The spiritual person is the one who is grateful for everything. He is the one who receives everything with thanksgiving, and who knows that he has nothing except what he has received from God (cf. Jn 3.27).

And from His fullness have we all received, grace upon grace (Jn 1.16).

In the Old Testament, thanksgiving was central in the life of God’s people. The temple liturgy offered sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise, and psalms sang continually of thanksgiving to God. Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His Holy Name.

Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving. Let us enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name!

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to Thy Name, O Most High; to declare Thy steadfast love in the morning, and Thy faithfulness by night.

O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, for His mercy endures forever! (Pss 30.4, 95.2, 92.1, 107.1).

In the New Testament, thanksgiving is the very essence of the Church’s life. The word eucharist means thanksgiving, and the very center of the Church’s liturgical worship of God is when, in remembrance of all His saving acts in Christ, the faithful “lift up their hearts” and “give thanks unto the Lord.”

The apostolic scriptures and the lives of the saints abound with thanksgiving to God for all things.

Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting; but instead let there be thanksgiving . . . always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father (Eph 5.4, 20).

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thess 5.16–18).

Rejoice always in the Lord; again I say, Rejoice! Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in ChristJesus (Phil 4.4–7).

The spiritual person has thanksgiving and gratitude in all circumstances, in everything and for everything. This thanksgiving is rooted in the firm conviction of God’s merciful providence and care in all things, in the steadfast faith that “God works in everything for good with those who love Him” or, as the passage may also be rendered, “everything works together for good with those who love God” (Rom 8.28).

The spiritual teachers, especially Saint John Chrysostom (4th c), are very strict in this teaching. The spiritual man does not thank God only for what he considers to be good. Rather, he thanks God for everything, even for what appears to be bad, knowing that God’s tender care is over all, and that the evil in this world—which is always present and inevitable (cf. Jn 17)—can itself be the vehicle for spiritual growth and salvation if rightly understood and overcome by the grace of God.

The opposite of gratitude is bitterness and complaining; it is bemoaning one’s lot in life because of pride and covetousness. It is caused by the absence of humble trust in the Lord. It is rooted in an attitude of life which does not allow the person to exclaim with the righteous Job:

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job 1.21).

To thank God in everything and for everything is the result of faith and faithfulness in God. It is the result of absolute trust in the Lord who knows best what we need for our salvation and does all that He can within the evil conditions of the world to bring us to eternal life, to peace and to joy. It is the product of believing, with Isaiah, the Word of the Redeemer who says:

For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love will I have compassion on you.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts . . .

And you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing . . .

Keep justice and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come . . . (Is 54.7–8, 55.8–9, 56.1).

A person is grateful to the extent that he trusts in the Lord and has love for God and man.

Source: https://oca.org/orthodoxy/the-orthodox-faith/spirituality/the-virtues/gratitude

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A striking component of Orthodox worship is the ringing of bells. Every daily cycle of public divine services starts with the ringing of bells and no one who has witnessed the procession around the church at Holy Pascha can forget the almost continuous ringing of all the church bells. In Pre-Revolutionary Moscow, for example, travelers invariably commented on the stirring clamor of the more than 1600 bells of the city ringing simultaneously at the Pascha of Our Lord. Usually a separate structure, the Bell Tower, was constructed to contain the bells, but more often in modern times a belfry is erected over the entrance to the church building, within which the bells are placed.

Forged Brass Bell

The purpose of ringing the bells is to call the faithful to services, to inform those absent from divine services of the various important liturgical moments of the services, as well as calling the worshippers to concentrated attention at these same moments. It is also used to signal the arrival of the Archpastor at the church or monastery. There are four basic types of bell-ringing in the Russian Church: The Announcement (Blagovest announcing); the Peal (Trezvon three bells); Chain-ringing (Perezvon across (or linked) bells); and the Toll (Perebor broken (or interrupted).

The Announcement (Blagovest)

This is a slow rhythmic, unhurried striking of one bell, which is usually rung for the announcing of the beginning of services: Before the All-Night Vigil (also accompanied by the Trezvon); before each group of services of the daily cycle (9th Hour Vespers Compline; Nocturns Matins 1st Hour; 3rd Hour 6th Hour Liturgy or Typical Psalms); and before Great Compline). The Announcement is also employed at other important moments of the services. For example, there are Twelve strikes for the twelve parts of the Creed and also before It is truly meet... of the Divine Liturgy; before the Molieben (if there be) following the Liturgy.

