Των Αγίων Ημερών, άγιοι & μνήμες

27 Μαΐου: Σβιάτ Ιβάν Ρούσκι (άγιος Ιωάννης ο Ρώσος). Ήταν ελεύθερος μέσα στη σκλαβιά του!

"Τρελός", ελεύθερος, ταπεινός, κρυμμένος, γεμάτος αγάπη - Άγιος Ανδρέας ο σαλός (28 Μαΐου) 

Η Παναγία του Γκαλίτς (28 Μαΐου)

Άλλοι άγιοι στις 27 & 28 Μαΐου 

Αλλά και:
23 Μαΐου: Μαρτύριο του νεομάρτυρα Ευγένιου Ροντιόνωφ (1996)
 
Μνήμη Γέροντα Ευμένιου Σαριδάκη, του Λεπροκομείου Αθηνών (1999)

18 Μαΐου: Μαρτύριο του π. Ιωάννη της Σάντα Κρουζ (1985)

17 Μαΐου: Μαρτύριο του π. Στέφανου Wu στην Κίνα (Χαρμπίν της Μαντζουρίας), 1970

Συλλογή υπογραφών για την καταδικασμένη σε θάνατο Σουδανή μητέρα (αγέννητου παιδιού)

Κλικ εδώ!
Για το θέμα, εδώ παρακαλώ! 

 

Ομιλία Μητροπολίτη Νιγηρίας στο Διορθόδοξο Κέντρο «Πορευθέντες» (27 Μαΐου 2014)

Διορθόδοξο Κέντρο «Πορευθέντες»

Το Διορθόδοξο Κέντρο «Πορευθέντες» σας προσκαλεί την Τρίτη 27 Μαΐου 2014 και ώρα 6.00' μ.μ. στην ομιλία του Σεβασμιωτάτου Μητροπολίτη Νιγηρίας κ. Αλέξανδρου με θέμα το έργο και τα προβλήματα της ορθόδοξης ιεραποστολής στη Νιγηρία.
“Πορευθέντες”, διεύθυνση: Ζαλόγγου 13-15 και Εμμ. Μπενάκη, Αθήνα, τηλ. 2103833792.

Δείτε και: Σαρκώνοντας το Ευαγγέλιο στη Νιγηρία 
Άρθρα & ειδήσεις από την Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία στη Νιγηρία
Στον Ορθόδοξο Αμπελώνα της Αφρικής
10 Ιεραποστολικά βίντεο (& άλλα 10+3)

Από τα εγκαίνια του ιερού ναού του Αγίου Χριστοφόρου στην Ανατολική Νιγηρία, Φεβρουάριος 2012 (βλ. εδώ)

On Alan in India

St Gregory Palamas Orthodox Monastery

Taken from: "The Ascetic of Love", Mother, give us a word.

Το ίδιο ελληνικά
Gerontissa Gabrielia (1897-1992), also known as Gavrilia, was a 20th century saintly Greek Orthodox nun (see here).

 
We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
(Zech. 8: 23) 

 

Mother Gabrielia

As we were saying the other day, we are always to be blamed for raising somebody on a pedestal and turning him into an idol. We admire him and then… we bring him down. There was once in India a very great «Teacher», one of those they call Guru. 

At the time, I was working at the Dispensary that was part of his Ashram. One day a young man arrived from Australia. He was 26, cheerful, and carried with him a sizeable trunk. He presented himself to where the great Teacher sat talking to those who had gathered around him…When he entered, the young man was flushed with joy and excitement. He looked at the Teacher the way we look at – what shall I say – the icon of a… Saint! The Teacher observed him carefully and said: “So, you are the one who came from Australia? What did you bring us?” The young man was so thrilled that he could not speak. But the other insisted: “Did you bring us bananas? Or fruit? Perhaps sweets? What did you bring us?” The youth opened the trunk and started taking out papers, and more papers, and again papers… “Well, aren’t you going to show us your presents?” At last out came a tape recorder and many tapes that he had brought to record the voice of this great Master! “Now then. Is that all? You brought nothing else? Show him to his room!

The poor young man went to his room locked himself in and refused to come out… He had had a shock! He had been looking forward to meeting a man he had almost deified. Instead, he saw a man expecting bananas and other fruit like a common mortal who at the end had told him to go to his room since he had brought nothing with him… Poor wretch, who had come to immortalize the Guru’s voice and send it back to Australia (where everybody would marvel at his achievement – for, surely, his Ego had a share in all that)… The next day they tried to make him leave his room and attend the teaching, but he refused. One day I met him walking in the woods. I said: “Good morning. Would you like me to walk with you for a while? Have a chat, perhaps?” “We could do that sometime, but not right now he answered and walked away.

Meanwhile, the instructor of physical exercises said to me: “You have the knack of making friends easily. Go and talk to him”… The next day I met him again. “How are you?” I asked. “Are you getting accustomed to the place?” “No! “Would you care for a little talk? I, too, have come from abroad”… “Another time, perhaps”… I did not know what to do! Sitting quietly in my room, I said. “Oh, my God! Now that this child of Yours goes to the Ganges every morning… if he were to… stumble just a little… and his foot need a little massage… perhaps I could talk with him”… And it happened, for a wonder! The next morning they sent for me. “Alan went to the river for a swim and strained his ankle. Come at once”. “Take him to his room, I said, “I'll be there right away”.

Well, anything that has to do with a person’s body has to do with his soul also. At that moment I knew what had happened to the young man, for I was aware of how it came about. I commenced the treatment and kept silent, very silent. “Well, aren’t you going to say anything?” “No, I said, “I only came to see to your foot”. “Now! Every time we met, you asked my impressions on this place. Aren’t you interested any longer?” “Not at the moment. We have to attend to your foot now”. I answered in this manner, because I knew that if I were to say: “Tell me…he wouldn’t talk. However, if you pretend indifference, the other will start talking, since he hurts inside and needs to get it off his chest.

