Why Go to Church Every Sunday by Fr. Daniel Sysoyev

 Fr. Daniel Sysoyev
I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord (Psalm 121:1).
People often ask priests: “Why should we go to church every Sunday?” and then they begin to
justify themselves.
“We need our sleep, then, we need to spend time with the family, do things around the house,
etc. And you want us to get up and go to church. What for?”
Of course, in order to justify one’s laziness one can come up with various objections. But first we have to understand the meaning behind the weekly trips to church and only then to measure it against our self-justification. It is so obvious that the requirement of frequent church attendance is not man-made, but it was one of the Ten Commandments: 

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but the
seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it (Exodus 20:8-11). In the Old Testament, violation of the fourth commandment was punishable by death, as was murder. In the New Testament, Sunday became the greater holy day because Christ, having risen from the dead, sanctified that day.

According to the church rules, whoever violates this commandment is subject to excommunication. As stated in the 80th canon of the Sixth Ecumenical Council: “In case any bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or anyone else on the list of the clergy, or any layman, without any graver necessity or any particular difficulty compelling him to absent himself from his own church for a very long time,fails to attend church on Sundays for three consecutive weeks, while living in the city, if he be a cleric, let him be deposed from office; but if he be a layman, let him be removed from Communion”.

It is rather unlikely that the Creator would give us ridiculous commands, or that the church canons were written to make people’s lives unbearable.

Then what is the meaning of this commandment?

Everything in Christianity has its origin in the self-manifestation of God the Trinity, Who is revealed to us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Entering His inner life and participation in His Divine glory is the goal of our life. Since God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him, by the word of Apostle John (1 John 4:16), we can enter into communion with Him only through love.
As affirmed by the word of the Lord, the entire Divine God can be reduced to two commandments: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it: thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets (Matthew 22:37-40).

Can we truly fulfill these commandments without going to church?

If we love someone, do not we try to see this person as often as possible? Is it possible to imagine two people in love who are avoiding seeing one another? Yes, they can talk on the phone; but it is far better to talk face to face. The same goes for the person who loves God—he wants to come closer to God. May King David be an example for us. He, being a ruler of his people, fighting numerous wars with enemies, executing judgment, used to say: How beloved are Thy dwellings, O Lord of hosts; my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God. For the sparrow hath found herself a house,and the turtledove a nest for herself where she may lay her young, Even Thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; unto ages of ages shall they praise Thee. Blessed is the man whose help is from Thee; he hath made ascents in his heart, in the vale of weeping, in the place which he hath appointed. Yea, for the lawgiver will give blessings; they shall go from strength to strength, the God of gods shall be seen in Sion. O Lord of hosts, hearken unto my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob. O God, our defender, behold,and look upon the face of Thine anointed one. For better is one day in Thy courts than thousands elsewhere. I have chosen rather to be an outcast in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of sinners (Psalm 83).

When he was in exile, he would tearfully cry every day over the fact that he cannot enter the house of God: These things have I remembered, and I poured out my soul within me, for I used to go to the place of the wondrous tabernacle, even to the house of God, with a voice of rejoicing and thanksgiving, yea, of the sound of them that keep festival (Psalm 41:5).
It is exactly this attitude that gives rise to the need of going to God’s temple and makes it essential for the person.
And this is not surprising! The eyes of the Lord are always directed towards God’s temple, the church. In the church, He Himself is present in His Body and Blood. In the church, He revives us in the Baptism, therefore the church is our lesser motherland. In the church, God forgives us our sins in the Mystery of Confession, He gives us His own self in the most holy Communion.
Where else can we find such sources of incorruptible life? According to the word of an ancient ascetic, they who throughout the week fight against the devil, hasten on Saturdays and Sundays to church to partake from the sources of the living water of Communion, in order to quench the thirst of their hearts and to be cleansed of the filth of their defiled conscience.
Ancient legends tell us that deer hunt snakes and eat them; but when the poison starts burning their interior parts they run to a spring of clear water. So also we have to hasten to the church, in order to cool the irritation of our hearts with the communal prayer. 

As Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer said, “Try to gather together more frequently to celebrate God’s Eucharist and to praise him. For when you meet with frequency, Satan’s powers are overthrown and his destructiveness is undone by the unanimity of your faith. There is nothing better than peace,by which all strife in heavenly and earthly spirits is cast out” (Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer. Epistle to the Ephesians, 13). People forget that only church prayer can save man from the devil’s attacks, for he is trembling before the power of God and is unable to harm the
person who abides in Divine love.
King David chanted: Though a host should array itself against me, my heart shall not be afraid; though war should rise up against me, in this have I hoped. One thing have I asked of the Lord,this will I seek after: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, that I may behold the delight of the Lord, and that I may visit His holy temple. For He hid me in His tabernacle in the day of my troubles, He sheltered me in the secret place of His tabernacle,upon a rock hath He exalted me. And now, behold, He exalted my head above mine enemies. I went round about and I sacrificed in His tabernacle a sacrifice of praise and jubilation; I will sing and I will chant unto the Lord (Psalm 26:3-6).

Besides the fact that in His temple the Lord protects us and gives us strength, He also teaches us, for the Divine Service in its entirety is a true school of Divine love. In God’s holy temple, we hear His word, we bring to mind his marvelous acts, we learn about our future; indeed, In God’s temple everything uttereth His glory (Psalm 28:9); as if before our very eyes there takes place feats of the martyrs, the victories of the ascetics, courage of kings and priests; we learn about the mystical nature of God, about the salvation which Christ has granted us; here we rejoice at Christ’s Radiant Resurrection. It is not accidental that we refer to Sunday Divine Service as a “lesser Pascha”. Often it seems to us that everything around us is terrible, awful and hopeless, but the Sunday Divine Service reveals to us our extreme hope. It was not without
reason that Prophet David said that We have thought, O God, of Thy mercy in the midst of Thy
temple (Psalm 47:10). Sunday Divine Service is the best weapon against those numerous depressions and sorrows which inhabit our gray everyday life. This service is a brightly shining rainbow of God’s covenant amidst the fog of the everyday bustle.

In the heart of our festal Divine Service is prayer and contemplation of the Holy Scripture, the reading of which in the church possesses a unique power. One ascetic saw tongues of fire rising up from the mouth of the deacon reading the word of God at the Sunday Divine Service. 

They were purifying the souls of the praying people and were ascending to Heaven. Those who say that reading the Bible at home is sufficient and, therefore, they do not need to go to church to
hear the Word of God are mistaken. Even if they do open the Book at home, their distancing themselves from the assembly of the faithful in the church will prevent them from fully understanding the sacred text. It has been confirmed that those who do not partake of the Holy Communion are practically unable to understand God’s will. No wonder! The Scripture is nothing other than instruction on how to receive Heavenly Grace. But if we simply read a set of instructions and do not try to, let us say, put a bookcase together or use a computer program,the set of instructions will remain unmastered and will be soon forgotten. It is well-known that our mind quickly filters out any unused information. Therefore, the Scripture is inseparable from the church community, for it was given solely to the Church.
And vice versa, those who attend the Sunday Divine Liturgy and then read the Scripture at home will comprehend meaning in it that they would never have comprehended otherwise.
Often, it is precisely on the Church Feast Days that people learn the will of God about themselves. According to the words of St. John of the Ladder, “Although God always endows His servants with gifts, He does even more so on the yearly feasts of the Lord and the Mother of God” (To the Pastor, 3:2). It is not surprising that those who regularly attend church are somewhat different, both in outward appearance and in the disposition of their souls. On one hand, to them virtues become natural, while on the other hand, frequent confessions prevent them from falling into serious sins. In the life of a Christian, passions can intensify, for Satan does not want us—who were made from dust—to ascend to Heaven from which we had been cast down. For this reason Satan attacks us as his enemies. We, however, should not fear him;we should fight him and overcome him, for only he that overcometh shall inherit all things,says the Lord (Rev. 21:7).

If the person says that he is a Christian but does not pray with his brothers, what kind of Christian is he? In the words of the greatest expert on Church canons, Patriarch Theodore Balsamon of Antioch, “Such a person either does nothing regarding fulfillment of the Divine commandment about prayer and singing hymns to God, or he is not a believer. Otherwise, why would he for twenty days not want to be in church with Christians and have communion with God’s faithful people?” (A reference to Church canons which stipulate that Christians who were absent from church on three consecutive Sundays are to be excommunicated. —Trans.).

It is no accident that people we consider model Christians: Christians of the apostolic Church in Jerusalem, Were together, and had all things common… And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people (Acts 2:44-47). Their inner strength was a result of their being in one accord. They abided in the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit which was poured forth upon them in response to their love.

It is no coincidence that the New Testament directly forbids one to neglect assembling in church: We shall not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;but we shall exhort one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day [of the assembly] approaching Hebrews 10:25).
All the best things which made Russia holy, and which sustain other Christian nations, are provided by the Divine Services. In church we are delivered from the yoke of our vanity and we can break through from the shackles of crises and wars into God’s peace. And this is the only correct decision: not curses and revolutions, not malice and hatred, but church prayer and virtues can change the world. For what Thou hast formed they have destroyed; and the righteous man, what hath he done? The Lord is in His holy temple (Psalm 10:3-4), and the righteous one flees to the Lord to find refuge. This is not cowardice but wisdom and courage.
Only a fool is going to try to stand up by himself against the onslaught of the evil of the entire world, be that terrorism or a natural disaster, revolutions or wars. Only the Almighty God can defend His creation. This is why a church has always been considered a place of safety.Indeed, a church is Heaven’s embassy on the Earth where we pilgrims looking for the Heavenly city, receive support. How Thou hast multiplied Thy mercy, O God! Let the sons of men hope in the shelter of Thy wings. They shall be drunken with the fatness of Thy house, and of the torrent of Thy delight shalt Thou make them to drink. For in thee is the fountain of life, in Thy light shall we see light (Psalm 35:8-10).
I think it is clear that love for God is the reason for one’s striving to frequently visit the house of the Lord. But the second commandment demands the same—to love our neighbor. Where else can we give our attention to what is most beautiful in a person? In a store, in a movie theater,or in a hospital? Obviously not. Only in the house of our common Father can we meet our brothers. Our communal prayer is going to be heard by God sooner, too, than a prayer of a proud loner. For Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself said: If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:19-20).

In church we distance ourselves from the hustle and bustle and are able to pray both about our own troubles and about the entire universe. In church, we pray to God asking Him to heal the diseases of our relatives, to free the captives, to preserve the travelers, to rescue to perishing.
In church we are also in communion with those who have left this world but have not left Christ’s Church. Whenever the departed visit the living they beg them to pray for them in churches. They say that every such a commemoration is like a birthday to them, but we often neglect that. Where then is our love? Let us imagine their condition. They have no bodies, they cannot receive communion, and they cannot do any good deeds (alms), either. They are waiting for support from their friends and relatives, but what they are getting are just excuses.
It is the same as saying to your hungry mother: “Please forgive me, I am not going to give you anything to eat, because I badly need a nap”. Do we not know that the church prayer is true food to the departed?
Besides, holy righteous men and women, worthily glorified, await us in the temple. Holy icons allow us to see them, their words are proclaimed during the service, and they themselves often visit the house of God, especially on their feast days. They pray together with us to God, and their powerful hymnology like eagles’ wings bring up the church prayer directly to the Divine altar. 
And not only people but bodiless angels also participate in our prayer. People sing angels’songs (for instance, “Trisagion”), while angels sing along with us (“It is truly meet to bless Thee, O Theotokos”). According to the Church Tradition, an angel always stands over the Altar in the consecrated church, sending the prayer of the Church up to God, while a blessed spirit stands at the church entrance, watching over the thoughts of people entering and exiting the church.
This presence is rather palpable. For it is not without reason that many unrepentant sinners do not feel good in the temple—it is the power of God rejecting their sinful will and the angels punishing them for their lawlessness. Such people, instead of ignoring the church, must repent and receive forgiveness in the Mystery of Confession and then remember to thank the Creator.
“Alright. One has to go to church, but why every Sunday? Do we need to be so fanatical?To put it briefly, one has to say that if the Creator commands, His creation has to answer with absolute obedience. The Ruler of all times has given us the days of our life. Is He not allowed to demand from us that we give Him four out of one hundred and sixty-eight hours of the week?
Besides, the time we spend in church is for our own benefit. If a doctor prescribes some procedures for us, do not we try to follow all the doctor’s recommendations if we want to get well? Why do we then ignore the words of the Great Physician of souls and bodies?
Is following the Supreme Will fanatical? According to the dictionary, “fanaticism (from Latin fanaticus—extreme zeal) is a belief or a worldview taken to the extreme, intolerance to other points of view (for example, religious fanaticism).” Here we have to answer the question: What is the extreme degree? If it is something frenzied and ecstatic, then it is very unlikely that the people who go to church every Sunday tend to attack people in ecstatic joy or wrath.
Sometimes, adhering to common sense is already considered extreme by some people. If not stealing and not killing is fanaticism then we are definitely fanatics. If the teaching that there is only one true path to one true God is considered fanatical, then we are fanatics. But with such an understanding of fanaticism the Heavenly Kingdom will be inherited only by the fanatics, because all the “normal” and “logical” are destined to the outer darkness, for God says: “ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.But as thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spite thee out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:1516).
Let us think about the words with which we began our discussion:“We need our sleep, then we need to spend time with the family, do things around the house,etc. And you want us to get up and go to church.”
Well, no one is forcing you to go to the early Liturgy, for in cities often both early and late Liturgies are served. As for the villages—nobody sleeps in in the countryside anyway (where the farm work is to be done.—Trans.). But in the city—nobody prevents you on Saturday evening after returning home from the evening service from spend time with your family,reading an interesting book, and, after the evening prayers, going to bed around 11 or 12 o’clock in order to get up on Sunday morning at 8:30 and go to church. Nine hours of sleep is enough to restore strength for most people. If it is not enough, you can make it up by taking a nap on Sunday afternoon. All our problems come not from going to church, but from the fact that the rhythm of our life does not correspond to the will of God, and it brings us to a state of exhaustion. Only communion with God—the Source of all the powers of universe—can rejuvenate us both physically and spiritually. It is proven by experience that if you are exhausted by Saturday, Sunday Divine Services will fill you with inner strength. This strength is physical, too. For this reason the ascetics, who spent their lives in inhuman desert environments, lived to be 120 or 130 years old, whereas we can barely make it to 70 or 80. 

God gives strength to those who hope in Him and serve Him. A study was conducted before the revolution in Russia, which showed that greater longevity was enjoyed not by the nobility or merchants, but by priests, although they lived in far worse conditions than the first two classes.
This is a palpable confirmation of the benefit of weekly attendance in the House of the Lord.
As for spending time with your family—what prevents you from going to church with the whole
family? If the children are too little, then your wife and children can come to church a little bit later, and then all of you can go for a walk, have lunch, etc. Does this plan have anything in common with “spending time together”, when the entire family is sucked into the TV? Often those who do not come to church “because of the family” do not exchange a dozen words with that same family for the entire day.
As for the household chores: the Word of God does not allow us to do on Sundays anything beyond what is absolutely necessary. We must not clean the entire house on a Sunday, or dedicate the day to doing laundry, or canning fruits and vegetables for the whole year. 

The time of peace and calm lasts from Saturday evening till Sunday evening. All chores should be postponed till Sunday evening. The only kind of labour which is not only allowed, but prescribed for Sundays and feast days is acts of mercy. To clean the entire house of an old or sick person,to help in church, to provide food and clothing for an orphan or a large needy family—that is the only true and God-pleasing way of keeping the Lord’s Day holy.
“We cannot live through winter without canning produce from our garden; therefore we have to spend Sundays in the garden.”
I think the answer is obvious. Nothing prevents us from going to our local church, and still doing our work in the garden either on Saturdays or later on Sundays. This way our health will be preserved and the will of God will be honoured. Even if there is no church nearby, we must dedicate Saturday evening and Sunday morning to prayer and Holy Scripture. Those who do not want to live by the will of God will harvest punishment. The hoped-for crops will be devoured by locusts, caterpillars, and diseases. When we need rain a draught comes, and when we need dry weather we get a flood. This way God shows everyone Who is Master in the world. Often God punishes those who transgress His will. On the contrary, to those who follow the Divine commandment God sends unprecedented crops. For example, the crops in Optina Monastery exceeded those of its neighbors fourfold,although the same agricultural technology was used.
“I cannot go to church because it is too cold or hot; it is raining or snowing. I’d better pray at home.”
But, oh the wonder! The same person is ready in the rain to go to the stadium and route for his favorite team, to work in his garden, dance the night away at a party. He finds it beyond his strength to go to the house of God. Bad weather is always no more than justification for our lack of desire. Do we really think that God will hearken unto the prayer of the person who is not willing to sacrifice even in something little for Him?
Another objection is equally absurd:
“I am not going to church because you do not have pews and it is too hot. The Catholics have figured it all out much better!”
Of course, this objection cannot be taken seriously, but for many, comfort is more important than eternal salvation. Nevertheless, God does not desire peril even for an outcast, and Christ will not break a bruised reed and will not quench the smoking flax. As far as the pews go, they are not essential. If a person is sick nothing prevents him from sitting down on one of the benches at the back of the church. Moreover, according to the rule of Divine Services, at the festal evening service the faithful may sit seven times. And even if all the benches are occupied what stops you from bringing along a folding chair? Nobody will say a word. You will just have to get up for the reading of the Gospel, at the Cherubic Hymn, during the Eucharistic Canon and at about other ten most important moments of the service. I think this should not pose a problem for anyone. To those who cannot get up due to their health condition these rules do not apply at all.

Let me repeat it again: all these objections are ridiculous and they cannot be taken as a reason for disobeying the Divine commandment.
Neither can the following be an excuse:
“In your church everyone is so mean and grumpy. The old women hiss and deride people. And you call yourselves Christians? I do not want to become like you and for that reason I am not going to set my foot in church.”
Nobody demands from anyone to be mean and grumpy. Have you heard anyone in church making such demands? Do they ask you at the entrance of the church to put on boxing gloves?
Do not hiss and do not deride people, and then you will be able to correct them. The Apostle Paul says: “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? Before his own Lord he standeth or falleth” (Rom. 14:4).
Your objection would make sense if priests were teaching us to fight and to squabble. But this is not so. Neither the Bible, nor the Church, nor its ministers have ever taught that. To the contrary: in every homily and in every church hymn we are called to be meek and merciful.
Therefore, others’ unfriendliness cannot be a reason for our not going to church.
We must understand that the people who come to church are not from Mars but from the same world we are from. They come from the same world where it is customary to swear. But in the temple you will not hear swearing. You could say that church is the only place out of bounds for swearing.
In the world it is customary to be grumpy and to pour out our discontent upon others, calling it a fight for justice. Don’t they do just that in doctors’ offices’ waiting rooms, where old women pick to pieces everyone from the president to the nurses? Do you think that on entering the church those people, as if from a touch of a magic wand, will immediately change and become as meek as sheep? No. God gave us free will, and without our effort nothing will change within us.

