Do people in Russia really go to church? (Yes they do!)

—What are the most challenging aspects of your role as a church accountant? What helps you overcome the difficulties? —There isn’t a notable distinction; professionalism is important whether you work in the Church or in secular organizations. We must apply the knowledge we’ve gained to serve the Church. Every task must be executed with precision, professionalism, and diligence, whether it’s serving in the altar, cleaning floors in the church, or working in the church store. Everything we do should be done for God. This includes correct and proper accounting. Accounting for a church is simpler than regular accounting, but the work is more multifaceted and accountants have to solve many organizational, personnel, business and even legal issues. They must grow professionally and learn new things. When working for the Church, we must be prepared to undertake any task and not consider any kind of work to be beneath us. And our faith and prayers will help us overcome any difficulties. Supporting the Church —Why is the tradition to light candles before icons so important and why have the Orthodox have kept it since ancient times? —We all know that the candle is a symbol of a sacrifice to God. Christ said, “I am the light of the world” (John, 8:12). In the Old Testament, the candle signified the presence of God. The worship services of early Christians were held at night and candles were used to illuminate the surroundings. Later on, candles began to be used in church, and now we light oil lamps and candles to symbolize our heartfelt prayer to God. The Church relies solely on donations for its support This symbolism also holds practical significance. The Church represents our collective endeavor, and it is essential for everyone to participate in worship services. Nowadays, we have lost a sense of community; when we’re in church, we often don’t know the people who are standing next to us. This shouldn’t be the case, as we should all take an interest in each other and come to church for the common cause of prayer and ministry. In the past, parishioners would supply flour and church wine for worship services. Now these tasks are carried out in an organized manner, including baking prosphoras and purchasing church wine, frankincense, oil, and other essentials. The Church relies on donations from parishioners to carry out these tasks. The Church building requires heating and lighting, so we need to pay for these services. The building is huge, so it requires ongoing repairs and incurs considerable expenses for maintenance. Many things are needed to make sure that worship services can take place, and this includes dealing with the commercial issues and payroll. So lighting a candle is a small contribution you make to support the Church, ensuring that the prayers go on and the Church continues to exist. The Church is not financed by the government and receives no allocations from the budget. It relies solely on donations for its support. The Church’s interests are not protected by the government, and there are people who sell candles and church wares without authorization. Not realizing that the Church relies on donations to operate, parishioners might purchase candles from beekeepers at the market. Then they would place the candles on the candlestands in the church without understanding that they haven’t made a donation to support the Church. We must be honest with God. If you think that you can’t afford to buy a candle or make a donation at the moment, it is better to pray and say, “God, all I have is a repenting spirit. Help others donate to the church to support its needs.” There is no point in bringing the candles bought in a market or in a commercial shop, because this supports businessmen who often do not share the Church’s values. —People might believe that God is above everything and everyone, so they simply don’t consider such nuances. —Benefactors are specifically mentioned during every Great Entrance in the Divine Liturgy: “the builders, decorators, donors of this holy church, you, and all Orthodox Christians…” For ages, the Church has been emphasizing the need for benefactors and donors, praying for them regularly. How could anyone overlook that? It’s important to be a part of the Church. Consider the word “счастье” (happiness)—its root is “часть” (part). This implies that we find happiness when we are a part of something meaningful to us. The word “Причастие” (Communion) also shares the same root “часть”. When we recite the Creed, we say “in One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church...” We must understand that we are a part of the Church headed by Christ. If we believe that we are a part of this Church, we must contribute by praying in churches and giving donations for their maintenance. It’s simple. —Please tell us about the economics of a large parish. According to the Charter, the church’s chief accountant’s title is Treasurer, i.e. the “holder of funds”. The treasurer’s responsibilities combine the functions of an economist and an accountant. In non-religious organizations, an economist handles planning and estimation, while the accountant works with factual data calculating the financial results once a business transaction is completed. In a parish, you have to be an economist and an accountant. The amounts of donations can vary greatly. We know that January typically sees the highest income, while February often brings lower donations coupled with higher heating expenses, so we always have to set aside some January donations for February to create a financial buffer. A parish is a business, just like any other legal entity. The church building has maintenance expenses that may not be immediately apparent, but when we walk into a church, we see church workers, clergy, and choir members, who, like anyone else, have utility bills, children and financial needs. Naturally, the church must pay their salaries. Vladyka, as a skilled manager, organized accounting in the Vyatka diocese administration office and parishes. Transparent and easy—to—understand accounting system has been implemented. All parishes of the Vyatka diocese have accounting and cash transaction procedures in place, including accounting for candles and requests for prayers and rites. A church is an employer, just like any other legal entity Of course, there are people who volunteer their time and efforts for the glory of God. These are great people and we appreciate their help. However, most parishioners, especially young people who have no other sources of income and need to support their families are paid for their services. The churches pay their employees without delay, deducting insurance fees from the salaries and withholding personal income taxes. A church is an employer, just like any other legal entity. We need to plan the allocation of our funds, prioritizing payroll and tax payments in the parishes. Once salaries and taxes are paid, we address utility bills, and only then do we allocate funds for necessary purchases and repairs, if there are any remaining funds. We always strive to live within our means to ensure that the parish does not accrue any debts. It would be wonderful to have funds for development, but maintaining churches, especially large buildings with numerous auxiliary offices, has always been challenging. We always hope that people would assist in the upkeep of these large church structures, as it involves a considerable amount of work that may not be immediately apparent. —What myths about “parish wealth” have you heard? How would you debunk them? —When people come to church on feast days and see parishioners making donations, they might assume that the Church has a ton of money. In such cases, we explain that we have to pay for utilities (heating, power, and water supply), security, video surveillance, Internet, garbage removal and many other services. Considering the church’s size, you can imagine the magnitude of our expenses. Think about your utility expenses in January—you know that they are not small. When we explain this to people, they understand the heavy burden we carry and start to wonder how we survive without government assistance. —What are people more inclined to donate for? Can you illustrate this with an example from one of the churches? —When additional donations are needed for maintenance, purchasing churchware, or painting the church, the parish council puts up a collection box with the information about the purpose of the collection. The information about the collection is also published on the parishes’ websites and bulletin boards. Since these are targeted donations, they are recorded separately and used strictly for their designated purpose. Parishioners are more inclined to donate to the repairs because they want their church to be beautiful. —Does the parish of the St. Panteleimon Church have any social projects? What difficulties does it face? —Parishioners of every church try to open a Sunday school to preach about the Resurrected Christ. God came to sow the Word, and we need pass this Word to our children, teach them how to live, foster their aspirations, and help them find faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ. However, finding a suitable location for the Sunday school always poses a significant challenge. The St. Panteleimon Church in Kirov has a two—storied administrative building housing the offices of the priest, superintendent, and accountant along with such facilities as the priests’ room, dining room, library, and children’s Sunday school that includes seven classrooms. This building also serves as a venue for the adult Sunday school classes, folk choir rehearsals, and youth gatherings. Naturally, this building is not enough for us, so the St. Panteleimon Church has been