The Liturgy Lived: The Divinization of Man

This article is an excerpt from The Wellspring of Worship (Ignatius Press, 2005) by Fr. Jean Corbon
Source http://fatherdavidbirdosb.blogspot.ca/2010/02/liturgy-lived-divinization-of-man-jean.html

If we consent in prayer to be flooded by the river of life, our entire being will be transformed; we will become trees of life and be increasingly able to produce the fruit of the Spirit: we will love with the very Love that is our God. It is necessary at every moment to insist on this radical consent, this decision of the heart by which our will submits unconditionally to the energy of the Holy Spirit; otherwise we shall remain subject to the illusion created by mere knowledge of God and talk about him and shall in fact remain apart from him in brokenness and death. On the other hand, if we do constantly renew this offering of our sinful hearts, let us not imagine that our New Covenant with Jesus will be a personal encounter pure and simple. The communion into which the Spirit leads us is not limited to a face-to-face encounter between the person of Christ and our own person or to an external conformity of our wills with his. The lived liturgy does indeed begin with this "moral" union, but it goes much further. The Holy Spirit is an anointing, and he seeks to transform all that we are into Christ: body, soul, spirit, heart, flesh, relations with others and the world. If love is to become our life, it is not enough for it to touch the core of our person; it must also impregnate our entire nature.

Every Action Proper

“To the extent that man does not use his freedom, he is not himself. In order to emerge from that indeterminate state, he must utilize his freedom in order to know and be known as himself.”

+ Fr. Dimitru Staniloae

"Every action of a person that is proper to them is ultimately an act of freedom. Love is the most essential act of freedom. Nothing can force me to love - for love cannot be forced. The transformation of the human being from natural existence to personal existence is our transformation from slavery to freedom. Personal existence is not a given - it is a gift of grace, the struggle to live as the Father lives, to do what we see the Father doing."

+ Fr Stephen Freeman, http://glory2godforallthings.com/2013/03/05/what-would-you-do/

The Gospel

"What is amazing about the gospel is that the Lord makes us free love with no agenda. I love you not so I can feel good about helping you, or because I want you to became Orthodox, or so that you will change and become like me. I can love you just because, you are you. Only this love is worthy of the human heart and is from God. This is what divinization looks like...to love as God loves."

+ Fr. Roberto Ubertino

Five Talks on Marriage

Five Talks on Marriage
by Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom)

Download the PDF from http://stnicholasdc.org/files/Sacraments/Five-Talks-on-Marriage.pdf

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Marriage and the Eucharist 

The Pentecost Prayers of Hope

"You measure out the years for the living and set times of death, bringing down to Hades and raising up, fettering in weakness and liberating in power; You provide aptly for the present and fittingly dispose what is to come, restoring those who are wounded by the sting of death with the hope of resurrection....

On this universal and salutary feast, deign to accept petitions for those imprisoned in Hades, thus giving us great hope, and relief to the departed from their grievous distress and Your comfort....

...counting them worthy of peace and repose;  for the dead do not praise You, Lord, nor do those in Hades dare to offer You glory, but it is we the living who bless and entreat You and offer You propitiatory prayers and sacrifices for their souls."

From the Pentecost Kneeling prayers, http://www.goarch.org/chapel/liturgical_texts/pentecost_kneel

All Sufficiency

"Therefore, as we also commemorate his holy passion, his resurrection form the dead, His ascension into heavens, his sitting at your hand, O Father, and his second coming which shall be from the heavens, awesome and full of glory; we offer unto you your oblations from what is your, for every condition, concerning every condition and in every condition."

+ From The Institutional Narrative, The Divine Liturgy of St Basil, Coptic Orthodox Rite

“Thine own of Thine own, we offer to Thee, in behalf of all, and for all”

+ Elevation of the Holy Gifts, The Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom

"Deal with us according to your goodness, O you who give food to all flesh. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, that we too, having sufficiency in every thing always, may abound in every good deed...Lord have mercy...Remember O Lord, those who have brought unto you these gifts, those on whose behalf they have been brought, and those by whom they have been brought. Give them all the heavenly reward....Pray for these holy and precious gifts, our sacrifices and those who have brought them....Lord have mercy."

+ From The Seven Short Prayers, The Divine Liturgy of St Basil, Coptic Orthodox Rite

A Tree called Beauty

Fr Johnathan has a beautiful reflection on his blog:

http://janotec.typepad.com/terrace/2016/04/lonely-gods-and-a-tree-called-beauty.html

lonely gods and a tree called beauty

Two Commands of Love

"The last type in Mother Maria’s analysis is the ‘evangelical’ type. She begins by distinguishing this from the way ‘evangelical’is often used –which she sees as marked by sectarianism, moralism and a ‘distorted and impoverished view of salvation’–and also from attempts to ‘Christianize’ or ‘enchurch’ society, which are only milder versions of the same thing.

