The Catalog of Good Deeds

Beatitude is not a word used in our normal conversation. It is a word that is not easily translated into English. Sometimes it is defined as happiness, but this grossly misses the mark. Saint Gregory defines it as follows:

"Possession of all things held to be good, from which nothing is absent that a good desire may want."

It is not just goodness but a goodness "from which nothing is absent " that is good. It's hard to imagine the magnitude of this goodness. What then is truly blessed to be called a Beatitude?

Saint Gregory tells us,

"the one thing truly blessed is the Divinity itself. Whatever else we may suppose It to be, this pure life, the ineffable and incomprehensible good, is beatitude. It is... grace , wisdom, and power; this true light that is the fount of all goodness, mighty above all else; the one thing lovable which is always the same, rejoicing without end in infinite happiness. Even is one has said about It all one can, yet one has said nothing worthy of It."

Gregory is teaching us that the idea of a Beatitude is nothing like an emotional state of human happiness which comes and goes. It is the infinite goodness and perfection we find only in the Divine. So How can we ever be deemed worthy to be called blessed? Saint Gregory reminds us that we are created in the image of God and therefore we should be called blessed when we live up to this image within. But we know, as he points out, that this perfect image has been disfigured by our sinfulness. This is the whole reason for the Incarnation of Christ, His teaching, crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, and the establishment of His Church. He came to cleanse us and restore us to the perfect image we had at the time of creation. In the Beatitudes we find the characteristics we must have to gain this blessedness. They provide the path to Theosis or union with God.

Gregory writes,

"But as he who fashioned man made him in the image of God; in a derived sense that which is called by this name should also be held blessed, inasmuch as he participates in the true beatitude... When we have put off the shame of sin, we shall be restored once more to the blessed form."

Source: http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com.by/2009/08/what-is-beatitude.html

Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok, the spiritual father of St. Elisabeth Convent answers various questions of the parishioners.

I suffer from despair… How do I get myself together and get to church?

There is a fixed time of worship, and there is your spare time that you have to sacrifice to come to church for help. This painful condition of your soul has a certain reason. It has causes and circumstances that you have to change if you want to break free.

What do you need to do it? First of all, you should consider how you got into this place, how you have lived your life since you were 7 (assuming you have never confessed before). Perhaps, your conscience rebukes you? Perhaps, you understand that you do wrong and would like to abstain from something but you are unable to do so? Secondly, you should have a clear vision of what you want from God. Do you want God’s love to make you a different person? Are you willing to accept his love, to obey God and to struggle with sin? If you feel bad and want to change something, come to church no matter what.

Confession is a Sacrament during which you stand not in front of a man (a priest) but in front of God. It is through the priest — in his presence — that you petition God and receive help from him. Your sins can be forgiven provided that you repent genuinely. You have to be willing to repent and to have at least a little faith.

A new life will begin as soon as you allow God to enter your heart. Of course, you will have to coerce yourself because the devil will impede it. The outside world will also hamper you, as well as the sin inside you. However, you should make yourself come and stand in the queue for a confession, and not to leave the church at all costs. The priest may tell you something you won’t like… You should be patient and humble yourself down. If you come to a doctor, there are different doctors, kind and less than kind and completely unkind… But they do treat people. God heals people through them.

Then you will receive the Holy Mysteries, the Eucharist, if the priest allows you. Since that time, your new life, where there is no place for despair, will begin. It will be a life filled with faith, hope, and love. Welcome to God’s House!

What do I do if my relatives do not share my enthusiasm about God and the Church?

Apostle Paul says that an unbelieving husband is sanctified by his believing wife. If you have just turned to God, it’s your natural desire to bring your entire family to him and have a monastery at home. It won’t happen overnight. In fact, it may never happen…

You should take care and be cautious. You can talk persuasively and insist on something but it will cause a knee jerk reaction of aversion, lead to quarrels and misunderstandings. This is why you should build up the strength of your inner self and look for opportunities to go to church, to confess, to take communion, and keep growing steadily. You should seek God’s will every day, do your best to serve your neighbours selflessly, try to understand and accept them. It is through you that your family can be saved. It will happen only if your relatives see God inside you, if they come to realise how great it is to live with him, how much beauty and might there is in the Church.

Apostle Paul said, Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ… The most important goal is not to lose the grace that you’ve received. It can get lost if we judge others, complain, or doubt. The devil will try to do everything possible to destroy peace in your family.

This is why “he who treads softly goes far.” Confess and take communion. If someone is annoyed at seeing you make the sign of the cross, don’t do it to show off. If it is possible, bring your children to communion but only if your family members do not protest against it. Look for balance.

I had that period when I came to the faith and my relatives thought I fell mentally ill, too. I had to pray secretly, in the bathroom or in the toilet, so that no one could see. My soul was on fire for God. Later, everybody started going to church and I didn’t have to hide anymore, but the fire ceased to burn. I had to force myself to pray. May God grant you strength, courage, patience, and humility. May Christ enter your home and consecrate it. May there be a home church in your home. You have to be very careful and tactful not to do any harm.

Children make noise in church… What do I do?

I believe you should bring them to communion and take communion yourself more often. I remember how I used to take my children to church almost every day. The children were screaming and crying but I wanted to partake of the Chalice and to have my children partake of it, too. It is vital for their development, for their growth as Christians, and for your entire family to become more observant.

Certainly, it may be uncomfortable: you will have to go out and try to calm down the kids if they act up or make too much noise. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t give up, if I were in your place. Perhaps, you should try coming to church not at the beginning of the service but at least during the Canon of the Eucharist… I hope that you’ll find the proper balance in this case and everything will be fine eventually. The Lord knows that you go out on the porch not because you want to chat but because you have to comfort your children. He is merciful and He will bless your Holy Communion. Put some effort into being the partakers of the Eternal Life all together.

December 27, 2017

St. Elisabeth Convent

In his Centuries on Theology St. Maximus the Confessor refers to the nexus of the dualism of pleasure and pain, which, by any standard, is an important subject. This means that we cannot discuss Orthodox Theology if we fail to face this crucial point, because the transcendence of pleasure and pain is, precisely, a prerequisite for correct Orthodox Theology. As St. Maximus the Confessor says, the transcendence of pleasure and pain proves that man has cleansed his heart from the passions.

As we pointed out above, the whole of modern life is governed by pleasure and pain, since, in our age, enjoyment and the gratification of the senses dominate, while at the same time deep grief, an inner pain, prevails. In reality, modern man tries to escape pain through the satisfaction of sensual pleasure. All contemporary problems, such as AIDS and drugs, are to be found in this connection. This is why I believe it is extremely important to see this link between pleasure and pain, as elaborated by St. Maximus the Confessor.

a) The origin of pleasure and pain

The world was created by God in Trinity. The most perfect creature is man, for he is the apex of creation, the microcosm in the macrocosm. Analyzing the issue of the creation of man and its relation to the birth and the origin of pleasure and pain, St. Maximus says that God the Word who created man's nature, made it without pleasure and pain. "He did not make the senses susceptible to either pleasure or pain." He insists on this point by saying: "Pleasure and pain were not created simultaneously with the flesh."

While there was no pleasure and pain in man before the fall, there was a noetic faculty towards pleasure, through which man could enjoy God ineffably. But he misused this natural faculty. Man oriented the "the natural longing of the nous for God" to sensible things and thus "by the initial movement towards sensible things, the first man transferred this longing to his senses, and through them began to experience this pleasure in a way contrary to nature". The words "according to nature" and "contrary to nature" show the complete ontological change that took place in man and depict his fallen state clearly.

Of course, man did not invent this mode of operation of the faculties of the soul on his own, but with the advice of the devil. The devil was motivated by jealously against man, for whom God had shown special care and attention. It is interesting that the devil envied not only man but God Himself: "Since the devil is jealous of both us and god, he persuaded man by guile that God was jealous of him, and so made him break the commandment".

After the unnatural movement of the noetic capacity of the soul to sensible things and the birth of pleasure, God, being interested in man's salvation "implanted pain, as a kind of chastising force". Pain, which God, in His love for man, tied to sensual pleasure, is the whole complex of the mortal and passible body, that is the law of death, which has, ever since then, been very closely connected to human nature. In this way, the "manic longing of the nous" which incites the unnatural inclination of the soul to sensible things, is restrained.

This whole analysis by St. Maximus the Confessor in no way reminds us of Platonic teaching about the movement of the immortal soul from the unborn realm of the ideas, and its confinement to a mortal body which is the prison of the soul. This is simply because St. Maximus the Confessor, being an integral member of the entire Orthodox tradition, makes no distinction between a naturally immortal soul and a naturally mortal body, he does not believe in an immortal and unborn realm of ideas, and, obviously, does not adopt a dualistic view of man, according to which salvation consists in his liberation from the prison of the soul, which is the body. In St. Maximus' teaching there is a clear reference to the unnatural movement of the faculties of the soul and to the "manic longing of the nous", which draws the body into situations and acts which are against nature.

It is clear, then, that ancestral sin consists of the "initial movement of the soul" toward sensible things and in the "law of death" granted by God's love for man. Therefore, pleasure and pain constitute so-called original sin. Pleasure is the soul's initial movement toward sensible things, while pain is the whole law of death which took roots in man's existence and constitutes the law of the mortal flesh.

St. Maximus makes some marvellous observations. He states that the transgression (of the commandment) devised pleasure "in order to corrupt the will", i.e. man's freedom, and also imposed pain (death) "to cause the dissolution of man's nature". This means that pleasure causes sin, which is a voluntary death of the soul, while pain, through the separation of soul and body, causes the disintegration of the flesh. This was, actually, the work and objective of the devil, but God allowed the link between pleasure and pain. That is, He allowed death to come into man's existence on grounds of love and philanthropy, for pain is the refutation of pleasure. Thus, "God has providentially given man pain he has not chosen, together with death that follows from it, in order to chasten him for the pleasure he has chosen."

On several occasions, St. Maximus refers to "voluntary pleasure" and "irrational pleasure", as well as to "involuntary" and "sensible" pain. Pain balances the results of pleasure, that is, it subtracts pain, but does not completely revoke it.

Therefore, pleasure precedes pain, since all pain is caused by pleasure, and this is why it is called natural pain. For Adam and Eve, pleasure was without cause, that is, it was not preceded by pain, while pain, which is a natural consequence of pleasure, is an obligation, a debt, paid by all men who have the same human nature. This is what happened to Adam and Eve. For their descendants, things are a little different; the experience of pain leads them to the enjoyment of pleasure.

After the Fall and the entry of the law of sin and death into his existence, man is in a tragic state, because, even though pain reverses pleasure and annuls its active movement, man cannot reverse and eliminate the law of death which is found within his being, and this law brings a new experience of pleasure. "Philosophy towards virtue", namely man's whole ascetic struggle brings dispassion not in his will but in his nature, because asceticism cannot defeat death, which is found as a powerful law within man’s being. Herein lies the tragedy of man, who may cure pleasure and obtain inner balance through voluntary pain (asceticism) and involuntary events (external grief, death) but is unable to liberate himself from pain, which is determined by the law of death.

b) The purpose of Christ's incarnation

So far we have described how the link between pleasure and pain was established after the Fall. Pleasure was a result of the irrational movement of the faculty of the soul , with its natural consequence the coming of pain, along with the entire law of death. This combination of pleasure and pain became a law of human nature. Obviously, while living a life contrary to nature, man could not be delivered from this state which had become natural. Christ's incarnation contributed to man's liberation from this connection between pleasure and pain. St. Maximus the Confessor also makes some marvellous observations on this point too.

It was absolutely impossible for human nature which had fallen to voluntary pleasure and involuntary pain to return to the former state "had the Creator not become man". The mystery of incarnation lies in the fact that Christ was born human, but the beginning and cause of His birth was not sensual pleasure, for He was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, outside the human way of generation, and He embraced pain and death by His own free choice. For man, pain came as a result of sin, it was involuntary. While for Christ, who was born without sensual pleasure, pain was received by choice.

All humans born after the transgression, are born with sensual pleasure, which precedes their birth, because man is an offspring of his parents’ pleasure and, of course, no one is free, by nature, from impassioned generation provoked by pleasure. Thus man had the origin of his birth "in the corruption that comes from pleasure" and would finish his life "in the corruption that comes through death". Therefore, he was a complete slave to pleasure and pain "and he could not find the way to freedom". Humans are tortured by unjust pleasure and just pain and, of course, by their outcome which is death.

For man to return to his previous state and to be deified, an unjust pain and death without cause had to be invented. Death had to be without cause, not to be caused by pleasure, and unjust, not following an impassioned life. In this way, most unjust death would cure unjust pleasure which had caused just death and just pain. In this way mankind would enjoy freedom again, delivered from pleasure and pain. Christ became perfect man, having a noetic soul and a passible body, like ours, but without sin. He was born as a man by an immaculate conception and, thus, did not have any sensual pleasure whatsoever, but voluntarily accepted pain and death and suffered unjustly, out of love for man, in order to revoke the principle of human generation from unjust pleasure, which dominates human nature, and in order to eliminate nature’s just termination by death. Thus, Christ's immaculate conception as man and His voluntary assumption of the passibility of human nature, as well as His unjust death, liberated mankind from sensual pleasure, pain and death.

Christ's birth as man took place in a way contrary to that of humans. After the Fall, human nature has its principle of generation in "pleasure-provoked conception by sperm" from the father. A direct consequence of this sensual birth is the end, namely "painful death through corruption." But Christ could not possibly be ruled over by death, because He was not born in this pleasure-provoked way. With His incarnation, Christ offered a different principle of generation to man, the pleasure of the life to come, by means of pain. Adam, with his transgression, introduced a different way of generation, a generation originating in sensual pleasure and ending in pain, grief and death. Thus, everyone who descends from Adam according to the flesh, justly and painfully suffers the end from death. Christ offered a different way of generation, because, through His seedless generation (birth) and His voluntary and unjust death, He eliminated the principle of generation according to Adam (sensual pleasure) and the end which Adam came to (pain-death). In this way "he liberated from all those reborn spiritually in him".

The way by which Christ became incarnate and cured human nature reveals indisputably that He is wise, just and powerful. He is wise because He became a true man according to nature without being subjected to any change. He is just, because He voluntarily assumed passible human flesh, out of great condescension and love for man. This is also why He did not make man's salvation tortuous. He is also powerful, because He created eternal life and unchangeable dispassion in nature, through suffering and death, and in this way He did not show Himself to be at all incapable of achieving the cure of human nature.

By Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos

Source: www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2009/12/why-jesus-had-to-be-virgin-born.html

Q: I wonder if it is ok to eat food that has blood in it? What about Acts 15 where the Apostles forbid it and what about blood transfusions?

A: Actually – and this is not well-known – the Orthodox position is that the Apostolic Council is still binding, and this includes the prohibition on eating blood. Two canonical sources which uphold the restriction of Acts 15 are:

Canon LXIII (63) of the Apostles:

If any bishop, or presbyter or deacon or anyone else on the sacerdotal list at all, eat meat in the blood of its soul, or that has been killed by a wild beast, or that has died a natural death, let him be deposed. For the Law has forbidden this. But if any layman do the same let him be excommunicated.

