On Judgment and Forgiveness (St. Iakovos Tsalikes)

Saint Iakovos Tsalikes said:

"I also want to be judged with mercy for my sins.

If God judged us severely for our mistakes, He would not be a God of love and peace, but of war and terror.

People have a duty to return to God.

Years of experience dealing with people who have serious problems has taught me that when people are judged harshly for their mistakes, they panic and run away.

When they encounter forgiveness, they understand their errors and are ready to try to change their lives."

Source: From the book by Τάσου Μιχαλά, Ένας σύγχρονος ερημίτης, Αρχιμανδρίτης Ιάκωβος Τσαλίκης, Ηγούμενος Ι. Μ. Οσίου Δαβίδ. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

Homily Two for the Eleventh Sunday of Matthew - On Hard-Heartedness (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 

By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

What man will not be angry and protest when he hears the parable of the wicked servant for whom the Lord forgave a great debt while he did not want to forgive his neighbor a small one? Our hearts are troubled when we see the worst manifestations of human passions and sinfulness. The Prophet David rightly said: "He has delivered my soul from the midst of lions' whelps: I lay down to sleep, though troubled. As for the sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword" (Ps. 56:5). And he doesn't say it about murderers and criminals but about us ordinary people. He calls us lions and says that our teeth are weapons and arrows and our tongue is a sharpened sword. The sword is an instrument of murder.

Homily on Cheesefare Sunday and Forgiveness (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

On this day, we Christians are in the habit of asking forgiveness from each other, and therefore this very day is called Forgiveness Sunday. This custom, listeners, is the most Christian, for what is more fitting to begin the upcoming fast, if not with mutual forgiveness? During the fast of the Holy Forty Days, we mainly ask God for forgiveness for all the sins that we have committed during the year. But will God forgive us our sins when we do not forgive the sins of our neighbors? The Lord forgives us only when we ourselves forgive others everything; if you forgive people their sins, then your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive people their sins, then your Father will not forgive you your sins (Matthew 6:14-15). Whoever does not forgive the sins of their neighbor, does not truly repent of their sins. The truly repentant sinner cannot remember the insults they have suffered or are suffering from others; they have one thing on their mind - the sins with which they have offended God; sadness according to God drowns out all other cares in them.

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday of Matthew - The Consequences of Debt (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Homily for the Eleventh Sunday of Matthew (18:23-35)

The Consequences of Debt

Today's Gospel reading refers to the debtor of a myriad of talents, who could not repay his debt and his master ordered that he himself, his wife, his children, and his belongings be sold to pay off the debt. But he asked for forgiveness, which was granted to him. While he repaid his debt with repentance, he was cruel to his companion, and he did not forgive him, despite him asking, and put him in prison. His master found out about this, he who had previously forgiven him, so it was returned to him and he handed him over to the torturers.

This parable refers to the Kingdom of God, into which those who repent and ask God for forgiveness will enter, but in return they also forgive all those who have wronged them.

Homily on the Eleventh Sunday of Matthew (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

 By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

"So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you..." (Matthew 18:35).

Pious listeners! Do you remember the Gospel parable of a king who wished to settle accounts with a servant? Remember how this king at first completely forgave his debtor ten thousand denarii, and after that he was so angry with him that he put him in prison, no matter how much he asked for mercy? And remember, of course, why the king was suddenly so angry with his debtor? For the fact that that debtor himself did not forgive a small debt to one of his comrades, he did not forgive at the very time when he asked the king for forgiveness.

This is how God does with us. No matter how we much ask Him, no matter how much we plead with Him, He does not forgive us a single sin, does not forget any of our bad deeds, if we ourselves do not forgive our neighbors, if we do not forget the insults we endure from them. On the contrary, if we do not take malice at our neighbors when they offend us, if we forget every evil that they do to us, then God also forgets our evil deeds, leaves us of our sins, no matter how grievous and insulting to Him. Even so, listeners, prayer, fasting, alms, and other good deeds are not pleasing to God when we harbor malice against our neighbors. On the contrary, God is merciful to us, although we pray little, give little alms, and do little other good deeds, as long as we only forgive and forget all the insults that others do to us.

