St. Nikolai Velimirovich on the Five Wounds of Christ

In preparing for the coming Holy Week, perhaps the following will be of some assistance. (+Lee)

Christ crucified in extreme humility, together with the Theotokos, and St. John the Theologian

 

St. Nikolai Velimirovich on the Five Wounds of Christ (amateur translation)

You write that you heard from some old women about some myth regarding the five wounds of Jesus, and you asked where this myth can be found?

Read the New Testament! Are you not ashamed before heaven and earth at the ignorance of your faith! Leave aside all the other studies and readings until you first learn that which is the most meaningful and saving. First comes the science of the faith, and then the rest of the studies...

The five wounds of Jesus are not words, but awesome reality. Because of this, it is better to know them than words. Two wounds in the hands, two wounds in the feet, and one in the side. All from black iron, and much more so, from the utterly black sin of men. They pierced the hands which blessed. They pierced the feet that walked and led to the only true road. They pierced the chest, which poured forth fiery and heavenly love to the frozen chest of man.

The Son of God allowed them to pierce His hands on behalf of the many sinful hands—a forest of hands—which murdered, stole, burned, seized, set traps, physically assaulted. And [He allowed them] to pierce His feet for the sins of many feet—a forest of feet—which walked in evil, plundered the innocent, trampled upon justice, soiled the holy and trampled upon goodness. And [He allowed them] to pierce the chest on behalf of many stony hearts—quarries of hearts—in which were born every malice and every impiety, and the sacrilegious thoughts and the bestial desires, and which, throughout all the ages, were forged by the fires of plotting brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, and man against God.

The hands of Jesus were pierced in order to heal every hand from sinful works. The feet of Jesus were pierced in order to return every foot from the sinful roads. The chest of Jesus was pierced in order to purge every heart of sinful desires and thoughts. When the abominable Cromwell, professor of England, began to seize the properties of monasteries and closed them, there was throughout the whole land of England a boisterous litany from a few thousand human souls to show the displeasure of the people. Before them were people bearing signs with the epigraph: “The five wounds of Jesus”, and chanted ecclesiastical hymns and were celebrating liturgies to God in the fields. The abominable professor was greatly afraid by these signs, and therefore lessened his violence.

May you learn of the five wounds of Jesus, and keep your five senses on the living God. The five wounds of Jesus are five wounds of five-times clean blood, with which the human race was cleansed and the earth was sanctified. From these five wounds the whole blood of the Righteous One was shed, until the last drop. The Wonderworking Lord, Who knew to multiply bread, and to give five loaves to feed five thousand hungry men, multiplied His five-times pure blood, and with this He feeds and unites thousands of churches and millions of the faithful. This is the Divine Communion.

On Holy Friday, spiritually approach, together with the Panagia and Mother of God, below the Cross, in order to be washed by that life-giving blood from the five wounds of Jesus. That you might, with a  cleansed and regenerated soul, cry out on Sunday together with the Myrrhbearers: Christ is risen!

   

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Great Lent

THE BEGINNING OF GREAT LENT
St. John of Shanghai

The doors of repentance are opening, Great Lent is beginning. Every year Great Lent is repeated, and each time it brings us great benefit if we spend it as we should. It is a preparation for the life to come and, more immediately, a preparation for the Bright Resurrection.
Just as a stairway is built into a tall building in order to enable one, by climbing the steps, to easily reach the top, so too, the various days in the year serve as steps for our spiritual ascent.

This is especially true of the days of Great Lent and Holy Pascha.

By means of Great Lent we cleanse ourselves of the filth of sin, and at Holy Pascha we experience the blessedness of Christ's Kingdom that is to come. In climbing a high mountain, one tries to eliminate all unnecessary weight. The less a person carries, the easier it is for him to climb and the higher he is able to climb. So, too, in order to ascend spiritually, it is necessary first of all to free oneself from the weight of sin. This weight is lifted from us through repentance, provided that we banish from ourselves all enmity and forgive each person whom we consider to be at fault before us. Once cleansed and forgiven by God, we then greet the Bright Resurrection of Christ.

And what a priceless gift of God we receive, at the culmination of our lenten struggle. We already hear about this in the first hymns of the daily lenten stichera: "Our food shall be the Lamb of God, on the holy and radiant night of His Awakening: the Victim offered for us, given in communion to the disciples on the evening of the Mystery." (Aposticha sticheron, Sunday of the Last Judgment).

Communing of the Body and Blood of the Risen Christ, unto life eternal — this is the aim of the holy Quadragesima [Forty Days]. Not only on Pascha do we commune, but during Lent also. On Pascha those people should commune who have fasted, confessed and received the Holy Mysteries during Great Lent. Just before Pascha itself there is little opportunity for a proper and thorough confession; the priests are very busy and most of the time occupied with the Passion services. Rather one must prepare ahead of time.

Each time one receives the Mysteries of Christ, one is united with Christ Himself; each time it is a soul-saving act. Why, then, is such significance attached to receiving Holy Communion on the night of Holy Pascha, and why are we all called to do so?

Then, especially, we are given to experience the Kingdom of Christ. Then, especially, we are illumined with the Eternal Light and strengthened for the spiritual ascent.

This is an irreplaceable gift of Christ, an incomparable good. Let no one deprive himself of this joy and, instead of receiving Holy Communion on Pascha night, hasten to eat meat and other foods. Communing of the Holy Mysteries on that night prepares us for the banquet in the eternal Kingdom of God.

Hesychia in Daily LIfe

from:http://orthodoxwayoflife.blogspot.com/2013/09/hesychia-in-daily-life.html

Hesychia means silence. This is important as it is in silence that we commune with God most easily. Silence is not just about being in a quiet place, but having a mind that is empty of worldly thoughts. Elder Paisios tells us that silence is very helpful in spiritual life.

He writes,

It's good for one to set aside some part of the day in which to maintain quiet. He should examine himself in order to recognize his passions and struggle to overcome them and thus purify his heart.

Now the challenge is how to do this in the busy world we live in each day. First you need a place where you can become calm and not be interrupted. It is in silence that you can carryout your spiritual duties of prayer and study. Some, like Elder paisios, recommend that you engage in spiritual reading prior to prayer and this warms the soul and lifts the mind to a spiritual realm. This is especially helpful if you live a life with many distractions during the day, constantly multitasking. Just two minutes of study of a spiritual message is enough to lift you mind towards things spiritual. Once you feel the warmth of the spirit in your soul then you begin your prayers based on a rule you have established with your spiritual father.

Many people say, this is only possible for monks who leave this busy world. But his is not true.  There are many lay people who live very spiritually.  You will find many in any Orthodox parish who fast, attend the prayer services, say the Jesus prayer, go to Church on Sundays, take Holy Communion regularly, even though they may have children or grandchildren and a busy job. They make time for silence each day and give priority to worship. They try to live a simple life focusing on the basic needs of themselves and their family.

Paisios writes,

How simple spiritual life is! If one comes to love God, if one comes to recognize His great sacrifice and His good works, and if one exerts himself, with discernment, in imitation of the saints, he will be quickly sanctified  It is enough that he be humbled, that he be conscious of his own wretchedness and his tremendous ingratitude towards God.

 Reference: Elder Paisios of Mount Athos Spiritual Counsels IV: Family Life, pg 166.

SAINT THEOPHAN ON SAVING YOUR SOUL

(http://www.asna.ca/articles/200907-02.html)

Saint Theophan the Recluse of Russia offers the following words on the essential steps to saving our soul:

1) Repent, and turn to the Lord, admit your sins, weep for them, with heartfelt contrition, and confess them before your spiritual father. Vow in word and in your heart before the face of the Lord not to offend Him further with your sins.

2) Then by abiding in God in mind and heart, endeavour to, fulfil in body the duties and affairs which your station in life imposes upon you.

3) In this labour most of all guard your heart from evil thoughts and feelings - pride, vainglory, anger, judging of others, hatred, envy, scorn, despondency, attachment to things and people, scattered thoughts, anxiety, all sensual pleasures and everything that separates the mind and heart from God.

4) In order to stand firm in this labour, resolve beforehand not to: withdraw from what you recognize to be necessary, even if it may, mean death. To achieve this, when you first resolve to do so, offer your life to God in order to live not for your own sake, but for God alone.

5) A support for life in this manner is a humble offering of one's self to the will of God, and not depending on one's self; the spiritual arena in which this life is accomplished is patience or an unswerving stand in the ranks of redeemed life, with a cheerful endurance of all the labours and unpleasantness that are linked with this.

6) A support for patience is faith, or the assurance that, working in this way for God, you are His servant and He is your Master, Who sees your efforts, is gladdened by them and values them; hope that the help of God which is ever protecting you, is always ready and waiting for you, and will descend upon you in your time of need, that God will not forsake you to the end of your life, and preserving you as one faithful to His commandments here, among all temptations, He will lead you through death to His eternal Kingdom; love, which meditates day and night upon the beloved Lord, In every way strives to do only what is pleasing to Him, and avoids everything that might offend Him in thought, word or deed.

7) The weapons of such a life are: prayers in church and at home, especially mental prayer, fasting according to one's strength and the rules of the Church, vigilance, solitude, physical labours, frequent confession of sins, Holy Communion, reading of the Word of God and the writings of the Holy Fathers, conversations with God-fearing people, frequent consultation with one's spiritual father about all the events of one's internal and external life. The foundation of all these labours in measure, time and place is wisdom, with the counsel of those who are experienced.

8) Guard yourself with fear. For this remember the end - death, judgment, hell, the heavenly Kingdom.
Most of all be attentive to yourself: preserve a sober mind and an untroubled heart.

9) Set as a final goal the kindling of the fire of the spirit, so that the spiritual fire will burn in your heart and, gathering up all your strength into one, will begin to build your inner man and finally burn up the tares of your sins and passions.
Arrange your life in this manner, and with God's grace you will be saved.

From Orthodox Life, Vol. 27., No. 6 (Nov.-Dec., 1977), pp. 37-38. Translated by Subdeacon Alexander Bohush from Trinity Leaflets, VoI. I, pp. 263-265, Jordanville, N.Y., 1972