MYSTAGOGY: February 2010

Monday, March 1, 2010

Christianity Not A Religion, But A Revelation

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

If someone loses his faith in God, he is recompensed with stupidity. Of all stupidities, it is difficult to say whether there is a greater one than this: that someone who calls himself a Christian and then proceeds to gather pathetic proofs for God and eternal life from other beliefs and philosophies. He who does not find gold among the wealthy; how will he find it among the poor? The revelation of eternal life, of facts, of proofs, of signs, and of actual visions of the spiritual world - all of these not only constitute the foundation of the Christian Faith, but constitute its walls, floors, ornaments, all the furnishings, the roof and the domes of the majestic building of the Christian Faith. A single ray from the spiritual world glistens through every word of the Gospels, not to mention the miraculous events, both in Evangelical and Post-Evangelical times as well as throughout the entire history of the Church for two-thousand years. Christianity has thrown open wide the gates of that world in so great a measure, that it should not be necessary to call it a religion, in order not to confuse it with other faiths and religions. It is a revelation! God's revelation!

A Muslim Preacher Converts to Orthodoxy

The interview was presumably conducted in English, posted in Russian here, translated to French here by Claude Lopez-Ginisty, whence the present translation here.

We’re speaking in London with a new Orthodox Christian who was baptized today with the name Daniel. Daniel is not a Muslim name, far from it [actually, it does exist as a Muslim name, but it’s quite rare]. Although information about his conversion will inevitably circulate among the Muslims of London, for reasons of security we will not deliberately give details about this subject because there are very often cases of threats and violence and sometimes even murders perpetrated by fanatics. That said, Daniel’s experience is very precious for the Orthodox. Fr. Nicholas Savtchenko, interim rector of the Church of the Dormition (ROCOR) in London speaks with him.

Daniel, please tell us about yourself.

For many years I was a zealous Muslim, as were my wife and children. I was born in the UK, but during my life I have travelled a lot in Muslim countries. I knew both British and Muslim culture. I lived in Saudi Arabia, where I studied theology and contributed to the Muslim mission among foreign laborers. I also spent time in Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban, in Pakistan, and in the Pakistani part of Kashmir. I also spent time in Bosnia. In recent years, I’ve been living with my family in London, where, some time ago, I became the Muslim representative in a well-known inter-religious organization dedicated to peace. For the past two years, I was an advisor on Islam to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Two days ago, I called him to tell him I was entering Orthodoxy in the Russian Church.

What was his attitude?

Oh… The Archbishop of Canterbury was very happy. Once, he told me that recently two of his employees in the personnel department of the Anglican Church had been received into Orthodox churches: he respects their choice and they will continue their work in the administration of the Anglican Church.

What led you to Christ?

The first time that I had the desire to study the New Testament in detail was when I was in front of the Kaaba in Mecca—I lived for a time in Mecca. Christian literature is strictly prohibited in Saudi Arabia and many websites are even blocked, but with the development of modern communications, it is not difficult for those who are looking to find the Word of God. After a time, I tried to convince and American who was working in the Saudi capital to convert to Islam. When I spoke to him, he responded with much courage and conviction. I was surprised by his courage, because in Saudi Arabia a man who preaches Christianity can easily be killed. Conversations with Christians in Saudi Arabia were very important for me. As someone associated with the Islamic mission in Arabia, I encountered many foreigners. I always remarked that in most cases, people converted to Islam, not because it was their free choice, but in order to keep working in Saudi Arabia and to obtain a release from the taxes imposed on non-Muslims. The fact is that the salaries of non-Muslims are lower than those of Muslims because of the need to pay a special tax, set by Muhammad. Salaries for Christians in Saudi Arabia are rather low, and some convert to Islam in order to earn more money. The majority of Filipinos who return home immediately renounce Islam. I began to explore Christianity even more and, little by little, I sensed its superiority over Islam. I first consciously encountered Orthodoxy in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. Unfortunately, the priests in Sarajevo did not speak English and I could not really express what I wanted. After waiting for a group of Imams to pass by, I went into the Serbian church and I felt the astonished look of the Serbian priest when I made the sign of the cross in the Orthodox way and I made a prostration onto the ground. Then I knew that Orthodoxy was, of all the Christian confessions, the closest to me. I studied Christianity and Orthodoxy even more, reading books and watching films. I also liked the movie Ostrov (the Island). Slowly, I decided to ask for baptism in the Russian Orthodox Church.

Finally, we hear growing reports of the propagation of Christian missions in Muslim countries. Is it considerable in these countries?

I agree that there are many secret Christians in Saudi Arabia. Several times I myself have encountered people who were probably secret Christians. We need to understand that in Saudi Arabia and other countries, maybe the majority of Muslims go to the mosque not because their faith encourages them to, but because they are obliged to do so under the pressure of laws and customs. Visiting the mosque becomes a burden. Muslims of today are rather less religious than people in the Christian world believe. In Muslim countries, there are many mosques and they say prayers there five times a day, but besides on Friday no one goes to the mosque. Other than on Friday, in any mosque at the time of prayer, you won’t see more than five men, even though there are many homes inhabited by Muslims around it. Most Muslims don’t go to the mosque even on Friday. Some start going during Ramadan, but after the fast they disappear until the next year. In the mosque, once a week during Ramadan there are maybe a hundred people, even though there could be thousands, and after Ramadan there won’t be more than five people. In Muslim countries, many people search for truth and it’s because of this that the Christian mission will grow. Most promote Christianity among friends, and recently there have been television networks and many more internet sites dedicated to mission among Muslims. In general, many Muslims distance themselves from Islam and this is especially visible in Western countries. In Great Britain, many Muslims have converted to Christianity. In the Anglican Church, Muslims who have adopted Christianity are estimated at a hundred thousand people. Many of them are Pakistanis. They have their own Christian churches and are forced to hide because of the danger of reprisals from the Muslims. There are also Arab and Bengali converts to Christianity. Very many convert because of mixed marriages.

Recently in the press there have been reports about the strong growth of Islam in western countries and they have even claimed that the number of Muslim faithful will soon overtake the number of parishioners in Christian churches. It seems strange that the press has mentioned the number of Muslims, of faithful in mosques, many times greater than the capacity of the mosques themselves! But that is not mentioned in the press. What is the truth?

The presence of mosques in the UK is very weak. Most Muslims won’t ever go to a mosque. The young people have effectively left Islam, even if they say that they’re still Muslims. In the mosques they don’t find a common language with the Imams from Pakistan or Bangladesh. Young people can barely speak Urdu or Bengali but only English. Many are ashamed of Islam because of terrorism. Our inter-religious council investigated mosque attendance and we know what the real picture is and it is especially alarming for Islam, but it is to the advantage of certain people to present Islam as an immense force. If one takes the list of mosques in Muslim publications, for example, in West London, we find that there are twenty mosques and much free space in each of these mosques, even though the number of people of Muslim origins in London is such that they would need even more mosques if a majority went. In one large mosque in London there might be three hundred people for Friday prayers. Many mosques are just small halls that are only used on Friday. In general, believers are very rare in mosques and most are children who bring their parents. When they grow, they disappear. Christianity offers a free choice, thus it is much better adapted to life in a climate of tolerance, and Islam is unable to pass this test.

