By Keith Davies and Theodore Shoebat
The government of Spain is now rescuing Christian women whose husbands were slaughtered by ISIS, and will be bringing them into Spain. This is part of the efforts of Rescue Christians, which has been working for an entire year, with so much work and labor, to bring Christian women into Spain. And, it is thanks to the labors and most generous donations of you, the reader. Without you, it would have never come to this point. The women have not yet arrived to Spain, but the Spanish government has made it certain that the widows and their children will soon be transferred into the Christian nation. Let us continue with our prayers, and pray to the Lord that the plan will be a success, and that the women and their children will be brought successfully.
After Elijah fled the tyranny of Jezebel, he went up to a holy mountain where he cried to God of how his enemies “seek to take my life.” (1 Kings 19:14) After Moses and his people fled Pharaoh, the prophet ascended Mount Sinai where he received the Law of God. In Christianity there too is a holy mountain: Mount Athos, where the Church is a fortress against Satan, after which the whole of Christendom should model itself. It is here where monks gather together to live in pure hermitage, to live isolated from the world, while at the same time being in the center of humanity with Christ, connected with everyone. As Fr. Maximos, a monk of Mount Athos, said:
monks are those people who have separated themselves geographically from everything and everybody through prayer and the love of Christ. (Quoted from Kyriacos C. Markides, The Mountain of Silence, ch. 3, p. 28)
Monastery on Mount Athos
The monks of Mount Athos are continually praying for humanity, for the salvation of mankind. You will be outside and you will hear the wind, and while this happens, ponder for a moment that while it is the breeze that you hear, your soul may be hearing the prayers of monks, said for your salvation and well-being. Mount Athos is a thirty mile long and ten mile wide peninsula and autonomous polity that stands on Greek waters.
Mount Athos on map
After the death of Alexander the Great, the architect Dinocrates proposed to carve the entire mountain into an image of the pagan conquerer. But this did not happen. Providence preserved this land so that it could become the holy land of Eastern monasticism, the home of monks, a temple of prayer, a sacred mountain for prophets, a land where God can be amongst His servants. According to Church history, it is said that the Virgin Mary was sailing with St. John on a journey from Joppa to Cyprus with the intent of visiting Lazarus.
But the ship was struck with a heavy wind and they had no choice but to anchor at Athos, specifically in the city Klement. Mary was so awe struck by the natural beauty of the island that she blessed it and asked her Son Jesus Christ for the land to be her garden. According to the story Christ told Mary: “Let this place be your inheritance and your garden, a paradise and a haven of salvation for those seeking to be saved”, and from there the island became a place for the monastic life.
Icon of Mary standing upon Mount Athos
In the 15th century, after the Ottoman Empire invaded Thessaloniki, the monks knew that the fall of Constantinople was coming soon and needed to secure the safety of the monasteries and monks. The Protos of Mount Athos, alongside a number of other monks, went to the Turkish Pasha and expressed their loyalty to Turkish rule. The pasha was so impressed that he did no harm to the monasteries and allowed them to live in peace and partake in their hermitage. When Greece was under a military dictatorship in the seventies, the Greek government was making plans on confiscating the monasteries on Mount Athos and making them into casinos, and to transform the whole land into a tourist attraction. The monks were greatly disturbed by this. The Protos of Mount Athos sent a letter to none other but Russia.
Even though it was communist, Russia still felt obligated to protect Mount Athos. There were many Russian saints and great elders had lived in Mount Athos. Moreover, there was the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon on Mount Athos, which consisted of mainly Russians. After the letter was sent it was received by Leonid Brezhnev, the then secretary general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Leonid Brezhnev sent a stern letter to the Greek colonels, warning them that there would be severe consequences if they carried out their wicked plans in Mount Athos. The Greeks listened and the monks were left alone.
Hermit on Mount Athos
The Church cannot be an ark full of holes so as to allow the waters of corruption to enter and sink it. No. The Church must be a fortress for the oppressed. When the Germans invaded Greece during the Second World War, a Greek monk from the majestic Mount Athos (the head side for Eastern Christian spirituality) sent a letter directly to Hitler demanding that the monasteries and monks on Mount Athos be protected.
