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20 May 2022
‘Words about Repentance, Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and the correction of life.’ - St. Theophan the Recluse
#VladimirDjambov; #Orthodox; #Talmach; #PraBlah
Translation
from Russian
Vladimir Djambov ©
St. Theophan the Recluse
Collection of sermons
Words about Repentance,
Communion of the
Holy Mysteries of Christ and
the Correction of Life
Collection of sermons ‘Words about
repentance, communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and the correction of
life.’
Words for the Holy Forty Days and
weeks of preparation for it
Part 1. In the week of the publican and the PhariseeIn the week of the publican and the Pharisee (do not rely on your righteousness)In the week of the publican and the Pharisee (complacency and self-justification is the most pernicious charm)In the week of the publican and the Pharisee (persuasion to persuade the soul to be ashamed and disgusted with sin and its sinful state)Part 2. In the week of the prodigal sonIn the week of the prodigal son (the Church wants to elevate us to an inspired determination, leaving sin, to walk the right path to the Heavenly Father)In the week of the prodigal son (which means to wake up from the sleep of sin)In the week of the prodigal son (about the attempts and tricks of the enemy, seeking to devour every zealot of goodness and purity)Part 3. Meat-fare weekIn the week of meat-fare (let us draw in our mind a picture of the Terrible Judgment and we will wear it incessantly)In the meat-fare week (the secret of preparing an acquittal at the Last Judgment)In the week of meat-fare (about the Second and terrible coming of our Lord Jesus Christ - abbreviated from the words of our holy father Ephraim the Syrian on the Second Coming)Part 4. Cheesefare weekOn a cheese week (on the matter of remembering where we fell from)In the week of cheese-fare (in Lent for the last time we were given time for repentance)In the cheese-fare week (fasting seems gloomy until they enter its field)Part 5. On Wednesday of the week of the first Great LentOn Wednesday of the week of the first Great Lent (the main thing for us is the cleansing of conscience)On Wednesday of the week of the first Great Lent (on the knowledge of sins and self-knowledge)On Wednesday of the week of the first Great Lent (the spiritual father is the face of all mankind; do not be ashamed to expose yourself at confession)On Wednesday of the week of the first Great Lent (sorrow for sins and a decisive change for the better is the heart of fasting)Part 6. On the heels of the week of Great LentOn the heel of the week of Great Lent (contrition for sins is not a simple feeling: the limit of heartfelt contrition for sins is a firm intention not to offend God with your sins anymore)On the heels of the week of Great Lent (wait for the Lord in reverent silence: get ready to meet him, receive him and rest in yourself in a worthy way)On the heels of the week of Great Lent (how should we settle down and act in order to worthily proceed to the Holy Mysteries)Part 7. On Saturday of the week of the first Great LentOn Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (in the honoring of Holy Communion is not the end, but the beginning of labors and deeds)On Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (about the spiritual pleasure of prayerful stay with the Lord)On Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (the real change and correction of life is the goal of the whole dispensation of our salvation)On Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (no matter how many of you there are, everyone has the whole Lord)On Saturday of the week of the first Great Lent (the more often one takes communion, the closer one is to the Lord)Part 8. On the first week of Great LentOn the first week of Great Lent (which should be in every partaker of Christ's Mysteries, who has received the Lord in them; and in whom there is no Lord)On the first week of Great Lent (how to behave in order to avoid new falls into sins)On the first week of Great Lent (if you fall again, who knows if you will get up?)Part 9. On the second week of Great LentOn the second week of Great Lent (what parts of nature we have, what attacks on them and what weapons of our spiritual warfare against them)On the second week of Great Lent (the most important tricks to ensure your success in the struggle)On the second week of Great Lent (how does it happen that when we destroy ourselves, we do not destroy, but save)On the second week of Great Lent (fighters of passions, do not weaken and do not heed their flattering speeches)On the second week of Great Lent (what is the crucifixion of the world to us and us to the world)Part 10In the week of the cross (or die, or be on the cross of self-crucifixion)In the week of the cross (about three types of crosses: about external crosses)In the week of the cross (about three types of crosses: about internal crosses)In the Week of the Cross (about three types of crosses: about the cross of devotion to the will of God)In the week of the cross (you went up to the cross, letting you resist sin)Part 11. On the Fourth Week of Great LentOn the fourth week of Great Lent (depiction of the life of St. John of the Ladder; how to become a complete imitator of St. John)On the fourth week of Great Lent (the main content of the "Ladder" and a brief outline of our entire path to the Lord, under the guise of climbing the ladder)On the Fourth Week of Great LentOn the fourth week of Great Lent (an excellent alphabet for everyone, or about three rows of feats)Part 12. On the fifth week of Great LentOn the fifth week of Great Lent (here is the lesson for us: do not appropriate the Kingdom of Heaven for ourselves)On the fifth week of Great Lent (how can we learn from the conversion of St. Mary of Egypt, or about the veils of sin)On the fifth week of Great Lent (about the three classes of sinners, or what is the key to the door of repentance?)On the fifth week of Great Lent (two powerful ways through which Saint Mary of Egypt withstood the struggle and overcame sin)Part 13. In the Passion Week of Great LentOn Tuesday of Passion WeekOn Wednesday of Passion Week (how to avoid the fate of Judas bitter)On the Great Thursday (The Lord is in us! Let us take care to keep him in ourselves forever)On Great Thursday (The Body and Blood of the Lord is a great gift)Great Thursday (as you wish, but make sure that you are always as if you just received communion)
Part 1. In the week of the publican and the Pharisee
In the week of the publican and the Pharisee
(do not rely on your righteousness)
(do not rely on your righteousness)
Here comes the preparatory week for Lent again! Thanks be to the Lord, who has made it possible for us to live up to this soul-saving time! Let us pray that He will help us and use it, according to His good intentions for us. In this respect, however, I do not find it necessary to tell you much. This is not the first time you meet this time; more than once heard an explanation of the meaning of these days and an indication of what should be taken from them as a lesson; more than once, it’s true, and by the very fact they experienced how they are spent on building themselves up and how they are spent on ruin. And yet, what is the need for lengthy instructions? It is enough to say: “Brothers and fathers, do as you already know, as your conscience inspires you and your experience teaches, only so that everything turns into your creation and the salvation of your souls.”
With all that, I do not want, however, to leave you without some, although general, reminders as a guide to the salutary passing of the time that has come.
There are patients who go to the waters for treatment. How from a distance they begin to think about the upcoming journey and how carefully they prepare everything so that they can quickly and conveniently reach the healing waters and how fruitfully they can use the appointed time of treatment! Here we are approaching our own course of salvific healing of our souls - holy fasting. And here we will bathe in the tearful waters of repentance, and take inside the multi-healing medicine - the Body and Blood of our Lord. It is necessary for us to prepare for it, and moreover, as much as the soul is higher than the body, our concern for this should be stronger and more effective than those of those.
For the first time, there is no need to burden yourself with many things. Let us only take care to enter into the intentions of our mother, the Church, and reproduce in ourselves the preparatory dispositions indicated by her. In fasting, we will work on cleansing our conscience and correcting our lives. And just as the success of these labors depends on the softening of the heart through contrition, so the Holy Church predisposes us to this feeling and in various ways wants to arouse and strengthen it in us. Now, by the parable of the publican and the Pharisee ( Lk. 18:10–14 ), she inspires us that the surest way to contrition is to destroy the Pharisaic conceit in oneself and root the repentant cry of the publican in the heart: “God, be merciful to me a sinner” ( Lk. 18, 13 ). Next Sunday the parable of the prodigal son (OK. 15:11-32 ) she teaches that no matter how deep someone's fall, but if he turns to the Lord with a contrite and humble heart, crying: “I am not worthy to be called Your son; accept me among Your hired servants ” ( Lk.15, 19 ), will be accepted into the arms of the Heavenly Father, the most merciful. If whose soul turned out to be too petrified and insensible, the Holy Church , further, wants to crush it, painting the Last Judgment. If someone has become so accustomed to his humiliating condition in sin that he would consider it his natural position, and not imagining a better one, - Holy Churchfor such a man he remembers the fall of his forefathers, in order to irritate in his heart sorrow for the lost and arouse jealousy for its return, leading to the thought of how great it was and how it is therefore worth pitying for it and working in every possible way to again become its owner.
