Ancient Church

by Phillipa

The room was very quiet and dimly lit. The only light was coming from the corner dedicated to the icons. She lay in her bed, sleeping. Her hair was as white as the pillows on which she lay. She looked so frail. My eyes filled with tears. Her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. Her face was tinged with a slight yellow cast and the skin on her hands was nearly translucent. This was Baba, my grandmother, lying on what would be her deathbed.

I turned and my eyes swept the bookcases lining the wall behind her favorite reading chair. They were overflowing with classics and favorites. I smiled gently remembering the many evenings we spent sitting in that corner talking of the sacramental life of piety and Who and what it entailed. To my surprise I saw an envelope propped against the table lamp. As I started to walk over, I saw in Baba’s flowing script “Peanut” written across it.

She woke when she heard me step on the creaky board just past the foot of her bed. “I have come to see you Baba, just as you asked,” I said as I moved to kneel beside her bed, taking her hands in mine. She whispered, “My little Peanut, on the table. Read. Written long ago –just for this day.” There I found a letter filled with instruction on living a sacramental life of piety, a life in Christ. It started this way:

* * * * *
My dear Peanut: Since you are reading this, it is apparent I am dying. As that is the case, I wanted to give you some last thoughts. We have spoken often of these important things, but they bear repeating, thus the purpose of this final letter of love.
“The life in Christ originates in this life and arises from it. It is perfected in the life to come(1).” Everything about Orthodoxy points to living life fully as a human, in communion with Christ. You must start now in order to recognize it then, Peanut. It begins by participation in the sacraments, the Holy Mysteries. “The Kingdom of God is already accessible in the Body of Christ.”(2) It is by participation in Christ that you become united with Him through His grace. The union with Christ is reached in a new life. It is not by anything we may do on our own, although there is “an element which derives from our own zeal but it was He who came and descended to us. It was not we who sought, but we were the object of His seeking.”(3) Christ has done all the work and by our participation in His life through baptism, anointing of oil in Chrismation, the Eucharist, and the Liturgy, we receive what He has done, by faith.

“From the ‘old Adam,’ through his natural birth, man inherits a defective life.”(4) Adam’s willful rebellion brought judgment upon himself and creation, and his sin was passed on to us. Adam “no longer looked upon the world and other human beings in a eucharistic way, as a sacrament of communion with God.”(5) This sinful act affected our physicality so now we get sick and experience death. It also affected morality, how we relate to one another, in effect all of creation. All of nature was cut off from its Source of life including man.(6) The curse was for man to be slave to the created world. But our hunger for God never ceased. But “in Christ, life, — life in all its totality was returned to man, given again as sacrament and communion, made Eucharist.”(7) Thus the sacraments of the Church bring Christ to us to re-establish that lost relationship.

You, Peanut, participated in the sacraments of baptism and chrismation while just an infant. I, on the other hand, received them in mid-life when I converted to Orthodoxy. No matter the age of the recipient, they impart the same grace and one is initiated into the new life in Christ in order that they might believe. Baptism and chrismation is when a person recovers and is restored to his original destiny, that which was intended in the Garden of Eden, not merely what Adam and Eve possessed. The person is delivered from death and the defective life is gone. When Jesus accepted baptism at the hand of John the Baptist, He “sanctified the water, made it water of purification and reconciliation with God.”(8) The matter of the water, representative of the whole of creation, was restored to its original goodness and is used to impart God’s grace to us when we are baptized in it.(9) We become “Spirit-bearers”(10) and the presence of the Holy Spirit remains with us always. This is the beginning of our new life in Christ.
Chrismation, being anointed with oil, is “confirmation by the Holy Spirit”(11) of the new life in Christ begun at baptism. It is at this point we receive the Holy Spirit and His gifts “making us instruments of His action in the world.”(12) The priest touches the person at his eyes, ears, nose, lips, chest, hands and feet with oil, anointing the whole person. This communicates the whole person becoming the temple of God and truly being restored to the man God intended him to be, naturally.(13) Life has been restored and has begun! We begin to be transformed by the grace of God. It is important to remember that we must “co-operate with God’s grace”(14) in order for the Holy Spirit to sanctify us.

God exists in a way so different from our own. It is unfathomable to us, but we are called to a relationship with the Ineffable anyway. The relationship is to be one of love. You know Peanut, no matter how long you know another person, there will always be some mystery to them. Why should it be any different with God?! But the basic supposition of Christian theology is that the Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is personal. “There is distinction, but never separation. Father, Son, and Spirit, have only one will and not three, only one energy and not three. They are but one God.”(15) They have communion with one another and we are to have communion with Them.

So how then do we approach God? We return to God based on the actions of our soul, repentance and faith. “In approaching God, we are to change our mind, stripping ourselves of all our habitual ways of thinking.”(16) Faith is the beginning of our life with God, not merely a conscious assent to the propositions of God but absolute and utter reliance on Him. Our admission of our need for God is the beginning of our justification. This admission and relationship with God also changes the way we look at the world. Everything becomes sacred.

The basic reality of the Christian faith is it takes a lot of work just like any relationship does. It is not an emotional high all the time like we so often read or hear. Do not be frustrated by this. You will trip, you will sin, you will fail God. My life has been full of succumbing to my passions. For the Orthodox, the Eucharist and the Liturgy are the way God helps us to overcome our failures and strengthens us to meet the challenges of our passions.

In the Eucharist and in the Incarnation, time and eternity meet. “The liturgy of the Eucharist is best understood as a journey or procession. It is the journey of the Church into the dimension of the Kingdom.”(17) When we get up, get dressed, and head
off to church, we are engaging in a sacramental act. We are leaving the world, separating ourselves from it, to participate in the reality of the Kingdom of God. This is why worship is for believers in Christ. “We are the ecclesia.”(18)

Leaving the world and coming to God in the Divine Liturgy is the start of the sacrament of the Eucharist. At the point in the Liturgy when the priest approaches the altar, and we with him as our representative, “the Church enters into grace.”(19) The holiness of God is realized. When the priest turns back to the congregants, he presents to us Christ and His peace. “The sacrament is a manifestation of the Word.”(20) The reading of the Gospels and preaching are part of the Eucharist because we are presented with the Word spoken at Creation that we, the Church, receive by the Holy Spirit and then take back into the world.

In the Eucharist we present to God bread and wine, fruits of our world in which we live and labor. We take wheat and grind it to flour with which to bake bread for communion. We take grapes and process them to become the wine for communion. “Man gives material things a voice and renders the creation articulate in praise of God.”(21) We offer the fruits of our world and ourselves to God in the Eucharist.

The Holy Spirit teaches us about the Incarnation, and it is He who effects change in the bread and the wine of the Eucharist, bringing us Christ again in “the prayer of consecration the epiclesis.”(22) The Eucharist is communion with the risen Christ, not the crucified Christ. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live but Christ lives in me.”(23) In the Eucharist this becomes true for “in it we obtain God Himself, and God is united with us in the most perfect union.”(24) In that union we are able to comprehend the sacrifice of Christ and the debt He paid on our behalf, and honor Him.

Peanut, the Christian life needs to become an internalized routine, thus the purpose of the church calendar and going to church. The primary purpose of going to church is not necessarily to learn, but for our transformation as individuals and the world. “Joy was given to the Church for the world, that the Church might be a witness to it and transform the world by joy.”(25) The life of the Church is the life of salvation history from the Feast of the Virgin Mary beginning in September to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ to His death and resurrection. The Liturgical seasons mark pointed times of discipline, which include times of fasting and prayer. A life of piety is not rote. All of a person’s life needs to be oriented towards God. The twelve great feasts, the periods of fasting, each day of the week, even the hours of the day have a special purpose and memory, which orients us towards God. The Liturgical calendar helps to “keep us from forgetting events that are vital to our salvation and the abundant life that God wants us to have.”(26)

The sum total of the abundant Christian life is what Jesus instructed the scribe in Luke 10:27, “Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself.”(27) This disinterested benevolence, being completely abandoned for another without thought for yourself, is what God calls us to. We must grip tightly to Christ if we are to live to overcome the corruption of our passions, our will, and our intellect for we “obtain life from no other source.”(28) This is our duty. We have the freedom daily to choose God’s grace and act out of faith or to reject it. In our obedience to God, which is for our own good, we grow in Grace and in the “knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”(29)
As we live life, commune with the Trinity, and become sanctified by His Grace, He reveals more of Himself to us and fills more of us. “It is those who have decided to love this yoke who are led by Him, as though they were not to live by their own reason nor use their own free will.”(30) When we do this we find ourselves experiencing the joy and sorrows of others.

By embracing this yoke given us by God we are led to a recognition of the “dignity of our nature” and the “loving-kindness of God.”(31) We become more aware of our continual sinfulness. “Baptism is forgiveness of sins, not their removal.”(32) Because we sin regularly we must continually repent and seek His forgiveness. “Divine forgiveness may be received either by private prayer or by the Sacrament [of Penance].”(33) We need to turn from what we know to be evil. Remember that the repentant natural Christian life is thinking, acting, and living in a completely different way than the unnatural life. Thus we can partake of the Eucharist regularly, receive forgiveness for our sins, and “worship Him in spirit and truth” as John writes in chapter 4, verse 24 of his Gospel.(34)

Another important part of Christian life is prayer. Without prayer we cannot see God. In a sense, prayer unifies us with God because it takes us from the fractured person we are to communion with God. It is laborious, yet it is love in action. Jesus taught his disciples to pray. While it would be nice, it is impossible to wrap effective prayer into a nice three-step directive. Prayer is difficult because there are constant distractions in life. “Prayer is a living relationship between persons, and personal relationships cannot be neatly classified.”(35)

The first stage in prayer is purification. Remember, repentance is a change of mind, a turning away from the negative. Prayer facilitates the “re-centering of our whole life upon the Trinity.”(36) This is a positive action. The second stage is God illuminating us, showing us where we have sinned against Him. We become alert to the present reality in which we live and to ourselves. This alertness shows us the power the passions have over our will and through prayer the Holy Spirit helps us battle against them. “Our aim is not to eliminate the passions but to redirect their energy.”(37) The disciplines of fasting, prayer, and service to others help this process. This purification and illumination eventually lead to the third stage of prayer, dispassion. By this it is meant, “not a negative condition of indifference or insensitivity,but a positive state of reintegration and spiritual freedom in which we no longer yield to temptation.”(38) We then can use the energy of our passions for positive, sacred action.

As we pray, this allows us to see nature as created by God, as He intended it to be seen, and we are moved beyond it and come into direct contact with God. We begin to see nature as a sacrament and sign of God. “The more a man comes to contemplate God in nature, the more he realizes that God is also above and beyond nature.”(39) This understanding cannot come without purity of heart and brings new meaning to the elements of communion. In the Eucharist we experience the fruits of nature being given back to God in the Eucharist. Further we come to learn that even the use of some earth’s basic materials, (water, chalk, pigments, and egg) are taken in their natural form, and used in the making of an icon.(40) Prayer also allows us to begin to see people as God’s creation and find Him in them.

In the Orthodox hesychast tradition, “most commonly used is the Jesus Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”(41) The practice is to repeat the Jesus prayer in a rhythmic manner, focusing on the words and their meaning, bringing that meaning into our intellect first by our quiet oral prayer, then mentally, and eventually into the heart. This leads to the fading of distractions around us and to a complete union with God. This is a union “according to energy” where we “participate in His life, power, grace, and glory.”(42) The glorious result is a silence in the presence of God and ceaseless prayer. We become speechless as we are overwhelmed with His holiness. We hear Him in the stillness of prayer when we listen and not talk. We hear God speak to us in the silence.

I have endeavored to live my life in Christ, Peanut, to live it through sacramental piety, prayer, and participation in the Eucharist and Liturgy. “It is through the Church that each one of us finds that the vocation of all vocations is to follow Christ in the fullness of His priesthood.”(43) It has been a challenging journey. There have been tears and laughter, sorrow and joy, and confession and repentance. Through it all God’s grace has led me to restoration. It has been a journey of growing closer to the One I love the most. My prayer for you, Peanut, is that you too will continue on the same journey, to live a life in Christ through the Church.

With Love In Christ, Baba

* * * * *
As I finished reading, I looked over to Baba in anticipation of expressing my feelings and saw that during the time of reading the letter, she had passed from this life into the perfection of the next. I knew this letter would be something I would forever treasure in my heart, as much as I have treasured her. And for His sake, I will journey on, in faith.

O Lord Jesus Christ our God, the true and living way, be thou, 0 Master, my companion, guide and guardian during my journey; deliver and protect me from all danger, misfortune and temptation; that being so defended by Thy divine power, I may have a peaceful and successful journey and arrive safely at my destination. For in thee I put my trust and hope, and to thee, together with thy Eternal Father, and the All-holy Spirit, I ascribe all praise, honor and glory: now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. (44)

Works Cited

Cabasilas, Nicholas. The Life in Christ. NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1974.
Coniaris, Anthony M. Introducing the Orthodox Church: Its Faith and Life. Minneapolis, MN: Light and Life Publishing Company. 1982.
Meyendorff, John. Byzantine Theology: Historical trends and doctrinal themes. New York: Fordham University Press, 1979.
Ouspensky, Leonid & Vladimir Lossky. The Meaning of Icons. NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1982.
Ryrie Study Bible. New International Version. Chicago: Moody Press. 1984.
Schmemann, Alexander. For The Life of the World. NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2002.
Ware, Bishop Kallistos. The Orthodox Way. NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1998.
Youth-On-Line. Orthodox Prayers. Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada), Youth, 2000. http://www.gocanada.org/Youth/prayers.html.1

(1) Cabasilas, Nicholas, The Life in Christ, (NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1974), p 43.
(2) Meyendorff, John, Byzantine Theology: Historical trends and doctrinal themes, (New York: Fordham University Press, 1979), p 191.
(3) Cabasilas, 48, 50.
(4) Meyendorff, 193.
(5) Ware, Bishop Kallistos, The Orthodox Way, (NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1998), p 59.
(6) Schmemann, Alexander, For The Life of the World, (NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2002), p 17.
(7) Schmemann, 20.
(8) Schmemann, 73.
(9) Schmemann, 72.
(10) Ware, 100.
(11) Schmemann, 75.
(12) Coniaris, Anthony M., Introducing the Orthodox Church: Its Faith and Life, (Minneapolis, MN: Light and Life Publishing Company, 1982), p 132.
(13) Schmemann, 76.
(14) Ware, 100.
(15) Ware, 30.
(16) Ware, 14.
(17) Schmemann, 26.
(18) Schmemann, 29.
(19) Schmemann, 31.
(20) Schmemann, 33.
(21) Ware, 54.
(22) Coniaris, 199.
(23) Ryrie Study Bible, New International Version, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1984).
(24) Cabasilas, 116.
(25) Schmemann, 55.
(26) Coniaris, 71.
(27) Ryrie Study Bible.
(28) Cabasilas, 161.
(29) Ryrie Study Bible.
(30) Cabasilas, 145.
(31) Cabasilas. 168.
(32) Schmemann, 79.
(33) Coniaris, 133.
(34) Ryrie Study Bible, Gospel of John.
(35) Ware, 107.
(36) Ware, 113.
(37) Ware, 116.
(38) Ware, 117.
(39) Ware, 121.
(40) Ouspensky, Leonid & Vladimir Lossky, The Meaning of Icons, (NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1982), p 55.
(41) Ware, 122.
(42) Ware, 125.
(43) Schmemann, 94.
(44) Youth-On-Line, Orthodox Prayers, Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada) Youth, (2000), http://www.gocanada.org/Youth/prayers.html.