The Catalog of Good Deeds

Great Lent, my beloved brethren, begins today and will be completed in forty days on the Friday of Lazarus. As our Church introduces us to this blessed arena of spiritual struggles and virtues, whose main weapon is the weapon of fasting, together with the accompanying weapons of almsgiving, prayer, personal struggle and the mysteries, it is an opportunity to deepen a little the way we will emerge from this struggle, to complete productively, creatively and spiritually the journey of the forty days that stretch before us.

This journey has an analogy in the treasures of the Old Testament. The analogy is the journey of the people of Israel from Egypt to the Land of Promise, with one difference: it did not take place over the course of forty days but forty years. That journey, as recorded in the Book of Exodus and completed in the Book of Joshua the son of Nun, lasted forty years.

If I'm not mistaken, the Israelites had been enslaved for five generations after Joseph in Egypt, and after terrible drama and intense repression they wanted to leave and return to their own country. They embarked with Moses as their leader after a dizzying adventure and their journey brought them to what Exodus calls "a land flowing with milk and honey." This is what Moses promised them.

Let us look at some of the features of this journey and try to find corresponding analogies with our brief forty day journey in this blessed wilderness of Great Lent.

The first similarity is that they walked through the wilderness as a people. They did not try to escape slavery as individuals, but all together as a nation. They collected and aggregated together, they were given a leader, and everyone embarked on their journey. Imagine a caravan of thousands of people with the common sense that they were the chosen people of God and they were related as a nation. They all left Egypt together and journeyed across the wilderness. And we similarly are one people, the people of God. Together we are the Church.

If we all embark on this journey together we will also arrive together. We should not sense that we are alone in our struggle, that we will go through the process alone and emerge victorious without caring what happens to other people. Our salvation, our struggle, is social and done within the secret Body of the Church, together. Not only as many as we are now, or only those who confess that they constitute the Church, but even those that are within God's embrace perhaps without themselves realizing it.

Just as God Himself "wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth," in the same way we, the New Israel, should want to leave the Egypt of this world, the worldly mindset, the passions, the ephemeral, falsehood and deceit, and to pass through the wilderness of our struggle to reach the place promised by God, in contact and communication with His saints, in His sensible kingdom, in the meeting of His person, in the Resurrection.

Therefore, the first similarity is that in our struggle during the fast we do what we do with the sense that we are doing it together. This is why we begin with the Service of Forgiveness, that we may reconcile. We are divided, we are cold, we have our differences, and we place everything aside as one body, one people, and we embark on our journey, forgiven, reconciled, as brethren, with the sense that altogether we need our salvation.

The second similarity can be found if you take the opportunity during these days to read the first chapters, especially the fifth and sixth, of the Book of Exodus. There you will find compelling dialogues reciprocated between God and Moses. You will see that Moses invokes a bunch of excuses to not respond to the honor of being called by God to lead the people of Israel and be their guide. Eventually God convinces him. He convinces him and prepares him. Initially, God reveals to Moses His name. After Moses asked, "Who are You?" He responded, "I am He Who is, Who exists, the source of life and existence, Who is I am by nature and essence."

God then gives Him the ability to work wonders, personal signs to convince the Israelites away from their twisted ways, their selfishness, setbacks, defects, weaknesses, distrust, misery and groaning, as we find throughout their journey. He thus gave these two gifts to Moses as well as a blessing to be their leader. So they embarked on their journey with a guide. What does this mean for us?

We cannot fight the struggle of Great Lent or the struggle of the wilderness of this life without having a spiritual guide. This is both the tradition and proven experience of the Church. And this guide is not merely a guide, but also a father.

He must be a man of prayer, who converses with God. To be a man who has boldness before God, even though he may be a stutterer or not well spoken, as Exodus tells us about Moses, and he may not be externally gifted, but who is called and appointed by God to lead us on the journey.

He is our spiritual father. We have great need to have a spiritual father. To be our father, our teacher, our guide, to be our intermediate with God, to hold us by the hand along our journey. Perhaps in our times God has not given us such a gift. Often we complain, rightly perhaps, that there are not many such spiritual fathers.

Let us bring this concern to prayer, and make an effort and struggle to find such a man to teach us five to ten secrets about the spiritual life, and supplement our inadequate prayers with his prayers. This is his job.

Let us experience the miracle of the return of the waters of the sea, that our thoughts, doubts, obstacles, temptations and difficulties may sink and drown. Therefore the third similarity of our journey of Great Lent is with the miraculous passage through the Red Sea of the difficulties and obstacles we meet.

The Book of Exodus tells us that eventually Moses became the leader and guide, being in reality led by God, for God went before them. And how did the presence of God appear? In two ways. During the day He appeared as a cloud, and at night as a pillar of fire. During the day He draped them with a cloud, giving them the sweetness and warmth of the divine presence, and at night He gave them light in the darkness that they may find their way and progress in their journey. We also need such an alliance in our sense of the divine presence in our struggle, not that we are struggling alone, but that we have strength from above.