19 May 2022
The Most Soulful Book about the Unceasing Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ - St. Nicodemus (Kallivroutzis)
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Translation
from Russian
Vladimir Djambov ©
St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite (Kallivroutzis)
The Most Soulful Book about the Unceasing Communion of
the Holy Mysteries of Christ
below:
Saint Gregory Palamas
On Divine and Deifying
Communion, or
On Divine and Supernatural Simplicity
I. That Orthodox Christians must
often partake of the Divine Body and Blood of our Lord.
II. About the useful and salutary frequent Communion of the Holy
Mysteries.
IV. Answers to objections to the unceasing Communion of the Holy
Mysteries of Christ
Objection 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
V. Epilogue
On the need for Orthodox Christians to often partake of the Divine Body and
Blood of our Lord
It is commanded to all Orthodox Christians to partake often, firstly, of
the Sovereign Commandments of our Lord Jesus Christ, secondly, of the Acts and Rules
of the Holy Apostles and Holy Councils, as well as the testimonies of the divine
Fathers, thirdly, by the words themselves, the rite and sacred action of the Holy
Liturgy, and fourthly, and finally, Holy Communion itself.
1. Our Lord Jesus Christ
, before giving the Sacrament of Communion, said: “The bread that
I will give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world”
( John 6:51 ). That is, the food
that I want to give you is My Flesh, which I want to give for the revitalization
of the whole world. This means that Divine Communion for believers is a necessary
component of spiritual and Christ-like life. But since this spiritual and according
to Christ life should not be quenched and interrupted (as the Apostle says, do not
quench the spirit ( 1 Thess. Risen One (according to
the same Apostle 1), that is,
that the living faithful should no longer live a life of their own and of the flesh,
but the life of Christ, who died and rose again for them—thus, it is absolutely
required that that which constitutes it, that is, Divine Communion, be permanent.
And in another place the Lord says commandingly: “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood,
you will not have life in you” ( John
6:53). From these words it becomes clear that Divine Communion is as necessary for
Christians as Holy Baptism is necessary. Because the same double command that He
spoke about Baptism, He also said about Divine Communion. Of holy Baptism He said:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the
Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God” ( John 3:5). And about Divine Communion
in a similar way: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh of the Son
of Man and drink His Blood, you will not have life in you.” And so, just as it is
impossible for anyone to live a spiritual life and be saved without Baptism, so
it is impossible for anyone to live without Divine Communion. However, since these
two [Sacraments] have this difference, that Baptism takes place once, while Divine
Communion is celebrated constantly and daily, it is concluded from this that there
are two necessary things in Divine Communion: firstly, it must be performed, and
secondly , take place constantly.
Moreover, when the Lord gave this Sacrament to His disciples,
He did not say to them in the form of advice: “Whoever wants,
let him eat My Body, and whoever wants, let him drink My Blood,” as He said: “If
anyone wants to follow Me " ( Matt.16:24
) and "if you want to be perfect" ( Matt.19:21 ). But He proclaimed commandingly:
“Take, eat, this is My Body”, and “drink everything from it, this is My Blood” (see
Matt. 26: 26-28 ). That is, by all means you
must eat My Body and must necessarily drink My Blood. And again he says: “Do this in remembrance of Me” ( Luke 22:19). That is, this Sacrament
I commit to you, so that it is performed not once, or twice, or three times, but
daily (as the divine Chrysostom explains) in remembrance of My sufferings. My death
and all My economy of salvation.
These words of the Lord clearly represent two necessary
[points] in Communion: one is the obligatory command they contain, and the other
is the duration indicated by the word “do”, which, understandably, means that we
are commanded not just to take communion but keep communion unceasingly. So, everyone
now sees that the Orthodox are not allowed to violate this command, no matter what
rank it may be, but he is charged with a duty and duty to keep it without fail,
to accept it as the Master's commandments and ordinances.
About Priesthood - Bp. Arseny Zhadanovsky; St. John Chrysostom; St. Ephraim the Syrian; St. Simeon of Thessalonica;
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Translation
from Russian
Vladimir
Djambov ©
Bishop Arseny (Zhadanovsky)
About Priesthood:
(dedicated to modern pastors)
I.
