The Teachers of Dionysios Batistatos: Metropolitan Chrysostomos, formerly of Florina (+1955) and Elder Joseph the Hesychast (+1959)

Nikolaos Mannis

 

All great men owe part of their worth to their teachers: Plato to Socrates, Alexander to Aristotle, Augustine to Ambrose, Proclus to Chrysostom, Lucaris to Pegas. And how many others…

The ever‑memorable Dionysios Batistatos was blessed to have, in his life, two very significant figures—the first by reason of kinship, the second by reason of choice—who exerted a beneficial influence upon his own personality.

This refers, on the one hand, to the renowned Elder Joseph the Hesychast, [1] according to the flesh the brother of Dionysios’ mother, Ergini, and on the other hand, to the heroic former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos Kavouridis, [2] who for years was his spiritual father and guide.

We read in an unpublished autobiographical notebook of his:

“My late mother had a brother on the Holy Mountain, the renowned ascetic Joseph the Cave-Dweller. He was initially a monk at the Skete of Saint Basil, later at the Skete of Saint Anna. His prayer proved to be a precious factor of advancement for our family. I met him when I was a little child, about eight years old. [3] One morning, he visited us unexpectedly. I remember that the late Grandma Maria (my mother’s mother) was with us. We were shelling fresh beans. Emotion, tears, joy. He had come down to draw our attention to the calendar reform that had been imposed in 1924. It was the first intense religious impression I ever recorded… Because of uncle-father Joseph, we also received visits from Athonites. I remember that the ever-blessed Father Nektarios the Printer [4] and likewise Father Akakios [5]—the first house they visited, coming from the Holy Mountain, was ours. Our house was a proper monastic dwelling. A blessing from God!” [6]

Elder Joseph maintained frequent correspondence with his nephew Dionysios, and through his letters he sought to guide him spiritually, also harboring the hope of making him a Monk as well. But the counsels of the Lord were otherwise!

Dionysios was destined to serve the Orthodox Church from a different position. Elder Joseph sensed this and expressed it in an (undated) letter to his sister Ergina: “Little Dionysios will one day become an Apostle, my beloved nephew and your son; he is the soul of our soul. He has gifts, and his virtues are visible from afar… Let him say the Prayer constantly, and he will become humble—but also great.” [7]

And his first great mission was to assist the Sacred Struggle of the so‑called Old Calendarists “out of admiration for that ever‑memorable Giant of Orthodoxy, the former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos.” [8] By “Sacred Struggle” is meant the Orthodox objection, led by the former Metropolitan of Florina Chrysostomos, of the Greek Orthodox faithful against the Calendar Innovation, and the denunciation of that innovation before a Pan-Orthodox Council, with the aim of restoring the festal unity of the Orthodox Church.

As is well known, the former Metropolitan of Florina Chrysostomos had led the Old Calendarist Movement since 1935, but in 1937 a faction of extreme Old Calendarists (whose fanaticism had been fueled by the inhuman and un-Christian persecutions of the Official Church) repudiated him for the Orthodox ecclesiology he expressed—particularly for his position that no Church (even one from which one is cut off—walled off—from communion) can be considered de facto schismatic or heretical, except by the competent synodal authority, namely a Great (Pan-Orthodox or Ecumenical) Council before which it has been denounced. This repudiation gave rise to the so-called Matthewite Schism, which took its name from its leading figure, Bishop Matthew of Bresthena, a former Athonite.

The Matthewite Schism was at first followed even by Elder Joseph, until the year 1945, when—after a revelation from God and a discussion with the Athonite monk Antonios Moustakas, [9] a close associate of the Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina—he came to understand his error and returned to the Church. [10] In a letter (August 29, 1945) to his sister Ergina, he writes that he is grieved for those who

“separated themselves from the Despotes, [11] while I am certain that they are all in delusion, as the Lord revealed to me. Moreover, they create a schism to their own detriment, for which reason I repented, having been led astray out of ignorance by the local spiritual fathers, but the sweet Jesus did not forsake me. Matthew and company—unfortunately Varykopoulos [12] and all—were mistaken, but may the Lord help them… The demon himself said to me: ‘It is I,’ he said, ‘who placed them where they are and caused them to be separated from their archpastor.’” [13]

Dionysios, after receiving his degree from the Theological School of Athens in 1947, and at the age of only 26, began to write articles, [14] while the ever‑memorable former Metropolitan of Florina Chrysostomos, also recognizing his gifts, enlisted him as a preacher.

In 1949, Elder Joseph once again attempted to persuade his nephew Dionysios to choose the monastic life, and specifically to be ordained a Hieromonk [15] (evidently by Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina), near Elder Parthenios Skourlis, [16] in whose Monastery Dionysios’ sister, Bryaini the nun, had initially become a monastic.

