October 20 - Venerable Mother Matrona the Wonderworker of Chios

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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ON OCTOBER 20th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE FEAST OF OUR VENERABLE MOTHER MATRONA THE WONDER (MIRACLE)-WORKER OF THE GREEK ISLAND OF CHIOS

Matrona, our holy and wonderworking Mother, was from Volissos, located on the northwest coast of the island of Chios. Her parents, Anna and Leon Sepsinias, were devout Christians, adorned with every Christian ethic and good work. Moreover, they were quite wealthy and distinguished. They had seven daughters, and Mary (later named Matrona) was one of them. Mary had been named in honor of the Ever-Virgin and Theotokos, the blameless Bride of Christ.

When the time approached for her parents to arrange her marriage, she did not desire to wed. She preferred to preserve her virginity and purity in order to become a comely and unsullied bride of Christ, the immortal Bridegroom. Most wisely, she perceived that true and unscathed virginity is not easily attained in the world amid the company of others. She also understood that those virtues that brighten the light of virginity would be hindered by many obstacles in the world.

Mary was pierced and consumed by the sweet arrows of Divine love; therefore, she decided to depart in secret. Leaving her parents, sisters, and relatives, she betook herself to a mountain nearby the village of Katavasis. In that place, she commenced her struggles in the stadium of asceticism. She contended against the passions and demons by fasting and keeping vigil. Her sole desire was to pray to God in solitude.

In Katavasis, the holy maiden was glad, and she glorified God for her deliverance from the tumult and clamor of the world. Meanwhile, her parents did not know her whereabouts. Thus, they searched every quarter until, at last, they found her on that mountain. Her parents did not deem it reasonable to leave their daughter in that secluded place; thus, they implored her to return home. As a dutiful handmaiden of the Lord, she yielded to her parents' bidding, and retraced her steps back to her father's house. Emulating the Christ Child, she placed herself in subjection and obedience, with all humility, to her parents.

The only issue upon which she would not yield to her parents was on marriage. Perceiving their daughter's recalcitrance about living with a husband and her intense longing for the monastic life, they acquiesced. They gave their blessing that she might pursue the angelic life according to God. Hence, Mary was both delighted and relieved. Her parents then gave her control of her paternal inheritance and dowry to do with as she wished.

In accordance with the Lord's command, "Sell your possessions and give alms (charity). Make for yourselves purses which do not become old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where no thief draweth near nor moth destroyeth" (Luke 12:33), Mary distributed all her chattels to widows, orphans, and the needy. All stationary property, that is farmlands and similar holdings, she placed under the control of her sisters that they might cultivate it. Mary then prayed that God would enlighten her as to how she might fulfill His will and reap spiritual benefit.

She then decided to leave Volissos and return to her first retreat at Katavasis. In order not to perish from starvation, one of Mary's sisters provided her with nourishment, though it was sparse. Mary lived and struggled in the Katavasis hermitage for three years. Although she physically abode there, her soul, heart and mind were aloft in the heights of the heavens. She contemplated its indescribable delight and beauty. After the third year, our beneficent God willed to reveal His hidden treasure, so others might be enriched with the celestial wealth of Mary's virtues. It was His will to place the lamp on the lampstand, thus illuminating and guiding others to the path of salvation. The Lord then instilled the good thought and ardent desire in her heart to descend to the lowlands, where many women's monasteries existed. Therein, she could be under obedience to an Egoumenisa and submit to the precepts of the monastic life.

The Saint Enters the Monastery

Obeying the command of God, Mary descended to the lower countryside. She surveyed all the women's monasteries and observed all the righteous solitaries who lived according to the life of Saint Anthony the Great of old. Then she came upon a small women's monastery at Chora, which she preferred above the rest. In that monastery there was an atmosphere of serenity and peace...Not much time elapsed in the monastery when her virtues shone through and the spiritual fruits of her previous ascetic labors became apparent. Consequently, she was tonsured a nun and clothed in the schema, and given the name of Matrona. As the holy Matrona grew older, progressing and flourishing in the virtues, she undertook new ascetic struggles. The Saint was lauded for her dispassion and boldness before God. Consequently, the evil one was shamed and caused his own subtle deed to work against himself. After this, Matrona was endued with great enthusiasm for her construction of the church. The laborers, too, because of the miracle, became more industrious.

