Starting On The Royal Path

Orthodox Prophets

2012-01-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

Website Review

orthodoxprophets.blogspot.com

I can't recommend this blog. I'm sorry, but I'm not permitted to discuss it.

Prophets do not arise outside the Church.

Most heterodox believe that prophets are basically chosen at random, whether they be referring to the Old Testament Prophets or modern-day psychics. This delusion is a facet of a ubiquitous delusion which includes the ideas that the Bible maybe just rained out of the sky onto everyone, and that Jesus' mother was an ordinary peasant woman chosen at random with no special ancestral preparation. This delusion is caused by an inability to discern the Church and the boundaries of Church, whether this be the Old or New Testament Church. While this delusion can be found in the lowest levels of world Orthodoxy, it is not found in Royal Path Orthodoxy [and neither in the super-correct Churches].

A less common delusion is found in both heterodox and Orthodox.

Heterodox who believe they are prophets –when this is not just an overactive imagination or wishful thinking– can actually be some kind of [false] prophet, such as the charismatics who "get words." They confess that their "gift" was received outside the Orthodox Church and, in fact, insist the Church has nothing to do with it. In the case of Orthodox who believe they are prophets, they are are deceived by demons. They believe that their "gift" was given to them within the Church, usually as a reward for their ascetic labors. In Orthodoxy this is called "prelest" or "plani," and the root cause is pride, as described in St. John Climacus' The Ladder.

Anybody who has not been rescued from the first delusion, and especially one who might suffer from the second delusion as well, should not be baptized into the Church. This is partly because it is much more difficult to cure this malady when the the victim of this delusion does not recognize the ultimate authority of the Church, but instead thinks himself a higher authority than the Church. He may even misuse the Church as part of his claim to authority. This is a convert pitfall that Fr. Seraphim Rose labeled: knowing better, trusting oneself. The prescribed cure is humility.



Real Orthodox prophets are never self-revealed and known only to a few pious faithful during their lifetimes.



The best way to learn about Orthodox prophets is in reading lives of saints. The life of St. John of Kronstadt comes first to my mind as he is a modern prophet. Avoid reading anything from the new Mt. Athos, anything after 1900.

At this time [January 4, 2012] I can recommend this blog for the subject of Orthodox prophets:

http://orthodoxeschatology.blogspot.com/

The blog owner is in an untrustworthy jurisdiction [vigante, Milan], but this does not effect the superior quality of her blog [at this time].

labels: delusion, prelest, incomplete conversion

Myrrhbearers

2011-11-28T09:53:00.001-08:00

Website Review

http://myrrhbearers.com/

The blog owner identifies herself and her jurisdiction, a GOC. Her priest used to be in Rocor before the union. The GOC, is a super-correct jurisdiction, but nowhere on this blog do we read about who does or does not have grace. Instead we find a superb collection of very fine spiritual nourishment.

The library is a special gift to readers with exclusive selections translated by the blog owner.

http://myrrhbearers.com/categories/263/library-1.aspx

11/28/11

Uncreated Energies

2011-11-06T13:35:00.000-08:00

Caution:

Do not accept any teachings about "uncreated energies"

of God from any Church fathers less than 150 years old.

This does not include St. Seraphim of Sarov who was born in 1759, making him 252 years old.

Be on the safe side, please accept this caution. There's something not right about the recent emphasis on "uncreated energies" coming from world Orthodoxy, coming from modern-day Orthodox elders and church leaders who might:

1. approve of the new calendar [Mt. Athos]

2. have fallen for the RocorMP union

3. commemorate the Ecumenical Patriarch
4. otherwise be in world Orthodoxy, living within rewritten history, [i.e., living a lie]

And this new emphasis that I see is in sharp contrast to older Church fathers and even newer ones such as St. John S&SF, who was photographed in uncreated light. These Fathers rarely, if ever, spoke of it.

It might be possible that this new emphasis on "uncreated energies" – referred to simply as "grace" by our trusted Fathers – is creeping in precisely because something has been lost, and this new emphasis now fills the void...

I will update this post if I find supporting materials. In the meantime, I'm not suggesting that anyone shun the subject of the uncreated energies of God. But to be on the safe side, accept teachings on this from the older Fathers, and do not give greater emphasis to it than they do. And do not trust any modern father who uses those terms "uncreated energies of God" insistently or as an authority.

Fr. Seraphim and our Holy Prophets have warned us of the proliferation of pseudo-elders we will have as we advance towards the end times. Don't let us lull ourselves into thinking that these false elders will be only some kind of obvious guru, or shaman, or uncanonical self-ordained pseudo-Orthodox hermit.

The aim of a Christian life is deification. But towards that end, our humble labors are first in asceticism and confession. Somebody who has capitulated to the new calendar, is not confessing. Somebody whose bishop supports the RocorMP union is not confessing. How can we let these people teach us about the uncreated energies of God? We can't.

But the older trusted Fathers, such as St. Seraphim of Sarov – these we can trust. They speak with true authority. And they seem to present the subject to us as if a "peek" into paradise, a hint of future blessedness. Just as a young child learning his alphabet might be given a "peek" into a book he can't yet read, to show him the reason for learning the alphabet.

We are taught by our trusted Fathers not to seek paradise on earth, instead we are to "run the race." It should be enough for us to learn how to pray. Which is what we are taught well by St. John of Kronstadt and St. Theophan the Recluse. Stick with this and beware of the new modern over-emphasis on uncreated energies and the over-use of these terms.

[I would appreciate feedback from anyone else who has noticed this.]

Uncreated Energies – Selected feedback

11/8/11

 Did you see this modern elder?

http://stherman.com/Catalog/Lives_of_Saints/sophrony_book.htm

My comment:

Let's face it: any truly enlightened apostle to world orthodoxy is going to first lead them out of their modernism and renovationism – not dazzle them with exalted teachings of uncreated light giving the false impression that Tradition isn't necessary for spiritual advancement.. Compare these new teachers to St. Seraphim of Sarov who was able to actually impart the Holy Spirit to others. -jh

 To my, fading, memory, this exalted theological term, "uncreated energies' came originally from the teachings of one or more of the Church Father (St. Gregory?) and was referring to his effort at describing the essence of God, and how He acts, etc. It had nothing to do, with individual people, or them somehow, possessing such 'energies',( as in, 'acquiring the Holy Spirit', etc.) but...? Certainly, originally anyway, this term had nothing to do with this modern phenomenon, of this Pentecostalist- 'Carismatic Movement' or Possessing the Holy Spirit, etc.

However, I don't doubt that present day modernist/renovationist/ecumenist Orthodox, may be misusing this term and also it's implications, as they are doing with so many other Orthodox terms or traditions.

 The term "uncreated energies" arose in the 14th century. St. Gregory Palamas (and others) battled against the heretical views of Barlaam of Calabria and Acindynus, especially their idea that grace is "created." This idea came from the Latins. The Orthodox teaching about the "uncreated energies of God" has been around a long time, before St. Gregory Palamas' time. But through his efforts it was dogmatized and became a basic part of Orthodox theology.

Contemporary theological writers, in my opinion, use this term without really understanding the full implications that "participation in the uncreated energies of God" has on the practical level. We see the same misuse of St. Seraphim of Sarov's teachings and example, and he undoubtedly did participate in God's uncreated energies. Towards the end of his life he greeted everyone at all times of the year with "Christ is risen" and called everyone, "My Joy!" But for St. Seraphim to get to that exalted spiritual level, he had to go through many and long years of rigorous monastic training – obedience, ascetic struggle, unceasing prayer, fasting, and all that the unseen warfare entails. In other words, today people want the end result without the labors that are required to get that result. That is why a focus on "uncreated energies" or a quest for "participating in God's uncreated energies" can be inappropriate – or even harmful.

 Fr. Seraphim Rose would say that expounding on the uncreated energies is not "sober."

 KJV Psalm 131:1

"Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty;

neither do I exercise myself with great matters

or in things too high for me."

UPDATE 11/23/11

The subject of uncreated light is explained by Fr. Maximus Maretta in his talk given at a [super-correct] conference in 2011. Fr. Maximus used to be in our Roca, but with the RocorMP union in 2007, he joined a GOC [Greek super-correct jurisdiction]. His talk applies to all, and taken by itself does not lead anyone into a super-correct mindset.

His mention of the uncreated light puts it exactly in the proper perspective with perfect sobriety. His talk is most profitable otherwise as well, and so, I'm pasting it below. Not necessarily for study, although it is worthy of study, but just read it to get an overview and to put our present day and present personal condition in perspective of the grander scheme of things. The emphases are mine and highlight the gist of what relates to this post. -jh

Talk on the Spiritual Life

for the Toronto Conference of October, 2011

http://orthodoxyinfo.org/OctoberConference/FrMaximus.pdf

Your Graces, Fathers, Brothers, and Sisters in Christ,

The world we find ourselves in today is one of almost total abandonment of God. We live in a complete secular society, where religion is at best ignored and at worst actively harassed. Every aspect of our culture fights against the knowledge of God and against the Christian lifestyle. How are we Orthodox Christians supposed to lead a devout and serious life, which has Christ at its center? How can we follow in the footsteps of the Holy Fathers and imitate their mindset and way of life?

Part of the answer, in my opinion, is that we must try to understand the writings of the Fathers. What I would like to do today is to make an outline of the spiritual life for you according to the teachings of the Fathers. Although some of what I am going to talk about may seem at first a little abstract or even inapplicable to the life of the average person in the world, I think that having an understanding of the theory behind the spiritual life is immensely useful for everybody. All of us, whether we are clergy or monastics or laypeople, ultimately have the same goal: to be united with Christ. The same spiritual laws apply to all of us, even though some of the specifics may be different depending on a person’s station in life. We are all human, and we are all Orthodox Christians, and we all follow the same Gospel and the same Fathers of the Church. The Fathers wrote not simply for monks, but for all people; and everyone who is serious about leading a life in conformity to the Gospel needs to understand the fundamental rules of spiritual warfare and the basic framework in which we work out our salvation.

One of the great boasts of the Orthodox Church is that we do not engage in spiritual warfare blindly as do Protestants and sectarians, but rather with a definite plan in mind. According to St. Maximus the Confessor, we must fight “scientifically.” “Scientifically” means that the spiritual life can be analyzed and broken down into parts, so that we know what we are doing on each step along the way. We seek to understand what obstacles confront us, how we can overcome temptations, what are the manifestations of grace, what is the difference between grace and delusion, and so on.

The spiritual life is broadly divided into three stages, which were first clearly articulated by St. Dionysios the Areopagite. He refers to the stages as purification, illumination, and perfection. Other Fathers refer to the last stage as deification. Purification is the stage in which all people begin: it is when we cleanse ourselves of the eight general passions in order to prepare ourselves to receive God’s grace. The simplest way to think of the passions is as bad habits. By purifying ourselves of them, we attain to the state of dispassion, which is the prerequisite for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and ceaseless prayer.

The Fathers enumerate eight general passions: gluttony, fornication, greed, anger, listlessness or boredom, depression, vainglory, and pride. These eight passions proceed from three root passions, which are love of pleasure, love of possessions, and pride. These are described in scripture as “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” These three passions in turn derive from one source of all evil, which is self-love. Now, the passions are listed in a certain traditional order which is not random, but rather related to the way in which they dominate us and the order in which we must combat them. Thus, the first passions to be listed are gluttony and fornication, which are sins relating to the flesh. Sins of the flesh tend to be the first into which we fall (thus Adam fell into gluttony in Paradise), since they offer immediate pleasure and gratification. Thus where Adam fell, so must we also begin our spiritual life; that is with fasting. So it was that Christ began His ministry by fasting forty days in the wilderness. The other passions follow in sequence, ending in pride, which is the both worst of all and entirely immaterial.

In the stage of purification, our primary goal is to eradicate and destroy the passions. However, God’s grace is always with us: usually in imperceptible ways, but sometimes in ways that are quite obvious. The three stages each have their own level of grace, which gradually become more intense and more noticeable. These workings of God’s grace are beautifully described by John the Venerable, a Syrian ascetic whose works are compiled together with the works of St. Isaac the Syrian. He describes the grace we receive while we are being purified in the following manner, which most of us can relate to on some level.

“The Visitations of the First Stage [i.e., of purification from the passions]

√ Sometimes grace sows humility in a person’s heart and makes his thought lower than dust and ashes.

√ Sometimes it causes him to shed tears through the remembrance of his sins.

√ Sometimes it makes recitation of the Psalms sweet to his heart, giving him facility and enjoyment in his lengthy service.

√ Sometimes it makes him love frequent prostrations, stirring up in him impulses of sorrow and humility, or of joy and confidence.

√ Sometimes it consoles him with dreams; he should be wary of these, however wonderful they may be, because of the Adversary.

√ Sometimes it stimulates him with the remembrance of the saints and their labors and accomplishments, giving him the fervent desire to emulate their labors.

√ Sometimes it reproaches him with the remembrance of his faults and how grace has borne him patiently like a loving nurse, and in this recollection he will shed tears of sorrow and of joy. Here, if grace were not sustaining the heart, he would expire because of the multitude of burning tears.

√ Sometimes it grants him constant praises and delight in them.

√ Sometimes it causes him to love constant reading and mingles tears or delight with it.

√ Sometimes it brings the life of our Lord to his mind, and he becomes humbled but joyful; or it portrays the Passion to him and causes passionate tears to flow without measure from his eyes.

√ Sometimes it inspires in him love of doing things for the pleasure of his brethren.

√ Sometimes it will bestow stillness on him to quell the impulses of the passions.

√ Sometimes it will arouse in his heart pity for the oppressed and ministering for the sick.

By these things the grace of the Spirit purifies and polishes the soul of the novice and of anyone who turns back from his heedlessness and vile actions, and drawing near to it places himself under the yoke of its obedience.”

When a person has been cleansed of the passions, the grace of the Holy Spirit descends upon him and illumines his soul. This stage is called illumination by the Fathers; and it is so called because the person perceives all reality in a radically different way. Not only is he freed from the passions, which distort our perception of things, but he also sees everything through and in God: he sees things as they are related to God and not as they are related to our own desires. In other words, he sees things as they really are. This perception is so different from the perception of a person who is under the influence the passions that it is like the difference between light and darkness. Such a person enters another world, a world full of light and grace; nevertheless, this is not the vision of the uncreated light, which pertains to those in a state of deification. There are three main characteristics of the state of illumination:

1. unceasing prayer

2. the reception of the gifts of the Holy Spirit

3. the contemplation of the logoi or inner principles of creation

Unceasing prayer is not simply repeating a prayer (such as the Jesus Prayer) over and over again, although this type of frequent prayer is a necessary prelude to unceasing prayer. Unceasing prayer is a continual awareness of God dwelling inside us, in a very concrete and personal way, so that we are always gazing upon him. We speak to Him not as to one absent or remote, but to someone who is right with us: not just beside us as a friend or before us as a conversion partner but inside us as part of ourselves. Then we are filled with continual delight and joy.

We reckon sensual pleasures as filth and dirt, and we desire nothing else except to be in His presence forever. This is the state that is natural to man; this is the state in which and for which we were created, but which we lost through sin. A person in this state always walks with God; in all his activities he is together with Christ, and although some activity may take the part of his attention away for a time, Christ remains within him so than he can instantly turn back to Him when he his finished with his task. Or to put it more precisely and in the language of the Fathers, his reason attends to worldly business, while his intellect remains with God. In this state a person remains praying even when he is asleep. This does not simply means that he dreams that he is praying (for this happens often to someone who still being purified from sin), but rather that one part of his mind (the reason) sleeps, while another part (the intellect) remains awake and never departs from the presence of Christ.

We should remember that unceasing prayer is not identical to prayer of the

heart or the mind. Although the Fathers often use terminology loosely, basically,

prayer of the mind is any prayer in which a person concentrates on the meaning of

the words he is saying; indeed, any prayer worth the name is prayer of the mind,

for if there is no attention, it is mere babbling. Prayer of the heart is any prayer in

which compunction is felt: this is often accompanied by tears. Unceasing prayer is

always accompanied by prayer of the heart, but is not identical to it, because many

- perhaps most - people experience prayer of the heart without ever tasting

unceasing prayer.

A person who has attained unceasing prayer is not immune to temptation;

on the contrary, he is ever subject to more and more assaults of the demons.

However, since the passions have been eradicated within him, he feels no

particular inclination to succumb to the temptation, and so easily repulses it. The

temptation is, as it were, from without him and not from within as in the case of a

passionate person who has habits of sin. Since the demons cannot directly tempt

such a person, they usually resort to stirring up the most terrible and improbable

circumstances around the person in order to make him exasperated and give in.

Such temptations include slander, persecution, physical ailments, and the like. This is why almost all the saints of the Church suffered such things. The demons could not attack them in any other manner, since they were protected from the passions through the grace of Christ dwelling within them. Of course, a person in a state of illumination retains his free will, and can always choose to give into the grosser passions. This has happened to many virtuous ascetics throughout history.

Most of all a person in this state must fear pride, for it can slip upon him unnoticed and drag him down into the abyss.

The second characteristic of the person in a state of illumination is that he

receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are enumerated by the Apostle Paul in

his epistle to the Galatians: “Now the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace,

longsuffering, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such

there is no law. Now they who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the

affections [literally, “ the passions”] and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us

also walk in the Spirit.” When this happens to a person, he not merely performs

virtuous actions, but has Christ dwelling within him and actually performing the

actions together with him. He does not lose control of himself or surrender his free will or becomes a puppet, but rather, Christ’s energies become his energies, so that what he does proceeds not from himself but from Christ within him. Then he says

“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth within me.” And “The life which I live, I live by my Lord, who loved me and gave himself for me.” He has brought his will into perfect alignment with Christ’s will, even as Christ’s human will was in perfect concord with His divine will. The two concur together without any

opposition between them. They are in perfect harmony and concordance. As the

council of Chalcedon declares, they are united without change, without confusion,

without division, and without separation. This applies first to the union of the

divine and the human natures in Christ, and since Christ is our model in all things,

it applies also to the union of our human nature with divine grace when the Holy

Spirit descends on us. Thus our actions are Christ’s actions, and yet they are

entirely our own at the same time. For Christ, in giving Himself to us, gives

Himself to us as a true gift, while yet remaining Himself.

While the virtues we perform are Christ’s because we have been united to

Him and have clothed ourselves in Him, it is the Holy Spirit who brings Christ

within us. For this reason the gifts are called the fruits of the Spirit. The saints are

able to perceive the Holy Spirit making Christ present within themselves. Indeed,

where one of the Trinity is, there also are the others, for the Three are inseparable

and they act as one.

The third characteristic of the person in illumination is that he contemplates the logoi or inner principles of created things. God is unknowable in His essence, but we can come to a certain limited knowledge of Him from His energies and His works. Since all men by nature desire to know things, a person who is pursuing a godly life naturally will want to know God. In particular, he will want to understand so much of God’s thought as pertains to men and the created world.

The knowledge of God insofar as He is related to His creation is called the contemplation of the logoi or the inner principles of created beings. This contemplation belongs to those who have attained a state of dispassion and have received divine power of perception. Nevertheless, a foretaste of it is accessible even to those in a passionate state.

There exist within God logoi or inner principles which are both the

templates or blueprints for all creation and the meaning behind it. These logoi are

themselves uncreated and part of God, but they are God’s thought insofar as it

relates to creation; as such, they are uncreated divine energies. To each created

nature there corresponds a logos, and all the logoi are united in the person of the

Word (Logos) of God. St. Maximus the Confessor beautifully explains the

Church’s teaching on the logoi:

“If [a person] intelligently directs the soul’s imagination to the infinite

differences and varieties of things as they exist by nature and turns his questing

eye with understanding towards the intelligible model (logos) according to which

they have been made, would he not know that the one Logos is the many logoi?

This is evident in the incomparable differences among created things. For each is

unmistakably unique in itself and its identity remains distinct in relation to other

things. He will also know that the many logoi are the one Logos to whom all

things are related and who exists in himself without confusion, the essential and

individually distinctive God, the Logos of God the Father... Because he held

together in himself the logoi before they came to be, by his gracious will he

created all things visible and invisible out of non-being. By his Word and by his

Wisdom he made all things and is making all things, universals as well as

particulars, at the proper time.

For we believe that a logos of angels preceded their creation, a logos

preceded the creation of each of the beings and powers that fill the upper world, a

logos preceded the creation of human beings, a logos preceded everything that

receives its becoming from God, and so on. It is not necessary to mention them all.

The Logos whose excellence is incomparable, ineffable, and inconceivable in

himself is exalted beyond all creation and even beyond the idea of difference and

distinction. This same Logos, whose goodness is revealed and multiplied in all

things that have their origin in him, with the degree of beauty appropriate to each

being, recapitulates all things in himself (Eph 1:10). Through this Logos there

came to be both being and continuing to be, for from him the things that were

made came to be in a certain way and for a certain reason and by continuing to be

and by moving, they participate in God...

The logoi of all things known by God before their creation are securely

fixed in God. They are in him who is the truth of all things. Yet all these things,

things present and things to come, have not been brought into being at the same

time that God knows them [for He always knows them]; rather, each was created

in an appropriate way according to its logos at the proper time according to the

wisdom of the maker, and each acquired concrete actual existence itself. For the

Maker is always existent Being, but they exist potentially before they exist in

actuality... For all created things are defined, in their essence and in their way of

developing, by their own logoi and by the logoi of the beings that provide their

external context. Through these logoi they find their defining limits.”1

Thus the logoi are the models, the principles, and the foundation of the

natures of all created things. For insofar as things exist, they have a nature which

is common to similar individuals. That nature insofar as it is conceived by God is a logos, but as exemplified in reality and apprehended by the human mind it is what we call a “universal.” A universal is a concept of unity among similar individual things which the mind abstracts from seeing that those individuals are indeed similar. That being so, the perception of universals is not at all the same thing as the contemplation of the logoi. Every person recognizes and classifies things as universals in daily life; for example, when I say that this maple in front of me is a tree, I am identifying what kind of universal it is: what kind of nature it has.

“Tree” is a universal embracing all individual plants with a trunk and leaves. This type of identification is the basis of human cognition – of how we know the world around us -and it has nothing to do with the spiritual life. When I contemplate the logos of trees, however, I perceive why God made trees, what is their relation to God, what is their relation to myself, and to all the rest of creation.

Ambiguum 7, 1077C – 1084B, trans. Paul M. Blowers, On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ, St.

Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2003.

A person who has not yet reached dispassion cannot perceive this as it is in reality, but he can sense a shadow of it, as it were. St. Maximus the Confessor seems to make a distinction between a natural contemplation of created things which all men - even people who are not Christians - can practice in some way; and the contemplation which pertains to those purified of the passions, whose inner sight is clear. The former is most noticeable in solitary and wild places: in woods and mountains and streams, where God’s creation has not been sullied by the hand of man. There the human heart is naturally moved to delight and wonder, and one senses that there is something beyond what the physical senses perceive, that somehow the whole is more than the sum of its parts. This experience is the root of much human religious feeling, and it can lead a person closer to God. But outside of the faith, it usually leads to some form of paganism, because men apart from revelation confuse that sense of something beyond with that which lies before them; and they think that the supernatural (which they cannot see, but only vaguely feel) proceeds from nature (which lies in plain view), rather than the other way around, as is the case in reality. Thus men have fallen into worship of the creation rather than the Creator.

This feeling also has a lot to do with the modern environmental movement, which has a marked tendency towards paganism, in the sense that many environmentalists tend to deify nature, or at least think of nature as being more important than mankind. Nevertheless, for a Christian the contemplation of the natural world is profitable and can lead one towards God, albeit only in an indirect way. The direct way, of course, is through prayer and partaking of the sacramental life of the Church.

As a person is purified of his passions, he will gradually perceive things

more clearly. For a passionate person views things passionately, and his

perception is distorted by his desire for pleasure. But the person who has

abandoned the pursuit of pleasure no longer looks upon things in accordance with

how they might gratify his desires. He looks at things and sees how wisely and

beautifully they were created. Such a man is advancing upward to the true

contemplation of the logoi, but he has not yet arrived, for the Holy Spirit has not

yet settled in him and opened his eyes to see fully. When he receives this grace,

however, then he sees how God is in all things and all things are in God; he sees

God as the beginning, middle, and end of everything. The material world no

longer distracts him from God, but rather moves him to praise the Creator, who

made all things good.

I would like to anticipate here one common misunderstanding. A person who contemplates the inner principles of creation does not gain an understanding of creatures on a scientific or sub-atomic level. That kind of knowledge is irrelevant to the spiritual life. It is useful only for manipulating matter according to the desires of the human will. In our world today, that means the pursuit of pleasure through new technology, like television, computers, video games, and so on. But the spiritual man understands what each created thing is in relation to God, man, and the rest of creation; and this contemplation both delights him and leads him closer to God.

There is also another sense in which the word logos is used, and it is

intimately related to what we just described, although it may not seem so at first.

This is the inner meaning of Holy Scripture. In part, it means interpreting the

Scriptures in an allegorical (or rather, spiritual) way, although it goes beyond that.

Anyone can interpret the Scriptures allegorically with a little practice, but only the

person who has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit can understand all passages in

their deep and true meanings. This takes place on a couple of levels. Historical

events - especially in the Old, but also in the New Testament - are referred to

either the life of Christ or our life; the words of Christ are understood not merely

as moral precepts, but as events in our spiritual life. As we experience God acting

within us, we understand that this is what the words of Scripture are referring to;

and this understanding spurs us onto greater zeal and greater love towards God. At

the same time it makes the ways of the spiritual life clearer and grants us insight

and discernment into how we should act and think. This perception of the logoi of

Scripture is not a function of the reason which weighs and compares and

calculates the meaning of passages by reference to other scriptural passages or to

known facts of history or philosophy. It is rather a perception of the intellect, of

the soul’s noetic power, which occurs through the action of the Holy Spirit upon

the mind purified of passions. This perception is in a way parallel to possession of

the fruits of the Spirit, for the power acting within us is the uncreated Spirit

Himself, and the contemplation of the logoi of Scripture is possession of His

uncreated energies.

Just as there is a foreshadowing and beginning of the true contemplation of the logoi of created beings by the passionate in the pondering upon the natural world, so there is a foreshadowing and beginning of the contemplation of the logoi of Scripture in the interpretation of Scripture in its allegorical or spiritual way.

Thus the city of Jerusalem symbolizes the human soul, and the Church, and the Jerusalem on high, which is the Kingdom of Heaven. The allegorical method of interpreting Scriptures may be learned from studying the works of the Fathers; and once the general principles are understood much of Scripture will be easily interpreted in its deeper sense. Nevertheless, this is not the true contemplation of the logoi of Scripture; for that only takes place in those souls illumined by the Spirit, who are able to contextualize the words in their own experience of Christ’s indwelling. This contemplation is usually accompanied by compunction, tears, or delight.

