The Danger of Sinking Into the Abyss of Unbelief

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

“You did not leave Thomas, O Master, as he was being submerged, 

in the abyss of unbelief, stretching out Your palms for investigation” 

(Ode 6 of the Canon of Thomas Sunday).

We are accustomed to speaking about the unbelief or distrust or little faith of the Holy Apostle Thomas, because he did not accept the testimony of the other disciples that they had seen the Risen Christ. “Unless I see, I will not believe,” he told them. And the Lord granted him this grace and (when of course he was found together with the other apostles, showing his good disposition and his inner struggle) called him “with His own hands” to be assured of His risen body. Yet He also expressed His complaint that “he believed because he saw Him and touched Him with his bodily senses,” without reaching the higher faith and vision that exists, that is, the blessedness of those who believe without seeking to see Him with their bodily eyes. Of course, the hymnography of the Church takes this event as an occasion ultimately to “praise” this unbelief of Thomas — “O good unbelief of Thomas,” because the Lord “rejoices in being investigated” — which gave and gives the opportunity through the ages for the Resurrection of the Lord to be proclaimed even through the touching of the body of the Lord, made fiery by His divinity; but also for the true meaning of theology to be emphasized, as a reality grounded in the experience of Christ, whether through the touching of His breast by John the Theologian or through the touching of His hands pierced by the nails and His side pierced by the spear, and not in an ideological and “thin”, bare, approach to faith.

April: Day 21: Teaching 2: Venerable Anastasios, Abbot of Sinai

April: Day 21: Teaching 2:
Venerable Anastasios, Abbot of Sinai
 
(With What Disposition Should One Be Present at Divine Services?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Venerable Anastasios, commemorated today by the Church, was by origin from Syria or Palestine and in his youth received an excellent education and a pious Christian upbringing. Having come of age and having cultivated in himself a devout disposition of soul, the Venerable Anastasios desired to leave the world and entered a monastery. Love for monastic struggles and the desire to find more perfect instructors in them prompted him to visit the ascetics of piety on Sinai, with whom he remained to live. His ascetic labors and spiritual wisdom gained for him the general respect of the brethren; he was deemed worthy of the rank of presbyter, and after the death of Gregory the Sinaite, the brother of John Climacus, he was chosen abbot of Mount Sinai. 

Prologue in Sermons: April 21

One Should Not Desire Visions From the Other World

April 21

(From the elders, concerning demonic visions, that no one be deceived in imagination by the devil.)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

Although rarely, there are people who, having served God by certain special ascetic labors, begin to imagine that they already stand at such a level of spiritual perfection that they can behold manifestations from the other world, converse with heavenly beings, and the like. Such self-opinion is very dangerous for them. The devil usually does not sleep near such people, and, having recognized their weak side, immediately begins to trouble them with various imaginations and visions, appearing to them in the form of an angel of light or of saints; and they, because of their simplicity and inexperience, for their part begin to accept these visions as true, to be carried away by them, to become infected with pride, to depart from obedience to shepherds and spiritual teachers, and end by perishing. The Holy Fathers warn us against desiring to behold the mysteries of the other world and do not advise seeking conversations with heavenly beings, but command us to be saved in simplicity of heart.

Homily on Thomas Sunday (St. Cleopa of Sihastria)

Homily on Thomas Sunday 

About Doubt in Faith

By St. Cleopa of Sihastria

“Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed” (John 20:29)

Christ is risen!

Beloved faithful,

On the first day of Holy Pascha, in the evening, the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John tells us, Jesus Christ risen appeared to His disciples, hidden for fear of the Jews, in a locked room in Jerusalem, and He said to them: “Peace be to you!” After He calmed them, because they were troubled and seized with fear, and assured them of His Resurrection from the dead, showing them His hands and His side pierced by nails and spear on the Cross, He added: “As the Father has sent Me, so I also send you” (John 20:21). Through these words the Lord sent the Apostles to preaching, having the mission to proclaim the gospel of salvation to all the nations of the earth.

Sunday of Thomas: "Unbelief Gave Birth to Firm Faith"

By Fr. George Dorbarakis

The first Sunday after the Resurrection of the Lord, also called Antipascha, is dedicated to the disciple of Christ, Thomas, who now becomes the “means,” through his unbelief, in order that the fact of the victory over death may be made certain. “Unbelief gave birth to firm faith,” according to the Hymnographer. And this is because this unbelief “provokes” the Lord to reveal to him more clearly the signs of His presence and to lead him to the saving confession: “My Lord and my God.”