Canon LXVII (67) from the Quinesext Council:

Divine Scripture has commanded us to ‘abstain from blood, and strangled flesh and fornication’ (Gen 9:3-4, Lev 17 & 18:3, Acts 15: 28-29). We therefore suitably penance those who on account of their dainty stomach eat the blood of any animal after they have rendered it eatable by some art. If therefore anyone from now on should attempt to eat the blood of any animal in any way whatsoever, if he be a clergyman, let him be deposed from office; but if he be a layman let him be excommunicated.

The great Orthodox canonists (Zonaras, Balsamon) have reaffirmed the applicability of these canons.

This prohibition on eating blood has however never been understood as a strict prohibition on the use of blood transfusions in case of medical emergency. It is notable that Orthodox Jews and Muslims who are very strict on eating blood do not also extend the restriction to indispensable medical use. However, it can safely be said that Orthodox Christians should reject the greed and corruption sometimes exposed by the media in relation to the blood transfusion (and organ donation) business. Recent changes, allowing a person to store his own blood or to receive the blood of a compatible relative or friend, have been helpful in curbing the problem of corruption in the blood supply industry.

Source: https://www.orthodoxanswers.org/i-wonder-if-it-is-ok-to-eat-food-that-has-blood-in-it-what-about-acts-15-where-the-apostles-forbid-it-and-what-about-blood-transfusions/

The Glinsk Hermitage came into being in the 16th century in Kursk Province (a territory which now is part of the Sumsk Region), on the site of the appearance of the iraculous Icon of the Nativity of the Theotokos. It appeared in a pine tree. A solitary desert-dweller first settled there, and then others joined him. Later, the Glinsk Hermitage was attached to a succession of monasteries, but even after being granted independence, it was not known as a distinguished monastery until 1817, when Abbot Philaret (Danilevsky) of the St. Sophronius Hermitage was assigned there. Upon his arrival at the monastery, he found only a few ancient structures and 25 brethren. Inspired by the example and teachings of St. Paisius Velichkovsky, Abbot Philaret truly became the awakener and spiritual founder of the monastery which became renowned for its eldership and wide-ranging charitable undertakings. Already at the close of the 19th century, the Glinsk Hermitage encompassed 5 churches, 4 house churches, 15 buildings to house the residents, 8 hostels for the faithful, a refectory, a laundry, a hospital with a pharmacy, and many household buildings, including 4 waterwheel-powered mills. The monastery included a vocational school in which up to 50 boys, primarily orphans, were educated. Approximately 400 people lived at the monastery.

Almost everything of the external glory of the monastery was swept away by the revolutionary whirlwind. By 1942, when the warmth of monastic life was rekindled on the ruins of its former splendor, the Glinsk Hermitage included only one house church, in the building also housing the hospital and “bishop’s” building.

The most noteworthy aspect of the history of the monastery was the fact that its monastics were able to endure through all of the deprivations and trials of the awful decades, and to return to the monastery not the glory of its former magnificence, but rather the spirit of true asceticism, eldership, and service to the world. This permitted the Glinsk Hermitage to function for a short time – from 1942 to 1961, when it was once again shut down – as a manifestation of unusual spiritual strength, at whose center were the elders.

We were told a great deal about the elders of the Glinsk Hermitage by his Eminence, the Most Reverend Lazarus, during his visits to Washington, and by Schema-archimandrite Makary Bolotov, who was personally acquainted with several of the Glinsk elders during the final stage of the history of the monastery. They both believe that the time will come when the Church will include them in the host of Saints.

We begin our introduction with the instructions of elder Schema-hieromonk Seraphim (Romantsov).

“To protect your soul from being disturbed, it is better to compromise on what does not contradict the commandments of God, and to be careful in watching yourself, lest you leave irritation, hatred, and offense in your soul.”

“Condemnation of one’s neighbors is a spiritual weakness and not a paltry thing. The one who condemns shares responsibility with the sinner.”

The elder did not like to hear claims of someone’s spiritual elevation, incidents of “revelations,” or that someone “had experiences.” He cautioned against too readily believing such people, lest this turn into the blind leading the blind.

