The Catalog of Good Deeds

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Matthew 3:17)

Jesus Christ begins his public ministry with a seemingly weird and unexpected action. He decides to go to the shore of the Jordan River to get baptized by Prophet John. In fact, people would come to John in order to admit that they were sinful and deprived of God’s grace. Those people yearned for spiritual renewal and repentance. It was precisely what St. John called them for: And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. (Luke 3:3-4).

Why did Lord Jesus go to the Jordan River to be baptized from John, given that He was absolutely sinless, according to the doctrine of the Orthodox Church based on Divine Revelation? We may find a very profound answer in some worship hymns of the Baptism of the Lord, following the time-honored maxim Lex orandi est lex credendi (the law of prayer is the law of faith).

1. Consecration of Waters

O ye faithful, let us hymn the magnitude of God’s benefactions toward us; for having become man for the sake of our transgressions, He Who alone is pure and incorrupt, Who sanctifieth me and the waters, and crusheth the heads of the serpents in the water, is purified in the Jordan with our purification. Wherefore, let us draw forth water with gladness, O brethren; for the grace of the Spirit is invisibly imparted to those who draw it forth with faith, by Christ God, the Savior of our souls. (Sticheron of the Baptism of the Lord, tone 6, during the great consecration of water)

During the entire service of the Baptism of the Lord, church hymns keep repeating that when the Savior descended into the waters of the Jordan, He purified waters by his divinity. What does it mean? And why does water need purification? In fact, the world is literally contaminated with sin and lies in wickedness. When Jesus walks into the waters of the Jordan, He performs his first exorcism, his first purification of the matter poisoned by the sin, his first transformation of the creation, which groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now (Romans 8:22). The Church of Christ keeps doing what her Head once did even now: She purifies everything; She transforms matter and the cosmos itself with her Sacraments and rituals, and brings it to God, for She deems it the purpose of a redeemed human to transform the matter and to dedicate it to the Creator.

2. Destruction of Evil Forces.

Thou didst bow Thy head before the Forerunner, and didst crush the heads of the serpents. Having come to the streams, Thou didst illumine all things, that they may glorify Thee, O Savior, the Enlightener of our souls. (Sticheron on Now and Ever: Lord, I Have Cried of the Theophany Vespers)

We often hear about the Lord crushing the heads of the serpents in water. What are those serpents? They are mentioned not only on Theophany Day but also during all blessings of water, including every Sacrament of Baptism. Do some spiritual entities or beings swim in the water font in the middle of a church before the consecration of water? That’s what Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, an outstanding liturgical scholar and theologian of our time, has to say about it: “Matter is never neutral according to Christian worldview. If it isn’t attached to God, i.e., not interpreted and used as a means to interact with God, as a way of living with him, it turns into a carrier and dominion of demonic powers. It is not surprising that the rejection of God and religion goes hand in hand with materialism, which claims that it possesses the latest scientific ‘knowledge’. The unprecedented war against God, which has taken hold of more and more of the so-called civilized world lately, happens in the name of that ‘scientific truth’. It is not accidental, either, that pseudo-religiosity and pseudo-spirituality are more often than not based on rejection of matter and therefore of the world itself: the matter is viewed as evil, which is a blasphemy against God’s creation. Only the Bible and Christian faith view the matter as something that’s essentially good but on the other hand also a tool of human downfall and enslavement to death and sin, by which the Satan stole the world from God. Only in Christ and by his power can matter be liberated and become the symbol of God’s glory and presence, the mystery of his action and unity with man, again.” (Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, Of Water and the Spirit).

