Apostle to Zaire

The Life and Legacy of Blessed Father Cosmas of Grigoriou

by Dimitri Aslanidis & Monk Damascene Grigoriatis
Paperback: 224 pages

In every generation there are those few exceptional souls who rise out of the conventionality of social life to become path-finders 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.

The book is divided into two parts: In part one, we encounter the life, last days, letters and the writings of an Athonite ascetic, a modern model of mission, an apostle to the heart of Africa and an upholder, defender and conveyer of the life-giving Tradition. In part two, we read accounts of miracles and the battle with magic, interventions of the Saints and conversions of sinners, missionary adventures and baptismal testimonies. A unique biography of a contemporary missionary and holy monk of Mount Athos and a practical introduction to contemporary Orthodox Missiology.