It seems that Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina also inwardly desired the episcopal ordination of Dionysios, perhaps even hoping to make him his successor, precisely because he saw in him the same unifying spirit, the same ecclesiastical ethos and mindset, as well as their shared ecclesiological outlook.

However, since Dionysios eventually married (in 1953, to Louïza Kontaxí), both Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina and Elder Joseph were supportive—especially the former. Indeed, the pen of Batistatos preserves a characteristic incident concerning this:

“I remember that the previous Pascha I had in mind to go to Mount Athos to celebrate there. One day during Palm Week [i.e., Great Week], the saintly elder—youthful in spiritual strength [the former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos]—called me into his office, and the following dialogue took place between us, more or less.

– I have heard that you are planning to go to the Holy Mountain!

– Indeed.

– Will you allow me to share my opinion with you, and then you may decide whatever you deem right?

– I would be glad to hear it, Your Eminence.

– Pascha is a feast of familial joy. Your wife did not marry you merely to secure her livelihood and the benefits of your labor; she has the moral and rightful claim to share with you the holy days of the Christian feasts. This above all constitutes the bond of marriage. Do not rely on her consent in order to wrong a noble woman, and do not heap clouds upon the sky of your family life. Moreover, you also have an obligation to the congregations, which during these days ask of the laborers of the Church a sermon. Let us not therefore seek what pleases us, but what is required of us.

– Your Eminence, I am willing to carry out Your command.

– I beg you, I do not give commands; I merely express my opinion, and you are free to decide.” [17]

With such conduct (by no means despotic or tyrannical), the former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos, won over people—as he also won over the soul of Dionysios.

Indeed, the alignment of ecclesiological views made Dionysios a trusted confidant of Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina; already by 1952, he was Secretary of the P.T.E.O.K. [18] (Panhellenic Religious and National Orthodox Society), a lay organization that had been founded by order of the former Metropolitan of Florina, for the purpose of contributing to the administration of the Sacred Struggle.

The central idea of the ecclesiological thought of both Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Florina and Elder Joseph was the Unity of the Orthodox; this same goal was desired and served by Dionysios. In a later article of his in the newspaper Orthodoxos Typos, he writes concerning Metropolitan Chrysostomos that

“he joined the ranks of the Old Calendarists, around 1935, in order to facilitate, as he hoped, the resolution of the issue within ecclesiological bounds and to prevent its deviation into irregular ecclesiastical conditions, and to ensure that the zeal of the Old Calendarists for piety and precision of faith not become the object of profane exploitation... Only the ever‑memorable Patriarch of Alexandria, Kyrios Christophoros, discerned the intentions of the former Metropolitan of Florina for the good of the entire Orthodox Church and its unity; yet he collided with the obstinacy of the ecclesiastical officials of that time.” [19]

Elder Joseph also spoke fervently in favor of the unity of the Orthodox in a letter (dated September 20, 1954) to Dionysios:

“Remember what we said the last time I saw you, beloved child. Tell them what the Divine Liturgy says: ‘Let us love one another’ and then, ‘Let us confess’—from the Phanar to Russia, and from the ends of the world to the heart of us all... We believe in one, holy Church; within her we were baptized. What need is there, then, for quarrels and strife?” [20]

An apostle of this Unity was the ever‑memorable Dionysios Batistatos, consistent with the beliefs of his teachers, for he knew that “strength lies in unity,” especially in the difficult times that are coming. [21]

Naturally, the unity which Dionysios served was not of a worldly kind, nor sentimental in tone, but unity in Truth. For this reason, he also bravely fought against the greatest enemy of that unity: Ecumenism—the preacher of false unity! He wrote characteristically, commenting on the first synodal anathema against Ecumenism, pronounced by the Russian Church Abroad (in 1983):

“It is imperative that other local Churches of Orthodoxy, or even groups of Hierarchs, seriously consider the danger of Ecumenism and condemn Ecumenism and the Ecumenists without equivocation. For only in this way will the militant unity of the Orthodox throughout the world be realized against the coming Antichrist.” [22]

For this reason, we may safely say that the ever‑memorable Dionysios Batistatos was chiefly a spiritual disciple of the former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos, “who in the person of D. M. always found his best collaborator and the most worthy interpreter of his thoughts and pure motives for Orthodoxy,” [23] as the theologian Georgios Vlachogiannis, a collaborator of the ever‑memorable Dionysios, aptly observes.

The crowning expression of “honor toward the teacher” was the now rare publication prepared by Dionysios Batistatos (together with the veteran laborer of the Sacred Struggle, the ever‑memorable Elias Angelopoulos), titled Former Metropolitan of Florina Chrysostomos Kavouridis: Champion of Orthodoxy and of the Nation. [24]

It was a debt of remembrance, for—as Dionysios himself writes in the preface—“such forgetfulness would be a shame. It would be a crime against historical memory for the name of one who honored the Church, who glorified the Nation, to fade away; such forgetfulness would be abhorrent ingratitude.”

