The Catalog of Good Deeds

By Fr. Andrew Lemeshonok

Together, we need help. We need strength to overcome all the barriers of sin, ignorance, indifference, despondency. We need strength to fight for the joy that God gives to mankind. "Rejoice!" Says the Lord to His disciples.

If we look at everything that is being done here: a few dozen workshops, our sisters and brothers who work here, then, of course, we can surely say that this is the work of the Holy Spirit. But if each one of us begins to look at ourselves, we will see that during different times we are under a different light, different colors, different inner states. Sometimes we are filled with life, and we want to thank God for this life. And sometimes everything suddenly dies, and we need to remember life and nurture the Spirit of God within us...

Sometimes it just so happens that a person searches and finds justification for his sins within the faults of others, within the worries of everyday life. A person begins to hang on to this and says that he is not to blame, but rather someone else. Sin finds a foundation while becoming lawful and justified. Then everything becomes quite vivid in one’s imagination which is infected with sin and within the heart where sin takes root and in the mind that is congested with sin. This is why “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15: 7). We believe that repentance will definitely happen. And then a person who overcome all the barriers and untruths behind which he has been hiding himself, will truly repent. He will see himself transparent before God, he will see his guilt, and this in turn will be a resurrection.

It's hard for us to go toward resurrection because we fall, stray away from the path and feel sorry for ourselves. We look at the laws of mankind, at earthly situations and can not ascend from the ground. Remember that the earth was not a place for Christ. Christ was crucified on earth! This is why all the changes in our inner condition,which happened and will happen, are all a test which we have to live through and we can not say: “I can not do it anymore.” God knows the extent of what we can and can not do.

We constantly need to say: “Lord help, I can not do anything without you. I can not say a word, raise my hand or even look at a person. But with you Lord, we can do anything.” We see this with our own eyes, when a person who does not understand anything, does not know, did not learn anything, is enlightened by God and can suddenly surpass any wiseman or teacher. In this, we see the victory of the church!

Direct my steps by Your word, And let no iniquity have dominion over me. (Psalm 118: 133). Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. (Psalm 118: 73).

St. Elisabeth Convent

July 9, 2018

Tithing was the practice of giving ten percent of one's "increase" to God. By increase, this meant that whatever one's labor managed to acquire, the first ten percent of it was the Lord's. Tithing was included in the Law of Moses, but it actually predated that law, because we see in Genesis 14:18-20 that Abraham also tithed. To fail to tithe was to rob God (Malachi 3:8-10).

When we tithe, we recognize that God is the source of all that we have, and by giving back the first ten percent, we give thanks to God, and show that we trust God to continue to provide for our needs, rather than clinging to what we have, because we have no such trust.

While tithing was clearly an obligation in the Old Testament, there is nothing that either specifically affirms that it is obligatory to Christians, nor anything that says that it is not. There is a great deal said about the need to give to the poor, and to support the work of the Church, but whether this was done by tithing is not stated. So to answer the question of what Christ taught the Apostles in this regard, and what the Apostles taught the Church, we must look to Tradition.

In the 13th chapter of the Didache (which is believed to be the oldest document outside of the New Testament) it speaks of giving the "firstfruits" to support prophets, teachers, and the poor, "according to the commandment" (Didache 13:8). The giving of firstfruits in the Old Testament was an aspect of the tithing system, and so when it speaks of doing so "according to the commandment," this suggests that tithing at least has some application for Christians.

St. Irenaeus says:

"We are bound, therefore, to offer to God the first-fruits of His creation, as Moses also says, “Thou shalt not appear in the presence of the Lord thy God empty;” so that man, being accounted as grateful, by those things in which he has shown his gratitude, may receive that honour which flows from Him" (Against Heresies 4:18:1).

St. John Chrysostom says, while commented on Ephesians 2:

"So that in this case the greatness of the sin will make such an one go away with the devil. Woe to him, it is said, who doeth not alms; and if this was the case under the Old Covenant, much more is it under the New. If, where the getting of wealth was allowed, and the enjoyment of it, and the care of it, there was such provision made for the succoring the poor, how much more in that Dispensation, where we are commanded to surrender all we have? For what did not they of old do? They gave tithes, and tithes again upon tithes for orphans, widows, and strangers; whereas some one was saying to me in astonishment at another, “Why, such an one gives tithes.” What a load of disgrace does this expression imply, since what was not a matter of wonder with the Jews has come to be so in the case of the Christians? If there was danger then in omitting tithes, think how great it must be now" (4th Homily on Ephesians).

St. John Chrysostom's point is that it is not only wrong to assume that Christians don't need to be concerned with tithing, but that it is an even greater obligation now than it was in the Old Testament, and that we should do more than simply give tithes.

We know that St. Vladimir practiced tithing because the first stone Church in Kiev was built with money he tithed, and was nick-named "The Church of the Tithes".

