The Catalog of Good Deeds

By Fr. Andrew Lemeshonok

Ofttimes, I have to talk with people who are offended. They keep complaining and whining all the time… They just don’t look at themselves from outside and seek a justification of their sins. This is how our world works. People fight for their rights and obligations and don’t understand their neighbours. That is why each person should deal with himself first. Usually, our opinion is the yardstick that we use to assess our life. Instead, we should ask the people around us, our relatives and neighbours. They will provide the correct judgement of our lives. However, we find it hard to accept their judgements if they are less than favourable.

A fast season is an opportunity to have a critical look on ourselves. One has to curtail one’s own self in order to see and understand one’s neighbour. Otherwise, that person may spend his entire life being hurt and offended, and he will never figure out that it is him who offends and hurts everyone else. People just can’t see that spiritual life is a life of a warrior. We are at war but this war is invisible, and that’s the danger of it. There is a war going on for every soul, for every day, and for every word. If we’re defeated in this war, it will impact those who are close to us. Therefore, we have to bear in mind that there is God, and there is the God’s plan of our salvation; all we need is to accept his plan and not oppose God.

“Why didn’t they reward me? Why didn’t they notice me? Why did they hurt me? Why did they punish me so unjustly?”—these are the questions that thwart our spiritual life. “Why am I so hideous?”—this question is better. Everyone likes to judge and evaluate. Few people can actually listen and do what they are told. Everyone is a philosopher or a theoretician. You must proceed to practice from your philosophising and theorising. You should humble yourself down: make yourself be quiet and hear what you’re being told. There is hardly anyone who can hear what he’s being told immediately: that’s how deaf and lame we’ve become due to our sinful loneliness.

“How do I become a true Christian? How do I learn to see people and accept them?” These questions must be at the centre of your attention. The Church is designed is such a way as to lead an individual out of his spiritual isolation, get him to open his eyes, allow him to see God in his life and say, “I’ve got so much! There are so many good people around me! How shameless I am, how often I am a stumbling block for them!” I wish we all had this kind of spiritual fruit in our lives.

You can be talking about incessant prayer and revelations all the time. In fact, your neighbour is the revelation that you need. Give in, humble yourself down, support or sympathise with your neighbour. This is what spiritual revival begins with. We’ve got a lot of theoretical knowledge but we take too few tangible, practical steps towards God; we don’t want to struggle with ourselves and force ourselves to do something good.

All misunderstandings and conflicts stem from our unwillingness to surrender to the truth of our neighbour. I believe that this is the chief issue with us, no matter where we are. We have left too little space for God and too much space for the sin. Let’s be patient and believe that we will change, albeit not quickly.

August 26, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

On the 40^th day after the nativity of Christ, Mary the Mother of God and Joseph brought the Divine Infant to the Temple in order to consecrate Him to God, for it was what had to be done with all the firstborns according to the Law of Moses, bearing in mind what the Lord had made for Israel in the land of Egypt. “Consecrate to Me all the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and beast; it is Mine” (Exodus 13:2).

Virgin Mary and Joseph followed the Law. They brought Jesus to the Temple as well as their sacrifice – two little pigeons. And as the Gospel of Luke says, there was a pious elder living in Jerusalem, to whom God once revealed that he would not die until he saw Christ of the Lord. Simeon was his name. And so, on inspiration from the Holy Spirit, Simeon came to the Temple and met there Virgin Mary with the Child on Her hands. At that moment, the elder understood that the Infant was the Savior of the world promised to him – Christ, the king of Israel. Simeon took the Child in his arms and pronounced the words that are well-known all over the Christian world, and that are used in the Church services up to now:

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel” (2:29-32).

Then the elder addressed to the Blessed Virgin herself: “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35).

Thus, already on the 40^th day it was revealed to the Mother of God about the greatest destiny of her Son, about His great mission in Israel, as well as about the sorrows She would face in Her earthly life: She would face grief and pain, and She would suffer much while standing near the Cross of Her Son, Who would take the sin of the world.

