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Through the Grace of God, on Holy Saturday in
the year of our Lord 1977, 1 was baptized at the
hands of Archimandrites Aemilianos and Dionysios
in the sea below Simonos Petras Monastery,
Mount Athos, Greece.
Descended from a family of Anglican priests, and
after a five-year journey through Eastern religions
and then Western monasteries in America and Europe,
eventually, on Mount Athos, I discovered Orthodox
Christianity. So liberating was this experience
that for the first time in my life I came to understand
the Incarnation of our Lord in a way that loosened
the Platonic dualism to which I had become so
accustomed. Instead of finding another community
dedicated to a rule of the past, fixated on the
crucifixion of Christ in an attempt to escape the
world, on Athos I discovered warriors who stormed
the Gates of Heaven dragging the material world
with them.
In the years following my sojourn on Mount Athos,
it has become increasingly clear that these Pillars
of Silence, our monastic communities, provide the
Apostolic lifeblood of our Church in our Bishops,
and our communion with Christ through our Confessors. Throughout the history of our Church, monastic communities have safeguarded our Faith, delivering to the modern era a foundation reaching back two millenia, a rock upon which we can stand firmly, and look forward-to the future with the full strength of Faith.
After my family's pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where my
Spiritual Father, Archimandrite Dionysios, was Abbot
of the most ancient and sacred Monastery of the Holy Cross, "Friends of the Holy Cross" was founded with the sole purpose of nourishing this essential foundation of our Faith, Orthodox Monasticism. We invite you to join with us, in whatever way you find possible, to restore, support and perpetrate the Orthodox monastic communities that flourish throughout the world in our time.
Christopher H. D. Warren, III
President, "Friends of the Holy Cross"
In each Age, whether purity or impurity prevails, God manifests Himself to us. As the wind caresses a rose, so does He impress upon our hearts His Love. Or, as St. Paul on the road to Damascus, sometimes He grabs our attention in a most unsettling way. For each of us who know Geronta Dionysios, we have also come to know the movement of the Holy Spirit, as a gentle wind AND a blinding Light. We are called to become something more, to struggle with ourselves to rise above the normal and to know the extraordinary.
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Mr. Christopher Warren, his son Nicholas and their Elder Gerontas Dionysios.
When first I met Father Dionysios, it was in the
monastery Simonos Petra on Mount Athos. He was 26 years old. His complete, focused devotion to His Spiritual Father, Archimandrite Aemilianos, Abbot of the monastery, created an aura of love in which all who were present basked. By watching these men, I came to understand the "Rule" of Orthodox monasticism as a living, dynamic interaction where the Gospels were not simply studied, but lived. The Rule was a living relationship. The life of Jesus and His Apostles continued to be played out, in each day, two thousand years later, as a result of this "master - disciple" relationship which formed the foundation of Athonite monasticism.
Throughout the history of our Church, monastics have
served those in the world by continually reflecting
the Light of Christ upon them. In the bright day, we
see all around us, that which is in the light, and that
which was in the shadow. In the Light, our error is
clearly and simply manifest, and with that manifestation, however painful it may be, comes the opportunity to
return our vision toward that which is right. However,
where Monasticism is not present in the Church, the
lines are far less clear and we often find ourselves
in grayness struggling to find distinction.
We are blessed to have this opportunity to celebrate
the 30-year anniversary of Geronta Dionysios's tonsure into the monastic life. His presence today in the New World offers us New Hope for the Orthodox Church in the Western Hemisphere. We are reminded of the essential need of the monastic life to enrich and fulfill our lives in the world. We pray that we will find the
Geronta more often in our midst, and with Him, the
establishment of monastic communities around us as new
lighthouses and foundations in our Faith.
May God Grant Him Many Years!
Christopher H. D. Warren III
Director of Internet Services, APA
Director of St. Michael's Home for the Elderly, of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America,
V R. E M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O.
Trappist Hieromonk, Founder of Western Monasteries in America
and of tens of monasteries in Asia and Africa. Author of
many well-known books on spirituality:
"Recollections from Meteora and Holy Mountain".
Mr. Douglas Lyttle,
Professor of Photography:
"A journey of the Heart".
Slides related to the Elder from his archive on Mt. Athos, 1974 - 1994, accompanied
by commentary.
V.R.F. Chrysostom (Mezilson):
"Analysis of the Biographical Note".
Nun Aemiliani, Ed.D. Harvard,
Holy Cross Monastery, Thebes, Greece:
"The Foundation of the Sacred Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Thebes,
Boeotias, and of the Sacred Monasteries originating from it".
Anyone present wishing to speak.
EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS MONASTERY
322 00 THEBES BOEOTIA, GREECE.
email: ypsosis@fhc.org
Telephone: 30.226.2062265
Fax: 30.226.2062004
To send e-mail to the monastery, click the mailbox below:
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