"...The Egoumenisa of the monastery finished her course in this temporary life and was translated to eternal life. The holy Matrona's fellow ascetics besought her to accept the guardianship and governance of the newly expanded Women's Monastery; but Matrona refused. Nevertheless, she was elected as Gerondisa (Egoumenisa) and the sisterhood submitted to her.

There was a tradition at that time that the Egoumenisa of a monastery was addressed as Kyria (meaning "Lady" or "Mistress"). Thus, Matrona was also given this title. Those who knew her well believed that Kyria was a fitting name. As her titled implied, she was mistress over the passions, the world, and secular rulers. She even defeated death itself, which rules the race of men. What do we mean by this? Attend, that you may also be in awe at the holy woman who proved death to be a kind of sleep.

The island of Chios is attacked

At that time, when the Genoese dominated Chios, a great force of marauders invaded the island from the West. They were uncivilized men in language and behavior. They were rapacious and committed much pillage and destruction on the island. Now it happened that they came to the Monastery of Kyra Matrona. One of the men, who was more audacious and shameless than the others, dared to molest one of the nuns. But, lo the miracle! "The Angel of the Lord will encamp round about them that fear Him, and will deliver them (Psalm 33:7). Divine justice struck the unjust man and he fell dead to the earth. The holy Gerondisa, basing all her hopes on God, had been praying to God for assistance at that very moment.

At the sight of this, the holy Matrona glorified God for His immediate response and aid. However, she also pitied the wretched barbarian. She then prayed to God, the Master of life and death, that He might resurrect the barbarian. God hearkened to the prayer of His handmaid and resurrected the man, to the astonishment and awe of all the bystanders. Kyra Matrona then admonished those wild men, as was right, and dismissed them from the Monastery.

Resurrecting the dead by her prayer was the accomplishment of Divine grace. It was also an indication of the holy woman's boldness before God. However, the inevitability of death is a common law of nature, and a debt that all pay. Therefore, it was the will of Matrona's immortal Bridegroom Christ to give His handmaiden rest from ascetical labors. He desired to translate her to the immortal bridal-chamber and eternal blessedness i the heavens.

The Saint's Repose

The Lord then revealed to her that her blessed end would come in seven days. At this point, Matrona became slightly ill and called together the nuns and novices. She admonished them as a mother and forgave them as she asked them for forgiveness. After finishing all her duties, she communicated the Divine Mysteries, and then surrendered her soul into the Divine hands of Our soul-saving God. Saint Matrona of Chios reposed on the 20th of October, 1462.

The holy woman's sacred relics were buried in the church which she labored to build. The God of miracles, Whom Matrona had honored with her ascetical struggles and virtues, glorified her relics by His Divine grace, which became a blessing to all the people. The church wherein her holy relics ere interred became a source of perpetual miracles and an unmercenary infirmary for every passion and sickness. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the 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

Know the Faith (Part V)

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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KNOW THE FAITH (PART V)
JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH : The Protestant Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone

Martin Luther whose express mission was to get back to the Holy Scripture, was the first to espouse and define a doctrine of justification by faith alone. As he himself attests, "This one and firm rock, which we all the doctrine of justification, is the chief article of the whole Christian doctrine."

The classical Protestant teaching can be summarized as follows. When a man comes to belief in Jesus Christ, God the Father imputes righteousness to him--that is, credits Christ's righteousness to him. He is declared by God innocent of sin by virtue of Christ's redemptive work and is thus no longer subject to God's wrath or condemnation to hell. In this interpretation of Saint Paul, justification is simply God's pronouncement that a man is righteous by virtue of his faith in Christ's shed blood.

The Protestant doctrine does not speak of an internal change in man wrought through faith, but only a change in legal status, from guilty to innocent. In point of fact, it explicitly denies any real change.

"...Thus salvation is defined negatively in Protestantism: "To be saved means that God has delivered us (saved us) from His righteous wrathful judgment due us because of our sins against Him. It means that we will not be judged (there is no accountability on Judgment Day or the Second Coming of Christ) for our sins and be therefore sentenced to eternal damnation".

