St. Porphyrios: The New Crew of Christ’s Ship

In this episode, Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou speaks about Saint Irene the Great-Martyr, Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri, the meaning of martyrdom, and eternal life in Christ. He addresses the spiritual trials facing Orthodox Christians in times of fear, sickness, and confusion. This sermon is a powerful exhortation to trust in Christ’s plan, overcome worldly fear, and live with the remembrance that life does not end in the grave as Christ prepares a “new crew” for His Church.

This English translation of the sermon of His Eminence Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou was presented for otelders.org by Porphyrios. The sermon was delivered on 4 May 2020 at the celebrant Vespers on the feast of Saint Eirni (Irene) the Great-Martyr and Saint Ephraim the Holy Martyr of Nea Makri of Attika, held at the Ηoly Church of Saint Eirini in the community of Saint Eirini (Kannavia) under the Metropolis of Morphou, Cyprus.

Original video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_euaJCihak
Morphou English YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN8J5EAx7Hc

Metropolitan Neophytos:

[Apolytikion of Saint Irene]: “Christ called you Irene, because you grant peace to those hastening to your holy temple with hymns and spiritual songs, for you intercede for all, standing before the Three-Sunned Divinity, Let everyone celebrate her memory joyously, magnifying Christ, Who glorified her.”

[His Eminence Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou]: May you also have many blessed years. Today, Saint Irene (Eirini) convened us here in her small community to celebrate during this year’s strange circumstances. Αnd — glory be to God — the celebration was entirely festive.

Tomorrow, Fr. Photios, the chancellor [of our Metropolis], will join Fr. George to concelebrate, as it is right for the feast of Saint Irene and also for Saint Ephraim [of Nea Makri], the Newly-revealed Martyr. Tomorrow, May 5th marks the day of Saint Ephraim’s martyrdom.

In the early years of the Turkish occupation [in Greece], the Turks arrested him in the month of September. They tied him to a mulberry tree — which stands to this day, completely withered. The Holy Gerondissa Makaria protected this tree and it remains to this day there — withered. They hanged him upside-down and demanded that he renounce his faith and [convert to Islam].

But he, a true Orthodox Christian monastic and ascetic wanted to become a martyr. The wreath of the “holy one” wasn’t enough for him; Saint Ephraim “sought out” the wreath of martyrdom as well. From September up until the fifth of May — count the months — the Turks tortured this lanky hieromonk, Saint Ephraim. So many months!

They would briefly take him down from his [inverted] hanging position on the tree, and then continue torturing him again. When the Turkish Hagarenes realized that he would never renounce his faith, what did they do to frighten him? They lit a fire beneath him. Just like we, Cypriots, light a fire for spit-roasting, they lit a fire beneath him in the same way. Saint Ephraim “was slowly roasting.”

Every so often they would lower him closer to the fire and say: “Monk, will you convert?” That is, to confess the Muslim faith of the Quran. And Saint Ephraim would answer: “No, I will not renounce my Christ, for He has given me eternal life.”

When the Hagarene executioners grew tired [of his unwavering faith], what else did they devise? “After we burned his hair, we scorched him, we hanged him, we tortured him, we beat him …” It says that they found a rod, a piece of wood, which they lit on fire and plunged into his belly. Then they lowered him [from the tree]; his head was still burning, his guts were being burned. And so, Saint Ephraim the Newly-revealed Martyr was martyred.

He is the saint whose relics were discovered by our most venerable Mother (Gerondissa) Makaria. God vouchsafed me to know her very well. To be honest, she was the first to receive me “as a bishop.” I was only twenty years old at that time and I was still in lay clothes.

She came out of the monastery and told Nun Ephraimia, “My child, go welcome three clergymen who are arriving.” Poor Nun Ephraimia came out and looked down the road. She could see us, three university students, walking up the path [to the Monastery]. “Gerondissa [Makaria],” she answered, “they are just three university students, not clergy.” “No, my child,” [Gerondissa Makaria replied]. “All three of them are clergy. Two of them will even become bishops.”

As soon as we entered [the Monastery], she bowed before me and Gerasimos Fokas. [Gerasimos Fokas] was elected Metropolitan of Kefalonia for a brief period, before “sneaking off” and departing for heaven where he now enjoys eternal life. [Gerondissa Makaria] kissed the hands of all three of us.