We are stewards of all that God has given us, and this includes not only our money, but our time, and our talents. God has given them for us to use to his glory. Of course we have an obligation to take care of our families and to meet our own needs, but we also are to use these things to take care of others, especially the poor, and we also need to support the work of the Church, both on the parish level, but also on a wider scale so that the Church is able to do all that it needs to do to proclaim the Gospel and strengthen the faithful.

If every Orthodox Christian took this concept of stewardship seriously, the results would be astounding. If everyone in the Church simply tithed (not to mention going beyond it), the Church would be able to do so much more in the world that we would see great fruit like we have not seen, in recent memory. But as it is, we are far more limited in our ability to do what God has called us to do, and this is a sin that we should all repent of.

By Fr. John Whiteford

Source: http://fatherjohn.blogspot.com/2017/01/stump-priest-tithing.html

The church is not a kingdom of this world, it is a ship of salvation. And this is underlined from every side and every detail. This also includes the vestments of the clergy.

If you see a tall bearded man in black long robes with a cross walking along the street you immediately understand that it's a priest. You see a bishop in full vestments at a service and you think - here he is, truly resembling the Lord in His majesty and glory.

But priests and bishops didn't always look the way they do now. Vestments would change overtime, certain objects which were regular items began to have a sacred meaning and received a corresponding dogmatic understanding and finally became a part of the tradition of the church. Here are 5 interesting facts about vestments:

1. The Mitre - a burial napkin or the crown of thorns of Christ?

This is that instance when a number of theological interpretations given on the subject of vestments by the Church, would not even come to mind of person who is new to the church. The Mitre is often symbolically associated with the crown of thorns places by Pilate’s legionaries on the head of the Savior or with the burial napkin- a special piece of cloth that covered the head of Christ during His burial.

However when looking at the beautiful, lavishly decorated crown on the head of a bishop or an archpriest, you begin to think of it as more of a symbol of spiritual power than as an item attributed to the Passion of the Lord or even a funeral veil. Such an understanding can be justified with another symbolic interpretation which centers around the liturgical band worn by the first bishop of Jerusalem, James, who was the Brother of the Lord or to the headdress of the high priest.

Also the mitre serves a prefiguration of the golden crowns, with which the righteous will be wedded in the Kingdom of Heaven.

In the Russian Orthodox Church, mitres are also given to priests - as a particularly high honor and as an award. Such priests are referred to as mitred priests. The hierarchical mitre is distinguished from that of a priest by having a small cross on top.

It is interesting that in the Alexandrian Orthodox Church, even altar servers are allowed to wear a mitre, the Catholic pope wore a tiara (a certain version of a mitre) with three crowns until the second half of the 20th century. It served as a symbol of his triple authority over the Vatican and the whole Church (one of the primary reasons which lead to the Great Schism in 1054) and supreme authority over the sovereigns of Europe.

2. The interesting top of the Russian phelonion.

The theological interpretation of this part of the priest’s top vestment can be compared to the bishop’s omophor: the priest is the good shepherd who zealously watches over the flock entrusted to him by the Lord and who is not ashamed to place the lost sheep upon his shoulders.

If we compare the Russian phelonion with the Greek (in the photo two priests in Russian and one in Greek), we will see that there is no top collar on it...

Why is this? Because in Greece, churches are located in a warm climate that extends even through the wintertime, but before there was indoor heating the Russian churches could get very cold. Until the XVII century, Russian churches were not heated and in the wintertime they were filled with cold draft winds. Even the parishioners would attend divine service in fur coats.

That is when the stiffened or standing collar appeared on Russian phelonions. It was minimal protection at least so that the priest’s neck would be protected from cold drafts. Some even attributed the growing of long hair or having a “tail” as an additional protection from the inclimate weather.

3. Sulok (Crosier mantle) on the Bishop’s staff.

This particular vestment piece is most commonly seen in Russian Orthodox churches and can also be attributed to the cold climate.

Liturgical staffs were often made of precious metals. Keeping this in mind, bishops would often have to serve outdoors. One such example can be the blessing of the water during the Feast of Theophany. Obviously, touching the cold metal at the same time would be quite unpleasant.

This is why in the middle of the XVII century, a sulok was invented - a special rectangular fabric which would be folded in half and tied under the crossbeam of the staff. The lower part separated the bishop's fingers from the cold metal, and the upper part protected the bare hand from the frost.

With the passage of time, the sulok became a common church decoration, and sometimes as an award to the hierarch. Today the situation is different because all Russian bishops have them on their staffs, and the staff without a sulok is designated only for the patriarch.

In terms of its theological meaning the sulok symbolizes the Divine grace that covers the human infirmities of the bishop while in charge of the Church.

4. Limited to black undercassocks?

Among the majority of Russians, for some reason, there is a common opinion which exists that priests’ undercassocks(cassocks) need to be black and only black ... Just like Henry Ford cars.

