The Catalog of Good Deeds

People often find their true calling later in life. Sometimes the work they choose to do does not coincide with the kinds of work that are deemed typical of males or females.

Our first guest is Victor Churilo. Victor is 51, and he serves in the Visiting Nurse Service of St Elisabeth Convent. In short, he is a visiting nurse.

He visits those whom we won't see in the streets. These people have a hard time walking, standing, and even sitting. Some of them are confined to bed. LADY.TUT.BY did an interview with Victor and his patient Denis Neverko.

All Wives Want Their Husbands To Earn More

Victor treats his ministry in the Visiting Nurse Service as a vocation. It is very close to what he used to do in the past. He worked as a junior nurse in an infirmary. He had planned to become a doctor but he couldn't. Later, he learned to be a stonemason and worked as a builder for a long time, then started working in an industrial plant, and in the 1990s he even had to set up his own shop. Confronted with difficulties in his personal life, Victor went to the Convent:

— I found the faith in God, Jesus Christ, and I wanted to be closer to him. Difficulties in my life and deep sorrow made me come here, — Victor says. — I did it to recover spiritually, mentally, and physically.

Nowadays Victor is extremely busy 6 days a week. He looks after 5 patients: four males and one female.

— I visit three of my patients regularly, and two others on request. I get to my first patient at 8:30 am. We have a conversation; I ask him about his current health condition and mood. After that, I do sanitization, change the patient's clothes, and feed him, if necessary. I go to my second patient in the afternoon, and to my third patient in the evening. Each visit takes up two to three hours on average. Sunday is my day-off.

According to Victor, the Visiting Nurse Service of St Elisabeth Convent encompasses three fields of ministry:

— Missionary work. We help people to get closer to God and to know themselves better. We can invite a priest from the Visiting Nurse Service to a patient's home, if the patient wants us to, and the priest will perform the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. This is where the healing of the spirit, the soul, and the body of a believer begins. Loving God and neighbor is the basis of our ministry.

— Social work. We do everything a person requires for a normal and comfortable life: feeding, bathing, buying food supplies and medicines. We talk with our patients and read books to them.

— Medical assistance. Every brother and sister has basic medical training. We have meetings and classes on exercise therapy in the Convent on a weekly basis. We do the exercises that we have learned together with our patients to the best of their abilities and health condition.

Victor emphasizes that money is not the primary goal for a person who has decided to help other people.

— There are many people in our Visiting Nurse Service who do their duties voluntarily and for free. The remuneration that we receive is enough to subsist and to continue to help others. I know that all wives want their husbands to earn more. However, you receive much more spiritually when you do good to other people. Giving is more rewarding than receiving.

We hope that the Lord will bring to us another person who is ready to help.

It is hard to find a male nurse.

When asked why there are more female nurses than male nurses, Victor replies that a woman is more capable of tolerating the difficulties of this job thanks to her innate patience, mercy, and love.

— However, men are also very welcome here! It is physically hard for a woman to care for a male patient. Just imagine her trying to take a man from his wheelchair and put him into a bathtub. It requires physical strength of a man. Again, there are men who don't want women to look after them. This is the kind of problem that I have to face now. I am torn between two male patients who prefer to have a man as their nurse. That is why we hope that the Lord will bring to us another person who is ready to help.

Victor is not in the very least embarrassed that he apparently does a "female job." It may even be emotionally taxing to tend to a person who needs help. That is why a nurse must know how to manage his or her feelings:

— That's hard work. At the same time, you obtain spiritual joy as a result of what you do. Knowledge of the Gospel and the lives of the saints helps to find proper words in difficult situations. When you know that your assistance is essential for that person, your patience and humility, your love coupled with prayer, help you to get rid of unnecessary thoughts and emotions.

I used to be weaker than now. By serving God with love, we become stronger spiritually. Our lives become genuinely meaningful from the spiritual standpoint. It is what I do that makes me stronger.

"Victor Is Closer To Me Than My Own Family"

Denis Neverko has been paralyzed for four years, two of which Victor comes to him. He jumped from a dam into water in an unknown place and fractured his spine.

— It was extremely hot, and I wanted to bathe. I jumped into the water headfirst and hit a cement block. It turned out to be a shallow place.

Denis feels comfortable with the big and strong Victor. The man admits that Victor has become his good friend whom he can trust even in the most difficult situations.

— Victor is kind and responsible. I can always rely on him. Apart from that, I feel more comfortable when a man, not a woman, looks after me. I am very happy that our paths have crossed.

Denis learned about the Visiting Nurse Service of St Elisabeth Convent from his friend. He contacted Sister Anna, the Service's head. He told her that he was fully paralyzed, and explained what kind of a nurse he needed. They agreed to send Brother Victor to him. Denis was hoping that the nurse would be a sociable and understanding person, which is vital for people like him who lead a secluded life.

Victor is closer to me than my own family. I started to believe in God thanks to him. I used to be far from the faith but now I can feel that I change and so does my worldview. I start to discover alternative sides of life. I start to interpret not only the things that happen to me but also other things in a different way.

Denis has had more live conversations since the time Victor started visiting him but he complains that he still needs more live conversations anyway.

— I talk with people like me via Skype, VKontakte and Facebook messages, and even in the Odnoklassniki social network but it's not enough. I’m happy even if my friends visit me once a month, although they used to come more often. Now they have families and jobs — a lot to do. I get that, and I'm okay with that. Right now, I'm looking for a job. I would like to become a call center operator. I have worked in this position already. I will be able to talk with people on the phone. Plus, I'll be able to earn some money and kill some time.

"Summer Was The Last Time I Was Outdoors"

For Denis, every day is just like the other. He spends his time in front of a computer, which he controls via a webcam. He can seldom get outdoors — summer was the last time Denis was outdoors.

— Right now, given the weather, it's impossible to get out. We get outdoors only if we are invited to various events. For instance, Victor and I visited a lecture by Alexander Makarchuk who is completely paralyzed, too. He showed us how people with disabilities can use a computer thanks to wireless management.

Alexander Makarchuk was completely paralyzed after a poisoning, which led to the damage of central nervous system. He was considering a suicide but instead became a sysadmin and worked for Russian companies, and then went on to be an IT recruiter. Alexander controls his computer with voice and teaches other disabled people. —editor's note.

I am interested in a whole lot of various things, and I would like to be everywhere — in the cinema, in the circus, in theaters. I want to go anywhere instead of sitting home. However, it is easier said than done. First of all, I need an escort, and Victor isn't always available. Secondly, theater tickets are expensive. I cannot afford them on my pension. My budget is planned in advance and it mostly consists of hygiene accessories and medicines, which I have to buy monthly. My parents are retired, too. Thirdly, I need transportation. This is why whenever I go outdoors, it's like a holiday.

According to Denis, if a disabled person can move his arms, he is more likely to lead a normal life. He can operate a wheelchair. People like Denis cannot do it without help.

— I cannot dress, I cannot get into the wheelchair, someone has to do it for me. I cannot ride the wheelchair, either. There are many people like me. Other people don't even know us. People are locked in their rooms. With time, they create a world of their own, the boundaries of which are hard to break. People on the outside appear to be aggressive and hostile. We desperately need support and assistance not only from our families but also from other people… We have to live with our problems day by day. That is why it is important that we have people who don't allow us to close up in our own shells and empower us to keep living. I would like everyone to know that we exist. You just cannot see us.

An article by Tatiana Lemeshevskaya

Photos by Vladimir Bugay, TUT.BY

Translated from: https://lady.tut.by/news/life/565870.html

Over the past 2000 years, the Orthodox Church has granted the title of “Theologian” to only three Saints: St. John the Apostle, St. Gregory of Nazianzen, and

St. Symeon the New Theologian was born in Galatia in the year 949. He was educated in Constantinople, and became abbot of the monastery of St. Mamas. He reposed on March 12, 1022.

St. Symeon produced many writings which have been well received within the Orthodox Church. In his second Ethical Discourse, he discusses a number of topics, including St. Paul’s doctrine of predestination: On the Saying “Those Whom He Foreknew, The Same He Also Predestined”

“Predestination” is an excuse for sloth: God calls everyone to repentance

I have heard many people say: “Because the Apostle says; ‘Those whom God foreknew, the same He also predestined; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, the same also glorified‘ [Romans 8:29-30] what good is it to me if I throw myself into many labors, if I give proof of repentance and conversion, when I am neither foreknown nor predestined by God to be saved and conformed to the glory of God His Son?”

We are naturally obliged to state our opinion clearly to such people, and to reply: O, you! Why do you reason to your own perdition rather than your salvation? And why do you pick out for yourselves the obscure passages of inspired Scripture and then tear them out of context and twist them in order to accomplish your own destruction? Do you not hear the Savior crying out every day: “As I live … I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” [Ezekiel 33:11]? Do you not hear Him Who says: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” [Matthew 3:2]; and again: “Just so, I tell you, there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” [Luke 15:7, adapted]? Did He ever say to som: “Do not repent for I will not accept you,” while to others who were predestined: “But you, repent! because I knew you beforehand”? Of course not! Instead, throughout the world and in every church He shouts: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” [Matthew 11:28]. Come, He says, all you who are burdened with many sins, to the One Who takes away the sin of the world; come all who thirst to the fountain which flows and never dies.

In the 10th century A.D., St. Symeon wrote about Predestination from an Orthodox perspective

Does He distinguish and separate anyone out, calling one to Himself as foreknown while sending the other away as not predestined? Never! Therefore, “you should not make excuses for your sins” [Psalm 140:4, LXX], nor should you want to make the Apostle’s words an occasion for your own destruction, but should run, all of you, to the Master Who calls you. For even if someone is a publican, or a fornicator, an adulterer, a murderer, or whatever else, the Master does not turn him away, but takes away the burden of his sins immediately and makes him free. And how does He take away the other’s burden? Just as He once took away that of the paralytic when He said to the latter: “My son, your sins are forgiven” [Matthew 9:2], and the man was immediately relieved of his burden and, in addition, received the cure of his body.

