by Fr. Stanley S. Harakas
Fr. Luke Veronis, the son of one of the most distinguished missionary minded Priests of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, Fr. Alexander Veronis, has moved forward in advancing the sense of mission in the Orthodox Church in the United States and Canada. In “Go Forth” he has provided a beautiful, moving and truly inspiring collection of personal stories describing both the triumphs and successes, as well as the painful failures and disappointments of a modern day missionary. It is almost impossible to stop reading these stories, one after another, that describe realistically his missionary experiences. Page after page describes real life efforts, real human encounters, real suffering, real victories and real experiences of God in the mundane realities of a dirt poor nation struggling to overcome and realize a spiritual reawakening.
Fr. Luke became interested in Orthodox missions as a student at Holy Cross School of Theology in Brookline, MA. Soon after graduation he responded to the missionary calling by serving as a missionary in Africa where he got to know Archbishop Anastasios. Later, in 1994 he followed Anastasios to Albania. The Albanian Orthodox Church, along with all religious expression had been almost exterminated by the four decade ruthless, atheistic communist rule of Enver Hoxha. With the end of the communist rule in 1992, the resurrection of the church commenced, hence, the sub-title of this engaging book “Stories of Mission and Resurrection in Albania.”
One of the most inspiring characteristics of this volume is how effortlessly and unobtrusively Fr. Luke garners spiritual lessons from the multitude of authentic stories of the struggles and ordinary yet courageous and uplifting relationships of his and his family’s life as missionaries.
Most Orthodox Christians are unaware of the rich history of missions in their Church. An even more closed door is the actual life of Orthodox missionaries. What in fact do Orthodox missionaries do? Well, if you are curious enough to find out, I heartily recommend to you this book, which is a collection of very human, very inspiring, very interesting, and very attention- grabbing missionary stories. After reading this book, you will have most of your questions answered, and will have entered into the real life experiences and reflections of a modern day Orthodox missionary.
Perhaps the reason for most Orthodox Christian indifference to Orthodox Christian missions, is that following the fifteenth century, most Orthodox Churches found it almost impossible to do what Jesus Christ told us to do: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15). The reason for this lack of mission sensitivity was the stifling conditions of the Muslim oppression of the Church that reached to the beginnings of the 19th century. When, at long last the Ottoman Empire came to an end, there was, with the exception of Orthodox Russia, an almost total lack of comprehension of anything related to missions by Orthodox Christians. Four centuries in the self-preservation mode had left the Orthodox, clergy and laity, without a missionary consciousness.
All this began to change radically about 50 years ago in the minds and hearts of a small number of clergy and laity in Greece. One of the leading figures in this tiny movement was a young Greek clergyman, Anastasios Yannoulatos. He and his associates began a revival of Orthodox mission consciousness with the publication (at first mimeographed and only later printed) of a magazine titled “Porefthendes.” The periodical was also issued in English, with the title, “Go Ye!” which essentially is also the title of this book, “Go Forth!” In one sense, Fr. Veronis’ book is a fruition of the aspirations of that first effort in re-kindling Orthodox interest in missions.
You will not be able to put this book down easily once you start reading. A goodly number of photographs adorn the volume giving it a concrete and human context. On the cover of the book is a photograph of Fr. Luke offering the Paschal light at a Resurrection Service held outdoors at one of the main boulevards of the capital city of Tirana with 20,000 people joyfully receiving the light of the resurrection with the candles in their hands. If you look very carefully at the front cover, pictured in the bottom corner there is a woman receiving the light. She is smiling with radiant joy in sharing in Christ’s Resurrection. I predict if you read this book, you will share in that same joy!
You can order the book from www.conciliarpress.com and www.amazon.com
Fr. Stanley S. Harakas, Th.D., D.D., is Archbishop Iakovos Professor of Orthodox Theology, Emeritus, at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA. He is also the Dean at the Christ the Savior Greek Orthodox Church of Hernando County, FL.
