OUR VERY OWN PAISIOS

The male and female saints of our Church are not ‘metaphysical beings’. They were human people, men and women who during their lifetime inspired their spiritual children and those around them through the holiness of their lives.

Saint Paisios of Mount Athos is one such person. In this book, people who knew him in his everyday existence talk about particular moments in his life when the Divine Grace was always present, whether joking, teasing, conversing, even during the difficult moments of pain. In the course of a journalistic investigation which lasted almost a year, an attempt was made to convey aspects of the Saint’s personality  and to record unknown incidents in the elder’s life, whose ‘sojourn’ in the world left an indelible mark on the memory and the souls of millions.

The participants are: The Archbishop of Athens and all Greece Ieronymos; Metropolitan Joel of Edessa, Pella and Almopia; Father Philotheos Theodoropoulos; Father Nektarios Kioulos; Yorgos Blatzas; Yorgos Arvanitis; Konstantinos Xenopoulos.

‘Bodily struggles and labours cannot bring us as close to God as can the soul’s affection and philanthropy and love for one’s neighbour.’ 

‘If you want to “get onto the wavelength” of God, so he can hear you, when you pray turn the knob to humility, because this is the frequency on which God functions.”

‘In our epoch, unfortunately, logic has shaken faith and has filled people’s souls with doubt. That is why we have no miracles, for a miracle is experienced, not explained.’

‘Throughout his life man has the right to take spiritual exams. No one is a failure. Let us try to grasp at least the spiritual basics in order to get to paradise.’