The Catalog of Good Deeds: Orthodox How To

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In the course of our lives, we are often faced with the choice of how to proceed, which path to walk down, and not just to walk down, but how to know that this path corresponds to God’s will for us. And how can we know the will of God? How do we know that we’re making the right choice? Several pastors of the Russian Church offer their advice:

Archpriest Igor Shumilov:

How to know the will of God? Primarily through Holy Scripture, continually training yourself in reading it, and studying patristic commentaries and teachings. It’s also necessary to pray a lot and to ask the Lord to teach you His will.

Fr. Peter Guryanov:

The question about how to learn the will of God is, perhaps, one of the most important of our lives. You will agree that the will of God is the most precise and faithful criterion for what to do.

In order to learn or feel the will of God in this or that situation many things are needed, including a good knowledge of Holy Scripture, deliberateness in decision-making, and the advice of a spiritual father.

In order to properly understand the Holy Scriptures, firstly, they should be read with prayer, that is, not read as a text for deliberation, but as a text to be understood through prayer. Secondly, to understand Holy Scripture, we must, as the apostle says, “be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of our minds” (cf. Rm. 12:2). The Greek verb for “conformed”—“συμμορφώνονται,” means to have a framework in common with this age: that is, as they say: “everyone thinks so nowadays”—it’s a kind of framework, and we must not comply with it. If we want to know the will of God, we must deliberately reject and ignore what one of the seventeenth century’s wise men, Francis Bacon, called the “idols of the crowd,” that is, the opinions of those around us.

It is said to every Christian without exception: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God … be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Rm. 12:1-2); be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is (Eph. 5:17). And generally, the will of God can only be discovered through personal communion with Him. Therefore, a close relationship with Him, prayer, and service to Him are prerequisites for seeking the answer to our question.

To live in accord with the commandments of God

Fr. Dmitry Shishkin:

Discovering the will of God is quite simple: open the New Testament, to the First Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, and read: For this is the will of God, even your sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3). We are sanctified by obedience to God.

Thus, there is only one sure way to learn the will of God: to live in harmony with the Lord. And the more we are established in this life, as if putting down roots, and established in God-likeness, we acquire true skill in perceiving and fulfilling the will of God; that is, in conscious and consistent fulfillment of His commandments. They are general, but the particular flows from the general. If a person in some concrete life situation wants to know God’s will for him, and, for example, learns it from some Spirit-bearing elder, but the person himself does not have a spiritual disposition, then he will be able neither to understand this will, nor accept, nor fulfill it… Thus the main thing is, without a doubt, a sober spiritual life and careful observance of the commandments of God.

If some important stage in life arrives in someone’s life, and he truly wants to make the right choice, to act in a godly manner in this or that difficult situation, he can learn the will of God precisely on the basis of what I have just said—strengthening his Church life; that is, to bear a special spiritual work: fasting, going to confession, receiving Communion, exercising diligence in prayer, and reading the word of God more than usual—this is the main work for someone who truly wants to know the will of God in this or that matter. And the Lord, seeing such temperance and a serious disposition of heart, will always allow such a person to understand His holy will and give him strength for its fulfillment. This is a fact, proved many times over by many different people. We only need to show persistence, patience, and determination in our quest for the truth of God, and not in satisfying our own dreams, desires and plans… Because all these I have just named already have their own willfulness; that is, not the plans, dreams, and hopes themselves, but the desire that all would be just as we want. The question here is of true faith and self-denial—if you want and are ready to follow Christ, and not your own notions of what is correct and useful. Without this it’s impossible.

In Russia it’s customary to ask advice in especially important moments in life from an elder, from an experienced spiritual father, endowed with a special grace. It’s an urge that is deeply rooted in the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church. But in going for advice we must remember, again, that it demands spiritual labor from us: strong prayer, humble temperance and repentance, readiness and determination to fulfill the will of God—everything that we have just discussed. But besides that, it’s necessary to fervently pray that your spiritual father would be enlightened by the grace of the Holy Spirit, that the Lord by His grace through the spiritual father would open His holy will to us. We have such prayers; the holy fathers write about them. For instance, we have this prayer introduced by Abba Isaiah:

“O God, grant me Thy mercy and that which is pleasing unto Thee, and inspire Father (name) to reveal something about me.”

