Dialogue With an Athonite Elder on Fasting

Dear Parish Faithful,

This is wonderful dialogue that is so impressive due to the simplicity and humility that accompanies every word of the elder. And this was one of our topics last Wednesday evening at our zoom class on "Almsgiving, Prayer and Fasting."


Dialogue With an Athonite Elder on Fasting
 

"The Lord bless you, my joy."

Are you on Mount Athos for many years?

"I've been here for sixty years, but what is sixty years to God; it is a breath."

Elder, I would like you to tell me a few things about fasting.

"In order to say something you must experience it, you must live it. Only one who was born near the sea or is a seaman can speak of the sea. But I will be obedient to your will and tell you what the Fathers said who were friends of fasting."

Elder, is fasting the aim?

"Fasting is not the aim, but the means towards it. See, it was your aim to come to Mount Athos, it was your destination. The boat which brought you was the means by which you arrived. Such is fasting; it is one of the means given to us by the love of God to crave for Him. God is our destination."

When did fasting appear?

"Fasting is commingled with humanity. In Paradise it was given to man by God, says Basil the Great."

But why did God give fasting? To reduce man?

"No, in order to free him! The Sacred Chrysostom writes that when God created man He took him and placed him in the hands of fasting, which is an affectionate mother and excellent teacher. He entrusted it for his salvation. Though fasting is a teacher, it does not limit but it cultivates man."

Is fasting necessary, Elder?

"Chrysostom will again reply to you: 'If fasting was necessary in Paradise, it is much more necessary outside of Paradise. If medicine was useful before an injury, it is much more useful after an injury.' Do you understand?"

What?

"Fasting was given in Paradise as a precaution to not fall. Since man fell it is given therapeutically."

Then what is the purpose of fasting?

"Fasting withers evil desires, says Saint Maximus the Confessor; and Saint Symeon the New Theologian says it softens our hearts. Through fasting every good work is accomplished and perfected, says Saint Gregory Palamas. For all these reasons Sacred Chrysostom confesses his love for fasting: 'I love fasting, because it is the mother of wisdom and the well of philosophical acts'."

How should we fast?

"Fasting is a means and spiritual tool which is not limited to food, but the entire man must participate in it psychosomatically. Listen to what John Chrysostom says: 'Do you fast? Give me proof of it by your works. If you see a poor man, take pity on him. If you see a friend being honored, do not envy him. Do not let only your mouth fast, but also the eye and the ear and the feet and the hands and all the members of our bodies. Let the hands fast, by being free of greed. Let the feet fast, by ceasing to run after sin. Let the eyes fast, by disciplining them not to glare at that which is sinful. Let the ear fast, by not listening to evil talk and gossip. Let the mouth fast from foul words and unjust criticism. For what good is it if we abstain from birds and fish, but bite and devour our brothers?'"

How do we bite and devour our brothers?

"With slander and criticism, which proceed from the lack of love for our brother."

Thank you, Elder. You have benefited me much.

"May we thank God for enlightening our saints."

Your prayers. 

"Go in goodness, and may the Grace of God cover you, the Panagia protect you, and the saints accompany you. And don't forget that fasting is primarily to hunger for God!" 

 

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Embracing the Tradition

Dear Parish Faithful & Friends in Christ,

 

 

The meditation below was written with the current Dormition Fast (August 1-14)  in mind in addition to the incredible account of the Seven Maccabean martyrs.  It is that wonderfully-placed mid-summer reminder that we are called to be practicing Orthodox Christians.  The practicing Orthodox Christian combines orthodoxy ("right belief")  with orthopraxis ("right practice/action"). 

 

Or, as St. John Chrysostom said, "This is true piety: to combine right belief and right action."  Orthopraxis combines prayer and almsgiving and fasting (MATT. 6).  All of this is to prepare us to honor the most holy Theotokos.

 

The Maccabean Martyrs

                                                                                                                                            

  

On August 1, we commemorate the Seven Holy Maccabee Children, Solomone their mother, and Eleazar their teacher, all of whom were put to death in the year 168 BC.  As such, they were protomartyrs before the time of Christ and the later martyrs of the Christian era.  They died because they refused to reject the precepts of the Law when ordered to do so by the Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes IV.  

After conquering the Holy Land, Antiochus wanted to subvert the uniqueness of the Jews and force them to assimilate to the standards and practices of the prevailing Hellenistic culture.  By attacking the precepts of the Law, Antiochus was aiming to destroy the very heart of Judaism.  The Jews would then become like the “other nations,” and perhaps their smoldering resentment against their conquerors would be extinguished.  This, of course, did not happen, because the Maccabean revolt, led by Judas Maccabaeus, not only resisted but expelled the Hellenized Syrian invaders and restored the Kingdom of Israel to its former glory days one last time (142 - 63 BC) before the Romans under Pompey reduced the Kingdom of Israel to a conquered province.

To return to the story of the Maccabees, we find them, under the guidance of their teacher Eleazar, resisting the decree that they eat pork, which was prohibited by the Law.  Understanding that this was a threat against their entire traditional way of life, Eleazor refused and was subsequently tortured until he died.  He was simply asked to “pretend” to eat the meat, so as to encourage others to do so.  In reply, his dying words as recorded in the first book of Maccabees eloquently attest to his fidelity to the Law of God:

"Send me quickly to my grave.  If I went through with this pretense at my time of life, many of young might believe that at the age of ninety Eleazar had turned apostate.  If I practiced deceit for the sake of a brief moment of life, I should lead them astray and bring stain and pollution on my old age. I might for the present avoid man’s punishment, but, alive or dead, I shall never escape from the hands of the Almighty. So if I now die bravely, I shall show that I have deserved my long life and leave the young a fine example to teach them how to die a good death, gladly and nobly, for our revered and holy laws."

Following the death of Eleazar, the seven Maccebee brothers and their mother Salomone were arrested.  They were also tortured for refusing to eat pork, and one of them said:  “We are ready to die rather than break the laws of our fathers”  (2 Maccabees 7:2).  

Enraged by such pious resistance, the tyrant ordered that all seven brothers be tortured by various inhuman means.  All of this was witnessed by their mother, who watched all seven of her sons perish in a single day.  Acting “against nature,” she encouraged her children “in her native tongue” to bravely withstand the assaults on their tender flesh:

"You appeared in my womb, I know not how; it was not I who gave you life and breath and set in order your bodily frames.  It is the Creator of the universe who molds man at his birth and plans the origin of all things. Therefore he, in his mercy, will give you back life and breath again, since now you put his laws above all thought of self”  (2 Maccabees 7:22-23).  

We find in her last sentence, a clear allusion to belief in the resurrection from the dead.

Especially poignant is the death of her last and youngest son.  He was promised riches and a high position if he only agreed to “abandon his ancestral customs.”  Salomone his mother was urged to “persuade her son,” which she did in the following manner:

“My son, take pity on me.  I carried you nine months in the womb, suckled you three years, reared you and brought you up to the present age.  I beg you, child, look at the sky and the earth; see all that is in them and realize that God made them out of nothing, and that man comes into being in the same way. Do not be afraid of this butcher; accept death and prove yourself worthy of your brothers, so that by God’s mercy I may receive you back again along with them”  (2 Maccabees 7:27-29). 

In verse 28, we hear the clearest declaration of the belief that God creates “ex nihilo”—from nothing—in the entire Old Testament.

The youngest of the brothers then died after both witnessing to the meaning of their martyrdom and warning the tyrant of his own inevitable fate: 

“My brothers have now fallen in loyalty to God’s covenant, after brief pain leading to eternal life; but you will pay the just penalty of your insolence by the verdict of God.  I, like my brothers, surrender my body and my life for the laws of our fathers”  (2 Maccabees 7:36-37).  

We then simply read, in verse 39, that “after her sons, the mother died.”

It is difficult to say to what extent we can actually relate to all of this today.  We may deeply respect the devotion to the Law that is exhibited in this moving story of multiple matyrdoms—and perhaps be especially moved by the beautiful words of the mother that express our own belief in the creative power of God, His providential care for us and the ultimate gift of resurrection and eternal life with God—but this is far-removed from our contemporary Christian sensibilities.  In fact, such devotion today could very well strike us as being overly zealous, if not fanatical.  The prospects of such martyrdoms are not exactly on our radar screens.  Be that as it may, I believe that we have something greater than mere passing importance that we can learn from this ancient story.

____________

 

Tomorrow, August 1, we are beginning the Dormition Fast.  We are encouraged by the Church—our “Mother” we could say—to embrace the fast with the certainty that we are being guided into a practice that is designed to strengthen our spiritual well-being. This is part of an Orthodox “way of life” that has been witnessed to for centuries by the faithful of the Church.  We also could say that such practices belong to the “laws of our fathers.”  By embracing such practices we continue in the Tradition that has been handed down to us, the Tradition that we have “received.”  To ignore such practices is to break with that Tradition.  That can lead to an erosion of our self-identity as Orthodox Christians, especially considering our “minority status” in the landscape of American religion.  

The spirit of the tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes is alive and well in the constant temptation we face to assimilate to the surrounding society and its mores, which are often reduced to finding the meaning of life in “eating, drinking and making merry.”  There are no official decrees that demand that we abandon our Faith, but there is always a price to pay for comfortable conformity. We are hardly being asked to be martyrs but we are being asked to manifest some restraint and discipline in order to strengthen our inner lives as we fast bodily to some extent.  If we convince ourselves that this is inconvenient, uncomfortable, or undesirable, then we place ourselves outside of the very received Tradition we claim to follow and respect.  

Older members of the community can bear in mind the words of Eleazar and realize that we are setting an example for our younger members.  We are responsible for preparing the next generation.  Mothers—and fathers!—can exhort their children in a way that is encouraging and not just demanding.  This has nothing to do with mere “legalism,” but with a “way of life” that has been practiced for centuries by Orthodox Christians, and which is just as meaningful today as in the past.  

And, as with the Seven Maccabee Children, it is ultimately a matter of choice.

 

 

 

'Precious Vessels' #3: Elder Porphyrios

Dear Parish Faithful,

I thought to share a few more of the "Counsels" of yet another 20th c. elder, in this case the Elder Porphyrios (1906-1991). Here was a man who lived in very impoverished conditions and who therefore only had a few years of formal education, but who was wise in the Spirit. And he reached this high level of spiritual virtue, though struggling with many illnesses - kidney problems, a hernia, a heart attack, stomach hemorrhaging, and eventually blindness - throughout his life. He lived his life in many diverse places in Greece, and spent the last six months of his life on Mount Athos. 

It was said of him: "Elder Porphyrios taught that Christ's greatest desire was for the unity of the faithful, for each member of the Orthodox Church to identify with the struggle and pain of his brothers and sisters, to carry one another's burdens and to live our lives as though we are one body." (Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit, p. 105)

It was also said of him that he repeated over and over again the words of Christ's that we find in His "High Priestly Prayer" in the Gospel According to St. John: "That they may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me" (JN. 17:21).  We spent some time discussing these words of Christ in this Summer's Bible Study. Be that as it may, there is a good deal to reflect upon in the wisdom offered below.

Counsels of the Elder Porphyrios

• Christ is our Friend, our Brother; He is whatever is beautiful and good. He is everything. In Christ there is no gloom, melancholy or introversion, whereas man suffers from various temptations and situations which make him suffer. Christ is joy, life, light, the true  light, which makes man glad, makes him fly, makes him see all things, see all people, suffer for all people, and want all people to be with him, close to him.

• Our love in Christ must reach all places, even to the hippies in Crete. I very much wanted to go there, not to preach to  them, or to condemn them, but to live with them, without sin of course, and leave the love of Christ to speak of itself, which transfigures life.

• There is an electric generator and in the room is a lamp. If, however, we don't flip the switch, we will remain in darkness. Similarly, there is Christ and there is the soul. If, however, we don't flip the switch of prayer, our soul will not see the light of Christ and will remain in the darkness of the devil.

• I am not afraid of hell and I do not think about Paradise. I only ask God to have mercy on the entire world as well as on me.

• What is the spiritual battle? Well, the soul is a garden divided into two parts. On one half are planted thorny bushes, and on the other half, flowers. We also have a water pump with two taps and two channels. The one guides the water to the thorns and the other to the flowers. I always have the choice to open one or the other tap. I leave the thorns without water and they dry up, I water the flowers and they blossom.

Elder Porphyrios is now recognized by the Church as a saint. He was glorified and entered into the calendar of saints in November 2013 by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

• Continue along your path. The devil will come with his tempting thoughts and will tug at your sleeve, so as to disorient you. Don't turn to him, don't start a conversation with him, and don't oppose him. In this way the devil will get bored and will leave you alone.

• When I became a monk I felt better. Even my health improved. Although previously I had been sickly, afterwards I became healthier, with the ability to bear labors with psychical courage. Above all, however, I felt eternal. The Church is a mystery. Whoever enters the Church doesn't die, he is saved, is eternal. Thus I always feel eternal, as though immortal. Having become a monk I believe that death does not exist. This thought captivates me.

• Orthodox asceticism is not just for the monasteries, but also for the world.

• When asked how one should vote, the Elder responded in parable. The Orthodox Church is like a brooding hen. Under Her wings she covers black chicks and white chicks, yellow chicks and chicks of every different color.

• What can politicians do for you? They are confused by their psychical passions. When a person is unable to help himself, how can he help others? We are also to blame for this situation. If we were Christians, we would be able to send to parliament, not a Christian political party of course, but Christian politicians, and these things would be different.

• Today people want to be loved and for this reason  they are unsuccessful. The correct way is to not be interested in whether or not people love you, but whether or not you love Christ and people. This is the only way that the soul is fulfilled.

'Precious Vessels' #2: The Elder Epiphanios of Athens

Dear Parish Faithful,

"I am not afraid of death. Not, of course, because of my works, but because I believe in God's mercy."  - The Elder Epiphanios of Athens

I would like to continue with sharing some of the wonderful "Counsels" of the elders found in the book I am currently reading: Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit. (I initially wrote about this book and the practice of eldership on July 5). 

The second (Greek) elder covered in the book is Elder Epiphanios of Athens (1930-1989). 

It was said of him: "As a child of  two he would tell people of his desire to become a priest, and donning a sheet, would play priest. From the tender age of five he attended all the services of the local church, fasting and preparing for Holy Communion in the same way as the Church prescribes for adults" (p. 63). 

The elder was indeed ordained as a priest later in life, and for the most part served the faithful in the city of Athens.  He wrote twenty-two books and numerous articles during his ministry. He founded a monastery later in life a few hours away from Athens. Having prepared for his funeral he died in 1989 at the age of 58.

Here are some of his Counsels:

• "When I study the Holy Scripture and the patristic books, I leave the earth and go to Heaven.... I don't manage to write my thoughts in time, for I am flooded as with flakes of snow. I feel as though my pen has wings."

• "I want whoever is near me to feel that he has room to breathe, not that he is suffocated. I don't call anyone to me. I don't hold onto to anyone. I don't chase anyone away. Whoever wants comes, whoever wants stays, whoever wants leaves. I don't consider anyone a supporter or a follower."

• "True love is like the flame of a candle. However many candles you light from the flame, the initial flame remains unaffected. It doesn't lessen at all. And every freshly lit candle has as much flame as the others do."

• "Parents should love their children as their children and not as their idols. That is to say, they should love their children as they are and not how they would like them to be - to be like them."

• "Whoever fears God doesn't fear anything else."

• "God appointed the salvation of the world to His Son and not to us.... We must first look at our soul and if we can, let's help five or six people around us."

• "Don't sit glued to the television ... Guard yourselves from the means of mass blinding."

• "I have made an agreement with God: I will empty my pockets in almsgiving and He will fill them. He has never violated our agreement. Will I violate it? May it never happen!"

• "When someone is free, he has rights and responsibilities. When he marries, he has few rights and very many responsibilities. When, however, he has children, he doesn't have any right at all, but only responsibilities."

• "My heart only has entrances. It doesn't have exits. Whoever enters remains there. Whatever he may do, I love him the same as I loved him when he first entered into my heart. I pray for him and seek his salvation."

• "My worst hell is to realize that I have saddened a beloved person."

Elders and Eldresses - Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit

Dear Parish Faithful,

"Forget your sins; our Christ has blotted them out from the Book of Life."  (Elder Amphilochios of Patmos)

I am currently reading the book Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit - The Lives & Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece (2003). In this case. the title pretty well conveys the contents of the book. A further notation informs us that the material in this book has been "compiled, written, translated from the Greek, and edited with a preface, introduction, notes, and glossary," by H. Middleton.

There are eight such elders of Greece covered in the book, with each elder's life described in the form of a short biography. All of the elders lived primarily in the 20th c. Following the biography, there is an appended section to each chapter under the heading of  'Counsels'.  In this section, we hear the voice of each elder through a short sampling of their more memorable sayings. And this might be the heart of the book.

The elder (fem. eldress) are key figures in Orthodox spirituality.  Either male or female, these are great guides of the spiritual life known for the depth of their faith, the wisdom of their teaching, the perspicacity of their discernment, in addition to being living icons of the great virtues of humility, patience and love. All of the elders covered in this book had an air of sanctity and holiness about them.

In his famous novel The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky has an artistic version of an elder - Zosima by name - as a key character of the novel, whose presence pervades much of the novel's drama as a beacon of light and inspiration. In the process of developing his literary elder, Dostoevsky includes the chapter "Elders" in which he provides some background to this figure in Orthodox history and spirituality (he had occasion to visit and speak with the prominent 19th c. Russian elder Ambrose of Optina).  In attempting to capture the role of the elder, Dostoevsky wrote the following:

What is an elder? An elder is  one who takes your soul, your will into his soul and into his will. Having chosen an elder, you renounce your will and give it to him under total obedience and  with total self-renunciation.

A man who dooms himself to this trial, this terrible school of life, does so voluntarily, in the hope that after the long trial he will achieve self-conquest, self-mastery to such a degree that he will, finally, through a whole life's obedience, attain to perfect freedom - that is, freedom from himself - and avoid the lot of those who live their whole lives without finding themselves in themselves.

In the 20th c., we have a passage from Archbishop Kallistos Ware, who spent some time at the Monastery of St. John the Theologian on the island of Patmos. While there, in his early years of spiritual formation as an Orthodox Christian, he was blessed with having met the first elder covered in this book, Amphilochios of Patmos (+1970). Archbishop Kallistos has left us a fine sketch of this living elder that is included in Precious Vessels:

What most distinguished his character was his gentleness, his humor, the warmth of his affection, and his sense of tranquil yet triumphant joy. His smile was full of love, but devoid of all sentimentality. Life in Christ, as he understood it, is not a heavy yoke, a burden to be carried with sullen resignation, but a personal relationship to be pursued with eagerness of heart. He was firmly opposed to all spiritual violence and cruelty.

It was typical that, as he lay dying and took leave of the nuns under his care, he should urge the abbess not to be too severe on them: "They have left everything to come here, they must not be unhappy."

Two things in particular I recall about him. The first was his love of nature  and, more especially, of trees... 

A second thing that stands out in my memory is the counsel which he gave when, as a newly-ordained priest, the time had come for me to return from Patmos to Oxford, where I was to begin teaching in the university. He himself had never visited the west, but he had a shrewd perception of the situation of Orthodoxy in the Diaspora. 

"Do not be afraid," he insisted. Do not be afraid because of your Orthodoxy, he told me; do not be afraid because as an Orthodox in the west, you will be often isolated and always in a small minority. Do not make compromises but do not attack other Christians; do not be either defensive or aggressive, simply be yourself." 

(Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit, p. 48-49).

Together with some of you reading this meditation, I had the blessed opportunity to meet and speak (and serve Liturgy together with) another contemporary elder, Fr. Roman Braga of the Monastery of the Dormition in Rives Junction, MI.  His funeral a couple of years ago was a memorable experience.

Be that as it may, I would like to include a few choice "counsels" from Amphilochios of Patmos, as compiled in this book. Hopefully, these few words will pass on something of the great love of Christ the elder had within his heart and how this love had a profound effect on every other aspect of the elder's life, from creation to human persons - saints and sinners alike. Hopefully, everyone will find something here worthy of meditation and application.

From the "Counsels" of the Elder Amphilochios of Patmos

• Consider all people to be greater than yourself, though they may have many weaknesses. Don't act with hardness, but always think that each person has the same destination as we do. Through the grace of God I consider all people to be saintly and greater than myself.

• I was born to love people. It doesn't concern me if he is a Turk, black, or white. I see in the face of each person the image of God. And for this image of God I am willing to sacrifice everything.

• When a person partakes of Holy Communion he receives  power and is enlightened, his horizons widen and he feels joy. Each person experiences something different, analogous to his disposition and the flame of his soul. One person feels joy and rest, another peace, another a spirit of devotion and another an inexpressible sympathy towards all things. Personally, I have often felt tired, but after Holy Communion I felt myself completely renewed.

• Love Christ, have humility, prayer and patience. These are the four points of your spiritual compass. May the magnetic needle be your youthful Christian heart.

• We must love Christ; this is necessary for the life of our soul. We also need to love God's creation: animals, trees, flowers, birds, and above all, the most perfect of God's creation, men and women.

• Whoever plants a tree, plants hope, peace, and love, and has the blessings of God.

• When someone opens your heart, I'd like him to find nothing there but Christ.

• An egotistic person doesn't attract anyone. And if someone is attracted, that person will soon distance himself. The spiritual bond becomes indissoluble only when it meets a child-like spirit of innocence and holiness.

• He who is without love cannot be called a Christian, lest we mock Christianity.

• My children, I don't want Paradise without you.

From Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit, p. 51-61.