But through our prayers, through the humility of our hearts, through the sweet depths of our internal longing, may we have this sense, that our struggle is under the cloud of the divine presence and the light of divine confirmation. In this way we will progress along the way of every phase in the arena of the struggle of Great Lent.

We are told they hungered, they grew tired and became weary. They saw the miracle, experienced the presence, they had Moses, they took solace, yet they still complained. How human! How natural! How unexpected! Yet for us it is also expected and natural that in our struggle, although we may see God's blessings, at the first difficulty of the desert heat and its fruitlessness, we fall on our knees.

This is what happened with the Israelites, but God told them to not worry, for He was with them and near them and saw them and followed them and guided their footsteps. That He promised that He would lead them out of Egypt to the Land of Promise, and if they were hungry then He would feed them. So He sent them a flock of quails and spread around them manna from heaven to eat. The quails were the meat of worship. God also gives us the opportunities to worship Him. Such as with the blessed Complines, what a beautiful service! He gives us Presanctifieds every Wednesday and Friday, and the Salutations during this period. These rare hymns are not chanted any other time. He gives us the Solemn Vespers, the five Sundays of the fast, the beautiful feast of the Annunciation. He gives us such a cluster of powerful food and meat. Nothing else remains than for us to reach out and grab the opportunity, to open our mouths and begin to devour the message of divine truth, as presented in a concrete meaningful way.

But He also gives us the manna. It simply satisfies us. The heavenly manna satisfies the soul, because the heavenly manna is the Divine Eucharist. The heavenly manna is the mystery by which God nourishes His people, the New Israel. It can also nourish us. Our participation in the mysteries is necessary. If we have our Moses, our spiritual father, and his permission, if we have the internal craving and need in our soul, along with repentance, then let us not ignore this untapped treasure of heavenly manna, the Divine Eucharist, which gently falls on the ground of our soul and gives us miraculous satiety.

But God did not only give them food. They were thirsty afterwards. And miraculously God gave them water. He told Moses that with the same staff he struck the sea and parted it in order to pass through, to now strike the rock so it may gush forth water. Moses struck it, and it gushed forth water. This water quenched the thirst of the thirsty Israelites in the wilderness. Similarly water can quench the thirst of our souls with the staff of our own Moses.

And this is none other than the word of God. If we could listen to one thing during these days, to even slightly open our eyes and quench the thirst of our soul, let it be with either the spoken or possibly written word. There are many books, patristic books, even more modern books, also the service books, and if we can find some time to strike the rock of this unknown treasure, we will experience the miracle of the revelation of the divine word in our hearts, which are often harder than a rock.

The Israelites, although they continued on their journey, although they overcame obstacles, crossing through the Red Sea, being satiated in the ways mentioned, quenching the thirst of their souls, quenching the thirst of their bodies, soon after came to face an enemy, the Amalekites. And God performed His miracle.

Although Moses momentarily bends, God says to Him to not worry, for He would give the people of Israel the strength to defeat them. And though the Amelakites may not have been expected, and were many and threatening, and may possibly have exceeded the strength of their people, Moses was to raise his hands in the sign of the cross, and as long as his hands were horizontal in prayer in this symbolic position, then though they were few and weak, they would conquer the many and strong. And as the hands of Moses grew tired, they were upheld by Aaron and Hur, each holding a hand in the horizontal position of prayer which was a symbol of the cross, and in this way they defeated the enemy and triumphed, so they could continue along their journey to Mount Sinai.

We also, despite our fast, despite our good intentions, despite our studies, despite our participation in the mysteries, have the fearsome Amalek who seeks to fight us. This Amalek is our impassioned self. We bear a fallen nature full of beastly passions which currently sit in the corner, perhaps with a bit of our disdain, but in the quiet of the wilderness of the fast and this period we must see who will emerge.

Whoever fights the good fight of the fast will easily discover their unknown passions. In the wilderness they will lift their head, in the quiet they will raise their voice, in the apparent peace they will create turmoil. We must expect these passions.

The solution and answer is the sign of the cross and our prayer and divine intervention will give each of us the victory, without being scared or flinching or being intimidated, to be found victors against our passions. In this way like the Israelites we will arrive at Mount Sinai, the mountain on which God Himself lowers and gives in the midst of an atmosphere of earthquakes, shock and smoke the ten commandments. He reveals to them His will.

This also, my brethren, can happen in our own lives. It must happen. Journeying through the wilderness we must also arrive at and slowly climb our own Mount Sinai, and there we will receive the revelation of the divine will in our souls. Our struggle, our prayer, our faith, our trust in God, our good spiritual dependence in our own spiritual Moses, our participation in the mysteries, our hope in the miracle and divine intervention, all these together in the struggle of the fast, together with the struggle of almsgiving, together with the struggle that each of us will carry can eventually lead us to a successful conclusion, to victory, to the Land of Promise, to the blessing of God, to the joy and experience of the Resurrection.

