Set A Part for the Faith: A Refresher Course in Sainthood

 

The Sunday of All Saints was a few days ago, and while I had meant to write this blog sooner, I have not had a chance. I am not going away, as that would be an easy way out from all the controversy I have started with my previous post on Father Ephraim.  I understand that it is a very confrontational topic. I understand that many people still believe he conned an entire monastery for the past several decades, but his soul has been rendered up to God and God is his only judge. Yes, I believe that it is sad that the family of the victim never forgave him. Because they did not seek the peace that forgiveness brings to people. However, I would like today to go in another direction, a direction that reminds us, why men and women of the faith, who have been recognized as saints by the Church are important. Father Ephraim has not been declared a saint, and if he ever will be it will be decades before the Church has enough time to determine that.  However a refresher course on sainthood and saints is very important I believe. So today I think we need to look at Saints in the Orthodox Church and why they are so important to the Church and the history of Christianity.

            Sainthood in the Orthodox Church, as the early church fathers and the early Christians understood it does not mean perfect. Far from it. In fact, I would denote that Sainthood as a concept truly means that one has taken all their faults and shed them off to become holy. Holy means to be set a part, it does not mean perfect. When I refer to something as Holy, I mean that it is set a part for a specific purpose, a liturgical purpose. We have holy icons, holy water, and our holy fathers among the saints. All of these denote that something has changed in them. It means that despite the failings of the flesh, they overcame it through the grace of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. St. Moses the Black was a murderer and thief, St. Olga committed genocide. Despite all that, they found solace in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of the Universe and now dwell with him in heaven. St. Theodore the Commander was a warrior, so was St. George. If we look at purely these actions, one will see that these were regular people with regular dispositions.  St. Xenia of St. Petersburg, was a widow who lost her husband and became a fool for Christ. Elder Ephraim of Arizona left his home to seek Christ in the deserts of America, and in many ways is already a saint in all but title. The world around us, says that saints are people who have extraordinary gifts and personalities that led them to God more strongly than others. I disagree. I believe that these are people, who just like you and me, fought tooth and nail to overcome their passions. They realized that everything in this life was fleeting and unimportant. They sought forgiveness from their sins and forgiveness from others. Nothing stopped them from seeking forgiveness. They knew that forgiveness was the greatest gift of all. Something in them changed…through Jesus Christ.  The workings of Jesus Christ in their lives took precedence over sports, movies, television, video games, and other things people fill their lives with today. They did not care for the food of this world, they fasted and prayed. Longing for a home they had never seen, these men and women of the faith sojourned in a country that was foreign to them, yet had lived their since birth.  They abandoned the cares of the world and simple pleasures to obtain something greater than themselves. They did not let sin overcome them.

            However, that does not mean the Church knows all the saints. That does not mean the little old yiayia from down the street who has been going to church since she was baptized as a baby is not a saint. Again, far from it. She has as much potential as becoming a saint as we all do. Therefore, the Sunday of All Saints was established. It is recognized that the Church does not have the capacity to record every saint that has ever lived. We cannot commemorate every name, because that would be an inexhaustible list of people who have achieved perfection in Christ. The Sunday of All Saints was established to commemorate even the ones we do not know, to allow the church to recognize all the saints as we say in every liturgy.  The Sunday of All Saints reminds us that we too must continue our struggles.  We may not have a day set a part for us on the church liturgical calendar to be commemorated. We may not even been seen as a saint in our lifetime.  The Sunday of All Saints though reminds us that no matter the circumstances of life, we have been called to the exact same purpose that even the great men and women of the faith have been called to. We are their equal on that footing. We have been called to Sainthood.

            We all have the capacity to become saints. Every single one of us, through the grace of Jesus Christ can obtain the ability to perfect our shortcomings and enter into heaven. Those of us who choose not to accept the free divine grace that Jesus gives through his Church have rejected this capacity and instead are overcome by the demons of the world and transformed into mini devils. Those who persevere and forsake the glory of this world for the sake of the glory of heaven instead become Holy. We enter the mystical divine working essence of Christ and thus allow Christ to work through us and with us to achieve sanctification in the world. We become set a part from all the evils that have been allowed to enter into the earthly, mortal realm and can fulfill the divine plan of God, that is to bring order to everything as Adam once did, and was supposed to do. The only requirement for this is that we allow God to enter us. God is not an overbearing overlord who forces himself upon us. Rather he waits patiently until we are ready to be used by Him to begin his work in us.  He waits for us to be willing to become his children and accept the beauty of divine grace. Our call today as every day is to heed the same call that the saints of old did…to bring the Light of Christ to all people.

 

Amen.

St. Panteleimon the Great Martyr and Healer: His Life and Miracles

 

“O Champion and Martyr of God,

imitating the Merciful and bearing from Him the grace of healing,

cure our spiritual ills by your prayers,

and set free from the temptation of the eternal enemy,

those who ceaselessly cry out, "Save us, O Lord."

 

I was scrolling through YouTube as I have been the past few days I recover from medical issues and came across a few miracles by St. Panteleimon.  I have heard of St. Panteleimon but was unsure of who he really was. Instead of just recounting his life, I will be both doing that and a recounting a few miracles associated with him. This wonderful saint of which so many have witnessed his love for Christ is true example to us all.

            The first thing I want to say is that he was born to a pagan family though his mother is St. Eubula, his father was a pagan. Raised a pagan he eventually was Christianized and took the name by which we associate with him today. He was an exceptionally good doctor, healing people all across the city. Mostly Christians, these people would come to him for help, and he would not accept payment, doing this out of the kindness of his heart. Because of the many healings he performed through the power of Jesus Christ, the rest of city began to turn away from the pagan practitioners of medicine and sought him exclusively. When this occurred the many pagans turned against him and sought his life. Eventually St. Panteleimon was brought before the Emperor Maximian and confessed to being a Christian. A wonderful example of his testimony is recorded about his life in the following statement, "[He] suggested that a sick person, for whom the doctors held out no hope, should be brought before the emperor. Then the doctors could invoke their gods, and Panteleimon would pray to his God to heal the man. A man paralyzed for many years was brought in, and pagan priests who knew the art of medicine invoked their gods without success. Then, before the very eyes of the emperor, the saint healed the paralytic by calling on the name of Jesus Christ. The ferocious Maximian executed the healed man, and gave St. Panteleimon over to fierce torture." These tortures were beyond the control of any mere man, but through the gift of grace from God Panteleimon withstood them. His three brothers in Christ Hermolaus, Hermippus, and Hermocrates who had survived the killing 20,000 Christians earlier in their lives were brought before the Emperor and beheaded, but Panteleimon remained unafraid and unharmed. Because of his witness, the Emperor was enraged and ordered that he too was to be beheaded. According to the sources surrounding his life, it is said that Panteleimon was taken to an olive tree by the Roman soldiers and was sentenced to death. There he was tied to the tree and the sword swung to take his head. When the sword reached the tree, it melted as if it were wax because he was praying. Panteleimon finished his prayer and heard a voice from heaven calling him home and that he was to be a passion-bearer. He instructed the soldiers who were afraid of him to rise to their feet and to complete the execution. They did so and Panteleimon surrendered his soul into the care of God. 

            The first miracle that is associated with Panteleimon occurred shortly after his death. The pagans in their pure hatred for the saint took his body to the fire to burn the remains as they did not want anyone to venerate his relics. When the relics were placed on the fire, they did not burn. The local Christians of the area took his body down from the fire and buried him on the Island of Andros at the Panachrantos Monastery.  Another miracle occurred while the saint was still living. He had seen a young boy on the street who had been killed by a venomous snake. He prayed to God that he might revive the boy and destroy the snake. When God did, he immediately went and became a Christian. His father, the pagan I discussed, witnessed his son healing a blind man. The man was healed by invoking the name of Jesus Christ and both the blind man and St. Panteleimon’s own father and the blind man who’s sight was restored were both baptized into the Christian faith because of this miracle. The tortures that I described are another miracle of St. Panteleimon through God. They scraped him with iron hooks, threw him into a cauldron of boiling tar, burned him with fire, and stretched him on a rack. All of these as I stated left St. Panteleimon unharmed. Prince Izyaslav a prince in the Russian part of the church had an icon of the saint on his helmet and survived a particularly vicious battle in the year 1151. On the feast day of the saint, the Russians have won two important naval battles against the Swedish forces, one in 1714, and the other in 1720.  I also read about a miraculous healing a woman without a heartbeat at a hospital in Athens that was very recent. People seek pilgrimages to Andros to pray at the relics of St. Panteleimon and some of his relics were transferred to Romania where they remain.

            From the life of St. Panteleimon, we can understand what it is like to be a Christian. We understand that St. Panteleimon was a great healer. He is invoked in the rights of healing of the Orthodox Church and he is also sometimes considered the patron saint of soldiers. St. Panteleimon is a witness for us all when we see the tortures of this world surrounding us. Instead of fleeing, Panteleimon accepted his torture willingly even commanding the soldiers to conduct the beheading though he would repose in the Lord. As a passion bearer we know that there will be times that come in our future where our own lives will be asked of us. If we are strong in our faith as St. Panteleimon, we can withstand any tortures the enemy throws at us. May St. Panteleimon guide us and protect us through his intercession to Our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

            Amen.

St. Paisios of Mount Athos

 

*Disclaimer: I will speak the truth in this blog. Some might find my words harsh to describe some groups and enemies of the Church. If I offend you, I implore you to seek forgiveness and return to the Orthodox Faith. I do not do this harm you or hate you, for I love all of you dearly. I only do so that you might see the truth and live

Today’s Saint is Saint Paisios. Though today is not his feast day, I have studied St. Paisios since before I was chrismated into the church. St. Paisios has spoken at length along with so many others regarding the masons, Marxists and other enemies of the church. Even those who the world would assume as the people of God, the Jews are fully against God and His Church. Do not have anything to do with those who seek to destroy it. I have been reading once again the remarkable prophecies of St. Paisios and have recorded some in previous articles so that you might find strength and repentance when the time comes. Today we will look at the remarkable life of the saint, and also detail his words of encouragement for the Church. Though he reposed in 1994, two years after I was born I have felt a strong connection to this saint and was one of the names I mulled over in my mind before I took St. Seraphim’s name. I will hopefully do a blog, Lord willing, on St. Seraphim in a few days’ time that looks more in depth at him. St. Paisios though is one of the pinnacles of the recent church and his life can give us hope and encouragement. Let us pray that he will do so through this article.

               He was born Arsenios Eznepidis in Cappadocia, Turkey where many of our most beloved saints have hailed from. From an early age Arsenios was well versed in the theology of the church and the Holy Scriptures, his family was uprooted from their home in Turkey to Epirus in Greece as part of an exchange between the two countries. Though Arsenios would be called to military action during the Greek Civil War, he did not wish to do time as a combatant and served instead as a radio operator. He was noted for his bravery and his concern for others despite not caring for his own safety. He wished to enter the monastic life in 1950, but was also concerned for his sisters, who unmarried were his responsibility as well. Thus, having taken care of his sisters Arsenios finally sought the monastic life. Having entered the monastery as a novice, he was taught the ways of monasticism and prayer and was finally tonsured as a monk in 1954, receiving the new name Averkios. He went to Philotheou Monastery where his uncle resided and was placed under the care of Elder Symeon. There he dwelt in extreme self-denial, focusing purely on his own sins and judging himself very harshly. He was given the small schema in 1956, with the name he would carry the rest of his life…Paisios. From there many visitors would come to seek his counsel, but he would pretend to be a fool so as to preserve his silence and meditation on the holy things of God. In 1958, after groups of protestant heretics began speaking out against the Orthodox Faith, he went home to his village and spoke out against them, encouraging the faithful and returning many back to the apostolic faith. In 1962, he left for Sinai, where he had wished to go for a long time, seeking the desert but also the spiritual desert where he could grow in faith and stature. The Bedouin people of the region became well endowed to St. Paisios and loved him with great love. He would buy the people food from the woodcarving he would do, as he was a trained carpenter. In 1964, after failing health, he returned to Mount Athos, a place where he would rarely leave again. He had part of his lungs removed in 1966. He was finally granted the highest rank of monasticism, the Great Schema, and resided in the hermitage of Elder Tikhon. In 1979 he finally left for his last home on the Holy Mountain that of Panagouda. Because of his extreme asceticism, he was only afforded 2-3 hours of sleep a night. St. Paisios at this time began to receive visitors for hours on end, at a women’s monastery where he could relax and be their spiritual father. He had no choice but to leave the mountain, a few times due to illness and returned without complaining, noting that all was for God’s glory and he did not expect anything in return. Finally due to cancer, St. Paisios left Mount Athos for the final time. In 1993, he was diagnosed with Cancer and sent to Thessaloniki for treatment. He was eventually transferred to a local monastery where despite his suffering and pain he continued to receive visitors and listened intently at their sorrows. On July 11^th, 1994, he received communion for the final time, surrendering his soul to the care of God on July 12^th. Officially declared a saint by the Holy Synod of Constantinople in 2015, he is widely regarded as a living saint while here on earth. The Church only proclaimed what God had already established.

               Now a little regarding his prophecies. I said I would speak to the nature of them and will do so now. St. Paisios was always concerned for the wellbeing of the people and for his Greek nation. He often noted the lukewarm nature of many priests and the spiritual deception that was taking place in the world. He also noted that time was coming when Turkey would no longer exist, and that Greece would once again be triumphant. He predicted the beginning of WW3 and what it would entail for the people that participated in that horrific conflict. He has also been proven right in regard to the reestablishment of the Hagia Sophia as a mosque and the call to extend the borders of the Greek nation. All of which precedes the beginning of the end for Turkey and the number of enemies the Church has gathered. He had incredible foresight into the nature of the world and predicted the coming of a great illness (possibly Covid-19).  He spoke out against protestants, against the communists, and against the New World Order. He knew that all of those things would be greatly influential in the coming years though noting that Christ would be victorious. He asked us to guard our hearts from any flight of the devil and to remain steadfast and true. In a world today that seeks to say that truth is unknowable he boldly preached the truth of the Church.

               We know that all of us are not called to the monastic life. Some of us will be married, raise children, and participate in the life of the parish, which it too is for the glory of God. I have not been called to such a position and remain happily married and enjoy life within my own parish in Memphis. While we certainly can learn from the extreme humility and patience that St. Paisios exhibited can be a great comfort and example for us all. May God through his intercession bring us all to repentance that we may live.

               Amen.

