“Culture is good, but in order for it to be beneficial, it is also necessary to“cultivate”the soul. Otherwise, culture will end in disaster. "Evil," said Saint Cosmas of Aetolia, "will come from literate people." Despite the fact that science has advanced far ahead and achieved such great success, people, striving to help the world, do it in such a way that …
Cosmas Aetoli (Greek Κοσμάς ο Αιτωλός, in the world Constas, Greek Κώνστας; 1714, nom Aetolia and Acarnania, Greece - August 24, 1779, Berat, Northern Epirus) - priest of the Constantinople Orthodox Church, a figure of Greek enlightenment of the XVIII century.
"They will loan you a lot of money and demand it back, but they won't be able to take it."
The credit system became widespread in the United States and Europe after the Second World War. By the mid-1960s, half of American families bought cars and equipment on credit, by 1973, about two-thirds of all goods were sold on credit, this lifestyle meant the habit of enjoying things even before they were bought out, and rooted the psychology of mass consumption. … Loans were taken for everything: cars, housing, furniture, household appliances, clothing, travel packages and food.
Lending in the form of government loans has also become widespread. Similar assistance was provided by the United States to European states after World War II; the European Union helped its member countries.
Exactly what Saint Cosmas says in his prophecy, happened to Greece: "she was given a lot of money." Greece came to an economic collapse as a result of strict implementation of the recommendations of the European Union. For many years, more and more loans were actually imposed on her. Even in 2009, when the insolvency of Greece was no longer a secret to anyone, officials from the EU imposed another huge package of Euro loans on it.
The consequence of this was that Greece fell into a financial hole and trap, and at present is forced to work only to service this debt, having lost a significant part of its sovereignty. In fact, we are witnessing the fulfillment of the second part of the prophecy of Cosmas of Aetolia: the Europeans "demanded money back."
The concluding part of the prophecy of Saint Cosmas says that the funds imposed on the Greeks will not be returned back to the creditors who allocated them.
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"You will be taxed with a big, unbearable tax, but they will not be able to get their way."
By signing a "memorandum" with a trio of international creditors, the Greek government has committed itself to implementing austerity measures. As a result, what Saint Cosmas prophesied came true: the debt burden of politicians was shifted onto ordinary citizens, who were "imposed with a heavy, intolerable tax." However, such measures did not bring the desired effect and creditors could not "get their way": the Greek debt not only did not decrease, but also increased significantly.
"Even chickens and windows will be taxed."
On the one hand, this prophecy can be understood figuratively - after all, almost everything is now taxed, on the other - in the literal sense: when assessing country houses by the tax inspectorate in some countries, the number of windows on houses and the number of pets are taken into account.
The same thing happens in Greece. With the help of the E9 tax seal, in an extremely short time frame, people were “asked” to describe in detail everything they owned, without giving time to understand what was going on.
The numbers E9 and E3 indicate in Greece a set of legislative acts, according to which citizens of the country are required to submit to the tax authorities an inventory of the real estate in their personal use, which, of course, is taxed.
After the onset of the crisis, the government sends notices of payments in receipts for electricity to avoid tax evasion. In cases where people cannot pay huge tax revenues, their electricity is cut off.
“People will become poor because they will not have love for trees and plants” [1].
One of the reasons for the plight of many Greek families today is the refusal to obtain food by their own labor and to run their own household.
Having entered the united Europe, the Greeks abandoned the country's self-sufficiency and began to fit into the common European division of labor. Following the directives of the European Union has led to the restriction of fishing, viticulture and many other forms of agriculture.
Many farmers in the 90s, in exchange for financial support from Europe, cut down vineyards, put flocks of sheep under the knife and abandoned their fields.
"The time will come when you will not learn anything."
Modern mass media are trying to form public opinion: they serve only facts that are beneficial to them, doze information, sometimes use unverified and even deliberately fictitious data. As an example of lack of freedom and lack of publicity, we are usually cited, first of all, by totalitarian countries. However, in the so-called progressive, democratic states, the situation is no better: really, how much do modern Europeans know about the crisis in Greece or the situation in Syria?
"Things will appear in schools that your mind will not contain."
Many schools in our time have actually become centers of anti-Christian propaganda. When drawing up the school curriculum, the Orthodox tradition is not taken into account, and any attempts to change this situation encounter fierce resistance.
In this regard, the words of the great saint Athanasius of Paros are recalled: "If parents do not follow where they send their children and what the children teach, then the time will come when our people will cry bitterly on the ruins."
"We will see how our land will turn into Sodom and Gomorrah."
Unfortunately, the saint's prophecy is coming true precisely in our days. The perversions for which the Lord once wiped out two ancient cities from the earth are widespread. Every day they become more and more commonplace and are already perceived by many not as shameful perversions, but as a variant of the norm. Many countries have already legalized same-sex marriage. The European Union will soon require all its members to officially recognize their legitimacy.
"After the world war, people will eat with golden spoons."
Here Cosmas of Aetolia was probably referring to the relative prosperity that followed in Western Europe and the United States after World War II. In a consumer society, people do not work in order to maintain their lives, but in order to acquire the ability to consume. Now the idea of buying, rather than the act of buying, serves as a motivation for employees. In modern society, consumption is at the symbolic level: “To be a consumer … means to be included in a specific set of cultural symbols and values” [2].
This is precisely what Saint Cosmas had in mind when he spoke of the "golden spoons." On the one hand, they are a symbol of well-being, which has become available to wide layers of the population, on the other, consumption, elevated to an ideal and a cult by modern society.
“The people of our era have not survived either wars or famines. "And in God," they say, "we do not need either." They have everything and therefore do not value anything”[3].
