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19 May 2022

The Most Soulful Book about the Unceasing Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ - St. Nicodemus (Kallivroutzis)

 

#VladimirDjambov; #Orthodox; #Talmach; #PraBlah

T A L M A C H

so much and simple

 


 

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.

III. About the fact that if someone hesitates to take communion, then this causes great harm to himself.

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;

 

#VladimirDjambov; #Orthodox; #Talmach; #PraBlah

T A L M A C H

so much and simple

 


 

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.


13 March 2022

ABC: From a sermon by Metropilitan Chrysostomos (MRMDC FAMEE)


 March 12, 2017:


От проповед, произнесена
на празника на св. Григорий Палама
от митрополит Хризостом:

Митрополит Киприян на Оропос и Фили, който пребивава в манастира на Свв. Киприян и Юстина във Фили, Гърция, на който този манастир е μετόχιον, или метох, много обича да цитира нещо, което може да се нарече "мантра"-та — ако мога да използвам така възприетия термин по един изцяло християнски начин — на св. Григорий Палама: "Kύριε, φώτισόν μου τὸ σκότος!" или "Господи, просвети моя мрак!" Това била постоянната молба на светеца, и бих искал да я използвам, за да въведа няколко елементарни думички за двете нива на духовния живот, които св. Григорий, архиепископ Солунски от четиринадесети век и един от най-видните богослови на Православната Църква, така перфектно и прозорливо осветли за нас: едно светило хвърлящо светлина върху нашия мрак.

 Свети Григорий, роден в благородно византийско семейство, дало шест други светци монаси, беше богослов и гений, донесъл похвала за себе си от най-високопоставените представители на императорския двор. И все пак, той избра да служи на Бога като прост монах, като отшелник (аскет), и дори, за кратко време, като пещерен обитател. Той се бореше, като всички нас, да угоди на Бога, да се предаде на Църквата и да достигне до познаване на Бог чрез искрена вяра. Той стори вътрешен – така, че съзнанието му и човешката му воля да съответстват на Божия шепот и на Божията Воля вътре в сърцето му – земния си живот на външноо подчинение на – и любов към – семейството му, колегите му, монашеските му събратя, страната му и ближния му.

 Правейки това, той със сигурност се приближил до Бог, първоначално, както всички ние правим: през завесата на плътта, с антропоморфни представи за Него. Но той не сякаш не бил обременен – както повечето от нас сме – от съмненията за Бога, че Злият посява в нас като ни подбужда – ако не към неверие, най-малкото към изкушението да схващаме Бога, Който ни е е сътворил, в габаритите на създадени от самите нас мисли и заблуди – сътворените от Бога да сътворяват Твореца по собствения си образ. Той имал дълбоката добродетел да се бои от Бога, което води до любов към Бог. И тъй като любовта към Бог прогонва съмненията, Той открил Бога на Нетварната Светлина, Който се надвишава – както ни учи Отец – всички човешки образи и представи.

 Свети Григорий Палама, отново като всички нас, трябвало да се задоволи с онези, които се стремят да превърнат Църквата е едно удължаване на егото си, придавайки на институцията на църквата човешки страсти: арогантност, както сред вярващите, така и сред духовниците, ревност, негодувание, дребнавост, понасянето на недоволства, омраза към (на) другите в името Христово, триумфализъм и прокламации на лична "чистота" на изповеданието. (И наистина, каква чистота на Вярата има в нещо, което не води до любов към враговете ни, към грешниците, и дори към еретиците, за които трябва да жадуваме с цялата си душа да излекуваме от духовната им болест?) Също така сигурен съм, че той виждал и ония, които в заблудата си и болни от грях оскверняват Църквата със своите страсти и извращения, твърдейки, че са свети. И подобно на много мъченици и светци, той претърпя затвор, не само по време на залавянето му от неверници, а също така и в ръцете на Църквата и на византийските "латинизатори", които го презираха за неговата защита на Православието.

 При сблъсъка с всички тези неща на по-ниското ниво на духовен живот, които са отразени в институционалните несъвършенствата на Неопетнената Църква, той ни предаде един чудесен урок. Той не извика със силни викове на праведен гняв; не заяви предпочитанието си да умре, пред лицето на едно Православие, нападнато от противящите му се сили; нито укори онези, които, съвсем истинно, наистина бяха достойни за укор по действията си да го преследват. Вместо това, обръщайки уйора и отговорността за всичко, сполетяло го, върху самия себе си и осъждайки собствения си мрак (защото колкото по-близо стигаме до Бог, толкова повече считаме себе си за грешни – и в тази близост до източника на Любовта, прощаваме и прегръщаме онези, които ни правят лошо), той неумолимо извика: "Kύριε, φώτισόν μου τὸ σκότος!" "Господи, просвети моя мрак"!

 Като го чул, Бог излял Нетварната Светлината на Своето Същество върху св. Григорий, който бил предал сърцето си на Бог, а ума си на духовно съзерцание. Сърцето на светеца станало изгарящ пламък, светъл факел на таинствено прозрение, и хранилище на мъдрост. Това преобразявало него, следващите го, както и света около него. Бог, изцяло неизразимият Бог, Бидейки Сам Себе Си, разкрил Себе Си в сърцето и пречистените ум и емоции на св. Григорий, така че той станал едно с Божествените Енергии на Бог. Той се обединил с Благодатта Христова, превръща се в един "малък Иисус Христос" вътре в Иисус Христос, и по един непознаваем начин достигнал до познание на Бог, Който е и не е, Чието "биване" надминава категориите ни за съществуване и несъществуване, Който е самото Биване, и Който Се разкрива на онези, в които Той обитава с оглушителния гръм от духовна тишина, на която светът не обръща никакво внимание.

 Ако в този по-висок духовен живот, св. Григорий Палама имаше девиз, който присъства навсякъде в неговите писания и учения, то със сигурност ще бъде утвърждаването, което предварително направил в съвет към една монахиня: утвърждаването, че "Ζωὴ δέ ἐστι τῆς ψυχῆς, ἡ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν ἕνωσις, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῦ σώματος ἡ πρὸς ψυχήν ἕνωσις; тоест, "Животът на душата е единение (съюз) с Бога, точно както животът на тялото е съюз с душата." Когато обединяваме нашите тела с душите си, а сетне душите си с Бог, това единение с Любовта в Бога ни завещава Нов Живот и едно вътрешно виждане за духовните неща, което променя – следва да го кажа, изцяло преобразява – разбирането ни за Бог и за Църквата.

 Ние вече не вярваме в Бог, борейки се със спънките на арогантния човешки интелект, тегленето на страстите, или с тежкото, депресиращо теглото на съмнението; по-скоро, ние живеем вътре в Бога, общуваме (причастяваме се) с Божествените Му Енергии, обединени по Благодат с Христа, като ставаме истински наследници и синове и дъщери Божии. Като вземаме своето съществуване отвътре на Неговото Биване (Същество), ние преминаваме от това да вярваме в Бога, към това да намираме реалността на нашето съществуване в Него, като Го прегръщаме чрез Иисуса Христа, с Когото Отец е Едно, като наш Отец по осиновение и (като) източник на това, за което истински сме предназначени: да сме перфектни служители и деца на непознаваемия ни Отец, Когото сме виждали в Неговия Син, Архетипът на собствената ни истинска природа.

 Църквата, в по-възвисения живот на Христос, не е просто едно събрание. Това не е просто едно място, където ние участваме в богослужение и се пристъпяме към Бог. Това не е просто място за другарство. Това не е просто място, където несъвършените ни човешки личности се присъединят с други, за да се стремят към познаване на Бога. Тя не е онази институция, която е така затрупани с човешките слабости и страсти, че дори и Злият успява да си намери едно ъгъл в нея, от където да хвърля своите стрелички и стрели. Това – за просветените – се превръща в "Божия дом," свещено пространство, в "духовна дупка" водеща от една реалност в друга, и в мястото, където в страхопочитание се срещаме с Бога. Именно поради тази причина ние правим Църквата великолепна и богата, понеже напасваме най-финото и най-чистото от това, с което разполагаме на земята с (да съответства на) неизразимата, неописуема красота, която просиява, в това свещено пространство, от Бога. Онова което човешките ни усилия за красота не успяват да осигурят, Бог ни дарува по своята Любов и Благодат.

 В по-възвисения живот на Църквата, ние биваме издигнати, преобразавани, обвързани един с друг, и защитени и усъвършенствани от Таинствата, които се извършват там. В Църквата, ние намираме ядрото на човешкия живот: източникът на всичко, което търсим и от което се нуждаем. Ние го запечатваме и го премахваме, ако напълно го разбираме, от всичко, което е "ежедневно" и обикновено. Ние се опияняваме от Новото му Вино, което не замърсява ума, а пречиства сетивата, очиства емоциите, и ни носи умосърдечна радост и тържествуващи настроения, които избухват в сълзи, течащи по душата като нектар по вече узрели и сладки плодове. В края на краищата, когато осъзнаем пълнотата на живота, съдържащ се вътре в Църквата, тя вече не е прозорец към един друг свят; тя е врата от преддверието на нашия лъжеживот към истинския живот. Институцията на Църквата избледнява с присияването на същността й с преобразяващи лъчи светлина.