3. Fulfillment of the Law.

Desiring to fulfill that which Thou hast established from before time, O Lord, Thou didst accept ministers of Thy mystery from among all creatures: Gabriel from among the angels, the Virgin from among men, the star from among the heavens, and the Jordan from among the waters, wherein Thou didst destroy the iniquity of the world. O our Savior, glory be to Thee! (Sticheron on Glory at Litya, tone 8. All-Night Vigil of Theophany)

Although the Lord didn’t need to be baptized because He had never committed any sin, He nevertheless allowed John the Baptist to baptize him, in spite of the fearful protest of the Forerunner - I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? (Matthew 3:14). He did it for our sake because our nature, which the Savior had assumed, was in need of Baptism and purification from the ancient curse. Also, the Lord came not in order to break the Law but to fulfill it. John’s Baptism was the last Old Testament ritual because John the Baptist was the greatest and the last prophet of the Old Testament who proclaimed God’s will, which all people had to abide by. The Lord replies to St. John, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness (Matthew 3:15).

4. Apparition of the Holy Trinity. Epiphany.

Christ is baptized. He cometh up out of the waters and leadeth the world up with Himself. And He beholdeth the heavens opening, which Adam closed to himself and to those with him. And the Spirit beareth witness to His divinity, for He maketh haste to come to His like. And a voice is heard from heaven; for the Savior of our souls is borne witness to from thence. (Sticheron on Litya of the All-Night Vigil. By Cosmas of Maiuma)

The Baptism of the Lord marked one of the greatest apparitions of the Godhead in the history of the humankind, hence the ancient name of this holiday, Epiphany. The Lord reveals himself as the Holy Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, while at the same time being One God. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is the most marvelous and majestic truth of Christianity made known by Jesus Christ. The Holy Trinity is the absolute plenitude of goodness, love, harmony, and agreement, which constitutes His greatest beauty and freedom. Most strikingly, every individual of any age and any rank is called to enter the relationship with the Triune God and let the Lord into their heart. The love of the Holy Trinity will animate everything and everyone around that person.

To sum up, we can say that the Lord was baptized by John in the waters of the Jordan River in order to purify water and to pave the way for the restoration and purification of the created world. Today, every Orthodox Christian who is vested with priestly grace can do what Jesus once did by putting his fingers into the baptismal font and making the sign of the cross with them. Moreover, all Christians are able to perform the great Sacrament of Baptism in extreme cases. If we recall that we are the universal royal priesthood, as Holy Apostle Peter said, we can transform the entire Cosmos with our prayer, multiply love, crush invisible serpents, and purify ourselves, our food, and our houses with the Holy Hagiasma, that precious gift that the Lord gives us on this day. Christ came to the world to fulfill the Law of God and to bring grace into the world. He came to us in order to reveal the Mystery of the Holy Trinity, to redeem us from our sins, and to pour God’s love into our hearts. Let us exclaim Amen happily and accept His gift.

By John Nichiporuk,

a Bachelor of Theology,

specialized in Biblical Studies.

The Catalog of Good Deeds, 2019

See full Nativity infographics here.

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Franklin Graham (son of the famous evangelist Billy Graham) opined on NBC Nightly News that Muslims pray to a “different God” than do the Christians. Around the same time the Reverend Jerry Vines, former pastor of the large First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Florida and past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said that “Allah is not Jehovah”, and that it was wrong to equate all religions as some forms of pluralism attempted to do. What are we to make of such assertions (often repeated since made by Graham and Vines)? Do Christians and Muslims worship the same God?

The question is not as simple as it may appear, and defies a quick and easy response. Moreover, one must first deal with the underlying issue of what that question might possibly mean. Does the question ask whether the two groups, Christians and Muslims, claim to worship the same God? Or does it ask whether or not they really do worship the same God regardless of the differences between the two religions? And if the latter, how could one know this? On what basis could one determine that persons practising different religions were in fact worshipping the same God, apart from a pluralistic and ecumenical desire that it be so? That both religions were technically monotheistic? What about such fundamental differences as the lack of Trinitarian theology in Islam and its assertion that Jesus was never crucified? Are these differences fundamental enough to justify the assertion that Muslims and Christians do not worship the same God? Let us try to approach the question of whether or not differing religions worship the same God from the standpoint of the Scriptures. Obviously the New Testament does not talk about non-Christian Islam, but it does have something to say about non-Christian paganism.

In one sense, it is true that everyone directing their prayers and devotions to the supreme deity is worshipping the same God, for monotheism declares that in fact there only is one God and so there is no other deity up there to receive such prayers. Presumably that is what St. Paul meant when he declared that God is not the God of the Jews only, but also the God of the Gentiles also “since God is one” (Romans 3:29-30). Though the pagan Gentiles might claim to worship not Yahweh but Zeus, still Yahweh was in some sense their God too. A pagan Athenian might have sent up his prayers addressed “To Zeus, with love”, but the heavenly mail nonetheless ended up in the in-box of the God of Israel. St. Paul makes precisely this point when he addressed such an Athenian on Mars Hill. Whether an altar was dedicated to Zeus or to an unknown God (the latter being a pagan attempt to cover all their polytheistic bases) it was the Jewish God who actually received their prayers. “What you worship as unknown,” Paul declared in his sermon, “this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23). The God whom Paul proclaimed made the world and everything in it, including every nation of men living on all the face of the earth. God’s intention in creation was that all should “seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him”. Up until then most men stupidly imagined that God was served and fed by human hands, and that He was like their gold and silver idols. Such “times of ignorance God overlooked”, but “now He commands all men everywhere to repent” and come to Him through the risen Christ (v. 25-30). From this sermon, it is clear that according to St. Paul anyway, God has some sort of relationship with all people, regardless of their religion.

It is also true, as St. Paul elsewhere declared, that pagan religions contained an element of the demonic. Though a devout, ignorant, well-intentioned, and righteous Athenian’s prayers to Zeus may have been received by the God of Israel, this did not imply that his Athenian paganism was more or less interchangeable with Judaism or Christianity. While the Athenian’s heart and intention may have been acceptable to God, his actual religion, cultus, and sacrifices were not. Paul also affirmed that “what the pagans sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God” (1 Cor. 10:20). Idolatrous worship, though intended for and aimed at the Most High God, was intercepted and used by the demons, and Christians in the early centuries always regarded pagan religion as infected with the demonic. That is why at his baptism the converting pagan did not simply renounce his former pagan religion, but did so with the words, “I renounce you, Satan, and all your service and all your works” (from the Apostolic Tradition, ascribed to Hippolytus in the early third century). By “all your service”, the new convert meant “all my former religious rites”. The well-intentioned pagan Athenian of course did not consciously intend to have communion with demons. He aimed his prayers at the heavenly God, but his sacrifices were received by the demons anyway. That is why the Church in her liturgy referred to pagan religion not just as idolatrous, but as a delusion.

Did this involvement with demons mean that the pagan would be damned on the Last Day? St. Paul does not say so. In fact he said that to the pagan who “by patience in well-doing sought for glory and honour and immortality” God would “give eternal life”, for there would be “glory and honour and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek, for God shows no partiality” (Romans 2:7-10). Though the pagan Greek may have had no knowledge of divine revelation or of the Law, when he did by nature what the Law required, he was a law to himself, and showed that what the Law required was written on his heart (Romans 2:14-15). But God’s mercy on the Last Day does not entail His delight in unenlightened paganism in this age. A pagan seeking the true God in ignorance may be spared at the end, but idolatry was still idolatry and was still to be shunned. All religions were not equally valid, true, or saving. In the second chapter of his epistle to the Romans St. Paul was not talking so much about ecumenism as about mercy.

Whether or not a non-Christian religion like ancient paganism could connect one with God seems therefore to have depended upon the amount of light that the ancient pagan had received. If he or she didn’t know any better and sought to please God by “patience in well-doing”, they might be spared on the Last Day. In that case, they would not be saved through their pagan religion but in spite of it. If on the other hand they knew and understood the Gospel and yet still rejected Christ, they could not be saved. For the words of Jesus are plain: “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings has a judge; the Word that I have spoken is what will judge him on the Last Day” (John 12:48). It all therefore depends upon the amount of ignorance in the non-Christian (what western theology used to call “invincible ignorance”). We are not in a position to know such inner mysteries hidden in the heart of another, but we do know that all will be judged according to the light which they have received. “From everyone who has been given much shall much be required” (Luke 12:48).

