Guitar Ensemble "Our Kindergarten Teacher"

GOOD MOMENTS

«l will arise and go to my father and will say to him, "Father. I have sinned against heave, and before you»». (Luke 15:18)

There are always some bad moments in our lives. A bad moment is when we decide to do something wrong, commit a sin. Bad moments are those when we decide to steal, be unfair, denigrate someone and lie to the detriment of a fellow human being. Bad moments are those when we aim at splitting up a married couple, destroying a household or killing someone like an innocent and helpless embryo during its first days, or a baby during its first hours of life. A bad moment is when we betray our benefactors.

A bad moment is when we deny Christ or our country. A bad moment for the prodigal son was when he decided to leave his father. A bad moment for Judas was when he betrayed Christ Bad moments for the Apostle Peter were he denied his Teacher three times. A bad moment for Demas was when he deserted Apostle Paul, which made the great Apostle whisper and write in bitterness «for Demas has forsaken me» (2 Tim. 4:10). A bad moment was when Ephialtes betrayed Leonidas and his three hundred warriors at the narrow passage at Thermopyles. Bad moments... lots of them. But there are also good moments in our lives.

A good moment for the prodigal son was when he took the big decision to return to his father. What a sweet moment that must have been for the prodigal son, «l will get up», he said, «l will get up and go back to my father. I will fall at his feet and say to him: My father, I sinned before you and before God. I am not worthy to be called your child. I betrayed you and hurt you. I will arise and go to my father». (Luke15:18). And truly he got up and took the way back along the road of repentance. He returned to his father and did exactly what he had planned in the distant country where he had lived in dissoluteness. He fell at his father's feet full of repentance and contirion. In tears which nearly drowned his feeble voice he asked his caring father to allow him to be, not a child, but a humble and lowly servant of his household. A servant who would be able merely to stave off his hunger and thirst. Nothing more. But the big heart of the father forgave all of his child's past prodigality. Before his child's overwhelming repentance the troubled father wrote his sorrows in water and wind and welcomed his child back. Not as a servant, as the child himself had asked, but as a child.

And then something even greater happened in the father's household. There came happiness and a feast was at hand. All the servants were put on alert and started rushing back and forth to prepare the feast. One servant brought the prodigal son's robe, a second servant brought his sandals, while a third servant brought the ring as a symbol of the son's eternal bond with his father. The fourth sevant slaughtered the fatted calf while others were cleaning the house and did various other chores. Such happiness had never been seen in the household for a long time. These were good moments, very good moments, when the prodigal son decided to leave behind him all prodigal living and return to his father.

Such moments can also be seen in the lives of contemporary prodigal children. There was once a young woman who was living very comfortably in a large village. Her parents were very proud of her because she was very young, honest, pure, humble and discreet. But the Devil tricked her into sin, through her peers who exerted a negative influence on her. What terrible effects indeed bad peers can have on a person. This simple and unassuming village girl started to paint and cut her hair thinking she would be fashionable. Let us presume behaviour like that doesn't do any harm. But alas she went even further. She started wearing short dresses and then started wearing trousers. Let us presume even that doesn't really matter. She went even further. She started drinking ouzo (strong alcoholic beverage) and smoking.

But does that not matter either? Let us presume so. Unfortunately, however she kept on compromising her morality. A rock that rolls is not sure to stop. She then started relationships with boys. At first only on a friendly level and then in a more involved way. And then came her first fall. The first moral defeat. So what happened then? What could happen? She started staying out late at night at various clubs until one night she didn't go back home. She «journeyed to a far country» as had the prodigal son. Her poor mother could not find consolation. Her life was full of lamentation.

Fortunately, however the mother was a faithful woman. Enlightened by God she did the following: she found a photograph and with great pain she wrote behind the photograph: «My daughter, your Mother is waiting for you». She then went to the big city where her daughter was residing and found the club her daughter was frequenting. She hung the photograph on the wall and went back to her village. She waited. Many people saw the photograph but did not pay any attention. But when the prodigal daughter saw it, the miracle that the troubled mother was praying for, occurred. The daughter was overwhelmed. She fell down and started to cry. And while she thought of her Mother's word: «My daughter, your Mother is waiting for you», she would cry and lament even more. Then came the good moment for the prodigal daughter. Full of conviction now she whispered: «Mother, I am coming back». And she did go back. She returned and fell into her mother's arms bringing great happiness back to her household in the same great manner as the prodigal son.

