Sermon on Lazarus Saturday by Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky, +1985) of Eastern America and New York.
 It
often happens that a child does a bad thing, and his father properly
punishes him. But when he sees the child crying in sorrow, parental love
takes hold and the father seeks to console the punished child.
A
terrible sentence was imposed upon our fallen ancestors living in the
Garden of Eden. The Lord, after their terrible sin, when they betrayed
Him and heeded the tempter, His enemy, said: �thou return unto the
ground, for out of it wast thou taken,� that is �unto dust thou shalt
return.� In this way the Lord sentenced our ancestors and their progeny
to death, for before this, mankind was not to taste death. Having no
sin, man could not before then die and would have lived forever, but
after that, he became the prey of death. But our Lord knows that death
is terrifying for man, that nothing terrifies him more. That is why, in
order to ease the very thought of death, in order to alleviate this
fear, the Lord performed His wondrous deeds of which we read in the Holy
Gospel.
In particular, He performed the miracle we
remember today, the greatest of His miracles�the Raising of Lazarus.
The Lord had earlier told the Apostles: 'he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.' He said that
the moment would come when those in the grave would hear the voice of
the Son of God and would emerge alive. And yet death, which destroys the
body of man, horrifies us. And the Lord, consoling us, encouraging us,
made an example of Lazarus, who, hearing the voice of the Son of God,
came out of his tomb. He spoke, His Omnipotent Voice shook the depths of
hell, and Lazarus, whose body had already begun to decay, came out of
the tomb alive, unharmed and in good health.
Today's
holiday is for this reason especially close to our hearts, especially
joyful. Today we celebrate our future resurrection. In seven or days the
Holiday of Holidays will arrive, the Triumph of All Triumphs, when we
will celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord, "raising us with Him," as
the Church sings. And so to illustrate how this will occur, how the dead
will rise from their graves to the sound of the voice of the Son of
God, the Lord raised the dead Lazarus. That this is so is declared by
the troparion which will be sung today and tomorrow: 'By raising Lazarus
from the dead before Your Passion, You confirmed the universal
resurrection, O Christ God!'�that is, it confirmed that there will be
resurrection for all. Our
souls are filled with special joy on this day, a brilliant joy, because
death ceases to terrify us. How unfortunate are the godless! Of course,
we know that they are in error, that man is not annihilated after
death. But these poor folks think that death comes and everything comes
to an end, the person is dead, his body is killed and there is no
question of any life. All their talk about how their leaders live in
eternity in the hearts of their followers are simply nonsense!
The human soul does not seek this, it seeks only
an escape from the fear of death. The Lord grants it, for after all He
had done for us, it turns out that death is not disappearance into the
abyss of non-existence, but only a temporary slumber, but longer than
earthly sleep. But sleep nonetheless, for with His Almighty Voice, He
will wake us all at a time known only to Him so that we pass into
eternity.
How bright and happy is this day! The human soul
cannot but tremble with elation because, again, we are celebrating our
universal resurrection! Remember this, o human soul, and thank your Lord
for His great mercy to you. Amen. 6. Sermon on Palm Sunday by Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky, +1985).
 Today
we prayerfully and solemnly remember the Royal entrance of the King
of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ into His �royal capital,� the holy
city of Jerusalem.
Noisy was the crowd of Judeans
when Christ entered the city before the beginning of Passover.
Millions flocked to Jerusalem during those days, and it was already
overfilled with people when the ceremonious, royal greeting of the
long-awaited Messiah, Savior of the world commenced.
Holy Evangelist John the
Theologian notes in his Gospel that before the Lord entered Jerusalem,
word of his miracle of the raising of Lazarus performed by Jesus
Christ spread like wildfire among the people; news of this astounding
miracle lifted the spirits of everyone who revered and loved the
Savior. After this, as Holy Evangelist Luke tells us, everyone began
joyfully praising God for the wondrous Signs they had seen over this
time. It must be noted that the Apostles desired that their Teacher
would come to Jerusalem to be glorified there, as an earthly king
would be. They thought that this moment had arrived, that Christ
enters Jerusalem with Royal glory specifically in order to assume His
Throne and reign as king; and they joyously exclaimed: "Hosanna in the
highest, blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord." The
people's exultation was so great that they lay their clothing on the
path upon which the Savior traveled, cutting palm fronds and other
greenery, blanketing the way for Him, following along, holding these
fronds in their hands as symbols of triumph and celebration.
Great was the elation of the
Apostles and the people. But this most holy Honoree of the celebration
did not partake of this rejoicing; on the contrary, as Holy
Evangelist Luke says, as they approached Jerusalem and the splendor of
the Holy City was revealed to them, Christ the Savior, contrary to
the celebration of all who surrounded Him, wept as He beheld the city
and said: "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day,
the things�which belong�unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine
eyes! For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a
trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every
side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children
within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; "because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."
The Lord knew how fickle the
people were, and how unstable is the mob. In His omniscience, He saw
that a week would not pass as the cries "Hosanna to the Son of David"
would change to "Crucify Him, crucify Him," and that these dreaded
words would be screamed by the very same people who greeted Him with
elation. This filled His Most-Holy Soul with profound sadness. One
thing was truly consoling and joyful for the Savior as he entered the
Temple: the pure children's voices, who from the pureness of their
souls and their pure hearts exclaimed to Him: "Hosanna to the Son of
David." The Lord rejoiced at this, for this was the pure ebullience of
children, and the children, being children, rejoiced with all their
hearts and celebrated, without properly understanding what was
happening, but expressing to Him their elation and love directly.
We now remember this and
celebrate; but we also remember according to the words of the Church
that this day is not only one of celebration but precelebratory. For
if tomorrow is the day we call Palm Sunday, or the Entrance of the
Lord to Jerusalem, the following Sunday is the Feast Day of Feast
Days the Holy Pascha of Christ, which every believing soul hopes to
survive to see by God's mercy and to greet this day with more
celebration and joy.
