“May the righteous be remembered forever…” (Psalm 111:6)
INTERPRETATION: The righteous man, for his virtuous and humble life, is rewarded by God with eternal renown and glory...
Today, December 5 - at the dawn of Saint Sava's Day - 40 years ago, the childlike soul of a Mount Athos Elder, 'Grandpa Matthew', passed away into the eternal Light... at the age of 84, after an ascetic life of almost 7 decades in our Monastery. An "athlete of patience..." who distinctly bore "the scars of the Lord Jesus" [ 1 ] on his much-tortured flesh! Both from his voluntary ascetic feats... and from the involuntary 'divine' trials of his health, which he endured magnanimously for many decades, for the Love of Christ, with holy ascetic patience and holy martyr's perseverance...!
On the eve of his departure, after the Vespers, seeing 'grandfather' (as we called him) a little down... I had asked the Abbot of the Monastery to come to his cell for an 'autopsy'. 'Grandfather' had full self-awareness and was perfectly communicative towards his environment (personal surroundings), he simply seemed exhausted due to lack of food, because for many days he had been unable to swallow... except for a little tea. The Abbot, when he saw him, decided that the Monastery could not offer him anything more, and decided with the Elders of the Monastery that the next day (Feast of Saint Savvas) he would be transferred to a hospital in Thessaloniki, so that he could be provided with better and more complete treatment.
When the Abbot announced this decision, Father Matthew began to cry bitterly… saying between his sobs: “Father, please, don’t send me out! I haven’t left the Monastery for 67 years, I don’t want to leave now either, at 84…” The Abbot, adamant, told him: “It’s not possible… Grandfather Matthew, we can’t take care of you properly here anymore, we have to take you to the Hospital! Unless… you beg the Virgin Mary to take you to Her tonight… to avoid the hospital!… However, if you are still on earth tomorrow morning… we will call a helicopter to take you!…” The ‘grandfather’s’ eyes suddenly sparkled with joy… that was it! How had he not thought of it…?! He would beg THEOMANNA to take him before dawn... so he could 'save' himself from the suffering of the hospital!
As soon as the Abbot left, 'grandfather Matthew' closed his eyes and sank into a complete prayerful silence... and a short while later, suddenly -Voilà- the... death rattle (!) began, which lasted all night! I lay awake next to him, uncoiling my prayer rope in favor of his holy soul, for a few hours. Then, I retired for a little rest, in view of the midnight worship in the Catholicon of the Monastery, but while sleeping I often woke up from worry... to check on the 'condition' of my grandfather. Thus passed the whole night, including the midnight-evening common worship in the Catholicon of the Monastery. Shortly after the end of the Divine Liturgy... and before the sun rose on December 5th, his holy soul - a childlike soul, all fresh... in an old, decrepit body! - flew high...
I notified the Abbot and all the Monks to come and greet him. Then, 2 Grand Monks, assisted by the undersigned, washed his ascetic body - a spotless body, spotless... as if it were an infant's! - they put on the Grand Shroud, anointed the relic... and wrapped it in his robe. Then, 4 Monks carried it to the Church (Catholic) of the Monastery, where the Gospel began to be read immediately... [ 2 ] so that in the afternoon, before the vespers of Saint Nicholas, it would be ready for the Exodius service and burial. The weather was snowy... and the flakes were falling thickly, but everything flowed with a deep sense of Easter joy... 'dancing' in the snowstorm and in our hearts!
How can one not admire this 'attitude' of a sick old man... who, while suffering and suffering excruciatingly, threatened by imminent deterioration, refuses to submit to the illness of nature... and to accept the hospital care and relief that was offered to him! And in fact, he consciously chose, between the 2 options given to him: departure for the world... or departure for the supermundane..., the second 'bitingly' (!) without any hesitation or doubt about this preference! Or, how can one not admire the power of the 'grandfather's' prayer and the immediacy of the prayerful result...: that is, to begin a death rattle... immediately after his prayer, while there had been no symptom of imminent death up to that point, but it arose unexpectedly!
The 'grandfather' served daily for 55 consecutive years, up to 2 weeks before his holy repose. Despite the weak ulcers on his feet (carelessly, by his ascetic choice!), which he had bandaged with cloths, instead of clean bandages, and which caused him unbearable pain, as worms 'grazed' in his wounds (of course, with his blessing!)...! I served him, as a novice monk, for a whole year from my entry into the Monastery, until he fell asleep. Thus, I had the opportunity of a continuous immersion in his bright "life and state", so that I could carefully 'study' his spiritual virtues, within the unpretentious and unassumingly humble 'unfolding' of his behavioral everyday life!
I silently admired his Humility towards everyone, big and small… even towards me, who was the youngest in age (23 years old) in our small brotherhood, although he himself was the oldest (84 years old) among us! Every time he happened to pass by me or I passed by him, he would bow deeply… saying “Bless me… father”. And when I once complained that with this (bow) that he did to me, the novice and the young… he was putting me in an extremely difficult position, he replied: But… I, my little child, bow before the… ‘image of God’ (!) that I see in the face of another… [ 3 ] and I have an obligation to respect it and worship it…!
