On the Sixth Sunday of Matthew, July 12, 2026, Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria presided over the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at the Monastery of the Protection of the Holy Theotokos and St. Paisios the Athonite in Sankt Andrä am Zicksee, which celebrated the feast of its patron saint.
Concelebrating with the Metropolitan were Hieromonks Iakovos Giannopoulos and Andreas Bola, as well as Archdeacon Georgios Meleshko of the Holy Metropolis of Austria. Following the Divine Liturgy, pilgrims were invited to a festive monastic meal prepared by the fathers of the monastery.
A large number of faithful gathered to participate in the monastery’s patronal feast, taking part prayerfully in the liturgical celebration.
In his homily, Metropolitan Arsenios reflected on the Gospel reading of the healing of the paralytic, emphasizing that the miracle reveals Christ not merely as a healer of physical ailments but as the One who restores humanity’s communion with God.
The Metropolitan explained that the paralytic stood before the God-Man Jesus Christ, in whom the divine and human natures are united “without confusion, without change, without division, and without separation,” according to the teaching of the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon.
He noted that Christ’s first act was not to heal the man’s bodily infirmity but to forgive his sins, underscoring the deeper spiritual reality that sin is fundamentally a rupture in humanity’s relationship with God rather than merely a moral failing. Human beings, he said, were created for communion with their Creator, while the pursuit of autonomy leads to spiritual isolation and separation from divine life.
According to Metropolitan Arsenios, the paralytic’s condition symbolizes the deeper paralysis of fallen humanity, which is unable by its own power to move toward God. Christ’s intervention therefore represents not simply an improvement in earthly life but the restoration of the human person through forgiveness and the renewal of communion with God.
The Metropolitan further stressed that the Gospel passage reveals the purpose of God’s saving plan: the transformation of human beings through participation in the uncreated life of the Holy Trinity.
Turning to the example of St. Paisios the Athonite, whose feast was being celebrated, Metropolitan Arsenios noted that the saint did not seek miracles or extraordinary gifts for their own sake. Rather, through humility, self-denial, and complete surrender to God’s will, he became a transparent vessel of divine grace. The saint’s spiritual gifts and the miracles attributed to him, he said, were manifestations of God’s grace working through a life wholly dedicated to Christ.
The Metropolitan emphasized once again the importance of kenosis—self-emptying—as the path into life in Christ, where the center of one’s existence is no longer the self but the divine will. In this way, the believer becomes receptive to the grace of God.
He also highlighted the role of the Church and its Holy Mysteries in the healing and renewal of the faithful, describing the Church, in accordance with the patristic tradition, as a “hospital for souls,” where human beings begin already in this life to experience the Kingdom of God.
Following the Divine Liturgy, a monastic meal was offered to all pilgrims, providing an opportunity for fellowship, spiritual conversation, and shared celebration among the faithful, the monastic brotherhood, and Metropolitan Arsenios.
