Orthodixie

* The angel gave him twelve mandates:

1. Believe in God;

2. To live in simplicity and innocence; do not speak evil and give alms to all who beg;

3. Love truth and avoid falsehood;

4. Preserve chastity in your thoughts;

5. Learn patience and generosity;

6. To know that with every man, there is a good and an evil spirit;

7. To fear God and not to fear the devil;

8. To do every good and to refrain from every evil deed;

9. To pray to God from the depth of the soul with faith that our prayer will be fulfilled;

10. To guard against melancholy as the sister of doubt and anger;

11. To question true and false prophecies;

12. To guard against every evil desire.

Hermas, commemorated May 31st, was one of the Seventy Apostles. He is mentioned in the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. “Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes and the brethren which are with them” (Romans 16:14). Hermas was a Greek by birth but lived in Rome for a long time. He was a bishop in Philippoupolis and ended his life as a martyr. He compiled a very instructive book called “The Shepherd” according to revelations from an angel of God. Hermas was a wealthy man but because of his sins and the sins of his sons, he fell into extreme poverty. Once while in prayer, a man appeared to him in white raiment with a staff in his hand and told him that he is an angel of repentance who was sent to be with him until the end of his life. *

They Must Be Celibate Episcopalians

I kid you not.

FROM THE RUSSIAN INFORMATION AGENCY NOVOSTI

DAMASCUS, May 29 – A monument to St. Paul the Apostle created by a Russian sculptor was unveiled in the suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus on Saturday. His Eminence GERMAN, Archbishop of Kursk and Rylsk, the head of the Russian delegation, said at a press conference in Damascus that the Russian and Syrian Antiochian Orthodox Churches came out for consolidation of spiritual links between the two nations. “The Russian and Antiochian Orthodox Churches have always maintained close relations. The history of Russian-Syrian links has deep spiritual roots,” Archbishop German said. According to him, the unveiling of the monument to Apostle Paul created by a Russian sculptor will promote bilateral relations. “We hope that we shall visit each other more often after the unveiling of the monument to the Apostle Paul and other religious events in Damascus,” the archbishop said. Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia is expected to visit Syria in 2007, he added.

According to His Grace Mousa al-Khouri of the Antiochian Patriarchate, representatives of the Antiochian and Russian Orthodox Churches can find mutual understanding although they speak different languages. “There is only one Orthodox Church in the world and its prayers are said in different languages,” he said. The Antiochian Orthodox Church was founded by Ss. Peter and Paul the Apostles in 37 AD. The history of relations of the Russian and Antiochian Orthodox Churches dates back to the ancient times. For instance, the first Orthodox metropolitan of Kiev, Mikhail Sirin (or Syrian), was a disciple of Patriarch John of Antioch. The Russian Empire supported Orthodox Christians in the Middle East for centuries. Christians account for 10% of the Syrian population. Most of them are followers of the Orthodox Greek-Byzantine Church.

The Holy Apostle Paul is believed to be the first man who brought Christianity from the Palestinian territory to other countries. It was in Antioch that his disciples were called Christians for the first time. The five-meter monument to St. Paul was unveiled in a picturesque place south of the Syrian capital. This is a bronze sculpture of the apostle holding the New Testament in his hands. The sculpture stands on a bronze pedestal. It was made in Russia by the order of the Apostle Paul Spiritual Heritage international foundation. The patriarchs of the Russian and Antiochian Orthodox Churches approved the initiative.

Meditations are intended to be read sequentially, from 1 to 33.

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

(28 of 33) …

Again on the Hill …

“He did not die.”

It was but a voice, a thought. One not invited, but present nonetheless.

Of course he died … we’ve seen it. We continue to see it. It is somehow connected with love. Love for us.

“It is a lie. He did not die. It is a myth. In fact, he never even lived. It is wishful thinking. Nothing more.”

For days now, these thoughts — little demons, they are — have been on attack. At the same time, we’ve discovered that if we do not wish to stay, he does NOT die. Well, not exactly …

We’ve discovered that when we say, “Lord I want to stay here always” — he says, “I love you,” and dies.

However, if we simply gaze upon his loving death on the Tree, we are filled with awe and wonder. We are filled.

Then, if we say, “Lord, I want to follow,” the scene is transfigured. The Tree is replaced by an Empty Cave.

It is then that the little demons attack, just as we prepare to take our first step forward toward the new image.

“He died. He never lived. He died. He never lived. He died ….”

(29 of 33) …

In the Wilderness …

Once again, we’re uncertain of our location. We were on the Hill, preparing to enter the Cave, when all of a sudden our surroundings became hazy — clouded judgment?

A voice behind us says “Turn back! You are lost!”

Ahead we hear, “Come.”

“He died. He never lived ….”

The familiar thoughts, doubts. We see a man dressed in white. He is very beautiful. “Whom do you seek?” he asks.

“The man. The man on the Tree …..”

“He died. He died. He died. He died. Dead.”

As if he, too, could hear our legion of doubts, he replies, “Why do you seek the dead among the living? He is not here. He lives.”

No.

(30 of 33) …

In the Garden …

We’re here only for a brief stay — just till we can clear our head and move on.

In the Garden, things make sense. In the Garden, all is rational, relative. We know that the dead don’t live. We are smarter than that. Sure, we seek the truth. But truth must make sense! Truth should not — does not — contradict knowledge. Rational.

The fruit is particularly tasty today. The color is a deep dark red. In fact, the fruit of the Tree looks like blood.

For a moment, our minds reel back to the Hill. We see OUR fruit in the palm of HIS hands. Nails!

We see him. We are no longer in the Garden.

(31 of 33) …

On the Way …

A new path. The Wilderness reversed? The Garden is now to our right, the Hill to our left. We have turned around. We are following.

He did live. He did die. He now lives. We follow him … out of the Wilderness.

We can go back to the Garden anytime.

We might be found under the Tree on the Hill from time to time.

He has warned us that the Garden leads to death. The beautiful creature is Evil Incarnate and a liar.

The Hill, though resembling death, leads to Life.

As we follow him, we are not alone. Others have gone on before.

Something is holding our hand. Or … are we holding it?

A cross. It is a cross. Although comforting, it is never familiar.

(The cross is never familiar.)

(32 of 33) …

On the Way …

The blood doesn’t stain us. In fact, it seems to wash us. The fruits from the Garden are washed away by the Fruit of the Hill. The tree that we bear is our defense against the enemy, the evil one. We used to think him beautiful.

We now know … better.

Knowledge. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Much of the experience of the Garden is knowledge. Where did it get us? Deeper into the Wilderness, farther from the Light, in the opposite direction of the Hill.

“Satan,” they call him. He is very beautiful. Very sincere. Very attractive.

Very disguised.

And the fruits? They’ve been there always … in the Garden. The Tree, however, is not that of Life. For, the Life-giving Tree is on the Hill. The Tree in the Garden is the same one that tempted Adam & Eve. The same Tree tempts us all. For the Tempter can always be found thereon.

They are not actually “fruits” at all … but, seeds.

Seeds of evil.

When planted within us, we bear fruit. We, too, are trees.

(33 of 33) …

On the Way …

Yes, we are trees, bearing fruit. Like the Tree in the Garden, we can bear sinful fruit: Pride, Anger, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Avarice, Sloth. “Pale Gas” we call it. Fitting.

Or, if the seeds planted within us are done so by the Sower on the Hill, we bear fruit of a different kind: Humility, Patience, Chastity, Contentedness, Temperance, Liberality, and Diligence.

The knowledge gained in the Garden is self-serving and, therefore, self-condemning.

Deadly.

In the Garden, we learn how to place ourselves above others by putting them down. We are raised up at the expense of our neighbor.

On the Hill, we learn humility. This knowledge is God-serving. Therefore, it is life-giving. God is Life, God is Love. We learn how to serve our neighbor. In so doing, God is glorified. By our cross-bearing humility, we shall be raised up with Him at the Last Day.

There are still questions.

One has been entertaining us all the day long.

Was the Tree made for man? Or was man made for the Tree?

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