The workings of grace in the person who is in the stage of illumination are described in the following terms:

The Middle Stage, [i.e., the state of illumination]

Henceforward the Spirit alters His operations in the soul notably so that it is

thereby illuminated and sanctified for the reception of gifts, for the vision of

revelations, and for the perception of hidden mysteries.

√ Sometimes grace comes to rest upon him during his service and stills his

mind from wandering thoughts, and even interrupts the service, sending his mind

into ecstasy over the understanding of some mystery.

√ Sometimes it interrupts his service with tears over the love of his Lord.

√ Sometimes it imparts a stillness to his mind, and makes his chanting cease,

without thought, without memory of anything, or meditation, though it sometimes

holds back his service for more excellent meditation.

√ Sometimes it stirs up hot fiery impulses in his heart in the love of Christ,

and his soul is set afire, his limbs are paralyzed, and he falls on his face.

Sometimes it works up a fervent heat in his heart, and his body and soul are

enkindled so that he supposes every part of him is being consumed in the blaze.

The highest stage in the spiritual life is called perfection or deification. Deification means that we become by grace what God is by nature. That is, the energies of God, which are already active in the person who has been illuminated by the Holy Spirit, now act in such a way that the person starts to acquire those supernatural qualities which belong to God. First, he begins to behold the vision of the uncreated light. Here, the eyes of the mind and even of the body are altered by grace so that they can see God Himself, insofar as God deigns to reveal Himself. He does not see God’s essence, for that is utterly beyond everything and totally inaccessible forever, but he sees God manifesting himself in His energies; that is, in His actions. Now, I do not want to dwell on this topic because it is really beyond us, but suffice to say that the vision of the uncreated light is pure union with God and a taste of life in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The person who is deified also acquires the gift of working miracles. He has become a god by grace and thus, little by little, gains those traits which characterize God. God is omnipotent, and so the saint partakes to a slight degree in God’s omnipotence by performing various wonders. God is omniscient, and so the saint begins to know people’s thoughts. God is omnipresent, and so the saint knows what is happening in far-away places. The normal boundaries of time and space do not apply anymore, for God transcends them, and the saint, who lives in

God, also transcends them to the extent that he partakes of divine grace. There is a

certain sequence of miracle working which generally holds true for the saints: the

lowest is clairvoyance and prophecy, followed by friendship with wild animals,

then healing of minor diseases, multiplication of food, control over weather and

nature, healing of major ailments and restoration of body parts, and finally raising

of the dead. Nevertheless, these are gifts of God and not proper to our nature. God

bestows them as He wishes and knows best. They are granted for the benefit of

those around the saint, not the saint himself, and are often given for a specific

purpose; for example, the conversion of a nation, which is usually effected by a

saint who converts the ruling class of the country through his miracles. Another

example is St. John of Kronstradt, to whom God gave great miracle- working

powers in order to call Russia back to the faith from the edge of ruin –

unsuccessfully, as it turned out. But most saints never receive more than

clairvoyance or the healing of minor maladies, either because they have not

reached the heights of holiness required or more usually, because their time and

place does not call for such miracles. Some saints, especially bishops, never

receive more than clairvoyance; this is because God has given them a different

grace, one more appropriate and useful to their station: the grace to expound

accurately dogmas of the faith. For as the Apostle says, there are diversities of

gifts, but one and the selfsame Spirit working in all.

Deification properly speaking belongs to the world to come. In this life is only a temporary state; one only beholds the uncreated light for limited amounts of time, it may be for one second or for many days. It occurs entirely at God’s discretion as a free gift; there is no way we can induce this state within ourselves, as Hindus or Buddhists try to do. John the Venerable describes this state thus:

The Stage of Perfection [i.e. of deification]

Here begins the entering into the treasury, the place of glorious visions, the

place of joy and exultation, the place without shadow, the place of light where no

mention of darkness is made, the place of light and delight, the place of peace,

whose inhabitants are illuminated by the sight of the beauty of the King.

Now their heart will rejoice, those who sought the Lord in adversities, who

thirsted for the sight of Him, and to whom He has shown His face. Enter now and

take your rest, you who were wearied and exhausted. Recline with the Lord in the

bridal chamber, you who were weeping at the door. The tears of sorrow have been

stopped, and the struggles and battles have been taken away; the travail and

conflict have ceased. Now is the time of rest. Fear has been removed out of the

way of ardent love. The mind’s impulses are stayed in amazement at the wondrous

sights.

This is the place in which the inhabitants inhale the Spirit; their mind stilled

of impulses, the Spirit speaks His secrets into it.

This is the place of beauty and serenity; it is called light without likeness.

An invitation to enter it comes from the Spirit to the energetic mind, the

impulses of whose visionary powers are wearied, to gaze, to behold the One Who

is in all and in Whom is everything. And when it comes to prayer it sees its own

glory, and upon the soul there dawns the beauty of its own nature and it sees itself

as it really is, and sees the divine light dawning in it and changing it into His

likeness, while the likeness of its own nature is taken away out of its sight, and it

sees itself as the likeness of God, being united with the light without likeness,

which is the light of the Trinity, shining forth in the soul itself. It becomes

immersed in the waves of its beauty and remains in ecstasy for a long period.”

Essential to the spiritual life is having a guide who has experience in

fighting the passions and is illumined by the Holy Spirit. These people are the

clergy, who are ordained to their respective ranks corresponding to their level of

holiness. Thus, as St. Dionysios the Aereopagite explains, there are three levels of

clergy corresponding to the three stages of the spiritual life. The deacons are those

who are in an advanced stage of purification and who teach others how to purify

themselves. This is why deacons are traditionally in charge of catechism. The

priests are those who are illumined and who lead other into illumination through

their teachings and through the sacraments. The bishops are those who are in a

state of deification and who lead others into the same state by presiding over the

whole assembly of the Church.

Obviously, this picture is considerably divorced from the current reality of the Church. Nevertheless, it remains the theoretical ideal, which we must pursue to the extent possible. This is true in spite of the fact that many holy men refused to be ordained out of humility, as well as the fact that within the system there is a certain amount of flexibility.

The spiritual and ascetic life as outlined in the writings of the Fathers is

inseparable - even inconceivable – apart from the sacraments and presumes active

participation in them. This is because the life described is a Christian life, not a

merely philosophical life of virtue such as described by pagan authors like the

Platonists and Hindus. As such, our every thought and action must take place only

in the context of Christ, for the spiritual life of a Christian is the life of Christ; and the life of Christ is mediated, made present, and expressed through the sacraments.

In baptism, we are regenerated and receive illumination – potentially, if we

are infants or still in a passionate state, but actually if we are purified from the

passions. We are baptized into Christ’s death – meaning that we die to the

passions; and in so doing we accept Christ and are justified; that is illumined. Thus

a person who is baptized can be referred to as both illumined and justified, even

though if he is not entirely purified this reality is not fully realized within him yet.

And if we continue to progress we are glorified; that is deified. So when we read

about death or dying in Holy Scripture, we should understand it to mean

purification from the passions; that is, we die to the passions through asceticism.

When we read about justification, we should understand illumination, for

illumination describes our spiritual experience when the Holy Spirit descends

upon us, while justification means simply our relationship to God vis-à-vis sin

when we are in this state. When we read about glory or glorification, we should

understand deification, for we partake in the glory which belongs to God. As an

example, we may examine what St. Paul says in the Epistle to the Romans, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that

henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if

we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that

Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion

over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth

unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive

unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:3-11).

In baptism we are initiated into the life, death, burial, and resurrection of

Christ, but in Holy Communion, we partake of the fullness of the life of Christ.

That is why the Eucharistic canon which the priest recites during the Liturgy

contains a summary of the life of Christ, for in Communion we participate in all of Christ’s actions. In Communion the fact of us being one Body with Him is

realized and made manifest. Naturally, the summit of this is His death and

resurrection; and the Eucharistic sacrifice is not a repetition of Christ’s sacrifice,

but a making present of it. Thus, even as Christ accepted death upon Himself, and

in so doing overthrew it – for death could not hold the hypostatic Life Himself –

so we partaking of the immaculate Mysteries are raised up into the glory of

Christ’s resurrection. In both baptism and communion and in all the sacraments,

we receive God’s grace in proportion to the level of our purity, which is why we

must prepare ourselves to receive the sacraments and why the sacraments cannot

be divorced from the ascetic life. For asceticism is both the means of purification

from the passions and also, for the baptized, a participation in the suffering and

death of Christ. For one who is still being purified this may not seem so obvious,

but the person who has become a vessel of the Holy Spirit perceives clearly the

union of his own life with Christ’s life. This is why it is the priests – that is; those

whose way of life is proven to be holy – who perform the sacraments.

The scheme and order I have outlined should not be taken as a rigid pattern

which is always followed without variation. It is simply a generalization based on

the usual order the spiritual life takes. In most people the actual events of one’s

spiritual life involve considerably more flux than the theoretical model. Thus, it is

common for a person who is still being purified of the passions to experience to

some degree or for some time some of the gifts of the Spirit or to be granted

ceaseless prayer. Sometimes the granting of grace in this fashion is deliberately

temporary on God’s part, something that lasts a few moments or a few hours or a

few days, and is given as an encouragement to console the struggler in his fight

and to spur him on to greater achievements. Sometimes grace is given in a more

lasting and all-enveloping way; and it is then incumbent on the struggler to

cultivate the gift and not to neglect it. In this way, one may be granted the

characteristics of illumination before dispassion is fully attained, and the grace

given then helps the Christian toward total dispassion. However, this more lasting

and full granting of grace is granted to those who have made some serious

progress, not to those still beginning, for if it were otherwise, the grace of God

would be held very cheap. The lesser and shorter manifestations of grace are

however granted sometimes even to beginners and even many pious layfolk

experience them. I want to emphasize this fact, because everything that I have

been talking about is attainable – at least in part – by everyone, laypeople

included. Remember, the state of unceasing prayer and the indwelling of the Holy

Spirit should be the normal state of a human being. In the early centuries of the

Church, a large proportion of layfolk were in this state. That is why the early

Christians are called “saints” in the Epistles of St. Paul. That is why the apologists

who defended the faith against criticism from pagans could state that there was a

real difference in the way of life between a Christian and a pagan, and that one of

the proofs of Christianity being true is that Christians are notable for their superior lifestyle. It is no coincidence that all the early sources claim that Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and beyond because of the great number of miracles the Christians were continuously working. That is also why the Fathers, when they are defining what the Church is, state that one of the characteristic marks of the Church is that its members are distinguished for their holy way of life.

In our day, that fiery zeal has died down, and we often feel like we are

barely hanging on to a small part of our Orthodox heritage. Our task needs to be to recover the zeal of the early Christians, the zeal the Fathers of the Church

displayed in the spiritual life and which they meticulously outlined for later

generations to study and imitate. If I have gone on at length about topics which

seem theoretical or removed from our daily lives is because I want you to be filled

with the spirit of the Fathers. I would like all of us to study the Fathers closely and then to do what they say! If we have that attitude, the desire to understand the Holy Fathers, to understand the spiritual life, and to put the Patristic writings into effect in our own life, I believe that God will not forget us. Even if we are only able to do a small portion of what we read in the books, He will send down His grace upon us and help us, unworthy though we be. Let us therefore apply ourselves diligently to reading the Fathers, to applying their counsels to ourselves, and to imitating them as much as we can. In so doing we will be vouchsafed to partake with them in God’s grace both in this life and in the life to come. Amen.

– ∞ ∞ ∞ –

12/4/11 – I have another reason for us to avoid over-contemplating, defining or even using the terms "energies of God." In my email inbox this morning there were two notices from Vertograd [a super-correct magazine] of articles on this subject. Apparently there has been an ongoing controversy for a century surrounding this issue and awaiting a council for resolution.

VERTOGRAD Orthodox Journal Newsletter No. 79

Clarification of Bishop Gregory of Petrograd and Gdov Concerning the Barlaamite Heresy of Bishop Photios of Marathon

VERTOGRAD Orthodox Journal Newsletter No. 80

A Reply to the Errors of Bishop Photios of Marathon and Fr. Panagiotis Carras

– ∞ ∞ ∞ –

Righteousness vs. Holiness

2011-11-06T13:24:00.000-08:00

People are basically good. In the heterodox churches and even in the pagan religions, we find good people – some extraordinarily good, such as Mother Theresa. But only in the Orthodox Church do we find holy people.

"Holiness is not simply righteousness, for which the righteous are accounted worthy to enjoy blessedness in the Kingdom of God, but is rather such a height of righteousness that men are so filled with the grace of God that it flows from them and out upon those who are in fellowship with them. Great is their blessedness, which proceeds from the vision of the Glory of God. Filled to overflowing also with a love for men which proceeds from love for God, they are responsive to the needs of men and to their supplications, and become mediators and intercessors for them before God." St. John of Shanghai & San Francisco

Acquire the Holy Spirit, and a thousand around you will be saved. St. Seraphim of Sarov

St. Seraphim of Sarov was deified in his lifetime. He is one chosen to return to earth in the very last days before the fall of Antichrist. This is his most famous spiritual instruction: that we can save others by acquiring the grace of the Spirit of God for ourselves. St. Seraphim contrasted moralism and external works of piety with genuine spirituality.

Fr. Seraphim Rose taught that where the grace of the Spirit is lacking or waning, then moralism and charitable works creep in to replace it. Not that they are bad. Righteousness is never bad. But holiness is more.

Complete or Incomplete Conversion

2011-11-03T03:14:00.000-07:00

Fr. Seraphim wrote to a person preparing for baptism:

"Don't have a hypocritical attitude. By this I don't mean to give up your intellect and discernment, but rather to place them in obedience to a 'believing heart' [heart meaning not mere 'feeling,' but something much deeper – the organ that knows God]."

See first five posts on November 1, 2011 on the subject of conversions, Remnant Rocor blog:

http://remnantrocor.blogspot.com/2011/11/complete-conversion.html

http://remnantrocor.blogspot.com/2011/11/orthodox-charismatics-incomplete.html

http://remnantrocor.blogspot.com/2011/11/orthodox-charismatics-cant-exist.html

http://remnantrocor.blogspot.com/2011/11/orthodox-charismatics-serve-two-masters.html

http://remnantrocor.blogspot.com/2011/11/orthodox-charismatic-priest-on-radio.html

http://remnantrocor.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-our-sister-church-says-about.html

http://remnantrocor.blogspot.com/2011/10/orthodoxizing-charismatic-movement.html

orthodoxchristianbooks.blogspot.com

2011-11-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

Website Review

http://orthodoxchristianbooks.blogspot.com

This seems to be and might be a complete list of every book possible that is offered by the ubiquitous world Orthodoxy from least obvious to the absolute worst.

Of course, there are some good books sprinkled in, but nothing that can't be found in a safe bookstore [such as SJKP].

The least obvious would be Fr. Seraphim Rose, who was never in world Orthodoxy and never would be in world Orthodoxy. His writings have been "edited" and "deselected" to make it appear that he was headed towards world Orthodoxy during his lifetime.

The worst might be the inter-connected Clarion Review and Again Magazine which are published by graceless flaming renovationists. Fr. Seraphim explains that when grace is gone then the focus shifts to "the moral renewal of society." I suspect it's more than that. I believe the publishers of these magazines came from Moscow with the assignment to destroy Orthodoxy from within.

That Orthodox Research Institute ... [since when did Orthodoxy need researching?] shows photos of the masons who have infiltrated the Church and use Her for the work of Antichrist to build Antichrist's one world church of the future.

Another signal:

Any website that has a link to Ancient Faith Radio is unsafe.

And if you see any site promoting or approving of or failing to denounce Orthodox homosexuals or Orthodox charismatics, QUICKLY close that screen and cross yourself! And erase the cookies. I didn't see either of those things in this website, but I thought I'd mention this while I'm thinking about it.

Halloween is a Pagan Feast

2011-10-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

"the gods of the pagans are demons" ICor. 10:20, Dt. 32:17, Ps. 106:37

Orthodox don't participate in halloween activities

http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/halloween_e.htm

Orthodox halloween survival kit:

√ life of Jose Muños

http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/jose_munos_v_filipiev_e.htm

√ about the Iveron icon

http://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/icon_myrrh_ext.htm

√ Akathist hymn [words]

http://russianorthodoxchurch.ca/en/akathist-hymn-montreal-iveron-icon/648

√ Akathist hymn [melody]

http://music.russianorthodox-stl.org/music/triodion/5thSatLent/5thSatLent_Akathist_093006.pdf

The above links are just one way to survive halloween. When we were at Fr. Gregory's, halloween passed unnoticed. It is a Church feast day, and St. John of Kronstadt is the patron saint of the SJKP press. We spent the evening at Vigil, and nobody gave a thought to what might be happening in town.

But Orthodox living on a cul-de-sac in a suburban neighborhood might not have it so easy. I found myself [alone] in that situation one year. I put the car in the garage, removed my pumpkins-gourds-mums decoration off the porch, locked up, turned off all the lights, pretended not to be home, and waited for the evil hours to pass. It was kinda' fun, actually, but it is was not enough.

When we love somebody it hurts us to see them ignored or ridiculed. It causes us to want to somehow make it up to them somehow. Hiding in a dark house for an evening does not satisfy this pain of heart. I wanted to make it up to God, somehow, however small, that He was being ignored and mocked by the creatures He loves most. This is where the akathists come in. While the unbelievers and ignorant are honoring the demons [even if they do so unawares], we can honor the saints.

The children should enjoy pretending "nobody's home" and "hiding" safely with Mom & Dad in a darkened room with a candle burning before an icon or a cross, and having a life of a saint read to them. Jose Muños' life is full of mystery: he was a secret monk who is the victim of an unsolved murder, just a few years ago.

Do not think that halloween is a harmless celebration, "just a way to dress up and get candy," as an Episcopal priest once said to me. I had this argument with a young man [now a monk in RocorMP] in 1999. He didn't want to listen to me, but God showed him, in the grocery store in a check out line that was moving too slowly. While waiting in line, the future monk picked up a Farmer's Almanac and thumbed through it .

He saw an article where the Almanac had taken a survey to see if Americans would like the idea of celebrating halloween on the Saturday nearest the 31st, rather than when the 31st falls on some day during the week. The strong protests to this idea from the witches and satan worshippers – not to mess with their special day – was unexpected by the editors of the Almanac and by the future monk. He then ceased his arguing with me about it.

Personally I have my own sadness over this day. The witch who murdered my husband's first wife brags that she was initiated into her mother's coven on a halloween night, at age 12 [or 13?], outdoors, under a full moon, in the nude, by Aleister Crowley himself. This was around 1967 in Alabama. This witch, [highly accomplished – not a wiccan burning herbs] put many spells on my husband which either caused or contributed to his death.

Interesting piece on Aleister Crowley

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Wicca%20&%20Witchcraft/aleister_crowley.htm

Another saint for this day is St. Varus. He is known for his prayers for the dead.

http://startingontheroyalpath.blogspot.com/2011/10/st-varus.html

And, of course, we have St. John of Kronstadt. I'm not that fond of his akathist which seems to be written for only Russians, but the canon in his matins service is nice. It is available from SJKP . And readings from his book, My Life in Christ can be selected to suit the individuals at your gathering, this book also available by SJKP.

St. John of Kronstadt: Life, Service & Akathist Hymn
trans. Isaac Lambertsen
A "flagship" publication of the press, the Life of St. John here presented is designed for simplicity and ease of comprehension (though by no means a children's book!). The liturgical service and akathist hymn in his honor accompany the life. Thus under one cover are found both understanding and prayer, for those who wish to honor the blessed Father. This edition is especially well suited for giving to others some understanding of one who is rightly understood to have a special concern for the life of the Church not only in his native Russia, but in our native land as well -- he at one time felt called to the American mission, but the Church needed him worse at home.
Item# 2003. (DC: X) Paperbound. $5.00.

My Life in Christ
St. John of Kronstadt
Certainly one of the great spiritual classics. The fruit of years of spiritual struggle and pastoral ministry amongst the poor and downtrodden of a harbor town, St. John's diary speaks eloquently of every dimension of the spiritual life.
Item# 2428. (DC: R) Hardbound. $35.00
Item# 2429. (DC: R) Perfect-bound. $25.00

St. Varus

2011-10-14T13:30:00.001-07:00

http://galina-dubovaya.ucoz.ru/St-Varus_of_Egypt.jpg

The Life of the Holy Martyr Varus

and the Seven Christian Teachers Who Were with Him,

and the Commemoration of the Blessed Cleopatra and Her Son John

During the reign of the impious Maximian, the Emperor of the Romans, there lived in Egypt a brave soldier named Varus, who secretly served the King of Heaven. Out of fear he hid his faith in the true God for a time, but later, he revealed it before both heaven and earth and became a spectacle before angels and men. At that time Maximian raised up a persecution against the Christians and issued a decree in every province of his empire commanding that those Christians who would not sacrifice to the gods be put to death. When this ordinance was published in the land of Egypt, the blood of Christians was shed mercilessly; all who worshipped the Creator and not things created were subjected to various torments. Varus, a secret Christian, visited by night the faithful who were held in prison for their confession of Christ, bribing the guards with gold to permit him to enter the cells in which they were held. He bound up the wounds of the holy martyrs and washed their blood, gave them to eat, kissed their stripes, and prayed them to beseech Christ to have mercy on him.

It happened that there were seven teachers of the Christians, desert- dwellers, that were brought before the Prince of Egypt. When the Prince questioned them, he found them to be firm in the faith. Having subjected them to flogging, he had them cast bound into prison. When Varus learned of this, he hastened by night to the dungeon where the saints were being held. After he had given much gold to the guards, he was permitted to visit the saints. Varus loosed their hands and removed their feet from the stocks that held them and then placed food before them. He besought them to eat, for they had remained hungry for eight days since they had been left in prison with no food. He fell at their feet and kissed them, and he praised them for their suffenngs, saying, "Blessed are you, O good and faithful servants of the Lord! You shall enter into the joy of your Lord, for you have resisted unto blood (Heb. 12:4). Blessed are you, O good strugglers; the right hand of the Most High has woven crowns for you in Heaven. You have run with patience the race that is set before you (Heb. 12:1), and I know for certain that tomorrow your sufferings shall come to an end. Blessed are you, O passion-bearers of Christ; the Kingdom of Heaven is open unto you, for you suffer with Christ, Who suffered for our sake, as the Apostle says, If so be that we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with him (Rom. 8:17). I beseech you, O holy servants of God, pray for me to Christ that He have mercy upon me, for it is my desire to suffer for Him, but I have not the strength to do so. I fear the cruel torments I see you have undergone."

The saints replied, "Beloved, no one who is fearful can attain perfection, nor can he who does not sow reap. Likewise, a man who is unwilling to suffer receives no crown. Remember the words written in the Gospel: Whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I deny before My Father which is in Heaven (Matt. 10:33). If you fear passing torments, you shall not escape those which are eternal. If you fear to confess Christ on earth, you shall not be sated with the vision of His countenance in Heaven. Therefore, come, O brother, and tread with us the path of martyrdom, which leads to the Master Who looks down upon our struggles. Suffer together with us, for you will not soon find again a company like ours.

When he heard these things, Varus' heart was set afire with love for God, and he wished to endure torment for Jesus Christ. He passed the entire night at prayer with the holy martyrs and hearkened unto their teaching gladly.

When the morning was come, the Prince's servants came to the prison to bring the holy martyrs before the tribunal. As they entered the dungeon, they saw Varus seated with the prisoners, hearing their words with compunction of heart. They were astonished, and they asked, "What is your business here, Varus? Have you lost your mind, giving heed to the myths of which these wicked men tell? Have you no fear that someone will speak of this to the Prince or one of the nobles? You shall lose both your military rank and your life!"

Varus replied, "He who tells the Prince of me is my benefactor. Know that if you choose to make accusation against me, I am ready to die for Christ with the other Christians here."

The servants were thus put to silence. They took six of the martyrs from the prison, but the seventh they left, for he had weakened so from his wounds that he died and departed unto the Lord, leaving his place to be filled by Varus, who was to complete his suffering. The saints were led bound before the Prince, who sat proudly upon his tribunal and sought to compel them to sacrifice to the idols. When they would not consent, they were stripped and beaten mercilessly upon the wounds they had already received. Thus were wounds added to their wounds and stripes to their stripes, but they endured their suffering as though it were nothing and said only, "We are Christians."

Then the Prince asked, "Were there not seven of these men? Now there are but six. Where is the seventh?"

At that very moment Saint Varus entered and said, "I am the seventh. He of whom you spoke has already finished his course and gone to Christ, leaving me to complete his sufferings. I am prepared to render to you whatever he owed you. I wish to take his place among these noble martyrs who suffer for Christ, for I am a Christian."

When the Prince heard this, he asked his attendants, "Who is this man?"

They replied, "It is the soldier Varus, the commander of the band of Tyanis."

The Prince was perplexed and said to Varus, "What demon has led you to surrender yourself to perdition? Why do you choose to forsake your military rank and the honors that await you and bring evil upon yourself?"

The blessed Varus answered, "I prefer the Bread which is come down from heaven and the chalice of the divine and most precious blood of my Lord to your honors and esteem. I count nothing more dear than my Christ: not your regard, my rank, great honors, nor yet life itself. To suffer for Christ I count as the greatest honor and to lose all things for His sake as gain."

The Prince then cast his angry glance upon the six holy martyrs and said, "This is your work, you impious deceivers! It is you who have beguiled this soldier of the Emperor, depriving him of his senses by your sorcery! I swear to you by my great gods that I shall put you to death even before I do the same to him and thus revenge the dishonor you have shown our gods. You are unworthy to remain among the living, for you blaspheme the gods and lead others into wicked error."

The saints replied, "We have not beguiled Varus but have rather delivered him from deception. We have not caused him to lose his mind but have restored him to his senses. God has vouchsafed him strength and boldness for the struggle, that together with us he might prevail over your feeble might and that of your gods. In but a short time you shall behold his soldierly courage, for we have enrolled him in the host of the angels. Is it your boast that you shall destroy us? Know that it is our desire to lay down our lives for the Lord of all."

The Prince said, "I will immediately have you cut in pieces if you do not fall down and worship the gods of Egypt!"

The saints answered, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish (Jer. 10:11).

Wishing to move the Prince to yet greater anger, the blessed Varus said, "The fool shall speak foolish things, says the Prophet Isaiah. Lo, our bodies lie stretched out before you. Do with them as you would."