After forty days we will have the help of God to complete the journey of Great Lent this year. That the experience of this journey will be given to us by God endlessly, the experience of seeking, the experience of divine manifestation, the experience of the miracle that it may be endless and perpetual with the experience of the joy of the divine Resurrection. Amen.

By Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogaia and Lavriotiki

Translated by John Sanidopolus

Source: johnsanidopoulos.com/2016/03/an-old-testament-analogy-of-great-lent.html

Excerpted from “The Typicon of the Orthodox Church’s Divine Services: The Orthodox Christian and the Church Situation Today”.

…Archbishop Averky of Holy Trinity Monastery at Jordanville, New York, makes some sharp and appropriate remarks in a report concerning the “Internal Mission” of the Church which was approved by the whole Council of Bishops of the Russian Church Outside of Russia in 1962:

“It is extremely important for the success of the Internal Mission to attract, as far as possible, all the faithful into one or another kind of active participation in the Divine services, so that they might not feel themselves merely idle spectators or auditors who come to Church as to a theater just in order to hear the beautiful singing of the choir which performs, as often happens now, totally unchurchly, bravura, theatrical compositions. It is absolutely necessary to re-establish the ancient custom, which is indeed demanded by the Typicon itself, of the singing of the whole people at Divine services… It is a shame to the Orthodox faithful not to know its own wondrous, incomparable Orthodox Divine services, and therefore it is the duty of the pastor to make his flock acquainted with the Divine services, which may be accomplished most easily of all by way of attracting the faithful into practical participation.”

Further, in the same article Archbishop Averky dispels the popular misconception that Orthodox Christians are not allowed to perform any church services without a priest, and that therefore the believing people become quite helpless and are virtually “unable to pray” when they find themselves without a priest – as happens more and more often today. He writes, on the same page of this article:

“According to our Typicon, all the Divine services of the daily cycle – apart, needless to say, from the Divine Liturgy and other Church sacraments – may be performed also by persons not ordained to priestly rank. This has been widely done in the practice of prayer by all monasteries, sketes, and desert-dwellers in whose midst there are no monks clothed in the rank of priest. And up until the most recent time this was to be seen also, for example, in Carpatho-Russia, which was outstanding for the high level of piety of its people, where in case of the illness or absence of the priest, the faithful themselves, without a priest, read and sang the Nocturnes, and Matins, and the Hours, and Vespers, and Compline, and in place of the Divine Liturgy, the Typica.

“In no way can one find anything whatever reprehensible in this, for the texts themselves of our Divine services have foreseen such a possibility, for example, in such a rubric which is often encountered in them: ‘If a priest is present, he says: Blessed is our God… If not, then say with feeling: By the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.’ And further there follows the whole order of the Divine services in its entirety, except of course, for the ectenes and the priestly responses. The longer extenes are replaced by the reading of ‘Lord, have mercy’ twelve times, and Little Ectene by the reading of ‘Lord, have mercy’ three times.

“Public prayer, as none other, firmly unites the faithful. And so, in all those parishes where there is no permanent priest, it is absolutely necessary not merely to permit, but indeed to recommend to the faithful that they come together on Sundays and feast days in church or even in homes, where there is no church, in order to perform together such public prayer according to the established order of Divine services.”

This normal church practice, which like so much else that belongs to the best Orthodox Church tradition, has become so rare today as to seem rather a novelty, is nonetheless being practiced now in several parishes of the Russian Church Outside of Russia, as well as in some private homes. This practice can and should be greatly increased among the faithful, whether it is a question of a parish that has lost its priest or is to small to support one, of a small group of believers far from the nearest church which has not yet formed a parish, or a single family which is unable to attend church on every Sunday and feast day.

Indeed, this practice in many places has become the only answer to the problem of keeping alive the tradition of the Church’s Divine services….

The way of conducting such services should preferably be learned from those who already practice it in accordance with both the written and oral tradition of the Church. But even in the absence of such guidance, an Orthodox layman, when he is unable to attend church services, can derive much benefit from simply reading through some of the simpler services, much as he already reads Morning and Evening Prayers. Thus, he can read any of the Hours (First, Third, and Sixth Hours in the morning, Ninth Hour in the afternoon), which have no changeable parts except for the Troparion and Kontakion; he can simply read through the stichera of the great feasts on the appropriate day; or he can read the Psalms appointed for a given day….