To desire the will of God, and not your own

Fr. Michael Gaponenko:

The will of God can be discovered in various ways—through the advice of a confessor or the blessing of your parents, by reading the word of God or by casting lots, and so on. But most important is to have the desire to know the will of God—it’s the readiness to unquestioningly follow it in your life. If there is such readiness, then the Lord will of course open His will to man, and possibly in unexpected ways.

Fr. Svyatoslav Shevchenko:

I like patristic advice. As a rule, we are eager to know the will of God when we stand at a crossroad—facing a decision, or when we want events to develop one way, but they go another less appealing to us. First, we must try to have the same attitude to any path or course of events, that is, to internally prepare ourselves for any outcome, not getting attached to any one option. Second is to sincerely and fervently pray that the Lord would arrange everything according to His good will and do all that would be useful for us in the plan of our salvation in eternity. And then, as the holy fathers affirm, His Providence for us will be revealed.

Be attentive to yourself and your conscience

Fr. George Merzlikin:

Be attentive!—to yourself, to the world around you, and your loved ones. The will of God is revealed to Christians in Holy Scripture: you can find there an answer to your questions. According to Blessed Augustine, when we pray, we turn to God, and when we read the Holy Scriptures, the Lord answers us. The will of God is that all would arrive at salvation. Knowing this, seek to direct your will in all life’s events towards the God Who saves.

And, in every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (1 Thess. 5:18).

Fr. Paul Konkov:

It’s easy enough to find the will of God: if after examining your conscience with a period of prayer it does not “rebel,” if your decision in this or that circumstance does not contradict the Gospel, and if your spiritual father is not against your decision, it means the will of God is in that decision. We must examine our every step through the prism of the Gospel and accompany it with prayer—even the very shortest one: “Lord, bless.”

Prepared by Novice Nikita Popov

Translated by Jesse Dominick

Source: http://orthochristian.com/98629.html

Here’s something I hear from time to time: “I’d like to join the Orthodox Church, but I visited a local church and it just felt dead.”

When I hear this it’s about Orthodox churches, but that needn’t be the case. It could be any church or denomination; it might sound good on paper, but the local church on Sunday morning feels empty and drained.

It’s tempting to say, “That shouldn’t make any difference. Focus on your own prayer life.” But, actually, I know what these people mean. Sometimes, when you visit a church, something just feels “off.” It makes you really eager to get out of there.

I’ve puzzled over what this is, exactly. It seems like, anywhere the same people gather regularly—a school, an office, a church—a hard-to-define quality develops, an atmosphere or a mood. Even though I know that quality or mood shouldn’t affect me, it does. I can’t just ignore it.

The first impulse, when that happens, is to get out of there, and look for a church that feels more alive. But there’s another possibility: a “dead” church can be revived. There are things you can do to bring a church, of whatever denomination, to life.

Go back to that moment when you were looking around the congregation and feeling dismayed. It’s been said that 20 per cent of the people in a church do 80 per cent of the work. When you first visit a church, most of what you see will naturally be that 80 per cent. It seems like they aren’t really engaged with worship; maybe, you think, they’re there for social reasons, or just out of habit.

But the 20 per cent whose faith is strong, the ones who pray and read the Bible, who sincerely seek the Lord—they’re there too; they’re just not as visible. In every congregation, there is a hidden “starter set” of committed people. Your task is to find them, band together with them, and begin to fan the flame.

You’ll find, no doubt, that the pastor is on your side. A pastor’s life isn’t easy, and it doesn’t pay well, either. People take up the calling despite this because they sincerely want to help others deepen and strengthen their faith. If things feel “off” in church, if there’s a vacant feeling, a rattling-around chill, it not because that’s how the pastor likes it. So, if you want to understand this church, listen to him. He knows the people in the congregation better than anyone else does, and he knows what prayer groups or book studies have been effective in the past.

