A saintly Fool for Christ in the heart of Athens.

 This excerpt was taken from the newly-circulated book about Crazy John, a modern-day ”Fool for Christ”

"Foolishness for Christ" was always appreciated as one of the most moving chapters in the voluminous Book of Saints of our Orthodox Church. One more pebble that was added to this chapter is the history that a humble levite of the Gospel who lives in the blessed mountains of Agrafa in Northern Greece narrated to us.

His narration pertained to a contemporary "fool for Christ", who lived in one of the many faceless, inaccessible and remote neighborhoods of Athens.

Crazy John - who is the central character of his narration - lived in a tiny, humble apartment that he had inherited from his mother; one of 20 apartments that comprised the condominium building.  He worked at the neighborhood bakery and began work at daybreak. From that bakery where he worked, he would customarily fill two bags with loaves of bread and bread rolls every day, and would rush to distribute them to the elderly men, women and students in his neighborhood.

«Here you are - I thought I might give you some freshly-baked bread, a gift from mister Apostoly the baker, so that you will commemorate him in your prayers" he would say.

The truth was that Crazy John would use up a large part of his wages to provide bread to the poor of his neighborhood.  He would tell mister Apostoly that he was only helping out some sick friends, and that he was being paid for his trouble...

But how did he know who the poor in his neighborhood were? 

Well, he made it a habit to indiscriminately ring the doorbells, not only in his own condominium, but also in neighboring apartment buildings. He would introduce himself to everyone and would ask them if they needed anything that he could help them with:

"And how did you wake up this morning?  Has any problem come up so I can be of assistance to you?  How are your children?"

At first, some snubbed him. Others slammed their door in his face, refusing to speak to him - obviously annoyed by his unexpected presence. But there were others who actually waited for Crazy John to come, so that they could hear a kind word from him. Eventually, he came to know all of them; he came to know their peculiarities, but also the elements of their characters.

In the evenings, Crazy John would retire to his humble home and pray. He liked to recite the book of Psalms, claiming to someone who asked him why, that "they were intended to drive away the little critters (demons) from the neighborhood..."

He used to read it out so loud, that a newly-arrived tenant who didn't know him that well called the Police, complaining about him disturbing the peace!Also on a daily basis, the fool would cense all the apartments, beginning from the top floor and working down.  He would even go out to the back yards and cense there also.  And when someone was sick, he would visit them and - after censing them and making the sign of the Cross over them - he would read haltingly, with his limited education, the words of James' Epistle...

"Pray for each other, so that you may be healed", he would say to them.  He would urge them to go to confession, "to get well by the greatest of doctors, our Christ..."

Quite often, after coming home from the bakery, he would grab a broom and sweep the entire apartment building, "to keep it clean", as he used to say.

He enjoyed intervening with a smile between those who quarreled about political parties publicly, in cafes (in older times, there used to be heated arguments over political parties):

--"Ah, you guys, why do you count on and pin your hopes on tin cans and cymbals? Instead of quarrelling, you should be praying to God to send us a David for a king. He could solve problems, because his knees had bled from prolonged supplications and prayers. But what do your wise guys do? Their supplications are only for commission, and they become one with corruption... They take you for idiots and they mock you",  he used to tell them.

--"Get lost, Crazy John", they would reply and, to avoid him altogether, they would send him off on an errand.  But he would always say "Don't pin your hopes on the rulers. Have your hopes in God only."

One day, Crazy John didn't go to work. Mister Apostoly the baker was concerned. He was never absent from work. So he sent someone to his apartment. Before arriving at the apartment, he saw the fool holding a shovel, cleaning out the storm drains in the street and emptying them of the dirt and litter that was blocking them.

--"Hey you! Have you really lost your mind?" he shouted. "Mister Apostoly is waiting for you at the bakery and you're cleaning storm drains? Did you think the City Council would hire you that way?"

To which he replied:

--"I have been trying to find two coins that I lost, since this morning. But I can't remember which of the five drains they had fallen into, so I opened all five of them. And, since I had opened them, I though I might as well clean out the dirt while I'm at it" the fool said, laughing. "So, go back to Mister Apostoly and tell him I will work extra tomorrow, to make up for the hours I was absent today.  Hey, they were two whole coins... that's no small amount" he added.

One can only imagine the baker's exasperation. As soon as he learnt of the fool's prank, he threatened to fire him. Five hours later, John the fool had completed his mission and returned home, very pleased.

--"Well, did you find your coins?" The grocer asked him mockingly. "You should go to the Mayor and ask for them, for having cleaned the storm drains" he said, laughing at him.

But later on that afternoon, the sky began to darken.  Black clouds gathered threateningly, followed by lightning and thunder and a heavy downpour.  The streets quickly turned into rivers, sweeping away everything in their path - including cars on the street. Many catastrophes were recorded in the largest Municipality:  Houses, shops, warehouses were flooded. Properties were lost. The Fire Department couldn't handle all the emergency calls for rescues...

The Mayor visited the stricken areas of his jurisdiction the next day, to personally gauge the damages.  All the citizens of his municipality confronted him about the blocked storm drains.  He eventually went to Crazy John's neighborhood. There was no flood damage there.  The grocer who spotted the Mayor, went up to him and said:

--"Mister Mayor, you should go and thank Crazy John who has been cleaning out these storm drains from this morning. That fool's craziness saved us, thanks to his persistent search for two lost coins!"

But the baker also said the same things to the Mayor:

--"It's fortunate Mister Mayor that the madman cleaned those storm drains, otherwise we would have drowned after a rainfall like that. His madness saved us from a worse fate."

--"It looks like madmen can be a necessity too", the Mayor said with a smile.

John, the fool for Christ, used to wear very worn-out clothes.  Many would feel sorry for him, seeing him in that state, and they would give him money. "Here, take this you fool, and buy yourself some trousers and a decent shirt to wear."  He would thank them and take the money. He would then place the money in an envelope, add some more from his own wages, then would secretly go and toss the envelope under the doors of those whom he knew were in need.

Whenever he went to a supermarket, he would purchase very unusual things. He would even place various women's items for example in the shopping cart, and that would get the cashier girls giggling. The owner of the supermarket would feel sorry for him, and had even given instructions to accept only half of the total value of the items that he purchased.

One day, someone's curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to find out what the fool did with all that shopping. So he secretly followed him one day. Crazy John went to a remote corner of the tiny square so that he would not be watched by passers-by, and began to separate and group the shopping items.  He would then begin to ring doorbells (as he was accustomed to doing) and would leave the bags with the shopping items on the doorsteps.

The women's articles that he used to purchase he would take to a poor student, Katerina, one of a large family of many children; one who was in great need.

On the day of his death eight years ago, everyone in the neighborhood had a story to tell about the fool's "pranks": Anastasy, the janitor of the building where the fool lived, began to tell about the love he had for the Church.

He would go to church almost every day. On Sundays he would arrive even before the Priest. He would light his candle, kneel before all the holy icons and then go to his place at the entrance of the church, pretending to be a beggar.  Whatever money he collected - as the Priest revealed to me - he would secretly go and deposit in the charity box for the poor and the elderly.

One day, the caretaker saw him at the charity box and thought he was trying to steal the money. So she ran to notify the priest. "Father, Crazy John has got his hands on the charity box!" she cried out.  The priest then went cautiously over and secretly observed what he was doing. He saw the fool pulling money out of his pockets and depositing it the charity box.

--"What on earth are you doing there you fool?" the priest shouted.  And Crazy John replied "Well father, you see a hole opened in my pocket, so to prevent the money from falling through the hole and losing it, I put it in the box for the Panaghia to guard, and to give it to others poorer than me!"

He saved a woman from the deadly sin of adultery...

Nicoletta then took a long sip of coffee and began to tell her story with Crazy John...

"One evening" she said "perhaps ten or more years ago, I saw a young man wandering aimlessly in our neighborhood. I watched him purposely, because I thought he was a burglar. Suddenly, I noticed Crazy John coming out of his building in a hurry and quickly walking in the direction of the only ground-floor house in the neighborhood, where a four-member family was living as tenants.

The fool sat himself squarely on the steps of the front yard, and began to chant the hymns to the Panaghia out loud. He especially liked to chant  "O Virgin pure...."

Two hours went by, but the fool continued to chant hymns. I went out and told him to stop. Then I noticed the young man walk hurriedly away.  The fool got up and went inside the house. I followed him out of curiosity, to see what was going on.  I must admit that my mind went to something sinister. I rang the doorbell and a young woman opened the door.

Crazy John was seated at the kitchen table, eating something the young woman had served him.  Next to him stood her five year old son. Turning to the boy, the fool began to tell him that one of God's ten commandments is the one that says "Thou shalt not commit adultery".

--"You know Georgie, adultery is not something that God likes. Adultery opens a gate for Satan, who then enters the home and wreaks havoc. That's when families break up, and sicknesses and pain and hatred come in through the windows and drive out God's blessing that was given with the sacrament of Marriage.  Man and woman - like your daddy and mommy - become one flesh with marriage dear Georgie; one body. With adultery, it's like cutting off your arm."

I have to admit that made me very angry....

--"What on earth are you telling that poor child, you ungodly wretch?" I said.  The young woman burst into tears and said between sobs "He's saying it about me; leave him alone - don't scold him...."

But Crazy John quickly got up and left. The young woman then confessed that she had planned to cheat on her husband with a young man she had met in a cafeteria that she had been to with a friend of hers for coffee. She told her that the young man was supposed to meet her at her place, thus taking advantage of her husband's absence, as he was out of town on business, but God protected her and the young man didn't come.

"I narrowly escaped a huge disaster, dear Nicoletta.  I would have broken up my family and my marriage.  When Crazy John knocked at the door, I thought it was that young man, and I wouldn't have had the strength to send him away.  Fortunately God saved me from committing a terrible sin...."

--"It was the fool who saved you" I said to her, "because the young man had indeed come this far, but the fool was sitting on your doorstep outside for hours, chanting incessantly, while the young man was pacing outside your door. Didn't you hear him?" I asked her.....

--"I had heard" - the baker interposed - "that John wanted to become a priest, ever since he was a child. But then came the German occupation, followed by the civil war, so he never managed to finish his schooling. He only managed to learn to read and write a little. Thus, while still relatively young, when he went to the Bishop and asked him to ordain him a priest, the Bishop had deterred him, and instead recommended that he first go to school.

But now, with all these things that are being said about John, and with everything that I personally know about him, I can safely say that God may not have made him a priest, but He surely anointed him a Bishop in our neighborhood. These last words by Mister Apostoly were drowned in his sobs and his tears....

The secret life of Crazy John...

Tears also began to fall in the eyes of many more who were present. Everyone wanted to deposit their own testimony. Two girls were observing the scene at a distance from the others, looking somewhat confused. You could clearly discern admiration combined with a feeling of sadness, from the expression on their faces. None of the people present knew who the girls were, and they were curious to find out who they were...

Mister Anastasy thought that they might have a family bond with the deceased John, so, being the janitor of the building, he took the initiative and asked them if they were related to the recently departed for the Lord, brother John...

The robust girl then began to say the following, after brushing away her tears:

--"My name is Arete, and my friend here, Calliope, works with me at the Children's Hospital. Several years ago, we came to know mister John the Clown. That's how we knew him - the one that you call Crazy John.  He would come almost every Sunday afternoon, always laden with toys. He would share them amongst the children and he would play with them.  He loved them all, but showed special care and love for all the newly-born babies that were growing up alone in the hospital, because they had been abandoned by their parents.  He used to bring them clothes and toys and would always leave some money with the nurses on duty, in case the children needed something else, for whenever he couldn't go there.  We didn't know him as a fool, like you do. To us, he was the kindest clown, who entertained the children like no-one else could..."

--"H especially loved a little child whose parents had abandoned it because it was born with Down's Syndrome", Calliope added.

"But tell me, little Calliope, how could they leave behind this tiny angel?" he would wonder. "If only they (the parents) knew that this angel was for them a ticket to Paradise and eternity, they would never have abandoned it. How on earth do you turn your back on such a treasure?  Our Lord - dear little Calliope - said that He is Love. And you know that love contains sacrifice. Love without sacrifice is like an empty can - an unvarnished one, as my dear mother used to say. Christ - dear little Calliope - said that whoever doesn't have sacrificial love resembles a zero.  If we only knew dear girl what treasures God sends to man continuously to save him, we would be jumping for joy. Here, take a look at this angel here - this is one of those treasures...   In fact, I will tell you a secret. If we could find a good family today who would adopt it, then not only would they receive innumerable heavenly blessings, but also, with the sacrifice of their love, in embracing a little angel with a wounded body, they would even cure it.  Because our Triadic God is merciful and caring..."

These are the things that mister John would say as he looked at the sick and abandoned little child asleep in its tiny hospital crib.

--"Isn't it strange little Calliope how people nowadays care more about little animals, and pay no attention to these little children?  I'm not saying we shouldn't love birds and animals. We should care about them too, but how much more should we care about suffering mankind, who is made in the likeness of God?  We need to become Good Samaritans nowadays, so that we might give up our lives also if necessary, to comfort our fellow-man. Don't forget that  - especially you nurses, whose work is linked to human suffering..."

Holy souls live among living humans...

"I was under the impression that mister John was a theologian-professor. I surmised that, from his profound theological but equally simplified analyses.  He knew the entire Holy Bible by heart, and he would exhort me with faith to read one or two pages every day, from the Bible that he himself had given me as a gift.  He even counselled me to kneel before the icon of the Holy Mother every day and describe in detail the day's joys, sorrows and problems.

He used to say "Dear little Calliope, ask our Holy Mother to become your best friend and you will see everything changing around you. Our kind Mother is the kindest Mother of all, the kindest sister, the kindest friend. Talk to Her - She listens..."

Last night, when I rang up mister John and a gentleman who picked up the phone told me that mister John had died and informed me about the funeral, I felt as though I had just lost my father...

Mister Anastasy suddenly jumped up and asked:

--"When did you ring up?" 

--"Last night, around 8pm.  I wanted to ask him if he was going to come this Sunday when it is my shift, because I have to confess that I trusted  mister John more than anyone else - even more than my own parents..."

--"But the apartment was locked since the day before yesterday, and I'm the only one who has keys to it", mister Anastasy said, mystified..

So he turned to the others in the room and asked if anyone else had keys. The replies were all negative...

--"But the voice on the phone sounded so much like mister John's. I just assumed it was a relative of his. But now that you mention it, I remember that he called me "little Calliope" over the phone - and he was the only one who called me by that name! Its just that at the time, I was so upset by the news of his death, that I didn't pay special attention, when I heard the following:

--"And now little Calliope, you will be looking after the children on your own, because your mister John has passed away, and can no longer visit you as a clown..." he said to me over the phone!

I assumed that his next of kin were aware of this activity of his, so I didn't take any notice of those words... I am only now finding out that he had no relatives, and I don't know what to say..."

Just then, father Dimitri who was observing everything in silence while seated at a nearby table, stood up and exclaimed:

"This man is a Saint !!!"

"A Saint!  A Saint!" everyone instinctively repeated...

--"I have been listening all this time to the narrations of the adventures of our departed brother John. Everything that you said about Crazy John - as you all call him - are miraculous events that characterize only the saints of our Church. I am under the impression that this isn't a commonplace funeral gathering; it rather resembles a festive occasion.

Calliope's realization that he had spoken to her - albeit deceased - over the phone, shook me to the core, and it reminded me of a similar incident that relates to the life of the holy elder Porphyry the Hut-burner.."

--"Father, young Dimitri wants to say something too", mister Apostoly said.

--"Come on, say it, so that everyone can hear what you told me a while ago about Crazy John."

Young Dimitri was a boy in his early teens. He was going on 14 and was in his second year at High School. He lived together with his brother Paul who was three years younger than himself, and his parents, just two apartment buildings down from where Crazy John lived. During the past year, unlike the other children his age, he had turned to God.

His friends couldn't explain that huge about-face. They all wondered what had happened to make that high-spirited Dimitri abandon his pranks and mischief and turn to studying and prudence. Even his parents had no idea what the reason for his conversion was.  At first, they actually believed he had been brainwashed by a heretic organization. But later, they realized that nothing of the sort was lurking behind their son's change.  They also noticed that ever since their son turned to God, the problems in their family had begun to diminish. Quarrelling stopped. Teachers' praises at school had replaced their complaints about his mischief...

