St. Paisios the Athonite
1Referring to political matters: “Vote for whoever you see is the best, whoever loves God and the homeland more, vote for that one.”
He often referred to national issues. He told us not to have trust in politicians. He repeatedly told us about the City, that we will take it, that they will give it to us. Something will ignite between the Turks and the Russians, and the Russians will come down and take the City. Afterwards, whether they want to or not, they will give it to Greece. We will be spectators in that war.
When I asked him: “How will we manage the City with so many people it has?”
He said: “Do not worry, there are very many inside the City who are not Turks, as you think, and they will cooperate with us. Not many Greeks will be needed to ‘run’ the City. Many of them are crypto‑Christians.”
2“You must know,” said the Elder, “that none of the other nations love us as a people. All of them plot against us. Know also that those who say, or want to show, that they love us a little, these are the ones who want and seek to crush us greatly. The others, who do not love us, want to wipe us out as a nation.”
3“Did you see what happened to Ceaușescu in Romania? God makes them foolish, and after they become a laughingstock, then they meet their end. The same happened with Albania, and the same with our own here. He first allows them to be disgraced.”
4Later, I visited the Elder together with a friend of mine, an air force wing commander, around late October 1993, and I expressed to him my concern about what is happening in our homeland because of those governing.
The Elder replied: “Do not be afraid. God will not allow evil to happen, but things and wonders will occur that cannot be explained logically. People will grow disgusted with them and will chase them away. Just as a balloon inflates and suddenly bursts, so will they burst! I cannot tell you more.”
5We often discussed national issues. He told me: “Do not be afraid, do not be distressed. Nothing is going to happen, they are not going to harm us. But even if they do harm us, they will find themselves in a much worse state than we will. Christ loves our homeland. He will not leave us like this.” He always had faith and hope that all our national issues would gradually be resolved in favor of our homeland.
6Then I took courage, because of the national sentiments that distinguish me, I love this homeland very much, and I said to him: “Some Greeks make the mistake of saying ‘the lost homelands,’” Elder. Advise them to say, “the enslaved homelands or the unredeemed homelands.”
He embraced me again. He was so patriotic. He was so radiant, so enlightened. I say these things and I am moved, I shiver. His face was shining.
“Thank you very much,” he said to me, “for speaking like this. Few Greeks emphasize these things. They are not truly lost homelands, lost are those who say such things!”
I tell you these words exactly as this holy man said them to me.
7- “Elder, in Patras two months ago there was an earthquake! A strong earthquake, even the churches cracked!”
“So it shook you well! But did it wake you up?”
- “It woke us, it woke us, Elder!”
“But you will fall asleep again.”
- “Yes, yes, Elder.”
“And here one sees the compassion of God. He turns the dial up to five, He does not turn it higher. He could turn it to twelve and nothing would remain standing. He turns the dial only to the point where it will benefit. God could make all people repent within three minutes, if He turned the dial, let’s say, and made an earthquake across the whole earth. Immediately everyone would cry ‘I have sinned, I have sinned,’ and they would make prayers and vows. But after a week… they would run again to the nightclubs.”
8Dimitrios: “Are these, Elder, signs of the times?”
Elder: “Signs, signs of the times, do you not see? One must be an ox, forgive me, not to understand with all that is happening… Many of the holy Fathers would wish to live in our era, because it is an era of confession. The times are difficult, but we do not understand it. We sleep with our tsarouchia on. Soon they will ask about Christians, just as they once asked about political beliefs.”
Nikolaos: “Will they make a file on us, Elder?”
Elder: “Ah, bravo! Files.”
Dimitrios: “Elder, will Greece suffer harm?”
Elder: “Greece has passed through many storms; it has been greatly wronged. But they will be storms! Greece will not suffer anything, because God loves her. In Asia Minor we have many holy relics. We will take Hagia Sophia, and the gate will open. No one knows this gate… Let us see what will happen, though, what will become of the minarets afterwards?”
Nikolaos: “We will demolish them!”
Theodoros: “We will make them bell‑towers, Elder!”
Elder (joking): “No, they will become pillars for stylites, and prayer‑ropes will hang down from them all the way to the ground!”
9“God tolerates us as a nation, not because of our goodness, but because we have the true faith (Orthodoxy). Thus, even though everyone hates us, God does not allow us to suffer anything bad.”
10The second time I met him was at the Monastery in Souroti, where I went to see him. We discussed national issues. I told him: “Father Paisios, I am of the opinion that Greece will regain everything it has lost: Northern Epirus, the Macedonia of Skopje, Eastern Rumelia, Constantinople, Asia Minor.”
As he was lying on the bed, he said to me: “Come, my child, let me kiss you.” I leaned down, he kissed me, and I kissed him on the cheek as well.
Then he said to me: “I wanted nothing else. If only God would keep me alive a few more years, so that I could see my homeland enlarged. It will be enlarged, but do not expect war. It will be enlarged without a single Greek nostril bleeding!”
11I also asked him whether Greece would suffer harm. He answered that there would be some problems, but they would be insignificant. And many people who are indifferent today will return to the realm of Orthodoxy.
“Do not worry about Greece,” he said.