How great is God’s mercy to the humankind! Incomprehensible and eternal God incarnated and became an Infant in order to live through the life we all live and to fill it with love and sense. Since that moment we know that the old times are over and the new times begin for us. Just like Pious Simeon, we, still old but already partially renewed in the Sacrament of the Water and Spirit, are looking with hope at the humble and beautiful face of Christ. Now, every time we are going to partake of Christ's Supper in His Kingdom, we accept and keep inside ourselves the Messiah, the Son of God, the innocent Lamb, Who takes all our sins from us. Let us remember about this great honor, about the miracle of our meeting with God and let us be the sons of light so that we can testify about the true Light, enlightening any human being coming to this world.

The word of St. Theophan the Recluse:

What a tender scene the Meeting of the Lord shows us! The venerable elder Simeon, holding the infant God in his hands, on either side of him are the righteous Joseph and the Most Holy Mother of God. Not far away is the Prophetess Anna, an eighty-year-old faster and woman of prayer. Their eyes are all directed toward the Savior. Their attention is absorbed by Him and they drink in spiritual sweetness from Him, which feeds their souls. You can judge for yourself how blessed was the state of these souls!

However, brethren, we are called not only to think about this blessedness, but also to taste it in reality, for all are called to have and carry the Lord in themselves, and to disappear in Him with all the powers of their spirit. When we have reached that state, then our blessedness will be no lower than that of those who participated in the Meeting of the Lord. They were blessed who saw it; we shall be blessed who have not seen, but believed.

Reflections in the Church tradition:

Troparion — Tone 1

Rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, full of grace! From you shone the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God. Enlightening those who sat in darkness! Rejoice, and be glad, O righteous elder; You accepted in your arms the Redeemer of our souls, Who grants us the Resurrection.

End of Part V

To be continued…

Click here to see full infographics.

The contemporary world in its attempts to make everything simpler stumbles at the steps of Orthodox churches. Everyday hassles suddenly appear insignificant as soon as we set foot in a church. Even unbelievers gasp in amazement sometimes when they enter our churches… In fact, this isn’t surprising because God’s grace is always invisibly present in the place of worship.

Nonetheless, people today have a powerful temptation to drop in to a church for a couple of minutes, barely enough to light some candles. They say they are short of time. Actually, by doing so they miss out on communication with God!

This is what St Philaret of Moscow has to say about it:

1. The Church of the True God with its sacred objects, rituals, and Sacraments is not a human invention but God’s own institution.

2. The management of God’s churches and the worship in them must not depend on human deliberation. It must be grounded in the “rules and laws of priestly office” laid by the “apostles vested in the Holy Spirit, strong in actions and in words.”

3. God’s Wisdom has deemed the establishment of the holy temples not only a useful but also a necessary tool in the salvation of men because God’s Wisdom never does anything excessive and not useful.

4. That is why every man who wants to be saved must diligently attend God’s temples with attention; participate in prayers and praises to the best of his abilities; observe and follow the word of God and the doctrine of life; and sanctify himself with church sacraments, in accordance with the rules and the laws laid out and passed on to us by the God-inspired Apostles and wise Fathers.

The Importance of Church Worship

Saint Theophan the Recluse provides us with the best arguments in favour of church worship: “In the Old Testament, God through Moses decreed the rites of worship in all detail. Likewise, in the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ decreed the worship compatible with the New Testament spirit, and appointed the servants of the word and the Sacraments to build the mysterious Body of His Church. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4: 11, 12). It was thanks to this fact, as well as his own example, that He set the external rites of worship (See John 7: 14; 1 Cor. 11: 23–25). The Apostles, acting according to the Saviour’s will (See Acts 2:46), laid out the major parts of worship (See 1 Cor. 14; Colossians 3:16), and their successors, guided by the Spirit of God, determined all worship rituals in all precision. The Holy Councils made these rituals mandatory for all believers. The essential value of this worship is that it is edifying and spiritually nurturing for the faithful and that it contains spiritual meaning under its outer sights and actions. On the one hand, it is not unlike a transparent curtain, through which the spirit of the true faith and piety shines. On the other hand, it resembles the heaven itself with the abundance of promised treasures, reminding us of the rituals of the Old Testament Church, which were but a shadow of the future (Colossians 2:17).”