Dimitri's about-face had changed the family's course. His parents became even more surprised, when they saw their son going to church every Sunday and reading the Holy Bible that Crazy John had given him as a gift. Poor Panagiotis - Dimitri's father - who customarily went to church every Christmas and Easter - became very upset. He discussed the matter with his wife Polyxeni.

--"Say, wife, do you think Dimitri is in trouble? How did he change so much? Is there any chance he has suffered a romantic disappointment because some girlie left him? I am afraid that the priests will destroy him. Not to mention that he risks being taunted by his friends and mocked by them. What do you think? Shouldn't we have a talk with him?" he would say.

Poor Polyxeni would listen to her husband carefully. She never spoke. When the time came and she spoke up, she said:

--"I don't know what to say, my Panagioti. You may be right. I can't hide the fact that those same thoughts had crossed my mind too. But one thing I do know: ever since Dimitri displayed this new behaviour, our family has calmed down. His grades at school have shown a sharp improvement. His teachers have only the best things to say about him. Even they are amazed at Dimitri - they actually asked me if he was being tutored privately. Even young Paul has become motivated, near Dimitri...

Have you forgotten, my dear Panagioti, how much we worried when Dimitri would come home after midnight? Have you forgotten the time we found a packet of cigarettes under his bed and that magazine with indecent photos? Have you forgotten the time we were called to the Police Station to pick up our son who had been held there because he had caused damages together with some others, in the episodes that took place after their school's party?  Have you forgotten our neighbors, who constantly complained that Dimitri and his friends would beat Crazy John and make fun of him?

Listen, dear Panagioti: what I can see is that after Dimitri's change, I am far more at ease, and so is this household.  Our problems have become fewer. Even our quarrels as husband and wife are minimal. Ever since Dimitri brought God home, smiling and happiness has returned to us.  So I wonder, could we be the ones who are wrong? Could we be the ones who were responsible for the path that our children had taken?

Panagioti, instead of worrying about Dimitri, I suggest that we follow him on his path; that we begin as a family to go to church; to do what Crazy John told us to do the other day, when you invited him over to eat with us...

In other words, that we find a good spiritual father and go to confession. That's what the fool meant, when he said that confession is the fuel that drives man towards the heavens. Remember how he would ask us if we would like to travel to Heaven and we laughed at him and regarded his words to be foolishness?"

--"Look wife, I understand what you're saying, but it occurs to me that our friends will laugh at us if we do something like that", Panagiotis replied.

--"That thought also crossed my mind, but then I remembered something else. Remember the time Panagioti when we didn't have enough money to pay the installment on our housing loan and you had asked your friends to help out, and they all forgot us? They all disappeared, and they even stopped calling. When did those friends stand by us? They come over, only when we invite them to eat with us, or go to a tavern with us.

Weren't you the one who told me that they gossiped about us, and that you discovered that deep down, they were pleased whenever they heard us talking about our problems with the children? We would have lost the house, if we hadn't found that envelope with the 100.000 drachmas under our door - which, by the way, we never discovered who had put it there, although I suspect that the fool was behind that gesture" Polyxeni replied.

--"No...no...I had asked the fool, but he flatly denied that he had done such a thing. Besides, how could the fool have known about our financial worries?"

--"He knows everything, since he makes his rounds in every part of the neighborhood. Perhaps he saw us worried and asked Dimitri or Paul. Don't rule out anything, because other families around here have also received envelopes like that."

On the Sunday after that discussion, the parents announced to Dimitri that they would all go with him to church. In fact, they even woke up Paul, who preferred to sleep in on Sundays. "We have only one day for sleeping" he used to say. Dimitri was stunned at first, and he may have thought they were aiming to monitor his moves. But when he saw that this routine was repeated and that his parents acquired a spiritual father and began to read spiritual books, he then began to speak of a miracle.

So, with some coercion by mister Apostoly, young Dimitri began to present his own testimony, Everyone had now turned their attention towards him. Meantime, several other people had gathered around, from adjacent tables.

--"One day" said young Dimitri, "my mother sent me to mister Apostoly's bakery to buy bread. As I was buying the bread, I also did something bad - something that I used to do often with my friends also. Well, I stole a chocolate bar. Mister Apostoly didn't notice, and I was sure that no-one had seen me take it.

But from the next day on, as I left the house to go to school, I would find two similar chocolate bars outside our door, like the ones I had stolen. This went on for about 20 days. I asked my mother who kept putting the chocolates there and she told me that every morning, Crazy John usually rings the doorbells in the building.

--"That guy does such crazy things" my mother said. That was when I realized that the fool must have spotted me when I grabbed the chocolate, and this was how he was taking his revenge. "I'll show that madman, who's trying to make me feel bad for a measly chocolate that I stole" - that was how I used to think, at the time...

The next day, I found chocolates again - one for me and one for Paul, my brother, along with a note that had the ten commandments written on it, with the commandment of "thou shalt not steal" underlined.

I became very angry....

So, as soon as school was out, I went straight to Crazy John's apartment building and rang his doorbell. He opened his door and said with a smile:

--"I'm sorry, my Dimitri. I know you came here to give me a couple of punches for the chocolates. I'm a fool; I deserve those punches. Come on, hit me, as hard as you can. Let your anger out."

I was at a loss, and was going to leave. I got scared. How did the fool know that I had gone there to beat him, seeing that I hadn't told anyone? As soon as this thought crossed my mind, he remarked:

--"My dear boy, you must be wondering who told me you were coming here to beat me, aren't you?"

I nodded affirmatively.

