The Catalog of Good Deeds

Is there a role for women in the Church? Is the ordained priesthood “the” role for those seeking to serve Christ? Can one do anything else that is as valuable as leading the faithful in worship? Given the debate and rhetoric in some Christian circles, the responses would be: maybe, yes, no. As one who has grown up in the Orthodox Church, and has an Orthodox theological education, it seems to me that the responses should be: yes, no, yes. Women are called to serve in every area of Church ministry, with the exception of the ordained priesthood. This is limited, for specific reasons, to a small percentage of men.

If we focus on what we cannot have, it’s the “Eve Story” all over again: “You can fulfill everything but this one role.” We can choose to dwell on this one role, as some Christian women do and thereby distort God’s plan, or we can be like the “new Eve,” the Theotokos, and seek to fulfill the role(s) that God offers us.

There is order in the creation. If we have learned nothing else from the Scriptures than this, then we will understand that seeking to live within the order makes for a fulfilled and meaningful life. Seeking to create our own order leads us away from God and all that is good. Given this premise, let us begin with the actions of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Women In The New Testament

In the New Testament Jesus broke the centuries-old barrier that existed between men and women. Although rabbis did not include women in their group of followers, nor offer women spiritual teaching, Jesus visited and taught His friends Mary and Martha, who were also among His disciples. And there were other women among His followers.

St. Paul saw women as loyal coworkers. He depended on them to help spread the gospel. He spoke of consecrated virgins and widows. He wrote that in Christ there is neither Greek [Gentile] nor Jew, slave nor free, male nor female; all are one in Christ.

Phoebe was one of the first to be called deaconess. St. Paul wrote that she was “a helper of many and myself as well.” The role of the deaconess in later years was to help clergy with the administration of baptism to adult women, and to reach out to women in institutions where men were not allowed [prisons, hospices for women, etc.] or where some of the faithful could be scandalized by the presence of men [e.g. bedrooms, isolated homes of the sick or elderly women].

Women Throughout Christian History

Deaconesses survived until the eleventh century, and with some rare examples, even into the 20th century. A prayer in the Apostolic Constitutions says: “honor the deacon as the image of Christ and the deaconess as the image of the Holy Spirit.” Like these two persons of the Holy Trinity, the ordinations of deacons and deaconesses were for two different but equal persons. Different and equal, that is to say, each to fulfill a specific role in the Church, yet equal in the eyes of God.

Women have become saints and have mothered saints. St. Theodota (3rd c.) was the mother of SS Cosmas & Damian; St. Nonna (4th c.) of St. Gregory the Theologian; St. Emilia (4th c.) of St. Basil, St. Macrina, St. Peter of Sebaste, and St. Gregory of Nyssa. Some have been influential grandmothers: St. Leonilla (2nd c.) brought her 3 grandsons to Christ. St. Olga was the pious grandmother of Prince Vladimir of Rus, who had his nation baptized in the 10th century.

Many women have been martyred for their faith. Among them were St. Katherine the Great Martyr, St. Irene the Great Martyr, St. Marcella. The list is endless.

Women have been great teachers. St. Melania (4th c.) taught against the heretic Nestorius. St. Theodora the Empress (9th c.) was instrumental in the return of the icons into Orthodox worship. St. Pulcheria (5th c.), along with her husband, the Emperor Marcian, convoked the 3rd and 4th Ecumenical Councils.

St. Nina the Illuminator, “Equal to the Apostles,” was a missionary, converting the country of Georgia in the early 4th century. St. Mary Magdalene and St. Helena are also identified as “Equal to the Apostles.”

Women have entered the monastic life and offered spiritual direction. St. Xenia (4th c.), a deaconess, was not only the spiritual mother to her monastery, but also to people in the neighboring community. Today we have women monastics who do the same thing here in the United States.

Women In Modern Times

During the Communist years in Russia, the lay people were responsible for preserving the Church’s presence. It was the women, the “babas”/grandmothers, who kept the faith alive, who secretly taught the children and grandchildren and had them baptized. The young women of pre-revolutionary Russia, who later became the “babas,” had godly nuns as their examples. Not only the nuns, but the older laywomen as well, provided a living image of holiness for younger women to follow. God thus prepared them for the sacred task that would be given them. I have read that Stalin knew he could not kill the soul of the Orthodox Church in Russia without exterminating every pious old woman in the land, and even Stalin knew he couldn’t get away with that!

Russia is not the only land graced with the presence of saintly and righteous women. There are stories of the women of Greece, Lebanon, Syria, Romania, Serbia, Egypt and other countries where Orthodox Christians have had to suffer for their faith. All these stories together make up the history of Christian women.

Today, in Greece women are devout teachers of religion. Today, in Romania there are nuns, including many who have recently embraced the Orthodox faith, who are learned and now influence the Church. They offer ministry by serving the people who come for holy days to spend time with the nuns and seek a spiritual life.

Today, in the United States women graduates of seminaries are involved in ecumenical dialogues, teaching in colleges and seminaries, writing, Christian education, music, as theological librarians, in healing ministries, monastic life, iconography, missions, charitable work, and more. There are opportunities for women in nearly every area of ministry: missions, education, healing, administration, evangelism, social services, supporting other women—especially young mothers, monasticism, liturgically as readers, chanters, choir directors and choir members, and finally as wives, mothers, and godmothers. All are seeking to live out their faith as best they can!

An Orthodox Understanding Of The Roles Of Men And Women

Orthodox Christianity affirms that men and women are created equally in the image and likeness of the trinitarian God. Both Adam and Eve participated in “the Fall of mankind.” Both have been redeemed by our Lord Jesus Christ, the “new Adam,” and the Theotokos, the “new Eve.” Both are called to theosis, to deification, that is, to become united with God. And yet total and unequivocal equality does not imply absolute sameness. Femaleness and maleness are part of the varying “charismata” or gifts given by the Holy Spirit to every person.

For Orthodox Christians the ordained priest is the “icon of Christ” or “in persona Christi.” We believe that there is something in the very nature of the male ordained priest which allows him “to be the sacramental presence of the Lord, the mystical embodiment of the Church’s husband and Lord.” Metropolitan Maximos, my former professor and mentor, taught that the priest is the “iconic representation of Christ, the Groom of the Bride, [which is] the Church. The priest is the living icon of the bridegroom.” Ordaining women to the priesthood alters that imagery to that of Bride of the Bride, which we cannot have.

We, as Orthodox, affirm that manhood and womanhood are not interchangeable. Each member of the Body is equally called to live the Christian life as fully as possible. Each has his/her role. It’s all right to have different roles; it does not alter our value in God’s eyes, for no one is unimportant.

Throughout history the Orthodox Church suffered under various persecutors, most notably, the Ottoman Empire and the communists. As a result of these historic situations, the involvement of the laity was minimized. Only in this century has the situation begun to turn around. There is ministry to be done by all since we are all part of the “royal priesthood” [1 Pet 2:9]. The ordained ministry is but one area, and is not a “right,” but a specific calling to certain men, not all men.

My Calling From Christ

Because I am a theologically educated woman, my vision of the Church is a bit different than most. It comes with the territory, as the saying goes. Thus I believe that in addition to encouraging others, women and men alike, to grow in Christ, to serve His Church, my role includes helping others find their place, their niche, where they can minister, given their respective gifts. If we are truly to be the “Body of Christ,” where each part is necessary, then it is also necessary to have each part functioning. It’s no wonder that church workers feel overburdened! Only a portion of the Body is carrying the total weight!

It seems to me that the education of the Faithful of God is the key to many of our concerns and problems, and it is for this reason that I focus more time now to adult education, including the education and formation of Orthodox parents. There are many Orthodox parents wanting, desiring help in developing the parenting skills and insights they need in order to be Orthodox Christian parents.

Women Encouraging Other Women

One very important role that each woman can fulfill is to encourage other women to live out an Orthodox lifestyle in their homes because it requires the help of others in the parish. After all, “it takes a village to raise a child,” and our village is the Church. In many cases there are no grandparents to assist as they once did. Families are separated from their family mentors by distance, and perhaps even faith, since our churches are experiencing an increase of members who have embraced Orthodoxy as adults.

My spiritual father talks about the need for a new generation of “yiayias and babas”/grandmothers who are not afraid to teach the Faith, because the Faith is the most important aspect of their lives. No one else can give this treasure to their children and grandchildren! I agree wholeheartedly.

Finally, Orthodox women rejoice in the fact that the most perfect expression of Christian life and the very image of the Church is a woman, the Theotokos. She was devoted to the service of God. She said “yes” to God on behalf of each of us. She continued to say “yes” as she lived out her life, serving as “mother” to the newly founded Christian Church. Now we, too, are called to be devoted to Christ and His Church. With so many areas of ministry in the Church that are available to women, our only shortage should be the number of women!

Our devotion requires self-sacrifice, faithfulness to the Gospel and the Tradition of the Church, prayerfulness, and the desire to be all that God calls us to be. If this sounds like too big a task, remember Jesus’ words: “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” Matt 11:29-30. Just start slowly and build on the firm foundation that the Church offers us. Allow yourself to be encouraged by another. Encourage others whose gifts are not being used.

Can you envision each member or most members of your parish involved in some ministry of the Church? I can! And what a parish it would be… a piece of the Kingdom that we have yet to see!

By Phyllis Meshel Onest, M. Div.

Source: https://oca.org/parish-ministry/theology/womens-role-in-the-church-the-perspective-of-a-seminary-graduate-a-mother-a

Cheesefare Sunday received it's name because the previous week we did not eat meat, but only dairy products, such as milk, cheese, etc., as well as eggs and fish.

Many find this rule of the Church to be "unreasonable", saying: "How is milk of a lamb allowed but not the meat of the lamb, since milk is produced by the lamb? How are eggs allowed and not chicken, since the first are produced by the second?"

Of course these people would have a point, if we maintained that the meat of the lamb or fowl was tainted and for this reason we do not eat it. Then we should not eat what is produced by them, since these also would be tainted. But through our Church no food is tainted. This is what is taught by the apostle Paul in his First Epistle to Timothy (4:3-5). Rather the Church simply divides food into greater or lesser consumption towards self-restraint and, at certain times, allows the one and forbids the other.

An accurate response towards those who say the above has been answered by Athanasios of Parios, a wise and important teacher of the Church, when he writes to a certain doctor:

"You criticize your friend because during Cheesefare he eats eggs, yet does not eat the chicken which gives birth to the egg...? But what similarity can be made between an egg, which is not alive, and a chicken, which is alive? The egg is much lower than the fowl. And as proof I appeal to your own opinion, that is, the opinion of a doctor. To whomever is sick and begins to approach the stages of recovery you prescribe as food small and delicate chicks and not tough fowl. For what reason do you do this? Because, you say, the fat and greasy foods will harm him who now begins to recover from his sickness, since his stomach does not have the strength to endure and digest heavy foods. If therefore there is a difference between a small chick and a big chicken and the chick is, as a food, much lower in strength than the chicken, and no doctor has ever said that the egg of a chick or chicken is the same food or equally suitable for the sick, is it not clear that unreasonable are those who criticize us for eating eggs and not fowl?... They criticize us also that we eat olives, but not olive oil, even though inside the olives is the olive oil. But within grapes is wine also. Yet however many grapes we eat we will not get drunk; at most we will become stuffed in our stomachs...."

Besides this, it is well-known that with olive oil we are able to cook innumerable and delicious foods, though olives are considered xerophagy (dry foods). Xerophagy is to not eat cooked foods, but unprepared ones, such as bread with olives or dry fruit, etc.

By Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Source: http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/03/why-only-no-meat-during-cheesefare-week.html

When we chant "eternal memory" ("αἰωνία ἡ μνήμη") at the end of Memorial Services and Funerals, it is often falsely assumed that this memory of the departed be preserved on earth not only in the minds of loved ones, but even for many generations after. In fact, however, this hymn is not addressed to the loved ones of the deceased, nor is it addressed to the deceased, nor does it have any mortal purpose, but it is addressed as a prayer to God, who is eternal, on behalf of the departed.

One day the apostles came to Christ with joy saying: "Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name." Jesus replied: "Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in the heavens" (Lk. 10:17-20). In other words, Christ told His apostles to not rejoice over something here on earth that bears nothing on their salvation, but to rejoice over the fact that their names are eternally remembered in the kingdom of heaven. Their names are written in what is commonly known in Holy Scripture as the "Book of Life". This is best illustrated in the Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man. Poor Lazarus after death is found in God's kingdom, and his name has become eternally remembered, while the miserable rich man lingers in Hades, utterly nameless. The name of a person is their identity.

"Eternal Memory" is equivalent to saying "may you ever be in God's memory." The Church says this prayer so that the deceased "continue" in God's memory. Because if God "forgets" us, if He says "I never knew you" (Matt. 7:23), we are led into spiritual extinction. But if He remembers us, then like the thief on the Cross who asked Christ to remember him, we also will live eternally with Him in Paradise.

According to the Holy Fathers, creation lives and exists spiritually only when it participates in the deifying energies of God. Through this uncreated Grace we continuously receive our spiritual being and the potential for development. And this is natural, since "the divinity is being and creation is non-being" (St. Maximus the Confessor). Therefore, creation exists and has being because it participates in the essence-giving, life-giving, and deifying uncreated Grace of God. As Saint Basil the Great says: "Only two things exist, divinity and creation, the sanctifying power and the sanctified."

The immortality of the soul after death is a given. We could say that it is natural and therefore forced on humans. And the damned exist eternally on the basis of the immortality of the soul, but their existence, precisely because immortality is natural and forced, is a "death". Hell is a "place of the dead," because participation in the deifying and life-giving uncreated Grace of God is absent from those in it. Absent is the necessary relationship with God and therefore the personal identity that creates this relationship. For we must know that the relationship with God, the partaking of the deifying energy of His Grace, is what gives substance to a person and not nature itself. The relationship of a person with God substantiates their nature and they become truly a person.

Many see the salvation of the soul only in light of the fact that they won't be tormented eternally, while salvation is in fact this relationship, this love, our participation in uncreated Grace. The soul, because it is immortal by nature according to the Grace of God, and not immortal by nature in and of itself, has an existential need for existence, to be substantiated in a relationship to a Person, to acquire a personal and eternal identity. And this identity, as we said, is given by God within a relationship that is freely initiated and created by people already in this life within the Church through her Mysteries. If, therefore, we do not create this divine relationship, we will be "deprived" of being in God's memory and "fall" into the "I never knew you." Essentially, this is "spiritual death."

By John Sanidopoulos

Source: www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2015/05/what-does-it-mean-when-we-chant-eternal.html

George Velikanov, an altar-server of the church of the All-Merciful Savior in Moscow, and the former first press secretary of the Orthodox “Mercy” social service, died saving a homeless man who had fallen onto the tracks before the moving train. The parish of the church leant about that from the social networks.

“His death was a real feat! He died fulfilling the commandment of Christ, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends”, says one of the messages published on George’s Facebook page.

Reportedly, the tragedy occurred on January 25 at the Krasnogorskaya train station outside of Moscow. George dragged the homeless man into the station platform, but was himself hit by the train.

The head of the “Mercy” service, Bishop Panteleimon, the Chairman of the Synodal Department for Charity, made a heartfelt statement about George: “An extremely bright man has died. George Velikanov the first press secretary of the Orthodox service “Mercy”. He died a righteous death, trying to save a homeless man on the railway platform. George was a deep, bright, kind person, who was interested in theology and was directly involved in works of charity and mercy. I know that he was going to become a priest.

I express my deep condolences to his wife, his parents, and all the friends and relatives of our dear George. I am praying for the repose of the servant of God George. May God grant him the Kingdom of Heaven. Memory eternal”.

George Velikanov graduated from the Theological Department of St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for the Humanities. He was a historian and an author of theological articles. He served in the choir and in the altar at the aforementioned Church of the All-Merciful Savior. He was actively engaged in helping people in need, in particular, he was a volunteer and helped adults with disabilities in psychoneurological boarding home. George worked as the Mercy press secretary from 2011 to 2012.

The staff of the “Mercy” service, the Synodal Department for Charity and the editorial team of Miloserdie.ru express their deep condolences to the family and friends of George.

Source: https://www.miloserdie.ru/news/altarnik-moskovskogo-hrama-pogib-spasaya-bezdomnogo/

How can we help our loved ones who have departed this life? Hieromonk Job (Gumerov) talks about the commemoration of the dead.

According to Orthodox teaching, through the prayers of the Church the dead can receive relief or freedom from their punishments beyond the grave. “Anyone who wishes to show his love for those who have died and give them real help can do this in the best way by praying for them, and especially by commemoration at the Liturgy, when a particle removed [from the prosphora, or communion bread] for the living and the dead is immersed in the Blood of the Lord with the words, ‘O Lord, take away the sins of those whom we commemorate here by Thy precious Blood, through the prayers of Thy saints’” (St. John [Maximovich], Life afer Death.)

In keeping with this the Church has established special services:

1. Prayers commemorating the dead at Divine Liturgy (at the proskomedia, after the sanctification of the Holy Gifts, and at the litany for the dead).

2. Pannikhidas and litias.

3. Reading of the Psalter.

In order of significance, the commemoration at the proskomedia and after the sanctification of the Holy Gifts stands above the rest. The outstanding expert in Church service rubrics St. Athanasius (Sakharov) writes, “The commemoration of the living and the reposed at the proskomedia and after the sanctification of the Gifts, albeit unspoken, for its significance, power, and effectiveness cannot be compared with any other commemoration prayers—prayers for the living, Pannikhidas, or any other pious labors in memory of the living or the dead. It cannot be compared with spoken commemoration at the same Liturgy at the great and augmented litanies (which are allowed in some places) and at the special litanies for the reposed” (On the commemoration of the dead according to the rubrics of the Orthodox Church).

At every proskomedia, one of the prosphora used in the service (the fifth, in the Russian practice) is offered particularly for the dead. It is necessary to regularly give lists of names at the proskomedia. We can also order daily commemorations at the Liturgy for forty days, a half-year, or a year.

The Church has established special commemorative Saturdays, which have been named ancestor Saturdays: Before Meatfare Sunday (that is, before the fast-free Cheesefare week), before the feast of the Holy Trinity (Pentecost), before the day of St. Demetrios of Thessalonica, and on the second, third, and fourth Saturdays of Great Lent. Every Orthodox Christian should strive to fulfill his duty before his parents and other departed relatives and submit lists of names at the Liturgy and Pannikhida served on these days. “Pannikhida” (Greek: pan—“all” and nikh—“night”) literally means “all night service”. This name is given to the prayer service for the reposed because its composition resembles a part of the All-Night Vigil service, and also because in the early days of the Church, during the time of persecutions, it was served at night, like the All-Night Vigil. Any [Orthodox] person can order a Pannikhida for his departed relatives. This is most often ordered on days that are special for the reposed persons (their name days or anniversary of their day of death).

Sometimes people want to know why we [at Sretenky Monastery] ask not to submit long lists. This is only because the serving priest’s possibilities are very limited. He has to commemorate hundreds and hundreds (on feast days over a thousand) names at the proskomedia, which lasts only 30–40 minutes. During this time he must also commemorate those names written in the church’s synodic (commemoration books for the living and the dead). If he were to commemorate them all at the litany, it would take up a third of the Liturgy, which would disrupt the good order of the service. Those who wish to commemorate their relatives can do so themselves during the time that the priest is serving the proskomedia by reading their own commemoration books. The brother of St. Nikon (Belyaev), John, when he was a novice with St. Barsanuphius, recalled that in the Optina Skete of St. John the Forerunner there were huge commemoration books in which were entered the names of benefactor and their families for many decades. Strictly according to the rule, in the altar there would be only the serving priest, a hierodeacon, and a sexton. The elders blessed all the brothers to read the commemoration books not in the altar but in the church, while the proskomedia was being served. He writes that earlier he would submit lists of names, but later he also began reading them during the proskomedia. So also can any person in church read commemoration lists that were not submitted due to the large number of names. We have to believe that the merciful Lord, Who sees our circumstances, will accept this prayerful request for the living and the dead. We can also read our prayer books while the priest or deacon is pronouncing the litany for the living and the dead.

From deep antiquity there has also been the tradition of commemorating at home. Those who want to fulfill their duty before their reposed relatives can regularly read the Psalter. Some read a kathisma every day, others with a specific regularity. The commemoration of the living and the dead is also a part of the Morning Prayer rule.

Close relatives of the reposed (especially children and grandchildren, i.e, immediate family) have the great opportunity to help their departed ancestors—to manifest fruits of spiritual life (to live in the prayerful experience of the Church, participate in the holy Sacraments, to live according to Christ’s commandments). Although our ancestor may not have grown these fruits themselves, but their children and grandchildren did, they (the departed ancestors) are participants in these fruits as the root or trunk of the tree. Just how great this help is even for relatives who lived outside the Church we know from the letters of St. Ambrose of Optina to Count Alexei P. Tolstoy. A mullah was baptized in his house church. The great elder wrote on this occasion, “The baptism of this mullah, the conversion to Christianity of the Lezgin [a nation in the Caucasus Mountains] Assan, the reception into the Church of an Abyssinian, and several similar examples has given us the thought that God also honors various tribes and peoples with various errors relative to the one true Divinity; because although it happens rarely, from almost all existing tribes in different times people have converted to true Christianity… This means that if out of the darkness of impiety one has turned to the Lord, then this is sufficient for the Lord; and for the sake of this one convert, He will honor the whole generation [i.e., lineage] that produced him” (Collected Letters [Moscow, 1995], 7).

“The lot of the departed is not considered decided until the general Last Judgment. Until then, we cannot consider anyone as finally judged; and on the basis of this we pray, convinced in our hope in God’s immeasurable mercy!” (St. Theophan the Recluse, Collected Letters, v. 6, letter 948).

By Hieromonk Job (Gumerov)

Source: http://www.pravoslavie.ru/101172.html

How would you respond to someone who destroyed or defaced a picture of one of your loved ones? You would probably be very upset with that person, for how we treat images of people indicates what we think of them. If we dishonor someone’s picture, we dishonor that person. But if we treat images with care and respect, we honor the person whose image it is.

On this Sunday of the Last Judgment, we remember that every human being is created in the image and likeness of God. There is no avoiding what that means: How we treat others is how we treat the Lord. Every person is a living icon, and how we treat them reveals the true nature of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

That is why He taught in today’s gospel reading that the ultimate standard of judgment is how we treat those whom it is so easy to disregard: the hungry, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the prisoner. To the extent that we serve these people, we serve our Lord. To the extent that we ignore them, we neglect and denigrate Him. Christ says to the righteous, “In that you did it to the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.” And He says to those headed for punishment, “In that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.”

We learn from this passage that the health or sickness of souls is manifested—is shown—in what we do every day as we encounter those whose life circumstances require sacrifice on our part for their well-being. Contrary to popular opinion, the Christian life is not some kind of pious escape from the unpleasant challenges of life, but a vocation to take up our crosses as we become living icons of our Lord’s love and mercy, especially for those whose challenges are in no way attractive or congenial to us.

It is hard to hear, but nonetheless true: How we treat the living icons of Christ manifests the true nature of our relationship with Him, regardless of what we say we believe. St. John wrote in his Epistle, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” (1 John 4:20) He also writes, “But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3: 17-18)

It is easy in a place such as Abilene, TX, to be a Christian in word only, for it usually costs us very little here to say that we believe in Jesus Christ. But that is only a matter of words which are rarely challenged in West Texas. It is much more demanding to be so united with Christ that we convey His love and mercy to everyone in our lives, especially those whose problems we would rather ignore. All the more is that the case when we notice that the righteous people in our gospel text were not even aware that they were caring for the Lord when they served those in need. They spontaneously showed love and mercy to their needy neighbors simply because that is the kind of people they were. That is how they served Christ without even knowing what they were doing.

If you are like me, you are a long way from meeting that standard of holiness. It is so easy to excuse ourselves from helping others because we have more important things to do. We say we are too busy and do not have enough resources. We think that other people’s problems are their fault and their concern, not ours. We like to avoid the truth that we really do encounter Christ in our neighbors, especially when they are annoying, demanding, and unappreciative.

Of course, we do not have to be wealthy or even healthy in order to give someone a call or otherwise express friendship. It does not require a lot of money to read to a child or to visit someone in a nursing home. A homebound person can send a note or email message or make a phone call. Even with Lenten fasting, many can donate blood and save someone’s life. Everyone can put at least something into the “Food for Hungry People” containers that we will distribute during Lent. No matter how young or old we are, we interact with people who need our companionship, our encouragement, and our prayers. Instead of ignoring them, we must treat them as Christ treats us, showing mercy and love even when we are more annoying, demanding, and unappreciative than we know.

It sounds so easy, but we all know how hard it is in practice. And that is precisely why we need the spiritual disciplines of Great Lent, such as fasting, prayer, almsgiving, forgiveness, and reconciliation. For when we humble ourselves before God and our neighbors in these ways, we open ourselves to the holy strength that conquers even death itself. When we turn our attention from obsessive self-centeredness to the love of God and neighbor, we take a crucial step toward the healing of our souls.

As much as we do not like to hear it, the person whose life circumstances we find to be revolting bears the image of God. Christ died and rose again for those whom we are inclined to condemn, disregard, and ignore. And, no, our lives will not be destroyed if our plans, schedules, routines, and agendas are put on hold or replaced by those a Kingdom not of this world. Since our goal is to enter that Kingdom, we should not be surprised when we experience discomfort and struggle in serving a Savior Whom the world rejected.

Even as St. Paul, in addressing whether Christians should eat meat that had been sacrifice to pagan idols, said that “if food makes by brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble,” we must undertake our Lenten disciplines so that we will find the spiritual strength not to cause others to stumble, especially by failing to show them the love and concern due to every living icon of the Lord. His ultimate judgment will be to confirm the state of our souls, to confirm who we have become through our thoughts, words, and deeds. Regardless of whether we have the eyes to see it, our daily actions shape us profoundly and have eternal consequences.

As we prepare for our Lenten journey, we should remember that fasting is not simply a change in diet, but a tool that can help us fight passions that keep us from serving Christ in our neighbors. When done in secret and with humility, fasting weakens the self-centeredness that keeps us from sharing God’s love with others. It is therapy for the healing of our souls that frees us to serve Christ in our neighbors more fully. Since they all bear the image and likeness of God, how we treat them is how we treat Him.

If you are like me, you really need the spiritual disciplines of Lent to help you serve Jesus Christ more faithfully. And if you wonder how to serve Him, just think about the sick, lonely, poor, and otherwise needy people you know. As St. James wrote in his epistle, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27) Surely, that is the Lord’s will for us all this Lent and every day of our lives. If we live that way, then His judgment will confirm that we have shown others the same gracious mercy that we have received from Him. For since He has loved and served us so profoundly through His cross and glorious resurrection, then we must love and serve Him in all who bear His image and likeness. For even the most miserable and lowly human being is truly a living icon of Jesus Christ. Lent will help us gain the spiritual vision to see that glorious truth.

By Fr. Philip LeMasters

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/easternchristianinsights/2016/03/05/780/

Question: What does St Paul mean when he says "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law" (1 Corinthians 14:34)? Does this mean that women cannot direct or sing in the choir?

Answer: Interpreting this passage is complicated by the fact that it is in the context of a discussion of how speaking in tongues and prophecy were to be handled during the services of the Church, and yet because of the abuse of these practices by those who were suffering from spiritual delusion, the Church ceased to allow such things to be done in the context of the services altogether. Furthermore, because women who claimed to have the gift of prophecy were very prominent in the Montanist heresy (which began in the second century), in many of the comments about this passage you find in the Fathers, they are using it polemically. And so it may be that polemics led some to take the view that this passage means that women should refrain not only from speaking in prophecy or singing audibly in the Church, but even from praying audibly. However, this view was not unanimously held.

St. Paul said earlier in the same epistle: "But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven" (1 Corinthians 11:5), and here he makes no suggestion that they should not pray or prophesy in Church... only that they should not do so without their heads uncovered. St. John Chrysostom points out:

"For there were, as I said, both men who prophesied and women who had this gift at that time, as the daughters of Philip, (Acts 21:9) as others before them and after them: concerning whom also the prophet spake of old: “your sons shall prophesy, and your daughters shall see visions” (c.f. Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 -- from Homily 26 on 1 Corinthians).

In his 37th homily on 1 Corinthians (which covers 14:34), he says that the prohibition is directed against women speaking "idly," or "inconsiderately" (i.e. out of the proper order discussed earlier in chapter 14), but he does not suggest that the statement prohibits women who had the gift of prophecy from prophesying in Church.

The context of chapter 14 is about the proper order that should prevail when people either spoke in tongues or prophesied... and there is a previous instance in which St. Paul speaks of keeping silence:

"If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God (1 Corinthians 14:27-8).

Clearly in this case, St. Paul is not making an absolute ban on such a person speaking in Church -- he is only forbidding him to speak in tongues if there is no one to interpret (in which case no one else would receive any edification). And so the silence is with regard to speaking out of good order.

Then St. Paul again speaks of keeping silent:

"Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints" (1 Corinthians 14:29-33).

When it speaks of letting the others judge, this suggests that after a person would prophesy, others would comment on it -- most likely this would have been done by those who had charge of the Church (certainly an Apostle, if present, and the local bishop, presbyters, and deacons). Probably some would ask questions about what was said. It is in both of these respects that St. Paul is telling women to keep silence, and if they had questions to ask their husbands about it later -- but this meant keeping silence with regard to these specific things. And St. John Chrysostom's comments about refraining from idle talk were certainly also applicable here.

Of course, in our context, we would not allow either a man or a women to speak in tongues or prophesy in the context of a service, but the point is that the statement that women should keep silence was not an absolute prohibition against women praying audibly or singing.

St. Ephrem the Syrian actually formed women choirs in Edessa (see "Spoken Words, Voiced Silence: Biblical Women in Syriac Tradition, by Susan Ashbrook Harvey). According to Fr. Robert Taft (a noted historian of Eastern Liturgics), there was also a woman's choir in the Hagia Sophia (Interview of Sister Vassa Larin, "Orthodoxy is not a Religion of Fear").

There are also long standing traditions of congregational singing, such as among the Carpatho-Russians, which obviously included women in the singing. And those who have grown up in that context will tell you that this was one of the most powerful aspects of parish life.

Furthermore, women have been singing in mixed choirs and even directing choirs in the Russian Church for a very long time now, and saints, such as St. John of Shanghai have not only raised no objections to it, but have blessed it to be so. So while one may make a case against women singing on the basis of the comments of some Fathers, the fact that the Church has allowed it, and that this has been without any controversy, and with the blessing of many saints should restrain anyone from making dogmatic arguments against the practice.

It is also a fact that without women singers and choir directors, many parishes would be hard pressed to pull off a decent service, and so even if you could make the argument that in an ideal world, choirs would consist of only tonsured male readers, the problem remains that we do not live in such an ideal world, and have to use the resources that we have. St. Paul's concern in his first epistle to the Corinthians was that "all things be done decently, and in good order" (1 Corinthians 14:40). If our interpretation of his admonitions leads us to the opposite effect, then I would suggest this means we are misreading him on some level.

When a baby girl is baptized, she is Churched. And in that service, the priest brings her into the middle of the Church and says "In the midst of the church shall she sing praises unto Thee" (c.f. Psalm 21[22]:22). It is hard to imagine why we would say this if we did not intend that it should actually happen.

By Fr. John Whiteford

Source: http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com.by/2015/11/stump-priest-women-singing-in-church.html

This article is not about Ghandi and the independence of India; is not about hunger strikes and the upholding of civil rights; but it is an attempt to restore to its former heights an overlooked tool for spiritual development‚ recommended by generations upon generations of Holy Fathers and spiritual elders.

Upon hearing the word “fast” today‚ one doesn’t think of freedom‚ on the contrary‚ the discipline of fasting is more associated with coercion‚ restriction and limitation of choices. This is the primary reason why so many people do not even consider fasting in their development as Christian.

From a material point of view however this is what fasting is: we abstain from certain foods‚ or even all foods‚ on certain days. This nearsighted view however is the main culprit in our misunderstanding of this exercise because it only pertains to our material side‚ to our flesh that needs nourishment to survive. Man however is more than just organic matter and his universe expands beyond the bounds of the physical reality into the spiritual realm. If we fail to grasp this important aspect‚ then sure‚ fasting is really unnecessary. But if fasting was so unnecessary than why did Jesus Christ bother to fast in the wilderness for 40 days before He started His visible works in the world? He probably knew something about fasting‚ something that we have a tendency to ignore because its discipline is uncomfortable to our pampered bodies.

We mainly reject fasting because we have perverted the purpose of food from nutrition to pleasure. This is not something new‚ this has happened long time ago in paradise with Adam and Eve that ate out of curiosity and hope for life fulfillment without God‚ not out of hunger. From there on there is an entire history of food abuse all the way to our days. Today we live in a society where 90% of food commercials on TV advertise “junk-food”‚ food that is good only to make us feel happy and satisfy cravings‚ bringing no dietary value: pure pleasure‚ no nutrition.

Giving up something so enjoyable is very hard‚ even if it is not good for you‚ let alone if you can justify it as a necessity. Sometimes however‚ giving up something we like might be the best thing to do. Giving up something occupying so much on one’s mind opens tremendous opportunities to concentrate on other important aspects of our life. Freed from the agonizing decision about what restaurant we will go next‚ one can pay more attention to other thing that matter‚ like for instance our relationship with God that is blatantly ignored while we spend so much time imagining the next culinary delight.

A perfect example of the fruits of such spiritual exercise is St. John the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord‚ the very protector of our parish. We see him depicted in some of his icons dressed in a torn camel hair robe with a modest and wild appearance but‚ surprisingly‚ bearing wings. The wings are an illustration of his ascetic life‚ a life spent in complete obedience to God‚ of renunciation to any bodily pleasures‚ save the bare necessities‚ that made him close to the life of the angels. The wings are also a symbol of his freedom from all that is material and the great spiritual mobility that he has received from God as a reward for his ascetic life.

God did not force St. John to accomplish any of his ascetic endeavors; John has freely chosen to incline the balance of his life to God‚ and take flight towards heavens‚ unrestrained by the chains of sin or matter.

When Christ was tempted in the desert with food he replied to the devil: “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone‚ but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Mat. 4:4). Our souls need this food‚ our souls need to listen to the saving commandments coming from the mouth of God and distributed by the Church to all of us. If we understand this we also understand the discipline of Great Lent is not restrictive‚ but liberating‚ opening upon us a realm of possibilities that were buried under heavy layers of gluttony and self-gratification. True freedom lies not in freely choosing the next meal‚ but in being released from the bonds of sin and following the will of God in all things. “For when you were the servants of sin‚ you were free from righteousness. But what fruit had you then from those things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now set free from sin and become servants to God‚ you have your fruit unto holiness‚ and as your end‚ life everlasting.” (6:20-2’)

The Great Lent is a journey through the history of mankind‚ a journey from slavery to freedom in which we are called to join not as observers‚ but as full participants‚ assuming upon ourselves the responsibility that our new life in Christ is bringing to the table. Growing wings is a choice‚ let us choose right.

Have a Blessed Lent!

Source: http://dialogues.stjohndfw.info/2012/02/fasting-for-freedom-or-growing-wings-for-god/