The Catalog of Good Deeds

By Archimandrite Andrew (Konanos)

Come to your beloved person and tell how much you love him, kiss him and show him all your tenderness.

One of my acquaintances received a blessing from his spiritual father to consume some meat even during Great Lent because he works physically a lot and gets very tired. However. His wife is keeping the fast rather strictly, and this is why she is worrying and reproaching him because he does not go to church often. Her husband said to me: “Father, I can’t stand it anymore. Tell her something, She will listen to you”. I replied: “Who told you she would listen to me? What is wrong with her behavior? What is the problem?” And he told me: “Here is what’s going on. I am not obsessed with meat, but since I work physically all day long, I have to consume it. As soon as I am going to eat a piece of meat, she comes to the table and stands near. “Why are you eating meat?” Father, I perceive what I eat as lenten food. Is this steak really insolent? But my wife doesn’t let me eat in peace. I seems I’m not fed with the steak, but what I’m really fed up with is her constant grievance”.

I spoke to his wife, but she did not understand me, too. She does not even want to. I advised her: “Let him be. God doesn’t demand fasting from him now. Show your husband your love at first, and then you can do what you want”. – “No, father, I ask him to listen to all your lectures so that he become better”. – “But he doesn’t want to do this.” – “He must do this anyway”.

Try to solve your problems. Strange situations happen sometimes. I am sure you think sometimes, “It is so good I have married”, while the other time you may think, “Wasn’t it a wrong decision?” Everyone experience such periods. Everyone is good. Say to your beloved person how sincerely you love him and kiss him. Say “my love” when you address him and give him all your warm. Will you do this? You will not!.. I know it can be difficult for you, you may feel embarrassed. One woman said to me: “I can’t do what you ask me to do, but I can show him my feelings in another way”. – “In what way?” – “I will cook some rolls of grape leaves. He loves them very much, and thus he will understand everything”.

One child told be a similar story: “When my mother wants to please me, she cooks pasticcio. But when she is angry about me, she cooks bamia!”

I understand. You have problems now. It hurts… I would like to accompany you a bit. For no reason, I will not teach you at all. I just want to be with you. You wrote to me at Facebook about this great sorrow you faced. I know what is going on. You told me about everything. I want only one thing: let us pray to Christ together, let us appeal to His grace, His strength and feel His presence and help.

From the book by Fr. Andrew (Konanos),

“There are certain difficulties in the marriage…”

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: http://pravlife.org/ru/content/arhim-andrey-konanos-sovetuet-kak-pravilno-pokazat-svoyu-lyubov-samym-blizkim-lyudyam

I will quickly confess that I am not a philosopher. I am not trained in the subject and always struggled in the few doctoral classes that were in the area of “Philosophical Theology.” Thus, this will not be a philosophical response that settles matters for believers viz. atheism, or settles matters viz. Orthodox Christianity for atheists. It is just some observations.

That the world would be better off if everyone were an atheist is to me, a silly thought. We have too much evidence to the contrary. Atheist states have been the most efficient killing machines in all of history. Dostoevsky is quoted as saying, “If there is no God, everything is permitted.” It is questionable that he ever wrote it in that succinct fashion, but it certainly reflects a number of statements that occur in his writings. And it is true.

Though there are some very strange things happening in our culture as the result of religion, they hardly hold a candle to the strange things taking place among those who are committed to hedonism and other forms of modern atheism.

The greatest challenge from Atheism is what Orthodoxy would term the “problem of the human heart.” Orthodoxy (and many other Christians) understand very clearly that human beings have a “dark” side and that religious “delusion” is a constant issue for believers. Properly taught and nurtured, Orthodox Christians should be more sensitive to questions of religious delusion than non-believers.

The problem of the human heart (this deep, spiritual center of man) is that it very easily becomes hard. And that in its hardness it is capable of almost anything. The amount of atrocities carried out by professed believers is ample testimony to the dangers of the heart, even for Christians.

What would an atheist propose for the treatment of the heart? It cannot be that less religion means a healthier human heart. Indeed, the modern nation state is what threatens to take the place of religion. And the modern nation state has not shown itself to be a repository of kindness, gentleness and altruism with regard to its clients.

