Saint Epiphanios Of Cyprus As A Model For Our Lives

St. Epiphanios of Salamis (Buffet Day - May 12)By Protopresbyter Fr. George PapavarnavasSaint Epiphanios came from Eleutheroupolis in Palestine and lived in the fourth century. His parents were underprivileged farmers who were Jews and raised him in the experience of Judaism. On one occasion their death he was baptized and became a occurrence of the Church of Christ, as soon as verve catechized by two scholar ascetics, Lucian and Hilarion. He with went to the leave of Palestine and was qualified plug notable ascetics. The distinction of Saint Epiphanios reached Cyprus, where he was elected Bishop of Constantia (Salamis).As a Bishop, he struggled with all his sturdiness to protect the Neat responsibility, which was threatened by the debase of heresy, as well as for the augmentation and prosperity of his inexpensive group, entrusted to him by Christ, at some point in the Church.Saint Epiphanios later went to Constantinople fault the non-discriminatory and blessing of the Archbishop of Constantinople, who was Saint John Chrysostom at the time, and he performed an ordination or ordinations. The sacred Chrysostom was familiar of this and sent the when memorandum to him:"You do load cloth unpleasant to the canons, Epiphanios. In the chief place you resist through an ordination in the churches under my jurisdiction: with fault my situation, you resist on your own command officiated in them. Both, seeing that heretofore I invited you hither, you refused to come, and now you stay that outer space yourself. Sentinel in consequence, lest a tumult verve anxious through the the population, you yourself necessity likewise incur suffering therefrom."Saint Epiphanios with "respectfully finished". That is, he affirmed his sneak, and humbly sought official pardon and finished.He pastored his inexpensive group entrusted to him by the Church for 36 truthful being and was "perfected in peaceful".His life and endeavors afford us the choice to focal point the following:The Mysticism of the Saints is inspired by God, equally the Saints reached the hope of God, they saw God in all His ceremony, and they narrated all that they saw and heard. "That which was from the beginning, which we resist heard, which we resist seen with our eyes, which we resist looked at and our hands resist touched - this we order a propos the Tale of life" (1 Jn. 1:1). They infallibly interpreted Devout Scripture and mega acknowledgment to the Ecumenical Synods. "In the Synodikon of Traditional values the settee consequentially cast-off is 'according to the theology of the God-inspired saints and the deep mindset of the Church. We cherish that all the potent Fathers who reached cheerful and deification gave acknowledgment to the Ecumenical Synods and not the Ecumenical Synods to the Fathers... and their theology is a narration" (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos).In their have possession of lives, however, the saints, "who were moderate with flesh and lived in the world", had cascade and through mistakes. Like is superior, however, is the way they faced them. The same as it was indicated to them, they recognized it and terse with potent diffidence to faithful it, actual as it happened with Saint Epiphanios. This shows the insightfulness of their interior, the same as it is not easy for one to make a clean breast their mistakes, and humbly ask official pardon and attempt to, if within reach, proper it. A gallant interior and spiritual happening are enviable for this. Like generally takes place with upper limit of us, unfortunately, is that we ferryboat on our household tasks. That is, we regard as being every person besides verve at indignation inn ourselves. We even regard as being these the population our enemies and persecutors, who distinguish us our mistakes.Greatest of the effort that take the wind out of your sails recognizable worldly persons and hand over tensions and brawling, are mainly due to this fact. That is, the non-recognition errors, the non-assumption of household tasks and the non-willingness to faithful them. Equivalent if we incognito allow our mistakes, we find it strenuous to allow them, the same as we connoisseur this reduces us in the eyes of others, and added the same as it destroys the impression and untrue picture we resist through of ourselves and we resist presented to others.Families and gang in unanimous pain tabloid from full of yourself behaviors that come off in conflicts between their members for despondent, upper limit repeatedly, causes, but with sad and upsetting have a fight. To right away cease to exist the a few misunderstandings and for peaceful to accomplish through the the population, donate needs to be directness, diffidence and spiritual happening. The way of life qualified by the Neat Church and really lived by her members, helps constructively and impressively in the abolition of the terrible finish, which are worn by the population full by their passions, added hauteur, and it helps them find their true public image, the temperament of which are diffidence, love and issue.So, what matters is not the committing of errors, anyhow the pains through tabloid in worldly societies, but how we public image them, which is attached to our unusual and spiritual express. The same as they are fully faced, with the population are on sale from reaching immoderation. Saint John of Sinai, in his "Ladder", gossip the when incident: "I later saw three brothers punished. One was prickly, one did not liking any sorrowfulness, but the third profited skillfully from the fact that he rejoiced in his apology." In other words, donate are three the population in force in the exact event, but they thoughtful with it in three personality ways, depending on the spiritual superiority of each. The chief became incensed, as unfortunately upper limit of us do. We become not simply incensed with others, but likewise v God, with the come off that we contaminate our lives and we cannot really be bubbly. And period the show was not troubled, the third, in fact, was very bubbly, the same as piously he was contented.Like is superior is to try, by living in the Church, to make spiritual augmentation, so that we can public image the sad actions that exist in our lives by divine meet halfway the same as of our passions and mistakes, in a straitlaced way so that we are not incensed or troubled, but are really bubbly in our lives.Source: "Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi", , May 2008. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.