Issue 117
Vol XIII, No. 1
July – August, 1992

• The Killing Fields
• For Thee O Lord, For Thee
• Our Principal Task
• East of Eden
• Saint Sergius of Radonezh – 1392-1992
• “Grandpa Luke” A story from Holy Russia
• Youth: A Crises of Character
• Great-Martyr Marina

Also in this Issue

• Scripture Commentary, Archbishop Averky
• Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos “Grebenskaya”
• Update from Uganda
• Parish in Harlem
• The Ten Commandments, Part II
• Standing in Church
• “Sister Act” – What Hollywood says about Religion
• Letters

The Killing Fields

Since the beginning, no epoch has matched the assault on the integrity and morality of children as has this late twentieth century. In America’s spiritually impoverished cities, the beast devours youth, and some of those victims are baptized Orthodox. Russian and Greek, Syrian and Armenian, Serbian, Byelorussian, converts. Do not imagine this is not for you. It is. Our ethnic children do drugs, fornicate, become homosexual, lie, cheat and steal, deny Christ and turn away in droves. They also get AIDS and die. Why might that be?

      Remember the death of Jim Jones and his possessed followers a decade ago in Guyana? One was the daughter of an Orthodox priest. I will never forget the photograph of that man grieving in a California cemetery. What on earth went wrong? How many Orthodox parents suffer torments unimaginable when they find their children dead by suicide?

      Between 1960 and now, church attendance has fallen by fifty percent, divorce is fifty percent more common, and adolescent suicide is up by three hundred percent.

      People divorce for a lot of reasons: loneliness, abuse, lack of kindness, lack of closeness, lack of a Christo-centric marriage. Everyone is liable–priest, parishioners, saint… Everyone. Hide your alcoholism and drug addiction from the healer. Hide your sin from the confessor. Partake in adultery without repentance. Live a lie. You will destroy your marriage and create in your children statistical predilection for depression, unhappiness, accidie, and death by suicide. The statistics are all there. 

      So, if Holy Orthodoxy is a taste of “the kingdom of Heaven,” why is all this happening? Particularly in the Russian Synod, –where supposedly we are more pious, more God-fearing, where we fast more, confess more often, stand for services, where we follow the right calendar,–why ‘ do these things happen amongst the faithful?

      Part of the answer is simple: whatever one’s creed, we are all subject to the passions, which breed pain and impropriety. But more importantly, look at any marriage which has its bond in Christ, where husband and wife ask each other for forgiveness, where there is a proper Orthodox approach to Confession and Communion–that marriage is less likely to fall by the wayside.

      Then there is the question of how we perceive our Orthodoxy. Is it a robe to be taken off and on? Is it a golden vestment drenched in the language of ancestors and countries afar? Is it a Faith honoring God with lip service and hearts far from the King’s desire?

      Where does all this come from? Shall we blame bishops and priests? Sometimes, yes. Parents too busy to care or so wrapped up in their ethnocentric anti-semitic nationalism? Yes. But there is another series of devils.

      Forty years ago, television launched its assault on family life. When Marshall McLuhan said, “The media is the message,” he was saying things indescribably true, and yet not understood by families. It is, however, understood by the purveyors of western lifestyle. Faced with material debauchery, most families succumb – allowing the discipline of love and Christian logic–that which is truly best for our children–to be shunted aside in order to avoid conflict. Then, when the seeds of youthful transgression achieve full blossom–with immorality and its guarantee of unhappiness, with avarice and greed, with rebellion and narcissism–then parents who neglected the spiritual rod of firmness and correctness, of patience and understanding, of forgiveness for every transgression and requesting forgiveness for parental sins, then those parents, unless they be slain by God to rise again, enter the valley of despair and disillusion with Christ and His Holy Church. They begin to malign the Church of God and His priests.

      When we allow the unbridled beast of non Christian media into our homes without even the “PG” recommended by those who do not know Christ, then, beloved Orthodox, we commune with the message and that message is not the Gospel according to our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ, but the gospel according to the flesh, and the way of the flesh is death.

So then, what do we do? 

       Remember, excessive rigidness breeds rebellion, just as surely as lack of guidelines breeds contempt for authority. Therefore, it is not rules, but availability which makes the difference. The priest who is available is guiltless. Likewise the bishop and so, too, parents, assuming that moral and spiritual turpitude are not present. Our job as parents is to make sure that the foundation for God’s Healing Grace is pressed into the oil of the family matrix, then dysfunction is dispelled and the road to repentance remains open.

      Some things one has to say “no” to, but let the “no” be gentle, and let the teller be filled with prayer. And yet, how to acquire this Oil of Gladness? First, by living a Christian life. Holy Communion often enough so that the “devil does not find us unawares.” Holy Confession, more frequently than the former. Holy Services inasmuch as they can be attended. We must ask ourselves, how do we live our Orthodoxy? Is it with Christ or without? And if it is with Christ, how do we know this is so? If one has doubt, ask the priest, and de what he recommends.

      Let us remember that what is required is mercy, not sacrifice, and the ability to knock on the door that it may be opened. 

Priest Gerasimos Kambites
St. Xenia Parish, Nepean, Ontario

For Thee O Lord, For Thee, St. John of Kronstadt

Try to turn your whole life into service to God; if you are reading anything at home, begin this work by a short fervent prayer that God may teach you and make you wise in faith and piety and in the careful accomplishment of your duties; never read idly, in order to pass the time; by thus doing you lower the word, which should serve entirely for our salvation, and not for idle words, nor as a means for pleasure and spending time agreeably. If you talk to your neighbor, speak reasonably, prudently, instructively, edifyingly; avoid idle speaking as the poison of a serpent, remembering that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment (Matt. 12:36)—-that is, they shall hear the just sentence of the Judge. If you are teaching children, your own or those of others, turn this work into God’s service, teaching them zealously, considering beforehand the best means of making the instruction clear, comprehensible, complete (as far as possible), and fruitful, Conquer by the name of the Lord and by the sign of the cross the snares of the enemy, who endeavors to disturb, darken, oppress, and weaken you. Even when you eat, drink, or do anything else lawful, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). 

St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ

Our Principal Task, by Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)

     Not long ago, brethren, we spoke about how people today often forget the most important task which lies before each and every one of us–the task of saving our souls for eternity. This thought about salvation should be the main concern of each believing individual. That great teacher of Christian life, a genuine wise man in the best sense of the word, Bishop Theophan the Recluse, states again and again in his writings and teachings that salvation is possible not only for those who have taken upon themselves a vow to lead a special way of life–monastics, hermits– but also for those living in the world. Here, too, a person has all the means for saving his soul and for attaining the heights of Christian perfection.

      …Let us recall, for example, that great saint who raised a man from the dead, St. Sisoes the Great, a man who in his youth went to the desert. There he lived until deep old age, reaching the highest levels of Christian perfection, to such a degree that he raised the dead, and when he died his face shone like the sun and the room in which he died became filled with a sweet fragrance and everyone present trembled with awe. The same blessed ending was granted to another great saint, St. Philaret the Almsgiver. He was not an ascetic, nor did he live in the desert. He had a wife and children and lived a normal life, so to speak. However, he attained such a height of spiritual perfection that his repose was like that of Saint Sisoes: his face shone like the sun, and his room filled with an ineffable fragrance.

      Bishop Theophan the Recluse points out that the Lord places each person in the best conditions for the salvation of his soul. Of course, it happens that a person goes along his normal pattern of life when suddenly a Divine voice speaks to his heart and changes his life, his entire disposition. But even in more general cases, when a person leads a quite ordinary life, he, too, as Bishop Theophan says, is fully capable of attaining salvation. He has only to direct his life to serving God, this very life he is leading. Bishop Theophan explains this very simply: “You have only to regard everything you do as something which you do primarily for God, before God’s all-seeing eyes. Look at your every action in this light! Someone comes to see you, you meet someone… Remember, God sent you this person. On your conscience now lies a responsibility to act towards that person in accordance with the law of Christian love. In this same way you should consider all your actions, no matter how trivial they might seem; regard every occasion as an opportunity to please God.” And gradually a person’s life will fill up more and more with such God-pleasing actions, and finally, without particularly standing out from among other people, he will stand continually before the Face of God, serving the Lord God. And then his eyes will begin to open and he will be convinced by experience that truly, the Lord sends everything for our salvation and no encounters are coincidental.

       Today, for example, the Church glorifies the holy Apostle Deacon Philip-not Apostle Philip of the Twelve, who is commemorated later, just before the beginning of the Nativity Fast, but Deacon Philip, who also served in the apostolic ministry. The Lord inspired Philip to go along a certain road. As Philip did so, he met a high-ranking Ethiopian who happened to be reading the Scriptures. By divine inspiration, Philip approached him and asked if he understood what he was reading. The Ethiopian replied, How can I except some man should guide me? (Acts 8:31). Then Philip, at his request, sat down with him in his chariot and explained everything to him. Straightway his soul was illumined by a great faith, and when they came to some water the Ethiopian asked, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? Philip answered, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And Philip baptized him.

      From an ordinary point of view, the encounter appears to be purely coincidental: the Ethiopian was traveling his appointed route while Philip was walking on what was perhaps a crossroad. Chances were they wouldn’t meet, but meet they did. And it was not at all by coincidence. By God’s Providence this encounter took place in order that the Church might receive a new and faithful Christian into her fold, one who later became a martyr.

      So, these examples show us that it’s not right to say that our surroundings or the circumstances of our life do not allow us to save our souls. Of course, one cannot close one’s eyes to the fact that today’s life is quite different to what it was seventy or eighty years ago; it’s more complex and it’s also become more corrupt. But the Apostle says, Where sin abounds, there grace abounds the more (cf. Rom. 5:20), i.e., if sin increases, the person desiring salvation experiences an increase in the help of the gracefilled power of the Lord in order that his soul might not be crushed by all that surrounds him but that it remain faithful to God and be saved. Every Christian should remember this. It happens, of course, that some people experience radical changes in life, when the soul catches fire and the person seeks a new way of life and goes after it, but, as you know, this does not happen very often. Each person can save his Christian soul within the given circumstances of his life provided he regard his life and his actions as a kind of service to the Lord God. Amen. 

(Translated from Vol. II of Sermons and Teachings of the Most Eminent Metropolitan Philaret, First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad; New York, Russian Orthodox Youth Committee, 1989.)

East of Eden

As we approach the end of the twentieth century and the second millennium we are being entertained with talk of a New World Order and a New Age. Along with the New Deal and New Frontier this is a further variation on a recurrent theme of the New World which is succinctly expressed on the Great Seal of the United States of America, as displayed on the back side of a dollar bill, for instance.

        Novus ordo saeculorum is one of the Latin mottos featured there, which rather immodestly perhaps proclaims a ‘New order of the ages’. The political slogans of the current administration are a new expression of this underlying dream of “a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”, to quote the memorable words of one of our greater presidents.

       As children of the New Israel seeking to be recreated in the image and likeness of the New Adam, Jesus Christ, how are we to fit into this New World Order and the New Age that is being proclaimed around us?

       As Christians we pray “for the peace of the Whole world and the salvation of all.” As members of society and citizens of our country we endeavor insofar as we are capable to contribute to the general welfare, as we understand it. In practical terms, this often means trying to decide which of a host of evils appears to be the least pernicious.

       The Apostle writes: Fear God; honor the King (I Peter 2:17). We are citizens of heaven first, and honor and serve earthly rulers and governments “for the Lord’s sake”, keeping our conscience clean before Christ our God.

       Our national anthem hymns “the land of the free and the home of the brave”–words which have well been interpreted to mean “you can be free if yoga are brave enough”. And so let us take courage and brave our freedom.

