The Catalog of Good Deeds

By Fr. Andrew Lemeshonok

When I anoint or sprinkle people with Holy water, I feel the depth of every person standing in front of me; there are so many things inside of this person: pain, joy, contradictions, sin, and God's mercy! Man has this all mixed up in him. And when you begin to unravel it - you get confused. Therefore, it is very important for us not to make it more complicated, but to be able to free ourselves from our selfishness, get rid of today’s bewilderments and misunderstandings in order to find God and see the light. Just like when you turn on a lightbulb and it gets brighter, the light falls onto people and illuminates everything. The same thing happens in our lives: we need to find the light to see who we really are and accept our life’s circumstances. It will keep us from making the wrong decisions and actions that could cause our further destruction. We are mistaken if we choose to close ourselves off, because leading such a sheltered life will not allow us to serve God.

You need to see your neighbor. You need to see the person next to you. You have to open up your heart for one, for two people. People who managed to break the shackles of time ended up having a big heart where able to embrace all of humanity and support it together with their prayers, their pain, joy and sorrow. Only imagine what a great challenge it is for an Orthodox Christian to get away from their selfish world and enter the world of God, the history of mankind, and, moreover, you are there not only as a spectator, but you actively participate in it. Here we are looking at the history: the creation of man, the fall of Adam, the Tower of Babel, the return of the prodigal son, Zacchaeus climbing a tree, a publican who comes into the church and says: "God, be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18: 13). We enter this world, we live in it and we must be able to give up all the worldly cares, leave all our fantasies behind and start a new life together with God.

It is vital for us to experience real life, God's beauty, the love of God! We need to start to show sign of life, movement: to do something in order to wake up from our dazed state. I gave advice to one of our sisters (her inner state is quite bad, she is torturing herself and she looks really hopeless): "Come on, get up, turn on the cold water in your tap and stand under it for a minute. I am sure, it will make a difference: you will be cold, it will wake you up, your face will change - you will no longer be standing with such a grim face under the icy water. It will be your small victory. "You have to do something about your inner state, you have to move, do you understand what I mean? Instead, you look like frozen mummies: motionless... It is awful to see a young man at his forties who finds it hard to live, that’s crazy! Hopefully, there are elderly people here like our sister Lydia, look at her - she is so beautiful! I think she is one of the youngest sisters in our convent. How old is she? Seventy-two. And you ask me why? Because she has life in her eyes, she is living, she has interests, she cares. That is what is important.

June 18, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

In the Divine Liturgy, after the antiphons, comes the Trisagion Hymn, prefaced by a prayer in which the celebrant prays that the God who is hymned by the seraphim, the cherubim, and by every angelic power in heaven, may also deign to accept the hymn we now sing to Him on earth. In many churches this beautiful prayer is said silently, so that the faithful hear only the final clause of the prayer (“For holy are You, O our God, and unto You we send up glory…”) and so miss the rationale for saying this prayer prior to chanting the Trisagion. When we look carefully at the Trisagion Hymn, however, we see something a little odd—and something that provides a clue to the hymn’s original function and its present meaning.

That odd bit to which I refer is the presence of the words “Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages”—sometimes referred to in liturgical shorthand as “the Glory Now and Ever”. Why are these words found at the conclusion of the Trisagion Hymn? They are not found at the end of other hymns such as the Cherubic Hymn (“Let us who mystically represent the cherubim…”) or the anaphoral hymn to the Theotokos (“It is truly meet to bless you, O Theotokos…”) or the post-communion hymn “Let our mouths be filled with Your praise…”) Why do we sing it at the conclusion of the Trisagion? The answer: its presence in the Trisagion is a vestige of the psalm of which the Trisagion once formed the repeated refrain. It is, in fact, all that is left of the psalm—unless one counts the way the Trisagion is sung during a Hierarchical Liturgy with the bishop. In that service, the Trisagion is sung not just three or four times, but many times, and in between some of the Trisagion refrains the bishop chants the verses of Psalm 80:14f, “Look down from heaven, O God, and behold, and visit this vine which Your right hand has planted and establish it”. It is not a fancied-up version of the original Trisagion, but a vestige of the original.

In the original usage, the Trisagion was sung as a refrain to Psalm 80. The cantor would chant verses of the psalm as all walked in procession and the people sung the Trisagion hymn as its refrain after every verse. Like all psalms, this psalm concluded with the “Glory Now and Ever”, after which the refrain was sung one final time. In other words, the Trisagion Hymn once served as an entrance chant, something everyone sung while entering the Church. Now that it is preceded by the Great Litany and the Antiphons, its original function as the entry chant has become obscured. But a final vestige of this function can still be seen if one watches the clergy very carefully—as the singing of the Trisagion comes to an end, they leave their place in front of the altar table and walk to the High Place at the far east end, the place where the clergy seats originally stood. That is because these seats were their original destination—in the days of Chrysostom the clergy entered the Church, walked through the nave, up into the altar area and took their seats at the far east end. Only then after the initial greeting did the service begin with the readings. The clergy now stand in the altar for quite some time before the Trisagion, but their final arrival at the High Place for their seats is still deferred until after the Trisagion has been sung.

