Tradition as Communion

Fr. Stephen Freeman

Glory 2 God for all things

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have communion (koinonia) with us; and truly our communion (koinonia) is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full. (1 John 1:1–4)

Typical of St. John’s writings, a vast reality is packed into a single sentence. In but a few phrases, he describes the full life of the Church and its place in the world. He does this under the heading of communion (koinonia). Later centuries would search for adequate language to express what St. John says here.

The Councils used the language of nature and person to express our union with Christ. Christ assumed our human nature in the Incarnation, uniting Himself to us, and us to Him. We say that “He became what we are that we might become what He is.”

But St. John’s language has a dynamic quality to it unmatched in later centuries. He begins by speaking of Christ as “the life which was with the Father.” He places that dynamic quality into a context that is extremely vivid: “that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled…” What he expresses and declares to his readers is a completely “immersive” and “participatory” experience. It encompassed the whole being of those who were there.

The startling reality of this testimony of St. John is that he relates something beyond what “happened,” or what he “saw.” The “life” which was with the Father continues with him in what he describes as “communion” (koinonia). The life which was with the Father is now also with him. And, at the very heart of his message: this “life” of communion is available to all. It is this “life” itself that he declares to us.

There is yet another aspect of St. John’s words, utterly essential to their meaning and import: he writes in the plural. What he describes is not a private matter, but relates what “we” have experienced and known. Who is the “we”? Some scholars describe this as the “Johannine Community,” the Church surrounding the noted Apostle. It is clearly the Church, but, I think it describes that first Apostolic generation, the eyewitnesses who became “communicants” of eternal life in Christ. Additionally, I think we could and should identify this experience described by St. John as what Orthodoxy means when it says, “Tradition.”

For a variety of reasons, most people confuse “tradition” with the notion of “the way we have always done things.” This is neither its meaning nor does it express its importance. “Tradition” means that which has been “handed down,” or “delivered” to someone. It can refer to any number of things: beliefs, practices, authority, etc. However, here in St. John, we clearly have a reference to something being handed down which is itself “living.” What has been given is the “communion” with the Father and the Son, as well as a communion with the living community of the Church. And this communion is “life.”

Orthodoxy is often characterized as a “way of life.” I suspect that many imagine that phrase to describe a “way of doing things” exemplified by certain beliefs and practicies. Though there are beliefs and practices that are an intimate part of Orthodoxy, it should be rightly understood as a way of “life,” that is, of an abiding in the the living communion of the Godhead.

For example, though Orthodox Christians offer up morning and evening prayers (often as prescribed in various prayerbooks), the most prevalent teaching on prayer is that of the “unceasing remembrance of the Name of God.” This practice of the Jesus Prayer has its roots in the depths of the monastic life and unites the whole of Orthodox daily life, both monastics and non-monastics. It is said that monastics do not live a different life from those in the world, but a more intense form of the same life. This is fully in accord with the “tradition” of communion invoked by St. John.

I have had a rich experience in the work of nurturing the Orthodox way of life with converts. There are aspects that include teaching and nurturing a way of understanding and seeing – “traditioning” Orthodox doctrine. Of far greater and more lasting import, however, is something that only comes with time. I have seen this in myself as well as in others. I would best describe it as the movement of external forms into internal reality. St. Paul says this when speaking to a young Galatian community:

“My little children, I labor in birth again until Christ be formed in you,” (Gal. 4:19).

He can write to them, repeating the arguments and teachings that they have heard before, but nothing is settled until that life (which is Christ) is actually formed within them. St. John, strikingly, describes this under the heading of love. For St. John, it is love (particularly the love of the brethren) that is the mark of true spiritual formation. It is in his epistle that he famously declares that “God is love.” From that, he says that anyone claiming to know God but who does not love is a “liar” and the “truth does not dwell in him.” 

The love of which St. John speaks is no mere moral action – it is nothing less than the actual life and love of God dwelling in us.

“Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 John 3:13–17)

This is the most fundamental form of the tradition – that which has been delivered to us. Just as the life of Christ is given in the sacrament of His Body and Blood (“As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” John 6:57), so His life is given as well in the fullness of the Church. This is the true “content” of all that we receive in the Church. It is not a particular activity or pattern, but the content (the life and love) that has been vouchsafed to us in the whole of our life together. However, we do not abstract that life from the activity and pattern of the Church. These patterns and actions are the vehicles that nurture the life within us. Nevertheless, if we do not see the love of the Father and the Son in the life that we are given, then we are missing the very heart of the faith.

This is our communion – the very life of God – the God who is love.

 

Human, Metahuman and Godhuman

 

By Theodore Riginiotis, theologian

Source: Άνθρωπος, "Μετάνθρωπος" & Θεάνθρωπος (& here)

 Translation Κ.Ν.

The human desire to surpass one's natural capabilities has been an element of the human psyche, as well as the culture of all peoples, since ancient times. It has driven people to more significant achievements, which have helped individuals, families, communities, entire peoples - even humanity as a whole - to survive under adverse conditions, to win seemingly invincible battles, to sacrifice themselves for the other, to travel, to explore, to also make groundbreaking discoveries and inventions that have improved their lives.