This was what happened with Alan. He started to talk and talk… On how this Teacher was known to a large circle of people in Australia. On how he was sent by friends to record his speeches and make his teaching widely known… and so on. And Alan kept saying: “I don’t want to see him any more. I don’t want to! I don’t want to record his teaching or anything else. What am I to do?” When the treatment for his strained ankle was over, I told him: “Let’s go. Ill take you to an old man I know very well, and he will tell you all you want to learn about Indian Philosophy. At the same time he will talk to you about” … “I must tell you that I do not want to hear about Christianity and such things!” “Let’s go there and you will see”. This old man was very wise. 

He was teaching Indian Philosophy, and had also attended Christian Schools, but never proselytized when a Christian came to him. Soon after we arrived, he asked Alan if he wanted to stay near him. “Yes, he answered, as he had been impressed both by the old man’s humility and his appearance, for he looked like a Prophet out of the Old Testament. “All right then. Bring your Bible also and let us read it together. Do you read it?” “No”. “Well, that’s a pity because I cannot tell you: take up thy bed and walk… Anyhow, bring your sleeping-bag and come sit here”. Alan was at a deadlock¦ So, he went and stayed with the old man for some time. I saw him quite often and we had a few talks.

Once he said to me: “You tell me that when God wants something to be done, it is done; and that when you abandon yourself, of your own free will, in the Hand of God, He grants your wish. You also say that the only way to reach God is through Christ, Who takes us by the hand and leads us where we must go, if we only trust ourselves to Him”. “Yes, I answered, “but you must do so truly”. Another day he told me: “You say that we must abandon ourselves completely in the Hand of God and that then… Fine! So, let’s go, the two of us, without any money, up in the mountains, in a strange place, and see what happens. Shall we find food and shelter, as you say we shall?” “Have no doubt we will!” “Are you certain about that?” “I am”. “Well, if I see it happen, I will believe in Christ and will renounce all teachers, gurus and the like”. Still, my children, the Holy Scripture says: «Thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God» and «Seek not a sign». But, in those days I was so eager and certain that this youth should not lose Christ… since he was born in a Christian country. 
What could be done at this point? So, I said: “All right. We will go”. We had a little money with us: about one rupee, just enough for the train fare and modest sleeping accommodation for one night. We had no idea what the next day would bring, but I was very confident – as if we were going to a familiar place.

Early the next morning, we set out for the mountains, taking with us some fruit. We walked up, and up, and up… At noon we stopped on a hill to get some rest. “No miracle as yet, ” Alan said. “Don’t be so hasty,” I answered, “I told you that if it is God’s Will we shall find a place to spend the night”. The sun was setting and darkness was advancing fast, as is usual up in the mountains. We could see the valley below and, to be frank, I started thinking that the miracles I had been expecting were somewhat… overdue, but then God would provide… “Well, what do you say now?” Alan asked me. “I say that we shall spend the night where God wants us to”. In a short while, when the sun was almost gone, we saw something coming up into view, beyond the ridge of the hill. First a tropical helmet, then a face, and then two Indian figures. Soon after, we made out that the person with the helmet was an elderly European lady wearing glasses. The other two figures were young Indian girls.

When they came close, we exchanged greetings. “Good evening”. “Good evening. Where are you coming from?” “We came from the valley below”. “And where are you going?” “To friends”… Alan looked at me sideways, thinking, «why is she lying?»… “And where are you from?” “I am from Greece and this young man is from Australia”. “I am from Holland,” the lady said. “I was raised in the United States, and these young girls are two of the six daughters I adopted here. I saw to their education and they are qualified Nurses. What is your occupation”? “I teach Physiotherapy and I have just finished with one of the Dispensaries, I answered. “Ah! God has sent you. Are you free to come to our home tonight? These two girls have a month’s leave and perhaps you could teach them a little”…”I’ll be glad to, I said, “but I have this young man with me and we were going”… “That will be no problem. I have also an adopted son. They will share his room and tonight we’ll be like one family”. 

“Thank you and thank God for our meeting, I said. The young Australian stood dazed, truly dumbfounded! God had made His miracle and I was overjoyed. I felt an enthusiasm beyond words. India was my great adventure of Faith in God. I had gone there, a stranger in a foreign country, with no knowledge of its languages… Anyway, we finally reached their house up in the mountain – a nice house on a hill. There our hostess related to me how she had left her home as a young girl, how she had lived all those years supported in her undertakings only by friends, because she did not belong to any Mission, and how she felt that God had blessed her.

That night, our Australian friend was so moved that with tears in his eyes he told me: “Sister Lila, please sit at the piano and let us sing now all the Christmas carols. Christ has just been born in my heart”. So, I started playing the piano, and everyone, the mother, the girls, the boys began to sing, in high summer, all the Christmas carols that we knew… Alan was literally in the bliss of God!

You see God works His Miracles where and when He wills. For this young man had gone astray, seeking his way in wrong directions. And because God had wanted him on the right Way, all these things had happened. I was so confident that he would not be lost, at 26, through the practice of those dangerous exercises, which are harmful especially to the eyes, if not… Anyway…We stayed with our new friends 15 days and I taught the girls what they wanted to learn. Then Alan returned to Australia. The lady Missionary and I became friends and, from then on, she invited me every year to spend part of the summer with her. She and-her family never forgot this story, particularly when I told them what happened with Alan later…

For Alan’s story does not end here. A year went by, then a second one, and Alan returned to the same practices and his old circle, In the meantime I had gone far up in the mountains and nobody knew where I was. As he told me later, he still remembered what I used to tell him and thought: “In the way Sister Lila says «yes» when she is called upon, this time, I too will say «yes» and see where this takes me!” He had arrived at this decision because once again he felt dissatisfied with himself. So, he traveled to where he thought he would find me, only to be told: “She is not coming here this year. She is up in the mountain”. Now, mark a «coincidence»! Somebody came where I was staying and told me: “You know, Alan from Australia is at such and such a place”, Well, I thought, I shall write to invite him here, not knowing of course what he had gone through in the meantime… And while Alan was expecting an invitation from I don’t know whom, for a great change in his life, he received my letter. It was the only invitation he got! He set off at once and arrived at the place I was, up in the mountains, where we were the only two Europeans. And he started telling me: “Everything that happened then was really good. Since then, however, I saw a lot of things that didn’t go the way you said they would. This is why I returned to India, seeking the Truth”, “But I told you, Alan, that Truth is not a theory, it is Christ who said: «I am the Truth».

What else do you want? More Miracles, perhaps? “You say that you live all the time amidst Miracles”. “Yes, I said, “I live in a Miracle. Because the fact that you are alive and have come back is a Miracle. Because the fact that you and I have our eyes and our legs is a Miracle. Look around you, here where I work with the lepers. Don’t you see the blind? All those sick people who suffer? Why they and not we? Have you ever asked yourself that? Everything we have is by His Grace! Only by the Grace of God! In spite of our sins. It is by His Grace that we are as we are. Through the Blood of Christ’s Sacrifice. Don’t you understand that?”

While I was still talking, an old man came with his eyes filled with tears. “Please, run quickly to the Dispensary, my boy is gravely injured, he said. The village was very small and the Dispensary nothing much. We met the Doctor and he said: “Did you come for the boy? He fell off the scaffolding and I think he broke his spine. I am afraid he will not last the night”. We went and saw an 18-year old boy. I was deeply moved and started caressing lightly his forehead. Then I turned to his father and said: “No. Great are the Miracles of God. The boy will live. Do not worry”.

Then shalt thou call,
and the Lord shall answer;
thou shalt cry, and He shall say: Here I am.
(Isa. 58:9)

Suddenly, the boy opened his eyes a little (note: It was a great Miracle that God was performing in answer to her prayer and compassion, for Alan to see…). The father, who had thought his son would die, when hearing that he might live, turned to me and said: “Well! Since my boy is going to live, give me some money for food, because I am hungry”. The instinct of self-preservation! I said: “I have no money. This young man will give you some”. Alan gave him something and we left the Dispensary. The next morning Alan wanted us to go and find out if the boy was still alive. We met the Doctor at the entrance of the Dispensary and the moment he saw us he said: “I will tell you something astonishing. Occasionally nature plays such tricks! The boy has recovered and this morning, together with his father, they started the la-mile walk back to their village”! This time the Australian was thunderstruck. He was truly shattered. He turned and said: “Now I believe in the Omnipotence of God! I believe in Christ! I am a Christian in my heart! I am going back home. I have found what I have been seeking!”

Alan left… Years went by. I left India, too… I went to Bethany and became a Novice. One day I received a letter from Alan in which he wrote: “My great pride has filled me with despair. Three young girls almost drowned while swimming and, as I am a very good swimmer, I fell into the sea and saved them. The deed went to my head and I kept going around telling everyone how I saved them. At the end I suffered some derangement and was taken to a Mental Clinic. Now I am out and they assure me that I am back to normal. Still, inside, I don’t feel well. What would you advise me to do?” During my days in India I had met Father Lazarus, the Orthodox Englishman. So, I wrote to Alan: “Go to India again. But this time, please, go straight to Father Lazarus”. At the same time I wrote to Father Lazarus. Alan went back to India.

When I received a letter from Father Lazarus, I learned that for a whole year Alan just looked at him. He attended the Liturgy, but never spoke a word. It was puzzling. One morning he said: “Father, I have known Sister Lila for many years. She never asked me if I am a Christian or if I had been baptized. Perhaps she thought that, since I was born in Australia, I had been christened. I am not baptized; I am not even a Christian! Please, baptize me”. The joy of Father Lazarus was great. He christened him Hadrian. Then Hadrian asked for his blessing and left to be a Missionary… These are the great, soul-stirring Miracles of God!

Click:
Hinduist "light"

The Impossibility of Aloneness: When Christ Found Me in the Himalayas
The 'Death' of Anita Phillips

Two Deaths

The Orthodox Church in West Bengal, India

Father Lazarus Moore Foundation 

Klaus Kenneth, the spiritual traveler

Journey to Orthodoxy

Road to Emmaus

"Death to the world"
Through The Eastern Gate - From Tibetan Buddhism to Orthodox Christianity 

Hinduism. The Power of the Pagan Gods

 

A Fakir's "Miracle" and the Prayer of Jesus.
Mount Athos • The Holy Mountain

An Indian chief's 'secret path' to Orthodoxy

OUR TALENT OF FREEDOM & SOME PITFALLS

A Deer Lost in Paradise
LIVE, BEYOND THE LIMITS!

