The Life of Saint Mary of Egypt and Its Theological Messages (3 of 4)

 ...continued from part two.

2. Theological Lessons from the Life of Saint Mary of Egypt

Already in the brief presentation of the life of Saint Mary of Egypt, which we have just read, the great personality of Saint Mary was clearly seen, but at the same time the power of the Grace of God was revealed, which regenerated her from the woeful state in which she was.

There are many theological lessons that come out of the life of Saint Mary of Egypt, but it will suffice to point out the most basic in a very concise way.

Homilies on the Holy Mysteries - The Mystery of Marriage (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Mystery of Marriage

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

The Church, my beloved brethren, is interested in all the moments of human life and blesses all the actions of man and of course also marriage, through which the family develops and life is perpetuated, but also becomes the vestibule of the Kingdom of God.

Marriage, that is, the communion of a man and a woman which results in the birth of children, was blessed twice by God. The first time was immediately after the creation of Eve. The Old Testament says that God blessed them and said: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth" (Gen. 1:28). Of course, according to the interpretation of the Fathers, God blessed the couple at that time, gave the opportunity for children to come from the couple, but this took place after the fall of the couple. The way people are born today is the fruit and result of the fall. The second time God blesses marriage is during the mystery of marriage. Precisely because the fall of Adam and Eve preceded it, for this reason marriage must pass within the Church and be blessed, because the world outside the Church is the world of the fall and decay. After all, Christ performed His first miracle at the wedding in Cana, where He blessed the water and turned it into wine, and this shows that Christ transforms biological union into a blessed relationship.

Homilies on the Holy Mysteries - The Mystery of Unction (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

 The Mystery of Unction

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

One of the ways in which the Grace of God transforms people, my beloved brethren, is the mystery of Unction, which is celebrated every Great Wednesday in the sacred church as the best preparation for the Divine Communion of Great Thursday - which is an important day because then the Secret Supper was given - but it is also performed whenever the believer wishes. For this reason the Christian sometimes invites the priest to his house. It is a sacramental act that shows the love of the Church for man.

Homilies on the Holy Mysteries - The Mystery of Repentance (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Mystery of Repentance

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

With Holy Baptism, my beloved brethren, as we saw in another sermon, the image of God in man is purified, man is restored to his former position and ascended even higher, he is united with the second Adam, Christ, and can attain deification. But because human nature has the ability to change its will and even because the devil fights man out of envy, that is why he falls into sin. Thus, our Church has established the mystery of repentance, which is also called a second baptism, because through it man is reborn.

Homilies on the Holy Mysteries - The Mystery of the Priesthood (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Mystery of the Priesthood

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

The mystery of the Priesthood, my beloved brethren, is the sacred ceremony through which special Grace is transmitted to some people to become Clergy in the Church, who are the ministers of the people for their salvation.

The Priesthood is divided into three degrees, that is, there is the Bishop who is in the type and place of Christ, there is the Presbyter, who is sent by the Bishops, as the Apostles were sent by Christ, and there is the Deacon, who helps the Bishops and the Presbyters in the performance of the Mysteries. All these three degrees have a special mission and special work within the Church. According to Saint Dionysius the Areopagite and others after him, such as Saint Maximus the Confessor, Saint Niketas Stethatos and Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite, the work of the Deacon is to help people purify their hearts from the passions, the work of the Presbyter is to help people illumine their nous, and the work of the Bishop, along with the above, is to lead people to deification.

Homilies on the Holy Mysteries - The Mystery of Chrismation (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 The Mystery of Chrismation

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Immediately after emerging from the Font, my beloved brethren, in which the Christian was baptized in the "name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit", the mystery of Chrismation takes place, that is, the priest anoints the neophyte Christian with the Holy Myrrh in the central parts of his body, saying the phrase “The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen".

This action is found in the Acts of the Apostles, since there we see that people were baptized and then the Apostles who had received the Holy Spirit from Christ put their hands on their heads, and so began to prophesy after receiving the Holy Spirit.

Homilies on the Holy Mysteries - The Church and Her Mysteries (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

The Church and Her Mysteries

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

These short sermons, my beloved brethren, which will take place during the summer months in the Sacred Temples of our Metropolis during the Divine Liturgy, as is customary, will refer to the great subject of the Mysteries of our Church and will briefly present the main points of each mystery, both to emphasize their value and to participate in them.

Today's introductory sermon will address the topic "The Church and Her Mysteries".

Homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos: The Relationship of the Panagia with Orthodox Ecclesiology (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 

Homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos: 

The Relationship of the Panagia with Orthodox Ecclesiology 

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Delivered in 2002)

The Church of Christ, my beloved brethren, is the Body of the God-man Christ. The Church of the Old Testament was spiritual and consisted of the righteous, who did not overcome death, but with the incarnation of Christ the Church became physical, that is, she was received by Christ and became His Body. And the Panagia cooperated in this, because she gave her body to Christ, who deified it and made it a Church. This alone shows the great value of our Panagia, and that this is the joy and the cause of our deification.

Therefore, when we say Church we mean the Bridegroom Christ, the Mother of the Bridegroom Christ and the friends of the Bridegroom Christ, the saints. In this society the deification of man and the sanctification of creation are achieved and of course all the great changes take place in society and the world.

"Electrifying" Your Home With the Energy of the Holy Spirit (Metr. Athanasios of Limassol)

A home without a lit oil lamp in front of icons is cold and dark, but when you have a lit oil lamp in front of your icons, you are giving yourself a physical reminder of the energy of the Holy Spirit in the home.

 

We should "electrify" our homes, to have the energy of the Holy Spirit in them, with holy icons, oil lamps, holy water, incense and our prayers.

In a home where there is blasphemies and yelling, it is natural that it will have an energy opposite to that of the energy of the Holy Spirit.

The Great Sanctification and Small Sanctification of the Waters According to St. Athanasios of Paros

By Archimandrite Sotirios N. Kosmopoulos

On the occasion of the great Despotic feast of Theophany and the celebration of the Great Sanctification Service, I would like to compare the relationship between the so-called Great Sanctification with the so-called Small Sanctification, which is performed on every other occasion, such as on the first of every month, for dedications, for houses, for workshops, etc., in order to avoid any misunderstandings, but also avoid erroneous views and customary provisions related to the comparison of the Sanctifications and their use. As a guide in this endeavor we will have one of the principal representatives of Philokalic renaissance of the 18th century from the Kollyvades Movement, namely St. Athanasios of Paros, who had addressed the issue extensively.

Prefigurations of Baptism in the Old Testament

Blessed Jerome says that “the Spirit of God above moved ... over the face of the waters [Gen. 1:2], and produced from them the infant world, a type of the Christian child that is drawn from the laver of Baptism.”1 He also observes, “When the world falls into sin, nothing but a flood of waters can cleanse it again. But as soon as the foul bird of wickedness is driven away, the dove of the Holy Spirit comes to Noah [Gen. 8:8,11 ], as it came afterwards to Christ in the Jordan [Mt. 3:16], carrying in its beak a branch betokening restoration and light, and bringing tidings of peace to the whole world.”2

Does Baptism Really Make a Person the Temple of God?

By Protopresbyter Fr. John Romanides

In Orthodox theology we do not speak about mysticism. We speak about secret theology and initiation into the mysteries. Initiation into the mysteries takes place by passing through the stages of purification, illumination and glorification. We speak of initiation by the Holy Spirit, the instruction that leads man to glorification. The purpose of all this theoria is glorification.

Anyone wanting to learn the mystery of the Church from the patristic point of view ought to find a good spiritual father, have a prayer rope and pass through the various stages of perfection, from purification to illumination. And when he reaches glorification he will know all that someone living in this world can possibly know about the Church. From the perspective of human possibilities, this is complete knowledge of what the Church is.

Christian Perfection and the Mystery of the Cross (3 of 3)

...continued from part two.

5. The Distinction Between Direct and Indirect Knowledge of God

There is also a distinction between the immediate knowledge of God and of the spiritual life of the Prophets, Apostles and Saints who partake of the power of the Cross and the Resurrection, and the mediated knowledge of the believers who partake of the energy of revelation, salvation, sanctification, illumination and theosis of the Cross and the Resurrection granted in the Sacraments through the acceptance of the eyewitness testimony of the Prophets, Apostles and Saints. Infallibility, divine inspiration and theosis in the Old and New Testaments and in the Church does not belong indiscriminately to the whole people of God. It reaches the people and dwells in them by the energy of the Holy Spirit through the Prophets, Apostles and Saints in a state of theosis as well as through the Clergy who have Apostolic Succession (i.e. the ordination and true teaching of those who are in a state of theosis in Christ). Neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament nor in the Church is there a spiritual democracy. Nor is there any order of wise theologians in a worldly sense, who have been called to their positions by themselves, and who place under the knife of criticism the teaching and catechetical method of those in a state of theosis in order to decide themselves which of the fruits of the Mystery of the Cross and the Resurrection they are going to keep, which they will throw away, and which they are going to add.

