Selections from Seminary

Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Christ is showing us the way of a Christian. It is helpful to back up a few verses from today's passage to realize the context in which Christ said these words. He had just given the first indications of how he would die: that he would suffer, be rejected by his own people, and killed. Hearing these words, St. Peter rebuked him, privately. Then Christ, turning and seeing the other disciples, openly rebuked these statements from Peter. And it's not because Peter spoke against him, but because Peter was speaking against this core understanding of what it is to live the Christian life. Christ had to suffer. And if we will follow him, we, too, will suffer. The apostles, not long after his death, quite literally followed after him, being beaten, just like him: and it says they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name . In our current situation, this is quite unlikely for m...

“Hypocrite”, Jesus says. That’s a hard word. It is so easy, when reading the gospels, to see that hard word spoken to others, and so hard to hear it as a word to us. We, too, are hypocrites. The hypocrites in this lesson (Luke 13:10-17) followed all the rules, but missed spirit of the Law. We, in the midst of the fast, focus on the fasting rules. Maybe we follow them and maybe we don’t, but, still, our focus during the fast is on the rules. So easily, we lose sight of why we are fasting. Fasting is exercise. Like the athlete who disciplines himself, who diligently shows up everyday, who pushes himself: in the same way, we show up. We exercise. And better than that, these are more than random rules the Church has passed down to us; this training regimen is time-tested and proven. Do this...and you will find eternal life. Fasting is exercise. Fasting also... acquires the Holy Spirit . St. Seraphim of Sarov explains this when he says, "Prayer, fasting, vigil, and all other Christian ...

There is something fascinating to me about the moments that Jesus prays. It really challenges me to reevaluate what I think prayer is. What runs through my head is this simple question: Jesus is God...what is he praying about? We see one of these passages in Matthew 14.  At the first of this chapter Jesus finds out that Herod has killed John the Baptist. Jesus's reaction is to go out to the desert places to pray, but as often happens, the multitudes follow him. He doesn't send them away so he can pray, but rather, he has compassion on them he sees their needs, that they have been following him for three days with no food, and he feeds all 5,000 of them.  Then, he sends away the disciples, he sends away the multitude, and finally, he prays. So, what or how does God pray to God? A quote about prayer on this year's St. Tikhon Monastery wall calendar seems to help explain this a little. Two or three months back, it had a quote from St. John Climacus: "prayer is converse an...

For those of us coming from a Protestant background, especially from the "Evangelical" realm, we might be tempted to think of "saved" as 'made it into heaven', and thus accidentally read into St. Seraphim's saying a meaning something to the effect of, '...and thousands of people around you will accept Christ and become Christians as a result'. Though that meaning might be included in what St. Seraphim meant, it certainly is not the primary meaning, because that is not a traditionally Christian understanding of the word "saved". Without delving into the deep end of trying to fully understand "saved" in a more Orthodox manner, I will try to hone in on the one important aspect I see at work, to help us understand this quote. Think of the many places in the New Testament which speak of those "being saved"...well, that is not totally fair, because our translations do not always make that so clear in English. Search aroun...

St. Seraphim’s guidance in the spiritual life was focused on acquiring the grace of the Holy Spirit, and, as you will see, his use of the word “acquire”, a money and business term, is no accident: "Prayer, fasting, vigil, and all other Christian practices, however good they may be in themselves, do not constitute the aim of our Christian life, although they serve as the indispensable means of reaching this end. The true aim of our Christian life consists in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God." "'Acquiring is the same as obtaining,' he replied to me. 'You understand, of course, what acquiring money means. Acquiring the Spirit of God is exactly the same. You know well what it means in a worldly sense, your godliness, to acquire. The aim of life of ordinary worldly people is to acquire or make money, and for the nobility it is in addition to receive honors, distinctions, and other rewards for their services to the government. The acquisition of God's ...

As mentioned in the first of these posts about St. Seraphim, this may feel like a rabbit trail, but after establishing the authenticity of St. Seraphim's message and its connection to the fathers of old (in this post), then moving on to his primary teaching about the spiritual life (in the next post), we will finally be able to accept the understanding of his most famous quote for what it is: a condensed version of everything he lived and taught. The Little Russian Philokalia, in covering the life and teachings of St. Seraphim of Sarov, reminds us that “there is nothing whatever that is new in the spiritual face of St. Seraphim; all is from the Holy Fathers, of whom he is a most faithful disciple, appearing in the latter times like some great desert father of antiquity, like a new St. Macarius the Great.” The author goes on to say: "His spiritual instructions like his celebrated conversation with Motovilov on the acquisition of the Holy Spirit contain no new teaching, but sim...

These different variations of St. Seraphim's famous quote can carry slightly different emphases, but there seems to be another issue with this quote and how it challenges our understanding of salvation and “missions” in the Orthodox Church. There seems to be a thread of anti-monastic sentiment among Orthodox Christians today, as if the monastic life is something different than “normal” Christian life, and especially seeing monastics as anti-evangelical. This is theologically problematic, to be sure, but here, I will focus only on the desired re-interpretation of St. Seraphim’s quote. One respected source of Orthodox missions thinking today, a statement I heard with my own ears, suggested that Frederica Mathewes-Green was right in suggesting we have a misunderstanding of this quote, that is, the monk going out in the “desert” does not “save” anybody. I could not confirm any place that Frederica Mathewes-Green suggested this. Instead, she writes: "Being a saint is not a private ...

