These are events spoken of by saints of old and by present-day elders of our Church who had the gift of foresight. They suggest that we are close, though that does not mean we can set a date or predict what will trigger them. Today’s talk is meant to help us prepare spiritually for what is to come, whenever it comes. Our fathers have said these things will happen. Of course, no one knows exactly when the momentous events that will shake the whole world will begin. But once they begin, they will unfold and reach their conclusion within a certain span of time, according to what has been prophesied. The time we are living through has one defining feature.

Uncertainty. The future is uncertain because the present is uncertain and deeply confused. Political instability, a shortage of cash, threats that our country may leave the eurozone, the Greek state’s suspension of talks with the International Monetary Fund until after the elections, fears of power cuts because the public electricity company has not collected what it is owed, suicides, shortages of medicine, uncertainty about the election and its result, the collapse of Spain’s economy, Turkey’s threats against Cyprus and Greece, calls for the immediate declaration of an exclusive economic zone, NATO forces preparing for war against Iran, and air and naval exercises in the region—

the presence of nuclear warships in the eastern Mediterranean, Russia’s role, the interests of China as an economic superpower, and statements by officials that the world is heading toward a Third World War: all these pieces form the picture of our present history and of the near future, a future that may be only months, weeks, or even days away. You would have to be very foolish, or utterly indifferent, to question how critical this period is. I am not saying we should despair, complain about our lot, be pessimistic, or look downcast. Hope for a better tomorrow is always a blessing. But we must keep our feet on the ground. It is good to want things to go well and to believe they will.

It is just as good to be cautious about what you hear, whoever says it. Remember, they once told us, ‘There is money,’ yet there was none. They said we would not go to the IMF, the International Monetary Fund, yet we did. They said we would not default, yet today we have a selective default. They said we would not leave the euro, yet there is no money to pay IKA pensions in June. They said one politician would never work with another, yet politicians leave one party for another to keep their seats. They say there is no chance of war with Turkey, yet the armed forces of both countries are ready for a clash.

So what is happening? Where are we heading? What lies at the end of this tunnel of history? Is there hope, some light in the darkness? There is always hope, and there must be. But we should know that the storm will come if it has been prophesied. You do not need to be a prophet or an analyst to see that human history is at a critical turning point. You do not need the gift of foresight to speak of things confirmed by scientists and analysts,

or by people with degrees and knowledge of geopolitics and economics. I have been studying these matters for twenty years, and I am now convinced that astonishing signs will occur during this year. Of course, I do not wish to persuade you to accept my views. Questioning what you hear shows critical thought. Sometimes it is good to question what is presented to you, especially when there is no opportunity for dialogue, as there is none during this talk. I will say what I have to say, and you may accept or reject what you hear. Bear in mind that these are not my words. They are the words of other fathers of the Church, elders with the gift of foresight, holy people of our own time, and figures in today’s political world. The only thing I bring to them is my question: how close are we to the fulfillment of the prophecies? First, let us note that the fathers, the prophets, and the present-day elders with foresight gave no dates, and rightly so. They spoke of what they saw by the grace of God, but they never named a particular year.

So what we are about to say, what you are about to hear, may happen in a hundred years, in a thousand years, or even in a few weeks or months. I want you to entertain the possibility, for good or ill, that these things might happen tomorrow, the day after, next week, or next month. Since those elders gave no specific dates, everything remains uncertain, everything is possible, everything is conceivable. You will judge and understand for yourselves whether we are close to these events or far from them. I will begin with a holy figure of our own time. He reposed recently, in 2009. The elder with the smile after death departed to the Lord.

Father Joseph of Vatopedi. We used to see him on the 4E television channel. He was a deeply spiritual man and the spiritual son of a great saint of our Church, a man who beheld God and lived in hesychia, inner stillness: Elder Joseph the Recluse, Saint Joseph the Hesychast. I do not know whether Father Joseph had the gift of foresight. I do not think he had shown signs of it. What he relates is chiefly drawn from prophecies of saints of the Byzantine era. I also suspect that Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain, or perhaps another elder with foresight unknown to us, had told him details of the coming events. So what did Father Joseph say? What was Elder Joseph of Vatopedi saying in 2006? He said the events would begin with a disruption in the government of the country,

which would cause international capital to be withdrawn from Greece, leading to layoffs and poverty. Do you think such a thing sounds groundless? Do you think it is a fanciful scenario? What does a disruption in the government mean? And what is this international capital that would be withdrawn, leaving the country hungry and giving the Turks an opportunity to invade our homeland? Think about what the German finance minister, Mr. Schäuble, said a month ago. You have seen him on the news in his wheelchair. He speaks about Greece in very harsh terms.

