Tag: Christianity

Sometimes we are the most helpful and life-giving at the very times when we are most helpless. We’ve all been there. We’re at a funeral and there’s nothing to say that will ease the heartache of someone who has lost a loved one. We feel awkward and helpless. We’d like to say or do something, but there’s nothing to be said or done, other than to be there, embrace the one nursing the grief, and share our helplessness. Passing is strange, but it is our very helplessness that’s most helpful and generative in that situation. Our passivity is more fruitful and generative than if we were doing something.

We see an example of this in Jesus. He gave both his life and his death for us — but in separate moments. He gave his life for us through his activity and his death for us through his passivity, that is, through what he absorbed in helplessness. Indeed, we can divide each of the Gospels into two clear parts.

Up until his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is the active one: he teaches, he heals, he performs miracles, he feeds people. Then, after he is arrested, he doesn’t do anything: he is handcuffed, led away, put on trial, scourged, and crucified. Yet, and this is the mystery, we believe that he gave us more during that time when he couldn’t do anything than during all those times he was active. We are saved more through his passivity and helplessness than through his powerful actions during his ministry. How does this work? How can helplessness and passivity be so generative?

Partly this is mystery, though partly we grasp some of it through experience. For example, a loving mother dying in hospice, in a coma, unable to speak, can sometimes in that condition change the hearts of her children more powerfully than she ever could during all the years when she did so much for them. What’s the logic here? By what metaphysics does this work?

Let me begin abstractly and circle this question before venturing to an answer. The atheistic thinkers of the Enlightenment (Nietzsche, Feuerbach, Marx, and others) offer a very powerful critique of religion and of religious experience. In their view, all religious experience is simply subjective projection, nothing more. 

For them, in our faith and religious practices, we are forever creating a god in our own image and likeness, to serve our self-interest (the very antithesis of what Christians believe). For Nietzsche, for instance, there is no divine revelation coming from outside us, no God in heaven revealing divine truth to us. Everything is us, projecting our needs and creating a god to serve those needs. All religion is self-serving, human projection.

How true is this? One of the most influential professors I’ve studied under, Jesuit Michael Buckley, says this in face of that criticism: “These thinkers are 90% correct. But they’re 10% wrong — and that 10% makes all the difference.”

Buckley made this comment while teaching what John of the Cross calls a dark night of the soul. What is a dark night of the soul? It’s an experience where we can no longer sense God imaginatively or feel God effectively, when the very sense of God’s existence dries up inside us and we are left in an agnostic darkness, helpless (in head, heart, and gut) to conjure up any sense of God.

However, and this is the point, precisely because we are helpless and unable to conjure up any imaginative concepts or affective feelings about God, God can now flow into us purely, without us being able to color or contaminate that experience. When all our efforts are useless, grace can finally take over and flow into us in purity. Indeed, that’s how all authentic revelation enters our world. When human helplessness renders us incapable of making God serve our self-interest, God can then flow into our lives without contamination.

Now, this is also true for human love. So much of our love for each other, no matter our sincerity, is colored by self-interest and is at some point self-serving. In some fashion, we inevitably form those we love into our own image and likeness. However, as is the case with Buckley’s critique of the atheistic thinkers of the Enlightenment, this isn’t always the case.

There are certain situations when we can’t in any way taint love and make it self-serving. What are those situations? Precisely those in which we find ourselves completely helpless, mute, stammering, unable to say or do anything that’s helpful. In these particular “dark nights of the soul,” when we are completely helpless to shape the experience, love and grace can flow in purely and powerfully.

In his classic work “The Divine Milieu,” Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, challenges us to help others both through our activity and through our passivity. He’s right. We can be generative through what we actively do for others, and we can be particularly generative when we stand passively with them in helplessness.

On November 22, 2007, My Brother Fr. Ioanichie (Balan)When he preached in the village church, everyone wept.

“>Archimandrite Ioannichie (Balan; 1930–2007), a great Romanian hagiographer, the compiler of the Romanian Patericon, reposed in the Lord. Thanks to him we discovered so many amazing God-pleasers, ascetics and wonderworkers—a whole world of Orthodox sanctity that had been unknown to us before him. Father Ioannichie devoted his entire life to this enormous work, and yet he put his personal monastic labors first, serving Christ at every moment of his life on earth, with every action, word, and movement of his soul. Fr. Ioannichie kept a spiritual diary, and looking into it, we can see how that was possible.

13.XI.1955

Archimandrite Ioannichie (Balan) I call to you now, my soul, come to speak with me! I call to you, come and awaken from sleep! Come, my soul, so that we can talk, rejoice together and cry! Return from the scattered paths and roads and come so that we can examine our conscience, reject sins and make a good beginning in the service of the Lord Jesus.

Thus, seeing that I am so sinful and negligent, I advise you, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, from now on to move forward with a new spirit and new morale; to try most of all to practice spiritual virtues, so that by them we can be vouchsafed the mercy of the Good God in our hour of death.

1) Love. My soul, I have put Divine love first, without which you will die unless you strive to acquire it. Love God as He loves you. Love Him, trusting entirely in His will. Love Him with unceasing prayer, humble obedience, profound humility and penitent crying. Love Him, loving your neighbor; love Him with sacred stillness, love Him with self-denial and self-humiliation.

Remember, my soul, how much the Good God loves you! How much He has done for you, my dear. In addition to His Cross, death, and Resurrection, the Lord raised you from death, enlightened you by Holy Baptism, nurtured you with the milk of the right faith and strengthened you in everything with the dew of the Holy Spirit… What has the Lord not done for you? What has He not given you of what you have asked of Him? What has He ignored when you needed something?

Who kept you alive for twenty-six years? Who comforted you in sorrows? Who strengthened your hope for Paradise? Who visited you when you were sick? Who wiped away your tears? Whose hand has covered you all your life? What Good Samaritan showed you compassion when you were lying, beaten by robbers, on the path of your life? Who put you on His horse? Who brought you to this guesthouse? Who anointed you with oil and bandaged your wounds? Who gave you health, sight, hearing, speech, and mind? Who has been maintaining your life? Only the Good God!

God alone has given you everything and has done everything for you. He kept you in the world for twenty years, preparing something better for you. He took you out of your father’s house, out of the wicked life of this world and brought you to this holy assembly, where you can be saved easily and heal your wounds…

The Good God alone has done everything for you out of love. Therefore, I advise you and solemnly urge you to love the Lord Jesus, God, more. Love Him from the bottom of your soul, love Him with all the strength and zeal of your heart, love Him with all the strength of your mind and thought.

Do whatever you do to be for the glory of God with zeal, and what is not for His glory, don’t do. I advise you to love Him especially with frequent prayer, deep humility and sincere obedience. Do everything for Him alone, try not to upset Him with anything and serve Him with love until you die. And do everything that brings peace to your soul, everything that comforts you in sorrows and everything that strengthens you in life, with joy and hope. When you grieve His holiness, fall down with many tears, fall down in profound humility in prayer, and He will forgive you.

Also, my soul, love your neighbor. Love all people without distinction. Love everyone in Christ and Christ in all humans. Don’t discriminate. Don’t upset anyone with your actions. Don’t offend anyone with your words, and especially in your monastic life, treat your abbot and all the fathers and brethren with love. Love everyone as yourself, serve everyone with love as your parents, and seek peace for everyone!

If they ask you for something, give it to them. If they tell you something, listen to them. If they send you somewhere, go there. If they call you, come. If they persecute you, go away. If they scold you, accept it. If they reproach you, be patient. Be to them as a slave, as a servant to all, and thus you will fulfill the law of Christ’s love. Thus, you will become a good monk and a sincere servant.

Then pray for everyone, forgive everyone, humble yourself before everyone, speak to them meekly, do everything that you see is good for your brother, and don’t do what you see upsets him. Thus, this is what I advise you: to continue on the path of your life with this sacred love for God and your neighbor, for only in this way will you be saved.

2) Obedience. Obedience in the Christian Life According to St. PaulWe tend to view obedience as a burden, but as we see in the Epistles of the great Apostle St. Paul, obedience is a necessary part of the Orthodox Christian life. But why is that?

“>Obedience is closely connected with love. So, my soul, I advise you to be more obedient, more zealous in this holy service, strive for it with more love, and fulfill it with more humility. Be a good servant to everyone, be a Martha for this community, to everyone and to each one of them individually. Do not resist, do not grumble, but perform all obediences with love. It is your salvation.

It is only by obedience that you will be saved and enter Heaven, your sins will be forgiven, and you will dwell in Paradise. So strive, my soul, to serve everyone, to bring everyone peace and to be a sincere servant of the community of Christ.

The Good God so desired to take you from the world and bring you here. He so desired that you would be saved here, the Mother of God so desired that you would serve Her chosen ones who dwell in this sacred spiritual garden. Do not resist, do not grumble, do not run away, do not feel overburdened, do not lose heart, do not become less zealous, but with renewed and increased strength go to the holy battle for the rest of your life. Do so, and you will be saved by the prayers of your fathers.

3) Prayer. You will not be able to love God unless you pray to Him ceaselessly. You will not be able to obey unless you ask for help from above. You will not be able to cry, to know yourself, to begin a good undertaking and to humble yourself if you do not ask God for everything with holy prayer. Ask, and it shall be given you (Mt. 7:7), the Lord says.

You will not be able to attain salvation unless you live only a life of holy prayer. You will not learn anything, you will not be able to do anything, you will not succeed in growing spiritually at all unless you pray without ceasing.

So, I advise you to be more zealous in prayer. As best you can, as you find it more useful and more peaceful, as you want—just pray all the time: on your way, in towns and villages, at obediences and in your cell, always pray. With your mouth, with your mind, out loud or in secret—always pray. Perform the The Jesus Prayer for LaypeopleSome mistakenly think that the Jesus prayer is only for monks. However, the Optina elders also instructed laypeople to do the Jesus prayer.

“>Jesus Prayer, read the Psalms, read your prayer rule, akathists, prayer services, canons, read what you can and what you want—just pray always and with great humility. Prayer is your nourishment in life, it will strengthen you in everything. It will bring down the dew of God’s mercy and grace into your heart. So, do this, and you will stay alive by prayer.

Do not set yourself limits and laws—I do not force you to walk a more difficult path of prayer, where a lot of diligence and effort is required, because I know that you will not be able to cope with it, but I give you freedom: just pray always and with humility.

Try not to let anyone know about your innermost prayer life. Do not forget that especially by standing attentively in the church and praying you will get a lot of comfort and peace. In addition to the Holy Liturgy, which you should never miss when you are free, stand concentrated at night services and you will gain enormous benefit. Fall with your face down, close your eyes, gather your mind, join your hands, come from the outside into the cell of your heart and stay there as long as you can, persisting in fervent prayer, and thus God will have mercy on you.

Avoid people, friends, meetings, cares and confusion so that you can pray purely and with feeling. Don’t waste time talking or sitting idly. Do not waste the few days that God has given you, but avoid everyone, hide in your cell, in your heart, and pray there with much fervor.

Love secluded, quiet places to learn how to pray better. Kindle a thirst for prayer in yourself, always reading only useful things. Always immerse in yourself and ask in prayer that God will give you the strength to know yourself, that God will give you tears and weeping in prayer, patience in obediences, humility in everything, zeal and the fear of God. Thus, pray always, and God will give you everything useful in this life, and in the life to come He will grant you everlasting bliss in Paradise.

Hurry up, my soul, always be diligent, pray here in this “desert” where God has brought you so that your life here would not be in vain. Love this trinity of virtues: Love, Obedience and Prayer. Love everyone, obey everyone and always pray.

So, rejoice that God has ordained this for you! Where were you six years ago? Where did you wander? Who knew you? Who helped you and what hope did you have? But it’s all gone. Behold, God has had mercy on you. Hurry up, strive, do good in time and not in time. Amen.

15.XI.1955

4) Meekness. How loving and dear to one’s heart is someone who is gentle in word, calm in his actions and reconciled with himself! Therefore, I exhort you, my soul: try to acquire meekness. Strive at any time, in any circumstances and with whomever you meet to show yourself meek, peaceful, quiet, unperturbable and calm. At least forcing yourself, if not from the heart, strive to be meek.

How sweet is a kind word, seasoned with the salt of love, spoken in the spirit of peace, adorned with meekness and charged with the power of wisdom! How much good a troubled and distressed soul gains when it is greeted with a gentle, meek, loving word! How much unity is formed between fathers and brethren when they speak with meekness, when they command with timidity and love! How much love is born where the elders give orders with meekness, gentleness, without getting annoyed, and the younger ones carry out orders with peace and love, with conviction and without grumbling!

And what an invaluable benefit an obedient person receives, living with great prudence at a monastery in peace and harmony with everyone without upsetting anyone in word, without condemning anyone in anything, without judging or quarreling with any of the brethren! Such a person lives in the community as in Paradise and stays in his cell like a king! He doesn’t have a single enemy or ill-wisher in his life. He does not grieve anyone, does not contradict, does not argue, does not wrinkle his forehead like a bull, does not gnash his teeth in rage like a dog and does not wave his hands in anger like a madman. He never raises his voice, does not shout, does not scold anyone, does not resist, does not shame his neighbor, does not worry, does not lose peace of mind because of anything, but remains the same in any circumstances.

Blessed is he who follows Christ in meekness. Follow, my soul, this blessed way of life. You have had enough of all sorts of worldly cares in your life, so strive now to be detached from them in order to always have peace in your soul. Try to remain unperturbed in any event. Try always to speak meekly to your brother, but not with false, crafty meekness; flee from such speech as from snakes. Be sincere at all times. Speak from the heart so that it can go to your neighbor’s heart.

Perform your obedience with meekness, in peace, without confusion, without grumbling. Trust everyone, give sweet advice to those who are in trouble, support those in temptation by deed and word, soothe the pain of the sick with words full of hope. Strengthen the weak with warm words full of exhortations. Always exhort and so you will receive mercy.

5) Sobriety of mind. I will not succeed in anything on the path of salvation unless I have a lively sobriety of mind and heart. There will be no benefit to me from staying here and from my spiritual labors unless I collect my thoughts and purify them, unless I have a sober mind against all bad thoughts and remain in humility of the heart. I also recall the advice and the last word of my reposed father, who had assigned me the same feat before others. So, knowing how great the benefit gained by the soul through this virtue is, I advise you, my soul, to acquire this great feat by diligence and prayer.

Always be sober in mind, control your thoughts, do not let them wander or savor sin; do not allow the arrows of the evil one to penetrate into your heart with evil thoughts, but drive your enemies away with sobriety, thinking above all about death, and by frequent prayer. Put your mind on guard over your heart and always be vigilant so that the arrows of carnal lusts and anger, revenge and all sins cannot penetrate into it.

Pray with attention in your mind and with feeling in your heart; always think about your sins, about your vocation, about the hour of your death and the Last Judgment. Always ask God to help you in this difficult warfare of the mind. Be vigilant, humble, silent and always humble yourself. Avoid completely the worldly glory and honors of this age. Always pray, think about death unceasingly, gather your mind, be sober and stay focused only on yourself—and so you will be given God’s mercy and help.

6) Reading and contemplation. Be nurtured, my soul, by reading sacred books where you will find food for the soul and spring water for your salvation. Especially the Holy Scriptures and the Holy Fathers; always read them and you will find in them the source of life. Then lift up your mind and heart to God. Contemplate on your life, death and the Judgment. Be zealous for this feat, and God will have mercy on you.

7) Stillness. The benefit from The Path to the Stillness of the Inner HeartWe choose our path here on earth, and often we wander, returning to the drawing board again and again; again we try to break through the thicket of our thoughts, our laziness, our negligence—to the light.

“>stillness is great! Terrible are falls that occur because of the tongue! Especially to you, a monk, silence and self-control of the tongue will be of great benefit. Therefore, I exhort you, my soul: be silent. Say little and only useful things. Don’t talk to women and frivolous people, avoid jokes and laughter, avoid the company of large numbers of people, meetings and friendly conversations. Avoid the silence of the tongue, which stems from ignorance, but be silent with your tongue, with your thoughts, with your eyes and with your feelings. Be watchful, for you will find a great treasure on the earth of your heart, provided you seek it with profound and wise stillness, obedience and prayer. Strive, be silent, flee from everyone, pray, and God will certainly help you.

To be continued…

Recent headlines about the future of the pro-life movement in the United States — especially with respect to abortion — haven’t been all positive, with some pro-lifers emphasizing the need for better messaging and voter action going forward to protect life in its earliest stages. 

But when it comes to end-of-life issues, the movement has a bit more momentum going its way.  

For example: Recently, delegates from the extremely influential American Medical Association explicitly rejected physician-assisted killing for the fourth straight time, and also voted down a proposal to rename the practice “medical aid in dying,” a euphemism our Canadian neighbors have deployed with full force.

This maps onto other seemingly improbable victories against physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in places like England, Ireland, and Denmark, as well as closer to home in New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.

So why are the politics involved in defending life at its end different from doing the same at its beginning?

One clear difference is that progressive disability rights groups have been at the forefront of these end-of-life fights. Their role has made it harder for advocates of euthanasia to argue that their lives are not worth living.

But while pro-lifers are making good progress against attempts to legalize the death of the disabled by action, they’re doing as well against those who are aiming at their death by omission. 

Catholic teaching defines euthanasia as an act or omission which of itself or by intention causes death, a definition that calls to mind the tragic story of Baby Indi in the United Kingdom, the most recent child in a growing list to be euthanized against the will of her parents. 

In such cases, both the medical teams and the judges have insisted that the child is so disabled that their lives are no longer worth living. They are so confident in this judgement that they deem the parents’ desire for their child to continue to live as constituting a kind of child abuse.

To add insult to injury, the judges ruled that Baby Indi’s life support had to be administered at a hospital or hospice and not at the child’s home as the family desired — pretty much implying that the parents want to abuse their own child.

Of course, someone — even a Catholic — might ask: What’s the big deal with removing the child’s life support? Does not even the Catholic Church allow for the removal of extraordinary means of medical treatment in such cases?

The answer is: it depends.

If one is not aiming at death, but rather at removing burdensome, life-sustaining treatment, the Church leaves this option wide open. 

After all, it’s also possible to make an idol out of grasping for more life. In our religious tradition, the images and narratives of Jesus’ death — and the deaths of martyrs — represent central examples of Christian sanctity. Choosing to live one’s final days or hours without life-sustaining treatment, far from being wrong, can be a holy and beautiful choice.

This, however, was nothing close to what the decision-makers in Baby Indi’s case had in mind. The key lies in analyzing what is being aimed at here: What was the intention of the medical team and the judges?

If they had simply claimed that the intensive care itself was so overwhelmingly burdensome that it represented a kind of child abuse, then they would have an argument. But the actual reasoning used in the case reveals that this is not what was going on. 

Consider their assessments of Baby Indi’s disabilities: “There is no discernible quality of life or interaction by IG with the world around her.” “She has extremely limited quality of life.” “She seems to derive comfort from M stroking her hair, but I accept the clinical observations that she does not follow with her eyes, does not respond to stimuli, and her limb movements are not purposeful. I do not think she experiences any meaningful quality of life, and sadly she never will.”

Those judges determined that Indi had just enough awareness to experience the difficulties of intensive care, but not enough to have “meaningful” quality of life. 

Interestingly, these are precisely the kinds of judgments that disability rights activists are so worried about. 

Suppose, for example, that Baby Indi had life support removed but continued to breathe and live. Would the medical team and judges be pleased with this outcome?

Based on their assessment, they wouldn’t be. Instead, they made a judgment that Indi’s life was not worth living, revealing what was really at play here: an omission intended to cause death, an example of the passive euthanization of a disabled child.

Sadly, once one starts paying attention to similarly aimed omissions — including in U.S. health care settings — we reach the unfortunate conclusion that this kind of child euthanasia happens quite regularly.

Yes, there are good reasons for hope in the struggle against aiming for the death of the disabled by action. But the very same reasoning and concern for justice for the disabled should be applied when aiming at death that happens by omission, too.  

The very public cases of those like Baby Indi’s serve as a wake-up call: let those with eyes, see, and those with ears, hear — and then act accordingly.

Heinävesi, Southern Savonia, Finland, November 30, 2023

From the Local Council of the Finnish Orthodox Church, November 27-30, 2023. Photo: ort.fi     

By decision of its Local Council and Bishops’ Council, the Finnish Orthodox Church (an autonomous Church within the Patriarchate of Constantinople) will continue to celebrate Pascha according to the Gregorian Paschalion.

The Finnish Church is the only Orthodox Church in the world to date Pascha according to the Gregorian Paschalion—a practice that dates to 1923. The rest of the Orthodox world, whether using the Julian or Gregorian calendar for fixed dates, continues to date Pascha (and therefore Great Lent, Ascension, and Pentecost) according to the Julian Paschalion.

The Local Council, consisting of hierarchical, clerical, and lay representatives opened at New Valaam Monastery in Heinävesi, Southern Savonia, on Monday and concludes today. During the sixth plenary session, the delegates considered and rejected an initiative to begin celebrating Pascha with the rest of the Orthodox world with a vote of 31-4 (1 abstention), reports the Finnish Orthodox Church.

The hierarchs also gathered in a Bishops’ Council on November 28, during which they approved a statement on the timing of Pascha:

Issue 23. Church Council Initiative for a Common Orthodox Pascha

The Orthodox Church of Finland follows the determination of the date of Pascha according to the guidelines of the Council of Nicaea in 325, but also follows the recommendation of Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios IV to adhere to astronomically accurate calculations. According to the definition of the Council of Nicaea in 325, Pascha is celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox, but always after the Jewish Passover. The date of the vernal equinox was then defined as March 21.

No canon related to the date of Pascha has survived from the First Ecumenical Council; the surviving canons relate to disciplinary matters, such as that Pascha should not be celebrated on the same day as the Jewish Passover. The only canon related to the order of worship prohibits kneeling on Sundays and during Pentecost.

Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios IV stated in the official journal of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, Ekklesiastike Aletheia, on June 9, 1923, as follows: The elimination of the difference between religious and civil calendars is absolutely necessary, and there is practically no canonical obstacle against correcting the Church calendar according to astronomical results. According to Meletios, the determination of the Pachal full moon would be based on astronomical calculations, always taking into account scientific advancements.

The so-called Meletios calendar, as described above, was approved for use in our local Church at the extraordinary Church council of 1923 and was also confirmed by the government on August 31, 1923 (Ministry of Education memorandum 1923 Aug. 31 No. 1164). The Church Council also decided on doctrinal matters in the absence of the Bishops’ Council.

The Bishops’ Council only began its activities in 1953. The matter of celebrating Pascha belongs to our Bishops’ Council, due to the nature of its content, as it primarily concerns the application of the decision of the Council of Nicaea to the conditions of the local Church in Finland. The Bishops’ Council unanimously states that, considering the unity of our local Church and taking into account the established tradition, the Orthodox Church of Finland will continue to use the Gregorian calendar.

See the article, “The Date of Orthodox Easter in Finland and Estonia” at Orthodox Christianity Then and Now for more information on why the Finnish Church uses the Gregorian Paschalion (note that the Estonian Church under Constantinople has returned to the Julian Paschalion since the publication of this article).

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St. Andrew was an apostle, a fisherman from Bethsaida, brother of Simon Peter, who eventually gave his life for his faith. From Scripture, we learn that “Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, ‘we have found the Messiah.’ Then he brought him to Jesus” (Jn 1:40-42). 

St. Andrew is said to have spread Christianity in Russia and Asia Minor in the first century. The Romans crucified him in Greece, on an X-shaped cross. This cross is now his distinctive symbol. It’s also the symbol of Scotland, and St. Andrew is the country’s patron. 

Some of St. Andrew’s remains were moved to Scotland in the fourth century. Other remains are in a crypt at the cathedral in Amalfi, Italy. When these remains are removed twice a year, they are said to produce a clear, watery substance, which is called “manna” and allegedly has miraculous attributes. 

Psalter: Illuminated manuscript. (Godunov Psalter). 1594. We know firsthand how fragile human life is. Yet as Christians, we have a great advantage and a priceless blessing—we know that we have a sure Advocate in this unsure world, Who is all-powerful and all-merciful. It has always been this way.

He that dwelleth in the help the most High shall abide in the shelter of the God of Heaven, said the prophet David about something he had experienced more than once in his troubled life—that whoever who places all his hope in God’s help will be saved from all trouble under His protection.

The Holy King and Prophet David entrusted his life to the will of God and the Lord kept His anointed one safe. Thus, when David was in Keilah and Saul intended to capture him there, the Lord revealed to David that the residents of the city would hand him over to the king. Thus, David and his party left the city and went whithersoever they could go (1 Sam. 23:13). Having found refuge in the mountainous deserts of Ziph and Maon, devoid of any vegetation, on the western shore of the Dead Sea, David was nearly surrounded by the king’s army, but then Saul received the news of the Philistine raid and had to temporarily stop his pursuit… This is how the narration goes about the life of the righteous king David.

We as Christians have a great advantage: We know that men have a sure Advocate in this unsure world

There are so many wondrous words that the prophet David has left for us, filled with gratitude for the miraculous deliverance from adversity! His divinely inspired psalms are filled with great power; they are a powerful protection from anything evil, from wicked men and demons.

Blessed Theodoret writes about Psalm 90:

“This psalm teaches the invincibility of hope in God: Blessed David, in fact, perceived with spiritual eyes from a distance the situation of blessed Hezekiah, and seeing that placing his hope in God he overthrew the Assyrian army, he uttered this psalm to teach all people how great an abundance of good that trusting in God brings.”

God also protects those who pray while reading Psalm 26. The Venerable Elder Ambrose of Optina

“>Ambrose of Optina wrote:

“You complain of fear of the enemy, which you had on some days, and that it begins in the evenings… When you feel such fear and an enemy attack, it would be useful for you to follow the example of the ancient fathers and repeat with your lips (so that only your ears would hear) the proper words of the psalms; for example: The Lord is my light and my savior, whom then I shall fear, and all of Psalm 26. Also: They compassed me about on every side: but in the name of the Lord I warded them off. They compassed me about like bees on a honeycomb, and burned even as a fire among the thorns, and in the name of the Lord I warded them off (Ps. 117:11–12). And more: Judge them, O Lord, that do me injustice; war against them that war against me… (Ps. 34) and so on. Also: O God, be attentive unto helping me; O Lord, make haste to help me… (Ps. 69) and the like. From your own experience you will see how great is the power of the divinely inspired words of the Psalms as they burn and chase off the enemies of your mind like a flame.”

St. Gabriel of Seven Lakes Monastery counseled to turn to the Most Holy Mother of God for help and protection:

“When anyone faces adversity, no matter what it may be, let him recite the prayer canon to the Mother of God, ‘Distressed by many temptations…’ And all temptations will pass.”

This is how a prayer filled with humble trust attracts heavenly help to us. There are many miraculous testimonies that hope in God and the help of His saints is never put to shame and always attracts invincible protection.

Here are some of them.

“He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High…”
A soldier’s story

“When the war began, I was drafted into the army, and after brief training I was sent to the front lines. During the first months of 1941 the Germans rapidly advanced, surrounding and destroying many Russian units. The same happened to our unit—it was surrounded and defeated. I and my comrade had to fight our way out of encirclement, walking only at night and resting during the day. So, one evening we entered a village that had no Germans and decided to spend the night there. At night, while my comrade and I were sleeping in one hut, the Germans surrounded the village. We could see from our window that a column of tanks was rumbling down the street, followed by motorcyclists, and the machine gunners with their dogs showing up last. It was too late for us to run, besides, there was no place to run, as the whole village was encircled.

The Germans checked every single house. Anyone who darted outside was immediately killed. If anyone fired a gun from behind the window, they’d burn the hut together with everyone who was inside. And what could you do with a rifle against a machine gun? Those who emerged with their hands up were taken out and driven away in trucks.

My comrade and I tried to hide in the hut under the bed, with me lying on the edge and my comrade hiding behind my back against the wall.

Feeling that I was about to perish I began to recall the prayers and pray; but out of fear I forgot all the prayers that my mother had taught me and could only remember the beginning: “He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High… He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High,” was all I could repeat to myself. When the Germans entered the hut and started the search, I continued to recite this prayer, “He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High…”

The Germans dragged out the man who was lying behind my back, but left me behind, as if I wasn’t there, like I was an empty space. They didn’t notice me at all

So what about the Germans? They came in, started to search everywhere. They looked under the bed and took out the one who was lying closer to the wall behind my back, but left me as if I wasn’t there, or as if I were a sack or some empty space. They didn’t notice me at all. They took my comrade outside and shot him in the yard.

Then, having combed the village, the Germans left. I lay there till night, repeating endlessly, “He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High…” and at night I left that village and went back to the forest. Then in the very first village with a church, I got myself a cross, put it on and stood inside for a while giving thanks to God for my salvation from sure death.

I got a Psalter from the faithful and copied the whole Psalm 90 “He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High.” Then I learned it by heart. I went through the whole war, read this prayer daily and came home alive.” ¹

An admonition of an invincible admiral

Portrait of Admiral F.F.Ushakov   

The great Russian naval commander The Blessed Warrior St. Fyodor UshakovOn August 5th, 2001 at the Monastery erected in honor of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Sanaksar, they glorified the blessed holy warrior Fyodor Ushakov, canonized as a local saint of the Russian Orthodox Church. This was the first appearance of a saint in shoulder-straps—a navy officer—in the Russian church calendar.

“>Fyodor Ushakov never suffered a single defeat during his entire naval career, the fleet he commanded never lost a single ship, and none of his sailors was ever captured. In October 2004, the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church canonized F.F. Ushakov and glorified him among the saints as the holy righteous warrior Fyodor.

The legendary admiral, a pious and deeply religious man, dearly beloved by sailors as a kind-hearted and caring father, gave the following admonition to his sailors:

“As you go into battle, recite Psalms 26, 50, and 90, and neither bullet nor saber will ever harm you!”²

“And no bomb will ever tear you apart!”

Elder John (Salov) Sergey Nilus recalled in his book, On the Banks of God’ River, about a rule he had received from the Optina elder, John (Salov):

“The elder greeted my wife and I with his characteristic joyful affection for us.

“Sit on the stool,” he said, hugging me, “sit right next to me.”

“What psalms do you recite?” he started by asking me. I was embarrassed—I usually didn’t recite any psalms during my truly short, truly worldly prayer rule; and it wasn’t even a rule, but a digest.

I replied “I know, ‘He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High…,” “Have mercy on me, O God…”

“Any others?”

“Well, Batiushka, I read all the psalms, and although I don’t know them by heart, I know them all; but my prayer rule is quite short…”

The elder interrupted my self-justification:

“It’s not my aim to inquire how long your prayer rule is, but whether you also recite Psalm 26, “The Lord is my light [and my savior]”?

“No, Batiushka, I don’t.”

“Well, let me tell you something. You once told me that the enemy shoots his arrows at you. Don’t be afraid! Not a single one will touch you, and don’t be afraid of any nasty thing; it will remain nasty. But take my advice for a rule, make it a rule: Read both Psalms 26 and 90 in the morning and in the evening before your prayers. But before that, read the Great Salutation of the Archangel, “O Theotokos and Virgin, rejoice.”³ If you keep doing it, no fire will consume you, nor water ever drown you…”

At these words the elder got up from his chair, embraced me, and said, no, he almost shouted, melodiously and resonantly, with particular force:

“I’ll tell you more: Not even a bomb will tear you apart!” I kissed the hand of the elder that embraced me. And again, drawing very close to my ear, he exclaimed loudly one more time:

“Not even the bomb will tear you apart!”

At these words, the elder let us go in peace.”

​Sergey Nilus, writer     

Fr. John’s prophecy was precisely fulfilled during the Civil War. According to the recollections of M. V. Smirnova-Orlova, Elena Alexandrovna [Sergei Nilus’s wife] told her that one day, when she and her husband were under shellfire as they travelled in a carriage, a bomb exploded near them, but it didn’t hurt them at all.

A miracle in the Caucasus

In the 1960s under Khrushchev, the KGB with the assistance of the army would systematically comb the Caucasus Mountains and catch anyone hiding there, mostly monks, and send them to penal camps.

One officer, a Party member and the head of a large helicopter unit, had extensive experience of flying in the mountains—and to fly in the Caucasus Mountains requires great skill. He received the order to follow a group of monks. He reported on the monks from the air via radio and relayed all their movements, while the soldiers on the ground surrounded and forced them towards a craggy peak where they were supposed to be overtaken and arrested.

The chase after the monks had already continued for several days and it was drawing to a close. The monks had nowhere to go as they climbed to the very top of the mountain. The soldiers and their dogs trailed behind them, and a bottomless abyss gaped ahead. The officer’s helicopter hovered directly above the monks and the pilot announced to them that it was over for them. Suddenly, something odd began to happen below. All the monks fell to their knees at once and spent a long time in prayer. Then they stood up and walked to the edge of the abyss. “Will they really jump? It’s certain death! What? Have they decided to commit suicide?” thought the officer in frustration.

But then one of the monks made a large sign of the cross as if blessing the abyss and took the first step straight into the air!

But then one of the monks made a large sign of the cross, blessing the abyss, and took the first step… He didn’t fall, but slowly walked in the air, as if it was solid ground

He did not fall, but somehow, by some miracle, he slowly walked through the air as if along a path. Other monks stepped behind him and started walking through the air as well.

In this way they calmly and slowly followed one another upward, and soon disappeared into the clouds.

This made such a strong impression on the pilot that he even lost control of his helicopter and fell into the clearing where he was found and picked up by soldiers. A few months later, when he had recovered, he was summoned to a special police unit for an explanation. Instead of explanation, he placed his Communist party membership card on the table and asked to be transferred to the reserves. He received baptism later…

I was told this story in the church where this officer was a parishioner. I asked the people to point him out to me. He was standing in the back of the church leaning modestly against the wall and praying with concentration and reverence…⁴

“You will never encounter any misfortune”

Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly (Sidorenko) During the military activity in Tbilisi that accompanied the political upheaval at the turn of the 1990s, “Love Your Neighbor, and Then You will Begin to Love Christ”His Holiness read the Prayer of Absolution, folded it up and gave it to me to put it in the deceased’s hand. As his thumb moved aside I put the piece of paper in his hand, and his palm closed. By itself!

“>Schema-Archimandrite Vitaly (born Vitaly Nikolaevich Sidorenko) prayerfully followed the tragic events and offered his spiritual children a special rule as protection from danger.

He advised them to recite Psalms 26, 50, and 90 in the morning before leaving the house and to intersperse them with the prayer, “O Theotokos and Virgin, rejoice” in the beginning, in the middle and at the end.

He also added the following, as his spiritual children recalled:

“After that, even if a shell or a bullet explodes next to you, or a fire starts, you will never experience any misfortune.”

“Read Psalms 26, 50, 90, and the Lord and the Mother of God will bestow Their mercy upon you.”

Those who prayed this way later testified, “Whoever practiced it was saved along with his household.”⁵

“God never leaves your prayer unanswered”

From the memoirs of Zinaida Vladimirovna Zhdanova

“I was arrested on January 6, 1950. I was charged on article 58, “Church and monarchist group.” It was hard; I had to defend innocent souls. <…>

“Many miracles happened during the investigation… A hypnotist was invited to see me and I signed one protocol under his influence. It’s scary to reminisce about it. He kept demanding that I look into his eyes and said repeatedly: “You are guilty, you are guilty!” I felt like I was sliding into an abyss, wrapped in a cloud of some huge sense of guilt. When I was called to sign a copy of the protocol, I couldn’t believe it myself—I had lied about my brother, who had just returned from the war, and many other things. So, I crossed out my signature.

I knew it could happen again. I prayed and asked for help and then suddenly remembered: To protect myself against hypnosis, I should recite Psalm 90, “He that dwelleth in the help of the Most High…” There was a woman in my cell who knew this psalm by heart and I spent the whole day memorizing it.

The hypnotist lost his temper, he screamed and pressed his hands against my shoulders. Finally, he collapsed on the leather couch and muttered, “I can’t do anything with her”

At night, I was summoned again and the same man once again demanded that I look into his eyes. I looked without fear and recited the psalm. The hypnotist lost his temper, shouting so hard that the veins on his face and arms swelled from the tension. He pressed his hands against my shoulders. Finally, covered in sweat, he fell on the leather couch and muttered, “I can’t do anything with her.”

After that agonizing interrogation, I ended up lying on the floor in the investigator’s office… I slowly regained my consciousness. I felt like my eyelids were cast-iron heavy and I could barely hear any sounds. Apparently, they called for a doctor, as I felt a gentle hand on my head and heard the words, “What have you done to her?!” They must have given me an injection. They propped me up so that I could sit on a chair. Then two soldiers took me under their arms and dragged me down the hallway like a sheaf of hay. “It serves you right, rebel!” They threw me across the iron bed in a solitary cell and left me lying there with my head hanging off the edge of the bed. I had no strength to move, the blood rushed to my head, but I couldn’t even raise it to rest it on the bed. Only one prayerful plea kept running through my mind: “Help, help, O Lord!”

Then, I heard a stern voice, saying, “Remember, God is not mocked. God’s mercy always abides with men, and God never leaves any prayer unanswered.”

With difficulty, I lifted my head to rest on the edge of the bed and fell into a heavy sleep. I can’t remember how long I lay like that. After that, I endured many more terrible things while in prison and the camp.⁶

To be continued…

Anchorage, November 29, 2023

YouTube     

The Diocese of Sitka and Alaska of the Orthodox Church in America issued a call to prayer this morning after one of its most beloved priests, Archpriest Michael Oleksa, suffered a stroke.

The message from the diocese reads:

Call for prayer:

Today, the Chancery received word that Archpriest Michael Oleksa suffered a stroke early this morning and was medivac to Anchorage from Nanwalek. His Grace, +Bishop Alexei in the presence of clergy and family prayed over Father Michael the last rites and anointed him with holy and sacred oil. Vladyka Alexei asks the entire Church of Alaska to keep Father Michael and his family in their prayers during this time.

Most Holy Theotokos, save us.

Fr. Michael Oleksa is well known as a missionary priest and student of Native Alaskan culture who has dedicated decades of his life to the Church in Alaska. He has served as a priest in over a dozen Native Alaskan villages over the years.

His biography from fatheroleksa.org reads:

The Reverend Dr. Michael James Oleksa has spent the last 35 years in Alaska, serving as village priest, university professor, consultant on intercultural relations and communications, and authoring several books on Alaska Native cultures and history. A 1969 graduate of Georgetown University and of St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Father Oleksa earned his doctoral degree in Presov, Slovakia, in 1988. His four-part PBS television series, Communicating Across Cultures, has been widely acclaimed.

The recipient of numerous awards from local, state and federal agencies, as well as the Alaska Federation of Natives, Father Michael has taught on all three main campuses of the University of Alaska system and at Alaska Pacific University as well. He currently resides in Anchorage with his Yup’ik wife, Xenia, his daughter Anastasia and one of his three grandsons.

Fr. Michael has authored books such as Orthodox Alaska: A Theology of Mission, Everyday Wonders: Stories of God’s Providence, Alaskan Missionary Spirituality, and Another Culture/Another World, and many more.

He recently joined Fr. Nicholas Molodyko-Harris to Priests of Alaska discuss canonization of Matushka Olga (+VIDEO)St. Olga is remembered as a humble mother, midwife, and priest’s wife who was filled with love for everybody, and especially abused women.

“>speak about the recent canonization of St. Olga of Alaska.

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St. Petersburg, November 29, 2023

Photo: mitropolia.spb.ru   

On November 1, His Eminence Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga blessed the creation of an association of psychologist priests, aimed at coordinating the work of metropolitan clergy with psychological education and practice.

The association is under the auspices of the diocesan Commission on Family Issues and the Protection of Motherhood and Childhood.

Member priests will also exchange experience, study psychological techniques in terms of effectiveness and compliance with Orthodox Tradition and ethical standards, provide psychological assistance to clerics and their families, help families overcome crises, and improve the quality and effectiveness of pro-life activities, reports the St. Petersburg Metropolis.

The first meeting began with a moleben served by the chairman of the Commission on Family Issues, Archpriest Alexander Diagilev.

The meeting included a discussion on the boundaries of pastoral care and psychological counseling. The participants agreed that a priest-psychologist has more chances to reach a person from the point of view of the Gospel of Christ than a secular specialist, even a believer. It was proposed to organize thematic conferences and invite not only priests or psychologists, but also other specialists in order to study some controversial and ambiguous topics of Orthodox anthropology and the role of psychology in the life of a person, a Christian, and a priest.

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With a soft and raspy voice, Pope Francis began his weekly general audience by making the sign of the cross and explaining that “I’m still not well with this flu, and my voice isn’t great,” so he would have an aide read his catechesis and greetings.

The gathering, in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall Nov. 29, was held the morning after the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had accepted his doctors’ advice and canceled plans to travel to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 1-3 to join world leaders in addressing COP28, the U.N. climate conference.

Before the general audience, the pope met briefly with members of the Scottish soccer team Celtic F.C. There, too, he apologized for having an aide read his prepared text. “With this cold,” he said, “I can’t speak much, but I’m better than yesterday.”

The pope’s main general audience talk, part of a yearlong series about evangelization, was read by Msgr. Filippo Ciampanelli, an official of the Vatican Secretariat of State.

But at the end of the audience, the pope took the microphone back to urge people to pray for peace.

“Let’s continue to pray for the serious situation in Israel and Palestine. Peace, please, peace,” the pope said. “I hope that the cease-fire in Gaza continues so that all the hostages (taken by Hamas) are released, and access is allowed for the necessary humanitarian aid” in Gaza.

Pope Francis, who speaks regularly by telephone with priests at Holy Family parish in Gaza City, told people at the audience, “I’ve heard from the parish there. There is a lack of water, a lack of bread. The people are suffering. The simple people. The people are suffering, not those who are making the war. We ask for peace.”

“And speaking of peace, let’s not forget the dear Ukrainian people who still are suffering so much because of the war,” he said. “Brothers and sisters, war is always a defeat. Everyone loses. Well, not everyone; there is one group that earns a lot — those who manufacture weapons. They make a lot off the death of others.”

Pope Francis also used the opportunity to thank a group of circus performers — acrobats, skaters, clowns and jugglers — who had entertained the pope and the crowd for a few minutes. They train hard and bring joy to people, the pope said.

In his main talk, read by Msgr. Ciampanelli, Pope Francis focused on how salvation in Jesus is as necessary as ever and that people today need to hear the Gospel proclaimed even if society tries to convince them that “God is insignificant and useless.”

Simply repeating formulaic expressions of faith will convince no one, the pope said. And neither will shouting.

“A truth does not become more credible because one raises one’s voice in speaking it, but because it is witnessed with one’s life,” the pope’s text said.

Moscow, November 29, 2023

Photo: RIA-Novosti     

Church and state authorities in Russia are working to reduce the sin of abortion that continues to plague the country.

Abortion was first legalized in Russia by Bolshevik authorities in 1920, and reached its peak when 5,463,300 abortions were committed in 1965 alone. After the fall of the Soviet Union, abortion remains legal, though thankfully, there has been marked improvement and the number of abortions has significantly dropped. In 2020, there were 450,000 officially recorded abortions in the country.

Both Church and state representatives agree that it would be very difficult to achieve an outright ban on abortion, but they have been working to steadily chip away at abortion rights and to encourage families to have more children.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill has Patriarch Kirill confronts Duma on corruption, abortion“Perhaps one of the most serious temptations of government service on any level is corruption,” the patriarch said, opening 2017’s Nativity Parliamentary Meetings.

“>confronted the State Duma on the issue a number of times, calling for legislators to develop measures that support motherhood and childhood, thereby creating conditions that will help reduce abortions. Church representatives have repeatedly called for abortion to at least be removed from the medical insurance system, and Abortions covered by Russian mandatory medical insurance greatly reduced to cases of rape and imprisoned womenThe accepted reasons for carrying out an abortion within the mandatory medical insurance system in Russia have been greatly reduced, a Church representative had the pleasure of announcing at an international legal forum in St. Petersburg today.”>in 2017, Mother Ksenia (Chernega), abbess of St. Alexis Monastery in Moscow and head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s legal department, was able to announce that abortions covered within the medical system were greatly reduced—to cases of rape and imprisonment.

Most recently, Pat. Kirill and others have been calling for a legislative ban on inducing women to have an abortion. Such a ban has been enacted already in the Mordovia and Tver Provinces, but should be extended to the federal level, the Church primate says, reports rbc.ru.

The Patriarch made the call in his address to the opening of the XI General Church Congress on Social Service, noting that, “Unfortunately, the number of abortions in the country remains high.”

Banning the practice of persuading women to have abortions would be especially relevant for the country in the context of the demographic crisis, Pat. Kirill said. He also noted that the Church currently operates more than 80 shelters for women in difficult situations. Church social workers also meet with women who have already decided to have an abortion to present them with feasible alternatives.

Earlier this month, Crimean authorities, followed by authorities in the Tver Province, announced that private clinics were refusing to perform abortions. In July, the Ministry of Health said the country plans to tighten control over the circulation of abortifacient drugs by the end of the year.

The Diocese of Simferopol and Crimea, headed by His Eminence Metropolitan Tikhon (Shevkunov), also submitted an initiative to the Public Chamber this month calling for the inducement to abortion to be a finable offense. The issue was discussed at a recent session of the Commission for the Preservation and Strengthening of Traditional Russian Spiritual and Moral Values.

Met. Tikhon, who attended the session, spoke of the inducement to abortion as “compelling a woman to artificially terminate her pregnancy by persuasion, offers, bribery, deception, or some other demands.”

The issue has also been raised in the federal Russian Parliament. Following on the proposals of Pat. Kirill and Met. Tikhon, Senator Kovitidi, a member of the Federation Council (Upper House of the Federal Assembly) from Crimea publicly voiced his approval for the initiative.

“It’s obvious that deliberate actions aimed at forcing a pregnant woman to artificially terminate her pregnancy … should entail punishment,” Kovitidi said.

“Large families should become the norm of public life in Russia. To do this, women must want to give birth to children. The state should consider additional measures of material support for families in which four, five or more children are born,” she added.

Deputies of the State Duma (Lower House) have also promised to consider reducing the permissible period for having an abortion from 12 to 8 weeks, and from 22 to 12 weeks in cases of rape.

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