Source: http://www.saintjonah.org/services/readerservices.htm

By Metropolitan Paul of Minsk and Zaslavl

Dear Mother Abbess, fathers, brothers and sisters! First of all, I would like to congratulate you all with the feast day, for today is the day of the discovering of the Reigning Icon of the Mother of God. That miraculous event happened in our Motherland 100 years ago. […]

100 years passed since the moment when the enemy of the humankind tried to destroy our Holy Church and our Motherland, to devastate Orthodoxy. However, with God’s help and under the protection of the Mother of God, people managed to save the Church with their effort, sufferings and standing by their faith. Many of them reached salvation through that.

It was a hard time. A lot of blood was spilled. People suffered and had to face, often unfair, exiles, concentration camps and even death. Many people can ask a question: “So, where is God? Why does He allow such horrible sufferings to happen? If He is Love, then why is blood spilled? Why do people kill each other? Where is God, Who is called the Perfect Love by the Church?” Difficult questions. They are especially difficult to those who are far from the Church. However, for those who live a true Christian life, everything is clear.

Imagine yourself that we will look through the camera on mute at what is going on in a hospital. A doctors receives his patients. We cannot hear what they are talking about, we can only see. We understand that the doctor wants to do good for people who come to him. How can we react if we see without hearing that for one people he prescribes a trip to a rest home, for the second person – in-patient treatment, while the third one has to be got on the gurney and brought to the operating table? Unwillingly we begin to wonder, how can this be so that one person gets a ticket to the rest home or some special pills, while the other one is going to be cut? Insanity! What a disgrace! What for should this person be cut?

In fact, here we can see an example of a wise attitude towards all people. All patients are sick, but they all need a different treatment. One needs curative muds and mineral waters, so he is sent to the rest home; the other needs some meds; the third needs vitamins, while it comes out that the fourth person is gravely ill: his organs are in bad condition and this is why he needs a surgery. Is this doctor unfair or severe? However, we do not what is going on in the doctor’s cabinet and can misunderstand it. The main thing any doctor tries to achieve is to help a person to recover, to stay alive.

Around the same happens in our spiritual life. We could not understand why the Lord allowed those troubled years, the October revolution and the internecine war happen. If the Lord is really the Perfect Love, then everything what happened was because of our sins and crimes. The Lord is looking for salvation for every person. Looking back at the past 100 years of our Motherland’s history, we can say: “O Lord, You are really merciful, You are the Loving Father, You want to give every person a possibility to save their souls”. With all those exiles and sufferings, some people redeemed their sins. At the same time, those people, who committed all those horrifying crimes and murders, became the instruments of the judgement of God. If we study our history thoroughly, we can notice that many of the people, who had killed clerics, monastics and simple people after the October revolution, were exiled or executed during the 20-30s; those of them who participated in murders during the 30s, died during the Great Patriotic War; and those of them who survived, suffered much during the years of collectivization and after-war period. God gave everyone an opportunity to go through the way of purifying fire and sufferings to save their souls.

I had an opportunity to communicate with many clerics. Fr. Leonid, a well-known local archpriest, with whom I had very good relations, died in Moscow last year. He passed away in his old age. During the last years of his life he told me: “Your Grace, how much our Lord loves His children! If only you knew, how sincerely all those people, who had mocked the Church, repented before their death. We, priests, do not repent as those people did! I guided many of them in the sacraments of Confession and Holy Communion, I also performed the burial services for many of them. If only you knew, how sincerely they repented! How great if our Lord! He wants everyone to be saved!”

Maybe not all people know about this… Maybe many people condemn them. But the Lord knows everyone and knows the feelings of any person: why did they reject God? Why did they leave the Church? The Lord wants every person to be saved and knocks at every person’s heart. We only need very little: to feel this knock inside and hear the appeal to salvation and open the heart for Christ and say: “O Lord, I want You save my sole, too, and bring it to the Kingdom of Heaven. But I am unworthy of it, so You forgive me and be merciful upon me!” Then the Lord, as the Loving Father, will forgive anyone who wants to be with God.

I would like to wish that the lesson of the 20^th century becomes an example for those who wants to live according to their own will, passions and human desires. May this lesson be a precaution for other people, so that they do not repeat the mistake of the previous generations. Thank God, today we are not persecuted, tortured or exiled. We live in a free country, where you can believe in God, come to a church and pray, do good deeds of love and mercy. The doors are open for every one of those who wants to devote his life to serving God in our holy monasteries and churches. So, I would like to wish that this God’s grace always remains on our blessed land! Amen.

An excerpt from the sermon by Metropolitan Paul of Minsk and Zaslavl

on the feast day of the Reigning Icon of the Mother of God

March 15, 2017

St. Elisabeth Convent

We met with Eugene Prokofiev, the young precentor of the Brothers’ Choir of St. Elisabeth Convent before their performance at the Lenten Concerts. Eugene is 22. He is just a little older than the choir he has directed for the last three years. These three years have become very special for him.

Yulia Krukovskaya, the past precentor of the choir, taught in Minsk Theological College. It was her who invited her student to work with the Brothers’ Choir. Neither Yulia nor Eugene knew that it would change the young man’s course of life.

