Friday, October 24, 2008

ELDER CLEOPA ON PRAYER

This is what was translated of the interview with elder Cleopa of Eternal memory which by His providence I could watch from youtube. Pray it will be of use to you who read .

Part 1

We should be with God at all times
Listen to what Psalm 33 says “I will bless the Lord at all times” “His praise shall continually be in my mouth” For prayer is the life of our soul. We must pray to God at all times! You have seen what Psalm 102 says “In all places of His dominion; bless the Lord, O my Soul!” You have seen that the great Apostle Paul says more clearly: “Pray incessantly”!
For How many hours do you pray in the morning? And How many hours in the evening? St. John the Chrysostom says: One should pray for three hours both in the morning and evening and at least for one hour at midnight!
How many hours do you pray to God, in the morning when you awaken?
Hours, no…
We should, but we don’t pray for hours… You see?! And death comes tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. Our Savior said:” Be alert and pray since you know neither the day nor the hour…” We leave tomorrow or the day after tomorrow! We all leave! Nobody remains, we just don’t know when!
Rotten old man, rotten old man! That’s me!

Part 2

There are 9 stages of Prayer: We should at least just pray with the lips, just our mouth, the lowest stages.
What does Holy Apostle Paul say? Bring to God the fruits of your lips! What does the Holy Spirit say in Psalm 33? “I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise shall continually be in my mouth. What does the Psalm 102 say? “Bless the Lord, all ye His works, in every place of His dominion” What does the Apostle say? “With my voice I cried unto the Lord …” You see ?! These four types of prayer: of the lips, of the mouth, of the tongue and of the voice are at the bottom of the stages of prayer. These, one learn as a child! After you have prayed for at least 10 years with the tongue, the lips, the mouth and the voice you will see that at some point you need, what the mouth says, to be comprehended by the mind. Not just to say them, pointlessly! And when the man begins to comprehend with the mind what he says with the mouth, he has reached the fifth step, the prayer of the mind.
Is this stage of the prayer of the mind a perfect stage?
No! The prayer of the mind is simply a “bird with one wing”, or half a prayer. Prayer with one leg! Can you walk with one leg? Can you fly with one wing?
There too the mind is attacked by the devils… The 6th Step is needed, the prayer of the heart! To descend with the mind into your heart! And when you descend with the prayer in the heart, with: “O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner!”
The mind encounters 2 toll houses: First is the one of imagination, delusion. Do not imagine anything! God was not imagined, Neither the Cherubim, Nor the Seraphim! He does not have a delimited glory. The second toll house is Reason at the hearts gate.
When the mind has descended into the heart, the first sign is a nail of fire in the left nipple, where the heart is for both man and woman! A nail of fire… The heart warms up strongly! A Godly sweetness begins. From the heart, in the chest, the spinal cord, the entire body is fire! And the eyes start shedding tears, but not just tears… One elder, with whom I communicated in the wilderness, was telling me “I descended with the mind into the heart for 2 hours and 10 minutes …and so much godly sweetness came…”Christ met our soul! We have Him in our heart since Baptism. And then the rational side talks to our soul. He told me “In 2 hours and 10 minutes I had five handkerchiefs that I wrung of tears!” That is prayer, with so many tears! That is purity! That is pure prayer of the heart reached by one in 10,000! Among the ones who strive, says St. Isaac the Syrian. And then there are greater prayers, the active prayer, the all–seeing prayer, contemplative prayer… There are no more! I am tired! Contemplative prayer is not even called prayer anymore, it is called Godly vision! With that Saint Paul was raised up to the third heaven! And he didn’t know weather he was inside or outside of his body… That is enough brother! Go away with that fangled toy!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Fourth Sunday after Sleebah Perunaal

October-12: Fourth Sunday after the Festival of Holy Cross

Evening
St. Mark 10: 1-16

Morning
St. Luke 9: 37-45

Before Holy Qurbana
Numbers 29: 35- 4 0 ; I Kings 8: 22-30 ;Psalms 42

Holy Qurbana
Acts 21: 17 - 26 ; I Corinthians 1: 21-29 ; St. Luke 16: 9 -18


"Hearers of the Holy Gospels, let us listen to John the Divine. For he who said, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1), went on to say. 'and the Word was made flesh' (John 1:14). For neither is it holy to worship the mere man, nor religious to say that He is God only without the Manhood. For if Christ is God, as indeed He is, but took not human nature upon Him, we are strangers to salvation. Let us then worship Him as God, but believe that He was also made Man. For neither is there any profit in calling Him man without Godhead, nor any salvation in refusing to confess the Manhood together with the Godhead. Let us confess the presence of Him who is both King and Physician. For Jesus the King when about to become our Physician, 'girded Himself with the linen' of humanity (John 13:4), and healed that which was sick. The perfect Teacher of babes became a babe among babes, that He might give wisdom to the foolish. The Bread of heaven came down on earth that He might feed the hungry."

