The era of unbelief has created generations of people who do not feel any craving or interest in anything churched. Yes, today babies are baptized, Easter cakes are blessed on Easter, and couples want to get married. But only a few show a genuine interest in the church and its canons. Does the person practice prayer rules? Does he study? Most likely, the answer is no, because even out of a huge number of prayers, he, as a rule, knows only “Our Father”, and not always by heart. But prayer is an appeal to the tripartite human being, his spirit, soul and body. And it is in this hierarchical order.
The current situation is forcing the church to abandon the attraction of the "flock" in the old ways and start using new methods. Priests “knock” on human hearts with the help of radio talks, TV shows, and the Internet. Archimandrite Andrei Konanos is just such a modern theologian, missionary and preacher. This article is dedicated to him.
Monastic rank of archimandrite
The concept of "archimandrite" comes from two Greek words: "archon", which means "senior" or“chief”, and “mandra”, which translates as “sheepfold”. Interpreting them, linking them together and giving meaning, it turns out that this is the person who is senior over his community of monks. This rank is given to the monastic clergy as the highest award. It refers to the "black", unmarried clergy, is assigned for "length of service" or for special services to the church. Archimandrite Andrei Konanos, however, like any other clergyman of this category, should be addressed as "Your Reverence" or "Father Andrei." San refers to the category of honorary titles, precedes the rank of bishop in the bishopric.
About Andrey Konanos
The biography of Archimandrite Andrei Konanos began in 1970, when a boy was born in an ordinary Greek family living at that time in Germany, in the city of Munich. In 1977, the family decides to return to their homeland and settle in the capital of Greece - in Athens. There the boy receives an education in a classical lyceum. The future archimandrite showed interest in the church from childhood and decided to devote his life to serving God.
He enters the University of Athens at the theological faculty of Theology. Even at the stage of training, a young person shows interest and inclination for pedagogical activity. He begins to teach the word of God in various educational institutions in Athens, conducts missionary meetings with young people, and travels as a counselor to Orthodox children's he alth camps. This successful experience of communication with the younger generationwill help him in his future activities for the glory of the Lord.
Archbishop of Athens and All Hellas Christodoulos (Paraskevaidis) in 1999 ordained him to the rank of deacon, and in 2000 ordained him to the priesthood: a priest, and then an archimandrite. Andrew Konanos is a famous missionary preacher. The vast experience of communicating with young people allows him to do it talentedly and easily. In the parish of Father Andrew, regular meetings are held with young people and students, conversations are held with them, he practices long night services, which are required by the monastery charter. In Russia, his sermons gained immense popularity literally immediately after the believers learned about the archimandrite and his missionary work.
Work on the radio and on the Internet
The largest church radio station in Greece "Metropolises of Piraeus" in 2003 launches the author's program of Archimandrite Andrei Konanos "Invisible Transitions" ("Αθέατα περάσΜατα"). In a short time, this radio program was among the most popular in Greece. Her audience is both women and men, and the younger generation. The archimandrite not only lectured on various church topics, he answered the questions of his radio listeners, found an approach to each of them, and spoke in a language understandable to everyone. In 2013, the radio program was closed, but only so that now Father Andrei would continue his missionary work on the Internet. Here he maintains an online diary in which he posts hisreflections, articles, sermons.
As for the Russian audience, they can listen to the sermons of the archimandrite on the Orthodox radio Vera, 100.9 FM, daily from Monday to Friday in the program "Heavenly Springs". The application for this radio station can be downloaded through the Play Market, it weighs 200 kilobytes. The religious websites Pravoslavie.ru and Pravmir regularly publish articles by Andrey Konanos. They are read with great joy both by church-going people and those who have just embarked on the path of faith, because the preacher speaks to the readers in the language of love, which means the language of Christ.
Books by Andrey Konanos
Working in the radio program allowed Father Andrei to accumulate a huge number of radio conversations. It was they who formed the basis of the books of the archimandrite. Andrei Konanos wrote two books, both of which were published thanks to the Sretensky Monastery publishing house. The first book is called When Christ Becomes Everything to You. She collected in herself the conversations of the archimandrite on the subject of the need for the presence of Jesus Christ in the daily life of every person. The second book is called “Do not be afraid to rejoice! Conversations about Orthodoxy. Here the preacher actively urges people not to lose heart no matter what, but on the contrary, to enjoy every day and believe that everything will be fine. In addition to reading paper versions, it is possible to listen to audio books. Archimandrite Andrei Konanos sounds in audio format on the Azbuka.ru and Tradition.ru websites. We will focus on explaining the content of each book in more detail.