Relics: The Power of God Revealed

 

Recently I have been doing a lot of articles on miracles and prophecies and the like. I started with the Theotokos and have been increasingly reading about miracles and their power in our everyday world on YouTube and the internet. Today I would like to offer up another kind of miracle, one that is more easily understood by both Orthodox and non-Orthodox a like. I’m often reminded of the phrase KISS (Keep it simple stupid) and today I think I’ll try to stick to that philosophy and keep it simple. We will be discussing relics and their place within the Orthodox world and how we the faithful react to them. I truly believe in the power of relics and ask humbly that God will keep my faith strong in Him.

Relics to put it bluntly is an item associated with a saint. This is usually a piece of the body of the saint, or an object associated with them, for example the hat of St. Mark the Gravedigger. Most often though we associate the body of the saint as their relics. We as Americans are humbled to have the relics of a few saints on the shores of our country and someday I hope I can visit a few of them. St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco for example is still incorrupt nearly sixty something years after his death. St. Spyridon in Greece is known to also be incorrupt nearly 1600 years after his death. His shoes that are located on his body must be changed every month because he is known as the walking saint, still walking about the island though his earthly body has reposed in the Lord. One of the relics I have recently read about is that of St. John the Russian, who’s coffin remains closed and unopenable until it is time to change the vestments on the saint. He will appear to a person of great faith who he will send to the priest in charge of his relics and will tell this person to go and have his vestments changed. St. Seraphim of Sarov my patron saint, had his relics lost during the soviet period of Russian history and they were rediscovered in recent years in 1991, a year before I was born. Pieces of the true cross, the nails that were used to nail Christ to his cross, and his holy tomb are all relics in the sense that they were associated with Christ at the point of his death and resurrection. We read about the aprons and handkerchiefs that St. Paul sent to heal people of disease and illness in the Holy Scriptures. We also know of the miracles such as Holy Fire that are sent into the Tomb every year that they are used by God to show his power and authority on earth.  These examples of relics are a few of the mysterious and wonderful gifts of divine grace that God has granted to us. St. Ephraim also has relics that have been placed inside of a cross that one can wear and recently a young man with liver problems was miraculously healed by wearing this cross and he intends to build a church in the saint’s honor. Relics form an important part of our faith, not because we worship them as this would be considered idolatry but because they do show the very nature of God. God knows us to be weak of heart and strength and because of failings allows gifts like this to occur so that we might have our faith strengthened and to proclaim the gospel more boldly.

We know that God created both body and soul. And that they share the same holiness in regard to the nature that God gave it at the creation of the world.  Relics are a source of God’s power not of man’s and all relics point back to God as the supreme source of holiness. Those who have been open to God’s grace and plan for their lives more fully have been endowed with the Holy Spirit in such a way that their relics, and the items associated with them are granted the power of holiness to help perform miracles and healings to draw people closer to God. They are not meant to be worshipped but may be given veneration, which is a different concept entirely and worship and veneration are clearly set and defined by Orthodox Theology. Worship is for God, whereas veneration can be given to the created being, and is kept free of idolatry because we are not associating the power of the creature with God. We understand that without God the created being could do nothing miraculous.

Orthodox Christians have venerated relics since the beginning of the Faith. Those who the Church considers to be Christians before the time of Christ such as Moses and the Prophet Elisha have both been at the center of relics before Christ appeared on earth in the incarnation. Moses made the bronze serpent, which healed the Israelites if they merely looked at it.  Elisha’s body was thrown into a common tomb with another man, and the bones of the man were revived in full and he stood up. These miracles were not because of any special power that either one had, they weren’t magicians or sorcerers, but because God granted these miracles to occur for the benefit and salvation of all mankind. Lastly, I would also like to point out that the Ark of the Covenant which was carried by the Israelites and resided in the first temple, is a relic as well. This reliquary housed the ten commandments, the staff of Aaron, and the manna of the wilderness.  We know of miracles associated with it, such as when one touched it, or when it caused the Philistine gods to be broken into pieces upon its capture. Throughout the life of the servants of God, there have been great objects and miracles that have been associated with items that otherwise without the express grace that was granted it, would be considered ordinary.

Finally, there is the concern that many of the relics are fake. People love to question the faith and to discredit it means that the pagans and non-believers can have a small victory over those of us who remain true to the Apostolic faith. While the problem with fake relics is more common in the west among the Roman Catholic Church, there still is the concern that some relics are faith. The Orthodox Church counters this by understanding the history of the relic, the miracles it has been granted and so on. From a scientific point of view, there is no way we can actually assume that the relic is real. The authenticity of the relic therefore is based solely on faith alone. This faith is granted to us through God because he wants all to be called to repentance and live. Times are harder now than they have been in the past. People are searching for the truth. The Orthodox Church confirms the truth through these relics, and through the power of God. We do not claim to be some sort of mystical cult that can decipher the scriptures to the nth degree and everything is clear for us. Rather we know that God is a mystery and that he works in mysterious ways. Our job is not to question and to argue with others, rather it is to believe with such fervor that nothing else matters in our lives. God alone is our center, our focus. He brings about these miracles with the relics, not for the glory, but for our salvation that we might live. May God grant to us, the salvation that we so desperately need.

Amen.

St Patrick of Ireland

 

Holy Bishop Patrick, faithful shepherd of Christ’s royal flock, you filled Ireland with the radiance of the Gospel: The mighty strength of the Trinity!  Now that you stand before the Savior, pray that He may preserve us in faith and love!

            Today is March 17^th, St. Patrick’s day to those who celebrate it, and just another day for other people…who are crazy. Among the Irish people of Europe and North America today is a national day of celebration, a day of great importance and remembrance for a hero of their people. But who really was St. Patrick? Why do we as Orthodox still remember this great Patron Saint of Ireland and why was his teaching important to the furtherance of the Kingdom of God? I hope to in turn answer some of those questions today.

            First, who was St. Patrick? He was the son of a deacon, born in Kilpatrick in Scotland, he was of Scottish origin, not Irish, which most people believe.  His father, Calpurnius the deacon, was part of the Christian minority in Britain at this time, and was the son himself of a priest. Patrick was raised in the Christian faith, but did not have a strong belief in God at this time in his life. Patrick, it seems was the typical teenager questioning the beliefs of his parents and not strong willed. At the age of 16, Patrick was captured by a raiding party and carried off as a slave to Ireland.  It was during this period of captivity, that Patrick’s faith in Christ was fully realized. Obtaining the grace of the Holy Spirit and becoming well versed in Christian theology and the Faith. Patrick at the age of 22, left Ireland and sought clerical training, becoming a priest, and in 430 at the age of 40 a bishop when he returned to Ireland. From there Patrick preached the gospel to the various kings of the counties of Ireland, and gained permission to teach their subjects.  For nearly 31 years of his life, Patrick brought the pagan worship of Ireland to an end, establishing Christianity on the Emerald Isle and bringing light to the darkness. He reposed in the Lord in 461, around the age of 71.

            The next question I would like to answer is why St. Patrick is still remembered by the Orthodox. For most people, St. Patrick is a Catholic saint, who is most revered by the Roman Catholic population of the island. While this is true that St. Patrick is also recognized by the Roman Catholics, we must remember that St. Patrick born in 390 A.D. was born before the Roman Catholics broke away from the Great Church. Before 1054, or even earlier by some accounts, the Orthodox Church was whole, no breaks of communion and no loss of fellowship or heresies were present in the church. Thus, St. Patrick taught an orthodox theology to the people of Ireland. He taught what the Church had always believed. He preached the Creed without the filioque. He did not promulgate the Arian or Nestorian heresies. St. Patrick is Orthodox rather than Roman Catholic because Roman Catholicism only was established with the break of communion with Constantinople and the other 3 patriarchs in 1054. So, St. Patrick is remembered in the Synaxarion by the Orthodox because he was Orthodox before everything else.

