The Catalog of Good Deeds

None of us, the people living on earth today, remembers – and cannot remember – from which glory our forefather Adam fell off once. However, the fact that the fall occurred, the fact that something irreversible happen to the humankind, the fact that the man fell from the great height to the dreadful depth – this fact is known to all the peoples and every civilization tried to find the answer about the reasons of that universal catastrophe.

However, no matter what guess about those reasons people had, the Lord came to His creature Himself; He gave the answers to all the bothering questions of being by Himself; He brought Himself and placed His Blood and Body in people’s hands. And the bright time of the Nativity of Christ came. Christ came to this world and brought light as it is said in the Book of Isaiah: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined” (Isaiah 9:2). The Mother of God served the great mystery: She sacrificed Herself to God, Who would sacrifice Himself to people.

According to the Gospel story, Virgin Mary was about to give birth right at the time when Roman emperor Augustus issued an edict annoncing the beginning of the general census of the Roman Empire population. Many people had to come back to their native cities and villages to participate in the census in the place of their origin. Virgin Mary and Joseph arrived to Bethlehem, the land of David, but they just could not find a place to stay because there were too many people in the city. They had to stay in a den, where shepherds used to shelter with their cattle from bad weather.

Here, in the most “humble” place, in the most miserable and poor place, in the most remote place of the Roman Empire, Virgin Mary gave birth to Her Son, the King of the kings and the Lord of the lords, to Whom all the heavenly forces serve with trembling. As it is sung in one of the old Russian Christmas chants, “there was no gold at all where He was lying in His cradle”. Jesus Christ came to this world not to reign over people although He was the King of Israel, but to serve and sacrifice Himself for the salvation of many others.

How did that event affect Virgin Mary? Was she waiting with joy and trembling for the coming of the Divine Infant? With hope and concern at the same time? “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). The Gospel does not tell us about the feelings and worries of the Mother of God throughout Her whole life. In general, we know rather little about Her. However, as Fr. Alexander Schmemann wrote, even if we knew absolutely nothing about the Mother of God except that She was called Mary, the Church would anyway surround Her with love, loyalty and respect.

And now Mary’s Son is lying in the manger, warming by the breathing of the ox and donkey, while his blessed Mother is looking at Him with love. In this image, the humanity will see so much warmth, love and hope that it will remain in people’s minds forever. No matter how the enemies strive to burn this image out of the human’s memory and history, it will never happen. “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7).

The word of St. Gregory the Theologian:

“O new commingling; O strange conjunction; the Self-Existent comes into being, the Uncreated is created. That which cannot be contained is contained... He Who gives riches becomes poor, for He assumes the poverty of my flesh, that I may assume the richness of His Godhead. He that is full empties Himself… What are the riches of His Goodness? What is this mystery that is around me?.. He partakes of my flesh that He may both save the image and make the flesh immortal”.

Reflections in the Church tradition:

Kontakion — Tone 3

Today the Virgin gives birth to the Transcendent One, and the earth offers a cave to the Unapproachable One! Angels with shepherds glorify Him! The wise men journey with a star! Since for our sake the Eternal God was born as a Little Child!

End of Part IV

To be continued…

Click here to see full infographics.

Question: "I currently go to a relatively traditional parish, however, recently it has been suggested that we add chairs to our parish, and I can't help but be deeply troubled by the proposal. Am I making a mountain out of a molehill?"

Answer: Pews are certainly not traditional. No Christians of any stripe used them prior to the Protestant Reformation. But you often do find Orthodox parishes that use pews today, in the United States and in other parts of the world in which Orthodox parishes were established, where surrounding heterodox Christians have long used them.

Protestants adopted pews, because they suited services that revolved around long sermons, and such services tended to not have much left in the way of the traditional aspects of Christian worship. But for most of Church history, such things were unheard of.

We see in Scripture that the normal attitude of prayer is standing. Christ said in the Gospels:

"And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses" (Mark 11:25).

