Nowadays, when there is a constant struggle between the bearers of true spiritual values and those who are trying to replace them with new-fangled and sometimes far from Christian teachings, the prophecies made several centuries ago by the great ascetic and ascetic ─ St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming One have acquired particular relevance. His words, born of personal experience of knowledge of God, may help the current generation of people find the right spiritual guidelines.
The Orphan of St. Peter's Village
From the life history of St. Neil, it is known that he was born at the end of the 16th century (the exact date is unknown) in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The village where the house of his parents, pious and deeply devout people, was located was called Agios Petros tis Kinourias. In Russian it is usually called simply the village of St. Peter.
Having been orphaned in adolescence, Neil was raised by his uncle, Hieromonk Macarius, who, with the warmth of his heart, managed to replenish the boy with the lost warmth of parental love. Sensitively tracking all the movements of his pupil’s soul, he skillfully directed them towards the path of serving God, while helping to enrich his mind with the knowledge that would help him in this difficult field.
Biography of the Reverend
The boy was born into a very ordinary family, presumably at the end of the 16th century. He was born in the small Greek town of Agios Petros tis Kinourias. In Russian it was called the village of St. Peter, which belonged to the Zakoniya diocese. Father and mother were God-fearing and pious people.
Venerable Nile the Myrrh-Streaming, Athos
A few years after the birth of their son, they left our world. Then Neil began to be raised by his uncle, Hieromonk Macarius. He accepted Neil as his own son and began to teach him all the wisdom and laws. Later the boy will say that it was thanks to this man that he came to know God.
Acceptance of dignity. Hermitage
Macarius instilled in the boy a love of God and asceticism. Thanks to the work of his uncle, Neil learned Greek at an early age, which allowed him to learn all the wisdom of the Holy Scriptures. As soon as age allowed, the boy took monastic orders. First he received the title of hierodeacon, and then hieromonk. Neil abandoned all the joys and anxieties of worldly life and devoted himself to serving the Lord, becoming attached to one of the monasteries.
Service outside the walls of the monastery could not fully satisfy the impulses of his uncle and his student. It was then that they headed to the sacred Mount Athos. This place, according to the speeches of St. Nicholas, was called the stronghold or vineyard of the Most Holy Theotokos.
This is interesting! A mountain in Greece considered sacred. It is believed that the Virgin Mary made her journey here in 49 AD. The Mother of God liked this place so much that the Lord called Mount Athos the Lot of the Mother of God.
Arriving at the sacred mountain, the monks began to look for a place they liked. Having visited all the monasteries and monasteries, they did not find what they were looking for. Then the road led them to what was then an empty area. There were only rocks covered with vegetation. This place was called the Sacred Stones.
Then the decision was made to found a cell on this site. However, before doing this, the following requirements had to be met:
- Obtaining permission from the abbot of the local Lavra.
- Receive his blessing.
- Pay the required amount.
Icon of Saint Nile of Athos
Having fulfilled these requirements, Neil and Macarius returned to the Holy Stones. It took a lot of effort and effort to build a decent cell in the middle of the forest. The uncle and nephew worked for a long time with prayer on their lips, and finally finished. Soon Hieromonk Macarius went to the Lord. Now Neil was left alone with God, carrying within himself many years of wisdom from his uncle.
Read about other Orthodox saints:
- Life of Saint Athanasius of Athos
- Life of Saint Arsenius of Cappadocia
- Life of Saint Athanasius the Great
Loneliness and death
Most of all he wanted complete solitude. Soon the monks learned about a hermit who settled on the holy mountain. They began to often come to Nile to share his burdens. This only disturbed the hermit, and in order not to succumb to anger and temptation, Neil went to another place.
The monk found his refuge in one of the high mountain caves. It was there that he spent the last years of his life. He prayed to the Lord tirelessly. Every day I tested myself with both hunger and physical activity. So, Neil strengthened himself and his faith, not allowing the devil to take possession of his soul.
The monk died in this very cave, offering another prayer in 1651. So the Lord accepted him into his Heavenly kingdom. The abbot of the Lavra found out about this. The news of the hermit's death came to him in a dream. Then the abbot sent monks to bury the saint.
