Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos on the Nativity of the Theotokos: "The heavier the burdens we’ve got to lift in this world, the greater God’s blessing will be..."

The Nativity of the Theotokos (source)

   

The heavier the burdens we’ve got to lift in this world, the greater God’s blessing will be, as was the case of saint Anna who, though infertile, brought the Virgin Mary into the world.

Something similar will happen to each one of us, if we don’t despair and if we take this difficult and unbearable burden as special grace from God. Indeed, that’s the way things are. So great will the blessing from God be that man will remain in wonder.

To get to this point, man shouldn’t grumble. On the contrary, let us allow this unbearable cross, this unbearable shame we have to carry be the reason we refuse to grumble. Let it be the reason why we learn to feel gratitude to God. Let it be the reason we cry out to God with all our might, the reason we entrust ourselves to God and indeed expect for His blessing, His grace, His love to come. 

Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos (†)

From the book: Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos, “SPIRITUAL MESSAGES” Panorama Thessaloniki, 2017

(source)

Most-holy Theotokos, save us!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: "If we’re humble like the Virgin Mary, we will spiritually bear Christ in us in our measure..."

The Dormition of the Theotokos (source)

   

The Gospel of Matins says, “For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden”. It is said by the saints that if we’re humble like the Virgin Mary, we will spiritually bear Christ in us in our measure, just like the Virgin Mary did, who was pregnant with Christ, the Son of God, Who sanctified her and sanctifies all of us. And I say so, according to the words of Apostle Paul: “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you”. Everything else in life is worth nothing.

It’s a pity if we get distracted, if we are led astray and get tossed to and fro, and lose what is of the utmost importance: Christ. Let’s humble ourselves before God in order to gain Christ.

The fact that you can’t stand any pressure is a reaction of the old man. Through the chaos that takes place inside you because of the pressure you may be feeling, all you will have to lose is your self-love and pride.

Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos (†)

From the book: Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos, “SPIRITUAL MESSAGES” Panorama Thessaloniki, 2017

(source)

Most-Holy Theotokos, save us!

Elder Symeon on Healing and God's Providence

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Christ healing the Paralytic (source)

   

"The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is for the healing of our illnesses. If we are not healed, we don't need to be healed. This is why we were not healed. If you comprehend this lack of healing, you already healed. You know already that an illness, which lingers and does not leave, is precious.

"Whatever needs to go, God will remove. Whatever doesn't need to stay, God removes, whether it is an illness or a demonic influence. And for whatever things that continue on and hurt us, we should pray to God. We should pray multiple times, again and again we should pray, not only for deliverance from our soul's illnesses and the demonic influences, but also for deliverance from bodily illnesses, as well.

"Let us pray to God for everything again and again. Not because God needs to hear our prayers repetitiously, but because we need to demonstrate by our seeking of Him, our faith. For modern man such lessons are learned from repetition.

"If you pray again and again and you will need to do this, and God does not answer your prayer or remove your illnesses, realize this: either you have not shown as much faith as He wants and expects from you, or the illness should not go because it is necessary for you.

"If you understand your illness from God's perspective, then, when it remains, you will feel twice healed. If He heals you, you are healed once. If the illness lingers, you will feel healed twice. Both when the time comes to be healed from your illness and at the right time your soul will experience healing also. When this occurs your inner person will be healed, this is the person who suffers from illness, from the leprosy of sin.

"The same goes for all mental illness and whatever else hurts us.

"If man sees all his issues within the providence of God, he will feel such a relief, as if all his problems are solved.

"Because in God all is resolved!"
-Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos (+2015),
Excerpt from the Book: Are You in Pain? Looking deeply into the mystery of pain
(source)
 

Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life!

Truly, the Lord is risen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: How to Prepare for Christmas

The Nativity of Christ (source)

  

God the Father gives us His Son for a gift. What shall we offer to God? We think we do something important. We do nothing important. Everything is of God. However, God hasn’t given you sin. You, the man, commit sins. That’s the only thing we have, then: our sins. And still, that’s what God asks of us. God asks of us to give Him our sins, in order for Him to forgive them. You should repent these days and say: “My God, take all the burdens off my soul, take them away from me: my thoughts, my emotions, my experiences, my actions, everything. Take, my God, away all things sinful, in order to forgive them”. This is the way to prepare for Christmas.

-Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos (+2015)

 

(source)

 

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: "Make good use of pain..."

Christ being taken down from His Cross (source)

  

How good it would have been if we did not let pain go to waste! One way or another we will suffer. But our whole torture and struggle will go down the drain, unless we make good use of pain, unless we exploit it. We make good use of pain, we exploit pain when we take the correct stance.

  

There comes a time when someone feels the great good which comes out of pain and –no matter how strange it may seem– he says: “Nothing else benefits humanity as much as pain”.

  

When we talk about pain, we generally mean sickness and the overall physical decline of man and death. If it hadn’t been for these, we would have been like brutal beasts. Society would have been a jungle. But thanks to them, we get tamer.

  

A Christian is capable of making such good use of every pain, so that he can constantly be in paradise.

  

Know this: When pain will have completed the work it is supposed to do, God takes away. It is not difficult at all for God to remove whichever pain.

  

When we suffer, when a pain insists, let us think like that: “God wants something good to come out of this in me; and I act as if I do not get it. And all I do is moan and groan.”

  

Let there be no complaint, no rebellion, no kicking about. If possible, whichever pain you have, deal with it by saying these words: “Let it be blessed, my God. Whatever You want.” This way our pain won’t get wasted, but will be exploited to the full. We will take advantage of it, and the great good which saves will come to our hearts.

  

When God visits you with sorrows, say: “Thank you, my God. As I had absolutely no intention to embrace a few ugly things, a few pains, and truly follow your path, you caught up with me and gave me a few. How can I thank you enough?”

  

Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications.

Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

(source)

  

Christ healing the Ten Lepers (source)  
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: Are we recipients of God’s compassion?

Icon of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (source)

  

Are we recipients of God’s compassion?

The prodigal son from the first moment realised his mistake, his failure, but he did not immediately return to his father. Instead, he tried managing to live far away from him. Stubbornly, he tried to justify himself. But when he ends up in dire need, this causes him to come back to himself, to think correctly, to repent, and to take courage, the courage to go to his father and to confess everything he feels he did against him. There is always a tendency in man to want to appear honourable before God, having the conviction that he is something. Man must be hit hard, to feel that he is unworthy of salvation.  Man ought to rely οn God, οn the Father’s compassion. Every sinner is saved by the sacrifice of Christ and not by any human virtue of his.

  

When someone passes through the misfortune of the prodigal, when he is vanquished like this and is later found in the arms of God and enjoying his love, he will never leave no matter what. He is happy, because he has found the Father. He stays and tastes of his mercifulness.

  

No matter how much we have fallen, God is waiting for us to return without justifying ourselves, so as to give us all his goods. Today’s parable shows that he who fell greatly, very greatly, is saved, because he repented. He repented and was saved.

  

And so I wonder, are we the recipients of God’s compassion?

  

Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications

(source)

  

Icon of the Parable of the Prodigal Son (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos on Sts. Peter and Paul the Apostles

Sts. Peter and Paul the Holy Apostles (source)

  

5th Sunday of June (June 29th, 2014)

Some main points in the life of the leaders of the Apostles.

   “For when I am weak, then I am strong” :  Behold the great, indomitable, and mysterious power of the Apostle Paul. The spirit of our age is entirely opposite. People think that money, rank, titles, wisdom, and worldly science, are power. The example of the Apostle persuades us that human works are finite, fleeting, sinful and vain, whereas those which are accomplished by divine power are true and everlasting. Divine power resides in people who are insignificant by the world’s standards. But it always works miracles so that the Christian who possesses this power, even while he is poor, he makes rich many others, and even though he has nothing, he possesses all things.

    Let us recall the answer of the Apostle Peter, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You” , when the Lord asked him for the third time: “Peter, do you love me?” Peter was saddened, but his answer is amazing: “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”  And he answers without hesitation, while he should have started to doubt. To say, “For the Lord to ask me again and again, maybe…” Peter, however, doesn’t waver. Peter is true.