LOVERS OF TRUTH: THE LIFE OF HIEROMONK SERAPHIM ROSE
Lover of Truth: St John, The Wonderworker of San Francisco
OUR TALENT OF FREEDOM & SOME PITFALLS  

Orthodoxy

Ancient Faith Radio
Orthodox America - By Issue Number
Orthodox England
"The Orthodox World"   Saint Herman Press

Basic Dogmatic Teaching - An Orthodox Handbook

Saint of Killers: A Man of Infamy and Tragedy

(from here & here)

Vertigo is an American comic book imprint. It is DC Comics' most famous imprint, aimed at "mature readers", and has produced series including The Sandman, Preacher, and Y: The Last Man.
Preacher is a comic book series created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, published by the American comic book label Vertigo (an imprint of DC Comics), with painted covers by Glenn Fabry.
The series consists of 75 issues in total - 66 regular, monthly issues, five one-shot specials and a four-issue Preacher: Saint of Killers limited series. The entire run has been collected in nine trade paperback editions. The final monthly issue, number 66, was published in August 2000.

Saint of Killers: A Man of Infamy and Tragedy

www.comicvine.com

Little is known of the man who would one day become the Saint of Killers. There is rumor and legend, and only a few knew even some of the truth.

He fought in the Civil War, on the side of the Confederacy and was known as one of the most violent, bloodthirsty soldiers on the battlefield. He carved his way through the bodies of Union troops, and none could stand against him. His reputation grew, and even after the war he was held in fear and contempt, not only by the people he had fought against and alongside, but by people who'd only heard of his legend. When the war ended, he went west, back to Texas. He stayed apart from other people, and made his money getting the bounties on Indian scalps. He saw his share of man's inhumanity to man in his life, and had resigned himself to the fact that mankind was a corrupt, savage race. He didn't think there was any hope, either for America or for himself.

Is there more to him than killing?

Until he met her.
During a raid on some Apaches, he heard a sound - a young girl who had been their captive. He very nearly shot her, but stayed his hand. The girl was injured, but whole, and thanked him for saving her from the horrible and savage acts they would commit - he maintained that his intention hadn't been to save her, but that she just happened to be there. He offered to give her a ride back to her home in Laredo, Texas. When he got her back to her family, her brother was absolutely shocked that she had not only been saved by one of the most dangerous soldiers of the war, but that she wanted to go back with him. She saw, beneath his cold, cynical skin, a good man - or at least the potential for one. She wanted to make it her mission to find goodness in him, to take a man who had given up all hope of humanity and show him that there was good in life after all.
They were together for about a decade, and had a child - a baby daughter. They lived together in the wild, living off the land, happy. For the first time, he felt satisfaction and knew that there actually was more to his life than killing. He had a family and a future.
Then they got sick. One of the myriad fevers and illnesses that travel the west got into his wife and daughter. They were bedridden with a fever, and the only medicine was a week away by horse. It pained him to leave them behind, but his wife told him to go, and to hurry. But - and this was important - if he didn't make it, if anything should happen before he got back, not to blame himself. It would be the fever's fault, not his. He pledged to get the medicine and get back in time.
Unfortunately, God had other plans.
A blizzard blew across the plains while the hopeful husband was on his way to the town of Ratwater, Texas. It didn't stop him, but it did divert a gang of truly wicked men. Gumbo McCready was a thug, a man who led other men simply by being crueler and more murderous than anyone else. He and his men came into Ratwater, full of anger and boredom - a bad combination. They met the old soldier, who shot one of McCready's men who they'd shamed into challenging him. McCready asked him to join their gang, but he wouldn't have it. "If killin' set apart a hard man," he said, "every son of a bitch in Texas would be one." With that, he turned on his heel and left them with the insult in their ears.
The gang left early, and set an ambush. When the soldier came through on his way to his family, they shot at him, intending to kill him dead. They didn't - he even managed to cut their numbers down sharply. But they did enough damage. They killed his horse, making what should have been a one-week journey into two. He cut what horsemeat he could, and started across the snowy llano towards his family.
He didn't make it. By the time he got home, the crows had already started picking at the flesh of his wife and daughter. And he knew exactly who was to blame for delaying him.
He buried his family, and then took his guns and his sword and headed back towards Ratwater. His only emotion was hate, and his only thought was revenge.

The Making of a Saint

Leading the Damned to Hell

In the time it took him to get to Ratwater, McCready had pretty much taken the place over. The had shot the sheriff and spread fear throughout the town. When the soldier came in, his guns blazing, McCready sent all of his men out to stand between him and his certain death. All of his men died, either by the bullet or by the blade. When he came for McCready, the gang-leader did what people like him always do - he grabbed an innocent and used her as a human shield. He counted on the gunman being a basically good man. He was wrong. A bullet went straight through her head, missing McCready, and at that moment, his gun jammed.
McCready took the opportunity to knock the gunman down, and jammed the blade of a shovel through his chest. The old soldier died, and his soul went to the only place it could go - straight to Hell
Normally, when a soul gets to Hell the horror of their condition blasts away everything human from them. All love, fear and hate evaporated in the heat of the Inferno. Nothing human survived the approach to the Gates.
Until he got there.
His hate remained intact, his desire for revenge and death was undiminished, and his cold heart was enough to freeze the very fires of Hell itself. The gates were sealed shut, the fires went out, and The Devil himself came out of his palace to find out what the hell was going on. The Devil and the Angel Of Death found the source of their problem - the cold soul of the dead gunman. The Devil tried to beat the hate out of him - he was whipped to the bone - but he didn't give it up. His hate remained, cold and untouchable and absolute.
The Devil begged him to give it up, and asked what it was he wanted, why he hated so hard. The man said that the only good thing he had in a bad, bad life had been taken from him, and all that remained was the desire for revenge. The desire to kill.

The Bane of Ratwater

A deal was struck. The Angel of Death - who was none too happy with his job - offered his position. The dead man would take his place, bringing death at God's will. He would carry two guns, made from the Angel's sword. They would never misfire, and never run out. Every shot would hit, and every hit would kill. He could have his revenge and much, much more. The man agreed. The Devil sewed up his wounds - inexpertly - and the guns were cast. The dead gunman was given new clothes and a new title: The Saint of Killers. And his first victim was none other than the Devil himself.
The Saint returned to Ratwater. He killed McCready and the corrupt preacher who traveled with him. But he didn't stop there. He killed everyone. Every man, woman and child in the town of Ratwater, Texas died under his guns that night. Innocent or guilty made no difference. He was the bringer of death, and he didn't much care whose.
When his job was done, he went to wait under Boot Hill. He would be called out, many times, to do God's will and to being about the death and destruction that God wanted. The final time, however, was for something very special. The Saint of Killers was woken to find and kill a young man named Jesse Custer.

The Saint and the Preacher

An angel was sent to wake the Saint of Killers, and got shot through the head for his troubles. Before he expired, he told the Saint about Genesis - the child of a demon and an angel, whose power was almost on par with God's. Genesis had escaped its prison and possessed the preacher of a small Texas town. Jesse Custer now had the Voice of Command - whatever he told people to do, they would do. The angels were terrified of what Custer might do with such power, and sent the Saint to track him down and kill him.
The Saint was happy to do it, or at least was willing to fulfill his obligations to God. Within a few hours he shot his way through the county sheriff's office and was on Jesse's trail. He found Jesse in a small motel, but his gun was stayed by Jesse's Voice. For the first time, the Saint of Killers was held back from his mission, and a target was allowed to get away. Even worse, the angel revealed that God, the only power in the cosmos that could command the Saint, had left Heaven and abandoned His creation. The implications of this would not occur to the Saint until later. He let the Preacher go, but vowed to track him down.
He crossed Jesse's path after Jesse left Angelville, the estate of his wicked, manipulative matriarch Marie L'Angell. The place had been burned to the ground, and all of L'Angell's henchmen had been killed. The Saint thought it was a good start. For a beginner. Jesse had gotten away for a while, but the time had come to find him again. The Saint had realized that without God in Heaven, there was no one who could command him. The Saint was now able to follow his own path to find Jesse Custer. He went to Las Vegas, to find the angels, who had started a casino and were easy to find. In their terror, the angels told him everything - Jesse had gone to France to confront The Grail, a worldwide organization dedicated to triggering the Apocalypse and ruling the world. The Saint hijacked a freighter, killing everyone on board, and sailed it directly to Europe. When he got to Masada, The Grail's headquarters, he homed in on Custer. The Preacher was in one of the basements with The Grail's Sacred Executioner, Starr. And the Saint was more than willing to kill both of them.
But once again, his hand was stayed. The Grail had a captive in its possession - an angel - and The Seraphim told them that Genesis, the entity in Custer's head, was the key to making God answer for his abandonment. Moreover, it would be able to tell the Saint about how - and why - his family had died. The opportunity was too good. The Saint took him up on the offer. He held off the soldiers of The Grail, giving Jesse and Starr the chance to get the information they needed from the Seraphim - they had to go to the American west and look to the Native Americans to get in touch with Genesis. Jesse and Starr escaped - barely - before the whole base exploded, burying the Saint under millions of tons of rock and masonry.
This didn't stop the Saint, of course. He unearthed himself and started to make his way back to the United States.
A few months later, The Saint met Custer again, this time in the company of his girlfriend, Tulip. Custer told the Saint what he promised he would - the truth.
The Saint had been delayed from his family by the attacks by McCready, but why had McCready been there? Why was he there, in Ratwater, and why had he been in a position to keep the Saint from his mission? There had been a blizzard, but.... why had there been a blizzard? Who could do such a thing to turn the gang into the Saint's path?
Who... but God?
Knowing the truth, there was nothing the Saint could do but kill. He stepped out and confronted the dual forces of the U.S. Army and the Grail. He took on hundreds of soldiers, took out tanks and helicopters, armed with nothing but his two pistols. He single-handedly destroyed every force that came up against him, and drove Starr to order a nuclear strike. He pressured the President into sending a stealth bomber to Monument Valley, turning it into an irradiated wasteland with the Saint in the center of it.
Amidst the flames and the radiation, the Saint stood up, spat, and said "Not enough gun."

The Saint Kills God

He was adrift. With no one to command him and no one to go after, the Saint had no more purpose. His activities during his wanderings are unknown, but after nearly a year, he felt a strange.... tugging. He felt drawn back to Texas, to the abandoned wasteland that used to be Ratwater. The Preacher was there, with the Saint's human remains. It wasn't the most subtle way of getting his attention, but it worked.
Custer told the Saint everything he had learned in his quest for God - that God was an attention-fiend, and that He was willing to cause pain, destruction and death for no other reason than to see who would love Him. He sparked a war between the angels to find out who would stay on His side. He created a world full of humans who would fight in His name, just to see who loved Him more. And He engineered the creation of Genesis, a being as powerful as He, just to see if He could get it to love Him.
But the Saint was different. God didn't want the Saint's love - He wanted his hate. And God made sure that He got it.
Custer had a plan, a way to pay God back for the horrors He had inflicted on His creation. But to do it, Custer would need the Saint's help. The guns the Saint carried were lethal - no shot hit that did not kill, and their first kill was none other than the Devil himself. But they couldn't just go shoot God, because He had hidden Himself from Jesse and Genesis. As long as they were looking for Him, God wouldn't budge. But if Genesis were out of the picture, Jesse reckoned that God would head straight for Heaven.
And the Saint would be waiting for Him.
When the Saint got to Heaven, the entire Angelic Host was arrayed against him. Rank upon rank of angel flew to keep him away from the gates, and they were all shot down by his guns. And when Jesse's plan worked, when Genesis was released and God returned to retake His throne, the Saint was waiting for Him.
God begged for His life, and offered the Saint whatever he wanted - power, life, the lives of his family, anything. But the Saint wanted none of it. All he wanted, he said, was to rest.
He shot God dead. Then he sat in God's throne, and rested.

