The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God (Part II)

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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THE VENERATION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD (Part II)

By Saint John Maximovitch

The Virgin Mary, having given Herself up to God, even though She repulsed from Herself every impulse to sin, still felt the weakness of human nature more powerfully than others and ardently desired the coming of the Savior. In Her humility, She considered Herself unworthy to be even the servant-girl of the Virgin Who was to give Him birth. So that nothing might distract Her from prayer and heedfulness to Herself, Mary gave to God a vow not to become married, in order to please only Him Her whole life long. Being betrothed to the elderly Joseph when Her age no longer allowed Her to remain in the Temple, She settled in his house in Nazareth. Here the Virgin was vouchsafed the coming of the Archangel Gabriel, who brought Her the good tidings of the birth from Her of the Son of the Most High. "Hail, Thou that art full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women...The Holy Spirit shall come upon Thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow Thee: wherefore also that which is to be born shall be holy, and shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:2835).

Mary received the Angelic good tidings humbly and submissively. "Then the Word/Logos, in a way known to Himself, descended and, as He Himself willed, came and entered into Mary and abode in Her" (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, "Praise of the Mother of God"). "As lightning illumines what is hidden, so also Christ purifies what is hidden in the nature of things. He purified the Virgin also and then was born, so as to show that where Christ is, there is manifest purity in all its power. He purified the Virgin, having prepared her by the Holy Spirit, and then the womb, having become pure, conceived Him. He purified the Virgin while She was inviolate; wherefore, having been born, He left her virgin. I do not say that Mary became immortal, but that being illuminated by Grace, she was not disturbed by sinful desires" (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Homily against Heretics, 41). "The Light abode in Her, cleansed Her mind, made Her thoughts pure, made chaste Her concerns, sanctified Her virginity" (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, "Mary and Eve"). "One Who was pure according to human understanding, He made pure by grace" (Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, "Exposition of the Teaching of the Orthodox Church on the Mother of God.").

Mary told no one of the appearance of the Angel, but the Angel himself revealed to Joseph concerning Mary's miraculous conception from the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18-25); and after the Nativity of Christ, with a multitude of the heavenly host, he announced it to the shepherd. The shepherds, coming to worship the newborn One, said that they had heard of Him. Having previously endured suspicion in silence, Mary now also listened in silence and "kept in Her heart" the saying concerning the greatness of Her Son (Luke 2:8-19). She heard forty days later Symeon's prayer of praise and the prophecy concerning the weapon which would pierce Her soul. Later She saw how Jesus advanced in wisdom; She heard Him at the age of twelve teaching in the Temple, and everything She "kept in Her heart" (Luke 2:21-51).

Even though full of Grace, She did not yet fully understand in what the service and the greatness of Her Son would consist. The Hebrew conceptions of the Messiah were still close to Her, and natural feelings forced her to be concerned for Him, preserving Him from labors and dangers which it might seem, were excessive. Therefore She favored Her Son involuntarily at first, which evoked His indication of the superiority of spiritual to bodily kinship (Matthew 12:46-49). "He had concern also over the honor of His Mother, but much more over the salvation of Her soul and the good of men, for which He had become clothed in the flesh" (Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary on John, Homily 21). Mary understood this and "heard the word of God and kept it" (Luke 11:27-28). As no other person, She had the same feelings as Christ (Phil.2:5), Unmurmuringly bearing the grief of a mother when She saw Her Son persecuted and suffering. Rejoicing in the day of the Resurrection, on the day of Pentecost She was clothed with "power from on high" (Luke 24:49). The Holy Spirit Who descended upon Her "taught (Her) all things" (John 14:26), and instructed (Her) in all truth" (John 16:13). Being enlightened, She had heard from Her Son and Redeemer, so as to ascend to Him and to be with Him.

The end of the earthly life of the Most Holy Mother of God was the beginning of Her greatness. "Being adorned with Divine glory" (Irmos of the Canon of the Dormition), She stands and will stand, both in the day of the Last Judgment and in the future age, at the right hand of the Throne of Her Son. She reigns with Him and has boldness towards Him, as one Who performed the will of God and instructed others (Matthew 5:19). Merciful and full of love, She manifests Her love toward Her Son and God in love for the human race. She intercedes for it before the merciful One, and going about the earth, She helps men.

