SAINT CHARALAMBIS FOR CHRIST FOOL
This text (which consists of excerpts from the book "Charalambis for Christ fool" ,edition of the Holy Monastery “Panagoulakis” of Genuine Orthodox Church in Kalamata 1993) "is a tribute to our Saint of the last days Charalambis for Christ fool. Saint Charalambis reposed to Lord on October 10, 1974. He lived, like many Saints of the Church as "vacuous" for the love of Christ. He confessed that "God wants people to call me crazy and a fool." "God told me to wear old clothes, not costumes… A keen confessor of Orthodoxy preached "Come back to the old calendar, fast, atheists, prodigal.», ¨ Turn the old, the Orthodox church’s calendar, leave the rottenness of the world." and "Come by and never leave the path of God." While he said the usual incomprehensible words "Behold gar and said “gar, gar, gar.... Life, then, was a constant humiliation, a "imitation of Christ” the charity and control people." But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty..."! (1st Epistle to Corinthians 1,27) The messages of Saint is topical today!
Are there currently Saints? Every orthodox pious soul wonders secretly of. A crucial and difficult question to really answer, since the dark spiritual era where increasing amount of lawlessness, the error and the disrespect shown to both missed and long forms of the old holy time, those fiery poles of Divine Grace, the Saints fans, who were sacred vessels and vessels of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity’s residence sources wonderland, and live after death, pro-active, the hot, the humble, the ascetic, all those grateful and miraculous. Today It seems to be missing the lights of the people, the hope and solace for pious Christians, the saints, their prayers kept the world. Symptom and this feature of the precursor of the Antichrist our time, indeed this is prophesied since centuries or millennia precisely by the Holy Spirit for us today who live in “eighth century” before the end of times when all signs indicate that we go slowly: In one of the first only psalms of David, the eleventh, as we document the eschatological legend ¨ With the end in favor of the Eighth "and immediately begins the psalm with a prayer-prophecy:" Save Lord, that saints lost. It's so clear for the reference to recent times (at the end), the eighth and last century (for the Eighth) and then absence of the Saints (saints lost), every comment is superfluous.
What then? God abandoned the world today because of the current apostasy from Him? Does the ineffable patience and His mercy immeasurability? He does again the Lord with indignation "Oh faithless and perverse generation! Until when will I be with you? "(Matthew 13, 17), as he was physically on earth?
We believe that no or at least not yet. And this, as we continued unabated daily torrent of His beneficence to us the worthless and ungrateful and sinful. One of which is that even today, as the infinite mercy you Lord! - Highlights and gives us holy and prophetic forms of lighting, control and guide us. Yes definitely, even today, thanks to the mercy of God are Saints! It suffices for us to open our eyes of the soul, for if we see them. And that is the purpose of this article. To put in front of the felt-and mentally-of the general public perhaps the strangest saint form of our time: Charalambis, the fool for Christ, who lived and acted in Arcadia and Messenia earth in the first three quarters of this (20th) century.
What seems certain is that he was born in Arcadia (Durazzo) in 1896, and after the death of his father Charalambis, and so as usual, took his name: "Charalambis. His mother remarried in Christofillaiika, Messinian village close to Saint Floros, leaving relatives in his family home. This was followed a few classes in elementary school, discussed growing up in rural work. "Evaded his mandatory military" Charalambos Papadogianis in 1916, of unknown residence in 1920, "was found nowhere 'in 1948. He reposed on October 10, 1974.
But something must be shocked at the intermediate his youth, details are not known, there are no verified reports. Whatever he is said, it is not clear and uncertain. It is best to leave those to speak, who had met him to understand!
Bezante Panagiota, 63 years old, resident of Kalamata says: ... He was coming to the hospital that I worked and he called me (from the other nurses):
-I want to speak Panagiota.
Charalambis who Panagiota? There are many with this name, they told him.
-One is Panagiota, he said.
This meant that many with that name, but one is orthodox.
In the streets he was shouting and he was saying: "Tomorrow is open the sky, tomorrow is the feast of Theophany or the passing of John the Baptist. You false- feast."
Once he went to the fair of the country. Once people saw him, they began shouting:-Charalambos, Charalambos! Charalambos said them strengths.
-Tomorrow is the Holy Cross.
People understand that tomorrow is the Cross with the old calendar. But they called him as Zourlo (fool) - Charalambis.
Sotirakou Panagiota, 70 years old, residing in Kalamata tells the following: One can say that others, I know personally and others I have heard from my mother. Charalambos often come home, always barefoot and with a poke in the middle. He wore a large wooden cross and his hair was uncombed and unwashed always. Once, I remember when I was little, ten to fifteen years old, and I was sick in bed with high fever. Charalambos passed our house. I remember was before great Feast. When he saw my mother said: "What is the girl?" It has fever sick" she said. "Get a clean glass" he said. He put the cross in the water glass while he was saying something, but I did not hear. But I realized that it was a prayer. Once he took the cross, he gave me to drink water from the glass and he threw a little over his head. We spent a few minutes and I got up immediately. I felt quite well.
Stefanos Polychronopoulos, 63 years old, in Thouria: I along with my father to guard our sheep. We sympathized with him and we gave him to drink milk. He was taken it and he went to a sanatorium, the Prophet Elijah, to the consumptive. He was very gracious man. She urged any families who were poor, and he went where a need was really.
Maria Triantopollou, 55 years old, resident in Chelonaria- Petalidi: ...Wherever you went, he preached and said:
-Come back to the old orthodox calendar. Turn to Orthodoxy. Today this feast is. You fast, repent, you will be punished.
I remember, he had a long beard and hide in the burlap and in his old clothes that he wore. My mother had heard that some people in the village had the key to the church of "St. George" and when they went to light the church they found him on, but the church was locked! Then they were lacking to see who has the keys and went to church. They saw Charalambis staying outside the church... An invisible force lifted him in church. it drove up the tiles and down to the church! Then they ran, they opened the church and they saw lights in the candles. They asked him how he entered. He told them:
-God raises him.
This made them a tremendous impression and they said everywhere. God put in the church Charalambis from the tiles and he uttered in the same way, without unlocking the door! I have heard that he was seen walking in Saint Paraskevi’s church in Asprochoma (Karelia), without he rests in the ground!
Controversial point of our modern times is Charalambos, he lived here on earth a life full of toil, struggle and deprivation, a life full of scorn. But it is clear that ultimately these humble oversee God and sends them His grace, in these resting breaths the Holy Spirit, these 'baby' and 'uproar' chooses to shame the wise men of the century supposedly so (see .1st Corinthians a 27). Now "the first passed” (Apocalypses 21, 4), and Charalambos rejoices in heaven with the Angels and he shines with joy close to Christ. Now really is Chara (joy)- lampis (shined) in name and in act as says the simple Greek people. So now that his humiliation is not at risk, Lord permits us to see the holiness cleaner than when he lived and we claimed to honor him.