He said that Europe would stop funding Greece if the June 17 elections did not produce a government with its own parliamentary majority. I heard him say it myself on a morning news program. Mr. Schäuble said it. Is that not a withdrawal of capital? And are we not facing a disruption in government when no party can form a government with a majority? Could this disruption mean an inability to form a strong, viable government that can resolve our country’s problems with Europe and meet its financial obligations by carrying out everything agreed? The near future will answer those questions. But consider also what the late Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain used to say:

‘You will have a government, and it will be as though you have none.’ Today, and quite possibly after the elections, we may again have a government in name but no effective government, whether it is an interim administration or even a government of national unity, as a present-day elder nun says. That would mean the political system had failed to form a strong government. Of course, anything is possible, and the elections are close. We will soon see whether what Joseph of Vatopedi and Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain said is borne out: that before the events begin, you will have a government, and it will be as though you have none. We will see whether these prophecies are confirmed in the time just ahead.

The late Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain also said that before the events begin, people will become disgusted with politicians and drive them away with stones. We have already seen this. Remember the Indignant Citizens movement and the scenes of politicians being harassed.

Politicians could not go out or sit down to eat somewhere without angry crowds surrounding them and driving them away with stones. That is what Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain spoke of. He said these things in a time of prosperity, when no one even imagined they could happen.

Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain reposed in 1994. Nothing like this seemed possible then. We were in a period of growth. Listen carefully to what he said: ‘First they will give you a great deal of money, so that people are pushed into taking out loans. Then they will impose taxes so heavy that you cannot pay them. But they will not even have time to collect those taxes, because the events will begin.’ Our country has been burdened with an enormous foreign public debt, so large that we cannot repay even the interest as it comes due. They use this as a plausible reason to impose an economic program that will wear the people down to the limit. They will keep bringing in new financial measures, burdensome

and unbearable measures, along with many others, until the people are outraged. Remember the Indignant Citizens. Saint Paisios said these things before he reposed, at a time when they seemed impossible. If an economist, a financial journalist, or a politician had said we would reach this point, everyone would have mocked him. Some politicians did say such things from their own point of view, and they too were mocked. But Saint Paisios, who had the gift of foresight, saw the events we face today. ‘They will make the people outraged.’ And we have seen the Indignant Citizens. So what will happen after this disruption in government?

Capital will be withdrawn. Europe is threatening that, if we do not vote in favor of the memorandum, it will stop funding Greece, and Greece will default completely. The country will become poor. Workers will be laid off. Then, the late Joseph continues, the Turks will find an opportunity to provoke our homeland, and hunger will strike us. A provocation against our homeland. How might they provoke us? When do you attack an enemy—when he is strong and financially secure, or when he has nothing? When he is desperately poor. When can someone take

a house at auction? When its owner owes money on it, or when he is financially secure and keeps up with the mortgage payments? If I have a house, plenty of money, and make my payments on time, no one can take it from me. My neighbor cannot take my house, however much he envies it. When could he take it? When I have fallen into complete financial ruin. That is when he can make his decisive move, catch me by surprise, and get what he wants. Here we have Turkey, a country that will take advantage of Greece’s bankruptcy while we are cutting defense spending.

Our aircraft lack the fuel to fly. When there is an incident somewhere, we have to think about whether we can send ships, because we have to think about the fuel. We are trying to cut defense spending. So when we reach the point where nothing is left, that is when they will find their chance to provoke us. Saint Paisios of the Holy Mountain says, ‘When you hear talk of the six nautical miles, of extending the limit from six to twelve, war will follow.’ This is what Saint Cosmas of Aetolia meant when he said the Turks would reach the six-mile limit and then be destroyed. The six-mile limit is any point six nautical miles from

the coast of Greece. The waters up to six miles are ours. Under international law, we can extend that limit from six to twelve miles and expand our territorial waters. International law gives us that right. Then, he says, the sea and the resources it yields would be ours to use. What does the sea yield? Fish? Oil beneath the seabed? Natural gas? These would be ours. Let me remind you of the term casus belli, which we have heard on television. What does it mean? A cause for war. For years our neighbors have threatened to strike us if we decide to extend our territorial waters from six to twelve miles. That threat is widely known in politics.

Major parties now speak of immediately declaring an exclusive economic zone, the so-called EEZ. We hear that on television too. The speaker presents it as recognition of our country’s right to expand the area where it can extract resources by extending its territorial waters from six to twelve nautical miles. We hear officials say the matter must be settled at once. One politician says, ‘Declare the EEZ immediately, the day after the elections.’ Another party says the same thing. So we have reached the point where we hear talk of extending territorial waters from six to twelve miles. We also often hear talk of Kastellorizo and of

We also keep hearing about Kastellorizo and other islands in that area. The Turks claim these islands belong to the Mediterranean, not the Aegean, where Greece has the right to extend its territorial waters. They say different laws apply there. Yet the area is said to hold vast oil and natural gas deposits, enough to make Greece an economic superpower. All this, together with Turkey’s ambitions, its diminished strategic importance, and its wish to keep influencing events in the Near and Middle East, creates the possibility of serious trouble. We shall see. Do not imagine that the road ahead is strewn with rose petals, even if some promise a global economy that will solve the world’s problems.

Let me read you some reports from the internet.

The well-known think tank International Crisis Group proposes four measures to help Greece and Turkey reach an agreement over the Aegean.

It says the time has come when the two countries could resolve their problems in the Aegean. Greece’s economic crisis has created a need to cut defense spending; Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has consolidated his position; and, in 2011, flights over the Greek islands were unofficially suspended.

Taken together, these things create conditions ripe for a solution, despite the difficulties, especially in Greece. The report then sets out four measures. So the Americans are coming to tell us, ‘It is time to discuss your territorial waters.’ Other sources say more. WikiLeaks has brought new classified documents about the Aegean and Cyprus to light. According to them, the Greeks agreed to limit the extension of their territorial waters around many Aegean islands. The Turkish newspaper Sabah writes that, in some places, Greece agreed to remain at six nautical miles instead of extending its waters to twelve. A man named Bölükbaşı, apparently a Turkish ambassador, says that

Or rather, he reveals the areas where Turkey asked that the limit remain at six miles, and Greece replied, ‘That could be done.’ Other sources are concerned. Here is another report: Turkey may soon try to take advantage of Greece’s economic crisis and make certain moves.

The Russian newspaper Pravda sees the possibility of conflict between Greece and Turkey.

Americans say that cuts in Greece’s defense spending encourage Turkey to invade. A working group formed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Council on Foreign Relations has studied the prospects for American-Turkish relations. According to the report, the group was formed specifically for that purpose. It says Turkey should avoid anything that suggests it intends to exploit Athens’s present troubles to gain Greek territory. The United States also believes that a Greek military defeat, with territory taken from Greece

as a result of defense cuts brought on by the economic crisis, would open a Pandora’s box. The consequences for Greece could spiral beyond control, perhaps not only in the Balkans but throughout Europe. So even the Americans see what the elders with spiritual foresight saw. They too say it could unleash consequences across the Balkans, Europe, and the whole world.

These are real circumstances before us. Turkey has its eye on our islands, and as its economy grows stronger, it dares to challenge us, threaten us, and covet what is ours. What Father Joseph of Vatopedi says is no fanciful prophetic tale.

A Greek-Turkish war is only a matter of time, analysts say, and the Minister of Defense, former armed forces chief General Frangoulis Frangos, says we are ready to face any threat: “As Minister of National Defense, I want to assure you that, despite the economic crisis, our country remains strong and always at the forefront, thanks to its capable armed forces. Despite its difficulties, Greece has one of the best defense systems and its forces have high morale,” and so on.

A few days ago, there was a major air and naval exercise in the area, involving both Greece and Turkey. Someone told me today that the Turks held an exercise near the Evros River a few days ago and left some bridges there—floating bridges or bridge-laying equipment, I am not sure. They left them in place. Normally, after an exercise, you take that equipment away, but they left it there just in case. I will mention that too.

Someone said that a person he knows was called up for exercises near the Evros River.

When he asked what was happening, a military officer told him, ‘We are ready.’ The man asking was a civilian who had been called up unexpectedly. Perhaps some military officials say this quietly, but the air is heavy with the prospect of war. What, then, will happen if fighting breaks out?

The first thing Father Paisios says is that we must not worry. We will weather a storm and face a trial. Greece will suffer no lasting harm. Now let us turn to what Father Paisios said: Turkey will provoke our country and take two or three small islands, while we will face hunger. Fathers from the Holy Mountain say this too—other fathers, not Paisios. Paisios puts it differently: we will be so hungry that bread itself will be precious. Other fathers from the Holy Mountain say this crisis will make the famine of the 1940s seem like a luxury beside what is coming.

Unfortunately, we in Greece have grown used to comfort. Our country will struggle. And amid our hunger and crisis, the Turks will seize the chance to take two or three small islands.

They will not enjoy them for long. After a short time, perhaps only days, the war between Greece and Turkey will become a war between Russia and Turkey. The Russians will come down through the straits and strike Turkey.

The Turks will have to withdraw all their forces from the Aegean just as they are preparing to move against Greece. They will pull back and return home. For our army, he writes, there will not be a single loss of life. Not one of our soldiers, sailors, or airmen will be killed. We may have a few ‘scratches,’ he says—perhaps some injuries or a clash like the one at Imia, though there were deaths there. Father Paisios says there will be none this time, through God’s protection. Greece as a country, however, will go hungry. We must pass through this storm and remember something of the ascesis—the ascetic discipline—and fasting of our Holy Fathers.

Then God may pour out His mercy abundantly on our nation. In the end, Greece will be vindicated. Turkey will be broken apart; the Europeans will break it apart. Father Paisios says the Turks already carry their memorial wheat at their waist, as though their funeral were near. They will suffer a great calamity. Russia will intervene from the north, and what Saint Cosmas prophesied will come to pass.

If the Turkish fleet sets out toward Greece and reaches the six-mile limit, it will indeed be destroyed. That will be the hour when, as the saying goes, they have their memorial wheat tucked into their belts. There will be war between Russia and Turkey. At first the Turks will think they are winning, but this will lead to their destruction. In the end the Russians will win, and Constantinople will fall into their hands. Then we will receive it; they will be compelled to give it to us. The Turks will be destroyed and wiped from the map, he says, because theirs is a nation that did not arise through God’s blessing. One third of the Turks will return to the region from which they came, deep in Turkey; one third will survive because they have become Christians; and the last third will be killed in this war. Father Paisios also says that the Turks will make a provocation connected with the territorial waters.

A long time will pass after the Turks attack our country, and then the Russians will strike Turkey. Just as a sheet of paper falls apart when you strike it, so Turkey will fall apart. After Turkey’s collapse, Russia will continue the war as far as the Persian Gulf, and its troops will stop outside Jerusalem. Then the Western powers will give the Russians enough time to withdraw their troops from those lands for cabbages to grow—that is, six months. But Russia will not withdraw its forces, and the Western powers will begin gathering troops to attack them. All this will happen in the second half. The first half, as Father Paisios calls it, will take place in Constantinople. There will be a war between Russia and Turkey. NATO troops will be moved through Greece along the Egnatia highway, and there is a prophecy that speaks of the Egnatia here.

When it is completed, the Western troops, the NATO troops, will pass through here on their way to Constantinople. There, Father Joseph of Vatopedi says, God will gather them to answer for the crimes they committed against Byzantium. They will undergo their canon of penance, and then NATO forces and Russians will slaughter one another outside Constantinople. You see how a small incident could grow into a European or even a world war. Something like that happened in the previous world wars. These are not scenarios, or fanciful prophecies made up by priests and monks.

Father Paisios or Father Joseph of Vatopedi. They were serious ascetics, respected throughout the Athonite community. They were great ascetics, and the fact that they said these things, and spoke of them as something for our own time, means something. Of course, nothing may happen. I pray nothing does. I pray everything goes well. But earthshaking events could also begin with a spark and become a fire that burns across the whole planet. Let me tell you something. You can ask His Eminence about it when he comes here to visit Koupanos, or ask Father Gerasimos Bekes, who is in charge of the press office of the Holy Metropolis.

In 2008 they took a trip to Russia. There His Eminence met Mr. Putin, who is now Russia’s president, and Father Gerasimos also spoke with him. There is even a photograph in Pavlios Logos showing Father Gerasimos shaking hands with the Russian president. Well, Putin told Father Gerasimos, ‘Yes, we expect a world war, and it will begin in Iran.’ Think of it: that was in 2008, four years ago. And now, perhaps within days or within a month, by the end of June, they are preparing to strike Iran.

Perhaps the spark will come sooner, through a war between Greece and Turkey. Anyone can find these things on the internet and in the newspapers. Television says little about them, so as not to frighten people. This is not about frightening anyone. It is about knowing what is happening and preparing properly. Today’s talk is meant to make you think about what is being hidden, about what fathers and those in our Church with the gift of foresight have said openly, and about what is available online for those of you who have access to the internet. Sadly, much of the population does not know these things. We need to prepare properly.

Father Joseph of Vatopedi has also written some poems about these events. The poem is long, so I will not read it to you. In any case, he too speaks of older prophecies of Saints. I have them here, but we will not have time to read them: those of Saint Methodios of Patara, Saint Andrew the Fool for Christ, the prophecy associated with the tomb of Constantine the Great, and a prophecy of Saint Konstantzas, a Russian bishop from 1809, if I remember correctly. They give details of these events. They say a time of worldwide turmoil will come, and that half the earth’s population will be lost. Father Joseph of Vatopedi says that in three days and nights there will be the slaughter of 700 million men, apparently by nuclear weapons, without counting women and children. If we count one woman and one child for each of those men, that immediately brings the number to two billion people. Then you hear on various blogs reports and claims of a plan to reduce the world’s population...

These things make you suspicious and give you pause. And when you are Orthodox, when you rely on the Saints and trust the fathers who said these things, and you see that events are not going well, you begin to suspect that we may well be living in the years those fathers spoke about.

According to Elder Paisios, a sign that the time of war has come will be the withdrawal of the embassies. When we see Greece withdraw its embassy from Turkey and Turkey withdraw its embassy from Greece, we should say, ‘Through the intercessions of the Theotokos, O Savior, save us,’ because war will follow. Father Paisios says this. It will be a sign. If we see the Turks withdraw their embassy from Greece and the Greeks withdraw theirs from Turkey, know that it will be a matter of days. It might happen in a hundred years. I say it might happen in a thousand years, for example. But whenever this happens, whenever the embassies are withdrawn, know that we are close. That will be the sign. It will be an indication that the events are now beginning. And when the events happen, all of them will happen: the war, the conflict with Turkey.

The hunger in Greece, the clash between NATO troops and Orthodox Russians outside Constantinople, and the handing over of the City to us—they will be forced to hand over those lands, Constantinople and Asia Minor. Then will come the Russians’ advance into Palestine and the war’s spread from all of Europe to the whole world. We should understand that these events are all connected.

Thank you. Another sign will be bloodshed in Syria. Father Paisios speaks of it, as does another great figure of our Church...

Thank you.

The late Bishop Antonios of Sisani and Siatista said that when the trouble begins in Syria, you should begin to pray. The trouble has begun in Syria, and these days there is civil conflict there. They want to overthrow its leader, Assad, and install a government they can control. Let me read part of an account about Bishop Antonios: ‘Even in times of prosperity, he kept telling us, often with sorrow, “A great famine will come upon Greece, my child, a great famine.” We found it hard to believe him. In his final days, after his last operation, the elder was in hospital...’

‘They brought him into the room. He looked across at the icon of Christ on the Cross and wept like a little child, saying with his familiar humility, “How did You count me worthy, my Christ, and reveal these things to me?” Clearly he had seen something grave ahead. When we asked him, “What did you see, Your Grace?” he struggled to answer, because he was having trouble with his voice. “When the trouble begins in Syria, begin to pray.” He repeated it many times: “There, when it begins in Syria,” meaning that the storm would then reach us too.’ The events have begun in Syria. So now we wait to see whether the sign Father Paisios spoke of—the withdrawal of the embassies—will appear. It is close.

Layoffs of public employees are close. The withdrawal of international capital from the country hangs over us as a threat; that too could happen. If we do not elect a government with a clear majority that will support the bailout agreement, there will be no money, and the country’s entire financial system will collapse. The whole country, the whole economy, will collapse. We will have nothing, hunger will come, and all the events the fathers spoke about will follow. I cannot tell you what will happen. But stay alert. Have a healthy concern, so you can decide how to act and how to prepare. Preparation is needed...

