The Catalog of Good Deeds

The Canon

The miracle of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ enlightened human nature. In the canon, the portion of the Vigil which follows the reading of the Gospel, the Church shows the faithful this enlightenment. In contemporary practice, the canon consists of nine odes or songs. Each ode of the canon consists of a specific number of individual troparia.

Each individual canon has a specific subject of celebration: the Most Holy Trinity, an event from the Gospel or from the history of the Church, prayers to the Theotokos, or the magnification of a saint or saints of the day. The Sunday canons (on Saturday evening in usual Russian practice) celebrate the Resurrection of Christ and the ensuing enlightenment of the world, the victory over sin and death. Festal canons illuminate in detail the meaning of the feast and the life of the saint; as a model of the transfiguration of the world already taking place. The Church in some measure celebrates Christ’s victory over sin and death by contemplating the light of this transfiguration reflected in the canons.

The canons are read, but the initial verse of each individual ode is sung by the choir. These introductory verses are known as irmoi, from the Greek verb "to tie." The Irmos presents a pattern for all of the troparia which follow within a given ode.

An event from the Old Testament which embodies a transfiguring, that is, a prophetic and symbolic meaning relevant to the New Testament, serves as the pattern for each introductory irmos. For example, the irmos of the first ode commemorates, in Christian terms, the Hebrews’ miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. In this irmos, the Lord is glorified as the all-powerful deliverer from evil and slavery. The irmos of the second ode is taken from the song of denunciation spoken by Moses in the Sinai desert to awaken a spirit of repentance in the Hebrews fleeing from Egypt. The second ode is sung only during Great Lent. The irmos of the third ode is based on the song of thanksgiving sung by Anna, mother of the prophet Samuel, for having been given a son. In the irmos of the fourth ode, we hear a Christian interpretation of the appearance to the prophet of the Lord God, Habakkuk; as seen in the brilliant sunlight streaming from behind the wooded mountain. In this vision, the Church perceives the glory of the coming Savior. In the fifth ode, whose theme comes from the book of the prophet Isaiah, Christ is glorified as the bringer of peace. It also contains the prophecy of the Resurrection from the dead. The sixth irmos is taken from the story of the prophet Jonah, cast into the sea and swallowed up by a whale. In the eyes of the Church, this event serves to remind the Christian that he has sunk into the abyss of sin. The irmos also expresses the idea that there is no sorrow or misfortune in which the heartfelt prayer of the faithful cannot be heard. The irmoi of the seventh and eighth odes of the canon are based on the song of the three Hebrew children who were cast into the fiery Babylonian furnace. This event is a prefiguring of Christian martyrdom. Between the eighth and ninth odes, a song in honor of the Theotokos is chanted. It begins with the words, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." It is accompanied by the refrain, "More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim." The deacon chants the beginning of this glorification of the Mother of God. After censing the altar and the right side of the iconostasis, he stops before the icon of the Theotokos on the iconostasis, and, raising the censer chants: "The Theotokos and the Mother of the Light let us magnify in song." The choir responds with the magnification of the Mother of God.

During the chanting of the magnification, the deacon censes the entire church. Then the troparia of the final ode of the canon are read, and for the last time in the Vigil, we hear the Small Litany, "Again and again, in peace let us pray to the Lord." During the Resurrectional All-night Vigil, and following the Small Litany and the priest’s doxology, the deacon exclaims "Holy is Our God," and this phrase is then echoed thrice by the choir.

The Exapostilarion

In monasteries which follow the order of service to the letter and in churches in which the All-night Vigil actually does last all night, sunrise coincides with this point in the service. Special hymns celebrate its approach. The first is known as the Hymn of Light, or Светилeн — Svetilen (in Russian), a term referring to the heralding of the approaching light. This type of hymn is also known by the Greek term exapostilarion, which means "I send out," because a chanter is in fact "sent out" from the kliros to the center of the church to chant the exapostilarion. The renowned hymns "I see Thy Bridal Chamber adorned, O My Savior," and "The Wise Thief," heard during Passion Week, are examples of Exapostilaria/Svetilny. Among the best known of the Hymns of Light for the Mother of God is "The apostles, from the ends . . ." sung during the Dormition of the Mother of God.

After the Hymn of Light, the verse "Let every breath praise the Lord" is sung, and Psalms 148, 149, and 150 (LXX) are read. These three psalms are known as the Psalms of Praise, for in them the term "praise ye" is often repeated. Special stichera, known as the Aposticha for the praises, are combined with these psalms. They are usually sung at the close of Psalm 149 and after each verse of the short 150th Psalm. As in the case of the other stichera during the Vigil, the Aposticha for the praises glorify a Gospel event, an event in the life of the Church, or a saint or saints being commemorated on that day.

The Great Doxology

As we have already noted, in ancient times and even today in monasteries where the All-night Vigil indeed lasts all night, the sun rises during the second half of the Vigil. At this point, the Lord, the Giver of Light, is praised in a special, ancient Christian hymn, the Great Doxology, which begins with the words, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace." But before this, we see the priest through the open doors of the altar as he stands before the Holy Table and exclaims, "Glory to Thee, Who Hast shown us the light."

In the All-night Vigil, Matins concludes with the Augmented Litany and with the Litany of Supplication, the very same Litanies which were read earlier in the Vigil, during Vespers. They are followed by the priest’s closing doxology and by the Dismissal. The priest addresses the Mother of God with the prayer: "O Most Holy Theotokos save us!" The choir responds with a glorification of the Theotokos: "More honorable than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim. . . ." Thereafter, the priest again glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ with the doxology "Glory to Thee O Christ God, our hope, glory to Thee." The Choir responds with "Glory; both now and ever..." showing thereby that the glory of Christ is as well the glory of the All-holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And thus ends the Vigil as it began, with a glorification of the Holy Trinity.

The Hours

After the priest’s final blessing, the First Hour and final portion of the All-night Vigil, is read.

As we have already noted, the primary idea expressed in Matins is the joyous realization by the faithful that everyone who unites themselves to Christ will be saved and will be resurrected together to be with Him. According to the Church, we can attain union with Christ only with an attitude of humility and recognition of our unworthiness. For this reason, the Vigil does not end with the festive and joyous service of Matins, but with the First Hour, a service expressing a humble, repentant striving toward God.

The daily cycle of services of the Orthodox Church includes three Hours in addition to the First Hour. The Third and Sixth Hours are read before the beginning of the Divine Liturgy, and the Ninth Hour is read before the beginning of Vespers. Technically speaking, the Hours contain selections of texts pertinent to that particular time of day. However, each Hour also has a distinct mystical and spiritual significance, for each commemorates a stage of Christ’s Passion. The services proceed with an air of serious concentration and bear the stamp of Great Lent and of the Passion. A characteristic of the Hours and one that shows their kinship to the services of Great Lent is that reading takes precedence over singing.

The subject of the Third Hour is the handing over of the Savior to be insulted and flogged. A second New Testament theme is joined to the Third Hour: the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. In addition, in the Third Hour we find prayers for assistance and protection in our external and internal battle with evil, and we find prayers of repentance, such as that expressed in the 50th Psalm; which begins with "Have mercy on me O God. . . ."

The Sixth Hour coincides with the hour when Christ was crucified and nailed to the Cross. During the Sixth Hour, we hear the reader express the bitterness brought on by militant evil rampant in the world; while, at the same time we hear an expression of hope in God’s help. This hope is especially strongly expressed in the third of the psalms read during the Sixth Hour, the 90th Psalm, which commences with: "He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High shall abide in the shelter of the God of heaven. . . ."

The Ninth Hour is the hour at which Christ, while on the Cross, granted paradise to the thief, and it is the time at which He gave up His soul to God the Father until His Resurrection. In the psalms of the Ninth Hour we already hear thanks being expressed to Christ for His saving of the world.

Such, in brief, is the substance of the Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours. Now let us return to the First Hour; the hour which concludes the All-night Vigil.

Overall, in addition to commemorating the events that transpired during the first stage of Jesus Christ’s Passion, the First Hour expresses feelings of thanksgiving to God for the approaching light of day and for His setting us on a path during the coming day which is pleasing to Him. This is all expressed in the three psalms read during the First Hour, as well as, in its other prayers, and especially in the prayer, "Thou Who at all times and at every hour . . ." a prayer which is read during each of the Hours. In this prayer, the faithful ask for unity of Faith and for true knowledge of God. According to the Church, it is that knowledge that is the fountain from which will spring a Christian’s future spiritual benefits, that is, salvation and life eternal. The Lord speaks of this in the Holy Gospel according to John, chapter 17: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." The Orthodox Church teaches that it is possible to know God only through love and oneness of mind. This is why during the Liturgy, before the confession of faith in the Symbol of Faith, we proclaim, "Let us love one another, that with one mind we may confess Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity one in essence and undivided."

Following the prayer, "Thou Who at all times . . ." the priest comes out of the altar. He is dressed humbly, wearing an epitrachelion but without his shining outer vestments. The temple is in semi-darkness. In such a setting, the priest concludes the First Hour, and with it the All-night Vigil, with a prayer wherein he glorifies Christ as the True Light, Who enlighteneth and sanctifieth every man that cometh into the world. Turning to the Icon of the Mother of God, he commemorates her at the conclusion of the prayer. The choir responds with a festive hymn taken from the Akathist for the Annunciation of the Theotokos, "To thee the Champion Leader. . . ."

Translated by priest Peter Perekrestov

Edited by Lawrence Miller

From the Introductory chapter, "The History of Church Rubrics"

of The Explanatory Typicon by Prof. Michael Skaballanovitch

of the Kiev Theological Academy, 1910

The Carpenter’s Company is in the process of becoming a part of the Orthodox Church. This obviously means that we have had to withdraw from the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel which we did in early May, 1996. All this is actually the culmination of a journey which began for us in 1987 when the Holy Spirit commanded us to ask for the “ancient paths” (Jeremiah 6:16).

A Journey Begins

Our quest for the ancient paths did not actually get underway until June 17, 1989 when we began to meet every morning at six o’clock for prayer. We soon called it Vigil, the name given to the night office of prayer for over fifteen hundred years. We could not possibly have anticipated where this path would eventually lead us. Nor could we have foreseen that Vigil would last so long or become what it has.

When we began Vigil, the Lord’s Prayer was our prayer outline. About a month later, the Holy Spirit led us to begin to celebrate the Eucharist. Later worship was added. And as this process continued, now adding a certain element, now eliminating another, Vigil gradually became a different kind of meeting. Although its form was changing, one thing remained constant: the meeting began on its first day and has continued to the present with a strong, abiding, palpable sense of the Lord’s presence concerning which every visitor has remarked. However, the longer we maintained our daily Vigil, the further our path diverged from the path we had once traveled with Foursquare. Although we recognized we were becoming somewhat unique among Foursquare churches, we have always been confident that our conduct was well within the boundaries of Foursquare’s tolerance for diversity. More recently, however, especially since our encounter with Orthodoxy, we’ve become aware that we have been straining those boundaries.

A Spiritual Focus

By the time two years had passed, we had become a people with an intense spiritual focus. I suppose that is to be expected of a people who meet every day for prayer. We were beginning to give focused attention to issues to which we had only given lip service before.

We had all become faithful in maintaining a consistent, daily quiet time with the Lord. This was the first time that any of us had experienced consistent, long-term faithfulness in this regard.

We had become the kind of community we had only dreamed of before. We were learning what it really means to be “the family of God” as a matter of daily, practical reality.

Meeting daily as a prayer community meant that we could no longer tolerate in one another the “little” sins and acts of disobedience we’d learned to ignore when we used to meet weekly. Consequently we allowed the Holy Spirit to restore church discipline among us.

We became a people who gave themselves to the discipline of Scripture memorization. We have memorized I John, Romans, John and are now memorizing Galatians.

A Liturgical Direction

Meeting every day also made impossible the kind of innovative creativity a weekly schedule allows. Consequently, our daily worship became patterned. To our amazement, however, the more we repeated the prayers and songs we were using, the more meaningful they became to us. The result was predictable: our daily Vigil gradually became liturgical.

Enter, The Church Fathers

In 1992 on a personal retreat at St. Andrew’s Abbey, a Benedictine Monastery, I bought a copy of The Rule of St. Benedict (sixth century). Upon returning home, the leadership team began to read it together. What we discovered astonished us: The Rule dealt with situations we were facing fight then, but for which we had found little if any help from contemporary authors.

In the Introduction and footnotes were references to many others of the Church Fathers, most of whom we had never heard of before. Finding and reading these Church Fathers, particularly the Apostolic, Desert and Monastic Fathers, has perhaps been our most significant discovery. Their writings, though ancient, were more relevant and immediately applicable to our experience than anything we had ever heard or read. As a church which was becoming spiritual in focus, we had found an ocean of resource.

The Carpenter’s Company had become a church whose emphases had become prayer, strong and joyful worship and a commitment to learn obedience to God’s Word. Rather than “fulfillment” and “being affirmed” we put much more stress on “putting to death the deeds of the flesh and its passions and desires,” a consistent theme of the early Church Fathers.

A Growing Discomfort Results

When we began keeping Vigil, people who heard about it seemed to be impressed and were very complimentary. Without exception, they would say “If you keep this up for a year, you are going to have revival!”

However, as we did continue, they began to question why we were apparently neglecting the programs one might find in most churches. We assured these detractors that not having these programs didn’t mean we had neglected any of the areas of need these program customarily addressed. On the contrary, we had begun to discover that these things were more effectually dealt with by the things we were doing. Nevertheless, by stressing the things we did, we found ourselves more and more at variance with the prevailing Evangelical and Charismatic/Pentecostal culture.

While we’ve been walking on this increasingly spiritual pathway, we began to observe one thing after another in what was our own Foursquare denomination that caused us growing concern: Although we noticed these things with regard to the denomination with which we were then affiliated, they were and are nonetheless true of most Evangelical groups as well. Five examples follow:

1. The “Painless” Emphasis:

About a year before the L.E.A.D. Seminars (a program promoted by Dr. John Holland, the President of the Denomination, for the “enrichment” of Foursquare ministers) began, the ICFG circulated a survey on “Fulfillment in Ministry” among all Foursquare ministers in the United States. I was alarmed at its focus on academic achievement and management style and its almost total neglect of more directly spiritual/devotional matters. I wrote a letter to this effect to Dr. John Holland. He didn’t like the letter. It was “disappointment” to him, and he asked that we get together for lunch. We did. During our conversation, Dr. Holland said, “Dennis, we don’t want to cause our people pain when they come to church. They have enough pain in the world.”

I was stunned. After pondering Dr. Holland’s response for quite a while, I could no longer avoid concluding that Foursquare had embraced and now espoused the “feel-good doctrine” of the 90’s. Is not pain the result of our sin? Although confronting sin causes pain, will not such confrontation, in the long run, lead to a more godly and joyful life? Therefore, aren’t ministers supposed to cause pain by confronting sin? Didn’t Christ our God cause pain in His spiritual directive to the rich young ruler? Did not Paul cause pain in his letters to the Corinthians and the Galatians?

2. Self-Esteem:

Although not Foursquare himself, Dr. James Dobson has most certainly had as significant influence on the thinking of the contemporary Foursquare denomination as he has had on any other Evangelical group. Several years ago he wrote that virtually every human problem could be solved if we could build high self-esteem in both ourselves and others.

According to Romans 6-8, our problems emerge out of our sinful, flesh nature, not out of our lack of self-esteem. Dr. Dobson’s opinion contradicts this. Yet nowhere in the Foursquare movement or Evangelicalism at large, to my knowledge, was a significant voice raised to oppose Dr. Dobson’s variance. On the contrary, as far as our pastoral counseling practices are concerned, most Evangelicals have embraced and adopted this teaching.

3. The Addiction Doctrine:

At the L.E.A.D. Seminar two years ago Dr. Ted Roberts taught about “sexual addiction.” We have but to assume that became of his role as a L.E.A.D. instructor Foursquare thoroughly endorsed what he taught. According to the implications of what Dr. Roberts was teaching, sexual misconduct is to be considered a kind of disease to be dealt with therapeutically by some twelve-step type program.

Have we not missed Paul’s clear message in Romans 6:16 – “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” What Ted Roberts and others call addiction, Paul calls slavery to s/n. Those who give themselves to sexual sin, become slaves of sexual sin. Freedom isn’t restored through therapy, but through confession and repentance. That is clearly not what Ted Roberts was teaching.

Compounding his error, Dr. Roberts said that King David was a “classic sexual addict.” Though challenged from the floor, he defended and maintained his position. His statement was blasphemous. David did sin sexually, once, with Bathsheba, but ultimately repented (Psalm 51 – the Psalm most often quoted in the New Testament). He has always been known as “a man after God’s own heart,” a type of Jesus’ Kingly Ministry and Jesus Himself was called “Son of David.” Calling David a “sexual addict” (pervert) reflects blasphemously on the Father who endorsed him and the Son who came in fulfillment of his type, and on David who turned from his sin.

4. Majoring on Theological Minors:

At one of the panel discussions at last year’s Southwest District Pastors’ Conference, a recently appointed pastor asked whether children should be allowed to take Communion if they haven’t yet been baptized. I was aghast at our District Supervisor, John Watson’s answer. “It’s not an issue? he said, “If you make it an issue, you’ll end up pastoring a church of twenty people. Making those things an issue will narrow your base and we are about broadening our base.” John’s meaning was clear: such secondary, non-essential issues must not get in the way of making our churches as big as we can.

Since when is either Water-Baptism or Communion, a secondary, non-essential issue? Has not, rather, church size always been considered of secondary importance, at best, until the very recent Church Growth movement?

5. Capitulation to Feminism:

The more recent turn taken by Foursquare Women International away from being an auxiliary missionary service organization to being focused on the “affirmation” of women in a role of leadership and ministry, we believe is a clear capitulation to the subtleties of the spirit of feminism which is abroad in our land, a surrender to the spirit of this present age. Certainly Foursquare is not alone in this drift. Other Evangelical and Charismatic groups are years ahead. Although the languages used are the various dialects of “Evangelese,” the elements of the Feminist Agenda are clearly in place. It doesn’t take a Ph.D. historian to recognize that in this regard Evangelicalism as a whole is embracing a not too latent or embryonic feminism today just as mainline Protestantism did just twenty years ago.

A Turning Point

It has been a source of no little concern for us that although we have remained deeply confident that what we have been doing has been right and pleasing to the Lord; nevertheless, the more we pursued our course, the more estranged we became from Foursquare in particular and from Evangelicalism in general.

Recently, two things brought all of this to a head: Last year, we sent Robin and one of the wives of our Church Council to the Foursquare Women International Conference in Dallas. They returned with a video. I was stunned at the wholesale endorsement that Foursquare leadership at that conference gave to the ‘Toronto Blessing,” a movement so spurious that even John Wimber has disclaimed and dissociated himself from it. Is our anxiety for renewal so undiscerning that while we strain the gnats or by-law infractions, we are willing to swallow a camel of such an obvious spiritual deception as the “Toronto Blessing?”

The second thing happened about the same time. One of our members picked up a copy of The Spiritual Life and How to Be Attuned to It1 by someone called Theophan the Recluse. He wrote exactly the same thing as the Church Fathers. So we were very surprised to learn that this man had lived in nineteenth century Russia.

We sent to the publisher and received a catalogue of many more writers from this tradition, all of whom wrote and taught like the Church Fathers. They were not only Russians, but Greeks, Syrians, Armenians, Arabs and Egyptians as well. Unbeknownst to us, we had discovered the spiritual writers of the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Orthodoxy?

After spending several months reading these writers we came across The Orthodox Study Bible published in 1995 by Thomas Nelson. It’s not unusual to find an obscure press publishing works like these. But a major publisher like Thomas Nelson publishing a special Bible for the Orthodox is something else. Who are, these Orthodox, anyway? Having this and several other questions, we wrote to Conciliar Press2, the people behind its publication, for answers and to open dialogue.

