Nativity Thoughts - Christ is Born! Glorify Him!!
Today we join together with the Church to glorify and honour and commemorate the birth of Him our God. Our Church following the Syrian tradition brought to India prescribe the fast of 25 days and come together as Church and celebrate the feast of Nativity.
Scripture Readings
Evening: St. John 1: 1-18
By the Fire Pit: Hebrew 1:1-12, St. Luke 2:1-14
Morning: St. Luke 2:15 -20
Before Holy Qurbana: Genesis 21: 1-8, Micah 5: 1-8, Isaiah 9:1-7
Holy Qurbana: 1 John 1:1-10, Galatians 3:23- 4:7, St. Mathew 2:1-12
Once again, I am amazed at how wonderfully how the Fathers have arranged the Scripture readings noting for the first time this year how the very essence of the theology of Incarnation is brought out through the Gospel and the Epistle reading from St. John the Theologian. Need to remind myself to memorize it.
Faithfulness
As we go forward to another year, a reminder that strikes out is need to remain faithful and be a channel for this generation to reflect and live out the teachings now as the fathers have proclaimed and lived in the past. This year, I was blessed to read of how the Church had used this wonderful Anaphora of St. Timothy of Alexandria in the Liturgy to teach and affirm its Christology against Chalcedon. Pray it will be used by each of us to know whom we believe
“In truth you are Holy and Blessed by all, O God the Father, and Holy and Blessed by all is your Only begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born ineffably before the world, who eternally holds the throne at the right hand side of your majesty, and your Holy Spirit who is Holy and Blessed by all, through whom all things of earth and heaven are sanctified.
And those who are near to you in Heaven offer glory and honour, to your name and [you are] honoured by all, O King of the worlds. We therefore, your servants, [who have] many sins, while answering with the heavenly armies, We praise, glorify, and bless and ask you for mercy - Our Savior and God, Have mercy upon us, Reveal your merciful face to us and save us. For you are the one who had mercy upon our race and sent your only begotten Son, Lord, who is our Saviour Jesus Christ, Illuminator, Benefactor and Redeemer of our souls and bodies, Who was proclaimed by His prophets in the ancient days, when He was about to dwell among us, came in the end of time and took Himself our humanity ; the Word became flesh; He neither took change nor alteration, but by the Holy Spirit He was conceived by Mary , The Ever Virgin and Holy Mother of God. He took a body having a rational and intelligent soul, in True and Hypostatic unity, which was not an imaginary apparition. Without Separation, or Division, He truly took a human Body and Soul and all that a man has and in all things He resembled us except Sin. He did not merely dwell among men, but while being perfectly God the Word, He perfectly took flesh and became man. His Divinity did not become Humanity, but He remained in His Divinity and took completely the Human nature. He was not two, but One King, One Christ, One Lord, One God the Word Incarnated who is revealed to us. He dwelt among men, affirmed the earth and blessed it; He restrained the waves of the sea. He was known with His deeds, revealed in power, conquered the human passions and put an end to the transgressions of the law, converted the erring, and destroyed the power of death from us, which had man in the beginning and showed Him to be invincible in the end. Through the [human] body He caught hold of [death] and that which was caught was destroyed. Through His death, he restored the glory of man who was destitute from glory.”
Belief
This year with my usual critical view of Christmas programs only for parents using as opportunity to mere showing off the talents of children and the boisterous and stylish, I am being led to be more and work together to understanding and caring within the family and foster such thoughts to the Church as a whole.
I believe a part of it is the reminder sent through this wonderful prayer sent by my brother and the message of the Nativity Homily by Fr. Binny Kuruvilla to go even beyond that is our calling.
“Heavenly Father, I know that I have sinned against you and that my sins separate me from you. I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my sinful past and turn to you for forgiveness. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, died for my sins, that He was raised from the dead and is alive. I invite Jesus to become my Savior and the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey you and to convict me when I sin. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.”
“For a Christian the Nativity of Christ is not limited to December 25, but each day and every moment that we allow Christ in our lives as affirmed by Gospel reading to “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord “This was the experience of the wise men and witness of the Church who allowed to be guided to Him unlike King Herod.
I pray this will be the experience of each of us and in all our encounters
Feast of Nativity - 2011
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, April 2, 2011
West Syrian Liturgical Theology by Fr. Baby Varghese - Book review
West Syrian Liturgical Theology by Fr. Baby Varghese - Book review
This book is so useful in my eyes to the Church in India than Fr. Alexander Schmemann of eternal memory could write for the OCA.
It made me realize how sinful as a people we the two factions of Malankara with the only difference being who they chose as their Prelate - The Patriach at Syria or the Catholicose of the East in India have become. Our Church from 16th Century atleast could have put to use wonderful experience of the Syrian Church in Liturgy which Fr. Baby Varghese portrays wonderfully in this book. The future on how we live as Church is up to us and pray this book encourages.
For reflection a quote from Introduction and Concluding chapters of the book
" The West Syrian fathers have not given a definition of liturgy. Perhaps it is felt unnecessary to define something self evident, and so intimate to one's experience. For the West Syrians, worship is the vocation of man, the very purpose for which he was created. He was created to live in communion with God, as a liturgical being . This idea is fundamental to understanding the meaning of leitourgia, as lived and expressed by the West Syrian tradition. Liturgy is not something external to Christian witness. It is not an accessory, but an essential element of Christian tradition. It is the very expression of Christian identity. According to West Syrians , to be a Christian means to be a liturgical being. Worship is not a supplementary or practical discipline in the life of a Christian. It is the realization of his vocation.."
" Liturgy is an eschatological act, for the ultimate unity of all in Christ has been manifested in it. Christian eschatology is not future-oriented. It implies that something has been ' restored' in Christ and that it bears the presence of the Spirit. Church and its liturgy are eschatological,because they imply a new relationship in Christ sealed with the permanent presence of the Spirit. It is the presence of the Spirit - a unique characteristic of Christian liturgy,according to the New Testament - that makes liturgy an eschatological act. It is an act in Christ, in the Spirit - an act of the new humanity. Liturgical assembly manifests the Church as the community that incorporates the entire creation,the entire culture and brings them back to God. It manifests the ultimate destiny of each and everything in relation to Kingdom of God. Material objects,gestures, movements,music,art,architecture,poetry and literature serve as 'symbols that reveal the Creator and His infinite wisdom. Liturgy express a whole network of relationships. It celebrates the interdependence and interrelatedness of God, man and the world. The task of liturgical theology is precisely to bring out the implications of these relationships in man's search for the meaning of life "
This book is so useful in my eyes to the Church in India than Fr. Alexander Schmemann of eternal memory could write for the OCA.
It made me realize how sinful as a people we the two factions of Malankara with the only difference being who they chose as their Prelate - The Patriach at Syria or the Catholicose of the East in India have become. Our Church from 16th Century atleast could have put to use wonderful experience of the Syrian Church in Liturgy which Fr. Baby Varghese portrays wonderfully in this book. The future on how we live as Church is up to us and pray this book encourages.
