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.

FIFTH SUNDAY OF HOLY AND GREAT LENT: THE
COMMEMORATION OF OUR HOLY MOTHER
MARY OF EGYPT.

On the Fifth Sunday of Holy and Great Lent the Orthodox Church commemorates and celebrates Saint Mary of Egypt, the MODEL OF PENITENTS. Like Saint John Climacus, her feast has been transferred from the fixed calendar, where she is commemorated on 1st April. Her life, recounted by Saint Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem — it is read, AS A TRUE VERBAL ICON OF THE ESSENCE OF REPENTANCE. In her youth Saint Mary lived in a dissolute and sinful way at Alexandria. Drawn by curiosity, she journeyed with some pilgrims to Jerusalem, arriving in time for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. But when she tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre with the others, an invisible force thrust her back at the threshold. This happened three or four times. Brought to sudden contrition by this strange experience, she prayed all night with tears to the Mother of God, and next morning she found to her joy that she could enter the church without difficulty. After venerating the Jordan, and settled as a solitary in a remote region of the desert. Here for FORTY-SEVEN YEARS SHE REMAINED, hidden from the world, until she was eventually found by the ascetic Saint Zosimas, who was able to give her Holy Communion shortly before her death. Some modern writers have questioned the historical accuracy of Saint Sophronios’ narrative, but there is in itself nothing impossible about such a story. In the year 1890 the Greek Orthodox Priest Joachim Spetsieris found a woman hermit in the desert beyond the Jordan, living almost exactly as Saint Mary must have done.

Our Holy Orthodox Church very prudently placed the commemoration of Saint Mary of Egypt, the model of penitents on the Fifth Sunday of Holy and Great Lent and just before we enter Holy and Great Week. "Repentance leads to the gateway of heaven and not only alleviates the anguish of suffering but actually transforms this suffering into the intense joy of being reunited with our Lord Jesus Christ. ‘Having otrn up the handwriting of our sins, O Christ, by Thy Divine grace, renew in us the grace that makes us sons of God, O Logos/Word of God, and grant us to please Thee henceforth with the service of our repentance, that with Thy Saints we may sing to Thee: Alleluia.’

Following His forty days and nights of prayer and fasting in the desert and His encounter with "the tempter" the devil, Our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ "angels came and ministered to Him" [Matthew 4:11]. "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND" [Matthew 4:17]. The Greek word for repentance is METANOIA and it means change one’s mind, or more generally, to turn around. Repentance is a radical change of one’s spirit, mind, thought, and heart, a complete reorientation of the whole of one’s life. It is THE NECESSARY FIRST STEP IN "THE WAY OF THE LORD" it is accompanied by the confession of sins and the act of baptism and is followed by a life filled with fruits worthy of this change.

"God has given us health so that we can serve Him and our neighbors with it, but we abuse this precious gift by using it for sin and evil. God has given us riches so that we will be useful to the least of His brothers, but we misuse our riches as well. God has given us abilities in order to praise Him, ye twe often bring dishonor to God’s Holy Name with our abilities; it is sufficient to think of those writers who use their gift to slander God and the Saints.

Elder (Geronda) Ephraim of the Saint Anthony’s Monastery in Arizona, of blessed memory, says, "Repentance is endless. All the virtues, by grace of God, may be perfected by man, but no one can perfect repentance, since we need repentance until our last breath, for we err in the twinkling of an eye. Therefore, repentance is interminable…Repentance leaves nothing unhealed. If a man had not been given repentance, no one would be saved. Triumph and victory are given to man though the weapon of repentance. Glory to the only wise God, Who gave man such an effective medicine that cures every kind of illness, as long as it is taken properly."

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God" [Matthew 5:8].

"In reading these words, every Christian feels a natural yearning of hte heart towards God, a true desire to taste the sweetness of communion, of being with Him as He created us to be; but the impurity of our hearts–full of passions, conflicts, and fears–bars the way. Yet, there is a cure for the weight of sin which burdens the heart and soul of each one of us and afflicts the conscience, keeping us from inner peace and from peace with our neighbors and loved ones.

"In the Mystery (Sacrament) of Repentance the spiritual afflictions of a man (person) are treated, impurities of soul are removed, and a Christian, having received forgiveness of sins, again becomes innocent and sanctified, just as he came out of the waters of Baptism." Saint Theophan the Recluse tells us that "in the Sacrament…of Confession the Lord enters into man by His grace, vividly establishes communion with him, and gives him to taste of all the sweetness of the Divine…"

Disease is not the greatest evil for man, because a disease of the body endured with humility, faith, and patience can cure the soul sick with sin and bring it closer to God–the greatest good for man. And death is not frightening for the believer, because through it, as through a door, one goes to the beloved and loving God Who hath prepared for them that love Him that which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man" [cf. 1 Corinthians 2:9].

"But sin is the most wretched poverty of the heart–poverty blocking the treasure of grace. Sin is a deadly sickness of the soul, a sickness which deprives us both of the joys of earth and the joys of heaven. Sin is a terrible and most lamentable spiritual death which separates us eternally from the joy of the heavenly inhabitants in Paradise and buries us in the darkness of hell.

There is no greater evil for man than sin. It destroys both the body and the soul. It makes both this life and Eternal Life bitter. It causes discord in families, quarrels among neighbors, and disagreements among relatives… Just as hte diseases of the body can be external (visible) and internal (hidden), so the sins, as diseases of the soul, can be visible and invisible. We often comfort ourselves with the fact that we can hide the sinful wounds of our soul from the eyes of those around us. We pass for good and respectable people in their eyes. But we cannot hide anything from God. His eyes are brighter than the sun and penetrate everywhere. If we could take pictures of, or, with the help of some spiritual x-rays, see the hidden spiritual condition of each of us or of the whole of mankind as God sees it, we would be terrified!

Sin is an infinite evil because it is an insult to the Infinite God. The Lord has commanded us not to sin. But we sin, and thus we insult the Infinite Greatness of the Creator."

Repentance, this infinitely good gift, is given to you" a t any time of life, and it works with the same power for any sin: IT CLEANSES EVERY SIN, SAVES EVERYONE WHO TURNS TO GOD, BE IT EVEN TO THE LAST MINUTES BEFORE DEATH" says Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov. [Source: The Forgotten Medicine].

Let us emulate the great example of repentance of Saint Mary of Egypt as we proceed to participate in the anticipated Great and Holy Week and entreat the Saint to intercede for us and our forgiveness from our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ. Amen.
________
"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

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 ALMIGHTY AND MERCIFUL GOD AND CREATOR IS
ABSOLUTELY IN CHARGE OF HIS CREATION.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not
one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s
will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered"
[Matthew 10:29-30].

From the very beginning, our Creator God has revealed Himself to mankind. He never ceases to reach out to His creation with abundant blessings, desiring all to freely partake of the personal communion He offers. The Holy Scripture also establishes that it was humanity who rejected Him, following after the selfish desire to be as God. Certainly humanity has afflicted itself with this delusion. Even so, the human race, even in its fallen state, is unable to deter God’s unceasing ministry to His people. The Holy Bible records this ongoing spiritual struggle between the loving truth of God and man’s deluded expression of pride.

Once the truth of God is accepted, and a person surrenders his pride and his denial of reality, his eyes become open to Christ our God, Whose Divine Light invisibly enters in. This is what we call holiness, and therefore only in genuine holiness can we begin to understand the Holy Bible and experience God revealed in it. The Sacred Scripture and the histories of the Martyrs bear witness to the glory of God as it enters us. They also witness to us the terrible price that people pay when they refuse to acknowledge the presence of the Almighty Creator and Fashioner.

We all know for a fact that human beings still struggle to believe in God; some deny His existence and presence, and others wish to replace God with themselves. Under communism in the Soviet Union, Stalin who was a tyrant, murderer, and of course an atheist, forced the Orthodox Christians replace the holy icon of Christ in their homes with his own picture. The caesars in ancient Rome demanded that Christians reject the one true God and replace Him with themselves, since they considered themselves as gods, or a deity, and for all their subjects to worship them and offer sacrifices to them. Even currently in the 21st century there are the so called elite, the very rich and powerful, in society, that they too should be worshipped as gods.

We are reminded of Jesus’ words Who asked, "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you?" [Mark 9:19]. THe Almighty God is patient with us knowing full well that His Divine will prevail at the end. Whatever God wills that is what will happen; for His will is absolute and final. Mankind is diluted to believe that it is in charge of the destiny of the world just because it possesses military or nuclear power. Humanity does not have the slightest idea or ability to conceive the magnitude of God’s power. How can the creature be more powerful than its Creator? Are we to repeat the defiant and arrogant people who said, "Come, let us build a city and a tower, whose top will reach to heaven, and let us make a name for ourselves" [Genesis 11:4]. This is the symbolic account of the ultimate impudence of men who sought "to make a name for themselves" by building "a tower with its top in the heavens". Through the story of the tower of Babel is shown the PRIDEFUL ARROGANCE OF MAN WHICH RESULTS IN THE DIVISION OF THE NATIONS AND THE SCATTERING OF MEN "OVER THE FACE OF ALL THE EARTH" [Genesis 11:9]. The sinful and corrupt people believed they were achieving their aims without God.

From the above story of the Tower of Babel we learn that mankind was united in "one race and one language." But this unity existed WITHOUT the Holy Trinity, for man’s unity is UNION AND COMMUNION WITH THE Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Church is "the race of Christians", a "holy nation" [1 Peter 2:9], and glorifies God "with…one mouth" [Romans 15:6] in the Great Litany, the Church prays "for the union of all men," union based on the Holy Trinity. The Lord divided this false union of the defiant and corrupt people for the sake of man’s salvation, that man might seek and find Him [Acts 17:26-28]. Because they sought to build their unity by making a name for themselves. They cared nothing for the name of the Lord God, by which man is saved.

As Orthodox Christians we are taught through the Holy Scripture that the Almighty God’s sovereignty is an essential aspect of who He is, that He has supreme authority and absolute power over all things. God works "all things according to the counsel of His will" [Ephesians 1:11]. In the Book of Genesis He says to Adam who had disobeyed Him, "Cursed is the ground in our labors. In toil you shall eat from it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground from which you were taken. Earth you are, and to earth you shall return" [Genesis 3:17-19]. A revelation of Who God and Creator is, and man who is just "earth."

As Orthodox Christians we understand that we are to obey and trust our Creator and Savior in everything. The holy Apostle Paul reminds us, "just as He chose us in Him [Jesus Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us in adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved" [Ephesians 1:4-6]. Everything comes from God, and everything should be drawn back to Him. God’s original intent for the Incarnation was not redemption from the fall but "adoption as sons" of God, that is THEOSIS (Deification). For when contemplated creating the world, He planned on bringing it into union with Himself through the Incarnation of His Son, that is, through
the Son’s union with human nature. That is why Saint Athanasius can say, "God became man, that man might become god."

____________
"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

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

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

"CHRIST IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND FOREVER" [Hebrews 13:8]

It is the constant profession of Orthodox Christianity and every Orthodox Christian that the One and ONLY True God does not change, His Divine Gospel does not change. The Holy Orthodox Church is the only authentic Church established by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and has fought against the various heresies that sought to undermine and change the truth. Countless Orthodox Christian have given their lives defending the true and unadulterated faith entrusted to us by our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. Since Christians in the past attained the Eternal Kingdom through faith, so can we. Thus, the Orthodox Church strives and is loyal to her Divine Founder Jesus Christ to keep her Doctrine pure and WITHOUT CHANGE.

The holy Apostle Paul writing to the Hebrews, says, "Do NOT be carried about with various AND STRANGE DOCTRINES" [Hebrews 13:9]. "Strange doctrines" are "FOREIGN" ones, those not coming from the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. In Malachi 3:6 we are told by God Himself, "For I am the Lord your God, I HAVE NOT CHANGED." God has NOT changed and does NOT CHANGE. The Sacred Scripture (Hebrews 13:8) and the Holy Church Fathers apply this vese to Christ. Another source is Isaiah 40:7-8 states: "The grass withers, the flower fades, but THE WORD OF OUR GOD ABIDES FOREVER." Furthermore, the holy Apostle Peter writes, "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you" [1 Peter 1:24-25]. Unlike our God and Creator, our present human condition will have an end, of course, as witnessed by the ever presence of corruption, and will meet that end in death. But in the glorified, incarnate Son of God, "the word of the Lord, we gain incorrupt and immortal humanity, both in body and soul.

It is foolish and wrong for anyone to attempt to change anything related to God and His divine word. The human creature has absolutely no power to change anything at all but especially of what is of God. Mankind, although foolish and obstinate, dilutes himself to believe that he is able to do so. We have witnessed the heterodox Christians who introduced "foreign doctrines" or heresies and their only accomplishment was to create thousands of denominations, divisions, confusion, fragmentation, and to undermine the true Gospel message. The holy Apostle Peter writes, "But there were also FALSE PROPHETS among the people, EVEN AS THERE WILL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU, WHO WILL SECRETLY BRING IN DESTRUCTIVE HERESIES, EVEN DENYING THE LORD WHO BOUGHT THEM, AND BRING ON THEMSELVES SWIFT DESTRUCTION. And many will follow thei destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be BLASPHEMED. By covetousness they will exploit you with DECEPTIVE WORDS; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber" [2 Peter 2:1-3].

The Holy Orthodox Church convened SEVEN ECUMENICAL COUNCILS (SYNODS) TO DEFEND AND PRESERVE the Truth over the centuries. The holy Apostle anticipated what would happen in the future and warned the Christians of what was to come. These heretics were, and still are, arrogant, corrupt, wicked and full of deception, isolating themselves from Apostolic Doctrine concerning Christ, THEY HOLD THEIR OWN "PRIVATE INTERPRETATIONS," MISCONSTRUING DOCTRINES ABOUT THE SECOND COMING AND THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST OVER US. But as deceivers, they teach as though they possess true apostolicity. God’s past judgment indicates what awaits the heretics. He will divide the holy from the unholy in the life to come. We already have the example of the "Angels who sinned." "For God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment" [2 Peter 2:4]. False teachers and heretics are condemned for both their words and their actions.

True Christians must remain steadfast in their faith in Christ and His Divine Gospel of salvation. Heresy has never been tolerated or defended as a right to disagree with the Holy Church. A common misunderstanding of "liberty" or freedom is to see it as standing apart from all moral restraints, to say there is no such thing as sin as some Protestant denominations have declared. True Christian freedom begins with FREEDOM FROM SIN, FREEDOM FROM IMMORAL ACTIVITY. Christianity is NOT all inclusive. In other words no matter what one’s lifestyle is, and no matter if it is contrary to teachings of Christ, and Commandments of God, the Church will justify and accept it. The Holy Scripture both the Old and New Testaments are unambiguous of what is right and what is wrong and what is holy and what is evil. A genuine Christian is called to live in purity IN AN IMPURE WORLD.

___________
"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

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

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

“HUMILITY IS A GRACE IN THE SOUL.”

“Humility is a grace in the soul” writes Saint John Climacus…As soon as the cluster of holy humility begins to flower within us, we come, after hard work, to hate all earthly praise and glory. We rid ourselves of rage and fury; and the more this queen of virtues spreads WITHIN OUR SOULS THROUGH SPIRITUAL GROWTH, THE MORE WE BEGIN TO REGARD ALL OUR GOOD DEEDS AS OF NO CONSEQUENCE…”.

“Humility,” Saint John says, “is a spiritual teaching of Christ led spiritually like a bride into the inner-chamber of the soul of those deemed worthy of it, and it somehow eludes all description.

A man says that he is experiencing the full fragrance of this myrrh within him. Someone happens to praise him, and if he feels the slightest stir of the heart or if he grasps the full import of what is being said, then he is certainly mistaken, and let him have no illusion about that fact. “Not to us, not to us, but to Your Name, O Lord, give glory” [Psalm 113:9]. I once heard a man say this with total sincerity. He was a man who well understood that human nature is such that it cannot remain unharmed by praise. “My praise shall be from You in the great assembly, Lord” [Psalm 21:26], that is, IN THE LIFE TO COME, and I cannot accept it before that without risk to myself…

“…Better to offend man than God. For God is delighted when He sees us courting dishonor for the purpose of crushing, striking, and destroying our EMPTY SELF-ESTEEM. And virtue of this sort comes only from a complete abandonment of the world and only the really great can endure the derision of their own folk. This should not surprise you. The fact is that no one can climb a ladder in a single stride. And in this matter it is not on account of the devils subjected to us that men will recognize us as disciples of God, but because OUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN THE HEAVEN OF HUMILITY [cf. Luke 10:30].

A lemon tree naturally lifts its branches upwards when it has no fruit. The more its branches bend, THE MORE FRUIT YOU WILL FIND THERE. The meaning of this will be clear to the man disposed to understand it. Holy humility from God the power to yield fruit thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. The DISPASSIONATE attain that last degree, the courageous the middle, and everyone can rise to the first. The man who has come to know himself is never fooled into reaching for what is beyond him. He keeps his feet henceforth on the blessed path of humility.

Many have attained salvation without the aid of prophecies, illumination, signs and wonders. BUT WITHOUT HUMILITY NO ONE WILL ENTER THE MARRIAGE CHAMBER, FOR HUMILITY IS THE GUARDIAN OF SUCH GIFTS. WITHOUT IT, THEY WILL BRING DISASTER ON THE FRIVOLOUS…The man who asks God for less than he deserves will certainly receive more, as is shown by the Publican who begged forgiveness but obtained salvation [cf. Luke 18:10-14]. And the robber asked only to be remembered in the Kingdom, yet he inherited all of Paradise [cf. Luke 23-43].

In the created world fire cannot naturally be both small and great at one and the same time. HUMILITY CANNOT BE GENUINE AND AT ONE AND THE SAME TIME HAVE A WORLDLY STRAIN. GENUINE HUMILITY IS NOT IN US IF WE FALL INTO VOLUNTARY SIN, AND THIS IS THE SIGN THAT THERE IS SOMETHING MATERIAL STILL WITHIN US.

The Lord understood that THE VIRTUE OF THE SOUL IS SHAPED BY OUR OUTWARD BEHAVIOR. He therefore took a towel and showed us how to walk the road of humility [cf. John 13:4]. The soul indeed is molded by the doings of the body, conforming to and taking shape from what it does. To one of the Angels it was the fact of being a ruler that led to pride, though it was not for this reason that the prerogative was originally granted to him…if pride turned some of the Angels into demons, then HUMILITY CAN DOUBTLESS MAKE ANGELS OUT OF DEMONS. So take heart, all you sinners.

Let us strive with all our might to reach that summit of humility or let us at least climb onto her shoulders. And if this is too much for us, let us at least not tumble out of her arms, since after such a tumble a man will scarcely receive any kind of everlasting gift. Humility has its signs. It also has it sinews and its ways, and these are as follows–poverty, withdrawal from the world, the concealment of one’s wisdom, simplicity of speech, the seeking of alms, the disguising of one’s nobility, the exclusion of free and easy relationships, the banishment of idle talk…

“…If you wish to fight against passion, take humility as your ally, for she will tread on the asp and the basilisk of sin and despair, and she will trample under foot the lion and the serpent of physical devilshiness and cunning [cf. Psalm 90:13]. HUMILITY IS A HEAVENLY WATERSPOUT WHICH CAN LIFT THE SOUL FROM THE ABYSS UP TO HEAVEN’S HEIGHT. Someone discovered in his heart how beautiful humility is, and in his amazement he asked her to reveal her parent’s name. Humility smiled, joyous and serene: “Why are you in such a rush to learn the name of my begetter? He has no name, nor will I reveal him to you until you have God for your possession. To Whom be glory forever.” Amen.

The sea is the source of the fountain, and HUMILITY IS THE SOURCE OF DISCERNMENT.” [Source: The Ladder of Divine Ascent]

___________
“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

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 STEPS TO A MORE VIRTUOUS AND SAINTLY LIFE
FOUND IN THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT.
By Saint John Climacus

As the Orthodox Christian continues to be engaged in spiritual warfare he or she needs guidance and ascetical effort to fight against the passions and the attainment of the key virtues that define the life of a committed Christian. Our Holy Orthodox Church provides the necessary tools and examples to accomplish this most important task through the life and teachings of Saints such as Saint John Climacus. Saint John is a monastic who writes to fellow monastics. However, there are many of his teachings that unquestionably benefit Christians in general. "God is the life of all free beings. He is the salvation of believers and unbelievers, of the just or the unjust…of monks or those living in the world, of the educated or the illiterate, of the healthy or the sick, of the young or the very old. He is like the outpouring of light, the glimpse of the sun, or the change of the weather, which are the same for everyone without exception. ‘For God is no respecter of persons’ [Romans 2:11]." (Step 1).

Saint John Climacus writes: "Do whatever good you may. Speak evil of no one. Tell no lie. Despise no one and carry no hate. Do not separate yourself from the church assemblies. Show compassion to the needy. Do not be a cause of scandal to anyone. Stay away from the bed of another… If you do all of this, you will not be far from the Kingdom of Heaven" (Step1).

Saint John defines what it means to be a Christian to those "in the world," and those who withdraw "from the world." A Christian is "an imitator of Jesus Christ IN THOUGHT, WORD AND DEED, as far as this is humanly possible, and he believes rightly and blamelessly in the Holy Trinity." According to Metropolitan Kallistos Ware, of blessed memory, who summarizes the contents of The Ladder of Divine Ascent; the s"PASSIONS" CAN BE LISTED AS THOSE THAT ARE PHYSICAL AND MATERIAL, such as:

GLUTTONY: "Gluttony is hypocrisy of the stomach.
Filled, it means about scarcity; stuffed, and crammed,
it wails about hunger" (Step 14).

LUST. "This demon is especially on the lookout for our
weak moments and will viciously assail us when we
are physically unable to pray against it" (Step 15).

AVARICE. "Anger and gloom never leave the miserly"
(Step 16-7).

PASSIONS THAT ARE NON-PHYSICAL:

ANGER. "Anger is an indication of concealed hatred, of
grievance nursed. Anger is the wish to harm someone
who has provoked you" (Step 8)

MALICE. "Worms thrive in a rotten tree, malice
thrives in the deceptively meek and silent" (Step 9).

SLANDER. "Slander is the offspring of hatred, a subtle
and yet crass disease, a leech in hiding and escaping
notice, wasting and draining away the lifeblood of
love" (Step 10).

TALKATIVENESS. "It is hard to keep water in without a
dike. But it is harder still to hold in one’s tongue" (Step 11).

FALSEHOOD. "Lying is the destruction of charity, and
perjury the very denial of God" (Step 12).

DESPONDENCY. "Tedium is a paralysis of the soul, a
laziness in the singing of psalms, a weakness, prayer"
[Step13].

INSENSITIVITY. "Detachment he praises, and he
shamelessly fights over a rag… He looks people
in the eye with passion and talks about chastity"
[Step 18-20].

FEAR. "Fear is danger tasted in advance, a quiver as
the heart takes flight before unnamed calamity. Fear
is a loss of assurance" [Step 21].

VAINGLORY. "A vainglorious person is a believer–and
an idolator. Apparently honoring God, he actually is
out to please not God, but men" [Step 22].

PRIDE. "Most of the proud never really discover their
true selves. They think they have conquered their
passions and they find out how poor they really are
only after they die" [Step 23].

STILLNESS. "Stillness of soul is the accurate knowledge
of one’s thoughts and is an unassailable mind" [Step 27].

PRAYER. "Future gladness, action without end, wellspring
of virtues, source of grace, hidden progress, food for the
soul… an axe against despair, hope demonstrated" [Step 28].

DISPASSION. "By dispassion I mean a heaven of the mind
within the heart, which regards the artifice of demons as a
contemptible joke" [Step 29].

AGAPE (LOVE). "The person who wants to talk about abape is
undertaking to speak about God. But it is risky to talk about
God and could even be dangerous for the unwary. Angelas know
how to speak about agape, but even they do so only in proportion
to the light within them. "GOD IS AGAPE" [1 John 4:16]. But
someone eager to define this is blind, striving to measure the sand
in the ocean. Agape (Love), by its nature, is a resemblance to God,
insofar as this is humanly possible. In its activity it is inebriation
of the soul. Its distinctive character is to be a Fountain of Faith,
an abyss of patience, a sea of humanity. Agape is the banishment
of every sort of contrariness, for agape thinks no evil" [Step 30].

________________
"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

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 STEPS LISTED IN THE LADDER OF DIVINE ASCENT
By Saint John Climacus

Step 1

ON RENUNCIATION OF LIFE

"God is the life of all free beings. He is the salvation of all, of believers or unbelievers, of the just or the unjust, of the pious or the impious, of those freed from the passions or caught up in them, of monks or those living in the world, of hte educated or the illiterate, of the healthy or the sick, of the young or the very old. He is like the outpouring of light, the glimpse of the sun, or the changes of the weather, which are the same for everyone without exception, "For God is no respecter of persons" [Romans 2:11]. An impious man is a rational being, one that must die, who willingly runs away from life, and refuses to believe in the existence of his own Everlasting Creator. A transgressor is someone who observes the Divine Law only in his own depraved fashion and holds on to heretical belief in opposition to God. A CHRISTIAN IS AN IMITATOR OF CHRIST IN THOUGHT, WORD AND DEED, AS FAR AS THIS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE, AND HE BELIEVES RIGHTLY AND BLAMELESSLY IN THE HOLY TRINITY. A friend of God is the one WHO LIVES IN COMMUNION WITH ALL THAT IS NATURAL AND FREE FROM SIN AND WHO DOES NOT NEGLECT TO DO WHAT GOOD HE CAN. The self-controlled man strives with all his might amidst the trials, the snares, and the noise of the world, to be like someone who rises above them.

The monk finds himself in an earthly and defiled body, but pushes himself into the rank and status of the incorporeal Angels. The monk clings only to the Commandments and words of God in every season and place and matter. The monk is ever embattled with what he is, and he is teh unfailing warder of his senses. The monk has a body made holy, a tongue purified, a mind enlightened. Asleep or awake, the monk is a soul pained by THE CONSTANT REMEMBRANCE OF DEATH. WITHDRAWL FROM THE WORLD IS A WILLING HATRED OF ALL THAT IS MATERIALLY PRIZED, A DENIAL OF NATURE FOR THE SAKE OF WHAT IS ABOVE NATURE.

All this is done by those who WILLINGLY TURN FROM THE THINGS OF THIS LIFE, EITHER FOR THE SAKE OF THE COMING KINGDOM, OR BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF THEIR SINS OR ON ACCOUNT OF THEIR LOVE OF GOD. Without such objectives the denial of the world would make no sense. God who judges the contest stands waiting to see how it ends for the one who has taken on this race."

Step 2

ON DETACHMENT

"If you truly love God and long to reach the Kingdom that is to come, if you are truly pained by your failings and are mindful of punishment and of the Eternal Judgment, if you are truly afraid to die, then it will not be possible to have an attachment, or anxiety, or concerns FOR MONEY, FOR POSSESSIONS, FOR FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS, FOR WORLDLY GLORY, FOR LOVE AND BROTHERHOOD, INDEED FOR ANYTHING OF EARTH. All worry about one’s condition, even for one’s body,will be pushed aside as hateful. Stripped OF ALL THOUGHT OF THESE, CARING NOTHING ABOUT THEM, ONE WILL TURN FREELY TO CHRIST. One who look to heaven and to the help coming from there, as in the scriptural sayings: "I WILL CLING CLOSE TO YOU" [Psalm 62:9]…

CONCEIT may lead to disparage the secular life or secretly to despise those on the outside. We may act in this way in order to escape despair or to obtain hope. We should therefore heed the Lord when speaking to the young man who kept almost all the Commandments" "You need one thing, to sell what you have and to give it to the poor" [Mark 10:21], for by making himself a pauper the young man would learn to accept the charity of others.
If we really wish to enter the contest of religious life, we should pay careful heed to the sense in which the Lord described those remaining in the world as living corpses [Matthew 8:22]. What He said was, in effect, "Let the living dead who are in the world bury those dead in the body."

Step 3

ON EXILE

"There is such a thing as exile, an irrevocable renunciation of everything in one’s familiar surroundings that hinders one from attaining the ideal of holiness. Exile is a disciplined heart, unheralded wisdom, an unpublicized understanding, a hidden life, masked ideals. It is UNSEEN MEDITATION, THE STRIVING TO BE HUMBLE, A WISH FOR POVERTY, THE LONGING FOR WHAT IS DIVINE. IT IS AN OUTPOURING OF LOVE, A DENIAL OF VAINGLORY, A DEPTH OF SILENCE…"

Step 4

ON OBEDIENCE

"It is right that our treatise should now deal with the warriors and athletes of Christ.
As flower comes before every fruit, so EXILE OF BODY OR WILL PRECEDES ALL OBEDIENCE. On these two virtues, as on two golden wings, the holy soul rises serenely to heaven. Perhaps it was of this the Prophet sang when filled with the Holy Spirit, he said, "Who will give me the wings of a dove?" and, "The active life will give me flight and I will be at rest in contemplation and lowliness" [Psalm 54:7]…
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 RENUNCIATION OF LOWLINESS…INDEED, TO OBEY IS, WITH ALL DELIBERATENESS, TO PUT ASIDE THE CAPACITY TO MAKE ONE’S OWN JUDGMENT.

The beginning of the mortification of both the soul’s will and also of the body’s members is hard. The halfway stage is sometimes difficult, sometimes not. but the end is LIBERATION FROM THE SENSES AND FREEDOM FROM PAIN…"

Step 5

ON PENITENCE

"REPENTANCE is the RENEWAL OF BAPTISM AND IS A CONTRACT WITH GOD FOR A FRESH START IN LIFE. REPENTANCE goes shopping FOR HUMILITY AND IS EVER DISTRUSTFUL OF BODILY COMFORT. REPENTANCE IS A CRITICAL AWARENESS AND S SURE WATCH OVER ONESELF. REPENTANCE IS THE DAUGHTER OF HOPE AND THE REFUSAL TO DESPAIR. (The penitent stands guilty–but undigraced). REPENTANCE IS RECONCILIATION WITH THE LORD BY THE PERFORMANCE OF GOOD DEEDS WHICH ARE THE OPPOSITES OF THE SINS. IT IS THE PURIFICATION OF CONSCIENCE AND THE VOLUNTARY ENDURANCE OF AFFLICTION. The penitent deals out his own punishment, FOR REPENTANCE IS THE FIERCE PERSECUTION OF THE STOMACH AND THE FLOGGING OF THE SOUL INTO INTENSE AWARENESS…"

Step 6

ON REMEMBRANCE OF DEATH

"As thought comes before speech, so the remembrance of death and of sin comes before weeping and mourning. If is therefore appropriate to deal now with this theme.
TO BE REMINDED OF DEATH EACH DAY IS TO DIE EACH DAY; TO REMEMBER ONE’S DEPARTURE FROM LIFE IS TO PROVIDE TEARS BY THE HOUR. Fear of death is a property of nature DUE TO DISOBEDIENCE, but terror of death IS A SIGN OF UNREPENTED SINS. Christ is frightened of dying but NOT terrified, thereby clearly revealing the properties of His two natures.
Just as bread is the most necessary of all foods, so THE THOUGHT OF DEATH IS THE MOST ESSENTIAL OF ALL WORKS…"

Step 7

ON MOURNING

MOURNING which is according to God is a melancholy of the soul, a disposition of an anguished heart that passionately seeks what it thirsts for, and when it fails to attain it, pursues it diligently and follows behind it lamenting bitterly…If you are endowed with mourning, hold fast to it with all your strength, for it can easily be lost if it is not well secured. Like wax melting near fire, it can easily be dissolved by noise, worldly cares, and luxury, but, in particular, bey garrulity and frivolity."

(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

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.

SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS, THE AUTHOR OF "THE LADDER
OF DIVINE ASCENT."

Saint John’s prayer also had the power TO HEAL VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE WOUNDS. It was thus that he delivered a onk from the demon of lust, which had pushed him to the point of despair. On another occasion, he made rain fall. Yet it was above all in the gift of spiritual teaching that God manifested His grace in him. Basing his teaching on his personal experience, he generously instructed all those who came to him on the snares which lay in wait for monks IN THEIR BATTLE PASSIONS AND AGAINST THE PRINCE OF THIS WORLD. This spiritual teaching, however, attracted the jealousy of some who then spread calumnies about him, accusing him of being a conceited chatterer. Although his conscience was clear, Abba (Father) John did not attempt to justify himself but, seeking rather to take away any pretext from those who sought one, he stopped teaching for a whole year, convinced that it was better to do some slight harm to his friends rather than to exacerbate the resentment of the wicked. All the inhabitants of the desert were edified at his silence and by this proof of humility, and it was only at the insistence of his repentant calumniators that he agreed to receive visitors again.

Filled with all the virtues of action and contemplation, and having arrived at the summit of the holy ladder through victory over all the passions of the old man, Saint John SHONE LIKE A STAR ON THE SINAI PENINSULA AND WAS HELD IN AWE BY ALL THE MONKS. He though himself no less of a beginner for all that and, avid to find examples of evangelical conduct, undertook journeys to various Egyptian monasteries. He visited in particular a great coenobitic monastery in the region of Alexandria, a veritable earthly paradise which was governed by a shepherd gifted with infallible discernment. This brotherhood was united by such charity in the Lord, exempt from all familiarity and useless talk, that the monks scarcely needed the warnings of the superior, for they mutually encouraged each other to a most divine vigilance. Of their virtues, the most admirable, according to Saint John, was the way they were especially careful never to "INJURE A BROTHER’S CONSCIENCE" IN THE SLIGHTEST. He was also very edified by a visit to a dependency of this monastery, called "The Prison," where monks who had gravely sinned lived in extreme ascesis and gave extraordinary proof OF REPENTANCE, STRAINING BY THEIR LABORS TO RECEIVE GOD’S FORGIVENESS. Far from appearing as hard and intolerable, this prison seemed rather to the Saint to be THE MODEL OF MONASTIC LIFE: "A SOUL THAT HAS LOST ITS ONE–TIME CONFIDENCE AND ABANDONED ITS HOPE OF DISPASSION, THAT HAS BROKEN THE SEAL OF CHASTITY, THAT HAS SQUANDERED THE TREASURY OF DIVINE GRACES, THAT HAS REJECTED THE LORD’S COMMAND…AND THAT IS WOUNDED AND PIERCED BY SORROW WAS IT REMEMBERS ALL THIS, WILL NOT ONLY TAKE ON THE LABORS MENTIONED ABOVE WITH ALL EAGERNESS, BUT WILL EVEN DECIDE DEVOUTLY TO KILL ITSELF WITH PENITENTIAL WORKS. IT WILL DO SO IF THERE IS IN IT ONLY THE TINIEST SPARK OF LOVE OR OF FEAR OF THE LORD."

When the Saint had sojourned these forty years in the desert, he was charged by God, like a second Moses, to be at the head of this new Israel by becoming Egoumenos (Abbot) of the Monastery at the foot of the holy mountain [650 A.D.]. It is recounted that, on the day of HIS ENTHRONEMENT, SIX HUNDRED PILGRIMS WERE PRESENT, and when they were all seated for the meal, the Great Prophet Moses himself, dressed in a white tunic, could be seen coming and going, giving orders with authority to the cooks, the cellarers, the stewards and the other helpers.

Having penetrated into the mystical darkness of contemplation, this new Moses, having been initiated into the secrets of the spiritual Law, and coming back down the mountain impassible, HIS FACE TRANSFIGURE BY DIVINE GRACE, WAS ABLE TO BECOME FOR ALL THE SHEPHERD, THE PHYSICIAN AND THE SPIRITUAL MASTER. Carrying within him the Book written by God, he did not have need of other books to teach his monks the science of the sciences and the art of arts.

The Egoumenos (Abbot) of Raitho, who was also named John, having been informed of the wonderful manner of life of the monks of Sinai, wrote to Saint John, asking him to explain briefly but in an methodical way what those who who had embraced THE ANGELIC LIFE (monastic life) should do in order to be saved. He who did not know how to go against the wishes of another, thus engraved with the stylus of his own experience the Tablets of the SPIRITUAL LAW. He presented this treatise as A LADDER OF THIRTY STEPS, THAT JACOB, "HE WHO SUPPLANTED THE PASSIONS" CONTEMPLATED WHILE HE WAS LYING ON THE BED OF ASCESIS [Genesis 28:12).  In his Orthodox Summa OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE, which has remained for centuries the outstanding guide to EVANGELICAL LIVING, both for monks and for lay people.  Saint John does not institute rules but,  by practical recommendations, judiciously-chosen details and short pithy maxims and riddles often full of humor, he initiates THE SOUL INTO SPIRITUAL COMBAT AND THE DISCERNMENT OF THOUGHTS.  His "WORD" is brief, dense and tapered,  and it penetrates like a sword to the depths of the soul, uncompromisingly cutting out all self-satisfaction, and tracing HYPOCRITICAL ASCESIS AND EGOISM TO THEIR ROOTS. LIKE THAT OF SAINT GREGORY IN THE THEOLOGICAL DOMAIN, THIS "WORD" IS THE GOSPEL PUT INTO PRACTICE, AND IT WILL LEAD MOST SURELY THOSE WHO LET THEMSELVES BE IMPREGNATED BY IT THROUGH AN ASSIDUOUS READING TO THE  GATE OF HEAVEN, WHERE CHRIST AWAITS US.

"…I think that he who is deprived of it should weep not so much over
the torments of gehenna as over being deprived of the good things of
heaven, for this alone is the cruelest of all punishments" [Homily 1, to