Akathist to St. Sophrony of Essex

St. Sophrony of Essex (source)

  
Akathist to St. Sophrony of Essex
Translated from the original Greek text, written by an anonymous Athonite Monk, "To the newly-revealed Venerable Elder Sophrony, descended from Russia, who lived in asceticism on Athos, and shown in all things as a spiritual guide in Europe as well, and in Great Britain, showed the ways of godly knowledge in the Holy Spirit, and founded there the Holy Monastery of the Precious Forerunner and Baptist John."
  

Sts. Sophrony of Essex and Silouan the Athonite, from the Monastery of St. John in Essex (source)

  
Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
You were fortified by the Spirit from childhood, O Sophrony, and were zealous for the ways of Christ. You fled the delusion of Asia, and were made beautiful among the sacred monks of Athos, and the light of your philosophy, divine words and books has shown forth from the East to the West.
  
You were shown to all to be a light-bearing guide, O Sophrony, beloved of Christ, (3) and now in the Heavens, you dwell with all the Saints entreating Christ. Do not cease to seek salvation for all who cry out:
Rejoice, you who shown forth in the last years,
Rejoice, you who lived a perfect life.
Rejoice, you who left the land of Russia, O Sophrony,
Rejoice, speaker to Orthodox flocks.
Rejoice, you who beheld the Uncreated Light greatly from childhood,
Rejoice, you who experienced the abyss of darkness and terrible alienation.
Rejoice, you who fled New Age religion as a sparrow,
Rejoice, vessel teaching to all Orthodox teachings.
Rejoice, you who are governed by the Light of Christ,
Rejoice, you who drive far away the darkness of Satan.
Rejoice, O Blessed Sophrony.
  
Having fled Orthodoxy and seeking salvation, you then returned to Christ in truth, and wholly offered your soul to the way of repentance and struggles everywhere, having left Russia and France, you hastened speedily to Athos, crying out: Alleluia.
  
Desiring divine knowledge philosophically, you sought [Truth] in drawing and art, but you later found the divine Giver of Wisdom [Christ] in the monastic life, as you rejoiced in the cenobium as a holy witness of His. Therefore, we cry out to you:
Rejoice, you who hastened to the flock of Christ,
Rejoice, you who fled vain deeds.
Rejoice, you who were zealous for the mindset of obedience,
Rejoice, you who joined the city of Christ.
Rejoice, for you went to the Monastery of St. Panteleimon on Athos,
Rejoice, for you followed the path of this Saint and Martyr.
Rejoice, for you looked upon St. Silouan as your Elder,
Rejoice, for you who beheld monasticism as rising above the passions.
Rejoice, you who had tears of mourning,
Rejoice, you who were set aflame with prayers and nepsis.
Rejoice, you who were not swayed by the bitterness of the demons,
Rejoice, you who were proved a soldier of Christ.
Rejoice, O Sophrony, bearer of pain.
  
To you was given the greatly-multiplied Grace of Monasticism, and later the Priesthood, O Sophrony, and you became a father, and guide and shepherd of monks on Athos, offering the remission of offenses through the power of Christ, to Whom you cried out: Alleluia.
  
Monks readily hastened to gather guidance from you on Athos, O Sophrony, while you desired a deserted place, which you found on the cliffs of Athos, where you dwelt in asceticism, bearing tears, and therefore we say to you:
Rejoice, friend of the wise and of the Saints,
Rejoice, utter enemy of the demons.
Rejoice, minister of the people bearing the name of Christ,
Rejoice, utterly perfect physician of monastics.
Rejoice, you who lived philosophically with nepsis and ceaseless prayers,
Rejoice, you whose nous was enriched with Christ and sacred theology.
Rejoice, you who bore afflictions and pains,
Rejoice, you who endured many illnesses and evils for Christ.
Rejoice, for you were meek and filled with grace,
Rejoice, you who struck the ungraceful demons.
Rejoice, you who lived amidst wars,
Rejoice, you who consumed all the twisted ways of the demons.
Rejoice, O mighty Sophrony.
  
With the zeal of the Divine Spirit, and with grateful obedience of your Monastery, O Sophrony, you left for the land of France, serving the flock of Christ as a spirit-bearer, and you wisely saved souls, singing to the Holy Spirit: Alleluia.
  

St. Sophrony of Essex (source)

  
You traveled to Britain, O Sophrony, preparing a house for the Orthodox by founding the Monastery of St. John the Baptist, giving to drink of strange [good] wine to those of another place and amidst other faiths, and therefore we say to you:
Rejoice, you who lived the Orthodox faith,
Rejoice, you who were shown perfect in deeds.
Rejoice, you who lived as an Equal-to-the-Apostles in Britain,
Rejoice, you who sowed the Light of the Divine Spirit.
Rejoice, you who mystically filled the mountain with monastics,
Rejoice, example for traveling among those of other faiths.
Rejoice, you who abided in the traditions of the Church,
Rejoice, you who fled heresies of other faiths.
Rejoice, spring of water of the Spirit,
Rejoice, unsleeping flame and lamp.
Rejoice, you whose words and deeds shown before all,
Rejoice, you who joined together deeds and words.
Rejoice, O philosopher Sophrony.
  

With your theological tongue, you expressed the theology of Apostles of the Savior of old, and bearing the Divine Spirit like them, you steadfastly led the nations to Christ, preaching repentance, as they cried out with you to Christ: Alleluia.

I honor how Christ bestows equal grace upon the humble mourners of these last days as those of the first, and He lifts us up above all dangerous offenses, O Sophrony, as you said to all, and we say again to you:
Rejoice, imitator of Christ in all things,
Rejoice, you who lived the faith of the Saints.
Rejoice, you who received the Spirit of theologians,
Rejoice, you who lived holy humility.
Rejoice, divine liturgist bearing purity of soul,
Rejoice, struggler cutting off a multitude of temptations.
Rejoice, discerning ascetic and slayer of the passions,
Rejoice, you who wisely governed the nature of the body.
Rejoice, you who kept the light yoke of Christ,
Rejoice, enemy mocking the demons.
Rejoice, you who kept your nous in the tortures of Hades,
Rejoice, you who were lifted up through prayer and hope.
Rejoice, O most-steadfast Sophrony.
  
You obtained a nous of the Venerable Saints, a nous of Christ, as the Apostle Paul, moved by the Spirit, bore pains in his life in the Christ, and through the grace of the Resurrection of Christ, you thusly taught all your children to ever do this, chanting together: Alleluia.
  
You distinguished the worldly sadness of death from the joy-making sorrow of pure mourning, clearly showing the causes of both, the former from love of self, a bitter and atheistic death, while the second, one instead of hope and joy. Therefore, we cry out to you:
Rejoice, O comforting Sophrony,
Rejoice, disciple and rhetor of Christ.
Rejoice, scribe of Christ through the Divine Spirit,
Rejoice, author of wise books for the nations.
Rejoice, you who mystically passed on the life of St. Silouan,
Rejoice, for you showed the way of strict asceticism in secret.
Rejoice, you who passed on the way of the Venerable Athonite Fathers,
Rejoice, you who widened the array of all the Saints.
Rejoice, lifter up from the abyss of offenses,
Rejoice, speedy deliverer of souls.
Rejoice, you who granted freedom to souls,
Rejoice, you who showed the compassion of Christ.
Rejoice, O Sophrony, taught by God.
  
Beholding the rage of the legion of demons at the repentance of your former child, as a good Briton and a faithful servant of Athos, as a priest but afflicted in spirit, you approached St. Silouan for the wounded one, seeking salvation, crying out: Alleluia.
     

St. Sophrony of Essex (source)

  
Showing forth victory of the Spirit, you counselled your prodigal son to return to Christ, and even though he was far from you, and crying out in many ways, you wrote to him extensively of the Orthodox Faith to cast out delusion, as one bearing Christ. Therefore, we cry out to you:
Rejoice, book of repentance,
Rejoice, school of salvation.
Rejoice, you who cast off the coverings of delusion,
Rejoice, you who proclaim divine purity.
Rejoice, enlightener of the young Britain living amidst darkness,
Rejoice, light for the people living in the darkness of the world.
Rejoice, you who were adorned with hesychasm and asceticism,
Rejoice, you who lived hesychastically in the community of the nations.
Rejoice, lifter up from the abyss of heresies,
Rejoice, deliverer for those fallen into schism.
Rejoice, who in secret were mystically lifted up,
Rejoice, you who shine forth with divine Light.
Rejoice, O ever-memorable Sophrony.
  
The whole world has come to know your God-inspired books, which are easily read, but filled with words of wisdom of the ancient Scriptures, along with struggles of the ancient Saints, which we have come to know, as you put deeds together with words, as we chant together: Alleluia.
  
You appeared before everyone in the world, O blessed one, being gladsome with the Uncreated Light, and you interacted with others spiritually as true members of Christ, revealing the Church, from which you are honored, as you hear:
Rejoice, worker of noetic prayer,
Rejoice, mystic of Christ and the Saints.
Rejoice, deposer of atheistic civilization,
Rejoice, you who stand before the Saints with perfect deeds.
Rejoice, you who bestowed godly and continual vigilance,
Rejoice, you who kept an appearance of humility and joy of Christ.
Rejoice, you who mightily cast away laziness,
Rejoice, you who drove out all depression.
Rejoice, our perfect teacher,
Rejoice, defender of the poor and afflicted.
Rejoice, speedy helper towards salvation,
Rejoice, fellow traveler on the light path [of Christ].
Rejoice, O most-famed Sophrony.
 
You cast out fear, and vainglorious and false shame in the face of your mighty humility, and those who were lost in the labyrinth of delusion, having heard your wise sermons taught by God, were led to hymn Christ, singing: Alleluia.
  
You were zealous for the words of the illiterate Apostles, Prophets, and Venerable Saints, O Sophrony, whose former struggles you entered into, as the Savior said, being continually inspired by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we say to you:
Rejoice, you who traveled the narrow path,
Rejoice, you who led to the spacious way of Christ.
Rejoice, you who bore witness with the Martyrs,
Rejoice, you who mystically endured as a Saint.
Rejoice, you who were zealous for the life of the Venerable Savas,
Rejoice, you who kept the strength of Pachomios in many ways.
Rejoice, you who traveled the middle path of Euthymios,
Rejoice, you who were obedient like the most-radiant Theodosios.
Rejoice, follower of the Venerable Saints of Athos,
Rejoice, you who joined the lights of Sinai.
Rejoice, light-bearer for Monastics,
Rejoice, pilot for storm-tossed Ascetics.
Rejoice, O most-venerable Sophrony.
  
You filled the choirs of Monastics and Laity with seed, as they desired to imitate your life that imitates Christ, and all generations have reaped the harvest of Christ, as the pious Orthodox everywhere hasten to chant along with you: Alleluia.
  

St. Sophrony of Essex, holding an icon of his beloved spiritual father, St. Silouan the Athonite (source)

  
You ever hasten to multiply steadfastness in soul a hundred-fold, as one of the God-bearing Fathers of the Savior, and an offspring of the Russian Land of St. Sergios, as the founder of Monasteries in the West which have multiplied, as we say to you:
Rejoice, cycle of Monastics,
Rejoice, intercessor for those repenting.
Rejoice, follower of Ascetics of Britain,
Rejoice, fellow traveler with Orthodox Europe.
Rejoice, you who joined the hundred monasteries of the Venerable Columba,
Rejoice, for you possessed many virtues like the Venerable Cuthbert.
Rejoice, fellow mystic with St. Neot of Cornwall,
Rejoice, sharer of the virtues of St. Aidan.
Rejoice, follower of the Venerable Nectan,
Rejoice, equal in way of the Wise Bede.
Rejoice, sharer of the all-joyous Ninian,
Rejoice, you who also joined St. Daniel of Wales.
Rejoice, O most-reverent Sophrony.

You did not fall from divine heights, as one bearing the Grace of humility, as you lived with unfailing love, and you lived as a guide and shepherd, driving away all enemies and demons from us, through the help of the Spirit, O Sophrony, as we hasten to chant together to Christ: Alleluia.
  
Shining with the light of Christ before all, you proceeded to the ranks of all the Saints, with whom your soul has come to dwell, O chaste Sophrony, shining with the Spirit. As you are filled with Him, intercede for those who praise you with these things:
Rejoice, discerning forms of Light,
Rejoice, shower of perfect illumination.
Rejoice, you who dispersed shadows of falsehood,
Rejoice, you who showed the ways of life.
Rejoice, you who continually covered from the darkness of delusion,
Rejoice, you who opened for many the light-bearing way of Christ.
Rejoice, you who burned up the delusion of East Asia,
Rejoice, you who sanctified the lands of Western Europe.
Rejoice, you who honored St. Athanasios the Athonite,
Rejoice, you who kept nepsis like St. Peter [the Athonite].
Rejoice, fellow mystic with St. Martin of Tours,
Rejoice, pointer towards the famed St. Benedict.
Rejoice, O teacher Sophrony.
  
Rejoicing in the Heavens above, you have not abandoned us, O Sophrony, but you pray that we, the poor and afflicted ones who hymn you, might be saved, have become proclaimers of your God-pleasing life, and read your books, bearing the Divine Scriptures, chanting: Alleluia.
  
Into a world frozen by mania against Christ, you have been granted to us as warmth, O Sophrony, as you help us, along with the Saints who everywhere, in all things and always, have taught the ways and words of the One Church, teaching us to say:
Rejoice, founder of the Monastery of the Baptist,
Rejoice, intercessor for our souls,
Rejoice, golden-winged eagle of the Spirit,
Rejoice, you who appear as a lion of Divine Grace.
Rejoice, ox plowing the souls of many Christians,
Rejoice, divine Shepherd, delivering us from evils.
Rejoice, friend of the milk-bearing Saints of the West,
Rejoice, divine nourisher of the Venerable Saints of Britain.
Rejoice, perfect son of St. Silouan,
Rejoice, our Father and all-perfect one.
Rejoice, proclaimer and shower of the light of Christ,
Rejoice, deliverer from darkness and sadness.
Rejoice, God-inspired Sophrony.

O Father Sophrony, who lived philosophically, joining together words and reverent deeds, (3), O theologian of the Divine Light, and worker of joy-making sorrow, pray ceaselessly for nepsis for us, O perfect teacher, as you chant together with the Angels: Alleluia.

And the Kontakion again. 

  

(source)

 

St. Sophrony of Essex (source)

     

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

St. Theophan the Recluse on Why Orthodox Christianity should not change with the times

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior (source)

 
St. Theophan the Recluse on Why Orthodox Christianity should not change with the times

It reached my ears that, as it seems, you consider my sermons very strict and believe that today no one should think this way, no one should be living this way and therefore, no one should be teaching this way. “Times have changed!”

   

How glad I was to hear this. This means that you listen carefully to what I say, and not only do you listen, but you are also willing to abide by it. What more could we hope for, we who preach as we were ordered and as much we were ordered?

   

Despite all this, in no way can I agree with your opinion. I even consider it my duty to comment on it and to correct it, since – even though it perhaps goes against your desire and conviction – it comes from something sinful, as though Christianity could alter its doctrines, its canons, its sanctifying ceremonies to answer to the spirit of each age and adjust itself to the changing tastes of the sons of this century, as though it could add or subtract something.

   

Yet, it is not so. Christianity must remain eternally unchanging, in no way being dependent on or guided by the spirit of each age. Instead, Christianity is meant to govern and direct the spirit of the age for anyone who obeys its teachings. To convince you of this, I will put forward some thoughts for you to consider.

   

Some said that my teaching is strict. First of all, my teaching is not my own, nor it should be. In this sacred office nobody should, nor even can, preach his own teaching. If I or someone else ever dare to do so, you can put us outside the Church.

We preach the teachings of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, of the holy Apostles, and the Holy Church, which is guided by the Holy Spirit. At the same time, we make sure to do everything possible to keep these teachings whole and inviolate in your minds and hearts. Every thought we present and every word we use, we do so very carefully, so as not to overshadow this brilliant and divine teaching in any way. Nobody can act differently.

   

...a single raising of your mind to God, and a single humble genuflexion to His glory and in His honor has infinitely more value than all the treasures of the world... --St Nicodemos and Theophan the Recluse (Unseen Warfare: Chapter 20)

   

Such a law that calls for each man’s preaching in the Church to be "God-sent," was established at the creation of the world, and should thus remain valid until the end of the world. The Prophet Moses, after the delivery of the commandments from God Himself to the people of Israel, concluded: “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you.” (Deut. 4:2)

   

This law of constancy is so unalterable that the Lord and Savior Himself, when He was teaching the people on the mountain, said: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Math. 5:17-18)

   

Then He gave the same validity to his teaching, before interpreting the commandments in the spirit of the gospel, by adding: “Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” (Math. 5:19)

   

This means that anyone who wrongly interprets the commandments of God and lessens their validity, will be an outcast in the future life. This is what He said at the beginning of His preaching. He assured the same thing to Saint John the Theologian, the beholder of ineffable revelations, to whom He described the final judgement of the world and the Church, indicating in the Apocalypse (Book of Revelations): “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” (Apoc. 22:18-19)

   

From the time of His first appearance in the world until the Second Coming, Christ has given the Holy Apostles and their successors the following law: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Math. 28:19-20)

   

That means “for you to teach, not what anyone else could possibly imagine, but what I ordered, and this to the end of the world.” And He adds: “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.” (Math. 28:20)

   

The Apostles received this law and sacrificed their lives in order to keep it. And to those who wanted to keep them from preaching what it was they preached under the threat of punishment and death, they replied: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

   

This clear law was delivered by the apostles to their successors, was accepted by them, and has timeless effect in the Church of God. Because of this law, the Church is the pillar and the ground of truth. Can you see then what an inviolable steadfastness it has? After that, who would be so bold as to stubbornly disturb or move anything in Christian doctrine and law?

   

Next listen to what is said of the Prophet Ezekiel who for seven days was in the ecstasy of prayer and after seven days heard the word of the Lord: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth” (Ezek. 3:17), and he declared to the people: Here is the law for you! If you see a wicked person committing iniquity and you do not tell him: leave your iniquity and change your way, “that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.” (Ezek. 3:18) Conversely, “if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Again, if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits injustice, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die. Because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds that he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning, and you will have delivered your soul.” (Ezek. 3:19-21)

   

What a strict law! And though it sounds in the consciences of all pastors during their election and consecration, when a heavy yoke is put on them, namely the instruction of the flock of Christ that He entrusted to them, big or small, not only to guide it but also to preserve it. How could anyone be so bold, to pervert everything in the law of Christ, when this involves the destruction of both pastors and flock?

   

If the saving power of this teaching depended on our opinion of it and our consent to it, it would make sense for someone to imagine rebuilding Christianity according to human weaknesses or the claims of the age and adapt it according to the sinful desires of his heart. But the saving power of Christian law does not at all depend on us, but on the will of God, by the fact that God Himself established precisely the exact path of salvation. Beyond this there is no other way, nor could it exist. Therefore, anyone who teaches in any other way, is deviating from the true path and is destroying himself and you. What logic is there in that?

   

Notice how strict judgment was mentioned when something similar happened to the nation of Israel during the difficult years of their captivity. Some prophets out of pity for the suffering and sick talked to the people, not as the Lord had ordered, but as their heart dictated. Concerning them the Lord gave the following commands to Ezekiel: “And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own minds. Prophesy against them and say, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls.” (Ezek. 13:17-18)This means: Woe to those who order any kind of special treatment and suggest such leniency, so no one feels the slightest displeasure, either from those on top or those at the bottom, not caring whether this is for their salvation or destruction, whether it is pleasing to God, or repulsive. Woe to them, because “thus says the Lord God...your pillows and veils,” namely your candied and comforting teaching, “upon which there you are perverting souls, I will tear from your arms and I will let their souls that you are perverting, go away...” (Ezek. 13:20-21) from this teaching of yours and I will destroy you corrupters.

   

This is the benefit of this special treatment and leniency, such as you want to hear from preachers! When you put all this deep in your heart, it is not right for you to want us to make any concessions in Christian doctrine, having the wrong desire to be pleased by us. On the contrary, you are obliged to persistently demand from us to remain true to doctrine, as strictly and firmly as possible.

   

Have you ever heard of the indulgences of the Pope of Rome? Here is what they are: special treatment and leniency, which he gives defying the law of Christ. And what is the result? From all of this, the West is corrupt in faith and in their way of life, and is now getting lost in its disbelief and in the unrestrained life with its indulgences.

   

The Pope changed many doctrines, spoiled all the sacraments, nullified the canons concerning the regulation of the Church and the correction of morals. Everything has begun going contrary to the will of the Lord, and has become worse and worse.

   

Then came along Luther, a smart man, but stubborn. He said, “The Pope changed everything as he wanted, why shouldn't I do the same?” He started to modify and re-modify everything in his own way, and in this way established the new Lutheran faith, which only slightly resembles what the Lord had commanded and the Holy Apostles delivered to us.After Luther came the philosophers. And they in turn said, “Luther has established himself a new faith, supposedly based on the Gospel, though in reality based on his own way of thinking. Why, then, don't we also compose doctrines based on our own way of thinking, completely ignoring the Gospel?” They then started rationalizing, and speculating about God, the world, and man, each in his own way. And they mixed up so many doctrines, that one gets dizzy just counting them.

   

Now the Westerners have the following views: Believe what you think best, live as you like, satisfy whatever captivates your soul. This is why they do not recognize any law or restriction and they do not abide by God's word. Their road is wide, all obstacles displaced. Their way is broad, all the obstacles taken out. But the broad road leads to perdition, according to what the Lord says. This is where leniency in teaching has led!Lord, save us from this broad way! But it is better to love each difficulty that the Lord has appointed for our salvation. Let us love Christian doctrines and let us compel our mind with them, pushing it not to think otherwise. Let us love Christian morals and let us compel our will in them, forcing it to lift the light yoke of the Lord humbly and patiently. Let us love all Christian rituals and services which guide us, correct us, and sanctify us. Let us compel our heart with them, encouraging it to convey its desires from the earthly and perishable, to the heavenly and imperishable.

    

Let us confine ourselves as though in a cage. Or better, let us drag ourselves, as if we were passing through a narrow passage. Let it be narrow, so no one can deviate neither to the right left, nor the left. Yet undoubtedly, through this narrow way we will obtain the kingdom of the heavens in return. For as you know, this kingdom is the kingdom of the Lord. The Lord laid this narrow way and said, “Follow exactly this route and you will obtain the kingdom of heaven.”Could anyone then doubt whether the traveler will get to his destination? And what mind would one have who starts wanting all kinds of annulment of the commandments, when by doing this he would immediately lose his way and be lost?

   

Once you have fully understood this assertion, do not worry if something in our teaching seems to be strict. The only thing you should strive for is to carefully make sure if it is from the Lord. And after you have made sure it is from the Lord, accept it with all your heart, no matter how strict or obliging it may be. And not only avoid wanting special treatment and leniency with doctrine and the ethics, but even flee from all these, as though fleeing from the fire of Gehenna. Those who cannot escape from this are those who think up such things and with them lure those who are spiritually weak to follow them. Amen.

St. Theophan the Recluse.

December 29, 1863 - Sunday after Christ's Birth

(source)

   

St. Theophan the Recluse (source)

   

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

What Orthodox Iconography Is, by Photios Kontoglou

The Holy Transfiguration of Christ, through the hand of Photios Kontoglou (+July 13, 1965) (http://www.hellenicnews.com/media/k2/items/cache/47b9371a5ec847a6416d19e09506ac86_XL.jpg)

  
What Orthodox Iconography Is, by Photios Kontoglou

The religion of Christ is the revelation, by Him, of the truth. And this truth is the knowledge of the true God and of the spiritual world. But the spiritual world is not what men used to—and still do—call "spiritual."

Christ calls His religion "new wine" and "bread that cometh down from Heaven." The Apostle Paul says, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away: behold, all things have become new."

In a religion like this, one that makes the believer into a "new man," everything is "new." So, too, the art that gradually took form out of the spirit of this religion, and which it invented to express its Mystery, is a "new" art, one not like any other, just as the religion of Christ is not like any other, in spite of what some may say who have eyes only for certain meaningless externals.

The architecture of this religion, its music, its painting, its sacred poetry, insofar as they make use of material media, nourish the souls of the faithful with spirit. The works produced in these media are like steps that lead them from earth up to heaven, from this earthly and temporary state to that which is heavenly and eternal: This takes place so far as is possible with human nature.

For this reason, the arts of the Church are anagogical, that is, they elevate natural phenomena and submit them to "the beautiful transformation." They are also called "liturgical" arts, because through them man tastes the essence of the liturgy by which God is worshipped and through which man becomes like unto the Heavenly Hosts and perceives immortal life.

Ecclesiastical liturgical painting, the painting of worship, took its form above all from Byzantium, where it remained the mystical Ark of Christ’s religion and was called hagiographia or sacred painting. As with the other arts of the Church, the purpose of hagiographia is not to give pleasure to our carnal sense of sight, but to transform it into a spiritual sense, so that in the visible things of this world we may see what surpasses this world.

Hence this art is not theatrically illusionistic. Illusionistic art came into being in Italy during the so-called Renaissance, because this art was the expression of a Christianity which, deformed by philosophy, had become a materialistic, worldly form of knowledge, and of the Western Church, which had become a worldly system. And just as theology followed along behind the philosophy of the ancients—so, too, the painting which expressed this theology followed along behind the art of the ancient idolators. The period is well named Renaissance, since, to tell the truth, it was no more than a rebirth of the ancient carnal mode of thought that had been the pagan world’s.

But just as those theologians were wading around in the slimy swamp waters of philosophy, and were in no position to taste and understand the clear fresh water of the Gospel, "drawn up to life eternal," so, too, the painters who brought about the Renaissance were in no position to understand the mystical profundity of Eastern liturgical iconography, the sacred art of Byzantium. And just as the theologians thought that they could perfect Christ’s religion with philosophy, since for them it seemed too simple, they being in no position to penetrate into the depths of that divine simplicity: just so, the painters thought that they were perfecting liturgical art, more simply called Byzantine, by making it "more natural."

So they set to work, copying what was natural—faces, clothes, buildings, landscapes, all as they appear naturally—making an iconography with the same rationalism that the theologians wanted to make theology with. But the kind of theology you can get out of rationalism is exactly the kind of religious iconography you can get out of copying nature.

This is why their works have no Mystery, nor any real spiritual character. You understand that you have before you some men masquerading as saints—not real saints. Look at the various pictures of the Mother of God. "Madonnas" who pose hypocritically, and those in tears, weeping, which are even falser yet! Corpses and idols for shallow men! Our people, who for centuries have received a great and profound nurture from Christ’s religion, even though outwardly they seem uneducated, call a woman who pretends to be respectable but who is really not, a Frankopanayhia, a "Frankish Virgin," thus making a clear distinction between the "Frankish Virgin" and the true Virgin, the Mother of Christ our God, the austere Odogitria, Her "more precious than the Cherubim, and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim". In other words, in the simplest way possible they make a neat, sharp distinction between the art of the world and the art belonging to worship.

Western religious painters who wanted to depict the supernatural visions of religion took as models certain natural phenomena—clouds, sunsets, the moon, the sun with its beams. With these they tried to portray the heavenly glory and the world of immortality, calling certain things "spiritual" which are merely sentimental, emotional, not spiritual at all.

In vain, however. Because the blessedness of the other life is not a continuation of the emotional happiness of this world, neither does it have any relation to the satisfaction the senses enjoy in this life. The Apostle Paul, talking about the good things of the blessedness to come, says that they are such that "eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, neither have entered into the heart of man."
How, then, can that world, which lies beyond everything a man can grasp with his senses—how can that world be portrayed by an art that is "natural" and that appeals to the senses? How can you paint "what surpasses nature and surpasses sense"?

Certainly, man will take elements from the perceptible world, "for the senses’ sake," but to be able to express "what surpasses sense" he must dematerialize these elements, he must lift them to a higher plane, he must transmute them from what is carnal into what is spiritual, just as faith transmutes man’s feelings, making them, from carnal, into spiritual. "I saw," says St. John of the Ladder, "some men given over with passion to carnal love, and when they received the Light and took the way of Christ, this fierce carnal passion was changed inside them, with divine grace. into a great love for the Lord."

Thus, even the material elements which Byzantine iconography took from the world of sense were supernaturally transmuted into spiritualities, and since they had passed through the pure soul of a man who lived according to Christ, like gold through a refiner’s fire, they express, as far as is possible for a man who wears a material body, that which the Apostle Paul spoke of, "which eye hath not seen, neither hath entered into the heart of man."

The beauty of liturgical art is not a carnal beauty, but a spiritual beauty. That is why whoever judges this art by worldly standards says that the figures in Byzantine sacred painting are ugly and repellent, while for one of the faithful they possess the beauty of the spirit, which is called "the beautiful transformation."

The Apostle Paul says. "We (who preach the Gospel and live according to Christ ) are ... a sweet savour of Christ unto them that are saved and unto them that perish. Unto them that have within them the small of death (of flesh), we smell of death; and unto them that have within them the smell of life, we smell of life."

And the blessed and hallowed St. John of the Ladder says, "There was an ascetic who, whenever he happened to see a beautiful person, whether man or woman, would glorify the Creator of that person with all his heart, and from a mere glance his love for God would spring afresh and he would pour out on his account a fountain of tears. And one marveled, seeing this happen, that for this man what would cause the soul of another to stink had become a reason for crowns and an ascent above nature. Whoever perceives beauty in this fashion is already incorruptible, even before the dead shall rise in the common Resurrection,"
"Be ye not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind . . ." (Rom. xii. 2)

From Word Magazine
Publication of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
September 1964
pp. 5-6

(http://www.orthodoxiconsonline.com/articles/Kontoglu_whatisiconography.asp)

  

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