Fr. Dionisie of Colciu

Hieromonk Dionisie Ignat was one of the greatest spiritual fathers of Mount Athos. At the age of 15, he travelled to the Holy Mountain together with one of his older brothers from Botoșani, Romania. Ten years later, the young monk is ordained priest at the Skete of the Holy and Great Martyr George in Colciu. Fr Dionisie would spend the next 77 years of his life at Colciu, where he lived simply in very harsh conditions. Eventually he lost his sight, but God in His great mercy granted Fr Dionisie the gift of the prayer of the heart. He was one of the most cherished spiritual fathers to many abbots, monks and hermits on the Holy Mountain. Visitors from far came to seek his spiritual guidance. According to some sources, prominent figures were present at his funeral, including Prince Charles.

Words of Wisdom

• "God did not make us for this world. This deceptive and sorrowful world is given to us so that we may prepare for eternity. For this reason He has given us laws and He helps us in every hour: so that we may acquire everlasting life."
• "There is no grater danger to man's salvation than haughtiness."
• "We must not trust ourselves but allow grace to work in us. And for this we must be aware of our own inability." (Avva Dionisie Ignat)

         (From 2017 Calendar published by Lumea Monahilor)

1. Let us love our neighbour, let our love not be deceiving. I must not judge, that one is cunning, that the other one is like that. I must love everyone like myself, for this is what the Church commands me to do. This is the truth and this is Orthodoxy. It means that we must love everyone, the Turks, the Arabs, or other religions and peoples. But God does not command me to change also my faith according to theirs nor my traditions according to their evil passions. We are not interested in what God will do with them. All are His creation and He will judge each one by judgements that are unapproachable by human mind.
2. We know the truth, the Orthodox faith. Let us keep it, let us respect it, let the rest mind their own. The fact that I love my neighbour does not mean that I make my own or I agree with his or her faith and evil passions. This is also valid for the dissensions within the Orthodox world.
3. Let us counsel one another with meekness—spiritual counselling—let us cut off our anger, and only then the grace of the Holy Spirit descends upon us.
4. We do not go to church to read, but to receive nourishment. We must "digest" every word that we read; otherwise, it's in vain, we read and we don't understand anything, nothing is left in us.
5. As we can see, all the separations in the Church were not made for dogmatic reasons, but because of evil passion and selfishness. Mainly because of primacy. They did not take the time to discuss, so that each one might give in a bit. Only afterwards the dogmatic differences appeared.
6. If we, monastics, do not seek simplicity, then we go toward destruction. In monasticism it doesn't work to follow one's own wisdom. You must renounce it entirely and apply what the Holy Fathers say. Nowadays many come learnt in monasticism, but when it comes to obedience, their minds tell them that they know better what needs to be done. But it doesn't work like that. This is destruction.
7. Orthodoxy is kept mostly in monasteries. That is where the strength lies. It is in monasteries where the fathers labour and keep the Truth, but in parishes all sorts of modifications are made.
8. Witchcraft is the center of all devils' passions. What relationship does darkness have with Light? Witchcraft is purely devilish work. Whatever evil we may endure, let us stay close to the Church, to the Truth. What are Christians seeking when they go to see psychics? It is a shame that we, Romanians, a people born Christian, would depart from the Truth and go to Satan. No matter how much we pleased him, Satan never wants anything good for us.
9. In all situations, no matter how many problems there were, we must put all our trust in God. We must also make every effort to keep our inside peace. Let us be good and calm, because anger is not good. Nervous irritation destroys us, spiritually and physically. There are situations in which we would have all rights to be troubled, because it's Satan at work, but let us keep our peace, with patience and with love of neighbour.
10. Anyone who removes himself from the Church, walks away from all of his own spiritual and physical benefit. This is the Truth. The Truth is the Church; the Truth is Orthodoxy.
11. Neither of the fathers of old times, those who worked more, did not grumble. You work in vain if you grumble. Each of them tried to do as much as possible and did not criticize that the others did not work; they did not care about this. They were happy that they could labour as much as possible for God. For instance, when the treasurer of the Monastery of St John of the Ladder departed to the Lord, sweet smelling myrrh was coming out of his feet. That was God's payment for his labour which was well-pleasing to Him, and which he did for the community.
12. The monk who comes out from underneath the protection of obedience rolls downhill like a stone, for that's it, he begins to walk badly and to listen to the enemy's whispers. And he does not know that his mind receives thoughts that have been diplomatically smoked by the enemy, but he is convinced that that's the truth.
13. The right balance is needed in all things. The Holy Fathers praise the right balance. As it were, the secret of all secrets is the right balance.
14. Salvation is not hard, but it is a delicate thing. Monasticism is a struggle against what you like, against nature.
15. Join the monastery, but go to one where your heart is drawn to, and there make the sign of the cross, make a prostration, and keep going ahead with determination. Do not think that you will not have temptations. It is not that the place will change, but the tempter will come to change your mind. We cannot be saved without temptations, in one way or another. Let us pray to the Good God no to give us temptations beyond our power. We are allowed to research well before we choose the place, but then we must proceed with determination.
16. Hear this fearful thing! I had never read anything like this before in the writings of the Holy Fathers. It is said that if you see a monk who trades, leave your own sins and weep for his. That's how fearful is the trades business for monks. All the Holy Fathers say that you should not think of your neighbours' sins, but in this case they say that you should lament the merchant monk. What a fearful thing!
    

         (Din: Staretul Dionisie. Lumea in vremurile de pe urma. Vol. II, Editura Prodromos, 2010)
         (http://www.cuvantul-ortodox.ro/picaturi-de-intelepciune-de-la-staretul-dionisie-de-la-colciu)