With the blessing of Father Andrew Lemeshonok, Eugene moved to stay permanently in the Convent. His job of a precentor became his main duty.

— When I came to the Convent, my life changed drastically! — Brother Eugene says. — I can’t imagine myself without the Convent… Living side by side with the nuns and having a close spiritual contact with them all the time, it’s like sitting on a cloud. I seldom leave the Convent now because when you live here, most of your habits and desires go away.

— Brother Eugene, do I get it right that you are a postulant?

— Yes, formally I’m a postulant. However, I’m a postulant who does not plan to proceed any further yet. The longer I live in the Convent, the more often I catch myself thinking of taking the next step and becoming a novice.

You know, when I first came to the Convent, I thought I would stay here for just a couple of days. Nun Susanna told me to take few clothes to the Convent. I came here to stay. And I’m still here (smiles).

— What are the qualities that a person who wants to be a precentor must possess, in your opinion?

— I can share my own opinion and observations. It seems to me that one must possess a precentor’s charisma and feel the process. You conduct the choir and therefore con-celebrate with the priest. It is not just a job. It is an obedience, especially here in the Convent. It is something you must hold on to tightly. Interestingly enough, there are people who never went through any special training but they can conduct choirs… It depends on that person’s inner state to a great extent. It can only be explained by referring to spiritual things. A person who does not go to church cannot learn to be a precentor. It seems to me that church music is discovered little by little as long as your heart becomes pure and meek…

— Do you believe that spiritual experience is more important for a precentor than professional experience?

— This is what I have come to assume now. When I studied in the college, many of my fellow students used to think that being a precentor meant earning money. It is wrong because who is it that you sing for? The people who come to church are not your audience: they come to pray, not enjoy choir music. A church choir is not just a regular choir; it is specifically designed to facilitate worship. It is God who we sing for during a worship service. This is the basis we have to stand on. The rest comes next… They may pay you or not, it doesn’t matter at all. I’m not getting any money for services. I could’ve been paid but why would I need that money? I live in the Convent and, frankly speaking, I don’t need money at all. Other members of our choir don’t get paid, either. It’s our ministry.

Singing in the Convent during services is very comforting for me and for other singers. We took turns with the Monastic Choir singing the nocturnal liturgy on the Nativity of Christ and the Theophany. We couldn’t imagine that it was possible! The Monastic Choir is distinguished by its singing manner. The nuns sing quite low. We sing high in comparison with them, and our choir has a distinct singing manner, too. We tried to unite totally disparate manners, so to say. If reactions of the faithful are something to judge by, it was great! We were told that it would happen again. We will sing these nocturnal services together with the sisters at least once a year. It isn’t easy to sing together with another choir. It is a growth factor for the brothers and me. We are honoured by it. The nocturnal antiphonal (responsorial) Liturgy was a hallmark event in the life of our choir.

— Let’s talk about two other important event in the life of your choir. One of them is your first concert appearance. The Brothers’ Choir takes part in the Lenten concerts. What will your repertoire consist of?

— The slogan of the Lenten concerts is “Reviving Cultural Traditions”. That’s why aside from church chants we will include two rare canticles in our programme. One of these canticles was composed in the 16th century. It is an artful narrative about numbers. It explains what each of the numbers means in the Orthodox world. The other canticle, “When I Was Young,” resembles the famous “Haze Over Water,” but its main character is male. Plus, due to the fact that the concert will take place in the hall of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University on March 2, I believe that the secular audience will be interested to hear the chants that we sing in the Convent.

— The second event is the release of the first album by the Brothers’ Choir. What pieces will it contain?

— We would like to showcase the chants that the choir does not always sing during Liturgies. Some of the chants are little-known. There is a demand for this album: people often come to me after the services where we sing and ask me where they could find our recordings and sheet music. We have already recorded half of the album. We will record several other tracks on March 8. The album will hopefully be released by autumn.

— When does your choir perform live in the Convent?

— Several singers of our choir sing during church services on Monday evenings and Tuesday mornings. The entire choir sings during the second (sometimes the third) Liturgy on Sundays. We also sing during Liturgies that are celebrated in the Boarding Home every Friday. We use Valamo obikhod chant. I write to Father Diodor and Father Ambrose who conduct the choirs of Valaam Monastery, asking them to send me their sheet music so as to make sure that our singing corresponds to the authentic chant as closely as possible.

I make musical treatments of some chants for the Brothers’ Choir, too. I add few changes to the original tune, though. I listen to many little-known choirs and record by ear numerous chants that we perform during services. I reckon that church singing is a creative process. If you have printed scores, it doesn’t mean you can’t move them around. Sure, you have to follow certain guidelines and not trespass them but you have the right to add minor changes here and there if the final result sounds better after treatment.

