heart – Page 2 – The Tao of Holy Orthodoxy

November 15, 2017

37. The Thrice-Holy Prayer

An Orthodox Christian holds to the right Faith (expressed by correct doctrine, believed with the heart, and confirmed through action) and also offers right worship from the heart to the true and living God.

Orthodox worship reflects the heavenly worship of the noetic powers, the various kinds of bodiless angelic beings. Through our worship, we actually participate in this unceasing heavenly worship.

Often, we pray the Trisagion Prayer as part of our private prayers and together in our communal worship as the Church. Through this prayer, we call upon the true God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We recite the Trisagion (Thrice-Holy) Hymn of the angels: Holy, Holy, Holy. Remembering Who God Is, we ask for His Presence to be made real on earth (daily through our lives until the heavenly kingdom arrives fully at Christ’s return). We also ask for our loving God to grant us His mercy, forgiveness, healing, and good strength to resist the evil one so that we may stay on the Way of salvation.

Pray the Trisagion Prayer at the beginning of your established times of prayer in the morning and evening. Learn the prayer with your mind, but also learn to say it with your heart focused on God.

(Make the sign of the Cross upon yourself at the places marked with a cross (+).

The Trisagion Prayer

+ In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Glory to thee, our God, glory to thee.

O heavenly King, O Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who art in all places and fillest all things; Treasury of good things and Giver of life: Come and abide in us and cleanse us from every stain, and save our souls, O Good One.

+ Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal: have mercy on us.

+ Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

All-holy Trinity, have mercy on us. Lord, cleanse us from our sins. Master, pardon our iniquities. Holy God, visit and heal our infirmities for thy Name’s sake.

Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

+ Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

+ Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

November 6, 2017February 9, 2021

32. The Eight Parables

The_Return_of_the_Prodigal_Son_Rembrandt

Living the Way of Christ means possessing a good, healthful disposition of heart that produces good, virtuous action. Read these five parables carefully, learn their meaning for your life, and strive to put them into practice:

1) The Parable of the Publican and Pharisee (Luke 18.9-14)

What does this parable teach you about pride and judgment as well as humility and repentance? What does it teach you about God, prayer, and mercy?

2) The Parable of the Sower (Luke 8.4-15)

Are you eagerly receptive to the Truth and humbly teachable or hard-hearted and unteachable, unable to grow to maturity? You choose the kind of soil your heart shall be. Which kind of soil describes the disposition of your heart? What does this parable teach you with regard to how the condition of your heart affects both the health of your soul inwardly and also your outward actions?

3) The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15.11-32)

What does this story teach you about God and His love for us? (The Father did not love the son only when he returned, but the Father always loved the son.) What does the story teach you about sin and the effects of your sin? (Who created the distance between the Father and his son?) What does this teach you about the steps of repentance toward restoration? How does the reaction of the other brother also offer you a lesson?

4) Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

What does this teach you about true love? Why must you love God first and best above all others? (If you do not love God wholly and above all, you cannot love all others fully.) Remember that this parable is also an image of the Church. What does this teach you about the benefit of the Church for you and everyone else?

5) The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Matthew 7.21-27)

What does this teach you about the the necessity of obedience?

6) The Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21.28-32)

What does this teach you about repentance with regard to obedience and disobedience?

(7 & 8) The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearls (Matthew 13.44-46)

Where does this teach you place of the Way of Christ in your life, considering all your competing priorities and distractions?

October 31, 2017March 13, 2018

28. The Holy Tradition

My box photo (2)

We call the Way of Holy Orthodoxy by another name: Holy Tradition. The Tradition is Holy because it has been revealed to the Church through the Holy Spirit. We also call this Apostolic Tradition because it has been passed down to us through history from the Apostles, whom the Holy Spirit led into all Truth. The Orthodox bishops and priests, having Apostolic succession, are particularly responsible for guarding the Holy Tradition. The Tradition is not just a list of dogmas or doctrines, but our entire Way of Life, the Way that has been preserved, passed down, received, and lived in every generation for nearly two millennia, whole and undefiled.

Holy Tradition includes what the Apostles’ preached and taught after Holy Pentecost. The Old Testament, received by the Church, and the New Testament, written within the Church by members of the Church, is part of the Tradition. Within Holy Tradition, both the Scripture and the correct interpretation of Scripture are held together. Holy Tradition encompasses what we believe, the way we pray and worship, how we express the Faith through our sacred writings, music, and art (iconography), and how we live the Faith in the world. Holy Tradition, then, is opposed to the traditions of men, that is, religious traditions invented by human beings that contradict what God revealed and the Apostles’ taught.

