The Mystery of Death, when the State of the Heart will be Revealed-Part1

The Repose of St Theodora of Thessaloniki

When my father Jose died, in the morning of the 6th of July 
1998, I had the blessing of being with him until the end.
I had been praying and reading the scriptures to him, as I 
painfully watched his struggle to get some air into his lungs.
According to the doctors, he was in a deep coma but I could
not help thinking that he was able to hear me.
And the portions of scripture I read that morning, still
resonate in my ears;
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth....,
 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.....,
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying ...but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for
in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. So when the
woman saw that the tree was good....she took of its fruit
and ate. She also gave to her husband...and he ate. Then the
Lord God called to Adam, where are you? ..the Lord God said
to the serpent..And I will put enmity between you and the
woman and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise
your head and you shall bruise His heel...Then to Adam He
said,... In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you
return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust
you are and to dust you shall return....

Man who is born of woman is of a few days and full of trouble.
He comes forth like a flower and fades away; he flees like a
shadow and does not continue...

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth before
the difficult days come...For man goes to his eternal home,
...Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,
 ..then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the
spirit will return to God who gave it...
O Lord do not rebuke me in Your anger,..Have mercy on me,
O Lord for I am weak...O Lord my God in You I put my trust..
What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man
that You visit him?...

The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament
shows His handiwork...
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want, ...Yea though I
walk through the valley of shadow of death, I will fear no
evil; for You are with me,...and I will dwell in  the house
of the Lord forever.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
All things came into being through Him and apart from Him
nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men.....
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw
His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of
grace and truth....
Now before the feast of the passover, Jesus knowing that His
hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the
Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He
loved them to the end.


So the Roman cohort and the commander..arrested Jesus and
bound Him...And when they had come to the place called
Calvary, there they crucified Him.... Then Jesus said, "Father
forgive them......He said Father, into your hands I commit
my spirit. Having said this, He breathed His last....
But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping;...
..she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did
not know that it was Jesus.... Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabbonni!" (which
means, Teacher). Jesus said to her..."go to my brethren
and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father,
and my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came, announcing
to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said
these things to her.
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death
and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! Paschal Canon
I will lift up mine eyes  to the hills from whence comes my
help. My help comes from the Lord ...
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness....

Father I have sinned against heaven and in your sight...
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your
lovingkindness"...After reading this last Psalm, I felt
totally identified with my father in his confession of sin
and prayer of repentance as I prayed;
"Oh Lord hear my prayer,my God, I am the flesh of his flesh,
the blood of his blood and the bone of his bones, Lord Jesus,
hear my prayer. His sin is mine, I am responsible. Have mercy
on us and forgive us our sins"

By then, my father's breathing had become very shallow
and irregular. Only my mother and I were present. Dad laid
very quietly. It almost seemed that time itself stood still
around us, as we were overshadowed by eternity. 
Then it happened, my father exhaled for the last time.
I saw and I heard. Deep within me, I felt my heart collapse
and in that instant I was embraced by the grace of God which
strengthened me beyond my human frailty. And I felt right
then, that God had heard my prayer. "Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered" Psalm 32:1


The moment was very peaceful and holy. Never before or
since have I been so aware of the great dignity of man. I
drew near to dad and held his hands, those strong hands
that so often picked me up and held me when I had fallen.
"I love you dad" I said. I closed his eyes and kissed him and
entrusted his soul to the mercy of God.

"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of
God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who
are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall
always be with the Lord."1 Thess. 4:16-17
"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there
shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall
be no more pain, for the former things have passed away"
Rev. 21:4



Glorified and sanctified be God's great name through-
out the world which He has created according to His
will. May He establish His kingdom in your lifetime
and during your days, and within the life of the entire
House of Israel, speedily and soon; and say, Amen.

May His great name be blessed forever and to all
eternity.

Blessed and praised, glorified and exalted, extolled
and honored, adored and lauded be the name of the
Holy One, blessed be He, beyond all the blessings and
hymns, praises and consolations that are ever spoken
in the world; and say, Amen.

May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life,
for us and for all Israel; and say, Amen.