Seeing his brave perseverance... I silently bowed to the 'Jovian' Patience of his sufferings, from the wounds he had along the entire length of his thighs, wounds that remained for years untreated medically/pharmaceutically... from the 'martyr' choice of patience, from his love for Christ! I was controlled conscientiously by his non-negotiable ascetic conduct that was disproportionate to his senile weakness, and I tried to imitate him... but I couldn't! At the same time, I recorded the wisdom of his measured words, as well as his 'homilical' silence... which, combined with his incessant mental/heart prayer (a fact betrayed by the incessant 'hissing' of the JESUS PRAYER on his lips...), subjected the 'observer' to an awe of embarrassed admiration...!
Despite his 84 years and the many ailments accumulated on his body, he never asked for… and rarely accepted any of our care for his personal care. He was so dignified that he refused to be cared for by others (not out of senile strangeness – that was unknown!) although he politely thanked us every time we wanted to take care of him in practical matters (errands and services…) of his daily life. And if he ever (rarely) asked us to help him with something, he would 'repay' us with so many and so rich WISHES… that we 'wondered' who would serve him, so that he could reap the benefits, from us young (at that time) Monks!
This year, therefore, instead of a 'souvenir' to his venerable memory, I will quote some of the precious PEARLS of divine wisdom, which I had heard coming out of his senile mouth, rejoicing my soul, but also putting my poor mind to the test of wondrous wonder, as to "whence came this man... and what wisdom is this given to him...?" (Mark 6:2)! Because, with 'grandfather Matthew' exactly what happened happened that always happens with the Saints of God: The simplicity of their words, when you hear them speak to you, 'overshadows' the wisdom of the meanings that unfold before you, in a way of "sophisticated foolishness" [ 4 ] that... transfers to another moment in time the revelatory understanding of their divine wisdom...!
One morning, when, as Archontaris (responsible for hospitality), I had taken his coffee to his cell, along with a loukoumades and a 'thimble' of raki, I asked him for an 'antidoro': Grandpa, tell me something... to sweeten my soul, because today I am very bitter from temptations...! And this blessed one, who rarely spoke, offered this refreshing word to my thirst: My child, when you get tired... to put aside the many and keep the few... the most necessary, until you get stronger again... and then to continue with the many. The 'most necessary' in our life... are 4 things! Of these, 2 we must remember... and 2 we must forget! And with this mental work within us... we fill in many gaps!
…No matter how tired or sad we may be, at some point in our lives… it is necessary to always REMEMBER: a) all the BAD things we did to others… and b) all the GOOD things others did to us… And on the contrary, to always FORGET: a) all the GOOD things we did to others… and b) all the BAD things others did to us…! Thus, we always have joy and peace in our soul! Because, remembering all the BAD things we did to others… leads us to Self-Reproach and Repentance! While, remembering all the GOOD things that others did to us… makes us Grateful! On the other hand, by forgetting the GOOD things we did to others… we become Humble! While, by forgetting the BAD things that others did to us… we become Forgiving and Unforgiving!
At that time, I did not realize the enormous conceptual depth and breadth of his Gerontikos speech, which sounded to me more like… a light ‘wit’ of human consolation… than like a precious gem of divine wisdom. So, I thanked him, asked for his blessing and left to continue my ministry. In the afternoon, free from obligations, ‘remembering’ spiritually one by one the words of the Gerontikos speech… I was amazed and perplexed…! Because, truly, through their concentrated wisdom and simplicity, the words of ‘grandfather Matthew’ expressed ‘condensed’ in a single phrase the four capital Christian virtues (Repentance-Eucharist-Humility-Forgiveness) ‘summarizing’ our entire spiritual struggle in Christ…!
May the Host of the Heavenly Kingdom - Lord Jesus Christ - sweeten the soul of 'grandfather' in the LIGHT of the Evening Day...!
REFERENCES-FOOTNOTES
[ 1 ] “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Gal. 6:17)!
INTERPRETATION: Since my 'crucifixion' with Christ, I bear in my body the marks of the 'nails' of the trials that He grants...
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[ 2 ] According to the Athonite tradition, in front of the tabernacles of the deceased Athonite fathers… if they are monks, the entire Psalter is read without interruption, in a continuous flow. However, if they are hieromonks, the entire Gospel is read in the same way (without interruption) in a continuous flow.
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[ 3 ] This phrase: “Have you seen your brother? Have you seen the Lord your God!” is historically attributed to Saint Dorotheos of Gaza, and means that the other, our fellow man, constitutes a living ‘image’ of God! According to Orthodox Christian teaching, people are created “in the image and likeness of God”, and the reverent love that we owe to our brothers is in essence an expression of love and respect for God himself! Because, the other man who bears the ‘image’ of God… is godlike, and therefore reverent, regardless of any spiritual state of his…!
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[ 4 ] "Christ-like foolishness" is a 'unique' spiritual phenomenon of the Orthodox East, where certain people (the 'Christ-like fools'...) show the world a behavior that looks, from a little... to a lot, like 'madness'... (while in reality it is divine wisdom, disguised...)! The 'Christ-like fools' themselves choose to appear as 'fools', while they are in a high spiritual state, and enjoy God's Grace and enlightenment abundantly! They pretend to be foolish (commonly... they sell madness!) in order to hide their virtuous life from the eyes of the world... so that they can, in this way, move freely, disreputable and invisible among the crowds, performing miracles and revealing God's truths...!