This desire had fueled the myths of superhuman heroes, but it also shaped the actual, historical heroes of all times, from the brave warriors or martyrs, who became symbols of the indomitable spirit by sacrificing their lives, through to the ordinary people, who had held on to their ideals and supported their families under conditions of indescribable poverty, danger, uprooting or oppression. History did not record these by name, but they nevertheless constitute History.

But we can also see the opposite aspect: the arrogance, the insatiable desire for wealth or power that lead to blind violence and bloodshed, the Nietzschean “thirst for power”, the Freudian “death drive” – an aspect that all the wise teachers of all peoples have rejected as an aspect of transcendence of human potentials. In the Greek spiritual tradition, there is mention of “hubris” and “sin”. Whatever their name, these trends lead to destruction and to self-destruction.

In the ancient Greek traditions we encounter stories about "hubrists", who committed heinous crimes by upsetting the natural order of things (such as the murder of parents or children, incest, the murder of guests offerred hospitality, or the attempt to deceive the gods) - such as the cases of Tantalus, Sisyphus, and even Oedipus or Orestes (of these, Oedipus’ act was unintentional and Orestes’ was simply revenge, whereas Tantalus and Sisyphus were actually evil personalities).

However, even in the Orthodox Christian tradition we can read about the first-fashioned humans, who had attempted to "become like gods" by eating of the forbidden "fruit of knowledge of good and evil" (Genesis 3:5); also about the people immediately before the Deluge, whose "evils had multiplied upon the earth" and where "everyone persistently thought about evil things in their hearts all the time” (Gen. 6:5). Also mentioned are the people of Babel, who had decided to build a tower that would reach the heavens – an accomplishment that they believed would secure their eternal fame (Gen. 11:4). Then there were the Sodomites, who not only committed unrestrained immorality among themselves, but the entire male population of the city had sought to en masse attack the divine visitors to their city, declaring their lust to rape them (Gen. 19:3-5).  We also read of the fall of King David, who had betrayed the trust of Uriah the Hittite by orchestrating his death in battle in order to possess his wife for himself (2 Kings 11 and 12), etc.

People in modern times - even today, in the so-called “postmodern era,” - often no longer acknowledge the concepts of hubris and sin; they do not admit their devastating consequences, but instead consider it their right to do “whatever they want.” Moreover, they do not acknowledge that the special abilities of each person (intellectual or practical) are God-given gifts, but instead  consider them to be their own exclusive property. They have forgotten that the terms “talents” and “charismas,” originating from the New Testament (Matth.25:14-30, Rom.12:1 and 1Cor.12), all reveal that what we possess are indeed God’s gifts. When they do happen to remember this detail, it is vaguely attributed to some personified and deified “universe,” as the notion of ​​referring to the God of our fathers is abhorrent to them.

So, because we tend to sink ourselves to the very depths of our passions - that is, in spiritual and physical addictions, without thinking of resisting the pleasure they arouse in us (whether it is carnal pleasure, or the pleasure of acquiring power, authority, wealth, or knowledge, but not wisdom), we are ultimately led to despair, violence, and annihilation.

Hence modern man’s nightmares: invasions by alien races, autonomy and domination by machines, the teratogeneses (the creation of monsters), the viruses that turn most of the human population into zombies, are all being expressed in a shocking manner, through literature, cinema and the modern media, ever since the 19th century, with works such as Mary Shelley's “Frankenstein”, Robert Louis Stevenson's “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” or the novels by H.G. Wells, up to the modern myths captured in dystopian science fiction movies, all of them shaping entire cultures and subcultures.

And yet, people are not backing down. In fact we are now being informed about "meta-humans" and "metahumanism". Modern man imagines himself genetically modified or enhanced with technological implants and assumes that in this way he will surpass his physical-biological capabilities and evolve into something superior. He will no longer be human, but “superhuman” (also “ubermensch”); but for this to happen, he must previously become a “meta-human”.

*****

In this corner of the world called Greece, but also in other places and peoples that have embraced the liberating message of Christianity throughout history (without transforming it into a paranoid thirst for power, as it unfortunately happened in the Western European Middle Ages), the wise and holy teachers, but also the wise and simple people who raised us, are very familiar with the insatiable thirst of people of every era who tried to transcend their limits and capabilities.

They know this very well, because that is precisely what they themselves have been doing throughout the ages – except that they transcended without turning into something other than humans. That is why in their daily lives and communication they had elevated the term “human” to a sublime value – by embodying expressions such as “be human”, “have humanity”, knowing that otherwise you become “inhuman”, “bestial” - you become a “beast”, an animal, something non-human, and your actions become “bestiality”, animal barbarities.

So, my brother, my sister, my child, there is no need to evolve into something “meta-human” in order to transcend from what you feel is holding you back; you only need to ensure that you remain human, and you will discover that is more than enough.

Perhaps it is necessary to explain how those holy and wise teachers of our Orthodox Christian culture perceive the human creature, so that what we are saying can be fully understood.

Saint Justin Popovich († 1979) writes: “Mankind!... All creations fall silent before this most extraordinary miracle of all worlds. As if God had gathered all the miracles from all His worlds and summarized them in one, in man.”

Also:  “It is gospel truth - the all-true gospel – not mine, but of God’s saints – that man is a great mystery, a holy mystery of God. So great and so holy that God Himself condescended to become an incarnate human in order to present us with the full depth of the human mystery. The truth of the gospel, the all-truth, is that God became man, in order to make man a god by Grace.” (Saint Justin Popovich, Man and God-Man).

While traveling through Christian antiquity, it is worth stopping at an anthropological crescendo by Saint Gregory the Theologian:

The Creator Logos creates man as a creation out of two elements – that is, of visible nature and invisible. And although taking his body out of matter that already existed, He inserted breath out of Himself (which the Holy Bible knows this as “noetic soul” and “image of God”). So He placed him on earth as another world (different to the rest of the universe), small, and within the small, large; another angel, a combined worshiper, a supervisor of visual Creation and a mystic of the noetic (that is, with knowledge of the noetic, of holiness, of angels etc.), king of the earth, but with his own King above him – terrestrial and heavenly; temporary and immortal, visible and noetic, between grandeur and humility, himself of spirit and flesh... a creature that is perfected here and transferred elsewhere, and – the finality of the mystery – he is deified by turning towards God.”

(Logos 45, ON HOLY EASTER, PG 36, 632 – An English rendition).

*****

Do you want to know what kind of human the saints of our tradition had exalted with so many hymns of praise? If you search, will discover that apart from the evil, the violence, the despair or indignity that you very probably see around you, there is also greatness, beauty, love, heroism, and holiness. The tendency to go beyond the potentials that we usually think we possess is in fact a built-in characteristic of our species, namely, the human race.

To attain the ability to go beyond your potentials, you do not need to become an imaginary Superman or Black Widow, Thor or Captain America; you can strive to become like Basil the Great, Philothea the Athenian, Cosmas the Aetolian, or local historical heroes and patriots such as Manto Mavroyenous, Makryannis, Galatia Soureli, Callirroe Parren, Carathéodory or Papanikolaou… All of these personages had changed the world in the era and society in which they lived and acted, by precisely enforcing the advantage of being human.

Would you like to meet some contemporary “superhumans”? You can search the Internet with the term “Orthodox Mission to the Third World”. But we don’t have to go that far; you may just look back at your own parents and their parents’ parents – even throughout your family line - and you will surely come across some of them who had given (or are still giving) their best - quite possibly under terribly adverse circumstances - not only for themselves, but also for their family and very possibly for a wider circle of acquaintances, or for their city, or for society as a whole.

If you are still searching for the perfect, I would suggest studying the lives of the saints – both the ancient and the present-day ones. There you will discover how a human can become, not a “metahuman”, but a “godhuman”, by being connected – through struggles and sacrifices of course – with the Godman Jesus Christ Himself.

Study closely the love, self-denial, humility, devotion, but also the ascetic life and prayer and self-control of the saints, not just their miracles. Only then will you be able to discern that the entire discussion about “metashumans” and “metahumanism” has sprung from within a world that thirsts precisely for the supreme Good, that is, for Christ and holiness. It is a world that thirsts, but does not know where to seek the “living water” to quench its thirst; a world that hesitates to turn to the slandered Christ and His slandered Church. It hesitates to seek the precious diamond among common stones, so it instead seeks and accumulates ordinary stones, extolling them as diamonds. Unfortunately, regardless of how many stones are collected, they will never constitute the treasure that the heart truly desires.  Whereas on the other hand, a humble and poor ascetic (even an everyday, homeless person) who lives prayerfully in the name of the Lord Jesus, are most probably the truly rich - both here and in eternity.

 

The Pagan Roots of Nazism: A Deep Contrast with the Values of Romiosyni

By Christodoulos Molyvas

thiapoliteia.blogspot.com

Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries

 

ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ: Οι Σκοτεινές Ρίζες του Ναζισμού και η Ελληνορθόδοξη Παράδοση

Introduction

National Socialism was not merely a political movement; it was a system with deep mythological, esoteric, and neo-pagan foundations. Behind Hitler’s speeches and the military parades lay a world of runic symbols, ancient Germanic mythology, and occult societies that profoundly shaped the ideology of the Third Reich in its darkest depths.

1. The Völkisch Movement and the "Racial Soul"

In the late 19th century, the Völkisch movement developed in Germany—a blend of nationalism, romanticism, and pagan revival. Its representatives rejected Christianity as a "Jewish" religion and sought the "authentic" spiritual roots of the German people in Germanic-Norse mythology: Wotan (Odin), Thor, and Valhalla.