Our Obligations

Upon admission to the Church of Christ, every believer is obliged to listen to Her in all things and obey Her unquestionably. It is his fundamental duty to honour and follow the whole rite of worship and fulfil its rubrics piously, as intended and designated by the Church. The Lord said indiscriminately, If he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican (Matthew 18:17). The Church commandments are as important as the Church herself, that is, they possess divine importance. “The Universal Church has never said anything and does not say anything except the words of the Spirit of God, Who is forever Her teacher.” (Fragment of the Encyclical of the Eastern Orthodox Patriarchs on Orthodox Faith). It leads is not only to believe in the Holy Gospel, adopted by the Church, according to the commandment of Christ, “Believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15), but also to believe all other writings and Council decrees. Therefore, every law or commandment is binding for every Christian."

Optina Elders on How to Behave in Church

Enter your church as the House of God and stay in your church as in the House of God, acknowledging God’s presence and avoiding all kinds of dismissive attitudes and immodesty.

They say that the church is boring. It is boring for them only because they don’t understand the worship! You’ve got to educate yourself!

The Church is boring for them because they don’t care about it. That is why it seems alien to them. If only they brought some flowers to the church or did something for the adornment of the temple: it wouldn’t be boring then! Are you bored by your own izba?

When the devil blocks your ears and closes your eyes during the service, read the Jesus Prayer. Listen to the Kathisma as long as you can; soon, you will find them pleasant. They are beautiful and sweet, and they will drive away your drowsiness and sadness…

You must not talk in church. It’s a bad habit. You’ll have to suffer if you do.

The Church is the Earthly Heaven

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt once said, “The Church contains all our sweet hopes and aspirations, our peace, our joy, along with our purification and sanctification. All that is the most exalted, the most precious, the holiest, and the wisest can be found only in the Church: The Church is the earthly heaven.

The Church engages the entire human being and teaches him in his entirety with the worship: She engages his eyes, ears, smell, touch, taste, imagination, feelings, reason, and will thanks to the beauty of the icons and the temple as a whole; bells; singing; censing; kissing of the Gospel, the Cross, and holy icons; prosphoras; singing and recitation of the Scriptures.

What will happen to a man who falls from a ship into the sea and sees a rope or a boat sent to his rescue but does not grab at the rope or the boat and even pushes them away? He will perish in the abyss. Such are the Christians who have a rope of the Holy Scripture and all Sacraments, including the greatest of them all—the Sacrament of the Body and the Blood of Jesus Christ—to rescue them from eternal death. Whosoever rejects this rope, he will surely die—and rightfully so, for his pride, insanity, lack of wisdom, disgusting passions, and whims."

August 7, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

Q: I’ve noticed, Elder, that sometimes babies smile at the time of Divine Liturgy.

A: They don’t do that only at the Divine Liturgy. Babies are in constant contact with God, because they’ve got nothing to worry about. What did Christ say about little children? ‘Their angels in heaven continually gaze upon the face of my Father who is in heaven’. They’re in touch with God and with their guardian angel, who’s with them all the time. They smile in their sleep sometimes, and at other times cry, because they see all sorts of things. Sometimes they see their guardian angels and play with them- the angels stroke them, tease them, shake their fists and they laugh. On other occasions they see some kind of temptation and cry.

Q: Why does temptation come to babies?

A: It helps them to feel the need to seek their mothers. If there wasn’t this fear, they wouldn’t need to seek the comfort of being cuddled by their mothers. God allows everything so that it’ll turn out well.

Q: Do they remember what they see as babies when they grow up?

A: No, they forget. If a little child remembered the number of times it had seen its guardian angel, it might fall into pride. That’s why, when it grows up, it forgets. God’s wise in His doings.

Q: Do they see these things after baptism?

A: Of course after baptism.

Q: Elder, is it all right for an unbaptized child to reverence relics?

