An atheist reborn in the Orthodox Church (6) [Un ateu renăscut în Biserica Ortodoxă]

Something many unbelievers will hardly ever understand from outside the only One Church of our Lord Jesus Christ is how matter is sanctified by His Resurrection… how any little particular grain of dirt can have a a spiritual meaning, as it can remind us of the Lord Himself, the Theotokos or His Saints. Because “being created by God, the Logos, matter is, in its innermost core, God-longing and Christ-longing” (more about the Orthodox view upon matter: here and here).

There’s a great mystery in this, unapproachable by our contemporaries enslaved by consumerism, where everything can be bought for ‘the right price,’ then ‘consumed,’ and, ultimately, thrown away. Those poor people who are senselessly fighting their own nature, replacing ‘being themselves’ with ‘having for themselves’ (as many vain things as possible that we will all lose the day we die!) cannot understand the pricelessness of sanctified matter in Orthodoxy. They, who buy and sell all the possible crap, would deem as fetishism, foolishness, and definitely as something irrational my friend Dionysios’ love for bits of nothing. But these nothings (in the eyes of these seculars that have blinded themselves with their pride!) are bits of matter that has been sanctified by a touch of grace, by the Holy Ghost Himself, and the Saints that the Lord keeps chosing to work miracles through.

In his ordinary house in Peacehaven (East Sussex), Dionysios gathered little drops of this great mystery of Orthodoxy, of how sanctified matter can work upon one’s soul. And I might have not witnessed visible ‘miracles’ (why should we believe that all miracles should be visible, whilst our soul is invisible?!) after sharing to people little Filaktas of St. Dionysios of Zakynthos that my friend gave me, but I saw what he told me I would see. I saw people joyfully receiving these tokens of St. Dionysios. Some knew of this saint, some didn’t, but no one told me I was crazy – exactly as my friend had said to me that no one would do so.

My friend has got cloth that covered St. Dionysios’ relics or St. Edward’s bones; he cherishes nuts from the very nut tree where his beloved Saint stopped to eat a few; he has wax used to seal the Holy Grave in Jerusalem before the Holy Light (Holy Fire) miraculously appears every year; he grows olive trees from Nazareth and Zakynthos, while a sweet smell of incense can be felt all over his house… At times, and according to no logical rule (but the Lord knows each of our souls, to whom to reveal His greatness through His Saints!), some people can inspire the divine smell of St. Dionysios…

In a room like a little church, the timelessness and sanctity of Orthodoxy is at home in a generally secular East Sussex (a county with an interesting approach to religion, albeit purely secular). Almost every object has a spiritual meaning or it reminds my friend of a beautiful Holy Place where he has once been to. Dionysios surely hasn’t had what today’s world would consider a ‘happy life,’ and all the treasures he gathered in his house are surely nothing that today’s robbers should seek after – however, he has found all the richness of Orthodoxy, that can give meaning to any grain of dirt.

Dionysios from Peacehaven was dead, and he’s now alive, he surely had a pointless existence for many years, but now he’s holding on to the only meaning of our existence – being with Jesus Christ, and hoping to earn a place near Him forevermore. He may not have much to live for now as well (some would judge!), but the way he lives for the little treasures he gathered, and for sharing them with the world gives him a most meaningful life. My friend Dionysios may be a ‘nobody’ to this world’s standards (no wealth, no career, no ambition, no grand goal or achievement – that this shallow world require of a man), yet he is a meaningful man whom I feel blessed to call my friend.

Since I am so unable to keep up the rhythm of my vivid correspondence with my English friend (along with many others), I am thanking him here for having shared with me some of his treasures. Glory to the Lord for the day he approached me (January 20th, 2008) with his amazing story. It’s always refreshing to know that the Lord does change the lives of people, their view of the world and everything within their inner selves exactly like He did almost 2,000 years ago! I myself am an example, Dionysios is another, this blog has kept mentioning at least a few others, and I thank the Lord that, throughout 2008, He has made me live me among this different (but so real!) kind of people who have discovered Him, the Truth.