The elder persuaded people to hold to the golden mean, not falling into senseless joy or into excessive sorrow. Extremes have brought many to a bad end, even to suicide.

When it is painful to remember the past, it is better to simply repent of what had been bad, and think no more about it. In order not to despair or be enfeebled by it, “remember the examples of God’s great mercies to great sinners. The main thing: do not condemn, do not envy, know yourself and be with God.”

“Do not pay particular heed to comforting dreams. It is better not to welcome an angel than to receive a demon in the form of an angel. We are proud, and can easily make a mistake in this regard.”

Instructions of Schema-hieromonk Andronicus Lukasha (1889-1974)

It is enough to know yourself.

Come to love work, and soon God will send you peace.

What you sow in youth, you will reap in old age.

I fear three things: when I will die, how I will die, and where I will find myself.

Truly wise is he who teaches not in words but in deeds.

Do not abandon the will of God in order to serve the will of man.

(From the book Glinsk Mosaic: Pilgrims’ Recollections of the Glinsk Hermitage,

1942-1961, Pilgrim Publishers, Moscow, 1997.)

Source: http://stjohndc.org/en/orthodoxy-foundation/lessons/teachings-elders-glinsk-hermitage

Children are curious, receptive and eager to learn, and parents and teachers can help direct this energy toward the Good News. Reading spiritual literature together—at bedtime, on rainy days, and in the classroom — is a wonderful way to harness natural interest and help a child grow closer to God. Story time, like any other time, is an opportunity to show children how to stay Christ-centered.

Selecting Reading Material

- Ask experienced teachers and bookstores to recommend age-appropriate, spiritually rich books to add to your shelves, such as lives of saints written for children, collections of children’s Bible stories, and picture books with a Christian message.

- Look for colorful illustrations or Byzantine icons, which will help keep children’s attention.

- Cultivate a love for God by choosing books that express theological concepts in ways and words that your child can understand, thereby planting seeds in the child’s mind and soul that can be cultivated over a lifetime.

- Choose stories that reinforce one of the constant themes of early childhood spiritual education: God’s love for both humanity and individual human beings.

- Another recurring focus is that God loves us so much He gave us our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ; from an early age, you can expose children to the idea of having a relationship with Christ.

During Story Time

Create active learning opportunities and extensions to an exercise that might seem passive. There are many ways to actively engage young children even as you read to them:

- Set a standard for daily and weekly reading patterns. Consistency and repetition will make spiritual literature important in the child’s life.

- Young children are eager to make decisions, and could be offered a choice, such as, “Would you like to read the May page about St. Constantine and St. Helen, or would you like to read the April page about St. George?” Small children might simply point to the page of their choice.

- Allow the child to hold the book or to turn the pages while you are reading. Keep the Story Alive Set aside some quality time after story time. Extending the children’s engagement with the story is a powerful way to support learning and remembering, especially at a young age, when imagination and invention are developing.

- Follow every story with a short complementary prayer—in this way, you can reflect on and reinforce the theme. Combining prayer and reading evokes the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit.

- Ask concrete but open-ended questions about the story, allowing children to answer freely, retelling and reinterpreting the story in their own words.

- Stimulate curiosity and creativity; for example, ask a child to act out a simple sentence from the story. The adult might say, “Do you think you can show me the look on St. Helen’s face when she discovered the Cross?” Adding a physical act like this will help the child remember the message. Acting is practical in Sunday school classrooms—no materials or mess—and is quite fun at home, too.

By Maria C. Khoury, EdD

Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/praxis-magazine/Praxis-v08-1-2008-Fall.pdf

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What is Truly Blessed to be Called a Beatitude?

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A Christmas Carol from St. Elisabeth Convent

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Understanding Why Jesus Had To Be Virgin Born

Eating Food that has Blood in it According to Canon Law

The Teachings of the Elders of the Glinsk Hermitage

How to Read Spiritual Literature Together with Your Children

Catalog of Good Thoughts for January 11th, 2018

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