Orthodoxy in the Diaspora of the 21st Century – H.G. Siluan of Gyula, Fr. Theologos

Listen to a very useful and timely interview with H.G. Siluan of Gyula, the shepherd of the Romanians in Hungary, who speaks to us with great discernment and realism about the problems of Orthodox Romanians in the diaspora and beyond.

Enjoy!

Fr. Theologos: Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us! Amen.

Your Grace, please say “Heavenly King!”

His Grace Siluan: O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who art everywhere and fillest all things; Treasury of Blessings, and Giver of Life, come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.

Fr. T.: Amen. Christ is Risen!

H.G. S.: Truly He is Risen!

Fr. T.: Dear ones, we are here with His Grace Siluan, Bishop of Gyula, as the Romanians there pronounce it, “Ghiula” for those in Romania. Beyond his official title that you have just heard, I, and not only I, attribute to him another title very dear to us: he is the father of the Romanians in Hungary. Because you should know that what is characteristic of Orthodoxy is love – just as our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said that, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” And His Grace also has a lot of love for us as well, as he accepted to come to us, to our cell, for an ordination to the priesthood, but above all, he has a lot of love for the Romanians in the diaspora, for the Romanians in Hungary.

I would like, first of all, to ask His Grace for the first piece of advice… Your Grace, what advice would you give to a Romanian who is starting the spiritual life? Of course, first of all, to a Romanian in the diaspora, what would you say as a spiritual father?

H.G. S.: Of course, first and foremost, I would tell them to feel comfortable wherever they went, speaking of a church. And we still live in a time when tourism or exploring places from different perspectives sparks people’s interest, and for those within the community and who attend church, we have no other advice than this: Come, brethren, as many of you as possible, every Sunday to discover and taste the beauty of God’s gifts inside the ancestral church! And try to convey the stillness and peace that God bestows upon us all during the Divine Liturgy and the other services in the churches to those back home, and especially to your children and grandchildren. Because in general, in these historical communities around Romania’s borders, such as the one in Hungary, we have more congregations with middle-aged or, especially, older faithful, and not so many young ones, for the tourists.

Gyula, the city where the residence of our Diocese is located, is a very beautiful small town very close to the border. It is just 5 km from the Romanian border, about 5–6 km from the locality of Vărșand. Vărșand-Gyula is the border crossing point, about 25 km from Chișinău-Criș. And because it is a balneoclimatic resort, especially in the summer, similar to the Felix resort in Oradea, which is very close by and also features thermal baths, Gyula is a beautiful, clean, civilized, well-maintained, and well-organized little town with plenty of greenery and tranquility, attracting many tourists from Romania and elsewhere. For that reason, it does not take much, we do not need to give a lot of advice, because those who enter the church, perhaps they already have something in common with it and are happy to find a Romanian church in Hungary, because in general, Hungary is assimilated or associated with Hungarians.

Fr. T.: Yes, that’s right.

H.G. S.: And also with Roman Catholicism, with Protestantism, or with other religions, and of course, it is truly a pleasant surprise for them. If they have had the opportunity to participate in a vesper service with us or at a quiet Divine Liturgy with few faithful during the week, of course, at the end, they receive antidoron and we exchange a few words. I ask them where they are from. Most are from nearby towns – Timișoara, Arad, and of course other villages or towns in that area, while others come from even farther away. Because, you know how it is, a person always looks for something new when they find a period of time off from their daily schedule, from their usual work. They might go to the other end of the country to unwind, to relax, and of course, they are happy when they see Romanians just like back home, and there, it is less difficult for them to immediately find common ground right away. We share the Romanian language, and we share the Orthodox faith, in which they feel at ease.

What could I say to a foreign tourist? They should try… because that is where we started, this was… how could someone develop an interest in the Church and in the values it has preserved over the centuries, values that remain relevant and effective today, and are so essential for the human soul? As I have read in other books, they should try to follow the beauty of the Church from an architectural point of view and, of course, visit it on another occasion as well. They should try to attend a service, take a small break in their daily life, and realize if there are certain parts within their soul that they may have explored less or know less about, and whether those parts could not find some very natural connections and roots in this place where we are, that is, in the Church, at the cathedral in Gyula or any other church, any church, no matter how small, even a summer altar. A place where prayer has been offered because, for example, incense is used, candles are used, there are chants that are heard during the services, and even after the service ends, at least that incense, but also the peace of prayer settles, we could say, to some extent over the entire place of worship, over the entire church.

That is precisely why there were people who were interested – even intellectuals among the leaders of institutions such as consulates, diplomatic missions, and Romania’s diplomatic representatives in Gyula, elsewhere… in Szeged – who spoke knowledgeably about Christianity and were intellectuals with whom you could converse, and who found a sense of peace the moment they entered the church.

Fr. T.: Yes…

H.G. S.: A certain kind of peace that I believe contemporary people need so much. They should try to look for these parts of their soul as well, look for their peace, try to find their purpose, and ask themselves some slightly more essential questions, if possible, about themselves. Because in a world as crazy and hectic as the one we live in, I believe a moment of peace is welcome for everyone. And especially one more thing: you see, to come to church – because if the good Lord ordains that not even a single hair on a person’s head falls to the ground without His knowledge, for the faithful, for atheists, and for those who are indifferent – for everyone in this world – it is clear that above us is the Good God, our Heavenly Father, Who cares for us all. And perhaps He will arrange it so that such a person, upon entering a church, might strike up a conversation with someone, a simple discussion in which they express their curiosity about the architecture or elements of the church they’ve seen, or about themselves and their doubts, and that this might bring a little of the grace or peace of the mother, the father, the priest, or the faithful who is already a practicing [Christian] and who, despite all of life’s other problems…

Because no one is a robot; we all have our own personalities, limitations, problems, and moments of weakness. It is obvious. And yet, in church we find something different than in the other moments of the day and in the other places of our existence. And perhaps the Good God will arrange for such a discussion to shed a little light, to open a path, a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, that will bring about a change in their life as well, a change that is beneficial for their soul, why not? Of course, after that, what I would also recommend to a young person is to have a prayer book at home and to have the Holy Scripture, a Bible, the New Testament, in particular.

Father Teofil Părăian recommended, among other things, that we read two chapters from the New Testament daily. Just to read. A simple reading, a simple challenge. There are so many moments when we are bored, when we are so burdened, when we are so troubled, when we are so scared, so anxious, when we do not know what to do, where to turn, as they say, how to find time to solve the 1, 2, 3, multiple problems that trouble us. Likewise, let’s try, before going to bed at night when we have even a little free time, to open the pages of the Holy Scripture, put a bookmark there, and read at least two or three lines from it to see, is it really such an outdated book, as many people today claim? Is it really a book that speaks only about characters of the past who are totally irrelevant to the contemporary person? Or is it a very interesting life story with a Character Who goes beyond the words and pages of that book and Who seems to traverse the centuries and seeks with much delicacy and sensitivity the way to the most sensitive chords of the human soul so that passage will be fulfilled one day – for those who know more about the Holy Scripture or about faith – “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Let us find this peace and this rest for the soul. What a great gift and what a great blessing for the contemporary person! I believe that it is truly worth considering this perspective that is opened by a simple door of a church, no matter how small or humble it may be.

Fr. T.: Yes. So, brethren, you see that the church offers us peace. We do not go to church just to light candles. Of course, we will do that too. We go to church to find peace, to pray, and to learn more about the life of Christ and the experience of Christ. You have spoken very much and very beautifully about peace. Do you think that anxiety, do you think that restlessness is one of the main problems of Western people, so to speak?

H.G. S.: Of people in general… And which can strike us too at any moment. There are also certain sensitivities associated with age. Of course, there’s also this terrible thirst for information and these countless means by which you press a simple button on the television and you are already flooded with news, each one more “breaking,” more interesting, and more alarming than the last, and which, even if they try to present a certain event with journalistic or literary skill, it naturally brings with it a certain negative energy and a sense of worry that is transmitted.

The soul is very sensitive, it is like a kind of sponge, so to speak, originally created by God to be very pure, thoroughly cleansed, and imprinted from the beginning with the image of God according to the model of Jesus Christ, yet it remains a sponge throughout one’s entire life, and whatever it sees or encounters, it absorbs. Of course, I think that this restlessness is, and can be, one of the greatest problems facing contemporary man, and one that he unfortunately tries to quell with things that are of no use to the soul but which certainly bring him a certain satisfaction. As the books of the Holy Fathers or the spiritual biographies describe this vicious cycle that, unfortunately, affects each and every one of us, and especially since the human body possesses a certain vigor and a certain youthfulness, this ceaseless pursuit of satisfaction, of happiness, and pleasure, which, of course, leaves a void behind because these things often fail to foster a natural and normal personal relationship with your fellow human being as a brother, as a creature entirely equal to you…

Fr. T.: Spiritual…

H.G. S.: A spiritual person whom God places in your life so that you may love each other in the most sincere and pure way possible, and support each other on this path of discovering your talents and your purpose in this salvation, glorifying God, and rejoicing in all the beauty of creation.

