"Love Your Enemies..."(St. Matthew 5:44)

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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"LOVE YOUR ENEMIES..." (Saint Matthew 5:44)

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (St. Matthew 5:43-48).

Our Lord Jesus Christ commands to "love" our "enemies" as a genuine expression of the life of the Kingdom. Having freed us from hate, sadness, and anger, He offers the greatest possession of all--perfect agape. That is a gift which can only be possessed by the one who, by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, manifests God's agape for all. Such agape call us to bless, do good and pray--even for enemies. Love of neighbor is the sign of having become a true child of God. Love is not merely an emotion. it is Divine Grace--an uncreated Divine Energy--which inflames the soul and unites it to God and to other people (See 1 John 4:7-21).

RESENTMENT AND FORGIVENESS
By Hieromonk Damascene

Anger, judgment, remembrance of wrongs, grudges, resentment: these are passions with which all of us struggle in one way or another. Why are we prone to them? According to the Holy Fathers of the Church, the power that causes anger was part of man's original nature, which was created "good" by God (cf. Genesis 1:31). The Holy Fathers say that man's soul was originally created with three powers: the intellective or "knowing" power, the appetitive or "desiring" power, and the incensive or "fervent" power. Man was supposed to use his intellective power to know God, his appetitive power to yearn for God, and his incensive power to courageously repel temptation--beginning with the temptation of the serpent in the Garden.

Instead of using their incensive power to repel temptation, however, Adam and Eve succumbed to their first temptation: they ate of the forbidden fruit. According to the Holy Fathers, the essence of the serpent's temptation lies in these words: "Eat of this fruit and you shall be as gods" (cf. Genesis 3:5). Saint John Chrysostom says that "expected to become himself a god, and conceived thoughts above his proper dignity." This is a key point which we'll keep coming back to.

When the primordial Fall occurred, man's original nature, created in the image of God, became corrupted. He acquired what the Holy Fathers call a fallen nature. He still had the image of God in him, but the image was tarnished: "buried," as it were, under the corruption of his nature. Now he had an inclination toward sin, born of his desire to be God without God's blessing. All of us share that fallen nature; there is a part of each one of us that wants to be God. In popular modern terms, that part of us is called "ego."

When man fell, the three powers of his soul became subject to corruption, along with his body, which became subject to death and decay. Now man used his intellective power to puff up with knowledge and be superior to others; now he used his appetitive power to lust after other people, after the things of this world, after sinful pleasures, wealth, and power; and he used his incensive power, not against temptation, but against other people, against things, and sometimes against life and God Himself. The incensive power expressed itself as sinful anger and wrath. The first man born of woman, Cain, got so angry and jealous that he murdered his own brother, Abel.

So, here we are, all members of the family of Adam and Eve, possessing a fallen nature that wants to be God, and a corrupt incensive power that gets angry at the wrong things.

Very clear teachings on anger and the incensive power can be found in the first volume of The Philokalia, in the teachings of Saint John Cassian, a Holy Father of the 5th century. According to Saint John Cassian, all anger directed at other people--all such wrong use of our incensive power--blinds the soul. He writes: We must, with God's help, eradicate the deadly poison of anger from the depths of our souls. So long as the demon of anger dwells in our hearts--we can neither discriminate what is good, nor achieve spiritual knowledge, nor fulfill our good intentions, nor participate in true life...Nor will we share in divine wisdom even though we are deemed wise by all men, for it is written: anger lodges in the bosom of fools (Ecclesiastes 7:9). Nor can we discriminate in decisions affecting our salvation even though we are thought by our fellow man to have good sense, for it is written: 'anger destroys even men of good sense' (Proverbs 15:1). Nor will we be able to keep our lives in righteousness with a watchful heart, for it is written: "Man's anger does not bring about the righteousness of God" (St. James 1:20). (Source: Orthodox Christian Information Center)

(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

On Love and Unity

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 LOVE AND UNITY
By Saint Anthony the Great

