Shelb5 said:
Are they any Orthodox that are Charismatic?
Dearest Michelle:
There are some Orthodox Christians who call themselves "charismatics" but they are not the norm.
Let me explain.
Benny Hinn is an excommunicated Orthodox Christian. A "charismatic" Orthodox Christian Priest down in Florida started to follow Benny Hinn's teachings, so the Greek Orthodox Church excommunicated this priest and defrocked him. As a result, the "charismatics" are looked upon as a fringe group and we don't hear much about them.
We do have an abundance of true charismatics, however. These are people who live saintly lives. These are the people whom you can find in a local Orthodox parish. They come to every service. They never complain. They are the first to offer aid or to bring a dish when someone dies. Just godly men and women, who love Christ and edify all by their charity and kindly words. These are the true charismatics, who radiate God's love to all they meet.
There was this monk in Greece (I'm not sure he is still alive) who had the gift of tongues. An atheist French woman went to see him because she had some questions about the faith. For the first few minutes her interpreter would translate from French to Greek and then from Greek to French, but suddenly she noticed that she could understand the Priest perfectly without the need of the translator. The translator was confused at first because the woman continued to speak rapidly in French and the monk would respond rapidly in Greek, yet they both understood each other, as they spoke about the wonders of God. After this experience she converted to Christianity and entered a monastery in Greece. So, through the gift of tongues she was converted by the Holy Spirit.
Then we have the wonderful example of St. Seraphim of Sarov who received and spoke with people from all over the world (in many different tongues), who could see future events (told a man that his wife would life), who could read into your very soul and reveal unconfessed sins, who healed the sick, who cured the mentally ill, who could see at an impossible distance that you were coming and what you were thinking, and who radiated love of Christ so much that he became literally a living Flame through theosis. He even loved God's creatures so much that he would take the shirt off his back and let the mosquitoes have their meal so that his back would be covered with bites. (Note the Church would caution us not to follow that example today.)
There are many truly saintly people in the Orthodox Church - even today - who are saints and who do marvelous deeds as true followers of Christ. I would have to call these people true charismatics because they truly possess the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Today there is a Greek Orthodox Monastery, St. Anthony, in Florence, Arizona. My friends who have visited and who have spoken with the elderly monks say that these monks are like angels. To speak with them is to truly speak with a living saint. Their eyes can pierce your soul and reveal your inner thoughts without you ever saying a word.
I was told that in the Early Church before the schism, when the people who converted as adults were accepted into the Church, one of the signs that they were ready to receive the sacraments of initiation (Baptism, Chrismation and Holy Communion) was that they were already living a saintly life. One example is our Holy Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan. When he was still a catechumen and an election was being held for a new Bishop, a young child said, "Ambrose shall be Bishop." Within a space of one week, Ambrose was baptized, chrismated, received Holy Communion, made Deacon, followed by Holy Ordination to the Holy Priesthood and then consecrated to the episcopacy. He was already on fire with the Holy Spirit before his Baptism.
Do you remember reading Acts when the apostles came across some people who had already received the Holy Spirit and were manifesting the gifts of the Holy Spirit? These people had not received Baptism yet. So they were immediately instructed in the Faith and given Baptism.
Today there is a shrine here in Southern California, right next to a Roman Catholic Church, and every day of the week, the Orthodox Priest opens the church so that the Catholics can come in to be blessed with the oil of St. Nectarios. This is the lovely new Church, St. Nectarios Shrine of Covina, California, where a holy relic from St. Nectarios is kept. Here lots of miracles are happening as I speak. People who are blind can see, cancers of all kinds are cured, the lame can walk, the deaf can hear. Since the Orthodox Priest does not try to convert the Catholics, the Catholics have received permission to visit the shrine.
Hope this helps.
Lovingly yours in Christ,
Elizabeth
The whole thing didn't seem very real to me. I know that the aposltes did it, but not in the same context. 