            Finally, why was St. Patrick so important for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God? The most obvious answer is his teaching on the Trinity. As many who read the blog know, the earliest of heresies dealt with the Trinity and relationship between the personages of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So too in Ireland the pagans who worshipped many gods, were confused by the Trinity. It is a teaching of the church that has wrought the downfall of many and causes people to rationalize everything and fall into heresy themselves. So much so that among the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus is a created being, rather than God Himself. St. Patrick in defense of the Trinity is famous for using the shamrock, to describe that while each leaf on the shamrock was different, and had its own portion, it was still one shamrock. That is why he is painted on the icons with the shamrock, and why we see shamrocks in stores and decorations around this time. We see his devotion to God in his Lorica, the Breastplate of St. Patrick. This prayer calls upon the trinity and reaffirms the faith of the apostles. It teaches us of the protection God gives through the saints, through the angels. The prayer also calls upon God to shield him from the heretics, from the wiles of the demons, and other evil things. The prayer is a testament not only to the faith of St. Patrick, but to all who call earnestly on the name of God. St. Patrick realizes as do all who yearn for the love of Christ that they can do nothing without Him. (Philippians 4:13).  He also recognizes that salvation comes from nothing else than Christ. You can’t place your faith in riches, in people, in items, in talismans. Salvation is Christ’s and Christ’s alone to give to those who he sees fit. Lastly, St. Patrick is important because he created a bastion of the faith in Ireland. He established a place where Christianity flourished. Though Roman Catholicism and its heresies have taken root in Ireland, Orthodoxy is slowly returning to the isle and many monasteries and churches are being reestablished there. The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia came to the island in the 1920s after the Soviet Revolution. The Greeks came in the 1980s. The people of Ireland though wandering aimlessly for all that time never forgot their original faith, and Orthodoxy is again alive and well in Ireland.

            St. Patrick is more than a leprechaun, more than a celebration of Irish heritage. He is a true beacon of hope in the troubling times that we live in today. He has given us the faith of our forefathers. He brought a land out of darkness. St. Patrick is an inspiration to us all who follow Christ. May we remember his love and his devotion on this his feast day and all days in honor of a true hero of Christianity.

Amen.

On Repentance and Salvation

 

Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.

The choir of the saints has found the fountain of life and the door of

Paradise. May I also find the way through repentance, the sheep that

was lost am I, call me up to You, O Savior, and save me.

It seems like my heart has been heavier than ever these past few weeks and days, mainly because of everything that has been going on in the world. I have been dealing with a lot of struggles and demonic attacks as of late and could use your prayers as I pray for you. However, I would be remiss if I did not discuss repentance and what it has meant to the Church and the world around us. It is during the worst of times that God can bring about the most change in our lives because when we live in peace, we often think we don’t need God. Today let us discuss repentance and hope of salvation. 

                First let us set the groundwork for salvation. Salvation is a topic that many in the world believe they understand, but few truly grasp its real presence in their lives. I am not sure who said this so I can’t give credit to the following statement, but I know from experience, that I am saved, am being saved and will be saved. Salvation is not in itself a one time walk down the aisle pray a prayer and magically one is granted entrance into heaven. Salvation is a process. A process by which one becomes more like Christ. In the Orthodox Church we call this Theosis. Theosis while not a common term one might find in English bibles, it is plain to see in the scriptures especially written by St. Paul. Galatians 4:3 says, “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.” The bondage of the world is the slave to sin, Theosis is the bondage of Christ, becoming a servant of the Most High. Colossians 1:18 says, “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” If he is the firstborn among the dead, so too must we die to ourselves and become new creatures. The way through this is the path of salvation. When we participate in the divine liturgy, the services of the church, the prayers that come from our prayer books we unite ourselves to Christ in such a way that his divine energy the Energeia in Greek (Ενέργεια του Θεού). He is allowed to work through us and with us, only by our choosing, protestants might say that we must accept the gift of salvation. Christ uses us as the instruments by which divine grace is poured out on the world and distributed among the nations of the world. He uses the priests to distribute the gifts of the Eucharist, the Bishops to uphold the teachings of the church, and the laypeople to go out into the world and sow the seeds of salvation by example, drawing all people to himself. Though many reject him, this is still the divine plan, whether they accept it or not.

                The way to salvation is a simple one. It is the way of repentance. We have discussed what salvation is, in that is the way in which God brings all people to himself and unites himself with us in union, but how must we unite ourselves to Christ. Surely, we just live our lives and God accepts for who we are right? No. That is not the case. It never has been and never will be. God being a Holy and Just God cannot dwell in the realm of sinners and cannot dwell where the stench of evil lives. The Greek word for this is called, metanoia. Repentance according to my own jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America says, “The Greek term for repentance, metanoia, denotes a change of mind, a reorientation, a fundamental transformation of outlook, of man's vision of the world and of himself, and a new way of loving others and God.” It is more than a prayer, reading the scriptures, or any other sort of act that we do. It is a complete change of mind and heart. The things that we once enjoyed, the things that are mundane and fleeting become dim lights in the eyes of one with true repentance. They look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ at the Second Coming, and they participate in the services with joy and gladness. They do not seek the wealth and pleasures of this world. Theirs is a home in paradise where there is no sighing or suffering, but life everlasting. To achieve this, one must seek Christ and his saints through prayer, through offerings and through actions. It is one thing to confess Christ, it is another to act upon it. If you believe in something so strongly that it consumes you like Christ should, you will act upon this belief. People who walk down the aisle of protestant churches, or are chrismated in the Orthodox Church, who never return once the service is over have no true repentance in their hearts. They only offer lip service to Christ like the Pharisees did. Repentance is allowing Christ to take that which is corrupted by sin, and to restore you to the way things were prior to the fall. Just as salvation is the way that Christ acts within us, repentance is the gate that must be open for Christ to come in. You must break down the bars of your own Hades, so that Christ can come in and harrow it. In this, the light of Christ can be shown through you, and you truly become the salt of the earth. My favorite Orthodox hymn repeats the phrase, “For His Mercy endures forever and ever alleluia.”  This hymn reminds me it is never too late for you to accept Christ in this world. You have the chance now. Don’t waste it on the things of the world. Nothing in this life can compare to the things prepared for us in heaven.

                I am hoping that life and Lent finds all you well as we have entered into the second week. I pray that you are struggling against the devil as St. George did with the dragon and will not yield. I pray that this article might give you hope as it does to me.

 

Amen.

A look at Orthodox Monarchy

 

            When choosing a name for something, like a dog or your children, a lot of thought goes into the decision. You may talk with family members, you may seek advice from your priest, you may even pray about the decision. All of these are noble and good, and in the end the name that you give your child especially will be carried with them the rest of their earthly and eternal lives. So too when I took up my keyboard to first write this blog, I took my time in deciding a name for it. As you all know by now if you’re reading this, the name of the blog is The Tsar’s Corner. That’s not by accident, and certainly not a misnomer. When something is laid on your heart, a wellspring of the Holy Spirit pours forth and if you allow it, God can speak through you. I don’t imagine God uses this 29-year-old young man from the spiritually inept regions of the United States to do much good, but I pray that as God guides me on my journey, he might just give me the grace of the Holy Spirit to do a few good things in this life. This article you are about to read is one of those things I pray God blesses with the uttermost blessing. A chance to share with you a passion of mine, as well as something that I have grown to understand is the basis of how God not only rules the universe but has ordained man to govern the earth. It is a foreign concept in our age of enlightenment, in our age of reason, but nonetheless it is the way God has intended. I am of course talking about monarchy. And my friends that is why this blog is called the Tsar’s Corner. Named in honor of St. Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia.