Reflection on the Eleventh Sunday of Matthew (St. Theophan the Recluse)

 By St. Theophan the Recluse

The Lord concluded the parable about the two debtors with the following words: "So likewise shall My Heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses." It would seem that such a small thing is needed: "forgive and you will be forgiven." When you are forgiven, you are brought into mercy; and when you are brought into mercy, you have become a participant in all the treasures of mercy. So here is salvation, and paradise, and eternal bliss. What a great acquisition for such a small thing as forgiving!…Yes, it is a small thing, but for our self-love there is nothing more difficult than to forgive. We still perhaps forgive some unintentional annoyance dealt us in private so that nobody sees; but if it is just a bit more sensitive, and in front of people, do not even ask — no forgiveness. There are circumstances when whether you want to or not, you are not allowed to express your displeasure — and so you remain silent. However, only your tongue is silent—meanwhile your heart speaks and builds evil plans. Raise the annoyance yet another degree — and there is no restraint. Neither shame, nor fear, nor loss, nor any other thing will restrain you. Egoism which has reached the boiling point makes a person as though insane, and he who gives in to it begins to talk foolishness. The people most subject to this misfortunate state are usually not just anybody — the more civilized one is, the more sensitive he is to insults, and the less forgiving. Relations will often remain smooth on the surface, but inwardly there is clearly discord. Meanwhile, the Lord requires that we forgive with our whole heart.

 

 

Homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Archpriest Rodion Putyatin)

By Archpriest Rodion Putyatin

The Transfiguration of the Lord, which we commemorate today, took place in this way: Jesus Christ, taking with Him three of His disciples - Peter, James and John - ascended with them to a high mountain, to Tabor, and there during prayer He was transfigured before them, that is, He appeared in a glorified form: His face shone like the sun, His robe became white as snow, and Moses and Elijah appeared talking with Him. The Apostle Peter, delighted with such a wonderful sight, said to Jesus Christ: “Lord! It's good for us here; if you want, we will build three tents here: one for you, the other for Moses, the third for Elijah."

Christian listeners! Why did the Apostle Peter suddenly feel so good on the mountain that he wanted to stay there forever? Saint Peter has probably been on this mountain before; why did he feel so good now? This is because during the Transfiguration, an extraordinary light, Divine light, shone from Jesus Christ, and the apostles, as much as they could, enjoyed this light. In the light of the Divine, everywhere is good: it is light in the darkness, and it is an oasis in the desert.

Commemoration of the Negligent Monk who Joyfully Died Because He Did Not Condemn Anyone

In Slavic Churches there is included in the festal calendar the commemoration of an unnamed negligent monk who died joyfully because he had victoriously passed his entire life without ever condemning or judging anyone and forgiving those who wronged him in any way. His feast is on March 30th and is based on the following story as recorded by Saint Anastasios of Sinai:

A certain monk, living in a monastery, spent his days carelessly, not caring about his salvation, but indulging all his life in idleness. Having lived to his advanced years, he was approaching death. When he fell ill with a serious illness and was already at his last gasp, he was not at all afraid of death, but prepared to be parted from the body with joy, praising and glorifying God. The brothers and the abbot of that monastery who surrounded him said to him:

Sermon for Cheesefare Sunday (Monk Agapios Landos)