Powers
 
The Saint of Killers is virtually omnipotent, to far greater extents than is seen in comics especially for a non-cosmic character. He possesses a durability on par if not surpassing that of Superman, so powerful that it allowed him to be hit by a nuclear missile and remain unscathed and his clothes undamaged. He then simply shrugged it off and said, "Not enough gun."
He is also, and was before gaining his powers, a champion marksman. He is so quick on the draw that an ordinary man cannot even watch it happen. He also has perfect aim and through many odd circumstances he has still managed to always hit his desired target.
The Saint of Killers is also super-humanly strong as evidenced by the fact that he stood his ground when Cassidy crashed into him with his truck and he did not move an inch.
But the power of his which is stronger than all the others is his hatred. It was his deep hatred that extinguished the fires of Hell, resulting in him being expelled from it.

Weapons
 
The Saint of Killers wields two of the most powerful weapons in the universe. Two Walker Colt revolvers crafted from the Sword of the Angel of Death. Because they were meant to aid him in his mission as the Angel of Death they were given special properties.
First off they will never jam, nor will they run out of ammunition or need to be reloaded. But the most important factor of the revolvers is that they will always hit their mark, no matter what they must pass through to reach it. As well, whatever wound is received from the guns shall always be fatal no matter who the victim is even if it is God or The Devil.

Errors and Inconsistencies

It is never explained how Cassidy manages to survive being shot by the Saint of Killers. It is also never explained why Jesse Custer is able to stop the Saint of Killers by using the Word of God, while God himself is unable to stop him by use of the Word.

Click: 

Two Deaths
LIVE, BEYOND THE LIMITS!
We and the spirits of the departed
Why’s the smile of elder Joseph of Vatopedi from eternity?
Death! Death! DEATH! (The Mystery and the Process of Death)
How an Atheist Cancer Patient Came to Believe in God
Through Closed Doors

A revelation on the torments of hell & the unworthy priest

Heaven & Hell in the Afterlife Acc. To The Bible  

The Super-Natural 

Deification - The Uncreated Light

St. Ephraim and the Greek-American Drug Addict
 
OUR TALENT OF FREEDOM & SOME PITFALLS
“Orthodoxy and the Religion of the Future”
An Orthodox spiritual father comments on 12-year-old Akiane

Magazine "Death to the World", Punk & Orthodoxy in USA  
About "Death to the World!"

A Deer Lost in Paradise

Priest-Monk Nestor the New Martyr of Zharky (+1993) 

 

Theosis, St. Silouan and Elder Sophrony
The Stories of the Saints of North America
Orthodox Saints and the Future of America
LOVERS OF TRUTH: THE LIFE OF HIEROMONK SERAPHIM ROSE
Lover of Truth: St John, The Wonderworker of San Francisco

Saints
Philosophical Ketchup
Orthodoxy 

Orthodox America - By Issue Number
Orthodox England
"The Orthodox World"

Saint Herman Press

Αυγουλού, η γυναίκα του μπεκρή: μια αγία της διπλανής πόρτας

Άλλη μια μαρτυρική και αγιασμένη ψυχούλα, απ' αυτές τις ατσάλινες που ανάβουν σα φλόγες καντηλιών ακριβώς δίπλα μας ή ίσως και μέσα στο σπίτι μας, αλλά συνήθως τις αγνοούμε ή, χειρότερα, τις περιφρονούμε.
Ατσάλινες ψυχές, όχι για να διεκδικήσουν τα δικαιώματά τους (αν και αναμφίβολα έχουν ως άνθρωποι κάθε δίκαιο) αλλά για να διεκδικήσουν τη σωτηρία του εχθρού τους, τον οποίο συγχωρούν και αγαπούν και τον οποίο θεωρούν πως έχει παγιδεύσει στα νύχια του ο μόνος αληθινός εχθρός, ο διάβολος.
Αυτές οι ψυχές σκανδαλίζουν πολλούς από μας. Δεν είναι ανθρώπινες, αλλά υπεράνθρωπες - ο Χριστός τις κάνει υπεράνθρωπες, λόγω της ταπείνωσης και της αγάπης τους. Αυτές τις αρετές δεν τις συμπαθούμε. Συμπαθούμε το πάθος, την οργή, τη "δικαιοσύνη"... Όχι την ταπεινότητα, την ανεξικακία και την αγιότητα. Αλλά ας κάνουμε λίγο την αυτοκριτική μας κι ας σκεφτούμε - δεν ξέρω τι... πως το να κερδίσεις τον παράδεισο είναι σημαντικότερο από το να κερδίσεις τη γη; πως κάθε αθλητής κι αγωνιστής υποφέρει για να κατακτήσει αυτό που τόσο ποθεί; πως έτσι ένας άνθρωπος, σαν αυτή την αγιασμένη σύγχρονη μάρτυρα, κάνει το ύψιστο κατόρθωμα: στέλνει ένα συνάνθρωπό του στον παράδεισο;
Ας σκεφτούμε ό,τι θέλουμε, αλλά με ειλικρίνεια. Ας έχουμε τις πρεσβείες τέτοιων απλών άγνωστων αγίων κι ας μην ξεχνάμε να μιλάμε γι' αυτούς στον εαυτό μας και στα παιδιά μας... Α, και το καλύτερο: κάποια απ' αυτά τα πολύτιμα πετράδια σίγουρα είναι κρυμμένα δίπλα μας. Ας τα αναζητήσουμε.

