The Catalog of Good Deeds: Orthodox Wisdom

Showing posts with label Orthodox Wisdom. Show all posts

By Archimandrite Andrew (Konanos)

Come to your beloved person and tell how much you love him, kiss him and show him all your tenderness.

One of my acquaintances received a blessing from his spiritual father to consume some meat even during Great Lent because he works physically a lot and gets very tired. However. His wife is keeping the fast rather strictly, and this is why she is worrying and reproaching him because he does not go to church often. Her husband said to me: “Father, I can’t stand it anymore. Tell her something, She will listen to you”. I replied: “Who told you she would listen to me? What is wrong with her behavior? What is the problem?” And he told me: “Here is what’s going on. I am not obsessed with meat, but since I work physically all day long, I have to consume it. As soon as I am going to eat a piece of meat, she comes to the table and stands near. “Why are you eating meat?” Father, I perceive what I eat as lenten food. Is this steak really insolent? But my wife doesn’t let me eat in peace. I seems I’m not fed with the steak, but what I’m really fed up with is her constant grievance”.

I spoke to his wife, but she did not understand me, too. She does not even want to. I advised her: “Let him be. God doesn’t demand fasting from him now. Show your husband your love at first, and then you can do what you want”. – “No, father, I ask him to listen to all your lectures so that he become better”. – “But he doesn’t want to do this.” – “He must do this anyway”.

Try to solve your problems. Strange situations happen sometimes. I am sure you think sometimes, “It is so good I have married”, while the other time you may think, “Wasn’t it a wrong decision?” Everyone experience such periods. Everyone is good. Say to your beloved person how sincerely you love him and kiss him. Say “my love” when you address him and give him all your warm. Will you do this? You will not!.. I know it can be difficult for you, you may feel embarrassed. One woman said to me: “I can’t do what you ask me to do, but I can show him my feelings in another way”. – “In what way?” – “I will cook some rolls of grape leaves. He loves them very much, and thus he will understand everything”.

One child told be a similar story: “When my mother wants to please me, she cooks pasticcio. But when she is angry about me, she cooks bamia!”

I understand. You have problems now. It hurts… I would like to accompany you a bit. For no reason, I will not teach you at all. I just want to be with you. You wrote to me at Facebook about this great sorrow you faced. I know what is going on. You told me about everything. I want only one thing: let us pray to Christ together, let us appeal to His grace, His strength and feel His presence and help.

From the book by Fr. Andrew (Konanos),

“There are certain difficulties in the marriage…”

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: http://pravlife.org/ru/content/arhim-andrey-konanos-sovetuet-kak-pravilno-pokazat-svoyu-lyubov-samym-blizkim-lyudyam

Theory and Practice

Why was Apostle Thomas called “the doubter”? Who of the apostles did believe without seeing? They all saw at first and believed then…

How can a modern person believe without seeing Christ?

We can see Him. Due to the enormous labor of the holy fathers. It belongs to them that the teaching about the Personality of Jesus Christ received the very form that corresponds with the Holy Scripture, the Church story and our personal perception.

The Holy Fathers did not invent a new teaching. According to St. Vincent of Lérins, they just gave new names to the old things. They gave us the forms of human’s perception, through which the Holy Scripture becomes clear for us. And Christ comes alive.

Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich)

Due to the efforts of the Holy Fathers, many of whom gave their lives for the purity of the Church teaching, we believe in the Holy Trinity, in our Lord Jesus Christ, the true God and true human, Whose divine and human natures are joined inseparably; we believe that there are two wills that act in Christ –the divine and the human one.

The dogmas of the faith are the necessary theory. But how is it going with practice?

In fact, all the saints implemented those dogmas in their lives. They not only showed us the path that we should follow, but completed that path by themselves, too. Unfortunately, many of us do not act at all after they have studied the theory. Thus, they stay for their whole life within the ranks of the talkative theorists.

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” – it is important not just to listen to the word of God, but to keep it, to implement it in our life. When we read the Holy Gospel, we hear Christ Himself. Everything that is written in the New Testament refer not only to the witnesses of Christ’s earthly life: these words are addressed to each of us.

Three variants

Our earthly life is a preparation for eternal life: to be with God in Heavens, we have to live with Him on earth first. The faith of a true Christian should be clear and fully expressed in one’s attitude towards life and other people. Few people manage to reach this top, settling for only the first small steps. Perhaps, some people are afraid of the ascent itself, while other think that they have not enough strength for this or just do not believe that from this top they will be able to discover certain new horizons for themselves.

There are signs of unbelief among faithful people, who attend the church regularly. Some people can say right words, can have necessary knowledge and look beautiful and pious outside, but at the same time, they can be rotten inside like an old worm-ridden fruit.

The worms of doubt devastate the soul of a person who has little faith. He know the theoretical base but cannon trust his life to Christ, trying to be its full and only owner. As a rule, the main passions of such a person are freethinking, arrogance and pride. The faith of such people, who externally follow all the rules, is without the living God. In case of any little challenge, their “faith” crashes. They stop going to church, withdraw into themselves, consider themselves right, while the Church is wrong on their opinion. They lack of saving humility.

The faith of other people can be precocious. A soul that is not ripe for the meeting with Christ yet, begins to self-destruct. Often it happens so that the early knowledge and information taken from various sources is joined with the thin strings, which cannot withstand a challenge and break when the first storm comes.

Such people set their hearts upon rather quickly; at the same time, they lose their enthusiasm as much quickly. They take only what is on the surface and do not deepen into the faith. As a rule, they do not know themselves and do not even try to, trying to avoid a trustful talk with themselves and consequently with God. They prevent the Creator from entering their lives by all their forces, settling for knowledge about Him.

Finally, the most common sign of unbelief is reflexive faith, when you do everything without thinking. A person does not mind the words of the prayer, the meaning of the Church rites or the course of the service – one just mechanically repeats what other people do.

Such faith brings no fruits. It is neither alive nor dead. The life of such people counts months and years just like a clock hand, which is spinning around in the same circle repeatedly. They do not change for years without going beyond their narrow perception of the Divine things and they are satisfied with this mechanical living.

This is the most senseless way of life. It is rather difficult or almost impossible to reach out to such people.

Let us strive to remind ourselves as often as possible that we are living here for eternity, while any earthly worries, no matter how important they are for us or our family, are temporal in comparison with what is prepared for us by the Creator Himself.

We are destined to eternal salvation.

By Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich)

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: http://pravlife.org/ru/content/kak-raspoznat-svoe-bezverie-3-osnovnyh-priznaka

Earthly love is born in the same place where tears are born: in the eye. You’ve got to see in order to love. The saying “Out of sight, out of mind” has some truth to it, after all. Nonetheless, this isn’t the main kind of love. The love that does not depend on eye perception is worth a lot more. It is this feeling that faith is linked to. We haven’t seen Christ with our eyes but we love him. We heard words about him and they made it into our hearts and changed our lives dramatically. Eyes don’t have anything to do with it. This is the same kind of love that we feel towards our deceased: the people whom we can’t see anymore but continue to love.

Your deceased relative is like a person who left for a remote land and has to spend a lot of time there. You can’t see him but your heart can’t be fooled. Your heart feels that your loved one is alive. Your heart calls you to prayer.

I’m always terrified when I think that there are millions of people who profess their faith in Christ but don’t pray for the departed. Those people are called Evangelicals. They justify their position by saying that the Gospel does not prescribe doing so. As if Jesus aimed at setting strict rules for our daily life. As if He brought us new laws, thousands of new dos and don’ts, instead of the spirit of freedom. Didn’t He say that our God is the God of the living, not the dead because all live unto him (cf. Luke 20: 38)? If so, why is praying for the living prohibited?

Evangelicals consider the border between those who live here and those who are “gone” to be impassable. If someone has completed his life, you can’t influence his eternal fate so it’s useless to pray for him, they say.

In fact, the border between us and them is quite porous. One can see through it from both sides, if one’s spiritual eyes are sharp enough. The undying love towards the reposed makes us pray to God —who is Love—for mercy on those people who left this earthly realm.

There aren’t any whole people in the spiritual world yet, except Christ and the Mother of God. There are just human souls. A soul without a body isn’t the whole person; it’s just a soul of a person. A body without a soul is just a human body. Death tears us apart. We will be restored no earlier than the Judgment Day comes. No one has heard the final verdict of Jesus Christ yet. No one has been sent off to the hell yet. No one enjoys absolute bliss yet. The eternity will reign only after the bodily resurrection. Some people will be embraced by fire, while others will be met with a joyous song of Angels.

Until that hour comes, souls are in anticipation of their future, which will bring bliss for some and torment for others. If there is anything worth doing during that time, it’s prayer.

The Revelation of St John calls Jesus Christ the One who has the Key of David, among other things. If He locks a door, no one can open it. On the other hand, no one can lock the door that He opened. Evangelicals are in a hurry to lock the door of God’s mercy for the deceased, in spite of the fact that the cup of patience isn’t full yet, the season of grace isn’t over, and Christ has not yet passed his final judgment on certain people.

If only the problem we are talking about was with those who don’t pray at all! There are lots of those who can’t even open their mouth to say, “Lord have mercy!” In this case, we are talking about staunch believers who read the Scripture, pray to the Father, and work hard to fulfill the will of the Son.

If we exclude from our prayers those of our brothers and sisters who happened to die, it’s like cutting off one’s hand or piercing one’s eye. Should we stop praying for other people altogether? Does each person have to rely only on himself? If he is ill, let him suffer. That’s God’s will. He must redeem his sins with that suffering. We don’t think so, do we? We have learned to carry each other’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ. We have learned to intercede for one another. Prayer has always been the best way to help, defend, and stand up against the enemy.

The Church is one Body. The living and the dead can’t see each other, sure. But then the hair on one’s head can’t see the skin on one’s feet. However, the entire body—from tip to toe—is nurtured with the same blood. The Church is a Grapevine. Not all grapes touch each other but they all draw water from one root. The reposed Christians are members of the same Body of Christ. Leaving them without our prayer is the same as leaving hungry kids without bread. They are as helpless as kids. Countless eyes of our deceased brothers and sisters whose numbers are greater than the number of stars that shine in the sky are looking at us intently and imploringly.

Of course, the dead people have lost their chance to change anything. The time of labor is gone. However, their souls haven’t lost the ability to receive grace, and the time to pay their spiritual bills hasn’t come yet.

O Holy Orthodox Church! How beautiful you are, the meek and simple Bride of Christ, wary of talking too much but focused on the most essential things! During the Last Judgment, it is thanks to you that we will hear the gratitude of those for whom we have prayed with love. After we die, we hope to be comforted with the prayers of those who love us and believe in God, too.