1. Thus the unbelief of Thomas becomes good unbelief. However paradoxical this may sound, the reality is this: there exists good unbelief, but also bad unbelief. Good unbelief is that which, in the first stage, traps a person in doubt and denial, setting as a priority for him faith in reason and the senses. “Unless I see, I will not believe.” It is the skepticism that we encounter many times in the Gospel narratives, as in the case, for example, of Nathanael, when he is called to know the Messiah by his friend Philip—“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”—or as in the case of the tragic father who indeed turns to Jesus in order to heal his child, but full of questions and doubt: “But if You can do anything, help us.” And the Lord does not reject this doubt and this skepticism. He takes them as the first impulses of faith, which will lead to firm and certain faith. For He sees that this unbelief springs from a heart that suffers and is in anguish. Thus the mark of good unbelief appears to be this: the suffering heart of a person, which struggles between faith and unbelief. “I believe, Lord”—to recall again that same father—“help my unbelief.” One also remembers here the similar event of unbelief that Elder Paisios experienced in his childhood (then Arsenios), when the unbelief of a student shook his certainties up to that time. And he describes to us the pain of that state: “My spiritual horizon became clouded. I was filled with doubts. Sorrow took hold of my soul.” It is the similar condition that every person goes through, until he becomes firmly established in his faith in Christ—a fact which means that this phase of unbelief is not regarded as something negative and strange, but as a natural step in the course of a person’s spiritual maturation.

April: Day 20: Teaching 2: Venerable John of the Old Lavra

April: Day 20: Teaching 2:
Venerable John of the Old Lavra
 
(How Is Love for God Manifested)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Saint now being glorified, the holy Venerable John, is called "of the Old Lavra" because he was saved (labored in ascetic life) in the lavra of the holy Venerable Chariton, which was called old or ancient, as the most ancient among the Palestinian monasteries. This lavra was located not far from Bethlehem, in the direction of the Dead Sea. The holy John, out of love for God, in his youth left the world and settled in the lavra, where, in the rank of presbyter, he attained a high degree of holiness. He lived in the 8th century.

II. The Venerable John, who out of love for God left the world, naturally leads us to reflection on what manifests true love for God.

Is it necessary for its manifestation for everyone and in all cases to leave the world? Or is it not possible, even while living in the world, to show one’s sincere and free love for God? Without doubt, it is possible. Love for God, just like love for man, cannot remain hidden. It must necessarily have its visible actions, its external signs. What then are these signs or actions by which love for God is manifested? Let us examine. The signs by which love for God is manifested always and everywhere are many and various.

April: Day 20: Teaching 1: Venerable Theodore the Trichinas

April: Day 20: Teaching 1:
Venerable Theodore the Trichinas
 
(About Luxury in Clothing)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The now-blessed Venerable Theodore was the son of wealthy parents living in Constantinople, but he was not enticed by earthly goods, and, leaving the world, labored ascetically in the desert, in Thrace. He wore no other clothing except a coarse hair-shirt. The name “Trichinas” — that is, hair-shirt wearer — he received from the hair-shirt by which he wore down his body.

Glorifying the Venerable Theodore, the Holy Church sings:

“You showed yourself most wondrous in life, O wise father Theodore, having exchanged garments of hair for those beyond royal treasures which are on earth; for this reason you received heavenly clothing. Ever intercede for us, O Venerable one!” (Kontakion)

Synaxis of Panagia the Helper at the University General Hospital of Patras

In 1988, the reconstruction of the University General Hospital of Patras was completed, which now constitutes a point of reference for the whole of southwestern Greece and beyond.

Immediately, the need arose for the construction of a Sacred Temple for the celebration of the liturgical services of our Church, as well as for participation in the Holy Mysteries by the staff and the patients.

The Sacred Temple is the center of the life of all Christians. It is like a loving Mother who embraces her children, cares for them, and strengthens them, offering richly her saving grace.

This great truth was perceived in time by a distinguished and pious lady of Patras, who took upon herself the entire burden of the expenses for the construction of a Sacred Temple — a true ornament of the Hospital of Rio.

Prologue in Sermons: April 20

By Our Sins We Drive Away From Ourselves our Guardian Angel

April 20

(A Word from Saint Anastasios the Abbot of Sinai)

By Archpriest Victor Guryev

The Lord is so merciful to us, brethren, that to each one of us, at Holy Baptism, He gives for our whole life an invisible defender, an instructor in all that is good and right, and a guide to the heavenly fatherland — the Guardian Angel.

“Those who are in the Christian faith, to every person there is given from God an Angel for preservation during his whole life,” says Saint Anastasios the abbot (Prologue, April 20). And again: “To every faithful one from God, to each one an Angel was given, and he writes down all his good deeds” (ibid., fol. 37).

But if each one of us has a Guardian Angel, why then does the Holy Church every day, in the church services, ask for him for us? “An angel of peace,” it cries, “a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls and bodies, we ask of the Lord.” And in the evening prayer the believer likewise entreats the Lord for a Guardian Angel: “Send Your Guardian Angel, covering and preserving me from every evil.” Why is this so? If once the Guardian Angel is given for our whole life, then why still ask for him?