Orthodox Reflections

As taught by Christ, the Apostles and the early Church Fathers, Salvation and Deification require the salvific synergy of faith, good works and God’s grace. Love and humility are also necessary, as this is the frequency in which God works (St. Paisios, 20th century). We also need to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). The Orthodox understanding of this type of worship means with a sincere heart, with honour and gratitude, not by merely following outward rituals or traditions, but grounded in the truth of God’s word. No human being except the Godman, Jesus Christ, has the perfection of these virtues, but it is not their perfection that leads us to salvation; it is the sincere struggle for their acquisition. Because of our fallen nature, this struggle needs divine grace and assistance to succeed; and according to Orthodoxy, this necessary helping hand is found in all its fullness in the Orthodox Church. https://orthodoxreflections.com/part-vi-of-the-western-series-love-faith-works-and-destiny/

We are witnessing the rise of what could be called “Post-political America” – a general collapse in faith and trust in the American political system. What comes next? https://orthodoxreflections.com/diverging-spiritual-paths-of-the-younger-generation-in-the-u-s/

The so-called “era of modern contraception” did not begin until 1960, when both the birth control pill and intrauterine device (IUD) became widely available. Without the “pill” and the IUD, the 1960’s would have had a much different zeitgeist. Maybe there would still have been drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, but sexual promiscuity would have been just a problematic as in prior generations. However, because technology had made babies optional, by the end of the decade, sex had become a recreational activity. Today, the fruits of separating sex from procreation are all around us. We live in a vast, failed sociological experiment that few moderns even recognize the novelty of. Wasn’t it always the primary goal of life to have as much “good sex” as possible without the “consequence” of a baby? Even if that “good sex” is found in perversions, such as in copulating with an AI-controlled sex robot?

https://orthodoxreflections.com/time-for-orthodox-babies-contraception-is-immoral-and-destructive/

Chosen by God for the office of high priest, holy and glorious prophet Aaron, glorifying the Lord who has glorified you, we raise songs of praise to you, as the first bishop of the Most High, for you now stand before God and offer Him sacrifices and burnt offerings, and we cry out to you: Rejoice, Holy Prophet Aaron, high priest of the Lord and first Archbishop of the Most High God. https://orthodoxreflections.com/akathist-to-saint-aaron-the-high-priest/

Ascending to the heights of goodness, Holy Prophet Moses, you were deemed worthy to see the Radiance of God, receiving the tablets given by God; and carrying within you the gift of writing, you became the honorable praise of the Prophets and the great mystery of the true faith.

Chosen by God for prophetic service, we praise the holiness of your life and your miracles, Prophet of God Moses, glorifying the Creator and Lord for your deeds, that you brought heavenly providence for the salvation of the human race, shining with ardent zeal for the Almighty Lord. And you, who have boldness before the majesty of the Holy Trinity, help us with your heavenly intercession, and we call upon you: Rejoice, Holy Moses, honorable and glorious Prophet, who sees God!
https://orthodoxreflections.com/akathist-to-saint-prophet-moses/

We, who are immersed in the waves of many sins, are not worthy to praise you, Holy Melchizedek, King of righteousness, King of peace, without father, without mother, without genealogy, but wishing to be worthy, like Abraham once was, of your blessing, we lift up to God from the depths of our hearts the song: Alleluia!

https://orthodoxreflections.com/akathist-to-righteous-and-saint-melchizedek-the-king-of-salem/

Although all Christians say that God is Love, many Westerners, and even some Orthodox faithful, do not think of Him that way. They think of God as aloof, demanding, harsh, and even sadistic, if they think of Him at all. A punitive, and juridical view of God often stems from a legalistic theology that predominated in the West, unlike the prevailing mysticism in the East. In addition, the Byzantine populace in the East had an advantage in cohesion, language and education. They worshipped and read the Holy Scriptures in Greek, their spoken language, whereas the West had to wait until 1965 for Vatican II to switch from Latin (comprehended only by the educated clergy) to the various Western vernaculars when holding mass or reading the Gospel. After the fall of Rome in 476 A.D., the West entered the Dark Ages (5th – 10th centuries) and began departing in mindset and theology from the East. The typical common Westerner could not read the Bible, nor the Patristic Fathers, and generally believed what he was told. In the East, the laity enjoyed a much more unified culture and language and knew enough theology to discuss it in the marketplace and even hold their own Hierarchs to account, which they sometimes did.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/part-iv-of-the-western-series-the-remedy-for-sin-2/

This Life of Saint Zayya is provided while keeping in mind the exhortations of Saint John Maximovitch (and also of the ROCOR synod at that time) that Orthodox in the West should recover the “lost” Saints from the pre-Schism era. Further, Orthodox in the West should not fear venerating people from the West who had a cultus before the Great Schism, even if they were never formally canonized or commemorated in the Eastern Church. In the same spirit of recovering our undivided Christian past, I am likewise trying to rediscover the “lost” Saints of the Eastern Lands.

