The era of unbelief has created generations of people who feel neither attraction nor interest in anything churching. Yes, today the kids are baptized, Easter cakes bless Easter, and couples want to get married. But only a few show genuine interest in the church and its canons. Does a person practice prayer rules? Does it study? Most likely, the answer is no, because even from 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 threefoldness of a human being, his spirit, soul and body. And it is in this hierarchical order.
The current situation forces the church to abandon the attraction of the “flock” in the old ways and begin to use new methods. Priests “knock” on human hearts through radio conversations, television 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 "main", and "mandra", which translates as "shepherd." 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 order is given to the clergy as the highest reward. It refers to the "black", unmarried clergy, assigned for "years of service" or for special services to the church. Archimandrite Andrei Konanos, however, like any other clergyman of this category, should be referred to as “Your High Reverend” or “Father Andrei”. Sun belongs to the category of honorary titles, precedes the rank of bishop in the bishopric.
About Andrew Conanos
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 is educated in a classical lyceum. The future archimandrite already from childhood showed interest in the church 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 man shows interest and a penchant for pedagogical activity. He begins to teach the word of God at various educational institutions in Athens, holds missionary meetings with young people, and travels as counselor to Orthodox children's health camps. This successful experience of communication with the younger generation will help him in his future activities in the glory of the Lord.
The Archbishop of Athens and All Hellas Christodoulos (Paraskevaidis) in 1999 promoted him to the rank of deacon, and in 2000 ordained him a priest: priest, and then archimandrite. Andrei Konanos is a famous missionary preacher. His vast experience in dealing with young people allows him to do this talentedly and easily. In the parish of Father Andrei, regular meetings are held with young people and students, conversations are held with them, he practices the long night services that the monastery charter requires. In Russia, his sermons gained immense popularity literally immediately after believers learned about the archimandrite and his missionary work.
Work on the radio and on the Internet
The largest church radio station in Greece, “Piraeus Metropolis” in 2003, launched the author’s program of Archimandrite Andrei Konanos “Invisible Transitions” («θέατα περάσμαα). In the shortest possible time, this broadcast was among the most popular in Greece. Her audience is women and men, and the younger generation. Archimandrite did not just give lectures on various church-related topics, he answered questions from his radio listeners, found an approach to each of them, spoke in a language that everyone understood. In 2013, the program on the radio was closed, but only so that Father Andrei would continue his missionary activities on the Internet. Here he keeps an online diary in which he places his thoughts, articles, sermons.
As for the Russian audience, she can listen to the sermons of the archimandrite on the orthodox radio Vera, 100.9 FM, daily from Monday to Friday in the program “Springs of Heaven”. The application for this radio station can be downloaded through the Play Market, it weighs 200 kilobytes. Religious sites "Pravoslavie.ru" and "Pravmir" regularly publish articles by Andrei Konanos. They are read with great joy by the church people, and only embarked on the path of faith, because the preacher speaks with readers in the language of love, and therefore the language of Christ.
Books by Andrei Konanos
Work in the radio program allowed Father Andrei to accumulate a huge number of radio conversations. They 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 gathered 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 rather, to enjoy every day and believe that everything will be fine. In addition to reading paper options, it is possible to listen to audio books. Archimandrite Andrei Konanos in audio format sounds on the sites "Alphabet.ru" and "Tradition.ru". We will dwell on the explanation of the contents of each book in more detail.
The book "When Christ Becomes Everything to You"
Sretensky Monastery Publishing House publishes a book in 2015. In it, Father Andrei argues that modern people have lost the joy of Christ in the hustle and bustle. The preacher knows firsthand the problems of modern adults and young people, he helps to solve them, suggests doing this together. His conversations are written in a lively and witty syllable, in the simplest words pouring 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 discusses Orthodoxy in modern society, touches on the most exciting and heart-rending questions. 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 environment and the church, about fears, stresses, illnesses. The book is published in Greek, Bulgarian, English and Russian.
Archimandrite Andrei Konanos “Do not be afraid to rejoice! Conversations about Orthodoxy "
After 2 years, in 2017, the Sretensky Monastery publishing house publishes the second book of Father Andrei. In it, he struggles to convince the reader that even if at the moment the surrounding reality seems hostile, if literally everything seems terrible, the situation will eventually improve. Everything will be fine! - Archimandrite Andrei Konanos is firmly convinced of this, so a positive attitude passes through the whole book as a leitmotif. Conversations about repentance and joy of every day, secrets of prayers and secrets of humility, discussions about the value of a person and his egoism, loneliness and justice, and much more, are reflected in the book and set up in a positive way.
Sermons of Konanos Andrey
A sermon, in its broad 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 with a special example. He possesses a great gift of persuasion and puts all instructions in an understandable form. For example, he offers to convince little girls that it’s good in paradise, telling them that puppies live there and constantly distribute ice cream. Any situation, according to the archimandrite, is worthy of consideration, every human act is consolation and forgiveness.
Articles by Andrei Konanos
Since March 2014, the site "Pravmir.ru" regularly posts articles of archimandrite on its pages. Andrei Konanos is the author of more than 60 articles, which means that you can get an answer from the archimandrite personally for any question that you have. It seems that there is no area of life that he does not cover. This is a relationship with children and between spouses, a call for humility and joy, reasoning about the need to raise faith in oneself and fake church people. Orthodox believers in different corners of the planet fell in love with his easy syllable; they heed his sermons. The themes of love and happiness are very exciting for modern man. Father Andrei covers them in his articles.
An 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 performed also depends 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, that people have lost the attraction to the Holy Liturgy. He calls for spiritual culture, calls to enter the house of his Father reverently and behave there appropriately. And he often advises to ask the question: “What does God see about me?”, Because the answer to it is obvious: “Every episode of life”.
Archimandrite Andrei Konanos “If Everything Is Annoying”
Another article by the preacher, in which he discusses the man of today, is still imperfect and full of temptation. Archimandrite says irritation by others is a natural process. And yet completely unnatural. No matter how sinful a person may seem, God sees both his soul and thoughts. And even if the Lord does not condemn him, then what mortals have this right. The Holy Father calls to look deep into himself. And even the fact that a person is far from perfect, accept humbly. It doesn’t matter that the people here below talk about what they want, the main thing is that God above look and rejoice.
In simple words about the main thing
There are a lot of preachers in the Orthodox world. So why is it that this Greek Holy Father finds such a powerful response in the hearts of people around the world? Probably because he speaks to people in their own language. Realizes that the church should be popularized using all available modern means of communication. Not afraid to be convicted of this. He carries the Word of God in all possible ways, finds different ways for this. Explains incomprehensible things in the simplest words. The word "popular" reflects the essence of people's attitudes towards it, but fades next to it. Father Andrei is rather glorified and revered.
"Dostoevschina"
Confirmation of the above “about annoyance” sounds accusations and accusations of some of the excessive “dignity” of the sermons of Andrei Konanos, that is, of excessive escalation and dramatization. He is reproached with the fact that his conversations are not filled with gospel sobriety and rigor, 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 it, understand it, their hearts open, and souls return to the church abode. But you can “enjoy” the assurances about flirting the archimandrite with the public, distorting the words of the New Testament, and flattering communication. Such pseudo-fighters for truth with their “archaic right” can not only scare away a novice parishioner, but also completely turn him away from the Temple of God.
The “Merciful and Good God” of Archimandrite Andrei Konanos is able to return many lost souls, to open faith and salvation for them. And that God is not only love, but also conscience, Father Andrei is also able to convey eloquently and artistically.