— Eugene, most of your singers are older than you. Could you please share what you as a precentor and just as a person have learned from the brothers in these three years?

You know, when I conduct the choir during a church service — a young boy among twelve bearded men — I don’t want to behave like a child. I have to comply with the standards set by those men: I mean the way they behave and their spiritual maturity. Each brother has a certain quality that I would like to imitate, and I try imitating them. All singers treat me with respect and sympathy. Even if I do or say something wrong due to my young age or lack of experience, they accept it humbly. I’m very grateful to all the brothers!

Yulia Krukovskaya was the second precentor in the history of the Brothers’ Choir. She conducted this choir for a decade:

— I had to move to another city. That was why I was looking for someone to be my successor as the precentor of the Brothers’ Choir. I thought that one of my students at the theological college could be the perfect match for this job. It seemed more appropriate if the new precentor was male. I offered this post to Eugene Prokofiev. I was hoping that he would prove worthy of my trust, and so he did. Eugene was afraid that he would not cope with the choir but he agreed to give it a try. He started coming to our rehearsals. Eventually, I realised that I had made the right choice.

Nun Juliania (Denisova), the Precentor-in-Chief of St. Elisabeth Convent:

— Our Brothers’ Choir is a unique phenomenon. These amateurs have already magically turned into professionals, without even knowing it.

To a large extent, it happened thanks to Eugene Prokofiev, who is amazing! Although he is young, he can listen properly and has his own concept of singing. He is able to insist on his own handling of various pieces. He can sing very well and shows how to sing with his own example. All singers follow him. It’s evident that God helps him.

It is very exciting to talk with Eugene and to look at what he does. I am curious to see how the choir develops its professionalism and how the choir members trust Eugene — and they do trust him indeed; otherwise, the choir wouldn’t sound so good. They sing very well, like the Valamo choirs! They have a unique sound, if we speak of church singing. Our professional choirs can’t attain this kind of sound. Eugene is in constant search of new music to add to the choir’s repertoire. He keeps asking me for new sheet music and showing me his treatments and harmonisations. That is why it has become clear that the choir needs to participate in concerts and record its own album.

Interview by Brother Vadim (Yanchuk)

Design by Sister Maria (Ivanova)

March 1, 2018

St. Elisabeth Convent

In “My Life in Christ” definite spiritual principles can be discerned thought the book. They could be summarised like this.

Oneness and simplicity are an important aspect of the nature of God. Therefore, for human beings, simplicity equals strength and nearness to God. What is material is by nature complex and weak. What is spiritual is by nature simple and strong.

When they actually express the inner spirit, words have great power and do not differ from action. This characterises human as well as purely spiritual beings. The human spirit breathes only in the Holy Spirit, who is its atmosphere. Without the Holy Spirit, the human spirit becomes morally corrupt and disintegrates. A materialistic attitude to life is incompatible with the presence of the Spirit of truth.

Words can convey the reality they express, and the scriptural Word of God can therefore convey the Lord himself. Because of its divine power, the Word of God must be believed and obeyed And. Faith is the way to receive the Word of God and is also what gives strength to the human word. Teaching is essentially conveying the Word of God with its power. Spiritual fatherhood resides in teaching the Word of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Word of God and liturgical texts are breathed by the Holy Spirit. But it is important also to pray in one’s own words with the power of faith. Just as we are destined to share the life of God, so our words are meant to be spoken from our spirit united to the Holy Spirit.

The human spirit knows God and the devil through experiencing peace, expansion, bliss on the one hand; and turmoil, oppression and torture on the other. Freedom from evil spirits and communion with God come through faith in the Cross and Blood of Christ. When approached with faith, the sign of the Cross and Communion have limitless power and give the peace of God.

By strengthening the faith of people, they can be brought to holy communion for the genuine healing of soul and body. If the human spirit truly receives the Lord’s words. “This is my Body; this is my Blood, shed for the remission of sins,” in communion God is truly imparted to man and man unites himself to God.

Sin has been nailed to the Cross by the Saviour and every sin can be nailed to the Cross through repentance and faith.

By faith God must be personally known as loving Father, as crucified and risen Lord, as the Spirit who accomplishes the Word.

Person live by the gift of themselves through love. God gives himself, his own divine life to us Christians. Therefore we must respond by giving all we have to each other. Especially to the poor so that there is no human injustice. But giving must not be done carelessly, without consideration for the person’s real needs.

The Church, the Body of Christ, is one and experiences her unity within the Holy Spirit. All Christians in heaven and on earth share the same life in the Holy Spirit and therefore communicate spiritually through the Holy Spirit. The Mother of God, the Saints and all the angels are close to us and we can talk to them through the Holy Spirit.

ON THE CROSS

The crosses we have in church, at home and on ourselves, and the sign of the Cross which we make on ourselves, are tokens of the salvation we have received through the death of our Saviour on Golgotha two thousand years ago. Saint John of Kronstadt teaches us that the Cross is an eye-opener, a way of life, a spiritual weapon and the very image of the Cross is and has been historically used by God to teach us.

THE CROSS IS AN EYE-OPENER

Jesus is united with the sign of the Cross. And in order that the unbelieving heart should not think that both the sign of the Cross and the name of Christ act miraculously by themselves, apart from and independently of Christ himself, this same Cross and name of Christ do not perform any miracles until I believe with my whole heart all that he has accomplished for our salvation.

A Cross is the token of our salvation

Looking upon the Saviour’s Cross, contemplate Love crucified upon it for our salvation; and think for what blessedness he has saved us, and from what torments he has redeemed us! He has snatched us from the claws of the beast and has brought us to the father! O Love! O redemption! O terrors of everlasting torments! O indescribable, endless blessedness!

Through the Cross we have the certainty that our prayers are answered

“He who did not spare his own Son ... how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31) The essential, the greatest is given. Everything else that we ask for or pray for is infinitely less than the Son of God. We may therefore ask God for everything trustfully in the name of Jesus Christ, every blessing of gift that we can think of, for ‘I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.’ (John 14: 3) Do you pray for the forgiveness of the sins or for the repose of the departed? “He is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:2) “The Blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7) He can forgive even the departed every sin committed by them in word, deed or thought. “He is the resurrection, the life and the repose of his departed servants.” .... Would you ask him anything for the living or for yourself? “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you” (John 15:7)

Golgotha should be constantly before our eyes

Say to yourself more frequently: I wish so to live that my life may gladden my Beloved, crucified for my sake on the Cross. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2)

THE CROSS IS A WAY OF LIFE

Because of the Cross, love is our way of life

In your home you see love in those around, for they are sealed in baptism and chrism with the cross of love and war the cross. The also partake with you in church of the ‘supper of love’. In church there are everywhere symbols of love: crosses, the sign of the Cross, the saints who were pleasing to God by their love for him and for their neighbours, and Incarnate Love itself. In heaven and upon earth everywhere there is love. It rests and rejoices the heart, like God, while enmity kills the soul and the body. And you must show love, always and everywhere. How can you not love when everywhere you hear love preached, when only the destroyer of mankind, the devil, is eternal enmity!

Because of the Cross, there can be no hatred in our lives

Dislike, enmity or hatred should be unknown among Christians even by name. How can dislike exist among Christians? Everywhere you can see love, everywhere you breathe the fragrance of love. Our God is the God of love. His kingdom is the kingdom of love. Out of love for us he did not spare his Only-Begotten Son but delivered him up to die for our sakes “to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10)

A prayer based on the Cross as an instrument of love

Grant, Lord, that I may ever love each of my neighbours as myself and not be angry with them for any cause, and not serve the devil in this way. Grant that I may crucify my self-love, pride, covetousness, incredulity and other passions. Let mutual love be our name; grant that we may believe and trust that the Lord is everything to us all; that we may not be careful nor anxious about anything; that you, O God, may truly be the only God of our heart and nothing beside you. Let t the be union of love between us as there ought to be and let everything that divides us from each other and prevents us from loving one another be despised by us like the dust trampled under foot. So be it! So be it! If God has given us himself, if he abides in us and we in him according to his own true words, then what will he not give me, what will he keep away from me, of what will he deprive me, how can he forsake me? “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing” (Psalm 32:1) “Will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.” (Romans 8:32) And therefore, my soul, be perfectly at rest and know nothing but love. “This is my command: Love each other” (John 15: 17)

Since the Lord gave us his son, we must give generously ourselves

God did not spare for our sakes even his Only-Begotten Son. How, then, after this can we grudge anything to our neighbour: either food, drink, clothing or money for his various needs? ... If we use these gifts selfishly, avariciously and greedily for ourselves only and grudge them to them, then they become injurious to our soul and body.

The sign of the Cross reminds us that every human being is an image of God

In signing ourselves with the sign of the Cross, with the three fingers w delay the upper end of the /cross upon the forehead as an emblem of God the Father, who is the uncreated Wisdom. The lower end of the Cross on the bosom as an emblem of the Son who was begotten of the Father before all worlds and who is in the bosom of the Father. And the transverse part on the shoulders as an emblem of the Holy Spirit who is the arm or the power of God, or the hand of the Lord, as has been said: “To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (John 12:38 and Isaiah 53:1) - or “The hand of the Lord was upon me there.” (Ezekiel 3:22) that is, the Holy Spirit..... How great therefore is man It has not been said in vain: “I said, ‘You are gods, you are all sons of the Most High’ (Psalm 82:6). Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came - and the Scripture cannot be broken (that is, if it has been said, then it must be true, immutable) - what about the one whom the Father set apart as his own very won and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’?” (John 10:35 -36). O, the dignity! O, the greatness of man! Do not look upon any man, especially upon a Christian, otherwise than upon the son of God, and receive him as the son of God, converse with him, behave with him as with the son of God, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Cross reminds Christians that they may not live as pagans

Christian! Remember that Christ, the founder of your faith, was crucified on the Cross and left you the cross. Why then do you live in luxury, in spaciousness, in indulgence, in idleness? He suffered dishonour and commanded you not to shun dishonour for his name; but you seek honour. Gaze more often on the crucified and learn your duties. “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24)

THE CROSS IS A SPIRITUAL WEAPON

The Cross and the sign of the Cross have had great power from Old Testament times

The Lord was crucified for us on the Cross. This is the reason why it, as well as the sign of the Cross, have such power. This is why it is life-giving. This is why even in the Old Testament its symbol had such great power. The pole upon which the serpent was set cured those who were bitten by serpents. The cross, traced by Moses’ rod separated the waters; Moses’ hands uplifted in prayer and forming the Cross, conquered Amalek and so on.

By the Cross as well as by the sign of the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ is ever with us, living and life-giving, and ever acts by means of various powers for our salvation, through our faith in him, our God and Saviour. Glory for this to our Lord who is ever present with us! “I am with you always, to the close of the age. Amen.” (Matthew 28:20)

The sign of the Cross as a reminder to nail our sins to the Saviour’s Cross

In making the sign of the Cross, believe and constantly remember that your sins are nailed to the Cross. When you fall into sin, immediately judge yourself sincerely and make the sign of the Cross over yourself saying: “Lord, you nail our sins to the Cross, nail also my present sin to your Cross and have mercy on me according to your unfailing love” (Psalm 51:1) and you will be cleansed from your sin. Amen.

The effect of the Cross on demons and on the elements

The Cross is in Christ and Christ is on the Cross. The Cross is the image of the crucified Christ, the son of God, and therefore the sign of the Cross and even its shadow are terrible to the demons as the sign of Christ himself, as the shadow of him crucified. Therefore, it is very important to sanctify water by immersing the Cross in it. Through this it becomes healing and drives away demons.

Glory to the never failing power of your Cross, O Lord! When the enemy oppresses me by sinful thoughts and feelings and I, having no freedom in my heart, make the sign of the Cross several times with faith, then my sin suddenly passes away from me, the straightness vanishes and I obtain freedom. Glory to you, O Lord! Lord, let nothing, nothing carnal, material turn me away from you! Let me always be with you!

Do not pay attention to the darkness of satan. Drive it away from your heart by making the sign of the life-giving Cross!

THE IMAGE OF THE CROSS IS AND HAS BEEN USED BY GOD TO TEACH US

In blessings the Church refers to the image of the Cross with great reverence

Why do we honour the cross with such reverence that we make mention of its power in our prayers after asking for the intercession of the Mother of God and the heavenly powers, and sometimes even before asking for that of the heavenly powers? Because, after the Saviour’s sufferings, the cross became the sign of the Son of Man, that is, the cross signifies the Lord himself incarnate and suffering for our salvation. On the Cross, Christ offered himself as a sacrifice to God the Father for our sins and by it he has saved us from the works of the enemy; and this is why we honour it with such great reverence. And therefore, it will always be a great power for believers, delivering them from every evil, especially from the evil actions of invisible enemies.

The meaning of historical miracles concerning the Cross

Why did the Holy Cross appear in the heavens to the Emperor Constantine? In order to show that our Lord himself, also all the apostles and all the army of martyrs entered into glory through the Cross. That the Cross is invincible victory. That as the devil was vanquished by means of the Cross, so also all the enemies of the Cross of Christ or of Christians will be vanquished by the Cross. Also that the devil acts through the persecutors of the Christians and must be conquered by means of the Cross. And that the persecuted Christians are members of Christ, soldiers of Christ who are always under the protection of Christ the Lord and of his Cross.

There is an immediate link between the power of the Cross and that of the Mysteries

If God communicates an invincible, incomprehensible divine power to the life-giving Cross, then why should it be wonderful that he communicates a similar incomprehensible power, in order to regenerate our nature, to the most pure, terrible and life-giving Mystery of his Body and Blood.

Source: http://www.bath-orthodox-church.co.uk/public/parish_stjohn_teaching.php

Subscribe to: Posts ( Atom )

Search This Blog

featured Slider

Great Lent Through the Eyes of the Old Testament

Reader Services: When One is Unable to Attend Church Services

The Lord Wants Every Person to Be Saved and Knocks at Everyone’s Heart

“Church Music Opens Up Gradually”: an Interview with Eugene Prokofiev, the Precentor of the Brothers’ Choir of St. Elisabeth Convent

"Because of the Cross, love is our way of life" Teachings of St. John of Kronstadt Concerning the Cross

Partners