It’s none of our merit, there’s nothing to boast ourselves with, it’s all God’s work and priceless gift to us, but I am saying it over and over again (to my secular friends, and to anyone who might come across this blog): unless there we weren't giving that 0.00001% of free will from our part, the Lord couldn’t give His 99.99999% share in order to change our lives. There’s no predestination, it’s just a ‘take it or leave it’ kind offer that our Lord makes to us until our very last breath: he who wants to know Him, can surely do so…

[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]

An atheist reborn in the Orthodox Church (5) [Un ateu renăscut în Biserica Ortodoxă]

“What’s the connection between the above picture and St. Dionysios?” – anyone would be entitled to ask. Well, that tree that my friend Dionysios is looking at in his garden in Peacehaven is an olive tree brought from the very pathway towards which St. Dionysios directed his brother’s murderer to escape those who were pursuing him. And let no one dare say to me that olives can’t grow in East Sussex (in the southernmost part of England), when I touched such fruits here myself! Obviously, there weren’t any olives in this very young (about six years old) tree but it was plenty of them in the other tree big olive trees that Dionysios has in his garden.

Maybe outside the Orthodox world the uniqueness of a tree brought from a particular place in Zakynthos island makes no sense, yet I am convinced that those who try to live their lives as they should within this only One Church of our Lord Jesus Christ would understand what a profound meaning all these apparently insignificant things can have. For all of you - believers and nonbelievers - here is another little story of whose truthfulness my friend Dionysios is sure of, since a trustworthy person (his Greek godfather) told it to him.

In August 1953, a sequence of three massive earthquakes rattled Zakynthos (whose tourist attractions can be seen here), leaving most of its buildings in ruin. In the village where Dionysios’ godfather lives, two young boys were missing. The searches through the ruins were to no avail, and, after a week of efforts, it was decided that a memorial service would be held for the boys. Amazingly, during the service, someone brought two boys that had just been found. They were exactly the two children thought to be dead by then. The boys said that a wardrobe had kept them safe among the rubbles, which is not an uncommon survival scenario after earthquakes. However, everyone’s amazement grew further when the little survivors said that: “an old man dressed in black brought us food and water but he only gave us vegetables.”

A few days later, on August 24th, when the summer procession for St. Dionysios is being held (there is another one on December 17th), the family took the boys and went to thank the Lord by paying homage to the Saint. When the boys saw the body of the Saint, they instantly recognized him, saying “That is the man who came to bring us food, it was him.”

Time and again, the Lord intervenes miraculosly, through His beloved saints, in our lives – if only all of us would believe what He’s been saying for the past 2,000 years! And one could never judge but feel very sorry for those of us ready to believe any nonsense (enslaved by the sick “I only believe in myself” kind of mentality), and not the witnesses offered by children who would have no reason for making up such a story. Oh, my Lord, why am I so tempted to believe that, at least very often, those who don’t believe children's encounters with saints, and dismiss what they say as mere stories are probably those who refuse to believe that unborn children are living beings and murder isn’t justified under any circumstances? For the prayers of St. Dionysios, please have mercy on Thy world!

[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]

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 St. Dionysios' slippers), 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]

An atheist reborn in the Orthodox Church (3) [Un ateu renăscut în Biserica Ortodoxă]

My friend Dionysios insists on correcting several aspects about the story of his rebirth into the true life of the Orthodox Church, as well as to give his personal assessment of the popular stories circulating about St. Dionysios. And I - the humble writer who definitely bear the responsibility for what I am writing, although I fully heartedly say that none of my mistakes were intended - can only bow to his kind request. I also thank him, for this yet another proof that he's only interested in telling the truth about an extraordinary experience. He doesn't want to leave any unclear aspects of his story, nor is he keen on adding unecessary spectacularity to it.

Firstly, concerning his personal experience, Dionysios finds relevant to mention that he had actually kissed the Saint's feet, not only laid a hand on his tomb, which is not always kept locked. On the contrary, upon the request of Orthodox believers, the tomb can be opened for them. Then, although I didn't actually say something else citing from memory, Dionysios wants everyone to know the literal answer of the hegumen to his godfather. The hegumen had said: "Saint Dionysios has already told me to give him one (slipper); it is waiting for him".

