Prayer

Pope Cyril (Kirolos) the 6th prayed the divine liturgy everyday of his life.

The life of all Orthodox Christian is one that is based on prayer. This was echoed by Father Matthew the Poor. In the tradition, it is us who truly pray that make us into theologians and God-seers. The purpose of our entire life in all that we do is to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to live our lives in the one body of Christ. In our tradition this is known as theosis or deification.

Our Church makes this life possible through prayer. Prayer is doxology, praise, thanksgiving, confession, supplication and intercession to God. We praise God unceasingly through the different services the church has like the Tasbeha prayers, Liturgy  Vespers and Matins which always begins with the thanksgiving prayer. Prayer is so profound  that an Orthodox theologian wrote, "When I pray I was new, but when I stopped praying I became old." Prayer then is understood as a way to renew the spiritual life, prayer is being alive in God, prayer gives strength and should be the ultimate joy we have in our lives. Prayer then should guide the way we live. Prayer lifts us from our isolation and depressed state to a loving communion with God in which everything we experience in brought forth in the light of God. Prayer then is a personal dialogue with God, which allows us to pour forth our hearts to God. Prayer will be true and faithful in form once we stop saying the same words from our mouth and start speaking the language of God which is pouring out our hearts in constant prayer.

The church has always taught that God does not ask of us to talk to him with words, but rather what we say emanates from a beautiful soul. It is sufficient that we want to pray because out of praying the learning becomes rapid and effortless. From praying which leads to learning living out ones theology becomes something part of our lives, almost second nature. The beauty of the church should express to us how important prayer is through the different lives and services the church gives to us. We have liturgy, daily (Agepya) and personal prayer, icons and prayer, the Jesus prayer and the monastic life. All these different aspect propel us in our prayers.

Christian prayer is not regurgitating a bunch of words, nor is prayer rationalist thoughts or emotional high appealing to something we do not understand. Christian prayer in the larger picture is a participation, an encounter with Christ.

Christian prayer has always been linked to a ancient rule within the church. Lex Orandi Lex Credendi- the law of worship (prayer) determines the law of faith (belief). If prayer then is understood to be a participation that means that the words we pray and how one is to pray them not only shape what we believe but how we live out what we believe. We then become not just a bunch of words from our mouths but rather we become what we pray.

The prayer of the Eucharist worship is meant to make us become more like Christ. If you refer to previous posts I make mention of how the church bringing the community of believers together under the one body of Christ. Prayer holds the same concept. In our Eucharistic celebration and our liturgical life, we join our own sacrifices to His. In the early church the practice was that the congregation would bring in the sacrifices (Bread and Wine) for the Eucharist meal. In doing so this is how they would join in there own sacrifices to His. Prayer then is a self-offering as Christ gave Himself up on the cross. In expressing our union with Christ, we offer ourselves to Him as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.  

Perhaps how Christians pray is rooted and based in the ancient authentic prayer that is focused on life which is given and maintained through the divine liturgy. What Christians pray for can be exemplified by the same prayers which are connected to the Liturgy. In doing so our life then becomes liturgical always seeking to live out our liturgy. By living out ones liturgy that is when constant prayer becomes a reality. Living out our liturgy will transform our prayers into constant praying and constant praying will direct us into living out our liturgy.

True joy: Becoming human

If we cannot find joy in the liturgy and the life of the church how do we expect to serve the church with true love for our service. Service is not about what I can do for myself rather it is about how you can serve in the body of Christ. Christ came to serve and not to be served and this should be the same mentality we bestow on ourselves. It only makes sense then that when we approach service that two points should stick in our heads as to why one would serve. First and foremost we are seeking our holiness and spirituality through service. Second, service is not about serving myself in the best conditions or how the "best" treat me but rather how I serve others with unconditional love and a selfless sacrifice to help others.

