November 30 - Saint Andrew the First-Called (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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ON NOVEMBER 30th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE HOLY APOSTLE ANDREW THE FIRST-CALLED (Part II)

Stratocles took Maximilla to the prison, where the holy one was kept under the guard of Aegeates' sentries. They entered St. Andrew's cell and fell at the Saint's feet, imploring the Apostle to strengthen and support them in the True Faith of Christ. The holy Andrew exhorted them at length, and, afterward, he ordained Stratocles as Bishop of Old Patras. He then blessed them and sent them on their way to peace. He then sat down, patiently awaiting the judgment of the ungodly Aegeates. The Proconsul, meanwhile, realized that it was impossible to share living quarters with Maximilla, despite his pleadings and threats; and Satan entered his heart and blinded him with anger.

Enraged, Aegeates ordered that the holy Apostle Andrew be crucified on a cross, his hands and feet bound. He, at first, did not wish him affixed by nails, lest he should die in but a short time; for he thought that by hanging him bound, he might subject him to greater tortures.

"...When he reached the place where he was to be crucified, seeing from some distance the cross being prepared for him, he cried with a loud voice, 'Hail, O cross sanctified by the flesh of Christ and adorned by His members as with pearls!...Take me from among men and give me to my Teacher, that, through thee, He Who redeemed me through thee may receive me."

Thus saying, he removed his clothing and gave it to the torturers. They lifted him up on the cross, nailing and binding his hands and feet with cords; and thus they crucified him head-downward and suspended him. Around him stood a multitude of the people, about 20,000 of them; and among them was also Stratocles, the brother of Aegeates. Saint Andrew strengthened those who believed in Christ and exhorted them to endure transitory sufferings, teaching that no torment can compare with the reward earned by it.

Then Aegeates, fearing the people, went straightway with them to take Andrew down from the cross...When the servants went to unfasten him from the cross, they were unable to touch him. Indeed, a great many other people, one after another, tried to untie him but were unable, because their hands became numb. Thereafter, the holy Andrew cried with a loud voice, 'O Lord Jesus Christ, do not allow me to be taken down from the cross on which I have been suspended for Thy name; but receive me, O my Teacher, Whom I have loved. Whom I have known, Whom I confess, Who I desire to see, through Whom I have become what I am! O Lord Jesus Christ, receive my spirit in peace, for the time has come for me to go to Thee and look upon Thee Whom I have so ardently desired! Receive me, O Good Teacher, and do not permit me to be taken down over-soon from the cross, before Thou receives my spirit!'

When he said this, a light like lightning from heaven illumined him in the sight of all and shined round about him, so that the eye of corrupt man was unable to look upon him. This heavenly Light shined around him for the space of half an hour, and when the Light departed, the holy Apostle surrendered his spirit and departed, amid brilliant Light, to stand before the Lord.

Maximilla, a woman of noble lineage, who lived a virtuous and holy life, when Saint Andrew had departed to the Lord, took down his body with a great honor. She embalmed it with costly ointments and laid it in the tomb in which she herself had intended to be interred.

This took place on the last day of the month of November, in the city of Patras, in Achaia, Greece, where, ever since, through the prayers of the holy Apostle, many benefactions are bestowed upon the people. The fear of God was upon all, and there was no one who did not believe in our God and Savior, Who desires to save all men and lead them to a knowledge of the Truth, to Whom be glory forever. Amen.

When many years had passed, the holy relics of the holy Apostle Andrew were translated by the Martyr Artemios to Constantinople. At the command of the holy Emperor Constantine the Great, and enshrined with those of the holy Evangelist Luke and Saint Timothy, the disciples of the holy Apostle Paul, in the most splendid Church of the Holy Apostles, within the sacred table of oblation.