We are always in the Church only to a certain degree. Whenever this degree is great, the person is called a saint. At other times, this degree is small. At times a person holds on to the Lord only with his little figure. But we must remember that the only Judge and Appraiser is the Lord, not we. While there is still time there is hope. No one judges an entire movie before it is over—only certain episodes. Such episodes are saints. The Church is to be judged by Her saints,not by the people who are yet to complete the journey of their lives. Not in vain it is said that the end crowns every endeavor.
If the Church calls itself a hospital (in the prayer before the Confession, it says: “Thou hast come to the place of healing, may thou not depart unhealed”), can we expect the Church to be filled with healthy people? There are healthy ones, but they are in Heaven. The Church will be revealed in all its beauty only when everyone desiring healing starts using the treatment that the Church offers. Saints are the best evidence of God’s healing power acting in the Church.
Therefore, when in the church, we should not look at the people around us but at God, for we come not to the people in the church but to God.
“I do not understand what goes on during the church services.”
Let us paraphrase this statement. A first-grader comes to school and overhears a lecture in the algebra class, then refuses to go to school, saying: “I did not understand anything there.” Those who refuse to study the Divine science because they find it “incomprehensible” show the same lack of common sense.
If everything were easy then education would be meaningless, because you would already know everything the specialists are talking about. Believe me: the science of living with God is no less difficult and refined than mathematics; therefore, please allow it to have its own terminology and its own language.
I think we should not abandon the church vestments but rather realize what exactly it is that we do not understand. With that we must keep in mind that the Divine Liturgy is not given to us for missionary work among the unbelievers, but for the faithful. Thank God, if we pray attentively we will begin to understand everything in the Divine services after about a month or a month and a half of regular church attendance. But we can discover the true depths of the Divine services only after many years. This indeed is a wonderful mystery of the Lord. What we have is not a Protestant preaching where everything is on the horizontal plane, but, if you wish,a life-long university where the church service books are textbooks and the Lord is the Teacher.“I believe in God but do not trust priests. That’s why I don’t go to church.”
Nobody asks the faithful to trust their priest. We trust God, whereas priests are merely His servants and instruments for fulfilling His will. Someone said: “Electric current travels even through a rusty wire.” So also the grace of God is transferred through His unworthy servants.
As Holy Hierarch John Chrysostom says truly, “We ourselves, who sit on the cathedra (the bishop’s seat in the church) and teach, are entangled in sins. Nevertheless, we do not despair of God’s loving-kindness and do not attribute hard-heartedness to Him. And this is why God allowed even His priests to slave under the passions—so that they would learn by their own experience to be lenient to others, as well.” Imagine that it is not a sinful priest but the Archangel Michael serving in the church. After his very first conversation with us he would flame up with righteous wrath and we would be reduced to a small pile of ashes.
In general, this objection to going to church is very much like one’s denial of medical aid out of the notion that modern doctors are only after our money. Although the doctors’ financial interest is obvious, people do not refuse medical assistance. But whenever we talk about a far more important thing—health of one’s soul, people come up with any kind of nonsense in order not to go to church.
Here is what once happened. A monk lived in a desert and a priest would come to commune him. One day he heard that the priest who was coming to commune him was lecherous.
Therefore, the monk refused to receive communion from that priest. The same night he saw a revelation: there was a golden well with crystal clear water and a leper dipping water from the well with a golden bucket. The voice of God said: “You see how the water remains pure although it is distributed by a leper. So also the grace does not depend on the person through whom it is given”. After that the desert-dweller started receiving communion from the priest again, not reasoning within himself whether the priest was righteous or a sinner.
In all seriousness all those objections are totally worthless. How can anyone ignore the direct will of the Lord God, using a priest’s sins to justify himself? “Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? To his own Lord he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up, for God is able to make him stand” (Rom. 14:4).
“The Church is not a steeple, the church is the people”, some say, so I can just as well pray at home.”
This saying, although it might make sense, has its origin with sectarians who have separated themselves from the Church despite the word of God. It is true that God abides in the bodies of the Christians, too. But He enters those bodies through the Holy Communion that the faithful receive in churches. Besides, prayer in church is greater than prayer at home. 

Saint John Chrysostom says: “You are mistaken; of course you can pray at home, but to pray there as one would pray in church, where there are so many fathers, where all the faithful with one heart
send up a song to God, is impossible. You are not going to be heard as speedily when praying to God at your own house as when praying with your brethren. There is something greater here, that is: unanimity and concord, a union of love and the prayer of the priests. This is why priests stand before the altar: so that people’s prayers, being weaker, would join with the priests’ stronger prayers together ascend to Heaven… If the prayer of the Church helped even Peter, this pillar of the Church, and let him out of prison (Acts 12:5), then tell me how dare you ignore its power and how can you justify yourself? Listen to God Himself Who says that He is pleased with the reverent prayers of many people (cf. Jonah 3). In church, it is not only people who raise their cry unto God, but even angels fall before the Master and archangels pray. Even time is on their side and the sacrifice facilitates them. Just as when people take olive branches in their hands and shake them before kings, reminding them through the branches about mercy and love for mankind, so also angels present instead of the olive branches, the very Body of the Lord, beseeching the Master on behalf of the human race, as if saying, “We are
praying for those whom Thou Thyself hast found worthy of Thy love, and for whom Thou didst give up Thy soul; we are pouring out our prayers for those for whom Thou didst pour Thy Blood; we beseech for those for whom Thou didst offer Thy Body as a sacrifice” (St John Chrysostom. Against the Amonians. Third Homily).

Therefore, this objection is totally groundless, for as the house of God is holier than your own house, so the prayer offered in temple is loftier then your prayer at home.“I would go to church every week, but my wife or husband, parents or children do not let me.”
Here we have to recall our Lord’s uncompromising words, which people often forget: “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” (Matthew 10:37). We have to make this frightful choice—between God and man—all the time. Yes, it is hard. Yes, it can be painful. But if you prefer a person, even in something little, God will reject you on the Day of Judgment. Is your relative going to be able to help you then? Does your love for your relative justify you when the Gospel tells you otherwise? When we are at the Judgment, are you not going to bring back to mind—with sadness and bitter disappointment—the day when you rejected God for the sake of imaginary love?

Besides, life has proved that he who chooses a person instead of the Creator will be betrayed.
“I am not going to go to this church because it has negative energy. I do not feel good there,especially because of the incense.”
In fact, every Orthodox church is filled with one energy—the grace of God. All Orthodox temples are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Christ is present with His Body and Blood in every church. Angels of God stand by the entrance into every Orthodox church. It is not the church but the person who has the problem here. There may be a perfectly natural explanation for what you are feeling. On feast days, when the “visitors” stop by, the temples are filled beyond capacity, and it is no wonder that some might start feeling sick when there is very little air to breathe. But sometimes people feel sick in an almost empty temple. Christians know very well the spiritual reasons of this phenomenon.

