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| St. Daniel of Katounakia (Feast Day - September 7) |
By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas
Saint Daniel of Katounakia was born in Smyrna in 1844 to pious parents. He was an excellent student and graduate of the Evangelical School of Smyrna and from his youth he longed for his complete dedication to God. Following the advice of his spiritual father, he visited various monasteries in the Peloponnese and Greek islands. In Paros, he met and became spiritually connected with Saint Arsenios of Paros, who advised him to go to the Sacred Monastery of Saint Panteleimon on the Holy Mountain, where he became a monk in 1866, and from Demetrios he was named Daniel. However, due to the conflicts between the Greek and Russian monks, the Greek monks were forced to leave the Monastery. Daniel went to the Sacred Monastery of Saint Anastasia the Pharmakolytria, in Vasilika of Thessaloniki. His arrival at this Sacred Monastery turned out to be a real blessing, since he helped in its spiritual recovery by introducing the Hagiorite typikon.
Later he went to the Sacred Monastery of Vatopaidi, where he remained for five years. From there he was sent to Smyrna for affairs of the Monastery's Metochion and the then Metropolitan of Smyrna, Meletios, suggested that he ordain him as his Assistant Bishop, but he refused and returned to the Holy Mountain. He built a hut in Katounakia and dedicated himself to asceticism, prayer, study and the art of iconography. He soon was recognized in the conscience of the Hagiorite monks as the exponent of the self-consciousness of the Holy Mountain and champion of the Orthodox faith.
He corresponded with prominent ecclesiastical figures, but also with ordinary people who faced various difficulties, and he helped them effectively. He had contact, among others, with the writer Alexandros Moraitidis, who later was known as Monk Andronikos, who wrote: "When I came to the Holy Mountain I thought I had touched God, but when I met the Elder Daniel, then I realized how far away God was from me."
Following the request of Saint Nektarios, with whom he had a spiritual relationship, he wrote words of edification and prayer to the nuns of the Sacred Monastery of Aegina, and Saint Nektarios thanked him, writing to him: "Your epistle, the one dictated by praxis and theoria, is a living teaching we are deprived of, for spiritual nourishment and true spiritual support." However, apart from his many letters, the fruit of his wisdom are also his approximately seventy works, which refer to serious spiritual matters, as well as spiritual edification.
Saint Daniel possessed the virtue of discernment to such an extent that in the hymnography he is called "the inscribed pillar of discernment." Thus, he was able to support in faith many people who were looking for God, among them Saint Joseph the Hesychast, when he was in the first steps of his monastic journey, urging him to submit, together with his co-ascetic Father Arsenios, to an experienced Elder.
The Most Holy Theotokos, whom he loved very much, foretold to him the day of his repose, which took place on her birthday on September 8, 1929.
His life and his conduct give us the occasion to emphasize the following:
The virtue of discernment is the greatest of all virtues, even more than love, because love without discernment "can bring about disastrous results."
Etymologically, the word discernment means "the act of distinguishing." "It is the recognition of a person, thing or concept as different from someone or something else." And it is characterized as a great virtue "which helps me to choose at every moment what it is that I will say or do, and will bring the best result for me and the people around me." Also, "discernment is the ability to ascertain the truth, to judge with justice and to act in every case with love."
According to the teaching of the Church, as expressed by the Holy Fathers, discernment is a gift of God to the "pure in heart" and illumined by the Holy Spirit, and enables man to distinguish the uncreated from the created, the Divine from the demonic, truth from error. And it is superior to all the virtues, because, according to Anthony the Great, "discernment helps a person not to stray from the straight path" and "teaches him to leave the excesses on both sides and to walk the royal path." And "neither allows with immeasurable moderation to be deceived by the right, nor again to be dragged into indifference by the left." Also, "through discernment, wisdom, understanding and inner feeling are welded together," and without discernment "virtue is not welded or does not remain stable until the end."
Discernment, according to Saint John of Sinai, "is a lamp that man needs in every situation, to illuminate him to walk the path of the divine commandments." Also, discernment is "for beginners the right awareness of themselves; in intermediates the noetic sense which infallibly distinguishes the real good from the natural good, and from its opposite evil;" and in the perfect it is the knowledge they have of divine radiance, which has the power to fully illuminate with its brilliance even what is dark in others."
Also, discernment is "the infallible knowledge of the divine will in every time and place and case, which usually exists in those who are pure in heart, body and mouth." Thus, from the mouths of illuminated and discerning saints there does not emanate idle words, which are not verified by works and do not lead to salvation, but words that bring support, spiritual courage, consolation, inner peace, and lead to the discovery of the "inner man", in rebirth and salvation.
Because, however, it is not possible for everyone to know God's will in every situation, that is why those who strive to apply God's will in their lives must ask their spiritual fathers and accept the first word of the spiritual father, and try to implement it. And this, because, as Saint Silouan the Athonite writes, "the first word of the spiritual father is the word of God," while "the second word, which is the result of objections, is a human word."
The possibility of distinguishing the Divine from the demonic protects against error, brings about inner balance, but also smoothness in human relationships.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
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