“The Lord sometimes allows people who are devoted to Him to fall into such dreadful vices; and this is in order to prevent them from falling into a still greater sin-pride. Your temptation will pass and you will spend the remaining days of your life in humility. Only do not forget your sin.”
St. Seraphim of Sarov
Isaiah 58:1-11
“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, Here I am. “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
Genesis 43:26-31, 45:1-16
When Joseph came home, they brought into the house to him the present which they had with them, and bowed down to him to the ground. And he inquired about their welfare, and said, “Is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke? Is he still alive?” They said, “Your servant our father is well, he is still alive.” And they bowed their heads and made obeisance. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw his brother Benjamin, his mother’s son, and said, “Is this your youngest brother, of whom you spoke to me? God be gracious to you, my son!” Then Joseph made haste, for his heart yearned for his brother, and he sought a place to weep. And he entered his chamber and wept there. Then he washed his face and came out; and controlling himself he said, “Let food be served.”
Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him; and he cried, “Make every one go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, I pray you.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years; and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. Make haste and go up to my father and say to him, ‘Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not tarry; you shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children’s children, and your flocks, your herds, and all that you have; and there I will provide for you, for there are yet five years of famine to come; lest you and your household, and all that you have, come to poverty.’ And now your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth that speaks to you. You must tell my father of all my splendor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Make haste and bring my father down here.” Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them; and after that his brothers talked with him. When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, “Joseph’s brothers have come,” it pleased Pharaoh and his servants well.
Proverbs 21:23-22:4
He who keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. “Scoffer” is the name of the proud, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride. The desire of the sluggard kills him for his hands refuse to labor. All day long the wicked covets, but the righteous gives and does not hold back. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination; how much more when he brings it with evil intent. A false witness will perish, but the word of a man who hears will endure. A wicked man puts on a bold face, but an upright man considers his ways. No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel, can avail against the LORD. 31 The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the LORD.
A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. The rich and the poor meet together; the LORD is the maker of them all. A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple go on, and suffer for it. The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.
Monastic Martyr Bademus (Vadim) of Persia
Monk Martyr Archimandrite Bademus (Vadim) was born in the fourth century in the Persian city of Bithlapata, and was descended from a rich and illustrious family. In his youth, he was enlightened with the Christian teaching. The saint gave away all his wealth to the poor and withdrew into the wilderness, where he founded a monastery. He would go up on a mountain for solitary prayer, and once was permitted to behold the Glory of God.
During this period the Persian emperor Sapor (310-381) began to persecute Christians. They arrested Saint Bademus and his seven disciples, and tortured them in prison, hoping that they would renounce Christ and worship the sun and fire. But Saint Bademus and his disciples held firmly to the Christian Faith. The confessors spent four months in jail. All this time Saint Bademus was a spiritual leader and support for the Christians living in Persia.
One of the associates of the emperor Sapor, Nirsanes, was a Christian and suffered imprisonment for this. He did not hold up under torture and denied Christ, promising to fulfill whatever the emperor commanded. Sapor demanded that Nirsanes personally cut off the head of Saint Bademus. For this he was promised a reprieve and great rewards. Nirsanes was not able to overcome his fear of new tortures, and he agreed to follow the path of betrayal walked by Judas.
When they brought Saint Bademus to him, he took the sword and turned toward him, but overcome by conscience, he trembled and stood petrified. Saint Bademus said to him, “Has your wickedness now reached this point, Nirsanes, that you should not only renounce God, but also murder His servants? Woe to you, accursed one! What will you do on that day when you stand before the Dread Judgment Seat? What answer will you give to God? I am prepared to die for Christ, but I don’t want to receive death at your hands.”
Nirsanes struck with the sword, but his hands shook, and he could not behead the saint immediately, and the fire-worshippers began to call him a coward. The holy martyr Bademus stood motionless, enduring many terrible blows, until the murderer succeeded in cutting off his head.
The just punishment for his misdeeds were not slow in overtaking the hapless fellow. Tormented by his conscience, he did away with himself, throwing himself on a sword. After the death of the emperor Sapor, the seven disciples of Saint Bademus were released from prison.
What is the Soul?
Fotis Skhinas
Let us begin by offering a definition of the soul as provided by Saint John the Damascan: ‘The soul, therefore, is a living essence, uncomplicated, incorporeal, invisible – in its proper nature – to the eyes of the body, immortal, reasoning and intelligent, formless, making use of an organic body and being the source of its powers of life, growth, sensation and generation, the intellect being its purest part though not in any way alien to it (as the eye is to the body, so the intellect is to the soul). It has power over itself, its volition and energy, and is mutable, i.e. able to be changed, because it is created. All of these features are natural to it through the Grace imparted by its Creator, and its being and nature are thus because of this same Grace which it has received’.