The evil deeds a person does not want to repent of keep away the grace of God. What some people call “negative energy” is nothing other than the resistance of their evil will to the power of God. However, it is not only man who turns away from God, but neither will God accept an egoist, for it is said: God resisteth the proud (James 4:6). We find examples of this in antiquity.St. Mary of Egypt, who was a harlot, tried to enter the Church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem to venerate the Life-giving Cross, but some invisible power pushed her away from the church’s gates. It was only after she repented and promised to never commit the sin of fornication again did God let her into His house.
Even now we know of cases when professional killers and prostitutes could not stand the smell of incense and fainted. This happens especially often with those who practice magic, astrology,ESP and other kinds of devilry. Some power ties them in knots at the most important moments of the Divine services so that they have to be taken away in an ambulance. However, there is yet another reason.
Not only does the person himself have no desire to meet the Creator, those who are behind his sinful habits do not either. Those beings are rebel spirits, demons. These impure beings are what hinder the person’s entry into the temple. It is also they who steal strength from those standing in church. Some people can lift weights in the gym for hours but cannot spend ten minutes in the presence of the Creator. Only God can help those who are possessed by demons. But He helps only those who have repented and have a desire to live according to the will of the Almighty Lord. The very terminology of your question is borrowed from practitioners of psychic powers (the Church knows that they all serve the devil), who talk about people charged with certain energies, as if they were talking about batteries and not about the
children of God.
Here we see symptoms of a spiritual disease. Instead of loving the Creator, those people try to manipulate Him. This is nothing other than an indication of demonic possession.
The last objection, akin to the previous one, is encountered most frequently:
“I have God in my heart and I do not need your church services. If I do good deeds, do you think God will send me to hell only because I do not go to church?”
What do you mean when you say “God”? If you are talking simply about your conscience, then of course this voice of God is heard in the heart of every man without exception. Neither Hitler nor Charles Manson were deprived of conscience, and all villains know what is good and what is bad. The voice of God tried to keep them from committing lawless acts. But does the fact that they heard the voice of God make them saints? Besides, conscience is not God—it is only His voice. If you hear the voice of the President on tape or on the radio, does it mean he is in your house? Neither does the presence of a conscience mean that God is in your heart.
But if we think about it, Who is God? He is Almighty, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Righteous, Blessed Spirit, Creator of the Universe, Who is not contained by either heaven or by heaven of heavens. Then how can your soul contain Him—Him at Whose face angels dare not gaze?
Jesus Christ Pantocrator (Detail from deesis mosaic) from Hagia Sophia.
Does the one who says that God is in his heart sincerely think that this Boundless Power abides within him? Allow us to be skeptical, or else show us manifestations of that Power’s might.
Phrases like “God in my heart” are more potent than an attempt to retain a nuclear explosion within oneself. Can you conceal in secret the explosion of a nuclear bomb in Hiroshima or a volcanic eruption? Therefore, we demand from the “container of God” some proof: let him work a miracle (for example, raising the dead) or manifest Divine love, offering his left cheek to him who hit him on the right one. Is he able to have one hundredth of the love for his enemies that Our Lord had for His when He prayed for them before His crucifixion? Indeed, only saints can say that God is in their hearts. Therefore, we demand holiness from those who make such a statement; otherwise, it will be a lie, whose father is devil.
They say: “I do good deeds. How can God send me to hell?” Please allow me to question your righteousness. What are we to consider a criterion of good and evil according to which we might determine whether we are doing good or evil? If the person himself is the criterion (as people often say: “I decide for myself what is good and what is evil”), then the notions of good and evil lose any validity and meaning. If Beria, and Goebbels, and Pol Pot thought they were doing right things why do you think their actions are blameworthy? If we ourselves have a right to determine the standard of good and evil, then this right cannot be denied to all killers,perverts, and rapists. Yes, following your logic, please allow God to disagree with your criteria and to judge you not by yours but by His standards. Otherwise, it is not fair—we claim the right of choosing the standard, but we do not allow the Almighty and Free God to do the same and to judge by His own laws; and by His laws the person who doesn’t repent and who doesn’t receive Holy Communion heads straight to hell.
Let us be honest: what are all our standards of good and evil worth? Our body, soul, mind, will, senses are not created by us. Everything we have is a gift (or even not a gift but something that belongs to Someone else, and has been entrusted to us for safekeeping), but we, however,have decided that we can with impunity deal with it as we please. Doing that we deny the One Who created us any right to demand an answer from us about how we have dealt with His gift.
Don’t you find this demand somewhat insolent? Why would you think that the Lord of the Universe would do your will, which is corrupted by sin? We have transgressed the Fourth Commandment and firmly believe that He owes something to us?
Look, instead of dedicating Sundays to God we give them to devil. On this day, people often get drunk, they swear, commit lewd acts; if they don’t do that, they entertain themselves in various godless ways: watching questionable TV shows and movies where sins and passions are abundant. It is only the Creator Who appears to be out of place on His own day. Does not God,Who has given us everything, including time, have a right to demand from us only few short hours?

Therefore, hell awaits those who with scorn ignore the will of God. And the reason for that is not God’s cruelty, but the fact that such people, having abandoned the water of Life, are trying to dig their own empty wells of justifications. They refused to receive the Holy Cup of Communion, they deprived themselves of the Word of God and now they are wandering in the darkness of this evil age. Having walked away from Light, they find darkness; having walked away from Love, they obtain hatred; having discarded Life, they rush into the embrace of eternal death. How can we not bemoan their stubbornness and wish that they come back into the house of our Heavenly Father?
As for us, we shall say together with King David: But as for me, in the multitude of Thy mercy shall I go into Thy house; I shall worship toward Thy holy temple in fear of Thee (Psalm 5:8).

 For We went through fire and water, and Thou didst bring us out into refreshment. I will go into Thy house with a whole-burnt offering; to Thee will I pay my vows which my lips pronounced and which my mouth had spoken in mine affliction (Psalm 65:12-14).

ΠΩΣ ΘΑ ΚΑΝΟΥΜΕ ΤΟΝ ΘΕΟ ΝΑ ΞΕΧΑΣΕΙ ΤΙΣ ΑΜΑΡΤΙΕΣ ΜΑΣ!

Ξέχασε, λοιπόν, τις ξένες αμαρτίες, για να ξεχάσει και ο Κύριος τις δικές σου.

Γιατί αν πείς: «τιμώρησε τον εχθρό μου», έκλεισες το στόμα σου. Έχασε πιά η γλώσσα σου το δικαίωμα να μιλάει στο Θεό.

Πρώτα πρώτα επειδή εξ αρχής Τον παρόργισες κι ύστερα επειδή ζητάς πράγματα που είναι αντίθετα στον ίδιο το χαρακτήρα της προσευχής. Αφού, δηλαδή, προσέρχεσαι για να ζητήσεις συγχώρηση αμαρτημάτων, πως μιλάς για τιμωρία;

Το αντίθετο έπρεπε να κάνεις, να παρακαλάς για τους άλλους, ώστε στη συνέχεια να παρακαλέσεις με παρρησία και για τον εαυτό σου.

Αν προσευχηθείς για τους συνανθρώπους σου, τα πέτυχες όλα, έστω κι αν δεν πείς το παραμικρό για τις δικές σου αμαρτίες.

Δεν υπάρχει τίποτα πιο ζοφερό, από μια ψυχή που μνησικακεί και μισεί. Δεν υπάρχει τίποτα πιο ακάθαρτο από μια γλώσσα που κακολογεί και καταριέται. Άνθρωπος είσαι, μη γίνεσαι θηρίο. Το στόμα σού δόθηκε όχι για να δαγκώνεις, αλλά για να παρηγορείς με τα λόγια σου. Ο Θεός σε πρόσταξε να συγχωρείς, κι εσύ Τον παρακαλάς να καταργήσει τη δική Του εντολή;

Δεν συλλογίζεσαι ότι, από το άλλο μέρος λυπάται ο Θεός, ο Πλάστης σου, ο Ευεργέτης σου, ο Σωτήρας σου; «Μα αδικήθηκα», λες, «και είμαι πικραμένος». Τότε, λοιπόν, προσευχήσου εναντίον του διαβόλου που μας αδικεί περισσότερο από κάθε άλλον. Γιατί αυτός δημιουργεί και τους εχθρούς και τις έχθρες, αυτός είναι ο μεγάλος και μοναδικός εχθρός σου, με τον οποίον δεν είναι δυνατό να συμφιλιωθείς ποτέ.

Ο συνάνθρωπος, απεναντίας, όσα κι αν σού κάνει, είναι αδελφός σου. Γι’ αυτό οφείλεις να προσεύχεσαι για το καλό του, για την ευτυχία του, για τη μετάνοια και την σωτηρία του.

π. Ευσέβιος Βίττης: Ο άνθρωπος αιχμάλωτος του ζεύγματος ηδονής - οδύνης.

π. Ευσέβιος Βίττης

Αποτέλεσμα της προσκολλήσεως του ανθρώπου στα αισθητά ήταν η εγκατάλειψή του από τον Θεό, που "έθετο σκότος τήν ἀποκρυφήν αὐτοῦ", χάθηκε δηλαδή από το οπτικό πεδίο της ψυχής του ανθρώπου μέσα στο σκοτεινό πέπλο του μυστηρίου. Ο άνθρωπος, βέβηλος τώρα, δεν είχε θέση στο χώρο του αγίου. Αγάπησε τα αισθητά και παραχηρήθηκε να ζει μ' αυτά έχοντας πια ως κύριο ή μάλλον κυρίαρχο όργανο όχι το νου του, αλλά τις αισθήσεις, στις οποίες υποδουλώθηκε ο νους. Τα αισθητήρια του νου αμβλύνθηκαν ως προς τα νοητά και η προσπάθεια προσεγγίσεώς τους έγινε πια προβληματική για τον άνθρωπο.
 

Το πρώτο λοιπόν αποτέλεσμα της στάσεως αυτής του Πρωτοπλάστου ήταν η φυλάκισή του στα αισθητά, η απώλεια του πνευματικού του ορίζοντα, η αναγωγή στον οποίο θα αποτελούσε απ΄ εκεί και πέρα απραγματοποίητο πια όνειρο και με την πιο καλή διάθεση. Ακριβώς δε αυτή η πρώτη κίνηση του ανθρώπου προς τα αισθητά ως απόλυτα υποκατάστατα του υπέρ τα νοητά και υπέρ πάσαν νόησιν Δημιουργού του ήταν η πρώτη παρά φύσιν ενέργειά του. Και η ενέργεια αυτή του ανθρώπου σήμαινε την εμφάνιση στην ψυχή του της παρά φύσιν, της αντίθετης προς τη φυσική του κατασκευή και δημιουργία, ηδονής και της σύστοιχής του ταυτόχρονα αντίρροπης όμως ως προς αυτήν, οδύνης. 

Λέει ο άγιος Μάξιμος ο Ομολογητής: Ο πρώτος άνθρωπος είχε ενεργούμενη μέσα του κατά την ίδια του πρώτη κίνηση προς τα αισθητά δια μέσου των αισθήσεών του την παρά φύσιν ηδονή. Φροντίζοντας στοργικά για τη σωτηρία μας ο Θεός φύτεψε δίπλα της σαν κάποια αντίρροπή της δύναμη την οδύνη. Με την οδύνη ριζώθηκε με πολλή σοφία στη σωματική φύση ο νόμος του θανάτου περιορίζοντας έτσι την παρά φύσιν έφεση και την όλη μανία επιθυμία του νου στην κίνησή της προς τα αισθητά.

