Undusted Texts

Christ the Vine, showing the Apostles who were first appointed as guardians of the Church "Obedience is always freer and more faithful when it proceeds from love rather than from fear." The Lord did not leave each man to his own will and thoughts: He did not leave us orphans.  In addition to the Spirit that He grants to all, He also gave us the elders of the Church to lead us.  The pope, patriarchs, bishops, and priests are given the task of guiding the Lord's flock, and they will have to render an account for their guidance at the Judgment.  This burden of responsibility is heavy upon them, and heavy too can be our obedience to them, for their directives may not be according to our opinions.  Yet, "that obedience is salvific which is hard: and that which you like and is easy is of little value" (Elder Michael of Valaam). What the elders the Lord has placed over us proclaim, we are to follow, unless it be truly heresy.  This does not mean that the ...

  St. Nil Sorsky and the Miracle-Workers of White Lake There are times that we set aside for prayer, when we follow a prayer rule, or set aside time to sit in the Lord's presence, or take part in the Church's Liturgy.  Yet we are called to pray unceasingly, and few of us can spend all of our time in prayer rules.  So we have other ways to pray: short prayers we can say when God spontaneously comes to mind, or when our hearts are filled to bursting to pray to Him.  These prayers are many and varied, and they stretch across many traditions.  The Roman Church used to call them "ejaculation" or "aspirations," while the Copts have a common one they call "the Arrow Prayer."  What matters is that they are short prayers we can offer to God at any time, when our souls are filled to bursting with love of Him or with a desire to plead to Him.  "It is possible to pray sitting, walking, sleeping, working, alone and in company. Everywhere, at all ...

"When the priests and the people which stood in the Temple Court heard the Expressed Name come forth from the mouth of the High Priest, they used to kneel and bow themselves and fall down on their faces and say, 'Blessed be the name of the glory of his kingdom for ever and ever!'"-- Yoma 6:2 For many cultures throughout the world, a name is a powerful thing.  It was no different for our forefathers in faith, the sons of Israel, for to them had been revealed the Holy Name of God.  His Name was seen to be so powerful that only the high priest could pronounce it, and that only once a year.  The Name was so great and so holy that Jews to this day do not pronounce it when reading the Scriptures, instead only saying "Adonai" (Lord).  For the holiness of God is an immense flood that soaks everything relating to Him, so that from the Ark of the Covenant to the Holy Name, all is imbued with His sanctity.  And this sanctity is of such a power that the one wh...

I was recently instructed that, as a catechist, I should blend myself into my students, to make myself one of them, in order to make them accept me.  If I was too "different" or too blatant in my Catholicism, I would not be accepted.  Instead, I should work from within them, almost in an undercover way.  The thing is, it is difficult to be undercover when your students know you are teaching them the faith.  I can understand my professor's point: the members of the Church should integrate themselves into society so they can change it from within.  It is not an outside force that will bring change, but a force hidden within, such as hidden yeast leavens dough.  We are to be Trojan horses: we must sneak under their radar and then slowly purify their drinking water with the nectar of the faith.  The problem is this: I do not see this as an effective method. I apologize if I am being proud: I am just giving my opinion on an issue that directly affects h...

In the very start of those strange, exotic, "eXtreme" days known as the '90s, a quirky little band called They Might Be Giants released a nigh-nonsenical song entitled "Birdhouse in Your Soul" (paired with an incomprehensible video).   The song is sung from the point of view of a nightlight in the shape of a blue canary belonging to what seems to be a very lonely child.  The aforementioned nightlight asks the child, in the chorus, to "make a little birdhouse in your soul," so that the child will carry the memory of the luminous bird wherever he goes. While having a birdhouse in our souls would not be conducive to the spiritual life (unless you think of it as a birdhouse for housing the Holy Spirit in the form a dove), what would be conducive is a tabernacle.  The concept of keeping a perpetual space for the Lord within our hearts is one I wrote about before, in my post on the teachings of Ven. Clara Fey .  She wrote, "Our Lor...