The Catalog of Good Deeds

It was one of the strangest episodes in all of military and Christian history--an army killing its own best soldiers. The time: A.D. 320. The place: Sevaste, in present-day Turkey. The issue: Would Christian soldiers obey and bow to pagan gods?

Governor Agricola spoke mildly but firmly. He had good and strong warriors before him. He needed them. They must be brought into line. "I am told you refuse to offer the sacrifice ordered by Emperor Licinius."

One of the soldiers answered on behalf of the rest. "We will not sacrifice. To do so is to betray our holy faith."

"But what about your comrades? Consider--you alone of Caesar's troops defy him! Think of the disgrace you bring upon your legion. How can you do it?"

"To disgrace the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is more terrible still."

A note of exasperation crept into the governor's voice. "Give up this stubborn folly. You have no lord but Caesar! In his name, I promise promotion to the first of you who steps forward and does his duty." He paused a moment, expecting his lure would break their ranks. None of them moved. He switched tactics. "You persist in your rebellion? Then prepare for torture, prison, death! This is your last chance. Will you obey your emperor?"

The soldiers stood firm, although they well knew the governor would carry out his threat. They spoke: "Nothing you can offer us would replace what we would lose in the next world. As for your threats--we've learned to deny our bodies where the welfare of our souls is at stake."

Agricola ordered, "Flog them." Pairs of guards seized each man and dragged them out into the cold where they were stripped and tied to posts. Soon the swish of whips and the thud of blows filled the air with groans. Hooks of iron tore the men's sides. Unbelievably, although their flesh was bruised, their skins were tattered and their blood flowed, not one of the forty surrendered.

"Chain them in my dungeons!" roared Agricola. "We'll see what Lysias has to say about this."

Lysias, commander of the 12th Legion, was in no gentle mood when the forty Christian soldiers were hauled before him a few days later. His ride from Antioch to Sevaste had been tedious and cold. "You will obey me," he said sternly, "or pay a sharp penalty."

The men answered him with respectful defiance, just as they had Agricola. Lysias had not become a commander by coddling traitors, and he did not intend to begin now. He motioned to Agricola.

Agricola came beside Lysias. As judge, he must make these unbending men conform. But how? Just then, a frigid gale blew across the frozen pond below and stabbed into his cheeks. It gave him an idea. "Take them down to the pond," he ordered. Turning to the soldiers he added, "You will stand naked on the ice until you agree to sacrifice to the gods."

Agricola could hardly believe what his eyes saw next. The rebels began stripping off their own clothes and running toward the pond in the freezing March air. "We are soldiers of the Lord and fear no hardship," shouted one. "What is our death but entrance into eternal life?"

Sing It, Brothers!

Striking up a song, the men marched onto the frozen pond. Baffled, Agricola posted guards around them. He squinted into the falling sun. Surely the bitter cold of evening would change their minds....

Wait! There was something else he could do. "Heat baths of warm water," he ordered the guards. "Place them around the pond. That ought to lure them out pretty quickly," he smirked.

The sun sank behind the hills. Then upon the night air could be heard a prayer: "Lord, there are forty of us engaged in this battle; grant that forty may be crowned and not one be missing from this sacred number."

Standing on the shore, the shivering guards shouted into the night. "Don't be idiots. What's the point? Come on out. Warm yourselves!"

"Look," one of the guards suddenly exclaimed, pointing toward the sky.

"What?" said his fellow guard, eyes probing the darkness. "Its too dark to see anything. By Jove, I wish this was over. I'm freezing out here."

"Don't you see them? Spirits...hovering with golden crowns over those fellows heads, holding out rich robes for them!"

"Are you out of your mind? It's pitch black. Hey! There's someone coming! It's one of them."

Babbling, one of the forty crawled toward them from the ice. The two ran forward, grasped his shuddering arms and helped him into a bath. But the heat was too much of a shock to his frozen system. He went into convulsions and died.

The guard who had seen the vision of crowns, without delay, shucked off his clothes and ran onto the ice. The martyrs would be forty again!

When the sun rose, Agricola was told that the forty were dead. "Well, get the bodies off the ice," he commanded. "Burn them. And dump the ashes in the river."

The Youngest Was Still Alive

The guards backed a wagon as near the pond as they could and began stacking the stiff corpses onto it. Then a bizarre twist occurred.

"Hey, we've got a live one here," a guard shouted. "It's Melito. Poor fellow. He's just a kid."

"A local boy, too. That's his mom up there." The soldier beckoned to the woman and she came near. "Listen, Mother, take your boy home, save his life if you can. We'll look the other way."

"What kind of talk is that?" scolded the woman. She seemed genuinely upset! The guards looked at each other in astonishment. "Would you cheat him of his crown? I'll never let that happen!" As the wagon began to roll away, she lifted her son with her peasant's strength, hoisting him in with the others.

"Go, Son," she cried. "Go to the end of this happy journey with your comrades so that you won't be the last to present yourself before God."

One of the guards tapped the side of his head and rolled his eyes upward. "Christians!" he muttered. "I just don't understand them."

Fascinating Facts Behind the Forty Martyrs of Sevaste

How many agreed to sacrifice? A legion consisted of from 3,000 to 6,000 infantry plus cavalry. Apparently at least 2,960 men from the Sevaste legion sacrificed at Licinius's order. Barely 1% bucked his demand!

The famous Thundering Legion. The legion stationed at Sevaste may have been the famed Thundering Legion. Dating back to Caesar Augustus, it took its name from a lightening emblem on its shields. The Thundering Legion is connected with another unusual historical event. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, it was trapped in a dry valley and only saved from dying of thirst by a furious thunderstorm which provided drinking water and threw enemy soldiers into panic. Christian writers spoke of the thunderstorm as a miracle in answer to the petitions of a group of praying Christian soldiers. Pagan authors attributed it to sorcery or to the prayers of Marcus Aurelius.

Why a legion of troops in Sevaste? Licinius had to defend against Barbarians and Persians. Sevaste (now Sivas, Turkey) was a logical place to station a sizable force to meet challenges from North and East.

Save the remains. The bodies of the Forty were burned and their ashes cast into a river. The current deposited fragments of bone at a bend in the stream. Christians collected and preserved them as honored remains to be kept among local churches.

Sevaste (now Sivas, Turkey) was in Armenia. It was a strategic location to station troops to meet threats from North and East.

Too Incredible to Be True?

Are we really supposed to believe that forty men in the prime of life voluntarily undressed to die by freezing? Is this just a legend?

Actually, the story is as solid as ancient history gets. There are at least three sources for it. The men were martyred in 320. Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-396) tells that he was still a boy when a feast was established in their memory and churches dedicated to them. He wrote two sermons on them and declared his intention to bury his parents beside the remains of some of the brave soldiers.

When Gregory's brother, Basil the Great, Bishop of Caesarea (c.330-379), preached a sermon on the feast day of the Forty Martyrs, there were still men and women alive who remembered the brave fellows. Basil's sermon, by the way, is the oldest written record we have of their icy death, and was preached in a church named for the Forty Martyrs.

Another person who later wrote about the martyrs was actually alive as a fourteen-year-old boy when they spent their night on the ice. Ephraim the Syrian (c.306-373) became a leading Christian scholar and hymn writer. He spent much of his life in Edessa, about two hundred miles south of Sevaste. Among his many poems was a eulogy on The Forty.

That Day the North Wind Did Blow

The day was very cold. Surely I do not have to inform you about the cold since today's weather gives you a clear idea about it. The chill even penetrates the walls... such was the season of the contest and the time of their miracles when the north wind blew so vehemently. – Gregory of Nyssa's 1st Sermon on the Forty Martyrs

Did Licinius Kill for Spite?

It is commonly and inaccurately stated that Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire when he became emperor. Not so. It was Theodosios I over a half-century later with his edict of 380. Constantine actually came to power with a co-emperor Licinius.

In 313, Licinius needed Constantine's help and struck a deal with him. To seal the bargain, Constantine married his sister to Licinius. The two generals issued the edict of Milan, granting religious toleration to the empire. Licinius even fought under a Christian banner.

So what changed? Why did Licinius turn on the Christians in 320? Both wanted the same thing --single control over the empire. Persecuting Christians was one way for Licinius to show how much he hated Constantine, whose favor for the Christian faith was well known.

Out of Place Christians?

What were Christians doing in the army? Early Christian writers tell us that Christians believed it was wrong to fight and kill. Could it be that The Forty were draftees? Or had Christians decided it was okay to fight as long as they did so under a Christian banner? Perhaps the men converted to Christ after enrolling in the armed forces.

Source: https://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/301-600/40-martyrs-of-sevaste-11629648.html

Some years ago, when we adopted our two daughters from Russia, I was searching for an Orthodox parish our eldest might go to. (She had been baptised Orthodox.) I was concerned for her smooth assimilation into American life, so I wanted to find a parish with a good youth program. I phoned the local Romanian parish and spoke with Fr. Anton. I explained the situation and told him, “I’m looking to find a parish with a good youth program.” There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Then Fr. Anton answered, “We don’t shop for churches in Orthodoxy.”

Over and over again through the years, the wisdom of Fr. Anton’s remarks has remained with me. The church is not a commodity. It is not selling anything. Parishes are not in competition with each other.

What, then, is the church? Rightly understood, each parish is a family. What are the keys to a family’s health and success? It isn’t rocket science. Here are a few:

– Healthy families are always open to gaining new members. When a baby comes home from the hospital, or a new member is added by adoption or marriage, healthy families open to make room for the new person. They are willing to undergo the temporary discomfort or awkwardness that comes with new life, and they give thanks to God for the new life. They are flexible, yet retain their own identity.

– Healthy families aren’t focused on gaining new members at all costs. Growth should be natural. Those with problems where they are should be told to go back and work on those problems first, before coming. No one should be received without the blessing of their priest. Baggage must be left at the door.

– Members of healthy families are committed to share a common life. Cal Ripken Jr., the man who broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game streak, was asked the secret of his success. “The key,” he said, “is mostly just showing up.” Joining a parish is committing to sharing a common life. That requires engaging with all sorts of different people. Some are outgoing, some are shy; some take part in lots of things and others mostly pray. All are essential; none is superfluous.

– Healthy families commit to work through problems and challenges together. Everyone gets teary-eyed when they read of long-married couples who die on the same day. But stories have those endings only because the couple worked through many problems and challenges throughout the years.

– Healthy families have differences. The goal, in a healthy family, is not to make everybody to be the same. The variety of persons is revealed in a variety of gifts and, sometimes, on a variety of viewpoints. Diversity is no threat, when we are all agreed to journey together.

– Healthy families are ordered. There are husband and wife, parents and children, older and younger siblings. These roles are distinct and not interchangeable. Each lives for the other. Love is given and respect is returned.

Source: http://frgregory.blogspot.com.by/2017/06/the-healthy-parish-family.html

Many men may not love church, but Orthodox men do. Frederica Matthewes-Green asks them why.

In a time when churches of every description are faced with Vanishing Male Syndrome, men are showing up at Eastern Orthodox churches in numbers that, if not numerically impressive, are proportionately intriguing. This may be the only church which attracts and holds men in numbers equal to women. As Leon Podles wrote in his 1999 book, "The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity," "The Orthodox are the only Christians who write basso profundo church music, or need to."

Rather than guess why this is, I emailed a hundred Orthodox men, most of whom joined the Church as adults. What do they think makes this church particularly attractive to men? Their responses, below, may spark some ideas for leaders in other churches, who are looking for ways to keep guys in the pews.

Challenges. The term most commonly cited by these men was "challenging." Orthodoxy is "active and not passive." "It's the only church where you are required to adapt to it, rather than it adapting to you." "The longer you are in it, the more you realize it demands of you."

The "sheer physicality of Orthodox worship" is part of the appeal. Regular days of fasting from meat and dairy, "standing for hours on end, performing prostrations, going without food and water [before communion]...When you get to the end you feel that you've faced down a challenge." "Orthodoxy appeals to a man's desire for self-mastery through discipline."

"In Orthodoxy, the theme of spiritual warfare is ubiquitous; saints, including female saints, are warriors. Warfare requires courage, fortitude, and heroism. We are called to be 'strugglers' against sin, to be 'athletes' as St. Paul says. And the prize is given to the victor. The fact that you must 'struggle' during worship by standing up throughout long services is itself a challenge men are willing to take up."

A recent convert summed up, "Orthodoxy is serious. It is difficult. It is demanding. It is about mercy, but it's also about overcoming oneself. I am challenged in a deep way, not to 'feel good about myself' but to become holy. It is rigorous, and in that rigor I find liberation. And you know, so does my wife."

Clear Disciplines. Several mentioned that they really appreciated having clarity about the content of these challenges and what they were supposed to do. "Most guys feel a lot more comfortable when they know what's expected of them." "Orthodoxy presents a reasonable set of boundaries." "It's easier for guys to express themselves in worship if there are guidelines about how it's supposed to work—especially when those guidelines are so simple and down-to-earth that you can just set out and start doing something."

"The prayers the Church provides for us--morning prayers, evening prayers, prayers before and after meals, and so on--give men a way to engage in spirituality without feeling put on the spot, or worrying about looking stupid because they don't know what to say."

They appreciate learning clear-cut physical actions that are expected to form character and understanding. "People begin learning immediately through ritual and symbolism, for example, by making the sign of the cross. This regimen of discipline makes one mindful of one's relation to the Trinity, to the Church, and to everyone he meets."

A Goal. Men also appreciate that this challenge has a goal: union with God. One said that in a previous church "I didn't feel I was getting anywhere in my spiritual life (or that there was anywhere to get to—I was already there, right?) But something, who knew what, was missing. Isn't there SOMETHING I should be doing, Lord?"

Orthodoxy preserves and transmits ancient Christian wisdom about how to progress toward this union, which is called "theosis." Every sacrament or spiritual exercise is designed to bring the person, body and soul, further into continual awareness of the presence of Christ within, and also within every other human being. As a cloth becomes saturated with dye by osmosis, we are saturated with God by theosis.

A catechumen wrote that he was finding icons helpful in resisting unwanted thoughts. "If you just close your eyes to some visual temptation, there are plenty of stored images to cause problems. But if you surround yourself with icons, you have a choice of whether to look at something tempting or something holy."

A priest writes, "Men need a challenge, a goal, perhaps an adventure—in primitive terms, a hunt. Western Christianity has lost the ascetic, that is, the athletic aspect of Christian life. This was the purpose of monasticism, which arose in the East largely as a men's movement. Women entered monastic life as well, and our ancient hymns still speak of women martyrs as showing 'manly courage.'"

No Sentimentality. In "The Church Impotent," cited above (and recommended by several of these men), Leon Podles offers a theory about how Western Christian piety became feminized. In the 12th-13th centuries a particularly tender, even erotic, strain of devotion arose, one which invited the individual believer to picture himself or herself (rather than the Church as a whole) as the Bride of Christ. "Bridal Mysticism" was enthusiastically adopted by devout women, and left an enduring stamp on Western Christianity. It understandably had less appeal for guys. For centuries in the West, men who chose the ministry have been stereotyped as effeminate. A life-long Orthodox layman says that, from the outside, Western Christianity strikes him as "a love story written for women by women."

The Eastern Church escaped Bridal Mysticism because the great split between East and West had already taken place. The men who wrote me expressed hearty dislike for what they perceive as a soft Western Jesus. "American Christianity in the last two hundred years has been feminized. It presents Jesus as a friend, a lover, someone who 'walks with me and talks with me.' This is fine rapturous imagery for women who need a social life. Or it depicts Jesus whipped, dead on the cross. Neither is the type of Christ the typical male wants much to do with."

During worship, "men don't want to pray in the Western fashion with hands clasped, lips pressed together, and a facial expression of forced serenity." "It's guys holding hands with other guys and singing campfire songs." "Lines about 'reaching out for His embrace,' 'wanting to touch His face,' while being 'overwhelmed by the power of His love'—those are difficult songs for one man to sing to another Man."

"A friend of mine told me that the first thing he does when he walks into a church is to look at the curtains. That tells him who is making the decisions in that church, and the type of Christian they want to attract."

"Guys either want to be challenged to fight for a glorious and honorable cause, and get filthy dirty in the process, or to loaf in our recliners with plenty of beer, pizza, and football. But most churches want us to behave like orderly gentlemen, keeping our hands and mouths nice and clean."

One man said that worship at his Pentecostal church had been "largely an emotional experience. Feelings. Tears. Repeated rededication of one's life to Christ, in large emotional group settings. Singing emotional songs, swaying hands aloft. Even Scripture reading was supposed to produce an emotional experience. I am basically a do-er, I want to do things, and not talk about or emote my way through them! As a business person I knew that nothing in business comes without effort, energy, and investment. Why would the spiritual life be any different?"

Another, who visited Catholic churches, says, "They were conventional, easy, and modern, when my wife and I were looking for something traditional, hard, and counter-cultural, something ancient and martial." A catechumen says that at his non-denominational church "[w]orship was shallow, haphazard, cobbled together from whatever was most current; sometimes we'd stand, sometimes we'd sit, without much rhyme or reason to it. I got to thinking about how a stronger grounding in tradition would help."

"It infuriated me on my last Ash Wednesday that the priest delivered a homily about how the real meaning of Lent is to learn to love ourselves more. It forced me to realize how completely sick I was of bourgeois, feel-good American Christianity."