From this definition we see three things: 1) that the soul is an ‘essence’. When we say ‘essence’, in Christian ontology (as in Aristotelian), we mean a thing which exists in itself, not dependent on something else for its existence. The soul is, indeed, firmly linked to the body, but it is to be distinguished from it; 2) that the soul is a ‘rational and intellectual essence’. These two, ‘rational’ and intellectual’ are not the some, but indicate different things, as we shall see below. Besides, every essence, whether created or uncreated, has its own energy, which is peculiar to it. An essence without energy is inconceivable. So if we say ‘a rational and intellectual essence’, we also mean ‘a rational and intellectual energy’; 3) that the intellect is the purest part of the soul, the intellectual eye of the soul.
The intellect is to be distinguished from the rational mind. The intellect is the highest cognitive power of the soul. The cognitive powers of the soul are the intellect, the rational mind, opinion, imagination and the senses. ‘And you should know that our soul has two kinds of powers, the cognitive and the vital. The cognitive ones are the intellect, the reason, opinion, imagination and sense; the vital ones are the appetites, the will and the disposition’. It is the intellect which is the organ through which we acquire knowledge of God. The reason conceptualizes and shares the knowledge which the intellect has already provided through its contemplation of the uncreated light. We cannot know God through reason, nor can we share in His eternal life and glory through it. The rational energy of the soul is specific to our understanding of created things, whereas the intellect is concerned with that which is uncreated. It is not possible to know and become united to God through reason and mental activity. Regarding this, Saint Gregory Palamas writes that true knowledge of God is provided by the ineffable effulgence of the divine light.
The rational/mental energy of the soul has the brain as its organ, whereas the intellective has the heart. The heart is the center and root of the energy of the intellect. According to Fr. John Romanidis, ‘There is the heart. According to the Jews of the Old Testament, that is according to the Prophets and the Fathers of the Church, the spiritual center of our life is the heart, while the mental center is the brain’. As Metropolitan Ierotheos of Nafpaktos has written: rational energy functions in our mind, and the workings of the intellectual energy, in people who have been reborn, occur in the heart’.
Prayer, especially the Jesus Prayer (‘Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy upon me’), through which we are united to God, is initially on the lips, since we say and express it orally and listen to it with our ears. It then ascends to the brain and after being there for some time, God willing, it descends and settles in the heart, and then wells up from the innermost depths. People who experience this become bearers of light, of the Spirit, resembling Christ and the Trinity. The spiritual guides of the prayer of the heart say that the second way of prayer is centered on the brain and the third on the heart.
Of course, it is an absolute prerequisite that the soul be cleansed of the blameworthy passions, that the cognitive organs of the soul be purged and, above all, that divine Grace be granted to us. We say that it is necessary for our cognitive powers to be purged, because, after the Fall, the intellect was darkened, blackened, its intellectual energy was cut off, it became identified with reason and was subjected to the passions and to its surroundings. The whole of the ascetic/hesychastic training of Orthodoxy is aimed at the liberation of the intellect from reason, from the passions and our surroundings, and at its enlightenment and the restoration of the energy of the heart, which consists of the ceaseless remembrance of God, in the heart.
(‘Intellect’ is an unsatisfactory translation of ‘nous’. In their efforts to present their theology in terms that Greek-speakers would understand, the Fathers sometimes used words from Ancient Greek, but gave them a slightly different nuance or shade of meaning. Thus Liddell and Scott define it simply as ‘mind’, the Ancient Greek sense, but Metropolitan Kallistos (Ware) calls it: ‘the highest faculty in man, through which- provided it is purified- he knows God or the inner essences or principles of created beings by means of direct apprehension or spiritual perception).
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 4/7: Lenten Matins 8:30 a.m.
Tuesday 4/8: no services or events
Wednesday 4/9: Presanctified Liturgy 6:30 pm (potluck meal to follow)
Thursday 4/10: Lenten Matins 8:30 a.m.
Friday 4/11: no matins; Vespers of Lazarus Saturday 7 p.m.
Saturday 4/12: Lazarus Saturday Liturgy 9:15 a.m.; Vigil for Palm Sunday 6 p.m.
Sunday 4/13: Divine Liturgy 9:15am
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Christ the Savior Orthodox Church is located in Southbury, Connecticut, and is part of the New England Diocese of the Orthodox Church of America.
Mailing address: Christ the Savior Church, 1070 Roxbury Road, Southbury, CT 06488
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Fr. Moses Locke can be reached at frmoseslocke@gmail.com