The Catalog of Good Deeds: Orthodox How To

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An Orthodox Christian conscience is created by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ acting within us. It is difficult to form this conscience. But once a Christian acquires it, an alarm is sounded in his heart and mind whenever he comes close to improper actions, lack of charity toward others, false ideas, and deviations from the holy traditions of Orthodoxy.

Here are the ways in which we can cooperate with God’s grace and form this conscience within ourselves:

1. We are to have much love for our Saviour, with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We are not to divide our love between God and the world. For a beginner this means that when we pray we should struggle mightily to concentrate and avoid distractions: we are to be wholly in God. Furthermore, as St. John of Kronstadt teaches:

“Love for God begins to manifest itself, and to act in us, when we begin to love our neighbor as ourselves, and not to spare ourselves or anything belonging to us for him, as he is the image of God: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God Whom he hath not seen? (1 John 4:20).”

St. John says that this is the only love which is real, and lasting:

“The purer the heart becomes, the larger it becomes; consequently it is able to find room for more and more loved ones; the more sinful it is, the more it contracts; consequently it is able to find room for fewer and fewer loved ones–it is limited by a false love; self-love.”

2. We must pray often, both at church and at home. St. Gregory of Sinai says that the great gift which God gives us in Holy Baptism is buried by us, just as a treasure is buried in the ground – “and common sense and gratitude demand that we should take good care to unearth this treasure and bring it to light.” One of the most important ways to do this is by acquiring the habit of prayer. Blessed Theophan the Recluse explains further:

“Those who only hear about spiritual meditation and prayer and have no direct knowledge [experience] of it are like men blind from birth, who hear about the sunshine without ever knowing what it really is. Through this ignorance they lose many spiritual blessings, and are slow in arriving at the virtues which make for the fulfillment of God’s good pleasure.”

3. We must carefully read and study Holy Scripture. Although many saints had the habit of reading through the entire Psalter and New Testament every week, we should at least read the Gospel and Epistle appointed in the Church Calendar for each day. According to St. Seraphim of Sarov, “It is very profitable ‘to occupy oneself: with the reading of the word of God in solitude, and to read the whole Bible intelligently…in order that the whole mind of the reader might be plunged into the truths of Holy Scripture, and that from this he might receive warmth.”

4. Attendance at Divine Services and frequent reception of Holy Communion is vital to the development of an Orthodox conscience. Of this, St. John of Kronstadt writes:

“The Divine Liturgy is truly a heavenly service on earth, in which God Himself, in a particular, immediate, and most close manner is present and dwells with men…. There is on earth nothing higher, greater, more holy, than the Liturgy; nothing more solemn, nothing more life-giving.”

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk observed: “The Christians of old frequently received communion as the cause and food of immortality, wherefore even up to our own time the Holy Church daily exhorts us to ‘draw near with fear of God and with faith’. At the present day people have neither, as the facts abundantly prove; only once a year, and even then almost under compulsion, do they approach the Table of Immortality …. Men hasten joyfully to banquets, but to this spiritual and most Sacred Table to which Christ invites them they come under compulsion.”

5. We should read the writings of the Holy Fathers of the Church and the Lives of the Saints. Blessed Theophan the Recluse explained this to one of his spiritual children in the following way:

“The spiritual life is a special world into which the wisdom of men cannot penetrate… This is a subject which embraces much and is lofty and sweet to the heart…. If you seriously desire to enter onto this path, then you won’t have time to turn to the study of other subjects… for human philosophizing cannot even be compared with spiritual wisdom.”

Therefore, if we wish to learn ways that are pleasing to God, it stands to reason that we will set aside time in order to study the writings and lives of those who have drawn close to Him while still in this life, for according to St. John of Kronstadt there are rich and poor in the spiritual world just as there are in worldly society:

“As the poor ask charity of the rich, and cannot live without help·from them, so also in the spiritual order the poor must have recourse to-the rich. We are the spiritually poor, whilst the saints, and those who shine even in this present life by their faith and piety, are the spiritually rich. It is to them that we needy ones must have recourse.”

