In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Orthodox
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Spring 2013 ISSN 1920-1672
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Don't Miss this Life-Changing Experience!
Spring 2013 Summer 2012
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Icon of the patron saints of our conference, St. John of Rila, St. John The Evgangelist, St. John of Kronstadt
My Life in Christ Youth Conference July 15-21, 2013 San Francisco, CA Ages 15-30
A week to awaken your heart to Christ! Venerate St. John Maximovitch, drink in the glory of God’s creation in the redwoods & at the coast, refresh your spirit with our speakers, discussion & fellowship! With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph, Orthodox Christian young people will gather in the beautiful Marin headlands, the bluff between thePacific Ocean and the San Francisco Bay, for this life-changing experience! Be one of them!
SHIELD of FAITH:
Being Orthodox in a hostile world This is the theme of this year’s conference. Our speakers and discussion groups will present material about the world in which we find ourselves, and how to grapple with its challenges as an Orthodox Christian. Join your Orthodox brothers and sisters from across the country to renew and refresh your spirit and mind. We will give you the tools, the inspiration, and the friends to go back to your life and live it more vibrantly in Christ. With love in Christ, The 2013 MLIC Steering Committee
You can find out all about the conference at: www.mylifeinchristyc.com 2
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CONTENT BULGARIA’S NEW PATRIARCH CHOOSE LIFE! ANOTHER KIND OF MISSION A PRIEST CHIEF JOY IS THAT HE IS A PRIEST The PURPOSE OF THE ORTHODOX PARISH A RULE OF SELF-ATTENTIVENESS
SHAME AND ENVY 5 SECRET 14 OUR SINS 6 16 WHY STUDY HISTORY? 7 IS THERE SPIRITUAL 18 LIFE AND SANCTITY TODAY? 8 TO BLAME FOR 20 WHO’S HUMAN SUFFERING? 10 THOUGHTS ABOUT 24 HOME SHCOOLING 12 TEACHING PRAYER 25 TO CHILDREN
2013 Call for Papers We invite you to submit your papers on Orthodox issues Please send your works in electronic form. (Preferably MS Word) to altaspera@gmail.com
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Bulgaria’s New Patriarch Neofit: «The Cross is Heavy!» Heavy is the cross that God and our Holy Church are giving me today, but in God’s words I trust and ask him for strength for when I am weak, then am I strong, Bulgaria’s new patriarch said. His Holiness Patriarch Neofit delivered his first address to the Bulgarian Orthodox Christians during his inauguration at St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. «The patriarch’s mission requires denial of anything that would impede it, proclamation of loyalty to God and obedience to His holy will, willingness to follow Christ who humbled himself by being obedient unto death, even death on the cross,» His Holiness Patriarch Neofit said in his speech. «I find inspiration in those bright personalities and passionate patriots in our history, patriarchs, saints and confessors, who have always acted as children of light. Patriarch Maxim, whose successor I was elected today, left a shining trail and I bow my head in homage to his life and work,» said the new His Holiness Bulgarian Patriarch. «Caring for the priesthood, spiritual schools, churches and educational activities will be assigned top priority. I will support and encourage charity and generosity,» he promised. Metropolitan Neofit was elected Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by the Holy Synod’s national church council. The announcement was accompanied by solemn church bells in downtown Sofia. His Holiness Patriarch Neofit was born on October 15, 1945 in Sofia. He is a graduate of the Theology Academy in Sofia. His Holiness Patriarch Neofit is a former
lecturer and conductor of the Theology Academy choir, coadjutor at Sofia Bishopric, President of the Theology Academy, first Dean of the restored Faculty of Theology at Sofia University, and was Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod. He close
is
known to have been very to late Patriarch Maxim.
Bulgaria’s Patriarch Maxim, who led the Church since 1971, passed away on November 6, 2012, at the age of 98. A solemn procession from the Holy Synod building to the Alexander Nevsky cathedral followed the election of the new patriarch. There was a cordon of representatives of all military divisions of Bulgaria. At the end of the enthronization ceremony, the new Patriarch stepped to the throne, when two Bishops promulgated three times «Worthy» for him, followed by the clergy and then the laity. novinite.com
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Choose Life! Priest Dmitri Ognev
How does the Church treat people who have tried to take their own lives, but have survived? The Church treats people who have tried to take their own lives but have survived with special love – like someone who has survived a shipwreck. The main thing is that he has survived, which is a great mercy of God, for the Lord has saved him from self-willed “non-existence.” Doesn’t the Church think that people are pushed towards suicide by an otherworldly power (such as the devil)? This is indeed what the Church thinks, because this is precisely the case. It all starts with thoughts of suicide. Then, if someone accepts these thoughts and begins to agree with them, things can go further – all the way up to turning these thoughts into action. Therefore, it is important to fight at the level of these thoughts – to drive them away and repent of them at Confession. Here our greatest help during the “visitations” of such thoughts is prayer – it doesn’t matter how small the prayer is, so long as it comes from the soul, mind, and heart. And the thoughts will evaporate. It’s been tested! What prayer helps when you want to kill yourself? “God be merciful to me a sinner.” By saying this prayer with all one’s heart, mind, and soul, all such thoughts will be overcome. A short prayer during such “heavy” moments is best, since the mind won’t have the chance to get distracted. Anyone who has these kind of obsessive thoughts is advised to read “Let God arise…” and Psalm 90 every morning and evening.
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If I do good deeds, will I be happier? A good deed is an action that is moral on the outside, but isn’t always spiritual on the inside. For instance, if I give money to a beggar, this might be considered to be a good and moral action. But why did I do it? If at that moment I was walking along with my girlfriend and did it so that she would see how generous I was and think that I’d make a good husband, then this action wasn’t spiritual in nature. A classic example is an election, when everyone promises us everything and sometimes even does something for us (one of the parties running for election lay asphalt in front of our house, with the workers wearing clothes with the name of the party clearly inscribed) – but only for our vote. If I gave money to a beggar because I saw him as a human being, or because I felt sorry for him, then one can say that this action was spiritual. Therefore, good deeds depend on my disposition in doing them and the reason I did them. Accordingly, whether one gains any happiness from doing good deeds depends on just this. Why is God opposed to people killing themselves? I think it’s because when people kill themselves they’re no longer able to do good to those whom, according to God’s plan, they should do good. In other words, there are many opportunities in life when one can do good to one’s neighbors. Sometimes even a good word – not to mention good deeds – can change someone. There is an opinion about this that I like: God takes someone when he is no longer able to do good for others on earth. Therefore, someone who commits suicide not only goes against God’s plan for himself, but for those whom he might have been able to help. If I believe in God, but decide to kill myself, will God stop loving me? Strangely enough, God loves us even when we kill ourselves of our own free will. To put it figuratively, when someone commits suicide he turns his back to the Sun. Then what does he see? Only his own black shadow. Likewise, someone who commits suicide voluntarily turns away from God, although God continues to love him no less strongly. I believe in God, but nonetheless I think about suicide. I feel very bad. What should I do? I would advice you to pay a visit to the seriously ill who are in the hospital or in a nursing home. Talk with them. Bring them something to eat. If it’s possible, visit a psychiatric hospital. The simplest thing one can do is to ride the subway and give alms to every beggar you meet (preferably in the form of fruit or food). Do you know how joyfully a poor person will smile when you give him an orange?