    Now let’s you and I stand before God and imitate in some way Peter’s love in our relationship with God. Let’s have this same certainty within ourselves: knowing that the true God, who is entirely loving and compassionate, wants to save each one of us. And let’s approach Him without even the slightest doubt or reservation as to His holiness, goodness, and love for mankind, in which we can have complete trust.

    But maybe the temptation comes that God doesn’t love us. We don’t say it, but deep down our soul lives like this and there we find complaints, reservations, whining. We don’t understand how many things we ruin with God when we adopt such a stance. God wants us to completely believe in His goodness, to completely believe that He doesn’t hold any prejudices; He doesn’t ever show discrimination. This is a fact. And so we too, then, can say: “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”  And we can have the trust that the Apostle Peter had, to whom the Lord finally said: “Feed My lambs, Feed my sheep.” 

Transcribed talks by Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

 From: Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications.

Translated by fr. Matthew Penney

(source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: "God calls all of us and can make each of us a saint..."

Synaxis of All Saints (source)

  

1st Sunday of Matthew 

June 15th, 2014   Bl. Augustine

Matthew 10: 32-33, 37-38; 19: 27-30

‘’The saints make manifest the Holy Spirit’’ 

                A characteristic of the spiritual life is that a person continually makes a new start. He never tires. Fatigue, boredom, despondency, laziness are all human and earthly; they don’t have anything to do with the man of God though. A new day, a new life. A new hour, a new life. Especially today as we close the festal cycle attached to Pascha and start again in some way from the beginning, we should have the attitude that now we are being born, now we are meeting Christ, now we are starting.

                Man tires easily and becomes bored above all when he is not expecting some pleasure from what he does. He becomes active, he comes to life only when he pursues something that pleases him. If he is required to make some sacrifice without expecting to be pleased, then he feels a lack of will, a boredom. His whole self feels heavy. He becomes confused, like he’s not sure what he ought to do. Within him is upheaval.

                 These things are straightforward, though, because we not only have before us the Gospel, but also a two thousand year history, the experience of the Church, and of all the saints. In the Lives of the Saints we find the Gospel put into practice. Studying the Gospel alongside the Lives of the Saints, which saints we imitate, we are not deceived. Why do we become deceived? Because deep within us we want to be deceived. So we are the ones who choose the lie. We think what we think and instead of accepting the truth, we accept a lie. Instead of being influenced by that which is true, we’re influenced by that which is false, illegitimate. The Saints, however, did not do this. What did they do then? Just as Christ, the Son, made manifest his Father, and the Holy Spirit made manifest Christ, so the saints within Orthodox Church make manifest the Holy Spirit, as we observe the fruit of the Spirit in their lives: This is precisely what made them saints, what deified them.

                We are all children of God. God calls all of us and can make each of us a saint, can deify us. Do we want it?

Transcribed talks by Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

From: Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications.

Translated by Fr. Matthew Penney (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos on the Sunday of the Blind Man

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Christ healing the Blind Man (source)

  

5th Sunday After Pascha - May 25, 2014 (John 9: 1-38)

“Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”

  

It doesn’t work this way. We sin, we don’t sin; who’s to blame, who’s not to blame and each of us is what we are. It only matters that the Lord, who is Light, the Physician, is present and is able to heal and illumine our souls so that we can feel and live the reality of our salvation. You’re not able to comprehend, nor express, this reality,  since you’ve never experienced what release means, never experienced healing from sin. You’ve never experienced what it means for God to illumine you, for the darkness within you to flee as the light of God enters.

  

But people today are complicated, multi-faceted, confused, and in one way or another, their souls are layered: layer upon layer of blindness, layer upon layer of callousness, layer upon layer of pride. For this reason they are never healed once and for all. As soon as you take a humble attitude, though, Grace intervenes and works a miracle: you are freed. But the work does not end here. This Grace, this light, this healing that comes proceeds also to the next layer further down. And here the sin is more unyielding, is more strongly rooted, the resistance is uncompromising. If you say, “May it be blessed, My God. I will look even deeper and I will acknowledge my stubbornness and my sin, and will humble myself”, then another miracle takes place. And in some incomprehensible way, the second and the third, the fourth and the fifth layers of the soul are put right. But some people will not accept this. They remain at the superficial layers, and spend their life like this and are never healed.  