 Свети Григорий Палама, следователно, обединява земния ни живот с вечния живот. Ако се вслушваме в него, то се радваме там, където сме: монаси, които танцуват от радост от това, което вкусват, и от това това, с което някой ден, в другия живот – който вече е нахлул в този живот – ще пируват, а миряните се присъединяват в този танц. Свети Григорий обединява живот и задгробен живот ведно с Христа; той ни отвежда от борба към триумф, и ни дава да сурнем – още в този живот – онова, що ни очаква в при завръщането към истинския наш дом и Иснтинния ни Отец.




From a sermon preached
on the Second Sunday of Lent
by Metropilitan Chrysostomos:

A Sermon on the Feast Day of
St. Gregory Palamas
Great Lent 2017

by the Most Reverend Chrysostomos
Former Metropolitan of Etna
In the Name of the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spir­it.
At the re­quest of His Emi­nence, Bish­op Aux­en­tios, I would like to say a few words about St. Gre­go­ry Pala­mas, whose mem­o­ry we cel­e­brate to­day and to whom our monastery is ded­i­cat­ed, and about the Or­di­na­tion that will oc­cur to­day.
I would like to be­gin my re­marks by con­grat­u­lat­ing His Emi­nence, our Rul­ing Bish­op (prop­er­ly and his­tor­i­cal­ly our “Metropoli­tan”); all the mem­bers of the broth­er­hood, and es­pe­cial­ly Archi­man­drite Gre­go­ry, who is cel­e­brat­ing his Name­day to­day; as well as Father Pho­tios Coop­er, the Rec­tor of the small parish in Port­land, Ore­gon, that serves as the Cathe­dral Church for the Dio­cese of Et­na and Port­land, who is cel­e­brat­ing the an­niver­sary of his Or­di­na­tion on this day. Χρόνια Πολλά! Many Years!
I would al­so like to con­grat­u­late Sub­dea­con James Kal­basky, whom His Emi­nence will or­dain to the first lev­el of the Apos­tolic Pri­est­hood, the Di­a­conate, lat­er this morn­ing in the Li­tur­gy. Sub­dea­con James is one of the finest stu­dents that we ev­er had in the for­mer the­o­log­i­cal pro­gram of the Cen­ter for Tra­di­tion­al­ist Ortho­dox Stud­ies, and he brings great joy to us by his ad­vance­ment in ec­cle­si­as­ti­cal ser­vice. By an­tic­i­pa­tion, I wish you—soon to be, by the Grace of God, Dea­con Father—James, and your wor­thy wife—soon to be Di­akonis­sa—Mar­i­anne ev­ery bless­ing. Ἄξιος!
I al­so wel­come all of our vis­i­tors, as His Emi­nence will do for­mal­ly at the Or­di­na­tion ban­quet lat­er this af­ter­noon, to our monas­tic com­mu­ni­ty, my spir­i­tu­al home in re­tire­ment, thank­ing you for your pres­ence on this aus­pi­cious oc­ca­sion for the monastery and for Sub­dea­con James. With un­bri­dled joy, I es­pe­cial­ly wel­come His Emi­nence, the Most Rev­erend Ser­gios, re­tired Bish­op of Port­land, Archi­man­drite Father Pa­trick, who will short­ly be en­throned as Ab­bot of our sis­ter in­sti­tu­tion, the Monastery of St. Gre­go­ry of Si­nai, in Kelseyville, Cal­i­for­nia, where Bish­op Ser­gios lives in re­tire­ment, and Hierodea­con Father Mos­es, a broth­er of the monastery. Last­ly, al­low me the lib­er­ty, which I know that he will grant me, of ex­tend­ing to all of you the bless­ing of the First Hier­ar­ch of the Amer­i­can Eparchy of our Church, Metropoli­tan Demetrios.
Metropoli­tan Cypri­an of Oro­pos and Phyle, who re­sides at the Monastery of Sts. Cypri­an and Justi­na in Phyle, Greece, of which this monastery is a μετόχιον, or de­pen­den­cy, is very fond of quot­ing what one might call the “mantra,” if I may use that adopt­ed term in a whol­ly Chris­tian way, of St. Gre­go­ry Pala­mas: “Kύριε, φώτισόν μου τὸ σκότος!” or “Lord, en­light­en my dark­ness!” This was the Saint’s con­stant im­plo­ration, and I would like to use it to in­tro­duce a few el­e­men­tary words about two lev­els of spir­i­tu­al life that St. Gre­go­ry, the four­teenth-cen­tu­ry Arch­bish­op of Thes­sa­loni­ki and one of the most em­i­nent the­olo­gians of the Ortho­dox Church, so per­fect­ly and per­spi­ca­cious­ly il­lu­mi­nat­ed for us: a lu­mi­nary shed­ding light on our dark­ness.
St. Gre­go­ry, born in­to a no­ble Byzan­tine fam­i­ly that pro­duced six oth­er monas­tic Saints, was a the­olo­gian and ge­nius who brought praise on him­self from the high­est rep­re­sen­ta­tives of the im­pe­ri­al court. Yet, he chose to serve God as a sim­ple monk, as an as­cetic, and even, for a short time, as a cave-dweller. He strug­gled, like all of us, to please God, to sub­mit him­self to the Church, and to come to know God through sin­cere be­lief. He in­ter­nal­ized, so as to con­form his mind and hu­man will to the whis­pers of God and to God’s Will with­in his heart, his earth­ly life of ex­ter­nal obe­di­ence to, and love for, his fam­i­ly, his col­leagues, his monas­tic brethren, his coun­try, and his fel­low man.
In so do­ing, he sure­ly ap­proached God, ini­tial­ly, as we all do: through the veil of the flesh, with an­thro­po­mor­phic no­tions of Him. But he was not, it seems, bur­dened, as most of us are, by the doubts about God that the Evil One sows in us, prod­ding us, if not to un­be­lief, at least to the temp­ta­tion of grasp­ing God, Who cre­at­ed us, in the di­men­sions of our own cre­at­ed thoughts and delu­sions—those cre­at­ed by God cre­at­ing the Creator in their own im­age. He had the pro­found virtue of fear­ing God, which leads to lov­ing God. And since the love of God dis­pels doubt, He dis­cov­ered the God of Un­cre­at­ed Light, Who tran­scends, as the Fathers teach, all hu­man im­ages and con­cep­tions.
St. Gre­go­ry Pala­mas, again like all of us, had to con­tend with those who seek to make the Church an ex­ten­sion of their egos, en­dow­ing the in­sti­tu­tion of the Church with hu­man pas­sions: ar­ro­gance, both among the faith­ful and the cler­gy, jeal­ousy, re­sent­ments, pet­ti­ness, the bear­ing of grudges, the ha­tred of oth­ers in the name of Christ, tri­umphal­ism, and procla­ma­tions of per­son­al “pu­ri­ty” of con­fes­sion. (In­deed, what pu­ri­ty of Faith is there in any­thing that does not lead to love for our en­e­mies, for sin­ners, and even for heretics, whom we should pine with our whole souls to cure of their spir­i­tu­al ill­ness?) I am al­so sure that he saw those who, in their delu­sion and sick with sin, de­file the Church with their pas­sions and per­ver­sions, claim­ing to be holy. And like many of the Mar­tyrs and Saints, he un­der­went im­pris­on­ment, not just dur­ing his cap­ture by in­fi­dels, but al­so at the hands of the Church and the Byzan­tine “La­tiniz­ers,” who de­spised him for his de­fense of Ortho­doxy.
In con­fronting all of these things at the low­er lev­el of spir­i­tu­al life, which are re­flect­ed in the in­sti­tu­tion­al im­per­fec­tions of the Spot­less Church, he taught us a won­der­ful les­son. He did not cry out with loud cries of righ­teous in­dig­na­tion; de­clare his pref­er­ence for death, in the face of an Ortho­doxy as­sailed by the forces coun­ter­ing it; or place his blame on those who, in all truth, were in­deed blame­wor­thy by their ac­tions for his per­se­cu­tion. Rather, turn­ing the blame and re­spon­si­bil­i­ty for all that be­fell him on him­self and con­demn­ing his own dark­ness (for the clos­er we come to God, the more we think our­selves sin­ful and, in this close­ness to the source of Love, for­give and em­brace those who do us ill), he in­ex­orably cried out: “Kύριε, φώτισόν μου τὸ σκότος!” “Lord, en­light­en my dark­ness!”
Hear­ing him, God poured forth the Un­cre­at­ed Light of His Be­ing on St. Gre­go­ry, who had sur­ren­dered his heart to God and his mind to spir­i­tu­al con­tem­pla­tion. The Saint’s heart be­came a burn­ing flame, a lu­mi­nous torch of mys­ti­cal in­sight, and a repos­i­to­ry of wis­dom. This trans­formed him, those who fol­lowed him, and the world around him. God, the whol­ly in­ef­fa­ble God, Be­ing It­self, was re­vealed in the heart and pu­ri­fied mind and emo­tions of St. Gre­go­ry, such that he be­came one with the Divine En­er­gies of God. He was unit­ed by Grace to Christ, be­came a “small Je­sus Christ” with­in Je­sus Christ, and came to know in an un­know­able way the God Who is and is not, Whose “Is­ness” sur­pass­es our cat­e­gories of ex­is­tence and non-ex­is­tence, Who is Be­ing it­self, and Who re­veals Him­self to those whom He in­dwells with the deaf­en­ing thun­der of a spir­i­tu­al si­lence un­heed­ed by the world.
If, in this high­er spir­i­tu­al life, St. Gre­go­ry Pala­mas had a mot­to that is ev­ery­where present in his writ­ings and teach­ings, it would sure­ly be the af­fir­ma­tion that he made in ad­vice giv­en to a cer­tain nun: the af­fir­ma­tion that “Ζωὴ δέ ἐστι τῆς ψυχῆς, ἡ πρὸς τὸν Θεόν ἕνωσις, ὥσπερ καὶ τοῦ σώματος ἡ πρὸς ψυχήν ἕνωσις; that is, “The life of the soul is union with God, just as the life of the body is union with the soul.” When we unite our bod­ies to our souls, and then our souls to God, this union with Love in God be­queaths to us a New Life and an in­ner vi­sion of things spir­i­tu­al that changes—I should say, whol­ly trans­forms—our un­der­stand­ing of God and the Church.
We no longer be­lieve in God, strug­gling with the im­ped­i­ments of the ar­ro­gant hu­man in­tel­lect, the pull of the pas­sions, or the heavy, de­press­ing weight of doubt; rather, we live with­in God, com­muning with His Divine En­er­gies, unit­ed by Grace with Christ, be­com­ing true in­her­i­tors and sons and daugh­ters of God. Tak­ing our ex­is­tence from with­in His Be­ing, we pass from be­liev­ing in God to find­ing the re­al­i­ty of our ex­is­tence in Him, em­brac­ing Him through Je­sus Christ, with Whom the Father is One, as our Father by adop­tion and the source of what we were tru­ly meant to be: per­fect ser­vants and chil­dren of our un­know­able Father, Whom we have seen in His Son, the Archetype of our own true na­ture.
The Church, in the lofti­er Life of Christ, is not just a gath­er­ing. It is not just a place where we wor­ship and ap­proach God. It not just a place of fel­low­ship. It is not just a place where our im­per­fect hu­man per­son­al­i­ties join with oth­ers to strive to­wards a knowl­edge of God. It is not that in­sti­tu­tion so be­set with hu­man foibles and pas­sions that even the Evil One finds a cor­ner in it from which to throw his darts and ar­rows. It be­comes, for those who are en­light­ened, the “house of God,” sa­cred space, a “spir­i­tu­al worm­hole” from one realm to an­oth­er, and the place where we en­counter God in awe. It is for this rea­son that we make the Church splen­dorous and rich, since we match the finest and purest of what we have on earth with the in­ef­fa­ble, un­speak­able beau­ty that shines forth, in this sa­cred space, from God. What our hu­man ef­forts at beau­ty fail to pro­vide, God gives us by his Love and Grace.
In the high­er life of the Church, we are lift­ed up, trans­formed, bound to one an­oth­er, and pro­tect­ed and per­fect­ed by the Mys­ter­ies that are per­formed there. In the Church, we find the nu­cle­us of hu­man life: the source of all that we seek and need. We seal it off and re­move it, if we ful­ly un­der­stand it, from all that is “ev­ery­day” and com­mon. We be­come ine­bri­at­ed on its New Wine, which does not pol­lute the mind, but cleans­es the sens­es, pu­ri­fies the emo­tions, and brings us noet­ic joy and ex­ul­tant sen­ti­ments that burst forth in tears that flow over the soul like nec­tar over an al­ready ripened and sweet fruit. In the end, when we re­al­ize the full­ness of life that is con­tained with­in the Church, it is no longer a win­dow in­to an­oth­er world; it a door from the an­techam­ber of our false life in­to true life. The in­sti­tu­tion of the Church fades as its essence shines forth with trans­form­ing beams of light.
St. Gre­go­ry Pala­mas, there­fore, brings to­geth­er our earth­ly life with eter­nal life. If we heed him, we re­joice where we are: monas­tics danc­ing with joy at what they taste and what they will one day, in the oth­er life—which has al­ready in­vad­ed this life—feast up­on, the lay peo­ple join­ing them in this dance. St. Gre­go­ry brings life and af­ter­life to­geth­er in Christ; he takes us from strug­gle to tri­umph, and he gives us a glimpse, even in this life, of what awaits us in the re­turn to our True Home and our True Father.
Let me fi­nal­ly say to Sub­dea­con James, whose soul is preg­nant, at this mo­ment, with the Pri­est­hood, that he, like all but the very best of us, will serve in the Pri­est­hood by oikono­mia, bur­dened by im­per­fec­tions and past sins. In know­ing so and feel­ing this pain, I urge him to call out to God for for­give­ness. If he will do this un­til his last breath, God will, in the course of his strug­gles, grant him, from time to time, by virtue of the Grace of Pri­est­hood, a high­er vi­sion and an ex­pe­ri­ence of high­er things. Hold on firm­ly to your gift, at such mo­ments, and mov­ing from a plea for for­give­ness, thank God with tears for the gift of union with Him in your in­ner man, touched by God’s Grace. Like St. Gre­go­ry Pala­mas, who passed from plead­ing for light to shin­ing forth with light, as those who saw and knew him in his time at­test, you will find great com­fort and hon­or in the Saint whom we to­day hon­or and who will, with­out doubt, bless your Or­di­na­tion.
Bοηθειά μας ὁ Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Παλαμᾶς. May St. Gre­go­ry Pala­mas come to our aid. 




