CATECHESIS 62: On Our Imitating the Lord’s Sufferings

Brethren and fathers, how good it has become for us the separation from the monastery here!

“For why should our liberty be subject to the judgement of another’s conscience?” [1 Cor. 10:29].

And why do we maltreat ourselves still for what is of no use? We managed as far as it was possible and the moment allowed; but now, because when the moment summoned they did not choose persecution on behalf of Christ, as certain others, it is necessary to listen to the Prophet when he says,

“Come out from among them and be separated,” [Isa. 52:11]

says the Lord. If others act otherwise over these matters, they will render an account to the Lord on the day of judgement; for it seems to me that to be brought under their power is equivalent of being indifferent towards the heretics. You see that the same distinction withdraws us from the world and drives us to trouble, to distress, to hunger, to persecution, to prison, to death;

“but in all these we must be supremely victorious through the God who loved us,” [Rom. 8:37]

when, whenever he sees a soul thirsting for Him, gives it force to be able to endure sufferings on His behalf. And to this the Forty Martyrs, whose memorial we have just celebrated, bear witness with the others; for we cannot say that they possessed a different nature to the one we have. But since they loved God with a true heart, they were empowered in their weakness to throw down the invisible enemy by the flesh, and to accomplish a struggle of such a quality and greatness that all Christians praise it in song. And blessed is one who has been granted to share in the sufferings of Christ,[ Cf. 1 Pet. 4:13] even to some extent at least: the persecuted, because He too was persecuted; the arrested, because He too was arrested; the reviled, because He too was reviled; the scourged, because He too was scourged; the imprisoned, because He too was imprisoned; see too why it is written,

“If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny, He too will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful; He is not able to deny Himself” [2 Tim. 2:11-13].

Do you see the promises and the threats, of what sort and how great they are? For the rest then, brethren, let us strive, let us struggle by the grace of Christ not to shame those things that have been previously mentioned: the banishments, the imprisonments, the scourgings. We may not all have been imprisoned, nor all scourged; but nevertheless the fellowship of life itself becomes a fellowship of sufferings,

“for if one limb suffers, all the limbs suffer with it; if one limb is glorified, all the limbs rejoice with it” [1 Cor. 12:26]. And would that we were even “more one body and one spirit, as we have been called in one hope of our calling,” [Eph. 4:4]

having Christ as the head, to become well-pleasing to God, to gain the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and might with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

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© 2011, admin. All rights reserved.

Our Venerable and God-bearing Father Theodore the Studite was a hymnographer and theologian as well as the abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Studios, outside of Constantinople, during the ninth century.

His great theological contribution, On the Holy Icons, was for the defense of icons during the Second Iconoclasm Period (814-842). He is also known for his writings and influence on monastic reform.

It was spoken on the day of the Annunciation.

Brethren and fathers, the Annunciation is here and it is the first of the Feasts of the Lord, and we should not simply celebrate as most do, but with understanding and with reverence for the mystery. What is the mystery? That the Son of God becomes son of man, using the holy Virgin as the means, dwelling in her and from her fashioning for Himself a temple and becoming perfect man. Why so?

“That he might ransom those under the law,” as it is written,”and that we might receive sonship” [Gal. 4:5]

that we may no longer be slaves, but free; no longer subject to the passions, but free of passions; no longer friends of the world, but friends of God; no longer walking according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.

“Those who walk according to the flesh, think the things of the flesh; those who walk according to the spirit, the things of the spirit; for the thought of the flesh is death; but the thought of the spirit, life and peace. And so the thought of the flesh is hostile to God, for it is not subject to the law of God. Indeed it cannot be. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” [Rom. 8:5-8].

In brief this is the power of the mystery, and this is why we should celebrate spiritually and behave spiritually, with holiness and justice, with love, with gentleness, with peace,

“with forbearance, with goodness, with the Holy Spirit” [2 Cor. 6:6]

so that as far as we ourselves are concerned we do not render the dispensation of our Lord Jesus Christ empty and ineffectual.

Not only that, but we should both pray and grieve for the world. Why so? Because the Son of God came to save the world, and the world rejects Him. Tribes and languages reject Him; the barbarian nations reject Him, those who have had his holy name invoked upon them reject Him, some through abandoning the faith, others through their evil lives. What should He have done and did not do? Being God He became man,

“He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, the death of the cross” [Phil. 2,8.]

he gave us His body to eat and His blood to drink; He allowed us to call him Father, Brother, Head, Teacher, Bridegroom, Fellow-heir and all the other titles which there is no time to mention now. And still He is rejected, and still He bears it.

“For,” He says, “I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world” [John 12:47].

What then is there to say, brethren? That the genuine disciples are grieved by the rejections of their fellow-disciples, thus showing love both for the teacher and for the disciples. So too, genuine servants suffer in the same way from the desertions of their fellow-servants. This is why the great Apostle orders that

“we should offer supplications, prayers, entreaties, thanksgivings on behalf of all mankind, for kings and for all in high positions” [1 Tim. 2:1-2]

and elsewhere he says this on the subject,

“I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie, my conscience bears witness with me in the Holy Spirit, that I have a great grief and unceasing anguish in my heart; for I have prayed that I might be anathema to Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” [Rom. 9:1-3].

You see the power of love? You see the height of friendship? Moses shows it too when he says to God,

“If you will forgive them their sin, forgive; if not, wipe me out of the book which you have written” [Exodus 32:32].

So we too, as genuine and not counterfeit disciples, should not only look to what concerns ourselves, but we should grieve and pray for our brothers and for the whole world; for by so doing what is pleasing to the Lord we shall become inheritors of eternal life, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the might with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

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© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

Our Venerable and God-bearing Father Theodore the Studite was a hymnographer and theologian as well as the abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Studios, outside of Constantinople, during the ninth century.

His great theological contribution, On the Holy Icons, was for the defense of icons during the Second Iconoclasm Period (814-842). He is also known for his writings and influence on monastic reform.

On our Accomplishing the Days of the Fast Gently and Readily in the Hope of Life Without End

Brethren and fathers, fasting is good if it possesses its own special characteristics, which are to be peaceable, meek, well-established, obedient, humble, sympathetic and all the other forms of virtue. But the devil hurries to suggest the opposite to fasters and to make them insolent, angry, bad-tempered, puffed up, so as to produce hurt more than gain.

But let us not be ignorant of his plans, but continue our path peaceably, gently, meekly and steadfastly bearing with one another in love, knowing that this is what is acceptable to God; for though you bend your neck double like a hoop and smother yourself with sackcloth and ashes, if these qualities are lacking to you, you would not be well-pleasing to him. Because while fasting batters and wastes the body, it clears the soul and makes it flourish.

“For as much as our outer nature is perishing,” it says, “by so much the inner is being renewed day by day.” And our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding weight of glory.

So that looking at the recompense, let us bear the toils of virtue with long-suffering, giving thanks to the God and Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love.

Do we not communicate each day of his immaculate body and blood?[1]

What could be sweeter and more filled with enjoyment than this, since those who partake with a pure conscience will obtain eternal life? Do we not converse each day with the godly David and the other Holy Fathers through taking in the readings? What could bring greater consolation to the soul? Have we not broken off contact with the world and with our relatives according to the flesh?

Again is anything more blessed or higher than this? For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things to Himself. And so, my brothers, let us rejoice and be glad as we repudiate every pleasure.

“All flesh is grass, and all human glory like the flower of the grass.”

The grass withered and the flower faded, but the work of virtue endures for ever.

“Is anyone among you suffering?” as the brother of God says, “Let him pray. Is anyone sad? Let him sing psalms.”

Is anyone tempted by evil passion? — since the tempter is always at work — let him endure patiently as he listens to the one who says,

“Blessed is the one who endures temptation; for when he has been proved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them,” said the Lord,

to whom be glory and might, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

1 This suggests that daily Communion was the norm for St Theodore’s monks. This would imply that during Lent the Liturgy of the Presanctified was celebrated every weekday, not just on Wednesdays and Fridays.