One of the most common patron saints American converts choose is St. Seraphim of Sarov. He has an obvious appeal. He, somehow, sums up Americans’ desire for conservative and traditional Christianity, while living out a beautifully “wild” and zealous life. He personifies the depths of spiritual life that so many of us yearn to possess. What more could we say about St. Seraphim than what our own enlightened, clairvoyant, and wonderworking San Franciscan saint, John Maximovitch, said of him in a homily, when he was still Hieromonk John, a seminary teacher in Serbia: "Thus, despite the changes that have taken place in the world, the memory of St. Seraphim not only does not fade, but it remains a lamp that shines ever brighter to humanity. … He was wholly occupied with the acquisition of 'the one thing needful'. ...The Lord gave us to see Himself in those like unto Him, in His saints. And so, one of these likenesses was St. Seraphim. In him we see restored human nature, freed ...

Finding some good lenten reading is always a good idea. It is always during Clean Week, that the kids start asking what we are going to read this year. So, here we are, dinner on the first day of Clean Week, and they started asking. Our trouble this year was that two of the books we love reading and seem perfectly fitted for reading with the family, we have already used twice each for other lenten seasons. We cannot recommend them highly enough, especially because they are so well written and clearly convey Orthodox life lived out. Everyday Saints and Other Stories is one of our favorites. The children enjoyed this so much that the two older ones have read through it a time or two on their own. In it, you will gain a much broader view of what "Orthodox life" looks like, which is helpful both for the convert that just has not lived a long life within Orthodoxy yet, and also for the cradle Orthodox who needs to see Orthodoxy outside of their own particular context. In other wo...

Now...finally...we make it to one of the best examples to help bring clarity to our questions about what happens after we die. I have shared several warnings: warnings about those who were not dead for long and have limited knowledge of life after death, warnings that our preconceptions can cloud our reasoning in these matters, and warnings that we should not try to over-simplify such matters. All of those warnings still apply. We must be careful not to over-analyze any of these experiences. With that said, the experience related in the Life of Venerable Theodora of Constantinople is particularly useful to us. For one, she died (and stayed dead), her soul left her body, she traversed everything between here and place of her soul’s repose till the last day. The obvious question is how we know this story: she appeared to another spiritual child of her own spiritual father, who recorded it for our benefit. The second reason her particular experience is so useful, and why the Lord would ...

The one common thread seen in all three of these readings ("lessons") is the living martyrdom of monastics. Every single reference to these verses among the Church Fathers which have been presented here refer to non-monastics...funny for readings chosen for monastics, huh? The clear message is that this living martyrdom is not only potentially attainable by all Christians, but as St. Symeon the New Theologian says, we are without excuse if we do not emulate them: "When God brings his hidden saints to light, it is in order that some may emulate them and others be without excuse. Those [of us] who wish to remain amid distractions as well as those [of us] who live a worthy life in [monastic] communities, in mountains and in caverns, are saved, and God bestows on them great blessings solely because they have faith in him." In other words, both the monastic life and life "in the world" are fitting to work out our salvation. When we hear of the life of a monasti...

Having grown up Protestant, books like Baruch were not in my Old Testament back in the old days. Don't worry, this is not that post, kicking up dust. Maybe some other day. I just came across a verse in the book of Baruch the other day that caught my eye, and I am glad it did. Especially in this Nativity season, as we prepare for the coming of God himself and his taking on of human flesh, the uncreated taking on created nature, this verse fits in perfectly. This is our God; no other shall be compared to him. … Afterwards, he was seen upon the earth and lived among men ( Baruch 3:36,38) . This clearly refers to Christ (...though I cannot figure out what the writer might have meant at the time of writing). This one simple verse holds the truth that sets Christianity apart from all other religions: God himself became man. And, in Greek, that is not "lived among men" as translated here and also in the Prologue of the Gospel of John in just about every translation out there. ...

Today, here in Wayne County, the home of St. Tikhon's Seminary, we are officially moving to the "yellow phase" of reopening after the two months of quarantine and being restricted from going to church. Not that the quarantine was comfortable, but at least my head had begun to become acquainted with it. Now that some degree of reopening is on the horizon and there is potential to return to church and the Holy Eucharist, the temptation is to try to move back to "business as usual" and not keep a hold of the lessons I have learned during my isolation from church. One phrase that has continually come to mind these past two months is something that a friend of mine "quoted" on social media. He admitted that this is probably just a mis-quote from some or other ancient desert father, but regardless, there is a kernel of truth with a ready lesson: "Go to your cell and pray. If you can't find God in your cell, you won't find him anywhere." ...

