Human pain and the numbers of people who
lack even the most basic goods have increased because
of the economic crisis. Many people seek refuge in the
Church. This is what people do in times of hardship. On
the day of the feast of the miraculous icon of
Pantanassa, Fr. T talked with Fr. Nifon, who heads the
Porto Lagos Metohi,
Firstly this discussion gives some historical details and
then it refers to the service which the monastery provides
to ease the hardships of those who seek refuge there.
“Love in real terms”… This is a story
brimming with the presence of the Lord…
Fr T: Let’s start with the history of the Metohi of
St Nicholas
Fr. N: The church of St Nicholas was built in order to
cater for the worshiping needs of the monks since the
place was a metohi. Earlier there was a church dedicated
to the two Saints Theodores and its ruins have been found
outside Porto Lagos. It is for this reason that there is
the icon of the two saints on the Templo (icon stand) in
the church. Tradition has it that St Nicholas appeared in
person and said that from then on “he would be the
patron saint of the metohi, since he was the patron of the
seas”. Thus the church was renamed after him. The
present church was built in 1904 on top of the ruins of
previous churches. This is attested by the fact that the
icons, which we have recently restored, date around 1850.
The monks from Vatopedi would visit the metohi regularly
to attend to its needs since it has been owned by the
monastery since the 11th Century. On this basis
we guess that the metohi was created on the small island
many years ago, but the church is more recent. We have
also recently built the bridge connecting the mainland
with the small island which houses the chapel of the Most
Holy Lady Pantanassa. Earlier people would use small boats
to visit the chapel. Indeed we will need many hours to
describe how many miracles were performed here not only to
Christians but to Muslims too.
FR. T: Is the chapel more recently built?
Fr. N: The chapel was built eighteen years ago. Our Elder,
Blessed Joseph built it and brought over from the Holy
Mountain the miracle performing icon of Pantanassa. This
icon has since become the consolation of the people in
Thrace, not just because of the many miracles the most
Holy Lady performs but because of her perceptible
presence. We will need many hours to account for all those
miracles. Today, a Muslim lady came and crossed the bridge
kneeling instead of walking, carrying two planted pots.
She said that two months ago she had pleaded for her
grandson who had a tumour and now the tumour has
disappeared.
Fr. N: Occasionally the Vatopedi monastery would send over
somebody as an overseer while the monks would visit on the
feast days. They would also cooperate with the local
fishermen in benefiting from the pond. Many monks, who
served here, like Ignatios hieronmonk, are remembered in
inscriptions seen on the bell tower and the icon stand.
The last fifty years however, because of the peculiar
status of the monastery and the fact that it was sparsely
populated, no fathers resided here. However, there was
always a paid keeper in view of the political situation
which prevailed in the area. During the civil war, a
wonderful incident took place which was described to us by
the couple who was looking after the metohi. Now that they
are old came recently to see me. They stayed at the metohi
as soon as they got married. However, since it was
isolated and remote they had decided to send a letter to
the monastery offering their resignation. They were about
to send the letter the following day. On the same night
they saw a priest walking on the bridge who was covered in
bright light, even though it was already dark. He was
holding the Gospel in one hand and had a white omophorio
on his shoulders. When they went to ask who he was, he
told them not to leave and that he was going to look after
them. “I am the owner of the place. My name is
Nicholas of Myron” he said and disappeared. It was
St Nicholas and thus they took heart and stayed.
We, the brotherhood of Elder Joseph, assumed the
responsibility of the Vatopedi monastery at a time when
only ten elderly monks were living there. We had our hands
full in trying to restore the ruined monastery and as we
were only eighteen monks, had no time to deal with outside
affairs. At the time there was an elderly priest living at
Porto Lagos with his wife, who had subsequently left. Then
another priest was appointed and was guarding the place
with his family. When Vatopedi was re-established as a
coenobium and regained its former glory, more monks joined
the brotherhood and thus the monastery decided to deal
with Porto Lagos. Elder Joseph started coming here and
gained first hand experience of the desolation and poverty
in the area and ached for the hardships that people faced.
He then decided to revive it, since God’s providence
wished to keep our presence in these lands, bordering with
Turkey. Thus he built the chapel to Pantanassa and
fervently wished to populate it and establish it as a tiny
monastery. This happened in 2003 with the blessing of our
Abbot, Elder Efrain. Thus a small brotherhood of three was
sent here, which resumed the liturgical services daily. I
think this is the greatest gift we could offer to people;
namely, to hold the divine service daily. There is no
greater value than that derived from the Divine Liturgy
since the whole place is sanctified and thousands of names
are being read during the paraklisis and the liturgies. We
firmly believe in God’s providence and we do not
lose our hope…
FR. T: We hear that ever since you came here you have been
busy…
Fr N: As soon as we arrived we met with many difficulties
but with God’s help we survived. We have been trying
with our limited abilities and the assistance of the
monastery and the blessing of our Elder Efrem, to stand by
the people who suffer and share in their pain, which is
overflowing.
Everyday, more and more people arrive here, wanting
assistance and we have reached the point where we can not
cope. With God’s help we have also started assisting
people in jail. Every Saturday we hold meetings with
students. On the 24th September we will start
again and Elder Efrem will come and speak. Even though we
are far away, the youngsters visit us every week. Every
Sunday afternoon, we hold meetings open to everyone and
every Wednesday night we hold a night service at the
chapel of St Nektarios. This chapel was miraculously built
despite the strife that was started against its
establishment. They have even imposed a fine on us for
building it. I do not mind that our Muslim brothers build
their own mosques since they live here. But I object to
the double standard imposed by the authorities. They have
withdrawn the 700,000 Euro fine imposed on the Mosque
which was built but they insisted that we paid our own
fine. Nevertheless, we place our faith in the Lord and we
are not overcome by these things. However, it is quite
hard, when one is facing such temptations…
Fr T: A lot of things have been said about the Vatopedi
Monastery. How did you deal with all these?
FR N: This last temptation was substantial and especially
hard for our Abbot. I have been in Greece for almost
thirty years and have never heard such insults thrown
against anyone in so many television shows, in so many
newspaper articles as was done against our Abbot.
Nevertheless, no one speaks about it any more. It has
blown over. If people knew what Vatopedi does for people,
they ought to be grateful. During the military disaster in
Asia Minor, the monastery gifted 35,000 acres in Halkida
to the Greek state, on condition that it will abandon its
claim on the Visthonida pond and the surrounding areas.
The monastery out of sheer love for the refugees gave all
its property at the time. Only 3% of its assets are left
outside the Holy Mountain nowadays. Unfortunately the
authorities wanted to oust the monastery from here. They
wanted us out of here and this was strange. The monastery
did not want to proceed with the land exchanges because it
did not wish to abandon the pond and the surrounding
areas; the state decided to do this. We should be
concerned about the condition imposed that the areas to be
exchanged should be outside the Thrace area. Why? Is it to
obliterate the memory of the monastery from the area? Is
it because they did not want the presence of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate here? Therefore, whom did they
want to leave Thrace to?
The monastery does not belong to Elder Efrem or to Fr
Arsenios or Fr Nifon. It belongs to the people. They said
that we had accepted bribes. However, the monastery is a
public institution and not private. Renowned lawyers like
Konidaris said that the state took money from one pocket
and put it in the other. This is where misinformation and
wickedness lead one. Nevertheless, we take no heed. We
look ahead. Many, friends and foes alike, used to say that
the monastery waw going to be dissolved. I must say that
we are more united than ever and our bond has been
strengthened. We must all bow our heads in front of our
Abbot who lasted for so long under such slanderous
onslaught. He lasted because he is a man of prayer and
humility. Camera crews were camped here permanently. We
made the front pages in the newspapers. All television
programmes would start in the morning and not stop even in
the evening talking about this issue. They even
caricatured him in the carnival. Nevertheless, he lasted
without holding grudges against anyone; he continues to
love them all, and we get on with our jobs. We could just
stay put inside the metohi. But we do not do it. We
continue to fight to save the young and all those who ask
for our help. Occasionally we are upset because we do not
have anything to give to the people who ask for our help.
Fr T: Has the number of those who seek refuge here
increased under the present economic conditions?
FR N: Where else are people going to get assistance if not
from the Church at times of crisis? Our people come here,
at the monasteries, and that’s why it is imperative
that monasteries own property so that they are able to
help our aching brothers. Where else can they go? Even
Muslims come here. The numbers went up dramatically and as
I see it, this trend will continue. Many times we cannot
cope and we are upset. This is what the monastery and
Elder Efrem wanted to do in the area. That’s why
there were companies who wanted to get involved in
developing the place. Even Prince Charles wanted to
contribute in creating bicycle lanes and developing the
pond, even building a byzantine village, but the
authorities could not appreciate it.
Last year, we had to pay 8600 Euros in rents for destitute
students. We also paid for the schooling of needy children
and supported the families of those in jail. This is part
of the welfare aspect of Vatopedi. All these are possible
because the monastery and ordinary people assist us. A lot
of Cypriots contribute to the expenses of various children
and thus we are able to help them. The monastery also
assists us since it is very hard to offer hospitality to
thousands of people. Two days ago a father who was made
redundant told us that he was feeding his small child
water with sugar because he had no money to buy milk. Is
this imaginable in Greece in the 21st Century?
Monasteries and the monks become the recipients of human
suffering.
We are also sending many young drug addicts to the
recovery centre which our own brother, Metropolitan
Athanasios, has built in Cyprus: “Ayia Skepi”.
We have already sent over fifty kids from the area and
there are currently twenty five attending at the centre
and more are outside recovering from their addiction.
These things are only known to the parents who come here
in anguish.
We have also taken over the Institution of Saint
Theodores. When the kids, drug addicts, die, the parents
have nowhere to go. They often are old and they may get
sick. Who is going to look after their child, who is
addicted? The centre owns a plot of land and we are trying
to build it. It is being difficult. I told them that I
will become a beggar for these kids. With God’s help
we managed to collect some money. Unfortunately there is a
delay in the issue of the building permission. We are not
seeking recognition. We do it for love and for our
Lord’s command. But we are facing a lot of
obstacles. “One hand must not know what the other
hand is doing”. However, we have to talk about this
task, which is not ours, but the Church’s, so that
people now that the Church is working quietly and is not
publicizing its work.
Fr T: Who supports this work?
Fr N: It is not carried out solely by us because our means
are limited as a result of the closure of the
monastery’s bank accounts. The love of people
supports us. We will not stop, we go on. It is not right
to talk about such things, but we must fight for the
prevalence of the truth. People in Thrace know about these
issues.
Fr. T: What you are doing with the people in prison is
also well known. What exactly is your mission there?
Fr N: For the last seven years I have been visiting the
prisons. I also invite imams and muftis to come along to
help their own people. But, I am alone. I do not
discriminate when I go there. There are about 300
prisoners, mostly foreigners. They do not have a shaver,
or soap, or a phone card to call their children. There are
people in prison for the last six years and no one visits
them. There are people who come to me and say: “I do
not need anything. I only want to speak to someone!”
You get really emotional when you meet them. Last year
they were feeling the cold since the prison authorities
were cutting back on costs. Who wants to know what needs
these people have? Christ says: “I was in prison and
you did not visit me.” Of course it is not Christ
who is in prison. They said to Him: “When did we see
you in prison and did not visit you?” Those jailed,
for whatever reason are described by Christ as His
brothers. “Since you did not do it for my brothers,
you did not do it for me either”. Anyone of us can
find himself in this position. Not all of them are
murderers or thieves. There are people who owe monies to
the state, whom we release by paying for their debts. Many
people do not like this. This week a boy of 18.5 is coming
out. He was put in jail for one month for begging. It cost
600 Euros to buy his sentence. This is how Greek justice
is satisfied: to put a youngster 18 years old in prison
because he was selling balloons without permission. His
mother
came to us crying. We went and paid off his
sentence.