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ORTHODOX FAITH
Another Kind of Mission Fr. Michael Harry
‘Do you mind me asking, what are you?’ So said the young woman in the shop. I did my best to briefly reveal Orthodoxy to her. It didn’t end up looking like her Road to Damascus; but it did leave her thinking, and I thought that her thanks were sincere. ‘All the great wars of history are caused by religion!’ We were trapped on a plane, so I couldn’t ignore the remark. I pointed out that as far as I could remember from my childhood, when we were crouching in an air-raid shelter being bombed by Adolf Hitler, and the people in Russia were suffering even more; Hitler was not a devout Bavarian Catholic, and Stalin was not a lifetime enthusiast for Orthodoxy. I didn’t go on with the argument, but I’m pretty sure that that guy stopped mouthing the clichés he had been taught by the media, and started to think for himself. ‘My parents are Jehovah’s witnesses’, said the lad changing my tires, what do you believe?’ Again, I had to be brief, but unless I entirely misjudged
the effect of my reply, that young man will not see Orthodoxy as a Bible thumping, legalistic creed. I could go on with many other examples of where I have been given the opportunity to be a missionary for our Faith; and they all cost nothing. No adverts in newspapers, no special course events, no appearances on local TV, no committees, strategies, or mission statements. Just one simple thing; I wear my black undercassock and cross in public. And our laity? What can they do? Well, making the sign of the cross before eating a meal in public could be a start; especially at those smart social occasions with skeptical friends. Doing such things can sometimes require a social courage which we do not always have, and we remember how Peter’s denial of his Saviour brings tears to our eyes when the Gospel is read during Holy Week. But are there no occasions when we can try? Source: Cornerstone 7
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“A Priest’s Chief Joy is That He is a Priest” Fr. Alexander Antchoutine
When asked what seminary I attended, I often reply: “St. Alexei Academy,” because my spiritual father and instructor, was Fr. Alexei [Ohotin – ed.], who graduated seminary very long ago and has been a priest for 50 years; he has a great deal both of positive and negative experience working with people. It was at Fr. Alexei’s church of Annunciation in Flushing [New York – ed.] that I progressed through every stage of parish life, from the lowliest person in the parish – a janitor and laborer – to warden, and then later every level of the clergy: reader, subdeacon, deacon, priest. It was quite the schooling. But I do regret that I have no formal seminary education. Fr. Alexei taught me much, and never hid the difficulties of a priest’s life from me. First and foremost we serve God and the people. This does not mean that people can ride the priests and make them run around and do whatever they say. As one church warden used to say to one priest, “I’ve wiped the floor with 16 priests, and you’ll be the 17th…” This certainly cannot be the case. From whence comes the idea that the priest must fulfill every wish of his parishioners or warden? Priest has a million bosses, all of whom make decisions on the priest’s behalf. Thank God, I was never in a situation where someone made demands of me. But one priest told me about how, when he would be serving proskomedia on Sunday mornings, the warden liked coming into the altar, tapping him on the shoulder, and saying, “Don’t forget, I’m in charge here. I could have you tossed out in no time flat.” I haven’t had anything like that; my skin hasn’t had to grow thick dealing with nonsense like that. My first parish, where I became rector, and where I serve to this day, is the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin in Glen Cove. My parishioners are wonderful, they help me a great deal, and they accepted me as a priest, not as the Sasha Antchoutine they once knew [before his ordination – ed.], but namely as their new rector, whom they must obey in certain circumstances, 8
and helped me as a young priest. It’s not unusual for me to hear that someone is unhappy with something; let’s talk this out and see how we can solve the problem. I have yet to butt up against commands from my parishioners. It’s not uncommon for people to complain, especially older parishioners who feel the service is too long. But let’s take the All-Night Vigil, for instance – one can stand, pray, calm down, without having to rush anywhere. What often happens at the Vigil? No matter how long the Vigil lasts, three hours or one and a half, once the Gospel is read, after the Polyeleos, the people will come up and get anointed, take some blessed bread, and leave regardless. What do people expect from their priest? Some people think that Father will utter a single word and solve all of their problems, that Father is a wizard, who will take his magic wand and put everything in its place. Others have totally appropriate expectations, that their priest will pray for them and love them; when necessary, he will help them with advice. They understand that Father knows what he is doing. There is a certain class of person that will go to a priest for advice, you give them advice, and they don’t like your answer. And they start trying to squeeze what they want to hear out of you. If they don’t hear what they want – and sometimes a priest has to remain steadfast and show and explain to that person that what he is doing is wrong – then they get indignant. And God forbid you give anyone in the parish a penance! You will never see him again – he’ll run off to another priest. Many people know exactly what to expect from a priest. But, unfortunately, some think:”If something occurs, I can call the priest at any given moment with any given question. And I need to speak with him now, right now.” If you can’t make it to the phone, people get offended. They had some family blowup, and they need Father to come right this instant and clear it up. They expect the priest to come over, feed the children, tuck
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them in, change their diapers, and then sit down and tell everyone who is right and who is wrong. This often revolves around issues that the people have to resolve themselves. But they look at the priest like he’s a shrink on wheels. What are a priest’s actual responsibilities? To serve God. To serve as many services as he can with piety, worthiness, not abbreviating or skipping them without good reason. His second principal responsibility is to maintain peace in the parish, not to take sides, not to play games, not to get involved in political factions in the parish, not to play parish politics, but to love all of his parishioners, the difficult along with the easy, from the infants to the elderly, who moan and complain often – to love them all for real and from the bottom of his heart. Those who praise him and those who tap him on the shoulder. And he must maintain the parish itself. He shouldn’t refuse anyone anything: people want to pray, let’s pray; they want treby served, no problem. But he can’t do favors for people for the purpose of gratifying them, thinking: this one’s rich, I can do him a little extra favor. He has to treat everyone the same, with love, but also one-by-one, as with real individuals with their own special traits and spiritual sores. He shouldn’t pamper anyone unnecessarily. He has a responsibility to scrutinize himself, observing what he says and does, not elevating himself above everyone else as though they don’t understand anything; not debasing himself, but striving to be an example for everyone – though not some kind of saint, not trying to prove that he knows better than everyone. Often people know better than you do, so you should listen to them – not to their guile, but to their opinions – and try to make something constructive of it. I may not always help my Matushka… the Church should always come first, even before one’s own family. But sometimes Matushka has her own troubles and gets upset, and the priest needs to spend some quality time helping at home. This is also his responsibility. He cannot abandon his family. Sometimes you think: since the Lord has
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seen fit to have me care for His spiritual children over whom He has given me charge, this means He will care for my family. From a spiritual point of view, He does exactly that. But that doesn’t mean that you put off your responsibilities as a father and husband on God, using your total care for the parish as an excuse. The priest must find a way to balance everything. Too many divine services and people begin to complain: we should curtail the number of services. But if the parish starts to fall apart, you have to add more services. If a person needs more prayer, assign him more – if a person needs to be put in his place when he starts to flounder spiritually beyond his own control – the priest can’t be afraid to do just that. It seems as though priests have nothing but responsibilities. Are there any benefits? A priest has one benefit: he must rejoice and thank God every day, that he was found worthy to become a priest, because we are all unworthy of the priesthood, especially in our time. Fr. Alexei just recently celebrated his 50th anniversary as a priest. He said: “I thank God that He gave me the strength to be a priest for 50 years.” All of these awards are not that important... What difference does it make if your cross is silver or gold? I thank God that I have a cross, that He accepted me, a sinner, and enabled me to wear a cross around my neck and celebrate the Divine Liturgy and the Holy Mysteries. That is the greatest reward for me. For every priest, this should outweigh everything else. Nothing else even comes close. A priest’s chief joy is that he is a priest, and he shouldn’t expect anything more – no awards, no elevation, no guile, just joy in the Lord granting us the priesthood, especially when we are unworthy of it. The interview was conducted by Alena Plavsic fundforassistance.org 9
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The Purpose of the Orthodox Parish
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Protopresbyter Michael Pomazansky What is the purpose of the Church, and of the parish within her? The answer is given in the word of God. The Apostle Paul writes: And He gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:11-13). Here, then, is its purpose: the perfecting of the saints, the work of ministry, the building up of the Body of Christ — a triple task of the whole Church and, consequently, the task also of every parish. Internal parish tasks. The first point, the perfecting of the saints, is the moral perfecting of the members of the Church. The salvation of souls in Christ is first and foremost; it must not be relegated to second place. They are wrong who consider the fundamental purpose of the Church to lie in its social task i.e., the transformation, through the Church, of social relationships and through this the Christian elevation of the individual. Salvation in Christ is attained through prayer, through Divine services, the regulations of the Church, deeds of love and beneficence, spiritual struggle. A pastor’s main concern is the salvation of those souls entrusted to him. It is likewise the personal concern of each member of the Church. It is accomplished within the common body of the Church — not in isolation, not individually, but by way of mutual spiritual support, and thereby overcomes the self-loving thought for one’s self alone. A personal, worthy life in Christ is the responsibility of each member before the Church as a whole. The second task is the work of ministry — to God and to men. It opens up before each member of the Church and of the parish a broad
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held of church social activity. Ministry to God: participation in the services — in church reading and singing, in constructing churches, in caring for the beauty and cleanliness of the church — these are some examples of works, as they say, “for God.” Ministry to men includes all manner of charitable activity for the needy, help for the sick, disinterested efforts on behalf of others (as have recently been expressed in the sending of spiritual books, foodstuffs, clothing and medicines to Russia). In some parishes, this duty of ministering to one’s neighbor has brought to life auxiliary parish organizations. A special, and very important task is the religious upbringing of children and youth. This cannot be underestimated, for we are in danger of seeing the younger generations fall away from the Church. /…/ The responsibility of the parish leadership on the one hand is to influence families in this regard, that they not neglect their duty towards their children, and, on the other hand, to form youth groups, Saturday and Sunday schools, children’s choirs, and to undertake other measures for keeping the younger generation attached to the Church and to ensure that they remain under her influence. We cannot complain that our parishes are inert in this regard. Given our meager resources, they have displayed appropriate work, diligence and sacrifice. But here precisely is that point over which the interests of the pastorate frequently clash with social interests. The difficulty of the priest’s position lies in not snuffing out spontaneous social activity in the parish and initiative that not infrequently comes from the laity. A priest cannot do everything himself, by himself, for everyone, he needs cooperation. But here the cooperation of individuals with the pastor often turns into an urge to lead, to criticize, to create opposition, etc. A priest can calmly make use of the broad cooperation of the members of the parish when he has confidence in the preservation of church policy. Then there is no fear that the rights of the pastor will be usurped,
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there is no fear that the work will turn aside from the Church and even do her harm. Then, too, every kind of assistance rendered to the priest–in case of his weakness, ignorance, inability, etc.– can be of real benefit without undermining the proper relationships m the parish. The common Church task. The third task, the building up of the body of Christ (NKJV) is ministry for the Church as a whole, a task that expresses to the greatest extent the unity of the part with the whole, of the parish with the Church. In our church consciousness, we should never lose sight of the image of the whole Orthodox Church; we must love her, be zealous for her – particularly and above all for the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad to which we belong. And so, in fulfilling this third task, we are hardly equal to it. In practical terms, ministry to the Church as a whole means caring for church centers. It requires, first of all, an awareness of the many ways we at the local level are indebted to these church centers. The Church administration makes sure that the services are conducted properly; it oversees the printing of service books and takes care that these are supplied to parishes; it safeguards the succession of episcopal and priestly ordination; it looks after the training and preparation of clergy, and provides pastors for church communities. It guards the Church against arbitrariness and against those people who introduce scandal into the Church. It safeguards the external dignity of Orthodoxy as well. It cuts off overt moral temptations, wards off attacks on the faith and the Church, wherever they may come from. It is responsible for both the ideological defense of the Church and for her juridical defense, when this is called for.
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The fullness of church life and the many-sided, productive activity of ecclesial, episcopal centers is direct evidence of the well-being of life within the numerous individual Orthodox parishes. Conversely, an episcopal c e n t e r laboring u n d e r difficulties and having a limited range of activity invariably speaks of difficulties occurring on the parish level. Nor can one be silent concerning the need to support the center financially. Let us be blunt: in no other Christian confession do we find such negligence regarding the material base of the central church institutions as we have. We give little thought to where funds will come from for theological schools; for the publishing of books; for the Church’s missionary work; for regular church philanthropy — in particular, for the support of the monasteries in the Holy Land, on Mount Athos, and for our communities in Russia; for expenses related to the convocation of hierarchal councils, pastoral conferences and youth conventions. We have a right and we ought to speak about the material side of the life of the Church. Let us recall the widow’s mite, set forth by the Lord as an example to us all. The task of building up the body of Christ’s Church is great and many-sided. On the parish level it means that the parish community not shut itself up in its own narrow sphere, but that it be a beneficial and necessary, conscious part of the whole church body.
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A Rule of Self-Attentiveness For Those in the World St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) The soul of all exercises in the Lord is attention. Without attention, all these exercises are fruitless and dead. He who desires to be saved should arrange things in such a way that he can safeguard self-attentiveness not only in seclusion, but also among the very scatteredness into which he is sometimes drawn against his will. On the scales of the heart, let the fear of God prevail over all other feelings: then it will be easy to safeguard self-attentiveness, both in the silence of one’s cell and amid the noise surrounding one on all sides. Prudent moderation in food, by reducing heat in the blood, contributes greatly to selfattentiveness; but inflammation of the blood – such as from excessive consumption of food, from increased physical movement, from the swelling of anger, from the flush of vainglory, or from other causes – generates a multitude of thoughts and fantasies, in other words, scatteredness. For those desiring to be attentive to themselves, the Holy Fathers prescribe, first of all, moderate, uniform, and continual abstinence in food (St. Philotheus of Sinai in The Philokalia). Having awoken – which is an image of the awakening from the dead awaited by all mankind – direct your thoughts to God, offering as a divine sacrifice the first fruits of the mind’s thoughts before it receives any vain impressions. In quiet and with great care, having done all that is necessary for the body upon arising from sleep, read the customary prayer rule, concerning yourself not so much with the quantity of prayer as with its quality, that is, that it be performed attentively; so that, due to this attention, your heart 12
might be sanctified and quickened by prayerful compunction and contrition. After the prayer rule, again taking great care to be attentive, read the New Testament, primarily the Gospel. During this reading, make careful note of all of the instructions and commandments of Christ, so that they might guide your actions, both seen and unseen. The amount of reading should be determined by one’s strength and circumstances. One should not burden one’s mind with the excessive reading of prayers and Scripture; one should likewise not neglect one’s responsibilities due to excessive prayer and reading. Just as the excessive intake of food enflames and weakens the stomach, so too does the excessive intake of spiritual food weaken the mind, make it adverse to pious exercises, and lead it to despair (St. Isaac the Syrian, Homily 71). For the beginner, the Holy Fathers recommend frequent, but not lengthy, prayers. When the mind reaches spiritual maturity, it strengthens and matures: then it will be in a condition to pray without ceasing. The words of the Apostle Paul apply to Christians who have attained perfect growth in the Lord: I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting (1 Timothy 2:8) – that is, dispassionately and without any excitement or loftiness. That which is proper for a man is not yet proper for a child. Having been enlightened through prayer and reading by the Sun of Righteousness, our Lord Jesus Christ, let man go about his daily pursuits – remaining attentive, so that God’s all-holy will might reign and act in all his deeds and words, in
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all his being, revealing and explaining to him the Gospel commandments.
scatteredness of mind, and hardness of heart during prayer – and, hence, spiritual malady.
If free moments should occur over the course of the day, use them to read attentively certain selected prayers, or certain selected portions of Scripture, thereby to strengthen your spiritual powers, which will have been depleted by your activity amidst the vain world. If such golden moments do not occur, then you should regret them like the loss of a treasure. That which has been lost today need not be lost the following day, because our hearts are easily betrayed by negligence and forgetfulness, from which is born the murky ignorance that is so perditious to God’s work, to the work of man’s salvation.
In the evening, when going to sleep – which, in relation to the life of that day, is death – examine your actions throughout the course of the past day. For one who lives attentively, such an examination is not difficult, because self-attentiveness destroys the forgetfulness that is so characteristic of the scattered person. Thus, remembering all your sins in deed, word, thought, and feeling, offer repentance for them to God with the disposition and heartfelt promise of correction. Then, having read your prayer rule, conclude with divine contemplation the day that also began with divine contemplation.