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

Our Venerable and God-bearing Father Theodore the Studite was a hymnographer and theologian as well as the abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Studios, outside of Constantinople, during the ninth century.

His great theological contribution, On the Holy Icons, was for the defense of icons during the Second Iconoclasm Period (814-842). He is also known for his writings and influence on monastic reform.

On fasting; and that the true fast of the obedient and the subject is the cutting off of one’s will. Given on Cheesefare Sunday.

Brethren and Fathers, our good God who gives us life and brings us from year to year, has brought us also with love for mankind to this present time of fasting, in which each of the eager, as their choice directs, enters the contest; one devoting himself to self-mastery, eating only every two or three days, another to vigil, keeping vigil for so long or so long, another spending even longer in prostrations, and others in other ascetic actions.

Quite simply during these holy days it is possible to see great zeal and attention. But the true subject behaves with obedience not at any particular time, but keeps up the struggle always. What is the struggle? Not to walk according to one’s own will, but to let oneself be ruled by the disposition of the superior. This is better than the other works of zeal and is a crown of martyrdom; except that for you there is also change of diet, multiplication of prostrations and increase of psalmody are in accord with the established tradition from of old.

And so I ask, let us welcome gladly the gift of the fast, not making ourselves miserable, as we are taught, but let us advance with cheerfulness of heart, innocent, not slandering, not angry, not evil, not envying; rather peaceable towards each other, and loving, fair, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits; breathing in seasonable stillness, since hubbub is damaging in a community; speaking suitable words, since too unreasonable stillness is profitless; yet above all unsleepingly keeping watch over our thoughts, not opening the door to the passions, not giving place to the devil.

If the spirit of the powerful one, it says, rise up against you, do not let it find your place. So that the enemy has power to suggest, but in no way to enter.

We are lords of ourselves; let us not open our door to the devil; rather let us keep guard over our soul as a bride of Christ, not set about with tumult, unwounded by the arrows of the thoughts; for thus we are able to become a dwelling of God in Spirit.

Thus we may be made worthy to hear, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Quite simply, Whatever is true, whatever noble, whatever just, whatever pure, whatever lovely, whatever of good report, if there is anything virtuous, if there is anything praiseworthy, to speak like the Apostle, do it; and the God of peace will be with you all, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to whom be the glory and the might, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.

Our Venerable and God-bearing Father Theodore the Studite was a hymnographer and theologian as well as the abbot of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Studios, outside of Constantinople. His great theological contribution, On the Holy Icons, was for the defense of icons during the Second Iconoclasm Period (814-842). He is also known for his writings and influence on monastic reform.

On the great and manifest day of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was given on Meatfare Sunday.

Brethren and fathers, it is a universal law on this day for those who live in the world to stop eating meat and one may see among them great competition in meat-eating and wine-bibbing, and even spectacles of outrageous pastimes which it is shameful to speak about. It is necessary to participate with moderation and to give thanks to the Lord for what we have and to make worthy preparation for the banquet before us; while they possessed by the wiles of the devil do the opposite, demonstrating that they have accepted one rather than the other. Why have I mentioned these things? So that we humble monks may not direct our thoughts in that direction, nor desire their desire, which is not worthy of desire, but rather of misery; let us rather turn to consider the Gospel we are going to listen to, thinking, while the canon is being chanted, about the great and manifest day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when the judge

will stand the sheep on his right but the goats on his left.

And to those on the right he will utter that blessed and most longed for invitation,

Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

while to those on the left he will utter that most unwelcome and piteous sentence,

Depart from me, accursed, into the everlasting fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.

These words are full of dread, fear and alarm; they should make us, and them, as we reflect fall down and weep and make God merciful to us, before he has come to test those who listen. But although they are thus, let us, I beg, hear and heed the message of the Gospel, striving keenly to serve the Lord with fear and trembling, removing all wickedness from the soul, introducing instead all knowledge of good works, compassionate pity, goodness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, and whatever else is good and estimable, that when we have led lives worthy of the Gospel of Christ we may become heirs of the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belong glory and might with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

© 2010, Fr. John A. Peck. All rights reserved.