My beloved spiritual children 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.
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ON FORGIVENESS
Let us listen to the Divine words of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on forgiveness. "Therefore I say to you, what ever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in Heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your father in heaven forgive your trespasses" (St. Mark 11:24-26).
A call to "forgive" follows the promise of nearly unlimited possibilities of faith in prayer (vv. 22-24). What can deter faith that is able to move mountains? Failure to forgive--the greatest hindrance to knowing God. Not only does unforgiveness cripple our prayers, but even the "Father in heaven" (v. 26) does not "forgive" the unforgiving. As the fig tree is rejected for bearing no fruit, so are unforgiving people rejected (see Saint John 15:1-6).
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THE HOLY FATHERS ON FORGIVENESS
Saint Kosmas Aitolos
"If a man insults me, kills my father, my mother, my brother, and then gouges out my eye, as a Christian it is my duty to forgive him. We who are pious Christians ought to offer them food and drink, and entreat God for their souls. And then we should say: "My God, I beseech Thee to forgive me, AS I HAVE FORGIVEN MY ENEMIES."
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Saint Mark the Ascetic, Homilies, 2:48
"The forgiveness of insults is a sign of True love, free from hypocrisy. For thus the Lord also loved this world."
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Saint Maximus the Confessor, Chapters on Love, 4:35
"A soul that is nurtured by hatred toward man cannot be at peace with God, Who has said: "If you forgive not men their sins, neither shall your Father forgive your sins" (St. Matthew 6:15). If a man does not want to be reconciled, you must at least guard yourself from hating, praying with a pure heart for him, and speaking no evil of him."
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Saint Silouan the Athonite
"Christ prayed for those that crucified Him: "Father, count not this sin against them; they know not what they do." Archdeacon Stephen (Stefano the Protomartyr) prayed for those who stoned him so that the Lord would not judge this sin against them. And so we, if we wish to retain grace, must pray for our enemies. If you do not find pity on a sinner who will suffer in flames, then you do not carry the grace of the Holy Spirit; and while you yet live, you must free yourself from his clutches through repentance."
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Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, Journey to Heaven:
Counsels on the Particular Duties of Every Christian
"Do we refuse to forgive? God, too, will refuse to forgive us. As we treat our neighbors, so also does God treat us. The forgiveness or unforgiveness of your sins, then, and hence also your salvation or destruction, depend on you yourself. For without forgiveness of sins there is no salvation. You can see for yourself how serious it is."
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ON PRAYER XIII: Prayer For Our Enemies
Archimandrite Sophrony, in his book about Saint Silouan the Athonite, says: "Those that hate and reject their brother are flawed in their being; they cannot find the way to God, Who loves all." This holds true. When hatred for man settles in our heart, we are not able to approach God. As long as we hold on to this feeling, the path to God is barred to us. This is why it is necessary to pray of our enemies.
"The necessity of praying for our enemies stems from the very essence of the moral teaching of Jesus Christ.
In the pre-Christian era there was a rule: 'Thou shalt love they neighbor, and hate thine enemy' (St. Matthew 5:43). The majority of people continue to live in accordance with this rule. It is natural for us to love our neighbors, those who do us good, and to treat with hostility and even hatred those who pose evil. But Christ says that our attitude should be completely different: "love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you" (St. Matthew 5:44).
Christ Himself, during His earthly life, repeatedly set an example both of love for enemies and of prayer for them. When the soldiers nailed the Lord to the Cross, He experienced frightful torments and incredible pain, but He prayed: "Father forgive them; for they know not what they do" (St. Luke 23:34). At that moment He thought not about Himself, not about the fact that these soldiers were causing Him pain, but rather about their salvation; for, by committing evil, they were first of all harming themselves.
We should remember that people who do us evil or treat us with hostility are not bad in themselves. What is bad is the sin with which they are infected. One needs to hate sin, but not its bearer: man. As Saint John Chrysostom put it: "when you see that someone is doing something evil, hate not him, but the devil, who is behind him."
One needs to learn to separate the person from the sin he commits. Priests very often observe during Confession that sin is really separate from the person who repents thereof. We should be able to turn away from the sinful image of man and remember that everyone, including our enemies and those that hate us, are created according to God's image; and it is this image of God, these rudiments of good that are in everyone, that we should scrutinize.
Why is it necessary to pray for our enemies? It is necessary not only for them, but for us as well. We should find in ourselves the strength to be reconciled with people. Archimandrite Sophrony, in his book about Saint Silouan the Athonite, says: "Those that hate and reject their brother are flowed in their being; they cannot find the way to God, who loves all." this holds true. When hatred for man settles in our heart, we are not able to approach God. As long as we hold on to this feeling, the path to God is barred to us. This is why it is necessary to pray for our enemies.
Every time we approach the Living god, we should be at absolute peace with everyone whom we perceive as our enemies. Let us remember what the Lord said: "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift" (St. Matthew 5:23-24). And also other words of the Lord: "Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him" (St. Matthew 5:25). "In the way with him" means in this earthly life." For if we do not manage to be reconciled here with those that hate and offend us, with our enemies, then we will be unreconciled in the future life. And to make up there of what is missing here will no longer be possible. (Source: Pravmir Ru) Translated from the Russian.
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Please note: Too often do I witness Orthodox Christian faithful approach the Holy Gifts, Holy Communion, to receive the Holy and Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ without first reconciling themselves with fellow Orthodox Christians who they perceive as their enemies. Others that perceive their Priest as their enemy and perhaps even have feelings of anger and hatred against him and here they are ready to receive Christ from his hands. How can this be possible? What does one who hates and is unreconciled with his enemy believe that what he/she is about to receive will bring him/her "forgiveness of sins and life eternal"? What it will bring is condemnation! It is a fire that he/she will receive and not the grace of God.
I pray that all of you will do yourselves a good thing and before you line up to receive the Holy Eucharist you will participate in the sacrament of Repentance and Confession and truly repent and reconcile with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ first. Too many believe that by abstaining from meat and dairy products is enough of a preparation to receive Holy Communion. Saint Maximos the Confessor says, "Cleanse your mind from anger, remembrance of evil, and shameful thoughts, and then you will find out how Christ dwells in you." Saint Maximos continues: "Food is not evil, but gluttony is. Childbearing is not evil, but fornication is. Money is not evil, but avarice is. Glory is not evil, but vainglory is. Indeed, there is no evil in existing things, but only in their misuse."
Every Orthodox Christian should turn to the Holy Scripture and to the holy writings of the Holy Fathers and Mothers of the Church and by the grace of God you will draw closer to our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George