He who creates peace in His celestial heights, may
He create peace for us and for all Israel; and say,
Amen.
MOURNER'S KADDISH
An English Translation
Source

A Call to Prayer to All Orthodox Christians- The Episcopal Assembly

The Mystical Icon of the Holy Orthodox Church available here



Bishop Basil and the Episcopal Assembly AFR correspondent
Matthew Namee talks with His Grace Bishop Basil, the newly
elected Secretary of the Episcopal Assemblies. We learn of
his impressions of the historic May 26-28 gathering in New
York as well as the assignment he has been given to coord-
inate the work of the committees that will be formed leading
up eventually to a Great and Holy Council. Available Here

On the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese website,
Bishop Basil Reflects on the First Episcopal Assembly

of North and Central America Here
For a formal statement on the Episcopal Assembly byMetropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America,
please visit Ancient Faith Radio Here
In the light of the above formal statements by our
hierarchs,  I would like to humbly ask all of my
Orthodox brothers and sisters, that we go before the

Lord in intense prayer, supplication and fasting for all

of our holy Patriarchs, Metropolitans, Archbishops and 

Bishops during the upcoming episcopal assemblies, both 

at the local level and at Chambésy, Switzerland. 

Let us abstain from speculation and with patient humility,

hope, faith and love; present ourselves before the Throne

of the Most High God to make entreaty for our Holy Orthodox

Church, that we may be faithful witnesses to the Truth of

the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in the 

manner in which He prayed for us;

"Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.
As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them

into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that 

they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those 

also who believe in Me through their word; that they

may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I
in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world
may believe that You sent Me.
The glory which You have given Me I have given to them,

that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and

You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that 

the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them,

even as You have loved Me.

Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me,

be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory 

which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the 

foundation of the world.O righteous Father, although the
world has not known You, yet I have known You; and
these have known that You sent Me; and I have made
Your name known to them, and will make it known, so
that the love with which You loved Me may be in them,
and I in them." John 17: 17-26. Source

Let us pray, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed
be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in
earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: 

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, 

for ever. Amen.

Source

The Three Stages of the Spiritual Life

Source

It is so refreshing to read words filled with life and the warm
breath of the Holy Spirit. The grace that rests upon Father
Zacharias' words is readily evident throughout the pages of
this book. Fr. Zacharias is a faithful bearer of Holy Orthodox
Tradition and in the process of passing on this tradition he
becomes to us a father in Christ and a teacher of the way to
the kingdom of heaven.
Author: Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou Publisher: Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist 2010
ISBN: 1874679738
In his continuing exploration of the spiritual teaching of Elder Sophrony, Archimandrite Zacharias describes 'the three stages of the spiritual life'-- the initial visitation of the grace of the Holy Spirit, its 'providential withdrawal' resulting in the realization of our true weakness and character, and our reacquisition through ascetic effort of grace. St. Seraphim of Sarov would have called it 'the acquisition of the Holy Spirit.
Available from Eighth Day Books Here
Contents:
Foreword
Editorial Preface
Foundations
The Just Shall Live by Faith
1. From Faith to Faith
2. The Three Stages of the Spiritual Life
3. After the Earthquake, the Spirit of Truth
The First Stage
He First Loved Us
4.Longing to See the Lord
5.Seeking Greater Things
6.Knowing the Gift of God
7.Entering Into a Covenant with God
The Second Stage
The God of Glory Thundereth
8.Man Comes to Himself
9.An Invitation to Overcome Death
   a. The merciful chastening of the Lord
   b. Charismatic despair and creative suffering
   c. Standing before God with prophetic self-knowledge
10.The Self-denial of the Mother of God
Receive Not the Grace of God in Vain
11.Earthly Life for Infinite Life
12.Discovering the Deep Heart
13.The Language of God
14.Living by a Single Thought
15.The Struggle with Temptation
16. Zeal for the House of God
17.Giving Thanks in All Things
The Third Stage
This Day Have I Begotten Thee
18.Christ's Victory Over Death: Man's Inheritance
19.Knowing the Mystery of the Way of Salvation
20.Regeneration in the Spirit
21.The Infallible Criterion
22.Charismatic Humility
Appendix
Questions and Answers
Index of biblical references
 From Faith to Faith page 17
"At first, our faith is necessarily immature and needs to
grow and develope within us. This first faith involves the
turning of our whole being towards God; it orientates our
spirit towards the One God Who is without beginning. Our
faith, then, gradually enters upon an intermediary stage,
which consists of hoping and trusting in God, particularly
in situations where humanly speaking everything seems
to be without hope. And eventually, we grow into a more
perfect form of faith: the disposition of the soul is now
stable, and she begins to live the words of the apostle:
'For unto you it is given not only to believe in Christ, but
also to suffer for his sake.' Phil. 1:29.

