Our Holy Father Saint Nektarios of Aegina, Bishop of Pentopolis and Miracle Worker (Part I)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.

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OUR HOLY FATHER SAINT NEKTARIOS OF AEGINA AND BISHOP OF PENTAPOLIS THE MIRACLE WORKER (Part I)
By Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

Our Holy Father Nektarios was born on 1st October 1846 at Selymvria in Thrace, Northern Greece. His parents, Demos and Maria Kephalas, were pious Christians but not rich in this world's goods. Their son was baptized Anastasios and, from infancy, showed great piety and love for study. When his mother taught him Psalm 50 (51), he liked to repeal the verse: "I shall teach Thy ways unto the wicked and sinners shall be converted unto Thee." After finishing elementary school, he was sent by his parents to Constantinople to continue his education, at the same time as working in a shop. The boy did not become entangled in worldly cares, but fixed his mind entirely upon building up the inner man in the Image of Christ by prayer and meditation on the sacred writings of the Holy Father of the Church.  When he was twenty, he left Constantinople for a teaching post on the Greek island of Chios.  The young people and villagers where he taught were encouraged to live in piety and virtue by his words and above all by the example of his ascetic, prayerful life. On November 7, 1876, he became a monk in the famous Monastery of Nea Moni, for he had long desired to embrace the Ascetic life. Seeking only those things which are above, he was beloved by all the brethren as the very pattern of gentleness and obedience, and was ordained Deacon after one year. Thanks to the generosity of a pious islander and to the protection of Patriarch Sophronios of Alexander, he was able to complete his studies in Athens and to obtain the diploma of the Faculty of Theology. In 1885, he arrived in Alexandria where he was soon ordained Priest, then consecrated Metropolitan of Pentapolis (an ancient diocese in Cyrrenaia, in what is now Libya). He was appointed preacher and secretary to the Patriarch, whose representative he became in Cairo, Egypt, where he had charge of the Church of Saint Nicholas.

Saint Nektarios lost nothing of his humility through these honors, and was able to inspire his flock with zeal for the evangelic virtues. But the love and admiration of the people for him turned to his disadvantage. Certain members of the Patriarchate became jealous of his success and, led on by the Devil, put it about that he was currying favor with the people with the aim of seating himself on the Patriarchal Throne of Alexandria, Egypt. The Saint made no attempt to justify himself but placed all his hope in the promise of Christ who has said: "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account" (St. Matthew 5:11). He was dismissed from his Episcopal Throne; and he embarked for Athens where he found himself alone, ignored, despised and even lacking his daily bread, for he would keep nothing for himself and gave away what little he had to the poor. This meek and humble follower of Jesus Christ planned at first to withdraw to Mount Athos (Holy Mountain) but gave up the idea, for he put the salvation of his neighbor before his own love of Monastic retreat. He spent several years as a preacher (1891-1894) and was then appointed Director of the Rizarios Ecclesiastical School of Theology for the education of Priests. The School's spiritual and intellectual standing rose rapidly under his direction. The students found in him a teacher with a deep knowledge of Holy Scripture, of the holy Fathers, and even a secular learning, and a Director who exercised his authority with great kindness and consideration. His administrative and teaching responsibilities -- he taught Pastoral Theology -- did not prevent him as a monk from living a life of ascesis, meditation and prayer, nor fulfilling the high calling of preaching and serving regularly the holy Mysteries, at the School as well as in the Athens region.

However, there glowed in the depths of his heart a burning love for the peace and quiet of life in the Monasteries; and this led him to respond warmly to the desire expressed by some of his spiritual daughters that he should found a women's monastery on the island of Aegina. This he did between 1904-1907 and he retired there in 1908, on his resignation as Director of the Rizarios Theological School. Despite countless cares and difficulties, Saint Nektarios saw to the restoration of a type of life that was wholly in the spirit of the ancient Fathers. He gave his utmost bodily and spiritual strength to the construction of the buildings, to divine service and to the spiritual direction of each one of his disciples. They would often see him in his worn-out raso (cassock) working in the garden or , when he disappeared for many hours, they would guess he had shut himself in his cell (kellion) to raise his intellect to God by bringing it down into his heart, to taste there the sweetness of the Holy Name of Jesus. Although he desired to flee all contact with the world and strictly limited visits to the Monastery, the fame of his virtue and of his God-given graces spread in the region, and the faithful were drawn to him like iron to a magnet. He healed many lay-Orthodox Christians and nuns of their sicknesses, and brought rain to the island in a time of draught. He comforted, consoled and encouraged; he was all things to all men. He could do all things through Christ Who dwelt in him by the grace of the Holy Spirit. He kept company with the Saints and with the Mother of God, and they often appeared to him during the Divine Liturgy or in his kellion (cell). During the difficult years that followed the First World War, he taught his nuns to rely form day to day on the mercy of God. He utterly forbade them to keep any food in reserve for their use, instructing them to give away to the poor everything that remained over. Saint Nektarios also found time to write a large number of works on theology, ethics and Church History, in order to strengthen the Church of Greece in the Holy Tradition of the Fathers, which was often unknown in those days because of Western influences.

