SPIRITUAL OLYMPIAD
I will begin this book with an apology to my readers. I am a monk who has learned to live in silence and obscurity. And yet, in the pages that follow, I will dare to convey my personal experience and memories like the “humble first utterings” of a small child as I aim to describe my apprenticeship next to a saint –Saint Porphyrios Bairaktaris- whose grace and miracles are already known worldwide. […]
(Excerpt from the author’s note included in the book)
CONTENTS
SPIRITUAL OLYMPIAD
AUTHOR’S NOTE
PROLOGUE FROM DIMITRIS ITOUDIS
PROLOGUE FROM YELENA POPOVIC
ATHLOS – THE STRUGGLE: LIFE NEAR THE SAINTS
SAINT NESTOR – THE PROTECTOR OF ATHLETES
THE HOLY STEP OF MOUNT ATHOS AND MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH SAINT NESTOR
THE PERSONALITY OF SAINT NESTOR
SAINT NEKTARIOS: PROTECTOR OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES
FROM THE STADIUM OF ATHLETES TO THE STADIUM OF VIRTUES
THE MILITARY – PREPARATION FOR MOUNT ATHOS
MOUNT ATHOS: BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH
THE WISH TO BE BORN AGAIN
MODERN SPIRITUAL, ATHLETES THE LIFE OF SAINT PORPHYRIOS
MY ACQUAINTANCE WITH SAINT PORPHYRIOS
SAINT PORPHYRIOS AS TRAINER OF THE BODY AND SOUL
MEMORIES FROM THE LIFE OF SAINT PORPHYRIOS
SAINT PORPHYRIOS’S LOVE AND INTEREST IN THE SALVATION OF TWO ATHLETES
FRIENDSHIP WITH THIS WORLD IS AN ENEMY OF GOD
THE LIFE OF MY PARENTS – AN IMPORTANT OFFERING IN MY LIFE
AND MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE FROM HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD
COMMONALITIES BETWEEN THE CHURCH & SPORTS
LEGALITY IN THE AREAS OF CHURCH AND SPORTS
HUMAN AND DIVINE JUSTICE AND THEIR RESULTS
THE POWERFUL MINISTRY OF LOVE
GOOD THOUGHTS BRING POSITIVE RESULTS
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCES IN THE REALMS OF CHURCH AND SPORTS
THE STRUGGLE TO MAINTAIN SPIRITUAL GIFTS AND RECORDS
THE SPIRIT OF FREEDOM IN CHURCH AND SPORTS
THE SPIRIT OF UNITY IN THE SHURCH AND IN SPORTS
THE BENEFITS OF SPORT AND EXERCISE
HUMAN AND DIVINE KNOWLEDGE
THE MIRACLES OF SAINT NESTOR
THE OLYMPIC OF KNOWLEDGE
HAGIA SOPHIA IS THE SPIRITUAL OLYMPIAD OF ORTHODOXY
GOS’S VISITORS TO ISTANBUL
THE MILLENIUM OF MOUNT ATHOS IS THE BEGINNING OF A NEW SPIRITUAL OLYMPIAD
EPILOGUE
APPENDIX PHOTOGRAPHS