61. The Mystery of Holy Unction
62. The Mystery of Holy Ordination
St. John Chrysostom, “The Glory of the Priesthood”:
“Imagine in your mind’s eye, if you will, Elijah and the vast crowd standing around him and the sacrifice lying upon the stone altar. All the rest are still, hushed in deep silence. The prophet alone is praying. Suddenly fire falls from the skies on the offering. It is marvelous; it is charged with bewilderment. Turn, then from that scene to our present rites, and you will see not only marvelous things, but things that transcend all terror. The priests stands bringing down, not fire, but the Holy Spirit. And he offers prayer at length, not that some flame lit from above may consume the offerings, but that grace may fall on the sacrifice through that prayer, set alight the souls of all, and make them appear brighter than silver refined in the fire. Can anyone, not quite mad and deranged, despise this most awe-inspiring rite? Do you not know that no human soul could ever have stood that sacrificial fire, but all would have been utterly annihilated, except for the powerful help of God’s grace?
Anyone who considers how much it means to be able in his humanity, still entangled in flesh and blood, to approach that blessed and immaculate Being, will see clearly how great is the honour which the grace of the Spirit has bestowed on priests. It is through them that this work is performed, and other work not less than this in its bearing upon our dignity and our salvation.
For earth’s inhabitants, having their life in this world, have been entrusted with the stewardship of heavenly things, and have received an authority which God has not given to angels or archangels. Not to them was it said, ‘What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose, shall be loosed.’ Those who are lords on earth have indeed the power to bind, but only men’s bodies. But this binding touches the very soul and reaches through heaven. What priests do on earth, God ratifies above. The Master confirms the decisions of his slaves. Indeed he has given them nothing less than the whole authority of heaven. For he says, ‘Whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven, and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.’ What authority could be greater than that? ‘The Father hath given all judgment unto the Son.’ But I see that the Son has placed it all in their hands. For they have been raised to this prerogative, as though they were already translated to heaven and had transcended human nature and were freed from our passions.”
“But to return to the topic from which I digressed, God has given greater power to priests than to natural parents, not only for punishment, but also for help. The difference between the two is as great as between the present and the future life. Parents bring us into this life; priest into the life to come. Parents cannot avert bodily death nor drive away the onset of disease; priests have often saved the soul that is sick and at the point of death, but making the punishment milder for some, and preventing others from ever incurring it, not only through instruction and warning, but also through helping them by prayer. They have authority to remit sins, not only when they make us regenerate, but afterwards too. ‘I any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.’”
St. John Chrysostom, “The Glory of the Priesthood,” On the Priesthood, trans. by Graham Neville (Crestwood, NY: SVS Press, 2002), 71-72, 74.
63. The Sacred Work of Women
Selection from St. Basil the Great, “On the Origin of Humanity”:
“The woman also possesses the creation according to the image of God, as indeed does the man. The natures are alike of equal honor, the virtues are equal, the struggles equal, the judgments alike. Let her not say, “I am weak.” Weakness is in the flesh, in the soul is power. Since indeed that which is according to God’s image is of equal honor, let the virtue be of equal honor, the showing forth of good works. There is no excuse for one who wishes to allege that the body is weak. And why is it simply delicate? But through compassion it is vigorous in patient endurance and earnest in vigils. When has the nature of man been able to match the nature of woman in patiently passing through her own life? When has man been able to imitate the vigor of women in fastings, the love of toil in prayers, the abundance in tears, the readiness for good works?”
St. Basil the Great, “On the Origin of Humanity: Discourse 1,” On the Human Condition, trans. by Nonna Verna Harrison, Popular Patristics Series (Crestwood, NY: Saint Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2005), 45-46.
Selections from St. Sophronios, Patriach of Jerusalem, “The Life of St. Mary of Egypt”:
“My native land, holy father, was Egypt. Already during the lifetime of my parents, when I was twelve years old, I renounced their love and went to Alexandria. I am ashamed to recall how there I at first ruined my maidenhood and then unrestrainedly and insatiably gave myself up to sensuality It is more becoming to speak of this briefly, so that you may just know my passion and my lechery. for about seventeen years, forgive me, I lived like that. I was like a fire of public debauch. And it was not for the sake of gain — here I speak the pure truth. Often when they wished to pay me, I refused the money. I acted in this way so as to make as many men as possible to try to obtain me, doing free of charge what gave me pleasure. do not think that I was rich and that was the reason why I did not take money. I lived by begging, often by spinning flax, but I had an insatiable desire and an irrepressible passion for lying in filth. This was life to me. Every kind of abuse of nature I regarded as life.”
“That is how I lived. Then one summer I saw a large crowd of Lybians and Egyptians running towards the sea. I asked one of them, `Where are these men hurrying to?’ He replied, `They are all going to Jerusalem for the Exaltation of the Precious and Lifegiving Cross, which takes place in a few days.’ I said to him, `Will they take me with them if I wish to go?’ `No one will hinder you if you have money to pay for the journey and for food.’ And I said to him, `To tell you truth, I have no money, neither have I food. But I shall go with them and shall go aboard. And they shall feed me, whether they want to or not. I have a body — they shall take it instead of pay for the journey.’ I was suddenly filled with a desire to go, Abba, to have more lovers who could satisfy my passion. I told you, Abba Zosimas, not to force me to tell you of my disgrace. God is my witness, I am afraid of defiling you and the very air with my words.”
“That youth, on hearing my shameless words, laughed and went off. While I, throwing away my spinning wheel, ran off towards the sea in the direction which everyone seemed to be taking. and, seeing some young men standing on the shore, about ten or more of them, full of vigour and alert in their movements, I decided that they would do for my purpose (it seemed that some of them were waiting for more travellers whilst others had gone ashore). Shamelessly, as usual, I mixed with the crowd, saying, `Take me with you to the place you are going to; you will not find me superfluous.’ I also added a few more words calling forth general laughter. Seeing my readiness to be shameless, they readily took me aboard the boat. Those who were expected came also, and we set sail at once.
How shall I relate to you what happened after this? Whose tongue can tell, whose ears can take in all that took place on the boat during that voyage! And to all this I frequently forced those miserable youths even against their own will. There is no mentionable or unmentionable depravity of which I was not their teacher. I am amazed, Abba, how the sea stood our licentiousness, how the earth did not open its jaws, and how it was that hell did not swallow me alive, when I had entangled in my net so many souls. But I think God was seeking my repentance. For He does not desire the death of a sinner but magnanimously awaits his return to Him. At last we arrived in Jerusalem. I spent the days before the festival in the town, living the save kind of life, perhaps even worse. I was not content with the youths I had seduced at sea and who had helped be to get to Jerusalem; many others — citizens of the town and foreigners — I also seduced.”
“The holy day of the Exaltation of the Cross dawned while I was still flying about — hunting for youths. At daybreak I saw that everyone was hurrying to the church, so I ran with the rest. When the hour for the holy elevation approached, I was trying to make my way in with the crowd which was struggling to get through the church doors. I ad at last squeezed through with great difficulty almost to the entrance of the temple, from which the lifegiving Tree of the Cross was being shown to the people. But when I trod on the doorstep which everyone passed, I was stopped by some force which prevented by entering. Meanwhile I was brushed aside by the crowd and found myself standing alone in the porch. Thinking that this had happened because of my woman’s weakness, I again began to work my way into the crowd, trying to elbow myself forward. But in vain I struggled. Again my feet trod on the doorstep over which others were entering the church without encountering any obstacle. I alone seemed to remain unaccepted by the church. It was as if there was a detachment of soldiers standing there to oppose my entrance. Once again I was excluded by the same mighty force and again I stood in the porch.
Having repeated my attempt three or four times, at last I felt exhausted and had no more strength to push and to be pushed, so I went aside and stood in a corner of the porch. And only then with great difficulty it began to dawn on me, and I began to understand the reason why I was prevented from being admitted to see the life-giving Cross. The word of salvation gently touched the eyes of my heart and revealed to me that it was my unclean life which barred the entrance to me. I began to weep and lament and beat my breast, and to sigh from the depths of my heart. And so I stood weeping when I saw above me the ikon of the most holy Mother of God. And turning to her my bodily and spiritual eyes I said:
`O Lady, Mother of God, who gave birth in the flesh to God the Word, I know, O how well I know, that it is no honour or praise to thee when one so impure and depraved as I look up to thy ikon, O ever-virgin, who didst keep thy body and soul in purity. rightly do I inspire hatred and disgust before thy virginal purity. But I have heard that God Who was born of thee became man on purpose to call sinners to repentance. Then help me, for I have no other help. Order the entrance of the church to be opened to me. Allow me to see the venerable Tree on which He Who was born of thee suffered in the flesh and on which He shed His holy Blood for the redemption of sinners an for me, unworthy as I am. Be my faithful witness before thy son that I will never again defile my body by the impurity of fornication, but as soon as I have seen the Tree of the Cross I will renounce the world and its temptations and will go wherever thou wilt lead me.’
Thus I spoke and as if acquiring some hope in firm faith and feeling some confidence in the mercy of the Mother of God, I left the place where I stood praying. And I went again and mingled with the crowd that was pushing its way into the temple. And no one seemed to thwart me, no one hindered my entering the church. I was possessed with trembling, and was almost in delirium. Having got as far as the doors which I could not reach before — as if the same force which had hindered me cleared the way for me — I now entered without difficulty and found myself within the holy place. And so it was I saw the lifegiving Cross. I saw too the Mysteries of God and how the Lord accepts repentance. Throwing myself on the ground, I worshipped that holy earth and kissed it with trembling. The I came out of the church and went to her who had promised to be my security, to the place where I had sealed my vow. And bending my knees before the Virgin Mother of God, I addressed to her such words as these:
`O loving Lady, thou hast shown me thy great love for all men. glory to God Who receives the repentance of sinners through thee. What more can I recollect or say, I who am so sinful? It is time for me, O Lady to fulfil my vow, according to thy witness. Now lead me by the hand along the path of repentance!’ And at these words I heard a voice from on high: `If you cross the Jordan you will find glorious rest.’ Hearing this voice and having faith that it was for me, I cried to the Mother of God: n`O Lady, Lady, do not forsake me!’
With these words I left the porch of the church and set off on my journey. As I was leaving the church a stranger glanced at me and gave me three coins, saying: `Sister, take these.’
And, taking the money, I bought three loaves and took them with me on my journey, as a blessed gift. I asked the person who sold the bread: `Which is the way to the Jordan?’ I was directed to the city gate which led that way. Running on I passed the gates and still weeping went on my journey. Those I met I asked the way, and after walking for the rest of that day (I think it was nine o’clock when I saw the Cross) I at length reached at sunset the Church of St. John the Baptist which stood on the banks of the Jordan. After praying in the temple, I went down to the Jordan and rinsed my face and hands in its holy waters. I partook of the holy and life-giving Mysteries in the Church of the Forerunner and ate half of one of my loaves. Then, after drinking some water from Jordan, I lay down and passed the night on the ground. In the morning I found a small boat and crossed to the opposite bank. I again prayed to Our Lady to lead me whither she wished. Then I found myself in this desert and since then up to this very day I am estranged from all, keeping away from people and running away from everyone. And I live here clinging to my God Who saves all who turn to Him from faintheartedness and storms.”
“Forty-seven years have already gone by, I think, since I left the holy city.”
“I had two and a half loaves when I crossed the Jordan. Soon they dried up and became hard as rock. Eating a little I gradually finished them after a few years.”
“Believe me, Abba, seventeen years I passed in this desert fighting wild beasts — mad desires and passions. When I was about to partake of food, I used to begin to regret the meat and fish which of which I had so much in Egypt. I regretted also not having wine which I loved so much. for I drank a lot of wine when I lived in the world, while here I had not even water. I used to burn and succumb with thirst. The mad desire for profligate songs also entered me and confused me greatly, edging me on to sing satanic songs which I had learned once. But when such desires entered me I struck myself on the breast and reminded myself of the vow which I had made, when going into the desert. In my thoughts I returned to the ikon of the Mother of God which had received me and to her I cried in prayer. I implored her to chase away the thoughts to which my miserable soul was succumbing. And after weeping for long and beating my breast I used to see light at last which seemed to shine on me from everywhere. And after the violent storm, lasting calm descended. And how can I tell you about the thoughts which urged me on to fornication, how can I express them to you, Abba? A fire was kindled in my miserable heart which seemed to burn me up completely and to awake in me a thirst for embraces. As soon as this craving came to me, I flung myself on the earth and watered it with my tears, as if I saw before me my witness, who had appeared to me in my disobedience, and who seemed to threaten punishment for the crime. And I did not rise from the ground (sometimes I lay thus prostrate for a day and a night) until a calm and sweet light descended and enlightened me and chased away the thoughts that possessed me. But always I turned to the eyes of my mind to my Protectress, asking her to extend help to one who was sinking fast in the waves of the desert. And I always had her as my Helper and the Accepter of my repentance. And thus I lived for seventeen years amid constant dangers. And since then even till now the Mother of God helps me in everything and leads me as it were by the hand.”
St. Sophronios, Patriarch of Jerusalem, “The Life of St. Mary of Egypt,” trans. in The Great Canon, the Work of Saint Andrew of Crete, (Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Monastery). Available on the Internet Medieval Source Book website: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/maryegypt.asp
64. The Overflowing Cup
Selection from Archimandrite Zacharias, The Hidden Man of the Heart:
“The heart is within our chest. When we speak of the heart, we speak of our spiritual heart which coincides with the fleshly on; but when man receives illumination and sanctification then his whole being becomes a heart. The heart is synonymous with the soul, with the spirit; it is a spiritual place where man finds his unity, where his mind is enthroned when it has been healed of the passions. Not only his mind, but his whole body too is concentrated there. St. Gregory Palamas says that the heart is the very body of our body, a place where man’s whole being becomes like a knot. When mind and heart unite, man possesses his nature and there is no dispersion and division in him any more. That is the sanctified state of the man who is healed. On the contrary, in our natural and fallen state, we are divided: we think one thing with our mind, we feel another with our senses, we desire yet another with our heart. However, when mind and heart are united by the grace of God, then man has only one thought – the desire for God; and only one sensation – the noetic sensation of God.”