(To be continued)

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Attention please: Divine Services at the Saint Nektarios Chapel of our parish will take place on:

Thursday Evening - Great Vespers at 7:00 p.m. followed by the divine service of Artoklasia (Lit. 'Breaking of Bread') and anointing with Efchelaion (Holy Oil) of all Orthodox Christians present at the holy service.

Friday Morning: Orthros (Matins) at 9:00 a.m. and Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Holy Archangels and Angels of God (Part II)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

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THE HOLY ARCHANGELS AND ANGELS OF GOD (Part II)
By Mother Alexandra

"The Lord has set up his throne in heaven, rules with universal sway. Bless the Lord, all you Angels of his; Angels of sovereign strength, that carry out His commandment, attentive to the word He utters; bless the Lord, all you Hosts of His, the servants that perform His will; bless the Lord, all you creatures of His, in every corner of His Dominion; and thou, my soul, bless the Lord" (Psalm 102:19-22).

From earliest times, these Angelic Hosts were conceived as divided into three hierarchies Saint Dionysius the Areopagite called "choirs." This is the most fitting term as their whole activity is like an eternal song of praise and thanksgiving to the Most High.

First come the Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones. These are Councilors and have no direct dealing with man, but are absorbed in unending love and adoration of God. No other creature is so intensely capable of loving God.

Second come the Dominions, Virtues, and Powers. These are understood to be the governors of space and the stars. Our orb, consequently, as part of the galaxy is under their dominion; otherwise, we have no direct contact with the Second Choir.

Third come the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. These have this earth of ours in their special charge. They are the executors of God's will, the perpetual guardians of the children of men, and the messengers of God.  

The Archangels have distinct individualities and are an Order of Celestial beings in themselves, partaking of the nature of both Principalities and Angels. Yet they are also Messengers, like the Angels. There are seven Archangels, the first four of whom are mentioned by name in the books of the Holy Bible:

A.    Michael (Who Is Like God?). The greatest leader of the Heavenly Host. It was he who overcome the Dragon (Lucifer) and thrust him out of Paradise.

B.    Gabriel (The Man of God). The Angel of the Annunciation (Evanggelismos).

C.    Raphael (The Healing of God). The Chief of the Guardian Angels, and the one who bears our prayers to the Lord.

D.    Uriel (The Fire of God). The interpreter of prophecies.

The names of the other three archangels are not found in the Holy Scripture. "Like God, Man of God, Healing, Fire." Here in the utter simplicity of the interpretations of the Archangelic names, we get momentary glimpses of their personalities, through which their relationship to God becomes more the same time, keep in mind that Saint John is giving a symbolic account of the heavenly war which began long before the earth's creation, and in which the Church is still engaged:

 "Fierce war broke out in heaven, where Michael and his Angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought on their part, but could not win the day, or stand their ground in heaven any longer; the great dragon, serpent of the primal age, was flung down to earth; he whom we call the devil, or Satan, the whole world's seducer, flung down to earth, and his angels (demons) with him...Rejoice over it, heaven, and all you that dwell in heaven; but woe to you, earth and sea, now that the devil has come down upon you, full of malice because he knows how brief is the time given him" (Rev. 12:7-12).

Satan's fall from heaven left him with a great consuming fury for it is on earth alone that he has power. Satan is doubly angry because his power is limited to our world and he knows fully that when our world is ended, his power to deceive mankind ends with it. His time for each one of us is shorter still, as his ability to reach us as individuals is limited to the life span granted us on the earth. It is eternity that man reaps the fulfillment of this earthly battle.

The story of Satan's fall is so dramatic that it is difficult to drag our eyes away from that bottomless pit over which he is king (Revelation 9:11), and to look up once more to those Holy Angels who did not fall, but turned their burning love in all its magnificence to humbly adore (worship) their Creator and fulfill His will.  

"Thou Lord of all dost clearly save the breed of mortal men by the appointment of the Angels. For Thou hast set them over all the faithful who sing Thy praises in the right faith, Thee the God of the fathers Who is praised and passing glorious" (Monday Canon, Tone 1).

The Feast of the Synaxis of the Archangels-November 8

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. 

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ON NOVEMBER 8TH OUR HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CHURCH COMMEMORATES THE HOLY FEAST-DAY OF THE SYNAXIS OF THE ARCHANGELS GABRIEL, RAPHAEL, URIEL, SALAPHIEL, JEGUDIEL, BARACHIEL, AND REREMIEL.

In the 4th century, Pope Sylvester and Patriarch Alexander established this day to celebrate the nine orders of Angels. According to a Church Canon of the Fourth-century Council of Laodicea, Angels are not to be worshipped. Each Angel has his particular service, but all are equal in honor. The Hierarchy of the Nine Orders is six-winged Seraphim, many-eyed Cherubim, godly Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. Archangel Michael is the leader of the Angelic army. His name means, "Who is like God." When Lucifer (Satan) and his followers were cast down from heaven, Archangel Michael said, "Let us give heed! Let us stand aright! Let us stand with fear!" Archangel Michael defends the Garden of Eden, told Abraham not to sacrifice Isaac his son, told Lot to flee Sodom, protected Jacob from Esau, took the soul of Moses from the devil, and changed the course of a river in Asia Minor to protect a holy spring in a church. In Orthodox churches, the image of Archangel Michael is situated on the left of the holy icon screen (Eikonostasion), and Archangel Gabriel is on the right. The name Gabriel means "The Power of God." Archangel Gabriel announces the Mysteries of God. (Source: Daily Lives, Miracles, and Wisdom of the Saints and Fasting Calendar 2018 by The Orthodox Calendar Company)

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The Holy Angels (Part I)

Like the existence of God, the existence of the Holy Angels is presumed, not asserted. Angels in the Holy Bible are referred to simply as an accepted fact. Although they are mentioned over two hundred times, we learn nothing about their creation or when it took place, nor do we find many physical descriptions. This is not as strange as it might at first appear. The Holy Bible does not deal with all mankind, even in the first few chapters, but is concerned primarily with the history of God's action toward man. The Old Testament is concerned with the development of one nation only, God's chosen people, though we do hear of other peoples because of their historical connection with the Jews. Similarly, the story of creation describes the coming into existence of our earth, the sun and stars, the appearance of plants, animals and, finally, man. It does not include an account of how, nor when, the spiritual beings were created. This remains a matter of theological conjecture. Nevertheless, from the very outset, we are made aware of their presence in the existing world and their interest in us, both for weal and woe.

For a more complete knowledge of Angels and their nature, we have first to examine the Holy Bible as a whole, both the Old and the New Testaments, in order to know what has been revealed to us about spiritual beings; only then can we pick up the threads chronologically, according to the books of the Holy Bible. But, first of all, when referring to these celestial beings we should understand that the term "angel" is loosely and inaccurately used, for in Greek it simply means "messenger" and, properly speaking, this would apply only to the Orders of Angels in direct communication with man.

Angels and Archangels, although spirit, are not supernatural. God alone is supernatural, for He alone is uncreated. Like us, the Holy Angels are created, natural beings, as much a part of our world as we ourselves. "Yes in Him all created things took their being, heavenly and earthly, visible and invisible..." (Col. 1:16).

An Angel has character, individuality, and a will of his own, much as we have; but in other ways, Angels do not resemble us. When to make himself manifest to us, an Angel takes on human semblance, he never is physically like a human being, but only a mental image of one. If we are so little aware of them, it is because we do not as a rule see them with our mortal eyes, and our spiritual perception is either dulled or undeveloped.

In seeking better to understand the Angelic nature, we should turn to our knowledge of God rather than to our knowledge of man. Saint Basil the Great says that in his eyes "their substance is a breath of air or an immortal fire, and this is why they are localized or become visible in the shape of their own bodies to those who are worthy to see them." Saint Basil means that they take on a visible individuality expressed in human form, though not humanly tangible. The Holy Angels, from the beginning of their creation, are completed beings, but without material form.

Angels are of a superiority all but incomprehensible to us, but they are part of our lives: by God's boundless mercy, they are destined, in great moments of history, to be heralds of the Most High to man below; they are, as well, our guides, guardians, mentors, protectors, and comforters from birth to the grave.

Angels are pure integral spirits: they are not confined to time or space; they know neither youth nor old age, but life ever at its fullest. We can barely envision for ourselves even a shadowy image of their Majesty, Might, and Power, or grasp the lightning that is their movement, "So the living creatures came and went, vivid as lightning flashes" (Ezek. 1:14). Furthermore, mortals cannot begin to understand the freedom of the Holy Angels and the scope of their intellects, untrammeled by physical brains. Crystal clear and faultless, knowing no pain or frustration, unhindered by doubt or fear, neither male nor female, they are beauty, love, life, and action welded into individual unutterable perfection. "Thou wilt have Thy Angels be like the winds, the servants that wait on Thee like a flame of fire" (Psalm 103:4). In a certain sense, if it can be so expressed, they are the individualized selfness of God's own attributes.

The Holy Angels stand in the presence of God beholding the face of the Lord." "Angels are more than the bearers of Divine messages and the guides of men: they are bearers of the very Name and Power of God. There is nothing rosy or weakly poetical in the Angels of the Holy Bible: they are flashes of the light and strength of the Almighty Lord." Their being is sustained by God's goodness, and they participate in His Might, Wisdom, and Love. They are uplifted by their perpetual praise and thanksgiving. Uplifted Godwards, from the beginning it has been the Angel's greatest joy to choose freely for God and to give Him their undaunted flow of life in unending love and worship. The entire Heavenly Host partook from the first in the execution of God's Will: Seraphim (Is. 6:2), Cherubim (Ezek. 10:1), Thrones (Col. 1:16), Dominions (Col. 1:16), Virtues (1 Peter 3:22), Powers (Col. 1:16; Eph. 3:10), Principalities (Col. 1:16; Eph. 3:10), Archangels (1 Thes. 4:15), and Angels. All Nine Choirs have ever stood bent on God's intentions, unerringly fulfilling his design: "Praise Him, all you Angels of His, praise Him, all His armies...it was His decree that fashioned them, His Command that gave them birth" (Psalm 148:2-5). [Source: The Holy Angels by Mother Alexandra]

(To be continued)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Lord's Prayer (Part III)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.  

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THE LORD'S PRAYER (Part III)
By Archimandrite George, Egoumenos (Abbot) of the Holy Monastery of Saint Gregorios, Holy Mountain

"Our Father..."

It is characteristic that our Lord teaches us to address God not only Father, but as our Father, not my Father. Thus, he deters us from a selfish relationship with God. There is God and us, not God and I. Thus our heart 'embraces' all our fellow men who are by nature our brethren, due to our common origin from God, the Father. Our heart also embraces all Orthodox Christians who, due to our common faith and common birth from the same spiritual 'womb' of the Church, the Holy Font, are in addition our brethren by Grace and by Spirit.

How can God be your Father, if you do not accept your fellow men as your brethren, especially those of the same faith?

"The Lord teaches us", writes Saint John Chrysostom, "to pray for all people", to mention in our supplication about the common body and not to pursue at all our personal interests, but on every occasion to pursue the interests of our fellow man. Thus, man avoids hate, he bridles imprudence, he emits envy, he brings about love, the mother of all goods, and he exiles abnormality of human things and shows that the equality of rank between the king and the poor is very great, since we all partake in the same greatest and the most necessary gifts of our God.

By accepting to be called Father of us all, He gave to all of us the same noble origin, and consequently equality. Thus, we are united and no one possesses more than the other, neither the rich from the poor, neither the lord from the slave, neither the ruler from the reigned, neither the king from the soldier, neither the philosopher from the barbarian, neither the wise from the illiterate one" (ibid, p. 669).

As we shall see further on, the rest of the petitions of the Lord's Prayer help us overcome our morbid individualism, our self-centeredness, and our selfishness. They help us open our heart and offer ourselves to Go the Father, and to our brethren. That is to say, they help us to obtain love towards God, which is inseparably linked to benevolence and brotherly love.