 By Monk Agapios Landos of Crete

Behold, my friends, the arena of Holy Lent opens today. Behold, we have arrived at the gate of the fast and are about to engage in the warfare of the spirit. We are now approaching the harbor of salvation and should be glad and rejoice more than when we ate and spent to our heart’s content. Let us cross the threshold of restraint, then, with much rejoicing and jubilation, thanking the Lord that we have escaped the powerful and harsh turbulence of the billows of the spiritual tempest and have reached the safe haven, which is calm and secure, is balmy and tranquil, truly serene and life-saving. We have left behind the pall of disbelief, the wintry blasts of dissipation; we have fled secular turmoil and the great storm of the gale-force winds of excessive consumption of food and drink; we have escaped carnal pleasures and the distractions of worldly cares; we have been freed from the darkness of ignorance and have reached roseate spring, that is the fair weather which profits the soul. Let us welcome this bright and sunny day, then, overjoyed and elated, let us cast off the gloomy works of dark and soul-destroying sin, as Saint Paul urges us to do. These are fornication, impurity, passion, wicked desire and greed, which all constitute idolatry. Anyone, for example, who is avaricious will perish as being unmerciful and uncaring. Let us divest ourselves of the works of darkness and sin as if they were a garment, and let us clothe ourselves in the works of light, sanctity, and purity, which are weapons and armaments of the soul. Let us walk in orderly and virtuous comeliness, because sin is the cause of ugliness and dishonor, whereas virtue is the emissary of honor and loveliness.

On Love (St. Ephraim the Syrian)

 

On Love

By St. Ephraim the Syrian

Rightly did the Lord say, ‘My burden is light’. For what sort of weight is it, what sort of toil is it to forgive one’s brother his offences, which are light and of no importance, and to be pardoned for one’s own, and immediately justified? He did not say, ‘Bring me money, or calves, or goats, or fasting, or vigils’, so that you could say, ‘I have none, I cannot’, but he ordered you to bring what is light and easy and immediate, saying, ‘Pardon your brother his offences, and I will pardon yours. You pardon small faults, a few halfpennies, or three pennies, while I give you the ten thousand talents. You only pardon without giving anything, I nevertheless both grant you pardon and give you healing and the Kingdom. And I accept your gift, when you are reconciled to the one who is your enemy, when you have enmity against no one, when the sun does not go down on your anger. When you have peace and love for all, then your prayer is acceptable, and your offering well-pleasing, and your house blessed and you blesséd. But if you are not reconciled with your brother, how can you seek pardon from me? You trample on my words, and do you demand pardon? I, your Master, demand, and you pay no attention, and do you, a slave, dare to offer me prayer, or sacrifice, or first fruits, while you have enmity against someone? Just as you turn your face from your brother, so I too turn my eyes from your gift and your prayer.’

On Malice and the Love of Enemies According to Saint John of Kronstadt

 

 

By St. John of Kronstadt

 

You hate your enemy? You are foolish. Why? Because if your enemy persecutes you, you also inwardly persecute yourself; for say, is it not persecution, and the most cruel persecution, to torture yourself by your hatred towards your enemy? Love your enemy, and you will be wise. O, if only you knew what a triumph, what blessedness it is to love your enemy, and to do good to him! So did the Son of God, so did God in the Holy Trinity, triumph, and still triumphs, through His love, over the ungrateful and evil-natured human race; so also did God's saints triumph over their enemies, by loving them and doing good to them. 

 

Every person that does any evil, that gratifies any passion, is sufficiently punished by the evil he has committed, by the passions he serves, but chiefly by the fact that he withdraws himself from God, and God withdraws Himself from him: it would therefore be insane and most inhuman to nourish anger against such a man; it would be the same as to drown a sinking man, or push into the fire a person who is already being devoured by the flame. To such a man, as to one in danger of perishing, we must show double love, and pray fervently to God for him; not judging him, not rejoicing at his misfortune. For my sake, says Jesus, but for their sakes, too. ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you.’” (Mt. 5:44)

 

On the Love of Enemies According to Saint Silouan

 

By Jean-Claude Larchet

ALTHOUGH IT IS natural and usual to love those who love us and to do good to those who do good to us (Mat.t 5:46-47; Luke 6:32-33), to love our enemies is distasteful to our nature. One can say that it isn’t in our power but is an attitude that can only be the fruit of grace, given by the Holy Spirit. This is why St. Silouan the Athonite writes, “The soul that has not known the Holy Spirit does not understand how one can love one’s enemies, and does not accept it.”

