APPRENTICESHIP IN THE TEACHINGS OF SAINT COMMA THE ETOLO

FROM PERSONAL TO SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY.

APPRENTICESHIP IN THE TEACHINGS OF SAINT COMMA THE ETOLO

π. Kingdom of the Kingdom I. Kalliakmani

Professor of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Α΄

On August 24, the memory of Saint Kosmas the Aetolian is commemorated. On this day in the Municipality of Thermos Aetolia and elsewhere, every year there are glorious events in his honour, which gather crowds of believers. He was a great master of the race who fought for the spiritual freedom of the enslaved, which created the conditions for national independence. Patrocosmas worked as a lay teacher, as a founder of schools, as an inspirer of the observance of the evangelical commandments and sealed his godly work with martyrdom. Since then he has belonged to the honorable choir of the new martyrs. It is paradoxical that this feast was introduced and established a few years after his death by the notorious Ali Pasha of Ioannina, because he saw confirmed in his life all that the saint had told him. This does not mean that he was not recognized as a saint by the conscience of the Church’s fullness, since immediately after his hanging his synaxar was compiled and sacred icons were created in his honor.

It is of particular interest to study his Teachings, which are published in simple modern Greek, in order to understand the magnitude of his contribution to the enslaved race. Even in today’s time, many of his teachings are still very relevant. In this article, based on his teachings, the two-way relationship of each person with society and the contribution of social responsibility in shaping social perceptions will be presented in detail.

Β΄

It is often said, and this tends to be a certainty, that society is in crisis. The negative phenomena that occur in it are highlighted and social life is collectively devalued. There is certainly a moral crisis that often borders on amoralism. It has been aptly pointed out that the crisis of institutions and values is particularly acute in our century. Innumerable theories of questioning have facilitated the spread of individualism, nihilism, anarchism, eudaimonism and atheism in an incredible variety of forms. The result was to relativize the value of man and then “to despise every social, moral, moral, spiritual, cultural and religious value or quality”.

On the other hand, in this society we live, work, create families, develop social relations and various activities, produce and consume goods; we develop culture and express our Christian faith. In this society, we follow fashion and chase principles and ideals, while at the same time questioning accepted values. This is how social reality is shaped. But it is quite difficult to account for the origins and sources of human sociality and this is mainly due to the ignorance of certain aspects of human personality[1].

Here we will not deal in detail with the various theories that have been developed to explain the complex phenomenon of sociality and to investigate the interaction between the individual and society. We will raise some questions and then show that even one more person, when inspired by the message of the Gospel, can make a catalytic contribution to the formation of society.

The basic question that arises is this: Is society different from the people, the individuals who make it up? This fundamental question is very old, but at the same time modern. It has occupied human thought from antiquity to the present day. Aristotle considers that society, or more precisely the “polis”, takes precedence over the individual[2].. Man is a creation of society, the French sociologist Emile Durkheim would argue. In contrast, his German colleague Max Weber would say that society is the creation of man. The former saw social reality from the point of view of collectivity. The second saw it from the perspective of the acting person. Both positions are correct, but they do not capture all of social reality[3].

So where is the truth? Is society different from the people who make it up? Doesn’t everyone contribute to its formation? And if we accept that society is “broken”, are we blameless and irresponsible for its erosion? We often put the burden of misfortune on the younger generation. But the young children, aren’t they our children? Flesh of our flesh and bones of our bones? Children whom we gave birth to, raised and nurtured with our love and affection? Other times we blame the erosion of society on the general media, especially on television and social networks. And they do have a large share of responsibility in shaping social reality, but don’t we with the choices we make when we hold the remote control or click like shape the online environment and the ratings? So is society broken? Or is it not as bad as we think? Is it simply scandalously projecting social evil and fringe events of modern times? And we remain apathetic spectators, without taking our share of responsibility for shaping society.

Γ΄

The above reflection was developed because, studying the history of the Church, the researcher realizes that there were anachasias whose life, writings and action have influenced the morals of the people and contributed to the spiritual transformation of society. Such a stature was Saint Kosmas the Aetolian, the Prophet of the Nation, who was not influenced by the dominant social perception of his time; the perception of convenience, of pampering, of ignorance and complacency. Patrocosmas, following Christ, took the cross of his own personal and social responsibility on his shoulder and struggled to transform society. And not only did he succeed, but he was way ahead of his time. More than two centuries after his death, his memory remains alive and his teachings are always relevant.

The question that arises is: How did he accomplish this? We mention in advance that he struggled first of all for the transformation of his own personality and then began his work of regeneration. Thus, everything he said and everything he did was imbued with the toil and sweat of exercise and the fragrance of God’s love. His preaching was not a mere ideology, it had a solid starting point and practical implications. His restless spirit led him to several missionary tours under difficult and dangerous conditions. We meet him on Mount Athos, where he has been practicing for seventeen years, in Constantinople, Epirus, Macedonia, Thessaly, Central Greece, Aetolia, the islands of the Ionian and Aegean Seas and in many parts of Greece. Everywhere he teaches, carrying the life-giving spirit of the Gospel. His guide is his love for the enslaved race. In the silence of the Monastery of Philotheos he discovers the biblical reason for salvation, that is, the interest in the salvation of the brothers and sisters and that the real interest of the Christian lies in the benefit of his fellow human beings. Here is what he narrates: “I also found, among other things, this word in which Christ tells us that no Christian man or woman should be concerned only to be saved by his word, but should also be concerned for his brethren. And whosoever careth only by his own word, and careth not also for his brethren, shall be damned.”[4]. This word was eating him like a worm eating wood. Therefore he left his “special advancement” and his “special good” and began the teaching of his preaching for the benefit of his brethren. God not only did not let him perish, but he deserved the great honor of martyrdom and holiness.

Δ΄

Saint Cosmas dealt with almost all the problems that concerned his time, but also man personally. Because his spiritual senses had been naked and his mind had been enlightened by the life-giving grace of the Holy Spirit, he saw social reality clearly and clearly. With the beam of the inner light of discernment he became a great anatomist of the society of his time. In his Teachings he refers to social justice, fair taxation, the unity of the human race and the avoidance of racism and ethno-racialism, the value of work, the equality of men and women, the avoidance of luxury, frugality, but also the establishment of public works and even schools. With his holy spiritual sermon he fought the phenomenon of robbery and suggested the principle of “non-violence” to deal with social evil many years before M. Gandhi.

We would need a lot of time to go into all these issues in detail. We will limit ourselves to a brief presentation of some of them with references to his direct, living and holy-spiritual speech.

Patrocosmas placed great value on man. Man is the jewel of the earth. For man, the built world, creation, was created. “And first we owe it to our God to love him, because he has given us so great a land, spacious here to dwell in temporarily, so many thousands of myriads of grasses, plants, fountains, rivers, wells, sea, fish, air, day, night, fire, sky, stars, sun, moon. For what did he do all these things? For us. What did he charge us? nothing. All charisma.”[5]. Man is the master of creation. It consists of soul and body. He is a single psychosomatic entity. Priority is given by our saint to the soul, which is identified with his very life. He teaches emphatically, “The soul is man; the soul is where he sees, hears, speaks, grasps, walks, guesses letters, arts, sciences; it is the soul that gives life to the body and does not let it stink, and as the soul comes out, you see openly and directly the body stinks and worms, because it is not man.” At death “the body has its eyes, but it does not see; it has its ears, but it does not hear; it has its mouth, but it does not speak; it has its hands, but it does not grasp; it has its feet, but it does not walk. Straight is the stone, straight is the body without a soul.”[6].

The above quote does not imply any Manichaean spirit. The popular Master promotes the value of the soul, without underestimating the body. But the body must be the servant of the soul and be subordinate to it. He emphasizes to his listeners, “Make your body a servant and your soul a mistress, and then call yourselves men.”[7] But when passions and lower instincts prevail, people resemble horses and animals, and society becomes a jungle.

In the teaching and life of Patrokosmas, one can see the insouciance of his Christian conscience, but also the intense expectation of the kingdom of God. But there is a balance of history and eschatology. It does not misunderstand the things of the world, but it does not separate them from the purpose of creation. “We here, my Christians, have no country. This land is not ours, it is for the animals, the sea for the fish, the air for the fowls. For this cause the most merciful God hath made us with our heads upright, and hath set our minds in the upper part, in the head, that ye may always meditate on the kingdom of heaven, our true home; for here in this world, even kings being born, we cannot rest… For here no man has a home. We have a home, as we said, in the kingdom of heaven.”[8]. This does not mean that he did not love his earthly homeland and its people, for whom he sacrificed himself, but he always had his mind and heart set on the kingdom of God. In this direction he also directed Christians. But he took care to build a healthy society.

To build a society properly, it needs responsible citizens, but also worthy political and spiritual leaders. A healthy society is based on social justice, smooth social coexistence and mutual respect between rulers and ruled. Every ecclesiastical or secular office is a ministry and service, literally serving one’s fellow man. It cannot be a means of obtaining goods and honours, but a field of practice of philanthropy and love. Our saint advises the rulers to distribute taxes fairly, but also the citizens to respect the rulers. “Ye that are in the countries and villages, where ye are, save yourselves: but how are ye saved? Love all Christians as you love your children, and cast off their debts according to the strength of each one, and do not make any pretensions, and cast off your friends less, for you will catch fire and burn. Likewise ye worldly men of low estate, love and honour your rulers, and pray to God for their souls and for their lives. Do you not see how many temptations they have and endure for you, the inferior? Whatever the fate of the country, they are looking for the leaders and you sleep untroubled.”[9]

It recommends that taxes should be paid proportionally and according to the financial possibilities of each individual. In today’s terminology, we would say that he is proposing a fair tax scale. He likens the unbearable taxation of the time to the martyrdoms of the martyrs and the practice of ascetics. “Likewise rejoice and be glad when you pay your debts, your dues, your tithes, for as the Martyrs shed their blood and bought Paradise and the Ascetics with their ascetic life, so also the Christians with the whites which they give today, with those they buy Paradise.”[10] And this is being said at a time when many Christians were being Islamized due to heavy taxation and hardship.

At the same time, he is also the presenter of the pastoral scale. He does not ask of those who fail the absolute application of the gospel words. Let everyone do what he can, so that the ascent of the spiritual ladder can begin. So he gives the example of a bishop who sold his possessions and in the end sold himself as a slave to free a hundred people. This is the perfect love. But there are other gradations. “You can’t do that, let’s do something else: Be not thou a slave, only sell thy goods, give them all in charity, dost thou? It still seems heavy to you and that too. Let’s move on. Thou canst not give all thy things, give of the half, give of the third, give of the five one. Does it still seem heavy to you? Let’s do another one, give out of eight, give out of ten one, can you do it? Still look heavy to you? Let us do no more, do not do alms, do not be sold as a slave, let us go on: take not thy brother’s bread, take not his coat, do not persecute him, do not eat him with thy tongue. Dost thou not do this also? Let’s come back later, let’s do another one: Thou hast found thy brother in the mud, and wilt not love him. Well, thou wilt not do him good, do him no harm, let him alone. How shall we be saved, my brethren? One seems heavy, the other heavy. Where to go next, we have not to go down. God is merciful, yes, but he is also just, and has a rod of iron.”[11].

In a strong way, he speaks out against injustice. “Again, thou that hast avenged thy brethren, and hast heard that I said to forgive thee, rejoice not, but rather weep and mourn, because this thy forgiveness is become a fire in thine own head, though thou return not the unjust thing again, weep, and pray that they which thou hast wronged forgive thee…. Wherefore, my brethren, ye that have wronged, or Christians, or Turks, or Jews, or Franks, return the unjust backward, because it is indentured, and ye see no profit.”[12]. It is remarkable and it must be emphasized that our saint does not accept injustice to any man, Roman, Turk, Jew, Frank, etc. While at the same time emphasizing the great value of toil, labor and honest work, which can be a source of joy for man. “Wherefore, my brethren, rejoice and be glad a thousand times, ye that live and earn your bread by your labour, by your sweat, for that bread is blessed, and if thou wilt, give a piece of that poor man’s bread, with it thou shalt buy heaven.” And he expresses his immediate interest by asking: “Here how go ye my Christians? Do you all live by toil or by injustice? If you are Christians, live by hardship, God blesses that, and curses injustice.”[13].

On the principle of social justice he also supported the establishment of schools. He is in modern times the first advocate of free education. Let us recall his words again: “Is it not well that you all should make a referee, that you should have commissioners to govern the school, that you should have a teacher to guide all the children, rich and poor, without paying?”[14]. He also took care of the voluntary financing of the schools and urged Christians to offer “what they could by their own strength and will from their own pains or from the country or even from their own bacophagi”, in order for the schools to function without any problems. He saw schools as places where children would be instructed in the Orthodox faith. He perfectly linked faith with knowledge.

Saint Cosmas preached the unity of the human race. He considered all people to be children of God. There is of course the difference of faith. But this difference can in no way be a reason for contempt or hatred towards other people. This is what he says: “And all men, the whole world is of one father and one mother, and therefore we are all brothers, only faith separates us.”[15]. The more faithful and spiritually cultivated a Christian is, the more he respects his fellow men regardless of their race or religion. If this is true in general, it is much more true of homosexuals: “It is natural for us to love our brethren, because we are of one nature, having one baptism, one faith, having received the Blessed Sacrament, having hoped to enjoy one heaven.”[16].

It was mentioned above that Patrocosmas is the proponent of the principle of “non-violence”, for which the great leader of India, M. Gandhi, but also the Russian writer Tolstoy. But before them it was Christ who first introduced this principle. It may seem strange to us, but we must say that our saint was against armed violence. “One thing I advise you, my Christians: If you will, gather all your chariots together, give them to the Zapites, and tell them: They are not ours. Our Christ has given us our cross to have, and not chariots.”[17]. And to make this truth more accessible, he gives various examples and at the end, addressing his listeners, he says: “Give me a hook. Give me a hand of hade. I draw the knife to kill you. Say the truth: Where did the mind go? To the pistol. – Aferruu, sit down. Stand up, thou that bearest no chariots. I want to kill you. Tell me now, if thou bearest not chariots, where did thy mind go? To God, holy man of God. – So then, and your kindness always have your hope in God, and so fear no harm.”[18].

And the question reasonably arises. And so many clergymen who took the chariots for freedom in the struggle of 21? How their armed action is justified. It is not justified by absolutely evangelical criteria. Whatever they did, they did it economically out of love for their fellow human beings, and we wish God to rest their souls. The conscience of the Church was sceptical and recognised them as martyrs, but did not classify them in its hagiography, as was the case with Saint Cosmas the Aetolian. The work of the man of God is in any case peaceful, whatever the price. The price in the case of Patrokosmas was martyrdom. The blood of martyrdom and personal responsibility spiritually watered the tree of freedom.

Ε΄

There is a popular proverb, which is very often heard in our country. “A cuckoo does not bring spring”. As wise as this proverb may be, in the case of Patrokosmas it is disproved. For he may have been one, but he prepared the spiritual spring of our race. The results of his spiritual struggle can be seen to this day. This is the application of what has been said, that “the work of personal perfection is a prerequisite for the transformation of societies”.

The measure of Saint Cosmas is personal sacrifice for the transformation of society. The man of God does not sacrifice others to save the world. He sacrifices himself on the altar of service and social responsibility. It fights peacefully for the transformation of the world and society. Human life is of infinite value to him. In each case, the human face comes first. Its purpose is to be dominated by peace, justice, honesty, honesty, hospitality, solidarity, social responsibility, sacrificial spirit and finally selfless love, which, according to Saint Cosmas, who follows the example of Christ, embraces even enemies.

Β. Tr. Yultsi, General Sociology, ed. Kyriakidis, Thessaloniki 1997, p. 286.
“Now the city of nature is the house, and every man is ours.” Politics 1,2, 1253a 18-19.
Γ. Ι. Manzaridis, Christian Ethics I, ed. Pournara, Thessaloniki 2002, p. 109.
Teachings, ed. Ι. Menounou, Cosmas of Aetolos Lessons (and Biography), ed. Tinos, Athens, p.117.