Πραγματοποιήθηκε στον Ιερό Μητροπολιτικό Ναό του Αγίου Νικολάου Κοζάνης εκδήλωση προς τιμήν των Τριών Ιεραρχών παρουσία του Σεβασμιωτάτου Μητροπολίτου Σερβίων και Κοζάνης κ. Paul, of
Διευθύντριας Δευτεροβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης κας Παπαδοπούλου Δέσποινας και του Διευθυντή Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης κου Παπαευαγγέλου Αθανασίου.
Ο Διευθυντής του Μουσικού Σχολείου Σιάτιστας κος Κουτσογιώτας Χρήστος
εκφώνησε επίκαιρο λόγο με θέμα <<Οι Τρεις Ιεράρχες, the illness, The
πόνος και οι δοκιμασίες της ζωής>>, στον οποίο ανέφερε περιστατικά από
τη ζωή των Τριών Ιεραρχών που δείχνουν τον τρόπο που οι άγιοι
αντιμετώπισαν τις δυσκολίες αυτές.
Ο λόγος ήταν αφιερωμένος σε πέντε
κληρικούς της περιοχής που αποδήμησαν εις Κύριον το τελευταίο χρονικό διάστημα.
At 30 January honors three of the greatest forms of orthodoxy, the great fathers of our church.
The three hierarchs are considered fathers.
Greater than natural fathers.
Natural fathers give us <<the life>>, the three hierarchs the <<good life>> and <<eternal life>>. Gregory the Theologian is considered the patron saint of Greek education, Basil the Great and John Chrysostom.
The topic of the speech due to topicality is <<the three hierarchs, the illness, the pain and trials of life>>.
The talk is dedicated to five clergymen I know, who dealt bravely, faith and patience the disease and emigrated to the Lord in the last period of time.
This is the blessed metropolitan of Kastoria, Mr. Seraphim, τον αγωνιστή ιεροκύρηκα της ιεράς μητρόπολης Σερβίων και Κοζάνης πατέρα Αυγουστίνο, his spiritual and great ascetic in the Holy Monastery of Gregory Mount Athos, Father Panaretos, the philanthropic pope Vassilis of Geraneia Siatista and the meek and humble hieromonk Father Christoforos of the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity Sparmos Olympus.
In our lives, pain and joy are always together. This is called in ecclesiastical language <<joy>> the <<crucifixion>>.
Christ himself told us that <<in the world you will have sorrows but have courage, I defeated the world>>.
But how did the three hierarchs deal with the pain and trials of life?;
The great Basil writes to his friend doctor Meletios <<Constant fevers weakened my body so much and weakened it to such an extent, to think that I myself am thinner than myself…
So. I feel as exhausted and weak as a cobweb. That's why I can't walk… I have to stay in one room all the time, closed. And to wait for spring… If the master saves me I will hurry to meet you and hug you with all my heart.
Just pray that my life will be arranged according to that, which is best for my soul>>.
The sick saint, who left this life in old age 49 years ago he faced his illness with patience, prayer, giving priority to the salvation of the soul and having left himself with perfect confidence in the hands of God.
Founder of the first public hospital in the world, he treated the patients, especially the lepers, with the medical knowledge that he had, strengthening them mentally..
How much the saint loved the lepers, which society until modern times saw as a miasma and isolated them in special places.
Saint Gregory the Theologian describes his condition. <<I am very bitter. I do not have the Kingdom. I do not have Caesarea.
My death took away both my spiritual and my fleshly brother. I sing sadly with David. My father and mother are leaving me. My physical health is in poor condition. Aging weighs on me…
Friends are lost. The things of the church are apocalyptic. The good was lost. You dare the evil ώ I am in pain for my illness but I am also happy. I rejoice not because I am in pain but because I can be a teacher of patience and courage in others… In my sufferings I gain patience and the mood of thanksgiving to God. I thank him for my illnesses, as for the pleasures of my life.
The cross is heavy for Saint Gregory. Spiritual and Physical. Mental pain is much greater than physical pain.
But the Saint in his great pain also feels something paradoxical for many. He feels joy because as the modern Saint Paisios says "If man touches the bitterness of his pain in the sweet Jesus, its bitterness and drugs are changed into honey ".
The Saint with his fervent prayer finds consolation in his soul. Thank God for everything, even for his trials, because he knows as a great Theologian the word of the Apostle Paul: "What we suffer during this life is in no way comparable to the glory that will be revealed and given to us.".
The third hierarch, Saint John Chrysostom is facing incredible trials. What comes to mind. May the Saint conquer the hearts of the people with his words and deeds, however, he angered Empress Eudoxia with his control sermon, rulers and politicians, resulting in exile.
His exile lasted more than three years, his health was shaken, as they forced him to walk many kilometers every day under bad weather conditions. Exhausted by the many hardships and seriously ill he died on the way to exile praising God.
The long-suffering Saint faced with great courage and patience the great trials because he received strength from his great faith, which is a source of patience and mental heroism.
It is noteworthy that through his great ordeal, finds the courage to support his student Deacon Olympiada, which was very sad for his exile. He writes to her: "Do not despair, Well, you are welcome. Because Olympias one is the awesome, one the temptation, sin only.
Everything else is a myth, or slander, or insults, or categories, or confiscations, or exiles, or sharpened swords.. Whatever they are, they are indeed temporary and perishable, occur in the body and do not harm the alert soul..
I did not stop saying either, nor will I cease that one is the only sad one, the sin. Everything else is dust and smoke ".
So they were all three Hierarchs of weak wine in the body, but mighty in spirit and fearless. They defeated the heretics, clashed with power, when the Orthodox faith was in danger and when they saw injustice. They had a huge philanthropic and writing work. But they were never proud of their achievements, nor for their offices, except for their illness by practicing the greatest virtue, humiliation.
What would the church be without Athanasios the Great?, the Great Kingdom, Saint Gregory the Theologian, St. John Chrysostom;
Today, due to the pandemic, the gloom of fear covers the whole world, the Orthodox faith is thrown, science often replaces Theology, deifying herself, freedom is restricted, education has lost its true message, the optimistic message sent by the Three Hierarchs is as relevant as ever. God's providence will not leave humanity.
Not enough, Nevertheless, to praise only the three Hierarchs. We need to imitate them and stand guardians and guards of the Church, of Orthodoxy, of education, of the new generation.
Koutsogiotas Christos, Theologian