Guido von List (1848–1919) was among the first to associate runic letters with racial mystical significance, developing the Armanenrunen system.



Jorg Lanz von Liebenfels founded the order Ordo Novi Templi, publishing magazines that combined archaic paganism with virulent racial theories.



2. The Thule Society: The Occult Bridge to Politics



The Thule Society (Thule-Gesellschaft, 1918) was perhaps the most decisive link between occultism and politics. Its name referred to the mythical "Ultima Thule"—the alleged primordial homeland of the "Aryan race."

Members believed in an ancient, spiritually superior Hyperborean civilization from which the "Germanic race" descended. Their emblem was the swastika—an ancient Indo-European symbol to which they assigned a racialist meaning. From the circles of Thule emerged the German Workers' Party, which Hitler later renamed the NSDAP.

3. The SS and Heinrich Himmler: A New Teutonic Order

Heinrich Himmler was the preeminent "pagan" of the Nazi regime. He envisioned the Schutzstaffel (SS) not as a mere military force, but as a priestly brotherhood inspired by medieval knights.

Wewelsburg Castle was transformed into a "sacred site" for the SS, complete with rituals and occult symbolism.

Runic Symbols were used extensively; SS members adopted the double Sig (⚡⚡) as their dreaded emblem.



The Ahnenerbe was a pseudo-scientific organization founded to search for evidence of "Aryan superiority" from Tibet to Scandinavia.

4. The Appropriation of Symbols

The swastika (Hakenkreuz) and the runes were not Nazi inventions, but ancient symbols appropriated for a racialist narrative.



Sig (ᛋ) was the symbol of victory used as the SS emblem.

Odal (ᛟ) was the symbol of heritage and land used by agrarian organizations.

Leben (ᛚ) and Tod (ᛏ) were the life and death symbols used on SS gravestones to replace the Christian cross.

5. Hitler, Rosenberg, and the Anti-Christian Agenda

While Hitler used Christian language publicly for political expediency, he privately expressed deep contempt for the faith. In his "Table Talk"(Tischgespräche), he famously stated: "I cannot stand Paul... he is the one who destroyed the ancient world."

Leading ideologues like Alfred Rosenberg sought to replace Christianity with a "Germanic religion" based on the "Myth of the Blood" and the ideology of Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil).

6. The Radical Contrast with the Values of Romiosyni

The neo-pagan and racialist worldview of Nazism stands in absolute historical and spiritual opposition to the principles of Romiosyni(the Hellenic-Orthodox tradition). This conflict is not merely political, but deeply ontological.

Universalism vs. Ethno-racialism

Nazism deified biological descent and racial segregation. Conversely, Romiosyni is defined by Universalism, rooted in the Pauline "There is neither Jew nor Greek," asserting that a person's value is spiritual, not biological.

The Person vs. The Masses

In Nazism, the individual is a disposable cog in the "Race" (Volk). In the Orthodox tradition, the human is approached as a "Person"(Imago Dei), possessing absolute, inalienable, and eternal value regardless of origin or capacity.

Love and Sacrifice vs. The Law of the Strongest

Nazi neo-paganism adopted Social Darwinism, glorifying the extermination of the weak. Romiosyni proposes the exact opposite: love, solidarity, and sacrificial self-offering (the "kenosis" of the strong for the sake of the weak).

Spiritual Freedom vs. "Blood and Soil"

The Blut und Boden ideology confines man to animalistic instincts. Romiosyni calls for the transcendence of natural necessities through the ascetic life, aiming for spiritual freedom and the transfiguration of the world.

Conclusion

The pagan dimension of Nazism was a structural element used to build a totalitarian "anti-religion." Its conflict with the universal and person-centered nature of Romiosyni remains a critical chapter in the history of ideas, reminding us how easily evil can cloak itself in the language of the "sacred."

Sources & Bibliography

Historical & Occult Research

-Goodrick-Clarke, Nicholas. The Occult Roots of Nazism: Secret Aryan Cults and Their Influence on Nazi Ideology. NYU Press, 1993.

-Pringle, Heather. The Master Plan: Himmler’s Scholars and the Holocaust. Hyperion, 2006.

-Trevor-Roper, Hugh (ed.). Hitler's Table Talk 1941–1944. Enigma Books, 2000.

-Rosenberg, Alfred. Der Mythus des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts (The Myth of the Twentieth Century), 1930.

-Kershaw, Ian. Hitler: 1889-1936 Hubris. Penguin Books, 1998. 

Theological & Philosophical Context (Romiosyni)

-Romanides, John S. Romiosyni. Pournaras Publications, 1975.

-Yannaras, Christos. The Freedom of Morality. Ikaros, 1970.

-Chapoutot, Johann. The Law of Blood: Thinking and Acting as a Nazi. Belknap Press, 2018.

 

History of the Sundays of Great Lent

 

The Catalog of Good News

The Sundays of Great Lent are dedicated to events and personalities from different times. The events of Palm Sunday date back to the life of Christ, while St Gregory Palamas was born at the end of the 13th century. Some commemorated events have changed; some remained constant since antiquity; the origin of others remains obscure. This article describes how the Sundays of Great Lent were established and what they commemorate.

Triumph of Orthodoxy

The Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy was established in connection with the events of the Constantinople Council condemning iconoclasm in 843. After the Council ended, Empress Theodora established a celebration in honor of the Orthodox people’s victory. It fell on the first week of Great Lent. It was therefore decided to commemorate these events on the first Sunday of Lent. The liturgical order of the Triumph of Orthodoxy (the Synodicus) took shape by the 11th century.

According to the texts of the Lenten Triodion, before the Triumph of Orthodoxy, this Sunday was dedicated to the memory of the prophets. Some of the liturgical hymns dedicated to the prophets were eventually replaced by texts in honor of the Triumph of Orthodoxy.

Sunday of St Gregory Palamas

 

St Gregory Palamas lived in the 14th century. He was canonized in 1368, 9 years after his death, and his memory on the second Sunday of Great Lent was established in 1376.  This continued the topic of Orthodoxy’s victories over heresies, since St Gregory won in many years of controversy against Barlaam the Calabrian, Gregory Akindynos and Nicephorus Gregoras. 

Before the memory of St Gregory was established, this Sunday had been associated with the parable of the prodigal son. This is evidenced by the canon dedicated to this parable, read at Matins on this day, according to the Lenten Triodion. In the ancient liturgical manuscripts of Jerusalem, on this Sunday there is also a reading of the actual parable.

Μore here. 

Veneration of the Holy Cross

Special veneration of the Holy Cross during the third week of Great Lent was established in the 7th century. It was associated with several historical events. Knowing these events is important for those wishing to understand the Lenten atmosphere. Find out about all of them in our recent article.

Sunday of St John Climacus

It is impossible to say exactly when the Church canonized St John. We know however that in the tenth century he was already revered as a saint. According to the 10th century Synaxarion of the Church of Constantinople, the memory of St John was celebrated on March 30. The earliest known liturgical texts celebrating the memory of St John on the fourth week of Great Lent date back to the 14th century. Likely, the decision to celebrate St John’s memory on the fourth Sunday of Great Lent has been influenced by occasional coincidences of the two dates.

Sunday of St Mary of Egypt

 

Image of St Zosimas and St Mary of Egypt in the Church of Santa Maria Antiqua (was an ancient Orthodox Church)

 

The Venerable Zosimas, who was made worthy of communion with St Mary, was the spiritual father of St John Climacus. Zosimas told John about St Mary, making him her great admirer. When, over time, John also began to be treated as an elder, the news of St Mary spread through his spiritual children. 

St Mary of Egypt soon began to be widely revered. This is evidenced by the fact that the Patriarch Sophronius of Jerusalem personally compiled her hagiography. St Mary departed to the Lord around 522, whereas Patriarch Sophronius lived in 560-638. Given the development level of the means of communication in the early Middle Ages, this is an extremely short time for the veneration of a saint to spread.

It is quite possible that one of the Sundays of Great Lent was dedicated to St Mary as early as the 7th century. It may have been done in the wake of the general church veneration of this great ascetic, whose deeds of repentance are fully in line with the Lenten mood.

However, it is most likely that the Sunday in honor of St Mary of Egypt was established later. The memory day of St Mary of Egypt was first mentioned in church calendars as late as in the 9th century. The Martyrology by Ado of Vienne (9th century) refers to St Mary’s deeds as “praiseworthy”.  The oldest depiction of St Mary, dated c. 850, was preserved in the church of Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome. The earliest text of the service commemorating St Mary on the fifth week of Great Lent dates back to the 11th century.

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday was the first among the Sundays of Great Lent to be established. It is also the only one directly related to the gospel events. The first mentions of the feast date back to the fourth century. They were made by St Ambrose of Milan and St Epiphanius of Cyprus. In liturgical books, Palm Sunday has been mentioned since the 7th century.

Apparently, it was established so early because the event of the Lord’s Entry into Jerusalem is known to have taken place exactly one week before His Resurrection. 

A Modern Lent

 

 

photo

 

Fr. Stephen Freeman / Glory 2 God for all things 

Few things are as difficult in the modern world as fasting. It is not simply the action of changing our eating habits that we find problematic – it’s the whole concept of fasting and what it truly entails. It comes from another world.

We understand dieting – changing how we eat in order to improve how we look or how we feel. But changing how we eat in order to know God or to rightly keep a feast of the Church – this is foreign. Our first question is often, “How does that work?” For we live in a culture of utility – we want to know the use of things. Underneath the question of utility is the demand that something make sense to me, and that I be able to ultimately take charge of it, use it as I see fit and shape it according to my own desires. Perhaps the fast could be improved?

Our modern self-understanding sees people primarily as individual centers of choice and decision. A person is seen as the product of their choices and decisions – our lives are self-authenticated. As such, we are managers.

Of course there are many problems with this world-view from the perspective of Classical Christianity. Though we are free to make choices and decisions, our freedom is not unlimited. The largest part of our lives is not self-determined. Much of the rhetoric of modernity is aimed towards those with wealth and power. It privileges their stories and mocks the weakness of those without power with promises that are rarely, if ever, fulfilled.

Our lives are a gift from God and not of our own making. The Classical Christian spiritual life is not marked by choice and self-determination: it is characterized by self-emptying and the way of the Cross.

When a modern Christian confronts the season of Lent – the question often becomes: “What do I want to give up for Lent?” The intention is good, but the question is wrong. Lent quickly becomes yet another life-choice, a consumer’s fast.

The practice of the traditional fast has been greatly diminished over the past few centuries. The Catholic Church has modified its requirements and streamlined Lenten fasting (today it includes only abstaining from meat on the Fridays of Lent – which makes them similar to all the other Fridays of the year). The Protestant Churches that observe the season of Lent offer no formal guidelines for Lenten practice. The individual is left on their own.

Orthodoxy continues to have in place the full traditional fast, which is frequently modified in its application (the “rules” themselves are generally recognized as written for monastics). It is essentially a vegan diet (no meat, fish, wine, dairy). Some limit the number of meals and their manner of cooking. Of course, having the fast in place and “keeping the fast” are two very different things. I know of no study on how Orthodox in the modern world actually fast. My pastoral experience tells me that people generally make a good effort.

Does any of this matter? Why should Christians in the modern world concern themselves with a traditional practice?

What is at stake in the modern world is our humanity. The notion that we are self-authenticating individuals is simply false. We obviously do not bring ourselves into existence – it is a gift. And the larger part of what constitutes our lives is simply a given – a gift. It is not always a gift that someone is happy with – we would like ourselves to be other than we are. But the myth of the modern world is that we, in fact, do create ourselves and our lives – our identities are imagined to be of our own making. We are only who we choose to be. It is a myth that is extremely well-suited for undergirding a culture built on consumption. Identity can be had at a price. The wealthy have a far greater range of identities available to them – the poor are largely stuck with being who they really are.

But the only truly authentic human life is the one we receive as a gift from God. The spirituality of choice and consumption under the guise of freedom is an emptiness. The identity we create is an ephemera, a product of imagination and the market. The habits of the marketplace serve to enslave us – Lent is a call to freedom.

A Modern Lent

Thus, a beginning for a modern Lent is to repent from the modern world itself. By this, I mean renouncing the notion that you are a self-generated, self-authenticating individual. You are not defined by your choices and decisions, much less by your career and your shopping. You begin by acknowledging that God alone is Lord (and you are not). Your life has meaning and purpose only in relation to God. The most fundamental practice of such God-centered living is the giving of thanks.

• Renounce trying to improve yourself and become something. You are not a work in progress. If you are a work – then you are God’s work. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in” (Eph 2:10).
• Do not plan to have a “good Lent” or imagine what a “good Lent” would be. Give up judging – especially judging yourself. Get out of the center of your world. Lent is not about you. It is about Christ and His Pascha.
• Fast according to the Tradition instead of according to your own ideas and designs. This might be hard for some if they are not part of the traditional Church and thus have no fasting tradition. Most Catholics have differing rules for fasting than the Orthodox. If you’re Catholic, fast like a Catholic. Don’t admire other people’s fasting.

If you’re Protestant but would like to live more traditionally, think about becoming Orthodox. Short of that, covenant with others (family, friends) to keep the traditional fast. Don’t be too strict or too lenient, and if possible keep the fast in a manner that is mutually agreed rather than privately designed. Be accountable but not guilty.

• Pray. Fasting without praying is called “the Fast of Demons,” because demons never eat, but they never pray. We fast as a means of drawing closer to God. Your fasting and your prayer should be balanced as much as possible. If you fast in a strict manner, then you should pray for extended periods. If you fast lightly, then your prayers may be lighter as well. The point is to be single – for prayer and fasting to be a single thing.
• To our prayer and fasting should be added mercy (giving stuff away, especially money). You cannot be too generous. Your mercy should be as invisible as possible to others, except in your kindness to all. Spend less, give away more.

Eating, drinking, praying and generosity are very natural activities. Look at your life. How natural is your eating? Is your diet driven by manufactured, processed foods (especially as served in restaurants and fast food places)? These can be very inhuman ways of eating. Eating should take time. It is not a waste of time to spend as much as six hours in twenty-four preparing, sharing, eating and cleaning up. Even animals take time to eat.

• Go to Church a lot more (if your Church has additional Lenten services, go to them). This can be problematic for Protestants, in that most Protestant worship is quite modern, i.e. focused on the individual rather than directed to God, well-meant but antithetical to worship. If your Church isn’t boring, it’s probably modern. This is not to say that Classical Christianity is inherently boring – it’s just experienced as such by people trained to be consumers. Classical Christianity worships according to Tradition and focuses its attention on God. It is not there for you to “get something out of it.”
• Entertain yourself less. In traditional Orthodox lands, amusements are often given up during the Lenten period. This can be very difficult for modern people in that we live to consume and are thus caught in a cycle of pain and pleasure. Normal pleasures such as exercise or walking are not what I have in mind – although it strikes me as altogether modern that there should be businesses dedicated to helping us do something normal (like walking or exercising), such that even our normal activities become a commodity to consume.
• Fast from watching/reading the news and having/expressing opinions. The news is not presented in order to keep you informed. It is often inaccurate and serves the primary purpose of political propaganda and consumer frenzy. Neither are good for the soul. Opinions can be deeply destructive to the soul’s health. Most opinions are not properly considered, necessary beliefs. They are passions that pass themselves off as thoughts or beliefs. The need to express them reveals their passionate nature. Though opinions are a necessary part of life – they easily come to dominate us. Reducing the need to express how we feel about everything that comes our way (as opposed to silently weighing and considering and patiently speaking what we know to be true) is an important part of ascesis and self-control.

I could well imagine that a modern person, reading through such a list, might feel overwhelmed and wonder what is left. What is left is being human. That so much in our lives is not particularly human but an ephemeral distraction goes far to explain much of our exhaustion and anxiety. There is no food  for us in what is not human.

And so the words of Isaiah come to mind:

Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in fatness (Isa 55:1-2).

“Let your soul delight itself in fatness…” the irony of Lent.

 

Orthodox Psychotherapy — Road signs towards achieving in-Christ Thera

 

The famous book "Orthodox Psychotherapy" of the Metropolitan of Nafpaktos Hierotheos
 

Orthodox Outlet for Dogmatic Enquiries 

The term "Orthodox Psychotherapy" does not pertain to specific cases of people suffering from psychological problems or neuroses. Rather, it is something that pertains to all people. According to Orthodox Tradition, after Adam's fall, Man became ill; his intellect (called “dianoia”) was darkened and the mind (the “nous” or,  the "eye of the heart") lost communion with God. Death entered mankind's life thereafter, giving rise to many personal, anthropological, social, even ecological problems. With the tragedy of his fall, Man continued to be "in the image of God", but he had now completely forfeited the "likeness" of Him, as his communion with God was disrupted.

However, the Incarnation of Christ and His bodily presence among us, and the pursuant opus of the Church (which entails the in-Christ guidance by spiritually illuminated Saints and Fathers throughout Time) are both intended to assist a person to regain the "likeness" of God, that is, to restore his communion with God. By adhering to the Orthodox "therapeutic treatment" as proposed by the Holy Fathers of the Church, Man can succeed to "manage" his thoughts properly, thus solving his spiritual issues fully and comprehensively.

This "therapeutic regimen" of psycho-therapy (Greek: literally, therapy of the soul) is closely linked to the Church’s "neptic" tradition (sobriety) and Her hesychastic life (of "quietude") - as preserved in the texts of the Philokalia, in the works of the Fathers of the Church and notably in the teaching of Saint Gregory Palamas. Most certainly, one must not overlook the fact that the neptic and hesychastic ways of life are the same that one observes in the lives of the Prophets and the Apostles, as clearly described in the texts of the Holy Scriptures.

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Wherefore he who professes the science of spiritual medicine ought first of all to consider the disposition of him who has sinned, and to see whether he tends to health or (on the contrary) provokes to himself disease by his own behaviour, and to look how he can care for his manner of life during the interval. And if he does not resist the physician, and if the ulcer of the soul is increased by the application of the imposed medicaments, then let him mete out mercy to him according as he is worthy of it.

(Canon CII of the Quinisext Ecumenical Council)

 

LIST OF ARTICLES (by various authors)

Genders and Orientations Psychosomatic enslavement and liberation Want to find peace and quiet in a forest? Don't bring technology with you! God with us "For many more years!" To Bishop Kastor, On the Eight Thoughts of Evil The Problem of Theodicy The Ladder of Divine Ascent and Moral Improvement What is the role of a Spiritual Father? Love and Freedom Transformation and Forgiveness Personal responsibility in spiritual life Fantasy: a post-Fall phenomenon Hesychia: Our Method of True Healing Insanity and Demonic Possession in Patristic Thought The strength of faith and the weakness of faithlessness What is "psychotherapy" in the context of Orthodox Christianity? Christianity is not a religion. It is psychotherapeutic science Orthodoxy as therapy Sickness and healing in Orthodox Theology The Impact of Orthodox Psychotherapeutic Interventions on Depressive Symptomatology The Illness of religion The use of the word “religion” The Orthodox Therapist Demolition, Canons and Spiritual Direction Deification and Orthodoxy Simple village folk who saw… the Uncreated Light! Dostoevsky and Morality Freedom and way of existence in Orthodoxy The Power of the Name (book) Experience of God Holy Communion and Confession Self-confidence, or Egotism? The Tragic Paradox of Christian Jerks Theosis: Partaking of the Divine Nature True Christianity: The soul's journey Anthropological background: The human composite and spiritual healing The cure of the neurobiological sickness of religion A Homily on Repentance : Can we fast without it? The Sickness of Religion and its Orthodox Cure Metropolitan Seraphim: "If the priest isn't at least gracious, then all his ministry goes to waste" Why are premarital relations not allowed? Therapeutic Treatment of the Human Nous The Human Body: Ascesis and Exercise Living as an Orthodox Christian in a Non-Orthodox World Hypersexuality and Sterility: the Social Costs of Porn in Japan On the selection of a Spiritual Father How should we behave towards atheists or heterodox? Atheist buses, God's Chocolates, but .... atheist Christians? Regarding the Church What is the meaning of "Church"? Stages of Conversion "With kindness and with love you can make many tame... Frequent Bible Reading Tied to Social Justice, Openness to Science The "purity" of the Church Sinners in the Church About building churches Why would anyone want to forgive an enemy? Should One Kill Moles? Or, How to Avoid Falling Into Traps While Reading Contemporary Orthodox Literature Is secular “psychotherapy” compatible with principles & anthropology of the Orthodox Church? On humility and humor 'The year I lost my limbs was the most brilliant of my life' We shouldn't ask to see God if we aren't prepared Asceticism as Repentance,  Repentance as Failure Is Porn really destroying 500,000 Marriages Annually? Psychology and Orthodox Christian Therapy. Why Morality is not Christian. Asceticism as Repentance, Repentance as Failure. Burning Incense is Psychoactive Brain scans of porn addicts: what's wrong with this picture? The Plethora of "Elders" and the "Piety" of the Naive Depression Justice Does Not Belong to the Christian Way of Life Can everyone theologize? The Knowledge of God. Is it Really OK To Look But Don’t Touch? To Vent or Not To Vent: Modern and Ancient Views on Dealing with Anger The disappointment of religion A Homily on Repentance : Can we fast without it? The Hypnotic Mall Ancient Christian Wisdom and Beck’s Cognitive Therapy Out of the Fountain that is Christ: Free Will, Tolerance and Forgiveness Canonoclasts and Canonophiles: An Ecclesiastic problem, or an Ecclesiological heresy? «And the wife see that she reverence her husband» The Elder Paisios on the secularization of Monasticism The Unfortunate Effects Apocalyptic Beliefs Can Have On Morality You are not a Biblical character Why don't we want to be cured? A contemporary manifestation of the Holy Trinity Pietism as an ecclesiological heresy Healing the Mind:  The Nexus between Contemporary Psychology and Eastern Christian Practice Self-esteem, or Humility? The course from tragedy to catharsis Benefits in Delaying Sex Until Marriage Elder Porphyrios: Overcoming Depression Why does God allow wicked Bishops? Should we have a "fear of Christ"? The Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos on Psychoanalysis and Psychiatric Medications ‘But I Say To You,Love Your Enemies’ Saint Siluan's stance towards those who disagreed with him The Elder Porphyry: On problematic spiritual fathers and "misguided obedience" Orthodoxy and Homosexuality How to cultivate humility "Sexual Addiction": An Orthodox and Scientific View Principles for healing the passion of lust A passion is not removed the same way as a sin A tale of two therapies Miracle-lust: a child's disease Priests and Hypocrisy Palamism Explained in Twelve Minutes or Less Curing the sickness of Pharisaism “Elderism”:  Spurious “Elders” The Spiritual Father: Spiritual paternity in the light of Orthodox Tradition Divine Eros Celebrating the defeat of death… The Crisis is a spiritual one On Fasting Safely Home to Heaven : A Letter from an Orthodox Nun to a Former Calvinist Five types of Religious lives Orthodox Pathology Depression: The “silent epidemic” Orthodox therapeutics for homosexuality: A "Fool for Christ" heals a transvestite Is “secular psychotherapy” compatible to Orthodoxy’s anthropology? Ecclesiastic Psychotherapy vs. Secular Therapeutic Techniques Concerning Repentance and Spiritual Warfare The tragedy of Man Contemplation The Function of Spiritual Paternity Confession - Confessor - Confessing A saintly Fool for Christ in the heart of Athens Who is the Truth ? Thoughts about Freedom Stella: God's little sparrow Church and Prison The simple housewife who taught Saint Chrysostom how to preach On the experience of Theosis Thoughts and Deception A… thief for God! How not to despair The Enigma of I AM The Risk in Creation Prayer of the Spirit The Bliss of Knowing the Way The Struggle in Prayer The letter of the Law can be deadly Experiencing the Sacrament/Mystery of the Church through Baptism and the Eucharist Elder Amphilochios Makris -Spiritual Counsels- Basil the Great and Communal Ownership Genuine and false experiences of the Grace of God Injustice Is a Great Sin Mother Gabriel - The Sayings The Jesus Prayer On Corrupt Bishops Mindless Zeal Light or Darkness A Greek-American family man who saw the Uncreated Light The lay porter who resurrected a dead man Simple village folk who saw… the Uncreated Light!