Π. Θωμᾶς Χόπκο - μέρος Α΄ - Προσωπικὲς Ἀναμνήσεις, καὶ Φωτογραφίες

Προσωπικὲς Ἀναμνήσεις τοῦ π. Θωμᾶ Χόπκο

(Personal Remembrances of Fr. Thomas Hopko)

τοῦ Ἐμμανουὴλ Μαγγίνα - by Emmanuel Maginas

Ἡ Κυριακή τῶν Μυροφόρων (26 Ἀπριλίου) ἦταν τὰ σαράντα τοῦ μακαριστοῦ Ἀμερικανοῦ Ὀρθόδοξου θεολόγου καὶ ἱερέα, π. Θωμᾶ Χόπκο (+18 Μαρτίου, 2015). Μεθαύριο θὰ βάλω στὸ ἱστολόγιό μου μιὰ μετάφραση τοῦ ἐπικηδείου λόγου, ἢ περισσότερο μάλλον τοῦ βιογραφικοῦ του. Ἂν καὶ ἀναφέρει στοιχεία τῆς ζωῆς του, θεωρῶ ὅτι δὲν καταφέρνει νὰ περιγράψει ποιὸς ἦταν στὴν πραγματικότητα. Στὸ διαδίκτυο, ὑπάρχουν πολλὲς περιγραφὲς ἀναμνήσεων ἀνθρώπων ποὺ τὸν ἔζησαν, ὅμως δυστυχῶς ὅλες εἶναι στὰ Ἀγγλικά. Θὰ ἤθελα λοιπόν, ἐφόσον τὸν γνώρισα προσωπικά, νὰ προσπαθήσω νὰ γράψω κάτι θεάρεστο – καὶ «θωμάρεστο» – στὰ Ἑλληνικά, ὥστε νὰ διαδοθεῖ ἡ φήμη τοῦ π. Θωμᾶ καὶ στὸν ἑλληνόφωνο κόσμο.

Ἡ πρώτη γνωριμία μου μὲ τὸν π. Θωμᾶ ἦταν ὅταν πῆρε σύνταξη ἀπὸ τὴν θέση του ὡς κοσμήτορας τῆς Θεολογικῆς Σχολῆς τοῦ Ἁγίου Βλαδιμήρου, καὶ ἦρθε – μαζὶ μὲ τὴν πρεσβυτέρα του, Ἄννα – στὰ προάστια τοῦ Πίττσμπουργκ, νὰ ζήσει κοντὰ στὴν Ἱερὰ Μονὴ Μεταμορφώσεως στὴν Ellwood City. Τὸ μοναστήρι αὐτὸ εἶναι γυνακεῖο, ἀγγλόφωνο καὶ μικρό, καὶ ἀνήκει στὴν Ρουμανικὴ Ἐπισκοπὴ τῆς λεγομένης «Ὀρθοδόξου Ἐκκλησίας στὴν Ἀμερική» (Orthodox Church in America – OCA). Λόγω τοῦ ὅτι ἡ οἰκογένειά μου ἐπισκέπτεται τακτικὰ αὐτὸ τὸ μοναστήρι, μετὰ ἀπὸ λίγον καιρὸ ἀναπόφευκτα γνώρισα τὸν π. Θωμᾶ, ἀφοῦ ἱερουργοῦσε στὸν Ἑσπερινὸ τοῦ Σαββάτου καὶ στὴν Θ. Λειτουργία τῆς Κυριακῆς. Ἔγινε (ἀνεπίσημα) ἐφημέριος τῆς μονῆς ἐφόσον δὲν ἦταν εὔκολο νὰ βροῦν ἱερέα χωρὶς ἐνορία, νὰ τοὺς λειτουργεῖ τὶς Κυριακές.

Ὁ π. Θωμᾶς ἔκανε πολλὲς ὁμιλίες στὸ μοναστήρι, σὲ διάφορες ἐνορίες τοῦ Πίττσμπουργκ, ἀλλὰ καὶ σὲ ἄλλα μέρη τῶν ΗΠΑ. Ἦταν ἤδη διάσημος ἀπὸ τὴν θέση τοῦ ὡς θεολόγος καὶ ὡς πρώην κοσμήτορας τῆς Θεολογικῆς Σχολῆς τοῦ Ἁγίου Βλαδιμήρου. Πολλοὶ Ἀμερικανοὶ Ὀρθόδοξοι – καὶ ἄλλοι - ἤξεραν τὸ ὄνομά του. Ποτὲ δὲν λειτούργησε χωρὶς νὰ κηρύξει μετὰ τὸ Εὐαγγέλιο, καὶ οἱ ὁμιλίες του πάντα βασιζόντουσαν στὴν Ἁγία Γραφή, στοὺς Πατέρες, καὶ στὴν Παράδοση τῆς Ἐκκλησίας μας. Ἐπιπλέον, τὰ τελευταία ἑπτὰ χρόνια, εἴχε ἠχογραφήσει πάνω ἀπὸ τετρακόσια podcast (ραδιοφωνικὲς ἐκπομπὲς μέσω διαδικτύου), στὸ γραφεῖο τοῦ σπιτιοῦ του. Αὐτὰ ποὺ ἔλεγε κάποιες φορὲς μπορεῖ νὰ ἦταν ἀμφιλεγόμενα, ἀλλὰ ἐγὼ ποὺ τὸν ἔζησα μπορῶ νὰ διαβεβαιώσω πὼς ὅ,τι ἔλεγε τὸ ἔλεγε πάντα μὲ πολλὴ ταπείνωση. Δήλωνε μάλιστα ὅτι ὅσα ἔλεγε εἴχαν βάση τὴν Ἁγία Γραφὴ καὶ τοὺς Πατέρες ὅπως τοὺς καταλάβαινε. «Ἂν ἔχω ἄδικο,» ἔλεγε, «ὁ Θεὸς νὰ μὲ συγχωρέσει.» Δὲν ἐπέμενε ὅτι αὐτός, καὶ μόνο αὐτός, ἔλεγε τὴν ἀλήθεια. Ἤθελε πάντα τοὺς ἀκροατές του νὰ εἶναι ἐντὸς τῆς Ὀρθοδόξου Ἐκκλησίας καὶ τῆς Παράδοσής της. Πιστεύω ὅτι ἡ ταπείνωσή του ἦταν αὐτὸ ποὺ πραγματικὰ τὸν ξεχώρισε ἀπὸ ἄλλους θεολόγους.

Εἴχα τὴν εὐλογία νὰ παρευρεθῶ σὲ πολλοὺς Ἑσπερινοὺς καὶ σὲ ἀρκετὲς Θεῖες Λειτουργίες μὲ τὸν π. Θωμᾶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ νὰ μείνω στὸ μοναστήρι κάποιες χρονιὲς τὴν Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάδα (ἀκὀμα εἶναι παράδοση τῆς οἰκογένειάς μου νὰ πηγαίνουν στὸ μοναστήρι κάθε χρόνο γιὰ τὴν ἀκολουθία τῆς Ἀναστάσεως). Ἱερουροῦσε ὁ π. Θωμᾶς ὅλη τὴν Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάδα, καὶ μιᾶς καὶ ἐρχόταν σχετικὰ λίγος κόσμος στὸ μοναστήρι, μποροῦσα νὰ τοῦ μιλάω μετὰ ἀπὸ τὶς ἀκολουθίες καθῶς ἑτοιμαζόταν νὰ φύγει. Ἦταν μιὰ σπουδαία εὐκαιρία νὰ τὸν ρωτάω ὅ,τι ἤθελα, σχετικὰ μὲ τὴν γιορτή, τὸν ἅγιο ποὺ γιόρταζε, ἢ ὅ,τι ἄλλο εἴχα στὸ μυαλό ἢ στὴν καρδιά μου. Ἐντυπωσιαζόμουν κάθε φορὰ μὲ τὶς γνώσεις του, καὶ προσπαθοῦσα (καὶ ἀκόμα προσπαθῶ) νὰ ἐφαρμόσω τὶς συμβουλές του στὴν ζωή μου.

Πέρα ἀπὸ τὶς γνώσεις του, ὅμως, ἐντυπωσιακὸς ἦταν ὁ τρόπος μὲ τὸν ὁποῖο λειτουργοῦσε. Ἐπειδὴ μὲν πήγαινα τακτικὰ στὸ μοναστήρι γιὰ τὸν Ἑσπερινὸ τοῦ Σαββάτου*, ἀλλὰ πιὸ σπάνια δὲ τὶς Κυριακὲς καὶ γιορτές, ὅταν τύχαινε νὰ παρευρεθῶ σὲ Θεία Λειτουργία, μοῦ ἔκανε πάντα ἐντύπωση ὁ π. Θωμᾶς. Ἤξερε τὶ ἦταν ἡ Θεία Λειτουργία, καὶ λειτουργοῦσε μὲ λεπτομέρεια καὶ προσοχή. Ἤξερε τὶ σημαίνει γιὰ τὸν ἱερέα νὰ ὁδηγεῖ τὸν λαὸ στὸν θρόνο τοῦ Θεοῦ μέσα στὴν Θεία Λειτουργία, καὶ νὰ παρακαλεῖ τὸν Θεὸ Πατέρα νὰ στείλει τὸ Ἅγιο Πνεῦμα νὰ καθαγιάσει τὰ τίμια δῶρα, ὥστε νὰ κοινωνήσουμε τὸ Σῶμα καὶ τὸ Αἵμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ.

Ἐλπίζω νὰ κατάφερα νὰ δώσω μιὰ εἰκόνα τοῦ π. Θωμᾶ, περιγράφοντας λίγο ἀπὸ τὸν χαρακτήρα του, τὴν γνώση του, τὴν ταπείνωσή του, καὶ τὸν τρόπο μὲ τὸν ὁποῖο λειτουργοῦσε. Πιστεύω ὅτι συλλειτουργεῖ τώρα στὴν οὐράνια Θεία Λειτουργία, μπροστὰ στὸν θρόνο τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἂς ἔχουμε τὴν εὐχή του! Αἰωνία αὐτοῦ ἡ μνήμη!

*Ἀκολουθοῦν τὸ Ρώσικο τυπικὸ καὶ μετά τὸν Ἑσπερινὸ συνάπτουν τὸν Ὄρθρο τῆς Κυριακῆς, ἀφήνοντας μόνο τὶς Ὥρες καὶ τὴν Θεία Λειτουργία γιὰ τὸ πρωί. Ἡ ἀκολουθία κάθε Σάββατο βράδυ κρατοῦσε περίπου 2½ ὧρες, καὶ ἀπὸ τὴν ἀρχὴ τῆς ἑβδομάδας ἀνυπομονοῦσα νὰ ἔρθει τὸ ἑπόμενο Σάββατο, ὥστε νὰ βρεθῶ πάλι στὸ μοναστήρι μὲ τὶς καλόγριες καὶ μὲ τὸν π. Θωμᾶ.

Ὑ.Γ. Θὰ ἤθελα νὰ εὐχαριστήσω τὴν φιλόλογο Μαρίνα Χρυσοστόμου, ἡ ὁποῖα μὲ βοήθησε πάρα πολὺ στὴν ἐπεξεργασία τοῦ κειμένου: κυρίως στὸ λεξιλόγιο καὶ στὴν γραμματική ἀλλὰ καὶ στοὺς κανόνες τοῦ πολυτονικοῦ συστήματος γραφῆς.

Παρακάτω παραθέτω κάποιες φωτογραφίες τοῦ π. Θωμᾶ, ἱερουργοῦντος στὸ μοναστήρι.

Φωτογραφία μιᾶς φωτογραφίας, ἀπὸ τὸν γάμο τοῦ π. Θωμᾶ καὶ τῆς πρεσβυτέρας Ἄννας
A photograph of a photograph from the wedding of Fr. Thomas and Matushka Anne

24 Ἰουνίου, 2009 (τὸ γενέθλιον τοῦ Προδρόμου) - ὁ π. Θωμᾶς λειτουργώντας στὸ Ἱερὸ Παρεκκλήσιον τῆς Θεολογικῆς Σχολῆς τοῦ Τιμίου Σταυροῦ στὴν Βοστώνη, ποὺ ἀνήκει στὴν Ἑλληνικὴ Ἀρχιεπισκοπὴ Ἀμερικῆς.
June 24, 2009 (Nativity of St. John the Forerunner) - Fr. Thomas liturgising in the Holy Cross Chapel (on the campus of Hellenic College - Holy Cross) in Brookline, Mass.

Θεοφάνεια στὴν Ἱ.Μ. Μεταμορφώσεως στὴν Ellwood City
Theophany at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City

Μεγάλη Παρασκευὴ στὸ μοναστήρι. Μὲ τὴν γκρὶ μπλούζα εἶναι ἡ πρεσβυτέρα Ἄννα, καὶ δίπλα της μία κόρη τους μὲ ἕναν ἐγγονό. Πίσω τους κάθεται ἡ πρεσβυτέρα Ἰουλιανὴ Σμέμαν, μητέρα τῆς πρεσβυτέρας Ἄννας.
Great Friday at the monastery. In the grey sweater is Matushka Anne, and next to her one of their daughters with a grandson. Behind them is seated Matushka Juliana Schmemann, the mother of Matushka Anne.

Πάσχα στὸ μοναστήρι
Pascha at the monastery (blessing the foods after Liturgy)

Πασχαλινὴ Λιτανεία στὸ μοναστήρι. Ἡ Γερόντισσα Χριστοφόρα κρατάει τὸν Ἁγιασμό, καὶ τὰ τέσσερα παιδιά εἶναι ἐγγόνια τοῦ π. Θωμᾶ.
Paschal procession at the monastery. Mother Abbess Christophora is holding the pail with holy water, and the four kids are grandchildren of Fr. Thomas.

Πάσχα στὸ μοναστήρι - Ὁ π. Θωμᾶς μὲ τὴν πρεσβυτέρα Ἄννα, μπροστὰ στὸ τέμπλο τοῦ καθολικοῦ τῆς μονῆς
Pascha at the monastery - Fr. Thomas with Matushka Anne, in front of the iconostasis in the main church of the monastery.

Στὸ μοναστήρι - ἀρραβώνας τῆς ἐγγονῆς του, Ἄνια, μὲ τὸν Ροβέρτο
At the monastery - the betrothal of his granddaughter Anya to Robert

Great Week and Pascha 2015

+ CHRIST IS RISEN!!! +

(See in 250 languages here: http://srbigham.com/en/)

I had the blessing of spending Great and Renewal Weeks on the Holy Mountain this year. Some highlights include:

-All of Great Week and 2/3 of Renewal Week at Iveron Monastery.

-An all-night vigil for the Annunciation on the night of Great Monday into Great Tuesday (March 24-25/April 6-7), at Philotheou Monastery who celebrates their patronal feast day on Annunciation.

-Agape Vespers (on Pascha) twice: 2:30 pm at Iveron with the abbot of Stavronikita presiding (the Gospel was chanted there in Homeric hexameter, among other languages); and 5:30 pm at Stavronikita with the abbot of Iveron presiding. It's a tradition that those two abbots preside at that service at each other's monasteries.

-The Feast of Panagia Portaitissa at Iveron on the evening of Renewal Monday and the morning of Renewal Tuesday, including Orthros on Tuesday in the main church of the monastery, a 3-hour procession around the various areas outside the monastery, hierarchical Liturgy in a chapel on the beach where the icon was found, and several hundred people. An article in Greek, and 18 PICTURES can be found here (I am in pix #s 10 and 13 in a bright orange-pink shirt, see if you can spot me): http://www.agioritikovima.gr/agnea/item/57890-%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%BC%CF%80%CF%81%CF%8C%CF%82-%CE%BF-%CE%B5%CE%BF%CF%81%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%BC%CF%8C%CF%82-%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7-%CE%BC%CE%BF%CE%BD%CE%AE-%CE%B9%CE%B2%CE%AE%CF%81%CF%89%CE%BD-%CE%B3%CE%B9%CE%B1-%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BD-%CE%B5%CF%8D%CF%81%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%B7-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82-%CE%B5%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8C%CE%BD%CE%BF%CF%82-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82-%CF%80%CE%B1%CE%BD%CE%B1%CE%B3%CE%AF%CE%B1%CF%82-%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82-%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%81%CF%84%CE%B1%CF%8A%CF%84%CE%AF%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B7%CF%82-%CF%86%CF%89%CF%84%CE%BF

-A brief stay at the Monasteries of Gregoriou and Simonopetra towards the end of Renewal Week.

I left Thessaloniki on Lazarus Saturday and returned on Thomas Sunday. My two weeks on the Mountain were packed full of unforgettable experiences and very important lessons - I learned SOOO much. There are so many lessons that I don't want to ever forget, and that are impossible to put into words. I have made many notes in my journal, but please let this short note that I have written suffice for the blog. I will write more when something else "worldly" happens that I want to write about.

Blessed Feast of St. George tomorrow!! (new calendar)

Great Lent 2015 Thessaloniki, in summary

(You can click on any pictures to see a bigger version of them)

An OCF RealBreak group came to Thessaloniki during the second week of Great Lent (March 1-7), and Fr. Spyro took them under his wing and organized their program, since he knows English pretty well. He invited me and some others to come along, and I went to as many things as my schedule allowed – things that I never would have done otherwise. There are two things in particular that I want to blog about.

The first is the sisterhood of St. Xenia of Rome, Ἡ Ἀδελφότητα Ὁσία Ξένη, which is a group of lay women under the spiritual direction of an elderly priest-monk named Fr. Gervasios. These women have dedicated their lives to Christ without taking monastic vows. Their mission is to serve the imprisoned and they have done amazing work, always with Fr. Gervasios as their head. It was really great and inspiring to see their home and talk to some of them. Fr. Gervasios also spoke to us a little. Their patron saint is “The holy bandit of Golgotha,” i.e. the thief who confessed Christ on the cross. Their website is http://diakonia-filakon.gr/, and there is an English version there as well, if you want to read up on them.

The other thing I want to mention was that we met Fr. Athenagoras, a celibate priest who serves the parish in Dendropotamos, which is basically the ghetto on the west side of Thessaloniki. Many gypsies have settled there in the past few decades, and it is also known as a center for drug trafficking. Fr. Athenagoras has opened a center called Φάρος τοῦ Κόσμου (Lighthouse of the World), which is part of the parish and started out as just trying to make sure that kids reported to school every day, stayed until school finished, and were well fed. It’s grown into a big ministry, with many full- and part-time volunteers, 8 or 9 kids living in a house there, and many others coming multiple times per week for various reasons. Some of the first kids have actually gone on to university, and others have entered trade schools. Many of them also take an interest in robotics and were invited to a robotics tournament in St. Louis last year. I never would have known about this even though I live so close. Even when Fr. Spyro told me about this the week before, I could never have imagined the scale on which it is happening until I saw with my own eyes. I’m very grateful to God for giving me these opportunities. Their website is http://www.farostoukosmou.gr/. From what I can tell there is no English version, unfortunately.

+Father Thomas Hopko reposed in the Lord on March 18, during the third week of Lent which is dedicated to the Precious Cross of Christ. My last blog post was about Fr. Tom: http://www.superman-oli.blogspot.gr/2015/03/father-thomas-hopko-55-maxims.html. His funeral was March 23, at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I watched part of it online, live streaming, and from what people have told me it was absolutely amazing to be there, a real sense of χαρμολύπη, joyful sadness. May we have Fr. Tom’s prayers!

Four pictures from the monastery's album on Picasaweb:
https://picasaweb.google.com/108669497930742573788

On the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent (Saint John Climacus) (March 22 this year), I went with a young couple who are friends of mine and who teach Sunday School (κατηχητικό) in a village called Saint Anthony (Ἅγιος Ἀντώνιος). I take Byzantine music lessons with the wife, and have met her husband through her. She invited me to come with them that day to the village. I was glad to go, it was a nice experience. We ended up doing Sunday School on a hill several hundred feet from the church. The middle school kids were a little distracted, as could be expected. Anyway, it was a nice experience.

The Feast of the Annunciation this year fell on Wednesday of the fifth week of the Fast. I had the blessing to be at the convent of the Annunciation in Ormylia (a village of Chalkidiki), which is a dependency (metochion) of Simonopetra on Mt. Athos, and is known for their chanting. I was there for the vigil of the Feast (Small Compline, Great Vespers and Orthros – 7:00 pm to 12:45 am), and the next morning for Hours and Divine Liturgy (7:00-9:30 am). It was amazing! I was so glad to be there!

On Saturday of the fifth week we chant the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God, in its entirety. It is properly done at Orthros but it is now the practice to do it on Friday evening at Small Compline. At St. Haralambos we did on Friday evening at 9:00 pm, but instead of doing the Akathist during Compline, we did Saturday morning’s Orthros, and went straight into the Divine Liturgy which began around midnight and finished around 1:20 am.

Father reading one of the Akathist stanzas during Orthros.
You can see me in the choir, to the right of the protopsaltis, i.e. on his left hand.

Father censing the decorated icon of the Panagia

After the Akathist vigil I was on a church high (if you can call it that) and was hanging around because I didn’t want to leave (usually after vigils I am exhausted and leave immediately). I was talking to a group of Cypriot students who live in Thessaloniki and come to St. Haralambos quite frequently. They told me they were going to Meteora the next morning for a one-day trip, and invited me to come with them. I was very grateful for the invitation but hesitant to accept because I was low on sleep and was looking forward to getting some things done on Saturday. I set my alarm, though, and called the trip organizer in the morning to tell him I was coming.

They had rented a mini-bus and had the whole day planned out, including bringing sandwiches, snacks and water bottles along. We left around 8:30 am from Thessaloniki. We made it just in time to venerate at the women’s monastery of St. Stephen before it closed at 1:00.

Me on a ledge looking across to St. Stephen's monastery

Then we continued to the monasteries of Varlaam and Great Meteora (the latter is dedicated to the Transfiguration, and I had been there once in the summer of 2008).

The group at the Monastery of Varlaam

Me in a tunnel that composes part of the ascent to Great Meteora. I got through without ducking (barely), but it looks a lot lower here because of visual effects.

We left Meteora and went into the mountains to the old monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos at Chrysinou (Ἱερὰ Μονὴ Κοιμήσεως τῆς Θεοτόκου Χρυσίνου), outside the village of Kalampaka. This monastery had been completely destroyed except for half of the church. A monk named Fr. John (πατὴρ Ἰωάννης) had gone there then, and fell in love with the place and vowed to rebuild it. He restored the church and built up the monastery around it. He currently lives by himself but hopefully more fathers will join him one day.

We had dinner (i.e. veggie sandwiches, chips, popcorn and homemade brownies), crowded under a gazebo on the side of a country road (while it was raining). We got back to Thessaloniki around 9:00 or 10:00 pm (I don’t remember), and we lost an hour that night because Europe started daylight savings’ time.

I am fundamentally opposed to daylight savings’ time. I think it is a stupid trick to make us think we have more light when really if we didn’t have it we would be no worse off, we would just have more light in the morning instead of the evening. We can’t change what time it is. And it just makes us tired when we switch clocks (the only nice thing about it is the extra hour of sleep in the fall, but I could do without it if the whole silly system were abolished. It’s not natural to have either 23 or 25 hours each day. I’ll take 24, thank you very much!). Anyway, it’s not up to me so I have to follow what the bureaucrats say. In spite of all this, it seems like this year daylight savings’ time brought spring with it, because since Sunday there have been the most gorgeous sunny spring days, not to hot or cold, a few clouds, and a little spurt of rain for a few hours in the middle of the week. The weeks prior to this it was raining off and on for at least two weeks, almost continuously. The earth needs rain, but I am very glad to have the sun back!

Blessed Feast of St. Lazarus and Palm Sunday (Lazarus Saturday is one of my favorite days of the year)! A little piece of liturgical trivia: Since Palm Sunday is a Feast of the Lord, we do not chant anything Resurrectional, all the hymns are for the Feast. So in that sense, Palm Sunday is not technically a Sunday, it's a Feast Day. But Lazarus Saturday is almost like a Sunday, in that we chant everything for the Feast, but we also chant the Resurrectional Evlogetaria at Orthros (Blessed art Thou, O Lord... The assembly of angels was amazed...); we say "Having seen the Resurrection of Christ" before the 50th psalm; and at the Liturgy we chant, "Save us, O Son of God, Who art risen from the dead..." The raising of Lazarus is a prefiguration of the Resurrection of Christ which we will experience just over one week from today! And it is intimately connected with Palm Sunday because the raising of Lazarus was one of the reasons that the people welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem triumphantly, and those were both reasons why the Jewish leaders plotted to put Him to death.

Blessed Holy Week! And Good Resurrection (Καλὴ Ἀνάσταση), as the Greeks say! I’ll be sure to blog after Pascha again sometime.

+Father Thomas Hopko - 55 Maxims

Dear family and friends,

I know I haven’t blogged in awhile. Please forgive me. I have much to write about but I have just been so busy that I have not had time to sit down and create a blog post. This week, though, I would like to dedicate my blog post to the memory of Fr. Thomas Hopko (known to me as “Fr. Tom”), who reposed in the Lord this past Wednesday, just after 3pm Eastern time. I just want to say two words about him:

For me, Fr. Tom wasn’t "just" some Orthodox author or speaker whom I happened to like or agree with – Fr. Tom served regularly at “my” monastery, the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pa. I was blessed to know him and was able to ask him pretty much all the questions I ever wanted – what a wealth of knowledge he was, and a blessing to have so close to my home!!