The modern crisis is primarily of a spiritual nature: the deification of the flesh and one's “I” inevitably leads to a lack of meaning in life and ideals.
"The time will come when people will close themselves in big boxes, and their fathers will die in small ones."
Obviously, we are talking about the mass relocation of villagers (mainly young people) to cities, where they will live in "big boxes" - multi-apartment skyscrapers. Parents of immigrants, abandoned by their children who have left in search of a better life, will remain to live out their days in villages in small houses - "small boxes".
"You will see how some will move up, and others down."
"When you see how some move to the south, and others to the north, it will be already close."
In his prophecies, Saint Cosmas foretold the processes that have received a particularly rapid development in our time: mass migration and emigration. Thus, millions of emigrants from Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe poured into the European Union. A similar situation is observed in Russia, where hundreds of thousands of so-called migrant workers, citizens of the states of the former USSR, move annually in search of earnings. At the same time, there is also massive internal migration in our country.
All these circumstances fit into the general outline of globalization processes. In a situation where national customs and religions will gradually be lost, conversations about a single world religion and culture will sound more and more powerful. Of course, all these globalization processes to one degree or another bring the arrival of the Antichrist closer. This is what Saint Cosmas says in his prophecy.
"The time will come - and where the guys are now hanging their guns, the gypsies will hang their musical instruments."
“We have lived up to the time that Saint Cosmas of Aetolia spoke about … Where the monks used to live, where their rosary used to hang, now radio receivers are wailing and soft drinks are hissing!.. Yes, apparently, a few more years will pass and that's all you won't need it. In general, from what is happening, the conclusion follows: life is drawing to a close. The end of life and the end of this world is coming”[4].
"Your plates will be filled to the brim, but food will be impossible to eat."
The contemporaries of Cosmas of Aetolia, of course, did not understand how one could remain hungry with an abundance of food, because in those days there was still no concept of food pollution.
Now the situation has changed, and we are beginning to penetrate the meaning of this prophecy: nitrates, food additives, preservatives, radiation, chemicals, hormones, genetically modified foods - all these phenomena, unfortunately, we encounter in everyday life.
“Fruits, tomatoes, and other fruits are grown on hormones! Fruits ripen overnight, but those unfortunate people who are hypersensitive to hormonal drugs do not care? Let them get sick, huh?.. They also spoiled the animals. Take chickens, even calves. Forty day old chicks are pumped with hormones to the weight of six month olds. A man eats their meat, but how will he benefit from it? In order for the cows to give more milk, they are also stuffed with hormones … And if they were left as determined by God, then everything would go on as usual and people would drink clean milk! And besides, these injections make everything tasteless. Tasteless products, tasteless people - everything has become tasteless. Even life itself has lost its taste for people. You ask young guys: "What do you like?" - “Nothing,” they answer. And these are hefty guys! “Well, tell me at leastwhat do you like to do?" - "Nothing." This is where man comes to! By the work of his hands, he thinks to “correct the mistakes” of God. In order for the chickens to rush, they turn night into day. Have you seen the eggs laid by such chickens? After all, if God made the moon shine like the sun, then people would go crazy. God created the night for people to rest, but what have they reached now!”[5]
Unfortunately, more and more such examples can be cited every day. We have become hostages of environmental pollution and human interference in natural processes. As you can see, a similar development of events was predicted by Saint Cosmas back in the 18th century.
"The time will come when there will no longer be the former harmony between priests and laity"
"The priests will become like ordinary lay people, and the lay people will become like wild beasts."
Saint Cosmas tried with all his might to prevent such a development of events, because he saw his task in making the Church the center of concentration and preparation of forces interested in the spiritual revival of the Motherland: “The Holy Church is our mother. She is a source that quenches thirsts. And the priests must serve every day so that the Lord blesses the people and preserves the country. " “Just as a shepherd watches over his sheep, so a priest should visit the homes of Christians day and night, not eat or drink, taking their things, but, on the contrary, if a husband has a quarrel with his wife, father with son, brother with brother, neighbor with neighbor, strive to establish love between them”[6].
"What will you have - give everything, take care only of your souls."
“The time will come when the enemies will take even the ashes from the hearth from you. But do not change your faith, as many others will."
The saint warns us: in order to save your life, you should sacrifice all material goods and comforts, but you cannot betray your faith. These words echo the words of his teachings: “Let our body burn, let it roast it; Let all earthly things be taken from us (there is no place for them in the future, give them back, they are not yours). Take care and care only about the Soul and Christ - only this is necessary for you, no one can take them away from you against your will. Keep them and do not lose them”[7].
[1] Saint Cosmas himself did a lot to support agriculture: he not only cared about the spiritual salvation of his flock, but also tried to help her harmoniously arrange life on earth. The preacher gave local residents advice on caring for fruit trees and was the first to talk about the need to plant them, which, of course, did not hesitate to affect the growth of crops. Many of the trees planted by the Saints have survived to this day.
[2] J. Baudrillard. The System of Things, St. Petersburg, 1998, p. 96.
[3] Elder Paisiy Svyatorets. "With pain and love about modern man" Words. T I. M, Svyataya Gora Publishing House, 2003. P. 116.
[4] Elder Paisiy Svyatorets. "With pain and love about modern man" Words. T. I. M., Publishing House "Holy Mountain", 2003. S. 182-183.
[5] Elder Paisiy Svyatorets. "With pain and love about modern man" Words. T. I. M., Publishing house "Svyataya Gora", 2003. S. 133-134
[6] Cosmas of Aetolia "Words" www.agionoros.ru/docs/59.html
[7] Ibid.
