The Catalog of Good Deeds

By Albert S. Rossi

To Live in the Kingdom of God, Now

In the "Our Father" I am taught to pray, "Thy Kingdom come," and the strong implication is, as C. S. Lewis notes, that the Kingdom can and should come here and come now, in my heart and in the world at large. The Divine Liturgy is replete with similar invitations calling everyone to enter into the Kingdom of God, here and now.

What, precisely, is the Kingdom of God? And, even more pointedly, how do I enter it? Reflecting on the meaning of Kingdom of God by looking at St. Paul's epistles, one Orthodox theologian explains that, from the human perspective and experience, "the Kingdom of God is ... righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom. 14:17). He goes on to say that my experience of the Kingdom is a special kind of joy, namely, joy which is a gift from God and often found in affliction and suffering for others. St. Paul states this clearly, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake ..." (Col. 1:24). This is a rather eloquent statement of what I can expect and how I am to live in our family life.

I can expect from my family, both family of origin and present family, deep joy mixed with intense suffering. Within family ties, life is often most personal and most emotional. The personal and emotional suffering may come from a brother or sister, father or mother, husband or wife, son or daughter. Of one thing I can be rather sure, that some of my family members are likely to break my heart, over and over. Any other expectations seems to be unbiblical. The suffering may come from the realization that some of my unrealistic expectations are being emphatically dashed to the ground. I may realize my marriage partner is, unabashedly, not a living knight in shining armor or a precious princess in distress. I may gradually understand that my sister or brother is doing a whole lot of narcissistic damage to a whole lot of people. The agony might come from a deteriorating parent, from an acting-out teenager, or from a chronically ill or alcoholic sibling. The upset may be of a more generalized and free-floating type. I may be keenly aware that much of the time the fragmentation of my home bears little resemblance to a symphony playing harmonious music. The excruciating emotional pain usually tears at the heart because the person(s) lives so close to my heart.

Precisely in family distress and family affliction can the New Testament message ring most real, most profound. In the family, the question "How do I enter the Kingdom of God?" finds an answer. I enter the Kingdom of God by finding joy, overflowing joy, superabundant joy, the joy found in the Holy Spirit, because of and within the heart-ripping suffering experienced and the blessings given in my family. The joy of the Holy Spirit is inextricably based upon suffering. But I am not here to look for suffering or to create it, only to live it as it enters my life. I turn from suffering to joy by accepting, embracing, and working with the reality that these persons are my family, and therefore God's family for me. My family members are weak and sinning human beings who, by definition of living in a fallen state, will wound and seriously offend me. My vocation is to live fully within this sometimes fractured and sometimes united lifestyle, love all my family members through it all, and to try to sustain the gift of a joyful disposition which is from the Spirit.

The Orthodox view of family, then, stands in polarized opposition to the prevailing American cultural view of family. For the Orthodox Christian, a family is not primarily a group of persons who provide mutual comfort, ease, predictability, and security from loneliness. The family is not primarily a warm hearth and the smell of baking bread. The family can be those things, but hopefully it is much more. Infinitely more. Primarily, the family is the God-chosen group of persons with whom I most intimately live the life of Christ, that is, the agony of the Cross and the joy of the Resurrection, simultaneously at times.

To Be A Sign of Contradiction

Jesus' life was a sign of contradiction and, likewise, so must mine be. As life unfolds I realize I am called, within my family, to love as God loves. As this is progressively more understood, the power of the insight can be quite disarming, threatening to dismantle my defense system. This insight slowly evolves away from a me-at-the-center perspective to a family-member-at-the-center perspective. Basic questions begin to change. I can no longer ask, "When does my turn come?" or "How about my fair share?" or "What about me?" Now I begin to realize that I am called to give in some areas which will be quite unrequited, or so it will seem. This might be financial, social, sexual, occupational, educational, religious, psychological, or spiritual. Of one thing I can be rather sure, that it will seem to me that in certain ways I will be giving to my family members and it is quite unreciprocated.

As the God-life grows within me toward my family members, I can also be rather certain that I will come to the point where I feel I have no more to give. Maybe I feel I'm getting older. Maybe I feel I've gone to the well once too often. Maybe I feel I'm already beyond my real love limit. Regardless of the reason, most adults arrive at the cutting edge, the flash point where they become aware that they may not have enough to give to ensure that they, and those around them, can maintain a sane lifestyle. It's an overwhelming terror to come up against the parameters, the barbed-wire fence around one's capacity to love. Adults are then "over the edge," living in a temporary state of suspended animation.

This experience may open the door, be the connection, enhance my relationship with the Infinitely Sustaining God. I am aware, cogently, that it is and has been God who, all along, is the one who has continually kept me back from going over the edge and, if I did go over the edge for a time, it was He who sustained my very life, being more present to me than I was to myself.

For me, those times of beautiful weakness (the weakness St. Paul mentions) may be times when I learn that indeed I can live and love here and now, with these flawed family members, and that I can love boundlessly. I experience this because I can yield to the infinite, wondrous love of God living through me and directed toward my family members. Precisely in my vulnerability and sheer inability can I accomplish what my love limits would not otherwise allow me to accomplish. At these moments I can experience the fullness of "casting my burdens on the Lord." At these moments I can know, with the marrow of my bones, that it is "no longer I who live but Christ lives in me." This becomes an experience of a miracle in my life, of being personally touched by the hand of God and enabling me to love more than I ever thought was possible.

I become a sign of contradiction because I perceive, probably erroneously, that I am loving in certain ways that other members of my family are not. In reality, all of us in the family may be living signs of contradiction, living a life of love maximally within each unique personality structure. Each may be living apparently unrequited love in different ways. God's ways are not my ways. God's calling to each member of a family will be uniquely personal, and probably quite misunderstood by some other members within the family. I am called to try to live according to God's ways, not mine.

To Be A Living Prayer

I, like everyone else in my family, have the grand task, the royal calling, the priestly vocation to pray arduously for the other members of my family, especially the alienated and alienating members. This is a no-nonsense calling which I am probably not fulfilling adequately, probably not even minimally. If I think I am, that may be the clearest sign that I am not. Abba Agathon says that prayer is the hardest of all tasks. "If we do not find prayer difficult, perhaps it is because we have not really started to pray." And Bishop Kallistos Ware continues this idea by saying, "Prayer means that each day we renew our relationship with others (family members) through imaginative empathy, through acts of practical compassion, and through cutting off our own self-will." Prayer, as the Fathers remind us, is, first and foremost, a way of life. As Theophan the Recluse states, "But do not forget the chief thing, to unite the attention and mind with your heart, and remain there unceasingly, before the Lord."

I know I am called to "pray always" and I know I am called to "love my neighbor (family member) as myself." It is also true that more than likely I grossly underestimate the real, practical, beneficial influence my prayer has on others (family members). I probably grossly underestimate the amount of love I deliver to my family members when I sincerely pray for them. As one theologian said, "Prayer is the greatest gift that one friend (family member) can offer another." Maybe when I pray for them I am doing as much "good" for them as putting ointment on their bruises, or buying a useful item, or being physically and mentally present when someone has a need to talk. Praying for a family member does "infinite good" in some sense for that person. Praying for a family member can also help provide me the strength to put the ointment on the bruise, buy the desired item and be authentically present with even more graciousness. Praying for a family member can enable me more to have the "imaginative empathy and practical compassion" which Bishop Ware suggests. Of all my roles in my family, I still have most to learn about how I am called to pray for my family members.

Summary

My vocation towards my family members is, in one sense, no different from my vocation towards every other living human being. With and towards every one I am called to live in the Kingdom of God now, to be a sign of contradiction, and to be a living pray-er. However, as I specifically focus on my family and the tremendous undertaking God has called me to accomplish, I most assuredly can get a clearer sense of my vocation in the world-at-large. In the living of my vocation in my family, I can begin to experience what St. Paul means when he said, "...dying, and behold we live" (2 Cor. 6:9-10).

"As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord". - Joshua 24:15

Dr. Albert Rossi is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Pace University, Pleasantville, NY and has a private practice in family counseling. He is a member of the Department of Lay Ministries.

Source: https://oca.org/the-hub/the-church-on-current-issues/my-vocation-in-the-family

Theodosius, whose name means "gift of God," grew up in the small cities of Vasilkov and Kursk where his father was a judge. Although his parents were Christian and gave him an education directed primarily at the study of Scripture, they were astonished to see his heart so completely overtaken by love for God.

His father died when I heodosius was 13, and this caused the boy to retreat still further from the world common to one of his age and social rank. He gave away his good clothes, preferring to dress like the poor, and found pleasure in helping the peasants with their work. He often went to church, and when he learned that Divine Liturgy was sometimes not celebrated due to a lack of prosphora, he undertook to bake them himself. His mother loved him dearly, but she did not share her son's life-encompassing Christian outlook; she was very conscious of her social standing and felt that by engaging in such lowly occupations Theodosius brought shame upon the family. She tried cajoling, then threatening and even physically beating him to make him change his ways, but Theodosius stood firmly on the path of the Gospel commandments.

His zeal for the things of God inspired Theodosius to slip away with a band of pilgrims bound for the Holy Land. Three days later his mother tracked him down, berated the pilgrims for having taken the boy along, and dragged Theodosius home where she kept him in chains until the youth promised not to leave her again.

The humility of the youth and the sufferings he endured at the hands of his mother came to the attention of the governor who requested that the youth attend him in church. This served to calm the domestic drama, but Theodosius' heart yearned for a more concentrated spiritual atmosphere, for monastic life. Standing in church one day, he was struck by the words of the Gospel: "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me." With fixed resolve, he took advantage of his mother's departure into the country for a few days to set out for Kiev, taking with him nothing but some bread for the road. The monks in the established monasteries, however, turned him away because he had no money. Then he heard about the righteous Anthony. Coming to his cave, Theodosius fell to his knees and begged the holy ascetic to accept him.

"My son ," said Anthony, "you see my cave; it is cramped and dismal, and I fear you will not endure the difficulties of life here." "Know, O blessed father," replied Theodosius. "that God Himself has led me to your holiness that I might find salvation. I shall do all that you enjoin." Foreseeing his future greatness, the blessed Anthony accepted the determined aspirant and bade the priest monk Nikon tonsure him. Theodosius was 23 years old.

It was a few years before his distraught mother finally discovered her son’s whereabouts. With great reluctance Theodosius went out to her. At first she vowed that she would die if he did not come home with her. But gradually God softened her heart and she came to see the wisdom of her son's patient admonitions. Following his advice she entered the St. Nicholas convent there in Kiev where she ended her days in peace.

When Theodosius became abbot, he saw need for a common rule to unite the growing community--which by that time was living above the ground; only a few hermits were left in the caves--and he sent one of his monks to Constantinople to copy out the rule of the Studite Monastery. The rule governed the daily life of the monk: it set the hours of prayer and work; monks were forbidden to have any personal possessions, everything was held in common; all monks were together for common meals: time, apart from prayer, was to be spent in working; all activity was begun with a blessing from an elder and with prayer. The monks were to reveal their thoughts to the abbot, a practice which roused them to constant spiritual vigilance and helped to check manifestations of the passions before they took root in the heart.

Above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves. (I Peter 4:8)

It was St, Theodosius' choice of the Studite Rule, with its emphasis on the duty of charity and the common good, which served to revive the ancient ideal of strict cenobitism and gave Russian monasticism its characteristic warmth. "What is principally necessary," taught Theodosius, "is that the youngest should love their neighbor and listen to their elders with humility and obedience. The elders should lavish on the young love and instruction; they should teach them and comfort them." This attitude created an atmosphere eminently suitable for missionary work, and it was thanks to the monasteries that Christianity was so successfully propagated in Russia.

Of a strong constitution, Theodosius was a model of industriousness. Even as abbot, he felled trees, carried water, and ground wheat, often helping the other brethren with their obediences. Once, the cook came to ask if he would assign a monk to cut firewood, as the kitchen supply was depleted. "I am idle," replied the Saint, and he set to chopping wood himself. He worked through the dinner hour and the brethren, when they came out and saw their abbot hard at work, were inspired to do likewise.

Knowing the great benefit of good books upon the soul, Theodosius instituted the reading of spiritually profitable texts during meals, and sought to augment the number of such books in the monastery. Books were still a rarity at that time, and one of the valued occupations of the monastery was the copying and binding of manuscripts. Theodosius himself helped in this work.

At first, life in the Caves Monastery was very austere indeed. The monks lived principally on rye bread and water with the addition of a few vegetables which they cultivated themselves; they wove their own cloth and sewed their own garments. When the brethren murmured about some deficiency, Theodosius exhorted them to place their trust in the Lord Who knew their needs. And his faith was often miraculously rewarded.

The reputation of the monks as 'angels on earth' began attracting pilgrims; princes and peasants ca me for spiritual counsel and left donations. Grand Prince Izyaslav, who became very attached to St. Theodosius and frequently came to visit him, was a great benefactor of the monastery, as also was the Viking Prince Shimon who was baptized into the Orthodox Church together with his entire household, numbering some 3,000 members.

With increased mean s, Theodosius was able to build a guest house for pilgrims where the poor and sick also found refuge. No beggar was ever turned away from the monastery without being given a meal. Weekly a cart was sent from the monastery laden with bread to be distributed among those in prison.

The Saint's compassion was boundless. Once there were brought to him some robbers who had been apprehended in the act of stealing monastery property. With tears the Saint entreated them to mend their ways. Then, having fed them, he let them go. The robbers were so moved by the Saint's mercy that they repented and became honest, God-fearing men.

