* Revised translation from Greek and annotations by Ion Marian Croitoru. Paper presented by Fr. Gheorghe Metallinós at the International Symposium ‘European Secularisation and Orthodox Resistance’, organised by the Diocese of Bălți of the Orthodox Metropolis of Moldova, Bălți, 2–4 April 2012. An initial version of the translation of this paper is already in circulation in Romanian; see Rev. Gheorghe D. Metallinos, ‘In Prayer and Fasting. Worship and Asceticism, Components of Orthodox Spiritual Life (6 April 2012)’, available at http://apologeticum.ro/2012/04/preot-gheorghe-d-metallinos-in-rugaciune-si-in-post/ (accessed 24 October 2021). However, the text published in the pages of the journal Martyria, which appears under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Râmnic, is a revised version of that translation (translator’s note).
** Father Professor Gheorghe Metallinós was born on 11 March 1940 and fell asleep in the Lord on 19 December 2019. He was married and, together with his wife, Mrs Varvara, was blessed by the Lord with three children: two boys and a girl. He was born on the island of Cherchira (Kerkira or Corfu), where he completed primary school, secondary school and high school (1958). He studied Theology and Classical Philology at the University of Athens (Greece). After completing his military service, he was appointed as a teaching assistant in the Department of Patrology at the Faculty of Theology in Athens (1965). Between 1969 and 1975, he studied Theology, Philology, History, Philosophy and Sociology in West Germany, whilst also undertaking studies and research in the archives in England. He holds a doctorate in Theology (Athens, 1977), as well as in Philosophy and History (Cologne, 1978). Whilst studying in Germany, he was ordained a priest (1971). From 1984 until 2007, he was a full professor at the Faculty of Theology in Athens, where he taught courses on the History and Spiritual Life of the Orthodox East, the History and Theology of the Orthodox Liturgy, and Byzantine History. He also served as Dean of the Faculty of Theology in Athens from 2004 to 2007. Renowned as a preacher and a scholar of exceptional theological calibre both in Greece and abroad, Father Metallinós was a member of numerous scholarly associations, representing the Churches of Greece and Cyprus at various Orthodox and interfaith congresses and meetings. For example, from 1978 to 1992, he was the representative of the Church of Cyprus in the dialogue with the Lutheran World Federation. His body of work as a writer and theologian is rich and varied, comprising many articles, studies and dozens of books. Among his books, we mention just a few: Politics and Theology, The Church in the World, The Parish, Orthodoxy and the Greek Character, Hesitant Hellenism, Struggling Hellenism, The Theological Testimony of Church Worship (translator’s note).
1. Spiritual Life and Ecclesiastical Theology
The constitution of the life of the Church, in its local and universal realisation (1), has as its sole and unshakeable aim the path towards the deification of its members, that is, their ‘perfect’ (1 Thessalonians 5:23) into the Body of Christ, which represents the absolute aim and goal of the Christian life. Any alteration of this aim automatically entails the alienation of the Church (in its human aspect) and its reduction to a worldly organisation (association, corporation), and consequently, the loss of its character. Moreover, the fundamental distortion of Christianity, which radically alters its very nature, is to regard it as a Christian ideology or a system of ‘2’ truths, which the believer is called upon to accept in order to shape their life accordingly. In this case, one learns Christianity in the same way as one learns a particular school lesson. However, Christianity is not merely a lesson, but first and foremost a passion. It offers itself as a way of life; in other words, as integration into a new and revealed way of life in Christ—that is, into the life which the incarnate Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, introduced into history. The believer is called to reach, through a concrete path, the point where he can apply to himself the confession of Saint Paul the Apostle, that ‘it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’ (Galatians 2:20). This means taking on the likeness of Christ within the believer, according to the same Holy Apostle, who says that ‘Christ will be formed in you’ (Galatians 4:19). This path, which is equivalent to the process of healing human existence 3, is precisely the spiritual life or life in the Holy Spirit. This means participation in the uncreated grace bestowed by the Holy Spirit, which grace dwells within the ascetic as the Kingdom of Heaven (the Heavenly Kingdom) and manifests itself as the way in the Holy Spirit. Man’s destiny is to live in the Trinitarian and holy light, so that he may truly be a human being and a fellow human, truly loving God and his neighbour, within the bounds of good faith and loving selflessness, in accordance with the apostolic word: ‘that we may live sensibly, righteously and godly in this present age’ (Titus 2:12).
