Letter 31 An explanation of the Irmos of the Canon of the Meeting: “Thy virtue hath covered the heavens, O Christ”.

As is my custom, for the benefit of your souls, I set forth for your consideration the Irmos from the Meeting of the Lord:

Thy virtue hath covered the heavens, O Christ, for coming forth from the Ark of Thy holiness, Thine undefiled Mother, Thou hast appeared in the Temple of Thy glory as an infant borne in arms, and all things have been filled with Thy praise.

What virtue is that which covered the heavens? The unlimited love of the Son of God towards the fallen human race; because of which, being God, He was well-pleased to become man and to be born from the Virgin in the poor cave. On the fortieth day He was brought to the Temple. He fled from the inhuman Herod with His Mother and Joseph to Egypt. He was raised in the home of a simple carpenter. Then, for their salvation and to deliver His people from the power of the devil, He endured spitting and buffeting upon the face, and all sorts of disparagement, and the most shameful death upon the Cross. After the three day burial, He resurrected from the dead by the power of His Divinity and the glory of the Father; and trampling on all the forces of the enemy and demolishing the gates and prisons of hell, He brought out into freedom the souls which were held captive there who believe and have faith in His second coming.

It was for love of man and his salvation that He suffered, being the only-begotten Son of God, Who resurrected in three days. He founded His law upon two commandments–love for God and neighbors and neither can be fulfilled without the other. The holy Apostle John the Theologian says: “If anyone says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar” (IJohn 4:20). Also love for neighbor, if it is not for God’s sake, but for some human cause not only produces no profit, but often it harms the soul. And the signs of true Christian love the Apostle Paul sets forth as follows: “Love is longsuffering, and is kind; love envieth not; love exalteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil [and it does not remember evil]; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; It covers all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth” (ICor. 13:4-8). Without such love no prophecy, or faith which moves mountains, nor even martyrdom itself, brings any benefit at all. “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing” (ICor. 13:3).

But one must know that if every virtue cannot be acquired on a moment’s notice, but gradually with work and forcing one’s self, then how much more love, as the beginning and end of all the virtues? It demands time to acquire it and great force, inner struggle, prayer, and above all else it requires a depth of humility before God and man. Humility and sincere acknowledgement of our unworthiness is a sure safeguard of all the virtues, likewise it is so with the acquisition of love. And so, let us each begin with the degree of love one has and God will help us. One who is burdened with sins, let him think that “love covers a multitude of sins.” He whose conscience is muddled up by many acts of lawlessness, let him think that love is the fulfillment of the law. “For love of neighbor”, says the Apostle, “is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:8). Even if we do not attain to the aforesaid perfect love, at least let us not have envy and hatred or remembrance of wrongs. “For the path of he who remembers evils is in death” (Proverbs 12:28 [Septuagint]), and “jealousy will take hold of an uninstructed people” (Isa. 26: 11 [Sept.), that is, people who are not instructed and do not understand Christian life as they should. And, ” he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth” (IJohn 2:11).

Let us pray to the One Who suffered and resurrected on the third day with the prayer of St. Ephraim: “O Lord and Master of my life, a spirit of idleness, despondency, ambition, and idle talking give me not. But rather a spirit of chastity, humble-mindedness, patience, and love bestow upon me Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my failings and not to condemn my brother; for blessed art Thou unto the ages of ages”. Amen!!!

St. Amvrossy of Optina: The Meaning of Sorrows (Letter 30)

People have always complained about various sorrows, troubles and sicknesses and at present, besides other causes of grief, nearly everyone complains about difficult times. And this is nothing to marvel at! Present life is nothing more than preparation for the future one. However one may spend the present life in accordance with it, he will receive the same portion in the coming life: either a blessed or an evil one! All Christians, especially Orthodox, want to inherit the blessed portion in the future life. In order to receive it, we must bear, and not shun, the various sorrows and sicknesses that accompany this life; as it is said in the word of God: “It is with many sorrows that we must enter the kingdom of heaven” (Acts 14:22). People are divided into the righteous and sinners, but neither are free of various sorrows or sicknesses as it is said in the Psalms, “Many are the tribulations of the righteous” (Psa. 33:20), and “many are the scourges of the sinner” (Psa. 31:10). The Holy Spirit exhorts the first not to be fainthearted by assuring them that the Lord will deliver them from all sorrows; and the others, the sinners, He exhorts not to become despondent by saying that even though “many are the scourges of the sinner, [but] mercy shall encircle him that hopeth in the Lord” (Psa. 31:10). That is, the sinner who comes running to the Lord with faith, hope and repentance, will receive mercy and remission of sins.

