Athonite Audio

Part 3

(Part 2) Table of Contents to follow.

St Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite The book St Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite covers the life, work and teaching of St Gregory Palamas and relates them to his identity as a monk of the Holy Mountain. Having first acquired personal knowledge of God, St Gregory Palamas subsequently became an unerring theologian, preacher and teacher of the theology of the uncreated Light, as well as of social justice through practicing Christ’s commandments. Involved in a major controversy with representatives of a legalistic, anti-hesychastic tradition originating from the West, St Gregory Palamas proved that prayer of the nous in the heart and the vision of the uncreated Light is part of the tradition of the Church. The teaching of St Gregory Palamas has made an inestimable contribution to Orthodoxy and is very relevant to our times.

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Part 3

Part 2

This is the first volume of the series 'Spiritual Counsels of the Elder Paisios of Mount Athos'. It is divided into four thematic parts. Each part is subdivided into chapters and every chapter into sections with the approprite subheadings; Part 1 Sin and the Devil Part 2 Modern Civilization Part 3 The Spirit of God and the Spirit of the World Part 4 The Church in our Times The Blessed Elder Paisios was born on 25th July 1924. From the time that he was a child, Elder Paisios lived an ascetic life, and was nourished by the lives of the Saints, whose feats he sought to imitate with great zeal and admirable precision. He practised unceasing prayer, cultivating all along the virtues of humility and love. He led an ascetic life on Mount Athos, in the Holy Monastery of Stomion in Konitsa, and on Mount Sinai in Egypt. He lived in obscurity, giving himself completely to God, and God in turn revealed him and gave him to the whole world. He guided, consoled, healed and granted peace to multitudes of people who sought him. His sanctified soul overflowed with divine love and his saintly face radiated the divine Grace. All day long, he tirelessly gathered the human pain and imparted divine consolation. He is the founder of the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti of Thessalonik, Greece, which he also guided spiritually for twenty-eight years (1967-1994). After suffering excruciating pains, which, as he used to say, benefited him more than the ascetic struggles of his entire life, he fell asleep in the Lord on 12 July 1994.

+ELDER ARSENIOS THE CAVE-DWELLER (1886-1983): Fellow ascetic of Saint Joseph the Hesychast (Part 2)

Elder Arsenios the Cave-Dweller is a biography and spiritual handbook about the co-struggler of Elder (Saint) Joseph the Hesychast of the Holy Mountain. The book is written by Monk Joseph Dionysaitis of the Holy Mountain. "I must confess that for Elder Arsenios, the Gospel words, "Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no guile!" are relevant. He was naturally straight-forward, simple, offenseless, meek, obedient; a rare struggler, who possessed nothing. For Elder Arsenios, his yes was always yes, and his no, no. He never harboured resentment, no matter how he was wronged. He never got angry; he never hurt anyone. He lived obedience with precision. That is why, through obedience and his unwavering faith in his Elder, he lived in a way that surpassed the laws of nature. During vigils, he began the night labouring excessively by kneeling thousands of times and then remained standing until morning." (Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi)