12/29/2014
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol
The Divine Liturgy is a conversation between man and God: The priest addresses God in his prayers, and God answers through the grace of the Holy Spirit He sends down, and this is how God and man meet.
From the very beginning, the devil has wanted to destroy Christ Himself: both as a living being, and His teaching—and he is waging a war against the Church.
Another angel appears, surrounded by a cloud, descending from Heaven. Above his head is a rainbow, and his feet are like pillars of fire.
Whom does the Lord receive? The Gospel answers this for us: the publican.
We are under the protection of God’s attention and providence. We’re not abandoned, not left unattended. God takes care of those who love Him and call upon Him.
As soon as the contents of the censer were poured out on earth, seven angels with seven trumpets come, ready to blow. And then the Apostle begins to talk about what each of the angels trumpeted.
As long as the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, this world will stand.
Revelation was written to give us the optimistic message that everything that is, that was, and that will be should not lead us to despair and scare us, but we should know that God will prevail in the end.
The Apostle John greatly wept because there was no one worthy to come and take this book and open it and look upon it.
What is the sign of holy people? For those saints whom we have known in our days and who still live among us, perhaps already elderly, even 100 years old, it’s a living soul.
The book of Revelation was written to help us trust in Christ, to hope in Christ, and to know that Christ will prevail in the end, and that we’ll all inherit the Kingdom of God—that our goal is the Kingdom of God.
We have to examine ourselves, whether we’re alive or not. And how can we know that someone has died?
Sin will never lead us to good; it brings only evil, torment, and suffering. It’s the consequence of our deeds, not the punishment of God.
To hold fast the name of God is a blessing; it’s martyrdom, and it’s a confession.
Thus, God says the following: He is the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Nothing exists outside of Him; in Him is everything. He is the Beginning and End of all things.
The greatest miracle is that the Church exists.
One of the most significant and frequent references to the Holy Trinity is in the text of Revelation.
A man who is close to God, my dears, truly feels like a king—he has no need of anything. At the same time, he may have absolutely nothing.
Christ sent the revelation through an angel to His servant the Apostle and Evangelist John, who conveyed the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ about what he saw and heard.
We have to understand that God acts outside of time, and the events of Revelation don’t relate only to the end times.
Only the people of God, the saints, can receive revelations from God, and only they can interpret them, because a revelation, words from God, is given from God, from the Holy Spirit.
The book of Revelation teaches us a lot, especially when we begin to carefully delve into its words, when we see how Christ holds the world in His hands and acts with wisdom in all things.
This revelation was given by God to the Apostle John because we needed to know it.
We must understand that this is a matter of our freedom. And no matter what we do, love for Christ and freedom from sin and passions are above all else.
The confession of Christ is no joking matter: Either we confess Christ and will be with Him, or if we renounce Him, that means we have cut Him off and are cut off from Him.
Now I am sixty-four, and in difficult moments that happen to everybody these images, these memories from the Holy Mountain are a good inheritance for me, a refuge where I enter and gain strength, courage, consolation and support from God to continue my struggle.
He told me, “You are related to us.” I said to him, “Geronda, are you from Cyprus?” He replied, “You’re slow-witted.”
An egotist wants everything to go according to his plans, as he drew it up in his mind and imagination. And when something goes a different way, he loses his temper and starts getting angry.
We must ask God to save us from these temptations that exceed our strength.
When a man fasts, he becomes brave, he acquires courage, which is generally one of the most important virtues in the spiritual battle. If you have no courage, you can’t be saved.
Many people, especially young people, have several objections to fasting: What benefit does it bring? Why do I have to fast and what is the meaning of this present Fast?
Our spiritual state is rarely even, calm, and serene for any long period of time. How can we lead a spiritual life when man is so volatile?
We’re simple people, and we need human comfort.
Sometimes God hides His grace in difficult hours—and man remains alone, to labor, to struggle, to endure, to manifest his strength, his boldness before God.
The holy ascetics, in returning to the blessed state in which Adam abode before his fall, no longer suffer any danger from the natural world.
Christians are strangers to everything in this world, but at the same time, they lovingly pray for everything around them—for the city and country where they live.
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol shares his memories of meeting the elder Sophrony (Sakharov) and the saint’s admonitions on the issues of the confession, humility, and neglect of one’s thoughts
We haven’t chosen the cross of the priesthood for ourselves, or for our children, or for our grandchildren. We think: “Let someone else do it. But give us good priests and bishops!”
I had the feeling that he was like Moses, standing before God on Mt. Sinai.
For a man to be able to pray correctly, he absolutely must observe the commandments of Christ and participate in the Sacraments of the Church.
The condition of churches, their external appearance and interior decoration testify to the culture of each people.
God dwells in a church by His uncreated grace, for the Divine Sacraments are celebrated in church.
It’s not us people who do God’s work, but Him.
We have to go to Liturgy, even if we stand there like stumps. Some will say: “I’m not how I should be. I don’t understand any of it. My mind can’t concentrate there.” But go, no matter what. One elder said: “When you stop into a perfume store, your clothes smell fragrant after you leave, even if you didn’t buy anything.” This is what happens, he says, when you go to Liturgy.
We’re not afraid of anything, but we go our own way, having that deep peace in our hearts, of which the angels sang and which all the saints experienced, and which our Church keeps to this day as a precious treasure.
Fear not! No matter what happens to us, no matter what torments we endure, we can call upon God’s help. It’s like calling the ambulance on the phone.
In these extreme situations of isolation, in moments of despair and depression, which are common today, when you feel suppressed, in these moments, you have only one opportunity left—a very great, very, very great opportunity—the opportunity to talk with God.
The Church sanctifies the whole man, sanctifies the human body, sanctifies nature, creation, and all being.
The absence of the Heavenly Father is the greatest unrighteousness for man: to deprive yourself of the presence of the Living God! This is the greatest unrighteousness you can inflict upon yourself.
If you’ve developed a proper relationship with God, then you’ll live the spiritual life, you’ll bridle your tongue, you’ll pay heed to yourself, and take note of your mistakes—not the mistakes of others.
The tongue, of course, brings us a multitude of sufferings, but how can we bridle it?
When we see a humble man, we notice the light that he radiates and we say: “He’s like the sun!” And in this sunlight we see the true beauty of man, when he’s truly the image and likeness of God. Let us pray to God, that He might give us this spirit of humility, and that the humble Christ might settle in our hearts.
The humble man is incomprehensible in his greatness, because through humility, the Lord Himself is present with him, and he becomes like God.
After we come to love dishonor and sorrow, how can we have anger? We’re no longer angry because we don’t make any claims to anything.
Humility is so rich and so perfect that it can’t be limited by one definition or name. And it is grace, inasmuch as it’s given by the Holy Spirit, and can be designated only by those who have experienced it.
In this video, subtitled in English, His Eminence Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus talks about his experiences with Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona, who reposed in the Lord in December 2019.
Why can’t you accept that you’re weak, which is what you are? Go to Christ and say: “Lord, I am the way I am. I’m physically unclean, I’m cursed, thrice over, but I want to be with Thee!”
Satan fights against the Church throughout the world. Therefore, we pray in Liturgy for “the good estate of the holy Churches of God.”
A married man must not be lustful, because lust destroys a marriage.
How does hope in God disappear? When we think that we have to do everything, think of everything, organize everything so that everything would be perfect, and inside the thought that everything depends on us just gnaws at us.
From the teaching of the Fathers of the Church and from their experience, and most importantly, from the holy life of Christ described in the Gospels, it’s clearly shown that the devil fought against Christ using these three temptations.
Christ is our peace and His presence fills our souls with peace. Christ visits the penitent man.
One of the greatest problems of our times, especially seen among the youth, is a dead soul.
Everyone should have a proper understanding of confession and of what a correct spiritual father is.
As soon as he pronounced this exclamation, at that very moment, by the grace of God, he was vouchsafed to see in the spirit how the roof of the church was opened and how the words he uttered reached unto the ages of ages.
We understand that sins of the flesh gnaw away at us and that they’re deadly and serious because they corrupt the whole person. This is also true of our appearance and the way we dress.
So we should know that, from the time when Christ appeared, suffered, was crucified, buried and rose for us, this has been going on in people’s souls.
This event of the Resurrection is the corner-stone of our faith and the resurrection of all people is the point which prevents us from agreeing with the theory of reincarnation.
And may these holy days pass as a judgment over our conscience, our entire lives, and our actions, because only then will we be able to say that they were unto our salvation, because they provided us with the means for spiritual struggle in repentance, humility, and a change of life, and at the same time, encouraged us to turn to God, to entreat His great mercy with humility and love.
Met. Athanasios of Limassol
His Eminence Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol of the Orthodox Church of Cyprus, one of the most respected and authoritative hierarchs of the Orthodox Church today, offers a homily on the feast of the Nativity, the peace of our Lord, and the Person of Christ.
When I was on Holy Mount Athos, I heard from my fellow-students, different people and Athonite monks about numerous miracles of St. Porphyrios who then lived at Pendeli Monastery in Athens. I was told about all types of supernatural and wonderful things the holy elder performed by his prayers. And I was seized with “good” curiosity—I wanted to get acquainted with him.
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, Metropolitan Nikiforos of Kykkos and Tellyria, Metropolitan Isaiah of Tamassos, Bishop Nicholas of Amathountos
In their appeal, they reaffirm the stance that Patriarch Bartholomew and the other primates who have accepted the schismatics have acted arbitrarily and anti-canonically in Ukraine and only threaten greater disunity and schism in the Church.
The prayer of every human being is of cosmic importance—that is, it has an effect not only on somebody individually, or his family and immediate circle of friends, but also on the entire world.
One of the questions you asked was the following: Does God decide who will become our future husband or wife?
We labor in order to be with Christ. We strive to purify ourselves in order to become the very place where the Lord can come and abide. We need only to perform all these spiritual podvigs with fear of God, in order to have inner purity.