Having experienced all the difficulties of earthly life, the Intercessor of the Christian race sees every tear, hears every groan and entreaty directed to Her. Especially near to Her are those who labor in the battle with the passions and are zealous for a God-pleasing life. But even in worldly cares, She is an irreplaceable helper. "Joy for all who sorrow and intercessor for the offended, feeder of the hungry, consolation of travelers, harbor of the storm-tossed, visitation of the sick, protection and intercessor for the infirm, staff of old age. Thou art the Mother of God on high, O most pure one" (Sticheron of the Service of the Hodigitria). "The hope and intercession and refuge of Christians," "The Mother of God unceasing in prayers" (Kontakion of the Dormition), "saving the world by Thine unceasing prayers" (Theotokion of the Third Tone). "She day and night doth pray for us, and the scepters of kingdoms are confirmed by Her prayers" (daily Midnight Service).

There is no intellect or words to express the Greatness of Her Who was born in the sinful human race but became "more honorable than the Cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim." "Seeing the grace of the secret mysteries of God made manifest and clearly fulfilled in the Virgin, I rejoice and I know not how to understand the strange and secret manner whereby the Undefiled has been revealed as alone chosen above all creation, visible and spiritual. Therefore, wishing to praise Her I am struck dumb with amazement in both mind and speech. Yet still, I dare to proclaim and magnify Her: She is indeed the Heavenly Tabernacle" (Ikos of the Entry into the Temple). "Every tongue is at a loss to praise Thee as is due; even a spirit from the world above is filled with dizziness when it seeks to sing Thy praises, O Theotokos. But since Thou art good, accept our faith. Thou knowest well our love inspired by God, for Thou are the Protector of Christians, and we magnify Thee" (Irmos of the 9th Canticle, Service of the Theophany). (Source: The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God by Saint John Maximovitch)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Soul After Death According to the Orthodox Church

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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THE SOUL AFTER DEATH
By Father Serpaphim Rose of blessed memory.

Summary of the Orthodox Teaching on the Fate of the Soul After Death

This summary consists of an article written a year before his death by one of the last great Russian Orthodox theologians of our times, Archbishop John Maximovitch.

LIFE AFTER DEATH
By Saint John Maximovitch

"I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the age to come" (Nicene Creed).

"Limitless and without consolation would have been our sorrow for close ones who are dying, if the Lord had not given us eternal life. Our life would be pointless if it ended with death. What benefit would there then be from virtue and good deeds? Then they would be correct who say: 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!' But man was created for immortality, and by His resurrection Christ opened the gates of the Heavenly Kingdom, of eternal blessedness for those who have believed I Him and have lived righteously. Our earthly life is a preparation for the future life, and this preparation ends with our death. "It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Then a man leaves all his earthly cares; the body disintegrates, in order to rise anew at the General Resurrection."

But his soul continues to live, and not for an instant does it cease its existence. By many manifestations of the dead it has been given us to know in part what occurs to the soul when it leaves the body. When the vision of its bodily eyes ceases, its spiritual vision begins...

"...Saint Abba (Father) Dorotheos, the 6th-monastic Father of Gaza, summarizes the teaching of the early Holy Fathers on this subject: "For as the Holy Fathers tell us, the souls of the dead remember everything that happened here--thoughts, words, desires--and nothing can be forgotten. But, as it says in the Psalm, "In that day all their thoughts shall perish" (Psalm 145:4). The thoughts he speaks of are those of this world, about houses and possessions, parents and children, and business transactions. All these things are destroyed immediately when the soul passes out of the body...But what he did against virtue or against his evil passions, he remembers, and nothing is lost...In fact, the soul loses nothing that it did in this world but remembers everything at its exit from this body more clearly and distinctly once freed from the earthiness of the body."

The great 5th-century monastic Holy Father, Saint John Cassian, sets forth quite clearly the active state of the soul after death of the body, in answer to the early heretics who believed the soul was unconscious after death:

"Souls after the separation from this body are not idle, do not remain without consciousness; this is proved by the Gospel Parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:22-28)...The souls of the dead not only do not lose their consciousness, they do not even lose their dispositions--that is, hope and fear, joy and grief, and something of that which they expect for themselves at the Universal Judgment they begin already to foretaste....They become yet more alive and more zealously cling to the glorification of God. And truly, if we were to reason on the basis of the testimony of Sacred Scripture concerning the nature of the soul, in the measure of our understanding, would it not be, I will not say extreme stupidity, but at least folly, to suspect even in the least that the most precious part of man (that is, the soul), in which, according to the blessed Apostle, the image and likeness of God is contained (1 Corinthians 11:7; Col. 3:10), after putting off this fleshly coarseness in which it finds itself in the present life, should become unconscious--that part which, containing in itself the whole power of reason, makes sensitive by its presence even the dumb and unconscious matter of the flesh? Therefore it follows, and the nature of reason itself demands, that the spirit after casting off this fleshy coarseness by which now it is weakened, should bring its mental powers into a better condition, should restore them as pure and more refined, but should not be deprived of them."

