You are not what you think: the battle for the mind

“Five degrees can be distinguished in the battle as one is led away from Godpleasing purity of mind:

(1) A simple thought of suggestion (in Slavonic, prilog) which comes to the mind from outside; not depending upon us, such fleeting thoughts are not sinful in themselves, and even the spiritually perfect are not entirely free from them.

(2) “Conjunction” (sochetanie) or conversation with the thought, granting it permission to come within, receiving and holding it in the mind. This may be done with or without passion, and so may be sinful or sinless, depending on the outcome.

(3) “Joining (slozhenie) or accepting the thought, being defeated by it; this is judged more or less severely depending on one's state of advancement in spiritual life and on the basic orientation of one's heart: one may be defeated in thought and yet still be determined not to sin in act; or one may accept the thought to such an extent that one is prepared to act according to its suggestion, in which case a penance (epitimia) should be given by one's spiritual father.

(4) “Captivity” (plenenie) is an involuntary attraction of one's heart to the thought, from which state one may be freed and return to oneself with God's help; or, more seriously, the thought constantly settles in one's mind and the mind, carried away from its good orientation into evil thoughts, can no longer return to a peaceful state.

(5) “Passion” (strast) is an inclination and activity that have nested themselves in the soul for a long time because of habit and become as it were the soul's nature. A man comes to this state at first voluntarily, but ends by being completely enslaved by it.”

The Northern Thebaid, St. Herman's Press, pp. 99-100

Wait upon the Lord

By St. Dimitry of Rostov

Do not be weak of soul and impatient, desiring everything to come to pass according to your will. It is better to pray to God with tranquility of soul and patience, leaving everything to His will. Never demand the speedy fulfillment of your desires – not all of them are good, nor the attainment of them beneficial. You may test which of your desires are in agreement with the Lord's will by continued expectation and zealous prayer. If it is in agreement with the Lord's will then God shall grant it, and promptly; if not, He shall prevent and withhold it for your own good, according to His providence for you. But you, whether God gives or does not give, receive everything with thankfulness and meekness of heart.

Translated from Russian by Fr. Zechariah & Mat. Natalia

We Lead Christ Along After Us

By Fr. John (Krestiankin) of blessed memory

The hidden reason for our discord, my dear ones, consists of this, we remain only outwardly with Christ but inwardly we forget about Him; we do not follow after Him, rather we lead Christ along after us. "O Lord, look with delight on my labors, my podvigs; see I have done this and that."

Me! Me! Me! And thus "Me" has already closed Christ off from us, but it - our "Me" - becomes worn out from its own weakness, its own powerlessness. Yet Christ only looks on us with a bit of reproach, as upon His unreasonable children; He allows us to completely delight in our own powerlessness so that we would come yet again to Him, this time already on our own.   

Translated from Russian by Fr. Zechariah & Mat. Natalia.  

Eternal Truth For All Times

"At the present time of universal wavering, disturbance of minds and corruption, it is especially demanded of us that we should confess the true teaching of the Church no matter what might be the person of those who listen and despite the unbelief which surrounds us. If for the sake of adaptation to the errors of this age we shall be silent about the truth or give a corrupt teaching in the name of pleasing this world, then we would actually be giving to those who seek the truth a stone in place of bread. The higher is the standing of one who acts in this way, the greater the scandal that is produced by him, and the more serious can be the consequences."

Metropolitan Philaret of blessed memory

 "Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle" 2 Thess. 2:15

"Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." 2 Tim. 3:12-15

"Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they having itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things." 2 Tim 4:3-5

The Holy Apostle Paul

Why Orthodox Christians Worship Facing East

By St. John of Damascus

It is not without reason or by chance that we worship towards the East. But seeing that we are composed of a visible and an invisible nature, that is to say, of a nature partly of spirit and partly of sense, we render also twofold worship to the Creator; just as we sing with our spirit and our bodily lips, and we are baptized with both water and Spirit, and are united with the Lord in a twofold manner, being sharers in the mysteries and in the grace of the Spirit.

Since, therefore, God is spiritual light, and Christ is called in the Scriptures the Sun of Righteousness and Dayspring, the East is the direction that must be assigned to His worship. For everything good must be assigned to Him from Whom every good thing arises. Indeed the divine David also says, Sing unto God, you kingdoms of the earth: O sing praises unto the Lord: to Him Who rides upon the Heavens of heavens towards the East (Ps 67:34 LXX). Moreover the Scripture also says, And God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed (Gen. 2:8): and when he had transgressed His command He expelled him and made him to dwell over against the delights of Paradise, which clearly is the West. So, then, we worship God seeking and striving after our old fatherland. Moreover the tent of Moses (the Tabernacle) had its veil and mercy seat towards the East. Also the tribe of Judah as the most precious pitched their camp on the East. Also in the celebrated temple of Solomon the Gate of the Lord was placed eastward. Moreover Christ, when he hung on the Cross, had His face turn towards the West, and so we worship striving after Him. And when He was received again into Heaven He was borne towards the East, and thus He will come again in the way in which they beheld Him going towards Heaven (Acts 1:2); as the Lord Himself said, As lightning comes out of the East and shines even unto the West, so also shall the coming of the Son of Man be (Mat. 24:27).

So, then, in expectation of His coming we worship towards the East. But this tradition of the apostles is unwritten. For much that has been handed down to us by tradition is unwritten.

From: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book IV, Chap. XII

You have appeared, a hymn by St. Romanus

Today You have appeared to the inhabited world,
and Your light, O Lord, has been signed upon us,
who, with knowledge, sing your praise, "You have come, You have appeared, 
                  the unapproachable Light.

In Galilee of the nations, in the country of Zavulon and the land of Naphthalim,
as the prophet said, a great light has shone - Christ.
For the darkness, a shining beam has appeared, blazing out of Bethlehem,
or rather, out of Mary - the Lord, the sun of justice,
has made His rays dawn on the whole inhabited world.
Therefore let us all, Adam's naked children,
put Him on that we may be kept warm;
for as a covering for the naked and a light for the darkened
You have come, You have appeared,
                 the unapproachable Light.

God did not despise the one who was robbed by trickery in Paradise
and lost the garment woven by God,
for He came towards him calling the disobedient once again with His holy voice,
"Adam, where are you? From now on do not hide from Me; I want to see you.
Though you are naked, though you are poor, do not be ashamed, for I have become like you.
Though you desired it you did not become a god,
but now, by My own will, I have become flesh.
Draw near Me then and recognize Me, that you may say,
You have come, You have appeared,
                 the unapproachable Light.

In my mercy, I was overcome by My compassion and came to My creature,
stretching out My hands to embrace you.
So do not be ashamed in front of Me; for your sake, naked as you are, I am stripped naked and baptized.
Already the Jordan opens for Me, and John
prepares My ways in the waters and in minds.
The Savior spoke thus to humankind,
not in words but in deeds, and came, as He said,
drawing near the river on foot,
but to the Forerunner as
                   the unapproachable Light.


An excerpt from the Kontakion of St. Romanus on Holy Theophany.
From On the Life of Christ, Kontakia, p. 39-40

The spirit of this age and the Spirit of Christ

By, Hiero-Martyr Damascene (Tsedrik)

“The purpose of the Church is constant battle; this is why it is called the 'militant Church', battling with the prince of this world – that is, with all those who by all possible means and ways press the spirit of man, bind it, as it were mix it with matter, gradually suppress and in it the call from heaven, deprive it of the opportunity even to feel its own true nature, the true purpose of its life in this world, and even harden it against the eternal light. For the spirit that has become attached to earth, this Light even now becomes painfully tormenting, which is why there is occurring a rebellion against the light, an effort to put out its remaining rays in this world. All this is contained in a single word: evil. As long as there is occurring a conscious battle with evil, so long will the 'day' of Christ's Church endure …. It is joyful to realize that only this Light possesses the life-giving quality of constantly creating, igniting noble lamps of the light in the midst of the darkness which to all appearances has already covered everything. Therefore, let it be that darkness has temporarily covered the earth (form the sixth to the ninth hour), let it be that the lamps of certain Churches are hidden under bushels so as not to be put out by the satanic whirlwind (as has occurred with the majority). After a short time of rest from the Lord (perhaps even the time when darkness will imagine that its work has already been completed), the lamps will be revealed, will come together, will ignite a multitude of others which had been put out, will pour together into a great flame of faith which, when efforts are made to put it out, will burn yet brighter; for many which have been put out and have felt the torment of the darkness and the cold of Tartarus will prefer to burn upon the bonfire of the flame of faith that again to be immersed in darkness ….

No matter how few we might be, the whole power of Christ's promises concerning the invincibility of the Church remain with us. With us is Christ, the Conqueror of death and hell. The history of Christianity shows us that in all the periods when temptations and heresies have agitated the Church, the bearers of church truth and the expressors of it were few, but these few with the fire of their faith and their zealous standing in the Truth have gradually ignited everyone … The same thing will happen now if we few will fulfill our duty before Christ and His Church to the end.

Why is it that the seal of the Antichrist, as St. John the Theologian affirms, will be placed not upon the forehead and the hand simultaneously, but upon the forehead or the hand? Likewise, St. Andrew, Archbishop of Caesarea, writes: 'He will strive so that the mark might be placed on everyone' … In some it will be on the right hand, so as to instruct those who have been deceived to be bold in their deception and darkness. This will occur because at that time there will be people who will affirm that it is possible and permissible to recognize the God-fighting authority of Antichrist if only one remains a Christian in one's soul. From such ones the Antichrist will not demand that they share his way of thinking; in other words, upon all such ones he will not place the seal on their forehead, but will demand of them only recognition of his authority, which is, according to St. Hippolytus, the seal on the hand, since through recognition of the human authority which will be God-fighting and against God, lawless and filled with every impiety, a Christian by this very fact will cut off from himself every possibility of doing good and righteous deeds, for in his faith there will be missing the chief sign of uprightness – the confession of God as God and the recognition of Him as Being that stands above all. All such ones, even though they might bear the name of Christian, in very deed will be, according to the works of their hands, true servants of Antichrist, who has deceived them by the worship of his image, which is the mark of the beast. Repentance is impossible for such ones, according to the teaching of the Holy Church; and it is impossible only because the seal of Christ and the seal of the Antichrist are incompatible with each other, and the reception of one banishes the presence of the other. The banishing of the grace of the Holy Spirit through the mark of the beast fills the heart of all such ones with the first sign – fearfulness – which will bring them to an easy destruction. St. Hippolytus writes: 'On the contrary, if anyone will be deprived of the Holy Spirit, that is, if one will not have upon himself or has lost the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit which was given in Holy Chrismation, he will fight with fear in a cowardly manner, will hide, will be afraid of the present temporal death, will conceal himself from the sword, will not endure chastisement, since he is constantly thinking about this world.”

From: Russia's Catacomb Saints, pp. 227-228, 222-223.