Mercy as defined by the All-Merciful Lord

The icon is named "Jesus Christ the All Merciful Lord" and can be purchased here at Come and See Icons.



 From today until the Feast of the Nativity, Christmas, all posts will be reflections on mercy.

The first is from Jesus Christ Himself recorded by St. Luke, a physician by profession, and a Gentile by birth from Antioch.

From Luke 6: 27-37:

27 But I say to you who hear:  Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you,
29 To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also.  And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
30 Give to everyone who asks of you.  And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back.
31 And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.

32 But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners do the same.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you?  For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will great, and you will be sons of the Most High.  For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.
36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.

37 Judge not, and you shall not be judged.  Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.

May we always remember to ask God to help us to carry out this nearly impossible request.   
 

Final thoughts on feminism or whatever this has morphed into...

Before I write this last post on feminism or whatever else it has morphed into at this point, I just want to say this.

These posts, the last one especially, have been about how our culture, through sex, has managed to distort
how women should view themselves in terms of their worth.  And although I used unmarried girls as examples, this idea extends to all women, married or not. Wrong thought patterns don't end with a wedding ring. 

Additionally, I know the Orthodox Church's stance about sex outside of marriage.  However, these posts were not meant to talk about the Church's beliefs, but more about how women are being taught to view themselves in western culture.  The Orthodox Church does not teach women that their self-worth is based on how sexy they are. And, if you can recall the first post, I mentioned how the Church holds women in extremely high regard.  It is world that does not.  Most of us live in the world and not in a self-contained monastery.  I can walk into my local grocer and see a stand-up cardboard cut-out of a nearly naked young woman greeting me by the check-out.  She has a six pack in one hand while the other grasps the string of her swimsuit bottoms.  Oh, so just turn my head the other way you say?  Okay, I've turned my head and now I see a stack of magazines promising me "101 Ways To Be Sexy Well Into My 50's" staring right back at me.  Okay, then look ahead.  Alrighty, I'm looking ahead and in front of me is a painfully thin 60 year old woman in "skinny" jeans with just slightly less plastic to her than a Barbie doll.  It's unavoidable.

And lastly, I don't think I'm wrong in assuming that most mothers, whether Muslim, Jewish, Christian or atheist/agnostic want "good" things for their daughters.  They have hopes of raising happy and loving young women.  However, as we cannot meet in the religious forum to discuss this, we must meet in the secular one and call out the lies that has the potential to ruin our daughter's lives.  It was from this point of view that I wrote the last post. I don't think I said anything un-Orthodox, but it certainly did not have a religious "flair" to it if you will that most of my blog posts have. Truth be told, the initial idea for this topic came from an agnostic mother.  We both love our girls and expressed our terror of this demented world that they face.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...

So what to do?  I have a few ideas, although I am certainly open to others.

1 - The obvious. Always reassure our daughters of our love for them.  Their worth to us is obviously not based on sexiness, but it also is not based on academic, athletic or musical ability either.  My eldest plays on a competitive sports team.  Although she may be disappointed in her performance certain days, and I will agree with her that she has the ability to play better, I never ever compare her to other players or withhold love from her as a method to perform better.  Maybe that works for some parents, but not for me.

2 - The idea of self-awareness (which I think I meant to say instead of self-control).   It seems to me that too many people (male & female) just float at the surface of life.  They indulge every whim that their body tells them to do without being aware of how it affects both themselves and others.  Be conscious.  Be aware. Don't give into every craving you have...be it food, sex or whatever.  You have much more power over yourself than you realize.   

3 - Don't lie to yourself and be realistic.  It's okay to have dreams and plans, but it's also okay to change course.  If you are having a hard time balancing a career and children, it is not a disappointment to anyone that you stop working, or work less and spend more time with your family.  You are no less of a woman if you decide to do this despite what some "feminists" may say.  I read an article* a few weeks ago where the editor-in-chief of More magazine, Lesley Jane Seymour, suggested that women need to "...suck it up for the sisters, girlfriend" and try for higher-paying, more stressful jobs in the workplace.  You don't answer to Ms. Seymour or any other "expert".   "They" are not there for you when you have to miss another chorus recital, wipe away a child's tear because of hurt feelings or clean up throw up at 4:30 in the morning because your child has just gotten sick all over the bathroom and now you are completely stressed because you have to give a presentation at 8 am.  I'm not saying that women cannot work outside the home and still be good mothers.  My point is that you should not feel like you "have" to live up to expectations set by other people, especially people you don't even know. 

*(This article was published in the 11/2/11 Arizona Republic, section CL, page 1, sourced from Gannett news service.  I've tried to find the online version, but only came up with one that not surprisingly omitted the "suck it up" comment.  Most of the article is found here. It's a good read. ) 


Again, I apologize if these string of posts weren't religious or offered an Orthodox Christian response to modern day feminism.  I'm sure someone much smarter than myself has written something on the topic, but for now, all I can offer are the things that I have discovered to be true or untrue.  It really turned out to be more of a public lament more than anything else I guess.

Okay, well now in the Orthodox Church we are heading towards the Feast of the Nativity, aka Christmas.  The Nativity Fast starts today actually.  From here until the feast, the topic will be mercy.  I love mercy.  My favorite Old Testament story, the story of Joseph and his brothers, and my favorite parables in the New Testament either center around mercy or somehow allude to its importance.

...Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy....

See you soon...

It's a sexy sexy world

It is no revelation that women today are objectified more as sexual beings than human beings and that our current culture  is a strongly sexualized one.  Everything is sexy.  People and every single piece of their bodies can be sexy, clothes can be sexy, shoes can be sexy, cars can be sexy...I even read in the sports section a month or so ago about a sloppy victory by a team as not being a sexy win.  You cannot open a magazine/newspaper, go to the grocery store or even turn on a G-rated kids television show (I have heard it on Good Luck Charlie) where there isn't some sort of sexual content hinted at or stated outright.  Women have plastic surgery to attempt to look younger and more attractive (attractive meaning sexually attractive obviously.  What else are you trying to attract?  Bees?  Metal objects?) and to "feel better about themselves".  Our whole idea of worth has become centered around how well a woman can attract and then manipulate others with their appearance.  And although this isn't new, prostitution is called the world's oldest profession, our culture today is so blatantly sexual, there is no way of avoiding it even if you wanted to.

I'm not denying that we are sexual beings.  Of course we are.  I wouldn't be here if there had not been generations of people having sex.  Sex is part of being a member of the human race, but we have given it WAY too much power in the role that it plays in society.  And I have an extremely difficult time in understanding how this sexualization of society has benefited women in even the slightest manner.   Diseases and unplanned pregnancies don't sound like freedom to me.  And although people can point to vaccines, safe sexual practices, and birth control to avoid such things, none of it is 100% effective. And most importantly, we forget that there is a human being with a heart, a soul, and feelings attached to all of this. Women can and are left feeling empty, hurt and at times, suicidal when trying to live out this promised bliss of sexual freedom that is so heavily promoted in our culture.  It is not unheard of a girl committing suicide after naked pictures of her are forwarded around her school.  I am no expert on the history of the women's rights movement in America, but I can guarantee you the women weren't picketing the streets so one day girls would have the opportunity to text naked pictures of themselves to boys. This is not empowering, it's insanity.

I just finished reading a book called Dirty Little Secrets: Breaking the Silence on Teenage Girls and Promiscuity by Kerry Cohen.  The author relays story after story of young women who have led promiscuous lives in order to find their self-worth.  I don't condemn any of these young women.  In fact, my heart hurts for them.  They were duped by our over-sexualized culture into thinking that their worth was dependant on how much they were desired by boys/men.  Here are some quotes from the book from the girls:

As years went by sex became exactly what I wished to win, because it told me that I was valuable and beautiful, and those things were important to me. (pg.25)

and this

When we broke up, I slept with guy after guy to fill the emptiness that I felt.  I started cutting and became addicted to drugs.  I became known as either "That Girl That Cuts" or "That Slut". (pg.99)

and this

I have a Pavlov's dog-reaction to the sound of a text coming in.  I immediately think, "Could it be someone who wants me?" (pg.135)

Doesn't sound like good times to me.  This book was a pretty interesting read, and although I did not agree with the author's hopes for the future which wishes for casual sex without the emotional strings attached, it was brutally honest about what is really going on in the lives of young women today.   She had this to say which is spot on:

A huge part of being a loose girl is believing in a fantasy, and that fantasy is of course not factual.  We have been handed the lie about men by our media and culture. A boy will make you worth something.  A boy's loving you means you matter in the world. We've bought the idea entirely...(pg. 170) 

Now certainly, not every woman's story is like the ones mentioned above, but the fact remains that there are some that are. They have become collateral damage in this sexual revolution that is grounded in fantasy and not reality.   There are real consequences to this sexy world we live in.  And more often than not, the consequences have to be handled by a woman, alone.   Notice the MTV reality show about teen pregnancy is aptly named "Teen Mom" and not "Teen Parents".
 

As I mentioned in a prior post, I have two daughters of my own.  My daunting job is to now somehow convince them that despite whatever is being marketed by our culture at every waking moment about their self-worth is false.  It's an uphill battle for sure.  However, allowing them to figure it out entirely for themselves and giving them the power to do whatever "feels right" to them is not the answer.  When we get drunk our judgement is impaired and we honestly believe that we are okay to drive, but an outside observer will tell you otherwise.  I have to be that sober outside observer for everything for my children. But in order to do that, I have to be sober myself.  Screaming "Don't do it! Don't do it! God hates fornicators! You'll go to hell!" is not sober.  I think that the only way to counter our present enslaving culture is to expose the illusion in an un-fanatical and completely honest manner and through my own actions show that the only way to truly be free in any aspect of life, is through self-control. 

Self-control, the purported archenemy of freedom...next topic.

 
 

 

Undefining Feminism

Okay, I've had a while to think some of this through.  Actually a few nights ago I woke up at 3 am and had my thoughts all sorted out. However, I kept arguing with myself that I shouldn't get up and write them down because I needed to get back to sleep. I had promised the kids that we would go to the zoo that day and I wanted to be well rested for the outing.  And sure enough, here I am grasping for those cohesive thoughts.

Having said this, I can remember one thing that I was going to say, so maybe I can start and then (hopefully) things will work themselves out.  So, here it goes.

I came to the conclusion that there is no way to define a feminist or a woman and that the popular idea of "defining oneself" is a false one. There are people who feel the need to say they are X, Y or Z. No you're not. You are a human being who likes X, or is Y by birth or Z by deliberate choice because you despise Y but ultimately you are not any of those things.  You are someone, not a list of adjectives whose definitions can be blurred or misunderstood.

Secondly, what I thought it meant to be a woman 20 years ago at the age of 21 is drastically different from what I know it to be now at the age of 41.  So what a 21 year old believes with her limited life experience and a what 41 year old believes with 20 additional years can and should be worlds apart.  There comes a point when one must take off their rose colored glasses instead of upping the prescription.  I think I reached that somewhere in my late 30's. 

And lastly, which sort of ties in with the second point, there seems to already exist certain conditions that one must meet in order to be regarded as a "feminist".  For the same reason I am a registered Independent when it comes to voting, I refuse to be categorized within the constructs of what society has predetermined to a feminist.  I hold certain beliefs  because I have either experienced something personally and know it to be true or have been close to people who have experienced something that really blew away my preconceived notions of what I had thought to be true.  That is what life is about and why we should always be free to change our minds without fear of being called a hypocrite.

With this in mind it is imperative that we avoid demeaning or belittling women whose actions appear contrary to our belief system. We have no idea what it is like to be them.  I am not suggesting that we sit by idly and watch someone self-destruct through addiction or that we not teach our children from our own mistakes.  Nor am I saying we should keep our opinions to ourselves.  There is always room for honest discussion and debate if people are willing to listen and not judge.  But once we start name-calling and casting people into hell, we destroy each other.  One of my biggest pet peeves EVER is when someone I don't know well (or at all!) says to me "You shouldn't feel that way about such-and-such. How can you believe such a thing!"  How do you know how I should feel?  Do you know how I arrived at this juncture and all the extenuating circumstances?  Unless it someone close to the situation that can provide an honest perspective, no celebrity or public figure has the right to assert that my beliefs or feelings about something should be one way or another.   And quite frankly, we shouldn't be turning to pop culture for any sort of advice about anything.  Unfortunately that is all we have and it is in our face.  That's what's next.  The fantasy created by our culture and how it further enslaves women. 

See you soon!

Women Rock. And Don't Let Anyone Try To Convince You Otherwise.

Last November (2010) I dedicated the month to "Women Who Rock".  I wrote about a few women from various periods of history.  There was the smokin', drinkin' nun who rescued children from the Nazi's, Mother Maria Skobtsova, in the 20th century and then there was the 4th century beauty queen turned fearless witness for Christianity St. Katherine.  I also wrote about a famous American woman, who had TWELVE children, but still managed to get various degrees, serve as an advisor to several US presidents, and was an engineer, Lillian Moller Gilbreth.

They rocked. All women rock. If you are a woman and are reading this, you rock. And don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise. 

In October, I want to present my case as to what I think true feminist is or should be, and she's no shrinking violet.  However, a real feminist to me is not a woman trying to be like a man.  Let the men do their own thing.  There is a difference between men and women, and it's okay.   My husband is physically stronger than I, and I don't care that I have to go to him to open a jar of pickles.  I don't feel inferior to him because there are things that he can do that I can't.  I know some women have a huge problem with Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism because women are not permitted to hold the office of priest. Quite honestly, I don't have a problem with that.  I have never viewed it as anti-woman or some sort conspiracy to keep women down.  As a matter of fact, the most honored human being in the Orthodox Christian and Roman Catholic Church is A WOMAN!!!!  And, the Virgin Mary was no push-over for sure.  Without the Virgin Mary's un-coerced consent (the Archangel Gabriel did not threaten her to agree to carry a child while being unwed), there is no Messiah entering into the world, hence no crucifixion, no resurrection, and ultimately no salvation.  The fact that women cannot be priests is so minuscule of a matter when you realize that there would be no priesthood in the Church at all if had not been for a woman agreeing to a take on such an enormous responsibility. (Here's the story in case you are unfamiliar with the details. Luke 1:26-56) 

Again, these won't be male-bashing posts.  I am married to a man and I have a son. Obviously, I don't hate men.  And I do believe that men are more "useful" than just for opening the lids of jars. (I chose the word "useful" as a joke.  In reality I find it to be a disgusting word when applied to human beings.)   It is just that I am also the mother of two girls, so it is very important to me to expose the falsities of how American culture portrays women to them and what the reality of the situation is.  I am very very close to banning television in my home for this very reason.   When our culture preaches that the entertainer Madonna opened so many doors for women in regards to expressing their sexuality, I have to honestly counter that by saying (and truly believing!) that she set us back into slavery.  She is a businesswoman, a self-proclaimed "Material Girl", nothing more, nothing less.   Sex sells and she took advantage of that.  From an American capitalist point of view, you could say "Bravo Madonna! Well done! You can now afford to buy and do whatever you like! American dream accomplished!" But from where I sit and observe, women, now more than ever, believe their self worth is based on how much men desire them and they can "get" through manipulation of that desire, a truly heinous and potentially deadly lie.      

See you all in October.

Death, post 5, Death and Mercy

This is the last post on death for the time being.  I have not been exhaustive on the topic by any stretch of the imagination.  As I mentioned in the first few posts there are many different facets to the topic, and I ended up approaching death by explaining what it means as an Orthodox Christian to be "dead to the world" and to live one's life with the end in mind, and the remembrance of death is the vital means to this end.  I gave both the ordinary example of my simple grandfather who lived as a layman (a carpenter by trade) and the extraordinary example of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco.


Some people may make the argument that living your life with the end in mind is depressing and robs you of everyday joy.  An atheist that does not believe in an afterlife or a Christian that believes that they are already "saved" and hence somehow will avoid judgment may say this I suppose.  But to those of us that believe that our actions (or inactions) actually have eternal consequences, remembering that our lives can end at any given moment (google September 11, 2001 for details) should keep us in check.  Living a self-examined life and continually confessing and changing those areas that fall short of what God asks from us is really the only way to prepare ourselves for the inevitable judgment.  However, the more and more we tie ourselves up with unnecessary cares of this world, the more and more impossible this becomes.  Being dead to the world doesn't mean ignoring all other people and focusing on yourself.  It is forgetting about your own needs, and focusing on the needs of other people.  And what do people need?  The obvious answer is, they need our love, and they need it unconditionally, regardless of whether they believe in our religious or political ideas.  And, I think, that the most important aspect of this love, is mercy and not judgment. 

Fr. Gabriel Cooke of blessed memory once relayed the following story to us one Sunday.  I think this really underscores the Orthodox Christian world view.

Fr. Gabriel had been invited to a pan-Christian event of the greater Phoenix metro area.  Leaders of various Christian denominations gathered together for a general discussion of ideas and the topic of what was to be hoped for at the Last Judgment came up.  One pastor stood up and proclaimed "Justice!  I want justice to be done!"  This announcement brought up great applause and agreement.  After a minute or two, things settled down and Fr. Gabriel stood up and replied "Justice?  Really?  My hope is in mercy.  I will need mercy from God, because it will be in His mercy that I will be saved."  No grand applause for this comment.

Realizing that we are all in need of mercy levels the playing field.  It deflates the ego and self-righteousness dissipates.  However if we occupy ourselves with judging others, with obtaining more and more stuff, or with zombifying our souls with entertainment, there is no time in our self-absorbed lives to give thought to another person. It's a very hard thing and life long struggle to be sure, but this being "dead to the world" is the only way.

Here's a quote from St. Innocent of Alaska, another Orthodox saint of North America.  I highly recommend his biography, St. Innocent, Apostle to America, it reads like a page turning adventure novel. The courage, the determination and above all, the love St. Innocent had for God and His children is almost beyond belief.  Anyhow, St. Innocent said the following: 

 

To deny oneself means to give up one's bad habits; to root out of the heart all that ties us to the world; not to cherish bad thoughts and desires; to suppress every evil thought; to avoid occasions of sin; not to desire or to do anything out of self-love, but to do everything out of love for God. To deny oneself, according to St. Paul means "to be dead to sin. . . but alive to God."

or from Jesus Christ Himself in Matthew 25:31-46:

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’


37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (emphasis mine)

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” 

Death, post 4, Life of the Living Dead

Pretty cool title if I do say so myself.

So this next post is about the saints. Now before anyone gets their proverbial undies in a bunch, let me say one thing.  We are all called to be saints. A saint is someone who is "sanctified" or "holy".  One who is holy is someone who is separated from the ordinary.  Like the sabbath day is a holy day to be separated from the other six, so is a holy person. However, there are human beings who have lived such Christ-like, humble and loving lives that they stand out more than the rest of us "saints".  The saints that are officially recognized by the Church are those whose lives you should look to and emulate.  They made it to the end of their lives, dying to the old Adam, and living like the new Adam, Jesus Christ.  The Orthodox Church bestows them with the title "St. So-and-So".   We have feast days and icons to remember these amazing men, women and children, and their continual intercessions are before the throne of God. (Revelation 5:7-9).     

Now it goes without saying, that there are tens of millions of others who qualify for this honor, however they lived and died without anyone really knowing about them.  My own grandfather was eulogized as "a saint walking among us".  He lived humbly and quietly. He glorified God at all times not only with his mouth, but more importantly with his actions.  He did not spend his life in vain pursuit of money or glory, but kept his eye on the end.  Will there ever be a "St. John of Syracuse" with an icon painted of him?  Probably not.  However, there is no doubt that he lived the life Christ asked him to and that he rests in Paradise.  I remember the day of his death each year because it marks the successful end of a life lived in love and truth, and the day he entered into the life he had been working towards.  My grandfather did not leave me money, real estate or any other item that is deemed as important or having value by this passing and corrupt world.   He left me his example of his life, one lived within the bosom of the Orthodox Christian church, fed by her sacraments and the understanding of the Scriptures as passed down from the other saints through the 2000 years of the Church's life.

Anyhow..back to death. The saints are death-conscious individuals.  They put off the old man, and day by day they become more and more like Christ, fulfilling their "death" in baptism.  And as this happens, the natural result (although people call it supernatural because it is so different from the reality of our present distorted world)  is that they too are able to heal people of sickness, avert disasters and the like.  The following is just a very minuscule example from the modern day life of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, who passed into eternal life in 1966. 
  

The miracle-working power and clairvoyance of Saint John were well known in Shanghai. Once, during Bright Week, Saint John came to the Jewish hospital to visit the Orthodox [Christian] patients there. Passing through one ward, he stopped in front of a screen, concealing the bed upon which an elderly Jewish woman lay dying. Her family members were awaiting her death nearby. The Saint raised a cross above the screen and loudly proclaimed: Christ is Risen! upon which the dying woman regained consciousness and asked for water. The Saint approached the nurse and said, the patient wants to drink. The medical staff was stunned by the change which had taken place in one who only moments earlier was dying. Soon the woman recovered and was discharged from the hospital. Such incidents were numerous.

It so happened that Saint John was urgently called to administer Holy Communion to a dying man in the hospital. Having taken the Holy Gifts, the Saint headed there with another clergyman. When they arrived they saw a young man, about 20 years of age, playing on a harmonica. He had already recovered and was to leave the hospital shortly. The Saint called him over saying, I want to give you Holy Communion right now. The young man immediately came up to him, confessed, and received Holy Communion. The amazed clergyman asked Saint John why he did not go to the one dying, but detained himself with an obviously healthy young man. The Saint answered simply, He will die tonight, but the other, who is seriously ill, will live yet many years. That is precisely what came to pass. The Lord manifested similar miracles in Europe and America through His Saint.

This is not unusual.  Just the result of a person who lives in deep humility and with great love for God and every human being. Here's more on St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco.  I also recommend the book Blessed John the Wonderworker, published by St. Herman Press.  A quick google will give you tons of information as well.   To this very day, St. John still prays for those of us still struggling in this life.  The miracles are countless and true. Prayer services are done every Saturday at his tomb where you can have your name and/or the name(s) of those needing God's help read. [click here to do so].  The testimonies to his intercession before God are everywhere by all different kinds of people.  Here is a short podcast (about 20 minutes or so) of one such encounter from the Illumined Heart.
 
Well, that was a long post.  I think I'll do one more post on death and then head on into mercy.  I leave you today with these parting words that were spoken about St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco. I think it really sums up what I have been trying to say.

In these frightening days of general apostasy from God, the Lord has not abandoned his people and has sent them a great intercessor. Standing before the throne of God is a courageous defender of the Church of Christ; a struggler and ascetic according to the tradition of the stylites who took upon themselves the strictest form of self-mortification and, at times, taking upon themselves foolishness for Christ's sake, which exceeds the wisdom of this world; a good and loving pastor who laid down his life for his sheep; a teacher and nurturer of Orthodox youth; a miracle-worker and unmercenary healer; an apostle and missionary; a deep theologian; a beholder of mysteries and a hierarch of universal significance, who unwaveringly followed that which he had promised before God and men in his testimony read during his election to the episcopacy: What greater benefit can one bring to one's neighbor, other than to prepare him for eternal life…