Spiritual Fatherhood by Abbott Elysaios of Simonopetra Monastery in Mount Athos

Finding the Way to the Heart by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware

This lecture is audio only.

St Gregory Palamas by Dr Marcus Plested (IOCC)

Preconditions for the Orthodox Participation in the Holy Mysteries by Abbott Joseph of Xeropotamou

Abbott Joseph of Xeropotamou,
Mount Athos, Greece Source

The Mysteries or Sacraments of the Church are the very center of the Orthodox life, beginning with Holy Baptism and Chrismation and culminating in Holy Communion. In the Mysteries we meet God Himself and thus we are called to believe and prepare for participation in them, to the salvation of our souls.

In the summer of 2013, Elder Joseph, abbot of Xeropotamou Monastery on Mt. Athos, offered a lecture to a group of American seminarians gathered in the Greek village of Petrokerasa, outside Thessaloniki concerning the "presuppositions" that ought to met in order to participate in the Sacraments of the Church. His words come from his deep experience on Mt. Athos and throughout Greece, addressing contemporary issues in Church practice:

* * *

As all of us should know, and hopefully do know, that just because we are formally Orthodox does not mean we have the right to participate in the Sacraments, or Mysteries, of the Church, but rather, there are preconditions to participation—that is, we are called to prepare ourselves to receive grace and meet the Lord through these Mysteries.

When we say “Mysteries” in the plural, it typically refers to all the other Sacraments except for the Eucharist, which holds a place of distinction of its own, being the very summit of the Christian life. Unfortunately we have many secularized Christians who do not ascend this height, but rather go to church but to light a candle, or to services such as Weddings and Baptisms and funerals, and perhaps even Nativity and Pascha, but this remains the extent of their life in the Church, especially among the cradles. This tends to be more common among the cradle Orthodox. I think that this issue is more prevalent in the Greek Church—this is a common conversation among Greek priests—but the way in which we confront and solve this problem could have wider spiritual implications for Orthodox worldwide, for better or worse.

The issue here is the general problem of secularization, where the Mysteries tend to become more or less social events. Even priests, given the way that the Mysteries are celebrated, are unable to pray, because no one else is praying or paying attention. Even the priest is affected. One issue here is that the Mysteries were formerly celebrated during the Divine Liturgy, but with their separation came a degradation of proper piety and approach. If the Sacraments would return to the Liturgy, which would mean tremendous liturgical changes, then they could once again properly serve as boundaries of the Church.

Of course the Church does have its boundaries which are not confused or blurred: the Orthodox faith and indeed the Mysteries, firstly Holy Baptism. That which confuses the boundaries is that there are those faithful who commune and those who remain outside of communion—the ex-communicants. A lack of faith, lack of catechizing, and general worldliness are the causes of these lukewarm Christians staying away from the Eucharist, coming only for the other Mysteries. They don’t know how to pray; they don’t have or understand proper piety. These are people outside the Church, of the phenomenon of worldliness.

That the Holy Mysteries might not degrade into secularized empty forms, but that the faithful might be truly prepared that the Mysteries might truly impart the grace of the Holy Spirit, there are certain conditions to be met:

1. Celebrants and participants must dispose themselves in a prayerful state of mind;
2. They must understand and believe what they pray—they must have faith;
3. They must adhere to Christian morals and the Patristic and canonical Tradition of the Church—Christ says If you love Me you will keep My commandments, and Divine worship is an expression of love for Christ;
4. Participants must not be ex-communicants (that is, not separated from Christ by grave sin) and must comply with the rules of reverent behavior and apparel in Church

Continues...

Please continue reading from, Pravoslavie.ru

Angels and Demons by Dr Harry Boosalis

This book is available from St Tikhon's Orthodox Seminary Bookstore

I really enjoyed reading this. It is a serious, well documented, and sober exposition of the angelic world.

"Dr. Harry Boosalis, in this concise text, presents us with the Scriptural and Patristic teaching of the Church on the heavenly hosts of angels, the devil and his demons, and the enigma of evil.He offers a rich deposit of Tradition in simplified language, in a clear and concise style, but with an extensive body of scholarly documentation in the footnotes." From the STOTS website

Abba Sisoes the Great, On What to do When One Falls into Sin

Icon of St Sisoes the Great teaching those who went into the desert seeking his advice Source

"A certain brother asked Abba Sisoes:
'Counsel me, Father, for I have fallen to sin. What am I to do?'

The Elder said to him:
'When you fall, get up again.'
With bitterness the sinning brother continued:
'Ah! Father, I got up, yet I fell to the same sin again.'
The Elder, so as not to discourage the brother, answered:
'Then get up again and again.'

The young man asked with a certain despondency:
'How long can I do that, Father?'

The Elder, giving him courage, said to the brother:
'Until the end of your life, whether you be found in the commendable attempt at lifting yourself up from sin or falling again to it.  For wherever it is that a man is found at the last moment of his life on earth, whether it be in things good or evil, there he will be judged, going forth either to punishment or to reward."
St Sisoes the Great in The Evergetinos volume 1, p.6, Edited by Archbishop Chrysostomos and Hieromonk Patapios, Center for Traditionalists Orthodox Studies, 2008

Levan Vasadze on the Preservation of Christian Values in the Orthodox Country of Georgia (Caucasus)

"Levan Vasadze was bestowed with the title of Raindi (Knight) in 2013 by HRH Prince Nugzar of the Royal House of Georgia. Levan has been a business executive for many years"Source

"The theme of World Congress of Families X is "Civilization at a Crossroads: The Natural Family as The Bulwark of Humane Values." The theme is inspired from the great English journalist G.K. Chesterton. Chesterton explains the connection between family and freedom, "The ideal for which [family and marriage] stands in the state is liberty. It stands for liberty for the very simple reason... [that] it is the only...institution that is at once necessary and voluntary. It is the only check on the state that is bound to renew itself as eternally as the state, and more naturally than the state.... This is the only way in which truth can ever find refuge from public persecution, and the good man survive the bad government."

Levan Vasadze, Chairman of the Georgian Committee for WCF X commented, "We Georgians are honored and humbled by this great opportunity and privilege to host World Congress of Families X. As one of the oldest Christian nations on earth, we think this will be a refreshing opportunity for me and my fellow Georgians to meet Westerners (unlike those sent to Tbilisi by George Soros) who affirm human rights for all persons from conception to natural death but also defend the Truth, Beauty, and Goodness found in the Natural Family as the fundamental and only sustainable unit of society."Source

Mr Levan Vasadze is an Orthodox Christian and a family man. He is a firm advocate for the family and for traditional Orthodox Christian values. It is evident by this interview that he is a well read and traveled businessman.  But above all he is aware, as an Orthodox Christian, of the importance of the family unit in society as it has been understood and lived for centuries in the history of the world, a man with his wife and children upholding what is good, honorable and praise-worthy.

The traditional family unit is under attack. Abortion, hedonism, and the elimination of all distinctions of gender are at the core of the activists agenda, with all of these things being pursued in the name of freedom.

Western civilization is quickly descending into chaos and anarchy.  There is no moral compass. The devastation caused by abortion, drugs, alcoholism, sexual promiscuity, hedonism, and divorce, is beyond measure.

The Psalmist King David once wrote, "If the foundations be destroyed,  what will the righteous do?" Psalm 11:3. We must return to the foundations. We must heed the Word of the Lord by His Prophet Jeremiah, when he bids us,  "Thus says the Lord,'Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls." Jeremiah 6:16 NASB

Laurus by Eugene Vodolazkin

Laurus is available from Amazon

Vodolazkin's historical novel is set in 15th century Russia. "It is a time of plague and pestilence, and a young healer, skilled in the arts of herbs and remedies,  finds himself overcome with grief and guilt when he fails to save the one he holds closest to his heart. Leaving behind his village, his possessions and his name, he sets out on a quest for redemption, penniless and alone." from the front inside-flap

This novel, like Tikhon's Everyday  Saints, vividly portraits life in Holy Russia. Arseny is a fictional character, but the events of his life, his very person, were the spiritual everyday reality in medieval Rus. I just began to read Laurus and I am hooked.

This work is getting great reviews. It is already a best seller in Russia, having won some prestigious awards. Ken Kalfus, writing for The New Yorker, comments;

"A new novel by the Russian medievalist Eugene Vodolazkin, “Laurus,” recreates this fervent landscape and suggests why the era, its holy men, and the forests and fields of Muscovy retain such a grip on the Russian imagination. Vodolazkin’s hero-mystic Arseny is a protagonist extrapolated from the little that is known about the lives and deeds of the famous holy men. Born in 1440, he’s raised by his herbalist grandfather Christofer near the grounds of the Kirillov Monastery, about three hundred miles north of Moscow. He becomes a renowned medicine man, faith healer, and prophet who “pelted demons with stones and conversed with angels.” He makes a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He takes on new names, depending on how he will next serve God. The people venerate his humble spirituality. In “Laurus,” Vodolazkin aims directly at the heart of the Russian religious experience and perhaps even at that maddeningly elusive concept that is cherished to the point of cliché: the Russian soul."