A convert priest says that men are drawn to the dangerous element of Orthodoxy, which involves "the self-denial of a warrior, the terrifying risk of loving one's enemies, the unknown frontiers to which a commitment to humility might call us. Lose any of those dangerous qualities and we become the 'JoAnn Fabric Store' of churches: nice colors and a very subdued clientele."

"Men get pretty cynical when they sense someone's attempting to manipulate their emotions, especially when it's in the name of religion. They appreciate the objectivity of Orthodox worship. It's not aimed at prompting religious feelings but at performing an objective duty."

Yet there is something in Orthodoxy that offers "a deep masculine romance. Do you understand what I mean by that? Most romance in our age is pink, but this is a romance of swords and gallantry."

From a deacon: "Evangelical churches call men to be passive and nice (think 'Mr. Rogers'). Orthodox churches call men to be courageous and act (think 'Braveheart').

Jesus Christ. What draws men to Orthodoxy is not simply that it's challenging or mysterious. What draws them is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the center of everything the Church does or says.

In contrast to some other churches, "Orthodoxy offers a robust Jesus" (and even a robust Virgin Mary, for that matter, hailed in one hymn as "our Captain, Queen of War"). Several used the term "martial" or referred to Orthodoxy as the "Marine Corps" of Christianity. (The warfare is against self-destructive sin and the unseen spiritual powers, not other people, of course.)

One contrasted this "robust" quality with "the feminized pictures of Jesus I grew up with. I've never had a male friend who would not have expended serious effort to avoid meeting someone who looked like that." Though drawn to Jesus Christ as a teen, "I felt ashamed of this attraction, as if it were something a red-blooded American boy shouldn't take that seriously, almost akin to playing with dolls."

A priest writes: "Christ in Orthodoxy is a militant, butt-kicking Jesus who takes Hell captive. Orthodox Jesus came to cast fire on the earth. (Males can relate to butt-kicking and fire-casting.) In Holy Baptism we pray for the newly-enlisted warriors of Christ, male and female, that they may 'be kept ever warriors invincible.'"

After several years in Orthodoxy, one man found a service of Christmas carols in a Protestant church "shocking, even appalling." Compared to the Orthodox hymns of Christ's Nativity, "'the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay' has almost nothing to do with the Eternal Logos entering inexorably, silently yet heroically, into the fabric of created reality."

Continuity. Many intellectually-inclined Orthodox converts began by reading Church history and the early Christian writers, and found it increasingly compelling. Eventually they faced the question of which of the two most ancient churches, the Roman Catholic or the Orthodox, makes the most convincing claim of being the original Church of the Apostles.

A lifelong Orthodox says that what men like is "stability: men find they can trust the Orthodox Church because of the consistent and continuous tradition of faith it has maintained over the centuries." A convert says, "The Orthodox Church offers what others do not: continuity with the first followers of Christ." This is continuity, not archeology; the early church still exists, and you can join it.

"What drew me was Christ's promises to the Church about the gates of hell not prevailing, and the Holy Spirit leading into all truth—and then seeing in Orthodoxy a unity of faith, worship, and doctrine with continuity throughout history."

Another word for continuity is "tradition." A catechumen writes that he had tried to learn everything necessary to interpret Scripture correctly, including ancient languages. "I expected to dig my way down to the foundation and confirm everything I'd been taught. Instead, the further down I went, the weaker everything seemed. I realized I had only acquired the ability to manipulate the Bible to say pretty much anything I wanted it to. The only alternative to cynicism was tradition. If the Bible was meant to say anything, it was meant to say it within a community, with a tradition to guide the reading. In Orthodoxy I found what I was looking for."

Men in Balance. A priest writes: "There are only two models for men: be 'manly' and strong, rude, crude, macho, and probably abusive; or be sensitive, kind, repressed and wimpy. But in Orthodoxy, masculine is held together with feminine; it's real and down to earth, 'neither male nor female,' but Christ who 'unites things in heaven and things on earth.'"

Another priest comments that, if one spouse is originally more insistent about the family converting to Orthodoxy than the other, "when both spouses are making confessions, over time they both become deepened and neither one is as dominant in the spiritual relationship."

Men in Leadership. Like it or not, men simply prefer to be led by men. In Orthodoxy, lay women do everything lay men do, including preach, teach, and chair the parish council. But behind the iconostasis, around the altar, it's all guys. One respondent summarized what men like in Orthodoxy this way: "Beards!"