St Symeon the New Theologian- A Guide to the Heart

St Symeon the New Theologian Source

Commemorated on March 12

Saint Simeon the New Theologian was born in the year 949 in the city
of Galatea (Paphlagonia), and he was educated at Constantinople.
His father prepared him for a career at court, and for a certain while
the youth occupied a high position at the imperial court. When he was
fourteen, he met the renowned Elder Simeon the Pious at the Studion
Monastery, who would be a major influence in his spiritual develop-
ment. He remained in the world for several years preparing himself for
the monastic life under the Elder's guidance, and finally entered the
monastery at the age of twenty-seven. St Simeon the Pious
recommended to the young man the writings of St Mark the Ascetic
(March 5) and other spiritual writers. He read these books attentively
and tried to put into practice what he read.
Three points made by St Mark in his work "On the Spiritual Law"
(see Vol. I of the English Philokalia) particularly impressed him. First,
you should listen to your conscience and do what it tells you if you
wish your soul to be healed (Philokalia, p. 115). Second, only by
fulfilling the commandments can one obtain the activity of the Holy
Spirit. Thirdly, one who prays only with the body and without spiritual
knowledge is like the blind man who cried out, "Son of David, have
mercy upon me (Luke 18:38) (Philokalia p. 111). When the blind man
received his sight, however, he called Christ the Son of God
(John 9:38). St Simeon was wounded with a love for spiritual beauty,
and tried to acquire it. In addition to the Rule given him by his Elder,
his conscience told him to add a few more Psalms and prostrations,
and to repeat constantly, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me."
Naturally, he heeded his conscience. During the day, he cared for the
needs of people living in the palace of Patricius. At night, his prayers
grew longer and he remained praying until midnight. Once, as he was
praying in this way, a most brilliant divine radiance descended upon
him and filled the room. He saw nothing but light all around him, and
he was not even aware of the ground beneath his feet. It seemed to
him that he himself became light. Then his mind rose upward to the
heavens, and he saw a second light brighter than the light which
surrounded him. Then, on the edge of this second light, he seemed
to see St Simeon the Pious, who had given him St Mark the Ascetic
to read. Seven years after this vision, St Simeon entered the
monastery. There he increased his fasting and vigilance, and learned
to renounce his own will.

The Enemy of our salvation stirred up the brethren of the monastery
against St Simeon, who was indifferent to the praises or reproaches
of others. Because of the increased discontent in the monastery, St
Simeon was sent to the Monastery of St Mamas in Constantinople.
There he was tonsured into the monastic schema, and increased his
spiritual struggles. He attained to a high spiritual level, and increased
his knowledge of spiritual things through reading the Holy Scriptures
and the writings of the Fathers, as well as in conversation with holy
Elders.
Around the year 980, St Simeon was made igumen of the monastery
of St Mamas and continued in this office for twenty-five years. He
repaired and restored the monastery, which had suffered from neglect,
and also brought order to the life of the monks. The strict monastic
discipline, for which St Simeon strove, led to great dissatisfaction
among the brethren. Once, after Liturgy, some of the monks attacked
him and nearly killed him. When the Patriarch of Constantinople
expelled them from the monastery and wanted to hand them over to
the civil authorities, St Simeon asked that they be treated with
leniency and be permitted to live in the world. About the year 1005,
St Simeon resigned his position as Igumen in favor of Arsenius, while
he himself settled near the monastery in peace. There he composed
his theological works, portions of which appear in the Philokalia.
The chief theme of his works is the hidden activity of spiritual
perfection, and the struggle against the passions and sinful thoughts.
He wrote instructions for monks:"Theological and Practical Chapters,"
 "A Treatise on the Three Methods of Prayer," (in Vol. IV of the English
Philokalia) and "A Treatise on Faith." Moreover, St Simeon was an
outstanding church poet. He also wrote "Hymns of Divine Love,"
about seventy poems filled with profound prayerful meditations. The
sublime teachings of St Simeon about the mysteries of mental prayer
and spiritual struggle have earned him the title "the New Theologian."
These teachings were not the invention of St Simeon, but they had
merely been forgotten over time. Some of these teachings seemed
unacceptable and strange to his contemporaries.
This led to conflict with Constantinople's church authorities, and St
Simeon was banished from the city. He withdrew across the
Bosphorus and settled in the ancient monastery of St Makrina.
The saint peacefully fell asleep in the Lord in the year 1021. During
his life he received the gift of working miracles. Numerous miracles
also took place after his death; one of them was the miraculous
discovery of his icon. His Life was written by his cell-attendant and
disciple, St Nicetas Stethatos. Since March 12 falls during Great
Lent, St Simeon's Feast is transfered to October 12.Source