Many times service, for all the wrong reasons, turns into a "up and down" service were the servant looks down on the individual they are serving. However, this should never be the case. Rather the servant must learn to bring him or herself down on the same level of the person they serve. Once we learn to bring ourselves down or to humble ourselves then our service will begin to prosper because people will start to see that you are being true with them. Being yourself is the best thing to do in service because you show others that you yourself are a human and by being "human" you are broken and when you both see each other brokenness it is only then that both of you can work together. Once that concept is understood then the person serving will realize that he is not only serving but is also being served by the other person. Service then is not about the up and down approach but rather serving others in order to see there service in your life. Once we realize we are all broken that is when service begins to prosper and grow for the glory of God. Service then is about the spiritual rebirth of the soul and not about the physical nature of the service. Many people wonder if they should give money to a homeless person they see. Well why would you do that? By giving money that creates an "up and down" relationship because that tells him you have money and are rich and out of pity you will give him money. It is not about the money you give because money comes and goes (and you should give money. I am not suggesting you should not but rather give with love and care), rather if you sit down and talk to him or her for 5, 10 or 15 minutes that is the time they will remember the most. Coming down to there level in order to talk to anyone is what service is all about. It's not about the 5 dollars or the sandwich you buy for them because all that "stuff" comes and goes for them. Rather, it is about lowering yourself for the glory of God. This is when service will be service not only for the individual but for the person serving.

Through service can our own spirituality and holiness grow from within. Once we start humbling ourselves can we see Christ in every human being. However, if we continue to go about with our pride we will never see Christ in other humans and will continue to fool ourselves. Once then we see Christ in humanity and our own holiness is being preserved then that is when we will be able to serve others in the one body of Christ. Christ came to serve not the ones who were being served but rather those who had no one. He came for the prostitutes, tax collectors, homeless and every other type of broken people. Once we see the brokenness in the individual that is when we will see Christ also. As Matthew the Poor suggests in the quote following that true joy is with those who not only walk ahead of there flock but rather have obtained spiritual insight so that others may grow as well. Our actions and deeds determine the actions and deeds of others. Service is very important for that reason. If we are not true in our service then it is to no avail. If we maintain Christ within our service and we live out the liturgy it is then that service will grow and be fruitful.    
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"It is no joy for the church to have many active members of varied services who lack the spiritual proficiency for renewing souls and regenerating them in a genuine spiritual rebirth to win them for the kingdom of heaven. The true joy of the Church lies in leaders who possess spiritual insight, who walk ahead of their flocks so that the flocks can follow a sure path. It is not possible to obtain spiritual insight by action or study, spiritual insight is attained by silence, retreat and long prayers in their various stages." Matthew the Poor

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi

The liturgy is not something one experiences. Liturgy is not a 3 hour show on a Sunday morning. Liturgy is not where you talk to your best friend. Liturgy is life. Sounds a bit weird when one thinks about it. How can liturgy be life? As the title reads: Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi: "The law of Worship determines the law of Faith determines the law of Life". This 5th century Latin term began to be incorporated into the life of the church. Liturgy is life because it forms not only what we do on a Sunday morning but it forms our entire life. Corinthians chapter 10 accounts the Eucharistic practice and not only does it mention the Eucharist but the climax of the Eucharist is partaken within the contexts of the unity of the community of the believers. The Eucharist is formed and shaped by the community of believers. If this is true and if we are to accept this "formula" then this is how liturgy is life! Liturgy representing life is then something not we do every Sunday rather it is lived out by the entire community on a daily basis. How can liturgy be life on a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of work school or whatever is might be?

Liturgy is lived on a daily basis if we come together in the one body of Christ. Christ living in us and we living in Christ is how liturgy is to be lived out. If that is understood then we will see the good in everything because God's creation is good. If we come to appreciate that point then everyday of our lives will be a lived liturgy not for us but for everyone around us. It is a selfless sacrifice we make to the people around us. This is not a definitive "formula" but rather a starting point to how one is to live out his or her liturgy. Once we begin to respect and appreciate the liturgy inside the church then our own liturgical life will gain spiritual increase from our readings of scripture prayer and service. Liturgy will only truly be lived once we have encounter the mystery of Christ. Living and partaking in the Body of Christ is the true essence of what the church and liturgy represents for us. Only then will  Liturgy stop being a form of archaic methods of worship but rather it will become life as Fr. Alexander Schmemann suggests in the quote following.

Once we take ourselves of what WE think liturgy is and HOW we think liturgy should be only then will liturgy begin to be life for us. Only then will everything within the life of the liturgy begin to blossom. Christianity will then cease to be based on a "set of activities" trying to bring more people to the church rather Christianity will be based on the brokenness of the human being and how can the brokenness of the individual brings the community together into the body of Christ. Life in liturgy will not be based on how "big the church will be" or "how many people come to an event" rather how will the liturgy and the church focus on the inner holiness and spirituality of the individual. If liturgy and church maintain the spirituality and holiness of the believer all other aspects of the church will "take care of itself". Services will be done by servants who are dedicated show love for all. Living there liturgy will be a commitment in there service or whatever else it might be. Essentially, you would never have to have servants meetings to "come up with ideas" on how to serve because rather the church will have people on its feet asking to serve if the holiness and spirituality is the main focus of the church. The church then won't be based on the "gym" or the "Sunday dinner" but rather on the living liturgy incorporating the community of believers in the unity of the one body of Christ. Therefore, Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, Lex Vivendi: "The law of Worship determines the law of Faith determines the law of Life". Life is found in liturgy and liturgy is life!

This beautiful quote from Alexander Schmemann explains this concept of liturgy being life for all. This is taken from his book "Introduction to Liturgical theology" which is based on his PH.D dissertation. A recommended read to all who are interested in the study of Liturgy.                        
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"The liturgical crisis consists, first of all, in the mistaken concept of the function and place of worship in the Church, in the profound metamorphosis in the understanding or worship in the mind of the Church. Let us emphasize the fact that we are speaking here about something much more important than the misunderstanding of the texts, ceremonies and language of divine service. We are speaking here about the whole approach to worship and its "experience". Worship-its structure, its form and content-remain what they were before and essentially what they have always been. In this sense it is right to speak of Orthodoxy's faithfulness to its liturgy. But to understand it and to use it are two different things. A discrepancy has appeared between the basic purpose of worship and the way it is understood, while the membership of the Church has simply not noticed this discrepancy, and the "key" which supposedly leads to an understanding of the Church's worship actually excludes the possibility of this understanding. No matter how paradoxical it may sound, what obscures the meaning or worship is that is has become for the faithful an object of love, indeed almost the sole content of Church life...

...The overwhelming majority of Orthodox people have no interest in the meaning of worship. It is accepted and experienced in mystical and aesthetic but never "logical" categories. It moves the soul of the believer by its sacredness, but its mysteriousness, by its "other-worldliness." And everything that happens to fall within its orbit becomes overgrown with complicated symbolic explanations. It is characteristic that in this symbolism there is no symbolism of the Church. Thus, people love to explain the Divine Liturgy as the depiction of the life of Christ. But who explains it as the expression of the life of the Church, as the action by which is is eternally realized? Who ever sees that in this action she is not depicting the life of Christ before the congregation, but is manifesting, creating and fulfilling herself as the Body of Christ? The believer loves the ceremonies, symbols, the whole atmosphere of the church building, this familiar and precious nourishment for this soul, but this love does not long for understanding, because the purpose of the cult is thought of precisely as the bestowal of a spiritual experience, spiritual food. For the membership of the Church worship has ceased to be the Church's self-evidencing.  

And finally, having become a "cultic society," existing in and for the sake of the cult, the membership of the Church has become unable to understand that worship-as the expression, creation and fulfilment of the Church-places the Church before the face of the world, manifests her purpose in the world, the purpose of the people of God, set in the world with a Gospel and a mission. having ceased to be the expression of the Church, worship has also ceased to be the expression of the Church in relation to the world. It is no longer seen as the leaven which raises the loaf, as the love of God directed toward the world, as a witness to the Kingdom of God, as the good news of salvation, as new life. On the contrary, worship is experienced as a departure out of the world for a little while, as a "vent" or break in earthly existence, opened up for the inlet of grace."

Fr. Alexander Schmemann, "The Task and Method of Liturgical Theology" in "Introduction to Liturgical Theology" (New York: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2033) 28-31.