For reflection a quote from Introduction and Concluding chapters of the book
" The West Syrian fathers have not given a definition of liturgy. Perhaps it is felt unnecessary to define something self evident, and so intimate to one's experience. For the West Syrians, worship is the vocation of man, the very purpose for which he was created. He was created to live in communion with God, as a liturgical being . This idea is fundamental to understanding the meaning of leitourgia, as lived and expressed by the West Syrian tradition. Liturgy is not something external to Christian witness. It is not an accessory, but an essential element of Christian tradition. It is the very expression of Christian identity. According to West Syrians , to be a Christian means to be a liturgical being. Worship is not a supplementary or practical discipline in the life of a Christian. It is the realization of his vocation.."
" Liturgy is an eschatological act, for the ultimate unity of all in Christ has been manifested in it. Christian eschatology is not future-oriented. It implies that something has been ' restored' in Christ and that it bears the presence of the Spirit. Church and its liturgy are eschatological,because they imply a new relationship in Christ sealed with the permanent presence of the Spirit. It is the presence of the Spirit - a unique characteristic of Christian liturgy,according to the New Testament - that makes liturgy an eschatological act. It is an act in Christ, in the Spirit - an act of the new humanity. Liturgical assembly manifests the Church as the community that incorporates the entire creation,the entire culture and brings them back to God. It manifests the ultimate destiny of each and everything in relation to Kingdom of God. Material objects,gestures, movements,music,art,architecture,poetry and literature serve as 'symbols that reveal the Creator and His infinite wisdom. Liturgy express a whole network of relationships. It celebrates the interdependence and interrelatedness of God, man and the world. The task of liturgical theology is precisely to bring out the implications of these relationships in man's search for the meaning of life "
Friday, January 28, 2011
North America Seminary Education , Culture and Indian Church
This posting is an offshoot from the recent postings in ICON on aspiring priests being educated in Eastern Orthodox seminaries and influence on future of the Indian Orthodox Church.
First and foremost on some things that I consider to focus for the basis of futher discussion.
1. Our faith is that by baptism by an Indian Orthodox priest and by that first communion thereafter , we each have become part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
2. The Indian Orthodox Church with it's prelate the Catholicose of the East in Devalokam , founded by St. Thomas, with it's Catholicate established in 1912 , presently follows a major portion of liturgical forms of worship adopted from the contact with the Syrian Orthodox Church since 17th Century.
3. There existed some forms of worship used by the Church in India prior to the 17th Century unique to the Kerala culture and traditions that the Church adapted of which a few is being used by us presently like Kaiasthuri, Manthrakodi, Minu kettu etc.
4. The ancient communities in the mediteerenian area had a unique opportunity of being in close proximity , constant interaction due to trade and within the same empire. The Indian Church , unlike the Syrian , Coptic , Ethiopian , or Armenian Church , was not part of the Byzantine empire or the Mediteranian locale where the Ecumenical Councils of the Church were held . It has not played an active part prior to 17th Century , in the development of the Orthodox Theology when it was formulated in the three Councils or it's defence against the innovation perceived then against council of Chalcedon on the One Incarnate Nature of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ( In short we got to know of Chalcedon after 17th Century interaction with the Syrian Church).
5. In the development of the two Christian communities in the immediate two centuries after the council of Chalcedon , amidst local persecutions ,attempts were made by each to explain their position as right and failure to come to consensus resulted in each calling the other as heretics.
6. The naming of Christian communities as Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox is a development in the last two centuries to show the distinction between those who accept the existence of Seven (7) Councils as Ecumenical including the council of Chalcedon and those who consider only the first three councils of Nicea, Constantinopole and Ephesius. This is the situation that the Indian Orthodox Church finds itself ifacing the Eastern orthodox and others with whom we share communion with called the Oriental Orthodox in 20th Century.
7. The life of the Church as examplified by the Church Fathers common to all be they Syrian, Armenian etc. is not only be confessing in words its theology but by living the Orthodox Christian Faith. (( Here clarity required - Orthodox is referred to it as Right Glory (God's glory) or Right Worship))
8. The Indian Church unlike the others that we share in communion did not have a history of martyrs and suffering from the first Centuries till it's major persecution from others who consider themselves as Christians - the Portuguese Roman catholics and have no record of calendar of saints like the Coptic , Syrian Church or the Ethiopian Church have. ( In fact these Calendars were edifying tools to guide members of the Church of the path followed by others previously to emulate ) . It should not be away from our focus that potential of persecution is yet to come for us if it is for God's glory through us.
9. It took the Orthodox community as a whole centuries for the Liturgical forms and Worship amidst differing situations in the past to develop prior to us the Indian Church adapted from the Syrian Church. Similarly it took centuries for the forms used by the Armenian , Coptic or Ethiopian Church for them to use it like they do now in their Church life. This is applicable to the Greek or the Russian Church which are the bulk of the Eastern Orthodox community.
10. Orthodox Christian communities in the past has always exercised the independent freedom on how it used the knowledge of the faith they have gained from others to edify the community as a whole to live out the Orthodox Christian faith. It is recorded that classical Greek Christian Scripture used to preach in one community were also used the other communities and each community had translated the texts for it's common people to understand . The forms of worship were different but the essence of faith remained un changed and coming to consensus was the norm and faith that the Holy spirit is guiding the Church to fulfill it's destiny.
First and foremost on some things that I consider to focus for the basis of futher discussion.
1. Our faith is that by baptism by an Indian Orthodox priest and by that first communion thereafter , we each have become part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
2. The Indian Orthodox Church with it's prelate the Catholicose of the East in Devalokam , founded by St. Thomas, with it's Catholicate established in 1912 , presently follows a major portion of liturgical forms of worship adopted from the contact with the Syrian Orthodox Church since 17th Century.
3. There existed some forms of worship used by the Church in India prior to the 17th Century unique to the Kerala culture and traditions that the Church adapted of which a few is being used by us presently like Kaiasthuri, Manthrakodi, Minu kettu etc.
4. The ancient communities in the mediteerenian area had a unique opportunity of being in close proximity , constant interaction due to trade and within the same empire. The Indian Church , unlike the Syrian , Coptic , Ethiopian , or Armenian Church , was not part of the Byzantine empire or the Mediteranian locale where the Ecumenical Councils of the Church were held . It has not played an active part prior to 17th Century , in the development of the Orthodox Theology when it was formulated in the three Councils or it's defence against the innovation perceived then against council of Chalcedon on the One Incarnate Nature of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ( In short we got to know of Chalcedon after 17th Century interaction with the Syrian Church).
5. In the development of the two Christian communities in the immediate two centuries after the council of Chalcedon , amidst local persecutions ,attempts were made by each to explain their position as right and failure to come to consensus resulted in each calling the other as heretics.
6. The naming of Christian communities as Eastern Orthodox or Oriental Orthodox is a development in the last two centuries to show the distinction between those who accept the existence of Seven (7) Councils as Ecumenical including the council of Chalcedon and those who consider only the first three councils of Nicea, Constantinopole and Ephesius. This is the situation that the Indian Orthodox Church finds itself ifacing the Eastern orthodox and others with whom we share communion with called the Oriental Orthodox in 20th Century.
7. The life of the Church as examplified by the Church Fathers common to all be they Syrian, Armenian etc. is not only be confessing in words its theology but by living the Orthodox Christian Faith. (( Here clarity required - Orthodox is referred to it as Right Glory (God's glory) or Right Worship))
8. The Indian Church unlike the others that we share in communion did not have a history of martyrs and suffering from the first Centuries till it's major persecution from others who consider themselves as Christians - the Portuguese Roman catholics and have no record of calendar of saints like the Coptic , Syrian Church or the Ethiopian Church have. ( In fact these Calendars were edifying tools to guide members of the Church of the path followed by others previously to emulate ) . It should not be away from our focus that potential of persecution is yet to come for us if it is for God's glory through us.
9. It took the Orthodox community as a whole centuries for the Liturgical forms and Worship amidst differing situations in the past to develop prior to us the Indian Church adapted from the Syrian Church. Similarly it took centuries for the forms used by the Armenian , Coptic or Ethiopian Church for them to use it like they do now in their Church life. This is applicable to the Greek or the Russian Church which are the bulk of the Eastern Orthodox community.
10. Orthodox Christian communities in the past has always exercised the independent freedom on how it used the knowledge of the faith they have gained from others to edify the community as a whole to live out the Orthodox Christian faith. It is recorded that classical Greek Christian Scripture used to preach in one community were also used the other communities and each community had translated the texts for it's common people to understand . The forms of worship were different but the essence of faith remained un changed and coming to consensus was the norm and faith that the Holy spirit is guiding the Church to fulfill it's destiny.
Examples :
-Ethiopian Church while it has close connnection to Coptic Church has developed their form of worship in their native language , musical instrumentals adapated to glorify God as part of the liturgy.
- Russian church which never knew of Orthodoxy of any form till Prince Vladimir sent emmisaries in 10th Century A.D to Greece has adapted the forms they received specific to produce Holy men like St. Seraphim of Sarov and living it out from with the persecutions of communism.
- The OCA ( Orthodox church in America) which came about an offshoot from the Russian church during communism has adapted to translate the Russian liturgy ( St. John Chrysostoum Liturgy which has found it's way to Russia from Greece and thereafter to U.S) and attracted quite a few biased to western prostestant thought to turn to it , formed the St. Vladimir Seminary ( One of the seminaries where our aspiring priests in U.S have been accused ofbeing educated in Eastern Orthodox than the Oriental Orthodox or Indian Orthodox )
11. Due to it's significance to the topic , not to mention to above list is our Indian Orthodox Church in India (mostly isolated to state of Kerala and migrants from Kerala to other places thereof) which has in the last two centuries translated a lot of the Syrian prayers into native language of Malyalam , building up a community since 1912 that has a potential to grow in glory and witness to the present time and facing up to heresies and persecutions and produce martyrs ( here clarification martyrdom does not signify only by dying to torture at hands as shown by early Christians facing up to Romans , but no to sin , no to focus on a life away from God prayer worship amidst the many distractions including blogs and social media )
12. The community formed from Indian Orthodox Church in America , it's interaction with the Culture it finds itself in North America based on western model should be seen as unique and focus should not turn from these which I consider important.
-It's interaction with the Easten Orthodox in America , -Education by teaching by many of Eastern Orthodox in America noted in the native English language publications as only the Orthodox Christian community which has held it's faith since first century and preached in pulpit of the Atar by their priests ( knowingly or unknowingly the ancient Churches like Syrian Orthodox Church , Coptic Armenian or Ethiopian are potrayed as either heretical or trying to get in communion with them and one should be kind to them and try to offer help to accomodate them) , welcoming with open arms immigrant community to join them in worship and not explaining that there are theological differences and that some whom they consider as saints are labelled as heretics or robbers.
- Mind set of the Immigrant Indian Orthodox community of the past in North America - a) Not missionarries ,but first priority as who feel lost missing the support system of Church and Culture in India , looking to hold on to something of the past establishing congreggations and parishes with liturgy services in Malyalam . b) The ignorance of not knowing indepth the theology or the practise of the Orthodox Christian faith of merely having continued in simplicity the tradition common in India. c) Fear of losing children as they grow up using predominantly English language normally outside , being exposed to the fast western culture - forcing to attempting to hold back change by actually changing themselves using translations of liturgical books in English for Qurbana and singing in Malyalam tunes ( Emphasis so much on tunes and not meaning - The words and tune together to uplift the worshipping community as a whole and each individual as a participant was what the ancients prescribed and proved) d) The furstations by nuances of human fraility of pride , arguments on who should be Secretary , are they Jacobites will our church building be taken away and infighting within parish leading some youth brought up in America thinking they don't belong here and/or from pride again impatient sighs -Oh these are ignorant people and this is my Church and I must do something to change like going to Eastern Orthodox seminary or parishes to learn and help it ( An anology that comes to mind would be like some Orthodox Christians in India following a pattern without actually understanding or participating in worship jumping ship to protestant missions to learn the Bible and they come back trying to change the Church and their parents)
- Breakway from past and moving forward-
It is important to focus beyond the walls of the Indian Orthodox Christian community and see that mission of the Church in North America India continuing in the footsteps of our Lord and God Jesus Christ ,the Apostles and the Church fathers , is for all people all inclusive on every activity of their lives . The immigrant community culture issue in North America is not limited to us and would cite these diverse examples from my personal observation to elaborate
a) Ukranian community of glorious past in America where greater emphasis on Culture and language was emphasised , with limited youth from present generation even participating in liturgical services and limited members planning to enter into seminary training
b) OCA offshot of the Russian Church which have come a long way in very limited time centuries producing it's own seminaries with many caucasian converts joining to it's members and even inspiring cradle Indian or Ukranian Orthodox.
c) Common to all of the Oiental Orthodox Christian community in America - Coptic , Armenian, Indian , Syrian , Ethiopian and Eritrean
- each living out their life as Church within their culture and language limitations ( Copts get together with Copts only, Indians having liturgical service in Malayalam , Ethiopians only within their community etc.) and limited interaction together as Church. Isolated cases of interaction might be happening but not on a continuous basis to grow . ( An organization which seem promising to me is the SCOOCH even within the limitation of facing others from within our faith labelling us as heretics because of our unfortunate past relation with the Syrian Church)
d. Relationship with the Church from which it had its roots -
Syrian and Kerala traditions
I believe it is important to prove the past wrong which our young seminarians in U.S show promise on going back to find out how the Church existed in India and the situation they had to face in the past and learn from it. It is a shameful scandalous truth facing the Church in India with our Sister Orthodox adapting almost 90% of their liturgical forms forgetting the fact that many fathers of the Church whose work we have come to be blessed with lie in isolated unmarked graves of Antioch without any one there to do Doopa prarthana on their behalf. It is my prayer that the future Indian Orthodox in America would be foremost to go back to establish the relationship with seminaries and study organizations in India and other places to go back to studying old scripts of Syrian prose and Malayalam translate for common man to use in their prayerful lives in English or Malayalam as their preference and offer Doopa prarthana the fathers of old Antioch and Church Fathers of India who had stood up to persecutions from Dutch, Anglican , Syrian a like on the faith. Another aspect not to forget is grasping without offering - The practical usage of the Indian Church on traditions it had got the forms of Syrian traditions translated how much is being used on personal lives - Are we for convenience not going to confession , breaking away from 7 times of prayer ? . Here again I wish to draw a parallel on the use of Jesus Prayer which is now being labelled as part of Eastern Byzantine tradition when it is not as they originated from arrow prayers places like Nitrea and is even shown in our Ninevah prayer ( Yeshuve nee njangale sahaiyikename - ) It is just that the publicity and wide spread usage by Eastern Orthodox ( Not sure if they teach this in the seminaries of OCA)
Balanced focus on Syrian ,Other traditions that formulated Oriental Orthodox Christian Faith English language and potential in North America
Here I should emphasise us not to forget not only Syrian but also other traditions recorded in Geez , Coptic , Armenian and Greek etc. which would show a glimpse of past and formulated our common faith of Oriental Orthodox. In the past due to distance , language and cultural barriers the Indian Church could not interact with these Church communities. However the potential to interact has tremendously improved with internet, immigration policy in North America (In most major cities in U.S there exist Ethiopian , Armenian, Coptic and/ or the other three communities for us to interact and learn to edify together as Church. There exist seminaries and monasteries of Oriental Orthodox and monasteries in U.S ).
The fast pace of Globalization and English language influence in every aspect of life should also not be forgotten and unlike in the past what affect in US affect the very core in India too , it is a responsibility of Church as a whole and each of us as individuals by virtue of our membership to encounter. The question is How sincere are we and what will we be willing to sacrifice and how much encouragement we will give to some who want to attempt ?
Some thoughts to conclusion in future :
This past Sunday ( the reading of the Church - 4th Sunday after Epiphany ) focus on unbelief in God and each of us should not forget that We believe that God is guiding the Church to it's destiny with the Holy Spirit in it's fullness and the expectations of each of us shown in the Epistle reading of I Corinthians 12:12- 27. The Apostles and Church fathers including those Fathers labelled as Oriental Orthodox have lived it. Let us take time to cry out for His help and mercy in our lives to find use of us for Right Glory.
January 31, 2011Saturday, January 8, 2011
Scripture Reading January 09, 2011
First Sunday after Danaha
Scripture :
Evening : St.Mark1:14-34
Morning : St.John1:18-28
Before Holy Qurbana : Genesis25:19-34,30:36-31:2 , IIKings5:1-14 ,Isaiah49:7-13
Holy Qurbana : Acts2:37-47 , Ephesians1:3-14 , St.Matthew4:12-22
Scripture :
Evening : St.Mark1:14-34
Morning : St.John1:18-28
Before Holy Qurbana : Genesis25:19-34,30:36-31:2 , IIKings5:1-14 ,Isaiah49:7-13
Holy Qurbana : Acts2:37-47 , Ephesians1:3-14 , St.Matthew4:12-22
Synaxarium
Mor Aggai , Episcopa of Edessa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mar_Aggai
Lukios Martyr , Mor Paule Episcopo and his brother Yuhanon , King Maximus
Saying
"Therefore, through patience and the consolation of the Scriptures may we also have hope of consoling ourselves after the afflictions of our distress when we too have been patient in tribulation and call to mind the actions of those who have far excelled us in righteousness and merit and borne far greater trials of adversity than we. For they, on account of the righteousness in which they were quite exemplary, often suffered the persecution of the unrighteous, in order that, by their exercise of righteousness, they might receive the crown of invincible patience, and might, moreover, leave behind for all who followed them the glorious footprints of their perseverance to mark their way."
The Venerable Bede.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Scripture Reading January 3, 2011
Scripture : St. John 1: 1 - 18 , Psalm 1: 1-16
Synaxarium : HG Baselius Mar Gevarghese II
http://www.malankaraorthodox.tv/H.%20H.%20Geevarghese%20II/Baselios%20Geevarghese%20II%20Catholicos.html
HG John III of Antioch
Lazarus of Turabdin,Turkey
Simeon of Harran
Lazarus of Sarug
Mar Yaqub Tel ada
Departure of St. John Khame
http://www.copticchurch.net/classes/synex.php?g_month=1&g_day=3&g_year=2011&btn=View&lang=
Saying
"Let pure faith, therefore, have this confidence, and doubt not that amid the persecutions at the hand of man and the dangers to the soul, it still has God for its helper, knowing that, if at length it comes to a violent and unjust death, the soul on leaving the tabernacle of the body finds rest with God its upholder; let it have, moreover, perfect assurance of the requital in the thought that all evil deeds return upon the heads of those that work them. God cannot be charged with injustice, and perfect goodness is unstained by the impulses and motions of an evil will."
St. Hilary of Poitiers.
Synaxarium : HG Baselius Mar Gevarghese II
http://www.malankaraorthodox.tv/H.%20H.%20Geevarghese%20II/Baselios%20Geevarghese%20II%20Catholicos.html
HG John III of Antioch
Lazarus of Turabdin,Turkey
Simeon of Harran
Lazarus of Sarug
Mar Yaqub Tel ada
Departure of St. John Khame
http://www.copticchurch.net/classes/synex.php?g_month=1&g_day=3&g_year=2011&btn=View&lang=
Saying
"Let pure faith, therefore, have this confidence, and doubt not that amid the persecutions at the hand of man and the dangers to the soul, it still has God for its helper, knowing that, if at length it comes to a violent and unjust death, the soul on leaving the tabernacle of the body finds rest with God its upholder; let it have, moreover, perfect assurance of the requital in the thought that all evil deeds return upon the heads of those that work them. God cannot be charged with injustice, and perfect goodness is unstained by the impulses and motions of an evil will."
St. Hilary of Poitiers.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Prayer in the name of Jesus in Orthodox Christian tradition of Indian Church
The accusation of one close to you , just as you are making vey small steps in learning to live the faith in the life of the Church that the Church is full of hypocrites, those who are like the pharisees , those who follow rituals and traditions without knowing the person Jesus Christ, is a very painful and often traumatic event that leaves it's scar etched into one's very fibre a feeling of hoplessness.
It is during such a time that we seek support and a reassurance from others , from our family , from the Clergy and whatever we hold dear to tell us this is not the case . It is possible then to find the help we get lacking in conviction and tell tale signs to make us assume the accusation to be true .
However this is when we members of Church fail to grasp the very true eternal truth proclaimed and lived out by the Church Fathers that as individuals we are mere men with no strength on our own with nothing to our own merit , but precious to One , and our help is from Him and Him alone the very God who became man Jesus Christ - who art one of the Holy Trinity. It is to Him that we should turn for solace and indeed He surely loves us and will not leave us to lose hope and let us realize the lie that the evil one is using to bring us to despair .
The short prayers to turn the attention of their lives to God was used by the early Church fathers in Nitrea turning to the desert spending time in caves raising their hearts in prayer seeking His help. I believe that this tradition became part of the worshipping community coming together as Church the reason why in our Eucharist service we repeatedly hear the Church proclaiming Kuriyelaison - 'Lord Have Mercy'. Alternatively the Greek , Russian Church traditions adapted the cry for help of the blind man ' Lord Jesus Christ Son of God Have mercy upon me a sinner' become part of ceaseless personal prayer and witness the great saints like St. Seraphim of Sarov.
If we have such a great history of well troden and proven path in the Church then you and me need not feel discouraged but rather take the step the effort to ask of Him, ask of His help in prayer and perhaps be the instrument to turn our accuser too to not look at his brother's sins, the brother who knows his sins are too many . Let us be thankful edified by this prayer in the name of Jesus in Orthodox Church tradition of the Indian Church found in Moonu Noyambu prayer very similar to the prayer of closing on each Holy Qurbana.
"Jesus, Be our Helper
Jesus Be our Shelter
Jesus, strengthen us-
Jesus guard us
lJesus, remove thewicked from us
lJesus, absolve oursins and our evil deeds
Jesus, have mercyon the judgement day"
http://orthodukso.blogspot.com/2010/06/orthodox-service-closing-prayers.html
It is during such a time that we seek support and a reassurance from others , from our family , from the Clergy and whatever we hold dear to tell us this is not the case . It is possible then to find the help we get lacking in conviction and tell tale signs to make us assume the accusation to be true .
However this is when we members of Church fail to grasp the very true eternal truth proclaimed and lived out by the Church Fathers that as individuals we are mere men with no strength on our own with nothing to our own merit , but precious to One , and our help is from Him and Him alone the very God who became man Jesus Christ - who art one of the Holy Trinity. It is to Him that we should turn for solace and indeed He surely loves us and will not leave us to lose hope and let us realize the lie that the evil one is using to bring us to despair .
The short prayers to turn the attention of their lives to God was used by the early Church fathers in Nitrea turning to the desert spending time in caves raising their hearts in prayer seeking His help. I believe that this tradition became part of the worshipping community coming together as Church the reason why in our Eucharist service we repeatedly hear the Church proclaiming Kuriyelaison - 'Lord Have Mercy'. Alternatively the Greek , Russian Church traditions adapted the cry for help of the blind man ' Lord Jesus Christ Son of God Have mercy upon me a sinner' become part of ceaseless personal prayer and witness the great saints like St. Seraphim of Sarov.
If we have such a great history of well troden and proven path in the Church then you and me need not feel discouraged but rather take the step the effort to ask of Him, ask of His help in prayer and perhaps be the instrument to turn our accuser too to not look at his brother's sins, the brother who knows his sins are too many . Let us be thankful edified by this prayer in the name of Jesus in Orthodox Church tradition of the Indian Church found in Moonu Noyambu prayer very similar to the prayer of closing on each Holy Qurbana.
"Jesus, Be our Helper
Jesus Be our Shelter
Jesus, strengthen us-
Jesus guard us
lJesus, remove thewicked from us
lJesus, absolve oursins and our evil deeds
Jesus, have mercyon the judgement day"
http://orthodukso.blogspot.com/2010/06/orthodox-service-closing-prayers.html
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Spiritual Father in Orthodox Christianity -5
This article was shared by Dr. Roy Cherian at ICON . May it be edifying.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Spiritual Father in Orthodox Christianity-- by Bishop Kallistos Ware ( Part 5)
In the Absence of a Starets And what is one to do, if he cannot find a spiritual father? He may turn, in the first place, to books. Writing in 5th-century Russia,St. Nil Sorsky laments the extreme scarcity of qualified spiritual directors; yet how much more frequent they must have been in his day than in ours!Search diligently, he urges, for a sure and trustworthy guide. "However, if such a teacher cannot be found, then the Holy Fathers order us to turn tothe Scriptures and listen to Our Lord Himself speaking." [31] Since the testimony of Scripture should not be isolated from the continuing witness ofthe Spirit in the life of the Church, the inquirer will also read the works of the Fathers, and above all the Philokalia. But there is an evident danger here. The starets adapts his guidance to the inward state of each; books offer the same advice to everyone. How is the beginner to discern whether or not a particular text is applicable to his own situation? Even if hecannot find a spiritual father in the full sense, he should at least try to find someone more experienced than himself, able to guide him in his reading.It is possible to learn also from visiting places where divine grace hasbeen exceptionally manifested and where prayer has been especially concentrated. Before taking a major decision, and in the absence of other guidance,many Orthodox Christians will goon pilgrimage to Jerusalem or Mount Athos,to some monastery or the tomb of a saint, where they will pray for enlightenment. This is the way in which I have reached the more difficult decisions in my life.
Thirdly, we can learn from religious communities with an established tradition of the spiritual life. In the absence of a personal teacher, the monastic environment can serve as guru; we can receive our formation from the ordered sequence of the daily program, with its periods of liturgical and silent prayer, with its balance of manual labor, study, and recreation. [32]This seems to have be en the chief way in which St. Seraphim of Sarov gained his spiritual training. A well-organized monastery embodies, in anaccessible and living form, the inherited wisdom of many starets. Not only monks,but those who come as visitors for a longer or shorter period, can be formed and guided by the experience of community life.It is indeed no coincidence that the kind of spiritual fatherhood that we have been describing emerged initially in 4th-century Egypt, not within thefully organized communities under St. Pachomius, but among the hermits andin the semi-eremitic milieu of Nitria and Scetis. In the former, spiritual direction was provided by Pachomius himself, by the superiors of each monastery, and by the heads of individual "houses" within the monastery. TheRule of St. Benedict also envisages the abbot as spiritual father, and thereis no provision for further development of a more "charismatic" type. Intime, of course, the coenobitic communities incorporated many of the traditions of spiritual fatherhood as developed among the hermits, but the need forthose traditions has always been less intensely felt in the coenobia,precisely because direction is provided by the corporate life pursued under theguidance of the Rule.
Finally, before we leave the subject of the absence of the starets, it is important to recognize the extreme flexibility in the relationship between starets and disciple. Some may see their spiritual father daily or even hourly, praying, eating, and working with him, perhaps sharing the same cell,as often happened in the Egyptian Desert. Others may see him only once a month or once a year; others, again, may visit a starets on but a single occasion in their entire life, yet this will be sufficient to set them on path. There are, furthermore, many different types of spiritual father;few will be wonder-workers like St. Seraphim of Sarov. There are numerous priests and laymen who, while lacking the more spectacular endowments of the startsi, are certainly able to provide others with the guidance that they require.Many people imagine that they cannot find a spiritual father, because they expect him to be of a particular type: they want a St. Seraphim, and so they close their eyes to the guides whom God is actually sending to them. Often their supposed problems are not so very complicated, and in reality they already know in their own heart what the answer is. But they do not like the answer, because it involves patient and sustained effort on their part:and so they look for a deus ex machina who, by a single miraculous word,will suddenly make everything easy. Such people need to be helped to an understanding of the true nature of spiritual direction.
Contemporary Examples In condusion, I wish briefly to recall two startsi of our own day, whom I have had the happiness of knowing personally. The first is FatherAmphilochios (+1970), abbot of the Monastery of St. John on the Island of Patmos, andspiritual father to a community of nuns which he had founded not far from the Monastery. What most distinguished his character was his gentleness,the warmth of his affection, and his sense of tranquil yet triumphant joy.Life in Christ, as he understood it, is not a heavy yoke, a burden to be carried' with resignation, but a personal relationship to be pursued with eagerness of heart. He was firmly opposed to all spiritual violence and cruelty.It was typical that, as he lay dying and took leave of the nuns under hiscare, he should urge the abbess not to be too severe on them: "They haveleft everything to come here, they must not be unhappy." [33] When I was to return from Patmos to England as a newly-ordained priest, he insisted thatthere was no need to be afraid of anything.My second example is Archbishop John (Maximovich), Russian bishop in Shanghai, in Western Europe, and finally in San Francisco (+1966). Little more than a dwarf in height, with tangled hair and beard, and with an impedimentin his speech, he possessed more than a touch of the "Fool in Christ." From the time of his profession as a monk, he did not lie down on a bed to sleep at night; he went on working and praying, snatching his sleep at oddmoments in the 24 hours. He wandered barefoot through the streets of Paris, and once he celebrated a memorial, service among the tram lines close to the port of Marseilles. Punctuality had little meaning for him. Baffled by hisunpredictable behavior, the more conventional among his flock sometimes judged him to be unsuited for the administrative work of a bishop. But with his total disregard of normal formalities he succeeded where others, relying on worldly influence and expertise, had failed entirelyas when, against allhope and in the teeth of the "quota" system, he secured the admission of thousands of homeless Russian refugees to the U.S.A. In private conversation he was very gentle, and he quickly won theconfidence of small children. Particularly striking was the intensity of his intercessory prayer. When possible, he liked to celebrate the Divine Liturgy daily, and the service often took twice or three times the normal space of time, such was the multitude of those whom he commemorated individually by name. As he prayed for them, they were never mere names on a lengthy list, but always persons. One story that I was told is typical. It was his custom each year to visit Holy Trinity Monastery at Jordanville, N.Y. As he left,after one such visit, a monk gave him a slip of paper with four names of those who were gravely ill. Archbishop John received thousands upon thousands ofsuch requests for prayer in the course of each year. On his return to the monastery some twelve months later, at once he beckoned to the monk, and much to the latter's surprise, from the depths of his cassock Archbishop John produced the identical slip of paper, now crumpled and tattered. "I have been praying for your friends," he said, "but two of them"he pointed to their names"are now dead and the other two have recovered." And so indeed itwas.Even at a distance he shared in the concerns of his spiritual children. One of them, superior of a small Orthodox monastery in Holland, was sitting one night in his room, unable to sleep from anxiety over the problems which faced him. About three o'dock in the morning, the telephone rang; it was Archbishop John, speaking from several hundred miles away. He had rung to say that it was time for the monk to go to bed.Such is the role of the spiritual father. As Varsanuphius expressed it, "I care for you more than you care for yourself."
Endnotes:
1. On spiritual fatherhood in the Christian East, see the well-documented study by I. Hausherr, S. L., Direction Spintuelle en Orient d'Autrefois(Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 144: Rome 1955). An excellent portrait of agreat starets in 19th-century Russia is provided by J. B. Dunlop, StaretzAmvrosy: Model for Dostoevsky's Staretz Zossima (Belmont, Mass. 1972); comparealso I. de Beausobre, Macanus, Starets of Optina: Russian Letters ofDirection 18341860 (London, 1944). For the life and writings of a Russian starets in the present century, see Archimandrite Sofrony, The UndistortedImage.Staretz Silouan: 18661938 (London, 1958).
2. Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection (Migne, P.G., 65, pp.37-8).3. Les Apophtegemes des Pres du Desert, by J. C. Guy, S.jj. (Textes deSpiritualit Orientale, No. 1: Etiolles, 1968), pp. 112, 158.4. A. Elchaninov, The Diary of a Russian Priest, (London, 1967, p. 54).5. I use "charismatic" in the restricted sense customarily given to it bycontemporary writers. But if that word indicates one who has received thegifts or charismata of the Holy Spirit, then the ministerial priest, ordainedthrough the episcopal laying on of hands, is as genuinely a "charismatic"as one who speaks with tongues.6. The Life of St. Antony, chapters 87 and 81 (P.G. 26, 965A, and 957A.)7. Quoted in Igumen Chariton, The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology(London, 1966), p. 164. [Webmaster Note: I could not determine where thisfootnote appeared in the original article.]8. Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection, Theophilus theArchbishop, p. 2. In the Christian East, the Patriarch of Alexandria bears the title"Pope."9. Ibid., Antony p. 27.10. Ibid., Antony, p. 24.11. Compare Ignaty's contemporary, Bishop Theophan the Recluse (+l894) andSt. Tikhon of Zadonsk (+l753).12. Three of the great banes of the 20th century are shorthand, duplicatorsand photocopying machines. If chairmen of committees and those in seats ofauthority were forced to write out personally in longhand everything theywanted to communicate to others, no doubt they would choose their wordswith greater care.13. Evergetinos, Synagoge, 1, 20 (ed. Victor Matthaiou, I, Athens, 1957,pp. 168-9).14. Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection, Poemen, p. 8.15. For the importance of a spiritual father's prayers, see for exampleLes Apophtegmes des Peres du Dsert, tr. Guy, "srie des dits anonymes", P.160.16. The Book of Varsanuphius and John, edited by Sotirios Schoinas (Volos,1960), pp. 208, 39, 353, 110 and 23g. A critical edition of part of theGreek text, accompanied by an English translation, has been prepared by D. J.Chitty: Varsanuphius and John, Questions and Answers, (PatrologiaOrientalis, XXXI, 3, Paris, 1966). [Webmaster Note. This and many other finebookson spiritual direction are available from _St. Herman Press_(http://www.stherman.com/) .17. Apophthegmata Patrurn, alphabetical collection, Antony, p. 16.18. Ibid., John the Theban, p. 1.19. Mystic Treatises of Isaac of Nineveh, tr. by A. J. Wensinck,(Amsterdam, 1923), p. 341.20. "_Conversation of St. Seraphim on the Aim of the Christian Life_(http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/wonderful.aspx) ," in A Wonderful Revelationto the World (Jordanville, N.Y., 1953), pp. 23-24.21. Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection, John Colobos, p. 1.22. Ibid., Mark the Disciple of Silvanus, pp. 1, 2.23. Ibid., Joseph of Panepho, p. 5.24. Ibid., Saio, p. 1. The geron subsequently returned the things to theirrightful owners.25. Les Apophtegmes des Peres du Desert, tr. Guy, "serie des ditsanonymes," p. 162. There is a parallel story in the alphabetical collection,Sisoes, p. 10; cf. Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 22).26. Fr. Andr Scrima, "La Tradition du Pre Spirituel dan l'Eglise d'Orient."Hermes, 1967, No. 4, p. 83.27. Apophthegmata Patrurn, alphabetical collection, Poemen, p. 174.28. Ibid., Isaac the Priest, p. 2.29. The Book of Varsanuphius and John, pp. 23, 51, 35.30. Quoted by Thomas Merton, Spiritual Direction and Meditation. (1960), p.12.31. "The Monastic Rule," in G. P. Fedotov, A Treasury of RussianSpirituality, (London, 1950) p.96.32. See Thomas Merton, op. cit., pp. 14-16, on the dangers of rigidmonastic discipline without proper spiritual direction.33. See I. Gorainoff, "Holy Men of Patmos", Sobornost (The Journal of theFellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius), Series 6, No. 5 (1972) pp. 341-4.From Cross Currents (Summer/Fall 1974), pp. 296-313.**************************************
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Spiritual Father in Orthodox Christianity-- by Bishop Kallistos Ware ( Part 5)
In the Absence of a Starets And what is one to do, if he cannot find a spiritual father? He may turn, in the first place, to books. Writing in 5th-century Russia,St. Nil Sorsky laments the extreme scarcity of qualified spiritual directors; yet how much more frequent they must have been in his day than in ours!Search diligently, he urges, for a sure and trustworthy guide. "However, if such a teacher cannot be found, then the Holy Fathers order us to turn tothe Scriptures and listen to Our Lord Himself speaking." [31] Since the testimony of Scripture should not be isolated from the continuing witness ofthe Spirit in the life of the Church, the inquirer will also read the works of the Fathers, and above all the Philokalia. But there is an evident danger here. The starets adapts his guidance to the inward state of each; books offer the same advice to everyone. How is the beginner to discern whether or not a particular text is applicable to his own situation? Even if hecannot find a spiritual father in the full sense, he should at least try to find someone more experienced than himself, able to guide him in his reading.It is possible to learn also from visiting places where divine grace hasbeen exceptionally manifested and where prayer has been especially concentrated. Before taking a major decision, and in the absence of other guidance,many Orthodox Christians will goon pilgrimage to Jerusalem or Mount Athos,to some monastery or the tomb of a saint, where they will pray for enlightenment. This is the way in which I have reached the more difficult decisions in my life.
Thirdly, we can learn from religious communities with an established tradition of the spiritual life. In the absence of a personal teacher, the monastic environment can serve as guru; we can receive our formation from the ordered sequence of the daily program, with its periods of liturgical and silent prayer, with its balance of manual labor, study, and recreation. [32]This seems to have be en the chief way in which St. Seraphim of Sarov gained his spiritual training. A well-organized monastery embodies, in anaccessible and living form, the inherited wisdom of many starets. Not only monks,but those who come as visitors for a longer or shorter period, can be formed and guided by the experience of community life.It is indeed no coincidence that the kind of spiritual fatherhood that we have been describing emerged initially in 4th-century Egypt, not within thefully organized communities under St. Pachomius, but among the hermits andin the semi-eremitic milieu of Nitria and Scetis. In the former, spiritual direction was provided by Pachomius himself, by the superiors of each monastery, and by the heads of individual "houses" within the monastery. TheRule of St. Benedict also envisages the abbot as spiritual father, and thereis no provision for further development of a more "charismatic" type. Intime, of course, the coenobitic communities incorporated many of the traditions of spiritual fatherhood as developed among the hermits, but the need forthose traditions has always been less intensely felt in the coenobia,precisely because direction is provided by the corporate life pursued under theguidance of the Rule.
Finally, before we leave the subject of the absence of the starets, it is important to recognize the extreme flexibility in the relationship between starets and disciple. Some may see their spiritual father daily or even hourly, praying, eating, and working with him, perhaps sharing the same cell,as often happened in the Egyptian Desert. Others may see him only once a month or once a year; others, again, may visit a starets on but a single occasion in their entire life, yet this will be sufficient to set them on path. There are, furthermore, many different types of spiritual father;few will be wonder-workers like St. Seraphim of Sarov. There are numerous priests and laymen who, while lacking the more spectacular endowments of the startsi, are certainly able to provide others with the guidance that they require.Many people imagine that they cannot find a spiritual father, because they expect him to be of a particular type: they want a St. Seraphim, and so they close their eyes to the guides whom God is actually sending to them. Often their supposed problems are not so very complicated, and in reality they already know in their own heart what the answer is. But they do not like the answer, because it involves patient and sustained effort on their part:and so they look for a deus ex machina who, by a single miraculous word,will suddenly make everything easy. Such people need to be helped to an understanding of the true nature of spiritual direction.
Contemporary Examples In condusion, I wish briefly to recall two startsi of our own day, whom I have had the happiness of knowing personally. The first is FatherAmphilochios (+1970), abbot of the Monastery of St. John on the Island of Patmos, andspiritual father to a community of nuns which he had founded not far from the Monastery. What most distinguished his character was his gentleness,the warmth of his affection, and his sense of tranquil yet triumphant joy.Life in Christ, as he understood it, is not a heavy yoke, a burden to be carried' with resignation, but a personal relationship to be pursued with eagerness of heart. He was firmly opposed to all spiritual violence and cruelty.It was typical that, as he lay dying and took leave of the nuns under hiscare, he should urge the abbess not to be too severe on them: "They haveleft everything to come here, they must not be unhappy." [33] When I was to return from Patmos to England as a newly-ordained priest, he insisted thatthere was no need to be afraid of anything.My second example is Archbishop John (Maximovich), Russian bishop in Shanghai, in Western Europe, and finally in San Francisco (+1966). Little more than a dwarf in height, with tangled hair and beard, and with an impedimentin his speech, he possessed more than a touch of the "Fool in Christ." From the time of his profession as a monk, he did not lie down on a bed to sleep at night; he went on working and praying, snatching his sleep at oddmoments in the 24 hours. He wandered barefoot through the streets of Paris, and once he celebrated a memorial, service among the tram lines close to the port of Marseilles. Punctuality had little meaning for him. Baffled by hisunpredictable behavior, the more conventional among his flock sometimes judged him to be unsuited for the administrative work of a bishop. But with his total disregard of normal formalities he succeeded where others, relying on worldly influence and expertise, had failed entirelyas when, against allhope and in the teeth of the "quota" system, he secured the admission of thousands of homeless Russian refugees to the U.S.A. In private conversation he was very gentle, and he quickly won theconfidence of small children. Particularly striking was the intensity of his intercessory prayer. When possible, he liked to celebrate the Divine Liturgy daily, and the service often took twice or three times the normal space of time, such was the multitude of those whom he commemorated individually by name. As he prayed for them, they were never mere names on a lengthy list, but always persons. One story that I was told is typical. It was his custom each year to visit Holy Trinity Monastery at Jordanville, N.Y. As he left,after one such visit, a monk gave him a slip of paper with four names of those who were gravely ill. Archbishop John received thousands upon thousands ofsuch requests for prayer in the course of each year. On his return to the monastery some twelve months later, at once he beckoned to the monk, and much to the latter's surprise, from the depths of his cassock Archbishop John produced the identical slip of paper, now crumpled and tattered. "I have been praying for your friends," he said, "but two of them"he pointed to their names"are now dead and the other two have recovered." And so indeed itwas.Even at a distance he shared in the concerns of his spiritual children. One of them, superior of a small Orthodox monastery in Holland, was sitting one night in his room, unable to sleep from anxiety over the problems which faced him. About three o'dock in the morning, the telephone rang; it was Archbishop John, speaking from several hundred miles away. He had rung to say that it was time for the monk to go to bed.Such is the role of the spiritual father. As Varsanuphius expressed it, "I care for you more than you care for yourself."
Endnotes:
1. On spiritual fatherhood in the Christian East, see the well-documented study by I. Hausherr, S. L., Direction Spintuelle en Orient d'Autrefois(Orientalia Christiana Analecta, 144: Rome 1955). An excellent portrait of agreat starets in 19th-century Russia is provided by J. B. Dunlop, StaretzAmvrosy: Model for Dostoevsky's Staretz Zossima (Belmont, Mass. 1972); comparealso I. de Beausobre, Macanus, Starets of Optina: Russian Letters ofDirection 18341860 (London, 1944). For the life and writings of a Russian starets in the present century, see Archimandrite Sofrony, The UndistortedImage.Staretz Silouan: 18661938 (London, 1958).
2. Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection (Migne, P.G., 65, pp.37-8).3. Les Apophtegemes des Pres du Desert, by J. C. Guy, S.jj. (Textes deSpiritualit Orientale, No. 1: Etiolles, 1968), pp. 112, 158.4. A. Elchaninov, The Diary of a Russian Priest, (London, 1967, p. 54).5. I use "charismatic" in the restricted sense customarily given to it bycontemporary writers. But if that word indicates one who has received thegifts or charismata of the Holy Spirit, then the ministerial priest, ordainedthrough the episcopal laying on of hands, is as genuinely a "charismatic"as one who speaks with tongues.6. The Life of St. Antony, chapters 87 and 81 (P.G. 26, 965A, and 957A.)7. Quoted in Igumen Chariton, The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology(London, 1966), p. 164. [Webmaster Note: I could not determine where thisfootnote appeared in the original article.]8. Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection, Theophilus theArchbishop, p. 2. In the Christian East, the Patriarch of Alexandria bears the title"Pope."9. Ibid., Antony p. 27.10. Ibid., Antony, p. 24.11. Compare Ignaty's contemporary, Bishop Theophan the Recluse (+l894) andSt. Tikhon of Zadonsk (+l753).12. Three of the great banes of the 20th century are shorthand, duplicatorsand photocopying machines. If chairmen of committees and those in seats ofauthority were forced to write out personally in longhand everything theywanted to communicate to others, no doubt they would choose their wordswith greater care.13. Evergetinos, Synagoge, 1, 20 (ed. Victor Matthaiou, I, Athens, 1957,pp. 168-9).14. Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection, Poemen, p. 8.15. For the importance of a spiritual father's prayers, see for exampleLes Apophtegmes des Peres du Dsert, tr. Guy, "srie des dits anonymes", P.160.16. The Book of Varsanuphius and John, edited by Sotirios Schoinas (Volos,1960), pp. 208, 39, 353, 110 and 23g. A critical edition of part of theGreek text, accompanied by an English translation, has been prepared by D. J.Chitty: Varsanuphius and John, Questions and Answers, (PatrologiaOrientalis, XXXI, 3, Paris, 1966). [Webmaster Note. This and many other finebookson spiritual direction are available from _St. Herman Press_(http://www.stherman.com/) .17. Apophthegmata Patrurn, alphabetical collection, Antony, p. 16.18. Ibid., John the Theban, p. 1.19. Mystic Treatises of Isaac of Nineveh, tr. by A. J. Wensinck,(Amsterdam, 1923), p. 341.20. "_Conversation of St. Seraphim on the Aim of the Christian Life_(http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/praxis/wonderful.aspx) ," in A Wonderful Revelationto the World (Jordanville, N.Y., 1953), pp. 23-24.21. Apophthegmata Patrum, alphabetical collection, John Colobos, p. 1.22. Ibid., Mark the Disciple of Silvanus, pp. 1, 2.23. Ibid., Joseph of Panepho, p. 5.24. Ibid., Saio, p. 1. The geron subsequently returned the things to theirrightful owners.25. Les Apophtegmes des Peres du Desert, tr. Guy, "serie des ditsanonymes," p. 162. There is a parallel story in the alphabetical collection,Sisoes, p. 10; cf. Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 22).26. Fr. Andr Scrima, "La Tradition du Pre Spirituel dan l'Eglise d'Orient."Hermes, 1967, No. 4, p. 83.27. Apophthegmata Patrurn, alphabetical collection, Poemen, p. 174.28. Ibid., Isaac the Priest, p. 2.29. The Book of Varsanuphius and John, pp. 23, 51, 35.30. Quoted by Thomas Merton, Spiritual Direction and Meditation. (1960), p.12.31. "The Monastic Rule," in G. P. Fedotov, A Treasury of RussianSpirituality, (London, 1950) p.96.32. See Thomas Merton, op. cit., pp. 14-16, on the dangers of rigidmonastic discipline without proper spiritual direction.33. See I. Gorainoff, "Holy Men of Patmos", Sobornost (The Journal of theFellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius), Series 6, No. 5 (1972) pp. 341-4.From Cross Currents (Summer/Fall 1974), pp. 296-313.**************************************
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