If you happen to say or do something contrary to God’s commandments, then quickly treat the fault with repentance and, by means of sincere repentance, return to God’s path, from which you strayed by violating God’s will. Do not stagnate outside God’s path! Oppose the sinful thoughts, fantasies, and feelings that arise by means of the faith and humility of the Gospel commandments, saying with the Holy Patriarch Joseph: How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? (Genesis 39:9). He who is attentive to himself should reject all dreaminess in general, no matter how seductive and alluring; all dreaminess is the wandering of the mind outside truth, in a land of specters, which do not exist and cannot come into existence, and which flatter and deceive the mind. The results of dreaminess are loss of self-attentiveness,
Where do all the thoughts and feeling of the sleeping person go? What kind of mysterious condition is sleep, during which the soul and body are alive but do not live together, when they are unconscious of life, as though dead? Sleep is as incomprehensible as death. During sleep the soul rests, forgetting the most severe grief and distress of this earth, in the image of its eternal rest. But the body – if it rises from sleep, then it will certain rise from the dead! The Great Agathon said: “Without great self-attentiveness it is impossible to succeed in virtue” (The Paterikon of Scetis). Amen.
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Shame and Envy – Our Secret Sins Fr. Stephen Freeman
Several years back I stumbled on a book about the sin of envy. I was struck by what I read and realized that I had never heard a sermon on the topic (nor preached one). Though a number of the Fathers cite envy as the first and greatest sin, it never seemed to come up as a spiritual topic. I also realized that it was almost never mentioned in confession. A strange sin – perhaps the greatest and yet held in secret. Over the course of the last year, a number of things have introduced me to the topic of shame. I have explored its role in my own life and become far more aware of its almost ubiquitous presence in our culture. It is recorded as the first human response to sin – they hid themselves. However, I again noted that I had rarely heard the subject discussed and did not find it to be a topic that arose in confession. A strange emotion – perhaps the oldest human emotion – universal – and almost never discussed. There are some obvious reasons (and some not so obvious) for the hiddenness of shame and envy. Shame, as an emotion, was overlooked (or reinterpreted) for a long time. Envy’s neglect is less explainable. Pride seems to have pushed it aside. A number of Fathers list pride as the dominant and “original” sin (unlike those who list envy). Our modern culture, for whatever reason, has focused more on pride as an inner issue. The promethean image of Milton’s Lucifer, who would “rather rule in hell than serve in heaven,” has been seen as the quintessential image of pride. Modern man’s push for ever greater mastery over himself and his world are seen by some as rooted in pride and a Luciferian rebellion. However, I think envy is the far more prevalent sin – and far more destructive of both individuals and those envied by them. The New Testament cites envy as the motive behind Christ’s crucifixion (Matt. 27:18). Shame, by its very nature, tends to be secret. Shame is defined as the sense that there is something wrong with me (rather than that I have done something wrong). Guilt is the term used to describe feelings that what we have done is wrong – whereas shame is far deeper. Mere embarrassment does not rise to the level of shame. For some, there is an almost ever-present sense of shame, a feeling of unworthiness and abandonment that gives rise to a range of destructive behaviors. It is generally understood that shame is a feeling
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that human beings cannot endure. It is either resolved or quickly changed into more bearable forms (depression and anger – sometimes rage being the most common). Displacing shame by blaming others is another survival strategy. The feeling of shame provokes a desire to hide. A small child will cover their face with their hands (or otherwise hide their face) or quickly adopt a mask of disinterest or anger to keep shame at bay. Some simply cry. As a male authority figure (with a dark, strange cassock and a long beard), I am used to small children sometimes responding with a “shamed” expression. A parent suddenly presents a small child to me, who is overwhelmed (and thus shamed). Rather than smiling and responding warmly, they burst into tears (sometimes rather inconsolably). It’s disconcerting for all concerned! I have thought a great deal about the dynamic of hiddenness and revelation that characterizes much of Orthodox liturgical piety. The hiddenness of a mystery, protects us and allows us to cautiously bring our shame into a more open position. Forms of liturgy (and non-liturgy) that boldly announce God and democratize the worship experience never get beyond shallow expressions. Their construction exists to avoid what must stay hidden (or it reveals them inappropriately and asks for them to be revealed in ways that are dangerous and destructive). The drama of the liturgy is both a theological reality and a spiritual balm. The Tradition has a wisdom about the deepest aspects of our humanity and treats them rightly and with respect. The secrecy of confession is a tool that accompanies the liturgical life. It is a place where the shame that we normally avoid can be dared – and often healed with exposure to the light. But the light is soft enough (when wielded by a good confessor – or one with enough sense to say nothing) not to injure us. Over the past year, as I noted earlier, I’ve seen how farreaching the power of shame can be in people’s lives. It is a frequent source of anger; it drives perfectionism; it creates anxiety and panic; it encourages blame and falsely accuses the self; it is the origin of rage. Because it is secret, and generally unbearable, it is often forgotten, hidden within painful memories. The healing of such a thing is a slow work, requiring safety and love. Ideally, the Church should
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be such a community but very rarely is. Sometimes the local parish is a place where shame is created and nurtured – a spiritually toxic dumping ground. Interestingly, it is noted in the literature that even discussing shame can cause shame (so I apologize). Shame can go “viral.” There are those awful moments from time to time – a child’s recital when a piano passage is forgotten – the child feels shame and frustration and everyone in attendance shares the shame. Our faces flush, we look everywhere but at the child. These are profound and deep parts of our lives – again very seldom discussed or recognized. A sizable portion of our behavior and emotions come out of these difficult places. Knowing this should give us pause in our conversations. Am I speaking from the heart or simply displacing shame into some other form? I am convinced that the larger part of our arguments (including religious arguments) are ultimately driven by displaced shame. Envy (not to forget the topic) is also disguised in our lives. Envy is more than a desire for what someone else has (that would be mere covetousness). Envy wants the other to suffer loss and simply be deprived. In the so-called “politics of envy,” decisions are made to tax the wealthy (for example) regardless of the actual benefit to the state. The recent increase in taxation of the wealthy in France (to 75%), did
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nothing to address that nation’s financial crisis. It simply attacked a convenient target. The Scriptures often describe envy as the “evil eye” (ophthalmos poneros). It has a a destructive capacity almost beyond calculation. The passions of various modern revolutions have often been grounded in envy. Unable to achieve a reasonable and prosperous society, revolutions turn with envy towards destruction. The end is mere destruction – not fairness – not equality – just destruction. Modern cultures have almost no means for addressing shame. A school full of children are murdered (an act of envy) and we rightly feel shame – national shame. But the discussion quickly moves to anger, depression and argument. The shame remains unaddressed and unhealed – a toxic source of our continuing modern malaise. But these are “secret” sins. The spiritual life will make little progress and growth so long as such secret sins remain unnamed and unhealed. The journey from the shame of Adam and Eve and the envy of the devil into the truth and the light of Christ is the true path of salvation. It is the road less traveled. A Christian ending to our lives, without shame or fear before the dread judgment seat of Christ, may the good Lord grant to us.
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ORTHODOX FAITH
Why Study… History? In a society which is so concerned with being «up to date,» «modern,» «in step with the times» — as ours is today, it is little wonder that history is seen to be about as relative as the Egyptian pyramids. It is an unfortunate fact of our modern culture that, while a knowledge of history was once considered essential, today the serious study of history has largely been abandoned or relegated to the image of bespectacled scholars forcing upon school children the memorization of endless lists of dates and names of obscure kings. It is my conviction, however, that the neglect of the study of history is no less than a crime against oneself and, even worse, an insult to our Holy Orthodox Christian Faith! It is the purpose of this article to demonstrate the various ways in which a study of history can be supremely edifying and bring far greater rewards than many pursuits popular today. A look across the barriers of time and into history first reveals a deeply human perspective, one which is sorely needed in this age of self-centeredness. In truth, denizens of our modern times no longer divide time into B.C. and A.D.; rather, it is B.M. and A.M.: «Before Me» and «After Me.» Things that are «before me» are equivalent to ancient history; they are passe and quite irrelevant. Only those events occurring «after me», that is to say, after one’s own birth, take on any true value and existence. For example, the overwhelming majority of Americans now living were born after the end of the Second World War. Studies have shown
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Timothy Shell
that most of this generation knows next to nothing about the details of that momentous conflict which has so shaped our modern world. Outside of possibly recognizing the names of Hitler, and knowing that the «enemies» were Germany and Japan, most know little more about it than they would the Gallic Wars of Julius Caesar two millenia before. What is the danger of all this? The overused but still truthful quote comes to mind: «Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it.» Even more dreadful is the result ignorance of history can have upon one’s spiritual state. This self-centered concept of time serves only to encourage the natural human inclination to pride, to think of oneself as the center of all existence. The very first lesson of history is that there was indeed a time before we existed, and that during this time there exist ed countless millions of men and women who were, in essence, no different from us. They too had lofty thoughts and shared emotions of love, anger, ambition. Our Western society, however, has all but severed the memory of the past, allowing to spread the dangerous misconception that we are technologically advanced and therefore somehow different, superior. It is true that our proportions of work and leisure have changed, but history shows that human nature does not change, and in this sense we are no more unique than those hundreds of generations which have trodden the path of life before us. This realization can be a very humbling and healthy experience. Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads, and look, and ask
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for the ancient paths wherein the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. (Jeremiah 6:16) A second glance at history and one is confronted by another essential fact: everyone involved — whether they be heroes or villains, saints or sinners, kings or beggars — eventually reaches the end of their earthly sojourn — and dies. No amount of wealth, wisdom, or good health will prevent the shadow of death from overtaking them. How then, can one expect one’s own fate to be any different? The Holy Fathers teach emphatically that contemplation of one’s own death is a good and profitable exercise because it leads one into a life of sobriety, of seeking the heavenly world rather than rooting oneself in this perishable earth. And it is certainly true that a person having faced the reality of his future death, begins to seek the answer to the question: «What comes afterwards?» Thus, a sense of even common secular history can catapult a person into an honest search for the meaning of life. Furthermore, through history we are able to learn of the truth of Christianity and that the Orthodox Church is the only pure embodiment of the Faith. It is unfortunate that today many people choose religious beliefs based on the aforementioned self-centeredness and pride. Either a person adopts the faith of his family or culture, with the unconscious but innate ethnocentric assumption of its correctness, or he adopts a religion based upon an attraction (often intellectual) to some particular facet. Some, for example, may be drawn to the aesthetics of nature and become Shintoists, others are seduced by the possibilities of reincarnation and become Hindus, while still others are moved by the masters of meditation and become Bhuddists. The issue, however, should not be which is the belief most agreeable to one’s own preconceived philosophy, but rather ... «Which is true?» Most religions are structured in a manner which makes any type of objective examination impossible. They are based either upon traditional theories about the way things are — such as Hinduism, or upon one man’s private «revelation» — such as Islam or Mormonism. Here Christianity stands alone as being a fully historical faith, one which has its complete inception within historical events. We believe that at a specific point in history, God became Incarnate and lived as a man. He taught the Faith and showed Who He was, He confirmed it with signs and miracles. As a lasting seal and proof of His identity and of His mastery of all things, He rose from the dead. The testimony of history shows that none of this was imagined, created as an edifying myth, or based upon anyone’ s private revelation. Above all, it is Christ’s Resurrection which is the convincing proof of His Divinity. Many men throughout the ages have made bizarre claims; some have even appeared to have some type of supernatural power. Yet they have all gone into the tomb... and not come out. The truth of Christ’s Resurrection can be supported by a careful study of history, even if those who author modern history books try to explain away the Resurrection as being a supernatural occurrence which cannot rationally be accepted as «fact». Such «atheistic scholarship», however, is easily seen to be grasping at straws in trying to create any alternative theory to the Resurrection.
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A professor at Cambridge in the last century summed it up nicely when he said: «Indeed, taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the Resurrection of Christ. Nothing but the antecedent assumption that it must be false could have suggested the idea of deficiency in the proof of it.» If an impartial study of history provides sure evidence of Christ’s Resurrection, it also allows one to ascertain which is the true Church that Christ founded. We know from history that Christ did set up a Church, promising that the gates of hell would never prevail against it (Matt. 16:18). Where is this Church? Looking at Christianity through the pages of history, we find the Protestant sects beginning in the 16th century and fragmenting endlessly since then. Further back, we see the popes of the Roman Church taking upon them selves the authority to change the ancient faith until they thereby broke off from the original Church in 1054. When one is finished with an historical survey, only one Church can possibly qualify as the original: our beloved Orthodox Church. This claim is even supported by the famous Protestant Church historian, Phillip Shaft, who writes: «Orthodoxy is the grand historic stem of Christendom.» Thus, history testifies readily to Orthodoxy’s being the «one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.» Finally, history contains a wonderful source of edification and inspiration in the lives of the saints — those men and women of various times and places who were so totally united with God, even in this earthly life, that everything about their lives was filled with God’s grace. Three books which deserve particular mention here are: Eusebius; Ecclesiastical History, written in the fourth century, the Venerable Bede’s A History of the English Church, written in the sixth century, and a sixth century text, The History of the Franks by St. Gregory of Tours. The saints were as human as we are, yet they successfully traveled the same road on which we find ourselves today, and through their examples we can learn what pitfalls await us and how to avoid them. Through studying their lives we can come to a humble realization of our own spiritual poverty and be motivated to strive a little harder to lead more holy lives ourselves. Aside from the examples of the saints, the study of Church history offers the comfort of the overall picture. Our world, filled with chaos and sin, is at times very depressing for a Christian. In studying the larger picture, however, it becomes very clear that ,God is always in absolute control. Just when it appears that the Orthodox people are being persecuted beyond their endurance, or that heresy is overcoming the truth, miraculous interventions change the entire course of history. There is no need for depression, only for spiritual joy, for history teaches us that we are not orphans. God is, always with us. Orthodox America
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Is There S p i r it u a l Li f e a n d S a n c tit y To d ay ? The V. Revd. Archimandrite Kyrillos
Is there spiritual life and sanctity today? My immediate answer to both parts of this question is a very affirmative “Yes”. God does not change. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. And the nature of human beings has not changed either. Since Adam, humans are dignified with such a power over their own destiny that they can to a great degree turn their backs on God, on spiritual life, on the quest for holiness. But until the end of the world, there will always be people who, even if they are in the minority, will call down God’s grace upon the earth and their fellow humans. That the world continues is proof that there is holiness today. Saint Silouan said, “I tell you that when there are no more men of prayer on earth, the world will come to an end.” In other words, spiritual life, and holiness, which is its fruit, does not exist only in the past. We can see holiness in our predecessors and learn from them, but we are not examining spiritual life like an exhibit in a historical museum. It is a living reality to which we are all called. Every human being has a spiritual dimension. God is not partial: He calls each one into existence with personal love, and endows each human with the potential to share His own life. St Peter using the terminology of his time said that we are called to “become partakers of the divine nature” [2 Peter 1:4]. And that is what holiness is: “Be holy, for I am Holy, and I will that you have all that I have, unreservedly.” This is God’s invitation to us all, whatever our place in society, or our rank in the Church: the rank of the laity, or that of the clergy. St Silouan writes: “Everyone in this world has his task to perform, be he king or patriarch, cook, blacksmith or teacher, but the Lord Whose love extends to everyone of us will give greater reward to the man whose love for God is greater.” And again: “Not everyone can be an emperor or a prince; not everyone can be a patriarch or an abbot, or a leader; but in every walk of life we can 18