The media talks about the adoption of Islam by many British people. Muslims make an almost triumphant image of Islam in the West. However, the real number of British in the Muslim population is very small, only around 1200 people. How do you understand this contradiction?

It is not a simple question. I was a part of the Islamic mission to the British and I can say that the number of converts is minimal. At Friday prayers in the center of London, the number of British Muslims at the mosque is maybe one percent. Outside of London, they don’t even reach this number. All the Muslims know the real number of converts to Islam. There are those who accept Islam because of marriage to Muslims. These British will never go to mosques and their acceptance of Islam is a formality. Very often they remain in practice Christians. Most of those who accept Islam because of marriage are women. Additionally, many descendants of Muslims immigrants to Britain consider themselves British but could not be considered to be ‘British Muslims’ in the full sense. I’ve spoken a lot to women who divorced their Muslim husbands, and I can say from memory that in London there are maybe 25 British women who have remained Muslim after divorcing their Muslim husband. But, as a general rule, mixed marriages lead to an estrangement from Islam. The Islamic mission in the West has not been successful. In London, there is an organization of missionaries dedicated to the preaching of Islam. They are mostly youths. But, they realize their mission among Muslim immigrants because it’s much more effective, and the British do not convert to Islam. When some Muslims say that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world, London imams say that this growth is primarily because of the fertility rate, but there is no real mission. I do not doubt that Christianity is much stronger in terms of mission.

Are there many Muslims who convert to Christianity in Great Britian?

On the one hand, there are very many. This happens without any publicity. In effect, according to most schools of Islam an apostate from Islam should be executed, even though the imams of the chief mosques of London say that they cannot be executed for apostasy from Islam.

However, on the other hand, we can say that there are very few, since many Muslims simply abandon their faith and become unbelievers. Unbelief is an illness common to all. Certain Muslims try to present atheism and the absence of religion as characteristics of Christian civilization, but Muslims themselves, even more than Christians, lose their faith in the Western world. However, there is the very good example of Russia and the other Orthodox countries where the Church is growing, even with freedom of choice. I hope one day to go to Russia, but in the meantime I need to rebuild my life as an Orthodox Christian.

Orthodoxy Under Communism

1918 - Confessors

1930's - Destruction of Churches

Two Orthodox Christian confessors, Father Roman Braga and Father George Calciu, talk about their experiences in the Stalinist Gulag of Pitesti during the 20th century communist era in Romania.

Support the Orthodox Mission to Sierra Leone

In an earlier post I wrote about Orthodox missionary Fr. Themi titled, Fr. Themi: The Atheist Rocker Who Became an Orthodox Priest and Missionary In Africa . In that post I also mentioned the successful Orthodox mission to Sierra Leone which is lead by Fr. Themi. I want to remind my readers during this holy lenten season to support Orthodox missions.

I have been informed that Fr. Themi is seeking supporters for his mission both in the United States and worldwide. This can be done by sponsoring $10 a month (or more) by going to http://www.pk4a.com/ and clicking on the "Ezi Donate & Sponsor Worldwide" link. There you can sign up with your Credit Card. All funds are in AUD (Australian Dollars) so $10 is $8 to $9 USD (United States Dollars). So far in the US they receive $170 a month; more is needed to make this mission even more successful. All donations go to the charity, all workers are volunteers, and no one gets remunerated in any format.

At the website http://www.pk4a.com/ one can read more about this important ministry to the orphans of Sierra Leone, where your money is going, and sign up for the free newsletter. I also encourage everyone to check the various videos on Youtube at the website http://www.youtube.com/user/pk4a.

Please pass along this information.

On Spiritual Learning

By I.M. Kontzevitch

At the basis of every construction one must lay the correct foundation. The high quality and durability of what has been created depends on this.

This is true whether it be the construction of a house in the material world, or an acquisition in the sphere of intellectual knowledge, or inward activity in the spiritual life. In a word, in everything where creation takes place, everything depends on the base, the foundation on which it is built. A house may be built on rock or on sand; in the latter case its fall will be great, as we are told in the Gospel (cf. Matt. 7:27).

Our intention is to study the works of the Holy Fathers and, in the most recent epoch, the letters of Elder Macarius, organically linked with the Patristic works.

What must we place at the foundation of our study?

First of all, we must provide ourselves with a clear realization of what the writings of the Holy Fathers are. Besides being canonical and liturgical treasures, they encompass the grace-filled psychological experience of many centuries of Orthodox ascetics. Over the centuries the Eastern ascetics, with the aid of the grace of the Holy Spirit, perfected their knowledge concerning the soul of man, the laws governing the life of the soul, and the path of her spiritual ascent. Their writings analyze and point out the correct and only path to the lofty perfection of holiness and the vision of God, for all times and for all peoples.

Their works show a wondrous oneness of mind, and everything organically flows from one thing to another. The Holy Fathers, in the grace of the Holy Spirit, spoke only the truth, and therefore their authority for us must be absolute.

Now let us investigate with what attitude we must approach the present task.

The Lord says: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled" (Matt 5:6). Here the law of knowledge of higher spiritual truths is made known to us: the goal of knowledge must be truth and for truth's sake, for the sake of God's righteousness contained in it. Knowledge must come out of a desire for truth and out of love for it. Then and only then will it be revealed to us.

But there can also be another approach, when truth becomes no longer a goal in and of itself but a means of achieving other goals.

In this case there can be many various motives: an honest yearning to achieve success in life; or else simple vainglory - to make a brilliant display of the wealth of one's knowledge; or perhaps even plain curiosity - to get a greater smattering of all kinds of information. There can be yet other motivations.

In all these cases knowledge remains superficial, external - it does not penetrate to the depth of the soul and, like the seed in the Gospel parable (cf. Matt. 13: 20-21) that fell into stony ground, it does not bear fruit and can cause only harm. True knowledge of God's righteousness - of the Gospel commandments - unfailingly draws one to the fulfillment of the Gospel commandments, but "mere theoretical knowledge puffs up a man" (St. Mark the Ascetic).

No matter what his station in life, such a superficial understanding of truth cannot save a man, be he an educated theologican, a rector of a theological academy, a senior hierarch of the Church, an ascetic in a monastery, and so forth - not to mention those who live an entirely worldly life.

Taking this into consideration, we do not marvel at the fact that theologicans and hierarchs have fallen into heresy and initiated schisms and disturbances in the Church, and that renowned ascetics have fallen into delusion and perished.

