Letters of St.Basil The Great: Do you worship what you know or what you do not know?
Letter to Amphilochius, in reply to certain questions.
Do you worship what you know or what you do not know?
If I answer, I
worship what I know, they immediately reply, What is
the essence of the
object of worship? Then, if I confess that I am
ignorant of the essence,
they turn on me again and say, So you worship you know
not what. I
answer that the word to know has many meanings. We say
that we know
the greatness of God, His power, His wisdom, His
goodness, His
providence over us, and the justness of His judgment;
but not His very
essence. The question is, therefore, only put for the
sake of dispute. For
he who denies that he knows the essence does not
confess himself to be
ignorant of God. because our idea of God is gathered
from all tire attributes
which I have enumerated. But God, he says, is simple,
and whatever
attribute of Him you have reckoned as knowable is of
His essence. But the
absurdities involved in this sophism are innumerable.
When all these high
attributes have been enumerated, are they all names of
one essence? And is
there the same mutual force in His awfulness and His
loving-kindness, His
justice and His creative power, His providence and His
foreknowledge,
and His bestowal of rewards and punishments, His
majesty and His
providence? In mentioning any one of these do we
declare His essence? If
they say, yes, let them not ask if we know the essence
of God, but let
them enquire of us whether we know God to be awful, or
just, or merciful.
These we confess that we know, if they say that
essence is something
distinct, let them not put us in the wrong on the
score of simplicity. For
they confess themselves that there is a distinction
between the essence and
each one of the attributes enumerated. The operations
are various, and the
essence simple, but we say that we know our God from
His operations,
but do not undertake to approach near to His essence.
His operations
come down to us, but His essence remains beyond our
reach. But, it is replied, if you are ignorant of the essence, you are ignorant
of
Himself.
St. Basil the Great |
Retort, If you say that you know His essence, you are
ignorant
of Himself. A man who has been bitten by a mad dog,
and sees a dog in a
dish, does not really see any more than is seen by
people in good health;
he is to be pitied because he thinks he sees what he
does not see. Do not
then admire him for his announcement, but pity him for
his insanity.
Recognize that the voice is the voice of mockers, when
they say, if you are
ignorant of the essence of God, you worship what you
do not know. I do
know that He exists; what His essence is, I look at as
beyond intelligence.
How then am I saved? Through faith. It is faith
sufficient to know that
God exists, without knowing what He is; and "He
is a rewarder of them
that seek Him." So knowledge of the divine
essence involves perception of
His incomprehensibility, and the object of our worship
is not that of
which we comprehend the essence, but of which we
comprehend that the
essence exists.
And the following counter question may also be put to
them. "No man
hath seen God at any time, the Only-begotten which is
in the bosom hath
declared him." What of the Father did the
Only-begotten Son declare? His
essence or His power? If His power, we know so much as
He declared to
us. If His essence, tell me where He said that His
essence was the being
unbegotten? When did Abraham worship? Was it not when
he believed?
And when did he believe? Was it not when he was
called? Where in this
place is there any testimony in Scripture to Abraham's
comprehending?
When did the disciples worship Him? Was it not when
they saw creation
subject to Him? It was from the obedience of sea and
winds to Him that
they recognized His Godhead. Therefore the knowledge
came from the
operations, and the worship from the knowledge.
"Believest thou that I
am able to do this?" "I believe, Lord;"
and he worshipped Him. So
worship follows faith, and faith is confirmed by
power. But if you say
that the believer [also knows, he knows from what he
believes; and vice
versa he believes from what he knows. We know God from
His power.
We, therefore, believe in Him who is known, and we
worship Him who is
believed in.
Source:
https://archive.org/stream/St.BasilLettersAndSelectedWorks/St_basil_lettersAndSelected_works_djvu.txt
Personal Stories: There’s Nothing in Life that Happens by Chance…
Usually, we do not realize why our life takes this or that direction. We do not see God’s Providence. Later, if we look back and analyses the past years, we see that nothing happened by chance.
I recall the time when I started going to church and had taken communion just a couple of times. I was sitting in Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, waiting for my turn to come to Father Andrew to confess. There was an old icon worn from time on a column in front of me. I was in my first year of a school of arts and was still craving to create something. My proud mind perceived icon painting (like all church life in general) as something lacking creativity, limited with various dogmas, very dull and intimidating the artist’s personality. These thoughts ran through my head when I was looking at the icon. Suddenly, a miracle happened. I can not clearly recollect what I felt exactly at that moment because more than fourteen years have passed since that time. I can simply say that I felt the grace that shone from that icon. This was a new, delightful and unearthly feeling. I was so deeply moved by it that I thought I would become an icon painter one day.