The Myrrh-Streaming Nile was canonized. Why did he receive such a name “Myrrh-Streaming”? The fact is that soon after the hermit’s death, tears flowed from the walls of the cave where he prayed. It was water with special oil medicinal impurities. There were so many myrrh-streaming tears that they streamed down the mountain and rushed into the sea.
Beginning of monastic service
The labors of Hieromonk Macarius were not in vain, and the young man in a short time mastered not only the grammar of the Greek language, thanks to which he thoroughly studied the books of the Holy Scriptures, but was also imbued with the wisdom of the works of the holy fathers of the church. Having reached the right age, Neil decided to forever reject the joys of the corruptible world and devote himself to monastic service.
Fulfilling his intention, he took monastic vows and soon after that he was ordained first as a hierodeacon, and then as a hieromonk. Having taken this decisive step, which determined his entire future life, the Myrrh-Streaming Nile, together with his venerable uncle, labored in one of the local monasteries, serving the Lord and exhausting the flesh with strict asceticism.
For the first time on the holy mountain
However, the thirst for spiritual achievement that dried up their souls was so great that the life they led within the walls of the monastery could not quench it. Both were irresistibly drawn to where the heavenly world found its earthly embodiment. One of these places was Mount Athos, which for many centuries was revered as the inheritance of the Most Holy Theotokos, or Her “vertograd” (vineyard), as she herself told St. Nicholas about it. It was there that the pious monks directed their steps.
Arriving on Athos, they first of all walked around the monasteries, hermitages and deserts located there, choosing a place that fully met their spiritual needs. Soon the Lord led the monks to a part of the mountain that was then uninhabited and covered with wild vegetation, which from ancient times bore the name Holy Stones.
Legal aspect of desert living
There, far from a world filled with sin and temptations, they could fully indulge in silence and feat of prayer. However, before building the cells, the uncle and nephew went to the Lavra and asked for the blessing of its abbot, who was in charge, among other things, of the distribution of land plots among those who sought salvation on the holy mountain.
Seeing the sincerity and purity of the intentions of his petitioners, the abbot generously blessed them, supporting his words with a document granting the right to use the land. In turn, Hieromonk Macarius gave him a certain amount of money, as if expressing his deep gratitude and filial obedience.
Departure to the Lord of Hieromonk Macarius
Having thus become the owners of the land, the Myrrh-Streaming Nile and his companion began clearing it of the forest that densely covered the mountainside. The God-loving relatives had to put in a lot of work before their cells appeared in the place where the forest had recently stood like an impenetrable wall. But perseverance, supported by unceasing prayer, is known to be capable of working true miracles.
Soon after the completion of the work, the Lord called Hieromonk Macarius to His heavenly abodes, and the nephew was left alone, becoming his worthy heir and successor on the path of acquiring spiritual perfection. He spent long days and nights in prayer, making efforts to finally merge in spiritual unity with the Heavenly Father. For this, in addition to the internal attitude, external factors were also necessary, the first of which was complete solitude from people, and this was often lacking.
Prayers
| St. Myrrh-Streaming Nile |
Troparion in honor of the discovery of relics, tone 1
Having been a monk pleasing to God in Mount Athos, / in prayers and fasts you sought God / and you became a companion of the pure Spirit, / shining the rays of the faithful with virtues, / in the image of you shining, Nile, crying out to you: / glory to God who glorified you , / glory to Him who crowned you, / glory to Him who heals you all
.
Kontakion in honor of the discovery of relics, tone 3
[3]
The appearance from the earth / of your sacred relics, Nile, / co-emerged with the radiance of the Cross, / for that you longed warmly from infancy, / your bones, crucified with Christ, / risen as the eternal God, / To whom grace came
.
Prayer books from the Greek Menaion, translation by Natalia Bakhareva [4]
Troparion in honor of the transfer of relics, tone 4
.
Like the all-fragrant flower of eternal life, / your divine relics have appeared to us from earthly treasures. / Moreover, making the memory of their acquisition, / we sing, Father Nile, the grace given to you, / before everyone the state becomes warmer
.
Kontakion, tone 4
.
Your honorable relics are present,/ from them we receive sanctifying gifts,/ the myrrh-streaming decoration,/ Nile the God-Wise,// the angels of one villager
.
Thirst for complete solitude
The news of the new ascetic, who was fleeing among the forest thickets, quickly spread around the Athos monasteries, and monks were drawn to him, filled with respect for the ascetic life of the newcomer, and who wanted to share their spiritual experience with him. This greatly distracted the Myrrh-Streaming Nile from his prayerful stay in the Heavenly World, and the enemy of the human race sent irritation, the manifestation of which, as we know, is a great sin and nullifies many works on the path of spiritual growth.
In order to avoid the devil's snares and clear the path to salvation for himself, the pious hermit decided to move to another place - one where his solitude would not be disturbed by anyone's presence. Leaving his barely habitable cell, the hermit set out on the road again, and very soon found what he wanted.
Satan rules the world
The end times will come very soon. For the sins of people, the Lord will send upon them illnesses, natural disasters, wars, disasters and misfortunes. And the more troubles there are, the angrier people will become. Instead of sincerely repenting, they will only become embittered towards God and lose all faith in him.
They will forget about the spiritual. They will only care about material well-being, and “the love of money is the forerunner of the Antichrist.”
A person will direct all his thoughts and aspirations to satisfy his carnal needs. He will no longer be interested in the salvation of the soul and eternal life after death. He will live in the present, and will not be afraid of condemnation.
If you think about these words, you can say that the prophecy is already coming true. People stop believing in the Lord, they are only interested in money. And this is a sign of the imminent appearance of the Antichrist.
The Myrrh-Streaming Nile warned:
“The Antichrist will be born from an evil harlot without any male seed when the world becomes impoverished in virtues.” Now even in school they teach about artificial insemination, so there is nothing surprising in the words of the saint.
And the world has long been “impoverished in virtues.” Same-sex love, corrupt relationships, and adultery are flourishing. People have forgotten the commandments of Christ.
“When the time approaches the coming of the Antichrist, the minds of people will be darkened by the passions of the flesh, and wickedness and lawlessness will increase more and more. The world will become unrecognizable, the appearance of people will change and it will be impossible to clearly distinguish men from women, thanks to shamelessness in clothing and the shape of the hair. Love will disappear. Christian shepherds will become vain men, completely unable to distinguish between right and left. Then the morals and traditions of the Church will change. Modesty and chastity will disappear, and fornication and licentiousness will reign.”
When the values of the Antichrist become close to most people, truly terrible times will come.
“A terrible famine will come, gold will become worthless like dung and people, like birds of prey, will devour the bodies of the dead.”
On a steep mountain
It was a completely wild place, consisting of a small cave, the entrance to which was barely visible among the wild rocks. Its location, as well as the abyss that began a few meters from the entrance to the cave, made the shelter impregnable not only for people, but also for wild animals. Just as many Christian saints sought the greatest possible difficulties on the paths of earthly life, the overcoming of which would bring them closer to the gates of heaven, so the Monk Nile, despising all dangers, chose a cave as the place of his further stay, which more closely resembled the shelter of a mountain bird than human habitation.
It was in it that he spent the rest of his earthly days, shedding warm tears of love for God and accomplishing great feats in the fight against devilish temptations. Until his last breath, the Athonite hermit endured cramped conditions, hunger and various other bodily torments, contemplating before him heavenly visions and the faces of angels. The story of how much he had to endure is forever hidden from us. Only the all-seeing Lord and the holy Mount Athos know the price that the ascetic paid in this life for the keys to the gates of heaven.
Myrrh-streaming rocks
Finally, in 1651, the end of the earthly life of the holy hermit came, and the all-merciful Lord called him to His Heavenly Kingdom. The abbot of the Lavra learned about this event from his night vision, and the next morning he sent monks to bury the mortal remains of the holy righteous man. With great difficulty, the brothers climbed the steep slope of the mountain to the shelter, where a lifeless body lay on the rocks, and, having dug a grave in the cave, they buried it.
