Venerable Theophanes the Confessor of Sigriane
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
THE LENTEN PRAYER OF SAINT EPHRAIM THE SYRIAN
O Lord and Master of my life, Give me not a spirit of laziness, of aimless curiosity, A spirit of lust for power over others and of vain talk. (Prostration). Rather, grace me, Your servant, With the Spirit of purity, humility, patience and love. (Prostration). Yes, O Lord King, Grant me discernment to see my own faults, And not to judge and condemn my fellow human beings. (Prostration) For You are Blessed unto the ages of ages. Amen.
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FROM THE GERONTIKON
"A holy and clairvoyant Bishop, while giving Holy Communion to the faithful, saw the following striking thing after the Holy Mystagogy: Some of those who approached were of black countenance, as though their faces were covered with soot; others were red-faced, as though on fire, and their eyes bloodshot. All of these, as soon as they communed of the Master's Body, were immediately, thereafter, as though set afire and in flames. In contrast to this, all of those whom he saw approach with bright countenance and arrayed in white--these, on partaking of the Body of the Lord, took on light and were made even brighter, being rendered wholly pure. Among these were both laymen and monastics. After the dismissal of the Liturgy, the Bishop asked of God to reveal to him the meaning of all that he had seen, as well as the reason for the different states of those who came forward to commune.
God sent him an Angel, who said to him: 'You are inquiring about what you saw? Note, then, that those who have bright faces and white garments are those who live with prudence, with righteousness, and in purity. As well, they are those who are lenient, sympathetic, and merciful. Thus, all of these, since they commune with a pure conscience, shine from partaking of the Holy Things and become even brighter. Those whose faces are darkened have committed immoral acts and are licentious, living consistently in prodigality and amidst worldly clamor. And the ones whom you see with red faces and bloodshot eyes, these are those who take pleasure in constant immorality and unrighteousness, who mock and deride others, who are blasphemers, who are wily, and who are murderous. All of them, even though they partake of the Master's Body, are not only not purified thereby, but are assuredly burned, since, despite a soiled and unclean conscience, they dare shamelessly to commune.'"
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TODAY'S SYNAXARION (THE COMMEMORATION OF THE TODAY'S SAINTS):
On March 12th Our Holy Orthodox Christian Church commemorates, honors and entreats the holy intercessions of the following Saints, Forefathers, Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Preachers, Evangelists, Martyrs, Confessors, Ascetics, Teachers and every righteous spirit made perfect in faith: Saint Theophanes of Sigriane, the Confessor; Saint Gregory the Great, Pope of Rome; on this day the just Phineas, grandson of Aaron the Priest; God-bearing Father Symeon the New Theologian; Holy Nine Martyrs were perfected in martyrdom by fire; Holy Martyr Maximilian of Thevaste in Numidia; Saint Demetios the self-sacrificing, king of Georgia, who suffered martyrdom in the year 1289.
+By the holy intercessions of Your Saints, Holy Martyrs, Holy Confessors, Holy Theologians, Holy Kings, Holy Bishops, Holy Mothers, Holy Fathers, Holy Ascetics, O Christ Our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
TODAY'S SACRED SCRIPTURAL READINGS ARE THE FOLLOWING:
Orthros (Matins) Old Testament: Isaiah 5:16-25
Esperinos (Vespers) Old Testament 1: Genesis 4:16-26
Esperinos (Vespers) Old Testament 2: Proverbs 5:15-6:3
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THE SPIRITUAL STRUGGLE OF THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN
Every Orthodox Christian will eventually come across the Greek word "αγώνας" (agonas). The word itself has been defined in the Church as "spiritual struggle". Like so many things in the Holy Orthodox Christian faith, in practicing it, we understand it within our hearts and sous, even though we cannot always explain it. In performing our personal agona, we find it as a means of drawing closer to our Savior Jesus Christ as we travel along the path of salvation.
We bear the wounds of sin in our bodies which drags us down to the earth like a magnet, yet our soul longs to ascend to the heights. As human, composed of body and soul, we find the two opposing each other. Even Saint Paul, writes: "I cannot understand my own behavior. I fail to carry out the things I want to do, and I find myself doing the very things I hate...for though the will to do what is good in me, the performance is not, with the result that instead of doing the good things I want to do, I carry out the sinful things I do not want." (Romans 7:15)
As Orthodox Christians, we believe that we must work toward purification, illumination, theosis (deification). The first step of purifying ourselves from the passions, from all which draws us away from the Almighty God and shackles us from ascending to the heights, employs the use of agona (struggle).
Saint Theophan the Recluse defines our total Christian life as αγώνας (struggle). He says that the spirit hates sin, while the flesh dwells in it. How is this battle within ourselves to be won? Through αγώνα (spiritual struggle) of bringing the soul into mastery over the body.
According to Saint Theophan "all the Saints accept the only true path to virtue to be pain and hard work...lightness and ease are a sign of a false path. Anyone who is not struggling, not in an agona , is in spiritual delusion" (The Path to Salvation).
Our Lord Jesus Christ said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." (St. Matthew 16:24). Saint Innocent of Alaska, in his book, Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven, writes clearly that the way which leads to the Kingdom of Heaven is precisely to deny oneself, take up the cross, and follow Christ. He continues by saying, "to deny oneself means to give up one's bad habits, to root out of the heart all that ties us to the world...there are external and internal crosses. To take up one's cross means not only to bear crosses laid on us by others or sent by Divine Providence, but...even to lay crosses upon oneself and bear them." It is far more than giving up smoking or chocolate for Lent.
This is the genuine αγώνας (spiritual struggle).
Saint Basil the Great warns us as follows:
"Be attentive to yourself (Deut. 15:9). That is, observe yourself carefully from every side. Let the eye of your soul be sleepless to guard you. You walk in the midst of snares (cf. Sirach 9:13). Hidden traps have been set by the enemy (Satan) in many places. Therefore observe everything that you may be saved like a gazelle from traps and like a bird from snares" (Prov. 6:5).
The Orthodox faithful's task is not to simply engage in self-examination for the purpose of self-contentment, but to struggle against the forces of evil, engaging in spiritual warfare as the Holy Apostle Paul frequently says. How often do we think about the self-sacrifice demanded of us for our salvation, or our true aim to be united with Christ in eternal life? Instead, in many ways, we are told over and over to forget the archaic ideas the Church teaches, but to think for ourselves and get rid of these outdated foolish concepts the Church says are Truths.
The spiritual struggle (αγώνας) is real. It is central to our Christian teachings. We need to refocus our vision from the pleasures of this world to God's Kingdom and economy. Jesus Himself clearly made known to us to "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness, and all these things be added unto you" (St. Matthew 6:33).
Saint John Chrysostom writes:
"[The Lord] came to do away with the old things, and to call us to a greater country, therefore he does all, to deliver us from things unnecessary, and from our affection of the earth. For this cause He mentioned the heathens also saying that the Gentiles seek after these things (St. Matthew 6:32)--they whose whole labor is for the present life, who have no regard for the things to come, or any thought of heaven. But to you the chief things are not these which are present, but other than these. For we were not born for this end, that we should eat and drink and be clothed, but that we might please God, and attain unto the good things to come. Therefore as things here are secondary in our labor, so also in our prayer let them be secondary. Therefore He also said, 'Seek the Kingdom of Heaven and all these things shall be added to you.'"
"If we are to struggle authentically toward our sanctification and redemption, this orientation toward and into the Kingdom must become paramount in us. Every act must be considered from the perspective of that future life and its attainment. When we do not act in such a way, we reduce our choices and our behavior to the limited perspective of this brief sojourn. Rather than see the context of our behavior, actions, and decisions as the eternal life of God's abiding Kingdom, we see it as the short span of this life, and adjust or whole vision and world view accordingly."
Saint Innocent of Alaska wrote: "Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to this earth in order to return to us our lost capacity to spend eternity in the blissful presence of God. He revealed to people that all their evil lies in sin and that no one through their own efforts can overcome the evil within themselves and attain communion with God. Sin, ingrained in our nature since the fall, stands between us and God like a high wall. If the Son of God had not descended to us through His mercy for us, had not taken on our human nature, and had not by His death conquered sin, all mankind would have perished forever! Now, thanks to Him, those who wish to cleanse themselves from evil can do so and return to God and obtain eternal bliss in the Kingdom of Heaven."
What use is it to be called Christians, yet not truly be Christians? It is not the name of Christian that shows the authentic Christian, but the spiritual struggle {αγώνας) against the flesh and against every sin and all passions. Thus the "flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh." As one renewed, an Orthodox Christian should live not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, and should subjugate the flesh to the spirit, according to the Apostolic injunction, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16). And this is to "crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24). "Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof" (Romans 13:14). "Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11). "Walk in the newness of life" (Romans 6:4). Let us not allow sin to reign in us, but let us live for Christ "Who died for us, and arose again" (2 Corinthians 5:15).
Beloved in Christ, let us see whether we have this warfare, whether we take part in this saving struggle, whether we walk in the newness of life, whether we oppose the inclinations and passions of the flesh, and whether we do not allow sin to reign over us and to rule us. For only those who have "crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" are true Christians.
With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George