Saint Nektarios on the Seven Mysteries of the Church

THE MYSTERIES

By St. Nektarios the Wonderworker

(from his book Pastorals)

What is Baptism?

Baptism, according to Symeon of Thessaloniki, is the beginning and preparation towards appropriating God and the heavenly inheritance and a bathing of regeneration that purifies the one baptized from the pollution of sin, regenerating unto life eternal.

A Theological Analysis of the Iconography of the Theophany / Epiphany

By Hieromonk Silouan Peponakis

The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan River by John the Forerunner is also called an "epiphany". The word "Theophany" (manifestation of God) comes from the apostolic passage: "God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory (1 Tim. 3:16), and is more related to the Nativity of Christ. The word "Epiphany" (appearance) comes from the apostolic passage: "For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people" (Tit. 2:11), and refers to the Baptism of Christ, because it was then that people came to know the grace of the Godhead.

With the appearance of the Holy Trinity and the confession of the Honorable Forerunner we have the official confession that the Son and Word of God is "of the Trinity", who was incarnated for the salvation of the human race from sin, the devil and death.

It is known that in the ancient Church on this day, January 6th, the feasts of Christmas and Theophany were celebrated together. These feasts were divided in the fourth century, and Christmas was transferred to December 25th. Theophany is also called the Feast of Lights due to the baptism and illumination of catechumens as well as the display of lights.

The icon shown above is a fresco from the Sacred Church of Protaton in Karyes of the Holy Mountain, by the paintbrush of the leading artist Michael Panselinos. At the top of the icon there is a hand that blesses in glory. Below this the Holy Spirit is illustrated "like a dove" and just below this Christ is in the waters of the Jordan being baptized by John the Forerunner, who is not looking at Christ, but has his gaze in the heavens from where he hears the voice of the Father in the Holy Spirit bearing witness: "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased."

This depiction is very important, because here we have the revelation of the Holy Trinity to Saint John the Forerunner. From here we will make much reference to the book by His Eminence Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos titled The Despotic Feasts. The manifestation of the Triune God to man shows among other things that only man is an earthly initiate and worshipper of the Holy Trinity, and the only one created by the Triune God in His image. Saint Gregory Palamas teaches that animals do not have a mind and reason but an animated spirit, that is not self-subsistent, which means that when animals die they lose their spirit, since they don't have essence but only energy. However, man has a reasonable mind and a spirit that animates attached to the body, which is why he alone is in the image of the tripartite God.

Saint Gregory Palamas interprets the phrase "in Whom I am well-pleased" as how the grace of God is one, but sometimes it acts in good pleasure, since God wills it, and sometimes by concession. God knew that the fall of man would take place, and did not create him for this but separated him, because God Himself willed it for man. God does not abolish the freedom of man. So there is the will of God according to good pleasure and the will of God according to concession. With this in mind the affirmation of the Father: ""This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well-pleased" shows that the incarnation was the will of God according to good pleasure.

The testimony of God the Father for His Son shows that the Son is the "radiance of the glory of the Father", since there is a common essence and energy in the Triune God.

The appearance of the Holy Spirit "like a dove" shows us that the Holy Spirit is not a dove, but He appeared as a dove because the Holy Spirit is not created but uncreated like the other persons of the Holy Trinity. That the Holy Spirit together with the voice of the Father sat on Christ shows that the persons of the Holy Trinity are consubstantial, and it also shows that the Messiah was not Saint John the Forerunner, but Christ.

It is known that Christ had no need for baptism, since the baptism of John led people to become aware of their sins. Christ, writes Saint John of Damascus, was not baptized because He had need for purification, but "to bury human sin by water," to fulfill the Law, to reveal the mystery of the Holy Trinity, and finally, to sanctify "the nature of water" and to offer us the form and example of Baptism. Christ was baptized to crush the heads of the dragons in the water, because it was believed that demons dwell in the water. This is why we see in the icon of the Baptism water monsters that have turned their backs on Christ because of the fire of the deity. Christ was baptized to wash away sin and bury the entire old Adam in the water.

