Contemporary Testimonies of the Vision of God on the Holy Mountain

By His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos 

of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The title of this chapter indicates that it will be concerned with the vision of the uncreated Light in the human nature of the Word, whom the Disciples saw on Mt. Tabor, but it suggests that there will be special reference to the vision of God which is attained by the Hagiorite fathers who live the ascetic life on the Holy Mountain. The event of the Transfiguration did not happen just once in history. Of course this particular event took place once, because Christ wanted to prepare His Disciples to face the Passion and His Cross with faith, but it is repeated and experienced by the deified in all ages. The holy hymnographer prays to God: "Make Thy eternal light shine also for us sinners".

Orthodox Monasticism

A new Book by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos

Available from St John's Bookstore

Orthodox Monasticism is the latest translation of the work by

Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos. In Part 3 of the book, the 

section on "The Mystery of the Cross in the Monastic Life" 

p.368 to 369, Metropolitan Hierotheos writes a moving tribute

to Elder Sophrony of Essex and his disciple, Archimandrite

Zacharias Zacharou,

“Remember thy First Love”

Archimandrite Zacharias (Zacharou) 

Book Review Professor of Theology at the University of Thessaloniki Georgios I. Mantzaridis

Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, Publisher: Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist 2010 - ISBN: 1874679738.

Elder Sophrony: Every Divine Liturgy is a Theophany

We Orthodox live Christ within the Divine Liturgy, or rather Christ lives within us during the Divine Liturgy.

The Divine Liturgy is a work of God. We say: “Time is a creation of the Lord”. Among other things it means now is the time for God to act.

Christ liturgizes, we live with Christ. The Divine Liturgy is the way we know God and the way God becomes known to us.

Christ celebrated the Divine Liturgy once and this passed into eternity.

His divinized human nature came to the Divine Liturgy. We know Christ specifically in the Divine Liturgy.

The Divine Liturgy we celebrate is the same Divine Liturgy which was done by Christ on Great Thursday in the Mystical Supper. The 14th through the 16th chapters of the Gospel according to John is one Divine Liturgy.

Klaus Kenneth talks about Elder Sophrony Klaus Kenneth, author and musician, in his interview in Pemptousia talks about his acquaintance with the Elder Sophrony of Essex (1896-1993)

Klaus Kenneth talks about Elder Sophrony

Klaus Kenneth, author and musician, in his interview in Pemptousia talks about his acquaintance with the Elder Sophrony of Essex (1896-1993)

The Orthodox Understanding of Salvation

by Dr Christopher Veniamin

Dr Christopher Veniamin just published his essay on the

Orthodox understanding of salvation in the teaching of

St Silouan the Athonite and Elder Sophrony of Essex.

It is available in digital form in Kindle format.

This is a very important subject and Dr Veniamin manages 

to explain theological concepts with ease. He writes,

"There are, described in this passage, four stages of love, the

fourth and highest of which is that which is attested to by the

penetration of Divine Grace into the body, into the very marrow

of a person's being. And this is identified by Saint Silouan as the 

highest state of holiness. 'He who feels grace in both soul and

body is a perfect man, and if he preserves this grace, his body

is sanctified and his bones will make holy relics.'

As with Christ's voluntary death, in which it was not possible for

the Body of the Logos of Life to see corruption, and which was 

thus raised together with His human soul on the third day, so too

will it be with the bodies of those saints which have known great

grace in this life, and who have been able to preserve it. They too,

even after death, are not separated from the grace and love of 

God, neither in soul nor in body, and hence their bodies are 

revealed as holy relics." Kindle location 226 of 341.

Двадесет година од упокојења архимандрита Софронија (Сахарова)

11. јула 1993. године, на дан преподобних Сергија и Германа,  валамских чудотвораца, у 97. години окончао се земни живот схиархимандрита Софронија (Сахарова).

За многе име о. Софронија постало је познато по књизи ”Старац Силуан”, чији је он аутор. Преподобни Силуан – атонски подвижник нашег века, блажени старац, био је духовни наставник о. Софронија кога је Константинопољска Црква 1988. године прибројала лику светих.

