Tag: Christianity

Grace Stacker of the Diocese of Helena, Mont., pulled out her cell phone and called her dad, right in the middle of a talk during the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC).

In fact, teens all around her were talking on their phones, even as the speaker stood on the stage.

But they had his permission.

“I want you right now, in one minute, to just make a call to somebody in your life whom you love, who’s pretty special, whom you appreciate,” Scripture scholar and astrophysicist Father John Kartje asked of the more than 12,000 NCYC participants.

The request came as part of his talk on the oneness of God and the universe — faith and science — that served as the topic of the opening session of NCYC in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Nov. 16.

He began the talk echoing words spoken by Archbishop Charles C. Thompson just moments before.

“The line that really struck me amongst everything he said is this,” Father Kartje noted: “You’re not a problem to be solved, but you are a mystery to be encountered.”

‘What it means to be fully alive’

Archbishop Thompson spoke to the teens about this year’s NCYC theme “Fully Alive” in a prayer service at the beginning of the opening session — after the teens had settled down from a rousing concert by Christian rock band for KING + COUNTRY.

He quoted his “favorite line” from Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si’ ”: “Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.”

“We heard that beautiful reading about creation from the Book of Genesis,” Archbishop Thompson said. “But the ultimate part of that creation is when God created humanity, when God created us. We are part of that creation that’s been given life by the Spirit breathing into us, by the Word taking root in us, claiming us as his own.

“And so no one here is a problem to be solved, but is to be contemplated as a joyful mystery with gladness and praise.

“Whatever pains in our lives, whatever is going on, whatever hurts, whatever guilt, whatever fears, whatever anxieties, whatever it is — that does not define us.”

Rather, he said, we are defined by our identity in Christ, whose body, blood, soul and divinity is present in the Eucharist.

“The Eucharist has been given to us through the passion, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ so that we have life, that we have what is necessary to be witnesses to the good news, what it means to be fully alive,” Archbishop Thompson said.

“We are most fully alive when we live our lives not with ourselves at the center, but keeping Christ at the center. We are fully alive when we live for the glory of God and in service to others.

“We gather tonight remembering that we belong to something greater than ourselves as children of God, created in the image of God. We have a dignity, a dignity no power on earth can take away.

“That’s why we can claim to be fully alive.”

‘The one through whom astronomy is possible’

Father Kartje picked up where Archbishop Thompson left off — speaking about the NCYC theme.

“If you talk about being fully alive, I can’t think of a better way to get at what that actually looks like in our world today than to look at this interaction between faith and science,” he said. With doctorates in Scripture and astrophysics, the current rector and president of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Ill., is an expert on both topics.

He quoted John 1:3: “All things came into being through him. Without him, not one thing came to being.”

“A hundred billion galaxies exist,” Father Kartje said. “That very same God of creation is the God alive in our own bodies. The very same God that gives you the galaxies … gives us the very life in our hearts.”

Science and faith are both a way of looking at the world, he explained — one through the lens of a telescope, the other through the glass of a monstrance.

“The Eucharist you see through the glass of the monstrance gives us the ability to see the body and the blood of Christ in a way that doesn’t look like the body and blood of Christ,” Father Kartje said.

Meanwhile, through the new Webb Telescope “you can see the world that goes all the way back to Genesis,” he said. “It’s the world that goes back to the life that is in us. That is a monstrance all its own, these beautiful images from the Webb Telescope, to look at them for who Jesus is precisely because he is the one through whom all of that glorious astronomy is possible.”

To gaze upon the universe or to gaze upon Christ in the Eucharist, said Father Kartje, “is literally to let yourself be gazed upon by the one who delights in your very existence.”

As for his request for the more than 12,000 youths to call someone they love, Father Kartje explained the connection to faith and science.

“The person you called is probably feeling loved right now,” he said. “The reason something special happened at that connection is because of what you see in the monstrance. That’s why Christ came into the world — the one who does all of this is love.”

“A Christian’s earthly life is dissolved in consolations and temptations. Divine Providence has arranged it so! Consolations support us on the path of God, and temptations make us wise,” wrote St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). Modern man is so used to receiving consolation that he almost does not know how to bear temptation. He always seeks for his own, he gets annoyed and angry, and he is very busy all the time. He is too busy to stop, to pray and speak to the Creator: he has more important things to do than commune with God. But once trials begin, he gives up everything and strenuously asks for help from the Lord. We perceive Him as a Fulfiller of our immediate needs. Isn’t this the main problem of modern man? We talked about this with Archpriest Alexander Berezovsky, a priest of the Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in Petrovsky Park, Moscow.

