HOLY TRADITION OF THE TRUE CHURCH

  HOLY TRADITION 

OF THE TRUE CHURCH

“Therefore brethren, stand firmly, and hold the traditions which you have been taught whether by word or by an epistle”

(2 Thess. 2:15)

     The monks once asked Paisus the Great: “Speak to us Father, a word for salvation, and tell us how we must live to please God.” The elder replied: “Go and keep the commandments of God and hold firmly to the tradition of the Fathers.”  “the tradition of the Fathers” are the experiences of the saints, in the spiritual sphere, an experience grown immense in close to two-thousand years. The experience of thousands and thousands of holy men and women– an incredibly large storehouse, of wisdom and heap of proofs of every truth of Holy Scripture. And all this good, all this wisdom, all these proofs, have been cast aside by the Protestants!  O what unspeakable stupidity!  O, what an extreme poverty.   (The above verse is from Prologue of Ochrid 2 Page 334,335) 

    They have no communication with the Logos because they started additional churches to replace corrupt Rome, whom they erroneously thought was the true church which had become corrupted.

   The word used in the Holy Bible and translated as “tradition”, indicated that it has been “handed down to us”, to be preserved and handed to others by us. Everything is not found in written text, as the Protestant reformers assert claiming Sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone. But they distort   and oppose Scripture, doing great harm to the truth which commands us to Hold firmly the traditions, both oral and written, which we have received.

 The great wealth of Holy Orthodoxy is not to be found  in the Scripture alone., and neither the Papacy nor Protestants have access to this infinite wealth. Here is the infinite wealth before their eyes which fail to see. 

1. Jesus Christ being the Logos of the Father has in himself all that the Father has.                         

2. Jesus never uttered a single word in vain . Now hear the ending of the Gospel of St. John.

     “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which, if they should all be written, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. ” (John 21:25).  

The Evangelist is referring to oral speech and not scripture. The phrase “even the world itself could not contain” demonstrates the enormity and infinitude of all that Christ said, and this if to be found only in Orthodox Tradition

LIFE WITHOUT FAITH IN THE TRUE JESUS CHRIST

LIFE WITHOUT FAITH IN THE TRUE JESUS CHRIST

BETTER NOT TO HAVE BEEN BORN

     Our intellect  has human limitations and therefore can never ascend to the divine. But there is a spark of the divine in every human being, which is why we say that they are the image of God.  That voice is the small voice within us which challenges or praises us for decisions we freely make. This from the divine Mind, which unlike human intellect, knows everything and is the cause of all existence. From that divine Mind was sent to Orthodox Christians at Baptism, the Comforter and spirit of truth.

     Human intellect and reasoning, always ceases with death, blind to spiritual things.  Human reasoning cannot deal with spiritual matters, unsearchable wit the human eye.   Human reasoning is of the flesh and limited for it can know nothing about the spirit. Christ says: “The hour is come when the true worshiper’s of God shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him.                                                   (John 4:23).

    Why is it that the most important aspect of Orthodox life is so thoroughly unknown in secular society? The aspect we speak about is that all the seculars follow human leaders and human teachers. In Orthodoxy however, we have no human leader for we follow the divine God man who is our Head and our King.  To make certain that we would not be led astray, He sent us the Comforter and Holy Spirit of Truth as our infallible Guide. These things are in accord with  God’s providence. He formed the Church to be His body, established Himself as Head and sent the Holy Spirit as Guide of the Church. He peoples His Church with rational sheep who having rejected the hireling and the false shepherds and follow only the true and Good Shepherd.

     For over twenty centuries the Church has glorified Saints, anointed with holy tears and myrrh the Orthodox faithful.  This is not an occasional event, but a repeated. It is not only original icons, but copies that emit myrrh. In Orthodoxy we have a special word for this constant event, and proof of divine presence. We call them Myrrh-streaming.  Orthodox Christians are not surprised, but are amazed during these frequent events, piously bowing to heaven and give thanks, deepening their repentance and love for Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  The blind receive sight, the deaf made to hear, and wonders occur wherever these icons appear.  What joy it is to live an Orthodox Christian life. It takes us up and away from this world into the heavenly world, with the Cherubim, Seraphim and Thrones and all the Angelic hosts. If in this life we do not become closer to and the servants of Jesus Christ, it would be better not to have been born.

    Some of these icons have a long history such as the Iveron icon of Honolulu, Hawaii. Here is one account.

CHRISTIAN LIFE REGARDING ANGER

CHRISTIAN LIFE REGARDING ANGER

“It is never worthwhile to lose my temper.  

On the face of it, there is nothing in the world 

Over which it is worth losing your temper, 

For what is more valuable than the soul and its peace?  

This peace is destroyed by anger.  

When I am angry, I assume the role of slanderer 

And I fan the flames into a great blaze 

In my imagination of the offence of another.”

“If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink.”

    The Pharisees were rebuked by Christ because of their hypocrisy, which caused them to appear to be what they were not and to possess what they lacked. They appeared to be humble but were arrogant. They appeared to be generous but were stingy. They appeared to be fasting but were gluttonous.  They did not know the virtue of sincerity. If anyone is genuinely thirsty let him come without hesitation to Christ, believing he will get what he seeks. Sincerity is the only possible approach to the riches of Christ, for He knows the minds of all men and gives to the humble but takes away from the arrogant.

    We very small-minded men whose knowledge is microscopic need to first understand how and why Christ teaches us and with great authority. What drew the fishermen to Him ? How did they know that He is the one sent by God and is God, performing His works.  It was by divine revelation.  “Flesh and blood has not revealed it to you but my  Father who is in heaven.”    Christ, being God is the source of everything being man is the perfection of man to which we must attain. We need look no longer, for in Christ we will find everything we need perfect in every way. “Mary has chosen the better part.”  We cannot approach Christ in a casual manner, but with awesomeness , trembling  and recognition of His majesty! Saint Paul teaches us this when he ecstatically exclaims:

“O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? O who has first given to Him, that it shall be requited to him again. For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”