"But when it leaves the body, the soul finds itself among other spirits, good and evil. Usually it inclines toward those which are more akin to it in spirit, and if while in the body it was under the influence of certain ones, it will remain in dependence upon them when it leaves the body, however unpleasant they may turn out to be upon encountering them."

The First Two Days after Death

"For the course of two days the soul enjoys relative freedom and can visit places on earth which were dear to it, but on the third day it moves into other spheres."

Here Saint John simply repeats the teaching known to the Church since the 4th century, when the Angel who accompanied Saint Macarius of Alexandria in the desert told him, in explaining the Church's commemoration of the dead on the third day after death" "When an offering is made in church on the third day after death, the soul of the departed receives from its Guardian Angel relief from the sorrow it feels as a result of the separation from the body...In the course of the two days the soul is permitted to roam the earth, wherever it wills, in the company of the Angels that are with it. Therefore the soul, loving the body, sometimes wanders about the house in which its body had been laid out, and thus spends two days like a bird seeking its nest. But the virtuous soul goes about those places in which it was wont to do good deeds. On the third, He Who Himself rose from the dead on the third day commands the Christian's soul, in imitation of His Resurrection, to ascend to the heavens to worship the god of all."

The Ninth Day after Death

Saint Macarius of Alexandria, the Church's special commemoration of the departed on the ninth day after death (apart from the general symbolism of the nine ranks of Angels) occurs because up to then the soul is shown the beauties of Paradise, and only after this, for the remainder of the forty days, is it shown the torments and horrors of hell, before being assigned on the fortieth day to the place where it will await the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment. These numbers, once again, constitute a general rule, or "model" of after-death reality, and undoubtedly not all the departed complete their course precisely according to the "rule." We do know that Theodora, in fact, completed her "tour of hell" just on the 40th day--as a time is measured on earth" (Eternal Mysteries, pp. 83-84).

The State of Souls until the Last Judgment

"Some souls find themselves (after the 40 days) in a condition of foretasting eternal joy and blessedness, and others in fear of the eternal tortures which will come in full after the Last Judgment. Until then changes are still possible in the condition of souls, especially through offering for the bloodless sacrifice (commemoration at the Divine Liturgy), and likewise by other prayers."

The Church's teaching on the state of souls in heaven and hell before the Last Judgment is set forth in detail in the words of Saint Mark of Ephesus.

The benefits of prayer, both public and private, for the souls in hell have been described in many Lives of Saints and ascetics and in Patristic writings. In the life of the third-century Martyr Perpetua, for example, the fate of her brother Dimocrates was revealed to her in the image of a cistern filled with water which was too high for him to reach in the filthy, intensely hot place where he was confined. Through her intense prayer for a whole day and night the cistern was made accessible to him and she saw him in a bright place. By this she understood that he had been released from punishment.

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Please note: I am bringing this to your attention because recently some of our parishioners who lost loved ones wanted to know what happens to the souls of our departed brothers and sisters after death according to our Holy Orthodox Church.

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God

Icon of the Mother of God of Shui

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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THE ORTHODOX VENERATION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD
By Saint John Maximovitch

From apostolic times and to our days all who truly love Christ give veneration to Her Who gave birth to Him, raised Him, and protected Him in the days of His youth. If God the Father chose Her, God the Holy Spirit descended upon Her, and God the Son dwelt in Her, submitted to Her, and God the Son dwelt in Her, submitted to Her in the days of His youth, was concerned for Her when hanging on the Cross--then should not everyone who confesses the Holy Trinity venerate Her?

Still in the days of Her earthly life the friends of Christ, the Holy Apostles, manifested a great concern and devotion for the Mother of the Lord, especially the Evangelist John the Theologian, who, fulfilling the will of the Her Divine Son, took Her to himself and took care for Her as for a mother from the time when the Lord uttered to him from the Cross the words: "Behold thy mother."

The Evangelist Luke painted a number of icons (images) of Her, some together with the Pre-eternal Child, others without Him. When he brought them and showed them to the Most Holy Virgin, She approved them and said: "The grace of My Son shall be with them," and repeated the hymn She had once sung in the house of Elizabeth: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and My spirit hath rejoiced in God My Savior."

