The Church and the Journey

“When preparing for a journey, we try to learn as much as we can about our destination; the climate, the history, the special attractions, etc. We buy special clothes, travel books, we explore the internet.  In other words we spend a great deal of time in preparation for the trip with great enthusiasm and anticipation.

Exactly the same can be said about our life’s journey to the Kingdom.  The same joy and anticipation can and should take place as we prepare for our final banquet with the Lord, with the Theotokos and with all the saints…

Having laid aside all earthly cares, having detached ourselves from concrete petty thoughts and emptied our minds in order to give enough room for the Spirit to fill, I would like to stand with you in silence, stillness and solitude – solitude with Christ.  Then we can concentrate on our journey, the one that is taking place as time moves inexorably forward, upward, and, we hope, towards the gates…

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, pp. 85-88, Published by: Alexander Press, http://www.alexanderpress.com/downloads/APB_Dialogue-6_Schmemann_Joy.pdf

The Royal Martyr on Marriage and Family Life

A humble and encouraging reminder by Royal Martyr Empress Alexandra Fedorovna...

On Marriage and Family Life
Excerpts from notes made by the Royal Martyr Empress Alexandra Fedorovna
http://www.holy-transfiguration.org/library_en/fam_marriageAlex1.html

On Wealth and Poverty

Welfare and Poverty
by Archbishop John Shahovskoy

Pointing Towards a Cure

Very humbling reminder...

"Father Alexander’s unique gift as theologian and critic was his refusal to unmask the demons without pointing to a cure. Unlike many theologians today who are engaged in a relentless critique of church life and culture with their all-too-familiar attacks on secularism, Father Alexander always lifted his audience in the direction of a solution."

+  Fr Alexis Vinogradov, Revisiting Father Alexander Schmemann’s Work on the Problems of the Church in America: The Liturgical Problem

Orthodox Catechesis

ORTHODOX CATECHESIS
http://www.goarch.org/archdiocese/departments/religioused/resources/orthodoxcatechesis

1. THE PURPOSE OR PHILOSOPHY OF ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

The purpose of Orthodox Christian Education (catechesis) is to help build up the Church, the Body of Christ, by nurturing every person in the life of personal communion with the Holy Trinity (theosis), and thus, through this ministry, to bear joyful witness to God’s loving and redeeming work in the world.

Being only one part of the total life of the Church, Christian education is effective in the context of living faith in the home and the local parish. Living faith is concretely expressed through all believers – bishops, priests, parents, teachers, parish leaders, youth leaders, and all Orthodox Christians seeking to know and to live the new life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

O Cross of Christ

"Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The cross that is raised today is like a multi-faceted diamond. The cross that is raised is what our enemies, the enemies of the faith, call us; we are, "The People of the Cross."

We are the People of the Cross, this is how we are defined by the people who martyr our brother and sisters... "The People of the Cross" - that means you, and me, and all of us here, we are the People of the Cross. 

And the cross is the revelation of who God is, the cross is the revelation of how God saves, the cross is the revelation also of what is behind human fear and violence. This is the same cross that today we see in our churches, the same cross that St. Paul said in his epistle I want to be crucified on, this is the cross that St. Paul says is the only reality he wants to know; "I only want to know among you Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

Archbishop Lazar Puhalo's Persepctive on Marriage and Monasticism

Archbishop Lazar Puhalo's Perspective on Marriage and Monasticism
By Dr. Andrew J. Sopko, on the The Theo-Anthropology of Archbishop Lazar Puhalo

On Hospitality, Generosity and Giving

"When we love the name of salvation, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and have mercy upon each other, we fulfill all the Law. Through mercy, Abraham was pleased, to host God, and His holy angels.
...When we continue to keep Him, in our inner being, He will make us rich, so we can give to others. We do not ask for, the wealth of this world, but for the salvation of our souls, by calling upon His holy name."

+ Wednesday Watos Psali, Midnight Praises, Coptic Orthodox Church, http://tasbeha.org/hymn_library/view/356 

"I am frightened at the possibility of being condemned. Not because I have robbed, or committed adultery, or done something forbidden, but rather for having failed to care for Christ himself in the person of the poor. Servants of Christ, let us then visit Christ! Let us take care of Christ! Let us feed Christ! Let us welcome Christ...in the person of the poor."

+ St Gregory of Nazianzus

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

On Compassion and Forgiveness

“Remember People’s love and their past good experiences with you. Should you doubt their sincerity or find out they have wronged you, Their old love will intercede and your anger will fade away.” 

