My Elder Joseph the Hesychast, pp. 399, 401-402,
One day I was saying the prayer out loud as I was carving wooden prosphora seals. All of a sudden, Geronda's prayers for me became so powerful that I found myself in a spiritual state that was no different from what Adam felt when he was in the Garden of Eden before the fall. It was something beyond explanation …
(p. 401) One other brother of our brotherhood said the prayer out loud constantly. His nous and his heart sought enlightenment regarding the nature of creation and the sweetness of Paradise. One day, after saying the prayer out loud for many hours while carving wooden prosphora seals, he suddenly fell into ecstasy. His bodily senses ceased temporarily, the eyes of his soul opened, and he perceived nature's language of glorifying the Creator. Not only his spiritual eyes but also his physical eyes were opened so much that he saw very differently. Yet in what manner his eyes had been opened, he could not even begin to explain to others or even to himself. Everything he saw and heard was foreign – supernatural. Everything spoke of God's glory: the singing birds, the blooming flowers, the trees with their flowers and fragrance, the sun, the bright day. He saw them, however, as Adam saw them in Paradise before the Fall. A revelation had occurred – an unveiling, a manifestation of a mystery that is hidden from us who see only with our physical eyes and now with those spiritual eyes. "Let every breath praise the Lord." (p. 402) Both the animal and the plant kingdom spoke of the glory, the magnificence, and the beauty of God. He was amazed ad astounded, but he could not say a word. His eyes shed tears – not because of his sins but because of God's beauty. How can the heart bear this revelation of God's beauty? Similarly, when Adam was in the Garden of Eden, everything he saw was one of God's theorias. His spirit rejoiced when he saw every creation and heard it praising God.
[FONT="]pp. 348-349
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[FONT="]With our own eyes we witnessed many instances of his gift of clairvoyance. Once, when Geronda was still at St. Basil's Skete, he met a layman near the skete's main church. Geronda approached him and said, "You are making some serious mistake."[/FONT]
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[FONT="] "What mistake?" the layman asked.[/FONT]
[FONT="] "I don't know," Geronda replied, "but you are definitely making some serious mistake."[/FONT]
[FONT="] "Can't we figure out what it is?"[/FONT]
[FONT="] "Right now in the daytime we can't figure it out. But if you like, come down to my place at night."[/FONT]
[FONT="] "All right, Geronda; I'll come after midnight."[/FONT]
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[FONT="]After midnight, the layman went and met with Geronda. They began discussing things, and it turned out that this layman, even though he had a degree in theology, had written an entire book supporting Darwin's theory of evolution! [/FONT]
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[FONT="]Geronda said to him: "When you present a theory or an opinion, why don't you draw from the writings of the holy Fathers and Orthodox theologians rather than heretics who aren't even Christian! A theory or viewpoint becomes fortified when it is confirmed y the Bible or by the holy Fathers of the Church. You will not be welcome here in my hut until you renounce that theory."[/FONT]
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[FONT="]The theologian acknowledged that he had an incorrect viewpoint with this theory and he asked Geronda to tell him how he had recognized it. Geronda answered, "When I approached you yesterday, a stench was coming out of you, and this made me realize that you have made some grave error." When it came to matters of the faith, Geronda tolerated no deviations.[/FONT]
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