love God and be pleasing to Him, and only this is important.” Spiritual life is life which takes into account the spiritual dimension of human beings. Working at our relationship with God is not like a hobby for a certain category of person. As people say, “He or she is the religious type”. It is not an optional extra. It is what makes our life really human. Biology and psychology, when they exclude the divine input into the human make-up, give an incomplete picture. Secular man is merely a superior animal, and actually subhuman. Without spiritual effort we will not cultivate our spirit. It cannot be obliterated, but it can be stifled and atrophied, ignored or denied. Only if we live a life which is spiritual will we ever be fully ourselves, fully reintegrated as persons. Spiritual life includes our psychological and our physical aspects. What I think and do on every level of existence affects my soul. And when my soul is touched by God’s grace, my thinking, my feeling and my body are also blessed. Especially in Western countries, many people have abandoned Christianity. An English author (G.K. Chesterton) wisely said that where people stop believing in the truth, they do not start to believe in nothing, they start to believe in anything. Thus although belief in God may remain when Christ is abandoned, in every country nowadays one can meet all kinds of spiritualities. This is not surprising, because “man cannot live on bread alone”, and spiritual hunger exists even where ideas about the Absolute Being are confused. Furthermore, many differing spiritual paths have features in common. There is, for example, a core of ethical teaching common to the major faiths. The radical differences between religions do not always show at the beginning of the path: only when people go further do the divergences become clear. Some of our contemporaries teach that the further you go in any religion, the closer the paths converge: but actually the opposite
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is true. So those who are seeking must seek for truth, and find the path which is based, on right theology, on a true vision of God as He Himself has revealed Himself to us. Then our deepest intuition will confirm that indeed Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The fullness of life in God is only accessible in the God-man, that is, in the One who shares our human nature as well as having Divine Nature, as One of the Holy Trinity. The Orthodox Church gives us a true Prototype: we can see, and hear, and touch, and taste, the Absolute Being; we can experience the fragrance of God’s actual Being. Thus we can go to the end of the Church’s path with confidence. No other path, however noble its practices, its morals, and its aspirations, goes safely to the very end. Though nobody is totally bereft of grace, fullness of sanctity presupposes orthodox doctrine. Our teaching is unsurpassed; it is not out of date. It has borne fruit in many different ages and circumstances and cultures. Orthodoxy is for everyone; we can understand why Tertullian said that “every soul is innately Christian”. Thus spiritual life could be defined as “life in Christ”. Let us dwell on this for a moment. This phrase has been used as the title of a book by St. Nicholas Cabasilas about the Sacraments. Echoing him, the great wonderworker, St. John of Kronstadt, who was a married priest living in Russia and who reposed in 1905, gave a similar title to his “spiritual diary” when he was asked to publish it. An almost contemporary author called one of the books where he shared his spiritual insights His—that is, Christ’s—Life is Mine. To be “in Christ” means to be incorporated into His actual Body, and to be anointed with His Spirit— Christ means “the Anointed One”—and adopted as a child of His Heavenly Father. Christian faith is not only saying “yes” to the Creed. It means “putting on Christ” [Gal. 3:27]. How? By Baptism, which, precisely, is preceded by a confession of faith. We easily take this great gift for granted, but those who are converted in the mission field or as adults can tell us from their experience that it is a passage from darkness to light, from death to life. We sometimes forget that at Baptism the priest said over us, “Thou art washed, thou art sanctified, thou art justified, in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” These magnificent words, borrowed from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, can seem like a mere ritual formula if we neglect to actualize the divine gift of Grace in our life. The seed of spiritual life has been sown in
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us. We “are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints” [1 Cor. 1:2]. That is our task. If we are certain that we “have found the true faith”, we have nothing to fear from the plethora of spiritual paths around us, even though it seems confusing. “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” [2 Tim. 1:7]. If we remain faithful, and continually enrich our experience and knowledge of the Church’s life and teaching, we will be all the better fitted to help our contemporaries. The basic question is always: What do you think of Christ? St John reminded his correspondents that, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ is [the divine Lord] come in the flesh is not of God” [1 John 4:2]. Of course, our exposition of what we think of the Lord will be humble, not arrogant with self-assurance; it will be full of love and gratitude. Saint Silouan says. “God is love, and therefore the preaching of His word must always proceed from love. Then both preacher and listener will profit. But if you do nothing but condemn, the soul of the people will not heed you, and no good will come of it. Certainly, not everyone is called to be a fulltime preacher, but whoever witnesses to Christ will be speaking of One who has made it possible for all humans to become true persons. Spiritual life is, according to Orthodox doctrine, a collaboration between our free will and the will of God. The best ambassadors of Christ will be those whose spiritual life in Him has prepared them to speak prayerfully, so that others will want them to explain their belief. “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear”. [1 Pet. 3:15] If we conform to the path on which alone we can acquire what St Paul daringly calls the mind of Christ, it does not mean that our individuality gets lost. Our God is One in Nature and Three in Persons. Our Fathers teach us that we do not divide the Nature or confuse the Persons. And so it is to be when humanity is one as God is one. If the world lived in Christ, His commandments would be the first goal of each person: love for God and for each other. Therefore each person would be, not dissolved, but affirmed and fulfilled in loving relationships. orthodoxinfo.com 19
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Who’s to Blame for Human Suffering? BY Scott Cairns
How can one believe in a loving God who allows the innocent to suffer? I’ve been asked this many times, and I’ve never been quick to answer. Subconsciously, I’ve probably asked much the same thing in the past. While I may not frame the matter this way now, it remains a useful question, if only because it reveals a premise I am no longer willing to buy – the illusion of individual autonomy. The question reveals a keen ignorance regarding how intimately we are connected to one another – both now and forever – and more or less ignores the extreme freedom that God appears to insist upon in creation. These phenomena, together, provide a clue as to why all this suffering isn’t exactly God’s doing. I dare say that if the innocent suffer they do so because one of us – you or me or some other thug – now or in the past has set their pain in motion. If the innocent continue to suffer they do so because we have yet to take responsibility for their pain; we have yet to take sufficient responsibility for their relief. Our failure to appreciate the degree of our own responsibility enables our famous indifference to those who suffer, allows us a continuing, dimwitted, and blithe condemnation of those in pain or in poverty. We suspect that something has caused their situation, but our failure to see our own hands in the mess leaves us thinking those suffering are somehow to blame. We shake our heads as we stand by or as we turn away, feeling both helpless and – assuming that we’re not completely dead yet – a little culpable. That faintest whiff of our own culpability is subtle evidence that there may be hope for us yet. In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky’s Father Zosimas manifests a keen sense of this culpability. “There is only one salvation for you,” he says to his gathered brotherhood. “Take yourself up, and make yourself responsible for all the sins of men. For indeed it is so, my friends, and the moment you make yourself sincerely responsible for everything and everyone, you will see at once that it is really so, that it is you who are guilty on behalf of all and for all.” 20
And there is an even greater consequence that Zosimas would alert us to: “Whereas by shifting your own laziness and powerlessness onto others, you will end by sharing in Satan’s pride and murmuring against God.” You might even join the grim chorus of those who cannot believe in a God who would allow such things. In the midst of his own suffering unto death, the elder Zosimas makes clear his sense of this great mystery of our mutual complicity: «Remember especially, that you cannot be the judge of anyone. For there can be no judge of a criminal on earth until the judge knows that he, too, is a criminal, exactly the same as the one who stands before him, and that he is perhaps most guilty of all for the crime of the one standing before him. When he understands this, then he will be able to judge. However mad that may seem, it is true. For if I myself were righteous, perhaps there would be no criminal standing before me now.» In his book about the life and witness of his own spiritual father, St. Silouan the Athonite, Archimandrite Sophrony, a modern-day ascetic, further recovers for us this ancient understanding when he writes: «Sin is committed first of all in the secret depths of the human spirit but its consequences involve the individual as a whole. …Sin will, inevitably, pass beyond the boundaries of the sinner’s individual life, to burden all humanity and thus affect the fate of the whole world. The sin of our forefather Adam was not the only sin of cosmic significance. Every sin, manifest or secret, committed by each one of us affects the rest of the universe.» My time with the fathers and mothers of the Church has made clear to me the truth that my own sin is not only about me. The general consensus would have it that your sin is not only about you either. Every choice that separates us from communion with God, and every decision that clouds our awareness of His presence, or erodes our relationships with one another, has a profound and expanding effect – as the proverbial ripples in a pool.