Dionysios also praises the Lord's name for what keeps happening to him ever since he began telling his amazing story to various people. Therefore, nothing than his words to me could put it more clearly: "For some it just brings great joy to see that what they believe is true. For some who don't have faith it maybe plants a seed; if they will allow it, God will nurture that seed to bear fruit. For some it just seems an amazing story; for those people I don't know what is does for them but there is still a reason that God knows. The strange thing is that in a country where many laugh at any form of religion, I have never yet told the story to anyone that laughed at me and said 'oh, you're crazy'. Everybody, whatever their level of faith, listens with great interest. This is all God's work, not mine!"

Secondly, Dionysios insists that the world should know that all sources in Zakynthos confirm the way his patron saint forgave and hid the murderer of his brother, with the sole amendment that the brother was not a monk himself. Then, our Orthodox Briton was himself overwhelmed with stories about the "walking saint," a reputation he can't personally confirm, nor outrightly deny. My friend only knows that neither he, nor an Archimandrite (who spent 50 years in the monastery that holds the Saint's remains, and whom Dionysios asked about these stories) have ever seen traces of seaweed or something similar at the Sanit's feet. The slippers are changed regularly in honour of the Saint, but not because they are worn thin. However, although there are no witnesses confirming that the body ever actually disappered from the tomb, there are frequent claims from many people that St. Dionysios appeared to them. I for one will never deem all these people crazy, and I am sure Dionysios would't say it either. It's just that my friend wanted very much to say only what he experienced on his own or what he has been directly told, so that nobody would imagine that there is anything made-up in his story.

As for the fact that the Orthodox Church really recognizes Dionysios as a son of Hers, here's his story appearing on the Website of the Antiochian Orthodox Deanery of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Even that story is incomplete, since Dionysios would afterwards find out more about the Saint whose name he now bears. On the same page, there's a link to images from Dionysios' Baptism, on May 13th, 2001. Ultimately, I can only say to those unfamiliar that the Antiochian Orthodox Church is in full communion with the rest of the Orthodox world, and it shouldn't be confused with the Syriac Church. The latter split from the Orthodox Church in 451 A.D., by refusing to accept the decisions of the Holy Fathers reunited at the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon.

[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]

An atheist reborn in the Orthodox Church (2) [Un ateu renăscut în Biserica Ortodoxă]

Of a truth, the life of our British Orthodox brother would never be the same after that short, maybe unspectacular (in terms of those X Files kind of paranormal phenomena sought after by the entertainment-focused society of nowadays), yet definitely life-changing experience. As for why the Lord chose St. Dionysios to bring an atheist from England to Orthodoxy, only He knows precisely. However, all the things that my new friend can humbly bear witness of have striking resemblances with what countless people have experienced throughout the past centuries, up to these very days - St. Dionysios miraculously helps people in various ways!

As I am sure that my new friend would like the world to know more about his patron saint, not his ordinary existence in Peacehaven (east of Brighton, the place in East Sussex were the Greenwich Meridian leaves the British territory descending southwards), here's a little story that proves why our Lord would so quickly yield to this particular saint's prayers.

It is said that once a man came to St. Dionysios dwelling place (certainly an ascetic one), and begged to be hidden from his pursuers. The saint offered shelter to the chased man but wanted to know why he being hunted like a feral beast. The man said that he had killed a monk, who was no other than Dionysios' beloved brother. Upon hearing this, the saint kept all the grievance for himself, and when the pursuers of the murderer came, he offered them wrong directions, so that they would go away. Later on, the man burdened with such a terrible sin would himself repent and become a monk, so that St. Dionysios lost a brother, in this passing world, but eventually gained another one here, along with the hope of rejoining his blood brother in the Kingdom of God.

For this and many other proofs of true Christian love, ever since the saint's death, his prayers have been changing many peoples' lives. Even today, in the island of Zakynthos he has the reputation of the "walking saint," who pretty often leaves his tomb to help those in need. Every time the monks open the tomb of the saint, dust, grass and seaweed are found at his feet, while his slippers are worn thin, and actually need to be repalced regularly! No matter how unbelievable this would seem for the skeptical world, even scientists asked for a piece of the saint's body just to get a rational explanation (oh, this reason, humanity's idol for the past centuries!) about the stories circulating about this "walking saint." To the scientists' shock, they saw living cells under the microscope, in which what was supposed to be an extraordinarily well-preserved piece of human tissue but, nevertheless, dead tissue!