However, the Virgin Mary during Her earthly life avoided the glory which belonged to Her as the Mother of the Lord. She preferred to live in quiet and prepare Herself for the departure into eternal life. To the last day of Her earthly life She took care to prove worthy of the Kingdom of Her Son, and before death She prayed that He might deliver Her soul from the malicious spirits that meet human souls on the way to Heaven and strive to seize them so as to take them away with them to Hades. The Lord fulfilled the prayer of His Mother and in the hour of Her death Himself came from heaven with a multitude of Angels to receive Her soul.

Since the Mother of God had also prayed that She might bid farewell to the Holy Apostles, the Lord gathered for Her death all the Apostles, except Thomas, and they were brought by an invisible power on that day to Jerusalem from all the ends of the inhabited world, where they were preaching, and they were present at Her blessed translation (metastasis) into eternal life.

The Apostles gave Her most pure body over to burial with sacred hymns, and on the third day they opened the tomb so as once more to venerate the remains of the Mother of God together with the Apostle Thomas, who had arrive then in Jerusalem. But they did not find the body in the tomb and in perplexity they returned to their own place; and then, during their meal, the Mother of God Herself appeared to them in the air, shining with heavenly Light, and informed them that Her Son had glorified Her body also, and She, resurrected, stood before His Throne. At the same time, She promised to be with them always.

The Apostles greeted the Mother of God with great joy and began to venerate Her not only as the Mother of their beloved Teacher and Lord, but also as their heavenly helper, as a protector of Christians and intercessor for the whole human race before the Righteous Judge. And everywhere the Gospel of Christ was preached, His Most Pure Mother also began to be glorified.

The Orthodox Church teaches about the Mother of God that which Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture have informed concerning Her, and daily it glorifies Her in its temples, asking Her help and defense. Knowing that She is pleased only by those praises which correspond to Her actual glory, the Holy Fathers and hymn-writers have entreated Her and Her Son to teach them how to hymn Her. "Set a rampart about my mind, O my Christ, for I make bold to sing the praise of Thy pure Mother" (Ikos of the Dormition). "The Church teaches that Christ was truly born of Mary the Ever-Virgin" (Saint Epiphanius, "True Word Concerning the Faith"). "It is essential for us to confess that the Holy Ever-Virgin Mary is actually Theotokos (Birthgiver of God), so as not to fall into blasphemy. For those who deny that the Holy Virgin is actually Theotokos are no longer believers, but disciples of the Pharisees and Saducees" (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, "To John the Monk").

From Holy Tradition it is known that Mary was the daughter of the aged Joachim and Anna, and that Joachim descended from the royal line of David, and Anna from the priestly line. Notwithstanding such a noble origin, they were poor. However, it was not this that saddened these righteous ones, but rather the fact that they did not have children and could not hope that their descendants would see the Messiah. And behold, when once, being disdained by the Hebrews for their barrenness, the both in grief of soul were offering up prayers to God--Joachim on a mountain to which he had retired after the priest did not want to offer his sacrifice in the Temple, and Anna in her own garden weeping over her barrenness--there appeared to them an Angel who informed them that they would bring forth a daughter. Overjoyed, they promised to consecrate their child to God.

In nine months a daughter was born to them, called Mary, Who from Her early childhood manifested the best qualities of soul. When She was three years old, Her parents, fulfilling their promise, solemnly led the little Mary to the Temple of Jerusalem; She Herself ascended the high steps and, by revelation from God, She was led into the very Holy of Holies, by the High Priest who met Her, taking with Her the grace of God which rested upon Her into the Temple, which until then had been without grace, (see the Temple into which the glory of God had not descended as it had upon the Ark or upon the Temple of Solomon.) She was settled in the quarters for virgins which existed in the Temple, but She spend so much time in prayer in the Holy of Holies that one might say that She lived in it (Service to the Entry, second sticheron on "Lord, I have cried," and the "Glory, Both now..."). Being adorned with all virtues, She manifested an example of extraordinary pure life. Being submissive and obedient to all, She offended no one, said no crude word to anyone, was friendly to all, and did not allow any unclean thought (Abridged from Saint Ambrose of Milan, "Concerning the Ever-Virginity of the Virgin Mary").

