Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok, the spiritual father of
St. Elisabeth Convent, answers various questions of the parishioners.
May I listen to music during the Great Lent?
What kind of music is suitable for this season?
There is
hardly any uniformity in approaches to this issue. Every person has his own
measure because music plays different roles in the lives of various people.
There is
music designed solely for entertainment. It makes one cheerful or elated. It is
intended to evoke certain feelings or emotions. You should keep away from this
kind of music. The Great Lent is the time when an individual must not be
distracted or diverted. On the contrary, he must become more focused and
concentrated on his life, his relationships with God and his neighbour. So if
music serves to entertain, distract, or deafen out serious contemplation, it
won’t be right. There is music that helps one to feel empathy and other good
emotions. It helps a person to concentrate and leads to compassion. This kind
of music is acceptable. Again, the Great Lent is the time when we can remain
silent to try and hear God’s voice inside our hearts.
You
should look inside your heart and say what impact this or that music really has
on your mood. Does it help you? Does it make you closer to God? Does it bring
anything positive into your life: something you need to survive and not to be
depressed when struggling with the sin, or is it just a way to have fun and to
fill in the empty spaces in your life? Look at its effects: do you gain or lose
anything? Do you get closer to God or remain barren? That’s what has to be your
primary touchstone.
You’ve
got to weigh in all the outcomes of your actions. For instance, if it is the
Holy Week, and you listen to music. Let all human flesh be silent — therefore,
we ought to keep silent. Elder Silouan used to say that one should fast to such
an extent so as to be able to pray after the meal: that’s how he could identify
the proper measure of food. One person can be in mood for prayer even if he
eats a lot, while another person can’t. That’s why it depends on whether you
are addicted to music or not. If music is your passion, then you should abstain
from it during the Great Lent. You ought to seek the balance you need to remain
vigilant and wakeful.
As far as
church music is concerned, it is even beneficial. Lenten chants are prayerful
and lead us to repentance. It is only natural that we have Lenten concerts
where people listen to church music, which is sung in churches during the Great
Lent. It is really helpful for the souls that cannot get away from the vanity
of this world. I think we should use it.
I heard an opinion that one can even eat meat
during Lent due to one’s illness or out of love towards one’s neighbour. Is it
correct?
God isn’t
jealous. Where is the source of love? Is it in me or in God? Can I love anyone
without God or is my love self-centred and short-lived? These are the questions
that you have to ask. Loving God and loving one’s neighbour are tantamount. How
can you love other people without God?
What did
Jesus Christ come into this world for? He came in order to teach us to love.
Our goal is to fix the broken connection with God. Thanks to God, one is
capable even of loving one’s enemies. It leads to a different level of love:
the kind of love that isn’t transient or emotional but inspired by the Lord.
It’s God’s grace and love that is mirrored in our hearts and pours out on our
neighbours.
As far as
eating meat is concerned… When St John of Kronstadt was a child, he fell ill.
His father said that he’d rather die than eat meat. That was how rigorously
people observed the fast, how they followed church regulations and how they
trusted God. Not everyone has achieved this level of faith. Presently, there
are many people who ask for a priest’s blessing to eat non-lenten foods because
their doctors told them so. Will a priest oppose doctors’ advice? If a person
asks for this blessing in advance and is convinced that he cannot endure
without non-lenten food — if he does not rely on God completely — the priest
will bless him to fast less stringently.
It seems
to me that the meat-eating issue is purely abstract, detached from life. What
does a dying person need meat for? He may need some water, of course. If only
that meat could bring the dying person back to life, it would be fine for him
to eat it. However, if that person is a devout Christian and relies on God to
such an extent that he would not break his fast no matter what, then he that is
able to receive it, let him receive it (cf. Matthew 19: 12)! Alas, there are
few such people nowadays. When an individual starts worrying and hesitating,
it’s worse than if he ate some meat and forgot about it. You’ve got to look at
the given person and examine the situation trying to find out the lesser evil.
You can make so many mistakes by being careless. Things can be letter-perfect
according to the law, but they are not okay by the spirit of the law.
The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise (Cf. Psalm 51: 17). Let us learn to serve God and to
honour the fast. May our fast consist not only of abstaining from meat and
dairy but also from sinful feelings, the vanity and negligence, which assail us
not only through food but also through what we see and hear.
I have to eat non-Lenten products during the
Great Lent due to my poor health. Even so, I refrain from going to concerts,
which I love, and I cut back on other things. How can I prepare for Communion,
aside from prayer?
It’s your
life, and it’s up to you to settle the limits of your ascetic practices. So,
it’s the Lenten season now, and you’ve got to consider what you can give up for
God’s sake. We can’t do much but we can bring to the Lord the small donation of
the poor widow, can’t we? What can you abstain from during the Great Lent for
God’s sake? Seek and find something you can fight against. I believe it will be
helpful for you.
God does
not argue with us. We don’t need to bargain with him: you do you, I do me… It
is us who need fast, not God. When a person makes an effort and forces himself
to do something, he finds the joy and the gracious assistance that he requires.
God’s power is made manifest in weakness (Cf. 2 Cor. 12: 9).
February 28, 2018
St.
Elisabeth Convent
CONVERSATION