The Catalog of Good Deeds

“Oh, if only I could / At least to some degree, / Write eight lines I would / About passion’s properties. / About the / transgressions and the sins, / The running and the chasing, / The hasty inadvertences, / The elbows, my palms”¹— thus wrote Pasternak, aware that a precise, accurate word on the passions is difficult to give, and there can be few such words. Precise words on the passions slip out of your hands, like a wet and lively fish, and the passions themselves are interwoven together, knit together one with another, forming a repugnant unity. Obviously the word “passions” in the this case is used as a synonym for “disease of the soul,” and not as romantic longing or a noble fire in the blood.

That of which Pasternak confessed himself powerless was done long ago by Abbot John, called Climacus. This servant of God wrote not just eight lines, but an entire book on the passions and the battle with them. This book was born out of the experience of the struggle and victory, inasmuch as man, in his usual state, is found in backbreaking labor for sin, and, O woe!—he does not notice its evil. Only when man frees himself or begins to free himself is he given a view of himself from outside, and, therefore, the possibility of describing the process of inner healing.

This book is truly “about the transgressions and the sins, the running and the chasing,” and it begins with a chapter on the flight from the world. It’s the first of thirty rungs leading to Christ the King, and therefore it befits monastics in particular to read The Ladder. This book is also necessary for those remaining in the world and incapable of a full-fledged and irrevocable flight, but not as a handbook. It is necessary as an example of heavenly thinking while living in a fragile bodily shell. Perhaps, in Great Lent, when the marriage bed cools and is sanctified by abstinence, when there is no substantial difference between the food on the tables of monks and of the laity , a person not wearing a black robe, can read something from among the monastic books. To be engaged in such reading constantly and at all times can be dangerous for laity. The danger is that our lifestyle should correspond to our chosen reading. But if our books and our life differ, the soul bifurcates, suffering itself and inflicting suffering upon those around it.

So, not leaving the world in our body, we should be free from a worldly spirit to some degree. St. Symeon the New Theologian tells us that, “The world is neither silver nor gold, nor horses, nor mules, nor food, nor wine, nor bread. It is neither house, nor fields, nor vineyards, nor country homes. What is it? Sin, addiction to things, and passions.” If it is “the world which lies in evil,” then you can run, but you won’t get anywhere.

And the words of the wise better expose the sin living in man than those of others. The words of the wise put everything in its proper place, and give an exact value to those radiant forgeries that we ourselves are inclined to call virtues.

Climacus, for example, writes that zealous devotion in the world most often feeds upon vanity, as if upon some dirty and hidden runoff. It’s impossible to know anything about the spirit of a man, so long as he lives among people. A worldly analogy for such words can be the song advising, “Take some friends to the mountains.”² Any situation, carrying a risk or unusual heaviness, that demands a sacrifice and brotherly cohesion and does not promise a reward of flowers and medals, shows who is who. “There you will understand, who is who,” the song says. And the words of the saint: “I have seen how in the world they planted many different plants of the virtues, which were watered by vainglory as by an underground sewage pipe, and were hoed by ostentation, and for manure were heaped with praise. But when transplanted to a desert soil, inaccessible to people of the world and so not manured with the foul-smelling water of vanity, they withered at once.”³

These are barbed words, such as is becoming of words of genuine wisdom. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd (Ecc. 12:1). The horror of the final and righteous Judgment may be not so much in that we sinned, and sinned a lot, but in that even our best impulses and efforts were deeply poisoned by sin and are unworthy of blessed eternity. That’s where the real trouble is, and I don’t know where healing might come from, if not from those salted with the wisdom of words of spiritual experience. One of those having love in themselves said that the books of the saints are worthy of the same honor as the relics of the saints, and maybe even more.

Or another example:

It’s hard to find a man who does not suffer, at least sometimes, from wanton lust. The corruption of lust rules in the world says the apostle Peter, and we do not have to read a lot to confirm the validity of these words. But how to fight it? There is fasting and prayer, but either we don’t know their strength, or our sin is so strong that we do not feel free. You can run from the world, plugging your ears and closing your eyes. But temptation will follow you everywhere, because it has made its way into your memory and its poisonous sweetness has settled in your heart. Here Climacus gives us unexpected advice: “Eagerly drink scorn and insult as the water of life from everyone who wants to give you the drink that cleanses from lust. Then a deep purity will dawn in your soul and the divine light will not grow dim in your heart.”⁴

That’s how it is. You suffer in secret in your heart from the adulterous thorns for a day, two, and more. Then your boss suddenly summons you, and sullies your good name, blaming you for all real and imaginary shortcomings. Then the fornication will permanently depart from your soul, giving place to bitter resentment, and God thereby delivers you from the chasm at the edge where you were standing. The resentment will pass; resentment is not so dangerous.

***

The so-called “mind of salvation” is necessary for salvation, without which all our work risks turning out to have been a sowing on asphalt and plowing in the swamp. The praying fool from the proverb really does break his forehead doing prostrations, and besides this unnecessary trauma he obtains no other fruit. Therefore, the crystallized experience of the Church should be in demand by us, and we must find time to become attentively familiar with it, with persistence, so we don’t run in the wrong direction and don’t beat the air (cf. 1 Cor. 9:26).

The Ladder is not the Typikon; it has a different value. There are no prayer rules written there, no defined number of prostrations or amount of food to partake of. More important things are disclosed there, the effect of which is not revealed to the superficial gaze. In fact, the reading of such books is healing from blindness. And we ourselves, no matter how many years the Lord metes out to us, will never understand our inner life with such depth and clarity as did Abbot John of Mt. Sinai.

Books such as The Ladder can be read for an entire life and digested slowly, according to the measure of our practical effort. In them breathes that wisdom which is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy (Jas. 3:17). nion with God, a livetc. , so when said about oursleves feel free.the be even more. . ideist, and hte rnce in the owrld..

Archpriest Andrei Tkachev

Translated by Jesse Dominick

Source: Pravoslavie.ru

27 / 03 / 2017

1 In everything I want to reach... (Во всем мне хочется дойти...)

2 “A Song About a Friend,” by Vladimir Visotsky

3 Ladder 2.6

4 Ladder 8.45

The oil that burns in our oil-lamps, "“τον του Θεού υπεµφαίνει έλαιον”" writes St. Symeon of Thessaloniki, the mercy of God that was revealed when the dove returned to Noah's Ark to signify the cessation of the flood, having in the beak an olive branch, or when Jesus, prayed at length, He watered with the sweat of His clots the olive tree, under the branches of which He knelt on the dreadful night on the Mount of Olives. Of course, we all know how infinitely superior of the material light is the internal light, a light lit by the Holy Spirit. So wrote the God-bearer Father Gregory Nazianzus: “Φωτίσωµεν… γλώσσαν” “Let us lit…the tongue” and the commentator adds: was this achieved? The oil symbolizes the infinite mercy of God, but the oil-lamps also, symbolize the Church that is imparting of the Divine Mercy and lighting. They also symbolize the saints themselves that their light shone according to the word of the Lord, "let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." (Mt. 5:16)

There are many reasons for which the Orthodox we should lit the oil-lamp, for example:

1.In order to remind us of the need for prayer.

2. To illuminate the space and to drive-away the darkness where the evil forces are dominant.

3. To remind us that Christ is the only true light and the faith in Him is light,

4. To remind us that our lives should be bright.

5. In order to remind us that as the candle requires our own hand to light thus the soul requires the hand of God, that is His Grace.

6. To remind us that our will must be burnt and be sacrificed.

7. For the love of God, and many more...

Needless to say, that the vigil-oil should be an olive oil and the best possible quality. Besides, the Lord prayed in the garden of Olives and the temple with the oil-lamps is converted to a new garden and mercy (oil) and Divine Mercy, their oil reminds us of the compassion of God and their light in our lives, that should be bright and holy. The shedding of light in the temple symbolizes the divine light of God's presence that illuminates the hearts not only of neophytes but all Christians as well. The Lord revealed this great truth about Himself in the following words: "I am the light of world"(John 8:12). He is light not only because of His luminous teachings, but mainly due to His luminous presence. This is confirmed by the particular miraculous Transfiguration, where "His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light."(Matth.17:2).

