Apostle to Zaire: The Life & Legacy of Blessed Father Cosmas of Grigoriou [Paperback]

Demetrios Aslanidis (Author), Monk Damascene Grigoriatis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

APOSTLE TO ZAIRE
The Life and Legacy of Blessed Father Cosmas of Grigoriou

240 pages * 65 photos * 33 color photos

Preface by Archimandrite George of Grigoriou

The Life, Last Days, Letters & Writings of: an Athonite ascetic, a modern model of mission, apostle to the heart of Africa,and an upholder, defender and conveyer of the life-giving Tradition.

Combined with accounts of: miracles and the battle with magic, interventions of the Saints and conversions, missionary adventures and baptismal testimonies.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

In every generation there are those few exceptional souls who rise out of the conventionality of social life to become pathfinders to the catholicity and otherworldliness of Christianity. Heroic and uncompromising, they imitate Abraham and become exiles and martyrs for Christ, following Him with loving exactness and mountain-moving faith. They "hate their life in this world" in order to keep it – and that of their neighbor’s – for eternity; and to successive generations they become models to imitate, witnessing, long after their departure, to the honour the Father bestows on those who serve Him.

Such a one was Blessed Father Cosmas of Grigoriou, enlightener of Zaire.

* * *

Apostle to Zaire is the story of the life and the legacy of a man who was chosen by God from the young age of 18 to be the Enlightener of Zaire.

Apostle to Zaire is the story of an untiring laborer of the Gospel who brought the Light of Christ to the jungles of Africa.

Apostle to Zaire is the story of an ascetic-missionary from the Holy Mount of Athos who established with toil, sweat and tears an eternal foundation, the liberating Orthodox way of salvation, among the natives of the Congo.

Apostle to Zaire is the story of a missionary through whom, on account of his tremendous self-sacrifice and love, God was able to bring 15,000 souls to the Church through him, raising up a faithful and ascetic local Orthodox Church.

Apostle to Zaire is the story of the miracle-filled journey of the Orthodox Mission in Zaire since Father Cosmas' repose, truly reminiscent of the Acts of the Apostles and life of the early Church.

About the Author

Fr. Damascene Girgoriatis is a hieromonk from Grigoriou Monastery on Mount Athos. He has travelled and spent lengthy stays in Zaire, at the Orthodox Mission there, where Fr. Cosmas Grigoriatis lived, worked and spread the Gospel.

Demetrios Aslanidis is the father of Fr. Cosmas Grigoriatis. He married Despina Xenidou in June of 1941 and, after a difficult pregnancy, gave birth to John ( the future Father Cosmas) on 16 August 1942. Demetrios spent an extensive amount of time in Zaire with his son.

Product Details

• Paperback: 239 pages
• Publisher: Uncut Mountain Press (January 1, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 9608677815
• ISBN-13: 978-9608677814
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,481,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of Apostle to Zaire, Copyright 2001, Uncut Mountain Press, November 19, 2006

By 

Jason C. Rogers "... the critic" (Reston, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Apostle to Zaire: The Life & Legacy of Blessed Father Cosmas of Grigoriou (Paperback)

Review of Apostle to Zaire, Copyright 2001, Uncut Mountain Press

Apostle to Zaire is an amazing testimony to a life poured out for others in the missionary field; namely, the Greek Orthodox monk-become-missionary, Fr Cosmas. The first half of the book chronicles primarily Fr. Cosmas's life as a missionary in Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo): his experiences, the miracles, his interaction with the natives of the area, and his insight into what is truly required of the Orthodox missionary. Addressing monks of the Monastery of Gregoriou, Fr Cosmas says, "the mission isn't only for a few months, and anybody who wants to be a missionary has to leave his bones in the soil of Africa" (p. 104). The second half comprises of letters written by others to or about Fr Cosmas, as well as some of Fr Cosmas's writings.

Structurally: the work has gorgeous color photography superior to gray-scale photos normally founds in publications. One significant disappointment, however, is that the work is poorly edited in the English translation; I count no fewer than 14 blatant grammatical and/or typographical errors.

This biography-cum-letters functions as a model for modern Orthodox evangelism. In the authors' view, Fr Cosmas's life upholds the power and truth of the Orthodox faith in contradistinction to the other missions in Zaire. In telling detail, the reader observes some of the differences in approaches to missionary work between Orthodox and non-orthodox Christians. A personal observation of mine is that the Orthodox work in Zaire may have parallels, should we choose to pursue them, to Orthodox evangelization among Native Americans in the United States. In sum, the work is a powerful read and deserves careful editing and republication! I hope it becomes mandatory reading for the Orthodox Christian considering a call to the mission fields.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fr. Cosmas is a true inspiration., January 26, 2004

By 

Moses Alexander (Alabama, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Apostle to Zaire: The Life & Legacy of Blessed Father Cosmas of Grigoriou (Paperback)

Fr. Cosmas of Grigoriou (on Mt. Athos) was responsible for the massive growth of Orthodox Christianity in Zaire. His whole life is covered, not just his Zairian mission work, in order to show how his whole life was in preparation of going to Zaire.

In addition to spiritual ministry, Fr. Cosmas also ministered to the basic needs of Zaire's people (regardless of their religion.) He organized farms and schools as well as preaching and translating Orthodox works into Swahili.

The book is also full of testimonies from fellow priests and monks as well as laymen and others about Fr. Cosmas' Christ-like love for mankind, and particularly the people of Zaire. Fr. Cosmas' famous quote about mission work is quite different from that of the missionaries of other Christian confessions.

He says, "The missionary's beginning is significant, however it is not the sum of the matter. The outset might be blessed or might become blessed at the end. What's important is that the giving be true and total, without holding back, with a disposition to self-sacrifice and self-denial, and with the aim of leaving our bones amongst the natives."

That is the zeal of an apostle , to die amongst those he ministers to whether of persecution or natural causes or whatever the cause. Fr. Cosmas certainly gave total commitment to Zaire and is an inspiration to us all.