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November 5 (Nov.18 n.s.)
Martyrs Galacteon and his wife Episteme at Emesa (253). Apostles Patrobus, Hermas, Linus, Gaius, and Philologus of the Seventy (1st c.). Martyrs Domninus, Timothy, Theophilus, Theotimus, Dorotheus, Eupsychius, Carterius, Pamphilius, Agathangelus, and Castorus, of Palestine (307). St. Cybi, abbot, of Cornwall and Wales (550). St. Odrada, virgin of Balen (Neth.) (8th c.). St. Gregory, archbishop of Alexandria (9th c.). St. Gregory of Cassano, Calabria (1002). St. Jonah, archbishop of Novgorod (1470). Repose of Elder Hilarion, recluse of Troekurovo (1853) and Abbess Anna of Vrachevshnitsa Monastery (Serbia) (1975)
Eastern Rite Liturgy: Eph. 4:1-6; Luke 10:25-37
In the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Do you want to go to heaven? Do you want to be a citizen of God’s Heavenly Kingdom? If your answer is “no”, then I wonder what you are doing in the Orthodox Church! Of course you do! It is your calling not only as a Christian but also as a human being! God the Father sent His Only-Begotten Son to take upon Himself the corrective action in order to free us from the Curse of Adam. But He did one better, God in His Logos gave us a direct path to salvation if we choose to walk that long and narrow path. Whether or not we accept it, it is nevertheless our Divine Calling.
Now St Paul speaks to us about that Calling in today’s Epistle reading. He begs us to walk worthily of that Calling. Be humble and gentle, patient, kind and loving towards your fellow Christian. In a manner in which supports and strengthens the unity of our oneness to one another. What exactly is this “oneness” we share? It is the Church, the Mystical Body of Christ and Our Lord Jesus is its Head. “…just as you were called in one hope of your calling”, says St. Paul, there is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism; only one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, this very same God is in you all. So preserve the unity of the Church and witness your calling through your love, humility and longsuffering towards all mankind.
If you nurture such virtues within you, you too will act as the Good Samaritan acted in today’s Gospel reading. In so doing you will have fulfilled Christ’s commandment that, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” [Luke 10:26-27] Oh how our Lord knows us so well! ‘Cause He knows that if we cannot love those whom we can see and touch, we will not love Him Who is both within us and beyond us in One Spirit unseen by our corporeal eyes.
Therefore my Beloved in Christ, pray always and nurture within you the virtues of humility, gentleness, undying patience, and forgiveness through love for one another; and no just those in your local parish, not just those in your family or immediate social circle. Like the Good Samaritan, love those in need regardless who they are! This is your Calling as Christians and simply as human beings!
In the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, both now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
October 29 (November 11 ns)
Virgin-martyr Anastasia the Roman (256). Martyrs Claudius, Asterius,Neon, and Theonilla, of Aegae in Cilicia (285). St. Abramius the Recluse (360) and his niece St. Mary, of Mesopotamia (397) (Gal. 5:22-6:2; Matt. 11:27-30). St. Ermelindis, hermitess (Neth.) (6th c.). St. Anna (known as Euphemianus) of Constantinople (826). St. Rostislav, prince of Moravia, Czechoslovakia (870). St. Serapion of Zarzma, Georgia (900). St. Abramius, archimandrite of Rostov (1073). St. Abramius, recluse of the Kiev Caves (12th-13th c.). New Martyr Athanasius of Sparta, at Mountania (1653). New Monk-martyr Timothy of Esphigmenou Monastery, Mt. Athos, at Adrianople (1820). (Greek Calendar: Martyrs Cyril, Menas, and Menaeus. Martyr Melitene of Marcianopolis.)
Eastern Rite Liturgy: Eph. 2:14-22; Luke 8:41-56
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
In today’s readings we are presented with three levels of Faith: 1.) Unbelief, 2.) Belief and 3.) Faith. Those who demonstrated their unbelief in Christ and his power were those who were mourning the death of Jairus’ 12 year old daughter. Great was their unbelief in Christ that, as the Gospel says of them, “they ridiculed (our Lord), knowing that she was dead”. What did our Lord do? He put them out as they were not worthy to witness the child’s resurrection. Who else showed us his unbelief? As well meaning he may have been, an unnamed “someone” from Jairus’ house came to him and said, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the Teacher”. Nothing more is mentioned of this “someone” because he was unworthy of further mention due to his unbelief.
Next we have the witness of Belief in Christ and His power. It was Jairus himself who, out of his despair and grief, approached the Master to heal his daughter on the verge of dying. He asked our Lord to visit his daughter for the purpose of healing her. His was a belief, being that he held out the possibility that Christ might be able to heal his daughter probably based upon Our Lord’s reputation. Jairus’ lack of Faith is further exampled by his request that Jesus actually go to his daughter. And Jesus humbly obliged him. But contrast the belief of this elder of the synagogue with the non-Jewish i.e., pagan Roman Centurion in whose request for healing his servant (Lk. 7:1 – 10), exclaimed “just say the word and it shall be done”! For this Centurion showed Faith greater that that of Jairus, as Our Lord said of the Roman solder, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!” (Matt. 8:10; Lk. 7:9).