wanting to build another Sunday school building for many years. Such a project entails significant expenses, but discussions are underway, considering the available land owned by the parish for potential expansion. As for other churches, like the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God situated in the newly developed and densely populated Chistye Prudy microdistrict, there’s a pressing need for a dedicated administration building. Currently, their Sunday school sessions are conducted in cramped spaces unsuitable for children’s classes. While there is a high demand for Sunday school programs, the church struggles to fully accommodate it. Almost all parishes face similar problems. Hard Times —How do parishes help people in difficult situations? —During times of hardship, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, always calls for fundraising efforts. The churches of the Vyatka diocese have collected donations for the refugees from Donbass, the victims of floods in Khersonskaya and Zaporozhskaya provinces, large families, and victims of fires. The collected donations are then forwarded to the diocese, which channels the funds in a centralized manner to the designated accounts of the Social Services Department of the Moscow Patriarchate. —You’ve been working in the Church since 2011, that is you’ve worked there for more than nine years. When did you experience the most financially difficult period? What helped you overcome the difficulties? —The most challenging period we experienced was probably during the Coronavirus pandemic. The Dormition Cathedral was the first to experience the decline in parishioners and, consequently, donations. Starting from February 2020, there were insufficient funds to pay for heating, power and water, so the Dormition Cathedral published a plea for financial assistance on its website. I would like to thank everybody who donated, as their contributions enabled the cathedral to settle its debts with the utility companies. By May/June 2020, all outstanding debts for the winter season had been fully repaid. —Has the introduction of plastic cards simplified church accounting, or has it complicated the financial activities of the parish? Many people think that we still use abacuses in our churches, but that’s not the case —In terms of worshiping God, the Church has remained constant. For example, the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom has been performed for many centuries. The same worship texts have been used, and nothing has changed. In all other areas, such as maintenance, information management, legal matters, and accounting, the churches of the diocese are keeping pace with the times. Many people think that we still use abacuses in our churches, but that’s not the case. The Church pays taxes just like any other taxpayer. The church treasurers use 1C accounting software and e-document management systems. The churches entered into merchant acquiring contacts with banks and the use of plastic cards in the churches of the diocese has become commonplace. During the Covid pandemic, we had to install terminals in the church stores so that people could use their plastic cards to make donations. After using a bank terminal, parishioners receive donation receipts. This made church accounting more complicated, but the treasurers learned to handle the new tasks. —Do you need to provide reports to the donors detailing how their donations were used, or do they have complete trust in the parishes? —If someone makes a donation for a specific purpose, the funds must be used strictly as directed. Donors see the outcomes of the projects funded by their donations and don’t request formalized reports. The Vyatka diocese oversees the allocation of targeted funds. At the end of each fiscal year, parishes report their donation receipts and expenditures to the diocese. Thankfully, there have been no instances of mismanagement. A Beautiful Church in Chistye Prudy —You are also responsible for the accounting of the recently built Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Chistie Prudy microdistrict. Can you tell us what funds were used to decorate it? —The church construction began with the blessing of Metropolitan Mark of Vyatka and Sloboda. Kirovspetsmontazh construction company, headed by Alexey Semenovich Mironov, started the work in 2013 and completed the construction free of charge. Metropolitan Mark blessed the appointment of Vitaly Lapshin as the priest of the church and I assumed the role of the treasurer while it was still under construction. The parish of the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of God was officially registered with the Ministry of Justice on October 31, 2014. Regular worship services were conducted throughout the construction phase, initially in a tent, then in a basement, and later in the antechurch, attracting a steady group of parishioners to the church. The donations started coming in, and we used the money to gradually acquire churchware. We knew that when the construction is finished, it won’t be easy to buy all the required church wares at once. That is why, while the construction was still ongoing, we purchased the 540-liter holy water tanks, baptismal font, shroud reliquary, Eucharistic sets, memorial candle rack, altar crosses, and liturgical vestments and books. The parish opened a current account in the bank, and donations were accumulated there for several years. When the building of the church was complete, these funds were used to install granite floors, paint the main dome of the church, and decorate the altar. A portion of the funds for this work was a personal donation from Metropolitan Mark. The construction of the church was finished in 2022, and preparations were underway for the dedication services. The altar, table of oblation, sanctuary lamp, altar Gospel, the Book of the Apostles, candleholders and other church utensils were purchased using the funds provided by the Vyatka diocese. The diocese also purchased the liturgical vestments of all colors, carpets and runners, wall—mounted oil lamps, and many other items. The painting of the western wall of the church and the wall pilasters is currently underway, financed by the parish funds. Additionally, contracts have been signed for mosaic work on the western wall at the entrance to the church, and an order has been placed for making the large church chandelier which will be covered by Kirovspetsmontazh construction company. Most importantly, daily prayer services are held in the church in Chistye Prudy, and new parishioners continue to join. The Tradition That Feeds Your Soul —You are attending the course organized in the Center for Training of Church Specialists by the Vyatka Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church. What did you learn during the training? Who would benefit from attending such courses? We shouldn’t stop in our development. Instead, we should continue to know God as this journey is never—ending We shouldn’t stop in our development. Instead, we should continue to know God as this journey is never-ending. Naturally, we need to know about our saints. The courses organized for the lay people in the Vyatka Seminary are very interesting. The lectures are delivered by highly qualified teachers who are certified experts in their respective fields. The teaching team includes hieromonk Nikolai (Belev) M.Th,, dean of the Dormition Cathedral of the St. Tryphon Monastery and Natalia Viktorovna Krivosheina, D.A. Natalia knows everything there is to know about St. Tryphon! She has visited all the places where he labored and churches where he preached at. She knows all of this icons. N.V. Krivosheina defended her doctoral thesis on the decorations of the Dormition Cathedral in Kirov. Instructor N.V. Krivosheina with graduates of the course for lay people in the Center for Training of Church Specialists of the Vyatka Diocese Instructor N.V. Krivosheina with graduates of the course for lay people in the Center for Training of Church Specialists of the Vyatka Diocese Among other interesting instructors are Elena Vitalyevna Kustova, DHS (senior lecturer, renowned author of the History of the Dormition Cathedral of St. Tryphon Monastery in Vyatka), Olga Vladimirovna Krupina (head of the Science and Exhibitions Department of the Vasnetsovs Vyatka Arts Museum and Deputy Director, Science and Methodology), Vlada Anatolyevna Devonina, Cand. Phil. Sci. (head of Correspondence Department, the Center for Training of Church Specialists of the Vyatka Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church). During the lectures, students find solace for their souls. At the end of the day people may feel tired and reluctant to attend, but once they enter the classroom, they forget about their daily hustle and fatigue. I am providing this item because the very IDEA that people in Russian go to churches. But they do. As a matter of fact more than five million people attend church in Russia. Our time is unique in that the sermons of well-known missionaries are easily accessible. You can come home and listen to a sermon delivered in Optina Pustyn or on Valaam… However, nothing can replace the personal interaction people experience during the courses. Conversations with other students and the traditional interaction between teacher and students are essential, as they both educate and supports us. The teachers that deliver lectures are fountains of knowledge. On a pilgrimage to the sites associated with the life of St. Tryphon of Vyatka On a pilgrimage to the sites associated with the life of St. Tryphon of Vyatka —In September 2023, you joined the employees of the Holy Dormition Cathedral on a pilgrimage to the sites associated with St. Tryphon of Vyatka. Please tell us about this trip. Does your parish plan any similar trips?