If anything, the spiritual teaching of the Orthodox Church is particularly directed towards our distortions of reality and our denial of the True God in an acceptance of a false god. The proper practice of Orthodoxy is ruthlessly self-honest and self-critical and believes that true belief in God can only be measured by the love we have for our enemy. Anything less than this is not the fullness of the Orthodox faith.

Our conversation with Atheism is not about the stars and the planets, or about how our planet came to be and how long ago. Our conversation with Atheism is not about the literal character of stories in the Old Testament. Christians who focus on such things in their discussions with Atheism are largely agreeing that these are the essential questions for humanity – and they are not.

The central question for humanity is the God revealed to us in and through Jesus Christ. If that God is the true God, then our religion can only be measured by the love we have for our enemy.

By the same token, we can ask of anyone, Atheist included, “Do you love your enemies?” If they do not, then we can say with confidence, “Your heart is in trouble.” And if anyone’s heart is in trouble (most are) then the world is indeed a very dangerous place (it is).

We believe that the world is so dangerous that even God Himself is not safe within it (cf. crucifixion). We also believe that our mission as Christians is to follow the example of the God/man Jesus Christ and yield ourselves up for crucifixion on behalf of our enemies. Anything less than that is not Orthodox Christianity in its fullness.

St. Paul noted: “One will hardly die for a righteous man — though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8). While this is undeniably true for Christ – it is also meant to become true for all who follow Him. Anything less is not the fullness of the Orthodox faith.

The challenge of Atheism is the challenge of despair. For Atheism cannot claim that human beings are improving. If anything, technology only makes us capable of far worse than the past. The marvels of this internet now mean that evil men have easy access to vulnerable children and are manifesting that evil in epic proportions. The Atheist can only (if he is honest) look at history and despair. We are heading towards a certain destruction on our present trajectory. If there is no one who can intervene and heal the human heart then our fate is indeed a sad one.

Orthodox Christianity does not believe that all religion is good. Indeed, we might very well argue that most religion is not good because it embraces the delusion that clouds the human heart. Most religion does not measure itself by its love of its enemies. In that sense, much of religion among men is just a peculiar manifestation of politics and nothing more.

But I believe that Christ is truly God in the flesh and that God so loves us that He emptied Himself and endured death on the cross in order to rescue us even from the relative non-existence we had brought on ourselves (in Hades). I believe that we can judge ourselves only by the standard of the love of God on the Cross. Either we are denying ourselves and extending our hearts towards others, especially our enemies, or we are not following Christ. Anything less than that is not the fullness of the Orthodox faith.

There is a path to salvation but it only goes through the cross (not just the Cross of Christ but through the cross He has set before each of us). It is the only means of curing the sickness of our heart. Such religion endangers no one. Such religion would see the Atheist not as our largest problem, but simply one of many examples of the heart of man in need of healing. Indeed, many Atheists may be closer to that healing than many deluded Christians. We can and must pray for all mankind and for the triumph of the Cross in their heart. The sooner the better. And let it begin with me.

By Fr. Stephen Freeman

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/glory2godforallthings/2007/03/23/the-challenge-of-atheism/

Theory and Practice

Why was Apostle Thomas called “the doubter”? Who of the apostles did believe without seeing? They all saw at first and believed then…

How can a modern person believe without seeing Christ?

We can see Him. Due to the enormous labor of the holy fathers. It belongs to them that the teaching about the Personality of Jesus Christ received the very form that corresponds with the Holy Scripture, the Church story and our personal perception.

The Holy Fathers did not invent a new teaching. According to St. Vincent of Lérins, they just gave new names to the old things. They gave us the forms of human’s perception, through which the Holy Scripture becomes clear for us. And Christ comes alive.

Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich)

Due to the efforts of the Holy Fathers, many of whom gave their lives for the purity of the Church teaching, we believe in the Holy Trinity, in our Lord Jesus Christ, the true God and true human, Whose divine and human natures are joined inseparably; we believe that there are two wills that act in Christ –the divine and the human one.

The dogmas of the faith are the necessary theory. But how is it going with practice?

In fact, all the saints implemented those dogmas in their lives. They not only showed us the path that we should follow, but completed that path by themselves, too. Unfortunately, many of us do not act at all after they have studied the theory. Thus, they stay for their whole life within the ranks of the talkative theorists.

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” – it is important not just to listen to the word of God, but to keep it, to implement it in our life. When we read the Holy Gospel, we hear Christ Himself. Everything that is written in the New Testament refer not only to the witnesses of Christ’s earthly life: these words are addressed to each of us.

Three variants

Our earthly life is a preparation for eternal life: to be with God in Heavens, we have to live with Him on earth first. The faith of a true Christian should be clear and fully expressed in one’s attitude towards life and other people. Few people manage to reach this top, settling for only the first small steps. Perhaps, some people are afraid of the ascent itself, while other think that they have not enough strength for this or just do not believe that from this top they will be able to discover certain new horizons for themselves.

There are signs of unbelief among faithful people, who attend the church regularly. Some people can say right words, can have necessary knowledge and look beautiful and pious outside, but at the same time, they can be rotten inside like an old worm-ridden fruit.

The worms of doubt devastate the soul of a person who has little faith. He know the theoretical base but cannon trust his life to Christ, trying to be its full and only owner. As a rule, the main passions of such a person are freethinking, arrogance and pride. The faith of such people, who externally follow all the rules, is without the living God. In case of any little challenge, their “faith” crashes. They stop going to church, withdraw into themselves, consider themselves right, while the Church is wrong on their opinion. They lack of saving humility.

The faith of other people can be precocious. A soul that is not ripe for the meeting with Christ yet, begins to self-destruct. Often it happens so that the early knowledge and information taken from various sources is joined with the thin strings, which cannot withstand a challenge and break when the first storm comes.

Such people set their hearts upon rather quickly; at the same time, they lose their enthusiasm as much quickly. They take only what is on the surface and do not deepen into the faith. As a rule, they do not know themselves and do not even try to, trying to avoid a trustful talk with themselves and consequently with God. They prevent the Creator from entering their lives by all their forces, settling for knowledge about Him.

Finally, the most common sign of unbelief is reflexive faith, when you do everything without thinking. A person does not mind the words of the prayer, the meaning of the Church rites or the course of the service – one just mechanically repeats what other people do.

Such faith brings no fruits. It is neither alive nor dead. The life of such people counts months and years just like a clock hand, which is spinning around in the same circle repeatedly. They do not change for years without going beyond their narrow perception of the Divine things and they are satisfied with this mechanical living.

This is the most senseless way of life. It is rather difficult or almost impossible to reach out to such people.

Let us strive to remind ourselves as often as possible that we are living here for eternity, while any earthly worries, no matter how important they are for us or our family, are temporal in comparison with what is prepared for us by the Creator Himself.

We are destined to eternal salvation.

By Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich)

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: http://pravlife.org/ru/content/kak-raspoznat-svoe-bezverie-3-osnovnyh-priznaka

On November 9, the Eastern Churches commemorate one of the greatest of the ancient Desert Fathers, "St. John the Dwarf." This remarkable father left for Scetis at the age of 18 and was trained there by Abba Ammoes for twelve years. One of the most vivid characters in the Egyptian Desert, he attracted many disciples and in order to preserve his own solitude, he dug himself a cave underground. Abba John was later ordained priest and the number of his sayings that are recorded and preserved point to his importance among his disciples. After 407, he went to Suez and the Mountain of St. Anthony. We have a photo in our Egypt Gallery that shows the door of a very old Coptic Church in Upper Egypt on which an image of Abba John has been carved. This church is over the cave where he spent much of his life. St. John has long been considered one of the greatest of the ascetics, a disciple of Abba Pambo and a teacher of St. Arsenius the Great.

Some two and a half years ago, this newsletter ran a two-part study of St. John's teachings on asceticism, a study we would like to repeat here today and next week, as many of our readers have probably not read them. They are simply superb.

TEACHINGS OF ST. JOHN THE DWARF ON ASCETICISM

– It was said of Abba John the Dwarf that he withdrew and lived in the desert at Scetis with an old man of Thebes. His abba, taking a piece of dry wood, planted it and said to him, "Water it every day with a bottle of water, until it bears fruit." Now the water was so far away that he had to leave in the evening and return the following morning. At the end of three years the wood came to life and bore fruit. The old man took some of the fruit and carried it to the church saying to the brethren, "Take and eat the fruit of obedience."

