An atheist reborn in the Orthodox Church (4) [Un ateu renăscut în Biserica Ortodoxă]

My brother in Christ from Peacehaven (East Sussex), Dionysios, is a living proof not only that Jesus Christ has never ceased caring for the humble creatures for whom He died on the Cross almost 2,000 years ago, but also that all those who keep perorating about "these outdated saints, and the fairy tales around them" are wrong.

Far be it from me ever to dare saying that these people are somehow blamable, more sinful or guiltier than any of us, the Orthodox believers; I am just saying that they are utterly wrong to reject the idea that our Lord listens to the prayers of his beloved saints, who, in their turn, listen to our prayers. And St. Dionysios can prove this to anyone who, open-heartedly, may visit his church in the Greek island of Zakynthos.

Moreover, once a man is completely reborn into a new life with Christ, he gets to witness how God changes the lives of those around him or those he merely has brief encounters with.

This is not something to boast oneself with, and of course that there is not a single trace of something like this in the passion Dionysios puts in telling his story. However, there is a continous state of amazement that our Orthodox Brit is living in, as he sees how the Lord directs him to speak to particular persons about his experience.

One such person is the unworthy I, and how could have Dionysios known that less than five days before meeting him I had opened this blog, and that I would write about him, so that dozens of people all over the world could read about his conversion from atheism to Orthodoxy?

As for his coming back to life out of the meaninglessness of atheism, why did his conversion took place particularly in the Orthodox Church, and not other denomination, if so many nowadays believe (most of them sincerely - again, I'm not judging anyone!) that all Christian congregations are the same?

It's just another of God's ceaseless miracles, that follows many instances when Dionysios offered small Filaktas (tiny paper-wrapped parts of garments that covered St. Dionysios' relics), only to hear those who received them telling how this small gift changed their lives, either by helping them solve what seemed unsolvable problems until then or bringing them more confidence in the Lord.

[For all the episodes of this series, and all the posts on this blog go to/ Pentru toate episoadele din această serie şi toate postările de pe acest blog mergi la: Contents/Cuprins]