Dr. Haralambis Bousias

 

There was a young boy in Thessaloniki who was ill with kidney failure. He had to have hemodialysis all the time and led a life of pain and misery.

His parents were devout people who were heart-broken at this. They couldn’t bear to watch their child suffer in this way. The father volunteered and offered a kidney of his own in order to save his son.

Unfortunately, however, the patient’s organism rejected the transplant and the boy became increasingly ill. He was placed on a waiting-list again but there was no donor to be found. In her despair, his mother turned to Father Anthimos. She was in tears as she explained the situation to him. This was the answer she received.

Elder Anthimos from the Skete of Saint Ann (1913-1996)

It was the Elder who spoke, but his words actually came from heaven itself. Humble Anthimos avoided the praise of other people, but his lips were opened by divine Grace and he said: ‘A donor will be found soon. In France’. The mother was astonished at the Elder’s reply but found the courage to ask: ‘How do you know this, Father Anthimos?’

The ascetic, who avoided both the praise of other people and the snares of the devil answered immediately: ‘Balaam’s mule has spoken!’

And, indeed, a short time later, a donor was found in France. The boy survived the danger to his health and now lives a natural life.

From the book «Γέρων Άνθιμος ο Αγιαννανίτης, Ο σοφός, και θεοφόρος σύγχρονος πατέρας του Άθωνος» by Dr. Haralambos Bousias, published by Mygdonia Press.

Source: pemptousia.com

 


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Pemptousia Partnership

Pemptousia and OCN have entered a strategic partnership to bring Orthodoxy Worldwide. Greek philosophers from Ionia considered held that there were four elements or essences (ousies) in nature: earth, water, fire and air. Aristotle added ether to this foursome, which would make it the fifth (pempto) essence, pemptousia, or quintessence. The incarnation of God the Word found fertile ground in man’s proclivity to beauty, to goodness, to truth and to the eternal. Orthodoxy has not functioned as some religion or sect. It was not the movement of the human spirit towards God but the revelation of the true God, Jesus Christ, to man. A basic precept of Orthodoxy is that of the person ­– the personhood of God and of man. Orthodoxy is not a religious philosophy or way of thinking but revelation and life standing on the foundations of divine experience; it is the transcendence of the created and the intimacy of the Uncreated. Orthodox theology is drawn to genuine beauty; it is the theology of the One “fairer than the sons of men”. So in "Pemptousia", we just want to declare this "fifth essence", the divine beaut in our life. Please note, not all Pemptousia articles have bylines. If the author is known, he or she is listed in the article above.

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