The Catalog of Good Deeds

This may come as a surprise to many that St. Patrick was and is an Orthodox Saint centuries before Rome split from the Holy Apostolic Church.

The rule of thumb for Orthodox Christians is that a Latin Christian who lived after the Great Schism of 1054, while they may have lived exemplary lives, are not saints in the full sense of the Church’s understanding. But because he lived from c. 385 to 17 March 460/461 Patrick is considered part of the undivided Church and therefore is an Orthodox saint.

St. Patrick’s Life

The name “Patrick” is derived from the Latin “Patricius” which means “highborn.” He was born in the village of Bannavem Taburniae. Its location is uncertain; some scholars place it on the west coast of England, while others place it in Scotland. His father was Calpurnius, a Roman Decurion (an official responsible for collecting taxes) and a deacon in the church. His grandfather, Potitus, was a priest.

This means that Patrick had a solid Christian upbringing and was well acquainted with the refinements of Roman civilization. But he lived on the edge of civilization at a time when the Roman Empire was under siege by barbarians. When Patrick was sixteen he was kidnapped by pirates, taken to Ireland, and there sold as a slave. He was put to work as a herder of swine on a mountain in County Antrim.

Looking back on his youth, he recounts:

I was at that time about sixteen years of age. I did not, indeed, know the true God; and I was taken into captivity in Ireland with many thousands of people, according to our deserts, for quite drawn away from God, we did not keep his precepts, nor were we obedient to our priests who used to remind us of our salvation. (Confessio §1)

Although Patrick had a Christian upbringing, he took his faith for granted. This complacency would be shaken by the calamity of being taken into exile. For the next six years he spent much of his time in solitude and prayer which would prepare him for life as a monastic. During this time Patrick also learned the local language which would prepare him for his future work as a missionary bishop.

But after I reached Ireland I used to pasture the flock each day and I used to pray many times a day. More and more did the love of God, and my fear of him and faith increase, and my spirit was moved so that in a day [I said] from one up to a hundred prayers, and in the night a like number. . . . (Confessio §16)

His escape from slavery resulted from two visions. In the first vision it was revealed that he would return home. The second vision told him his ship was ready. He then walked two hundred miles to the coast, succeeded in boarding a ship, and reunited with his parents.

Sometime later Patrick studied for the priesthood under St. Germanus in Gaul (France). Eventually, he was consecrated as a bishop and entrusted with the mission to Ireland. Patrick had a dream in which he heard the Irish people begging him to come back to them. There were other missionaries in Ireland but it was St. Patrick who had the greatest success. For this reason, he is known as “The Enlightener of Ireland.”

Evangelizing the Irish people was not an easy task. The Irish populace regarded him with hostility and disdain. He was a foreigner and, worst yet, a former slave. Despite the opposition, Patrick persevered in his missionary calling and baptized many into Christ. This resulted in churches and monasteries all across Ireland.

In his autobiography Patrick described his motivation for doing missionary work:

I am greatly God’s debtor, because he granted me so much grace, that through me many people would be reborn in God, and soon after confirmed, and that clergy would be ordained everywhere for them, the masses lately come to belief, whom the Lord drew from the ends of the earth, just as he once promised through his prophets: ‘To you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth. . . . (Confessio §38)

St. Patrick’s missionary labors would result in a blessing, not just to the Irish, but to humankind as well. How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill tells how Ireland became an isle of saints and scholars, preserving Western civilization while the Continent was being overrun by barbarians.

American culture has been richly blessed by the presence of the Irish. In the US, March 17th has become something close to a national holiday. While in many instances St. Patrick’s day has become more of an excuse for partying, it can also be made into an occasion for renewing our faith in Christ.

St. Patrick’s Faith

We learn of his faith through the well known Breastplate of St. Patrick. It is also known as the Lorica (Latin for ‘breastplate.’). In the monastic tradition a lorica is a prayer/incantation for spiritual protection.

Below are some excerpts of the rather lengthy but powerful and inspiring prayer. There is a strong masculine and militant tone in Patrick’s prayer that contrasts with the softer, more feminine quality of later Christian spirituality.