And between these two great
Holidays, between these two Sundays, is Passion Week, with its wealth
of remembrances during divine services, words of prayer and
sacramental acts. So let us try, beloved ones, to draw as much as we
can from the riches of Passion Week. This is a special, grace-filled
and sacred time in the church year. He who takes advantage of every
opportunity during the days of Passion Week, especially in the final
three days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, will attend church as often
as possible. He who wasn�t able to come to church before and only
comes during these holy days will be astounded by the beauty of the
prayers and the sacraments, and will berate himself top to bottom that
he had neglected this before, and deprived himself of this spiritual
bounty and edification. The Church offers these treasures to us now.
Let us try to take advantage of them, and, sanctifying and edifying
ourselves with the holy services of Passion Week, greet Holy Pascha as
we should! Amen. A STORM WILL PASS
5. FIFTH WEEK OF GREAT LENT
Already we have reached the fifth week of Great Lent, dear
brethren. For the past several weeks the Church has been instructing
us in the different aspects of spiritual life that we must develop
within ourselves, in order for the Triumph of Orthodoxy to become an
actual fact of our everyday life. On the second Sunday of Lent the
Church taught us prayer, especially inner prayer as
its most perfect example, uniting us in constant communion with the
Lord God. The third Sunday was devoted to the bearing of the cross, which
is necessary to each Christian who wishes to be a follower of the Lord
Jesus Christ, Who redeemed us and granted salvation to all of us
through His sacrifice on the Cross. On the fourth Sunday we learned
how to ascend the ladder of virtues, which led us straight into paradise and eternal life.
Now we have reached the most important stage of spiritual life – repentance. Repentance
is the most important in the sense that it the very basic stage, the
beginning of all spirituality. All our prayers, virtues, and Lenten
endeavors are very well in their own right, but without repentance they
have little value, they are in vain. And that is because without
repentance we cannot come to a realization of our sins, of our
spiritual shortcomings, and without realizing them we cannot rectify
them by asking the Lord for forgiveness and receiving the remission of
our sins.
We see the importance of repentance from the moment
when Adam and Eve fell into sin by disobeying God’s commandment. We
see how God called upon Adam to repent while he was still in the Garden
of Eden: “Adam, where art thou?” But instead of repenting and
realizing his sin, Adam began to justify himself. And from that time
on, this self-justification continues throughout man’s entire existence
on earth.
In the Orthodox Church repentance is one of the seven
sacraments. Without repentance there is no salvation. We see this in
the writings of the Holy Fathers, which were inspired by the Holy
Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, when He came down to earth,
said to His disciples: “I did not come to call the righteous, but the
sinners to repentance.” The Lord had no need to call the righteous,
because their righteousness was based upon a foundation of humility,
and through humility they clearly saw the sinfulness of their nature.
Even such a notable desert-dweller as Anthony the Great, who by the end
of his life reached an angelic state, used to say to his disciples
with great humility and weeping over his sins: “I have not even begun
to do anything for my salvation.”
Such is the humility of the righteous,
while sinners, following in the footsteps of the fallen Adam, engage
only in self-justification. How many times we have heard people say the
following words: “While I’m still young, I’ll enjoy life to the full,
and when I get old, then I shall begin to think of repentance.” But
will it turn out that way? Are not such people deceiving themselves?
What assurance do they have that they will live until tomorrow, not to
mention old age? “As we live, so shall we die” – says popular wisdom.  
And so, on this fifth Sunday of Lent, while calling us
to repentance, the Church as usual offers us a supreme example of it by
showing us the life of St. Mary of Egypt. And what an extraordinary
and deeply-moving example it is! Here before us is an absolute
sinner. For seventeen years she leads an incredibly depraved life.
Suddenly she decides to go to Jerusalem, in order to continue her
iniquity even there. She follows this impulse, totally unaware that
this is God’s Providence working within her, calling her to
repentance. At that moment she probably did not yet realize that her
soul was yearning to free itself from the shackles of sinful life.
And so she comes to the Holy Land, where she spiritually awakens and
realizes the grave error of her ways, and under the protection of the
Holy Mother of God she goes away into the Jordanian desert, where she
spends 47 years in incredible spiritual endeavors, repenting all the
while her sinful life.
Similarly the Lord calls each one of us to repentance,
dear brethren. And we can see in our everyday life what unrepented
sins lead to. Look at the horrors we see all around us: it is no
longer only adults who commit murder, robbery, violence, etc., but even
children.
It is now the fifth week of Great Lent. Have we begun
to repent of our sins? Do we come to confession, do we take
communion? Even if someone were to think that he is not yet ready, did
not have time to prepare himself – do not wait, dear brethren! Next
week we will be greeting our Saviour. With what kind of soul will we
meet Him? With what kind of heart will we glorify Him, sing “hosannah”
to Him? Perhaps someone may think that Lent is nearly over and that
he will probably have no time left to repent? No, dear brethren! We
must repent immediately, we must repent always, we must repent
throughout our entire life. While we live on this earth, it will
never be too late. The only time when it may be too late is when we
die, when our soul leaves our body. Then it will truly be too late, and
we will be totally unable to do anything for ourselves. Then, at
best, perhaps someone will be left on earth who will pray for us, and
at worst – we will remain in hell with our unshriven sins. Dear brethren, it is not too late to realize our sins,
to come to the Lord in penitence, to step upon the path of salvation.
Let us heed the wondrous example of St. Mary of Egypt, let us heed the
example of the wise thief, who repented at the very last hour of his
life, and let us say to the Lord in the words of the humble publican:
“Lord, have mercy upon us, sinners!” Amen. Father Rostislav Sheniloff.
St. John Climacus is honored by the Church as a great ascetic and as the author of a remarkable work entitled, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, and therefore he has been named “Climacus,” or “of the Ladder.” There has been very little information
preserved about his origin. Tradition tells us that he was born in
around the year 570, and was the son of Sts. Xenophon and Maria, who are
commemorated on January 26/February 28. St. John came to the monastery
on Mt. Sinai at age sixteen. Abba Martyrius became his spiritual father
and mentor. After four years of living on Mt. Sinai, John was tonsured a
monk. One of the fathers present at his tonsure foretold that John
would become a great luminary of Christ's Church. St. John labored in
asceticism for nineteen years in obedience to his spiritual father.