This running around of contemporary man, which seems to take on increasingly crazy, strange, and unhappy forms, and attempts are made to present it under the appearance of a very pretentious and, of course, even elegant term: “tolerance” or “indulgence” towards all human needs. In fact, the aim is to highlight these human needs, which should be kept in check because they are good, they are granted by God, up to a point. But if you take them to the extreme as a form of pleasure, then the human limit and their balance, which is very fragile and which they do not cultivate spiritually towards their personal connection with Christ and a spiritual and Christian view of the world, heads towards this mad pleasure in which the only thing you see is to satisfy these pleasures of the body, first and foremost. And of course, these pleasures inevitably give rise to jealousy, selfishness, and crime.

You see that even in Old Testament times, it started with a little envy and very quickly led to murder, and then continued with more and more impulses toward other evils, toward other weaknesses, toward other anxieties that have multiplied from one generation to the next, and now, it seems, with these modern means, they are intensifying exponentially.

Of course, there is also this reverse side which is probably also from God and which is our chance to return to ourselves, to the self like the prodigal son in the Gospel who also, poor soul, at the age and with the mindset he had back then, thought that the only important thing in this life was to indulge in his pleasures and enjoy as much as possible the wealth of his father, which he believed was rightfully his. Doesn’t he say, “Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.” That was the extent of his mindset: ‘You have gathered, father, but it was meant for me.’ He already knew in his youth and in the exercise of his memory that it would have been due to him. By not working yourself and not taking care of yourself, but simply doing what you like – the motto of modern man, “let us all be left in peace, everything should be accepted.” Even if you superimpose all sorts of other, let’s say, laws or explanations on top of it, at its core, it’s the same human nature, easily prone to sin. And that brings pain in its wake. The pain of this lack of existence, the pain of abandoning the one you use as a mere object to satisfy your own pleasures, or, if you will, the pain of wounding that person’s dignity, who also sees you as an object, and from whom the worst things and violence can emerge. You see, beyond depression and violence among members of society, among children, young people, there have unfortunately been recent cases involving high-achieving children in Serbia, but also in America…

Fr. T.: Yes… Especially in America, yes.

H.G. S.: How many cases have we seen where people are allowed to carry guns, and what tragedies that can lead to! Not to mention this trend in education, which we don’t understand what it aims to do to humanity and to people, starting with the youngest generations. Because the values we criticize so much, and which we claim are medieval, nevertheless had their limits and produced positive results that were appreciated by so many people from all over and attracted so many tourists. Now, attempts are being made to destroy all of this, and what is being brought in its place is destruction, a hardening of hearts, and a war of people against one another, of the young against the old. In any case, there were always conflicts between generations and certain things that strove to shape a person in a certain way, to give them a certain understanding of life, to smooth them out, to soften them – to improve them – as holy fathers say. It turns out that this is not always the case, and today’s society, unfortunately, seems to be listening to – or tries to listen to – other commandments that are completely contrary to what God has placed as best within man.

So let each person consider whether what has been called outdated is in fact nothing more than a rediscovery of the human being in his best way of being, one that will bring each person a little more peace, a little more joy, a little more hope, a smile on their lips, and hope for tomorrow. Life passes quickly anyway, and it depends on whether you end it in all sorts of passions and pleasures, as a ruined and broken man…

But perhaps in the final stretch, a Samaritan will be found to lift you up and bring you before the merciful Good Samaritan, Who will save your soul at the last moment. There’s no telling. It is a very great chance. Or you waste yourself definitively. Or you rediscover your purpose and go against the tide, perhaps, but have that inner contentment that Jesus Christ, the supreme model in Christianity to this very day, brings you.

Fr. T.: Do you think that in this civilization of war, of distortion, of treating human beings as objects – a civilization we are unfortunately witnessing today – does Orthodoxy, as a source of peace, have the necessary power to be able to echo in people’s hearts? Does it have the power to save people in a practical sense? Because, theoretically, of course, it saves people. But do you think people will be…?

H.G. S.: I remember Fr. Sophrony Sakharov, who in the Athos wilderness, not far from here… I think nearby…

Fr. T.: Yes, nearby, that is correct.

H.G. S.: He was seeking a spiritual life and was on a profound personal journey, but he had also found a certain direction for his life… And Saint Silouan, if I’m not mistaken…

Fr. T.: That is right.

H.G. S.: He was actually recounting, I think, about the First World War…

Fr. T.: That’s right…

H.G. S.: That he attained this spiritual growth he was seeking in monastic life and which is a way of life, a way of living. That is, a person comes to desire and see here the meaning of his life, to feel the suffering of so many soldiers who were losing their lives on the front lines for various materialistic, selfish, and most inhumane reasons in this world. Because war has never been an opportunity or a means to improve the world and to resolve, perhaps, as they say, certain problems for one people or another. It is a clear decline…

Fr. T.: Of course.

H.G. S.: It is a clear decline of man’s purpose in this world, and here, in this case as well, we have two seemingly Orthodox peoples fighting one another; but of course, the Orthodox themselves, who sincerely live out this faith, even though they are caught up in this conflict and, being human, feelings of resentment toward the other side may arise in their hearts, the Orthodox themselves cannot be considered either guilty or, shall we say, the main instigators of what is happening. They are victims of much larger conflicts and interests, and in the midst of them, they are like poor little splinters of wood on the turbulent waters of a river that sprang up out of nowhere and whose destination we do not know, but at some point it will come to a halt, because that is how this world works.

The Master Who allows the typhoon and the storm to arise will, in the end, likely be the one to calm them as well. I believe that this Orthodox way of life, like that of the fathers I mentioned, and this simple prayer that every believer offers, however simply, and especially the monks who strive harder, or the advanced Christians in their families… through prayer and God’s intervention, will succeed in thwarting these plans.

We might even call [these plans] criminal, unfortunately, or demonic, as they are unleashed upon the world under various pretexts and motivations, sometimes supposedly among the noblest of causes. So only prayer and, of course, only the Benevolent God – because, you see, even in the context of a family, I’ll give an example that’s somewhat tangential, but which, if I’m not mistaken, Father Porphyrios and other fathers of our Church have also cited. When a child, for example, grows up, even though you’ve tried to raise him in the best possible way, and, of course, he experiences freedom, perhaps like the young man in the Gospel we spoke of, he then stops listening, and it’s no use trying to explain anything because he won’t listen to you anymore. He has attained his own autonomy and wants to try everything. And, so, the only way you can help him the most – since he has a solid foundation, a memory he simply cannot forget, despite these impulses inherent in his nature that he wants to satisfy – is the prayer you offer up to God, which can bring him back, perhaps even through an existential crisis, a problem, or a critical moment he reaches…

Fr. T.: The cross…

H.G. S.: …it can turn him towards his true path, towards the true meaning. Because let us not forget that life is so short, but it is also eternal. It has an eternal goal, and this is where the main battle and the purpose lie: in which direction a person’s life will head after the moment we depart from here. For it is said that in whatever state you are found at the end, in that state you will be judged, and toward that you will go. There will remain here, of course, the hope of the Church’s prayers for others, or of the good deeds, however small, that you may have done in life and that might draw God’s mercy and His love – which is so great – to bring you back from an unhappy state that your soul obviously does not-desire after death – no one can desire it – toward that state of communion and love among people with one another and between people and God, which is salvation itself. So that is it.

So, I believe that even the simplest prayer someone utters can, of course, make a difference up there with God, Who is the Master of all. And even the worst, the most depraved, and the most powerful people in this world, at a certain moment, when the Good God moves even a tiny bit, everything can change. And there’s one more thing that’s in my soul and on my mind: even though there aren’t very many faithful, many people have within them this desire for life, for survival, they are made in God’s image, and when one tries to impose absurd or completely unusual measures and norms on them…, again under various pretexts that turn out to be untrue, it seems that today you’re not even allowed to say what you believe, because you’re immediately labeled and cast into the dustbin of history. But when people…, according to these natural instincts and this calling of God that exists even if there is no consistent religious formation, this foundation I was talking about, even if they do not have this chance, this power, they still do not want to disappear. And either they revolt, or they fight for survival. In this struggle, which may also be because God allowed it, plus other things that may also happen, the state of the world might change for the better. It is our hope and desire, it is also our prayer – we pray for the peace of the whole world at every service and especially at the Divine Liturgy. But it is very interesting that, nevertheless, the world desires this, and that is how God allowed it to be.

It is true that the Savior also warns us that the end will come. There are certain signs that we already see beginning to… and which literally unsettle people. After the events we have all gone through in the last few years, all of us, not just the neo-Protestants, we have started to ask ourselves questions: are these times beginning to approach? And He speaks of rumors of wars, of earthquakes in various places, and so on. Of course, of the Gospel that will be preached to all nations. There are more. We do not want to exaggerate.

Of course, everything is in God’s hands, and the Savior says – and this gives us hope: “…for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.” Of course, there are many more that have not yet happened and these, too, give us hope. When the stars lose their power and fall, there will be such terror across the face of the whole earth so that everyone will be terrified and will want to go and tell the dead to come out of their graves to let us in, because we can no longer bear what we see. So, you realize that there is still a long way to go. But these days will be shortened for the sake of the elect, and why not, if more people… And this is our hope and I believe it is positive in this way: to believe that God can, in spite of all these – let’s say – avalanches of evil that have been unleashed, and even slavery of all kinds that are trying to impose, [God] can also unleash rivers of mercy. Just as Holy Apostle Paul hoped that he would witness the coming of the Parousia and that we would all be transformed. The Kingdom of Heaven will come suddenly because man desires to be happy, and that is the very goal of man himself.

Fr. T.: That is right.

H.G. S.: Of course, these trials can also come. We pray to God, in these conditions, to grant us the strength to overcome them, remaining like the martyrs of old, bound to Christ regardless of what might be promised to them besides this, because this is the most important thing: for a person to find their purpose and to find, to cultivate, if possible, their personal relationship or bond with Jesus Christ. [The bond] in the form that we at least consider to be in Orthodoxy, such a balanced form, which respects the freedom of the Lord, Who is long-suffering, Who waits for man to return and offers him so many chances and so many helping hands through different people, through different situations, through a small impulse, through a spark that He ignites in a person’s soul, to be fulfilled in our souls as well and in the world in which we live, which is so agitated but which is still God’s, let us not forget.

Fr. T.: Yes. How do you see the future?

H.G. S.: In light of the fact that humanity does not want to be destroyed, and that those who speak of these narrow windows of opportunity will also come to realize that they are not immortal. I pray, and we all pray, to the Good God to enlighten them so they may understand the true value of all things and of the planet, which for so many millions of years has survived on its own, without the meager help of environmental or charitable organizations, which may have a good purpose in and of themselves, but which, of course, can only do so much. So, first of all, we pray that the Good God may enlighten us and protect us so that we can face any trial, that we can find our peace and stillness of the soul, that we can preserve our order and tradition and the Divine Liturgy. Because the Divine Liturgy is the eternal life that He gives to us.

I would make one more clarification, however, I do not think we can escape these trials because the Savior could have as well, but the path He chose is practically the path of the Christian. And He could have called 12 legions of angels and ordered things and the world according to the model of the Kingdom of Heaven so that everyone would be… And yet, He said that He must respect both the choice and the freedom of man and that He must suffer. Herein lies the wisdom and strength of the Christian: to be able to endure whatever comes without renouncing the faith and to find the strength and power in the support of faith to overcome all these things. But we cannot help but pray for this world we see, which has been given so many beautiful things from God, that it may be allowed to remain and make the transition as smooth as possible.

And those who, as I said, believe they can prolong their lives indefinitely, even though, poor them, have no idea what torments and hardships they must endure, and those who see their brothers as mere objects or as mere causes of various problems, may they come to see them as their brothers, created by the Same Heavenly Father Who is also theirs. And to renounce the master who instills such hostile and negative impulses in their minds. So may He enlighten them as well! May He watch over us all, and of course, we can place all our hope in the care of the Good God and in this hope and desire of ours to attain the Kingdom of Heaven together with Jesus Christ.

As the Holy Gospels say and bear witness, we once again urge each of those who will listen to this podcast, and, of course, all those who are already faithful, to study them more and more so that their souls may be filled. As Father Teofil Părăian used to say, may they fill their souls with positive thoughts and, above all, with thoughts of a much more beautiful world, which we all long for.

Fr. T.: One last word: what would you say as a final word?

H.G. S.: May the Benevolent God help us! And of course, may the Resurrection of Christ shine delicately with light, but also with much joy and help in the soul of each one of us. And may everyone find the peace and stillness and help from the Benevolent God in the monastic life, their purpose, their ascetic effort, in their purpose for the whole world.

And those in the family [life] should know how to yield their will to one another. This is very important. It is very difficult both in the monastery and in the family to relinquish, and to preserve this unity of the family, which is extremely important by the gift and with the help of God. And of course, efforts are needed on both sides. It should not always be just the will of the husband, or the will of the wife. And may God give them more healthy children, so they may raise them as God wants them.

Of course, a final word, we pray to God to grant more time to our world and, of course, the possibility, if it is possible, to receive the Kingdom of Heaven in a gentler way, rather than as harsh and difficult as it sometimes seems to be.

Fr. T.: Thank you very, very much! Bless!

H.G. S.: May the Lord bless you!

Fr. T.: Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us! Amen. Thank you very much!

H.G. S.: You’re very welcome! May the Lord help us! We wish you good health! All the best!

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