Neither is grace a positive gift of godlikeness, of sharing in His life; it is merely described how God removes the guilt inherited from Adam and paints over fallen human nature with a coat of grace. In this paradigm there is no qualitative difference between the sheep and the goats at the Last (Final) Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46). Both are equally sinners. The sheep, however, will not be judged for their sins.

Orthodox Response

The Protestant Reformers' doctrine of total depravity was simply not believed by anyone in the early Church; nor was justification by faith alone. Rather, the universal teaching was that the Fall distorted and darkened the image of God in man, covering over it but by no means destroying it. Man is still essentially good but in need of regeneration so that he may recover God's image, not by legal fiat but by an organic transformation through faith that unites him to God's image, Jesus Christ.

The grace of God still works upon fallen man and can prompt him toward the good, because grace is his natural yearning. Since the early Christians believed this, they understood that even before baptism, man could cooperate or synergize with God. Because he is made in the image of God, the spark of grace is still in him. As in the case of all the righteous figures of the Old Testament, fallen man can walk in the way of God's Commandments. The holy men and women of old even participated in the grace of Jesus Christ in a limited way before His Incarnation (see 1 Corinthians 10:4). What man could not do is regenerate his fallen human nature, nor overcome the consequences of the first parents' sin--corruption after death. Only God Incarnate can do that.

But mankind's Fall is not chiefly a matter of guilt. It cannot be resolved with a legal declaration of innocence. Christ did not come to save us from guilt but from sin and death. He came to overcome the inescapable corruption that had infiltrated the humanity of the Old Adam. He then, the New Adam (Jesus Christ), regenerated this death-bearing, corruption-ridden humanity by taking it upon Himself and filling it with His life-giving grace.

Those who by faith in Christ open themselves to this Life-Giving grace are justified. But this condition of justification grows and is perfected as one more fully enters into the reality of faith, through union with His resurrected Body (i.e. the Church) through baptism and the whole life of faith that cause one to be in Christ. This includes the personal, internal, and ascetic spiritual work of faith that is taken up by the baptized Christian in order to be fully freed from the passions so that "Christ is formed" (Galatians 4:19) in him.

The Law of Moses could not affect salvation precisely because it could not change the fallen human condition. The law could not extract the power of death from humanity of the old Adam; it could not renew his nature. This could only be done organically, from within, in the flesh of Jesus Christ. This was Saint Paul's point: that only the faith of Jesus Christ--that is, receiving the effects of Christ's saving work organically into oneself--justifies a man, because it brings him into saving union with God.

So, in the Orthodox Christian understanding, one is justified when by faith he places himself in the position of receiving Christ's saving grace. According to the Lord, the tax collector, not the Pharisee, was justified after praying in the temple. Why? Because the tax collector opened himself to God's grace and light through his contrition and humility. Abraham, by faith, was justified because he believed in God's word and acted upon it. By doing so he placed himself directly in the sunlight of God's grace and appropriated a declaration or certificate of innocence, but the Life-creating power of God. In that same way, by faith, Saint Veronica received the grace of God when she touched the hem of the Lord's garment, for "power" went out from Christ's Body (Luke 8:46).

"...The early Christians never taught that humans are incapable of doing good or overcoming sin in their lives. But they did teach that cooperation with God's grace was required in order to do so. They understood that salvation as coming by God's grace, but man had to desire and seek that grace. As our Lord taught and commanded, "seek, and you will find" (Matthew 7:7). If it is to be received, God's grace must be sought. Human cooperation (Synergy) is required. The Greek actually shows continuous action: "Keep seeking...keep knocking...keep asking." Typical of the way the early Church interpreted, salvation and grace is the following passage from Saint Clement of Alexandria:

"A man by himself working and toiling at freedom from sinful desires achieves nothing. But if he plainly shows himself to be very eager and earnest about his, he attains it by the addition of the power (grace) of God. God works together with willing souls. But if the person abandons his eagerness, the Spirit from God is also restrained. To save the unwilling is the act of the using compulsion; but to save the willing, that of one showing grace." (Source: Know the Faith. A Handbook for Orthodox Christians and Inquirers by Rev. Michael Shanboor)

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"The experience of Orthodox ascetics inspires them to call Christians with all power to the humble acknowledgment of one's own infirmity, so that the saving grace of God might act. Very expressive is this case are the expressions of Saint Symeon the New Theologian (10th century):