Now, where are you going to find these more-committed people? One place is mid-week services. People who take the trouble to go to church when it isn’t Sunday morning probably have a motivation similar to yours.

Say you notice somebody who comes regularly to mid-week services, or arrives early on Sundays and stays late, or carries a well-worn Bible (or prayer rope, in an Orthodox church)—any kind of tip-off. Take the initiative and make contact. On Sunday, look around for them during coffee hour, and go over and start a conversation. Find out if you are reading the same books, or mention something in worship that you found meaningful. Build bridges.

This next part might be shocking, so brace yourself: these people might not be the same age you are. They might not dress in ways you find attractive. They might not read as much as you do, or not read the same things. If you walk with them to their car, you might see a bumper-sticker you don’t like.

Don’t let these things throw you off. As you become fond of someone, the very things that were initially off-putting can transform and become endearing.

It’s likely that some of these people will literally be little old ladies. That’s OK. Someone who’s had decades of experience with prayer might be just what you need in your life right now. Also, sometimes old ladies turn out to be interesting. I know because I am one.

If you attend a liturgical church, you can also remind yourself that, even if the church’s atmosphere dismays you, you are still receiving communion. The Prophet Elijah, alone in the wilderness, was sustained by ravens who brought him bread. In the Divine Liturgy, the Holy Spirit gives you the Bread of Life; ultimately, that’s all you need.

Remember also that bitter, discouraged Elijah was less alone than he thought he was. He complained that he was the only faithful person remaining in the land, and the Lord revealed that there were another 7000 who had never abandoned the faith.

Here’s another practical suggestion: Pray through the church directory, a page or two every day. When you get to the end, start over. Invite your church-friends to do the same, praying for each person by name. Don’t pray for God to change them; just call them to mind, remembering them, as St. Paul did (“I remember you constantly in my prayers,” 2 Timothy 1:3; “I remember you in my prayers,” Philemon 1:4). Just lift them up before the Lord; the Lord knows better than you do what they need.

If you know of specific needs, for healing perhaps, of course you can include those requests. Let the pastor know that you and your friends are glad to pray for any needs he thinks it right to share.

This habit of praying through the directory has the practical benefit of teaching you the names of everyone in the church. It will help you remember who’s married to whom, which kids go with which families, and so on.

In time, this habit of praying for all the congregation by name will change something inside of you. The worshipers will stop seeming like a mass of indistinguishable faces. They will be revealed instead as what they always were: unique individuals, each of whom is thoroughly known and loved by Christ. The congregation is not a block of stone but a mosaic, composed of countless faces.

That’s so often the way with spiritual growth: you realize something was true all the time. Christ was already present, already working in these lives, long before you walked in the door. He was already loving them and calling them into a closer relationship with himself. And, fortunately, they’re people who are already in the habit of coming to church. A line in a hymn, a scripture reading, a sermon illustration, may be just the spark they need. Your role is to pray.

There probably are more prayerful and faithful people in the congregation than you’ve been able to see. Superficial factors, like clothing and age, may be rendering them invisible to you. In C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, a senior devil teaches a young devil how to corrupt his “patient.” Although the young man in question has started going to church, it’s not necessarily a lost cause, because of his preconceptions about what the Church should look like.

When he gets to his pew and looks round him, he sees just that selection of his neighbors whom he has hitherto avoided. You want to lean pretty heavily on those neighbors. Make his mind flit to and fro between an expression like “the body of Christ” and the actual faces in the next pew.

It matters very little, of course, what kind of people that next pew really contains. You may know one of them to be a great warrior on [God the Father’s] side. No matter. Your patient, thanks to [the Devil], is a fool. Provided that any of those neighbors sing out of tune, or have boots that squeak, or double chins, or odd clothes, the patient will quite easily believe that their religion must therefore be somehow ridiculous.

As time passes, and church members who are prayerful and intentional find each other, a kind of chemical change takes place. They find that they constitute a living community within the congregation. They sense that they are upheld by each other’s prayers. When they come to worship, the do so prepared to love and serve God.