--"Well, you see, just before you came, Saint Dimitrios was here - who is your guardian - and the Holy Mother also, and they told me.  You know, they love you very much, and they often talk about you. For example, yesterday, with your schoolmate Helen - when you slapped her for disagreeing with you - you made them very sad and they were crying here, along with me. My dear Dimitri, I will tell you a big secret, under the condition that as long as I am alive, you will not tell it to anyone. Do you accept?"

"Yes" I replied, while I watched Crazy John radiant with joy.

--"Our Lord Jesus dear Dimitri wants to come over to your place, but every time He comes to visit you, He hears quarreling and He departs, very sorrowed. So, He told me to give you His commandments to read, to learn them well, and to observe them all, and only then will He return to live with you continuously. Do you know what it means to live in the same house, together with Him, Who created the entire world?  Now leave, go home, because your mother will be getting worried."

I began to leave, but while walking me out, Crazy John said with a smile: 

--"Hey, little Dimitri, where are you going? You forgot to give me those punches!"

I left for home as though flying on wings. As soon as my mother saw me, she asked me why I was late, and I told her that "I was at the fool's house, to tell him not to leave any more chocolates on the doorstep, because I will get fat.  Mum, give me 30 drachmas to give to mister Apostoly the baker, because I bought something but didn't have enough money on me to pay for it."

She gave me the money, and I went running to the bakery and handed it to mister Apostoly. He was surprised when I told him that I had taken a chocolate bar along with the bread, but had forgotten to pay for it.

--"Well, I was indeed surprised, because I knew you to be a mischievous brat, dear Dimitri. But, as soon as you made that move, I told myself I shouldn't condemn anyone, because you never know what kind of heart is inside each person. From that moment on, I became very fond of you", the baker explained.

The fool's last letter...

He then pulled young Dimitri towards him and gave him a kiss, while patting him on the head.  His mother Polyxeni and her husband Panagiotis who were witnessing the scene were obviously emotionally charged.  Mrs Polyxeni then decided to say her part.

--"To us, Crazy John was the support of our family. He was the one who contributed towards us making the about-face towards Christ. Our life changed, and he made us partakers of the miracle of salvation. He brought blessings into our home...

To me, Panagiotis and my children, he was a friend and a brother. As his brothers therefore, we decided earlier on to suggest to you all that we get together next Saturday at our parish to perform the 3rd day memorial service and then you all come to our place to eat with us, to honour his memory."

Mrs Polyxeni's suggestion was welcomed by all of us. Mister Anastasy in fact spoke up again, to add that it would be good to continue the impromptu discussion that had begun in the Memorial Service Hall of the Cemetery, so he proposed to all the people who were present to write down their own experiences with Crazy John during their contacts with him.

Father Dimitri who happened to find himself among the mourners, addressed Mrs Polyxeni and said:

--"I never got to meet the departed brother John - that fool for Christ - however, I would like to ask you, if possible and if you have no objections, if I could come to your house and listen to this blessed expose of miraculous events."

--"It would be a pleasure, father; it  would in fact be an honour if you could come", Panagiotis replied.

So, everyone was looking eagerly forward to the following Saturday. Mister Apostoly the baker had arranged for the ceremonial wheat grain offering and all the other necessities for the memorial service. He had even notified the priests of the Sacred Temple that after the Divine Liturgy, there would be a memorial trisaghion for Crazy John. More than anyone else, it was mister Apostoly who was looking forward to that day.

Besides, he had every reason to look forward to this gathering, because on the day after Crazy John's departure, he had received a registered letter. He was very surprised to see that the sender was Crazy John himself, who had arrange to send the letter on the eve of his death.

The ever-curious grocer, mister Pandelis, was begging Anastasy in vain to tell him what the contents of the letter were. He kept the contents a doubly-locked secret and wouldn't divulge anything.

--"Ha! Anastasy, I know why don't want to tell me what the letter says. The poor deceased fool has probably written all sorts of silly things in there and you are too embarrassed to read them" he said slyly, in the hope of forcing him to speak.

Who was the fool finally? Him, or us?

--"Pandeli, I will tell you one thing: After I read the letter, I asked myself who was crazy - him, or all of us? We'll talk about the rest in due course, don't you worry", mister Anastasy said.  But the news of the letter spread from mouth to mouth, throughout the neighborhood. And as was to be expected, it had stirred up everyone's curiosity.

Thus, on Saturday morning the sacred temple of the parish filled up with such a large congregation that the priest was puzzled. "This is the first time that I've seen so many people at a memorial service" he whispered to the sacristan. But he replied:

--"The fool - Crazy John - mustered them father"

--"But I can see strangers in the crowd also. They must have been his relatives" he muttered to himself, as he walked towards the Holy Altar.

Father Vassily had been serving at that parish for 28 years and he knew most of the parishioners very well. Young Dimitri who was assisting in the Holy Sanctum together with his brother Paul, said to father Vassily that mister Anastasy was asking for his permission (albeit permissible) to say a few words after the trisaghion.

--"Gladly, gladly, my little Dimitri. Let mister Anastasy speak" he said and nodded affirmatively, looking towards the podium where mister Anastasy was standing. As he himself admitted later to mister Anastasy, he too was curious to learn the reason that the Church filled up as though it were a Sunday.

So, towards the end, and before the closing prayers, father Vassily performed the trisaghion. The entire congregation was crying at the reciting of the words "My Lord, give rest to the soul of Your reposed servant John....." that father Vassily was chanting. He then nodded to mister Anastasy to approach and say what he wanted.

He then in turn stood next to the Sanctum entrance and said:

--Reverend father Vassily, you must be wondering what the reason is for this blessed gathering. You must be wondering why the entire neighborhood -but also other Christians, not from here- have come to honour the memory of our brother John, who was known to all of us as "Crazy John". Even the shop owners left their shops closed in order to come to the church from early this morning, to participate in the divine service, and not just to come for the trisaghion memorial service - as many people erroneously are accustomed to doing...

Today, father Vassily, we have gathered here to honour a saint, a humble man whom the Lord had bounteously blessed with a holy spirit. A man just like us, who concealed under the cloak of a fool all the virtues that Christ had offered him.  John was a "Fool for Christ", who cared for his fellow-man day and night, selflessly. He approached every person with love. He supervised the neighborhood like a Bishop and a guardian of our Orthodoxy and would bring back souls - with his supposed madness - to our almost entirely forgotten nowadays Lord - Jesus Christ.

There are many of us who are lucky, because we were blessed enough -albeit unworthily- to meet and get to know a saint of God in our everyday lives. My words are too poor to adequately describe the life of our brother John. In fact I regard myself as unworthy, after having read the letter that I received the day after his death, which had been sent by the deceased.

As he mentioned in his letter, John had been advised of a miraculous event by the Blessed Baptist a week before his passing away, that is, to prepare himself for his exit from this world. As far as I knew, he was not suffering from any sickness, nor had anyone suspected anything from his behaviour. On the contrary, in the last days of his life he arranged to leave quite a significant trust for our neighborhood. He made arrangements for all of us.

In his letter, John gives advice and exhortations to each and every one of us by name, personally, that we must be hooked on our Christ and to study the righteousness of God. I will read you the letter in detail", said mister Anastasy, and pulled out the letter from his coat pocket. However, he was overwhelmed by his tears and was unable to say a word. Tears welled up in everyone else's eyes also.

Father Vassily then intervened, saying:

--"Dear Christians. I have known the deceased for more than forty years. But, possibly because of my sinfulness, I was not able to diagnose John's holiness. Listening to mister Anastasy earlier, certain events came to mind, with Crazy John as the central character.  It is only now that I am made aware of those events and can perceive them as miraculous acts.

I remember how one Sunday morning at daybreak when I unlocked the temple I found Crazy John kneeling in front of the icon of Christ.

--"How did you get in, you fool?" I asked him.

--"Well, dear father, yesterday evening during Vespers I completely lost track of time and the sacristan locked me in."

--"And what was the soliloquy you were muttering in front of Christ's icon?" I asked him

--"I was just singing a song father, to pass the time" he replied.

--"Just be more careful, because next time I will call the police."  I have to confess that I reprimanded him very severely..."Dear God, forgive me..." father Vassily murmured. "I am only just realizing why his face was shining like the sun.... And he went and took his usual place next to the main entrance of the church like he always did, and would sit and beg."

He begged for alms, to give them to others...

There are poor and unemployed who ask for help every day, but nobody can ever know what diamonds and holy souls are hidden behind every beggar that we meet.

He then went on to describe the incident with the money that he gathered from begging and deposited inside the charity box, which we described earlier on. I have many things to tell you, dear Christians, because I believe that the riddle has now been solved, and for this, I must thank mister Anastasy. I will narrate on ly one incident, and then I will let mister Anastasy take over.

"One afternoon, Crazy John was standing in front of the icon of the Holy Mother. I was in the office. I could hear him talking and I could hear -without seeing- that he was conversing with a woman, I paid no attention. When I came out of the office, I could see only Crazy John, and there was nobody else inside the church. The sacristan was away on an errand. Crazy John approached me and, after prostrating himself before me as he usually did, he said:

--'Father, you should go to Mrs.Stamata after Vespers. She is waiting for you to give her Holy Communion because her hours are numbered and she may not make it through tonight."

--"And how do you know this?" I asked him.

--"A woman told me, a while ago", Crazy John replied.

--"And why on earth didn't she come and  inform me?"

--"Well, she must have thought I was the sacristan" he said, and departed immediately afterwards.

I have a clear view of the main entrance of the church from my office, and I didn't see any woman entering. But even so, I didn't give it much thought...

After Vespers, I went to Stamata's house. Her daughter was astounded when she saw me, as she was planning to come and notify me the next day so that her mother can receive Holy Communion, and not oblige me to go there in the night. I entered Stamata's room and gave her Holy Communion. She thanked me, and held my hand for a short while, then said to me, breathing with difficulty:

--"Father, please look after my daughter and my grandchildren."

Her daughter was divorced and she was raising her two children on her own. As I was leaving, she asked me who had notified me. I replied that it was the woman whom she had sent to church, who told Crazy John. She looked puzzled.

That evening, two hours after receiving Holy Communion, a little before 10pm, Stamata departed for the Lord. Next to her at that moment were her daughter, her two grandchildren and Crazy John, who was reading Psalms from the Book of Psalms.  I was told this by the late Stamata's daughter, who is here and can verify it.

Then Maria (that was the name of the daughter of the deceased Stamata) sprang up suddenly and said:

--"Tell them father Vassily about the envelope with the money also, which I thought you had left there and for which I had thanked you."

--"Yes" said father Vassily, "Maria had indeed found an envelope on a chair in the room, which contained 100.000 drachmas. She thought I had forgotten it there and she came to give it back to me. But I had no idea about the envelope."

--"But father, you and Crazy John were the only ones who came into our house. when I asked Crazy John, he said that the Holy Mother had sent the money for the funeral expenses, because you are poor."

"The Holy Mother does that sort of thing" he used to say.

--"I didn't take him too seriously and I was convinced that you had sent him and were trying to hide the truth" said Maria.

--"No, child, I would have told you", said father Vassily.....

Constantine, who always used to sit in the last rows of the church, got up - with obvious hesitation at first - and walked up to old Anastasy. As he walked to the pulpit, he noticed that everyone was looking at him in a strange manner. He could see a vague look of wonder in the eyes of the churchgoers, while he was wondering why old Anastasy invited only him to stand by him, during the reading of the letter.

Something unusual was however prompting him, so, after a quick glance at his beloved Katerina, he asked old Anastasy to say a few words in memory of Crazy John. Old Anastasy intended that the letter be read first, then Constantine would have been asked to speak. But father Vassily intervened, saying:

"Let the boy speak first, Anastasy".

With his head lowered, Constantine approached the microphone.

"I regard and perceive myself as the worst miasma that has ever existed in mankind. I furthermore know that you all confront me as a miasma of society, on account of my prior sinful activity. You are absolutely right to do so. That is how I deserve to be confronted by you, because with the life I led, I not only harmed myself, but also those near me - that means you all - but also all those that I caught in the meshes of iniquity. So, I am taking the opportunity that mister Anastasy is giving me, to ask each one of you personally to forgive me. I don't even deserve your forgiveness, because I have harmed you more than you could ever imagine. I harmed our town, our district, our neighborhood. I harmed friends and acquaintances of mine, and parents and relatives, because with my lifestyle, I had brought the mire of debauchery into your everyday lives.

This downhill slide that I had taken was ended once and for all by Crazy John. The prayers of that fool released me from the clutches, not only of one demon, but of an entire legion that had lodged inside me.

I was a transvestite for almost ten years. I believed at the time that happiness could be found in the ephemeral pleasure that bodily contact can arouse. I dressed provocatively; I used to be furious with people. I confronted life as though it were a vessel for pleasures, which I had to make sure I filled, on a daily basis. I experienced the mire of Hell, more than a human mind could ever imagine. That is why I used to regularly change my place of residence, since society had rightly perceived me as an outcast. And that was essentially what I was.  I believed that quarrels, insults and disappointments were the best kind of defence, in my literally vehement obsession to pursue something that deviated from what was socially correct - from the ideals and the values of the Gospel. At the time, I had looked upon my illness as a human right, and was under the illusion that it was an outright normal thing - a thing that nowadays, even top-level leaders tend to advertise as a mere supposed "otherness".

So, there wasn't a single police station in Athens that didn't know me. There wasn't a single courtroom where I hadn't been a "customer" - either as an accused, for having offended virtuous behaviour, or as a witness for the defence or for the prosecution, in various, related cases. I was under the illusion that with my overall immoral activity, I was serving a silent revolution in favour of the acceptance of homosexuality. Hunted as I was, I arrived at your neighborhood too, and presented myself to the kindly, poor old lady Chrysoula, to ask her to let her one-room apartment to me.  That is where I saw Crazy John for the very first time; he had brought over some bread to the almost destitute old woman.

Unlike most other tenants, I wasn't asked too many things by old Chrysoula. She just mentioned that the 30.000 drachmas she was asking for was the only income she would have, to make ends meet; so she asked me to not delay my payments because she had to pay for the bills, the building maintenance, as well as to buy her other basic needs.

"Oh, my dear child Constantine, God must have sent you! The apartment hasn't been rented out for three months and I am living off the help I get from mister Apostolis the baker and mister Pantelis the grocer here, who send me bread and provisions with this fool here", she said, pointing to Crazy John.

"But I never sent you any bread Chrysoula, as I wasn't aware of your situation" Apostolis spontaneously remarked.

"Nor have I ever sent you any provisions", Pantelis added.

"But that's what Crazy John told me!!" old Chrysoula replied, totally at a loss...

After this small and "endearing" intervention, Constantine continued:

"Crazy John always used to conceal his good deeds... He may have brought you food, my dear Chrysoula, but to me, he brought God".

Constantine's eyes became misty, and tears began to fall. Everyone was now becoming tearful, along with him. He took a deep breath and continued:

"Three days later, I moved into the apartment. Crazy John had helped me carry all my things. And when the transporter purposely dropped an innuendo because of my behaviour and the manner that I spoke, Crazy John stunned him, by pointing out to him that, as a person who systematically lived adulterously and behaved brutally towards his own two children, he had no right to make such remarks about me. The transporter was shocked by these revealing words, and he immediately stopped his sarcasm. I of course was under the impression that the two of them were acquainted, but was taken aback when the transporter turned towards Crazy John as he was leaving, and said:

"What are you anyway? Some kind of charmed one?"

"Yes George, I have been 'charmed' - by our Christ's love", the fool replied.

He even asked the transporter to stop sorrowing Christ, because, in spite of his overall behaviour, Christ had healed his daughter Theodora from a very serious ailment. George then departed, with his head lowered..... He is the gentleman who is sitting over there with his wife, and he can confirm the incident I just described.  I was impressed by that dialogue, but at the time I had dismissed it as the ravings of a fool.

So, on the evening of that same day, I dressed up in women's clothes as I normally did, and I went to a familiar transvestite haunt, on the main highway. You can imagine my surprise, when I spotted Crazy John watching me from the opposite corner of the block. The thought crossed my mind that he was seeking erotic companionship. But then, how did he find me?... The fool must have followed me (I thought to myself), and now he would go and tell what he saw to old Chrysoula... Oh well, I guess I will be searching for accommodation again... As all these thoughts were running through my mind, a prospective "customer" stopped in front of me. Just then, like a coiled spring, the fool jumped up and started to yell from across the road:

"He's got AIDS!!  He's sick and he will pass it on to you!!  Go away!! Go away!!"