The fact that the Trisagion was originally an entry chant also reveals its true meaning and the meaning of the Liturgy as a whole. That is, the Liturgy represents our drawing near to God, our leaving the world and coming into His Presence, our spiritual access into heaven where we stand before His face as His children. That is why we sing the song of the angels: in heaven the angels sing the thrice-holy hymn, crying “Holy, holy, holy!” (see Isaiah 6:1-3), and we sinners also sing a thrice-holy hymn to the heavenly God. It takes boldness for us, frail creatures of dust and ashes who drink iniquity like water (Job 15:16), to stand before God as the holy angels do. That is why in the preceding prayer the celebrant says that God does not despise the sinner, but instead appointed repentance unto salvation and has granted us to stand in the holy place and offer the worship and praise which are His due. That is why we boldly enter His presence—not through our worthiness, but through His grace. Through Christ and by His Spirit, we have an access into the divine presence not granted to the rest of the world.

We must not however take this access for granted and become complacent because we routinely enter into Church and take our respective places before the face of God. The psalmist long ago told us what we need to bring to God if we are to receive that grace—anyone who dares to ascend the hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place needs clean hands and a pure heart, walking in integrity and humility (Psalm 24:3-4). If we live as hypocrites and not a penitent disciples of Christ, walling off our Sunday devotion to Him from the rest of the week, we are in no condition to ascend into His holy place and sing the thrice-holy hymn of the angels. Better to remain afar until we have repented and come to our senses. Then we can join the throng of the baptized and enter with them into the holy place.

The Trisagion Hymn witnesses to the function of Liturgy as one of entrance. Once we were far from God, separated from the covenants of grace. Now in Christ we have been brought near, and boldly enter into the very presence of God. When we sing the Trisagion Hymn we are reminded of that entrance, and of the grace by which we enter.

By Fr. Lawrence Farley

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

On July 8, the Russian Orthodox Church honors the memory of the holy right-believing Prince Peter and Princess Febronia of Murom, who endured many trials in order to create an example of a Christian family.

The first trial was what the young prince had to endure in order to fulfill God’s will regardless of the world’s demands, and marry the daughter of a simple woodsman. Unfortunately, many people today are looking for someone “within parameters,” forgetting about the fact that what we really need is someone of like soul. Fr. Artemy Vladimirov shares his thoughts about what we should seek in our life’s companion, how we should not give in to societal pressure in choosing a spouse, and not miss our chance to have a person with whom we can truly live the rest of our lives.

“Sacrifice is the main expression of love”

—As a prince, Peter was of course seeking a partner equal to what his rank required. He was a man of importance, surrounded by the aristocratic boyar elite, and understood that his choice would affect the fate of the princedom itself. By that time in ancient Russian society there were already class distinctions in place. Having fallen ill, his entire body covered with a rash, he despaired of receiving any help. But the wise Febronia from the village of Laski (this village still exists, near Ryazan) healed him. The prince promised to marry her, but later forgot about his promise. And again he was covered with a rash, and again Febronia treated him. Then he understood that it was his fate, and he had to quickly keep the word he had dropped.

St. Febronia was unusually intelligent. We have no grounds for thinking that she was not good looking. If she had been a homely girl, a grandee would not have taken such a salacious interest in her as she traveled along the river, now in royal clothing with a sable collar. She put that audacious man in his place and shamed him in a very convincing manner, having understood his impure intentions.

Well, and St. Peter very soon understood what a treasure he had found in Febronia, who was distinguished by her calmness, without an ounce of rebelliousness, hysteria, or light-mindedness in her. She never caused any scandals for her husband, did not order him around or try to become his boss. Rather in her can be seen, judging from the text of their Life, a special dignity, a humble grandeur, which is characteristic of people who have grace. To her natural intelligence was joined also grace-filled enlightenment, and God clearly worked through her, judging from her Life and the influence she had on the moral world of those around her.

Thus, the young prince Peter was not free of certain stereotypes characteristic of his class, but neither was he a slave to these concepts. By the way, we cannot call them incorrect. Even in the nineteenth century people strove to marry within their own class, in order to have more points of contact, to expose a kinship not only based on mutual attraction between beings of opposite genders, but also of the same way and style of life, the same understanding of life’s aims.

Everyone was taken with Peter’s wife, but they did not admit it right away. As we can see from the Life of Sts. Peter and Febronia, the wives of the upper class boyars were not nearly so smart and wise in their words. They were the ones who provoked their under-the-heel husbands to protest and rebel. So, St. Febronia humbly took her husband to Murom. Having learned to believe in his spouse’s charisma, Peter could feel that God was protecting her, that she did not do things for no reason, and he trusted her judgment.

However things turned out in such a way that the class divisions, the fights, rebellion and chaos caused the people to seek out their meek prince and his spouse. Having returned as victors, they lived long and happily, finally dying on the same day. Perhaps this is even where the expression comes from of “dying on the same day.” Febronia was an object of general adulation; everyone desired to see her and spend time with her.