Преподобный Шио Мгвимский



Преподобный Шио (Симеон) Мгвимский родился в Антиохии Сирской. Родители его были христианами и воспитывали своего сына как единственного наследника. Юноша получил хорошее образование, изучил Священное Писание. Любовь к Слову Божию так глубоко внедрилась в сердце молодого Шио, что он постоянно держал его в уме своем и даже всегда носил при себе Евангелие, послания Апостола Павла и Псалтирь. И уже в ранние годы был одарен способностью толкования Слова Божия.

Узнав о святом подвижнике Иоанне Зедазнийском, Шио тайно покинул родительский дом и направился к святому. Преподобный Иоанн возвратил юношу родителям, предсказав, что и они станут иноками. Предсказание скоро исполнилось: Шио убедил их провести остаток их жизни в иночестве, а сам, употребив в пользу бедных и монастыря оставшееся после них имущество, пришел к преподобному Иоанну, сиявшему в то время в Антиохии и, получив от него пострижение в иночество, сделался его учеником.

Спустя 20 лет преподобный Шио, в числе 12 других избранных учеников святого Иоанна, отправился в Иверию (Грузию) для проповеди Слова Божия.

Послужив этому делу, распространения веры Христовой преподобный Шио пожелал жить отшельником. И по благословению Католикоса Евлалия и своего учителя преподобный Шио направил свой путь на запад от Мцхета в непроходимые дебри лесные. Здесь в пустыне, защищенной отвесными и совершенно крутыми стенами песчаной горы от взора людского, Шио поселился в тесной пещере, им самим высеченной в скале, едва достаточной, чтобы укрыться в ней. И за суровый аскетический подвиг Шио удостоился чудных видений. В скале открылся родник, источающий для отшельника воду, а с пищей прилетал к нему голубь. Этот-то голубь, по изволению Божию, определившему не оставлять под спудом благодатный светильник, открыл людям жилище Шио.

Некто — Евагрий, знатный царедворец, охотясь по обыкновению за рекой Курой, проследил за голубем, носящим пищу отшельнику, и нашел его, погруженного в молитву, с воздетыми к небу руками. Он был так поражен встречей с этим укрывшимся от мира человеком молитвенно предстоящим в пустыне пред лицем Единаго Бога, что, пленившись этим, внезапно сознал и в себе отречение от всего мирского и стал просить дивного отшельника взять его под свое руководство и подвизаться в пещере, всецело предавшись Богу.

С этих пор о Шио стало известно и другим людям в окружности, которые стали селиться близ него, и таким образом собралось до 25 добровольных пустынножителей. На избранном по откровению блаженному Шио месте выстроили они церковь во имя образца пустынножителей — Иоанна Крестителя. Молва о святом подвижнике распространялась, и место его уединенной жизни и подвига стало превращаться в обитель. Когда царь Парсман VI навестил бывшего любимого своего Евагрия в пустыне, то с благоговением отнесся к подвижнику Шио и подарил ему землю под монастырь, доставив значительные средства для построения храмов. Главным из них был храм в честь Успения Божией Матери; второй — в честь Рождества Иоанна Крестителя, где впоследствии и почивали останки преподобного Шио. Все храмы были освящены Католикосом Макарием. Таким образом, преподобный Шио устроил обитель, которая некогда включала в себя множество иноков и называлась, по имени основателя, Мгвимскою (в 30 верстах от Тифлиса). Здесь навестил его бывший учитель его Иоанн Зедазнийский и, погостив три дня, имел отраду удостовериться в высокой степени духовного совершенства новых иноков.