I arise today

through a mighty strength,

the invocation of the Trinity,

through belief in the Threeness,

through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

***

I arise today

through the strength of Christ with His Baptism,

through the strength of His Crucifixion with His Burial,

through the strength of His Resurrection with His Ascension,

through the strength of His descent for the Judgment of Doom.

Patrick’s commitment to Orthodoxy can be seen in the third stanza which refers to the fellowship of the saints and angelic hosts. His was not the faith of rugged individualism but one marked by a profound awareness of the interconnectedness with the spirit and biblical worlds as expressed in the Liturgy.

I arise today

through the strength of the love of Cherubim,

in obedience of Angels, in the service of the Archangels,

in hope of resurrection to meet with reward,

in prayers of Patriarchs, in predictions of Prophets,

in preachings of Apostles, in faiths of Confessors,

in innocence of Holy Virgins, in deeds of righteous men.

In the fourth stanza we learn of Patrick’s zeal for holy Orthodoxy and spiritual warfare against the forces of darkness.

I summon today all these powers between me (and these evils):

against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose my body and my soul,

against incantations of false prophets,

against black laws of heathenry,

against false laws of heretics,

against craft of idolatry,

against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,

against every knowledge that endangers man’s body and soul.

Christ to protect me today

against poison, against burning,

against drowning, against wounding,

so that there may come abundance of reward.

Living in dangerous times Patrick was keenly aware of the dangers all around him and constantly invoked divine protection as he went about his missionary and pastoral labors.

Honoring St. Patrick Today

One key means by which the Orthodox Church honors its saints is by remembering them on their feast day. Usually during the Vespers and Matins service preceding the Liturgy, we hear a short summary of the saint’s life and sing a hymn celebrating God’s work in that saint’s life. The Orthodox Church in America’s website posted the two hymns for St. Patrick’s feast day:

Troparion — Tone 3

Holy Bishop Patrick, / Faithful shepherd of Christ’s royal flock, / You filled Ireland with the radiance of the Gospel: / The mighty strength of the Trinity! / Now that you stand before the Savior, / Pray that He may preserve us in faith and love!

Kontakion — Tone 4

From slavery you escaped to freedom in Christ’s service: / He sent you to deliver Ireland from the devil’s bondage. / You planted the Word of the Gospel in pagan hearts. / In your journeys and hardships you rivaled the Apostle Paul! / Having received the reward for your labors in heaven, / Never cease to pray for the flock you have gathered on earth, / Holy bishop Patrick!

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/orthodoxbridge/is-st-patrick-an-orthodox-saint/

With the development of Monasticism during the fourth century and thereafter, many monastics became involved with the various heresies, especially those concerning the Christological dogma. Most of the monastics were the defenders of the Orthodox faith. Still, Eutyches, an archimandrite from Constantinople, headed the heresy of monophysitism. On the Orthodox side, St. Maximos the Confessor (c. 580-662) played an important role in defeating the heresies of monothelitism and monoenergism. The Sixth Ecumenical Council (680) condemned monothelitism and reestablished the doctrine of Chalcedon. During the time of the iconoclastic controversy, the Studite monks, led by St. Theodore the Studite (759-826), played a very important role. In addition to organizing his monastery, the Studion, on the basis of the cenobitic principles of St. Pachomios and St. Basil, St. Theodore also wrote his three Antirrhetics against iconoclasm.

After the condemnation of the iconoclasts, monasticism thrived even more. Many representatives of the Byzantine aristocracy became monks. Monks were men of letters; clergy received their education in the monasteries. Bishops, metropolitans, and patriarchs were taken from their ranks; monks were involved with the church affairs, at times for the good of the church, at times creating trouble. Monasteries existed in almost every diocese, with the Bishop as their head, planting a cross in their foundations. Since 879, the right was given to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople of planting a cross in monasteries that were under the jurisdiction of other dioceses throughout the empire. They were called "Patriarchal Stavropighiac Monasteries." This right exists to our days.

With the Arab conquest of Syria, Palestine and Egypt (during the 7th century), new centers for monasteries were sought and founded, among which were Mount Olympus in Bithynia and the Holy Mount Athos.