Many icons of the Baptism in conjunction with the hymnography of the feast present Christ completely naked, thus indicating how Christ humbled himself for the sake of people. He became naked that He may clothe man in an incorruptible garment.

Another main person who took part in the baptism was Saint John the Baptist. He was made worthy by God to hear the voice of the Father, and to see the Word of God and the Spirit of God. The "and behold the heavens were opened to Him" of Matthew the Evangelist, and the "he saw the heavens tear apart" of Mark the Evangelist indicate the superiority of the uncreated over the created, as well as the restoration of an "open" relationship between God and man after its "closure" due to sin.

Many things can be said based on the teachings of the Fathers of the Church regarding a theological analysis of the icon of the Baptism. My main point though is that Christ gave us each the possibility to acquire the Grace of sonship, a Theophany in our personal life.

Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi, "Επεφάνη η χάρις του Θεού η σωτήριος", December 2003. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

Holy Prophet Malachi as a Model for our Lives

Prophet Malachi (Feast Day - January 3)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

The Prophet Malachi descended from the tribe of Levi and lived in the 5th century BC. He was born after the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. His name means "my messenger" or "my angel". The Prophet Malachi worked in Jerusalem after the Prophets Haggai and Zechariah, which is concluded from the fact that the work to rebuild the Temple had been completed and the offering of sacrifices had begun.

His book was written probably between 433-400 BC and consists of four chapters and six distinct discourses. He speaks about the love of God towards His people, rebukes unbelief, reproaches the impious conduct of the priesthood of his time, and he opposes mixed marriages and divorces. The appearance of the Honorable Forerunner is heralded, who will prepare the way of Christ and prepare the people to receive Him. The coming judgement is also mentioned. He reposed in peace and was buried in the field of his ancestors.

His life and deeds gives us the opportunity to highlight the following:

First, when someone wants to offer God a gift, it should be the best, because this manifests their love and respect. Of course, God does not need our gifts, but if we want to dedicate something to Him, it should be the finest, and it would be good if it was made by our hands with effort and tastefulness. However, what God asks of us is first and foremost ourselves, of which it is said: "For I do not seek yours, but you" (2 Cor. 12:14). In other words, we are asked to offer our hearts, to make it His dwelling place and throne, which is why we must strive to purify it of the passions.

The priests of the time of the Prophet Malachi desecrated the altar of God, because they offered polluted bread as well as damaged and sick animals, which is why the Prophet conveyed to them the message of God, which is simultaneously a complaint and a call to repentance. He stresses the following remarkably: "For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have turned aside from the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction" (Mal. 2:7-8). He calls them to correct themselves, for this life is a time for repentance and a return to the path of God's commandments.

"Take heed to the purity of your spirit." "Repent and return to Me and I will be a protector to you, says the Lord of hosts." Of course, anyone who places their hope in God and remains under His protection has nothing to fear, neither crisis nor temptation, because they receive Grace and strength from God, and so they remain calm, serene, peaceful and joyful.

Today, as is well known, the gifts offered by the faithful for the realization of the bloodless sacrifice is mainly the prosphoron bread and the wine. The prosphoron should be fermented at home carefully and with prayer, and the wine should be genuine and unadulterated. Even the candles in churches should be genuine, namely, beeswax.

Second, God is the protector of orphans and widows, and generally all those who are weak in the world, and those who are unjust to them will answer to God Himself. This is emphasized many times in the Old Testament by God through the mouths of the Prophets. Through the Prophet Malachi, God warns all those who show cruelty and ruthlessness to widows and orphans, as well as employers who unfairly treat their workers, those who swear falsely in His name, and also magicians and adulterers: "And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against magicians, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away a foreigner — because they do not fear Me, says the Lord of hosts" (Mal. 3:5).

At this point it must be said that in the New Testament, Christ not only loved the "least" of this world, namely the poor and weak, but He identified Himself with them. Indeed, He associated the attitudes shown towards them with the attitudes shown towards Himself. As is known from the Gospel passage, which refers to the coming judgment, Christ praised the righteous for the love they showed for Him, when they asked Him: "When did we see You hungry and give You food? When did we see You thirsty and give You drink? When did we show You hospitality and visit You in prison?" etc., and Christ responded to them: "In as much as you did it to the least of My brethren, you did it to Me." And then he rebuked the sinners for their lack of love towards Him, and they complained that they never saw Him hungry to give Him food, or failed to give Him hospitality, etc., and Christ tells them: "In as much as you did not do it to the least of these, you did not do it to Me." And as it becomes apparent from the Gospel passage, the first will rejoice in eternity, while the second will be tormented and suffer eternally.

