#Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

[dramoor]

"If we find Christ, if we believe and follow him, if we start beginning to see what the truth is like, then, no matter what life brings, will be like tidings of great joy. Whatever happens to us in this life can only bring good to us in Christ. Without Christ, life is tyrannical, hellish."

~Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos

[dramoor]

“It is said by the saints that if we’re humble like the Virgin Mary, we will spiritually bear Christ in us in our measure, just like the Virgin Mary did, who was pregnant with Christ, the Son of God, Who sanctified her and sanctifies all of us. And I say so, according to the words of Apostle Paul: ‘My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.’  Everything else in life is worth nothing.”

~Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos 

(Icon: Panagia Paramythia, Vatopedi Monastery)

[acityhermit]

Humiliated, Rejected, Despised

“Lord, you are implacable.” St. Silhouan the Athonite   In today’s gospel reading, we find a woman in great need: her daughter is horribly demon-possessed.  In such situations, when you experience pain, you do things that you wouldn’t do under other circumstances. Just so, this Canaanite woman runs with determination to receive that which she seeks. First, her great faith and second, the depth of…

[dramoor]

“The more man believes in God, the more he is redeemed from self-love, egocentricity and egoism.  You  should give Christ a free hand, entrust your being to Christ, love Him and believe that everything that happened to the saints can happen in your own soul, too.  If you realize your dire spiritual condition and submit yourself to God, then God releases you from it.”

~Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos  

(Art: Ophelia (detail), by Benjamin West)

[acityhermit]

His Eyes a Flame of Fire

His Eyes a Flame of Fire

    Elder Symeon Kragiopoulos (+30 September, 2015 ) Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos was a lecturer, preacher, and confessor in the Metropolis of Thessaloniki, Greece. His spiritual lectures often drew on his study of psychology. Thirty books have been published in Greece based on his lectures. He founded two monastic communities, Holy Trinity for men and the Nativity of the Theotokos for…