6. We are to practice the presence of God in our daily life. St. John of Kronstadt explains it in this way:

“Believe that God sees you as undoubtedly as you believe that anyone standing face to face with you sees you, only with this difference, that the Heavenly Father sees everything that is in you, everything that you are …. God is nearer to us than any man at any time. Therefore we must always set God before us, at our right hand, and there behold Him; we must be strong, and in order not to sin we must so place ourselves that nothing can thrust God from our thoughts and hearts, that nothing can hide Him from us, that nothing may deprive us of our beloved Lord, but that we may every hour, every minute, belong to Him, and be perpetually with Him, as He Himself is perpetually with us, as He constantly cares for us and guards us”.

7. We should often, if not daily, examine our souls and repent of the sins we find there. St. Mark the Ascetic writes: “The conscience is nature’s book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God’s help.” Thus, Elder Macarius of Optina wrote in a letter of spiritual direction:

“The Lord calls to Him all sinners; He opens His arms wide, even to the worst among them. Gladly He takes them in His arms, if only they will come. But they have got to make the effort of coming. They must seek Him, go to Him. In other words, they must repent. It is not He that rejects those who do not repent. He still longs for them, and calls them. But they refuse to hear His call. They choose to wander away, in some other direction.” Therefore, St. John of Kronstadt explains: “Conscience in men is nothing else but the voice of the omnipresent God moving in the heart–the Lord knows all …. Watch your heart throughout your life; examine it, listen to it, and see what prevents it from uniting itself with the Lord. Let this be your supreme and constant study …. Examine yourself more often; see where the eyes of your heart are looking.”

And then, as Blessed Theophan the Recluse counsels:

“Repent, and turn to the Lord, admit your sins, weep for them with heartfelt contrition, and confess them before your spiritual father.” St. Hesychios the Priest tells us that according to St. Basil the Great, “a great help towards not sinning and not committing daily the same faults is for us to review in our conscience at the end of each day what we have done wrong and what we have done right. Job did this with regard to both himself and to his children [cf. Job 1:5], These daily reckonings illumine a man’s hour-by-hour behaviour.”

8. Struggle mightily to avoid judging others. God alone has the right to judge, for as St. Tikhon of Zadonsk says:

“Do not judge others, for you cannot know what is inside the other man. Do not condemn, for he may still rise whilst you may fall. Be-ware of even talking about others, lest you start judging them. Enquiring into other people’s sin is a curiosity hateful to God and man…because, by judging, man usurps the powers of the only judge, Christ …. Above all, when judging another we cannot know whether perchance he has not already repented and been forgiven by God.”

If we are willing to arrange our lives in the above manner, resolving not to withdraw from this holy labor even if it means suffering and also death, then, from the very moment that we begin, grace starts to flow into us, according to Blessed Theophan the Recluse:

“The help of God is always ready and always near, but is only given to those who seek and work.”

By Hieroschemamonk Ambrose Young

Source: http://www.pravmir.com/how-to-form-an-orthodox-conscience/

In the Church, bread is a symbol of Christ. He Himself spoke of this: I am the Bread of life (Jn. 6:48). If earthly bread nourishes human life, then Christ, the Heavenly Bread, brings human life into communion with the fullness of divine life in eternity.

Prosphora is an inseparable part of liturgical life in the Church, and therefore the obedience of prosphora baker has special significance. Beyond the seeming simplicity of this God-pleasing work hides a multitude of subtleties, mysteries, and hidden activity. As long-time resident of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery, Igumen Cyprian (Parts), tells us about this.

We will learn why the Lord created wheat, why prosphora can be baked anywhere on Earth, and why the obedience of prosphora baker, which Fr. Cyprian has been performing for more than ten years now, is considered so important in a monastery.

—Batiushka, why is the obedience of prosphora baker considered one of the most important?

—As we know, there can be no Liturgical life without prosphora. And the Church cannot live without the Liturgy. This means that the second building after the church is the prosphora bakery, where bread is specially cooked for the Liturgy.

—Who can and should bake prosphora? How has it always been done in Russia?

—In monasteries, of course, the monks or nuns have always baked the prosphora. But in parish churches, prosphora has always been baked either by pious widows or virgins, unmarried girls. They were called “prosphirny”, or, prosphora ladies.

This comes from the reverential attitude we have towards prosphora. Also out of reverence, the bakers would add holy water to the prosphora dough—this is not essential or required, but was done out of reverence.