For me, what most sets Fr. Tom apart among theologians is his humble yet staunch defense of Orthodoxy. He knew what he believed and why he believed it. While some of his writings or sayings may be controversial, I always detected an air of humility in his speech when things like that came up: he might say something like, “I believe this is clear from the way I read the Bible and the Fathers, but if I’m wrong may God forgive me.” He never insisted that he – and only he – was correct. He was open to being corrected if he was indeed wrong on something. And yet, he stayed firm in his beliefs. I believe that is the mark of a truly Orthodox theologian, and of any good Orthodox Christian.

He was also a true liturgist. I looked forward to “vigil” with him on Saturday evening each week at the monastery, and whenever I was blessed to be with him for a Divine Liturgy, it just felt right. He knew what the Divine Liturgy is; he knew what he was doing there at the Altar; and you could feel that from the way he liturgized.

I personally believe that he is now concelebrating at the heavenly Liturgy which is outside of time. May we inherit a portion of his knowledge, of his piety, and even more importantly of his humility. And if he has found boldness at the throne of God, may we have his prayers as we continue our struggle here on earth! May his memory be eternal!

Please lift him up in your prayers, as well as his family: wife Matushka Anne, her mother Matushka Juliana, Fr. Tom & Mat. Anne's children, children-in-law, grandchildren, Mother Abbess Christophora and the sisterhood of the monastery, and all who knew and loved him.

For anyone who wants to watch the funeral services live-streamed from the monastery, the funeral is at 10am Eastern time on Monday, March 23. The complete schedule of other funerary services (Vespers, Liturgies, etc), as well as information on live streaming, is available on the monastery website: http://www.orthodoxmonasteryellwoodcity.org/frhopko

Below are “55 maxims” for Christian life that I believe are on-target, and congruous with the Tradition of the Church.

1. Be always with Christ and trust God in everything.
2. Pray as you can, not as you think you must.
3. Have a keepable rule of prayer done by discipline.
4. Say the Lord's Prayer several times each day.
5. Repeat a short prayer when your mind is not occupied.
6. Make some prostrations when you pray.
7. Eat good foods in moderation and fast on fasting days.
8. Practice silence, inner and outer.
9. Sit in silence 20 to 30 minutes each day.
10. Do acts of mercy in secret.
11. Go to liturgical services regularly.
12. Go to Confession and Holy Communion regularly.
13. Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings.
14. Reveal all your thoughts and feelings to a trusted person regularly.
15. Read the scriptures regularly.
16. Read good books, a little at a time.
17. Cultivate communion with the saints.
18. Be an ordinary person, one of the human race.
19. Be polite with everyone, first of all family members.
20. Maintain cleanliness and order in your home.
21. Have a healthy, wholesome hobby.
22. Exercise regularly.
23. Live a day, even a part of a day, at a time.
24. Be totally honest, first of all with yourself.
25. Be faithful in little things.
26. Do your work, then forget it.
27. Do the most difficult and painful things first.
28. Face reality.
29. Be grateful.
30. Be cheerful.
31. Be simple, hidden, quiet and small.
32. Never bring attention to yourself.
33. Listen when people talk to you.
34. Be awake and attentive, fully present where you are.
35. Think and talk about things no more than necessary.
36. Speak simply, clearly, firmly, directly.
37. Flee imagination, fantasy, analysis, figuring things out.
38. Flee carnal, sexual things at their first appearance.
39. Don't complain, grumble, murmur or whine.
40. Don't seek or expect pity or praise.
41. Don't compare yourself with anyone.
42. Don't judge anyone for anything.
43. Don't try to convince anyone of anything.
44. Don't defend or justify yourself.
45. Be defined and bound by God, not people.
46. Accept criticism gracefully and test it carefully.
47. Give advice only when asked or when it is your duty.
48. Do nothing for people that they can and should do for themselves.
49. Have a daily schedule of activities, avoiding whim and caprice.
50. Be merciful with yourself and others.

51. Have no expectations except to be fiercely tempted to your last breath.
52. Focus exclusively on God and light, and never on darkness, temptation and sin.
53. Endure the trial of yourself and your faults serenely, under God's mercy.
54. When you fall, get up immediately and start over.
55. Get help when you need it, without fear or shame.

*(Fr. Thomas Hopko’s “55 Maxims” – On Living a Christian Life)

*Fr. Tom expounds further on this at: http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko/lent_the_tithe_of_the_year

Fr. Tom in his Paschal vestments, with his wife Matushka Anne, in the monastery chapel.
Photo from St. Vladimir Seminary website:
http://www.svots.edu/headlines/protopresbyter-thomas-hopko-reposes-lord

Recipe for cheesefare week

Great Lent starts this coming Monday! This week we are supposed to use up all our dairy, eggs, fish, etc.

