After Epiphany — Yearning for a Retreat
Yearning for ‘Thin Places’ where Cassocks can by Hung on the Rays of the Sun
Monthly Archives: January 2016
In Memoriam: Sister Aggeliki Tsaousi the Unmercenary Paediatrician (1932-2015)
+ Memory Eternal! Καλόν Παράδεισον! + Theophany 2015
Today I have been to the Annual Greek Memorial Service for a very special person, one I consider my spiritual mother. On the anniversary of the repose the tradition is for members of the church to pray for the reposed during Holy Liturgy, at the very centre of the temple, with Koliva, accompany the relatives to the graveside with flowers, candles, incense, prayers and singing … and follow these prayers by a special meal with the family and friends.
After Meeting such a Person, how can you not change?
St. Porphyrios once told a Pediatrician: “Listen to what I have to say to you. Every time you examine a child*** you should offer a fervent prayer with love: Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on your servant.”
As he said this he took a deep breath while he opened his hands. “It is in this way that you should pray for every child. God has sent a precious soul into your hands. As you place your hands on them pray fervently within yourself that the grace of God will be transfused into the soul of the child.
“Do all this things spiritually and in secret. The others who are present won’t understand anything. You will prescribe to them medicines which science dictates but in the final analysis Christ will heal the child.” (source)
* This is exactly how Sister Aggeliki lived and ministered the needs of her younger (and older) patients. She was a true Child of God, taking care of all of us, children of God. She was a paediatrician for “paedia” (children) from newborn to 99+ years old 😊
Sister Aggeliki Tsaousi slept in Christ last year amidst the Lights of Theophany, having lived a long life of poverty for Christ, of sacrifice and prayer, dedicated to the ministering of the poor, the sick, the needy, the addicted, the refugees, families in crises, all her brethren in Christ, no matter what their country of origin was and what their religion. She established a charitable organization “Love of Christ”, recruited other like-minded volunteer doctors and founded an ‘international’ humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization (NGO), a model Doctors Without Borders, before that term was even invented. The fact that the doors of her clinic remained open 24/7 and welcomed everybody drew upon her the criticism, even wrath of some of Thessaloniki’s local society, who could not understand why she bothered with gypsies, Muslims, drug addicts, Albanians or atheists. She often got into trouble for being no respecter of persons, but the Lord did not abandon this handmaiden who trusted in Him and lived a life of holiness and humility. She was a woman of integrity, great strength and faith, and pursued the path of the Cross, of sacrifice, with the Holy Unmercenary St. Panteleimon and St. Nektarios of Pentapolis by her side, making their presence most powerfully felt in her daily ministry with great miracles of healing.
After Meeting such a Person, how can you not change?
St. Nektarios of Pentapolis (Sister Aggeliki’s Patron Saint)
Holy Unmercenary St. Panteleimon (Sister Aggeliki’s ‘Medical Assistant’)
I have never written before in my life an obituary, especially in a language which is not my mother tongue! but I feel deeply moved to make a humble attempt for Sister Aggeliki, since I have been blessed to be on her side for more than 2 decades.
Sister Aggeliki was truly, genuinely ecumenical. She “incarnated” John Donne’s Meditation:
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
Sister Aggeliki’s love for God and her ‘neighbour’ was proverbial, unwavering, selfless, unconditional and boundless. She was special and she made everybody feel special and loved! She became a legend all over Greece! A doctor who was never granted her degree, because as a University student she refused to take the oath, which was the custom of Greek universities back in those days, since she felt it contradicted God’s law: “But I say unto you, Swear not at all …” (Matthew 5:34).
A doctor whose career collapsed before its beginning, but not her calling! A doctor who never “earned” any salary for her services, who worked as a volunteer in all major hospitals, clinics, charitable and missionary organisations, in Greece and abroad, a doctor who was eventually hired as a cleaning lady (!) but was never paid, again (!), and even her “pension” as a cleaning lady went straight to the poor, the church and various charitable organisations, as we all found out after her repose. So, how on earth did she make it? This remains still a mystery to everyone but God!
Dear Sister Aggeliki, such zeal, such a pure spirit and love for Christ! She strove so hard to remain invisible, hidden, but God’s Grace “betrayed” her … She would make it a point to frequent ‘anonymous’ chapels to hide herself from people and their praise — indeed I remember her ‘confessing’ this ‘secret’ to me — yet, everybody recognised her everywhere and sought her blessing and her prayers! She was the families’ refuge and strength, a proverbial Rock in times of distress, always present in times of need, always preferring fasts to feasts, when faced with conflicting demands in her hectic schedule.
Serving as the doctor of ‘Love for Christ’, assisting administratively nearby and far monasteries , supporting charitable/missionary organisations, ministering the needs of the poor who flocked around her, had Sister Aggeliki working from dawn to midnight each day. In the midst of her exhausting ministry she devoted careful time to her inner life of prayer, composed Christian poetry and wrote Christian plays, kept a diary in which she set down her thoughts, feelings, and prayers, and systematically recorded Patristic teachings on monasticism together with her broad experience in contemporary monasticism, encoding them in her voluminous work, her magnum opus (in the editing process; under publication) Rule of Love for Christ: A Set of (Spiritual) Articles of ‘Incorporation’ For a Woman’s Monastery.
So, let me eventually dare upon a few vignettes …
Vignette1: It all started very unexpectedly, back to the days when my son was a toddler, and undergoing from one medical complication to another, being sent from one hospital to another, with doctors at their wits’ ends, experimenting on all sorts of medication on him, without being able to diagnose, let alone treat, his health problem, whatever that was. In despair, always in search for a paediatrician who could assist us in our impasse and bring our woes to an end, God took care of us and I was given her telephone number, I cannot recall by whom …
I remember our first telephone call in full detail. I was very upset and frustrated and all she did was calmly ask a couple of questions to understand what the problem was and then she paused! I thought the line was broken, but she was still there on the other side; she told me she had to pray so that she would not pile error upon error on this chain of medical misjudgments to avoid further jeopardising my son’s health. So, I waited and … waited in silence … Finally, she told me in full detail what we had to do, until she would examine our son, which she promptly did, once she was available, and then treated him for just one week, and do I need to add that she was correct 100% in her “diagnosis” and that this was the end to my son’s health problems?
You would not want to let such a paediatrician disappear from your life, would you? The fact that you would not have to pay anything for such treatment, or travel all the way to hospitals or wait long hours in queues outside surgeries, was the least for such a Godsend present. Even the fact that she never erred, even in the most difficult cases, never! , was a “minor” detail to what just a single visit to this amazing woman offered you. Really, could it be that people like her truly existed? Indeed, she was in “possession” of something which none or very few other paediatricians or doctors, or indeed anybody, could offer, and that was nothing less than a glimpse to another world, a beautiful world full of Serenity, Love, Compassion, Light, Peace, Hope and true Healing.
She was such a magnet and we soon got stuck to her, like practically anybody else who got to know her better. One could not help but be drawn into her strong, warm, calm, prayerful, charismatic circle of grace- and be changed! Gradually we even began to fathom the depths of her life and ministry if that could ever be possible ! Because you have to somehow be spiritually similar to such a person to be able to understand or describe her by any means. And we most surely were not. But we were blessed to be next door neighbours (😊), so we would regularly visit her at her home-clinic, and spend hours and days talking, praying, helping, planning … Yes, planning! Because during these intimate visits, we eventually became attracted to her vision and started ourselves volunteering to help other people.
All these long days of ministry, of driving her to homes in need, of visiting terminal patients, orphans, of children summer camps and soup kitchens, of concerts and plays, of sharing the holiness of fellowship in Christ and bringing the Church to the Laity of God, to give you just a few examples, would not only not tire us, but on the contrary would help us forget or deal better with “our” problems, would most deeply refresh us. She had such a fine sense of humour and was always so cheerful! So many memories, dear Sister Aggeliki, a true Angel, Messenger of God, so many words of yours still echoing in my ears, so many pieces of invaluable spiritual advice. May you remember us in your prayers now that you are face to face to God and behold His Glory in the company of His Saints.
After Meeting such a Person [Προς-Ωπο, Prosopon (/ˈprɒsɵpɒn/[1] or /prɵˈsoʊpən/;[2] from Ancient Greek: πρόσωπον, πρός (prós, “towards”) + ὤψ (ṓps, “eye”), most often translated as “person”, and as such is sometimes confused in translation with hypostasis, which is also translated as “person.”, but pros-opon originally meant a Person whose eyes are directed Up-wards, to Heaven — Sister Aggeliki’s eyes were most certainly directed Up-wards!
Vignette2: Preparations for a feast for the children’s summer camp were under way and a volunteer got very tired, lost its temper, started shouting at Sister Aggeliki and insulting her, and eventually slammed the door in her face! As if all this exhaustion had triggered an explosion of deep-rooted rivalry, jealousy, pride and resentment! She wanted so desperately to be in charge and lead! And what did most patient Sister Aggeliki do? Did she lose her temper? She was older, exhausted after all and suffering from cancer too. No, she just took a deep breath and started praying spiritually and in secret. I was stupefied !! What was that woman thinking?! Just the age, frailty and the habit that Sister Aggeliki was wearing should be more than enough to teach her to behave herself and show more respect! I rushed downstairs to try to appease her (to no avail), as she was still shouting at the top of her voice that she was right and that Sister Aggeliki was to blame for all this! So what did Sister Aggeliki decide to do? Magnanimous Sister Aggeliki, generous in forgiving an insult or injury, free from petty resentfulness or vindictiveness. She “punished” herself just like St. Nektarios, who rather than punish two students of his, when they misbehaved, when he served as the headmaster of the Rizarion Ecclesiastical School, he ‘punished’ himself and started fasting (ie. eating nothing!) and praying for their sake. Likewise, Sister Aggeliki repented, fasted, prayed and refrained from Holy Communion that Sunday until she confessed to her spiritual father and asked for forgiveness for a wrong she had not committed! Needless to add, she forgave that woman wholly and unconditionally that very moment and never entertaining any bad thought (logismos). Sister Aggeliki would always, very humbly, like her patron Saint, Saint Nektarios, endure injustice slanders and meekly face temptations.
Vignette 3: She was on her deathbed, facing terminal cancer, and stifling her moans with Hymns and Martyrs’ Apolytikia. To her very last day, she examined sick children and ministered people’s needs. Just to remember her hoarse from pain voice singing a hymn a day before her end reduces me to tears.
Vignette 4: The minute her pure soul flew to her Maker, Sister Aggeliki’s face glowed; she raised her hand with her prayer rope, and blessed everybody at her side, leaving this world with ineffable Joy!
After Meeting such a Person, how can you not change?
–– Geronda [ie. Saint Paisios], the final diagnosis has been made. Your tumor is cancerous and it’s aggressive.
–– Bring me a handkerchief so that I may dance to the song: “I bid farewell to you, O poor world!” I have never danced in my life, but now I will dance for joy as my death approaches. [Dialogue With Elder Paisios as He Faces Death at http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.gr/2014/10/ dialogue-with-elder-paisios-as-he-faces.html
And so, she danced her way to Heaven! Sister Aggeliki had always wanted to become a nun; she fasted and prayed like a nun; she owned nothing, gave away everything, and wore a habit all her life, but she stayed in the desert of the cities instead, because she sacrificed her “calling” in order to take care of her blind sister, who was suffering from a very serious mental disorder and was dangerous to herself, her environment and Sister Aggeliki of course. Humbly she would confess that this cross was for the expiation of her sins! She did not want to commit het to a mental institution, because this sister was simultaneously a fool for Christ, and wanted to spend endless hours in Church and in prayer. Sister Aggeliki knew that she could not lead such a church life in a mental hospital, where they would ‘sedate’ her with heavy medication, so she ‘waited’ by her side for 50+ years and would walk her to church whenever there was a service. Sister Aggeliki received tonsure only a few months before her death, when her sister had died. And yet, how moving it was today to hear her commemorated in Church as a “Sister”, because if there was any woman who deserved to be thus commemorated as a nun, if not on Earth, then surely in Heaven, this was most certainly her!
Today, during the Memorial Service, it suddenly occurred to me that rather than praying for her, we ought to pray to her, and ask her blessing from “above”!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZRrbixpVV0
Why these bitter words of the dying, o brethren,
which they utter as they go hence?
I am parted from my brethren.
All my friends do I abandon and go hence.
But whither I go, that understand I not,
neither what shall become of me yonder;
only God who hath summoned me knoweth.
But make commemoration of me with the song:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
But whither now go the souls?
How dwell they now together there?
This mystery have i desired to learn; but none can impart aright.
Do they call to mind their own people, as we do them?
Or have they forgotten all those who mourn them and make the song:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
We go forth on the path eternal, and as condemned,
with downcast faces, present ourselves before the only God eternal.
Where then is comeliness? Where then is wealth?
Where then is the glory of this world?
There shall none of these things aid us, but only to say oft the psalm:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
If thou hast shown mercy unto man, o man,
that same mercy shall be shown thee there;
and if on an orphan thou hast shown compassion,
the same shall there deliver thee from want.
If in this life the naked thou hast clothed,
the same shall give thee shelter there, and sing the psalm:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Youth and the beauty of the body fade at the hour of death,
and the tongue then burneth fiercely, and the parched throat is inflamed.
The beauty of the eyes is quenched then, the comeliness of the face all altered,
the shapeliness of the neck destroyed; and the other parts have become numb,
nor often say: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
With ecstasy are we inflamed if we but hear that there is light eternal yonder;
that there is Paradise, wherein every soul of Righteous Ones rejoiceth.
Let us all, also, enter into Christ, that we may cry aloud thus unto God:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
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He Laid His Hand On Him
The Life and Ministry of St John the Baptist through Iconography
St. John the Baptist has always been very special to me, ever since I converted to Christ and started regularly visiting my spiritual father, a spiritual child and tonsure of St. Paisios, at the Monastery of St. John the Forerunner (Prodromos).
John the Baptist uniquely bore record of both the Dove and the Lamb, la Colombe et l’Agneau. He was the angel-messenger of both the Holy Spirit and the Word, on earth, but also in Hades. He “saw” the Lamb walking in the middle of people in the Person of Jesus. And he testified with an absolute certainty that he “saw” the Holy Spirit descending on Him in bodily form like a dove. (Lev Gillet, La Colombe et L’Agneau, The Dove and the Lamb)
29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him. (John 1:32)
The Holy Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John is a towering figure who bridges the Old and New Testaments and who reveals, more precisely than his forebears, the object, the aim, the goal, the purpose of the preceding two-thousand history of the Hebrew people: namely, the advent of the Messiah, the God-man, the Savior, Jesus Christ. That was so since, as Saint Nicholas Velimirović of Ochrid and Zica writes, Saint John “especially differs from all of the other prophets in that he had the privilege of being able, with his hand, to show the world Him about Whom he prophesied.” [Prologue, Vol 1, p. 34. The Prologue of Ohrid: Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections and Homilies for Every Day of the Year]
“Moonless”
From your desert, my Saint John
where once your voice was heard
remember us and pity us
who are wasting away in a wilderness
full of human population.
By Alexandros Papadiamantis
The Bridegroom and the Friend of the Bridegroom
“He that has the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” (John 3:29)
Being born exactly half a year before Christ, John the Forerunner by the exact time of his birth depicted his mission of preparing the way for the Lord. He was born at the time of the year (June 24) when the day begins to grow shorter after the summer solstice, whereas the Nativity of Christ occurs (December 25) when the day begins to grow longer after the winter solstice. These facts are an embodiment of the words spoken later, by the Forerunner, after the beginning of Christ’s preaching:
“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). “The herald of the Sun, the Forerunner” was John the Baptist, who was like the morning star that announces the rising of the Sun of Righteousness in the East. (Saint John of Shanghai and San Francisco at http://passaicrussianchurch.com/books/english/ sermons_john_maximovich.htm#_Toc100019529)
Life of John the Baptist, Baptistery of St. John (Battistero di San Giovanni), Florence
Amazing details above! … Why is this Saint, almost uniquely, shown in many icons with wings? … As well as “the Baptist”, John is also known as “glorious prophet and forerunner of Christ”. Therefore, the presence of the wings is to symbolize John’s status as a divine messenger (in Greek “Evangelos”, from where the word “Angel” is derived). It’s worth noting that the wings of the archangels (Gabriel, Michael etc.) in icons are largely symbolic too, as they are not specifically described as having wings in the Scriptures.
But if that were all, then why aren’t the prophets of the Old Testament, or the Apostles, shown with the angelic wings of divine messenger? The answer, in the words of Jesus Christ Himself, is because “among those born of women there is no one greater than John;” moreover, he is “the culmination and the crown of the prophets”, as the hymn from the feast of John’s nativity proclaims. Therefore, St John is a special example among the Saints of an earthly “angel” and a heavenly man. As such, he is also described as the “Angel of the Desert” in the inscriptions of icons.
The life John led in the desert was angelic for two reasons. On the one hand he proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, becoming a herald of God like the angels. On the other, he lived a life of chastity, abstinence, and prayer, not being mindful of material needs, but with his attention fixed firmly to heaven. This is the life of the angels, and why the monastic way of life is sometimes called “angelic”, as well as why St John is the patron of monastics, hermits, and ascetics. For both reasons, it is appropriate to show St John with the spiritual wings of a dove.
