The Catalog of Good Deeds

From the time of the Apostles there proceeds a line of Church Holy Fathers and teachers. It is customary to refer to the Church Fathers as Church scribes (preeminently in the ranks of Bishops), especially those who distinguished themselves by their holy way of life. Those church scribes who are not acknowledged as saints are referred to as Church Teachers.

The Fathers and Teachers of the Church through their works saved for us the Apostolic tradition and clarified the true teaching of faith and piety. During the difficult times of the fight with heretics and false prophets, they stepped forth as protectors of Orthodoxy; and their life and activity came as a high (worthy) example of spiritual life.

The 4^th century in particular was famous for the appearance of great Teachers, who banded for the protection of the holy faith at a time when the peace of the Church was deeply and for a long time shaken by the Arian heresy (the Arians denied the Divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ).

The first great fighter against Arianism was St. Athanasius the Great (293-373). Having been given by nature unusual gifts, Athanasius received his education under the guidance of the Alexandrian Bishops Peter and Alexander. Athanasius was greatly influenced by the founder of Egyptian monasticism, Anthony the Great, whose life he described. Having judiciously studied the Holy Scripture, the works of early Church scribes and ancient classicists, he held what was considered at that time an important and influential function of archdeacon during the time of archbishop Alexander and was his enviable assistant in the preliminary fight against Arian heresy.

As Bishop Alexander's closest colleague and confidant, Athanasius accopanied him to the First Council of Nicaea where he drew a lot of attention to himself: no one expressed himself so strongly against Arianism and no one surpassed his strength of eloquence. Hardly a year passed when the young archdeacon was elevated to the cathedra of Alexandrian Archbishop. In spite of his young age (28 years), archbishop Athanasius took a firm hand in ruling the surrounding community under his jurisdiction: he visited churches in his vicinity, became close with bishops, ordained Thrumentius as bishop in order to strengthen the church in Abyssinia, visited monasteries scattered throughout Thebes and other regions of Egypt and visited Anthony the Great who had been his tutor during his youthful years.

He was energetic and courteous, unbending in truth, and indulgent toward those who went astray, being endowed with great tact in his dealings with people with a shrewd presence of mind, being diversely educated, Archbishop Athanasius immediately gained public respect and love. However the peaceful time of his patriarchal activity lasted no more than two years; this was followed by a series of trials and misfortunes. Followers of Arianism, at whose head was the Nicodemian Bishop Eusebuis, a friend of Arius, from the school at Antioch, tried by all means to return Arius to the Church and were able to dispose in his favor the sister of Emperor Constantine and with her help the Emperor himself. It was determined to reinstate Arius from exile, who supposedly was repentant of his straying - and have the Archbishop of Alexandria accept him into the Church community. Athanasius having understood the slyness and pretense of the false prophets, refused to accept the heretic who rejected the Divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.

From then on, began the persecution of the witness of Christ, with the blackest of calumny being contrived against him. He was accused of embezzlement from the church, and collusion with the enemies of the empire; it was rumored that he had killed a bishop called Arsenius whose cut off hand he used in the practice of magic. St. Athanasius was obliged to defend himself in court since there were some who actually believed this absurd fabrication. Here the enemies of Athanasius displayed the same hand which was supposedly found in his possession. However, to their great embarrassment Arsenius himself showed up. Legend has it that Arsenius was brought in and showed both his hands which had been given him by God. This brought the enemies of Athanasius into an undescribable rage; they beset upon him and almost strangled him. All this happened during the time of Constantine, the protector of the Church. The ensuing rulers, Constantius the Arian and Julian the apostate openly persecuted St. Athanasius but could not destroy his unwavering steadfastness.

There was a time when some of the more fervent accomplices of Athanasius such as Osee, bishop of Cordoba, Liberius, the Pope of Rome who fought against Arianism and who were also exiled from their cathedras and were incarcerated, wavered in their steadfastness and agreed to conceed to the Arians, although St. Athanasius remained the solitary leader of the Christians in the fight with them. During his almost half century of service, he was exiled from Alexandria five times and remained in either exile or incarceration for almost 20 years. Until the last minutes of his life he fervently fought for the establishment of peace and unanimity of thought in the Church.

