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.
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PRAYERS FOR THE SICK
Priest: Let us pray to the Lord
People: Lord have mercy.
O Lord Almighty, the Healer of our souls and bodies, You Who put down and raise up, Who chastise and heal also; do You now, in Your great mercy, visit our brother (sister) (Name), who is sick. Stretch forth Your hand that is full of healing and health, and get him (her) up from his (her) bed, and cure him (her) of his (her) illness. Put away from him (her) the spirit of disease and of every malady, pain, and fever to which he (she) is bound; and if he (she) has sins and transgressions, grant to him (her) remission and forgiveness, in that You love mankind; yes, Lord my God, pity Your creation, through the compassions of Your Only-Begotten Son, together with Your All-Holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit, with Whom You are blessed, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
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Priest: Let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord have mercy.
O Lord our God, Who by word alone did heal all diseases, Who did cure the kinswoman of Peter, You Who chastise with pity and heal according to Your goodness; Who are able to put aside every malady and infirmity, do You Yourself, the same Lord, grant aid to this Your servant (Name) and cure him (her) of every sickness of which he (she) is grieved; lift him (her) up form his (her) up from his (her) bed of pain, and send down upon him (her) health and complete recovery; for You are the Physician of our souls and bodies, and to You do we send up Glory: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
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SICKNESS, SUFFERING, AND DEATH
Suffering
There is no life in this world without suffering. The cessation of suffering comes only in the Kingdom of God.
There are generally three sources of suffering in this world: suffering from persecution of others in body and soul, suffering from sickness and disease, and suffering in spirit because of the sins of the world. There are only two possible ways to deal with such sufferings. Either one humbly accepts them and transforms them into the way of salvation for oneself and others; or one is defeated by them with rebellion and rejection, and so "curses God and dies" both physically and for eternity in the age to come (cf. Job 2:9-10).
We have seen already that "all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (1 Timothy 3:12); and that Christians should "count it all joy" when they "meet various trials" (James 1:2), "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for His Name" (Acts 5:41).
We have also seen that those who suffer through sickness and disease with every virtue of Christ will receive "sufficient grace" from God to be strong in the Lord in their bodily weakness, and so direct their sufferings "not unto death" but to the "glory of God" (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, John 11:4).
"Since therefore Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of time in the flesh no longer by human passions, but by the will of God" (1 Peter 4:1-2).
The spiritual person, when suffering in the flesh, uses his afflictions to be set free from sin, and to be made "perfect through suffering" like Jesus Himself (Hebrews 2:10). He knows that as his "outer nature is wasting away" he is being born into the Kingdom of God if he suffers in and with Jesus the Lord.
In a very real sense the most grievous suffering of all is not in the flesh but the spirit. This is the suffering that torments the soul when, by the grace of God and in the Light of Christ, the spiritual person sees the utter futility, ugliness, and pettiness of sin which is destroying men made in the image of God. According to one great theologian of the Church, this suffering was the most grievous of all for the Lord Jesus Himself (cf. Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitskii, 20th century, The Dogma of Redemption).
The spiritual person, according to the measure of grace given by God, participates spiritually in the agony of Christ. It is the greatest suffering of the Saints, infinitely more unbearable than any external persecution or bodily disease. It is the torment of the soul over the utter foolishness of sin. It is the agony of love over those who are perishing. It was in such straightness of soul that the Apostle Paul could exclaim: "...I have great sorrow and anguish in my heart, for I wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen by race" (Romans 9:3).
The ultimate form of all suffering which leads to salvation is compassionate love for all that is perishing through the ridiculous foolishness of sin. Christ suffered from such love to the full and unlimited extension of His Divinity. And each person suffers it as well to the extent that he or she is deified in Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit. (Source: Orthodox Church in America)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George