February 9/22, 2004
Beloved Clergy and Parishioners in the Lord, Grace and Peace be with you.
SUNDAY OF THE CHEESEFARE or SUNDAY OF FORGIVENESS,
The Sunday before the Great Fast on which we commemorate the Casting Out of Adam from Paradise.
The Reading is from the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Romans [§ 112]. Brethren:
13 11Now our salvation is nearer than when we believed. 12The night is advanced, and the day hath drawn near. Let us therefore put away from ourselves the works of darkness, and let us put on the weapons of light. 13Let us walk becomingly, as in the day, not in revellings and drunkenness, not in acts of unlawful intercourse and licentiousness, not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and cease taking forethought for the flesh, in regard to the lusts thereof. 14 1Now the one who is weak in the faith, be taking to yourselves, but not for passing judgments upon his opinions. 2One, on the one hand, hath faith to eat all things; but one, on the other hand, who is weak, eateth herbs. 3Let not the one who eateth despise him who eateth not, and let not the one who eateth not judge him who eateth; for God hath taken him to Himself. 4Who art thou who judgeth Another's household slave? To his own Lord he standeth or falleth; but he shall be made to stan!
d, for God is able to make him stand.
SUNDAY OF CHEESEFARE WEEK
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew [§ 17]. The Lord said:
6 14“If ye forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15“but if ye forgive not men their transgressions, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.
16“And whenever ye are fasting, cease being as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they artificially disfigure their faces, in such a manner that they might appear to men fasting. Verily I say to you that they have their reward. 17“But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, 18“so that thou mightest not appear to men fasting, but to thy Father Who is in secret; and thy Father, Who seeth in secret, shall reward thee in the open. 19“Cease treasuring up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth destroy, and where thieves dig through and steal; 20“but be treasuring up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth spoil, and where thieves do not dig through nor steal. 21“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We greet each other on the commemoration of Forgiveness Sunday. We heard the beautiful words of Saint Paul, which the Church wants us to hear on this day. Saint Paul admonishes us by all possible means, tend to ourselves only, and do not look at others with an object to judgment. I don't know of anything else that works to the destruction of virtue more than judgmentalness. We are all God's servants. We all belong to Him. We cannot take the sinful leap so as to consider ourselves judges of others. We should always consider ourselves the least, worst, and fellow combatants with our brothers in Christ. Saint Paul says, “4Who art thou who judgeth Another's household slave? To his own Lord he standeth or falleth; but he shall be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.” Do not dare to think that you are better, because this is the trick of the enemy. When a person judges, he believes that he is better than the person he is judging. But in reality,!
both will stink to the same measure after we have paid the common debt. So, the holy Church, to remove from our minds the thought of judging, puts before us today the Sunday of Forgiveness. On this Sunday, we ask forgiveness from one another for all of the offenses we may have committed, both voluntary and involuntarily; and it is wonderful to see everyone showing humility by bowing down before each other and asking forgiveness from one another. We do this at the beginning of these forty days so that we enter into the arena of this contest with consciences free from all blame. Thereby, we offer up to God as a pure gift this act of fasting and prayer, an ascetical feat which is well-pleasing unto God. Our Saviour says in the Holy Gospel, 14“If ye forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; 15“but if ye forgive not men their transgressions, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” What a beautiful law to l!
ive by. Truly, the commandments of Christ are life, and life-giving.
He further says, 16“And whenever ye are fasting, cease being as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they artificially disfigure their faces, in such a manner that they might appear to men fasting.” Now during these forty days, let us be careful that we do our fasting in secret. Let us not purposely look dreary and worn out, so that people might ask, “What's wrong with you, brother?” Appear to strangers as if everything is normal. God forbid that any of us will go to work and make an announcement to all the strangers (to the Faith) that today we are starting to fast for forty days. This type of vainglory is very destructive, and sinful to say the least. So our Saviour says, do everything for Christ in secret, and your reward will be from Christ in the open. Now I want to tell a story which explains one characteristic of these forty days, and that is that it is the time of temptations – temptations from the enemy of our race – the evil one. !
On the Holy Mountain they tell this story. There was once a priest who had to weekly read exorcisms over a demonized woman throughout the year. This woman would be energized by the devil, and he would speak through her and say all sorts of foul and obscene things from her mouth in the hearing of all. The priest noticed that during the time of the Great Fast, that this woman would be calm, and she would not need exorcisms. After the Great Fast, she would again be energized by the demon. One year, the priest, in frustration, said to the demon, “Why is it that during the Great Fast you are not here, and after the Fast, you enter her again?” The demon replied through the woman, “Don't you know that during the Great Fast, all we demons gather together and we go to the monasteries to tempt the monastics?” Of course, I've always said that there are more than enough demons to tempt the monastics, so most likely they tempt the faithful also. Therefore I say to !
all, be careful. Do not be tempted to make these forty days worse tha
n the time outside of the Fast through the prompting of the evil one. Let's make them special and holy through feats of asceticism and prayer. This is the time to afflict ourselves. This is the time to deny ourselves. This is the time to increase our prayer. This is the time to be still and to guard our hearts. This is the time to turn away with greater vigil from all shameless and impure sights.
Monastics, during the first three days of this week, afflict themselves with greater intensity according to their strength, in that they do not eat or drink until after the ninth hour on Wednesday. For the rest of the week we have nothing cooked. All our faithful should afflict themselves according to their strength. We are including in this sermon the Epistle of our beloved Metropolitan Valentine for the Great Fast.
GREAT FAST ADDRESS
Of His Eminence Metropolitan Valentine of Suzdal and Vladimir, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!
“A heart that is broken and humbled,
God will not despise.” (Psalm 50)
Right Reverend Archpastors, Pastors Beloved-in-God, Monks, and Nuns,
Beloved Brothers and Sisters, Children of the Church of God,
These words of the Psalmist instill a grace-filled and trembling feeling in our souls. As expressed in the penitential hymns which begin to be heard in our churches in the weeks prior to the beginning of the Great Fast, as if anticipating its arrival, “trusting in the mercy of Thy kindheartedness, like David I cry to Thee: Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy…”
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In the life of the Orthodox Christian, the Great Fast is a special period of spiritual joy and experiences, because light penitential sorrow and cleansing tears act to refine the soul, alleviate the heaviness caused by the burden of sin which weighs upon it and drags it down to the earth, and makes even our breathing free and deep, promoting the unification of mental prayer with the heart.
Praying is never so easy and joyful as in these great and salutary days, when nothing should be allowed to hinder our ascent “from earth to Heaven,” our return to the Father's house. For this reason, I humbly beseech you, beloved, if even for a short time, put aside your vain, worldly cares, offer to God your spiritual tithe, and concentrate on prayer and repentance. For it is precisely the reason, darkened by sin, which inspires in us the absurd notion that the most important thing for a man is to seek his sustenance, to be healed from all diseases, or to make arrangements for his earthly condition. Listen to what Christ the Savior Himself has to say to us who are weak in faith: “Take no care…, about what you shall eat or drink, nor for the body, what you shall put on. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than raiment? Consider the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not o!
f much more value than they are?...”
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And so, take no thought and say not, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “With what shall we be clothed?” For all these things are sought after by the Nations, and your heavenly Father knoweth that you need these things. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:25-33). Vain cares, the urge to “sow” and to “gather into barns,” to which we sacrifice our spiritual life and salvation, is a direct result of the falling into sin of the first humans, the consequences of which we must overcome with the help of God. But if one does not believe or take seriously the words of the Savior about the vanity of sinful worldly cares, then there is no sense in his keeping the Great Fast, and he will not be able to comprehend the light of Pascha! This kind of faith is futile and hypocritical!
Let us cherish these unique days which the Holy Church presents to us! If we would but spend these days correctly–in strict accordance with the rules of the Church, attending all of the Lenten services–there is much, very much spiritual strength that we can draw from these soul-saving days of the Great Fast. In these salutary days, days of repentance and of softening the heart, there are no bright lights in the churches, because in the quiet and softly lit atmosphere, it is much, much easier to hear the beating of your heart, and to feel the blessed and salutary minutes of eternity, and to come to love this eternity with God, and in God, with your entire soul.
During the days of the Great Fast, every Orthodox Christian–not because he is duty-bound or required, but heeding the call of his own heart, with full recognition of his sinfulness–comes especially often to the Mystery of Confession, and then receives communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Some of our ancestors, who had departed from the ancient piety of the Church and concocted a so-called “bureaucratic or formal Orthodoxy,” believed that it was not permissible to receive Holy Communion any more than once a year–during the Great Fast. There even appeared in some places a “Confession Register” in which notations were made that the servant of God, so-and-so, has confessed and received Holy Communion for such-and-such a year. This was an extremely blasphemous approach to the Mysteries of the Church, and was one of the reasons for the downfall of Orthodox Russia and her replacement by a satanic and atheistic pseudo-government. The holy Church calls us to re!
ceive Holy Communion at each and every Divine Liturgy with the words, “With the fear of God, with faith and love, draw nigh!” It is only out of extreme condescension that the Church allows individual lay persons, who do not manage to “prepare” for each Divine Liturgy, to receive Holy Communion from time to time. The Great Fast–as the most concentrated time of spiritual activity and for dispensing with the cares of life–is the most favorable time to begin our return to the God-ordained ecclesiastical practice of constant reception of the Mysteries of Christ–ideally, at every Divine Liturgy, for, according to the words of the Savior, whoever does not eat His Body, nor drink His Blood, Which has been poured out for the sins of the world, will not be saved.
Beloved children of the Church of Christ!
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I call all of you to concentrated and ceaseless prayer of the heart, through which you will come to a sincere understanding of your unworthiness.
Approaching the sacred labors of the Great Fast, let us lift up to the Lord God from the depth of the sighings of our hearts our small voice and say together, “O Lord, according to Thy limitless mercy, engender in our souls a spirit of love, compassion, righteousness, fervent and constant prayer, that our souls might forever remain alive and receptive to all of Thine innumerable gifts, which Thou hast given to us unworthy ones, through Thine ineffable sufferings.”
Calling down God's blessing upon you unto the accomplishment of the labor of the Great Fast, I most humbly beg your forgiveness and holy prayers.
Zealous together with you for your salvation,
Valentine
Metropolitan of Vladimir and Suzdal
The Great Fast, 2004
Suzdal
Church / Monastery News:
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We have received into the Church people from the ROCOR on the west coast and the east coast. From the southwest (Arizona), also came to us, a new catechumen, David. Please keep him in your prayers. Lord-willing, he will be baptized on Holy Saturday. As far as construction is concerned, Vladyka spent all of the week putting in trim around the doors and the windows. It was a very tedious job. He has one more door to complete, and the entire house will be completed. We are very pleased that this part of the work is behind us, because there was the concern that this work might remain incomplete, since there was so much to do.
Question Box:
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Several of our people who witnessed the tonsuring of Hieromonk Andrew have asked us about the symbolic meaning of the monastic habit.
Here is an excerpt from St. Dorotheos of Gaza's Discourse on Renunciation, speaking about the symbolism of the monastic habit or garb:
“Our habit consists of a tunic without sleeves, a leather belt, a polystavrion, and a cowl. Each one of these is a symbol, and we ought to know what they symbolize.
Why do we wear a tunic without sleeves when others wear them with sleeves? Sleeves signify hands. Hands are given to do things with. When the thought occurs to do anything suited to the 'old man' - for example, to steal, or to strike someone - it is in fact to do something sinful with our hands. We ought to pay attention to our habit and take note that we have no sleeves, that is, we have no hands for doing what unredeemed man did.
There is another sign in the tunic: it is the purple emblem, and what does this emblem signify? Anyone fighting for a king has purple in his mantle. For because a king wears purple, all those who fight for him put purple on their clothes; this is the royal uniform which shows they are the king's men and that they fight for him. So we put the purple emblem on our habit to show that we fight for Christ, our King, and that we desire to endure for Him all the sufferings He endured for us. For when our Master was suffering for us He wore a purple robe; first as king, for He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and then because He was mocked by impious soldiers. Therefore, also having purple for a symbol, we promise, as I said, to suffer all that He suffered. A soldier does not leave his service or regiment and withdraw secretly to become a farmer or a merchant, for that would bring him into disgrace. As the Apostle says, 'No one fighting for God mixes himself up with secular bu!
siness so that he is able to please Him to Whom he has engaged himself.' So also we ought to contend, neglecting worldly affairs, and to be occupied with God alone and, as it says, to be like “the virgin (who) is both devoted and without distraction”.
We also have a belt, and why do we wear it? The belt which we wear is a symbol first of all that we are ready for work. Everyone who wants to work first girds himself so that he is not hindered by his robes. As the Apostle says, 'They stood with their loins girt.' Again, as the belt is made of animal-skins, it is a sign of a body that has been put to death, and so we should mortify, or put to death, our fleshly desires. The belt is worn around the loins, from which area voluptuous pleasures [are said to] proceed. This is what the Apostle says, 'Mortify your members on the earth against fornication and uncleanness', etc.
We wear also a polystavrion [Greek for 'many-crosses'; it consists of many woven crosses connected together by thin cords] and the polystavrion is placed across our shoulders: this signifies a cross on our shoulders, as He said, 'Take up your cross and follow me.' What is the cross, but the perfect mortification set up through our faith in Christ. For faith, as the teaching of the Fathers again has it, 'always gets round obstacles and frees us for the work which brings us to this perfect mortification' - that is, that a man puts to death in himself the affection for the things of this world. He has given up parents, possessions, riches, all that a man can give up to take up the contest; let him also renounce self-will and the desire for these things. This is what we mean by perfect renunciation.
We wear also a cowl or hood: this is a symbol of abasement or humbling ourselves. Little ones, not full-grown men, wear the cowl, without malice. We wear the cowl for this reason: that we may be little ones in malice. As the Apostle says, 'Do not be little ones in understanding, be little ones in malice.' What is being a little one in malice? A baby has no malice. If he is not treated with honor he is not angry; if he is honored, he is not subject to vainglory. If what he has is taken away he is not troubled. To be a little one in malice means having no desire for revenge and laying no claim to glory.
And again the hood is a symbol of God's grace. Because as the cowl covers and warms the head of the child, so the grace of God covers the mind, as the Book of the Fathers says, 'the cowl symbolizes the grace of God our Saviour, our direction-finding apparatus, our childhood in Christ, on account of the devil's continuous attempts at striking and wounding us.' And so we have about our waist the belt which is mortification of unreasoning passions; on our shoulders the polystavrion which is the cross; the cowl [hood] which is the sign of innocence and childhood in Christ.
Let us lead a life in agreement with our appearance, as the Fathers say, lest we take on a character alien to it.”
Q2 – How do we keep vigil? Vigil means not to fall asleep. So a person must, while praying, do whatever he can possibly do to stay awake. During vigil, prayer can be considered doing the Jesus Prayer, oral prayers from a book, prostrations or bows, and reading spiritual books such as the lives of the Saints or the writings of the holy fathers. If a person keeps his mind on such things, and remains awake for a set period of time (perhaps two hours or more) he has accomplished a very good task. A person who keeps vigil day in and day out will see his mind illumined, will receive great peace in his soul, and grace from God. Vigil is also constant war with the evil one, whose object it will be to put us to sleep so that we will stop our prayer. If a person begins to fall asleep during the allotted time, he should do whatever it takes to remain awake, all the while remaining in prayer. Saint Seraphim of Sarov lifted rocks and put them from one place to another, !
back and forth, so as to remain vigilant during the allotted time.
Q3 – Are watching news and educational programs worth watching on TV?
After we spoke about keeping vigil, we have this question about watching TV. I would suppose that watching TV is the complete opposite of the virtue of keeping vigil. TV was made to entertain and delight the senses. If sponsors can get you to watch their advertisements, they use the TV shows as their bait. Now we know that the TV shows are downright sinful, if not from the content, at least from the waste of time. Now how about news and educational programs? News programs draw us into politics, and expose us to the worst side of humanity. They usually do not tell us about good news. They tell us about the rapes, the extortions, the murders, the general debauchery that is out there. Who needs to be exposed to such filth? Educational shows can be misleading, depending on the agenda of those who produce them. One has to filter the wheat from the chaff using our Orthodox Christian discernment and the patristic mind of the Church. As St. Basil says, we can learn low!
er earthly truths from those outside the Church of Christ, but like the bees, we have to extract only the pure nectar from the world and transform it into the honey of the Church. Generally speaking, do not believe everything you see and hear on these educational programs, especially if they are talking about religion. When they are talking about religion, they almost always get everything wrong.
Please pray for:
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Our Vladika Metropolitan Valentine. Father Savva, who is still recovering from a blood clot, or clots, in his knee. He is taking special medicine, and through patience his clots will be dissolved.
Father Dionysios' daughter, Helen, has been stabilized from her seizures. Through God's mercy, the seizures have stopped almost completely because of a special medication that she is taking.
Calendar of Events for Upcoming Week:
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It is the first week of the Great Fast. The Holy and Great Fast is upon us. We encourage you all to make a great effort to afflict yourselves during this fast. Throughout the forty days, there is no meat, dairy, eggs, or fish permitted. On weekends, wine, olive oil, and shellfish are permitted.
Next Sunday is the Sunday of Orthodoxy.
Crumbs from the trapeza table:
From the Prologue, Feb. 8/21:
FOR CONSIDERATION
St Seraphim of Sarov writes on despair: 'As the Lord works for our salvation, so the devil, that killer of men, works to lead man into despair.' Judas the betrayer was little of soul and untested in battle, and therefore the devil, seeing him in despair, attacked him and forced him to suicide. But Peter, the firm rock, when he fell into great sin in the testing time of battle, did not despair nor lose the presence of the Spirit, but wept bitterly from a full heart, and the devil seeing this, fled from him as from a flaming fire. And, my brethren, St Antiochus teaches that when despair descends upon us, we must not surrender to it, but strengthened and protected by our holy Faith, say resolutely to the wicked spirit: 'What hast thou to do with us, thou who hast fallen away from God, thou fugitive from heaven and slave of wickedness? Thou darest in no wise to do us harm, for Christ the Son of God has dominion over us and over all. But thou, O thou murderer, get thee away from !
us! Strengthened by His precious Cross, we trample upon thy serpent head!'
Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.
In Christ,
+Bishop Gregory, and those with me.