As we were leaving his cell, he told us again: “Go with the blessing of the Panagia, and do not worry. Cyprus will be liberated within the years we are walking, and Turkey will be partitioned. All countries have their problems, but for us there is no problem. Hope in God and faith. Go in peace, my children.”
12Together with my family we visited the Elder at the Monastery of Souroti. He always gave us his blessing and courage, even though he was in a difficult condition health‑wise. He never lost his calm and serenity, and he strengthened our morale. Regarding the difficult situation of today’s era, he told us: “Do not be distressed, my children. God loves Greece and the Greeks very much. Even if only a few remain faithful, counted on the fingers of one hand, God will protect Greece.” Because many things happen from time to time with our neighbors to the east, when we asked him how we would escape this dead‑end, this permanent threat, he told us not to be distressed and that the final outcome would be in favor of the Greeks. Because we are refugees in origin, we asked him more specifically about Constantinople. He told us that we will take the City. He said it and he believed it. You could see it in his eyes. We may lose at first one or two small islands, but the final outcome will be in our favor. Of course, he did not specify exactly when, but he used the expression: “The time is very near.”
13Once, I had gone to the Elder with a friend of mine, and there we met a group of five young men. Then I asked the Elder what developments he foresaw regarding Turkey. “Elder,” I said to him, “we are from Alexandroupoli. Might the storm hit us over there?”
He answered: “Look. The Turks will not enter Alexandroupoli. They will only make one provocation against Greece, which will be related to the territorial waters. And we will be struck by hunger. Greece will go hungry. And because this storm will last for some time, months, ‘we will call bread a bun.’”
At this point I asked: “What will we do? Will the Greek army take part in this war?”
“No,” he said. “The government will issue a decision not to send troops. It will keep the army only at the borders. And it will be a great blessing that we will not take part. Because whoever takes part in this war is lost… Then, because people in Greece will be afraid, many will turn toward the Church, toward God, and will repent. And because there will be repentance, the Greeks will not suffer harm. God will have mercy on Greece, because people will turn toward the Church, toward monasticism, and will begin to pray. And many Turks will be baptized. Then, King Constantine will contribute, as an intermediary, to the City being given to Greece. He is devout, he is good.”
Another time I had gone to the Elder’s cell, and it happened that inside was a young former Muslim from Thrace. I approached him and said: “How did you happen to come here, to the Elder?” His name was Stavros. “Ah,” he said, “sit and I will tell you. The Elder worked a very great miracle for us, and my whole family believed. Afterwards he came to the village and took care that we be baptized.”
And on another visit of ours to Panagouda, the Muslim who had been baptized as Stavros was present. Then again the Elder told us about the events, how they would unfold regarding Constantinople. And when he reached the point where Greece would suffer and said that hunger would touch us, Mr. Stavros said: “Elder, should I keep a sack of flour so that I can face that period and my children do not go hungry?” “No,” he said to him, “do not take any, because your neighbor will have flour and will give you!”
That is, the Elder foresaw who would help Mr. Stavros during the period of hunger. He, of course, will live in the village. Now we who live in the cities will call bread a bun. For this reason, another time the Elder said: “Have a small piece of land and cultivate it a little. Near you, you will also help someone who will not have.”
14On matters of the homeland, he did not want Christians to be indifferent. He was saddened to see spiritual people seeking only to secure their own comfort and not caring for the homeland. His sorrow and wonder was how those responsible did not understand where we were heading. He himself had long foreseen the present situation and was worried, but he did not spread his worries among the people. He said: “From the evil that prevails today, great good will come.”
He was saddened by the spiritual decline of the citizens. He spoke strictly about those who voted for anti‑Christian laws. He was saddened by the change of the language and said: “The next generation will bring Germans to teach us our language, and our children will spit on us.” He wrote in a letter: “Those who abolished Ancient Greek will bring it back again.”
All these excerpts were translated by The Holy Wisdom. Below you will find all the relevant sources of the words of St. Paisios the Athonite.
Testimonies of Pilgrims, Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924–1994), Volume 1, page 71.
Excerpts from the book A Chosen Vessel by Hieromonk Christodoulos the Athonite.
Excerpts from the book A Chosen Vessel by Hieromonk Christodoulos the Athonite.
Testimonies of Pilgrims, Zournatzoglou, 2006, pages 425–426.
Testimonies of Pilgrims, Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924–1994), Volume 1, pages 87–88.
Elder Ioakeim, Holy Skete of Prophet Elijah, Testimonies of Pilgrims: Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924–1994), 2nd Edition, page 445.
Father Paisios Told Me, page 142.
A Chosen Vessel, by Hieromonk Christodoulos the Athonite page 219.
Elder Paisios, page 253.
Martis Georgios, Thessaloniki, Testimonies of Pilgrims: Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924–1994), Volume 1, page 287.
Lamaris Dimitrios, Paphos, Cyprus, Testimonies of Pilgrims: Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924–1994), Volume 1, page 297.
Antonios Orfanos, Lieutenant Colonel, Thessaloniki, Testimonies of Pilgrims: Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924–1994), 2nd Edition, page 426.
Mavrokefalos Anestis, gymnast, Alexandroupoli, Testimonies of Pilgrims: Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924–1994), 2nd Edition, page 434.
Life of Elder Paisios the Athonite, page 699.