During Great Lent on weekdays, the Announcement Bell is rung at the 3rd, 6th, and 9th Hours, as well as at Great Compline three strikes for the 3rd Hour, six for the 6th Hour, nine for the 9th Hour, and twelve for Great Compline. During Passion Week, the Announcement Bell is rung at the beginning of each Passion Gospel (Holy Friday Matins), according to the number of the Gospel one strike for the first, two for the second, etc. (At the conclusion of the reading of the Passion Gospels, the Trezvon is rung.) At the Royal Hours of Holy Friday, the Bell is rung three strikes for the 3rd Hour, six for the 6th and nine for the 9th.

Before the Divine Liturgy, the Announcement Bell is rung until the Hours begin (usually accompanied by twelve recitations of Psalm 51 for twelve strikes of the Bell or the recitation of Psalm 119), usually about one-half hour before the Liturgy.

The Peal (Trezvon)

This is the ringing of bells in three modes, three times repeating a musical measure with a definite harmony of many selected bells. The Peal is used at the beginning of major services: Combined with the Announcement, the Peal is rung at the beginning of the All-Night Vigil, at Matins, before the Six Psalms, the Gospel, and at the end of the Vigil. At the Liturgy the Peal is rung after the 6th Hour and before the actual start of the Liturgy and after the conclusion of the Liturgy. If there be a Molieben on the church or monastery Feast Day, the Peal is rung before and after it. It is also rung at the end of the reading of the Twelve Passion Gospels of Holy Friday Matins, as well as after the Gospel reading during the Liturgy of the first day of Holy Pascha.

Chain-Ringing (Perezvon)

This is a successive ringing of all the bells from the largest (lowest pitch) to the smallest (highest pitch), with the striking of each bell a number of times before the next bell is struck, and repeating this method several times. It is used before the Blessing of Waters, before the carrying-out of the Holy Cross on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept. 14) and the Third Sunday of Great Lent, as well as at the Hours before the Consecration of a Bishop. It is also rung, together with a short ringing of the Peal at the immersing of the Holy Cross during the Great Blessing of Waters and after the carrying-out of the Holy Cross to the center of the church.

This mode of ringing is also used during the Vespers of Holy Friday when the Plaschanitsa is taken from the Altar to the center of the church, and also at the Great Doxology of the Matins of Holy Saturday when the Plaschanitsa is carried out around the church. (When the procession re-enters the church, the Peal follows.) Chain-Ringing is also used at the burial of Priests and Bishops.

The Toll (Perebor)

This is the slow tolling of each bell, beginning with the largest to the smallest and ending with a striking of all the bells at once. It is used at the carrying-out of the deceased from the church for burial and is known as the funeral toll. There is no Peal after the Toll.

At the Hierarchical Liturgy, the Announcement is rung at the appointed time; then the Peal is rung at the arrival of the Bishop. The Announcement then continues to ring up to the time of the vesting of the Bishop. The Peal is rung again at the 6th Hour.

Bells from the Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: http://www.stots.edu

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On July 9 the Orthodox Church celebrates the feast day of the Icon of the Mother of God of Seven Lakes (also known as Sedmiezernaya). This icon was highly revered in the 17^th century, when an outbreak of plague happened in the city of Kazan.

The original icon is kept today in St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Kazan. This is one of the greatest sacred images of Tatarstan, which is honored as much as the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan. The feast of the icon is celebrated three times a year: July 9 – the day the city of Kazan was saved from plague, August 10 – the feast of the icon of the Mother of God of Smolensk, and October 26 – the day the icon was moved from Kazan to Monastery of Seven Lakes.

The settlement surrounded by seven lakes

Schemamonk Evphimiy presented the miraculous icon of the Mother of God to Monastery of Seven Lakes. He was born in the end of the 16^th century in the city of Veliky Ustyug. When his parents passed away, he moved to Kazan together with his brother. As Evphimiy was a calm and righteous man, he decided to find a quiet place to live. Thus he settled down in a place surrounded by seven lakes, 11 miles far from the city.

