Archbishop Anastasios: “St. Cosmas was honored in the areas of Albania when he was alive and also immediately after his martyrdom…”
Today, on August 24, 2014, the Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania celebrated with majesty the memory of St. Cosmas Aitolos. In the monastery that bears his name, in Kolkondas, the Synodical Divine Liturgy took place, led by the Archbishop of Tirana, Durrës and All Albania, His Beatitude Anastasios, with the participation of all the members of the Holy Synod: the Metropolitans, of Berat Ignatius, of Korca John, of Gjirokastra Demetrios, and the Bishops, of Apolonia Nicholas, of Kruja Anthony, of Amantia Nathaniel and of Bylis Asti, together with many priests and deacons. Hundreds of Orthodox believers not only, just from the area of Fier, but also from across the country, as well as pilgrims from Greece, filled the central church (katholikonin) of the Monastery and the surrounding areas, all reverently participating in atmosphere of the day. Many of them had spent the night in prayer in the monastery of the saint, as is the ancient tradition.
His Grace, Bishop of Apollonia, Nicholas spoke for the person and the spiritual activity of St. Cosmas; who stressed the devotion to faith and the exceptional work of the saint who in a dark and difficult time returned hope to the Orthodox Christians.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy His Beatitude Anastasios also spoke to the faithful; who in his speech referred particularly to the historical conditions in which St. Cosmas conducted his missionary work, the result of which was the halting of the massive wave of Islamization and the rescue of Orthodoxy in these areas — a beautiful reality for which the Christians today owe so much to the saint.
In recent days various newspaper articles appeared that called the saint a “devil” and “anti-Albanian”, trying, as the Archbishop said, to hang again the saint. They, he said, are inspired by the atheistic formation of the past and want to continue to keep the Orthodox believers subjected.
But these times have passed and when we offend the Saints of the Church, or when we want to impose on the Orthodox the ways in which they will honor those saints, this can only create shock to the tolerance and religious coexistence, that is a reality that Albania proudly represents in the contemporary European family.
St. Cosmas was not just a devoted Orthodox clergyman and an illuminated holy apostle, but was also a factor of progress, and for the conditions of his era, aimed at social emancipation. He encouraged the believers to learn Greek as a means for them to become acquainted with the truth of the Gospel and the sacraments of the Church. At that time there was still nothing written or translated into Albanian, and even the Holy Gospel was translated several decades later. St. Cosmas thrilled the crowds of believers with his sermons in the areas of modern Albania and the believers appreciated and loved all his work for social progress and education of the masses.
His Beatitude Anastasios spoke with emotion about the visit that he recently made to the site of the martyrdom by hanging of St. Cosmas (Kolkondas is the place where the body of St. Cosmas was found and buried after his execution). He was talking about the village Mujalli, next to the river Seman, on its southern coast, where at the place of martyrdom there is a tree similar to where he was hung.
At the conclusion of the liturgy, the believers and the clergy participated in the litany and procession with the relics of the saint.
Later, in the complex of the monastery, which has been completely rebuilt, the Archbishop and all the priests welcomed the believers and pilgrims.
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The monastery of St. Cosmas has been fully renovated with care and funds provided by Archbishop Anastasios. The excavating and removing soil, brought to light the tomb of the saint, together with mural paintings from more than two centuries ago, as well as other architectural elements of great interest, that were covered by the silt brought by the flooding of the River Seman. Also, four new churches have been built in different areas that are dedicated to the memory of the saint.
Recently there has been an orchestrated smear campaign against the saint, in order to denigrate the work of Archbishop Anastasios and all of our Orthodox Autocephalous Church.
One of the false arguments used says that the honoring of this great martyr has not existed among the Albanian Orthodox Christians; even if it has begun, started after 1961, when with the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate he was placed on the list of the revered saints by all the Orthodox Churches. All of this is not true; the honoring of Saint Cosmas as a local saint began in the XVIII century, in all those areas where he made an extraordinary contribution to awaken the oppressed conscience of the Orthodox people from the long night of Ottoman rule, evidently halting the Islamization of these regions. This is proven by the consciousness of the Albanian Orthodox people, by the frescoes and icons, the ecclesiastical service for the saint, his monastery built with the care of Ali Pashë Tepelena (1814-1815) and above all, it is proven by the great honor accorded to him by all of the people, even those that are not Orthodox, wherever he preached.
Proof of this honor prior to 1961, which refutes that which is claimed by the anti-Orthodox people, among many others, is what was written and published by two of the greatest personalities of our Church: Bishop Theofan Noli and His Beatitude Kristofor Kisi.
Bishop Theofan Noli in 1947, in Boston, published the book, “Kremtorja” (The Feasts)of the Orthodox Church. In his introduction he says: “The translation … we made from Greek, with the exception of the hymns of St. Cosmas of Berat, which we paraphrased from the Albanian version by His Beatitude, Kristofor Kisi, Archbishop of Albania”. And on pages 754-763 gives the Church service for this saint.
So, Bishop Theophan Noli, in 1947 (which is before 1961) calls him Saint Cosmas of Berat and the service of the saint is taken from a 1931 edition of Bishop Kristofor Kisi, who has written much about St. Cosmas.
So, for Bishop Theofan Noli and for His Beatitude, Kristofor Kisi, and for all the orthodox believers for centuries, Saint Comas of Berat was not an anti-Albanian, nor “not a saint”, as the anti-Orthodox gentry has been trumpeting.
Likewise, unprecedented and unimaginable due to their arrogance and anti-Orthodox attitude were statements made by some organization, not associated with any faith that have sought to plant and propagate a divisive spirit among Orthodox believers.
The speech of Archbishop Anastasios for Saint Cosmas and the celebration of this saint among Albanians. Kolkondas, 08/24/2014.
Photo: Thoma Dhima and Aleksandria Ritsi