Hitler was so stunned by the courage of the monks that he commanded his generals not to touch any of the property or the monastics living in the rugged mountainous hermitage. A German garrison arrived in Mount Athos but none of the Nazis harmed anything or anyone. Now that the security of the monasteries and the monks was established, Mount Athos at that point became a safe house for Jews fleeing the Nazi slaughterhouses. Numerous Jewish women and their children hid in Mount Athos under the charitable hand of the monks. (The information on Mount Athos can be learned by reading the book The Mountain of Silence, by Kyriacos C. Markides)
This is what the Church is to be — a Mount Athos — where the heart is set aflame with the fires of love for God, and this love manifests itself in charity, in selfless action. It is only in action that we come to the actuality of human existence — the reason for living and the essence of life; and it is only in action that we realize love, that we experience God’s presence around us. If we can be a fortress for the oppressed, then we will reach the Heavenly Mount Zion (Hebrews 12:22) Hear the silence in the air; your ears hear nothing, but ponder a little, contemplate for a moment, and perhaps you will hear it in your soul, the angels praying for us; perhaps you will hear the prayers of the heavenly Mount Zion, perhaps you will hear the chant of eternity.
For over a year we have struggled with much labor and emotion in trying to bring in just a small group of Christian widows from hellish Iraq to Spain. After so many months of arguing, conflicts with politicians, dealing with con artists, talkers with no action, asking for funds; after so much tension, yelling, fighting, praying and crying, it looks like we will finally succeed in this difficulty, in brining a number of widows with their children in the land of Spain.
There were so numerous obstacles that we had to go through to get this far.
First we had to deal with a disreputable “security expert” we hired. We checked him out thoroughly, running his social security number, copy of passport etc. he did not even have a speeding ticket. He was an ex cop, Military Police veteran, as well as a coast guard. The Orphans even if they were legitimate situation, the Iraqi government would never let orphan children be adopted in a foreign country Christian or Muslim because of Sharia law (adoption is prohibited in Islam), so that became a dead end.
The next thing we tried was widows with their children, but our partner could only take women with passports, and women who had female children only under 16, which was like looking for a needle in a hay stack. Then we were able to arrange for our partner to get other churches to take widows with male children, which allowed us then to get visas. After several months of government bureaucracy they were approved, however the head civil servant in Spain (for immigrant issues) would not sign off on the government directive even after the Foreign minister sent this civil servant a letter instructing the visas to be issued. After another two weeks of stone walling the visas were finally signed off for issuance and we are now in process of getting them filled.
Just yesterday we were informed by our contact in Spain that José GarcÃa-Margallo y Marfil, Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, declared before the UN that Spain would be accepting in 14 widows from Iraq, and the truth is that it was and is Rescue Christians that is working with others in Spain to make this happen:
So much work, just for a few widows and their orphan children, and it is so very worth it. The shepherd leaves his flock and sojourns for miles through rugged terrain, in the midst of wolves, in the midst of beasts, under the scorching sun and under the dark sky, wherein the only light comes from the lonely stars, just to find one missing sheep. So much labor for one missing lamb, and while the world may remain careless, and while the silence of indifference may fill the air, the song of angels resounds the cosmos and can be heard with our souls.
The fact that Margallo made this announcement, means that the mission is getting close to success, but still let us put our faith in God that it will be accomplished. This is the work of you, dear reader, who generously gave us your funds for the rescuing of the brethren. To give to the poor and the oppressed is to give unto God, for as Solomon the Wise wrote, “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord” (Proverbs 19:17). And such words remind us of what Christ said, that to help the persecuted is to carry the Cross with Our Lord.
For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:35-40)
To help the persecuted is to be as Simon of Cyrene, carrying the Cross with Our Lord as He walks through the roads and paths of anguish and sharp thorns and lashings, the roads of agony and the malicious arrows of the devil, the road of the Via Dolorosa. Tears and wailings accompany this road, and wherever the Church is, it is on this path always, walking side by side the Crucified One, sharing in His sufferings in an everlong road of contemplative sorrow, “but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” (1 Peter 4:13)
We all work together as one: we pray, we give of our money, and this money is used to work for the persecuted, and with faith working through love (Galatians 5:6), we come to “the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:23-24) With faith working through love, Love Himself works with us, and the light of charity sets the hearts of men aflame and they worship their Father in Heaven. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
Let the light of charity glow all around us, let us carry the Cross with Christ, let us strengthen our brethren (Luke 22:32), let us work to protect our brethren from the persecutors. In this current situation, most of all, we ask you to please pray — pray that the women be brought out of the hellish place of Iraq and brought to the holy Christian nation of Spain. Pray that this mission will succeed and that God’s will be done! Deus vult! God wills it! Cristus vincit! Viva Espana, la tierra sancta!
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