Man’s destiny is to live in the Trinitarian and holy light, so that he may truly be a human being and a fellow human, truly loving God and his neighbour, within the bounds of good faith and loving selflessness.
Therefore, in the spiritual sense, according to the Church’s linguistic code, the ‘spiritual’ person is not the intellectually cultivated individual—that is, the intellectual, the worldly-wise—but the one who is wise according to God (James 3:17), that is, the one who has been deemed worthy to be a temple of the Holy Spirit; in a word, the ‘pnevmatofor’ or bearer of the Holy Spirit 4. Truly spiritual is the one who has been deified, that is, the Saint. The Orthodox church is adorned with paintings of saints; it is filled with their images, so that there may be a constant reminder that the aim of every believer is to follow the same path as the saints, and for the Church to be perceived as a permanent laboratory of holiness. However strange this may sound nowadays, this laboratory is a space for the making (= creation) of saints and a spiritual hospital (according to Saint John Chrysostom), that is to say, a place of spiritual healing.
Ecclesial theology and theological reflection are both the content and the expression of the spiritual life. Through theology, the experience of illumination 5 and deification is expressed as states of the spiritual and holy life. Holy and spiritual experience constitutes the premise of the Church’s theology. The word about God presupposes the knowledge of God 6. However, the knowledge of God can never be the fruit of rational, intellectual or metaphysical inquiry, but only the fruit of communion with the Holy Spirit (the Divine Liturgy). According to Saint Gregory the Theologian, as is well known, theologising (that is, philosophising about God) presupposes communion with God and is, for this reason, a presupposition of ‘those things which have been investigated and confirmed through contemplation’, that is, through the vision of God, ‘and above all of those who have purified or are purifying their soul and body in the most temperate manner’7 Theologian. It is communion with God that makes a person a theologian; a theologian is a Saint. Theology arising from the experience of beholding God is indicated in Holy Scripture by the term ‘prophecy’. The prophet (as God’s mouthpiece to the world) speaks as one who beholds God and, therefore, acts as a theologian 8.
Consequently, the spiritual life constitutes the essence of church life as Christian life. It is precisely for this reason that the purpose of the Church’s presence in the world is to bring the whole of humanity into communion with God, that is, to bring the world into the Church.
2. The main components of spiritual life
The main components of spiritual life are faith, asceticism and worship 9. Theology expresses what faith is, as a manifestation of divine love and the daily glorification and confession of the Church as the Body of Christ. Asceticism and worship constitute the way in which life in Christ is realised, as fidelity to the divine calling and to the conditions for its fulfilment.
‘Salvation in Christ is the restoration of humankind to the path towards perfection and immortality, through communion with the Holy Spirit’10). By attaining ‘communion with the Holy Spirit’, man participates in God’s mode of existence and realises himself as a person 11, living out the selflessness of holy and Trinitarian personal communion. This process is successfully accomplished through the integration of the whole of human existence into the Body of Christ—that is, through its transformation into Christ—so that it may be realised that man is able to know God (1 John 5:20), to be united with Him, and to become divine.