During the entire Byzantine period, the monks took an active part in the life of the Church in general. Still, spirituality was their strength. Concerning this tension in Christian anthropology, two schools of thought were represented; that of Evagrios ponticus (d. 399), who followed a Platonic and Origenistic doctrine pertaining to the "mind," thus de-emphasizing the importance of the human body and becoming dualistic, and St. Makarios of Egypt (or, better, the writings attributed to him), present a more Christian, holistic anthropology; for in this theology man is a psycho-physical entity, and, as such, being a destined to deification. "Prayer of the mind," in the Evagrian spirituality, becomes "prayer of the heart" in the Macarian spirituality. The two schools of thought with the two different anthropologies continue to find representatives throughout the history of the Church.

Saint Symeon, the New Theologian (949-1022), marks an important development in monastic spirituality. A disciple of a Studite monk, he left the Studion to join the small monastery of St. Mamas in Constantinople, were he was ordained a priest and became the abbot. He wrote several works, among which are the fifty-eight hymns of "Divine Love," in which he stresses that the Christian faith is a conscious experience of God. St. Symeon is the exponent of an intensive sacramental life, which leads to this personal conscious experience, as we can see in his Hymns. In this he is a predecessor of Hesychasm, which also shares this personal experience of God in conjunction with intensive sacramental life.

Finally, the spirituality of Hesychasm, as enunciated in the theology of St. Gregory Palamas (1296-1359), is of paramount importance not only in the life of monasticism, but also in the life of the entire Church. An Anthonite monk, St. Gregory took it upon himself to defend the holy Hesychasts of the Holy Mountain in their ways of praying and experiencing the presence of God the "uncreated light" that they contemplated. Barlaam the Calabrian had led the attack against the pious monks and their psycho physical method of prayer, and accused them of "gross materialism," Messalianism, calling them "navel-souls" (omphalopsychoi) and "navel-watchers" (omphaloskopoi).

The hesychastic method of prayer consists of regulating one's breathing with the recitation of the "Jesus prayer": "O Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." The prayer is repeated constantly until it descends from the lips and minds into one's heart. At the end of the process, the peace of Christ is poured into the heart of the worshipper, and the light itself of Christ shines upon him and around him. This light, as that of the Holy Transfiguration of Christ, may also be seen by our physical eyes.

Saint Gregory established that the experience of the Holy Hesychasts was an authentic one, for it is similar to that of the disciples on Mount Tabor. Theologically it is justified by the distinction between essence and energies in God, this light being the "uncreated light," or the "uncreated energy" of God, that "can descend toward us," whereas the essence of God "remains unapproachable" (St. Basil).

After the fall of Constantinople, the number of idiorrythmic monasteries continued to grow, a fact which brought a further decline to monastic life. The 16th century was the lowest ebb. In reaction to this problem, many of the monks themselves, especially on the Holy Mountain, left the main monasteries and turned to idiorrhythmic ones, establishing Sketai (dependencies) of the main monasteries, with a more rigorous typikon (order). Also, Patriarchs Jeremy II of Constantinople, Silvester of Alexandria, and Sophronios of Jerusalem led the attack against idiorrhythmic monasticism, thus managing to counteract its spread. Cenobitic monasticism prevailed for a while, but the tide soon went in its original direction. Many monasteries of the Holy Mountain, including the mother monastery, the Great Lavra, became idiorrhythmic. Today an idiorrhythmic monastery may become cenobitic but not the other way round. Hopefully, this will guarantee that organized monastic life will finally prevail, according to the Basilian ideal of monasticism.

Monasticism played an important role under the Ottoman Empire, as well. The monks not only kept the faith alive, but they also kept the Greek culture and literature alive. Not only did the education of clergy continue at the monasteries, but the monasteries became the "clandestine school" (Krypho Scholeio) for all the Greeks under Turkish occupation. The monks thus prevented the Christian nations under Turkish occupation from being assimilated to them, and thereby became the natural leaders of national ("ethnic") resistance against the oppressors. It is no accident that the Greek Revolution started in 1821 at a monastery in the Peloponnesos, Aghia Lavra, with Metropolitan Germanos of Old Patras raising the banner of revolution and blessing the arms of the Greek freedom fighters.

Source: http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/ourfaith7103

Our Saviour has taught us: Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth (Matt. 7:7-8).

Therefore, when we are in pain we must pray for understanding of our malady, patience to bear it, and deliverance from it, if such be God's holy will. We are also expected to ask for the prayers of others and especially of the Church, for the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16).

"Anyone who is sick should seek the prayer of others, that they may be restored to health; that through the intercession of others the enfeebled form of the body and the wavering footsteps of our deeds may be restored to health....Learn, you who are sick, to gain health through prayer. Seek the prayer of others, call upon the Church to pray for you, and God, in His regard for the Church, will give what He might refuse to you" (St. Ambrose, On the Healing of the Paralytic).

The great public prayer of the Church for those who are ill is the Service of Holy Unction. This Service, which is long and exceedingly rich in readings from Scripture, and contains numerous allusions to biblical figures who were healed by the power of God, gives, in concentrated form, the Church's teaching about healing.

This Service identifies Christ as the "Physician and Helper of the suffering," and invokes upon the sick person, through anointing, the grace of the Holy Spirit, Who heals both souls and bodies. Since God "mercifully gave us command to perform Holy Unction upon Thy sick servants," Christ Himself is spoken of as the "incorruptible chrism" Who in old times had chosen the olive-branch to show Noah that the Flood had abated. (From ancient times olive oil was used in the making of Holy Oil.) At the time of the Flood, the olive-branch symbolized tranquility and safety; so now the priest prays that the Saviour will, through the "tranquility of Thy mercy's seal [the anointing with oil]," heal the sufferer.

Acknowledging that illness sometimes comes through the activity of demonic powers, the priest asks: "Let no interposition of malignant demons touch the senses of him who is marked with Thy divine anointing." Showing that the Church also understands the connection between sin and suffering, the priest prays that through this anointing the "suffering of him who is tormented by the violence of passions" may be washed away.

This healing service explores many aspects of sin, suffering and healing; it is a profound and very exalted service of prayer and intercession. One very important point should be made here: during Holy Unction we beg God to remove the sickness — but, in place of illness, we ask Him to give "the joy of gladness" (anointing itself is spoken of as the oil of gladness in the Psalms), so that the formerly sick person might now "glorify Thy divine might." Therefore, one of the purposes of healing is to enable the sufferer to resume his healthy and active service to God. In token of this, the Saviour's healing of Peter's mother-in-law is spoken of: whereupon the fever left her, and she arose and ministered unto them. This is very important for us to remember: when we are set free from the torment of bodily sickness, we are expected to fill our mouths with praise of God and serve Him by amending our sinful ways and living from henceforth only for God and the world to come, counting this world as nothing.

Many do not discover prayer until they are on a sickbed. And those who have all of their lives piously participated in the public prayer of the Church, discover during illness that they have sadly neglected the treasures of private or interior prayer. St. Gregory Nazianzen, a great man of prayer even when his health was good, exclaimed during his last illness: "The time is swift, the struggle is great, and my sickness severe, reducing me nearly to immovability. What then is left but to pray to God?" (Letters).

During illness, prayer is capable of revealing true and lasting treasures, "for if you have bodily strength, the inroads of disease stop any joy you may have had from that source...because anything that belongs to this world is liable to damage and is unable to give us a lasting pleasure. But piety and the virtues of the soul are just the opposite because their joy abides forever....If you pour out continued and fervent prayers, no man can spoil you of their fruit, for this fruit is rooted in the heavens and protected from all destruction because it is beyond mortal reach" (St. John Chrysostom, On the Statues).

Two incidents from the lives of the saints show how simple yet incorruptible this prayer can be. In the life of Elder Hieroschemamonk Parthenius of the Kiev Caves Lavra we learn that in his final illness, even after he had been given Holy Unction, he continued to perform his daily prayer rule of reading the entire Psalter. The day before his repose he said to his spiritual children:

"Soon, soon I shall leave. Yesterday I already could not complete my Psalter — only half of it."

"Is it possible, Father, that until yesterday you said all of your customary rule?"