She that once was barren now brings forth Christ’s Forerunner, John, the culmination and the crown of all the Prophets. For when he, in River Jordan, laid his hand on Him Whom the Prophets preached aforetime, he was revealed as God the Word’s fore-chosen Prophet, His mighty preacher, and His Forerunner in grace.
(Kontakion from the Feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist)
This is another vita icon, which shows not only John the Forerunner and Baptist, but many of the other feasts and traditions associated with him.
An explanation of the scenes often found in these icons is given below.
The scenes used in the 16th century Yaroslavl icon … are taken from a number of well-established sources: the Protoevangelium of James, the Gospels (notably St Luke’s), and other histories of the Church that record what happened to St John the Baptist’s remains after his beheading. Starting at the top left, and going from left to right across the icon, the scenes shown are:
- The angel Gabriel appears to St Zachariah in the Temple, announcing the future conception of a son: to be called John (Luke 1:11-17).
- Zachariah is struck dumb for doubting the angel’s words, the people outside the Temple realizing he has had a vision of God (Luke 1:18-22)
- The Conception of John the Baptist (Luke 1:23-25)
- The visitation of Elizabeth’s cousin Mary, the Mother of God (Luke 1:39-42)
- The Nativity of John the Baptist
- The murder of St Zachariah in the Temple by Herod’s soldiers, for not revealing where John the Baptist was hidden (Protoevangelium of James Ch.23; alluded to in Luke 11:51)
- St. Elizabeth hides the young John from the Herodian soldiers in the cleft of a mountain (Protoevangelium of James Ch 22, paralleled by Mary and Joseph’s flight into Egypt with Christ; Matthew 2:13-23)
- St. John, as a youth, is led into the desert by an angel, fulfilling the promises given to Zachariah, and Zachariah’s own prophecy (Luke 1:67-80)
- After years of ascetic life, “the word of God comes to John… in the wilderness. (Luke 3:2)
- John baptizes Jesus Christ in the River Jordan
- John baptizes the multitudes who flock to him (Matthew 3:1-6)
- John denounces the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 3:7-10)
- John is imprisoned for his criticism of Herod Antipas (not the same Herod who ordered the murder of Zachariah)
- The Feast of Herod, where Salomne is presented with the head of John the Baptist after beguiling Herod with her dancing.
- The Beheading of John the Baptist (the last three scenes are all recorded in Matthew 14:1-12 and Mark 6:14-29)
- John’s disciples take his body away for burial (usually shown without the head – Matthew 14:12)
- St John the Baptist appears in a dream to monks, telling them where to find his head.
- The First Finding of the Head of John the Baptist
- The appearance of St John to a monk in his sleep.
- The Second Finding of the Head of St John the Baptist
Other scenes that might be present include: Zachariah, mute, writing out the name of John; the denunciation of Herod by John; the preaching of John in Hades (the forerunner of Christ in life and death); In the centre stands John the Forerunner himself: the “angel”, or messenger, of the desert, holding a platter with his head. Other icons may show St John holding a platter with the infant Christ on it, also known as the melismos, or the Lamb of God.
The memory of the just is celebrated with hymns of praise, but the Lord’s testimony is sufficient for you, O Forerunner;
For you have proved to be truly even more venerable than the Prophets, since you were granted to baptize in the running waters Him Whom they proclaimed.
Wherefore, having contested for the truth, you rejoiced to announce the good tidings even to those in Hades:
That God has appeared in the flesh, taking away the sin of the world and granting us great mercy.
Links:
The Beheading of John the Forerunner and Baptist
The Nativity of John the Forerunner and Baptist
The Baptism of Christ (by St John)
The First and Second Finding of the Head of John the Forerunner
This Icon also encompasses all of the Church teaching about St. John the Forerunner: his announcement of the coming of the Messiah, Who was Jesus; his preaching in the wilderness; his baptizing of Jesus Christ, and finally his beheading on the orders of Herod for censuring the King.
… John is depicted … in the desert, wearing animal skins, with unkempt beard and long hair … The axe laying at the foot of a tree is an obvious reference to John’s own prophetic warning recorded in Scripture:
And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
To the bottom right of the picture, is John’s head on a platter, just as it was presented to Herod’s step-daughter, according to the Gospel of Matthew. It is because of this that John also holds a cross – the cross of martyrdom – and is turned to Christ in supplication, holding a scroll bearing the words:
Seest Thou what suffer those who censure, O Word of God, the faults of the unclean. Not being able to bear censure, Lo Herod cut off my head, O Saviour.
Over St. John’s camel-skin clothing is invariably a green robe, which symbolizes “earthliness”, and in this case it is because John grew up outside, in the wilderness. Later saints who also took up the Christian struggle in the wilderness can also be depicted in green for the same reason, and are sometimes known as “Green Martyrs”. That is to say they are martyrs (literally meaning witness) to the Faith, not by the shedding of blood, but by their ascetic struggle. Of course, St John is a both a green martyr and a martyr who shed his blood, hence the presence of the green robe and the cross.
John was the forerunner of Christ on earth, but also in Hades. Before Jesus’ crucifixion, death, burial, and descent into Hades, John too descended there to preach the Gospel of Repentance and coming of the Messiah to the imprisoned souls: The glorious beheading of the Forerunner, became thus an act of divine dispensation, for he preached to those in hell the coming of the Savior. Let Herodias lament, for she entreated lawless murder, loving not the law of God, nor eternal life, but that which is false and temporal.
He Laid His Hand On Him!
Source: iconreader.wordpress.com
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Spirit-Born(e)
On Being Spirit-Born(e), the Cost of Discipleship — Grace is free but it is not cheap! — and Two Questions
Acts of the Apostles 19:1-8
In those days, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.
Some say of Saint Antony that he was “Spirit-borne”, that is, carried along by the Holy Spirit, but he would never speak of this to men. Such men see what is happening in the world, as well as knowing what is going to happen. (Desert Fathers or Gerontikon, Sayings Of Anthony of Egypt, XXX)
The presence of the All Holy Spirit in and behind the Acts of the Apostles and within the life of the Early Church is all pervasive and an impelling force. It is apparent that Christians in the Apostolic era were Spirit-borne and full of power to heal the sick and preach the Gospel within the living tradition. St. Paul in his missionary travels encounters at Ephesus some disciples of John the Baptist (Chapter 19:2) who had never heard of the Holy Spirit. He asks them directly: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered: “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit!”
Archpriest Michael Harper of blessed memory observes: “Why is that somewhat brusque question Paul’s first remark to them? There can surely be only one answer. They did not look as if they had! (received the Holy Spirit) Something was missing that ought to have been there, something that men were beginning to look for as a distinctive mark of those who had had the characteristic vitalising experience of becoming Christians.” (Revd. Fr. Jonathan Hemmings, Fountains in the Desert, 85-6)
Why would St. Anthony never speak of this Spirit-borne quality among men?
Why today these miraculous gifts seem less evident in the Church?
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Meditation on Epiphany
Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost
Or Meditation on Light(s), Baptism(s) and Conversions in our inner life
Epiphany is not only the feast of the waters. Ancient Greek tradition calls it ‘the feast of lights’. This feast brings us, not only the grace of purification, but also the grace of illumination (in fact baptism itself was formerly called ‘illumination’). The light of Christ at Christmas was but a star in the dark night; at Epiphany it appears to us as the rising sun; it will grow and, after the eclipse of Holy Friday, burst forth yet more splendid, on the morning of Easter; and finally, at Pentecost, it will reach its full zenith. It is not only the divine light, manifested objectively in the person of Jesus Christ and in the pentecostal flame that we are concerned with; it is also the inner light, for, without absolute faithfulness to this, spiritual life wold be nothing but illusion and falsehood.
God, who had sent the Precursor to baptise with water, had said to him: “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptiseth with the Holy Ghost”. The baptism by water is but one aspect of total baptism. Jesus himself says to Nicodemus: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”. The baptism of the Spirit is superior to the baptism by water. It constitutes an objective gift and a different inner experience. …
One could say that Epiphany — the first public manifestation of Jesus to men — corresponds in our inner life to the ‘first conversion‘ (or ‘purification’). This must be understood as the first conscious meeting of the human soul with its Saviour, the moment when we accept Jesus as Master and as friend, and at which we take the decision to follow him. Easter (both the death and the resurrection of the Lord) corresponds to a ‘second conversion‘ (or ‘illumination‘) in which, confronted with the mystery of the cross, we discover what kind of death and what kind of new life this implies, and we consecrate ourselves more more deeply to Jesus Christ, through a radical change in ourselves. Pentecost is the time of the ‘third conversion‘ (or ‘union‘), which is the baptism and fire of the Spirit, the entry into a life of transforming union with God. It is not given to every Christian to follow this itinerary. Nonetheless, these are the stages which the liturgical year sets out for our endeavour.
By a Monk of the Eastern Church
The Year of Grace of the Lord
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Russia in Winter
Sunny forest (photo by Sergei Malinin)
Frost on Theophany (photo by Archbishop Maximilian (Lazarenko) / Expo.Pravoslavie.Ru)
First snow on the Sherna river (a river in the Vladimir and Moscow regions). A view of the St. Nicholas Church (photo by Irina Beloturova)
The Kantyube Mountain, Urals (photo by Alexei Klekovkin)
The Church of St. Dimitry Prilutsky on Navolok, the city of Vologda
(photo by Archbishop Maximilian (Lazarenko) / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
(Photo by Archbishop Maximilian (Lazarenko) / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
Solovki Monastery (photo by Sergei Veretennikov / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
St. Andrew’s Church (photo by Sergei Veretennikov / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
(Photo by Sergei Veretennikov / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
The bells ring joyfully in frosty weather (photo by Sergei Veretennikov / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
(Photo by Sergei Veretennikov / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
The first ray of light (photo by Sergei Veretennikov / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
Theophany immersion (photo by Vladimir Khodakov / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
Sunset (photo by Anatoly Zabolotsky / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
The Lavra (photo by Hierodeacon Gerasim (Pichugin) / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
A Nativity scene in Yakutia (photo by Marina Yurchenko / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
A Nativity scene in Yakutia (photo by Marina Yurchenko / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
Frosty haze (photo by Marina Yurchenko / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru)
The Crimea in winter (photo by Daniel Korzhonov)
The Crimea in winter (photo by Sergei Yershov)
The Holy Trinity Church in Antarctica
The last ray (photo by Daniel Korzhonov)
Photo by Vladimir
His Holiness Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All the Russias photo by Vladimir Khodakov / Expo.Pravoslavie.ru
Belaya Gora (White Mountain) and surroundings (a name of a mountain and village in the Perm region)
Belogorsky St. Nicholas Monastery, Perm region (photo by Vadim Balakin / Severniye Zemli)
Around Belaya Gora (photo by Vladimir Chuprikov)
A winter landscape in Belaya Gora area (photo by Vladimir Chuprikov)
Winter magic (photo by Vladimir)
Svetlaya (Bright) Bay, sea of Okhotsk (photo by Alexei Gnezdilov)
The Baptism of the Lord (photo by Vladimir Yeshtokin / Expo.Pravoslavie.Ru)
A Russian village
Winter sunrise above the Istra river, the Moscow region (photo by Andrei Ulyashev)
Ice on Lake Baikal (photo by Daniel Korzhonov)
Nighttime fairy tale (photo by Maxim Yevdokimov)
A monk fees a winter bird (photo by Anatoly Zabolotsky / Expo.Pravoslavie.Ru)
The sun illumines the trees covered in hoarfrost (photo by Vitaly from N-sk)
Photo by Marateaman
Friends (photo by Elena Shumilova)
(Photo by Elena Shumilova)
Kazakhstan, Lake Borovoye, the Goluboy Zaliv (Blue Bay) inlet (photo by Leonid Dyachenko)
Frost and the sun (photo by Viktor Kornyushin / Expo.Pravoslavie.Ru)
Winter sunrise (photo by Ilia Melnikov)
Winter sleep (photo by Tatiana Smirnova)
A lovely evening on Green Mountain, Sheregesh, the Kemerovo region
(photo by Valery Peshkov)
Frost and the sun (photo by Marina Nikiforova)
The ragged sky (photo by Marina Brydnya)
The Church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God in Red Square
Source: http://www.pravoslavie.ru/foto/set1466.htm
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Christ Won the Battle!
Fr. John Musther Of Cumbria interview last year at Orthochristian.com
AN INTERVIEW WITH FR. JOHN MUSTHER OF CUMBRIA
“Christ Won the Battle and Made my Heart Orthodox!”
made such an impression on me that I wanted to meet him in person! The Good Lord ‘arranged’ for me to visit him together with some friends all the way from Greece to the UK at his church-home! What a wonderful person and what a most heart-warming smile! Enjoy our tour to his chapel and home-church!
Do you perceive the movement of the Holy Spirit within the ever growing circle of grace? Divine connections, Divine providence, Divine Love!
Isn’t this circle of grace, which so often seems to be accidental or co incidental, actually providence and a sign of the Holy Spirit working amongst us? Glory to God πάντων ένεκεν! For everything!
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Unveiling Secrets
Still shying away from limelight 😊, yet added a few details in my About section. You are most welcome to have a sneak peak …
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Thy Nativity O Christ Our God
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Looking Back on 2015
New Year Wishes, some Reflections on the Movement of the Holy Spirit within the ever growing circle of Grace with Divine connections, Divine providence, Divine Love and a Selection of 2015 Orthochristian.com Top Posts
Isn’t this circle of grace, which so often seems to be accidental or co incidental, actually providence and a sign of the Holy Spirit working amongst us?
This is what a New Year always feels to me in the midst of the Twelve Days of Christmas!
Or, this …
One more New Year has arrived and we are offered:
12 more months for spiritual struggles
52 weeks for humility
365 days for patience
526.000 minutes for love and
31.536.000 seconds for prayer …
A Happy and Most Blessed New Year to All of You! With Health, Happiness, lots of Blessings, but also with Spiritual Struggles!!!
(BTW, this is a leap year, so, an extra day of courage (or patience) is required, and we are offered 1440 more minutes for love and 86400 more seconds for prayer, as I was ‘timely’ reminded by a precious friend 😃)
Now let’s have an OrthoChristian look back on 2015!
Here is my selection of some of their top posts. I hope some will be of interest to you. Other than the appalling human tragedy drama unfolding in the Islamic world, the rapid change in legislature in most Western countries to legalize unions that contradict God’s law and personal conversion stories, my most precious post at Orthochristian.com is one featuring an interview with Fr. John Musther Of Cumbria .
Fr. John Musther Of Cumbria interview made such an impression on me that I wanted to meet him in person and the Good Lord ‘arranged’ for me to visit him together with some friends all the way to the UK to his church-home! What a wonderful person and what a most heart-warming smile! (For a few photographs from our visit/ pilgrimage to his chapel and church-home, go to https://orthodoxcityhermit.com/2016/01/07/meeting-fr-john-musther-of-cumbria/)
Do you perceive the movement of the Holy Spirit within the ever growing circle of grace? Divine connections, Divine providence, Divine Love!
Isn’t this circle of grace, which so often seems to be accidental or co incidental, actually providence and a sign of the Holy Spirit working amongst us?
… We have seen a terrible human tragedy drama unfolding in the Islamic world. A hierarch of a mostly Moslem Central Asian country, Bishop Pitirim of Dushanbe and Tadjikistan had some profound words to say about Europe, Russia, and Islam.
The Folly of Comfortable Christianity
Aleppo
… And a representative of Conscience International, Orthodox Christian Isaac Clifford Gardener talks about the situation on the ground in the Middle East:
… People talk about their unique “Path to God”—how they came to Orthodoxy. Here are a couple of our favorites:
“God Told Me, You Must Convert to Orthodoxy!”
“You Need to Get Used to Orthodoxy.”
…
And here are some of our favorites from the rubric, “Orthodoxy Around the World”:
The Last Priest of the Peking Mission. A Talk with Archpriest Michael Li
If Jesus Is God, Let My Daughter Be Alive! Notes About Indonesian Orthodoxy
An Interview with Fr. John Musther Of Cumbria. “Christ Won the Battle and Made My Heart Orthodox!”
“The Indian Mission Will Be the Most Fruitful Mission in the World!”
I Believe in the Future of Orthodoxy in Indonesia
Finally, we would like to look back on some of our other favorite articles providing instruction, encouragement, and important information for Christians:
Why are There So Many “Bad” People in the Church?
How St. Xenia Helped a Woman Become an Iconographer
Patient Endurance is the Fruit Of Virtue, and it is Nourished By Prayer
In This Great Service: A Theological and Political Defence of Monarchy
Hidden Fire: Orthodox Perspectives on Yoga
Fr. Seraphim Rose’s Monastery. A Photographic Pilgrimage by Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov)
I have been so blessed within just a few months with so many precious ‘blogosphere’ to personal, intimate friendships! In a coming post I intend to dwell on this matter …
31 / 12 / 2015
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN FAITH AND LIFE 