This way of life and existence within the Body of Christ is asceticism, for this is what Christ required, saying that ‘the Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who strive for it lay hold of it’ (Matthew 11:12), and is confirmed by the statement of the Holy Apostle Paul: ‘I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified’ (1 Corinthians 9:27). Asceticism is the central element of life in Christ and constitutes a constant path of repentance, which makes a person receptive to divine grace. Since man’s purpose is to receive the Holy Spirit [‘Receive the Holy Spirit’ (John 20:22)], it is necessary for man to open himself to grace. Through asceticism, the rebellious nature is subdued, so that it may rediscover its authenticity. The sanctification of human nature took place once and for all through Christ’s redemptive work and His assumption of our nature. Through asceticism, the concrete human person is sanctified and human nature is prepared for its union with uncreated grace. Asceticism, as the struggle of the whole person, is for the Church the method of theological knowledge. It is important, however, to distinguish that the ascetic effort of the believer is not of an ethical nature; that is to say, it does not aim merely at an improvement in character and behaviour, but at personal participation in the feast and joy of the Church, which is ‘the feast… of the firstborn’ (Hebrews 13:22–23). For this reason, asceticism instils in the believer a sense of ineffable joy, which rejects all artificial (Pharisaical) prudence and feigned sadness, which is nothing more than a false display of piety. Christian asceticism is a willing participation in obedience to Christ and His Saints, for the purpose of putting to death the individual will and its definitive identification with the will of Christ (Philippians 2:5).
…asceticism instils in the believer a sense of inexpressible joy, rejecting all artificial (Pharisaical) reserve and feigned sadness, which is nothing more than a false display of piety. Christian asceticism is a willing participation in obedience to Christ and His Saints, aimed at the subjugation of the individual will and its definitive identification with the will of Christ.
However, piety or good faith and the spirituality of Orthodoxy are liturgical. As Father George Florovsky observed, ‘Christianity is a liturgical religion. The Church is, above all, a community that expresses itself through worship. Worship comes first, followed by dogmatic teaching and discipline (ecclesiastical order)’12 This means that in the Church’s ‘liturgical assembly’ ‘lies the source of life, its centre; from this springs its new teaching, its sanctifying grace and the way in which it ministers’13). Church life as a whole is shaped within the framework of worship. The Church is realised as a community that expresses itself through worship, since its entire life, in all its details, is continually transformed into worship directed towards God.
In every expression of church worship, a twofold movement takes place: that of man towards God, for the glory of God, and that of God towards man, for the sanctification of man. Naturally, the scholastic question of who takes the initiative has no place here, for here the words of Saint John Chrysostom apply, according to whom ‘the greater part, and indeed almost everything, belongs to God, whilst He has left us with a small portion’14). Church worship is a mystical dialogue between the Creator and the created; in other words, it is the communion between God and man, the offering of one’s entire existence to its source, in accordance with the liturgical command: ‘Let us offer ourselves, one another, and our whole life to Christ our God!’
Consequently, the theological character of worship can also be observed. Yet it is not merely this, for the theological word—which is at once holy, scriptural and patristic—becomes the word of worship, offered to the whole Church 15. Church worship is the place where piety is learnt, shaping the Church’s way of thinking and way of life, and the conscience of the Church as a Body. The believer is introduced into the communion on the Cross, given by God, which is predetermined by the Eucharistic imperatives: ‘Let us lift up our hearts!’ and ‘Let us love one another, so that we may bear witness with one mind!’. In the Orthodox liturgy, the believer experiences the mystery of the new age, which has entered the world through the Incarnation of the Son of God and His victory over corruption, sin and death. This is the mystery of ‘the new heaven and the new earth’ (Revelation 21:1). In our worship, our entire existence is placed under the power of Christ, for ‘we cast aside all worldly cares, that we may receive Him as the King of all’ (Cherubic Hymn, Divine Liturgy) and we glorify the Triune God, just as the angelic powers in heaven glorify Him unceasingly (Isaiah 6:1 ff.).
It is in this spirit that the complementarity between asceticism and liturgical life is perceived. Church worship is festive in its very nature. Every day is a feast, a celebration for the Church, for the veneration of the Saints confirms Christ’s victory over the world (John 16:33). Moreover, asceticism, as a foretaste of the joy of this feast, prepares the faithful to enter into the Church’s feast, into its spiritual celebration. It is the preparation for the whole person’s participation in the ‘new creation’ (2 Corinthians 5:17), which is revealed in worship. It is the path of return to man’s natural state, the fundamental prerequisite for the path and ascent to the super-natural state, that is, to the state of worship that transcends the worldly.
Asceticism, through unceasing prayer, humility, detachment from the passions, fasting and continuous participation in liturgical practice, aims to transform life into a ‘living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God’ (Romans 12:1). And all this so that life may ultimately find its beauty, authenticity and true meaning. Indeed, what the believer becomes, through his asceticism, within the context of worship and, above all, in the Divine Liturgy, is that he becomes part of the Church—that is, he is integrated into the Body of Christ, which Body is the Church, and the individual reality becomes a reality of communion, that is, ecclesiastical. For it is only then that a person gains significance and is sanctified, when their individuality is incorporated into the Church. Outside the Body of Christ, not only is there no salvation, but even the most perfect virtue remains a ‘defiled garment’ (Isaiah 64:5).
Worship transforms the believer’s entire life into Christ; that is to say, people become bearers of Christ. Asceticism provides the believer with the means to achieve this goal, since a person not cleansed of passions cannot truly glorify God. Let us recall the Paschal hymn: ‘And make us, the faithful, worthy to glorify You with a pure heart’16). A ‘pure heart’ is the goal of Christian asceticism (see Psalm 50:12: ‘Create in me a pure heart, O God…’). Only with a pure heart can a person see God (Matthew 5:8), that is, attain the purpose of their life in the Church. This is precisely what the words of St John of Damascus express in his Paschal Canon: ‘Let us purify our senses and behold Christ shining with the incomparable light of the Resurrection…’17 Worship leads to deification only when there is, however, the purification of the heart and the senses (= the premise of worship)18, which is, naturally, the fruit of man’s union with the very source of human sanctification, both in asceticism and in worship, namely, with the uncreated grace of the Triune God. Consequently, since worship represents entry into the Kingdom of Heaven, asceticism is the path to the Kingdom. Worship determines and reveals the purpose of our existence; asceticism helps to fulfil this purpose.
Through asceticism 19, moreover, as the Christian’s permanent way of life, one’s entire life is transformed into worship of God, offered ‘in truth’ (John 4:23). For the Christian who practises asceticism is entirely transformed into a temple of God, in which the mystery of salvation is accomplished. Indeed, just as those who prayed with their hearts in the Church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 14), although they had the ‘unceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:18)” of the Holy Spirit in their hearts, they also took part in the gathering of the whole Body; so too, the one who is perfected through asceticism takes part in the gathering and worship of the Body, uniting his charisms with the Church 20. Moreover, without communion with our brothers and sisters in Christ, communion with Christ itself becomes impossible 21.
Consequently, it is significant that asceticism does not merely serve to prepare the believer for participation in the worship of the Church, but also helps the believer to preserve the grace, so that, upon leaving the place of worship 22, they may benefit from it in their daily concerns, as well as in the continuation of their relationship with God. Asceticism ultimately facilitates the prolongation and extension of worship to one’s entire life, which is thus transformed into unceasing worship—that is, into a liturgy following a liturgy.
3. Monasticism as liturgical asceticism
Monasticism practised in accordance with the rules of the Orthodox Church preserves the link between asceticism and worship, safeguarding the spiritual foundations of God’s people on their spiritual journey. The monk’s life is an ascetic study of repentance. Given that repentance represents the fundamental ‘revolution’ which entered the world through Christ for the continuous renewal of the world, monasticism sustains Christianity as a permanent (spiritual) revolution in the world, whilst at the same time continuing the spirituality of the early centuries, safeguarding the Church from the danger of secularisation and working constantly to spread it. That is why monasticism has also been called the better way or the world of the Church. For, although all Christians are called to strive to enter the Kingdom of God (23), monks follow the Lord’s commandment with greater consistency, through their more persistent and complete asceticism.
