Today, May 9th, 2019: Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra has passed to eternal life.
“But when will you end your journey and come here, that we may all become perfect together, rejoicing in our eternal crowns?”
Here we have an audio recording of his voice, longing for the Eternal Joy.
Fr. Aimilianos:
We are all waiting for the second coming. And those saints who have fallen asleep many centuries ago and are now in heaven, are eager to tell us, “But when will you end your journey and come here, that we may all become perfect together, rejoicing in our eternal crowns?”
The perfect joy of the day when God will say to us, “You are all my spiritual children! Come, you blessed of my Father, sit here, to my right”. That is, the eternal joy.
Saints already have eternal joy, but in a small extent. We can say that joy is offered to them “with the teaspoon”. Compared to what we have tasted ourselves, their joy and happiness are an ocean, but compared to the eternal joy, their happiness, love and perfection are nothing and they want to become more perfect.
And now is our time, and St. Apostle Paul tells us: “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ”.
