LENTEN MEDITATION - Day XXIX — Desert Wisdom and Baptism

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Abba Moses of Petra was terribly embattled by porneia. No longer strong enough to remain in his cell he went and reported to Abba Isidore. The elder begged him to return to his cell but he would not accept that, saying: “Abba, I haven’t the strength.” So he took him and brought him up onto the housetop with him and said to him: “Look to the west.” He looked up and saw an innumerable host of demons; they were milling around together and shouting, ready for battle. Then Abba Isidore also said to him: “Look to the east.” He looked and saw innumerable hosts of glorious holy angels. Then Abba Isidore also said: “Here, these are they who are sent by the Lord to help the holy ones; those who are in the west are they who are fighting against them. These who are on our side are more numerous.” When he had given thanks to God for this, Abba Moses took courage and returned to his own cell.

—From Give Me a Word: The Alphabetical Sayings of the Desert Fathers

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I believe that Abba Isodore was assuring Abba Moses that essentially God is far stronger than the Evil One. No matter the temptation - in this case "porneia" means basically sexual lust - the Christian, armed with the sign of the Cross, which is the outward manifestation of faith in Christ, has the necessary weapons to engage in this  "spiritual warfare" and emerge victorious. 

 It is essential, however, that we do not fight  these battles depending upon our own strength and resources, but always humbly seek the Lord's grace and presence. The angels in the "east" are more numerous, then the fallen angels in the "west." That takes up back to our Baptism, when turned toward the west we (or our sponsor) renounced and even spit on Satan. We then turned back to the east and confessed our faith in the victorious Christ.

 

Lenten Reading List, Part 2

 

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Another list of excellent Orthodox reading material for Great Lent meant to supplement Monday's list. This will allow you plenty of time before Great Lent begins on March 18 to purchase whatever book(s)  you may choose. Please contact me if you would like to discuss any of these books with me.

+ The Place of the Heart by Elizabeth Behr-Sigel. The author has been described as the “grandmother” of 20^th c. Orthodox writers. A European lay theologian, Behr-Sigel’s book is subtitled “An Introduction to Orthodox Spirituality.” This is a far-ranging description of how our immensely rich spiritual tradition developed from the Scriptures to the present day. A very rich presentation. Actually, Arch. Ware’s essay on The Power of the Name is included here as an Appendix.

+ Becoming Human by Fr. John Behr. A marvelous and profound meditation – accompanied by iconographic images – on the Person of Christ and how Christ is the link toward our own true humanity. Many great new insights here that Fr. John has put into a short meditative form based on his other scholarly studies of the early Christian tradition. A profound link is made between Christ – the one true human being – and our own emerging humanity after His image.

+  God’s Many-Splendored Image by Nonna Verna Harrison. Verna Harrison is an Orthodox nun, known as Sister Nonna. She is also a highly-respected patristic scholar and theologian. This book explores “theological anthropology for Christian formation.” That sounds rather intimidating, but prominent readers have said that “clarity, simplicity, beauty, and depth” characterize the content and style of this book. A truly wonderful exploration of what it means to be, as a human being, “God’s many-splendored image.” Insightful observations are made in this book about figures ranging from desert fathers to Albert Einstein. Sister Nonna dedicated the book “to all people whom other people have thrown away. It shows that God does not throw away people.” Who would not want to read a book with a dedication like that?

+ The Sayings of the Desert Fathers – The Alphabetical Collection, Benedicta Ward (editor and translator). Here are the multitude of aphorisms, anecdotes and wisdom sayings of the great desert fathers arranged alphabetically (the Gk. alphabet, that is) from the letters Alpha to Omega, and everything in between. These are the words of life from the great pioneers of Christian asceticism and the spiritual life. We read the words of Sts. Anthony the Great, Arsenius, and Macarius the Great and a host of other spiritual guides. An endless source of wisdom that can be read through the years.

+ How To Be A Sinner by Dr. Peter Bouteneff. This is an excellent new book that is endlessly insightful when answering the difficult question: What does it mean when I call myself a sinner? Dr. Bouteneff takes us on a journey down the “royal road,” avoiding a dark, guilt-ridden path of self-lacerating; and a superficial therapeutic approach designed to relieve us of any deep responsibility for our sins. Balanced and honest, this book will surprise you with its probing analysis.

+ Thirty Steps to Heaven by Vasilios Papavassiliou. Fr. Vasilios “walks” us up the Ladder of Divine Ascent by “translating” St. John’s classic monastic text The Ladder of Divine Ascent into a style and analysis that has a layperson living in the world primarily in mind. Yet, his commentary is not “watered down” so as to lose the depth and challenging vision of St. John. Very accessible and very practical for today’s Orthodox Christian. 

+ First Fruits of Prayer – A Forty Day Journey Through the Canon of St. Andrew by Frederica Mathewes-Green. Similar in style and tone to Fr. Vasilios’ book mentioned right above. But here this prolific contemporary Orthodox author takes us through the classic Canon of St. Andrew, chanted on the first four evenings of Great Lent; and then again on the Thursday of the Fifth Week of Great Lent. Fine resource for rhe scriptural content of St. Andrew’s famous work.

 

Also visit our Great Lent Resource Section on our parish website for more books and aids, and join us for the Journey!

Sayings from the Desert Mothers, Part 1

 

Dear Parish Faithful, I plan on sending these relatively short passages, suited for possible mediation, out to the parish at large at least during the weekdays of Great Lent with some regularity. This year, I will focus on passages emerging from the "desert mothers," voices we are far less aware of when compared to the great "desert fathers."  Many of these saying have now been conveniently assembled with commentary by Lynn Swan in her book, The Forgotten Desert Mothers. These words of wisdom were forged in the "arena" of the desert - Egypt, Palestine, etc. - so they are "monastic" in origin. And that means a far cry from our own contemporary lifestyle. We then need to "translate" this wisdom in such a way that the core of these sayings can be meaningfully applied to our lives, as different as the setting is from their original monastic setting. A challenge that can get us thinking in a creative way, and which has its own (spiritual) rewards. We begin with Amma Syncletica (380-460). She was born in Alexandria to a wealthy and respected Christian family of Macedonian heritage. She was educated, and known for her beauty. She began practicing asceticism in her parents's home. Her two younger brothers died and she had a younger blind sister. When her parents passed away, she sold all of her possessions and gave her family wealth to the poor. She then cut her hair in an act of consecration and moved with her sister to the family tomb outside of Alexandria, beginning her life as a desert ascetic. Over time, many women gathered around her for spiritual leadership. She lived into her eighties with the last few marked by intense physical suffering, most likely cancer, before her death. Her feast day is January 5. Whatever we do or gain in this world, let us consider it insignificant in comparison to the eternal wealth that is to come. We are on this earth as if in a second maternal womb. In that inner recess we did not have a life such as we have here, for we did not have there solid nourishment such as we enjoy now, nor were we able to be active as we are here, and we existed without the light of the sun and of any glimmer of light. Just as, then, when we were in that inner chamber, we did without many of the things of this world, so also in the present world we are impoverished in comparison with the kingdom of heaven. We have sampled the nourishment here; let us reach for the Divine! We have enjoyed the light in this world; let us long for the sun of righteousness! Let us regard the heavenly Jerusalem as our homeland ... Let us live prudently in this world that we may obtain eternal life. A wonderful metaphor from Amma Syncletica that allows us to appreciate the good things of this world, as a taste or preparation for the greater good of the age to come. There is the finite and the infinite. The temporal and the eternal. The destination of our lenten journey will culminate with the Death and Resurrection of Christ, the basis for our own promised "passage" into that Kingdom of light and life. If we can meditate to some extent on the promise and joy of eternal life, then we will better understand how Great Lent and Pascha serve as a preparation for that final journey.

 

"We are on this earth as if in a second maternal womb..."

 

Dear Parish Faithful,

Here is a wonderful text with which to begin your path through this Friday. The author is Amma Syncletica, one of the few Desert Mothers that we know about and have writings from.

 

Whatever we do or gain in this world, let us consider it insignificant in comparison to the eternal wealth that is to come. We are on this earth as if in a second maternal womb. In that inner recess we did not have a life such as we have here, for we did not have their solid nourishment such as we enjoy now, nor were we able to be active as we are here, and we existed without the light of the sun and of any glimmer of light.

Just as, then, when we were in that inner chamber, we did without many of the things of this world, so also in the present world we are impoverished in comparison with the kingdom of Heaven. We have sampled the nourishment here; let us reach for the Divine! We have enjoyed the light in this world; let us long for the sun of righteousness! Let us regard the heavenly Jerusalem as our homeland...  Let us live prudently in this world that we may obtain eternal life.

Amma Syncletica