«It i

s pos

sibl

e fo

r Cat

holic

s, O

rthod

ox a

nd P

rote

stan

ts

to li

ve to

geth

er.

This

has

bee

n m

y se

arch

and

my

preo

ccup

atio

n

thro

ugho

ut m

y lif

e,

and

in B

ose

I can

con

tinue

to li

ve th

is fr

ater

nal f

riend

ship

as a

n ex

pres

sion

of t

he fa

ct th

at

all o

f us a

re m

embe

rs o

f the

one

bod

y of

Chr

ist.

Ther

e a

prof

ound

com

mun

ity is

alre

ady

reac

hed:

it is

that

whi

ch is

live

d

whe

re th

ere

is a

shar

ing

of o

ne li

fe.»

«Dea

th b

elon

gs to

us,

and

it is

impo

rtant

to p

repa

re fo

r it.

It w

ill b

e th

e fu

ll ep

ipha

ny

of w

hat w

e ha

ve li

ved

and

will

be

abov

e al

l the

fulfi

llmen

t of o

ur li

fe‚

God

wan

ts to

be

alw

ays w

ith h

is b

elov

ed c

reat

ure.

»

(Em

ilian

os T

imia

dis,

Chi

amat

i alla

libe

rtà,

Qiq

ajon

200

4, p

p. 1

49-1

50, 1

52)

MET

RO

POLI

TAN

EM

ILIA

NO

S (T

IMIA

DIS

) O

F SI

LYV

RIA

Con

stan

tinop

le, 1

0 M

arch

191

6Eg

hion

, 22

Febr

uary

200

8w

ww.

mon

aste

rodi

bose

.it

«A m

an w

ho k

nows

how

to lo

ve. A

nd w

ho tr

uly

love

s.»(P

atria

rch

Igna

tius I

V)

At

daw

n on

Frid

ay,

22 F

ebru

ary

2008

, th

e m

etro

polit

an o

f Si

lyvr

ia o

f the

Ecu

men

ical

Pat

riarc

hate

, Em

ilian

os (T

imia

dis)

, pas

sed

from

this

wor

ld to

the

Fath

er. A

fter h

is la

st st

ay in

Bos

e - w

here

sinc

e O

ctob

er 1

995

he h

ad d

ecid

ed to

live

as

a br

othe

r of

the

com

mun

ity,

havi

ng k

now

n br

. Enz

o si

nce

1968

- h

e ha

d be

en f

or a

few

day

s at

Eg

hion

in G

reec

e, g

uest

of m

etro

polit

an A

mvr

osio

s of

Kal

avry

ta, h

is

spiri

tual

son

. In

the

last

ten

yea

rs m

etro

polit

an E

mili

anos

cho

se t

o di

vide

his

tim

e be

twee

n Eg

hion

and

Bos

e.

He

had

been

th

e pe

rman

ent

repr

esen

tativ

e of

pa

triar

ch

Ath

enag

oras

to th

e W

orld

Cou

ncil

of C

hurc

hes i

n G

enev

a fo

r tw

enty

-fi v

e ye

ars

(195

9-19

84),

his

obse

rver

at

Vatic

an C

ounc

il II

, el

ecte

d bi

shop

of M

eloa

in 1

960

and

met

ropo

litan

of C

alab

ria in

196

5, th

en

of S

ilyvr

ia in

197

7, a

nd w

ould

hav

e co

mpl

eted

92

year

s on

10 M

arch

20

08. H

e rem

aine

d ev

er in

than

ksgi

ving

and

in p

eace

, res

pond

ing

with

a

nod

and

a lig

ht sm

ile to

the

gest

ures

of a

ffect

ion

and

of c

omm

unio

n w

ith w

hich

he w

as su

rrou

nded

up to

the l

ast m

omen

t. To

our c

omm

unity

he

use

d to

repe

at a

lway

s, un

til th

e ve

ry e

nd: «

I car

ry y

ou in

my

hear

t, yo

u ar

e a

part

of m

y be

ing,

I em

brac

e al

l of y

ou. T

hank

you

!».

Alre

ady

grav

ely

ill w

ith c

ance

r of t

he li

ver a

nd o

f the

pan

crea

s, an

d st

rong

ly w

arne

d by

doc

tors

not

to

unde

rtake

any

trip

s, he

ne

verth

eles

s de

cide

d to

com

e to

Bos

e fo

r th

e C

hris

tmas

sea

son.