When the schemamonk came there and built a small hut, he saw a pillar of fire rising over the it. Then Evphimiy understood that the place, where he had settled down, was unusual and chosen by God Himself. He made a cross there and built a small room for himself.

A Family Icon

The talks about pious Evphimiy and his life spread all over the area, and people began to visit him. Monks and novices began to settle near his cell, and very soon the monastery was officially organized there. At first it was called Ascension Monastery. Elder Evphimiy was called to Monastery of Transfiguration in Kazan (which does not exist now), where he asked the metropolitan to bless his patrimonial miraculous icon, so that he could present it to the newly opened Monastery of Seven Lakes. It was hard for him to leave the icon, which was handed down in their family from generation to generation. But the monk loved people and the monastery, and that is why he made a decision to present the miraculous icon, so that any one could come to venerate it or pray in front of it.

The brethren were pleased with such a great gift. After that, people began to visit the monastery to venerate the icon and to make donations towards the development of the monastery. Later the wooden church was rebuilt from stone, the father superior of the monastery was chosen, and another one church was built – the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God of Smolensk, which remains until today.

Salvation from the plague

In 1654 plague raged all over Russia. According to the scriptures, more than 40,000 people died in Kazan. The city was dying and people did not know where to ask for help. People decided to bring the icon from the Monastery of Seven Lakes to Kazan.

The same night, Saint Nicholas appeared to a pious nun by the name of Marfa in her dream. He told her that the city would be saved and added: “Go to the authorities and say that they should welcome the Mother of God with honor”. She did not take the vision seriously and fell asleep again. Then the Saint appeared again and said: “There is no time for rest. The Mother of God is standing behind the city wall. Tell the authorities about this”.

Then the citizens with the authorities and the clergy took the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Kazan and went toward the welcoming procession. On the place, where the two groups of people met, the Kizichesky Monastery was built later. People venerated the miraculous icon and asked for salvation. When people went around the city with the icon, it was placed in the Cathedral of the Annunciation. According to the story, the plague went away after that.

How the icon protects Kazan

In two weeks the monks from the Monastery of Seven Lakes came to the city to take the icon back. The weather was sunny on that day. At the moment they tried to move the icon out of the cathedral, the weather changed and the storm came to the city. The clergy understood that it was not right time to move the icon back, and decided to leave it in the cathedral for a year.

Since that time people have celebrated the salvation of Kazan on July 9. The icon of Seven Lakes performed a real miracle. For several years people brought the icon to Kazan and left it there for several months to avoid another outbreak. During that time, the monks held processions with the icon in the city during the day and at night. Thus the icon protected the city. The Mother of God saved the city from the same outbreak for the second time in 1956.

There is also a story about miraculous healing. In the end of the 19^th century, Vyezdnoye village in Nizhniy Novgorod region was endangered by plague. The monks learned that the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Seven Lakes is kept in Kazan. They ordered a copy of the miraculous icon and then the procession with this copy went through the village. On the place, where the procession stopped, the cathedral of the icon of the Mother of God of Smolensk was built.

Present day miracles

Even today, the Icon of the Mother of God of Seven Lakes continues to heal dreadful and incurable diseases. Archimandrite German (the abbot of Monastery of Seven Lakes) says that once a woman came to the monastery after an evening service. Her sad look and teary eyes did not leave priests indifferent. The pious woman told a priest that her granddaughter was dying. At that time, the nine-year-old girl was in the Children's Republican Clinical Hospital. She had a high fever and the doctors could not bring the temperature down. They also could not diagnose or help her. The woman who knew that the glorified copy of the Icon of the Mother of God of Seven Lakes had helped people a lot of times came to ask for help. That evening they all gathered and prayed together for the health of her granddaughter. Finally, a miracle happened. The woman called the hospital and found out that the temperature fell to 36.6 C.

The miracles were not limited to ordinary people, but also civil servants, politicians and famous people venerated the icon in the monastery of Seven Lakes. So, once a minister came to the monastery. He told that he had acute kidney failure. He was to have the surgery in Germany, but doctors said he would not survive the flight. Then he came to the church and asked the Mother of God of Seven Lakes for help. When his kidneys failed, he was operated in Russia and he got through the operation. The relatives and doctors could not believe for a long time that the man who was doomed to die actually recovered.

Translated from: http://www.tatarstan-mitropolia.ru/all_publications/publication/?id=47910

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