Заиста, “чудесна су дела Твоја Господе”: преподобни Силуан упокојио се 1938. године, 24. септембра (по новом календару, 11. по старом), такође на дан сећања на преподне Сергија и Германа Валамских.

На двадесету годишњицу упокојења преподобног оца Софроније представљамо једну од његових беседа: Пут ка уподобљености Богу

Transforming Psychological States into Spiritual Ones

Dr. Christopher Veniamin: 

July 08, 2013 

Dr. Christopher Veniamin is Professor of Patristics at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary and a spiritual son of Elder Sophrony Sakharov, a spiritual giant of the 20th century. He earned his M.A. in Theology from the University of Thessalonica and went on to receive his D.Phil. from Oxford University, under the direction of Metropolitan Kallistos Ware.

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Any Thought Expressed in the Holy Scriptures Can Become a “Burning Coal”

Archimandrite Zacharias:

Any thought expressed in the Holy Scriptures can become a ‘burning coal’ that will touch the heart as it touched the lips of Isaiah.

That is why we should always study the word of God and have it dwelling richly in our heart, as St. Paul says (cf. Col. 3:16).

It is easy for grace to ignite one of these thoughts at the time of prayer, and then we have one verse from the Scriptures to pray with for a long time. And the Holy Spirit prays with us because this particular word is given by him.

Archimandrite Zacharias: Prodigal Sons

The great tragedy of our times lies in the fact that we live, speak, think, and even pray to God, outside our heart, outside our Father’s house.

And truly our Father’s house is our heart, the place where “the spirit of glory and of God” would find repose, that Christ may “be formed in us”.

Indeed, only then can we be made whole, and become hypostases in the image of the true and perfect Hypostasis, the Son and Word of God, Who created and redeemed us by the precious Blood of His ineffable sacrifice.

Archimandrite Zacharias on 

"DEFEATING SIN"

This attractive exposition of current, yet timeless, anthropological issues is distinguished by its clarity of vision and originality of expression. As the book unfolds, it becomes increasingly evident that the unbroken Tradition of the Church is the sole key to understanding God’s revelation to man. Because the author has so firmly placed his trust in the holiness of this Tradition, his thinking, both creative and inspired, elucidates the charismatic character of the way of salvation which leads to the renewal of life. His doctrine issound, and it will surely prove to be of great value in informing and convincing the heart of modern man about God’s truth.

-- Archimandrite Zacharias (Zacharou) of the Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist in Essex, England.

Click here to listen to Fr. Zacharias's talk from Ancient Faith Radio (MP3 download.) 

Remember Thy First Love

February 19, 2013 Length: 13:53

Nicholas Chapman reviews Remember Thy First Love: The Three Stages of the Spiritual Life in the Theology of Elder Sophrony by Archimandrite Zacharias, published by the Stavropegic Monastery of St. John The Baptist

.

The Cultivation of the Heart by the Grace of Mindfulness of Death

 The Grace of Mindfulness of Death

In the book, “Christ Our Way and Our Life”, Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou writes about many of the stages of the spiritual life, including, remembrance of death. He is an Archimandrite in the monastery of St John the Baptist, in Tolleshunt Knights near Maldon, Essex in England. Archimandrite Zacharias spent decades under the spiritual direction of Elder Sophrony of blessed memory, whom, we know, was himself the disciple of St Silouan the Athonite. Here are some passages from his book;

