The strange world from today finds comfort in strange things not in the right ones. India, which is at the other end of the world they know it from its magic craft and they go there. They ignore the Holy Mountain which is in their homeland, very near them and with an authentic mystical life in Christ
A student told me that he went to India and stayed there for three years and a half. He tried to find the truth about religions. In the end an Indian told him: `Why did you come here? In Orthodoxy you find what you are looking for. There is the light. Go to the Holy Mountain and there you will find what you are looking for. [1]. Thus he returned to Greece and came to the Holy Mountain.
`Father, when an Orthodox joins the Hindus or others but afterwards he repents is he received back in the Orthodox Church?
`One like this needs a great repentance and chrism. If he wants to return to Orthodoxy and become again a member of the Church according to the canons he must first certify by libellus[2] that he renounces at their bad beliefs and confesses the Orthodox faith and only afterwards the priest must read for him the prayers for returning to the true faith [3] and anoint him with the holy chrism.
I see some small children who without having read a line from the Gospel read about Brahmanism, Buddhism Islam and they go to the Indians. Afterwards they don`t feel any rest there and they return to Orthodoxy after they had collected a lot of microbes. They hurt themselves and then it is hard for them to find the truth. First you must know Orthodoxy and only after that to leave if you don`t like it. Know it well and only after that make a comparison with the different theories you hear. When you know Orthodoxy you can distinguish copper from gold or you can realize how many carats the gold has. Someone can`t be easily mistaken to take everything that shimmers as gold.
In any case I noticed that only the selfish man leaves Orthodoxy when he knows it: a humble one never quits it.
[1] It is known the fact that God can reveal His will to the man with a good intention in different ways. An example is the donkey of Balaam who spoke to turn him from what he wanted to do to fulfill the divine will. (see Numbers 22, 18-35).
[2] Libellus = booklet, brochure, means the written confession of the creed that one who returned to Orthodoxy was obliged to send to the Synod or to the Bishop or to the emperor
[3] from Euchologion
Excerpt from Ascetic strive – Pious Paisios the Athonite, Evanghelismos Publishing.
