Homily on the Meaning of the Holy Cross, by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes

The Holy Cross of Christ (source)

 
Homily on the Meaning of the Holy Cross, by Metropolitan Avgoustinos Kantiotes
My beloved, what does the Cross teach us? Take a chalk and write, like children do in school, 2+2=4. Thus, the Cross is the "equal sign", but what is it? Do you think that it is simply a piece of wood that we venerate and are saved? You are mistaken, because this is not how it is in reality.

The Cross equals forgiveness.
Because upon the Cross, Christ forgave His murderers. Are there today some here in church who are at odds with each other? Are there women who hate their mothers-in-law? Are there houses where people don't speak with each other? Are there neighbors that don't greet each other? Is there hatred? Well then, the Cross tells us today: "Forgive!" If you don't forgive, then don't approach the Cross, don't venerate it. When, within your heart, you have bitterness, you have this serpent of hatred, you can't approach the Cross. Because the Cross means forgiveness. You must forgive even your greatest enemy.

The Cross equals truth.
Even if they put a knife to your throat, and slaughter you, you should speak the truth. Not in the sense that you go to court and raise your wretched hand upon the Gospel and take a false oath. Not like this. Christ was crucified for the truth. Whoever says lies, whoever goes to court and takes false oaths, he is not worthy to venerate the Cross. The Cross, therefore, equals forgiveness, the Cross equals truth.

The Cross equals humility.
No--even though you might have a very large home, or more money or lands or animals, or if you have children studying in school or if you have a beautiful wife, or whatever else you might do--you should not boast or feel proud. You are not a Christian! Humility! Humble yourself to say: I am nothing, I am a worm, I am nothing in this world. However, when you have pride and you boast and you show off your body and your job and your money, then you are not a Christian.

The Cross equals love.
Is your neighbor hungry? Give him a piece of bread. Is he thirsty? Give him a glass of water. Is he naked? Give him a shirt to wear. Go and console him and wipe away his tears. This is Christianity. Not when you have everything and your neighbor has nothing.

The Cross equals sacrifice.
As Christ sacrificed Himself, thus we must sacrifice ourselves. This is what the Cross means. If you do these things, then you are worthy to be called Christians. But you who dip your hands in blood, you who take false oaths, you who are unjust to the orphan, you cannot approach the Cross. The Cross casts you out.

Read the life of St. Mary of Egypt. On this day, she went to Jerusalem and saw the crowd going into the church and everyone--old, young, women, men--were going to venerate. She herself tried to approach the entrance. But some power pushed her back. She tried and second and a third time, but she was unable. Why? Because she was a sinful woman, and she worked in sin in Alexandria. Only after she repented, then she was able to enter the church and she became a Christian in reality.

The Cross, my beloved, creates presuppositions. We must live corresponding to the teaching of the Cross.

And something else: You should make your Cross properly. Because unfortunately, in our faithless years that we are living through, everything has become fashionable. Fashionable hair, fashionable clothing, fashionable shoes, fashion everywhere. Unfortunately many in Church do it out of fashion. Unfortunately you see scientists, congressmen, ministers, prime ministers, and none are doing their Cross correctly. That which they are doing is not the Cross. It joking and mocking. It is playing with God. Do not play with God. How will they understand that you are a Christian? By your Cross. When you make the sign of the Cross properly, you are doing a whole prayer. Therefore, do your Cross properly.

And when should you do your Cross? When you awake in the morning, do your Cross. Are you going to work? Do your Cross. Are you going to your field? Do your Cross. Are you sowing, returning from your field, entering your home? Do your Cross. Are you sitting at your dinner table? Do your Cross. Are you going to sleep? Do your Cross.

"Though I fall, I make my Cross
And have an Angel by my side."

O woman, are you baking? Make the sign of the Cross in the dough. Wherever you go and whatever you do, make your Cross. The Cross is the "protector of the whole world."
(+) Bishop Avgoustinos
Imera, Kozani, 9/14/1965
(source)
   

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Encomium on the Lord, and on that Cloth that touched His Immaculate Body

Icon depicting the Mandylion of Christ and His Passion (source)

 

Note: Elsewhere, the possibility that the famed Mandylion of Edessa (the original now seemingly lost to history) is one and the same as the Shroud of Turin, has been discussed (for example, see here for a talk by an Orthodox presenter on the subject). There are many places where the history and science that supports this are discussed and disputed at length. In this post, however, I humbly aim to use the style of the Byzantine Encomium to accomplish several things. First, may we ever give thanks to our Lord and Master for all His many blessings to us, and especially for enduring His Passion for our salvation. Also, I intend this to prayerfully contemplate the Cloth (or Cloths) that touched His Immaculate Body, and both the immense theological implications of this, and the many wonders that He worked and continues to work throughout the world for those simple and humble of heart, who are seeking His face. Finally, I aim to marvel at even the possibility that the Lord, in His love for man, could have somehow left us a vivid Icon of His Passion and Resurrection, and allowed this to pass throughout the world and the centuries, healing the sick, warding off enemies and overcoming nations, and, seemingly more impossible, how He could have allowed this Cloth to even reach our days of hardened hearts and little faith, where scientists continue to be astonished at this Relic. Many are struck to the heart with contrition, humility and repentance, and some are even being brought to faith in Him through this. "Thus shall many nations wonder at him; and kings shall keep their mouths shut: for they to whom no report was brought concerning him, shall see; and they who have not heard, shall consider." (Isaiah 52:15)

    

Encomium on the Lord, Who suffered, slept, and arose in the flesh for our salvation,

And on that Cloth that touched His Immaculate Body

“Let the light of Your countenance be signed upon us, O Lord” (Psalm 4:6), for to us who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death (Luke 1:79), the Lord has appeared, to bring light to those in darkness. His uncreated light shines upon all creation as the true radiance of the Father (Kontakion of the Transfiguation), though we sinners, filled with countless sins and passions and weakness, cannot bear to behold His glory.