"Considered within the whole mystery of Christ, death is transformed into a challenge on a sublime and metaphysical level, which inspires ‘repentance unto life’, and mindfulness of death proves to be a gift of the Holy Spirit…The purpose of his (man’s) pre-eternal destiny is the acquisition of eternity as an inalienable possession. ..If life comes to a definitive end with death, it has absolutely no meaning. Awareness of our mortality poses the problem of eternity without accepting concession to anything except God. The grace of God, which seeks out the lost sheep wherever he may be, is able to provoke man'seizing him by the throat’, and intensifying his quandary by bestowing a mindfulness of death, which – according to the experience of Fr. Sophrony – proves, as scalding as a ‘mass of molten metal’. The remembrance of death, when it takes the form of awareness of eternity in a negative form, is a remarkable ‘calling’ of man to his pre-eternal destiny to become á ‘partaker of the divine nature’ (2 Pet.1:4). This remembrance, which is activated by the grace of God, is a spiritual phenomenon entirely set apart from the natural or psychological knowledge that man is mortal. Charismatic mindfulness of death is a reality of another order, ‘non-earthy, incomprehensible’. It visits man with sovereign might and prepares him to accept the revelation of the Living God. In his heart a new interior sensitivity is born, which changes his spiritual outlook. It is a spiritual state, which assist man, who is as yet unable to contemplate God, in his quest for eternal truth.

Human Relationships in the Light of Christ

Archmandrite Zacharias 

"Human Relationships in the Light of Christ", talk given by Archimandrite Zacharias in the Orthodox Christian Church in Edinburgh, on 8th of November 2012. 

Archimandrite Zacharias (Zacharou) is a spiritual Father at the Monastery of St John the Baptist in Essex, UK. He is a disciple of Elder Sophrony Zacharov, one of the most significant Orthodox Elders of our times, himself a disciple and biographer of St Silouan the Athonite. Based upon the authentic spiritual legacy of Sophrony's, Fr Zacharias has written some of the most important books on Christian spirituality available today.

Fr Zacharias Zacharou on

 "The Prophetic Gift'

Fr. Zacharias (Zacharou) Source

Archimandrite, Ph.D.

Archimandrite Zacharias, Ph. D., is a disciple of Elder Sophrony 

(of blessed memory), who was a disciple of St. Silouan of Mount

Athos. 

Presently, Fr. Zacharias is a monk in the Monastery founded by

Elder Sophrony: The Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of 

St. John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights by Maldon, Essex, England.

The publication of Fr Zacharias' lectures is perhaps one of the most

significant events in the life of the Orthodox Church in the twentieth

century. The lectures are available in both audio and printed form.

Please go to Mount Thabor Publishing to purchase this indispensable

spiritual talks.

The Way to Christ is Within and Through the Heart

The way to Christ is within and through the heart. If we desire to meet the Lord Jesus Christ and have communion with Him we must first purify our nous and our innermost being, our heart, and and in this way prepare a holy habitation for our Lord.

Fr Zacharias Zacharou, that blessed disciple of Elder Sophrony of Essex, explains in his book, 'The Hidden Man of the Heart' p.1,

Edited by Christopher Veniamin Mount Thabor Publishing 2008;

"All the ordinances of the undefiled Church are offered to the world for the sole purpose of discovering the deep heart (Ps.64:6) center of man's hypostasis (person). According to the Holy Scriptures, God has fashioned every heart in a special way, and each heart is His goal, a place wherein He desires to abide that He may manifest Himself.

Archimandrite Zacharias:

A Heart as Wide as the Heavens

 Friday, Oct 23 2009 

No matter how daunting and difficult the struggle of purifying the heart may be, nothing should deter us from this undertaking.

We have on our side the ineffable goodness of a God Who has made man’s heart His personal concern and goal.

In the book of Job, we read the following astonishing words “What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? And that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him? And that thou shouldest visit him every morning, and try him every moment…” (Job 7:17-19).

Archimandrite Zacharias: 

Discovering the “Deep Heart”

Monday, Oct 26 2009 

All of the ordinances of the undefiled Church are offered to the world for the sole purpose of discovering the “deep heart”, the centre of man’s hypostasis.

According to the Holy Scriptures, God has fashioned every heart in a special way, and each heart is His goal, a place wherein He desires to abide that He may manifest Himself.

Since the kingdom of God is within us, the heart is the battlefield of our salvation, and all ascetic effort is aimed at cleansing it of all filthiness, and preserving it pure before the Lord.

