“There was a special spirit—a spirit of unity of faith”

[Platina]

Met. Jonah (Karpukhin). “There Was a Special Spirit—a Spirit of Unity of Faith” / OrthoChristian.Com

Metropolitan Jonah of Astrakhan and Kamyzyaksky (retired) dedicated his life to the service of God and His Holy Church from his youth. He was tonsured into monasticism at Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra in 1965, where Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) became his spiritual father. Met. Jonah spoke with Pravoslavie.ru about how people bore their faith through the years of persecution.

 

[test]

I am from Bulgaria in my country you can't become bishop, metropolitan or episcop without being firstly a monk.

 

[ArmyMatt]

nice interview, I like your username, by the way

 

[~Anastasia~]

Met. Jonah (Karpukhin). “There Was a Special Spirit—a Spirit of Unity of Faith” / OrthoChristian.Com

Metropolitan Jonah of Astrakhan and Kamyzyaksky (retired) dedicated his life to the service of God and His Holy Church from his youth. He was tonsured into monasticism at Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra in 1965, where Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) became his spiritual father. Met. Jonah spoke with Pravoslavie.ru about how people bore their faith through the years of persecution.

Hello, Platina, and welcome to CF! Welcome to TAW also!

Nice article - it's interesting the assignment they gave the students. While reading it, I wondered at the comparison to the Greeks I know and how they have explained some of these things under similar circumstances in their own country.

My favorites though were the last two:

—What is the most important thing you learned for yourself throughout the years?

—Faith in the providence of God… The most important thing in raising children is love and communication, well, and a little strictness; in relationships between people—love and understanding; in overcoming life’s troubles and misfortunes that befall men—prayer, going to the church of God, and communing more often.

—How should we relate to the negative things we find in the Church?

—Disorder and impure filth can be found everywhere. We have to try to let it pass by our hearts and not to judge, but to be attentive to ourselves.

+++++++​

Again - welcome! We are glad that you've joined us!

 

[Platina]

Anastasia, I agree those, are some good lines from the bishop. I especially appreciate what he said about the negative things in the Church. I've been blessed to not be bothered too much by the human side of things. Some people can become disillusioned, for instance, when they read Church history and see that bishops fought with one another and things like that. We just have to always remember that providence is in all of this, and that I am the chief of all sinners.

 

[Platina]

nice interview, I like your username, by the way

Thank ye kindly, sir.

 

[ArmyMatt]

Thank ye kindly, sir.

ye be most welcome