[Please note: I encourage those of you interested in understanding the Lord's Prayer from the Orthodox Christian perspective to purchase the book The Lord's Prayer by Archimandrite George of the Monastery of Saint Gregorios of Mt. Athos. It was printed in July 2001. However, I feel it is important to bring to your attention the explanation of "...And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil one"]:

And do not allow us, O Lord, to fall into temptation, but deliver us from evil (or evil one). According to Saint Maximus the Confessor, the temptations are of two kinds: those which bring pleasure and those which bring pain. The first ones are voluntary and give birth to the passions. The second ones are involuntary and banish the passions. We must avoid the voluntary ones. We must not seek the involuntary ones and must always loathe them because we are weak and might submit to them. When they come, though, we must bear them with courage as 'purifiers' of the soul.

In reference to the subject of the painful temptations, Saint Nicodemos the Hagiorite notes, "God, acting in sympathy towards our hardships and evil tendency, allows the temptations, which can sometimes be very horrible and awful, to come to us in various ways, so that we be humbled and obtain self-awareness, even though all these temptations seem useless to us. In this way, God shows at the same time His benevolence and His wisdom because we benefit even more from what seems to us more harmful because we are humbled, which is what our soul needs more than anything else".

By teaching us not to pursue the temptations, says Saint John Chrysostom, the Lord educates us to be aware of our weakness and in this way He bridles the self-conceit, the pride. However, when temptations come against our will, then we must face them with bravery, "in order to show our bravery and our lack of vanity".

Saint John Chrysostom also notes that the Lord doesn't say 'from the evil ones', that is to say from evil people, but 'from the evil one', that is to say from the devil. The Lord does this to teach us not to lay the blame on and bear a grudge towards people who distress us, but to lay the blame on the devil who incites them. He calls the devil, evil, "Ordering us to fight against him without truce". Furthermore, he does this to show us that wickedness (evil) is not a natural condition, but the result of bad intention. (Source: The book The Lord's Prayer by Archimandrite George of the Holy Monastery of Saint Gregorios - Mt. Athos)

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"-- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Lord's Prayer (Part II)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.

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THE LORD'S PRAYER (Part II)
By Archimadrite George Egoumenos (Abbot) of the Saint Gregorios Monastery of Mt. Athos.

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"OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN..."

The Lord's Prayer begins with this invocation. The Lord teaches us to name God, Father.

Father, because He is Our Creator and Maker, the granter of being, of life.

Father, because for us Christians He is also the granter of well being, of the adoption which He gave us through Jesus Christ. Before Christ, due to our apostasy from our Heavenly Father, we were not only separated from Him, but we were, also, His enemies. Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father, by nature, with His Incarnation and His Crucifixion, reconciled us to God the Father and made us His children by Grace. With Holy Baptism, we received the grace of adoption. Thus we became brethren in Christ, Who is the first born amongst many brethren.

Therefore He is Father because He grants us life; and not only life, but His life in Christ.

As Saint John Chrysostom writes, "He who calls God, Father, confesses through this sole appellation, deliverance from sins and retraction of hell and righteousness and sanctification and redemption and adoption and heritage and brotherhood to the Only Begotten Son, as well as to the granting of the Holy Spirit" (St. John Chrysostom, Treatise to Matthew, homily 19, Greek Fathers of the Church, vol. IX, p. 668).

Addressing as "Father" our All-Holy God and Almighty Creator of everything, we confess what He has done for us, His unworthy children, and mostly what He has done for us through our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Thus, the invocation "Father" brings us close to the Trinitarian God.

Saint Maximus the Confessor writes, "Justly the Lord teaches (those who pray) to promptly start from theology. He also introduces us to the mysterious way of the Cause who created all beings, He who is actually the cause of all beings. Because the words of the prayer contain the revelation of the Father, of His Name and of His Kingdom, so that we learn from the very start to respect and worship the Trinity in One. Because the Only Begotten Son is the name of God the Father, with substantial hypostasis. And the Holy Spirit, with substantial hypostasis, is the Kingdom of God the Father (Ibid, p. 256).

His infinite love and charity allow and impel us to name Him Our Father.

The mind of the pious man is amazed. "Who will give me wings like the doves, according to the psalm?", Saint Gregory of Nyssa writes, "so that I am able to ascend over all things perceptible by the senses, over those that are changed and altered, to ascend over to the Unchangeable and Unalterable, and with an unmoved and unwavering state of soul to dwell in Him, with the very familiar invocation and say "Father"! What boldness? What conscience?" (At Prayer, Homily 2, Great Fathers of the Church vol. VII, p. 43).

Great and priceless is the gift. As many times as we want, we can address God and call Him our Father. Still, when the Christian is rendered worthy and perceptibly received the Grace of the Holy Spirit, then he feels in his heart the paternity of God and his own sonship. He feels filial and tender love towards God the Father. He feels like an affectionate son of a loving Father.

The Holy Spirit Himself cries out in our heart "Abba, Father", creating this tender love towards God. "Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son to our hearts, shouting, Abba, Father."

In accordance to the image of our Heavenly Father, we men can also become True spiritual fathers or fathers of the flesh. Saint Gregory Palamas teaches that we do not name God the Father in accordance to earthly fathers, but we name men 'fathers' in accordance to the image of God the Father, "...after whom, according to the great Paul, all fathers in heaven and earth are named" (Discourse II against Grigoras, par. 69).

If the earthly fathers reflect the grace and the blessing of the heavenly Father, they are true fathers as well. Without this grace, they are not true and genuine fathers and they cannot offer anything essential to their children. When men are estranged from the heavenly Father, they cannot become genuine and proper fathers.

How many people suffer today because they did not have a True and loving father!

A heterodox Christian, who came to Orthodoxy, said that he had become Orthodox because only in Orthodoxy did he find spiritual fathers, a gift that no longer exists in Western Christianity.

I remember the case of the Romanian writer, Virgil Georgiou, who, as he himself mentions, saw in the face of his poor but holy father (a priest) the face of God. This vision never let him stray far from God during his stormy life.

When we address God, "Father", we acknowledge His paternal concern for us. We are not orphans. We are not alive because of some fate or blind destiny. We are creatures of His love and we are constantly under His paternal attendance and care. His guiding and remedying love can be seen even behind life's hardships.

Saint Cosmas the Aitolian reminds us of God's paternal love: "And first of all our duty is to love our God because He granted us such spacious land to temporarily dwell in, so many thousands-myriads herbs, plants, fountains, rivers, wells, the sea, fish, air, day, night, fire, the sky, stars, the sun, the moon. For whom did He do all this? For us. What did He owe us? Nothing. All these are gifts. He made us human beings and not animals. He made us pious and Orthodox Christians and not impious and heretics. Even though we continually sin, He feels compassion for us like a father does and He does not put us to death in order to place us in Hell, but He awaits with open arms for our repentance. He awaits for the time when we will repent and stop doing evil deeds and do good, confess, amend ourselves, so that He will embrace us, kiss us and place us in Paradise where we will rejoice forever. Such a Loving God and such a Loving Lord and Master should we not also love and if need be shed our blood a thousand times for His love, as He shed it for our love? (Teachings of Saint Cosmas the Aitolian, I.  Menounou, Athens, p. 152).

Therefore, a feeling of security that banishes every feeling of insecurity and anxiety, emanates from the faithful invocation of Our God as Our Father.

It is a great honor for us to call God, our Father, but also great is the responsibility for us who must become worthy of our Heavenly Father. Let us recall Our Lord's words. "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (St. Luke 6:36). "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (St. Matthew 5:48).

Saint Nicodemos the Hagiorite writes on this subject, "For this reason our Lord instructs us how to pray to our Father by grace, so that we are always protected under the grace of adoption until the end, that is to say, to be God's children not only by the rebirth and the baptism, but by our labors and deeds, as well. Because he who does not perform spiritual acts, but performs satanic ones, is not worthy to call God his Father, but instead the Devil, according to the word of our Lord, "Ye are of your father the Devil, and the lusts of your father ye do" (St. John 8:44), that is to say, in relation with evil you are born from your father, the Devil, and you love to act according to the evil desires of your father. The Lord orders us to name Him our Father. To inform us firstly, that we were truly born children of God with the rebirth of the Holy Baptism and secondly, that we must preserve the signs, that is to say, the virtues of our Father and not be ashamed somehow of the relationship we have with Him" (About continual Communion, Athens 1887, p. 24).

(To be continued: Next: "Our Father…")

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!" -- Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George

The Lord's Prayer (Part I)

My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.

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THE LORD'S PRAYER
By Archimandrite George of the Holy Monastery of Saint Gregorios, Mt. Athos - Greece

Preface

Meanings in Gospel discourse are formulated in the Holy Spirit and therefore with enduring value and view to eternity.

Every teaching, parable, story and description, as well as every phrase, every word and every "detail" contained in the Gospel of Christ is of greatest depth and significance. These are not exhausted by a mere superficial interpretation, the most our own poor spiritual measure can conceive.

This is also true of the God-given prayer known to us as "Our Father", which the Lord Himself gave to His Church as an example of prayer for all of us.

Our Holy Fathers lived the Gospel of Christ. They kept His Holy Commandments. Their life, their discourse became extensions of the Gospel, and their experience in the Spirit of God enriches the Holy Tradition of the Church. They reveal the great depth of the saving words of the Lord Christ and prove that His Commandments "are not heavy", but can be applied by Christians in any age, and thus they keep control over our lack of faith, neglect and sloth.

With our old and modern Holy Fathers as interpreters of the Lord's Prayer, we investigate and touch its depths, directing it to the Lord.

We beg Christ Our Savior to give His grace to us contemporary Christians, too, so that our life in Christ may be inspired and blessed by the prayer - as communion with the Living God. But also that, vice versa, our prayer may be an expression of the living presence of God in our life and may have its source. In other words, that prayer may be our life itself, which again will deepen and inspire the words which we direct towards our Holy God.

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Our Holy Orthodox Christian Faith is not one of the ideologies or the philosophies or even one of the religions of this world.

The God of the Orthodox is not the god of the philosophers, that is to say, an idea or a highest, impersonal principle or a religious value, to which we are elevated beginning from the lowest values.

We, Orthodox Christians, believe in a personal God, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit. This Trinitarian God reveals Himself to us through His Second Person, that of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Son of God becomes man, our Lord Jesus, preaches the Gospel, performs miracles, is crucified, is Resurrected from the dead, ascends into heaven and sends the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. All this, in order to unite us with our God the Father, to restore our disturbed relationship with Him and to bring us to a personal meeting, communion and union with God.

Since God is personal, we cannot meet Him except through the affectionate relationship with Him which prayer cultivates. If God was an idea, we could meet Him through logical evidence.

"Pray and love God in order to know Him", we can say to someone who is searching for God.

Through prayer, the Unapproachable God becomes approachable. The Unknown God becomes known.

The strange God becomes familiar and a friend. This is the path that Theanthrope (Godman), Our Lord, showed us. The Lord Jesus Christ often prayed, "Leaving behind an example, that we should follow in his steps".

He taught that we must pray with humility, with forgiveness and with patience. He also left behind a model, an exemplary prayer familiar to all Christians, the "Lord's Prayer", the "Our Father".

The value of this prayer is invaluable to us. First of all, because it was given by God. Secondly, because our Most Holy Mother of God, the Apostles, the holy Martyrs, the holy Fathers and the pious Christians of all ages have prayed and have been sanctified by it.

Thirdly, because it summarizes the whole Gospel and all the doctrines of our Faith.

According to Saint Maximus the Confessor, "This Prayer contains a petition for all things that the Logos/Word of God cause with the emptying of Himself (kenosis) during the Incarnation and it instructs us to see just those things that only God the Father, through the natural intercession of the Son, truly grants in the Holy Spirit. These gifts are seven: 1. Theology, 2. adoption through the grace of God, 3. equality with the Angels, 4. partaking in the Eternal Life, 5. restoration of the nature that impassively turns to itself, 6. abolition of the law of sin and 7. abolition of the tyranny of the devil who reigned over us with deception" (Interpretation of the Lord's Prayer", Philokalia, published by "Perivoli tis Panagias", vol. 2, p. 253).

This prayer is the pre-eminent prayer of the Church. In the daily Church services it is recited sixteen times, during Great Lent twenty-two times. Furthermore, it is, in a way, a summary of the Divine Liturgy.

For this reason and with our Holy Fathers as my guides, I have considered it useful in this sermon to invite you to examine thoroughly and to take pleasure in this prayer's divine and saving meanings, so we recite it with greater zeal and consciousness.

(To be continued. Next: Our Father Who art in Heaven...")

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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom

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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God

+Father George