THE COMING MONTH
THIS MONTH we have something of a lull - no Great Feasts and, with the exception of the normal Wednesday and Friday fasting, no special fast days. However, we have some very beautiful celebrations, the first being the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God which falls on 1st/14th of the month, then the Holy Apostle Thomas the Twin (6th / 19th), the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke (18th/31st), the Holy Apostle James the Brother of God (23rd October / 5th November) and the Great Martyr Demetrius the Myron-Streaming, whose feast this year falls on a Sunday (26th October /8th November), and, especially for those of us in Synod in Resistance of the Greek Church, the feast of Sts Cyprian and Justina (2nd/15th) is particularly significant, being both the name day of our Metropolitan, and the dedication feast of the Sacred Monastery at Fili.
Among the other saints, celebrated this month, we have:
Our Venerable Father John the Hermit and his Ninety Eight Companions (7th/20th). St John and thirty five of these fathers were Egyptian ascetics, but reading of the Lord’s injunction to the Patriarch Abraham, “Leave your country and your kindred,” they decided to take up the struggle of voluntary exile. They took ship and settled on the Island of Cyprus. There they were in time joined by other fathers, and so that these might not lose the crown gained through exile, they moved again, this time to Pamphylia. Here more joined their company, so that the whole band numbered ninety-nine; the hundredth being their Contest-Setter and Leader, Christ Himself. Again they chose exile, and they settled in Crete, where in a remote area they found a series of caves on either side of a ravine. St John, wishing to climb greater heights ascetically, asked the blessing of his brethren to live in utter seclusion and solitude; however, such was the bond of love between the whole company of the fathers, that though they assented to his request, they prayed that at least they should be united in death. One day, St John, now old and extremely frail, crawled out of his cave hermitage to gather his meagre victuals. A young shepherd was hunting in the area, and, seeing a movement, thought it was some animal. He shot an arrow and mortally wounded the saint. When he realised his mistake, he begged the father for his forgiveness, which with his dying breadth St John imparted to him. That same day, between the third and the seventh hours, the other ninety-eight fathers all died, some at prayer, others on their knees, some leaning on their staffs, and thus the prayer of their brotherly love was fulfilled and they were united in death and in their inheritance of the Kingdom.
The Venerable Nicolas Sviatosha (14th /27th) was of the princely house in Kievan Rus, and the grandson of the Prince Sviatoslav Yaroslavich. However, he resolved to abandon his worldly position, and he joined the monastic brotherhood of the Kievan Caves Monastery, where he placed himself in obedience without seeking any recognition of his former exalted position. When he had made some progress in the monastic disciple, he was granted a blessing to live in seclusion in his cell, and therein he followed a very austere many of life. When, as his health failed, his physician begged him to relax his austerities he declined to do so. He rested from his labours on 14th October, 1143 A.D. A few months after his repose, his brother according to the flesh, the Prince Iziaslav, was healed through the saint’s intercession. The saint’s surname “Sviatosha” is explained in two ways: some saying that it refers to his being of the line of Prince Sviatoslav; others that it was a nickname given him by his relatives. In Russian, it means hypocrite. This is probably how his kinsfolk spoke of him, for they had ceaselessly sought to tear him away from the monastic life, thinking it demeaning to their position in society,
POINTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE
”I liked your comment in the last number about ‘swashbuckling,’ but isn’t one of the big problems that so many Russians think of church as a concert or theatre & not as a place to be healed?”- V.N., London W.5.
As you are a Russian, it would be wrong of me to accuse you of ethnic prejudice! However, at the start I think that in every nationality one sees two things which appear, at first sight, contradictory. First, everyone within each nationality has their own thoughts, prejudices, likes and dislikes - it is dangerous to generalise. Secondly, it does seem that there are, however, trends which are adopted by large swathes of people within any given nation group - after all people are swayed by peer pressure. You have hit upon a tendency which seems to affect many or the Russian faithful, although I am sure that one would also find evidences of it in other Orthodox peoples too. Remember that it was the beauty of the Divine services in the Imperial City of Constantinople which so impressed the envoys of St Vladimir and led him to adopt Orthodox Christianity for his people in the tenth century. That emphasis on beauty, therefore, has a proper place in our church life. It can and does help people. However, it can and does sometimes become negative, as you so rightly suggest. I think there are two things here that we need to consider: the wrong approach to the true beauty of the Divine services; and the distortion of that beauty. To address the second first: among all Orthodox peoples, the original beauty has often been sullied by the adoption of Western forms of iconography and music. One must be careful not to condemn this out of hand, fanatically, - many are the saints and martyrs who lived with and loved such forms. However, it is not the most exalted expression of the beauty of Orthodoxy, and it has perhaps contributed to a worldly spirit growing among worshippers. This returns us to the primary point - the wrong emphasis on the beauty of the services. I have even heard people say that they go to a particular church because the singing is good, which is fair enough - all other things being equal; but far fewer would choose a church because the preaching was sound, the pastoral ministry good, or the services prayerful. Such people are indeed falling into the pit which you mention, they are tending to forget that our going to church is primarily seeking treatment in a spiritual clinic. One would not choose a hospital because the decor was pleasing or the hospital radio station entertaining, although that might help one. One’s primary concerns would be the competence of the medical staff and the quality of the care. We should make similar sober choices in our church allegiance.