So what about our Muslim neighbours? An analogy with paganism would suggest that the religion of Islam does not connect its practitioner with God, and so in this sense Allah cannot be identified with Yahweh or with the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if a Muslim has no real exposure to or understanding of the Christian message, he might still be spared on the Last Day after all if his heart was in ignorance seeking the true God. C.S. Lewis wrote about such a possibility in the last volume of his Narnian series: a worshipper of the god “Tash” (a thinly-veiled version of Allah) finds himself in the presence of the true God, the lion Aslan, an image of Christ. He realizes that his life-long worship of Tash was the worship of a false god, and that Aslan was the true God after all. In his own words, “Then I fell at his feet and thought, Surely this is the hour of death, for the Lion will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc [or, King] of the world and live and not to have seen Him. But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and said, Son, thou art welcome. But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no son of thine, but the servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service to me… But I said also, Yet I have been seeking Tash all my days. Beloved, said the Glorious One, unless thy desire had been for me thou wouldst not have sought so long and so truly. For all find what they truly seek.”

“All find what they truly seek”: that seems to be the crux of the matter. Let all seek for the truth as best they can. As for us Christians, our mandate remains the same in all ages—to preach the Gospel and to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Trinity. We call all men to a saving confession of Christ our God, to sonship and forgiveness in this age, and to glory in the age to come. If a Muslim in his ignorance had truly been seeking the eternal truth of God, and recognizes that truth when we share the Gospel with him, we have water for baptism. We can bring him home.

By Fr. Lawrence Farley

Source: https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/nootherfoundation/do-christians-and-muslims-worship-the-same-god/

In my Orthodox parish we will be celebrating Holy Theophany (The Baptism of our Lord) on January 6th. The celebration of this Feast of our Lord actually begins on January 5th, a day known as the Forefeast of Theophany.

Together with the other services celebrating this Feast of our Lord, there is a service of the Blessing of the Waters. This is usually conducted in the church. However in many places throughout the world services are conducted near open bodies of water. As a sign of blessing as Christ blessed the Jordan, Holy Water is poured into the body of water. A cross is then thrown into the water to be retrieved by young folks diving into the water.

Here in Colorado, many Orthodox gather on the Continental Divide for a special blessing of the waters of both sides of the Divide. Frozen crosses of water are placed in the snow on each side. In this way, the water flowing to the Pacific and the water flowing to the Atlantic are both blessed.

The holy water from the church is given to the faithful to consume throughout the year and to use in blessing their homes. In the weeks following the Feast, Orthodox clergy visit the homes of parishioners and conduct a service of blessing using the holy water that was blessed on the Feast of Theophany.

Someone asked me a very good question last year at Holy Theophany:

“Why should I have my house blessed every year? I mean, come on, I had it blessed several years ago and that seems good enough for me.”

Here is my response:

That is a great question and one that every Orthodox Christian needs to ponder. House blessings are not just some cultural tradition, but a very spiritual and important issue for you to consider.

When I was a prison chaplain, I would go around the prison to the cell of each Orthodox man and bless their home. Often other men would see me or hear about it and they too would ask for their cell to be blessed. The reports back were always the same: “Father, I felt such peace after my cell was blessed and I slept so well!” It was something that many men looked forward to each year.

Many years ago when I was a fairly new priest, a family asked me to help them. They were seeing “ghosts” in their home on a regular basis and it had the whole family scared. Being a very inexperienced priest, I felt this was a definitely above my pay grade and called upon a wonderful monastic for his advice. He said he would come and together we would bless their home. We did the entire service for blessing the home and as we went through the house, he told me that he could see the demons were fleeing in front of us. I of course saw nothing. This man is holier than I could ever hope to be! He told me that the Holy Water stings the demons like fire and they flee from it. We continued to bless the home until he said every evil had been removed. The report back from these folks in the following weeks and months was of peace, no sightings of “ghosts”, and very good nights of sleep.