I think to myself, “Look at how the Ηoly God graces His people: Saint Ephraim [of Nea Makri], our own Saint Irene in this place — through a martyr’s blood.” In Saint Irene’s case, it was not only through her martyr’s blood, but through her entire life, which must have been long. Saint Irene lived many years and had an apostolic nature.

After she survived torture by her father, she raised her father from the dead and both he and her mother became Christians. Penelope, as she was then named, left her homeland of Persia, and traversed all of Asia Minor, all the way to Nicomedia, opposite Constantinople, in the fourth century. And wherever she went, she preached Christ. They would torture her, they would arrest her, they would jail her — she continued her mission: “Christ is Risen!” That’s what she proclaimed!

That Christ conquered death, conquered sin, conquered the devil. He gave us eternal life, for no one remains in the grave. Christ was resurrected and we will be resurrected, too. And when the moment comes that our soul will be separated from our body, it doesn’t cease to exist, as happens to animals. Instead, it goes to its Creator, the Immortal God.

And if the God of love and righteousness, finds us in love and repentance, He will grant us eternal life so we can rejoice in Him, so we can enjoy Him — Him, and His saints, and our relatives, and our friends whom we will find in eternal life. How beautiful would it be “to fall asleep” tomorrow, — “to die” as we say — and to have my friend, Bishop Gerasimos [Fokas], welcome me. He is “among the saints,” [quoting the Memorial Service] as contemporary holy people have told me. How beautiful!

And what a tragedy it would be to go elsewhere… God won’t send me “elsewhere.” I will go there by my own choice. Because I didn’t learn to love, because I didn’t love God’s righteousness, I didn’t love the humility of Christ, I didn’t love repentance, forgiveness and kindness. I will be condemning myself.

God doesn’t condemn anyone. It’s a different story at the Second Coming, where all judgment is given to Him. But for now, it’s we who choose to go either down or up. Some go to the penthouse, others to the first floor, and others to the basement. And [we who remain] serve memorials, we give alms — and we are right to do so.

We do this so that those who are low may ascend from the basement to the first and second floors, to see a little bit of Light: the Triune Light of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That’s eternal life: full of knowledge, full of information, full of joys. Liturgy every day. They commune every day, every moment. Τhere’s no day and night there. It’s all Light.

That’s what Saint Irene understood. That’s what she understood and believed with her whole heart, in the fourth century. Saint Ephraim [of Nea Makri] lived at the beginning of the sixteenth century. They both understood that death is to our benefit when it’s for the sake of Christ, when it’s with Christ. Because when you are with Christ, you are with Life. There is no death when you are with Christ.

And this temptation taking place now with the so-called coronavirus — do you know what it is, above all? It’s a trial for Christians. First of all, for us wearing cassocks: Patriarchs, Archbishops, Priests, Deacons, Chanters, Monastics … Is it not so? And then [a trial] for you, the faithful, who — despite all the surrounding propaganda — insist on coming to these beautiful Vespers services, which carry the taste of Resurrection, which carry the joy of Resurrection, the glory of eternal life!

What we few experienced here tonight is a piece — a foretaste — of eternal life. If you attend the Liturgy tomorrow, you’ll have an even greater foretaste of eternal life there. If you receive Holy Communion, even more so. If you receive Holy Communion with humility, with a sense of your sinfulness and not with entitlement, as if “it’s my right to commune.” Only because You, my Christ, desire to be united with me, do I, the wretched Neophytos, dare to approach and commune this very Body and this very Blood which conquered death, sin, and the devil. Then, great grace arrives, both in the body and in the heart. And if there is any infection, whether bodily or spiritual, it leaves.

However, if we approach the Holy Communion carelessly, unprepared, unhumbled, unforgiven, as if it’s a mere custom: — “My village [church] celebrates, so I’ll go commune” — Then neither our soul will celebrate, nor will our body. And instead of activating the grace of the Holy Spirit which resides in our hearts from the moment we were chrismated and sealed: “the seal and the gift of the Holy Spirit,” [quoting Baptism Service], our sin will be activated inside of us.

Are you listening? You’ll go to commune and instead of it being for “the remission of sins,” [quoting the Divine Liturgy], it will lead to the activation of sin and you might even end up sick. As some now say, “But I’ll get sick,” [if I commune during the COVID-19 pandemic]. And others play the lawyer for Christ: “No, you can’t get sick!” It depends. That’s the right answer. It depends on how I commune, on whether I’ve prepared myself to commune.

