PRAYER TO THE EVER-VIRGIN MARY BY Paul the Monk

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

PRAYER TO THE EVER-VIRGIN MARY
By Paul the Monk of the Monastery of Evergetis

O Spotless, unstained, incorruptible, undefiled, pure Virgin, Lady Bride of God, Who through Your Wondrous birth-giving united God the Logos/Word with mankind, and linked the fallen nature of our human race with the heavenly; the only hope of the hopeless and the help of the persecuted; the ready support of those who seek refuge in You, anad the shelter of al the Christians: do not despise me, the wretched sinner who have defiled myself with shameful thoughts and words and deeds, and through negligence of thought have become slave to the pleasures of life.

But as the Mother of our compassionate God, and a friend of man, have compassion on me the usinsinner and prodigal, and accept this prayer from my impure lips; and using Your Motherly standing, entreat Your Son and our Master and Lord to open unto me the depths of His Loving Goodness and, overlooking my innumerable faults, to return me to repentance and make me a worthy servant of His commandments. Stand by me forever; in this life as a Merciful and Compassionate and Good and Loving warm Protector and Helper, by repulsing the assaults of the adversary and leading me toward salvation; and at the time of my death, by embracing my miserable soul and driving far away from it the dark faces of the evil demons; and at the awesome day of Judgment by redeeming me from Eternal hell, and proclaiming me an heir of the ineffable glory of Your Son and our God. May I enjoy such fate, my Lady, Most Holy Theotokos, through Your intercession and protection; through the grace and love for mankind of Your Only-Begotten Son, our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ to Whom belong All-Glory, Honor and Worship, together with His Beginningless Father, and the All-Holy and Good and Life-Creating Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Most Glorious, Ever-Virgin, Blessed Theotokos, bring our prayer before Your Son and our God, and entreat Him, through You, to save our souls.

The Father is my hope, the Son is my refuge, the Holy Spirit is my shelter, Holy Trinity, Glory to You.

My one and my every hope, now I entreat in You, O Mother of God, under Your shelter cover me.

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THE AKATHIST HYMN

It is very meet to bless thee, the Ever-Blessed and Most Pure Virgin
and Mother of our God. Thou art more Honorable than the Cherubim
and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim; thou, without
spot of sin, didst bear God the Logos/Word; and thee, verily the Mother
of God, we magnify.

Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hym. Fourth Plagal Tone.

Now there came to the knowledge of the Angel the secret command,
and he hastened to the dwelling of Joseph and spake unto her who
knew not wedlock: Lo, He Who bowed the heavens and came down is
contained wholly and unchanged in thee. When I behold Him in thy
womb taking the form of a servant, marvelling I cry aloud to thee:
Rejoice, thou Bride unwedded.

An Angel, and the chiefest among them, was sent from Heaven to
cry: Rejoice! to the Mother of God (thrice). And beholding Thee, O
Lord, taking bodily form, he stood marvelling, and with his bodiless
voice cried aloud to her saying:
Rejoice, thou, through whom joy
shall shine forth; Rejoice, thou through
whom the curse shall be blotted out.

Rejoice, thou the Restoration of the
fallen Adam; Rejoice, thou, the redemption
of the tears of Eve.

Rejoice, Height, hard to climb, for human minds;
Rejoice, Depth, hard to explore, even for the
eyes of Angels.

Rejoice, thou that art the Throne of a King;
Rejoice, thou that sustainest the
Sustainer of all.

Rejoice, Star that causest the sun to
appear; Rejoice, Womb of the Divine
Incarnating.

Rejoice, thou through whom Creation
is renewed; Rejoice, thou through whom
the Creator becomes a babe.

Rejoice, thou Bride Unwedded.

Boldly and without fear the Holy Maiden spake
to Gabriel, knowing her own chastity: To my
soul thy strange message is hard to believe;
how speakest thou of a virgin and stainless
conception? crying aloud: Alleluia.

Craving to know unknown knowledge, the pure Maiden
cried to him who ministered unto her: From a virgin body
how is it possible for a Son to be born? Tell thou me.
Then spake he to her in fear, crying aloud thus:

Rejoice, beginner of the miracles of Christ; Rejoice,
completer of His ordinances.
Rejoice, heavenly Ladder by which God came down;
Rejoice, Bridge leading from earth to heaven.
Rejoice, thou great marvel and wonder of Angels;
Rejoice, thou great cause of wailing in Demons.
Rejoice, thou who ineffably gavest birth to the Light;
Rejoice, thou who withheldest the Divine secret
from all.
Rejoice, thou who oversoarest the knowledge of
the wise; Rejoice, thou who givest light to the
understanding of the faithful.

Gabriel stood amazed at the beauty of thy Virginity,
and at the splendour of the Purity, and he cried to thee,
O Mother of God What praise is meet for me to bring
to thee? What shall I call thee? I hesitate, and marvel.
Wherefore as commanded I cry to thee: Rejoice,
thou that art full of grace.
Rejoice, thou Bride Unwedded.

All the hymns of the Akathist reflect how the Mother of God is loved and venerated in our Holy Orthodox Church. However, the enemies of Christ have attempted over and over again to slander the Theotokos. And the very beginning of Her heavenly glory was marked on earth by an outburst of malice and hatred toward Her by unbelievers. When, after Her holy repose, the Holy Apostles were carrying Her body for burial in Gethsemane, to the place chosen by Her, Saint John the Theologian went ahead carrying the branch from Paradise which the Archangel Gabriel had brought to the Holy Virgin three days before this when he came from heaven to announce to Her Her approaching departure to the heavenly mansions.

"When Israel went out of Egypt, and the house of Jacob from among a barbarous people," chanted Saint Peter from Psalm 113; "Alleluia," sang the whole assembly of the Apostles together with their disciples, as for example, Saint Dionysius the Areopagite, who likewise had been miraculously transported at that time to Jerusalem. And while this sacred hymn was being sung, which was called by the Jews the "Great Alleluia," that is, the great "Praise ye the Lord," one Jewish priest, Athonius, leaped up to the bier and wished to overturn and throw to the ground the body of the Mother of God.

The brazenness of Athonius was immediately punished: the Archangel Michael with an invisible sword cut off his hand, which remained hanging on the bier. The thunderstruck Athonius, experiencing a tormenting pain, in awareness of his sin, turned in prayer to Jesus Whom he had hated up to then and he was immediately healed. He did not delay in accepting Christianity and confessing it before his former co-religionists, for which he recieve from them a martyr’s death. Thus, the attempt to offend the honor of the Mother of God served for Her great glorification.

The enemies of Christ resolved not to manifest their lack of veneration for the body of the Most Pure One further at that time by crude violence, but theri malice did not cease. Seeing that Christianity was spreading everywhere, they began to spread various vile slanders about Christians. They did not spare the name of the Mother of Christ either, and they invented the story that Jesus of Nazareth had come from a base and immoral environment, and that His Mother had associated with a certain Roman soldier.

But here the lie was too evident for this fiction to attract serious attention. The whole family of Joseph the Betrothed and Mary Herself were known well by the inhabitants of Nazareth and the surrounding countryside in their time. In small towns the family matters of everyone are well known, very strict watch was kept then over the purity of married life.

Would people really have behaved with respect towards Jesus, called Him to preach in the synagogue, if He had been born of illegitimate cohabitation? To Mary the law of Moses would have been applied which commanded that such persons be stoned to death, and the Pharisees would have taken the opportunity many times to reproach Christ for the conduct of His Mother. But just the contrary was the case. Mary enjoyed great respect; at Cana She was an honored guest at the wedding, and even when Her Son was condemned, no one allowed himself to ridicule or censure His Mother. [Saint John Maximovitch]

___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George


ON THE VIRTUE OF OBEDIENCE

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

ON THE VIRTUE OF OBEDIENCE

"Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience
by the things which He suffered. And having been
perfected, He became the author of eternal
salvation to all who obey Him" [Hebrews 5:8-9].

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ "learned obedience" (v.8) in his human will, with which continually and freely submitted to the Divine will. In the agony of injustice and in physical pain He submits to the will of the Father. This perfecting of human activity in communion with God shows Christ alone to be the Savior (v.9).

The ancestral sin which was the first sin committed by Adam and Eve was the sin of disobedience. Saint Cyril of Alexandria expresses the Orthodox teaching on the transmission of ancestral sin: "What has Adam’s guilt to do with us? Why are we held responsible for his sin when we were not even born when he committed it? Did not God say: "The parents will not die for the children, nor the children for their parents, but the soul which has sinned, it shall die" (Deuteronomy 24:16)? We have become sinners because of Adam’s DISOBEDIENCE in the following manner…After he fell into sin and surrendered to corruption, impure lusts (of pleasures) invaded the nature of his flesh, and at the same time the evil law of our members was born. For our nature contracted the disease of sin BECAUSE OF THE DISOBEDIENCE OF ONE MAN, that is, Adam, and thus many became sinners. This was not because they sinned along with Adam, because they did not then exist, but because they had the same nature with Adam, which fell under the law of sin. Thus, just as human nature acquired the weakness of corruption in Adam because of DISOBEDIENCE, and evil desires [or passions] invaded it, so the same natur was later set free by Christ. Who WAS OBEDIENCE TO GOD THE FATHER AND DID NOT COMMIT SIN".

According to Saint John Climacus, "Obedience is a total renunciation of our own life, and it shows up clearly in the way we act. Or, again, obedience is the mortification of the members while the mind remains alive. Obedience is unquestioned movement, death freely accepted, a simple life, danger faced without worry, an unprepared defense before God, fearlessness before death, a safe voyage, a sleeper’s journey. Obedience is the burial place of the will and the resurrection of lowliness. A corpse does not contradict or debate the good or whatever seems bad, and the spiritual father who has devoutly put the disciple’s soul to death will answer for everything. Indeed, to obey is, will all deliberateness, to put aside the capacity to make one’s own judgment."

In his excellent article entitled, "The Spiritual Father in Orthodox Christianity," Metropolitan Kallistos Ware of Diokleia, of blessed memory, makes several lucid points regarding the relationship between a Geronda [Elder] and his spiritual child and the subject of obedience. Metropolitan Kallistos writes: "Three points must be made. In the first place, the obedience offered by the spiritual son to his Abba (Father, IS NOT FORCED, but willing and voluntary. It is the task of the starets to take up our will into his will, but he can only do this IF BY OUR OWN FREE CHOICE WE PLACE IT IN HIS HANDS. HE DOES NOT BREAK OUR WILL, but ACCEPTS IT FROM US AS A GIFT. A submission that is forced and involuntary IS OBVIOUSLY DEVOID OF MORAL VALUE; the starets asks of each one that he offer to God his heart, not his external actions.

The voluntary nature of obedience is vividly emphasized in the ceremony of the tonsure at the Orthodox rite of Monastic profession. The scissors are placed upon the Book of the Gospels, and the novice must himself pick them up and give them to the Egoumenos (Abbot). The Egoumenos (Abbot) immediately replaces them on the Book of the Gospels. Again, the novice takes the scissors, and again they are replaced. Only when the novice gives the scissors for the third time does the Egoumenos (Abbot) proceed to cut hair. Never thereafter will the monk have the right to say to the Egoumenos (Abbot) or the brethren: ‘My personality is constricted and suppressed here in the monastery, you have deprived me of my freedom.’ No one has taken away his freedom, for IT WAS HE HIMSELF WHO TOOK UP THE SCISSORS AND PLACED THEM THREE TIMES IN THE ABBOT’S HAND.

But this voluntary offering of our freedom is obviously something that cannot be made once and for all, bhy a single gesture. There must be a continual offering, extending over our whole life, our growth in Christ is measured precisely by the increasing degree of our self-giving. Our freedom must be offered anew each day and each hour, in constantly varying ways, and this means that the relation between starets and disciple is not static, but dynamic, and unchanging but infinitely diverse. Each day and each hour, under the guidance of his Abba (Father), the disciple will face new situations, calling for a different response, a new kind of self-giving."

"Let this mind be in your which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF AND BECAME OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF DEATH, EVEN THE DEATH ON THE CROSS" [Philippians 2:5-9]. Our Lord God Jesus Christ, used to say characteristically, that absolute obedience saved him. He lived as if what his Elders said was according to Divine Dispensation, relinquishing every personal "right," desire, and high mindedness.

Again in the Orthodox Christian tradition, obedience is a fundamental virtue that is necessary for spiritual growth or development and a relationship with the Almighty God. The Holy Fathers of the Church, such as Saint John Climacus, have taught that obedience is NOT just a matter of submissiveness, but rather a virtue that takes place within a context of trust and love between two people in Christ. They also emphasize that obedience is given to specific people, not to abstract concepts. The word used here is υποτακτικός, which literally means a "submissive worker" or "underline." When the Orthodox Christian adheres to the teachings of the Church and has a spiritual father or father confessor it is understood that he or she will have obedience to his spiritual guidance and advice. It is not enough to go to him and recite a number of his/her transgressions like a robot and then leave. When one has an illness and goes to his/her physician he or she does not simply explain the symptoms of his/her illness and leaves but awaits for the physician’s diagnosis and his advice on how to cure this illness, even if it takes surgery. He or she trusts his/her physician and places his/her life in his hands, trusting in his judgment and solution. The spiritual father is no different, having years of experience, understanding, knowledge and practice. But again it is voluntary and not done by force.

"…This blessed obedience benefited me a great deal." Saint Porphyrios of blessed memory said, "because it changed me. I became alert, swift, and stronger both in body and soul… I bowed down before obedience and pored over it. All the rest, which God brought about into my life, came on its own. The gift of foresight, additionally, was given to me by God on account OF MY OBEDIENCE." Here, the Geronda (Elder) certifies with his own life, what Saint John Climacus writes in the Ladder of Divine Ascent: "From obedience comes humility. From humility comes discernment, as Saint Cassian has said and from discernment comes insight, and from insight comes foresight."

"Obedience," Saint Porphyrios said, "illustrates one’s love for Christ. And Christ particularly loves those who are obedient. This is why He says: "I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me diligently will find Me" [Proverbs 8:17).  Everything is written in the Holy Bible, but such things are concealed."  


   The Elder's obedience was universal, meaning it was unconditional and it applied to everything and to all- with the exception of obedience to sin.  His obedience pertains to the Church at large, and not just to his spiritual fathers who granted him spiritual rebirth.  Such obedience means absolute faith and agreement with the Holy Bible.  Orthodox dogmas, and Bishops.  The Elder would say:  "If I ruin my relationship with my bishop, if my bishop is mad at me, then my prayer does not rise up to heaven."

    However, "Despite the importance of ecclesiastical obedience as a religious good, Orthodox history  also teaches us that resistance to religious authorities, be they patriarchs, bishops;, or councils, may be necessary to protect the faith.  This is especially the case when ecclesiastical authorities have been CO-OPTED BY THE STATE (GOVERNMENT) or WHEN THEY CLEARLY TEACH CONTRARY TO THE ANCIENT FAITH OF THE CHURCH.  "Obedience to the Truth of the Gospel IS THE FIRST REQUIREMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN.  When either by their teachings or their actions, Church authorities BETRAY THAT TRUTH FOR PERSONAL GAIN OR POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY, HOLY DISOBEDIENCE IS ENTIRELY APPROPRIATE." [Excerpted from the article by A. Edward Siecienski entitled, "Holy Disobedience"]

In the Orthodox spiritual tradition obedience is a basic virtue: Obedience to the Lord, to the Holy Gospel, to the Church [Matthew 18:17], to the leaders of the Church [Hebrews 13:7], to one’s parents and elders, to "every ordinance of man" [1 Peter 2:13; Romans 13:1], "to one another out of reverence for Christ" [Ephesians 6:21]. There is no spiritual life without obedience, no freedom or liberation from sinful passions and lusts. "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me, and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him…" [John 14:21-24].

Saint Porphyrios writing on obedience says, "My whole life was a paradise: PRAYER, WORSHIP, HANDICRAFT, AND OBEDIENCE. But my obedience was the outcome of love not coercion. This blessed obedience benefited me greatly. It changed me, I became sharp-witted, quick and stronger in body and soul…OBEDIENCE SHOWS LOVE FOR CHRIST. And Christ especially loves the OBEDIENT" [Wounded by Love, p. 25].

__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George

THE THEOTOKOS DELIVERS HER SOUL, FULL OF LIGHT

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER BLESSED.

THE THEOTOKOS DELIVERS HER SOUL FULL OF LIGHT

It was the Lord’s Day, and the Fifteenth day of the month of August, when that blessed hour that all were awaiting drew near. It was the third hour of the day [9:00 a.m.]. In the room a number of lamps were burning. The Holy Apostles were offering praise to God. Upon a beautifully adorned bed, the Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary was lying and preparing herself for the blessed end when her beloved Son and Lord would come to her. She then greeted each Apostle with a blessing.

She then stretched her hands to heaven and prayed, saying, "I adore, praise and glorify Thy much to be praised name, O Lord, because Thou hast looked upon the lowliness of Thine handmaiden, and because Thou that art mighty has done great things for me; and, behold, all generations shall call me blessed [Luke 1:48]. After this prayer, she said to the Holy Apostles, "Cast incense and pray, Christ is at hand, sitting on a Throne of Cherubim." When they had prayed, there was thunder from heaven and there came a fearful voice, as if of chariot; and, behold, a multitude of a host of Angels and powers, and a voice, as if of the Son of Man was heard.

Then there shone in the room an ineffable Light of Divine Glory which dimmed the lamps. Many beheld the roof of the room open and the glory of the Lord descending from heaven. It was Christ the King of Glory with Hosts of Angels and Archangels, and all the heavenly powers. Also with them were the Holy Fathers and Prophets who prophesied of old concerning the pure Virgin, and all the Righteous souls, approached His immaculate Mother.

Saint John of Damascus also mentions that some of the most famous and righteous Prophets of the Old Testament were in attendance. Other sources, describing the events, record that the Theotokos’ mother, Anna, and her cousin Elizabeth appeared with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David and all the Choirs of Saints, chanting, praising, and venerating the body of the Mother of the Lord.

Bowing, the Mother of God said, "Blessed is Thy name, O Lord of Glory and my God, Who was pleased to choose Thy humble handmaid for the service of Thy mystery. Remember me, O King of Glory, in Thy Eternal Kingdom. Thou knowest that I have loved Thee with all my heart and have kept the treasure entrusted to me. And now receive my soul in peace and defend me from all the snares of the dark power of satan. The Lord then consoled His Mother with words full of love and persuaded her not to fear the power of satan which was already conquered by her. He called her with love to pass fearlessly from earth to heaven.

The Lord remained by her and said, "Behold, presently they soul will be TRANSLATED (METASTASIS) to the heavens, to the treasures of My Father in exceeding brightness, where there is peace and joy of the Holy Angels, and many other things. Then the Mother of the Lord answered and said to Him, "Lay Thy right hand upon me, O Lord, and bless me." Then the Lord stretched forth His undefiled hand and blessed His Mother. She then took hold of His hand and kissed it, saying, "I adore this right hand, which created heaven and the earth.

She then rose up and blessed each of the Holy Apostles with her own hand, and all gave glory to God. Then addressing her Son and His Disciples, she uttered, "O ye Apostles assembled here from the ends of the earth, bury my body in Gethsemane: and Thou, O my Son and God, receive my spirit." Then repeated the words once said by her, "Be unto me according to Thy word" [Luke 1:38], and then lay down on the bed. Filled with spiritual rapture out of love for Him, surrendered her pure soul into the hands of the Lord. She felt no pain whatsoever, but it was as if she had fallen into a sweet sleep.

At once there began wonderful and joyous Angelic singing repeating the former words of Gabriel: "Rejoice, thou who art full of grace, the Lord with thee. Blessed are thou among women." [Luke 1:28]. With such triumphant hymns did the heavenly Hosts accompany the Holy soul of the Theotokos as she went in the arms of the Lord to the dwelling above.

The face of the Theotokos shone like the sun and a splendid and sweet perfume emitted from her most pure body, it was a scent that is impossible to find here on earth. With piety and fear, the Holy Apostles venerated the most pure body and were sanctified by contact with it. In the midst of these events which had accompanied the Koimisis (Dormition) of the Theotokos, they began the solemn procession to inter her most honorable body. The Holy Apostles bore her bier aloft on their shoulders; towards the head were Saint John the Theologian and Saint Peter on the other side, then Saint James (Iakovos) and Saint Paul opposite him. The other Holy Apostles and Hierarchs proceeded chanting, while Saint John the Theologian also carried the branch from Paradise which shone brightly. The rest of the faithful, with lights and censers, walked close by, surrounding the bed.

The solemn procession conveyed the sacred body of the Theotokos from Sion through Jerusalem to Gethsemane. Hovering over the bier and accompanying the procession there appeared a circular cloud reminiscent of the crown which shone with a bright radiance. In the hearing of all, there resounded ceaseless Angelic singing form out of the cloud that tilled the air.

The tomb in the Garden of Gethsemane was east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron Valley. Finally, the Holy Apostles with all the multitude of the Christians reached the Garden. When they laid down the bier with the most precious body, again the Christians began to weep. All bewailed their orphanhood at the loss of such a treasure. In giving the last kiss, the Christians fell down before the sacred body of the Theotokos. When the Holy Apostles stepped before her bier to bid her farewell, each according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they uttered psalms of triumph and thanksgiving and chanted prayers.

Then even after an enormous stone had been rolled into place before the mouth of the tomb, the faithful did not wish to depart, held by their intense love for the Mother of God. Thus, the Holy Apostles also stayed by her tomb and did not leave Gethsemane for three days, chanting continually. During all this time, there could be heard in the air the wonderful chanting of the Heavenly Hosts that were praising God and blessing His immaculate Mother.

While the Holy Apostle Thomas was enlightening the lands of India by preaching the Holy Gospel, the honored Dormition of the Mother of God took place. All the Holy Apostles had been caught up from various lands on the clouds of heaven, and were transported to Gethsemane, to the bier of the All-Blessed Virgin. By God’s special arrangement, Saint Thomas was not brought there. This was permitted by the will of God, that the faithful might be assured that the Mother of God was bodily assumed into Heaven. For just as they were more greatly assured of the Resurrection of Christ, through the disbelief of Thomas, so did they learn of the bodily assumption into heaven of the All-Pure Virgin Mary, the Theotokos, through the delay of Saint Thomas.

On the third day after the burial, the Holy Apostle Thomas was suddenly caught up in a cloud in India and transported to the tomb of Theotokos. From the vantage point, he beheld the translation (metastasis) of her body into the heavens, and cried out to her, "Whither goest thou, O All-Holy One?" And, removing her cincture, she gave it to Thomas, saying, "Receive this, my friend." And then she was gone.

Thereafter, he joined the other Disciples keeping watch over the sepulchre of the Theotokos. I beseech you, my fellow disciples, open the tomb that I may at least behold and venerate the sacred relics. The Holy Apostles then rolled away the stone and opened the tomb. All were aghast when they discovered that her remains had vanished, not realizing that just before she had been bodily transported to Paradise. All that remained were the burial clothes, which emitted a wonderful fragrance. They then prayed to the Lord that He would reveal to them where the body of the Theotokos had been transported.

The Ever Virgin Mary appeared to the Holy Apostles after her repose, as did her Son. After he bodily disappeared from the tomb, it was towards evening and they sat down in order to refresh themselves with a little food. At this meal they spoke and thought of nothing but of the Virgin’s empty tomb. Suddenly, they heard Angelic singing. Raising their eyes, they beheld standing, in the air, the Theotokos, who were surrounded by a multitude of Angels. She was suffused with an ineffable Light, and said to the Holy Apostles, "Rejoice, for I am with you all the days of your lives!" Indeed, she is not only with her Son’s Apostles, but she is also with all the faithful and devout Orthodox Christian of all the ages. Upon seeing her, they were filled with joy and cried aloud, "All Holy Mother of God, save us!"

Thus, they were convinced that the Mother of Life, although she had died, yet rose, like her Son, to Eternal Life and that her sacred body, having been raised, was lifted up to Heaven by Jesus, her Son and the Savior of our souls. [Resource: The Life of the Virgin Mary the Theotokos]

Please note: In the Roman Catholic tradition there appeared a new dogma foreign to Eastern Orthodox Tradition that of the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary. This was spread by the Jesuits in the Roman Catholic world . In 1950, the so-called Jubilee Year, the Roman Pope Pius XII triumphantly proclaimed a second dogma, the dogma of the Assumption of the Mother of God with her body into heaven. It is their belief that she was assumed bodily before her death. "In the view of the Roman theologians, she accepted death voluntarily so as to emulate her Son; but DEATH HAD NO DOMINION OVER HER." Dogmatically this teaching ws deduced in Roman theology from the Roman dogma of the Immaculate Conception and is a further logical deduction from the Roman teaching on original sin. The Orthodox Church considers both the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption as heresies.

In the Eastern Orthodox Holy Tradition the Ever-Virgin Mary and Theotokos died indeed and therefore, we refer to it as her DORMITION (KEEMISIS) OR FALLING ASLEEP. In our Holy Tradition not only she physically died, but was buried by the Holy Apostles in the tomb in the Garden of Gethsemane.

___________
"GLory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George

THE METAMORPHOSIS OR TRANSFIGURATION OF OUR LORD, AND GOD, AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST August 6th

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

On August 6th, Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
the Metamorphosis or Transfiguration of Our Lord, and God,
and Savior, JESUS CHRIST.

Apolytikion Hymn. Grave Tone

THOU wast transfigured on the mountain, O Christ our God,
showing to Thy Disciples Thy glory as each one could endure.
Shine forth Thou on us, who are sinners all. Thy Light Ever-
unending, through the prayers of the Theotokos, Light-
bestower, glory Thee.

Kontakion Hymn. Grave Tone

ON the mount Thou wast transfigured, and Thy Disciples, as much
as they could bear, beheld Thy glory, O Christ our God; that when
they should see Thee crucified; they would know Thy Passion to be
willing, and would preach to the world that Thou, in truth, art the
Effulgence of the Father.

Our Lord had spoken to His Disciples many times not only concerning His Passion, Cross, and Death, but also concerning the coming persecutions and afflictions that they themselves would endure. Since all these evils were near at hand, but the enjoyment of good things which they hoped to receive in their stead was yet to come, our Savior desired to give them full assurance, evidently and openly, concerning that glory whcih is prepared for those who endure to the end. Therefore, fulfilling that which He had promised shortly before, that "there be some standing here whichh shall not taste death, till they see the Son of man coming in His Kingdom" [Matthew 16:28]. He took His three foremost Disciples and ascended Mount Tabor, where He was TRANSFIGURED BEFORE THEM. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as the light. Suddenly, together with this dread and marvelous effulgence of Light, there appeared those pinnacles of the Prophets, Moses and Elias, who spoke with the Lord Jesus concerning His saving Passion which was about to take place. Standing before Him as reverent servants, they showed that He is the Lord of both the living and the dead, for Moses came forth from Hades, having died many centuries before Elias, as it were from heaven, whither he had been taken up while yet alive. After a little while a radiant cloud overshadowed the and out of the cloud, they heard that same voice which had been heard at the Jordan at the Baptism of Christ, testifying to the DIVINITY OF JESUS and saying: "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL-PLEASED; HEAR YE HIM" [Matthew 17:5).


   Such are the Marvels, truly worthy of God, celebrated in this present feast, which is an image and prefiguring of the future state of the Righteous, whose splendor the Lord spoke of, saying:  "Then shall the Righteous shine forth as the sun" [Matthew 13:43]. It is because of this that the Kontakion hymn of the Feast is said daily (when there is not a great feast) in the Service of the Typica in perpetual commemoration of the glory that will be the lot of the Saints. According to Holy Tradition, the Lord’s Transfiguration came to pass forty days before His Crucifixion, this is why the Transfiguration is celebrated forty days before the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

The Holy Transfiguration is A THEOPHANY–A MANIFESTATION OF GOD, ESPECIALLY OF THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST, THROUGH A DISPLAY OF HIS UNCREATED, DIVINE ENERGY. Therefore, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Metamorphosis (Transfiguration) AS A MAJOR HOLY DAY.

Several elements of the Transfiguration show that Christ is Messiah and God.
(1) Because God IS LIGHT (1 John 1:5), the bright cloud, the shining of Jesus’ face like the sun, and, the whiteness of His garment [Matthew 17:2-5] all demonstrate THAT JESUS IS GOD. (In some holy icons this Light is shown as BEYOND white, a blue-white, INEFFABLE COLOR, INDICATING ITS SPIRITUAL ORIGIN.)

(2) The Father bears witness from heaven concerning His Son. He does not say, "This has become My beloved Son," but "THIS IS MY BELOVED SON" [Matthew 17:5], indicating that this Divine Glory is Christ’s BY NATURE. From Eternity past, infinitely before Jesus’ Baptism and Transfiguration, He IS GOD’S SON, FULLY SHARING IN THE ESSENCE OF THE Father: JESUS CHRIST IS GOD OF GOD.

(3) The Transfiguration not only proclaims Christ’s Divine Sonship, but foreshadows His FUTURE GLORY when He is the Messiah will usher in the long-awaited Kingdom. The bright cloud recalls Temple Worship and the cloud that went before the Israelites in the wilderness, THE VISIBLE SIGN OF GOD BEING EXTRAORDINARILY PRESENT. The Holy Apostle Peter sees this as a sign that the Kingdom HAS COME. Knowing that the Feast of Tabernacles is THE FEAST OF THE COMING KINGDOM, he asks to build booths (Matthew 17:4), as was done at that feast, to serve as symbols of God’s dwelling among the just in the Kingdom.

(4) Moses represents the Law and all those who have died. Elijah represents the Prophets and–since he did not experience death–all those who are alive in Christ. Their presence shows that the Law and the Prophets, the LIVING and the DEAD, all bear witness to Jesus as the Messiah, THE FULFILLMENT OF THE WHOLE OLD TESTAMENT.

The presence of Moses and Elijah also manifest THE COMMUNION OF THE SAINTS [Hebrews 12:1]. Both men are immediately recognizable, and talk withe the Lord. The Disciples are able to understand Jesus’ words that "Elijah has come already" (Matthew 17:12) referring to Saint John the Baptist. Their eyes have been opened to the fact that Malachi’s prophecy (Matthew 4:5-6) refers to one coming "IN THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIJAH" (Luke 1:17), rather than to Elijah himself.

(5) Finally, the Holy Trinity IS MANIFESTED HERE, for Christ is transfigured (Matthew 17:2), the Father speaks from heaven testifying to Jesus’ DIVINE SONSHIP (Matthew 17:5), and the Spirit is present in the form of a dazzling Light surrounding Christ’s Person, overshadowing the whole mountain (Matthew 1&;5). [Resources: The Great Horologion and The Orthodox Study Bible)

Please note: The Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, God, and Savior Jesus
Christ is celebrated on this day during the Dormition Fast. This means that while
the fast generally prohibits meat, dairy, fish with backbones, and fowl on Saturdays
and Sundays, the Transfiguration feast allows fish in addition to wine and oil.

___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George

“REJOICE, THOU ART FULL OF GRACE, THE LORD IS WITH THEE” Luke 1:28.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

"REJOICE, THOU ART FULL OF GRACE, THE LORD IS WITH THEE" [Luke 1:28].

"The Most Holy Virgin was born as subject to the sin of Adam together with all mankind, and with him she shared the need for redemption. ("Encyclical of the Eastern Patriarchs," par. 6]. The pure and immaculate life of the Virgin Mary up to the Annunciation by the Archangel, her freedom from personal sins, was the fruit of the union of her spiritual labor upon herself and the ABUNDANCE OF GRACE THAT WAS POURED UPON HER. In his greeting: "thou hast found," that is, attained, acquired, earned. The Most Holy Virgin Mary was prepared by the best part of mankind as a worthy vessel for the Descent of God the Logos/Word to earth. The coming down of the Holy Spirit ("the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee") TOTALLY SANCTIFIED THE WOMB OF THE VIRGIN MARY FOR THE RECEPTION OF GOD THE LOGOS/WORD."

Saint John Maximovitch says, "The Virgin Mary, having given Herself ENTIRELY UP TO GOD, even though She repulsed from Herself every impulse to sin, still felt the weakness of human nature more powerfully than others and ardently desired the coming of the Savior. In her HUMILITY She considered Herself unworthy to be even the servant-girl of the Virgin Who was to give Him birth. So that nothing might distract Her from prayer and heedfulness to Herself, Mary gave to God a vow not to become married, in order to please only Him Her whole life long."

"Mary received the Angelic good tidings humbly and submissively. "Then the Logos/Word, in a way known to Himself, descended and, as He Himself willed, came and ENTERED INTO MARY AND ABODE IN HER" [Saint Ephraim the Syrian, "Praise of the Mother of God").  "As lightning illuminates what is hidden, so also CHRIST PURIFIES WHAT IS HIDDEN IN THE NATURE OF THINGS.  He PURIFIED THE VIRGIN ALSO AND THEN WAS BORN, SO AS TO SHOW THAT WHERE CHRIST IS, THERE IS MANIFEST PURITY IN ALL ITS POWER.  He purified the Virgin, having prepared Her by the Holy Spirit, and then the womb, having become pure, conceived Him.  He purified the Virgin while She WAS INVIOLATE;  wherefore, having been born,  HE LEFT HER A VIRGIN.  I do not say that Mary became immortal, but THAT BEING ILLUMINATED BY GRACE, SHE WAS NOT DISTURBED BY SINFUL DESIRES" [Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Homily Against Heretics, 41).  "The Light abode in Her, cleansed Her mind, made Her thoughts pure, made chaste Her concerns, sanctified Her virginity" (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, "Mary and Eve").  "One who was pure according to human understanding, He made pure by Grace" (Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov, "Exposition of the Teaching of the Orthodox Church on the Mother of God").


   "Even though full of grace, She did not yet fully understand in what the service and the greatness of Her Son would consist of.  The Hebrew conceptions of the Messiah were still close to Her, and natural feelings forced Her to be concerned for Him, preserving Him from labors and dangers which it might seem, were excessive.  Therefore She favored Her Son involuntarily at first, which evoked His indication of the superiority of spiritual to bodily kinship [Matthew 12:46-49], "He had concern also over the honor of His Mother, but much more over the salvation of Her soul and the good of men, for which He had become clothed in the flesh" {Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary on John, Homily 21). Mary understood this and "heard the word of God and kept it" (Luke 11:27-28). As no other person, She had the same feelings as Christ (Philippians 2:5), unmurmuringly bearing the grief of a mother when She saw Her Son persecuted and suffering. Rejoicing in the day of the Resurrection, on the day of Pentecost She was clothed with "power from on high" (Luke 24:49). The Holy Spirit Who descended upon Her "taught (Her) all things" (John 14:26), and "instructed (Her) in all truth" (John 16:13). Being enlightened, She began to labor all the more zealously to perform what She began to labor from Her Son and Redeemer, so as to ascend to Him and to be with Him.

"The end of the earthly life of the Most Holy Mother of God WAS THE BEGINNING OF HER GREATNESS. "Being adorned with Divine glory" (Irmos of the Canon of the Dormition), She stands and will stand, both in the Day of the Last Judgment and in the future age, at the right hand of the Throne of Her Son. She reigns with Him and has boldness towards Him as His Mother according to the flesh, and as one in spirit with Him, as one who performed the will of God and instructed others (Matthew 5:19). Merciful and full of love, She manifests Her love towards Her Son and God in love for the human race. She intercedes for it before the Merciful One, and going about the earth, She helps men." (Saint John Maximovitch)

HOW IS SHE PERCEIVED IN THE PROTESTANT WORLD?

In the Protestant world she is not venerated. The mother of Jesus, however holy, was only so because of Christ, and thus only special honoring of her necessarily detracted from the unique, unparalleled honor due to the Lord. That is certainly what the Reformers thought. John Calvin writes in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, "one who takes refuge in the intercession of saints robs Christ of the honor of mediation." "Veneration of Mary, or any of the saints for that matter, obscured the exclusive worship and honor due to Christ alone. "For Protestantism, Marian devotion is not merely a matter of idolatrous distraction from worship of God. It vitiates the salvific economy." According to some, "Mary is a person like any person, called to a unique role in God’s plan of salvation, given a choice, and making the right choice by God’s grace. Most Baptists believe Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, they don’t believe that Mary continued to maintain her virginity. Belief and doctrine about the Virgin Mary differ from one Protestant sect to another. Most of them simply disregard her or dismiss her entirely.

(To be continued)
___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George

“REJOICE, REDEMPTION OF THE TEARS OF EVE!” Akathist

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

"REJOICE, REDEMPTION OF THE TEARS OF EVE!" [Akathist]

Rejoice, thou through whom joy will flash forth!
Rejoice, thou though whom the curse will cease!
Rejoice, revival of fallen Adam!
Rejoice, redemption of the tears of Eve!
Rejoice, height hard to climb for human thoughts!
Rejoice, depth hard to contemplate even for the
eyes of Angels!
Rejoice, thou who art the King’s Throne!
Rejoice, thou who bearest Him Who bears all!
Rejoice, star that causest the Sun to appear!
Rejoice, womb of the Divine Incarnation!
Rejoice, thou through whom creation becomes new!
Rejoice, thou through whom the Creator becomes a babe!
Rejoice, unwedded Bride! [Akathist]

In accordance with the teaching of Holy Scripture, in Adam all mankind tasted the forbidden fruit. Only the God-Man Christ begins with Himself the NEW MANKIND, freed by Him from the sin of Adam. Therefore, He is called the "FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN" [Romans 8:29], that is: The First in the new human race; He is the "NEW ADAM."

In Orthodox thought Adam and Eve were created with a VOCATION TO BECOME ONE WITH GOD gradually increasing in their capacity to share in His Divine life-theosis (deification) (Fr. John Romanides). "They needed to mature, to grow to awareness by willing detachment and faith, a loving trust in a personal God". Theophilus of Antioch (2nd century) posts that Adama and Eve were created neither immortal nor mortal. They were created with THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME EITHER THROUGH OBEDIENCE OR DISOBEDIENCE." The freedom to obey or disobey belonged to our first parents. "For God made man FREE and SOVEREIGN" (Romanides). To embrace their God-given vocation would bring life, to reject it would bring death, but not at God’s hands. Theophilus continues, "…should he keep the commandment of God he would be rewarded with immortality…if, however, he should turn to things of death by disobeying God, he would be the cause of death to himself" (Romanides).

Adam and Eve failed to obey the commandment not to eat from the forbidden tree thus REJECTING GOD AND THEIR VOCATION TO MANIFEST THE FULLNESS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE (Yannaras). Death and corruption began to reign over the creation. "Sin reigned through death." In this view death and corruption DO NOT ORIGINATE WITH GOD; he neither created nor intended them. God cannot be the Author of evil. Death is the natural result OF TURNING FROM GOD.

Adam and Eve were overcome with the same temptation that afflicts ALL HUMANITY TO BE AUTONOMOUS, TO GO THEIR OWN WAY, TO REALIZE THE FULLNESS OF HUMAN EXISTENCE WITHOUT GOD. According to the Orthodox Holy Fathers sin is not a violation of an impersonal law or code of behavior, but A REJECTION OF THE LIFE OFFERED BY GOD (Yannaras). This is the MARK, to which the word AMARTIA refers. Fallen human life is above all else the failure to realize the God-given, potential of human existence, which is, Saint Peter writes, to "BECOME PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE" [2 Peter 1:4).  Saint Basil the Great writes, "HUMANITY IS AN ANIMAL WHO HAS RECEIVED THE VOCATION TO BECOME GOD".


   In Orthodox thought God did not threaten Adam and Eve with punishment, nor was He angered or offended by their sin; He was moved to compassion.  The expulsion from the Garden and from the Tree of Life was an act of love and not vengeance so that humanity would not "become immortal in sin" (Romanides),  Thus began the preparation for the Incarnation of the Son of God and hte solution that alone could rectify the situation:  the destruction of hte enemies of humanity and God, death (1 Corinthians 15:26, 56), sin, corruption and the devil.

   "then the serpent said to the woman, "You shall not die by death.  For God knows in the day you eat from it you eyes will be opened, and  you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.'  So when the woman saw the tree was good for food, was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree beautiful to contemplate, she took its fruit and ate.  She also gave it to her husband with her, and he ate.  Then the eyes of the two were opened, and they knew they were naked.  So they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.  
    Then they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden that afternoon, and Adam and his wife HID THEMSELVES within the tree in the middle of the garden FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD GOD…Have you eaten from the one tree rom which I commanded you not to eat? Then Adam said,  'The woman You gave me, gave me of the tree, and I ate.'  So the Lord God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?'  The woman said, 'The serpent DECEIVED ME, AND I ATE.' [Genesis 3:4-13).

   Adam and Eve now had a fallen will and tried to hide from God.  Fallen man now has a fallen will, thus he has a tendency to run away from God.  But the grace of Christ heals the will of those who return to Him THROUGH REPENTANCE, SO THEY MIGHT FREELY PURSUE GOD AND DO HIS WILL.  In the Person of Christ we see the NEW Adam and in the person of the Theotokos, we see the New Eve.  Where Adam and Eve, our ancestors, were disobedient to God, in Christ and the Ever Virgin Mary, the Theotokos we see obedience to God the Father.  Saint Paul wirtes, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and BECAME OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF DEATH, EVEN THE DEATH OF THE CROSS" [Philippians 2:8]. In His humanity, He showed the fullness of humanity by His OBEDIENCE TO THE DEATH WHICH HAS ENSLAVED HUMANITY. But His death BRINGS LIFE TO ALL WHO ARE JOINED TO HIM.

Because of her character and especially because of her role in God’s PLAN OF SALVATION, Christians appropriately honor the Ever Virgin Mary as the first among the Saints. The Archangel Gabriel initiated this honor in his address to her: "REJOICE, HIGHLY FAVORED ONE, THE LORD IS WITH YOU, BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN" {Luke 1:28). This salutation clearly indicates that God Himself had CHOSEN TO HONOR MARY. Her favored status was confirmed when she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was then six months pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth greeted Mary withe these words: "BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN, AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB! BUT WHY IS THIS GRANTED TO ME, THAT THE MOTHER OF MY LORD SHOULD COME TO ME?" (Luke 1:42). And Mary herself, in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, predicted the honor that would be paid her throughout history: "FOR BEHOLD, HENCEFORTH ALL GENERATIONS WILL CALL ME BLESSED" (Luke 1:48).

in the Person of Mary we witness her total obedience to God when she says to the Archangel, "Behold the maidservant of the Lord! LET IT BE TO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD. And the Angel departed from her" [Luke 1:38). Mary’s faithful response makes her the HIGHEST MODEL OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD. The Incarnation of the Son of God is not only the work of the Trinity, but also the work of the will and the faith of the Virgin. Therefore, the Virgin Mary IS HONORED NOT ONLY BECAUSE GOD CHOSE HER, OR BECAUSE SHER BORE THE SON OF GOD IN THE FLESH, BUT ALSO BECAUSE SHE HERSELF CHOSE TO BELIEVE AND OBEY GOD FIRMLY.
+

During the period from the 1st to the 14th of August instead of
chanting the previous Theotokion, we chante the following
Exapostilaria:

O You Apostles from far off,
Being gathered together
in the village of Gethsemane,
Lay my body in burial,
And You, my Son, and my God,
Receive now my spirit from me.

You are the sweetest of Angels,
The gladness of the afflicted ones,
A protection of all Christians,
O Virgin Mother of our Lord;
Grant me now help and save me
From the eternal torments.

I have you as Mediator
before God Who loves mankind;
May He not question my action
Before the hosts of the Angels,
I ask of you, O Virgin,
Hasten now quickly to my aid.

You are a tower adorned with gold,
A city surrounded by twelve walls,
A shining throne touched by the sun,
A royal seat for the King,
O unexplainable wonder
How do you nurse the Master?

(To be continued)

______________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George


INTERCESSION: “PRAY ONE ANOTHER, THAT YE MAY BE HEALED…” James 5:16.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

INTERCESSION: "PRAY ONE ANOTHER, THAT YE MAY BE HEALED…" [James 5:16].

"O Theotokos, we shall never be silent.
Of you mighty acts, all we the unworthy;
Had you not stood TO INTERCEDE for us
Who would have delivered us,
From the numerous perils?
Who would have preserved us all
Until now with our freedom?
O Lady, we shall not depart from you;
For you always save your servants,
From all tribulation." [Small Paraklesis]

"Truly you are worthy to be blessed,
Mother of God, the Theotokos,
You the Ever-Blessed one, and all blameless one,
And the Mother of our God.
You are honored more than the Cherubim,
And you have more glory, when compared, to the
Seraphim;
You, without corruption,
Did BEAR GOD, the LOGOS [Word],
You are the Theotokos
You do we magnify." [Small Paraklesis]

"Higher than the Heavens above are you,
And you are much purer
Than the radiance of the sun;
You who have redeem us
From the curse which is upon us;
The Lady of all people,
In hymns, do we honor you." [Small Paraklesis]

"Prayer may be for oneself or for others. Prayer for each other expresses the mutual love between members of the Church. Since, according to the Holy Apostle, "LOVE NEVER FAILETH" [I Corinthians 13:8], the earthly members of the Church NOT ONLY PRAY FOR EACH OTHER, BUT ALSO, ACCORDING TO THE LAW OF CHRISTIAN LOVE, THEY PRAY FOR THOSE WHO ARE DEPARTED (THE HEAVENLY MEMBERS); AND THE HEAVENLY MEMBERS LIKEWISE PRAY FOR THOSE ON EARTH, AS WELL AS FOR THE REPOSE OF THEIR BRETHREN WHO ARE IN NEED OF THE HELP OF PRAYER. Finally, we ourselves appeal to those in heaven with the entreaty to pray for us and for our brethren. Upon this bond of the HEAVENLY with the EARTHLY is founded also the concern of the Angels over us and our prayers to them."

The power of prayer for others (intercessions) is constantly affirmed by the word of God. Our Savior Jesus Christ said to the Holy Apostle Peter: "I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" [Luke 22:32]. The Holy Apostle Paul often entreats Christians TO PRAY FOR HIM: "I trust that through YOUR PRAYERS I shall be given unto you" [Philemon, v. 22]. "Brethren, PRAY FOR US, that the word of the Lord might have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you" [2 Thessalonians 3:1]. Being far away, the Holy Apostle is joined with his spiritual brethren in common prayer: "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me IN YOUR PRAYERS TO GOD FOR ME" [Romans 15:30]. The Holy Apostle James instructs: "PRAY ONE FOR ANOTHER, THAT YE MAY BE HEALED. THE EFFECTUAL FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN AVAILETH MUCH" [James 5:16]. Saint John the Theologian saw in revelation how in the heavens twenty-four elders, standing at the Throne of God, fell down before the Lamb (Christ), and everyone had harps and vials filled with incense, "WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS" [Revelation 5:8]; that is, THEY RAISED UP THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS ON EARTH TO THE Heavenly Throne.

"In God ALL ARE ALIVE. Church life is penetrated by A LIVING AWARENESS AND FEELING THAT OUR DEAD ONES CONTINUE TO LIVE AFTER DEATH, ONLY IN A DIFFERENT FORM THAN ON EARTH, AND THAT THEY ARE NOT DEPRIVED OF SPIRITUAL NEARNESS TO THOSE WHO REMAIN ON EARTH."

"With the dogma of the Son of God’s BECOMING MAN is closely bound up the naming of the Most Holy Virgin as THEOTOKOS (Birth-giver of God). by this name the Church CONFIRMS ITS FAITH THAT GOD THE LOGOS [WORD] BECAME Man truly and NOT merely in appearance; a faith that, in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, GOD WAS JOINED O MAN FROM THE VERY INSTANT OF HIS CONCEPTION IN THE WOMB OF THE VIRGIN MAY, AND THAT HE, BEING PERFECT Man, is also PERFECT GOD…The name "THEOTOKOS" has a direct foundation in Holy Scripture, The Holy Apostle Paul writes: "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made OF A WOMAN" (Galatians 4:4). Here is expressed the truth THAT A WOMAN GAVE BIRTH TO THE Son of God. "God was manifest in the flesh" (1 Timothy 3:16): THE FLESH WAS WOVEN FOR GOD THE LOGOS (WORD) BY THE Most Holy Virgin Mary.

"Queen of the Heavenly Host, Defender of our souls, we thy
servants offer o thee songs of victory and thanksgiving, for
thou, O Mother of God, hast delivered us from dangers. But
as thou hast invincible power, free us from conflicts of all
kinds that we may cry to thee:
Rejoice, unwedded Bride!" [Akathist]

"Having experienced all the difficulties of earthly life, the INTERCESSOR OF THE CHRISTIAN RACE sees every tear, hears every groan and entreaty directed to Her. Especially ner to Her are those who labor in the battle with the PASSIONS and are zealous for God-pleasing life. But even in the worldly cares She is AN IRREPLACEABLE HELPER. "JOY OF ALL WHO SORROW AND INTERCESSOR FOR THE OFFENDED, FEEDER OF THE HUNGRY, CONSOLATION OF TRAVELLERS, HARBOR OF THE STORM-TOSSED, VISITATION OF THE SICK, PROTECTION AND INTERCESSOR FOR THE INFIRM, STAFF OF OLD AGE, THOU ART THE MOTHER OF GOD ON HIGH, O MOST PURE ONE" (Sticheron of the Service to the Hodegetria). "The hope and intercession and refuge of Christians." "The Mother of God UNCEASING IN PRAYERS" (Kontakion Hymn of Dormition), saving the world by Thine unceasing prayers" (Theotokion of the Third Tone). [Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, The Orthodox Veneration of MARY, The Birthgiver of God by Saint John Maximovitch)

(To be continued)
____________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George

THE BLESSED HUNGER OF EVERY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN IS A HUNGER FOR GOD

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

The blessed hunger of every Orthodox Christian ia
a hunger for God.

It is natural for human beings to become hungry in the absencfe or lack of food. This applies to every living thing without exception. We all need to be fed and nourished for without it we die. The Son of God Jesus Christ "when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He WAS HUNGRY" [Matthew 4:2]. "Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread. But He answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’" [Matthew 4:3-4]. By rejecting the first temptation, Jesus rejects a kingdom based on materialism, earthly well-being, the "bread which perishes" [John 6:1-40].

The Israelites who were freed from a 400 year captivity were led by Moses through the desert and for forty years traversing through the desert were seeking the Promised Land. While they wandered in the desert they ran out of water and food and turned to Moses and Moses turned to God. "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know I am the Lord your God" [Exodus 16:9-12]. The Lord "rained bread out of heaven" for them, it was a type of Christ, "the bread of life" (John 6:48-51). In the Church, He gives Himself and His life to the Church in the Holy Eucharist (John 6:53-58).

The Orthodox Christian believer hungers not for the "earthly bread which perishes" but for the "Bread of Life", Christ Our Lord and Savior. "Then Jesus said to them (His disciples), "Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the True bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’ And Jesus said to them, "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. HE WHO COMES TO ME SHALL NEVER HUNGER, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME SHALL NEVER THIRST" [John 6:32-35].

It is during the fasting periods that we begin to experience hunger. Naively, however, many think only of all the good foods that they miss and not think spiritually. There are many spiritual lessons to be learned during these holy days that will hopefully bring us closer to God. Our Holy Orthodox Church attempts to guide and teach all the faithful to abandon our earthly thinking and as Christians to begin to think more spiritually. The goals during the various fasting seasons are always spiritual: to pray unceasingly, to live a more virtuous life, to stay in communion with God, to worship more often, to participate and receive Holy Communion frequently, to forgive our enemies, to be more compassionate to our fellow man, to be obedient to God’s commandments, to repent of our sins, to participate in the Mystery of Repentance and Confession, to be kind, to study the Holy Scripture, to adhere to the teachings of the word of God, to be humble, to establish a true relationship with God, and to grow spiritually striving to attain theosis (deification). To be more and more like Christ our God and Savior in all things. These major holy days and fasting seasons were not created to complicate anyone’s life but to enrich it and to make life more meaningful and fruitful.

These holy periods are not just customs and traditions which are outdated and forced upon us. It is, however, important that in order for them to have the desired spiritual impact upon our lives, that we understand why they are taught to us and their purpose. There is absolutely no good reason why there is this mystery about them. No one is expected to follow them blindly and obediently without the proper explanation. All the wonderful things taught to us by our Holy Orthodox Church are supported by the Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. The aim is clear for all to understand is to strengthen our communion and relationship with our Creator and Heavenly Father. Everyone has the ability and the opportunity to take the initiative to improve one’s knowledge of the Faith. There is no reason for educated adults, in this day and age, to want to be spoon-fed by their priest.

No other Christian body has the spiritual wealth that our Holy Orthodox Church has. Our Holy Tradition is vast and it takes many lifetimes to learn all that it has to offer. Thousands of years of knowledge, of theology, of spiritual ascesis, of martyrdom, of persecution, of history, of miracles, of Ecumenical Synods, of combating heresies and heretics, of lives of the Saints and Desert Fathers, of missionary work, and of glorifying God. The Orthodox Christian does not follow man made laws and regulations but God’s law. Our Leader and Head of our Church is Jesus Christ and He is the only one that we follow and are obedient to. Everything that we do is for His glory. There is no confusion what the Orthodox Christian believes because the faith never changes but remains the same no matter who the Patriarch is, or the Archbishop or the local Metropolitan. The loyalty of the Orthodox Christian is not to any person or earthly authority but to our Lord Christ alone.

Let us listen to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself. "Then Jesus said to them (the Jews), ‘Most assuredly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood HAS ETERNAL LIFE, AND I WILL RAISE HIM UP AT THE LAST DAY. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He WHO EATS MY FLESH AND DRINK MY BLOOD ABIDES IN ME AND I IN HIM. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the BREAD WHICH CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN–NOT AS YOUR FATHERS ATE THE MANNA, AND ARE DEAD. HE WHO EATS THIS BREAD WILL LIVE FOREVER" [John 6:53-58].

As Orthodox Christians we believe that when we receive Holy Communion, we TRULY EAT His FLESH and DRINK HIS BLOOD, and this grants us ETERNAL LIFE with Christ abiding in us and us in Him. There is no room for any doubt about the reality of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith. Thus when we eat and drink these elements, WE ARE IN CHRIST AND CHRIST IS IN US".

___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George

THE VALUE OF FASTING

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

THE LORD SAID:

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites,
with a sad countenance. For they may appear to men to
be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their
reward. But you, when YOU FAST, ANOINT YOUR HEAD
AND WASH YOUR FACE, SO THAT YOU DO NOT APPEAR
TO MEN TO BE FASTING, but to your Father Who sees
in secret will reward you openly" [Matthew 6:16-18].

Keeping "a sad countenance" while fasting, so that everyone can see how one is suffering, is mere external display. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rejects such hypocrisy. For the one who fasts, the compassion of God outshines physical discomfort: JOY OVERSHADOWS SORROW. Thus, during seasons of fasting, the hymns of the Orthodox Church call the faithful to wash and anoint their faces. There is no ‘Ash Wednesday’ in Orthodox Christian practice. And fasting is not merely abstaining from eating. Physical fasting works TOGETHER WITH SPIRITUAL FASTING, or SELF-DENIAL: IT IS A LIBERATION OF THE SPIRIT FROM ITS VOLUNTARY ENSLAVEMENT TO SINFUL PASSIONS. FASTING IS FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, NOT TO IMPRESS PEOPLE AROUND US.

See what our Lord Christ says "when you fast" and, therefore, He exhorts His followers to fast but to fast sincerely and without drawing attention unto themselves when they do. He Himself fasted forty days and nights. " Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He HAD FASTED FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS, AFTERWARD HE WAS HUNGRY" [Matthew 4:1-2]. He condemns hypocrisy and display of one’s fasting. And when His disciples lacked faith and "could not cure the man’s son" [Matthew 17:16], they asked Him, "why could we not cast it out?" His answer to them was, "this kind does not go out EXCEPT BY PRAYER AND FASTING" [Matthew 17:21]. Prayer and fasting are inseparable but they must be done with humility, faith and always for the glory of God.

However, not everyone is able to fast. There are Christians who are "weak in the faith", Christians who are immature conscience and wisdom who may attach primary importance to secondary matters, such as foods and religious festivals. The Holy Apostles reminds us, "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats ONLY vegetables. Let NOT him who eats despise him who does NOT eat, and let NOT him who does NOT eat judge him who eats for God has received him. Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls…He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks" [Romans 14:1-6]. The rule of fasting is not the same for everyone. Some are strong and able to fast much, while others have weak bodies and fast less.

Fasting is accompanied with philanthropy to one’s fellow man. By depriving oneself of meat, fish, eggs, or milk, etc. for a short time, foodstuff that the poor could not afford to eat, you are able to feed the hungry and homeless. Even philanthropy or charity must be done with dignity, anonymously, with meekness, and secretly if it is to have any spiritual value. Fasting is a strong bridle which prevents the body from being stimulated by sinful passions or desires. When we fast, our mind masters our body and directs it as it wishes. Gluttony and indifference to fasting reinforces our carnal nature and we fall into sins, because the reason and the voice of conscience are weakened. Our souls are covered with a dark cloud of sin, some little and others much. When we fast, this cloud disperses and the soul’s enlightenment by God, just as the earth is lit by the sun when the sky is cleared of clouds.

No one should underestimate either the significance or the power of fasting. Fasting and temperance are the foundation upon which the other virtues are built. He who does not fast hinders his soul’s progress. Fasting, together with prayer, has the power to cleanse the soul from the passions and vices. Concerning this Saint Basil the Great says: "REPENTANCE WITHOUT FASTING IS FUTILE." That is, he who repents for his sins but does not fast, will not acquire the work and fruit of repentance. Faith, repentance, prayer, fasting, humility, tears, are not only virtues but indispensable to our salvation. When during prayer the eyes fill with tears of repentance and tender-feeling, let the person to whom this happens know that God is taking care of his soul and is healing its hidden diseases. These tears absolve sins. The great Saints wept often.

The fasting seasons of our Holy Orthodox Church are unique opportunities to reconcile with God Almighty. It is our journey back home to our heavenly Father. It is a time to reconcile with our enemies. Our souls must be free from hatred, malice or revenge. "The soul cannot find peace when it is filled with anger and strife. "Strife is a work of the devil," reconciliation is the work of God. Peace isone of the most precious of God’s gifts. With the arrival of reconciliation, darkness disappears from the souls of those who until then have been filled with spite; and the peace of God, the Light of God, and the joy of God settle there. God’s grace descends on the reconciled, and they feel as if they were in Paradise." Remember when we recite the Lord’s Prayer what we say? "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors…"

[To be continued}

____________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George

AUGUST 15th: The Sacred Dormition of Our Most Holy and Glorious Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

On the 15th of August our Holy Orthodox Christian Church Commemorates
the Sacred Dormition of Our Most Holy and Glorious Lady, the Theotokos
and Ever-Virgin MARY.

Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. First Tone

IN giving birth, thou didst preserve thy virginity; in thy dormition,
thou didst not forsake the world, O Theotokos. Thou was translated
unto life, since thou art the Mother of Life; and by thine intercessions
dost thou redeem our souls from death.

Kontakion Hymn. Second Tone

THE grave and death could not hold the Theotokos, who is unsleeping
in her intercessions and an unfailing hope in her mediations. For as
the Mother of Life she was translated to life by Him Who dwelt in her
Ever-virgin womb.

Concerning the Dormition (Koimisis) of the Theotokos, this is what the Church has received from ancient times from the Holy Tradition of the Holy Fathers of the Church. When the time drew near that our Savior was well-pleased to take His Mother to Himself, He declared unto her through an Angel that three days hence. He would translate her from this temporal life, to eternity and bliss. On hearing this, she went up with haste to the Mount of Olives, where she prayed continuously. Giving thanks to God, she returned to her house and prepared whatever was necessary for her burial. While these things were taking place, clouds caught up the Apostles from the ends of the earth, where each one happened to be preaching, and brought them at once to the house of the Mother of God, who informed them of the cause of their sudden gathering. As a mother, she consoled them in their afflictions as was appropriate, and then raised her hands to Heaven and prayed for the peace of the world. She blessed the Holy Apostles, and, reclining upon her bed with seemliness, gave up her all-holy spirit into the hands of her Son and God.

With reverence and many lights, and chanting burial hymns, the Holy Apostles took up that God-receiving body and brought it to the sepulchre, while the Angels from Heaven chanted with them, and sent forth her who is higher than the Cherubim. But one Jew, moved by malice, audaciously stretched forth his hand upon the bed and immediately received from Divine Judgment the wages of his audacity. Those daring hands were severed by an invisible blow. But when he repented and asked forgiveness, his hands were restored. When they had reached the place called Gethsemane, they buried there with honor the All-Immaculate body of the Theotokos, which was the Source of Life But on the third day after the burial, when they were eating together, and raised up the ARTOS (bread) in Jesus’s Name, as was their tradition, the Theotokos appeared in the air, saying, "Rejoice" to them. From this they learned concerning the translation (METASTASIS) of the Theotokos into the Heavens.

These things has the Holy Church received from the Traditions of the Holy Fathers, who have composed many hymns out of reverence, to the glory of the Mother of our God. [The Great Horologion]

The holy icon of the Feast

The holy icon of the Feast of the Dormition (Koimisis) of the Theotokos shows her on her deathbed surrounded by the Holy Apostles. Our Lord and Savior Christ is standing in the center looking at His Holy Mother. He is holding a small child clothed in white representing the soul of the Ever-Virgin Mary. With His golden garments, the Holy Angels above His head, and the mandora surrounding Him, Christ is depicted in His Divine Glory. The posture of the Holy Angels direct attention toward the Theotokos (Mother of God). On the right Saint Peter censes the body of the Theotokos. On the left Saint Paul bows low in honor of her.

Together with the Holy Apostles are several bishops and women. The bishops traditionally represented are the Holy Apostle James (Iakovos), the brother of the Lord. Saint Timothy, Saint Heirotheos, and Saint Dionysios the Areopagite. They are shown wearing episcopal vestments. The women are members of the Church in Jerusalem.

In front of the bed of the Theotokos is a candle that helps to form a central axis in the holy icon. Above the candle is the body of the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. Standing over His Holy Mother is Christ holding her Most Pure SOUL. Above Christ the Gates of Heaven stand open, ready to receive the Mother of God.

This Great and Holy Feast of the Church and the holy icon celebrates a fundamental teaching of our Orthodox Faith–the Resurrection of hte body. In the case of the Theotokos, this has been accomplished by the Divine Will of God. Thus, this Holy Feast is a Feast of hope, hope in Resurrection and life Eternal. Like those who gathered around the body of the Ever-Virgin Mary, we gather around our departed loved ones and commend their souls into the Diviine hands of our Savior Christ. As we remember those who have passed on into the communion of the Saints, we prepare ourselves to one day be received into the New Life of the age to come.

We also affirm through the Feast as we journey toward our heavenly abode that the Mother of God INTERCEDE FOR US. Through Christ she has become the mother of the children of God, embracing us with divinie agape.

The commemoration of the Koimisis (Dormition) of the Theotokos and THE PREPARATION OF THE FEAST BEGINS AUGUST 1ST WITH A PERIOD OF FASTING. A strict fast is followed on most of the days (no meat, dairy, oil, or wine), with the exceptions of fish on the Holy and Great Feast of the METAMORPHOSIS [TRANSFIGURATION] (August 6th) and the day of the Koimisis (Dormition) on August 15th. Oil and Wine are allowed on Saturdays and Sundays.

On the weekdays before the Holy Feast, PARAKLESIS (SUPPLICATORY) DIVINE SERVICES are held in most Greek Orthodox Parishes. These consist of hte Great Paraklesis services and the Small Paraklesis, both services of supplication and prayer for the intercession of the Theotokos. Orthodox Christians present the parish priest with the LIVING MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILY before the service so as to pray for their good health,healing if ill, salvation, and forgiveness. Everyone must make sure that the names given are the Orthodox Baptismal Names and NOT some secular name.

(To be continued)

___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George