THE STORY OF THE PRIEST AND THE ANGEL
In one of the many manuscripts of
the Agion Oros, reference is made to the following incident: in the holy church of Scent Merkourios
When the Holy Liturgy came to an
end, an Angel of God censured him, saying to him in sorrow:
“ Poor
priest, do you realise what you have done today?”
“ And who
are you to preach me?” the priest replied.
“ The Angel
of God! Can you not see me?”
“ I order
you! Freeze; do not move from where you are!” said the priest.
“ You
neither” the Angel said to him. “I condemn you not to die unless I forgive
you”.
The end result was for the angel to
remain confined behind the Altar, having lost his feathers, while the priest
lived for an additional three hundred and fifty years! Having departed from
that place, and despite his grave sin, the priest went on exercising his priestly
profession, purely for financial reasons.
Three hundred and fifty years later,
it so happened that the priest attended a speech about Saint Merkourios
delivered by the Bishop of the locality of which he was a resident. “ I know
everything mentioned from first hand, for I used serve there as a priest” the
priest told the Bishop.
Confidentially having called for
the priest, the Bishop asked to learn all about his secret for surviving for
three hundred and fifty whole years!
“ Then the
Angel should still be there”, the Bishop replied, “and in order to forgive each
other, both of you must meet at the very same place”.
The priest lacking the necessary
means for returning to that same spot, the Bishop kindly and readily undertook
the responsibility of finding everything needed for the journey, including the
animals. Three hundred and fifty years having past, nothing more could be seen
there apart from ruins.
Asking around the village and following
the priest’s instructions, they finally reached the desired spot; and, indeed,
they found the Angel standing there, behind the Altar, in exactly the same
position in which the priest had left him, then, three hundred and fifty years
ago.
“ So you
are still alive miserable priest?” the Angel said to him.
“ I’m alive
for you condemned me to do so”, replied the priest.
“ And
yourself, are you still bound here?”
“ I am, for
you too condemned me to stay here bound”, the Angel said back.
“ Come;
let’s forgive each other”, said the priest to the Angel. “ I’ll forgive you if
you go first”.
“ If I forgive you first”, the Angel told him,
“ you will turn into dust and that way I shall never be able to receive your
forgiveness. You forgive me first, and
trust me, I shall not leave you bound”.
And indeed it so happened, just as the
Angel of God had said. The Angel got his feathers back, while the priest
immediately turned into dust.
For the good that he had done to both
of them, the Angel blessed the Bishop to find mercy from God, while the Bishop
told the Angel:
“ I very
much desire to hear a psalm from you so that I can witness the way in which
angels glorify God up in the Highest”.
“ I wish
for it too, yet if you listen to my psalmody that will be the end of your
life. You shall not be able to endure
the beauty of the hearing”, the Angel replied. “However, I shall do the favour
that you’ve asked from me and sing for you from the highest point in Heaven”.
And so it happened. The moment the
Bishop listened to the heavenly melody and the angelic hymn, he fainted,
remaining unconscious for several hours. He then got up and, having returned to
his city wrote this story; it may sound as a fairy-tail, yet every word of it
is true.