Transcribed talks by Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

From: Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications.

Translated:  by Fr. Matthew Penney

(source)

  

Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: "The Cross is glory for Christ."

Jesus Christ crucified (source)

  

Only God knows what every one of us should go through. And not only should we get prepared for it but also look forward to it with joy. Because this is our glory.

  

The cross is glory for Christ. Similarly, for the men of God any given suffering, any given injustice, any given pain for the love of God, is glory, too.

  

At the time when you are treated unfairly, you suffer. You may not be beaten up, but at the time when you are harmed, your soul is in pain. If you are beaten up physically, the pain you suffer may be a lot less than the heartache, the spiritual pain. Still, look forward to this injustice against you with joy and thank God because this is the way man’s soul is glorified...

  

Brethren, I want you to believe me. Some of us may have a “but” inside them; this is no good. You may have the worst of the things, be it hereditary or of a different cause. In the long run, it will be to your benefit, if you take things the right way.

  

If your complaint and tantrum get out of the way, if, these go, and I mean the very fact that you put the blame elsewhere, humility and salvation come.

  

Why do you put the blame of your condition on something else? Because you want to salvage your ego and you don’t even realize it.

  

Some people have been so utterly devastated in this life, that they believe they have no pride. Yet, precisely their stubbornness, their state of non-repentance, their complaint, their conviction that it’s somebody else’s fault, reveals a fierce ego, an ego without humility.

  

As soon as we become humble, as soon as we get rid of whatever grudges we may be bearing, as soon as we repent, salvation instantly comes. Man is saved. These words are true.

   

Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications.

Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

(source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos on Cheesefare Sunday

Icon depicting the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise (source)

  

Great Lent is a forty-day period for us to return to God. Due to our sins, we find ourselves outside of paradise. Realizing this fact we seek forgiveness of our sins. If God forgives us, He will put us in paradise. For this reason, the Gospel reading for today’s divine liturgy highlights the first thing needed: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses,” (Matt. 6, 14-15). Run and do whatever you want. Strive according to your desire. But if you do not look after this very first thing, do not expect your sins to be forgiven. And if your sins are not forgiven, you will not enter into paradise. However much we seek forgiveness from God, that much more must we too forgive others.

  

And, now for the second point. It is impossible to conceive of Great Lent without fasting, as this fasting is a law of God and a law of the Church. During this period, our Lord, and our Church, want us to fast from material foods, but also from our passions, and from our weaknesses.

  

The third point that we, during this period, must pay attention to for our return to be true is: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth … lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” (Matt. 6, 19). When you do almsgiving, when you love, forgive others, think of others, think of heavenly things, of spiritual goods, and of all the things the Lord has promised us –not the earthly things down here–then you gain treasure there. Your heart, then, is there in heaven.

  

If your heart truly desires Christ, it will go towards heaven. From that perspective, we can take stock. Since our hearts do not go towards God  –as if difficulties come to us, and like clockwork there are roadblocks– this means that we love other things more deeply than we love our Christ. This is in accordance with that which the Lords says: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also, ” (Matt. 6, 21).

  

Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications.

Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

(source)

  

Beautiful icon depicting Christ as the Good Samaritan (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: Repentance means a change of mindset

The Baptism of Christ, Holy Theophany (source)

  
Sunday after Theophany (Matt. 4, 12-17, Eph. 4, 7-13)
Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: Repentance means a change of mindset

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Man, and even the very best Christian, has the inclination to order himself interiorly so that he creates a system. From a spiritual perspective this is death, because the system does not allow you to benefit spiritually. Repentance means an overthrow of the system, so that nothing remains standing; it means a change of mind, of outlook, of thoughts, a change of our entire being. We need to leave behind our mindset of “belonging” to ourselves, and living the way we want –in which case our only concern is how to maintain a fake relationship with God– and we must return fairly, honestly, and truly to God.

  
The kingdom of God is not going to come to our souls, nor are our souls going to enter into the kingdom of God, if we do not repent. The point is for the grace of God to begin to flow in our souls. And this can take place within us through the most habitual things. That is, just by saying our prayers: Our Father, Lord have mercy, etc. However, one needs to keep doing, to insist on these familiar practices, until the springs of heaven open. To make a start in repentance means: I will rise in the morning and stand before God as though it’s the first day of my life, but also as though it’s the last. I will stand humbly, in prayer and trusting myself to God, waiting for Him to have mercy on me. And, O the wonder, the hour will come when our souls will open, and we will live the true internal repentance and we will feel what it means to have communion with God.

  

Transcribed talks by Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

From: Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications.

(source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: God sees into the heart of every man

The Parable of the Wedding Feast (Luke 14:16-24) (source)

  
Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: God sees into the heart of every man
(On the Sunday of the Forefathers, The Parable of the Great Supper)
Man goes about his business, minds his family and does not take heed of what God says. All the people who refuse to respond to God’s invitation are not ignorant of God. They are, on the whole, honest people, but their heart is stuck on the things of this world; it’s not given to God. That is why man, right away, responds negatively to God’s invitation. And he does not wonder why the negative attitude, why the negative intention. Being christian, we tend to rest on our laurels but deep down in our heart the old man lives together with his rights, in his own “establishment”, in his own kingdom; under no circumstances does the old man surrender to God. And we let the old man be, and we nourish him.
  

God becomes man and dies of love to us, and still, we despise this love. There is nothing worse than that. This world exists for the salvation of those who wish to be saved. And God lets the world be, until his “house may be filled”[1].

  

And God “forces” some people to enter his house. But how can it happen that God “forces” people? That is not difficult to understand. Don’t we often see it happen with people who had no idea of who God is, who had no plan or intention to find God or believe in God, let alone, reach communion with God? Regardless of these, God who sees into the heart of every man and knows what every man intends to do, finds a way to reach man. So, God meets up with the most indifferent person or even the most negatively disposed one at some crossroads: He allows for something to happen to him and as this person finds himself in a difficult situation, as he is shaken up, he realises that this is God calling for him. As a result, man is “made” to follow the path of repentance, is “forced” to humble himself and respond to God’s call. And he is saved.

  

May God find a way for all of us to be saved. And let this happen whichever way God wants, as long as we are all saved.

[1] Luke 14: 23

   

Transcribed talks by Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

From: Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications.

(source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos: "But, what is God’s will?"

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior (source)

  
Every now and then, some people ask:
“But, what is God’s will? I don’t know the will of God.”
  
What don’t you know? You don’t know, for example, that you should be praying a bit more than you are now? Does somebody really need to tell you this? You don’t know that the little prayer you do should be done with your whole heart? You don’t know that you shouldn’t talk back to someone, shouldn’t talk to him in a way that makes him distressed? You don’t know that you should help him? You don’t know that you should forgive him? That you should tolerate him? Should love him? And should pray for him? You don’t know that you must be patient? And that you shouldn’t get angry?
Do what you know. And God, seeing your sincere disposition to continually know his will, will find a way to make clear to you that which you don’t know, every time.
  
Continually making a new start, doesn’t mean that we will be doing unexpected things. Rather, we will do the things we know, do the familiar things, but with another spirit, another disposition. As we study the whole issue we’ll understand it and we’ll make a new start –today, tomorrow, and the day after; and it is never ending. Neither will anyone ever get tired and say: “I’m tired of making a start”. On the contrary, each day you will feel it within yourself as a necessity to do so. And this will be a witness, a sign, a proof, I would say, that one more piece of your subconscious, one more piece of your unconscious, has come out of the dark basement and is now under your control. At this point you place it under the grace of God and even this is made holy. Whatever is evil, whatever is tarnished, is dissipated and purified by grace, and only your soul remains pure.
  

And so, every particular moment, in every particular instance, remembering that you made a start and that again you delivered yourself to God –as an uncontrolled piece came out from your subconscious, which however now is able to be in your control –you will try to not let this piece conquer you, and to not do that which it urges you to do. But what then? You do that which a saint would do, that which that very hour Christ tells you to do.
  
In this way, in every moment you are inside the will of God and not inside your own will.
-by Archimandrite Symeon (Kragiopoulos), (source)
  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!