The Apostle Paul says it in the Apostle reading appointed on Holy Thursday’s Morning Liturgy: “that’s why many die, and are sick, and fall ill, because they commune unworthily, carelessly” [paraphrasing 1 Corinthians 11:28]. Therefore, we Christians labor in vain when we protest to the media: “How can you say that the Holy Communion [can make one sick]?” Without doubt, the Holy Communion is the Body and Blood of Christ. Without doubt, it’s “for the remission of sins and unto life everlasting,” [quoting the Divine Liturgy], but only when we commune humbly, simply, in repentance. These are the prerequisites and with a forgiving attitude.

In that case, not only will you not get sick, but even if you are already ill [from some other illness], — as Saint Porphyrios [of Kavsokalyvia] used to say — the Holy Communion cleanses you until the next Communion. He used to say that whoever has cancer or leukemia or a contagious disease should commune frequently, because the Holy Communion cleanses both soul and body. But always, under the prerequisites we mentioned. [I repeat]: “Under the prerequisites we mentioned.”

That’s what our saints understood. The saints were smart people. They had no fear within them, for they had faith in Christ, for they had the Holy Spirit. They were sealed with the Holy Spirit [at Chrismation]. We have no need “to be sealed,” not by Bill Gates’ injections, nor by anything else. We are already sealed. It’s others who should be concerned, the ones who are not chrismated. and those who are worried about things [like the one I’ll mention].

One of our politicians came out the other day and said, “What a shame it is to open churches, but not to open the theaters, not to host cultural events …” And I thought to myself, “Truly, if there’s one good thing that came out of this illness, it’s that each one of us demonstrated what sort of faith we possess.” My mother used to say, “our nous.” Where each person has set their nous. Both those of the right and the left — everyone, everyone, everyone! And you haven’t seen anything yet.

The [holy people] who see, say that this year and likely the next, will be “years of exams.” We’ll be taking exams under the guise of various circumstances. Not just diseases, but various trials. One will leave, another will come. The saints have prepared us, but who truly listens to them? Why will we have these exams? Because Christ needs His people now to build a new crew for His Ship. What is Christ’s Ship? The Orthodox Church: that is Christ’s Ship!

And Christ has decided “to cleanse” the crew of this Ship. You, the simple Christian [laity] aren’t the only ones in this crew. [The crew] includes the officers: bishops, Patriarchs, priests and then “the sailors” such as the deacons, the monks and the chanters. Now, we will all be examined. Let no one rest on his laurels! “Oh, but I went on so many pilgrimages, I had such and such as my elder, [I met] such and such saint…” Now, it’s as if a new life is beginning.

And Christ wants… Now that we are on the threshold between old life and the new age — by “new age” I don’t mean the age of Aquarius, as the demons of the New Age say — but the new age that prepares Christ’s plan. Kissinger and Bill Gates aren’t the only ones with plans, nor the Europeans, nor the Russian magnates and oligarchs. No, Christ has His plan, too. And He loves us more than anyone; Christ loves us even more than our mother. Christ loves us.

Now, which of us will be admitted to this Ship and which are merely fare dodgers, will be revealed by our stance this year and likely the next, too. God is merciful, He may grant us one more year, [in case we fail this year’s exams]. So He can lead this new crew of the Ancient Orthodox Church in the age of the Blooming of Orthodoxy that follows after the World War which has already begun.

Stop asking, “When will the war begin?” What we are living through right now are the preliminary stages of the World War. A biological war is taking place right now. First and foremost, it’s a war of intimidation. If you succeed in intimidating the common man you can do anything you want to him. Not only give him injections, but you can dance on him and he’ll even say thanks.

That’s why now is the era of Saint Irene. Now is the era of Saint Ephraim. Now is the era of confession. The 20th century was the era of the great saints. The Patriarchate can’t keep up with canonizing them all. And even those who are canonized are but a few compared to the sea of holiness of the 20th century. Most of these [saints] were holy ascetics. Now, in the 21st century, they will be confessors, they will be martyrs. Remember this!

Bravery is necessary for you to be able to confess Christ today and not fear what the reporters will say about you, what the rulers of this age will say against you. [Unfortunately], even what some men in clerical vestments — who have failed to grasp the plans of the New Age — might say. My Fathers and brethren, our problem is not in the handling of a disease. Is this the first time an epidemic has struck? Eh? No, the disease is a pretext to frighten the world and test how the masses can be controlled for what is coming and being planned.

