The performance of the liturgy, which the Orthodox Church sees as the fundamental reason for its existence, is a public event in which the words and gestures of the priest, familiar to all, are repeated before the eyes of the faithful; any variation or deviation can be recognised. The deep spiritual truths of the Faith, on the other hand, were communicated to individuals by spiritual fathers who had prepared themselves through long periods of solitude and prayer.
France, Peter. Hermits: The Insights of Solitude
Category: Seelsorge
… for me
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word; And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
John 4:39-42
elders
A starets … is an elder of an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic monastery or convent who functions as venerated adviser and teacher. Elders or spiritual fathers are charismatic spiritual leaders whose wisdom stems from God as obtained from ascetic experience. … Elders are not appointed by any authority; they are simply recognized by the faithful as being people “of the Spirit”. An elder, when not in prayer or in voluntary seclusion, receives visitors (some who travel very far) and spends time conversing with them, offering a blessing (if the elder is an ordained cleric) and confession, and praying. People often petition the elder for intercessionary prayers, believing that the prayer of an elder is particularly effective.
Starets
To this there is a simple answer. The spiritual father or starets is essentially a ‘charismatic’ and prophetic figure, accredited for his task by the direct action of the Holy Spirit. He is ordained, not by the hand of man, but by the hand of God. He is an expression of the Church as “event” or “happening”, rather than of the Church as institution.
The Spiritual Father in Orthodox Christianity
waiting
In a world of action, what does the call of Jesus to “follow me” mean? In the world of instant, what does it mean that everything belongs to God?
I like Weil – a rebel. She did not join the Church but confessed Jesus as Lord. Do moderns need to learn, from her, that waiting in hope is something to be desired?
institutions
But Christendom has abolished Christ; yet, on the other hand, it wants—to inherit him, his great name, to make use of the enormous consequences of his life. Indeed, Christendom is not far from wanting to appropriate them as its own merits and to delude us into thinking that Christendom is Christ.
Soren Kierkegaard
No institution can substitute for a living relationship with Jesus – as much as they may try, Sometimes you just have to stand alone before God!!!
Even so, come Lord Jesus.
comformist
No post – sorry. I have not spoken with anyone since the beginning of the year. So, maybe that helps?
I am reading. Lots of different books. I am trying for a book a week – non-theological and non-philosophical. I would like to read more literature. The first one is Never Let Me Go. A little slow at the start but gets a lot better. It has been banned in some states in the US.
Yesterday was a Desert Christian day. The following intrigues me:
We live in a society that is at once deeply individualist and deeply conformist; the desert fathers and mothers manage to be neither, and they suggest to us that the church’s calling likewise is to avoid both these pitfalls.
Williams, Rowan. Silence and Honey Cakes: The Wisdom of the Desert
The analysis is good. Yes, conformity is the only virtue. Perhaps it goes a little deeper:
Conformity is the tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, or behaviors in ways that are consistent with group norms. Norms are implicit, specific rules shared by a group of individuals on how they should behave. People may be susceptible to conform to group norms because they want to gain acceptance from their group.
Conformity
The modern tendency is to think, “If we can measure it, we can build it”. Perhaps Kierkegaard’s leveling?
Anyway, back to solitude and silence.
growth?
… he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. … the church may receive edifying.
1 Cor 14:3, 5
Take heed that the persons, whom ye present unto us, be apt and meet, for their learning and godly conversation, to exercise their ministry duly, to the honour of God, and the edifying of his Church.
BCP: The Ordering of Priests
The Church and the priesthood are for growth in relationship with Jesus. It is not an institution concerned with itself. It is concerned with individuals. What happens when this individual “growth” is no longer the aim?
“follow me”
The day after The Nativity of Our Lord is not Boxing Day but Saint Stephen’s Day. And there is a good reason. Here are the Collect from the BCP and the gospel:
Grant, O Lord, that in all our sufferings here upon earth, for the testimony of thy truth, we may stedfastly look up to heaven, and by faith behold the glory that shall be revealed; and, being filled with the Holy Ghost, may learn to love and bless our persecutors by the example of thy first Martyr Saint Stephen, who prayed for his murderers to thee, O blessed Jesus, who standest at the right hand of God to succour all those that suffer for thee, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.
Behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city; that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord.
St. Matthew 23.34-end
Following Jesus is not all songs, candles, and food. S. Stephen reminds us that Jesus, who said, “Follow me”, went to the Cross.
institutionalism
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
Luke 15:4
God leaves the institution to find the individual. Do I escape into the institution to ignore the individual? What happens when people do not fit into my “box”?
What do the “99” think of the “1”?
sometimes …
… it is just that obvious!!!!
this solitary life 