If a “white” (married) priest serves in a rural parish and his matushka (wife) knows how to bake prosphora, then of course she will do so—who else is there to do it? And this is normal. We have to take real live circumstances into consideration.

Now, in the monasteries, the monks and nuns themselves do the baking, both for themselves and for sale (to parishes). Parish churches either bake it themselves, or as it happens more often, buy it.

In ancient times, everyone could bake prosphora—it was an offering to the church. The best were chosen for serving the Liturgy. Just about every housewife knew how to bake bread, because this was part of her routine, and as they were all religious people and knew the requirements (that it should be leavened bread, using salt, water, and flour), any of them could bake prosphora at home and bring it to the church.

In Greece today, prosphora can be purchased in a store and brought to the church as an offering.

—What needs to be done in order to always have a reverential, prayerful attitude towards prosphora baking, so that it would not turn into merely a craft?

—It always continues to be reverential. I have never noticed the reverence to cease. Not in parishes, nor in monasteries, where I have had the opportunity to visit the prosphora bakeries, nor in private prosphora bakeries have I ever seen it degrade into a mere craft. I don’t think that there is any danger here. I have never observed that happening.

—I have read that prosphora baking is called an ecclesiastical art. How did you learn to bake prosphora?

—Earlier, our monastery did not have a special prosphora bakery, and I was responsible for providing prosphora to the church because I was in charge of the vestry. One “fine day”, due to my own oversight, there were no small prosphora for the parishioners for the next morning. There were service prosphora, but we hadn’t stored or purchased any for the people. This was discovered on Friday, and we needed the prosphora on Saturday morning, but we could only pick them up on Saturday afternoon.

It was unthinkable to leave the people without prosphora. What to do? We had one worker in the refectory, Liubov, who used to bake prosphora and knew how to do it. She was finishing her shift when I came to the kitchen and said, “Aunty Liuba, you used to bake prosphora, didn’t you?” “Yes. Why, do you need some?” “Yes, we don’t have any.”

We found some imported American flour—terrible bleached flour—some French yeast, and we baked with this our first prosphora in the kitchen oven, where cookies had just been baked. As I now understand it, the prosphora turned out awful, they smelled like cookies, but at least they were there and the people were happy.

This got us going, and we decided to try baking prosphora ourselves. At the time, Hierodeacon Cleopa was under me in obedience, and we began baking in the kitchen at night. Of course, we were able keep this up for about a month before we collapsed—we weren’t sleeping at night. Maybe not every night, but we were tired just the same. However, we did begin to have our own prosphora. Then we started asking our Father Superior to start our own prosphora bakery. He gave the blessing, and after remodeling a new monastery building we equipped it. This was in the year 2000.

—You just mentioned the terrible American flour and the French yeast… Others might have thought that this was, to the contrary, a great thing. What kind of flour and yeast should there be?

—Why do I malign the American flour? Although not all American flour is bleached, it most often is. This is done solely for the color. They essentially ruin the flour.

French instant yeast is not very suitable for prosphora baking. It immediately produces a lot of carbon dioxide; that is, it rises quickly, which doesn't work for a large batch of prosphora—you can’t keep up with it, it simply “runs away”. Therefore we try to buy our own Russian yeast.

Dried yeast keeps longer, while fresh yeast keeps no longer than a month, after which its rising strength wanes… You can also use a sour dough starter.

At one point there was a buzz about only using natural sour dough. People would say, “They used to bake only with sour dough, but now they’ve gone to yeast…” However, they said this out of ignorance. In fact, the same yeast is at work in sour dough, only it is wild. Lactose bacteria and yeast of various kinds are practically everywhere. If you simply pour water over flour, then leave it in a warm place under the right conditions, the yeast will begin to multiply: that is your leavening.

After some time, people learned how to grow yeast in large quantities in factories. Then, by selection they cultivated yeast that releases more carbon dioxide, and are more resistant to temperature changes.

What is yeast? It is unicellular fungi that can be subjected to selection, choosing the more stable forms that can easily ferment the sugar contained in flour—and that is about it.

Furthermore, sour dough leavening used to be called yeast. There was no difference. If you take the old book by Elena Molokhovets, A Gift to Young Housewives, and look at the chapter on bread, you can see that she always uses the word “yeast”...

Read the full article here: http://orthochristian.com/69314.html

The prayers and services of the Church demonstrate to us the need for regular, weekly Communion. Without it, we cannot expect to live our lives any differently than the rest of the world - we are simply too spiritually weak to do so.

If we have acquired a correct eagerness to receive Holy Communion, let us not fall into the trap of approaching it casually. Most people are quite faithful in this regard, observing the necessary prayers before Communion, and fasting from food, drink, marital relations, and smoking prior to receiving the Body and Blood of Christ. This kind of preparation allows us to be ready to receive the Lord under the roof of the spiritual house of our soul.

One area of the preparation for Holy Communion which is most often missed, however, is the preparation of the heart through silence and prayers then evening before. The early Church observed an all-night vigil, which was literally all night! Some parishes today observe the vigil as it has come down to us: a two to three hour service of psalms, prayers, and spiritual hymns. But in many parishes, only the service of Vespers remains as a means of proper preparation for the night before Liturgy, and for the Liturgy itself.

Vespers in fact the beginning of the process of approaching for Holy Communion. We cannot and should not approach the Holy Mysteries without it, unless we are sick. Saturday night is also the ideal time to go for Holy Confession, allowing that Holy Mystery to prepare us for the next. While some parishes with more than one priest can offer Confession on Sundays, it is simply impossible to have a full and proper Confession before the Liturgy in places where only one priest serves. Like anything, there are always exceptions for real emergencies.

Knowing all this, we may be tempted to reason our way out of frequent participation in Holy Communion, in the following manner: "Since I cannot make time to attend Vespers, and I cannot sacrifice a loud and wild Saturday night, I will simply resolve to receive Holy Confession and Communion only infrequently - perhaps a few times each year." What madness! The certain next step in our thinking will be to say, "I know Communion is the main part of the Liturgy - since I cannot receive it, I will just stay home!" Brothers and Sisters in Christ, these are thoughts from the evil one, who wants us to feel either rebelliousness or guilt when confronted with the norms of the Christian life. He wants us to be paralyzed, and he does not care how this happens.

God's peace is accessible to us. It is even offered in abbreviated forms, because of our weakness (Vespers and the Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom on most Sundays are both much abbreviated from earlier services).

If we say we want this peace, we must take the steps needed to set aside our Saturday evenings - or at least an hour of it - for the prayers with the Church which prepare us for Communion. We must decide that the eve of the day of the Resurrection - Sunday - must be spent in quiet activities that truly reflect the life of a Christian.

God doesn't ask everything of us, but He does ask something: that we take part in the spiritual struggle against the tendencies so strongly reinforced in our age of hedonism, and prepare ourselves like Moses to ascend the Holy Mountain each week. The generations of the Old Testament awaited our day and our opportunity to do just this; many would have died for the spiritual opportunity we enjoy each week.

Let us fully recognize the gift that God has given us in Confession and Holy Communion, and let us prepare ourselves in a worthy and Christian way, not simply when guilt strikes us, or when it is a feast day, but each week, so we may be prepared to fight the good fight for the week ahead.

By Archpriest Geoffrey Korz

Source: http://www.asna.ca/articles/200809-01.html

I have a question about something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I’ve read that the Church canons say that you are not supposed to kneel or prostrate on Sundays, but I was wondering how strictly that’s interpreted in practice?

I currently attend a Romanian parish and among Romanians (as you probably know) it is customary to kneel during the Our Father, the Creed, the Gospel reading etc. and some people kneel throughout much of the liturgy. I personally think it is a beautiful sign of reverence but I was wondering why it has become customary and accepted in Romania but not in other places, and if the “prohibition” against kneeling on Sundays is really necessary or what the purpose of it really is?

I know some other parishes where people barely show any reverence at all so it still seems to me to be better to kneel or prostrate than to just be completely passive…

Question from a Correspondent in Europe

‘Since some people kneel in church on Sundays and on the days of Pentecost, with a view to preserving uniformity in all parishes it has seemed best to the holy Council for prayers to be offered to God while standing’.

Canon XX of the First Universal Council

The canons you refer to are the above, Canon XC of the Sixth Universal Council and Canon XV of St Peter the Martyr of Alexandria, all from the first seven centuries. So, yes, on paper, you do not kneel on the liturgical day of Sunday (Saturday evening to Sunday evening) and not between Easter and Pentecost (the kneeling prayers read at Vespers of Pentecost are the first when you kneel). Why? Because Sunday is the day of the Resurrection and the period between Easter and Pentecost effectively the afterfeast of the Feast of the Resurrection. If we are risen with Christ, then we are risen and so stand.

So much for the theory. What about practice?

One of the easiest ways to tell the difference between certain converts and Orthodox is whether they kneel on Sundays or not (especially on the Sunday of the Cross during Lent). Converts, whether of the zealot old calendarist or of the liberal new calendarist variety (extremes always meet), refuse to kneel because of their head knowledge, Orthodox kneel because of the movements of their hearts. As one person has said in answer to an uptight convert who insisted that Orthodox stand during services: ‘No they don’t: Russians stand, Greeks sit and Romanians kneel’.

Why this difference? It is all a question of piety – or lack of piety. Sitting is a lack of piety (unless the person is ill, heavily pregnant etc), which has entered the Greek Churches (including the Antiochian) only very, very recently. Pious Russians are horrified when Greeks and Antiochians sit during the Epistle. But kneeling is a great sacrifice. I admire those Romanians who kneel throughout the liturgy as an act of piety which accords with their temperament. I don’t think I could do it physically. Equally standing is also a matter of asceticism.

A common Russian practice among bishops and priests is to kneel at certain points during the Liturgy, for example during ‘Our Father’.

Certain converts, often of a Protestant background, tend to interpret the canons literally, according to the letter. Such individuals, it seems, used to be fundamentalists in their interpretation of the Scriptures, and quote canons as they used to quote chapter and verse, hoping perhaps to send their fellow human-beings to hell (and themselves to a very prideful heaven). If this is the case, then it is all pure phariseeism. (‘Do not heal or do good on the Sabbath day’).

Conclusion: Pray and then do what your heart tells you to do, observing those around you, so that you scandalize no-one. This is called humility and it stands above the letter of the law because it keeps the spirit of the law. When I as a priest see metropolitans and bishops, or for that matter pious laypeople, kneeling on a Sunday, I have no hesitation in kneeling with them. We should refuse to put ourselves above others. I only know that of Christ returns next Sunday, I will neither sit, nor stand, but be on my knees in front of Him.

By Fr Andrew Phillips

Source: http://www.events.orthodoxengland.org.uk/can-we-kneel-in-church-on-sundays/

“After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions; and all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.” (Luke 2:46-47)

According to this statement in the Gospel of Luke, the twelve-year-old Jesus asked a lot of questions.

Lately, I’ve been asking clergy to list the questions that the young people they know ask them. The responses have been all over the map, from theology to ethics, to personal matters. “Is there a God?” “Why does the Church do this or that?” Lots of questions about sex and morality. As one priest said, “They ask about everything.”

Questions are normal. Adolescents are reaching new levels of intellectual and cognitive development. As a result they are able to wrestle with many topics. They also want to think for themselves. Of course, they have a long way to go, but they are trying to make their way in the world, thinking independently of their families, as they begin to take charge of their life and take their first steps into adulthood.

The critical tasks of the adults in their lives, parents, priests, youth advisors, camp counselors, and Sunday Church school teachers are to walk with them as they ask their questions. Walking in a group, sometimes we will lead, sometimes we will push, sometimes we will be in the middle of the group.

How can we begin to deal with this?

First, rejoice. Be grateful that the young people you know are coming to you with their questions. That indicates that you have created a trustworthy environment for discussion about the weightier matters (see Matthew 23:23).

Second, listen attentively. Don’t listen only long enough to formulate your response, but listen to the entire thought. If need be, take notes.

Third, avoid “you need to know” statements. The religious educator John Westerhoff once wrote, “Few, if any, learn what someone else wants them to know, care about or do. It is somewhat like my reaction to those who come to me and say, ‘You need to know,…’ to which I have typically responded, ‘No, you are wrong. I do not need to know. You apparently need to tell me.’”

Fourth, when you do respond, respond with stories from your life, your own experience. We’re hardwired to remember stories. Share the wisdom from your life, the lessons learned.