"Despite the righteousness and the immaculateness of the life which the Mother of God led, "sin and eternal death" manifested their presence in Her. They could not but be manifested: Such is the precise and faithful teaching of the Orthodox Church concerning the Mother of God with relation to original (ancestral) sin and death" (Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, "Exposition of the Teaching of the Orthodox Church on the Mother of God"). "A stranger to any fall into sin" (Saint Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on the 118th Psalm), She was not a stranger to sinful temptations. "God alone is without sin" (Saint Ambrose, same source), while man will always have in himself something yet needing correction and perfection in order to fulfill the commandment of God: "Be ye holy as I the Lord your God am Holy" (Leviticus 19:2). The more pure and perfect one is, the more he notices his imperfections and considers himself all the more unworthy.

[To be continued]

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Fast and Feastday of the Holy Dormition (Koimisis) of the Holy Theotokos (August 1-15)

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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THE FEAST AND FAST OF THE HOLY DORMITION (KOIMISIS) OF THE THEOTOKOS - August 1-15th.

Apolytikion (Dismissal) of the feast.

In giving birth thou didst preserve thy virginity; in thy dormition thou didst not forsake the world, O Theotokos. Thou wast translated (metastasis) unto life, since thou art the Mother of Life, and by thine intercessions does thou redeem our souls from death.

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The Annunciation of the Theotokos

Today is the fountainhead of our salvation and the manifestation of the mystery which was from eternity. The Son of God becometh the Virgin's Son and Gabriel proclaimeth the good tidings of grace; for the cause, we also, cry to the Mother of God with him: Rejoice, thou who art full of grace; the Lord is with thee.

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The Entry of the Theotokos

Today is the prelude of God's good will and the heralding of the salvation of mankind. In the temple of God, the Virgin is presented openly, and she proclaimeth Christ unto all. To her, then, with a great voice let us cry aloud: Rejoice, O thou fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation.

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The Nativity of the Theotokos

Thy nativity, O Theotokos, hath proclaimed joy to the world, for from thee hath dawned the Sun of Righteousness, Christ our God, annulling the curse, and bestowing the blessing, abolishing death and granting us life everlasting.

The Theotokos, the Ever-Virgin Mary, was "blessed among women," and She was chosen "to bear the Savior of our souls." The Holy Orthodox Christian Church believes her to be the Queen of Heaven and of all the Saints and Angels of God.

Knowing that she is eternally present at the Throne of God interceding for all of mankind, we pray for her forgiveness, love, guidance, and protection. Every year the Orthodox Church sets aside the first 15 days of August in honor of the Mother of God and her translation (metastasis) into heaven.  

In preparation for this Great and Solemn Feast of the Mother of God, we, Orthodox Christians throughout the world, we observe a two week period of fasting from August 1-14th.

The traditional guidelines of the Koimisis (Dormition) Fast are as follows:

Weekdays are strict fast days. On these days we abstain from meat, dairy, fish with a backbone, fowl, wine, and olive oil.

Saturdays and Sundays - are Wine and Olive Oil Days. On these days the fast is relaxed to permit Wine and Oil, but we still abstain from meat, dairy, fish with a backbone, and fowl.

The one exception to these general fasting rules is the Great and Holy Feast of the Holy Transfiguration (Metamorphosis) of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ (August 6th) which always falls during the Koimsis (Dormition) Fast. On this day we break the fast by eating fish, wine, and oil.

On a spiritual level, Orthodox Christian believers are encouraged to also participate in the Mysterion (Sacrament) of Repentance and Confession. Also, during this time when the Paraklesis (Supplication) services are conducted daily, the names of your Orthodox family members are given to the priest to read and pray for health, guidance, forgiveness, and health.

On the evening of Friday, August 14th: Great Vespers, Blessing of the Loaves (Artoklasia), and the Engomia (lamentation hymns chanted) to the Theotokos and the procession with the Epitaphion of the Ever-Virgin Mary around her Chapel. On the Feast of Koimisis the next day, Saturday, August 15th the Divine Liturgy will be 9:00 a.m. Orthros (Matins) and Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. at the Chapel. On Sunday, August 16th the Divine Liturgy at Saint Andrew the same time.

Please note:  

1. Meals for the fast should follow the dietary restrictions and be cooked simply. Portions should be smaller than usual.

2. If anyone has a medical condition that requires you to relax the fasting guidelines, then don't hesitate to do so.

3. Women that are pregnant are not expected to fast. Generally speaking, children and the elderly (65 +) are allowed to relax the fast under the guidance and advice of their spiritual father.

The divine service of the Paraklesis will be conducted in the evening (7:00 p.m.) both at Saint Andrew and at the Holy Dormition of the Theotokos Chapel in New Carlisle throughout the Fast. Please consult the church bulletin or call the office.

KALO KAI EVLOGEMENO THEKAPENTAVGOUSTO - MAY WE HAVE A GOOD AND BLESSED FIFTEEN DAYS OF AUGUST.

In Christ's Divine Ministry,

+Father George

How and How Much to Pray

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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HOW AND HOW MUCH TO PRAY
[Source: "Watchfulness and Prayer: Themes from the Philokalia No. 1."]

We know people who can walk in the midst of noise and the crowds of Athens, who can walk through Omonoia Square (center of Athens, Greece) and the most central streets of the capital with their mind undistracted, free, surrendered to unceasing prayer. This means that the prayer has brought about in their souls the Divine attraction of Christ, the sacred magnetism of Heaven and Heavenly life.

Nikitas Stithatos writes: "He who succeeds in attaining real prayer and floods his being with the love of Christ, does not become a prisoner to his emotions nor does he become attached to anything." [Saint Nikitas Stithatos was the disciple and biographer of Saint Symeon the New Theologian; he is far less well known to us than Saint Symeon the New Theologian himself.]

 "My brother, pray with simplicity and peace, calmly and plainly, like the gentle breeze, like your breath." Only concentrate all your emotions all your will around the Holy Name of the Lord. Let His Holy Name penetrate your soul like a drop of oil saturates a cloth. Surrender all your being and lock it inside His Name.

Yet you will never soften your soul, you will not make it fruitful, fertile, "good soil" (Matthew 13:8), until you teach it to cry and mourn, and be contrite before the Cross of the Lord for its sinfulness and for the sins of the whole world, in which it feels it has a share.

Even today there are ascetics, who weep with a universal, life-long lament as they pray for the evil of the world. Once in a while, before you begin, or during prayer, during a break, and also after fatigue, open the Holy Scripture and take delight in its Divine meadows. You will find "green pastures to 'lie down' " (Psalm 23:2); you will discover the natural environment your soul seeks. Its hunger and thirst for Christ will e satisfied. Christ is the focal point of Holy Scripture. That is why the prayer of the heart will make you embrace Holy Scripture consuming you with longing for it, and Holy Scripture will again spontaneously return the Name of Christ to your lips and heart.

In order for every prayer to be acceptable to God and bring forth fruit, it must be said with concentration and the gathering of the mind. If you have a lot of concerns in your work, turn your mind to Christ and unceasing prayer, which will give you strength and will guard you so that the "thorns of the cares of the world" (Matthew 13:22) will not choke you.

At the appointed hour of the prayer rule "lay aside all worldly cares" (Cherubic Hymn) and lift up your mind and heart unto the Lord. In order to fly, every bird first rallies around and then centralizes its strength. The greatest success for the cultivation of the prayer of the heart ("The Jesus Prayer") is precisely that concentration of the prayer of the heart from every passion (pathos) that sucks it dry. We, beginners, need to curb our intellect and force it to stay within itself and occupy itself exclusively with the words of the prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.

Saint Nicodemus the Hagiorite and many holy Fathers advise the beginners to bow the head and briefly hold the breath as a means of helping the intellect in its self-concentration: Lord Jesus Christ--inhale--have mercy on me--exhale. This can be done for a short time until our intellect is curbed. Later on, let the prayer roll lightly like a stream and, without interruption, water the interior depths of our being. All our attention should be given to the words of prayer.

Another proven way of saying the prayer is to take a deep breath while reciting it five, six, or seven times: Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me. In the beginning, as we said, let us force ourselves to say the prayer out loud or whispered with a fast cadence, so that the intellect will not have time to form any distracting thoughts. After a considerable time, our intellect will then get used to praying mentally and will become sweetened, as if it had tasted honey. We will want to say the Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me continually, and whenever we break off, the interruption will sadden us.

Our intellect is the purveyor of the soul. Its task is to take what it sees and hears to the heart, the center of man's spiritual and physical being. Therefore, when we say the prayer and do not think about anything else, but pay attention to its words, then while we breathe lightly, the intellect with its own effort and will takes the prayer down to the heart and keep it there, reciting it rhythmically. This goes on until the Grace of God overshadows our soul. His Grace is the moving force. It moves everything.

In the beginning, the Grace of the prayer is purifying; afterward, it becomes enlightening. Grace will come after much struggle and effort, tears and mourning, providing we pray wherever we are: walking, lying down, standing up, working, night and day. When the intellect tires, the prayer should be recited orally...

"...When at last you have prayed sufficiently, according to what you want, you can stop at one or two words of the prayer where your spirit finds rest, and your heart is sweetened. Saint Basil the Great notes: "An intellect undistracted by external things and not dispersed through the senses among worldly things, returns to itself, and from itself, it ascends to God by an unerring path."

The struggle to keep the prayer inside our intellect is not only due to its natural weakness and tendency to wander, it also results from the rabid and covert attack of the devil. However, in time our persistence will win. Our mind belongs to God and, little by little, it must become the mind of Christ.

Let your will with love adhere completely to the words of the prayer, so that the intellect, the indwelling Logos/Word and your will, these three aspects of your soul, may become one. Thus, it appears that man is an icon of the Holy Trinity, as Saint Gregory Palamas writes:  "When the single mind is threefold, while yet remaining single, it is united with the divine threefold oneness, closes the door to delusion and rises above the domination of the flesh, the world, and the prince of this world."

The quantity of prayer depends entirely on our volition. The Holy Fathers of the Church write that one cannot practice perfect prayer of the heart without devoting a great deal of time to it.

How much should we pray, then? Unceasingly! Without interruption. Since the devil, the enemy of our soul, fights us without ceasing, we too should unceasingly make use of the fearful and omnipotent weapon of the Divine Name.

Since we are in danger of falling into sin every moment and of grieving the Lord, let us unceasingly repeat His saving Name. Let us also ask Him for His mercy. Saint Diadochos of Photiki says that when a man calls upon the Name of God as frequently as he can, he does not fall easily into sin.

As long as we desire to find Jesus incessantly within us, let us call Him unceasingly. Inasmuch as we want our heart to be ablaze with the incorporeal fire of divine love, let us nourish this fire with unceasing prayer. And, as long as we do not want our mind to be imprisoned by vain and cunning thoughts, let us give it the "loftier thought" of unceasing prayer. Let this become its "good change," its pleasure, its delight, its nourishment: the sweetest-than-honey Name of Jesus.

You cannot be called a Christian if you do not pray often. All the Saints prayed continually and with ardor. Therefore, become a practitioner of unceasing prayer. It will give enlightenment to your mind because it will always be found underneath and within the enlightening Name of Jesus Who is the Sun of Righteousness and the Light of the world.

"Truly blessed is the man (person) whose mind and heart are as closely attached to the Jesus Prayer...as air to the body or flame to the wax. The sun rising over the earth creates daylight and the venerable and Holy Name of the Lord Jesus; shining continually in the mind gives birth to countless intellections radiant as the sun" (Saint Hesychios the Priest, Philokalia, vol. 1, p. 197).

(Source: Orthodox Heritage)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" --- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

July 27 - Great Martyr and Unmercenary Healer Panteleimon (Part II)

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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THE MARTYRDOM OF SAINT PANTELEIMON THE GREAT MARTYR (Part II)

As for the abominable pagan priests and the ineffective doctors, they clung to their disbelief. They went to the emperor and said, "We adjure you by the immortal gods, O emperor, do not let this fellow Pantaleon live another hour longer. Let him begone lest he should eradicate our religion; for the Christians will grow strong against us."

The emperor listened to this advice. He summoned Pantaleon (Panteleimon) and attempted to bait him with words of peace, thinking in this manner to make him conform to his will. Since Maximian, the emperor was unable to persuade him with either blandishments or threats, he began his punishment with the application of instruments of torture. First, they suspended Panteleimon upon a wooden pole, where they lacerated and flayed his flesh with iron nails. This painful torture was followed by the application of fiery torches that badly burned his sides and wounded members. While the shredded and charred body of the Holy Martyr was subjected to these torments, his mind was fixed upon the One, the Christ, Who was able to bestow aid. As he directed his gaze heavenward, Panteleimon was entreating the Lord noetically. The Lord heard him and came to him, before Panteleimon's eyes, to that same hour. "Cease fearing, my child, for I am with you. I am, indeed, your helper in all your sufferings for My sake." Together with those words, there also came to pass a demonstration of deeds of power. Immediately, the hands of the soldiers executing the torture became paralyzed. The torches were extinguished. The wounds of the Saint were healed.

The pagan emperor commanded now the preparation of a large cauldron filled with molten lead. A blazing fire was kindled underneath it. The Holy Martyr was pithed inside. Saint Panteleimon, having again resorted to prayer at his comfort and consolation which was no small help, began to utter, "Hear, O God, my prayer, when I make supplication and consolation to Thee, rescue my soul from fear of the enemy" (Psalm 63:11) -- and the rest of the psalm. As he poured for these words once more the unearthly doctor was granted a vision of Christ in the figure of Hermolaos. It was seen that the Lord, in the form of Hermolaos, entered into the midst of the cauldron with Panteleimon. The fire was instantly extinguished and the molten lead became cool. The pagan emperor, however, hardened and insensible, did not or would not comprehend that these prodigies were wrought by the mighty and True God. The emperor was advised by bystanders to tie a large rock about the Holy Martyr's neck and cast him into the sea. Maximian ordered the execution of this punishment. While the soldiers hastened to expedite the command. God, once more, provided His servant with help.  

The men took hold of the Saint and plunged him, with the heavy rock, into the sea. Christ appeared to him again, causing that weighty mass to become as light like a tree leaf so that it floated and bobbed on the waters. Panteleimon exited the waves and came onto the shore, healthy and unharmed. Maximian abided without conscience and sense. His hardened heart did not soften in the least before such wonder-workings. Instead, he resumed the punishments. This time that beast, more ruthless than the irrational creatures, ordered that the martyr be hurled into the arena with wild animals.

The entire city heard this pronouncement. They all converged to have a look at the handsome and noble young man, who, though guiltless of any crime against society, was about to become prey for beasts. When they gathered in the amphitheater, the emperor took his place on a lofty throne, set in a high spot that he might view the spectacle better. The holy man stood in the midst of the arena. But he was not in the presence of irrational and ferocious beasts, but creatures that were like those who are possessed of reason and self-control. With much deference and gentleness, as they wagged their tails, they licked the feet of the Saint. When the crowd beheld this scene they marveled. They began to cry out all together in one voice: "Great and True is the God of the Christian! Let the righteous man go free!"

The cruel emperor then devised a wheel, large enough onto which the Saint's limbs were stretched and tied. This hideous instrument of torture sought the worst mutilation for the victim. When the wheel was rolled down a high hill with Panteleimon affixed was the spokes and felly, the wheel as it turned round and round would twist and shatter the victim's limbs. The time arrived and the wheel with its martyric passenger was rolled down the hill. The wheel, guided by the Angels of God, then came to a halt at the bottom where the people were waiting. The saintly rider was miraculously loosed from his fetters and stood aright without a trace of injury, glorifying and blessing God.

The Holy Martyr, now a prisoner, was to have his head removed. The soldiers, therefore, escorted the brave-hearted man to the site of execution. Saint Panteleimon could only fathom entering into joy and gladness upon exiting from this present world's frenzied strife and life of affliction and weariness, for which opportunity for martyrdom he gave voice to by reciting this verse: "Many times did they make war upon me from my youth; and indeed, they were not able to prevail over me" (Psalm 128:2). An extraordinary and wondrous sign then soon occurred, after the executioner bound Panteleimon to an olive tree. The heathen headsman drew his sword in order to sever the confessor's head. But lo, the miracle! The blow was blunted when the cutting edge of the sword began to melt like wax. The other soldiers standing by were startled at the terrifying sight, so that they went to their knees and exclaimed, "We believe that Christ is the True God. We beseech thee not to be angry with us, O Panteleimon, but rather do thou forgive us and entreat Christ that He would accept our repentance."

Saint Panteleimon then emboldened the soldiers, exhorting them not to cow but to fulfill the imperial order of his execution. They first demonstrated their love and reverence toward him, by ardently kissing his hands and feet. After this show of unfeigned respect and affection, they severed his honorable head on the 27th day of the month of July, in the year 305 A.D. God, Whose will it was to glorify even the earthly end of His servant Panteleimon, showed forth another miracle. When Panteleimon's precious head was separated from his body, there flowed milk instead of blood. The olive tree which was previously dry and withered immediately blossomed forth with broad dark green leaves, white flowers, and edible olive fruit.

Now, after the martyric death of Saint Panteleimon, some Christians came and took up his holy relics. They were laid to rest after the reverent application of myrrh and incense. The grave was situated outside of the city in a place called Scholastikos Adamantinos.

This account, O brethren in Christ, is the account of the martyrdom of the wonderworkings of the most glorious and unmercenary healer Panteleimon, which were recorded succinctly. For who is able to tell of his contests sufficiently and worthily, especially since he suffered every kind of punishment which he exposed as impotent?

Portions of the holy relics of the Great-Martyr Panteleimon were distributed throughout the world. His venerable head is now located at the Russian Monastery of Saint Panteleimon on the Holy Mountain. Saint Panteleimon, after his repose, worked a multitude of cures for diverse illnesses and demonic possession. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Holy Orthodox Church)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" --- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George