In the parable of the Publican and Pharisee, we find that when they went to the Temple to pray, both the Publican and the Pharisee stood when they prayed:

"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke 18:10-13).

You also have references to bowing and kneeling in prayer (1 Kings 8:54; Daniel 6:10; Acts 9:40; Numbers 16:22), but you don't find many references to people sitting during corporate worship. It is traditional to have seating along the walls of churches for those who are unable to stand throughout the service, but nothing like the pews we see in many churches today.

There are parishes even in the Russian Church Abroad that have pews. These tend to be older parishes that were established during either the pre-revolutionary period, or during the period of the American Metropolia prior to the post World War II wave of immigration (which is most typical of the older mainstream ROCOR parishes). This is due, I think, to the pressure to assimilate (which was even stronger during those periods than it is today). So obviously, the fact that such parishes exist, and continue to use pews would suggest that our bishops do not consider pews to be intolerable, but our bishops clearly do not encourage them either, which is why you don't see them in most or our parishes.

If you are in a parish that has had pews for generations, you probably are not going to get any where by opposing them, and so you would need to come to terms with them, if there were no better options to consider. But in a situation in which a parish is considering pews (or rows of chairs, that amount to the same thing), one should certainly express respectful opposition to the idea. However, if those in authority decide to put them in, continuing to oppose them would not be a very healthy position to be in... and so again, you would have to either come to accept the facts on the ground, or look elsewhere, if there were other options.

There is a difficult balance one has to strike with such things. We want to be traditional, but on the other hand, we do not want to be a source of scandal or division in a parish. Obviously, there are some abnormalities that one could not possibly come to terms with, even to tolerate them for as long as one had no other parishes in the area to consider, but I would not put pews in that category.

Pews do tend to make the congregation feel like spectators in the services, rather than participants. On the other hand, because we live in a culture in which people are used to sitting through most of a service, there is a tendency in parishes that do not have pews for people to congregate along the walls, and thus not make full use of the worship space. One option I have seen that I think works pretty well, is the use of movable benches with no backs (they seat about 3 to four people, as I recall), that are placed in parts of the Nave of the Church. I observed this in the Old Rite parish in Erie, Pennsylvania, and in my opinion, it worked well, without the usual problems that pews bring, and I don't think I have seen a parish whose services were more pious than that parish.

On their website, they explain when people should sit on these pews:

"Most Old Rite faithful try to arrive on time for the services. The benches located in the Church of the Nativity are placed there because the faithful usually arrive several minutes before services begin, thus, allowing them a place to sit before services commence. Also, it is still the practice of the Old Rite to read the liturgically-appointed homilies during Matins and/or Vigils. During the reading of these homilies the faithful sit and listened attentively. When the services do begin, the faithful stand with arms folded with as little shifting of feet and body as necessary."

Because these benches have no backs, it is not very comfortable to sit in them throughout the services anyway. However, they still have benches along the walls for those who do need to sit throughout the services due to age or infirmity.

By Fr. John Whiteford

Source: fatherjohn.blogspot.com

Quite often, it seems to us that our questions and doubts have no answer; that they destroy the image of the world that the religion paints; and that… they are absolutely unique. We stop looking for the truth when in fact, the reason for our unwillingness to continue looking for truth is our laziness. Every person has a decent knowledge of some facts of lesser importance from the standpoint of a person’s posthumous existence and the eternal life, e.g., professional knowledge, politics, economy, technologies, and sports facts. Unfortunately, our level of proficiency in the practical religious experiences accumulated by the human race and our understanding of the meaning of our lives is extremely low. As a rule, people possess an astonishingly naïve and superficial understanding of all those issues. We lack the basic information about the methods that our ancestors used to tackle the essential questions, what they were seeking, what they based their philosophies on, what their best representatives achieved, and who their spiritual leaders were. We have an immense advantage over the previous generations due to so many books, the ability to ask priests online, to go to church freely, and the availability of pilgrimages to holy places. What is more, our questions tend to be quite common, and there are dozens of answers to those questions in many sources. We would like to give you several pieces of advice concerning the most typical questions.