Consequently, all believers have the same goal. However, monks grapple with additional challenges. Their path involves living through the ‘last hour’ (1 John 2:18), that is, unceasing vigil in expectation of the Lord’s coming. For this reason, monasticism represents the most authentic form of Christian life and a light for those striving in the world. Consequently, the integration of worship into the spiritual struggle of the monks is a reality from which springs one of the greatest blessings for the Church, for through monasticism the interconnection between worship and the martyrdom that inspires enthusiasm has been sustained, since monasticism also represents the historical continuation of martyrdom, as the ‘martyrdom of conscience’24
As can be seen, the apostolic community of Jerusalem presents itself as a latreutic one par excellence. Monks will remain faithful to this tradition, as the continuators of the inspiring tendencies of the early Church. Their life will take the form of a life of worship, and they will behave as angels in the flesh and liturgical spirits. With Saint Basil the Great as its architect, the cenobitic model of monastic life constitutes a microcosm of the Church as a monastic parish, where daily life is expressed as liturgical worship. Through cenobitic monastic life, the Church’s worship develops its dynamism within the space of asceticism 25. At the geographical centre of cenobitic monastic life there is always the central place of worship for the liturgical assembly of the entire monastery, a place known in Greek as the catholicón (καθολικόν) or chyriacón (κυριακόν)26.
From the emergence of organised asceticism in the 4th century, worship was placed in direct connection with monastic asceticism 27. Monks incorporated metania, that is, prostrations—known from the imperial court ritual (adoratio = worship)—into their worship, to express contrition, self-reproach and submission to God. In this way, worship took on an ascetic character, as a form of continuous repentance. It is precisely through asceticism that monasticism succeeds in making life an organic continuation of worship.
The monk’s immersion in prayer also requires a deep involvement in worship. In worship, the monk realises himself ‘28’. For this reason, he desires to live in communion with God, just as an infant seeks its mother’s breast. The monk’s participation in worship keeps him in theocentric communion, but also in communion with his brothers. The monk’s failure to participate in worship represents his estrangement from Christ and his separation from the maternal Body of the Church. Consequently, it is no paradox that ascetics or hermits of every age receive the Divine Communion with the help of cenobitic monks, so that they may partake of it every day, thereby participating simultaneously in ecclesial communion. An asceticism taken to extremes, isolated from liturgical communion, cannot be understood from an ecclesiastical perspective. Saint Basil the Great, also known as the greatest organiser of monastic life, gives priority to liturgical practice in his ascetic writings, emphasising that ‘prayers which are not said in common lose much of their dynamism’29
Saint Basil the Great, also known as the greatest organiser of monastic life, gives priority to liturgical practice in his ascetic writings, emphasising that ‘prayers which are not said in common lose much of their dynamism’
This practice is observed today on Mount Athos, where the entire Orthodox Church is represented. Throughout the church year, approximately fifty all-night vigils are held there. In some of the stricter monastic communities, all-night vigils are held every Saturday during the two major fasts, namely the Nativity Fast and the Great Lent. A well-known contemporary Athonite monk (Father Archimandrite Gheorghe Capsánis 30) offers, on this subject, an important personal testimony:
‘In the worship of the Church, the monk surrenders himself to God with love, and God surrenders Himself to him. The monk spends many hours each day in church, worshipping the Lord whom he loves. Participation in worship is not an ‘obligation’, but a necessity of his soul, which thirsts for God. In the Athonite monasteries, the Divine Liturgy is celebrated every day, and the monks are in no hurry to finish the service, however many hours it may last, for they have nothing better to do than to be in communion with the Saviour, with the Mother of the Saviour and with the Friends of the Saviour [...] In this way, worship is joy and celebration, a springtime of the soul and a foretaste of paradise [...] The priority that monasticism gives to the worship of God reminds the Church and the world that unless the Divine Liturgy and worship once again become the centre of our lives, our world has no possibility of being united and transformed, of overcoming division, inequality, emptiness and death, despite generous humanist systems and programmes aimed at improving the world. Monasticism indeed reminds us that the Divine Liturgy and worship are not ‘something’ in our lives, but the centre, the source of renewal and sanctification of all aspects of our lives”31
This text constitutes an important testimony to the connection between asceticism and worship, as this connection has been enshrined in Orthodoxy over the centuries.
