Cultivating Holiness according to Met. Neophytos of Morphou
- John Coffman
- 4 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Editor's Note: The following is an excerpt of the newly released book: The Homilies of Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou, Vol. I which is being distributed by Uncut Mountain Press. Long anticipated, but now available, the reader of this book now may share in the experiences the Metropolitan had with many contemporary saints of Greece, primarily the well known and greatly loved Sts. Porphyrios, Paisios, and Iakovos. The English translator offers an excellent summary of the lessons which can generally be described as cultivating holiness. Excerpts from his introduction follow:
Excerpts from “Introduction to the Translation”
By Nicholaos Georgiou
Metropolitan Neophytos is one of the most well-known personalities in the Orthodox Christian world today. . . . Truly, he ignites the lighter of the saints so that more people can light the wick of the soul’s lamp with the unwaning light of the Holy Spirit.
Watching the Metropolitan speak, one senses a palpable charisma which is only slightly attenuated by the two dimensions of a screen. His mannerisms and speech are blunt but loving. He is sober but with an appropriate amount of humor. He is animated but never performative. His words ring with ancient wisdom yet he keeps his finger on the pulse of current events. His intelligence and training as a lawyer are evident while maintaining a pastoral simplicity. . .
Perhaps one of the most important concepts His Eminence communicates is the role that relationship plays in cultivating holiness. In this book, Metropolitan Neophytos traces the connections between contemporary holy men and women. Then, as a storyteller par excellence, he relates his own experiences beside these sanctified people in the order that they “entered” his life through the love and friendship of Metropolitan Gerasimos Phocas of blessed memory: from Saint Porphyrios in his years as a student to the twins Saint Philoumenos and Elder Elpidios (children of the Metropolis he now shepherds). Along the way, he returns to his own family of origin and introduces us to the venerable figures of his mother, Milia, his grandmother, Myrophora, and his aunt, Martha, as well as to other everyday people he has met who are living lives of repentance.
This idea of cultivating holiness through relationship is complemented by a second concept that Metropolitan Neophytos calls λαϊκή εὐσέβεια, which has been termed folk piety in translation. This is the faith of the people, the way the Orthodox faith is lived authentically in the daily lives of believers: lighting oil vigil lamps in front of one’s icons, censing the home, making the sign of the cross over a steering wheel, kissing the hand of a priest or abbess, joyfully receiving a hierarch, practicing hospitality as a holy virtue, loving babies as special gifts from God, praying before meals, anointing the heads of sleeping children in their beds, smiling at a stranger, sharing a kind word with a suffering soul, preparing for Holy Communion through prayer and fasting, regular participation in Confession, having a spiritual father, saying the Jesus Prayer, attending vigils, visiting monasteries, stopping in the middle of the week to light a candle in the church, baking prosphora or making kolyva, memorizing the apolytikia of the Resurrection and patron saints, and so on.
For those in the Anglophone world, these two concepts present the temptation to be disheartened. Holiness may be contemporary but how can one “plug in” to this chain of sanctity if there are continents in the way? How can one experience and understand folk piety when there are increasingly fewer examples of this way of life in modern society?
Take courage! As Saint Paul reminds the Romans, neither distance nor time, “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” [Rom. 8:38]. The saints became holy because they asked God to grow His love within them despite all manner of potential barriers: sickness, sin, war, and even apostasy. If death and life can be overcome, surely neither oceans nor a dearth of pious elderly people are actual impediments to the pursuit of holiness in the English-speaking world.
May those who read this book forgive the places in the text where the incomparable and unique personality of Metropolitan Neophytos is not perfectly conveyed. May they read this book with prayer and a fervent desire to connect with the unbroken chain of holiness uniquely found in the Orthodox Church. May they be inspired to authentically imitate the folk piety of the faithful. May these words which are the “lighter of the saints” ignite an all-consuming love for the Triune God in their hearts so that more saints will be recognized in the years to come.
SOURCE:
Neophytos of Morphou, Metropolitan, The Homilies of Metropolitan Neophytos of Morphou, Vol. I, translated by Nicholaos Georgiou, (Nicosia, Cyprus: Theomorphou Publications, 2026), pp. 13-16.
See the release video here!