One more story and we will finish. A story with good moments in it, too. Here, the prodigal figure is not a young man or woman. Here, the prodigal figure is an old man. The Devil tricks not only young people but old people also. This old man was living prodigally for many years. He was living prodigally by being a gambler, drunkard and engaging in all other types of corrupt behaniour. Many times he would abandon his wife and children, living here and there. He passed his fifty years of age. He became sixty and yet he was still living prodigally. However, at the age of sixty three his good moment came. At that age he had read a religious pamphlet which inspired him. He was moved to tears as if he were a young child. He cried for hours and then for days. Then he eagerly sought a confessor and after having confessed his sins felt relieved. In that manner he put an end to his sinful ways and returned to God. Unfortunately though he did not live for many more years to take pleasure in his new mode of living. He died at the age of seventy.

Before he passed away he asked his relatives to engrave the following words upon his grave: «Here lies a man aged seventy who only lived for seven years». The seven years that he had lived close to God.

Dear Reader,

The good moment came for the prodigal son, the prodigal daughter and the elderly man we mentioned. When will this good moment come for you?

By: Echoes from Galilee , Very Rev. Gervasios Raptopoulos

Thanksgiving Prayers of St Basil the Great

O Christ our God and Master, King of the Ages and Creator of all, I thank Thee for all the favours that Thou has granted to me and for the participation in Thy Pure and Life-giving Mysteries. I beseech Thee, therefore, O Gracious and Loving Lord, guard me under Thy Protection and under the shadow of Thy Wings: and grant me a clear conscience to my last breath, so that worthily I may receive Thy Holy Things for the forgiveness of sins and Life Eternal.
For Thou art the Bread of Life, the Fountain of Holiness, the Giver of all that is Good, and unto Thee we ascribe Glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and from all Ages to all Ages. Amen
Thou Who grants me willingly nourishment of Thine own Flesh: Thou Who art Fire and burns up the unworthy, do not scorch me, O my Maker, but rather pass through me for the right ordering of my members, into all my joints, my affections, and my heart. Burn up the thorns of all my offences; Purify my soul; Sanctify my mind; make strong my knees and my bones; Enlighten the simplicity of my five senses; nail down the whole of me with Thy Fear.
Always Protect, Guard and Watch over me, and keep me from every soul destroying deed and word.
Sanctify and Purify and order me; make me clean, give me Understanding and Enlighten me; make me worthy to be the habitation of the Only Holy Spirit, and no longer a habitation of sin; so that as Thine Abode from the Entrance of Thy Holy Communion, every evil deed and passion may flee from me like fire.
As supplicants I bring to Thee all those whom Thou hast Sanctified: the Leaders of the Angelic Powers; Thy Forerunner; Thine Enlightened Apostles; and further, Thy Pure and Spotless Mother.
Receive the Prayers of these, O Merciful Christ, and make Thy slave a Child of Light. For Thou art our Sanctification and our only Good, and the Illumination of our souls, and unto Thee as our God and Master each day as is fitting,
we ascribe all Glory, Honour and Worship. Amen
Lord Jesus Christ, our God, may Thy Holy Body be unto me for Everlasting Life and Thy Precious Blood for the Forgiveness of sins.
And may this Holy Eucharist be Joy, Health and Gladness for me and at Thine awful Second Coming make me, a sinner, worthy to stand at the right hand of Thy Glory, through the Intercessions of Thy Pure Mother and of all Thy Saints. Amen.

4th Sunday of Lent

Prayer and Fasting: weapons for souls

Today is the fourth Sunday of Lent, dear friends, and we celebrate the memory of our venerable father John of Sinai, author of the Ladder (The Ladder of Divine Ascent). We are slowly ascending towards Holy and Great Friday and the Sunday of Pascha, and our Church is preparing us as Christ prepared his disciples and Apostles for His voluntary Passion.

The Holy Gospel according to St Mark, transports us to Mount Tabor. Jesus and His three well-known disciples have gone up the mountain where He was transfigured before them and they saw, as much as they were able to, the glory of His Divine nature, so that they could get strength and have courage also during the hour of His Passion. They came down from the mountain and found the rest among many people and a sick person, who was possessed, whose father came to Jesus because the Apostles were not able to heal him and complained to Him. Jesus was saddened and called them all “a faithless generation”. He was saddened at finding Himself among faithless people, among people who had no trust in Him and people who did not understand Him. The father shouted and said: “The Apostle could do nothing, so if you can, do something”.