In order not to fall for stereotypes and not lose that one and only person, one must not be carried away, as King Solomon teaches us, by external good looks, elegant facial features and figure, and not walk on the leash of the lust of the eyes. Goats, mules, and rams are distinguished by this not so clever art. The ability to see the personality itself, the traits and qualities of the soul is a rare capability amongst the young, who are more inclined to get carried away than older people made wise by experience.

How can we avoid falling for stereotypes? By praying to God: “Lord, grant me wisdom, Lord, teach me, Lord, direct me. Show me Your holy, blessed will.” Well and of course, they say that there is no need for haste in affairs of the heart. Do not accept sudden decisions. “Ah, I am smitten by Cupid’s arrow! Ah, I have no life without you!” But she may be thinking only about how to get her hands on your wealthy father’s summerhouse. And many, well known, talented older men have fallen for this as well.

The art consists in seeing the soul’s riches, faith, loyalty, good housekeeping, creativity, patience, and self-sacrifice of your future other half. Self-sacrifice, it seems to me, is the main manifestation of love and it leavens and illumines all other sides of the character. We shall be silent about such lofty qualities as dedication, gentleness, love of orderliness, beauty, the ability to create beauty around herself, to pinch off a piece of what she loves the most in order to make room for her close one. Or the ability to work, to sew, to cook, to grow flowers, and feed the parakeet.

Walking the long path of life is not just crossing a field. You have to test a man, find out what he is like in work, how he is in a battle, how he conducts himself with ladies, in the theatre, or with mama at tea. You have to take a good look in order to determine whether there isn’t some masked passion he is serving. Some may accept the courtship and not recognize in their chosen one an alcohol dependency, and then it suddenly comes up. That is very unpleasant.

Thus, we have explained how Peter the Prince of Murom by no means made a mistake. Having renounced the superficial judgment he had assimilated in his youth, he found in the person of the woodsman’s daughter Febronia an authentic, priceless treasure. According to the apostle Paul, his wife’s distinguishing good qualities were, “the incorruptible beauty of a meek and quiet spirit” and “the hidden man of the heart”. Whoever is capable of thinking about these subtle things, who can see the true beauty of a human personality, will never be caught by an external, glamorous mask, under which all may be empty and dead.

If you do not want to miss the chance to have a person with whom you can walk the long path of life, look attentively at him, keeping that saving distance, which is called careful, chaste relations with your interlocutor. If you feel that the soul of a close one is warmed by pity and compassion, if it takes sincere pleasure in serving its neighbor through word and deed, if it knows how to give thanks to God and people, if it knows how to calmly and steadfastly overcome the many obstacles that inevitably arrive on the path of those who do good works—then you have found what you are looking for, you have found your other half, and stepped upon the path of unselfish love.

By Archpriest Artemy Vladimirov

Source: http://orthochristian.com/72111.html

The newly-baptized Orthodox King David, His Majesty King Tchiffi Zae Jean-Gervais of the Krou chieftains in Côte d’Ivoire, the founder of the United Kingdoms of Africa, has long been a servant to his and all African people, dedicating his life toward serving the common interest of the people of Africa.

King Tchiffi Zae Jean Gervais recently traveled to holy Mount Athos to join the holy Orthodox Church, taking the name David in holy Baptism, as previously reported.

According to information from the Metochion of St. Tryphon, a dependency of the Athonite Monastery of Koutloumousiou, where the king was baptized, the Baptism was celebrated with the blessing of the abbot of the monastery by Fr. Chrysostom (not Hieromonk Dionysius, as previously reported) with Archimandrite Daniel becoming his Godfather and spiritual father.

In 2008, The Forum of Kings, Sultans, Sheiks and Traditional Leaders of Africa was formed, during which His Majesty was democratically elected by 535 Kings, Sultans, Sheiks and Traditional Leaders as the Secretary Permanent of the Forum. The Forum was formed to establish a body through which the Royalties in Africa can have one voice that will be respected by the African Union, individual Presidential Offices in Africa, and also the United Nations.

In 2015, His Majesty responded to a call from God and founded the United Kingdoms of Africa to function as a non-political, social development advocacy platform which acts as a unified voice for civil society and functions in support of presidency and national government, institutions, and peoples to support the national development plans of African countries.

Under his guidance, The United Kingdoms of Africa works tirelessly towards the implementation of their ten founding pledges, which are the following:

1. Promote traditional leadership development,

2. Promote peace and stability,

3. Promote access to basic healthcare,

4. Promote food and water security,

5. Promote investment climate support,

6. Promote basic education, youth development and skills transfer via technology,

7. Promote gender equality,

8. Promote inclusive exploration of mineral and natural resources,

9. Promote the creation of a technology-based communication platform between stakeholders and the communities,

10. Promote the preservation of tradition, culture, and heritage.

May God grant His Majesty King Tchiffi Zae Jean-Gervais, David in Baptism, many years!

Source: http://journeytoorthodoxy.com/2018/06/newly-baptized-orthodox-king-is-a-dedicated-servant-to-his-people/

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