A: Why not? And they can be blessed with the holy relics. I saw a child today, it was like a little angel. I asked, ‘Where are your wings?’ It didn’t know what to say! At my hermitage, when spring comes and the trees are in blossom, I put sweets on the holm-oaks next to the gate in the fence and I tell the little boys who come: ‘Go on, boys, cut the sweets from the bushes, because if it rains they’ll melt and spoil’. A few of the more intelligent ones know that I’ve put them there and laugh. Others really believe that they’ve grown there and some others have to think about it. Little children need a bit of sunshine.

Q: Did you put lots of sweets, Elder?

A: Well, of course. What could I do? I don’t give good sweets to grown-ups; I just give them Turkish delight. When people bring me nice sweets, I keep them for the kids at the School [the Athoniada]. ‘See, last night I planted sweets and chocolates and today they’ve come up! See that? The weather was good, the soil was well-turned because you’d dug it over well and they came up just like that. See what a flower garden I’ll make for you. We’ll never need to buy sweets and chocolates for kids. Why shouldn’t we have our own produce?’ (Elder Païsios had planted sweets and chocolates in the freshly dug earth and put lilac blossoms on top to make it seem that they were flowering).

Q: Elder, some pilgrims saw the chocolates you planted in the garden because the paper stood out against the soil. They didn’t know what to make of it. ‘Some kid must have put them there’, they said.

A: Why didn’t you tell them that a big kid put them there?

Q: Elder, why does God give people a guardian angel, when He can protect us Himself?

A: That’s God looking after us especially carefully. The guardian angel is God’s providence. And we’re indebted to Him for that. The angels particularly protect little children. And you wouldn’t believe how! There were two children once, playing in the street. One of them aimed at the other to hit him on the head with a stone. The other one didn’t notice. At the last moment, apparently, his angel drew his attention to something else, he leapt up and got out of the way. And then there was this mother who went out into the fields with her baby. She breast-fed it, put it down in its cradle and went off to work. After a bit, she went to check and what did she see? The child was holding a snake and looking at it! When she’d suckled the child, some of the milk had stayed on its lips, the snake had gone to lick it off and the baby had grabbed hold of it. God looks after children.

Q: Elder, in that case, why do so many children suffer from illnesses?

A: God knows what’s best for each of us and provides as necessary. He doesn’t give people anything that’s not going to benefit them. He sees that it’s better for us to have some sort of defect, a disability instead of protecting us from them.

From “Discourses 4, Family Life”, published by the Holy Monastery of

Saint John the Theologian

Source: http://myocn.net/elder-paisios-children-joys-difficulties/

I want to share how Grand Duchess Elisabeth has helped me in guiding me to Orthodoxy and strengthening my faith.

As a divorced single mother, I was living with my eight-year-old son Timothy near Albany, New York. My older brother bad become a monk at Holy Trinity Monastery, in Jordanville, and came occasionally to visit us. He would talk to me about his Orthodox faith, and I would appear to listen, but I was not interested and therefore I did not really hear what he said. A turning point came in April 1989. Fr. Theophylact came to visit us one evening, and after he left I began wondering if there was some truth in what he was saying.

For many years I had been searching for a church where I felt I belonged. We had been raised Baptist and Lutheran, and I had been baptized at the age of nineteen in the Lutheran church. But I felt something was missing, and over the years I also attended Methodist, Dutch Reformed and Roman Catholic churches. I had recently become a member of a Presbyterian church, although there, too, I was not really satisfied, and I continued to pray that God would lead me to a church where I would not feel such emptiness.

It was soon after Fr Theophylact’s April visit that I learned I had a growth on my thyroid. The doctors thought it was cancerous, and I was frightened. I had always been very athletic and in good physical shape, and suddenly I was faced with cancer. This no doubt intensified my desire to find the “right Church,” and in July, I finally responded to Fr. Theophylact’s invitation to visit the monastery, it made a great impression — not only on me but also on Timothy. My brother gave us a tour, and we even attended a funeral. For the first time I really opened up to what he had to say and asked questions.

Early in August I drove again to the monastery and attended my first Divine Liturgy. It was a deeply moving experience. In spite of my worries about cancer, I felt very peaceful. Later that month, I was to have surgery to remove the growth on my thyroid. Fr. Theophylact requested one of the hieremonks to serve a moleben for me, which was done before the icon “Unexpected Joy,” and the tumor turned out to be benign. I firmly believe this was a miracle.