Greatly angered, the Prince commanded that Varus be suspended from a tree, that he might put him to torture. To the six saints he said, "We shall see who will prevail over whom: you over us as you suffer torment or we over you as we inflict our tortures. Of a truth I say to you that if you by your patience prevail over me, I will renounce my gods and believe in your Christ."

The saints replied, "Try your strength against one of us, and if you can overcome him, you may hope to prevail over the others."

As they began to torment Varus, he said to the holy martyrs, "O holy passion-bearers! Bless me, who am your servant, that I may share your lot. Entreat the Master Christ for me that He grant me patience, for He knows that our flesh is infirm. The spirit indeed is willing, it is written, but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:41)."

The saints lifted up their eyes unto Heaven and prayed fervently for Varus as the servants began to beat his whole body with rods and staves. As the saint was being beaten, the Prince said, "Now tell us, Varus, what profit your Christ brings you."

Varus bravely replied, "More than you receive from your gods."

The saints cried out to Varus, "Take courage, Varus, and may your heart be strengthened, for Christ invisibly stands before you and strengthens you!"

Answered Varus, "Truly, I perceive the help of my Christ, for these torments seem as nothing to me."

Then they scraped his sides with iron claws, after which he was hung upside-down from the tree. They tore the skin from his back, cut his flesh with razors, and thrashed him with switches until he burst open and his bowels fell to the ground. When the holy martyrs saw his inward parts fall out, they wept. The persecutor beheld the martyrs weeping, and he cried out with a great voice, "Lo, you are defeated! You have been brought low, and you weep from fear of torment! What more is necessary for you to acknowledge that Christ cannot deliver you out of our hands and for you to forsake Him and worship our gods?"

The saints answered, "You are a beast and not a man! We are not defeated but shall yet prevail by the power of Jesus, Who strengthens us. We do not weep because we fear torment but out of natural love for our brother, whom you wish to slay in a beastly manner. In spirit we rejoice for him, for a crown has already been prepared for the noble sufferer."

The Prince then commanded that they be led back to prison. As Varus saw the saints being returned to the dungeon, he cried out to them from the tree from which he was suspended and was being tortured, saying, "My teachers! Pray for me one last time unto Christ, for I am about to depart from my body. I thank you for you have made me to inherit life eternal."

Saint Varus endured torture for five hours and then in suffering surrendered his honorable and holy soul into the hands of the Lord. Thinking that he was yet alive, the torturers continued to beat and torment his corpse. When they saw that he was already dead, they were amazed, and in accordance with the persecutor's command, they cast him out of the city in the place where the carcasses of beasts were left to be devoured by dogs.

There was a widow living in that city named Cleopatra, who was born in Palestine. Her husband, an officer, had died in Egypt, and she had a son named John, who was still a little boy. When Saint Varus was tortured, she looked on from afar upon his sufferings, sighing and beating her breast, for she was a Christian. When the martyr's corpse was cast out of the city, she arose by night, took certain of her servants, and went to remove the long-suffering body of Saint Varus. She brought it to her home, where she dug a grave for it in her room.

The next morning, the Prince had the other martyrs brought forth from the prison, and after he had tortured them for a long time, they were beheaded. They were also cast out of the city without burial, but their corpses were taken by night and committed to the earth by secret Christians.

Every day Cleopatra censed and lit candles before the grave of Saint Varus, whom she regarded as her great intercessor and mediator before God. When, after some years, the persecution died down, she began to consider how she might return to the land of her birth, and she wondered how it would be possible for her to take with her the relics of Saint Varus. She decided to send a gift to the Prince, which was taken to him by a messenger, who said to him on her behalf, "My husband was an officer and died here in the Emperor's service. He has still not received final burial, for it is not seemly that an officer and man of rank be buried in a foreign land. I, who am a widow and a stranger in this country, wish to return to my homeland to live with my kindred. Therefore, my lord, permit me to take the remains of my beloved husband to the land of my birth, that I may give them a fitting burial together with my forebears, for I wish to remain with my spouse even after I die."

The woman sent this message that the Christians might not think that it was the relics of the holy martyr she was removing from the city, for she was afraid that they would prevent her from taking that sacred treasure. The Prince accepted her gift and granted her request, but she took the remains of Saint Varus rather than those of her husband. Like a vine she brought them out of Egypt (cf. Ps. 79:8) into Palestine to her village of Edras, which was near Tabor, and she buried them there with her fathers. Every day she went to his grave, censed it, and lit candles there. When the other Christians who lived there saw this, they began to go with her to where the saint lay. They brought with them their sick, who received healing at Saint Varus' grave through his prayers. Soon all the Christians in the parts that lay roundabout learned of Saint Varus, and they began to come with faith to his tomb.

When Cleopatra saw how the Christians gathered to pray at the grave of the saint, she determined to build a church dedicated to him. Soon its erection was begun. By that time her son had reached manhood, and Cleopatra desired that he receive a position in the imperial army. Through the intercession of certain mediators she requested that her son be commissioned an officer, and her entreaty was granted. Her son received from the Emperor his appointment to the army and the emblems of his rank while the church was being constructed, but Cleopatra said, "My son shall not begin to serve the Emperor in the army until the house of God is completed. It is my intention that he be here to help transfer the saint's relics to the church. After this is done, he may depart to serve the Emperor."

When the church was completed, Cleopatra summoned bishops, priests, and monks, removed the precious relics of the holy martyr from their grave, and had them placed on a very costly bier. She laid her son's military belt and uniform upon the relics, that they might be sanctified by the saint's remains. She prayed to Saint Varus fervently that he be her son's protector, and all the bishops and priests present bestowed their blessing upon the young man. A multitude of Christian people without number had gathered there as well, and accompanied by them, Cleopatra and her son carried the bier and the relics to the church. The church was consecrated, and the remains of the saint were placed beneath the altar. Then the Divine Liturgy was served. Cleopatra fell down before the relics of Saint Varus and prayed thus: "I beseech thee, O passion-bearer of Christ: Ask God for that which is profitable for me and for mine only son. I do not dare ask for anything more than what the Lord Himself wisheth, for He knoweth what is needful for us. May His good and perfect will be done in us!"

After the service was completed, a great banquet was set before those present at which Cleopatra and her son served the guests.

Cleopatra instructed her son to eat nothing until the evening, when the meal was finished and only then to partake of that which remained. As the youth was serving, he suddenly took ill, and he went to lie down upon his bed. When all the guests had arisen from the meal, Cleopatra called for her son, that he might share with her what food remained. But John was unable even to reply, for he was burning with a great fever. When Cleopatra saw how ill her son was, she said, "As the Lord lives, I will not put food into my mouth until I learn what is to become of my child!"

She sat down beside him and sought to cool the fire of his fever; but her own womb burned still more than did his body, and her heart ached for her only son. At midnight the youth died, leaving his mother to weep inconsolably. As she lamented bitterly, she hastened to the Church of Saint Varus, and she fell down before his sepulcher and cried out, "O servant of God! Is this how thou hast rewarded me for the great labors I endured on thy behalf? Is this the succor which thou providest me, who forsook my husband on thine account and have placed my hope in thee? Thou hast permitted mine only son to die; thou hast deprived me of mine only consolation and hast taken from me the light of mine eyes! Who shall now feed me in mine old age? Who shall close mine eyes when I die? Who shall commit my body to the grave? It had been better for me to die than to behold my beloved son perish in his youth like a flower before its time. Either give me back my son as once Elisha returned the son of the Shunamite woman (cf. IV Kings, ch. 4) or take me hence without delay, for I can endure this bitter sorrow no longer."

Cleopatra remained weeping by the grave of the saint and then fell asleep for a short while from weariness and grief. As she slept, she beheld Saint Varus in a dream. He held her son by the hand, and they both shone like the sun. Their vesture was whiter than snow, and they were girded with golden belts; upon their heads were crowns of unspeakable beauty. Seeing this, the blessed Cleopatra fell down before them, but Saint Varus lifted her up and said, "O woman, why do you cry unto me? Do you imagine that I have forgotten the good works you did on my behalf in Egypt and along the way to this place? Do you suppose that I felt nothing when you removed my body from amid the carcasses of beasts, placing it in a coffin? Have I not always hearkened to your prayers? I make entreaty for you at all times unto God. I have prayed first of all for your relatives, with whom you buried me, that their sins be remitted them, and now I have enrolled your son in the army of the King of Heaven. Did you not beseech me here at my grave that I ask God to grant you and your son whatever is in accordance with His will and is to your benefit? Therefore, I have prayed unto the good God, and in His ineffable kindness He has deigned to number your son among the host of Heaven. Lo, you see that your son now stands near the Lord's throne. If you wish, take him and send him to serve a mortal and earthly king since you do not desire that he should serve the heavenly and eternal King."

The youth, who sat beside Varus and embraced him, exclaimed, "No, my lord! Pay no heed to my mother, neither permit me to be returned to the world, which is full of falsehood and every iniquity, and from which you delivered me when you came to me. Do not deprive me, O father, of a portion with the saints and a dwelling place among them."

Then the youth turned to his mother and said, "Why do you lament for me thus, mother? I have been enrolled in the host of Christ the King and have been permitted to stand before Him with the angels. Why do you now ask that I be removed from the kingdom and brought to abasement?"

When the blessed Cleopatra saw that her son's appearance was like that of an angel, she said, "Take me with you that we may be together."

Saint Varus said, "In this place you are with us. Go in peace, and after a time, when the Lord commands, we shall come and take you.

After saying this, the saint became invisible. When Cleopatra awoke, her heart was filled with ineffable happiness and joy, and she related her dream to the priests. They buried her son beside the sepulcher of Saint Varus, and Cleopatra wept no more but rather rejoiced in the Lord. Later she distributed her possessions among the needy and renounced the world. She lived beside the Church of Saint Varus, serving God in prayer and fasting by day and night. Every Sunday as she prayed Saint Varus appeared to her in great glory with her son. After she had lived in this God-pleasing manner for seven years, the blessed Cleopatra reposed. Her body was placed in the Church of Saint Varus near her son John, and her holy soul took up its abode in the heavens, together with Saint Varus and John. There it now stands in the presence of God, to Whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

From Orthodox Life Vol. 44 No. 5 [October 1994]

Translated by Father Thomas Maretta

From the Slavonic Menologion of
St. Demetrius of Rostov

St. Varus [Warus] is celebrated Oct. 19/Nov. 1 along with seven monk martyrs in Egypt [307], Blessed Cleopatra [327] and her son, John.

Also on this day the Church remembers:

St John of Kronstadt [1908]

Holy Prophet Joel [800 B.C.]

Hieromartyr Sadoc [Sadoth], bishop of Persia, and 128 martyrs with him [342]

St. Leontius the Philoshopher of St. Sabbas monastery [624]

Translation of relics [1195]of St. John, abbot of Rila in Bulgaria [946]

St. Prochorus, miracle-worker of Pchinja, Serbia [10th c.]

New Monk-martyr Nicholas Dvali of Jerusalem [1314]

St. Gabriel, abbot of St. Elias Skete, Mt.Athos [1901]

New Martyr Priest Alexis [Stavrovsky] of Petrograd [1918]\St. Mnason, bishop of Cyprus [1st c.]

St. Frideswide of Oxford, abbess [ca. 735]

Supplicatory Canon

http://www.stvladimiraami.org/sheetmusic/canonstvarus.pdf

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyr Varus, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion in the Third Tone
Since thou hadst put on thyself thy Master's Cross as a breastplate, thou didst blunt and bring to nought the tyrants' wicked devices. Thou didst bear most savage tortures upon thy body; valiantly didst thou then finish thy godly contest. Hence from God, O noble Varus, thou wast adorned in a crown august and divine.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Following Christ, O Martyr Varus, you drank of His chalice; you received the crown of martyrdom and now rejoice with the angels. Pray for our souls unceasingly.

Orthodox America

2011-10-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

"Website Review

http://www.roca.org/OA/issue-old.htm

archived back issues

excerpt from an email from a Roca archpriest 2011:

"...And, of course, Orthodox America ceased publication quite a few years ago; there's a lot of very good archived material from it, but also far too much with, if not a pro-, at least soft-on-, MP slant..."

and we can suspect that much has been edited out of these archives, or, "de-selected" as they say. Still, we are glad to have them.

Dr. Kalomiros

2011-09-12T21:31:00.000-07:00

on March 12, 2011 Remnant Rocor blog received this anonymous comment:

"In your Royal Path blog you say that Dr. Kalomiros is not safe, then you quote from him on your side bar? How can I believe you?"

Action taken:

√ The quote of Dr. Kalomiros has been removed today [September 12, 2011] from the sidebar. Here is what the quote was:

"In the last days all will claim to be Orthodox Christians, and that Orthodoxy is as they understand it to be. But in spite of all this, those who have a pure heart and a mind enlightened by divine grace will recognize the Orthodox Church despite the apparent divisions and utter lack of external splendor. They will gather around the true priests, and they will become the pillars of the Church." --Alexander Kalomiros

Discussion:

The words of the quote are true. However. The anonymous commentator is right that I should not quote Kalomiros and at the same time list him as an unsafe author.

Dr. Kalomiros, first of all, is not a prophet. In this quote he is merely making an intelligent observation and speculation based on sound Orthodox teachings and prophecies. Nobody will argue with this quote. But many will disagree about who is a true priest and who are the pillars.

Dr. Kalomiros remains listed as an unsafe author because, even though he might say something good, we can't trust his words in many cases. Nobody is right all the time. Nobody is wrong all the time. Dr. Kalomiros, despite his intelligence, is not to be trusted as a teacher because he does not recognize a very deep and basic teaching from the foundation of our Holy Faith. To be specific: Dr. Kalomiros is an Orthodox evolutionist, and he died outside the Church.

Remedy:

To read more about this, and to see the letter that Fr. Seraphim Rose wrote to Dr. Kalomiros about evolution:

http://genesiscreationandearlyman.blogspot.com/

http://www.friendofgodfoundation.com/shared/media/books/12/9/pdf-eng.pdf

biography

His disobedient ideas about the soul after death and evolution were outside the Church, and he ended up also outside the Church, dying with his ideas.

This biography is found on a flaming world Orthodox website, written by a member of the flaming world Orthodox American Greek Church:

http://sermonwriter.wordpress.com/2011/02/10/dr-alexandre-kalomiros-biography/

The Northern Thebaid

2011-09-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

Book Review

The Northern Thebaid:

Monastic Saints of the Russian North

Compiled and Translated By

Fr. Seraphim Rose

and Fr. Herman Podmoshensky

With An Introduction By

I.M. Kontzevitch

Preface by Fr. Seraphim:

What Orthodox Christian is not exalted in heart and mind at the thought of the Egyptian Thebaid -- the place of struggle of the great St. Anthony, first among monastic Fathers and model of the anchoretic life; of St. Pachomius, the coenobiarch, who received the monastic rule of the common life from an Angel; and of the thousands of monks and nuns who followed them and made the desert a city peopled with Christians striving towards the heavens in the Angelic way of life?

Few, however, are those who know of Orthodox Northern Thebaid -- the Russian "desert" of the forested, marshy North -- where no fewer thousands of monks and nuns sought out their salvation in the footsteps of the great monastic Fathers of more recent times: St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Cyril of White Lake, St. Nilus of Sora, and hundreds of others whose names have been entered in the Calendar of Orthodox Saints.

Little has been published in English about these saints, and most of what has appeared thus far is of little value. No work in English has even been attempted to present the Orthodox monastic tradition which inspired and formed the great Russian Fathers. Indeed, the Russian religious intelligentsia of the Diaspora has been largely at fault for spreading false ideas about these Saints and their tradition. The most accessible works on Russian Saints in English [those of Fedotov and de Grunwald] are so filled with inaccuracies and distortions, with a Roman Catholic terminology totally foreign to Orthodoxy, and with an astonishingly fanciful notion of Orthodoxy, sanctity, and monasticism -- as to be more a hindrance than a help to the serious student of the Russian monastic tradition.

One Orthodox scholar of the Russian Diaspora -- Ivan Michailovich Kontzevich [†1965] -- devoted his life to a serious study of the Orthodox spiritual tradition. Unlike the Westernized Russian intelligencia, he was not an "academic" scholar, but proceeded rather from the living Orthodox tradition. Even while living in the Diaspora in the 1920's, he continued to receive spiritual guidance from Elder Nectarius of Optina, and to mold his life and thought , not on the heterodox "wisdom" of the West, but on the age-old tradition of Holy Russia. Having acquired a theological education, he planned to write [in Russian] a trilogy of works on this tradition.: the first, on the spiritual tradition of ancient Russia, before Peter I [The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit in Ancient Russia, Paris 1952]; the second on Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky [which was never completed]; and the third, on the Optina Elders [Optina Monastery and It's Epoch, published posthumously by Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, N.Y., 1973].

The present work, which was inspired by Professor Kontzevitch, is a kind of "source book" in English for the first volume of his trilogy in Russian on ancient Russia, and utilizes above all two of his key ideas regarding the Orthodox spiritual tradition: [1] that the Lives of the Saints are the chief source of our knowledge of the Russian spiritual tradition of this period,and a careful examination of them will give a clear idea of this tradition to one who is well versed in the phenomena and the vocabulary of true Orthodox spirituality; and [2] that it is evident -- as a result of such an examination -- that the Russian spiritual tradition is not at all something "uniquely Russian," or something novel in Orthodox history, but is identical in essence with the whole Byzantine tradition of spirituality, which in its monastic formulation comes down to us from the Fathers of the Egyptian desert. Indeed, the Orthodox reader of these Lives -- which have been taken from sources in Russian and Slavonic as close to the original Lives as possible -- will find that they breathe the same spiritual fragrance as the Lives of the great Fathers of the Egyptian desert, and have the same signs of true Orthodox monastic life: the "mental activity" of the Jesus Prayer, spiritual guidance by Elders, "revelation of thoughts" to the Elder, spiritual labors joined with love of neighbor. The Introduction by Professor Kontzevitch consists of excerpts from his book, The Acquisition of the Holy Spirit in Ancient Russia, referring to the period of the "Northern Thebaid" -- the great spiritual current which proceeds from St. Sergius of Radonezh in the 14th century [and behind him, from Byzantine Hesychasm] to the end of the 17th century, when Russia, although outwardly in spiritual decline, was preparing its forces for a spiritual current which has come down to our own times -- that of Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky and the great Elders of the 18th century to the 20th centuries.

It was in the mid-19th century that a pious Orthodox Russian, Andrew Muraviev, undertook a pilgrimage to the almost-forgotten monasteries of the North and brought them back to olive for the readers of his book, giving the whole region the name by which we now know it* At that time most of these monasteries still existed.

Today, however, these monasteries have been closed and destroyed, and most of them removed from the face of the earth. Why speak of them any more, and give the Lives of their founders and the history of their monastic tradition, as we attempt to do in these pages -- and that not merely as an example of dead history, but of living tradition, as is our definite intention? While these Lives were being printed separately in The Orthodox Word, one of the leading modernists "Orthodox theologians" chastised in print "those who call to non-existent deserts," evidently regarding such Lives as an appeal to a religious "romanticism" and idealism totally out of step with contemporary conditions of life. Why, indeed, should we inspire today's Orthodox youth with the call of the "Northern Thebaid," which has in it something more attractive and somehow more accessible for a 20th-century zealot than the barren desert of Egypt?

First of all, the monastic life here described has not entirely disappeared from the earth; it is still possible to find Orthodox monastic communities which teach the spiritual doctrine of the Holy Fathers, and to lead the Orthodox monastic life even in the 20th century -- with constant self-reproach over how far one falls short of the Lives of the ancient Fathers in these times. True Orthodox Christians have preserved the living monastic tradition of Holy Russia and are linked directly to Optina, Valaam, St. Seraphim's Diveyevo, St. Job's Pochaev, Lesna, and of course to the monastic citadels of the Holy Land and the Holy Mountian of Athos. The wise seeker can find his "desert" even in our barren 20th century.

But this book is not intended only for such fortunate ones.

Every Orthodox Christian should know the Lives of the Fathers of the desert, which together with the Lives of the Martyrs gives us the model for our own life of Christian struggle. Even so, every Orthodox Christian should know of Valaam, of Solovki, of Svir, of Siya and Obnora and White Lake, of the Skete of Sora, and of the Angel-like men who dwelt there before being translated to heaven, living the Orthodox spiritual life to which every Orthodolx Christian is called, according to his strength and the conditions of his life. Every Orthodox Christian should be inspired by their life of struggle far from the ways of the world. There is no "romanticism" here. The actual "romantics" of out time are the reformers of "Parisian Orthodoxy" who, disparaging the authentic Orthodox tradition, wish to "sanctify the world," to replace the authentic Orthodox world -view with a this-worldly counterfeit of it based on modern Western thought. The spiritual life of the true monastic tradition is the norm of our Christian life, and we are called to account for our lax life. We shall not be judged for our ignorance of the vocabulary of contemporary "Orthodox theology," but we shall surely be judged for not struggling on the path of salvation. If we do not live like these Saints, then let us at least increase our far-too-feeble struggles for God, and offer our fervent tears of repentance and our constant self-reproach at falling so shot of the standard of perfection which God has shown us in His wondrous Saints.

Monk Seraphim Rose

1975

Epilogue by Fr. Seraphim

The great monastic movement which began with St. Sergius, the great Abba of the Northern Thebaid, came to an end with the conclusion of the 17th century. New historical conditions -- chiefly the Old Believer schism and the Westernizing reforms of Peter I -- made no longer possible that harmony between the ascetic fervor of the best sons and daughters of Russia, and the profound piety of the believing Russian people, which led to the creation of innumerable new monasteries and convents under the inspiration of the Byzantine monastic ideal. We have seen, indeed, that the end of the period of the Northern Thebaid is one of decline -- but it is a decline only by comparison with the astonishing monastic blossoming of the 14th to 16th centuries; by comparison with almost any other Orthodox land or period, the 17th century Russian monastic movement would have to be called a flourishing one that produced at least 45 canonized Saints [and many were never canonized owing to 18th century conditions] and a large number of new monasteries.

At the end of the 18th century, a new great epoch of monasticism began with the great Elder Paisius Velichkovsky, the Abba of a new monastic movement whose current has not entirely died out even in our times. That must be the subject of another book.

What, then, of the 18th century itself? Was the true monastic tradition dead in Russia? Did Peter and Catherine actually destroy monasticism, as has sometimes been said? The answers to these questions will do much to illuminate not only the continuity of the monastic tradition in Russia, but also the condition of Orthodox monasticism in the 19th century, and even today.

Some of the decrees of Peter I regarding monasticism to be sure, were directed against abusers in an institution which at that time had become very large and,in places where the monastic rule and spirit were not carefully preserved, there were unquestionably disorders which needed regulation. But several of the decrees were directed against the free existence of monasteries, and they smothered the very spirit of monasticism. Thus, in 1703 Peter forbade the building of new monasteries; a decree of 1724 turned monasteries into refuges for sick soldiers; and in 1734 it was forbidden to tonsure anyone except widowed priests and retired soldiers. Finally, under Catherine, in 1764, the Government appropriated monastic property altogether and assigned a monetary salary to the monastic clergy; of the 953 monasteries then existing, 568 were closed entirely and 160 more were left totally without income; and "quotas" we reestablished of the number of monks allowed in each monastery. It can be imagined what a blow these reforms gave to Russian monasticism: what room was there for desert-loving fervor in State-supported and supervised institutions whose abbots were often transferred and too often had the function of administrators rather than spiritual fathers?

But the aims of the Westernizing rules were not achieved: the monastic spirit, still very much alive in all classes of Russian society, was not snuffed out. Desert-loving monks and nuns simply went again to the desert, whether in Russia of outside her borders, avoiding the "established" monasteries; new communities were established, despite the laws; and there rose up a number of powerful monastic leaders, new Abbas of Holy Russia, who were not afraid to defy the authorities in order to preserve the free monastic spirit, and who sometimes endured a trial hitherto unknown in the history of Russian monasticism, revealing the extent of the disharmony between the monastic ideal and the corrupted leading society: they were placed in prison.

Here it will be possible to mention only very briefly some representatives of the genuine Orthodox monastic tradition in the 18th-century Russia -- enough to show that t he monastic "revival" of Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky was not at all something imported from abroad, but something which had deep roots in Russia itself and only awaited more favorable conditions to burst forth into the glorious flowering of 19th-century Orthodox monasticism.

Blessed Job [Joshua in Schema] of Solovki [†1720, March 9], the first monastic victim of the reforms of Peter I, humbled himself to such a degree that he was vouchsafed to converse with the Most Holy Mother of God. She blessed him to found the Golgotha hill in Soviet times.

Blessed John of Sarov [†1737, July 4], founder of the great 18th-century monastic center of Sarov, lived at first in caves, fought the schism of the Old Believers, and was finally placed in prison, where he had a righteous death, leaving behind a whole host of disciples and successors: the Blessed Demetrius, Ephraim, Pachomius, Joachim, Joaseph, Mark, and the great St. Seraphim.

Abbess Alexandra of Diveyevo [†1789, June 13] founded her convent under the close spiritual direction of the Sarov Elders, especially St. Seraphim, and nurtured a real Larva of 3000 righteous nuns and fools for Christ; the Convent continued to exist until the Soviets closed it in 1927.

Blessed Nazarius of Valaam [†1809, Feb. 23 and Oct. 14] was the re-founder of the great Larva on Lake Ladoga, using the Typicon in which he had been trained in his native Sarov, leaving behind him a great tradition and holy disciples: Blessed Patermuthius, Innocent, Barlaam, Abel the Prophet, Cyriacus, Euthymius, and St. Herman of Alaska.

Blessed Theodore, Macarius, Theophanes, Ignatius, Basil, Martha ... [22 more are mentioned] ...

The new monastic movement which sprouted from the fertile Orthodox soil of 18th-century Russia under the favorable conditions given by the truly Orthodox Tsars of the 19th century, was to rival the epoch of the Northern Thebaid itself. But now there was to be a subtle difference in tone, one not affecting the changed historical circumstances of the whole Orthodox world: the new monastic revival is no longer dependent on Byzantium. There are no more pilgrimages to the East in search of the Orthodox monastic tradition; or, to be more precise: the few pilgrimages thus undertaken, such as that of Blessed Paisius Velichkovsky to Mount Athos, meet with failure. The Orthodox monastic tradition is more alive in Russia than in Greece, and it is the Russians themselves who, in the 19th century, are responsible for a great monastic flowering on Mt. Athos, led by great Elders such as Jerome and Arsenius, who had their spiritual roots firmly in Russian soil. Even the great Greek Fathers of the Patristic revival of this time, Sts. Macarius of Corinth and Nicodemus the Hagiorite, are not monastic founders as were Blessed Paisius and his disciples, but only transmitters of the Patristic doctrine and its texts.

What all this means is one thing: Orthodox monastic Russia, in the epoch of the Northern Thebaid, had come of age. Just as once Byzantium itself had humbly absorbed the spirituality and tradition of Palestine and Egypt and had transmitted it to other peoples, so now Russia had thoroughly absorbed the Orthodox tradition of Byzantium and made it her own. There is no longer any need to travel outside of Russia to find it. Whether one says "Byzantium" [the earlier phase] of "Holy Russia" [the later phase], the same thing is meant: the tradition of unadulterated Orthodoxy.

The monastic movement of Blessed Paisius completed the monastic foundation which the monks of the Northern Thebaid had begun, by providing Slavonic and then Russian translations of almost all the monastic works of the Holy Fathers which had been written in or translated into Greek. The Northern Thebaid itself richly provided new sources of monastic literature in the numerous Lives of Saints and the spiritual writings of its great Holy Father, St. Nilus of Sora; then in the 18th century, the golden age of Slavonic and Russian Patristic literature begins with the writings of Blessed Basil of Merlopolyani, St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Blessed Paisius himself, and many others. The great Greek and Near-Eastern Patristic epoch had already produced the basic texts of Orthodox spirituality and monasticism, but the final Patristic flowering in Russia -- where the purity of Orthodox tradition was sealed by the sanctity of the wonder-working Elders - was to provide the connecting link between the Patristic tradition and the Orthodox faithful of today, some of whom have seen the last great Orthodox Elders of the golden chain of Orthodox spirituality which has come down unbroken from the Egyptian desert to us. The spiritual strength of Orthodoxy today, whether Russian of non-Russian, rests directly upon the Saints of the Northern Thebaid, who have bequeathed to the Orthodox faithful their experience of communion with God and the example of their God-pleasing lives.

How can we make use of this holy inheritance in our own lives today? We must not deceive ourselves: the life of the desert-dwellers of the Northern Thebaid is far beyond us in our time of unparalleled spiritual emptiness. In any epoch the monastic life is limited by the kind of life which is being led in the world. At a time when daily Orthodox life in Russian was both extremely difficult and very sober, monasticism could flourish; but in our time when ordinary life has become abnormally "comfortable" and the world-view of even the best religious and intellectual leaders is shockingly frivolous, what more is to be expected than that lukewarm "spirituality with comfort" with which bold voices from inside Soviet Russia even now are reproaching the free West? The situation within enslaved Russia is spiritually much more favorable, because on the foundation of the suffering and hardship which are the daily lot of most people there, something spiritual can come out. From many signs it is evident that a religious awakening is beginning now in Russia, whose result cannot yet be foreseen, but which may well result in the re-establishment of some of the monastic centers mentioned in this book.

And yet, the situation of enslaved Russia and the free West is not as different as it might seem. Everywhere today the disease of disbelief has entered deeply into the minds , and most of all the hearts, of men. Our Orthodoxy, even when it is outwardly still correct, is the poorest, the feeblest Christianity there has ever been. The God-bearing Elders who, comparatively speaking, abounded even in the periods of spiritual decline in earlier centuries, are now conspicuous by their total absence, and the conditions of contemporary life are scarcely likely to give birth to anything but counterfeits.

And still the voice of the Northern Thebaid calls us -- not, it may be, to go to the desert [although some fortunate few may be able to do even that, for the forests are still on God's earth] -- but at least to keep alive the fragrance of the desert in our hearts: to dwell in mind and heart with these angel-like men and women and have them as our truest friends, conversing with them in prayer; to be always aloof from the attachments and passions of this life, even when they center about some institution or leader of the church organization; to be first of all a citizen of the Heavenly Jerusalem, the City on high towards which all our Christian labors are directed, and only secondarily a member of this world below which perishes. He who has once sensed this fragrance of the desert, with its exhilarating freedom in Christ and its sober constancy in struggle, will never be satisfied with anything in this world, but can only cry out with the Apostle and Theologian: Come, Lord Jesus. Even so, Surely I come quickly [Apocalypse 22:20]. Amen

-- Monk Seraphim Rose

∞ ∞ ∞

Available from St. John of Kronstadt Press

http://www.sjkp.org

Type: thebaid into the search box

The Northern Thebaid: Monastic Saints of the Russian North
Fr. Seraphim (Rose)
Long out of print and much sought for (so much that we not so jokingly counselled the fortunate few who possessed the original hardbound edition to chain their copies to their lecterns!), this treasury of blessings from the monastic tradition of the Russian North includes lives of such well-known luminaries as St. Sergius of Radonezh and St. Nilus of Sora, along with a number of others for whom one would search elsewhere in vain: St. Paul of Obnora, St. Cyril of Belozersk, St. Sabbatius of Solovki, St. Alexander of Svir, St. Anthony of Siya, St. Euphrosynus of Blue-Jay Lake, St. Diodorus of George-Hill, St. Dorothy of Kashin, St. Nicodemus of Kozha Lake and St. Dalmatus of Siberia.
Item# 2691. (DC: R) Paperbound. $17.00.

Full of Grace and Truth

2011-08-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

Website Review

http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/

Really nice collection. Go for it. I can't find anything wrong.

Many unique posts translated into English.

An Idea For Almsgiving

2011-07-31T18:31:00.000-07:00

How to Give Alms to the Homeless April 2nd, 2011

(This has been described as one of the best articles on this subject).
Source: Pravoslavie.ru

We meet homeless people nearly every day on our life’s path; people who are often contemptuously called ”bums.” We see them at the train station, near the subway, in town squares and parks, and of course, at the churches, asking for money. Each time we see them, our hearts deliberate painfully over the question, ”Should we give them alms, or not?” Then, other questions immediately arise, ”How much? How should we give them? Is there any sense in giving at all?”

People are generally divided into two groups. The first are those who give according to their means to all, without thinking about it or asking any questions, following the Lord’s words,Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away (Mt. 5:42). The second group is of those who do not give money to ”bums,” considering that we mustn’t indulge the ”bum mafia,” for we participate in their sin of drunkenness and sponging, lying, etc. by giving money to them. These people are ready to fulfill Christ’s commandment and are willing to help people, but only those who really need help. They cite the words of the holy fathers in support of this—that the greatest virtue is discernment, for fasting, prayer, alms, or any other virtue will bring a person no benefit if done beyond our strength or out of season.[1] Truly, no one would give anyone money for a rope to hang himself, no matter how tearfully or insistently he begs it. That rope could be a bottle of liquor, which strangles the neck of the beggar each day with increasing strength, or the rope of lies that you would indulge by giving money. There are hundreds and thousands of such ropes.

So what must we do to fulfill the commandment of Christ and please the Lord in the best way? The answer is simple: love. Try also not to do anything without love. Then everything will settle into place, and even the question itself will seem silly. As we know, Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing (1 Cor. 13:3). Of course, it is hard to just up and love every homeless person, but it is usually quite possible to show compassion for every person that the Lord has brought to us. I would like to share a little practical experience in helping the homeless under various circumstances.

For example, you are walking to work, and a tipsy beggar asks you for money. What should you do? Don’t be lazy—ask him why he needs money. They are often asking for food. This is the simplest case. Then you need to go with him to the nearest grocery store and buy him something he hasn’t had for many long years. Give him a holiday, as if this were your old classmate. Something tasty and filling, like good sausage, chicken, cheese, yogurt—in other words, something that they could never get for themselves because it is too expensive to eat in sufficient quantities. Even if the homeless person was lying to you at first about food, he will nevertheless be thankful. Try to transfer this thankfulness to the Lord, let him thank the Lord, and not you personally. For example, tell him that it was Christ Who sent you to him today. Then it will be both bodily and spiritual alms. Try to see a deeply suffering person in him; and if you cannot see in even the last ”bum” the image of God, perhaps very soiled, clouded over, but nevertheless the great image of God, then perhaps you need to discuss this with your spiritual father and pray about it.

Ask the homeless person what his name is, where he hangs out and how often, when is his birthday, is he baptized. Be sincere and kind with him. Homeless people are very sensitive to insincerity. Do not hasten to judge him. We do not know what we ourselves would be if the Lord had deprived us of His protection and hadn’t guarded us from the demon of drunkenness and other vices. Wouldn’t we be much worse than that person? In a word: love him. Love him to the extent of your heart’s capacity; love him sincerely, for Christ’s sake. And if even a little love is born in your heart for this person, then the next time, when you are leaving your house, you will probably be prepared for another meeting with him: take some food from home, some warm clothing, a book, or something he might like. You will leave fifteen minutes early for work and find him; wait for him, call him by his name, show some concern for him, and increase love in this world, the lack of which is felt ever more sharply. Thus, from day to day you can live for the sake of Christ, taking care of one poor person. Do not just buy yourself off with money, do not limit yourself to one-time help. It is good, but it is not a perfect fruit. You can’t just love for a half an hour and then forget about it.

The only warning is: do not give money for any reason, and do not cave in to their persuasion! Those on the streets in such difficult straights, spiritually sick, are in the absolute majority of cases not capable of using money properly. Buy him the thing he needs, get into his shoes, and understand his problems.

It is important to care for a person’s body, but it is even more important to care for his soul. Do this without being intrusive: let your heart tell you when to talk to him about confession, prayer, or about God’s infinite mercy; about how true life and healing are possible only through the Lord’s healing of his soul, which cannot happen unless he wants it. Sometimes a person hungers for this and wants to hear it right away, but sometimes this happens only years later. St. John of Kronstadt writes about this: ”Know that material alms should always be followed by spiritual alms: with affectionate, brotherly, and pure-hearted love for your neighbor. Do not allow him to notice that he is become beholden to you, do not appear proud. See that your material alms do not lose their value through your failure to provide the spiritual.”[2]

Of course, not all possible instances are limited to food, and there are many others.[3] But it is all united by one thing: It is impossible to fulfill Christ’s commandment to Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful (Lk. 6:36) without love. With regard to the homeless, this becomes especially obvious. But this relates to other instances: if you help a sick person, you must not just buy medicine; you can’t just send a prisoner a package; you can’t just send toys to a children’s home, etc. This is all very good, but without sincere love this all often loses value, gives cause for sin and vice amongst those who receive it and those who dispense it.[4] Medicines can make other sick people jealous, prisoners can lose your food packages in a card game; and children in children’s homes can become little extortionists. We return again and again to the same question: what should we do? And the answer is always the same: love, love for the sake of Christ. Pray for the sick one, visit him, console him, buy him medicine, talk with other patients, give them little joys and holidays, talk about God’s greatness and mercy; correspond with the prisoner, send him packages, console him and preach, give him hope and make him think about the life he has lived; visit children, bring them toys, draw with them, sing, treat them to cakes, teach them to pray, hope and trust the Lord God, etc. And live this way from day to day for the sake of Christ. Of course, many do not have enough time for all of this. In that case, at least help those who sincerely do these things, and pray for them with your whole heart, which was undoubtedly created for love.

But never take on labors beyond your strength: never take a homeless person to your own house for the night, do not go alone to places where they congregate, do not borrow money from someone else to give to the homeless. You have to be frank about the fact that the majority of people in this social stratum are spiritually very sick, often psychologically as well, and always physically. Such attempts often end tragically. They are often just the consequence of pride and neophyte zeal.

In the mind of some people lives a myth that if you give a person an apartment and work, he will get better. Practical experience shows that this is not the case. Without peace with God, without a divine miracle of healing of the soul, this is not possible. But we can be God’s co-laborers, increasing love and helping a person to turn and face God.

Furthermore, it has to be said that mercy need to be shown toward all—the rich and the poor, the good and the bad; only we must not indulge mortal sins of lying, drunkenness, promiscuity, and others, and we must approach everyone with love and discernment. ”He who gives alms, in imitation of God, does not discriminate in bodily needs between the mean and kind, the righteous and the unrighteous”[5]

Thus, in very complicated situations I have had to say sincerely to a persistently lying homeless person that I absolutely do not believe him, but I will help him for Christ’s sake, for the sake of the love that Christ has given for him. It is important that without love, even such a great virtue as discernment can turn into judgment, justification of one’s own greed, and laziness. We have to pray that God would give us the gift of discernment. This gift is given for a life in Christ that is kind and full of mercy.[6]

When going to do works of mercy, we must not forget to pray to God that He would give us the strength and knowledge to fulfill His commandment as is pleasing to Him. In general, prayer is an inalienable part of works of mercy. Without prayer, it is almost impossible to do anything pleasing to God. We can calculate, make agreements, be sure of success; but if there was no prayer, then our works are like a house built upon sand. A homeless person who has not eaten meat for a long time can feel sick after eating it now; a new jacket can become the cause of his getting beaten; renewed identification documents can be stolen by his ”friends” and used for criminal purposes which could have unforeseen consequences; medical help could cause complications; and the list goes on.

If we have talked with someone it would be good to pray briefly about that person, even if we do not know his name, but especially if we do know it. Some pastors bless to read the prayer, ”O Heavenly King,” especially if the conversation turns to spiritual matters. When you approach someone, it would be good to smile sincerely. After all, it is wonderful to be a participant, fulfiller, and conduit of God’s mercy.

You must never combine your gifts with reproaches against his way of life, with moralizing and unsolicited advice. You have to help him simply, without trying to teach him. It is hard enough for him, even if it is his own fault; added reproach and moralizing would only be one more aggravating circumstance for him. Our job is not to aggravate, but to try to ease his burden if only for a second. You can only give advice after getting to know and love the person, if he trusts you, and only with prayer and inner humility.

When talking with ”bums,” we have to watch that presumption does not show up in our speech. And if while giving alms we allow ourselves to be high-minded toward the person or vainglorious, this will wipe out our virtue, make our behavior vile in the Lord’s eyes; and He will without fail punish us for this if we do not repent of it.

This may all seem hard to fulfill, but it is worth the effort. These labors of mercy are real, active proof of our faith and love for Christ. Most important of all: the Lord helps us when we do acts of mercy. He gives us special grace, often even despite our vanity and laziness. If a person sincerely tries to please and love the Lord, the Lord covers and corrects him; even more than that—He turns our mistakes into something glorious. Grace begins to transform our souls, and the grain of the Kingdom of Heaven begins to grow. A person begins to feel this special joy of a new spiritual reality more and more each day: Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field (Mt. 13:44). Abiding in this grace so transforms the soul that work which seemed impossible becomes simple and even desired.

By helping people, do not hope to change the world and all the homeless, do not expect them to thank you—do it all for the sake of Christ’s love. Do not despair or be afraid if after all your efforts someone turns your alms toward evil. ”Give to every one who asks you, and ask it not back; for the Father wills that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts). Happy is he who gives according to the commandment, for he is guiltless. Woe to him who receives; for if one receives who has need, he is guiltless; but he who receives not having need shall pay the penalty, why he received and for what.… And also concerning this, it has been said, Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you know to whom you should give.”[7]

It goes without saying that in our time there are saintly people living, but for ordinary sinful city dwellers, worn out by the rat race of consumerism, deprived of prayer of the heart, not capable of perfect fasting, not having time for apostolic service, sunk in credit card bills and everyday affairs, ”Alms given for the sake of Christ, for the sake of love for Him, cleanses us of sins more than sacrifices, opens the heavens more than virginity, and can make one equal to the apostles.”[8]

A few words must be said also for those who never give alms at all to ”bums,” considering that these people are themselves at fault for all their problems. I will say this: Perhaps you are right, but isn’t the Lord able to help and resurrect even the dead? Does the Creator of the universe, heaven and earth and all that exists need our pennies and millions? Is it really important to Him which pocket carries our ten-dollar bill? Or can’t He feed the hungry, clothe the freezing, give shelter to the homeless? The good Lord can do all these things, but He has entrusted them to us. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Mt. 25:4–40). And in order to serve Christ we don’t have to have lived two thousand years ago; we can simply give a bowl of soup to a homeless person and say to God: ”You are hungry, Lord. Here, eat.”

* * *

This article was written from experience in the Russian reality, but it is no less true anywhere. It is regrettable, however, that the abundance of Russian commentary to the article remains untranslated, for it shows how much thought was given to the problem. Here is but one short thread:

From Natasha and son:

For those who are not bums: if you have to spend the night (any time of the year) in the city, but not in a home, without comforts [running water, etc.], without a bed, in your clothes, on a cold stone or cement floor, in a desolate or dirty place, it is utterly impossible to get some sleep without alcohol or sleeping pills. After one such night your whole organism hurts, especially your head, your eyesight deteriorates to half, your thought and speech processes slow down, and you have a horrible feeling of untamable hunger, boredom and hopelessness.

I did not drink or gamble away my home—I was simply sent out to the streets by the owner as someone who is not a member of the family. That is, I am a poor person with a child, and not a professional beggar, and I pray for my benefactors each time they give me alms…

I am a bum, I have AIDS and hepatitis C. I don’t have the appearance or strength it takes to get work or an apartment—serious pains, distracted attention, sudden allergy attacks (Bannister’s disease), endogenic toxicity. I don’t drink or smoke, but I look like a homeless nothing (my kidneys and liver can’t handle the toxicity). Precious Almsgivers are goodness! Give, give under the condition that you are giving to a person unto salvation in Christ, and not for this senseless fallen life; tell him, ”Here, I am giving you this so that you would go to Church and pray to Christ in the church for yourself and me!…” Give with a name: ”Pray for me (name)!!!” Then there is sense to giving every day (also for those for whom you can’t pray in church or at home).… Remember, O Lord, my benefactors—Your righteous ones, for through their alms they have given me faith in You and hope in Your mercy!!!

From Tatiana:

A very good article, but I was most of all touched by the commentary from Natasha and son. Poor woman. How can I help you?

Teimuraz Kristinashvili
translated by Pravoslavie.ru/OrthoChristian.com
19 / 10 / 2010

[1] See for example the writings of St. John Cassian.

[2] St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ, p. 1154 [Russian].

[3] For example, a person has nowhere to spend the night, or he needs medical help. If you aren’t able now to give time to a homeless person, give him the telephone number of a homeless shelter or agency, and pray for him. If you have the time and the desire, and the homeless person has identification documents, then you can go with him and pay for some inexpensive living situation, addresses for which can be found on the internet. If he has no documents, then you can take him to one of the social rehabilitation centers in your city. These addresses can also be found on the internet. Of course, given the great need, these centers may or may not receive him with open arms, but your participation may help ensure acceptance. As for medical help, you can call an ambulance, or look up medical centers for indigents. You can easily get used clothing from shelters or thrift stores, or you can give away your own, rather than buying new, because life on the streets will spoil them soon anyway. But most importantly, do not despair if you come across lies and it turns out that the only thing the indigent wants is money, and when he gets it he forgets about all his problems and turns back to his vice. As St. John Chrysostom writes, “The Savior assigns punishment or reward not for the thing done, but for the intention of him who does it.”

[4] This is particularly true of charitable organizations in Russia, and in some other countries. Donations to those countries have to be through a reliable person or organization. —Trans.

[5] See St. Maximus the Confessor, chapter on Love, the first centurion.

[6] Elder Paisius of the Holy Mountain. Passions and Virtues. Chapter 4:5, “Discernment is the crown of the virtues.”

[6] The Didache, 1.

[7] St. John Chrysostom, Explanation of the Gospel According to Matthew, v. 7:2, 18:65.

The Orthodox Veneration of Mary, The Birthgiver of God

2011-07-31T08:45:00.000-07:00

online book

http://www.stmaryofegypt.org/library/st_john_maximovich/on_veneration_of_the_theotokos.htm

http://rocorrefugeesreadmore.blogspot.com/2011/07/orthodox-veneration-of-mary-birthgiver.html

The Orthodox Veneration of Mary, The Birthgiver of God

by St. John Maximovitch

Translated, with an Introduction by Fr. Seraphim Rose

Fifth printing 1996

88 pages

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Orthodox Theology of Archbishop John Maximovitch, by Fr. Seraphim Rose

I. The Veneration of the Mother of God during Her Earthly Life

II. The First Enemies of the Veneration of the Mother of God

III. Attempts of Jews and Heretics to Dishonor the Ever-Virginity of Mary

IV. The Nestorians Heresy and the Third Ecumenical Council

V. Attempts of Iconoclasts to Lessen the Glory of the Queen of Heaven: They are put to shame...

VI. "Zeal not According to Knowledge": The "Immaculate Conception"

VII. The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God

Akathist to the Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God

Index

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

The Introduction by Fr. Seraphim Rose is in two parts. In the first part Fr. Seraphim speaks of himself in the third person. In the second part he explains how St. John's theology is from heaven and not from some earthly school of theological thought.

INTRODUCTION

by Fr. Seraphim

Not too many years ago [this was written 1978] the Abbess of a convent of the Russian Orthodox Church, a woman of righteous life, was delivering a sermon in the convent church on the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Mother of God. With tears she entreated her nuns and the pilgrims who had come for the feast to accept entirely and wholeheartedly what the Church hands down to us, taking such pains to preserve this tradition sacredly all these centuries -- and not to choose for oneself what is "important" and what is "dispensible"; for by thinking oneself wiser than the tradition, one may end up by losing the tradition. Thus, when the Church tells us in her hymns and icons that the Apostles were miraculously gathered together from the ends of the earth in order to be present at the repose and burial of the Mother of God, we as Orthodox Christians are not free to deny this or to reinterpret it, but must believe as the Church hands down to us, with simplicity of heart.

A young Western convert who learned Russian was present when this sermon was delivered. He himself had thought about this very subject, having seen icons in the traditional iconographic style depicting the Apostles being transported on clouds to behold the Dormition of the Theotokos; and he had asked himself the question: are we actually to understand this "literally," as a miraculous event, or is it only a "poetic" way of expressing the coming together of the Apostles for this event ... or perhaps even an imaginative or "ideal" depiction of an even that never occurred in fact? (Such, indeed, are some of the questions with which "Orthodox theologians" occupy themselves in our days.) The words of the righteous Abbess therefore struck him to the heart, and he understood that there was something deeper to the reception of Orthodoxy than what our own mind and feelings tell us. In that instant the tradition was being handed down to him, not from books but from a living vessel which contained it; and it had to be received, not with mind and feeling only, but above all with the heart, which in this way began to receive its deeper training in Orthodoxy.

Later this young convert encountered, in person or through reading, many people who were learned in Orthodox theology. They were the "theologians" of our day, those who had been to Orthodox schools and become theological "experts." They were usually quite eager to speak on what was Orthodox and what was non-Orthodox, what was important and what was secondary in Orthodoxy itself; and a number of them prided themselves on being "conservatives" or "traditionalists" in faith. But in none of them did he sense the simple authority of the simple Abbess who had spoken to his heart, unlearned as she was in such "theology."

And the heart of this convert, still taking his baby steps in Orthodoxy, longed to know how to believe, which means also whom to believe. He was too much a person of his times and his own upbringing to be able to simply deny his own reasoning power and believe blindly everything he was told; and it is very evident that Orthodoxy does not at all demand this of one -- the very writings of the Holy Fathers are a living memorial of the working of human reason enlightened by the grace of God. But it was also obvious that there was something very much lacking in the "theologians" of our day, who for all their knowledge of Patristic texts, did not convey the feeling or savor of Orthodoxy as well as a simple, theologically-uneducated Abbess.

Our convert found the end of his search --the search for contact with the true living tradition of Orthodoxy-- in Archbishop John Maximovitch. For here he found someone who was a learned theologian in the "old" school and at the same time was very aware of all the criticisms of that theology which have been made by the theological critics of our century, and was able to use his keen intelligence to find the truth where it might be disputed. But he also possessed something which none of the wise "theologians" of our time seem to possess: the same simplicity and authority which the pious Abbess had conveyed to the heart of the young God-seeker. His heart and mind were won: not because Archbishop John became for him an "infallible expert" -- for the Church of Christ does not know any such thing -- but because he saw in this holy archpastor a model of Orthodoxy, a true theologian whose theology proceeded from a holy life and from total rootedness in Orthodox tradition. When he spoke, his words could be trusted -- although he carefully distinguished between the Church's teaching, which is certain, and his own personal opinions, which might be mistaken, and he bound no one to the latter. And our young convert discovered that, for all of Archbishops John's intellectual keeness and critical ability, his words much more often agreed with those of the Abbess than with those of the learned theologians of our time.

THE THEOLOGICAL WRITINGS of Archbishop John belong to no distinctive "school," and they do not reveal the extraordinary influence of any theologians of the recent past. It is true that Archbishop John was inspired to theologize, as well as to become a monk and enter the Church's service, by his great teacher, Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky; and it is also true that the student made his own the teacher's emphasis on a "return to the Fathers" and to a theology closely bound to spiritual and moral life rather than academic. But Metropolitan Anthony's own theological writings are quite different in tone, intention and content: he was very much involved with the theological academic world and with the intelligentsia of his time, and much of his writing is devoted to arguments and apologies which will be understandable to these elements of the society he knew. The writings of Archbishop John, on the other hand, are quite devoid of this apologetic and disputatious aspect. He did not argue, he simply presented the Orthodox teaching; and when it was necessary to refute false doctrines, as especially in his two long articles on the Sophiology of Bulgakov, his words were convincing not by virtue of logical argumentation, but by the power of his presentation of the Patristic teaching in its original texts. He did not speak to the academic or the learned world, but to the uncorrupted Orthodox conscience; and he did not speak of a "return to the Fathers" because what he himself wrote was simply a handing down of Patristic tradition, with no attempt to apologize for it.

The sources of Archbishop John's theology are quite simply: Holy Scripture, the Holy Fathers (especially the great Fathers of the 4th and 5th centuries), and -- most distinctively -- the Divine services of the Orthodox Church. The latter source, rarely used to such an extent by the theologians of recent centuries, gives us a clue to the practical, un-academic approach of Archbishop John to theology. It is obvious he was thoroughly immersed in the Church's Divine services and that his theological inspiration came chiefly from this primary Patristic source which he imbibed, not in leisure hours set apart for theologizing, but in his daily practice f being present at every Divine service. He drank in theology as an integral part of daily life, and it ws doubtless the more than his formal theological studies that actually made him a theologian.

It is understandable, therefore, that one will not find in Archbishop John any theological "system." To be sure he did not protest against the great works of "systematic theology" which the 19th century produced in Russia, and he made free use in his missionary work of the systematic catechisms of this period (as, in general, the great hierarchs of the 19th and 20th centuries have done, both in Greece and Russia, seeing in these catechisms an excellent aid to the work of Orthodox enlightenment among the people); in this respect he was above the fashions and parties olf theologians and students, both past and present, who are a little too attached to the particular way in which Orthodox theology is presented. He showed equal respect for Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky with his "anti-Western" emphasis, and for Metropolitan Peter Mogila with his supposedly excessive "Western influence." When the defects of one or the other of these great hierarchs and defenders of Orthodoxy would be presented to him, he would make a deprecating gesture with his hand and say,"unimportant" -- because he always had in view first of all the great Patristic tradition which these theologians were successfully handing down in spite of their faults. In this respect he has much to teach the younger the theologians of our own day, who approach Orthodox theology in a spirit that is often both too theoretical and too polemical and partisan.

For Archbishop John the theological "categories" of even the wisest of theological scholars were also "unimportant" -- or rather, they were important only to the extent that they communicated a real meaning and did not become merely a matter of rote learning. One incident from his Shanghai years vividly reveals the freedom of his theological spirit: Once when he was attending the oral examinations of the senior class of his cathedral school, he interrupted the perfectly correct recitation by one pupil of the list of Minor Prophets of the Old Testament with the abrupt and categorical assertion: "There are no minor prophets!" The priest-teacher of this class was understandably offended at this seeming disparagement of his teaching authority, but probably to this day the students remember this strange disruption of the normal catechism "categories," and possibly a few of them understood the message which Archbishop John to convey: with God all prophets are "major," and this fact is more important than all the categories of our knowledge of them, however valid these are in themselves. In his theological writings and sermons also, Archbishop John often gives a surprising turn to his discourse which uncovers for us some unexpected aspect or deeper meaning of the subject he is discussing. It is obvious that for him theology is no mere human, earthly, discipline whose riches are exhausted by our rational interpretations, or at which we can become self-satisfied "experts," -- but rather something that points heavenward and should draw our minds to God and heavenly realities, which are not grasped by logical systems of thought.

One noted Russian Church historian, N. Talberg, has suggested (in the Chronicle of Bishop Savva, ch. 23) that Archbishop John is to be understood first of all as "a fool for Christ's sake who remained such even in episcopal rank," and in this respect he compares him to St. Gregory the Theologian, who also did not conform, in ways similar to Archbishop John, to the standard "image" of a bishop. It is this "foolishness" (by the world's standards) that gives a characteristic tone to the theological writings both of St. Gregory and of Archbishop John: a certain detachment from public opinion, what "everyone thinks" and thus belonging to no "party" or "school"; the approach to theological questions from an exalted, non-academic point of view and thus the healthy avoidance of petty disputes and the quarrelsome spirit; the fresh, unexpected turns of thought, which make their theological writings first of all a source of inspiration and of a truly deeper understanding of God's revelation.

Perhaps most of all one is impressed by the utter simplicity of Archbishop John's writings. It is obvious that he accepts the Orthodox tradition straightforwardly and entirely, with no "double" thoughts as to how one can believe the tradition and still be a "sophisticated" modern man. He was aware of modern "criticism," and if asked could give his sound reasons for not accepting it on most points. He studied thoroughly the question of "Western influence" in Orthodoxy in recent centuries and had a well-balanced view of it, carefully distinguishing between what is to be rejected outright as foreign to Orthodoxy, what is to be discouraged without "making an issue" over it, and what is to be accepted as conducive to true Orthodox life and piety (a point that is especially revealing of Archbishop John's lack of "preconceived opinions," and his testing of everything by sound Orthodoxy). But despite all his knowledge and exercise of critical judgment, he continued to believe the Orthodox tradition simply, just as the Church has handed it down to us. Most Orthodox theologians of our time, even if they may have escaped the worst effects of the Protestant-reformer mentality, still view Orthodox tradition through the spectacles of the academic environment in which they are at home; but Archbishop John was "at home" first and foremost in the church services at which he spent many hours every day, and thus the tinge of rationalism (not necessarily in a bad sense) of even the best of academic theologians was totally absent in his thought. In his writings there are no "problems"; his usually numerous footnotes are solely for the sake of informing where the teaching of the Church is to be found. In this respect he is absolutely at one with the "mind of the Fathers," and he appears in our midst as one of them, and not as a mere commentator on the theology of the past.

The theological writings of Archbishop John, printed in various Church periodicals over four decades have not yet been collected in one place. Those presently available to the St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood would fill a volume of something more than 200 pages. His longer writings belong for the most part to his earlier years as a hieromonk in Yugoslavia, where he was already noted as outstanding among Orthodox theologians. Especially valuable are his two articles on the Sophiology of Bulgakov, one of them revealing convincingly , in a very objective manner, Bulgakov's total incompetence as a Patristic scholar, and the other being of even greater value as a classic exposition of the true Patristic doctrine of the Divine Wisdom. Among his later writings one should mention his article on Orthodox iconography (where, incidentally, he shows himself much more aware than his teacher, Metr. Anthony, of the question of "Western influence" in iconographic style); the series of sermons entitled "Three Evangelical Feasts," where he uncovers the deeper meaning of some of the "lesser" church feasts; and the article "The Church: the Body of Christ." His short articles and sermons are also deeply theological. One sermon begins with a "Hymn to God" of St. Gregory the Theologian and continues, in the same exalted, Patristic tone, as an inspired accusation against contemporary godlessness; another, spoken on Passion Friday, 1936, is a moving address to Christ lying in the tomb, in a tone worthy of the same Holy Father.

We begin this series of translations with Archbishop John's classic exposition of the Orthodox veneration of the Mother of God and of the chief errors which have attacked it. Its longest chapter is a clear and striking refutation of the Latin dogma of the "Immaculate Conception."

†

Book available from:

http://www.sjkp.org/

type "veneration" in the search box

Book $7 plus $5 shipping.

The $5 shipping is the minimum shipping charge, so it is economical to add this little book in with another order.

Their Hearts Shall Live Forever

2011-07-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Website Review

http://theirheartsshallliveforever.yolasite.com/

An Orthodox Christian can expect to grow in the Church - "Church" meaning your jurisdiction and not just the parish itself which is part of your jurisdiction. As a member of the Church, you are a member of a Body.

Just as your own body needs both physical and spiritual care so does the Bigger Body, of which you are a part, also need both physical and spiritual care. Physically we feed and protect our body; spiritually we feed and protect our soul. We feed our soul with worship and protect our soul from untruth. The same is so for the Church. Physically we feed and protect our Church with tithing, cleaning, etc. Spiritually we feed our Church with common worship and we protect our Church from untruth, as well.

If we fail to protect our Church from untruth, then we fail to protect our own selves from untruth, since we are members of the Body of the Church.

At baptism we are given a guardian angel. When we injure our souls with sin, our guardian angel weeps. Remember that the Churches also have guardian angels. Read the first two chapters in Revelations, and note that God told St. John to address the letters "to the Angel" of the Church - there were seven jurisdictions at the time. When a Church is injured with untruth, then its Angel weeps.

In order for us to grow spiritually we need to protect both our individual souls and the Church. If we neglect one, then we can make no spiritual progress. Orthodox who fail to protect the Church end up in world orthodoxy. Orthodox who fail to protect their souls end up with the super-correct.

This website seems to do a nice job of nourishing the individual soul, but the protecting of the Church is being neglected. We can be sure that the owner of this website is somewhere in world orthodoxy. The owner of this website is probably not aware that his copy of Bp. Ignaty Brianchaninov's "Christians You Must Know Christ" [as of 3/31/11] has been edited to remove part that offend world Orthodoxy.

Life of Elder Zosimas

2011-07-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

Book Review

Life of Elder Zosimas

The Life and Labors of Schemamonk Zosima

by his disciple

Nikodemos Orthodox Publication Society 1979

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Part II

1. The Parents of Father Zosima

2. The Birth of Father Zosima

3. Infancy

4. Upbringing

5. In the Tsar's Service, and Life in the Capital

6. The Death of Their Father, and the Division of the Estate

7. A Temptation and a Miraculous Apparition

8. The Death of His Mother

9. Concerning the Brothers of Father Zosima

10. A Final Temptation, and Renunciation of the World

Part II

1. The Desert Dwellers

2. The Beginning of Father Zosima's Monastic Life, and Elder Basilisk

3. The Konevits Monastery

4. Elder Basilisk Moves to Konevits

5. Eremitic Life of the Island of Konevits

6. Wanderings

7. Adventures in the Siberian Forest

8. The Life of Silence in the Siberian Forest

9. The Beginning of the Sisters' Community

10. The Turinsk Monastery

Part III

1. Father Zosima Travels to St. Petersburg2. The Meeting of the Elders

3. The Beginning of Difficulties

4. Father Zosima is Sent Away

5. The Death of Elder Basilisk

6. Father Zosima's Life in Tobolsk

7. The Move to Moscow

8. The Convent Near Moscow

9. His Illness and Blessed Repose

10. The Trinity-Hodigritria Convent is Established

Preface

by Fr. Seraphim Rose

The life of the great Siberian Elder Zosima, one of the treasures of the Russian Orthodox literature of recent centuries, is offered here to English-speaking Orthodox Christians. In a sense, this offering is premature: English-speaking Orthodoxy has no desert-dwellers, and in its present state of immaturity it is probably incapable of producing any; this is a kind of life above or measure. In this sense the present book is too "advanced," and might even serve to increase self-esteem and pride that are sadly fostered by premature thoughts of "hesychasm" and the highest kind of angelic life.

On the other hand, however this book well describes an essential "missing dimension" of our poor Orthodoxy in the West: the sufferings of true Orthodox Christian spiritual life, without which all attempts at monasticism are only pretentious and empty. At the same time, the book shows the part played in these sufferings by an element that is, alas, already too present in the Orthodox life of Western converts: gossip, rumors, slanders, petty jealousies and other passions which do such incalculable harm to tender young Christian sprouts. The humble suffering of these temptations by Fr. Zosima and his community of sisters, and their Christian triumph over them, should be a source of great encouragement to all those who find themselves caught in the net of similar temptations.

The simple-hearted Christianity that breathes from every page of this book should be a source of inspiration for every Orthodox Christian reader who sincerely loves Christ and longs for His Heavenly Kingdom, whether he be a layman or monastic. Indeed, the examples of "lay" Orthodox life in these pages are just as instructive as the monastic examples. How deeply genuine Christianity penetrated the soil of Holy Russia may be seen, not merely in the monastic heros of the book, but even in the touching story of Fr. Zosima's brother, the monastic "failure" Elias, whose passionate nature did not erase the longing for God in his heart or prevent him from living a practical Christian life that puts us today, whether monastic or lay, to shame.

And what shall we say of the profound, deeply-committed and long-suffering Christian love revealed in the pages of this book? The mutual love of the Elder Basilisk and his disciple Zosima is so far above or paltry half-heartedness that it should make us ashamed even t speak of "hesycham" and "elders" and all the outward forms of a way of life which we are incapable even of understanding, let alone touching, because of our own lack of such burning love.

Thus, this book is very "down to earth" and recognizable to us at or level, filled with the spirit of simple and basic Christianity, at the same time that it exalts and inspires us with its realistic accounts of true God-poleasers in the highest form of monastic life: the life of the desert, in the true spirit and tradition of the Orthodox Church.

Let us, then, be inspired by the desert life of Elders Basilisk and Zosima [even while realizing how far it is above us], but let us even more be humbled by seeing the sufferings they had to undergo, both those they imposed upon themselves and those sent or providentially allowed by God. Above all, may this book bear fruit in encouraging us even today to live the daily life of simple Christianity in practice, without which we can hardly hope to be saved.

Hieromonk Seraphim Rose

Sunday of All Saints of

Russia and Mount Athos

June 11/24. 1979

Make note: The love of a spiritual son for his Elder is similar and even deeper than that of an infant for his mother. There is deep trust and and deep intimacy. In no way is this to be interpreted as a carnal love, but instead it is to be interpreted spiritually, a parallel of man's love for God. It is marked by obedience and by longing. -jh

Part II

Chapter 2

The Beginning of Father Zosima's Monastic Life, and Elder Basilisk

VISITING the Bryansk desert dwellers several times more while Father Adrian was still there, each time living with them for awhile, Zacharias [Zosima's name before tonsure] came to love above all Father Basilisk, one of Adrian's disciples. His quiet and meek character, his simple but pleasantly affectionate manner and sound reasoning so attracted the heart of young Zacharias that he desired, if it were possible, never to part with this Elder. However, at that time he did not yet reveal his special love for Basilisk, and directed all his efforts towards freeing himself from the world as quickly as possible in order to come to live with the desert dwellers. For this reason, as we have mentioned above, he set out for St. Petersburg, where he was granted complete freedom from civil service and obtained all the necessary papers and certificates. Having completed all his duties, he flew like a bird freed from a cage to the desert forests of Bryansk. He did not find Father Adrian there, however, for he had already settled in the Konevits Monastery, fulfilling the commandment of Christ, Give way to anger; and if you are driven from one town, flee to another Matt. 10:23.

In his disciple Basilisk, Father Adrian saw true humility which preserves the soul from every deception of the enemy, and a sound sense of spiritual reason combined with great patience and strict asceticism. Father Adrian also knew of his disciple's constant

and fervent desire to live a life of complete silence in the desert, and so leaving for Petersburg, he blessed him to remain in the desert in his cell, for Basilisk was not the object of anyone's envy: he had not been ordained a priest, and was a simple desert dweller. The other elders of the desert continued without Father Adrian, living a certain distance from Father Basilisk. Upon returning from Petersburg, Zacharias came to these very elders. They greeted him with joy and love, and when they learned that he had decided resolutely to remain with them in the desert, they all with one voice said to him: "You would be truly blessed, O good youth, if Father Basilisk would agree to take you as a disciple. He is our desert star; he is an example to us all. Truly God's mercy would be upon you if he would agree to this, for although many of us have begged and tried to persuade him to be our teacher, having true humility he has firmly refused everyone, saying that he is an unenlightened ignoramus and can be an instructor to no one. He added that he himself leads such a wretched and feeble existence that he would certainly be of benefit to no one. Furthermore, he prefers to live in complete silence and to be always alone with God."

Hearing all of this, the wise youth Zacharias was inflamed with an even greater love for this wondrous Elder and an even stronger desire to be his disciple. He entreated him so relentlessly and convincingly that the God-loving Basilisk himself did not know what to do. It was difficult for him to resist this youth's so fervent plea, for from the first time that the Elder saw him he himself felt an involuntary love towards him. At the same time, however, he did not wish to follow the desires of his heart, fearing lest through this he would deprive himself of complete silence. He dared not sin by refusing, fearing to incur God's wrath for the soul of Zacharias if he rejected so strong a fervor for the monastic life and so strong a love for his Elder, a refusal which might cause the impetuous youth to be drawn once again to life in the world. However, he dared not accept him yet as a disciple so as not to seem unfair and disdainful towards the rest whom he had previously refused. In this state of perplexity and facing such a dilemma, he did not yet give a decisive answer. Nevertheless, he did let Zacharias stay with him for awhile, and, showing him special favor, he established his mind firmly in the desire for the desert life and sweetened his heart with love for God. He did much in word and deed to set the youth on the saving path of monastic life. While speaking of himself, among other spiritual discussions, with no specific intention, Father Basilisk mentioned that he was from Kalyazinsk county of Tver Province, revealing that he had been a government peasant. He said that he was in great sorrow since his term of dismissal had expired and that he had to return home again. This presented a great difficulty, both because he wished to be dead to his family and friends and also because he had no money and was ill. It would not only have been difficult for him to renew his term of dismissal, but also to endure such a long and difficult journey, for spring was just begin ning and the roads were flooded. Immediately, like a young eagle, Zacharias saw his prey. With great joy and fervor of spirit he promised to help Elder Basilisk, giving his word to obtain a passport for him, and he immediately set out on his way.

The more difficulties he encountered on the road and in various bureaus, the more he rejoiced, wishing thus to prove his warm love for his Elder. Obtaining the desired passport for Father Basilisk, he returned to him joyous in spirit, but physically exhausted. Having shattered his health, he fell so ill that he could barely move, for due to floods, the roads had been in such a bad condition that they were unfit for vehicles, and he therefore travelled most of the way on foot. It is not difficult to understand why Zacharias, who was very young and had received a tender upbringing, who was unused to the damp weather and to the pedestrian mode of travel, returned to his Elder quite ill and remained so for some time, until the prayers of the holy man restored him to his former health. It is then that the Elder Basilisk, touched by such love and realizing that the youth had been ready to sacrifice his life for his Elder's peace of mind, promised to let Zacharias live with him. However, being wise and experienced in spiritual matters, he advised the youth to begin his monastic life in some coenobitic monastery in order to learn patience and acquire humility by performing monastic obediences in the company of many brothers; otherwise, he said, it would not only be futile, but very dangerous and perhaps harmful to begin a life of silence.

"Test yourself for at least a short time in the common life, O child of God, and then return to me," said the Elder. "I myself, who from my very youth have dedicated myself to the service of God, spent at first many years in monasteries performing various obediences. Later, although living in seclusion, I remained obedient to Father Adrian.

Only after this did the Lord grant me the much-desired life of silence." Then he frankly described to him how much one suffers in the desert solitude from hideous demonic temptations and visions. He also told of the great labors and sorrows of both body and soul, adding that at times one experiences boredom, despondency and fear, and at other times receives comfort and protection from the Lord, "Therefore," continued the Elder, "one should not undertake these labors of desert life without having first passed through the obediences of coenobitism." In this manner reassuring, comforting

and instructing the youthful warrior of Christ, Father Basilisk sent him to a holy regiment which was then under the direction of a leader whom they both loved for at that time— against his will, but out of obedience to Metropolitan Gabriel and according to the desire of all the brothers, Father Adrian had assumed leadership of the Konevits Monastery. Thus, the meek and obedient Zacharias set out for Konevits. Although he wept and was very sad upon parting with his beloved desert dweller and peaceful desert, he comforted and reassured himself with the hope that his Elder had promised in the future to let him live with him for good.

Run, then, O good youth! Run, warrior of Christ, to join and to wholeheartedly serve in the good regiment! Then, adorned with the laurel of obedience and a crown of patience, be bold, and with God's help dare to undertake the lofty task of a life of desert silence; for indeed many writings of the holy Fathers, as well as the vast experience accumulated from ancient times to this very day testify to the fact that one cannot hope to be skilled in solitary spiritual combat if he has not first learned to combat the enemy in the ranks of a regiment of Christ's warriors. In order to acquire true humility in Christ, one must first bear the humiliation of Christ, one must be the least amongst his brothers and a servant to them, in order to be a true disciple of Jesus. Only by washing the feet of every man can one be vouchsafed to taste with Christ the sweet supper of silence, and, if possible, to lay his head upon the breast of the Most Beloved -- that is, attain to Divine vision and contemplation.

news-nftu.blogspot.com

2011-07-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

Website Review

This is a news blog which tracks the progress of ecumenism in the Orthodox world and the pseudo-orthodox world.

The owner is in the Milan Synod. He describes his NFTU thus:

NFTU (Notes From the Underground) is a volunteer online news reporting service which, since 2004, has dealt with news and information about True (Traditional) Orthodox jurisdictions throughout the world as well as reporting on Ecumenism, the most prevalent and dangerous condemned heresy of the 20th century.

If this were all that it is about, then there would be no problem. But the owner has a not-so-hidden-anymore agenda. He believes that all the what-he-calls "True" Churches should unite, and/or that they are united "in spirit" already. The problem is that he puts ROCA [and ROCA's sister churches] into that same melting pot of the "True" Churches in which he includes his Milan synod also. This is a form of ecumenism in itself - a jurisdictional ecumenism - the result of which is that ROCA appears to be equal with all the schismatic groups and fragments and even with the off-the-map Milan synod. Just as lumping Orthodoxy in with heterodoxy destroys orthodoxy, so does lumping the Royal Path in with the super-correct destroy the Royal Path.

The truth is that ROCA has nothing to do with the Milan synod and is not any kind of fragment; but instead ROCA is the sole valid continuation of the Rocor after the RocorMP union. This is becoming more and more apparent to many as time goes on.

We at Remnant Rocor blog advise against getting involved with NFTU because of some bad experiences we have had. One of our team members, Minas, used to report for NFTU, and had some very unpleasant experiences dealing with the owner of NFTU. Seven months after Minas resigned he found that he was still listed as a reporter on the NFTU website and asked to have his name removed. A week later the request had to be repeated and it was a fight where there should have been no problem. With most Christians there would have been no problem.

read more here:
http://www.meta.orthodoxwiki.org/OrthodoxWiki_talk:Administrators

Akathist Composed by Fr. Seraphim Rose

2011-07-01T09:55:00.000-07:00

for his spiritual father

St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco

June 19, 1966 o.s.

[July 2 by the new calendar which St. John ignored]

Kontakion I

Chosen wonderworker and superb servant of Christ, who pourest out in the latter times inexhaustible streams of inspiration and multitude of miracles. We praise Thee with love and call out to Thee:
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Ikos I

An angel in the flesh wast Thou manifested in the latter times by the grace of God Who ever careth for men. Seeing the beauty of Thy virtues, we Thy children now cry out to Thee:

Rejoice, Thou who didst live in virtue from earliest childhood.
Rejoice, Thou who didst ever live in fear of God and do His holy will.
Rejoice, Thou who didst manifest the grace of God in numberless virtues.
Rejoice, Thou who didst mystically hear the distant prayers of those in distress.
Rejoice, Thou who wast filled with love for Thy fellow men and didst do all possible for their salvation.
Rejoice, Thou who dost bring joy to all who pray to Thee in faith and love.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 2

Seeing the abundance and variety of Thy virtues. O holy Hierarch, we see in Thee a living source of God's wonders in our time. Thou dost refresh with Thy love and miracles all who cry in faith to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 2

Being filled with love. Thou wast also filled with theology. O holy Father. And in Thee the knowledge of God flowed forth again in love for suffering men. Do Thou teach us also to know the true God in love as we call out to Thee in admiration:

Rejoice, firm stronghold of Orthodox truth.
Rejoice, precious vessel of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Rejoice, righteous accuser of impiety and false doctrine.
Rejoice, ardent doer of the commandments of God.
Rejoice, severe ascetic who gavest thyself no repose.
Rejoice, loving shepherd of the flock of Christ.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 3

By God's mercy Thou wast manifest as a father to orphans and instructor of the young, raising them in the fear of God and preparing them for the service of God. Therefore all Thy children look to Thee with love and cry out with gratitude to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 3

Dwellers in heaven should be praising Thee and not we on earth, for our words are feeble beside Thy deeds. Yet offering to God what we have we cry out to Thee thus:

Rejoice, Thou who didst protect Thy children by Thy constant prayer.
Rejoice, Thou who didst ever guard Thy flock by the sign of the Cross.
Rejoice, Thou whose love knew no bounds of country or race.
Rejoice, bright luminary beloved by all.
Rejoice, model of spiritual meekness.
Rejoice, giver of spiritual consolation to those in need.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 4

Bewildered by Thy deeds of piety and love, we know not how to praise Thee worthily, O Hierarch John. Thou didst travel to the ends of the earth to save Thy people and preach the gospel to those in darkness. Thanking God for Thine apostolic labors, we cry out to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 4

The people of many lands beheld Thy life and marveled at God's mercies even in these latter times. And so we also, marveling, cry out in awe:

Rejoice, enlightener of those in the darkness of unbelief.
Rejoice, Thou who didst follow Thy people to the farthest East and West.
Rejoice, fountain of miracles poured out by God.
Rejoice, loving chastiser of those who have gone astray.
Rejoice, speedy comfort to those who repent of their sins.
Rejoice, support of those who go on the right path.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 5

Thou wast manifest as a vehicle of God’s power to stop the destructive forces of fallen nature, O holy Hierarch, preserving Thy people on the island from the deadly wind and storm by Thy prayer and the sign of the Cross. So preserve us also who cry out in wonder unto God: Alleluia.

Ikos 5

All who have trusted in Thy help in desperate circumstances and adversities have found deliverance, O bold intercessor before the Throne of God. Therefore, we too do place our hope in Thee to protect us in dangers by Thy prayers before God as we call out to Thee:

Rejoice, Thou who didst stop the powers of nature from doing harm to Thy flock.
Rejoice, Thou who providest by Thy prayer for all in need.
Rejoice, inexhaustible bread for the hungry.
Rejoice, abundant wealth for those who live in poverty.
Rejoice, consolation for those in sorrow.
Rejoice, quick uplifting for those Who have fallen.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 6

Thou wast manifest as a new Moses, leading his flock out of slavery, O Hierarch John. Do deliver us also from slavery to sins and the enemies of God as we cry out to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 6

Thou didst do the impossible and persuade the authorities of this world to have pity on Thy flock, O good shepherd. Do pray for us now that we may live in peace and quiet, saving our souls as we gratefully cry to Thee:

Rejoice, helper of all who call upon Thee in faith.
Rejoice, Thou who deliverest from death and disaster.
Rejoice, Thou who preservest from lies and slander.
Rejoice, preserver of the innocent from bonds.
Rejoice, Thou who foilest the attacks of the unrighteous.
Rejoice, destroyer of lies and exalter of truth.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 7

O lover of the saints of East and West, Thou didst restore to the Orthodox Church the saints of the West, of lands which had fallen away from the truth. Now with these saints Thou dost pray for us to God as we on earth cry out to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 7

O fervent venerator of the holy Hierarchs of Gaul, Thou wast manifest in the latter times as one of them, exhorting Thy flock to preserve the same Orthodox faith that they confessed, and astonishing the peoples of the West by Thy holy life. Now preserve us in that same faith as we cry out to Thee:

Rejoice, new Martin by Thy miracles and ascetic feats.
Rejoice, new Germanus by Thy confession of the Orthodox faith.
Rejoice, new Hilary by Thy divine theology.
Rejoice, new Gregory by Thy love for God's saints.
Rejoice, new Faustus by Thy gentle love and monastic fervor.
Rejoice, new Caesarius by Thy firm yet loving rule of the Church of God.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 8

At the end of Thy life, O holy Hierarch, Thou wast called to the New World, to offer there Thy witness of ancient Christianity and to suffer persecution for Thy righteousness, thus perfecting Thy soul for heaven. Now marveling at Thy patience and long-suffering, we all cry out to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 8

O laborer of Christ's vineyard who knew no rest even at the end of Thy much-toiling life, help us now in our labors as we strive to be faithful to Christ, crying out in praise to Thee:

Rejoice, Thou who didst endure to the end and so attain salvation.
Rejoice, Thou who wast deemed worthy to die before the icon of the Mother of God.
Rejoice, Thou who didst keep Thy faith and courage in the midst of unjust persecution.
Rejoice, Thou who didst labor to the end for Thy flock and meet death sitting as a hierarch.
Rejoice, Thou Who didst return through the air to be buried amidst the flock.
Rejoice, Thou who workest Wonders for those who come to Thy Sepulchre with faith and love.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 9

All angel-kind rejoiced at Thy soul's ascent to their celestial home marveling at the wonders Thou didst perform on earth through the action of the Holy Spirit, to whom we sing: Alleluia.

Ikos 9

Orators find it impossible to describe Thy life of sanctity with their many and eloquent words, O righteous John, for Thou didst become a living house for the power of the ineffable God. Yet, unable to fall silent at the wonder shown to our age of feeble faith, we glorify Thee:

Rejoice, divine palace where from the counsel of the Good King is given.
Rejoice, small and humble abode containing the spacious beauty of angels’ mansions.
Rejoice, Thou who didst gain a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Rejoice, infirmary wherein all manner of diseases are divinely healed.
Rejoice closet wherein Thy holy labor of prayer was hidden.
Rejoice, blessed temple of the Holy Spirit.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 10

Wishing to save the world, the Saviour of all hath sent a new saint among us and through him hath called us out of the dark recesses of sin. Hearing this call to repentance, the unworthy ones in turn cry out to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 10

Thou art a wall sheltering us from adversity, O Hierarch John, for through Thy heavenly intercessions we are delivered from the attacks of demonic passions and from afflictions which beset us on earth. Before Thy firm support of prayer, we cry with faith:

Rejoice, sight to the blinded.
Rejoice, strength and life to those on the bed of death.
Rejoice, God-revealed advice to those in doubt and confusion.
Rejoice, refreshing water to those perishing in the heat of sorrow.
Rejoice, loving father to the lonely and abandoned.
Rejoice, holy teacher of those who seek the Truth.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 11

Thy life was a hymn to the Most Holy Trinity, surpassing others in thought, word and deed, O most blessed John. For with much wisdom Thou didst explain the precepts of the true Faith, reaching us to sing with faith, hope and love to the one God in Trinity: Alleluia.

Ikos 11

We see Thee as a radiant lamp of Orthodoxy amidst the darkness of ignorance, O God-chosen pastor of Christ's flock, our Father John. For even after Thy repose Thou dost speak the truth to the ignorant and give instruction to those who seek guidance and to all who cry to Thee:

Rejoice, radiance of divine wisdom to those in ignorance.
Rejoice, rainbow of quiet joys for the meek.
Rejoice, thunder to stubborn sinners.
Rejoice, lightning of the zeal of God. Rejoice, rain of God's dogmas.
Rejoice, shower of theological thoughts.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 12

Grace hath been poured out in the last days upon us all. Beholding this grace come forth from a holy hierarch who once did walk among us, let us receive it with reverence and thanksgiving, crying to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 12

Singing in praise to God, the heavenly choir of saints rejoiceth that He hath not forsaken the fallen and unbelieving world, but hath manifested His almighty power in Thee, his meek and humble servant. O blessed John, with all the saints we greet Thee and give honor to Thee:

Rejoice, new star of righteousness shining in heaven's firmament.
Rejoice, new prophet who wast sent before the final unleashing of evil.
Rejoice, new Jonah warning all of the wages of sin.
Rejoice, new Baptist drawing all to a life of prayer and repentance.
Rejoice, new Paul suffering to preach the gospel in the spirit of truth.
Rejoice, new apostle whose miracles instill in us faith and awe.
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Kontakion 13

O holy and most wondrous Hierarch John, consolation for all the sorrowing, accept now our prayerful offering that through Thy prayers to our Lord we may be spared gehenna and by Thy God-pleasing intercession we may cry eternally: Alleluia. [Read this Kontakion thrice].

Ikos 1

An angel in the flesh wast Thou manifested in the latter times by the grace of God Who ever careth for men. Seeing the beauty of Thy virtues, we Thy children now cry out to Thee:

Kontakion 1

Chosen wonderworker and superb servant of Christ, who pourest out in the latter times inexhaustible streams of inspiration and a multitude of miracles. We praise Thee with love, and call out to Thee:
Rejoice, O holy Hierarch John, wonderworker of the latter times.

Prayer to St John of San Francisco

O beloved Hierarch John, while living amongst us thou didst see the future as if present, distant things as if near the hearts and minds of men as if they were thine own. We know that in this thou wast illumined by God, with Whom thou wast ever in the mystical communion of prayer, and with Whom thou now abidest eternally. As thou once didst hear the mental petitions of thy far-scattered flock even before they could speak to thee, so now hear our prayers and bring them before the Lord. Thou hast gone over unto the life unaging, unto the other world, yet thou art in truth not far from us, for heaven is closer to us than our own souls. Show us who feel frightened and alone the same compassion that thou didst once show to the trembling fatherless ones. Give to us who have fallen into sin, confusion and despair the same stern yet loving instruction that thou didst once give to thy chosen flock. In thee we see the living likeness of our Maker, the living spirit of the Gospel and the foundation of our Faith. In the pure life that thou hast led during our sinful times, we see a model of virtue, a source of instruction and inspiration. Beholding the grace bestowed upon thee, we know that God hath not abandoned His people. It is rather we that have fallen from Him, and so must regain the likeness of Divinity as thou hast done. Through thine intercession, O blessed one, grant that we may increase our striving toward our heavenly homeland, setting our affections on things above, laboring in prayer and virtue, waging war against the attacks of our fallen nature. Invoke the mercy of God, that we may one day join thee in His Kingdom. For our deepest wish is to live forever with Him, with the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Uncreated Light, St. John Reading the Gospel, Tunis 1952

The Self-Liquidation of Christianity

2011-06-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

from The Orthodox Word #9

July/August 1966

ORTHODOXY AND MODERN THOUGHT

THE SELF-LIQUIDATION OF CHRISTIANITY

The" Death of God" as a Sign of the Times

The striking phrase, "God is dead," is the poetical expression of modern unbelief. Much is expressed in this phrase that is not to be found in the more prosaic expressions of modern atheism and agnosticism. A vivid contrast is established between a previous age when men believed in God and based their life and institutions upon Him, and a new age for whose inhabitants, supposedly, this once all-illuminating sun has been blotted out, and life and society must be given a new orientation.

The phrase, itself apparently coined by Nietzsche almost a century ago, was for long used to express the views of a comparatively few enemies of Christianity, chiefly "existentialists"; but recently it has caused controversy by being accepted in radical Protestant circles, and now it has become a concern of common journalism and the mass media. Clearly a responsive chord has been struck in Western society at large; the public interest in the "death of God" has made this phenomenon one of the signs of the times.

To understand what this sign means, one must know its historical context. By its very nature it is a negation - a reaction against the other-worldly Christian world view which emphasizes asceticism and the "unseen warfare" against the devil and the world in order to obtain eternal joy through communion with God in the Kingdom of Heaven. The founders of the new philosophy declared the Christian God "dead" and proclaimed man a god in His place. This view is merely the latest stage of the modern battle against Christianity which has resulted today in the virtually universal triumph of unbelief.

The contemporary controversy, however, centers about a new and unusual phenomenon: it is now "Christians" who are the unbelievers. Yet in a sense this too is the logical culmination of an historical process that began in the West with the schism of the Church of Rome. Separated for over nine centuries from the Church of Christ, Western Christendom has possessed only a steadily-evaporating residue of the genuine Christianity preserved by Holy Orthodoxy. Today the process is nearly complete, and large numbers of Catholics and Protestants are hardly to be distinguished from unbelievers; and if they still call themselves "Christians," it can only be because for them Christianity itself has been turned into its opposite: worldly unbelief. One may observe in this what one Orthodox thinker has called "the self-liquidation of Christianity": Christianity undermined from within by its own representatives who demand that it conform itself entirely to the world.

A strange parallel to this new "theology" has become common of late in the "liturgical" life of the West. Widespread publicity was given earlier this year to a "rock-and-roll" service in the Old South Church in Boston, in which teenagers were allowed to dance in the aisles of the church to the accompaniment of raucous popular music. In Catholic churches "jazz masses" become more and more frequent. The ostensible intention of those responsible for these phenomena is the same as that of the new radical "theologians": to make religion more "real" to contemporary men. They thereby admit what is obvious to Orthodox observers: that religious life is largely dead in Western Christendom; but they unwittingly reveal even more: unable to distinguish between church and dancehall, between Christ and the world, they reveal that God is dead in their own hearts and only worldly excitement is capable of evoking a response in themselves and their "post-Christian" flocks.

To what does all this, finally, point? Our Lord, when prophesying of the advent of Antichrist, spoke of the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place St.Matt.24:15; and St. Paul speaks of the very enemy of God sitting in God's temple and being worshipped in place of God IIThes.2:4 -- and this will occur, according to St. John Chrysostom, "in every church." Does not this "Christian atheism," do not these blasphemous "worship services," does not the acceptance of even the most unseemly and vulgar manifestations in what men still consider holy places, already prepare the way for this end and give one even a foretaste of it?

For Western Christendom God is indeed dead, and its leaders only prepare for the advent of the enemy of God, Antichrist. But Orthodox Christians know the living God and dwell within the saving enclosure of His True Church. It is here, in faithful and fervent following of the unchanging Orthodox path -- and not in the dazzling "ecumenical" union with the new infidels that is pursued by Orthodox modernists - that our salvation is to be found.

Eugene Rose.

∞ ‡ ∞

In this article above, Eugene [Fr. Seraphim] was applying the things he was learning from his trusted Church father, Archbishop Averky. If you read Archbishop Averky's article [linked below], you will see what I mean. Archbishop Averky, in his writing, refers to yet an earlier Church father, Metropolitan Anthony, and his article titled, "How does Orthodoxy differ from the Western Denominations?" or, it could be worded: How does Orthodoxy differ from heterodoxy?

This understanding is important. Because, if you understand how Orthodoxy differs from heterodoxy, then you understand how Royal Path Orthodoxy differs from World orthodoxy. And you understand ecumenism. World orthodoxy is headed towards heterodoxy, and has already become heterodox to some degree.

http://archbishopaverky.blogspot.com/2011/06/should-church-be-in-step-with-times.html

The difference between Orthodoxy and heterodoxy boils down to this: Orthodoxy labors for the heavenly church, heterodoxy labors for an earthly church. The heterodox might give lip-service to the heavenly Church, but in action they care for numbers in membership and political correctness.

Why does this blog list Lazar Puhalo as a "Not Safe Author"?

2011-06-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

When he was a deacon he was defrocked [not "deposed"] by Rocor in 1980 as a heretic. He has never repented, he's only gotten worse.

The following internet research on Puhalo was done by a Remnant Rocor team member:

∞ ∞ ∞

Exposé against Puhalo:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ITyUGYxTwA

This video is denouncing him for his condoning gay marriage, not really a complete expose as Puhalo has a lot of skeletons in his closet.

Here's some info from the Orthodox wiki about his defrockment by ROCOR.

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Lazar_%28Puhalo%29_of_Ottawa

I do remember reading something about him years ago saying Lazar Puhalo isn't really his birth name but he had changed it to that so as to appear to be Serbian. I found this on OrthodoxChristianity.net about his name change " The guy's real name is Ron Haler IIRC"

http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=11020.0

This from a post on The Byzantine Forum ...

http://www.byzcath.org/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/216830/1

Re: Check out the OCL conference [Re: Alice]

Slavipodvizhnik

Member

Registered: 07/23/05

Posts: 2298

Loc: The Third Rome

I am willing to be more blunt (surprise!).

"Archbishop" Lazar Puhalo, aka defrocked Deacon Lev Puhalo, aka Ron Haler, is a well known "actor" in Orthodox circles. He was defrocked as a deacon and laicized by the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia for teaching and propogating the heresy of "soul sleep", despite numerous appeals and warnings to cease and desist. He immediatey made the rounds of various "schismatic" Orthodox Churches, amongst them being the "Free Serbian Orthodox Church", The "Kieven Patriarchate" and the "Milan Synod", all without canonical release from the ROCOR, and ordained priest and consecrated bihop uncanonically, being defrocked and laicized and under "epitemia". He has been in more jurisdictions than Marie Presley has had husbands! The man could make jumping jurisdictions an Olympic event! For some reason that I have never seen explained, the OCA decided to accept him as a "retired" bishop, but forbidden to post on the internet and isolated in a remote monastery in Canada. Unfortunately, "Archbishop" Lazar mantains a busy speaking schedule, much to the dismay of the OCA hierarchy, who are otherwise occupied currently, and is much sought after as a speaker by those who support a, for lack of a better word, "Protestant" role model for the Orthodox Church. Amongst the revisionist policies that he has put forth include things like a married episcopate and attacks on monasticism, with Elder Ephraim of the GOA and Hieromonk Seraphim Rose of Blessed memory being particular targets of his tirades, in which he accuses them of being cults, while at the same time surrounds himself with his followers like a guru. He is a syncretist who endorses dualism and this is what he means by his introduction of "the force" in his star wars movies, traits quite inimicable to Orthodoxy. Refer to: http://www.next-wave.org/may99/starwars.htm

Among some of his looniness' are the following:

Archbishop Lazar believes the USA & WTO want to annex Canada and they are engaging in a conspiracy to pressure Canadians into legislation which will bring it about.

http://friendsoffreedom.org/article.php?sid=80

NATO is the front for a New World Order and is run by America with the express intent of creating Slave States!!

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a376572db6551.htm

Even the "Milan Synod" which elevated him to the Episcopacy now regrets their involvement with him:

Statement

September 2000

THE HOLY ORTHODOX METROPOLIA OF MILAN & AQUILEIA

WESTERN EUROPE & AMERICA

Concerning Incorrect Information Posted on the Internet

About the New Ostrog Monastery In Canada

Belonging to the Jurisdiction of Archbishop Lazar

We were very astonished about the way the history of this very small church is presented. We suppose that the archives of the New Ostrog Monastery are very inaccurate about historical information. Since Archbishop Lazar and Bishop Varlaam were consecrated by our Metropolia we are able to provide the public with better information.

First: Archbishop Lazar was consecrated by the will and initiative of our Primate, Metropolitan Evloghios, who proposed Vladyka Lazar as a candidate to the Holy Synod of our Metropolitan Church which received complete autonomy in 1984 from the head of the Old Calendar Church of Greece, Archbishop Auxentios.

In 1989, Metropolitan Gabriel, the first primate of our Metropolia, abandoned our jurisdiction and was received as bishop, together with his other vicar bishops, into the Orthodox Church of Poland.

In 1990, Archbishop Evloghios of Milan was elected as second primate and proposed the consecration of then Archimandrite Lazar to the remaining Synod after the departure of the Portuguese bishops. The Synod of our Metropolia accepted this proposal of the new Primate Evloghios and Father Lazar was consecrated bishop by him, assisted by Archbishop Gregorio of Turin and Bishop Vigile of France.

For this reason it is completely wrong when our brethren of New Ostrog Monastery publish on the internet that Archbishop Lazar was ordained under Patriarch Volodymir of Kiev after the Autonomous Metropolia of Western Europe and Canada entered into the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev. This assertion by New Ostrog Monastery is absolutely false because the holy Patriarch Volodymir of Kiev was not even a bishop at the time of Abp. Lazars consecration, but only an archimandrite. It was only afterwards that Archimandrite Volodymir became vicar bishop and in 1992 Archbishop of Lviv.

The information on the internet from New Ostrog Monastery reads: In 1994, at the decision of Patriarch Volodymir, Vladyka Lazar was elevated to archbishop and Father Varlaam was consecrated bishop of Vancouver. We are very scandalized because of these false statements.

In 1989 the head of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in America, Metropolitan Mstyslav (who later became the first Patriarch of the Ukrainian Church) recognized our Autonomous Metropolitan Church as equal to us and granted us spiritual communion. Only in 1994 did we enter in canonical communion with Kiev, but even then as completely independent and autonomous, according to the conditions of our original tomos of autonomy from Archbishop Auxentios of Greece. Because the holy Patriarch Volodymir was a very correct prelate, he respected our Church and our autonomy. For this reason he neverwe emphasize, neverinterfered in the internal questions of our Church, as, for example, the consecration of bishops. He never dared to decide any consecration of bishops for our Church. For this reason the text of the New Ostrog Monastery is an invention and not a fraternal sign of gratitude for our Primate, Metropolitan Evloghios, who has always shown great respect and brotherly love for Vladyka Lazar. To hide this reality is not a correct way of behaving. We still have in our archives the written agreements of our bishops concerning the intention of Metropolitan Evloghios to elevate Bishop Lazar to Archbishop and ordain Father Varlaam as bishop.

In 1997 we decided to retire our communion with the deposed Patriarch Filaret for two reasons: first, Michael Filaret Denisenko never respected our Church and its autonomy--his intentions were to destroy our autonomy; second, the deposition, anathematisation and excommunication of Michael Filaret Denisenko by the Patriarchate of Moscow was accepted by the other Orthodox Churches and created so many internal problems for us that we decided to retire our intercommunion by synodal decision.

Archbishop Lazar subsequently, and without consulting his Primate, Metropolitan Evloghios (who had always been a great benefactor to him and to whom he owes all his ecclesiastical dignity) abandoned our autonomous Church to follow a deposed and discredited patriarch. Despite this we still hope that one day Archbishop Lazar will repent, understanding his great lack of gratitude, and return so that there will be a great feast as the Gospel tells of the prodigal son.

Issued by:

The Autonomous Metropolia of Milan and Aquileia

Western Europe and America

In the month of September, 2000

Need I go on?

Now as far as the OCL, the Orthodox Christian Laity, know that they are neither Orthodox, nor Christian in their thoughts or deeds. They have one goal, destruction of the Orthodox Church as we know it and replaced by Neo Protestantism init's worst form, with their hand picked representatives running it. They have sued and attempted to sue the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, and were directly responsible for removing the Greek Orthodox Archbishop from power, because he was, (hard to believe!) Greek!

What did they expect him to be, Puerto Rican? Stay far away from these people! Have nothing to do with them!

Now this brings me to my real point, and it is something that many will not like. There is a tendency amongst American inquirers about Orthodoxy and even American Orthodox to assume that the theological works and opinions available to them represent Orthodox thinking in it's entirety. Alas, if this were only the case! Much of what is available in the English language tends to be of the Far Left Wing School of thought. Popular "theologions" such as Frs Schmemmann, Lossky, Meyendorff, etc represent a certain school of thought amongst the Orthodox. Unfortunately, as their writing are the only ones readily available in the English language, many here in this country assume that they represent Orthodoxy in it's entirety. They do not! It is a big problem that is making itself known today by some of the inherent problems of such theology being made manifest. More mainstream theologions such as Pomozhansky, Papademetriou, St Ignati Brianchaninov, St. Nektarios of Aegina, St. Nikolai Velimirovic and others are seldom if ever available in English. As an example, at many seminaries in Russia, Fr Schmemmanns books are not to be found, as they do not represent mainstream Orthodox thought. There have even been cases where his books were burnt! That is not the norm, but it has happened. While not condoning such draconian measures, the Church in Russia has enough problems without introducing American pseudo Orthodox fantasies.

A comparison might be if the only available Catholic theologions in English was Hans Kung or Alfred Loisy, one might come away with a concept of Catholic theology that was flawed. Well the same thing holds true amongst the Orthodox. So please be aware that what you read, might not neccesarily be wrong, but it might not be totally right either.

Alexandr

He had also taken in Christ of the Hills Monastery for a while after they left ROCOR.

http://pokrov.org/display.asp?ds=Person&id=734

And this from an anonymous who knows him:

Archbishop Lazar claims he was deposed (he doesn’t use the word defrocked) for leaving ROCOR without a canonical release. In his own words: “I asked [a ROCOR bishop] for a canonical release. He informed me that ROCOR was not in communion with any other Orthodox Churches. The Serbian Patriarchal parishes, he said, were riddled with Free Masonry and they did not recognize the New Gracanica Serbs or the South Bound Brook Ukrainians. So I left anyway.”

[For a canonical release to be granted, the one requesting the

release must be planning to move to a recognized jurisdiction.

Rocor never recognized the jurisdictions where Puhalo was planning to go.

It is untrue, of course that Rocor does not recognize ANY other jurisdiction.]

His last statement is very telling: “I left anyway.” He definitely charts his own course.

Although claiming he is a Serb “through and through,” he was born Ron Haler in TX. He says he was adopted at birth by his mother’s third husband, F. Haler, who was 17 at the time. It’s hard to compute how his mother could have been married 3 times before marrying a 17 year-old boy who was not his biological father, but this is what he claims.

Archbishop Lazar later marries and has a son, Ron Jr. When Ron Jr. loses his mother at the tender age of 6, he leaves him with relatives, changes his name to Lev Puhalo, declares he is a monastic, and moves into a monastery (a one room hut) with another man.

From there, he becomes a deacon in ROCOR. He disobeys ROCOR with his teachings and later leaves, (he says) because of sexual harassment issues, joining the schismatic Free Serbs without a canonical release. The Free Serbs make him a priest. He leaves the Free Serbs for the Portuguese Milan Synod. The Milan Synod make him a bishop. Against their protests, he migrates to the Kyiv Patriarchate whom he also leaves to transition into the OCA as an Archbishop, presumably to retire, which he hasn’t. – I know him, too. He is not what he appears to be.

Dear Folks,

this is not the worst. But it is all I dare put in print. I don't know if he denies being gay, but some who knew him when he was associating with monk Herman Podmoshensky back in the early 80's say that he is gay. We suspect he has several internet identities... This is already more than enough. Steer clear of this one-man horror show who seems to have the ability to hypnotize people. If you have the good fortune to come to love the Orthodoxy that Fr. Seraphim loves, then you will find Puhalo repulsive.

-Joanna

Archimandrite Kiprian's first encounter with Archbishop John (Maximovich)

2011-05-29T22:56:00.000-07:00

“VON” – “VON”

In 1954 my father bought a 14 acre plot of land to be near the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, and from the age of seven I served as Archbishop Averky’s staff-holder, standing next to him on the amvon as he gave his wonderful sermons. On Fridays, after finishing my farm chores, I would fetch a ride, walk, or ride my bicycle 6 miles to the monastery, spending my weekends amongst the monks until I entered its seminary in 1966. Father Kiprian (Pizhew) took me under his wing to work in the icon-painting workshop. He was my personal mentor as well as благочиный (Abbot) of the monastery. Many of my remembrances revolve around Father Kiprian.

While working with Fr. Kiprian on the restoration of the soot-blackened frescos of the Jordanville cathedral in the early 1960’s, I recall how Fr. Kiprian sat down to rest – dangling his feet off the scaffolding boards. He asked me to sit down next to him, and pointing to the amvon below said:

“It is exactly from this perch that I laid eyes on Archbishop John for the first time. I had been working, painting these original frescos (I believe this was around 1949 or 1950) while the interior of the church was still under construction. The floor of the church had been laid in as well as the elevated floor of the altar, but the four steps from the floor level to the altar level had not yet been installed, and one could see the support beams under the altar floor.

"In walked Archbishop John. He venerated the icon of the Holy Trinity that was temporarily placed on a makeshift analoy in the middle of the church and then started to look around. I rinsed off my brush and was about to descend the scaffolds to get his blessing when I saw him abruptly turn around and quickly leave the church. “Oh, well’, I thought, and resumed my work. A short time later I saw Vladika enter the church, brandishing an exceptionally long pole, a branch some 10 or 15 feet in length with a tuft of green leaves at the front end. His quick steps down the middle of the church towards the altar reminded me of Don Quixote charging the windmill! He stooped over and started to jab at various parts of the dark space underneath the altar floor. I could not make out his exact words, but in an elevated and demanding tone I heard him say “VON” – “VON” –which means “OUT” – “OUT”! My first thoughts were that a rabbit or some other animal had crawled under the future altar, but then I realized that this could not be – because even in his half voice I could still make out that he was invoking the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Without any hesitation Vladika then swung the long branch around toward the church’s exit, and in the same brisk manner quickly proceeded out the door. At this very moment a novice (or perhaps it was a seminary student) walked into the doorway, and with a bewildered look, quickly stepped to the side to allow the ‘jousting bishop’ to exit. Vladika John stopped, handed him the pole, and said: “Quickly go, cut up this pole and burn it. Do it right now!”

“Я перекрестился” (I made the sign of the cross) –continued Father Kiprian,” realizing that Vladika John had most likely seen demons trying to set up their ‘nest’ underneath the newly constructed altar.”

http://www.rocor-trenton.com/The%20Bishop's%20Corner/4.16.2010_EN.htm

http://www.desertwisdom.org/

2011-05-25T21:21:00.000-07:00

Website Review

Beware. The clues that this website is world orthodox are found in their links. If you see a link to "Ancient Faith Radio" then be certain that it is a world orthodox website.

But the Zines are here. If they are uncensored, then that is good. Go ahead and read the Zines. But do not trust this website. I have copies of the original Zines, and I need somebody to volunteer to check these website publications against the originals. Email me to get started on this project. I will send you photocopies [jpg] of the originals.

joannahigginbotham@gmail.com

The Love of Truth

2011-05-08T10:46:00.001-07:00

A letter from Fr. Seraphim, when he was an university student, answering his parents' concern why he is abandoning his academic career.

by Eugene Rose

June 1961

Dear Parents,

A hot day -- too much like summer for San Francisco. I finally finished the thesis and turned it in last Friday, but they don't get around to sending out the degrees until September, for some reason. For the time being I'm still involved in Chinese things, as I'm helping my former Chinese professor [Prof. G. Ming Shen] translate an article [from Chinese] on Chinese philosophy for a philosophical journal. The hypocrisy of the academic world is nowhere more evident than in his case. He knows more about Chinese philosophy than probably anyone else in the country, and studied with real Chinese philosophers and sages in China; but he can't get a job in any college here because he doesn't have degrees from American colleges, and because he isn't a fast talker - he's too honest, in short.

It's true that I chose the academic life in the first place, because God gave me a mind to serve Him with, and the academic world is where the mind is supposed to be used. But after eight or nine years I know well enough what goes on in the universities. The mind is respected only by a few of the "old fashioned" professors, who will soon have died out. For the rest, it's a matter of making money; getting a secure place in life -- and using the mind as a kind of toy, doing clever tricks with it and getting paid for it, like circus clowns. The love of truth has vanished from people today; those who have minds have to prostitute their talents to get along. I find this difficult to do, because I have too great a love of truth, The academic world for me is just another job; but I am not going to make myself a slave to it. I am not serving God in the academic world; I am just making a living. If I am going to serve God in this world, and so keep from making my life a total failure, I will have to do it outside the academic world. I have some money saved up, and the promise of some more by doing a little work, so I should be able to live frugally for a year doing what my conscience tells me I should do -- to write a book on the spiritual condition of man today, about which, by God's grace, I have some knowledge. The book* will probably not sell, because people would rather forget about the things I am going to say; they would rather make money than worship God.

It is true that this is a mixed up generation. The only thing wrong with me is that I am NOT mixed up, I know only too well what the duty of man is: to worship God and His Son and to prepare for the life of the world to come, NOT to make ourselves happy and comfortable in this world by exploiting our fellow man and forgetting about God and His Kingdom.

If Christ were to walk in this world today, do you know what would happen to Him? He would be placed in a mental institution and given psycho-therapy, just as would the saints. The world would crucify Him today just as it did 2000 years ago, for the world has not learned a thing, except more devious forms of hypocrisy. And what would happen, if, in one of my classes at the university, I would one day tell my students that all the learning of this world is of no importance beside the duty of worshipping God, accepting the truth -- but men hate the truth, and that is why they would gladly crucify Christ again if he came amidst them.

I am a Christian, and I am going to try to be an honest Christian. Christ told s to give all our money away and follow Him. I am very far from doing this. But I am going to try to take no more money than I need to live on; if I can earn this by working a year or two at a time in a university, all right. But the rest of my time I am going to try to serve God with the talents He has given me. This year I have the chance to do this, so I shall do it. My professor, being a Russian [the love of God seems to be more deeply imbedded in the Russians than in other peoples] has not tried to talk me out of leaving the academic world for a year; he knows too well that the love of truth, the love of God, is infinitely more important than the love of security, of money, of fame.

I can only follow my conscience; I cannot be false to myself.

Love,

Eugene

*As we know, the book, The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Man, was started but never completed.

...And Fr. Seraphim never did return to the academic world.

Understanding the Lenten Prayer

2011-04-12T15:04:00.000-07:00

Sermon by Father Macarius

First Saturday of Great Lent

Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit

March 26, 2011

Holy Trinity Church in Astoria, NY

†

In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

[...] We’ve just finished the first week of Lent and it’s a time of increased spiritual awareness and, of course, the fast restriction in certain foods and so forth. But it should be one where prayer and introspection is paramount.

Of all the lenten hymns and prayers, one short prayer could be termed the Lenten Prayer. It is traditional, and probably one of the great teachers of spiritual life is Saint Ephraim the Syrian. Here is the text:

“O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, faint heartedness, and lust for power and idle talk.

But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to Thy servant.

Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own errors and not to judge my brother; for Thou art blessed unto the ages of ages. Amen.”

This prayer is read twice at the end of each Lenten service Monday through Friday, not on Saturdays and Sundays because on these days on Sundays we celebrate the Resurrection and Saturdays the Sabbath and the fast is restricted. At first reading of this, a prostration follows each petition and at the end we bow also 12 times and say, “O God, cleanse me a sinner.” And the entire prayer is repeated with one final prostration at the end.

And why does this short prayer occupy such an important position in the entire Lenten worship? Because it enumerates, in a unique way, all the negative and positive elements of repentance and constitutes, so to say, a checklist for the individual Lenten effort. This effort is aimed first at our liberation from such fundamental spiritual diseases which shape our life and make it virtually impossible for us to even to start turning ourselves to God. Getting back to the word prostration, in the Greek, metania, means to change one’s mind. So by passing from an erect position to one bowing you are changing your mind also with your body. The basic disease of speaking of sloth which is a strange combination of laziness and passivity and our entire being which always pushes us down rather than up which constantly convinces us no change is possible, and therefore desirable. It is a fact that deeply-rooted cynicism which to every spiritual challenge responds, “What for?” and makes our lives difficult at its very source. The result of sloth is faint-heartedness – this is a state of despondency which all spiritual fathers consider the greatest danger for the soul. Despondency is the impossibility for man to see anything good or positive. It is a reduction of everything to negativism and pessimism. It is truly a demonic power in us because the devil is fundamentally a liar. He lies to man about God and about the world. He fills life with darkness and negation. Despondency is a suicide of the soul because when man is possessed by it, he is unable to see the light or desire it. Also it matches his lust for power. Strange as it may seem, it is precisely sloth and despondency that fill our life with lust for power by vitiating the entire attitude to our life and making it meaningless and empty, they force us to seek compensation and a radically wrong attitude towards other persons. If my life is not oriented to God nor aimed at eternal values, it will inevitably become selfish, self-centered and this means that all things become means of my own self-satisfaction. If God is not the Lord and Master of my life, then I become my own lord and master, the absolute center of my own world and I begin to evaluate everything in terms of my needs, my ideas, my desires and my judgment. The lust for power is thus a fundamental depravity in my relationship to other beings, a search for their subordination to me. It does not necessarily express the actual urge to co-manage others and may result as well in indifference, contempt, lack of interest and respect. It is indeed sloth and despondency directed this time at others that it completes spiritual suicide with spiritual murder.

Finally idle talk - of all created beings, man alone has been endowed with the gift of speech. All the Fathers see it as the very seal of the divine image in man because God himself has revealed his Word as in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. But being the supreme gift, it is by the same token the supreme danger being the very expression of man. The means of his fulfillment is for this very reason the means of his fall and self-destruction of a trail of sins - the word saves and the word kills, the word inspires and the word poisons, the Word is the means of Truth and is the means of demonic lie. Having ultimate positive power is, therefore, tremendous negative power. It creates negatively when it deviates from its divine origin and purpose. The word becomes idle and forces sloth and despondency, and lust for power, and transforms life into the very power of sin. These four are thus the negative objects of repentance; they are the obstacles to be removed but God alone can remove them.

Hence the first part of the Lenten prayer described from the bottom of human helplessness then the prayer moves to the positive aims of repentance which also are four. Chastity - if one does not reduce this term as often and as erroneously done only to sexual connotation, it is understood as the positive counterpart of sloth. Exact and full translations of the Greek sofrosini and the Russian tselomoodrie ought to be whole-mindedness. Sloth is the first of all dissipation, the brokenness of our vision and energy, the inability to see the whole its opposite then, is precisely wholeness. If we use to mean by chastity the virtue opposed to sexual depravities, it is because the broken character of our existence is nowhere better manifested than in sexual lust, the alienation of the body from the light that controls the spirit.

Christ restores wholeness in us and He does so by restoring to us the true scale of values by leading us back to God. The first and wonderful fruit of this wholeness or chastity is humility. We already spoke of it - it is above everything else the victory of truth in us, the elimination of all lies in which we usually live. Humility alone is capable of truth, of seeing and accepting things as they are and therefore seeing God’s majesty and goodness in love and everything. That’s why we are told that God gives grace to the humble and resists the proud.

Chastity and humility are naturally followed by patience. The natural or fallen man is impatient for being blind to himself, he is quick to judge and condemn others. Having but a broken, incomplete and distorted knowledge of everything, he measures all things by his tastes and ideas, being indifferent to everyone except himself, he wants life to be successful right here and now. Patience, however, is a truly divine virtue. God is patient not because he is indulgent, but because he sees the depth of all that exists and the inner reality of things which in our blindness we do not see, is open to Him. The closer we come to God, the more patient we grow and the more we reflect that infinite respect for all beings which is a proper quality of God.

Finally, the crown of all virtues, all of growth and effort is Love. That love, as we have already said, can be given by God alone - the gift which is the goal of all spiritual preparation and practice. All this is summarized and brought together to the concluding petition of the Lenten prayer in which we ask to see our own errors and not to judge my brother.

But, ultimately, there is but one danger – pride. Pride is the source of evil and all evil is pride. It is not enough for me to see my own errors, for even this apparent virtue can be turned into pride. Spiritual writings are full of warnings against the subtle forms of pseudo piety which, in reality, are the cover of humility and self-accusation and can lead to a truly demonic pride. When we see our own errors and do not judge our brothers, when in other terms chastity, humility, patience and love are but one in us, then and only then the ultimate enemy pride will be destroyed in us.

After each petition, we make a prostration. As I said, prostrations are not limited to the prayer of Saint Ephraim, but can consequently be the distinctive characteristic of the entire length of worship. Here, however, their meaning is disclosed best of all. In the long and difficult effort of spiritual recovery, the Church does not separate the soul from the body. The whole man has fallen away from God, the whole man is to be restored, the whole man is to return. The catastrophe of sin lies precisely in the victory of the flesh, the animal, the irrational, the lust in us, of the spiritual and the divine. But the body is glorious, the body is holy. So holy that God himself became flesh. Salvation and repentance then are not contempt for the body or neglect of it, but restoration of the body to its real function as an expression and light of spirit. As a temple, the price is the human soul. To be a Christian, in a sense, is a fight not against but for the body. For this reason the whole man, soul and body repents. The body participates in the prayer of the soul just as the soul prays through and in the body. Prostration is a sign of repentance and humility, of adoration and obedience are thus a lenten rite of par excellence. And in the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy a hymn reads: “Let us abstain from sin as we abstain from food.” Amen.

The Orthodox Way of Life and the Modern World

2011-04-06T14:51:00.000-07:00

In former centuries – for example, in 19th century Russia – an Orthodox worldview was part of the Orthodox way of life and was supported by the surrounding environment. There was no need even to speak of it as of something separate – everyone lived in an Orthodox manner in accordance with the surrounding Orthodox society. In many countries the governments themselves confessed Orthodoxy; it was the center of social reality, and historically the Tsar or the ruler was the principal Orthodox layman, whose responsibility it was to provide an example of Christian life to his subjects. There were Orthodox churches in each city, and in many of them services were held daily, morning and evening. There were monasteries in all the major cities, in many smaller ones, outside the cities, in the villages, in remote and uninhabited places. In Russia there were over a thousand officially registered monasteries, not counting other monastic communities. Monasticism was a universally acknowledged part of life. In truth, in most families someone – a sister or a brother, an uncle, a grandfather, a relative, – was a monk or nun, not to mention other representatives of Orthodox life – wanderers and fools-for-Christ. The entire way of life was permeated by Orthodoxy, the core of which was monasticism. Orthodox customs were part of everyday life. The majority of widely read books were Orthodox. For the majority of people daily life itself was burdensome; they had to work hard in order to subsist, hopes for longevity were not high, early death was not a rarity, – and all of this strengthened Christ’s teaching on the reality and nearness of the next world. Under these circumstances an Orthodox way of life was synonymous with having an Orthodox worldview, and there was little need to speak of it.

Now everything has changed. Our Orthodoxy is an island in a world that is living according to totally different principles, and each day these principles change for the worse, alienate us more and more. Many people become subjected to the temptation of dividing their life into two categories: daily life at work, with worldly friends, engaged in worldly affairs, and Orthodoxy, which we live on Sundays and holidays, or whenever we find time for it. But if we look more closely, the worldview of such a person represents an odd mixture of Christian and worldly values that in reality do not mix. The aim of this lecture is to show how people living today can begin to make their worldview more precious, to make it wholly Orthodox.

Orthodoxy is life. If we do not live in an Orthodox manner, we are simply not Orthodox, irrespective of whether we formally belong to this religion or not.

Life in our modern world has become quite artificial, quite vague, quite confused. Orthodoxy has its own life, but it is not too remote from the life of the surrounding world, so that the life of an Orthodox Christian, even when he is genuinely Orthodox, cannot but reflect it in one way or another. A certain vagueness and confusion have now penetrated even into Orthodox life. Let us try to look at our modern life, in order to see how we could best fulfill our Christian responsibilities, lead a life not of this world, even in these terrible times, and have an Orthodox view of contemporary life that will allow us to survive in these times and retain the integrity of our faith.

Life today has become abnormal

Anyone who looks at our modern life from the perspective of the normal life that people led in former times – for example, in Russia, or in America, or in any Western European country, – cannot but be amazed at how insane life has now become. All concept of authority and obedience, decency and politeness, behavior in society and in private life – all has changed abruptly, has become turned upside down, with the exception of several individual groups – usually Christians of one confession or another, who are trying to retain a so-called “old-fashioned” way of life.

Our abnormal life today may also be characterized as spoiled and capricious. From infancy every contemporary child is treated as a family idol: his whims are catered to, desires are satisfied, he is surrounded by toys, amusements, conveniences; he is not taught and brought up in accordance with the strict principles of Christian behavior, but allowed to develop in any direction in which his desires are inclined. It is usually enough for him to say “I want” or “I do not want,” for his parents to kowtow to him and allow him to do as he wishes. This does not happen in all families and all the time, of course, but it happens frequently enough to become the rule of modern childrearing, and even parents with the best of intentions cannot entirely escape this influence. Even if the parents themselves try to rear the child strictly, his neighbors or his teachers at school try to do something else. This should be taken into account when bringing up a child.

When such a person grows up, he will naturally surround himself with the same things to which he has become accustomed from childhood: conveniences, amusements, toys for adults. Such a life becomes a constant search for “fun,” and this word, by the way, was absolutely unheard of in any other dictionary; in 19th century Russia or in any other serious civilization people simply would not have understood what this word means. Current life is a continuous search for “fun,” which is so lacking in serious meaning that a visitor from any other 19th-century country, looking at our popular TV programs, amusement parks, advertising, movies, music, or almost any other aspect of our modern culture, – would think that he had arrived in a land of madmen who have lost all touch with daily reality. We often do not take this into account, since we live in this society and take it for granted.

Several recent social researchers into our contemporary life have called the youth of today – the “me” generation, and our times – “the age of narcissism,” characterized by self-veneration and self-adoration that interfere with the development of normal human life. Others speak of our “plastic” universe or of the world of fantasy in which such a huge number of people live today, unable to face the reality of the surrounding world, or to cope with it and with their internal problems.

When the “me” generation turns to religion, which often happens in this decade, this is manifested in a fantastic form of a religion of “self-development” (where the “I” remains the object of veneration), brainwashing and mind control, deified gurus or swamis, a search for UFOs and extraterrestrials, and abnormal spiritual states and experiences. We will not examine these manifestations, since they are probably well-known to most of us, but we will explore the way they impact upon the Orthodox Christian spiritual life of our times.

It is very important for us to realize, as we try to lead a Christian life today, that the world created by our capricious times is presenting demands upon our soul – be it in religion or in worldly life – that are actually totalitarian. This can easily be seen in the soul-warping cults that have become so widespread in recent years and which demand submission to a self-proclaimed “saint”; but it is just as obvious in our worldly life, when a person does not only encounter an individual temptation here or there, but is subjected to a continuous state of temptation, be it in the form of the background music that is heard everywhere – in shops and in offices, or in the form of rock music, which reaches even into forest paths and nature camps, or at home, where television often becomes our covert manager, dictating modern values, opinions, tastes. If you have small children, you know how true this is; if they have seen something on TV, it is extremely difficult to later fight against this new opinion, which had been presented by television as an authoritative one.

The import of this all-encompassing temptation which lures people today (quite openly in its lay form and usually more covertly in religious forms) is as follows: live only for today, enjoy yourself, relax, feel great. Behind this reasoning one can hear another, more menacing overtone, which sounds openly only in officially atheist countries, which in this regard are a step ahead of the free world. In truth, we must realize that what is happening to the world today is the same everywhere – be it behind the Iron Curtain or in the free world. There are various versions of it, but the attacks that are aimed at conquering our souls are very similar. In Communist countries, which officially espouse the doctrine of atheism, it is said quite openly: forget God and any other kind of life except the present one, dismiss from your soul all fear of God and veneration of sacred objects, look upon all those who still believe in God in the old-fashioned way as enemies that must be destroyed. As a symbol of our carefree, fun-seeking, and self-deceiving times we could use our American Disneyland, but we should not miss the more sinister symbol behind it, which shows in which direction the “me” generation is really moving: towards the Soviet Gulag, that chain of concentration camps which is already ruling the lives of almost half of the world’s population.

Two false approaches to spiritual life

But one may well ask: what does all this have to do with us who are trying to lead a sober Orthodox Christian life to the extent possible? A great deal! We should realize that the life around us, no matter how abnormal it may be, is the very place from which we begin our own Christian life. Whatever we make of our lives, however much we fill it with genuine Christian content, is still bears a certain imprint of the “me” generation, and we must be humble enough to acknowledge it. So let us begin from there.

There are two false approaches to the life around us that many people accept, thinking that that is the example of how Orthodox Christians should conduct themselves. One approach, the most widely-accepted, is simply to go along with the times: to adapt to rock music, contemporary fashions and tastes, and the entire rhythm of our modern life. Often the more old-fashioned parents have little to do with this life and live more or less their own separate lives, but they will smile as they watch their children follow all the latest crazes and think it quite harmless. Such a path is a complete disaster for Christian life; it is death for the soul. Some people many continue to outwardly lead a decent life without fighting against the spirit of the times, but inwardly they are dead or dying, and saddest of all is that their children will pay for it by various psychological and spiritual breakdowns and illnesses, which are spreading more and more. For example, one of the leaders of the cult of suicides who so effectively ended their existence in Jonestown (in 1976) was the young daughter of a Greek Orthodox priest. Although the majority of Orthodox youth do not go so far, they nevertheless merge with their surrounding anti-Christian world and cease being an example of even the least bit of Christianity for those around them.

That is unacceptable! A Christian should differ from the surrounding world, and this is one of the basic things he should assimilate as part of his Christian upbringing. Otherwise there is no sense in calling oneself Christian, especially Orthodox Christian.

The false approach at the other extreme is one that may be called false spirituality. As translations of Orthodox books on spiritual life become more and more accessible, and Orthodox terminology on spiritual warfare proliferates, an ever greater number of people talk of hesychasm (contemplative prayer), the Jesus prayer, ascetic life, sublime states of prayer, and of the most contemplative holy fathers, such as Saints Simeon the New Theologian, Gregory Palamas, or Gregory the Sinaite. It is good to know about this truly sublime side of Orthodox spiritual life and to venerate the great saints who actually led such a life; however, if we do not come to a very realistic and very humble realization of how far we all are from the life of the hesychasts and how little we are prepared to even come near it, our interest in it will only be yet another manifestation of our egocentric plastic world.

Nowadays there are very popular books on this subject. In fact, under Orthodox influence the Catholics themselves are actively engaged in these issues and are, in turn, influencing the Orthodox. For example, the Jesuit priest Father George Maloney writes books on these subjects and translates the works of Saints Macarius the Great and Simeon the New Theologian, and tries to encourage people to be hesychasts in their daily life. They practice all kinds of “retreats,” usually “charismatic” ones; the people are (supposedly) inspired by the Holy Spirit and try all forms of asceticism, of which we know from the holy fathers and which stand far above the level on which we find ourselves today. There is a certain woman, Catherine de Hueck Doherty (she was originally born in Russia and later became Roman Catholic), who writes books such as “Desert,” “Silence,” and about all the things she would like to introduce into life, in a manner as though she is advertising new candy. This, of course, totally lacks seriousness and bears the tragic sign of our times. Elevated concepts are being used by people who have no idea of what they are talking about. For some this has simply become a habit or a pastime; for others, who treat this seriously, it can turn into a tragedy. They think they are leading a sublime life, while in fact they have been unable to resolve their own inner problems.

Once again I would like to stress that we must avoid both these extremes – worldliness and superspirituality, but this does not mean that we should not have a realistic appreciation of the lawful demands that the world makes upon us, nor should we cease venerating the great fathers of hesychasm and using their wise instructions or applying ourselves to the Jesus prayer in accordance with our circumstances and possibilities. We should only be doing this at our current, more down-to-earth level. The fact is (and this is absolutely essential to our under standing of it as Orthodox Christians) that we must have a profound realization of the kind of times we are living in, how little we really know and feel our Orthodoxy, how far we are not only from the saints of antiquity, but even from the simple Orthodox Christians who lived a hundred years ago or even a generation ago, and how strongly we must strive just to survive today as Orthodox Christians.

What can we do?

More specifically, what can we do to gain this realization, this understanding of true Orthodoxy, and how can we make it bear fruit in our life? Let us attempt to provide an answer to this question in two parts: the first deals with the proper comprehension of our surrounding world, which has become, as never before in the history of Christianity, our conscious enemy, and the second – with our comprehension of Orthodoxy, which the majority of us know much less than we ought to, much less than we should know if we wish to preserve it.

First of all, since we are living in this world whether we want to or not (and its influence is strongly felt even in the remotest places and monasteries), we must look upon it and its temptations firmly and realistically, but not give in to it; in particular, we must prepare our young people for the temptations that will face them, and we must inoculate them against these temptations. Every day we must be prepared to respond to the influence of the world with the principles of a healthy Christian upbringing. This means that everything a child learns in school must be checked and corrected at home. We should never think that what the child learns in school is just useful or worldly and bears no relation to his Orthodox upbringing. He can be taught many useful trades and facts (although many of today’s schools are failing shamefully in that, too; teachers tell us that all that they are able to do is maintain some order in class, and that there is no question of doing any teaching), but even if the child acquires this knowledge, he is taught many wrong viewpoints and ideas. The child’s basic attitude towards and evaluation of literature, music, history, art, philosophy, science, and of course life and religion should not come from the school, because at school you will get all of this mixed in with modern philosophy; this should primarily come from the home and church, else he will receive a fallacious education in today’s world, where public education is at best agnostic in nature, and at worst – atheistic or antireligious. Parents should be precisely aware of what their children are being taught in various general education courses that are widespread in today’s schools, and correct it at home, not only being quite open on this issue (especially between fathers and sons, which is quite rare in society nowadays), but also highlighting its moral aspect, which is completely lacking in public education.

Parents should know what kind of music their children are listening to, what kind of films they are watching (listening or watching together with them if need be), what kind of language they are hearing and what kind of language they are using themselves, and evaluate all of this from a Christian viewpoint. There should be even stricter control over television, making sure to avoid the poisonous influence of this machine, which has become the primary teacher of antichristian values and ideas in one’s very home, especially among young people.

It is specifically in the upbringing of children that the world strikes at Orthodox Christians and rears the children according to its own pattern; as soon as the child develops an erroneous attitude, the task of his Christian upbringing becomes twice as difficult.

However, it is not only the children but likewise all of us who face the world that is trying to make us antichrist’s through the schools, television, movies, popular music, and all the other means that overwhelm us, especially in big cities. We must understand that everything that is dinned into us comes from a single source – it has a definite rhythm, a definite ideological content: it is the idea of self-adoration, relaxation, nonchalance, enjoyment, refusal to have the least thought of the other world. This idea is imposed upon us in various forms. It is essentially a training in godlessness. We must actively defend ourselves, knowing precisely what the world is trying to do to us, defending ourselves by means such as formulation and proclamation of our Orthodox Christian response to it. In all honesty, watching how Orthodox families live in today’s world and pass on their Orthodoxy, it may seem that this battle is more often lost than won. The number of Orthodox Christians who preserve their religious face intact and do not change with the modern world is very small indeed.

At the same time we should not regard our surrounding world to be all bad. Actually, in order to preserve ourselves as Orthodox Christians, we must be reasonable enough to use for our own purposes all that is positive in this world. Let us look at various points which we can use in the interests of our Orthodox worldview, although they have no direct relation to Orthodoxy.

A child who from a tender age has been exposed to good classical music, whose soul developed under its influence, does not fall prey to the temptations of the vulgar rhythm of rock and other forms of contemporary pseudo-music to the extent to which does a child who grew up without any musical education. According to some Optina elders, such a musical education purifies the heart and prepares it for the reception of spiritual impressions.

A child who is accustomed to good literature, drama, and poetry, and who has felt their influence upon his soul, i.e. who has received genuine pleasure from it, will not so easily became a fan of modern television and cheap novels, which desiccate the soul and lead it away from the Christian path.

A child who has learned to see the beauty of classical art and sculpture will not be easily ensnared by the distortion of modern art and will not be attracted by the tasteless products of modern advertising and by pornography.

A child who knows something of world history, especially of Christian times, of how people lived and thought, of what errors and snares they fell into by abandoning God and His commandments, and of the glorious life they led when they remained faithful to Him, will be able to judge more wisely about the life and philosophy of our times and will not blindly follow the very first school of philosophy or way of life he encounters. One of the problems facing education in today’s schools is that children are no longer inculcated with a sense of history. This means that the child is deprived of the possibility of taking an example from the people who had lived in the past. Meanwhile, history essentially repeats itself. When you realize this, you want to know how people resolved their problems, what happened to those who rebelled against God and to those who changed their life, presenting a vivid example that has endured until our times. It is very important to have a sense of history, and it should be cultivated in children.

In general, a person who is well-acquainted with the best fruits of world culture – which in the West almost always had a definite religious and Christian context, – acquires many more opportunities to lead the normal fruitful life of an Orthodox Christian than someone who converted to Orthodoxy while being acquainted only with contemporary popular culture. The one who converted to Orthodoxy straight from “rock” and, in general, anyone who thinks he can combine Orthodoxy with popular culture will have to go through much suffering before he can become a truly serious Orthodox Christian who is able to pass on his faith to others. Without suffering, without this realization, Orthodox parents will bring up children who will be devoured by the modern world. The best of world culture, properly assimilated, purifies and develops the soul; today’s popular culture mars and deforms souls and prevents them from reacting appropriately to the call of Orthodoxy.

Therefore, in our battle against the spirit of the world, we may use the best that the world has to offer, in order to go beyond this best; everything that is best in the world, if only we have enough wisdom to see it, points towards God and Orthodoxy, and it is up to us to make use of it.

An Orthodox worldview

By adopting such a position – seeing all the good that is in the world, as well as the bad, – we will be able to acquire an Orthodox worldview, i.e. we will live with an Orthodox viewpoint on life entire and not only on strictly church issues. There exists an erroneous opinion which, unfortunately, has currently become too widespread, that it is enough to possess an Orthodoxy limited to the church building and to “normal” Orthodox activities, such as praying at set times or crossing oneself; as for the rest, according to this opinion, one can live like all the others, participating in the life and culture of our times without any problem, as long as we do not sin.

Everyone who has understood how profound Orthodoxy is and how profound are the responsibilities of a serious Orthodox Christian, and has also realized what kind of responsibilities, even totalitarian demands, are being placed upon us by the modern world, easily sees how mistaken is such an opinion. Either you are Orthodox at any time of any day in any situation of life, or you are not Orthodox at all. Our Orthodoxy is revealed not only in our strictly religious views, but in everything we do and say. The majority of us do not even realize the Orthodox responsibility that we bear for the worldly side of our life. On the other hand, a person with a genuine Orthodox worldview lives all the facets of his life in an Orthodox manner.

Let us, therefore, ask at this point: how can we, in our everyday life, nourish and maintain an Orthodox worldview?

The first and most obvious way is to be in continuous contact with the source of Christian nourishment, with everything the Church gives us for our enlightenment and salvation: the church services and the holy Sacraments, the Holy Scriptures, the lives of the saints, the writings of the Holy Fathers. One should naturally read the books that are on one’s level of understanding, and to adapt the teaching of the Church to one’s own life situations and circumstances, so that they would be fruitful, directing and changing us in a Christian manner.

But often these basic Christian sources do not have the requisite effect on us or have no effect whatsoever, because we do not take up the correct Christian position toward them and toward the Christian life which they should inspire. Let us try to understand what our position should be, if we wish to get true benefit from them, and if they are to become for us the beginning of a genuine Orthodox worldview.

