The Catalog of Good Deeds

Question: Your blessing, Father. A lot of books mention that we are strongly advised against imagining the Lord, the Theotokos, or the saints while praying. However, I haven’t found what one should have in one’s head while praying. We must be aware that our words don’t sink down into the boundless Universe but go straight up to God, right? How do we recognize the proper way of praying? Prayer is our conversation with God but when we think of talking with our colleagues, our parents or spouses, we usually imagine them in our minds, don’t we? Anna (Belgorod, Russia)

Answer by Fr. Andrew Lemeshonok: Anna, we should not fantasize during prayer. We have emotions and passions but there are rules set by the Holy Fathers. These rules help us to build proper relationships with God.

Of course, we cannot imagine the void. We know that we stand before God, in the presence of Him who can see through us. We do our best to focus on the words that we utter while praying. Nonetheless, our minds should entertain no images... We stand in front of the invisible God and try to stay alone with him and to lay all our earthly cares aside. We hope to unite our minds and our hearts together during the prayer to restore the inner unity broken by the sin.

We have icons, though. However, icons are not for guessing how the saints look at us, with a smile or with a threat. Icons are our windows into the spiritual realm. We invoke the prototype by looking at the image, that is, we invoke a saint, the Mother of God, or the Lord himself. Icons are blessed by the Holy Church. They are painted according to canons, so they do not rely on an artist’s imagination. Icons are sacred images, which the Church invites us to use to connect to God. They are like photos of our loved ones: we look at the photos and remember them, and talk to them in our thoughts.

I think that when you pray and make spiritual effort, you will settle everything down. Most importantly, you should avoid emotional outbursts and enthusiastic feelings. You should seek discernment, a peaceful mind and heart, and attention, of course. May the Lord help you.

May 2, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

For 2000 years in the Orthodox Church, the tradition has been for women and girls to veil their heads during worship, whether at church for the liturgy, or at home for family prayer time.

What is the Scriptural and Patristic evidence for this tradition, and why is it important?

In this article, we will take a look at headcoverings in the Old Testament, headcoverings in the New Testament, headcoverings according to the early Church, headcoverings in icons, and headcoverings today. At the end of the article there are links to additional resources for learning about Christian headcoverings.

Headcoverings in the Old Testament

Centuries before the birth of Christ, women’s headcoverings were an accepted practice for God’s people. It was not merely an option for those who wished to be holy. Rather, it was a matter-of-fact expectation that all women would cover their heads.

When the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to pen the first five books of Scripture, women’s headcoverings were simply assumed to be the normal practice. In the book of Numbers, when a unique ceremony is performed that requires an uncovered head, Scripture makes a point to say that the woman’s headcovering needs to be removed:

“the priest shall stand the woman before the Lord, uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering for remembering in her hands” (Numbers 5:18)

Of course, such a requirement would make little sense, if women did not normally keep their heads covered.

Even earlier than this, in the book of Genesis, we read about Rebekah, on a journey to meet her future husband, Isaac:

Then Rebekah lifted her eyes, and when she saw Isaac she dismounted from her camel; for she had said to the servant, “Who is this man walking in the field to meet us?” The servant said, “It is my master.” So she took a veil and covered herself. (Genesis 24:64-65)

Her godly discretion is a model for women today. She did not flaunt her physical beauty. Rather, she veiled herself, increasing her allure through an outward display of modesty.

Women’s headcoverings can also be found in the story of Susanna. It is the captivating story of a beautiful, virtuous woman who was falsely accused, and later vindicated by the wisdom of young Daniel. Susanna wore a veil that covered not only her head, but her face as well. Scripture looks disapprovingly upon the removal of her veil:

Now Susanna was exceeding delicate, and beautiful to behold. But those wicked men commanded that her face should be uncovered, (for she was covered,) that so at least they might be satisfied with her beauty. Therefore her friends and all her acquaintance wept. (The Story of Susanna / Daniel 13:31-33)

In this passage of Scripture, virtuous people approve of women’s headcoverings and veils, while ungodly men seek their removal.

Headcoverings in the New Testament

Women’s headcoverings are one of the many points of similarity between Israel and the Church. Godly women had covered their heads for thousands of years prior to the advent of Christ. And when the New Testament Church was born, godly women continued the practice.