Thus I present to you Saint Zayya, a pre-Schism saint who was born in the year 309 AD and died in the year 431. He is currently venerated only by the Nestorians (the Assyrian Church of the East) – but he lived and died before the Christological controversies that separated the churches. Thus he is a Saint of the Universal Undivided Church. As the Persian Church adopted the Nestorian heresy officially and synodally at the Synod of Beth Lapat in the year 484 AD – officially repudiating the Third Ecumenical Council held at Ephesus in 431 – we have, therefore, Saints in that area till the year 484 AD. And as was already pointed out, Saint Zayya lived and died before the schism of the Persian Church in 484. In fact he even died before the Council of Ephesus was convened, dying on January 7, 431 AD and the Council of Ephesus starting only later in June 431. Thus, he is truly a Saint of the Universal Church, even though he is virtually unknown among Orthodox Christians.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-life-of-our-father-among-the-saints-zayya-the-blessed/

One may perceive a heavy irony at this point: The Gnostics, who reject limitations and exalt unhindered freedom, find themselves in the end under the most crushing, suffocating forms of uniformity and control imaginable as the consequences of their theology fully unfold. In contrast, Orthodox Christians, who subject themselves to various limitations and deprivations, experience an unparalleled freedom as Christ’s Life becomes more fully their own.

Quite obviously, Christianity is in fierce opposition to this satanic religion. The Holy Apostles themselves fought against it (St Paul in Colossians particularly and St John in his Gospel and letters), as did their successors, St Irenaeus especially.

Definitive, unchangeable teachings, Christ as God and man, the goodness of the cosmos, and so on: The Church upholds all of these things.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/gnostic-themes-in-superman-and-why-they-matter/

The remedy for sin begins with God, who did not abandon fallen Man.* By means of His perfect Love and Humility, Jesus Christ, the new Adam, healed, restored and redeemed the Human Being to their original state of ‘betrothal’ to God. From His miraculous conception to his adulthood and death, Jesus assumed (took on), elevated and redeemed every stage of human life and development in all men; and by being born of a woman, the Theotokos and Virgin Mary, Christ elevated and redeemed all women. Thus, the Orthodox Church recognizes His mother as the new Eve. Because of her faithful obedience to the will of God – the fruit of her profound humility and love for Him – she was deemed the worthiest of all women of all time, as the vessel of His incarnation. When the Word, the Logos, took His flesh from her flesh, He united human nature to His divine nature, making Theosis once again possible for Mankind.* The Russian Orthodox Church very eloquently describes the extent of God’s humility and love for us in this manner....

https://orthodoxreflections.com/part-iv-of-the-western-series-the-remedy-for-sin/

Holy Apostle Jude Thaddeus, I, … (say your name), entrust myself to your care. Pray for me; help me remember that I am not alone in my struggles. Please be with me and ask God to send me hope in sorrow, courage in fear, and healing in all my trials. Please ask our loving Lord to give me the grace to accept whatever life offers me and to sustain my faith in His healing power.

Thank you, Saint Jude Thaddeus, for the hope you give to all who believe, and please help me to offer this gift of hope to others. According to God’s will, Amen.

Another Prayer to Saint Jude Thaddeus, relative of the Lord

O Holy Jude Thaddeus, relative of our Lord Jesus Christ, glorious apostle and martyr, brilliant in virtues and powerful in miracles, faithful and swift helper of those who honor you and trust in you, look with merciful eyes upon those who run to you today and ask for your intercession.

You have received from God the gift of helping especially those who have lost almost all hope and are on the verge of despair.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/akathist-to-saint-jude-thaddeus-patron-saint-of-impossible-causes-and-desperate-situations/

What is sorcery? One definition is that sorcery is the use of sounds to create an artificial reality. Everything today is sorcery, because everything today is artificial. In a man-made world, reality can be whatever man wants it to be. An artificial world – with artificial cities and artificial food and artificial social morality and artificial economics and artificial global crises – is a world with the artificial delusion that it exists outside of God. And even then, it’s the artificial god of the Freemasons and Donald Trump and Dwight Eisenhower that you see on the dollar bill.

When I was a young man, I called myself a Christian, but what I really worshipped was rock n roll. One of the greatest forms of sorcery is music, and it was one of the first rebellions against God in Genesis 4:21. Music casts a spell over you. If you do not believe me, play “Run Around Sue” by Dion and watch people move involuntarily. Music changes your feelings and emotions. It makes you want things you did not want.
https://orthodoxreflections.com/music-is-a-form-of-sorcery/

Worship in Heaven is liturgical, as revealed to St. John and recorded in Revelation. Standing before the Throne are 24 Elders. This Akathist honors them. We often read Revelation for the prophecies, but we should also meditate on what we learn about Heaven. "You were seated on thrones like royal faces, Saints, participating directly in the glory of the Holy Trinity, hearing and seeing the lightning, voices, and thunder coming from the Throne of God, and looking at the seven torches burning before it"

https://orthodoxreflections.com/akathist-to-the-holy-24-elders-from-the-book-of-revelation/

Jesus, have mercy on me, O God of compassion, and forgive the many and great offenses I have committed in Thy sight.

Many have been the follies of my life, and great are the miseries I have deserved for my ingratitude.

