Tag: Christianity

On October 31, 2023, the oldest cleric of the Vyatka Diocese, the mitered Archpriest Simeon Petrov, turned eighty-five. On the eve of his birthday, we talked with Fr. Simeon on his path to the faith, what trials he had to go through during the persecution of the Church, his path to the priesthood and the confession of the faith in different periods.

​Archpriest Simeon Petrov     

—Father Simeon, who were your parents? What was your path to the faith?

—My mother worked on a collective farm. I don’t remember my father—he was killed at the front near Stalingrad. From Vyatskiye Polyany [now a city in the Kirov region.—Trans.], my father and his friend were sent to different parts of the front. His friend returned from the front, but my father went missing. Since I was born in 1938, and my father went to war in 1941, I lost my father at the age of three.

—Do you remember the war years?

—Only hunger and cold. Terrible. 40 degrees Celsius, there was a shortage of firewood, and we used to stoke the stove with straw. We had a two-story house: we lived downstairs and everyone tried to keep warm. We lived with my mother, brother and grandmother. My grandmother went blind, and our mother alone provided for the family: She worked on a collective farm, took care of the cows, and gave part of the milk yield to the State. At that time everyone had to do it. And I helped her with this from the age of five. But thank God, we had enough milk; thanks to this we survived. Extreme cold in winter did not spare anyone. I remember a terrible incident in the village: An old woman asked for alms, was given some money, went outside the village (there was no transport back then), slipped, fell, could not rise and froze to death. In the spring we used to eat rotten potatoes (the remainder of the seed potatoes). And, of course, we ate herb salads. We shredded orach (goose-foot), burdock leaves, dandelions soaked in water and glague to make salads and flavored them with thin sour cream when we had some. That’s how the war affected us. So those at the home front had a hard time too.

—Where did you spend your childhood? Who introduced you to the Orthodox faith, and when?

—We lived in the village of Tsypya, then part of the Malmyzh district of the Kirov region; now it is in the Republic of Tatarstan. Then the churches were closed and there were no priests. Where could we get holy water for the feast of the Theophany from? I remember my mother pouring water through the cross and collecting it into a cup. Then she sprinkled the house and the children with it. She had such a strong faith. According to your faith be it unto you (Mt. 9:29), as the Savior said. It is gratifying to see how the church is being revived again in the village of Tsypya. I was baptized in the town of Malmyzh when I was about six. I remember it was a hot summer day.

My grandfather Sergei, grandmother Akilina, my mother and aunts passed on the faith in God to me in my childhood. My grandfather Sergei Pavlovich graduated from the Vyatka Theological College under Bishop Nicander. At the end of his studies the bishop presented my grandfather with a Gospel with his signature, which we keep at home. After graduation my grandfather taught the Law of God at a Sunday school and served as a reader; he read, sang, and led the choir. But the family was large, and so he also worked as a tailor, sewing clothes for people. He managed the household, kept a cow, a horse, sheep and chickens. But my grandfather’s serene life did not last long. Before the Revolution, when St. John of Kronstadt was staying in Vyatka not far from Urzhum, my grandfather asked him: “Bless me to go on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.” The saint replied, “Your Jerusalem is Solovki, and your Golgotha will be there.” I know all this from my aunt. It was long before my birth. There followed the Revolution and the Civil War… During collectivization my grandfather was arrested for speaking out against collective farms.

At that time they could concoct anything to fit Article 58: the Communist Party’s agenda was such that by 1939 they wanted to show that there was no faith in God in the Soviet Union. The result was the elimination of millions of believers. My grandfather was among them. At night they came to him, tied him up and said: “You’re arrested.” He was exiled to Solovki, to Anzer Island, from where he never returned.

Metropolitan Nikandr (Fenomenov) This is how St. John of Kronstadt’s prediction came true. However, not only for my grandfather, but also for a host of his Christian compatriots. Bishop Nicander of Vyatka was transferred to Central Asia, where he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan, and was a member of the Holy Synod. Later by order of the godless authorities he was executed by a firing squad.

That day my uncle Ivan (my grandfather’s son) returned from work and heard the terrible news: “Your father was taken by the police.” Then he packed up his things and went to live further away from home, otherwise he could have shared the same sad fate with his father. My grandmother Akilina was left without a husband and without a home. Their family was dispossessed and kicked out of the house, and their horse and cow were taken away. The whole family received the stigma of “lishentsy” (“disenfranchised people”). Wherever they went, they were treated with contempt: “They’re enemies of the Soviet Government.” This is how not only my grandfather Sergei (who served as a reader at a village church), but also his whole family suffered for the faith. Soon my grandmother died from grief.

In the late 1940s, thanks to Aunt Elizaveta’s efforts, my relatives moved to the village of Tanabaevo, from where I and other children walked four miles to school in the village of Bolshoy Roy. When we were moving there, we stopped en route at the village of Adzhim, where Father Michael served at that time. By that time, he had already served a term in prison as an “enemy of the Soviet Government” and said that the overseers there had tortured him mercilessly. They would beat him so hard that sparks flew from his eyes, his ears and nose were bleeding and he was often unconscious. He would repeat, “God endured and told us to do the same.”

Aunt Anna (Anna, Elizaveta and Ekaterina were my mother’s sisters) took care of Father Michael. She often told us how he wept, recalling the past. The priest exhorted me: “Semyonushka [a diminutive form of the name Simeon.—Trans.], remember me when I die.” Father Michael showed me icons, explained what they depicted, how Christ suffered for us, and gave me a Gospel to read. After the church in the village of Adzhim had been closed, Aunt Anna was always in the church as a caretaker. No one disturbed her. There was a fertilizer warehouse in the church. She would say, “After I die, the church will be opened.” So it happened.

Aunt Ekaterina was very religious. She took us, the children, to the church of the village of Reshetniki for the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. There was a special choir there with male basses; icon lamps were burning and people gathered in the church—I remember it all. While I was standing, the priest’s wife from the choir came up to me and said: “Simeon, come with me.” I was scared and thought I had done something wrong. I asked: “Where will we go?” She took me to the choir and said: “Stand here, next to the icon of St. Seraphim of Sarov, on which the saint prays on a rock. Can you read?” I answered: “I can a little.”

“Do you know prayers? Will you go here?”

I confessed that I couldn’t sing or read in Church Slavonic. She answered, “You’ll learn.” From that moment on I went to school and to church. Every Sunday I hurried to the church in the village of Reshetniki. I used to ski there in the winter.

—How did your teachers and classmates react to this?

—Soon the headmaster learned that I attended church. However, his wife and sister were church-goers as well. His granddaughter, with whom I studied, attended church too, so they did not forbid me to do it.

It was only once that they asked me before Pascha, “When will you stop going to church? They will all be closed soon—this is the past. You had better become a pioneer, a Komsomol member.” But two other boys—Sergei Pirogov and Sergei Vershinin—interceded for me, although they were Komsomol members. They said, “He did nothing wrong; he goes to school like everyone else. Why should you care that he goes to church?” So they supported me.