In the Symbol of Faith (The Creed), the Son of God is presented as "light from light." In the service of Vespers the hymnographer also presents the Lord as "Joyful Light." And the Christians with the mysteries of the Church and their spiritual struggle can receive the light of the grace of the Holy Spirit and to radiate it with their lives. In "the sermon of the mount" the Lord advising His disciples told them: "Ye are the light of the world .... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. "(Matthew 5:14-16). Here it is clear that the light of Christ’s disciples is the good works of their holy spiritual life. The saints, in the after-life will be like the Lord, they will become "gods by grace." The Lord expresses this clearly with His prophetic words: " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. "(Matt. 13:43).

Source: http://orthodoxinfo.com/general/The-Meaning-and-Use-of-Candles-Incense-and-Vigil-Lamps.pdf

Half a decade ago, the few converts to Orthodoxy were usually individuals who wanted to marry an ethnic Orthodox Christian. Catechetical preparation for reception into the Orthodox Faith was minimal, at best.

In the past thirty or so years, we have experienced a literal flood of converts to the Faith. They are embracing Orthodoxy because they realize they have found the true Faith. Almost every parish now has classes for those who are interested in converting to Orthodoxy, and instruction in the beliefs of the Church is quite intense.

Thanks be to God!

While catechumens and newly baptized adults learn about doctrine, worship and Orthodox theology, there are a number of practices which often go unnoticed. When people visiting monasteries see or hear about certain practices they are amazed and say “I never knew that!” even though they had undergone extensive catechetical instruction. Often they ask, “Where does it say that?” The truth is that while we very often can point to canons and specific teachings, there are many things that come from the “living tradition of the Church.”

Note that this is “tradition” with a small “t”, not a capital one.

Many people of ethnic background who grew up in the Faith had a grandmother who was their first and primary teacher in Orthodoxy. A number of those grandmothers were uneducated in the formal sense of the word, but they truly lived their Faith. Perhaps they could not expound on theology, but their piety and faith spoke louder than any words. One Greek priest referred to some of the things we learned from our grandmothers as “Yiayia-ology”; a Russian priest called it “Baba-theology”. While some things may be tinged with superstition, many of these grandmothers’ teachings are true traditions that are not included in formal catechism, but which form a valid practice in the life of the Orthodox Christian.

We would like to present a few practices which are very valid. Some of the following are perhaps pious “grandmother theology” while others are very definitely things that are included in the service books and/or in the holy canons of the Church.

The sign of the Cross

It is the practice in every Orthodox country to make the sign of the cross when passing by an Orthodox Church or cemetery, when beginning a task, and when setting out on a journey by car, train, plane, bus, etc. In passing a church, it is done as a sign of respect for the holy place; by a cemetery, it is a prayer for the departed, and in beginning any task or journey, it is asking God’s blessing.

New clothing, vehicle, home

The first time one would wear new clothes, shoes, etc. is to Church. Obviously this practice would not include things like bathing suits or prom dresses! In wearing something to Church for the first time, there is the sense that these clothes are dedicated to God and are to be worn in honorable situations.

This same understanding of something new being brought to the church is applied to a new car. There is a blessing in the service books of the Church specifically for this! The first place that a new vehicle should be brought is not to show one’s friends and relatives, but to the priest for prayers to bless its use and keep its occupants safe.

We know that the priests bless homes at Theophany, but no Orthodox Christian brought up with proper “grandmother theology” would ever move into a new dwelling before it was blessed by the priest. For those who are building a home, there is even a prayer for blessing the foundation of the house!

Patron feast days

Catechumens have learned to observe their patron feast day by attending Divine Liturgy (if it is served), to pray to their patron saint, and to greet others who celebrate their feast day with “Many years!” There is more: the Church provides a special blessing for a coliva on a saint’s day. We often think of coliva—the sweetened boiled wheat—as something offered in honor of the departed, but there is also a “coliva for the saint”. This coliva can be the sweetened boiled grain, or it can be a bread, even fruit or pastries. It is brought to church and placed on a small table (not in the place where the coliva for the departed is placed) and then at the “Blessed be the name of the Lord” at the end of the Divine Liturgy, the choir sings the troparion to the saint, the priest comes with censer and holy water and reads the specific prayer for the blessing of this coliva in honor of the saint. After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the person who has offered the coliva distributes it to the people present in honor of his feast day.