The all-good Lord sends various sorrows to the righteous so that they do not become weak in ascetic acts of piety, becoming lazy and deviating in the opposite direction, thus becoming lost as forewarned by the Prophet Ezekiel: “When I shall say to the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his own righteousness, and commit iniquity, all his righteousness shall not be remembered; but for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall die for it” (Eze. 33:13) The Lord also sends various sorrows to the righteous in order to completely cleanse them of all sins and passions, so that they will receive great reward in the future ages, as it is said: ” Like gold in the fire He tried them and like a whole burnt offering he has received them” (Wis. 3:6)

Upon sinners the Lord brings on various troubles and illnesses in order to attract them to repentance, as He says in the Gospel: “I am come not to call the righteous but sinners” (Matt. 9:13) and again, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4:17). And through the Prophet Isaiah He says: “Put away the evil of your doings… Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isa. 1:16,18)

To both sinners and the righteous, the Lord says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” And again, “In your patience possess ye your souls” (Luke 21:19); “he that endureth to the end shall be saved (Matt. 10:22).

O Thou Who wast born of the Virgin and came to save sinners, have mercy upon Thy creation; and give us patience, humility and true repentance so that we will not be deprived of a portion with those on Thy right hand upon whom Thou hast shown mercy. Amen.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

In the parable of the prodigal son one thing that our Lord illustrates for us is the love of God the Father for mankind. The father, while only seeing his son approaching from afar, runs out to meet him, and he receives his prodigal son with love and joy. This gives us a glimpse of how much God loves us and also of the value He places upon us. The one word, the name, “father” says it all. God is our Father and we are His children. God Who is the “Master of all, Lord of heaven and earth and of all creation, both visible and invisible, Who sittest upon the throne of glory and beholdest the depths; without beginning, invisible, incomprehensible, indescribable, changeless.” (Service Books of the Orthodox Church, St. Tikhon’s Sseminary Press, p. 139) This is He Who is “our Father and we are His children.”

So let us focus on this today, and to do so we shall take a look at what St. Silouan the Athonite tells us about this relationship. He writes:

The Lord created man from dust but He loves us as a father loves his children, and waits with longing for us to come to Him. The Lord so loved us that for our sakes He was made flesh, and shed His Blood for us and gave us to drink thereof, and gave us His most holy Body; and thus we become His children, of His Body and Blood, and are in the likeness of the Lord in the flesh, as children to the end are like their fathers, and the Divine Spirit is witness to our spirit, that we shall be with Him to all eternity.

The Lord never ceases calling us to Himself: ‘Come unto me, and I will give you rest.’ (Matt. 11:28) He nourishes us with His most holy Body and Blood. In His mercy He schools us by His Word and the Holy Spirit. He has revealed His mysteries to us. He lives in us and in the sacraments of the Church…. (St. Silouan the Athonite, St. Valdimir’s Seminary Press, p. 386)

Man is made of the dust of the earth but God so loved him that He adorned him with grace, and fashioned him in the likeness of the Lord.

It is sad that, because of our pride, so few of us know this. Whereas if we were to humble ourselves the Lord would disclose this mystery to us, for He loves us dearly.

The Lord said to His Apostles: ‘Children have ye any meat?’ (John 21:5) What love these words reveal! But the Lord loves not only the Apostles but every one of us like that.

When the Lord was told, ‘Behold, thy, mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee,’ He answered and said, ‘Whosoever shall do the will of my Father, the same is my brother, and sister and mother.’ (Matt. 12:47-50) (Ibid. p.388)

This is so because

In the hearts of the Saints lives the grace of the Holy Spirit, making them kin to God, and they feel without a doubt that they are spiritual children of the Heavenly Father, and therefore say, ‘Our Father.’

The soul rejoices and is exceeding glad at these words. By the Holy Spirit she knows that the Lord is our Father. Created of earth though we be, the Holy Spirit dwells in us and makes us in the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the same way that children are like their fathers. (ibid. p.388)

So then, as St. Silouan points out we see that,

The Lord made us kin with Him. ‘Thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee: may they also be one in us.’ Thus the Lord by the Holy Spirit makes us one family with God the Father. (ibid. op. 389)

Through the prayers of St. Silouan, may our Lord Jesus Christ help us to make this a living reality in our lives. Amen!