During difficulties and tumults of his ascetic life, St. Athanasius wrote many apologias in defence of Christianity and edification of believers. His works are published in Russian in 4 volumes. The thoughts and attestations of St. Athanasius to this day have a great meaning and power, - the language is rich and exemplary. The valiant archpriest died at about 75 years of age.

Sources: https://www.fatheralexander.org/booklets/english/saints/athanasius_great.htm

By nun Matrona (Lukashova)

I could truly learn a lot from you, the Samaritan woman. Although you have sinned, you have opened your heart to repentance, piety, and being sure that a Holy Man stands before you. You spoke to Him about the things that worried you in terms of spiritual life. My pride is revealed when at times of spiritual failure and sin, I cannot always turn to God even with the shortest prayer. I give up and stop to search, I do not want to ask or to listen to God’s answer.

When you heard from Christ that he is the Messiah, the One who was expected to come and the One you have been waiting for, you left the vessels for the water and ran to tell others of what is most important.

It is often difficult for me to leave work for the sake of helping my neighbor, to do something together with otheres, or to go to the church service. You on the other hand did not rely on yourself but asked other instead “is He not Christ?” I heard about a golden rule, which states not to trust yourself but have a hard time fulfilling this in life. You made it possible for yourself and others to be saved with your tender and open approach towards the Word of God amidst your daily tasks and work, while I on the other hand because of my carelessness and negligence do not do even those things for which I need to answer for. It is interesting that you were even as wise as the apostles were since Christ sent them to harvest so that “both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together”. Therefore, for God everyone has their own place and their own task in the mutual path to Salvation, as we need each other. May the Lord help us to understand this and to realize in in our life!

“When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria. Then came he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus said unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy food.) Then said the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask drink of me, who am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that said to you, Give me to drink; you would have asked of him, and he would have given you living water. The woman said unto him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from where then have you that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman said unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come here to draw. Jesus said unto her, Go, call your husband, and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, You have well said, I have no husband: For you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband: that said you truly. The woman said unto him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman said unto him, I know that Messiah comes, who is called Christ: when he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto you am he. The Returning Disciples Marvel And upon this came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seek you? or, Why talk you with her? The woman then left her water pot, and went her way into the city, and said to the men, Come, see a man, who told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. In the meanwhile his disciples besought him, saying, Teacher, eat. But he said unto them, I have food to eat that you know not of. Therefore said the disciples one to another, has any man brought him anything to eat? Jesus said unto them, My food is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. The Harvest is White Say not, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit unto life eternal: that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. And in this is that saying true, One sows, and another reaps. I sent you to reap that on which you bestowed no labor: other men labored, and you are entered into their labors. Christ Is Savior of the World And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, who testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of your saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world. (John 4: 1-42) The Reading on the Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

St. Photini lived in first century Palestine. She was the Samaritan woman who Christ visited at the well asking her for water. It was she who accepted the “living water” offered her by Christ Himself after repenting from her many sins (John. 4:5-42). She went and told her townspeople that she had met the Christ. For this, she is sometimes recognized as the first to proclaim the Gospel of Christ. She converted her five sisters (Sts. Anatole, Photo, Photis, Paraskeve, and Kyriake) and her two sons (Victor and Joses). They all became tireless evangelists for Christ. The apostles of Christ baptized her and gave her the name of Photini which means “the enlightened one.” She is remembered by the Church as a Holy Martyr and Equal to the Apostles.

After Sts. Peter and Paul were martyred, St. Photini and her family left their homeland of Sychar, in Samaria, to travel to Carthage to proclaim the Gospel of Christ there. During the reign of Emperor Nero in the first century, excessive cruelty was displayed against the Christians, St. Photini lived in Carthage with her younger son, Joses. Her eldest son, Victor, fought bravely in the Roman army against the barbarians, and was appointed military commander in the city of Attalia (Asia Minor). Later, Nero called him to Italy to arrest and punish Christians. Sebastian, an official in Italy, said to Victor, “I know that you, your mother and your brother, are followers of Christ. As a friend I advise you to submit to the will of the emperor. If you inform on any Christians, you will receive their wealth. I shall write to your mother and brother, asking them not to preach Christ in public. Let them practice their faith in secret.” Victor replied, “I want to be a preacher of Christianity like my mother and brother.” Sebastian said, “O Victor, we all know what woes await you, your mother and brother.” Then Sebastian suddenly felt a sharp pain in his eyes. He was dumbfounded, and his face was somber. For three days Sebastian lay there blind, without uttering a word. On the fourth day he declared, “The God of the Christians is the only true God.”

St. Victor asked why Sebastian had suddenly changed his mind. Sebastian replied, “Because Christ is calling me.” Soon he was baptized, and immediately regained his sight. St. Sebastian’s servants, after witnessing the miracle, were also baptized. Reports of this reached Nero, and he commanded that the Christians be brought to him at Rome. The Lord Himself appeared to the confessors and said, “Fear not, for I am with you. Nero, and all who serve him, will be vanquished.” The Lord said to Victor, “From this day forward, your name will be Photinus, because through you, many will be enlightened and will believe in Me.” The Lord then told the Christians to strengthen and encourage Sebastian to persevere until the end. All these things, and even future events, were revealed to St. Photini. She left Carthage in the company of several Christians and joined the confessors in Rome. At Rome, Emperor Nero ordered the saints to be brought before him, and he asked them whether they truly believed in Christ. All the confessors refused to renounce the Savior. The emperor then gave orders to smash the martyrs’ finger joints. During the torture, the confessors felt no pain, and their hands remained unharmed.

Nero ordered that Sts. Sebastian, Photinus and Joses be blinded and locked up in prison, and St. Photini and her five sisters, Anatola, Phota, Photis, Paraskeva and Kyriake, were sent to the imperial court under the supervision of Nero’s daughter, Domnina. St. Photini converted both Domnina and her servants to Christ. She also converted a sorcerer, who had brought her poisoned food that was meant to kill her. Three years passed, and Nero sent to the prison for one of his servants, who had been locked up. The messengers reported to him that Sts. Sebastian, Photinus and Joses, who had been blinded, had completely recovered, and that people were visiting them to hear their preaching. Indeed, the whole prison had been transformed into a bright and fragrant place where God was glorified. Nero then gave orders to crucify the saints, and to beat their naked bodies with straps. On the fourth day, the emperor sent servants to see whether the martyrs were still alive.

Approaching the place of the tortures, the servants fell blind. An angel of the Lord freed the martyrs from their crosses and healed them. The saints took pity on the blinded servants, and restored their sight by their prayers to the Lord. Those who were healed came to believe in Christ and were soon baptized. In a rage, Nero gave orders to flay the skin from St. Photini and to throw her down a well. Sebastian, Photinus and Joses had their legs cut off, and they were thrown to dogs, and then had their skin flayed off. The sisters of St. Photini also suffered terrible torments. Nero gave orders to cut off their breasts and to flay their skin. An expert in cruelty, the emperor readied the fiercest execution for St. Photis: they tied her by the feet to the tops of two bent-over trees. When the ropes were cut, the trees sprang upright and tore the martyr apart. The emperor ordered the others beheaded. St. Photini was removed from the well and locked up in prison for twenty days.

After this, Nero had St. Photini brought to him and asked if she would now relent and offer sacrifice to the idols. St. Photini spat in his face, and laughing at him, said, “O most impious of the blind, you profligate and stupid man! Do you think me so deluded that I would consent to renounce my Lord Christ and instead offer sacrifice to idols as blind as you?” Hearing such words, Nero gave orders to throw St. Photini down a well, where she surrendered her soul to God in the year 66.

Source: http://www.antiochian.org/st-photini-samaritan-woman

Here are the ways in which we can cooperate with God’s grace and form this conscience within ourselves:

1 . We are to have much love for our Savior, with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We are not to divide our love between God and the world. For a beginner this means that when we pray we should struggle mightily to concentrate and avoid distractions: we are to be wholly in God. Furthermore, as St. John of Kronstadt teaches:

“Love for God begins to manifest itself, and to act in us, when we begin to love our neighbor as ourselves, and not to spare ourselves or anything belonging to us for him, as he is the image of God: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God Whom he hath not seen? (I John 4:20).”

St. John says that this is the only love which is real, and lasting:

“The purer the heart becomes, the larger it becomes; consequently it is able to find room for more and more loved ones; the more sinful it is, the more it contracts; consequently it is able to find room for fewer and fewer loved ones–it is limited by a false love; self-love.”

2. We must pray often, both at church and at home. St. Gregory of Sinai says that the great gift which God gives us in Holy Baptism is buried by us, just as a treasure is buried in the ground–‘and common sense and gratitude demand that we should take good , care to unearth this treasure and bring it to light.” One of the most important ways to do this is by acquiring the habit of prayer. Blessed Theophan the Recluse explains further:

“Those who only hear about spiritual meditation and prayer and have no direct knowledge [experience] of it are like men blind from birth, who hear about the sunshine without ever knowing what it really is. Through this ignorance they lose many spiritual blessings, and are slow in arriving at the virtues which make for the fulfillment of God’s good pleasure.”

3. We must carefully read and study Holy Scripture. Although many saints had the habit of reading through the entire Psalter and New Testament every week, we should at least read the Gospel and Epistle appointed in the Church Calendar for each day. According to St. Seraphim of Sarov, “It is very profitable ‘to occupy oneself: with the reading of the word of God in solitude, and to read the whole Bible intelligently…in order that the whole mind of the reader might be plunged into the truths of Holy Scripture, and that from this he might receive warmth.”

4. Attendance at Divine Services and frequent reception of Holy Communion is vital to the development of an Orthodox conscience. Of this, St. John of Kronstadt writes:

“The Divine Liturgy is truly a heavenly service on earth, in which God Himself, in a particular, immediate, and most close manner is present and dwells with men ….There is on earth nothing higher, greater, more holy, than the Liturgy; nothing more solemn, nothing more life-giving.”

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk observed: “TheChristians of old frequently received communion as the cause and food of immortality, wherefore even up to our own time the Holy Church daily exhorts us to ‘draw near with fear of God and with faith’. At the present day people have neither, as the facts abundantly prove; only once a year, and even then almost under compulsion, do they approach the Table of Immortality …. Men hasten joyfully to banquets, but to this spiritual and most Sacred Table to which Christ invites them they come under compulsion.”

5. We should read the writings of the Holy Fathers of the Church and the Lives of the Saints. Blessed Theophan the Recluse explained this to one of his spiritual children in the following way:

“The spiritual life is a special world into which the wisdom of men cannot penetrate… This is a subject which embraces much and is lofty and sweet to the heart …. If you seriously desire to enter onto this path, then you won’t have time to turn to the study of other subjects.. for human philosophizing cannot even be compared with spiritual wisdom.”

Therefore, if we wish to learn ways that are pleasing to God, it stands to reason that we will set aside time in order to study the writings and lives of those who have drawn close to Him while still in this life, for according to St. John of Kronstadt there are rich and poor in the spiritual world just as there are in worldly society:

“As the poor ask charity of the rich, and cannot live without help· from them, so also in the spiritual order the poor must have recourse to-the rich. We are the spiritually poor, whilst the saints, and those who shine even in this present life by their faith and piety, are the spiritually rich. It is to them that we needy ones must have recourse.”

6. We are to practice the presence of God in our daily life. St. John of Kronstadt explains it in this way:

“Believe that God sees you as undoubtedly as you believe that anyone standing face to face with you sees you, only with this difference, that the Heavenly Father sees everything that is in you, everything that you are …. God is nearer to us than any man at any time. Therefore we must always set God before us, at our right hand, and there behold Him; we must be strong, and in order not to sin we must so place ourselves that nothing can thrust God from our thoughts and hearts, that nothing can hide Him from us, that nothing may deprive us of our beloved Lord, but that we may every hour, every minute, belong to Him, and be perpetually with Him, as He Himself is perpetually with us, as He constantly cares for us and guards us”.

7. We should often, if not daily, examine our souls and repent of the sins we find there. St. Mark the Ascetic writes: “The conscience is nature’s book. He who applies what he reads there experiences God’s help.” Thus, Elder Macarius of Optina wrote in a letter of spiritual direction:

“The Lord calls to Him all sinners; He opens His arms wide, even to the worst among them. Gladly He takes them in His arms, if only they will come. But they have got to make the effort of coming. They must seek Him, go to Him. In other words, they must repent. It is not He that rejects those who do: not repent. He still longs for them, and calls them. But they refuse to hear His call. They choose to wander away, in some other direction.” Therefore, St. John of Kronstadt explains: “Conscience in men is nothing else but the voice of the omnipresent God moving in the heart–the Lord knows all …. Watch your heart throughout your life; examine it, listen to it, and see what prevents it from uniting itself with the Lord. Let this be your supreme and constant study …. Examine yourself more often; see where the eyes of your heart are looking.”

And then, as Blessed Theophan the Recluse counsels:

“Repent, and turn to the Lord, admit your sins, weep for them with heartfelt contrition, and confess them before your spiritual father.” St. Hesychios the Priest tells us that according to St. Basil the Great, “a great help towards not sinning and not committing daily the same faults is for us to review in our conscience at the end of each day what we have done wrong and what we have done right. Job did this with regard to both himself and to his children [cf. Job 1:5], These daily reckonings illumine a man’s hour-by-hour behaviour.”

8. Struggle mightily to avoid judging others. God alone has the right to judge, for as St. Tikhon of Zadonsk says:

“Do not judge others, for you cannot know what is inside the other man. Do not condemn, for he may still rise whilst you may fall. Be-ware of even talking about others, lest you start judging them. Enquiring into other people’s sin is a curiosity hateful to God and man…because, by judging, man usurps the powers of the only judge, Christ …. Above all, when judging another we cannot know whether perchance he has not already repented and been forgiven by God.”

If we are willing to arrange our lives in the above manner, resolving not to withdraw from this holy labor even if it means suffering and also death, then, from the very moment that we begin, grace starts to flow into us, according to Blessed Theophan the Recluse:

“The help of God is always ready and always near, but is only given to those who seek and work.”

Source: http://www.pravmir.com/how-to-form-an-orthodox-conscience/

No priestly act is of more far-reaching consequence than a conversion to Orthodoxy. It crucially determines for all time the convert’s personal status, his marital rights and restrictions as well as his religious allegiance. If a pledge of unqualified loyalty to the Orthodox Church is subsequently betrayed, the result is disastrous, not least for the priest involved, should he have been guilty of an error of judgment in authorising the conversion on insufficient evidence of sincerity. In that event, he is bound to feel some personal responsibility and liability for every violation of Canon Law the convert may commit. For only through his act in accepting a non-Orthodox into the Orthodox Church do actions like not attending the Sacraments or not keeping the fast days become grave breaches of Canon Law. Little wonder that many conscientious priests, under the weight of this crushing responsibility, contemplate conversions with extreme, sometimes perhaps excessive, hesitation. The conditions for becoming an Orthodox Christian are simple enough in definition.

A properly qualified catechist, after instructing the candidate, must be satisfied that the candidate is genuinely willing and able to accept the religious discipline of the Orthodox Church without reservation, whereupon the formal act of conversion is carried out, either by baptism where the candidate has not been previously baptized in the name of the Holy Trinity, or by the Sacrament of Holy Chrismation, and the signing. of a letter by which the candidate on the one hand is renouncing his former faith and on the other confessing his Orthodox faith. Conversion under these conditions is open to any person, irrespective of race, color or previous creed. A person so converted then has all the rights and obligations of any Orthodox Christian. Strictly speaking, the actual conversion from any faith (or none) to Orthodoxy is of course carried out by the proselyte himself. The desire to become an Orthodox Christian is brought about by radical changes inside a person’s heart determining all his future loyalties, his thinking, feelings and actions, the would of his very personality.

A conversion is the most delicate heart operation to which a person could ever submit, and the onus rests on the candidate to prove that he is adequately prepared to undergo such an operation. Some may complete the requisite preparation in intensive study and environmental experience in a matter of months; others lacking in determination or opportunity, may never be ready even after years of fruitless effort. How long this process takes is determined by the candidate not the priest. The ultimate test is certainly not the candidate’s love for an Orthodox party he or she seeks to marry. On the contrary, such an ulterior motive will militate against accepting the application. The criterion is the love of Orthodoxy, generated by such thorough familiarity and fascination with the Orthodox way of life as to render all sacrifices and obstacles. Only if this love and belief in Orthodoxy, in theory and practice, transcends any other love and loyalty, are the conditions for admission truly fulfilled.

But why are these conditions so rigid and demanding? Almost every candidate (and many Greek Orthodox) question their justice with the seemingly plausible argument: Why should so much more be expected of a convert than most Orthodox are prepared to do for their Orthodoxy? Why should converts be more punctilious in their religious observance than are the majority of Orthodox? To begin with, true proselytes are welcome, but converts of questionable loyalty attenuate rather than consolidate our strength. Throughout the Christian era the Orthodox Church has been exposed to constant oppression and frequent massacres. Yet no Orthodox Christian ever worried about the survival of the Orthodox Church. Therefore the survival of the Orthodox Church does not depend on numbers, but solely on the intensity of our Orthodox commitment. Moreover, a conversion is a religious naturalization. Even for a civil naturalization – though effecting infinitely less significantly the innermost belief, the whole personality and the daily routine of the life of the applicant – certain rigid requirements are universally accepted. For the grant of citizenship, countries usually required a period of at least two years, fluency in the vernacular, and certainly ready submission to all the laws of the land. Any alien declaring his readiness to observe all the country’s laws except one would be refused his naturalization, and it would not help him to argue that there are many native citizens who also sometimes transgress one regulation or another. In these matters it is all or nothing.

Yet when would-be converts are told that it may take two years or more to gain the required knowledge and religious atmosphere (which even those Orthodox who were baptized at birth must cultivate through years of religious education, plus living in an Orthodox Christian environment from birth), that they are expected to have some familiarity with the Greek language, and that they must undertake to observe the Canon Law of the Orthodox Church, they argue, often amid a chorus of popular Greek applause, why should we have to meet requirements which so many Greeks fall short of? It would be of little avail to an applicant for Australian citizenship to resort to a similar argument.

The incontestable answer would be that anyone born of Australian parents – whether good, bad or indifferent, whether he knows English and abides by the law or not – is Australian. Even a criminal’s citizenship cannot be disowned. But if a foreigner wants to become Australian, every effort may and must be made to ensure that he will prove a law-abiding citizen, an asset and not a liability. Likewise parents must accept their natural child, healthy or crippled, upright or delinquent. But in adopting a child, they are free to choose, entitled to take all reasonable precautions to make sure that the child will be a source of pride and joy to them. Surely the arguments in favour of similar safeguards in admitting persons to the Orthodox faith and people are no less compelling or convincing. Within these general principles, there is of course a degree of variation. Since the assessment of a candidate’s sincerity and the inadequacy of his preparation is subject to a human estimation, there is bound to be a subjective factor in any such judgment.

One priest may be more credulous, another more suspicious in accepting a declaration of submission to Orthodoxy. Diverse local conditions, too, may have an important bearing on the decision to admit proselytes. In Greece, for instance, where all converts will certainly live in an Orthodox environment, learn Greek, send their children to Greek schools where religion is taught, and observe the Orthodox calendar – at least in great measure – and where there is hardly any opportunity of becoming integrated into non-Orthodox society, it is obviously far easier to accept converts than in the Diaspora where these conditions do not exist. Naturally, the circumstances prompting an application will invariably be taken into account. A woman who wants to become an Orthodox Christian because she has fallen in love with a Greek, seeking to change her religion almost like one changes a passport on being married, will find far less sympathy than parents who wish to convert an adopted non-Orthodox child because they could find no Orthodox child. Extreme compassion will also be shown in cases of non-Orthodox children from mixed marriages. But these are clearly exceptions. As a rule, it will be found that anyone prepared to change his religion neither had a deep religious allegiance before the change nor will have one after the change. Those who can be, and are, admitted to the Orthodox Church indeed turn out to be rather exceptional people.

True proselytes live up to the qualifications so concisely expressed by the most famous of them all, when Ruth the Moabite pledged: “Where you go, I will go; and where you lodge for the night, I will lodge” – sharing the life of the people she converted to; “your people will be my people” – joining the togetherness of the people she converted to; “and your God will be my God” – serving as a witness to religious commitments “where you die, I will die, and there shall I be buried” (Ruth 1:16-17) – defending the beliefs and practices even to the grave. Anyone prepared to follow Ruth’s example of total loyalty will be accepted into the Orthodox faith with open arms. But in the absence of such candidates, we should occupy ourselves with the challenge to convert should-be Orthodox, rather than would-be-Orthodox, to Orthodoxy.

Source: http://journeytoorthodoxy.com/2010/12/to-convert-or-not-to-convert/