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'Attention and prayer': Elder Maximos' counsel to a monk on the road of life
What the video says
The speaker recalls the advice of Elder Maximos, who was the prosmonarios (guest-master) at the Monastery of Iviron, at the Panagia Portaitissa. He compares life to driving: you may drive well, but you are not alone on the road, and someone beside you, perhaps drunk or looking at his phone, may crash into you, so we must be very careful.
Every time the speaker went to confess and seek counsel, Elder Maximos told him, 'Father Ioakim, attention and prayer.' He explained that a person watches out as far as humanly possible, and the grace of God, together with prayer, opens the mind so that one makes fewer mistakes.
Key moments
- The speaker compares life to driving: you may drive well, but you are not alone, and another driver, drunk or distracted, may hit you, so we must be very careful.
- The speaker's elder was Father Maximos, prosmonarios at the Monastery of Iviron, at the Panagia Portaitissa.
- Every time the speaker went to confess and ask counsel, Elder Maximos told him, 'Father Ioakim, attention and prayer.'
- Elder Maximos explained that one watches out as far as humanly possible, and God's grace with prayer opens the mind to make fewer mistakes.
A monk on Mount Athos recalls the advice he received from Elder Maximos, who served as prosmonarios, the guest-master, at the Monastery of Iviron, at the Panagia Portaitissa. The elder compared life to driving: a person may drive well, but he is not alone on the road, and someone beside him, perhaps drunk or looking at his phone, may crash into him.
For this reason, the elder said, we must be very careful. The speaker, Father Ioakim, says that every time he went to confess and seek counsel, Elder Maximos gave him the same two-word answer: 'Father Ioakim, attention and prayer.' The elder explained that a person watches out as far as it is humanly possible, and then the grace of God, together with prayer, opens the mind so that one makes fewer mistakes.
The video was posted by the Holy Church of Saint Demetrius in the municipality of Saint Demetrius, and the speaker is Elder Philemon, Dikaios of the Holy Coenobitic Skete of the Prophet Elias of Pantokrator on Mount Athos. The post points viewers to the full video on YouTube. The short clip centers on one theme: human effort alone is not enough, and vigilance must be joined to prayer so that divine grace can guard a person where his own strength ends.
Main points
- Elder Maximos, prosmonarios at the Monastery of Iviron at the Panagia Portaitissa, compared life to driving: another driver, drunk or distracted, may hit you even if you drive well.
- Every time the speaker went to confess and seek counsel, Elder Maximos told him, 'Father Ioakim, attention and prayer.'
- The elder explained that one watches out as far as humanly possible, and God's grace with prayer opens the mind to make fewer mistakes.
- The speaker is Elder Philemon, Dikaios of the Holy Coenobitic Skete of the Prophet Elias of Pantokrator on Mount Athos.
- The full video is available on the YouTube channel of the Holy Church of Saint Demetrius.