Material preparation, certainly. Spiritual preparation, even more so. Spiritual preparation means metanoia, repentance, confession, and participation in the Mysteries. But material preparation matters too. What should we do—go and clear out the supermarket right now? No. But when you see what Father Paisios spoke of, the withdrawal of the embassies, or hear that Greece will not receive its next payment from the IMF or any further help from Europe, be alert. Should we then go and buy supplies? Yes, whatever you can. How long will it last? I cannot tell you: three months, five months, a year. And bear in mind that after the time when...

Here in Greece, amid the crisis and the conflict with Turkey, there will be no food on supermarket shelves. Imagine what will happen if there is a world war, a worldwide nuclear war, as the fathers say there will be. Father Paisios says so too. I cannot give you the reference right now; I do not remember exactly where it is written. But he says the war will be nuclear. Others say it as well, including politicians. I have an article here about Dmitry Medvedev. Through Medvedev, Russia warned the West not to encourage hasty, reckless wars, because they could develop into regional nuclear wars. Vladimir has said it too...

Dmitry Medvedev has said it, Vladimir Putin has said it, and Henry Kissinger, the former American Secretary of State, has said it. Journalists, economic analysts, politicians, and military figures have said that we are heading toward a third world war. Those of you with internet access, search for ‘Third World War’ and see how many hundreds of references come up. But above all, the fathers say it. Father Paisios, a Saintly figure, says things will go that far because there are plans—their plans. And perhaps even through this God’s plan will move forward and bring about good. What good do I mean?

They say...

The fathers say—and I have read these things in the prophecies of the Saints—that after all this widespread calamity, a time will come when Greece will bring forth its treasures. The earth will yield its treasures, and Greece will become the center of the world. Many people will turn to Orthodoxy and become Orthodox Christians. No unbeliever will remain in Greece; everyone will repent. The earth will yield its treasures, and everyone will live in great wealth, eating with golden spoons. They say the poor will become wealthy and everyone will eat with golden spoons. When I tell some people this, they say it sounds like a story...

Science fiction. What kind of fantasy is that? When they say...

They say we have so many billions of cubic meters of natural gas, so much oil, so much gold, and all these other resources. Journalists say it on television. So why is it a problem when Saint Paisios says it? Are he and the other saints who wrote about these things to be ridiculed? I will believe the fathers, the prophets, the elders who could see what was coming. And what journalists and politicians say about the riches beneath Greece confirms my faith. Then a war breaks out, and the great powers, the international community, gather in Greece to settle matters.

Some people repent after that shock to the whole world. Greece draws out its mineral wealth, everyone becomes rich, and Orthodoxy flourishes. Is that an outlandish scenario? Not at all. What we cannot know is when it will happen. I can certainly accept that this may not be the time. Perhaps it isn't. But remember one thing, and I will close this part of the talk: if we see the embassies withdrawn, that will be the sign. How should we prepare? As we said: repentance, prayer, participation in the Mysteries of the Church, and fasting.

We have forgotten prayer, and we have forgotten fasting. Whether we want to or not, we will experience fasting as hunger, as great hunger. We will live through these things. But it will be a chance for us to be tested, to feel something of what the saints and ascetics felt, and for God to grant us a blessing through that trial. May He give us spiritual gifts amid material hardship. And those of us who owe money should settle our debts.

Though a contemporary elder nun says...

Thank you. We ought to settle whatever debts we have. If we owe someone, we should pay them. And of course we should pay what we owe to our country, this troubled country to whose troubles we ourselves have contributed.

We should also prepare by laying in material supplies.

I know who this elder nun is. I will close with her words.

She is from Makri in Attica. She says, “The prophecies say that everything will begin with a national unity government. It will start in June. They will leave at midnight, and we will have no government. The end of the false Romaiiko begins.” That is, the present Greek state is a false Romaiiko. The true Romaiiko will come when we also regain our capital, Constantinople. That is what the Turks will do. Let’s move on. The war will be nuclear, and the water will be contaminated. These events will happen in summer so that people will be helped, this elder nun says. Thank you.

From September onward, we will begin to catch our breath. Three months of events will have changed everything. She says this applies to Greece; elsewhere, things will not go well. As we begin to recover, others will be going downhill. Saint Paisios and Elder Joseph of Vatopedi say that in this world war the great cities will become shantytowns and deserted cities. Forget the great cities you know, London or New York, with their huge buildings. Everything will turn to ashes. Saint Paisios says this plainly. And as we begin to catch our breath after those three months of hunger, when there is at least something to eat, others will begin to experience these events.

