Tag: Christianity

Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals continued their discussions about the role of women in the church, listening to women experts and discussing the possibilities according to canon law.

This is the fourth time the pope and his nine-member Council of Cardinals have invited women to make presentations at their meetings. Women experts, including an Anglican bishop, attended the December, February and April meetings.

The council met June 17-18 in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the pope’s residence, the Vatican press office said.

Salesian Sister Linda Pocher, a professor of Christology and Mariology at Rome’s Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences “Auxilium,” introduced the speakers on the first day, which was dedicated to the women’s talks and the group’s reflections.

Valentina Rotondi, a professor and researcher specializing in social sciences, spoke about seeing “the economy as care and good management in the context of a profound intergenerational relationship,” the press office said.

Donata Horak, a professor of canon law in Italy, reflected on canon law by making several contrasts, “such as justice and mercy, consultative power and deliberative power, hierarchical principle and ecclesiology of communion, democratization and the monarchical model,” the press office said.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, a member of the council, told Vatican News June 18, that he agreed with the importance of increasing the role of women in the church.

“I come from India and in some areas women have little importance, they are ‘second class,’ and for this reason the church is working” to give them “the right position in the family, in society, in politics,” he said.

In the church’s Code of Canon Law, “there are many possibilities” for women’s leadership in the church, he said. Experience has shown him “many times” that women were able to address issues with “a point of view that men had not considered. And I have great hope that this will be developed.”

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa, Congo, told Vatican News that, “here in the churches, more than half of the people who participate in the celebrations are women,” but when we see the responsibilities they hold, “they are few.”

The cardinal said it has become clear that these responsibilities have to grow, but not in a “militant” sense. The reason their responsibilities should increase, he said, is, like the pope says, because “the church is a woman” and there is a “motherhood” that must be valued in the Catholic community.

The Vatican press office said the second day of the meeting began with a report about safeguarding and the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors by Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, who is the commission’s president and a council member. Cardinal Gracias then focused on the work of the bishops’ conferences.

The meeting concluded with discussions about the situation in each cardinal’s home region with special attention to current conflicts, the press office said.

The council will meet again in December 2024.

The members of the council are: Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state; Seán P. O’Malley of Boston; Sérgio da Rocha of São Salvador da Bahia, Brazil; Gracias; Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president of the commission governing Vatican City State; Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg; Gérald C. Lacroix of Québec; Juan José Omella Omella of Barcelona; and Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa, Congo. Bishop Marco Mellino serves as the council’s secretary.

    

Pain is something that tests our endurance daily, posing difficult questions to our ego. Talking about pain means touching one of the main “rails” in a man’s life. Another of life’s “rails” is joy, amazement, and surprise. But pain is a structural and fundamental element of our lives. And the more we know that we’re going to laugh, the more we realize that we’re going to cry.

Growing up, a man understands that pain is a structural part of his life; no one can avoid it; we will all certainly encounter it. Idolatry Leads to AnxietyRegardless of the form that darkness takes in our lives, we must not despair. Instead, we must use our weakness and pain as reminders to open ourselves to the light of Christ as best we can.

“>Anxiety and questions arise in the soul of man—many questions, and he often asks himself:

“Why? Why do I always have problems? Why do trials keep coming to me one after the other? I can’t stand it anymore; I can’t live like this anymore.”

One day, Closer Than My Own Father: Elder Paisios and His Spiritual Children, Part 1The path to Athos is open to men only. But in Greece there is a women’s monastery where they live according to strict Athonite rules and serve without electricity, by candlelight. This monastery, in the village of Souroti, was founded by Elder Paisios the Athonite, whose books have been so popular in the past few years in America and Russia. A correspondent of “Neskuchnii Sad” headed to Souroti to meet with people who remember Elder Paisios.

“>St. Paisios was visited by a sick woman who was in terrible agony, but at the same time, she was a eucharistic (grateful) person, a person of glorification (doxological): She was in pain, she wept because of it, she was worried, but she had hope and faith that she would recover. And she came to see the saint at Souroti Monastery—he had come off of Athos at that time—and, as people say, the sick woman told the Elder:

“Geronda, I don’t ask God to deliver me from pain—I probably don’t have the right to do that. But I ask Him for a short pause, to breathe without pain, and then let the pain return. I don’t ask Him to exclude me from the common human fate—the fate of suffering, but to at least take a breath without pain!”

This woman bore a huge cross. She was seriously ill. She was on hemodialysis, and her hands were pierced and her veins burst from her constant procedures. The woman showed the Elder her punctured hand and said:

“Geronda, look at what’s happened to my hand from so many injections!”

The saint looked at her hand, made the Sign of the Cross over it, and said:

“I’m looking at your hand, and I see Paradise! I see a Heavenly landscape, because you endure all this and glorify God. And although you could blame God for your bad fate and your unfortunate life, you don’t. This will send you to Heaven.”

Another Athonite once said that if, while suffering from pain, in the crucible of desperation and despair, you can at least once say: “Glory to Thee, O God!” then this is equivalent to thousands of prayers with the prayer rope, to many hours of noetic prayer. Here we’re talking about how a man in hell tastes the dew of Paradise, how his trauma and wounds become a blessing, how he can transform darkness into light. And instead of portraying himself as a victim, he takes his wounds, his misfortune, his injustice, and transfigures and transforms them, as St. Porphyrios said, into an opportunity for life.

In the spiritual aspect, a wound becomes a blessing, and trauma becomes a force of life, because behind what we have achieved, there is always destruction. First we lose something in our lives, then we find something. This was preceded by a crisis that became an opportunity, preceded by a cross that became a resurrection, and this is the goal of the entire spiritual life. Saint Porphyrios, Wonderworker of KavsokalivaAt the age of twelve he left for the Holy Mountain in secret, desiring to emulate Saint John the Hut Burner, whom he loved very much, after he had read his Life.

“>St. Porphyrios spoke about how a man can transform darkness into light. This is the whole mystery of the spiritual life. I think this question concerns us all.

The question of pain and how the God of love is silent before human pain, and especially before the pain of a weak man—this is the greatest cross not for an atheist, who isn’t so interested in it, but for a believer who is interested in how God and pain are combined. On the one hand, here’s a suffering man who feels that he’s on the verge of death because he can’t breathe, and on the other hand, God, Who at first glance seems to be absent, as if hiding high up in the sky—but it’s not so.

And the man says:

“Where is God when I need Him? Where is He now, when I’m dying and I feel like I don’t even have the strength to breathe, let alone to pray? There are moments when I feel like I don’t even have the strength to speak.”

Now do you understand that the question of pain is very important for all of us?

Holy Scripture is categorical: The Lord didn’t create evil; He isn’t the cause of evil; He doesn’t want human pain; He doesn’t create diseases; He doesn’t punish people with diseases, troubles, trials, and so on. He doesn’t kill children or fill cancer wards with sick children to sit and watch them suffer because He desires it.

    

In this story, the Lord is a suffering God. He weeps when we weep, and He prays together with us. He doesn’t stand aloof from the mother who is burying her child, but is near her, next to her, together with her. It is God Who suffers; He is the Suffering Servant. The Holy Fathers of the Church say that Christ never came down from the Cross, and until the end of the world and the ensuing Kingdom of God come, Christ remains crucified and resurrected. He’s with us during our pain and suffering and strengthens, helps, and comforts us.

It often happens that when we’re ill, lying in the hospital or home alone, desperate and disappointed, we ask:

“Where is God?”

What, do you think the Lord will come to you through your roof? No, He’s not coming that way. As said Elder Ephraim of Katounakia: “God is a feeling (sensation).” Remember this word. He is a feeling (sensation): You feel His presence. God is joy, patience, there in the hospital, in your room, in your loneliness, in the midst of your pain and disquietude. God is the power that you feel coming from your chest; God is the sweetness of joy, the feeling that Someone is supporting me, and I don’t know Who, but I definitely know that Someone is supporting me, and I’m not going crazy. Trust, faith, all these opportunities and strength that come from me, what are they? The presence of God. The holy Apostle Paul says: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law (Gal. 5:22-23).

These are signs of the presence of God in a man’s soul. In a man of God, I see the joy that he lives; I see his peace, and I say: “He probably has God.” Therefore, holiness, the presence of God in our lives, isn’t something external, but something very internal that emanates and manifests itself in one way or another. It’s very important to understand this, so we can sense the presence of God in our lives. Because otherwise, we’ll be waiting for Him and He’ll never come through the door. He’s there, in the house, in our room, next to the sick bed, where you’re suffering in your despair—He’s there. It’s important for us to understand how the Lord manifests Himself in the life of every person.

Let’s summarize. According to Holy Scripture and the Holy Fathers, God didn’t create pain. What did He do? When Christ was faced with some kind of evil, He corrected it. Remember the Gospel. He met the sick man, the bleeding woman, the desperate father, the paralytic, and He transformed him, healing him not only physically, but he also changed him, because it’s important to not only treat your leg or arm, but to be healed both physically and spiritually.

St. Porphyrios says:

“Don’t pray to be healthy, but pray to become kind, because if you become a good person, that is, if God makes you kind, it means He’s going to change your whole life.”

This is our goal—to find the meaning of life, to understand why I’m alive. Then, as St. Porphyrios said:

“If you find the meaning of life, if you find God, joy, if you understand why it’s worth living, then everything, even the endocrine glands, all the hormones, your whole body will begin to function harmoniously. This is important for our lives.”

The Lord transforms evil wherever it occurs. You get sick, and God takes your sickness and turns it into an opportunity for you to make sense of your life.

How many people come and say:

“Father, cancer has come into my life, and I can say that it has saved me. Because I began to appreciate what I didn’t appreciate before; I began to see what I thought was self-evident.”

These are small, simple, everyday things.

One girl from Thessaloniki told me:

“After I had cancer, I started rejoicing even at the wind on the seaside streets in Thessaloniki where I would go for a walk—the wind caressing my cheek.”

It’s such a simple “detail,” but who has ever appreciated this?!

At New Year’s, what’s the most common wish? For long life, happiness, and most of all, health! Isn’t that what we wish for each other on New Year’s? But this is a great deception. It’s a lie, because we desire health but do everything not to be healthy. We wish for each other to be healthy, but none of us are happy that we’re healthy. We’re healthy, but we’re unhappy. You may object:

“We’re all sick with something.”

Yes, but I’m talking now about serious diseases. Why are we unhappy? We’re healthy, but unhappy. We’re constantly looking for who to blame for our troubles and constantly “gnawing” each other. This is the greatest lie we tell each other all the time. This is why the Lord permits a sickness that will be the cause for your whole life to be transformed; He allows you to get into a car accident so that several years later you look back and say:

“Thank you, my God, for ‘destroying’ me. Glory to God that I got into this accident: I found myself.”

Pain, in and of itself, has no metaphysics, and someone might say:

“Father, I know people who experience pain but without becoming any kinder.”

Of course, pain has no metaphysics in and of itself. What I’m saying doesn’t mean that someone who’s in pain becomes a saint; it doesn’t mean someone in pain becomes a better person. Pain, in and of itself, can’t do that. Of course, one man may become kinder, repent, and change, but there are people whom pain makes crueler, breaks their hope, knocks them to their knees, and even makes them atheists. It’s important what meaning you give to your suffering. You have to find the meaning of your suffering. Pain doesn’t ask you for permission to come. Imagine a man who has a disease somewhere in his body, and you give him a scalpel to operate on himself. The instinct of self-preservation and self-defense, our narcissistic “I” doesn’t allow us to go beyond the threshold of pain. As soon as you start to feel pain, you’ll stop cutting your diseased organ. But pain doesn’t ask you, it doesn’t say:

“May I come in?”

It doesn’t say to you:

“Can you withstand me?”

It comes without an invitation. Therefore, pain takes you where you would never have gone yourself. It’s important to understand that pain is an opportunity for our spiritual development.

To be continued…

There is a prayer for every state of mind and spiritual need in the Book of Psalms, Pope Francis said.

“There are many psalms that help us forge ahead. Get into the habit of praying the psalms. I assure you that you will be happy in the end,” the pope said during his June 19 general audience.

The pope also reminded people that June 20 marks World Refugee Day, established by the United Nations to focus on solidarity with refugees. “We are all called to welcome, promote, accompany and integrate those who knock on our doors,” he said.

“I pray that nations will work to ensure humane conditions for refugees and facilitate processes for integration,” he said.

During his main catechesis, the pope continued his series on the Holy Spirit and highlighted the importance of prayer, especially in preparation for Holy Year 2025.

All the books of the Bible are inspired by the Holy Spirit, he said, “but the Book of Psalms is also so in the sense that it is full of poetic inspiration.”

The psalms were the prayer of Jesus, Mary, the Apostles and all previous Christian generations, he said. Jesus enters into the world with a verse from a psalm in his heart, “I delight to do your will, my God (Ps 40:9), and he leaves the world with another verse, “Into your hands I commend my spirit” (Ps 31:6).

“Do you pray with the psalms sometimes?” the pope asked, reminding people that there are special editions that contain the New Testament and the psalms together.

“I have on my desk a Ukrainian edition” of the New Testament and the psalms that belonged to a soldier who died in the war, he said. “He used to pray at the front with this book,” referring to the 23-year-old soldier named Oleksandr.

“If there are psalms, or just verses, that speak to our heart, it is good to repeat them and pray them during the day. The psalms are prayers ‘for all seasons’: There is no state of mind or need that does not find in them the best words to be transformed into prayer,” the pope said.

The psalms also allow the faithful to expand on the nature of their prayers, he said, so prayers are not just a series of requests and a continuous “give me, give us.”

“The psalms help us to open ourselves to a prayer that is less focused on ourselves: a prayer of praise, of blessing, of thanksgiving; and they also help us give voice to all creation, involving it in our praise,” he said.

At the end of his main talk, the pope greeted an Italian association supporting the late Cardinal Celso Costantini, a former apostolic delegate in China who led the Council of the Chinese Catholic Church 100 years ago with the aim of revitalizing the mission of the church in China.

The pope greeted “the dear Chinese people” and asked Catholics to always pray “for this noble people, so brave, who have such a beautiful culture.”

In greeting Polish-speaking visitors, the pope gave God thanks for a new blessed: Father Michal Rapacz, a martyr of communism, who was beatified in Kraków June 15.

Blessed Rapacz was an early victim of Poland’s communist regime as he refused to abandon his parishioners and his pastoral work. The pope prayed “his example (may) teach us to be faithful to God, to respond to evil with good, to contribute in the building of a fraternal and peaceful world.”

“We pray that his witness may become a sign of consolation from God in these times marked by wars,” he said, praying that the new blessed “intercede for Poland and to obtain peace in the world!”

The author, Fr. Alban Illingworth, is a priest at the Mission of St. John the Forerunner in Durham, England, and a teacher of philosophy. He studied Philosophy and Theology at Oxford University, England, and Byzantine Philosophy at Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, New York.

    

  

The Philosophy and Theology of Modern Mental Illness

Ours is the age of mental illness. It is not that we are facing new forms of disease—to be ill, mentally or physically, is simply to experience human life—but we are facing a unique set of cultural and social conditions which have made certain forms of mental illness a tragic side effect of life. To be clear here, I am not talking about circumstantial disorders which have always been known to lead to poor mental health at least for a time, such as family and relationship issues, grief, and so on; I am talking about the endogenous mental afflictions which characterise modernity: clinical depression, anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder, dissociative disorders, gender dysphoria, and so on.

This phenomenon of specific mental illnesses emerging in response to specific social and cultural conditions is increasingly of interest to philosophers. The Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han, who fairly recently revealed himself to be a Christian, comments in The Burnout Society:

Neurological illnesses such as depression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, borderline personality disorder, and burnout syndrome … are not infections, but infarctions; they do not follow from the negativity of what is immunologically foreign, but from an excess of positivity. (p. 1)

Han’s terminology: ‘infarctions’ not ‘infections’ is fascinating. An infarction is where a part of the body starts to die due to inadequate blood supply; by ‘positivity’ Han does not mean the colloquial sense of ‘happiness’ but in the philosophical sense of that which is posited, or that which is placed upon. It is also possible that he is punning on ‘positivity’ in the sense of positive charge, since he is talking about neurons, which carry an electrical charge. In any case, this reflection prompts us to think more deeply about how mental illnesses emerge from our current circumstances.

If mental illness of this modern neurotic kind is a form of infarction, a cutting off of the blood-flow, then that begs the question of what ‘blood’ it is that we have cut off. Han views modern man as an ‘achievement-subject’ where personal identity and self-worth is not related to relationships, duties, spiritual beliefs and contemplation of the moral Good, but to pleasure, inclination and ‘profits of enjoyment from work.’ (p. 38). Modern man, being part of a society that exists primarily for the sake of economic output and wealth-creation, necessarily creates a psychological reward-structure around personal achievements, advancement in social or economic status, and respites from work such as idleness and rest are only permitted if they are deserved as consequences of work and achievement. This is obviously a complete break from how work was done and life viewed in traditional societies. It is not that they did not work in such societies, but that their relationship to it was different (it is often cited, and absolutely true, that ‘unfree’ mediaeval English peasants had more days off work than modern ‘free’ working citizens). The result of this society of the achievement-subject is that we lose all meaningful ‘relations to the Other’, and so we seek gratification in unhealthy ways. The achievement-self burdens itself, exploits itself and attaches itself to anything in order to survive in a world which does not value morality, ultimate purpose, or relationships that are not practical and expendable. Life becomes ‘that of the undead.’ (p. 51) Illness is inevitable.

Although not a Christian, this line of thought has been similarly pursued by the likes of Mark Fisher. Not only do we live in a world which is focused on achievement and production, as Han has expounded, but our lives are increasingly parasitised by technology. This technology, such as our computers, smartphones, and other appliances, force us to constantly ‘check’ everything. They prey on the most passionate parts of our nature (in one talk, Fisher calls smartphones an ‘electro-libidinal parasite’). Our perception of time and our place in the world is completely flattened out. The teleological view of history that our forefathers relied on is more difficult to hold on to, and instead we become trapped in loops where our culture is nostalgic for visions of the future that never occurred. Genuine originality in art and culture is lost, and consequently self-expression is rendered phoney, being nothing more than simulacra of ideas and periods we have attached our identity to, rather than genuinely entering into the mindset of a particular way of life. For Fisher, ‘cyber-depression’ is simply a corollary of modern life, as well as something for which we bear collective responsibility, rather than something attributable to the brain chemistry of the individuals who suffer mentally.

All of these observations have deep theological parallels. We can talk generally, of course about the nature of humanity after the Fall, which is surely the ultimate cause of any mental suffering. However, whilst the Fall may be the first cause of suffering, it is not the immediate cause of the mental suffering we are witnessing. I am put in mind of the prophets of Ba’al on Mount Carmel, who, desperate to invoke the power of their false god who would not save them, cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives. (1 Kings 18:28) It is not inappropriate to think of our post-Christian social priorities as false gods, and the way in which we have come to torture ourselves as a desperate way to express our inner recognition of its failure. What we are seeing is a complete breakdown of the communion for which we were created. It could even be said that modern society encourages us to be anti-Trinitarian in our relationships with others.

There is also the matter of What Is True Repentance?True repentance is impossible without the renewal of a constant petition, invocation, repentant falling, prayer, and supplication to the Heavenly Father. It’s also a sign of the forgiveness of sins—the constant turning of the mind and heart to God.

“>repentance. Our society lacks repentance because it lacks faith in Christ. It is not entirely our fault, given the nature of modern upbringing in a post-Christian world, but nevertheless, as modern people, we often lack the depth of faith of our forefathers and consequently struggle to trust God. This sin of faithlessness can only be healed by repentance. Ultimately, our failures as individuals must be related to the imperfection of our nature which has lost the Likeness of God. St Maria of Gatchina taught that depression can emerge as the fruits of repentance for past sins that were previously forgotten or not fully recognised. The hope for a solution from mental sufferings can be channelled from suffering itself, since, as St. Sophrony: Spiritual ExcerptsMay God give you all the spirit of repentance. Weep over your faults; weep, that your heart may not dry up.”>St. Sophrony of Mt. Athos and Essex says, every Christian must confront the abyss of emptiness that lies within his sinful soul. However, it is also worth bearing in mind the other half of St Sophrony’s advice, that after staring into the abyss for so long, it is worth drawing back to have a cup of tea!

In other words, the mental health crisis of modernity is a result of the way of life that modernity encloses us with, which is a sinful and anti-Trinitarian way of life. This is not the fault of any one individual, but something that affects us all to a greater or lesser degree, from which we all need to earnestly contribute repentance. I will consider some ways to break out of this subsequently, and some ways in which the mentally ill can be supported by the Church.

I have deliberately avoided discussing the relationship of demonology to mental illness. There is a place for this in the Orthodox Tradition, and one worth confronting; however, it is not necessary to investigate this for the purposes of this article, and so I shall leave the matter aside, given that it requires a very careful and separate treatment of its own.

Photo: carposting.ru     

On the Psych Ward of the Hospital of Souls

What is the solution to the sufferings of those who come to us with mental illness? Or, more properly, how can the Church help such people? I intend to offer a few thoughts of my own on this matter, not because I have a systematic answer, but because there are resources available which can be drawn on, as well as a number of issues that I hope to place more forcefully before the Orthodox Christian conscience.

One obvious solution is the formation of genuine communities where a Christ-centred communion with each other is fostered. Where relationships are not seen in pragmatic terms but in terms of the brotherhood in Christ that characterises apostolic life. Modernity can be turned on its head in such communities: Here, it is technology that becomes purely pragmatic, and genuine interpersonal relationships which become paramount. This obviously must begin on the parish level, and something like this is already the case in many parishes. It is simply the role of the priests and pastors of the Church to ensure that such genuine communities can be fostered between members of their flock. The achievement-subject must be unlearned and, as a form of the “old man”, put off in favour of the new man of baptised Christian life: a Christocentric-subject.

We often hear the refrain from some that ‘priests are not psychologists’ and ‘confession is not counselling’. These things are of course true to a great extent, and there is wisdom in them. It is not a necessary part of the role of a priest to provide deep psychological analysis or to send their parishioners away from the temple “cured” of their mental illness. However, we must be careful not to wash our hands of our responsibility towards them. Christ came with healing and great power over illnesses of the body and of the soul. All of us, who now represent Christ to each other, and so especially the priests, must come to all with that same healing and hope in our hearts. St. Nicodemus the Hagiorite draws a strong connection between the role of the priest and the physician in the epigram which he appends to his Exomologetarion:

Galen was an example, as Apollo was to Hippocrates,
To the healer of spiritual maladies.
But the judge and healer of spiritual matters is the greatest of these,
Inasmuch as the spirit is greater than the body.

We face a practical dilemma, however. Whilst it is true that a priest is not a psychologist, and the medical healing of the mentally ill is best dealt with by a medical professional, most clinical psychologists and counsellors today are either not Christians or will not approach the matter of mental healing from a spiritual perspective. As if that wasn’t enough of a barrier, there is also the troubling matter of just how poor mental health medical provision is, even in developed countries. In the UK, waiting lists for therapy are long, and the go-to solution in the meantime for patients are various cocktails of drugs about which I continue to hear no end of horror stories. Under these conditions, are we not throwing our spiritual children to the wolves by sending them to the medical professionals? I do not have a fully worked out solution to this problem, but I would begin by suggesting that we need more Orthodox psychologists to whom we can reliably refer people, and priests should strive to have at least a basic understanding of mental illness and basic counselling. This is an important initiative, since currently, the psych ward of the hospital of souls is under-staffed.

We may also draw on the rich experience and resources of the Church. The Church’s experience with mental illness is not widely discussed, but it is there if you scratch beneath the surface. Some things we are very familiar with: as a pastor, I can attest first-hand to the power of the prayers of the Church in relieving the pains of the mentally ill, especially the prayers of the Divine Liturgy and the reception of Holy Communion fearfully and humbly. Repentance and the struggle to place Christ at the heart of life is key, no matter how difficult or long-term a struggle this may be. In severe cases of mental illness, the service of Holy Unction is just as appropriate for afflictions of the mind as of the body. We also have many saints associated with the healing of those with mental illness, including both well-known and loved saints such as Gerasimos of Kefalonia, Anastasia the deliverer from potions, and the lesser known such as the Martyr Dymphna of Geel, venerable Fillan of Strathfillan, and New Martyr Maria of Gatchina.¹ Veneration of these saints should be cultivated, and supplications served to them. Most recently, I have discovered a true treasure of the Church in the so-called “Blessing-Psalter” of St Arsenios the Cappadocian. We have a record of how St Arsenios used to use the psalms as blessings over his spiritual children; and what is remarkable is just how many of these refer to what we would now term mental illness. The use of these psalms by priests is worth looking into and reviving, but of course, the psalter can be prayed by any faithful Orthodox Christian.

We must recognise that, as much as repentance is required by the mentally ill, our own repentance (of those of us who do not suffer from these afflictions) is equally required. Too often there is a strange, narcissistic flavor to the social discourse surrounding mental illness. On the one hand, there is a recognition that compassion and love towards the mentally ill is the correct response to their sufferings, but on the other hand there is a strange tendency to abdicate all responsibility towards them as soon as caring for them becomes difficult, in the name of the fact that it can “put strain” on us to do so. I do not wish to deny for an instant that caring for the mentally ill is stressful, but we must recognize that our inability to love those whom we find it difficult to deal with is a sign of our own weakness and lack of virtue. Our own effort should be directed towards loving those who suffer, and praying that God will strengthen us to fulfil this high calling.

Mentally ill people are, almost always, exactly the people whom Christ came to save. They are often misunderstood, viewed with suspicion and derision, and as such feel as though they have to separate themselves from others which then, ironically, worsens their condition. In some ways they are modern lepers. If they want healing, then they must approach Christ saying, “Lord, if Thou wilt, make me clean!” We must, like Christ, go to meet them and say “I will.” (Matt. 8:2-3) And what did Christ say to the lepers that were cleansed, after they had begged for His mercy? “Go show yourselves unto the priests.” (Luke 17:13-14) We priests must be ready to meet them when they come—not to fulfil the law of Moses, but to help bear their burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (Gal. 6:2)

I am excited about the coming month of July!

The month begins with our annual archdiocesan pilgrimage to Mexico City to pay tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe. 

This is always a special time for me to be with the faithful of Los Angeles, praying in the presence of the sacred tilma that bears her miraculous image. This year we are expecting nearly 300 will be joining us on this pilgrimage of faith. 

As we always do, we will be bringing prayers and petitions for our families and loved ones and offering them to Our Lady in confidence. 

Near the end of the month, I am also excited to be going to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress. 

Already thousands of pilgrims from every corner of the country are in procession making their way there, bearing the holy Eucharist, praying and singing, many traveling for thousands of miles. 

The pictures of the pilgrims are so inspiring, there is such joy and hopefulness that radiates from their faces, and I sense a new confidence in the power of Jesus Christ to change our world and change our lives. 

During these past three years of the National Eucharistic Revival launched by the U.S. bishops, we have witnessed a great outpouring of the Spirit. 

More and more, we can see how this Eucharistic revival is part of a larger movement of the Spirit in our times. 

Jesus told us that the Spirit is like the wind. Though we can’t see the Spirit, he is at work in the world and in history, bringing God’s plan of salvation to completion. 

Looking back, we can see that the visitation of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 1531 marked the true spiritual founding of the Americas, touching off a great outpouring of holiness and grace that continues today in the mission of the Church. 

Several years ago I had the privilege to celebrate Mass with Pope Francis at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. 

The occasion was a day of reflection on the evangelization of the Americas and the witness of the then soon-to-be-canonized St. Junípero Serra. 

The Holy Father concluded his homily with a powerful call for the Holy Spirit to come again to renew the face of our continent: 

“May a powerful gust of holiness sweep through all the Americas,” he said. “We ask God for this special outpouring of the Holy Spirit! There was so much holiness, so much holiness planted in America!” 

I believe we are now witnessing this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, not only in our country and on this continent, but throughout the world. People are returning to God and returning to the Church. 

This year we received a record number of new Catholics into the Church on Easter. Earlier this month I ordained 11 new priests, more than we have seen in a number of years. And it is not only Los Angeles. We are hearing stories like this across the country. 

People are looking for meaning and purpose and love in their lives. They want to know: How should I live, what is the right path for me to follow? What happens when I die, and does my life make a difference? 

Those questions were on people’s hearts when Jesus walked the earth. Those questions are still on people’s hearts. 

And in the Church, we have the answers that people are looking for. 

In an article I was reading recently, a pastor wrote this: “The sun also rises and life continues for ordinary people at the local level, with all of its joys and its sorrows. People are born, marry, grow old, and die. And the Gospel remains the answer.”

This is the truth! And this is the attitude that we need in the Church in this moment of spiritual revival and renewal. 

By our baptism, each one of us is called to live our faith in Jesus Christ with joy and love. And each one of us is called to lead others to meet Jesus and to know his love and share in his promise of salvation. 

St. Paul used to say, “For we are God’s co-workers.” And so we are. 

God has entrusted each of us with some part to play in his beautiful plan of love, whether it’s in our homes or in our parishes, or at work or in our communities. 

It is an exciting moment to be a believer and a follower of Jesus, a time when the Spirit is once again planting holiness in America. 

Pray for me, and I will pray for you. 

And let us ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to help us to do our part in this great movement of the Spirit in our times, working with his grace to bring many of our neighbors to know the love of her Son, Jesus.

Rahat, Israel, June 19, 2024

An archaeologist points to wall art at the site of a Byzantine-period church in the northern Negev, an Israeli desert. According to archaeologists, it opens a window to the world of Christian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land 1,500 years ago. The Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of the art May 23, 2024. (OSV News/courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority)     

Archaeologists working in the Negev Desert in Israel are calling a new discovery a “greeting from Christian pilgrims” from 1,500 years ago.

In the desert, a Byzantine-era church was unearthed with drawings of ships on the wall, which “provide first-hand evidence about the ships [pilgrims] traveled in and the maritime world of that time,” says Israel Antiquities Authority director Eli Escusido, reports National Catholic Reporter.

For the archaeologists, the depictions are a “greeting from Christian pilgrims” who traveled by sea to the Gaza port and then visited the church. Scholars believe the drawings are meant to be accurate depictions of the actual ships they took to the Holy Land.

“The pilgrims began their pilgrimage following Roman roads leading to sites sacred to Christendom, such as Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the monasteries in the Negev Hills, and in the Sinai,” the archaeologists said. “It is reasonable that their first stop after alighting from the ships in Gaza port was this very church revealed in our excavations south of Rahat. This site lies only a half-day’s walk from the port.”

It’s noted that such depictions are also found in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

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Travis Leonard can do the math. Even without a slide rule from his AP calculus class.

He graduated this spring from Gardena’s Junípero Serra High with a 4.7 GPA, but perhaps the top headline of Leonard’s impressive résumé is his two-year participation in a pioneering International Space Station Program (ISSP) at the all-boys Catholic school. That’s resulted in an academic scholarship at the University of Southern California’s elite Viterbi School of Engineering.

On the other side of the equation, the 6-foot-2, 280-pounder anchored the offensive line on a Cavaliers’ Mission League football team that went to the semifinals of the CIF-Southern Section Division 2 playoffs last fall. Leonard’s highlight reel impressed the USC Trojans’ coaching staff enough to invite him to be a preferred walk-on freshman for the nationally ranked football team, which starts practices this August.

For now, the USC football walk-on status doesn’t come with an athletic scholarship or guaranteed playing time. But for Leonard, it all adds up in his favor.

“There are fewer [football] players in the NFL than there are those with engineering degrees,” said the 18-year-old, sporting a silver chain with the number “66” dangling from it — his number on the football team.

“But there are a lot of similarities in how to achieve things. In a class project, I can be like: ‘We’re meeting after school, we’re working on this project, and we’re staying until 5 p.m.’ On the football field, ‘The offensive line is moving right, we’re going over the linebacker, and we’re going to score.’ ”

Leonard said he’s found a balance in doing both the last two years at Serra. “When I go to USC, I don’t think it will be as hard a transition.”

What may be far more difficult, however, is the transition Leonard will face without his father rooting him on. Last January, Troy Leonard died unexpectedly of a heart attack at age 54. 

It was the first Monday coming off Serra High’s 2023-24 winter break. The football playoff run was still fresh, and momentum was building as Leonard and seven schoolmates were about to see their 3D liquid resin printing experiment go into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida via a Hawthorne-based SpaceX Falcon 9 CRS-30 rocket headed to the International Space Station.

As per their routine, LaTasha Bellard-Leonard had dropped Travis off at Serra High on her way to work as a program director in Bellflower for Easterseals. The drive was a half-hour from their Long Beach apartment. Troy picked up Travis later that afternoon. This time they stopped at Troy’s parents’ house to pick up some materials for Travis’ upcoming senior class retreat.

As Troy walked back to the car, he called out to Travis: dial 911. As he watched his father collapse, Travis attempted CPR waiting for the ambulance. He called his mother as they went to the hospital. It was too late.

“I never thought that leaving the house that morning we wouldn’t see him that evening,” said LaTasha during an interview with Angelus, drying her eyes with a tissue.

“It hasn’t been easy, and I’m still taking time to grieve,” said Travis. “It’s just so unfair. I did miss one day of school, but the reason I knew I had to go back was because, in my head, I could hear my dad saying, ‘Next man up.’ Now, I was the next man up. I can still hear his words.”

Travis and Troy were training partners, pushing each other to succeed. Troy’s athletic background came from playing basketball at Banning High School in Wilmington. He saw the value of Travis playing sports at Serra High.

John Moran, Ed.D., the president of Serra High since 2022, was impressed with the “unbelievable speech” Travis gave at his father’s funeral.

“I saw how close they were, as his dad was a major mentor,” said Moran.

Serra High, with 380 students today, boasts a prolific alumni base of athletes who have gone on to careers in football, basketball, and track and field since its opening in 1950. It was the first school in California history to win a state football and basketball title in 2009-10. Today, the student body is about 80% African American.

Leonard’s accomplishments in both athletic and academic fields were a reason why, at the Serra High Senior Class Awards night prior to graduation, Moran chose him for the President’s Award for Character and Leadership.

“I rarely have been as impressed in my 25 years of education leadership with a young man as I have been with Travis,” said Moran. “His public speaking is exceptional. No arrogance at all, very level-headed, poised, and confident. People see him as a leader — a strong, silent type who articulates so well now.”

Leonard credits his mother with keeping him true to the motto: Leaders always lead from the front, not pushing everyone else forward from the back. He also credits Moran and Serra Science Department chair Ken Irvine with expecting him and his 81 other senior classmates to succeed at whatever they want to do.

“The best part of being at Serra was all the opportunities they gave me,” said Leonard, a member of the National Society of Black Engineers. “I took advantage of what they provided and now I’m seeing the dividends and rewards. Serra also gave me a brotherhood, so my class will keep in contact because we were close.”

LaTasha values the Catholic education she received at St. Frances X. Cabrini in South Los Angeles and the all-girls St. Mary’s Academy in Inglewood — so the family decision made for her son to attend Serra was a natural one. 

“Travis took the bull by the horns and was able to succeed,” she said. “His dad instilled strength in him definitely, to push forward. There’s a plan that we maybe don’t know or understand, but it’s there. I know his dad is watching over him and so many positive things are still going to happen.”

Leonard has an array of proclamations, plaques, and awards to document his successes. One of them is the Serra Alumni Association Tim Boyer Character Award for his football sportsmanship. There is the Principal Award for demonstrating good academic standing, and a Certificate of Recognition from the California Legislative Black Caucus for participating in the African American Leaders of Tomorrow Program at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

But the key lesson learned, he agreed, is to stay in the moment and don’t take anything for granted. His father’s death underscored that.

Leonard recalled how in starting sophomore year, this space program opportunity hadn’t even been introduced yet at Serra. He was focused on a biomedical career.

When he was picked to be part of the mission, he had serious doubts they could pull it off. By his junior year in August 2023, he was part of the first ISSP project that involved watching a seed germinate in space. 

The second ISSP project earned Leonard and his team a special honor by the California State Assembly in Sacramento earlier this year. 

“I know the world is going to need more electrical and mechanical engineers because of where we are going with technology, and it’s about hitting deadlines, pushing our limits, getting past our fears,” he said. “I was very timid at first because I never had to speak in front of people, and I didn’t want to be wrong or look like an idiot. Now I can explain it: This is how it works, this is the experiment, A plus B equals C.”

And that, any scout can agree, is a measurement of success.

Vinnitsa, Vinnitsa Province, Ukraine, June 19, 2024

tulchin-eparchia.org.ua     

A court of appeal in the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa ruled yesterday, June 18, to uphold the verdict against the elderly and ailing Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Ukrainian hierarch sentenced to 5 years in prisonA hierarch of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church has been sentenced to 5 years imprisonment and the confiscation of property for various supposed crimes against the state.

“>In August, His Eminence, 75, was found guilty of justifying the Russian war against Ukraine and inciting religious enmity, evidence of which was allegedly found during SBU accusations are attack on UOC, says Metropolitan whose home was searchedThe search of his home and diocesan administration by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) and the accusations made against him in the media are, in fact, attacks on the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, believes the Metropolitan of Tulchin.”>searches at his residence and diocesan administration.

He was sentenced to five years in prison with the confiscation of his property. The verdict was not enforced while under appeal.

The appeal court’s decision comes into force from the moment of its proclamation, and can be appealed to another court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine within three months, reports Vinnitsa.info, whose correspondent was present for the ruling.

The elderly hierarch, known as a composer of Church music, is also in poor health, which has only been exacerbated by the state’s persecution campaign against him.

In November 2022, a month after the searches, after having been UOC Metropolitan remains calm despite state suspicion and investigationThe whole matter is an attempt to undermine the canonical UOC and create unrest among its clergy and faithful, Met. John said after his home was searched.

“>officially notified of state suspicion against him, he had to Prayer request: persecuted Ukrainian bishop undergoes heart surgeryHis Eminence Metropolitan Jonathan of Tulchin and Bratslav, a hierarch of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church who has been subjected to searches and serious accusations by the Ukrainian Security Services (SBU) lately, underwent an emergency open-heart surgery today.”>undergo heart surgery. In March of this year, he Ukrainian hierarch recovers from stroke, discharged from hospitalMet. Jonathan, 75, has been in poor health lately, which is exacerbated by the state’s persecution campaign against him.”>suffered a stroke and was hospitalized for 10 days.

Although the Metropolitan wrote a petition while being treated for his stroke, asking to be sent to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange, at his court session on June 12, he canceled this request. According to his lawyer, he is no prisoner of war and does not admit any guilt. His Eminence “wants to continue working for the good of Ukraine.”

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Venerable Matt Talbot was born in Dublin. His father worked on the docks, and struggled to support their family. Matt attended school for a few years, but soon began working as a messenger for liquor merchants. He began to drink excessively, and for 15 years, until he was almost 30, Matt was an active alcoholic.

One day, he decided to abstain from drinking for three months, make his confession, and begin attending daily Mass. The first seven years after making this life change were especially hard, and he turned to prayer to help him through. He also tried to make amends with people he had hurt while he was drinking.

Matt worked as a builder’s laborer, and joined the Secular Franciscan Order, living a life of strict penance. He dedicated himself to Scriptures and the rosary, and gave much of his earnings to missionary work.

After 1923, Matt was forced to quit working when his health failed. He died on his way to Mass on Trinity Sunday. He was given the title venerable by Pope Paul VI 50 years after his death.

London, June 14, 2024

​The Georgian Codex Sinaitius Rescriptus. Photo: christies.com     

The auctions of three ancient Orthodox manuscripts—one Georgian and two Serbian—through the London-based Christie’s were closed on Tuesday, June 11.

The first manuscript, the Codex Sinaiticus Rescriptus, is a palimpsest, with a 5th–7th-century Palestinian Aramaic text underneath, and an ecclesiastical Georgian text from 979, written by Ioane-Zosime, a Georgian monk who lived at St. Saba’s Monastery outside Jerusalem and later St. Catherine’s on Mt. Sinai.

Christie’s describes the manuscript:

The manuscript contains the earliest textual witnesses of the Gospels in the nearest dialect of Aramaic to that spoken by Jesus, composed within a living tradition based in the Holy Land. The palimpsest is overwritten with Georgian text written by the famed calligrapher, author, translator and bookbinder-monk John Zosimos, and survives here in his 10th-century binding from St Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, the earliest known signed, dated and localisable binding.

The Georgian text contains Gospel pericopes and two ascetical works—the Sayings of Abba Poemen, and the Letter of Arsenios.

According to the Telegram channel Orthodoxy in Georgia, the palimpsest was purchased by the billionaire oligary and philanthropist Bidzina Ivanishvili and will be donated to the National Museum. According to Christie’s, it sold for $1.595 million (1.25 million British pounds).

The Serbian manuscripts—a 14th-century Slavonic Octoechos and a 15th-century collection of Slavonic texts, including the story of Barlaam and Josephat—were purchased by the Serbian Ministry of Culture, reports Sputnik.

The Octoechos sold for $24,125 (18,900 pounds), and the collection of texts for $67,550 (52,920 pounds). Only a few Serbian Octechoi on parchment have survived to date, and none of them complete.

“This is extremely important and great news for our cultural heritage, which due to historical circumstances is scattered all over the world,” said Minister of Culture Nikola Selaković.

The manuscripts were purchased through the Serbian Embassy in London.

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