  
For, if the God-seer was told by the Almighty “You shall not be able to see my face; for no man shall see my face, and live.” (Exodus 33:20), how might we dare to behold the radiance of His face, before which tremble Angels, Archangels, the Cherubim and Seraphim. The Great Moses could scarcely bear to behold His back, bowing to the earth to worship Him, proclaiming: “The Lord God, pitiful and merciful, long-suffering and very compassionate, and true.” (Exodus 33-34).

  
And His Prophet Isaiah, gazing upon the Lord of hosts in His glorious temple, cried out: “Woe is me, for I am pricked to the heart; for being a man, and having unclean lips, I dwell in the midst of a people having unclean lips; and I have seen with mine eyes the King, the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 6:5)

  
For when the Prophet Ezekiel beheld the vision of His glory, he exclaimed “This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And I saw and fell upon my face.” (Ezekiel 2:1)

  
Truly, His glory brings fear and trembling with great awe upon Heaven and earth and the things below the earth, as Prophet Habakkuk sang in prayer: “O Lord, I have heard your report, and was afraid: I considered your works, and was amazed. “(Habakkuk 3:2) It is He “Whose glance dries up the deep, and Whose threatenings melt the mountains” (Prayer from the service of Baptism).

  
But, despite His endless might and glory and radiance, He, in a manner surpassing understanding, deigns to reveal Himself and to come to us in all humility, in gentleness and simplicity, “the voice of a gentle breeze”, as He appeared to the Zealot Elias (I Kings 19:12). Or as Psalmist chants: “He shall come down as rain upon a fleece; and as drops falling upon the earth.” (Psalm 72:6)

  
O, Your wonders, surpassing all wonders, O Lord! “Who is like to thee among the gods, O Lord? who is like to thee? glorified in holiness, marvelous in glories, doing wonders.” (Exodus 15:11) For the Son of the Father, “Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten, not created, of one essence with the Father, through Whom all things were made. For us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit, and the Virgin Mary, and became man.” (The Symbol of Faith) “This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of him. He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. Afterward did he shew himself upon earth, and conversed with men.” (Baruch 3:35-37).

  
The Lord did deign to come to us, humbling Himself, becoming conceived within the Spotless womb of the Virgin. He was born as a babe into a cave most cold and dark, He Who is the Light of the universe. He nursed milk from His creature, He Who nourishes all creation. He shows obedience, He to Whom every knee bows in heaven and earth and under the earth (Philippians 2:10). He puts off His garments, He Who clothes the Heavens with clouds. He is submerged in the waters of the Jordan, Who drowns error and disperses the hordes of the demons. He preaches, and heals both bodies and souls, that in every way, He might lead us back to the Father.

  
And He does not stop at this, but gives us His own Body and Blood, before His life-giving Passion. Behold! With the eyes of the soul, behold  “the true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world.” (John 1:9) Behold the Man of Sorrows, Who bends His knee in prayer to His Father, giving us a type of fervent prayer. He pours forth sweat as drops of blood, earnestly seeking to deliver the world from death. He endures the kiss of betrayal from one of His Disciples, and suffers buffetings, and scorn, and slander. The Judge of the living and the dead, the Judge most just, stands condemned as a criminal before Pilate. The Creator is bound by His creation, and bitterly flogged. His flesh is torn apart, Who wove garments of skin for the first-formed. He receives a Crown of Thorns, He Who is the King of Angels, Whose glory cannot be fathomed. He receives spitting, Who formed eyes for the blind man with His spittle, and the Purple Robe of mockery, Who adorned the vault of the Heavens, and Who holds the universe in His palm. He carries His Cross, Who carries time and space upon His shoulders, and stretches out His hands, uniting things that were once sundered.
  

