1950 (1) text

machine extraction provided by a friend in Virginia 

(not completely proofed)

ISSUED EVERY TWO MONTHS

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1950 (1)

Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, N. Y.

CONTENTS:

Page

1.  The Great cannon, called also the King of cannons... 3

2.  The Vision of Christ, by Bishop Ignatius Brianchaninov...  5

3.  The Prayer of Optina elders...  7

4.  The Orthodox Veneration of the Most Holy Mother of God, by Prof. I. Andreev... 8

5. The Russian Martyrs by M. G....   28

6. The Children's Section. Natasha's dream, by Galina Deinitzine...  23

7.  Father John of Cronstadt. My life in Christ...  27

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THE GREAT CANON, CALLED ALSO
THE KING OF CANONS. *)

(Fifth thursday in lent).

Whence shall my tears begin?

What first-fruits shall I bear

Of earnest sorrow for my sin?

Or how my woes declare?

O Thou! the Merciful and Gracious One! Forgive the foul transgressions I have done.

With Adam I have vied,

Yea, pass'd him, in my fall;

And I am naked now, by

And lust made bare of all;

Of Thee, O God, and that Celestial Band, And all the glory of the Promis'd Land.

No earthly Eve beguil'd

My body into sin:

A spiritual temptress smil'd,

Concupisence within:

Unbridled passion grasp'd th' unhallow'd sweet:

Most bitter — ever bitter — was the meat.

*) Translated from the Greek by The Rev. J. M. Neale, D. D. 

Hymns of the Eastern Church. London.

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If Adam's righteous doom,

Because he dar'd transgress

Thy one decree, lost Eden's bloom And Eden's loveliness:

What recompense, O Lord, must I expect, Who all my life Thy quick'ning laws neglect?

By mine own act, like Cain,

A murd'rer was I made:

By mine own act my soul was slain,
When Thou wast disobey'd:

And lusts each day are quicken'd, warring still. Against Thy grace with many a deed of ill.

Thou formedst me of clay,

O Heav'nly Potter! Thou

In fleshly vesture didst array

With life and breath endow.

Thou Who didst make, didst ransom, and dost know. To Thy repentant creature pity show!

My guilt for vengeance cries;

But yet Thou pard'nest all,

And whom Thou loo's Thou dost chastise,

And mourn'st for them that fall: Thou, as a Father, mark'st our tears and pain, And welcomest the prodigal again.

I lie before Thy door,

O turn me not away!

Nor in mine old age give me o'er To Satan for a prey!

But ere the end of life and term of grace, Thou Merciful! my many sins efface!

The Priest beheld, and pass'd The way he had to go:

A careless glance the Levite cast,
And left me to my woe:

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But Thou, O Jesus, Mary's Son, console,

Draw nigh, and succour me, and make me whole!

Thou spotless Lamb Divine,

Who takest sins away,

Remove, remove the load than mine Upon my concience lay:

And, of Thy tender mercy, grant Thou me To find remission of iniquity!

* * *

THE VISION OF CHRIST.

by

Bishop Ignatius Briantchaninov.

Do you wish to see the Lord Jesus Christ? Come and see. says His Apostle (Jn. 1, 46).

Our Lord Jesus Christ has promised to be with His Disciples till the end of the world (Mat. 28, 20). He is with them, in the Holy Gospel and in the Sacraments of the Church. *) He is not for those who do not believe in the Gospel; they do not see Him, being blinded by unbelief.

Do you wish to hear Christ? He speaks to you by the Gospel. Do not despise His saving voice. Turn from the life of sin, and listen attentively to the teaching of Cnrist, which is eternal life.

Do you want Christ to manifest Himself to you? He teaches you to merit it. He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him (Jn. 14, 21).

You were made a child of God by the Sacrament of Holy Baptism; you were brought into union with God by the Sacra-

*) St. Peter of Damascus says: "Christ is hidden in the Gospel. He who wishes to find Him must sell all his possessions and buy the Gospel, so as not seek Him not without but within oneself, that is, he should seek to be in body only to find Christ by reading, but so as to receive Him within oneself by imitating His life in the world. He who seeks Christ. says St. Maximus, should and soul like Christ, sinless far as humanly possible."

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ment of Holy Communion. Maintain your sonship, maintain your union. Renew the purity given by Holy Baptism by repentance, and strengthen your union with God by receiving the Holy Mysteries as frequently as possible. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood, says the Lord, dwells in Me and I in him (Jn. 6, 56).

Beware of reveries and day-dreaming, which can make you think that you see the Lord Jesus Christ, that you touch and embrace Him. This is an empty display of puffed up, proud self-opinion! This is perilous self-deception! Fulfil the commandments of the Lord, and in a wonderful way you will see the Lord within you, in your character and conduct. That is how the holy Apostle Paul saw the Lord within him. And he required this vision of all Christians. Those who had not got it, he called people who had not reached the state proper to Christians. (ep. Gal. 6, 2-4; Ephes. 4; 5, 1-6).

If you like a sinful life and indulge your passions, and at the same time think that you love the Lord Jesus Christ, then His intimate disciple who lay on His breast during the mystical supper convicts you of self-deception. He says: He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him. But who ever keeps His word, in him the love of God has really reached perfection. (1 Jn. 2, 4-5).

If you do your sinful will, and so break the commandments of the Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ will number you among these who do not love him. He who does not love Me, He says, will not keep My words (Jn. 14, 24).

Do not rush thoughtlessly to the marriage of the Son of God and to union with Him in old, stinking rags, without looking carefully to your garments, even though you are called to this marriage, to which every Christian is called. The Master of the house has servants who will bind you hand and foot, and will cast you into the outer darkness, away from the presence of God (Mat. 22, 11-13).

The servants to whose power the daring seeker of love is delivered are demons, fallen angels; the outer darkness is the gloom or blindness of the soul; the binding of the hands and feet denotes the loss of interior life and capacity for spiritual progress. All self-deluded people are in this state.

Can one who is in a state of self-delusion, in the realm of falsehood and deception, be a deer of Christ's commandments

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Such will be your state, wretched dreamers, who imagine that you are living your earthly life in the divine embraces, when the Saviour's word strikes you: I never knew you: depart from Me, you workers of iniquity (Mat. 7, 23).

My true friend in the Lord!  Go to the Lord Jesus Christ, draw near to Him by way of the commandments of the Gospel; know Him by them; show and prove your love for the Lord Jesus by putting them into practice. He Himself will manifest Himself to you, and with this manifestation He will pour into your heart unutterable love for Himself which is something which does not properly belong to fallen man; it is the gift of the Holy Spirit, sent by God solely to vessels of humility and chastity (Rom. 5, 5).

Entrust yourself to the Lord, and not to yourself — that is far safer! He is your Creator. When you were subjected to the bitter fall, He took humanity for you, He gave you His Divinity. And what else has He not done for you? Prepare yourself for His gifts by purifying yourself; *) that is your business. Amen.

*) II. Cor. 7. 1.

THE PRAYER OF OPTINA ELDERS.

  Grant unto me, my Lord, that with peace of mind I may face all that this new day is to bring.

  Grant unto me grace to surrender myself completely to Thy-holy will.

  For every hour of this day instruct and prepare me in all things.

  Whatsoever tidings I may recieve during the day, do Thou teach me to accept tranquilly, in the firm conviction that all eventualities fulfill Thy holy will.