On the eve of Pascha, sending me to school, my mother gave me twenty kopecks and told me to buy a loaf of bread. After school the pioneer leader stood on my way and said, “When will you stop going to church?” offering me anti-Church lectures and booklets to read. I answered, “I go to church and will continue to do so!” It was already getting dusky. I was about ten and these were the post-war years. I thought: “I won’t see Pascha—now they’ll surround me from all sides…”

They asked me, “Will you go to church for Pascha?” I replied, “I will.” They argued, “You’ll be late anyway.”

We had an elderly teacher at school who was a deacon’s daughter. She was strict and neat. She was surprised at my firmness and noted later, “He’s so young, yet he stunned the pioneer leader with his answer!”

Then I ran out of the school and instead of going home with bread hurried towards the village where there was a church, hoping to have time to meet Pascha. After 100 yards a passing car stopped, which was a rare occurrence for that time. The driver was going to the village of Mankiner. “I have only twenty kopecks,” I said. “All right, I’ll give you a lift,” he replied and didn’t take the money. And then I walked to the village of Reshetniki. When asked where I was going, I said frankly, “To church—tomorrow is Pascha. Join me.” The driver answered, “Perhaps tomorrow.”

I ran into the church, where before the service old women had gathered in bast shoes and white headscarves. I had come without eating or drinking anything, threw off the bag, and the priest said, “Put on the sticharion and let’s walk in procession.” Together with the priest’s wife and other singers we sang the Paschal hymns. I remembered the exclamations “Christ is Risen” and singing with the priest in the altar for the rest of my life. After Matins the Liturgy was celebrated.

Then everybody had a meal and I hurried back home about five miles on foot through some fields and villages that no longer exist. I was thirsty, and suddenly from the grass, a spring of pure water gushed out from under the ground. That’s how the Lord comforts travelers! I ran home without bread. My mother and aunts had already cooked a Paschal lunch and they were happy to see me.

—Where had you studied and worked before your ordination?

—I lived in the village of Tanabaevo, went to school in the village of Bolshoy Roy, and went to church in the village of Reshetniki—always on foot. For four years I went every weekend to the Holy Trinity Church of the village of Reshetniki, where Father Ilia served, and learned to sing, read psalms, and did various types of work around the church. After I graduated from school (I was about fifteen at the time), the priest said: “You can read and sing—come to services and help me.” I went to labor in the church gladly. The church needed repairs; we chopped firewood—there was enough work. I began to labor there as a “housekeeper”, a reader and a singer—so days and nights flew by quickly. There was no refectory there as such. Old women would come to the service, bringing some milk and a round loaf from the Russian oven with them; so after the service in the morning I would refresh myself with these treats and work until night.

The church was old: there were frescoes on its walls, but all this required care and renovation. There were no powders or cleaning products, soap was in short supply, and there was no electricity. Old women would boil water in buckets, we would put household soap there and make a “soap solution”, cleaning the church interior with this soapy water. Batiushka and I would start cleaning up from the sanctuary. Since the Soviet Government had taken power, the village church had experienced years of desolation, so you can imagine how dirty everything was. In a week the church became clean. After that, carpenters and others came to work. The roof was leaking, there was no paint, no building materials. Then we had to make enormous efforts with the villagers to get some paint. The priest blessed me to go to the head of the ferry to buy paint—ships used to go through Reshetniki. Thank God, paint was delivered to us, work was in full swing again, and the church was painted. Firewood had to be gathered… Again, the problem was—where to get it? I got acquainted with the forester. Spruce, aspen, pine and birch were rafted down the Vyatka River: six meters each, tied together in tens. Amazingly, despite godless times in the post–war years, secular people responded to our requests—the firewood forest was transferred to us. Of course, the priest paid for it. There was no Druzhba (“Friendship”) chainsaw then, so we sawed and chopped manually. We worked with my relative, Hieromonk Nikolai (Ivanov) from dawn to dusk. Then we stocked in firewood for the church for three years.

—Where did you get the candles, incense and utensils necessary for services?

—I would travel to Kirov. In the winter there were no ferry services there, so I travelled by bus and partly on foot. Once I was traveling back late, carrying candles for the church. I had to walk from Bolshoy Roy to Reshetniki in winter through fields and woods. It was getting dark, and suddenly I saw the silhouette of a dog in the dark in front of me! I looked closer—two eyes were glaring at me, and I understood that it was a wolf! I was scared stiff. Wolves would steal many animals in these villages. Overcoming my fear, I lit a bunch of candles that I was dragging on a sled, and I was standing rooted to the spot. The wolf stood for a while, then turned around and ran back into the forest. Such was my obedience of church caretaker.

—What can you say about your years in the army? As a clergyman, did you experience prejudice from your colleagues and officers?

—I received a summons from the military enlistment office. Someone drove me to Urzhum—he said joining the army was a good thing. In the military enlistment office it turned out that someone had already filed a complaint against me. The secretary of the district Party committee went to the priest and said, “A young man works in your church against whom a complaint has been filed.” Batiushka and his wife were perplexed. “What complaint?” Apparently, one of the villagers had done it out of envy or on purpose. They said of me, “He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t break the laws, he works diligently, is highly disciplined and neat. If all young people were like him, we wouldn’t have to educate anyone.” The priest seated the secretary of the district committee at the table for a meal, and then the secretary asked him to sign a document stating, “He has not violated Soviet law.” So, I was drafted into the army without problems. I was sent to Vladivostok, where the training unit was located.

They assigned me to the aviation unit, where we learned the basics of car repair. There were many natives of Vyatka there, including the monitor of the training unit, so he would stand up for us. In general, although they were Komsomol members, the guys with whom I served did not pester me with ideological questions.

An Old Believer from the Malmyzh district named Yury served with us. We began to talk about the faith. One day a party worker called him and me and said, “They say you’re believers. It’s time to join the Komsomol, otherwise we will send you to the construction battalion.” At that very time there was a scandal in our unit. A Komsomol member went AWOL, and the next morning a woman came and reported that she had been raped by this soldier. When the question of joining the Komsomol arose again, we told the Deputy Commander for Political Affairs that we would never become like that Komsomol member, and they never bothered us again.

Yury and I stayed to serve in the aviation unit in the Far East. During the army years we became so close that we once drank a drink from the same cup, although the Old Believers do not give their dishes to anyone from another faith. It was a sign of special affection, acceptance and trust.

To be continued…

Indi Gregory, a British girl whose parents battled the British courts to have her life support extended, died at 1:45 a.m. U.K. time Nov. 13.

In a statement, Indi’s father, Dean Gregory, said he and his wife, Claire, “are angry, heartbroken and ashamed. The NHS (National Health Service) and the Courts not only took away her chance to live a longer life, but they also took away Indi’s dignity to pass away in the family home where she belonged.”

Jacopo Coghe, spokesman for Italian pro-life foundation Pro Vita Famiglia, shared the father’s words on X, formerly Twitter.

“They did succeed in taking Indi’s body and dignity, but they can never take her soul,” Dean Gregory said. “They tried to get rid of Indi without anybody knowing, but we made sure she would be remembered forever.”

“I knew she was special from the day she was born,” the father said, adding that his wife “held her for her final breaths.”