St. Macarius Monastery

St. Macarius Monastery is the home of Father Matthew the Poor and his disciples. The following description is taken from the description provided by the YouTube documentary (found below). This is a must see documentary which looks at the restoration of St. Macarius Monastery by Father Matthew the Poor and his disciples who continue to live according to the will of God. Listen to the innocence and love of the monks as they speak with peace and great reverence. May God continue to bless them and as they grow in love for God and His will:

                                                                  Matthew the Poor

The monastery was founded in approximately 360 AD by Saint Macarius of Egypt, who was the spiritual father to more than four thousand monks of different nationalities. From its foundation in the 4th century up to the present day, the monastery has been continuously inhabited by monks, Several Christian saints and fathers of the early Church were monks at the Monastery of Saint Macarius, such as Saint Macarius of Alexandria, Saint John the Dwarf, Saint Paphnutius the ascetic, Saint Isidore, Saint Aresenius, Saint Moses the Strong, Saint Poemem, Saint Serapion and many others.

In 1969, the monastery entered an era of restoration, both spiritually and architecturally, with the arrival of twelve monks under the spiritual leader of Father Matta El Meskeen (Matthew the Poor). There monks had spent the previous ten years living together entirely isolated from the world, in the desert caves of Wadi El Rayyan, about 50 kilometres south of Fayoum.

It was the late Pope Cyril VI who ordered this group of monks to leave Wadi El Rayyan and go to the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great to restore it. The Pope received them, blessed them, assured them of his prayers and asked God to grant their spiritual father grace that the desert might bloom again and become the home of thousands of hermits. At that time only six aged minks were living in the monastery and its historic buildings were on the verge of collapsing. The new monks were warmly received by the abbot of the monastery, Bishop Michael, Metropolitan of Assiut, who through his wisdom and humility was able to create an atmosphere favourable to the renewal they hoped for.

Today, under the late Pope Shenouda III, who is himself busily engaged in restoring the Monastery of Saint Pishoy and the Paremeos Monastery, and after fourteen years of constant activity both in reconstruction and spiritual renewal, the monastic community in the Monastery of Saint Macarius numbers about one hundred monks. The minks live in strong spiritual unity, according to the spirit of the Gospel, practising brotherly humility and the unceasing prayer of the heart. They are all directed by the same spiritual father who watches over the unity of the spirit of the monastery. The renewal is also revealed in the diligent prayer of the daily office and other liturgical services, for it is the aim of the monks to revive in the Church the spirit of the first centuries of Christianity, both by their riles of life and by conscientious study.  

The Monastery of Saint Macarius maintain spiritual, academic and fraternal links with several monasteries abroad, including the monastery of Chevtogne in Belgium, Solesmes Abbey and the Monastery of the Transfiguration in France, Deir El Harf in Lebanon and the Convent of the Incarnation in England.

The Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great contains the relics of many saints, such as the Forty Nine Elder Martyrs of Scetes.

One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church

                                  In the picture we have His all Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch
                                  Bartholomew, His Eminence Archbishop Mor Cyril Aphrem
                                  Karim, His Eminence Archbishop Khajag Barsamian,
                                                Archbishop Mor Titus Yeldho,
                                  Archbishop Abune Zachariach and Bishop David.

When people approach me and ask me questions about the faith I try to answer in a humble and respectful way full of sincere love. I do not answer that way on purpose to show how deep our faith is with words but rather because our faith is lived out constantly. If our faith is based on spoken words then we are as good as any hypocrite. As the title of this blog entry suggests, we are ONE Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

We are ONE church. There is no division or disunity within the church. Ever since I began studying at St. Vladimir's Seminary people warned me about the "Eastern Orthodox" practice and how they will brain wash you with silly doctrines about "theosis" and "complicating our faith". This is complete nonsense and rubbish if anyone tells you that. Ever since listening to Fr. John, Fr. Alexander, Fr. David, Dr. Barnet, Dr. Myenedorff, and all the teachers and students on campus I came to realize one thing about the beauty of the ONE church. Orthodox is not a denomination but rather it is LIFE. Life in the ONE church. We are not divided or separated by beliefs, dogmas or traditions. So when then why do we still speak about two "Orthodox families"? It boggles the mind how people can speak about the beauty of Orthodoxy and still spilt the church into two different "denominations". The body of Christ is not two but one. We are all one in the same community united in the ONE body of Christ. The body of Christ is not spilt but rather is united under the same physical building we go to in order to worship the same Christ; the ONE church. The church is ONE and is not separated. Unfortunately, in our modern times we have created facades by hiding behind what the ONE church means behind terms like the GREEK Orthodox Church, the RUSSIAN Orthodox Church, the COPTIC Orthodox Church, the MALANKARA Orthodox etc. What we have forgotten is that first before anything else we are Christians. We are the ONE church represented by the love of God bestowed through his church. We then are Orthodox! Orthodox by faith and belief. Then lastly we are whatever nationality we are born into weather that would be Greek, Russian Coptic or Indian. Imagine now saying that you are a Christian Orthodox Greek (you can fill that in with any nationality). The beauty of expressing that you are first among all Christian, Orthodox then whatever nationality it is. This shows that we are the ONE church. We are united by the SAME belief. Unity exists in the ONE church and not dividing the church in two. Christ cannot be divided. If we say we are one in the body of Christ then we need to stop using silly terms such as "Eastern Orthodox" or "Oriental Orthodox". These post WWII invented terms need to be dropped from our language if we are to begin expressing the ONE church. Christ is not divided into two parts! That was the heresy of the 5th century. Christ, as the councils concluded was united into one person of his human and divine nature! Now many people will approach me and say that we simply are not the same because the liturgies are different and many practices are not the same from church to church.

The next part of the blog title is HOLY CATHOLIC and APOSTOLIC CHURCH. The ONE church is holy and catholic. We are a universal church by definition. I would like to focus on the Apostolic Church part because this is how the church began. Christ instituted the church through his Apostles who passed on the traditions to the next generation of disciples. Being at St. Vladimir's Seminary we have to attend a Matins services and Vespers on a daily basis. I can say with full confidence that the similarities between vespers and matins should bring the church together. All matins and vespers between church to church is done differently. However, there are more similarities than there are differences. How can that be? Because the church is established by the Apostles. The traditions were the same! The teachings were the same. Over time as each tradition (Alexandria, Rome, Antioch, Jerusalem and Constantinople) began to grow, developments grew out from these traditions but at the core of the worship the main elements remain the same! Censing and venerating icons, partaking of the Eucharist, the canonical prayer of the hours, choral chanting either by lay people or deacons and the list is endless. I remember a specific incident where one of the students began talking to me about the Coptic rite liturgy and the different services we have in the church. I was fascinated and amazed at the knowledge this student knew about the Coptic rite. I began to think about it more and realized that he knew all that information because the same thing is done in the Russian Church, in the Greek Church, in the Malankara Church. What does that mean? It shows that the church is truly ONE not only in beliefs and doctrine but we are the ONE church through the same worship which was handed down to us by the Apostles themselves received from Christ. The beauty of the ONE church lies in the person of Christ and through our worship. When we enter the church we are entering heaven on earth. Complete reverence and respect is shown once you are in the church. The church stands outside of time and in standing outside of time we leave all our worries and troubles of society and enter a place where we become one in Christ. This I can find in any Orthodox church I go to. However, this will only be realized once terms such as "Eastern" and "Oriental" are dropped from our language. We are the ONE Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. We are one in the body of Christ! Orthodox is not a denomination but LIFE!  

Listen to the beauty of daily vespers from St. Vladimir's (Gladsome Light; one of the most ancient hymns in the Orthodox Church. St. Basil from his time when writing said he himself does not know how old this hymn is. Listen to the beauty):

Matthew the Poor (Matta El-Meskeen)

Father Matthew the Poor was a Coptic monk who lived out his life at the monastery of St. Macarius. This documentary is meant to showcase his life in a brief snapshot. Father Matthew is well known for his spiritual writings and has three books that are published. Orthodox Prayer Life, Communion of Love and the Titles of Christ. Father Matthew the Poor has changed the lives of many people I know and the personal experiences I hear from many people always keeps a smile on my face knowing that living out ones theology can be attained by reading and meditating on his writings. Seeking our our holiness and spirituality can be attained not only through the monastic way of living but living an ordinary life in the world and Father Matthew's writings can help guide the mind in that direction. I hope you all enjoy this documentary.

