The Forms of Prayer?

Saint Paisios: “Glory be to God” is superior to “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” #orthodox_times https://t.co/sZB7qzKzbC

— Orthodox Times (@orthodox_times) July 12, 2021

What Sort of Culture of Obedience?

The case of Jean Vanier, writes Leon J. Podles, has opened the eyes of France to a secret world of heresy and abuse which the Vatican first encountered in the 1950s. Céline Hoyeau has documented and analyzed this world in "The Betrayal of the Fathers".https://t.co/hplyxG3LUH

— Catholic World Report (@cworldreport) May 17, 2021

This is Gerondism

Simplistic solutions to pastoral problems that require more than quotations from monastics.

... If he doesn’t “love” her, the wife will not obey him. If the man does not heed this word, he is responsible for the woman’s obstinacy. Thus, he has to love her by all means.

+Elder Arsenie (Papacioc), Eternity in the Moment, p. 181 pic.twitter.com/g4Kpd7zfs5

— Orthodox Christianity (@Orthodoxy2019) February 2, 2021

More pastorally questionable pontificating:

1/2: The woman has to live in harmony with her husband. They have to work together for the supreme goal: salvation. The woman is the heart of the family, as the man is the head of the family. If there’s no heart, the head is empty...

+Elder Arsenie (Papacioc) pic.twitter.com/SGVzVnzXBC

— Orthodox Christianity (@Orthodoxy2019) February 1, 2021

Another Quote That Needs to Be Interpreted in an Orthodox Manner

"He who compels himself and holds on to repentance until the end, even if he sins is saved because he compelled himself, for the Lord promised this in the Gospel."

- St. Mark the Ascetic pic.twitter.com/rozhp9LtiH

— Gravantus (@The_Tabellion) December 16, 2020

For a Lesser Evil to Come

FOR A LESSER EVIL TO COME!
Metropolitan Neophytos

With English subtitleshttps://t.co/jfU9gX9MLq

— Orthodox Ethos (@frpeterheers) December 5, 2020

Hmm...

Those Who will Give the Testimony of our Christ will become Awesome Martyrs, Awesome Saints in the other World!

Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona

“It is for this reason that monasticism must stand again on its bastion, on this great strength that it contains in itself.(1)

— Orthodox Ethos (@frpeterheers) December 1, 2020

I have doubts about Elder Aphraim and his movement; to outsiders it might seem like a cult or scam. But the problem of "gerondism" is tied to the prominence given to monks within Byzantine Christianity; can it be said that "gerondism" or another spiritual problem afflects certain monasteries on Mount Athos?

Edit.

Remember this one thing, my child—if you don’t forgive, you can forget about Paradise.

+ Elder Ephraim of Arizona#Paradise #ElderEphraim #Orthodoxy #OrthodoxChurch #JesusSaves #ΓέρονταΕφραίμ pic.twitter.com/jrSWfHx9sA

— Orthodox Christianity (@Orthodoxy2019) December 3, 2020

Reliable Authorities?

In case you missed it...

Creation, Early Man, and Evolution | According to Modern Holy Fathers https://t.co/mG6Uwn9YJh pic.twitter.com/Y2E0Izn1Sc

— Timothy Honeycutt (@AudioScribeOW) November 19, 2020

Trailer for Mount Athos Documentary

Trailer to New Mount Athos Documentary in Productionhttps://t.co/KVCV1crM7C pic.twitter.com/KaXcpclMBv

— Mystagogy (@mystagogy1) November 18, 2020

Trailer here.

Man of God

The promo poster for the Man of God film on St. Nektarios, to be released next year:#StNektarios #GreekOrthodox #OrthodoxChristianity pic.twitter.com/eUbzUmdUfY

— Orthodox Christianity (@Orthodoxy2019) November 10, 2020

Fr. Peter Heers on Voting

https://t.co/MQR2o7wlJ5

— Orthodox Ethos (@frpeterheers) November 1, 2020

As an Orthodox Christian, How should I vote?: St. Paisios the Athonite is Your Guide
Archpriest Peter Heershttps://t.co/q4vWDJTlXP

— Orthodox Ethos (@frpeterheers) November 1, 2020

His judgments and recommendations may be correct; they may not be. But relying on one elder as a source of political wisdom? Questionable.

Equivocation on "Nationalism"

And why cherry-picking things from Elders when what they were saying wasn't intended to be moral theology is a mistake. An effect of gerondism?

Thoughts from Saint Sophrony on nationalism.https://t.co/0kRBbaA2VG pic.twitter.com/c8YDQ3WxPl

— IOCS - Cambridge (@IOCS_Cambridge) September 30, 2020

My desire was to establish a monastery in the spirit of Saint Silouan [the Athonite]. But to this day, I hear that my attempt is purely utopian. People tell me: "It is impossible to overcome nationalism in oneself." But then, I think, salvation is impossible. If I am a nationalist and Christian by faith, then I narrow Christ down to this concept - "nationality." You see why it is impossible for me to accept this narrowing down and why it is a great consolation for me that, although we are a small group, we are eleven nationalities! In the prayer of Silouan, who always calls us to pray for all mankind, from beginning to end, there is, of course, no nationalism. All these national divisions were the result of the Fall into sin. Nowhere do we see a Christian preaching of hatred. This means that the Christian faith doesn’t talk about the rejection of other nationalities, but about overcoming this limitation by ascending to the prayer of Gethsemane.

If ethnonationalism meant loving only those of one's ethnos the exclusion of all others then it would be a sin. But that is not how it is used by those who use it in an identitarian context.

Metropolitan Ephymios (Stilios) on Gerondism

OrthoChristian: The Phenomenon of “Gerondism”
Part 1: The components of “gerondism”
Part 2: Theological critique of the phenomenon. The ethics of the spiritual father and his child

Are the problems similar to the cult of personality that surrounds founders of young religious orders and communities in the West?

An Exaggeration?

The Byzantine emphasis on monasteries is historical. But is it warranted? Prayer is important for all Christians, that is true at least.

I have seen critiques of "gerondism" here and there but I don't know if the critiques are correct.

Don’t Look for New Ideals. The Monastic Life Has Always Been an Example for the Laity

Related:
“Let’s be Christians Twenty-Four Hours a Day”: A Conversation with an Athonite Ascetic by Hieroschemamonk Ștefan Nuțescu