This is not all we do for the prison system. With the
permission of the prison director we have renovated the
whole institution. When I first went there, the state of
the buildings was abysmal. We managed to take off the iron
bars from the meeting room, since children would visit
their parents in prison and it was not right to have bars
on the windows. We replaced the glazing and tiled the
yard. We had managed to buy the tiles but did not have the
money to pay for the cement. I went everywhere but no one
was interested. If they do not wish to thank us, at least
they should not place obstacles in our way.
Fr T: With all that has been happening, there is a lot of
talk about Paisios’ prophesies. How should we deal
with them?
Fr N: Both Elder Paisios and our elder Joseph and all the
Fathers look for the cause of the economic crisis. It is
the result of a spiritual crisis. Our Elders used to warn
us about these consequences. They used to urge us to
return to our roots, to our values, to repent. We were in
awe of the European culture, which we had given them, and
now we are left behind. We omitted giving our Children the
faith in Christ and the love for our country. All our
values, our customs, which St Kosmas was calling upon us
to safeguard, have been abandoned. Does anyone dare speak
about chastity, humility or prayer? When there is a
spiritual crisis there is a financial crisis as well. This
crisis is not doing us any harm. It will wake us up. As a
nation we have been used to lavishness. We had it all and
threw it away. I believe that if all these people who are
protesting at Syntagma square, and they are correct in
doing so, were to lift up their hands in prayer just as
they did at Nineveh , the Lord would change His plans. We
have the Lord who is Love and we have abandoned Him, we
run after different gods. If we return to our base and
show repentance and cry for our sins, you will see that
everything will change. Our nation has gone through many
occupations and times of poverty, but because we believed
and fought for Christ and our country we survived as a
nation and as people. Let us now proceed to the giver of
Life and not lose hope. We must not discourage our young
people either; but on the contrary we must urge them to
have hope and tell them that the Lord is with us; He will
not abandon us.
Fr T: Doesn’t the Church bear any responsibility for
what is happening?
Fr. N: Of course it does. We are not free from blame. When
there is a cultural and material crisis everyone is to
blame, the Church, the educators, the state. But we must
all assume our personal responsibility for what is
happening rather than blaming others. If each and every
one of us says that he is to blame and tries to become a
better person, then the whole will become better as well.
The Church must be the bearer of Light. Unfortunately
people do not see the true beacons that light up the
Church. If there is something wrong in the Church or if a
clergyman, as human has made a mistake, then this is
publicized. Are there no priests who do good for the
Church? We do not see that. But, nevertheless, we are all
to blame. We must all drop to our knees, cry and plead
with our Most Holy Lady to help us and our nation. We are
going through tough times and we do not know what tomorrow
will bring. We must all painfully cry and pray and plead
and give a helping hand to those who are in need, if we
are to be able to go on.
A letter- testimony written by a hooligan follower of AEK.
This letter is found in the book kept at Porto Lagos for
those who wish to leave their thoughts in writing. We copy
it here.
“ I thank the Lord because I am healthy and I am
free and out of prison. My name is G. G. and I stayed 11
months at the Komotini prison. The reason was the violence
I did in the name of my great love- the football club-
AEK. I was set free yesterday but decided to come here
first in order to thank the young man who stood by my side
all these months in prison and who with his love and his
kindness gave me courage and taught me to view the world
and life in a better light.
He taught me that my primary love should be God from now
on. I promised him I will not get into trouble and instead
of being a hooligan I will become a good person and a good
Christian. Thank you, Fr Nifon, for what you have done for
me. I will never forget you. I cannot express my heartfelt
feelings for you, who are such a kind person. But also no
one can understand what it means for a prisoner to find
love and consolation in one man. Fr Nifon, I thank you
from the bottom of my heart for what you did for me. I
have found at last someone who loves and helps all people.
He is the consolation of all the prisoners. In the jungle
of Athens I only met with hatred and wickedness. I thank
the Lord for going into prison and meeting you, Fr Nifon,
because I was able to discover that there are people who
are able to offer love. You will always be my father and
my supporter.
The AEK- hooligan from Athens, G.G. 23.2.2007.”
source
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