The Heresy of the West

The cave of St. Anthony. The first great monastic in the Christian world. 

The sad reality is that many of us today are living based on a "Orthodox mindset" but instead we are living according to the heresy of the west. Strong words, however, words that are necessary in order for us Christians to wake up from the bubble we call the west. We wake up, eat breakfast, either go off to work or school and then do some more work when we get home and then if we have time or if we are not tired (which we usually 9 times out of 10 make the excuse that we are tried) will fit God into our program for the last 5 minutes before we go to sleep and even then we are not focused or pay attention because there are so many things going on in our minds. Are we even talking to God? What is the point of even giving 5 minutes if we are not solely focused on our prayer? The problem is not that we are wanting to pray to God and focus on the prayer but rather we have built and put our trust into the western society we live in today, a society that no matter what we do will never satisfy us and will always have us coming back for more because there is no fulfillment within this society. A quick example of such a notion is that every couple of years we have to have the new iphone because our old one is just not the same. We need the latest and greatest technology because we feel like this will help us. But we have to ask help us with what exactly? There is a big void with "wanting" something and "needing" something. Unfortunately both the wanting and needing are misconceptions that have been fused into our minds because society has made us think that wanting a needing is how one ought to live there life. This is not the case and because based on how we live our life according to the heresy of the west these ideas then carry over into the life of the church. Let me demonstrate how this is done without us even realizing that the shallowness of western society is creeping into the formula of what the church is.

The church as a physical building must exist within the physical world (a building you go to in order to engage in prayer within the unity of the community of believers). However, the church must not be understood as a physical building because the church stands outside of time. The church is heaven on earth. Liturgy, icons, censing, venerating icons, kiss of peace are all heavenly actions we do because if the church stands outside of time then everything we do within the church must not be of this world. If this is the understanding of what the church is being a place where it stands outside of time then that means it's not of this world. If this is true then we must understand the church as the place where the believers come together to form the body of Christ, not as a separate body but as the unity that unites the believers in the one body of Christ. The church then can be understood as being something that from the beginning of time has never gone through modernity. So why do people make a huge deal that western influence has crept into the church? Because humanity has gone through modernity.

Humans have gone through modernity. Anyone living human in the west carries technology of any sort either a cellphone or laptop or whatever it might be. We have become comfortable with technology that we had to use them as a handicap to support us in life. To a certain degree I would agree with this simply because its good and has helped the growth of humanity. I am not saying I am against technology and western influence on us. Everything around us is good and can be used for the Glory of God. However, the big mistake we all make is that when we start using these handicaps to help our prayer and worship within the church. When you start seeing projector screens and westernized music being used in the church that is when the sweetness and beauty of the church begins to diminish. That is when the church will begin to lose people. People will start thinking that because we sing music and play basketball within the church that the church is represented by those activities. So as a believer why would I go to church? I can play basketball on my front yard and music from my laptop that is used already in the church. I might as well start my own church at home and invites others...This is where the west creeping into the church can be dangerous  When we enter the church we have to leave everything we know about society outside of the doors. We must begin to work on inner silence in order to focus on prayer within the church and at home. If we don't focus on how to increase inner silence, a concept so foreign to the west, then we will begin to lose the sweetness of the church and what it means to be part of the church. You will then get people saying "I need to go to a monastery in order to gain a spiritual revival in my life". However, the point of all of this is that the monastery can be not only the church of the monks but also the church to all of us. Monasticism is not a separate entity within the church. Christianity is a single society that includes monasticism. So then why are the churches of today not reflective of the monasteries? Because we have gone through modernity and forgotten what the church means to us. And this is why people have to go on "spiritual revivals" but nothing changes after the week in the monastery because your thrown to the den of lions (western society) not knowing of how deal with it. It is almost like you have never gone to the monastery to begin with.

