-spiritual deception= prelest (Russian), plani (Greek) – delusion or illusion, but closest English word is actually beguilement- almost like a spell has been cast – “I was beguiled by her blue eyes”

-various forms: 1. Imagination: more ready to believe our imagination than reality, refuse to be corrected

-Fathers say this can even lead to suicide- become so wrapped up in delusion that it leads to despair

-2. fancy: feelings of delight, pleasure; not as ruinous as imagination but can lead to frightful delusions

-everything in life predicated on whether it will bring pleasure- another form of self-deception

3. opinion: hold opinion unwaveringly, w/ conviction even though may lead to grave trouble

-if your opinion is unOrthodox it can lead you out of the Church

-very easy to be deceived in our fallen state, we often deceive ourselves by trying to understand wahts going on, thus very important to have spiritual father

-basic cause of deception, despair is lack of repentance – proper repentance leads to joy bc gotten into touch with your true self as a creature, God is creator

-St. John Climacus: Ladder of Divine Ascent: repentance causes joyful sorrow- a spiritualized emotion

-joy bc in touch with what you really are, sorrow bc what you are is unimpressive- but no despair bc now youre on the path of salvation, grace is starting to work

-our culture feeds our need to feel special

-in large family parents don’t always have time to make all kids feel special, but those kids are often more emotionally healthy- realize theyre just one of the group and need to get along with normal feelings- more realistic sense of what life is about

-uncorrected spiritual deception can lead us out of the Church

-Church is spiritual hospital, not association of pious ppl – its Body of Christ where healing happens

-primary physician is Christ Himself, priest represents Him

-St. Gregory the Theologian calls priest therapists bc they are to cure men’s souls, so priest himself must be well on way to healing- cant give what you don’t have

-priest doesn’t give out tickets to Heaven, he’s there to assist in spiritual and sometimes physical healing

-priest is spiritual father, therapist but NOT psychologist

-psychologist’s approach is man-centered, priest’s approach is God-centered

-St. Gregory the Theologian: first principle of spiritual direction is to affirm that ppl are different in temperament and circumstance-tailor to individual needs

-have to know about family of person who came to you

-ppl develop differently at different speeds

-spiritual director must be empathetic, have genuine compassion w/out entering into their illness or tragedy to such a degree that is ability to help is weakened

-ppl often looking for priest to be father they never had- generally not good idea to work out history with your father with your priest- not fair to him and he might not have tools to do that – let him be the priest

-don’t enter co-dependent relationship with priest- don’t define well-being by whether he talks to you that week

-not priest’s job to be your friend but to give spiritual authority – don’t need rich, full relationship with him

-in 12 yrs Fr. Alexey never had more than half-dozen long convos with Fr. Seraphim but he got wonderful advice from him, never thought of him as friend, never expected more than that of him

-parish priest is automatically spiritual father of his flock unless parishioner specifically arranges to go elsewhere, not good to go shopping around though for priest that will be nicest or whatever- need a priest who will tell you the truth, be severe when necessary – not looking for friend but spiritual director

-priest tries to give good remedy, but he’s not infallible, he can make mistakes but they don’t mean harm

-fringes on bottom of epitrachelion symbolize priest’s spiritual children that he carries around his neck as Christ carries sheep on His shoulders

-spiritual father leads you to God-centeredness – ppl may resist this- enjoy their web of prelest

-spiritual life is full of contradictions, ups and downs –spiritual father calls us back to reality

-no better knowledge than to know how you stand before God- science of sciences bc if well with God then well with everything, if not well with God then not well no matter how you have in eyes of the world

-wrong ways of trying to find out how you stand with God – to pester spiritual father about it

-there may be small signs of grace that priest can help you see:

1. if discontented with spiritual state then be thankful to God- one of best gifts is to be dissatisfied, good spiritual father keeps children in state of dissatisfaction- don’t rest on laurels – we’re always either progressing or digressing

2. sign of growth that we make new beginnings, fresh starts- start again no matter how many times you have to do it, don’t get discouraged

-making new beginnings is not being fickle if its about true return to God

3. sign of progress when we have something definite in view: not just vague concept of spiritual direction

-priest ought to have some sense of where you’re going, what your spiritual gifts are, discernment of how to use them to find fulfillment

-to overcome vice or habit it helps to have particular goal, work on with spiritual father – by this day I will stop doing x, y, or z

-being too vague is like attacking no particular part of enemy’s line, shooting without taking aim

4. strong feeling that God wants something particular from us: even if don’t know what it is- means theyre not self-satisfied, really struggling for discernment and focus- external or internal calling

-sometimes called having a “spiritual attraction” – what direction the heart is leading, pulling- very great gift to have these attractions- important to share them with spiritual father

5. active desire for holiness: contact with genuine holiness hurts bc we’re so wretched, self-centered, spoiled, ungrateful

-canonization of St. John Maximovitch was a blessing, but a blessing that hurt- pain of heart that reminds how far from holiness you are

-Fr. Alexey converted bc came into contact with holiness- specifically St. John, and others- Fr. Alexey wanted what he had so had to live his life – meant becoming Orthodox

-St. Theophan the Recluse:  think of toothache before its fixed- it hurts but must carry on with regular life- constantly there nagging in the background- that is what pain of heart, longing for God, desire for holiness should be like – always there nagging in the background- constant reminder – Its later than you think!

-desire for holiness, even if comes and goes, is sign of progress- has nothing to do with pride- desire for holiness means awareness of how unholy we are, means we’re not lukewarm – thank God!

-spiritual father can be very helpful in this regard

-short time on earth, but on this time eternity depends- give account to Christ for every moment

-much work to do –dangers to face, difficulties to master, etc – no room for laziness, even days of rest like Sunday should involve acts of Christian mercy

-life should be arranged to be perpetual service to God, begin every work with invocation of Trinity

-be mindful of God in all you do- babas and yiayias even bless oven when cooking, etc- even food was kind of sacrament- kind of temporal communion

-recognition that we’re only here at His disposal

-St. Innocent: if examine ourselves more attentively it becomes clear that its not bc way is difficult that we don’t enter Heaven, but bc we have no real desire to do so, don’t want to trouble ourselves about it, he who earnestly desires will always seek despite obstacles, he who goes on path fervently for every victory, every sorrow, every victory over himself, every restraining of himself, for every act and good desire, intention will be rewarded 70 x 7 even in this life, what awaits in Heaven cant even be told or imagined, so don’t be afraid to follow Christ, don’t delay, go while Doors are still open, even while still a long way off our Father will come to meet us on the way, kiss us, put on garment and lead us to wedding room where He dwells with Apostles, martyrs, all Saints- you will dwell with true and eternal joy; BUT when Doors of Kingdom are closed to you- if die w/out repentance then however much you want or try to enter you wont be admitted, you knock and say Lord we know Thee, we were baptized in Your name, we have worked miracles, etc but Christ will say “I dont know you, youre not Mine, depart into eternal fire prepared for devil and his angels, weeping and gnashing of teeth. Amen, amen.

Q: despair is lack of repentance, knowing that despair is bc of lack of repentance leads to more despair, how to break cycle?

A: spiritual father leads to true repentance- real turning away from sin

-often have regret over what we did but didn’t turn away from it- this often causes despair

Q: insight into Fr. Seraphim Rose

A: convert from southern CA, died at 48, converted into ROCOR in early 60’s, met St. John from whom received spiritual direction

-trained in theology by St. John at cathedral

-met Fr. Herman, blessed by St. John to form lay brotherhood of Fr. Herman, started Orthodox Word with blessing of St. John

-Fr. Alexey met Fr. Seraphim in ’65 or ’66 as Catholic laymen searching for truth, running Eastern Orthodox Books and Icons, printing OW on hand-press in back

-shop smelled like incense and cabbage soup- smells he now associates with holiness (!)

-Fr. Alexey was searching but thought he could take what he liked from Orthodoxy and apply it to Catholicism, have best of both worlds – Fr. Seraphim perceived this quickly, insightfully- had had almost no conversation but he looked at him and said “you cant be both” – Fr. Alexey was offended by his “intolerance,” then he said “you don’t even have correct understanding of Mother of God”- again offended bc as Catholic he had high view of Theotokos – Fr. Seraphim didn’t engage in small talk, just went to heart of matter- nothing frivolous

-suggested book “Against False Union” by Kalomiros- Fr. Alexey didn’t know what to make of it, knew he wasn’t on Fr. Seraphim’s level and couldn’t discuss it with him

-later Fr. Alexey met St. John, went to his funeral which was incredible, continued contact with Fr. Seraphim- was always troubled by what he said to him- he needed an answer and couldn’t figure it out in his own, knew he had to take seriously his words that you cant be both or you’ll become neither and be very unhappy

-‘66/’67 Fr. Seraphim and Fr. Herman moved to Platina, later tonsured

-Fr. Alexey and family converted – attributed it directly to St. John; Abp. Anthony appointed Fr. Seraphim as his spiritual father- lasted next 12+ years

-seeds of holiness planted within us at Baptism, Chrismation- must nourish seeds – prayer, fasting, almsgiving, imitate Christ and Saints, etc

-equivalent of sun in spiritual life is Holy Spirit- acts upon us in sacraments, esp. Chrismation- Church is seedbed of holiness

-water seeds, pull out weeds- discover spiritual path as tremendous adventure- about going home to God!

-secular institutions even used to help with this- taverns observed fasts- in Russia it was against law for establishments to provide non-fasting foods

-taverns, inns had icons, vigil lamps, etc- constant reminder that Heaven is watching

-old Orthodox lands didn’t even have word for “homosexuality” bc so rare

-in America we lack this outside help, its more like times of persecution- even here in “freedom” we are persecuted by materialism, coldness, etc

-Sacraments come into focus even more sharply in terms of what we need to do- in Russia even if not particularly observant you’d commune at least once a year, if didn’t you were arrested

-all grace comes from Christ, shared out in the Church; when participate in liturgical life, Sacraments we affirm that Christ keeps His word and bestows grace on Church to build it up

-normal spiritual life has frequent contact w/ Christ in sacraments- Confession, Eucharist are channels of grace

-in Confession we receive Christ Who said “go and sin no more”

-in Eucharist we receive full humanity and divinity – He Who resurrected and Ascended – cannot enter Kingdom without it, will die spiritually- John 6

-Eucharist is medicine of immortality, antidote of death, “I am the Way, Truth, Life”

-too many receive Communion lightly- need to approach more seriously

-“many among you who are sick bc eaten and drunk Body and Blood unworthily” – there can be physical illness from receiving Communion without proper preparation- NOT just a nice ritual- divine banquet, Host is King of Heaven Who feeds us with Himself

-founders of Meteora- not priests, dependent on priest to come to them

-first time priest came they all receive, after Liturgy say to each other “we have same Blood in our veins now, by this we are true brothers” – this is how we should think about it- more closely united to each other through Eucharist than we are to own children

-husband and wife become one as receive Eucharist together- wedding should be in context of Liturgy

-it is Eucharist that makes them one, NOT legal procedure

-receiving Communion isn’t a right, it’s a gift- it involves preparation, thought, repentance, confession, etc

-receive as often as possible, but in state of preparation!- attend Vespers on Sat.- shouldn’t receive otherwise

-earlier on Sat. already preparing for Sat. night, Sunday morning- sense of approaching Lord as beggar – when he comes to me will my house be clean? What do I especially need help with? He can give me power I need to deal with this

-at moment of receiving tell Christ what we need- He is ours at that moment; whole Liturgy should be a pouring out of ourselves in preparation

-many Saints used from Wed-Sat to prepare, Sun-Tues for thanksgiving- we have little Divine Energy in our lives if we don’t do this – otherwise we might as well not receive, and it might even be dangerous

-Bp. Nektary Kontzevitch: be not quick to spill out the grace you’ve received

-don’t go out and chatter in parish hall, reflect on grace given to you – when you fall in love you don’t run from that person – you’ve just received Christ, His Blood is literally in your veins- stay and spend time with Him

-take at least 10 mins for thanksgiving (St. John took 3 hours)- pray, don’t talk, don’t rush out

-this correlate with ppl arriving just on time or even late – lack of preparation – you get to work on time to please earthly boss – what about He Who has power over life and death?

-may be times when shouldn’t receive if its your fault you didn’t properly prepare

-need discernment though–maybe you didn’t prepare bc stressful event in family – then you NEED Communion

-Lord expects tithe of time as well as treasure, talent – more time in prayer at home, in Church

-when Christ asked “will you not watch with Me for a while”- has to do with vigil at Church, home, nepsis

-through Communion the energies of God enter our hearts – ascetic practices prepare soil of our heart to receive

-Son of God enters into our own world through window of Mysteries

-in West asceticism and hesychasm were lost as necessary preparation for laity- this is great danger for us today

-St. Gregory Palamas: healing that must take place achieved through sacramental and hesychastic life in combination, outside this combo there is no Orthodox life, spirituality, theology

-without this combo we receive unworthily- grace granted freely through sacraments to those who have prepared – necessary to cooperate with Divine Energy to receive benefits and repentance

-grace of sacraments doesn’t operate magically

-John 6:27 labor not for meat which perishes but that which is unto eternal life which Son of Man gives to us

-must work to receive eternal life in Eucharist

-must read post-Communion prayers

-God is consuming fire- bliss to the saved, torment to the damned

-in lives of many Saints fire has been seen coming down into chalice (St. Basil, St. Seraphim, etc)

Q: what about those that don’t celebrate true Eucharist?

A: don’t believe theyre receiving Body, Blood so it isn’t – they’ll be judged according to life they’ve been given

-we cant judge whats going on btwn them and God

Q: is God in us more when receive Eucharist? Is He in us when we’re not thinking about Him, etc?

A: God is everywhere, filling all things- sustains all things- if He ceased to love us we wouldn’t exist

-he who dwells in love dwells in God and God in him, perfect love casts our fear

-cant quantify how much God we have, but in Eucharist we receive fullness, yet at same time His grace and Spirit are everywhere

-not question of quantitative but of concentration on presence of God

Q: body is temple of Holy Spirit- do we remain temple even when sinning?

A: always temple from Chrismation on – but needs good cleaning from time to time- becomes unfit abode for Holy Spirit – prevent Him from acting by our uncleanness – keeping seeds from growing but theyre still there

Q: how do we get off path?

A: its like a trip – many things can get us off track – no real guarantee that we’ll arrive safely, or at all

-spiritual life is same- we’re in process- not ended yet so don’t know outcome

-don’t worry too much about end as long as living spiritual life, but be aware that we could have accident, be sober and careful

-God loves unconditionally despite sin – we back away from Him, not He from us

-we want to get away with stuff and still have all prayers answered, otherwise we have problem with God – its amazing that He puts up with this – its because He has such respect for our free will

Q: can we crash so badly that we cant get back on path?

A: can always get back on, God allows us to live as long as we need to attain salvation, as long as we don’t use it as excuse to start spiritual life later

-how often should I go to confession? Whenever you have serious sin on your conscience

-examine conscience- beg God to show your faults – if you don’t know who you are you don’t know what Christ came to save you from – this can be difficult process but its necessary

-such study reveals our self-love by which we blind, deceive ourselves

-our sins offend Almighty God – He wants to forgive us, share mercy

-not satisfied just with avoiding serious sins but even smallest sins – striving for holiness

-our sins cause ourselves and others unhappiness- why would we want this

-St. John of Kronstadt: if live just one day in obedience to commandments we’ll have foretaste of Heaven

-once we know and detest faults we can replace them w/ virtues- wont happen all at once

-be the simple, difficult, weak creature you are and start small – to try to stop sinning all at once is proud

-start with baby-milk of spiritual struggle before getting to strong wine

-how to examine conscience? Should do daily, take time at night to reflect- use 10 Commandments, Beatitudes, etc as guide

-Fr. Seraphim taught: 1. How have I sinned against God? 2. Against my neighbor? 3. Against myself?

-begin to discover what is our predominant passion(s)- sin we fall into most frequently; tries to master us

-love of ease, love of power, complaining, judgmental, etc etc etc

-one of worst things to happen to us is someone asks our advice so we give “learned advice” but they don’t follow it and we get very upset

-practice the opposing virtue to overcome the vice – Ladder of Divine Ascent is great help in this regard

-St. John Climacus: analyzes each vice and virtue as master of psychology- see cause/effect relationships in theocentric framework

-identify predominant vice, locate its opposite virtue and begin to cultivate it- just avoiding vice wont work – passion will be replaced by other passions

-if we do this we see that spiritual life works!

-we don’t like anyone to point out our faults, but we NEED spiritual father to do this

-each has predominant virtue too- study and practice this, tends to draw other virtues along with us

-overcome vice by practicing presence of God- begin to develop awareness that at all times we’re in presence of God and He observes- icon corner serves this purpose- windows to Heaven – 2-way window

-before doing or saying anything thinkg: “would I do this in Church in front of altar?” if answer is “no” then DON’T DO IT – Church is place par excellence where we come into God’s presence and receive Him

-Theotokos practiced presence of God more perfectly than anyone else- her virtues grew, she had powerful influence on others, ppl made better just by her presence

-predominant passions: pride-mother of all sins; opposite is humility

-no soul has any holiness without some humility, and yet pride will lurk in our darkest recesses whole life

-Adam and Eve thought they knew better than God – pride

-most follow 2 master- a little pride, a little humility

-pride is love of self, beginning of all sin, neglect of fact that we depend on God for everything

-what separates us from death is so little – our lives are very fragile

-pride places us in opposition to God bc we work for our own glory

-pride places false regard on opinions of others- if what YOU think matters more than what GOD thinks

-desiring good reputation- to be thought well of, to be honored- great temptation for priests- ppl looking for latest guide or guru – priest must stay humble about what ppl say

-criticism against priest is blessing for him to keep him humble – in turn is good for whole parish

-overbearing towards others, insult or critique others, argumentative, get angry easily – pride

-Fathers give antidote to go from vice to virtue – spiritual life is a science not an art form- most of us aren’t spiritually talented and need laws and cause/effect to learn spiritual life

-St. John Climacus: antidote for pride is prayer: identify where pride is in your life, ask for strength against it

-human effort can do very little- realize all depends on God, prayer makes use of God’s grace- then can do almost anything- move mountains

-pride becomes humility also by acts of humility, accepting humiliations- someone criticizes you (even unfairly), insults you, talks about you behind your back- instead of becoming defensive – accept it!

-cheerful bearing of small failures on part of ourselves and others- bear one another’s burdens

-important to bear without complaint or self-justification the misunderstandings of others- we’re prone to ecxue ourselves, urge our opinions on others

-when we learn to accept humiliations that come our way we’re learning to be humble

-as pride is mother of all sins, humility is mother of all virtues

-avarice: opposite of detachment and denunciation, desire for many goods, power over ppl, etc

-combat it by cultivating spirit of generosity- Lord’s command to give coat is literal- St. John Maximovitch often came back practically naked bc gave away clothes to poor and starving

-St. John of Kronstadt did same thing

-don’t have to give away everything- but don’t possess our possessions with our hearts- have spirit of poverty if we aren’t poor – only buy what we absolutely need

-German Lutheran pastor – Wurmbrandt: prisoner of Romanian and Russian communists

-asked how he could manage solitary confinement: he had practice beforehand; suggested that Americans with much wealth go into a store where they have no intention of buying anything, every time you see something you like go up to it and look at it and say “I don’t need it,” do this repeatedly and you train yourself to be detached from worldly goods

-he realized that who he is isn’t dependent on what he owns- most of us really do define ourselves by what we surround ourselves with

-Desert Fathers had Psalter and vigil lamp, that was it – and they were FREE and belonged to God

-cultivate generosity, have spirit of detachment- practice this by NOT using credit cards

-we live in time where its possible with imagination and credit card that we can create environment straight out of another time – colonial America, Tudor England, etc – never before was this possible – something very abnormal about it when you think about it- how about we just live simply and love and care for one another and use our blessings to care for the Church, for the poor, etc

-need spirit of detachment from ppl too- can have affections that are not immoral but too strong- don’t define yourself in terms of other ppl

-spirit of Christian poverty-allows for what is genuinely needed- don’t get something just bc someone else has it

-detachment DOESN’T mean laziness, dirt, slovenliness, chaos, carelessness, anything less than orderly, clean

-this is form of self-love

-Christian poverty isn’t stinginess- this is also avarice

-possession can be passion that spreads to even things not worth keeping

-avarice regrets that you don’t have what others have, avarice is stinginess

-giving to a beggar is for YOU, not so much the beggar- if youre not willing to give that tells you something about yourself

-we cannot rest in our diligence- there is always something there for avarice or pride to creep in

-antidote to avarice is prayer

-“What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of His soul” – put this in a frame in your house!

-lust: clean of heart shall ascend mountain of Lord and see God, pure of heart see God- such verses refer to modesty and chastity according to our state in life – NOT just big things like fornication, adultery

-“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” – Christ is speaking specifically of sexual sins

-our culture is awash in cesspool of immorality, lust- dominates every aspect of entertainment, commerce, etc

-Christ encouraged chastity and celibacy amongst His disciples

-even seemingly “innocent” things need more discipline: too much hugging in Churches – monks and nuns don’t hug, they greet one another with kiss of peace

-Fr. Alexey wouldn’t hug Fr. Seraphim but they loved each other

-hugging isn’t awful but its part of general looseness of our culture; looseness of dress, esp. in Church, etc

-women in Church in pants, man in shorts, woman with uncovered head- there was a time when this would NEVER happen

-if we had tea with the Queen we’d wear our absolute best but we walk into Church with the Almighty God as if we’ve just come from a picnic: we need to rekindle the higher standard

-men shouldn’t wear short-sleeves, shorts, pants too tight, don’t need tie (St. John called it a noose)

-combat lust by fasting: St. John ClimacusL gluttony is mother of may sins, particularly lust: if youre struggling here begin fasting with blessing of spiritual father- beyond fasts of the Church even

-if you fast you will find that lustful temptations go away

-learn how to guard our eyes- monastics know not to look all around- keep eyes on where youre going

-photos of Saints: often not looking directly into camera- learned to discipline their eyes so what comes into soul via the eyes wont harm them

-Russian evening prayer: ask forgiveness if seen anyone and been wounded by it in my heart

-control the mind too –discipline imagination, day-dreaming, curiosity, etc

-antidote of lust is prayer
-spiritual life is constant battle, will end only at death, battle not against flesh, blood but against fallen angels

-examine conscience, identify predominant virtue and vice, seek guidance of spiritual father

-soul is garden, but often choked with weeds (vices)- learn how to pull out weeds one-by-one and plant flowers of virtue

Q: if youre on path but still have passions you’ll see Kingdom?

A: must make sure we’re really on the path, often delude ourselves into thinking we’re on path but haven’t actually repented

-don’t have to achieve absolute perfection but need some victory that shows our heart

Q: we can’t give to everyone who asks of you’ll be broke

A: called to give but do need to be discerning, want to keep some money to provide for family, give to charitable organizations

Q: what is difference between self-respect and self-love?

A: some have special grace to stay in and redeem abusive situation but very rare- almost like martyrdom

-must be very careful about this- our culture tells us we’re just a little higher than animals, or even less worthy than animals (ppl save whales but not babies), until 150 yrs we believed we were a little lower than angels – ppl tend to live up or down to that image they’re given of who they are

-if youre given image of animal that can be abused, exploited- women often feel abuse is their fault

-work with these ppl very carefully to give self-respect that isn’t pride

-self-respect comes from being image of God, knowing He redeemed us- don’t define ourselves by other ppl

Q: how to safeguard yourself to keep healthy balance? Is it a sin to decorate your house, etc?

A: have responsibility as stewards to make pleasing environment, but use common sense about how much money we spend

-some ppl have lovely homes but also very generous- case-by-case basis

-have to surround ourselves with beauty- that is Christian virtue

-St. Innocent: his missionary years very inspirational, kept a journal- supernatural experiences

-most important is his missionary heart: traveled 5000 miles/yr to bring Gospel, taught skills (taught them to make organs to sell to Franciscan missionaries), devised alphabet for Tlingits

-Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven: written for native tribes, basic Christianity; we can read it and its as if its written for us despite our “advanced” civilization- what was basic for them is advanced for us bc of our low spiritual climate

-3 things to follow Christ: 1. Deny yourself- give up bad habits that keep you from God, bring down wall of sine and passion that separates from God

-esp. do not cherish our sins, passions- often have predominant passion, once we identify it we cant stop cherishing it and replace it with virtue

2. Take up your Cross- suffering, sorrow, adversities

-there are exterior crosses- come to us from outside, no control over it- sudden accident, difficulty at work, etc; exterior crosses by themselves are not enough

-must have interior crosses: those we choose to take up in conformity w/ word of God

-examine your conscience with Spiritual Father, 1000 interior crosses will present themselves- these are true healing of the soul

-if bear sufferings w/ submission to God and don’t seek consolation in anyone but God then He wont abandon you or leave w/out consolation

3. Follow the Lord: in all things imitate Christ- 90% of His words are about how to live, 10% about doctrine, sacraments, after death, etc

-man’s spiritual nature divided against itself at Fall

-lowest part of spiritual nature is “soul” (psyche): seat of passions, imagination, emotions; will not survive death of body

-passions create wall that separates us from God; most of us spend time here – we nurture and grow passions

-higher part is “spirit” (nous – “mind”, “heart”, “inner chamber”): when Christ says to enter into closet and shut the door it means to enter into heart, shut the door and commune with God

-we spend little or no time here- reached only be repentance- break down the passion and open heart to God

-once passions are stilled, spiritual state of inner stillness begins- sense of stillness around Saints

-stillness= “hesychia”

-spirit or “mind” is supernatural reason that Saints possess – only Saints are truly rational

-St. Gregory of Sinai: Saints alone are truly rational, who through purification have become Saints

-St. Innocent: to break down wall of passions must work/practice/praxis with diligence, energy – so much diligence that it causes a little discomfort- voluntary sufferings/martyrdom – interior crosses

-St. Gregory of Sinai: no work whether bodily or spiritual that lacks pain ever produces fruit, for Kingdom is taken by violence, by violence is meant painful bodily feeling in all our efforts

-to continue growing need watchfulness/inner attentiveness (nepsis)

-necessary for replacing vices with virtues- must know whats going on inside you

-most in state of inner sleep (hypnos)- think of ourselves as conscience but Fathers call it sleep- unawareness; characterized by self-centeredness

-need detached awareness of whats happning inside to be more aware or promptings of conscience

-imagination is one of main obstacles to prayer- roots us in our fallenness- spirituality must be based in actual contact with living God, not mere images – leads to communion with own ability to create religious scenario

-Satan can appear as angel of light, enters into realm of passions

-prayer requires undistracted mind, suppress imagination entirely, free of all images both good and bad

-faces of Saints in icons show dispassion, hesychia- proper context for stilling own emotions, passions, enclose your mind in words of prayer

-imagination is chief aspect that demons play upon- affected by suggestion

-by being watchful we learn to recognize suggestion from devil before its entertained by emotions

-spiritual and bodily practices: 1. repentance (metanoia- change of mind, direction): deep regret over sins that makes for lasting change in how we think, feel, behave – shift in center of being from material to spiritual

-real repentance leads to confession

2. concentration- related to nepsis and turning-inward of repentance, look for signs of relationship with Christ

-Luke 17:20ff. Kingdom cometh not with observation, Kingdom is within you

-come into contact with living God in our spirit/nous/heart

-Met. Anthony Bloom: Beginning to Pray: words of prayer are bow, arrow is fervor/single-mindedness in trying to hit target, target is within us where Kingdom is; there is something in that is of God where you must go, must find that place

-if you don’t find Christ in this life you wont find Him in the next

-Christ says not to worry about food, clothes, etc bc such cares scatter the mind, ruin concentrtation – rather seek ye the Kingdom of God which is within you

3. Prayer: St. Peter Damascene: ought to think of name of God (Jesus) more often than we breathe- concentration and prayer combine and center on name of God

-Sign of Cross, prostrations, etc

-penetrate all things with prayer- that simple to acquire salvation

-Met. Hierotheos: greatest social act in all mankind accomplished by Theotokos- didn’t have any office in Church but occupied herself with silence, prayer, thus “Panagia” – accomplished this even before becoming Mother of God- thus cause of greatest happiness world will ever know – Incarnation

-she is model of stillness, hesychia

-accomplished particularly when she was in Temple

-to come to God we must abandon world of senses, rise above it – Mother of God mortified her senses- perfectly obeyed Christ, came to know Heaven while still in body

-properly honor her by imitating her

-St. Paul: speaks about conscience – Fathers quote him muchly on this

-Abba Dorotheos: when God created man gave him something divine, warm and luminous though, spark of reason to illumine mind and distinguish good from evil – conscience/natural law

-Adam and Eve’s consciences darkened by sin- thus needed Law of Moses, Prophets

-conscience can be clear or defiled – clear when we do as we ought, brings natural joy

-2 Cor. 1:12 our rejoicing is this – testimony of our conscience that we have behaved in the world and towards you with holiness and Godly sincerity – sign of clear conscience is joy

-when we behave rightly the conscience is quiet, when act wrongly it accuses us – Saint is one whose conscience doesn’t accuse him; conscience sometimes called “the accuser”

-Matt. 5:25 agree with accuser quickly while in the way with him (while in the world), lest accuser hand ye over to the judge

-St. John Chrysostom: he who is stung by conscience has tasted of Hell

-clear conscience brings joy and hope

-St. John of Kronstadt: if we live only one day in complete obedience to commandments we’d have foretaste of Paradise … Kingdom of God is within you

-our world is anti-quiet, restless world; we’re brainwashed to go along with it- encourages us to enslavement to senses with distractions and noise – feed imagination, emotion, passions rather than inner chamber of our heart

-we even dread being alone

-Met. Anthony Bloom: before start serious life of prayer is sit in chair of middle of room with nothing in reach, turn off phone, TV, etc – just sit there for half hour and DON’T pray- become aware of intolerable boredom – this is boredom with yourself bc you’re so empty you cant even entertain yourself for half hour- think how boring you are to God – beginning of prayer is to realize this emptiness- highest part of your spiritual nature is void, everything is happening in level of soul

-where the wall of passions between us and God is where discursive reasoning functions- decide to indulge passions or not – can break down wall of passions and strengthen will to serve God

Q: what about spiritual nature in Garden?

A: know what pre-fallen state is like because of Saints – spirit and soul aren’t separated but are one

-emotions and passions are dormant or elevated to high level in service to God – healing

-Saints even go to higher level than Adam and Eve bc have benefit of Incarnation

Q: how do we know when God is revealing something to us?

A: most of us need to simply live life of Church, if something beyond that is given to us it is rare – what the Church gives us is already difficult

-if you think God has sent you something you should deny it- if its from God you wont lose your soul by denying it, but if its from Satan you might lose your soul by internalizing it

-must have holy life to receive private revelations- God doenst take up His abode in sinful vessels

Q: how do we know if we have true repentance?

A: we know what true fruits are: joy, being able to turn from sin

-Degrees of knowledge/ways of knowing via St. Isaac of Syria:

1. Body- human wisdom and knowledge, esp. sciences; carnal knowledge; not wrong or bad

2. Soul- when we keep commandments of Christ strictly we begin to acquire knowledge of soul

-as acquire such knowledge we are able to fast, pray, understand Scripture, struggle to acquire virtue, fight temptations – allows us to acquire this higher knowledge

3. Spirit- knowledge that Saints acquire; state of holiness – see invisibly, hear inaudibly, comprehend incomprehensibly the glory of God

-this is communion with Saints, absolute surety about Resurrection bc of communion with God

-teachings of Fathers spring from this experience- Fathers tell us to taste and see for ourselves

-knowledge of Soul and Spirit are closed to those who approach Scriptures and Fathers from perspective of bodily knowledge- much theology/scholarship is at this level – theology by ppl who haven’t experienced God

-Matt. 5:38 – be ye perfect as is Father in Heaven – how is it possible to be perfect?!

-“perfect” is synonymous with “holy”

-English word “holy” derives from Anglo-Saxon term for “whole” – both words related in their root to “heal” – tells us something important about holiness

-how can I become perfect/whole?! – goal of Christian life is to partake of Spirit, union with God’s energies

-he who attains this state is a Saint- participate in God’s perfection

-St. Seraphim to Motovilov: true goal is acquisition of Holy Spirit; various practices are means to end

-Motovilov: how can we know we are communing with God? St. Seraphim tells him to look at him, he shines with light of Christ, makes snow pale almost into shadows; Motovilove feels warmth coming from St. Seraphim, penetrating his own body; Motovilov also shining with same light- able to “see” clearly

-necessary condition for union with God is active purification – replace vice with virtues, otherwise other passion fill the void – holiness is sharing in perfection of God

-being ego-centric is choosing death; theo-centrism is to choose life – this mode of being conquers death

-our spiritual nature has as lowest component the soul

-at Fall man’s spiritual nature fractured: lowest part of spiritual nature is seat of passions, imagination, emotions; higher part is spirit

-“soul” corresponds to bodily knowledge

-passions, emotions, imaginations come into existence at Fall – given for man to survive outside Eden; but can also serve for man to wall himself off from God, not have remembrance of God

-most of us who spend in time in realm of imagination, emotions, passions – live in lowest part of spiritual nature that will die with body

-ego-centrism concentrates all energy on lower part – food, clothing, etc – Lord tells us not to worry about these; esp. when young care much about passions dealing with sexual behavior – begin to die out as get older

-sex is part of body and bodily knowledge- esp. within blessed context of marriage- becomes less important as get older

-one who is theo-centric does not encounter limitations of space, time, corruption- Christ walking on water, walking through wall: mode of being that has conquered death

-shouldn’t  come to Church for own satisfaction

-Saints are living proof that theo-centrism is reality; at St. John’s canonization one priest said: because he lived in our place and time we have no excuse- perhaps this is why God revealed him to Church – so we know we can become holy in America

-his incorruption is sign that something about death is not same for him- in some small way he didn’t taste of death –his body didn’t return to dust, something already in process of conquering death–foretaste of resurrection

-sometimes have idea that spirituality is appeasing God- NOT about this, but about healing, becoming whole

-in Church experience some healing, wholeness, holiness- just make a little effort- not just expecting life to come, we’re in it already

-Fathers say Kingdom isn’t life after death but communion with God that starts in this life: if you don’t find Christ in this world you wont find him in next

-to find Christ in this world have to understand beginning: Adam pre- and post-fall

Part 2

-imagination (phantasia) resides in lowest part of spiritual nature – the soul

-before Fall imagination was disciplined, Fall energizes it so its dominated easily by false ideas, images

-Saint has overcome images- imagination and fantasy become dormant

-OT full of false images of God being worshiped – we all do this though- money, success, reputation, etc

-should take care of soul before body because body will die

-angels don’t have imagination- only men and demons do – “idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” “an inactive mind is the playground of the devil” – demons can enact many images to arouse our imagination

-demons active images from our memory – porn for example

-more spiritually ill a man is the more he can be troubled by imagination, images, etc

-St. Theophan the Recluse: highly active imagination can bring psychological abnormalities; the spiritually alert have almost no imagination bc they’re experiencing reality of God

-thus Saints appear emotionless in icons; Saints can look at us directly bc they can look at sin without judging

-what do we do about imagination? Carry crosses without murmuring- change imagination and its product – emotion- into something highly spiritual – through the Cross joy has come to all the world

-start small: pick one cross to bear without murmuring- will soon feel difference, slowly add crosses

-St. John Chrysostom: start small, told man to begin by not losing temper with wife- don’t scold or reprimand, no sarcasm or yelling, etc: dont worry about boss, co-workers, kids, etc – just focus on wife for now

-after one week of full success then add children (if you slip you start over); if necessary take one child at a time

-if we make even feeble effort we have attention of God, angels, Saints – He’ll send little extra grace

-bearing Crosses begins to have effect on emotions, imagination

-with minimal struggle begin to cooperate with energies of God – begin to put things back in proper place

-Cross necklace should be reminder that Christ has saved us, we’ve given ourselves over to Him as slaves – slave doesn’t have will of his own, only obeys

-must have obedience to holy law of fasting- cant bring God anything unless give up own will

-fasting can be very difficult or we ignore it altogether bc we’re so used to instant gratification- but must compel our will to take control of just one thing- subdue passionate part of spiritual nature

-obedience is non-resistance- if someone asks for coat give it to him, etc; Christ didn’t tell us to first evaluate the situation- will he spend this money on alcohol? But giving is for US not for the panhandler – need to deprive ourselves of something

-virtue of self-abandonment to God: what is God’s will for me today? Each moment brings obligation to fulfill duty – go to work, do dishes, mow lawn, etc – focus all attention on this duty as something given by God to grow spiritually- in duties is concealed God’s will for us

-He gives us everything necessary for salvation

-St. Herman: invited aboard a ship to dine with Captain and others; asked them what they regard as most worthy of love and what do you want for happiness?

-riches, fame, glory, beautiful wife, command of fine ship St. Herman says each of you want what you think is most worthy of love – they agreed. He continues – what can be more worthy of love than Christ? they agree, he asks if they love God – they say of course! How could anyone not love God? St. Herman bows his head, says: I, a poor sinner, have tried my whole life long to love God and I cant say I love Him as I should. To love Him is to think of Him always and always do His will. Do you love Him in this way? They admit they didn’t; from this day forth, from this hour, from this minute you will love God above all

Q: does Patristic use of “imagination” correspond to creative arts?

A: Fathers say all beauty is reflection of God, can lead us to higher forms of beauty and ultimately to God- instead of being just images they lead us to reality

-much of our art is NOT beauty- it is ugly and sinful; distinguish btwn what is truly art and what leads to ego-centrism and fulfillment of passions

-classical music builds good tastes, leads children to higher beauty

Q: creative arts for children?

A: should be encouraged within context of beauty

-Royal Martyrs were extremely pious, French tutor very aware that Nicholas and Alexandra wanted education to be centered around Church year: practice for a drama didn’t happen in Lent – children supposed to focus on the fast and Church services- involvement in arts can be centered on Church life

Q: seems easier to unite with Christ as monastic

A: monastics are single-minded, but Fathers also say its possible for someone in the world to achieve communion but requires discipline

-St. Basil instructing priest-monks to confess laypeople- be gentle bc their life is so much harder than ours

Q: fracturing at Fall – what happens in Resurrection to reunited body, soul, spirit?

A: reuniting of fracture must begin in this life bc passions wall us off from God, must begin here and now bc it wont magically happen in next life

-St. John of Kronstadt:  if we live one day keeping commandments faultlessly we will have taste of Paradise

-incorrupt relics tends to happen in Saints particularly known for dispassion

Q: holiness of families?

A: from Scriptures we know family is holy as institution of God even if particular members aren’t holy, family has objective holiness; Church is utterly holy and without blemish despite sinful people

-everything, including rocks, are in process of sanctification- we know that all of creation fell and all creation awaits redemption

-possible to have holy business, other institutions

Q: how to feed ours and kids souls, make them receptive to holiness?

A: surround children with that which is beautiful – control over TV, museums; start when they’re young

-Dostoyevsky: beauty will save the world

Q: can we be impassioned over good causes?

A: yes, spiritual fervor; Lord is angry when driving money changers out – righteous anger over honor of Father’s Temple, angry not for Himself but for His Father

-we can have righteous anger or fervor as long as its not for me personally- abortion for example

-have to be guided by Church on this, be careful bc there are false virtues – politics for example

-people gave lives for Civil Rights – Church wouldn’t condemn this; but if it also harms others or own family then it would be questionable; case-by-case basis

- Fr. Seraphim was detached from politics but he voted- educated himself enough to make informed vote

-need detachment from spirit of times

Q: if emotions/imaginary are temporary why did He give them to us?

A: they weren’t given to us in their current form, we created them at Fall

-became separated out from whole spiritual nature which was united to God completely

-when became separate from His grace then imagination and emotions became empowered; began to create false idols to worship

-with God’s help we can undo damage God did – Theotokos is perfect model of this

Lesson 1: What is Holiness?

- to talk about holiness must talk about Saints who are best examples of holiness

-for this purpose a Saint doesn’t exist outside Orthodoxy – good ppl outside Church (Mother Theresa), but precise Orthodox understanding limits it to Orthodox Church

-requirement for holiness is to have Orthodox faith- false doctrine inhibit movement towards God – slow us down, stop us from going whole way; authentic doctrine illuminates the path

-St. Theophan the Recluse: false doctrine can result in profound inner unhappiness, emotional distress

-Saint not simply one who cultivated virtues or controls oneself through asceticism, but rather one who has Christ Himself living in Him – completely organic relationship with Christ, Saint not separated from Him in any way – gone through stages of repentance and purity to remarkable state of union with Christ – theosis

-to become one with Christ is purpose of life

-self-help and self-improvement groups prove ultimately meaningless when you consider that you will die

- all things pass away except for Jesus Christ – Fr. Seraphim to Fr. Alexey

-when we confront this reality and reality of death then many things we thought were important take a back seat

-but death has been transcended, transfigured

-“Holy things are for the holy!” – we feel unholy when we hear this, but Church understands this and replies: “One is Holy, One is Lord, Jesus Christ to the glory of God the Father. Amen” – it is because of this Holy One that we have hope, from Him all holiness comes forth

-baptism and chrismation enter us into communion of Saints, new way of living, thinking, seeing, hearing, tasting, touching – join ranks of those who sought and found Christ, heard “I Am He”

-Saints debase themselves with startling humility- had no pretensions about themselves, but WE who aren’t Saints sometimes pretend to be holy, righteous – thereby debase others; whereas true Saint makes us, the insignificant, feel loved

-always sense of stillness, peacefulness about Fr. Seraphim – problems resolve themselves in his presence

-Fr. Seraphim accepted you as are, but smacked you down when you were a fake

-struggle, repent, seek mercy, try to learn patience, try to have more love, humility, etc – in doing this something begins to happen within us – begin to realize we have a quietness within us that didn’t originate within us – this is the beginning of theosis; John 7 He Who believes in Me, out of his heart show flow rivers of living water – begins as trickle and then flows out to whole being

-when approach Saint we feel he loves us – doesn’t exploit us; Saints are little christs

-if enter into relationship with Saint through asking his intercessions we find there is beginning of warmth, sense of presence that Saint is there and listening

-St. Greg. P: God and His Saints have same glory and splendor bc God shares, Saint reminds us that God loves us, reminds that he too was weak but we all have strength of being loved by Christ–you can return and find God, but if we abandon God we become slave of self-love which destroys us and those around us – Saint reproaches us

-man dominated by self-love will soon be dominated by all passions, sins, temptations – one-by-one find home in him – solution is modeled by Saints – living for Christ, not ourselves – only then do we become real ppl

-learn real theology from being in presence of Saint- clear icon of Christ before us

-St. John of D: Saints are full of grace, doesn’t depart at death – relics, icons, etc; God rests in His Saints

-understand Who God and we are through Saints aflame with love of God- reminds us of something that never ceases or passes away- God cannot hate, get angry, God is only loving- unless we reach a state of only loving  then God will be Hell for us

-Met. Hierotheos: contact with Saints reveal hurt child within us

-how to experience Saints? Not enough just to ask their intercessions- to have relationship with Saint must already imitate him in some way- have contrition and feeling of disillusionment of own ability to do things

-humility is beginning of sense of reality- we have long way to go to reach God

-6 kinds of Saints, 6 types of holiness:

1. Apostles- teaching is foundation of Church

2. Martyrs, Confessors – example for rest of us for supreme sacrifice

3. Prophets – foretold coming of Christ

4. Hierarchs, Teacher Saints – preserve unity among faithful, Teachers like St. John of D, St. Nikodemos

5. Monastics – die in peace praying for world

6. the Righteous – attain holiness in the world, Abraham and Sarah, Job, Joachim and Anna, St. Joseph, etc

– listed in relative importance for Church

-the Righteous achieve holiness by keeping commandments, participating in liturgical life, etc

-St. Kosmas Aeitolos: martyrs in Paradise with their blood, monastics with their ascetic life, how shall we who beget children attain Paradise? – hospitality; relieving poor, blind, lame (like Joachim); almsgiving; love; fasting – become enriched in body and soul

- the Righteous includes Fools for Christ- hide virtues, endure contempt to achieve humility, patience

-all paths have common basis of asceticism/spiritual work- athleticism of the spirit

-Orthodox Saint is already a citizen of Heaven and help us achieve that goal

-in Paradise before Fall Adam had constant remembrance of God- his sin deeply darkened this, passed this onto humanity – bear signs of corruption and decay and spiritual nature that is darkened by forgetfulness of God

-Saints are those who have remembered God and are anxious to teach us to do the same

Q: elaboration on statement that there aren’t Saints outside Orthodoxy:

A: Francis of Assissi: striking difference between him and Orthodox Saints

-Francis identified himself with Christ many times- stigmata; we don’t identify with Christ but are saved by Him, focus more on Resurrected Christ

-Francis saw himself as especially singled out by Christ- Orthodox Saint would see himself as the least

-one time when sick his doctor had him eat meat which was against the rule of Franciscans- felt so guilty that he went into market, dumped ashes on himself, proclaimed his sin to all, loudly talked about how much a wretch he was – our Saints never draw such attention to themselves

Q: elaboration on God not getting angry:

A: must remember that OT isn’t full revelation of God

-only see Christ angry once: drives money changers out- righteous anger bc angry for honor of Father

-OT is more about how Jews perceived God – they were in very imperfect relationship with Him

-its not for us to judge those outside the Church, but we know that Orthodoxy is fullness of truth

Q: if we’re new to Orthodoxy how do we discern what our distortions are?

A: so important to read Lives of Saints- have to start at pre-school level before reading Philokalia

-Fr. Seraphim recommended people read Dickens to show ppl normal life – to overcome hardness of heart- very self-indulgent but not at all with other ppl – these writings show living theology

-watch and learn from others- don’t need to know WHY everything is done, but just do it

-holiness needs to be studied in action – read less theology and more lives of Saints

Q: compare and contrast Western asceticism and worldview with Orthodoxy:

A: generally in West asceticism came to be seen as ends in themselves, in Orthodoxy only means to end

Q: do Saints continue to grow in holiness after death when united to Christ

A: yes, although we don’t know too much about this

-we know our prayers our beneficial in some way – they are unable to pray, give alms for themselves so we can do it for them – this implies continuing growth, change

-person isn’t Saint until they die, they can always fall

I’d like to ask for some help for a fellow Seminarian Robert (Ignatius) and his wife Mary and their children, including a newborn. Mary knits some pretty rockin’ hats and some other items and she has her own lil’ website thing going on. Anyhoo, if anyone likes the hats you’d be keeping yourself warm and helping out some St. Tikhon’s Seminarians! and please pray for them and all of us here. And if you’d like, check out my lil blurb and Paypal link to the right. God bless!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/autumnhope

We began the year with a retreat led by Fr. Chrysostomos of St. Anthony’s Monastery and Fr. Jason DelVitto of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Bridgeville, PA. The topic was “The Laborers Are Few …” and both priests gave us excellent advice concerning the life of a priest in his efforts to shepherd his flock into the kingdom of Heaven. We had several sessions with both priests and some lively discussion, and I think the retreat really set a great tone for the coming semester and year.

This year I have several courses that I am very excited about. In Anthropology/Christology with Dr. Harry Boosalis we have been discussing the nature of man, and what it means to be made according to the image of God. We will also be discussing the differences between human nature before and after the Fall. If you have read my earlier posts you will know that I am very interested in the Orthodox understanding of the Creation, Paradise, and Fall account in Genesis and so I am very excited about this course. For this course I have also been assigned to write a paper about the Orthodox view of the Theotokos – the Virgin Mary. The mystery of redeemed humanity is unfathomably deep and it is most fully revealed in her, so it should be a very interesting project!

We also have Psalms and Wisdom Literature with Fr. Dr. Michael Meerson who holds a PhD in both the Old and New Testaments. We have begun with the Psalms and Fr. Michael is incredibly knowledgable in the historical context of the Psalms and their liturgical usage by both the Jews and the Orthodox Church. It is shaping up to be a great class.

In our Church Order course, with His Grace Bp. Tikhon and Benedict Sheehan, we are learning how to organize the various services of the Church. The Orthodox Church has a huge mass of hymnography in several different books that are used for very specific times and purposes. Trying to figure out what to sing, from which book and when can be very confusing, so this class will be an enormous help, especially since I sometimes have the responsibility of setting up the evening Vespers service for the reader. We also have Choir in which we are learning proper singing techniques and practicing the music for upcoming feasts of the Church. We are blessed to have a very experienced singer and director in Benedict, and we have some very talented singers.

Foundations of Pastoral Theology with our Dean, Fr. Alexander Atty has been incredibly informative and inspiring thus far. Fr. Atty is a priest of 30+ years, and he took his one parish in Louisville, KY from a congregation of 150 to one of 1,000 people during his tenure. He has many and varied experiences to share with us and a great depth of wisdom. He is a great pastor to learn from.

In the second year we also have Field Education. In the Fall semester I have been assigned to Prison Ministry, and in the Spring I will be part of the Hospital/Hospice ministry. Due to state regulations concerning background checks we have not yet visited any actual prisoners, but we are in the process of orientation and we should be visiting prisoners within a few weeks. From what I have heard from older students, this is one of the most rewarding experiences in Seminary, so I am really looking forward to the opportunity to speak with some guys who just need someone to listen to them and show that they are loved and valued.

Finally, this year we begin our courses on Homiletics, with Fr. David Cowan. So far we have been talking about the purposes of preaching according to the Church Fathers and have looked at Scriptural examples of preaching. Throughout this semester each of us will have to write 2 homilies and present them to the class. I do not have a whole lot of public speaking experience, so I’m not really sure how my first experiences will be, but with the help of God and your prayers I hope to learn the fine art of preaching! Along these lines, this year we have begun praying the 6th Hour together in the Seminary Chapel at 1220, just before lunch. We also read the daily Epistle and Gospel reading at the end, and Fr. Atty randomly assigns someone to offer a 3-5 minute meditation/homily, and just a few days Fr. Atty asked me to give the meditation. He asked me right at the beginning of the 6th Hour so I only had 10 minutes or so to prepare, and I was definitely pretty nervous! But thank God, people told me that it went well. I just tried to offer a few words concerning our freedom from the Law and our righteousness through faith in Christ Who has the power to cast out our sicknesses and demons.

I have also spoken to our registrar and one professor about the possibility of writing a thesis on Fr. Seraphim Rose, and it looks like it just might shape up.

Of course there is also the very busy liturgical schedule, which is absolutely the cornerstone of the Seminary experience, and should be the foundation of our entire lives as Orthodox Christians for both clergy and laity. In the services are found the expression of our entire faith through hymnography, liturgical actions, and of course the Sacraments. Nothing is more important than the Divine Liturgy and worthily partaking of the Body and Blood of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, and I am grateful that at St. Tikhon’s we have the blessing to offer the Divine Liturgy every day, in addition to the rest of the cycle of services. The services are the most important part of our education and formation for a possible future in the priesthood. We have already had a few ordinations this year, a visit from the Metropolitan, and the re-consecration of a local parish, All Saints in Olyphant, PA which was severely damaged by fire 5 yrs ago and is now covered inside with the beautiful iconograpy of Ivan Rumiantsev. And best of all, at the beginning of the year I became the Godfather of lil’ Daniel, the son of Dn. Matthew and Rebekah. I was honored that they chose me, and I ask that you would all also pray for Daniel, and for me to be a good influence.

Of course there are struggles involved with being here. In such a close-knit community there is always the temptation to gossip about one another, but we know we are called to bear one another’s burdens in prayer and to see only our own sins. It can be very hard to go to Church every day and not get sick of the services, but this only means that I am in need of further repentance and sanctification, and thus, more services is precisely what I need! But overall, the experience here so far has been amazing and blessed by God, and I am expecting this year to continue in the same vein.

I am still in the midst of trying to figure out where exactly it is that God is leading me in life. I know this takes patience and I’m not worried – He will let me know when I need to know, but in the meantime your prayers for patience and guidance are greatly appreciated! Also, if anyone is able to donate any amount towards my books and/or tuition that would be greatly appreciated. As I have indicated, the schedule is very busy here and there is no time to keep a job. I am sorry to ask this, but any contribution would be greatly appreciated! If you are able, you can click the PayPal link on the sidebar on the right, or send donations to:

Jesse Dominick, PO Box 130, South Canaan, PA 18459.

Again, thank you, and especially for your prayers! And feel free to send me any names to add to my prayer list. God bless you all!

– St. Ambrose of Milan, Paradise, 7

(speaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil): “We should not form a hasty judgment in respect to this product of creation, if it presents to our intellect what seems to us – like the creation of serpents and certain poisonous creatures – difficult and incomprehensible. In fact, we are unable, owing to human weakness, yet to know and understand the reason for the creation of each and every object. Let us, therefore, not criticize in holy Scripture something which we cannot comprehend. There are very many things which must not be subjected to the judgment of our intellect. Rather, these should be surveyed from the lofty heights of Divine Providence and from the intentions of God Himself.

— St. Augustine, City of God, Book 12.24

For we are not to conceive of this work in a carnal fashion, as if God wrought as we commonly see artisans, who use their hands, and material furnished to them, that by their artistic skill they may fashion some material object. God’s hand is God’s power; and He, working invisibly, effects visible results. But this seems fabulous rather than true to men, who measure by customary and everyday works the power and wisdom of God, whereby He understands and produces without seeds even seeds themselves; and because they cannot understand the things which at the beginning were created, they are sceptical regarding them—as if the very things which they do know about human propagation, conceptions and births, would seem less incredible if told to those who had no experience of them; though these very things, too, are attributed by many rather to physical and natural causes than to the work of the divine mind.

– St. Barsanuphius of Optina, Elder Barsanuphius of Optina, pg. 280

this is only a hint of that wondrous beauty, incomprehensible to human thought, which was originally created. We don’t know what kind of moon there was then, what kind of sun, what kind of light . . . All of this changed after the fall.

pg. 468

The beautiful things of this world are only hints of that beauty with which the first-created world was filled, as Adam and Eve saw it. That beauty was destroyed by the sin of the first people . . . Thus also did the fall into sin of the first people destroy the beauty of God’s world, and there remain to us only fragments of it by which we may judge concerning the primordial beauty.

— St. Basil, Hexameron, 1.1

If the weakness of our intelligence does not allow us to penetrate the depth of the thoughts of the writer, yet we will be involuntarily drawn to give faith to his words by the force of his authority. Now it is Moses who composed this history . . . who disdained the pomp of royalty, and, to share the humble conditions of his compatriots, preferred to be persecuted with the people of God . . . Moses, finally, who, at the age of eighty, saw God, as far as it is possible for man to see Him . . . according to the testimony of God Himself, ‘If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make Myself known to him in a vision, and I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; . . . he is faithful in all My house, I speak with him face to face, even plainly and not in dark sayings’ (Num. 12:6-8)

– Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 6.9

For, in fine, it is impossible that the immutable should assume firmness and consistency in the mutable. But the ruling faculty being in perpetual change, and therefore unstable, the force of habit is not maintained. For how can he who is perpetually changed by external occurrences mad accidents, ever possess habit and disposition, and in a word, grasp of scientific knowledge? Further, also, the philosophers regard the virtues as habits, dispositions, and sciences. And as knowledge (gnosis) is not born with men, but is acquired,and the acquiring of it in its elements demands application, and training, and progress; and then from incessant practice it passes into a habit; so, when perfected in the mystic habit, it abides, being infallible through love. For not only has he apprehended the first Cause, and the Cause produced by it, and is sure about them, possessing firmly firm and irrefragable and immoveable reasons; but also respecting what is good and what is evil, and respecting all production, and to speak comprehensively, respecting all about Which the Lord has spoken, he has learned, from the truth itself, the most exact truth from the foundation of the world to the end. Not preferring to the truth itself what appears plausible, or, according to Hellenic reasoning, necessary; but what has been spoken by the Lord he accepts as clear and evident, though concealed from others; and he has already received the knowledge of all things. And the oracles we possess give their utterances respecting what exists, as it is; and respecting what is future, as it shall be; and respecting what is past, as it was.

– St. Cyril of Alexandria, Against Julian the Apostate 2:27

As for the way in which he made creation happen, we do not have the means to say.  I affirm that it is beyond any way of expression known to us: how indeed could what exceeds understanding be explained?  In my opinion, the approach imagined by the supreme Being and the way that leads to an understanding of his enterprise will be always as inaccessible to our human condition as we are by nature lower than this Being himself. When Moses said, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”, understand that he condenses and summarizes in some way all the details in a single word, when he describes the genesis of all creation. Then, he attempts to say somehow how this creation was put in order and how all the things created were assigned the role in life which they have.

– St. Gregory the Theologian, Oration 28.5

But enough has been said on this point. As to what concerns us, it is not only the Peace of God which passeth all understanding and knowledge, nor only the things which God hath stored up in promise for the righteous, which “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor mind conceived” except in a very small degree, nor the accurate knowledge of the Creation. For even of this I would have you know that you have only a shadow when you hear the words, “I will consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars,” and the settled order therein; not as if he were considering them now, but as destined to do so hereafter

– St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, Homily on Man

The earth, created, adorned, blessed by God, did not have any deficiencies. It was overflowing with refinement. “God saw,” after the completion of the whole creation of the world, “everything that He had made: and, behold, it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31). Now the earth is presented to our eyes in a completely different look. We do not know her condition in holy virginity; we know her in the condition of corruption and accursedness, we know her already sentenced to burning; she was created for eternity. . . . Plants were not subjected either to decay or to diseases; both decay and diseases and the weeds themselves, appeared after the alteration of the earth following the fall of man . . . According to its creation, there was on it only the splendid, only the wholesome, there was only that which was suitable for the immortal and blessed life of its inhabitants . . . The beasts and other animals lived in perfect harmony among themselves, nourishing themselves on plant life.

– St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book 2.18

1. Having therefore the truth itself as our rule and the testimony concerning God set clearly before us, we ought not, by running after numerous and diverse answers to questions, to cast away the firm and true knowledge of God. 2. We should leave things of that nature to God who created us, being most properly assured that the Scriptures are indeed perfect, since they were spoken by the Word of God and His Spirit; but we, inasmuch as we are inferior to, and later in existence than, the Word of God and His Spirit, are on that very account destitute of the knowledge of His mysteries. And there is no cause for wonder if this is the case with us as respects things spiritual and heavenly, and such as require to be made known to us by revelation, since many even of those things which lie at our very feet (I mean such as belong to this world, which we handle, and see, and are in close contact with) transcend our knowledge, so that even these we must leave to God. 3. If, therefore, even with respect to creation, there are some things [the knowledge of] Which belongs only to God, and others which come within the range of our own knowledge, what ground is there for complaint, if, in regard to those things which we investigate in the Scriptures (which are throughout spiritual), we are able by the grace of God to explain some of them, while we must leave others in the hands of God, and that not only in the present world, but also in that which is to come, so that God should forever teach, and man should for ever learn the things taught him by God? As the apostle has said on this point, that, when other things have been done away, then these three, “faith, hope, and charity, shall endure.” For faith, which has respect to our Master, endures unchangeably, assuring us that there is but one true God, and that we should truly love Him forever, seeing that He alone is our Father; while we hope ever to be receiving more and more from God, and to learn from Him, because He is good, and possesses boundless riches, a kingdom without end, and instruction that can never be exhausted. If, therefore, according to the rule which I have stated, we leave some questions in the hands of God, we shall both preserve our faith uninjured, and shall continue without danger; and all Scripture, which has been given to us by God, shall be found by us perfectly consistent; and the parables shall harmonize with those passages which are perfectly plain; and those statements the meaning of which is clear, shall serve to explain the parables; and through the many diversified utterances [of Scripture] there shall be heard one harmonious melody in us, praising in hymns that God who created all things. If, for instance, any one asks, “What was God doing before He made the world? “we reply that the answer to such a question lies with God Himself. For that this world was formed perfectby God, receiving a beginning in time, the Scriptures teach us; but no Scripture reveals to us what God was employed about before this event. The answer therefore to that question remains with God, and it is not proper for us to aim at bringing forward foolish, rash, and blasphemous suppositions [in reply to it]; so, as by one’s imagining that he has discovered the origin of matter, he should in reality set aside God Himself who made all things. 7. But we shall not be wrong if we affirm the same thing also concerning the substance of matter, that God produced it. For we have learned from the Scriptures that God holds the supremacy over all things. But whence or in what way He produced it, neither has Scripture anywhere declared; nor does it become us to conjecture, so as, in accordance with our own opinions, to form endless conjectures concerning God, but we should leave such knowledge in the hands of God Himself.

– St. John Chrysostom, Commentary on Genesis, Homily 2:5, p. 32

He well nigh bellows at us all and says, “Is it by human beings I am taught in uttering these things? It is the one who brought being from nothing who stirred my tongue in narrating them.” Since we therefore listen to these words not as the words of Moses but as the words of the God of all things coming to us through the tongue of Moses, so, I beg you, let us heed what is said and part company with our own reasoning. Scripture, after all, says: “The thoughts of mortals are deceptive, and their thinking unreliable.” (Wisdom 9:14). Let us accept what is said with much gratitude, not overstepping the proper limit not busying ourselves with matters beyond us; this is the besetting weakness of enemies of the truth, wishing as they do to assign every matter to their own reasoning, and lacking the realization that it is beyond the capacity of human nature to plumb God’s creation.

Homily 3.10, p. 44

so Sacred Scripture speaks in that way, showing considerateness for the limitations of our hearing when it said,” God saw that the light was good,” and added, “God separated light from darkness; he called the light day and he called the darkness night,” allotting to each its own particular area and establishing limits for each right from the beginning so that they could keep to them permanently without interference. Everyone in his right mind can understand this, how from that time till this the light has not surpassed its limits, nor has darkness exceeded its due order, resulting in confusion and disruption. Really, this fact alone should suffice to oblige people obdurate in their lack of response to come to faith and obedience to the words of Sacred Scripture so as to imitate the order in the elements, respecting as they do their course uninterruptedly, and not overstep their own limitations but rather recognize the extent of their own nature. 11. Then, when he had assigned to each its own name, he linked the two together in the words, “Evening came, and morning came: one day.” He made a point of speaking of the end of the day and the end of the night as one, so as to grasp a certain order and sequence in visible things and avoid any impression of confusion.

– St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ

“The Holy Scriptures speak more truly and more clearly of the world than the world itself or the arrangement of the earthly strata; the scriptures of nature within it, being dead and voiceless, cannot express anything definite. “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Were you with God when He created the universe? “Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counseller, hath taught Him?” And yet you geologists boast that you have understood the mind of the Lord, in the arrangement of strata, and maintained it in spite of Holy Writ! You believe more in the dead letters of the earthly strata, in the soulless earth, than in the Divinely-inspired words of the great prophet Moses, who saw God.”

–Fr. John Romanides, The Ancestral Sin, p. 41-42

When philosophical systems try to explain the phenomena of things and the presence of evil in them on the basis of what is known about nature, it is absolutely natural for them to confuse the idea of the creation of mater with its fall. If we begin with philosophical and scientific observations of the material world, it is logically impossible to arrive at a distinction between the creation of the world and its fall. Quite simply, this is because the reality before our eyes presents nature as it is now, after the fall … Philosophy is unable to bridge [its] dualism between matter and reality because it is impossible for natural man to distinguish between the wholly positive creation of the world and the fall of the world. Man cannot know this division except by revelation.

p. 48

The dualism of matter and reality is largely based on the idea that death is both a natural and phenomenal fact since matter and the material world in general are without permanent reality, something that belongs to a different dimension. In contrast to the philosophical method, through the divine revelation given to the Prophets, the special people of God learned to distinguish clearly between the world’s creation and the world’s fall, as well as between the present age, which is under the sway of the devil and death, and the future age of the resurrection and the incorruptibility of matter.

– St. Justin Martyr, Hortatory Address to the Greeks, chapter 8

Since therefore it is impossible to learn anything true concerning religion from your teachers, who by their mutual disagreement have furnished you with sufficient proof of their own ignorance, I consider it reasonable to recur to our progenitors, who both in point of time have by a great way the precedence of your teachers, and who have taught us nothing from their own private fancy, nor differed with one another, nor attempted to overturn one another’s positions, but without wrangling and contention received from God the knowledge which also they taught to us. For neither by nature nor by human conception is it possible for men to know things so great and divine, but by the gift which then descended from above upon the holy men, who had no need of rhetorical art, nor of uttering anything in a contentious or quarrelsome manner, but to present themselves pure to the energy of the Divine Spirit, in order that the divine plectrum itself, descending from heaven, and using righteous men as an instrument like a harp or lyre, might reveal to us the knowledge of things divine and heavenly. Wherefore, as if with one mouth and one tongue, they have in succession, and in harmony with one another, taught us both concerning God, and the creation of the world, and the formation of man, and concerning the immortality of the human soul, and the judgment which is to be after this life, and concerning all things which it is needful for us to know, and thus in divers times and places have afforded us the divine instruction.

^– Lactantius, Divine Institutes, 7.14
Plato and many others of the philosophers, since they were ignorant of the origin of all things, and of that primal period at which the world was made, said that many thousands of ages had passed since this beautiful arrangement of the world was completed; and in this they perhaps followed the Chaldeans, who, as Cicero has related in his first book respecting divination, foolishly say that they possess comprised in their memorials four hundred and seventy thousand years; in which matter, because they thought that they could not be convicted, they believed that they were at liberty to speak falsely. But we, whom the Holy Scriptures instruct to the knowledge of the truth, know the beginning and the end of the world, respecting which we will now speak in the end of our work, since we have explained respecting the beginning in the second book. Therefore let the philosophers, who enumerate thousands of ages from the beginning of the world, know that the six thousandth year is not yet completed

– St. Maximus the Confessor, Amb. col. 1353, c. as quoted in Fr. John Meyendorff’s “Christ in Eastern Christian Thought, pg. 138

Today man in his actions is possessed by the irrational imagination of the passions, deceived by concupiscence, or pre-occupied either by the contrivances of science because of his needs, or by the desire to learn the principles of nature according to its laws. None of these compulsions existed for man originally, since he was above everything. For thus man must have been in the beginning: in no way distracted by what was beneath him or around him or near him, and desiring perfection in nothing except irresistible movement, with all the strength of love towards the One who was above him, i.e., God.

– St. Nikolai Velimirovich, Homilies 11 for Meatfast Sunday, pg. 116

One and One only, has spoken to us clearly and definitely about all that will come to pass at the end of time: the Lord Jesus Christ. Were anyone soever to say what He said about the end of the world, we would not believe him, though he were the greatest sage living. Were he to speak from his human understanding, and not from God’s proven revelation, we would not believe him. For human understanding and human logic, however great they may be, are too puny to reach to the world’s beginning and its end. Understanding is useless where vision is needed. We need a seer, who sees as clearly as the sun – to see the whole world, from its beginning to its end, and the beginning and the end themselves. There has only ever been one such: the Lord Jesus Christ.

– Fr. Sophrony, Principles of Orthodox Asceticism, in The Orthodox Ethos, 1964, pg. 273-274

The educated man of the present day, with his developed critical approach, is incomparably less fitted for the ascetic exercise of obedience than the man of a simple turn of mind who is not seduced by intellectual curiosity. The cultured man, enamoured of his own critical intelligence, which he is accustomed to consider his principal dignity and the one solid foundation of his ‘personal’ life, has to renounce this wealth of his before becoming a novice, or it will be difficult for him to enter into the Kingdom. But how is this to be done? Is not the man into whose hands we must put our will just another human being likes ourselves – one, indeed, who many sometimes seem to us to stand lower than we do? The disciple begins to argue within himself: ‘Is this staretz an oracle, then? And how does he know God’s will? God gave us our reason and we must do our reasoning ourselves. For instance, there is no sense at all in what the staretz has just told me. It is all rubbish.’ And so on. This sort of attitude makes the novice doubtful and hesitant about his spiritual father’s every word, his every directive; and so he forgets that God’s will in this world expresses itself in the very same outward forms as serve to manifest both the natural will of man and the demoniacal will, when this last is made manifest through man. He judges by outward appearances, after the manner of the ‘reasoning’ man, and therefore does not find the path to the living faith . . . In the presence of divine truth the novice finds himself profoundly convinced of the imperfection of his own reasoning powers. This marks an important stage in his ascetic life. In mistrusting his intelligence the monk frees himself from the nightmare in which all mankind lives . . . By this renunciation of his will and judgment, for the sake of cleaving to the divine will which surpasses any human wisdom, the novice is in fact renouncing nothing else than his own egocentric will, het product of the passions, and his feeble little intelligence, and thereby showing true wisdom and superior will. In this manner the novice lightly – and imperceptibly to himself – advances to a height which men of the greatest intellectual culture cannot attain, or even apprehend. This height is purity of mind in God, as we have said earlier.

– it is explained earlier that “novice” in this context refers to any Christian who turns to a spiritual father for guidance

– St. Symeon the New Theologian, Quoted in Kontoglou, Pege Zoes, “Fount of Life,” 1951, p. 82

He who thinks that because he has been disciplined in secular wisdom he knows everything will never succeed in beholding the mysteries of God, until he first wills to humble himself and become a “fool,” divesting himself both of his pride and of the knowledge which he has acquired. For he who does this, and follows with unhesitating faith those who are wise in things divine, and is guided by them, comes together with them to the city of the living God. And led and illumined by the Holy Spirit he sees and is taught those things which no other man can behold and learn. And then he becomes one taught by God

– Tertullian, A Treatise on the Soul, chapter 1

From God you may learn about that which you hold of God; but from none else will you get this knowledge, if you get it not from God. For who is to reveal that which God has hidden? To that quarter must we resort in our inquiries whence we are most safe even in deriving our ignorance. For it is really better for us not to know a thing, because He has not revealed it to us, than to know it according to man’s wisdom, because he has been bold enough to assume it.

— St. Theophan the Recluse

“The positive teaching of the Church serves to know whether a concept is from the Truth. This is a litmus test for all teachings. Whatever agrees with it, you should accept it, whatever does not- – reject. One can do it without further deliberations” [1]. “Science goes forward fast, let it do so. But if they infer something inconsistent with the Divine Revelation, they are definitely off the right path in life, do not follow them” [2]. “Believers have the right to measure the material things with spiritual ones, when materialists get into the realm of the spiritual without a slightest scruple… We have wisdom as our partner, while theirs is foolishness. Material things can be neither the power nor the purpose. They are just the means and the field of activity of spiritual powers by the action of the spiritual beginning of all things (Creator)”

– from St Feofan Zatvornik, Nastavleniya v duhovnoi zhisni. – Pskov-Pechery Monastery of Holy Dormition: Mosc. Patriarchate Publ., 1994.  And 2. St Feofan Zatvornik, Sozertsanie I razmyshlenie. – Moscow, Pravilo very, 1998.

http://creatio.orthodoxy.ru/sbornik/sbufeev_whynot_english.html

– St. Theophilus, To Autolycus, 2.12

Of this six days’ work no man can give a worthy explanation and description of all its parts, not though he had ten thousand tongues and ten thousand mouths; nay, though he were to live ten thousand years, sojourning in this life, not even so could he utter anything worthy of these things, on account of the exceeding greatness and riches of the wisdom of God which there is in the six days’ work above narrated. Many writers indeed have imitated [the narration], and essayed to give an explanation of these things; yet, though they thence derived some suggestions, both concerning the creation of the world and the nature of man, they have emitted no slightest spark of truth.

2.18

But as to what relates to the creation of man, his own creation cannot be explained by man, though it is a succinct account of it which holy Scripture gives. For when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness,” He first intimates the dignity of man. For God having made all things by His Word, and having reckoned them all mere bye-works, reckons the creation of man to be the only work worthy of His own hands. Moreover, God is found, as if needing help, to say, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.” But to no one else than to His own Word and wisdom did He say, “Let Us make.” And when He had made and blessed him, that he might increase and replenish the earth, He put all things under his dominion, and at his service; and He appointed from the first that he should find nutriment from the fruits of the earth, and from seeds, and herbs, and acorns, having at the same time appointed that the animals be of habits similar tom an’s, that they also might eat of an the seeds of the earth.

– Vladimir Lossky, Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church, pg. 104-105

Having no philosophical references, the Church always freely makes use of philosophy and the sciences for apologetic purposes, but she never has any cause to defend these relative and changing truths as she defends the unchangeable truth of her doctrines. This is why ancient or more modern cosmological theories cannot affect in any way the more fundamental truth which is revealed to the Church: “the truth of Holy Scripture is far deeper than the limits of our understanding,” as Philaret of Moscow says [Sermons and Discourses, Moscow, 1877]. In the face of the vision of the universe which the human race has gained since the period of the renaissance, in which the earth is represented as an atom lost in infinite space amid innumerable other worlds, there is no need for theology to change anything whatever in the narrative of Genesis . . .

Someone recently posted a site defending against the accusations against Elder Ephraim, and it reminded me of this paper that I wrote for my American Orthodoxy class at St. Tikhon’s, about Geronda Ephraim. Enjoy!

CATCH A FIRE

Elder Ephraim

Athonite Missionary to America

Jesse Dominick

HIS 6313

Spring ‘10

Dr. David Ford

In American Orthodoxy, rife with controversy as it is, one of the most controversial characters is Elder Ephraim, former abbot of Philotheou Monastery, who currently lives at St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery in Florence, AZ.  The mere mention of his name evokes strong emotions – people either love or revile him. It is not uncommon to hear him referred to as the holiest man alive, or conversely as a fanatical cult-leading guru. Either way, his establishment of seventeen monasteries in North America in a decade is certainly an impressive feat. It is said that the state of monasticism in a local Church is a microcosm of the state of that entire local Church, and thus America is undoubtedly in need of strong monasteries that can provide clear, Patristic guidance. Elder Ephraim came to America in response to the pleas of the faithful to provide this guidance, but in doing so many questions have been raised concerning the nature of Orthodox monasticism and teachings. To assess his role and importance for American Orthodoxy it is helpful to investigate his life and spiritual development, which will provide insight into him whom Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos says “’received fire,’ and . . . has imparted this fire . . . to the Church in America that has great need of it.”[1]

Elder Ephraim was born to a poor family in Volos, Greece in 1927, receiving the name John at baptism. He worked hard with his father to support the family[2], but was more inspired by the pious example of his “philomonastic mother” who later became the nun Theophano “of blessed memory.”[3] He quit school during the first years of the German Occupation to work, and it is then, around the age of fourteen, that his own yearning for monasticism began to blossom when a disciple of Elder Joseph the Hesychast came from the Holy Mountain to serve in an Old Calendar parish in Volos. This hieromonk soon became John’s (Ephraim’s) spiritual father and related many stories of Mount Athos, and especially of Elder Joseph, at which John would “burn with the ardent desire for the day [he] would meet him.”[4] He received a blessing five years later from his spiritual father to pursue monasticism, and in the meantime he “gave alms as much as [he] could, even though [he] was poor, so that God would help [him] achieve [his] goal.”[5]

On September 26, 1947 John boarded a boat to the dock of St. Anne’s on the Holy Mountain where he was met by Geronda Arsenios who announced that “The Honorable Forerunner appeared to Elder Joseph last night and said to him, ‘I am bringing you a little lamb. Put it in your sheepfold.’” While such news would lead to pride in most people, Elder Ephraim humbly writes that he was simply grateful for this care of St. John towards him. The rest of John’s life was mapped out that night in a small chapel of St. John the Baptist where he did a metanoia of obedience to Elder Joseph the Hesychast from whose side he would learn for the next twelve years until the venerable Elder’s repose in 1959.[6] John was tonsured as a monastic with the name Ephraim nine months later, and under obedience was soon ordained to the diaconate and subsequently the priesthood.

Of Elder Joseph, Elder Ephraim writes, “It was impossible for a person to come and stay with him and not be cured of his passions . . . as long as he was obedient to him,”[7] and it was in this atmosphere that he struggled for twelve years. Although Elder Ephraim does not write it of himself, as can be seen in his own writings, he himself is one who overcame his own passions by the guidance of Elder Joseph. As he describes it, his spiritual regimen included practice of Christ-like obedience, fasting, all-night vigils, extensive practice of the Jesus Prayer, silence, and endurance of verbal abuse.[8] While Elder Joseph allowed a little laxity concerning fasting, he was quite strict in every other aspect – for speaking two or three words on a trip Elder Ephraim received a first penance of 200 prostrations, and he relates to Constantine Cavarnos that six or seven continuous hours of the Jesus Prayer replaced Matins, and in the afternoon it also replaced Compline.[9]

Elder Ephraim’s spiritual state and popularity seem to have grown rapidly.  There was much talk of him at least in Athens while his own Elder was still alive, as Cavarnos reports, and Elder Joseph would even send people to see his disciple for spiritual nourishment.[10] After Elder Joseph’s repose, Elder Ephraim became the head of a group of eight young monks, which grew to forty in less than a decade. In need of more space, he moved with twenty disciples to the abandoned Russian kelli of St. Artemios at Provata, a dependency of the Great Lavra.[11] In 1973, he was petitioned by the Council of the Holy Mountain to move his brotherhood to Philotheou monastery where he became abbot and quickly revived the spiritual life. Seeing his spiritual discernment and success, the Council also asked him to repopulate the Xeropotamou, Konstamonitou, and Karakallou monasteries. He was also asked to repopulate the Great Lavra, but declined.[12] He remains the spiritual guide of these Athonite monasteries, as well as eight women’s communities throughout Greece.[13] In 1979 he made a brief trip to North America where he met many Orthodox Christians who were hungry for spiritual counsels, and flooded him with pleas to return, and so he began to make annual trips to guide his growing flock here. Due to these extended absences, he resigned as abbot of Philotheou in 1990 and moved to America where he quickly founded seventeen thriving monasteries by the invitation of the local Greek Orthodox hierarchs and the fervent pleas of the faithful.[14] Today he labors as the spiritual father of thousands around the globe at St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery in Florence, AZ which was founded by six Athonite monks in 1995.

With this brief biographical information, it seems Elder Ephraim’s life could be straight out of the Synaxarion. The success of his communities and the Patristic ethos of his writings show him to be a well-rounded master of the spiritual life in our time. Of his words in Counsels From the Holy Mountain, Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos writes that they are “an outcome and a fruit of obedience and noetic hesychia, a result of divine ascents, and they are certainly words coming from a paternal heart, words that help a person be healed in the atmosphere of spiritual love . . . His words arouse the heart to prayer, precisely because they proceed from prayer.”[15] Constantine Cavarnos asks, “What accounts for Ephraim’s extraordinary success in attracting so many men[16] to monasticism, at a time when there are numerous anti-monastic forces operating in the world?” and he answers, “It is, above all, his purity and holiness. And this he owes in large measure to his elder Joseph.”[17] If these accolades be trusted, Elder Ephraim has innumerable gifts to offer to American Orthodoxy. To Americans, obsessed with monetary success and “intellectual” pursuits, he offers the true theology of a purified intellect – “not gained in universities, but rather by despising the world and by living in a quiet and peaceful place far from the world’s noise and turmoil, with a program of prayer and ascesis.”[18] He offers immense faith – faith “that has taken him, a frail, elderly little provincial, to sophisticated, postmodern North America, there to perform mighty works for the Lord he loves so much.”[19]

America’s generally Protestant inheritance has given us a severely weakened and increasingly secularized church experience. Those who profess faith in Christ are often driven by material and sensual desires and in no way stand apart from the popular culture. Faith is pushed further and further into the closet, and our proud tradition of “rugged individualism” has made us blind to the virtue of obedience. We are constantly on the move, uncomfortable with any down time or silence. These factors have led to a nation that is morally and psychologically sick. Elder Ephraim offers us an experience that is wholly other from American culture. He brings the unquenchable fountain of Athonite spiritual wisdom which is so vital for the life of the Church. As seen, his faith is anything but material, sensual, or secularized, and far from the closet, his faith is his life. Where we value innovation, Elder Ephraim calls us to enter the unchanging stream of Tradition. Where we fill our lives with noise, Elder Ephraim calls us to silent devotion to the name of Jesus. Where we are sick, he calls us to purity and healing. What Elder Ephraim offers to America now is exactly what he offered to Mount Athos fifty years ago. Of a conversation with the elder in 1965, Constantine Cavarnos writes, that he especially stressed the “need of a spiritual guide, and the value of praying mentally and heeding one’s conscience.”[20] This is precisely the “fire” of which Metropolitan Hierotheos writes, and Elder Ephraim has come to spread such zeal to America.

To attain to such spiritual heights is a struggle against one’s fallen will and the fallen world. Without the luxury of a detailed biography it is hard to determine what specific weaknesses Elder Ephraim has overcome on his path to sanctity, but, as aforementioned, he does state that he received penances from his elder, and “in those twelve years that I lived with [Elder Joseph], rarely did I hear him call me by name. To call me or address me, he used all kinds of insults and appropriate adjectives.”[21] Thus he assures the reader that he had to struggle to align his will with God’s. The strictness of his life on Mount Athos could be endured only by unceasingly seeking the grace of God, and his spiritual warfare has surely reaped great reward. His most obvious “weakness” in the American context is his ignorance of the English language. Thousands flock to St. Anthony’s Monastery, but those who do not speak Greek can have but limited conversation with him. As the success of his monasteries attests, this has not prevented him from nourishing Orthodoxy in America, but he could perhaps have an even greater impact if he were able to speak in-depth with more seekers.

Beyond the issue of language, concerns have been raised about Elder Ephraim and his monasteries among some of the faithful, causing many to be wary of his counsels and of anyone associated with him. The internet is filled with accusations that he is anti-Semitic, anti-marriage, anti-parish, a cultish guru (expecting unhealthy obedience from his disciples), and a Gnostic (he teaches the aerial toll-houses). The websites “Pseudo-Prophet”[22] and “Greek Orthodox Monasteries Founded by Elder Ephraim”[23] both contain several pages that lay these and other accusations against him. There is even the Greek Orthodox Christians of Chicago for Truth and Reform, which has as its mission statement:

We Greek Orthodox Christians of the Metropolis of Chicago will no longer accept the conditions that have spread and caused irreparable harm to our Faith. We are of the opinion that our current Hierarchs of the Metropolis of Chicago are complicit in allowing a cancerous cult to permeate the theology of our church. Therefore, we will focus the efforts and attention of our members to expose inappropriate teachings, practices and customs as they concern our Faith.[24]

Its website also features articles entitled “What is an ‘Ephraimite’?” and “Learn to Speak ‘Ephraimitese’.” Most alarming is the link entitled “Report Ephraimite Activity” in which the organization encourages the faithful to provide: ” Names of any Greek Orthodox Priest who has presided over or participated in any sacrament at a monastery,” “Dates and Places of fundraising events held for the monasteries,” “Names and ages of monks, nuns or priests located at the monastery and ages when they entered the monasteries’” “Circumstances of spiritual abuse during confession,” and “Facts of excessive punishments attributed during confession,” among other things. Such alarming tactics are reminiscent of totalitarian regimes and serve only to illegitimize any valid concerns the group may have.

There is also concern about the source of funds for his monasteries. Orthodox theologian Bradley Nassif states, “If you look at a person like Billy Graham, where his reputation is sterling, there’s full, open and public disclosure of his funds and we should expect no less from the Orthodox church . . . I would encourage the bishop to be the bishop, stand up for the gospel, at all costs, and, if necessary, if they refuse to follow the gospel, they should do their duty and excommunicate them.”[25] With all these charges laid against him, the typical response would be for Elder Ephraim to speak out in his own defense, or even to malign those who malign him, but even in the midst of such controversy, Elder Ephraim has a lesson for us. In a newscast for Fox News KVOA TV 4 in Tucson which aired on February 9, 2006, reporter Kristi Tedesco asks, “Why can’t Father Ephraim speak on his own behalf?” and Fr. Anthony of the Greek parish in Tucson answers, “Because he is Father Ephraim. He’s not going to play those games, that people, they like to play.”[26] Just as Christ silently accepted the shame of the hatred of His own people, and finally of the Cross, so Elder Ephraim silently and humbly accepts the shame of such accusations, thus putting Himself in the path of Christ. Avoiding talk of scandals is certainly a timely lesson for American Orthodox who are daily fed on the mudslinging of ocanews.org![27] While it is possible that there are legitimate concerns about the actions of someone, somewhere affiliated with Elder Ephraim, they are unfortunately overshadowed by the obviously uninformed and biased accusations that abound, and most importantly, by the Elder’s evident sanctity[28] and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Church.

Elder Ephraim offers an imperative message to the Church in America – the pure, unadulterated Gospel of Jesus Christ as preserved in the Orthodox Church, and especially in the spiritual deserts of Mount Athos. He reveals a life beyond “Vaticanized ecclesiology, academic and intellectualistic theology, Protestantizing sociology and ethicology, spiritually void and deluded meditation, atheistic social activism, etc,”[29] a life of joy that leads to eternal blessedness:

Theosis in the heavens, my child! There the Lord our God will remove every tear from our eyes, and do away with all sorrow and pain and sighing, for there the angelic way of life reigns, and the only work is to chant hymns and spiritual odes! An eternal Sabbath is prepared for us where we shall live in joy with our Father, God, Who is waiting for us to be ready so that He may call us to Him forever! There every saved soul will live in an ocean of love, sweetness, joy, amazement, and wonder![30]

He offers us a message of hope, but also of urgency as we journey through these latter times. He further teaches us by word and example how to be ready for the call of the Father—through obedience to an experienced spiritual guide, hesychia, and maintaining a pure conscience, as he emphasized to Constantine Cavarnos forty-five years ago. Elder Ephraim is a missionary to the American people, calling us away from our ailing culture and ever further into the saving enclosure of the Orthodox Church.  Elder Ephraim has “received fire.” Elder Ephraim is a spiritual fire. By the grace of God may America too catch a fire.

Works Cited

Archimandrite Ephraim. “Preface.” Elder Joseph the Hesychast. Monastic Wisdom: The Letters of Elder Joseph the Hesychast. Florence, AZ: St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery, 1998.

Cavarnos, Constantine. Anchored in God: Life, Art, and Thought on the Holy Mountain of Athos. Athens: Astir Publishing Company, 1959.

—. The Holy Mountain. Belmont, MA: Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 1973 (reprinted 2001).

Elder Ephraim. Counsels from the Holy Mountain: Selected from the Letters and Homilies of Elder Ephraim. Florence, AZ: St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery, 1999.

“Ephraim of Philotheou.” Orthodoxwiki. Orthodox Internet Services. 24 June 2009. Web. 24 April 2010. <http://orthodoxwiki.org/Ephraim_of_Philotheou>.

Greek Orthodox Christians of Chicago for Truth and Reform. Greek Orthodox Christians of Chicago for Truth and Reform. 24 April 2010. <http://gotruthreform.org/>.

Lillie, W. J. Rev. of Counsels from the Holy Mountain: Selected from the Letters and Homilies of Elder Ephraim, by Elder Ephraim. Friends of Mount Athos Book Reviews, 1999. Bates College. 25 April 2010. <http://abacus.bates.edu/~rallison/friends/books/1999reviews/counsels_lillie1999.htm>

Pseudo-Propet. 23 April 2010. <http://pseudo-prophet.tripod.com/>. Ross, Rick. Greek Orthodox Monasteries Founded by Father Ephraim. 1999-2008. 24 April 2010. <http://www.rickross.com/groups/ephraim.html>.

—. Mystery Monastery (Part two). 1999-2008. 24 April 2010. <http://www.rickross.com/reference/ephraim/ephraim14.html>.

“St. Anthony’s Monastery: Monastery Mystery Part 1.” 14 February 2009. You Tube. Web. 23 April 2010. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UoQmFOa6QI>.

“St. Anthony’s Monastery: Monastery Mystery Part 2.” 14 February 2009. You Tube. Web. 23 April 2010. < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-hLSXaf40U>.

Vlachos, Metropolitan Hierotheos. “Prologue.” Elder Ephraim. Counsels from the Holy Mountain: Selected from the Letters and Homilies of Elder Ephraim. Florence, AZ: St. Anthony’s Greek Orthodox Monastery, 1999.