– It was said of Abba John the Dwarf, that one day he said to his elder brother, "I should like to be free of all care, like the angels who do not work, but ceaselessly offer worship to God." So he took off his cloak and went away into the desert. After a week he came back to his brother. When he knocked on the door, he heard his brother say, before he opened it, "Who are you?" He said, "I am John, your brother." But he replied, "John has become an angel, and henceforth he is no longer among men." Then the other begged him saying, "It is I." However, his brother did not let him in, but left him there in distress until morning. Then, opening the door, he said to him, "You are a man and you must once again work in order to eat." Then John made a prostration before him, saying, "Forgive me." (NOTE: this story is, according to most sources, from Abba John's youth when he was still living with his family)

– Abba John the Dwarf said, "If a king wanted to take possession of his enemy's city, he would begin by cutting off the water and the food and so his enemies, dying of hunger, would submit to him. It is the same with the passions of the flesh; if a man goes about fasting and hungry the enemies of his soul grow weak."

– Some old men were entertaining themselves at Scetis by having a meal together; amongst them was Abba John. A venerable priest got up to offer drink, but nobody accepted any from him, except John the Dwarf. They were surprised and said to him, "How is that you, the youngest, dared to let yourself be served by the priest?" Then he said to them, "When I get up to offer drink, I am glad when everyone accepts it, since I am receiving my reward; that is the reason, then, that I accepted it, so that he also might gain his reward and not be grieved by seeing that no one would accept anything from him." When they heard this, they were all filled with wonder and edification at his discretion.

– The brethren used to tell how the brethren were sitting one day at an agape* and one brother at table began to laugh. When he saw that, Abba John began to weep, saying, "What does this brother have in his heart, that he should laugh, when he ought to weep, because he is eating at an agape?"

– Some brethren came one day to test him to see whether he would let his thoughts get dissipated and speak of the things of this world. They said to him, "We give thanks to God that this year there has been much rain and the palm trees have been able to drink, and their shoots have grown, and the brethren have found manual work." Abba John said to them, "So it is when the Holy Spirit descends into the hearts of men; they are renewed and they put forth leaves in the fear of God."

– Abba John said, "I am like a man sitting under a great tree, who sees wild beasts and snakes coming against him in great numbers. When he cannot withstand them any longer, he runs to climb the tree and is saved. It is just the same with me; I sit in my cell and I am aware of evil thoughts coming against me, and when I have no more strength against them, I take refuge in God by prayer and I am saved from the enemy."

– Abba Poemen said of Abba John the Dwarf that he had prayed God to take his passions away from him so that he might become free from care. He went and told an old man this: "I find myself in peace, without an enemy," he said. The old man said to him, "Go, beseech God to stir up warfare so that you may regain the affliction and humility that you used to have, for it is by warfare that the soul makes progress." So he besought God and when warfare came, he no longer prayed that it might be taken away, but said, "Lord, give me strength for the fight."

– The old man also said this to a certain brother about the soul, which wishes to be converted, "There was in a city a courtesan who had many lovers. One of the governors approached her, saying, "Promise me you will be good, and I will marry you." She promised this and he took her and brought her to his house. Her lovers, seeking her again, said to one another, "That lord has taken her with him to his house, so if we go to his house and he learns of it, he will condemn us. But let us go to the back, and whistle to her. Then, when she recognizes the sound of the whistle she will come down to us; as for us, we shall be unassailable." When she heard the whistle, the woman stopped her ears and withdrew to the inner chamber and shut the doors." The old man said that this courtesan is our soul, that her lovers are the passions and other men; that the lord is Christ; that the inner chamber is the eternal dwelling; those who whistle are the evil demons, but the soul always takes refuge in the Lord.

– One day when Abba John was going up to Scetis with some other brothers, their guide lost his way for it was night time. So the brothers said to Abba John, "What shall we do, Abba, in order not to die wandering about, for the brother has lost the way?" The old man said to them, "If we speak to him, he will be filled with grief and shame. But look here, I will pretend to be ill and say I cannot walk any more; then we can stay here till the dawn." This he did. The others said, "We will not go on either, but we will stay with you." They sat there until the dawn, and in this way they did not upset the brother.

* agape: the primary meaning of this Greek word is "love." Here, it refers to the common meal taken by the fathers after the celebration of the Liturgy. It can also refer to the Liturgy itself.

From Sr. Benedicta Ward, The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, (Kalamazoo, Michigan: Cistercian Publications, 1975), pp. 85-89

Source: http://www.innerlightproductions.com/2013/10/st-john-dwarf-teachings-on-asceticism.html

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