 

Προσκυνητής (η φωτο προφανώς δεν έχει σχέση με το πρόσωπο)

Ο μακαριστός Μητροπολίτης Χαλκίδος Νικόλαος Σελέντης ανέφερε:
"Μ’ έμαθε να προσεύχoμαι κατανυκτικά και με δάκρυα, μία απλή γυναικούλα που κατοικούσε στο Πέραμα Πειραιώς και την αποκαλούσαν περιφρονητικά όχι με τ’ όνομά της, αλλά με το παρατσούκλι “η Αυγουλού”, γιατί πούλαγε φρέσκα αυγά, να εξοικονομήση τον “άρτον τον επιούσιον”.
 

Ως περιοδεύων πέρασα μια μέρα απ’ το φτωχικό της σπίτι, για να εισπράξω μια συνδρομή για το περιοδικό ΖΩΗ. Η ίδια απουσίαζε και βρισκόταν εκεί το παιδί της, που διήρχετο την εφηβεία. Έκαιγε το καντήλι στο εικονοστάσι κι έκανα στο παιδί την πρότασι αν ήθελε μέχρι νάρθη η μητέρα του να προσευχηθούμε λιγάκι. Κάπως αδιάφορα κούνησε καταφατικά το κεφάλι του και είπε ας προσευχηθούμε. 

Όταν τελειώσαμε την προσευχή, μου λέει κάπως χαριτολογώντας: Α, εσύ δεν ξέρεις να προσευχηθής!

Εγώ κατεπλάγην απ’ την τολμηρή αυτή παρατήρησι και τον ρώτησα να μου εξηγήση, πώς κατά τη γνώμη του πρέπει να προσεύχεται ένας Ορθόδοξος Χριστιανός; Εγώ, κύριε, μου λέει, δεν ξέρω Θεολογία, αλλά βλέπω το παράδειγμα της μητέρας μου, που όταν προσεύχεται κραυγάζει συνεχώς “Κύριε Ελέησον”, πέφτει συνεχώς σε μετάνοιες, κτυπάει το στήθος της και τρέχουν ποτάμι τα δάκρυά της! 

Μετά απ’ αυτή την αφήγησι, μεγάλωσε η επιθυμία μου να γνωρίσω αυτή την υπέροχη γυναίκα και να διδαχθώ κάτι απ’ τη χαρισματική προσευχή της.
Εκείνη τη μέρα δεν ήλθε κι αποχώρησα. Μια άλλη μέρα πέρασα να τη συναντήσω και βρέθηκα μπροστά σε μια συγκλονιστική σκηνή προσευχομένου ανθρώπου. Ο άνδρας της, όπως έμαθα, ήταν ένας μέθυσος κι αχαΐρευτος, που της έπαιρνε ό,τι οικονομούσε απ’ τα αυγά και μπεκρόπινε. Εκείνη τη μέρα κατά την οποία πήγα, απ’ το μεθύσι του την είχε ξυλοκοπήσει, της είχε πάρει τα χρήματα και της είχε πετάξει την Καινή Διαθήκη μέσα στο πηγάδι!

Εγώ δε, τη βρήκα γονατιστή στο πηγάδι να προσεύχεται και να λέη: Χριστέ μου και Παναγία μου Μεγαλόχαρη, το βιβλίο με τα ιερά γράμματα, το οποίο έρριξε ο άνδρας μου στο πηγάδι, δεν το έκανε από ασέβεια, αλλά ήταν μεθυσμένος. Κάνε, Παναγία μου, τα ιερά αυτά Γράμματα, που θα λειώσουν και θα γίνουν ένα με το νερό, να τα πιή ο άνδρας μου, να μετανοήση, να εξομολογηθή και να σωθή, να μην πάη στην κόλασι, Χριστουλάκη μου, γιατί ο κόσμος με έχει για καλή, ενώ εγώ η τρισάθλια έχω πολλά αθεράπευτα πάθη κι αμαρτίες!"

Δείτε επίσης, αν θέλετε:

Άγιοι της γειτονιάς μας

Μια σύγχρονη απατημένη ορθόδοξη σύζυγος 

Αγίες θύματα σκληρής οικογενειακής βίας

Υπέρ των αμαρτωλών 

Αυτογνωσία

Συγχωρώντας το φονιά

Σύγχρονος ιερέας συγχώρησε το φονιά του παιδιού του
Άντε και πίστεψα – Τώρα τι κάνουμε;

Νεομάρτυρες της Κρίσης (& Ομολογητές) 

Άγιοι της διπλανής πόρτας (ενότητα)

ΚΙΝΑ: 64 ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΕΣ ΚΑΤΕΔΑΦΙΣΤΗΚΑΝ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΑΥΡΟΙ ΑΦΑΙΡΕΘΗΚΑΝ ΜΕ ΔΙΑΤΑΓΜΑ

Πορφύρης Δ. Σταφυλά Π. - Πενταπόσταγμα
Η Μαρτυρία του Χριστού στα σύγχρονα έθνη

Η εκστρατεία διωγμού κατά των χριστιανών στην Zhejiang οδήγησε στη μαζική καταστροφή τόπων λατρείας στην αφαίρεση ή απάλειψη των σταυρών και σε συγκρούσεις μεταξύ χριστιανών και αστυνομίας κατά τη διάρκεια ενός μήνα στις εκκλησίες. Την ίδια περίοδο το σχέδιο της κατεδάφισης «της Ιερουσαλήμ της Ανατολής» εφαρμόζεται αμείλικτα.
Όπως μεταδίδει το πρακτορείο AsiaNews (21.05.14) για περισσότερες από 60 εκκλησίες κυρίως στην πόλη Wenzhou (της επονομαζόμενης και Ιερουσαλήμ της Ανατολής λόγω της σημαντικής χριστιανικής κοινότητας που διαθέτει) στην περιοχή του Zhejiang εκδόθηκε ένα διάταγμα κατεδάφισης το οποίο και υλοποιήθηκε με την κατεδάφιση μέρους των κτιριακών συγκροτημάτων. Σταυροί κατεδαφίστηκαν, επικαλύφθηκαν και κυρίως απήχθησαν από γερανούς.
Το Yongjia County είναι αυτό όπου αφαιρέθηκαν οι περισσότεροι σταυροί και όπου η μεγαλειώδης Εκκλησία Sanjiang στην Yongjia κατεδαφίστηκε. 


