Interview with Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol in Cyprus
By Elita Michailidou
On February 19, 2020
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
I: Tell me about your family?
MA: My father was born here, next to the Metropolis, Marathonos Street, and my mother is from the diocese of Limassol.
I: Elder, how were you raised?
MA: So, I was raised well. My parents were well-off but they were not religious people, and in my childhood I had no religious education; only my grandmother was a pious person. She was an illiterate woman but wise according God and she was the only one who sometimes spoke to me about God, but secretly away from my parents.
I: How were you as a student? Were you a good student?
MA: I was a good student. I wasn't a bad student.
I: Did you listen to music? Did you read books?
MA: I played music.
I: What kind of music?
MA: Clarinet, accordion, piano and violin.
I: Did you have a beautiful voice?
MA: Well, not so much. As you know, my voice is not that beautiful.
I: What class did you love the most?
MA: Modern Greek. I liked it very much.
I: What author do you remember?
MA: Papadiamantis. I liked Papadiamantis very much!
I: A favorite of Odysseas Elytis, as well! What else do you remember about your former life?
MA: Look, I was not a child of the Church in my childhood years, but when I went to High School, through various acquaintances, my friends and classmates, God introduced me to the Church.
I: At what age did you lose your father?
MA: In the sixth grade. Almost 11 years old. My father was 36 years old and my mother 34. Young people.
I: How did you decide to receive chrismation?
MA: I wanted to become a monk from the age of 15. I connected with the Church and read spiritual books. I listened to various stories about ascetics, about monks and these fascinated me and I wanted to become a monk. But I didn't know where to go because I had never been to a monastery. I knew nothing. Just so you understand, I took my bike and went to the Convent of Saint George to become a monk. I didn't know that there they are nuns, women! I was 16 then, I secretly left the house and I went really far and I got there, in the evening, and I found some nuns. They said: "What do you want here at such an hour with your bike?" I said: "I came to become a monk!" The nuns did their cross! They said: "My child, here you cannot become a monk. Here there are women!" I said: "What does it matter if I also stay here?" I couldn't understand that they were nuns and it was impossible for me to stay there. They took me to the abbess, who was a holy eldress, Synkletiki, and the poor woman did her cross! "My child, now you're gonna get us in trouble," she said. "And do your parents know?" I said: "No, they don't know!" She then called a taxi, paid for it and sent me home. And she put the bike in the back. Later I learned about the monasteries, about Kykkos, about Stavrovouni, and so on.
I: So you did this all on your own? Without anyone talking to you about it?
MA: No, no one talk to me. I searched on my own.
I: Do you think it was a calling?
MA: I don't know if God called me. All I know is that I'm almost 61 years old now and I have been following this path for about 45 years. I never regretted it! Not a second. Not for a fraction of a second did I say, "Perhaps I didn't do the right thing." Okay, I haven't been an overachiever, but....
I: What do you mean?
MA: Spiritually. I'm not a holy man. I believe that even if I were reborn I would make the same choice. I am very happy with what I chose. What I would not do again, perhaps, is I would probably not become a Metropolitan again. I would like to be a simple monk.
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
I: Tell me about your family?
MA: My father was born here, next to the Metropolis, Marathonos Street, and my mother is from the diocese of Limassol.
I: Elder, how were you raised?
MA: So, I was raised well. My parents were well-off but they were not religious people, and in my childhood I had no religious education; only my grandmother was a pious person. She was an illiterate woman but wise according God and she was the only one who sometimes spoke to me about God, but secretly away from my parents.
I: How were you as a student? Were you a good student?
MA: I was a good student. I wasn't a bad student.
I: Did you listen to music? Did you read books?
MA: I played music.
I: What kind of music?
MA: Clarinet, accordion, piano and violin.
I: Did you have a beautiful voice?
MA: Well, not so much. As you know, my voice is not that beautiful.
I: What class did you love the most?
MA: Modern Greek. I liked it very much.
I: What author do you remember?
MA: Papadiamantis. I liked Papadiamantis very much!
I: A favorite of Odysseas Elytis, as well! What else do you remember about your former life?
MA: Look, I was not a child of the Church in my childhood years, but when I went to High School, through various acquaintances, my friends and classmates, God introduced me to the Church.
I: At what age did you lose your father?
MA: In the sixth grade. Almost 11 years old. My father was 36 years old and my mother 34. Young people.
I: How did you decide to receive chrismation?
MA: I wanted to become a monk from the age of 15. I connected with the Church and read spiritual books. I listened to various stories about ascetics, about monks and these fascinated me and I wanted to become a monk. But I didn't know where to go because I had never been to a monastery. I knew nothing. Just so you understand, I took my bike and went to the Convent of Saint George to become a monk. I didn't know that there they are nuns, women! I was 16 then, I secretly left the house and I went really far and I got there, in the evening, and I found some nuns. They said: "What do you want here at such an hour with your bike?" I said: "I came to become a monk!" The nuns did their cross! They said: "My child, here you cannot become a monk. Here there are women!" I said: "What does it matter if I also stay here?" I couldn't understand that they were nuns and it was impossible for me to stay there. They took me to the abbess, who was a holy eldress, Synkletiki, and the poor woman did her cross! "My child, now you're gonna get us in trouble," she said. "And do your parents know?" I said: "No, they don't know!" She then called a taxi, paid for it and sent me home. And she put the bike in the back. Later I learned about the monasteries, about Kykkos, about Stavrovouni, and so on.
I: So you did this all on your own? Without anyone talking to you about it?
MA: No, no one talk to me. I searched on my own.
I: Do you think it was a calling?
MA: I don't know if God called me. All I know is that I'm almost 61 years old now and I have been following this path for about 45 years. I never regretted it! Not a second. Not for a fraction of a second did I say, "Perhaps I didn't do the right thing." Okay, I haven't been an overachiever, but....
I: What do you mean?
MA: Spiritually. I'm not a holy man. I believe that even if I were reborn I would make the same choice. I am very happy with what I chose. What I would not do again, perhaps, is I would probably not become a Metropolitan again. I would like to be a simple monk.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