The intertwining of worship and asceticism in the life of the Church embodies the spirit of Orthodoxy, which means approaching the Kingdom of Grace ‘with a pure heart’. In particular, participation in the Mystery of Mysteries, that is, in the Divine Eucharist, in accordance with the witness of the holy and patristic tradition, requires the believer’s vigilance and the purification of their soul and body (see 2 Corinthians 7:1). Worship (the Eucharist) and the purification of one’s life—in the ascetic, rather than moralising, sense of the term—go hand in hand.
4. Monasticism and Theology
Monasticism’s preservation of the interconnection between asceticism and worship constitutes the wellspring of dynamism from which it draws to enhance its diachronic dynamism in the expression of the Church’s theology. It is no coincidence that the true theologians of the Church come from the realm of asceticism and, specifically, from its organised form—that is, from monasticism—which represents the natural continuity of the Church’s life-tradition 32.
Monasticism preserves, in its authentic dimensions, the arms of theologising and the wings of this theologising in its spiritual ascents. Consequently, through the lens of asceticism and the Church’s worship, the intrinsic link between monasticism and [the spiritual realities known as] theological knowledge and the theological reflection of the Church’s Body is revealed.
This is also the reason why the author of these lines considers, out of conviction, the realm of academic theology (universities) merely as a means of scientific approach and analysis of the testimonies which the Church has recorded along its path, throughout history; yet never as a premise for ecclesial theological reflection—that is to say, as a primary means, or in other words, as a revelation of divine knowledge. This is truly realised in the Church’s Faculty of Theology, that is, within the realm of monastic experience, which is founded on chapters XII–XIV of the First Epistle to the Corinthians by Saint Paul the Apostle, where the spiritual charisms are discussed. Only those who study continuously at this school for the teaching of divine matters—that is, at the school of asceticism and the worship of the Church—come to distinguish themselves as the Church’s ‘theologians from on high’ (33).
- 1
The author considers the Orthodox Church’s presence at a local level, in terms of its organisation (the Orthodox Church of Greece, the Orthodox Church of Romania), as well as its presence at a universal level, as one, holy, catholic and apostolic (translator’s note).
- 2
God does not reveal incorporeal truths, but reveals Himself as the Truth in Himself and as the absolute Truth embodied, that is, incarnate.
- 3
See the important four-volume series by Hierotheos, Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, and Saint Vlasios, Orthodox Psychotherapy, Edessa, 1986 et seq.
- 4
See 1 Corinthians 2:11–16 (particularly verse 15).
- 5
Or enlightenment (translator’s note).
- 6
See Kon. Papapetrou, The Revelation of God and the Knowledge of Him, Athens, 1969; idem, The Essence of Theology. A systematic study of a patristic exegetical work, Athens (no date).
- 7
Theological Discourse I (= Discourse 27), 3.
- 8
For the foundations of theological reflection, see Fr. Ioannis Romanides, Dogmatic and Symbolic Theology of the Orthodox Catholic Church, Thessaloniki, 1973; idem, Roman or Roman-Greek Fathers of the Church, Vol. I, Thessaloniki, 1984.
- 9
See Fr. G. D. Metallinos, The Theological Testimony of Ecclesiastical Worship, Athens, 1995, p. 184 ff.