Consider what would happen if a terrible plague swept across the world and you were entrusted with an ancient box, passed down for millennia, containing detailed instructions and all the components necessary to prepare an antidote capable of curing anyone willing to take the medicine. Would you not be careful to preserve and keep safe the whole contents of the box in its entirety? Would you also not make sure that this life-saving gift is used to cure people? This box should not be kept on a shelf like a museum piece because of its outward beauty. It was given to you freely so that you may liberally use its contents to save and protect people in need.

This box is an image of Holy Tradition. Holy Tradition is given to us whole and complete, containing everything necessary for our salvation. The Tradition holds our panacea, the medicine that completely cures the illness of the soul and, ultimately, even death of the body. Within the Church, this box has been passed down to us and received by our generation so that we will use it for the benefit of the world. We bear the noble responsibility to live Holy Tradition faithfully every day and the responsibility (and the honored privilege) to pass it on to others whole and unaltered as we have received it.

800px-Fast_mountain_river_makes_a_hazy_waterfall

Holy Tradition is also like a mountain. It stands high, strong, firm, heavy, and immovable. Yet, Holy Tradition is also like a river that flows from the mountain, nourishing everything drawing its water. If you were to stand in one place on the banks and look at a single point in the river, the light would glimmer on the surface. It is not static, by dynamic. The river flows under, over, and around the rocks and fallen trees effortlessly. It fills wide spaces and narrow passes, shifting shape without altering what it is – its essence. The river moves straight and winds, flowing calmly in silence, rippling gently and quietly, then rushing with a roar.

Holy Tradition is unchanging because it is founded upon the immoveable Truth, which remains constant in all times and in all places. At the same time, Holy Tradition is a living Tradition embodied by Orthodox Christians in the real world. Without changing what it is, Holy Tradition is expressed differently in various times and places. Although the Tradition is immovable and unchanging with regard to Truth, the expression of the Tradition is fluid. Observe the tremendously diverse variety of liturgies, music, art, practices, and cultural traditions within the Church, all embraced by Holy Tradition. While the expressions of Holy Tradition show development and diversity throughout history and across cultures, the variety remains in symphonic harmony with the mind (phronema), ethos, and vision of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit. Wherever Holy Tradition goes, it fits the culture without compromise. Tradition can fit into a new society where Holy Orthodoxy takes root like water fills a glass, taking its shape to reflect the people who live in that particular place at that particular time. What is good within the society is affirmed and what is not good is either purified or removed.

cracked-diamond-1391540681ogF

Holy Tradition is also like perfectly cut and beautifully clear diamond. The diamond is strong and whole. When light shines on the stone, its interior glows with white-light brilliance. On the surface of the diamond, the light is dispersed, projecting a rainbow of the various colors that together comprise the white light. As the diamond is turned, the light reveals the various angles cut into the singular diamond. Holy Tradition is simple and complex. If you wish to see the beauty of the Holy Tradition, see it in the Light.

Read: Mark 7.7-9; John 16.13; Matthew 28.19-20; Acts 2.42; 2 Thessalonians 2.15; Jude 1.3; Galatians 1.6-24; 2 Timothy 4.1-4

October 30, 2017

26. You are in Good Company

geese-flying-in-v-formation-at-ferry-bluff-wisconsin

The Holy Orthodox Church is a Mystery, whole, pure, and perfect. She is the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, and the living Temple of God on Earth, indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Individual members of the Church, however, are only personally whole, pure, and perfect to the extent that they have immersed themselves into the Mystery of the Church, the Fountain of Divine Grace, and have been healed and perfected, becoming like Christ.

The Orthodox Church is a Hospital whose patients demonstrate various degrees of sickness and health. Some have achieved tremendous improvement as model patients and others progress slowly in the Intensive Care Unit.

The disease of death in our hearts affects our rational minds and behaviors. Members of the Church are not only patients in the Hospital, but we are all psychiatric patients. (The root of the word psychiatric actually refers to the soul.) Pride makes us delusional, causing us to think we are better than other people. We do not see others as our neighbors. Even though we know that that our lives should be oriented entirely toward God at every moment, we are often irrationally distracted by the passions and temporary things in the world. We know what we should do, but we do the opposite of what is right, good, and nurturing for the soul.