This is far from the truth. Black cassocks are worn, mostly by monks. This color of vestments symbolizes repentance and sorrow for the committed sins (therefore, the black liturgical vestments are used during Lent), and monasticism - the rank of those who are repenting.

Married (also called "white clergy") priests are free to choose the color of their undercassocks and in everyday life can wear various colors including black, gray, light gray (almost white) or purple.

At the same time, since the XVII century, there was a tradition among priest from Cathedrals and church located in large cities which entailed wearing cassocks that would match the current feast day color . Accordingly, they are red or white(on Pascha), green (on Pentecost), blue (on the feasts of the Theotokos), white (for the Transfiguration of the Lord and other feasts of the Lord) and gold and all other symbolic colors in the Orthodox Church.

5. Are there priests without a cross?

When it comes to the Russian Orthodox Church then the answer is definitely not. We are all used to the fact that the priest, even if outside of the church, still wears vestments that we can call the bare minimum - pectoral cross and cassock.

But until the end of the XIX century, the priests' crosses were an exception rather than a rule.

Until the eighteenth century, only bishops had the right to wear pectoral crosses. The cross on their chest served as an indication that they are servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered for our sins, must have Him in their heart and follow His example.

In the late XVIII - early XIX century priests were awarded crosses only in special cases. A decree of the Holy Synod on February 24, 1820, grated Russian priests serving abroad to wear special gold crosses given by the Czar. Sometimes they were also allowed within the country for priests with high honor and as an award.

If we look at the portraits of the priests from the Crimean War, we can see that some of them have 1-2 crosses on cloth tapes over their chests. These crosses were awarded for valor and given only to those priests who served within the military.

Around the same time we begin to see modern crosses with decoration which served as a award that bishops would give to clerics of their dioceses.

Therefore a priest from the 18th century would not have any pectoral crosses, and by the nineteenth century a priest could have up to 4 such crosses.

Finally, in 1896, Czar Nicholas II, signed a decree on May 14, which introduced a priestly pectoral cross as a "sign of the distinction for every priest and hieromonk." This customary silver eight-pointed cross has since been given to every new priest during his ordination.

Over the years and various merits, it could be replaced by a four-pointed golden cross and then, in turn, with a cross with decorations, in accordance with the will of the bishop.

Nowadays we can also come across an additional cross but only as a special award given personally by the patriarch. It is distinguished by the shape which includes rays of light and has a mitre on its top.

Translated by the Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: https://pravoslavie.fm/interested/pyat-lyubopytnykh-faktov-iz-mira-svyashhen/

By Fr. Sergius Nezhbort

It is very important in our lives not to confuse the most important things with that which is secondary. Human life is very long, diverse, and a person lives going through different inner states: there is inspiration, but there are also hard times. But in these different states it is necessary to understand what we are doing and why we are doing it.

A person who has come to church, discovers the simple truth for himself: Christ must be the center of one’s life. And all the obediences, cares, worries that fill our daily routine, must be done in order to achieve the main and most important goal. But if it so happens that we are distracted from what is most important by the weakness of our human infirmities, then we begin to dig into small and unimportant details.

For example, I have my obedience as an iconographer. A common mistake of an artist who is just beginning - when he is engulfed in his work it can get him carried away and focus on little details, and forget about the work as a whole. The work becomes fractional, and in this fragmentation you can not see the beauty of the artistic image. The same happens with our life. But this does not mean that certain details and everyday worries are not entirely important. In fact they often take up most of our time. But is necessary for us to understand, why we do them and whom we do them for. Then even the simplest and a most basic job will seem to be a true service to Christ. Something that in our everyday life can go unnoticed, will become an apostolic ministry.

The All Night Vigil, chants, cannons - everything that is sung in church needs to lead us to this kind of mentality. We often done hear or think why we need all of it. And sometimes come to church mechanically because we have become used to this rhythm. Yet, by doing so we greatly rob ourselves.

May the Lord help us remember what is most important,and what is the true axis of our life: Christ came to save mankind, and first of all he came to save me. In my life there were moments when I sensed, rather clearly felt that the Lord pulled me out of an everyday cycle of insignificant worries and revealed to me a completely different life. Christianity is a victory, it is a life force. But if we disfigure this concept, it becomes a performance of whining and weakness. When a person is predetermined for everything which is bad, he does not need anything. He is already tired of everything ten years in advance. Therefore, it is very important for us to shake off this fatigue and complaining. Very often while I am Confessing you can not help but hear certain parishioners walk into the church and start talking about something insignificant... That's an example of our condition. And this is not because we came to the wrong place, but it is because we forgot about what is most important.

July 4, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

A question from my In Box: Is the Theotokos seriously “more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious than the seraphim”? Doesn’t that praise a plain mortal woman excessively as if she were divine?

“It is truly meet to bless thee, O Theotokos: Ever blessed and most pure, and the mother of our God. More honorable than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim; who without gavest birth to God the Word, the very Theotokos: Thee do we magnify.”

We shouldn’t be surprised at Mary’s being called more honorable than the cherubim and more glorious than the cherubim.

After all, scripture insists that God has made Mary a little lower than the angels, and has crowned her with glory and honour; He made her to have dominion over the works of His hands and has put all things under her feet.

Specifically, scripture says that in Psalm 8, where the Psalmist describes the glorified, deified state of mankind in Christ. Can this verse be describing all of humankind except the mother of our Lord?

Note also that verse 5 in Hebrew actually says “Thou hast made man a little lower than elohim” i.e. a little lower than God – which makes sense, since the angelic beings are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for [Mary] who shall be heir of salvation” (Hebrews 1:14)

In Revelation 12 we meet the woman whose Child is “to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her Child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.” She is “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.”

Elizabeth, full of the Holy Spirit, named Mary “the mother of my Lord” and both she and an Archangel proclaimed to Mary, “Blessed art thou among women!” (Luke 1:28, 42-43). No wonder Mary prophesied, “Henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” (Luke 1:48)

Crowned, glorified, honored, blessed by all generations; named the Mother of the Lord; only a little lower than God and given dominion over all the works of His hands. Astonishing! “O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! What is man, that thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8)

What artist feels slighted when we praise the excellence of his handiwork? And what parent is ever displeased when we honor the child they love? God is glorified in His saints (2 Thessalonians 1:10, Psalm 67 LXX)

The issue is not that some people attribute too much glory to the Mother of our Lord; the issue is that some people have a disappointingly low and uninspiring notion of what it means to be heirs of the Kingdom, seated on the throne of the Almighty, and (in union with God the Son) more honored and glorious than the seraphim and cherubim. This prayer does not merely praise Mary; in celebrating her glorification, we confess our faith in the salvation of mankind in union with Christ our God.

By Fr. Silouan Thompson

Source: http://silouanthompson.net/2017/10/more-honorable-than-the-cherubim/

A Baptismal Cross is not merely jewelry or a decoration for an Orthodox Christian, but rather the sign our belonging to Christ, Our King and God. The Cross is sacred symbol for Orthodox Christians and therefore should be taken care of accordingly.

How to choose a Baptismal Cross?

The Orthodox Church calls upon us not to treat the Cross as decoration, because the cross does not serve such a purpose. Therefore, one should not strive at all costs to purchase an expensive gold cross or studded with precious stones. Luxury and self pride is not the primary goal here.

Priests often advise against purchasing a cross without a special need. This means if you already have one it is not recommended to buy a lavish upgrade or just because you decided to get a new cross. That is something one would do with typical jewelry accessories: rings, earrings or bracelets. Only when your old cross has gotten worn out, then it may be necessary to change it and buy another one.

Consecration of the Baptismal Cross

Orthodox priests call upon the faithful not to consecrate the crosses themselves for any reason, even if they know the required prayers and what need to be done. Such consecration should only be performed by a priest. After all, there are certain prayers that are delegated specifically to the church clergy.

How to wear a cross?

Our ancestors never wore crosses over their clothes. Even shirts in Russia were sewn with a closed collar so that the cross would not fall out. So why should the cross be hidden under our clothes? First of all , because a cross should not be compared to beads or necklaces, which are worn over clothing to serve as a decoration. And, secondly, it is not customary to put one’s faith on display.

Only priests wear crossed over their clothes. But these crosses are not Baptismal, but referred to as pectoral. A priest’s pectoral cross is also hidden under his clothes just like a layperson’s.

Orthodox clergy does not recommend removing the cross without a special need. Our ancestors knew about this. In Russia, there were even special wooden crossed made for bath houses, so that one would never be without a cross. They would put them on instead of the metal crosses, when they went into the steam rooms. If for some reason you had to take off your cross, a person would then have to read a prayer before putting it back on again.

Also,one should not wear any amulets or zodiac sign pendants on the chain with a cross(or at all for that matter), as this is nothing more than superstition. And, therefore, also a sin.

Priests advise against carrying their Baptismal Crosses in a handbag, in their ears as a type of an earring or a bracelet. This is simply considered blasphemy.

What to do with a broken cross?

If your cross is damaged or for some reason has become defective, it should never be thrown out together with ordinary garbage. In fact it is important to remember that none of the consecrated and sacred objects should ever be disposed of in a regular manner, whether it is a bottle of Holy Water or a church calendar. Therefore, if the cross can still be repaired, it is entirely fine to take it to a regular repair shop. But if this is no longer possible, it is better to just give the cross to the church.

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

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"Nurture the Spirit of God within You"

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Why More Honorable than the Cherubim?

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