“I give you no formulas, says the Way, I give you no equations… Seek no formula. Seek no equation. Only be patient…” -“Christ the Eternal Tao”
Seek first the Kingdom
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus offers us teaching on how we should look at our lives. Some things in the scriptures are really difficult to understand but this particular teaching is so direct that you just look at it once and it’s obvious. It’s not easy, but it’s very clear.
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Holiness and the importance of place
“Someone asked Abba Anthony, ‘What must one do in order to please God?’ The old man replied, ‘Pay attention to what I tell you: whoever you may be, always have God before your eyes; whatever you do, do it according to the testimony of the holy Scriptures; in whatever place you live, do not easily leave it. Keep these three precepts and you will be saved.’” (Sayings of the Desert Fathers)
An important (but lesser-known) quality necessary for spiritual healing and growth is geographic stability. God calls un to be his disciples in specific places.
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A choice to love and trust
The Two Great Commandments are not: Agree to this set precepts about God; and agree to that set precepts about your neighbor. Faith is not about intellectual assent; faith is about love. Faith is our loving, trusting response to the love of God for us. And in our loving response to God’s love a life-giving relationship is forged. My sermon at St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Sunday, July 9, 2023.
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Interested in helping keep my ministry going and growing?
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The Story of Our Salvation (or “My Visit to Zootown”)
In June 2022, I was invited to speak on Eastern Orthodox Christianity at Zootown Church in Missoula, Montana. I talked with with my bishop, and he agreed that it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. It was a wonderful visit. I met some very devout and kind hearted believers, and I made some new friends. The theme of my message was how the ancient Christian Church understands the story of our salvation.
“Glory to God for All Things!”
An Akathist Prayer is sacred poetry, consisting of thirteen segments. The word “akathist” means “without sitting,” indicating that these prayers are meant to be recited standing up.
The earliest and best known Akathist is to the Mother of God. A contemporary Akathist that has captured the hearts of Orthodox faithful throughout the world is the Akathist of Thanksgiving, also known as “Glory to God for All Things” (St. John Chrysostom’s final words.
The Akathist of Thanksgiving is the 20th-century composition of a Russian Orthodox bishop, Metropolitan Tryphon (Turkestanov) who died in 1934. A copy of the text was found on the body of Father Gregory Petrov after his death in a Soviet prison camp. In the midst of that man-made hell, Fr. Gregory found solace in the words of this hymn.
Here’s a link to the Akathist of Thanksgiving on my church’s website. I pray that these words fill your heart with comfort and encouragement.
Love in Christ,
+FrAJ
“Let my pray arise as incense…”
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the use of incense in worship and personal prayer holds profound symbolism. There are two significant meanings attached to the fragrant smoke that fills our sacred spaces.
First, incense symbolizes is our prayers rising to heaven, as we read in Revelation 8: “And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne…” We also find this petition in Psalm 141: “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!”
The other symbolic meaning of incense has to do with the Temple in Jerusalem. On the Day of Atonement, when the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, he would carry a bowl filled with much incense. The smoke served as a filter to protect him from the Divine Glory sitting on the mercy seat. In II Chronicles 5 we read that the priests couldn’t serve in the Temple when the Lord’s Glory descended upon it. And in Isaiah 6, when the prophet is given a vision of the heavenly Temple, he says “the house was filled with smoke.” Incense, then, also indicates our entrance into the Presence of God when we gather for worship.
Our sixth sense
The Orthodox Church teaches that we are created with, not five, but six senses. Our sixth sense is the least developed and yet the most important, because through it we are able to perceive reality in its fullness.
Online group for Orthodox seekers
The Fellowship of St Theophan the Recluse is a ministry of the Orthodox Church in America’s Bulgarian Diocese. We currently have over 100 members. Most members are from North America but we also have people from the British Isles, Latin America, Africa, and Australia.
It’s a mixed bag of interest levels. Some are very intentional about becoming Orthodox, but aren’t anywhere near an Orthodox church. Some would like to become more involved in the Orthodox Church, but cannot for a variety of reasons. Others are just checking Eastern Orthodoxy out.
We also have Orthodox Christians who can’t get to church regularly, or the church they attend has services and programs in a language they don’t understand.
All are welcome.
I send out an email every weekday to stay in touch and once a month we have a live meeting on Zoom.
If this sounds like something you might find helpful, send me an email for more info.
Why pray to the saints?
A question that I hear quite frequently concerns the intercession of the saints. Why do the Orthodox believe in this? Can you find references to it in the scriptures? I want to keep these posts short, so let me share with you a link to an episode of my podcast where I talk about this in a bit more detail.
First let me say this. The popular understanding of heaven and earth is that the dead are “up there” while we are “down here” and that there is largely no practical connection between the “up there” and the “down here.” Classical Christianity (ie, Eastern Orthodoxy), does not see the world in this way. The spiritual realm is a lot closer to us than we think, but our ability to perceive it is impaired.
So with that said, here’s the link.
https://anchor.fm/frajarmus/episodes/The-intercession-of-the-saints-e204h4m
Eastern Orthodoxy 