First of all, Christian spiritual nourishment is essentially inspirational and beneficial; if our attitude towards it is purely theoretical and bookish in nature, then we will not receive from it the benefits which it is able to provide. Therefore, if we read Orthodox books or are interested in Orthodoxy solely in order to obtain information or boast of our knowledge before others, we do not see their essence; if we study God’s commandments and the law of His Church only in order to behave “correctly” and to judge the “incorrectness” of others, we do not see their essence. They must not only influence our ideas, but must also bear directly upon our life and change it. In the time of any great crisis in human affairs, those who depend upon a superficial knowledge of laws, canons, and rules, cannot endure. Only those will be strong, whom an Orthodox education has given the sense of true Christianity, whose Orthodoxy lies in the heart and is capable of touching other hearts.

There is nothing more tragic than to see a person who has grown up Orthodox, who knows the catechism, who has read the lives of the saints, who has an understanding of the basic goals of Orthodoxy, who is proficient in some of the services, – and at the same time has no realization of what is going on around him. And he presents this life to his children in two categories: one – how the majority lives, and the second – how the Orthodox live in Sundays. When a child is brought up in such a manner, he will most probably not choose Orthodoxy; it will become a very small part of his life, because modern life is tempting, too many people are involved in it, it replaces reality, – if a person has not been taught how to defend himself from its harmful influence and how to take advantage of all the good that still remains in the world.

In this sense our position should be acceptable and normal, i.e. it should be applied to real-life circumstances and not be a fruit of some fantasy, evasion of life, or refusal to face the unpleasant manifestations of the surrounding world. A hothouse Orthodoxy that is too elevated and up in the clouds is incapable of helping people in their everyday life, since our world is rather cruel and wounds souls with its harshness; above all we must respond with sober Christian love and understanding, leaving isychasm and the higher forms of prayer to those who are capable of attaining them.

Our position should likewise not be egocentric, but should turn towards those who are seeking God and a spiritual life. Currently, in every existing Christian community there is a temptation to turn it into a mutual admiration society, lauding our virtues and spiritual achievements, the beauty of our church buildings and vessels, the splendor of our services, even the purity of our teaching. But, beginning with apostolic times, genuine Christian life was always geared towards sharing it with others. Orthodoxy is a living entity precisely because it shines for others and has no need of establishing any “missionary centers.”

At the same time, our attitude towards people must be an attitude of love and forgiveness. A certain cruelty has now seeped into Orthodox life: “That one is a heretic, do not be in contact with him,” “This one is possibly Orthodox, but there’s no saying with any degree of certainty,” etc. No one will deny that the Church is now surrounded by enemies, and that there are some who are not loath to abuse our trust. But so it was even in apostolic times, and in this practical respect Christian life was always risky. But even if we are sometimes made use of and should be cautious, we still cannot reject our basic position of love and trust, for without it we will lose the foundation of our Christian life. The world without Christ is distrustful and cold, but we Christians, on the contrary, should be loving and open, otherwise we will lose the salt of Christ within ourselves and will become like the rest of the world, fit only to be thrown out and stamped upon.

Regarding ourselves with more humility will help us be more magnanimous and forgiving of others’ mistakes. We love to be judgmental of others for the “strangeness” of their behavior, we call them “touched,” but which Orthodox Christian today is not a little bit “touched”? We are not in accord with the customs of this world, and if we are in accord with today’s world, then we are no longer genuine Christians. A genuine Christian cannot feel himself at home in the world and cannot but appear a bit “touched” to others. Therefore, let us not be afraid of being regarded by the world as “touched,” and let us continue to preserve Christian love and forgiveness, which the world will never be able to understand, but of which it has great need at heart.

Finally, our Christian position should be – for want of a better word – innocent. The world nowadays attaches great importance to complexity, to life experience, to “professionalism.” Orthodoxy assigns no value whatsoever to these traits; they kill off a Christian soul. Nevertheless, these traits consistently penetrate into the Church and into our life. How often can one hear, especially from enraptured converts, of their desire to go off to large centers of Orthodoxy, to cathedrals and monasteries, where thousands of faithful gather together, where the conversation always deals with church topics, and where one can feel the importance of Orthodoxy. This Orthodoxy is just a drop in the bucket if one looks at society as a whole, but there are so many people in these grand cathedrals and monasteries, that Orthodoxy does seem to prevail. And how often one sees these people in a sad state after having satisfied their desire, returning from these “great centers of Orthodoxy” dispirited and disappointed, having had to listen to much worldly church gossip, full of judgment of others, and concerned only with being “Orthodoxically-correct” and worldly-experienced in the subject of church politics. In other words, they have lost their innocence, their not-of-this-worldliness, they have been thrown off course because of their enchantment with the worldly side of church life.

In various forms this temptation stands before us all, and we must fight against it, not allowing ourselves a re-evaluation of Church externals, but always returning to the “one thing needful,” which is Christ and the salvation of our souls. We must not close our eyes to all that is going on in the world and in the Church, but we must know it simply for our own sake, with our knowledge being sober, simple, and straightforward, not complicated and worldly.

Conclusion

It is clear to any Orthodox Christian who realizes what is happening around him that the world is gradually coming to its end. The signs of the times are so obvious that one could even say that the world is collapsing.

What are these signs?

(1) The abnormality of the world. Never have such bizarre and unnatural manifestations and behavior been accepted as something absolutely natural as in our days. Just look at the surrounding world: what the newspapers are writing, what films are being shown, what is running on television, what people find interesting and amusing, what they laugh at, – it is just terrible. And there are people who expressly promote all of this, for their own profit of course, and because it is fashionable, and because there is a perverted desire for such things.

(2) War and rumors of war, one crueler and more horrifying than the other, and all of them overshadowed by the threat of an unthinkable nuclear war that can be unleashed by pressing a button.

(3) Widespread natural disasters: earthquakes, tsunamis, the appearance of new volcanoes, – which are also changing the character of the world’s weather.

(4) A growing centralization of information and control over individuals, represented, for example, by the gigantic new computer that has been established in Luxemburg, which is capable of maintaining a file on each person living on earth; its code number is 666, and those who work with it have nicknamed it “The Beast.”

(5) The proliferation of false Christs. In 1982 one such candidate spent millions of dollars advertising on world television his imminent appearance and promising to issue a “telepathic message” at that time to all the inhabitants of the earth. Besides all the occult powers that could be involved in such an event, we already know of the possibility of transmitting subconscious signals over radio and especially over television, as well as the fact that any person possessing technical capabilities is quite able to break into normal radio and TV signals, despite all the laws that exist against such actions.

(6) The ominous appearance of new films such as “E.T.,” which everyone in America talks about and watches, and which made literally millions of outwardly normal people express their loyalty and love to the hero, “a savior from space,” who is obviously a demon, – and this clearly represents a preparation for worshipping the coming Antichrist. (And, by the way, it should be noted that one of the editors of the official newspaper of the Greek Archbishopric in America, an Orthodox priest, wholeheartedly recommended this film to the Orthodox faithful, saying that it is a wonderful film that can teach us all about love, and that everyone should see it.)

Many more such examples could be given. It is truly later than we think. The apocalypse is already in action. And how sad it is to see Christians, and especially young people, the Orthodox youth, over whose head hangs this unbearable tragedy, who think that in these terrible times they can continue living what is called “a normal life,” i.e. fully participating in the caprices of this insane, self-deluding generation. A generation that has no suspicion whatsoever that this “fool’s paradise” in which we are living is headed for collapse; a generation that is totally unprepared for the desperate times that await us. It is no longer a question of being a “good” or a “poor” Orthodox Christian, but a question of whether our faith will remain at all. Many will not preserve it; the coming Antichrist will be too attractive, too much in accord with the spirit of the times, that worldly spirit to which we are aspiring, and the majority of people will not even understand that in venerating him they will have lost their Christianity.

But Christ’s appeal is still directed towards us; let us begin to heed it, let us become true members of the Church of Christ, of the Orthodox Church. Outward membership is not enough; there must occur within us a shift that will make us different from the external world, even if this world calls itself Christian. Let us preserve and nourish these qualities of a true Orthodox worldview, of which we have spoken above: a lively normal attitude towards others, loving and forgiving, not egocentric, preserving our innocence and not-of-this-worldliness even while we fully and humbly realize our sinfulness and the power of the worldly temptations that surround us. If we truly proceed to live with such an Orthodox worldview, our faith will withstand the blows that await us, and will serve as a source of inspiration and salvation to all those who will still be looking for Christ amid the already beginning downfall of humanity.

Father Seraphim Rose †

http://www.holy-transfiguration.org/library_en/mod_orthodox.html

Eusebius: Church History

2011-04-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

Book Review

The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine

translated by G.A. Williamson

Penguin Books

Baltimore, 1965 429 pp.

In Western Christendom the history of the Church has become, in recent centuries, very largely the province of rationalist critics. To read the earliest Church history, that of Eusebius, an Orthodox bishop and friend of the Emperor Constantine, is to return to the refreshing stream of genuine Church history -- the history of God's communion with men.

Here we have not the preposterous inventions and elaborate rationalist philosophy devised by sophisticated critics anxious to prove that God does not speak to men, that there are no miracles and no saints; but rather something of infinitely higher value: the careful compilation of a trustworthy recorder and witness who knows the meaning of the acts he records because he possesses the true faith in the very God Who performs these acts. The history of the Church can only be written and can only be understood by those whose history it is: Orthodox Christians.

The History of the Church is a book that was written and is intended to be read with piety and reverence. The Orthodox Christian reading this history cannot but be impressed with the awareness that it is his own history, the history of the Orthodox Christian people. He can suffer with them, weep with them, rejoice with them,praise God together with His saints and righteous ones. It is a book for the faithful, for those who are not ashamed to weep [and yet rejoice] with the martyrs, to make the sign of the Cross with reverence when reading of one of God's miracles or outpourings of grace.

After the New Testament itself, there is no better place to begin the study of the early Church than this book. The chief events of early Christian history are described in detail, often in the words of the actors themselves or eyewitnesses, whose testimony is where possible reproduced at length. The chief bishops and writers of the age are carefully listed and their books enumerated. The principal heresies are described and condemned. Of everything interpretation is made in accordance with the God-inspired judgement of the Church; everywhere are clearly discerned the primary elements of Christian history invariably overlooked by secular historians: the action of the Holy Spirit and the working of Divine Providence.

One can only welcome the appearance in an inexpensive edition of this classic of Church history. The translation, by and English scholar, is eminently readable, and his unobtrusive notes are generally helpful.

Eugene Rose

The Orthodox Word, May 1965

Christians You Must Know Christ!

2011-04-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

Readings Selected by Fr. Seraphim Rose

[Without fail this famous letter raises the question of can the heterodox be saved. But the point of this sermon is that we are supposed to see the Orthodox Church as the only Ark of Salvation. If the reader has ears to hear, he will receive Vladyka Ignaty's loving correction of prideful thinking and call to humility. As to the question about the heterodox, their salvation is God's judgment. We are supposed to see the heterodox as potential Orthodox, adjust our hearts accordingly, and leave the judging to God who loves them infinitely more than we can imagine. -jh]

Christians You Must Know Christ!

By Bishop Ignaty Brianchaninov

from The Orthodox Word, issue no. 2 March 1965

One of the great Church fathers of the 19th century, Bishop Ignaty played the very important role of spokesman for uncompromising Orthodox Christianity to the Russian Intelligensia, who had departed so far from Christian truth as to be incapable of distinguishing it from error and heresy. The following letter* offers a refreshing antidote to some of the confusions of the apologists for a diluted Christianity -- in our own day as well as in his.

*[No. 28 of the "Letters to Laymen" in Vol. 4 of the complete Works of Bp. Ignaty, 2nd ed., St. Petersburg 1886; the title here was added by the translators.]

Here is a spectacle worthy of bitter lamentation: Christians who do not know in what Christianity consists! Yet one encounters this spectacle almost everywhere one looks today; rarely, in the great multitude of those who call themselves Christians, can one find anyone who is a Christian both in name and in deed.

I will answer the question you have raised point by point, in as few words as possible. "Why," you write, "cannot pagans, Moslems, and so-called heretics be saved? There are excellent people among them. To condemn these good people would be contrary to the Divine mercy! ...Indeed, it is even contrary to sound human reason. --Heretics, after all, are Christians just the same. To consider oneself saved and the members of other faiths damned, is both foolish and extremely proud!"

Christians! You reason about salvation, yet you do not know what salvation is, why men are in need of it, and finally, you do not know Christ, the only means of our salvation. Here is the true teaching on this subject, the teaching of the Holy Ecumenical Church.

Salvation consists in the recovery of communion with God. This communion was lost by the whole human race when our ancestors fell into sin. The whole human race belongs too category of doomed creatures. Damnation is the lot of all people, whether virtuous or evil-doers. We are conceived in iniquity and born in sin. “I will go down to my son mourning to hell” (Gen. 37:35), said the holy patriarch Jacob of himself and his holy son Joseph the chaste and fair. It is not only sinners who descended into hell at the end of their earthly pilgrimage, but the righteous men of the Old Testament as well. Such is the power of the good works of men; such is the worth of the virtues of our fallen nature!

In order to restore man’s communion with God, in other words, for salvation, redemption was necessary. The redemption of the human race was accomplished not be an angel, not by an archangel, not by some other of the higher but still limited and created beings, --it was accomplished by the infinite God Himself. Execution was the lot of the human race, commuted by His execution; the insufficiency of human merit was compensated by His endless worth. All feeble works of men, which lead to hell, are compensated by a single powerful good work: faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews asked the Lord: “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?” And the Lord answered them: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him Whom He hath sent” (St. John 6:29). One good work is necessary to us for salvation: faith; but faith is work!, By faith, and by faith alone, may we enter into communion with God, with the aid of the sacraments which He has granted us.

You are quite wrong, then, if you think and say that good people among pagans and Moslems are saved, that is enter into communion with God! You are quite wrong if you look upon the opposite view as some kind of novelty, as some kind of error that has crept in! No! Such has been the constant teaching of the true Church of the 0ld Testament as well as of the New. The Church has always acknowledged but one means to salvation: the Redeemer. She acknowledges that the greatest virtues of fallen nature lead to hell. If the righteous men of the true Church, the lamps from which the Holy Spirit has shown, prophets and wonder-workers who believed in the coming Redeemer but died before His coming, --if they descended to hell, how can you think that pagans and Moslems who have neither acknowledged nor believed in the Redeemer, but just because they seem good to you, have attained the salvation that is attainable by one means and one means alone, faith in the Redeemer?

Christians! You must know Christ! You must realize that you do not know Him, that you deny Him if you acknowledge salvation possible without Him for any kind of good works. He who acknowledges salvation to be possible without Christ denies Christ and, perhaps without knowing it, falls into the grave sin of blasphemy. "We reckon therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law," says the holy Apostle Paul (Rom. 3:28). "The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:22-24). You reply: "The holy Apostle James without any question asks for good works; he teaches that faith without works is dead." But consider just what it is that the holy Apostle James asks for.

You will see that he, like all the Divinely-inspired writers of the Holy Scriptures, asks for works of faith, and not the good works of our fallen nature. He asks for living faith, confirmed by the works of the new man, and not the good works of fallen nature, which are repulsive to faith. He cites the conduct of the patriarch Abraham--a work in which the faith of that righteous man was revealed. This work consisted in offering as a sacrifice to God his only-begotten son. To slay one's son for sacrifice is not by any means a good work according to human nature; it is, rather, a good work insofar as it fulfills a Divine command--it is a work of faith. Look into the New Testament and into the Holy Scriptures in general, and you find that they ask for the fulfillment of God's commands, that this fulfillment is called works, that from this fulfillment of God's commands, faith in God becomes living, being active; without it, faith is dead, being deprived of any activity. And on the contrary you will find that the good works of fallen nature, whether from feelings, from blood, from impulse, or from a tender sentiment of heart--are forbidden and rejected ! and these are the same good works that please you in pagans and Moslems: for these, even if they involve the denial of Christ, you want to give them salvation!

Your conception of sound reason is a strange one. How, by what right, do you find and recognize this in yourself? If you are a Christian, you should have a Christian understanding of this subject, and not some other arbitrary opinion taken from nowhere. The Gospel teaches us that by the fall we acquired a falsifying reason; that the reason of our fallen nature, no matter what its innate worth, no matter how well sharpened by worldly learning, retains the worth transmitted to it by the fall and remains a falsifying reason. We must reject it and commit ourselves to the guidance of faith; under such guidance, in due time, through much effort in piety, God will give to His true slave a reason of truth, or spiritual reason. This reason we can and must acknowledge as a sound reason; it is an informed faith, as the Apostle Paul excellently described it in the 11th chapter of his epistle to the Hebrews. The foundation of spiritual reasoning is God. Being founded on this hard rock, it does not waver nor fall. What you call sound reason, we Christians take to be a reason so infirm, so darkened and so far gone astray, that there can be no healing for it except by cutting it off, with the sword of faith, and renouncing all the learning that has gone into its formation. If we take it for a sound reason, basing ourselves on a foundation that is uncertain, tottering, indefinite, constantly changing--then it, being sound, will renounce Christ, too. This is proved by experience.

And what, may I ask, does your sound reason say to you? --That the condemnation of good people who do not believe in Christ is repulsive to it! And not only that; such a condemnation of virtuous people is contrary to the mercy of such an all-good Being as God.

To be sure, you had a revelation from above on this subject, concerning what is contrary and what is not contrary to Divine mercy? --No, it was sound reason that pointed it out. Ah, your sound reason! Still, where in your sound reason dud you find out that it is possible to understand, with your own limited human mind, what is contrary and what is not contrary to the Divine mercy? Permit us to speak our mind.

The Gospel -- that is, the teaching of Christ, that is, the Holy Scriptures, that is, the Holy Ecumenical Church – has revealed to us all that man may know of the Divine mercy, which surpasses every kind of reasoning and all human apprehension, and is inaccessible to these. Vain is the trifling of the human mind when it seeks to define the indefinable God, when it seeks to explain the inexplicable, to submit to its own calculations.., whom?... God! Such an undertaking is a satanic one.

Oh, these people who call themselves Christians and do not know the teaching of Christ! If from this blessed, heavenly teaching you people have not learned the incomprehensibility of God, -- then go to school and listen to what the children are taught! The teachers of mathematics explain,in the theory of the infinite, that it is an indefinite quantity, is not subject to the laws to which definite quantities, numbers are subject, that when you calculate with it you may get a result completely at variance with that arrived at through calculating with numbers. And you wish to define the laws by which the Divine mercy acts; you say, this is in accord with it, that is against it! It is in accord or not in accord with your sound reason, with your understanding and feelings!

Does it follow from this that God is obliged to understand and feel as you understand and feel? Yet this is what you are demanding of God! What a foolish and prideful undertaking. Do not accuse the Church's judgement of a lack of common sense and humility--it is your own lack. She, the holy Church, merely follows unswervingly the Divine teaching on the acts of God, revealed by God Himself. Her true children follow her obediently, scorning the puffed-reason that rises up against God, We believe that we can know about God only what God deigns to reveal to us. If there had been a different path to the knowledge of God, a path which our mind could have cleared for itself with its own powers, revelation would not have been given us. It was given because it was necessary for us. Vain and deceitful, then, are the personal opinions and wanderings of the human mind.

You say, "heretics are Christians just the same." Where did you take that from? Perhaps someone or other, calling himself a Christian while knowing nothing of Christ, may in his extreme ignorance decide to acknowledge himself as the same kind of Christian as heretics, and fail to distinguish the holy Christian faith from those offspring of the cursed, blasphemous heresies. Quite otherwise, however do true Christians reason about this. A whole multitude of saints has received a martyr's crown, has preferred the most cruel and prolonged tortures, prison, exile, rather than agree to take part with heretics in their blasphemous teaching.

The Ecumenical Church has always recognized heresy as a mortal sin; she has always recognized that the man infected with the terrible malady of heresy is spiritually dead, a stranger to grace and salvation, in communion with the devil and the devil's damnation. Heresy is a sin of the mind; it is more a diabolic than a human sin. It is the devil's offspring, his invention; it is an impiety that is near to idol-worship.

Every heresy contains in itself blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, whether against the dogma of against the action of the Holy Spirit. The essence of every heresy is blasphemy. St. Flavian, Patriarch of Constantinople, who sealed with blood his confession of the true faith, pronounced the decision of a local council held in Constantipole on the heresiarch Eutyches in the following words:

Eutyches, until now priest and archimandrite, is entirely convinced, both by his past actions and by his present statements on the errors of Valentine and Apollinarius, whose blasphemy he obstinately follows, all the more so as he did not even listen to our advice and instructions directed to his reception of sound teaching. And therefore, weeping and sighing over his complete damnation, we proclaim before the face of our Lord Jesus Christ that he has fallen into blasphemy, that he is deprived of every priestly rank, of communion with us, and of the direction of his monastery, and we give it to be known to all that from henceforth whoever shall converse with him shall himself incur excommunication.

This decree is a sample of the common mind of the Ecumenical Church concerning heretics;this decree was acknowledged by the whole Church, being ratified by the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. The heresy of Eutyches consisted in his failure to confess in Christ in His Incarnation two natures, as the Church confesses, he admitted only one Divine nature.

You will say: is that all! One may see a mentality similar to your own in the reply of a certain person invested with worldly power to St. Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria, concerning tha Arian heresy; it is a reply ludicrous in its way of true knowledge and woeful in its nature and consequences. This person advised the Patriarch to preserve peace and not to start any quarrels, which are so contrary to the Christian spirit, just because of a few words; he wrote that he found nothing reprehensible in the teaching of Arius, -- a certain difference in the turns of phrases, -- that is all!

These turns of phrases, as the historian Flerius notes, in which there is nothing reprehensible, reject the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ -- that is all! They overthrow, that is to say, the whole Christian faith -- that is all! It is remarkable that all the ancient heresies, behind various changing masks, strove toward a single aim: they rejected the Divinity of the Word and mutilated the dogma of the Incarnation. The more modern heresies above all strive to reject the action of the Holy Spirit: with terrible blasphemies they have rejected the Divine Liturgy, all the sacraments. everything, everything in which the Ecumenical Church has always acknowledged the action of the Holy Spirit. They call this human ordinances -- even bolder: superstition, error! To be sure in heresy you see neither robbery nor theft; perhaps it is only because of this that you do not consider it a sin? Here they reject the Son of God, there they reject and blaspheme the Holy Spirit -- that is all! A man who has received and upholds a blasphemous teaching and utters blasphemy, but does not thieve, does not steal, and even does the good works of fallen nature -- he is an excellent man! How can God refuse him salvation!... The whole reason for this final perplexity of yours, as well as for all the rest, is a profound ignorance of Christianity!

Do not think that such ignorance is a defect of small importance· It is not! Its consequences can be fatal, especially now when any number of books with a satanic teaching are circulating under a Christian title. In ignorance of true Christian teaching, just like that you can take a false, blasphemous idea for a true one, appropriate it to yourself, and together with it appropriate eternal damnation as well. The blasphemer will not be saved! And the perplexities you have expressed in your letter are already terrible omens regarding your salvation; their essence is rejection of Christ! Do not play with your salvation! Do not play with it, or you will weep forever.

Occupy yourself with the reading of the New Testament and the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church (but by no means Theresas, nor Francis and the other madmen* of the West whom their heretical Church passes off for saints!); study in the Holy Fathers of the Orthodox Church how to understand Scripture aright, study there what kind of living, what kind of thoughts and feelings are fitting for a Christian. From Scripture and living faith study Christ and Christianity. Before the terrible hour comes in which you will have to appear before God in judgement, acquire the justification given by God freely to

all men through Christianity.

*This term is by no means carelessly employed by Bishop Ignaty. In his essay on prelest or spiritual deception, he points out how the loss of spiritual discrimination in the Church of Rome has led in many cases to the confusion of psychic fantasies with genuine spiritual attainment. This essay will be presented in due time in The Orthodox Word (trans. note)

∞∞∞

[http://www.roca.org/OA/3/3b.htm]:

Bishop Ignatius Brainchaninov, April 30, 1867†

One of the great Church Fathers of the19th century, Bishop Ignaty played the very important role of spokesman for uncompromising Orthodox Christianity to the Russian intelligentsia, who had departed so far from Christian truth as to be incapable of distinguishing it from error.

Born in 1807, Bishop Ignatias attended military school but quite early felt drawn to the monastic life. Following a serious illness at the age of 20, he became a novice and established contact with a Spirit-filled elder, Leonid, of the great Optina Hermitage.

In 1831 he became a monk and was shortly thereafter ordained to the priesthood. At the unusually young age of 26 he was appointed superior of a monastery near St. Petersburg, where he labored until 1857, when he was consecrated bishop. After only four years he retired to complete seclusion at a monastery, spending the last six years of his life corresponding with his many spiritual children and preparing for death, which came in 1867.

∞∞∞

From The Lives Of The Holy Apostles, Holy Apostles Convent, Buena Vista CO, page 131. Excerpt from the Life of St. John the Theologian showing God's love for those who are unaware that their leaders are heretics:

[In the marketplace in a town named Phlogeon] many had gathered to hear John's teachings. The apostle knew that on that day the idolators were to celebrate a major feast in honor of the god Dionysus [Bacchus], so he went and stood near their temple, instructing and admonishing the people to turn to God, to repent, and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He also said:

"O men, since God made man in His image and honored him with reason, ye must not appear more irrational than the dumb beasts, by the sordid life ye lead and the disgraceful conduct wherewith ye dishonor yourselves, rushing forth to sully human nature."

This, and many other things, did John utter. Then the priests of Dionysus came and said to him:

"Depart from here and do not stir up tumult! Thou art hindering our feast of the divine Dionysus."

John paid them no heed, but, on the contrary, further instructed the crowd to stay far away from satanic intercourse and worship at this lewd festival. In this temple, after they had celebrated the feast with food and drink, men and women made merry and, becoming inebriated, performed great iniquities in honor of the vile diety. The perverse priests, however, watched John and, allowing him to continue while the people stood about and listened, they mingled with the crowd and with both flattery and entreaty lured the crowd away from him. They bound John and took him to a far place, where they administered to him many blows. They left him bound and half-dead, and returned to their festival of shameful acts. According to their custom, they alone would first enter the temple to celebrate the demonic mysteries and to partake of the defiled food offered to the idols.

Meanwhile, John, left lying on the ground, prayed to God saying: "O God and Father of our hope, Jesus Christ: as it was Thy good pleasure to do through Samson, bringing down the pillars of the great temple of the Philistines, so now grant the destruction of this temple of prodigality!" And as John prayed, behold, the temple toppled down to its foundation, crushing therein only those twelve priests, while the layfolk suffered no harm. The people, horrified, freed the apostle from his bonds and besought him not to slay them.