—Father Alexander, modern people are weak, impatient and irritable. A person who embarks on his journey to the Church, to the Lord, wants to achieve everything at once and get straight to the “university”, skipping the whole “elementary school course”. He first takes on some incredible ascetic labors, extremely long prayer rules, and makes hundreds of prostrations, but he burns out very quickly since he has no foundation, and his love for God grows cold. Do you see this as a problem? Do modern people have it?

—It does happen, but not to everyone. Some walk this path gradually. Many people have lived in the Church since childhood, especially nowadays, when many parents are church-goers and try to raise their children in the faith from an early age. When it comes to young people, the problem here is that as children they were taken to church, but later, having reached a certain age, they grew cold to what had been given to them through their parents. Of those who came to God quickly and very actively some stay in the Church, and others burn out and grow cold, because they cannot cope with the feat that they took on themselves. There is such a problem: it boils down to a lack of spiritual guidance. Previously, people always had spiritual fathers in the Church, with whom they consulted, shared their serious problems and from whom they received thoughtful spiritual advice, following which they took their paths in life. Unfortunately, now this practice no longer exists. Although many people have, as they say, “father-confessors”, but still there is no spiritual guidance. In our days “father-confessors” are often priests who simply hear confessions and who know little about these people, about their families and lives. So people have to try what they have read and heard somewhere to their taste. Hence such mistakes. But true seekers will surely be brought by God to the truth. Seek, and ye shall find, the Lord said (Lk. 11:9). If someone seeks the truth—not his own, but God’s—he will receive it.

—As I see it, there is another problem in spiritual guidance. I can say this about myself. When I repent at confession and say what sins I have committed over the week, I must listen carefully to what God tells me through my father-confessor or just a priest who hears my confession. But very often it happens that when we listen, we don’t hear. Unfortunately, what I was told how to deal with one or another passion remains only words. I listen, but don’t do it. This is also a typical story for modern man.

—The is because priests mostly give people ordinary advice at confessions. A person has already heard it many times: to be patient, not to hurry, to pray to God. A person thinks that he already has patience, prays and makes efforts, but does not see any tangible results from what he was advised to do. You are right that many people want to see spiritual fruits quickly, so they are unwilling to walk step-by-step with patience. Many have already lived most of their lives—people often begin to integrate Church life when they are in their fifties. They want to have time to succeed, so they hurry to read and listen to spiritual things. Many even take theological courses in order to get to know the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Tradition and Church life better.

—Then this is a question to the priest who should give more specific advice and understand exactly what to say to his spiritual child.

—Sometimes a priest really has no time. Someone comes to confession on a great feast and there is a line of fifty-sixty people in church. A priest has to hear everyone’s confessions in order to give them Communion. There is only time for a short confession, and this is sometimes not enough. It is better to come on a weekday evening if you want a full confession, a real conversation and advice. People can also be busy, and for one ord another reason cannot come on weekdays. But those who really need it come and have long spiritual conversations. But again, in spiritual life you should be patient. Not everything is done quickly, and not everything is given and revealed quickly. People often lack patience, especially if there is a long-standing problem. But a person wants some recipe that will start working today, and changes in life right away. When he is offered a long path, it is more difficult for him. Especially if relations with his loved ones are destroyed, it takes a long time to sort things out. You can’t sit down, talk just in one evening, and solve all the problems. No, people hold grievances in their souls for a long time, and sometimes it takes years to heal them. Today people are so impatient.

    

There is also the following problem: People are not seeking God, but solutions to their problems. But since these problems are partly outward and partly inward, they go to Church and sometimes ask the priest questions that are not part of his competence. But people wait for advice to solve their problems. Priests always try to turn a conversation into the sphere of a person’s relationship with God. And here priests find that people do not need it. Someone has come for a solution to his problem, not for spiritual advice, still less for a relationship with God. There are few people who come and ask a priest: “Father, what should I do to enter the Heavenly Kingdom?” We hear such a question only in the Gospel from a young man who came to Christ, but in real life such questions are extremely rare.

—Do you have a feeling that there is a lot of theory in a large amount of literature in church shops and bookstores, but little practice? After all, referring to your words, if you come to confession and mention the same sin over and again, listen to the priest’s advice, but do nothing, is there any sense in what you have read? It appears that you just wasted your time. You haven’t taken what you read in the book into your heart and soul, and haven’t reformed.

—We don’t know what happens in someone’s soul after confession. Something probably remains in his heart, and he cares about how he will live after confession. His conscience denounces him and says: “You repented, you promised God!” The priest will sometimes remind him that he has grieved God with the same sin again, thereby awakening his conscience. But we cannot say whether a person is making efforts to reform or not. If he repents repeatedly of what he committed, it does not mean that he has not been making efforts. He may have tried his best, but so far his efforts have not yet yielded the desired results. He fell again and came to ask for God’s help again. I personally never suspect people of insincerity at confession, even if their confessions are concise or brief. Maybe it’s more convenient for them. A lengthy confession as opposed to a short confession is not evidence of sincerity. God alone knows what is in their hearts at this moment.

—Father Alexander, do you agree that there is a great difference between repentance and confession, between mentioning a sin, getting over it, and weeping over it?

—No, there is no difference. Confession is an integral part of repentance. After confession, the passions that lead you to sin become weaker, and it is easier for you to fight them. Later they get stronger again, and you come to confession again. When repenting of a sin, confession can be required several times. You don’t necessarily repent once and then reform. Repentance is broader than just confession.

—But we very often just confess and do not repent sincerely. After all, if we sincerely wanted to eliminate the sin of irritability or anger in ourselves, the next time we wanted to say something rude in response to an irritating factor we would restrain ourselves. But we still say rude words…

—In theory we should control all our words, thoughts and actions. But we don’t have the habit of controlling them. It is acquired by many years of work. Even after entering a monastery, people do not get rid of their worldly passions quickly. Maybe they repent sincerely, confess their sins, pray for the deliverance of these passions every day and lead rather austere lives, but all this does not happen immediately. Sometimes God wants us to struggle for a certain period of time and He does not deliver us from the sin that we ask Him to free us from so that we should not relax and fall into some other sin.

To be continued…

On a recent (and very bachelor) Sunday afternoon I watched a Criterion Collection documentary called “The Love Goddesses” (1965), which analyzes movie starlets from the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s and tries to decipher what made them so alluring. (The film reaches the critical conclusion that it was likely their drop dead looks and extensive gams that did the trick.)

The most interesting segment looked at Norma Jeane Mortenson, a winsome brunette from Van Nuys. Through a succession of photos, we see how this girl next door was gradually built into Marilyn Monroe while Norma Jeane was entombed inside like some pharaoh slave. Despite creating half the conversation and controversy of the 1950s, we sense that Norma was as much a spectator as the rest of us.

It reminds me of the story told about Charlie Chaplin, who placed 5th in his own lookalike contest. Fame creates the illusion of intimacy, but we only know the iconography and not the person. In other words, famous people aren’t actually famous: they just play one on TV.  

In his new film “Dream Scenario,” Paul Matthews (played by Nicolas Cage) learns this lesson the hard way. Paul is a mild-mannered evolutionary biology professor who soon notices complete strangers eying him on the street with a sense of déjà vu. Paul goes on to discover he’s been appearing in the dreams of people he’s never met from around the world. Paul becomes the world’s most famous man overnight through no effort of his own, which hardly surprises in the influencer age.

It’s a miracle this is even happening, doubly so because Paul himself is thoroughly unexceptional. He’s the type that leaves no lasting impression, and even when remembered appears in your mind’s eye as blurry as every photograph of Bigfoot. His students and children don’t respect him, and marriage seems more familiar than affectionate. We only tolerate Clark Kent because he becomes Superman, but when Paul Matthews runs into a phone booth he just exits a quarter poorer.

This is Paul’s first taste of being noticed, and he responds with all the dignity of a toddler getting laughs by shouting a dirty word. He’s done nothing to earn this newfound fame yet still tries to claim the spoils. But soon the dreams become nightmares, and Paul’s life follows suit. He is now blamed for the nothing he was taking credit for, people holding him personally accountable for reverie violations he has no control over. Earlier in the film he lectures on how the zebra’s stripes only confuse predators when they stick to the herd. Paul forgets his own lesson and separates himself, learning a lion will only eat you if you make yourself the daily special.

It is an exceptional performance by Nicolas Cage, one that should be remembered come Oscar season. It could be played by no one but Cage at this point in his career, for he understands better than anyone the double-edged sword of celebrity. After early critical success and a lucrative action movie run, a series of unwise land investments required Cage to accept any job if the check cleared. His already expressionistic acting style was now servicing scripts that didn’t deserve his effort — much to the glee of the early internet. Line readings were clipped without context and often went viral, forming the bedrock lexicon of most reaction GIFs today. (No one under the age of 30 has said “bees” without trying his inflection at least once.) Cage was once an Oscar winner, now he was reduced to a meme.

And yet, that very meme status has preserved Cage’s career beyond those of other actors of his class. No one envies the caveman who falls into the glacier, but he’s the one who gets thawed out millennia later. Moreover, in a world of corporate memes and manufactured virality, Cage had grandfathered authenticity. Those same abstracted images that once made him the object of quiet pity have since made him the internet’s folk hero, or at least its wacky uncle.

Positive or negative, the attention remains divorced from the actual person of Nicolas Cage. It has been since the beginning, for like Norma Jeane before him Nicolas changed his surname from Coppola (yes, he is related to those Coppolas.) This split is somewhat explored in his recent film “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” where he plays himself in a fictional plot. There is an amusing yet heartbreaking anecdote from the set, which unlike Chaplin’s was confirmed by Cage himself.

The director instructed Cage to “just play himself,” only to call cut after a few subdued takes from Cage. The director was confused, and Cage explained that “himself” was a pretty quiet guy. It soon became clear that the director wanted him to act as the public saw him, not how he actually was. Cage complied to typically wonderful effect, but the Cage on screen was no closer to the real man than Paul Matthews or Cameron Poe or Benjamin Franklin Gates before him. The brand proved more valuable than the soul.

Like most constructs, celebrity only has power from the power we willfully cede to it. Cage didn’t become a better or worse actor throughout his career, the audience’s attitude simply evolved. Paul Matthews sows his own downfall by investing his self-worth in his newfound notoriety; it’s his own fault when it fluctuates like bitcoin.

The only consistency with humanity is that we are a fickle lot, and heaven help you if we are allowed to dictate who you are and whether you matter. I always empathized with the man who built his house on sand instead of rock: beachfront property is wonderful, at least until it suddenly isn’t. 

Guntersville, Alabama, November 20, 2023

Photo: ump.imgix.net   

A new conference dedicated to the 8th Ecumenical Council: The Catholic Condemnation of the Filioque has been announced for next March.

“This is the Oecumenical Council that united East and West. This is the Oecumenical Council that confirmed all in the one faith. This is the Oecumenical Council you have never heard of, but holds the key to unity,” states the official conference trailer:

The event, sponsored by St. Michael the Archangel Church in Huntsville, Alabama, of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of New Gracanica-Midwest America and Uncut Mountain Press, will gather hierarchs, clergy, professors, and other speakers at the Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge and Convention Center in Guntersville, Alabama, March 14–16, 2024, to discuss the history and importance of the 8th Ecumenical Council (Constantinople 879-880).

The conference, under the honorary chairmanship of His Grace Bishop Longin of New Gracanica-Midwest America, willl feature a full schedule of speakers and Divine services. “At the heart of this conference will be an Athonite-style vigil for the Feast of the Eighth Oecumenical Council. A rare gathering and an exceptional opportunity you won’t want to miss!” write Uncut Mountain Press.

Speakers include:

• His Grace Bishop Luke of Syracuse (Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, abbot of Holy Trinity Monastery in Joranville): Why is the Recognition and Celebration of the Eighth Oecumenical Council So Important for the Church Today?

• Dr. Theodore Alexopoulos (Department of Religion at the Kirchliche Pädagogische Hochschule Vienna/Krems): St. Photius the Great’s Importance for Resolving Disputes on Primacy, the Filioque and Christology, with Reference to the Holy Eighth Oecumenical Council

• Dr. David Ford (Professor of Church History, St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Theological Seminary): St. Photius the Great, the Eighth Oecumenical Council and Relations with the Church of Rome

• Constantine Zalalas (Masters in Theology from University of Thessaloniki, noted translator, publisher, speaker): The Filioque as the Principle Cause of Western Christian Desolation

• Patrick Craig Truglia (historical philosophy and theology): The Fall of the Papacy Leading Up to and Beyond Constantinople IV

Visit Uncut Mountain Press to learn more and register for the conference.

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The Supreme Court is expected soon to decide — indeed, may have decided by the time you read this — whether to let stand or review a lower court decision clamping down on mail-order abortion. The focal point of the dispute is the widely used abortion drug mifepristone.

Mifepristone is used in more than half of all U.S. abortions. The drug causes abortion by breaking down the lining of a pregnant woman’s uterus.

Seeking review of a 5th U.S. Court decision imposing restrictions on the drug are the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Justice, and Danco Laboratories, its manufacturer.

A group called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, made up of pro-life physicians and others, claims the FDA, acting under pressure from the administrations of former president Barack Obama and President Joe Biden, cut corners to make mifepristone more easily available. (The group’s name is a reference to the oath, named for the Greek physician Hippocrates, by which physicians pledge themselves to practice medicine ethically.)

The case (Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine) comes to the Supreme Court on appeal from a ruling last August by a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court upholding a district court decision that placed substantial restrictions on the drug. The Supreme Court had earlier refused to consider the case until the 5th Circuit Court ruled on it.

If the Supreme Court declines to take up the case, it will be a victory for the pro-life side in the dispute. If it agrees, that will leave the outcome suspended until it hears and decides the case. A minimum of four justices must vote to hear a case for it to be accepted for review.

The FDA first gave its approval to mifepristone in 2000, then in 2016 and 2021 relaxed restrictions on it, allowing its use up to the 10th week of pregnancy — the point at which an unborn infant has a beating heart. The FDA also permitted nonphysician health care providers to prescribe the drug, and allowed it to be prescribed and sent through the mail without an in-person examination.

The ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals — which covers Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi — reduces the time frame from 10 weeks to seven, the point at which the fetus begins to feel pain. It bars nonphysician prescription of mifepristone and sending it through the mail, and requires three in-person visits by the woman to the prescribing doctor.

A fact sheet on chemical abortion prepared by the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference notes that the FDA, when approving chemical abortion in 2000, also issued “strict protocols” for the protection of the mother. The original safeguards were later incorporated in a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy adopted in 2011.

But, the fact sheet says, the safeguards were “severely weakened” in 2016 when the FDA began permitting nonphysicians to dispense the drug and reduced the number of office visits required from three to one. Then in 2021, it says, the FDA began allowing mail-order abortion and eliminating “any pretense of” a doctor-patient relationship. “With this action,” the fact sheet adds, there is no knowing “the full extent of harm to the women whom the FDA is supposed to protect.” Among the potential problems it lists are serious injury and even death resulting from complications like previously undetected ectopic pregnancy, severe blood loss, and other problems.

And all to what end? “In addition to being a profitable new ‘product,’ ” the USCCB fact sheet says, “telehealth, mail order, at-home, do-it-yourself chemical abortions are a boon to the abortion industry.”

Prešov, Slovakia, November 20, 2023

Photo: eparchiapo.sk     

The Holy Synod of the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia met in Prešov, Slovakia, under the chairmanship of His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav on November 9.

Among the issues discussed by the hierarchs was the ongoing persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The Diocese of Prešov reports:

Information was presented about several letters of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia, and Metropolitan Anthony of Boryspil and Brovary [the Chancellor of the UOC—OC.com]. All these letters were sent in connection with the illegal actions of the current Ukrainian government against the clergy and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

In this regard, the members of the Holy Synod expressed their solidarity with the persecuted and the suffering. They strongly remind that in a free and democratic society, the violation of basic human and civil rights and the limitation of religious freedom are unacceptable. Any form of intimidation, coercion, and harassment is inappropriate, disproportionate, and unacceptable.

The Czech-Slovak Synod and hierarchs have repeatedly shown themselves to be allies of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Primate of Church of Czech Lands and Slovakia expresses position on events in UkraineOn October 11, 2018, in his letter to His Holiness Patriarch of Kirill and All Russia, His Beatitude Metropolitan Rostislav of the Czech Lands and Slovakia assured him of his unwavering position in regard to the ongoing gross interference of the state authorities in the internal life of the Church in Ukraine.

“>refusing to recognize the graceless schismatics of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” and Head of Czech-Slovak Church condemns persecution of Ukrainian ChurchNeither God nor history will forget the modern Golgotha of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church—the persecution of its clergy and the mockery of the faithful.”>speaking out against the persecution of Orthodox Christians in Ukraine.

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St. Bernward was the grandson of Athelbero, Count Palatine of Saxony. When his parents died, Bernward went to live with his uncle Volkmar, the bishop of Utrecht. From his uncle and Thangmar, the director of the cathedral school at Heidelberg, he received education in Christian piety, science, mathematics, painting, architecture, and the making of ecclesiastical vessels and ornaments. 

When Bernward had completed his studies, he was ordained a priest. He chose to live close to his grandfather, who was getting older, and worked in the diocese near him. When Athelbero died in 987, Bernward was made chaplain in the imperial court. The Empress-Regent Theophano appointed him as the tutor of her six-year-old son, Otto II. Bernward remained at the court for six years, until he was made the bishop of Hildesheim. Before his death in 1022, he was vested in the Benedictine habit. 

Bernward was known for his extraordinary piety and his intense devotion to prayer and mortification. He was canonized in 1193 by Pope Celestine III.

One day a brother came to Abba Serapion. The Abba invited him pray and wanted to wash his feet, but the brother refused, calling himself sinful and unworthy. Then the Abba advised him not to go wandering around from place to place, but to remain in his cell. These words so angered the brother that his face even changed. Seeing this, the elder said to him, “You just called yourself sinful and unworthy of life itself, but as soon as I said something beneficial to you with love, you got angry (Patericon).

The Pharisee and the Publican     

This story is now centuries old, but the problem of false humility lives to this day. In our time also, Christians continue to exercise themselves in ostensible humility and demonstrate their spiritual ignorance. Taking their place in the in the “sinner’s queue” after the apostle Paul, believers generously pronounce all kinds of unflattering epithets aimed at themselves.

“Worms,” “swine,” “goats,” and all manner of “stinking dogs” step on each other to inform the whole world of their unworthiness, sincerely believing in their souls that this is that very sign of true humility. But all you have to do is nick their shaky vanity, disagree with their opinion—God forbid!—and not accept their advice, and all that feigned piety will immediately crumble into dust, to reveal the uncomely visage of self-delusion.

“False humility sees itself as humble: it is comical and pitiful to console oneself with this deceptive, soul-destroying spectacle.”¹

What should the right path be like, and is it possible to distinguish between true and false humility, between the truly repentant sinner and the false one (if we can put it that way)?

Probably the first and most obvious signs of a sinner are sins. The apostle Paul tells us about this. Calling himself the “first among sinners,” he is not ashamed of his past excessive zeal and calls himself outright a “blasphemer, persecutor, and offender” of the Church (1 Tim. 1:13). That is, the awareness being a sinner is made possible by true experience of a sinful life, which everyone has, for there is no man which sinneth not (2 Chron. 6:36). Holy people considered not only deeds, but also any idle thought to be a betrayal and apostasy from God, even despite the fact that the time of crude sins is behind them. This is why after forty-seven years of severe desert life, Venerable Mary of EgyptCovered by the cloak, the ascetic turned to Zosimas: “Why do you want to speak with me, a sinful woman? What did you wish to learn from me, you who have not shrunk from such great labors?”

“>St. Mary of Egypt continued to think of herself as a great and accursed sinner.

“Though some have already received forgiveness of sins, for the sake of constantly pushing themselves toward humility of mind they nevertheless firmly remember their former sins, thereby rebuking vain arrogance.”²

Thus, a former sinful life always remains in the memory of believer. Not a detailed recollection of different sins, which is harmful to the soul, but the general negative experience serves just like the crock crow for Apostle Peter as a reminder to us of our unworthy life.

“There is no need to remember every sin individually, but we must always maintain an awareness of our sinfulness… However, if a person who is not known for his sensitivity sees pride rising up in himself, then it would not be bad if he would remember his sins, in order to humble himself.”³

Other distinguishing features of the true sinner (or of an authentically humble heart) is not comparing himself with others. We tend to compare ourselves with our neighbors. We do this almost unconsciously. We measure ourselves against them in prayers, fasts, prostrations, and alms; we compare our outer appearances, hairstyles, clothing, its cost, etc. We even compete in our closeness to our spiritual fathers and are jealous when it seems to us that he prefers someone else over us.

“The Pharisee syndrome,” which contrasts oneself against everyone around, flourishes wildly in us and exposes our false humility. In contrast to the Pharisee, the publican did not see anything around him. He stood one on one before God with his sins, asking only for mercy. Truly, whoever sees himself as sinful does not see the sins of others. He simply has not time for them, because he is completely engrossed in searching and minding his own heart. This is so obvious, just as every patient in the hospital suffers from his own pain and pays no attention to others’ diseases. If you wish to compare yourself with someone, then don’t measure yourself in piety against your neighbor, but against St. Sergius of RadonezhUndoubtedly, the most outstanding establisher of the truly selfless “life equal to the angels” in fourteenth century Russia is St. Sergius of Radonezh, the founder of the famous Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Monastery, which embodies in its historical legacy his blessed precepts, and gradually became a kind of spiritual heart for all of Orthodox Russia.

“>St. Sergius of Radonezh, St. Seraphim of Sarov“>St. Seraphim of Sarov, St. John of KronstadtSt. John of Kronstadt”>St. John of Kronstadt, and others like them. This kind of comparison may even be beneficial to us.

Yet another distinguishing feature of the humble heart of a sinner is hiddenness. A humble person does not speak of himself as sinful. He simply feels this before God

“One must strive to have humility within,” counsels St Tikhon the Bishop of Voronezh and Wonderworker of Zadonsk and All RussiaThe saint lived in very simple circumstances: he slept on straw, covered by a sheepskin coat. His humility was so great that he paid no attention to the workers who laughed at him as he walked about the monastery, pretending that he did not hear it. He often said, “Forgiveness is better than revenge.”

“>St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, “and as with any piety, one has to have it in the heart. For God judges according to the heart’s intentions, and not according to externals, or how we appear to other people.”

On the long and painful path of coming to know one’s own weakness a person humbles himself to such an extent that he completely loses all hope in his own strength.

“Total submission to God is acquired by a person when he ascends to the highest degree of the knowledge of God and the knowledge of his own weakness.”⁴

“Wallowing in the abyss of sin,” and having come to hate sin with his whole soul, he now hopes only in God’s mercy, and sees his salvation as entirely a gift from above. Telling someone how sinful and accursed he is simply makes no sense. This suffered-through reality has become for the sinner his soul’s inheritance, the natural feeling of his heart. And in this hope in God the sinner ceases to be a sinner, because, “The sinner who reproaches his own sins becomes righteous through this very reproach of them.⁵

True humility is inalienably bound up with humble-mindedness, that is, humble thoughts about himself. “Do not think more of yourself than you should; but think soberly (cf. Rom. 12:3), the apostle Paul counsels the Roman Christians. This virtue is the exact opposite of humble talk, or speaking humbly about yourself, because it is performed in the temple of the heart, only before the eyes of God. The holy fathers tell us how valuable and important this is in a person’s spiritual life:

“When you will have humble-mindedness and will exercise yourself in thoughts of humility, the Lord will come to you in that moment, embrace and kiss you, give you the gift of the right Spirit in your heart, the Spirit of deliverance and forgiveness of sins, crown you with His gifts, and glorify you with wisdom and knowledge. For what is more loved by and pleasant to God than a heart that is contrite and humble, and mind that humbles itself.”⁶

Humble-mindedness is what we now critically lack. A cult of human selfishness is being pushed in all spheres of our existence. “You can achieve everything yourself” (even more applicable to females), “self-healing,” “self-realization,” “self-achievement,” and so on. The prefix “auto” has firmly entered into our daily life. “Don’t stress yourself, don’t limit yourself, experiment, you are worth it,” is what is inculcated in us from the TV screen and from consumer packaging. Social lions and lionesses never present themselves modestly. That is considered dangerous in the modern, competitive world. “If you show weakness you’ll be destroyed,” thinks modern progressive humanity. People are perceived as competitors, and children as a hindrance to self-realization.

If we take a closer look, we will notice that God with His qualities and commandments is completely absent from this system of human deification. Christ’s humility is perceived as weakness and not strength, mighty to work miracles, as it itself is a miracle. The humble person is strong in spirit, like a lion. And with his “forgive me” alone he can disarm any giant. He does not fear changes or anything else; he is not embarrassed by criticism, is at peace when deprived, resolute in doing good, and wise from God in all his initiatives.

Besides that, a real sinner does not give out advice (especially if no one asks him for it). He in general prefers silence and introspection, because this is the inalienable characteristic of a humble heart.

“As opposed to ambition, which scatters a person’s thoughts all over the universe, humility concentrates them in the soul… leads to fruitful and deep self-knowledge, to mental hesychia.”⁷

Just the same, when asked, he prays and says what’s beneficial to the asker, because in this is also love of neighbor.

We now have such a disposition that when we walk past people and hear their conversation, we unfailingly stop and put in our two cents. And this we do despite the fact that we not only do not understand the topic of the conversation, we don’t even know those people. And if those people are also arguing, then caught up in the energy of the argument and the emotions of the speakers, we even more eagerly enter into the discourse, especially if we have something to say. Having had our say, we walk away from them all worked up with anger (after all, no one cares about our opinion) and empty. And, regardless of our troubled conscience and inner disappointment, we just go on as if nothing happened and consider ourselves to be humble sinners. But truly “humble is he who preserves silence, who considers himself to be nothing, is not inclined to arguments, and submits himself to all… Who distances himself from idle conversation, does not contradict his elders… who does not insist on his own opinion… and angers no one.”⁸

In conclusion we say: Humility is not a human invention. It is a Christlike quality. Learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29). We can’t somehow give birth to it, produce it, or train ourselves in it. It is ineffable and is given only to those who labor at it correctly, who “strive lawfully” (cf. 2 Tim. 2:5)—and at that not quickly. Humility is “inexplicable by earthly words or language. It is incomprehensible to the fleshly mind, is ineffably comprehended by the spiritual mind, and once comprehended, it abides incomprehensibly.”⁹ It is important for those who like to “humble around” before people to direct their attention to the fact that the Lord is humble precisely in heart, and not in words. And the humility of his heart did not prevent Him from making a whip from cords and casting the sellers out of the temple (Jn. 2:15); it did not prevent Him from becoming wrathful when they didn’t allow the children to come to Him (Mk. 10:14), or calling the servant to answer for striking Him on the face (Jn. 18:23).

“True humility says no humble words, neither takes on humble looks, nor forces itself to think humbly about itself, and does not humble itself by denigrating itself—although all of these are beginnings, manifestations, and various forms of humility; but humility itself is a grace and gift from above.”¹⁰

In a word, we know nothing about true humility, but we still try to imitate the outward actions of the saints, for whom the external was the result of the internal. But we are nevertheless obligated to follow the path of acquiring it, because this is the Savior’s direct commandment, which can bring us God’s mercy; for it is said, I was humbled and the Lord saved me (Ps. 114:5).

Photo: kartinki.pibig.info     

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke. (8:41-56)

Where do we go when life becomes impossibly difficult? What do we do when it seems that everyone has left us and that even the very universe itself is conspiring against us? How do we take the next step when so many of the steps that came before it were full of pain and suffering and there wasn’t any relief found in those steps?