Like St. Anthony, Theodosius also endured the effects of the princes' quarrels. At the same time he maintained his independence and did not fear risking the displeasure of his royal benefactors if he felt called as a spiritual father to admonish them. When, for example, Svyatoslav unjustly took the throne from Izyaslav, the Saint wrote a strong letter to Svyatoslav, reproving his action and urging him to restore power to his older brother. This angered Svyatoslav, and Theodosius was warned of possible consequences, but he calmly replied: "Nothing could be better for me in this life than to suffer for the sake of the truth." Mindful of the Saint' s popularity, Svyatoslav took no action against him and even went to visit him. He was surprised when Theodosius received him with the respect due to one of authority. "I was afraid you'd be angry with me," said the Prince. "Our duty," replied the Saint, "is to say what is beneficial for the soul's salvation; and you would do well to listen." Although Svyatoslav could not be persuaded to give up the throne and Theodosius continued to commemorate the pious Izyaslav as the lawful ruler, their relationship was peaceful and it was Svyatoslav who gave land for the building of the new stone church.

Work had just begun on this church when St. Anthony reposed. Neither did St. Theodosius live to see its completion. It was his custom to retire to a cave for the course of Great Lent, and it was during this time, in 1074, that the Lord revealed to him his imminent departure from this world. On Bright Week, having joyfully celebrated the radiant feast of Pascha in the monastery, he fell ill. Summoning the brethren, he informed them that his time had come, and foretold the very day and hour of his repose. By common consent of the brotherhood, he blessed his disciple Stefan to take his place as abbot, exhorting him not to change the tradition s of the monastery, "but follow in all things the law and our monastic rifle."

May 3, 1074. The divinely appointed hour arrived and the bright soul of the Saint took leave of its earthly tabernacle. As he had willed, his body was laid to rest in the cave which alone with the angels had witnessed his ascetic labors.

Eighteen years after the Saint's blessed repose, the monastery brethren decided to transfer his relics to the new cathedral church. The abbot, together with monk Nestor the chronicler, went to the cave to dig up the relics and discovered them to be incorrupt. Accompanied by a large crowd of people, the relics were solemnly transferred to the Dormition Cathedral on August 14, 1092. And in 1106 Saint Theodosius was added to the list of canonized saints.

Source: http://www.roca.org/OA/78/78g.htm#St

Ecclesiastic tradition mentions that the first icon, with the essence of representation, was made by the Lord Himself and in fact without hands. The story of this icon briefly is as follows: The king of Edessa of Mesopotamia, Augarus, suffered from leprosy. He wrote therefore to the Lord a letter, in which he implored Him to visit Edessa and heal him. His servant Ananias brought the letter to Palestine. He tried to draw the Lord but did not succeed. The Lord having noticed the effort of Ananias, asked for water to wash His face which He then dried with a handkerchief. The holy face of the Lord was miraculously imprinted on the handkerchief. This is known as the "Holy Mandelion" (handkerchief).

Augarus, as mark of his gratitude for his healing which happened through the grace of the icon and completed later with his baptism, raised the icon of the Holy Mandelion at the entrance of the City's gate, having first written on a plank underneath it, the phrase: "Christ God, whoever hopes in You never fails". The icon of the Lord made with no hands, after quite a few centuries in Edessa, was brought in 994AD to Constantinople, during the empire of Romanus Lekapinus.

Tradition also mentions as the first hagiographer, the Evangelist Luke. The Evangelist was the first to draw three icons- using wax, gum and colours - of the All Holy Theotokos, holding in her bosom our Lord Jesus Christ and offered them to her, wishing to know if they were pleasing to her. The Mother of the Lord accepted them saying, "The grace of the one who drew me goes through me to them". Of these three icons, one is in Peloponnesus, in the Monastery of the Great Cave which is made with wax and gum. The second it is said to be in little Russia, in a town called Vilina which was given as a gift by the byzantine emperors to the Russians, so that they may be their allies. The third icon according to the assurance of the golden sealed decree of John Gregory Giga Boeboda, ruler of Hungarovlachia, is in Cyprus at the Monastery of Kykku. Moreover according to tradition the Evangelist Luke drew some icons of the Holy Pre-eminent Apostles and some others and since then the art of drawing of the Holy Icons was passed on to good and pious people.

The history of the Byzantine Iconography was divided by historians to various periods.

1. The first centuries until the Iconomachy. This period is subdivided:

A) In the proto-Christianity (until the time of Great Constantine).

B) In the early Christianity during 320-720AD (From the period of Great Constantine to the iconomachy)

2. The time of the Iconamachy (724-843AD).

3. The time of the Macedonians and Comnenus (867-1204AD).

4. The Paleologian Renaissance (1204-1453AD) or the final byzantine period.

In the first centuries of Christianity, the proto-Christian period, was what was known as the archaic iconography, which had a symbolic characteristic also known as the art of the catacombs. The art structure of the catacomb depictions was liberal. It started with motifs received from idolatric art, such as Orpheus. The purpose of this art was plainly educational. Symbols such as a ship, fish, olive, anchor, vine etc, were used. The wall paintings of this period were basically non artistic. They had more religious than artistic significance.

In the early Christian period, following the cessation of persecutions, they started to use drawing depictions of holy persons and situations from the Old and New Testament. In this period we have use of mosaics. There are some important wall paintings that were worked with the art of Fresco. Important art works of this period are: at the Basilica of Saint Demetrius in Thessaloniki (5th Century), of Saint Appolinarius in Ravenna (Italy), the fresco of Castelserpio near Milan (6th century) etc. Of the portable icons of this period (6th century) is the magnificent burning art of the Sinai Monastery.

During the dark years of Iconomachy, the condemnation of the icons and in general the depictions of human forms, stopped temporarily the course of the byzantine paintings. The iconographic circle was replaced with decorative motifs especially from the animal and vegetable world. Iconomachy did not create a new art but it mainly brought back the proto-Christian ornamentation of the Churches. This period sees mainly the development of the theology of the icon with Saint John Damascene, the apologetic and champion of the iconophiles of the 1st phase of iconomachy (726-787AD) with the 7th Ecumenical Synod at Nicea (787AD) which condemned the iconomach heresy and with Saint Theodore the Studite, the other flag bearer of Orthodoxy, who defended the icons during the second phase of iconomachy (813-843AD).

The commotion of iconomachy ended decisively with the endemic Synod of 843AD in Constantinople during the reign of Saint Theodora. The Synod decided to restore the holy icons and decreed the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

In the period of the Macedonians and the Comnenus we have the renaissance of Orthodox Hagiography. The victory over the iconomachs brought about substantial change in painting as well as to the whole byzantine art. The decoration of churches is forbidden on liturgical and dogmatic reasons. A hierarchal order is decreed as a result on iconographic topics. This order is decreed by the Church which at present under the decision of the 7th Ecumenical Synod, has assumed the direction of hagiography. Thus are three iconographic groups formed: the dogmatic, the liturgical and the historic (festive). The topic relates to a dedicated place in the Church to which it will turn out into a canon of byzantine hagiography.

During this period we have also features of the art. The type of the monk with dried up face, with almond shaped eyes due to strict fasting, enters into iconography etc. We then have a return to the Alexandrian tradition. Angelic features and saints in mosaic remind of forms in the Hellenistic world. The posing and movement of the depicted ones are done according to the prototypes of ancient Greek sculpture. The prophets have the raiment, the pose and expression of orators. Generally there is a blending of ancient and new features and the tradition is harmonized with the contemporary art. Charles Delvoye calls this period the classical age of Byzantium. Magnificent works of this period are: the Church of Saint Sophia at Ahrida (1040-1045AD), the Church of Saint Panteleimon at Nerezi in Skopia (1164AD), the magnificent mosaics of Saint Sophia of Constantinople (12thth century), of the Daphne Monastery (11th century) and many more. century), of the church of Saint Luke in Libadia.

The Paleologian period is considered the golden age of hagiography. Whatever the art of the previous centuries offered came back with renewed life. The renaissance of the Paleologus' should be considered as a consequent natural progression of the previous years and not as a phenomenon that appeared suddenly. It should be explained as a re-enlivening (by the ideas and the climate of the paleologian years) of the brilliant art of the Macedonians and of the Comnenus'. The 14th century is an anthropocentric century. The characteristic therefore of this renaissance is the deep humanism. There is a turn towards the humanistic, hagiography becoming more narrative, with the art intending to cause emotion, to touch the feelings. Mainly, the French specialist G. Millet divided the paleologian art into two "schools", the "Macedonian" and the "Cretan". Of course the term "schools" which have since held, is not correct. Rather it concerns two different currents, two different ways of approach of the paleologian hagiography.