The starets repeatedly says that love of enemies is impossible without grace. “Lord, You have given the commandment to love enemies, but this is difficult for us sinners if Your grace is not with us…. Without God’s grace we cannot love our enemies…. He who has not learned to love from the Holy Spirit, will certainly not pray for his enemies.” On the contrary, St. Silouan always taught that this attitude is a gift of the Holy Spirit: “The Lord has commanded us to love our enemies, and the Holy Spirit reveals this love to us…. When you will love your enemies, know that a great divine grace will be living in you.”

Cheesefare Sunday: The Arena of Holy Lent Opens Today

By Monk Agapios

Behold, my friends, the arena of Holy Lent opens today. Behold, we’ve arrived at the gate of the fast and are about to engage in the warfare of the spirit. We’re now approaching the harbor of salvation and should be glad and rejoice more than when we ate and spent to our heart’s content. Let’s cross the threshold of restraint, then, with much rejoicing and jubilation, thanking the Lord that we’ve escaped the powerful and harsh turbulence of the billows of the spiritual tempest and have reached the safe haven, which is calm and secure, is balmy and tranquil, truly serene and life-saving. We’ve left behind the pall of disbelief, the wintry blasts of dissipation; we’ve fled secular turmoil and the great storm of the gale-force winds of excessive consumption of food and drink; we’ve escaped carnal pleasures and the distractions of worldly cares; we’ve been freed from the darkness of ignorance and have reached roseate spring, that is the fair weather which profits the soul. Let’s welcome this bright and sunny day, then, overjoyed and elated, and let’s cast off the gloomy works of dark and soul-destroying sin, as Saint Paul urges us to do. These are fornication, impurity, passion, wicked desire and greed, which all constitute idolatry. Anyone, for example, who’s avaricious will perish as being unmerciful and uncaring. Let’s divest ourselves of the works of darkness and sin as if they were a garment, and let’s clothe ourselves in the works of light, sanctity, and purity, which are weapons and armaments of the soul. Let’s walk in orderly and virtuous comeliness, because sin is the cause of ugliness and dishonor, whereas virtue is the emissary of honor and loveliness.

"Forgiveness Day — What a Great Heavenly Day of God This Is!" (St Theophan the Recluse)

By St. Theophan the Recluse

"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:14–15). What a simple and handy means of salvation! Your trespasses are forgiven under the condition that you forgive the trespasses of your neighbour against you. This means that you are in your own hands. Force yourself to pass from agitated feelings toward your brother to truly peaceful feelings — and that is all. Forgiveness day — what a great heavenly day of God this is! If all of us used it as we ought, this day would make Christian societies into heavenly societies, and the earth would merge with heaven.

Saint Titus the Presbyter of the Kiev Caves (+ 1190)

St. Titus the Presbyter of the Kiev Caves (Feast Day - February 27)

Kiev Caves Paterikon

Discourse 23: The Priest Titus and the Deacon Evagrius, 

Two Brothers Who Were on Very Bad Terms With Each Other 

(which is part of the epistle of Bishop Simon 

of Vladimir and Suzdal to Polycarp the Monk)

Now I will tell you yet another remarkable miracle, which I myself witnessed. It happened as follows in the same holy Caves Monastery.

There were two spiritual brothers, the deacon Evagrius and the priest Titus. They loved each other deeply and sincerely, so that everybody marveled at their harmony and boundless mutual affection. But the devil, that hater of good who is always roaring like a lion seeking some­one to devour, made enmity between them and instilled such hatred that they would not look at each other. The brethren often begged them to be reconciled, but they would not listen. When Evagrius was standing in the church and Titus came in with the censer, Evagrius would avoid the incense; and if he did not do so, Titus would go past without censing him. They remained for a long time in the darkness of sin, since when Titus was cele­brating Evagrius refused to accept absolution and received communion in anger. It was the enemy that put them up to this.

The Saint Who Lied to Save His Brother’s Murderer

By Metropolitan Dionysios of Servia and Kozani

Saint Dionysios was born in Zakynthos in 1547, of parents who were distinguished on the island for their high social standing and sound financial position. At an early age, the Saint of God left all this behind, social status and wealth, and entered the Monastery of our Panagia the Joy of All, which is in Strofadia, two small vine-covered islands in the Ionian Sea, to the south of Zakynthos.

Saint Chariton the Confessor as a Model for our Lives

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Venerable Chariton the Confessor was born and raised in Iconium of Asia Minor, during the reign of Emperor Aurelian, which was a period of persecution against the Church. He was arrested along with other Christians, and courageously confessed his faith, for which he was subjected to severe torture. Twice he was carried off bloodied to prison, but by the grace of God he survived, and when Aurelian died soon after, Saint Chariton, by imperial decree, was released.

After his release he continued to live a life of asceticism and prayer. One day he decided to go to Jerusalem, along the way however he encountered some robbers, who took him prisoner and led him to their cave. But soon after the robbers died after they had drank from their wine, for without knowing a snake had poisoned it. Thus, Saint Chariton, by divine economy, was freed from bondage, but he also became an heir to the great wealth of the robbers, which he distributed to the poor, and took care to build many sacred churches.

Synaxarion of the Holy Martyr Neaniskos the Most-Wise

St. Neaniskos the Most-Wise (Feast Day - June 10)

Verses

By returning good for evil O crown-bearer,
You showed yourself to be most-wise in your actions.

When Maximus was governor of Alexandria, and he banished and tyrannized the Christians, he was informed of Neaniskos, the most-wise and beautiful athlete of Christ, who was betrayed by a servant girl. The governor contrived many forms of tyranny against him over the course of seven days, seeking to force him to deny Christ. When he saw that he could not persuade him, he sentenced him to be killed. For this the Martyr of Christ thanked the Lord, and went along rejoicing that he was about to complete his longed for road towards martyrdom.

How I Discovered the Power of Forgiveness

By John Sanidopoulos

When I was ten years old, my temperament was somewhat nihilistic and angry. My mind was often occupied with death and the meaning of life. Though I was born and raised a Greek Orthodox Christian, theologically what made most sense to me was that life was but a dream within a dream, and my real self was some cosmic entity who imagined my present reality; it was nothing but a figment of my imagination. Trouble often found me, and if my parents punished me for it, then all I could feel was hatred for them. They were even ready to send me to military school, since to them my future was bleak. If left unchecked for long, no doubt I would have grown up to be a model rebellious teenager.

At the time I was forced to attend Greek school twice a week after regular school. The previous year I had a horrible Greek school teacher, who was very verbally abusive to me. This eventually got her fired after it was exposed, but my experience with Greek school was not that great before this, and it just made a bad situation worse. Now I was in the fifth grade, and my teacher was a young seminarian named Yianni (he never gave us his last name) from Greece that was studying at Holy Cross School of Theology. He was actually very kind, patient and had a particular fondness for me. This was because every week for one of the two days he never taught us the Greek language, but instead talked about our Greek Orthodox faith and heritage. To me this was refreshing, and I always listened attentively, while everyone else was practically snoring. This I think is why he liked me so much.

Sunday of Cheesefare: Forgiving and Fasting

By Protopresbyter Nicholas Patsalos

The time of preparation for the Fast ends with the Sunday of Cheesefare and so we pass into great and blessed Lent, which is full of mixed experiences and feelings transmitted to us in a mystical way by its penitential services. Today’s Gospel reading brings us to the introductory period of our preparation for the Passion and Resurrection and reminds us of the golden rule for our progress, which begins with the virtue of forgiveness. Hence the Vespers of Forgiveness.

Our forgiveness of others is presented to us as a precondition for God’s forgiveness of us. Unless we break down the hardness of our heart by forgiving our neighbors for whatever they’ve done to us, then we can’t expect or seek God’s forgiveness. It’s in the faces of our neighbors, our friends and our enemies that we’ll recognize our Lord and God. This is the virtue that the Church has been trying to teach us over the past two Sundays, pointing to love for our neighbor as the path to Heaven.