It is also customary to make an offering either to the church, a monastery or the poor on one’s feast day, in honor of the saint, for the saints were not only offerings to God, but also teach us to show mercy and give alms.

Godparents

Those serving as Godparents in parishes with a large percentage of converts, have learned well that among their responsibilities as a Godparent they are to pray for their Godchildren, help instruct them in the Faith through example, gifts of books, icons, etc., remember them on their feast days, share in their other special days (graduations, birthdays, etc.), take an infant or young Godchild to the chalice for communion, etc. Many Godparents still feel that they should be doing more. They are right. The canons state that he who is a father to someone spiritually is more a father than the one who is the biological father. (This “fatherhood” also applies obviously to those who are Godmothers). Just as a biological parent has financial responsibilities regarding the birth of the child, so the Godparent also has certain such responsibilities at the child’s/individual’s spiritual birth. These responsibilities include all of the expenses surrounding the baptism: the baptismal cross, clothing, towels, offering to the church/priest, and festive meal following the service.

Icons

We know that icons are venerated in our Faith, that we have icons in our churches and homes, even in our vehicles. We need to remember that these are holy and must be treated as such. Saints died for the sake of venerating icons, yet we who venerate them, who “collect” them, who adorn our homes with them are often iconoclasts! Just as no one would smoke a cigarette in church, he should also not do so in a room or vehicle which has an icon in it. Icons should be put in places of honor, not laying on top of a coffee table where something will spill on it, not placed on the floor, not in a place of dishonor like a bathroom or inside a barn.

Many church bulletins, newspapers and other printed matter have icons on them. These are still icons and should not be thrown into the trash can when we are done reading them. The proper way to dispose of any holy item is to burn it and then bury the ashes in a clean place (not in a garden which is fertilized with manure). Icons on bulletins, newspapers, etc. can also be cut out, mounted or framed, or sent to missions which are in need.

Prayers for the departed

There is a way of speaking in Orthodoxy that is very distinctive and which makes our very mention of someone who is departed a prayer in itself. Whenever someone mentions the name of a departed loved one or relative, they immediately say, “May God forgive him! her.” For example, “My grandfather, may God forgive him, had a great influence on my life.”

Of course, our faithful, both converts and those raised in the Orthodox Church, know that we pray for the departed at specific Memorial Services and that they are remembered at the Proskomedia before the Divine Liturgy. We can also request a Memorial Service (Panakhida, Parastas) for an individual or for family members at any time of the year (with only a few exceptions). It is traditional when having a Memorial Service to also make a financial offering to the church as well, and to host a meal in memory of the departed.

Very often, when a family member falls asleep in the Lord, the family will make an offering to the church of a needed item: an icon, candle stand, vestments, etc. in that person’s memory.

Offerings in memory of the departed can be given at any time whatsoever, even without a Memorial Service. In fact, in villages in an Orthodox country it is very common to have a complete stranger approach you and hand you a handkerchief, a small bread or pastry, even a few coins, etc, saying, “this is in memory of my mother! father/brother, etc.” In accepting this gift, the recipient says “May God forgive him/her.”

It is especially the practice to make an offering on behalf of the departed if/when someone dreams of that person, for it is felt that the departed one is in need of intercession at that time. St. Ephraim the Syrian affirms that “the departed feel the prayers and sacrifices made for them.”

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

By Father Andrew Lemeshonok

Living in this world, we are searching for the ways, which can lead us to eternal life . God says: “I am the way” (John, 14:6), “I am the light” (John, 8:12), “And the light shineth in darkness” (John, 1:5). Perhaps, each of us felt inspired when he came to God. Everything becomes bright and pure, because God dwells in you, and He protects you from lies and filth of this world. You can see the main thing, and nothing can disturb you from this, because the knowledge of God has struck you. This joy revealed the sense of life to you. You were choking on this earth before, for everything is the same there: always the same menu, always the same laws. The rulers are changed by other rulers. Everyone wants to be the head, to outperform his competitors… People constantly choose something or someone. But we choose Christ, and we do this not through certain manifestations or bulletins, but through our life.

It is so difficult to say “I am with Christ”, when everything crashes in your life, when you suffer, when no one can understand you, and you do not understand what is going on in the world. When it seems to you that what is going around is just madness.

The most people judge on their spiritual condition by how they feel. However, this is quite naive. We cannot focus on ourselves, because we are corrupted by sin. We partake of the Holy Communion not just to make our soul soar, to restore peace inside, and to make all the problems disappear. We need the Holy Communion to burn the old “self”, which tells us how to live, which deceits us, while we believe him. And this is why we cannot know right from wrong.

Fr. Sophrony (Sakharov) said, that it is impossible to live in this world like Christians. We can only die for this world like Christians. But we want to live here and now. And God gives us such opportunity. He lets us see the blue sky and the sun, which is warming already, by the way. However, no matter how good this life is, it will end. This is why we should harden ourselves. If someone suffers and thinks that God does not hear his prayers, he should not believe this condition. He should not believe his grievance and despair, which dwell in a person when he does not see the effect of his prayer. There is always effect, but God did not come to this world to make our life great here and now. He came to this world so that we all could prevail over death. He wants us to take part in our own resurrection.

The forthcoming week is devoted to a great ascetic – Saint John Climacus. Spiritual life is a ladder, which leads to the Heavenly Kingdom. We climb it, we fall down, we hit the ground, we stand up and we fall again. The thing is, we need to stand up over and over again. The ascetics, who devoted their lives to studying spiritual laws and struggle against sin, have left to us a lot of works for edification. However, we need to be prudent. It can happen that a person, who came from the world, has read the works of the ascetics, but still does not understand the main things of the Orthodox teaching. While the main thing is to humble yourself - to acknowledge your own weakness and to let God enter your life. You do not need to surprise people with your feats and talents. The Lord speaks simply in the Gospel: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew, 11:29).

March 27, 2017

St. Elisabeth Convent

In issue no. 6 of The Russian Pastor, an article by Archpriest Boris Kizenko, "Do not associate yourself with this age," was printed. There he touched upon the question of whether or not priests should wear their cassocks or riasa. I would like to share a few thoughts on this matter.

Very often in the sphere of Church laws and traditions we, for one reason or another, allow ourselves to compromise these laws. In our society today, the reasons and circumstances for such compromises can seem very justifiable. However, the danger lies in the fact that any compromise can become habitual, and the compromised behavior then becomes the norm, giving rise to further compromises and a general degradation of standards. Fr. Boris very aptly describes this progression in his article. At a time when we are perhaps at risk of completely losing the ideal in the realm of priestly attire, it is fitting to review the Church rules and directives concerning the attire of a priest, as well as look at some examples from contemporary life which shed light on this question.

1) The 27th Canon of the 6th Ecumenical Council states: "None who is counted with the clergy should dress inappropriately, when in the city, nor when travelling. Each should use the attire which was appointed for clergy members. If someone breaks this rule, may he be deprived of serving for one week."

Here everything is clear. If you do not wish to wear a priest's clothing, do not dare to stand before the altar of God.

2) The great interpreter of Church Canons, Balsamon, in his interpretation of the 14th canon of the 7th Ecumenical Council, which speaks of the ordination of readers, notes: "He who has put on black attire with the purpose of entering the clergy, cannot remove it, for he has stated his intent of serving God and therefore cannot break his promise to God and ridicule this holy image, as other ridiculers do."

If constant wearing of "black attire" is expected of the first rank of the priesthood, the reader, then all the more does it refer to those who are fully in the rank of the priesthood.

3) In the questioning period of the candidate before the ordination, the candidate to the priesthood, in the presence of his spiritual father makes the following promise: "I promise to wear the clothing appropriate to my priestly rank, not to cut my hair nor my beard... for through such unseemly behavior I risk belittling my rank and tempting believers" (Promise #5).

It is important to note here that, in confirmation of his promise the candidate kisses the Gospel and the Cross and signs his name.

4) The 16th rule for the priests of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad says: "A priest, who is fully supported by his parish, and is given the opportunity not to work at a secular job, should have the appearance of an Orthodox priest, that is, should have long hair, a beard, a riasa, wear a cross of a proper style, and not one he has thought of himself and in his external appearance fully exemplify a true pastor."

We must remember that if the Church canons and laws were not important, the Church would not have written them.

Physician heal thyself. I must admit, that I am a young priest, and at times find it very difficult to follow the above rules. There are times when one's nerves are raw, and I want to go somewhere with my Matushka and children and not stand out, i.e., be "one of the crowd." I am overweight, and in the summer it is hard to bear the heat in my cassock. Yet all this merely exposes my weakness, my lack of desire to constantly be a confessor of my faith; my lack of desire to suffer for Christ even to the most microscopic degree. In my battle with this weakness, I have found inspiration in a few true life accounts, which I would like to share.

The Matushka of one priest, who serves in one large American city, where pagan and Satanic cults are rampant, told me of this incident:

Batiushka always wore either his cassock or riasa with his cross. After his arrival in the city, he grew accustomed to the fact that, when walking along a street, or in stores, some people reacted to him with hatred. Some even hissed at him openly as they walked by, others would actually spit at him. All this Batiushka interpreted as attacks of servants of Satan, upon a priest of Christ. Once it happened that he and Matushka were walking along the sidewalk in the main business district of the city. Suddenly, a woman who looked like a witch jumped out in front of him. She started to scream at him with a frightening voice of a sickly cat, and gestured threateningly with her arms, as if she wanted to scratch out his eyes. Then she immediately disappeared into the crowd. The priest and his wife made the sign of the cross and continued on their way, having grown accustomed to such occurrences. But then Matushka realized something. This time, for some reason, Batiushka was in secular attire. Nothing in his external appearance showed that he was an Orthodox priest. Even his long hair and beard were nothing exceptional in contemporary circumstances.

It is clear that a priest in a spiritual plane is always a priest, even when he is not dressed properly. The evil powers feel this and most probably are pleased with our "compromises."

A certain priest decided to have a photograph of himself made. He put on his coat and hat. For some reason he was embarrassed to be photographed with a cross on. He took the cross off and put it into his left coat pocket. The photograph was taken, developed and printed. To the amazement of both the photographer and the priest, on the photograph there was a huge ray (by shadows one can see that this ray is not from the sun), which pointed to the pocket, where the hidden cross lay. Batiushka asked to have this published after his death.

In a small parish of the Russian Church Abroad, because of the size of the congregation, the rector holds a secular job. He works as a nurse in a local hospital. I was certain that he removes his cassock when he goes to work. However to my surprise, I discovered that this Batiushka works in his cassock, putting a lab coat on top of it. This is regarded with respect by both medical personnel and the patients. Often many patients even request that the "priest-nurse" take care of them.

Concerned about the question, "should and can a priest possible always wear a cassock?", I began asking the grown children of elderly or deceased pastors, whether or not their fathers always wore a cassock. Almost everyone has answered in the affirmative, recalling that they rarely saw their father-priest without a cassock. There are even cases where the children said that they never saw their father without a cassock. This means that the requirement of the Church is possible to fulfill with God's help. One only needs to try.

Proper Clerical Dress

You make a religion of robes, beards, and long hair. I know that the church canons say that we should have beards and I know your arguments about long hair. I am unimpressed. I am a follower of Christ, not man-written and man-enforced rules....Robes look weird and cause people to laugh on [sic] us. They do not win over people to Orthodoxy....I dress like a Roman Catholic and you dress like Mohammedan Turks. Who is more in the [sic] tradition? Did you ever hear of anyone being defrocked for what he wears? No. For serving like a lot of you Old Calendarists after he was kicked out? You bet. Case closed....Keep sending your journal, since I find certain useful purposes for the paper. (Fr. [initials deleted], Canada)

Your question, which we received several years ago, despite its somewhat saucy tone, provides us with an opportunity to clear up certain misunderstandings about a subject of spiritual importance to contemporary Orthodox Christians. As you point out, the traditional appearance of an Orthodox Priest—the attire and grooming which he should maintain at all times, both in public and private—is a matter of canonical regulation. The Sacred Canons of the Church reflect the proper functioning and life of the Body of Christ; they are not simply laws and rules, but guides to the life in Christ and patterns by which to accommodate the action of the Holy Spirit to our daily activities. They are inspired and binding on all who live in spiritual sobriety and uprightness. And though they are enforced by men—one of the clear duties of the clergy, and especially the Bishops, is, in fact, to uphold canonical order—, they are nonetheless Divinely inspired. The Sacred Canons are also an integral part of Holy Tradition, which, together with Scripture, forms the ground of administrative authority on which our Faith is built.

The inner and outer cassocks traditionally worn by Orthodox clergy are, to the pious, objects of tremendous respect and veneration. Anyone who considers them "weird" is unenlightened. Nor does anything appointed by the Church, enveloped as it is in Grace, impede our witness as Orthodox Christians. Ignorance or simple bigotry account for instances in which clergymen are ridiculed for dressing in a traditional manner, and the treatment for ignorance and bigotry is not the abandonment of our customs, but, once again, the enlightenment of those who ridicule us. Moreover, our traditional Orthodox clerical dress witnesses openly to the Grace of the Priesthood. Many times our own clergy, who maintain such dress, encounter young children who, yet untainted by the vanity of the world, will turn to their parents and remark, "Look, it’s Jesus." Such incidents speak for themselves and attest to the importance and nature of Orthodox Priestly attire. The idea that the traditional dress of an Orthodox Priest has it roots in Turkish vesture—whether secular or religious—is a contrived piece of historical fantasy that has often been used to justify contemporary innovations in clerical garb. Under the Turkish yoke, certain changes in cut and style can be observed in monastic and Priestly dress, but these are insignificant. Our clerical styles predate the Moslem yoke, and indeed it was from the Desert Fathers, who inhabited many of the areas where Islam first flourished, that the Islamic clergy took many of their customs—from the robes that they wear to the minarets (which are modeled on the structures in which the ancient Stylites lived and prayed, that is, "pillars" with a small cubicle on top).

The round white collar, bib, and business suit which you call "Roman Catholic" clerical dress is neither Roman Catholic in origin nor much more than normal street garb with a special collar. Papist priests, like Orthodox clergy, dressed in cassocks and special headgear well into this century. Only in the last few decades have they adopted what is actually Protestant clerical clothing or simply street clothes. As for the issue of deposition, let us note, first, that Orthodox clergy have, indeed, been suspended and even deposed for abandoning traditional clerical dress. St. Evalalios, a predecessor of St. Basil the Great in the See of Cappadocia, deposed his own son for abandoning traditional Priestly garments for "unsuitable" attire. Second, while clergy in Greece, at least, have been routinely deposed by the New Calendar State Church for returning to the Patristic (or Old) Calendar, deposition for "Old Calendarism," were it valid—as the Blessed Elder Philotheos (Zervakos) once commented—, would logically force the State Church of Greece to depose many of the Fathers of the Church, including those who specifically condemned the calendar innovation, in the sixteenth century, in three separate Church Councils.

We would also remind you that St. John Chrysostomos, deposed falsely and for what was his actual fidelity to the Faith, not only refused to recognize his illicit deposition, but continued to serve, in defiance of what was manifestly a spiritually wrong and invalid pronouncement. As such, he set a standard which many Old Calendarists today, falsely maligned and punished for acting in good conscience out of reverence for Holy Tradition, have rightly taken as their own. Like him, we trust that many of these mistreated traditionalist champions for Orthodoxy will win a Heavenly Crown for their courage. At the same time, we pray that those who have wronged them and divided the Church by innovation will escape that fearful "reward" which St. John Chrysostomos himself assigns to ecclesiastical politicians and false shepherds who misuse the Church’s powers; that is, Hell.

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

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