"If the thought comes to you, instilled by the devil, that your salvation is accomplished not by the power of your God, but by your own wisdom and your own power, and if your soul agrees with such a thought, grace departs from it. The struggle against such a powerful and most difficult battle which arises in the soul must be undertaken by the soul until our last breath. The soul must, together with the blessed Apostle Paul, call out in a loud voice, in the hearing of Angels and men: "not I, but the grace of God which is with me." The Apostles and Prophets, Martyrs and Hierarchs, holy Monastics, and Righteous ones--all have confessed this grace of the Holy Spirit, and for the sake of such a confession and with its help they struggled with a good struggle and finished their course" (Homilies of Saint Symeon the New Theologian, Homily 4).

He who bears the name of Christians, we read in the same Holy Fathers, "If he does not bear in his heart the conviction that the grace of God, given for faith, is the mercy of God...if he does not labor with the aim of receiving the grace of God, first of all through Baptism, or if he had it and it departed by reason of his sin, to cause it to return again through repentance, confession, and a self-belittling life; and if, in giving alms, fasting, performing vigils, prayers, and the rest, he thinks that he is performing glorious virtues and good deeds valuable in themselves--then he labors and exhausts himself in vain" (Homily 2).

What, then, is the significance of ascetic struggle? It is a weapon against the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (I John 2:15-16). It is the cleansing of the field of the soul from stones, overgrowth weeds, and swampy places, in preparation for a sacred sowing, which will be moistened from above by the grace of God.

How is One to Understand "The Deification (Theosis) of Humanity in Christ?"

The human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, through its union with the Divinity, participated in Divine qualities and was enriched by them, in other words, it was "deified" (theosis). And not only the human nature of the Lord Himself was deified: through Him and in His our humanity also is deified (theosis), for He also Himself likewise took part in our flesh and blood (Hebrews 2:14), united Himself in the most intimate way with the human race, and consequently united it with the Divinity. Since the Lord Jesus Christ received flesh from the Ever-Virgin Mary, the Church books frequently call her the Fount of our deification (theosis): "Through her we have been deified." We are deified likewise through worthy reception of the Body and Blood of Christ..." (Dogmatic Theology)

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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 Three Ways of Attention and Prayers (Part IV)

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 THREE WAYS OF ATTENTION AND PRAYER (Part IV)
By Saint Symeon the New Theologian

If now you wish to learn the way to achieve this, I will tell you.

There are three things you should preserve above anything else: disinterest in everything reasonable or unreasonable and vain, in other words detachment from anything; then clear conscience in everything, as we have said, by no causing its judgment for anything; then finally complete peace, having your mind detached from anything earthly. When you have all these, find a quiet place, sit lone in a corner, shut the door (Matthew 6:6) and cease your mind from anything ephemeral and vain...try to find the place of your heart...having practiced this method of attention...you will find--greater wonder! The mind, through struggle, will have reached the place of the heart, where you will see the things you have never seen or known.  There you will see the heaven which is within you, inside the heart, you will find yourself enlightened, full of all grace and virtue.

From there on, if any kind of evil thought (logismos) ever appears from any direction, before even being considered or take shape, you will immediately push it aside and dissolve it by the name of Jesus with his prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me." Hence forth the mind will begin to bear grudge and animosity against the demons, being in an incessant war. It will raise its justified wrath and hunt them, attack the, dissolve them. As for the things following beyond that, those you may find out yourself, with God's help, through your effort and the attention of your mind, keeping Jesus in your heart with His prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me."  

[Question: Why is it not possible to achieve all this through the first and the second way?]

Answer: Because we are not using them as we should. Saint John Climacus compares these ways with a ladder of four steps and explains: There are those who lessen their weaknesses and humble them, others who chant, praying with their voices, others who are absorbed in the spiritual prayer and other who reach observance. Those, therefore who wish to climb these steps, do not start from the top one coming down but begin from the lower ones and go upwards. They step on the first step and the on the second, the on the third one and finally on the fourth. It is by this way that one is able to be lifted from the earth and ascend to heaven. First of all one needs to fight to diminish and cease his weaknesses. Only then he should become absorbed in chanting: praying with his voice. It is once one has diminished his weaknesses that prayer brings pleasure and sweetness to the tongue, and he may be considered near to and appreciated by God. Then one needs to start praying with his spirit, and finally he will reach observance. The first is of the beginners, the second of those who are increasing their virtues, the third of those who have reached the fulfillment of virtue, whilst the fourth belongs to the perfect...