Five days later I received a call from Father Peter Gillquist. I knew Peter Gillquist as one of the regional directors of Campus Crusade for Christ who surrounded Bill Bright when I was on part-time staff in 1963. Now he is an Orthodox priest. Father Peter sent me a copy of his book Becoming Orthodox which tells the story about how he (and other regional directors of Campus Crusade I had known) discovered Orthodoxy and recounts their journey which resulted in their conversion to the Orthodox Church.

Although different in several of the particulars, our journeys were parallel. As we spoke further with Father Peter and read his and Jon Braun’s book, Divine Energy, we discovered that, although substantially different in liturgical form, the spirit and faith and doctrine that had developed among the Carpenter’s Company was in fact, Orthodox. As diverse from Foursquare as we had become, we had become like the Orthodox.

Our unanimous decision to become an Orthodox Church, therefore, is simply the logical conclusion of the decision we made in June, 1989. Although our pursuit of Orthodoxy is only less than five months old, we have been “becoming Orthodox” for the past seven years. We just didn’t know it until now. In finding Orthodoxy, we have found “the ancient path, where the good way is” (Jeremiah 6:16). Metropolitan Philip, a hierarch of the Orthodox Church has said that the Orthodox Church is the best kept secret in America. Our conviction is that we haven’t found just another church, we’ve found the Church, the one true Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of history. In the words of a young man who recently found salvation through Orthodoxy:

… at last, I finally began to see how everything did fit together, how Truth was not “scattered in a thousand pieces,” but was preserved, intact and unchanging, in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church … I had finally, through all my searching, found the key, the ultimate source of Revealed Truth in pure, undistorted form. Something had always kept me looking for the “hardcore,” no-compromising Christianity, because I knew down inside that, if Jesus Christ is God, then Christianity had to be the most radical belief in the world. And it’s not surprising that the most hardcore, radical, all-or-nothing message I’ve ever heard comes not from anything “modern, new and revolutionary,” but from the “original thing” – the One Church, the only Church, the true Church the Orthodox Christian Church, the mystical Body of Christ.

Indeed, Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever!

By Dennis L. Corrigan

Source: http://silouanthompson.net/2008/05/recovering-the-ancient-paths/

- Geronda, why is it so that on feast days we are usually subject to temptations?

- Don’t you know why? On feast days, Christ, the Mother of God and saints are rejoicing and treating us spiritually. They give people their blessing and grant them spiritual gifts. You know, parents also prepare some treat for their children on their birthday, as well as kings proclaim amnesty when the prince is born. Then why can’t Saints treat people with something spiritual on Their day?

We need to say that the joy that we receive from Saints lives in us for long and people’s souls benefit much from it. The devil knows this and this is why he causes temptations so that people lose the Divine gifts they have got, and that the feast brings them neither benefit, nor joy. And then you can see that when a family prepares for the Holy Communion, the devil makes them quarrel, and then then not only miss the Communion but do not go to church at all. The evil one does everything he can to deprive people of Divine support.

The same we can notice in the monastic life. Since the devil knows that feast days bring us spiritual benefit, often he causes temptations on this day, or more often before the feast. He is a seducer – is there anything else he can do? Thus, he violates our inner condition. For example, he can make us quarrel with a brother, and the he brings us sorrow and makes us suffer both spiritually and bodily. By doing this he does not let us take benefit from the feast, to live this day in joy and glorifying God. However, if Good God sees that we did not provide the devil with a possibility to seduce us, and that everything happened only because of his jealousy, then God will help us.

Besides, God helps us to benefit much in case we humbly take the blame for what has happened and do not condemn neither our brother, nor even the devil who hated any good. Well, after all this is his job, to cause temptations and spread evil. At the same time, being and image of God, a human being is supposed to spread peace and kindness.

Source: http://pravlife.org/content/paisiy-svyatogorec-ob-iskusheniyah-v-prazdniki

Archpriest Andrew Lemeshonok, the spiritual father of St. Elisabeth Convent answers various questions of the parishioners.