Fifth, open the sources of our Faith for them. Knowledge is important. The Bible, our Liturgy and Sacraments, the writings of the Fathers can offer insights and guidance. These sources should be studied, questioned, and brought into a conversation with our present understanding of an issue and the implications that the sources have on our lives. Let them share their questions with you. You can then create your lessons and conversations around their questions, using the many resources that are available.

Sixth, let them figure it out. The most frequent “teaching method” of Jesus was the parable. Those who heard the story were allowed to figure it out for themselves and once they did, they were probably more convinced than if they had merely been told. Of course, if there’s danger involved, you need to step in. You are the adult.

Seventh, accept the fact that they will fail and fall. Our natural temptation is to prevent failing and falling. But we learn from our mistakes. The important dimension is communicating that we care about this person no matter what mistakes he or she makes and we will accept him or her, faults and all.

“They ask about everything.” They will ask about everything. Let them ask. Be ready!

By Rev. Dr. Tony Vrame

Source: https://blogs.goarch.org/blog/-/blogs/questions-questions-questions

1. Know your faith and know how to explain why we confess Orthodox Christianity. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

2. Be not arrogant. To know and love your faith does not mean to blaspheme other people’s faith and to look down on the representatives of other confessions and religions, for such attitude to others’ beliefs is unworthy of the high name of a Christian. Remember that you are honored to be an Orthodox Christian only by God’s grace and that “we have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7).

3. Love the word of God and study it all the time. Every Christian should wholeheartedly read the Holy Scripture, following the teaching of the church and the words of Apostle Paul: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).

4. Set a rule for yourself – to read a piece of the Epistle or the Holy Gospel and the Scriptures of the Old Testament. When Christ said “search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39), He meant exactly the Old Testament.

5. Pray. Keep learning to pray for your whole life. Prayer is the main connection between God and the human being. If there is no prayer, there is no connection with God, and we cannot be His sons and daughters, His redeemed people, as well as He cannot be our Father. To recognize God as our Father, we need to be His true children, which is just impossible without the communication through prayer. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-19).

6. Pray not just in the morning or in the evening, but during the day and sometimes even at night. We all have our own studies and works, our own responsibilities and worries that we cannot ignore or avoid in our life. It is natural that we cannot pray all day and all night. But we can remember about God, thank Him, ask wholeheartedly for help and protection. “God have mercy on me” – this is what we can, and this is our sacrifice of praising God in our everyday life.

7. Live according to your faith and do good deeds. If we only believe and do not live by our faith, then there is no place for Orthodoxy at all because in this case there is only self-deception. This is why to do good means to live by the Orthodox faith. “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:18, 26).

8. It is much better for you to do good in secret – not in front of other people so that you can receive appreciation from God, but not from people. “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1). It is we who need these good deeds most, for they are supposed to soften our own hearts.

9. Participate in the Eucharist. Without loving the Holy Eucharist, it is just impossible to love Christ because the Eucharist itself is Christ. The opportunity to partake of Blood and Body of Christ, to unite with our Lord is both the greatest privilege and responsibility of a Christian. Partaking of Holy Communion during the Liturgy, we are allowed to touch the One, Who is praised by Cherubims and Seraphims. “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54). Going to church to participate in the Liturgy and knowing that we will hear the Savior’s words addressed to us – “Take, eat; this is My body” – we must not disobey our Teacher, we must not reject the Chalice of Christ following our false humility. The true humility is to follow Christ’s calling: “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed” (Proverbs 9:5).

10. Remember that the sense of a Christian’s life is to attain the Holy Spirit. The aim of our Christian being is to get involved into the being of the Holy Trinity, to become like Christ, Who came to the world so that we learn how to love God and each other. This is what the Church was established for – dying for any evil and resurrecting for piousness in the sacrament of the Holy Baptism, everyone of us has to become a member of God’s people, with whom the Lord made His New and Final covenant. Through the Chrismation of the Holy Spirit, we received Christ Himself, and now we can take part in His supper. Now, when we have become God’s children and received all these gifts, we have to give to the Lord only one thing in return – “Give me your heart” (Proverbs 23:26), and have to tell the whole world about this Good News – “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology, a student of

the Minsk Theological Academy

The Catalog Of Good Deeds

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