       Our freedom is in Christ, for it is in Him and His Church alone that we find liberation from the tyranny of sin and death. But who is interested in that kind of freedom? How eager to attain it are we ourselves?

       Saint Paul writes: Grace be to you, and peace, from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world [age] according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen (Gal. 1:3-5).

       The Greek word aeon is translated into English both as “age” and “world”. Curiously enough the contemporary slogans speak of both a New Age and a New World Order. Yet Saint Paul points up a conflict between this present and evil world [age] and Christ.

       In explaining the parable of the sower, our Lord says: He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world [age], and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful, or that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection (Matt. 13:22; Luke 8:14).

      For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world [age]; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:11-14).

      The Lord and His mighty trumpet, the Apostle Paul, call us to be flee from this world [age], avoiding its distractions so as not to be deterred from serving and being united with Christ. We must not be cheated out of our genuine freedom in Christ by the tyranny of enslaving passions veiled in libertine license.

      Moreover, he writes: we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world [age], nor of the princes of this world [age], that come to nought: but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: which none of the princes of this world [age] knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (I Cor. 2:6-8).

       The ignorance of this world [age] and its rulers results in crucifying Christ, whether it be the actual historical deed of historical persons or an equally ignorant and inimical attitude towards Christ and His Church at any time or place, including here and now.

       How can such ignorance and animosity be explained? If our gospel be hid, the Apostle tells us, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world [age] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine upon them (II Cor. 4:34).

       For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, the Apostle warns, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world [age], against spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12).

       In other words there are fallen spiritual powers which blind men and keep them ignorant and deceive them. And lest we puff ourselves up in false confidence that we are immune to this danger, hear the Apostle bewail how Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world [age]... (II Tim. 4:10) in addition to the warning of the Saviour about the seed that fell among thorns.

       Our freedom, our deliverance, our salvation are in the Church, the mystical body of Christ who rose from the dead and ascended from this world to be seated at the right hand of the Father, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world [age], but also in that which is to come: and He hath put ail things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over ail things to the Church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all (Eph. 1:21-22).

       After His Ascension into heaven, angels told the apostles: This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11).

       The beloved disciple John described a heavenly revelation of this second coming in glory: And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them…And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband… (Rev. 20:11; 21:1-2).

      Here is the Christian revelation concerning the New World Order, the New Age. But when the disciples came to Christ privately and inquired, When shall these things be? our Lord replied: Take heed that no man deceive you (Matt. 24:3-4).

      The staggering contrast between the Christian revelation and the “new” orders and ages in the news today is self-evident. This is the first point we must make perfectly clear to ourselves to avoid being deceived by other men.

      But the Saviour warns us that there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect (Matt. 24:24). Having found Christ in the Church, we are warned not to go off looking for Him anywhere else under any circumstances. This means we must cast a cold eye on such slogans as “New World Order” and “New Age”.

      The true New Age and New World Order will be revealed by God Himself when this present age and world pass away, transfigured in the trial of divine fire and light. But the new ages and world orders of human concoction, not without some admixture of demonic delusion, are in need of advertisement, propaganda and all the arts of tender – or not so tender – persuasion.

       The New World Order is still a very fuzzy shape shrouded in the future as the media declare the end of the Cold War. It may turn out to be little more than another bird in the bush. The New Age movement draws on deeper and more sinister currents. Recalling the shattered hopes of those who greeted the twentieth century, scarcely a hundred years ago, may help sober exalted souls.

       We live in a land and era that champion freedom and human rights. Are we not therefore called to be brave in bearing witness to genuine freedom and righteousness? Would not any other treatment of these opportunities be an abuse? After all, we find ourselves in this land and era through God’s redeeming Providence.

      The Apostle Peter exhorts us: Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the wilt of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God (I Peter 2:13-16).

      There was a time, now called the Constantinian era, when many of the great rulers in this world submitted to Christ and sought guidance from His Church. They called the Christians out of the catacombs to be the conscience of the society they labored to build. Now the roles have been reversed. Now the Church and Christians are being summoned to build a society, world order and age the mighty rulers of the world have themselves envisioned. This vision of theirs may not be so clear as yet, but it clearly is not the New Creation of the Christian revelation.

      There is such a thing as a timely warning, a word to the wise. Charge them that are rich in this world [age], that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life (I Tim 6:17-19).

      We may also learn and find inspiration to spur us in our own spiritual struggles, for the children of this world [age] are in their generation wiser than the children of light (Luke 16:8) and if we had but a small share of their devotion and zeal we would be very different persons. We would not be so indifferent to the peddling of cheap and poisonous imitations with Christian labels, for instance.

      And if the catacombs is a far too glorious name for our role in the society now taking form in our country and contemporary world, let us gratefully and humbly take our place in the margin, among the footnotes, for the sake of those who still have eyes to see.

      We must treasure our freedom from this world and its establishment, lest its thorns choke out the spiritual life that Christ has awakened within us, lest we evoke the righteous indignation of the world [age] around us. Here are the timely words of Archpriest Mitrofan Buchnev, who died under Stalin’s persecution of the Church:

      “A Christian is salt for the earth and light for the world. He preserves this world, which lives in evil, from corruption. If the salt loses its savor, the world has the right to demand vengeance from the Righteous Judge. All creation is making an appeal against us, because it expects to behold sons of God. If a Christian does not edify others, he is guilty of the death of others” [Pravoslavny Put ‘, 1984, p 95].

      People search for a New World Order and a New Age because they are dissatisfied with the present. Fallen man is exiled from Paradise and yearns to return. A thief dying on a cross was the first to break in.

Saint Sergius of Radonezh – 1392-1992

Although the Tartars displayed a general tolerance for Christianity, the Mongol Yoke burdened the Russian land with such political chaos and material distress as to stifle spiritual life. Its recovery can largely be credited to the exceptional influence of St. Sergius of Radonezh. This year, in celebrating the 600th anniversary of his repose, we would do well to examine his spiritual legacy, and its possible significance for us today.

     St. SERGIUS was born in 1314 in the city of Rostov, of noble and devout parents, Cyril and Maria, who gave him the name Bartholomew. He was seven when he was sent to school, but although a serious child, he had great difficulty applying himself to his lessons. An old monk to whom the boy confided his distress gave him a piece of holy bread: “Take and eat this which is given to you as a token of the grace of God and for the understanding of the Holy Scripture.” Indeed, the gift of learning was miraculously communicated to the boy. He astonished his parents that evening by reading the Psalter. The same monk told the parents that their son would be “great before God and man, thanks to his life of godliness….He will be a servant of the Holy Trinity.”

      Moscow’s annexation of Rostov compelled the family to move, and when Bartholomew was fifteen they settled in the small town of Radonezh, some forty miles northeast of Moscow. His heart’s desire was to become a monk but since his two brothers had left home to get married, he consented to stay in order to care for his parents. They both died in 1334, shortly after having entered the monastic life, and Bartholomew persuaded his elder brother Stephen, a widower and already a professed monk, to share with him a life in the wilderness. They found a suitably remote location in the middle of a forest about seven miles from Radonezh, and set about building a cabin and then a chapel which, with the blessing of Metropolitan Theognostes, was consecrated to the Life giving Trinity. Thus was a humble foundation laid for what grew to be the glorious Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, the boast of Holy Russia.

      The physical rigors of their existence proved too much for Stephen, who went to Moscow, to the Monastery of the Theophany, where he later became abbot. Left alone, the desert-loving Bartholomew with yet greater concentration exercised himself in the spiritual warfare. The advantage of his early training–in fasting, meekness, obedience, moral purity and self-discipline–proved itself in his successful battles against the invisible foe and his manifold temptations of pride, despondency, worldly seductions, false humility. His physical privations were more than compensated by the accumulating wealth of his inner life. The blessed desert-dweller was visited infrequently by the elder Mitrofan, who wondered at his spiritual proficiency and willingly acceded to his request to be tonsured, bestowing upon him the name Sargius, after the martyr Sergius on ‘whose day he was professed.

      The new monk would have been content to persevere in the solitary life to the end of his days, but when some young monks asked to join him he recognized it as the will of God and welcomed them with joy. The elder Mitrofan served the community as a priest. When he died within a year St. Sergius reluctantly consented to enter the priesthood and become abbot. He continued to dress as one of the poorest monks and in no wise changed his manner of life: he chopped wood, hauled water, ground flour for the holy bread and baked it, made candies…, never spending an idle hour. And all these labors were accompanied by ceaseless prayer. In the words of his biographer, he served for all as “an example of monastic perfection”

      The first years were hard, but the trials served to manifest the Saint’s spiritual excellence. When for days there was no bread and the brothers began to grumble, the Saint exhorted them to have patience and to trust that the Lord would provide. He had but finished speaking when a cart loaded with still warm bread arrived at the gate, the gift of an un-known benefactor. When on another occasion the brethren began to complain of a lack of sufficient water, the Saint made the sign of the Cross over a pool of rainwater and immediately a bubbling spring arose.

     The grace of the Holy Spirit acted in the Saint with such power that he returned a dead child to life and restored the mind of one possessed. Above all, however, it was his holy life and his gift as an unerring instructor of souls that attracted new members to the community. Not only monastic aspirants but contemplative ascetics came to draw on the wisdom of this great “Elder of the Russian land.” He was a guide as well to laity, many of whom came to settle nearby while others added generously to the community’s material assets, enabling it to expand its charity–a virtue which had been a feature of the Saint’s home life and which he practiced even when living alone in the forest, where he regularly shared his meager supply of bread with a visiting bear.

    Such was the moral authority of the Saint that he was several times called upon to arbitrate in the internecine struggles which had for so long plagued the Russian land. He was able, for example, to persuade Prince Oleg of Riazan to lay aside his fierce enmity against Moscow, and to smooth tensions between Prince Constantine of Rostov and Grand Prince Ivan II. And he fortified Prince Dimitri, giving him assurance of victory against the Tartars on the Kulikovo Plain.

      Metropolitan Alexis wished St. Sargius to become his successor, but the Saint’s refusal was absolute. Although he would undoubtedly have consented out of obedience, he discerned that this was not the will of God and this allowed him to contradict the desire of his superior.

      The measure of his spiritual stature became yet more apparent at the end of his life. One disciple was granted to witness an angel celebrating Divine Liturgy with the Saint; another saw the grace of the Holy Spirit like a flame enter the chalice as the Saint was about to commune; his disciple Micah was vouchsafed to be present when the Holy Virgin, in the company of the Apostles Peter and John, appeared to the Saint promising to protect his monastery even after his departure from this life.

      Foreknowing the day of his repose, the Saint called together the brethren and exhorted them to continue along the same path–to remain steadfast in the Faith, to love truth, to preserve oneness of mind, to maintain un-hypocritical love, to avoid all evil and carnal lust, to be moderate in food and drink, not to forget the love of strangers, “and on no account to set value on honor and praise in this life, but rather to await reward from God for the joy of heaven and eternal blessings.” After partaking of the Holy Mysteries he peacefully surrendered his soul to God. He was seventy-eight years old. Thirty years later his incorrupt relics were brought to light, and to this day pilgrims praying at his reliquary experience the grace of this great wonderworker and spiritual benefactor.

    The influence of St. Sergius on the development of Holy Russia is difficult to exaggerate. One night after he had been elected abbot, he was praying in his cell when he saw in the heaven a brilliant light and a multitude of wondrous birds, and he heard a voice: “As many birds as thou seest by so many will thy flock of disciples increase; and after thy time they will not grow less if they will follow in thy footsteps.” More than twenty-five monasteries were founded by St. Sergius and his immediate disciples; by the end of the seventeenth century there were another two hundred and fifty. More than a hundred of St. Sergius’ disciples were glorified as saints: St. Cyril of White Lake, St. Paul of Obnora, St. Sergius of Nurma, St. Abraham of Galich, St. Dimitri Prilutsky, and rnany other glorious ascetics who populated Russia’s Northern Thebaid. “Offspring of his offspring,” wrote his biographer,     “burning bright as stars, they are everywhere radiating a serene and wondrous life, and a blessing to all.”

       The effect was to usher in the golden age of Russian asceticism-by no means a purely monastic phenomenon. In the Sergianist tradition, contemplative life was joined to service to the world an unfailing hospitality to pilgrims, charity for the needy-and this made possible its great impact on Russian society. Further, as Kovalevsky points out in his study, St. Sergius and Russia Spirituality, the Saint saw his role as abbot primarily as a teacher “who helped his brothers progress in the way of the Gospel.” He was in fact a teacher of the nation. By inspiring a general move towards the Christian ideal, towards personal sanctity, he restored the moral fabric of society and the very essence of Holy Russia. St. Sergius has been called the “Abbot of all Russia,” and this can be understood in its broadest sense. 

     Today, like Russia at the time of St. Sergius’ birth, we too are oppressed, not by foreign lords but by the equally devastating powers of secularization. The moral fabric of our society has become unraveled and we are likewise in need of true heroes of moral goodness, like those raised up under the influence of St. Sergius. These need not be monastics necessarily, but they must partake of the same Christian asceticism, the same Gospel leaven, which can be effective equally in our spiritually barren society. As one historian of monasticism has written:

      “The new worldwide-historical greatness of Christian asceticism lies in the fact that from its arising out of the ground of an all-embracing aspiration towards Christ, there proceeds the perfecting, purifiring, and strengthening of the human personality, and not only for itself, but for the entire society and the entire world; here all ascetic struggle, all manifestations of asceticism are subordinated to the reality of the kingdom of Christ, bearing fruit for all in the work of love.” (Seckler, quoted in A Defense of Monasticism by Metropolitan Anastassy.)

      We cannot all attain sanctity but we all can-and must strive towards it. May the life and legacy of this great Saint of Russia inspire us to raise our spiritual aspirations and step boldly onto the path to holiness. Individually, collectively, we, too, can make a difference

“Grandpa Luke” A story from Holy Russia

The sleigh rides organized during Cheese-fare week in the merchant village of K. were a popular annual event. A merry-go-round, puppet shows, hurdy-gurdy and other amusements were brought in. The festivities drew people from surrounding towns and villages, showing off in their gaily painted sleighs, decorated horses and their own finery. Amid the sounds of the hurdy-gurdy and tinkling sleigh bells of the dashing troikas, it was strange to hear the solemn peal of a bell summoning people to church for penitential prayers and prostrations.

      “Hey, watch out!” came the hoarse voice of a tipsy coachman, shouting at pedestrians ducking under the horses’ muzzles. Everyone was in a rush, as if on some vitally important mission–to help a neighbor in distress, when there’s not a moment to lose, afraid of being late. Everyone was caught up in the revelry. Where were they rushing? To add one sin on top of another.

      Motia, the fifteen year-old son of the village teacher, had a bad cold and couldn’t join in the fun with his friends. His parents had been invited to the church warden’s for pancakes, leaving Motia at home with grandpa Luke. They both sat by the window which looked out onto the street. Sleighs whizzed by lifting flurries of powdery snow into the air. Motia breathed on the cold pane, and in the fog traced with his finger: “bored, bored, bored.”

      ”That’s because you’re not feeling well,” said Grandpa Luke. “How else could you possibly be bored at your age?”

Motia hadn’t expected his grandfather to read what he had written on the window. There was nothing to do, and he welcomed the invitation for a conversation.

“Fell me, grandpa, why can’t old people be happy? They’re always sighing about something, always seemingly dissatisfied with themselves.”

“So it is, my lad.”

“Can it be that old age ruins a person and makes him irritated with his own self?”

“Quite the contrary. Old age adorns a man with wisdom or, to put it more simply, with experience and grey hairs, which inspires an instinctive respect for his years.”

“Then why the constant sighs and dissatisfaction?”

“I’ll tell you: a man spends his whole life striving to acquire something he thinks he absolutely must have. He races towards his designated goal without giving much thought to the means he’s using to get there. Then, when the long path of life draws to an end, he feels tired, his energy flags, he yearns to rest. Like any traveller, he looks back, and at himself. And what does he see? Chasing after a semblance of happiness has only exhausted him and covered him with dirt–not only his body but also his soul. No fancy clothes and jewelry can conceal this moral filth from his own conscience, and he reproaches himself, but what is done cannot be undone. This is the cause of so much grief in old age.

     ”Then why do people spend their lives doing things they will live to regret?”

      ”To answer this we must sort through the past, just like a peddler unpacks his wares, digging down to the bottom of his pack and setting out all his goods to show his customers.

     Let’s say I’m a peddler and I’ve spilled out my pack. I begin my display with what’s at the bottom, that is, with my childhood. I recall myself at the age of three. I was taught how to behave properly, to bow and shake hands. I was taught how to dress; new and fashionable clothes always elicited approval; I was even made to look in the mirror; I was taught to dance, to sing, so that my parents could boast of my accomplishments in front of their guests. 1 was also taught to pray, but how?… For good manners I was repaid with caresses and kisses; for being stylish–with praise; for singing and dancing-with applause; and for prayer?–only with reprimands: I don’t hold my fingers correctly for the sign of the Cross, I don’t bow properly. I was frequently read fairy tales and told entertaining stories. I can remember them even now, they made such a strong impression. But for some reason they never told me anything about God, about His boundless love for people especially for children. They said nothing of the kind that would make a child’s heart quicken with wonder, as it does on listening to a fairy tale. When I was made to Pray, I was told, “Pray well, or God will hit you with a stone.” Such an admonition gives a child the impression that God is a very stern being whom one must fear, because almost every child knows what it means to be hit with a stone. But since God never has struck anyone with a stone, this false specter eventually faded. Later we were given lessons in the Law of God. But how? By rote. If you memorized the lesson welt, you’d get a good mark, then, “run along and play”. They didn’t teach us to love God.’ But isn’t it true that we try hard not to offend only those we love? Only to those we love do we eagerly submit. The result of such an upbringing is coldness towards God and all that is holy, and a thirst for all that is vanity, all that is not only useless but even harmful. Grandpa Luke fell silent.

      “There’s more in the pack,” observed Motia with a smile.

      ‘There’s a lot left,” replied Grandpa Luke, ‘but each customer is shown only those items which he needs; while what he doesn’t need is set aside. So, too, I’ve shown you only that which is for you to know now.

      ”You go to school. Tell me, Motia, do you ever think of what you’re being taught from the Law of God?”

“No,” answered the boy frankly.

      ”There—it’s a universal childhood illness, a universal neglect on the part of parents, teachers and educators. Children are taught to engage their minds in math problems and composition, while the Law of God is always last on the list of importance.

      “You see how everyone is amusing themselves outside. They’re all dressed up, with happy faces. What is the occasion? The Holy Church instructs us to devote this week to preparing for Great Lent, i.e., to more fervent prayer with prostrations, to repentance of our sins… But what are we doing? I say ‘we’ because I cannot exclude either you or myself.

    If we are not taking part in this vain turmoil, it’s only because you’re sick and I’m old.”

         “But that’s how everyone celebrates Cheesefare Week,” objected the boy.

         “Most, but not all. And if it were all, is this any kind of justification before God? One can’t use ‘everyone’ as an example. Each of us, individually, must answer to God; each person will have to give an accounting of his deeds through the course of his entire life.

       Remember, occasionally, your Grandpa Luke, and what I have to say.

         “Here you are, sitting quietly -even though it’s because you’re sick and not by choice—-and listening to your old grandpa, who wishes you every good, both heavenly and earthly. And you will never have to repent of it. If, however, you spent your time running around after amusements with your; friends, a heaviness would settle on your conscience, unconsciously at first, but still.., it would be there. Now just imagine the burden on your soul which collects over the course of your whole life if you carelessly indulge yourself in various passions and transgressions on grounds that “everyone lives like that.” I also lived “like everyone else,” but when old age arrived I feared for my soul. One is faced with the insistent question: how will I come before the face of my Judge? I feel the gnawing of my conscience, I feel that I must make peace with God, Whom I have angered. But how? I have no strength left for physical exploits; to pray–my back hurts, my knees don’t bend; I would be glad to weep but tears have dried from my eyes.

     ‘This is why old people aren’t light hearted. One can only be happy in old age if during one’s lifetime one tried to please God–rather than constantly giving in to sinful habits. It is these people one should emulate, and not everyone, who lives without giving thought to his soul.”

        The simple conversation with Grandpa Luke made a lasting impression on the boy. Two days later Motia had fully recovered, but now he looked on the Cheese-fare merry-making with different eyes. A special close bond had developed between grandfather and grandson. Motia often asked his grandfather to show him some more things from his “pack”, and his grandfather was glad to oblige. He showed him Scenes from his life which contained such good lessons that the boy began thinking seriously about many things He learned to think ahead to the consequences of each of his actions, and made it a rule to act according to his conscience even in small matters. One day the Son of an innkeeper, one of Motia’s classmates, offered him a nice penknife in exchange for a colored pencil, and he refused-even though such exchanges of small items were common enough among his peers.

        Why don t you want to trade? After all, my penknife costs thirty cents and your pencil costs only a penny,” said the innkeeper’s son.

       “That’s just the reason I don’t want to trade. It’s unfair to you.”

         Amazing, replied the boy.

       Motia would no doubt have traded if he hadn’t recalled one of his grandfather’s stories about Some advantageous deal which needled his conscience for the rest of his life·

      Grandpa Luke was just an ordinary man, but he performed an invaluable service in bringing up his grandson to be an honest and religious person by his simple, warmhearted discussions. 

A. Botkin 

(Originally appeared in the Russian magazine Kormchi, Feb. 8, 1903; reprinted in Raiskie Tsveti s Russkoi Zemli, Russian Orthodox Youth Committee, Baldwin Place, NY)

Youth: A Crises of Character

Society is corrupted precisely through the want of Christian education. — St. John of Kronstadt

    Orthodox parents trying to steer their children safely through the moral chaos of today’s world may be encouraged by increasing signs of a shared concern. From the Wall Street Journal to Reader’s Digest, voices are calling for a halt to the moral degeneration of our society, whose number one victim are the youth. After reporting yet another horrifying case of juvenile crime, the Washington Post concluded: “The depth of the problem has reached a point where common decency can no longer be described as common. Somewhere, somehow…the traditional value system got disconnected for a disturbing number of America’s next generation.”

       An enlightened commentary on the subject was made by Senator Dan Coats in a lecture published by Hillsdale College (Imprimis, September 1991). He cites the findings of a commission of educational, political, medical and business leaders who met to examine the problem of American children: “They issued a report called Code Blue..,[which]…made an essential point: the challenge to the health and well being of America’s youth are not primarily rooted in illness or economics. Unlike the past, the problem is not childhood disease or unsanitary slums. The most basic cause of suffering, the report concluded, is profound self-destructive behavior and belief. A crisis of character.”

      . What brought on this crisis? “Ultimately,” Says Senator Coats, “the crisis of character which afflicts our youth has roots in our intellectual culture….We have seen the development of a militant relativism….Stabilizing beliefs have disappeared. What should we expect but moral confusion? ‘We laugh at honor,’ in C.S. Lewis’ words, ‘and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.’

       “Second, our pervasive culture has set itself against moral restraint and virtue. Children are witnesses to more than 10,000 murders on television before the age of 18. It should be no surprise when some actually kill. MTV provides an unending diet of seductive ,sexual images. It should be no shock that one in ten teenage girls gets pregnant each year. Rape, aggression and violence are excused or encouraged by some rap music. It should be no wonder that kids caught for rape and murder show no remorse…. Culture has consequences.”

       At the root of the problem, says Coats, lies an absence of any “countervailing nourishment for the spirit.”

      Churches and families have traditionally been the principal moral educators and character builders of society, but families are disintegrating and the authority of churches in affecting private morality has been overshadowed by the prevailing climate of moral relativism, in which youth are indoctrinated through our secular humanist system of education. Coats points out what frustrates many Orthodox parents: “When schools contradict home-taught morality by preaching relativism and ‘value free’ decision-making, they can do irreparable damage to young minds. Teaching nothing at all on the moral agenda is preferable to inculcating a rootless relativism.”

      In an effort to reverse the tide, some schools are experimenting with “character-education” programs, which stress values such as honesty, responsibility, respect, dedication, perseverance, self-respect. Former Secretary of Education, William Bennett, is among those recommending that children be exposed more to “the moral imagination embodied in great literature”: Crime and Punishment, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord Jim… works which expose the workings of moral reasoning, the consequences of sin, the necessity of virtue. However, a real, lasting solution can only be built on an absolute value system.

      The modern Greek Orthodox philosopher Konstantinos Georgoulis emphasizes the need of ethics being brought into essential relationship with t Christian faith. “Religious upbringing must strengthened not only in schools, but also outside the schools.” .The failure to do this “has resulted barbarization and bestialization.” The first place our orientation in life must be given to God. We must not forget, says Georgoulis, the words of the Russian poet Pushkin: “Whoever gives to God the second place gives Him no place at all.” (Cavarnos New Library, Vol. II; IBMGS 1992)

       Helpful advice to parents on the subject is given in the following short essay by Bishop Gregory (Grabbe).

LOVE YOUR CHILDREN

Parents desiring to give their children a proper Orthodox upbringing many times feel hampered by the surrounding environment, particularly in schools. This is only natural, for we live in a not Orthodox society and our children have teachers trained in principles foreign to Orthodoxy. Their entire world view is different from ours, and they often approach the education of children under the strong influence of the ideas of Freud and other psychoanalysts. This type of world view is quite obtrusive and rarely tolerates contradiction.

What can parents do in such cases?

      First, it is necessary from early childhood t. impress upon children the fact that as children of the Orthodox Church they belong to a special and unique organism, which has its own laws and it: own world view, which are in many ways foreign to what prevails in the society around them. Even before beginning school, children should be made aware of this and know that loyalty to the state must in no wise infringe on their religious views and their personal being. Parents must accustom them to the idea that they need not fear or be ashamed because of this, in order that when they start school they be prepared and brought up to revere the podvig of confession. Then it will be easier for them to stand up to the challenge of the world view foreign to Orthodoxy.

       If such attacks are too strong, parents can go to the school and insist on respect for certain basic principles pertaining to our faith.

       At the same time, it is of course vitally important that parents enter more deeply into the lives of their children, encouraging them to relate what goes on in school and explaining any questions that arise, from an Orthodox perspective.

      This is far from easy, but love, faith and constant attention, joined with prayer will let parents know how best to influence children in order to protect them from harmful influences.

      One must be careful, however, that in nurturing a consciousness of belonging to a special church organism, to a special culture, not to rouse feelings of superiority, of scorn or judgment of others. Such consciousness must be defined not in these terms but on the basis of love and devotion to the richness of one’s Church.

      These feelings, this consciousness is transmitted to children not so much by teaching, but through the home environment, whether or not it rests on an Orthodox foundation, with all this entails. The atmosphere that parents create in the home–this is what is of primary importance. /…/

      Nowadays especially, parents must make every effort to saturate their children with noble thoughts and feelings at a young pre-school age, so that they would thereby be prepared to deal with the different influences which will come from teachers and peers. This requires even more vigilance on the part of parents, and here especially they must be aware of how important it is for children to work on themselves and on their spiritual formation.

      Children are like plants that God entrusts to their parents–the gardeners. If the parents graft onto them healthy shoots of churchliness, if they take care to see that they grow in the good soil of a Christian family and Orthodox environment, if they are careful to uproot weeds capable of choking everything good, and will water them with the living water of the word of God–then they will fulfill their responsibility before God and the Church and will gain for themselves comfort and joy.

      If, however, on account of their negligence, the small plant entrusted to them grows up into a barren fig tree, the parents have no one to blame but themselves. Then they will hear the terrible word of God which Prophet Samuel had to deliver to the priest Eli for neglecting his sons’ upbringing: I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever (1 Samuel 3:1314, KJV).

(Translated from Blagovest, a newsletter of the San Francisco cathedral parish Joy of All Who Sorrow, February 1992)

Great-Martyr Marina

July 17

Human reality is powerless over those who sincerely believe. In the darkness of prisons and amidst great poverty the Lord grants them that joy which is above all earthly delight. How comforting for the true Christian to know that nothing can separate him from the love of the Lord!

ST. MARINA was born in the third century in Pisidian Antioch, in what is now central Turkey. Her parents were noble people, but pagans, and she was raised to worship idols. Her mother died when she was a child and her father, the pagan priest Edesius, entrusted her upbringing to a nurse maid with whom she lived in the tranquility of the countryside.

      It was a time of severe persecution of Christians. Some concealed themselves in the wilderness, but others courageously went about spreading the light of Christ. It was from one of these that the twelve-year-old Marina first heard about the Lord Jesus Christ. When she learned that the only begotten Son of God had come down from heaven and became man, that He endured suffering and death in order to save a sinful and unworthy people, her heart filled with love for Him, and she sought every opportunity to hear more about her Lord. She wanted so much to he baptized, but because of the persecution she couldn’t find a priest to perform the holy Mystery. She left it up to God’s holy will and meanwhile loudly confessed the name of the Lord to anyone who would listen, even though she knew she might suffer because of it.

      Indeed, her first persecutor was her own father. When he discovered that his daughter had adopted the faith of the Christians, he was furious and became hateful, even cruel towards her. But she took refuge in the love of her Heavenly Father, Who never abandons His faithful children.

      One day, when she was fifteen years old, she was on her way to the fields to look at her father’s sheep, when she was met by the regional governor, Olymbrius, a cruel persecutor of Christians. He was attracted by the girl’s beauty and struck up a conversation. “Where are you from? Who is your father? What is your name?” Marina answered his questions and boldly added that she believed in the God of the Christians and that she hoped to dedicate herself to His service. The governor ordered his soldiers to bring her with them to Antioch. Hopeful that he would have little difficulty in convincing her to give up her faith, he did not mistreat her, as he saw in her a good prospect for marriage.

      The next day the governor ordered Marina to be brought for questioning and tried everything to persuade her to bring sacrifice to the gods, but the bride of Christ remained steadfast. “I have learned to know the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one Divinity in Trinity, and to bring to Him the sacrifice of praise,” replied the girl. “I cannot give to lifeless idols that honor which belongs to my Creator.” The governor tried various tactics: he tried to win her over through promises, then he tried to frighten her with threats. Nothing availed. “I want to remain a faithful slave of my God,’ said Marina, “Who voluntarily suffered for my sake. He did not spare His most pure Body for my sake and endured death on the Cross. Should I not be prepared to suffer and die for Him? You do not frighten me with your threats. In the midst of sufferings, my Lord, in Whom I have placed my hope, will strengthen me.”

      When Olymbrius realized that Marina would never renounce her heavenly Bridegroom, his pity for the young Christian vanished and he gave her over to cruel tortures. Marina was beaten mercilessly with rods so that blood poured forth from the deep wounds. As the crowd watched the young martyr, many wept and urged her to obey the governor, but the young martyr remained steadfast in her sufferings.

      The enraged governor then ordered that she be fastened to a column and her flesh torn apart with iron hooks. Pieces of flesh fell to the ground, exposing her bones; the earth was crimson with her blood. Even the cruel governor covered his face with his hands and turned away, unable to bear the bloody spectacle. Finally, the young martyr, barely alive, was thrown into a dark, dank prison cell.

      “Mereiful God Who livest on high,” prayed the suffering Marina, “revive my spirit. Heal my wounded body. Give me strength to overcome my adversary that in me Thy name be glorified.”

      As night fell the devil struck at the young girl with fear and despair. Dreadful phantoms appeared before her eyes, strange rumblings issued from underground… But the martyr concentrated her mind on God and never ceased praying. And the Lord confirmed her faith with a miraculous sign.

      She suddenly saw over her head a dazzling gold cross, on top of which sat a snow-white dove, and a voice came from above:

      ‘Rejoice Marina, dove of Christ. You have vanquished the evil foe. Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Mount Zion. For soon, like the wise virgins, you will enter the bridal chamber of your immortal Heavenly Bridegroom”

      An indescribable joy seized Marina’s heart. At the same time she became aware that her tortured flesh was being healed and she felt her strength returning. The rest of the night she spent praising and thanking God.

      In the morning the governor had the great martyr brought forth from the prison. Yesterday barely alive, she now stood before him, beautiful and healthy. The astonished governor attributed her miraculous recovery to the pagan gods. “It is my God who healed me,” replied the great martyr. “He is the healer of souls and bodies.”

      Again she was subject to torture. The outraged governor ordered a bunch of burning candles to be brought and with them they singed her miraculously restored flesh. The saint, directing her mind to God, suffered in silence The singed areas became black, yet stoically she endured the pain.

      “Lord,” she prayed, “Thou grantest me to go through this fiery trial. Make me worthy to pass through the water of baptism, that washed of sins I may enter Thy rest!”

      Hearing the saint speak about water, the governor conceived of the idea to drown the Saint. An enormous vat was brought and filled to the brim. Marina was tied up and thrown into it. The Saint rejoiced; here at last was an answer to her prayer.

“Lord Jesus Christ, Thou Who didst loose the bonds of death and hell, look upon Thy servant and loose my bonds. And may this water be for me the longdesired water of holy baptism unto regeneration and life eternal?

      As soon as they plunged her into the vat the ropes on her body snapped, her head was illumined with heavenly rays, and a white dove, carrying in its beak a golden wreath, began circling overhead. Lower and lower descended the paradisiacal messenger, and, touching the head of the great martyr, rose again into the heavens. At the same time a voice was heard: “Peace to you, Bride of Christ. Receive now from God’s hand an unfading crown and honor in the Heavenly Kingdom.” The crowd trembled. All had seen how Marina emerged from the water cured of her terrible burns and shining with unearthly beauty. Now they witnessed the descent of a fiery pillar and above it a cross, shining with wondrous light. The crowd began glorifying God. “We, too, are Christians! We, too, are Christians, ready to die for Christ.”

      The governor was enraged by the multitude of converts, and ordered his soldiers to kill the new Christians without mercy. That very day fifteen thousand were added to the ranks of martyrs.

      Marina was likewise sentenced to die by the sword. Before her execution the great martyr turned to the crowd, strengthening the people in their confession. She prayed at length for everyone and was vouchsafed to see Christ Himself, Who called her to eternal rest, before she quietly bowed her head beneath the executioner’s sword.

      Thus the holy great martyr Marina accomplished her martyric exploit on the seventeenth of July. The servant of God Theotim was a witness of her sufferings and was granted to see the heavenly visions and all this he wrote down for the benefit of the faithful, in honor of the beloved bride of Christ, Marina, and to the glory of our Man-loving God, to Whom, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit may we give honor and glory, now and ever and unto the ages. Amen.

(Adapted from A. N. Bakhmeteva, Zhitia Sviatikh, Moscow 1872)