Most of you probably know of the holy young hieromonk who conversates about Orthodoxy and spirituality with Prof. Kyriakos Markides in the book 'A Mountain of Silence'. That hieromonk is now the Bishop of Limassol in Cyprus.
Here are some excerpts I am sharing from a recent sermon of his:
The theme of this sermon was getting closer to God and how when we ask for this blessing, we are given the answer through situations--though they are not always answered in the way which we thought they might be.
Today, His Grace offered a true situation which happened to Elder Paissios of the Holy Mountain. He was in Greece somewhere at one time where he was walking on his way to a nearby church to receive Holy Communion. On the way, he asked God to help him be more humble...
Upon reaching the church, he presented himself to the Priest and informed him that he would like to receive Holy Communion. The Priest told him to stay in the altar where he would give him the Mystery, rather than go outside the altar and have to contend with the crowds. Before the time of offering Holy Communion, all of a sudden the Priest started to yell loudly, to swear at, and to insult the Elder--even bringing up sins of his past! The laity had no idea what was going on and they were stupified at the commotion which they were hearing from behind the altar. At the end of the service, the Priest suddenly became quite composed and sought the Elder's forgiveness saying that he did not know what came over him. It seems, says the Bishop, that God used this situation to answer the Elder's prayers to grant him humility.
Another story in this sermon, related to how God answers prayers we seek for spiritual growth, but not always the way we hope for, was the story of a young woman. She prayed that she might get married in order to grow spiritually. She, ofcourse had in mind, a nice Christian family, a husband who would pray the morning and evening prayers with her, pray the prayer rope with her, etc...Well, she did indeed get married, but her married life was not the spiritual haven which she had hoped would help her grow in the Lord. Her husband was very difficult and was not at all the type who wanted to pray with her and share in the religious life with her. This difficulty helped her grow much in the Lord, as she clung to Him more and more for strength and consolation. His Grace pointed out that God had answered her prayer for a married life which would help her get closer to Him--just not in the way which she had envisioned it.
In Christ,
Alice