In a statement released by #IndiGregory ‘s father, Dean Gregory, during the night, he said:

“Indi’s life ended at 01.45am. Claire and I are angry heartbroken and ashamed. The NHS and the Courts not only took away her chance to live a longer life, but they also took away Indi’s… pic.twitter.com/IdbJRuzI2k

— Jacopo Coghe (@jacopocoghe) November 13, 2023

Indi suffered from a rare metabolic disorder known as mitochondrial disease, and her family was fighting a court order that she be removed from life support, as was the case of several other children in the past, including Alfie Evans and Charlie Gard.

Indi, who was 8 months old, was transferred from the Queen’s Medical Center in Nottingham to a hospice Nov. 11, according to at Nov. 12 statement issued by Christian Concern, an advocacy group helping the family. The statement confirmed the infant’s life support was removed as per the Nov. 10 ruling from the Court of Appeal.

According to Christian Concern, Indi was transferred from the hospital to an ambulance with a security escort. The police were present outside of the hospital.

Indi was then transferred to a hospice without incident and was relaxed and slept during the journey, the group said.

At the hospice, her life support was removed. At some point, she stopped breathing during the night between Nov. 11 and 12, but then recovered.

“She is fighting hard,” her father said at that point.

The Vatican released a statement Nov. 11 saying that: “Pope Francis embraces the family of little Indi Gregory, her father and mother, prays for them and for her, and turns his thoughts to all the children around the world in these same hours who are living in pain or risking their lives because of disease and war.”

Indi was granted Italian citizenship Nov. 9 with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni personally engaged in the state’s wish to bring the little girl to Bambino Gesù pediatric hospital in Rome for further treatment.

On the evening of Nov. 10, some of the most senior judges in the U.K. ruled however that the Italian intervention in Indi’s case under the Hague Convention, which Italy cited in its appeal, was “wholly misconceived” and “not in the spirit of the convention.”

Justices Peter Jackson, Eleanor King and Andrew Moylan refused the family permission to appeal a ruling that said Indi’s life support could not be removed at home.

Instead, they ordered that Indi’s life support be removed immediately.

The Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital in Rome had agreed to accept Indi for treatment and to carry out the right ventricular outflow tract stent procedure that was put forward by medical experts. The Italian government had offered to fund the treatment at no cost to the NHS or U.K. taxpayers.

The U.K. government has continued to refuse to comment on the case.

Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver on Friday released a pastoral letter on the Church’s teaching on recreational drugs, with a particular focus on marijuana, aiming to “help Catholics intelligently dialogue with the 70% of Americans who currently believe marijuana should be legal.”

“I write to you out of pastoral concern for the salvation of souls, and I am convinced of the need to address the impact marijuana use is having on individuals, families, and society in general,” Aquila wrote Nov. 10.

“We cannot pretend that the legalization and growing cultural acceptance of drugs do not have disproportionate effects on the most vulnerable in our society. Not only that, but it is an assault on human dignity, taking advantage of the vulnerable for the sake of financial profit.”

Aquila said he hopes the letter, titled “That They Might Have Life,” will serve as “among the first of many future resources made available to help fill the void that exists in the Catholic space on this burgeoning and critical issue.”

“The most important thing we can do as Christians in response to a drug culture is to proclaim the Gospel. It is through the love, mercy, meaning, and hope found in Christ that people will be deterred from drug use or inspired to break free of its influence,” the archbishop wrote.

“I pray for those who turn to drugs to escape reality, to avoid pain, to deal with loneliness, rejection, emotional wounds, or to deal with the struggle to find meaning in life. I ask Our Lord, Jesus Christ, to have mercy on them, to turn their hearts away from what is below them, to what only he can offer: true love, joy, peace, and happiness.”

Colorado and its capital Denver have long been at the forefront of marijuana usage and culture in the United States, and the Centennial State was one of the first to legalize recreational weed, doing so in 2012. Since then, the state has seen demonstrably higher rates of teen marijuana usage, traffic accidents, homelessness, and drug-related violence.

Marijuana remains illegal at the federal level but has been legalized for recreational use in 23 states and the District of Columbia, most recently by voters in Minnesota and, just days ago, in Ohio. Catholic bishops in numerous states have urged voters to reject marijuana legalization, citing the physical and spiritual harms of drug use.

The Catholic Church teaches in paragraph 2291 of the Catechism that “the use of drugs inflicts very grave damage on human health and life. Their use, except on strictly therapeutic grounds, is a grave offense.”

Harming the faculties ‘that make us human’

Laying out “foundation reasons” for the Church’s teaching that the use of drugs is immoral, Aquila in his letter first proposed that because the human person is of eternal value, it is wrong to use any substance that is harmful to human life.

Aquila pointed out that therapeutic drugs can bring about genuine good by assisting in the restoration of the body to health. However, since humans were created to know and love God, so-called “recreational” drugs — especially powerful ones like opioids — “are bad for us since they hinder our ability to know and to love,” Aquila wrote.

St. Thomas Aquinas’ classic definition of love as “willing the good of the other” also applies to self-love, Aquila noted. Using drugs that harm one’s own body is an unloving and, therefore, immoral action, he stated.

Secondly, Aquila said, “anything that diminishes man’s use of reason and will assails his dignity as a human person and is therefore harmful.”

“[D]rugs diminish our self-possession by harming the very faculties that make us human: Drugs inhibit our use of reason, weaken our will’s orientation toward the good, and train our emotions to expect quick relief from artificial pleasure,” he continued.

“These effects severely limit our ability to freely give ourselves to another — whether it be temporarily, as in the case of occasional drug use, or regularly, as in the case of drug addiction.”

On the contrary, “rather than reaching for chemicals when we are feeling weary and burdened, Jesus invites us to turn to him, who promises rest and abundance.”

Made for greatness, not comfort

“The truth is that even ‘soft’ drugs assault the human person by negatively affecting him on physical, intellectual, psychological, social, and moral levels,” Aquila wrote.

“[M]arijuana causes deficits in the brain’s executive functioning, temporarily impairing coordination, concentration, working memory, and inhibition. For those who might be tempted to sacrifice some of their dignity for the pleasure drugs bring, we are reminded of the paraphrase of Pope Benedict XVI’s words: ‘The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.’”

Christians are called to “fully embrace Christ’s invitation to leave behind unhealthy attachments and coping mechanisms, like drugs … honoring God with our bodies.”

“If we are Christians who use drugs, we must ask ourselves hard questions about what emptiness in our souls we are trying to fill or what pain in our lives we are seeking to numb,” Aquila continued.

“Yet this examen must take place within the mercy of Jesus who said, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go, and do not sin again.’ No matter what we have done, his merciful love invites us out of sin and into abundant life. When we seek forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation, we are spiritually strengthened, receiving graces that help us address the causes of our sin and root them out.”

What is the Catholic Church’s view on alcohol use?

In a later section of the letter, Aquila spoke about the reasons people and societies fall into the practice of drug use, in an attempt to “compassionately understand, without condoning, the typical flight toward drugs and why they constitute such a massive industry.” He noted that Americans spent an estimated $150 billion on illegal drugs in 2016, making the United States the largest market in the world.

Speaking about a “lack of intimacy with God coupled with the deprivation of authentic love from others,” such a scenario “sends people into either a despairing isolation or a cheap imitation of community that is as harmful as it is helpful.” Many people who struggle with drug addiction also struggle with mental health issues, and vice versa, he said.

In the face of such relational pain, “‘drugs are an easy and immediate, but deceptive, answer to the human need for satisfaction and true love,’” Aquila said, quoting a 1992 Vatican document.

Addressing a possible objection, Aquila noted later in the letter that temperate use of alcohol is not the same as using drugs such as marijuana. Scripture, while describing alcohol as a gift from God, nevertheless strongly condemns drunkenness, he wrote.

Turning specifically to marijuana, Aquila laid out readily available scientific evidence showing marijuana’s adverse health effects. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for instance, warns that “people who use marijuana are more likely to develop temporary psychosis (not knowing what is real, hallucinations, and paranoia) and long-lasting mental disorders, including schizophrenia (a type of mental illness where people might see or hear things that are not really there).”

Numerous studies, too, have shown marijuana’s addictive qualities, particularly for teenagers and adolescents. Aquila wrote about the addiction statistics in his state of Colorado.

“Marijuana use disorder now enslaves 3.3% of the state’s population, as compared to 1.6% in the early 2000s. This is not surprising since Coloradans’ cannabis use has increased dramatically since legalization: The latest data show a 26% increase since 2013. In practice, more people using marijuana inevitably means more addiction,” he wrote.

In addition, he wrote, “in Colorado, one study found that ‘for every dollar gained in tax revenue, Coloradans spent approximately $4.50 to mitigate the effects of legalization,’ after accounting for additional costs in health care, crime, traffic accidents and fatalities, environmental impacts, and more.”

He continued by adding that legalization efforts in Colorado and other states have not put a damper on the illegal marijuana market, and on the contrary have fueled an ever-growing black market. In addition, legalizing drugs sends the societal message that their use is normal and safe, fueling more usage.

“We have also witnessed the tragic results of Colorado’s decision to reclassify fentanyl possession from a felony to a misdemeanor in 2019,” Aquila noted.

“Although well-meaning, one study estimates that the change in classification caused at least 600 additional deaths, even when accounting for the upward trend of fentanyl use in the previous years. The tragic story of this deadly drug reinforces Pope Francis’ words, ‘Drug addiction is an evil, and with evil there can be no yielding or compromise.’”

The Catholic Church’s response to addiction

In laying out the Church’s response to the phenomenon of drugs, Aquila put forth a three-pronged approach: prevention, suppression, and rehabilitation.

Prevention starts with relationships, especially familial ones, and the education of others on the harms of drugs, Aquila wrote. In terms of suppression of drug use, that may well take the form of voting against a legalization proposal, he said.

And finally, “while the Church has and will always proclaim the truth about the dangers of drugs, we gladly join in society’s efforts to aid those suffering in addiction. We follow the example of Jesus who came not to be served, but to serve, and sought out the sick,” the archbishop wrote.

“While only a fraction of Catholics will ever work in drug rehab facilities, all of us can work to end the stigma that surrounds addiction by recognizing that it is a disease, being compassionate and honest with those who use drugs, and refusing to define anyone by their drug addiction but instead by their God-given identity,” he said.

The responsibility of a Christian in relation to God. The mutual relationship between a love for God, for one’s brother and for oneself. The indissoluble bond between love for God and love for one’s brother. The feeling of a child’s devotion as the basic Christian state of mind.

Photo: dishupravoslaviem.ru     

Rising from the lowest responsibility to the highest, we ascended to their pinnacle, to our responsibility in relation to God.

But a clear and exact commandment of the Holy Scriptures, the main responsibility of man in relation to God is love for Him. This love was commanded in the Old Testament where it was said to, Then love the Lord, thy God with, all thine heart and with all thy soul, and with thy might (Deuteronomy 6:5). In the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said about this commandment that, This is the first and greatest commandment.

The Savior united a second commandment to this main commandment of God’s Law to love our brother as ourselves. He said that this commandment “resembles” the first commandment about loving God. The Holy Church, grounding itself upon these words of the Lord Himself always established the following order in the moral responsibilities of man: the responsibility of man towards himself stands lowest of all. That is why man needs to sacrifice the love towards himself in the name of love towards God and his brother. Love towards one’s brother occupies a middle position. It rules over man’s love for himself but in its turn submits to the highest love, the love of’ man for God, Whom we must love most of all.

We can often hear remarks that a strong love of man for God harms and disturbs his love for his neighbor. That is why man (so say those who think thus), must think and care most of all about his responsibilities to his neighbors and thus fulfill his obligations in relation to God. People thinking and speaking from this point of view speak against the podvigs of a hermitical life especially. From their point of view, the life of a hermit is the expression of egotism, and not love towards others. A hermit, in their opinion is a man occupied exclusively with himself and the salvation of his soul and does not think about others at all.

There is some truth in this reasoning. It seems unlikely that anyone will argue against the fact that while serving their neighbor, a Christian also fulfills his responsibilities to God. More than that. According to the teaching of the Apostle of Love, St. John the Theologian, love towards one’s neighbor is an indicator of love for God… “if a man say, love God and hateth his brother he is a liar; for he that loveth his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God, Whom he hath not seen?” Not one Christian doubts that while being charitable towards our brother, we serve God by fulfilling His commandment of love.

However, it is even less doubtful that while loving God, we can ever harm our love for our brothers by our love for Him. God is love, (I John 18:16). By loving God, we transfer ourselves into a higher spiritual atmosphere—an atmosphere of love and a new “breath of life”. The heart of a Christian, filled with such divine love, sends love everywhere, turns its rays of Christian love upon everyone. In this way, contrary to the opinion which we cited above, man’s love for God not only does not hinder his love towards his brother but inversely, confirms and deepens it.

A wonderful explanation of the bond between the love of God and our brother is given by one of the ascetics of our Orthodox Church, Venerable Abba Dorotheus of PalestineThe Holy Abba Dorotheus was a disciple of Saint John the Prophet in the Palestinian monastery of Abba Seridus in the sixth century.

“>Abbott Dorotheus. It is given in the following mathematical illustration:

  

In Circle A, the center is God and people are the surrounding points. The radii connect them with God and the arcs with each other. Here we see that people coming nearer to God through the radii, simultaneously come closer to each other inasmuch as the surrounding points near the center and the arcs connecting them become shorter. However, man can come closer to God and others only through love. It undoubtedly follows from this that by loving God, man will certainly also love his neighbor. Circle B shows us that Christian love for others brings man closer to loving God and brings him closer to loving other people.

Man through this nears God. Thus, there are these two kinds of Christian love indissolubly and intimately tied to each other.

In the history of Christian ascetics, we continuously see how ascetics, blazing with love for God, left the world with its temptations. They did this by the commandment of the Apostle of Love, St. John the Theologian who said, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (I John 2:15). In vain it is thought that they renounced their love for people living in the world.

No, they themselves constantly indicated that they did not run away from people but from the sin spilled over the world, from the temptations of a sinful worldly life. They loved their brothers, remaining in the world immeasurably more than those who lived in. the world and participated in its sins. Let us not forget that the seclusion of these ascetics was always filled with prayer and Christian prayer is not only for oneself but also for others. From the life of Righteous Pachomius the Great, born in the city of Alexandria, the following incident is known. Once, he found out that in Alexandria, his fatherland, hunger and epidemics were raging. Then, the Saint spent three days in tears and left off eating what meager food he allowed himself. His disciples pleaded with him to reinforce himself with food, but St. Pachomius answered, “how can I eat when my brothers do not have bread…”. How far from such love and suffering is the very best of us!

The love of a Christian for God is not only the height of his moral ascension but also the basis of his spiritual being. Without love there cannot be and there is no spiritual life, podvigs, virtue. The highest service of Christian love, the service of priesthood, can only exist in One who loves Christ. Not in vain did the Savior Himself, summoning Apostle Peter to preach, ask him, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these? (John 21:15). Our religion is a religion of love. By this shall men know that ye are My disciples if ye have love one, to another! said the Lord. (John 13:35). Here, the discussion is not only about mutual Christian love of people for each other, but even more, about filial love and a child’s devotion to Him, Whom the Holy Gospel constantly calls “Our Heavenly Father”. That is why the basis of a genuinely Christian life in man is a heart not only having faith in God but a child’s devotion to Him, penetrated by a sincere attraction to Him as towards a loving and beloved Father.

Marcia Garcia credits Our Lady of Guadalupe with saving her life not once, but twice.

Garcia said she was dehydrated nearly to the point of death at age 1, when her parents asked the Virgin Mary to intercede for her and she was successfully healed.

She also credits Our Lady with helping her survive cancer as an adult.

“She means everything to me,” Garcia said. “She is my entire life.”

It is these types of experiences that brought Garcia and hundreds of other faithful parishioners to parishes across the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to view the pilgrim images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego as they travel throughout the region annually leading up to this year’s 92nd procession and Mass on Dec. 3.

“I came to say goodbye to the Virgin, and to accompany her at her rosary and her Mass before she leaves,” said Garcia, a parishioner at St. Francis Xavier Church in Pico Rivera, where the images were displayed for two days before moving on to the next parish.

The images of Our Lady and Diego began their 2023 LA pilgrimage journey on a boat. St. Catherine of Alexandria Church on Catalina Island was the first parish to receive the images, celebrating with dancers, a procession through the streets, then Mass and adoration before bidding them farewell.

“The words of Elizabeth, ‘Who am I that the mother of the Lord should come to me?’ That echoes also in our hearts as we also feel that way,” said Father Dario Miranda, pastor at St. Catherine, during the farewell Mass. “Who are we that the mother of Our Lord has come to visit us?

“Moments such as these, it’s like the heavens opened and the Lord sends forth, through her intercession, many blessings, many graces, particularly to the community that is honoring her, like we are today.”

From there, the images traveled to All Souls Cemetery and Mortuary in Long Beach for a day before spending three days at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Whittier, with plenty of celebration, reverence, and prayer.

Father Raymont Medina, the newly arrived administrator at St. Mary of the Assumption, compared the images’ arrival to “waiting for a relative to come to visit.”

“You know that feeling that you get when someone’s coming, there’s a little bit of anticipation, hopefully everything goes well. When the image arrived, I had this overall sense of peace. Mom’s home.”

In Pico Rivera, the visit coincided with the blessing of new statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego in the outdoor fountain at St. Francis Xavier Church.

Parishioners gathered around the newly installed statues as pastor Father Martin Madero and his associate, Father Alberto Cuevas, held a blessing ceremony on the final evening of hosting the images.

Maria Felix Chavez, a parishioner who volunteered during the festivities, was on hand and hoped the Virgin’s visit to the parish would unify and inspire the parish community.

“I hope that we will all place ourselves under her mantle and become simple, humble, and obedient so that members of the community are unified and place themselves at the service of others,” Chavez said.

The Virgin is important for Chavez’s family because she has shown them — through example — how to “have a love toward God and us as her children.”

“She represents the immigrants, the people who are coming from Mexico and from many other countries to the United States,” Father Madero said. “The people are connected to her. It’s important for our community because they identify themselves with Our Lady of Guadalupe as a pilgrim.”

Father Cuevas remembers when the pilgrim images were first gifted to the archdiocese more than 20 years ago, as he was a bishop’s secretary in Mexico at the time.

When he first caught sight of the Our Lady of Guadalupe image as it arrived at his parish, “all my memories came back to me,” he said.

The Our Lady of Guadalupe image is an exact digital reproduction of the one at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City and has been blessed by the pope and touched to the original.

The images celebrate when Mary appeared to Diego in Mexico in 1531 to ask that a shrine be built on Tepeyac Hill. After appearing to the bishop several times, Juan Diego brought roses in his “tilma” (cloak) as proof of Mary’s request. When he opened his cloak, the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted on the cloak.

Since then, Our Lady of Guadalupe has been named the patroness of the Americas and a particularly strong sign for immigrants.

“She is not just the mother of Mexicans, but to the whole world,” Chavez said. “She is the mother to God, and she is our mother.”

From Pico Rivera, the images continued to other parishes, including Our Lady of Victory Church in East LA, and St. Lawrence of Brindisi Church in Watts. Wherever they go, Catholics say, they find a way of pointing people toward a more important figure. 

“I was away from the Church for a while, but I’ve come back,” said Ruben Martinez, a parishioner at St. Francis Xavier. “Through praying the rosary and just contemplating the mysteries of the rosary, learning more about her and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, it’s brought me closer to Jesus Christ and to the Church.”

“We all need that friend, that family member that we go to when we ask for prayers when something’s not going right,” Father Medina said. “We need all the spiritual help we can get. Our Lady is going to provide us with that help.”

To view the images’ pilgrimage schedule, visit lacatholics.org/guadalupe.

Members of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) now almost live in the state of war that Israel and Hamas are waging against each other in the Gaza Strip. While there are no Russian convents or churches in the conflict zone, the tragedy is almost knocking their door. How the mission lives in these circumstances, what people are feeling there, and how to survive when air raid sirens sound several times a day and pilgrims cannot fly to the Holy Land to venerate the sacred places and support the monasteries and churches financially—this was the subject of my talk with the head of the mission, Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky).

Archimandrite Roman (Krassovsky)     

—Father Roman, my first and most important question is about the safety of the mission members and parishioners. Are people safe in the current conditions? And what about the safety of our sacred sites in the Holy Land?

—Thanks be to God, as far as the mission is concerned, we are all safe. Our places are pretty much safe as well. We do not have any lands near Gaza, where the unfortunate battles are happening right now.

As far as our convents are concerned, it is mainly safe, though here at the Mount of Olives convent where I live, we have some uprisings outside the walls, and there are riots, which are put down by the Israeli police. That is happening because we live in an Arab Palestinian area.

—I am correct that right now, everything is calm near the convent?

—Pretty much, yes. Sometimes, when there are problems outside the gates, we have tear gas or something else coming over the walls. We already know this happens often enough, so we just go to our rooms.

Otherwise, everything is fine, though people are pretty much staying in their convents—here, or in St. Mary Magdaline convent in Gethsemane, or in Bethany and the Bethany school for girls. That is pretty safe. However, if somebody goes into the Old City of Jerusalem they go in twos or threes together—going alone could be problematic because the Israelis are very tense right now, and it could cause issues.

—What do people feel and think in these dire circumstances?

—Unfortunately, of course this was bound to happen, it is not unexpected. We have seen the problems between the Israelis and Hamas; this concerns many of our sisters, who are Palestinians. But just as they did during Intifada, or the Six-day war, they pray and hope that things will soon stop.

—Could you please describe in general what is happening now inside and outside the mission? How does the situation affect its everyday life?

—What affects us most is that there are no pilgrims. This flow completely stopped at the beginning of October when the situation began evolving. I would say that our main obedience is to take care of those people, but now we have absolutely none of them. Of course, that concerns us financially. Now we have no income; most of our income is from our pilgrims and people who kindly donate.

—Does this mean that the mission is already having significant financial problems?

—Yes, because we still haven’t recovered from the COVID-19 situation when, again, there were no pilgrims for two years. Only recently have pilgrimages returned on a regular basis. But of course, there were very few pilgrims from Russia because of the situation in Ukraine [and the sanctions against Russia]. Prices for flights are very, very high, and people cannot afford to come.

—Do you need financial support right now?

—Yes, very much. If people would be kind enough to donate to us—they can just go to the ROCOR Synod of Bishops website, there is a square there that says, “For the Russian Ecclesiastical mission.”

—We spoke with you just a couple of weeks ago when you were in the US, and you were sure at the time that everything is more or less calm around the mission. However, several days after that, you urgently changed your plans and returned to Jerusalem. And it took you five days to reach Israel. Does this mean that not everything is so good as you thought while in the US?

—When I was in the US, and these events started happening, I had already made my mind up to return to the mission, though the mission itself was not in direct danger. But I understand that I should be here as a head of the mission. If nothing else, just so that the monastics, the nuns and brothers, feel that the head of the mission is there with them.

—You have already mentioned the school for Palestinian girls in Bethany. How are they living now, what is the situation there, and what help do they need?

—We have a school of 375 girls, the majority of whom are Muslims. Mother Maria, who is the elder sister at the convent there—the convent of the Resurrection of the Lord—takes care of them. But she also was caught in the US in the beginning of these events. Thank God she, like me, returned to Israel.

It is a matter of just keeping everybody calm. Of course, passions are very strong, and people are very emotional about this situation. It is not a matter of the sisters, but in the school we have to keep children calm and keep their minds on education and not on the political situation.

Convent of the Ascension of the Lord on the Mt of Olives.     

—Several days ago, you appealed to the people in ROCOR with very, I would say, emotional letter asking for support. What was the outcome?

—Thank God, people are responding. Many of them, particularly those who have visited the Holy Land in the past, take everything that happens here somehow closer to their hearts. They were here, they prayed here not only at the Holy Sepulcher and other sacred sites, but in our convents as well. They know how people live here, and they help. We thank Lord for that.

As I already said, since the pandemic and because of the situation in Ukraine, we have had some problems with funding. And things will more difficult now. Thank God, the convents and the mission continue to live, but we have financial obligations that we have to keep.

—What do you think we should learn from this situation?

—This situation should lead us to repentance. God is showing us what is happening in the world: illnesses, conflicts, fratricidal war in Ukraine, war in the Holy Land—people are suffering. That says that we have to focus on our spiritual life and confess our personal sins. This is the only way to our salvation, through the prayer and confession. And we find it in in the Church of Christ.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was born Maria Francesca Cabrini on July 15, 1850, in Lombardy, Italy. She was the youngest of 13 children, born two months premature, and was a frail child with delicate health. Only three of her siblings grew to adulthood, and they were orphaned by the time Maria was 18. 

As a child, Maria’s father told her stories of the missions, inspiring her to want to work as a missionary herself. After she finished her education, Maria helped teach catechism to young children. She applied to the Daughters of the Sacred Heart for admission, but they turned her down because of her ill health. She was asked to teach at the House of Providence orphanage in Italy, where she spent six years. She drew other young women to help her, and they lived in the lifestyle of religious sisters. 

Maria took the name Frances Xavier Cabrini, and when the orphanage closed, the bishop asked her to found the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, caring for poor children in schools and hospitals. As Mother Cabrini, she composed the rules and constitution for the sisters to follow. 

The Missionary Sisters quickly established seven homes, along with a free school and nursery. Pope Leo XIII asked Frances to go to the United States, to help the Italian immigrants, sending her “not to the East, but the West.” 

Frances came to the U.S. in March of 1889, along with six other sisters. They faced extreme hardships, losing their housing for an orphanage quickly, but Frances refused to give up. She and her sisters eventually founded an orphanage, which is now called St. Cabrini Home, in West Park, New York. 

In her 35 years in the United States, Frances founded 67 schools, orphanages, and hospitals, tending to the poor, sick, and abandoned throughout the country. In 1909, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States. 

Frances died at the age of 67, on December 22, 1917, in one of her own hospitals in Chicago. Her body was originally buried at the Saint Cabrini Home, but was exhumed in 1931 when the canonization process began. Her head is preserved in Rome, her arm at the national shrine in Chicago, and the rest of her body at a shrine in New York. 

Two miracles are attributed to Frances — a child who was blinded by excess silver nitrate was healed, and a terminally ill member of her congregation was restored to full health.

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini was beatified on November 13, 1938, and canonized on July 7, 1946. She was the first U.S. citizen to be made a saint, and she is the patron of immigrants.

Just hours after Pope Francis removed Bishop Joseph Strickland as the head of the Diocese of Tyler, the Texas prelate went public to share his side of the story — filling in some blanks in the gripping saga that has put the now-former ordinary of the small northeastern Texas diocese into the global spotlight, but also leaving other critical questions unanswered.

Strickland revealed, in an exclusive Nov. 11 interview with LifeSiteNews, conducted shortly after the Vatican announced Pope Francis had relieved him from the “pastoral governance” of Tyler, why he thinks he was removed from office.

“I really can’t look to any reason except I’ve threatened some of the powers that be with the truth of the Gospel,” said Strickland, a controversial prelate who regularly speaks out against what he sees as attacks on the teachings of the Catholic Church to his sizable social media following.

During the interview, Strickland also underscored that Pope Francis has the authority to remove him from diocesan governance, and frequently encouraged those upset or confused by the development to pray for the pope and not to leave the Church.

But the 30-minute media appearance did not answer several key unknowns in the Strickland saga, such as what the Vatican’s stated reasons — if any were given — were for the dramatic step, and also, concretely, what comes next for the now diocese-less bishop. Here’s what Strickland had to say, and what remains unanswered.

Why was he removed?

Strickland shared that he had been asked to resign on Nov. 9, but that he “couldn’t, of my will, abandon the flock that I’d been given.”