Η εμφάνιση της οδύνης ταυτόχρονα με την ηδονή ήταν αιτιώδης και νομοτελής. Την είχε προείπει ο ίδιος ο Θεός στον Πρωτόπλαστο."Εδωσε δε εντολήν Κυριος ο Θεός στον Αδάμ λέγων· “από όλα τα καρποφόρα δένδρα που υπάρχουν στον παράδεισον, σας δίδω το δικαίωμα να τρώγετε. Από το δένδρον όμως της γνώσεως του καλού και κακού δεν πρέπει ποτέ να φάγετε από αυτό. Κατά δε την ημέραν κατά την οποίαν θα φάγετε από τον καρπόν του, θα χάσετε το δικαίωμα της αθανασίας, θα αποθάνετε σωματικώς και θα χωρισθήτε από εμέ, που σας έδωσα την ζωήν”.
 

Η παρακοή του ανθρώπου θα είχε ως συνέπεια το θάνατο υπό πνευματική έννοια αμέσως και υπό σωματική έννοια μέσα στο χρόνο. Προοίμιο και προειδοποίηση του θανάτου θα αποτελούσε πια η οδύνη ως ζωντανό σύμβολό του. Ο Θεός ήταν σαφής στην προειδοποίησή του. Η προειδοποίηση γινόταν τώρα με την παράβαση μια θλιβερή και συνάμα τραγική πραγματικότητα. “Θα πολλαπλασιάσω εις πλήθος πολύ τας λύπας σου, τας θλίψεις και τους στεναγμούς σου. Με πόνους θα γεννάς τα τέκνα σου, θα εξαρτάσαι δε πάντοτε από τον άνδρα σου και αυτός θα είναι κύριός σου”, είπε ο Θεός στην Εύα. Και στον Αδάμ: “επειδή ήκουσες την κακήν συμβουλήν της γυναικός σου και έφαγες από τον καρπόν του δένδρου, εκ του οποίου και μόνου εγώ σου έδωσα την εντολήν να μη φάγης, θα είναι κατηραιμένη η γη εις τα έργα σου. Με λύπην και κόπον θα κερδίζης την τροφήν σου από την γην όλας τας ημέρας της ζωής σου. Αγκάθια και τριβόλια θα σου φυτρώνη η γη και θα τρέφεσαι με τα χόρτα του αγρού. Καθ' όλον το διάστημα της ζωής σου με τον ιδρώτα του προσώπου σου θα τρώγης τον άρτον σου, μέχρις ότου αποθάνης και επιστρέψη το σώμα σου εις την γην, από την οποίαν και έχει πλασθή· διότι χώμα είναι το σώμα σου, στο χώμα θα καταλήξη και χώμα πάλιν θα γίνη”.
 

Θα πρέπει να διευκρινισθεί ότι η παρεισαγωγή της οδύνης στη φύση του ανθρώπου ως αντίρροπης ως προς την ηδονή καταστάσεως δεν έχει χαρακτήρα δικανικό -νομικό, δηλαδή "έκανες την παράβαση; άρπαξε τώρα την τιμωρία που σου αξίζει!". Η εισβολή της οδύνης ήταν συνέπεια της απομακρύνσεως του ανθρώπου από τον Θεό. Η συνεχής όμως παρουσία της και ο εγωκεντρισμός της, το μπόλιασμά της, στην ανθρώπινη φύση μόνο από φιλανθρωπία και ελεημοσύνη θεϊκή έγινε.
 

Λέει ο άγιος Μάξιμος ο Ομολογητής: Η ηδονή και η οδύνηδεν υπήρξαν από την αρχή χαρακτηριστικά της φύσεως της σαρκός, γιατί δεν δημιουργήθηκαν μαζί με αυτήν. Η παράβαση όμως είχε ως αποτέλεσμα την επινόηση της ηδονής, που οδηγούσε στη φθορά της προαιρέσεως, και στην καταδίκη σε οδύνη με κατάληξη τη διάλυση της φύσεως. Έτσι η ηδονή κατεργάζεται τον εκούσιο θάνατο της ψυχής και η οδύνη την ατομική φθορά της σαρκός. Προνοώντας δηλαδή ο Θεός έδωσε στη φύση προς κολασμόν της προαιρετικής ηδονής την απροαίρετη οδύνη και το θάνατο που την επακολουθεί.
 

Επικαλούμενος παρόμοια ερμηνεία του αγίου Γρηγορίου Νύσσης προσθέτει ο ίδιος άγιος: Η ηδονή και η λύπη, η επιθυμία και ο φόβος και τα παρεπόμενά τους, δεν δημιουργήθηκαν από την αρχή στην φύση των ανθρώπων, γιατί αν ήταν αναγκαία, θα αποτελούσαν όρους της υπάρξεως. Υποστηρίζω μαθαίνοντας από τον Μεγάλο Γρηγόριο, τον επίσκοπο Νύσσης, ετούτο· τα χαρακτηριστικά αυτά έχουν εισαχθεί μεταγενέστερα ως προσφύματα του αλόγου μέρους της φύσεώς μας. Δια μέσου τους έγινε αμέσως μετά την παράβαση ευκρινής και καταφάνερη στον άνθρωπο η ομοιότητά του με τα άλογα ζώα. Επειδή καλύφθηκε η αξία του λόγου του, της λογικής του, από τα γνωρίσματα της μη λογικότητος που τράβηξε επάνω του, έπρεπε να κολασθεί από αυτά η ανθρώπινη φύση, όπως της άξιζε. Με τον τρόπον αυτόν οικονόμησε ο Θεός τη δυνατότητα για τον άνθρωπο να έρθει σε συναίσθηση της λογικής του ιδιοδυΐας.
 

Με την εμφάνιση της οδύνης επήλθε μια αναγκαία ανθρωπολογικά εξισορρόπηση. Η οδύνη αποτέλεσε το φρένο στην ξέφρενη προσπάθεια του ανθρώπου και βοήθεια για τη συνειδητοποίηση και επίγνωση του που θα τον οδηγούσε η ηδονή. Αυτή η ανακοπή της πορείας του ανθρώπου προς τα άνω, το "μη φρονείν τα άνω, αλλά τα επί της γης", για να χρησιμοποιήσουμε αντίστροφα τους λόγους του αποστόλου Παύλου, σήμαινες μια ριζική αλλαγή στην ανθρώπινη φύση, στα βάθη της οποίας, στον "πυθμένα" της, όπως τα ονομάζει ο άγιος Μάξιμος, εγκαταστάθηκε ο θάνατος. Ο τρόπος μεταδόσεως ζωής στον κόσμο αυτόν μεταμορφώθηκε ριζικά και έγινε εντελώς διαφορετικότερος από ό,τι θα γινόταν προπτωτικά. Στο σημειο αυτό εκφράζοντας τη γενικότερη πατερική διδαχή ο άγιος Μάξιμος παρατηρεί τα επόμενα:
 

"Παραβαίνοντας ο προπάτορας Αδάμ τη θεϊκή εντολή έγινε αίτιος παρεισαγωγής άλλης γεννήσεως του ανθρώπου. Η αρχή αυτή έχει ως βασικό της στοιχείο την ηδονή, αλλά καταλήγει στο θάνατο δια μέσου του πόνου. Και επινόησε σύμφωνα με την υποβολή του όφεως την ηδονή που δεν ήταν αποτέλεσμα πόνου, κόπου δηλαδή, που να προηγήθηκε πριν από αυτήν, διαπεραίωνε όμως στον πόνο όλους τους ομοίους του που από αυτόν γεννήθηκαν κατά σάρκα. Επειδή η αρχή της ηδονής υπήρξε άδικη, είχε δικαιολογημένα συνακολούθους όλους τους απογόνους του στο τέλος, που είναι ο δια μέσου του πόνου θάνατος".
 

Και συνοψίζει ο άγιος Πατήρ:
 

"Παραβαίνοντας την εντολή ο Αδάμ, προξένησε το να περιέχει ηδονή ο τρόπος δημιουργίας της ανθρωπίνης φύσεως..... παραβαίνοντας την εντολή η γυναίκα, επέφερε το να αρχίζει με οδύνη η εμφάνιση της ανθρωπίνης φύσεως".
 

Ο άνθρωπος γεννιέται πια έχοντας τις ρίζες του στην εμπαθή ηδονή και στην εξαιτίας του γεγονότος αυτού οδύνη. Τώρα πια γίνεται "παθητός". Υπόκειται με άλλα λόγια στη δημιουργία μέσα του παθών, τα οποία κυριαρχούν αναμφισβήτητα επάνω του. Έτσι μόνιμο μεταπτωτικό του γνώρισμα είναι η "παθητότης". "Γιατί είναι φανερό ότι στην παθητότητα της φύσεως υπάρχει η δύναμη της ηδονής και της οδύνης".
 

Και λοιπόν αρχίζει τώρα πια ο αγώνας του ανθρώπου για την κατακράτηση μόνο της ηδονήςκαι την δια μέσου της κατάλυση της οδύνης.
 

Λέει ο άγιος Μάξιμος ο Ομολογητής: 

"Θέλοντας να ξεφύγουμε την αίσθηση της οδύνης, καταφεύγουμε στην ηδονή, προσπαθώντας έτσι να γλυκάνουμε τη φύση που την πιέζει βασανιστικά η οδύνη. Φροντίζοντας δε να αμβλύνουμε τα κινήματα της οδύνης ενισχύουμε ακόμα πιο πολύ την εξουσία της μέσα μας, μη μπορώντας να απολαύσουμε καθαρή ηδονή, ξένη από οδύνη και πόνο".
Η προσπάθεια με άλλα λόγια διαχωρισμού ηδονής από την οδύνη μένει τελικά ατελεσφόρητη. Και όμως παρά τις συνεχείς αποτυχίες του δεν παύει ο άνθρωπος να τον επιχειρεί. Η σειρά των αποτυχιών του δεν του ανοίγει τα μάτια ή μάλλον αρνείται ο ίδιος να τα ανοίξει για να δει τι σισύφειο έργο επιχειρεί. Τον τυφλώνει η φιλαυτία του και τον οδηγεί στο αδύνατο και απραγματοποίητο αυξάνοντας τελικά με τον τρόπο αυτόν την οδύνη και την απελπισία του.