After the death of Abba Martyrius, St. John chose the life of reclusion,
departing to a desert place called Thola, where he lived forty years in
silence, fasting, prayer, and repentant tears. It is not by chance that
St. John speaks so much of repentant tears in The Ladder. "As
fire burns and destroys dead wood, so do pure tears cleanse all
impurity, both inwardly and outwardly." His prayer was strong and
effective—this can be seen in the following example of the great
ascetic's life.
St. John had a disciple, Monk Moses.
One day St. John sent his disciple to spread soil on the garden beds. As
he was fulfilling his obedience, Monk Moses became weary from the
fierce summer heat and reclined under the shade of a large cliff. St.
John was in his cell at that moment, resting a bit after his labor of
prayer. Suddenly a man of venerable countenance appeared and woke the
ascetic, reproofing him: "John, why are you resting peacefully here
while Moses is in danger?" St. John immediately arose and began praying
for his disciple. When Moses returned that evening, the saint asked him
if anything had happened to him that day. The monk answered, "No, but I
was in serious danger. A large rock broke off from a cliff under which I
had fallen asleep at midday and nearly crushed me. Fortunately I was
having a dream in which you were calling me, and I jumped up and ran; at
that moment a huge rock fell with a crash upon that very place where I
was…"
It is known from St. John's life that
he ate what was allowed by the rule of fasting, but within measure. He
did not go without sleep at night, although he never slept more than was
needed to support his strength for ceaseless vigilance, and so as not
to negatively affect his mind. "I did not fast beyond measure," he said
of himself, "and I did not conduct intensified night vigil, nor did I
sleep on the ground; but I humbled myself…, and the Lord speedily saved
me." The following example of St. John's humility is notable. Gifted
with a strong, sharp mind that was made wise by deep spiritual
experience, he taught everyone who came to him and guided them to
salvation. But when certain others out of jealousy accused him of
loquaciousness, which they said sprung from vainglory, St. John took a
vow of silence in order not to temp anyone, and remained thus for a
year. His enviers admitted their error and begged the ascetic not to
deprive them of his beneficial instruction.
To hide his ascetic labors from people,
St. John would sometimes depart to a solitary cave, but fame of his
holiness spread far beyond his enclosure, and people from all walks of
life would come to him seeking a word of edification and salvation. When
he was seventy-five years old, after forty years of ascetic labors in
solitude, the saint was chosen to be abbot of Sinai. St. John Climacus
ruled the holy monastery for four years. The Lord granted the saint many
gifts of grace toward the end of his life, including clairvoyance and
miracle-working.
During St. John's abbacy, another St.
John, abbot of Raithu Monastery (commemorated on the Saturday of
Cheesefare week) asked him to write the famous Ladder—instructions
for the ascent to spiritual perfection. Knowing of the saint's wisdom
and spiritual gifts, the abbot of Raithu asked on behalf of all the
monks of his monastery for "true instruction for those who seek
unwaveringly, and a kind of steadfast ladder that will take those who
desire it to the Heavenly gates…" St. John, who had a humble opinion of
himself, first balked at the task but then set about writing the
treatise out of obedience to the request of the Raithu monks. He thus
called the work, The Ladder, explaining his choice: "I have built
a ladder of ascent… from earth to holiness… In honor of the thirty
years of the Lord, I have built a ladder of thirty steps, which if we
climb it to the age of the Lord, we will be righteous and safe from
falls." The aim of this treatise was to teach us that the attainment of
salvation requires difficult self-denial and intense ascetical labor. The Ladder first
suggests the cleansing of sinful impurity, the uprooting of vices and
passions of the "old man"; second, it shows the restoration of God's
image in man. Although the book was written for monks, any Christian who
lives in the world will find it a reliable guide on the ascent to God.
Pillars of spiritual life such as St. Theodore the Studite, St. Sergius
of Radonezh, St. Joseph of Volokolamsk, and others continually referred
to The Ladder as the best book for soul-saving instruction.
The content of one of the steps of The Ladder (No. 22) discusses the labor of uprooting vainglory. St. John writes:
Like the sun, which shines on all
alike, vainglory beams on every occupation. What I mean is this: I fast,
and turn vainglorious. I stop fasting so that I will draw no attention
to myself, and I become vainglorious over my prudence. I dress well or
badly, and am vainglorious in either case. I talk or I remain silent,
and each time I am defeated. No matter how I shed this prickly thing, a
spike remains to stand up against me.
A vainglorious man is a believing
idolater. Apparently honoring God, he actually is out to please not God
but men. To be a showoff is to be vainglorious. The fast of such a man
is unrewarded and his prayer futile, since he is practicing both to win
praise. A vainglorious ascetic doubly cheats himself, wearying his body
and getting no reward.…
The Lord frequently hides from us even
the perfections we have obtained. But the man who praises us, or,
rather, who misleads us, opens our eyes with his words and once our eyes
are opened, our treasures vanish.
The flatterer is a servant of the
devils, a teacher of pride, the destroyer of contrition, a ruiner of
virtues, a perverse guide. The prophet says, Those who honor you deceive you (Isa. 3:12).
Men of high spirit endure offense nobly and willingly. But only the holy and the saintly can pass unscathed through praise.…
No one knows the thoughts of a man
except the spirit within him (cf. 1 Cor. 2:11). Hence, those who want to
praise us to our face should be ashamed and silent.
When you hear that your neighbor or
your friend has denounced you behind your back or indeed in your
presence, show him love and try to compliment him.
It is a great achievement to shrug the praise of men off one's soul. Greater still is to reject the praise of demons.
It is not the self-critical who reveals
his humility (for does not everyone have somehow to put up with
himself?). Rather it is the man who continues to love the person who has
criticized him….
Our neighbor is moved by nothing so
much as by a sincere and humble way of talking and of behaving. It is an
example and a spur to others never to become proud. And there is
nothing to equal the benefit of this….
The Lord often humbles the vainglorious
by causing some dishonor to befall them. And indeed the first step in
overcoming vainglory is to remain silent and to accept dishonor gladly.
The middle stage is to restrain every act of vainglory while it is still
in thought. The end—if one may talk of an end to an abyss—is to be able
to accept humiliation before others without actually feeling it….
When those who praise us, or, rather,
those who lead us astray, begin to exalt us, we should briefly remember
the multitude of our sins, and in this way, we will discover that we do
not deserve whatever is said or done in our honor.
This and other sayings that we can find in The Ladder serve
as an example of that holy zeal for our salvation that is necessary to
everyone who wishes live a pious life; and this written treatise, which
is the fruit of abundant and subtle observation over his own soul along
with very deep spiritual experience, is a great benefit and guide along
the path of truth and goodness. The steps of The Ladder are the
ascent from strength to strength on the human path to perfection, which
can only be attained gradually and not suddenly; for, in the words of
the Savior, The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force (Mt. 11:12). Translated from the Russian by OrthoChristian.com 4. Lenten Synaxarion - Sunday of St. John Climacus John
who lived in the flesh, yet was dead to the world, become now
breathless and dead, lives forever. Leaving his writings, the Ladder of
Ascent, to show us the means of his own ascent.John died on the
thirtieth day (of March).
At
the age of sixteen, this clever man offered himself as a most sacred
sacrifice to God by going up to join the monastery on Mount Sinai. When
he reached the age of nineteen he took a vow of silence. Living in the
monastery at Thole for forty years, he burned always with love and the
fire of the desire for God. He ate anything which was not against the
monastic rule, but with great temperance, thus wisely breaking the horn
of pride. Yet what mind could express the source of his tears! He
partook of sleep only insomuch as not to harm his body, though his mind
was vigilant. His prayer was constant, and his love for God limitless.
Having lived a life of amendment pleasing to God, and having written his
ladder of ascent, expounding his words of instruction, he fell asleep
in the Lord, full of goodness.
He left many other writings as well.Through his prayers, O God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
BEFORE THY CROSS WE BOW DOWN, O MASTER, AND THY HOLY RESURRECTION WE GLORIFY - 3X .
As the vanquisher of death,
Who arose on the third day, He saved us also from eternal death. He
will resurrect all of us, all the dead, when the last day of the world
comes; He will resurrect us for joyful, eternal life with God.
The Cross is the weapon―or sign―of Christ’s victory over sin and death. Our Lord Jesus Christ received in His breast the terrible spears of sin and death which
were invincible for us. He died on the Cross, but He also arose, as the
vanquisher of sin and death, and thus opened for us the way to eternal
life.
Now everything depends on us: if we wish to be delivered
from the power of evil, sin, and eternal death, then we must follow
Christ, love Him, and fulfill His holy will, being obedient to Him in everything, and live with Christ.
This
is why, in order to express our faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, we
wear a cross on our body, and during prayer we form the cross over our
ourselves with our right hand—that is, we make the sign of the Cross.
The
sign of the Cross gives us great strength to repel and conquer evil and
to do good, but we must remember to make the
sign of the Cross correctly and without haste,
otherwise it will not be the sign of the Cross, but just waving our
hand around, which only gladdens the demons. By making the
sign of the Cross carelessly we show a lack of reverence for God. This is a sin called sacrilege.
When
we cross ourselves, mentally we say, “In the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” Thus, we express our
faith in the All-holy Trinity and our desire to live and labor for the glory of God. The word Amen means in truth, truly, let it be so, so be it.
3. Third Sunday of the Great Lent. Adoration of the Holy Cross.
Before thy cross we bow down in worship oh master and thy Holy Resurrection we glorify Troparion
O Lord, save Your
people, and bless Your inheritance. Grant victories to the Orthodox
Christians, over their adversaries. And by virtue of Your Cross preserve
Your habitation!
Kontakion
Now the flaming
sword no longer guards the gates of Eden; it has mysteriously been
quenched by the wood of the Cross! The sting of death and the victory of
hell have been vanquished; for You, O my Savior, have come and cried to
those in hell: "Enter again into paradise." The Cross of Christ - Professor I.M. Andreyev.
“O Invincible and incomprehensible and divine power of the precious and life-giving Cross, forsake not us sinners.”
(From the order of Great Compline)
The Cross is the
mighty and profound symbol of Christianity, a symbol whose meaning is
inexhaustible. The eight-pointed Cross is the symbol of Orthodoxy.
Gazing upon the
Cross with his mind and heart, the Christian goes deeper into that
symbol and grows spiritually. Just as a plant needs fertile soil,
moisture, and sunlight in order to grow, so a Christian needs the Cross
of Christ in his spiritual and physical life, for the Cross of Christ
provides him with nourishment, drink, warmth, and light.
Does everyone know
what the Cross is for Christians? Does everyone understand that the
depth of meaning and substance of that Christian symbol is truly
inexhaustible? Let us attempt to concentrate a bit in order to piously
reflect on the Cross, on that same Cross which the Holy Church brings
out on the Sunday of Orthodoxy to remind us of the Passion of Christ.
Our difficult,
awful, evil, hurried time does not allow us to focus our concentration.
People crave entertainment, a variety of experiences, productions,
ideas, feelings, and actions. The Cross calls us toward the opposite. In
it there is no movement, no change, no external variation. The Cross
demands that we concentrate our attention upon the depths of the soul.
Then, in its simplicity, stillness, and silence, its infinite substance
and bottomless depth of meaning opens up to us.
The Holy Apostle
Paul wanted to know nothing in the world “save Jesus Christ, and Him
Crucified”(I Corinthians 2: 2). This was because to know the Lord Jesus
Christ, crucified on the Cross, gives one everything he needs. The
Cross was made of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the tree,
which the first man touched, despite the Lord’s commandment forbidding
him to do so. On the Cross, our Lord Jesus Christ tore up the
manuscript of Adam’s sin and likewise accomplished the salvation of man.
Watered with the Divine Blood, that Cross, which had come from the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, which had brought people death, was
transformed into the Tree of Life. Each Cross bearing the image of the
Crucified Savior, wordlessly says to us… “Here is what I have done for
you. What have you done for Me?” On the Cross is written everything
that we need to know about God and about ourselves… our fall and our
restoration, our sin and Divine Mercy. The Cross instructs us in great
patience and humility, love and forgiveness of all, crucifixion of our
flesh and hope in eternal salvation. The outstretched, crucified arms
clearly bear witness to the fact that the Lord does not desire the death
of a sinner, and that He is ready to forgive and embrace everyone who
truly repents, regardless of how sinful they might be.
We find prototypes
of the Cross in the Old Testament. The Patriarch Jacob blessed Joseph’s
children Ephraim and Manasseh crosswise (Genesis, chapter 48). Moses
used his staff to make the sign of the Cross on the waves of the Red Sea
(Exodus, chapter 14). The latter example shows us that the Cross has
the power to overcome even the laws of nature. There are other examples
in which through the Cross “the natural order is overcome.”… Thus, for
example, the Holy Martyr St. Vasilissa of Nicomedia, having protected
herself with the sign of the Cross, stood unharmed in the midst of the
flames. Thus, the Holy Bishop Julian, after making the sign of the
Cross over the cup of poison, drank it without suffering any harm. The
Cross is also the banner of military victory. When the Amalekites
attacked the Hebrews after their exodus out of Egypt, Moses, supported
by the priests, prayed with arms extended in the form of a Cross, and
the Amalekites were defeated (Exodus 16: 11). St. Cyprian of Carthage
explains that the Israelites were victorious because the cruciform
stretching out of the arms was a prototype of the Cross of Christ. The
clearest evidence of the victorious power of the Cross of Christ was
demonstrated in Emperor Constantine the Great’s seeing a brilliantly
shining Cross in a clear, cloudless sky, and hearing the words “In this
[sign] you shall conquer.”
The Cross also
grants healing. In the Old Testament, the bronze serpent, which
prefigured the Cross, healed all those who had been bitten by the deadly
serpents sent by God as punishment for the Hebrews’ complaining. If a
prototype of the Cross held such healing power, how much more powerfully
does the Cross of Christ itself heal! From ancient times and still
today, the Orthodox Church has considered the Cross a great defense
against all disease, whether physical or spiritual. This is why since
antiquity, Christians have worn the Cross on their breast. To wear such
a Cross was considered to be: 1) a confession that you were a
Christian, and 2) a defense, “to ward off any evil.” Even today, one
often sees written on Crosses to be worn on the breast, the words, “O
Lord, Save and Protect [me]!” When a priest blesses such a Cross, he
prays that it might be “for him that shall bear it on himself may it be
for a saving defense and preservation against every evil of soul and
body and for the increase of increase him of Thy spiritual gifts and
Christian virtues” and that it might be filled with “Thy power and
strength for the repulsion and dispelling of every snare of the devil,”
and be “the preservation of soul and body from the face of enemies
visible and invisible and from every evil.” (Supplemental Book of
Needs).
In the canon “To the
Honorable and Life-giving Cross” composed by Gregory of Sinai, the
Orthodox Church sings out... “O cross! Be unto me the might, the
strength and the power, the deliverer and foremost defender against my
assailants, the shield and protector, my victory and establishment, ever
preserving and sheltering me.” “O Cross ... as a three-edged sword
thou dost cut off the principles of darkness, being the great weapon of
Christ and an invincible and all-powerful trophy of victory…” For the
Cross is “the symbol of the Incomprehensible Trinity, the Life-bearer.”
The Cross is a
great, invincible weapon that conquers all. However, one needs to know
how to use that weapon, that power. For even an ordinary weapon, a
firearm or other weapon, can be an impotent one in the hands of someone
inexperienced, and can even be a danger to the one who wields it. The
invincible and almighty power of the Cross becomes so, and is
conditional upon faith and piety. One cannot use the power of the Cross,
one cannot utilize it as a weapon in the absence of faith and piety,
for it is a weapon of the Holy Truth of Christ. One must not make the
sign of the Cross over oneself or others without faith and piety.
The enemies of the
Cross are the enemies of Christ. During the time of the Zaporozhian
Syetch, such enemies were discovered quite simply… It was enough to
simply observe how a person read the “Our Father” and crossed himself
with the Orthodox sign of the Cross.
( …)
The Cross is first
of all the symbol of our salvation. In signing ourselves with the sign
of the Cross, we pray to God the Father through His Son's Cross (when we
say the Lord’s Prayer) or to our Savior, God the Son Himself through
the Cross of His Golgotha (when we address prayers to the Lord Jesus
Christ), or to God the Holy Spirit (in the prayer “O Heavenly King”) —
again through the Savior’s Cross, through the Cross by which He acquired
the right to send us the Comforter. Signing oneself with the sign of
the Cross has particular meaning when praying for forgiveness and
salvation, for we cannot be forgiven or saved on account of any personal
merits, no matter how great they might be! It is only thanks to the
Passion of Christ, at the price of His precious blood, and only after
our repentance and the fruits of repentance, that we dare hope in
forgiveness and salvation. Such is the primary, profound meaning of
signing oneself with the sign of the Cross. If we comprehend that, how
can we possibly make the sign of the Cross carelessly?
The Cross is the
most-powerful, almighty source of comfort and strength in times of
sorrow, despondency, and despair. The Cross is the last hope of those
who despair, and it never puts to shame those who have hope. It is
enough but to imagine the Savior Crucified, and with only a tiny corner
of your heart to intend to repent, and immediately, without delay, the
Savior, who kisses the intention, sends His almighty help. Countless
numbers of people have been saved from committing suicide because, for
just a moment, they turned their thoughts in faith to the crucified
Savior.
It was from the Cross that the prayer for forgiveness of enemies went forth.
It was from the Cross that the repentant wise thief was granted mercy.
It was from the
Cross that the Holy Apostle John the Theologian (and with him, all
faithful Christians) was adopted by the Most-holy Theotokos, the hope
that cannot be put to shame of those without hope.
The Mother of God
stood at the Cross – with her arms crossed on her breast. She was the
first to cross her arms before the Cross of her Son and God, being
crucified with Him in her maternal heart, remembering on Golgotha the
Righteous Symeon’s prophetic words “and a sword shall pierce through thy
own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
Comprehending that, dare we not reveal the thoughts within our hearts?
And crossing our arms over our breasts, dare we not remember in our
hearts her holy crossed arms?
Approaching the Holy
Chalice, we always fold our arms cross-wise across our breast. We do
not sign ourselves with the sign of the Cross (lest, in doing so, we
jostle the Holy Chalice), but we hold a cross [our crossed arms] over
our breast. When we commune, we stand as it were at the cross, together
with the Most-holy Theotokos, for we commune of the Body and Blood of
the Crucified One
“With fear of God
and faith and love draw nigh.” Can one possibly approach without fear
and faith, the Crucified Savior, upon seeing Whom the sun went dark, the
earth shook like a living being? Out of fear, the Angels were incapable
of seeing the Lord’s Passion.
The Cross teaches us
humility and patience, sobriety and discernment, purity of heart,
faith, hope and Christ’s sincere love, love that is so sharply different
from ordinary human love. Ordinary earthly love is egocentric and
selfish, while Christ’s true love is sacrificial and compassionate. The
guide to true love is always the Cross, from which true love in fact is
“more powerful than death.”
All of the Holy
Mysteries of the Church of Christ are intimately tied to the Cross… In
Holy Baptism, everything is done under the sign of the Cross. In
Chrismation; the same. Repentance is a “second Baptism,” a “Baptism of
tears.” Holy Unction is an augmented Baptism of tears of repentance.
Holy Matrimony is a Baptism into life together as husband and wife.
Ordination is Baptism into service to the Church. Without the Cross,
the Holy Eucharist would be utterly unimaginable. Reflecting on the
Mystery of the Cross as Eucharist [i.e. Thanksgiving], St. John Cassian
the Roman, asserts that this Mystery will be performed eternally by
Christ the High Priest in the Kingdom of Heaven, for Christ’s Sacrifice
on the Cross can never be forgotten even unto ages of ages.
To a true Christian,
the Cross of Christ cannot but evoke a reciprocal, grateful,
compassionate and sacrificial love for the Lord, together with a
yearning to be crucified with Christ. After all, the Cross wordlessly
prays about that very thing. In bearing a Cross upon one’s breast, or
signing oneself with the sign of the Cross, or crossing one’s arms over
one’s breast, we Christians testify that we are ready to carry the Cross
without complaint, to carry it humbly, voluntarily, and joyfully, for
we love Christ and want to share in His suffering, for His sake. The
Cross of Christ not only calls us to voluntary suffer, but also shows us
the example of undeserved travails crowned with the highest honor, the
Crown of Thorns upon His Holy Head. And the whole “Karamazov” question…
how can the suffering of innocent children be justified... is resolved
so clearly and profoundly simply by just looking upon the Savior, the
Innocent One, nailed to the Cross. However, the Cross is not simply a
symbol of suffering. It is also a symbol of victory, and of the triumph
of love and truth. It is also a symbol of the eternal joy that follows
temporary suffering, a joy that nothing can ever take from us. The Cross
truthfully promises us that every little tear will be wiped away, that
all sorrow borne for Christ’s sake, will turn to joy, that the droplets
of tears, blood, and sweat a Christian who loves Christ sheds before his
death will become diamonds, rubies and pearls of inexpressible beauty
in the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Cross calls us to spiritual struggle, and promises us help, victory, triumph, and the glory of the Resurrection.
All of the above
makes it possible to understand why a Christian’s entire life, from the
day of his birth to his final breath on earth, and even after his death,
is accompanied by the Cross. A new mother, after the pain of giving
birth, “forgets herself in her joy that a person has been born into the
world” and signs herself and the newborn infant with the sign of the
Cross. The infant is baptized in the Holy Font in water that has been
blessed by the Cross. With his first steps of intellectual and
emotional development, a child learns – with his hand at first guided by
a close relative - about the Cross and the sign of the Cross.
A Christian child’s
first conscious religious action should be to independently sign himself
with the sign of the Cross. A Christian makes the sign of the Cross
upon awakening (one should teach oneself that that should be the first
thing he does); it should be his final action upon going to bed. A
Christian signs himself with the sign of the Cross before and after
eating, before and after studies, upon going outside, before beginning
any work, before taking medication, before opening a letter received in
the mail, upon receiving unexpected happy or sad news, upon entering
someone else’s home, a train, or a ship, and in general, at the
beginning of any journey, recreational walk, or excursion, before
bathing, visiting the sick, going to court, to an interrogation, to
jail, into exile, before an operation, before a battle, before academic
or other lectures, before and after a meeting or gathering, etc.
However, just as one must not wear a Cross as an amulet, one should not
turn the sign of the Cross into a talisman, for both the Cross and the
sign of the Cross are simply external expressions of that which must be
in a Christian’s heart: humility, faith, and hope in the Lord.
When a Christian
dies, others, his relatives cross his arms over his chest, and form his
fingers into the sign of the Cross. At the grave, the final Cross is
erected. The Dread Judgment will begin with the appearance of the Cross
of Christ.
Everything (I have
stated) above) is but a tiny page out of the “book about the Cross,” a
book consisting of countless numbers of pages.
Glory to Thy Precious Cross, O Lord!
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********************************************* 2. Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas
Spirituality of the Christian West and the Orthodox East (Second Sunday of Great Lent). All the deviations of the Roman
Catholic confession from the ideals of the ancient, undivided Church
could not but affect its spiritual life. M.V. Lodyzhensky, in the second
volume of his "Mystical Trilogy", compares the spirituality of the
Eastern and Western Churches using the examples of Venerable Seraphim of
Sarov and Francis of Assisi. This is not by chance, since in the West
the sanctity of Venerable Seraphim is thought to resemble the
righteousness of the friar of Assisi. Here are the main conclusions at
which Lodyzhensky arrives in his comparison:
"In the mystic of the East, in the
person of Saint Seraphim of Sarov, we see an example of man's complete
regeneration... ...that the super-consciousness of the ascetic of the
East is concentrated in his flaming heart. There - within himself - he
perceives the fire of the Godhead, he perceives Christ. This feeling of
his inner unity with God descends upon him naturally and freely, as a
direct result of growth, as a result of work on himself on the path of
humility and repentance. According to the mysticism of the East, all
these descents of higher perceptions are for the humble man beyond
expectation, for the ascetic, in accordance with his humility, does not
even feel himself worthy of this" (Mystical Trilogy, v. 2 - "Light
Unseen", Petrograd, 1915, pages 156-157 [in Russian]).
The spiritual vision of the ascetic of
the East is turned toward his inner world, according to Christ's word,
"the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). The source of the
spirituality of the western saints is different. Again Lodyzhensky:
"St. Francis, in his notion of Christ,
was struck most of all by the earthly life of Christ, by His image of
suffering. This impression came to Francis from without, and Francis
thirsted for visions of the suffering Christ. Proceeding from an
external impression, from an image of Christ and His sufferings, the
mysticism of St. Francis developed. This resulted in the mysticism of
Francis having to deviate toward the imagination and sensuality, for, if
Christ was for Francis an object, if he came to a notion of Christ from
an external impression, one of the means for developing this mysticism
was the stimulation of the imagination toward this external impression.
And if the imagination was stimulated, then sensuality also had to be
affected" (ibid., page 157).
The spirituality of Francis of Assisi
is characteristic of the spirituality of the whole Roman Catholic
Church. It is all sensual and oriented toward the Saviour's external
feat. This does not mean that the Orthodox Church does not impart
significance to this feat; but she always seeks the inner meaning of
this feat, its inner light and repose. It is not superfluous here to
touch upon the question of hesychasm and the place of Saint Gregory
Palamas in confirming this Orthodox teaching.
The Greek word "hesychia" signifies
peace, repose. The hesychast monks, besides various other spiritual
exercises, uninterruptedly practiced the Jesus Prayer, that is, they
continually repeated the words: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have
mercy on me, a sinner." Such praying not infrequently was accompanied by
special bodily techniques, for example, by prostrations, by a bent over
posture of the body while sitting, by rhythmical breathing.
Monks who had long practised such
prayer attained a lofty state of spirit, perceived the manifest
grace-filled presence of God in their hearts and in a radical manner
eliminated from their consciousness not only sinful, but all involuntary
notions and feelings; they were wholly absorbed in contemplating God.
The hesychast monks who were successful in this prayer not infrequently
received gifts of prophetical clairvoyance, and they promoted the
enlightenment of the people surrounding them and of those who resorted
to their spiritual help. In a word, the influence of these monks, who
lived mainly on Athos, was very powerful during the epoch of Gregory
Palamas.
In the thirteenth century, when
rationalism, emanating from the Latin West, began to spread, certain
theologians raised their voices against the hesychasts.
The main thing against which the
rationalists rose up was the faith of the ascetics that they could be
deemed worthy of true divine communion and that that spiritual light
which illumined them interiorly was that very same light that
transfigured Christ on Mount Tabor.
The opponents of the hesychasts
asserted that the Essence of God is unapproachable for man, and that
God, only as it were from afar, illumines chiefly the thoughts of men
and in this way directs human behavior.
Hierarch Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of
Thessalonica, came out in defense of the hesychasts. He declared that
the practice of the hesychasts was an ancient Christian phenomenon, that
there were no innovations here whatsoever and that drawing near to God
in prayer had its basis in the mysteries of the Church, through which
man receives the seed of true grace.
But Palamas' main contribution to
theology was his teaching on the divine energies. He demonstrated that
if communion with the Divine Essence Itself is unattainable, all the
same, man has the possibility of genuine divine communion and contact
with God, since God, out of love for man, communes with him through His
special energies or powers.
According to the teaching of Gregory
Palamas, God has, as it were, two forms of existence: one form is the
proper life of the Godhead, which is inaccessible to us, and His
Essence; the other is God's constant advertence toward His creation.
Thus, we can commune with God, Who is turned toward us through his
energies, and obtain from Him various grace-filled gifts.
The teaching of Gregory Palamas,
expounded by him in the fourteenth century, explained and consolidated
the teaching of the ancient Fathers of the Church, who had written that
man is created for transfiguration, for deification. By this teaching,
faith in the efficacy, in the reality of the whole sacramental life of
the Church and of prayers was strengthened.
The sensuality of Roman Catholic
spirituality is particularly striking in its prayers and ecclesiastical
art. Let us compare the well-known prayer of Ignatius of Loyola, which
is revered in the Catholic Church to the same degree that the Lenten
prayer of Venerable Ephraim the Syrian, "O Lord and Master of my
life...", is revered by us. Here is the prayer of Ignatius of Loyola:
Soul of Jesus, sanctify me,
Body of Jesus, save me,
Blood of Jesus, grant me rest,
Water from the side of Jesus, cleanse me,
Sufferings of Jesus, strengthen me,
O good Jesus, hear me.
Let us compare an Orthodox prayer,
taken from the Akathist for Communion of the Holy Mysteries (First
Ekos), analogous to this Catholic prayer:
Jesus, burn up the thorns of my many transgressions.
Jesus, create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.
Jesus, bring my poor soul out of the prison of the passions.
Jesus, destroy in me unclean thoughts and evil lusts.
Jesus, direct my feeble steps on the path of Thy commandments.
Jesus, God of my heart, come and unite me with Thee forever.
The manifest spiritual difference,
which is noticed in these prayers, strikes one to an equal degree while
examining the sacred art of the West and East.
In the Orthodox notion, the icon
depicts the world glorified; in it there ought not be anything earthly
or worldly. Therefore, the techniques of depiction are altogether
different from those that are used in realistic painting.
Rome has completely departed from
classical Byzantine fundamentals. This was expressed particularly
forcefully during the epoch of the Renaissance. The very philosophical
direction of this period hymns man's egoism and powerfulness, his
self-perception in the surrounding and material environment. As a
result, the ecclesiastical art of the West also headed along this path -
along the path of free creativity, independent of the Church and its
enactments. A free attitude toward Church ideas and the mixing of Church
traditions with contemporary reality resulted in Western religious art
allowing, by striving toward human earthly beauty and sensuality, the
distortion of the sacred image.
That which the ancient Church so
painstakingly avoided - the influence of antique pagan painting and
realism - was in full measure reborn in Western Christianity and has
covered the walls of the largest Catholic churches and cathedrals. Naked
bodies, contemporary dress and decor became the norm, while spiritual
beauty was brought down to something worldly and everyday. Fr
Ioann Kurmoyarov condemned this satanic temple back in 2020, this condemnation
became the reason for his defrocking and also his later imprisonment, here is
what he said: ''A
Christian church can only exist where there is a Christian community. As I
understand it, this church was built in an open field, meaning no one lives
nearby, so there is no community. Therefore, it is not a church, but a pagan
temple. And it doesn't matter that the Divine Liturgy will be celebrated there,
since it will be celebrated to our own judgment and condemnation. This is
yet another example of how Orthodoxy is turning into banal paganism, with its
temples, patron saints, icons of military branches, and churches dedicated to
professional affiliations. How sad. Alas,
anything can be distorted. You can take communion for judgment and
condemnation, and turn the sacraments into a magical rite, you can turn the
liturgy into a pagan mystery, you can turn a church into a pagan temple, and
faith into the "white magic of the Orthodox rite," where the main
things become the tsar-gods, imperial statehood, water, candles, rituals, and
so on. Where people have forgotten the Gospel and Christ, only the veneer of
Christianity and Orthodoxy remains. And this is a terrible disaster, for which
the Lord has already punished us once in 1917, and will punish us again. After
all, there were plenty of churches back then, but many of them, alas, became
pagan temples. This is precisely why people abandoned the faith; that is, the
rituals were nominally observed, but life according to the Gospel was not. This
is precisely what St. Ignatius Brianchaninov once wrote about: we have a
beautiful exterior, rituals, golden domes, services, etc., but there is no life
in all of this; it is all dead. BY YOUR LOGIC, HE TOO HAS CEASED BEEN A
CHRISTIAN? AND HE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE. I'll go further (I'm sure you won't like
this): a huge number of priests in our Church are banal pagan priests, because
they have forgotten what is written in the Gospel. I can confirm this with
specific examples. This is precisely why we are currently witnessing a
profanation of the Christian faith. This church is the clearest evidence of
this profanation taking place before our very eyes.'' "I
truly believe the presence of Soviet-era symbols among the murals of an
Orthodox church is unacceptable. The presence of such symbols, as well as any
other non-Christian or anti-Christian symbols presented in a positive light,
transforms our church into a pagan shrine where some syncretic religion will be
practiced. Certainly, our fathers and grandfathers accomplished great deeds,
but among them were Muslims, atheists, agnostics, Buddhists, and, for the most
part, communists. Can we conclude from this that atheistic, Islamic, or
Buddhist symbols can now be displayed in an Orthodox church? If this continues,
I fear it will lead to the birth of a new pseudo-Orthodox imperial-militaristic
cult, similar to the ancient Roman syncretic cults, where the primary
requirement was not fidelity to Christ and His Church, but loyalty to the
emperor and the state." Source: https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022/08/10/svoi-krest@followers & @highlight Metropolitan Philaret Georgy Nikolayevich Voznesensky (22 March/4 April, 1903 Kursk, Russia – 21
November 1985, New York City, USA) - the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox
Church Outside Russia.
The spiritual legacy of Metropolitan Philaret includes sermons,
talks, teachings and “A Summary of Moral Theology". “But
perhaps no other passage in Holy Scripture reveals the essence and qualities of
Christian love as well as chapter 13 of Apostle Paul's First Epistle to the
Corinthians. It is not without reason that commentators on Holy Scripture call
this chapter a hymn to Christian love. In it, the apostle compares Christian
love with various spiritual gifts and virtues, and, having called this love the
most excellent way (at the end of the preceding chapter, 12), he explains with
compelling persuasiveness how much it surpasses all other human gifts and
experiences. And all the highest virtues—prophecy, knowledge of all mysteries,
miraculous faith, and even the feats of self-denial and martyrdom—are nothing
without love, and only from it do they acquire their value. ‘Love suffers long, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not
puffed up, does not behave rudely’ – it makes a person patient, meek, humble, and benevolent in
everything.
‘Love does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does
not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices with the truth...’
This
is the all-conquering power, the power of humble love that destroys the
selfishness and malice that nest in the human heart. And
this true love always seeks truth and justice, and not lies and servility.
And
finally – ‘Love bears all things, believes all things, always hopes, endures
all things. Love never fails...’ Yes,
that's right – never. Nothing can break it – neither trials, nor torments, nor
grief, nor hardships, nor disappointments. And
into another, better world, it will go with the Christian, and it will be
revealed in its fullest form precisely there—when not only the gifts of
prophecy and tongues disappear, but also faith and hope cease. Faith will be
replaced there by face-to-face vision, and hope will become fulfilled; love
alone will reign forever and ever. And that is why the same apostle says:‘Love is the fulfilling of the law’ ( Rom. 13:10 ).”
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