Oh how powerful a genuine Faith in Christ is! It is not just a belief. A belief is a thought of tenuous possibility in something or someone yet unproven. Yet Faith is a firm conviction in an unseen reality. It is an unconditional trust in God’s Love for us. Such Faith requires little or nothing on Our Lord’s part. We see that, unlike Jairus, the Centurion did not find it necessary that our Lord go to his servant in order to heal him. Just say the word and he shall be healed! It is this faith that we find, also, in the woman “having a flow of blood for twelve years”. She neither called out to our Lord nor gained his attention by pulling on his garments. Rather, it was sufficient for her that she merely touched His robe and she knew by the hope she had in her Faith in Christ that she would be healed. She had not troubled our Lord for some demonstrative miracle. And her humility extended to a reluctance of revealing before the multitude that it was she who touched Him. But realizing that He knows all things she sheepishly stepped forward. And what did our Lord say to her? He said to this woman who stood before the Master in fear and trembling, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.”
“Go in peace” says the Lord to the woman. For her “good cheer” is in this very Peace. In today’s Epistle St Paul speaks to the Ephesian Church about this same Peace. It is the peace that has brought together in unity both Jew and Gentile. It has broken down the partition wall that is the Mosaic Law which was given to Israel because of sin in the world. This peace has abolished the power of sin and death, our enmity. It is through the very incarnation, suffering, death on the cross, burial, and resurrection that the Prince of Peace Himself gives to us this, our peace.
Christ is our foundation upon which rests the prophets and apostles, upon them the saints and all true faithful in Christ is His household, is His Church. Does our Faith make us worthy to be allowed to remain in the Church or will our Lord put us out wherefrom as He did the mourners at Jairus’ house? Do we believe or do we possess faith? Do we seek peace or does peace reside within us with the synergetic indwelling of the Holy Spirit? To “Go in Peace” is to “Go in Christ and Christ in you”.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Luke 11:34-41
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
St. John, recluse of the Pskov Caves (1616). St. Zosimas (Verkhovsky), elder of Siberia (1833). New Hieromartyrs Laurence, bishop of Balakhnin, and Archpriest Alexis Porfiriev (1918). Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Joy of All Who Sorrow” of Moscow (1688). Repose of Blessed Eudocia of Ryazan (1890).
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
In the Lesson for today we read of St. Paul’s love-filled joy in Christ for the Thessalonian Church. He expresses that, as well as they are, he hopes that their faith is further perfected (1 Thess. 3:9-10). St. Paul prays for the “increase and abounding” of this local Church in their love for one another so that Christ “may establish (their) hearts blameless in holiness”. And what would this look like? In the Gospel reading for today Christ our Lord tells us:
To purify our (bodily) members, to discipline our senses so that instead of darkness Divine Light may shine from within us. Being light-bearing (phostokos?) the Christian will not be double-minded; he will be congruent and consistent between his mind and his heart, between his intentions and his actions, between his belief and his faith. It is this very psychosomatic unity within us that calls for the realization of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it is us who have become the Temple of God and therefore the Kingdom of God is within us. But before our being can be light-bearing it will be filled with the Abundant Love that Christ, the Holy Apostles and Church Fathers untiringly encourage in us as we Christians journey to become truly Christian.
Amen!
On Being an Orthodox Benedictine Monk
We are truly Baptized/Chrismated Orthodox Christians as well as authentically Orthodox tonsured monks who happen to follow the typikon or rule of our father among the saints, Benedict of Nursia, as our guiding document. St. Benedict is an Orthodox saint of the ancient western Church prior to the Great Schism of 1054. Followers of St. Benedict’s example, be they Orthodox or Catholic, are known as Benedictine. There are no monastic “orders” in the Orthodox Church. And the Benedictines in the Roman Church were never formulated into a religious “order” as are the majority of communities of religious under the Roman Pontiff. All Benedictine monastic foundations are autonomous and are united in fellowship by a cooperative structure known as congregations. St John Theologian Orthodox Hermitage as is its motherhouse, the Abbey of the Holy Name, belong to the American Congregation of the Primitive Observance of the Order of Saint Benedict. What are the ingredients of this Orthodox Benedictine Life?
Benedictine Life Essentials
The monastic path is the quintessential Christian journey towards the goal, our Beloved One, the Triune God through, in, by Christ Jesus.
On that journey the monk is carried by the ark of The Church within the monastery, within the monastic cell, indeed within the person of the monk himself.
Prayer is his rudder. Without prayer, the map matters not, the journey will be lost in the long and ever widening sea of life and passions.
Lectio Divina is his sail. Meditation and reflection upon Sacred Scripture and Patristic Writings. It is the “work of God”, that is the monk’s labor towards God.
Silence is the wind in the sail. It is in this Silent wind the monk hears the voice of God.
Poverty is the monk’s treasure of detachment from the world.
Chastity is the monks fidelity to the journey, to his fellow crewmen, to his Captain the Abbot, and, most especially, it is his expressive love for Christ who is the monks intended destination.
Stability is the ship’s wheel on its course straight and steady. By it the monk avoids distraction and is forced to face the inner turbulence.
Conversion is the unceasing humility of shedding off the world and the “old man” lightening his ship’s load for a smoother forward movement towards his goal.
Community Life is the monastic crew of the ship. The monk’s life may be one of solitary but is not one of self-service. On the contrary, a monk’s life is given over to service and welfare of others through prayer and works.
Obedience is the discipline that maintains all the foregoing together in harmony
Prophetic Witness is the monk’s inadvertent example to others of the Interior Kingdom of God emerging from the inner potential increasingly as the monk becomes a kenotic existent we see no longer the monk, the man, but the Divine Light, the Grace of God
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