Love, respect and obedience to God means love, respect and obedience to the Church and her institutions. Nobody can fool around with their eternal future and especially with the divine, because God cannot be "sneered at", for it is "fearful to fall into the hands of the living God".

Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi, "Προφήτης Μαλαχίας", December 2012. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

The Story Behind the Infant That Died During Baptism

Below is an update to the story published in July 2010 titled "Death of Infant After Baptism in Moldova".

November 3, 2013

Dogma.gr

For the second time this year a video which shows the baptism of an infant that a short while later expired is circling the Greek internet causing goosebumps to anyone who sees it.

This is a video that was shot three years ago in a village in Moldova. Specifically, in July 2010, the priest Valentin Taraloungka was celebrating the baptism of an infant about a month in age.

A half hour after the baptism the baby died.

The priest appeared in court in November 2011 where he was sentenced for manslaughter with 18 months imprisonment.

Being sure that he was not the perpetrator of the death of the infant, the priest continued to claim his innocence.

At the trial that followed, having been in prison for four and a half months, the priest was acquitted.

A closer analysis of forensic findings proved that eventually the baby did not drown. The child was suffering from a lung disease unknown to the family, which was the cause of his death.

The priest was released on April 6 last year.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

A Wondrous Event That Took Place During a Divine Liturgy in 2010

The photograph above was taken during the Divine Liturgy in the Sacred Church of the Holy Trinity, at the village of Stavrodromi in Kerkini of Northern Serres on the Second Sunday of Matthew on May 24(O.S.)/June 6(N.S.), 2010.

It depicts an unexplained wonder on the Holy Diskarion, which is the golden dish the bread of the Eucharist is placed on before inserted into the Holy Chalice. This Holy Diskarion was brand new and never used before this Divine Liturgy, but after the Epiklesis prayer when the Priest supplicates God to transform the Bread and Wine into the Body and Blood of Christ, the burn mark appeared.

The burn mark indicates that tremendous heat came in contact with the Holy Diskarion from the Holy Bread as it changed into the Divine Body of Christ. This took place without any damage or burning of the Holy Gifts that were on the Holy Diskarion at the time. This is highly unusual, since the seal of the Holy Bread with the fragments can be clearly seen.

This wonder reminds one of the Unburnt Bush mentioned in the Old Testament.

St. Symeon of Thessaloniki (+ 1429) teaches that the entire Militant and Triumphant Church with Christ as its Head is represented on the Holy Diskarion when the Holy Gifts are changed into the Body of Christ during the time of the Epiklesis.

Homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos: The Theotokos and the Church (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

 Homily on the Dormition of the Theotokos: 

The Theotokos and the Church

 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

 

(Delivered in 2002) 

The Church of Christ, my beloved brethren, is the Divine-human Body of Christ. The Church of the Old Testament was spiritual and consisted of the righteous, who did not overcome death, but with the incarnation of Christ the Church became physical, that is it was recruited by Christ and became His Body. This was accomplished together with the Panagia, because she gave her body to Christ, who deified it and made it a church. This alone shows the great worth of our Panagia, and that she is the joy and cause of our deification.

Therefore, when we say Church we mean Christ the Bridegroom, the Mother of Christ the Bridegroom, and the friends of Christ the Bridegroom, the saints. Within this communion the deification of man is achieved as well as the sanctification of all creation, and of course great changes occur in society and the world.

In the sermons of the months that have past and are ahead of us, we mentioned and will refer to the Mysteries of our Church, and we saw the importance they have for our lives. There cannot be a spiritual life outside the Mysteries of our Church, especially without Holy Baptism, Holy Chrismation, and Divine Communion. But these Mysteries also involve our Panagia. The visitation of the angel at the Annunciation and the receiving of the Holy Spirit was the Baptism and Chrismation of our Panagia, because by this means she was purified according to her image and was anointed by the Holy Spirit. If we view Holy Baptism through the Orthodox perspective, not simply as a release from inherited guilt, but as the purification of the image, then we will also understand the situation of the nature of the Panagia during the Annunciation. With the conception of Christ in the womb of our Panagia one could say that the Panagia communed with Christ. The close relationship of Christ the embryo with His Mother shows that the Panagia had nine months during which she bore Christ in a constant Divine Communion. With her dormition and her bodily rise to heaven, the Panagia lived the Second Coming of Christ and the resurrection of her body.

Once we recognize the great value of the Divine Eucharist we must also view the relationship between the Panagia and the Mystery of the Divine Eucharist. The important thing is that we have the great honor, during the Divine Eucharist, to commune of the Body and Blood of Christ, but we also owe this to the Panagia, because that Body of His was received by Christ from His Mother and deified it. Within this perspective Saint Symeon the New Theologian says that those who commune of the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ commune also of the flesh of the Panagia. Even the antidron, according to one interpretation, is a blessing of our Panagia. Because the bread offered during the proskomide (offertory) recalls the Theotokos, since from the prosphoron the lamb comes out to be offered and changed into the Body of Christ, and the rest of it is offered in memory of the Panagia.

The Panagia, beloved brethren, is closely linked with Christ, which is why iconographers usually depict her holding Christ in her arms. Hence the Panagia is also linked to the Church, because just as the Church has Christ as its center, so also does the Panagia hold Christ in her arms. And just as through the Church we know Christ, so also through the Panagia we are led to love towards Christ. And just as the Church prays for our salvation, so also does the Panagia pray without ceasing for us.

We praise Christ who is our Savior and Benefactor, but we also glorify our Panagia who became the joy and cause of our regeneration. We abandon ourselves to her divinely-maternal heart and her philanthropy for all of us. We supplicate and plead to her to protect us, to strengthen us, and to intercede for us, for all of our lives, at the hour of our death, and especially during the terrible hour of the Second Coming of Christ.

"Most-Holy Theotokos, save us."

Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasi, "Θεοτόκος και Εκκλησία", July 2002. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

 

 

I Believe In God But I Don't Go To Church

By Archimandrite Paul Papadopoulos

"I believe in God but I don't go to church."

We often hear the above phrase from acquaintances, friends and relatives, so our discussion will focus a little more on spiritual matters.

The basic argument of people who say that they believe in God yet do not go to church to participate in the Mysteries of our Orthodox Church, is that they are bothered by certain things, such as the luxuriousness of churches, obnoxious priests and chanters, the language is ancient (they don't understand it), the microphones, the lights, the candle offering (where they give money for a candle), the time the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, etc.

The excuses are certainly a lot when someone DOES NOT WANT to live according to how the Church says. Unfortunately these people consider themselves outside the Church since they do not accept the basic components of the life in Christ, which is the participation of a Christian in the Mysteries of the Church. These people are not Christians, at least not Orthodox, because while they (supposedly) believe, they do not follow any word of Christ.

The issue of course is that most baptized Christians do not know who Christ is or what the Church is, and what Christ and the Church offer to people. Thus they do not attend church, because essentially they do not know what they are missing, and they do not know what the sacramental life can offer.

The Church, with all Her Mysteries, transforms us, sanctifies us, and brings us into communion with God. Our participation in the Mysteries of the Church is the key to this personal resurrection of ours.

The Church does not exist merely to take the position of medicine and exhaust all its capabilities, as some wrongly treat it. The Church exists to lead people, the faithful, to the Love, the Light and the Life in Christ through the Mysteries.

To say you believe in God is easy, but to believe in God in an Orthodox manner and to do corresponding works is difficult, though not impossible.

If a person really wants to know Christ, they can do this through the sacramental life offered by the Church. If you want to fool yourself you can claim to achieve this on your own. However, I do not know anyone that has been sanctified outside the Church. (The crazy thing is that some people consider as saints people like Elder Paisios, Elder Porphyrios, etc., yet they do not accept their lives. Twisted people!)

All this happens for just one reason: Egoism. When each person believes themselves to be a better interpreter of the Scriptures, and they believe the God-bearing Fathers of the Church are beneath them, and they believe they are smarter, more worthy and holier than the old "religionists" as they call them, and when they believe they have no need to repent of any of their sins (!), and they could be saved by themselves (whatever that means to them), then this text will probably not trouble them at all, rather it has been a long time since they fell into the abyss of self-love and delusion.

The biggest obstacle that prevents contemporary man from reaching communion with God is precisely this: they are trying to know Him the wrong way, using the wrong means, outside the Church. They dismiss the mystery of love and remain willfully grounded in a sterile faith which in a best case scenario simply means "acknowledging the existence of God" and not trusting and surrendering to Divine Providence.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos