Be very diligent in coming here early in the morning to bring prayers and praises to the God of all, and to give thanks for the benefits already received... and so pass the time of day as one obliged to return here in the evening to give the master an account of the entire day and to ask pardon for failures... Then we must pass the time of the night in sobriety and thus be ready to present ourselves again at the morning praise.
- St John Chrysostom
25th June, 2011: I realise that I have managed to cause offence with this post, and for that I offer sincere apologies. On consideration, I feel it best for the sake of honesty and integrity that it remain as it is, particularly as the opinions expressed herein have not changed since the time of posting. However, I realise that the tone is more ascerbic than is necessary for the point being made or than is characteristic of me. I ask readers' indulgence. This was written shortly after I received an e-mail in which my own parish had come under attack for being "more Russian than Orthodox", and I suppose the defensive spirit in which this was written is apparent.
I am an Orthodox Christian. This says certain things about my faith in God, my worship of God, the manner in which I try to order my life (however abysmally I may fail at times), and my understanding of the world and my place and purpose in and in relation to it.
Within that wider identity, I am Russian Orthodox. This says particular things about my expression of Orthodox Christianity: the hierarchy to which I owe obedience and under whose spiritual direction I fall, the manner in which I worship, the style of music through which I pray, and my adherence to the Church calendar and the traditional forms within the Byzantine Rite for which the Russian church is known. As a person of English birth, whose ancestry is a combination of French, Irish, and Afro-Caribbean, I have no problem whatsoever in identifying myself specifically as a Russian Orthodox Christian. By so doing, I am not claiming to be culturally Russian any more than my friends who identify themselves as Roman Catholic are thereby claimimg to be culturally Italian.
O Lord and Master of my life, drive away from me the spirit of despondency, negligence, avarice and idle talk. But grant me, thy servant, the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see mine own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed art Thou unto the ages. Amen.
Lord, I have cried unto Thee, hearken unto me. Hearken unto me, O Lord. Lord, I have cried unto Thee, hearken unto me. Attend to the voice of my supplication when I cry unto Thee. Hearken unto me, O Lord! Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice. Hearken unto me, O Lord!Above is a portion of the service of Vespers, slightly rearranged from Psalm 140. The Lord, I Have Cried is actually one of the most solemn portions of Vespers for me. Yes, we have the Come, let us worship and I love psalm 103 as the joyful start to the new day and the recalling of our creation but it is only truly at the Lord, I Have Cried, with its repetitious and faithful pleading, 'hearken unto me, O Lord' that my heart is truly called prayer, when I am moved to seek communion with God more fully.
Received today from Father Deacon Andrew Bond of the Church of the Mother of God, "Joy of all Who Sorrow":
Of your charity
pray for the soul of
Mary
Bond (née Galitzine)
who reposed in the Lord
at All Hallows Hospital
15 November 2010
May our merciful God grant her a place of refreshment, light and peace.
May her memory be eternal.
This is really quite lovely, especially the end. Young children praying in harmony always make me cry.
When I was newly baptised or perhaps still a catechumen, I picked up a great deal of what I know about Orthodoxy from discussions on the internet. Of course, one can question the wisdom of this as it has many pitfalls as well as advantages. Among these snippets of information was the rule that prostrations are forbidden on Sundays, in honour of the Resurrection. I had no reason to doubt this so I simply accepted it, and it was further reinforced by the fact that we did not make prostrations on Sundays at my parish, or at my local Greek or Antiochian parishes which I visit from time to time.
Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of his disciples said to Him, 'Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.' So He said to them, 'When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.'
For understandable reasons, people are generally quiet about their own devotions. The means whereby people prepare for Communion is a very private affair, best kept among God, the communicant, and the communicant's spiritual father or mother. Because of that, it is very easy to assume that what we do as inidividuals is the norm, without giving it a second thought. I realised a few days ago that I had fallen into the same trap when, on two separate occasions, I was put to shame by two people who innocently made their apologies as they absented themselves to make their particular preparations which made mine appear paltry by comparison. I know that the aim of these devotions and prayers is not to try to appear before God to be holier than another - after all, we know the story of the Publican and the Pharisee - but rather to humble ourselves before our Lord and God. I know that there is no question of contest or anything like that but I know that there are times when I could benefit from more rigorous preparation and I wonder whether I am perhaps too lax sometimes. I have thought about this a little more since a recent exchange on another blog.
I wonder whether I may put upon readers to take part in a poll about your own practice. It is entirely anonymous and if you choose to comment on the post with or without having taken part in the poll, you mustn't feel under any obligation to share the detail of your own practice. However, I think it may be useful for us to see how what we do compares to the custom of others, and to perhaps stir us to question ourselves about whether what we do truly is most beneficial for us. Perhaps, as well, we should remember that some work full time while others do not, some have children while others do not, some drive long distances to get to church while others do not, and that while others may do much more than we do, it may not necessarily be reflective of any lack of desire for Christ in our own hearts.
So here it is. The answers come from the rule of preparation in the Old Rite prayer book, with the exception of the penultimate one, which I think is a monastic practice but which I have heard of being insisted upon by some parish clergy.
Recent events have reminded me of this David Rudder song, popular when I was a child in St Kitts. We would often see news footage of boats leaving Haiti crammed with people, with yet more hanging off every proturberance. Often the boats would capsize or sink, and we would see footage of bodies being recovered from the water. Yet time and time again, people would risk this out of sheer desperation, eager to escape the extreme poverty and suffering of Haiti. Meanwhile, the rest of the Caribbean and the world simply looked on - and now this. How much more can these people endure?
I shall let the song speak for itself. To date there has been no word from the Orthodox missions. Please pray for the people of Haiti, and give if you can.
Update 15/01/10: Contact established with priest in Haiti.
Update 16/01/10: His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion makes an appeal.
Update 26/01/10: Reader Vladimir, from the Port-au-Prince parish of the Nativity, has died in the earthquake. Please pray for him, his widow, and his children.
Toussaint was a mighty man,
and to make matters worse he was black -
black, and that in the days when black men knew
their place was in the back.
But this rebel - he walked through Napoleon,
who thought it wasn't very nice,
and so today my brothers in Haiti -
they still pay the price.
Haiti, I'm sorry:
we misunderstood you;
one day we'll turn our heads
and look inside you.
Haiti, I'm sorry. Haiti, I'm sorry.
One day we'll turn our heads:
restore your glory.
Many hands reach out to St George's,
and are still reaching out.
To those frightened,
foolish men of Pretoria
we still scream and shout.
We came together in song
to steady the Horn of Africa
but the papaloa come and the babyloa go
and still, we don't seem to care.
Haiti, I'm sorry:
we misunderstood you;
but one day we'll turn our heads
and look inside you.
Haiti, I'm sorry. Haiti, I'm sorry.
One day we'll turn our heads:
restore your glory.
When there is anguish in Port-au-Prince,
it's still Africa crying.
We are outing fires in far-away places
when our neighbours are just burning.
They say the Middle Passage is gone,
so how come overcrowded boats still haunt our lives?
I refuse to believe that we good people
would forever turn our hearts
and our eyes away.
Haiti, I'm sorry:
we misunderstood you;
one day we'll turn our heads
and look inside you.
Haiti, I'm sorry. Haiti, I'm sorry.
One day we'll turn our heads:
restore your glory.
Haiti, I'm sorry.
For so long, we looked away; turned our eyes around. I'm sorry.
Dom Augustine, Abbot of the Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Royal since 1962, is gravely ill in hospital.
He is in his nineties and is ailing. Please pray.
With the Saints, give rest, O Christ, to the souls of thy servants, where there is neither sickness nor sorrow, but life everlasting. Thou alone art immortal, Who didst create and fashion man; but we mortals were formed of earth, and unto earth shall we return, as Thou Who madest me didst command and say unto me; For earth thou art and unto earth shalt thou return, whither all we mortals are going, making as a funeral dirge the song: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
My mother's anniversary falls on the 13th of June. Some of you who used to know this blog when it was the Sarisburium blog, may remember my posts a couple of years ago, when I learnt that her death had in fact been suicide. Because she was cremated and her ashes were sprinkled, there is no place that I can visit so I began the tradition in my Anglican days of marking my mother's anniversary each year with a requiem mass. However, this has become an even more poignant time of year for me now that I know the truth behind the scene that I found all those years ago as a child. Many questions have been resolved but many more difficulties have surfaced. My friends and my fellow Christians have been a great help.
The discovery led me, at the end of 2007, to search for my father, whom I had never met as he had left when he learnt that my mother was pregnant. Due to the wonders of Facebook combined with an unusual surname, it took no more than a fortnight for me to track down relatives. While I have gained a brother, and aunts and uncles as a result of this, I learnt that my father had died only months earlier.
On my mother's anniversary, I plan to offer a private reader-service pannykhida in memory of them both. While I know that it will be a week after the soul sabbath, and many of you will already have had your loved ones commemorated then, I would be happy to add to my list the names of anybody else for whom you wish prayers to be offered.
Please would you also pray for me? These discoveries are still quite recent for me and I still carry a fair amount of baggage. June is a difficult time as a result. Thank you.
Just add any names in a comment on this post and I shall remember them.
O God of spirits and of all flesh, Who hast trampled down death and overthrown the devil, and given life to thy world: do Thou Thyself, O Lord, give rest to the souls of thy departed servant, Patrick, and handmaid, Stella, in a place of light, a place of green pasture, a place of repose, whence all sickness, sorrow, and sighing are fled away. Pardon every sin committed by them in word, deed, or thought, in that Thou art a good God, and the Lover of mankind; for there is no man that liveth and sinneth not, for Thou alone art without sin, thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy word is Truth. For Thou art the resurrection, and the life, and the repose of thy departed servant, Patrick, and handmaid, Stella, O Christ our God, and unto Thee do we send up glory, together with thine unoriginate Father, and thy most holy and good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
I have just learnt from Aristibule's blog that two of our ROCOR Western Rite priests are currently in hospital. Fr Michael of St Petroc's Monastery in the Australian diocese and Fr David of Holyrood Hermitage in the Eastern American diocese are both battling against cancer. Please pray for God's mercy on them and for the spiritual well-being of those whom they serve during this difficult time.
Spiridon Stuart
I have received news within the past half hour that a member if my parish, known to me simply as Spiridon, reposed in the Lord last evening at approximately ten o' clock. He had been in ailing health for some time, having had a stroke some years ago, reducing his mobility, and having had a number of accidents in recent weeks.
Spiridon lived some considerable distance from our parish - up in Lancaster, in fact - and was seldom able to make it to church, although we kept in regular contact with him, and Father Paul and I visited him. He was always a bright character and had the most amazing stories to tell, including playful tales from adolescence, and stories of some of the delightfully colourful characters that he encountered over his years in ROCOR.
Before becoming Orthodox, Spiridon had been Catholic, and was in fact in the final weeks of his novitiate at Ampleforth Abbey when he felt that he could no longer participate in those forms of worship. In telling me his story, he shared that the last straw for him was the casual lack of reverence that was common, even at the monastery, in preparing the bread and wine for the mass. He saw this in comparison to the care and devotion that goes on, unseen, in Orthodox churches, (at the proskomedi), and felt that this was the way that the Eucharist ought to be treated and the this was the honour with which creation should hold its Creator. He left before taking final vows.
Yet he retained the link to monasticism. I was delighted to learn last year of his correspondence with Blessed Seraphim of Platina, for whom I have a great devotion but who reposed in the year before I was born. Spiridon was kind enough to share with me something of the love that he found in Father Seraphim.
Father Seraphim of Platina
Sadly, I shall now never see the letters that he had planned to show to me but to have had that sort of contact with somebody who had benefitted directly from the spiritual wisdom of Father Seraphim is good enough for me.
Spiridon's close ties to the monastic life were also manifested in his close friendship with the monks at Vashon Island, of whom he could not possibly have spoken more fondly. He would often spend months at a time at the monastery, and had expressed a desire for it to be the final resting place of his mortal remains.
Father Spiridon with Father Tryphon
What Spiridon had managed to keep very quiet was that he was, in fact, Father Spiridon, having been made a monk during one of his visits to the monastery. This has only now come to light since he was taken to the hospice last week. This had been known only by the monks, their bishop, and Father Paul.
Monk Spiridon received the Mysteries of Holy Unction, Confession, and Communion during Holy Week, and was anointed both by Fr Jonathan of the Antiochian Deanery and by our own Father Paul, during the last days of his earthly life, so he has been well prepared for his journey.
In a blessed falling asleep, grant, O Lord, eternal rest unto thy departed servant the Monk Spiridon, and make his memory to be eternal.
The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery: and their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace.
And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality. Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace he hath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust he hath received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them.
The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds. They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. They that trust in him, shall understand the truth: and they that are faithful in love shall rest in him: for grace and peace is to his elect.
Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord; and let light perpetual shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
Lord, remember your servant Karol Wojtyla. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in + peace. Amen.
I have come across many prayers online for the deceased pope, and I have found it interesting to see the different things that people have been praying for. This clearly reflects the different beliefs that people hold about death and what happens.
Death, judgement, heaven and hell: I have never been sure what actually happens here.
The protestant idea of death being an instant ticket to either heaven or hell has never sat well with me. It seems too mechanical and so out of accordance with the rest of the Faith, and it also cannot be explained in the light of the scriptural references to hope in the resurrection of the dead, especially the examples of people praying for those who had died.
The answer to this seemed logical - purgatory, but then this also seems to me to be rather mechanical, and again doesn't sit well. Now I'm not saying that I must be comfortable with every aspect of the Faith in order for it to be Truth, for that itself would be a nonsense, but the idea of Purgatory, with its time measured in years strikes me as odd, as I have always understood that time is a constraint of this plane of existence, and does not apply to those who have departed this life. Purgatory, I believe, is also an addition that was added by the west after the schism, and so does not have the consensus of the whole Church anyway. All of the above considered, the Church Militant, the Church Suffering and the Church Triumphant is not something that I can embrace.
However, I have, a few times now, heard Anglicans refer to The Church Militant, the Church Expectant, and the Church Triumphant. I rather like this. It seems to acknowledge that the dead require our prayers, for they too were sinners, much like us, and require God's grace and forgiveness, but it does not place too fine a definition on what actually happens. This, I can embrace, but I am aware that this has come only from my reasoning and I am keen to find out what orthodoxy says about all of this.
I know that the Orthodox do pray for those who have died and that they reject the idea of Purgatory, but I am not sure what they actually do believe.
Any comments would be welcome.
A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more. - Jeremiah 31: 15
Of your charity, please pray for the souls of all the unborn dead, that they may find light, peace and eternal life. May they, and all the faithful departed, through the + mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
I have written the following prayer, which some may find helpful. It is in keeping with this season of Passiontide.
God our Father, who formed our inward parts and knit us together in our mother's womb; as we meditate on the mystery of Christ's death and burial, help us to share in the grief of blessed Mary. Hers was the womb from which your beloved Son took human flesh, and so redeemed the world. Grant to all the unborn dead the grace that they would have received in Baptism. Turn the hearts of those who would end the lives of your little ones, for you have searched us and know the secrets of our hearts. Grant this through Jesus Christ, your only Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
...about whom I am rather worried.
He is 19. I have known him for about a year and we have become rather close. He is not from a religious background, but a couple of years ago came to an awareness of Christianity.
He has got involved with an independent "pentecostal" group, and is now very much a part of their community. Not only are they not within the Apostolic Succession, they do not have any concept of what it actually is. He asked about my church and I was trying to explain to him why the Mass means as much as it does to me as being central to the Christian Faith but his understanding was on a totally different level as he didn't even have a concept of Sacramental grace. From what he has said, this group sounds rather biblical fundamentalist. His parents, who are not opposed to religion, have raised concerns about his involvement with this group, especially as his 12-yr old brother has also expressed an interest.
When we began to talk about this in more depth, he said that he would rather not talk about it any further, as he didn't want to have an argument. This rather surprised me, because I am accustomed to discussions of a religious nature with friends, both in person and online, where we thrash out our ideas, often completely rubbishing each other's deeply-held beliefs, and then going to the pub together with no damage to our relationship whatsoever. If anything, such exercises help me to understand opposing views, and help me to understand my friends better than I otherwise would. It seems that he has not reached a level of maturity to be able to distinguish between intelligent discussion between people of opposing views and an argument. You will be pleased to read that I was not suffiently patronising to tell him this, but instead I suggested that he might enjoy reading some message boards, even if he preferred not to post. I recommended some that I know have posters of various traditions, but he saw this as very intrusive and did 'not want to be told what to do'.
I am sure that some of my concerns are the same as those of his parents, and I really do not know what to do do, if anything. This is his life, but I do have another friend who became involved in a similar group at a similar age. He is now 24 and has got past most of the psychological trauma that this caused. I do not want to see the same thing happen to my younger friend, but I am aware that any persistence on my part will just strengthen his determination to continue.
Please pray.