So then, let everyone who wants approach Him, and let the one say: “Son of David, have mercy on me“; and, if he hears, “What do you want Me to do for you?” let him say quickly, “Lord, let me receive my sight,” and right away he will hear, “So I desire. Receive your sight” [Luke 18:38-42]. Let another say, “Lord, my daughter“–i.e. my soul–“is severely possessed by a demon” [Matthew 15:22], and he will hear: “I will come to heal her” [Matthew 8:7]. If someone is hesitant and does not wish to approach the Master, even if He comes to him and says, “Follow Me” [Matthew 9:9], then let him follow Him as the publican once did, abandoning his counting tables and his avarice, and, I am sure, He shall make of him, too, an evangelist rather than a tax collector. If someone else is a paralytic, lying for years in sloth, carelessness, and love of pleasure, and if he should see another, be it the Master Himself or one of His disciples, come to him and ask, “Do you want to be healed?” [John 5:2-7], let him receive the word joyfully and reply immediately: “Yes, Lord, but I have no man to put me into the pool of repentance.” And then if he should hear, “Rise, take up your bed, and follow me,” let him get up right away and run after the footsteps of the One Who has called him from on high.

Now, if someone does not wish, whether like the sinful woman to embrace the feet of Christ [Luke 7:38], or like the prodigal son to run back to Him with burning repentance [Luke 15:11ff], or like the woman with a hemorrhage and bowed with infirmity [Luke 8:43 and 13:11] even to approach Him, why does he then make excuses for his sins by saying, “Those whom He foreknew, them also“–and them alone!–“He called“?

One may perhaps reasonably reply to the person so disposed that “God, Who is before eternity and Who knows all things before creating them, also knew you beforehand, knew that you would not obey Him when He called, that you would not believe in His promises and in His words, yet still, even while knowing this, He “bowed the heavens and came down” [Psalm 18:19] and became man, and for your sake has come to the place where you lie prone. Indeed, visiting you many times every day, sometimes in His own Person and sometimes as well through His servants, He exhorts you to get up from the calamity in which you lie and to follow Him Who ascends to the Kingdom of Heaven and enter it together with Him. But you, you still refuse to do it.

Then tell me, who is responsible for your perdition and disobedience? You, who refuse to obey and who will not follow your Master, or God Himself Who made you, Who knew beforehand that you would not obey Him, but would instead abide in your hardened and impenitent heart? I think that you will certainly say, “He is not responsible, but I am myself,” because God’s forbearance is not the cause of our hardness, Rather, it is our own lack of compliance.

Example of the emperor and the arena: God’s foreknowledge

For God knows all things beforehand, both past and present at once, and everything which is going to happen in the future up to the end of the world. He sees them as already present, because in and through Him all things hold together [Colossians 1:17]. Indeed, just as today the emperor takes in with a glance those who race and who wrestle in the area, but does not thereby make himself responsible for the victory of the winners or the failure of the losers–the zeal, or in other cases the slackness, of the contestants being cause of their victory or defeat–understand with me that it is just so with God Himself. When He endowed us with free will, giving commandments to teach us instead how we must oppose our adversaries, He left it to the free choice of each either to oppose and vanquish the enemy, or to relax and be miserably defeated by him. Nor does He leave us entirely to ourselves–for He knows the weakness of human nature–but rather is present Himself with us and, indeed, allies Himself with those who choose to struggle, and mysteriously imbues us with strength, and Himself, not we, accomplishes the victory over the adversary. This the earthly emperor is unable to do, since he is himself also a man, and is rather in need himself of assistance, just as we require it, too.

God, on the other hand, Who is mighty and invincible, becomes, as we just said, an ally of those who willingly choose to do battle with the enemy, and He establishes them as victors over the cunning of the devil. He does not, however, compel any who do not so choose to this war, in order that He not destroy the power of choice which is proper to our reasoning nature, made according to His own image, and bring us down to the level of unreasoning brutes. Thus God, as we have explained, sees us all at once as if in an arena, just like the earthly emperor looks down on the athletes in competition. But, while the latter does not know who will lose and who will win until he sees the outcome of their contest and, though he may prepare the victors’ crowns beforehand, he still does not know to whom he is going to present them; the King of Heaven, on the other hand, knows from before the ages exactly who the victors and vanquished are going to be. This is why He said to those who asked Him if they could sit at His right hand and His left in His glory: “It is not mine to give to you” [Matthew 20:23], but that it will be given instead to those for whom it was prepared.

God does not compel

This therefore what Paul himself also knew when he said rightly:

Those whom God foreknew, the same He also predestined; and those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, the same He also glorified. [Romans 8:29-30]

It is not God’s foreknowledge of those who, by their free choice and zeal, will prevail which is the cause of their victory, just as, again, it is not His knowing beforehand who will fall and be vanquished which is responsible for their defeat. Instead, it is the zeal, deliberate choice, and courage of each of us which effects the victory. Our faithlessness and sloth, our irresolution and indolence, on the other hand, comprise our defeat and perdition. So, while reclining on our bed of worldly affection and love of pleasure, let us not say: “Those whom God fore-knew, them also He predestined,” without perceiving just what it is we are saying. Yes, indeed, He truly knew you beforehand as inattentive and disobedient and lazy, but this is certainly not because He ordered or foreordained it that you should have no power to repent yourself nor, if you will it, to get up and obey. You, though, when you say this, are clearly calling God a liar. While He says, “I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” [Matthew 9:13], you, lazy and unwilling to turn around and repent of your evil, contradict Him, as it were, and call Him a liar Who never lies, when you make such excuses as these. “Those who are going to repent”, you say, “were predestined, but I am not one of them. So, let them repent therefore whom God clearly foreknew, and whom He also predestined.” O what a lack of feeling! O shamelessness of soul and worse than the demons themselves! When did anyone ever hear of one of them saying such a thing? Where was it ever heard that a demon blamed God for its own damnation? Let us then not blame the demons, for here there is a human soul which thinks up blasphemies even worse than theirs.

So tell me, where did you learn that you did not belong to those who are foreknown and predestined to become conformed to the image of God’s glory? Tell me, who told you this? Was it, maybe, God Who announced this to you, Himself, or by one of His prophets, or through an angel? “No,” you say, “but I do suppose that I am not predestined to salvation, and that all my effort would be in vain.” And why do you not believe instead with all your soul that God has sent His only-begotten Son on the earth for your sake alone, and for your salvation, that He knew you beforehand and predestined you to become His brother and co-heir? Why are you not eager to love Him with all your heart and to honor His saving commandments? Why do you not rather believe that, having been slaughtered for your sake, He will never abandon you, nor allow you to perish? Do you not hear Him saying: “Can a woman forget her suckling child . . . yet I will not forget you” [Isaiah 49:15]? So, if by anticipation you judge yourself unworthy, and willfully separate yourself from the flock of Christ’s sheep, you should understand that it is none other than you who are the cause of your own damnation.

Therefore, casting out of our souls all faithlessness, sloth, and hesitation, let us draw near with all our heart, with unhesitating faith and burning desire, like slaves who have been newly purchased with precious blood. Indeed, with reverence for the price paid on our behalf, and with love for our Master Who paid it, and as having accepted His love for us, let us recognize that, if He had not wished to save by means of Himself us who have been purchased, He would not have come down to earth, nor would He have been slain for our sake. But, as it is written, He has done this because He wills that all should be saved. Listen to Him say it Himself: “I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world” [John 12:17].

By Fr Joseph Gleason

Source: https://theorthodoxlife.wordpress.com/2012/03/21/orthodox-predestination-st-symeon/#comment-4135

Ms. Jessica Precop traveled to the Dormition of the Mother of God Monastery in Rives Junction, Michigan to interview Father Roman Braga, who grew up and served in Romania under a communist regime. We are very thankful to Ms. Precop, Father Roman, and the Sisterhood at the Monastery for making this interview possible.

Father, to start with, what can you tell us about the monastic way of life?

This is a good question. First, however, you have to understand the Romanian cultural environment when I was young – in the 1920’s -1950’s. The Romanian people, I think, were always inclined toward the monastic way of life, because being monastic and leading a monastic type life does not mean only to go and live in a monastery. When Jesus was preaching the gospel: “…if you love your mother and father more than Me you are not worthy of Me…” or when Jesus said “…if you don’t take your cross and follow Me you are not worthy of Me…,” Jesus was not speaking to monks; monks did not exist at that time. Jesus was speaking to people, single people, married people, everybody. So in a way, regarding the virtues, there is no difference between monks and lay people. The monastic virtues are for everyone. I will give you an example: those who want to dedicate their lives to Jesus, to the Church and who want to save their souls through the monastic way of life, become at times at odds with the parents wishes who may want their children to lead a secular life. But remember, God comes first in our life, then come the parents and the family.

First we must listen to God because He is the father of all of us. So there is a monastic element in that. Abstinence, for example, is not just for monks. In general married people need to exercise more abstinence than single people. Lay people as well need to exercise more abstinence than monastics. Abstinence means to abstain from food, from alcohol, from many other things. Or, in our culture here in America, we abstain from certain things only when we are forced into it by medical conditions. But God wants us to abstain from certain things so that we are not dominated by material things; to be free of material things. The material things are temporary; we cannot take them with us. As persons we have to grow. We cease to be a person when we are dominated by material things. Sex, drugs, alcohol, smoking, over-eating, and many other things like that make you a slave; you are no longer a free person. Well, God wants us to be free because He made us free and this is our likeness with God: “Let us make men according to our own image.”

So the virtues are the same for married people as they are for monastics; The only difference is that the monastics go to a monastery, living in communities because they want to dedicate their lives to God without the social obligations. Monastics do not marry, instead they take a vow of virginity and of poverty. Why? Because they do not want to depend on possessions. Monks do not own land, do not own anything, other than their personal belongings. In the monasteries, the monks wear a habit- a special uniform if you wish – because they are considered the army of the Church, the soldiers of the Church. The Church depends on them.

As we speak, there is a session of the OCA Holy Synod at our monastery today. The Holy Synod of a Church is made up of bishops. The Church needs bishops. The bishops cannot be married, and they should be from among the monks. If the leaders of the Church come and tell you: “we need you for a bishop,” you cannot say no because you have to be obedient to the Church. Along with the vow of chastity and poverty the monk takes the also the vow of obedience. Or if the Church needs to send you somewhere to start a church you have to go. You don’t have possessions, a house to worry about: “oh I have a house, what to do with my house?” You have just a suitcase and you put in the necessary things and immediately you go. So obedience is another vow that the monks take.

