Complete Lent & Holy Week Schedule *(for reference only)

From Father Nick

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On this final Sunday before we enter Holy Week, the life and the deeds of the venerated saint, who is none other than Saint Mary of Egypt, again turns our attention to repentance. Are we familiar with her and her deeds? If not why not turn to her life story for spiritual edification?

(Note: For a recounting of Saint Mary’s story please see https://www.goarch.org/sunday-stmaryofegypt. For an edifying translation of the original text see https://web.archive.org/web/20101230181728/http://monachos.net/content/patristics/patristictexts/182-life-of-mary.)    

The life journey of the saint raises many thoughts. That is because the story describes her as an example of repentance and an achiever of true life ,our life, on earth. Most importantly it is edifying to realize that the story is recounted to make us readers realize that every person is called to approach God and to become members of the body of Christ, to receive the adoption reserved for the sons and daughters of God where the Holy Spirit indwells. This is every person’s task. It is a destination that can be reached if everyone turn to Him insistently asking for His help for the purging from sin. This approach requires full attachment to a passionate, desperate longing, beyond logic and rational approach and beyond social norms and prescribed lifestyles for the riddance of the laws of compulsion and for the freedom encountered only next to God.  Only then all things become possible, with the transformation of a harlot to a saint as a minor example of that gigantic and out-worldly achievement. We need to remember that God calls us and helps us to achieve exactly what can be achieved by Him with us and in us and that is life eternal.

Transforming these thoughts into relevant actions is always important irrespective of the circumstances. As we, for example, find ourselves in a state of necessary isolation search for lessons embedded in the story of Saint Mary, becomes imperative, relevant to our situation and fruitful for spiritual edification. The main point of the story concerns the conditions under which the saving power of God manifested itself. As the saint went through her struggles she discovered that  ” after weeping for long and beating my breast I used to see light at last which seemed to shine on me from everywhere. And after the violent storm, lasting calm descended.” or “and I did not rise from the ground (sometimes I lay thus prostrate for a day and a night) until a calm and sweet light descended and enlightened me and chased away the thoughts that possessed me.” This saving power extends to all of us irrespectively of circumstances. Can we sense it? This is a big question and needs to be answered individually. Quite often, just as the story describes, solitude fosters the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. We, in turn have to accept the blessing of silence and utilize the time for the comprehension of the word of God. This is a point Saint Mary, a secluded hermit, not a scholar, emphasizes repeatedly. Aren’t these circumstances similar to those currently experienced?  It is possible therefore, that the current imposed solitude offers a time to: a) become aware of the holiness and purity of God, b) to repent, especially if we are used to approaching God laden with sins and concerned only about our benefits and c) to abide by His teachings. Many lives of saints who grew intimately familiar with His word, including Saint Mary of Egypt, underscore all three of these points.

In our current environment, do we get any concrete guidance from the Church concerning how to approach God? The path to become like Saint Mary is often hidden in the prayers we utilize. During the Presanctified Liturgy the priest recites the following prayer:

 O God, great and praiseworthy, who through the life-giving death of Your Christ brought us from corruption to incorruption. Set free all our senses from deadly passions, setting over them as a good guide the understanding that is within us. Let our eyes abstain from evil sights; our hearing from idle talk; and our tongue cleansed from unsuitable speech. Purify our lips that sing Your praises, O Lord. Let our hands abstain from evil acts and produce only works that are pleasing to You, safeguarding by Your grace all our limbs and mind.

This prayer sets up an outline of the path to God allowing Him to:

a) set free all our senses from deadly passions

b) (let) our hearing (abstain) from idle talk

c) (let) our tongue be cleansed from unsuitable speech

d) (let God) purify our lips that sing God’s praises and

e) let our hands abstain from evil acts and produce only works that are pleasing to God.

Is this prayer not an outline of the path Saint Mary of Egypt followed to become a saint? Shouldn’t the same process be applicable to our journey in life? The world will continue on, probably long after we are gone and after the current virus is dealt with. However, our opportunities for becoming Sons and Daughters of God diminish if we ignore His wishes now, in this life and within the given circumstances. This we do not want. In this difficult position we find ourselves in, it is necessary to reexamine our priorities and reorient ourselves to God, the healer of every infirmity and every malady. Isolation and silence are the perfect conditions for the contemplative path, much loved and utilized by the Lord as He prayed in solitude. In it we can find the solace and the healing our whole existence cries out for.     

In Christ

Fr. N.Galanopoulos

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