July 3, 2009

Interview With Elder Joseph Of Vatopaidi


I found this spuriously on the internet and have not checked the source as it has gone through a few translations. This was translated from a Russian translation of the original Greek text by G. Spruksts.

From an interview on October 26, 2001:

J.: We are happy to receive you. You have our profound respect and best wishes.

P.: Thank you, Father, for seeing us. The times in Russia, now, are both terrible, on the one hand, and complex, on the other.

J.: We pray that the Russian people might return to their natural state, that which existed prior to the destruction, because we have common roots and are taking to heart the situation in which the Russian people find themselves.

P.: There are many woes, of course. Drug addiction is rampant. There is the degeneration of our nation.

J.: Things are now in such a state of deterioration -- a condition that is common throughout the entire world, at the present time. And it is subsequent to this specific condition, this precise limit, that the wrath of God will begin. We have reached this extreme. And it will now happen that what the Lord, in His mercy, formerly endured, He will now, acting in accordance with His righteousness, chastise, because the time has now come for that.

There will be a war, and wars, and we will experience great difficulties. World power has now been seized by the Jews, and their goal is to annihilate Christianity. The wrath of God will be such that all those secret foes who are bringing about this state of affairs will be destroyed themselves. It is for this purpose, in particular, that the wrath of the Lord is being sent down: in order to destroy them, in one way or another. But this should not unduly frighten us, because we must always have hope in God. Because thousands, millions of martyrs, including our New Martyrs, suffered in exactly the same way, and we must be prepared for this and not be unduly frightened. There must be patience, prayer and hope in Divine providence, on out part. Let us pray for the renaissance of our Christianity after this war, after everything that awaits us, in order that the Lord might truly give us the strength to restore all this. But this evil will have to be endured.

P.: And how soon will Russia be reborn after that?

J.: Everything has now begun; now, there will be a great explosion. Following this, there will be rebirth.

P.: Many icons, now, are streaming myrrh. We have an icon of the Saviour, which is exuding blood.

J.: And here, in Greece, too, many are streaming myrrh. The word is that the Saviour is weeping, and the Mother of God is weeping, and the icons weep.

P.: They bring an icon, and there is a clump of blood on it, like this: it's a paper icon and so fragrant..., imagine. They took it in for analysis and it turned out that this was plasma.

J.: This is the beginning of these events, troublesome events, military ones... The movers and shakers of this evil are the Jews. They are being prompted to do this by the devil, in order to start this,... in order to destroy the seed of Orthodoxy in Greece and in Russia. This will be their chief obstacle to world domination. And they nevertheless will compel the Turks to come here, to Greece, in order to begin their work; and Greece, although she has a government, does not, in reality, have a government, as such. She lacks strength, and the Turks will come here. This will be the moment when Russia, too, will move her forces, in order to repel the Turks. Events will develop thus: when Russia goes to Greece's aid, the Americans and NATO will attempt to prevent this, in order that there might be no union, no merger, between two Orthodox nations. They will also arouse other powers, such as the Japanese and others. There will be great slaughter upon the territory of the former Byzantine Empire. Of those who perish, there will be some 600 million, alone. The Vatican will also participate greatly in all this, in order to impede the growing role of Orthodoxy and prevent such unification. Thus will Divine providence find its fulfillment.

P.: Of course. All the prerequisites exist for this, for all these events. But there is also the fact that there is such opposition in the media. World hierarchs ... {illegible} .... And how long will the president maintain this line? Is it a good one that he is holding to now?

J.: God will permit the destruction of all those who are sowing these temptations, pornography and drug addiction. And the Lord will so blind their minds that they will destroy one another without receiving any satisfaction therefrom. The Lord will permit this precisely in order to bring about a great purging. As concerns Putin, that time will not last long, and there will be an immediate war, and he will not be around for long. But, following this extensive cleansing, there will be a great renaissance of Orthodoxy, not only in Russia, but throughout the entire world; such a great surge of Orthodoxy. The Lord will extend His blessing, His Grace, just as had been the case in the first few centuries. Then, when people went to the Lord with an open heart... This will last for 3 - 4 decades, then the dictatorship of the antichrist will quickly set in. These are the terrible events that we must endure; let them not frighten us, because the Lord will shelter His own. Yes, we will surely experience difficulties, hunger, and even persecution and much else, but the Lord will not abandon His own. And those who are placed in positions of authority should compel their subjects to be with the Lord, the more; to abide in prayer, the more; and the Lord will shelter His own. The condition that will prevail following the cleansing will be one of a great renascence.

We, as pastors, must restrain as many people from sinning as we are able, in order that the Grace of God might not depart from us all. In order that we might be as close as possible to God, to repentance and to prayer... Then the Lord will always be with us, regardless of how difficult might be the circumstances. The Lord will not abandon us. We need to restrain ourselves and keep and hold our people.