For this reason, let us have “the discernment of spirits” [1 Corinthians 12:10]. Let us study the lives of the saints to draw inspiration. Let us love repentance, so we can commune [worthily] with the prerequisites we described earlier, so we can truly receive “remission of sins and life everlasting” [quoting the Divine Liturgy]. Most important of all: Always be mindful — and let us teach our children and grandchildren — that “Life doesn’t end in a grave.”

That’s how you conquer fear! Are you listening? That’s how you conquer fear: fear of any sickness, any accident, any war, any poverty. As long as we aren’t able to conquer fear, it means that we’ve failed to believe with all our heart in the eternal life of Christ. He is the eternal life and He offers it to us so long as we desire it. So long as we desire it. Let us love His commandments, His Person and His Name. Thus, occupy yourselves with Christ, for He is the eternal life. Perfect love casts out fear [1 John 4:18].

He is the perfect love. He is the One whom Saint Irene loved, whom Saint Ephraim loved, as did all the saints, our grandfathers, our fathers, our mothers and our grandmothers. He is the One they loved — Christ.

On May 15th, in a few days, we celebrate Saint Pachomios the Great, “the professor of monasticism” in Egypt. An angel even appeared to him and taught him the monastic rule: how the monks should conduct themselves in hesychasm within their monasteries in the Egyptian desert of the time. He gathered not hundreds, but thousands of monastics. He was a true successor to Saint Anthony the Great. Do you know how he died? Of cholera.

That’s how Saint Pachomios the Great died — he who [even] saw angels, he whose monks have filled the Hagiologion of the Church. On May 16th, we commemorate the Venerable Theodore. Who was Venerable Theodore? He was [Saint Pachomios’] disciple and successor. Few know him. So, God allowed this great saint to die of cholera and many monks died of cholera at that time.

As a matter of fact, one [dying] monk said, “What a good God we have…” Are you listening? To be dying of cholera and to call God beautiful. “What a good God we have?” he said. “The grace of God visited our monasteries here in Egypt, saw that the ears of wheat are ripe, and so He desired to harvest them.” He didn’t complain: “Why should we monks die, since we believe in Christ?’ Because every death — whether from cholera, cancer, an accident, old age — is a bridge to reach the other shore: the eternal life of Christ.

Even if I don’t die of coronavirus, I’ll die of some other sickness [in the end]. But life doesn’t end with death. It’s a bridge to pass to eternal life, where there is no pain, where there is no sorrow… “where there is no pain, no sorrow, no sighing, but life everlasting” [quoting the Memorial service], — the life of Christ. This [faith] has weakened in our days, [the faith in the eternal life of Christ].

So you see everyone locked in their houses today, seeking only to protect themselves … Very well, we’ll lock ourselves up. Wherever the scientists and the governments tell us, we will be supportive. We’ll be careful and may God protect us. Yet [it’s unacceptable] to doubt that the Holy Communion is the Body and Blood of Christ. [It’s unacceptable] to equate the Divine Liturgy with the theater or other social and political events, Mr. Kyprianou …. That’s not possible! Τhis means that we haven’t realized where we dwell and what the purpose of our existence is.

That’s why I implore you, people of every age: Read the lives of the saints. Read the Holy Gospel, the Psalter … Pray the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.” “Great is the name of the Holy Trinity, Most Holy Theotokos protect us.” And prayer begets prayer. And you’ll have joy. You’ll have boldness and bravery. You’ll have Christ inside you. That’s what the world needs.

And you’ll be astonished at how quickly the plans of all the demons will crumble and how powerfully Christ will intervene. Saint Paisios said Christ will intervene to such a degree that many will think it is the Second Coming, But it won’t be the Second Coming. It will be the intervention of Christ to strengthen the faith of those who are weak. Do you see? Christ has a plan! Don’t be afraid. Do not doubt His existence and His eternal life. He wants to give it to us. Do we want it?

Now, we’re taking examinations. The surgery we have spoken of for years has now begun. “As many as are faithful… ” [quoting the Divine Liturgy]. In any case, Christ is determined to fill His Ship with a new crew and guide it toward the Blooming of Orthodoxy that He has planned. And this Blooming will be an opportunity for His light to reach all peoples, all nations so that Orthodoxy may become ecumenical (universal) truth.

The rest — the years of Antichrist, etc., etc. — will follow afterwards. But that time is not now. The forces of Antichrist have always existed and exist today, but this is not yet the era of the Antichrist, as some claim. No. Let’s not confuse things. Let’s have a clear vision. When we are with Christ, no one can stand against us. “Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!” “Truly, the Lord is risen!”