The "Macedonian School" was born in Constantinople and bloomed mainly in Macedonia, centered in Thessaloniki and passed on to Serbia. The School is characterized by its realism and freedom. It has intensity, movement and rich colours. The face and clothes are broadly illuminated, for this they call it "broad style". It was viewed - without being of course absolute - that this art was most inclined to the learned, the educated classes and the courtiers. Its main proponents were Manuel Panselinus (who drew the Chapel of Saint Euthymius of Thessaloniki and the church of the "Protatou") Michael Astrapas and his brother Eutyhius who practiced in Serbia, George Kalliergis etc. In the same period belongs the unrivalled in craftsmanship and beauty monument of the Monastery of the Country in Constantinople.

From the reigning city (Constantinople) the art passed on to Mystra during the end of the 14th century. There it assumed a close character and produced the "Cretan School". This School remains more faithful to the byzantine idealism. It is a conservative art, with its characteristic conservative motions, the simplicity, the nobility of the faces and generally its attachment to the byzantine traditions. The light in the close style is scant and feels like it emanates from some depth, an element that brings the faithful to profound devoutness. It was considered as an art of monastic circles. The genuine Cretan School was first formed in Crete from which it derived its name- after the historically significant event of the fall of Byzantium in the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The main representative was Theophan the Cretan, who was an hagiographer at Meteora and at the Holy Mountain. Well known for the drawing depictions on the Catholicon (nave) of the Monastery of Dionysius is also Zorzis (1547AD). During this period Francis Catelanus and his brother George were hagiographers who however began to accept foreign and western elements.

Finally, in the 16th century and all of the 17th a great peak is noted in the portable cretan style, represented mainly by: Michael Damascene, Ganee, Lambardo, Victor, Poulaki, Mosko etc, who however make use by a large degree of elements from the prevailing western art.

On the 18th and 19th century the lay art bloomed, characterized by the expression of the spirit of the era, namely the desire of liberation from the Turkish yoke. The main contributors were Theophilus, George Markus, Zographus etc. The faces are expressed with simple forms, the colours are darker and generally the quality is inferior to the previous centuries. The byzantine art had to large extent disappeared and the western art took hold until the second half of the 20th century. Dionysius from Fourna tried during his time (around the 18th century AD) to bring back the byzantine art but his effort was not fruitful for the flow thus far led to the West. Even at the Holy Mountain they used Western art. Not until 1940-1950 the great Fotis Contoglou after superhuman struggles managed to bring back to light the art of byzantine hagiography and to cultivate a climate of revival of the painting tradition. During our times, the blooming of the byzantine studies, the researches for the byzantine art, the meeting sessions, all created a favourable atmosphere. Contemporary artists having finally gained the necessary knowledge, can and should as an obligation become guardians and undertake the creative continuation of the long tradition that is called the Orthodox hagiography.

Source: http://www.impantokratoros.gr/EC0B81FE.en.aspx

On the Holy Trinity:

“The apostles were not interested in the images and analogies of plurality found in Scripture, nor in reconciling plurality and unity. But they certainly were concerned to explain, through the medium of Scripture, how the Lord Jesus relates to the one God, his Father, in the Spirit. This basic scriptural grammar of Trinitarian theology—that the one God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, made known in and through the Spirit—is preserved in the most abstract discussions of the fourth century, in the creeds of Nicaea and Constantinople, and in liturgical language. Yet this fundamental grammar is overlooked when the point of these discussions is neglected and the resulting formulae are taken in abstraction, as referring to an “immanent” Trinity—one God existing in three Persons—which is then presupposed and superimposed upon the scriptural revelation. At this point, it is not enough simply to assert the identity of the “economic” Trinity and the “immanent” Trinity, or to emphasize that the “economic” basis of our knowledge of the Trinity—that it is only through the revelation of the Son in and through the Spirit that we can speak of God as Father—must correspond to how the Trinity actually is in “immanent” terms. These two dimensions of Trinitarian theology, economic and immanent, should never have been separated, even if they are subsequently reunited. That Trinitarian theology results from reflecting on how the crucified and exalted Lord Jesus Christ reveals the one and only God as Father, in and through the Holy Spirit, who also enables adopted sons crucified with Christ to call upon the same God as Father, means that Trinitarian theology has less to do with the heavenly existence of three divine persons than with this new manner of confessing the one God—as Father, in the Son, by the Holy Spirit. (Nicene Faith, I:7-8)”

On the Image of the eternal Word who would become Man:

“For God Maker of all and King of all, that has His Being beyond all substance and human discovery, inasmuch as He is good and exceeding noble, made, through His own Word our Saviour Jesus Christ, the human race after His own image, and constituted man able to see and know realities by means of this assimilation to Himself, giving him also a conception and knowledge even of His own eternity, in order that, preserving his nature intact, he might not ever either depart from his idea of God, nor recoil from the communion of the holy ones; but having the grace of Him that gave it, having also God’s own power from the Word of the Father, he might rejoice and have fellowship with the Deity, living the life of immortality unharmed and truly blessed. For having nothing to hinder his knowledge of the Deity, he ever beholds, by his purity, the Image of the Father, God the Word, after Whose image he himself is made. He is awe-struck as he contemplates that Providence which through the Word extends to the universe, being raised above the things of sense and every bodily appearance, but cleaving to the divine and thought-perceived things in the heavens by the power of his mind. For when the mind of men does not hold converse with bodies, nor has mingled with it from without anything of their lust, but is wholly above them, dwelling with itself as it was made to begin with, then, transcending the things of sense and all things human, it is raised up on high; and seeing the Word, it sees in Him also the Father of the Word, taking pleasure in contemplating Him, and gaining renewal by its desire toward Him; exactly as the first of men created, the one who was named Adam in Hebrew, is described in the Holy Scriptures as having at the beginning had his mind to God-ward in a freedom unembarrassed by shame, and as associating with the holy ones in that contemplation of things perceived by the mind which he enjoyed in the place where he was— the place which the holy Moses called in figure a Garden. So purity of soul is sufficient of itself to reflect God, as the Lord also says, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Gent. 2)”

On the path of Saints:

“It is a fact, brothers and sisters, that the path of the saints in this life is one full of troubles. They either endure the pain of longing for that which is to come, like the one who said, ‘Woe is me that I have such a long pilgrimage’ (Ps. 120:5, LXX) or they are distressed by their longing for the salvation of others, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, ‘I am afraid that whey I come to you, God may humble me and cause me to weep and mourn over many who have sinned and not repented of impurity, fornication and licentiousness which they have practiced.'”

On the fall from Heaven:

"And once more, if the devil, the enemy of our race, having fallen from heaven, wanders about our lower atmosphere, and there bearing rule over his fellow-spirits, as his peers in disobedience, not only works illusions by their means in them that are deceived, but tries to hinder them that are going up (and about this the Apostle says: According to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience); while the Lord came to cast down the devil, and clear the air and prepare the way for us up into heaven, as said the Apostle: Through the veil, that is to say, His flesh [Heb. 10:20]— and this must needs be by death— well, by what other kind of death could this have come to pass, than by one which took place in the air, I mean the cross? For only he that is perfected on the cross dies in the air. Whence it was quite fitting that the Lord suffered this death. For thus being lifted up He cleared the air of the malignity both of the devil and of demons of all kinds, as He says: I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven; and made a new opening of the way up into heaven as He says once more: Lift up your gates, O you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors."

Of Antony’s vision concerning the forgiveness of his sins:

". . .For once, when about to eat, having risen up to pray about the ninth hour, he perceived that he was caught up in the spirit, and, wonderful to tell, he stood and saw himself, as it were, from outside himself, and that he was led in the air by certain ones. Next certain bitter and terrible beings stood in the air and wished to hinder him from passing through. But when his conductors opposed them, they demanded whether he was not accountable to them. And when they wished to sum up the account from his birth, Antony’s conductors stopped them, saying, ‘The Lord has wiped out the sins from his birth, but from the time he became a monk, and devoted himself to God, it is permitted you to make a reckoning.’ Then when they accused him and could not convict him, his way was free and unhindered. And immediately he saw himself, as it were, coming and standing by himself, and again he was Antony as before. Then forgetful of eating, he remained the rest of the day and through the whole of the night groaning and praying. For he was astonished when he saw against what mighty opponents our wrestling is, and by what labours we have to pass through the air. And he remembered that this is what the Apostle said, ‘according to the prince of the power of the air [Ephesians 2:2.]’ For in it the enemy has power to fight and to attempt to hinder those who pass through. Wherefore most earnestly he exhorted, ‘Take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day [Ephesians 6:13],’ that the enemy, ‘having no evil thing to say against us, may be ashamed [Titus 2:8].’ And we who have learned this, let us be mindful of the Apostle when he says, ‘whether in the body I know not, or whether out of the body I know not; God knows [2 Corinthians 12:2].’ But Paul was caught up unto the third heaven, and having heard things unspeakable he came down; while Antony saw that he had come to the air, and contended until he was free."

Sources:

http://www.orthodoxchurchquotes.com/category/sayings-from-saints-elders-and-fathers/st-athanasius-the-great/

https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/st-athanasius-the-great-theologian-of-the-cross/

https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/st-athanasius-the-creation-of-humanity-in-the-image-of-the-image/

By Father Andrew Lemeshonok

Christ is Risen! Pascha is ongoing, and we continue fighting for joy and hope, which we can hear in these words: “Christ is Risen!” We want to make sure in this truth about God and that He has defeated death. If we are with God then we can prevail over our sick, lame, deaf, blind and foolish nature, and live with God forever.

The Lord calls upon us to lead a spiritual way of life - Let us lift up our hearts. However, we were born on this earth; have a hard time perceiving anything spiritual! In the Gospel, the Samaritan woman talks about the water, about the well and her thirst that she wants to quench, while the Lord talks about the water, which resurrects the person and lets us enter eternal life. The disciples go for food, they want to feed their Teacher. But the Lord offers them a different kind of food. Which one? This is My Body, and this is My Blood (referred to Matthew 26:26-28). This is a different and eternal life. It is difficult for us to perceive this for we need to estimate everything according to the measures of this world. The Lord wants us to be able to realize the spiritual meaning of what is happening to our life; to realize what is truly important in our life instead of caring for miniscule and irrelevant things…

We are already in the church, we believe and we feel that there we can find the truth of life, to find something what we cannot find anywhere else in the world. But we need to make sure in this. We need to come out of the church and look at our life from a different point of view. We should not be guided by the earthly laws, but begin a new life. Then all the questions will disappear. When we mix spiritual, soulful and corporal things together, then many questions arise and we can get confused. This is why we need to trust God and accept what He gives us today. We should look for a spiritual sense in everything, instead of a secular one. We should tear ourselves away from our “justice”, our talents and gifts, if they disrupt us from following Christ. A rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. It is hard not because of his money. Money is not the case. The thing is, a man is simply afraid of losing what he has. A man feels that he is worth something and because of this he loses peace.

The rich one – it is also a man who arrogates his talents to himself, and does not use it for the Glory of God. Father Sergius, our icon painter says that sometimes it happens like this: “A person is developing professionally, he is working better and better, but at the same time he is getting worse inside…” A person becomes self-confident. However, if a person knows he is guilty, if nothing works out, if he understands that he cannot do anything, then he looks at this world and his neighbors in a different way. He does not disdain them.

If a person is working for the Glory of God, then God can give everything. Nevertheless, should a person arrogate his achievements to himself and say that he is one and only, he will lose everything.

What truth do we find in the church? Ask, and it shall be given to you (Matthew 7:7). What do we want? We want to have a nice week; we want everything to be good and things to work out. But, is this good for our salvation? We should think about what is important. Time will pass, and the earthly picture will change. The gardens are blooming now, but we look forward and think, “The leaves will fall soon, winter will come...” Life is rotating repeatedly until we suddenly stop – we are on our deathbed. The holy fathers say, “Remember about death and thus you will not sin”. When you leave this earth, what will you take? What will you need on your last day? Which gifts, which property? There will be nothing more than God, the grace of the Holy Spirit and hope and love towards your neighbor in your heart. This is what we tragically lack today. This is why a person should not be jealous of a wealthy person. For a true Christian, money does not mean anything, you cannot take it with you to Eternity!

When you can see life in a person’s eyes – it is truly beautiful, when a person has – that is also beautiful, you cannot buy that for any money in the world. This is what we need to strive towards, real values and not the fake ones.

This world often offers us fakes, “Look, you need this, buy that!” One sister told me, “I had a very nice car then I started working in church and now I have a bad car… Things are not working out for me, everything is bad, everything is falling apart… What has God given me?” In reality, she received everything that she could have received! To see that all cars eventually break down, that sooner or later clothing will wear out, that health will also get worse with time, and that one should not have hope in human strength – everything earthly will eventually end up in the graveyard of time. A person need to think about what is most important – to live with God and hold on to that life with hands, feet and teeth. Today like this, and then tomorrow perhaps a person may not have anything to eat at all. Yet, we know that person will not live with one bread alone (referred to Matthew 4:4). God will save those who trust Him and live with Him.

We must also think about the last words we will say on our deathbed, the last thoughts, and our last heartbeat.

God looks at the inner person, at his state of mind, how the person treat those around him. So if you what to know how you are doing, ask the people that you live with. They will tell you the truth about you: who you are and what you are worth. Anyone can bow and close their eyes in church but it is truly Godly to love the people that reproach us especially when we do not deserve it.

May the Lord help us accept everything that is given to us today without complaining, without depression but with thanksgiving and an understanding that the challenges of life and temptations help a person form and polish a person’s soul. We need to ask God what is good and what is bad, what truly draws us closer to him and what does not.

We need to change our life, change our approach towards others. We should not act up and complain or make life difficult for others. Instead we need to make sure we do not hurt anyone, so that people will only feel the good from us and so that people would joyfully await us.

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