Have mercy on me, dear Jesus, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, who am unable to help myself.

Deliver me from setting my heart upon any of Thy creatures, which may divert my eyes from continually looking up to Thee.

Grant me grace henceforth, for the love of Thee, to hate sin: and out of a just esteem of Thee, to despise worldly vanities.

Have mercy on all sinners, O Jesus, I beseech Thee; turn their vices into virtues and, making them true observers of Thy law and sincere lovers of Thee, bring them to bliss in everlasting glory. Have mercy also on all the souls in Hell, for Thy bitter passion, I beseech Thee, and for Thy glorious name, Jesus. https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-orthodox-psalter-of-jesus/

God’s love and energies created Man* in His image and after His likeness, with a living soul, so that we could share in His divinity for all eternity. Did God then use the Serpent to trick Adam and Eve so He could banish them over a fruit? No mainstream Christianity endorses this, and yet, it is a frequently heard criticism of God that may stem from some Western “fire and brimstone” teachings that portray God as strict, unforgiving, even sadistic. However, a careful and balanced study of Genesis does not endorse this characterization of God. While the Orthodox Church affirms the reality of the Fall and the historicity of Adam and Eve, it also recognizes multiple levels of interpretation within the text, as seen in the writings of St. Irenaeus, St. Ephrem and others. These and other Fathers of the Church saw layers of meaning in Genesis 1-3, including literal, allegorical, symbolic and typological layers. We shall examine some of these below. https://orthodoxreflections.com/falling-for-the-fruit-of-spiritual-adultery/

You alone are the One Who, in unspeakable sorrow, with holy lamentation, seek and call upon the deepest part of our inner being. You, Who restore the inheritance of the fallen, granting him the grace of a broken heart, and You, Most Holy One, are the One who lives in us, together with us, the holy and sweet sorrow of weeping for sin and love for the Lord. For this reason, we humbly conceal in all things, renewed by You, an eternal: Alleluia!

You are the One who shares with us, who are made of clay, in understanding and knowledge, the Father and the Son. You are also the One through whom we bring ourselves and one another before the Face of God. Only through You can we live, Most Holy Spirit, entrusting ourselves to You, we confess https://orthodoxreflections.com/canticle-of-the-holy-spirit/

It is not a little galling, then, to see the Patriarchate (in the person of Abp Elpidophoros) pressing each Metropolis in the US to cough up another $35,000 apiece to fund what amounts to an act of heretical ecumenism later this year in Constantinople and Nicaea, where Patriarch Bartholomew and Pope Leo will meet and likely tell us all how wonderful union between Roman Catholics and Orthodox will be

https://orthodoxreflections.com/two-very-different-patriarchs-constantinople-vs-romania/

A major takeaway from what Augustine has to say below is this: the people making trillions of dollars are not going to “reform” the medical system. The only thing in your power is to decide to what extent you will be personally corrupted by it. You can control you. Nothing else. Pray for repentance strongly enough to be prepared to face death, rather than let the fear of death drive you into darkness. For those struggling with the fear of death, we recommend praying the Akathist to God the Father for the Reposed Souls and related prayers, and Akathist to Saint Dismas the Good Thief on the Cross

You will never cheat death, no matter what the medical system promises, but you can surely be cheated out of your salvation.

Is a godly healthcare system possible? As noted below by Augustine, hospitals originated from the Church. We celebrate unmercenary healer saints in the Church who were physicians, though they treated patients out of mercy and not profit. So there is much, much more to be said on this topic, but St John Chrysostom is certainly an excellent place to start.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-medical-ethics-of-st-john-chrysostom/

The Saint Reverend Father Nil Dorobanțu, the fool for Christ, is unknown in the West, despite having been a PhD student in Theology under the renowned Fr. Dumitru Staniloae, a prolific writer in his own right (though his works were published posthumously), and a great (though suffering) opponent of both godless communism and nominalism within the Church. Saint Nil was known for preaching freely for hours throughout his city dressed almost in rags and barefoot. His boldness for Christ made him an enemy of both the communists, and those within the “official” Church who felt his actions as a personal rebuke.

This article contains a link to a PDF of his life in English, an introduction from Maxim, the translator, and the Akathist to the Saint (below and in the PDF).

https://orthodoxreflections.com/the-life-of-our-father-among-the-saints-father-nil-dorobantu-the-fool-for-christ-of-romania-holy-theologian-and-confessor-with-his-akathist/

The nation of Israel can do no wrong. The government of the Ukraine must be supported forever in its war with Russia.

That sums up the thinking behind some of the major foreign policy preferences of many Evangelical Protestants (EPs) today. But those views come with a high risk of cognitive dissonance.

Israel first (it could never be any other way, could it?) EPs never tire of repeating that Israel is the best friend of the US in the Middle East, or even the whole world, that ‘Judeo-Christian’ values and civilization are the greatest, that God loves Israel above every other people, tribe, and country and will never forsake her, and so on.

https://orthodoxreflections.com/morally-confused-evangelical-protestants-continue-to-support-the-ukraine-and-israel/