Η ανθρωπολογική αλήθειαεν προκειμένω, που πρέπει να χωνέψει καλά ο ίδιος ο άνθρωπος, είναι αυτή που τονίζει ο άγιος Μάξιμος πάλι. 

"Δεν είναι δυνατό να υπάρξει ποτέ ηδονή χωρίς την ταυτόχρονη παρουσία και της οδύνης. Ο πόνος της οδύνης είναι ανάμεικτος με την ηδονή, έστω κι αν αυτός διαφεύγει την προσοχή εκείνωνπου υποκύπτουν στην ηδονή εξαιτίας της επικρατήσεως του πάθους της. Και αυτό γιατί συνήθως φαίνεται το επικρατέστετο στοιχείο καλύπτοντας την γειτονική αίσθηση. Προσπαθώντας λοιπόν να απολαύσουμε την ηδονή εξαιτίας της φιλαυτίας μας και φροντίζοντας από την ίδια αιτία, τη φιλαυτία, να αποφύγουμε την οδύνη, επινοούμε τελικά τις αναρίθμητες και ανεκδιήγητες αιτίες δημιουργίας παθών μέσα μας.
Πρέπει να γίνει λοιπόν συνείδηση στον άνθρωπο πως η μη άμεση αίσθηση οδύνης κατά την διάρκεια της ηδονής δεν σημαίνει και απουσία της οδύνης. Η οδύνη συνυπάρχει οπωσδήποτε κρυμμένη σε κάποια μυστική πτυχή της υπάρξεως. Η επικράτηση απλώς της ηδονήςδεν επιτρέπει την αίσθηση της οδύνης, όπως ένα δυνατό εύοσμο παρασκεύασμα καλύπτει μια αφόρητη δυσοσμία. Θα έρθει όμως οπωσδήποτε η στιγμή που έτσι ή αλλιώς θα εκδηλωθεί η οδύνη που είναι μάλιστα ασύγκριτα μεγαλύτερης διάρκειας από την ηδονή. Και όσο κανένας επιχειρεί να την απομακρύνει, τόσο και πιο βίαια έρχεται εκείνη. Και όσο φροντίζει να την ξεχάσει, τόσο πιο επίμονα και βασανιστικά τον πιέζει εκείνη για να του υπενθυμίζει την παρουσία της. 

Η φρενίτιδα απαλλαγής με κάθε τρόπο από την οδύνη οδηγεί τελικά στη δημιουργία αναρίθμητης σειράς παθών. Η ηδονή κάνει τον άνθρωπο από φίλαυτο ακόμα πιο φίλαυτο. Και αυτό σημαίνει προσπάθειά του ενισχύσεως και μονιμοποιήσεως της εσωτερικής του ανθρωποκεντρικής αυτονομίας. Αυτό όμως μόνο ως φενάκη μπορεί να χαρακτηρισθεί, γιατί ο άνθρωπος ούτε αυθυπόστατος είναι ούτε αυτάρκης. Πώς θα μπορούσε λοιπόν αν γίνει αυτόνομος;
 

Αλλά και να μπορούσε να γελάσει τον εαυτό του με την φαντασίωση της αυτονομίας, έρχεται η ίδια η πραγματικότητα να καγχάσει εις βάρος του, γιατί η ηδονή είναι θύρα ορθάνοιχτης επεισαγωγής στο "παθητικόν" της ψυχής εσμού παθών, τα οποία καταλύουν και τη λίγη ελευθερία που τυχόν έχει απορροφώντας του και το τελευταίο ίχνος κάθε ζωτικής ικμάδας και "αυτονομίας". Το κράτος της εκούσιας ηδονής και της ακούσιας (πάντα αυτόκλητης) οδύνης αποτελούν τραγικά το πιο ακλόνητο ανθρωπολογικό καθεστώς που καμιά προσπάθεια εκ μέρους του υποταγμένου σ'αυτό ανθρώπου δεν μπορεί να το κλονίσει και να το γκρεμίσει.
 

Εδώ λοιπόν τίθεται το ερώτημα: Θα είναι πάντα χωρίς ελπίδα απελευθερώσεώς του από τον ζυγό ηδονής - οδύνης ο άνθρωπος και υποχείριος των συνεπειών του τόσο στο παρόν όσο και στο απέραντο μέλλον του;

Ye Are a Chosen Race by St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

  Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk

"Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 Jn. 3:1), and so we are. O blessedness! O God's love for man! O how much God's love has accomplished! O how profusely has God's grace abounded! Poor and rejected sinners are made the children of God! The Apostle of Christ wonders at this and says, Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God, and so we are. For what is more astonishing than that a sinner should become a child of God? God's love toward man has wrought this. What is more glorious than to be called and to really be a child of God? God's grace has bestowed this on man. It is glorious to be the child of an earthly king; it is incomparably more glorious to be the child of God the Heavenly King. This honor, glory, merit, nobility, and name is more excellent than all titles of this world. For this, glory to God Who loves mankind! 

 If Christians are children of God, they are also heirs, heirs, then, "of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17). If they are children of God, what then, and whom should they fear? Why fear traitors, enemies, the devil, demons, death and hell? God shall stand up for them. "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31). We receive this most exalted gift of God in Baptism, for then we men are born of God and receive this most glorious title.

Beloved Christians! Let us remember our holy Baptism and this most exalted mercy which God then showed us: we then became children of God. Glory to God for this! But it is required of children that they should be like their parents, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (Jn. 3:6). Therefore Christians must be like God as they are born of God. Let us therefore show in deed that we are children of God. God is holy, let us also be holy. God is righteous, let us also be righteous. God is good, "for He maketh the sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Mt. 5:45); let us also be good and do good both to our friends and to our enemies, to those that love us and to those that hate us. God is compassionate, let us also be compassionate and show mercy to our unfortunate brethren. God hates sin, let us also hate every sin and turn away from it. God loves us, let us also love one another. God forgives us our transgressions when we repent, let us also forgive men their transgressions.

The Apostle of Christ admonishes us to do this: "Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children" (Eph. 5:1). When we show such character in ourselves, then we shall be true children of God and we shall receive both the inheritance and all good things promised to the children of God in Jesus Christ the Lord.

from: Journey to Heaven Counsels On the Particular Duties of Every Christian Our Father Among the Saints, Tikhon of Zadonsk, Bishop of Voronezh and Elets Jordanville, NY: Holy Trinity Monastery, 2004.

ΓΙΑΤΙ ΛΕΓΕΤΑΙ “ΚΟΥΦΗ” ή “ΒΟΥΒΗ” ΕΒΔΟΜΑΔΑ , Η ΕΒΔΟΜΑΔΑ ΠΡΙΝ ΤΟ ΣΑΒΒΑΤΟ ΤΟΥ ΛΑΖΑΡΟΥ

H έκτη και τελευταία εβδομάδα της Μεγ. Σαρακοστής ονομάζεται “Εβδομάδα των Βαϊων”. Για έξι μέρες πριν το Σάββατο του Λαζάρου και την Κυριακή των Βαϊων η λατρεία της Εκκλησίας μας ωθεί ν’ ακολουθήσουμε το Χριστό καθώς πρώτος αναγγέλει το θάνατο του φίλου Του και κατόπιν αρχίζει το ταξίδι Του στη Βηθανία και στην Ιερουσαλήμ. Στο κέντρο της προσοχής είναι ο Λάζαρος – η αρρώστεια του, ο θάνατός του, ο θρήνος των συγγενών του και η αντίδραση του Χριστού σ’ όλα αυτά. Η τελευταία εβδομάδα δηλαδή περνάει με πνευματική περισυλλογή πάνω στην ερχόμενη συνάντηση του Χριστού με το θάνατο – πρώτα στο πρόσωπο του φίλου Του Λαζάρου, έπειτα στο θάνατο του ίδιου του Χριστού. Πλησιάζει η “ώρα του Χριστού” για την οποία τόσο συχνά μιλούσε και προς αυτήν προσανατολιζόταν όλη η επίγεια διακονία Του. Η ανάσταση του Λαζάρου έγινε για να βεβαιωθούμε για “Την κοινήν ανάστασιν”. Είναι κάτι το συναρπαστικό να γιορτάζουμε κάθε μέρα για μια ολοκληρη εβδομάδα αυτή τη συνάντηση ανάμεσα στη ζωή και το θάνατο, που αργά αργά πλησιάζει, να γινόμαστε μέρος της, να νιώθουμε με όλο το είναι μας αυτό που υπονοεί ο Ιωάννης με τα λόγια του:”Ιησούς ως είδεν αυτήν κλαίουσαν και τους συνελθόντας… ενεβριμήσατο τω πνεύματι και ετάραξεν εαυτόν… και εδάκρυσεν” (Ιωάν. 11, 33-35) .Μέσα στη λειτουργική ορολογία, το Σάββατο του Λαζάρου και η Κυριακή των Βαϊων είναι η”έναρξη του Σταυρού”. (Ι.Μ.Π).