Praying for Enemies

In light of Beruit, Paris, Syria, Kenya, Egypt and reported or unreported acts of violence....Lord have mercy on us all. 

A Prayer for Enemies
By Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic 

A Serbian Bishop and writer of the spiritual book called the Orchid

A prayer composed by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, Serbian Bishop who spoke out against the Nazi regime, was arrested, and taken to Dachau.

Theosis/Deification in the Oriental Orthodox Liturgical Tradition

Someone has compiled a list of prayers and references in the Oriental Orthodox Liturgical Tradition which teach about Theosis/Deification . The list contains references to deification in the liturgical life of the Orthodox Church. In particular the list focuses primarily on the Coptic Orthodox prayers but also includes a few references to other Oriental Orthodox liturgical prayers:

Original list reblogged from: http://www.writeurl.com/publish/0vnlqlqd3rqkpygoc69d

Theosis as Beautification: A Passion and Paschal meditation

On this Great and Holy Friday may you continually encounter the beauty of the Cross and the Resurrection.

If you've a few moments, please see the following meditation by Fr Johnathan Tobias:


Theosis as Beautification -- a Passion and Paschal meditation
by Fr Jonathan Tobias
http://janotec.typepad.com/terrace/2015/04/theosis-as-beautification-a-passion-and-paschal-meditation.html

The Structure and Meaning of Holy Week

The Structure and Meaning of Holy Week

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65QgZlNQ1yQ

http://www.christthesaviour.ca/ 

https://soundcloud.com/christthesaviouroc/the-structure-and-meaning-of

On Death

On Death
by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

Divinization is Humanization

“...the very nature of humanity is to be like God, for that is what it means to be created in the image of God. The more humanity becomes like God, the more it becomes itself. Divinization is humanization. Theosis is anthropoiesis.” 

+ H.G. Paulos Mar Gregorios, Cosmic Man, pg. 230

“Life in man is the glory of God; the life of man is the vision of God.”

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 4, 20:7

“The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God”

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (Another Translation)

"The glory of God is a man fully alive."

Saint Irenaeus of Lyons (Another Translation)

Fr John Behr on Forgiveness Vespers

"This evening we stand at the entrance to the Great Fast, and we enter into this holy season by asking each other for forgiveness.

Forgiveness is at the heart of Christianity, the mystery of Christ. It expresses the love that God has shown us in Christ, our mediator, reconciler, redeemer, and creator, the one who breaks down the wall of separation that we erect through our hardness of heart and brings us into unity with God and with each other.

It is at once the easiest thing—my yoke is light says Christ (Matt. 11:30)—and the hardest thing, as hard as our own hearts, our own sense of self—righteousness and self-worth. It is as hard as taking up the cross, and yet so easy, if only we can embrace it fully.

That which stands in the way of our taking the path of forgiveness is primarily our own hard-heartedness: we often don't want to forgive others, preferring to lick our wounds, aggrieved with others, but satisfied with ourselves, and build our identity on these wounds—“poor me"—and even more we often don’t want to ask for forgiveness, preferring to blame others because they can’t see how right we really are.

How hard it is, yet so easy, to cut through all of this self-righteousness, to accept the forgiveness that Christ offers us, and to forgive one another. By taking the first step, by asking one another for forgiveness, We cut down our ego and all that which would assert itself and justify itself, and we allow our hearts of stone to be cracked open, to receive the love of God, to become hearts of flesh, capable of loving one another.

When we do this we will find that forgiveness is not just a matter of saying "forget it," "it doesn't matter," "let's pretend it never happened." Rather we will find that even the evil and sin that has happened becomes an occasion of joy and life. Just as when Joseph's brother - who had sold him into slavery - were told by Joseph when they approached him: You thought that you did this? In fact, it was God who sent me here to preserve life (Gen. 45:5).

In the same way, if our hearts are set upon Christ and following him into the glory prepared for us from before the foundation of the world, if this is so, then everything that has happened, and happens still, becomes the means by which God is forming us, breaking our stony hearts, so that we might be conformed to the First-Born of many brethren (Rom. 8:29), so that we can indeed rejoice in all things, not only those things for which it is easy to be thankful - the good things that have come our way and the joy that others bring - but also all the trials and tribulations by which we now suffer, pummelling us and softening us, to share in the Pascha of Christ, the Pascha which, as we will sing in a minute, allows us to forgive all in the resurrection of Christ.