However, at the same time it was painful for me to renounce my self, my creative individualism. It was like I had to hide my talent in the earth. I thought I was doing a great favor by my decision to paint icons. It was not until later that I realized that painting icons is a great honor. I felt that I should be grateful to God because He allowed me to serve Him in this way.
One more detail: later, when I realized the mercy of God that had poured on me through the icon, I tried to learn more about that icon. I came to the church and looked at it once again. It was a pity that the inscription on the icon was illegible, and only later could I understand that it was Archangel Gabriel. My Heavenly patroness Larissa is commemorated exactly on the same day that the Synaxis of Archangel Gabriel is celebrated.
Matushka Larissa (Nezhbort)
Father Andrew: Being a Christian is a Great Boldness!
It is hard to
speak about the true life, when you are clinically dead all the time, but we
have to. This is why I would like to say: do not trust yourself, your feelings
and mood, because all these temporary things mean nothing. We are living in a so-called
shell, and a person is pressed in this shell – by his flash, by earth, by
miserable human needs and relationships. Of course, we are used to live in this
shell, because it is warm and pleasant for us. But if the shell is crashed,
then how are we going to live? What should we do? However, we need to leave our
shells. Perhaps, we will be face the beasts or temptations.. We should hope
that we will be able to fly: we will get the wings and will get off the ground.
This hope should make us stronger and encourage us.
How can we accept
that we will be buried and there will be nothing left from us? Do we consider ourselves
just as dead corpses? Christ tells us we are alive. He is risen and He gives us
life, but we do not value it, we lose it. Of course, everything is not that simple.
Today you may have some thoughts. You lay and get some sleep – and we’ll see
what you will think tomorrow. You wake up, and you have completely different
mood. People are fickle, and all these inner variations affect our lives. People
are used to live and act in accordance with their own will… What if God’s will
is different? He may tell you that it is your time to go home, that you should
not moan and that there is nothing in this world you should hold on to. Father
Nicholas Gurianov told many times: “Life will be much better there…” We do not
trust God: who can say definitely, what awaits us there? However, in this life
we think that we have at least something…
The closer you
come to God, the stronger becomes your internal pain. Each step towards God
tears a person apart. He does not want us to get attached to time, space or
particular values. He wants us to be free. But we consider this freedom to be
something tragic and unpleasant for us. It is really important to humble
ourselves and to see the true aim of our life. Instead we always try to adapt
God to our life, to tame Him and make Him serve us. In fact, we have to
understand God: why did He come down to earth, what did He bring us? Why were the
Cross and all His sufferings? He could just defeat the Scribes and Pharisees,
sit on the throne in Jerusalem and create a new fair state, where all people
have everything they need and are equal. Kind of “Christian Communism”, you
know.
However, it is impossible to do this in our world, as it is impossible
for our frail flash and blood, which do not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. That
is why sometimes we feel exhausted: it means that God’s grace is with us. We
think it is something bad. We cannot change our conscience and look at these
things from a different angle. Indeed, a birth on earth means future funeral at
the same time. A baby is born today, but in some years a haggard old man will
be buried. You see, it is really difficult to stay strong in this world. What
is more, the devil is constantly advising us something wrong and pushing us to
sin…
This is why to
be a Christian is a greatest art, or even boldness. Being a Christian does not
mean that I just go to church, light up some candles, cross myself… Well then,
I might also take the communion – I open my mouth and then I leave the church
and forget about this. It is not about this! If we accept Christ, then we
accept the death of the inner “old man” as well. We can say that Blood and Body
of Christ is a poison for a sin and an “old man”, which will die slowly and
painfully from this poison. At the same time it is the only opportunity for a “new
man” to be born and to live forever. We cannot understand this on our own.
If
you are attached to this world and you are satisfied with it, you like to live
in this way, then it means that you lose, because it is a mistake. It is just a
devil’s trap for you. On the other hand, if you manage to break out of this and
to say “Enough! I trust God and no one can shatter my trust. I do not serve any
lords and purposes!”, then you become one step closer to your freedom. In other
words, you should test yourself whether you can leave everything behind and
become poor or not. Should you try to hold on something material - houses, cars,
comfort, people, hobbies – it is over. You are in a cage.
God wants to
gift us the greatest freedom: “Follow Me”. – “But I have to bury my father”. –
“Let the dead bury the dead, but you follow Me”. – “I can’t do it now. I have
too much to do”. – “Follow Me’’…So we start to drown as we try to go this way,
like Apostle Peter, because we hesitate. Apostle Peter wanted to go towards God
on water – and Christ let him do that. The Apostle saw the storm and was afraid
the waves would drown him. And he began to drown indeed, as he doubted in God. The
Lord was near him, and Peter remembered that. Otherwise he would certainly sink
to the bottom. The same is with us: we should s remember that God is always
with us.
We think that everything
is destroyed… What if it is not what we really need? What if it was just an
illusion? What if it was something wrong and unnecessary? When we come to confess,
we start to think, to recall recent sins. Instead we should speak about eternal
life and our souls, about significant things which really matter and affect us.
We should speak about how difficult and frightening it is to come out of the
shell, how frightening it is to accept our “Cross”, our shameful execution for
the greatest gift of love. If you want to love, then be ready to suffer. If you
do not want to suffer, then how can you speak about love? Then it is a kind of
mutual agreement: I give you money, and you give me comfort. But this is not
love.
Love is when
people forget about their personal needs. Today we are not ready for this. We
have so many things to change in ourselves! It is too early to speak today
about Christianity and Orthodoxy: you can raise an icon above your head, but
people will continue to step on your feet – your love will end. We came are in
the Church for healing, as there is a cure for any disease. For example, if a
person with cancer knows that the Eucharist is taken for health of his soul and
body, then he should believe that these Blood and Body of Christ will heal him
by God’s will. The same is with any other illness. In the akathist to the
Mother of God Pantanassa there are words saying that the holy water can heal.
Then why does it not heal us? Why do we not fly? Because we will fly in a wrong
direction and fall down. But we should remember, that “our tears will turn into
happiness”.
We should gain
spiritual experience from any life situation. Analyze our lives, and seek for God’s
will, because God is always around. He will reach out His hand to you, just
like He reached it out to Apostle Peter. No matter how deep we mired in sin, He
will help us to keep us from despair. Trust and be saved.
Father
Andrew
Unique Workshop: Images of Stone
One will have to whisper if he wants to demonstrate
what the atmosphere at the stone workshop is like. This is not because it is
extremely quiet here, and not because it might interfere with the determination
and concentration which are essential for the artists.
Helena, an artist in this workshop, told us that
sometimes they had to start an icon all over again practically from scratch
because someone would slap shut a book nearby: the slap would lead to an air
wave, which would blow away the scrupulous work of several hours in just a
couple of seconds. This happens due to the fact that the icons in this workshop
are "painted" with fine ground rock, so any vibration might lead to
the destruction of this exquisite work of art. The fine ground particles are
very light and therefore they tend to be unpredictable, to fly all over the
place, not exactly to the place where they are supposed to be.
The artists in this workshop have their secret
techniques acquired in the many years of practice but the main secret is to be
able to "feel the stone", Helena said. Trying to understand the craft
and its technologies may turn to be meaningless until one tries to "paint
with stone" himself. Even a good icon painter will not necessarily be able
to work in the stone workshop because there is more to it than skill: the
ability to feel the nuances is not a craft that one can learn by practising
principles and ways to do things. This may be the reason why I did not see male
artists in the stone workshop...
You can learn more about the crushed stone workshop o St. Elisabeth Convent here.
Sermon: Isn't it Strange to Live for One's Own Sake?
Greetings to everyone who have come to the God's church this morning because our souls are looking for the life that the temporary world cannot give. Our souls look forward to enjoying the food that they deprived themselves of when they lost their connection to God.
The connection to God means trusting Him and
struggling with the sin that has pervaded our lives, our flesh and our souls.
It means the death of the old man that continues to live today, nurtured with
knowledge, laws and false truths of this world, which are temporary. For instance, some people are childless. Some people
kill their children because they do not want to have them, some people make
their human plans because they want to live for their own sake (isn't it
strange to live for one’s own sake?) but there are people who are childless
although they want children and pray to God for them. Doctors cannot help such
people, and nothing can help them, in fact.
Zechariah and Elisabeth could not have a baby
according to the laws of nature. However, everything is possible with God. That
was how this old couple who were thought to be incapable of childbirth finally
gave birth to a baby who was destined to become the greatest of all who were
born of women.
Nevertheless, we do not believe it... It happened long
ago, it was a different time. What is the present time like? It is the same!
This is a general rule: we only make a single step towards God when suddenly a
wind blows and we digress from the right path. As soon as we encounter
hardships, we say, “Oh, we cannot do anything! Help, save us, O Lord, we are
dying!” The Lord continues to hold and protect us in spite of the fact that we
try to break loose.
We read in Gospel episode that the fishermen worked
all night and did not catch anything. The Lord said to them, “Cast your nets
over there...” And they caught a lot of fish. That is how it happens in our
lives as well: we are doing something and cannot succeed because everything
fails. How important it is for us to seek for God's blessing, to keep an eye on
God's Providence and trust the Lord, and to do what we ought to do in reality
in order not to lose connection to God, not to sin.
