Orthodox Christian Youth and Suicide (St. Ephraim of Katounakia)

 

By Professor George Kroustalakis

Question: Elder, I would like you to tell us a little bit about the suicide, which you mentioned earlier, of young people in particular, which is often seen nowadays. We see that some young people, when faced with certain difficulties in life, usually "failures", are led to despair and eventually, without even struggling, sometimes end their lives violently.

Answer: These young people are distant from the Church. The Patriarch Abraham went a hundred years until Isaac was born. And Sarah was ninety. He never despaired! No.

Short Film: "Strange Mystery" (2020)

 

To commemorate the 100th anniversary since the death of Saint Nektarios (1920-2020), a short film about the childhood years and struggles of Saint Nektarios was made by Alexandros Fotopoulos and Stelios Fetanis, titled "A Strange Mystery", which was shown virtually to all the Middle School and High School students of Crete on December 23, 2020, as a Christmas story. The film is in Greek, but should not be missed, so I have written out the story below presented in the film in order to understand what you are seeing as you watch it.

 

Before he became known as Saint Nektarios, he was born and baptized with the name Anastasios Kephalas. He was one of the six children of Demmosthenis and Vasiliki, and was born on October 1st, 1846, in Eastern Selybria of Thrace. His parents were very poor but pious Christians who brought up their children according to the teachings of our Church. His grandmother also played a major role in inspiring him to live a life consistent with his Christian beliefs.

Interview With a Popular Orthodox Christian Metropolitan About the Challenges of his Childhood

 

Interview with Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol in Cyprus

By Elita Michailidou

On February 19, 2020

Interviewer: Does Metropolitan Athanasios have a worldly name? Did he have a worldly name?

Metropolitan Athanasios: Of course, I didn't fall from heaven!

I: What is your name?

MA: Andrew

I: When were you born?

MA: February 8, 1959