He

arriv

ed o

n 20

Dec

embe

r 200

7, as

if fo

r a fi

nal p

artin

g, an

d le

ft ag

ain

on

30 Ja

nuar

y 20

08 fo

r Gre

ece,

to p

repa

re h

imse

lf fo

r the

fi na

l pas

sage

, in

his O

rthod

ox la

nd, w

hich

now

has

rece

ived

his

bod

y.D

urin

g hi

s las

t sta

y in

Bos

e he

nev

er c

ease

d to

shar

e on

ce a

gain

w

ith e

ach

one

of u

s hi

s w

isdo

m, h

is k

een

inte

llige

nce,

his

kno

wle

dge

of th

e ar

t of c

omba

t and

of d

isce

rnm

ent,

and,

abo

ve a

ll, o

f his

love

for

Chr

ist,

for t

he C

hurc

h, fo

r all

hum

an b

eing

s.H

e pr

ayed

and

ask

ed f

or p

raye

rs. H

e fo

ught

aga

inst

his

illn

ess

and

subm

itted

him

self

with

obe

dien

ce to

God

’s w

ill. H

e re

calle

d th

at

the

Orth

odox

Chu

rch

durin

g Le

nt i

nvok

es e

spec

ially

“th

e G

od o

f ho

sts”

and

ask

ed fo

r the

stre

ngth

to b

e ab

le to

fulfi

ll to

the

very

end

hi

s m

issi

on, f

rom

whi

ch h

e ne

ver c

onsi

dere

d hi

mse

lf ex

empt

, mov

ed

by h

is d

aily

wor

ry, c

once

rn fo

r the

uni

ty o

f all

Chr

istia

ns.

Pers

onify

ing

the

adag

e of

the

gre

at p

atria

rch

Ath

enag

oras

, w

ith w

hom

he

lived

in p

rofo

und

intim

acy,

«Le

t us

look

eac

h ot

her

in th

e ey

es,»

he

had

for

all

who

cam

e to

vis

it hi

m a

per

sona

l wor

d of

ex

horta

tion

and

of

cons

olat

ion.

Pa

triar

ch

Bar

thol

omeo

s of

C

onst

antin

ople

, in

his

own

nam

e an

d in

tha

t of

his

who

le C

hurc

h,

sent

him

a w

arm

lette

r of f

rate

rnal

love

and

of a

ffect

iona

te c

lose

ness

in

his

illn

ess.

Geo

rge

Lem

opou

los,

assi

stan

t se

cret

ary

gene

ral

of t

he W

orld

C

ounc

il of

Chu

rche

s, de

clar

ed: «

He

retu

rns

to G

od in

the

fulln

ess

of

life,

with

all

his s

piri

tual

chi

ldre

n ar

ound

him

.»«E

fcha

rist

ò! M

ille,

mill

e, m

ille

mer

ci!»

. The

se w

ords

, con

stan

tly

repe

ated

, acc

ompa

nied

his

exo

dus:

ther

e fo

llow

ed a

wid

e si

gn o

f the

cr

oss,

slow

and

sole

mn,

sim

ple

and

true.

«I a

m d

epar

ting:

we

will

see

each

oth

er a

gain

in th

e K

ingd

om o

f God

.»H

is fu

nera

l too

k pl

ace

on th

e m

orni

ng o

f Sat

urda

y, 2

3 Fe

brua

ry

2008

, in

the

cath

edra

l “

Fane

rom

ènis

” of

Egh

ion:

it

was

a g

enui

ne

spiri

tual

eve

nt, i

n w

hich

our

com

mun

ity p

artic

ipat

ed w

ith a

frat

erna

l pr

esen

ce.

His

bod

y w

as v

este

d in

epi

scop

al l

iturg

ical

ves

tmen

ts,

the

book

of

Gos

pels

on

his

brea

st...

His

fac

e w

as a

won

der,

with

a

beau

ty v

ery

hum

an a

nd tr

ansfi

gur

ed, a

fac

e of

pea

ce, o

f tra

nspa

rent

in

telli

genc

e, w

ith a

trac

e of

a li

ght s

mile

. The

fac

e of

a k

alòg

hero

s ac

cord

ing

to th

e ea

ster

n tra

ditio

n, th

at is

, of a

n el

der b

ecom

e be

autif

ul

in v

irtue

of s

o m

any

face

s lo

ved

for s

o lo

ng...

A fa

ce th

at re

conc

iles

with

dea

th, w

hich

is n

ot o

nly

enem

y an

d ob

stac

le, b

ut a

lso

sum

mar

y,

seal

, con

secr

atio

n of

a li

fe. T

here

is d

espe

ratio

n or

ang

uish

, but

the

sens

atio

n th

at E

mili

anos

is

livin

g, a

nd p

rese

nt t

o al

l pe

rson

s an

d al

l thi

ngs:

«M

y G

od, y

ou h

ave

calle

d m

e, h

ow c

an I

go

away

?» (

O.

Elyt

is). Th

e pr

ior b

r. En

zo a

nd th

e B

ose

com

mun

ity a

re fi

lled

with

pra

ise

and

with

than

ksgi

ving

in th

e fa

ce o

f the

dea

th o

f thi

s Man

of G

od, t

his

brot

her

of o

ur c

omm

unity

, whi

ch is

per

ceiv

ed a

s an

epi

cles

is o

n th

e ro

ad o

f un

ity o

f al

l Chr

istia

ns. W

e as

k th

e Lo

rd to

con

tinue

to s

end

prop

hets

to h

is c

omm

unity

and

our

bel

oved

met

ropo

litan

Em

ilian

os

to in

terc

ede

unw

eary

ingl

y in

Hea

ven

for a

ll of

God

’s c

hild

ren.

Tha

nks

for t

his u

nspe

akab

le g

ift!