On Saturday, June 1, the parish of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Brussels was visited by the fathers of the Vatoped Monastery on Mount Athos, headed by Archimandrite Ephrem. The Athonite monks brought with them an icon of the Nativity of the Mother of God, painted in their monastery, which they donated to the parish.
The icon was welcomed by numerous believers, priests and deacons. After the procession with the icon a dinner was held. The next point of the program was the presentation of Archimandrite Ephrem's book about his spiritual father, Sr. Józef of Vatoped. The book was translated into Polish by Piotr Sterlingow. In the preface to the Polish edition Archimandrite Ephrem wrote: "We would like to humbly dedicate this book to the wise helmsman of the Polish Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Sava, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, who, as a good shepherd, devoted his entire life to the intelligent flock entrusted to his care by Christ Himself".
Archimandrite Ephrem spoke about the extraordinary example of the life of Sr. Joseph and his great spiritual wisdom. Sr. Jozef, of blessed memory, is the spiritual root of the Vatoped brotherhood. In the pages of the book, Archimandrite Ephrem describes both the life story of the late elder and aspects of the mystery of spiritual fatherhood.
Archimandrite Ephrem donated to the Polish parish in Brussels Paramythia (mn. consolation) a list of the miracle-working Vatoped icon of the Mother of God. After the meeting, a large number of believers stayed in the church to receive a blessing from Archimandrite Ephrem. Then we went for refreshments, during which we were able to view the photo exhibition "Colors of Orthodoxy. Poland'.
The ceremony was attended by the bishops serving in Belgium, Igumenia Katarzyna from the religious house in Zaleszany, Polish Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium Rafal Siemianowski, Consul General of Greece in Brussels Vasilios Zorbalas, representatives of the district authorities of Anderlecht, numerous clergymen and about 400 believers who came not only from Belgium, but also from other countries.
St. Jozef of Vatoped is known all over the world thanks to the event that took place after his death. It is true that we meet the dead with radiant faces, with an expression of peace and deep calm, but with a smile? On the one hand, all spiritualists agree that the moment of death is frightening for people, but on the other hand, we learn from the writings of the elders that those who have reached the highest spiritual stage, by humility do not allow themselves any freedom before moving on to the next life, where there is no more danger. So how did he die with a smile? The answer is that he did not leave this life with a smile on his face, but he smiled after death. There were two monks who were with him until his last moments and rushed to him to inform Elder Ephrem and the other monks. So they left the dead man, who lay there for some time with his mouth ajar. Then all came to prepare the body according to the monastic statutes. Old Ephrem ordered that his face should not be covered. They tied gauze to his mouth to cover it, but when it was taken off, his mouth opened again. "Old man, he looks bad with his mouth open. What should we do?" "Leave him as he is. "Don't cover his face." According to custom, a monk's robe was sewn for him. After they cut the cloth around his face as they had been told, they all saw the smiling old man. Did he hear them and did it so they wouldn't be sad? Or maybe he wanted to give them some insight into what he had seen and the situation he was in after he left this life? Old Man Joseph's smile was the first supernatural event that occurred after his death and brought great comfort to everyone.
The above can be read in the book, which is currently available in Brussels, as well as on the website. The book will soon be available in Poland, in the convent store "Galilee", run by the sisters of the nun's house in Zaleszany.
The icon was welcomed by numerous believers, priests and deacons. After the procession with the icon a dinner was held. The next point of the program was the presentation of Archimandrite Ephrem's book about his spiritual father, Sr. Józef of Vatoped. The book was translated into Polish by Piotr Sterlingow. In the preface to the Polish edition Archimandrite Ephrem wrote: "We would like to humbly dedicate this book to the wise helmsman of the Polish Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Sava, Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland, who, as a good shepherd, devoted his entire life to the intelligent flock entrusted to his care by Christ Himself".
Archimandrite Ephrem spoke about the extraordinary example of the life of Sr. Joseph and his great spiritual wisdom. Sr. Jozef, of blessed memory, is the spiritual root of the Vatoped brotherhood. In the pages of the book, Archimandrite Ephrem describes both the life story of the late elder and aspects of the mystery of spiritual fatherhood.
Archimandrite Ephrem donated to the Polish parish in Brussels Paramythia (mn. consolation) a list of the miracle-working Vatoped icon of the Mother of God. After the meeting, a large number of believers stayed in the church to receive a blessing from Archimandrite Ephrem. Then we went for refreshments, during which we were able to view the photo exhibition "Colors of Orthodoxy. Poland'.
The ceremony was attended by the bishops serving in Belgium, Igumenia Katarzyna from the religious house in Zaleszany, Polish Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium Rafal Siemianowski, Consul General of Greece in Brussels Vasilios Zorbalas, representatives of the district authorities of Anderlecht, numerous clergymen and about 400 believers who came not only from Belgium, but also from other countries.
St. Jozef of Vatoped is known all over the world thanks to the event that took place after his death. It is true that we meet the dead with radiant faces, with an expression of peace and deep calm, but with a smile? On the one hand, all spiritualists agree that the moment of death is frightening for people, but on the other hand, we learn from the writings of the elders that those who have reached the highest spiritual stage, by humility do not allow themselves any freedom before moving on to the next life, where there is no more danger. So how did he die with a smile? The answer is that he did not leave this life with a smile on his face, but he smiled after death. There were two monks who were with him until his last moments and rushed to him to inform Elder Ephrem and the other monks. So they left the dead man, who lay there for some time with his mouth ajar. Then all came to prepare the body according to the monastic statutes. Old Ephrem ordered that his face should not be covered. They tied gauze to his mouth to cover it, but when it was taken off, his mouth opened again. "Old man, he looks bad with his mouth open. What should we do?" "Leave him as he is. "Don't cover his face." According to custom, a monk's robe was sewn for him. After they cut the cloth around his face as they had been told, they all saw the smiling old man. Did he hear them and did it so they wouldn't be sad? Or maybe he wanted to give them some insight into what he had seen and the situation he was in after he left this life? Old Man Joseph's smile was the first supernatural event that occurred after his death and brought great comfort to everyone.
The above can be read in the book, which is currently available in Brussels, as well as on the website. The book will soon be available in Poland, in the convent store "Galilee", run by the sisters of the nun's house in Zaleszany.
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