Striving for Knowledge of God by Archimandrite Sophrony of Essex

Striving for Knowledge of God: Correspondence with David Balfour

"The letters Archimandrite Sophrony wrote to David Balfour are a treasury of wisdom, distilled from Fr. Sophrony’s reading of the Fathers of the Church, from his conversations with St. Silouan, and from his own experience. Most of the letters in this collection were written to someone new to the Orthodox Church and to Orthodox monasticism. Also included are later letters with further theological and spiritual insights. Thus these letters provide a rich source of teaching about Christian faith and life.

Archimandrite Sophrony was born in Russia on 22nd September, 1896. He trained as an artist at the Moscow School of Fine Art. After the October Revolution he settled in France, where he continued to work as an artist. For a brief period he read Theology at the St Sergius’ Institute but in the Autumn of 1925 left to become a monk at the Monastery of St. Panteleimon on Mount Athos in Northern Greece. In 1930 he was ordained Deacon by Saint Nikolai Velimirovich. About this time he met Staretz Silouan, who became his spiritual guide. After the Staretz’ death in 1938, Fr. Sophrony spent seven years living as a hermit in the ‘desert’ of Athos. He became a priest in 1941 and soon after was elected spiritual confessor for several of the monastic communities on the Athonite peninsula. On returning to France in 1947 he edited and published the writings Silouan had entrusted to him, adding an introduction. Because of serious illness he was unable to return to the Holy Mountain.

In the Spring of 1959, helped by friends, he moved to England with small group of men and women. For many years he received people from all walks of life for spiritual direction. He died on 11th July 1993 at Tolleshunt Knights in the community which he had founded and inspired till the end of his days."
This book is available from St Tikhon's Bookstore.

Notice

The Resurrection by Manuel  Panselinos


I will not be posting on this blog until after Pascha. I wish you all a fruitful struggle during the rest of lent, and a glorious Holy Week and Pascha.

Christ is Risen!

Letter to a Roman Catholic

My prayer/reading room in Yakima, WA

Posted from the Orthodox blog, Journey to Orthodoxy, with written permission from Fr John Peck

"I would like to share with you a brief letter that was published some time ago in an Italian Orthodox parish newsletter. Its author, Archpriest Gregorio Cognetti, is the Dean of the Italian parishes under the Moscow Patriarchate. This letter was generally liked by the Italian Orthodox converts, and also received a high degree of appreciation among some cradle-born Orthodox (it was, for instance, translated into Romanian); I hope it may be prove an interesting reading and a source of inspiration for all of you.


Chapel Hill (U.S.), March 1982


Dear Bill,


Even though you never asked it directly, I feel from your words that you do not yet understand why I left the Roman Church to become Orthodox.


You were even a member of one of the least latinized Byzantine parishes, you seem to say, why, then?…


I guess I owe you an explanation, since, a long time ago, when we were both members of the Latin church, we shared the same feelings. These same feelings brought both of us to a Byzantine rite parish, and then myself to Orthodoxy. You could not have forgotten the criticisms that we moved to the Romans: the continual insertion of newtraditions in place of the old ones, Scholasticism, the legalistic approach to spiritual life, the dogma of papal infallibility. At the same time we both reckoned the legitimacy and correctness of the Orthodox Church. A Uniate parish seemed the optimal solution. I remember what I was saying in that period:


I think like an Orthodox, I believe like an Orthodox, therefore I am Orthodox.


Entering officially into the Orthodox Church seemed to me just a useless formality. I even thought that remaining in communion with the Roman Church might be a positive fact, in view of the goal of a possible reunification of the Churches.


Well, Bill, I was wrong. l believed I knew the Orthodox Faith, but it was just a smattering, and quite shallow for that. Otherwise I would not have failed to know the intrinsic contradiction between feeling Orthodox and not being reckoned as such by the very same Church whose faith I stated I was sharing. Only a non-Orthodox may conceive an absurdity like being Orthodox outside of Orthodoxy. Individual salvation does not only concern the single person, as many Westerners believe, but it must be seen in the wider frame of the whole Church Communion.


Each Orthodox Christian is like a leaf: how could he receive the life-giving sap if he is not connected to the vine? (John 15:5)


Orthodoxy is a way of life, not a rite. The beauty of the rite derives from the inner reality of the Orthodox Faith, and not from a search for forms. The Divine Liturgy is not a more picturesque way of saying Mass: it comes forth from, and strengthens, a theological reality that becomes void and inconsistent if excised from Orthodoxy.