Prayer – because what that father did was also prayer, even though it was weak and fainthearted – does great good for people, always, especially during great difficulties and problems. Our lives too have become extremely difficult today and we need God’s presence, His love and His protection. We get God’s strength through prayer, as well as through fasting, especially now in the period of Holy and Great Lent. It is through prayer that we rise to the Lord and leave behind all concerns. Through fasting even our bodies become light and can rise too. Our bodies become spiritual and through fasting can also avoid illness and torment and many other things. The Church which appointed fasting, is omniscient, even from a medical and scientific perspective.

Christ shows His concern for the possessed man. He asked how long he had been suffering and his father replied: “Since he was a child, so if you can, do something”. And Jesus said to him: “If you have faith, I can do everything”. And then, seeing that crowds were assembling and as He does not like conceit and exhibition, he ordered the demon to depart. Let people say that there is no demon and that demons are a philosophical explanation of evil. It would be great if this was true. There are demons and they torment us and only Christ and the Church can liberate us from them. So, He ordered the demon to depart. And after it had screamed loudly and quivered and tormented his possessor, it departed. The child fell down and many thought that he had died. Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up. That’s what Jesus does. After prayer and fasting we give Him our hand and He gives us His. And so we build a relationship with Him, we communicate with Him and gain strength. He then gave the child to his father.

Our youth today can be demonized and can shake and fall and die, many times literally. Only Christ and the holy Church can help them.

Finally, His Apostles asked Him, when they were alone with Christ, why they were not able to get rid of the demon. The Lord did not rebuke them for their faithlessness and difficulties. Jesus does not reprimand, we do. But he told them that this type of demon does not depart in any other way other than with prayer and fasting. Prayer and fasting then are the most powerful weapons in our lives.

Finishing the Gospel, Jesus made a second forewarning of His Passion, telling them that He would be crucified, given over to the hands of the people, not the hands of demons who are the worst, but into the hands of people who He befriended who would kill Him, but that He would rise on the third day. He told them of the Resurrection so that they could have courage.

Every time we have a problem and we are crucified, Christ gives us a window to look towards the future, the optimistic future, to the Light and the Resurrection.

On the Energies of Divine Grace.

We once asked an elder, "How can a person receive divine grace?"
"One cannot receive divine grace unless he endures all temptations as they come," he replied and then added: "The greatest obstacle that obstructs God's grace is self-love. When I God finds one's heart emptied of all desires, He fills it with His grace, which is impossible to describe. It can only be experienced in one's heart. But even a moment's sinful thoughts can make this grace withdraw."
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When the athlete of asceticism, the hermit Petros, who laboured in the cave of St. Peter the Athonite, felt God's grace in his heart, he would exclaim, "The Lord hit me with a javelin of mercy!"
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An elder said, "People of today do not have God's grace I And if they sometimes have a little bit of it, they cast it away Then the demons stay with them. Bad thoughts obstruct divine grace. No ascesis is as powerful as good thoughts. Good thoughts come only to those who see everything through cleansed eyes."

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A contemporary venerable hesychast would say to me: "Not many people are graced these days. Frequently we remain empty of God's grace. Then through a sorrow or difficulty

it comes back to us again."

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An elder said, "Many times our prayers are not answered because of us. Other times it is because of someone else and for a different reason. For example, someone asks me to pray for a person who is ill. I pray and let's say I have sufficient faith and am not egotistical. Still God does not answer my prayer, because the other person is not humble enough. He may believe that God will help, but his ego stands in the way We must trust God. We should let Him do whatever He wills. If I pray correctly, I may feel the removal of the temptation, and everything will go well. Any time, however, that God allows us to go through a temptation, it is for our own benefit, and we should probably not ask God to deliver us from that difficulty If the difficulty is caused by the Devil, then God helps us right away. Many times God's will is unknown to us."
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An ascetic once was asked: "How is it that many times we don't feel anything when we pray, either in church or privately somewhere else?"

He answered: "There are many possible reasons. Sometimes you may feel deep compunction, or you may sense that the Lord has given you a sweet consolation, though not as a result of your own labour. Then, because you did not understand these things, He takes them away until you understand. There is always a purpose to these things.

"In any case, do not strive for the gift of tears while praying, or for any other spiritual gift, for that matter. The silent suffering within a person for some sin done in the past is the best gift. Forced tears in prayer can be dangerous because they can create illusions about one's spiritual state.
"Tears give rest. A deep sigh many times could be worth— I am not sure, this is only my thought, and I might be wrong—such a deep sigh might be worth more than a bas­ketful of tears.
"We should not ask from God the gift of tears; rather we should ask Him for repentance, over and over again. We need repentance."
ΑΝ ATHONITE GERONTIKON

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