Παρά ταύτα ο ευσεβής λαός μας αποκαλεί την εβδομάδα αυτή «κουφή» η «βουβή» με μοναδική δικαιολογία ότι την Εβδομάδα αυτή δεν τελούνται Ακολουθίες και ως εκ τούτου δεν σημαίνει ούτε η καμπάνα οπότε ούτε λέμε(Ακολουθία) ούτε ακούμε(Καμπάνα)αυτήν την Εβδομάδα. Όμως η πραγματικότητα είναι άλλη. Αρκεί μια ματιά στα Λειτουργικά βιβλία της Εκκλησίας μας για να μας πείσει ότι,όχι «βουβή» και «κουφή»δεν είναι αυτή η Εβδομάδα αλλά αντίθετα όπως είδαμε και πιο πάνω είναι πλήρης μηνυμάτων και Θεολογικών εννοιών γύρω από το Μυστήριο του θανάτου. Παλαιότερα αυτό εκαλλιεργείτο και από τους ίδιους τους ιερείς σαν μια δικαιολογημένη ίσως!! προσπάθεια για λίγη ξεκούραση λίγο πρίν τον μεγάλο κόπο της Αγίας και Μεγάλης Εβδομάδος. Το Τυπικό της Εκκλησίας μας, υπαγορεύει και αυτήν την Εβδομάδα τις Ακολουθίες που τελούνται καθ’ όλη την Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή. Δηλ.Μεσονυκτικό Όρθρο,Ώρες και Εσπερινό το πρωί,το Μεγάλο Απόδειπνο το απόγευμα, την Προηγιασμένη Θ.Λειτουργία την Τετάρτη και την Παρασκευή καθώς και το Μικρό Απόδειπνο με τον κανόνα του Αγίου Λαζάρου την Παρασκευή το απόγευμα. Η μοναδική Ακολουθία που απουσιάζει είναι η Ακολουθία των Χαιρετισμών της Παναγίας η οποία αποτελεί και την μοναδική χαρμόσυνη νότα στην πένθιμη περίοδο που διανύουμε. Τό ότι δεν τελείται η χαρμόσυνη Ακολουθία των Χαιρετισμών την Εβδομάδα αυτή οδήγησε στην παρεξήγηση ; Ίσως!

 Η τελευταία εβδομάδα της Σαρακοστής(αφού από την Κυριακή ξεκινά η Μεγάλη Εβδομάδα με την δική της νηστεία), είναι η τελική αποκάλυψη του νοήματος της Μεγάλης Σαρακοστής που είναι η μετάνοια, η νηστεία από την αμαρτία, η χαρμολύπη και η επαναβίωση του λατρευτικού στοιχείου της Εκκλησίας! Ας φροντίσουμε να μην χάσουμε τα όσα έχει να μας προσφέρει και αυτήν την Εβδομάδα η Εκκλησία μας ξεφεύγοντας από επιπόλαιες και ανυπόστατες συμβουλές γύρω από την Λατρευτική μας ζωή.

Επίκαιρος και εύστοχος όπως πάντα ο λόγος του π.Μωυσέως του Αγιορείτου για τις Άγιες Αυτές και Μεγάλες Ημέρες. «Πάντα τη Μεγάλη Παρασκευή, να ‘σαι μόνος σαν το Χριστό προσμένοντας το τελευταίο καρφί, το ξύδι, τη λόγχη. Τις ζαριές ν’ ακούς ατάραχα στο μοίρασμα των υπαρχόντων σου, τις βλαστήμιες, τις προκλήσεις, την αδιαφορία. Πριν την Παρασκευή δεν έρχεται η Κυριακή, τότε λησμονάς τα μαρτύρια των δρόμων της Μεγάλης Παρασκευής της ζωής μας. Μην ξαφνιαστείς, μη φοβηθείς στ’ απρόσμενο σουρούπωμα. Οι μπόρες του ουρανού δε στερεύουν. Η ξαστεριά θα ’ρθεί το Σαββατόβραδο. Τότε λησμονάς τα μαρτύρια των δρόμων της μεγάλης Παρασκευής της ζωής μας»

 

πηγη.ΙΕΡΟΣ ΝΑΟΣ ΑΓΙΟΥ ΝΙΚΟΛΑΟΥ ΤΟΥ ΝΕΟΥ ΘΗΒΩΝ

 

 

An Interpretive analysis of the parable,The Rich Man and Lazarus..

Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

 

The parable of the rich Man and Lazarus

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. In hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus in his bosom. So he called to him, `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire'.

But Abraham replied, `Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us'.

He answered, `Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment'. Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them'.

`No, father Abraham', he said, `but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent'. He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead'".

(Luke 16, 19-31)

In studying this famous parable of Christ one can observe many things. One can deal with its social dimensions or even draw numerous ethical and moral conclusions. However, we prefer to keep within the subjects relating to life after death. In other words, we shall concern ourselves with the eschatological analysis of the parable.

First. As we see, the parable is not about life after the Second Coming of Christ, but about the life of the soul between a person's death, when his soul leaves his body, and the Second Coming of Christ. This interval is called the intermediate state of souls. Other words spoken by Christ refer to His Second Coming, when He will come to judge men. Before that, bodily resurrection will take place, when the souls will enter their bodies again, and a person can enjoy the things that he did in his lifetime.

Second. It points out that death exists in man's life.

The Rich Man and poor Lazarus died. Death is separation of the soul from the body. This state is also called sleep, because death was overcome by the Resurrection of Christ. Christ overcame death ontologically by His Passion, His Cross and His Resurrection, and He gave man the possibility of transcending it by living in the Church. The fact that death is a sleep, a temporary state, appears from the way in which saints die, for they all have hope in Christ, and it can be seen in their uncorrupted and wonder-working relics.

God did not create death, but death has inserted itself into nature, as a fruit of man's sin and his withdrawal from God. There is death of the body and death of the soul. Death of the soul is the removal of the grace of God from the soul, and death of the body is the separation of the soul from the body.

All people taste the terrible mystery of death, since we all inherit corruptibility and mortality. In other words, we are born to die. Death is the surest, most certain event in our life. Even contemporary existentialist philosophers say that the truest fact is "existence towards death".

Although death is the surest event, the day and hour of death are uncertain. No one knows when he will die. The point is to live right, so that the how of death may be eternal life.

In the text of the parable it says: "The time came when the beggar died...", and "the rich man also died and was buried".

Thus death is the greatest democrat, for it makes no exceptions.

Third. After Lazarus' soul left his body, it was received by the angels and carried to Abraham's bosom. This means that there are angels and, of course, each person's guardian angel as his personal protector, who receive the souls of the just and take them to God.

By contrast, another parable says that the demons receive the souls of unrepentant sinners. The foolish rich man heard a voice from God: "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you; then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Lk. 12, 20). The verb `demand' suggests the demons, who claim the soul of the sinful person in order to control it forever.

Therefore, at the terrible hour of death, when the soul is forcibly separated from its harmony with the body, dreadful things happen. The angels receive the souls of the saints, and the demons receive the souls of sinners. The teaching of the Fathers of the Church speaks of the `customs houses', which are the demons, the aerial spirits which desire and attempt to rule the souls of all people forever. Of course the souls of the saints, which have been united with Christ and bear the seal of the Holy Spirit, cannot be controlled by the demons.

When the Fathers of the Church speak of the customs houses, they mean both the hatred and aggressive fury of the demons and the existence of the passions, which seek satisfaction but cannot be satisfied because of the non-existence of the body. It is just this condition that suffocates the soul, which feels a terrible anguish. This torment of the soul is like the complete solitary confinement of a person in prison without any possibility of sleeping, eating, meeting anyone, and so forth. Then his passions and his whole being are really infuriated.

The fact that men's souls are received by angels or by demons is relative to their condition. As the Fathers say, angels and souls are noetic spirits in comparison with the material body, but in comparison with God they have something material. So the angels are called ethereal beings, they are not entirely immaterial. Furthermore, the soul is a creature, which means that it is created by God. It is immortal by grace, for immortality is God's gift to it. Every creature has a beginning and an end. Since the soul is created, it has a definite beginning, but it has no end, for God willed it so.

Fourth. While Lazarus' soul went to Abraham's bosom and the Rich Man's soul went to hades, Christ says in the parable that Lazarus went to Abraham's bosom and this particular Rich Man went to hades. Then it says that the Rich Man "saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom".

This is very significant, because it means that in spite of the separation of the soul from the body, the hypostasis, or substance or person, is not lost. Indeed the soul did not exist before the body, but it was created at the same time as the body, and yet neither soul nor body alone constitutes the man. Nevertheless, in spite of the temporary separation of the soul from the body, the man is not lost. This is seen from the fact that the soul maintains consciousness and, as the Fathers explain, a man's soul recognises the elements of his own body which remain in the earth and are probably scattered or broken up into the elements of which they were composed. At the Second Coming, by the grace of God the soul will reunite the elements of his body, the whole man will be formed, and of course then the bodies of both the just and the unjust will be spiritual, that is to say they will not need food, nor will they be limited by distances and other restrictions. Resurrection is a gift granted to all people, just and unjust.

It should be noted that in this parable Christ mentions the name of the poor man but does not know the Rich Man's name. This signifies that because Lazarus lived with God, he was soteriologically a person, a true hypostasis, whereas the Rich Man, although he was a man, had no hypostasis soteriologically. This means that a real man is one who has a soul and a body but also the grace of God in his soul and body. Although a man who does not have the Holy Spirit is ontologically a person, he is not a person in relation to God, for the very simple reason that he has become enslaved to things. Instead of turning to God, his nous turns to matter and is enslaved by it.