There are many people who would like to take a neutral position with regard to God: we are not against the Church but prefer to stay away from Her; we believe in God in our heart. Unfortunately, it’s self-deception, a fake faith.

There is no middle ground in the spiritual realm: if we don’t pursue God, we reject him and create our own ideals.

There can be a powerful temptation to criticize people who go to church and to point at their bad actions in order to justify one’s inaction. Don’t make this mistake. The people you are so eager to condemn are on the road which leads to the purification and salvation of their souls, and the Church has given them all the necessary tools and means to accomplish that. No one becomes holy by the very fact of entering the Church. However, if you come to Church, you have found the only way that leads to holiness.

We are often quick to idealize a priest and then be disappointed as we find out the priest’s numerous shortcomings. Priests are transmitters of God’s grace and love to us thanks to the Apostolic succession that they receive during the ordination; in all other respects, they are humans just like everybody else, with their own good and bad personal traits. Don’t waste your time trying to find a “unique” priest who corresponds to your ideas about a “real” priest. It won’t do you any good but will easily help you to explain off why you don’t go to church.

You read about wrongdoings of clergy in the papers and don’t go to church because of that? It’s no different from a patient’s refusal to go to a hospital due to low-quality medical care instead of looking for a good doctor. Even if there is only one doctor in the whole country who is capable of healing their mortal bodies, people stand in lines to see him. We are speaking of the immortal soul and the eternal life. Even the most die-hard detractors of the Church don’t claim that 100 per cent of Her servants are unworthy of their ecclesiastical rank. Let us avoid mixing things up. The Church is a place where a human being meets God in the Sacrament of Eucharist (See: how to prepare for Communion), not a metropolitan’s palaces or the notorious priests in Mercedes Benz cars.

The Orthodox faith puts you off by its dogmatism. You are a modern, forward-looking person, and you value freedom of opinion. Try substituting the word ‘dogmatic’ for ‘eternal’ (if you are still frightened of it, see here). If anyone tells you that the Church prohibits watching TV or reading books about Father Brown, don’t believe them. Only your conscience and your spiritual experience can restrain you.

Be ready for external and internal obstacles on your road to the faith. You are not alone: these obstacles are called ‘temptations’. You will be surrounded by lots of brilliant prospects, unexpected worries, attractions, and perhaps even troubles. Stand firm, for If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).

You’re afraid of doing something wrong in church and being scolded by “angry old ladies”. Currently, it almost never happens. The vast majority of priests stop such attacks. If someone comments on your behavior, pay attention: it may be reasonable. If you run into a conflict in church, be calm, polite, and firm. Remember that the old lady has never been appointed to give advice or admonish anyone. (And see the previous tip, too). Read more about church etiquette.

Avoid pseudo-Orthodox horror stories. Thrilling stories about social security numbers as the ‘number of the Beast’; about present-day prophets; about exact dates of the end of the world have nothing in common with the Orthodox faith. It is meaningless to waste your time fighting external enemies when you haven’t put your inner self under control.

You shouldn’t keep feeling ‘not ready for the Church’ and continue to delay your conversion to the faith. Don’t be afraid of mistakes. You cannot learn to swim if you don’t get into the water.

You are a free person, and you will remain free when you come to church. The Orthodox Church is not a sect. No one and nothing but your faith will dictate you how to build your life; no one will coerce you into doing anything or limit your freedom. On the other hand, your concept of freedom will acquire a completely new and wonderful meaning after you turn to the faith. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).

By Anatoly Badanov

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: dishupravoslaviem.ru

Subscribe to: Comments ( Atom )

Search This Blog

featured Slider

“Hush, God Is Coming!”

Becoming the Mother of God: Unto Us a Child is Born, unto Us a Son Is Given

Parable of the Day: Planting Good and Bad Seeds

Why no Pews in Church?

10 Simple Tips for New Believers in Orthodoxy

Parable of the Day: Why the Swallows Migrate in Winter

Partners