9/16/2021
Archimandrite Epiphanios (Theodoropoulos)
I feel the greatest satisfaction and inexpressible joy from the fact that I’m a priest; that the Holy Spirit, by His immeasurable long-suffering and condescension, gave me the grace of the priesthood.
I experienced nightmarish hours and days. I will tell you about the most terrible scene for me.
Shall I set forth what has been accomplished by the grace and bounties of the Lord, Who loves mankind, during this period? But this is completely alien to my principles and my character. After all, everything that has been done belongs to Him; my only “achievement” is my sins.
Elder Epiphanios (Theodoropoulos)
Confident that the text would never be published, Fr. Epiphanios tells us about aspects of his righteous life that only his closest spiritual children were privy to.
If it’s impermissible to denigrate the mission and work of clergy serving in the world (as well as of the zealots and bearers of gifts of grace from among the laity), it’s also impermissible to denigrate the mission and work of monks. The Church is led unerringly by the Holy Spirit.
