ECUMENISM IS DOMINATED BY UNCLEAN SPIRITS*

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia

ECUMENISM IS DOMINATED BY UNCLEAN SPIRITS*

Fr. Ephraim’s attestation to professor Demetrios Tseleggides

In what follows, I will say something that pertains to a personal deposition. I was associated for entire decades with Fr. Ephraim of Katounakia, of renowned ethos and conscience. Also renowned was the fact that he also possessed a “spiritual television”. As for me, I had gone to him on many occasions with the intention of posing certain very specific questions, in a specific sequence, and using my own vocabulary.  When I did visit him, and without having posed any of my intended questions, he gave me his replies, in my intended sequence, and with my vocabulary. I am mentioning this as a personal experience; it is not an unprecedented phenomenon - it has been experienced by many others also.

There was one time when – as a young professor at the School of Theology at the time, about thirty years ago – I had mentioned the following to him. Given that the clime of Ecumenism has also been flourishing in the School of Theology - especially that of Thessaloniki - I had certain nagging problems and questions, because I could see it being represented by otherwise respected professors. Naturally, both my conscience as well as my learning had reacted against it, however, I desired – beyond my scientific status – to also obtain a charismatic reply, which is something that I did for many other issues.

So I asked him on the matter in hand - if he could tell me what kind of thing Ecumenism is.

He replied outrightly and without any difficulty: 

«This question, my child, had also been posed by someone else, some time before you.  I myself have been up here on these rocks for forty years... I have even forgotten my Greek (note that he had completed Middle School) and as such, I haven’t preoccupied myself with that issue.  But, because I had to reply – seeing that I had been asked about it, and since I had no knowledge of the matter - I went to my cell and prayed, asking Christ to inform me what Ecumenism is.  I received His reply, which was that Ecumenism has a spirit of wickedness and is dominated by unclean spirits».

So I asked him exactly how that was verified.  He replied that «after praying, my cell became filled with an unbearable stench, which caused my soul to feel asphyxiated; I couldn’t breathe spiritually».

I asked him if that had been an extraordinary event for him, or if that was the way that Christ responds in analogous cases, and he assured me that «in all the cases that are involved with sorcery, with unclean spirits, that is the state in which He introduces me.  Sometimes there is a spoken response, but in the present case, that was His answer and I have the absolute certainty that Ecumenism does not have the Holy Spirit, but the unclean spirit». 

What I am saying at this moment one might say has the character of intentional impressions.  But I want to inform you that I was overjoyed, because what the Elder had told me in person, I had also seen recorded by his pious retinue, who had published an honorary Tomos (Volume) about his person, his spirituality and his words. So it has been certified in there as well, but it has also been verified with other, trustworthy theologians, who likewise happened to have heard it personally.

I had not publicly mentioned this until now; but things have taken such a turn, that I am obliged to bring it up.  Of course it had played a decisive role in my stance towards Ecumenism.  As a professor, a scientist, I am naturally obliged in every case to examine the matter with scientific criteria and to substantiate my viewpoint scientifically – and that is what I do in my classes also, step by step; however, I regard this deposition to be significant, because it was delivered in a charismatic manner by a man who knew nothing about the issue. He had never read, never heard of it, and yet, he deposited his direct spiritual experience.  I think that things speak for themselves here.

============

* From the book «Holy and Great Synod of the Orthodox Church - A Synod lacking in synodicity and Orthodox self-awareness», 80 pages, size 17x24 cm., publication by «Synaxis of Orthodox Romaics “Fotis Kontoglou”», Trikala, March 2016.  This book is the transcript of the 3-hour program of the conversation between the manager of the Piraeus Church Radio Station, Mr. Lykourgos Markoudis and professor Demetrios Tseleggides 

Translation by A.N.

impantokratoros.gr

The meaning of love 1966

Anthony Bloom – Metropolitan of Sourozh (1914- 2003) In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The meaning of love is the meaning of life, because love, in spite of what we very often think or imagine, is not a simple feeling. When we speak of God, and we say that God is love, we do not mean that He is infinite feeling. We mean something deeper than this: that God is a plenitude of life and of being. And this applies also to our human love. Someone who is possessed by love is a man who has a plenitude of life in himself, in whom the sense of life, the power of life is so full, so great, that life is sure of itself. And this generates joy, courage, enthusiasm, and it goes so deep that it is beyond death itself. The Holy Scripture says that love is stronger than death. Indeed it is stronger than death because it has placed itself by its fullness, its power, its intensity in the realm of the resurrection, in the realm of eternal life. And this is why love is capable of final sacrifice, not only of giving and of receiving but of laying down one’s life, because this life, if it is given, is also possessed in its fullness. It is plenitude of life which finds expression in final sacrifice. You may remember the words of Christ: ‘No one is taking My life from Me, I give it freely Myself.’ In that respect love, the fullness of life which it expresses, is invulnerable. People may take our lives, people may put us to any test, and yet one remains invulnerable because no one in reality is taking; the person who loves is giving. I would like to give an example of this. During the Russian Revolution a mother with two children was hiding in a small town. One evening a woman came, as young as she was, in her late twenties, and told her that she had been discovered, betrayed, and that she was to be arrested in the night in order to be shot. The mother looked at the children, and her new friend said, ‘Don’t worry, you go, and you hide.’ And the mother said, ‘How could I go with these two children. I would be found within a few hours.’- ‘No’, said her unknown friend, ‘I will stay behind, call myself with your name and be shot perhaps, but you will escape.’ And so she did. This was an act of love, which proceeded from such fullness of life, from such certainty that life was not ending, and that it was only in the fulfilment that she would find in her death that she could do this. No one has greater love than he who lays down his life for his friends. Who does it himself, freely, and who in doing so, attains to the fulfillment of life because life is worth only what one lives for, and life attains this fulfillment when all is done that can humanely be done beyond fear, in joy, in certainty. This is the meaning of love to me. Such fullness of life, that will allow me to accept, to become totally vulnerable, never recoil, never resist, give myself to the last, without discrimination to anyone and for anyone with a certainty that love shall never be defeated, that love is stronger than death; because to love means that we already have renounced a limited self and grown into communion, that is community of life with God, who is love itself. Amen. Πηγή: Ἠλιαχτίδα

A Letter from Abba Father

This comes to us from the Orthodox Christian Life Group of Cape Town

My Child 

You may not know me, but I know everything about you ~ Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up ~ Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways ~ Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered ~ Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image ~ Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being ~ Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring ~ Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived ~ Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation ~ Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book ~ Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live ~ Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made ~ Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb ~ Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born ~ Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me ~ John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love ~ 1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you ~ 1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your father ~ 1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could ~ Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father ~ Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand ~ James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs ~ Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope ~ Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love ~ Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore ~ Psalm 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing ~ Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you ~ Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession ~ Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul ~ Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things ~ Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me ~ Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart ~ Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires ~ Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine ~ Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles ~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you ~ Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart ~ Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes ~ Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth ~ Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus ~ John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed ~ John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being ~ Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you ~ Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled ~ 2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you ~ 1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love ~ Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me ~ 1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again ~ Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen ~ Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father ~ Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is ~ Will you be my child? ~ John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you ~ Luke 15:11-32
                                                                                                 

  Love, Your Dad, Almighty God

Experiences and thoughts from the visit to Mount Athos in Greece, the Fijians priest Fr. George Pillay

"Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit"

My greetings and much thanks goes to His Eminence our Archbishop Amfilochios for his blessing me to come on this holy pilgrimage to the Holy Mountain in Greece.

Bitter truth I was a protestant church pastor and for 26 years searching for healing of soul and body until I met this man of God, the Archbishop of the Christian Greek Orthodox Church, who explained to me in the light of the Orthodox Faith which is the main stream line of the Christian Church.

As I searched digging dipper for a meaningful relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ one Orthodox Priest from New Zealand told me they were the Ancient Church and followed the Original Bible. I was more the convinced as he encouraged of the church of Christ that was started by the Apostles and the Holy Church Fathers.

He told me and shared of their CREED which is the ultimate symbol of Faith of this Ancient church.

THE CREED

I believe in one God, Father All Governing Creator of Heaven and earth, of All things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before All ages. Light of Light, True God from True God, begotten not created of one essence with the Father through whom All things were made.

Who for us and for our Salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnated by the Holy Spirit and Maria the Virgin and became man.

Who was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, suffered and was buried and rose on the third day according to the Scriptures.

And He ascended into the Heavens and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

And He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead, whose Kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of Life who proceeds from the Father together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified, who spoke through the Prophets.

I believe in one Holy, Catholic and Holy Church, I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins and i await the resurrection of the dead and I await the resurrection of the dead and the Life of the age to come, Amen.

By the grace of God I joined the church in 2011 and was ordained as priest in Greece and am counting my blessings day by day preparing a people for the coming of the Lord.

 

Holy Mount Athos, Greece - 2015

This is a special place called the Garden of the most Holy Theotokos, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ splendid with Byzantine culture.

Holy Mount Athos is Orthodoxy’s most precious treasure, her strength, praise and pride.

It is history being the first Priest from Fiji for this Spiritual visit.

Mount Athos has 20 great monasteries with many sketes and Kellies.

Mount Athos goes deep into the sea like someone offering his hand for a handshake to one approaching.

In addition a wealth of articles of ecclestical worship, priceless examples of Athonite art, celebrated miraculous Icons of the Theotokos/Panagai and of the holy Saints, miraculous water springs, precious relics of John the Baptist, of the holy church fathers and 1000s of manuscripts in their libraries, the holy Sash/Belt/Zoni of the Mother of God.

The much longed for me to venerate was the largest fragment of the Holy Cross on which the Lord Jesus died and as I fell on my knee’s to worship my beginning words were " Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me a sinner".

Upon completion of this short visit I was much favored to visit historical sites and Bible land marks during the days of Saint Paul in Athens, Corinthians and Thessalonica.

In short in my conclusion with the help of God and the Holy Theotokos [the Mother of God], I give all the due glory for what He made me to accomplish today and together as one family, with one voice and one heart we thank of the consecration of the holy Orthodox Church by our Archbishop Metropolitan Amfilochious for establishing churches in N.Z/Fiji/Tonga and Samoa.

On this historical event by the grace of God, may the prayers of the Mother of God always protect you and save you.

Father George Pillay

Lautoka City

Fiji.

Work is a blessing - Saint Paisios

 —Geronta, in the old days they would say, “Better to wear out your shoes rather than blankets.” What did they mean?

—They meant, “Better to wear out your shoes by working than to stay in bed and be lazy.” Work is a blessing, a gift of God. It gives energy to the body, refreshment to the nous. If God had not given us work, man would have become idle. Hard workers do not stop even in old age. If they stop working while they still have strength, they end up suffering from depression; this is death for them. I remember one little old man in Konitsa, almost ninety years old, who worked continuously. He finally died out in the fields, two hours from home.

Besides, the state of bodily comfort which some people seek is never permanent. They may forget their stress for a time—have their food, their sweets, their baths, their leisure. But, as soon as this is over, they seek another form of comfort. They are constantly anxious because everything leaves them wanting; they feel an emptiness, and their souls seek to be filled. He who wearies from work, however, has a constant joy, spiritual joy.

—Geronta, what if you have back problems and aren’t able to do just any work?

—Fine, but doesn’t the back need exercise? Doesn’t work that exercises the back help? Listen, I’ll tell you: “If someone eats, drinks, and sleeps but doesn’t work, he starts unravelling; he wants to sleep all the time because his body and nerves slacken. Little by little he comes to the point where he can’t do anything. As soon as he walks a little, he falls apart. Instead, if he works a little and moves around, his hands and feet become stronger. Notice that those who love work don’t sleep much, and they don’t sleep from fatigue—they might not get any sleep for a time, yet they keep their strength: work has seasoned them, and they became strong in body.

Especially for a young person, work is health. I have observed that some pampered children become tough and seasoned when they go into the military. The military is good for them. Naturally, this happened more in the old days. Today they are afraid to push the soldiers, because with a little strain the veins are constricted and they suffer from nervous shock. I tell parents to pay someone to allow their children to work for them, to promote their health—this serves to give them a job they like, so that they will learn to like work in general. For, a young person who is energetic also has brains, and if he doesn’t work he will become lazy. Of course, when he sees others succeeding he is confused by his egoism and can’t take pleasure in anything. He constantly has disturbing thoughts and his mind is muddled. Later the devil goes to him and says: “Loser! What a good-for-nothing you are! So and so became a professor, and that other guy has his own business making good money, but where will you end up?” This makes him feel hopeless. If he had worked, however, he would have acquired confidence in himself, in a good sense of the word. He would see that even he is able to get along, and his mind would stay occupied on his job and free him from disturbing thoughts. That way it’s a win-win.

-Saint Paisios