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That profound effect is to give us precisely what, by so choosing, we prefer over communion with God, what we prefer over our cultivating an awareness of His presence, and over our having healthy relationships with one another – namely, ourselves alone. Ourselves alone, it turns out, is a circumstance that must finally be appreciated as the antithesis of our becoming human persons. The very notion of the Holy Trinity (in Whose image we are made) should lead us to suspect that personhood requires relationship, that genuine personhood depends upon it. My hope for healing, therefore, lies in my becoming more of a person, and more intimately connected to others. To succeed as we are called to succeed, we must all come to share this hope. The strongest man or woman in the world is not nearly strong enough to triumph over his or her sin simply by saying no to it. What we need is the strength-giving grace occasioned by our saying yes to something else, by our saying yes, and yes, and yes – ceaselessly – to Someone else. It is not finally our turning away from sin that frees us from sin’s recurrence; rather it is the movement of our turning toward Christ – and the mystery of our continuing turn into Him – that puts sin behind us. One other illustration comes to mind. Orthodox Christians generally observe three fasting seasons
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during the year besides Great Lent; many also observe most Wednesdays and Fridays as discrete days of fasting throughout the year. These are days when, for the most part, neither meat nor dairy foods are eaten. In any case, the tradition is keen to insist that fasting be accompanied by almsgiving. One forgoes expensive foods in favor of inexpensive food, and one is encouraged to share with the poor whatever money is saved by eating on the cheap. Not to put too fine a point on the matter, the tradition teaches us that a fast – or any manner of self-deprivation – that is not accompanied by good things done for others is understood to be “a Satanic fast.” Evuk diesn’t exist, the good, on the other hand, is what actually exists; our long and continuing tradition tells us that all that is worthwhile is good, and all that is good is worthwhile. Moreover, all that partakes of the good is by good’s efficacious agency brought into existence, and is by that selfsame agency kept there. Regardless of our situations, we are inevitably partaking of something or other at every moment. The catch is that we will either partake of what is, or we will partake of the absence of what is. We partake either of life (all that has true being by way of its connection to God) or of death (all that has opted to sever that connection). incommunion.org 21
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Synaxis Press is a monastic publishing house. It is a missionary outreach of The Canadian Orthodox Monastery of All Saints of North America. It is operated by the brotherhood with the intention of keeping the prices as low as possible. We endeavour to provide quality Orthodox Christian reading material, both for your own edification, and to help you witness to the Orthodox faith. All titles are carefully selected for purity of Orthodox content and complete conformity with the holy and God-bearing fathers of the Church. Our goal is to be the most dependable source of pure Orthodox Christian reading material in Canada and America. Your purchase of books from Synaxis Press makes you a participant in the missionary outreach of The Canadian Orthodox Monastery of All Saints of North America and helps sustain the Monastery.
BOOKS WRITTEN ESPECIALLY FOR YOUNG READERS Lives of Saints for Young People (by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo) Eleven volumes of this series are currently available. Each volume contains the lives of twelve saints, one for each month of the year, told for young readers. Volume Five contains lives of British saints. Number of pages varies. Eleven volumes available. Each Volume $5.00
TWELVE GREAT FEAST DAYS (by Archbishop Lazar Puhalo) Written for young readers and arranged so that it can be used as a «Life of Christ,» and as a church school text. (Also available in Romanian and Russian).
$10.00
COLOURING BOOKS FOR CHILDREN THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, FOR YOUNG PEOPLE This simply written narrative of the creation of the world is illustrated to be used as a colouring book. The simplified text is accompanied by the full text from the Orthodox Septuagint Old Testament. 27 pages.
$4.00
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN ALPHABET COLOURING BOOK Illustrated with Orthodox Christian themes, this delightful book permits small children to learn about the faith while learning the «ABCs.» $4.00
ORTHODOX CHURCHES FROM AROUND THE WORLD COLOURING BOOK This children’s colouring book features selected drawings of Orthodox Christian Churches from Russian, Greece, Serbia, Alaska, Canada and many other countries around the world. Helps give children a broader understanding of the Orthodox Church as reaching out to all nations. $4.00
GREAT SERBIAN ORTHODOX FRESCOES COLOURING BOOK The drawings in this colouring book feature simple drawings of actual frescoes from the great Serbian Orthodox Monasteries, many of them in Kosovo- Metochia. This colouring book is of great cultural and historical value. $4.00
ORTHODOX CHILDREN’S STORIES AUKE LAKE TALES (by Etolin Wittanen) The only truly North American original Orthodox children’s book. This beautifully illustrated book contains charming stories of a family of Orthodox children in Alaska who are part Tlingit Indian and part Russian.
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THE HOLY MYSTERIES/ SACRAMENTS FOR CHILDREN This Church school/home study text contains a introduction for Church School teachers and parents about the Sacraments and about Divine Grace. The text for children is simple
and straight forward. It contains pictures to colour, and simple puzzles to solve. 57 pages
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II ESPECIALLY FOR TEENAGERS THE LAW OF GOD (by Saint Philaret of New York) This excellent instructional book, written by the late Metropolitan Philaret of New York, covers a wide range of subjects affecting teenagers and young adults in our present times. It is excellent for church schools.
$5.00
III PATERICONS AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS GREAT FATHERS OF THE CHURCH A unique presentation of the lives of 27 of the greatest fathers of the Church. This book is written for ordinary readers, not theologians or scholars. The «Life» of each of the holy fathers is prefaced with a history and description of the city they lived and worked in. This book will give the reader greater understanding of the history of the Church and the way its teachings were presented by the holy fathers.