Но стремление к полному уединению преобладало в душе Шио. Он оставил основанную им обитель, простился с братией назидательнейшим словом, оставил для них 160 письменных поручений и, прервав всякое сообщение с миром, обрек себя на затворническую жизнь в темной, глубокой пещере. Пища святому спускалась туда по веревке. Кто может постичь и исчислять несказанные подвиги этого ангела в человеческом теле! Предузнав по откровению час кончины и приобщившись Святых Тайн, преподобный Шио 9 мая кончил свое земное житие. Тело великого затворника, при напутственном пении собравшихся иноков, было погребено в основанной им обители. Святые мощи его и доныне служат ограждением обители, которая одна из немногих уцелела посреди опустошений Грузии.


Преподобный Авксентий







Преподобный Авксентий, по происхождению сириец, служил при дворе императора Феодосия Младшего (418 - 450). Он был известен как добродетельный, ученый и мудрый человек, и имел дружбу со многими благочестивыми мужами своего времени.

Тяготясь мирской суетой, святой Авксентий принял сан пресвитера, а потом и иноческий постриг. После этого, удалившись в Вифинию, он нашел уединенное место на горе Оксия, недалеко от Халкидона, и стал там вести жизнь отшельническую. (Гора эта впоследствии названа была Авксентьевой.) Место подвигов святого было обнаружено пастухами, искавшими заблудившихся овец. Молва о нем разнеслась, и к нему стали приходить люди за исцелением. Именем Божиим святой Авксентий исцелял множество больных и недужных. "

В 451 году святой Авксентий был призван на IV Вселенский Собор в Халкидоне, где и прославился как обличитель Евтихиевой и Несториевой ересей. Великий знаток Священного Писания, святой Авксентий легко посрамлял вступавших с ним в спор противников. По окончании Собора святой Авксентий снова вернулся в свою уединенную келлию на горе. Духовным взором он видел на большом расстоянии кончину святого Симеона Столпника (459). Преподобный Авксентий скончался около 470 года, оставив после себя учеников и устроив многие монастыри в Вифинской области.

Тропарь преподобного Авксентия
глас 1
Пустынный житель, и в телеси Ангел,/ и чудотворец явился еси, Богоносе отче наш Авксентие,/ постом, бдением, молитвою Небесная дарования приим,/ исцелявши недужныя и души верою притекающих ти./ Слава Давшему тебе крепость,/ слава Венчавшему тя,/ слава Действующему тобою всем исцеления.


Кондак преподобного Авксентия
глас 2
Насладився, богомудре, воздержания/ и желания плоти твоея обуздав,/ явился еси, верою сияя,/ якоже сад посреди рая, процвел еси,// Авксентие отче священне.



04 January 2022

In memory of Petko Hinov (1972-2022)

 


Petko Hinov

 

Translated from Bulgarian
VID

THOUGHTS ON THE EDGE OF ETERNITY

24.02.2019 PETKO HINOV

We all walk on the edge of eternity - no one ever returns from there, just as the infant does not return to the mother's womb. This world is like the womb in which the infant matures. The goal of this world is the fruit, the human fruit – [namely] the soul saved for eternity, just as the goal of the womb is not the womb itself, but its offspring.

Only a moment separates us from eternity. But how many realize this? Just a pushing, a stabbing, a hitting, a falling… And we are already there: naked, unprepared, with minds still wandering in the madness and mysteries of this world. Imagine infants who are in love with their mother's womb, who prefer its full-blooded darkness to the azure, fragrant [wide] spaces of eternity which we have been created for. Imagine the insult of a mother whose child does not want to be born, to see her, to learn to talk to her, [and] to love her. Imagine the insult of the Doctor who wants a new person to be born into the world. Imagine the futility of searching for eternity where time – doomed to death – conceals its miserable temporary power in the rags of earthly arrogance. What a sad humanity!

The Church - The Orthodox Church of Christ has been founded in order to give birth to us for eternity, for us to evolve from children of animals (yes, by flesh and blood!) into Children of God (born of His Spirit). Mankind, this new animal kingdom that parasitizes on God's gifts and the mercy of God's Spirit, is especially pitiful today, when ugly sin imposes its power everywhere. Prior to our baptism, prior to our deification in Christ [theosis], we are indeed animals with reason and children of animals with reason. Our thought gravitates toward the animal [side], and were it not for God's grace and mercy, we would have been living to prove our kinship with the animal world, if not our origin from it. Man begins with God. Man without God ends up with the animal. In this sense, many monkey phenomena in modern times (one of them being the complete sexual shamelessness) have human origins. Carnal wisdom is the first fruit of forgetting the eternity that makes this world, this womb, to exist. How very close to us eternity is every [single] moment! Only God's mercy protects the infant in the mother's womb so that he would not be born dead. Glory to Your long-suffering, O Lord!

(P. Hinov, November 15, 2007)

11 June 2021

Word delivered at the funeral of reader Alexyi Davidov - by Bp. Seraphim of Sozopol

 

Word delivered at the funeral of reader Alexyi Davidov [+2021, Feb. 8]

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ!

Today we physically part with our beloved reader Alexyi. In his turn, he passed through the gates of death.           




Human experience has shown that death is ingrained in our bodies since conception. We live in a delicate balance of scales between life and death, which in our bodies is observed at a cellular level. When we are growing up, life prevails, and when we are growing old, death prevails.

Likewise in spiritual life. The life of Christians is always on the scales between spiritual death and spiritual revival and living in Christ through the grace of the Holy Spirit. We are faced with the choice of following the path of sin or the path of life. When we indulge in sin, spiritual death prevails, and when we struggle to be faithful to the Savior, when we long for true repentance, when we repent with spirit and truth, spiritual life prevails.

We Christians believe that after Christ's death and Christ's resurrection, the bodily death of those who are Christ's is not a consequence and a sign of a man's separation from God because of sin. Those who are in Christ and He – in them, have received from Him the power to transform their suffering and death, to overcome death with their [own] death, to pass from death to life.

God knows the depths of the soul, but what He has vouchsafed us to feel and learn in our communication with reader Alexyi cannot leave us indifferent.

What have we felt from our communication with him – we felt warmth, softness, goodwill, compassion and care. We felt nobility, delicacy and bright cordiality. It is possible that these are [just] natural qualities, but we know that God transforms the souls of those who seek fidelity and endows them with flashes of holiness that illuminate those who associate with them with gracious peace and consolation.

What have we learned from reader Alexyi? He was a teacher by vocation. He composed wonderful, instructive, spiritually profound readings that he read during the communion of the clergy. He read from the Holy Scriptures and from liturgical texts during Liturgies. All this was edifying for all the worshipers. But what was especially instructive for us, who communicated with him more often? I will mention just two things that impressed me strongly. Reader Alexyi suffered from a severe physical disability that often made his life quite intolerable from a human point of view. And in these unbearable trials reader Alexyi had the courage to remain benevolent, not losing faith that God sends all misfortunes for the benefit of our souls. And he thanked God for that.

I was often impressed by the manhood with which he forgave and remained large-hearted, and by his diligent, sincere and ingenuous contrition and repentance for his weaknesses and mental infirmities. We know that repentance is the most difficult and valuable spiritual exploit.

These strokes of his spiritual image, which I have been able to perceive, reveal determination and diligence in faithfulness to Christ. The pursuit of fidelity gives birth to a spiritual interest and desire of the soul for communion with Christ and His saints. A few hours before his demise, reader Alexyi sent me several materials of spiritual content, the last of these were rare videos of St. John of Shanghai. About an hour before his death, on his way to the hospital, he told me over the phone that these materials had made a strong impression on him and he really wanted to share them with me. Apparently, before his death, he was under a living spiritual impression with his getting in touch with holiness.

I am grateful to reader Alexyi for everything I felt and learned from him and this does not leave me indifferent and hopeless for his eternal destiny. I hope for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos and the saints, whom he dearly loved here on earth. May the Lord rest his faithful servant and inhabit him where there is no sickness, no sorrow, no sigh, but eternal life. Amen!

† Bishop Seraphim of Sozopol
13 February 2021


07 March 2021

Happiness, according to St. Ambrose of Mediolanum - Nikola Antonov

 

Transl. from Bulgarian 


Happiness, according to St. Ambrose of Mediolanum 


Nikola Antonov

 
Note: Biblical quotations do not follow the Synodal translation {of BOC), but the text in this work – as the author quoted from memory and we need to comply with his version in order to preserve the original. 


The issue of "happiness" has occupied a permanent place in the history of human thought for centuries. It has not been neglected by both the Holy Scripture and the patristic tradition. 


An outstanding representative of the Western branch of this tradition is St. Ambrose, Bishop of Mediolanum, – spiritual mentor of the "teacher of the West" Blessed Augustine. The literary heritage of St. Ambrose, whose memory the Church celebrates on December 7, is unmatched in richness and fertility – from his exegetic works, through his pastoral instructions. and all the way to his church poetry – he has left a trail of an original and hot inspiration.