When the spirit of the Orthodox Faith is present, even the most miserable service, done in a shack, with two paper icons placed on a couple of chairs to serve as the iconostasis, and a bunch of faithful out of tune as the choir, is incomparably higher than the services in my former Uniate parish, in the midst of magnificent 12th century Byzantine mosaics, and a well-instructed choir (when there was one).The almost paranoid observance of the ritual forms is the useless attempt to make up for the lack of a true Orthodox ethos. I was deluding myself when I believed I was able to be an Orthodox in the Roman communion.


It was a delusion because it is impossible.


The continual interference of Rome in the ecclesiatical life reminds you in due course who is in command. To pretend to ignore this is self-delusion. I tried to avoid the problem, feigning to be deaf and dumb, and repeating to myself that I belonged to the ideal “undivided Church”. My position was quite sinful. First of all, because the undivided Church still exists: it is the Church that never broke with Her past, and that is always identical to Herself: in other words, the Orthodox Church.


Then, because that feeling of being a member of the Undivided Church, which I considered so Christian and irenical, was instead a grave sin of pride. I was practically putting myself above Patriarchs and Popes. I believed I was one of the few who really understood the Truth, beyond old and sterile polemics.


I felt I had the right to ask the Eucharist both from the Romans and the Orthodox, and I felt unfairly treated when the latter denied it to me. I have a great debt of gratitude towards a priest who, in that time, refused to give me Communion. Instead of softly speaking of canonical impediments, as if the matter were a merely bureaucratic problem, he said me bare-facedly:


If it is true that you consider yourself an Orthodox, why is it that you keep belonging to heresy?


I was deeply shocked by those words, and for a long time I did not return to that Church. But he was right. I had understoodwhat Saints, Fathers, Bishops and Priests had not understood for centuries.


According to me, the schism between East and West was a tragic misunderstandingbased merely on political problems and the ponderings of the theologians. And in doing so I indirectly accused many holy people of calculation, superficiality and bigotry. And I was mistaking all of this for Christian charity…


No, Bill, it is impossible to be both Roman Catholic and Orthodox at the same time.


The rite is not all that important. After all, the Latins were Western Rite Orthodox for many centuries. I agree with you that, after the separation, the Romans and the Orthodox have still much in common, but this is not enough to consider both of them part of the same Church. Beyond the well-known doctrinal differences, there is the approach to the Supernatural, the same life of the Church that makes impossible to live the two religious realities at the same time.


We state in the Creed:


“and (I believe) in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church”.


Until a unity of faith comes, they will be two churches.


The theory (also affirmed by John Paul II) that the Romans and the Orthodox are still the same one Church (despite the schism, and in a mysterious way) sounds well, but it doesn’t hold. It is based only on beautiful words. The differences of faith, on the other hand, do exist, and they are not a mere word-play.


Yes, I know that theological dialogue has been started, and it is even possible (everything is possible to the Lord) that eventually the unity will be reached. But beware! Many good Romans believe that the differences might be resolved by means of a clever statement that, owing to its genericness may sound acceptable by both parties. Having reached an agreement on this statement, both would interpret it according to their understanding, in fact keeping their opinions. Worse still, some propose a unity in diversity, without a formal commitment of faith from any part, but under the universal co-ordination of the Pope of Rome.


Well, all of this is impossible. The Fathers taught us that the the agreement on common faith must be univocal and unequivocal.


Orthodoxy follows the spirit of the Law, rather than the letter. And since it is impossible for the Orthodox Church to introduce new doctrines, it falls on the Romans to abandon a millennium of innovations, and unreservedly return to the faith of the Catholic and Apostolic Church.


This is the only possible platform for an agreement.


History has shown the fallacy of otherwise based unions. And now let me ask you a trivial question: Bill, is the Pope infallible (on his own and not by virtue of Church consensus, as specified in the 1870 dogma) or not? He may not be fallible and infallible at the same time, as it would happen if the two churches were still part of the same Church. One of the two must be wrong.


But Vatican II allowed a great freedom of opinions…


you may answer. Yet this is a sophism. The true Church may not fall in error. If you believe that your Church has erred, or that She is actually erring, you deny that She is the true Church.


I embrace you with unchanged friendship and love in Christ.


Gregorio.


(PS. For the record, Father Gregorio Cognetti told me that the recipient of this letter, soon afterwards, converted himself to Orthodoxy — he is now a tonsured reader of the O.C.A. in Florida — and that this letter was a major factor in his conversion)
Source"

An Awesome Sight, the Orthodox Patriarchs Celebrate the Divine Liturgy

The Orthodox Patriarchs concelebrate the
Divine Liturgy in Switzerland.