As I said before, monks wear a habit. They wear long clothes and robes. This is outer monk, the monk that everybody sees. This “outer monk” so to speak is not for everyone. The inner monk is for everybody, in other words, the virtues of, abstinence, sacrifice, those are the same for the professed monk as well as for the lay person. So those monastic virtues; to deny yourself to take your cross, to abstain, these are for everybody. The virtues are the same and we go to the same place, married people and monks. And marriage is not an easy task. One needs much asceticism in marriage. You have three, four, five children, sometime you do not even eat, just let them eat, as you sacrifice yourself for them and others. So this is the difference between monks and lay people.

Romania has about 500 monasteries. There were always many monks and nuns in Romania. They are not cloistered; they go shopping, they go to the market. Romania is a small country, the size of the state of Ohio, and monks and nuns are influenced by the culture of the country. Even now the monasteries of Romania are full of nuns and monks. So it depends on the culture in which you live and the way you understand the gospel.

Can you tell us what led you to the monastic life?

I didn’t go to the monastery when I was young. I was in prison twice and after my first imprisonment I became a monk because I got more mature while in prison. When you experience suffering then you start meditating. I was a teacher. I was teaching in a high school in Bucharest. I was mature enough to understand life and to ask myself: “why am I not married at 30? and should I marry or not?” So the imprisonment gave me time to meditate and think: “What is better for me, should I marry and have a family or should I choose the monastic life?” And I decided that monastic life is for me to follow.

As a young boy I lived in a monastery, at the Seminary of Cernica in Bucharest and I loved monastic life, so for me monasticism was a natural way of life.

Can you talk about what it was like as a Christian to live under a communist regime?

As a Christian you had to make many compromises. For example, you have children and they go to school. And they are told in school there is no God and you do not have to pray and you do not have to have crosses around the neck and not to go to church. The children went home and grandma was praying with them and making the sign of the cross. We kept this Christian life in the family. Nothing could be manifest. You were not allowed to manifest your Christian life.

What happened to the churches and monasteries under the communist regime?

The churches were tolerated because Romania was basically a massive Orthodox country. The Church was very strong and the communist regime did not want to risk anything. Many monasteries, however, were closed. Only those that were declared historical monuments remained open, and Romanians were happy because almost all the monasteries were historical monuments. The communist regime transformed the monasteries into museums and they kept a few monks or nuns as tour guides to keep and take care of the museums and the huge libraries and archives that the monasteries possessed. And so the churches of the monasteries were also kept open. There was however a decree, decree #410 by the communist government to close all the monasteries who are not historic monuments and to force all monks and nuns under 50 years of age to leave the monasteries and go to work for the state. Only the old monks were allowed to stay in the monasteries to keep them open as historical monuments, and they kept the liturgical cycle of the Church: matins and vespers and liturgies, and they kept these all and they took care of themselves. Because people in Romania were Christians, they went to church in the monasteries and they helped these old monks and nuns. The communists couldn’t control that, and they were not so much interested in the simple folks; they were interested especially in the intellectual class because the intellectual class creates the habits, the culture.

The communist regime persecuted mostly the Roman Catholic Church because it was the minority and it was mostly for foreigners. Romania is 90% Orthodox so they persecuted mostly the other denominations by taking their property and kicking them out. With Orthodoxy they didn’t dare to go too far, so they pulled out young people from the monasteries but the old people still remained there and the churches of the monasteries were open and the liturgical cycles continued uninterrupted. During these times the monastic life was still going; it was not striving, was not growing, but at least it was maintained.

How did your own struggles with the communist government impact your spiritual life?

The communists could not control what is inside of you, but you couldn’t express what you were thinking, you were not able to express your opinion. And this not only as a a monk or as a priest or as a Christian, but as an intellectual in general. Not all intellectuals in Romania during the communist regime were communists. In order to survive they were forced to say one thing but they believed something else in themselves. So they had a double life. It was one thing what they had in their mind and in their soul – their convictions, and another what they were expressing aloud. It was all a matter of survival. So that was a very, very difficult life. It was not like here where you are not afraid of anything. You are not afraid to express yourself; it was not like this. People were saying exactly what the government asked them to say in order to be able to have a job, to be a teacher, to have a profession, to be able to provide for their family their daily bread. But what they thought and believed the communist couldn’t control.

We were happy in prison in a way. Let aside all the physical tortures Physical tortures are nothing. You suffer from them even, you can even die. But the communist imprisonment is worse than physical torture. They want to keep you at the limit of normal and abnormal, but they couldn’t control what is inside of you. In a way, for a priest the communist prison was good because there in prison we were praying. Once you are convicted (of “crimes” you did not commit) you are placed in a cell, there is nothing else. They put the intellectuals and especially the priests in solitary confinement at least one or two years, and in a way that was very good for us. Not having anywhere to go or even look out a window because there were no windows in those cells of solitary confinement you have to look, to go somewhere; and so you go inside yourself, inside your heart and inside your mind to examine yourself, to see who you are and why God brought you into this world. You question whether God even exists, and what is your relationship with God.

When we were free we did not have time to ask ourselves these questions. Our faith was superficial because you can learn a lot of things and can have a mind like an Encyclopedia full of all the knowledge, but if you don’t know yourself and who you are!. Even if you know everything in the world you are superficial if you do not ask yourself who am I? Why do I exist? What is the destiny of my life? Why did God create me? If I believe in God what does God want from me? These things when you live in freedom you do not ask yourself because you are in a hurry to do a lot of things, to read a lot of books and you become the slave of the books, the slave of the knowledge, of concepts of philosophy and so on. But you do not have the time to meditate on who you are. When you are free you are made out of quotations from books. We were not allowed in prison to have any books. In 11 years I did not see a pencil or a piece of paper, or a book, and not only myself, but all the intellectuals and all the priests. The communists gave books and papers to read to simple folks because they wanted to convince them to become communists. They wanted, however, that the intellectuals be transformed into beasts, become like animals. The interesting think is that it did not happen. Instead you became yourself because you started to examine yourself. Once you were out of prison, they were interested that you do not make propaganda to tell others what happened in prison, and so on and so many of us were expelled from the country just so we do not to tell the others what was going on in prison.

How did you witness Christ is prison?

In prison most of the time you were by yourself. I was in a forced labor camp too. In the forced labor camp we had our groups of prayer and we had priests that were hearing confessions. Each priest had a group around him. We witnessed Christ more in the forced labor camp because there was not too much control there. It was a large community and the communists were interested in how much you worked. In prison it was impossible to witness Christ, even if you were alone or maybe two in the same cell. Sometimes there were four in the same cell, but you only talked to a small group of people. In the force labor camps we even had the liturgy there because we had priests, without vestments and without anything else other than a piece of bread, and some tonic wine that the doctors in the hospital provided. I was in a forced labor camp with 16,000 people, and there was a hospital and the doctors were from among the prisoners so they provided tonic wine for us for the liturgy and we spared two pieces of bread from breakfast and so we had liturgy. The guards did not know we had liturgy; as they were passing by, they thought we were just babbling; we sure did not show it. I remember in prison though, in the cell, a priest had liturgy under the blanket; when the guard entered he covered everything with the blanket.

Why is suffering important as a Christian?

Suffering is good not only for Christians but for everybody. Because if you do not suffer you do not understand anything. Suffering is a good experience. And in the scriptures it says that suffering is a sign that God loves you. In the Epistle to Hebrew Chapter 13, St. Paul says that if you do not suffer you are not children of God. Who is the Father who does not chastise His children? He punishes His children because He loves them. If you do not suffer you are not the sons of God. After you experience suffering, you understand more and better things in this world, much deeper than the others who do not experience any suffering. So suffering is maturing you in your spiritual life. You should not avoid suffering but you should not look for it. God takes care of that. There is a lot of suffering in the world. So many families who have children in the hospital. My doctor has a daughter 11 years of age with bone cancer; they are young, what a suffering for that family whose daughter may be dying. We ask ourselves why?

God allows into this world to have beggars and crippled people and all this because otherwise we would not be able to be charitable. We have to exercise our love because love is not just the word, is it something that we must do. And you do things for those who need them. So that is why there are orphan children and crippled people and so many other things, for us to exercise our love for our neighbor because Jesus said love God with your whole heart and whole mind but love your neighbor as you love yourself. But if my neighbor does not need my love what is love? Just a hand shake? That is not love. Or to give him a hug? That is nothing. Go there and take a crippled person on the street and give him a hug and ask him what can I do for you? That is love. Not to live for yourself; to live for others and always to deny yourself; to forget yourself and remember that others exist. That is Christian life. Not to say “what about me, and me, and I;” Who are you? You are nobody. Try not to pay too much attention to you. But when you say can I do something for you? Maybe you need me? That is meaningful Christian love. So suffering in this world is permitted by God that other Christians might concentrate their love on those suffering people and do something for them, to sacrifice themselves for them. In our own life suffering is permitted so we understand why Jesus was crucified.

I am able to forgive. I pray for those guards that tortured us in prison. I am not against them because I understand they were forced to do that. And you forgive only when you suffer. When you do not suffer you do not want to forgive, then you are condemned. There was a movie-maker who came and made a movie with me and Fr. Calciu. The interviewer said “how can you forgive them?” Well why not? They are the image of God. We know that in that kind of regime they were forced to kill us, to torture us, to do what they were told to do, otherwise their families would not have bread to eat. You are able to forgive when you suffer. When you do not suffer you are not able to forgive. You say “no, no, no, you should not do such and such a thing and if you do you should be punished because you did it”. So suffering is very important in Christian life.

How is life in America different than your experience in Romania?

I thought I came to a free country. And that is true; you have the freedom to do anything you want, as long as you do not to hurt anybody. If you hurt anybody for sure you have to suffer the consequences. Speaking of the freedom of conscious and thought, I doubt that we are free because being free to do everything you can destroy yourself if you are not mature. Freedom without responsibility is not freedom. Only when you are prevented of doing what you want to do, then you understand freedom. But when you say “I want to do everything I want” you are not free. Think about Genesis, the first book in the Bible, when God created man, he did not understand what freedom was until God told him you cannot touch this tree; the tree is a symbol, it is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So if God created man free, then you ask why He gave him a limit: “do not touch this.” Without this limit man cannot understand what freedom is. Freedom is just a word if you do not have restrictions. So freedom without discipline is not freedom. And many in our culture here in America think that they do not have to respect anything or anybody; they are free to do everything. This is not freedom.

What are some ways we can find Christ today, in the American society?

Well Christ first of all is in you. Christ is not just some nice guy. He is God and God is within you. God is in our conscious, in our heart, in our minds, is not something material you see outside of yourself. You find God in yourself. You descend in your personality. We are eternal, we never die, the body is going to the cemetery but the conscious, the person is continually living. So when you descend into yourself, your conscious is infinite. And this infinity is the temple of the living God. St. Paul says many times you are the temple of the living God because God lives within you. You find God when you know yourself, when you know who you are. If you neglect that, “I don’t have time to think about myself” you will never find God because God is not something material, you do not find him in a specific place. God is always with you if you want Him to be with you. You find God when you find yourself. “Who am I?” Pay attention to these verses of the scriptures: “you are the temple of the living God because God lives within you.” And Jesus said: “remain in Me and I in you. I am the vine and you are the branches” if you do not remain in me you do not have sap to feed yourself and you dry up. People who complain they do not feel God they are dry branches. They have to remain in Christ and to accept Christ by saying: “Lord, come, I am here. You created me. Open my heart because You created this heart. You created the door, enter please.”

You have to talk with God everywhere you are. Walking on the street, driving the car, you can say “Lord You are in the front seat, I know that You are here tell me something. Why did You create me?” You have a lot of things, an infinite number of things to converse with God and God wants you to talk with Him because prayer is not as much as you read in the book or how long you are kneeling, prayer is the whole life. When you eat, when you drink, when you drive the car, when you discipline your children: You are in a state of prayer. Life is a liturgy. It is not only in church that liturgy takes place, the liturgy is outside the church building too. The whole life should be a liturgy- if you have the feeling of the existence of God. But you have to get that feeling of the existence of God… how? I always say, especially to young people, have a dialogue, a permanent dialogue with God. Sure you are busy: you eat, you prepare your exam if you are a student, you work and you are very busy but always say: “Lord I know You are here I didn’t forget You. Look at me and do not abandon me.” See many times this permanent dialogue with God becomes a prayer because prayer is a communication between man and God.

Prayer is not just a short time and you say “I finished my prayer” and that’s it; you never finish your prayer. The definition of prayer is this: the feeling of the presence of God in you. And if you have this feeling of the presence of God you are in a continual prayer. If you pray only when you pray you don’t pray at all one of the monks said. So don’t pray only when you pray, you pray all the time because prayer is not “give me, give me.” Prayer is to say I love you and I want to spend time with you. Ask God something. And don’t worry God is answering you even if you don’t think it. He’s giving you good hints and good suggestions on how to resolve your problems. So to find God in our culture here is to be conscious that God exists first and God exists not outside of yourself but inside. And God is always with you and you can get the feeling of the existence of God.

Source: http://pemptousia.com/2016/09/god-is-always-with-you/

In an Orthodox church there is no thing or action which does not carry meaning of spiritual weight. Even the iconostasis and curtain over the Royal Doors are full-fledged “participants” in the Divine services.

What is the significance of the iconostasis and curtain in the microcosm of an Orthodox church?

The architecture and interior decoration of an Orthodox church is, if it can be so expressed, heaven on earth. It is a model of the spiritual world—of the Heavenly Kingdom—which the Lord opened to us through the holy prophet Moses on Mt. Sinai. Then God commanded to build the Old Testament Tabernacle according to the precise pattern given by Him to Moses, down to the smallest detail. New Testament Orthodox churches have the same arrangement as that of the Old Testament, but with the difference that our Lord Jesus Christ became incarnate and completed the work of the salvation of mankind. It is namely from this monumental event that there are changes to New Testament temples in relation to that of the Old Testament.

But there remained an immutable three-part structure to churches. According to the holy prophet Moses it includes the courtyard, the sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies. In the New Testament church it is the narthex, nave, and altar.

The narthex and nave themselves symbolize the earthly Church. Any believing Orthodox Christian can be in these parts. The nave correspond to the Old Testament sanctuary. Earlier no one but priests could be found there, but today, because the Lord with His most-pure blood cleansed us all and united us in His Mystery of Baptism, the nave—the New Testament sanctuary—is open to all Orthodox Christians.

The Holy of Holies of the Mosaic Temple corresponds to the altar in the New Testament Church. It symbolizes the Heavenly Kingdom. It is not without reason that it is elevated in relation to the nave and narthex. The very word “altus” in translation from Latin means “high.” The center of the altar is the altar table. It is this throne on which God Himself sits invisibly in the church. It is the main place of the Orthodox temple. Even the clergy, without a special need (such as to celebrate a service) and the necessary liturgical clothing (such as the cassock) must not touch it—it is holy ground—the place of the Lord.

Usually between the altar and the nave there is erected a special wall, adorned with icons, known as the “iconostasis.” It is a compound Greek word formed from the words for “icon” and “to stand.” This partition is not erected, as some incorrectly think, to conceal what the priest is doing in the altar. Of course not. The iconostasis has a quite distinct liturgical and spiritual significance.

The practice of erecting an iconostasis is quite ancient. According to Church Tradition the first to order the closing of the altar by a curtain was the Holy Hierarch Basil the Great in the second half of the fourth century. But even earlier there were well-known partitions between the altar and nave was already a part of the church, for example in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

The modern appearance of the iconostasis was basically developed in Church art by the beginning of the fifteenth century.

So, what does the iconostasis mean in the spiritual and liturgical sense?

It itself symbolizes the world of saints and angels—the Heavenly Kingdom, to us not yet fully attainable. It is that place and condition of soul to which we must aspire. The Heavenly Kingdom for us, living on earth, is yet separate and inaccessible. But every Orthodox Christian is obliged to move towards to it and strive with the help of those salvific means which the Church and its Head—Christ—offer us.

The visual separation of the altar from the nave should motivate us to strive in that direction—to the heavenly, and this aspiration is the core of the life of every Orthodox Christian. We believe that the merciful Lord will once open to us the door to Paradise and lead us in, as a loving Father His children…

From another side, the icons of the iconostasis tell us the story of the salvation of mankind by our Lord Jesus Christ. For example, the iconostasis can be single or multi-tiered. On the first tier In the middle of the first tier is the Royal Doors, which is also the place of God. Even the priest doesn’t have the right to pass through them: only in vestments and at strictly specific times of the services. On the right and the left are found the so-called deacon’s doors, through which clergy and altar servers can enter into the altar. They are called “deacon’s” because the deacon leaves the altar through them and returns again during the reciting of special prayers (litanies) through the Royal Doors. On the right of the Royal Doors is hung the icon of the Savior, and on the left of the Most Holy Theotokos, and on the deacon’s doors, as a rule, icons of the holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel—those heavenly deacons of God, or the holy deacons the Proto-Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen and the martyred Lawrence. Rarely there are other icons. Next to the right deacon door is the icon of the parish’s feast.

If there is a second tier on the iconostasis it is known as the “Deesis,” which in translation from Greek means “supplication” or “petition.” In the center of the row is the image of Christ the Pantocrator enthroned, to His right the Most Holy Theotokos in a prayerful pose, and to His left the holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, also with prayerfully outstretched arms. Next are icons of various saints also in prayerful poses, turning to the Savior. These can be various saints of the Orthodox Church but most often it’s the Twelve Apostles.

Immediately above the Royal Doors is placed an icon of the Mystical Supper—the first Liturgy, celebrated by God Himself. It is a symbol of the most important ministry of the Church and church—the service of the Holy Eucharist—the Body and Blood of Christ.

If there is a third tier on the iconostasis then on it are placed icons of the Twelve Great Feasts. They symbolize the salvation by Christ of fallen mankind. Less often (only in major cathedrals) are there fourth and fifth rows. In the fourth row are depicted the holy prophets, and in the fifth the forefathers (the Holy Forefathers Adam and Eve, the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and so on). In the center of the top row of the iconostasis is placed an icon of the Holy Trinity, crowned by the Holy Cross as the main instrument of our salvation.

In the Church the curtain is known by the Greek word “katapetasma”. It divides the Royal Doors on the altar side from the holy altar table.

Everything in the Church, including the Royal Doors and curtain, has a strictly defined meaning.

For example, the Royal Doors are, if it may be so expressed, the door of Christ. Therefore on them are often placed the rounded icons of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos and the four holy Evangelists—proclaiming the good news of the God-Man Christ. The opening of the Royal Doors in the services and the priests’ passing through them is a symbol that the Lord is present in the church and blesses those worshiping.

An example:

The beginning of the All-Night Vigil: After the Ninth Hour the Royal Doors are opened and the priest silently censes, then proclaiming before the altar the doxology to the Holy Trinity and the other prescribed prayers, then exiting from the altar through the Royal Doors to cense the entire church, icons, and worshipers. This all symbolizes the beginning of sacred history and the creation of the world and mankind. The priest censing the altar and those at prayer symbolizes that God dwelt in Paradise with man and they directly and visibly communicated with Him. After the censing the Royal Doors are closed, representing the Fall of man and his expulsion from Paradise. The Doors are again opened at the Little Entrance with the censer in Vespers—it is the promise of God to not abandon sinful man, but to send to him His Only-Begotten Son for his salvation.

It is precisely the same at Liturgy. The Royal Doors are opened before the Little Entrance as a symbol of Christ’s beginning to preach, because after that a bit later is read the Epistle and Gospel. The Great Entrance is with the chalice and diskos—the Savior’s going to His suffering on the Cross.

The closing of the curtain before the exclamation

“Let us attend. Holy things are for the holy”

is a symbol of the death of Christ, the placing of His Body in the tomb and the sealing of His tomb with a rock.

As an example, many Great Lenten services are served not only with closed Royal Doors, but with a closed curtain as well. It’s a symbol of man’s expulsion from Paradise, that we must now weep and lament over our sins before the closed entrance to the Heavenly Kingdom.

The opening of the curtain and the Royal Doors during the Paschal service is a symbol of the restoration of the lost communion with God, the victory of Christ over the devil, death and sin, and the opening of the path to the Heavenly Kingdom for every one of us.

It all speaks to us about that in our Orthodox services and in the structure of the churches there is nothing superfluous, but everything is coherent, harmonious and intended to guide Orthodox Christians into the Heavenly realm.

By Fr. Andrei Chizhenko

Source: https://preachersinstitute.com/2016/08/30/must-orthodox-church-iconostasis-curtain-royal-doors/

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