A quality of warmth and illumination accompanies them, and it begins to pervade worship. This is something others can sense—even those people you’d written off. Christ is Life, and everyone seeks life. The warmth of faith is attractive in the sense that a magnet is attractive, and it draws people forward. You are moving toward a tipping point, in which the Light of Christ becomes so perceptible that the feeling of worship on Sunday morning is transformed.

If you think a congregation is “dead,” your only option is not to go somewhere else. Where Christ is, there is resurrection. By finding and befriending other church members who are spiritually strong, by following the pastor’s vision, and by giving prayer support to the work God is already doing in worshippers’ lives, you can help bring a congregation to life.

By Frederica Mathewes-Green

Source: http://frederica.com/writings/how-to-revive-a-dead-church.html

Sometimes people say, "I am just a reader," as though this were a petty or insignificant ministry. However, when the reader (whether tonsured or not) begins chanting the selection from the Acts or the Epistles, he or she is performing an evangelical ministry that is absolutely essential to the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, and as such it demands the same care and preparation as any other liturgical ministry.

Orthodox Christian liturgy is an encounter with the incarnate Word of God, made possible through intelligible worship that touches us through every human sense: sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste. Yet, when we consider all the elements that comprise Orthodox liturgy—including processions, icons, incensations, making the sign of the cross, prostrations—the balance of worship is conducted through language. It is through the God-given gift of human language that we hear the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus Christ; that we sing the liturgical texts, the psalms, the troparia, and the Creed; and that we pray and encounter Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word of God.

At the epiclesis (the calling down of the Holy Spirit upon God’s people and the gifts of bread and wine) in the anaphora of the Divine Liturgy, we pray along with the priest, “Again we offer unto Thee this reasonable and bloodless worship.” The Greek word here translated as “reasonable” or “rational” is logikein, which comes from the root logos, the same word used by the evangelist in referring to Jesus Christ as the Word of God (John 1:10). Logikein refers to the human ability to think, know, and understand—the rational ability that sets human beings, made in God’s image and likeness, apart from irrational creatures. In short, one of the most characteristic facets of humanity is our ability to think, understand, and communicate through language. Thus, the Liturgy is not magic; when we gather for worship, we are not casting a spell. Rather we offer our thanksgiving, our eucharistia, to God through intelligible words. The primary task of the church reader is to proclaim the Word of God, and thus help facilitate the celebration of the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Of course, in the Divine Liturgy, it is the priest or deacon who reads from the actual writings we call “the Gospels.” However, not only do the Epistles of St. Paul predate the writings of the evangelists, but St. Paul himself reminds us that through his writings he is preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ (a point St. Paul makes most forcefully in Galatians 1). Thus, when a reader reads the epistle at the Divine Liturgy, he or she is reading the Gospel; he or she is proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Sometimes people say, “I am just a reader,” as though this were a petty or insignificant ministry. However, when the reader (whether tonsured or not) begins chanting the selection from the Acts or the Epistles, he or she is performing an evangelical ministry that is absolutely essential to the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, and as such it demands the same care and preparation as any other liturgical ministry.

What Does a Church Reader Do?

The task of the church reader is to chant scriptural texts: the Acts of the Apostles or the Epistles in the Divine Liturgy; Old Testament readings at Vespers for certain feasts; sometimes the Canticle of St. Simeon (Luke 2:29–32) and the Lord’s Prayer (Matt. 6:9–13); and at all of the daily offices, excerpts from the Psalms. In fact, aside from short texts like the Trisagion prayer or the “Glory . . . Now and ever . . .” that concludes readings from the Psalter, the church reader is fundamentally a reader of Scripture.

This should not be surprising, since Orthodox liturgical worship is scriptural, first and foremost. Not only are the services themselves composed largely of texts taken directly from the Bible, but the church year is based on Scripture. The content of most of the church feasts is taken directly from the New Testament. It is only through the evangelist’s account of such events as the Nativity or the Transfiguration that we celebrate these feasts of our Lord and Savior. Could we imagine celebrating the Feast of the Nativity without hearing St. Matthew’s account of our Lord and Savior’s birth (Matt. 2:1–12), or the Feast of the Transfiguration without hearing the evangelist’s account of that stunning revelation on Mount Tabor (Matt. 17:1–9)? Consider as well the Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil on Holy Saturday with its fifteen Old Testament readings.

In all of these instances, it is our encounter with Scripture that forms and defines our encounter with God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We could say that our liturgy is an entrance into a scriptural reality, or an opportunity for us to attain the mind of Scripture. And who is it (unless there is more than one deacon serving at the Liturgy) that proclaims the scriptural texts that define the Feasts of Ascension (Acts 1:1–12), Pentecost (Acts 2:1–11), and St. Stephen the Protomartyr (Acts 6:9—7:59)? It is the reader.

Before the reader begins chanting a scriptural text, its words are merely ink on paper, marks that do nothing by themselves. These graphic markings, however, become the life-giving words of Holy Scripture when they are given utterance by the reader. This is the fundamental task of the church reader: to give life to the Word of God contained in Holy Scripture. Through the voice of the reader chanting the scriptural text, we have the opportunity to encounter the Word of God—the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Principles of Church Reading

Two fundamental principles governing Orthodox worship are beauty and intelligibility. As we said earlier, the word must be intelligible to be a word, and nowhere in the Liturgy is this more acutely relevant than during the reading of Scripture. If a word is mumbled, mispronounced, or inaudible, it is not a word for the hearer; it is just a sound. Here we should note that, as a rule, music in the Orthodox Church is always a musical word. We do not have organ preludes or orchestral performances in the Liturgy primarily because these musical forms, as beautiful as they might be, are wordless. Thus, for church reading to be effective, it must be intelligible. Yet we cannot make intelligibility the sole criterion for church reading, because authentic Christian worship also requires beauty.

Acknowledging that the study of beauty has taken up thousands of volumes, we can simply say that the effort to make liturgical worship as beautiful as possible derives from love: God’s love for us and our love for God. When a family invites someone to their house for dinner, they generally make every effort possible to clean the house, fix a delicious meal, and provide a beautiful dining experience for their guest. Even if they lack a grand mansion, fine china, and gourmet ingredients, they still endeavor to do the best they can with what they have. They know that the entire meal—the food, its presentation, the setting of the table, the appearance of the house—is an expression of love for the guest.

This expression of love through beauty is also evident in our church buildings. Whether it be the great Hagia Sophia, a hand-carved Russian village church, or a small storefront mission in the United States, an Orthodox church building is always built and adorned as beautifully as possible. The beauty one beholds in the church building is a witness to the love for Jesus Christ concretely manifested in His faithful people. Likewise, the church reader is called to proclaim the Word of God intelligibly and beautifully as a concrete witness to the ultimate expression of God’s love, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Practical Side of Church Reading

1. Always read it before you read it

Most Western languages can be very forgiving to the reader, inasmuch as a working knowledge of phonetics will usually suffice for pronunciation. Greater difficulty, however, faces a reader who has to chant, for example, from an Arabic text. Arabic writing has no vowels, only consonants, so the reader must have practically memorized the text being read before the first sound is even uttered. English, even though it is not the most predictable language in regards to pronunciation, can lead readers into temptation. Readers who chant in English may assume that as long as they can pronounce all the words they see, they will be able to read the text intelligibly and beautifully. However, this is not always the case. Consider the following text from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans:

Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. So also David pronounces a blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not reckon his sin.” Is this blessing pronounced only upon the circumcised, or also upon the uncircumcised? We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received circumcision as a sign or seal of the righteousness which he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, and likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but also follow the example of the faith which our father Abraham had before he was circumcised (4:4–12, RSV).

This text is read at the Divine Liturgy during the week following Pentecost. It is a difficult text, and most readers would need to spend a considerable amount of time rereading and reflecting on the passage in order to grasp the major ideas and their relation to one another. What, then, would be the fate of a reader who started reading this text at the Divine Liturgy without having previously studied it?

While the fortunate might correctly pronounce all the words in their proper order, the less fortunate might stumble over the awkward syntax, or become entirely confused as he attempted to chant aloud a text that conveys a complex theological argument. But if the reader does not understand the text being read aloud, how can the hearers be expected to understand what they hear? In order to chant a scriptural text intelligibly, the reader must first understand that text. This is not to say that he or she must possess an exhaustive understanding of the reading; however, the reader must have some degree of comprehension if he is to achieve his goal of intelligibility.

Read the full article here: http://www.pravmir.com/church-reading-a-vital-ministry/

There is a joke that says, “To become a saint, you’ve got to die first.” In fact, that joke is one hundred percent true. We’ve prepared a brief Q&A for you to know what else you’ll need to do, aside from that.

01. What is canonization?

Canonization is a process whereby a person is included in the “canon”, or list, of recognized saints. It makes veneration of a reposed righteous person legitimate. From the standpoint of the Church, it isn’t the canonization per se that makes one a saint but his or her actions and faith. Canonization is the declaration of that person’s sanctity to all Christians and a call to venerate him or her.

02. Who can initiate canonization?

The Holy Synod, ruling bishops, or lay people. In the latter case, people must contact their bishop who will send their case for inspection into the diocesan canonization commission. It it that commission that oversees the collection of historical data about that person and forwards it to the Patriarch or to the Synodal Canonization Commission.

03. Who deals with the case?

The Synodal Commission for Canonization of Saints. It looks into applications and examines the biography of the candidate for canonization thoroughly. The Commission was established on April 11, 1989 by a decree of the Holy Synod. It consists of bishops, monks, and priests. By the way, the Commission itself cannot initiate canonization; it can only investigate submitted applications.

04. Who decides?

His Holiness the Patriarch, the Synod of Bishops, or the Local Council, based on the verdict of the Synodal Commission for Canonization of Saints. The Patriarch can grant ecclesiastical honor to a locally venerated saint (i.e., a saint who is venerated in one diocese or one region), while the Synod of Bishops or the Local Council can canonize saints for all Russian Church.

05. What are the main criteria for canonization?

The list of the main criteria for canonization in the Russian Orthodox Church includes a life of piety, strict adherence to Orthodox canons, popular veneration, and miracles. Martyrdom is a separate case. All facts are collected and recorded to be investigated by the canonization commission. Witnesses and those who received healing (if any) are surveyed.

06. Is a person considered a saint if his or her relics are uncovered?

Not necessarily. Relics (uncorrupted remains of a human body) are not the definitive criterion, just an additional proof. However, if relics exist, they are subjected to careful scrutiny. The Commission for Canonization invites scholars (archaeologists, historians, anthropologists) to examine the remains.

07. How long does it take for a saint to be canonized?

The Russian Orthodox Church does not have a fixed period after which a righteous person can be canonized. However, the canonization commission “must not be hasty in canonizing recently reposed venerated clerics and laymen. The provisional investigation into their lives and works must be thorough, extensive, and based on documents.”

08. What does the saint get out of his or her canonization?

Nothing. Canonization isn’t a postmortem church award. Saints are canonized to be examples for other Christians, so that we could look up on them and invoke their intercession before God. Also, according to the Russian tradition, people receive their Christian names only in honor of canonized saints.

09. Is a saint’s entire life saintly?

No. It may or may not be saintly. Saints are canonized not because of their sinless life but for their acts of faith. For instance, many martyrs had persecuted Christians or even killed them before they repented and suffered martyrdom, and thus became saints.

10. Where can I read the saints’ list?

There is a book called Menologium. It contains an exhaustive list of officially recognized Orthodox saints from all over the world. A shorter list can be found at the end of the Orthodox Church calendar for each year, sold in every church booth.

By Kirill Baglai

Translated by the Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: https://foma.ru/kak-stat-svyatyim-ofitsialno.html

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