"...As we have repeatedly said, the first and the second way do not bring any spiritual advancement. When we want to build a house, we do not make the roof first and then lay the foundations--for this is impossible!--but we firstly lay the foundation, then build the house and then add the roof. We should do the same in spiritual matters: first lay the foundation, which is to guard the heart and cast out its weaknesses; then build the spiritual house, which is to cast out the evil spirits fighting us through our senses; finally, having overcome the war as soon as possible, add the roof, which is to depart from all things earthly, and give ourselves completely to God. Thus we complete our spiritual house in Christ Our God, to Whom All Glory is due, unto the ages of ages. Amen. (Source: Myriobiblos. On Line-Library of the Church of Greece)

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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

October 18 - The Feast of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke

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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ON OCTOBER 18th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE FEAST DAY OF THE HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST LUKE

The holy Evangelist Luke was born in Antioch of Syria and from his youth studied the wisdom of the Greeks and the science of medicine. He became a skilled physician and an excellent iconographer, and he knew both the Greek and the Egyptian tongues well. Moreover, he was thoroughly acquainted with the Law of the Jews and had visited Jerusalem.

At that time our Lord Jesus Christ dwelt in the flesh among men and sowed the seed of salvation, which fell on good ground in Luke's heart where it sprouted up and bore fruit a hundredfold. Thus, Luke heard the teaching of truth form the lips of God Himself, and he drank there from a wisdom greater than that which he had learned in the schools of the Hellenes and Egyptians. He came to know the True God and to believe in Him, and he began to teach others the faith as well. He was chosen to be one of the Seventy Apostles, of whom he writes in his Gospel thus: "The Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two and two before His face into every city and place" (Luke, Ch. 10). As a member of the choir of the Apostles, Luke also went before the Lord, preparing a path before Him by his sacred preaching and giving assurance to the people that the Messiah Whom they awaited had come to the world.

At the time of the saving Passion, when the Shepherd was struck down and the sheep scattered, the blessed Luke went about weeping and lamenting for his Lord, Who had deigned to suffer voluntarily. But although he sowed with tears, he reaped with rejoicing, for as he was walking with Cleopas to Emmaus, speaking with him and grieving over the death of their beloved Teacher and Lord, the risen Christ Himself appeared to them. By His appearance the Lord comforted them and wiped away the tears from their eyes. As He drew near, Christ asked them, "What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?" Through this conversation Saint Luke became the initiate and close companion of Him Who said of Himself, "I am the Way, the truth, and the Life" (John, Ch. 14). As they walked with the Lord, Luke and Cleopas spoke with Him and drank of the ineffable fount of wisdom. O, how sweet were the words that Saint Luke heard from the mouth of the sweetest Jesus, Who beginning with Moses and the Prophets, expounded unto them from all the Holy Scripture the things concerning Himself!

Later, Christ's good disciple Luke, the initiate of divine mysteries, would instruct all the inhabitants of Theves in Voeotia, enlightening many who were in the darkness of ignorance of God with the light of understanding of the Holy Gospel. But first, he who was to feast with Christ in the Kingdom of God was to sup with Him at Emmaus, and the Son of God, Whom Judas denied at the Mystical (Last) Supper, was made known to Luke in the breaking of bread. There the flame of Divine Love hidden in Saint Luke's heart sprang forth, and he uttered these words: "Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?" Truly, the remembrance of Christ was yet alive in him who loved the Lord with his whole heart when, fifteen years after the Savior's Ascension into heaven, Luke wrote most accurately of Him in his Gospel. He wrote of that which he himself had seen and heard and which was inscribed not with a pen but with love in his heart; he also told of those things which they had witnessed who followed Christ form the beginning, before Luke. Soon after Christ's Passion, those who had been with the Lord form the beginning related these things to Luke, as it is written in the preface to his Gospel: "They delivered those things unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word" (Luke, Ch. 1).