—We decided to go on a pilgrimage after Elena Vitalyevna Kustova’s lecture on St. Tryphon of Vyatka. I met Nadezhda Feliksovna Shapoval, the head of “S Vyatki” pilgrimage service and asked her why there were no organized trips to the sites associated with St. Tryphon. She told me that they had struggled to find enough pilgrims to form a group. I proposed the idea of forming a group consisting of employees of our churches. Our staff members were delighted at the opportunity to participate in this journey. The pilgrimage to the sites associated with St. Tryphon of Vyatka was attended by forty—eight employees from the Dormition Cathedral, St. Panteleimon’s Church, and the Church of Nativity of the Holy Mother of God in Chistye Prudy. During this journey, we experienced profound spiritual fulfillment and gained a deeper understanding of the life and deeds of St. Tryphon. The pilgrimage was guided by Fr. Alexander Kossov and Fr. Alipiy (Storozhuk). Such pilgrimages should indeed become a tradition. We are currently planning to organize a similar trip in 2024. We need to know the saints from Vyatka and learn about the places associated with their lives and deeds. In Kirs, situated in the northwest of Kirovskaya Oblast, there is a Church of the Protecting Veil where special rites are performed to commemorate the new martyrs, as a Vyatlag (forced labor camp—Translator) was located in this area. The Church of the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God has also established a Vyatlag museum. In accordance with the blessing of Kirill, the Most Holy Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the feast commemorating the new martyrs and confessors of the Vyatka Metropolitanate is observed on a diocesan level. Many of these saints endured hardships at Vyatlag, so it is important for us to visit these sites and pay homage to their memory. St. Tryphon Monastery St. Tryphon Monastery

—What was the most memorable pilgrimage in your life? —My first pilgrimage. It was 2002. I went to Diveyevo with pilgrims from Izhevsk. Back then, Diveyevo, the monastery of St. Seraphim, lacked the grandeur it boasts today. Our accommodations were humble, consisting of large rooms furnished with bunk beds, and meals were served in an outdoor dining hall. In other words, the conditions were quite austere. However, the sacred atmosphere imbued with the grace of God had a profound impact on us. We felt as though we were in another world and didn’t want to leave this monastery. While modern—day pilgrims are often awed by the beauty and splendor of Diveyevo Monastery, in the 2000s, during its restoration, we were more captivated by unforgettable spiritual impressions. I met my first spiritual friends during that trip and we’ve been keeping in touch since then. —Do you have any time left for something that feeds your soul? How do you recharge and where do you find inspiration? Working in the church is what feeds my soul —I think that working in the church is what feeds my soul. Despite the weariness that may come from my daily routine, the constant stream of information, or the interactions with countless people, I never tire of working in the church. Work and prayer bring fulfilment to my life. Certainly, maintaining professional, spiritual and physical well—being is essential. That is why I make an effort to visit the women’s fitness club gym. For spiritual nourishment, I carve out time for reading; it’s always a refreshing activity. And, of course, the most precious to me is spending time with friends. Trips back home are always rejuvenating, providing an opportunity to reconnect with relatives and close friends. —With spring just around the corner, what can you say to inspire our readers? —I would like to emphasize that this is the golden age of the Church. Why? Because never have there been so much accessible information, such as patristic books and literature. We have the freedom to read whatever we desire, which is especially precious after the constraints of the Soviet era. The churches are now open, and we are free to attend worship services, and engage in reading, study, and reflection. A candle lights up brightly just before it goes out. So who knows how long this time will last? That is why we need to appreciate this and find time to serve God and feed our souls. We must be aware of the passage of time, and I pray that everyone has the opportunity to offer their sacrifices to God, both through their work and their prayers.

Lada Bayeva spoke with Elena Blinova Translation by Talyb Samedov Pravoslavie.ru 4/19/2024

Dear Family of Mary! Today I have a treat for us all. Our shipmate, Stefanie, has transcribed a wonderful homily given by Father Brendan Kilcoyne on April 2, 2024 for English Mass in Medjugorje! Fr. Kilcoyne has a way to showing us our lives from a different perspective, a heavenly perspective. He urges us to live our lives from that perspective, as it is much more alive, full of energy and faith. Here is Fr. Kilcoyne's homily for April 2, 2024 in Medjugorje: To hear Fr. deliver this homily here is the link: https://marytv.tv/english-homily-in-medjugorje-2/?smid=OnoB3bsg4NV&slid=IRBKmbjFsDA HOMILY Very good morning to you! You are very welcome to mass this morning! My name is Kilcoyne and I minister in the parishes of Balla and Mayo Abbey in the middle of County Mayo in Ireland. I think it was… – it’s a story I’m fond of using to make a number of points – but, I think it was the late Anthony Bourdain, the American chef of French inspiration, who said that you should always have your chicken a little pink, always your pork a faint pink, because you lose the juices. He said: “Of course, the price of fine cuisine is the occasional bad night.” “But,” he said, “this is the price you pay to taste your food.” I don’t know how far I’d go with him on that. But I think in Ireland, at least, we’re certainly well used to “walking on the wild side” with food. I had several relatives who went to early, but very happy, graves after spending a lifetime putting half a pound of butter on their spuds. Lashings of salt. They swore that the cabbage was absolutely tasteless unless it was cooked in the water in which the bacon had been boiled. I always assume when I’m talking to a congregation in Medjugorje that I’m dealing with serious people, with “players” in Catholic terms. I think the way you respond to the Mass gives evidence of that. Some people, critics, will say the Catholics only go to Medjugorje for a nice holiday. To which I would respond that they know nothing about Catholicism. A Catholic pilgrimage was always at least half a holiday, and nobody parties like a Catholic. That’s because: We know how this turns out! Yeah, yeah. Unless you have a bit of Heaven in your eyes, a bit of Heaven in your voice, in your tongue… You should think of Heaven every day. You should be thinking of Heaven every day. This is why I urge you, my brothers and sisters – and your doctor may sue me for this – this is why I urge you not to cheat yourself of butter on your spuds. And I would put it to you that part of the reason you’re here is because you’re not getting butter on your spuds. Yeah? I will put it to you that part of the reason that you’re here is because the faith that we are teaching in Ireland – and I’m saying nothing I have not said in Ireland. Right? The Faith; the way in which we teach it, the way in which we pass it on, the way in which we are packaging it; is now so safe that it resembles nothing so much as a slice of Ryvita; the original, if you remember, not the later variations. Okay. It’s like cardboard. It’s almost tasteless. It’s alleged to be good for you. But how can you be motivated, like the prophet, to “take it and eat it,” that it be “as honey in your mouth,” when it tastes so bland. And when the Word of God is made to sound like lift music or supermarket music. And when the Food of God is put on the table – God who is an unstinting and ruinous host – when the Food of God is put on the table and it tastes like Mac-this and Mac-that, and you feel like you’re having another indistinguishable meal at your local McDonald’s. (McDonald’s can sue me as well after this.) And I cannot emphasize too strongly, in this Easter week, that you need to taste the Faith. You need to relish it. And it should be “as honey” on your tongue. And I would put it to you, that that is why you are here, even if you don’t fully know that that is what brought you here. It was to taste your food again. It was to hear the Word of God. It was to let it soak into you, not only on your tongue, but to soak into your marrow and bones, that you may be possessed by a Divine greed and a hunger for Heaven. Was it not St. Ambrose who prayed to God, “Fascinate me!” “Let me fall in love with You.” “Conquer me.” “Take over my whole mind.” And you come to Medjugorje – I would argue to you – for this. And I can’t blame you, for having left the small, smug, self-satisfied, little Mac-Ireland, that is what has become of the great dream originally of an Irish country, an Irish culture, an Irish Christian culture. I’m assuming that most of you are Irish. Those of you who are not. Forgive me. Even when we leave Ireland, it’s only to give out about Ireland. We have issues. In the first reading, we are told, “Watch yourself and save yourselves from this perverse generation.” We see now in Ireland, in Europe, where millions of unfortunate people, certainly hundreds of thousands, are being brought in frantically by government; in numbers – these bewildered people – in numbers and in a manner that is calculated to swamp the original cultures of the countries there – through no fault of the refugees, let me emphasize that! – to swamp the local cultures. All for what? I may be wrong. I am certainly simplifying. But – I would suggest to you – that it is to replace the children that we are too selfish to have, and the ones we have murdered, and the ones we intend to murder. I don’t know if any of you take The Spectator – fantastic English conservative magazine – but lately there was a reprint of an article from 2015 by Matthew Parris, who is an atheist, an atheist conservative. He, in it, outlines his belief that there is no point in even discussing euthanasia. Because, it is definitely going to come. Because, we have too many elderly people and we can’t look after them. And this is going to become an option. I‘m not making this up. This is a highly… – this is a cosmopolitan man – a highly sophisticated and clever man. And this is what he sees coming. And I think he’s right. And we are about to try to do the same thing in Ireland. Why? Because we’re not having enough children, to look after, in proper piety, and gratitude, and decency, and in a Christian manner, those who gave us life, and to look after them. So, now we will turn at both ends and we will destroy the future and the past. And who will we be? And what will we be? “This crooked and perverse generation” that loves not what it came from nor that to which it goes. And so human life is this blaze of a match, that lasts only as long as you are loved, and wanted; so you won’t be murdered in the womb. Only as long as you are young, and you’re strong, and you’re articulate, and you can argue for yourself; and God help you when you lose that and become powerless. I don’t blame you in the least for finding your food dissatisfying. How can anyone live on the pabulum that we are being fed? How can anyone face the fight that we have to face on so many different levels? Now you may say back to me, “You’re negative.” “You’re cynical.” I’m not cynical; I never was. I’m a bit skeptical; but I have a Mayo childhood, and I can’t be blamed for that. Yeah, my eyes narrow automatically. I am skeptical, not cynical. And I’m not negative; I’m happy to be alive. I like God, I like people. I’m not overly friendly; I’m a bit grumpy. That’s because I wasn’t, you know, I wasn’t made in some factory. I’m a human being with a real personality and real emotions. Not some smooth, bland product meant to make society go smoothly. I beg you here today, in the spirit of the readings, and in the spirit of the Gospel, to recognize the danger we’re in and to turn to God. Now, here I draw to a close. Here I make an absolutely crucial point. You would have brought here troubles. You would have brought here concerns. You would have brought here hopes and dreams. I say to you, “Forget them.” I say to you, “Throw them aside.” And get yourself drunk on God, and on His presence! “Seek ye first the Kingdom, and all this will be added unto ye!” Everything you want will be given to you. Focus only on Him. I’m not saying what you want is wrong. I’m not saying that you’re problems aren’t real. I’m not saying that you don’t need help. I’m saying, “Cast them aside from you!” And stand in the presence of God alone, with your incredible, incomprehensible strength, and power, and glory, that He has given you as an individual soul. Stand before Him and beg for His help! And beg for His help for your country, and for your people. Beg him to rain down on us, “the just one,” – an image that is always ready to hand in Ireland, okay. Beg Him to rain down on us everything that we need. Focus on Him entirely for these few days. God bless you for coming here. God bless you for your divine dissatisfaction with the food that you are being fed. God bless you for wanting half a pound of butter on each spud, okay. For wanting to taste your food. For wanting to live. Believe me it will be “poured into your lap, pressed down, and flowing over.” Focus on Him. And “all this will be added to you.” We will sit one day at a meal – let me assure you – that you will be able to taste, and in company that you will relish. In the meantime, we sometimes have to make do with a decent sandwich, okay. But you can always up the butter. I pray for tremendous conversions on these short pilgrimages. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen! Thank you, Fr. Kilcoyne!! May we live up to this wonderful standard, to live fully alive and in the love of God!!

SATAN IS REAL - READ THIS

Reading these and other similar testimonies, many are perplexed. How, they think, can we reconcile more acute senses of the soul with the impossibility for it to repent? The fact is that repentance is more than a mere feeling. Remorse is possible after death, as Blessed Theophylact writes in the above commentary—but it will be fruitless for those who did not repent in their lifetimes. The Venerable Ephraim the Syrian says the same: “There are tears of repentance, when the soul desires eternal good things, and they are very sweet and beneficial. And there are tears of remorse, where (according to the Savior’s word) there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt.8:12), and these tears are bitter and useless, because they are altogether fruitless.”1 The fact is that repentance is not only the awareness of your sins, but also the desire and opportunity to change, to be cleansed from them, to be spiritually transformed. Transformation is possible only by the movement of the human will and the work of grace, and “the time and place for the action of grace is here alone”, as the Holy Fathers wrote. St. John of Kronstadt said: “A terrible truth. Impenitent sinners after their death lose every possibility of changing for good, and therefore remain unalterably given up to everlasting torments (for sin cannot but torment). <…> Who does not know how difficult it is, without God’s special grace, for a sinner to turn from the way of sin that is so dear to him into the path of virtue?... But for the grace of God, what sinner would have returned to God? For it is the nature of sin to darken our souls, to bind us hand and foot. But the time and place for the action of grace is here alone: after death there remain only the prayers of the Church, and these prayers can be efficacious for penitent sinners alone—that is, only for those who have developed in their souls the capability of receiving God’s mercy or of benefiting by the prayers of the Church—that is, the light of the good works which they have taken with them out of this life.”2 Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid wrote: “The sinner is in darkness even in this life, as he has fallen away from the Sun of Righteousness. But as there is still hope of conversion, this is not yet the ‘outer’ darkness. But when he has died and an examination has been made of the things he has done, then the outer darkness in its turn receives him. For there is no longer any hope of conversion, but he undergoes a complete deprivation of the good things of God. While he is here in this life he enjoys to some degree the good things of God, I mean, the tangible things of creation, and he believes that he is in some manner a servant of God, living out his life in God’s house, which is this creation, being fed by Him and provided with the necessities of life. But then he will be altogether cut off from God, having no share at all in the good things of God. This is that darkness which is called ‘outer’ by comparison to the darkness here, which is not ‘outer’, because the sinner is not yet completely cut off from this time onward.”3 Reflecting on the same subject, St. Theophan the Recluse, wrote: “Now or tomorrow death will come, and it will end all that is ours, and will in itself be imprinted on our destinies forever, for there is no repentance after death. We will stand before the Judgment seat in that state death finds us.”4 “The law of life is such that as soon as someone plants the seed of repentance here, even at his last gasp, he will not perish. This seed will grow and bear fruit—eternal salvation. And if someone does not plant the seed of repentance here and passes over with the spirit of unrepentant persistence in sins, then he will remain there forever with the same spirit and reap forever the fruit of it according to its kind—God’s eternal rejection.”5 As we can see from these words, a salvific change after death is possible only for those who, according to St. John of Kronstadt, “have developed in their souls the capability of receiving God’s mercy—the light of the good works which they have taken with them out of this life.” All Orthodox Christians who died in repentance have hope of salvation from hell, even if they did not have time to bring the fruits of repentance sufficient for cleansing their souls and therefore did not attain Paradise: the prayers of the living can help them. Their painful state can be changed. Their “seed of repentance”, albeit small, can bring the fruit of eternal life through the prayers of the Church. The Epistle of the Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Church on the Orthodox Faith (1723) reads: “The souls of people who fell into mortal sins and did not despair at death, but once again before being separated from the real life of those who repented, only who did not manage to bear any fruits of repentance (which are: prayers, tears, contrition, consolation of the poor and expression in actions of love for God and neighbors that the entire Catholic Church from the very beginning recognizes God-pleasing and useful), the souls of such people descend into hell and suffer punishment for the sins they have committed, without depriving, however, of relief from them. They receive relief by infinite goodness through the prayers of the Priests and the beneficence performed for the dead; and especially by the power of the bloodless Sacrifice, which, in particular, the clergyman brings for each Christian about his relatives, in general, for all, the Catholic and Apostolic Church brings daily.”6 That is, it is not that the love of God turns away from the sinner after death, but the soul itself changes after death, and if there is no “light of the good works” or “seed of repentance” in it, it will not be able to receive God’s help and be transformed by repentance. The Holy Fathers unanimously write about this. I will give just a few examples. St. Anthony the Great: “What do crying and sobbing mean, if not the boundlessness of cruel and terrible torments? and what is depicted by gnashing of teeth, if not the greatest regret for the sins committed? Then—and this will surely happen—we will begin to resent ourselves, to repent with gnashing teeth, when repentance will not take place, when there will be no benefit from it, when the time given for repentance will have passed.”7 St. Gregory of Nyssa: “After death no one will have a chance to heal the disease inflicted by sin by the memory of God, because confession has power on earth, but it does not exist in hell.”8 St. John Damascene states in his book, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith: “You must know that the fall for the angels is the same as death for people. For after they fall they have no repentance, just as humans have no repentance after death.” Why does this happen? The fact is that the personality cannot change after death. Entering eternity beyond the grave, the soul begins to live according to the law of eternity. St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) teaches that after death a person begins a different way of existence, passing from a temporary life into eternity, immutability: “Death is a great sacrament. It is the birth of a person from this earthly, temporal life into eternity.”9 The things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:18), the Holy Scriptures say about what awaits everybody after this temporary life. The attribute of eternity is the qualitative immutability of phenomena. The qualitative state of the soul acquired during life on earth cannot change after passing into eternity. Therefore, after the death of the body the soul can only change within the limits of the quality that it acquired in earthly life: either to grow in virtue or degrade in sin. He who in his lifetime acquired a penitent spirit and striving for goodness will be perfected in goodness by the grace of God; and he who had no repentance in his soul, but wholeheartedly served his passions, will fall more and more into the abyss of evil. Archbishop Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) speaks about this in a brief yet very profound phrase: “The life of the brain and the heart and the combined, miraculously coordinated life of all the bodily organs are required only for the formation of the spirit and cease when its formation is completed or its direction has been fully determined10.” The Australian surgeon Pyotr Kalinowsky explained the deep meanings of these words of St. Luke: “These words of Archbishop Luke speak about the most important thing—what gives a person life on earth. Archbishop Luke, having spoken about the purpose of our life on earth, proceeds, saying that after the death of the body in the immortal human soul eternal life and endless development in the direction of good or evil continue. “The most terrible thing about these words of the archbishop is that at the moment of death of the body all further development of the soul in the direction of good or evil has already been determined. In the afterlife, two paths lay before the soul—towards the light or away from it, and after the death of the body the soul can no longer choose its path. The path was determined by human life on earth. <…> However, the sinner’s dark soul, which remains dark even after the death of the body, can no longer change. “This is what the Lord Jesus Christ Himself says: My Father is the Husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit (Jn. 15:1-2). “For a person who realizes that his life on earth is only a part of his life and that in the afterlife he will continue the development begun here, his entire temporary existence acquires a special meaning.”11 St. John Damascene writes about this attribute of eternity: “Further, everlasting life and everlasting punishment prove that the age to come is unending. For time will not be counted by days and nights even after the resurrection, but there will rather be one day with no evening, wherein the Sun of Justice will shine brightly on the just, but for the sinful there will be night, profound and limitless. In what way then will the period of one thousand years be counted which, according to Origen, is required for the complete restoration?”12 St. Theophan the Recluse explains the immutability of the personality in eternity as well: “You forget that there will be eternity, not time; therefore, everything there will be eternal, not temporary. You count the torments for hundreds, thousands and millions of years, whereas there the first minute will begin, and there will be no end to it, because there will be a never-ending minute. The counting will not go any further, but it will be in the first minute, and it will remain like that.”13 Monk Mitrofan explains this phenomenon based on the Word of God: “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise (Lk. 23:43), Jesus Christ said to the penitent thief. It means that every soul upon separation from its body will be either in Heaven or in hell. When? Today, the Lord Jesus Christ said. “How do we understand the word ‘today’? How can it be reconciled with the teaching of the Church about the third, the ninth and the fortieth days? There are days, nights and years on earth, but eternity is either light or dark. Thus, the word ‘today’ means time after death—eternity. The third, the ninth and the fortieth days are on earth, but there are no days in the afterlife. There is only ‘today’ and there is no other day. “The sacrament of death is the door through which the soul, having separated from its body, enters eternity.”14 St. Luke (Voino-Yasenetsky) writes about this as well: “The eternal bliss of the righteous and the eternal punishment of the sinners must be understood in such a way that the immortal spirit of the former, enlightened and powerfully strengthened after liberation from the body, receives the opportunity for unlimited development in the direction of goodness and Divine love, in permanent communion with God and all the bodiless powers. And the dark spirit of evildoers and those who fight against God in permanent communication with the devil and his angels will be tormented forever by being alienated from God, Whose holiness they will finally know, and by the unbearable poison that evil and hatred are fraught with, infinitely increasing in incessant communication with the center and source of evil—satan.

MANY PEOPLE OF VARIOUS AGENTS WILL SEEK TO CONTOL US.

Today is the commemoration of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, who suffered and received crowns of martyrdom from the godless satanic authorities, which to this day [this sermon was delivered before the fall of communism in Russia.—Ed.], with the explicit support of the so-called “free world,” oppress our Russian people. A characteristic feature of most of our New Martyrs is that their persecutors did not and do not torture them directly and openly for Christ.

If this or that persecuted person had not been a Christian, if he had not shown fortitude and courage in loyalty to Christ, there would have been no accusations. If he had renounced God and worshipped the idol of Marx and Lenin, then the accusation would have immediately disappeared. One mighty aspiration to God, in love for the Orthodox Fatherland, was the life of our Martyr Sovereign and His August Family in captivity. Our archpastors, pastors, many, many warriors, scientists, and toilers of the earth, burned with fiery zeal for God and the Orthodox Fatherland. Millions of our New Martyrs, who suffered terrible torments, courageously confessed their faith in Christ and fidelity to Him. In our evil time, the diabolical forces fighting against God do not dare to directly demand that modern martyrs renounce Christ. Christians are being charged with crimes of which they are not guilty. Thus, the persecutors maintain a favorable appearance—the martyr suffers, allegedly, not for Christ. But it is clear to the sufferer and to his accusers that it is enough for him, the martyr, to show by word or hint that he is ready, even in the most plausible form, to renounce his faith, to renounce his courageous fortitude in it, and he will be acquitted or exempted from persecution. What is required of us, dear brothers and sisters, in these evil times? One thing is required of us: Faithfulness! Faithfulness to Christ through faithfulness to our New Martyrs as our mentors. The Apostle Paul says: “Remember your instructors and imitate their way of life” (cf. Heb. 13:7). Whoever renounces the New Martyrs and Confessors, regardless of where he lives—in enslaved Russia or at liberty abroad—gives himself into the hands of the theomachists! Don’t forget that! In enslaved Russia, all those who confessed their loyalty to Patriarch Tikhon the Confessor, who did not hide their loyalty or even sympathy for the Martyr Tsar Nicholas II as God's Anointed Christian Tsar, and His August Family, suffered and still suffer for Christ. Renunciation of loyalty to them was tantamount to renunciation of Christ. All the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia reveal to us an example and a way by which the machinations of the enemies of Christ and the enemies of our Orthodox Fatherland are defeated. All of them are now standing before the throne of God, offering prayers for their, and our, earthly Fatherland. Every Orthodox family should now take care to have a book in their home that tells the story of the Russian New Martyrs. In every Orthodox family, parents should familiarize their children with the description of their lives and sufferings. In our evil times, it is necessary to return to the ancient custom of reading the lives of saints in the family and, above all, the lives of our near and dear New Martyrs of Russia. Amen. Bishop Mitrophan (Znosko-Borovsky) Translation by Igumen Seraphim (Bell) Azbyka.ru 2/4/2024

IF THERE IS NO CHURCH ... IS THERE A CITY?

God and the City: An Essay in Political Metaphysics by d. c. schindler st. augustine's press, 215 pages, $20 D. C. Schindler’s recent God and the City is a dense, brilliant essay on “political metaphysics.” In fewer than two hundred small pages organized into three chapters, Schindler covers an astonishing range of topics. His title captures the focus of the book. Schindler is interested in God and the city. God is present and active in all human activity, especially political activity. Politics cannot but be spiritual and religious because, as Aristotle said, politics is the “architectonic practical science . . . essentially concerned with the highest good to the highest degree.” By using “city,” Schindler locates his reflections in the tradition of classical, patristic, and medieval political thought. “City” has both a literal and metaphorical sense. Literally, “a city is a compact, regulated gathering of human beings for the purpose of living together in a beneficial way,” a particular “realization of civilization.” More broadly and symbolically, “city” refers to “a way of life or a collective disposition toward reality in general.” I’ll focus on one thread in Schindler’s third chapter, provocatively entitled, “The Glory of God is the City Fully Alive,” a political riff on Irenaeus’s “the glory of God is man fully alive.” There Schindler explores the analogy between the relation of the soul to the body and the relation of church to city. This pairing isn’t merely convenient or epistemological but ontological, so “organic” that a distortion of one relation will inevitably “tend to disorder the rest.” Schindler’s analysis of Aquinas’s understanding of the soul and body is subtle and complex. For Thomas, the soul isn’t an extrinsic form of the body; rather, the soul gives itself to the body, and this self-gift is the foundation of the body’s very existence. The soul isn’t a spark that jolts an already-shaped body to life. Without a forming, animating soul, the body is not a body at all, neither alive nor a unified thing, but a mere pile of organs and limbs. While it doesn’t create the body (God does), the soul gives the body its bodiliness. Because God is the life of the soul, the soul mediates God to the body. Thus, the soul is not, as we typically believe, nested within the body. The reality is the opposite: The soul contains the body and pervades it, energizing all the body’s functions, even the most visceral. Digestion isn’t “a purely physical movement of matter,” but a transfiguring of material food “into the higher-level form of the human being.” Digestion is “a spiritual activity,” even while being physical. Yet—and this is crucial—this doesn’t nullify or diminish the body, or turn it into a mere organ or extension of the soul. Precisely because the soul constitutes the body as a body, the soul constitutes the body’s difference from the soul. In giving itself to the body, the soul gives the body to itself, as a distinct reality with its own integrity. Consider how the Father gives himself to the Son and so gives Sonship to the Son, as a Person distinct from the Father; or how the Son gives himself to humanity and so gives his humanity its very existence; or how the Creator gives himself to creation and so gives creation its own autonomy. Transpose this into the political sphere, with the soul standing for the church and the body for the city. To think the church adds a “spiritual” dimension to an existing polity that is purely earthly and natural is to assume a modern, Cartesian understanding of the soul-body relation. Rather, as the body exists only by the soul’s self-gift, so the city “can exist as a city, as a reality in the world, only insofar as it is gathered around the unity of a comprehensive common good [that is] fundamentally spiritual.” Ancient cities were religious organizations, and in Christian thought, the church provides that comprehensive civic good. The church pervades and contains the city, and by giving herself to the city, the church constitutes the city as a city. The body’s functions are bodily, but they occur only because the body is alive by virtue of the soul. So too, the city is spiritual even in its most mundane civic activities, like garbage removal. When the city denies its spiritual reality, it suffers a fundamental derangement. A city cannot be rightly ordered without the church any more than a body can function without the soul. Indeed, echoing Augustine’s shocking claim that Rome was never fully a Republic, Schindler insists a city isn’t a city at all without the church.

Any effort to privatize, marginalize, or de-center the church is thus a fundamental assault on the city’s own health and existence. By displacing the church from her role as civic “soul,” modernity suicidally un-cities the city. As God is the life of the soul and the life the soul mediates to the body, so “God is the life of the life of the city.” When God is excluded, the city becomes soulless, and will search desperately for an ersatz soul to order and enliven it, often settling for lifeless bureaucratic or technological substitutes. In the end, a city without the church is “diabolical,” riven by fissures. A churchless city is vampiric, sucking life from its zombie citizens. This doesn’t entail “theocracy” or “integralism.” Integralism treats soul and body, church and city, as extrinsic to one another, locked in competition for supremacy. In this picture, the church strives to triumph over the city, rather than granting the city its distinctive civic reality. Though the church doesn’t govern the city directly, “the city can rule itself . . . only in the light of the spiritual dimensions introduced, as it were, by the church.” Because the church mediates God’s presence to the city, it draws the city into its own liturgical life and gives the city its “own, distinctive relation to God.” Through the church, the city reaches its full glory, because “The glory of God is the city fully alive

AVOID THE IDEA THAT NO ONE WILL HELP YOU.

Dear Family of Mary! Denis and I have been reading a biography of Padre Pio. And yesterday we came across this extraordinary advice that Padre Pio wrote to one of his spiritual daughters, Anita Rodote, in 1915. As I read Padre Pio's words I was just filled with joy and elation! At last I was able to understand the immense gift each one of us receives at conception! We are given our very own Guardian Angel for life!! I want to share the advice Padre Pio gave to Anita. I am sure it will ignite the same joy in your hearts. Padre Pio wrote: "Have great devotion...to this good angel. How consoling it is to know that near us is a spirit who, from cradle to the tomb, does not leave us even for an instant, not even when we dare to sin. And this heavenly spirit guides us and protects us as a friend, a brother. But it is extremely consoling to know that this angel prays without ceasing for us; offers to God all our good actions, our thoughts, our desires, if they are pure. Do not forget this invisible companion, always present, always ready to listen to us and even more, ready to console us...Always keep him present to your mind's eye. Often remember the presence of this angel. Thank him, pray to him, keep him good company. Open yourself up to him and confide your suffering to him. Have a constant fear of offending the purity of his gaze...Turn to him in times of supreme anxiety and you will experience beneficial help. Never say that you are alone in sustaining the battle against our enemies. Never say you have nobody to whom you can open up and confide. You would do this heavenly messenger a grace wrong." Padre Pio to Anita Rodote - (From Padre Pio, The True Story. C Bernard Ruffin. Our Sunday Visitor, 2018. P. 357) After I read these words, I immediately went into prayer! I asked my Guardian Angel to forgive me for not understanding who he is or how very much I owe him for being with me all these years. I spent some time just repenting, and then asked if I could know his name. I think I was given the answer, and it is wonderful! Now I am spending my day, in the presence of my dear friend from Heaven, and I feel so different, so happy, so blessed, so secure and so humbled!! It is wonderful. Our Lady speaks a lot to us about Heaven. I haven't found yet any reference to our guardian angels in her messages. But she does talk about Heaven being with us. In this message below, she tells us that "Heaven is with you and is fighting for peace in your hearts..." I believe this is a reference to our Guardian Angels!! Here is the whole message: December 25, 2016 "Dear children! With great joy, today I am carrying my Son Jesus to you, for Him to give you His peace. Open your hearts, little children, and be joyful that you can receive it. Heaven is with you and is fighting for peace in your hearts, in the families and in the world; and you, little children, help with your prayers for it to be so. I bless you with my Son Jesus and call you not to lose hope; and for your gaze and heart to always be directed towards Heaven and eternity. In this way, you will be open to God and to His plans. Thank you for having responded to my call." By acknowledging our Guardian Angel, and spending our day with him, we will realize that Heaven is with us, and fighting for peace in our hearts. And with our Angel, our gaze and heart will always be directed towards Heaven and eternity. We are so blessed!!! In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Cathy Nolan

If you love your father more than me ....READ THIS !

Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father Which is in Heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Which is in Heaven (Mt. 10:32-33). He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me (Mt. 10:37-38). Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first (Mt. 19:27-30). The Gospel tells us about some difficult things… that are carried out by the saints. The first or second time I went to Holy Mount Athos, I visited Burazeri—a Russian cell with Greek monks living in it, including two Cypriot monks. At that time, I was trying to decide whether to stay on the Holy Mountain. This was 1976, when the Holy Mountain was completely cut off from the world, and on Cyprus they didn’t even know about the existence of Athos—because, I remember, we had to take entrance exams for school, and my knowledge was so “broad” that for the question about where Christ was born, I wrote on the test: “On the Holy Mountain,” instead of Bethlehem. And why did I write that? Because I had no connection with religion, but I remembered a New Year’s song about Ayavasil (Greek Santa Claus) and the Holy Mountain, or something like that. These things got connected in my head, and I wrote, “On the Holy Mountain.” And when I got there, I began wavering about whether or not I should stay. I both wanted to stay and was afraid to stay, because I kept thinking, what about my mother, what will happen to Cyprus?... I had the thought: “What will happen if a war breaks out on Cyprus and I’m here?” As if I could save Cyprus with my presence… a hero! What nonsense can people come up with! I thought: “And if a war starts, and I’m here? How will I be able to endure it?” I felt like a fighter on the front line of this war! At noon, we were gathering for lunch. And I had such thoughts swirling around my head. At that time, there were no lotus flowers in Cyprus—now there are. And here, one monk of holy life, now reposed, Fr. Ioannikios, a Cypriot monk, said to me: “Let’s go eat a lotus!” “What kind of fruit is that?” I asked. “They don’t have it in Cyprus. It’s the same thing that Odysseus ate and then forgot about Ithaca.” “What are you saying?” I gasped. “Eat it, and you’ll forget about Cyprus!” he said jokingly. But I was so naïve and stupid that I told him I didn’t want any. So I didn’t eat any. I believed him that if I ate it, I’d forget about Cyprus! He told me: “Come on! Eat it—nothing bad will happen to you!” “No, no, it’s out of the question!” I refused. The fathers laughed, so silly and ridiculous my stubbornness was. But I didn’t want to, I couldn’t even think about forgetting Cyprus. So, the words of Christ are heavy… because it’s difficult when you hear: “Leave everything! Leave your mother, father, brothers, children, land, houses, knowledge, everything!” Christ says absolute things here to help us stop being wimpy and become strong, lively people. Behind every person who follows Christ there’s a hidden rejection of many things. You can’t follow Christ unless you decide to give up something. Of course, if you stay in the world, you won’t have to renounce your mother or your mother-in-law—especially her—or your boss, or anyone else, but you’ll certainly have to renounce your will, your passions, selfishness, avarice, sensuality, vainglory—and these things are harder to give up than others. One young man came to us, intending to become a monk on the Holy Mountain. He had renounced his parents, his friends, his degrees, money, only he couldn’t give up his stamp collection! He couldn’t! When the Elder saw a pile of albums in his cell, he asked: “What’s that?” “Stamps, Geronda.” “And why did you bring them here? What do you need them for?” “I’ve loved collecting stamps since I was a little boy.” “Well, alright, since you brought them here,” (and it was winter), “then they’ll be good for kindling the stove! Now, when we light the stove, burn them bit by bit!” And this poor fellow turned pale, then green, then he blushed, and said: “I can’t do that.” “Well, if you can’t, then take them and leave!” That was it! There was no second word from the elders. I went to the man and told him: “So, you left your mother, father, and brothers, but these pathetic little stamps you can’t give up?” And the Elder was categorical: “Either burn them or get out!” And when he saw me coming to him, he added: “And it won’t be anyone else who burns them! You’re not going to give them to Fr. Athanasios to burn them—you’re going to burn them yourself!” I tried to intercede for him: “Isn’t a shame to destroy such lovely stamps? Geronda, he worked so hard to collect them. Okay, so we’re not going to keep them for ourselves—what do we need them for in the desert? But let’s keep them, and maybe some young man will come, and he’ll give them to him to enjoy.” “No! He’s going to burn them himself!” And that’s what happened. If any stamp expert is listening to us, I’m afraid what trouble it’ll give us. But such things aren’t valued there on the Holy Mountain. Christ is absolute in order to help a man be brave… so he won’t be cowardly, fearful, half-hearted. Christ clearly says: Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father Which is in Heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father Which is in Heaven (Mt. 10:32-33). These words of Christ have filled the Church with martyrs. Millions of martyrs who have suffered immeasurable, inhuman torments, and not only adults. Let’s say a man of thirty or thirty-five—okay, he can endure them; he’s being tortured, but he’s a warrior. But little children, little girls? St. Marina was fifteen, St. Barbara was sixteen, St. Irina was a young woman, St. George was twenty, St. Stephen also was twenty. Or babies. St. Cyricus was three; St. Valerian was sixteen-months-old when the emperor took him from his mother and asked: “Who is the true God?” The child replied: “Christ!” Then he threw him from the throne right onto the marble floor, and the child died. A martyr of the Church. A saint. And when they tried to tell St. Cyricus, a child, that Christ isn’t God, he hit the ruler, who then threw him straight into the fire. So, these words of Christ have filled the Church with martyrs. And if they had renounced Christ, what would have happened then? If they had been afraid? St. Barbara was slaughtered by her own father. If this girl, this sixteen-year-old girl had renounced Christ, what would have happened? Of course, she would have lost her crown of life. However, God gave her strength; and strange and incredible though it may seem, know that all this was done by the power of God, and therefore it’s said: Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before men, that is, “by My grace and power.” God gives man strength. When man wants it, he receives strength. And when he doesn’t want it, he doesn’t receive it. Therefore, when some say, “I can’t,” it doesn’t stand up to criticism. Well, okay, we agree: A man can’t do it. “I want to, but I can’t!” But then it means our will isn’t so categorical, because if we really wanted something, then God would give us the strength to do what we want to do. If we don’t accept strength, that means we probably don’t want it as much as we should, or there are some other reasons that God knows about. In any case, with God’s strength, man follows Christ in an absolute way. As I said before, these words don’t have a literal application to every instance, because someone might say: “Well, okay, but what about us who haven’t become monks and ascetics and live with our mother, father, children, who have land—what will happen to us? Is there really no room for us in the Kingdom of God?” In fact, Christ didn’t say this. He said whoever loves all this “more than Me.” If you love your wife, husband, children, your land more than Christ, then you are truly unworthy of Him. I remember one poor mother whose son decided to become a monk. Fortunately, not in Cyprus, and fortunately not in a monastery that I know. She came crying and saying: “It’s my fault! I took him to church, I took him to Confession. It’s my fault that he went and became a monk.” “You’re to blame, of course, but who else?” I asked her. It’s good that I’m not to blame, as I usually am. But just think how a person might look at it. In the end, it means you love Christ only as long as He serves you. When you want your child to listen to you, to be smart and bring home good grades; when you want to make sure your husband doesn’t go to other women, or your wife to other men, then Christ is useful to you, because He made another “good child.” But if this good child believes in what Christ says here, and, to your misfortune, goes to put it into practice, then the Gospel becomes bitter for you and you start blaming God. Since I’ve been accused many times, and even now, of brainwashing—so they say; you’ve heard about it—they talk about it in season and out of season—then I say: “Well, all right. When they bring me to trial, I’ll take the Gospel with me and say if there’s someone that has to be put in prison, it’s Christ. And what am I guilty of? Was it me who told people to go and become monastics? He said it!” I can complain about Him myself, because I’m a victim myself [laughs], and I’ll even bring my mother along [laughs]—I believed what Christ said and I went and did it. Of course, I only did half of it, because we haven’t finished the rest yet. But we’ve taken the first steps at least. Christ said these things, not man. But so you know that when a man is freed from earthly attachments and loves Christ most of all—and I repeat, not so that you give up your parents and land, but so you wouldn’t love them more than Christ, and so it would be not them but Christ Who determines your whole life, then you can really live in the freedom of God. Then, as Christ says, And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life (Mt. 19:29-30). God will give you a hundred times more. This is truly a great reality. God doesn’t say anything untruthful; He is the only one Who will never push man away, never betray or disappoint him. We don’t have to say, “You know, we believed Christ, and look what came of it!” This will never happen. Christ is true to His word, and what He said is confirmed to an extraordinary degree, that is, you’ll get not a hundredfold, but even a thousandfold. And not only what you’re able to understand, but also those blessings that are much greater—God gives all of this to a man who out of love for Him overcomes the attraction of this world and confesses Christ. The confession of Christ affects all things, from the smallest to the most complex From making the Sign of the Cross when you sit down to eat, to wearing a cross, to someone asking if you believe in Christ and you answering: “Of course! I believe!”—this is confession. Did you know that if someone asks you if you believe in Christ and you say: “I don’t believe,” even as a joke, you’re deprived of your Baptism? This is a renunciation of Christ! As a rule, you must be chrismated again when you return to the bosom of the Church. Here’s an incident from the life of St. Paisios the Great. His disciple went to sell his handiwork and met some Jews who told him that Christ isn’t God. To get rid of them, because he had no desire to have a discussion with them, he told them: “Well, it’s probably as you say.” When he returned, St. Paisios the Great said to him: “Who are you?” “Father, I’m your disciple!” “My disciple is a Christian. But you’re not baptized. You have no Baptism. Where is your Baptism?” He lost his Baptism. The saint saw it by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and then it required great asceticism and repentance for the grace of Holy Baptism to return and the disciple to again be accepted into the Church. Therefore, the confession of Christ is no joking matter: Either we confess Christ and will be with Him, or if we renounce Him, that means we have cut Him off and are cut off from Him. If we want to return, we have to repent and receive Chrismation again in order to be in the Church again. Here the Word of God is absolute. And it’s that way for our own good, to help us be reasonable people, serious in our relationship with God, consistent and courageous, and so we would put all our trust in Christ. To be continued