St. Cyril of Jerusalem.

These weekly Scripture readings are provided by members of the St. Mary's Parish of our Indian Orthodox Church in North Virginia who not only have it posted at thir website,but kind enough to send the readng by mailing list
http://www.stmarysnova.org/indian-orthodox-lectionary#now

For readings on other days - I have started to trying th Armenian calendar
http://66.208.37.78/index.jsp?sid=1&id=9708&pid=32

Mark sadek of the Coptic Church has a google group - which sends by email daily Scripture reading according to Coptic Calendar, Sayings of the Fathers and the Coptic Synaxarium reading
He has been faithfully sending Spiritual words to the various discussion groups since 2001 .

http://groups.google.ca/group/SpiritualWords/about?hl=en

Monday, August 18, 2008

Catholicate Vision and Mission - Updated

Catholicate Vision and Mission - An Update

In 2008 , I wrote :

As we commemorate 100 years of the Spiritual wing of the Church to assist students MGOCSM and in four years 100th year of the Catholicate, it is high time that we turn our minds to understand what its mission and the tasks the Catholicate should undertake as priority.

I am planning to write a few articles fashioned by reading about some thoughts shared on it by Fr. V.C Samuel of eternal memory through his book “Truth Triumphs” published in 1986 on the life and achievements of Metropolitan Mar Dionysius VI. It will have shortcomings on the basis of my person, but pray it will be corrected with hope of better understanding and living out our faith by those who read these.

Please keep in prayer
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2016 , I participated in  the Holy Qurbana  on the 6th Sunday of the Holy Lent which is also designated as Sabha Dhinam ( Day of the Church ,Catholicate day etc.)
 As usual  the Catholicate day Song and Pledge of Alliance was read in the Parish and it frustrated me that this practise could develop to  :

1. Proclaim and live out the heresy of Nationalism in Church when it takes precedence over the Orthodox Christian faith that we along with the other Orthodox Christian Communities proclaim in our Holy Creed  -One Holy  Catholic and Apostolic Church

2. Lead to an  allegiance to a Person  , be he the Catholicose of the East  or any other , that could lead to forget to whom our love and allegiance is first due - Jesus Christ, our Lord and God

3. Absolute power of the Church centred on a Person , Body or Faction  , which has shown to inflict the Church spiritually and temporarily negatively in the past , and  could  affect the Catholicate and Church  as a whole unless checked.

Planning to share some thoughts soon to elaborate on these . I was not sure if I must, but lead by seeing my friend Steven Kurian who responded to this post in 2008 sharing thought in line with my frustration and dread for a few days

"-Catholicate Day: Pledge allegiance to everything we love about the Orthodox Church except, of course, the Orthodox Christian Faith  " -

Please keep in Prayer the Catholicate ! Which prayer? - The prayer that has been on mind from yesterday from what I heard from Late Mar Ivanios Thirumeni - ' Karthave, Malankara Sabhayakunna Kuru Pravinne  Kathukollaname ' ( Lord, Protect the Turtle Dove - Malankara Church') . When I visited once, all of our Bishops including our Catholicose  were in a procession across Kottayam proclaiming the Catholicate as a visible entity that has come home , Mar Ivanios Thirumeni was teaching in his dayara to make this prayer as part of one's ceaseless prayer like the Jesus Prayer.

George Varghese
Calgary, Canada
March 14, 2016

 

Friday, May 16, 2008

First Sunday after Holy Pentecost

May 18 : First Sunday after Holy Pentecost

Evening
St. Luke 8: 4-15

Morning
St. Matthew 11: 20- 24

Before Holy Qurbana
Genesis 41: 38-40 ; Exodus 12: 31-40 ; Joshua 5: 9-12 ; Jeremiah 29: 10-16

Holy Qurbana
Acts 17: 10-15 ; II Corinthians 5: 14 - 6:10 ; St. John 6: 26-35

Labor together with one another; strive in company together; run together; suffer together; sleep together; and awake together, as the stewards, and associates, and servants of God. Please Him under whom you fight, and from whom you receive your wages. Let none of you be found a deserter. Let your baptism endure as your arms; your faith as your helmet; your love as your spear; your patience as a complete panoply. Let your works be the charge assigned to you, that you may receive a worthy recompense. Be long-suffering, therefore, with one another, in meekness, as God is towards you.