The are questions that trouble all of humanity. These are questions that trouble us as Christians. In the midst of all of these questions about the difficulties of life we seem to find only one answer: Hope against hope. Meaning, hope even when there seems no good reason to do so. And this is supported and backed by Holy Scripture isn’t it? St. Paul writes, “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:24-25

St. Paul tells us that even when things are difficult in our walk of faith we should nevertheless walk the road with On the Virtue of PatienceDear brothers and sisters, there is nothing we more often encounter in life than misfortunes and sorrows! What should we do amidst all these misfortunes in order to keep ourselves from harm, to not be conquered but to become conquerors?

“>patience. He tells us that we don’t see what we hope for. We wait patiently with faith because we have a firm belief that God will fulfill our hopes more than we can possibly imagine.

In today’s gospel reading we see not one but two cases of complete hopelessness, yet somehow, like a weed through the cracks in the pavement, the hope rose and climbed towards the light.

First we are told about the woman who was sick with bleeding for 12 years. This would have been a terrible illness not only because it completely depleted her but it would cause a mess and this mess couldn’t be cleaned with all of our modern methods of washing and drying. This woman would also be considered unclean because of her blood according to the Mosaic standards. We know that she was a completely helpless and hopeless woman because we are told that she was sick for a long time and that she had spent all of her living (her resources) on physicians who ultimately could not even help her.

The second case of hopelessness, where life seemed impossibly difficult was the death of the daughter of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. Here again we see that life has taken an unexpected turn towards suffering and pain that is almost unbearable. For Jairus, there was no hope left. He went to Our Lord Jesus Christ with a shred of hope because his daughter was still alive but very sick. Yet on the way, the word came to him. She had died of her sickness. Your children are your life. This daughter was Jairus’ life. And now she was gone.

My brothers and sisters, do you know what happened in both of these stories? God honored their hopes. The woman came out of her despair but she came and touched the garments of Jesus with hope. Hope that she could be healed. Hope that she could live a normal life again. Hope that Jesus would be her savior. And she went away justified by her hopeful faithfulness.

Likewise, we see that Our Lord Jesus Christ entered into the impossibly difficult pain in the household of Jairus and He overcame the darkness with the light of His presence. Jairus was justified through his hopeful faithfulness.

The Lord Jesus Christ knows each of His children better than they know themselves. He knows your life. He knows your struggles. He knows your hopes and dreams and your fears and failings. The Lord is near to us. He is even more near when we are struggling. Don’t lose hope. When we lose hope that is called despair and this is a very great sin. Despair threatens to ruin our spiritual lives. St. Paul says “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;” 2 Cor 4:8

The Psalmist King David writes “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” Ps 43:5

How is this possible to be in the depths of the “Despair is for Those Who Are Attached to the Material”Elder Justin (Parvu; 1919-2013) was one of the most famous Romanian spiritual fathers. We present here several of his spiritual counsels, gathered from various publications.

“>despair and yet not to lose hope? It is possible when we remind ourselves that God is the creator of all and the conqueror of all tribulations, even death. It is not that our problems are too big. It is that our concept of God is far too small.

St. Peter of Damascus writes “Patient endurance kills the despair that kills the soul; it teaches the soul to take comfort and not to grow listless (lethargic) in the face of its many battles and afflictions.”

In all of these trials we take comfort because we know that God is the one who has and will help us and guide us through the tribulations of life. Jesus Christ is the face of our hope. Because He lives, hope lives and never dies. May you all be filled with comfort by this knowledge. Christ is our hope and the hope of all the world. Glory be to God forever AMEN.

St. Mechtilde was born Matilda von Hackenberg-Wippra around the year 1240. She came from a noble family in Saxony, and when she was seven years old, she was so inspired by the lives of the nuns that she went to live at the convent of Helfta. She learned a great deal there, and was known for her humility and her fervent love for God. 

Mechtilde was close with the child who would become St. Gertrude the Great, who was given to the nuns at Helfta when she was five. Mechtilde was 15 years older, and took Gertrude under her wing. They shared a strong spirituality and devotion to Christ’s humanity and the Eucharist. 

Both nuns were known to be mystics. Mechtilde had her first mystical vision when she received Holy Communion. Jesus appeared to her and held her hands. She said he left an imprint on her heart “like a seal in wax,” and gave her his own heart in the form of a cup, saying, “By my heart you will praise me always; go, offer to all the saints the drink of life from my heart that they may be happily inebriated with it.” 

In another vision, Mechtilde wrote that she had seen that “the smallest details of creation are reflected in the Holy Trinity by means of the humanity of Christ, because it is from the same earth that produced them that Christ drew his humanity.” 

Because of her visions, Mechtilde was highly revered by her community, and considered a prophet and counsellor. St. Gertrude recorded her teachings and visions in the “Book of Special Grace.” 

St. Mechtilde died on Nov. 19, 1298.