At the Gate of the Year

At the Gate of the Year
by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Before we pray, I should like to introduce our prayers so that when we pray, we do it more effectively, with one mind and with one heart. Year after year I have spoken of the New Year that was coming, in terms of a plain covered with snow, unspoiled, pure, and called our attention to the fact that we must tread responsibly on this expanse of whiteness still unspoiled, because according to the way in which we tread it, there will be a road cutting through the plain following the will of God, or wandering steps that will only soil the whiteness of the snow. But a thing that we cannot, must not forget, this year perhaps more than on many previous occasions, is that, surrounding, covering this whiteness and this unknown as with a dome, there is darkness, a darkness with few or many stars, but a darkness, dense, opaque, dangerous and frightening. We come out of a year when darkness has been perceived by all of us, when violence and cruelty are still rife.

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 Mission of Presence

"We introduce men and women not to a story, even a religious story, but rather to a presence: the presence of the saints, men and women who have suffered, many in the same way as our people."

+ Fr Roberto Ubertino

With Regard to the Fathers

"We are not called not simply to preserve Patristic tradition. We are called to pursue it and to participate in it ourselves. From out of the well-spring of Holy Tradition and through our participation in the liturgical life of the Church; by attempting to acquire some share in the Fathers' spirit of humility and life of prayer; by pursuing their path toward purification, illumination and theosis, students of Orthodox Theology are called, and must be committed to, acquiring this same 'mind of the Fathers' which is nothing less than the mind of Christ Himself.

This not only keeps outside influences from infiltrating our inheritance; it also inspires and emboldens us as we confront, address, and reach out to the non-Orthodox around us. Only then can we speak with the same voice as our Fathers -- from out of the depths of their same experience, utilizing their same categories of thought, and rightly applying their same method and manner of approach."

+ Dr. Harry Boosalis, St Tikhon Orthodox Theological Seminary

Thanks to Nicholas S. for this quote!

On Holy Communion

On Holy Communion
By Metropolitan Anthony Bloom

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

Through living the whole life of the church, and pre-eminently by Communion in the Holy Mysteries, we seek participation in the common life with Christ the Saviour. Living in the church, being the body of Christ in the midst of the world, being the presence of the living Christ incarnate through us, being the lodging place of the Holy Spirit, His Temple, being children of the heavenly Father in the most literal and unconditional sense, this is precisely what we seek, to make our life one with Christ.

Orthodox Perspectives Concerning Marital Sex

Very interesting article from: http://orthodoxchurchlife.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/orthodox-perspectives-concerning-marital-sex/

THERE IS NO SEX IN THE CHURCH

by Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov 1

Source: Fr. Sergei Sveshnikov, “There is no sex in the Church” in “American Theological Inquiry, Volume Four, Issue One: A Biannual Journal of Theology, Culture, and History”, Wipf & Stock (Feb. 4 2011) 61-84.http://atijournal.org/ATI_Vol4_No1.pdf

[PLEASE NOTE: This article deals with adult subject matter and is intended for adult readers. If you are offended by the discussion of human sexuality, this article is not for you. Some sections of this article contain very graphic language and reader discretion is strongly advised.]

Beauty of the Heart

Time washes away physical beauty, and sickness eats it up, but beauty of the heart is beyond all changes. The former arouses anger and produces jealousy, but the latter is not susceptible to similar passions and knows no vainglory. 

+ Saint John Chrysostom

"I always liked to be elegant, later I found out that being elegant comes from the inside...Elegance is to love , To give and forgive" 

+ Mama Maggie Gobran

Sister Vassa Larin: Orthodoxy Is Not a Religion of Fear

Sister Vassa Larin: Orthodoxy Is Not a Religion of Fear
Vienna. May 4, 2009

http://www.rocorstudies.org/interviews/2009/05/04/vienna-may-4-2009-sister-vassa-larin-orthodoxy-is-not-a-religion-of-fear/

Please tell us about your background and explain why you decided to study theology.

I was born and raised in the ROCOR, more specifically in the family of a ROCOR priest in Nyack, NY. When I was a novice living in a small monastic community in Munich, it was Archbishop Mark of Berlin and Germany who sent me, along with several other monastics of his diocese, to study theology at the Institute for Orthodox Theology of the University of Munich. His reason for doing this was simple: our diocese needed certified teachers of Orthodox Theology for our parish schools, and we happened to have an Orthodox Institute in Munich. Since higher education in Germany was then free, Vladyka decided to take advantage of this. His decision shocked me at the time, because it never entered my mind that I as an American could study at a German university.

A Father John Romanides Quote

“.. in order for our dogmatic theology to be real it must be pastoral; it has to give life!” + Fr. John Romanides
Reminder to live out our theology, that theology is a part of the life of the Church and is to be used in concert with her to bring and facilitate union with God.

What Is Left of Beauty

"Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hidden there. Perhaps it was distorted, perhaps damaged, but it was beauty none the less, and what he did was to call out this beauty."

+ Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh

"Every one of us is in the image of God, and every one of us is like a damaged icon. But if we were given an icon damaged by time, damaged by circumstances, or desecrated by human hatred, we would treat it with reverence, with tenderness, with broken-heartedness. We would not pay attention primarily to the fact that it is damaged, but to the tragedy of its being damaged. We would concentrate on what is left of its beauty, and not on what is lost of its beauty. And this is what we must learn to do with regard to each person as an individual, but also - and this is not always as easy - with regard to groups of people, whether it be a parish or a denomination, or a nation. We must learn to look, and look until we have seen the underlying beauty of this group of people. Only then can we even begin to do something to call out all the beauty that is there. Listen to other people, and whenever you discern something which sounds true, which is a revelation of harmony and beauty, emphasize it and help it to flower. Strengthen it and encourage it to live."

+ Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh