Monday, November 29, 2010

Friday, November 26, 2010

Excruciating Torment by Fr. Cosmas


Source


I love hearing about the experiences others have had in the monastic life.  When I visit another monastery or when other monastics visit us, I look forward to what they have to say.  It helps me understand our own life here.

One such occasion came quite some time back when a couple of nuns we knew drove from hundreds of miles away to come and see us, bringing along their portable sewing machine.  They had offered to fix any of our cassocks that had fallen into disrepair, sew buttons back on, put patches where needed, and stitch up any ripped spots.  They knew, of course, that we holy fathers and brothers were perfectly capable of doing this for ourselves, but they also knew—after all, these women weren’t born yesterday—that we were just as capable of ignoring the need to be presentable for as long as we could manage it.

At any rate, right after lunch one day I asked the senior of the two nuns about something that had been on my mind.  I was curious to see how her experience compared with mine.  “Tell me, Mother Elizabeth,” I said, “I think you’ve been in the monastic life as long as I have and I wonder what your impressions have been.  Has anything especially struck you as you continue your life as a nun while new women come in?”

“Yeah—,” she replied, “I can give you something.  For sure.  You know what chaps my hide?  I’ll tell you.  See Sister Anna there?”—and she nodded discretely at her sister in Christ across the room—“Look how she’s got that prayer rope of hers hanging off her belt instead of wrapping it around her wrist or keeping it in her pocket.  Well, I used to do that back in my novice days and I got rebuked for it big time.  In public, no less.  Mortifying, I tell you.  The abbess gave us a whole big speech about it one time and everybody kept glancing it me with their little grins enjoying it as I got chewed out.  I could have just died on the spot.  All about how if we wanted to become real nuns, we needed to act like ladies.  But her, my beloved sister, God bless her—she gets away with it!”

 I laughed.  I knew what she meant.  I was delighted by the part about how nuns should be ladies because it reminded me of something our abbot had told us—that if we had joined the brotherhood to engage in spiritual warfare, we should behave like officers, not enlisted men.  You don’t usually associate the terms “nuns and monks” with “ladies and gentlemen,” but clearly that connection belonged to our tradition.

Her main point, though, was what impressed me most because I saw that she had reacted the way I have reacted to similar situations.  Perhaps her comments could provide me with some edifying food for thought.  When similar things happened I always asked the same sorts of questions.  Why do others get away with things I get corrected for?  Why do others get a better break than I do?  Why do others receive special favors?  Why should I accept correction about something when some else gets away with the very same thing?  I guess I have a tendency sometimes to think everything’s unfair, but maybe that’s just the interpretation my ego puts on my experience.

 We say that the monastic life requires ascetic struggle.  No problem.  I signed up for that.  I’m a tough guy, a warrior, a commando, a guerrilla in the spiritual battle.  I can even picture myself wearing a hair shirt, loading myself with a hundred pounds of iron chains, reduced to bread and water, standing on a rock for a thousand days in prayer—okay, I have to shift my mind into high gear to imagine things like that, but I can ponder those things as possibilities—but you know what I have a really hard time contemplating?  You know what seems totally beyond my comprehension and imagination?  What seems way beyond my reach—the prospect of crucifying my big fat ego.  All the other stuff, the strictly physical self-denial—shucks, what a piece of cake in comparison!  But here’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question—can I really learn to see someone else get something good that doesn’t come my way or accept correction when others escape it, and not take it personally?

Let’s face it—this all comes down to my ego telling me that it’s all about me.  Yeah, I said I would endure in the ascetic life to my last breath and all that stuff, but how come my brother in Christ over there has an easier time of it than I do, at least according to my self-righteous comparison?
We get plenty of reminders that we shouldn’t look at things that way.  For example, all the way through Great Lent our services include St. Isaac’s prayer with the wonderful line, “Grant me to see my own sins and not to judge my brother.”  Shouldn’t that suggest that I stop focusing my attention on the fact that someone else wasn’t rebuked for something when I was?  In plain old ordinary English, could it be that I just need to mind my own business?

 Let’s return to the old statement that if we joined the brotherhood to engage in spiritual warfare, we should behave like officers, not enlisted men.  When I compare my situation to someone else’s and gripe about it, I am acting just like a recruit.  Recruits complain about the treatment they receive while officers accept the fact that on the one hand they give orders to those below them, but on the other hand they also have to carry out the orders they receive from above.  The Gospel of Luke gives an example of a centurion who applied his military discipline to spiritual matters in a way that impressed even Jesus.  I’m thinking of the man who asked Jesus to heal his sick servant.  He sent word to Jesus saying, “Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy to have You come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to You.  But say the word, and let my servant be healed.  For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (Luke 7: 6-8).  In other words, he recognized that the demons were under Jesus’ authority just as he was under the authority of officers above him and others were under his own authority.  When Jesus heard this, He commented, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”

If I want to be an officer and a gentleman—as we monks must strive to be—then I need to see my own sins and not judge my brother.  I need to carry out the orders that are given to me and take the correction that is offered to me.  And in fact if I insist on comparing myself to my brothers in Christ, I might do better to tell myself that if I have received rebukes that my brothers haven’t, what it really means is that I’ve had an opportunity for advanced officer training.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Christ is born, Glorify Him!

Today was the first time we heard at Church those timeless words of the Theologian: Christ is born, Glorify Him!



Christmas sermon by St Gregory the Theologian:


Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth, be exalted. Sing to the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope.

Again, the darkness is past; again Light is made; again Egypt is punished with darkness; again Israel is enlightened by a pillar. The people who sat in the darkness of ignorance, let them see the great Light full of knowledge. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. The letter gives way, the Spirit comes to the front. The shadows flee away, the truth comes in on them. Melchizedek is concluded. He who was without Mother becomes without Father (without mother of His former state, without father of His second). The laws of nature are upset; the world above must be filled. Christ commands it, let us not set ourselves against Him. O clap your hands together all you people, because unto us a Child is born, and a Son given unto us, whose government is upon His shoulder (for with the cross it is raised up), and His name is called The Angel of the Great Counsel of the Father. Let John cry, prepare the way of the Lord; I too will cry the power of this Day. He who is not carnal is Incarnate; the Son of God becomes the Son of Man, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Let the Jews be offended, let the Greeks deride; let heretics talk until their tongues ache. Then shall they believe, when they see Him ascending into heaven; and if not then, yet when they see Him coming out of heaven and sitting as Judge.

This is our present Festival; it is this which we are celebrating today, the Coming of God to Man, that we might go forth, or rather (for this is the more proper expression) that we might go back to God - that putting off of the old man, we might put on the new; and that as we died in Adam, so we might live in Christ, being born with Christ and crucified with Him and buried with Him and rising with Him. For I must undergo the beautiful conversion, and as the painful succeeded the more blissful, so must the more blissful come out of the painful. For where sin abounded grace did much more abound; and if a taste condemned us, how much more does the passion of Christ justify us? Therefore let us keep the Feast, not after the manner of a heathen festival, but after a godly sort; not after the way of the world, but in a fashion above the world; not as our own, but as belonging to Him who is ours, or rather as our master's; not as of weakness, but as of healing; not as of creation, but of re-creation.

Fr.Daniil Sysoyev – One Year Later...

h/t to Marcio



“The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”, said Tertullian over 1,800 years ago. He was of course referring to the massive waves of Christian persecutions facing the small Christian communities at the time. One would think that this quote is irrelevant today, as surely in the 21st century we are past the days where Christians are murdered for their belief.
But alas we are not. One year ago yesterday, Father Daniil Sysoyev was murdered by a Muslim in the church of St.Thomas in Moscow, Russia. He was known for his missionary work and having brought Muslims, Protestants, Pagans and others to know God through Orthodox Christianity, the ancient Christian faith of the apostles. He would try to use reason to debate extremists and when they couldn’t respond to his sharp mind, he was gunned down inside a Church, in broad daylight.
This man knew the threat that Islam posed for the souls of those inflicted with this spiritual cancer and fought hard to bring those people to God, and for his troubles was killed for it. But being the eternal optimists that Christians are, Fr.Daniil’s martyrdom was both tragic and triumphant. He had won his martyrs crown and died in the noblest way possible: for Christ, fearless, in the face of Muslim terrorist Beksultan Karykbekov.
Interfax states that in Russia in the last 15 years, 2 million ethnic Muslims have converted to Orthodox Christianity while only 2,500 Christians have converted to Islam. Also, after the Beslan siege back in 2004 (where Muslims took a school of children hostage, eventually killing almost 400 kids and teachers and injuring almost 800), it appears as though Muslims have decreased in North Ossetia by 30% and in Beslan itself by about 50%. These terrorists did more harm to their own religion than to the Christians they so hate.
The fact that Russia and the world is still seeing people being martyred for their faith (including almost 400 innocent children in one day) is quite a sad thing indeed. However, it is refreshing to see that after 2,000+ years, people are still willing to die for truth, love and Christ.
Fr.Daniil, Holy Martyr of God, pray for us!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Greek Orthodox Australian Byzantine Choir Concert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLR4z5utcR4&feature=related

Sorry, I cannot embed this video as embedding has been disabled. 
The Australian Byzantine Choir performing at St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church Marrickville, Sydney, in aid of St George Greek Orthodox Monastery Yellow Rock 17th October 2010. This is only a sample of the concert. This concert raised over $9000 for the Monastery.
Choir Master: Mr George Combis, Protopsaltis, All Saints Greek Orthodox Church, Belmore, Sydney.

'Our Father': A Devout Interpetation by St. Nikolai Velimirovich


Our Father:


When the clouds are thundering and the oceans roaring, they call to Thee: “Our Lord!”
When the meteors fall, and fire springs up from the earth, they speak to Thee: “Our Creator!”
When the flowers are opening their buds in the spring, and the swallows are picking up pieces of dry hay with which to make their nests for their young, they sing to Thee: “Our Master!”
And when I life my eyes up to Thy throne I am whispering to Thee: “Our Father!”
There was a time, a long and fearful time, when man too spake to Thee and called Thee: Lord, or Creator, or Master! Yea, when man felt himself to be only a thing among things. But now by merit of Thy First-born and Best Son, we learned Thy right name. Therefore, I too, with Christ, dare to call Thee: “Father!”
If I address Thee as “Lord,” I bow in fear before Thee as a slave amongst an army of slaves. If I call Thee “Creator,” I separate myself from Thee, as night is apart from day, or as a leaf from its tree.
If I look to Thee and say “Master,” I am as a stone among stones, and as a camel among camels.
But if I open my mouth and whisper “Father,” love takes the place of fear, earth seems lifted nearer to Heaven, and I walk with Thee, as with my companions in the garden of this world, and share Thy glory, and sorrows, and strength.
Our Father! Thou art the Father of us all, and I would lessen both Thee and me if I call Thee: My Father!
Our Father! Thou dost not care so much about me, a single individual, as about the whole world. Thy Kingdom is Thy aim, and not a single man. Selfishness cries to Thee: My Father! But Love cries: Our Father!
In the name of all men, my brothers, I pray: Our Father!
In the name of things which surround me and with which Thou hast woven me, I pray to Thee, Our Father!
I pray to Thee, Father of the universe, for one thing only I pray to Thee: let soon dawn the great day when all men, the living and the dead, in harmony with the Angels and stars, and the animals and things, call to Thee by Thy true name: Our Father!

To read all of it click here

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Consider humanism...

I believe that brother Romanos from Portland, Oregon gets things spot on all the time with his words, but he doesn't even need these to powerfully convey the most fundamental, yet profound, belief of Christians...




But just in case you want to consider a possible alternative…


Jesus said to her,
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
(John 11:25-26)

Friday, November 12, 2010

Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos On Psychiatric Medications

h/t to John Sanidopoulos



Elder Epiphanios was asked:

"Are Christians allowed to take psychiatric medicines? Because many maintain that anxiety, depression, melancholy and, in general, psychiatric disorders of the soul are healed only with spiritual life: that is, with prayer, going to church, confession, Holy Communion, etc."

"When necessary, the Christian must also take them."

"But what can these medications do to the soul of man?"

"We must clarify from the beginning that the so-called psychiatric medicines or tranquilizers - that is, these material substances - cannot in any way give man's soul the longed-for calmness, nor to bring consolation and hope to the soul of a mother, for example, whose son has died, nor even to deliver the conscience of a man from the guilt of the sins which he has committed. These gifts "come down only from above, from the Father of lights." And only the celebrants (the priests and, furthermore, the spiritual fathers) of the Church are able to heal these conditions of people."

"Then why did you say that psychiatric medications are necessary?"

