Dear Reader,
the book that you hold in your hands is about a holy man of our days, Father Dimitrios Gagastathis, a simple priest of the Orthodox Church, who lived in a village of Greece from 1902 to 1975. Living in such a world as we do today, with all its revolt against God, its heedless pursuit of superficial happiness, its 'scientific' arrogance and its 'philosophical' confusion, the All-good God still provides us in His infinite love with living signs to alert, enlighten and guide us on the path of salvation.
The Word of God, our Lord and God Jesus Christ, has said that "The gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church" (Matt. 16:18) and that "God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty" (1Cor. 1:27), as "the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1Cor. 1:25).
Fr. Dimitrios Gagastathis was such a 'simple' and 'weak' man chosen by God to enlighten others in these difficult times. He had no education -he could not even make a proper sermon- but in his great simplicity and love for God, he became worthly of receiving abundantly God's grace and becoming a living sermon himself.
The words of the Scripture "Our association is in heavens" (Phil. 3:20) were exemplified in this man, who living amidst the cares and problems of everyday life that beset us all, could at the same time, through his great love and devotion to God, his childlike purity of heart, meekness and humility, live effectively amond the Saints in Heaven.
The book contains mostly autobiographical notes taken from the correspondence of Fr. Dimitrios. In these notes, many extraordinary and wondrous things are recorded, which, moreover, are stated with such naturalness and directness, that will perhaps shock or scandalize some. After all, living among the saints is, unfortunately, one of the things our society is not familiar with, not to mention the confusion that false 'spiritual' men have introduced in it. But the reader has to bear in mind that the present account comes from a most simple and guileless priest, who knew nothing about polished writing, but who "having Christ living in him" (Gal. 2:20) could not but reveal everything he experienced as just an "imperative" glorification to God.