"...When Luke left Rome, he went to the regions of the East to preach Christ. He travelled through all of Libya and came to Egypt. He then enlightened the utmost regions of the Thevaid and after this founded churches in Theves and Voetia. There he ordained priests and deacons, and he healed those who were infirm in soul and body. Saint Luke was more than eighty years old when he peacefully reposed in the Lord.

God glorified His servant at the place where Luke's holy body was laid, for as a token of his skill as a physician, an ointment that could heal the eyes rained down there. Because of the various healings that took place through the prayers of the holy Apostle at his grave, the place where he was buried became well-known among the faithful. When Constantius, the son of Saint Constantine the Great, learned of this, he sent Artemius, the Duke of Egypt (who was later put to death for Christ by Julian the Apostate), to bring the holy relics of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist to Constantinople.

It is said that Saint Luke painted the first icon of the Most Pure Theotokos bearing in her arms the Pre-Eternal Child, Our Lord Jesus Christ. He also painted ("wrote", in Greek agiographia) two other icons of the Theotokos and brought them to the Mother of God to learn whether she was pleased with them. When she saw them, she cried out with her most pure lips, "may my grace and that of Him Who was born of me be with these icons!"

The Holy Apostle Luke also painted on panels depictions of the holy pre-eminent Apostles Peter and Paul. Thus the sacred and most honorable art of iconography, by which churches are adorned, had its beginning with him. By it God, the Mother of God, and all the Saints are glorified, and the faithful, who piously venerate their holy icons, receive salvation. (Source: The Great Collection of The Lives of the Saints)

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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 Three Ways of Attention and Prayer (Part III)

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 THREE WAYS OF ATTENTION AND PRAYER (Part III)
By Saint Symeon the New Theologian

[The Third Way of Attention and Prayer]

The Third Way is indeed strange and difficult to explain, whilst, to those who are not aware of it, it is often incomprehensible, appearing unreal and impossible that any such thing can happen. This is because these days the Third Way is not found in many, but rather in very few. As I understand, this virtue abandoned by us together with obedience, since it is the obedience one shows to his spiritual father which makes one truly free, leaving all the cares to him and staying away from the struggles of this world, whilst being a diligent artisan of this third way. (That is if one finds a real spiritual father who has no error!) Thus he who dedicates himself and all the care to God and the spiritual father, by real obedience is no longer living his own life where he does his own wishes but is free from any struggle of the world or his body. By what ephemeral thing then, can this person ever be spiritually defeated or enslaved, or what care or concern could he ever have? It is therefore in this way, together with obedience, that the devices and machinations of the demons to distract the mind towards many and various thoughts are all defeated and dissolved. One's mind then stays free, and has plenty of space and chance to examine the thoughts brought by the demons, having greater dexterity to expel them and offer his prayers to God with a clean heart. This is the beginning of the True way of life and those who do not make such a start are struggling in vain, even without knowing it.

The beginning of the Third Way is not by looking up to the sky, raising the hands, having your mind in heaven, and asking for help from there. As we have said, these are of the first way and they are false. Nor is it to guard the senses with the mind and concentrate exclusively on this, whilst neither being attentive nor seeing the inner wars of the soul conducted by the enemies (demons). These are all of the Second Way. He who uses them is trapped by the demons and is unable to revenge those who trapped him, whilst the enemies (demons) are always fighting him both secretly and openly, making proud and vain.

But you, my friend, if you seek your salvation you should start in this way: after the perfect obedience which we said you should have to you spiritual father, you should then conduct all your deeds with a clear conscience, as if you had God in front of you, for conscience can never be clear without obedience. You should keep your conscience clear towards these things: God, spiritual father, other people, and earthly things. Toward God, it is an obligation to keep your conscience clear avoiding the things you are aware that He neither likes nor give Him any joy. Towards your living according to His plan and wish. As for the other people, you should keep your conscience clear by not doing to them any of the things you hate and do not wish them to do to you. Towards the earthly it is your obligation to restrain yourself from abuses, using them all appropriately, food as well as drinking and clothes. In short, you should do everything as if you had God in front of you, making sure that your conscience does not restrain nor condemn you for not doing something right. This is the beginning of the True and firm route of the Third Way of Attention and Prayer.

