Elder Damaskinos of the Holy Hut of Agioi Anargyroi in the holy hermitage of the Nativity of the Theotokos, refers to the wandering of man in the spiritual life.
He lived for some years in Germany with his immigrant parents, completely ignoring the existence of Mount Athos and monasticism.
“As Greek Orthodox, my family and I simply had the habit of going to church every Sunday to meet other Greeks and to communicate with each other. But when I returned to Greece to study, the Lord miraculously called me on the very day of St. Anthony the Great, on January 17th.
That day, after being six months in Greece, I got to the church late and arrived at the time of the gospel, which referred to St. Anthony. When I entered the temple and saw the priest, while looking at him in his vestment, I saw the face of Christ in the face of the priest. In fact, I felt as if he addressed the words to me personally.
As if he told me, ‘raise your cross and follow me.’ It felt so strong at that moment. That was the call, I can’t describe it. I experienced it, you just hear it. It moved me intensely. I considered myself a Greek Orthodox and bragged about it, but at that moment I felt so inadequate, for Christ was asking more from me; to raise a cross, but where? In what way? That moved me deeply and I cried in the church, asking God to enlighten me on how to respond to His call.
Indeed, when I left the church, I headed to my house and these thoughts followed me intensely. Later on that day, the priest was passing by our house and I spontaneously jumped out and asked him: ‘Father, what must we do to follow Christ? Today you read this gospel that said this and that… how can I renounce myself? How can I follow Christ?’
And the Father told me: ‘My child, this was in honor of St. Anthony who also heard this gospel and left the town of Alexandria and became a monk. For that reason we read this gospel; but it also refers to those who want very much to follow Christ, that is, to become monks.’
It was the first time I heard the word ‘monk’, so I asked him where these monks were and he replied: ‘In monasteries, such as Mount Athos, a state with many monasteries and monks who left the world out of love for Christ to follow Him with zeal.’ I did not forget what he told me and tried to learn about Mount Athos and monasticism, for I realized that since I felt that these words of Christ were addressed to me, He wanted me to become a monk. And so, I did my research, I connected the dots and here I am today, on Mount Athos, for 36 years now, with the help of God.
Christ always relates the events of everyone’s story with that specific person. He does this everywhere. In the Gospel, but also in life after the Gospel until today. For Christ each of us is not a concept, an idea, but is approached by the Father as an irreplaceable person.”