What if you are 45 and you don't feel the fullness of life?

There is a saying, "Better late than never." You are not old: 45 years of age is the period in life when your creativity flourishes. I think you will be able to put your creative powers to use, if only you work hard and wait patiently.

Every person has a different take on what happiness is. This word has a different meaning for each person. A believer thinks that happiness means to be humble, to find the God-inspired peace, and to serve God and one's neighbour. An unbeliever thinks that happiness means satisfying one's desires and needs; being prosperous; living as one pleases. These goals are in total contradiction.

Right now, you have not managed to excel at your occupation, and this is what makes you frustrated, disgruntled, and angry; you would like to achieve something good in your life and to see the fruit of your labour. You needn't do something huge. You can do something small but with love. You don't have to do a lot of things: you can simply do your best to be neat, patient, and work diligently in the place where you are now. Most importantly, you should have good thoughts, a pure heart that is open to other people and filled with peace and love. This is how you will be able to help many people. I know humble people whom you can overlook sometimes but who have so much love and so much vitality! They haven't become famous. Their lives are far from being a colourful kaleidoscope of victories and achievements. They keep working humbly and quietly. They are satisfied with what they've got. They appreciate it, and God dwells inside them. This is truly beautiful.

You want to feel the fullness of life, don't you? Perhaps, it's time to begin thinking of a connection with God, of spiritual development, of growing in trust and faith? Sooner or later, the most precious and close friends and relatives part their ways, the most grandiose projects grow old, and everything we create breaks into pieces. Maybe you'd better look for the happiness within, in your own immortal soul? The most important moment in the life of every believer is his encounter with Christ. Have you had this encounter yet? Are you looking forward to it? Right now, you look at the outer layer of your life. Try looking deeper below the surface.

What do I do if it is hard for me to fast?

There are accommodations for people who suffer from certain health issues. The approach to fasting should be undertaken on an individual basis. You can eat salmon, for example. You won't break your fast with it. It is simply a way to make it easier.

If you worry for your health and feel the need to eat more foods than normally allowed, go to church and ask a priest for his blessing so as not to be conscience-stricken. The Church adheres to the principle of positive changes, as opposed to disruption, and this is also true of our approach to physical health. Of course, you have to fast to a certain extent. For instance, you should abstain from things that you like, from your passions, but it is subject to regulations and depends on our faith, our prayer, and our attitude towards fasting. You must assess your health condition critically. If you fear and doubt, you should eat ordinary non-lenten food but not to be tempted. You should go to a confession and tell your priest about it.

Fasting helps us to fight our sins but it should not ruin our health. You can always find the measure of fasting that will suffice for you.

Years go by but I don't have a family. What can you do?

This question is asked by many people. We all want something and yearn for something but we donЎЇt receive itЎ However, if one is willing to keep praying and praying and praying for real, God will give him what he asks for. We have seen it happen over and over again. What can you do? Man proposes but the Lord disposes. There might be a sisterhood in your parish, and if there isn't, you can try to establish one. There are orphanages and boarding homes populated with children who don't have parents. It would be great if the faithful visited those children and helped them.

If you have free time and you love children, you can adopt. There are cases where single women adopt orphans. A friend of mine has two children of her own and she adopted a child. The solution to your problem does exist.

If you still hope to get married, you should keep hoping and praying. There is a sister in our Sisterhood who found a husband at the age of 40+, and they have a wonderful life together as a family.

We often start grudging, become sad and embittered, sullen and angry. That's wrong. God gives us what we need. We don't value it enough sometimes. We don't accept it and try to build a life as we please, and it always leads to unsatisfactory results. Therefore, find support in God, find the source of power in prayer, in the Sacraments of Confession and Communion, struggle with depression and lack of faith. Sooner or later you will have to part with all earthly and transient things. This is why we, especially as we grow older, begin to think of our immortal souls, begin to learn to pray and to live with God. It requires a lot of time and effort. I would like to wish you peace in your soul so that you wouldn't doubt God's love.

December 21, 2017

St. Elisabeth Convent