"Listen, anxiety and depression in people are caused not only by such above-mentioned factors, or even from financial ruin or from repression of their personalities and loss of self-esteem, etc., but also from factors which originate in the nervous system (the brain) of man - in other words, from the disturbance of the higher functions of the brain, such as emotion, thought, will, etc. This type of anxiety or depression, etc. is improved or even healed with psychiatric medicines, medicines, that is, which act on the brain functions in such a way as to bring them back to their normal rhythm.

To put it more simply, many Christians focus their attention on the immaterial component of man - that is, the soul, attributing to her alone the manifestations of anxiety, melancholy, etc. and thus they reject the medicines given the fact that matter cannot affect the immaterial. They forget though, that man also has a body. And because the brain, through which the soul is expressed, is an instrument of the body, with material means (that is, with medicines or earlier on with insulin comas or electroshock) its disturbances must be dealt with."

"What do you mean when you say that soul expresses itself through the brain?"

"An image which we can use to describe the relationship of soul and brain is the violin with the violinist. Just as even the best musician cannot make good music if the the violin is broken or unstrung, in the same manner man's behavior will not be whole (see 2 Tim. 3:17) if his brain presents a certain disturbance, in which case the soul cannot be expressed correctly. It is precisely this disturbance of the brain that certain medicines help correct and so aid the soul in expressing itself correctly."

"Let me ask something else. Can intense sacramental life or fervent prayer heal these disturbances of the brain?"

"Of course, God can do a miracle for these sufferings. The question, however, which was posed to me in the beginning was something else. I was asked if Christians are allowed to use psychiatric medicines. And to this I respond undoubtedly: Yes!

Simultaneously, however, I also ask you: Why don't you ask the same questions about bronchial asthma, for example, or eczema or migraine headaches or glaucoma or intestinal ulcers, etc. etc.? Let us finally realize that anxiety or melancholy, etc. does not come only from the disturbance of the soul, but also from the disturbance of the brain or from a combination of the two. In the final case, psychological support is also needed (the solution of problems, selfless assistance, behavior salted with the salt of discernment, so that those who pose such problems do not feel difficulty from the manifestations of our love, examination from an educated, pious psychiatrist who will also enlighten them about the nature of the disturbances, the invocation of divine aid, the approaching to the Sacraments of the Church, etc.) and simultaneously a medical therapy."


Thursday, November 4, 2010

St Themelios ‘of Kalymnos’: November 7

In the south-eastern Aegean Sea, belonging to the Dodecanese, lies the Greek island of Kalymnos. The island is roughly rectangular in shape, with a length of 21 km and a width of 13 km, and covers an area of 109 km². The Greek sponge trade was centered close to Dodecanese with Kalymnos being the most prominent for centuries. Sponge diving, with all its traditions and history, still plays a large part in the life of the people of this island. And from this small island came one of Orthodoxy’s most beloved contemporary saints: St Savvas of Kalymnos.
St. Savvas is the patron saint of Kalymnos, where he lived during the last twenty years of his life as the priest and spiritual father of the nuns of the Convent of All Saints. He was a great ascetic, confessor, iconographer and miracle-worker.
Yet on the island one comes across a peculiar name which is immensely popular: Themelios or Themelis (feminine: Themelina). No saint on this island bears this name; in fact no known saint on mainland Greece with this name. As like some kind of mystery, without knowing for certain why, when or how, the names Themelios and Themelina appeared on the island of Kalymnos.
With time, the pious people of Kalymnos consulted the Synaxaria, and there found mention of St Themelios, who was one of the 33 Martyrs of Melitene. Since then the faithful of Kalymnos pay homage to this otherwise unknown saint and an Archimandrite from a monastery of the island compiled the Vespers and Matins services for this saint which currently only take place on the island.
Only the name of the saint is mentioned in the Synaxarion entry for the 33 martyrs of Melitene. It is as follows:
The Holy Martyr Hieron of Melitene and those with him 

The holy martyr Hieron was born in the city of Tiana in great Cappadocia. Raised by a pious mother, he was a kindly and good Christian. 

The co-ruling emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (284-305) sent a large military detachment headed by Lysias to Cappadocia to eradicate Christianity there, and also to conscript healthy and strong men into the imperial army. Among those pressed into service, Lysias also ordered his men to draft Hieron, who was distinguished by his great physical strength and dexterity. But Hieron refused to serve emperors who persecuted Christians. When they attempted to seize him by force and bring him to Lysias, he took a stick and started beating the soldiers who had been sent to bring him. The soldiers then scattered as they were ashamed of being defeated by a single man. Hieron then hid himself in a cave with eighteen other Christians. Lysias would not risk losing his soldiers by storming the cave. 