I was taken by surprise by the erratic behaviour of a man whom I hardly knew. Naturally the prospective customer left. Then I started to curse Crazy John... I became hysterical...This went on for almost a month. Until this day, I will never know how he managed to discover those illicit haunts. One evening I actually beat him, and in fact quite severely.

But just imagine my surprise, when, every night after I got home, I would find an envelope containing almost double the money that I used to earn from my filthy activities, and on it would be written: "A blessing, for the servant of God, Constantine".  I didn't know what to make of all those weird things I was witnessing. In the afternoons, I would go for a walk and whenever I'd see Crazy John, I would get angry. But he would say

"My dear Constantine, stop sorrowing Christ and our Holy Mother, Who are mourning incessantly for you".

I had even contemplated leaving the apartment, but something was holding me there. The other transvestites would ask me:

"Hey, could he by chance be in love with you, which is why he's acting so weird?"

"No", I'd reply, "he doesn't have any such intentions."

To make a long story short, I decided to invite Crazy John to my place, to put an end to all these things. I was hoping that someone had been putting him up to it purposely, just to drive me insane. Crazy John responded to my invitation affirmatively, despite having been humiliated by me so many times. I don't know what came over me that evening, but I cleaned the house, cooked something light, and sat down to do some reading. I was leafing through a magazine with assorted material, and an article caught my attention, about a certain Elder Porphyry who served in the chapel of a hospital in central Omonia square of Athens.

I hadn't finished reading the article, when I heard Crazy John knocking on my door. As soon as I opened the door, he said:

"Be blessed, my Constantine, in the present aeon and in the one to come".

It was the first time that I had ever heard such a greeting, but it was also the first time that I had ever heard a demonic voice speaking from inside me:

"Have you come to my house here as well, you crazy old man, to drive me out?  I'm not alone here - I have 365 other friends!  I don't intend to go away! You'd better be the one to leave, otherwise I'll kill you!" Crazy John then  pulled out a Crucifix from his coat and raised it in front of me, and began to say:

"In the name of the Holy and Homoousion Trinity...." but I didn't hear anything after that, because I lost consciousness...

When I recovered, I saw the old fool standing there, smiling at me. I felt really happy that he was there, but didn't know the reason I felt that way.

"I brought you a gift, my Constantine. It is the Book of Psalms - a book that was written by the king and Prophet, David."

"What's going on? What happened?" I asked.

"My Constantine, you have received an enormous blessing. Christ has chosen you. He is preparing you for very important feats. However, you must be prepared to put up a serious fight, because what you have inside you is not about to leave very easily."

If you could only have seen the way that Crazy John's face glowed, you would have understood why I was so terrified. I had always thought that all the talk about demons was sheer fiction. I believed that they were just an invention thought up by priests and religion, intended to scare people and to extract easy money from them, so that they would enjoy their own lives, get rich, etc..  And yet, there I was, a living witness of their insidious activity against humans. Crazy John became a brother and a friend from that day on. That very same night, I gathered all the women's clothes and shoes and cosmetics that I had, and threw them into the garbage can. The next day, I changed my phone number. With the help of that fool, I even secured a job in the Accounts department of a large company. The owner of the company was a friend of Crazy John; he actually hired me with a satisfactory salary. At the same time, I would go with Crazy John - on an almost daily basis - to a church high up on Hymettus Mountain, where the priest would read the benedictions of Saint Basil (exorcisms) over me, while Crazy John would read Psalms. I cannot describe what I went through. What I can now shout out, thanks to this experience, is that homosexuality (and prostitution in general) is not an "otherness" or an illness; it is a formidable demon, which infuriates the Almighty. What I also want to tell you, is that our holy Church possesses the weapons that are able to exterminate all those things that our modern society nowadays believes (as I used to believe) to be "nonsense".

The prayers of our neighborhood fool saved me. My acquaintance with him changed my entire life. What I experienced over these last few years in this blessed neighborhood constitute a true miracle of the Triadic and only true God. I escaped from the clutches of a true Hell, and I am now living in a world that I had never lived - not even in my wildest dreams.

With the constant support of this saintly man - who was anything but a fool - I came to understand my mistake; I realized various things and situations that comprise the foundations of our society; I became familiar with the love of Christ. I had been functioning like one who is addicted to a toxic substance; I couldn't be told apart from a drug addict; I was living in a nightmare, which that wonderful saint of God - Crazy John - put an end to.

But I don't want to tire you any further with my story. After all, I am only recording my entire story in detail, as old Anastasy asked me to.  I also apologize to you all, and to the innumerable victims that I had lured into the meshes of the iniquity that I was trapped in. I apologize to my beloved Katerina, who has opened her embrace to the most sinful person in the universe; who shut her ears to all the unfavorable comments and the justified criticism, and has accepted my marriage proposal to her.  She has accepted to live with a zero, with an outcast, a moron.  This holy man, Crazy John, had invested in this marriage with his prayers and his tears.

Constantine's last words were lost in his sobs. Also crying with him was Father Vassily, who had run up to hug him, as did all the other churchgoers.

"Father Vassily, I'm thinking of moving out of the neighborhood - not for me, but for Katerina", Constantine murmured falteringly, with difficulty.

Father Vassily then spoke up, and said:

"Dear brethren, Constantine has just expressed the desire to leave our neighborhood. What do you say? Are we going to leave the living testimony of a miracle by our departed brother John - Constantine - but also our own Katerina, to leave?"

"No! No!" they all shouted.....

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