I had people over for Meatfare Sunday, and we finished all the meat, but there was a lot of cheese and veggies left over, plus a can of tuna I had bought last week. So I experimented and it came out well:

Cheese week recipe

One or two cans of tuna

Carrot

Lettuce

Whatever other veggies you want

Olive oil

Lemon

Salt, pepper, oregano, any other spices you want

Mozzarella, or any kind of CHEESE! Grated is preferable.

Slice the veggies. Mix everything except the cheese, and put it on an oven-safe plate (bowl would also work but I think plate is better). Then sprinkle as much cheese as you want on top of it. Put in the oven on medium heat (covered with aluminum foil might be best), and take it out when the cheese is starting to brown but before it burns. Serve warm. Using one can of tuna makes two small/medium-size portions, depending on how many other ingredients you use.

Igoumenitsa-Kerkyra

(Written on February 3, 2015)

Last weekend we had a long weekend because we had Friday off (January 30), in honor of the Three Hierarchs, the patron saints of Greek Letters (St. Basil, St. Gregory the Theologian, St. John Chrysostom). I.e., this was an academic holiday that the rest of the world had to work on.

I decided to use the extra day off to travel. After class on Thursday I packed my backpack and took a taxi to the KTEL (bus station), because the city bus that goes there wasn’t coming for a while and I was running late. I got there right on time to buy a ticket and get on the bus to Igoumenitsa before it left at 3:00 pm. Igoumenitsa is a city on the western coast of Greece, across from the island of Kerkyra/Corfu. If you remember, I had met three priest-monks on the plane from Boston to Istanbul (I mentioned them in this blog post: http://www.superman-oli.blogspot.gr/2014/11/greece-2014-so-far-november-14.html).

This is me with the three fathers and their friend in the Istanbul airport during our layover - September 30, 2014.

They are from a monastery in the mountains outside Igoumenitsa. It is called Μονή Γηρομερίου (Geromeriou Monastery – website: http://monigiromeriou.gr/en/index.htm), and it is named after the village of Γηρομέρη (Geromeri), which is the closest village, about five minutes down the mountain. The monastery is about a half hour drive from the small city of Igoumenitsa.

I had been in touch with the abbot and gotten his blessing to go. The bus arrived a little before 7:00 pm. The abbot picked me up from the bus station there, and drove me to the monastery. That night we did a vigil for the Three Hierarchs. There are only three fathers there – Fr. Methodios (the abbot), Fr. Alexios and Fr. Seraphim – all of whom are hieromonks (monks who have been ordained priests). Thus, only one of them serves each service, while the other two chant and make sure everything is orderly in church.

Fr. Seraphim served that night. I chanted with Gheronda Methodios for most of the vigil, along with some other guys from the surrounding villages. Gheronda put me “in the chair” (i.e. to lead) after the Gospel. They had limited music books so I chanted the Cherubic Hymn in Fourth mode (Ἅγια) by Theodore Phokaeus. Gheronda held ison for me, which was really nice, and helped me stay on key and chant well. The rest of the Liturgy I did by heart (i.e. “made it up” in fourth mode), the “original” Ἄξιόν ἐστιν (It is truly right) in second mode, and then something from the Simonopetra Psalter book (Ψαλτήριον Τερπνόν) for the Communion Hymn – I don’t remember what.

The vigil was really nice. It’s not often that I get to be the protopsaltis (lead chanter) for the Divine Liturgy. And when I do, there are not usually people around me to hold ison and keep me on pitch, so I often have trouble because the Liturgy is actually the hardest thing for me to chant in the daily cycle of services – I can usually do Vespers or Orthros reasonably well, but I have trouble with Liturgy. I’ve blogged about that before. It’s something I need to work on. But that night was nice. It was a Cherubic Hymn that I knew; Gheronda holding ison really helped; and Fr. Seraphim also knows music well so he kept us in the mode too – it’s always nice to have a priest who knows music and can stay on key! J

On Friday morning the abbot was giving a talk at one of the schools in Igoumenitsa, in honor of the Three Hierarchs. I left with him a little before 9:00 am, and he dropped me off at the port of Igoumenitsa where I caught the 9:30 ferry to KERKYRA!! I had been wanting to go to Kerkyra for a long time to venerate St. Spyridon (my middle name), and because one of our ancestors on my dad’s side is from there. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera to Kerkyra so I have no pictures from that. Oh well, it’s an excuse to go back! J

The ferry ride to Kerkyra was about one hour and 45 minutes, very calm (it started to rain a little bit as we got closer), and very few people on board. It was very comfortable and relaxing. When I got there I asked for directions and found my way to the church where St. Spyridon’s incorrupt relic is. I was so thankful to God and to St. Spyridon for finally getting to go there, somewhere I’ve been wanting to go pretty much all my life. It was really such a huge blessing! I met Deacon Jason who was standing at the foot of the reliquary keeping watch while people venerated. He actually asked me to help him close the lid of the reliquary when all the people were done venerating, which is considered a huge blessing for the local people to get to do that. I actually had the blessing to help close it three times, because people kept coming in and he re-opened it twice more for them. I then got his email so I can keep in touch with him. He gave me some pieces of the slippers of St. Spyridon, as well as oil from his vigil lamp (for those of you who don’t know, St. Spyridon is a “walking saint,” and his slippers wear out because he “walks” and visits people who need his assistance. They change his slippers every year and cut up the old slippers to give them to people as blessings).