"...In short, he who is not attentive to guard his mind cannot be cleansed in his heart and be therefore worthy to see God. He who is not attentive can never be poor in spirit nor can he ever mourn and cry, or become gentle and peaceful, or hunger and thirst for justice, or become merciful, peacemaker, or persecuted in the cause of right. {Matthew 5:3-10) It is quite impossible to acquire any virtue by any means other than attention. It is attention that you should mostly take care of, to be able then to understand the things I am saying. (Source: Myriobiblos. On Line-Library of the Church of Greece)

(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

Know the Faith (Part IV)

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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KNOW THE FAITH (IV)
SALVATION IS SYNERGY

We also understand salvation to be synergistic--it requires participation by God and man. This is not a just a fifty-fifty proposition but requires one hundred percent from God and one hundred percent from man. God plays the primary part by making it possible for man to be saved through His work of redemption and by His unending love and mercy. And God continually seeks man's salvation, awaiting his return like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal son. But man has an essential part as well, the part of cooperation and incorporation, since God has given free will to His creatures. God does not predestine anyone (Protestant theology) to salvation or condemnation; rather, He "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (I Timothy 2:4).

The Church has characterized the process of salvation in various ways. One of the most common models of what salvation is has been expressed as a progression in three stages:

• Purification

• Illumination, and

• Sanctification (Deification or Theosis).

Purification of the heart, we are taught, is the first and most difficult stage of repentance whereby we seek to uproot every sinful passion from the heart so that the grace of God can do the work of transformation and healing. This is the very practical, daily effort to deny ourselves, to bear our cross while trusting in God, to keep Christ's commandments, and to conform our deeds, words, and thoughts to His will.

In his work, Indication of the Way to the Kingdom of Heaven, Saint Innocent of Alaska provides a helpful description of self-denial: "To deny oneself means to give up one's bad habits, to root out of the heart all that ties us to the world; not to cherish bad thoughts or desires; to suppress every evil thought; not to desire to do anything out of self-love, but to do everything out of love for God."

If God's grace is to penetrate and abide in the heart, the heart must be purified from evil desire. When a farmer seeks to plant a seed, he must first till or soften the soil. The same is true in the spiritual life. The Saints warn about the dangers awaiting those who claim to understand the things of God but have not "been previously purified in the soul and body, or at the very least are being purified." For they often become puffed up by pride rather than filled with grace. Saint Maximos the Confessor famously teaches, "Theology without practice is a theology of demons."

In Jesus' Parable of the sower and the seed, the heart is the ground and the seed is God's word of grace. A heart that is purified is the "good ground" (Matthew 13:8) that receives and grows the seed of the word of God. Jesus praises those who "hear [receive) the word of God and keep it" (Luke 11:28).

The purification of the heart occurs by God's grace through our obedience to His Commandments and our desire to "cast of the works of darkness" (Romans 13:12) in order to be unified to Christ. Saint John the Baptist is certainly an example of one whose heart was purified of evil desire and free of fear. The disciples of Christ were being purified in the three years they accompanied Christ in His Ministry; purification of the heart is also the purpose and goal of the period of preparation for baptism, known as the catechumenate.

Without purification from the influence of the sinful passions, the grace of God cannot fully illumine and sanctify the soul with its light and power. Saint Macarius the Great (300-390 A.D.) provides us with a representative teaching:

"Unless the man who is under the influence of the passions will come to God, denying the world, and will believe with patience and hope...such a man will never experience true life...the enlightenment of the Spirit will never shine in that benighted soul...and so come to know God of a truth through God's power and the efficacy of grace."

Those who have reached a state of comprehensive purification are also called "dispassionate," as they are no longer disturbed or swayed by passions. In that state, they begin to discern the spiritual reality (essence) of created things and enjoy enduring communion with God.

A heart that is purified can then be illuminated fully by God's grace. This condition of spiritual illumination is the second stage of the Christian life. To be purified and illuminated means are the pure of heart, / For they shall see god" (Matthew 5:8). The Church Holy Fathers teach that Adam and Eve were created in the spiritual condition of illumination. Therefore, Adam knew "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" (Genesis 2:23), though he was asleep when God formed her. When one is fully illuminated by God's grace, he has continual converse with God and continual prayer in his heart. (Source: Know the Faith. A Handbook for Orthodox Christians and Inquirers by Rev. Michael Shanbour)

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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