There was a simple and compassionate monk, named Fr. Gregory, who worked as an attendant in the geriatric hospital of the Monastery of St.Paul (on Mount Athos).
He himself told me [relates Elder Paisios] the following event from his life. About forty years ago, when he was serving in the monastery’s
geriatric hospital, one of the other monks gave him a bunch of grapes as a blessing.
He decided not to eat any of the grapes; rather, he cut them into smaller bunches and shared them amongst the elderly monks. One monk,out of extreme appreciation—because they were the first grapes of the season he had eaten—kept wishing him, “Good Paradise to you! May you find these in Paradise!” The attendant, with simplicity, replied jokingly:“Go ahead and eat your grapes, blessed soul. Paradise and Hell are here in this life.”
Although he was only joking and didn’t believe what he said—furthermore, he also had the excuse of being simpleminded—this is what happened to him.That night he had a frightful dream, which he experienced as if he was awake! He found himself gazing out over a sea of fire. Across the other side, there was a beautiful bay with crystal palaces. From the distance, he noticed that there was a venerable elder who lived there. The elder was radiant—even his beard appeared to be of silk.
There, he also encountered a brother from the monastery who had fallen asleep in the Lord three years prior. He began to ask the brother about these palaces (which impressed him tremendously), and about the venerable elder.
“He is Elder Abraham,” replied the brother, “and this beautiful coastline with the crystal palaces is ‘the bosom of Abraham,’ where the righteous souls come to rest.”
When righteous Abraham heard the brother saying these words, he looked at Fr. Gregory and ordered him with a stern voice:“Get out of here! You have no place here!”
When Fr. Gregory heard Patriarch Abraham censuring him, he quickly turned around to leave; however, he hadn’t gone too far when the flames from the sea caught up to him. The fire started to scorch him, and he woke up from the pain. To his surprise, his leg was burnt and covered in blisters at the exact area where he had felt the fire burning him.
The pain in his leg continued for another twenty days before the wounds finally healed with the aid of various ointments and practical remedies.
Fr. Gregory bitterly repented for what he had said, and in the future he was much more careful with his words.
–from the book Athonite Fathers & Athonite Matters–
