05/31/2026
Parishioner Spotlight: Finding the Sacred on the Texas Coast
Douglas Palandech reviews the impressionistic Orthodox film, "El Tonto Por Cristo"
A beautiful moment of reflection from our own Cathedral community! Longtime parishioner Douglas Palandech recently shared his deeply moving thoughts on the film El Tonto Por Cristo, an unconventional, poetic masterpiece that explores the ancient mystery of Eastern Orthodoxy right against the rugged backdrop of the Texas Gulf Coast. Douglas beautifully captures how the film bypasses conventional storytelling to offer a vivid, impressionistic look at monastic life, sacrifice, and our shared journey toward theosis. Read his full, insightful review below, and let us know your thoughts if you have experienced this remarkable film!
The film is in no sense a conventional motion picture; its much better described as an impressionist painting introducing a Western audience to the mystery of Eastern Orthodoxy as experienced through the lives of monastics.
On a purely personal note, two of the largest influences in my life are Eastern Orthodoxy and Texas, which remarkably is where the film is set [clearly on the Texas Gulf, my guess being Corpus Cristi or Galveston].
The film invites you to experience the Faith in a non-linear, unconventional manner, as the story is told through a series of vignettes all different but thematically whole. The central character, i.e., the Fool for Christ, is Fr. John, about whom we know little other than he came to be head of the abbot, coming to Orthodoxy out of the rough hewn Texas experience. In the course of the film Fr. John, like Christ, takes on the sins of the community, which ages and disables him [an outcome in which he rejoices “Today, I arise”]. The monastics are a collection of misfits, struggling, failing and rising again. A careful exploration of the monastics reveals that each portrays a saint [some modern day some from antiquity]. The monastic community is often allegorically presented as a beehive, where each member is working for the welfare of all. There is a very mysterious character called Gabriel, and the viewer is intentionally left unsure if Gabriel is the Archangel or a former abbot of the community. Gabriel’s reassurance to Fr. John at the film’s conclusion will reduce you to tears as it validates Orthodoxy overarching message of theosis.
The film is like a poem or a Beethoven symphony. It is to be experienced and not rationally understood. The understanding might come afterward when in discussion and reflection the message and meaning become clearer. The chat rooms are full of idea exchanges, no doubt better than my take. But ultimately the film reminds us that our lives are not our own. Everything we are or pretend to be are the product of the selfless work of others. The monastics praying for us on the Gulf of Texas and the sacrificial character of their existence make clear that we are servants, make that consecrated servants, and owe to each other non-delegable duties of love, harmony and forgiveness.
