Following the Flame, Part VII: Through the Storm

When I left America, I never imagined that I would be leaving it for good.
My intention was not to return permanently to Greece. I thought I would spend only a short time there before the Lord revealed the next step. To get advice, etc. Instead, by God’s providence, I remained. What I expected to be a brief stay became the rest of my life. Looking back, I can only say, “Glory to God.” His plans were wiser than my own.
I arrived in Greece as a deacon, but without stability or a permanent place to serve or live. I could have left for Mount Athos, but I was still sure that I should serve the True Orthodox of Greece. Greece in those days was a very different country. Materially, it was still struggling, and life was far from easy.
Eventually I was asked to serve for a time at the True Orthodox orphanage. I would be the driver and helper to the founder of this orphanage, who was an older hieromonk. The orphanage was staffed by nuns, and the most important opportunity for me was the daily services I could attend in the chapel.
It was, however, one of the most difficult periods of my life.
I had no involvement in the daily life or care of the young girls who lived there. My quarters were next door to the orphanage, and I often found myself feeling alone, uncertain, and without any clear direction. No one there thought about me or my real needs as a human being. Humanly speaking, it seemed that I had reached another dead end.
Yet even during those lonely days, God was at work.
One of the greatest blessings of that period was that I grew much closer to Archbishop Auxentios. I came to know him better and witnessed his humility, patience, and spiritual character. By my own experience, I regarded him as a holy man, and my respect and love for him deepened with each passing day.
Soon afterward, however, the True Orthodox Church in Greece entered one of the most painful periods in its modern history.
Divisions began to appear.
The True Orthodox Church of Greece would never again be what it was!
Then came the unlawful decision to depose Archbishop Auxentios. I could not accept what had taken place. From my understanding of the events, I did not believe that those who acted against him possessed either the moral or canonical authority to remove the First Hierarch in the manner they did. Whether accusations are true or false, the Church must always proceed according to the sacred canons and with justice, not under pressure or through political maneuvering. Certainly these accusations could not be proven!
The situation became increasingly confusing.
A new First Hierarch was elected under circumstances that troubled me deeply. In my own understanding, the process itself raised serious questions, and the divisions only continued to multiply. What had once seemed stable now appeared to be fragmenting before my eyes.
And even those who remained by the side of Archbishop Auxentios would be torn apart by grief and a shattering of all stability. The truth sometimes can crumble without it meaning that it wasn’t the truth. It simply meant in this case that God would allow the unrighteous to reign for reasons known only to Him.
For a young clergyman seeking only to live the monastic life and serve Christ and the Church of the True Orthodox faithfully, it was a heartbreaking experience.
I had not come to Greece to become involved in ecclesiastical politics. I had come searching for holiness, for obedience, and for the quiet path of repentance. Instead, I found myself living through one of the most turbulent chapters in the history of the Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece.
Those events left a lasting impression on me.
They taught me that every generation of Orthodox Christians must remain vigilant. Human weakness, ambition, and division can wound even those who sincerely desire to preserve the True Faith. The Church belongs to Christ alone, and our duty is to remain faithful to Him, even when storms arise around us.
This, for me, was the beginning of the end of the Church of Genuine Orthodox Christians of Greece. From here on, it would just continue to fall apart…
The flame still burned.
And once again, that flame would lead me to another unexpected chapter of my journey.