"It's the last place in the world men aren't told they're evil simply for being men." Instead of negativity, they are constantly surrounded by positive role models in the saints, in icons and in the daily round of hymns and stories about saints' lives. This is another concrete element that men appreciate—there are other real human beings to look to, rather than a blur of ethereal terms. "The glory of God is a man fully alive," said St. Irenaeus. One writer adds that "The best way to attract a man to the Orthodox Church is to show him an Orthodox man."

But no secondary thing, no matter how good, can supplant first place. "A dangerous life is not the goal. Christ is the goal. A free spirit is not the goal. Christ is the goal. He is the towering figure of history around whom all men and women will eventually gather, to whom every knee will bow, and whom every tongue will confess."

Source: http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/christianity/orthodox/2007/09/why-orthodox-men-love-church.aspx

By Fr. Andrew Lemeshonok

We are accustomed to being guided solely by our personal experience. We do not have the courage to speak about the struggle and the triumph over the sin because it is beyond human power.

Notwithstanding this fact, we see that there is God and there is the grace of the Holy Spirit that empowers and restores every person who repents. We hear the words of St Symeon the New Theologian that genuine repentance can bring back one’s chastity.

Indeed, it’s a miracle when someone rejects the sin and goes on to subject himself to God completely. It is a miracle that can happen in everyone’s life. Currently, we see the opposite. People tend to quarrel and say mean words to each other. They offend and criticise one another. They indulge in self-pity. People just won’t admit that they are guilty before God. When we come to confess, we see a priest who is a human being like us, not Jesus Christ. We utter some words which don’t contain the treasure of repentance. In fact, repentance is a radical change — a transformation that the Lord does to us.

It would be great if we learned to stand in church and take part in worship, in the Sacraments of Christ that bring renewal to our souls. Our souls must constantly receive the aid of grace to be able to wage war against the world of sin and lures.

May God help us not to lose that droplet of the Spirit that we now have. May we preserve it till Easter. It is extremely easy to lose the Spirit. One can lose the connection with God for just a single word, a single thought, for taking offence or passing judgement. That’s terrible. We must stay awake and remain attentive: how we look, how we speak, and how we walk — it does matter. Everything must be graceful and filled with God’s Spirit. We came to church not only to look at the images of saints and enjoy them because the light of Christ shines through all the saints. We must become holy, too. We must be able to maintain in our hearts the holiness that we have partaken of and share it with our neighbours.

God bestows so much love, care, and mercy upon each one of us! We have touched the immortal Fountain of Life — the Chalice — so many times! Why are we still the leaking vessels, unable to hold that grace? Passions, despondence, desperation, and resentment besiege us, blocking our neighbours and God from our sight like walls. We must keep breaking that wall at all times. St Seraphim of Sarov would carry heavy rocks on his back and say, “I torture him who tortures me.” We must always remember that the enemy is near. We must not rely on ourselves. Instead, we should seek God’s help and God’s blessing for every moment of our lives.

March 10, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

The Great Lent is the best time to get down to the battle against passions. Sin, passion, vice, and addiction are related concepts. Alcohol, drug, and gambling addictions are arguably the most antisocial passions that change a person’s lifestyle rapidly and radically.

It has long been evident that dependency is not just a healthcare problem. It is a spiritual problem, too. Luckily, the Church has an effective treatment method grounded in the teachings of the Holy Fathers. Thus, St Elisabeth Convent has organised the Orthodox Temperance Society. Archpriest Eugene Pavelchuk supervised a similar organisation in Hrodna for six years. Today, he puts his experience to use in our Convent, too.

– Father Eugene, could you please tell us what the main idea behind the Orthodox Temperance Society is?

– The Orthodox Temperance Society in Hrodna was established six years ago when I served in the Holy Protection Cathedral of that city. Those who suffer from alcohol, drug, gambling, and other dependencies, receive therapy based on the prescriptions of the Holy Fathers. With the blessing of Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok, the spiritual father of St Elisabeth Convent, an Orthodox Temperance Society has been established in our Convent, too.

Any passion is first and foremost an illness of the soul, even if it is linked to certain chemical substances. Alcohol and drugs are merely means of the subjugation of one’s soul. An individual drinks alcohol not because he likes its taste but because he likes the altered state of mind, the fake happiness and imaginary joy that ensues. This is what passion means: it’s a spoof, a devil’s trap.

You can get rid of dependency only by changing your heart. You can break free only if you stop loving vice and direct your steps to God. This road is incredibly thorny and cumbersome. However, we have patristic instructions how to fight passions; hence, we possess all the necessary tools and resources at hand. Of course, it is achievable only with that person’s active engagement and with God’s help. You cannot defeat sin without God and his grace.

The first step towards recovery is to admit that you are ill and to recognise that you cannot crush the dependency on your own. When you are humbled by your powerlessness, you become humble before God. Let’s recall the parable of the prodigal son. He enjoyed his life drinking wine and partying with harlots. As long as he had the fake sensation of happiness, he was okay and did not want to change anything. Only when, a son of a king that he was, he started herding pigs in exchange for eating their food with them — it should be noted that even this promise was broken: And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him (Luke 15:16) — did he finally acknowledge his desperate situation. Only after hitting rock bottom the prodigal son finally came to his senses and repented.

The devil is a liar. He never gives anything for free to a human being. He just promises: “You’ll have fun! Your life will be flashy!” In reality, the person’s life turns grey, hollow, and disappointing.

The purpose of the Temperance Society is to open up the way for a person to start healing his soul. Our Society is the starting point which can spur one’s improvement, provided that he is willing to participate in it. Being healed does not mean “being able to drink like everyone else.” No! Being healed means living a sober life with God, which is completely on a different level. As soon as a person tastes a God-filled life, the direction of his life changes.

It’s a long and challenging road but there’s no way around. The quick and dirty ways that various organisations offer, are bogus. The devil also suggested a quick and dirty way, didn’t he? As soon as you eat that fruit, you’ll become like God (…in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Cf. Genesis 3:5). God had prepared a long and rugged but the only possible path to becoming like God — the path of self-discipline, humility, and submission. The Lord Jesus Christ did not assure us that this road would be easy. He showed the way of carrying one’s own cross: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16: 24). If someone promises to make a person free from alcohol or drug abuse, he is a liar who leads that person astray…

– You say that the starting point for a person to be healed is when he realises his dependency and his illness. What if someone refuses to accept the fact of dependency? What can his relatives do? What should they do to motivate their ill family member to start fighting his addiction?

– One will admit that he is ill and make proper conclusions only when he is completely disappointed in his passion. The disappointment comes only when one feels the consequences of his sin. Passions attract people. People like their passions because they have turned into habits. If one doesn’t get hurt after falling, will he come to the right conclusions? No, he won’t. God loves us much stronger than we love our own children. Nevertheless, he lets us fall down, although he supports us invisibly to prevent us from being hurt too badly. The Lord allows an individual to suffer precisely as much as he can handle: If the suffering is too mild, the person won’t learn, but if it’s too harsh, the person can become angry or restless. This is how the great God’s love is made manifest.

As far as the immediate family of the addicts are concerned, they face the tricky challenge. They have to love the unfortunate person but do it the right way, i.e., with a clear view of the situation. The most vital part of our work with the addicts’ relatives is to help them to allow the sharp God’s love into their hearts by knowing God and to extend this love to their relatives. The love that they should learn to communicate is not the excessive love but the right kind of love when you feel where you should let that person fall and not to safeguard him, not to live his life for him. The point is not to help the addict to get rid of his passion temporarily. The point is to help him to change his soul, to help his heart to feel God, accept God’s love, which will then set everything straight. It’s hardly possible for our human reasoning to find the precise level of affection and engagement. It’s possible with God, though.

Relatives and friends of the addicts find the new reality of addiction hard to put up with. They become infuriated with the sick family member. There are cases when a woman goes to a mutual-aid group and then suddenly makes a disastrous decision, “Why do I stand that husband for so long? I want a divorce!” And she gets a divorce. Sure, if a man wastes a long time drinking heavily and clearly does not want to change anything, his wife is entitled to a church divorce. However, I am afraid of extreme actions like these… How much time should a woman spend waiting patiently? Six months, a year, three, five years, a decade — how do we find out? Right now, her husband doesn’t want to admit that he is ill. Half a year later, God will open his heart. Then what? Sometimes the man abandons his sin but his wife has been so frustrated and embittered that she doesn’t want and cannot stay with him any longer. “I loathe you,” she says. Is it a Christian approach? How do you explain the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife (1 Cor. 7:14) then? It’s genuinely elusive. That’s why dealing with the co-dependent is much harder than dealing with the dependent.

– Where can one go and who can one ask if one wants to participate in the Temperance Society and start his way out of addiction? Where and when do you meet?

– Our Temperance Society works with the addicts systematically in accordance with the teachings of the Holy Fathers. We meet twice a week. We read an Akathist to the Inexhaustible Chalice icon of the Mother of God on Sundays at 6 PM in St John of Shanghai Church followed by a meeting. Additionally, we meet for a friendly discussion in that church every Thursday at 6.30 PM.

Of course, we are in the very beginning of our journey. We have a lot to do together. When the participants of our Society gain enough love to be able to empathise with one another openly, the Society will transform into a real community. Little by little we are getting closer to it. Recently, one of our brothers had a breakdown. I said, “Dear brothers, let’s pray because one of our brothers feels bad and it can be devastating.” All the brothers prayed together, and the brother could feel it. He returned to our group saying, “Forgive me brothers.” He was sincere. Gradually, God willing, we plan to reach a new level where we will have the genuine Divine love among us.

Interview by Maria Kotova

March 2, 2018

“One can climb – at once – to the 30th step by practicing humility and love. Because, love and humility surpass any virtue”.

(Metropolitan Anthonie Plamadeala)

Found mostly in older churches and monasteries, “The Ladder to Heaven” is the iconographic image of St. John Climacus book called “The Ladder of Divine Ascent”. The book and the icon are also known as “Leastvita,” in Slavonic “the ladder”.

St. John Climacus lived between 579-649 in the monastic community of St. Catherine of Mount Sinai; for many struggles he took on in this monastery, he is also called “St. John of Sinai”.

St. John entered the Sinai community at the age of 16, after having been instructed in many sciences of the time. For about nineteen years, the saint had as holy confessor, the Blessed Martyrios of Sinai. After the passing away of his elder, St. John withdraws into the desert, in the cell called Thola(s), few kilometers from the monastery of Sinai. In this solitary place, Saint John will continue his ascetic struggle for forty years.

At the request of the monastic community of Mt. Sinai, St. John became the abbot and spiritual instructor of the convent. Later, at the request of Blessed John form Raitt, saint John will write “The Latter of Divine Ascent”, a book divided into thirty chapters or steps necessary for salvation. This work was translated into many languages and became an important part of the Philokalia.

The Ladder of Divine Ascent in iconography

According to the writings of Dionysius of Furnas, recorded in his book “The Erminia of Byzantine painting”, the icon often called “The ladder of/to Heaven” is closely related to the work of St. John of the Ladder. It should be noted that the ladder of salvation does not pertain only to the monastics, but also to the Christians in the world, whether married or not (see commentaries of St. Theophan the Recluse on The Ladder, Instructions for the layman).

A monastic community is depicted at the bottom of the icon, on both the right and the left sides. Monks of different ages are represented standing at the gate of the monastery and looking towards the ladder. The Ladder of Divine Ascent, shows thirty steps by the number of chapters (stages) written in St. John Climacus’ book. In some iconographic representations, the Ladder has 33 steps according to the number of years Christ lived on earth.

The Ladder is placed in an inclined position with its lower-end supported on the ground and its upper-end touching the Heaven. Monks are represented on the entire length of the ladder, climbing towards Heaven. These monks are an imagine of the spiritual life: some are just reflecting, others set foot on the first step, some are climbing slowly, others rise more quickly, some other fall off the ladder (from all levels), while others reach its end where Christ awaits them.

The top of the ladder depicts many angelic figures, each helping one monk on his way to salvation; while some monks are just guided by the angels, others are taken by the hands. At the bottom of the ladder, we can see more or less creepy figures, which represent the devils, each striving to pull down a soul. Some monks look unhindered towards Christ, while others barely keep one foot on every single step. Few angels are working to remove the demons with long spears.

At the last portion of the ladder, our Savior is portrayed in a bright medallion/ light. The monk on the last rung of the ladder is depicted as being old and wise, clothed in humility and looking towards Christ. In return, our Savior catches him by the hand, while crowing his head with the crown of victory.

At the bottom of the icon, a terrifying dragon with its mouth wide open imagines hell. Between the sharp teeth of the dragon is a fallen monk, while others are about to fall.

In some iconographic representations, St. John Climacus himself is painted directing the monks towards salvation, while holding a paper roll in his hands that reads: “My brother struggle with all thy power so you may be pardoned from your many wretched sins. With many hard labors and good deeds on those steps rise up, awaking your mind with exhausting vigils.”

Source: https://orthodoxword.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/the-ladder-of-divine-ascent-in-iconography/

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