I share these two stories with you to show the need we all have for the peace of the Lord in our homes. I am not suggesting that your home is filled with demons and all kinds of evil. But, throughout the year we may end up bringing things into our homes that we really don’t want there: such as anger, gossip, slander, lying, lust, hatred, envy, covetousness, sloth, despair…you get the idea. Many of the Holy Fathers of our Faith tell us that there is a very spiritual aspect to all of these and they affect the atmosphere around us. So it can be in our homes and often it happens so very slowly that we do not recognize its impact.

So the question you asked really gets reversed: “Why would any Orthodox Christian not want their home blessed each year?” When Holy Theophany rolls around this year and the list for house blessings is made available, be sure to sign up. It may be the best “cleaning” you can possibly give your home.

By Fr. Stephen Powley

Source: https://upwordglance.com/2017/01/04/why-should-i-have-my-house-blessed/

Every Orthodox Christian should have some holy Theophany water at home. Traditionally, the Orthodox drink the holy water consecrated on Theophany Day on an empty stomach with a prosphora after morning prayers. This water is sacred and demands utmost respect.

Saints on Holy Water

Saint Demetrius of Kherson wrote, “Consecrated water is a powerful means of sanctifying the souls and bodies of those who use it.” If we take it with faith and prayer, it can cure our physical illnesses. St. Seraphim of Sarov would always make his visitors drink some holy Theophany water after confession.

Saint Luke of Crimea advised, “Drink holy water as often as possible. It is the best and the most effective medicine. I’m saying that not just as a priest but also from my experience as a doctor.”

St. Seraphim of Vyritsa always recommended his spiritual children to sprinkle raw and cooked food with holy Theophany water, which, according to him, “consecrates everything all on its own.” Whenever anyone fell seriously ill, St. Seraphim would bless them to take a tablespoonful of holy water hourly. He used to say that there are no better remedies than holy water and holy oil.

Good to Know

The Greater Hagiasma is viewed by Church canons as a lower level of Holy Eucharist: in the cases when a member of the Church is forbidden to take the Holy Body and Blood of Christ due to their wrongdoings, the canon law usually adds, “he may drink hagiasma, though.”

It is good to know that dipping in consecrated water reservoirs on Theophany Day is a folk custom. It doesn’t make you free from sins and cannot be regarded as the substitute for the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). Christians should do their best to participate in church services and the greatest Sacrament of the Church, i.e., the Holy Eucharist, on church holidays.

May One Sprinkle Unclean Places with Holy Water?

The power of the Cross can shield people like exorcism does. Thus, consecration has two meanings: either we use holy water to ‘fill something with grace’ or ‘to prevent any evil spirit from hiding in a certain place’ such as our bathroom.

May One Drink Holy Water After Eating?

Traditionally, people drink holy water on an empty stomach in the morning, which is understandable: first you take holy water and then your regular food. As far as the rest of the day is concerned, the Typikon (Chapter 48, Menaia for January 6) contains the following regulations:

Let it be known of the holy water: those who do not drink it because they have already consumed food, are mistaken, for God’s grace is granted for the sanctification of the entire world and all creatures. We sprinkle all places, including unclean ones and even the floor under our feet, with holy water. Where is the reason of those who do not drink it because of having eaten food?

Therefore, it isn’t reasonable to abstain from holy water because of having eaten some food. The Church does not prohibit us to drink holy water, even Theophany water at any time, and admonishes those who believe that it is forbidden to drink holy water not on an empty stomach.

Where Should We Store Holy Water?

Holy water is stored in a special vial or bottle. You can attach a note to the bottle to avoid using the water for the purposes that it isn’t intended for. You can find special bottles for holy water in many church stores.

Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds

Source: https://azbyka.ru/voda-svyataya

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