+ H.H. Pope Shenouda III

"I beseech you, put this to the test. When a man affronts you or brings dishonor on your head, or takes what is yours, or persecutes the Church, then pray to the Lord, saying: “O Lord, we are all Thy creatures. Have pity on Thy servants and turn their hearts to repentance,” and you will be aware of grace in your soul. To begin with, constrain your heart to love enemies, and the Lord, seeing your good will, will help you in all things, and experience itself will show you the way."

+ St Silouan the Athonite

"Christianity honors man greatly, and raises his value as the crown of all creation who has the sole dominion over it. But it is a spiritual religion which aims to create a religious society, eliminating the spirit of evil in man, to bring him back to his first state before the fall when God made him in His image and according to His likeness (Genesis 1:26). When Christianity asks us to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for those who spitefully use us and persecute us (Matthew 5:44), it does that to elevate the state of all parties that they become no more enemies but friends. In doing that, it does not convert us to passive fearful people, but to good and active people. It gives us a powerful weapon by which we defeat our enemies. It is the weapon of goodness which eliminates evil from its root "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21). Hence, withstanding is out of strength and not of weakness, for "He who rules his spirit is better than he who takes a city" (Proverbs 16:32). The matter is very clear in our own lives, in fulfilling such commandments - which some consider as lowering to human honor - one gains honor and tribute via humility and love, and not via roughness and haughtiness, and he converts enemies to friends." 

+ Bishop Yoannis of Gharbia

What we can learn from Orthodoxy in India?

"...The church must stress the need to go back to a simple, frugal life as against the flamboyant exhibitionism wealth tempts. The church’s mission should include propaganda against consumerism. Jesus Christ went in search of the oppressed and marginalized, and the church’s mission should also include the empowerment of the powerless and the marginalized. Tribals, women and children all need the special attention of the church, and mission today has a calling to concentrate on programmes for the benefit of these groups.

The churches while pursuing mission work had, on many occasions, gone away from God’s mission. The conquest, colonizing and destroying of other cultures were all done with a view to do mission in a militant manner. But God’s mission must achieved by respecting each individual’s intrinsic worth, the right to freedom and independence, and respecting differences among peoples. Seeing the divine in the midst of a plurality of experiences is the need of the hour. God’s mission has to be sought in new and varied ways by the churches in the rapidly changing life situations we see in our own time. Rather than the militant missions of yester years, it will be the peace-building, soothing, sustaining activities of Christian mission that will be welcomed as the work of God in the present communally torn Indian situation, and indeed throughout the world."

+ Fr. Thomas Varghese Chavadyel, On Orthodox Mission in India, http://malankaraorthodoxchurch.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=234

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.

Suffering and Christianity

Reblogged from Fr Ernesto's blog:

Suffering and Christianity
http://www.orthocuban.com/2014/06/suffering-and-christianity/

The Clarity of Humility

"A lady who was a doctor and worked in a hospital came one day and said to me, "It is impossible to stay in my work...Because the director there of the clinic is very nasty to me and I cannot work there anymore and I'm thinking of abandoning my job completely." 

I said to her lets try to make an experiment, stay there where you are but try to change yourself.

She said, "how?"

"Start praying" I said to her like that, "Lord I thank Thee that through this man You're showing me how far is my heart from You and I cannot keep my peace."

She started praying like that, "Lord I thank Thee that through this man You're showing me how far is my heart from You..." and after two weeks the director of this clinic went to visit this young lady doctor and said to her, "Either you are no longer the same person or I made a mistake."

And the whole thing changed and there was a perfect harmony in their collaboration and working together.

...But she had to humble her self and not to have any bitterness at all and have complete confidence in God that He can speak to his heart good things, and put herself under that and within two weeks she won the victory.

It's a matter of faith...if we reason humanly and on a psychological level there is no way out, but if we manage to do what our fathers taught us...what did they say?

I'll give you an example from the Desert Fathers...One novice went to St Pimon the Great, and said to him , "father I think I have got the unceasing prayer."

He began to think he acquired the prayer of the heart... And the saint said to him "and you think that is a great thing? The great thing is to put yourself under ever creature"

That is the reasoning of our fathers. If we manage to humble our selves before the other..."