Since the Orthodox Church is the Hospital, do not be surprised to find its floors full of sick people. Where else should sick people go? Although we are affected by death, too, we may be tempted to judge others as unspiritual hypocrites. If someone does suffer from hypocrisy, the Church is where he should be! Perhaps in the past, this person possessed far worse symptoms, but, through the therapeutic life of the Church, he has made tremendous progress. If he is aware of his sickness, he may be improving. If he is not yet aware, be patient with him and pray for him.

A cancer patient in a hospital should not complain that the hospital is full of cancer patients, nor judge others for being sick and week. Since we all suffer from the effects of death, we are in good company among other sick people. Be understanding, compassionate, and lenient with other people. Regarding yourself, be attentive to carefully follow the physician’s instructions. Even though the Physician and Hospital are perfect and lacking nothing, you will not heal if you refuse treatment or fail to follow the therapy prescribed for you. Keep your eyes on your own sins and symptoms and let other patients worry about their own personal failings. You have enough problems of your own to keep you occupied. Keep in mind how much patience and love God has for you so that you remember to extend the same to others.

The Mystery of the Church is where we find spiritual sanity and a clear spiritual vision of the world. It is also where we find the Way to attain sanity and clarity. Attend to your healing so that you may be in good company with the Saints, the members of the Church who have already been healed and perfected. As you work toward your salvation, they offer their help by the examples they showed us while living on Earth and by their present prayers beyond the earthly life near the throne of God.

October 30, 2017October 30, 2017

25. Becoming a Catechumen

Nikolaos_Gyzis,_To_Kryfo_Scholio_-_oil_on_canvas

Once you have placed yourself under the care of an Orthodox priest in a local church, you may be enrolled as a catechumen of the Holy Orthodox Church. A catechumen is a student of the Way of Christ who is preparing for entrance into the Church through Holy Baptism.

Becoming a catechumen means that you believe in Jesus Christ and commit yourself completely to being an Orthodox Christian and to living His Way. This requires repentance and a sincere desire to be obedient to Christ, our Lord and Master. When you join the catechumenate, you renounce all previous attachments to other beliefs and religious groups so that you may come under the spiritual care and protection of Christ’s Holy Church.

As a catechumen, you will immerse yourself in the life of the Orthodox Church as much as possible. You will receive formal instruction from the priest or an instructor, who has been appointed and blessed by the priest to serve as a catechist. You must learn what we believe and how we live the Apostolic Faith in our hearts and in our actions. You should always be present in the communal prayers and worship of the Church alongside Orthodox Christians, as appropriate. You will begin to practice prayer and fasting according to the custom of the Faithful. During this period of preparation, you should get to know the Orthodox Christians around you in the congregation and participate in the social fellowship of the community.

Learning the Tao of Holy Orthodoxy is not an academic exercise. In some respects, it is more like vocational training and military training. Through catechism, you learn the inner way of the heart and mind by experience, which produces faithful, virtuous action. If you are willing to be changed and possess a proper disposition of heart, you will be shaped with the help of Divine Grace into an Orthodox Christian.

As a catechumen, you may not yet receive the Holy Mysteries, the sacred Medicines of the Church. These are reserved for the members of the Church. While you are a catechumen, you prepare your soul to receive the Mysteries with the right disposition of heart in the proper time, when you have been joined to the Church. As the physical marital union and the process of having children are properly the result of a Holy Marriage between a man and woman that has already been accomplished, the reception of the Holy Mysteries is the result (or fruit) of a union with the Church that has already been accomplished. Catechism is a time of sincere repentance and preparation in the present mixed with joyous anticipation of the future.

(Note: Some catechumens have previously been baptized as Christians while separated from the Holy Orthodox Church in one of the many non-Orthodox groups that have resulted from heresy and schism. The Orthodox Church does not recognize such a baptism as valid, but if the form of the baptism is considered sufficiently an Orthodox form, with water in the Name of the Holy Trinity, the catechumen in this situation may be united to the Holy Orthodox Church by being anointed with special oil, Holy Chrism. The Chrismation brings Grace to the previous baptism, completing whatever is lacking, and unites the catechumen to the Church.)