A Special Interview with Father Epifanios
Father Epifanios is a monk at St. Nektarios monastery of 28 years. While I was interviewing him, I was impressed not only by his immense knowledge but also by his love for God. His piety clearly shone through his gentle words and loving direction. With each question, I was able to sense his intense humility and wisdom. I am blessed that I was able to meet with someone with his devotion and knowledge of the faith. If you have the time, I sincerely recommend listening to the full recording of the interview. I am very happy with how it all turned out, and I thank God for this unique opportunity to meet with Father Epifanios. Enjoy!
INTERVIEW
What is your favorite part about your ministry?
It is tough to name a single favorite part of ministry, as I see it as just one unit, and I am completely happy with any part of it. However, if I had to pick one, I would say that my favorite part is seeing God transform somebody. When a person who is far from God is brough back and repents, that miracle in the human soul gives me great joy.
What convinced you that this life was right for you?
Many things convinced me, mostly it was the internal calling that I felt in my conscience. It was also a comparison of this form of life, devoting myself fully to Christ, versus what exists outside of this life in the world, and seeing what the result at the end of my life would be. This life helps me to express my gratitude to Christ (for the innumerable blessings He has given me) in the best possible way and helps me to devote myself to Him fully.
Did you always want to be this close to God or were you at first more interested in secular pursuits?
When I was young, I always believed in God, but I also set my priorities in secular pursuits. However, I realized through the Grace of God that they cannot provide me with the happiness that I thought they would. God gave me a special blessing to see what He truly has to offer, and to experience that there is nothing sweeter than the love of Christ. This made me decide to steer away from secular pursuits.
What is the most important part of a monk’s life?
Its difficult to separate, but for a monk it would have to be obedience to the abbot of the monastery, and via him to Christ Himself. I have to say, however, that it is all linked together. Obedience encompasses love and humility and all the other virtues. It is a package deal.
What is your average day like as a monk?
We go to sleep around 8:00 PM, wake up between 12:30 AM and 1:00 AM, and then pray in our rooms until 4:00 AM. Then we have a divine liturgy every day, and after that we rest from 6:00 to 8:30 AM. Each one of the monks has an assigned job to do every day. We stay working until 4:00 PM, when we have a Vespers Service. Then we have dinner, and we go to rest and sleep.
What is the biggest problem with the world today?
The world has distanced itself from God on all levels, people have stopped following God’s commandments, even on a rudimentary level, which is a very big problem for the world today. Because of this, the new generation after this is handicapped since they have never known about nor seen anything better than what the world has to offer. There is a distortion of right and wrong in the world, caused by the removal of God from all places in society. It affects individuals and families, societies, businesses, and even nations. That is the biggest problem.
If you could tell one thing to the youth today, what would it be?
I would tell the youth that humans have a very big blessing to be free beings created by God. We have the privilege to be called to Heaven, to God’s beauty, to eternal life. I would urge them to learn about God, learn about Christ, read the New Testament, think about the vanity of this world. Make your life decisions accordingly. Know that you will be called to give an account for your actions, and that will determine your eternity. And, finally, I will also tell them that Christ is God, and there is nothing better than knowing Christ and loving Him.
Why is prayer so important?
First of all, I want to say that God is not in need of our prayer, He does not need anything. We are the ones in need of God’s help. Without God’s help man makes many mistakes, and prayer is the thing that enlightens man. It brings God’s wisdom, His bliss, His peace, His joy, His happiness; it allows man to tap into these things. They slowly trickle in and filter into the person’s soul. The absence of prayer sidetracks and distracts a man from God. Prayer is the means of unification; it is a conversation with God. Without prayer, a person walks in the dark. Prayer is the light.
How should we go about in fulfilling the commandment to love our neighbor?
There are many ways to do this, and it depends on the circumstances. When somebody speaks ill of us, we can love our neighbor by answering him with a complement. When someone in in need, say he is struggling with a big load, you can run up to him and ask him to let you help. When a person is in distress, then we need to console the person, give him courage. We can also advise (with love) people who we see going astray. Another way is when we pray for other people, when we ask God to help them, have mercy on them, enlighten them.
What is the most essential part of a Christian’s life?
It’s difficult to say that there is only one part. I would say though that it is essential to keep God’s commandments. We have to love, respect, fear, and worship God. Equally essential to this is humility. To understand that we are nothing without God. Everything we have is from God. We must also have love, of course, for other people. There are of course even more, like going to church, repenting, receiving Holy Communion. These are all tools that help us to worship God, to love God. Another thing that I can add is to repel evil thoughts, to not accept evil even on the level of imagination. These all go together.
Are sacraments performed by non-Orthodox priests valid?
No. According to the Orthodox Church, in order for sacraments to be valid, they need to be carried out by a canonically ordained bishop or priest who has apostolic succession, and also must be performed according to the ancient traditions of the Church. Priests outside the Orthodox Church do not have apostolic succession, nor do they perform the sacraments in the fashion that was prescribed by the Church in the first centuries. For example, the Catholic Church does not immerse the children in water, it sprinkles them. Therefore, they do not have a baptism. After the Great Schism, the Catholic Church was severed from the remaining Orthodox Church, and they lost their validity. I would not say that the Eucharist **in the Catholic Church** is the True Body and Blood of Christ. Even in the way that they prepare the Eucharist, they use unleavened bread, when traditionally leavened bread was used. In addition to that, they lost apostolic succession. So, for those two reasons, no. They also deprive the faithful of the Blood of Christ, and only give them the wafer (in Orthodox tradition, the Body is given to the people with the Blood).
Do you believe miracles that occur outside of Orthodoxy are valid?
Yes, God performs miracles for everybody. He said that He rains over both the righteous and unrighteous and He raises His sun for both the good and evil. God by His Nature loves to give. God is love in His Core; He loves to give. We have so many examples of this, where God heals those who don’t even believe in Him. So yes, miracles can happen outside of Orthodoxy. But in the Orthodox world miracles are in abundance and greater than outside it.
What is your favorite quality of Catholicism?
I don’t know if I can answer that question since I have not studied it and can’t provide a favorite part.
What do you think it would take for the mending of the Great Schism?
The mending of the Great Schism is not something attainable, unless one of two conditions is met. Either the Catholic Church relinquishes papal primacy and submits to Orthodoxy or the Orthodox Church abolishes the synodical system and submits to the Pope. It doesn’t seem that either side is going to give way.
Do you believe people who aren’t Orthodox can still go to heaven?
That is a decision for God alone; God can do whatever He wants. I believe what Jesus Christ states in the New Testament: that whoever is baptized and believes and keeps God’s commandments will be saved; but I do not know outside of that. Ultimately, it is God’s decision, and God is super fair; every person who passes away, regardless of where he goes, will feel that God’s judgment was completely fair. No one will have a complaint. So, to answer your question, yes, if God so chooses to save someone outside Orthodoxy He can.
Fr. Epifanios interview:
https://youtu.be/GHmitrLD4Qg?si=ekEfkQ889hv34yOy
Written by Vanya Nikolin, Religious Catalogue Editor