St. Ignatius of Antioch – Epistle to Polycarp, Chapter 6

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Fourth Sunday after New Sunday

April-27: Fourth Sunday after New Sunday

Evening
St. John 14: 1-16

Morning
St. John 16: 16-30

Before Holy Qurbana
Deuteronomy 16: 1-8 ; Joshua 8: 30-35 ; Isaiah 54 : 1-8

Holy Qurbana
I Peter 3: 17-22 ; Hebrews 11: 32-40 ; St. Luke 9 : 51 - 62

"If our thoughts suggest something to us to be done we must handle it with utmost scrupulosity. It must be placed on the scales of the heart and weighed with the most exacting care.

Is it filled with what is good for all?
Is it heavywith the fear of God?
Is it genuine in the feelings which underlie it?
Is it lightweight because of human show or because of some thrust toward novelty?
Has the burden of vainglory lessened its merit or diminished its luster?

This prompt testing will be done as something public. That is, it is measured against the acts and the witness of the Apostles. If it looks to be whole, complete, and inconformity with these latter, then let us hold on to it. Or if it seems defective, dangerous, and not of equal weight with these, let us cautiously andcarefully reject it."

St. John Cassian.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Third Sunday after New Sunday

April-20: Third Sunday after New Sunday ((New Sunday is the first Sunday after the Resurrection of our Lord and God )
Evening
St. Luke 5: 27-39
Morning
St. John 6 : 47-58

Before Holy Qurbana
Exodus 34: 4-12 ; Micah 4: 1-7 ;Zachariah 8: 4-9 ;Isaiah 37: 8-17

Holy Qurbana
I John 5: 13 - 21 ; Hebrews 11: 3-6 ; St. Luke 24 : 13 - 35

" Donot approach the mystery-filled words of the Scriptures without prayer and a request for assistance from God. Say 'Lord gramt me to become aware of the power in the words ' Consider prayer to be the key to insights into Truth in the Scriptures. "

St. Issac the Syrian

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Second Sunday after New Sunday

Scripture Readings This Week

April-13: Second Sunday after New Sunday (New Sunday is the first Sunday after the Resurrection of our Lord and God )

Evening St. John 6: 16-29
Morning St. Matthew 14: 22-33

Before Holy Qurbana
Exodus 40: 1-16 ; Joshua 2: 1-6 ; Isaiah 49 : 13 -21

Holy Qurbana
Acts 4: 8-21 ; Hebrews 3: 1-13 ; St. John 21: 15 -19


"Our own determination and intention together with the help of God come into play in every spiritual act of ours, visible or not,and the latter is unlikely to operate without the former.

"St. John Climacus.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Liturgical Scripture Reading 2008

http://stgregorioschurchdc.org/portal/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=1

The site contains daily Scripture reading for 2008 developed by MGOCSM.

In the venerable Orthodox Christian tradition of the Fathers , Scripture are to be read not as isolated individuals,but as members of Church with the mind of the Church . To discover and use by daily seeking out the Scripture , as the Fathers have shown, for God's glory requires one to be clear on how we are to discover this 'Mind of the Church' - By How Scripture is used in Liturgy (Liturgical) and How the Fathers have interpreted and lived by them as Shining beacons before us (Patristic).

It is more difficult to get now when English language is norm to find Bible commentaries within Orthodox Christian tradition,based on the sequence of the daily readings in Liturgical Calendar .
and more especially for the Church in India, which had it's Liturgical Calendar changed in 1952 from the rest of the the Church. (Presenly for this year while the rest of the Orthodox Christian Church be the in Coptic Egypt, Ethiopia, Greek , Russian and even OCA in America traditions are yet to celebrate Holy Pascha in April 27 , the Indian Church had the celebration in March 23 like the Roman Catholics)

It is prayer that we dont forget to take up and use resources like this daily reading to begin and tun back to what we are called to do. In time the administrator of this blog will share some reflections. Please keep in prayer

Friday, April 11, 2008

Right Glory

The very meaning of our faith , I found centres on that what is rightfully owing from creation to offer and give "Right Glory " to the Creator God .
This blog is an attempt to reflect and force to turn our minds to this what is rightfully expected of us.