After 500 years, the most precious skull of the glorious Apostle Andrew was sent by Basil I the Macedonian (867-886 A.D) to the city of Patras, Greece. Mehmed II (1421) during the Ottoman conquest of the Morea (Peloponnesos) gave the sacred skull of St. Andrew to Pope Pius II (1458-1464) in Rome. Then, in September of 1964, the pope returned the precious skull to Patras. The remaining holy relics of the holy Apostle Andrew and those of the Apostles Thomas, Luke, and Timothy were seized by the Crusaders during their conquest of Constantinople in 1204, and they were brought back to Rome.

Through the prayers of Thine Apostle, O Christ God, do Thou establish Thy faithful servants in Orthodoxy, and save us all. Amen.

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DIVINE SERVICES:

Sunday Evening: Great Vespers at 7:00 p.m.
Monday Morning: Orthros (Matins) at 9:00 a.m.
Monday Morning: Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.

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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

November 30 - Saint Andrew the First-Called

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 NOVEMBER 30th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE HOLY APOSTLE ANDREW THE FIRST-CALLED OF THE TWELVE HOLY APOSTLES

Andrew, the First-called holy Apostle of Christ, was the son of a Jew named Jonah and the brother of the holy preeminent Apostle Peter. He was a native of the Galilean town of Bethsaida. Disdaining the vanity of this world and preferring virginity to matrimony, he declined to enter into wedlock; and, hearing that the holy Forerunner John was preaching repentance by the Jordan River, he left everything, went to him, and became his disciple. Andrew beheld the holy Forerunner while he was pointing to Jesus as He passed by and saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God" (John 1:36). Saint Andrew, together with another disciple of the Forerunner John (whom many consider to have been the Evangelist John), left the Forerunner and followed after Christ. He sought out his brother Simon Peter and said to him, "we have found the Messiah (which is, being interpreted, The Christ") [John 1:41), and brought him to Jesus. Afterward, when he was fishing with Peter off the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and Jesus called to them, saying, "Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). Andrew, immediately leaving his nets when he heard the Lord's summons, followed after Christ with his brother Peter (Matthew 4:20). Andrew is known as the First-called because he became a follower and disciple of Jesus Christ before any of the other holy Apostles.

After the Lord's voluntary Passion and His Resurrection, the holy Andrew, with the rest of the Apostles, received the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, there appeared to the disciples tongues, as if of fire, being distributed upon each of them (Acts 2:3). When the countries were divided among them, it fell to him by lot to spread the Gospel in Bithynia, the Propontos, Chalcedon, Byzantium, Thrace, and Macedonia, all the way to the Black Sea and the River Danube, as well as the Thessaly, Hellas (Greece), Achaia, Amisos, Trebizond, Herakleia, and Amastris. Saint Andrew passed through these lands and cities, preaching the Christian Faith. In each city, he had to endure much affliction and pain; but, fortified by the Omnipotent help of God, he joyfully bore all such tribulations for Christ's sake.

His next center of activity was the city of Byzantium, where he performed miracles in abundance and instructed many in the knowledge of God. Instead, the people of Byzantium not only embraced the Light of the Truth but even erected a magnificent church in honor of the All-Holy Theotokos. As bishop for them, Andrew consecrated Stachys, one of the Seventy Apostles [Romans 16:9]. He traveled next to Herakleia of Thrace, which is situated to the West of Byzantium; and there he converted many to the Orthodox Faith, and ordained Apelles bishop [Romans 16:10].

The holy Andrew undertook Apostolic labors and endured pangs in the spreading of the Gospel of Christ. He passed on through Pontus, the seaboard of the Black Sea, Scythia, and the Chersonese. By God's Providence, he reached the River Dnieper in the land of Russia, and halting upon the shore beneath the hills of Kiev, he lay down to rest. When he arose from sleep in the morning, he said to his disciples who had accompanied him, "Believe me on these hills the grace of God will shine forth. There will be a great city here, and the Lord will raise many churches in this place and enlighten all of the Russian lands with holy Baptism." And ascending the hills, the Saint blessed them and set up a cross, prophesying that the people who dwelt there would receive the Faith from the Apostolic see he had established in Byzantium.

After passing through many lands, he reached the Peloponnesos, and, entering the Achaian city of Patras, he lodged with a certain respected man by the name of Sosios. He raised him up from his bed of sickness, and afterward, he converted the whole city of Patras to Christ.

At that time, Macimilla, the wife of the Proconsul Aegeates, fell prey to a grievous affliction of the eyes. Though she visited every physician, she revived no benefit from their ministrations. Aegeates, observing his wife's decline, fell into despair. One of his household, however, remembered the Apostle; for he himself had received healing at his hands earlier. Thus, he hastened and besought the Apostle's help of this master's wife. The Saint then came and placed his hand upon her, and her health was restored forthwith, and she rose up from her couch.

When Aegeates beheld this miracle, he went and brought forth a great sum of money and laid it at the feet of the Saint. Kneeling, he begged the holy one to accept this offering in gratitude for the healing. The Apostle, however, refused the money. He desired only the repentance of the people of Achaia and Patras; and thus he declined to accept any recompense. He said to Aegeates, "Our Teacher has said, "Freely you received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). He then taught him many other things before he departed.

Shortly thereafter, the aforementioned Proconsul Aegeates went to Rome to appear before Caesar to submit a report of his administration and to receive further orders. Now, Stratocles, his brother, was a man of wisdom. In Aegeates' absence, he journeyed to the city of Patra to act as administrator. Traveling with him was a trusted servant whom he loved as a brother. But at this time, the servant suffered a violent epileptic seizure. This greatly distressed Stratocles for no physician was able to help the unfortunate one. When the sister-in-law, Maximilla, learned of this, she invited him to her home and said, "We have here in this city a foreign doctor, by the name of Andrew, who heals every sickness and charges no fee. If you will go to him, I am confident that he will cure your servant of this ailment immediately. The wise and learned Stratocles of Athens then summoned the Saint, and as soon as the Apostle entered his house--behold the miracle!--the demons departed and the servant recovered his health. When Stratocles and Maximilla beheld this miracle, they wasted no time disavowing their former pagan religion, and they glorified the True God and became Christians. They were baptized by the holy Apostle Andrew and cleaved unto him inseparably, desiring to hear his every word and teaching on the Christian Faith.

It was not long before Aegeates returned from Rome, however, Maximilla wished to avoid all association with her unconverted husband, but it was impossible for her to keep her secret forever. Certain servants approached him and said, "From the days of thy departure to Rome until this present moment, she has not taken her regular meals, but has kept a strict fast. Yes, and she utters blasphemies against our deities, preferring the worship the Christ preached by the stranger, Andrew. When Aegeates, heard this, he began to act like a man who had lost his mind, uttering insults and threats against the Lord's Apostle. He ordered his guard to arrest the Saint, while he considered what manner of death he should inflict upon him. (Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church)

(To be continued)

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DIVINE SERVICES FOR THE FEAST OF SAINT ANDREW:

Great Vespers on Sunday, November 29th at 7:00 p.m.
Orthros on Monday, November 30th at 9:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.

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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

The Essentials of Orthodox Christian Spirituality

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 ESSENTIALS OF ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY

Aim and means of Christian life

The aim of man's life is union (henosis) with God and deification (theosis).

The Greek Fathers have used the term "deification" ("theosis") to a greater extent than the Latins. What is meant is not, of course, a pantheistic identity, but a sharing, through grace, in the Divine life: "...Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature..." (2 Peter 1:4).

This participation takes man within the life of the three Divine Persons themselves, in the incessant circulation and overflowing of love which courses between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and which expresses the very nature of God. Here in the True and eternal bliss of man.

Union with God is the perfect fulfillment of the "kingdom" announced by the Gospel, and of that charity or love which sums up all the Law and the Prophets. Only in union with the life of the Three Persons is man enabled to love God with his whole heart, soul and, mind and his neighbor as himself.

Union between God and Man cannot be achieved without a Mediator, who is the Logos/Word made Flesh, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ: "I am the Way...no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6).

The Holy Spirit operates and perfects this incorporation. Saint Irenaeus writes: "Through the Spirit, one ascends to the Son and through the Son to the Father."

The basis of spiritual life is not psychological, but ontological. Therefore an accurate treatise on spirituality is not the description of the soul, mystical or otherwise, but the objective application of definite theological principles to the individual soul. The redeeming action of our Lord constitutes the Alpha and Omega as well as the center of Christian spirituality.

Divine grace and human will

The incorporation of man into Christ and his union with God require the co-operation of two unequal, but equally necessary, forces: Divine grace and human will.

Will--and not intellect or feeling--is the chief human instrument of the union with God. There can be no intimate union with God if our won will is not surrendered and conformed to the Divine Will, "Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not...Lo, I come to do Thy Will, O God" (Hebrews 10: 5-9).

But our weak human will remains powerless if it is not anticipated and upheld by the face of God. "Through the grace of the Lord Jesus, we shall be saved" (Acts 15:11). It is the grace that achieves in us both the willing and the doing.

The Greek Holy Fathers emphasized human freedom in the work of salvation. Saint John Chrysostom writes: "We must first select good, and then God adds what appertains to His Office; He does not act antecedently to our will, so as not to destroy our liberty." He writes elsewhere: "You do not hold of yourself, but you have received from God. Hence you have received what you possess, and not only this or that but everything you have. For these are not your own merits, but the grace of God. Although you cite faith, you owe it nevertheless to call."

Saint Clement of Alexandria coined the word "synergy" (co-operation) in order to express the action of these two conjoined energies: grace and human will. The term and idea of synergy have remained and represent, until today, the doctrine of the Orthodox Church on these matters.

Asceticism and Mysticism

Both the distinction between the human will and Divine grace and their interpenetrating, help us to understand how, in the spiritual life, the ascetical and mystical elements can differ and mingle.

Asceticism is generally understood as an "exercise" ("ascesis") of human will on itself, in order to improve itself. As to the term "mysticism", modern language has sadly misused it. "Mystical" is confused with "obscure," "poetic", "irrational," etc. Not only unbelieving psychologists...

"...Between the ascetic life, that is, the life in which human action predominates, and the mystical life, that is, the life in which God's action predominates, there is the same difference as between rowing a boat and sailing it; the oar is the ascetic effort, the sail is the mystical passivity which is unfurled to catch the Divine wind.

This view of asceticism and mysticism is excellent. It coincides perfectly with the theology of the Greek Fathers. These do not give a technical definition of asceticism and mysticism, but they distinguish very sharply between the state in which man is "acting" and the state in which he is "acted upon."

One must be careful, however, not to raise a wall of separation between mystical and ascetic life. The prevalence of the gifts does not exclude the practice of acquired virtues, any more than the prevalence of acquired virtues excludes the gifts. One of these two elements, of course, predominates over the other. But the spiritual life Is generally a synthesis of the "ascetical" and the "mystical."

To the mystical life belong the charismas and the extraordinary phenomena which accompany certain states of prayer. Neither these phenomena nor the charisma constitutes the essence of the mystical life. Mystical life consists in the supreme reign of the gifts of the Holy Spirit over the soul.

Prayer and Contemplation

Prayer is a necessary instrument of salvation. Saint Cassian, whose voice is the echo of the Desert holy Fathers, distinguishes three ascending degrees of the Christian prayer: supplication (for oneself), intercession (for others), thanksgiving or prais. These three degrees of prayer constitute in themselves a whole program of spiritual life. It matters little whether prayer is vocal or mental; the most loving prayer, either vocal or mental, is always the best.

In contrast with prayer, contemplation is not necessary to salvation. But, as a general rule, assiduous and fervent prayer becomes contemplative.

What is contemplation? It is not synonymous with high intellectual speculations or extraordinary insight, which are the property of certain rare and chosen souls. According to the "classics" of the spiritual life, contemplation begins with the "prayer of simplicity" or "prayer of simple regard." The prayer of simplicity consists in placing yourself in the presence of God and maintaining yourself in His presence for a certain time, in an interior silence which is complete as possible, while you concentrate upon the Divine Object, reduce to unity the multiplicity of your thought and feelings, and endeavor to "keep yourself quiet" without words or arguments. This prayer of simplicity is the frontier and the most elementary degree of contemplation...

"...It is good to make acts of contemplation. But to live a contemplative life is better still. We must not imagine that the contemplative life means a life in which one does nothing but contemplate...Contemplation is acquired if the acts of contemplation are the results of personal effort. It is infused if these acts are produced by Divine grace without, or almost without, human effort. Acquired Contemplation belongs to the ascetical life. Infused contemplation belongs to the mystical life. This last is the normal culmination of the contemplative life...

"...Contemplation is open to all. Marriage, family life, a profession or a trade in no way exclude contemplative prayer and mystical graces. Contemplation increases love, and love makes us able to keep the Commandments: we can pass from love to the keeping of the Commandments, but the converse is hardly possible. (Source: Orthodox Spirituality. An Outline of the Orthodox Ascetical and Mystical Tradition)

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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

November 27 - Holy Martyr James the Persian

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND ALWAYS SHALL BE.

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ON NOVEMBER 27th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE HOLY MARTYR JAMES THE PERSIAN

Born in the Persian town of Elapa, or Vilat, of Christian parents, he was brought up in the Christian faith and married a Christian wife. The Persian king, Yezdegeherd, loved James for his skill and made him a noble at his court. Flattered by the king, James was deluded and offered sacrifice to idols, which the king also worshiped. His mother and wife, hearing of this, wrote him a reproachful letter in which they grieved over him as an apostate and one spiritually dead, begging him at the end of the letter to repent and return to Christ. Moved by this letter, James repented bitterly, and courageously confessed his faith in Christ the Lord before the king. The furious pagan king condemned him to death and added that his body was to be cut to pieces, little by little until he breathed his last. The executioners fulfilled this command of the accursed king to the letter, and first cut off James's fingers, then his toes, his legs and arms, his shoulders, and finally his head. During the entire process, the repentant martyr gave thanks to God. A fragrance came from his wounds as of cypress. Thus this wonderful man repented of his sin, and his soul went to Christ his God in the heavenly Kingdom.  He suffered in about 400 A.D. His head is to be found in Rome, and a part of his holy relics in Portugal, where he is commemorated on May 22nd.

FOR CONSIDERATION

When the executioner cut off Saint James's right thumb, he said: 'A vine is pruned thus, that new growth may come in its times.' When they cut off the next finger, he said: 'Receive, O Lord, the second branch of Thy sowing.' As the third was cut off, he said: 'I bless the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.' As the fourth was cut off: 'Thou who accepted praise from the four beasts, accept the suffering of these four fingers.' At the fifth: 'May my rejoicing be as great as that of the five virgins at the marriage.' At the sixth: 'Praise be to Thee, O Lord, Who did at the sixth-hour stretch out Thy Most pre arms on the Cross, and has made worthy to offer Thee my six fingers.' At the seventh: 'Like David, who glorified Thee seven times a day, so do I today glorify Thee with these seven fingers, cut off for Thy sake.' At the eighth: 'Thou Thyself, O Lord, did rest on the eighth day.' At the ninth: 'At the ninth hour, O Lord, Thou did give Thy spirit into the hands of Thy Father, O my Christ, and I offer Thee thanks of the suffering of this ninth finger.' And the tenth: 'I sing to Thee, O Lord, upon a ten-stringed lute, and I bless Thee that Thou hast made me worthy to endure the cutting-off of the fingers of my two hands for the Ten Commandments written on the Tablets of stone.'  Oh, what wonderful faith and love! Oh, the princely soul of this prince of Christ's.

HOMILY

--ON THE PERFECT MAN.

"Till we all come in the unity of the Faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13)

The unity of the Faith, my brethren, and the knowledge of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ Our Savior, unites two men in one, unites thousands of men in one. Unity of faith in Christ the Lord, and a true Orthodox knowledge of Christ the Lord, unites men more closely than blood, more closely than language, more closely than any external circumstance or material bond. When many people have one thought, one will, and one desire, then these many people are as one soul, one great and mighty soul. Physical differences in relation to this are of little importance and deserve little consideration. Thus the united souls are built up into 'a perfect man; the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' The parts of the perfect whole are themselves perfect. Every Christian soul is a part of the perfect man. Christ is that perfect man, of whom the church is mysteriously the Body He fills all who believe in Him, with Himself, according to the measure of the growth of each. He is the fullness beyond all fullness, the living Fount that flows and fills every space worthy to receive Him. The means that insofar as a man has emptied himself of all that is not Christ, to the extent Christ enters into him and fills him to the brim.

Oh, my brethren, the depth of humility is needed alongside strong faith, that the Living Water may be poured into us. Let us look at nature, and see how the lowest-lying land is the most easily irrigated. Whatever contributes to the humble abasing of ourselves before the Lord Jesus, this He willingly lets come into us, and He waters us with His Life-Giving Self and fills us as His vessels with the fullness of His immortality.

O Lord Jesus, Thou fullness of life, wisdom, beauty, and sweetness, help us to abase ourselves before Thy Divine Majesty, that we may be made worthy of Thy coming to us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen. (Source: The Prologue from Ochrid)

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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

"Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father..." (Ephesians 5:20)

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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"GIVING THANKS ALWAYS FOR ALL THINGS TO GOD THE FATHER IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST..." (Ephesians 5:20).

"For Christians, it is the Holy Spirit (v.18), and the joy is New Covenant worship of the Holy Trinity, the Eucharist (giving thanks, v. 20): to the Father through the Son incarnate (Lord in v. 19; "Lord Jesus Christ" in v. 20), in the Spirit (v. 18). He who is made drunk with wine totters and sways, but he who is inebriated with the Holy Spirit is rooted in Christ, and gloriously sober."

Saint Basil the Great spoke and wrote about the necessity and significance of offering thanks to the Almighty and Life-Giving God, the Creator, as early as the fourth century. He writes:

"When you sit down to eat, pray. When you eat bread, do so thanking Him for being so generous to you. If you drink wine, be mindful of Him Who has given it to you for your pleasure and as a relief in sickness. When you dress, thank Him for his kindness in providing you with clothes. When you look at the sky and the beauty of the stars, throw yourself at God's feet and adore Him Who is His wisdom has arranged things in this way. Similarly, when the sun goes down and when it rises, when you are asleep or awake, give thanks to God, Who created and arranged all things for your benefit, to have you know love, and praise their Creator."

The holy Apostle Paul in his epistles to the Churches stressed strongly that every Christian is to "give thanks always for all things to God the Father..." (Ephesians 5:20), for this is God's will for all of you who belong to Christ Jesus: Ephesians 5:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:18. These were not empty words. The holy Apostle lived that important sense of thankfulness, even when he was persecuted and while suffering in the hands of the ungodly.  

Everything in our earthly life has a purpose and meaning, including suffering, struggling, sorrow, joy, life, death, success, and failure, youthfulness, and old age, pain, and pleasure. It is through these human experiences that we mature spiritually and grow in Christ. The numerous challenges which we confront contribute to our attaining wisdom and humility. Our resolve, our determination, our love, our dedication, and our convictions are made stronger.  

Appreciating and thanking our Most-Loving Lord is a way of acknowledging and declaring openly that all things come from above, from Him. We have nothing and we are nothing without Him in our lives. How can we not thank Him every minute of the day for all that He gives us and for His infinite love and care? We depend on Him for all things just like my child depends on me, his parent, to provide him/her for all which he or she needs.