After my surgery, Fr. Theophylact came and anointed me with oil from Saint Nectarlos. He left and suddenly, inexplicably, I was overcome by a profound feeling of repentance. I wept and wept. Then I began reading a book that Fr. Theophylact had brought with him: Saint Elisabeth the New Martyr by Ludmila Koehler. I was never a reader, but this book captivated me. I felt a special closeness to the martyred Grand Duchess, and I was moved to tears by her life.

Shortly afterwards, on one of our trips to Jordanville, Timothy and I visited the nearby sisterhood, which is dedicated to Saint Elisabeth. There I experienced such peace and contentment. I scarcely noticed the two-hour drive home in the pouring rain.

That evening I framed the photo of Saint Elisabeth that one of the sisters had given me, and put it on my bedside table, I awoke that night to see light coming from the photo. The Grand Duchess had a white rope in her hand and held it out towards me. A feeling of peace enveloped me. After years of searching, I knew that I was on the right path.

In November of that year, Timothy and I became catechumens. Every weekend we drove to the monastery, to attend the Divine services. We were baptized on April 7, 1990, Lazarus Saturday, which coincided that year with the feast of the Annunciation. I took the name Elisabeth after the martyred Grand Duchess. Never had 1 experienced such inner joy and happiness. That night I awoke to see Saint Elisabeth, dressed in black monastic attire, kneeling at my bedside and praying.

Timothy and I continued our weekend trips to the monastery until, in July, we were able to move to Jordanville. By the prayers of Saint Elisabeth, we were permitted to stay at the sisterhood. This was a great blessing, because I soon became quite ill. After four days in the hospital and numerous tests, the doctors were still unsure as to what was causing me such pain. Only the following March did they finally determine that I had endometdosis. With my health problems compounded by financial insecurity, I am sure I would have become depressed had I not had the support of the sisters. We continued to live at the sisterhood until August, when we moved into our own apartment in Richfield Springs, only seven miles from the monastery.

I truly believe that it is through the prayers and intercession of Saint Elisabeth that God’s great mercy was so generously manifest to us in the events of those two and a half years. My successful operation, my becoming acquainted with Holy Trinity Monastery and the Sisterhood of Saint Elisabeth, our being baptized into the true Church, my becoming Elisabeth and having Saint Elisabeth as my heavenly protectress, and living in the Sisterhood of Saint Elisabeth for a year during my illness, where I was able to gain a firm foundation in the Orthodox faith.

As if all this were not blessing enough, in September 1993, an older woman asked my godmother (one of the nuns from the Saint Elisabeth sisterhood) and me to accompany her to Russia — and paid for our travel expenses. While in Moscow we stayed at the Martha-Mary Convent, founded by Saint Elisabeth, and were there for her name day, September 5/ 18. The convent buildings were in crying need of repair, but one could nevertheless strongly sense the Grand Duchess’s presence. The white roses she planted were still flourishing, and I was privileged to play her piano.

I am so unworthy of all that has happened, and I give all honor and praise to God and thankfulness to Saint Elisabeth for her faithful intercession. I hope that those who read this and who are not yet well acquainted with Saint Elisabeth will want to read about her inspiring life. There are two biographies available in English: Ludmila Koehler’s book, which has already been mentioned, and Grand Duchess Elisabeth of Russia: New Martyr of the Communist Yoke by Lubov Millar. Her life was devoted to helping people, and she continues to help people even now, as I myself can testify.

By Elisabeth Hawkins

Source: pravmir.com/by-her-prayers

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Search This Blog

featured Slider

“People Fight for Their Rights and Do Not Understand Their Neighbours”

A Sword Will Pierce through Your Soul: Meeting of the Lord and a New Prophecy for Virgin Mary

Parable of the Day: Talking to Non-spiritual People

The Beauty of Church Life: Why Is Church Worship so Important?

Elder Paisios on Children, Their Joys and Difficulties

By the Prayers of St. Elisabeth: a True Story of the Saint's Help

Partners