It is to this end, and this end alone, that all the extra prayers and ascetic efforts of the coming days are directed - certainly not that we should feel ever more proud of our achievements in them.

According to the Fathers, our life comes from our neighbor. God is the source of life, but it is a life that is lived here and now, with one another. And so our steps to a renewed life must begin concretely here, with one another. And so our steps to a renewed life must begin concretely here, with one another, beginning by asking each other for forgiveness, for all the things we may have done or not done, loose words or deliberate actions, for any offence caused, and, more generally, for having fallen short of what Christ has asked from each of us."

+ Fr John Behr, "The Cross Stands, While The World Turns" (Yonkers: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2014) 25-26.

We Must Pray for All: The Salvation of the World According to St Silouan

We Must Pray for All: The Salvation of the World According to St Silouan
by Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware)
http://www.bogoslov.ru/en/text/2314168.html

Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia analyses the soteriological theology of St Silouan the Athonite. Identifying the similar sense of cosmic unity found both in Dostoevsky and St Silouan, the Metropolitan discusses the influence of St Isaac the Syrian on both men, moving on to examine St Silouan's burning desire and constant prayer for the salvation of the whole world and its theological implications.

Merciful Works, Martyrdom and Theosis

"Nothing is so fitted for deification…and nearness to God as mercy offered with pleasure and joy to those who stand in need. For if the Word has shown that the person who is in need of having good done to him is God - "inasmuch as you have done it,"(Mt24:40) - then He will much more show that the person, who can do good and does it, is truly God by grace and participation, because he has taken on a proper imitation of the energy (energia)…of His own kindness."

+ St Maximus the Confessor, Mystagogy 24 (PG 91 713A-B)

"There is yet another way (of demonstrating the Incarnation), which is not theoretical in nature: namely, the certainty that results from (spiritual) exercise and inner purification. The fathers, who along this path have arrived at the utmost end, have testified that the Christian faith alone is true. The proof of this is their attainment of contact with God to the extent that (divine) traces of him became manifest in them, as well as their constancy in that faith and their devotion to it until they offered themselves up (in martyrdom) without separation from it and in obedience to it."

+ Al-Safı ibn al-Assal, Brief Chapters on the Trinity and the Union, ch. 9 ed. Khalil Samir, SJ, in Patrologia Orientalis 42.3, no. 192 (Brepols: Turnhout/Belgique, 1985). Trans. S. Davis.

For the Journey

"When preparing for a journey, we try to learn as much as we can about our destination...

...Exactly the same can be said about our life’s journey to the Kingdom...

...We are already on our journey, and should be continually preparing for it. How? Is this the right question? There are as many ways to prepare for this journey as there are people living on this earth.

The Church is here for those of us who are blessed with belonging to Christ. The Lord knows the ways of many who haven’t found nor encountered Him. It is not for us to decide. But we know Christ, we partake of His Body and His Blood, we stand at the foot of His Cross, we know His Love...Love Him back! Always and forever, this is the answer: love Him back!

The Church provides all the tools that this journey requires...."

+ Matushka Juliana Schmemann, The Joy to Serve (Montreal: Alexander Press, 2009) 86-88.

"The early Church knew that, in all creation, there is no one who is worthy through his own spiritual effort, through his own “worthiness,” to partake of the body and blood of Christ, and that therefore preparation consists not in a calculation and analysis of one’s “preparedness” or “unpreparedness,” but in the answer of love to love..."

+ Fr Alexander Schmemann, "The Sacrament of Communion" in "The Eucharist." Trans. by Paul Kachur (New York: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1987) 241.

A Word to Married Couples

A Word to Married Couples
by Father Matthew the Poor
Source: "Words for our Time" (Chesterton: Concilliar Press 2013) 99-105.

Eucharist and Marriage

"In order that we might be one with Him not just in spirit but in body, flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones (cf Gen. 2:23), He granted us union with Himself through this bread. Every love finds fulfilment through unity and starts from likeness. The popular adage “Like attracts like” is an ancient one. The love associated with the married state seems somehow superior to other forms of love. “For this cause”, it says, “shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh” (Matt. 19:5). “This is a great mystery”, says the divine Paul, “but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Eph. 5:32). It says in that same passage that a man shall cleave and become one flesh, but not one spirit. We, by contrast, shall not only be joined to Christ’s body but mingled with it through partaking in this divine bread, and we shall not just become one body, but also one spirit. Do you see that the surpassing greatness of God’s love towards us comes about, and is manifested, through sharing this bread and this cup? For this reason “Burnt offering and sin offering hath he not required”, according to the Psalms, “But he hath prepared a body for us” (cf Ps. 40:6 Lxx)."

+ St Gregory Palamas