Upon the advice of Cyriacus, one of Hieron's friends, Lysias lifted the siege of the cave and withdrew his detachment. Then Cyriacus persuaded Hieron not to offer resistance to the authorities. He and the other new conscripts and accompanying soldiers were sent to the nearby city of Melitene. 

Soon Hieron had a vision in his sleep, in which his impending martyrdom was foretold. Lysias told the soldiers gathered at Melitene to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Hieron and another thirty-two soldiers refused to do this, and openly confessed their faith in Christ. Then the persecutor gave orders to beat the martyrs, and to cut off Hieron's arm at the elbow. After cruel tortures they threw the martyrs into prison barely alive, and they beheaded them four days later. 

A certain rich and illustrious Christian by the name of Chrysanthus ransomed Hieron's head from Lysias. When the persecutions finally ceased, he built a church on the place where they executed the holy martyrs, and he placed the venerable head in it. The bodies of all the executed saints were secretly buried by Christians. In reign of the emperor Justinian, during the construction of the church of St Irene, the venerable relics were uncovered and found incorrupt. 

The other martyrs are: Hesychius, Nicander, Athanasius, Mamas, Barachius, Callinicus, Theogenes, Nikon, Longinus, Theodore, Valerius, Xanthius, Theodoulus, Callimachus, Eugene, Theodochus, Ostrychius, Epiphanius, Maximian, Ducitius, Claudian, Theophilus, Gigantius, Dorotheus, Theodotus, Castrichius, Anicletus, Themelius, Eutychius, Hilarion, Diodotus and Amonitus.


There is also an icon of St Themelios in the local Church of St Nektarios in Kalymnos:


Μάρτυς Θεμέλιος Μελετινς βλαστς, τν δόλιον δράκοντα, τος τν αμάτων κρουνος, θλήσας πέπνιξε, πίστει γρ ληθείας, μελιδν τετμημένος, φθη τροπαιοφόρος, το Σωτρος πλίτης, πρεσβεύων διαλείπτως πρ τν ψυχν μν.

The Martyr Themelios, the offspring of Meletine, by the streams of your blood you choked the deceitful dragon through your struggle, for having faith in the truth you were beheaded in sweetness; you were seen as a trophy-bearer of the Saviour Soldier and you intercede unceasingly for our souls.

Chronia polla to all who celebrate their name day on this day. May St Themelios intercede to God so that He may grant mercy on our souls.


Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Monday, November 1, 2010

Something for the heart: An Indigenous Australian Orthodox Parish




On Saturday the 4th of July 2009, His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion travelled 2 and half hours from Sydney to the township of Gunning. Here, in the home of Father Seraphim (above) and Matushka Helen Slade he served the Divine Liturgy in English and blessed a chapel in honour of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco. Ordained priest only a year ago and of aboriginal heritage, Father Seraphim’s work with aboriginal media organisations obliges him to travel widely around Australia to many indigenous communities. This provides him with many excellent opportunities to introduce Orthodox Christianity to indigenous Australians in many different locations. The blessing of the home chapel provides Father Seraphim with a base where the Divine Liturgy can be regularly served for a small but growing number of converts to the Orthodox faith in Gunning and surrounding areas.
Father Seraphim requested that the chapel be blessed in honour of St John of Shanghai and San Francisco because of the encouragement St John gave for the establishment of local churches and the evangelisation of non-Russian peoples.
Serving with the Metropolitan were Father Seraphim Slade and Father George Robertson from the St Stephen of Perm mission in Queanbeyan. Over 60 people attended the Divine Liturgy, with many travelling from Sydney , Queanbeyan, Canberra and Yass. The choir from All Saints Church, Kentlyn, under the direction of Sub-deacon Stephen McKay, provided the singing. Following the Liturgy, the Metropolitan, clergy and congregation attended a festive trapeza in the hall of the Gunning fire station. Among the guests were the elders of the local indigenous community.

Τίς Θεός Μέγας ως ο Θεός ημών!


Synaxis of the Holy Unmercinaries


And because I can (Axion Estin in enharmonic Pl. 1st mode):