All of this occurs because "the builders have rejected the stone which must be at the head of the corner" (cf. Ps. 117:22). This Rock is Christ and His commandments! Neglect of the commandments of God leads to an increase of the passions; and every passion, like smoke, obscures our mental gaze, so that it can no longer see the truth.

The most striking example of this is given to us in the Gospel in the person of Judas the betrayer: even his exclusive proximity to the Savior, his apostolic calling, did not save him from perdition. Judas like the other apostles was given authority to work miracles, to cast out demons; he was an eyewitness of numberless miracles and the miraculous deeds of the Lord Himself. As an apostle, Judas knew the mystical meaning of the parables and teaching of Christ, to him the Mysteries of God had been revealed. And, in spite of all this, the passion of avarice remained untreated. But that is not all, it grew to such horrendous proportions that it even moved Judas to betray his Teacher.

Lectures of Archimandrite George Kapsanis (Greek)

Archimandrite George Kapsanis, abbot of the Holy Monastery of Gregoriou on Mount Athos

Sharon Osbourne: The Dark Side of Fame

SHARON OSBOURNE: The Dark Side of Fame ... and why the cult of celebrity is destroying today's children

By Sharon Osbourne
28th February 2010
Daily Mail

My husband Ozzy and I once met Andy Warhol. It was in New York in the Eighties, about a year before the artist died, and at the height of Ozzy's solo success. We had a call from one of Warhol's people saying Andy wanted to meet Ozzy. We were intrigued so we said: 'Let's do it.'

First came dinner in a restaurant in Greenwich Village. Ozzy and I sat opposite Warhol, who was exactly like you see him in pictures, only more exaggerated - skinny face, and his collar too big for his neck, so the effect was a bit tortoise-like. Most of the time he didn't say anything, and when he did, it was so quiet you couldn't really hear.

Dinner over, he said he wanted to take us to a Manhattan club. It wasn't long before Ozzy got agitated. 'I'm bored,' he told me.

'So am I,' I said. 'But we can't leave yet, it would be rude. Just give it another half an hour and then we can disappear.'

Ozzy went off to the bathroom and didn't return. When I realised he'd done a runner, I did the same.

Of course, Andy Warhol is most famous for saying: 'In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.' These days I'd put that figure closer to five minutes.

I thought of Warhol's prediction when I was watching a morning chat show on TV recently.

It featured a girl aged about 14. Her one aim in life was to have surgery so that she would look like Katie Price. Her reasoning seemed to be that if she looked like the glamour model, she would become as famous as her idol.

How depressing that the loftiest ambition a child of 14 can summon up is to have breasts the size of barrage balloons. It was bad enough that she regarded 'being famous' as a worthy goal - not 'being talented', you note.

When Ozzy was starting out as a musician in Black Sabbath, for him and his contemporaries fame was simply a by-product of doing something they loved, not an end in itself. Of course, they wanted to be successful and to make money, but they certainly didn't expect it and that wasn't the reason they were in a band.

Today, though, young people regard fame as a birthright. They have a sense of entitlement the size of one of my houses.

I recently heard about the work of an American psychologist who discovered that in the Fifties only 12 per cent of youngsters agreed with the statement, 'I am an important person'. By the end of the Eighties, that figure had risen to 80 per cent. I think we can all guess what it is now.

Children leaving school today no longer want to be doctors or lawyers or architects. All I ever hear is 'I wanna be famous', or ' I wanna be a celeb'.

There is an epidemic of fame-obsessed youngsters - aged between ten and 25 - who wrongly believe celebrity is a shortcut to wealth and happiness, and who are convinced it will bring them everything they want. An entire generation that doesn't understand that nothing worth having comes easily.

I'm not a politician - and that's politics' loss - but it seems obvious to me that many teenagers part company with the schools system with little or no actual education.

And because the traditional family unit has more or less collapsed, these children probably haven't been brought up with any real values. We used to call them latch-key kids. How many people do you honestly know who sit down together and have a family dinner every night?

Read the rest of this fascinating article here.

Christian Gets Life in Prison for Blasphemy

Pakistan: Christian Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Blasphemy

Qamar David was in prison since 2006. In the weeks after his arrest police failed to find any concrete evidence against him. Muslim co-defendant acquitted, for lack of evidence. Christian activists: verdict result of "influences and prejudices” and motivated by “ external pressures ".

March 01, 2010
Asia News

Karachi (AsiaNews) - Qamar David, a Christian in the dock on charges of blasphemy, was sentenced to life imprisonment. The basis of the ruling, issued on Feb. 25, the fact that the man "hurt the religious feelings" of Muslims; however, the co-defendant was acquitted for lack of evidence. The police had arrested the man in 2006, although there was no evidence against him.

Additional District and Sessions Judge found Qamar David guilty of using blasphemous remarks about the Islamic Prophet and Quran and pronounced the verdict after hearing final arguments from both sides, daily Dawn reported yesterday.

According to the verdict, a SIM phone card was found in possession of the convict and the data produced by the cellular company established that messages were sent from the seized phone card, which they claim belonged to the Christian.

A contact close to the accused is of the opinion that the facts, evidence and law were in his favour. The evidence against him is said to be based on hearsay, and an accused Muslim in a parallel case was fully acquitted on the same facts. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the source described the final judgement as “biased and prejudiced,” and believes that external pressure on the court may have played a part in distorting the outcome, a news release issued by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) states.

CSW is deeply concerned over news that a Pakistani Christian from Lahore was sentenced to life imprisonment for blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammed, the communiqué. The Christian man was arrested in May 2006 for allegedly spreading blasphemous messages through his cellphone. During that time both Mr David and his lawyer, Parvez Choudhry, were regularly subjected to assassination attempts and threats of violence from abusive mobs.

CSW’s National Director Stuart Windsor said: “This alarming verdict is yet further illustration of the urgent need for the government of Pakistan to repeal its blasphemy laws. The legislation continues to be abused for the satisfaction of personal vendettas against Pakistanis of all faiths. It is a dangerous tool in the hands of those seeking to persecute or discriminate against religious minorities.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.

Atheists Urge To Trade Bibles For Porn

[I must admit, stories like this make me long for the days when the world actually had intelligent atheists with arguments worthy of response. But this story is yet another revelation of the stupidity of contemporary atheists and how atheism is not based on reason, but on either moral or emotional issues. And it shows to the extent their minds are in the gutter, even when reading Scripture (as the pictures reveal). Of course it is true that Scripture reveals mankind in all its ugliness and horror and the depth of its illness, but the difference between Scripture and porn is that it guides humanity towards the healing of this illness. The students of UTSA are doing nothing more than the equivalent of trading a physician's manual for crime scene photos. And their reason is so dense that they cannot even comprehend the true meaning of the Scripture passages they twist according to their perverted minds. - J.S.]