            With that said, let’s look at the most recent Orthodox monarchy, that of Russia for our first inspiration. Russia, that bastion of orthodoxy that has in recent years come under so much scrutiny from the west and the United States of America was once the mightiest of the Orthodox lands, the third Rome if you will. Now, I am not going to go into detail over whether it is the Third Rome, that is an entirely different argument, but it is important that it was center for Orthodox thought from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to 1917 when it itself fell to the abominable and morally heinous Soviet Regime. Out of Russia, great saints of the faith rose certainly after this especially during the great periods of persecution and tribulation that was suffered at the hands of the soviets, but so too before this. We witness of course, Seraphim of Sarov, of who’s name I carry. We witness the Optina Elders, Valaam had its greatest period of spiritual growth during the reigns of the Tsars and certainly the people were allowed to worship fully in spirit and in truth during the reigns of the Tsars from St. Vladimir the Great, to the final Romanov monarch St. Tsar Nicholas II. St. Vladimir, influenced by the repentance of his grandmother St. Olga of Kiev, sought the light of Orthodoxy in Constantinople. It was there that his emissaries said, “We knew not whether we were in Heaven or on Earth… We only know that God dwells there among the people, and their service is fairer than the ceremonies of other nations."  The truth of Christianity was brought back to Kievan Rus and there it stayed and has not left since.

            Though Russia was the last bastion of Orthodox Monarchy, it was not the first. We know that from the reign of St. Constantine the Great and his mother St. Helen, that Byzantium and the Eastern Roman Empire was a Christian nation. It was there when the forging of the great Nicene Creed, the ecumenical councils, and when the church fathers began to write. God was the King of the Universe, and the Emperor was God’s chosen vessel to rule. Now this seems eerily familiar with the so called “Vicar of Christ” title the Pope of Rome has assumed, but no, it was different. The Emperor wasn’t chosen by God to rule over the Church and create new teachings and new policies or to rule over the thoughts of men, but rather to bring peace and stability to the people and govern justly and with the heart of Christ.  The Emperor would from time to time be asked to solve disputes within the church, but as an outside adjudicator. The Emperor was after all, not an ordained priest, but a layman, under the guidance of a spiritual father. A confessor. The Emperor was meant to be one of virtue. Now we know that this wasn’t often the case, many were corrupt men, as all men are. We also know that many saints and many of the elders of the church were at one time royalty, surrendering everything they had for the sake of Christ. These men and their spouses were to uphold the commandments for all to follow, to be the shining example of their people. If we compare it to today’s politicians, we see that those men are not examples for us to follow, rather they are laughed at, mocked, and often times are involved in things that as Christians we should and must scorn.

            Finally, we reach the last argument I will make regarding monarchy. Heaven. Yes even heaven is a monarchy. With Jesus as King and Sovereign over the universe, and the angels his ministers, or as the bible more eloquently puts it, “He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.” (Psalm 104:4) I am reminded of the Lord of Spirits podcast, of the teachings of Fathers Andrew Damick and Stephen De Young, who as Orthodox priests proclaim the truth that Orthodoxy has maintained, in that Jesus as the King, and the angels his ministers, sit in council together, and final authority rests of the shoulders of God, and thus heaven itself is a monarchy. Though God does take counsel, he being creator of all, and omniscient, knows everything. He makes the decisions for the world that is best for us. He being the good king, like an Aragorn of Lord of the Rings note. Again, don’t take my word for it, rather read Isaiah 37:6 which says, “O Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” Or Psalm 95:3 which says, “For the Lord is a great God And a great King above all gods,” I might do a future post on God of gods, and the like but now is not the time. Another verse that shows that heaven is a monarchy, is 1 Timothy 1:17 it reads, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.  Psalm 47:8 says, “God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne. Even Matthew says in 4:!7, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Revelation 11:15 talks about the victory that Christ won at His Resurrection, and the establishment of the eternal Kingdom of God when it says, “Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

            So you have seen the examples of Russia and Byzantium. You have also been given scriptural references that Heaven is a monarchy. So what do we do with this information now that it is presented. There are always two options. The first is to reject it. As often men do when it doesn’t fit their narrative. They reject it and come up with a rational explanation. No, heaven is a monarchy, people should be free to govern themselves, a king would only make matters worse. If we look at the democracies of the world in which this argument has been made, then, it is a lie. Countries of the west, like Britain, France, Germany, Poland, and the United States are all spiritually weak, and feeble minded. We see this with the politicians, and leaders of the countries allowing mob rule and for morality to be thrown aside for comfort and ease. Places like Russia and Ukraine and the Eastern European nations that once held fast to the Tsar are albeit spiritually sound but struggling against the pulls of the devils and their wiles to bring down these nations and destroy them. When power rests in the hands of one person, decisions can be swift, and taking the council of a few chosen who have been learned in the scriptures and writings of the Church can make the actions of the ruler much more informed. What happens when we allow all to make a decision is that no one agrees on anything, and they try to profit off gaining their own interests and power. Sad really. So that is why I pray for the return of an Orthodox Emperor, one who can unite the Commonwealth of Peoples under the Orthodox banner of faith and restore peace and stability to the world. Not in a one world new world order sort of way, but one that will bring honor and glory to God and God alone.

 

Amen.

 

 

 

Facing the Persecutor

 

Persecution. Not the greatest of topics, but as the past two blogs have become a running theme, it’s the logical next step in our discussion that I have taken up on my blog. We have discussed St. Sophronios who was beloved by his flock but saw that the persecution of the Christians was due to lukewarm hearts and disdain for true and righteous beliefs. We discussed St. Ephraim, who left his home in Greece to become a monk and come to America, a foreign and strange land to him where he would be looked down upon for his simple way of life and his status as a monk. But we have not gotten at the heart of the matter, rather the heart of the world. Our discussions on this blog have shown that persecution does exist, sometimes subtly, other times as it was with the Islamic Invasions of the Holy Land, very real and very straightforward. But both times it is there. It lurks in the shadows as does the devil. He doesn’t need to work in the light, for by working in the shadows does he do his greatest damage to the hearts of men. When the devil corrupts, he corrupts only to the point in which we allow him to. Just like God, he doesn’t force himself on us, but whispers and connives and plots in hearts until we are so ensnared by his thinking, we pass it off as our own and often the world sees what the devil has created as normal. And that is where we land ourselves in this article today.

You see we see it in the world around us whether we admit it to ourselves or if we are ignorant and blissful of the situation, but it is real. From political leaders who wish to tear down the fabric of society and remake it in their image, or from so called religious leaders who beg and plead with those they have been entrusted with to make evil good and good evil. But dear brothers and sisters this is simply persecution in its subtleness. Jesus spoke of those who would hate true Christians and seek to destroy them. He says in John 15:23, “He who hates Me hates My Father also.” He also says even before that in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.” The world is constantly working against Christians. That is why I have spoken at great length about the bastions of faith like Elder Ephraim and St. Sophronios. Father Seraphim Rose’s book was such an eye opener for me, that it has changed how I view the world and how I interact with it. The world hates what we stand for, they are willing to go into destruction of their own accord by being themselves deceived. And yet, they do not want to admit this. Sin has corrupted their hearts and minds and allowed them to persecute the Church and her members in the name of preserving peace and prosperity. In fact, Jesus even speaks of this, because he in John 16:2 in the same discourse as the two previous mentioned verses in this article says, “They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”  We have seen this time and time again. St. Paul before he was appointed as Apostle to the Gentiles was himself a great persecutor of Christians. There have been martyrs too numerous to count who have surrendered their lives, by being beheaded, burned alive, fed to wild beasts, pushed off cliffs, broken on wheels, and other such torturous devices.  

