My beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,
Early this morning (Nov. 15), our Lord Jesus Christ called the soul of His true servant, PAVLE, Patriarch of Serbia, into His Kingdom. As I was reading names during the Proskomide for the Holy Liturgy, one of the sisters brought me a little note as to His Holiness having fallen asleep.
At first I was startled by the news. I had only met this holy Hierarch once, but he made an everlasting impact on my life. As I read the Holy Gospel of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, I could not hold back the tears; once I came to the Lord describing how the Samaritan had deep compassion of the wounded man, and how he took him the Inn and placed him in the care of the Innkeeper. St. John Chrysostomos tells us that the Inn is the Church, and the Innkeeper represents the Holy Bishops. Indeed, my brothers and Sisters in Christ, Patriarch Pavle is a living ikon of the Christ-like Innkeeper, who cares for all the wounded souls in need of healing and forgiveness.
On July 22, 2001, I had the sacred honor to co-celebrate the Holy Liturgy with Patriarch Pavle, when he made a visit to Pittsburgh. Never before have I met a Hierarch so totally focused on worshipping the Holy Liturgy! It was as if I were in the presence of Christ Himself! When, during the Great Entrance, and the serving priests were assigned to carry the miters of the several Hierarchs, this sinful priest rushed to grab the one of the holy Patriarch. I cannot describe in words what joyful sadness I experienced within my heart: joy, because I held the crown of a saintly Bishop; sorrow, because of the realization that I was filled with sin and unworthy to have literally seized His Holiness’ Miter from the Holy Altar Table.
At the end of the Holy Liturgy, His Holiness offered a homily in Serbian. Although I have absolutely no knowledge of the Serbian language, the Patriarch’s words caused spontaneous tears to flow from my eyes to such a great extent that I began to sob! I know that those Spirit-filled words, which were totally unintelligible to my brain, brought healing and living Water into my wounded and parched soul!
During the meal that followed, I went up to His Holiness (who has a Theological Degree from the University of Thessalonike in Greece) to greet him on my Spiritual Father, Geronta Ephraim, and Gerontissa Theophano and her Sisterhood. After blessing me, His Holiness patted my sinful head; and my heart overflowed with joy!
I think that one of the main reasons that I wept during today’s Gospel, was from recalling a story that someone had recently told me — an event in which the Samaritan’s holy compassion was incarnated by the words and actions of His Holiness. When he was the Bishop of Kosovo, he was brutally and severely beaten by a young Muslim man. So intense was this beating, that the frail Bishop almost died; and was in the Hospital for a few months. Upon his dismissal from the Hospital, the then Bishop Pavle went to the prison where the young man was incarcerated. He told the one who had almost killed him that he felt he needed to go home to his parents; because they needed him!
Then he called the warden of the prison and demanded the young man’s release. When the warden refused, Bishop Pavle told him, ‘I have nothing against this young man; and I will not speak against him. Therefore, you must release him now!’
What true Christ-like love, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ — love which bore a very special fruit: the young man was soon Baptized into the Orthodox Faith!
From that glorious day in the Summer of 2001, I have entreated the Patriarch’s holy prayers everyday! Now that his soul is in Paradise, may our All-Merciful Lord Jesus grant him the grace to be His Good Samaritan to all of us — healing the wounds in our souls, and giving us the grace to – at least in some small way – become vessels of compassion to our wounded brothers and sisters.
BLESSED PATRIARCH PAVLE, PRAY FOR US!
Sinful priest, +Demetrios



Someone asked an old man…How is it that some say, ‘We see visions of angels’?” And he replied, “Blessed is he who always sees his sins.”
“In the same way, faithfulness to the tradition and the dogmatic teaching of the Church means not only that the right formulations of terms are not altered, but also that our lives are altered and renewed by the truth and regenerative power latent in those terms. Then man acquires senses and is able to see; he becomes conscious of the deeper meaning and value of the Orthodox faith as a force in life.” From
“The Orthodox (Julian or “Old”) Calendar, with corresponding civil dates. A complete Calendar of Orthodox saints, Scripture readings, and fasting guidelines for every day of the year, together with a listing of uncanonized righteous ones of recent centuries. Numerous saints and righteous ones have been added to this year’s Calendar.
“This is first ever English translation of one of Maximus’ most significant contributions. Maximus the Confessor (580-662) was a monk whose writings focused on ascetical interpretations of biblical and patristic works. For his refusal to accept the Monothelite position supported by Emperor Constans II, he was tried as a, heretic his right hand was cut off, and his tongue was cut out. A major theologian of the Byzantine Church, St. Maximus is venerated in both Eastern and Western Christian traditions. Despina Prassas’ translation of the “Quaestiones et Dubia” presents for the first time in English one of the Confessor’s most significant contributions to early Christian biblical interpretation. The original work is believed to have been written before 626 while the monk was a member of a community located near Constantinople. The text is a series of 239 interrogations and responses addressing theological, philosophical, ascetical, spiritual, and liturgical concerns. In his work, Maximus the Confessor brings together the patristic exegetical aporiai tradition and the spiritual-pedagogical tradition of monastic questions and responses. The overarching theme is the importance of the ascetical life. For Maximus, askesis is a life-long endeavor that consists of the struggle and discipline to maintain control over the passions. One engages in the ascetical life by taking part in both theoria (contemplation) and praxis (action). To convey this teaching, Maximus uses a number of pedagogical tools including allegory, etymology, number symbolism, and military terminology. Prassas provides a rich historical and contextual background in her Introduction to help ground and familiarize the reader with this work. As the first focused study of the “Quaestiones et Dubia”, this important book will appeal to the growing audience of readers interested in Maximus the Confessor and, more broadly, to scholars and students of early Christianity, early Byzantine monasticism, and patristic biblical exegesis.”
“Christ the Savior Himself stressed the great significance of the podvig of prayer and fasting when His disciples found themselves unable to cast out demons from an unfortunate boy who was possessed. He told them clearly,”This kind (of demon) goeth not out save by prayer and fasting” (St. Matt. 17:21). Interpreting this passage in the gospel narrative, our great patristic theologian-ascetic, the hierarch Theophan the Recluse asks, “May we think that where there is no prayer and fasting, there is a demon already?” And he replies, “We may. Demons, when entering into a person do not always betray their entry, but hide themselves, secretly teaching their hosts every evil and to turn aside every good. That person may be convinced that he is doing everything himself, while he is only carrying out the will of his enemy. Only take up prayer and fasting and the enemy will immediately leave and will wait elsewhere for an opportunity to return; and he really will return if prayer and fasting are soon abandoned” (Thoughts for Each Day of the Year, pp. 245-246).
“If sometime, then , in a serene night, you gaze up at the ineffable beauty of the stars, you can form an idea of the creator of the universe, who has embroidered the sky with these flowers, and how in what you see neccessity takes form of the delightful: again , during the day, if you consider the wonders of the day with sober thought, and from what you see form an idea of what is invisible, you will become a hearer, fit and made ready for the fullness of this solemn and blessed theatre.”- St. Basil the Great