This letter of His Eminence Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol is addressed to the human and Christian conscience of every mother who, perhaps for one reason or another, has thought about abortion—the murder of a human being whom the good God has placed in her hands and in her womb.
Without ignoring the objectively difficult reality and being people of the Church, we certainly have our own way of helping us judge, evaluate, and use for good those trials that we meet along life’s path.
What I saw when I was at the All-Holy Sepulchre, was that ... the candles of the people who were up at the dome of the All-Holy Sepulchre lit up on their own.
The Word did not become some ideology or philosophy—He became flesh, became man precisely so we could love Him. And once we have come to love Him, we understand that He came to love us before that.
It’s a difficult question, and the answer causes a bit of pain, but we must tell things as they are, so there aren’t things left hanging, and there aren’t things that cause our brothers’ consciences to be scandalized.
Rating: 8.6|Votes: 39
Every day we say to Christ: “Thy will be done.” We must seek it and it should be the purpose of our life. And this approach should be seen on the level of the primates of the Churches all the moreso.
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, Alexandra Nikiforova
Rating: 9.2|Votes: 64
Here on Cyprus, they don’t call him “Your Eminence,” or “Metropolitan,” but “Elder.” Vladyka’s spirit is quiet and joyful. On Bright Monday he served in the Monastery of St. George the Alaman: He walked through the church unnoticed, stood in his spot, sang the Paschal canon, went into the altar, served the Liturgy, blessed everyone, drank some coffee in the guest house with the people, and left, just as imperceptibly.
Rating: 10|Votes: 42
Condemnation is a very pleasant occupation for us. However, we must pay attention to this problem, because condemnation is a manifestation of our egotism. If we mercilessly and severely judge our brothers, that means we are full of egotism, and we must undertake serious spiritual work.
Rating: 9.9|Votes: 19
The meaning of this feast day for us, who are constrained by the passions and sin, lies in the obtainment of freedom, which the Lord has given us through His birth; to be freed from slavery to sin and the darkness of our falling away from God, and also to again be able to experience rejoicing in life as true children of God.
Rating: 9.3|Votes: 55
Therefore, wives should be friendly and bring this joy to their husbands. And the husband shows his wife honor, provides her with praise, tenderness, love, reliability, warmth—everything that a wife needs from her husband.
Rating: 9.9|Votes: 12
And I bring you a gift to express my great love for you. What great significance this has—to tell someone else with all your heart: “May you have many years of good health, and may God bless you!”
Rating: 9.7|Votes: 37
The marriage bond is a cross-like connection, a connection founded on God’s blessing, which presupposes that the couple are entering into it consciously, with a readiness to transcend themselves and overcome their egos in order to communicate with one another.
Rating: 9.8|Votes: 20
We see here an amazing thing: In the Gospels Christ changes our way of thinking, while logic suggests to us that when they accuse you, slander and persecute you, you are unfortunate. But Christ comes and says to you that, to the contrary, you are not unhappy but blessed and fortunate!
Rating: 7.4|Votes: 28
When Christ talks about righteousness, He does not mean worldly righteousness.
Rating: 8.4|Votes: 7
Met. Athanasios of Limassol explains how we can know that there are still holy people living in the world, not only in monasteries.
Rating: 9.3|Votes: 13
The Orthodox Church ascribes enormous significance to time as the instrument of our salvation. Therefore the Church continually prays: “To live the time of our lives in peace, and repose in repentance, let us ask of the Lord.” How important it is that we should live the rest of our days in “peace and repentance”! But in what kind of peace?
Rating: 10|Votes: 3
The Orthodox Church of Christ never lost the “unity of faith and the communion of the Holy Spirit” and does not accept the theory of the restoration of the unity of those “who believe in Christ,” because it believes that the unity of those who believe in Christ already exists in the unity of all of Her baptized children, between themselves and with Christ, in Her correct faith, where no heretics or schismatics are present, for which reason She prays for their return to Orthodoxy in repentance.
The feminine principle has great meaning in creation. This is manifested on all levels of human existence, both personal and societal. A woman acts in a very special way: she is like a filter that cleanses from evil. Woman’s nature is God’s creation.
Rating: 7.8|Votes: 5
Thus, we are commemorating our Lord’s incarnation in order to experience on the one hand His great love for us and on the other to feel great gratitude for all the wonderful things He has granted us. In addition, this benefits us in a practical way, because we are offered the opportunity to pass judgement on our life.
Metropolitan Athanasios of Lemesos, Cyprus, speaks on our era's charismatic elders
Metropolitan Athanasios of Limasol
Rating: 9.4|Votes: 33
Confession is the simplest way to learn what people think about and to understand their problems or concerns. I am very happy when people view their bishop as their father. I am happy when I know that people can come to my church and find me there to tell me about their problems.
Anastasia Rahlina, Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol
Rating: 9.2|Votes: 21
When I saw him praying in church, then I thought: if there is some person who holds the helm of the whole world, it isn’t the president of America, it isn’t a communist, it isn’t any person of this world—it’s Elder Paisios. He is able to steer the rudder of the whole world.