We conclude the present text with an observation by Dionysios Batistatos regarding his much‑beloved teacher and spiritual father, the former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos:
“Those who in any way were connected with him must be considered fortunate. Their boast in him is assuredly the noblest title of honor for their life.” [25]

 

NOTES

1. His canonization by the Patriarchate of Constantinople took place in 2020. For an indicative account of his life, see Nikolaos Alimbrantis, Saint Joseph the Hesychast, Athens, 2020.

2. His canonization by the Church of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece (Old Calendarists) took place in 2016. For an indicative account of his life, see Stavros Karamitsos, The Contemporary Confessor of Orthodoxy, Athens, 1990.

3. Therefore, approximately the year 1929.

4. The Zealot Athonite Monk Nektarios Katsaros (secular name: Neokles) was born in Fanari, Karditsa, in 1896 and attended the Gymnasium of Larissa. In 1913 he departed for Mount Athos and became a monk. After the Calendar Innovation (1924), he participated in the founding of the “Sacred Union of Zealot Athonite Monks.” During the years 1927–1930, together with Archimandrite Akakios Pappas—later Bishop of Talantion—they traveled throughout Greece enlightening the faithful on the issue. In 1930 he founded the “Athonite Printing Press,” through which he published, among other works, the Byzantine music books Musical Treasury of the Divine Liturgy (two volumes, 1931), The Melodious Nightingale (1933), and Musical Treasury of Vespers (1935). In 1942 he was arrested by the occupying German forces and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. He fell asleep in the Lord on August 20, 1973.

5. The ever‑memorable Bishop of Talantion, Akakios Papas, was born in 1888 in Desphina, Phocis. In 1904 he went to Mount Athos, where he became a monk. He was ordained a priest in 1917 by Paisios of Nyssa. In 1929 he traveled throughout Greece to enlighten the faithful on the issue of the Calendar Innovation. In 1960 he was ordained Bishop of Talantion in the U.S.A. by Bishops of the Russian Church Abroad. He fell asleep in the Lord on December 1, 1963.

6. Archive of Dionysios Batistatos.

7. The aforementioned letter was first published in Elder Joseph the Hesychast, Letters and Poems, Holy Great Monastery of Vatopaidi, Mount Athos, 2019, p. 425.

8. Dionysios Batistatos to Bishop of Talantion Akakios (circa December 1962).

9. Elder Joseph the Hesychast, op. cit., p. 125.

10. “In the person of the Florinites [alt. source: ‘of Florina’] you have renounced the entire Church” (see Elder Joseph of Vatopaidi, The Charismatic Disciple: Elder Ephraim of Katounakia, Holy Great Monastery of Vatopaidi, 2001, p. 108).

11. He means the former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos.

12. Bishop Germanos Varykopoulos of the Cyclades participated in the Matthewite Schism, until he too returned in repentance to the former Metropolitan of Florina, Chrysostomos, a few years before his repose.

13. Elder Joseph the Hesychast, op. cit., p. 136.

14. His first article, titled The Resurrection of the Lord, is found in the official periodical of the Old Calendarists, The Voice of Orthodoxy, in two parts (issue no. 32 / 19‑5‑1947 and issue no. 33 / 2‑6‑1947).

15. In the same, pp. 274–275, 278.

16. The ever‑memorable Bishop of the Cyclades, Parthenios Skourlis, was born in 1890 in Orologion, Euboea. As a young man, he went to Mount Athos, where he became a monk. He was ordained a priest in 1915. In 1927 he returned to the world to support the faithful of the Old Calendar, for which he was persecuted many times. He later founded the Holy Monastery of the Dormition of the Theotokos on Mount Parnitha and devoted himself to publishing Patristic books. In 1962 he was consecrated Bishop of the Cyclades by Archbishop Leonty of Chile (of the Russian Church Abroad) and Akakios of Talantion. He fell asleep in the Lord on December 6, 1962.

17. The Voice of Orthodoxy, no. 215–216 / September 12, 1955.

18. See The Voice of Orthodoxy, no. 136 / August 25, 1952, p. 3.

19. Orthodoxos Typos, no. 327 / September 20, 1978, p. 3.

20. Elder Joseph the Hesychast, op. cit., p. 345.

21. “What is needed, therefore, is a militant unity of all Orthodox Greeks, in view of impending tribulations” (Ecclesiastikos Agon, no. 219 / April 1986, p. 6).

22. Ecclesiastikos Agon, no. 195 / January 1984, p. 3.

23. Orthodoxos Typos, no. 977 / May 22, 1992, p. 3.

24. Athens, 1981.

25. In the same, p. 36.

 

Greek source: Τιμητικός Τόμος Διονυσίου Μ. Μπατιστάτου, Athens, 2024, pp. 237-246.