THE PATH TO HOLINESS

The Path to Holiness

The loss of the criteria of Orthodox spirituality and holiness in our time has led to secularisation. We live in an era in which ‘what’ is emphasised more than ‘how’. We speak continually about what a saint is, and not about how someone becomes a saint. However, the way in which one becomes a saint is very important, because this ‘how’ indicates the path that leads to holiness and the theological prerequisites for becoming a saint.

St Kallinikos, as a young man, a theologian, a soldier, Priest, Protosyngellos and Bishop, had a great love for Christ; he walked God’s path to the end and reached his destination. He was on his way to God, a traveller who wanted to become a citizen of the heavenly homeland. With his Christian life and the way he faced the many trials and temptations that befell him, culminating in his illness, he showed us ‘the path to holiness’. He is a genuine model of sanctity, not only for bishops but for every Christian.

Readers will see his ‘how’ of holiness and follow this ‘path to holiness’, in the present book. It is a spiritual mirror in which we should frequently look at ourselves in order to discern how to become a saint.