College Students Urged: Trade Bible for Playboy

'Religious texts are so appalling, you are better off having porn'

February 27, 2010
By Drew Zahn
WorldNetDaily

In the lobby of the University of Texas at San Antonio's humanities building, a hand-drawn poster announces, "Free porn: Just trade in your holy books (Bible, Koran, Vedas) for porn."

A student group at the university called The Atheist Agenda is reviving its Bibles-for-porn program, called "Smut for Smut," for three days beginning March 1, according to a report from San Antonio's KENS-TV.

"The idea is that religious texts are so appalling," said Atheist Agenda group member Brian Talker in a 2006 interview with UTSA student publication The Independent. "They are so full of genocide, misogyny and ludicrous ideas that far overshadow any banal common-sense platitudes like loving thy neighbor, that you are better off having porn, which isn't nearly as smutty."

A current member of the group told KENS the program is also meant as a slap against religious leaders and the "hypocrisy" of their condemnations of pornography.

"They've been going and rallying against pornography for the longest time," the unidentified student said, "and the disgusting, depraved acts that are within the Bible, Koran and Vedas completely outnumber any [faults] of any pornographic image."

Other students, however, have expressed outrage.

"As a Christian myself, I just take offense to it," one student told the TV station.

"Did they really do that?" asked another. "It kinda made me want to cry, it really did."

University officials have stated that the controversy over the poster and program boils down to protected freedom of speech.

UTSA spokesman David Gabler told KENS, "We are a marketplace of free ideas here at UTSA, and our students have all [the] constitutional rights afforded to all individuals in the United States."

The Atheist Agenda, founded by students in 2005, launched its first Smut for Smut program in December of that year.

The then-president of The Atheist Agenda, Thomas Jackson, told MSNBC he thought the swap program presented a fair trade:

"Well, first of all, you know, pornography gets a lot of negative press, and it's smut. A lot of it really is," Jackson said. "And we wanted to make the comparison between that and the smut that is religious scripture, or a lot of it, you know. The stuff that says a woman is worth half a man, the things that say, you know, you should beat children.

"These things aren't acceptable in our society," he continued, "and if pornography is not acceptable, then these things surely aren't. At the very least, what we're doing is trading something that's very, very bad for something that's only moderately bad."

In its first Smut for Smut campaign, the San Antonio Express News reports, the atheist group avoided legal problems by placing the explicit magazines in envelopes and storing them in a box under a table. Students also checked IDs to ensure recipients were 18 or older and gave instructions not to view the material in the commons area.

Also in 2005, a rival Christian group established their own booth across the plaza from The Atheist Agenda and offered materials denouncing negative effects of pornography use.

This year, opposing signs have been posted in the same campus lobby, immediately next to the "free porn" poster, and KESN reports websites rallying against the program have already drawn thousands of members.

The Legacy of John Cassian in East and West

St. John Cassian the Roman (Feast Day - February 29 (or 28))

Augustine's view that grace was irresistible and therefore indefectible (not subject to failure) went to the extreme of virtually denying man's free-will. The view of an absolute predestination, irrespective of foreseen character, and of the irresistible and indefectible character of grace, was put forward by Augustine initially in a letter to a Roman priest, Sixtus, in the year 418. Due to some controversy over his views, he expanded on this teaching in 426 in his work titled De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio (On Grace and Free Will) and then further clarified his position in another work titled De Correptione et Gratia (On Rebuke and Grace). These clarifications gave rise to further protests, which were especially taken up in southern Gaul. These fathers saw Augustine's teaching not only as novel, but also perilous. Augustine, by maintaining predestination and limiting the divine good will to a fixed number of predestined persons, not only cut to the root exertion, but encouraged negligence or even despair. They insisted that salvation should be available to all, because Jesus Christ died for all (2 Cor. 5:15). The fathers in Gaul contended that to explain away this scriptural assurance was to falsify the divine promise and to nullify human responsibility.

Those opposed to Augustine were accused of the error of Semi-Pelagianism, that is, that nature, unaided, could take the first step toward its recovery, by desiring to healed through faith in Christ. If it could not - if the very beginning of all good were strictly a divine act - exhortations seemed to them to be idle, and censure unjust, in regard to those on whom no such act had been wrought, and who, therefore, until it should be wrought, were helpless, and so far guiltless, in the matter. Of the party which took up this position, Cassian was the recognized head. Though he never directly entered into the controversy himself by authoring any polemical works on the subject, his "Conference XIII" with Abba Chaeremon, titled "On the Protection of God", countered the Augustinians; denial of the need of effort on man's part.

When Saint John Cassian made his protest against the rising tide of Augustinianism, he was only handing on the teaching which he had received from his eastern instructors. The west was never able subsequently to produce anything equal to the works of Cassian in the sphere of asceticism. In the east, his works were early translated into Greek and respected. Saint John Klimakos speaks of Saint John Cassian's work with praise in his Ladder of Divine Ascent, saying: "The great Cassian reasons in an unsurpassed and exalted manner." Saint Photios the Great, in his encyclopedic summary of thousands of books, Myriovivlon, testifies that Saint John Cassian's works are "something divine in nature." Saint Peter of Damascus (11th or 12th cent.) in the Philokalia also cites Saint John Cassian as an authority, and indeed he is the only Latin writer featured in the Philokalia. His edifying teachings can also be found in the spiritual classic Evergetinos.

Unlike Cassiodorus and others who used Saint Cassian's works with caution because of his anti-Augustinian teaching on grace, Saint Benedict of Nursia indicates no reserve whatever with regard to Saint Cassian's teaching. Saint Benedict considered himself to be simply continuing the tradition of the eastern fathers. For him the monastic authorities were The Conferences, The Institutes, and The Rule of Our Father Saint Basil (See The Rule of Saint Benedict, Ch. 73). Chapter 42 of his Rule prescribes after the evening meal or Vespers the reading of The Conferences or The Live of the Fathers. And all instructions on prayer in his Rule comes directly from Saint John Cassian's "Conference IX".

Later western monasticism, however, despite the prestige of Saint Benedict, lost contact with its eastern sources and participated in that spiritual decline that, apparently, began in the Western Church even before the formal Schism. Within a few centuries the face of western monasticism was totally obliterated. One can detect, in fact, even in the early period, indications of an important misunderstanding of eastern ascetic doctrine. From a Catholic perspective, the leaders of the monastic movement in fifth-century Gaul stand under the shadow of a "heresy", later to be called by them "Semi-Pelagianism". The westerners regard Saint John Cassian as the founder of this "heresy". They, furthermore, accuse many other fathers of Lerins for their subscription to it - Saints Vincent of Lerins, Hilary of Arles, and Faustus of Riez (Rhegium). In Orthodox eyes, it is rather these fathers who transmitted the Orthodox doctrine of divine grace and man's free will. It was Augustine who pursued an exaggeration of the doctrine o grace that threatened to negate the whole meaning of human effort and asceticism in the path of salvation.

