"I came to a very beautiful island and I look - something very unusual. A man dressed in a wide, black robe and black hat. He turned out to be a priest - I had never seen one before. Something made me follow him. He stopped under a tree, hit a bell that hung on it, then removed a key from his pocket and unlocked the church. I walked in after him and felt that special mystical atmosphere that is only found in the Orthodox temples. I didn't understand what the priest was doing (later when I understood - I think it was an evening or prayer canon). When it was over, I approached and asked him:
"Why do you wear such clothes?"
“That's how all Orthodox priests dress."
"What's the difference between you and us? What is the difference between Orthodox and Protestant Pastors?"
He explained to me some things in English, gave me to read the New Testament, recommended me other Orthodox books in English. I read them, I was fascinated and decided to become an Orthodox Christian. With that setup, I went to the Philotheou Monastery. "
When we met him, we told him that he could not be baptized so soon, some preparation were needed.
His catechesis lasted more than a year until we were allowed into Holy Baptism. It was a great feast day - the Annunciation, which is celebrated in Philotheou especially solemnly.
On that day the monastery was filled with people. We performed the Holy Baptism immediately after the liturgy. He finally accepted Holy Communion, for the first time in his life, already as an Orthodox Christian.
Then he went out into the yard, dressed in a white baptismal garment and with a large candle in his hand. We congratulated him and called him by his new name - Evangelos, which suited this great feast. When the abbot came out into the yard, he said to me:
“I see a glow around the head of the Abbot Ephraim."
Now Father Ephraim is in Arizona. No wonder the Englishman saw him with a halo, because all this time he had heard only good things about Father Ephraim - his holiness, ascetic feats, etc. If you admire someone, it's not hard to imagine him with a halo around his head, wings on his back, or whatever.
After a moment he also told me:
"Don't turn around."
"But what's going on?" I asked him. "What's wrong?"
"There is one possessed."
The yard was full of people, hundreds of people.
"There is one possessed," he repeated, "who has a demon within him, terrifying and dangerous, but very subtle, like velvet."
When I turned to see him, I was almost dazed, and Antonis, the same possessed one I had talked about before. It was only less than half an hour ago that he was baptized, and he saw such things as had previously been unthinkable. Among the hundreds, he recognized one possessed, and not only was he possessed, but what a demon had possessed him. This is what the power of Baptism means, the power of the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church. This is not about theology or philosophy, but experience, we accept them and live with them. If we do not have a living faith, we cannot understand anything. All the knowledge of the world is like air. Knowledge is available in every library. Do you know how much scientists have much more knowledge than we do? But not knowledge will save us, but our life. And not all priests are aware of this. You need to experience some things ...
by Elder Nikon of Mt. Athos
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