"Yes, the Lord helped me; after all, I now do it by memory; I cannot do it with my lips; there is nothing to breathe with; but yesterday I could not complete it even by memory, for my memory is leaving me. Only to the Jesus Prayer and to the praises of the Mother of God do I cling unceasingly" (Orthodox Life, no. 3, 1969).

And in the life of St. Abba Dorotheus we read about the touching death of his disciple, St. Dosithe-us, who had been in the monastery only five years, but "died in obedience, at no time and in nothing having done his own will and having done nothing out of attachment." He had always practiced the Jesus Prayer, and when his illness became severe, St. Abba Dorotheus said to him:

"Dositheus, take care over the Prayer; see that you be not deprived of it."

"Very well, Father," replied the monk, "only pray for me."

When he had become still worse, St. Abba Dorotheus said to him:

"Well, Dositheus, how is the Prayer? Does it continue as before?"

He answered him: "Yes, Father, by your prayers."

When, however, it became extremely difficult for him and the illness became so severe that he had to be carried on a stretcher, Abba Dorodieus asked him:

"How is the Prayer, Dositheus?"

He answered: "Forgive me, Father, I cannot keep it up any longer." Then Abba Dorotheus said to him:

"And so leave the Prayer, only keep God in mind and represent Him to yourself as if He were before you" (The Orthodox Word, vol. 5, no. 3).

Finally, we see a glorious and inspiring example of the place of prayer in times of illness in St. Gregory Nazianzen's account of his own father's illness:

"He suffered from sickness and bodily pain. The time of my father's sufferings was the season of the holy and illustrious Pascha, the Queen of Days, the brilliant night which dissipates the darkness of sin. Of what kind his sufferings were, I will briefly explain: his whole body was on fire with a great and burning fever; his strength failed him, he could take no food, his sleep had departed from him, and he was in the greatest distress. His whole mouth was so ulcerated that it was difficult and even dangerous to swallow even water. The skill of physicians, the prayers of his friends, earnest though they were, and every possible attention, were alike of no avail. In this desperate state his breathing was short and fast and he had no perception of present things.

"The time of Divine Liturgy was come, when all due order and silence is kept for the solemn rites. At this moment my father was raised up by Him Who quickens the dead. At first he moved slightly, and then more decidedly. Then, in a feeble and indistinct voice, he called a servant by name to bring his clothes and support him with his hand. The servant came in alarm and gladly waited upon him while he, leaning upon the servant as upon a staff, imitated Moses on the mountain and arranged his feeble hands in prayer...

"He retired again to his bed and, after taking a little food and sleep, his health slowly recovered so that on the first Sunday after the Fest of Pascha he was able to enter the church and offer thanksgiving...

"During this sickness he wan at no time free of pain. His only relief was Divine Liturgy, to which his pain yielded, as if to an edict of anishment" (On the Death of His Father).

The acknowledgment of oneself as deserving temporal and eternal punishment precedes the knowledge of the Saviour and leads to knowledge of the Saviour.

By Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov

There are events seemingly out of season, but holy. Thus, St. Seraphim of Sarov foretold that Pascha would be celebrated in the summer at the transfer of his relics. And truly, bringing the saint’s relics to Diveyevo, the thousands of pilgrims in the crowd could not help giving voice to the Paschal hymns filling their hearts. Similarly, now, in the midst of March, we must move in thought to August 19.

And while the crowd was proceeding,

All of a sudden, someone stirred:

It was the sixth of August, meaning,

—the Transfiguration of Our Lord.

We are compelled by the memory of St. Gregory Palamas, celebrated on the second Sunday of Lent, to reflect upon the Transfiguration. The life of St. Gregory can attract interest by its various details and events. For example, he was elected to the See of Thessaloniki by the direct intercession of the city patron—the Great Martyr Demetrios. “I take him as archbishop of my city,” St. Demetrios said to Great Martyr George, and the future archbishop was honored to hear the conversation of the glorious great martyrs in a nighttime vision. St. Gregory represented the part of the hierarchy that had more desire for a cell and books than for glory and vanity. It is only out of obedience and for the good of the people of God that such people take upon themselves with sorrow the yoke of administering their flock and the responsibility for many. Archpastorship was a cross all the heavier in that bishops, just as kings, were often deposed, banished, and confined in prisons. St. Gregory had to spend a year in captivity to Turkish pirates, where he preached to them the Gospel and came to the conclusion that the Greeks must immediately (!) begin to convert the Turks to Christianity. But all of this and many other sacred facts of his sacred biography fade into the background when we become acquainted with the main work of St. Gregory’s life—the dogma of the deification of man and the Taboric light.