The Life of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile, compiled shortly after his canonization, tells that soon after his blessed dormition he was glorified by the Lord, who revealed the miracle of myrrh-streaming from the walls of the cave that served him as a refuge for many years.
The aromatic oily liquid, which had healing properties, poured out so abundantly that, flowing down the mountain slope, it rushed to the coastal strip and there mixed with the sea waves. In those days, pilgrims from all over the Orthodox East came to Athos to collect the miraculous composition. From that time on, the Monk Neil was named the Myrrh-Streaming One, and his official canonization soon followed. The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates his memory twice a year: May 7 (20) and June 8 (21).
Prophecies of the Myrrh-streaming Nile: the Antichrist is closer than ever
Every year on May 20, Orthodox Christians celebrate the day of St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming. Athos saint, who lived in the 17th century, and today is widely known throughout the Orthodox ecumene. Believers revere St. Neil both for numerous miraculous healings that occurred through his prayers and for eschatological prophecies about the End of Times. Predictions that are more than relevant today, when in our everyday life we can increasingly see real apocalyptic signs.
There is probably no person who has never thought about the End of the World. The popularity of all kinds of Hollywood disaster films is largely due to this. For centuries this has prompted Christian (and not only) theologians and philosophers to write eschatological treatises. About the End of Times, the reign of the Antichrist, Armageddon (the last battle between good and evil) and the Second Coming of Christ. There are several saints whose prophecies on this topic are considered authoritative and recognized by the Orthodox Church. And, perhaps, the most striking among them are the posthumous predictions of the Monk Nile the Myrrh-Streaming.
Saint Nile was born in the 16th century in the area of Morea, in the south of modern Greece. His uncle, Father Macarius, was a clergyman and hieromonk. It was he who raised the future elder, instilling in him a love for the monastic lifestyle. Therefore, as soon as the pious young man came of age, he was immediately tonsured a monk with the name Neil. After which he was ordained first to the deaconate and then to the priesthood.
The Monk Neil spent many years on Holy Mount Athos in hermitic solitude - in a rocky cave practically inaccessible to people. After his blessed death, holy myrrh began to flow abundantly from this cave, healing many believers over four centuries. And that is why, in the folk Orthodox tradition, Saint Nile of Athos has been called “Myrrh-Streaming” for more than four centuries.
But the Monk Nile became even more famous after a miraculous appearance at the beginning of the 19th century to the Athonite monk Theophan. In these repeatedly published posthumous conversations, Saint Nile told prophecies about the End of Times:
“The love of money is the forerunner of the Antichrist... Much care will darken a person’s feelings in order to make a person insensitive to his salvation, so that he cannot feel salvation from the multitude of carnal worries. People will feel neither the desire for an eternal future life, nor the fear of eternal condemnation ... "
It's hard not to draw obvious parallels with modern times. Enslaving loans, mortgage slavery, and the inability for most people of the 21st century to live on a subsistence basis lead to exactly this. We see that even in the most seemingly prosperous countries, people are increasingly moving away from faith in God, which is being replaced by faith in money. But this, according to the Monk Nile the Myrrh-Streaming, is the first sign of the imminent coming of the Antichrist. But how will this man, the “son of perdition”, come to our world, about whom dozens of horror films have been made in recent decades that have little in common with church tradition? Saint Nile answered this like this:
“The Antichrist will be born from an evil harlot... Evil will be incarnate without any male seed. She, with the seed, will be born, but not with human sowing, but with the shed out seed, she will be incarnated... This fruit will be born into the world when the world becomes impoverished in virtues ... "
Until recently, such a saying of the Monk Neil could not be clearly explained. However, now, in the 21st century, unnatural methods of conception - first of all, the so-called “artificial insemination” - have become commonplace. However, other gender anomalies are rapidly becoming the norm. Saint Nile the Myrrh-Streaming spoke about them as obvious signs of the imminent coming of the Antichrist. Moreover, it is precisely these signs, according to his prophecies, that will become the norm of the Antichrist kingdom.
“Adultery, fornication, sodomy, murder, embezzlement, theft, falsehood, selling and buying people, buying boys and girls to wander with them, like dogs in the streets. And the Antichrist will command the spirits of evil, obedient to him, to bring people to the point where they do ten times more evil than before. His most wicked children will fulfill this disastrous command and will rush to destroy human nature with a variety of iniquities...”
Just a few decades ago, this might have seemed like anti-science fiction or even the plot of a horror film. However, today this will not surprise anyone. Especially in “progressive Europe”, where social movements are already appearing in support of the legalization of pedophilia! And the symbol of Eurovision, so popular in dozens of countries, last year was a lustful creature of unknown gender, the likes of which had previously only been seen on frescoes of the Last Judgment. Somewhere in the area of the fiery underworld depicted on them (represented by its servants and “auxiliary workers”).
But all this is just the threshold of the real “hell on Earth”, which will certainly come. But only when everyone submits to the Antichrist and his “values.” And it is at this very moment, according to the prophecy of St. Nile the Myrrh-Streaming, that the true End of the World will begin:
“A terrible famine will come... A great disaster will come everywhere... Gold will depreciate like dung on the road. And then the Antichrist will begin to seal people with his seal... for only those who have a seal, according to the Apocalypse, will be sold bread. Many will die on the roads. People will become like birds of prey pouncing on carrion and will devour the bodies of the dead...”
Isn't it creepy? However, every person should understand perfectly well that this will definitely happen: almost all world religions agree on this, differing only in details. And, nevertheless, according to Orthodox doctrine, we are still quite capable of putting this off. Thus, according to the same apocalyptic prophecies, the Antichrist will be able to reign only when there is no one left in the world to restrain from lawlessness. And today this Holder, in Greek – “Katekhon” – is an Orthodox civilization centered in the Third Rome. In Moscow.
God-sent gift of insight
Having spent many years in cave seclusion, the holy hermit left behind a rich literary heritage, devoting his free time from prayer to writing works of an ascetic nature. A special place in them is given to Divine revelations, which he accepted as a reward for his asceticism.
As has often happened in the history of Christianity, the Lord sent down to His faithful servant the great gift of clairvoyance, which allowed his inner gaze to capture pictures of the future life prepared for people. Many of them served as the basis for writing the famous prophecies of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile.
But the Athonite desert dweller made his main prophecies more than a century and a half after his death. In the period from 1813-1819. He repeatedly appeared in a night vision to the pious Svyatogorsk monk Theophan, who each time, rising in the morning, conscientiously wrote down what he heard. Thus, a collection of prophecies, repeatedly published as a separate book, and called “The Posthumous Broadcasts of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile” became the property of the Orthodox world.
Reverence
The saint's grave began to exude an abundant stream of fragrant myrrh, for which Christians came from the most remote countries of the East. Healings began to occur in large numbers.
Some Athonite elders, admirers of the Monk Nile, decided to build a church on the site of his exploits and burial. On May 7, they began construction and found the relics of the saint. Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople took part in their witnessing.
The Monk Neil also became famous for his posthumous apparitions and teachings. From 1813 to 1819, he appeared to the illiterate Athonite monk Theophan, who, with the help of Hieromonk Gerasim, recorded conversations with the saint.
About the intercession of the Queen of Heaven
Among them are, in particular, the saint’s statements that the times about which the Lord spoke are already close, that, having come into the world, he may not find believers in it. But even in such disastrous times, the Monk Nile proclaimed to all those seeking the salvation of the soul about the inexhaustible power of the Protection extended over the world by the Most Holy Theotokos.
The guarantee of salvation, according to him, was the miraculous Iveron image of the Queen of Heaven, kept on Athos. The Monk Neil commanded the brethren not to leave the holy mountain as long as this icon was with them. If for some reason she leaves the Lavra, then all pious monks must immediately leave it. Unfortunately, the life of modern society has in many ways become confirmation of what the prophecies of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile contain.
Proceedings
The wisdom that was kept in the heart of the monk should have remained with the world. That is why Saint Nile the Myrrh-Streaming Athonite wrote several ascetic writings and prophecies. First, he spoke about the Lord appearing to him in visions.
Book of St. Neil Myrrh-streaming
Neil believed that such a manifestation of God served him as praise for many years of unshakable faith and prayer. In addition, the monk spoke about his gift of foresight. The Myrrh-Streaming Nile also wrote down his prophecies and left them to his descendants.
Forerunners of the Antichrist
One of the most important thoughts of the monk is the assertion that the forerunner of the appearance of the Antichrist on earth will be the love of money and the thirst for carnal pleasures, which overwhelmed the hearts of people and crowded out from them any desire to acquire eternal life.
The Monk Nile the Myrrh-Streaming One, in his reasoning, reminds descendants of the appearance on the banks of the Jordan of the Forerunner of the Lord, John the Baptist, who for many years tormented his flesh in the desert and rejected all earthly joys before announcing to people the nearness of the One who would take them from the hands of eternal death.
Following this, he paints pictures of how greed and lust are conquering the world, being the harbingers of the Antichrist and thereby creating the basis for the rejection of the Law of God and the denial of the Savior. But even in this case, according to the monk, not everyone will perish, but only those who voluntarily submit to the power of the antitype (with this term he denotes everything that precedes the appearance of the Antichrist).
Posthumous broadcasts
The Nile became famous not only for its healing ointment. In the nineteenth century he began to appear to the monk Theophan. For six years, Saint Nile spoke about the future, and Theophan carefully wrote down all the words of the saint. These prophecies were recognized by the Church and published.
Unlike many predictors, Saint Nile spoke about future events clearly and clearly, without allegories and allegories. And even now they continue to come true, which only proves their veracity and the Nile’s closeness to God.
Son of the Progenitor of Lies
Having appeared in the world, the Antichrist will begin to show people all sorts of signs and wonders, striking their imagination, forcing them to believe in his divinity. Outwardly, this enemy of the human race will be like a meek and humble lamb, but inwardly, in his essence, he will be like a predatory wolf thirsty for blood. His food will be the spiritual death of people who have given preference to the passions of this world and have closed the gates of the Kingdom of God for themselves.
At the end of the world, such vices as oblivion of faith, covetousness, envy, condemnation, enmity, hatred, adultery, boasting of fornication, masculinity and a whole series of similar sinful aspirations of crippled human souls will reach a special scale at the end of the world. All this evil will become life-giving food, giving the Antichrist new strength.
In contrast to how Jesus Christ appeared in the world to do the will of God the Father who sent Him, so the Antichrist will appear on earth to fulfill the will of his father, who, without a doubt, is the devil. From him, the progenitor of lies, he will receive the ability to darken the views of people with the deception of his flattering words. This will ultimately lead him to the pinnacle of earthly power, and will give him the opportunity to rule humanity, or rather, that part of it that will succumb to his cunning fabrications. Being on the brink of death, they will naively believe that Christ the Savior is leading them forward.
Predicting a future Russian tragedy
Many of the predictions of Nile of Athos (as he is often called in church literature) are coming true today, and give us the opportunity to see with our own eyes the truth of his statements. It is enough to give just this very typical example.
At the end of October 1817, during one of his nightly apparitions to the monk Theophan, the saint said that four twenty-five years would pass, and monasticism would dry up in a significant part of the Orthodox world. At that time, contemporaries could in no way imagine how accurately the events that followed exactly a century later in Russia, engulfed in the flames of the Bolshevik revolution, were foreshadowed.
There are many similar examples that can be given. All of them illustrate insight ─ the great gift of God, acquired through deeds that are described in detail in the life of the Myrrh-Streaming Nile, and have been passed on from mouth to mouth for many generations.
Will Orthodoxy save the world?
So far this ominous prophecy has not come true, but everything is heading towards the fact that such times will come. If people don’t come to their senses, then everything that the Myrrh-Streaming Nile spoke about can happen.
The Antichrist will not be able to take over the whole world as long as our faith in the Lord is strong. It is in Russia that the strongest faith is, that is why its enemies want to destroy our country. Each of us has a spark of God. And if we do good deeds, increase goodness, love those around us, raise children in the faith, then we can save the world, cleanse it of filth.
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