The priesthood is not a human institution, but a divine one. In fact, read the holy Gospel. Christ proclaimed the gospel to all people. Many people followed Him, but at first He chooses only 12 apostles, and then 70 others, and only these chosen ones are empowered to continue His work. In His High Priestly Prayer, His Savior clearly singles out the heralds of His Gospel and prays for them to the Heavenly Father, so that He would strengthen them for the feat of serving the world. After His resurrection, being His disciples, the Savior endows them with special gifts of grace. So, one day, appearing to them, He said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit: by whom you forgive your sins, they will be forgiven them: and by whom you hold, hold on” ( John 20:23 ). Or, another time:“go and teach all languages, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the commandments to you: and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age. Amen" ( Matt.28:19-20 ). Or: “when you go into the whole world, preach the gospel to every creature. Whoever has faith and is baptized, he will be saved; but whoever does not have faith, he will be condemned” ( Mark 16:15-16 ). The Apostle Peter, and in his face to all the apostles, the Savior commands to feed the verbal sheep ( John 21:15). The selection of a special class of people to continue the work of the Savior on earth and endowing them with special powers and gifts of the Holy Spirit - this is so clearly revealed from the word of God that, it seems, there can be no objections to this. Yes, it could not be otherwise, the work of shepherding is too great. We need a special grace, we need separate people who would be clothed with this authority. True, Protestants like to say that the apostles had special, exclusive powers, and it is impossible to assert the significance of hierarchy in the Church on their powers. But isn't the work of Christ relevant to all times and peoples? After all, people of all times, countries and peoples have the same need to assimilate the work of Christ, therefore, there is always a need for continuers of the work of the apostles, a priesthood or, in the church's expression, a hierarchy. One of the most important signs of the truth of the hierarchy is succession. On the succession of hierarchical persons, their truth and all the fullness of the grace of the priesthood, given by the Lord Christ to St. apostles. This is so understandable for the faithful children of the Church, and at the same time it is comforting! The apostles received grace from the Chief Shepherd Christ Himself, and then successively this grace passes to the pastors to this day. The break in this respect is equal to the loss of the grace of the priesthood. Happy therefore Orthodox The break in this respect is equal to the loss of the grace of the priesthood. Happy therefore Orthodox The break in this respect is equal to the loss of the grace of the priesthood. Happy therefore Orthodox Church that undeniably has a succession hierarchy. And our Church values succession so much that in other Christian societies, if she sees it, she is ready to honor the hierarchy there too. For example, let's take Catholicism, where succession has also been preserved. Our holy Church hierarchical persons - Catholics are accepted into their bosom in the existing rank, i.e. if someone was a bishop or a priest in Catholicism, it remains so with us, only, of course, a renunciation of former errors is required.
15 May 2022
St. Onuphrius the Great - Life & Akathist
#VladimirDjambov; #Orthodox; #Talmach; #PraBlah
Translated from Russian
(and proto-Bulgarian -
i.e. Church-Slavonic]
Life of St. Onuphrius the Great
Rev. Onuphrius the Great was one of those glorious desert-dwellers who
took refuge in the wild, picturesque Thebaid desert in Egypt, who in the 4th
century, during the time of the emperors Constantius and Valens, defended the
holy Christian faith, persecuted by the Aryan heretics, with fervent prayer,
fasting and repentance.
Rev. Onuphrius was born around the year 320 into the family of a Persian
king. His father, having no offspring for a long time, prayed with all his soul
to the Lord to give him a son, and God heard him. But even before the birth of
St. Onuphrius, one day a demon came to his father disguised as a wanderer and
said: “Oh Tsar, your wife will give birth to a son, but not from you, but from
one of your servants. If you want to make sure that I'm telling the truth,
order the newborn to be thrown into the fire. And if I tell a lie, then God
will keep him safe.” The father did not comprehend the deceit of the enemy and,
believing the imaginary wanderer, fulfilled the crafty advice, throwing the
newborn child into the fire. A miracle happened: the child stretched out his
hands to the sky, as if praying to the Creator for salvation, and the flame,
splitting into two sides, left the baby unharmed. Meanwhile, an angel of God
appeared to the father and, having exposed him of reckless trust in the
slanders of the devil, ordered him to baptize his son, to name him Onuphrius
and take him where God would indicate.
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