FLUSHING – Elder Ephraim Abbot of the Vatopaidi Monastery, as part of his visit to the United States, paid a visit to the St. Nicholas church in Flushing, where he was warmly received by clergy, parish officials, and Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
Vatopaidi Priest-Monk Evdokimos officiated at the Vesper Service, chanted by monk Maximos and the Church’s chanters.
Hundreds of congregants – parish members and faithful throughout the metropolitan area – filled the nave.
Presiding Priest Paul Palesty welcomed Abbot Ephraim and thanked him for his visit to the parish. Ephraim rejoiced“being with you. I come from a peculiar place. I come from Mount Athos, which is a par excellence place of prayer, silence, and tears. It is a place in which there all the presuppositions for someone to dedicate himself to prayer to God.
“Mount Athos is the place where takes place the great mystery of sanctification. It is very strong the presence of the Mother of God. On Mount Athos there is constant spiritual work. People are chasing the monks because they want to listen the empirical word.” He also said that “the Church has God in it. It is very important to be able to taste God.
“In our times, there should be people who live God. Youth lives with doubts. People today are filed with egoism.” He made reference to meetings and conversations with newly declared Saint Paisios, noting his wisdom and prudence. He emphasized the sacred work of the monks: “when people sleep at night, the monks on Mount Athos pray. Today in the age of intellectualism, people place more emphasis on the mind, on the intellect, and the Fathers of Church come and speak about something else, the noetic energy. People begin to feel God; they have a consciousness of God.
“When the Fathers speak about the heart of people, they mean the spiritual being of the persons, as the beatitude says blessed be those who have clean hearts because they will see God. The heart is the place where God lives, which can be cleansed by the sacrament of Holy Confession. It is very important for people to have humility because humility is the garment of the Divinity.”
Ephraimoffered an icon of the Mother of God to the parish, and to each congregant a small cross from the Monastery. A dinner followed at the Loukoumi Restaurant in Astoria.
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