Our entire life is something like a choice between the
old and the new, the transient and the eternal. This choice is hard to make
because we are weak, vulnerable, and proud, so each word we hear might offend
and hurt us. The circumstances that interfere with our plans may make us
depressed and indifferent towards what we do. It is vital for us to be guided
by God's will and the goal that every Christian has – to be saved.
Do not be depressed, my dear brothers and sisters!
Even though today we are paralyzed by sin and are about to lose the entire
battle, if we manage to preserve our Orthodox faith according to the words of
the Holy Fathers, our predecessors, if we do not turn our backs to God and do
not reject Him, this will make up for the ascetic lifestyles we are unable to
lead nowadays. It is not that we cannot sleep on a nail mat (many people can),
not that we cannot walk on hot ashes (pagans can). We realize that pride dwells
inside our hearts, and if anyone does anything without humility, it is deadly
for him. He is infected with pride and may perish forever.
That is why we work as hard as we can, beginning with
a small prayer, and finishing with the prayer for the whole world, as Fr.
Sophrony (Sakharov) said. We begin with a little of self-control: I will not
eat this and that during fasts because the Holy Church tells me so. This small
victory may grow into a big one because he that is faithful in that which is
least is faithful also in much (Luke, 16:10).
On the other hand, the life of the Church and a
Christian may become bleak, with no room for heroism of renouncing one's self,
one's ego, one's old man, for the sake of love of God. Each one of us faces
this inevitable need to overcome sin. Of course, we do not triumph over sin but
if an individual makes efforts, there comes the divine grace, which always
heals that which is infirm and completes that which is lacking...
Therefore, do not be depressed but go, crawl, to God's
church instead, in order to touch holiness and to breathe in the air of the
church. This air is so clean; there is nothing like this air neither in the
mountains, nor in the woods, nor by the seas. Everything in the church is
filled with God's grace. Listen to every word, and if this word makes way to
your hearts, they will be filled with grace. Struggle for your mind, for your
heart, for being attentive to your emotions and thoughts, for it is so easy to
lose, to ruin, and to spoil everything! We can see with our own eyes how man
gives in to the sin, how he exchanges God's grace for the joys and
entertainment of this transient world.
However, if there is no God in our lives, if there is
no hope for the resurrection and the life of the age to come, our life is absolutely
meaningless and futile. This is absurd.
Let us thank God today for giving us the chance to
enter His house and to participate in the Divine Liturgy. Some of us have
partaken of the eternal life, regardless of his or her unworthiness and
unpreparedness. The Lord feeds us with a spoon like babies so that we could
grow and develop, so that we could say no to the sin, so that we could live for
the sake of our neighbors, not for our own sake. This is when God's power is
made manifest in weakness (2 Cor., 12:9). May the Lord help us and
protect everybody.
Q&A with an Orthodox priest: Spirituality vs Warm-heartedness
Sister N.: Father, how is spirituality different from warm-heartedness?
Father Andrew: We all are warm-hearted people. A
warm-hearted person is very good, open, takes care of everything, wants and
makes efforts to help everyone. A warm-hearted person has a charitable, kind,
sympathetic and benevolent soul. However, a warm-hearted person is unstable and
emotional; his feelings may be very positive but they are prone to change at
any moment. Warm-heartedness is not enough to be able to truly help another
person because it is too emotional, too earthly, too human.
Spirituality is the action of the Holy Spirit in an individual's heart,
when the individual admits his total unworthiness and sinfulness but still is
not desperate about his salvation but trusts God and lives with His blessing. A
spiritual person will stand up against all hardships he has to endure because
he is based on the solid rock of faith and trust in God instead of
self-confidence and human truth which might be a lie in God's eyes.
Today we sometimes are even unable to be warm-hearted but we are still
called to speak about spirituality because we live in the Church and there is
the Holy Spirit that protects us. He never fails to touch us during communion,
and this is true spirituality. Speaking from the human point of view, we could
rank people in accordance with their works and their zeal... Speaking from the
spiritual point of view, though, all men are equal for God. God grants the
fullness of His love to each and every one who partakes of His Mysteries but
people can accept and realize this fullness of love to a varying extent.
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About Our Blog
Welcome to the official blog of the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent! The blog includes recent ministry updates of the convent, sermons, icons, personal stories and everything related to Orthodox Christianity. Join our Catalog of Good Deeds and become part of the ministry of St.Elisabeth Convent! #CatalogOfGoodDeeds