Questions and Answers 20 - 25

The Identity of the Author of the Book "The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios"

Question 20: Do you know the real identity of the author of The Gurus, the Young Man, and Elder Paisios? We know the author gives himself the pseudonym "Dionysios Farasiotis", but do you know his real name?

Answer: Yes I do. His real name is Athanasios Rakovalis. He has also written the book which is translated in English as Father Paisios Told Me. I will go into further details on this very soon in a separate post probably on my Orthodoxy and World Religions website.

Questions and Answers 14 - 19

Stolen Relics of Saint Anastasia the Pharmakolitria and Saint Polycarp of Smyrna

Question 14: Can you give us an update on the stolen relics of Saint Anastasia and Saint Polycarp in Greece?

Answer: As far as I know, though there have been arrests in the cases, the skull of Saint Anastasia the Pharmakolitria and the right arm of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna remain missing. This is especially sad to me, since Saint Anastasia appeared to my grandfather who was a lamp lighter in her church in Nicomedia when he was a child and healed him of a terminal illness, and through the information provided by the Mystagogy Resource Center the right arm of Saint Polycarp was brought to Romania by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and venerated by over a million people. These two great treasures are a major loss for Greece, and we should pray for their return.

Questions and Answers 8 - 13

The Miraculous Properties of the Holy Fire of Jerusalem

Question 8: I recently saw this video (https://www.facebook.com/ganduridinierusalimcom/videos/2100784443533686/) where it shows a man displaying the miraculous nature of the Holy Fire after he received it in Jerusalem this past Easter. The gentleman in the video is trying to show his friends and family that the fire does not burn like normal fire, even though he says it slightly burns. However, I have a friend who told me that after he received the Holy Fire in Jerusalem, it burned him, and since then he lost faith in it being a miracle. Can you tell me more about this, and if this truly shows it to be a miracle?

Questions and Answers 1 - 7

Clergy and Wedding Rings

Question 1: I am about to be ordained a deacon and have been married for five years. Do you know if I should remove my wedding ring during the celebration of the Divine Liturgy? This was a tradition I was told about.

Answer: In the tradition of our Church before ordination the candidate takes off his wedding ring and no longer wears it. One can explain this, first, that one has been raised to a new rank: he’s symbolically betrothed to the Church. Second, clergy should not wear any worldly jewelry, even if it symbolically demonstrates his marital relationship.