Not thanking our Savior is a sign of ingratitude and arrogance. Saint Paul comprehends that thankfulness is not just a duty or just one of many virtues that characterize the life of the Christian believer, but rather that it is the characteristic of our belief in Christ.  

"Then He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitude" (Matthew 15:36). Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was thankful to His Heavenly Father Who bestows gifts and life. Jesus reveals to us, in a very clear way, how important it is for us to always express our gratitude to God. He said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me..." (John 11:41-42). In these verses, we also see Saint John the Evangelist's insistence on relating Jesus' dependency upon the Father for all His works. Just as Jesus was dependent on His Father, we too, are dependent on Him for all things.  

We constantly see our Lord Jesus Christ express His gratitude-giving thanks. Should we not as creatures created by Him respond in kind? The Apostle of all nations, Saint Paul advises us to give "thanks always for all things to God the Father." "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" (Matthew 7:8-11).

"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth" (Psalm 34:1).

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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

God and Salvation

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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GOD AND SALVATION

The Human Nature of the Lord Jesus Christ

Being perfect God, Christ the Savior is at the same time also perfect Man.

As Man, Christ was born when for Mary, His mother, "the days were accomplished that she should be delivered" (Luke 2:6). He gradually "grew, and waxed strong in spirit" (Luke 2:40). As Mary's son, He "was subject unto her and her spouse" (Luke 2:51). As Man, He was baptized by John in the Jordan; He went about the cities and villages with the preaching of salvation; not once before His Resurrection did he encounter a need to prove His humanity to anyone. He experienced hunger and thirst, the need for rest and sleep, and He suffered painful feelings and physical sufferings.

Living the physical life natural to a man, the Lord also lived the life of the soul as a man. He strengthened His spiritual powers with fasting and prayer. He experienced human feelings: joy, anger, sorrow. He expressed them outwardly: He "was troubled in spirit" (John 13:21), showed dissatisfaction, shed tears--for example, at the death of Lazarus. The Gospels reveal to us a powerful spiritual battle in the garden of Gethsemane on the night before He was taken under guard: "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death" (Matthew 26:38)--thus did the Lord describe the state of His soul to His disciples.

The rational, conscious human will of Jesus Christ unfailingly placed all human striving in submission to the Divine Will in Himself. A strikingly evident image of this is given in the Passion of the Lord, which began in the garden of Gethsemane: "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thu wilt" (Matthew 26:39). "Not my will, but Thine, be done" (Luke 22:42).

Concerning the Truth of the Savior's fully human nature, the Holy Fathers of the Church speak thus:

Saint Cyril of Alexandria: "If the nature which He received had not had a human mind, then the one who entered into battle with the devil was God Himself; and it was, therefore, God Who gained the victory. But if God was victorious, then I, who did not participate in this victory at all, do not receive any benefit from it. Therefore, I cannot rejoice over it, for I would then be boasting of someone else's trophies."

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem: "If the becoming man was a phantom, the salvation is a dream." Other Holy Fathers expressed themselves similarly.

The One Worship of Christ

To the Lord Jesus Christ as to one person, as the God-man, it is fitting to give a single inseparable worship, both according to Divinity and according to Humanity, precisely because both natures are inseparably united in Him. The decree of the Holy Fathers of the Fifth Ecumenical Council (The Ninth Canon against Heretics) reads:  "If anyone shall take the expression, Christ ought to be worshipped in His two natures, in the sense that he wishes to introduce thus two adorations, the one in special relation to God the Logos/Word and the other as pertaining to the Man ... and does not venerate, by one adoration, God the Logos/Word made man, together with His flesh, as the Holy Church has taught from the beginning: Let him be anathema" Eerdmans, Seven Ecumenical Councils, p. 314). (Orthodox Dogmatic Theology by Father Michael Pomazansky)

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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