Diocesan Anointing Service

24/02/2010

The time of year is again approaching when Orthodox Christians come together during the season of Great Lent to participate in the Mystery of Holy Unction.  It will be celebrated in our diocese on Saturday, the 20th of March, being the 7th of March in the Church calendar and the Saturday of the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God.  This will take place at 3 o' clock in the afternoon at the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and the Holy Royal Martyrs, in Chiswick, West London.

 

The service consists of seven epistles and seven Gospels, each reminding us of the healing brought to us by Christ.  In his general Epistle, St James, the Brother of the Lord, exhorts the local churches, saying 'Is any man sick among you? Let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord' (James 5:14).  Acknowledging our physical and spiritual sickness, we come to God in prayer, asking for healing of our souls and bodies, for the sake of our salvation.

 

In a time when the world presents us with all manner of alternative therapies, self-help books, and new age healing techniqies, relying on man's own power to heal himself, it is important for us Christians to remind ourselves that it is Christ Who heals us; it is Christ Who redeems fallen creation, with its suffering and pain; it is Christ alone Who has conquered the power of sin and death by his glorious Resurrection.  Therefore, it is to Christ that we must turn for healing of our souls and bodies; it is in the incarnate Christ that we must trust to raise us beyond the mire of fallenness through his Resurrection and Ascension, and it is to Christ that we must pray with compunction and humility.

 

Because Holy Unction is intrinsically bound to the physical and spiritual healing that we receive in the life of the Church, we must approach this Mystery as we would Holy Communion, and seek to free ourselves of the sins that separate us from the fullness of life in Christ.  Therefore, it is proper that we should confess our sins and be absolved before we are anointed.

 

May this anointing strengthen us in our pilgrim journey into the fullness of life in Christ, at the will of the Father, and through the power of the Holy and life-creating Spirit.

Haiti Appeal

24/02/2010

Please continue to pray for the much-suffering people of Haiti.  The news cameras have begun to move on but the situation is still dire.  If you are able to contribute financially to the aid work, please donate either to the ROCOR Fund for Assistance or the International Orthodox Christian Charities.

40th Anniversary of SGOIS

24/02/2010

The Saint George Orthodox Information Service, publishers of Orthodox News and distrubutors of numerous books, liturgical necessities, and devotional aids, marks its fortieth year of operations this year.  Tentative plans are for the Divine Liturgy to be served at the Church of the Mother of God, the Joy of All Who Sorrow, on Saturday, the 24th of July, followed by a reception at The White House.  Suggestions and enquiries should be directed to Father Deacon Andrew Bond.

Please continue to support the important work that they do.

The Lenten Epistle of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion

15/02/2010

To the Archpastors, Pastors, Monastics and All the Faithful Children of the Russian Church Abroad

Dear archpastors, pastors, monastics, brethren, sisters and children, beloved in the Lord!

I congratulate all of you with the arrival of the salvific days of the Great Fast! If we turn to the sources, we see that, even as early as Old Testament times, fasting was one of the elements of the ascetic life. The prophets and teachers of Israel fasted; after his Baptism, Christ began his public ministry by first withdrawing into the wilderness, where He spent forty days fasting; and the Forerunner, Saint John the Baptist, fasted strictly before going forth to preach. Kings and simple folk all fasted to achieve reconciliation with God, to show Him their love.

The holy Forty-Day Fast is special, not only in the life of the Church, but in the life of each Christian, who often refers to it as the "springtime of repentance.” The divine services of the Great Fast begin with the penitent words of the Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete: "Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me!" and with the hymn, "Open unto me the doors of repentance, O Bestower of life," thereby affirming that without repentance there can be no salvation. Repentance is the greatest gift God gives a man: it is a second baptism in which, cleansed of sins, we again find the grace which was lost in the fall. But repentance is also a heavy, painstaking interior labour of purifying the heart of moral impurity, which means seeking out the sin within oneself — in one's thoughts, words, actions — becoming aware of it, hating it, and ultimately employing the Church's grace-filled means to root it out. The fruit of repentance is amendment, the transformation of one's life.

It is for this reason that the Church calls us during the holy days of the Forty-Day Fast to fast "an acceptable fast, well-pleasing to the Lord". This is why we add to bodily fasting a spiritual fast: prayer, the doing of good works, the reading of the sacred Scriptures, attendance at the divine services, the offering of sincere repentance, and the communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. This is what constitutes a true fast pleasing to God and saving for us all. The Holy Church calls us to examine our life during the time of the Fast, to test our conscience in the light of the truths of the Gospel. This means that we must not only call to mind our personal sins and sincerely repent of them, but by our personal life we must bring forth spiritual fruits worthy of repentance, such as "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, loving-kindness, faith, meekness, temperance" (Galatians 5:22-23). The Fast is not a time for arguments or to look for others to blame. The meaning of the Fast lies in the perfecting of our love for God and our neighbour, because it is love that is the beginning of every virtue. Fasting is nothing, asceticism is nothing if love is absent, which is why it is written: "God is love” (I John 4:8), and "As ye will that others treat you, so ought ye to treat them' (Luke 6:31)," the Lord teaches us.

Fasting is liberation from everything extraneous that deprives us of precious energy and time, that distracts us from "the one thing needful" (Luke 10:42). This is a time when one should not only avoid excessive eating, but the purchase of luxury items; it is a time to restrict our access to vain information about this transitory life and open ourselves to the Word of God, the teachings of the holy Fathers and the history of the Church.

What else should we be doing during the Fast? Private prayer, the examination of our conscience and of our life and works in the light of the Holy Gospel, contemplation of the sufferings and death our Saviour endured for us, reconciliation with those close to us, conversation with pious people, charity, hospitality.

Let us especially remember that the Great Fast is a time when one should attentively examine everything one says. Our words possess great power: either positive or negative, destructive or edifying. This is why we will be judged not only for our actions, but also for our words. "I say unto you that for every idle word that men utter, they will give answer on the day of judgement; for one is justified by one's words and one is condemned by one's words," said Christ the Saviour.

Let us remember, dear brethren and sisters, that our faith consists of two wings: fasting and prayer. A bird cannot fly with only one wing; and so also every believing Christian must also fast and pray. As you begin the Fast, fear pride, self-importance, and self-love. Set as your principal goal the acquisition of humility and meekness. Patiently overcome temptations, humbling oneself again and again. Then the Lord will bless you to perceive a gracious influence of the Great Fast upon your soul and body. “Seest thou what fasting doeth?" writes the holy hierarch Athansius the Great; "It healeth sicknesses, driveth the demons away, banisheth evil thoughts, and maketh the heart pure."

I prayerfully desire that all of you pass through the course of the forthcoming Great Fast and arrive at the holy Resurrection of Christ with a pure heart. May the Lord grant you the strength to accomplish this. May He increase within you faith, hope, love, humble-mindedness and patience.

I invoke upon all the faithful children of the Russian Church Abroad the blessing of God.

With love in the Lord and a request for your holy prayers,

Metropolitan of Eastern America and New York,
First Hierarch of the Russian Church Abroad

Devotions for Lent

31/01/2010

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America has launched a website with devotional material for Great Lent and the Pre-Lenten period.