With that said, the source of our primary hope is Jesus Christ the Righteous One with his Cross and his Resurrection. All other incentives are but a dessert at his meal. That dessert is so delicious, though! How blind are those who refuse to eat the sweetest food from the hands of the Great Master who has prepared a huge feast for us!

By Fr. Andrew Tkachev

Archimandrite Andrew (Konanos)

A truly faithful person will help you to save your marriage with your beloved person, but not to divorce. Of course, people who live in Christ cannot give you such strange, destructive and groundless advice. Do not be shy to ask for help! Ask for advice and support to save your marriage. You cannot solve this problem on your own, especially when your mind is completely blocked.

Einstein said important things: a mind cannot solve the problem that it has generated by itself. There must be another mind that will help cope with it. It is known that when people are angry, the first thoughts that come to their mind are like “I will divorce you”, “I will avenge”, “I will show my strength”. The most dramatic thoughts come to your mind at this moment. But you need to think a bit. And then ask for help. Apostle Paul says: “We have the mind of Christ”. Place your mind near Christ and say: “My God, enlighten me with Your own mind, which is full of light, love and wisdom, and say me what to do”. Ask the one who you trust. Your relative, for example.

“Tell me, what should I do? What is my mistake” Rather, “What is my mistake?” Have you ever said that? Or do you act like the majority of couples, who are always concerned that it is the other’s fault?

If you learn to ask “What is my mistake?”, then things will get better. However, since we are rather diplomatic at home, we never say like this. It is always someone else’s fault. Not yours. You always justify yourself.

You are so lucky that you are married. You have a great opportunity to spend pleasant moments together, to perceive your own soul and the soul of your close one – you husband or wife. This is a great treasure in your life!

Do not turn into a horse galloping on its own back. This is not good. What is more, this will not help you in your life. There is two of us! Ride ahead together! We can even say that there is a beautiful rivalry between you. You look at one another and get inspired for working on yourself. Your marriage is a great opportunity for your spiritual development, self-knowledge and flourishing. Do not deprive yourself of this gift granted by God. Also, wherever you go, your problem will haunt you.

One a man came to me and said that he wanted to divorce. I said, “Well, divorce your wife, but this does not mean at all that in new relationships you will become an angel. You will remain what you are. This is why you need to do your best to make your current marriage better, try to improve your own nature. If nothing changes, then we will talk about it. Even if you begin to live with another woman now, you will finally get into a fight. Your wife is not the problem here. You are the problem, too”.

From the book by Archimandrite Andrew (Konanos),

“There are certain difficulties in marriage…”

Source: http://pravlife.org/ru/content/arhim-andrey-konanos-sovetuet-chto-nuzhno-obyazatelno-sdelat-esli-reshil-razvestis

In this Beatitude we have reached the peak of our quest. Our reward of our efforts is to become worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Gregory says,

No longer do we go astray, pinning our hope on what is unstable and subject to change. For earth is the place of variation and flux; but in the things that appear moving in heaven we observe nothing like that, because they do not behave in such a way; but all heavenly things move in their own courses in series of orderly sequence.

The examples we have for this final step are the martyrs of the Church.

Gregory says,

It seems that in the last words He holds out to them the highest Beatitude like a crown. For it is truly blessed to suffer persecution for the sake of the Lord. And why? Because being chased by evil becomes the cause of attaining to the good, since separation from the wicked one is made the occasion for drawing near to the Good, that Good that is above every good, the Lord Himself, to whom runs the man who is persecuted. Therefore he is truly blessed, because he uses the enemy to help him attain the Good…

Hence the immediate aspect of the persecution which tyrants unleash against the martyrs is indeed painful to the senses; but the outcome of it exceeds all beatitude.

We all know how difficult it is to deal with those who scheme against us and who do not show their love for us. Gregory uses the story of Joseph as an example. His brothers plotted against him, sold him, yet by this action he became a king over those who had plotted against him. But the persecution in the days of the early Church (which still continues to this days in parts of the world) horrible and was something known by all. Many of Saint Gregory's peers had horrific scars to show this (This is the reason the veiled headgear that monks wear to this day was initiated.). To become blessed because someone has plotted against you, or worse physically harmed you, is not a logical thought. We do not normally see the outcome of inflicted pain as something that is good.

Gregory says,

The fact that the persecution the tyrants inflict on the faithful brings much sensible pain, makes it difficult for the more carnally minded to accept the hope of the Kingdom that is to be realized through these pains. But the Lord, who looks down upon the infirmity of our nature, tells the weak beforehand what is to be the goal of the struggle, so that they may more easily overcome the transitory feelings of pain.

The first martyr Stephen who willingly received the stones that killed him is another example he uses. As Stephen confessed his faith he saw the glory of the Lord shine down on him from heaven. Who else could be more blessed?

Now it is really difficult to prefer what is invisible versus the good things of this world, like the martyrs were able to do.

Gregory says,

Now the soul is in some way attached to the pleasant things of life through the senses of the body. Through the eyes it delights in material beauty, through the ears it inclines to melodious sounds, and so it is also affected by smell, taste, and touch, as nature has disposed to be proper to each. Hence, as it is attached to the pleasant things of life through the sensible faculty as if by a nail, it is hard to turn away from them. It has grown up together with these attachments much in the same way as the shellfish and snails are bound to their covering of clay; and so it is slow to make such movements, since it drags along the whole burden of a lifetime. As such is its condition, the soul is easily captured by its persecutors with the threat of confiscation of property or loss of sonic other things that are coveted in this life; and so it gives in easily, and yields to the power of its persecutor.

But when we God’s grace penetrates our being it is transformed. As Paul says, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword…” (Heb 4:12)

Gregory says,

It cuts through the things that have badly grown together, and disrupts the fetters of habit… He is not pained by the loss of earthly things, but gladdened by the gain of heavenly ones. Therefore he will readily accept every form of torture as a means that will help him to attain to the joy before him: the fire, as a purification from matter; the sword, as disrupting the union of the mind with what is material and carnal. Every device for inflicting pain he will receive eagerly as an antidote against the dangerous poison of pleasure.

Gregory conclude with this:

Therefore affliction is the flower that will yield the hoped-for fruits. Hence let us pick the flower for the sake of the fruit. Let us be persecuted so that we may run, but if we run, let us not run in vain. Let us race towards the prize of our supernal vocation; so let us run that we may obtain. What is it that we shall obtain? What is the prize, what the crown? It seems to me that what we hope is nothing else but the Lord Himself. For He Himself is the Judge of those who fight, and the crown of those who win. He it is who distributes the inheritance, He Himself is the goodly inheritance. He is the portion and the giver of the portion, He makes rich and is Himself the riches. He shows you the treasure and is Himself your treasure. He draws you to desire the beautiful pearl; He offers it to you as it were for sale, if you will trade fairly. In order to gain it, therefore, as if in the market, let us compare the things we have not with those we have. Let us not be sorrowful, then, if we are persecuted, but rather let us rejoice, because by being chased away from earthly honors, we are driven towards the heavenly Good. For this He has promised, that those who have been persecuted for His sake shall be blessed, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven, by the grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever.

Source: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com.by/2009/09/8th-beatitude-blessed-are-they-that.html

Excerpted from “The Typicon of the Orthodox Church’s Divine Services: The Orthodox Christian and the Church Situation Today”.

…Archbishop Averky of Holy Trinity Monastery at Jordanville, New York, makes some sharp and appropriate remarks in a report concerning the “Internal Mission” of the Church which was approved by the whole Council of Bishops of the Russian Church Outside of Russia in 1962:

“It is extremely important for the success of the Internal Mission to attract, as far as possible, all the faithful into one or another kind of active participation in the Divine services, so that they might not feel themselves merely idle spectators or auditors who come to Church as to a theater just in order to hear the beautiful singing of the choir which performs, as often happens now, totally unchurchly, bravura, theatrical compositions. It is absolutely necessary to re-establish the ancient custom, which is indeed demanded by the Typicon itself, of the singing of the whole people at Divine services… It is a shame to the Orthodox faithful not to know its own wondrous, incomparable Orthodox Divine services, and therefore it is the duty of the pastor to make his flock acquainted with the Divine services, which may be accomplished most easily of all by way of attracting the faithful into practical participation.”

Further, in the same article Archbishop Averky dispels the popular misconception that Orthodox Christians are not allowed to perform any church services without a priest, and that therefore the believing people become quite helpless and are virtually “unable to pray” when they find themselves without a priest – as happens more and more often today. He writes, on the same page of this article:

“According to our Typicon, all the Divine services of the daily cycle – apart, needless to say, from the Divine Liturgy and other Church sacraments – may be performed also by persons not ordained to priestly rank. This has been widely done in the practice of prayer by all monasteries, sketes, and desert-dwellers in whose midst there are no monks clothed in the rank of priest. And up until the most recent time this was to be seen also, for example, in Carpatho-Russia, which was outstanding for the high level of piety of its people, where in case of the illness or absence of the priest, the faithful themselves, without a priest, read and sang the Nocturnes, and Matins, and the Hours, and Vespers, and Compline, and in place of the Divine Liturgy, the Typica.

“In no way can one find anything whatever reprehensible in this, for the texts themselves of our Divine services have foreseen such a possibility, for example, in such a rubric which is often encountered in them: ‘If a priest is present, he says: Blessed is our God… If not, then say with feeling: By the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.’ And further there follows the whole order of the Divine services in its entirety, except of course, for the ectenes and the priestly responses. The longer extenes are replaced by the reading of ‘Lord, have mercy’ twelve times, and Little Ectene by the reading of ‘Lord, have mercy’ three times.

“Public prayer, as none other, firmly unites the faithful. And so, in all those parishes where there is no permanent priest, it is absolutely necessary not merely to permit, but indeed to recommend to the faithful that they come together on Sundays and feast days in church or even in homes, where there is no church, in order to perform together such public prayer according to the established order of Divine services.”

This normal church practice, which like so much else that belongs to the best Orthodox Church tradition, has become so rare today as to seem rather a novelty, is nonetheless being practiced now in several parishes of the Russian Church Outside of Russia, as well as in some private homes. This practice can and should be greatly increased among the faithful, whether it is a question of a parish that has lost its priest or is to small to support one, of a small group of believers far from the nearest church which has not yet formed a parish, or a single family which is unable to attend church on every Sunday and feast day.

Indeed, this practice in many places has become the only answer to the problem of keeping alive the tradition of the Church’s Divine services….

The way of conducting such services should preferably be learned from those who already practice it in accordance with both the written and oral tradition of the Church. But even in the absence of such guidance, an Orthodox layman, when he is unable to attend church services, can derive much benefit from simply reading through some of the simpler services, much as he already reads Morning and Evening Prayers. Thus, he can read any of the Hours (First, Third, and Sixth Hours in the morning, Ninth Hour in the afternoon), which have no changeable parts except for the Troparion and Kontakion; he can simply read through the stichera of the great feasts on the appropriate day; or he can read the Psalms appointed for a given day….

Source: http://www.saintjonah.org/services/readerservices.htm

"Some people, if they stumble at all, or are slandered by anyone, or fall ill with a chronic disease, gout or headache or any such ailment, at once begin to blaspheme. They submit to the pain of the disease, but deprive themselves of the benefit. What are you doing, man, blaspheming your benefactor, savior, protector, and guardian? Or do you not see that you are falling down a cliff and casting yourself into the pit of final destruction? You do not make your suffering lighter, do you, if you blaspheme?

Indeed, you aggravate it, and make your distress more grievous. For the devil brings a multitude of misfortunes for this purpose, to lead you down into that pit. If he sees you blaspheming he will readily increase the suffering and make it greater, so that when you are pricked you may give up once again; but is he sees you enduring bravely, and giving thanks the more to God, the more the suffering grows worse, he raises the siege at once, knowing that it will be useless to besiege you any more. A dog sitting by the table, if it sees the person who is eating continually throwing it scraps of food from the table, stays persistently; but if stopping at the table once or twice it goes away without getting anything, it stays away thereafter, thinking that the siege is useless.

In the same way the devil continually gapes at us; if you throw to him, as to a dog, some blasphemous word, he will take it and attack you again; but if you persevere in thanksgiving, you have choked him with hunger, you have chased him away and thrown him back from you. But, you say, you cannot keep silent when you are pricked by distress. I certainly do not forbid you to make a sound, but give thanks instead of blasphemy, worship instead of despair. Confess to the Lord, cry out loudly in prayer, cry out loudly glorifying God. In this way your suffering will be lightened, because the devil will pull back from your thanksgiving and God's help will be at your side. If you blaspheme, you have driven away God's assistance, made the devil more vehement against you, and involved yourself even more in suffering; but if you give thanks, you have driven away the plots of the evil demon, and you have drown the care of God your protector to yourself."

From "Third Sermon on Lazarus and the Rich Man,"

On Wealth and Poverty, 69-70.

Source: http://orthodoxhealing.blogspot.com.by/2011/02/st-john-chrysostom-when-you-suffer.html

by Archpriest Valery Lukianov

If we were to make a survey of the non-eucharistic services performed in an active parish over a period of, say, one year, we would see that the breakdown of such services might appear as follows: 15 baptisms, 5 weddings, 25 funerals, and almost 1000 confessions! From this breakdown one can easily arrive at the conclusion that the sacrament of confession occupies the place of greatest honor in the spiritual activity of each pastor. Hence, it would not be out of place for us to share with you some thoughts on the mystery of confession, particularly on confessorship in our very difficult times.

The subject of our talk will be directed primarily toward the contemporary conditions of confession and the disposition of modern-day penitents. However, to effectively evaluate the present-day conditions of confession, we must first turn to the history of the Church of Christ and in comparison say a few words about the struggle of repentance in the first centuries of Christianity.

Confession as an indispensable preliminary to the taking of Communion was unknown among the early Christians. Theirs was a time when every faithful Christian had to be prepared, on whatever day, at whatever hour, to confess his Faith and Jay down his life for Christ in martyrdom. Such circumstances had a powerful effect in raising the spirit of Christians and promoted moral purity in their hearts, making them, even without confession, prepared to approach the great Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ. And if anyone committed a sin, he would repent publicly in church.

When the era of persecutions came to an end and Christians were able to plunge freely into the pagan life which surrounded them, the moral disposition of their spirit declined. It became essential to prepare for the great Mystery of Holy Communion. During the same time-period—the age of the Ecumenical Councils—the order which we preserve to this day took shape, namely: the recitation of prayers of preparation, intensified prayer, fasting, confession of one's sins, and, only then, approach to the holy chalice (Protopresbyter V. Boshchanovsky, Lessons in Pastoral Theology, p. 69).

In general, in Christian antiquity sacramental confession was not viewed as the sole and unavoidable means for the forgiveness of sins committed by a person after baptism. Confession and repentance were only one of many means of cleansing from sin. St. John Chrysostom, for example, points out five such methods, namely: 1) public confession; 21 weeping over one's sins; 3) humility; 4) almsgiving—the queen of the virtures; and 5) prayer (Smirnov, "Ancient Spirituality and Its Origins," Theological Herald, Vol II [1916], p. 377).

As regards ordinary repentance and confession of sins in antiquity, it could be done either secretly in the presence of a priest, or openly. Moreover, there was a whole range of sinners who confessed serious sins which affected the entire Christian community. The first level consisted of those who wept, standing outside the door of the church, shedding tears as they besought the faithful who entered to forgive them and to accept them back into their company; the second level consisted of those who listened, who, with the catechumens, stood in the vestibule and listened to the prayers and readings from there; and the third level consisted of those who knelt continually behind the faithful, though in the church proper. Those of both the second and third levels were required, at a certain moment, to leave the church. Finally, a fourth level consisted of those who stood with the faithful, yet were not admitted to the Eucharist (E. Smirnov, History of the Christian Church, pp. 97,98).

When speaking of the ancient practice of confession, we must also touch upon the question of eldership. In the context of ancient monasticism, there were elders who were bearers of charismata, special gifts of the Holy Spirit imparted directly from God on the basis of personal merit. Spiritual healing was viewed as the gift of the grace to "discern spirits." It was not bound up with the hierarchical ranks of bishop or priest, but was acquired by tonsure into the schema. The spiritual father took the souls of his disciples upon his own soul, guided them on every step of their spiritual life, and finally, hearing the confession of their thoughts and works, gave them encouragement and admonishment.

The moral and everyday relations between elder and disciple, spiritual father and spiritual child, very early developed externally into a stable and harmonious system. The ancient elder, like the later confessor, heard confession and regulated penance. The elder usually heard the confession of all the monk's sins. Confession to an elder and penance took the place of confession in church.

The spread of the influence of eldership among the laity began quite early, probably not long after monasticism became established. Laymen then began to patronize the elders, forsaking their own pastors.

The monastic form became the form used by the Church, and in this guise continued in the East, almost without change, for many centuries. In Russia this discipline, introduced with the rise of Christianity, survived to the beginning of the 18th century. With the acquisition of an immense expanse of territory, the separate class of spiritual fathers ceased to exist, and the right to hear confessions began to devolve upon each parish priest at his ordination.

Another peculiarity of the Church of Russia was that the position of confessor began to be limited exclusively to those in the rank of priest (I. M. Kontzevitch, Optina Hermitage and Its Epoch, pp. 15-19).

Thus, from of old, confession has taken the form, firmly established by our times, of a threefold spiritual exercise: preparation, confession, and Communion. As in antiquity, so also now confession must be met by essential external conditions without which the beneficial effect of the sacrament itself upon the soul of the penitent is limited.

The first condition, as has already been noted, is preparation. Without preparation there can be no confession! The old Russian verb "govet" (to prepare) means, in one sense, "to live" (see the dictionary of V. Dal'), "to be reborn." Through intense prayer, fasting, virtues, and spiritual reading, the path to this rebirth became accessible.

How may a believer, who with good conscience maintains a morning and evening rule of prayer, intensify his prayer? Firstly, through a more conscious and more deeply-felt prayer—one achieved, as it were, through suffering. Prayer is intensified by adding canons and akathist hymns, of which there are a great multitude. Finally, preparation may serve as the beginning of a continual remembrance of God through the recitation of the "Jesus Prayer."

Traditionally, preparation coincided with the four periods of fasting established by the Holy Church. At other times, it was felt to be desirable for preparation to be accompanied by no fewer than three days of fasting.

As regards virtue, possibilities for doing good deeds always surround us at every step. With regard to spiritual reading (apart from the Gospel, which should be read every day through the entire year), it is a good thing to read the lives of the saints. In our times, there is no lack of spiritually-edifying books and magazines.

To the unalterable external conditions for an effective confession one ought to add the time at which it takes place. Confession should take place during the evening prior to the day on which Communion is to be taken. An evening confession spiritually binds the disposition of the penitent for the whole night. This influence is felt especially during evening prayer and during morning prayer on the day of Communion, when the soul is tranquil and the heart is pure after confession. Confession in the evening makes it possible to open one's soul to the spiritual father without haste, to converse soul to soul. In parishes, particularly where there is only one priest, this rule ought to be strictly observed. In the morning, the priest is occupied with the proskomedia, and if he is forced to delay the beginning of the service because of those who come to confession at the last minute, is this fair to the whole assembly of the Church, which has to wait because of a few negligent parishioners? if there be exceptions to these two basic conditions, they can be found in extraordinary, mitigating circumstances, such as, for example, illness.

Let us now turn to the inner content of the confession of modern day Orthodox Christians.

An understanding of Christian piety has, to a significant degree, been lost through the influence of the world. We observe a complete lack of understanding of the importance and necessity of confession as the struggle for repentance in man's life. The majority of contemporary Christians now regard confession in an altogether superficial manner. Confession is undertaken as a formality which it is necessary to undergo in order to obtain access to the holy chalice. Against the background of such a soulless regard for the sacrament of confession, one may, in general outlines, draw a "picture" of the "attitude" of those who approach for confession.

The majority of those who would confess maintain silence and, in general, do not wish to speak of their sins in specific terms. If one of them does speak up, he speaks of his sins with such indulgence, with such reservations, that the spiritual father feels that sin itself is regarded by such people as a mere violation of the social order.

Of God, of God's justice, of the inner purity of the heart, of the conscience, there is no hint. To the question of the spiritual father concerning this inner state of the soul, the following dictum is often heard: "I have nothing in particular on my heart, Father. I am as sinful as other people. I haven't killed anybody; I haven't stolen anything; I am not involved in adultery; I don't get drunk. Perhaps I have judged someone; maybe I envy somebody...." Of what the penitent has done in God's name, for his neighbor, for his moral improvement, one hears not a word. There is no talk of the inner disposition of one's heart, of those multitudinous passions which rage in one's soul: malice, hatred, jealousy, judgement, falsehood, pride, vainglory, greed .... Such a person considers all of this a completely natural thing: "How can a living man exist without this?" Even more astonishing is that this entire silent majority, as though by agreement, describe their inner spiritual state in an identically lenient manner!

In order to bring about a spiritual healing, the confessor, like a medical doctor, must diagnose the affliction and disease of the penitent's soul. How can one treat those who maintain silence, who have the most false and superficial understanding of sin? More will be said of this later on.