One of the very early depictions of the Holy Mandylion of Christ, dated likely to the 12th Century (source)

   

“Let the light of Your countenance be signed upon us, O Lord.” Behold, behold the marks of the nails, the wounds on His precious head, the blood and water pouring from His life-giving side! Behold! The glory that surpasses all things humbles Himself, and endures everything, becoming “obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8) He breathes His last, and gives up His spirit, leaving us His life-giving Body, and the Instruments of His Passion for our consolation, our boast and our healing, for “by his bruises we were healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

  
Come, O noble Joseph and Nicodemus, gather your boldness to bury the Body of God. Bring your shroud, and your precious myrrh to bury this Stranger in a new Tomb (Homily of St. Epiphanios on Great Saturday), hewn from the rock, Who was hewn from the Virginal Mountain without the hand of man (Daniel 2:45). Cover the face that is the glorious radiance of the Father, soak up the Blood which re-creates all things. Guard with a Stone the Supernatural Stone, from Which our Fathers drank. (I Corinthians 10:4)

  
And after He dwelt bodily in the grave, and His Soul freed the prisoners in Hades, while dwelling in Paradise with the Thief, and never departing the Throne of the Father (Hymn of Proskomede), He Who is uncircumscribable, arose on the third day. He passes unhindered through the stone, Who traversed the portal of the Virgin (from the Praises of Sunday Matins from Plagal of the First Tone) leaving her unharmed. He sends His Archangels to roll away the stone from His life-giving Tomb, at whose appearance, the guard of soldiers became as dead men. He brings joy to His Mother and her fellow Myrrhbearers, making them the Apostles to the Apostles, to tell of the Resurrection.

  
Run, O beloved Disciple, and outrun Cephas, and together behold the Tomb, the sudarium that was upon His head, and the grave-clothes that covered the Immaculate Body of the Master. Behold! He is not here! And with panting, and fear and exhilaration, behold the signs of your risen Lord! The Tomb is empty, the Angel sits upon the stone, and the shroud is left behind, bearing the marks of His Passion. “Hear, O heaven, and hearken, O earth: for the Lord has spoken!” (Isaiah 1:2)

  
Behold the Wisdom of God has built His house, He has been slain (and is alive again), and has poured His Blood, and prepared His table, and calls His servants with a loud proclamation to a feast! “Come, eat of my bread, and drink wine which I have mingled for you.” (Proverbs 9:1-5) He does not leave us orphans (John 14:18), but leaves us another Comforter (John 14:16) to ever abide with us. He leaves us His Divine Mysteries, and leaves us His Image, and the tokens of His Passion, in remembrance of Him. (Luke 22:19)

  
O Lord, “You did not cease doing everything until You led us to heaven and granted us Your kingdom to come.” (Anaphora of St. John Chrysostom) You use every part of creation, visible and invisible, to lead us to Yourself. After Your face was washed and Your Precious Icon was imprinted upon the Cloth, You sent it for healing and protection through Your Apostle, Thaddeus, to the ailing King Apgar. By grasping in faith and love, he received release from his bodily infirmity. Though beforehand he sought that You might visit his kingdom in life, through his repentance and baptism, You were truly brought to Him together with Your Icon, and he was brought to Your Kingdom.
  
The king and the people who beheld Your image cried out to Him, as in the words of the Greatly-suffering Job, to Him Who once appeared "through the whirlwind and clouds" (Job 38:1): "I have heard the report of thee by the ear before; but now mine eye has seen thee. Wherefore I have counted myself vile, and have fainted: and I esteem myself dust and ashes." (Job 42:5-6) Your presence remained hidden for many years, while persecutions raged among Judeans, pagan rulers, and apostates, but was later brought to light again to save the city of Edessa.
  

Suddenly, the divine imprint of Your face, (both, not fashioned by the hand of man) brought joy and consolation and inspiration to Christian peoples. They began to properly depict Your immaculate Icon, as another remembrance of You that strikes fear in the hearts of sinners, and bears hope for those repentant, and brings joy to Your faithful servants. Your face was processed and supplicated by the rich among the people (Psalm 45:12), and soon proceeded to the Queen of Cities, which was greatly enriched by Your presence. “Myrrh, and stacte, and cassia are exhaled from your garments, and out of the ivory palaces” (Psalm 45:8) The king boasted in the King of Kings, and humbly bowed to venerate the Immaculate Icon not made by the hands of man, as He once told His friends: “Blessed are the eyes which see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” (Luke 10-23-24)

  
Though the City fell into the hands of her enemies, the glory of Your face proceeds forth unto Athens and Paris, unto Glastonbury and Torino and all the lands of the West. The humble and burdened among them take courage in You, as you spoke through Your Prophet: “Fear not; for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and will gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, Bring; and to the south, Keep not back; bring my sons from the land afar off, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; even all who are called by my name: for I have prepared him for my glory (Isaiah 43:5-6)
  

The astonishing photographic negative of the Shroud of Turin, depicting a moving icon of Christ's Passion (source)

   

Some deny You and are unable to gaze upon Your face, You before Whom tremble things above and below. But You, O Lord Almighty, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, Judge of the living and the dead, You do not cease doing all things and using every tool of creation to reach me, the sinner. You broadly cast out the seed of Your Word unto the ends of the universe, and Your wonders are read, and spoken of, and beheld in all places and in every hour. Technologies and science, though offspring of this fallen world, proclaim and cry out Your miracles, Your life, Your painful endurance of suffering unimaginable, and Your wounds that pour out not just Blood and Water, but forgiveness for mankind. And most of all, Your Resurrection is marveled at, and is praised and glorified unto the ages of ages. Your Icon remains, and becomes more astonishing day by day, for those who would wish to see. You speak to our hearts in a land of death and destruction, and You continue to stand, calling us day by day to return to the Father.

  

And now I turn to Your immaculate Icon, O Christ God, and the Cloth that depicts for us Your incarnation and Your Passion and Resurrection:

  

Rejoice, O Cloth, humble working of the hand of man, which was glorified so greatly to touch the Master Himself, He Who bowed the Heavens to embrace the earth in His love for man, and Who, with His hand, wove together all creation, both visible and invisible!

  

Rejoice, O Cloth, which dried the water and perspiration from Him Whose glance dries up the abyss! You encircled to embrace the Body of God that was dejected and cast off from men!

  

Rejoice, O Cloth, that gathered the Precious Blood and Water that flowed from the side of the Master, which He continues to pour forth for His servants daily! This is the Lamb of God "broken and distributed, but not divided; always eaten, yet never consumed, but sanctifying those who partake." (Divine Liturgy)

   

Rejoice, O Cloth, imprinted with the Icon of the Master without the hand of man! You became a teacher and archetype for us that our Lord should be depicted, and showing us how we are to properly paint the Image of God, Who became flesh for our salvation.

     

Rejoice, O Cloth, for you embraced Him Who is carried by the Cherubim and Seraphim, who cover their faces in fear before His awesome countenance!

     

Rejoice, O Cloth, which served as another sign of His Resurrection on the third day, both perplexing and bringing joy to the Apostles Peter and John, and later to all the servants of the Master!

     

Rejoice, O Cloth, which traveled as another Apostle throughout the world, proclaiming the Master's coming in the flesh, His many wonders, and His bodily Passion and Resurrection!

     

Rejoice, O Cloth, which brought healing to Apgar, and was at the same time, both glorious and humble like your Lord! Through you were enemies driven off and awesome and terrible wonders wrought, while you humbly endured to be hidden for many years.

     

Rejoice, O Cloth, which brought unending joy to the Queen of Cities! She, and all her faithful continue to depict your icon and chant in praise of the Lord, entreating for forgiveness of offenses.

     

Rejoice, O Cloth, which was humbly taken as a prisoner like the Redeemer, and brought throughout many lands of the West! You endured marks like the Master, being burnt and cut and put to doubt and scrutiny by men! But these have not diminished the glory of the One you depict. Not at all! But you continue to cry out and proclaim His wonders, bringing more to Him every day.

     

Rejoice, O Cloth, depicted in Churches throughout the world, in icons of wood and stone and cloth, in mosaics and frescoes, depicting the Christ Who put on flesh out of love for man, and Who endured His Passion, while arising on the third day!

     

Rejoice, O Cloth, becoming an Icon of what I must become! For the Lord calls me to become washed and pure likely fine linen, and to embrace Him, and to have Him alone marked upon me indelibly, to ever carry within me His Spotless Blood, and to keep His Icon unfaded unto the ages! For "all who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ." (Galatians 3:27)

  

O Lord God Almighty, "Who robes Yourself with light as with a garment; spreading out the heaven as a curtain" (Psalm 104), receive this humble prayer offered to You in thanksgiving and repentance and supplication. You Who are the Light unapproachable, come and clothe us with Yourself, for You are the protection of the naked, and light for those in darkness (Kontakion of Theophany). Grant speedy consolation to Your servants, O Jesus. Come, draw near to us, draw near, You Who are everywhere (Kontakion of Pentecost), that You might fill all things with Yourself (Ephesians 4:10). Grant us mourning for our sins and weaknesses, repentance and confession, and amendment of our lives, that through Your Passion, You might bring to us victory over our Passions. Grant peace to Your Church, to civil authorities, to all Your people. Unite to Your Church those who have fallen from her and bring to her Your sheep not yet of this fold. Protect the poor, the sick, and those suffering in any way, along with those who travel and those tempted. And let the light of Your countenance ever be signed upon us, O Lord, that we might be made worthy to ever behold Your glorious face in Your Kingdom, "for You, O Christ our God, are the illumination of our souls and bodies, and to You we offer up glory, together with Your Father, Who is without beginning, and Your all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen." (Prayer from the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom)

      

A famous Russian Icon (this version from the 14th Century from the State Museum of Arkhangelsk): "Do not weep for me, O Mother", which often depicts the Holy Mandylion together with Christ, "Extreme Humility" (source)

    
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

St. Gabriel of Georgia: "A person has nothing to fear before God..."

St. Gabriel the New Confessor of Georgia (source)

  
"Evil men don't exist. I have not yet met that type of person."***
(source)
  
"Though I lived in a cemetery, the Lord freed me from my fears and confirmed to me that a person has nothing to fear before God--except for sin!"
-St. Gabriel the New Confessor of Georgia
(source)
  
***Note: The Saint, in this beautiful phrase, expresses both the purity and innocence with which the Saints behold others, and the notion that man is created in the image of God, not inherently evil (despite our fallen nature), but it is our weaknesses and the guile of the demons that bring sin and evil deeds into man. Amazingly he says this after having been persecuted by Communists and condemned to a mental institution for his confession of Christ.
  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Vasilios of Iveron on Pascha 2020

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

The Resurrection of Christ (source)

"This year, the Resurrection tells us many things. If it is true what we believe, and if we are living that which we chant, that "we celebrate the death of death, the deposition of Hades, and the beginning of another, eternal life" (Canon of Pascha), then we would fear for nothing. And every single threat increases the power of the presence of the risen Lord.

"That which occurred this year with the Coronavirus is a temptation, but all temptations are transformed into blessings. We chant "let us say, O brethren, even to those who hate us." (Doxastikon of Pascha) And those who hate us are waiting for our love, and those who do not believe are waiting for the power of our faith. Therefore, if one believes, through this trial he has celebrated the best Pascha this year. In order to have the best Pascha at the time when you cannot celebrate Pascha, one must sense the power of the Risen One, and thus have community with all men.

"And while a temptation such as an illness can create problems, it can reveal the presence of the risen Lord. Amidst the messages and from within the souls of all men comes forth a consolation. The hymn of Kassiane says: "Who can recount the multitude of my sins, and the abysses of Your judgments, my soul-saving Savior?" On the one hand, there is the totality of sins and weaknesses. And on the other hand, there is an abyss of compassions, a bottomless ocean, where storms occur not just to clean out the debris that has accumulated in the lakes, but also to pour forth the element of healing.

"Therefore, the Church rejoices even more at the presence of the Risen One through this trial. And at the same time is also tested the material strength of our faith, and reveals the weakness of him who does not believe, but also, he who believes in himself and in his virtue. Therefore we have this current phenomenon. Some of the faithful--I don't know how to name them--trying to give consolation, condemn. They condemn the Church, and in essence, they reveal their own weakness. Therefore, let us thank the risen Christ, His Mother the Most-Holy Theotokos, and all the Saints who hold within them the Paradise of life.

"Let us entreat Christ to strengthen the truth of our humility, in other words, for us to sense our own weakness until our whole self is Christ. And then we can say together with the Apostle Paul: "For whether we live or die, we are with the Lord." Either we are living, or we are dead in the flesh, but our life is Christ. Therefore, "Christ is risen, and life reigns, Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the tomb." (Paschal Homily of St. John Chrysostom) To Him belongs the glory and the might unto the ages of ages. Amen."
-Elder Vasilios (Gontikakis), former Abbot of Iveron Monastery, Mount Athos
(source)
  

Christ is risen from the death, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, He has granted life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Bishop Alexis of Bethesda on the Current Crisis

An ascetic in private prayer for the world (source)

  
3/25/2020 - "Some Thoughts on the Crisis and the Call of the Corona Virus"
by Bishop Alexis of Bethesda (OCA)
The Bishops of the Holy Orthodox Church love their flocks and ever strive to lead them to well-watered and rich pastures. They care for them, body and soul. In so doing, they are following their Master Christ who not only “cast out unclean spirits,” but also healed “all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.” (Matthew 10:1). In the Gospels, we see that Christ sometimes treated the soul first and the body second; at other times, the body first and the soul second. In the presence of the highly contagious and potentially lethal corona virus, the Bishops’ concern is for the bodily welfare of their people lest even a single lamb be needlessly lost. This is not from a lack of faith or dearth of compassion, but from unwavering faith and an abundance of compassion.
  
Compassion is expressed in giving each sinner the time necessary to repent, for in “hell there is no repentance” (Saint John of Damascus). Faith is expressed in the certainty that our Lord can always be in our midst, that He can always be by our side, for the Psalmist proclaims, “If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there” (Psalm 139:8). And if I am shut up in my home away from Church, “Thou art there,” even as the Lord was there for and with the Apostle Peter when he was locked up in prison, so He is there for and with us.
  
During times of uncertainty, anxiety, and fear, we naturally turn to God for refuge, peace, and courage. This is our birthright as baptized Orthodox Christians. Indeed, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth should change” (Psalm 46:1-2). With the corona virus, the earth has changed, but we do not fear. The faithful are isolated in their homes, physically separated from loved ones, and even unable to gather together as the Church for the celebration of the mysteries, but we do not fear, for God remains our refuge, our peace, and source of courage. Many are understandably discouraged and downcast about the decision to ban eucharistic gatherings in Church for the sake of the health of our neighbor whom we love. Yet, God remains our refuge, our peace, and our source of courage. Within this trial, this threat to so much that we hold so very dear, there is a call that is given and a promise that beckons. But to hear that call and see the fulfilment of that promise, we need to approach our Savior as His faithful children have always approached Him, not with self-righteous indignation or self-pitying despondency, but with humble, patient hope.
  
The call is to prayer of the heart. The promise is the purifying and illumining grace of the Holy Spirit. In the emphasis on more frequent communion over the past forty years, we might be tempted to neglect the necessary ongoing moment-to-moment inner communion with Christ by prayer, that talking with Him and walking with Him that characterized most of the lives of the Apostles before and after the institution of the Mystical Supper. Many of our greatest saints were deprived of Holy Communion for periods of time that for us would be unbearable to contemplate, but that for them were periods of continued growth from glory to glory, because they were never without Holy Communion with Christ through prayer. Prayer is not easy; it requires concentration, dedication, and love, but through the gates of prayer, we can touch Christ, Christ can touch us, and we can be healed. It is imperative for us all to learn to serve Liturgy at the Altar of the heart and the time is now at hand.
  
During this crisis of the corona virus, we are given the opportunity to become men and women of deep prayer. We are given the occasion to “enter into our closet, and when we have shut the door, pray to our Father which is in secret” (Matthew 6:6), offering Him our repentance, our gratitude, and our love. We can come to understand that “prayer is a safe fortress, a sheltered harbor, a protector of the virtues, a destroyer of passions. It brings vigor to the soul, purifies the mind, gives rest to those who suffer, consoles those who mourn. Prayer is converse with God, contemplation of the invisible, the angelic mode of life, a stimulus towards the divine, the assurance of things longed for, ‘making real the things for which we hope’” (Theodore, the Great Ascetic, Century 1:61).  As Saint Sophrony of Essex puts it, “prayer is infinite creation, far superior to any form of art or science. Through prayer we enter into communion with Him that was before all worlds…Prayer is delight for the Spirit.” (On Prayer, 9).
  
The Elder Aimlianos whose love for the Divine Liturgy was incomparable once said, “It is pointless to go to Church, unnecessary to attend Liturgy, and useless to commune, when I am not constantly praying” (The Church at Prayer, 14).  A spiritual life of private prayer is not a monastic prerogative, but the common inheritance of all the faithful. The saintly elder further notes, “The harm that befalls us if we do not know how to pray is incalculable. Incalculable? It is the only harm from which we suffer. There is no catastrophe that can compare to it. If all the stars and all the planets were to collide with one another, and the universe to shatter into smithereens, the damage would be far less than that which befalls us if we don’t know how to pray”  (The Church at Prayer, 10). The threat of the virus perhaps can open our eyes to the threat of not knowing how to pray to God in our heart. The threat of the virus may turn into a blessing that can enliven our spiritual life.
  
The temptation before us is to deafen our ears to this call to active, arduous prayer to approach God and instead to prefer more passive, easier ways for God to approach us. Now is not the time to try to devise any means to avoid this prayer in private, but it is the time to heed the call to prayer in our heart to the God of our heart. There is a rich, inner world beckoning to us, a world where God is all in God. Let’s take the gift of this time to enter into that world.  And if we do so, when we come together for the Divine Liturgy with a yearning magnified by distance apart, that Liturgy will be more radiant and more angelic than anything we have known before. Through a deep life of inner prayer, we will indeed learn how to set aside all earthly cares, that we may receive the King of all.
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The Holy Prophet Jonah (source)

  
4/3/2020 - "The Sign of the Prophet Jonah in our days"
by Bishop Alexis of Bethesda (OCA)
“For those with eyes to see and ears to hear,” these days of being in the belly of the whale, physically separated not only from one another, but also from our beloved Churches and places of prayer, we have a rare opportunity for spiritual growth. In this crisis that has overcome the entire inhabited world, we are given the sign of Jonah that calls forth a response from us all. Saint Ephraim the Syrian writes, “the sign of Jonah served the Ninevites in two ways. If they would have rejected it, they would have gone down to Sheol alive like Jonah, but they were raised from the dead like him because they repented.” The sign of Jonah that is given to us in our forced isolation out of love for our neighbor is a call to repentance, a call to change the way we look at the world around us, the world within us, and the world beyond us. As I suggested in an earlier reflection, it is an opportunity to become men and women of deep prayer who have learned to serve the Divine Liturgy on the altar of their hearts.
  
There are many books about how to pray from which believers can learn the art of prayer. There are many prayer books that have morning prayers, evening prayers, services of supplication, and akathists that the faithful can read on a daily basis. There are the Psalms of David that we can chant throughout the day enabling us to pour out our entire heart before God. And of course, there is the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me,” that every God-loving soul can say, again and again and again, so that it falls like a droplet of pure water upon our stony hearts refashioning them into hearts of flesh that can welcome the King of glory. But all these beautiful, holy words will enable us to touch the hem of Christ’s garment and to become more Christlike in the process only if we say them with the proper disposition of the heart, a heart that is humble, a heart that yields, a heart that can effortlessly utter the words of the Most Pure Virgin, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).
  
This Holy Week and Pascha, the Covid-19 pandemic has given the faithful a hard saying. They will be deprived of celebrating these high and holy days in their parishes. They will be deprived of receiving holy communion. Nevertheless, they need not, now or ever, be deprived of Christ, for nothing, neither death nor life, neither things present nor things to come, can ever “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39). It may be tempting to become angry or despondent, but neither of these states will enable us to pray to God or permit God to approach us. Neither of these responses will help us to receive the sign of Jonah given to our generation. What will enable us to pray is a humble acceptance of our condition in which we make peace with this world as it is, a willingness to yield before that which we cannot control, and then even further to give thanks for the fact that our own will, no matter how good and holy it may seem to us, is being cut off by the severe sanctions now in place. This may sound strange to those unfamiliar with our monastic tradition, but truly when the will is cut off, “the holy soul steadily ascends to heaven as upon golden wings” (Saint John of the Ladder) by virtue of holy obedience. In other words, gently, graciously, and gratefully yielding to this situation with humble acceptance will enable us to pray as we have never prayed before.
  
Obedience is not easy. It is “the tomb of the will,” but it is also “the resurrection of humility,” (Saint John of the Ladder), humility, which is “the very raiment of the Godhead” (Saint Isaac the Syrian). In humble obedience, we are following not only the path of the holy fathers of old, we are walking not only in the footsteps of the Apostles who strove to be obedient to every commandment of their beloved Lord, but we are also imitating our Lord Himself, who “as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phillipians 2:8). But death is never the last word with respect to obedience, the final word is always life, abundant life, life everlasting. “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:  That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phillipians 2:9-11).
  
Let us receive humbly the sign of the Prophet Jonah in a way that leads to the light and life that are ours in Christ Jesus. This Pascha, let’s sanctify our homes and lives in wonderful ways. Let’s humbly do whatever is necessary to make one room in our home into a Church. If we don’t have an oil lamp burning before the icon of the Most Pure Virgin Theotokos, let’s try to acquire one. If we don’t have a hand censer, charcoal, and incense, let’s decide to order them. And then with a humble, but grateful heart, let’s worship the holy Lord Jesus Christ, the only sinless One. Let’s venerate the icons in our homes, let’s light our vigil light, let’s cense our icons, let’s make our prostrations, and let’s make the words of whatever prayers we offer our own. Let’s mean what we say. Let’s trust in the Lord. Saint Isaac the Syrian once wrote, “The prayer of a humble man is like a word spoken from the mouth into an ear.” Let’s speak to God now as his humbled children, for in this time of trial, He will surely “hearken unto the voice of our cry” (Psalm 5:2) and in turn make our peace as a river and our righteousness as the waves of the sea (Isaiah 48:18).
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Christ in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before His Passion (source)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Elder Zacharias of Essex on the Coronavirus

The Desert Father in prayer (source)

  
Elder Zacharias of Essex on the Coronavirus

Many people are in confusion and others panic because of the threat of the Coronavirus epidemic that spread in the whole world. I think, however, that this should not happen, for whatever God does with us, He does it out of love. The God of Christians is a good God, a God of mercy and loving kindness, ‘Who loveth mankind’. God created us out of His goodness in order to share His life and even His glory with us. When we fell into sin, He allowed death to enter our life again out of goodness, so that we may not become immortal in our wickedness, but to seek for a way of salvation. Although we have fallen, God has never stopped to provide for us, not only material goods in order to sustain our race, but He also sent prophets and righteous, preparing His way so that He might come and solve our tragedy, and bring eternal salvation through the Cross and Resurrection of His inconceivable love. He came and took upon Himself the curse of sin, and He showed His love to the end: ‘Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end’ (John 13:1). All the things that God did when He created us, when He provided goods in order to sustain the world, when He prepared His way for Him to come on earth, when He came Himself in person and wrought our salvation in such an awesome way, all these things He did out of goodness. His goodness is boundless. He saves us and is so longsuffering towards us, waiting until we ‘come to the knowledge of the truth’ (1 Tim. 2:4) and bring true repentance, so that we may be with Him for all eternity. Thus, at every stage of His relationship with man, our God shows only His goodness and mercy, ‘which is better than life’ (Ps. 63:3); goodness is His Nature and He does all things for the benefit and salvation of man.

 

Consequently, when He shall come again to judge the world, will a different God judge it? Will it not be the same good God, the God of mercy and loving kindness, Who loves mankind? Let us be certain that we shall not appear before any other God than Him Who created us and saved us. And so, it is again with the same mercy and love that He will judge us. For this reason, we should neither panic nor waver, for it will be the same God that will receive us in the other life and will judge us with the same kindness and compassion. Some fear that the hour of their end has come. This plague of Coronavirus has also a positive aspect, because we have a few weeks from the moment it will assail us until our end. Therefore, we can dedicate this time to prepare ourselves for our meeting with God, so that our departure may not occur unexpectedly and without preparation, but after we have run through our whole life each time we stand in prayer before God, at times with thanksgiving unto the end for all the things God has done for us and at other times with repentance, seeking the forgiveness of our transgressions. Nothing can harm us with such a God, Who allows all things out of His goodness. We must simply keep thanksgiving unto the end and the humble prayer of repentance for the forgiveness of our sins.

 

As for myself, this plague is helping me. I longed to find again the prayer I had before, with which I can run through my whole life from my birth until now, thanking God for all His benefits ‘whereof I know and whereof I know not’; and also, with which I can run through my whole life repenting for all my sins and transgressions. It is wonderful to be able to run through your life praying, bringing all things before God with persistence in prayer. Then you feel that your life is redeemed. This is why this situation is truly helping me. I am not panicking but ‘I will be sorry for my sin’ (Ps. 38:18).

 

We must see the goodness of God in all the things that are happening now. The Holy Fathers did see His loving kindness. A similar epidemic occurred in the 4th century in the Egyptian desert, which harvested more than a third of the monks, and the Fathers were saying with great inspiration that, ‘God is harvesting souls of saints for His Kingdom,’ and they did not waver. The Lord Himself speaks in the Gospel about the last days, about the trials and afflictions which the world will go through before His Second Coming. However, we discern neither morbid sadness nor despair in His words. The Lord Who prayed in the garden of Gethsemane with a sweat of blood for the salvation of the whole world, says that when we see the terrible things that precede His Second Coming, we should lift up our heads with inspiration, for our redemption draws nigh (cf. Luke 21:28). Some tell me, ‘May God extend His helping hand.’ But this is precisely the hand of God. He desires and works our salvation ‘at sundry times and in divers manners’ (Heb. 1:1): ‘My Father worketh hitherto, and I work’ (John 5:17). This virus may be a means that God uses in order to bring many to themselves and to repentance, and to harvest many ready souls for His eternal Kingdom. Therefore, for those who surrender and entrust themselves to the Providence of God all will contribute for their good: ‘All things work together for good to them that love God’ (Rom. 8:28).

 

Thus, there is no room for morbid dismay. Neither should we resist the measures that the government is taking in order to diminish the spreading of the afflictions we see in the lives of so many people. It is wrong to go against the authorities. We should do whatever the Government says, because they are not asking for us to deny our faith, they are only asking us to take a few measures for the common wellfare of all people, so that this trial may pass, and this is not at all unreasonable. Some people take it too confessionally, they raise flags and play the martyrs and the confessors. For us there is no doubt: we shall show pure submission to the orders of the Government. It is unfair to disobey the Government since, when we fall ill, it is to their hospitals that we run and they are the ones who undertake all the expenses and our care.

 

This is the ethos of Christ that God showed in His life on earth and this is the apostolic commandment that we have received: ‘...be subject to principalities and powers, obey magistrates, be ready to every good work, speak evil of no man, be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men’ (cf. Tit. 3: 1-2); and ‘Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme...’ (see 1 Pet. 2:13-17). If we do not obey our governors who are not asking much, how will we obey God, Who gives us a divine law, which is far more sublime than any human law? If we keep the law of God we are above human laws, as the apologists of the 2nd century said during the Roman Empire which was persecuting the Christians. It is surprising to see in the country where we live, in the United Kingdom, that the footballers show such understanding and discernment so as to be the first to withdraw from their activities with docility towards the indications of the Government to take prophylactic measures. It would be sad for us, people of faith, to fail reaching the measure of the footballers and showing the same docility towards the authorities for which our Church prays.

 

If they ask us to stop our Church services, let us simply surrender and bless the Providence of God. Besides, this reminds us of an old tradition that the Fathers had in Palestine: in Great Lent, on the Sunday of Cheese fare, after the mutual forgiveness, they would go out in the desert for forty days without Liturgy; they would only continue in fasting and prayer so as to prepare and return on Palm Sunday to celebrate in a godly way the Passion and the Resurrection of the Lord. And so, our present circumstances force us to live again that which existed of old in the bosom of the Church. That is to say, they force us to live a more hesychastic life, with more prayer, which will however make up for the lack of the Divine Liturgy and will prepare us to celebrate with greater desire and inspiration the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Thus, we will turn this plague into a triumph of hesychasm. In any case, whatever God allows in our life is out of His goodness for the well-being of man, for He never wants His creature to be harmed in any way.

Certainly, if we will be deprived of the Divine Liturgy for a longer period of time, we can endure it. What do we receive in the Liturgy? We partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, which are filled with His grace. This is a great honour and benefit for us, but we also receive the grace of God in many other ways. When we practice hesychastic prayer, we abide in the Presence of God with the mind in the heart calling upon the holy Name of Christ. The Divine Name brings us the grace of Christ because it is inseparable from His Person and leads us into His Presence. This Presence of Christ which is purifying, cleanses us from our transgressions and sins, it renews and illumines our heart so that the image of God our Saviour, Christ, may be formed therein.

 

If we shall not have Easter in the Church, let us remember that every contact with Christ is Easter. We receive grace in the Divine Liturgy because the Lord Jesus is present in it, He performs the sacrament and He is the One imparted to the faithful. However, when we invoke His Name, we enter the same Presence of Christ and receive the same grace. Therefore, if we are deprived of the Liturgy, we always have His Name, we are not deprived of the Lord. Moreover, we also have His word, especially His Gospel. If His word dwells continually in our heart, if we study it and pray it, if it becomes our language with which we speak to God as He spoke to us, then we shall have again the grace of the Lord. For His words are words of eternal life (John 6:68), and the same mystery is performed, we receive His grace and are sanctified.

 

Furthermore, each time we show kindness to our brethren the Lord is well-pleased, He considers that we did it in His Name and He rewards us. We show kindness to our brethren and the Lord rewards us with His grace. This is another way in which we can live in the Presence of the Lord. We can have the grace of the Lord through fasting, alms giving and every good deed. So, if we are forced to avoid gathering in Church, we can also be united in spirit in these holy virtues which are known within the Body of Christ, the holy Church, and which preserve the unity of the faithful with Christ and with the other members of His Body. All the things we do for God is a Liturgy, for they minister unto our salvation. The Liturgy is the great event of the life of the Church, wherein the faithful have the possibility to exchange their little life with the boundless life of God. However, the power of this event depends on the preparation we perform before, through all the things we have mentioned, through prayer, good deeds, fasting, love for neighbour, repentance.

 

Therefore, my dear brethren, it is not necessary to make heroic confessions against the Government for the prophylactic measures that it takes for the good of all people. Neither should we despair, but only wisely machinate ways so as not to lose our living communication with the Person of Christ. Nothing can harm us, we must simply be patient for a certain period of time and God will see our patience, take away every obstacle, every temptation and we shall again see the dawn of joyful days, and we shall celebrate our common hope and love that we have in Christ Jesus.

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Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!