That version of events checks out with a Nov. 11 statement from Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, who as head of the Archdiocese Galveston-Houston is the metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province that includes the Diocese of Tyler.

In his statement, DiNardo said that following a June apostolic visitation by two retired American bishops at the behest of the Vatican that included “an exhaustive inquiry into all aspects of the governance and leadership” of Tyler under Strickland, a recommendation was made to Pope Francis that “the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible.”

After months of deliberation, the Texas bishop was presented with a request to resign, and “the Holy Father removed Bishop Strickland from the Office of Bishop of Tyler” when the prelate declined the request, Cardinal DiNardo wrote.

The findings of the apostolic visitation have not been published, nor has the Vatican disclosed why Strickland was removed from office.

When asked what was behind Pope Francis’ decision, Strickland said, “The only answer I have to that is because forces in the Church right now don’t want the truth of the Gospel.” He added, “They want it changed. They want it ignored.”

Strickland did not accuse Pope Francis of being part of this push to undermine Church teaching, but he did say that “many forces are working at him and influencing him to make these kinds of decisions.” For those “forces,” the bishop said, “I’m a problem,” and so they pushed for the “removal of a bishop for standing with the Gospel.”

Strickland didn’t get specific about what “standing with the Gospel” entails, but he was likely alluding to his outspokenness and provocative statements on social media platforms and public speaking events.

For instance, Strickland tweeted on May 12 that he rejected what he called Pope Francis’ “program of undermining the Deposit of Faith” — a provocation, according to media reports, Vatican figures said “crossed the line,” prompting the apostolic visitation.

Please allow me to clarify regarding, “Patrick Coffin has challenged the authenticity of the Pope Francis.” If this is accurate I disagree, I believe Pope Francis is the Pope but it is time for me to say that I reject his program of undermining the Deposit of Faith. Follow Jesus.

— Bishop J. Strickland (@BishStrickland) May 13, 2023

He has also repeatedly criticized the pope for a “dangerous” lack of clarity in his statements, especially related to sexuality, and has been a vocal critic of Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality.

“Regrettably, it may be that some will label as schismatics those who disagree with the changes being proposed,” Strickland wrote in a public letter in August. “Instead, those who would propose changes to that which cannot be changed seek to commandeer Christ’s Church, and they are indeed the true schismatics.”

Did diocesan governance concerns factor in?

But according to multiple media reports on both the June apostolic visitation and ensuing discussions within the Vatican’s Dicastery of Bishops, Church officials were also seriously concerned about major issues with Strickland’s governance of the Tyler diocese. These concerns reportedly centered on concerns over large-scale diocesan staff turnover, hiring a controversial former religious sister as a high school employee, and support of a controversial planned Catholic community.

Strickland seemed to address these concerns obliquely in his LSN interview.

“No place is perfect, no family is perfect,” he said. “But the diocese is in good shape.”

The bishop cited the Diocese of Tyler’s high number of seminarians — 21 for a diocese with under 120,000 Catholics — and also noted that the diocese is in a position of financial strength due to “tremendous generosity from the people.”

“I’m so proud of the priests and the diocese,” said Strickland, adding that given what he sees as the success of the diocese under his leadership, he couldn’t identify any other reason for his removal other than the threat he poses to those trying to change Church teaching.

Was Bishop Strickland told why he was removed?

Earlier that day, however, Strickland seemed to indicate that there may have been more concrete reasons given for the action taken against him.

“I stand by all the things that were listed as complaints against me,” he told LSN in a brief article that was published before his 30-minute interview. “I know I didn’t implement Traditiones Custodes” — the pope’s 2021 restriction of the Traditional Latin Mass — “because I can’t starve out part of my flock.”

Taken together, the bishop’s answers make it unclear not only why, exactly, Pope Francis ultimately decided to remove him, but also whether Strickland himself was informed of the rationale for the decision.

What will he do now?

Bishop Strickland acknowledged that he will need to “honestly unpack” what it means to no longer be the bishop of Tyler, and to “sort of regroup” in terms of what his role as a “successor of the Apostles without a local diocese to care for” will look like going forward.

“I don’t have the answers right now,” Strickland said when asked what the future holds for him. “Lots of questions, lots of empty calendars that will be, I’m sure, filled in different ways.”

One possibility is an increase in engagement well beyond Texas — something the bishop was already doing well before he was removed from the leadership of Tyler, which helped earn him the title “America’s bishop” among his devotees.

For instance, Bishop Strickland has over 162,000 followers on the social media platform X, (formerly known as Twitter) — a figure 40,000 people higher than the total number of Catholics in his former diocese. He removed any reference to the Diocese of Tyler on the account on Nov. 11 and could maintain access to it despite being without a diocese.

Bishop Strickland also accepted invitations to many speaking engagements outside of the Diocese of Tyler For instance, he traveled to California this past summer to participate in a rally responding to the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring an anti-Catholic drag organization. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles had condemned the Dodgers’ actions, but also underscored that the event Strickland participated in did not have archdiocesan “backing or approval.”

It is also unclear where the former bishop of Tyler will live, and how he will receive financial support.

Will he be at the USCCB meeting?

One question that did not come up during his LSN interview, but is on the mind of at least some Church-watchers: Will Strickland, now without a diocese, attend the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops fall meeting, which starts on Nov. 14?

While Bishop Strickland has been known to make noteworthy public interventions from the floor of previous USCCB assemblies, his presence at a meeting only days after his removal from office would be a dominant storyline — and potentially a major distraction.

A lot is uncertain about Bishop Strickland’s future. But, at least based on his comments to LSN, prayer will be a big part of it.

“I encourage myself and others to go more deeply than ever into prayer, to pray for Pope Francis, to pray for the Church, and to pray for our world.”

Photo: psihiatrov.net     

And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. Lk. 8:27   

Did you hear, brethren, the gospel story read today about a Commentary on the Gospel about the healing of the gadarene demoniacAfter the death of Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh, cassettes were found among his things, with talks on selected parts of the Gospel of St. Mark. We present to your attention one such talk, dedicated to the healing of the Gadarene demoniac.

“>demoniac in the Gadarene country and his healing by Jesus Christ? Did you hear how demons tormented the unfortunate man and how he miserably dragged out his wretched life? Did you see the divine power of Jesus Christ over demons, over a whole legion of them, that is, over several thousand who had taken possession of an unfortunate man? Did you see the destruction of a multitude of animals, so-called unclean animals, into which demons entered by the permission of the Savior (Lk. 8:26–39)? Let us enter carefully into this tale and take a lesson from it. It is told for our edification.

The possessed existed before, and they exist now; only now, in the new grace, the demons act more stealthily and cunningly than in the old time, when their power and authority over people was not yet triumphantly crushed and they had much more scope in the world. Now, however, there are very, very many demonized people. Who among us is not familiar with the current breed of demoniacs or raving Can We Have a Permissive Attitude Towards Drunkenness?Is drunkenness a mortal sin?

“>drunkards? Don’t be surprised that I call drunkards possessed—they really are.

Who has not heard and who does not know how they, if they are married men, torment and torture not only themselves, but their wives, and if they have children, their children as well? So, by the action of demons, they often throw themselves into a noose, or drive their wives and children to death with their beatings and torments. What, O what does a pitiful woman not suffer from a drunken husband, or children from a drunken father! We haven’t the strength to mourn the misfortunes in the house where a drunkard is found. Hell, true hell is made in it, with tears and groans every day. A drunkard gets drunk every day and takes everything out of the house to drink.

Oh, what a terrible passion! Terrible madness! Who’s to blame? Of course, the drunkard himself, having reached this demonic state through his greed for wine. Any sick person can be treated, but a drunkard cannot be treated with anything, unless he himself wants to resolutely abandon drunkenness and turn with all his heart to the help of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who alone by His grace can heal this terrible, fatal passion.

I have seen many drunkards. I have seen among them some completely healed by the grace of Christ, to the help of which they themselves diligently resorted. But many I have seen, and you have seen, perish by a terrible death, without repentance, by suicide or by drunkenness.

I say then that I have seen many drunkards completely healed by the grace of Christ, which they sincerely sought and received, and this gives me an occasion to say for the edification of all drunkards: Seek the Savior’s help diligently and He will surely save you, drive out of you the demonic horde that has taken possession of you for your intemperance, for your carelessness about yourself, your laziness and coldness to prayer, lack of faith and unbelief, for departing from God and from the Church. I have also seen real demoniacs, who were possessed by demons through the inscrutable providence of God, and the demons produced mental insanity in them, uttered terrible blasphemies and profanity through them. I saw how horribly they threw one poor fellow from corner to corner or forced him to climb the wall, and so on. These, I think, together with the apostle, God gave to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved (1 Cor. 5:5). Such demoniacs were, of course, in a state of insanity. They did not realize what they were doing. Drunkards, however, are charged with their actions, because they are not deprived of their mind and freedom; they will be charged for their drunkenness and for their outrages. Drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10).

There is, however, brothers, another kind of raging people. These are angry, irritable, wrathful people. Have you seen angry, irate, spiteful people? How bad they are when they are Anger—How to Conquer the Beast Inside YouI get terrified as I hear this! What should I do, a sinful and fallen man? How can I learn to control myself? How can I “conquer” sinful anger inside me?

“>angry! The Scripture says: A fierce man is unseemly (Prov. 11:25 Church Slavonic text). How ugly their whole face is! What shining eyes, like those of fierce animals, in which malice and rage are visible! All of us are irritable, all prone to anger, and therefore all of us should ask the Lord in repentance for the spirit of meekness, humility and patience. Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, the apostle exhorts, but give place to the wrath of God, for it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord (Rom. 12:19).

There are several other types of quiet, be it silent or malevolent, demonic possession. Such is the possession of envious people who are tormented by other people’s happiness or prosperity and who either suffer in silence, seeing the happiness of their neighbors, or denounce and slander those whom they envy. There is the possession of the miserly, greedy for money, who, for profit and their increase are ready to commit any unrighteousness, and because of their loss they are ready to commit suicide; whose demons have hardened their hearts to such an extent that they are not moved by any private or public calamity, who, seeing the hungry, naked, sick, crippled, pass by them every day and will not give a penny, while their treasuries are overflowing with the gifts of God. Is this not madness when those who are subject to it calmly walk past unfortunate people every day and do not consider it a sin?

There is a madness of carnal passion. Those possessed by it fall into melancholy and despair if their passions are not satisfied or decide on the most shameful actions for its satisfaction, often even suicide. In order not to be overcome by this or other frenzied passions, it is necessary to curb them at the very beginning. When they intensify, then it is extremely difficult to cope with them, and it is impossible without the assistance of grace.

There is also gambling mania, when people calmly spend evenings and nights at cards, killing precious time, and do not look at the works of God, do not pay attention to their soul, do not pay attention to its salvation, do not care about repentance and virtue in the least.

There is a mania, or passion, for spectacles. There are people who, in reality and in dreams, rave about the theater, applaud theatrical celebrities to the point of fatigue, while they only come to church once or twice a year, and then only in order to yawn.

There is a mania of fear, a vain fear, when a person is afraid of others like himself or fears everything around him, suspects everyone of evil intentions or generally assumes unkind thoughts and intentions in everyone. There is a mania when everyone and everything are considered unclean, and they’ll wash ten or twenty times a thing that an outsider has touched.

There is also a mania, or demonic possession, among people who are afraid of or averse to the Church, divine services, psalmody and reading of the word of God, of holy things in general. You can never convince them to come to church. If you lead them, they will break out and run away or evade under various plausible pretexts—such is their alienation from God and His holy temple! This also includes the demonic possession of nihilism, which rejects all that is holy, all the truths of Revelation, everything that is dear to a rational being, especially for Christians, that comforts, strengthens, adorns, and elevates a person.

There is a demonic profanity that defiles the heart, soul, and mouth of profaners, which can be found mainly among the common people, and especially among the lower military ranks.

That’s how many different types of demonic possession, or manias, there are in people! Moreover, not all of them are listed here, because sinful demonic possession has countless types, and the hydra of sin is many-headed.

What is the cure for this moral disease, how can we escape from this many-headed monster, so as not to fall prey to the deceit of wicked, evil, unclean and foul demons? Only by humble faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who overcame the power of the devil; by sincere, deep repentance, prayer and fasting. This kind does not go out, except by prayer and fasting, says the Lord (Matt. 17:21). That, by the way, is why the holy Church has established fasts—so that Christians would have weapons against the devil and his innumerable machinations. The [Navity] fast, therefore, has been sent to us by the Holy Church to help us. Let us willingly accept this ecclesiastical healing and, according to our strength, we will keep fasts to crucify the flesh with passions and lusts. Amen.

7 ноября 1903

St. Josaphat Kuntsevych was born in 1580 in Volhynia, Ukraine, and was baptized as “John.” His parents were Orthodox Christians, but their church had fallen out of communion with the Pope in Rome. Through the work of Latin missionaries, John’s Ruthenian Church reunited with the Pope in 1596.

John was trained as a merchant’s apprentice, but he felt a calling to the simple, spiritually rigorous life of a Byzantine monk, and entered a Ukrainian monastery in 1604, taking the name Josaphat.

Josaphat was made a priest, then an archbishop, working to reunify the Orthodox Church with the rest of the Catholic Church. He went barefoot, even in the winter, and always wore penitential garb. He was deeply concerned for the poor, and his example of piety and care for souls moved many to return to the Church.

However, not everyone in the area was pleased with Josaphat’s conversion efforts. In 1620, opponents began to consecrate and support a rival archbishop. Josaphat knew that many of the people of Vitebsk wanted him dead, and called them out on their ambushes and attacks, telling them he would be happy to give his life for them as a shepherd among them.

In 1623, he did give his life for his faith. An Orthodox priest assembled a mob in the town, and they came to Josaphat’s residence, demanding his life and threatening those who served with him. Josaphat died praying for his attackers even as they shot at him. He was beheaded, and his body dumped in a river.

Five years after his death, Josaphat’s incorrupt body was found. He was canonized in 1867.