"I want you to know this, that Jesus Christ our Lord Himself the True Mind of the Father. By Him, all the fullness of every rational nature is made in the image of His Image is the head of all creation, and of His body the Church (Colossians 1:15-18). Therefore we are all members one of another, and the body of Christ and the head cannot say to the feet, I have no need of you; and if one; member suffers, the whole body is moved and suffers with it (Ephesians 4:25). But if a member is estranged from the body, and has no communication with the head, but is delighted by the passions of his own body, this means that its wound is incurable, and it has forgotten its beginning and its end. And therefore the Father of creatures moved with compassion towards this our wound, which could not be healed by any of the creatures, but only by the goodness of the Father, sent forth to us His Only-begotten, who because of our bondage took upon Himself the form of a bondservant, and gave Himself up for our sins; for our iniquities humbled Him, and by His wound, we are all healed; and He gathered us out of all regions, till He should make resurrection of our hearts from the earth, and teach us that we are all of one substance, and members one of another. Therefore we ought greatly to love one another. For he who loves his neighbor, loves God: and he who loves God, loves his own soul."

The Meaning of Love

The meaning of love is the meaning of life, because love, in spite of what we very often think or imagine, is not a simple feeling. When we speak of God, and we say that God is love, we do not mean that he is infinite feeling. We mean something deeper than this; that God is a plenitude of life and of being. And this applies also to our human love. Someone who is possessed by love is a man who has a plenitude of life in himself, in whom the sense of life, the power o life is so full, so great, that life is sure of itself. And this generates joy, courage, enthusiasm, and it goes so deep that it is beyond death itself. Holy Scripture says that love is stronger than death, indeed it is stronger than death because it has placed itself by its fullness, its power in intensity in the realm of the resurrection, in the realm of Eternal life. And this is why love is capable of final sacrifice, not only of giving and of receiving but of laying down one's life, because this life, if it is given, is also possessed in its fullness. It is the plenitude of life which finds expression in final sacrifice. You may remember the words of Christ: "No one is taking my life from Me, I give it freely myself." In that respect love, the fullness of life which it expresses is invulnerable. People may take our lives, people may put us to any test, and yet one remains invulnerable because no one in reality; the person who loves is giving.

I would like to give an example of this. During the Russian Revolution, a mother with two children was hiding in a small town. One evening a woman came, as young as she was, in her late twenties, and told her that she had been discovered, betrayed and that she was to be arrested in the night in order to be shot. The mother looked at the children, and her new friend said, 'Don't worry, you go, and you hide.' And the mother said, 'How could I with these two children. I would be found within a few hours.' 'No,' said her unknown friend, 'I will stay behind, call myself with your name and be shot perhaps, but you will escape.' And so she did.

This was an act of love, which proceeded from such fullness of life, from such certainty that life was not ending, and that it was only in the fulfillment that she would find in her death that she could do this.

No one has greater love than he who lays down his life for his friends. Who does it himself, freely, and who is doing so, attains to the fulfillment of life because life is worth only what one lives for, and life attains this fulfillment when all is done that can humanely be done beyond fear, in joy, in certainty.

This is the meaning of love to me. Such fullness of life, that will allow me to accept, to become totally vulnerable, never recoil, never resist, give myself to the last, without discrimination to anyone and for anyone with a certainty that love shall never be defeated, that love is stronger than death; because to love means that we already have renounced a limited self and grown into communion, that is community of life with God, who is love itself. (Source: Pravmir.com Metropolitan of Sourazh)

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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 Mystery (Sacrament) of Priesthood

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 WILL BE.

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THE MYSTERY (SACRAMENT) OF PRIESTHOOD

The hierarchy was established in the Church by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, that it has been with Church from its very beginning, and that in the Apostolic period it received organization in three degrees (bishop-priest-deacon).

But the hierarchical ministry in the Church, especially that of bishop and priest, is a special ministry, an exceptional one; it is a ministry of grace. Here we find the shepherding of the flock of God, the highest example of which was given by the Lord in His earthly ministry. "I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep and Am known of mine. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (St. John 10:14, 11). Here we find a standing before the Lord in prayer not only for oneself but also for people. Here we find the guidance of the souls of men on the path to their attainment of the Kingdom of Heaven. The clergy, on behalf of the whole people, offer the Bloodless Sacrifice in the Divine Liturgy. And if in every good work we ask the blessing of God and the help of God, can we imagine entering upon such an exalted and responsible Pastoral Ministry--entering upon it for one's whole life--without the invocation of God's Grace which blesses this labor, which cooperates with it and strengthens the future Pastor? This blessing does indeed take place. It is brought down upon the one who approaches with sacred trembling to the reception of the gift of Sacred Ministry in the Mystery (Sacrament) of Priesthood through the laying on of hands by a bishop who himself bears by succession of grace of the priesthood, accompanied by the prayer of the entire congregation (faithful) of clergy and people who are present at the Divine service. It is called likewise the Mystery (Sacrament) of Cheirotonia.

The Sacred Scripture gives direct and clear indications that the placing in the rank of Priesthood is the communication of a special grace-giving mystical gift, without this Ministry cannot be fulfilled...

"...In the book of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament, we find an indication of the laying of hands as sacred act by means of which presbyters (priests) also were ordained in the early Church. Speaking of how the Apostle Paula and Barnabas went preaching through the cities of Asia Minor--Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch--increasing in them the number of Christians, the writer of the book, the holy Apostle Luke, informs us: "And when they had ordained (cheirotonisantes) for them elders (Presbyters) in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord" (Acts 14:23)...

"Election" and "Ordination" in the Ancient Church

What has been said brings one to the undoubted conclusion that the Apostles, by the authority of Christ, established three hierarchical degrees, and that for the raising up of selected persons into these degrees there was established ordination, which communicates to them the active grace of God which is indispensable for their ministry (diakonia). It goes without saying that the successors of the Apostles (Apostolic Succession), the Bishops, had to fulfill precisely what had been decreed by the Apostles that is, ordination through laying on of hands, joining to it the same exalted meaning and the same significance that were given by the holy Apostles...

"...Although in the early Church ordination to the rank of Priesthood occurred after a general election, with the agreement of the Church community or the local Church, this "ordination" itself was an act totally separate and distinct from the agreement or election, and it was performed by persons equal in their authority to the Apostles, and who were their successors the bishops. So it has remained up to our days...

The Essence and Effectuating Words of the Mystery (Sacrament)

Thus the Mystery (Sacrament) of Priesthood is a sacred action which, through the prayerful laying on of hands of a bishop upon the head of the chosen person, brings down upon this person the divine grace which sanctifies and ordains him to a certain rank of the Church hierarchy and later cooperates with him in his passing through the hierarchical obligations. The prayer of cheirotonia is the following:

"The Divine grace which always healeth that which is infirm and completeth that which is wanting, elevateth (name of candidate) the most devout subdeacon, to a deacon (or deacon, to be a Priest). Wherefore, let us pray for him, that the grace of the All-Holy Spirit may come upon him."

The Mystery (Sacrament) of Cheirotonia is always included in the rite of the Divine Liturgy. Distinct from the Mystery of Cheirotonia is ordination by prayer to the lower ranks of the clergy (reader, subdeacon); this is called Cherothesia (from the Greek word that has a purely Christian ecclesiastical meaning and came into use relatively late)...

The Protestants have rejected the Priesthood as a "sacrament." Their pastors (ministers) are only elected and appointed by the people, but do not receive any kind of consecration, and in this sense, they are not distinguished from the ordinary members of their communities.  (Source: The Orthodox Dogmatic Theology by Father Michael Pomazansky)

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Please note: Over five decades as a priest of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America I have come to see sadly that many of our people have absolutely no understanding or even sense of the Sacrament of Priesthood and who the priest is and what is his mission. Their understanding is no different than Protestants. I was told a long time ago by one of my parishioners in Florida the priest "is just an ordinary man, and like every man, he puts his pants on the same way as all do, first, the left leg goes in and then the right." How very embarrassing and ludicrous is that? He was a person who grew up in the Church and served as a member of the parish council.  

There are others, even today, that see their parish priest as an employee of the local church, someone that is hired and can be fired at will by the parish council who they consider as the only authority at the local parish. Again these are people who grew up in the Church and even after an entire lifetime as a member of the Church, they remain ignorant of the Orthodox Christian Faith. Their mindset is one of a congregationalist Protestant.  

It is, therefore, understandable why they have abused, disrespected, slandered, injured, undermined, threatened, conspired, and made the life of the priest and his family painful and torturous. Would anyone consider this treatment of the priest Christian and humane? It wasn't too many years ago that one of our St. Andrew Parishioners stood at a parish assembly and said how proud he was when he, as the president of the parish council, at the time, was responsible for throwing out his priest and his family from the parish. Where have we gone wrong?

The priest and servant of Christ is not the enemy! The enemy of the true Christian believer is the Evil One, Satan. He is our greatest Adversary, the archdeceiver, the arch-liar, and the one who pursues us and wants our destruction, our very damnation.

The priest who is assigned by the local Metropolitan to one of his parishes does so in order for him to serve the spiritual needs of the Orthodox Christian faithful i.e., divine services, sacraments, to educate them in the Faith, to guide them, to bring them healing, to protect them from evil forces, to encourage them to continue with their personal spiritual struggle, to sanctify them, to bring forgiveness of sins to them, and to provide them with good opportunities to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To be a loving father to all of his spiritual children who God has entrusted in his care.

There cannot be a church without a priest! What you may have is perhaps just a beautiful church building. In Ireland which I visited recently the church buildings without a priest is just a shell of a building. There is no life in it. The churches without a priest are used for office space, distilleries, and museums.

Who thinks or even believes that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will reward him or her for taking such a cruel action against one of His priests?

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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 Mysteries (Sacraments)

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 MYSTERIES (SACRAMENTS)

The inward life of the Church is mystical (or sacramental). The word "mysteries" (Greek mysteria) is the term used in the Orthodox East; "sacraments" (Latin sacramenta) is the term used in the Latin West (Roman Catholic). Since the latter term was used in the West before the schism of the Roman Church, there is nothing wrong with its usage by Orthodox Christians of the West, especially since few people around them are familiar with the word "mysteries"; but Orthodox Christians often prefer to use the Greek term. The adjectival form "mystical", used in the East, has, of course, a rather different and more inward connotation than the Western adjective "sacramental," which refers more specifically to the outward rites of the Mysteries. It does not at all coincide with the history of the Church which shows us only the outward facts of the Church's existence, and especially its coming into conflict with the life of the world and the passion of the world. The inward life of the Church is the mystical cooperation of Christ as the Head, with the Church as His Body, in the Holy Spirit, by means of all mutually strengthening ties: "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the Church" instructs the Apostle (Ephesians 5:32).

Therefore when the holy Apostles called themselves "stewards of the mysteries of God," saying, "Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God" (I Corinthians 4:1, in Greek, oikonomous mysterion theou), they have in mind various forms of their ministry and stewardship, as for example a) preaching, b) the baptism of those who have come to believe, c) bringing down of the Holy Spirit through ordination, d)the strengthening of the unity of the faithful with Christ through the Mystery of the Eucharist, and e) the further deepening of the hearts of the faithful in the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, the deepening of the more perfect among them in "the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom" (I Corinthians 2:6-7).

Thus the activity of the Holy Apostles was full of mystical elements (mysterion). Among them, the central or culminating place was occupied by sacred rites. Therefore it is entirely natural that in the Church's life the series of special and most important moments of grace-given ministry (diakonia), the series of sacred rites, gradually acquired preeminently the name of "mysteries." Saint Ignatius the God-bearer, an immediate disciple of the Holy Apostles, writes concerning deacons that they likewise are "servants of the mysteries of Jesus Christ" (Epistle to the Trallians Par. 2). These words of Saint Ignatius overturn the assertion of Protestant historians that in the ancient Church the concept of "mysteries" or "sacraments" was supposedly never applied to the Church's sacred rites.

The sacred rites called "Mysteries" are, as it were, peaks in a long mountain range composed of the remaining rites and prayers of the Divine services.

In the Mysteries, prayers are joined with blessings in one form or another, and with special acts. The words of blessing accompanied by outward sacred acts are, as it were, spiritual vessels by which the grace of the Holy Spirit is scooped up and given to the members of the Church who are sincere believers.

Thus, "a mystery (sacrament) is a sacred act which under a visible aspect communicates to the soul of a believer the invisible grace of God."

The name of "Mystery" has become established in the Church as referring to seven rites. [In the Orthodox East, one may say, seven is not regarded as the "absolute" number of the Mysteries, as it tends to be regarded in the Latin (Roman Catholic) West. Most commonly, it is true, only Seven Mysteries are spoken of; but certain other sacred rites, such as the Monastic Tonsure, might also be considered, informally, as "Mysteries."] The Seven Mysteries are the following: Baptism, Chrismation, Communion (the Eucharist), Repentance/Confession, Priesthood, Matrimony, and Unction (Efchelaion). The Longer Christian Catechism thus defines the essence of each Mystery (Sacrament):

"In Baptism man is mystically born into spiritual life. In Chrismation he receives grace which gives growth and strengthens. In Communion (Eucharist) he is spiritually nourished. In Repentance/Confession he is healed of spiritual diseases (sins). In Priesthood he receives the grace spiritually to regenerate and nurture others, by means of teaching, prayer, and the Mysteries. In Matrimony he receives grace which sanctifies marriage and the natural birth-giving and upbringing of children. In Unction (Efchelaion) he is healed of diseases of the body by means of healing of spiritual diseases."