  Govern Thou my thoughts and feelings in all I do and say. When things unforseen occur, let me not forget that all co-meth down from Thee.

  Teach me to behave sincerely and reasonably toward every member of my family, that I may bring confusion and sorrow to none.

  Bestow upon me, my Lord, strength to endure the fatigue of the day and to bear my part in all it's passing events. Guide Thou my will and teach me to pray, to believe, to

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(photo)

The ikon of the Holy Mother WIadimir.

THE ORTHODOX VENERATION

OF THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD.

Our most holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary, is incontestably the highest being of all rational creatures. She is far above the highest orders of angels and the holiest of the saints. Of all mortals She is the only one who passed through death, resurrection and the transfiguration of the flesh and was taken bodily to heaven by Her Son, the Saviour of the world_

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That the mystery of the incarnation might take place, God was pleased to prepare for Himself a living, animate temple. It was the most humble, most meek and most pure Virgin Mary whom He chose to be that temple. The Virgin Mary is mankind's best gift to God, the best present from earth to heaven.

The holy Virgin's father, St. Joakim ,was of royal parentage (he traced his descent from King David's son, Nathan), while Her mother, St. Anne, came from a high-priestly family (she was the daughter of the priest Matthan of the tribe of Aaron). But their distinguished and spiritual ancestry was only the beautiful background against which the countless personal virtues of Saint Joakim and Anne shone brightly: chastity, humanity, purity of heart, meekness and forgiveness, unshakable faith in God, undying hope and profound love for God and their neighbor.

They were childless, and although they had reached advanced old age, they patiently and unmurmuringly bore their shame and the scorn of society, *) and never ceased to knock and ask and implore God for the gift of a child. And they promised to consecrate their child wholly to the service of God.

The Lord heard the prayer of the wonderful parents, and gave them a daughter. The Lord's messenger, the Archangel Gabriel, brought from heaven from the Tripersonal God Himself the holy Virgin's name Mary which means Lady. And consequently Mary became the Mistress or Lady of the whole world, visible and invisible, of men and angels, Queen of heaven and earth, the supreme and highest authority after God.

After the birth of the holy Virgin, Saints Joakim and Anne fulfilled their vow and consecrated their child to God. "With diligent care." says St. Dimitry of Rostov, they reared their child. In an atmosphere of constant prayer, worship and thanksgiving to God the most pure Virgin grew up, imbibed the fragrance of holiness with which She was surrounded and prepared Herself with all Her being for the great and wonderful mystery of a special, extraordinary union with God incomprehensible to the human mind.

When She was three years old, Her parents brought Her to the temple of the Lord and gave Her up entirely to God. A few years after this "Entry into the Temple," St. Joakim died at the age of eighty. Left a widow, St. Anne went to Jerusalem and

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settled near her holy daughter, praying for Her unceasingly in the Temple of the Lord. Two years later St. Anne also died at the age of eighty In this way the holy child Mary became a complete orphan. After the death of Her parents She was free from all earthly ties and gave Herself entirely to God. She spent all Her time in the temple occupied in reading the sacred books, prayer and pious meditations.

Having begun Her truly monastic life on the threshold of childhood and girlhood, the Most Holy Virgin Mary attained such spiritual and bodily purity on the frontier between girlhood and youth (adolescence) that She became worthy to become the Unwedded Bride of the Holy Spirit. This was announced to Her by the Lord's messenger, the Archangel Gabriel who had previously announced to Her Parents the joy of Her own birth.

The cycle of feasts of the Mother of God observed by the holy Orthodox Church can be studied as a symbolical chain of events that frame the mystery of the Incarnation.

On the day of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God (September 8-th), when earth offers her fruits, mankind offered to God her best fruit, her fragnant flower — the holy Virgin. Mary.

On the day of the "Entry into the Temple" (November 21-st) the three-year-old child was adopted by God Himself as His daughter.

On the day of the "Annunciation" the most pure Virgin was granted to become the eternal Bride Unwedded of God the Holy Spirit.

On "Christmas Day" the Ever-Virgin Mary became the most Pure and Blessed Mother of God the Son — the Most Holy Mother of God.

And on the day of Her "Assumption" the Most Holy Mother of God rose in Her transfigured body and ascended to heaven. Yet She did not abandon the earthly world of men but became the Mother of all people, the intercessor and mediatress before God for the whole human race.

"In giving birth Thou didst preserve Thy virginity, and in Thy assumption Thou didst not leave the world, O, Mother of God. Thou didst pass to Life, Thou who art the Mother of Life, and by Thy prayers Thou deliverest our souls from death," sings the holy Orthodox Church.

The gracious Daughter of God the Father, the Mother of God

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Most Pure Ever-Virgin Mary became the Mother of the Lord, the Lady and Queen of men and angels.

Evidence that the Most Holy Mother of God "in Her assumption did not leave the world" is given by St. Andrew, fool for Christ's sake. Rapt to Paradise, he found that our Lady was not there. As he was wondering why, he heard a voice saying: "Did you want to see the most radiant Queen of the heavenly powers? But She is not here. She has gone to the troubled world, to help people and to console the afflicted."

St. Dimitry of Rostov tells the honour and glory of the Most Holy Virgin Mary in wonderful words: "She was crowned with glory and honour. She was crowned with glory, for She sprang from a royal root; She was crowned with honour, because She came from a priestly family; She was crowned with glory, because She was the child of chaste parents; She was crowned with honour, for the message of the Annunciation was conveyed to Her by an Archangel; She was crowned with glory, as the Mother of God, for what can be more glorious than a person who bears God? She was crowned with honour as Ever-Virgin, for what can be more honourable than to remain a virgin even after child-bearing? She was crowned with glory more glorious than the Seraphim, since She was loved in a seraphic way by God. She was crowned with honour more honourable than the Cherubim, since She surpassed the Cherubim in wisdom and knowlege of the Godhead."

At the conclusion of his eulogy of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, St. Dimitry of Rostov says: "She kept all the Lord's commandments, fulfilled all the will of God, observed all His directions, hid all His words in Her heart, and showed Her neighbors all the works of mercy. Therefore She was worthy to be crowned as one who did everything well" (Sermon on the Nativity of the Mother of God).

The Most Holy Virgin Mary is the meekest and humblest being in all the universe. The righteous Simeon's prophecy, "And a sword will pierce thy soul," was fully realized in the life of the Most Holy Mother of God. Her Son's Golgotha was the sword that pierced the pure Virgin Mother's soul. "My soul is ready to die with sorrow" (more literally: "My soul is sorrowful even to death"), prayed Her Son, the Saviour of the world, in the Garden of Gethsemane. Could His holy Mother be less sorrowful? As She gazed at Her crucified Son, would not His most pure Mother be

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sorrow the Holy Mother of God bore in Her heart when St. John took Her to his home after the Saviour's death! Yet the sorrowful Mother did not give vent to Her grief by uttering a single word. Mary's voice is the softest, gentlest, quietest, of all the voices of the world. Few of Her words have come down to us. For that reason alone, how precious is Her every meek and gentle, pure and holy word!

"For every idle word that they speak men will give account at the day of judgment" (Mat. 12, 36). All, even the most perfect, the purest and holiest of men, even the greatest hermits who spent long years in silence, will have to answer for all their idle words. Only the Mother of God throughout the whole of Her life never uttered a single idle word. In the holy Gospel are recorded for mankind all Her very occasional utterances — precious pearls of the spiritual treasury of word. These few sentences are to be found in the conversation with the Archangel Gabriel at the time of the annunciation, in Her conversation with St. Elisabeth, in Her brief questions to Her twelveyear-old Son in the temple at Jerusalem, and in Her humble request at the marriage in Cana of Galilee. But not a single word of Hers has reached us from Calvary, or from Pentecost, or from Her own death-bed.

Silence is the mystery of the future life, but it was the natural element of the spirit of the Ever-Virgin Mother of God. And it could not be otherwise. For is it possible to find human words to express the essence of the mystery of the incarnation of God the Word?

According to the explanation of St. Gregory the Sinaite, the Mother of God was the one rational vessel in which God dwelt by His actual being. "Such a reception of God within oneself," says Bishop Ignatius Briantchaninov. "is evidently the unique exclusive, unparalleled prerogative of the Mother of God, inaccessible alike to holy men and holy angels."

"Yet in spite of all Her majesty," continues Bishop Ignatius, "the conception of the Mother of God took place according to the common law of humanity. Consequently the general confession of the human race of conception in iniquity and birth in sin is also true of the Mother of God. The humble and revenent Mary made this confession for all the world to hear: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour" (Lk. 1, 46). But if God Whom She bore is also Her Saviour, then She was

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humanity ... The Virgin Mary was conceived and born in perdition, in a fallen state, in the chains of death and sin; She was born in the same state as the whole human race. The fact that She gave birth to God, the Saviour of all men including Herself, gave Her a greatness that surpassed the greatness of the sinless Angels who never tasted the death of the soul and so did not need a Saviour."

The descent of the Holy Spirit on the pure Virgin Mary took place twice: on the day of the Annunciation and at Pentecost. According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church it was only at the second descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that the destruction of eternal death was accomplished in the most holy Mother of God (as also in the holy Apostles). ,

In this connection the same Bishop Ignatius writes: "Perhaps to some people it may seen incomprehensible why at the first descent of the Holy Spirit on the Virgin the destruction of eternal death was not accomplished in Her? The destruction of eternal death was a fruit of the redemption. Before the redemption had been accomplished it was impossible for it to take place."

The Orthodox Church's teaching on the honour and glory of our Most Blessed Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary who gave birth to God and the Saviour of the world yet needed salvation herself through her Son, differs from Roman Catholic teaching and Protestant teaching on the same subject. Catholics teach that the Mother of God was conceived without original sin like the Saviour, while Protestants do not acknowledge the Virgin's perpetual virginity.

Protestants affirm that after she had given birth to the God-Man, the Mother of God did not retain her virginity, but became Joseph's wife and had other children by him. Luther and Protestants in general consider virginity unnatural for human beings. On this question Bishop Ignatius Briantchaninov, in his "Exposition of the Teaching of the Orthodox Church on the Mother of God," writes as follows:

"The Orthodox Church regards virginity as natural to man; she regards as the true human nature that in which man was created. The state of the fall in which all mankind now finds itself is an unnatural, subnatural, abnormal state ... The Saviour Himself in His humanity was an all-holy virgin. His Mother was a most pure virgin replete with every gift of grace. Virginity.

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tural to fallen nature, is restored as a gift to nature that has been renewed by the Saviour." The most pure, most blessed, grace-filled Ever-Virgin Mary not only demonstrated in herself interior spiritual perfection, but even by her outward appearance she astounded all who had the good fortune to see with their own eyes her flawless beauty.

St. Dionysius the Areopagite, a distinguished and learned Athenian who was converted to Christianity by the Apostle Paul, after visiting the Mother of God in St. John the Evangelist's home, wrote to St. Paul: "I have seen with my own eyes the divinely beautiful and most holy Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ who surpassed in sanctivity all the celestial spirits. When I was brought into the presence of the God-like and most holy Virgin, there shone about me such a tremendous, immeasurably divine and powerful radiance (it not only shone from without, but lit up my soul from within even more), and I was filled with such a wonderful and varied fragrance, that neither my frail body nor my spirit could bear such stupendous signs and foretastes of eternal beatitude and glory. My heart failed, my spirit gasped within me at the sight of her divine glory and grace. I testify by God Who dwelt in the most pure womb of the Virgin that if I had not retained in my memory and in my newly-enlightened mind thy divine teaching and commandments, I would have taken the Virgin for God and would have honoured her with the adoration due solely to the one true God."

No one fulfilled so fully and so simply Christ's basic commandments as His most pure Mother. In no one was love for God and love for one's neighbor in such wonderful harmony as in the most holy Mother of God. Just before His death on the cross, the Saviour affiliated to His holy Mother His beloved disciple St. John the Theologian, and in his person the whole human race. And from that time the most holy Mother of God became for ever a living link between earth and heaven, truly "Jacob's Ladder," the eternal Mediatress for sinful men before her Son and God.

The God-Man and Saviour borrowed His flesh from the flesh of His Mother. It is not by chance that the Orthodox Church in many ikons depicts the faces of Mother and Son with a family likeness. By taking flesh from His purest Mother the Saviour sanctified human flesh in general, and placed His Mother above all in authority after God. That is why the Orthodox Church, in

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invoking all the Saints and holy Angels, says: "Pray for us!" and only invokes Our Lady with words: "Most Holy Mother of God. save us!"

St. John Chrysostomos affirmed that the most powerful intercession before God in heaven was that of the Mother of God. No grace is given to men without her mediation. The Heavenly Queen's intercession and prayers to God are of greater worth and value than the prayers and intercession of all the Saints.

"Through thee, O Mother of God," cries St. Ephrem the Syrian, "has flowed from Adam, flows and will flow till the end of the world all glory, all honour and all holiness."

In the light of this Orthodox teaching it becomes understandable why St. Seraphim prayed all his life and died on his knees before the ikon known as "Our Lady of Compunction" (without Child).

In Mr. Uekskuehl's interesting and spiritually instructive article ("An Incredible but True Occurrence," ed. by the Trinity - Laura, 1908) is told what power over demons has the mere invocation of the name of the Virgin Mary. Father John of Kronstadt, in his diary, "My Life in Christ," explains how it is that her name has such power. Elsewhere he writes: "Pronounce the name of God with the deepest reverence ... Reverently pronounce also the name of the Most Pure Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Ever-Virgin Mary. The demons tremble at the sign of the life-giving cross ... How much more do the demons tremble before Our Lady, the Mother of God, and even at Her Most Holy Name! Our Lady is like the brightest star. She is all radiant with Light in God. She is like a glowing ember in a large fire, all luminous and full of fire. As it is easy to think that He (God) is Light and Holiness, so it is that She too is eternal light and eternal holiness. Amen."

The most holy Mother of God is spiritually perfect. Yet before God "even the perfection of the perfect is imperfect." That is why St. John Cassian, in reflecting on the power of the holy sacrament of the Eucharist, can dare to say that it "perfects even the Perfect and Most Holy Mother of God."

To the Orthodox mind the Holy Virgin is primarily a MOTHER, who maternally loves and understands her children, who grieves over her children's sins, who is loved as a mother by her children, sinful people of a sinful world. She is "the warm Intercessor for a cold world." At the same time the holy Virgin

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is our mother in the sense that she is flesh of our flesh, and blood of our blood. She is not a superhuman being but an ordinary human being, born like all the rest of us under the burden of sin in this vale of tears. Like us she needed salvation from sin and death, and like us she suffered the greatest afflictions to which only a human heart is susceptible.

At the same time Mary is full of grace, the Sovereign Lady and Queen of heaven and earth, the Mother of God "more honourable than the Cherubim and incomparably more glorious than the Seraphim." As a human being she understands everything. As Mother of God she can do everything. She is our own Mother, and she is God's own Mother!

For her purity the host holy Virgin evokes compunction in all human hearts longing for purity of heart in order to be able to see God. "Most Pure Mother" — these are the words that reecho most of all in orthodox hearts. And we orthodox love her as the dearest and purest Mother imaginable. Love for our Mother is chaste and holy. In love for our Mother there can be no impurity. But in the Roman Catholic cult of the Madonna, with platonic love is frequently combined a subtle sensuous element, of love for the "Beautiful Lady," for "Eternal Womanhood," etc.

All orthodox dogmatic theology is invisibly penetrated with the presence of the Mother of God. Father Sergius Bulgakov was profoundly right when he said that "without the veneration of the Mother of God, without knowing her, worshipping and following her interiorly, true Christianity is impossible. It is not within our power to honor the Son apart from His Mother, or to worship the Divine Infant and remove Him from the Mother of God. The veneration of the Mother of God is not only a dogma of faith, but is an indispensable inner condition of salvation." ("Friend of the Bridegroom," p. 24 of Russ. ed.).

Orthodox mystical experience in regard to the Holy Mother of God is inexhaustibly wide and deep. There never has been and never will be a single true Christian who has not had in his life obvious miraculous help from the Mother of God, and even frequently. Specially mother who pray for their children obtain great help from the Mother of God. The vast number of wonder-working ikons of Our Lady is plain evidence of her unfailing aid to the whole human race. The feast of the "Protection" bears witness to the same fact. The names of the ikons indicate the nature of her help: "Joy of All in Sorrow," "Unexpected Joy,"

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"Intercessor of Sinners," "Speedy Helper," "Sweet-smelling Blossom," "Compunction," "Softening of Evil Hearts," and so on.

Out of the countless number of miraculous ikons of the Mother of God, the following enjoy special veneration in Russia: Kazan, Vladimir, Tikvinsk, Smolensk ("Odigitria" which means "Guide"), Potchaevsk, Iversk, and the ikons of "The Sing" (especially the Kursk "Root Ikon," so called because it was found at the roots of a tree).

Liturgical practice in regard to the Holy Mother of God is vast. "Virgin Mother of God, rejoice!" (a prayer composed of the greetings of the Archangel Gabriel and Saint Elisabeth) has become in Russia the very first prayer which an orthodox child learns when it begins its religious instruction and education. "It is truly meet" (a prayer begun by man and completed by an Angel) has become the prayer which concludes and crowns every Orthodox gathering, from a synod of bishops to a parish council or meeting of parishioners.

Theological literature on the Mother of God is quite inexhaustible and forms a special science called Mariology. Art of all ages and nations from the birth of Christ down to our own times has devoted a vast amount of labor to the Mother of God. Religious painting and poetry, have recorded and reproduced every word and detail of her life known from holy 'scripture and tradition. Iconography in her honor is equally abundant, as may be seen from Kondakov's three volumes, "The Iconography of the Mother of God." But all these works of art are powerless to give a true spiritual portrait of the Heavenly Queen. Only by prayer and ikon can the Mother of God, like her Divine Son, be "worthly and rightly" glorified. This truth has long since been realised by Orthodoxy, especially Russian Orthodoxy.

"Virgin Mother of God, rejoice!"

"Over thee, O thou who art Full of Grace, rejoice all creation, the angelic company and the human race."

"We have no other help, we have no other hope, but thee, O, Lady!"

"Most Holy Mother of God, save us!"

                                                                                           Prof. I. Andreev.

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THE NEW RUSSIAN MARTYRS.

I consider it my duty as an Orthodox Christian and as a human being to relate the following experience to the people of the whole world. It is an account of how sixty Orthodox priests met a martyr's death in Soviet Siberia at the hands of the executioners — of which I was an eyewitness.

When I was acting as a watchman at a meteorlogical observatory, I was appointed in 1929 to the Regional Executive Committee (REC). As a member of REC I was sent to Leningrad. There an expeditionary party of fifteen men was formed of which I was one. It was my first trip to Siberia. Our destination was the town of Irkutsk.

The chief of our expeditionary party was Ivan Paramonovitch Golubev. He was an elderly man with two diplomas, ideally exact and punctual. At the same time he was polite and sympathetic, and gave his extremely ingenious advice to everyone who went to him.

By the 15th August 1929 we were in Irkutsk, 60 kilometres from Lake Baikal. The object of our expedition was to investigate ways of communication, to compare and collate schemes, and to examine and control the work of constructing a mecadamized highway between Irkutsk and Kuvtuk, *) 100 versts over the mountains beyond Lake Baikal. To go by train from Irkutsk to Kuvtuk meant a journey of 194 versts round Lake Baikal with 47 large and small tunnels.

From Irkutsk we travelled on horseback. We had four tents among us, and each of us had a traveller's folding bed. The road over the Transbaikal Mountains was wild and overgrown. We never met a soul. The stillness was wonderful. The scenery was magnificent. We collected cedar cones, and in the evening we roasted them in hot ashes and made our supper of them. They turned out to be delicious —like roasted nuts.

The first day we covered a distance of 30 kilometres quite safely and in good spirits. The rest of our journey was not so pleasant. It took us seven days to do the remaining 70 kilometres.

*) U pronounced each time as in "I put on my coat."

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We had to force our way through brush and fallen trees, and all the time we were followed by a grizly bear, a so-called anteater, which did not allow us to sleep at night. Although we kept fires burning continually round our tents, yet the bear used to come so close that we heard the noise made by it. And what a noise it was! Sticks, pieces of wood and sometimes heavy stones came at us. This Siberian grizly bear of ours gave us no peace with his practical jokes! True, we had rifles with us, but it was impossible to see far beyond the camp-fires. The howling of wolves, the sound of falling fir-cones, every rustle of leaves startled us and, voluntarily or involuntarily, we loudly invoked the name of God. Nowhere do you so believe in God as in the desert or in a dense forest. Regardless of all the conventions of soviet life, Ivan Paramonovitch often said to us: "Pray to God, and He will have mercy on us all, and we shall return home safe and sound to our homes and families."

We reached Kuvtuk and finished all the work we had been sent to do. Late in the autumn we returned to Irkutsk.

Just at that time a wave of godless communism was raging in Irkutsk. Only two months previously, in August 1929, almost in the centre of the town, near Tihkonov Square (changed by the Bolsheviks to Lenin Square), the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist had been the cynosure of all eyes. But now, in the place where the Cathedral had stood, we saw only a heap of rubble. The Cathedral had been blown up. As our group passed the spot, somehow or other we all suddenly came to a standstill at the sight of such vandalism, and Ivan Paramonovitch drew a deep sigh and said: "Who did it disturb?"

We were resting in Irkutsk before our second journey, when Ivan Paramonovitch proposed that we should go to a village on the outskirts of the town called Glaskovo to see a monastery. We drove there in carriages.

On crossing the pontoon bridge over the River Angara, we at once saw a large, white-stoned monastery and a crowd of people beside it. As we joined the crowd we saw that many of the people had tears in their eyes. In the monastery enclosure stood two horses harnessed to Siberian two-wheeled carts. Cats-paws of some kind were throwing ikons and other church property out of the monastery, while others were loading them on to the carts. One of these wretched creatures was particularly blasphemous. He was smashing the ikons and reviling the ima-

— 20 —

ges depicted on them in every possible way. At last he shouted loudly: "Ah, yes! There are those incorrupt relics still left. Now we shall see how incorrupt they are!" So saying, he rushed into the monastery and in a few minutes came out carrying a coffin in his hands. The fool put the coffin on the left side of one of the carts and then sat on the holy relics. With a self-satisfied look, he lit a cigar. But the horses started off on their own. Three minutes had not passed when the horse which the atheist was driving suddenly jumped aside off the road and bolted. The godless activist was hurled from the cart with terrific force, broke two ribs and fractured his left arm. The crowd gasped and people told one another it was God's punishment.

On December 18th we started out on our second journey, this time down the River Angara. We had to pass through Kamenka (Angarstroy). There we saw the famous Alexandrovsky Central Prison, and were entertained by the Buryats. *) Our final point and destination was the village of Morozovo in Tcheremhovsky Province. There once again we witnessed the wrath of God.

The President of the Morozov town council received an order from the Regional Executive Committee to take the bells from the church. Some ardent atheists were found who were ready to carry out this infernal act. But what was the result? One of them, as his wife told us later, on returning home after this sacrilegious operation, asked his wife to make some tea. His wife placed a glass of tea Before him and also gave him a soft doughnut. The atheist began to eat the doughnut: but he choked with the first bite, and died.

At the end of January 1930 we returned to Leningrad. In 1931, 1932 and 1933 I went every year on a fresh expedition to Siberia. One summer's night of the year 1933, on account of its black horror, will remain indelibly in my memory for the rest of my life.

In July 1933 our expedition party stopped for the night in the forest on the Katchoog-Nizhnioodinsk road. It was a clear, still night; somewhere nearby a stream was chattering caressingly, the trees were whispering softly in the breeze, and the perfumes of the forest flowers floated down the valley. That valley I shall never forget; I shall remember it for ever! Till late

*) Buryats: A Siberian tribe of Mongolian origin.

— 21 —

at night we were sitting cheerfully at the camp fire and talking peacefully without the least suspicion that on this very spot a ghastly tragedy was to be enacted.

Our light, forest sleep was interrupted by raucous and peremptory shouts. We jumped to our feet. The leader of our expedition, Boris Nikolaevitch Martyshovsky, a native of Irkutsk, seized his binoculars, while others set the two surveyor's levels and began to look in the direction from which the voices came. And at once we saw a crowd of men moving in our direction. Who were they and where had they come from in the middle of the night and in a deserted forest? Perhaps it was a hallucination.

It was no hallucination. The crowd came nearer and nearer driven on by insolent and peremptory shouts, the cause of which we could not yet make out. But now we could see the men's faces and clothes. They were living skeletons wrapped in fantastic rags. Over the shoulder of each of these skeletons was a rope, and behind the crowd a barrel was mounted on some kind of a fatuous carriage. The skeletons were pulling it. We afterwards learnt that the barrel was full of human excreta.  One of our expedition who did not lose his presence of mind even at the sight of that outrageous spectacle, managed to count the crowd. There were sixty of them. On each side of the crowd marched convoys in semi-military uniform, armed with rifles; and it was they who were shouting.

Noticing the camp of our expedition, one of the convoys signalled to the crowd to stop, and in pure Siberian chekist jargon shouted loudly in our direction: "Flop and don't flap an eyelid!" ("Lie down and don't move!")  One of the convoy began to run back, evidently having received an order.

About ten minutes later a whole platoon of armed men appeared. They advanced towards us with their rifles at the ready. The commander of the platoon and the political officer *) came out towards us. They asked who we are and demanded identity documents. After that, the platoon commander asked us sternly what grounds we had for camping on territory belonging to a government forced labor concentration camp of the N.K.V.D. (secret police). We told him that we had not the slightest idea

*) In the Red Army each rank has its political counterpart, so that there is an army captain and a political captain, a general and a political general, etc. The political officer's business is to spy on the army officers.

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that there was a concentration camp in the vicinity and that it was not marked on the map, and he seemed satisfied with our answer. He then told us that we must be as dumb as fish, and he explained with pathos that we were accidentally having the honour of being present at one of the most glorious operations of the VTK-GPU (another name for N.K.V.D.), the fiery sword of the proletarian revolution. "Those people," he said, pointing at the unfortunate victims, "are sentenced to be shot. and you of course will not pity them. They are devils of darkness, useless `pops,' ** dope of the people." The commander ordered us to go into our tents, while he told one of the guards who accompanied him to move the sentenced men towards the pit. Apparently there was a pit somewhere close by. Dumb and petrified with horror, sick with disgust at the executioners, and ashamed of our own cowardice and fear, we sat in our tents listening tensely for the approaching silence of death. But there was again the sound of human voices.

"You are breathing last breath. Say. is there a God?"

"I believe in one God the Father, Almighty Creator," sang a meek voice.

The report of a rifle! There was a lump in our hearts as we sat in our tents. Then a second report, a third ... Evidently the condemned men were being introduced to the pit one by one. And again more than once the same wooden, lifeless voice asked: "Is there a God? Speak!"

"All-Seeing, All-Knowing, Omnipresent, Almighty, All-Merciful, All-Good!" was the reply.

Many years, perhaps, will pass, but that grave on the Katchoog-Nizhnioodinsk road will be found and will draw crowds of pilgrims who will visit the unknown Siberian forest in order to offer their fervent prayers to the holy martyrs of the Orthodox faith who gave their lives for our Lord Jesus Christ.

                                                                           M. G.

**) Pop: a vulgar word for priest (cp. pope, papa etc.).

THE CHILDREN'S SECTION

NATASHA'S DREAM.

What could be done with Natasha? Aunt Katia was worried. The little girl refused to listen to anyone. Since the moment her mother was taken to the hospital everything went wrong. The little girl was not the same now, — no more prayers. At first aunt Katia thought the reason for the change was the child's longing for her mother, but on the last visit to the hospital she had refused even to go along. Natasha was now selfish and unkind. When aunt Katia talked to her she closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and just sat there refusing all help, muttering under her breath, "You just wait, I'll show you." "Whom was she threatening?", wondered aunt Katia helplessly.

"I won't pray, I won't," muttered Natasha to herself.

Why should she? When Mother was carried out on that horrible stretcher by those men in the white suits, she had prayed all night for her to come back well and smiling. Why should such a kind, lovable mother be so sick? Why did God let it happen? Mother had always prayed to Him. She too had prayed hard to her heavenly Father and her guardian Angel. She had asked Them to help her mother, but no help came. It was now more than a month since her mother was taken away with her eyes closed and her face so pale. At first she had been told that she

— 24 —

had heart trouble; afterwards they discovered a terrible lump in her breast and cut her with sharp cruel knives.

After that Natasha stopped praying. She felt she was old enough, at seven, to know what is right and just. No one could help her, since God and her Guardian Angel had done nothing. She now looked reproachfully at the ikons put up by her own dear mother. There was one of Jesus, one of the Mother of God with the Child in Her arms, and a tiny one of her Guardian Angel. Natasha shut her eyes tightly, "No, I won't pray to you, I won't," she whispered.

"Natasha, it is bed time," coaxed aunt Katia. "Now be a good little girl. Say your prayers and go to bed." But Natasha just threw off her clothes, slipped into bed, and turned defiantly toward the wall.

"Natasha darling," pleaded aunt Katia, "Why is my little girl behaving so? You are making your Guardian Angel very unhappy. Help your mother get well by praying for her. Please do!"

Aunt Katia took the tiny ikon and tried to turn Natasha toward herself in order to bless her with it_ but the child fought back and knocked the ikon out of her hand. It fell to the floor.

"Oh dear," cried aunt Katia, frightened and sad. She picked up the ikon, wiped it with her clean white apron, and kissed it. "Well Natasha," her voice was severe, "if you won't pray, I shall have to pray for you. It is a great offense to throw an ikon on the floor." With that she went out, closing the door.

Curled up in bed in a small tight ball, Natasha felt her heart beating fast, — so fast. Her cheeks were burning.

"I didn't want to do that. Really I didn't." She felt heavy inside, frightened and cold. Something was going to happen now, she knew it, — for offending her Guardian Angel so!

Suddenly Natasha saw herself not in her own room but in a large beautiful garden. The sun shone brightly, the sky was very blue, and soft melodious singing could be heard. About her were many flowers, growing in separate flower beds. They were all different. There were some white lilies, anemones, lilies of the valley, transparent narcissuses, tulips, simple corn flowers, daisies, and glorious roses. Some flowers stood up straight, holding their heads high toward the warm caressing sun. Others looked weak and sickly, with their heads bent to the ground and their leaves shrivelled and wan. Some were almost hidden by stifling

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weeds. Some beds were completely filled with brambles, thorns, and weeds.

Then Natasha noticed walking towards her a Woman of wondrous beauty, dressed in a pale blue gown.

"Did you come to look at our garden, Natasha?", She asked kindly. "Come, I shall show it to you."

"Where am I?", asked Natasha shyly.

"This is Our Father's Garden," answered the Lady in blue.

"The flowers which you see represent human souls. The beautiful ones represent souls that love Our Father and try to please and help Him in His kind deeds. Those that look sick and wilted are souls who have lost faith in prayer. And now they have no strength to lift their heads. But Our Father in His infinite mercy will help them. Those with weeds and creepers around their stems represent people who in their unkind deeds have forgotten Our Father and refuse His love. But their Guardian Angels may still help them if they allow them to untwine the choking sticky creepers. They still may be led to safety and light."

Then Natasha noticed Angels with white wings and radiant garments walking around each flower bed, watering each flower with clear sparkling water from crystal vessels. Others were carefully trying to smooth out the crumpled leaves and free the sickly flowers from clinging creepers and weeds.

"Where is my flower," whispered Natasha.

The Lady with the kind and lovely face took the little girl by the hand and led her toward a tiny, doubled-up white daisy. It's stem was choked by brambles and creepers, gray and horrible, so that no sunlight could reach the poor flower. Near it stood an Angel with his head covered by his white wings, weeping.

"Why are you crying?", inquired the Lady.

As the Angel raised his face, Natasha recognized her Guardian Angel from her tiny ikon. His face was very sad now, and his forehead was marked by a dreadful red bruise, as if from a blow.

"I am crying," answered the Angel in a soft sad voice, "because Our Father gave me a little girl to watch over, who was such a good little girl that I was happy to watch her grow; happy to watch her in prayer, each morning and night. She always asked me to guard her. But lately she has changed. Our Father, in His mercy, wanted to save her mother, who had a dangerous growth in her breast unknown to anyone. Therefore He sent her a slight

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illness so that the danger could be discovered and removed in time. The woman is safe now, but the little girl, instead of being grateful, has been reproaching me and even Our Father for her mother's sickness. She stopped praying, and even pushed me away." The Angel touched the ugly mark on his forehead.  "You see she even hit me! Look at the thorns about her soul! What will happen now? What shall I tell Our Father? He may punish her, you know, and I pity her. I would like to help her but she turns away. That is the reason for my tears." And the Angel started to cry again, covering his head with his wings.

The Lady in blue looked sadly at Natasha.

Natasha was trembling and sobbing bitterly. She wanted to cry out, "I shall never do anything like that again, Guardian Angel, I will be kind. I shall pray to Our Father, and always be grateful for everything." But her tongue would not move: she could only whimper. — Then she woke up.

The sun was pouring in through the nursery window, bright and warm. Aunt Katia was bending over her.

"Why have you been crying in your sleep, Natasha, my child?" Her voice was anxious.

Natasha rose quickly to her knees; made the sign of the cross; then kissed her aunt tenderly.

"Aunty, dear, I will never be such a nasty little girl anymore. Please, please forgive me. I was bad and cruel. Let's go to Church today. I want to pray for my darling mother and ask forgiveness. I understand all now. My Guardian Angel will never have cause to cry because of me."

She took down the tiny ikon of her Guardian Angel and pressed it to her cheek. From the other ikons the eyes of Christ looked down at the little girl with infinite tenderness. Aunt Katia with tears of thankfulness in her eyes gently stroked Natasha's curly head.

                                                                       Galina Deiniizina.

Father John of Cronstad.

MY LIFE IN CHRIST.

Translated by E. E. Goulaeff.

PART I.

This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent," — St. John XVII. 3.

THOU, O,God, hast opened wide to me Thy truth and Thy verity. By instructing me in the sciences, Thou hast opened to me all the riches of faith, of nature, and of human understanding; I have learned Thy word — the Word of God — "piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit." 1 I have studied the laws regulating the mind of man, its love of wisdom, the formation and the beauty of speech; I have penetrated in part into the mysteries of Nature, into her laws, into the abyss of the creation of worlds and their revolution; I know the population of the terrestrial globe; I have acquainted myself with its different peoples, with the celebrated persons, and their works, who have passed in turn through this world; I have in part studied the great science of self-knowledge and of how to draw nigh to Thee; in a word, I have become cognisant of many, many things — "for more things are shewed unto thee than men understand," and hereafter I shall yet learn much. I have many books of very varied contents; I have read and re-read them, but still I am not yet satisfied. My spirit still thirsts for further knowledge and my heart is unsatisfied; it hungers, and from all the knowledge thus acquired by the intellect, it cannot gain full happiness. When will it be satisfied? It will be satisfied, when "I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness." 3  Until then I shall hunger. "Whosoever drinketh of this water (of worldly wisdom) shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life," said the Lord.

How is it that the saints see us and our needs and hear our prayers? Let us make the following comparison: Suppose that you were transplanted to the sun and were united to it. The sun

1 Hebrews IV. 12.

2  Sirach III 23.

3  Psalm XVII. 15.

4  St. John IV, 13 and 14

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lights the whole earth with its rays, it lights every particle of the earth. In these rays you also see the earth, but you are so small in proportion to the sun, that you would form, so to say, but one ray, and there are an infinite number of such rays. By its identity with the sun this ray takes an intimate part in lighting the whole world through the sun. So also the saintly soul, having become united to God, as to its spiritual sun, sees, through the medium of its spiritual sun, which lights the whole universe, all men and the needs of those that pray.

Have you learned to see God and represent Him to yourself — as the omnipresent Wisdom, as the living, acting Word, as the vivifying Holy Spirit? The Holy Scripture is the domain of Wisdom, Word and Spirit, of God in the Trinity; in it He clearly manifests Himself: "The Words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life," 1 said the Lord. The writing of the Holy Fathers are again the expression of the Mind, Word and Spirit of the Holy Trinity, in which the spirit of the higher class spiritually speaking) of mankind has largely participated; the writings of ordinary worldly men are the expression of the fallen spirit of men, with all their sinful attachments, habits and passions. In the Holy Scriptures we see God face to face, and ourselves as we are. Man, know thyself through them, and walk always as in the presence of God.

As you are aware, man, in his words, does not die; he is immortal in them, and they will speak after his death. I shall die, but shall speak even after my death. How many immortal words are in use amongst the living, which were left by those who died long ago, and which sometimes still live in the mouths of a whole people! How powerful is the word even of an ordinary man! Still more so is the Word of God: it will live throughout all ages, and will always be living and acting.

As God is the creative, living and life-giving Wisdom, therefore those greatly sin who, by the thoughts of their spirit, turn aside from the Wisdom of the Trinity and occupy themselves with material, perishable things, thus materialising their spirit itself. Especially do those sin who, during Divine Service in church or during their prayers at home, entirely turn aside in their

1 St. John VI. 63.

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thoughts from God and allow their minds to wander in different places outside the church. By doing so they greatly offend God, upon Whom on such occasions our minds should be fixed.

To what end do fasting and penitence lead? For what purpose is this trouble taken? They lead to the cleansing of the soul from sins, to peace of heart, to union with God, they fill us with devotion and sonship, and give us boldness before God. There are, indeed, very important reasons for fasting and for confession from the whole heart. There shall be an inestimable reward given for conscientious labour. Have many of us the feeling of son-like love to God? Dare many of us, without condemnation and with boldness call upon the Father in Heaven and say: "Our Father!" . . . . Is there not, on the contrary, no such sonlike voice to be heard in our hearts, which are deadened by the vanities of this world and attachments to its objects and pleasures? Is not our Heavenly Father far from our hearts? Is it not rather an avenging God that we should represent to ourselves, we who have withdrawn ourselves from Him into a far-away land? Yes, by our sins all of us are worthy of His righteous anger and punishment, and it is wonderful how long-suffering and forbearing He is to us — that He does not strike us like the barren fig trees. Let us hasten to propitiate Him by repentance and tears. Let us enter into ourselves; let us consider our unclean hearts in all strictness, and when we see what a multitude of impurities are keeping them from the reach of Divine grace, we shall ourselves acknowledge that we are spiritually dead.

The loving Lord is here: how can I let even a shadow of evil enter into my heart? Let all evil completely die within me; let my heart be anointed with the sweet fragrance of goodness as with a balsam. Let God's love conquer thee, thou evil Satan, instigating us, who are evil by nature, to evil. Evil is most hurtful both to the mind and to the body. It burns, it crushes, and it tortures. No one bound by evil shall dare to approach the throne of the God of love.

When praying, we must absolutely subject our heart to our will, and turn it towards God. It must be neither cold, crafty.' untruthful, nor double-minded, otherwise what will be the use of our prayers, of our preparation for the Sacrament? It is good

1  St. Matthew XV. 8.

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for us to hear God's voice of anger: "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." So do not let us stand in church in a state of spiritual prostration, but let the spirit of each one of us on such occasions burn in its working towards God. Even men do not much value the services which we render to them coldly, out of habit. And God requires our hearts. "My son, give Me thine heart." Because the heart is the principal part of the man — his life. More than this, the heart is the man himself. Thus he who does not pray or does not serve God with his heart, does not pray at all, because in that case his body only prays, and the body without the mind is nothing more than earth. Remember, that when standing in prayer, you stand before God Himself, who has the wisdom of all. Therefore, your prayer ought to be, so to say, all spirit, all understanding.

The saints of God live even after their death. Thus, I often hear in church the Mother of God singing her wonderful, heart-penetrating song which she said in the house of her cousin Elizabeth, after the Annunciation of the Archangel. At times, I hear the song of Moses; the song of Zacharias — the father of the Forerunner; that of Hannah, the mother of the prophet Samuel; that of the three children; and that of Miriam. And how many holy singers of the New Testament delight until now the ear of the whole Church of God! And the Divine service itself — the sacraments, the rites? Whose spirit is there, moving and touching our hearts? That of God and of His saints. Here is a proof for you of the immortality of men's souls. How is it that all these men have died, and yet are governing our lives after their death — they are dead and they still speak, instruct and touch us?

As the breath is necessary for the body, and as without breathing men cannot live, so likewise the soul cannot truly live without the breath of God's Spirit. As air is necessary for the body, so is the Holy Ghost for the soul. Air has some likeness to the Holy Ghost. As "the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 2

When you are threatened with temptation to sin, then represent to yourself vividly that sin is exceedingly displeasing

I  Proverbs XXIII. 26.

2  St. John III. 8

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to God, Who hates iniquity. "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." 1 And in order to understand this better, imagine a father, righteous and severe, who loves his family, and is trying by every means to make his children well-principled and upright, in order to reward them afterwards for their good behaviour by the great riches he has laboriously laid up for them, and, who nevertheless sees, to his grief, that the children, disregarding their father's love, do not love him, do not pay attention to the inheritance so lovingly prepared for them by their father, but live disorderly, and rush impetuously to destruction. Mark, that "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death," 2 because it kills the soul, because it makes us the slaves of the Devil — the destroyer of men; and the more we work for sin, the more difficult will be our return, and the more sure will be our ruin. Dread, therefore, every sin with the whole heart.

When your heart inclines to evil, and the evil one begins to undermine your heart, so that it is completely removed from the rock of faith, then say to yourself inwardly: "I know of my spiritual poverty, my own nothingness without faith. I am so weak, that it is only by Christ's name that I live and obtain peace, that I rejoice and my heart expands, whilst without Him I am spiritually dead, I am troubled, and my heart is oppressed; without the Lord's Cross I should have been long since the victim of the most cruel distress and despair. Only Christ keeps me alive: and the Cross is my peace and my consolation."

We are all able to think, because an unlimited Wisdom (Thought) exists, just as we are able to breathe because unlimited air-spaces exist. This is the reason why bright ideas upon any subject are called inspirations. Our thoughts are constantly flowing conditionally with the existence of the unlimited Spirit of Wisdom (Thought). This is why the Apostle says: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God" 3 This is also why the Saviour Himself says: — "Take no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in that hour what ye shall speak." 4 Thus you see that the thought and even the word itself (the inspiration) come to us from without. This, of course, in a state of grace and in cases of need. But even in our ordinary state all our bright

1 Psalm V. 5. 2 James I. 15 and others.

3 Corinthians III. 5. 4 St. Matthew X. 19.

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thoughts come from our Guardian Angel and from God's Spirit: whilst, on the contrary, impure, dark thoughts proceed from our corrupt nature and from the Devil, ever lying in wait for us. How then, should the Christian behave? "God Himself worketh in us."' In general, throughout the world we see the Kingdom of thought in the structure of the whole visible world, as also in particular in the earth, in the rotation and the life of the terrestrial globe; in the distribution of the elements — light, air, water, earth, fire (concealed), whilst other elements are diffused in all animals — in birds, fishes, reptiles, beasts, and men — in their wise and ingenious construction, in their faculties, nature and habits; in plants, in their construction, nourishment, etc.; in a word, we see everywhere the kingdom of thought, even down to the lifeless stone and sand.