The hopes of these people who commit these acts is not as I have said to preserve peace and prosperity, but to eradicate their own conscience and to try and expunge the name of God from the Earth. They wish to not have to confront their own demons, their own sins. They wish to again as I have said place the blame on others for their own rejection of God. My dear brothers and sisters, it is just beginning. Elder Ephraim speaks of the neo-martyrs of America, others have said what began in Russia will be finished in America. Elder Paisios was known to have spoken about the war between Russia and Turkey and retaking of Constantinople and the defeat of the NATO forces. All of this in preparation for the coming of Jesus and the beginning of the age of eternity. These times may come in our lifetime, they may be years, decades away, it is not for us to decide but to wait and watch. God calls us to be protectors of our nous, our hearts and minds, our souls.  Persecution will come. It will grow stronger as the chains that bind Satan will be loosened. This however will be for a short time. Just like in the days of the early church when droves went to the arena and contested for their faith among the multitudes, we ourselves might be called once again to great contests. If that is the case, we must arm ourselves with spiritual armor, with the hope of salvation. We know that times will test us but when we are strongest is when we have our faith solely rested in the Bosom of God.

Amen.

Restoring America: The Life of Elder Ephraim of Arizona

 

Elder Ephraim of Arizona, the great Elder of American Orthodoxy, was in fact not American himself. This elder perhaps more than any other outside of Metropolitan Jonah Paffhausen of America has had more of an impact on my life coming to Orthodoxy.  Elder Ephraim was and is a spiritual stalwart of American Orthodoxy and has many things to teach us in his life and works. We will explore some of those here today and hopefully understand better the man and his life.

            The spiritual son of St. Joseph the Hesychast, Elder Ephraim began to become a shining star of orthodoxy in the 1960s on the Holy Mountain, the garden of the Theotokos, Mount Athos. Elder Ephraim was by all accounts a radiant joy of a human. His face shone with light and a countenance that is not seen by many. Perhaps one of my favorite things about Elder Ephraim was his constant call to draw us to conversation with God, noetic prayer. Of course, what better prayer than to do this with than the Jesus Prayer and the use of a prayer rope. I am sure my love of the prayer rope of which I have gone through many in just my five years of being Orthodox is because of Elder Ephraim’s call to use the Jesus Prayer to be constantly enraptured with the Spirit of God.  He carried with him a slow way of speaking, not hurried, not derived of any earthly time but was focused on his future life, the life beyond this one. He was contrite from my research, especially after Compline, which if anyone has heard me speak, is my favorite service. Elder Ephraim of Arizona was given the sacred hesychia as a spiritual inheritance from his Elder, Joseph, and passed it to his spiritual children of which there are many. But it is the spiritual inheritance of all True Christians, the gift that allows us to unite ourselves with the Divine Spirit of God and to dwell in that otherworldly realm while experiencing life here in the mortal realm. But here in lies the heart of the matter that I want to delve into a little deeper.

            While America maybe considered a realm of Christianity, it is filled with Roman Catholic and Protestant teachings that are at best scholarly and academic approaches to God. Outlining the teachings, one must do to be a Christian and reducing salvation to a basic formula. Orthodoxy, though with its great writers and teachers is not devoid of academic and theological resources and texts is more about experiencing God in His pure form, in having a relationship with God as he intended…face to face. It is not about defining who God is, but just understanding that God is. In Hesychia and noetic prayer we draw ourselves to God into the Heaven Liturgy of which I have spoken about before. We ascend as Paul did into the heavens and fall at the throne of God. We take the bucket of our souls and fill it with the Living Water as St. Photini did at the Well. It is not about knowledge, power, or grandeur. It is about living within Christ. Take away the icons, the gold chalices, the vestments and the building of the church and you would still have Orthodoxy. You would still have the scriptures written on the hearts of all True Christians and life would still go on. Elder Ephraim knew this. Therefore, when he was called away from the Holy Mountain all those years ago, he traveled here, to America to bring the Light of Christ to a darkened world. He brought with him the patristic teachings, the Faith of the apostles, the hope of salvation. 

            I have spoken at length in previous blogs about the spiritual decay that America has experienced whether that be through the charismatic movement of which is not Christian, or the Hindu and Buddhist traditions that call to reject Christ completely. America though largely nominally Christian has lost its center, its perfect balance. While many of the forefathers of America would claim Christianity, America is not a Christian nation. It perhaps was thought of at one time as great Christian nation, one that the West could look to for its scholarly and academic approach to Christianity, but it was not one that ever truly fulfilled this purpose.  It was founded for religious freedom, for the ability to reject God or to accept Him. It never had in its morality the ability to be called Christian. The leaders we have today reflect this, rejecting the sacred writings of the Church, and the teachings of Christ in favor of luxury and ease. We see this with calls for constant war, for the spread of “democracy” and the acceptance of homosexuality and abortion, as basic human rights. Elder Ephraim came to America to call it back home. He left his home, much as Christ did when he came from Heaven to restore man to what it was meant to be. Yes, his way of life is foreign to us here in America where Greek is not the predominant language. Yes, his way of living was foreign to us in America where more stuff, more items, more glory, more prestige is expected from those who are career driven. But it is this call that makes it appealing to me.

            As I have said, hesychia is the goal to unite with God not by letting go as with the Buddhist or Hindu tradition. We are not trying to become devoid of all feelings and earthly thoughts, rather we are trying to instead become what God intended for us. God is love. God wants us to love all people and all things as he loves them. Each person is created in the image of God and should be greeted with such fervor as you would even the Logos. But with the hatred we see today among brothers this is certainly not the case. We are bickering and fighting with each other because we wish to be proven right. Christ himself did not even fight back when accused of crimes he didn’t commit. We are too engrained in scholarly and philosophical debates and try to discover hidden meanings of things. We try to brush our problems on other people, God, and anything but ourselves. We don’t want to confront the reality that God has given us the standard in which we should live and to embrace that standard as the only truth. We have become arrogant in our luxury and arrogant in our ease.

            Before I end this treatise today on Restoring America, I again come to the man who started this. Elder Ephraim. Elder Ephraim though a simple man, who wore the simple schema of a monk was extraordinary. He founded 20 monasteries, bastions of Christian prayer and thought in America. He lived in Arizona, the hot dry desert, where many would consider it to be a wasteland. He taught and lived his life, not for the glory of man, but for the Glory of God. Though the music, speaking, and services were nothing like Americans are used to in their houses of worship today, people flocked to St. Anthony’s to glimpse at the Elder, to seek his counsel. I wish I had been one of them, but I did not get a chance to meet him before his repose. If there is any regret in this life it is that I must wait until the next to greet the Elder and to thank him for his work in trying to bring America hope. May God through Elder Ephraim’s prayers have mercy on us.

 

Amen.

St. Ignatius of Antioch

 

    One of the most beloved saints of the Church is St. Ignatius of Antioch, who lived around the first to second century AD. He is called Theophorus meaning God-Bearer and was one of the children Jesus took into his arms and blessed when the apostles refused the children to come to Him.  Not much is really known about Ignatius’ early life but we know he converted to Christianity at a very early age. We also know through various writings that St. Ignatius was the disciple of St. John the Apostle. St. Ignatius like many of the Christians of his era was martyred for the faith.  While scholars may debate the legitimacy of why he was sent to Rome to be executed, we as members of the Church have no reason to speculate. We understand that whatever the cause was or reason, that it was for the ultimate glory of God as is all the lives of God’s saints. While on his way to be executed in Rome, under the Roman emperor Trajan, Ignatius was able to write a series of seven epistles which the Church has carefully preserved to be read. While not included in the Holy Scriptures, St. Ignatius’ writings have been beloved by Christians since they began to be widely circulated and along with St. Clement of Rome and St. Polycarp is among one of the most widely read Saints of the early church.  St. Ignatius stressed the importance of the Eucharist, the loyalty of the church to a single bishop in a city with assistance by priests and deacons, and that Christ was divine, refuting those who deny the divinity of Christ. He said in his Epistle to the Magnesians, “Take care to do all things in harmony with God, with the bishop presiding in the place of God, and with the presbyters in the place of the council of the apostles, and with the deacons, who are most dear to me, entrusted with the business of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father from the beginning and is at last made manifest.”  For those who reject that the church has had hierarchy and the church should do away with bishops and priests in this modern age, St. Ignatius’ words are most piercing. St. Ignatius also believed in the universal church. That it could not be divided or split, and refutes the branch theory promulgated today with this statement to the Smyrnaeans, “Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful to baptize or give communion without the consent of the bishop. On the other hand, whatever has his approval is pleasing to God. Thus, whatever is done will be safe and valid.” Without the Bishop as the spiritual father of the diocese and flock, there is no church. St. Ignatius knew this and he preached it.  He also warned us about those who hold heterodox views.  St. Ignatius was fully committed to teaching the truth, and did not have time for heretics and heterodox people. He again says to the Smyrnaeans, “Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God. ...They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes.”  He understood that heterodox regardless of what they were able to retain as orthodox were opposed to the mind of God. That though they appear genuine and may hold fast to Christ, that in reality they did not know Him. It is no different than when Christ says, “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:22-23) St. Ignatius calls us to hold orthodox values and teachings above those of man.

    St. Ignatius’ life is a life led of grace and piety. It is a life that is to be respected and called to love. In a world where easiness and luxury are abundant and the world would have us be lukewarm, holdfast to your faith. Do not be tempted by the wiles of the devil, or the call to be indifferent. Know that Christ will hold you firmly and that you must hold him firmly to be called into eternal rest with Him at the Last Judgement.

 

Amen. 

Praying for the Dead-Is it Biblical?

 

If the Church is the New Israel, we are also the heavenly Jerusalem. As the heavenly Jerusalem, it is our duty to be the beacon of light in the world. The salt of the earth, the city set on a hill. Thus, the Orthodox Church teaches that we must pray for the dead. Many of our Protestant brothers and sisters and their respective churches deny this, but the Bible clearly says otherwise.  The Roman Catholics believe in purgatory, but the Orthodox Church rejects this as a heresy developed after the Roman church fell away and became apostate. This topic is very relevant to the current timing of the church as the church prays for the dead on the two Saturdays before Lent and the first Saturday of Lent.

The Bible commands us as Christians to pray for one another. Because of the victory of Christ over death, there is no veil between those in this life and those in the next. And James 5:16 clearly commands us to pray for one another. Furthermore, both Ephesians 5:30 and Romans 14:6 say that we are members of Christ’s body, whether we have reposed in the Lord or are currently struggling in this earthly life.  Thus, scripture clearly suggests that prayers for the dead are valid. Hebrews 12:22-24 includes the angels and those perfected in righteousness. Romans 8:38-39 says that even death cannot separate us from the love of Christ, so if death does not separate us, then we must understand that Christ loves those even in death and we must pray for them. Again, the scriptures do not talk about “death” meaning that those who die cease to exist, rather the Bible talks about our soul living on after death, both in Luke 16:19-31 and Revelation 6:9-10.  In the Orthodox Cannon of Scripture, we include the Maccabees and the Book of Sirach. In Sirach 7:33 it states, “Give graciously to all the living; do not withhold kindness even from the dead.” So once again the Scriptures confirm the prayers for the dead by their words. If we hold true that the Holy Bible is the inspired written word of God, then must take these writings as true and cannot have qualms about it. We cannot deny part of the Bible and accept other parts. We either believe the whole thing or it becomes worthless. As one can see, through these Biblical examples we understand those may not be present in the body, but they are still alive. Christ even teaches that God is not the God of dead, but the living. (Mark 12:27 and Luke 20:38).  If God is the God of the living our brothers and sisters who have reposed in their earthly bodies are not dead but much more alive than us. Thus, by being alive they too need our prayers.  

What happens to us in the next life is not very clear, as the scriptures do not give us a clear account of what the soul experiences after our earthly death. Some like Father Seraphim Rose have proposed the Tollhouse theory, which I will not discuss here, but you can find information on in other locations on the internet. Others like our protestant brothers and sisters teach Soul Sleep where the soul goes into a long rest and awaits the final judgment of Christ at his Awesome Judgement Seat. We as Orthodox are not so dogmatic about death, we just know that it occurs and that we are waiting the final judgment at the Second Coming. Plus, we also have tradition that has been passed down from even the apostles themselves to pray for the dead.

This apostolic tradition comes from the life of St. Paul himself.  Regarded as one of the greatest Christians of the early church and with many of his writings included in scripture there is no better source than St. Paul on this teaching.  In 2^nd Timothy, we learn of the repose of Onesiphorus, one of St. Paul’s most beloved friends. St. Paul says, “The Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain…” Onesiphorus is clearly no longer among the earthly living and St. Paul is praying for his soul.   In this example and this belief, we ask God to keep those who are asleep in the Lord in his memory and for it to be eternal, meaning that God will grant them peace, life, and mercy, along with forgiveness for their sins.  We also pray that they will give a good account of their actions before the Awesome Judgement Seat of Christ at the Last Judgement, which an account of was read this past weekend. Finally in Revelation 1:18-19 Christ says he holds the keys to the underworld, and by that he can mercy on those he chooses. We do not know the mind of Christ. We can only believe that Christ knows what’s best for us, and we are not in the business of questioning or trying to understand the thoughts of God.

I have only scratched the surface on this topic, and I do not wish to get to theological or wordy in my writings. Usually, I would give patristic writings that would deal with the subject but in its place the source of writings of the Church Fathers the Holy Scriptures are the best place to deal with an issue this big. If one wishes to discover more on this topic, I am sure there are many websites and even books you can get to understand praying for the dead even further. I pray that you are well and that as we prepare for Forgiveness Sunday, you would forgive me as God forgives.

 

Amen.

The Spiritual Successors of the Faith

 

    We are the spiritual successors of the faith dear brothers and sisters. Each one of us having been baptized into the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Orthodox Church have been given the same charisma, the same gift as those who have came before us. We as Christians have been called to Theosis, the divinization of the soul, and the call to become holy. Those who have been purified of their sin, those who have rejected the world and lived their lives in accordance with Holy Tradition and the Church, are regarded by the Church as saints, regardless if they have been glorified or not. Most of the world reflects on those the church has glorified, those like St. Seraphim of Sarov, St. Sergius, St. Tikhon, St. Catherine and others. But the truth is, we have all been called to become saints. 

    Most of us however would rather sit on the sidelines than be in the starting lineup. How often do we think about the fact that as Christians we are called to become friends of God, through our piety, through our love, through our prayers? All of these have been given to us through the lives of the saints that have gone before. It is not rocket science, we are not trying to discover some new secret about God that has only been revealed to us. We have the lives of the Christian witnesses throughout all ages to give us the exact playbook that takes us from the bench to the starting lineup. Most of us however, don't use it. We don't want that kind of responsibility. We sit in our churches, going through the motions of the divine services especially the liturgy and we think about what is coming next. What other things we need to accomplish that day, or what our job requires of us. However those things will pass away. Our eternal soul? It lasts for eternity. When we practice the ascetism that God requires of us, and remember ascetism for each of us is different, because each of us is unique, we grow and become more like him. I remember in an earlier blog post that I stated that Jesus didn't come to make us good people. He came to unite us to himself. If we truly believe that, if we truly want to experience the Christian experience, then we must do everything in our power to shun the wiles of the devil and the world. We must proclaim "Death to the World" because it is not of this world that we belong. But alas, so many today reject that! I myself have been caught up in the things and passions of this world many times, and I am no master of the faith. I too fall and make mistakes. Often times these posts are preaching to me, as much as I am sharing it with you. Our very souls depend on the sustenance that the Church offers for our salvation. We need the life giving cross to be our weapon against the demons. We need the intercessions of the saints to overcome our passions. We need the blessings of the priest, the prayers of the faithful, we need all of this and much more. Fasting, praying, all of this combined together unites our souls with the One, Holy Triune God. It is not merely motions, but the inner heart that needs to be united with the motions. I feel as if I'm repeating myself over and over, but it really is that simple. No need for fancy wand waving or silly incantations, just simple humility. 

    Do we wish to be sanctified in both body and spirit? Then we must partake of the Eucharist! We must pray! We must make prostrations! We must continue our fight against the things of this world. Only then, will be true successors of the faith! 

The Martyrs of St. David Gareji Monastery

 

    One of the most active persecutors of Christianity was Shah Abbas I of Persia. History will tell of his greatness, how he regained control of the empire after the death of his weak and feeble father, how he was able to revolutionize Persia and how it was the golden age of its power-both militarily and economically. However the Christian Church, especially the Georgian Orthodox Church paints a different picture of this man, one that will be unfolded in this story about the Martyrs of the St. David Gareji Monastery. 

    Shah Abbas I was as I stated a very powerful man, with vast amounts of territories and many vassals. Of those Georgia was one. After invading and reclaiming eastern Georgia, he marched on Imereti and massacred about 100,000 people. He defeated the ruler Ketevan and had her tortured to death after she refused to recant Christianity.  Shah Abbas I, was genocidal when it came to the Georgian people, wanting to eradicate them from existence because of their staunch faith in Orthodox Christianity. I tell you all of this, not because the Shah is the focus of our story, rather, that this was a very difficult time in the history of such a strong Christian nation. 

    One of the causalities of this war with Georgia was the St. David Gareji Monastery and their entire brotherhood of monks. Persecution of the monastic way of life is nothing new, but the manner in which these monks sacrificed themselves for the faith strengthens even my faith because of their sound resolve. 

    On the night of Pascha 1616, the monks of St. David Gareji were preparing to celebrate, they had everything prepared. Shah Abbas and his men who were on their 100,000 men killing spree were near the area of the monastery as the celebrations began. The Abbot, Arsenius, was a holy man, and was visited by an angel warning of the impending attack and the loss of their life. The angel told him that he should offer the chance to the monks to flee if they chose and all but two stayed. After the chanting of the Lord's Prayer during the Paschal Liturgy, Abbot Arsenius knowing that they were surrounded asked the Persian warriors for more time to finish the service and for the fathers of the monastery to receive communion. They agreed. After the service the monks presented themselves before their captors and surrendered their lives for the faith. They beheaded Abbot Arsenius first and the monks one by one after.  The other monasteries in the area were not spared either and the Shah continued his quest to eradicate Christianity from the region.  The two monks who fled from the monastery when they had heard the news of their impending death? They too were executed after being captured and refused conversion to Islam. 

The relics at St. David Gareji Monastery still stream myrrh to this day, and miracles abound in this place of torture and execution.  Their relics are buried at the left of the altar of Holy Transfiguration Church on the site of the monastery.  

May God through their prayers have mercy on us. 

Amen. 

St Nektarios of Aegina

 "O faithful, let us honor Nectarios, divine servant of Christ, offspring of Silivria and guardian of Aegina, who in these latter years was manifested as the true friend of virtue. All manner of healing wells forth for those who in piety cry out, "Glory to Christ who glorified you; glory to Him who, through you, wrought wonders; glory to Him who, through you, works healing for all."

    

 Perhaps one of the most beloved saints of the 19th and 20th Centuries is St. Nektarios of Aegina. St. Nektarios was born Anastasios Cephalas and moved to Constantinople at a very early age.  He left home for the island of Chios in 1866 and became a monk at the age of 30.  Anastasios as he was known then was a pious man, having been raised by a pious family, albeit a poor one.  Anastasios eventually was ordained a deacon because of his piety and given the name Nektarios, thus this was the name he would be known by for the rest of his life. Noticing his piety was growing in the faith, he was consecrated Bishop of Pentapolis in Libya by Patriarch Sophronios of Alexandria in 1889.  

    This was the beginning of the hardships of the life of St. Nektarios as he would serve as a bishop in Cairo for one year, before jealousy and hatred would encircle his life. Clerics of the Patriarchate of Alexandria began to stir up lies and discontent within the Patriarchate towards St. Nektarios and the Patriarch, Sophronios, felt as if the only way of dealing with the situation was to remove him as bishop.  A trial was never held and he was anathematized by the Patriarchate and exiled from Egypt. To a normal man, without faith, this would have broken them and destroyed their faith. However, St. Nektarios like any true Christian, took the suffering in stride.  He returned to his native Greece, becoming a director for Rizarios Ecclesiastical School and preached widely throughout Athens. He is known for his harsh punishments on himself for conflicts within the school, solving a dispute with two seminarians by fasting himself for three days. At the end of 15 years with the school, he left at the request of a group of nuns to be their spiritual father on the island and the place where his name is most widely associated with. 

    At the urging of some nuns, St. Nektarios traveled with them to the island of Aegina, in the Saronic Gulf, which is part of the Saronic Islands, and 17 miles near Piraeus. There St. Nektarios would continue his work, at the Holy Trinity Convent, where he would live out the rest of his days in peace.  He heard confessions, taught, preached and wrote. St. Nektarios was even more popular now than he had been before. St. Nektarios also used personal funds to build and grow gardens around the island, and was appointed the Metropolitan there. He eventually reposed in the Lord on November 8, 1920. It is recorded that a miracle occurred upon his death, when his shirt was thrown onto a neighboring bed and the man lying in the bed was healed. 

    The Church canonized St. Nektarios on April 20th, 1961, a mere 40 years after his death. The Patriarchate of Alexandria, which had anathematized him in the late 19th century, recanted their statements under Petros VII, in 1998 asking for forgiveness from the saint, and restoring to St. Nektarios that which was unfairly stripped from him by Patriarch Sophronios.

    By his intercessions, Lord, may you have mercy on us and save us. May St. Nektarios pray for us always. 

Amen.