+ Father Zacharias of Essex, Human Relationships In the Light of Christ 3 of 5, http://youtu.be/e2HoJOYisQk

http://youtu.be/e2HoJOYisQk

On Motherhood

"Motherhood is what makes us the carriers of what life was intended to be in the garden of Eden. It was betrayed by Adam and Eve and then redeemed by the Virgin Mary when she gave birth to Life, when she accepted, as everyone should, and must and can except the will of God to give life. she is the ultimate actually, life-giver, she is she created life in a fallen world that is so often just coping with existence. The difference is quite clear and quite obvious between between a person who exudes an aura of living faith living allegiance, living belonging, living acceptance and the person whom forgets this calling. It is a calling, it is a mission, it is a duty and just exists. So motherhood is giving life to everything, to everything you touch." 

+ Matushka Juliana Schmemann, On Motherhood

"Women who have or have had the privilege of giving life, and women who did not, all have this potential virtue, this talent of giving life." 

+ Matushka Juliana Schmemann, On Motherhood

On Motherhood by Matushka Juliana Schmemann

http://youtu.be/DEX8TiYFRmg

Also see: "THE JOY TO SERVE" by Matushka Juliana Schmemann which offers a fresh perspective concerning the role of women in the Church and, more germane, in the context of our modern world. Available from Alexander Press http://www.alexanderpress.com/downloads/APB_Dialogue-6_Schmemann_Joy.pdf

Parents need to love the child…

Parents need to love the child…
by Anastasia Donets
Source: http://www.pravmir.com/parents-need-to-love-the-child/

The family of fr. Alexander and matushka Maria consists of twelve children and fourteen grandchildren. Their oldest son, Phillip, is a deacon with a history PhD and also works at the Orthodox University. Their oldest daughter, Tatiana, holds a PhD in philology and works at the church Traditional school and the University. Fr. Alexander’s youngest daughter, Olga, attends a specialized mathematical school. All the children live a church life and some are getting a theological education. We asked fr. Alexander to answer some questions about difficult issues that arise in the process of raising children.

Mother Theoliptie Amma Demiana

One of our beloved Fathers sent out this article about Omina (Mother) Theoliptie of St Demiana Monastery in Egypt: (Note: Though the narrative contains some of the aesthetic of sentimentality characteristic of Modern Evangelical discourse, this post is not intended to perpetuate, encourage or reinforce the tropes of therapeutic evangelicalism.) (Please remember all our monastic mothers and fathers in your prayers.)

Chinese-Canadian wanted the best and found this in the Monastery of Saint Dimyana

by Cornelis Hulsman (Arab-West Report, April 23, 2014)

Becoming Christian

A beautiful quote from Abouna Maxym's article on Serving Through Outreach which calls attention to authentic expression of Orthodoxy and of living in and participating in the Divine Life of Christ. Again the theme is being not just doing, being Christian and not artificially implementing a 'Christian' worldview, genre, philosophy, programme, ethic or activity.

"The first thing that must be said about acquiring this spirit of service is that it will not happen by simply reading about Christ’s acts of service in the Gospel and trying, with no preparation, to imitate Him.  The fact of the matter is that the Lord did not simply perform acts of service; rather, His deeds of love flowed naturally from His gracious character.  His deeds reveal His identity.  If we try to analyze the activity of Christ in the Gospel with a view to implementing a programme of Christ-like service to others, we will fail.  Acts of service that do not have their origin in a gracious character are not credible and are often undertaken for the wrong reasons.  Unfortunately, the wounded human heart is capable of sin even in performing good deeds if it is not being purified, enlightened and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.  We come face to face with a fundamental problem: we cannot act as Christ acts through observation and implementation alone.  We cannot acquire the spirit of service as we would a skill or a discipline.  We must instead receive Christ’s life and then struggle to allow His character to emerge in us.  This is why the Orthodox Church carefully distinguishes between the imitation of Christ and the life in Christ.  The former allows us to learn about Christianity; the latter allows us to become Christians."

+ Very Rev. Maxym Lysack, Serving Through Outreach

Also check out Fr Maxym's talk entitled "Orthodoxy and the World."

Crumbs of Bread

Crumbs of Bread
by Fr Roberto Ubertino
http://stsilouan.org/priestmusings/Crumbs%20of%20Bread.html


Each Crumb On The Discos = A Person

The Way Of The Church Is Love

Such an important reminder (forgive me beloved if I've ever fed your fallen passions and fed mine. Pray for me a sinner):

"I once asked someone: "What type of warrior do you consider yourself to be? Christ's warrior or temptation's warrior? Are you aware that the evil of temptation also has its own warriors?"

A Christian must not be fanatic; he must have love for and be sensitive towards all people. Those who inconsiderately toss out comments, even if they are true, can cause harm.