How often are we looking for a good book to help explain a particular topic? It is often the case that new books—we could roughly define that as written in the past decade—are the easiest to find, quite likely will be easy to read, and more or less cover the topic needed, but are somehow lacking in depth. Most new books look more like paperback versions of a collection of blog posts than a “real” book. If, on the other hand, the priest looks to the Church Fathers, the texts are often archaic and tedious, which might simply be a result of the style of translation employed. And even if the text is not actually difficult to read, the impression can still remain that any book with a saint as an author will be too hard to understand. Neither of the books I intend to cover in this book review, of sorts, fit neatly into either of these categories. Both cover the meaning of the Mystery of Baptism and extend their discussion into Chrismation and the Eucharist, both are a wealth of informati...

I made the following comment on the passage in 1 Chronicles 21:6: But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king's word was painful to Joab. Joab was obedient to David's command to take a census of the people, but knew this was a bad idea. Similarly, we are to live in obedience, unless asked to do something against the Gospel commands. What are the Gospel commands: love the Lord your God with all your soul and all your mind and all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself. Obedience, unless that obedience is not in love. Obedience is difficult, especially for us independent Americans. I often think of a particular passage in St. Silouan's biography (paraphrased)... There are two ways to find God's will. Simply obeying our spiritual father is simple and foolproof (because if it is wrong, the responsibility is on the spiritual father). The other way, to seek God in prayer and discern for ourselves, is perfectly acceptable, but much mor...

They shall be scattered to search for food, if they are not satisfied they grumble. But I will sing of thy power, proclaiming thy mercy each morning, for thou hast become my helper, my refuge in the day of my affliction.  Ps 58(59) Pascha has passed over us. What now? When we had barely learned how to live quarantined away from church, we were faced with missing the most memorable services of the Church year: Holy Week and Pascha. Our desire to turn on a live-streamed service under those circumstances is understandable. Now it is time to throw off everything that hinders and to fulfill the call of the quarantine. This current situation has called to question how we see church. It has challenged our personal spirituality. It has exposed an unhealthy dependence we have had on our churches. In the words of the psalmist above, are we scattered away from our churches, left to fend for our daily bread in whatever way we can find it, grumbling that the church doors are closed? Or, ...

In the Preface to the Orthodox Christian Prayers prayer book, there is a wonderful little paragraph that echoes many of the responses I have heard to our COVID-19 quarantine. I have noticed that many responses, from Met. Tikhon to Bishop Alexis , from Abbot Sergius to Archimandrite Zacharias , have emphasized that this quarantine is a time to turn to God in prayer. I would warn against counting out their opinion because they are monastics and unlike us in the world, but the common monastic response is no accident: these are men whose spiritual life is not dependent on going to church services, but rather on the foundation of prayer and communion with Christ in the "secrecy of their room". The prayer book has this encouraging word for us: "As disciples of Christ and his imitators, Orthodox Christians pray together at church, offering the services of Vespers, Matins, the Hours, and above all the Divine Liturgy. We may also pray in small groups outside of church, with...

I just listened to an interview with Archimandrite Sergius, the abbot of St. Tikhon's Monastery. I highly recommend going and listening to the full interview with Fr. Sergius . Right off the bat, Fr. Sergius says...and when I say "says", I really mean emphatically repeats, "The inner life is just as real as the outer life." He encourages us to pay attention to our heart...and no, that is not some warm-and-fuzzy saying; he is literally suggesting that the heart is both a physical place and a spiritual place. The spiritual place of the heart is "the door to the world to come". And "it is a shared space...Christ is there, too". We will have to work to uncover that Kingdom within, and when we do, "it is only in that stillness of the heart that we will be able to experience God." But that is only how Fr. Sergius starts off in the interview. He has recently posted a couple of videos in response to our being cut off from being able to ...

I am thankful for reading a recent article by Fr. Lawrence Farley, and particularly for the additional perspective he has added to my thinking about what "going to church" means in the wake of these worldwide quarantining measures to fight the spread of this virus. He wrote at length about the importance of the gathering of Christians as being central to the purpose of the Eucharist, and thus to the meaning of  "the Church". That "gathering" aspect is not something I had dwelled on much. I would like to add another layer to what he said. He said, " The Eucharist is what Christians do on Sunday when they gather together in the Lord’s Name, and the celebration of the Eucharist presupposes a previous gathering." That is true. Otherwise, a priest would be allowed to celebrate by himself. The Church is the "ekklesia" (Greek ἐκκλησία, 'gathering'), the community of believers, which is seen in beautiful perfection when we partake of...

So, what about Orthodox services makes them incompatible with live-streaming? There are a few aspects to this, and I will not attempt to cover them all at once. So, in this article, I will focus solely on one particular reason: physical presence is essential . I asked my kids about this, that is, I asked what would be the good and bad side of watching an Orthodox service online. Very practically, they said such things as, "you could not venerate the icons", "you could not be anointed with holy oil", and chief among them all, "you could not take the Body and Blood" of Christ at the Eucharist. I actually gave them a bit of a hard time about all this: why could you not venerate your icons at home while watching a service on the computer? Why could you not receive anointing with some of the holy oil we have on the icon corner? And their answer makes so much sense: if you are going to venerate your own icons at home and stand in front of them and pray, why ...