαζί, Σιλουανὸς καὶ
Σωφρόνιος, συνθέτουν ἕνα μοναδικὸ γεγονός. Ὁ Θεὸς ἔδωσε ἄμεσα τὸ λόγο Του
στὸν ἅγιο Σιλουανό, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος μὲ τὴν ἀνάλογη πνευματικὴ πείρα
ποὺ διέθετε, ἔγινε ὁ ἑρμηνευτὴς καὶ μεταδότης τῆς ἐμπειρίας τοῦ μεγάλου
διδασκάλου του. Ἔτσι, ὅταν ὁ ἅγιος Γέροντας θεολογεῖ, ἐπιτελεῖ ταυτόχρονα διπλὴ
πράξη: Ἀπὸ τὴ μία πλευρὰ διηγεῖται καὶ ἑρμηνεύει τὸ γεγονὸς τῆς θαυμαστῆς
ἐμπειρίας τοῦ ἁγίου Σιλουανοῦ, στὸ πρόσωπο τοῦ ὁποίου συγκεφαλαιώθηκε ἡ
μακραίωνη παράδοση τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, καὶ ἀπὸ τὴν ἄλλη ἐκμυστηριεύεται καὶ
περιγράφει ταυτόχρονα μέρος ἀπὸ τὶς θεόσδοτες δωρεὲς ποὺ δέχθηκε ἄνωθεν στὸ
μακροχρόνιο ἀγώνα τῆς φλογερῆς προσευχῆς καὶ τοῦ ἀπαράκλητου πένθους του.
Ἡσυχαστὴς καὶ Λειτουργὸς
Ὁ Γέροντας ἦταν ἡσυχαστὴς σὲ κάθε πλευρὰ τῆς ζωῆς του, ὡς μοναχός,
πνευματικὸς πατέρας, διδάσκαλος, λειτουργὸς, εἰκονογράφος. Ὡς ποιμένας ἤθελε
νὰ διορθώσει τὸν κόσμο κατὰ ἕναν, τὸν ἑαυτὸ του, καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα του ἔτεινε
«στεναγμοῖς ἀλαλήτοις» μὲ ἀναφαίρετη ὁρμὴ πρὸς τὸν Ὄντως Ὄντα Θεό. Ὁ ἴδιος
μιλάει γιὰ τὸν ἀπερίγραπτα θαυμαστὸ κόσμο τῆς χριστιανικῆς προσευχῆς ποὺ
ἀποκαλύφθηκε σὲ αὐτὸν, μέσῳ τοῦ ὁποίου ἀξιώθηκε τὴν κοινωνία μὲ τὸν Ἀληθινὸ
Θεό. Ἀπὸ παιδὶ ἀγάπησε τὴ συνδιαμονὴ μὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μὲ τὴ χρυσὴ
σμίλη τῆς προσευχῆς χάραζε ὅλα τὰ σημαντικὰ θέματα καὶ βασάνιζε κάθε μεγάλη
ἀπόφασή του γιὰ ἡμέρες καὶ ἑβδομάδες, μέχρι νὰ φανερωθεῖ μὲ ἐνάργεια τὸ
θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὁ Αγιος Σωφρόνιος ἀφιέρωσε ἕνα ἀπὸ τὰ σημαντικότερα
συγγράμματά του στὴν προσευχή. Στὸ βιβλίο του «Περὶ Προσευχῆς» παρουσίασε
σύμφωνα μὲ τὴ θεόσδοτη ἐμπειρία του διάφορα εἴδη προσευχῆς. Ὀνομάζει τὴν
προσευχὴ ἀτελεύτητη δημιουργία, ὁδὸ πρὸς τὴ γνώση τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ διέξοδο ἀπὸ
τὴν ἀνθρώπινη τραγωδία, ἐνῶ καλεῖ τὴν προσευχὴ τῆς μετανοίας ἀληθινὴ
προσευχή, καὶ σημειώνει ὅτι μόνο αὐτοῦ τοῦ εἴδους ἡ προσευχὴ ἀνταποκρίνεται
στὴν ἀλήθεια τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ μας. Σὲ τρία κεφάλαια παρουσίασε τὶς πλέον οὐσιώδεις
ἀπόψεις γιὰ τὴν εὐχὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τὸν ὀντολογικό σύνδεσμό της μὲ τὸ Πρόσωπο
τοῦ Κυρίου.Μὲ ἀληθινὸ πάθος ζοῦσε τὴ Θεία Λειτουργία προσευχόμενος γιὰ ὅλο
τὸν κόσμο, χωρὶς νὰ ἀμφιβάλλει ὅτι: «ὡσότου προσφέρεται στὸν κόσμο ἡ θυσία
αὐτὴ τῆς ἀγάπης, ὁ κόσμος θὰ διατηρηθεῖ στὴν ὕπαρξή του». Μᾶς βεβαίωνε,
ἀκόμη, ὅτι μποροῦμε νὰ ἀπολαμβάνουμε σέ κάθε Λειτουργία τὴν ἴδια ἐμπειρία ποὺ
ἔβρισκαν οἱ ἅγιοι ἡσυχαστές στὴν ἔρημο, ὅταν τὴν προσφέρουμε μὲ προετοιμασία
καὶ ταπείνωση.
Ὁ Γέροντας Σωφρόνιος δὲν ἤθελε τὴν ἀντιπαράθεση γιὰ δογματικὰ θέματα μὲ τοὺς
Χριστιανοὺς ἄλλων ὁμολογιῶν, ἀλλὰ μᾶς ἐνθάρρυνε νὰ παρουσιάζουμε τὴν ἀληθινὴ
ἐμπειρία τῆς Ὀρθόδοξης Παραδόσεώς μας μὲ θετικὸ τρόπο, ἔτσι ὥστε νὰ
ἀναφαίνεται ἡ μοναδικότητα της, ἡ ὁποία εἶναι ἀσύγκριτη μὲ ὁποιαδήποτε ἄλλη
θρησκευτική ἤ φιλοσοφική παράδοση.
Ὁ Ανθρωπος τοῦ λόγου τοῦ Θεοῦ
Ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος εἶχε πλούσια φύση καὶ κατακοσμήθηκε μὲ πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα
χαρίσματα τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Μεγαλύτερη ἐντύπωση ἀπὸ ὅλα δημιουργοῦσε ὁ
λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, ποὺ ἅρπαζε μὲ τὴν προσευχή του καὶ κυοφοροῦσε ἐνεργὰ στὴ
καρδιά του. Ὁ λόγος του ἦταν σφραγισμένος μὲ χάρη καὶ ἔκανε τοὺς ἀκούοντες
κοινωνοὺς τῆς ἄφθαρτης ἐν Χριστῷ παρακλήσεως. Πρόφερε λόγο συνήθη, ἀλλὰ
μετέδιδε ξένη ἐνέργεια πρὸς ἀναγέννηση. Κατέβαζε στὴ γῆ τὸν λόγο τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ
ἔγινε γιὰ τὴ γενεά μας ἄνοιγμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ζωῆς καὶ θεωρίας, διότι ὁ λόγος του
ἐξέρχονταν ἀπὸ καρδία ζέουσα καὶ ὑπερεκχειλίζουσα ἀπὸ τὴν ταπεινὴ ἀγάπη τοῦ
Χριστοῦ, καὶ μετέδιδε τὴν ἐνέργεια τῆς χάριτος, ποὺ πληροφοροῦσε τὴν καρδιὰ τῶν
πιστῶν γιὰ τὴν ἀσφαλῆ ἀλήθεια.
Οἱ μαθητὲς ξύπνησαν τὸν Κύριο ποὺ κοιμόταν στὴν πρύμνη τοῦ καραβιοῦ τήν ὥρα
τῆς θύελλας καὶ Ἐκεῖνος ἀμέσως ἐπετίμησε τὸν ἄνεμο καὶ γαλήνεψε τὴ θάλασσα.
Ἀνάλογη ἐμπειρία ζούσαμε μὲ τὸν ἅγιο Γέροντα. Στὸ τέλος τῆς ζωῆς του, ὅταν
χρειαζόμασταν τὴ βοήθειά του, μπαίναμε στὸ κελί του καὶ ἂν κοιμόταν,
κουνούσαμε ἐλαφρὰ τὴν πολυθρόνα του πάνω στὴν ὁποία ἀναπαυόταν. Ἐκεῖνος
ἄνοιγε τὰ μάτια του καὶ μᾶς ἔδινε ἄμεσα λόγο ποὺ ἐρχόταν σὰν ἀπὸ ἄλλον κόσμο,
καὶ ἀπαντοῦσε τέλεια στὸ πρόβλημά μας. Ποτὲ δὲν μπορούσαμε νὰ συνηθίσουμε
τὸν θαυμαστὸ αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπο τοῦ Θεοῦ. Δέκα λεπτὰ μαζί του ἦταν σὰν αἰώνας.
Ὅταν μιλοῦσε μαζί μας εἴχαμε τὴν ἴδια ἐντύπωση ποὺ εἶχαν οἱ Ἀπόστολοι γιὰ τὸν
Διδάσκαλό τους: «Οὐδέποτε οὕτως ἐλάλησε ἄνθρωπος, ὡς οὗτος ὁ ἄνθρωπος». Ὁ
Γέροντας εἶχε τὴν ἱκανότητα μέσῳ τῆς προσευχῆς του νὰ μεταδίδει τὴν κατάσταση
στὴν ὁποία βρισκόταν. Κάποτε συνέβαινε νὰ πεῖ ἕνα ἀστεῖο καὶ ἐρχόταν κατάνυξη
στοὺς ἀκροατές. Ἔλεγε λόγο φιλοφρονητικὸ καὶ θερμαίνονταν οἱ καρδιές τους καὶ
δὲν ἔβρισκαν ἀνάπαυση μέχρι νὰ ἀναγεννηθοῦν πλήρως.
Ὁ λόγος ποὺ ἐξέφρασε ὁ ἅγιος διδάσκαλός του, Σιλουανός, τὴν ἡμέρα τῆς
συναντήσεώς του μὲ τὸν ἀσκητὴ τοῦ Καυκάσου, πατέρα Στρατόνικο: «Οἱ τέλειοι δὲν
λένε τίποτε ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ τους, λένε μόνο ὅ,τι τοὺς δίνει τὸ Πνεῦμα», χαρακτήριζε τὸν
πνευματικὰ «ἄρτιο» ἄνθρωπο τοῦ Θεοῦ, Σωφρόνιο, ὁ ὁποῖος διέμενε συνεχῶς στὴ
ζῶσα Παρουσία τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ Θεοῦ μὲ τὴν προσευχὴ τῆς μετάνοιας του. Ἡ
αὐθεντία, ποὺ τοῦ ἔδινε ἡ συνεχὴ διαμονή του στὴν Παρουσία τοῦ Θεοῦ, δὲν
ἔμοιαζε μὲ τὴν ἐξουσία τῶν ἀνθρώπων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου. Ἦταν πνευματικὴ
ἐξουσία ταπεινῆς διακονίας καὶ ἀγάπης πρὸς ὅλο τὸν κόσμο γιὰ τὴν ἀναγέννησή
τους. Ἐφόσον προφήτης στὴν Καινὴ Διαθήκη χαρακτηρίζεται ὄχι τόσο ὁ προλέγων τὰ
ἐπερχόμενα, ὅσο αὐτὸς ποὺ ἐκφέρει λόγους μὲ αἰώνια ἀλήθεια, ποὺ περιέχουν τὴ
γνώση τῶν ὁδῶν τῆς σωτηρίας γιὰ τὸν ἴδιο καὶ κάθε ψυχή, τότε μὲ βεβαιότητα
μποροῦμε νὰ ποῦμε ὅτι ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος κατεῖχε ἀληθινὸ προφητικὸ χάρισμα.
Διότι πρόφερε λόγους μὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς αἰώνιας καὶ ἀμετάθετης ἀλήθειας, τὴν
ὁποία τοῦ ἀποκάλυψε «ὁ Ἐλθὼν καὶ πάλιν Ἐρχόμενος» Χριστός.
Γνώστης τῶν ὁδῶν τῆς σωτηρίας, σημεῖο Θεοῦ γιὰ τὴ γενεά του καὶ φίλος Θεοῦ.
Κανένα φαινόμενο τῆς πνευματικῆς ζωῆς δὲν ἐξέπληττε τὸν ἅγιο Γέροντα. Εἶχε
διανύσει ὅλη τὴν ὁδό της. Ἐκτεινόταν συγχρόνως πρὸς ἀπύθμενα βάθη καὶ
ἀθεώρητα ὕψη. Ἡ ὁρμὴ τῆς μετανοίας του ἦταν ἀνεπίστροφη καὶ γνώριζε τὶς
ἀλλοιώσεις καὶ τὰ ἐνεργήματα τῆς νοερᾶς προσευχῆς. Ἧταν μαθητευμένος στὸν
ἀνακαινιστικὸ λόγο τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἀφομοιωμένος στὴ μαρτυρικὴ ἱερωσύνη Του.
Ἀγαποῦσε μὲ πάθος τὴ Θεία Λειτουργία, καὶ ὅπως ἀναφέραμε καὶ παραπάνω,
βεβαίωνε ὅτι ἡ ὀρθὴ τέλεσή της ἀφήνει τοὺς ἴδιους καρποὺς χάριτος στὸ ἐπίπεδο
τῆς προσευχῆς, ὅπως ἡ ἡσυχαστικὴ προσευχὴ τῆς ἐρήμου.
Ὁ Γέροντας ἔβλεπε τὰ πράγματα ἀπὸ δύο προοπτικές, τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.
Στὶς γραφὲς του, στοὺς προφητικοὺς λόγους του καὶ στὶς προσευχές του μιλοῦσε
πάντοτε καὶ προσευχόταν γιὰ ἕνα μυστήριο, τὸ μυστήριο τῆς γνώσεως τῶν ὁδῶν τῆς
σωτηρίας. Ἔλεγε πὼς εἶναι ἀρκετὸ γιὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπο νὰ ἁρπαγεῖ ἔστω καὶ μόνο μία
φορὰ στὸν ἄνω κόσμο καὶ τὸτε σὲ στιγμὴ χρόνου τοῦ δίδεται ἡ γνώση αὐτὴ. Ἔτσι
γίνεται γι’ αὐτὸν φανερὸ τὸ μυστήριο τῶν ὁδῶν τῆς σωτηρίας, πρῶτα τῆς δικῆς του
καὶ ἔπειτα ἐκείνης τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων. Μὲ τὸν τρόπο αὐτό, ἔχει καθαρὰ μιὰ
διπλὴ θεωρία: ἀπὸ τὴ μιὰ τὴν πραγματικὴ κατάσταση τοῦ ἀνθρώπου μέσα στὴ
χάρη, ὅπως τὸν συνέλαβε ὁ Θεὸς «πρὸ χρόνων αἰωνίων», καὶ ἀπὸ τὴν ἄλλη, τὴν
τραγικὴ κατάντιά του μὲ ὅλη τὴν αὐξανόμενη δυναμικὴ τῆς πτώσεως.
Αὐτὴ ἡ γνώση τῶν ὁδῶν τῆς σωτηρίας καὶ ἡ διπλὴ θεωρία ποὺ γεννᾶται ἀπὸ αὐτὴν,
κάνουν τὸν Γέροντα ἀπὸ τὴ μία σημεῖο τοῦ Θεοῦ γιὰ τὴ γενεά του καὶ ἀπὸ τὴν ἄλλη
τὸν καθιστοῦν φίλο Χριστοῦ. Σημεῖο τοῦ Θεοῦ, διότι γνώρισε καὶ ἔζησε τὴν
τραγωδία, τὶς ἀνησυχίες, τοὺς προβληματισμοὺς καὶ τὶς ἀναζητήσεις τοῦ
πολυτάραχου εἰκοστοῦ αἰώνα, καὶ μὲ τὴ ζωή, τὴν προσευχή καὶ τὸν λόγο του ἔδωσε
ἀπαντήσεις στὰ φλέγοντα ἐρωτήματα τῶν συγχρόνων του. Φίλος Χριστοῦ, ἐπίσης,
διότι μὲ τὸν ἔνθεο βίο του ἔγινε μέτοχος τοῦ μυστηρίου τῆς Θεολογίας Του. Στὸν
Γέροντα μεταδόθηκε τὸ «χρῖσμα» τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ὥστε ἔγινε διδακτὸς Θεοῦ
καὶ εἶχε τὴ «διάνοιαν», γιὰ νὰ γνωρίζει καὶ νὰ βεβαιώνει τὴ μαρτυρία τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ
Θεοῦ.
Ἀληθινὸς Θεολόγος, «Ἄλλο νὰ πιστεύεις ὅτι ὑπάρχει Θεός, καὶ ἄλλο νὰ γνωρίζεις τὸν
Θεό».
Οἱ Ἅγιοι ὅλων τῶν αἰώνων μὲ τὴν οὐράνια βιοτὴ καὶ τὸ λόγο τους, γίνονται
θεολογικὰ γεγονότα, ποὺ διατηροῦν ἄσβεστο στὸν κόσμο τὸ φῶς τῆς πίστεως καὶ
ζωντανὴ τὴν αἴσθηση τοῦ προσωπικοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἕνα τέτοιο θεολογικὸ γεγονὸς
ἀποτελεῖ ὁ σύγχρονός μας ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος.
Ἐὰν ὁ Χριστὸς εἶναι «ὁ Αὐτὸς ἐχθὲς καὶ σήμερον καὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας», τὸτε καὶ ὁ
κάθε Ἅγιος εἶναι ἀνεκτίμητος θησαυρὸς τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ. Σύμφωνα μὲ τὸν
Ἅγιο Σιλουανό: «Οἱ Ἅγιοι μιλοῦν γιὰ πράγματα, ποὺ πραγματικὰ εἶδαν καὶ
γνωρίζουν». Ὑπὸ αὐτὴ τὴν ἔννοια ὁ Γέροντας εἶναι θεολόγος μὲ
τὴν οὐσία τοῦ ὅρου, διότι ἡ θεολογία του δὲν εἶναι καρπὸς
διανοητικῆς πολυμάθειας, οὔτε ἀπατηλὴ θεωρία λογικοῦ
στοχασμοῦ καὶ ἐπινόηση τοῦ νοῦ του, ἀλλὰ εἶναι ἡ ἐμπειρικὴ «Ὅταν μισήσουμε τὸν
γνώση καὶ ἡ «διήγηση» γύρω ἀπὸ τὸ γεγονὸς τῆς προσωπικῆς
συναντήσεώς του μὲ τὸν Ζῶντα Θεό. Λέει ὁ Γέροντας: «Ὅταν, ἑαυτό μας γιὰ τὴν κακία
παρόμοια μὲ τοὺς Ἀποστόλους, ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἁρπαγεῖ μὲ τὴ χάρη
στὴν ὅραση τοῦ Θείου Φωτός, ἔπειτα θεολογεῖ “διηγούμενος”
ποὺ ζεῖ μέσα μας, μᾶς
ὅ,τι εἶδε καὶ ἐγνώρισε». Γιὰ τὸν ἅγιο Σωφρόνιο ἡ θεολογία εἶναι
πνευματικὴ κατάσταση καὶ πάνω ἀπὸ ὅλα «διαμονὴ ἐν τῷ Θεῷ»,
ἀνοίγονται οἱ ἀτέρμονοι
ποὺ συνοδεύεται ἀπὸ τὴ σωτήρια καὶ ἀνακαινιστικὴ δύναμη τοῦ ὁρίζοντες τῆς
Πνεύματος. Εἶναι ἐξιστόρηση τῆς Πρόσωπο μὲ πρόσωπο
συναντήσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ μὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπο μέσα στὸ ἄκτιστο Φῶς. Ὁ ἐντεταλμένης ἀγάπης
Γέροντας προειδοποιώντας ὅλους μὲ κάποιον αὐστηρὸ τόνο, λέει:
«Τί τὸ ὄφελος νὰ καλλιλογεῖ κάποιος περὶ τοῦ Θαβωρίου Φωτός, χωρὶς νὰ διαμένει
ὑπαρξιακὰ σὲ αὐτὸ καὶ νὰ μὴν αἰσθάνεται τὴν ἅγια δύναμη τοῦ Πατρός, τὴ γεμάτη
πραότητα ἀγάπη τοῦ Υἱοῦ, τὸ ἄκτιστο Φῶς τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος;».
Σὰν ἀσφαλὴ προϋπόθεση καὶ ἀλάθητο κριτήριο τῆς ἀληθινῆς καὶ ζωηφόρου
θεολογίας του ὁ Γέροντας τόνιζε τὴν ἀγάπη πρὸς τοὺς ἐχθρούς. Ἐκεῖ ὅπου
ἐκπληρώνεται ἡ ἐντολὴ αὐτὴ εἶναι παρὸν τὸ Ἅγιο Πνεῦμα, ὡς «ἐξ ὕψους δύναμις»,
ποὺ συνθέτει τὸ τέλειο χάρισμα τῆς θεολογίας καὶ πιστοποιεῖ τὴν ὕπαρξη τῆς
ἀληθινῆς Ἐκκλησίας μὲ ἀλώβητη τὴ διδασκαλία τοῦ Χριστοῦ.
Ἡ διδασκαλία του
Ὁ γέροντας Σωφρόνιος, παρουσιάζει τὴ διδασκαλία του μὲ τὸν παραστατικὸ τρόπο
ποὺ τὸν χαρακτηρίζει ὡς καλλιτέχνη. Συχνὰ χρησιμοποιεῖ εἰκόνες καὶ σχήματα,
ὅπως: Τὸ ἀνθρώπινο εἶναι ὡς δένδρο, τὴν ὁρμὴ τῆς προσευχῆς μὲ τὸ ὠστικὸ ρεῦμα
τοῦ ἀέρα ἑνὸς ἰσχυροῦ κινητήρα καὶ τὴν ἀνατροπὴ τῆς θλιβερῆς καὶ ἀνόσιας
πυραμίδας τοῦ κοινωνικοῦ εἶναι, μὲ τὴν ἀνεστραμμένη πυραμίδα στὴν κορυφὴ τῆς
ὁποίας βρίσκεται ἑκούσια ὁ Χριστός μὲ τὴν ἄφθαρτη κένωση καὶ τὴν ἀπερίγραπτη
ταπείνωσή Του. Μὲ μοναδικὴ πρωτοτυπία, ἐπίσης, ἑρμηνεύει πνευματικὰ τὸν
εὐαγγελικὸ λόγο, σύμφωνα μὲ τὴν πλούσια καὶ βαθιὰ ἐμπειρία του, ποὺ ἀντανακλᾶ
τὴν ἀφομοίωσή του στὸ μυστήριο τοῦ λόγου τοῦ Θεοῦ. Γιὰ παράδειγμα ὁρίζει τὴν
πρώτη χάρη ποὺ δίδεται δωρεὰν στὸν ἄνθρωπο ὡς τὸν «ἄδικο μαμωνᾶν» καὶ τὸν
«ἄδικον» καὶ «ξένον» πλοῦτο.
Ἡ διδασκαλία τοῦ ἁγίου Σωφρονίου, βρίσκεται σὲ ὅλα τὰ συγγράμματά του, ἀλλὰ
κατ᾿ ἐξοχὴν παρουσιάζεται στὴν ἐξομολόγηση καὶ πνευματικὴ αὐτοβιογραφία του,
στὸ βιβλίο του, Ὀψόμεθα τὸν Θεὸν καθώς ἐστι, τὸ ὁποῖο ἀποτελεῖ ἄρτιο θεολογικὸ
σύστημα, τέλειο πνευματικὸ οἰκοδόμημα. Ὡς θεμέλιο ἔχει τὴν πίστη ποὺ
συνοδεύεται ἀπὸ τὴ χαρισματικὴ μνήμη τοῦ θανάτου καὶ γεννᾶ τὸν παράδοξο φόβο
τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὴ μετάνοια, ποὺ στὴν τέλεια μορφή της βιώνεται σὲ ὀντολογικὲς
διαστάσεις καὶ ἀναγεννᾶ ριζικὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπο. Συνεχίζει μὲ τὰ θέματα τῆς
πνευματικῆς ἐλευθερίας, τῆς θεοεγκαταλείψεως, τῆς ἀγάπης μέχρι αὐτομίσους, τὰ
ὁποία ὁ Ἅγιος παρουσιάζει μὲ ἰδιαίτερη δύναμη καὶ ἔμπνευση, ποὺ πηγάζουν ἀπὸ
τὸ γεγονὸς τῆς μακρόχρονης καὶ ἐξαίρετης δοκιμασίας τοῦ ἴδιου στὴν κάμινο τῆς
παιδείας τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὥς ἐπιστέγασμα, ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος παρουσιάζει τὴ θεωρία τῆς
ἐπιλάμψεως τοῦ Ἀκτίστου Φωτὸς καὶ τὸν καρπὸ αὐτῆς, τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ ὁποίου εἶναι
Ὑπόσταση-Πρόσωπο.
Παρακάτω θὰ ἀναφέρουμε περιληπτικὰ ἑπτὰ κεντρικὰ σημεῖα τῆς θεολογίας τοῦ
Ἁγίου, ἡ πρωτοτυπία τῆς ὁποίας ἔγκειται στὴν ἑρμηνεία κάποιων ἀπόψεων τῆς
χριστιανικῆς ἀποκαλύψεως, ἱκανῶν νὰ ἀπαντήσουν στὰ θεολογικὰ προβλήματα τῆς
ἐποχῆς μας.
Κεντρικὰ σημεῖα τῆς θεολογίας τοῦ ἁγίου
Σωφρονίου
1) Ὑποστατικὴ ἀρχὴ
Ἡ σημαντικότερη πλευρὰ τῆς θεολογίας τοῦ Γέροντα εἶναι ἡ διδασκαλία του γύρω
ἀπὸ τὴν ἔννοια καὶ τὶς ἐκδηλώσεις τῆς ὑποστατικῆς ἀρχῆς στὸ Εἶναι τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ
στὸ εἶναι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. Τὸ Πρόσωπο ἀποτελεῖ τὴν ἀκριβὴ καὶ τέλεια πραγμάτωση
τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ποὺ ἐξαρχῆς δημιουργήθηκε «κατ᾿ εἰκόνα καὶ καθ᾿ ὁμοίωσιν» Θεοῦ.
Τὸ χάρισμα τῆς ὑποστατικῆς ἀρχῆς ἐκδηλώνεται κυρίως μὲ τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἐχθροὺς
ἀγάπη καὶ τὴν ὑπὲρ τοῦ κόσμου προσευχή.
Τέσσερα εἶναι τὰ βασικὰ σημεῖα τῆς θεολογίας τοῦ Γέροντος Σωφρονίου γιὰ τὸ
Πρόσωπο:
1ο: Ὁ Θεὸς ἀποκαλύφθηκε στὸν Μωϋσῆ ὡς ὁ Ὢν, «Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Ὢν», ἑπομένως ὡς
Πρόσωπο. Πρῶτα ἀπὸ ὅλα, λοιπόν, ὁ Θεὸς εἶναι Πρόσωπο, τὸ μοναδικὸ Πρόσωπο, ὁ
Ζῶν Θεός.
2ο: Ο ἄνθρωπος κτίσθηκε κατ’ εἰκόνα καὶ καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν Θεοῦ, ἑπομένως καὶ ὁ
ἄνθρωπος εἶναι πρόσωπο καὶ ἀντανακλᾶ τὸ Ἀρχέτυπό του τὸν Θεό.
3ο: Τὸ Πρόσωπο - Ὑπόσταση φανερώθηκε σὲ μᾶς μέσω τῆς ἐνσαρκώσεως τοῦ
Χριστοῦ. Ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, προσλαμβάνοντας σάρκα, ἔδειξε σὲ ἐμᾶς τὶς ἀληθινὲς
διαστάσεις τοῦ Προσώπου. Μὲ τὴν ἐπίγεια ζωή Του, δηλαδή, μᾶς φανέρωσε τί εἶναι
Πρόσωπο, πῶς αὐτὸ ζεῖ, πῶς ἀντιδρᾶ καὶ πῶς αἴρει τὶς ἁμαρτίες ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου.
Μᾶς ἀποκάλυψε τὸ περιεχόμενο τοῦ Προσώπου Του, ποὺ εἶναι ἡ ἀγάπη Του «εἰς
τέλος». Μὲ τὴ σάρκωσή Του ὁ Χριστὸς δίνει σὲ ἐμᾶς νὰ ἐννοήσουμε τὸ πρὸ τῶν
αἰώνων σχέδιο τοῦ Πατρὸς γιὰ τὸν ἄνθρωπο, γιὰ ὅλο τὸν Ἀδάμ.
4ο: Ἐμεῖς πραγματοποιούμαστε ὡς πρόσωπα μὲ τὴ μίμηση τοῦ παραδείγματος καὶ
τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ὁ ἄνθρωπος ὡς εἰκόνα καὶ
ὁμοίωση τοῦ Θεοῦ πρέπει νὰ ὁμοιάσει πρὸς τὸν
Σαρκωθέντα Λόγο, δηλαδή νὰ ἔχει τὶς ἴδιες σκέψεις, τὸ
ἴδιο φρόνημα καὶ τὶς ἴδιες διαισθήσεις. Ὁ Κύριος μᾶς
ἔσωσε μὲ τὴν κένωσή Του, λαμβάνοντας τὴ μορφή
δούλου καὶ ἐμεῖς δεχόμαστε τὴ σωτηρία μέσω τῶν
δουλικῶν ἔργων τῆς μετανοίας καὶ τῆς ταπεινώσεως. Ὁ
ἄνθρωπος ἀποδεικνύεται ὡς πρόσωπο, ὅταν ἡ ἀγάπη του
πρὸς τὸν Θεὸ συνοδεύεται μὲ τὸ αὐτομίσος τῆς ἀποταγῆς
του ἀπὸ κάθε ἀλλότριο τῆς Θείας Ἀγαθότητος, τὸ
παράδοξο αὐτὸ μίσος ἐναντίον τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ μας καὶ
ἀκριβέστερα ἐναντίον τοῦ παλαιοῦ ἑαυτοῦ μας.
«Ὅταν μισήσουμε τὸν ἑαυτό μας γιὰ τὴν κακία ποὺ ζεῖ
μέσα μας, μᾶς ἀνοίγονται οἱ ἀτέρμονοι ὁρίζοντες τῆς
ἐντεταλμένης ἀγάπης» , γράφει ὁ Ἅγιος. Μόνο ἡ μετάνοια ποὺ συνοδεύεται ἀπὸ τὸ
ἅγιο αὐτομίσος ἔχει τὴ δύναμη νὰ ἐλευθερώσει τὸν ἄνθρωπο ἀπὸ τὰ δεσμὰ τῆς
φιλαυτίας καὶ τὶς μάταιες προσκολλήσεις του στὸν κόσμο αὐτὸν καὶ νὰ τὸν
εἰσαγάγει στὸν ἀνεκδιήγητο καὶ θαυμαστὸ κόσμο τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ, «τοῦ
ἀγαπήσαντος ἡμᾶς εἰς τέλος». Ἡ ἀγάπη αὐτὴ ἀκριβῶς μέχρι τὸ αὐτομίσος πηγάζει
ἀπὸ τὸν Ἐσταυρωμένο Χριστό, καὶ εἶναι τὸ ἀληθινὸ περιεχόμενο τῆς ἀνθρώπινης
ὑποστάσεως, ποὺ ἀνεβαίνει σταθερὰ πρὸς τὴν τελείωση τῆς ὁμοιώσεώς της πρὸς
τὸν Ἀρχηγὸ καὶ Τελειωτὴ τῆς πίστεώς της, τὸν Κύριο Ἰησοῦ. Ὁ Γέροντας Σωφρόνιος
ἐκφράζει ἐπιγραμματικὰ τὸ ἀδιανόητο καὶ παράδοξο αὐτὸ βίωμα ὡς ἑξῆς: «Μίσησε
τὸν ἑαυτό σου ἀπὸ ἀγάπη πρὸς τὸν Θεό, καὶ μὲ τὴν ἀγάπη αὐτὴ θὰ ἀγκαλιάσεις ὅλα
ὅσα ὑπάρχουν» .
2) Ἄκτιστο Φῶς
Ὡς θεόπτης καὶ μύστης τῆς μεγάλης δωρεᾶς τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ Ἅγιος περιγράφει τὶς
ἐμπειρίες τοῦ Ἀκτίστου Φωτός, τοῦ ὁποίου πολλὲς φορὲς ἀξιώθηκε. Ἂν καὶ στὸ
θέμα αὐτὸ εἶναι δύσκολο νὰ ἀπαιτήσουμε πρωτοτυπία στὴν περιγραφή, ὁ ἅγιος
Σωφρόνιος, ὡς ἐμπειρικὸς Πατέρας τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, παρουσιάζει τὸ ἀπάγαυσμα τῆς
πεφωτισμένης καρδιᾶς του ἀπὸ τὸ Θεῖο Φῶς μὲ ἰδιαίτερο καὶ προσωπικὸ τρόπο.
Ἀπὸ τὴν ἐποχὴ τοῦ ἁγίου Γρηγορίου τοῦ Παλαμᾶ κανένας ἄλλος δὲν ἐξέφρασε τὴν
ἐμπειρία αὐτὴ μὲ τόση γνώση καὶ βάθος. Εἶναι ἀδύνατο νὰ συμπεριλάβουμε σὲ μία
σύντομη εἰσήγηση τὰ ὅσα ὁ Γέροντας μαρτυρεῖ καὶ παραδίδει στὴν Ἐκκλησία γύρω
ἀπὸ τὴ θέα τοῦ Ἀκτίστου Φωτός. Οἱ καρποὶ ποὺ περιγράφει εἶναι ἀμέτρητοι καὶ τὰ
νοήματά του ὑψηλὰ σφόδρα.
Ἡ θεωρία τοῦ Οὐρανίου Φωτὸς εἶναι ἰδιαίτερα σημαντικὴ γιὰ τὴ γενεά μας, διότι
φέρει τὸν ἄνθρωπο στὴν ἀληθινὴ αὐτογνωσία καὶ τοῦ δείχνει τὸ προαιώνιο σχέδιο
τοῦ Δημιουργοῦ γιὰ αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν ἀπόσταση ἀπὸ τὴν ἐκπλήρωσή του. Ἡ ὅραση τοῦ
Θείου Φωτὸς καταξιώνει τὸν πιστὸ νὰ ἐκπληρώσει τὸν προορισμό του, νὰ γίνει
δηλαδή ἀληθινὴ ὁμοίωση τοῦ Θεοῦ. «Μὲ τὴν ἐνέργεια τοῦ Φωτὸς αὐτοῦ στὴν
καρδιὰ τοῦ μετανοοῦντος προβάλλει ἕνα θαυμαστὸ ἄνθος: τὸ Πρόσωπο-Ὑπόσταση
καὶ γνωρίζουμε ὅτι ἡ ὑποστατικὴ ἀρχὴ μέσα μας ἔχει τὴν ἰδιότητα νὰ περιλάβει διὰ
τῆς ἀγάπης, στὴν αἰωνιότητα, ἀνεκφράστως μεγαλειώδη καὶ ἁγία ζωή». Ὅταν
ἀκόμη καὶ μία ἀκτίνα τοῦ ἀκτίστου Ἡλίου διεισδύει στὴν καρδιὰ τοῦ πιστοῦ, τοῦ
δίνει τέτοιο πλατυσμό, ποὺ βλέπει ὅλο τὸν κόσμο μέσα ἀπὸ τὴ Θεία αὐτὴ Ἀκτίνα καὶ
τὸν ἀγκαλιάζει θεοπρεπῶς μὲ τὴν ὑποστατικὴ προσευχή. Αὐτὸ βλέπουμε στὸν βίο
τοῦ Ἁγίου Βενεδίκτου καὶ διαβάζουμε στὸν Ἅγιο Γρηγόριο Παλαμᾶ.
3) Ἀσκητικὴ καὶ ὀντολογικὴ μετάνοια, προσωπικὴ καὶ παγκόσμια
Ὁ Γέροντας διέκρινε δύο εἴδη μετανοίας: α) Τὴν ἀτελὴ μετάνοια ποὺ ἐπιτελεῖται
στὸ ψυχολογικὸ ἢ ἠθικὸ ἐπίπεδο, καὶ β) τὴν τέλεια μετάνοια ποὺ ἐπιτελεῖται στὸ
πνευματικὸ ἢ ὀντολογικὸ ἐπίπεδο μὲ τὴ δύναμη τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος.
Ἡ μετάνοια στὸ ψυχολογικὸ ἐπίπεδο περιλαμβάνει ὅλον τὸν ἀγώνα ποὺ διεξάγει ὁ
ἄνθρωπος γιὰ νὰ πείσει τὸν Θεὸ ὅτι εἶναι δικός Του μὲ τὴν κραυγή: «Σός εἰμι
σῶσον με». Ἡ μετάνοια στὸ ὀντολογικὸ ἐπίπεδο γίνεται μὲ τὴν ἔμπνευση τοῦ ἁγίου
αὐτομίσους τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ποὺ κατόπτευσε τὴν ἁγιότητα τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἔγινε
δεκτὸς στὴ χάρη τῆς υἱοθεσίας, λαμβάνοντας τὴν ἀπάντηση ἀπὸ τὸν Θεό: «Υἱός
μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε». Ἡ μετάνοια στὸ ὀντολογικὸ ἐπίπεδο
νεκρώνει τὸν ἄνθρωπο γιὰ τὴν ἁμαρτία καὶ δὲν ἔχει τέλος πάνω στὴ γῆ. Εἶναι
ἐξίσου προϋπόθεση καὶ συνέπεια τῆς ἐπιλάμψεως τοῦ
ἀνθρώπου ἀπὸ τὸ ἄκτιστο Φῶς. Ὁ τόπος ὅπου
διαδραματίζονται ὅλα τὰ μεγάλα πνευματικὰ γεγονότα
εἶναι ἡ βαθειὰ καρδιὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τὸ κέντρο τῆς
προσωπικότητάς του καὶ ὁ στόχος τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς τοῦ
Κυρίου.
Ἐπιπλέον, ὁ Γέροντας διέκρινε τὴ μετάνοια σὲ προσωπικὴ
καὶ παγκόσμια καὶ καθολική. Κατὰ τὴν πρώτη κίνηση τῆς
προσωπικῆς μετάνοιας ὁ ἄνθρωπος συγκεντρώνει τὴ
δύναμή του ἐναντίον τῆς ἁμαρτίας ποὺ ζεῖ μέσα του.
Ὅταν ἀποκτήσει ἐπαφὴ μὲ τὸν Χριστὸ στὴν καρδιά του,
θεραπεύεται ἀπὸ τὴ χάρη Του. Τὸτε διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ
ξαναβρίσκει τὸν κόσμο μέσα του καὶ συνδέεται μαζί του
μὲ τὸ σύνδεσμο τῆς ἀγάπης γιὰ ὅλη τὴν αἰωνιότητα.
Προσφέρει στὸν Θεὸ μετάνοια πρῶτα γιὰ τὸν ἑαυτό του
καὶ ἔπειτα γιὰ ὅλους τοὺς ὁμοιοπαθεῖς συνανθρώπους
του. Ζεῖ κατ’ ἀρχὴν τὸ δράμα τῆς δικῆς του πτώσεως καὶ
τοῦ χωρισμοῦ του ἀπὸ τὸν Θεὸ καὶ ὕστερα μὲ
φυσιολογικὸ τρόπο, ἐνισχυμένος ἀπὸ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ
Χριστοῦ, ἐπεκτείνεται μὲ ἀδαμιαία συνείδηση νὰ ζήσει
τὴν τραγωδία ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου καὶ νὰ ἱκετεύσει γιὰ τὴ
σωτηρία τῶν πάντων. Ὅλος ὁ Ἀδὰμ γίνεται τὸ
περιεχόμενο τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τῆς προσευχῆς του. Ἡ
προσευχὴ αὐτὴ πραγματοποιεῖται καθ’ ὁμοίωση τῆς
ὑποστατικῆς προσευχῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ ποὺ προσέφερε γιὰ
τὴ λύτρωση τοῦ κόσμου στὸν κῆπο τῆς Γεθσημανῆ. Εἶναι συμμετοχὴ στὸ
ἀπολυτρωτικὸ ἔργο τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ Ὁποῖος σηκώνει ἐπάνω Του τὸ βάρος τῆς
ἁμαρτίας τοῦ κόσμου. Ἡ μετάνοια στὸ ὀντολογικὸ ἐπίπεδο προηγεῖται τῆς
ὑποστατικῆς μετανοίας καὶ τῆς προσευχῆς ὑπὲρ τοῦ κόσμου.
Ἡ ἀναφορὰ τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος στὴ μετάνοια εἶναι τόσο ἐκτεταμένη καὶ βασική,
ὥστε, ὅπως μαρτυρεῖ, ὁ πόνος «εἶναι ἡ ἐπωδὸς τῆς ἐν Θεῷ ζωῆς» του. Λέει ὅτι
«ὅσο βαθύτερος εἶναι ὁ πνευματικὸς πόνος, τόσο ἰσχυρότερη εἶναι καὶ ἡ ἕλξη πρὸς
τὸν Θεό. Ὅσο δυναμικὴ ἡ κατάδυση μας στὰ βάθη τοῦ ἀτέρμονος ὠκεανοῦ τῶν
παθημάτων, τόσο ἀσφαλὴς καὶ ἡ ἀνάβαση τοῦ πνεύματός μας στὸν οὐρανό».
Ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος πίστευε ὅτι ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἀληθεύει μόνον ὅταν μετανοεῖ καὶ
ἐξομολογεῖται τὴν καθολικὴ ἀλήθεια τῆς δικῆς του πτώσεως καὶ ἐκείνης τοῦ
σύμπαντος κόσμου. Τότε, ἐπειδὴ ἀληθεύει, ἑλκύει τὸ Πνεῦμα τῆς Ἀληθείας, τὸ
Ὁποῖο μὲ τὴ σειρά του τὸν καθαρίζει καὶ τὸν δικαιώνει.
4) Ταπείνωση
Στὴν πνευματικὴ ζωὴ ἔχουμε ἀνάγκη προπάντων ἀπὸ τὴν ταπείνωση, ποὺ εἶναι ἡ
ἀρχοντιὰ τοῦ μαθητῆ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ὑπάρχει ἡ ἀσκητικὴ ταπείνωση, ποὺ εἶναι
καρπὸς τῆς νόμιμης ἀθλήσεως καὶ τοῦ κόπου τοῦ ἀγωνιστῆ. Ὑπάρχει ὅμως καὶ ἡ
χαρισματικὴ ταπείνωση, ποὺ εἶναι ἀπερίγραπτη κατάσταση καὶ καρπὸς τῆς
θεωρίας τοῦ Προσώπου τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Σημειώνει ὁ Ἅγιος: «Ὁ Θεὸς εἶναι
Ταπείνωση» καὶ «Ἡ ταπείνωση Του εἶναι ἀσύλληπτη, ἀπόλυτη. Δὲν συγκρίνεται μὲ
τίποτε. Ἀποτελεῖ κατηγόρημα τῆς Θείας Ἀγάπης, ποὺ προσφέρεται χωρὶς μέτρο».
Ἡ ἀσκητικὴ ταπείνωση ἐκφράζεται μὲ τὸν ὀδυνηρὸ ἀγώνα ποὺ καταβάλλει ὁ
ἄνθρωπος μὲ σκοπό: α) νὰ ἐλευθερωθεῖ ἀπὸ τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς ὑπερηφανείας ποὺ
νεκρώνει τὴν ψυχὴ καὶ β) νὰ συμμορφώσει τὸ φρόνημά του μὲ τὸ θέλημα καὶ τὸ
Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ ποὺ ζωοποιεῖ. Ὅλες οἱ ἀσκήσεις ποὺ μετέρχεται, νηστεία,
ἐγκράτεια, αὐτομεμψία καὶ ἄλλες, ἀποβλέπουν σὲ αὐτὴ καὶ ἀντλοῦν ἀπὸ αὐτὴ τὴ
δύναμή τους. Τὸ ὕψιστο σημεῖο τῆς ἀσκητικῆς ταπεινώσεως προσεγγίζεται, ὅταν ὁ
ἄνθρωπος ἀποκτήσει τὴ συνείδηση ὅτι εἶναι χείριστος πάντων.
Ἀκολουθώντας τὸ διδάσκαλό του, τὸν ἅγιο Σιλουανό, ὁ ἅγιος Γέροντας μιλᾶ γιὰ τὴν
ἀπερίγραπτη καὶ θεία ταπείνωση, τὸ χάρισμα τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ποὺ ἔχουν οἱ
θεασάμενοι τὸ Φῶς τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἡ ὁποία δὲν ἔχει ἀνθρώπινη σύγκριση, ἀλλὰ
εἶναι κατηγόρημα τῆς Θείας Ἀγάπης. Ὁ ἄνθρωπος δηλαδὴ δὲν συγκρίνει πιὰ τὸν
ἑαυτό του μὲ τοὺς θνητοὺς γύρω του, ἀλλὰ μὲ τὸ Πρότυπό του, τὸν Χριστό. Ἡ
χαρισματικὴ ταπείνωση μεταδίδεται τὴν ὥρα τῆς ὁράσεως καὶ ποτὲ πιὰ δὲν
λησμονεῖται, ἀλλὰ γίνεται γιὰ πάντα τὸ κατεξοχὴν αἴτημα τῆς προσευχῆς ποὺ μᾶς
δίδαξε ὁ ἅγιος Σιλουανός: «Κύριε, δός μοι τὴν ἁγίαν Σου ταπείνωσιν, ἵνα σκηνώσῃ
ἐντός μου ἡ θεία Σου ἀγάπη». Μὲ τὴν ταπείνωση αὐτὴ ἡ ἔμπνευση γίνεται
ἀτελεύτητη καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα μαρτυρεῖ στὴν ψυχὴ τὴ σωτηρία.
5) Καθαρὰ Προσευχὴ
Ὁ Αγιος Σωφρόνιος παραθέτει τὸν ἑξῆς λόγο τοῦ ἁγίου διδασκάλου του: «Ἂν κατὰ
τὴν προσευχὴ ὑπεισέρχεται στὴ συνείδηση μιὰ ξένη πρὸς αὐτὴ σκέψη, ἡ προσευχὴ
αὐτὴ δὲν εἶναι ”καθαρά“». Οἱ δύο ὅσιοι Πατέρες, Σιλουανός καὶ Σωφρόνιος, ἔχουν
τὴν ἴδια θεωρία σχετικὰ μὲ τὴν καθαρὰ προσευχή. Ὁρίζουν κατ’ ἀρχὴν ὡς καθαρὰ
προσευχὴ ἐκείνη, κατὰ τὴν τέλεση τῆς ὁποίας ὁ ὅλος ἄνθρωπος δὲν αἰσθάνεται ἂν
εἶναι «ἐντὸς ἢ ἐκτὸς σώματος», ἀλλὰ τὸ πνεῦμα του εἶναι ὁλοκληρωτικὰ βυθισμένο
στὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Βλέπουν ὡς ὁδὸ πρὸς τὴν καθαρὰ προσευχὴ τὴν ἄσκηση τῆς
ὑπακοῆς, μὲ τὴν ὁποία ὁ πιστὸς ἐλευθερώνεται ἀπὸ κάθε προσκόλληση καὶ κάθε
ἔννοια τοῦ ὑλικοῦ κόσμου καὶ παραδίνεται στὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Στὴν τέλεια αὐτὴ
παράδοση δέχεται θεία κατάσταση, προσευχόμενος «πρόσωπον πρὸς Πρόσωπον»,
ἐφόσον τὸ ἀνθρώπινο θέλημά του συμμορφώνεται ἐλεύθερα καὶ πλήρως πρὸς τὸ
μεγάλο καὶ τέλειο θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἡ καθαρὰ προσευχὴ εἶναι κατάσταση
θεώσεως, γιατὶ ὁ ἀσκητὴς τῆς εὐσέβειας ἔχει ἐκριζώσει ἀπὸ μέσα του τὸν νόμο τῆς
φθορᾶς καὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, καὶ ὡς καινὴ ἐν Χριστῷ κτίση ἔχει ἐγκαταστήσει τὸν νόμο
τῶν ἐντολῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὡς τὸν μοναδικὸ καὶ αἰώνιο νόμο τῆς ὑπάρξεώς του.
Στὸν ἅγιο Σιλουανὸ ἡ καθαρὰ προσευχὴ προηγεῖται τῆς
προσευχῆς ὑπὲρ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου καὶ στὸν ἅγιο
Σωφρόνιο ἕπεται τῆς βαθειᾶς μετάνοιας, ποὺ ἔχει ὡς
χαρακτηριστικὸ τὸ αὐτομίσος. Γράφει ὁ Γέροντας στὸ
Ὀψόμεθα: «Στὴν προσευχὴ αὐτὴ ὑπῆρχε γιὰ μένα μόνον
ὁ Θεός: Σὲ ὅλο τὸ εἶναι ὑπῆρχε μόνον Αὐτὸς κι ἐγώ, τὸ
ἐλεεινὸ ἔκτρωμα».
Ἡ καθαρὰ προσευχὴ ὁδηγεῖ στὴν προσευχὴ ὑπὲρ ὅλου
τοῦ Ἀδάμ, ἡ ὁποία εἶναι καὶ ἡ πραγμάτωση τῆς ἀληθινῆς
ὑποστάσεως στὸ εἶναι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ ἡ τελείωση τοῦ
καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν προορισμοῦ του.
6) Ὑποστατικὴ προσευχὴ
Ἡ προσευχὴ ὑπὲρ τοῦ κόσμου εἶναι τὸ χάρισμα τοῦ Ἁγίου
Πνεύματος ποὺ ἀναντίρρητα ἀναδεικνύει τὸν ἄνθρωπο
ἀληθινὸ θεολόγο, μέτοχο τοῦ θεολογικοῦ γεγονότος τῆς
προσευχῆς τοῦ Κυρίου στὸν κῆπο τῆς Γεθσημανῆ.
Ὅταν ὁ πιστὸς μετανοεῖ βαθιὰ μὲ αὐτομίσος, ἐνεργεῖται
μέσα του μὲ δύναμη τὸ μυστήριο τοῦ Σταυροῦ, ὁ
πλατυσμὸς τῆς θείας ἀγάπης, ποὺ τὸν ἀποσυνδέει ἀπὸ
τὴ ματαιότητα τοῦ κόσμου αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸν ἑνώνει ἄρρηκτα
μὲ τὸν Υἱὸ τῆς ἀγάπης καὶ τῆς εὐδοκίας τοῦ Πατρός, τὸν
Κύριο Ἰησοῦ. Ἀποκτᾶ τότε τὴν ὑποστατικὴ προσευχὴ γιὰ
ὅλον τὸν κόσμο. Γράφει ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος: «Γιὰ μᾶς
τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὸ τελευταῖο ἐφικτὸ μέτρο εἶναι νὰ
προσευχόμαστε γιὰ ὅλον τὸν Ἀδὰμ ὅπως καὶ γιὰ μᾶς τοὺς
ἴδιους. Τέτοια προσευχὴ ἀποτελεῖ σημεῖο ὅτι ἀποκαθίσταται μέσα μας ἐκείνη ἡ
“εἰκόνα” ποὺ δόθηκε ἐξαρχῆς στὸν ἄνθρωπο (βλ. Γέν. α’ 26)». Γιὰ τὸν Γέροντα ἡ
προσευχὴ ὑπὲρ ὅλου τοῦ Ἀδὰμ εἶναι ἡ πραγμάτωση τῆς ὑποστατικῆς ἀρχῆς στὸν
ἄνθρωπο. Δηλαδή, τότε μόνο ὁ ἄνθρωπος γίνεται ἀληθινὴ ὑπόσταση ἢ πρόσωπο
κατ’ εἰκόνα τοῦ Νέου Ἀδάμ, τοῦ Χριστοῦ, στὸ Πρόσωπο τοῦ Ὁποίου
ἀνακεφαλαιώθηκαν ὅλα τὰ οὐράνια καὶ ὅλα τὰ ἐπίγεια. Ὅταν καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος, μὲ
τὴ χάρη τοῦ Χριστοῦ, περιβάλλει ὅλον τὸν κόσμο, καὶ μὲ τὴν προσευχὴ τῆς
μεσιτείας του φέρνει μπροστὰ στὸν Θεὸ κάθε κτίσμα, φανερώνει ὅτι ἔχει
πραγματωθεῖ σὲ αὐτὸν τὸ προαιώνιο σχέδιο τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ γίνεται «κατ’ εἰκόνα καὶ
καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν Θεοῦ», μὲ πλήρη καὶ τέλειο τρόπο. Ὡς ἐκ τούτου, ὁ Γέροντας
ἀποτολμᾶ νὰ ἐκφράσει τὸν σκληρὸ καὶ καθοριστικὸ λόγο: «Ὅποιος δὲν προσέγγισε
τὰ ὅρια τῶν καταστάσεων αὐτῶν, ἂς μὴν τολμᾶ νὰ ὀνομάζει τὸν ἑαυτό του
Χριστιανὸ χωρὶς φόβο καὶ ντροπή, ἀλλ’ ἂς συνειδητοποιεῖ μὲ πόνο ὅτι εἶναι ἀνάξιος
αὐτῆς τῆς κλήσεως».
Σύμφωνα μὲ τὴ διδασκαλία τοῦ ἁγίου Γέροντος ὑποστατικὴ προσευχὴ εἶναι:
Πρῶτον, ἡ προσευχὴ τοῦ Κυρίου στὴ Γεθσημανῆ, ὅπου ὁ Κύριος προσευχήθηκε μὲ
ὑπερφυσικὴ ἀγωνία καὶ αἱματηρὸ ἱδρώτα γιὰ νὰ πραγματοποιηθεῖ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ
Πατρός Του ὑπὲρ τῆς σωτηρίας ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου. Στὴν ὑπερφυσικὴ προσευχή Του
ὁ Κύριος ἀγκάλιασε τὰ πάντα, κάθε ἄνθρωπο καὶ κάθε κτίσμα ὡς περιεχόμενο τῆς
καρδιᾶς Του, ποὺ Τὸν συνόδεψε στὸν Σταυρό, στὸν τάφο καὶ στὴν ἀνάβασή Του
ὑπεράνω τῶν Οὐρανῶν. Ὁ Χριστὸς μετὰ ἀπὸ φρικτὰ παθήματα, ἀνέβασε τὸ σῶμα
Του στὸν Σταυρό. Πέθανε, κατέβασε τὴν ψυχή Του στὸν ἅδη καὶ τὴν τρίτη ἡμέρα
ἀναστήθηκε γιὰ νὰ μᾶς κάνει κληρονόμους τῆς Διαθήκης καὶ τῆς Ζωῆς Του.
Μὲ παρόμοιο τρόπο ὁ μαθητὴς τοῦ Σταυροῦ, στὴν ταπεινὴ ἄθληση γιὰ τὴν
ἀνακαίνιση καὶ σωτηρία του, θὰ πορευθεῖ καὶ αὐτὸς πρὸς τὰ κάτω καὶ θὰ ὑπομείνει
κακοπάθεια καὶ πόνο, γιὰ νὰ ἀποδείξει τὴ δική του πιστότητα καὶ εὐγνωμοσύνη
στὸν Εὐεργέτη Θεό. Ὅπως ἔχει γραφεῖ, «διὰ πολλῶν θλίψεων δεῖ ἡμᾶς εἰσελθεῖν
εἰς τὴν Βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ».
Δεύτερον, ἡ προσευχὴ τῆς μεσιτείας τῆς Παναγίας καὶ τῶν Ἁγίων γιὰ τὴ σωτηρία
τοῦ κόσμου. Οἱ Ἅγιοι, καὶ μιμητὲς τοῦ Χριστοῦ, φθάνουν στὰ μέτρα τῆς
ὑποστατικῆς προσευχῆς γιὰ ὅλον τὸν κόσμο καὶ δοξάζουν ἐπάξια τὸν Σωτήρα Θεό,
ὁ Ὁποῖος ἀποδεικνύεται θαυμαστὸς «ἐν τοῖς Ἁγίοις Αὐτοῦ». Ἕνας Ἅγιος εὐχέτης
ὑπὲρ τοῦ κόσμου εἶναι φαινόμενο ἐξαίρετα πολύτιμο καὶ γεγονὸς παγκόσμιο, γιὰ
χάρη του κατέρχεται καὶ διατηρεῖται ἡ θεία εὐλογία στὴ γῆ. Τὸ χάρισμα αὐτὸ τῶν
Ἁγίων ἀποτελεῖ τὴ συνεκτικὴ ἐκείνη δύναμη ποὺ συγκρατεῖ τὸν κόσμο. Συνιστᾶ τὸ
καθοδηγητικὸ φῶς ποὺ ἐμπνέει ὅλους τοὺς πιστούς, εἶναι σύμφωνα μὲ τὸν λόγο
τοῦ Ἀποστόλου Παύλου, ἡ «κατέχουσα» δύναμη ποὺ στηρίζει τὸν κόσμο.
Τρίτον, ἡ Λειτουργικὴ προσευχὴ ποὺ καλύπτει ὅλες τὶς ἀνάγκες τῆς ἀνθρωπότητας,
καὶ εἰσάγει τοὺς πιστοὺς στὴ μακάρια κοινωνία τῶν χαρισμάτων ὅλων τῶν Ἁγίων. Ὁ
Γέροντας εἶχε ἕνα ἰσχυρὸ πάθος γιὰ τὴ Θεία Λειτουργία τελώντας την κάθε φορὰ
ὡς ἕνα ἀνεπανάληπτο καὶ μοναδικὸ γεγονός. Τὴν ταύτιζε μὲ τὴν κοσμοσωτήρια
προσευχὴ τοῦ Κυρίου στὴ Γεθσημανὴ ποὺ προσέφερε γιὰ τὴ σωτηρία ὅλου τοῦ
κόσμου.
7) Τὰ Τρία στάδια τῆς πνευματικῆς ζωῆς σώματος τῆς «καινῆς κτίσεως». Πῆρε ἐπάνω Του τὸ βάρος τῆς πυραμίδας καί,
Ἡ πείρα τῆς γνώσεως τῆς θεωρίας τοῦ ἁγίου Σωφρονίου γιὰ τὰ τρία στάδια τῆς ὅπως λέει ὁ Ἀπόστολος, «ἐγένετο ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα». Καὶ τοῦτο βεβαίως, διότι «ὁ
πνευματικῆς ζωῆς εἶναι πολὺ ἀναγκαία γιὰ ὅλους μας, ὄχι μόνο γιὰ τὴν ἀσφαλὴ Ἰησοῦς... ἀγαπήσας τοὺς ἰδίους τοὺς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, εἰς τέλος ἠγάπησεν αὐτούς».
διάβασή μας μέσῳ τῶν πειρασμῶν στὴν κατὰ Θεὸ πορεία μας, ἀλλὰ καὶ γιὰ τὴν Στὸν πυθμένα τῆς ἀνεστραμμένης πυραμίδας, βασιλεύει τὸ ταπεινὸ καὶ σωτήριο
ἀναζωπύρωση τῆς ἐμπνεύσεως μας. Πνεῦμα τοῦ ἐσταυρωμένου Χριστοῦ, «ἐνεργεῖται μιὰ τελείως ἰδιαίτερη ζωή,
φανερώνεται ἕνα τελείως ἰδιαίτερο φῶς καὶ πνέει μία ἰδιαίτερη εὐωδία».
Σύμφωνα μὲ τὸν Γέροντα στὸ πρῶτο στὰδιο τῆς πνευματικῆς ζωῆς ὁ Θεὸς συνάπτει
διαθήκη μὲ τὸν ἄνθρωπο. Ἡ πρώτη χάρη τῆς ἐπισκέψεως τοῦ Θεοῦ εἶναι δῶρο τῆς Αὐτὴ εἶναι ἡ ἀνεστραμμένη προοπτικὴ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, ποὺ φαίνεται ὡς μωρία
εὐδοκίας Του. Μὲ τὴν ἀρχικὴ αὐτὴ πείρα τῆς χάριτος στερεώνονται τὰ θεμέλια τῆς στὸν κόσμο, ἀλλὰ γιὰ τοὺς σωζομένους εἶναι δύναμη Θεοῦ. Λέει ὁ Κύριος: «τὸ ἐν
νέας κατὰ Θεὸν ζωῆς τοῦ πιστοῦ σύμφωνα μὲ τὰ δεδομένα τῆς Ἀποκαλύψεως. ἀνθρώποις ὑψηλὸν βδέλυγμα ἐνώπιον τοῦ Θεοῦ» καὶ ὁ πρώην διώκτης Παῦλος
«Εἶναι περίοδος πλουσία σὲ γράφει στοὺς Κορινθίους: «Ἡμεῖς δὲ κηρύσσομεν Χριστὸν Ἐσταυρωμένον,
καρδιακὰ αἰσθήματα καὶ γεμάτη Ἰουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον ἔθνεσιν δὲ μωρίαν, αὐτοῖς δὲ τοῖς κλητοῖς, Ἰουδαίοις τε
ἀπὸ τόσο ἰσχυρὰ βιώματα». Ἡ καὶ Ἕλλησιν, Χριστὸν Θεοῦ δύναμιν καὶ Θεοῦ σοφίαν· ὅτι τὸ μωρὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ
εὐλογία τοῦ Θεοῦ βρίσκεται στὸν σοφώτερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐστίν, καὶ τὸ ἀσθενὲς τοῦ Θεοῦ ἰσχυρότερον τῶν
ἄνθρωπο μὲ τρόπο καταφανὴ καὶ ἀνθρώπων» . Αὐτὴ τὴν ἀνεστραμμένη λογικὴ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ποὺ σταυρώνει τὴ
θαυμαστό, ἐνῶ ὁ οὐρανὸς εἶναι παραφθαρμένη λογικὴ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου τόνιζε ὁ Γέροντας, διότι αὐτὴ μόνο φέρνει
ἀνοικτὸς στὰ αἰτήματα καὶ στὸν ἄνθρωπο ταπείνωση, ποὺ ἑλκύει τὴ χάρη τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ γεννᾶ ἀληθινὴ
εὐήκοος στὶς προσευχές του. Ὁ μετάνοια μέχρι τὸ αὐτομίσος. Μὸνο ἔτσι ὁ πιστὸς θὰ ἀποσυνδεθεῖ ἀπὸ τὴ
κλητὸς πιστὸς ἀποκτᾶ γνώση καὶ ματαιότητα καὶ τὸ σκοτάδι τοῦ κόσμου αὐτοῦ καὶ θὰ μπορέσει νὰ ἑνωθεῖ
θεωρία τοῦ μεγάλου μυστηρίου ὑπαρξιακὰ μὲ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ποὺ θὰ τὸν ἀπεργαστεῖ ἀληθινὴ ὁμοίωση
τῆς εὐσεβείας, γίνεται οἰκεῖος μὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ.
τὸν Εὐαγγελικὸ λόγο, κατέχεται Μέσα ἀπὸ τὸ ταπεινὸ ἦθος τοῦ
ἀπὸ ἔνθεο πόθο. Αἰσθάνεται Χριστοῦ καὶ τὴν παράδοξη δύναμη
πεπληρωμένος καὶ κατανοεῖ ὡς τῆς ἀνεστραμμένης προοπτικῆς τοῦ
νόημα καὶ σκοπὸ τῆς ζωῆς του τὸ Εὐαγγελίου, γίνεται φανερὴ ἡ
«σὺν Χριστῷ εἶναι». Ζεῖ τὴν μωρία τοῦ Θεοῦ ποὺ σώζει τὸν
ἀληθινὴ ἑορτὴ τῆς διαβάσεώς του πιστὸ καὶ ἡ κατεισχυμένη μωρία
ἀπὸ τὸ θάνατο στὴ ζωή. Ὁ ἅγιος τοῦ κόσμου ποὺ ὁδηγεῖ τὸν
Σωφρόνιος γράφει: «Νὰ διαφυλάξει κανεὶς αὐτὴ τὴ χάρη καὶ νὰ παραμείνει πιστὸς ἄνθρωπο στὴν ἀπόγνωση καὶ τὸν
σὲ ὅ,τι αὐτὴ τὸν δίδαξε, εἶναι ἀδύνατον χωρὶς βαθὺ κλάμα γιὰ χρόνια (βλ. Λουκ. ιϛ΄ θάνατο. Αὐτὴ τὴν ἄλλη λογικὴ τοῦ
9-12)». Εὐαγγελίου βλέπουμε ἔμπρακτα
Μετὰ ἀπὸ ἕνα χρονικὸ διάστημα, ποὺ ἐξαρτᾶται μόνο ἀπὸ τὴν πρωτοβουλία τοῦ στοὺς βίους τῶν Ἁγίων καὶ αὐτὴ
Θεοῦ, ὁ πλοῦτος αὐτὸς τῆς προκαταρκτικῆς χάριτος αἴρεται ἀπὸ τὸν ἄνθρωπο ὡς παρουσιάζει ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος σὲ
«ἄδικος». Ἡ δύναμη τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ἡ ἀγάπη ποὺ τὸν ἐνέπνεαν στὴν ἀρχὴ ὅλο τὸ πλάτος καὶ τὸ μῆκος τῆς
ἀποχωροῦν. Ἡ ἄρση τῆς χάριτος καὶ ἡ περίοδος τῆς «πυρώσεως πρὸς πειρασμὸν» διδασκαλίας του. Πάντοτε στὶς
οἰκονομοῦνται ἀπὸ τὸν Θεό, γιὰ νὰ μετασχηματισθεῖ ἡ φύση τοῦ πιστοῦ. Πρέπει νὰ διδαχές του ἀνέφερε ἀκριβῶς
ὑπομείνει τὴ νόμιμη παιδεία τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ νὰ διδαχθεῖ τὸ μυστήριο τῶν νόμων τῆς ἐκεῖνα τὰ σημεῖα ποῦ δείχνουν τὴ
υἱοθεσίας. Πρέπει νὰ αὐξηθεῖ καὶ νὰ ὡριμάσει μαθητεύοντας στὸ τέλειο θέλημα θαυμαστὴ ταπείνωση τοῦ Χριστοῦ,
τοῦ Θεοῦ. Κύρια αἰτία τῆς κατὰ πρόνοια Θεοῦ ἐγκαταλείψεως κατὰ τὸν ἅγιο ποὺ εἶναι ἡ χάρη τοῦ Σταυροῦ Του,
Σωφρόνιο εἶναι «ἡ ὑπερηφάνεια, ὡς ἐμφανὴς ἢ λανθάνουσα τάση πρὸς μὲ τὴν ὁποία ἑλκύει πάντας πρὸς
αὐτοθέωση». Τώρα παρέχεται στὸν πιστὸ ἡ δυνατότητα νὰ ἀναπτύξει μέχρι τέλους Ἑαυτόν, καὶ γεννᾶ μέσα στὸν
τὴν ὑποστατική του ἀρχὴ σὲ μιὰ σχέση ἀγάπης μὲ τὸν Θεό, ποὺ εἶναι ἰσχυρότερη ἄνθρωπο τὴν ἀγάπη γιὰ τὸν Θεὸ
ἀπὸ τὸν θάνατο ποὺ τώρα γεύεται. Ἡ περίοδος αὐτὴ τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ Χριστιανοῦ εἶναι μέχρι αὐτομίσους.
κατ’ ἐξοχὴν δημιουργική, ἄκρως σημαντική, καὶ ἡ νόμιμη κατὰ Θεὸν διάβασή της Αὐτὸ τὸ πνεῦμα εἶχε ὁ ἅγιος
πλουτίζει χαρισματικὰ τὴν ὕπαρξή του. Σκοπὸς τῆς βαριᾶς δοκιμασίας τῆς ἄρσεως Γέροντας, καὶ τὸ ἐπικύρωσε μὲ τὴ
τῆς χάριτος καὶ τῆς κενώσεως κατὰ τὸν καιρὸ τῆς Θεοεγκαταλείψεως εἶναι ἡ διδασκαλία τοῦ Ἁγίου Πατέρα Του Σιλουανοῦ καὶ τὸν λόγο ποὺ τοῦ ἔδωσε ὁ
ἀφομοίωση τῆς πρώτης δωρεᾶς ἀπὸ τὸν ἄνθρωπο σὲ βαθμὸ ποὺ νὰ γίνει Χριστὸς: «Κράτα τὸν νοῦ σου στὸν ἅδη καὶ μὴν ἀπελπίζεσαι». Δὲν ἔπαυε ὁ
ἀναφαίρετο κτῆμα του γιὰ ὅλη τὴν αἰωνιότητα. «Τὸ πλήρωμα τῆς κενώσεως Γέροντας Σωφρόνιος νὰ θαυμάζει τὸ μεγαλεῖο τῆς κλήσεώς μας ἐν Χριστῷ «πρὸ
προηγεῖται τοῦ πληρώματος τῆς τελειότητος». καταβολῆς κόσμου», καὶ ἔτσι νὰ διατηρεῖ ταπεινὸ τὸ φρόνημά του. Ἀφομοιωμένος
Ἡ τέλεια ἀναγέννηση τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐπιτελεῖται μὲ τὴν εἴσοδό του στὸ τρίτο στὸ πνεῦμα τῆς Μεγάλης Ἐπιστήμης τοῦ διδασκάλου του, Σιλουανοῦ, ἐξέφραζε μὲ
στάδιο, ὁπότε ἡ χάρη τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπιστρέφει μὲ δύναμη καὶ φυλάττεται αἰσθητὰ μὲ δικά του λόγια τὴν ἴδια γνώση, τὴν ἴδια θεωρία. Ἔγραφε: «Ἡ κίνηση πρὸς τὰ κάτω,
τὴ σοφία καὶ τὴ σύνεση τῆς πείρας ποὺ προηγήθηκε. Στὸ στάδιο αὐτὸ μεταδίδεται πρὸς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερο, εἶναι ἀπαραίτητη σὲ ὅλους μας, γιὰ νὰ παραμείνουμε
στὸν πιστὸ ἡ κατάσταση τῆς θεώσεως. Τὸ τελικὸ αὐτὸ στάδιο τοῦ ἀγώνα μετὰ τὴν σταθεροὶ στὸ πνεῦμα τῆς αὐθεντικῆς χριστιανικῆς ζωῆς. Αὐτὸ ἐκφράζεται μὲ τὴν
ἀνάκτηση τῆς χάριτος χαρακτηρίζεται ἀπὸ τὴ σταθερότητα τῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀκατάπαυστη μνήμη τῆς ἐξ ἀρχῆς μηδαμινότητάς μας διὰ μέσου μιᾶς αὐστηρῆς
καὶ τὴ συμπόνοια γιὰ ὅλον τὸν Ἀδάμ καὶ εἶναι εὐνόητο ὅτι δὲν μπορεῖ νὰ εἶναι αὐτομεμψίας σὲ ὅλα». Μὲ ἄλλα
μακροχρόνιο. λόγια, ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος μᾶς λέει
ὅτι γιὰ νὰ εἴμαστε τέλειοι πρέπει νὰ
Ἡ ἐπίγνωση τῆς ὁδοῦ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἡ σταθερότητά τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ζωῆς εἶναι βαδίσουμε ὅλη τὴν ὁδὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ,
καρπὸς τῆς διαβάσεως διὰ μέσου τῶν τριῶν σταδίων τῆς πνευματικὴς ζωῆς ποὺ καὶ ἡ ὁδὸς αὐτὴ συμπεριλαμβάνει
περιγράψαμε. Ὁ πιστὸς πλέον δὲν εἶναι «ἀπαίδευτος» στὴν ὁδὸ τῆς σωτηρίας, καὶ τὰ καταχθόνια. Γι’ αὐτὸ ὁ Θεὸς
ἀλλὰ ἀπεναντίας «διδακτὸς Θεοῦ». ἐπιτρέπει ὅλοι οἱ Ἅγιοί Του νὰ
Ἐπίλογος διέλθουν μεγάλες δοκιμασίες καὶ οἱ
Ἐκεῖνο ποὺ χαρακτηρίζει τὴ θεωρία τοῦ ἁγίου Σωφρονίου εἶναι ὁ θαυμασμὸς ποὺ ψυχές τους νὰ φθάσουν ὣς τὸν ἅδη,
ἔχει γιὰ τὴν ἄκρα ταπείνωση τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τὴν κατάβασή του στὰ καταχθόνια. Ὁ ὄχι γιὰ νὰ χαθοῦν, ἀλλὰ γιὰ νὰ
ἅγιος Γέροντας θαύμαζε τὴ Θεία ἀγάπη τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ποὺ ὡς Ἁμνὸς ἄμωμος καὶ ἐξιχνιάσουν τὸ μυστήριο τῆς ἐκεῖ
ἄσπιλος ἀνεβαίνει στὸν Γολγοθᾶ, καὶ κενώνεται στὴ διακονία του πρὸς ὅλη τὴν παρουσίας τοῦ Υἱοῦ Του καὶ νὰ
ἀνθρωπότητα, ἀπὸ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ὡς τὸν τελευταῖο ποὺ «πρόκειται νὰ γεννηθεῖ». Ἡ μυηθοῦν στὴν παιδεία Του.
θυσία Του ἀγκαλιάζει τοὺς πάντες, φίλους καὶ ἐχθρούς. Ἡ τελειότητα καὶ τὸ μεγαλεῖο τῆς
Ἡ ἐμπειρικὴ γνώση τῆς ταπεινῆς αὐτῆς ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁδήγησε τὸν Γέροντα ἁγιότητος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅπως
Σωφρόνιο στὴν πρωτότυπη διατύπωση μιᾶς ἐμπνευσμένης θεωρίας, τὴ θεωρία τῆς φανερώθηκε στὴ θεοπρεπῆ κένωση
«ἀνεστραμμένης πυραμίδας», ποὺ ἐξηγεῖ μὲ τὸν καλύτερο τρόπο τὸ μυστήριο τῆς καὶ ταπεινὴ ἀγάπη Του, τόσο
ἀγάπης τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ πῶς αὐτὴ ἐνεργεῖ καὶ πάσχει μέσα στὸν κόσμο. Στὴ θεωρία συνάρπαζε τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ἁγίου
αὐτὴ παρουσιάζεται ὅλο τὸ ἀνθρώπινο εἶναι δομημένο σὰν πυραμίδα. Ἡ Γέροντος, ὥστε μὲ βαθειὰ ταπείνωση
ἱεράρχηση σὲ ἀνώτερη καὶ κατώτερη τάξη ἀνθρώπων, ὅπως καὶ κάθε διαίρεση καὶ καὶ θαυμασμὸ νὰ λέει: «Εἶναι
ἀνισότητα ἀνάμεσά μας εἶναι συνέπεια τῆς πτώσεως τῶν πρωτοπλάστων. Αὐτοὶ ἀδύνατον νὰ ζήσει κανεὶς
ποὺ βρίσκονται στὴν κορυφὴ τῆς πυραμίδας κατακυριεύουν καὶ κατεξουσιάζουν χριστιανικά. Χριστιανικά μπορεῖ
τοὺς κατωτέρους, ἐνῶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη, ὡς ἀπαίτηση τοῦ κατ’ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ πνεύματος κανεὶς μόνο νὰ πεθάνει».
τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, δὲν ὑπάρχει. Γιὰ νὰ θεραπεύσει ὁ Χριστὸς τὸν ὅλον ἄνθρωπο, νὰ Ὁ ἅγιος Σωφρόνιος γνώρισε ἐμπειρικὰ στὴ ζωή του τὴν ἄπειρη κενωτικὴ ἀγάπη τοῦ
λύσει τὸ ἀδιέξοδο τῆς ἀδικίας του καὶ νὰ ὑψώσει πρὸς τὰ ἄνω ὅλους ἐκείνους ποὺ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἔγινε φίλος, οἰκεῖος, συμπολίτης, συμβασιλεύς καὶ συγκληρονόμος
εἶναι ταπεινωμένοι στὴ γῆ, ἀνατρέπει αὐτὴ τὴν πυραμίδα τοῦ εἶναι, θέτοντας τὴν Του. Μὲ τὴ διδασκαλία του μᾶς καλεῖ σὲ αὐτὴ τὴ γνώση τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὥστε νὰ
κορυφὴ της πρὸς τὰ κάτω, καὶ ἔτσι ἐγκαθιστᾶ τὴν ἔσχατη τελειότητα. Κορυφὴ τῆς ἀναδειχθοῦμε καὶ ἐμεῖς πιστοὶ μέχρι θανάτου στὴν αἰώνια Διαθήκη τοῦ Κυρίου
ἀνεστραμμένης πυραμίδας εἶναι ἀσφαλῶς ὁ Ἴδιος ὁ Χριστός, ὡς κεφαλὴ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ.
 Contemporary Saints

N owadays in our modern society, we tend to refer to sanctity and holiness as things of the past only
attainable by humans who lived hundreds of years or centuries ago. Furthermore, these terms are now
rarely mentioned and thought of.
As Orthodox Christian, we believe that through our Holy Baptism we have become members of the Church of Christ
and that through the holiness that the baptism itself bears, we are all called to become Saints.
In Ephesians 1:4 we read: "Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes." This means that every single
human being has the potential to become a Saint.
Sanctity is not a thing of the past, nor has it ever changed as the Church knows no barriers of time or place, since she is eternity herself.
It is true that in the past eras, humans did not have access to internet or modern technology and that would have
reduced distractions and temptations, however it is still true that God’s calling to all of us to ascend to Sanctity is
still the same as it was at the beginning of time.
It is important to stress though that Sanctity is not only reserved to those who have the opportunity to distance
themselves from their daily occupations. It is not like that. We are all called to be Saints by living with love, by
following the Gospel’s teachings and above all by letting the grace of the Holy Spirit guide us toward God. Sanctity,
the fullness of Christian life, does not consist in carrying out extraordinary feats, but in joining Christ and in living
His mysteries.
Many times, as human beings we ask ourselves how we can walk the path that leads us to holiness. Can we do it
with our own strength? The answer is clear: a holy life which makes a man Saint is not the result mainly of our own
efforts, of our actions, but rather it is God, who is triune Saint who makes us holy, it is the action of the Holy Spirit
who animates us from within, it is the very life of the Risen Christ that is communicated to us and that transforms
us.
However, in our ultra-modern society, in an aggressive and self-centred world holiness consists in enduring the
enemy, the vicissitudes of life, and the aggressions of other people as well as their defects.
Examples of holy behaviours and life dedication to God in modern times are those of our new Saint Kallinkos
Metropolitan of Edessis, Pellis and Almopia.
Saint Kallinikos was born on January the 26th 1919 in the village of Sitaralon Thermos. His grandfather was a priest in
the village and from a young age He attended his village church regularly.
Having excelled in his studies, one of his professors at the university of Athens, invited him to continue his scientific
studies abroad but instead He preferred to remain in Greece and serve the Orthodox Church. At the invitation of
the then Metropolitan of Aitoloakarnania, Ierotheos He served in the Cathedral of the metropolis of Edessis as a
secretary and as a lay person for several years. preaching the Gospel.
Ten years later, in 1957 at the age of 38, He was ordained deacon and subsequently to the priesthood and elevated to the rank of archimandrite. He was then
assigned to the position of chancellor in the Holy Metropolis of Aetolia and Akarnania where He
remained until his election to Metropolitan.
Despite becoming a priest at the age of 38, his zealous, dedication and love toward Christ were
such that ten years after his ordination to the diaconate, at the age of 48 the Holy Synod of the
Church of Greece elevated him to episcopacy, appointing him Metropolitan of Edessis, Pellis
and Almopia. His ordination took place on 25 June 1967 in the church of Saint Dionysios the
Areopagitis in Athens.
He served as Metropolitan of the Holy Metropolis of Edessis, Pellis and Almopia for seventeen
years during which He worked tirelessly for the Church of Christ. His way of life and ethos were
an example to both the clergy and the faithful who greatly respected him. On August the 7th
1984. After spending a few months fighting illnesses, He reposed in the Lord at the age of 65.
Saint Kallinikos performed many miracles while He was alive and still does nowadays. Through
the power of prayer, He exorcised many possessed people. Again many faithful today narrate of
the Saint appearing to them while they are asleep to advice and cure while many others
confessed how they were helped by him after visiting his grave or after asking for a miracle.
His holiness was witnessed by those who knew and worked with him: amongst them His
Eminence Metropolitans of Nafpaktos Ierotheos and of Edessis Ioel, while his saintly life and his
commitment to our Holy Orthodox Church were also mentioned and commented upon by Saint
Paisios Agioritis.
On the 23rd of June 2020, the Ecumenical Patriarchate declared the late Metropolitan Kallinikos
a Saint becoming the first Bishop of the Church of Greece to be recognized as a Saint.

Archim Grigorios Laurenzano