- 10
P. I. S. Romanidou, The Original Sin, Athens, 21989, p. 150.
- 11
Not in the sense that man is not a person—for he is a person by virtue of creation, bearing the state of being ‘in the image of God’—but because, in relation to God, the status of personhood can be lived out to the full as the ‘perfect man’, that is, in the state of ‘in the likeness of God’; in other words, in the state of fulfilment of the holy and spiritual life, through its stages of purification, illumination and deification. I often heard Father Gheorghe Metallinós state, during my stay in Athens, that man is born a person and, consequently, is not called to become a person, but a Saint of the Church, as is also evident from the following lines in this study (translator’s note).
- 12
P. Georgios Florovsky, ‘Orthodox Worship’, in Topics in Orthodox Theology (trans. St. Papalexandropoulos), Thessaloniki, 1973, p. 159.
- 13
Fr. Vasileios Gontikakis, Eisodikon. Elements of the liturgical experience of the mystery of unity within the Orthodox Church, Mount Athos, 1974, p. 15.
- 14
St John Chrysostom, Commentary on Psalm 115:2, in PG 55, 322.
- 15
See Fr. G. D. Metallinos, op. cit., p. 128 ff.
- 16
See the Third Stichera from Lauds, Matins of Holy Pascha, in the Penticostar, published by the Orthodox Biblical and Missionary Institute, Bucharest, 61973 (see below: Penticostar, 61973), p. 24 (translator’s note).
- 17
Stichera I, Hymn I, the Resurrection Canon from Matins on Holy Pascha, in Penticostar, 61973, p. 16 (translator’s note).
- 18
For this, see P. G. D. Metallinos, op. cit., p. 274 ff.
- 19
It goes without saying, in relation to Christian life in accordance with Orthodoxy (translator’s note).
- 20
That is to say, the talents or gifts that God has bestowed upon him (translator’s note).
- 21
See 1 John 4:20 ff.
- 22
After the church service he had attended had finished (translator’s note).
- 23
The author refers to the Saviour’s exhortation, already quoted in the text: ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who strive for it lay hold of it (Matthew 11:12)’ (translator’s note).
- 24
Andr. I. Fytrakis, Martyrdom and the Monastic Life, Athens, 1948; P. G. D. Metallinos, ‘The Saint and the Martyr as Imitators of the Lord’s Passion’, in The Saint and the Martyr in the Life of the Church (Proceedings of the 12th Conference on Patristic Theology), Athens, 1994, pp. 56–68.
- 25
For the connection between monasticism and worship, see St Basil the Great, Ἀσκητικά (The Ascetic Works), in PG 31, 520–1428.
- 26
The church at the centre of the monastery is called the catholicón (καθολικόν), as it is the largest church within the monastery grounds, where the entire monastic community gathers for major feast days and on Sundays. For this reason, this church is also known as the chyriacón (κυριακόν), meaning the place where the monastic community gathers on Sundays (Kυριακή / Chyriachí) to take part in the Divine Liturgy (translator’s note).
- 27
On this point, see P. G. D. Metallinos, The Theological Testimony..., p. 61 ff.
- 28
That is to say, it is perfected (translator’s note).
- 29
See St Basil the Great, Epistle XCVII, in PG 32, 493 B.
- 30
The former abbot of Grigoriu Monastery on Mount Athos, who passed away on 8 June 2014 (translator’s note).
- 31
Archimandrite Georgios Kapsanis, ‘Evangelical Monasticism’, in The Venerable Gregory 1 (1976), pp. 68, 70.
- 32
The author wishes to emphasise that the Church’s tradition is, on the one hand, its very life, and, on the other hand, that the Church’s life is its dynamic tradition (translator’s note).
- 33
See Fr. G. D. Metallinos, Theological Education and Ecclesiastical Upbringing, Athens, 1993 (extract from the journal Ekklisia), p. 127 ff.