Respect for the church is important to understand what the church is. Once we respect the church and understand what the church is, only then will we be able to appreciate the church. If we continue to approach the church with the handicaps we have built into it then the church will be turned into a set of activities while people are begging you to serve in the church because they can't find servants to help with a particular service. If we begin to focus on the inner holiness and spirituality of the believer and start breaking down the concepts in our heads about western society then that is when you will have people coming to the church on their knees begging to serve and to be part of the community. The "I" and the "me" must be taken out of our heads because the church is not about the I and Me but it's about the community of believers united in the body of the one Christ. ONE!!! There are not multiple bodies of Christ but one body. We work in unity within the body of Christ. Only then will the church reflect the monasteries in complete reverence and obedience to the church. Once we have respect, obedience and reverence in the church then we will be able to experience Liturgy in our lives. And I am not talking about only 3 hours on a Sunday morning but liturgy that is lived within the world. Liturgy does not end when the priest says go in peace the peace of the Lord be with you but rather he tells you to go in peace so that you can continue the liturgy in your entire life. Once that is achieved then the beauty of and sweetness of the church will taste like honey that you will never need a handicap within the service of the church. You will then truly feel heaven on earth within the church. You will cease from using cellhpones and asking someone how there week went as the service is going on but rather your heart will be uplifted to prayer to God and to be united in the body of Christ. Once we taste the beauty we can never desire anything else because that fulfillment is more gratifying and everlasting than anything society can ever offer to us. The depth of the church and liturgy is what we need in our lives. Not the newest technology and new hillsong devotion. Once we have tasted this sweetness no one will say I need to go to the monastery for a "spiritual revival" because the monastery will reflect the church. Once we stop doing things "big" and building big churches will we as the community of believers begin to appreciate the church. Once we rid our nature of the "I" and "Me" will we be worthy to approach the Eucharist as the community of believers. Once we realize our brokenness can we as a community come together and ask for forgiveness of our sins as we approach the one body of Christ. When the heresy of the west leaves our minds is only when we will begin to appreciate the church and the Liturgy as truly heaven on earth. But if we continue to use westernized ideologies to influence our worship in the church the church will continue to be a set of activities and doing big events to please the people. Once all this stops will the beauty and sweetness of the church begin to be reflective in our hearts, minds and souls and only then will be a genuine love and only then can we truly live in the west representing the body of the one Christ.    

Here is a beautiful quote that demonstrates what I have been referring to. Keep in mind this was spoken back in the late 1950s. Its 2012 today...

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"My mind is found to be constantly on the Holy Mountain and with every opportunity I try to enlighten my acquaintances about it. I emphatically believe that the revival of Orthodoxy will come only with the restoration of our monastic life. Precisely because the Church in the world is cut off from the monastic tradition, the collapse of spiritual life in our days is manifested. Satan has distorted so much the theology of the heretics and those supposed Orthodox influenced by the West, to the point where some think that (humankind) is saved not from the dominion and grasp of the enemy, but (from the wrath) of God. God became man in order to save us from Himself!

Because of this the West has abandoned the ascetic life. They neither fast nor pray much. They only seek happiness. The manifestation of our monastic life does not benefit, as some thing, the shortage of dedicated youth. There are many who devote themselves to the Church. However, because they have distorted notion of salvation, predestination and sin, for this reason instead of going to Monasteries they go to "Zoe" (i.e. a religious education association based on protestant prototypes but working under an Orthodox banner), or they become monks of the world, that is worldly archimandrites, and unfortunately today from these come our bishops. When theology is false, then Christianity is reduced to activities. Unfortunately we do not have one ascetic or monastery, and there is no living example of Orthodox life. Therefore, the pietism of "Zoe" conforms very much with pietism of the heterodox, to the point where it will wreak havoc if ingrained.  

I wanted to know your opinion about the possibility of establishing a monastic community of 5-10 monks in the land of America. If this does not happen, Orthodoxy will vanish here or will transform into something else, as it has already happened to a great degree. I have tried in my book to say these things which you also say in your book, but here nobody understands these things. You see, Greeks have assimilated with the happiness of the West and in their eyes happiness is the will of God. So why would they go to the top of mountains and do vigils and so on?...I believe the devil will be saddened that we do not like the "Christianity" he is promoting, but what's to be done? Nobody can be like the devil if they want to be like God..."

-Fr. John S Romanides
(Excerpts from his private letter sent in 1957 to Fr. Theocletus the Athonite)