Archimandrite Zacharias, The Hidden Man of the Heart: The Cultivation of the Heart in Orthodox Christian Anthropology, ed. by Christpher Veniamin (Waymart, PA: Mount Thabor Publishing, 2008), 12.
65. Coffee and Tea (like You and Me)
66. Sun and Sunlight (Essence and Energy)
St. Gregory Palamas, The Triads, explaining that God is both essence and energy, yet the saints experience the energy, not the essence of God:
“For one applies the word ‘sun’ to the rays as well as to the source of the rays; yet it does not follow that there are two suns. There is, then, a single God, even though one says that the deifying grace is from God. The light is also one of the things that ‘surround’ the sun, yet it is certainly not the essence of the sun. So how could the light which shines from God upon the saints be the essence of God?
St. Gregory Palamas, The Triads (New York: Paulist Press, 1983) 108.
67. Like Iron in Flame
Selection from Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, The Illness and Cure of the Soul in the Orthodox Tradition:
“The soul is very closely connected with the body. The Fathers say that it happens with the soul what happens with an iron in a brazier; it becomes fire though remaining iron by nature. The soul is everywhere in man’s body. The fact that the soul gives life to the body joined to it, proves that man was made in God’s image to a greater degree than were the angels. This is why, in the Orthodox Church, we say that the illness of the soul affects also the body, just as the illness of the body sometimes affects the soul. Due to this inner bond, it happens that, although the soul wants to attain communion with God, the body, on account of the passions, refuses to follow to follow the course of the soul, and thus, a physical fatigue occurs. Then we realize that, although the soul feels rather healthy, the body feels ill and weak. What the Lord said, holds: ‘the spirit is willing, but the flesh is week’ (Mat. 26, 41). For this reason, the Orthodox tradition establishes that the course of the soul is to be parallel with that of the body. Hesychasm also cures the body in various ways and methods in order to reach communion with God. And when man receives the grace of God, then the body also undergoes change. We see this in the Transfiguration of Christ, when His shone as the sun…. Man consists of soul and body, he is a psychobiological being. Therefore, the body will be deified, also, and it will be resurrected at the Second Coming and will pass into eternity.”
Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos, The Illness and Cure of the Soul in the Orthodox Tradition, trans. by Effie Mavromichali (Levadia, GRE: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery, 1993), 59-60.
68. Cooperating with Grace (Synergy)
Synergy is central to spiritual life. It means using our will to turn the heart toward God, bringing one’s life into harmony with the Divine Will, which keeps one on the path of healing and leads to a greater experience of Life. Since God respects the free-will of the creatures He has brought into existence, the more we choose to turn our hearts to God, the more we open our hearts to God and invite the Grace of God into our lives. So, synergy is the cooperation between human free will and Divine Grace. We use our created energy to invite the healing, transfiguring uncreated energy into our lives.
Selection from Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica, Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives:
“All of nature is a great mystery, from the plants and birds to man, for God is present everywhere. He discloses a small part of this great mystery to those who truly love Him—to men of pure heart. God is an incomprehensible energy. Man also has incomprehensible energy. When these two energies are in harmony, we have paradise on earth, joy, and all-encompassing love.”
Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica, Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives (Platina, CA: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2011), 121.
Selections from Ss. Barsanuphius and John, Letters from the Desert:
“763. A Christ-loving lay person asked the same Old Man: ‘God created the human person free, but he also says: “Without me, you are not able to do anything” (Jn 15.5). How, then, is freedom reconciled with not being able to do anything without God?’
Response by John
God created the human person free in order that we may be able to include toward good; yet, even while inclining out of freedom, we are incapable of accomplishing this without the assistance of God. For it is written: ‘It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who shows mercy’ (Rom 9.16).
Therefore, if we incline the heart toward good and invoke God to our assistance, God will pay attention to our good intention and bestow strength upon our work. In this way, both are developed, namely human freedom and God’s power. For this is how good comes about, but it is accomplished through his saints. Thus, God is glorified in all and again glorified all.”
Ss. Barsanuphius and John, Letters from the Desert, (Crestwood, NY: SVS Press, 2003), 192-193
69. Holy Relics
Selection from the Martyrdom of Polycarp:
“The centurion then, seeing the strife excited by the Jews, placed the body in the midst of the fire, and consumed it. Accordingly, we afterwards took up his bones, as being more precious than the most exquisite jewels, and more purified than gold, and deposited them in a fitting place, whither, being gathered together, as opportunity is allowed us, with joy and rejoicing, the Lord shall grant us to celebrate the anniversary of his martyrdom, both in memory of those who have already finished their course, and for the exercising and preparation of those yet to walk in their steps.”
The Martyrdom of Polycarp, Ante-Nicene Fathers series, vol. 1.