This is what my Dionysios from UK tells me, but some other stories about the saint's miracles are already online, while the most can only be collected through firsthand experiences on Zakynthos island in the Ionian Sea. My British Orthodox brother also told me about the miraculous way in which he even got one of the Saint's slippers. His godfather asked from the hegumen who takes care of the saint's church for a slipper, knowing that it was an extremely daring request, as many Orthodox believers from all over the world try hard to get pieces from St. Dionysi0s' shoes or garments. Amazingly, the hegumen's answer was something like "How could I possibly not give a slipper to this man, since the Saint himself told me to do so?..."

Who still doesn't believe any of the above, and doesn't see them as overwhelming evidence but mere stories, I can only say this - go to the Greek islands of Zakynthos, Aegina or Kephallonia, go to Mount Athos, go to Father Arsenie Boca's tomb at the Prislop Monastery (Hunedoara county, Romania) or go to the Orthodox Easter in Jerusalem! Even today, the Lord has kept many places like the above (and many others) where He can prove even to the most stubborn of nonbelievers that He is Who the Orthodox Church says He is!

[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]

An atheist reborn in the Orthodox Church (1) [Un ateu renăscut în Biserica Ortodoxă]

Praised be the Lord's name, for here I am beginning to post in English (a language that I am quite often more comfortable with than I am with my mother tongue :) with that kind of story one man comes across once in a lifetime. The man in the image, Dionysius, is a former atheist, former Anglican, and present day son of the one and only Church of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Orthodox Church, whose unworthy son I am myself. Never among the dozens of fascinating people I met in the five countries that God blessed me with seeing in just the last five months (Portugal, USA, Belgium, Spain, UK + stopovers in Holland, Germany and Italy) have I talked to such a man.

May our beloved Mother of God help through the story of this Orthodox brother any of my friends and acquaintances who keep asking "how did you become such a devoted Christian (just how devoted - that's only for the Lord to know!) for the past year?", since She never leaves even the weakest of our prayers unanswered! So here's my humble attempt of telling the story of this man, after having received his permission to share it with whoever may access this blog.

Several years ago, this man had reached the sad conclusion that there is no god whatsoever (no to mention the Holy Trinity Whom he now worships), while all the teachings of the Church of England (that he was only nominally part of) were a lie. He was a complete atheist. And who, among those of us who boast ourselves with a lukewarm faith, could judge him, as belief in God is declining rapidly all over the UK? The figures I offered a link to in a previous post were even optimistic compared to the newer ones that can be checked here or here. Faithlessness is a terrible wound of nowadays world (especially in this lovely country :(, yet none of us, the Orthodox believers, should dare judging the nonbelievers!

Then, after his mother died, this atheist was astonished with his feeling of an unexplainable urge to light candles in her memory - but nowhere else than in Orthodox churches! He hadn't had anything to do with the Othodox world before. And he still wasn't convinced that God exists by that time. Later, he would one day reach the Greek island of Zakynthos, where not mere relics but the entire body of Saint Dionysios (1547-1622) is being kept in a church bearing his name. He didn't even want to spend his holidays in that place, but once he found out about the fame of the Saint who keeps making miracles throughout the Orthodox world, he just said to himself "I have to see this". And probably like him then, millions of us would say the same, before realizing that one should say "see him", since any saint is a living man!

The moment our atheist from the UK touched the locked (yet viewable) tomb of the Saint, his life changed. His body began to shiver, as he felt struck by a sort of "hammer in the head" (as he recalls it), and also by an unequalled blissful feeling. He burst into tears, and weeped like never before in his life, holding on to this thought "I simply can't get out of this church and not believe..." All the rest of his story - about how this man took the Orthodox Baptism, and now bears the name of the saint who brought him back to life - is worth many other blog posts for which I pray the Lord to make me able to write.

[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]