The next category of people who come to confession are not those who keep silence, but those who speak on totally abstract themes. What do these mean-spirited confessors talk about? Usually such persons dwell on their experiences in their lost homeland of Russia, of the disorders and shortcomings of the diaspora. What transpires is a sort of quasi-political diatribe! Then, such persons will often complain about their bodily illnesses, and many even describe these ailments in the most painstaking detail. In taking leave of their audience, they unfailingly ask for health of body and length of days. And finally, these people quite openly speak about their relations with their loved ones and acquaintances, plunging into the vanity and pettiness of life, and even providing the names of those who have offended them.

It seems to us that conversations of a social nature at confession may be tolerated only in those cases when such experiences have a direct influence on the soul, or on the person's relationship with the Church. One may speak of one's illnesses in the case when, for example, the observance of the fasts would have a deleterious effect on one's health; the penitent might seek a dispensation from the rigor of fasting on the basis of his physical difficulties, which do influence the spiritual state of man. But to drag in the names of offenders is in no way laudable. Such people sow in the heart of their pastor the seeds of involuntary prejudice against others who are equally his spiritual children. The principal thing that such a person must come to understand when coming to confession is that a gift can be offered to the Lord God only after asking forgiveness of those whom one has offended and have forgiven offenses wholeheartedly.

In general, one often forms the impression that many Christians come to confession not to confess, but to urge their pastor to free them from what the Church has established as the goals of the spiritual and moral development of Her children. They justify their demand by their ailments. It is a strange thing to express such demands to a pastor. He can loose and bind, in accordance with the Saviour's command, but he must be more than careful in setting aside what the Church has ordained. Of course, a spiritual father must show leniency if it is clear to him that the penitent's reason for his inability to fulfill the law is not based on some personal caprice, but on real infirmity. Yet the penitents also must think twice before burdening their spiritual father with compromising considerations. In any event, they must fear willfulness in the weakening of the precepts of the Church, and must not dare, in any case, to set foot upon such a path without the blessing of their spiritual father.

From silence, secular garrulousness, and self-justification, some Christians, sinking even deeper into the morass of secularism and worldliness, permit themselves to attack the Church Herself. They not only do not acknowledge their own sins, but absolutely refuse to accept the precepts of the Church. For them, fasting is not obligatory (it is, according to them, fit only for monks and priests); they hold that civil marriage is enough for them, that an ecclesiastical marriage is not essential; and so forth. Put yourself in the place of a spiritual father: how can you permit such a person to approach the holy chalice? The person has no sense of his sin; on the contrary, he holds firmly to his own supposed correctness and expects the pastor to permit him to commune! To his great regret, the spiritual father has no other recourse than to withhold his permission. Before such a person comes to confession, he ought to speak with the spiritual father alone about his spiritual state.

In this latter category one may also place the many, especially of the young, who have fallen victim to the grievous apostasies and abnormalities of our times. Such are homosexuals, followers of Hindu mystics, drug addicts, and, in general, those who have fallen into the mire of today's amoral, pornographic, and abnormal allurements. In order to help such unfortunates it is essential that the spiritual fathers themselves be well-read and acquainted with the essence of these pernicious phenomena. There is an abundance of spiritual and moral literature on these questions at the present time, primarily in English.

This, in outline, is the lamentable composition of the penitents with whom today's pastors and spiritual fathers must deal. It is quite far from the spirit and ardor of the early Christians, is it not? One might ask: "is everything really so gloomy?" Let us hasten to give reassurance. In our benighted times there are many radiant spirits who approach the sacrament of confession with a sincere cry of heartfelt contrition. How many times a confessor sheds tears at a confession, seeing some kind soul offering good fruits at the table of the Lord—the Lord alone knows! But what about the majority: those who keep silence, or puff themselves up with vanity, who justify themselves, who are hard-hearted? What about them? Does one spurn them? God forbid! How can one help these sinners, how can one enkindle their hearts?

The answer to this difficult question must be twofold and comprehensive: on the one hand, the sinner must be re-educated, and on the other, the activity of the pastor himself must be successful.

Speaking of lukewarm and even hardened souls, we can only endure the gloomy reality of today's spiritual environment. There is no argument; there is no need to expound on the spiritual bankruptcy of the world. However, where is it that we encounter these deeply secular personalities, if not in church? Even if they arrive only when the bell is rung at "It is meet and right . . .," even if they leave during the sermon, nevertheless we encounter them in church. Something still draws them toward that which is holy. In a word, a spark is still alive! It is up to the spiritual father to fan that spark into flame.

In re-educating a lukewarm soul, attention must first be directed towards bringing sinners to an understanding of sin as the death of the soul. So long as man does not fear sin, he will never understand why confession has been established. When man senses that there is such a thing as a pure conscience, a pure heart, he will confess his sins with greater care and will approach the holy chalice more worthily, having made the effort to prepare himself for it. It is the task of the spiritual father to make clear, as has already been mentioned, that the penitent must pray earnestly, with his whole heart, and beseech the Lord with tears for mercy, in no wise trying to justify himself, for man can sin involuntarily, or, in any event, be a cause of temptation for others.

The second approach to the lukewarm soul must be to make him understand the mystery of Holy Communion. Everybody knows how the Lord Jesus Christ Himself instituted this sacrament, even the unchurchly, who know it from the days of their childhood when they studied catechism. Yet of the essence and action of the Eucharist many have only a superficial knowledge. What does Christ Himself say of Holy Communion? "I am the living Bread Which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever" (Jn. 6:51). And even more precisely: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat of the Flesh of the Son of man, and drink His Blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My Flesh is meat indeed, and My Blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me and I in him" (Jn. 6:53-56).

Interpreting these sacred words of the Saviour, the spiritual father must with all care impress upon the consciousness of the faithful the essence of the activity of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. These are the saving fruits of Holy Communion:

1. Holy Communion unites us with the Lord in the closest possible manner.

2. Holy Communion nourishes our soul and body and makes possible our strengthening, progress, and growth in the spiritual life.

3. Holy Communion is for us a surety of the coming resurrection and everlastingly-blessed life.

Alas, many, many do not understand this basic truth! Hence the neglect of confession. A deepening of the knowledge of the nature of sin and the saving nature of repentance is also an object of spiritual care. Every student must have a teacher. For the healing of the flock there must be an experienced spiritual father. And where should the priest's labor be directed in order to gain what is most important in his life: the experience of spiritual healing? The answer to this question we find in His Beatitude Metropolitan Anthony's book on confession: "To acquire experience the confessor must work first of all on himself .... He must love the people, love man especially in those moments when he gives himself over to you, when he surrenders to God. You will hardly find him better than at these moments, and if you do not try to love him then, you will never love under the conditions of ordinary life."

How can one nurture the spirit of being a confessor within oneself?

We refer you to the remarkable writings of Protopresbyter V. Boshchanovsky on pastoral theology, in which the author urges the pastor to know himself: who he is and what gifts of grace he has been given by God. There is present within the priest the charisma of prophecy, imparted to him with the imposition of hands at his ordination. But the priest himself must not be passive; he is called to activity, to a continual, intelligent, and highly sacrificial labor in life. The spiritual father must promote within himself certain traits without which he would be no more than an ecclesiastical functionary; and he himself can feel this in the cool attitude toward him shown by the truly spiritual sympathetic souls who are seeking genuine pastorship, real guidance. These are the traits:

A holy life. The priest must, first of all, cleanse himself before he seeks to cleanse others, St. Gregory the Theologian teaches. The priest who himself turns away from the commandments of God can expect to hear the reproof of the Gospel: "Physician, heal thyself!" Sanctity of life is not a consciousness of an attained righteousness, but a striving for it which is full of an awareness of one's own unworthiness.

Knowledge—not of the world, which is arrogant and vain, but one which is mystical and filled with grace. The pastor must know the Gospel, the word of God, the teaching of the Church and Her rules—especially as interpreted and revealed by the Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church. The lives of the saints are a precious fountain of instruction for the penitent.

Prudence—not secular and carnal, but one that is true, spiritual, which may merge with a higher virtue, discernment.

Ardent prayer, not for oneself alone, but also for all one's spiritual children. How can a pastor, who is surrounded on all sides by temptations, get by without prayer to God? And his children always sense this.

Zeal for the salvation of souls. This is the real flame of confessorship. If it is not present, the soul of the confessor is barren and fruitless. Spiritual zeal must encompass love, patience, and meekness, but firmness as well.

Thought of God must be habitual and commonplace for the pastor; for how else can the pastor move from the vanity of life to the grace-filled mystery of confession? The priest must live in a constant awareness of the closeness of God. This is the true quality of a spiritual father.

And really, who would entrust his soul to a priest who leads a secular life? Can one imagine a spiritual father who loves the cinema and the theater, who has a reputation in society as a successful recounter of not always modest anecdotes, whose reading is exclusively newspapers and secular literature, who can hold his liquor, but at confession shows himself to be a dread judge and a strict upholder of the law? Such a spiritual father doesn't so much arouse the sleeping conscience of the one confessing as cast the tormented soul into the abyss of despair and disillusionment!

Indeed, how worthy of his calling must the pastor-confessor live, to win the trust and love of the faithful who seek his spiritual help! Of all the problems of the pastoral ministry, that of being a father confessor is the most difficult, the most responsible. Truly the path of reconciling man with God is one strewn with thorns!

How does one gain the trust of the believer who comes to confession? How does one touch his soul? Firstly, as we have already stressed, one must develop the good qualities of a true confessor, must deepen one's Spiritual character.

The second condition of successful confessorship is amicable collaboration, mutual consent to the treatment between confessor and penitent. This flows from true Christian love of one for another and leads to mutual trust. The penitent must understand that the confessor is his friend, as well as his personal physician. The discipline governing the relationship must be strict. Obedience to the spiritual father must be complete—a total rejection of one's own will. A harmony of a sort must be established between confessor and the one confessing. The true pastor is ready to rejoice with one who is happy and to shed tears with one who is weeping. Therefore, the penitent must come to his spiritual father with complete trust and openly relate to him his experiences, doubts, and spiritual ailments. Under ideal circumstances, the one who confesses and the spiritual father pray for one another, and the Lord aids them. But the reward is inexpressibly great—peace of soul, joy in the Lord, and reinforced hope of everlasting life.

This is the immense task which lies before pastors and laymen alike. Can all the difficulties, all the impediments outlined above be resolved and overcome? Is this not a fantasy divorced from the reality of life? One wishes to believe that this is not the case! How can one nurture the noble impulse of the heart, how can one advance spiritual healing?

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk points us in the right direction: "One has to work. God helps those who labor, not those who lie down." Let us work for the Lord with fear, that we might gain the good fruits of true confessorship!

From Orthodox Life, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 41-49.

Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/spiritual_father.aspx

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