This is the story of how St. Symeon the New Theologian met his
spiritual father, St Symeon Eulabes (The Pious). "This story
illustrates the close bond uniting the master and the disciple, and
how such love overcomes all fear. It also shows that before choosing
and following a spiritual father one must first believe in him;
It was he (St Symeon the Pious), who invited Symeon to follow him.
'Come, my child I will lead you to God'. When Symeon hesitated, his
spiritual father told him: 'Light a great fire, that I may pass into the
center: do not follow me if I do not remain untouched! 'These words
confused me', Simeon wrote, 'and I did what he had commanded.
And the flame burned and he stood in its center, intact, unconsumed,
and he called me to him. I said I'm afraid master, I am a sinner! He
advanced, came to me and embraced me saying , Why were you
afraid? Why this fear and trembling? This is a great and frightening
wonder: you will see even greater things!' Finally to subdue Symeon's
fear, his spiritual master made him approach: 'He enfolded me with
his arms, and he kissed me again with a holy kiss, and he yielded a
fragrance of immortality. I believed, I chose to follow him, and I
desired to become his slave, his alone."
Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, In The Light of Christ, p.98-99, SVS Press 1986.


That We Must Seek a True Physician of the Soul

"7.Seek out one who is, if you will, an intercessor, physician and a
good counselor. A good counselor, that he may propose ways of
repentance which agree with good advice. A physician that he may
prescribe medicine which is appropriate for each of your wounds, and
finally an intercessor, that he may propitiate God by standing before
Him face to face and offering Him prayer and intercession on your
behalf. Do not try to go and find some flatterer or slave to his belly
and make him your counselor and ally lest, accomodating himself to
your will and not to what God wants, he teach you what you want to
hear and leave you in reality an unreconciled enemy. Nor should you
choose an inexperienced physycian lest, by extreme severity and
untimely operations and cauterizations, he plunge you into the depths
of despair or - and this is the worst possible course - allow you by
inappropriate sympathy to think that you are getting better when in 
fact you are still ailing, and so deliver you over to what you had
hoped to avoid, I mean to eternal punishment. For this course of
action does no more than furnish us with the illness that is already
killing the soul. From 'St Symeon the New Theologian On the Mystical Life:
The Ethical Discourses' by Alexander Golitzin : Letter on Confession,  p.193,
St Vladimir Seminary Press 2007.

"Hymn 57
I am held captive by darkness and I see the truth
which is nothing but certain hope.
What kind, therefore, of hope?
Such as eyes have not seen.
In what does it consist?
It is life, which every man desires.
But this life, what is it if not God, the Creator of all?
Love Him and hate the world!
The world is death for what does it possess
that is lasting?

Hymn 41
You know my poverty, my abandonment,
You know my isolation, You see my weakness and infirmity.
O God, who have made me,
You do not ignore me, but You have a concern for me
and You know all things.
Look at my humble heart, look at my contrite heart.
Look at me as I approach you in despair, my God.
And from on high give me Your grace, give me Your Divine Spirit!"
From Hymns of Divine Love by St Symeon the New Theologian, Introduction
and Translation by George A. Maloney S.J.  p.287 and 209, Dimension Books,
Denville, New Jersey