Archbishop Philaret of Chernigov writes thus: "When the monks of Adumetum presented to Augustine that, according to his teaching, the obligation of asceticism and self-mortification was not required of them, Augustine felt the justice of the remark. He began more often to repeat that grace does not destroy freedom; but such an expression of his teaching changed essentially nothing in Augustine's theory, and his very last works were not in accord with his thought. Relying on his own experience of a difficult rebirth by means of grace, he was carried a long by a feeling of its further consequences....In defending the truth, he himself was not always faithful to the truth. Therefore it is not surprising that in the Eastern Church the teaching of Augustine on grace was not received with such a lively participation as it was in the west. The Ecumenical Synod of Ephesus (451) properly confirmed the condemnation of Pelagius' teaching, but concerning the teaching of Augustine it said not a word" [Historical Teaching of the Fathers of the Church (Saint Petersburg, 1882), v.3, pp. 33, 34].

I. M. Kontzevich further writes: "The west followed Augustine and has always regarded Saint Cassian and his followers as being in error. Does not this failure to understand a basic point of Orthodox ascetic doctrine already prefigure, as it were, the tragic loss in the west of traditional monasticism, of Orthodox spirituality, of Christianity itself? Because of this misunderstanding, also, Saint Cassian was never canonized in the Western Church. Locally, however, in Marseilles and a few other places in southern Gaul, he was venerated as a saint, his feast on the 23rd of July being one of the main feasts of the Abbey of Saint Victor. In the Middle Ages his relics were kept whole in the Abbey of Saint Victor in a marble tomb on four pillars, with a light burning before it day and night. Near Cannes, a hill once known as Arluc - where in antiquity there had been a temple of Venus and in Christian times a monastery for women - bears to this day the name of "Saint Cassian". It is a silent reminder of what the west once had and then lost, but about which it may again, by the grace of God, learn from the Orthodox Church of Christ" ["The Life of Saint John Cassian the Roman", The Orthodox Word 5, Number 2 (25) (March-April 1969) pp. 70, 71.]

For more on this topic, see my earlier post titled "John Cassian, Vincent of Lerins and Faustus of Riez Were Not Semi-Pelagians".

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Father. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy John Cassian, your soul rejoices with the angels.

Kontakion in the First Tone
Thy words breathe forth the sweetness of heavenly cassia, dispelling the foul odour of passion and pleasures; but with the sweet fragrance of thy discretion and temperance, they make known the spiritual ascents in the Spirit, leading men on high, O righteous Father John Cassian, divinely-sent guide of monks.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Anthropomorphisms of God In Scripture

[Interestingly a report was released today in Science Daily titled "Does the Devil Really Wear Prada? The Psychology of Anthropomorphism and Dehumanization". With today being the feast of St. John Cassian, I thought I would provide his response, since this was an issue in his day known as the Anthropomorphite heresy. - J.S.]

St. John Cassian, Institutes, Book 8:

CHAPTER III: Of Those Things Which Are Spoken of God Anthropomorphically

FOR if when these things are said of God they are to be understood literally in a material gross signification, then also He sleeps, as it is said, "Arise, wherefore sleepest thou, O Lord?"[1] though it is elsewhere said of Him: "Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep."[2] And He stands and sits, since He says, "Heaven is my seat, and earth the footstool for my feet:"[3] though He "measure out the heaven with his hand, and holdeth the earth in his fist."[4] And He is "drunken with wine" as it is said, "The Lord awoke like a sleeper, a mighty man, drunken with wine;"[5] He "who only hath immortality and dwelleth in the light which no man can approach unto:"[6] not to say anything of the "ignorance" and "forgetfulness," of which we often find mention in Holy Scripture: nor lastly of the outline of His limbs, which are spoken of as arranged and ordered like a man's; e.g., the hair, head, nostrils, eyes, face, hands, arms, fingers, belly, and feet: if we are willing to take all of which according to the bare literal sense, we must think of God as in fashion with the outline of limbs, and a bodily form; which indeed is shocking even to speak of, and must be far from our thoughts.

CHAPTER IV: In What Sense We Should Understand the Passions and Human Arts Which are Ascribed to the Unchanging and Incorporeal God.

AND so as without horrible profanity these things cannot be understood literally of Him who is declared by the authority of Holy Scripture to be invisible, ineffable, incomprehensible, inestimable, simple, and uncompounded, so neither can the passion of anger and wrath be attributed to that unchangeable nature without fearful blasphemy. For we ought to see that the limbs signify the divine powers and boundless operations of God, which can only be represented to us by the familiar expression of limbs: by the mouth we should understand that His utterances are meant, which are of His mercy continually poured into the secret senses of the soul, or which He spoke among our fathers and the prophets: by the eyes we can understand the boundless character of His sight with which He sees and looks through all things, and so nothing is hidden from Him of what is done or can be done by us, or even thought. By the expression "hands," we understand His providence and work, by which He is the creator and author of all things; the arms are the emblems of His might and government, with which He upholds, rules and controls all things. And not to speak of other things, what else does the hoary hair of His head signify but the eternity and perpetuity of Deity, through which He is without any beginning, and before all times, and excels all creatures? So then also when we read of the anger or fury of the Lord, we should take it not according to an unworthy meaning of human passion, but in a sense worthy of God, who is free from all passion; so that by this we should understand that He is the judge and avenger of all the unjust things which are done in this world; and by reason of these terms and their meaning we should dread Him as the terrible rewarder of our deeds, and fear to do anything against His will. For human nature is wont to fear those whom it knows to be indignant, and is afraid of offending: as in the case of some most just judges, avenging wrath is usually feared by those who are tormented by some accusation of their conscience; not indeed that this passion exists in the minds of those who are going to judge with perfect equity, but that, while they so fear, the disposition of the judge towards them is that which is the precursor of a just and impartial execution of the law. And this, with whatever kindness and gentleness it may be conducted, is deemed by those who are justly to be punished to be the most savage wrath and vehement anger. It would be tedious and outside the scope of the present work were we to explain all the things which are spoken metaphorically of God in Holy Scripture, with human figures. Let it be enough for our present purpose, which is aimed against the sin of wrath, to have said this that no one may through ignorance draw down upon himself a cause of this evil and of eternal death, out of those Scriptures in which he should seek for saintliness and immortality as the remedies to bring life and salvation.

1. Ps. 43 [44]:23.

2. Ps. 120 [121]:4.

3. Isa. 46:1.

4. Isa. 40:12.

5. Ps. 77 [78]:65.

6. 1 Tim. 6:16.

"If Palamas Is A Saint, Then Let Him Drown Us"

Once in Thera (Santorini), on the day of the commemoration of Saint Gregory Palamas, which was the Second Sunday of the Great Fast, some Latins were sailing on a certain boat for recreation. They placed their children on a separate boat, who then began to clap their hands saying: "Anathema to Palamas! If Palamas is a Saint, then let him drown us." With such things were the little Franks blaspheming, and O the strange wonder, my brethren! O the Saintliness and the boldness before God of divine Gregory! At the same time as they were uttering their blasphemies, without a single disturbance of the waters, and in calm weather, the boat sunk together with all those who were in it. This happened for the blasphemy they uttered, saying: "If he is a Saint, let him drown us." And while the bodies of the blasphemers sunk in the ocean, their profane souls sunk into the eternal fires of hell, confirming the sainthood of divine Gregory.

- Nektarios, Patriarch of Jerusalem (1660-1669)

Saint Gregory Palamas and His Family

The Significance of Gregory Palamas for Orthodoxy

We can see quite clearly the great significance of his teaching for Orthodoxy on the important question of epistemology. When we say epistemology we mean the knowledge of God and, to be precise, we mean the way which we pursue in order to attain knowledge of God. The situation in St. Gregory's time was that Orthodoxy was being debased; it was becoming worldly and being changed into either pantheism or agnosticism. Pantheism believed and taught that God in his essence was to be found in all nature, and so when we look at nature we can acquire knowledge of God. Agnosticism believed and taught that it was utterly impossible for us to know God, just because He is God and man is limited, and therefore man was completely incapable of attaining a real knowledge of God.

In the face of this great danger St. Gregory Palamas developed the fundamental teaching of the Church concerning the great mystery of the indivisible distinction between the essence and energy of God. We must underline that this is not the teaching of St. Gregory Palamas alone, but of the Orthodox Church, and therefore this theology cannot be called Palamism. Many fathers have referred to the distinction between essence and energy. We find it in the Bible, in the first Apostolic Fathers, in the Cappadocian Fathers, and especially in Basil the Great and that great dogmatic theologian of the Church, St. John of Damascus. St. Gregory Palamas, with his outstanding theological ability, developed further this already existing teaching and put forward its practical consequences and dimensions.

It is very characteristic that this distinction began to be noted in discussions about the Holy Spirit. The Calabrian philosopher Barlaam maintained that we could not know just what the Holy Spirit is, especially His procession and His being sent by the Son. In the face of the danger of agnosticism St. Gregory Palamas taught that the actual procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father is a different thing from His being sent by the Son. Thus while we do not know the essence of the Holy Spirit, we do know His energy.

All spiritual life is a result and fruit of the energy of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the saint taught, we cannot participate in God's essence, but we can know and participate in His energies. As the great dogmatic theologian St. John of Damascus teaches, we can see His three unions: union in essence, of the Persons of the Holy Trinity; union in substance, in the Person of Christ between the divine and human natures; and union in energy, between God and man.

In this way St. Gregory preserves the true teaching of the Church. If in the time of Athanasios the Great, men doubted the divinity of Christ, in St. Gregory's time they had doubts about God's energies. They said that His energies are created. Therefore in the dismissal hymn of the saint we sing: "Illuminator of Orthodoxy, supporter and teacher of the Church, spiritual beauty of the monastics, irrefutable champion of the theologians...".

The common mind of the Church recognises St. Gregory Palamas, the Hagiorite saint, as a great Father of the Church, an Ecumenical teacher, and includes him with the Three Hierarchs and the three great theologians of the Church. The characterization of theologian which has been given to him, has made him an elect member of the company of the Holy Fathers. St. Gregory is truly "an invincible champion of the theologians".

But also synodically the Church has characterised him as an unerring father, teacher and theologian. The Synodal Tome of 1347 refers to this great Hagiorite saint, saying:

"But also if anyone else at all is ever caught either thinking or saying or writing against the said most worthy priestmonk Gregory Palamas and the monks with him, or rather against the holy theologians and this Church, we both vote against him for these things and put him under this condemnation, whether he be of the hierarchy or the laity. We have many times proclaimed most worthy this respected priestmonk Gregory Palamas and the monks agreeing with him. They neither write nor think anything that differs from the divine words, having examined them and understood them exactly. And they champion the divine words, or rather our common devotion and tradition in all ways, as is proper, defending them as in every respect higher than what not only they but also the Church of God and the former synodal volume regard as sophistries. And we also declare them to be very safe defenders of the Church and its faith, and its champions and helpers."

This synodal text highlights the three following truths which all Christians should recognise.

First, St. Gregory Palamas is characterised as a simple and safe teacher of the Church.

Second, the teaching of St. Gregory about the distinction of essence and energy, about man’s participation in the uncreated energy of God and about the hesychastic way of life is a teaching of the Church and a canon of godliness and life.

Third, anyone who denies and undervalues St. Gregory Palamas, as well as the hesychastic life which he lived and taught, is excommunicated from the Orthodox Church.

All these things show the great value of St. Gregory, but also the value of the Holy Mountain, with its hesychastic tradition, which is preserved to this day by the Hagiorite Fathers. This tradition of hesychasm is the greatest treasure of the Holy Mountain, a hope for the world and a true life for Christians.

Rejection of the Holy Mountain and the hesychastic tradition is in reality a denial of the Orthodox Tradition and a departure from the "One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church".

Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Light of Orthodoxy, pillar and teacher of the Church, adornment of monastics, invincible champion of theologians, O Gregory, wonderworker, boast of Thessalonica, herald of grace: ever pray that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
With one accord, we praise you as the sacred and divine vessel of wisdom and clear trumpet of theology, O our righteous Father Gregory of divine speech. As a mind that stands now before the Primal Mind, do you ever guide aright and lead our mind to Him, that we all may cry: Hail, O herald of grace divine.

Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos of Naupaktos, Saint Gregory Palamas as a Hagiorite, excerpts from Chs. 1 and 13.

"You Feed on Men's Flesh and Blood"

St. Nicholas of Pskov, the Fool for Christ (Feast Day - February 28)

Saint Nicholas lived as a "fool for Christ" in the town of Pskov during the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible and died on February 28, 1576 A.D.

"Fools for Christ" were distinguished by rare fearlessness. Blessed Nicholas ran throughout the streets of Pskov pretending insanity, rebuking the people for their hidden sins, and prophesying that which will befall them.

When Ivan the Terrible entered Pskov, the entire town was in fear and terror of the Terrible Tsar. As a welcome to the Tsar, bread and salt was placed in front of every home but the people did not appear. When the mayor of the town presented the Tsar with bread and salt on a tray before the church, the Tsar pushed the tray away and the bread and salt fell to the ground.

At that time, Blessed Nicholas appeared before the Tsar in a long shirt tied with a rope, hopping around on a cane as a child and then cried out: "Ivanuska, Ivanuska, eat bread and salt and not human blood." The soldiers rushed out to catch him but he fled and hid. The Tsar learning about this Blessed Nicholas, who and what he is, visited him in his scant living quarters.

It was the first week of the Honorable Fast [The First Week of Lent]. Upon hearing that the Tsar was coming to visit him, Nicholas found a piece of raw meat and when the Tsar entered his living quarters, he bowed and offered the meat to the Tsar. "Eat Ivanuska, eat!" Angrily, the Terrible Tsar replied: "I am a Christian and I do not eat meat during the Fast Season." Then the man of God quickly responded to him: "But you do even worse: you feed on men's flesh and blood, forgetting not only Lent but also God!" This lesson entered profoundly into the heart of Tsar Ivan and he, ashamed, immediately departed Pskov where he had intended to perpetrate a great massacre.

St. Nikolia Velimirovich, Prologue

Influence of the Russian Liturgy (1904)

Notes by G. Frederick Wright

In a journey across Asia three years ago, occupying several months, I was deeply impressed by the many evidences of the leavening power of Christianity throughout the Russian Empire. In Japan, one of the most successful and influential Christian missions is that of the Russian Church, under the leadership of Bishop Nicolai, at Tokyo. My first attendance upon a Russian church service was at Port Arthur, where I found myself crowding for standing room with an indiscriminate company of Cossacks of the rank and officers of every grade, including Admiral Alexieff, and hearing, as ever afterwards in the Russian service, the crying of infants in arms, who are regularly brought by their parents to the church service, to receive the communion. Later, while journeying upon the construction train which penetrated Manchuria, I spent some days in the company of a benevolent-hearted inferior church official who was collecting money for alms to be administered by the church. Everywhere his reception was most cordial by all classes.

In all the villages and cities of Siberia and Turkestan, the priest, with his family, evidently occupied a position of great respect and influence, and was looked to with unfailing confidence by the poorer classes for sympathy and help. Repeatedly fairs of the Red Cross Society were encountered, engaged in raising money to provide nurses and assistance, not only for the hospitals in the army, but for those which are erected at the prominent points frequented by emigrants and exiles. In all the post-houses throughout a fourteen-hundred-mile drive through Turkestan, copies of the New Testament, furnished by the Imperial Bible Society at St. Petersburg, and bearing the imprint of the British and Foreign Bible Society, were found in the waiting-rooms.

In the wilds of Transbaikalia, as well as in the deserts of Turkestan, penetrated by the railroad, cars were met, provided with priests, and singers, and all the paraphernalia necessary for a church service. At one place in Transbaikalia, where a church car was sidetracked for a few days to meet the wants of the locality, our train stopped long enough for such a service. The third and fourth-class passengers immediately surrounded it, and participated with the greatest reverence. In the larger churches in Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk, we encountered beautiful young women of good estate, conducting classes of untrained boys to the services, and watching over them with all the interest displayed by those connected with the " settlements " in our own country. In fact, everywhere we were surrounded by that indefinable atmosphere which we characterize as Christian civilization, and which is in as striking contrast with heathen civilization as light is with darkness.

In broader lines, also, the influence of this leavening power of Christianity is seen everywhere throughout the Empire. It was the Tsar of Russia who summoned the peace congress through which the Tribunal of the Hague was established. It was the Tsar of Russia who initiated, and pushed to completion, the emancipation of the serfs,?a work far greater and far more successfully accomplished than that of the emancipation of the slaves of America. Russia, indeed, is full of philanthropists and those engaged in promoting social reforms, of wliom Tolstoy is one of the most extreme and unpractical examples.

All this, and much more, can be said illustrating the leavening power of Christianity in the Empire, without abating our condemnation of the many great evils still inherent in the church polity and in the body politic. For, there can be no question that in some way the main facts of Christianity are held up before the Russian people of all classes, and that these facts have a most powerful, controlling force in the lives of the masses of the people.

The manner of the dissemination of this Christian truth is an interesting object of study. Preaching occupies but a small place in the Russian church services. Though the Bible is freely disseminated, the illiteracy of the people interferes with its general reading. But it is read extensively in the church service; while pictures of Bible scenes fairly cover the walls of the churches, and every one learns their meaning. Russian pilgrims to Palestine are far more numerous than from any other country, and are mostly from the peasant class. These make the rounds of the sacred places with apparent discrimination and intelligence. In the appropriate season of the year crowds of them may be found wending their way on foot from Jerusalem to the Jordan, to Bethlehem and Hebron, and to the well of Sychar. Dense crowds may be seen gathering about the sacred places, listening to addresses from well-informed guides with far more interest and with closer attention than is shown in a personally conducted Cook's tour of visitors. The information which these pilgrims, on their return, scatter throughout Russia, can hardly be overestimated.

But most prominent of all must be mentioned the liturgy of the Russian Church as it is artistically set to music by composers of the highest rank, and most effectively and beautifully rendered by trained choirs.

The favorite liturgy is that written by the "goldenmouthed" St. John Chrysostom, the most famous of the fathers of the Greek Church of the fourth century. This, like all the Russian church services, is translated into the language of the people. The dialect, indeed, is archaic, which has led many to suppose that it is unintelligible to the common people. The same might be said with some degree of truth concerning the English Prayer Book, though it is by no means so archaic as is the Russian liturgy. Still, in both cases, by reason of frequent repetition, the language evidently becomes comprehensible to all; so that it cannot be doubted that every peasant in the Empire becomes from his earliest years familiar with this noble embodiment of the great facts and doctrines of Christianity.

The mere reading of the words can but be a means of grace; while to have it given, as it is in all the Russian churches, by well-trained choirs in the effective setting of the music of the greatest masters, is impressive beyond expression, and is in striking contrast to the diluted sentimentalism characterizing so much of the popular Sunday-school music of America, and to the musical compositions which are current so largely in Protestant services, but which are adapted rather for the concert-hall than for worshiping congregations.

Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was the ranking genius among Russian musical composers of the last half century, and was scarcely inferior to any, except Wagner in Western Europe. His operas, symphonies, sonatas, and shorter pieces for the piano are everywhere popular among the highest class of musicians ; but it is not generally known that he devoted a considerable portion of his strength and genius to the perfecting of the Russian sacred music. Several volumes of Bortniansky's compositions, which are most widely used in the Russian Church, have been harmonized by him in accordance with modern ideas. One of his own principal works, also, is an original composition adapted to the entire liturgy.

I have stood in the Russian churches, great and small, in Siberia and Turkestan, and in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and have been not only entranced myself by this service, but filled with wonder and delight while seeing horny-handed peasants, with careworn faces, listening with streaming eyes to these profound, inspiring, comforting, and most beautiful conceptions of Christian truth as they were wafted to our ears upon the dignified, appropriate, and tender strains of music of the great Russian composer. Who could help being moved to better things as he is led thus to adore "the Maker of all things, who for us sinful men, and our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Spirit and the Virgin Mary; and became like unto men, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, but rose on the third day according to the Word, and ascended into heaven most high, and now sitteth on the right hand of God, and who shall come again to judge the quick and dead"! To see, as I often did in these services, men and women, both of low and of high estate, advance to kneel and kiss the gilded feet of the painting of the Man of sorrows, was to witness something far more than a mere formality.

Excerpts from The Bibliotheca Sacra, Volume 61, pp 166-170 (January, 1904).

Sermon for the Second Sunday of Great Lent

Catechesis 59: On our Accomplishing the Days of the Fast Gently and Readily in the Hope of Life Without End

by St. Theodore the Studite

There is no indication of date for this Instruction, but since it comes between the ones for Friday of the 2nd Week of Lent and Wednesday of the 3rd, it is reasonable to allocate it to the 2nd Sunday.

Brethren and fathers, fasting is good if it possesses its own special characteristics, which are to be peaceable, meek, well-established, obedient, humble, sympathetic and all the other forms of virtue. But the devil hurries to suggest the opposite to fasters and to make them insolent, angry, bad-tempered, puffed up, so as to produce hurt more than gain. But let us not be ignorant of his plans, but continue our path peaceably, gently, meekly and steadfastly bearing with one another in love, knowing that this is what is acceptable to God; for though you bend your neck double like a hoop and smother yourself with sackcloth and ashes, if these qualities are lacking to you, you would not be well-pleasing to him. Because while fasting batters and wastes the body, it clears the soul and makes it flourish. "For as much as our outer nature is perishing," it says, "by so much the inner is being renewed day by day." And our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding weight of glory. So that looking at the recompense, let us bear the toils of virtue with long-suffering, giving thanks to the God and Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. Do we not communicate each day of his immaculate body and blood?[1] What could be sweeter and more filled with enjoyment than this, since those who partake with a pure conscience will obtain eternal life? Do we not converse each day with the godly David and the other Holy Fathers through taking in the readings? What could bring greater consolation to the soul? Have we not broken off contact with the world and with our relatives according to the flesh? Again is anything more blessed or higher than this? For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to Himself. And so, my brothers, let us rejoice and be glad as we repudiate every pleasure. "All flesh is grass, and all human glory like the flower of the grass." The grass withered and the flower faded, but the work of virtue endures for ever. "Is anyone among you suffering?" as the brother of God says, "Let him pray. Is anyone sad? Let him sing psalms." Is anyone tempted by evil passion? — since the tempter is always at work — let him endure patiently as he listens to the one who says, "Blessed is the one who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him." "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them," said the Lord, to whom be glory and might, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

1 This suggests that daily Communion was the norm for St Theodore’s monks. This would imply that during Lent the Liturgy of the Presanctified was celebrated every weekday, not just on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Source

Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Novel Ascetic Feat of Thalelaios the Cilician

St. Thalelaios the Cilician (Feast Day - February 27)

Brief Life of Saint Thalelaios

Saint Thalelaios lived during the fifth century. He was a native of Cilicia (Asia Minor), became a monk at the Monastery of St Sava the Sanctified, and was ordained presbyter there. Later on, he moved to Syria, not far from the city of Habala, he found a dilapidated pagan temple surrounded by graves, and he settled there in a tent. This place had a rough reputation, since the unclean spirits residing there frightened travellers and caused them much harm.

Here the monk lived, praying day and night in total solitude. The demons often assailed the saint, trying to terrify him with sights and sounds. But by the power of God the saint ultimately gained victory over the power of the Enemy, after which he was troubled no more. He then intensified his efforts even more: he built a barrel-like structure, so cramped that it was just possible to get into it, and only with an effort was it possible to raise his head. He lived there for about ten years.

The Lord granted to the ascetic the gift of wonderworking, and his miracles helped him to enlighten the pagan inhabitants. With the help of the inhabitants he converted to Christianity, he demolished the pagan temple, building a church where there were daily services.

St Thalelaios died in old age in about the year 460. In the book titled Leimonarion or Pratum [The Meadow], a composition of the Greek monk John Moschus (+ 622). St Thalelaios is mentioned: "Abba Thalelaios was a monk for sixty years and with tears never ceased saying, 'Brethren, God has given us this time for repentance, and we must seek after Him'" (Ch. 59).

The Barrel-like Structure of Saint Thalelaios

After the venerable Thalelaios emerged from his hut near the temple and defeated every demonic assault, he decided to enter the next level of ascetical struggle unique in Christian history. He took two wheels of two cubits in diameter and joined them with planks with bolts and nails. The wooden planks of this barrel-like cylinder were not thick and heavy, but slender and spaced apart. Thalelaios then drove three wooden poles into the ground, forming a kind of tripod. He joined the three poles at the top with other pieces of wood. From that point where they met at the top, he raised up the two-wheeled barrel-like structure and fastened it. As it swung, suspended in the air, Thalelaios crawled inside. We are not told the height above the ground the structure was placed, nor how he entered within. But when he was inside the airy cylinder, the interior height of which was no more than two cubits, he was compelled to take a sitting position. Since he was a rather large-boned man, he could not take his ease within that confined space. He certainly could not recline, nor could he even keep his neck straight. Thalelaios was ever seen in a sitting position, bent over, so that his forehead was pressed tightly against his knees.

Theodoret of Cyrus gives us an eye-witness account of this most astonishing ascetic feat in his History:

"When I beheld him, he had been already ten years in that position. I also observed that he was reaping the benefit of the divine Gospels, in which he was immersed. I then, out of a desire to learn and not from idle curiosity, asked him why he took up this novel contest of asceticism. He replied to me in the Greek tongue, since he was Cilician by birth and people, and said:

'Because I lay under many sins, I believe unshakably that I shall be liable to the penalties of which sinners have been forewarned by God. I, therefore, have contrived these moderate means of chastisement, in this present life, that I might lighten the burden of torments in the future life. Those punishments are worse, not only in quantity but also in quality, for they are involuntary and violent. Whatever is forced upon one without one's will is grievous, while that which is self-chosen without constraint, even if toilsome and sorrowful, is a lesser evil. For the labors of such a one are self-determined and voluntary. One does not feel compelled or lorded over. Therefore, if I may by these small afflictions lessen the great punishments that await me, assuredly it will be a great gain to me.'

"When I heard this explanation, I marvelled not only at the venerable ascetic's sagacity and shrewdness, but also at the fact that he exceeded the customary ascetic contests laid down. He devised other struggles, greater ones, in which he knew exactly what he was doing and by which he encouraged and taught others."

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Sunday, February 28, 2010

Anthropomorphisms of God In Scripture

"If Palamas Is A Saint, Then Let Him Drown Us"

Saint Gregory Palamas and His Family

The Significance of Gregory Palamas for Orthodoxy

"You Feed on Men's Flesh and Blood"

Influence of the Russian Liturgy (1904)

Sermon for the Second Sunday of Great Lent

Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Novel Ascetic Feat of Thalelaios the Cilician

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