The Seer by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos **New Book in English**

from Birth of the Theotokos Monastery Publications

Product DetailsAuthor: Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos
Language: English
Dimensions: 16.5X24
Pages: 336
weight: 750 gr.
Current Edition: 1η
Year of Publication: 2014
ISBN: 978-960-7070-83-8
Price 17 Euros

The Seer is available from Mount Thabor Publishing

"The Seer describes the life and work of the Prophet Samuel,
called ‘the Seer’ and ‘the man of God’ by his contemporaries,
who lived in the period of the Old Testament and is a saint of
our Church.

The author examines the fascinating life of the Prophet and
uses events from it to illustrate the relationships between
parents and children, spiritual fathers and their disciples, and
rulers and those they rule in a theological perspective.

Early chapters focus on Hannah and her prayer, and discuss
prayer in the heart. The Prophet was a son born by God’s good
pleasure and sanctified from his mother’s womb. The miraculous
nature of his birth demonstrates that the conception of a human
being is the action of God’s grace, and that children are God’s gifts.

There are practical comments about bringing up children in the
Church, prompted by the account of Samuel as a child in the
Temple.

Later in the book there is a specific chapter about Samuel’s sons
and the reasons why children from devout families sometimes
rebel and take the wrong path, as they did.

The Prophet Samuel received revelations from God and possessed
the spiritual gifts of clear sight and seeing into the future. There is
a detailed discussion of what exactly these charismas are and for
what purpose they are bestowed by God.

The Holy Spirit was at work in the Old Testament, and there is a
compelling account of how Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit when
anointed by Samuel, although he later lost this gift completely. The
chapters on Saul’s sins, which seem superficially not to be serious,
but were in fact so grave that they caused God to ‘change His mind’
about him, are thought-provoking. As a spiritual father, the author
is able to understand Samuel’s profound grief over Saul’s fall and to
describe it.


The book draws to a close with the anointing of David as king and
Samuel’s death. The final pages look at the Prophet Samuel and
the Church and include extracts from the service sung in his honor.

The author summarizes Samuel’s four great virtues as his purity,
his obedience to God’s will, his lack of resentment, and his love for
the people, which also found expression through his grief at their
mistakes. Samuel never grieved God at any point." Source

Prayer before Reading Scripture by St John Chrysostom

Byzantine 11th-century soapstone relief of St. John Chrysostom,
Museum of The Louvre, Paris, France Source

Prayer before Reading Scripture Source

O Lord Jesus Christ open Thou the eyes of my heart, that I
may hear Thy word and understand and do Thy will for I am
a sojourner upon the earth.

Hide not Thy commandments from me, but open mine eyes
that I may perceive the wonders of Thy law.

Speak unto me the hidden and secret things of Thy wisdom.

On Thee do I set my hope, O my God, that Thou shall enlighten
my mind and understanding with the light of Thy knowledge,
not only to cherish those things which are written, but to do them;
that in reading the lives and sayings of the saints I may not sin,
but that such may serve for my restoration, enlightenment and
sanctification, for the salvation of my soul, and the inheritance
of life everlasting.

For Thou are the enlightenment of those who lie in darkness, and
from Thee cometh every good deed and every gift. Amen.

My Elder Joseph the Hesychast by Elder Ephraim of St Anthony's Monastery in Florence, AZ

My Elder Joseph the Hesychast
by Elder Ephraim

The book is beautifully bound and delicious to read. I was
particularly moved by the fact that many great elders
were living at the same time in the Holy Mountain of Athos,
and they knew about each other!

In pages 133 to 134, Elder Ephraim writes,

"While they were wandering around the Holy Mountain in search of

holy ascetics, they heard about an exceptional ascetic at the Russian

monastery of St. Panteleimon, Fr. Silouan (known to us today as

Saint Silouan the Athonite). Elder Joseph asked Fr. Arsenios:

'What do you say! Should we go and see this ascetic?'

Fr. Arsenios, however, declined politely. The reason was because he

spoke Russian fluently (since he had grown up in Russia) whereas

Elder Joseph did not. Fr. Arsenios did not feel comfortable with the

idea of talking while his elder listened, so they did not go. What an
amazing genuine worker of obedience!

Nevertheless, St. Silouan's disciple, Elder Sophrony, heard about

Elder Joseph and found him on his own. Elder Sophrony visited

him frequently because he had great reverence for him. He later

said that Elder Joseph was one of the greatest ascetics of the

Holy Mountain he had ever met. In a letter of his, Elder Sophrony

wrote the following about their meeting;

'I wanted to hear the words of this bearer of great grace. He

spoke to me primarily about the hesychastic life of a hermit and

that he himself had seen the Uncreated Light several times. My

discussion with Geronda left a deep impression on me...I had

the impression that I had in front of me a spiritual general.' "

Please read below the description of the book from the

St Anthony's Monastery Bookstore website;

This is the most complete biography of Elder Joseph the Hesychast.
The book contains the very personal account of Elder Ephraim telling
the life of his Elder Joseph the Hesychast, whose holiness made him
one of the most influential monks on the Holy Mountain in the
twentieth century. Many of these fascinating stories have never been
published before, including delightful anecdotes about Elder Joseph’s
brotherhood, moving accounts of his spiritual struggles, insightful
spiritual counsels from his deep wisdom, and amazing miracles.

The book includes dozens of black&white and color photos


English. Hardcover. 706 pp. Size 5.75 x 8.75 in.
ISBN 0-9667000-8-2.
Published by St. Anthony's Monastery.
The book is available from St Anthony's Monastery Bookstore

The Day of Kings

My nephew Diego is fascinated by a Nativity scene, on Jan 2014

In Spain and some Latin American countries, particularly in
Puerto Rico, Epiphany or Theophany day (Jan 6th),is called
El Día de los Reyes (The Day of the Kings) i.e., the day when
a group of Kings or Magi, as related in the second chapter of
the Gospel of St. Matthew, arrived to worship Jesus and
brought three magnificent gifts for Him, frankincense, gold
and myrrh. 

In Puerto Rico, it is traditional for children to fill a box with
fresh grass and put it underneath their bed along with a bowl
of water, for the Wise Men's camels. The three kings will then
take the water and the grass, feed the camels. and leave gifts
under the bed as a reward. 


I still remember how exciting it was trying to stay awake so
I could catch the moment when the Magi's camels would eat
the grass and drink the water. Of course I was never able to
witness the moment when the exchange took place. What a 
joy it was to behold the wonder of gifts been left under my
bed!


Now as an Orthodox Christian I realize the magnitude of 
the events we celebrate, God has come in the flesh! God is
God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Trinity One in
Essence and undivided. Our Lord Jesus Christ is His only
begotten Son.

"St Gregory the Theologian says that Christ had no need
of purification, since He is purification itself, but He was 
purified for us, i.e. He entered the Jordan as also wearing
flesh...Thus through His Baptism and Christmation, Christ
purifies and illumines mankind." M. Hierotheos Vlachos in
'The Feasts of the Lord' p.113, Birth of the Theotokos Monastery
2003.

Orthodox priest blessing the Waters Source

An Orthodox Diver retrieves the cross

"Blessing of Waters: The Orthodox Churches perform
the Great Blessing of Waters on Theophany. The blessing
is normally done twice: once on the Eve of the Feast—
usually at a Baptismal Font inside the church—and then
again on the day of the feast, outdoors at a body of water.

Following the Divine Liturgy (the Orthodox Eucharistic
service), the clergy and people go in a Crucession
(procession with the cross) to the nearest body of water,
be it a beach, harbor, quay, river, lake, swimming pool,
water depot, etc. (ideally, it should be a body of "living
water"). At the end of the ceremony the priest will bless
the waters. In the Greek practice, he does this by casting
a cross into the water.

If swimming is feasible on the spot, any number of
volunteers may try to recover the cross. The person who
gets the cross first swims back and returns it to the priest,
who then delivers a special blessing to the swimmer and their
household. Certain such ceremonies have achieved particular
prominence, such as the one held annually at Tarpon Springs,
Florida. In Russia, where the winters are severe, a hole will be
cut into the ice so that the waters may be blessed. In such
conditions, the cross is not cast into the water, but is held
securely by the priest and dipped three times into the water.

The water that is blessed on this day is known as "Theophany
Water" and is taken home by the faithful, and used with prayer
as a blessing. People will not only bless themselves and their
homes by sprinkling with Theophany Water, but will also drink
it. The Orthodox Church teaches that Theophany Water differs
from regular holy water in that with Theophany Water, the
very nature of the water is changed and becomes incorrupt, a
miracle attested to as early as St John Chrysostom's time.

Theophany is a traditional day for performing baptisms, and this
is reflected in the Divine Liturgy by singing the baptismal hymn,
"As many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ,
Alleluia," in place of the Trisagion prayer." Source
"And without controversy great is the mystery of
godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified
in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the
Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in
glory." 1 Tim. 3:16

Glory to Our Lord Jesus Christ who was baptized in the 

Jordan!

Icon of the Baptism of Christ

Source