Fifth. The parable says that the Rich Man, finding himself in hades, saw Abraham "and Lazarus in his bosom". The person of Abraham is understood as meaning God. To be in the bosom of God means to be in communion with God.

In the bosom, behind the chest, is the heart of man. The heart, which is the source of biological life, is a symbol of love. The greater the love, the greater the knowledge, since knowledge is closely linked with love. Indeed this love constitutes communion and union. Thus for a person to be in the bosom means that he is linked with the loved one, that there is unity between them.

So the expression that Lazarus is in Abraham's bosom points graphically to his communion with God, which is connected with spiritual knowledge and love. When we speak of knowledge of God we mean "communion in being". It is not cerebral knowledge, but the knowledge that is connected with love, with this very life.

Lazarus does not seem to be troubled about the terrible hardship of the Rich Man. He does not see hades, while the Rich Man does see the glory of Paradise. Actually a person who lives in the uncreated Light, in the great vision of God, as our Fathers say, forgets the world. The Light is so great, so dazzling that it does not even allow one to see anything else. This does not mean that the saints do not pray for the whole world. They pray and entreat God, for they do indeed have greater communion with Him. However, they are in a state which we cannot comprehend. Only if we look into the divine experiences of the saints can we grasp it.

Sixth. While Lazarus was in Abraham's bosom, the Rich Man was burning in hades. Indeed he would ask Abraham to send Lazarus to cool his tongue, because, as he expressed himself, "I am tormented in this flame".

Here hades, not Hell, is being referred to. For Hell will begin after the Second Coming of Christ and the future judgement, while the souls of sinners experience hades after their departure from the body. According to the teaching of the holy Fathers, hades is an intelligible place, it is the foretaste of Hell, when a person receives the caustic energy of God.

There was a great discussion about these matters at the Council of Ferrara-Florence, and the views of Mark Eugenicus, which were revealing, have been preserved. The fire in which the Rich Man was burning was not what the Latins called the purifying fire, or `purgatory' that all people's souls pass through. It was not a created fire, but uncreated. That is to say, even sinners receive the rays of divine Light, but since they die unrepentant, without being cured, they experience the burning energy of the Light. Thus, according to the degree of their cure or illness, people receive the same grace either as light or as fire.

It should also be observed that the Rich Man saw Abraham with Lazarus in his bosom. He saw the glory of Abraham, but he had no share in this glory. By contrast, Lazarus both saw it and participated in it. This is a very significant point, for it shows that in that other life everyone will see God, but the righteous will have communion, participation, while the sinners will not. A characteristic example is what Christ said about the coming judgement. All will see the Judge, all will converse with Him, but some will enjoy His glory and others will experience the caustic energy of divine grace.

Seventh. The Rich Man was concerned about his brothers living in the world and asked Abraham to send Lazarus to preach repentance to them. Therefore in spite of the separation of a man's soul from the present world, there is knowledge and social interest.

This fact, along with other elements, shows what we said before, that the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus does not refer to the life after Christ's Second Coming, but to the life up to the Second Coming. Clearly it is about the so-called intermediate state of souls.

The saints are interested in the salvation of the world. By the grace of God they hear our prayers and lift them up to God. That is why we pray to our saints. By the feasts which we have dedicated to their memory we show that they are saints, that they have been united to God, that they await the resurrection of their bodies, which they are already receiving, with their imperishability, the prelude of the age to come. We too are concerned for those who have fallen asleep. We pray to the saints to pray to God for us, we ask for their intercessions, while we pray to God to have mercy on all the others who have fallen asleep. This, apart from being evidence of communication among us, at the same time expresses something else that is deeper.

According to the teaching of the holy Fathers, when a person enters into repentance, the stage of purification, he progresses continually. Perfecting continues both in the `intermediate' stage and in the life after the Second Coming. The stages of the spiritual life are purification, illumination and deification. These are not to be conceived as water-tight states, but as degrees of participation in the grace of God. If a person is struggling to be purified, the grace of God which is purifying him is called purifying energy. When the nous is illuminated, it means that it is receiving the energy of God which illuminates it, and this is called illuminating energy. And when he is in the process of deification, this happens by the grace of God which is called deifying. The process is continuous. Thus those who have repented before their soul's departure from the body, progress and become increasingly receptive to uncreated grace. Therefore we hold memorial services and pray for those who have fallen asleep.

However, since those who did not repent before their soul left the body do not have spiritual vision, they experience only the caustic energy of God and will never participate in the good. But we pray for all, because we do not know their inner spiritual condition.

Eighth. It says in the parable that there was a "great gulf” between hades, where the Rich Man was, and the place where Abraham was, and that it was not possible to pass from one to the other.

Of course this is not a question of particular places, but as we said before, it refers to particular ways of life. There is a clear difference between Paradise and Hell as particular ways of life.

Paradise and Hell do not exist in God's view, but in man's view. God sends His grace to all men, since "He makes His sun rise on the just and the unjust and sends His rain on the evil and the good". If God gives us a command to love all people, even our enemies, He does the same Himself. It is impossible not to love sinners as well. But each person feels God's love differently, according to his spiritual condition.

Light has two properties, illuminating and caustic. If one person has good vision, he benefits from the illuminating property of the sun, the light, and he enjoys the whole creation. But if another person is deprived of his eye, if he is without sight, then he feels the caustic property of light. This will be so in the future life too, as well as in the life of the soul after it leaves the body. God will also love the sinners, but they will be unable to perceive this love as light. They will perceive it as fire, since they will not have a spiritual eye and spiritual vision.

Something similar applies to Holy Communion. All can take part, but for those who are prepared and fit it is light and life, for those who approach unworthily it is judgement and condemnation.

The Church shows this in the iconography of the Second Coming. There we see the saints in the light that comes from the throne of God; and from the same throne springs the river of fire, where the unrepentant sinners are.

Therefore in the Orthodox Church we attach great importance to man's healing. The Church is a spiritual Hospital, a sanatorium that cures the spiritual eye, which is the nous. It is ill and must be cured. This is the whole work of the Church.

Ninth. Abraham, who did not comply with the Rich Man's plea to send Lazarus to earth and exhort his brothers to repent, justified his position by saying that if people do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, "they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead".

A carnal man cannot repent, however many miracles he may see in his life. He lives in a deathly sleep. This is a fact. If man's freedom is not activated, there is no repentance. Everything takes place by the energy of God and the cooperation of man.

The greatest fact in history is the incarnation of Christ, His Resurrection, and the establishment of the Church, which is the Body of the risen incarnate God-man Christ. If a man cannot be inspired by this staggering reality, if he cannot be persuaded by the lives of so many saints who are members of the risen Body of Christ, he will not be persuaded by the greatest miracle.

The salvation and rebirth of a man is not a matter of conjuring actions, but a fruit of the free expression of his will, a fruit of suffering, struggle and much hard work. Unfortunately, many people of our time content themselves with magical, external events. To be convinced of the existence of the other life is a matter of inner spiritual sensitivity. For even if someone should rise from the dead it could be misconstrued as fantasy.

Much is being said today about so-called `after-death' experiences. Some people claim that their soul had left their body or was approaching the way out and then came back to the body. They recount all the terrible things that they saw and faced.

In the Orthodox Church we say that there have been cases in which the soul came back to the body. In other words, they were resurrected by the power of Christ. These, however, are exceptional cases; they do not happen to everyone. There are saints who had terrible experiences, when in their personal lives they knew Hell and Paradise, experienced the flames of hades, saw angels and demons. When they returned to themselves, they lived a life of repentance and preached repentance to others. However, we say that most of these experiences are demonic or are the fruits of repressed experiences, or they are fantasies, or the results of sedative and narcotic drugs given to prevent suffering in the frightful ordeal of their illnesses. There is certainly need for great discernment in order to be able to distinguish these states, whether they come from God, from the devil or from psychological and somatic anomalies.

We in the Church do not wait for resurrections of saints or experiences of such states in order to believe. We have Holy Scripture, the lives of the Prophets, Apostles and saints, we have their words and their teachings, as well as their holy relics, and we believe that there is eternal life. At times each of us is granted by God to experience in his heart what is Hell and what is Paradise.

Beyond these things, we keep Christ's commandments in order to be cured, so that we can solve many existential, interpersonal, social and ecological problems. To abide by God's commandments makes us balanced people.

Tenth. The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus suggests the method which we should use in order to be cured and thus, after death and after the Second Coming of Christ, to experience God as light and not as fire. Abraham said to the Rich Man: "they have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them". We should observe the law and obey the Prophets of every epoch.

A Prophet is one who by the grace of God sees the mysteries of the coming age, who already tastes the Kingdom of God. There were such Prophets in both the Old and New Testaments. They themselves received the Revelation, they themselves lived the Kingdom of God, became acquainted with its mysteries and then revealed them to the people.

The Prophets, who are identified with the real theologians and spiritual fathers, renew the people and guide them towards life. Spiritual guidance is connected and identified with man's spiritual rebirth. Actually one cannot be reborn without having been associated with a deified person, a Prophet.

Even in our time there are Prophets who preach repentance, turn our hearts towards God, and recommend another way of thinking and living. Even if we have not been able to meet such a Prophet, there are the words of the Prophets, and by reading them we can learn what the Kingdom of God is and what we should do to attain it.

These general thoughts, which are the basic points in orthodox eschatology, have been formulated here very briefly, in a simple way. The reader can find the detailed analysis of these topics, documented by the teaching of the holy Fathers, in the chapters which follow. With these basic points in view he will also understand what he is going to read. 

Source-"Life After Death" by
Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos