10 Ways Orthodox Parents Set Children Up for Moral Failure

Life gets busy and we don’t step back enough to see what we might be doing as parents to hurt our children’s spiritual growth. Being an intentional Orthodox Christian parent is hard work…but it’s worth it. We have a legacy of faith, wisdom and experience we can pass on to our kids if we pay attention. But if we don’t—we could cause more harm than good.

1. Buying them smartphones. 

People look at us like we’re freaks, but my husband and I refuse to buy smartphones for our kids. Not only are they expensive, but they allow unsupervised access to the internet, among many other faults. Some parents trick themselves into believing their kids will use internet on their smartphones for “educational” purposes. Yeah right. Don’t fool yourself. The internet, like the TV, is the devil’s playground when it’s not properly supervised. Your job as a parent is to protect your child’s innocence as long as possible. There’s a whole lot of nasty garbage out there that puts thoughts and ideas into their heads that they don’t need. Right now, their souls are like flowers just barely beginning to bloom. Don’t kill that spiritual growth with the world’s evils. And texting? Really, why do kids need texting? Have you looked around lately at all the kids glued to their phones because they’re so hooked on them they can’t put them down. Geez, don’t assist them in losing their childhood. Let kids be kids. Unplug them now because they don’t know how and they need your help.

2. Unsupervised computer use without parental controls.  

As with smartphones, the internet is full of temptations kids don’t have the ability to deal with. Statistics show the average nine year old has already been exposed to porn on the net.

Do not put a computer in their room. And if there already is one in there, take it out and put it in a prominent area of your home. Seriously, this is their innocence and their soul we’re talking about here. Our kids work on the computer in our family room where the screen is in our view. They can’t log in without our passwords, and we also have them keep to a two-hour computer time limit (which the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends) with breaks in between. Then, we send them outside to get fresh air and to do what kids are supposed to do—play.

3. Encouraging dating in early teen years.

  We’re pushing off dating as long as possible. Why? I don’t believe putting kids in tempting situations is good for them. Just because you may have dated at an early age and survived doesn’t mean they will. STD’s are at an all-time high. Early intimate relationships also increase risk of depression and suicide. They are still growing and learning about life. Doing things adults do in relationships is not only dangerous, but it’s a heck of an emotional load to put on a kid. They’ve got enough to worry about with homework, sports and college. You might think it’s cute, but when your child ends up telling you they’re pregnant or they have Herpes—it’s not so cute.

4. Being lax about prayer and going to church. In a world where the word religion is looked at as a bad word, and kids are being told rules don’t matter anymore—church is desperately needed. We do not pray enough. Our kids need to see us pray, and they need to see us make church a priority. And what if they tell you they don’t want to go? Go anyway. You’re the parent. Kids need structure, and they need to see you as an example of someone who strives to put God first, before everything else.

5. Not talking about the issues they face. 

Just because they act like everything is okay doesn’t mean it is. It’s crucial to connect with your kids every day. Show you care by asking about their day and actually listening to them. Take them out for dessert or to a coffee shop for one-on-one time. Ask their opinion on things with school, their teachers, friends, church—whatever. Help them by offering a non-judgmental, loving example of the Church’s viewpoint on current issues. Kids are confused today because the world is telling them so many things are okay that the church is saying are not. You can be the voice of reason and sanity for them, and by showing them respect and listening—they’re more likely to hear you.

6. Paganizing Christianity. 

Some things just aren’t Christian, no matter how you try to make them that way. While it’s great to have healthier alternatives, we can’t Christianize everything. Sadly, public school dances in many schools have now become a showcase of blatant immorality. My jaw almost dropped to the floor when my teenage daughter told me her junior high school’s dance last year included lap dancing and pole dancing. Then she mentioned later that “grinding” was rampant, and the punch got spiked. Huh? Yes, that’s right. Because the parent chaperones were afraid to say something, the kids got away with it. Throw in oversexualized lyrics, peer pressure, hormones and brains that haven’t grown completely—and you get a recipe for disaster. Come up with your own ways to celebrate that don’t include being immoral. This year, to substitute for a school dance, we’re looking at renting a boat and having our kids invite a friend to come along. We don’t mind spending a little money to give our kids a fun time with friends. Why waste a miserable night chaperoning a dance when our kids could have a better, cleaner time doing something fun with friends?

7. Too much freedom. 

It blows me away how many parents don’t know where their kids are these days. First of all, friends are important, but it’s the family that sticks around for the long haul. Parents should not feel embarrassed to require their kids to be home for dinner and to know their whereabouts. And no, I don’t drop my kids off at the mall. What good things happen at the mall anyway? Involve them in church youth groups and volunteer organizations and sports, but be careful how much time they spend wandering aimlessly with friends who might not always be the best influence. Don’t let them back you in a corner. It’s okay to put your foot down and say no on some of their activities. As long as they know you love and respect them, they will eventually understand ( it might be when they’re 30, but they will thank you later).

8. Ignoring the value of hard work. 

Do your kids do regular chores? If not, why not? You are robbing them of valuable opportunities that will raise their self-esteem and help them learn skills they will use all their life. Aside from that, they live in your house, and you are not a maid. Enough said.

9. Not teaching them manners. 

The other day, two teenage boys walked into a door in front of me and let the door swing back in my face. They just kept talking and didn’t even look back. I can hold a door open myself just fine, but I think it’s a good thing to teach teen boys and girls to look out for the person behind them. Teach them to say excuse me when they bump into someone or walk in front of them. Kids today could really use a lesson in manners. You will do the world a lot of good to teach them to respect and honor others like our faith teaches.

10. Money doesn’t grow on trees. 

One day, they will be on their own and will need to know how to pay bills. Teach them at an early age that doing work is how they get money. Have them do jobs to earn their spending money. Teach them to tithe 10% to charity, like the Bible teaches, and show them how to invest. Proverbs has a lot of great verses to show kids the importance of being wise with finances and planning ahead. There is a time to give money to kids, but be careful. Many kids are getting money way too easily, without understanding its value.

There isn’t a blueprint out there for how to raise morally aware kids, in an increasingly immoral world. But there is hope. We have more power than we realize.

Remembering that we have the church to guide us, and Orthodox Christian friends and family who are going through the same thing, helps.

It’s so important that we do the hard things sometimes, and step up to the plate. Our kids need us to be strong and guide them to the right thing.

Science and Religion ( St. Luke the Surgeon )

"When we examine contemporary science as developed by scientists such as Lamark and Darwin, we see the antithesis and I would say the complete disagreement that exists between science and religion, on topics that concern the more basic problems of existence and knowledge. For this, an enlightened mind cannot accept at the same time both one and the other and must choose between religion and science."

A well known German Zoologist, Ernst Haeckel (1834-1919), who was a good follower of Darwin, wrote these words some 65 years ago, in his book, “The Riddle of the Universe” that was very successful and as it seemed, had proved that faith is absurd. So says Haeckel that every enlightened man must choose between science and religion and should follow either one or the other. He considered it necessary that such men should deny religion because a logical man cannot deny science.

Truly, is this necessary? No, not at all, for we know that many and great scientists were at the same time great believers. For example, such was the Polish astronomer Copernicus who laid the foundation of all contemporary astronomy. Copernicus was not only a believer but was also a cleric. Another great scientist, Newton, whenever he mentioned the word God, he removed his hat. He was a great believer. A great bacteriologist of our time and almost a contemporary, Pasteur, who laid the basis of contemporary bacteriology, he would start every scientific work with a prayer to God. Some ten years ago a great scientist passed away, who was our countryman, physiologist Pavlov, who was the creator of the new physiology of the brain. He too was a great believer. Would Haeckel therefore dare say that these men did not have enlightened minds because they believed in God?

So what happens now? Why even today there are some scientists, professors at Universities whom I personally know and are great believers. Why don’t all the scientists deny religion but only those who think the same as Haeckel? Because these people believe only in the material and deny the spiritual world, they do not believe in life after death, they do not accept the immortality of the soul and of course they do not accept the resurrection of the dead. They say that science is capable of everything, that there is no secret in nature that science cannot discover. What can we answer to these?

We shall respond to them this way. You are totally right. We cannot limit the human mind that searches nature. We know that today, science knows only a part of the things we have of nature. We also understand that the possibilities of science are great. In this they are right and we don’t doubt it. What then do we doubt? Why don’t we deny religion like them and consider it contrary to scientific knowledge?

Because we believe wholeheartedly that there is a spiritual world. We are certain that apart from the material world there is an infinite and incomparably superior spiritual world. We believe in the existence of spiritual beings that have higher intellects than us humans. We believe wholeheartedly that above this spiritual and material world there is the Great and Almighty God.

What we doubt is the right of science to research with its methods the spiritual world. Because the spiritual world cannot be researched with the methods used to research the material world. Such methods are totally inappropriate to research the spiritual world.

How do we know that there is a spiritual world? Who told us that it exists? If we are asked by people who do not believe in Divine Revelation, we shall answer them thus: “Our heart tells us." For there are two ways for one to know something, the first being that which is spoken by Haeckel, which is used by science to learn of the material world. There is however another way that is unknown to science, and does not wish to know it. It is the knowledge through the heart. Our heart is not only the central organ of the circulation system, it is an organ with which we know the other world and receive the highest knowledge. It is the organ that gives us the capability to communicate with God and the world above. Only in this we disagree with science.

Praising the great successes and achievements of science, we do not doubt at all its great importance and we do not confine scientific knowledge. We only tell the scientists: “You do not have the capability with your methods to research the spiritual world, we however can with our heart."

There are many unexplainable phenomena which concern the spiritual world that are real (as are some type of material phenomena). There are therefore phenomena that science will never be able to explain because it does not use the appropriate methods.

Let science explain how the prophecies appeared on the coming of the Messiah, which were all fulfilled. Could science tell us how the great prophet Isaiah, some 700 years before the birth of Christ, foretold the most important events in His life and for which he was named the evangelist of the Old Testament? Could it explain the prophetic grace possessed by the saints and tell us with which physical methods the saints inherited this grace and how they could understand the heart and read the thoughts of a person they had just met for the first time? They would see a person for the first time and they will call him by his name. Without waiting for the visitor to ask, they would answer in regards to what troubled him.

If they can, let them explain it to us. Let them explain with what method the saints foretold the great historical events which were accurately fulfilled as they were prophesied. Let them explain the visitation from the other world and the appearance of the dead to the living.

They shall never explain it to us because they are too far from the basis of religion - from faith. If you read the books of the scientists who try to reconstruct religion, you will see how superficially they look at things. They do not understand the essence of religion, yet they criticize it. Their criticism does not touch the essence of faith, since they are unable to understand the types and the expressions of religious feeling. The essence of religion they do not understand. Why not? Because the Lord Jesus Christ says: "No one can come to me unless My Father who sent Me draws him to Me" (John 6:44).

So it is necessary that we be drawn by the Heavenly Father, and it is necessary that the grace of the Holy Spirit enlighten our heart and our mind. To dwell in our heart and mind through this enlightenment, the Holy Spirit and the ones who were found worthy to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, those in whose heart lives Christ and His Father, know the essence of faith. The others, those outside the faith, cannot understand anything.

Let us hear the criticism against Haeckel from a French philosopher Emile Boutroux (1845-1921). So says Boutroux: “The criticisms of Haeckel concern much more the ways, than the essence, which he observes with such a materialistic and narrow view, that they cannot be accepted by religious people. Thus the criticism of religion by Haeckel is not referred to, not even in one of the principles that constitutes religion."

This is therefore our opinion regarding Haeckel’s book “The Riddle of the Universe” which up to day is considered the “Bible” for all those who criticize religion, which they deny and find it contrary to science. Do you see how poor and tasteless arguments they use? Don’t become scandalized when you hear what they say about religion, since they themselves cannot understand its essence. You people, who may not have much of a relationship with science and do not know much about philosophy, remember always the most basic beginning, which was well known by the early Christians. They considered poor the person who knew all the sciences yet he knew not God. On the other hand, they considered blessed the person who knew God, even if he knew absolutely nothing about worldly things.

Guard this truth like the best treasure of the heart, walk straight without looking right or left. Let us not bother with what we hear against religion, losing our bearings. Let us hold on to our faith which is the eternal indisputable truth. Amen.


St. Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of Simferopol (1877-1961)

Saint Luke the Surgeon, Archbishop of the Crimea

In 1932, a tumor appeared and he went to Leningrad to be operated on by an oncologist. Fortunately, it turned out to be benign. In Leningrad, he was called to meet Kirov, a high-ranking member of the Party. The latter offered the bishop the largest surgical research facility in the country, provided he would remove his monastic habit and renounce Christ. He refused and returned to his place of exile. In 1933 his famous book was published: “Essays on the Surgery of Pyogenic Infections”, signed “Bishop Luke”. The book was very well received and ran into a number of editions. Professor Polianov declared that: “Our country does not have any other such book with so much knowledge of surgery and so much love for people”.

He lived in Tashkent from 1933 to 1937. He experienced peaceful family times with his children, something he had missed greatly. He worked mainly on scientific research, which consumed him. He wanted to understand the pus mechanism in the greatest detail, and wrote to his son: “I’m making astounding discoveries. I work all the time. I want to write a lot. I’m afraid I won’t have time. I’m at the height of my powers. I must make time…”.

He was one step away from the discovery of penicillin. But he did not make it…

The 1930s were the era when Stalin was all-powerful. The gulag archipelago was at its height. Millions of people were in the camps and worked at forced labour. More than 300,000 people worked on the White Sea Canal, digging their way thorough granite rock with primitive implements to create a stretch of waterway 280 kilometres long. At least 100,000 died and others had their health ruined. In 1936, the terror reached its peak. In Moscow, the famous trials took place, at which the leading figures from the revolution were eliminated. Arrests of innocent citizens assumed epidemic proportions. And naturally Bishop Luke was under suspicion.

One evening in 1937, commissars entered his house and arrested him. Outside waited the Black Raven which took him to Tashkent Prison. The charges were that as a doctor he had killed people, that he was organizing a counter-revolution and a plot to kill Stalin. Many of his colleagues were also arrested and they gave way under duress and testified against him. They tried to make him sign a confession and subjected him to a chain of terrible, cruel cross-examination. Fixed on a chair under the glare of a powerful lamp, various interrogators cross-examined him ceaselessly, day in, day out, for thirteen days.

They would not let him eat nor sleep. He often passed out and suffered from hallucinations and then they threw buckets of ice-cold water over him to bring him round. Because he refused to sign the charges, he was again subjected to a chain of cross-examinations, for another 13 days and nights. His body was covered in sores from the blows. They kept him in Tashkent Prison for two years, under constant threat and torture.

In 1939 they sentenced him again to exile in Siberia, this time for three years. Another grievous train journey to Krasnoyarsk and then by river boat to the town of Bolshaya Murta. Here he presented himself at the hospital and asked to be allowed to operate. They engaged him, but since there was no other position available they gave him the job of washerwoman for the hospital. They gave him a small room in the hospital building and he lived in great poverty. Here, too, he was very active in the operating theatre, even though working conditions were very bad.

There was no church in the village. Every morning Bishop Luke would go into a nearby forest to pray. He would set up a little icon on a log, kneel in the mud or the snow and pray. But even there the young members of Komsomol would desecrate his prayer. God had been exiled from everywhere.

There are still people living in Murta to this day who remember him with great affection. There still is no church there, but one is being built by the residents and it will be dedicated to Saint Luke. Indeed, on the day that the foundation stone was laid, a sick woman was miraculously healed by the saint. The cross was erected there to commemorate the miraculous intervention of the saint and in front they have set the stone on which the lady had been sitting.

At that time the world scene was dominated by war. The German hordes invaded Russia, causing enormous damage and leaving countless victims. The whole country underwent a dreadful trial.

In Krasnoyarsk, trains would arrive full of wounded soldiers with infected wounds. Many died without care, because there were hardly any doctors. Bishop Luke was moved by this state of affairs and sent a telegram to Kalinin, President of the Supreme Soviet, asking to be allowed to return and operate on the soldiers. The answer came immediately. He was returned to Krasnoyarsk, appointed head physician of Military Hospital 1515 and advisor to all the military hospitals in the region.

Here, too, he was met with mistrust by his colleagues and was constantly under the surveillance of the KGB. His living quarters were a narrow, damp room at the hospital. He was also subjected to the scorn of those in higher positions. They considered him a second-class citizen and forbade him to eat in the canteen at the military hospital. Often he went without food. Some nurses felt sorry for him and would take him a little food on the quiet. He was never heard to complain, and persisted in his great faith in God. In one of his letters to his son, he writes: “I have come to love the trial, which, strangely, purifies the soul”.

Every now and again he would go to the train station to pick out the worst of the wounded in order to operate on them. All of these soldiers loved him greatly, because they felt that he had saved their lives. But the intensive work schedule affected his health. He was overcome with exhaustion. Nevertheless, he continued, as ever, to think of those who were suffering and served them with incredible self-denial.

There was no church anywhere. All of them were closed. But now Stalin needed the Church and in 1943, he gave it a modicum of freedom. He freed many of the imprisoned clergy and allowed some churches to re-open. Bishop Luke was appointed Archbishop of Krasnoyarsk. In the city, permission was given for the opening of a small church, Saint Nicholas’, in a suburb 7 kilometres from the centre. On 28 February, the Archbishop celebrated the first Divine Liturgy. Ecclesiastical life in Siberia began again from this humble church. But to get there, he had to trudge 7 kilometres through mud or snow. Often he was snowbound and unable to go on.

Today in Krasnoyarsk, a church dedicated to Saint Luke is being built in the grounds of the General Hospital. The doctors there now are grateful to him and feel blessed by the tradition he left them. At a central point in the city there is a large statue of the saint and there are always passers-by who will stop, say a few words of prayer or leave a few flowers.

In 1944 he was transferred to Tambov as head physician and Archbishop. Here, too, everything had fallen apart. With great effort, he managed to repair the ruined church of the Holy Protecting Veil and he began to celebrate the Liturgy and to preach with great joy, because, as he said in his first sermon: “for fifteen years, my lips have been sealed”. At the same time he worked at two hospitals in the town, the General and the Military, whilst also giving lessons at the Medical School and speaking at medical conferences.

In the ecclesiastical sphere, he made tremendous efforts to reorganize his province. In churches he preached the word of God. People flocked to hear him and were profoundly influenced.

The authorities were in a cleft stick. They recognized his enormous scientific, social and patriotic contribution, but could not tolerate his sermons and pastoral work. They often invited him to scientific conferences or the university, but asked that he come without his cassock and pectoral icon. He would not give way and indicated that he was not afraid of anything. In two years, the people of Tambov came to love him very much and the traces of his residence here, too, have proved indelible.

Today, the General Hospital in the city bears his name. In the courtyard there is a bust of him and nearby, in the Museum of Medical History, a large section is dedicated to Saint Luke.

Despite his work load, he took part in the synods of the Moscow Patriarchate. In 1946, recognition came at last. Some members of the party slandered Archbishop Luke to Stalin and demanded he be executed. Stalin became furious and cursed them roundly and ended by saying: “We cannot execute those people any more; we have to honour them”. And, indeed, Archbishop Luke would be honoured by the greatest State medal, the 1st Stalin prize among 15 scientists. The ceremony took place in Moscow. Everyone was present. The only one missing was Archbishop Luke, who did not have the money for a train ticket. The prize was accompanied by 200,000 roubles. He sent a telegram to Stalin asking that the money be distributed to war orphans.

In the same year, on Stalin’s orders, a bust was made of him, which is now in the Klenisovsky Museum in Moscow, among the busts of great scientists. Many foreign journalists came to him for interviews and special broadcasts were made. His health worsened, however, and in 1946 he would lose the sight in one eye. The Church transferred him as Archbishop to the see of Simferopol and Crimea.

The Crimea is a beautiful region, with shades of Greece, but has suffered much. The destruction left by the war was very great here, too. The Church had been completely broken up and the Archbishop had to make Herculean efforts in order to restore it. In his efforts, he came up against the resistance of the authorities, who continually opposed him and undermined his work. There were very many poor people, and he organized a soup kitchen at his home. He often went without food himself, so as not to deprive some poor person of it. Here, too, he was invited to conferences or to give lessons at the School of Medicine. Sometimes the authorities would demand that he should not appear in his cassock, but he would not agree and so some conferences were cancelled.

His everyday life was full. He woke early and performed a service for two to three hours, after which he read a portion of the Old and New Testaments. He would then go to his office and deal with the affairs of his see. In the afternoon, he would receive patients, always without a fee.

A variety of people would come to his surgery: atheists, heathens, foreign nationals. He offered his services without discrimination.

In 1956, he lost the sight in his other eye, too. Although he was now blind, he continued to work tirelessly, to preach and to celebrate the Liturgy. In 1957, he celebrated his 80th birthday in Simferopol.

After Stalin died in 1953, Khrushchev attempted to introduce de-Stalinization. Most prisoners were released and the camps were closed. This positive development, however, was overshadowed by renewed attacks on the Church, with Khrushchev re-opening the anti-Church front. Churches were seized, closed and blown up, while priests were persecuted. Archbishop Luke faced a lot of problems and struggled to keep his churches open. In an anxious letter he wrote to his children: “It is increasingly difficult to direct the affairs of the Church. It’s a great trial. I can’t bear this in my eightieth year. Yet, with the Lord’s help, I’m continuing my difficult task”.

The authorities sought to make an example of him, because he resisted the closure of churches, but they did not dare imprison or exile him.

In another letter to his son, he wrote: “I have more worries than you and they’re hastening my end… In general, the situation in the sphere of the Church is becoming unbearable”.

Archbishop Luke’s life on earth was drawing to a close. At Christmas, 1960, he celebrated the liturgy for the last time, and on Cheese-Fare Sunday he gave his last sermon. Thereafter he remained at home. He prepared for the great journey by praying. Just before his repose, he baptized his great-grand-daughter, Tatiana, now a doctor in Odessa.

One day he turned to his niece and said: “Do you suppose they’ll let you sing Holy God for me at my funeral?”. The niece did not understand what he meant at the time, but she did on the day of the funeral.

It was 11 June 1961, the day of All the Saints of Russia. At four minutes to seven in the morning, Archbishop Luke breathed his last and his soul winged its way up to the heavens. He left to be in time to celebrate the liturgy on that great day at the altar in the sky. The sad tidings spread like wildfire. For three days, people came from all over and by any possible means to venerate his body. Before the coffin, they burst into hot tears and cried aloud: “Our father has left us, our saint”, and they recounted to each other his blessings and miracles.

All that crowd of people turned out to make a magnificent funeral and to bear his body through the main street of Simferopol. On the day of the funeral, however, there came an urgent telegram from Moscow, forbidding the cortège from passing along the central streets.

Anyone wanting to take part would be bussed, free, via side-streets as far as the cemetery. There was to be no singing. Everything was to be over in three minutes, with the body in the grave.

The funeral was attended by a large force of police to implement the order. But after the funeral service, the people revolted. There were scuffles and fights with the police. At some point, the road became open and the hearse started to leave. Some women broke through the police cordon and attached themselves to the hearse, while three heroic women threw themselves in font of the wheels of the vehicle and stopped it, shouting: “You’ll go the way you want only over our dead bodies”.

At that moment a large flock of pigeons appeared in the sky, circled, and followed the procession. Finally, the police gave way. The procession passed along the main boulevard which was packed with people and strewn with roses for a distance of some two kilometres. All those people, with one voice, for three and a half hours, sang “Holy God”.

He was buried in the cemetery of All Saints and since then his grave has become another pool of Siloam. His miracles are countless. And so, in 1966, the Russian Church announced his official canonization. In March, 1966, his relics were translated by Archbishop Lazar of the Crimea and his priests. At the time of the lifting of the relics a sweet perfume pervaded the area. Among his relics, his heart, brain, eyes and lungs were found intact.

On 20 March, 1996, his relics were taken to the church of the Holy Trinity in Simferopol in the presence of thousands of people. In 2001, they were placed in a beautiful silver casket, a present from Greece.

In 1997, a statue was unveiled by Archbishop Lazar in front of the Simferopol hospital, while in 2005 a bust was erected at the Medical School, where the church of Saint Luke is being built.

His memory is kept on June 11. Every year, thousands of people come for the feast from all over the Ukraine, Russia and abroad.

On the eve of the feast, the Medical School, headed by the Dean, sing the Salutations to the Saint and lay their doctor’s coats before his casket to be blessed by him.

On the day of the feast itself, there is a festal Divine Liturgy and a procession with the relics.

His miracles are countless, not only in the Crimea but also in Greece, with many appearances and interventions. He has appeared to many people in their sleep, in either his prelate’s vestments or physician’s clothes. He holds surgical implements, gauzes, syringes and so on. After introducing himself to the patients, he says he has come to operate on them. Many of them, when they wake next morning, find they have an incision or blood on their bodies.

In truth, what was it that glorified and endowed Saint Luke with grace? His virtues were many. But I believe that what distinguished him most was love, the crown of the virtues. Love for God and for people. Genuine love, comprising service, sacrifice and self-denial.

In the land of Palestine, there are two rivers and a lake. The first lake, Tiberias (the Sea of Galilee), is small. Despite this, it is alive with fish, and it was there that Christ’s disciples cast their nets. The second lake is to the south, the Dead Sea, and it is four times as large as the former. But it is dead. There is no trace of life. The two lakes are linked by the River Jordan, which starts from Lake Tiberias and ends in the Dead Sea. And here is the strange thing. For centuries now, the small Sea of Galilee has been giving its waters, letting them flow all the time, and it remains alive. It never empties. The Dead Sea can never get enough of gulping in these waters, but never comes to life. It takes the waters and stays dead. This is the nature of love. We do not ask for love or demand it from others. We simply receive it, without conditions, without calculations and it is only then that we are alive. People who have learned from childhood to take all the time, without giving anything back are crippled, dead, unhappy. People who have learned to love, to sacrifice themselves and to offer themselves are alive and happy.

Such was Saint Luke. A man of love, service, sacrifice, self-denial. This is why he was blessed with grace from God and continues to live, to work wonders, to be so close to us and to comfort us.

May we be inspired by his life and have his blessing…

The Reasons for Christ’s Coming ( Saint Seraphim of Sarov )

Christ came because of: 

(1) God's love towards the human race: "For so God loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16); 

(2) the restoration of the image and likeness of God in fallen man; 

(3) the salvation of human souls: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:17).

And so, we, following the goals of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, must lead our lives according to His Godly teaching, in order to save our souls by it.

Saint Seraphim of Sarov

“Christian” interest in UFOs (Fr. Seraphim Rose)

An example of a new phenomenon, which at first sight one doesn’t know what to make of, is the now very common phenomenon of UFOs, flying saucers.

There is a particular Protestant evangelist, the above-mentioned Carl McIntire, who is extremely strict and righteous and very Bible-believing. He has a radio program, the Twentieth-Century Reformation, and a newspaper. He is absolutely upright—you have to separate from all people who are in apostasy—and his ideas are very nice. He’s anti-communist. He calls Billy Graham an apostate, together with everyone who deviates from the strict line of what he thinks is right. From this point of view he’s very strict, and yet you see the strangest things i his philosophy. For example, he’s building himself the Temple of Jerusalem, in Florida. He has a model of the Temple, and he wants to build it so as to make it compete with Disneyworld. People will come and pay to see the great Temple which is soon going to be built for Christ to come to earth. This is supposed to provide a good opportunity to witness Christianity.

He goes in for the flying saucers, also. In every issue of his newspaper there’s a little column called “UFO Column,” and there they talk, to one’s great astonishment, about all the wonderful, positive things which these flying saucers are doing. The give conferences and make movies about them.

Just recently there have been several Protestant books about UFOs, showing quite clearly that they’re demons. The person who writes the column in this newspaper got upset about this, and said that some people say that these beings are demons, but we can prove they aren’t. He says that maybe a couple of them are demons, but most of them aren’t. He cites a recent case in which some family in the Midwest saw a flying saucer. The flying saucer came down, landed, and the family saw inside little men—they’re usually four and half feet tall or so—and they sang “Hallelujah.” They stopped and looked and then they flew away; I guess they didn’t talk to them any more. And that set the family to thinking; they began to think “Hallelujah”; they began to think about Christianity; they looked in their Bibles, and they finally ended up going to a Fundamentalist church and being converted to Christianity. Therefore, he says, these beings must be some kind of people who are helping God’s plan to make the world Christian because they said “Hallelujah.”

Of course, if you read Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov, you will know about all the deceptions which the demons perpetrate: the demons “pray” for you, the demons make miracles, they produce the most wonderful phenomena, they bring people to church, they do anything you want, as long as they keep you in this deception. And when the time comes, they will suddenly pull their tricks on you. So these people, who have been converted to some kind of Christianity by these so-called outer-space beings, are waiting for the next time they will come; and the next time their message may have to do with Christ coming to earth again soon, or something of the sort. It’s obvious that this is all the work of demons. That is, where it’s real. Sometimes it’s just imagination, but when it’s real this kind of thing obviously comes form demons.

This is very elementary. If you read any text of the early Fathers, any of the early Lives of Saints or the Lausiac History, you find many cases where beings suddenly appear. Nowadays they appear in spaceships because that’s how the demons have adapted themselves to the people of the times; but if you understand how spiritual deception works and what kind of wiles the devil has, then you have no problems in understanding what’s going on with these flying saucers. And yet this person who writes the UFO column is an absolutely strict Fundamentalist Christian. He is looking, actually for new revelations to come from beings from outer space.

Fr. Seraphim Rose

He who gives to the poor , loans to God ( St. John Chrysostom )

When a queen enters the royal palace, none of the guards dare stop her. No one examines her. No one questions her, “who are you? Where are you going?” On the contrary, all the members of the royal family welcome her joyfully. 

This is also how almsgiving enters Heaven, where she is received and led before the regal throne of God. God exceedingly loves almsgiving, and this is why she stands right next to Him. This is why the Holy Scriptures state, “The Queen has stood at your right side” (Ps. 44:10). God’s first daughter is almsgiving. 

 

Almsgiving is she who persuaded God to become man, in order to save man. On account of this, no matter what favor she asks of God on behalf of them who give alms, her request is immediately fulfilled. This is how much honor and influence almsgiving has before God. She not only erases the sins of people who give alms but even repels death. How can we be assured that almsgiving can even deliver us from death? You will tell me that people die continuously, and that no one is able to evade death. Do not doubt! Rather, listen and learn how almsgiving possesses the power to overcome even death. 

 

In Joppa, there was a young lady named Tabitha who would give alms to everyone. Her only ceaseless concern was how to take care of the needy. She would clothe and feed widows and orphans, and assist the poor in every possible manner. At some point this young lady became critically ill and passed away. How did all the widows and poor people who had received charity from her react at that time? They did not permit her to be buried, but immediately sent messengers entreating the Apostle Peter to come to Joppa. 

 

As the Apostle neared the home wherein Tabitha lay, all the widows came out to greet him, weeping and displaying the various gifts Tabitha had given to them when she was alive. Some people were holding clothing, others were showing scarves, and others presenting shoes. When the Apostle Peter saw such a plethora of alms, and observed the tears of the poor Christians and orphans, he kneeled and prayed on behalf of the widows and in the end commanded: “Tabitha, arise!” At once, she opened her eyes, and, when she saw the Apostle Peter, she sat up. Peter then proceeded to hold her by the hand and raise her up. In following, he called the widows and everyone present and handed her to them alive (Acts 9:36-43). Do you see how beneficial and powerful almsgiving is?

https://www.stnektariosmonastery.org/en/

The story behind “MY ELDER JOSEPH THE HESYCHAST” - Hieromonk Ephraim, St. Nilus Skete, Alaska

 

Hieromonk Ephraim is a longtime disciple of Elder Ephraim of Arizona who received the elder’s blessing to live and struggle ascetically at St. Nilus Island Skete, near Kodiak, Alaska. Fr. Ephraim as offered us the fruit of his hagiographic labors on the windswept isle for our readers’ edification.

We begin today with Part 1, his introduction.

 

St.Joseph the Hesychast was one of the greatest monks of the Holy Mountain in the 20th century. His life story and teachings have been translated into many languages and touched thousands of people. People have been moved especially by the stories told by his disciple, Elder Ephraim of Arizona, in the book My Elder Joseph the Hesychast. Due to the popularity of this book, I was asked to write this article, explaining the story behind it. In Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4 of this article, I will share some unpublished anecdotes about St. Joseph.

When I was a monk at Philotheou Monastery, I had access to more than 100 private cassette recordings of Elder Ephraim's homilies to us his monks. In them he taught both basic and advanced aspects of the spiritual life, and he illustrated his teachings with examples from lives of the saints and especially from the life of his holy elder, St. Joseph. I found the stories about St. Joseph to be so inspiring that I wanted to share this treasure with other people. So in the year 2000, I asked Elder Ephraim if I could type up all the stories about St. Joseph from his homilies and organize them into a biography, and he gladly gave me his blessing. I then spent an entire year listening to all his homilies and typing word for word what he had said about his elder, St. Joseph. During that year, I also typed up verbatim numerous accounts of other people who had lived with St. Joseph—primarily St. Ephraim of Katounakia and Elder Haralambos of Dionysiou. But since most of the stories I had gathered were from Elder Ephraim of Arizona, I put him as the author of this composite book.

The result of all this work was a 700-page biography of St. Joseph in Greek. I shared this with our abbot at St. Anthony’s Monastery, Archimandrite Paisios, and based on the research he had done, he improved the text by clarifying and correcting some aspects of St. Joseph’s life as a layman. I also shared this rough draft with our other monasteries established by Elder Ephraim. Fr. Anthony (a hieromonk of St. Anthony's Monastery) also saw my rough draft and received the blessing of Elder Ephraim to expand it. He added many valuable historical details to give the reader a better understanding of the world that St. Joseph lived in. He also elaborated on my rough draft by adding several pertinent quotes from the holy Fathers. Furthermore, he found dozens of photographs and inserted them throughout the text.

At this point, the book was basically ready for publication. But since an important book like this needs to be polished as much as possible before being published, I wanted to find a native speaker of Greek who could go through the entire book and elevate the linguistic style wherever needed, and also improve any abrupt transitions between paragraphs, etc. So I sent this rough draft to two of our monasteries in Greece, but neither of them could find the time to edit and publish it. Finally, after the book remained in limbo for several years, Fr. Stephanos Anagnostopoulos of Piraeus decided to tackle this enormous task of proofreading, polishing, and publishing. He carefully went through the version of my draft that was expanded by Fr. Anthony, and he improved the overall flow and feel of the text. He also added more information about the nuns of St. Joseph. Thus, in 2007 he completed the work and published it in Greek. After he published it, St. Joseph appeared to him in a dream and embraced him, clearly showing how pleased St. Joseph was with his labors.

Once the Greek version of the book was published, I was asked to translate it into English. But as I began translating the book, I started to notice some problems with it. Not only were there many stories missing from my original rough draft, but there were even some additions that were clearly added just to spice up the original story. For example, in the incident where St. Joseph as a child obediently approached his father when he said that he would spank him, the published Greek text adds that his father was so moved by his son’s obedience that he had tears in his eyes. This detail did not exist in the original source but was added by the editors.

Another such addition made was to the following vision of St. Joseph (which was not included in the English edition of his biography) as narrated by St. Ephraim of Katounakia: “After a long fast, St. Joseph had a vision in which he saw the Holy Mountain as if it were a table supported by three legs. One of the legs had completely collapsed, and another was also ready to fall. The third was still standing, and the entire table was supported by it alone. The angel who was showing this table to him said to him: ‘This is the Holy Mountain.’ He saw this vision around 1930. Many years have passed since then. As for how the Holy Mountain is now, only God knows.” This is how St. Ephraim of Katounakia told this story. But the editors of the Greek edition of St. Joseph’s biography added to the angel’s words the following sentence: “This is what is supporting Orthodoxy.”

As for the stories that were missing from my original rough draft, it appears that the editors of the published book in Greek were concerned that revealing the human side of St. Joseph (such as his struggle to overcome anger) would detract from his holy reputation. Therefore, they chose to omit such stories. They also omitted how Elder Ephraim fought against carnal thoughts. But I, on the contrary, believe that it is precisely these struggles that we struggling Christians need to see. By seeing how they fought temptations, we can learn from their example. Besides, when a biographer presents a saint as being someone who was always perfect, not only do we lose the ability to relate with him, but even more dangerously we can fall into the error of believing that spiritual progress is out of our reach. For if the saints were always perfect, then we who are very imperfect have no hope of becoming even somewhat like them. Therefore, because of all this, and because I believe that people benefit from the truth, I decided to include all those omitted stories when translating this book into English.

I also noticed that a few human errors had slipped into the final published Greek edition. For example, in the incident of Fr. Athanasios pondering whether or not St. Joseph had made a mistake in his decision to side with the monasteries on the calendar issue, the original text in my rough draft (taken verbatim from Elder Ephraim) had Fr. Athanasios saying to himself: “Ἄραγε, λέει καλὰ ὁ Γέροντας; Δὲν λέει καλὰ ὁ Γέροντας;” (“I wonder, is Geronda right? Is Geronda wrong?”) But in the subsequent draft of the Greek edition, the second question mark in this phrase was accidentally replaced with a period, which changes the meaning to: “I wonder, is Geronda right? Geronda is wrong.” And then in the printed Greek edition, the final period in this quote was replaced with three exclamation points: “Geronda is wrong!!!”

Before I finished translating the book into English, Abbot Symeon Gagatyk from Ukraine came to Arizona in 2010 to find out more about St. Joseph and to translate his published biography from Greek into Russian. I explained to him the above history of this book, and I gave him both my original rough draft and Fr. Anthony's expanded version as well as the published Greek edition, so that he could see for himself how the text evolved and so that he could choose the best parts of each of the three versions to translate into his Russian edition. After comparing those two drafts with the published Greek edition, he concluded that my original rough draft was the most accurate version, and he proceeded to translate it into Russian. One significant change he made in his Russian edition was to separate the book into two parts instead of keeping the events in chronological order. He also decided to change the title of the book in Russian from "My Elder Joseph the Hesychast" to "My Life with Elder Joseph."

As for the publication of this book in other languages (Romanian, Georgian, Arabic, etc.) I did not have the opportunity to communicate with their translators and to share my rough draft with them, and so the version they all used for translating must have been the published Greek version.

After the Russian edition was published, but before I had finished my English translation, Fr. Nectarios from Vigla on the Holy Mountain came to our monastery in Arizona for two weeks in 2011. He had been a close disciple of St. Ephraim of Katounakia, and he has the gift of being able to remember in great detail the many stories his elder had told him. So he told us many stories about St. Joseph that we had never heard before from our Elder Ephraim. This was to be expected, considering that St. Ephraim of Katounakia was with St. Joseph for a decade before Elder Ephraim of Arizona came.

I was able to include in the English edition of this book several of the stories I heard from Fr. Nectarios. But there were a few others that I unfortunately didn't add. I translated a few of them now, and they may be read in Part 2 of this article. And for the benefit of all who have not read the English edition of the life of St. Joseph, I have written Part 3 of this article which contains Fr. Nectarios’s stories about St. Joseph, which were not in the printed Russian edition, nor in the Greek, Romanian, and Arabic editions. And for the benefit of all the people who have read only the printed edition of this book in Greek, Romanian, Arabic, etc., I have also put together Part 4 of this article, which contains the stories about St. Joseph that were omitted from those printed editions (but were included in the English and Russian printed editions).

May the holy prayers of St. Joseph strengthen us in our spiritual struggle, and may his luminous example inspire us to fight the good fight for the glory of Christ our God.

Hieromonk Ephraim, St. Nilus Skete, Alaska

11/11/2019

 

https://orthochristian.com/125342.html

A paralyzed boy healed by St. John the Russian

St. John the Russian, depicted with St. Seraphim of Sarov and St. John of Kronstadt

In one of the two children's hospitals of Athens, a mother lay at the head of her child day and night. She brought the child from Patras, because the child's chronic affliction, paralysis of the lower extremities, had worsened in the last few days...

One evening, while the sun was setting, and the last few sunbeams lit up the hospital room, the mother remembered how she would go to a chapel of the Panagia high above Patras, and prayed, lighting the vigil lamps, sometimes with her husband, other times with her children. Her nous was fixed on that chapel. She prayed noetically: “My Panagia, my sweetest Mother who feels our pain, help my child. My Panagia, send me a Saint, look at my poor child, how in his life, he is struggling to stand on his feet. Help, my poor little boy.”

“Mother,” the child said, “who are you talking to?”

“My Georgie, remember when you read in your church book how our Lord lived in Palestine, and healed demoniacs, opened the eyes of the blind, lifted up Paralytics and made them walk, and raised the dead? Tell him, my Georgie, and He will hear you, my good boy, tell Christouli to make you well.”

The helpless child, with his innocent gaze, looked at his mother, and at the sun which was setting. He looked high towards the heavens.

That midnight, George saw a dream of a beautiful horseman, on a glorious horse. He stopped before him and said:

“Get up, Georgie, jump up on my horse!”

“But I am a paralytic, my feet don't move and hold me up.” he replied.

“Give me your hand, Georgie, get up on my horse. I am St. John from Russia, and our Lord sent me to bring you His grace and His healing power!"

The child, half awake, then awoke his mother, who picked him up so that he wouldn't fall out of bed.

“Mother, hold me, St. John from Russia told me to get up.”

In the morning when the night resident told the professor that the paralyzed child from Patras began walking that night, went with a hammer in hand, checked the child's reflexes, and plucked his feet with a sharp instrument, and he saw that his body was functioning normally.

“Go,” said the professor, “God had something to do with you."

Now I’m totally fine. I have no pain anymore ( Father Stefanos Anagnostopoulos )

Gregory Moisejevic Kalimanovic, a Jew and a barber in the profession, suffered many years of cancer in the esophagus. He had tried many different treatments, but nothing has worked. The cancer was growing and his health was deteriorating. In 1927 he went with his wife to Moscow to see a renowned professor. He carefully examined him and then told his wife:

– At most your husband will live for two weeks. There are no benefits from drugs at this point. Go home and submit to your fate.

They left the clinic and walked to the station of Yaroslavl to take a train to Vladimir. On Nicholas Street (Nikolski Prospekt) the sick man saw the chapel of St. Panteleimon and he started yelling:

– I want to go there!

His wife said to him:

– This is a Christian church; it is not of our religion. Let’s go!

However, the sick man insisted:

– You go! I’ll go there!

He entered the chapel and stood before the icon of the saint. He fell on his knees and began to pray with tears in his eyes asking the Saint for healing. Then he stood up, kissed the icon of the Saint faithfully and seeing his wife beside him, he said:

– You know something; now I’m totally fine. I have no pain anymore. Let’s go back to the clinic so they can re-examine me.

His wife followed him with much hesitation. The professor, however, when told that Kalimanovic came back and asked for a re-examination, was very angry.

– Leave me alone! Are we going to play games now?

The sick man then asked a professor’s assistant to examine him. The assistant accepted to do so out of politeness and finally examined him. The assistant found him totally healthy and of course he told the professor.

– Either the sick man is crazy or you! Or maybe both of you! The professor said sarcastically.

The assistant insisted. So the professor, obviously annoyed, decided to examine him again. After the examination, the professor full of surprise declared:

– Yes indeed! The sick man suddenly became well. Now he is totally fine! …

How and why Gregory Moisejevic was healed is something only he knew. He also knew very well that his healing was due exclusively to the Holy Martyr Panteleimon.

For this reason, as soon as he reached his village, he immediately went to Father Peter and asked him to be baptized Orthodox Christian. The baptism occurred without any delay. It was the year 1927. After his baptism, Gregory was full of joy and openly proclaimed that he was even willing to give his life for Christ!

From the book “Eyo Fteo… Esi” of Father Stefanos Anagnostopoulos

Kathisma from the Matins of Holy Monday

Kathisma from the Matins of Holy Monday
Tone 8. The Wisdom and Word.

The present day is resplendent with the first fruits of the Lord’s sufferings. Come then, lovers of feasts, let us meet it with songs; for the Creator is coming to accept Cross, afflictions and scourges, as he is judged by Pilate; therefore too, struck on the face by a slave, he endures all that he may save humankind. And so let us cry aloud to him: Lover of humankind, Christ our God, grant forgiveness of offenses to those who with faith worship your most pure sufferings.

Holy Week: An Explanation

Holy Week: An Explanation

Great Lent and Holy Week are two separate fasts, and two separate celebrations. Great Lent ends on Friday of the fifth week (the day before Lazarus Saturday). Holy Week begins immediately thereafter. Let's explore the meaning of each of the solemn days of Passion Week.

Lazarus Saturday: Lazarus Saturday is the day which begins Holy Week. It commemorates the raising of our Lord's friend Lazarus, who had been in the tomb four days. This act confirmed the universal resurrection from the dead that all of us will experience at our Lord's Second Coming. This miracle led many to faith, but it also led to the chief priest's and Pharisees' decision to kill Jesus (John 11:47-57).

Palm Sunday (The Entrance of our Lord into Jerusalem): Our Lord enters Jerusalem and is proclaimed king - but in an earthly sense, as many people of His time were seeking a political Messiah. Our Lord is King, of course, but of a different type - the eternal King prophesied by Zechariah the Prophet. We use palms on this day to show that we too accept Jesus as the true King and Messiah of the Jews, Who we are willing to follow - even to the cross.

Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday: The first thing that must be said about these services, and most of the other services of Holy Week, is that they are "sung" in anticipation. Each service is rotated ahead twelve hours. The evening service, therefore, is actually the service of the next morning, while the morning services of Holy Thursday and Holy Saturday are actually the services of the coming evening.

Understanding that, let's turn to the Services of Holy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday (celebrated Palm Sunday , Monday and Tuesday evening). The services of these days are known as the Bridegroom or Nymphios Orthros Services. At the first service of Palm Sunday evening, the priest carries the icon of Christ the Bridegroom in procession, and we sing the "Hymn of the Bridegroom." We behold Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church, bearing the marks of His suffering, yet preparing a marriage Feast for us in God's Kingdom.

Each of these Bridegroom Orthros services has a particular theme. On Holy Monday, the Blessed Joseph, the son of Jacob the Patriarch, is commemorated. Joseph is often seen as a Type of Christ. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, thrown into a pit, and sold into slavery by them. In the same way, our Lord was rejected, betrayed by His own, and sold into the slavery of death. The Gospel reading for the day is about the barren fig tree, which Christ cursed and withered because it bore no fruit. The fig tree is a parable of those who have heard God's word, but who fail to bear the fruit of obedience. Originally the withering of the fig tree was a testimony against those Jews who rejected God's word and His Messiah. However, it is also a warning to all people, in all times, of the importance of not only hearing the God's word, but putting it into action.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins is read on Holy Tuesday. It tells the story of the five virgins who filled their lamps in preparation for receiving the bridegroom while the other five allowed their lamps to go out, and hence were shut out of the marriage feast. This parable is a warning that we must always be prepared to receive our Lord when He comes again. The theme of the day is reinforced by the expostelarion hymn we sing: "I see Thy Bridal Chamber adorned, O my Savior, but have no wedding garment that I may enter. O Giver of Light, enlighten the vesture of my soul, and save me." The theme of Holy Wednesday is repentance and forgiveness. We remember the sinful woman who anointed our Lord in anticipation of His death. Her repentance and love of Christ is the theme of the wonderful "Hymn of Kassiane" which is chanted on this night, reminding us one more time, before "it is too late," that we too may be forgiven if we repent.

Holy Unction: The Mystery or Sacrament of Holy Unction is celebrated on Holy Wednesday evening. Actually this service can be celebrated any time during the year, especially when one is ill. However, because of our need for forgiveness and spiritual healing, we offer this service during Holy Week for the remission of our sins. We should prepare for this service in a prayerful way, as we do for Holy Communion.

Great and Holy Thursday: On Holy Thursday we turn to the last events of our Lord and His Passion. Thursday morning begins with a Vesperal Divine Liturgy commemorating the Mystical Supper. As previously mentioned, this is actually Holy Thursday evening's service celebrated in the morning in anticipation. Everyone who is able should make an effort to receive Holy Communion at this service as it was at the Mystical Supper that our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist. At this Liturgy a second Host is consecrated and kept in the Tabernacle. It is from this Host that Holy Communion is distributed to the shut-ins and the sick throughout the coming year.

Thursday evening actually begins the services of Great and Holy Friday. The service of the Twelve Passion Gospels commemorates the solemn time of our Lord's Crucifixion. After the reading of the fifth Gospel, the holy cross is carried around the church in procession, and Christ's body is nailed to the cross in the center of the church.

Great and Holy Friday: This is a day of strict fast. As little as possible should be eaten on this day. It is the only day in the entire year that no Divine Liturgy of any kind can be celebrated. In the morning we celebrate the Royal Hours. These solemn hours are observed as we read the various accounts and hymns concerning the crucifixion. In the afternoon we celebrate the Vesper service of the taking down of Christ's body from the cross. During the Gospel reading, our Lord's body is taken off the cross and wrapped in a new, white linen sheet. This act commemorates the removal of Christ's body from the cross by Joseph of Arimathea (John 19:38-42). Later in the service, the Epitaphios, or winding-sheet, with Christ's body on it is carried in procession and placed in the recently decorated tomb. In the evening the Lamentations Orthros service is sung. This service begins in a solemn manner, but by the end of the service we are already anticipating the Resurrection of our Lord. Remember again, that the Holy Friday evening Orthros is actually the first service of Holy Saturday, the day in which we commemorate our Lord's body resting in the tomb while His all-pure soul descends into Hades to free the faithful of the Old Covenant.

Great and Holy Saturday: This day is a day of hope and waiting. In the morning we celebrate a Vesperal Divine Liturgy which commemorates Christ's victory over death. Bright vestments are worn as we anticipate Christ's Resurrection. Laurel leaves are strewn throughout the church during the service, because in the ancient world laurel leaves were a sign of victory. As the leaves are strewn, the choir chants "Arise O God and Judge the earth, for to Thee belong all the nations." The Old Testament story of Jonah in the belly of the whale is read at this service because Jonah is seen in the Church as a Type of Christ. As Jonah was three days in the belly of the great fish, and was then safely deposited back onto land, so our Lord was three days in the tomb before His glorious Resurrection. The Vesperal Divine Liturgy of Holy Saturday concludes the services of Holy Week, and brings us to the eve of Great and Holy Pascha.

We must guard ourselves from small sins so we do not fall into big sins ( The Salvation of Sinners )

We should always remember that indifference for small sins can lead us to great danger.

 

We must diligently and tirelessly sever various evils as soon they appear, because there is impending doom looming when someone starts growing accustomed to any sin.

 

On account of a small nail that was overlooked, a horseshoe comes loose; and on account of this small piece of metal, an entire horse falls and becomes injured. And in turn, the person riding the horse is fatally wounded. If a person had attended to the small defect when it first appeared, he would not have ended up being killed untimely on account of his negligence. 

 

Large buildings and homes do not collapse all of a sudden. First, a small opening appears in the roof or one of the walls. Subsequently, if the damage is not repaired, over time it progressively becomes larger, the structure becomes compromised, it starts to cave in, and it ultimately collapses. 

 

What is a small spark? Nothing. You can put it out using your bare finger. However, if left unchecked, it can spread and become a raging fire that consumes an entire forest and all the natural wildlife it engulfs.

 

One small insect alone, such as a bee or a wasp, is harmless; however, when they swarm together in large numbers, with their sting they are capable of killing a bear, a lion, or a human being.

 

What is a single grain of sand? Isn’t it almost weightless and invisible? However, if an entire boat is loaded with sand, the excessive weight will cause it to sink.

 

What are a few drops of rain? Are they not very tiny? However, when an infinite number of them come together, they form a raging river that uproots everything in its path (even gigantic trees and houses), it erodes the earth itself, and causes flooding to an entire city.

 

What is a single bacteria or virus? Nothing! It is barely visible under a microscope. However, when bacteria and viruses remain unchecked and are permitted to multiply and grow, they produce infection, which oftentimes spreads and leads to death.

Let us struggle a little, my brothers, to avoid and eradicate small sins as soon as we detect them, and we will find a great deal of rest and freedom, with the help of our God.

The Salvation of Sinners

https://www.stnektariosmonastery.org 

Love for Christ knows no bounds, neither does love for your neighbour.

Love for Christ knows no bounds, neither does love for your neighbour. It should extend everywhere, to the ends of the earth. Everywhere, to everyone.

Let me give you an example. 

There was a monk who had two disciples. He tried very hard to bring them up to scratch and make them better. But he was worried about whether they were really making any progress in the spiritual life, if they were making headway, and if they were ready for the kingdom of God. He waited for a sign from God about this, but didn’t get an answer. One day, there was going to be a vigil in another skete that was a good few hours away from theirs. They’d have to make their way through the desert. He sent his disciples off early, so that they’d get there early and get the church ready, while the Elder himself was to leave later in the afternoon. The disciples were well on their way when suddenly they heard groaning. There was a man there, badly hurt and asking for help;
– Take me with you, please. Ι’m stuck out here in the desert. Nobody ever comes by. I’ll never get any help. There’s two of you. Pick me up and carry me to the nearest village.

– We can’t. We’re in a hurry to get to the vigil. We’ve been told to get it ready.
– Please! Take me with you. If you don’t, I’ll die and get eaten by wild animals.
– We can’t. Sorry, but we have to do what we’ve been told.
And they left. In the afternoon, the Elder left for the vigil. He went along the same path. He got to the place where the injured man was lying. He saw him, went up to him and said:
– What’s the matter, man of God? What is it? How long have you been here? Didn’t anybody see you?
– This morning a couple of monks came by and I asked them to help me, but they were in a hurry to get to a vigil.
– I’ll take you. Don’t worry.
– You can’t. You’re an old man. You can’t lift me. No way!
– No, I’ll take you. I can’t leave you.
– But you can’t lift me’
– I’ll bend over and lift you on top of me. It’ll take time, but I’ll get to the nearest village. A little bit today, a little bit tomorrow, but I’ll get you there.
So he lifted him, difficult though it was, and started to trudge through the sand. He was sweating freely and thought: ‘Even if it takes three days, I’ll get there’. As he was tramping along, he began to feel that the burden was becoming lighter, and then, at one point, he seemed not to be carrying anything at all. He turned his head to see what was going on and, to his amazement, saw he was carrying an angel. The angel said to him: 

– God sent me to tell you that your two disciples don’t deserve to enter the kingdom of God, because they don’t have any love.

Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down

Why is it we spend so much time thinking about what has already happened or about what may possibly happen sometime in the future? Are these thoughts nothing but our own created world? Don't they frequently lead us to worries and anxiety? When we are absorbed in these thoughts where is God?

Especially in this difficult economic climate we find ourselves worrying about many things. As one of many possible recent examples, I have had several people approach me seeking advice about how to deal with the possibility of foreclosure on their house. They were extremely frightened. One was frightened about his inability to support his family and possibly losing his marriage. Another was a builder fretting about losing his equity and his reputation necessary for access to loans in the future to continue his business. Both built dreadful scenarios in their heads about possible consequences that might befall them in the future. Their anxiety was so great that they could not think clearly about what they needed to do today: i.e. talk to bank about alternatives, talk to parents about assistance, and for the builder, become creative in deal making. They were so stressed that even feared sharing their problem with their spouses. As recorded in Proverbs (12:25) “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down …” Where was God?

How did Jesus instruct us? He says,
“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?"(Lk 12:22-25)
Here He is pointing out that our worries add next to nothing to our life, only "one cubit," the smallest of measure. He also points out that even the ravens or crows, considered to be unclean birds in his time and not fit for eating, are provided for by God. So why should we worry about our life?

He continues,
"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?" (Lk 12:27-28)
Here He equates our worries to not having sufficient faith. But the reality is, just as He provides for the lillies and the ravens, He surely will provide for us. But what are we to do when we are in difficulty and can't make our house payments or provide decent food for our family?

Jesus says,

"For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you" (Lk 12:30-31).
Jesus tells us not to rely on our thoughts but instead to concentrate on Him and His kingdom, "to seek the kingdom of God." It is in this way that we will be informed about how to care for ourselves without anxiety or fear. There is no need for worry when we have faith and God to guide us. As we lift our thoughts to Him, they are clarified, our needs minimized, and we area able to face the worst of situations without fear.

All our thoughts do for us,when they lead us to worry, is to separate us from God. They make us self-centered and reinforce the belief that we are self-reliant beings. Our reasoning become clouded making it more difficult to know what our needs really are and how to provide for them. We exclude God's help.

Our thoughts are dangerous. They can create a false world in our mind. We need to develop the capacity to lift ourselves into the spirit that resides within us, focusing on God, setting our thoughts aside so we can open our hearts to God. He will show us the way, not for aggrandizement in this world, but how to live a way that gains us eternal life in His kingdom. Like the birds and the flowers, He provides for His creation and He will provide for us. But we must overcome the entangling web of our own thoughts, the fantasy world we create in our own minds, if we are gong to hear what he intends for us.

In Matthew's version Jesus says,
“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" (Matt 6:31-34).

Lesson: We must live in the present with our attention directed towards God, lifting our thoughts to a higher source. This is what the Orthodox Way of Life helps us do. Pray, worship and participate in the sacraments, and be watchful.

In danger from the invisible enemies of salvation ( St. Justin Popovitch )

“If you are suffering for your faith in Christ, the Lives of the Saints will console you and encourage you and make you bold and give you wings, and your torments will be changed into joy.

If you are in any sort of temptation, the Lives of the Saints will help you overcome it both now and forever. If you are in danger from the invisible enemies of salvation, the Lives of the Saints will arm you with the ‘whole armor of God,’ and you will crush them all now and forever and throughout your whole life.

If you are in the midst of visible enemies and persecutors of the Church of Christ, the Lives of the Saints will give you the courage and strength of a confessor, and you will fearlessly confess the one true God and Lord in all world─Jesus Christ─and you will boldly stand up for the holy truth of His Gospel unto Death, unto every death, and you will feel stronger than all deaths, and much more so than all visible enemies of Christ; and being tortured for Christ you will shout for joy, feeling with all your being that your life is in heaven, hidden with Christ in God, wholly above all deaths.”

St. Justin Popovitch

Eastern Religions ( Elder Sophrony )

                  

- For a Muslim to become a Christian, he must wait until he receives great Grace, so that he is prepared to be martyred for Christ. If he does not receive this Grace, let him wait.

- Someone passed sequentially through Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and black magic. In all these religions at the same time he did magic. As soon as he became Orthodox, he wanted to practice along with this magic, but he was unable to do it. From this he realized that magic is the foundation of all religions and that religions are dead, their leaders are dead, but Christ is the living God.

- For many years exorcisms must be read for those who came from doing magic. This is what the early Church did.

- Buddhism has some truths, but it has one human truth, which reaches to "zero", that is, with concentration-meditation man reaches the non-being from which we came from. It is an existential suicide. Christ leads us to theosis, to communion with the Triune God.

- Some say that Buddhism has nothing to do with demonism. However, those who speak thus know Buddhism only from books and speak theoretically. Action is different.

- Some say that meditation brings them a certain peace. Externally this appears good, but these people are possessed by conceit and this results in carnal warfare. Even if they leave Buddhism, they again have carnal warfare. This shows the satanism of this method.

- There is a difference between Buddhist and Orthodox asceticism. In Buddhism they try to make a disclaimer and they reach nirvana. They confuse a reflection with mystical vision. They see created light with their mind. This was best done with Plotinus, in Neo-Platonism. The Fathers know this, and we can call it the "cloud of unknowing", but they went beyond this and reached the vision of the uncreated Light. Then they experience that the Light comes from a Person and not from an idea, and they feel a personal relationship with God and, at the same time, there develops a great love for God and the whole world until martyrdom and "self-hatred".

Elder Sophrony

From I Knew A Man In Christ: The Life and Times of Elder Sophrony, the Hesychast and Theologian

"Evolution is a theory; Jesus Christ is God": A Vision of St. Paisios

From the age of eleven [says Elder Paisios], I would read the lives of the Saints, I would fast and keep vigil. My older brother would take the books and hide them, but that didn’t stop me. I would just go into the forest and keep reading there.

Later, when I was fifteen, a friend of my brother named Kostas told my brother, “I’ll make him willingly give up all this nonsense.” He came and explained to me Darwin’s theory of evolution. I was shaken by this, and I said, “I’ll go and pray, and, if Christ is God, He’ll appear to me so that I’ll believe. I’ll see a shadow, hear a voice—He will show me a sign.” That’s all I could come up with at the time.

So, I went and began to pray and make prostrations for hours; but nothing happened. Eventually I stopped in a state of exhaustion. Then something Kostas had said came to mind: “I accept that Christ is an important man,” he had told me, “righteous and virtuous, Who was hated out of envy for His virtue and condemned by His countrymen.” I thought to myself, “since that’s how Christ was, even if He was only a man, He deserves my love, obedience, and self-sacrifice. I don’t want paradise; I don’t want anything. It is worth making every sacrifice for the sake of His holiness and kindness.”

God was waiting to see how I would deal with this temptation. After this, Christ Himself appeared to me in a great light. He was visible from the waist up. He looked at me with tremendous love and said, “I am the resurrection, and the life; he that believeth in Me, even if he dies, he shall live” (Jn. 11:25). He was holding the Gospel in His left hand, open to the page where the same words were written.

With this event, the uncertainties that had troubled my soul were overcome, and in divine grace I came to know Christ as true God and Savior of the world. I was convinced of the truth of the God-man, not by men or books, but by the very Lord Himself, who revealed Himself to me even at this young age. Firmly established in faith, I thought to myself, “Come back now, Kostas, if you want, and we’ll have a talk.”


EVOLUTION IS A THEORY; JESUS CHRIST IS GOD
from the book Elder Paisios of Mount Athos

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Teaching the Jesus Prayer ( St. Porphyrios )

This is a story of one of the spiritual children of Elder Porphyrios told about how he taught them to pray.

He placed us towards the east, two of us to his left and two to the right, with him in the middle. 

“Now we’ll pray noetically. 

First, I will say the words, and you will repeat them. But be careful, without anxiety or force, you’ll say the words calmly, humbly, with love and sweetness.” The Elder started off with his fine, delicate and eloquent voice, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” He said it very slowly, word by word, without forcing it at all. It was as though he had Christ before him and he was begging him, with a log pause after the word “Christ”, Coloring his words “have mercy on me” with an entreating tone. And we repeated it each time, trying to imitate his stance, the color of his voice and if it at all possible his spiritual disposition. 

 

At some point, the Elder stopped saying the prayer out loud and just continued whispering it on his lips. We did the same thing. How long did our night-time prayer take? I don’t remember. All I remember was that the Elder imparted an emotion to us that I cannot express with human words. 

 

St. Porphyrios