 
Εξ αιτίας των πιέσων που ασκούν οι αρχές οι περισσότερες εκκλησίες δεν ήταν σε θέση να αποστείλουν πληροφορίες και υλικό από την κατεδάφιση και τις πράξεις βεβήλωσης.
Στην Wenzhou υπάρχουν ενδείξεις ότι οι αρχές από το τέλος Μαΐου θα απαγορεύσουν και τις εκκλησίες κατ΄ οίκον. Η κυβέρνηση θα ξεκινήσει τη νέα αυτή εκστρατεία με 85 τέτοιες εκκλησίες.
Ενδεικτικά από την μακροσκελή λίστα με τις κατεδαφισμένες εκκλησίες και το φωτογραφικό υλικό:


 
1. 27η Φεβρουαρίου αφαίρεση του σταυρού του ναού Huanghu στην περιφέρεια Yuhang.
2.Στις 27 Φεβρουαρίου η εκκλησία Baiquan στην πόλη Baiquan της επαρχίας Dinghai Zhoushan , Zhejiang δέχθηκε το διάταγμα για την αφαίρεση του σταυρού.Στις 4 Απριλίου περισσότεροι από 100 άνδρες των ειδικών δυνάμεων και παραστρατιωτικοί περικύκλωσαν το ναό και αφαίρεσαν βιαίως το σταυρό.
3. Aρχές Απριλίου αφαιρείται ο σταυρός της εκκλησίας στην πόλη Gangtou Yantou της επαρχίας Yongjia, Wenzhou. 



4 .4 Απριλίου στην περιφέρεια του Pyongyang στο Wenzhou οι αρχές έστειλαν ειδικές δυνάμεις για να καταπνίξουν την αντίσταση των κατοίκων για την κατεδάφιση ναού που όντως έγινε. Σημειώθηκαν τραυματισμοί.
5 .Κατεδάφιση σταυρού της εκκλησίας Gaoloudilai του Rui’an στο Wenzhou στις 11 Απριλίου.
6 . 17/05 κατεδαφίζεται ο σταυρός της εκκλησίας στο Yongjia County στο Wenzhou.


 
7 .Κατεδαφίζεται ο σταυρός της εκκλησίας Yongjia Huangcun στο Wenzhou.
8. 17 /05 κατεδαφίζεται η εκκλησία της Yongjia Yantan στο Wenzhou.

Το σχόλιό μας: Καλό θα ήταν να γνωρίζαμε σε ποια ομολογία ανήκουν οι ναοί που γκρεμίζονται... Επίσης, θα ήταν σημαντικό μια ορθόδοξη χώρα να έκανε ένα σχετικό διάβημα στην κινεζική πρεσβεία που εδρεύει σ' αυτήν... Αν βέβαια ξέρετε καμιά τέτοια χώρα εδώ γύρω... Για το ότι και μια Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία θα μπορούσε να κάνει κάτι τέτοιο ή ίσως και μερικά άλλα βήματα - δεν εννοώ μαγκιές, αλλά ένα ιεραποστολικό άνοιγμα π.χ. ή μια επαφή με την ηγεσία τέτοιων χωρών - χρειάζεται προσοχή. Η Κίνα έχει Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία που ασφαλώς ασφυκτυά. Χρειάζεται προσοχή κάθε κίνηση. Αλλά και η παντελής απουσία αντιδράσεων (εκτός αν υπάρχουν αντιδράσεις που δεν μάθαμε) δε βλέπω αν και πώς μπορεί να ωφελήσει. Ο Θεός ξέρει...

Δείτε, παρακαλώ, επίσης:
Πάσχα 2014 στην Κίνα & την Ταϊβάν: λειτουργίες & προβληματισμοί 
Η Ορθοδοξία στην Κίνα, άλλοτε και τώρα
The Website of the Orthodox Metropolitanate of Hong Kong & South East Asia

台灣基督東正教會 The Orthodox Church in Taiwan  
Orthodox martyrs blood, saints and spiritual agonists in China 
Άγνωστοι Κινέζοι νεομάρτυρες «Όπως τα γουρούνια στο σφαγείο»: Η ημέρα που οι Κινέζοι αξιωματούχοι δολοφόνησαν βάναυσα το αγέννητο παιδί μου

Κίνα, η πρώτη χριστιανική χώρα το 2030! (όχι όμως ορθόδοξη, εκτός αν εμείς, οι ορθόδοξοι του "ελεύθερου κόσμου" και ειδικά των ορθοδόξων χωρών, που κάνουμε ποικίλα "ανοίγματα" στην Κίνα, αλλά δε μιλάμε στους αδελφύς μας για το Χριστό, ξυπνήσουμε από το βαθύ λήθαργό μας και αντιληφθούμε ότι έχει κάποια σημασία για τη σωτηρία των συνανθρώπων μας να είναι μέλη της αρχαίας Εκκλησίας του Χριστού, δηλ. της Ορθόδοξης, και όχι να είναι γενικά "χριστιανοί").