For the life of the Church itself as a whole, both as Body of Christ and as the "courtyard of the flock of Christ," the following are especially important and stand in the chief place: a) the Mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ or the Eucharist; b) the Mystery of the sanctification of chosen persons to the service of the Church in the degrees of the hierarchy, or ordination, which gives the indispensable structure of the Church; and together with these, c) the Mystery of Baptism, which sees to the increase of the numbers of the Church. But the other Mysteries also, which are appointed for the giving of grace to individual believers, are indispensable for the fullness of the life and sanctity of the Church itself. (Source: 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

January 30- Three Hierarchs

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 JANUARY 30th OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE THREE GREAT HIERARCHS: SAINTS BASIL THE GREAT, GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN AND JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Each has his personal feast day in the month of January; St. Basil on the 1st, St. Gregory on the 25th, and St. John Chrysostom on the 27th. The common feast we celebrate on the 30th was instituted in the 11th century, in the time of the Emperor Alexius Comnenus. At one time there was a quarrel among the people about who was the greatest of the three. Some gave St. Basil the pre-eminence for his purity and courage; others St. Gregory for the unfathomable depth and height of his theological mind; others still St. John Chrysostom for the wonderful beauty of his speech and the clarity of his presentation of the Faith. So the first were called Basilians, the second Gregorians and the third Johannites. But, by the Providence of God, this dispute was resolved to the benefit of the Church and the yet greater glory of the three Saints. The Bishop of Efchaita, John (+June 14th), had a vision in his sleep, in which each of these Saints appeared to him in great glory and indescribable beauty, and then all three together. They then said to him: 'We are one in God, as you see, and there is no dispute among us...neither is there among us a first or a second.' The Saints also advised Bishop John to compile a common feast for them and to set aside for them a day of common commemoration. The quarrel was settled as indicated by the wonderful vision; January 30th being set aside for the common commemoration of the three hierarchs. Our Greek Orthodox Church regards this feast not only as a Church Festival but as their greatest National and Scholastic holiday or Greek Letters Day. (Source: The Prologue from Ochrid)

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Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn of the Feast

The three most great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity have illumined all of the world with the rays of doctrines divine and true; they are the sweetly-flowing rivers of wisdom, who with godly knowledge have watered all creation in clear and mighty streams: The great and sacred Basil, and the Theologian, wise Gregory, together with the renowned John, the famed Chrysostom of golden speech. Let us all who love their divinely-wise words come together, honoring them with hymns; for ceaselessly they offer entreaty for us to the Trinity.

Kontakion Hymn of the Feast

Thou hast taken to Thyself, O Lord, the sacred and God-proclaiming heralds, the crown of Thy teachers, for the enjoyment of Thy blessings and for repose; for Thou hast accepted their sufferings and labors above all sacrifice, O Thou Who alone dost glorify Thy Saints.

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DIVINE SERVICES JANUARY 30th:

Orthros (Matins) 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

Divine Grace (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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DIVINE GRACE (ΘΕΙΑ ΧΑΡΙΣ) (Part II)

In accordance with this sacred teaching, the Council of Carthage in the 3rd century decreed: "Whosoever should say that the Grace of God, by which a man is justified through Jesus Christ our Lord, avails only for the remission of past sins, and not for assistance against committing sins in the future, let him be anathema. For the Grace of Christ not only gives the knowledge of our duty but also inspires us with a desire that we may be able to accomplish what we know" (Canons 125, also 126 and 127).

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 in 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 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 Christian, we read in the same Holy Father, "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 think 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 2:16). It is the cleaning of the field of the soul from stones, overgrown weeds, and swampy places, in preparation for a sacred sowing, which will be moistened from above by the grace of God.

The Providence of God and Grace

From what has been set forth, it follows that there is a difference between the concepts of God's Providence and Grace, providence is what we call God's power in the world that supports the existence of each man; while Grace is the power of the Holy Spirit that penetrates the inward being of man, leading to his spiritual perfection and salvation. (Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology by Protopresbyter 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