In St. Paul’s first epistle to the church in Corinth, he instructs everyone to follow the holy traditions which have been received:

Now, I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you. (1 Corinthians 11:2)

Women’s headcoverings are one of the holy traditions which the Church had received, and St. Paul spends the next several paragraphs discussing them. He says that headcoverings manifest honor, in the context of worship:

Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. (1 Corinthians 11:4)

Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head. (1 Corinthians 11:5)

The message is pretty clear: It is honorable for a woman to wear headcoverings during worship, but it is dishonorable for men to wear them. This is why men remove their hats for prayer, even to this day.

Not content to make his point only once, St. Paul reiterates himself a few verses later. Women are to cover their heads, and men are not to do so:

A man indeed ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. (1 Corinthians 11:7)

The woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels. (1 Corinthians 11:10)

The Old Testament reveals that this holy tradition is ancient, but it only begins to hint at the reasons.

Here in the New Testament, we are given some reasons for the practice. According to 1 Corinthians 11, headcoverings manifest a woman’s honor. They also are important “because of the angels”.

Angels are present with us when we pray, and when we worship. While we may not fully understand why headcoverings are important to the angels, it is sufficient for us to know that this reason is given in Scripture. If Scripture says that women’s headcoverings are important to the angels, then it is something we should take seriously.

Headcoverings according to the Early Church Fathers

St. John Chrysostom (d. A.D. 407), in a sermon at the Feast of the Ascension, spoke both of angels and the veiling of women:

“The angels are present here . . . Open the eyes of faith and look upon this sight. For if the very air is filled with angels, how much more so the Church! . . . Hear the Apostle teaching this, when he bids the women to cover their heads with a veil because of the presence of the angels.”

Origen, another prominent teacher in the early Church, said,

“There are angels in the midst of our assembly . . . we have here a twofold Church, one of men, the other of angels . . . And since there are angels present . . . women, when they pray, are ordered to have a covering upon their heads because of those angels. They assist the saints and rejoice in the Church.”

The Apostolic Tradition was written in the second century, and the author is believed to be St. Hippolytus of Rome. This book has instructions for catechumens, including this:

“And let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth . . .”

And St. Cyril of Alexandria, commenting on First Corinthians, wrote:

“The angels find it extremely hard to bear if this law [that women cover their heads] is disregarded.”

Headcoverings in Icons

Icons in the Orthodox Church are a visual guide to the Faith, a sort of “picturebook” of Christianity. Icons teach us about the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and about the lives of many Christians who have gone before us.

Icons also teach us about headcoverings.

Virtually every icon of an Orthodox woman displays her wearing a headcovering. As far as I know, the only exception is St. Mary of Egypt, and she was a solitary saint who lived alone in the desert, far away from any people.

Among the female saints who participated in society, all of them wore headcoverings, and their headcoverings are shown in icons.

Even Mary the Mother of God–the most blessed woman in the entire universe–is shown in icons, wearing a headcovering.

Can you think of a better role-model for women?

Headcoverings Today

In our church, all women and girls are asked to wear headcoverings, in obedience to God’s command in Scripture, and out of respect for the holy traditions of the Orthodox Church. Just inside the front door of the church, we keep a basket of headcoverings, just in case a woman forgets hers at home and needs to borrow one for the day. Headcoverings are also worn at home, during family prayer time.

While honoring God’s direction is a reward unto itself, there are many other benefits as well. For example:

Headcoverings manifest a woman’s honor. As St. Paul points out in Scripture, a woman brings honor to herself by covering her head during prayer.

Headcoverings encourage humility. Godly women come to church to focus on worship, not to draw attention to themselves. A girl may be tempted to show off an attractive hairdo. When a woman wears a headcovering, this temptation is removed. She can focus on prayer, instead of on hair.

Headcoverings save time. In today’s culture, it can be tempting to spend a lot of time and energy on hairstyles. But headcoverings are quick and easy. It takes a lot less time to put on a headcovering, than it does to prepare a hairdo for display.

Headcoverings help us show love and consideration for our brothers. Godly men come to church to focus on worship. But the flowing locks of beautiful woman can be distracting. By veiling her hair, a woman can display her modesty, and remove an unnecessary distraction.

A mainstream theological journal recently published an article about women’s headcoverings. Soon after, the author of the article became a member of the Orthodox Church. In the article, she beautifully illustrates the iconic purpose of headcoverings:

“My wearing a head covering is not only a symbol or sign that I am in agreement with His order, but that I visibly, willingly submit to it. With submission comes blessing.” (Christa Conrad)

In an issue of The Handmaiden, a lady named Elizabet gives her testimony about wearing headcoverings:

For twelve years I have worn a scarf [headcovering] at all times. I now perceive that it has been—and continues to be—essential for the pilgrim journey and salvation of my soul. The bottom line for me—and a growing number of my sisters—remains obedience. And with it comes a sense of being in our rightful place in God’s ordered universe, rejoicing with the angels. Now I gratefully say, “I am!” in the presence of the great I AM—at prayer and in church, surrounded by the angelic host, worshipping our Lord and King. To God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be the glory, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen!

By Fr Joseph Gleason

Source: https://theorthodoxlife.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/womens-headcoverings/

One famous atheist once said: Inside a human being, there is only void, and every one of us is filling it according to our wishes. Unfortunately, these words are correct. According to the words of Apostle Paul, a human being is a vessel. And in any vessel it is not the vessel itself what is important, but its contents. This is why each of us is to be filled with something external for us: either with God, His blessing grace and good, or with devil and his evil.

The belief in evil eye or jinx is connected with what is inside of us, with the contents of our inner void. If we are filled with God, we must not be afraid of any jinx or sorcery. Devil and his fallen spirits are no match for God in their power. This is just the creature that has betrayed God and that is trying now to destroy everything loved by Him. According to St. Paisios the Hagiorite, dark forces are powerless against us, but we ourselves give them power, when we retreat from the Creator.

By believing in a "bad eye", we show our distrust towards God and thus we let devil enter our life, give him an opportunity to act in us and through us. If a person lives a full spiritual life, if God is in first place in his life, then nothing and no one can damage his soul. In the Holy Gospel, the Lord says to all his adherents: “Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).

St. Anthony the Great states: “Where there is the sign of the cross, there any sorcery fades and any magic is useless”. What is more, it is rather important to live a spiritual life, as it was said above, which means that we have to participate in the Church sacraments, especially in the sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion. Only in this case no evil can use its power against us. As it is said, “if God is with us, than who can be against us?”

Besides, we should remember that everything that is happening in the world is in God’s hands. Consequently, if something bad happens to us, as we think, it does not mean that everything is really bad for us. Often it can be so that something that we consider bad for us, is the beginning of something good, and this is why it happens for our benefit. For example, for strengthening our weak and often poor faith.

Source: http://pravlife.org/ru/content/kak-borotsya-so-sglazom-sushchestvuet-li

In the Divine Liturgy, after the initial doxology in which the celebrant blesses the Kingdom of God and blesses with the sign of the Cross the altar table and its antimension before using it, the assembled Church next prays the Great Litany. This represents the intercessory prayers of the royal priesthood, wherein the Church prays for the whole world in the Name of Jesus, standing in the gap and lifting up the whole needy cosmos to the mercy of God. St. John Chrysostom, if taken straight from his Liturgy in the fourth century to ours, would be surprised that this was done so early in the liturgical assembly.

That is because in St. John’s day, there were catechumens present, men and women who were not yet part of the royal priesthood (that is, the holy laity), and who were therefore not yet qualified to offer those prayers to God. Our present liturgical ordo is not the actual service as served by Chrysostom (whatever our ascription says in the final dismissal), but the service of the Byzantine Church, dating from a time after the institution of the catechumenate had died out. In Chrysostom’s day, the intercessory prayers were only offered after the catechumens had been dismissed. In the later Byzantine Church, there were no catechumens, and the only people present for the Liturgy were the baptized, since everyone had then been baptized in infancy. Thus there was no difficulty in everyone praying the intercessory prayers of the royal priesthood, because everyone present was then a part of that priesthood.

The absence of catechumens during the praying of the Great Litany stressed the nature of the intercessions as prayers offered in the Name of Jesus. Praying “in the Name of Jesus” does not mean that we end our prayers with the verbal formula “and this we pray in Jesus’ Name” as if it were some sort of invocational magic wand. To pray in the Name of Jesus means to pray with the authority of Jesus, with His boldness before the Father, with His access to the Father’s presence. It means, in short, praying as part of His Body. That is why catechumens could not offer those prayers, for they were not yet part of that Body. It was only through holy baptism that they became holy; only through the initiating water and the Spirit that they became part of the royal priesthood and eligible to offer the Great Litany, praying for the world with the authority of the sons of God and members of the Body of Christ. Anyone can pray, of course, and God who hears the cry of every sparrow that falls also hears the cries of Jews, Muslims, pagans, and atheists trembling in their proverbial fox-holes. But Christian intercession is different. Christian intercession is done in the Name of Jesus, with sure and certain access to the presence of the Father. Christian intercession is like no other.

In those intercessory prayers of the Great Litany we note a certain generosity of spirit and universality of concern. That is, we don’t just pray for our little congregation, or even for all the Orthodox, or even for all Christians. Instead we pray for absolutely everyone, Christian or not. We pray “for the peace of the whole world”, “for this country and its President” (or its Queen, if living in the British Commonwealth), despite the fact that many in the country are not Christian and the ruler may not be Orthodox. We pray “for every city and countryside”, regardless of how many Orthodox Christians may be in them, “for travellers by land, by sea, and by air, for the sick and the suffering”, with no concern for whether the travellers, the sick and the suffering belong to our faith confession. In short, just as God causes His sun to shine on the just and the unjust, so we also pray for everyone, regardless of their deserving. This generosity of spirit and universality of concern in prayer is intended to flow over into the rest of our lives too—just as we pray for people regardless of their deserving, so we love and give to people regardless of their deserving. We pray for travellers whether or not they are Orthodox travellers, and we give spare change to beggars whether or not they are Orthodox beggars. The Great Litany thus trains us to regard a person’s need as the primary thing, not their deserving. Their deserving and their final eternal score can be safely left with God. Our job is to pray, and love, and give.

We note too that such universality of concern is mentioned in general terms. We pray, for example, for all the sick, but do not need to know their names and ailments. If one does know the name of someone needing prayer, that is fine, but such people are generally those we already know anyway. In saner times, the individual and specific suffering we knew about were mostly those of local people—we knew about a particular beggar’s plight because we saw him in the streets—and thus could do something about it. That is a much saner approach than the one current today, where we are informed at length about the suffering of multitudes of people that we cannot really help. Through newspaper, radio, and especially the nightly news, we are inundated with stories and sound bites of suffering—multitudes left homeless from a flood in China, whole families slaughtered for their Faith in the Middle East, crowds being blown up by a suicide bomber in Germany, epidemics in Britain, drought and famine in Africa. Sometimes, on rare occasions, we are given the opportunity to actually help by contributing money to relief organizations. But mostly we are simply bombarded, overwhelmed with news of suffering about which we can do nothing. No wonder our heart is worn and weighed down. We were never meant to live like this.

When story after story is read over the news detailing disasters from across the world, I sometimes want to reach into the television and seize the news anchor and demand, “Why are you telling me this? No really—why are you telling me this?” It is not because I need to know, for I can and do pray for the sick and suffering anyway without this information. It is unlikely my prayers are made more effective by the weighing down of my heart. So then why am I told this? The answer, I’m afraid, is “For the entertainment value”, though of course no one in the media would phrase it like this. It is left to the prophetic song-writers to pull the mask off our cultural dysfunction and speak the truth. Take for example the old 1982 song “Dirty Laundry” by Don Henley. Henley reveals why I am told this: “It’s interesting when people die.” The Great Litany, on the other hand, allows us to pray for the world without knowing the details. There is only one person with large enough shoulders to bear the weight of the world, and know the details, and hear every suffering cry. And He has already carried their sins on the Cross.

The prayer offered at the conclusion of the Great Litany seems not directly connected with the petitions that have preceded it, but seems to be a general sort of prayer that could be offered in any situation. In it the celebrant invokes God “whose power is incomparable, whose glory is incomprehensible, whose mercy is immeasurable, and whose love for man in inexpressible”. Note all the negative adjectives. They show that God is bigger than any words could describe (theologians call this “apophaticism”), beyond any description we could come up with, so that words almost have no meaning. Almost, but not quite—at the end of the day, we do have to say something in our corporate prayers. But by using these negative terms (“not comparable, not comprehensible, not measurable, not expressible”) we show how vast is God’s love and mercy to us. And that, when all is said and done, is why we sinners have the courage to pray and intercede at all. God allows us the vast dignity of causality, so that our little prayers become caught up in the immense tapestry of God’s will, and help work His purposes in the world.

By Fr. Lawrence Farley

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/nootherfoundation/commentary-divine-liturgy-great-litany/

Is Christianity doomed to disappear in our country? This is a question that I have dealt with previously in several articles, but we return to it today from the perspective of how Christians view themselves and their witness in today's world. Instead we will point out some phenomena that have recently arisen in Christians' behavior and attitude toward current events.

The primary phenomenon from which all the other phenomena stem is Christians' neglect of what is essential in Christianity and contentment with what is inessential in it. By 'essential' we do not mean the fundamental dogmatic questions that distinguish Christians from others or those that distinguish Christians from each other according to their various affiliations. Rather, we mean the essence of the moral and life teachings of Jesus Christ.

If we want to characterize Christianity in brief, we would say that it is the imitation of Jesus Christ in daily life and concern for humanity in general and the needy in particular. Love comes at the essence of this essence and Christ Himself made it His only charge for His disciples. Indeed, He made it the only proof of their Christianity, so if they lose it, they cease to belong to Him, and so cease belonging to Christianity. "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35).

For Christians to depart from this essence in their moral attitudes for political, patriotic, economic or sectarian reasons is absolutely the most disturbing phenomenon. Christians will either physically or spiritually disappear. What does it mean for Christians to remain if they do not imitate Christ and only make the Gospel their measure when it suits them? "By this all will know that you are My disciples." So are Christians known by their behavior or only by their names and their family names? Can we not say that Christianity has disappeared from our country, despite the fact that there remain Christians who are not pleased with life as Christ wants it to be? Does a Christian remain a Christian if he says that the Gospel is not for him right now?

What we are currently witnessing causes us to affirm that the loss of the moral essence among Christians is the most effective factor for the disappearance of Christianity. Here are some phenomena that provide examples of the moral aberrations that provoke fear for the future of Christianity in our country:

When Christians applaud unjust regimes with the excuse that they protect them from a greater danger, as though Christ chose between a lesser and a greater evil. The lesser and the greater evil are both evil!

When the "rights of Christians" become more important than the "rights of man".

When the "rights of Christians" become more important than Christ's rights. Christ's rights are none other than that the poor be embraced, that the hungry be fed, that the sick be helped, that the stranger be sheltered... As for the "rights of Christians", this doesn't mean anything but the rights of the rich or of those who are in a position to become wealthy, from the rank of "general manager" on up.

When Christians support a policy of discriminating among the people of God, violating the basic principles of Jesus Christ's teachings.

When belonging to the Church is replaced by sectarian affiliation.

When Christ's tomb becomes more important than the people of Palestine remaining in their homeland.

When erecting a cross or enormous statues on mountaintops becomes more important than investing the Church's endowments in supporting people to remain in their country against incentives to emigrate.

When some people imagine regaining the Church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, while at the very same time neglect to support those who stand firm in their villages, so that what happened to the people of Constantinople will not happen to them!

Yes, Christianity is doomed to disappear in our country if we ignore this moral essence of the teachings of Jesus Christ. "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). Where do we stand in terms of these words?

By Fr. George Massouh

Source: http://araborthodoxy.blogspot.com.by/2017/08/fr-george-massouh-when-will.html

1. Remember about the words of St. Simeon the New Theologian: “The one who is looking for a spiritual father should look for a person who has been born spiritually already and who knows his God and Father, so that this person can give you spiritual birth too and turn you into a true son of God”.

2. You should understand that a perfect spiritual father is a person of holy life. However, you should proceed from real life and should not daydream. This is why I would like to advise you not to make excessive demands on a spiritual father. Choose from the candidates which are around you.

3. Bishop Peter (Ekaterinovsky) wrote: “It is hard to find a good guide in our spiritual life”. This statement is quite relevant even today. Bishop Peter thought that there is no need to look for a spiritual father who has attained holiness. It would be enough if he is a righteous, advised and experienced person. Besides, he should have desire and opportunity to guide his spiritual children. “If there is no such person, then we need to pray God that he sends us one”, said Bishop Peter.

4. Keep in mind that you can meet a false guide on your way. St. Theophan warned that a person, who is considered an elder, often turns out to be an elder only “by his grey hair”. This can be either evident for everyone, or can be hidden deep beneath his righteous appearance. This is why there is always a possibility to come to a false guide instead of coming to a true one; to find harm and death instead of help and salvation.

5. How can we distinguish a false mentor from a true one? According to St. Simeon the New Theologian, a specific feature of a true spiritual father is his fatherly love. St. Paisios the Athonite said: “The evidence of the spiritual condition of a father is that he is rather hard on himself, but at the same time is very lenient on other people. What is more, he never uses the Church canons against others!”

6. If any doubts concerning the spirituality of the chosen father emerge in your mind, it would be better for you not to cooperate closely with him until the situation becomes clear. You should not do any risky experiments on your way to salvation because they can cause you permanent spiritual damage.

7. We are surrounded by various spiritual fathers. They are different by their characters, experience and the level of spiritual perfection. How can you understand whom of them you should choose to be your spiritual father? While looking for a guide, keep the main rule – pay attention not to his mind, his character and education, but to his faith and firm commitment to the Church teaching.

An excerpt from: http://www.duhovnik.ru/main/how_to_find?id=228

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