Fr Zacharias Zacharou 

on the Life & Teaching of St Silouan 

 

Archimandrite Zacharias, Ph. D., is a disciple of Elder Sophrony (of blessed memory), who was a disciple of St. Silouan of Mount Athos. Presently, Fr. Zacharias is a monk in the Monastery founded by Elder Sophrony: The Patriarchal Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights by Maldon, Essex, England. 

Christ, Our Way and Our Life – 

A Presentation of the Theology of 

Archimandrite Sophrony

By Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou

- Reviewed by Emmanuel N. Stamatiou 

1. About the Author 

A member of the Patriarchial Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist, England, founded by his spiritual father and translator of Elder Sophrony’s writing from Russian into Greek, Father Zacharias Zacharou holds degrees in Theology from the Institute of St Sergius in Paris, France, and the University of Thessalonika, Greece, also receiving the degree of Doctor of Theology from the latter institution for his work on the Theology of Elder Sophrony.

Apart from his extensive theological qualifications and studies, Father Zacharias was blessed to become a disciple of Elder Sophrony who was the spiritual child of St Silouan the Athonite. Consequently, Father Zacharias inherited the rare and precious spiritual gift of teaching the Word of God, an authentic word, inspired by those contemporary spiritual giants.

Through God’s grace, and the counsels and prayers of his sainted spiritual father, and his own ascetical labours, Father Zacharias has himself adorned the hidden man of his heart with the spiritual knowledge and wisdom which is incorruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, and his teachings will be easily discerned to be living, fruit-bearing branches firmly attached to the True Vine rather than the dry-withered branches of mere theoretical speculation.

2. About Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov

Born in Moscow in 1896, he left Paris in 1925 and first settled in the Monastery of St Panteleimon on Mt Athos where he formed a close bond with St Silouan (1866 – 1938), in whose person he saw clearly portrayed the authentic dimensions of Christian life.

In 1947 he left Athos to return to France, and in 1948 he published in Russian the manuscripts entrusted to him by St Silouan before his death, having added some biographical information and an extensive analysis of the saint’s teaching.

In 1959 he founded, in Essex, England, the community which was to become the Patriarchial Stavropegic Monastery of St John the Baptist where he fell asleep in the Lord on 11 July 1993. Father Sophrony was endowed with many gifts of the Holy Spirit. The most impressive was the living Word of God which he grasped through prayer and carried on his heart.

3. About this Book

Those who have not read many or any works of the Holy Fathers may find sections of this book difficult to understand because of the choice of theological words and language. However, Father Zacharias’ explanation of Elder Sophrony’s theology is relatively straight forward if the reader is not frightened away by words such as:- Hypostatic Principle, “Perichoresis”, “Kenosis”, etc.

Briefly, Father Zacharias interprets the Sophronic theology as follows:-

Archimandrite Zacharias: 

Prodigal SonsSunday, 

Nov 1 2009 

The great tragedy of our times lies in the fact that we live, speak, think, and even pray to God, outside our heart, outside our Father’s house.

And truly our Father’s house is our heart, the place where “the spirit of glory and of God” would find repose, that Christ may “be formed in us”.

Indeed, only then can we be made whole, and become hypostases in the image of the true and perfect Hypostasis, the Son and Word of God, Who created and redeemed us by the precious Blood of His ineffable sacrifice.

Great Books on the Spiritual Life

Christ, Our Way and Our Life

by Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou

Description:

An examination of the theology of Archimandrite Sophrony. Some of the eight chapters include: The Mystery of the Ways of Salvation, The Path of Hesychasm, Prayer as the Fulfillment of Creation etc. Translated from the original Greek by Sister Magdalen. 275 pages.

Table of Contents

Archimandrite Zacharias (Zacharou) 

“Remember thy First Love”

18 November 2012

Professor of Theology at the University of Thessaloniki Georgios I. Mantzaridis

Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, Publisher: Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist 2010 - ISBN: 1874679738.

To the always impeccable series of publications from the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Baptist, in Essex, England, has been added another exceptional book, inspired by the late Elder Sophrony and written by his beloved spiritual child and the person who is continuing his work, Archimandrite Zacharias. This book sketches the three stages of the spiritual life, on the basis of the theology of Elder Sophrony.