“Do not fill your mind with worldly noise without reason. Radios or televisions operating “in the background” prevent quietude by filling even empty moments with the distracting flow of sounds and voices. How shall we find quiet in our times of prayer, if we have so condition ourselves against it in every other moment?”
- Archimandrite Irenei (née Matthew Steenberg), renowned scholar of patristics and the early Church, Archimandrite of the Russian Orthodox Church
Daily Scripture Reading
Galatians 3:15-22 (Epistle)
15 Brethren, I speak in the manner of men: Though it is only a man’s covenant, yet if it is confirmed, no one annuls or adds to it.
16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ.
17 And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect.
18 For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
19 What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.
20 Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.
22 But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
Luke 6:46-7:1 (Gospel)
46 But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like:
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.
49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”
1 Now when He concluded all His sayings in the hearing of the people, He entered Capernaum.
Bl. Andrew, Fool-for-Christ, at Constantinople (936)
Blessed Andrew, Fool-for-Christ, was a Slav and lived in the tenth century at Constantinople. From his early years, he loved God’s Church and the Holy Scriptures. Once during a dream, the saint beheld a vision of two armies. In the one were men in radiant garb, in the other, black and fiercesome devils. An angel of God, who held wondrous crowns, said to Andrew, that these crowns were not adornments from the earthly world, but rather a celestial treasure, with which the Lord rewards His warriors, victorious over the dark hordes. “Proceed with this good deed,” the angel said to Andrew. “Be a fool for My sake and you will receive much in the day of My Kingdom.”
The saint perceived that it was the Lord Himself summoning him to this deed. From that time Andrew began to go about the streets in rags, as though his mind had become muddled. For many years the saint endured mockery and insults. With indifference he underwent beatings, hunger and thirst, cold and heat, begging alms and giving them away to the poor. For his great forebearance and humility the saint received from the Lord the gift of prophecy and wisdom, saving many from spiritual perils, and he unmasked the impiety of many.
While praying at the Blachernae church, Saint Andrew beheld the Most Holy Mother of God, holding her veil over those praying under her Protection (October 1). Blessed Andrew died in the year 936.
It’s No Longer Quiet Out Here
By Archpriest Gabriel Rochelle
My mother lived to be just shy of 96. She was born at the end of the 19th century. When she was quite old we asked her to write a memoir for a family newsletter. She was reluctant, claiming nothing of interest in her life. I insisted. I was proud of her because she was among the relatively small number of women who graduated from high school in the early years of the century, and for many other reasons. She finally wrote a short memoir. It began:
“When I was a child it was quiet. There was no radio. There were very few automobiles and no airplanes. If we heard a car we would run out into the street to see it go past, because it was so unusual. There was a lot of silence.”
“When I was a child it was quiet.” Nobody is ever going to say that again. Radio, television, computers surround us, and all manner of electronic devices keep us tuned in to the world around us, or so we think. Planes and cars and motorcycles are everywhere. You can’t escape noise anywhere. No more secluded mountain retreats.
Of course it’s not just noise we’re talking about indiscriminately. The woods are full of noise, as anyone who has spent time in them knows. So are farms and ranches. It’s the quality of the noise that is different, the natural versus the unnatural.
People walk around plugged into noise, even if it’s called music or talk radio or NPR. When I fly, which I’ve been doing on a monthly basis because of a teaching commitment, I may be the only person reading an actual book or just sitting quietly. Everyone around me is listening to a recording device or plugged into a computer. On the road I see drivers with headphones. Maybe they are trying to substitute one noise for another. People not only are beset by noise around them; many actually choose to increase the noise. You can’t even go in a grocery store any more without being greeted with some kind of piped-in music.
So what, you say; it’s just the way life has gone in this 21st century. But let me suggest that there is a price to pay. The Psalmist says, “be silent and know that I am God.” When you are surrounded by noise, you cannot hear yourself think. And there’s the problem. So many people, I am convinced, fill their lives with noise because they cannot afford to be quiet or silent. They will then have to confront the emptiness that is inside them.
My mother was a woman of deep faith. Even in her worst moments, and there were many over her long years, she was unafraid to confront the silence and the quiet, because she knew the Presence of God in them. In fact to the end of her life she cherished quiet moments, times of meditation and prayer.
When you fill your life with noise all the time, the emptiness inside you increases. It does not decrease. It increases because you lose the inner link to your source of life whom we name God. When it’s no longer quiet outside, the chances are slim that you’ll find the genuine quiet inside in which God is known. “My soul for God in silence waits;” the Psalmist assumes that our inner self is fulfilled through the medium of silence, and that the Living God will address us there. When the Psalms speak of waiting for God, the underlying idea is that we should wait quietly. Like my mother. Like the contemplatives of all traditions. You can return to the silence. The choice is up to you.
This week’s calendar reminders:
Monday 9/30: Matins 8:30 a.m.; Vesperal Liturgy 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday 10/1: no services or events
Wednesday 10/2: no services or events
Thursday 10/3: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Friday 10/4: Matins 8:30 a.m.
Saturday 10/5: Catechumen Class 4:30 pm; Choir Rehearsal 5:00 pm; Great Vespers 6 pm
Sunday 10/6: Divine Liturgy 9: 15 a.m. (Chrismation for Mike and Ryan); FORCC Banquet, St. Dimitri’s