Nobody specially prepared this question; it arose as if on its own, gradually signifying the genuine chasm between the distinct goals of life within Christianity and the various types of piety. It was precisely the feast of the Transfiguration that became the point of focus and the shield upon which their spears broke. What happened on Tabor? What did the Apostles see, and why did they see what they saw? Gregory’s opponents said that the light seen by the apostles is a special, enlightening light, but it is created light, like the sunlight that gives life to all nature.

St. Gregory, expressing the from thenceforth Orthodox dogma, and clothing in words the previously accrued but unformalized experience, spoke of the Uncreated Divine light. The Taboric light is not created, he said, but it is the light and grace of God Himself, manifested so that those communing of this light would not die, but be sanctified. Christ was not so much transfigured, says the Church, as Christ transfigured the vision and senses of the disciples, that they would be able to see Christ, as He is. This contemplation is a foretaste of the future Kingdom, of which is said, The glory of God did lighten it [the Heavenly Jerusalem], and the Lamb is the light thereof (Rev. 21:23). Therefore, it was said before the Transfiguration that there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God (Lk. 9:27). There is nothing in all of created nature like the vision of the Kingdom of God that the apostles saw on Tabor. And therefore Moses, from Sheol, and Elijah, from Heaven, appeared to Christ, that the Law and Prophets would bow down to the Word become flesh, and this flesh deified at that.

In meaning and value, the feast of the Transfiguration is far beyond the bounds of being just one of the feasts, but gives meaning to all of life and communicates a purpose. The purpose is theosis. St. Peter says, Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature (2 Pt. 1:4). St. John says, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is (1 Jn. 3:2). St. Peter and St. John were with Him on the holy mountain. St. John’s brother St. James was there as well, and he would have written about it too had he not become an early victim of Herod’s wickedness.

Thus, we will see Him and will be like unto Him, changing because of this very vision and feeding upon grace, just as the angels feed upon it even now. To bring this feast to naught, to give it a private, local character instead of its semantic value, is, it would seem, impossible. However, Western religious thought does precisely that, not giving due deference to the Transfiguration and to the very idea of theosis. The Transfiguration is barely noticeable in the Catholic liturgical year, the teaching of St. Gregory is considered heretical, and the abyss in worldviews, which we spoke of in the beginning, has become practically impassable over time. The West tread the path of intellectualism. St. Gregory’s opponent—Barlaam—said that the vision of God is a mental perception of the Godhead, but in no way partakes of the eternal light or Uncreated energies. The East and West took different paths from this point.

The West, trusting the mind and for reasoning forsaking the main value, philosophized, speculated, and pondered questions until it lost faith itself and replaced grace with syllogisms. And we, being in a long Western captivity, absorbed and embodied all its mistakes. We can criticize the West only as we rid ourselves of the disease of the West. Otherwise, such criticism will be suicidal. For centuries our seminarians and academics, priests and bishops neither heard nor spoke about what St. Gregory taught. That his memory was regularly celebrated on the second Sunday of Great Lent only emphasizes the bitterness of this. Hesychasm and the prayer of the heart, not finding a place in academies and seminaries, nestled into humble monasteries, where they continued to live the apostolic experience of the Taboric contemplation. This often happened without books, as the oral transfer of personal experience—that is, as genuine Tradition. St. Job of Pochaev spent many days in prayer in the stone caves, and the monks saw the tongues of flame, which did not burn, bursting forth from the entrance to this natural cell. St. Seraphim, beloved of all, the transfer of whose relics once brought Pascha in the middle of the summer, also partook of the Taboric light. He revealed this grace, as the fruit of long prayers and wise silence in God, to the eyes of Motovilov, and few are those Orthodox Christians who have not heard about it. St. Sergius would stand at Liturgy as if in fire, and fire would enter the chalice as he served, and of this fire he would partake. The best sons of our Church were practical exponents and fulfillers of Orthodox dogma, although few of them could theoretically interpret this dogma.

In conclusion, we can say that the divide between the East and West on the question of salvation is the difference between intellectualism and human righteousness on one side, and genuine holiness and a basic change in fallen nature on the other. But let’s note a few dangerous traps.

First, not all Orthodox participate in God’s grace in due measure. Confession of true doctrine is only an indication of the true path. But we must walk this path, not just point to it. Therefore, we do not need to boast. Second, the Western path of mental speculation is not that of an absolute impasse. They have discoveries and useful knowledge there. It is another matter that this path has an end and boundaries, beyond which it is not within their powers to go, and there begins the time for other labors and other podvigs. Just to disregard their knowledge, books, and reflections is a sin. St. Gregory, expressing the most exalted dogmas of the Church, was a very educated person. Those sciences, which he did not take as salvific, were respected by him and he was familiar with them to a due degree. In his youth he studied Aristotle, and at one of his lectures, read at the court, shouts rang out, “Aristotle himself, were he here, would not fail to praise it!” That is, it’s not rejecting external knowledge, but pointing to its limits that is characteristic of Orthodoxy.

Therefore, being at such a great distance from personal theosis, and in need firstly of cleansing, correction, and learning, we still know that the final purpose of human life is the transfiguration of our nature by grace and communion with the Divine life. On earth it is partial, in seed form, but in eternity it is different. Thus, to speak about it now is impossible.

An article by Archpriest Andrei Tkachev

Translated by Jesse Dominick (Pravoslavie.ru)

Source: http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/101767.htm

By Father Andrew Lemeshonok

I would like to congratulate all of you with the feast day of our church in honor of the Reigning icon of the Mother of God! The Mother of God takes a scepter in her arms, which is exactly what a queen is supposed to do. The earthly kingdoms fall, and She offers us to come to the Kingdom which Her Son has told us about: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John, 18:36). No matter how good and fair are the laws of the earthly kingdoms, they are still imperfect, and this is why these kingdoms are temporary. And we all hope that we will manage to enter the Kingdom, which is not based on fair or unfair laws, but on love. Blessed Augustine talks about this love: “Love God, and do whatever you want”.

However, we really need laws, for we are used to this temporary kingdom. We are used to be pushed, watched and guarded… We need to feel this human fear, without which we just cannot live in this world. However, "perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John, 4:18). And we all did not come to church in order to set up our life in this temporary world, but to prevail over it and to enter a new world. The world, where the King becomes a servant; where He is not surrounded by an entourage of his subjects and warriors, but instead with love and grace. Who will discover this path of love, the path of service? We see that in this Kingdom of Heaven the last ones become first, and the one who is great should serve others. The laws and the rules of living are completely different there. We always try to conciliate the Church with this world, but they would not conciliate: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's” (Matthew, 22:21).

It is important that we recall at least sometimes that our homeland is in Heaven, but not on earth.

Do not look for earthly justice, for love is above it. And we learn through this love, that Christ is bringing us up with it. He believes that we will manage to defeat our flesh and blood, which do not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. The Spirit of God will enter us and we will become the church of the Holy Spirit. “Ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (1 Corinthians, 3:16) – this is what Apostle Paul says about the life of a Christian, about the Kingdom which begins inside a person. These words may sound unclear to us, while God gave us an opportunity to build the very church we are standing in now. And this church is beautiful, because Orthodox Christians believe that nothing is too good for God. Just look how great the Holy Rus’ was! It was really holy, because people lived humbly in small houses, but at the same great churches were built in villages. How could that be? The reason is that people gave their best to God. And today people want to make Church equal to this world. But it is not about wealth: gold symbolizes the light of God’s love. The murals, the icons painted with the paints made from real precious stones – all these things are to inspire a person. To direct his mind and heart up high, but not to the ground.

March 15, 2017

St. Elisabeth Convent

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