Priests of God! learn how to turn the bed of sorrow of the Christian sufferer into one of joy by the consolation of faith; learn how to make him, instead of — in his opinion — the most unfortunate, the happiest of men; assure him that having been "a little chastised he shall be greatly rewarded afterwards,"2 and you will be the friends of mankind, angels of consolation, instruments or ministers of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

If the fervour of faith in the heart is not sometimes stirred up, then in time, through negligence, faith may become entirely extinguished in us; and Christianity with its Sacraments may entirely die for us. The enemy takes pains to attain this end, and tries to extinguish faith in our hearts and to bury in oblivion all the truths of Christianity. That is why we see men who, being Christians, are only such in name, while by their actions they are quite heathen.

Do not think that our faith is not vivifying to us — pastors. — that we serve God hypocritically. No; we before all, and more than all, avail ourselves of God's mercies, and we know by experience what the Lord Himself is to us, His Sacraments, His most pure Mother, and His Saints. For instance, in partaking of the life-giving mysteries of the Blood and Body of the Saviour, we often experience in ourselves their vivifying effect, the heavenly gifts of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost; we know that the

1  Philippians II. 13.

2  Wisdom III

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gracious gaze of a king does not rejoice the heart of the least of his subjects as the merciful gaze of our heavenly Master, as His mysteries rejoice our hearts. And we should have been most unthankful to the Lord, and our hearts would indeed have been hardened, had we not tried to make known the glory of God's Life-giving Mysteries unto His beloved, had we not extolled His wonders, accomplished in our hearts during each celebration of the Divine Liturgy. We also experience the effect of the invincible, incomprehensible, divine power of the Lord's glorious and life-giving Cross, and by its power we drive away from our hearts evil passions, despondency, pusillanimity, fear, and other snares of the Devil. The Cross is our friend and benefactor. I say this sincerely, with full belief in the truth and power of these words.

You wish to comprehend the incomprehensible; but can you understand how the inward sorrows with which your heart is overwhelmed overtake you, and can you find, except in the Lord, the means to drive them away? Learn at first, with your heart, how to free yourself from sorrows, how to ensure peace in your heart, and then, if necessary, philosophise on the incomprehensible, for "if ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" 1

Think oftener: Whose wisdom appears in the construction of your body? Who has ordered the laws of your thoughts, so that until now these laws are followed by all men? Who has engraved in the hearts of all men the law of conscience, so that until now it rewards the good and punishes the evil in all men? The Almighty, All-wise, and most gracious God! Thy hand is constantly upon me, a sinner, and there is no moment when Thy mercy leaves me. Grant me, then, always to kiss, with living faith, Thy gracious hand. Why should I go far to seek for the traces of Thy mercies, of Thy wisdom, and Thy omnipotence? O! how clearly these traces are visible to me! I, I myself am a miracle of God's goodness, wisdom and omnipotence. I myself — on a small scale — am a whole world; my soul is the representative of the invisible world; my body — of the invisible one.

Brethren! what is the purpose of our earthly life? It is, that, after our trial by earthly affliction and misfortunes, and after

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our gradual advancement in virtue, by means of the divine gifts, given to us in the sacraments, we may rest, after our death, in the Lord, the peace of our souls. That is why we sing of the dead: "Grant rest, O, Lord, to the soul of Thy departed servant." We wish him to rest in peace, as the limit of all wishes, and pray to God for this. Is it not, then, unwise to grieve much for the departed? "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. and I will give you rest," 1 says the Lord. Thus our departed ones, who have fallen asleep in a Christian death, came to this voice of God and obtain rest. What is there, then, to grieve for?

Those who are trying to lead a spiritual life have to carry on a most skillful and difficult warfare, through their thoughts, every moment of their life — that is, a spiritual warfare; it is necessary that our whole soul should be every moment a clear eye, able to watch and notice the thoughts entering our heart from the evil one and repel them; the hearts of such men should be always burning with faith, humility and love; otherwise the subtlety of the Devil finds an easy access to them, followed by a diminution of faith, or entire unbelief, and then by every possible evil, which it will be difficult to wash away even by tears. Do not, therefore, allow your heart to be cold especially during prayer, and avoid every way cold indifference. Very often it happens that prayer is on the lips, but in the heart cunning, incredulity or unbelief, so that by the lips the man seems near to God, whilst in his heart he is far from Him. And, during our prayers, the evil one makes use of every means to chill our hearts and fill them with deceit in a most imperceptible manner to us. Pray and fortify yourself, fortify your heart.

If you wish to ask of God in prayer any blessing for yourself, then before praying prepare yourself for undoubting and firm faith, and take in good time means against doubt and unbelief. For it will go ill with you if during the prayer itself your heart wavers its faith and does not stand firm in it; then do not even expect to obtain of the Lord what you have prayed for doubtingly, for in so doing you have offended the Lord, and God does not bestow His gifts upon a reviler. "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive," ' said the

1  St. Matthew XI. 28.

2  St. Matthew XXI. 22.

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Lord. This means, that if you doubt and do not believe, you shall not receive. "If ye have faith and doubt not," said He also. "ye shall have power to move mountains." 1 Therefore, if you doubt and do not believe, you shall not have power to do so. "Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed," says the Apostle James; "for let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." The heart that doubts that Cod can grant what it asks for is punished for this doubt: it is painfully oppressed and contracted by doubt. Do not anger Almighty God even by a shade of doubt -- especially you, who have already experienced many and many times, the omnipotence of God. Doubt is a blasphemy against God, an insolent lie of the heart or of the lying spirit that nestles in the heart, against the_ spirit of truth. Fear it as you would fear a venomous serpent, or no — what I would rather say, is, despise it, do not take the slightest heed of it. Remember that God, during your prayer, is waiting for your affirmative answer to the question which He is inwardly asking you: "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" To which question you must from the depth of your heart reply, "Yea, Lord" Let the following considerations also help you in your doubt or unbelief: I ask of God, firstly, that which already exists, and nothing merely imaginary not a fanciful good, and everything that exists receives its being from God: because "without Him was not anything made that was made," and therefore, nothing that happens can happen without Him, and everything has either received its being from Him, or happens by His will or His permission. by means of powers and faculties given by Him to His creatures — and in everything that exists or is still happening, God is an ell-powerful Master. Besides this, "He calleth those things which be not as though they were." ' Therefore, had I even asked foe that which does not exist, He could give it to me by creating it. Secondly, I ask of God what is possible, because what is impossible for us is possible for God; and there cannot be any difficulty even in this respect, because God can do for me even that which is impossible in my own opinion. It is our misfortune that our faith is hindered by the short-sightedness of our reason — that

1  St. Matthew XXI. :L

2 James I. 6-7

3  St. Matthew IX 28

4  St. John I 

5  Romans IV. 17

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spider that catches the truth in the web of its judgments, its arguments and analogies. Faith embraces and sees suddenly, whilst reason arrives at the truth by circuitous ways; faith is the means of communication between one spirit and another, whilst reason Is the means of communication between the spiritually sensual and the spiritually sensual and even simply material: the first

the spirit and the latter the flesh.

(To be continued).

WE HAVE IN STOCK.

1.  TO THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

C. H. Stratman  $  .10

2.  THE BRIDE OF CHRIST. C. H. Stratman    .20

3.  A LETTER FROM AN ORTHODOX NUN TO HER UNCLE — LUTHERAN    .10

4.  THE FAITH OF THE SAINTS. CATECHISM OF THE EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCH. 

     Bishop Nicholai D. Velemirovich.    1.00

HOLY TRINITY MONASTERY, JORDANVILLE, N.Y.