I went down to the port and caught the 1:00 pm ferry back to Igoumenitsa. I recognized one of the ticket inspectors from the previous boat ride. He looked at me for a split second like I was crazy – I guess he remembered that I had just come there and was confused why I was going back so soon.

The ferry back was exactly the opposite – full of people, and a storm had just started so it was very turbulent. It took between 2 and 2½ hours to get back, that’s how bad the sea was. I don’t get sick very easily, thank God. I was in touch with Gheronda who picked me up from the port and took me back to the monastery. That storm raged for the next two days. I was thankful to be safe inside the monastery where everything was close and we weren’t near any bodies of water.

Some pictures from inside the monastery during the rain those days. This is looking from the main church to the cemetery (see the photos below).

The outside of the main church.

The inside of the main church.

Outside the monastery, looking at the entrance.

Looking at the altar area of the main church.

Up those stairs is the wing where the fathers live.

Friday night I had sea legs from being on the boat, and hearing the rain and wind outside made me feel like I was still on the boat!

By the way, the mountains around the monastery are the Misty Mountains (whoever has read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings will get the reference). That was something I was constantly reminded of throughout my stay at the monastery. Just look at the following picture. It doesn't do it justice, though. You had to be there!

Saturday morning we had Liturgy at the monastery – it was just the three fathers and me. Fr. Alexios put me to read the Midnight Office – psalms that I’ve never read in Greek – and the First Hour – psalms I’ve only read in Greek a few times. It made me realize my real poverty in reading Greek quickly. They read very quickly at the monastery, and with me reading those things we finished twenty minutes later than usual! It was good for humility. I chanted Liturgy in plagal fourth mode (the mode of the week that we were finishing), which went ok. I did the Cherubic Hymn by Phokaeus in plagal fourth which I have not learned, so I wasn’t as confident as I was at the vigil. Oh well.

After Liturgy I sat in the kitchen with the fathers and a four-member family who came to confess. I stayed there for a few hours and talked to the three who were not confessing. The parents had lived in Boston for a number of years, and we talked about that, among other things. Their first son was actually born in Boston. The rest of the day on Saturday I walked around the monastery (in the rain) to see the things I hadn’t seen yet, like the cemetery chapel.

Looking into the tiny cemetery chapel

The cemetery chapel is so small it's basically an Altar area. The bones of the previous fathers are kept under the Altar table. There is Liturgy there once a year, on the Saturday of Souls before Pentecost, because the weather is usually good and only the priest stands inside the chapel - the people have to stand outside because it's so small.

The door to the cemetery chapel is on the right, and two empty tombs on the left.

I also saw the tomb of St. Nilus the Sanctified, the founder of the monastery, whose tomb is under a giant rock outside the gates of the monastery. They hope to exhume him this summer if possible, and make his tomb into a cave/catacomb/pilgrimage place, while putting his relics in the monastery – if I understood correctly.

From what I understood, the tomb is under the giant boulder. There used to be a chapel on top, right where I was standing, and there was dirt in the now-gap. They removed the chapel and dug around the rock, to get down to the tomb. They hope to prop up the rock and exhume the saint, and then put the rock back where it was, and make a subterranean pilgrimage spot out of the empty tomb, replacing the dirt and the chapel on top... something like that. I could have gotten some of the facts wrong.

On Sunday Gheronda went to one of the villages for a memorial service. Fr. Alexios liturgized and I chanted with Fr. Seraphim. It was nice. I ate lunch with the fathers a bit later, and then Fr. Seraphim (who is the cook) packed me up a “goody bag” for the road. Gheronda took me down to Igoumenitsa to catch the bus at 2:30. It was then that we saw the aftermath of the storm that was just letting up that day. Many low roads next to the river were flooded, and the water was rising because of the water coming down from the mountains. I felt bad for the people that it affected.

Stop sign in the water - that's how high it was.

Look at that car going through the water. That's also what we looked like from the front.

It was cloudy for almost the entire bus ride back, until we got pretty close to Thessaloniki when it cleared up, but by then the sun had set. When I got back I took a taxi home, and then went to a vigil at St. Haralambos for the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Ὑπαπαντή). It was nice. Anya (whom I mentioned in the Christmas blog) once told me that she likes the Presentation because there are a lot of things in first mode (Lord, I have cried/Κύριε ἐκέκραξα, and the Apolytikion and Kontakion as well). When I told that to another musical friend, he retorted, “Are you kidding?! Ypapanti is the Feast of Γα!” (Fa in the western scale), because the Canon of the Feast is in third mode (the ninth ode megalynaria are awesome: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1r6Yo4Xxrw), and the Aposticha at Vespers are in Varys, which is also based on Γα. First and third modes are both awesome, so I really enjoyed the vigil J

This entire trip happened because Lufthansa was on strike, I got put on Turkish airlines, and I met the fathers on the plane. Otherwise I certainly would not have gone to Igoumenitsa and probably not Kerkyra either!

Glory to God!

Blessed Triodion!