They experience these events. Saint Paisios says that we will not take part in this Third World War, and that will be a great blessing. Greece will only be drawn into a conflict with Turkey. What is to happen will happen, and after that we will be onlookers. We will see them fighting and killing one another, and we will pray. In Greece, the churches and monasteries will fill. People everywhere will return to the Church. Of course, someone may question all this. I am telling you what Saint Paisios says, not giving you my own words or ideas. He says that this world war will happen and Greece will not take part. It will be a great blessing for Greece to stay out of it, because anyone who takes part in that war is finished, burned up. That is how Saint Paisios puts it.

Those who die before the crisis, he says, will be spared the storm. Many who are waiting for an economic recovery will go bankrupt. People will be far from the Church, and money will lose its value. He says other things too, but perhaps this is not the time to mention them. We face the possibility of these events. We do not know what will happen, or what tomorrow will bring. Let us have metanoia, repentance. Know that the Church, the Orthodox Church, tells the truth. The Church is Christ; it is salvation. The world leads people astray. The world lies. The world is a liar. 'Dunyas pseftis,' the world is a liar...

That Turkish word means 'the world': the deceitful world. The world is a liar. True life is with Christ, in this life and in the next. The Church saves. The Mysteries of the Church save. Christ does not ask much of us. What does He ask? That we cast off our sins, enter the Church, partake of His Body and Blood, receive Holy Communion continually, be united with Christ, and avoid giving sin an opening. We are human, fallen and weak; we will fall into sin. Yes, but we will get up again. We will confess, receive Christ in Holy Communion, and begin to grow in theosis, divinisation, becoming pure and holy. Then we will be able to understand...

Why all those saints of the Church loved Christ so passionately that they gave even their lives for Him. Just yesterday or the day before, a video began circulating online of a young man being beheaded. He had been a Muslim and had become an Orthodox Christian. No, forgive me, I spoke wrongly. He became a Christian; I do not know whether he became Orthodox. People from his own community seized him and slaughtered him like a lamb. They cut off his head, and the horrific video shows it. He is a saint of our Church. These people gave their lives and shed their blood for Christ. Can we become like them? Can we share even a little in their struggle? Let us try.

If the spiritual life is no good, then let us reject it. But first let us see for ourselves; let us make a little effort. Christ, confession, metanoia, repentance, Holy Communion, and the Kingdom of Christ: through these, our nation and society can get back on their feet, and so can each of us. That is all. And when the moment Saint Paisios speaks of comes, let us buy a sack of beans, a sack of pasta, and a couple of extra sacks to give to those who have none.

If we can fill our storerooms, let us do so. Here in the villages you have houses and storage space. We in the city, in Naousa, live in apartments and cannot store much, but you...

You can do that. And I believe hunger will not be as severe in the villages as it will be in the cities. Remember, two years ago the drivers of the trucks that carry fuel went on strike.

There was fuel, but food could not be transported from the factories to the big supermarkets. Here in Naousa, you could see empty shelves where certain products should have been.

Thank you.

Imagine what could happen in a crisis. So get whatever supplies you can, so that you can help your neighbors too. You may have to fast yourselves; each person will decide what to do then.

How could you sit down to eat when your neighbor has nothing? Then we will fast. But at least we should have something we can give to those in need, especially when there are small children and people who are ill. I have given you a few things to think about. I do not want you to go home frightened. I shared these things simply to keep you informed. I will close with what Father Paisios says: When we see the Turks withdraw their embassy after a provocation, and Greece withdraws its embassy from Turkey, then know that war is near. Let us repent, and let us begin asking God now to give us light.

God will bring our homeland out of the muddy waters. He will raise it up, and Greece, Orthodox Greece, will be number one in the world. Foremost in what? In love and in serving others, the rest of the world. People will turn toward Greece. Now they mock us; now they want to trample us, to tear us apart. If they could, they would strike us, drop a nuclear bomb on us and destroy us. That is how great their hatred of Greece is. But when the time comes, because Greece, Orthodox Greece, is a light to the world, it will become a place people are drawn to and will serve the salvation of other nations. May we live to see these events.

Preparation, repentance, faith in Christ, and let us fear nothing. Whatever the Fathers said would happen will happen. Whether it is in 100 years or in 100 days, I cannot tell you. You will see for yourselves and judge for yourselves on the basis of what the Fathers have said. Amen. Thank you.