Part I
Kallinikos the Athonite belongs
among the great figures of Athonite monasticism. Konstantinos Theiaspris — his
secular name — was born in 1853 in Athens to pious parents who descended from
the chieftains of 1821.
He was a lively and intelligent
child. Alongside his studies, he also read various Christian books, through
which he came to know the wondrous life of the ascetics. In 1875, at the age of
22, he joined the brotherhood of the virtuous Elder Daniel, in Katounakia of
the Holy Mountain.
When Elder Daniel saw the young
Athenian, he had doubts as to whether he would be able to endure the harsh
monastic life. However, he soon changed his mind and tonsured him a monk with
the name Kallinikos.
Fr. Kallinikos had zeal for the
monastic life and a deep inclination for learning; for this reason, he studied
various patristic books. In a very short period of time, he was able to speak
and write the Russian language, being self-taught. For his overall support of
the Russian monks, the Tsar of Russia awarded him medals.
With the consent of his elder,
Daniel, he decided to live as a recluse—that is, to live in his cell and within
a small area around it—for 45 years.
This heroic decision was combined
with complete surrender to the providence of God, with unceasing prayer and
fasting. Of course, this life is not for everyone, but only “for those to whom
it has been given.” The silkworm produces its silk only after becoming enclosed
in its cocoon. (Fr. Cherubim [Karambelas]).
[Metropolitan] Dionysios of
Trikke and Stagoi writes about him: “You saw a venerable, imposing, holy
figure...” His reputation attracted a multitude of people to him, to hear an
enlightened answer to their problems.
Disciples, elders, hermits,
cenobites, laypeople, jurists, military officers, university professors,
rectors, Greeks, Russians, and generally people of all ages, social classes,
and levels of education would turn to the enlightened hesychast of Katounakia
to seek his counsel for their problems. Among them were [Elder] Joseph the
Cave-dweller, Fr. Gerasimos Menagias, and others.
He was also deemed worthy, among
a few other great fathers, of the vision of the uncreated light. Through the
practice of the noetic prayer, he was granted divine illuminations, writes Monk
Erastos. (Two Contemporary Saints, Athens 1963).
On August 7, 1930, the reclusive
hesychast of the desert of Katounakia, Fr. Kallinikos, was destined to depart
for “the beloved tabernacles of the Lord.” After he had forewarned his disciple
of his end, he told him to go and prepare the Church. For ten minutes before he
breathed his last, he gazed upon holy figures who had come to accompany him
with honor at his departure. Then he was heard to whisper softly: “I thank You,
my God, that I die an Orthodox…” (Fr. Cherubim).
Eternal be his memory.
Part II
At the beginning of the 20th
century, a strange formation was born within the sphere of the Church. A
bizarre monster: Ecumenism.
According to it, no religion
possesses the full truth. Each religion has a part of the truth. The complete
truth will arise from the union of all Churches and all religions. Ecumenism: a
pan-religion.
Various figures have
characterized Ecumenism as a pan-heresy (Fr. Justin Popovich). The first step
of Ecumenism was the change of the calendar, as is evident in the 1920
encyclical of the Patriarchate and in the proceedings of the Constantinople
conference in 1923, in order for Orthodox and Papists to celebrate together. Thus,
in 1923, the modernist Patriarch of Constantinople Meletios Metaxakis dared the
disastrous calendar change.
The entire Holy Mountain (except
for the Vatopedi Monastery for a certain period) has preserved the old (Julian)
calendar up to the present day. A significant portion of Zealot monks also
proceeded to cease the commemoration of the innovating Patriarch. The
enlightened Elder Kallinikos could not remain indifferent in the face of this
unprecedented betrayal of the faith.
To him (Fr. Kallinikos), as the
wisest and holiest, the concerned Fathers turned for counsel regarding what
should be done, and he, interpreting the Scriptures, without evasions or
doubts, based on the Holy Fathers and the 15th Canon of the First-Second Council,
advised them to cease the commemoration of the modernist patriarch Meletios
Metaxakis. In such a gathering, the elder Kallinikos openly characterized the
opinion that the commemoration of the patriarch should not be ceased as a
“diabolical deception” ([Hieromonk] Maximos Hagiovasileiates, Denunciation
of the Athonite Fathers, Holy Mountain 1997, p. 160).
The position of this blessed Elder
Kallinikos regarding the Ecumenist innovation of the calendar change is evident
from the following incident.
“Someone wanted to become a
priest and wrote a confessional letter, which he sent to Fr. Kallinikos. The
elder said to his disciples: ‘Write to the brother that he is in a pit of mire,
clapping his hands and crying out for us to make him a king. Let him first come
out of the pit of the New Calendarist innovation, be cleansed, and then we will
see if he is worthy to become a king.’” (Monk Damaskinos Hagiovasileiates, Periodical
Saint Agathangelos the Esphigmenite, no. 74, 1984).
He used to receive the religious
periodical “ZOE.” But when the calendar change took place, he
immediately returned the periodical. (Damaskinos, see above).
We could say that Elder
Kallinikos in our days fulfilled the role of Saint Mark of Ephesus, Saint
Gregory Palamas, and Saint Maximus the Confessor, as well as other struggling
Fathers who, in critical moments for the Church, remained the sole defenders of
Orthodoxy.
From the presented evidence, it
becomes clear that the holy Elder Kallinikos of Katounakia, the reclusive
hesychast, is a contemporary figure of the Athonite desert who denounced the
heresy of the Latins, Papism, and the modern pan-heresy of New
Calendarism–Ecumenism.
- Panagiotis Iliopoulos
Greek
source: https://imthes.gr/index.php/%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%B3%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%AF%CE%B5%CF%82/%CF%88%CF%85%CF%87%CE%BF%CF%86%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%AE/%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AC/91-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%BB%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%82-%E1%BD%81-%E1%BC%81%CE%B3%CE%B9%CF%81%CE%B5%CE%AF%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82