$10.00
THE KIEV CAVES PATERIKON Translated and printed in honour of the 1000th anniversary of the «Baptism of Rus’,» this volume contains the lives of the saints and wonderworkers of the first great North Slavic monastery, and one of the holiest places of pilgrimage for Orthodox Christians. 68 pages. $10.00
PLEASE, ORDER THE BOOKS THROUGH http://synaxispress.ca 23
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ORTHODOX FAITH
Thoughts about Homeschooling People are generally called intelligent through a wrong use of this word. The intelligent are not those who have studied the sayings and writings of the wise men of old, but those whose soul is intelligent, who can understand what is good and what evil; they avoid what is evil and harms the soul and intelligently care for and practice what is good and profits the soul, greatly thanking God. It is these alone who should properly be called intelligent. — Saint Anthony the Great Early Fathers from the Philokalia, Faber & Faber, 1973, page 21 Home schooling has gained tremendous support nationwide and presents a substantial threat to the public schools in some areas, causing them to upgrade their activities and programs and to lend a newly listening ear to parents who insist on improvements. In our own state, home schoolers have increased in number nearly ten-fold in the last ten years. At first glance the concern about socialization seems valid. However, in most homes this is not a problem. ‘First of all, we have an active family life and communicate freely with one another. Secondly, we are in Church and there our children’s friends vary widely in age, experience, and culture, but have a common Orthodox Christian foundation. Thirdly, the children are in town and in the stores and libraries and circulate successfully, without the aid of the “socialization” of a public school. The concern about our ability to educate our children is also valid, but the history of home schooling shows the home to often be a healthier learning environment than the classroom. Every parent is a natural teacher. However, parents cannot teach all things. We, personally, certainly cannot do all of it. For reading, we didn’t need to teach our children to read; we only supported their efforts and they are fine readers. For math it has been the same. For history, biography, literature and science, the children are avid readers and gobble it up whether it is “assigned” or is for their own free reading pleasure. Of the more involved academic skills, we cannot really say from personal experience since our oldest child just turned twelve this year, but home school literature shows that home schoolers in general achieve their academic goals using a variety of resources other than the public school classroom that are available to the average family. There are the books available in nearly every subject. We have friends and neighbors in just about every major field of study who can often lend a hand to eager young learners. Recent statistics show that home schooled children as a whole score very
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highly on SAT exams. But these questions and concerns do not address our primary concerns as Orthodox Christian parents in the education of our children. Our primary concern for our children is that they learn to love God, to know God, and learn to love their neighbor as their own selves. This is the foundation of our home, and everything that is taught in our home despite our many shortcomings and fails. But something else altogether lies at the foundation of the public education system. It is not the spirit of God that breathes through the curriculum, but the spirit of Antichrist. The public school has become the channel for much subtle (and at times, very overt) and skillful persecution of the Christian Faith. The public school has also become the government tool for social and moral reform, most of which is distinctly newage, relativistic and humanistic in spirit. This is of Antichrist. This spirit is a direct threat to our society and to our children. Of course, it is not only indigenous to the public school; it permeates every corner of public life. Our children are very vulnerable and impressionable and we have chosen to not submit them to forty or more hours of exposure at these tender ages to this anti-christian environment that threatens the very foundation of the Christian faith, and constantly pits its authority and the opinion of the “peer group” against our authority and that of the Church. It would be very convenient to use the public schools to provide our children with a basic education. But they seem dedicated to destroying our primary educational goals, rendering this morally indefensible for us. If, in the process of home schooling, our children do not have access to the latest lab equipment, advanced training in team sports, and opportunities to play in orchestras, or perform on stage, then so be it! These small deprivations are the least of our worries. If home schooling means added stress, financial sacrifice and a very, very full schedule, so be it! In the former soviet republics, to even be known as a Christian was to severely limit the educational, economic and job opportunities of the individual, and could, at times, lead to imprisonment - even death. We are exceedingly grateful to God and our neighbor that we are able to home school in a manner that is obedient to conscience without persecution! We feel called upon to make these small sacrifices now by recoiling from a system that is so dedicated to its anti-christian work. Priest Chad Williams, Orthodox America
Spring 2013
Summer 2012
ORTHODOX FAITH
T e ac h ing P ray e r to C h ildr e n We need to develop a vocabulary to communicate the significance of prayer in terms that children can understand and apply to their own spiritual lives. And then, we’ll need to offer them opportunities to put it into action. We should pray with them and encourage regular family prayer times. Parents have a lot of control over this. We can personally implement family prayer time. As Sunday School teachers and Youth Ministry leaders, we can train our students about prayer and open their eyes to its meaning and blessings. And we can also send them home with tools to equip their parents to take on family prayer time. The first question is: How are we teaching what prayer is? We can explain that praying is like talking with God, and children largely understand it. I like to talk with children about Genesis; about the narrative of man’s creation. God makes man in His image, and then talks with him. He creates a beautiful garden for him, offering him all sorts of delightful plants and animals to enjoy. And even as we discuss man’s fall, we see that Genesis 3:8 reads, “Then, they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden that afternoon.” This was a routine occurrence. Adam and Eve were accustomed to walking with God; enjoying conversation and communion with Him
right there in their beautiful home. That’s what prayer is. Prayer is our opportunity to commune with God in the garden. God wishes to spend time with us, and this is how we do it.
blood to our organs, but it’s the heart that hurts when we’re rejected or lonely. Kids understand whether this heart is hard or soft already, because they’re seeing it on the playground all the time.
Now, on the other hand, it is also important to communicate with children that prayer is not exactly the same as a conversation between people. The very young ones are concrete thinkers, and they can be troubled by the idea that they are talking to God, and He is not answering. They say words and ask questions, and they aren’t getting words back like they think they should. This can be confusing and frustrating, and it can lead them to abandon prayer as a worthless project.
Some of their peers are hardhearted, teasing other children and feeling no compassion or sympathy for the pain they cause. Others have softer hearts, which are easily bruised and which ache for people in pain. We can teach our kids to develop softer hearts by using the tools that God gives us – prayer, fasting, attending church services, charity and service work, and study. In particular, prayer changes hearts. As we spend more and more time in the presence of God, he transforms our hearts from stone to flesh.
Children need to understand how God communicates with us. And I find that the image that has served me best, both with my own children and in my Sunday School class, has been the soft heart, which we read about in Ezekiel 36:26 where God says, “I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I shall take the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” We may have hearts of unfeeling stone, but God can replace them with soft hearts of flesh. Children can easily grasp the idea that our souls have hearts, much like our bodies. Now, this is not the same heart that beats and sends
You might offer them a piece of clay to rub in their warm hands. The clay begins hard and almost solid and impenetrable, like our hearts, but as we work it with our hands, the warmth makes the clay soft and pliable. God’s warm presence does that for us. It transforms the hardness of our hearts into softness, and just like that clay, our hearts might just grow hard again if we stop praying for awhile. But simply returning to prayer begins to warm us up again. Kids can really hold onto this analogy and understand it. Once they have this concrete image in their minds, we can present them with the key
piece of information. A soft heart loves more, feels more, and most importantly is more able to receive God’s love and mercy and His messages. If we want to walk in the garden with God, we need soft hearts so that those hearts can feel the messages that God sends. Now, this makes a lot of sense, because God is love. And a soft heart really feels love more intensely. Indeed, Christ teaches us to love one another as we love ourselves, and a soft heart has empathy. It feels the pain of others. Children can understand this concept and make it their own. This idea clarifies the purpose of all sacraments and worship. We spend time in the presence of God in order to soften our hearts that we might feel His presence and live in His love. Now that we have the concept of prayer and its purpose, we need to give our children the opportunity to practice prayer and to see its effects firsthand. In the Sunday Schools and Youth Ministries, we should be sending home kits and practical tips for making this happen in every family’s home. And as parents, we must be consistently creating family experiences. Of course, families should come together for some evening family prayer time.
Elissa Bjeletich pravmir.com 25
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Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Diocese of the USA, Canada, and Australia
HOLY ASCENSION ORTHODOX CHURCH IN AURORA, ONTARIO http://auroraorthodoxchurch.org/
DIVINE LITURGIES EVERY SUNDAY Baptism, weddings, funerals, memorial services, prayer services for the health, the consecration of apartments, houses, cars and other rites performed by arrangement with the priest, at a convenient time for you
ADDRESS: 33 Mosley St., Aurora, Ontario, L4G 1G8 Rector Archpriest Milan Radulovic (647) 995-3011 milanradulovic@hotmail.com Second Priest Boris Kriger (705) 635-3857 krigerbruce@gmail.com
Автобусы: #32, 33, 34, 98 YRT / VIVA Yonge St / Wellington, Yonge St / Church St
Our Orthodox Faith
By Very Rev. Prof. Blagoy Tchiflianov The temporary life begins with birth and ends with death. It has a beginning and an end. But the life in the world to come, while having a beginning, will have no end. That is, it will be eternal and it will be blessed for the believers and those who obey God’s will but will be an endless torment for the unbelievers and the sinners. What is eternal life? It is, above all, a defined state of the human soul. It does not depend on distance or time. Consequently, it begins here on earth. Jesus Christ says: “The Kingdom of God is within you,” that is, it begins and expands here on earth.
Price $ 7.50 ISBN 9781105658990 Publisher: Altaspera Publishing & Literary Agency
Please, order through altaspera@gmail.com 26
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Winter 2012
ORTHODOX FAITH
Fr. Milan Radulovich Outlines of 20th Century Church History Fr. Milan Radulovich, an Orthodox theologian, had written many articles on a subject of Liturgical Theology, Dogmatics and Holy Scripture. This is his first work on Church History subject.
Price $ 15.00 Please order through: Tel. (647) 995-3011, milanradulovic@hotmail.com
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SACRED MURALS STUDIO
Icon-Writing Workshops by iconographer Philip Davydov from Russia Sign up at www.sacredmurals.com or email: phildavydov@yahoo.com