The book “When Christ becomes for youeveryone"
The Sretensky Monastery Publishing House is releasing the book in 2015. In it, Father Andrew argues that modern people have lost the joy of Christ in vanity and anxieties. The preacher knows firsthand the problems of modern adults and young people, he helps to solve them, suggests doing it together. His conversations are written in a lively and witty style, the simplest words flowing from a loving pastoral heart. He offers a look at life's difficulties and helps to understand them. His speech is full of joy and peace. Archimandrite Andrei Konanos talks about Orthodoxy in modern society, touches on the most exciting and sentimental issues. The topics described in the book are very diverse: here you can read about the relationship of children with parents, husband and wife, the interaction of people with the surrounding reality and the church, about fears, stress, illnesses. The book was published in Greek, Bulgarian, English and Russian.
Archimandrite Andrei Konanos “Don't be afraid to rejoice! Conversations about Orthodoxy”
2 years later, in 2017, the Sretensky Monastery publishing house publishes the second book of Father Andrei. In it, he tries his best to convince the reader that even if at the moment the surrounding reality seems hostile, if literally everything seems terrible, eventually the situation will improve. Everything will be fine! - Archimandrite Andrei Konanos is firmly convinced of this, so a positive attitude is a leitmotif throughout the book. Conversations about repentance and the joy of every day, the secrets of prayers andthe secrets of humility, reasoning about the value of a person and his egoism, about loneliness and justice, and much more, are reflected in the book and set in a positive way.
Konanos Andrew's Sermons
Preaching, in its broadest sense, is the expression and dissemination of any truths, knowledge, beliefs and teachings, carried out by their staunch supporter. Archimandrite Andrei Konanos leads his sermons in a special way. He has a great gift of persuasion and puts all the instructions in an understandable form. For example, he offers to convince little girls that heaven is good by telling them that there are puppies living there and constantly handing out ice cream. Any situation, according to the archimandrite, is worthy of consideration, every human act is consolation and forgiveness.
Articles by Andrey Konanos
Starting from March 2014, the Pravmir.ru website regularly posts articles by the archimandrite on its pages. Andrey Konanos is the author of more than 60 articles, which means that for any question you have, you can get an answer from the archimandrite personally. It seems that there is no area of \u200b\u200blife that he would not cover. These are relationships with children and between spouses, a call for humility and joy, arguments about the need to raise faith in oneself and about false church people. Orthodox believers in different parts of the world fell in love with his light style, they listen to his sermons. The themes of love and happiness are of great concern to modern man. Father Andrey covers them in his articles.
Article on the Divine Liturgy
The Divine Liturgy is the most important Christian worship, its main part. Translated from Greek as "common cause". In his article “The Holy Divine Liturgy,” Archimandrite Andrei Konanos argues that even clerics are unworthy to talk about it, that the feeling of the supernatural from the sacrament being performed depends both on the preparedness of the holy fathers and on God’s desire to consider these manifestations worthy of love. He complains about the laziness of the parishioners, about the fact that people have lost their attraction to the Holy Liturgy. He appeals to spiritual culture, calls to enter his Father's house reverently and behave appropriately there. And he advises to ask the question more often: “What does God see about me?”, Because the answer to it is obvious: “Every episode of life.”
Archimandrite Andrei Konanos "If everything irritates"
Another article by the preacher, in which he talks about the man of today, still imperfect and full of temptation. The archimandrite says that irritation with others is a natural process. And at the same time, completely unnatural. No matter how sinful a person may seem to those around him, God sees both his soul and thoughts. And if even the Lord does not condemn him, then what right do mortals have to do so. The Holy Father calls to look deep into oneself. And even the fact that a person is far from perfect, accept humbly. It doesn't matter that people down here talk about whatever they want, the main thing is that God above looks and rejoices.
In simple words about the main thing
There are a lot of preachers in the Orthodox world. So why is this particular Greek Holy Father resonating with such a powerful response in the hearts of people around the world? Probably because he speaks to people in their own language. He is aware that the popularization of the church should take place using all available modern means of communication. Don't be afraid to be judged for it. He carries the Word of God in all possible ways, finds different ways for this. Explains incomprehensible things in the simplest terms. The word "popular" reflects the essence of people's attitude towards him, but fades next to him. Father Andrei is rather glorified and revered.
Dostoevshchina
The reproaches and accusations of some of the excessive "Dostoevism" of Andrei Konanos' sermons, that is, of excessive escalation and dramatization, are confirmation of the above "about irritation". He is reproached for the fact that his conversations are not filled with gospel sobriety and severity, but sound like psychological and pathological vignettes, in which the names and lives of the Saints are masterfully woven.
Opponents of the Holy Father do not take into account the fact that people hear him, understand him, their hearts open, and souls return to the church monastery. On the other hand, one can "enjoy" plenty of assurances about the archimandrite's flirting with the public, distortion of the words of the New Testament, and flattery in communication. Such pseudo-fighters for the truth with their "archaic right" can not only scare away a novice parishioner, but also completely turn him away from the Temple of God.
"Merciful and kind God" archimandriteAndrew Konanos is able to bring back many lost souls, open faith and salvation for them. And the fact that God is not only love, but also conscience, Father Andrei can also convey eloquently and artistically.
