If you left the Church to get away from hypocritical people, you should also quit your job, drop out of school, disconnect yourself from all your friends and family, and lock yourself in your room.
Or, you can see the Church for what she is: a hospital for wounded people, like you. There you are a patient as well as a practitioner. There are flaws wherever there are humans. Go for healing, but also to be a healer of messed up people who are sometimes rude, obnoxious and conniving in the throes of their diseases. Just like you.
Allow God's grace to transform you day by day, and to treat those who are yet being transformed with care, love and kindness.
Or, you can see the Church for what she is: a hospital for wounded people, like you. There you are a patient as well as a practitioner. There are flaws wherever there are humans. Go for healing, but also to be a healer of messed up people who are sometimes rude, obnoxious and conniving in the throes of their diseases. Just like you.
Allow God's grace to transform you day by day, and to treat those who are yet being transformed with care, love and kindness.
A contrast revealed in icons
St. Mary of Egypt: repented in tears, struggled valiantly against temptations and received the longed-for Mystical Supper, the Cup of Salvation, from the hand of St. Zozimas.
Judas Iscariot: left the Mystical Supper after betraying his Master, leaving behind an empty halo and a mere silhouette in the place of where he should have been had he not turned his back on Jesus Christ. He brought upon himself the despair of guilt without repentance.
St. Mary of Egypt: repented in tears, struggled valiantly against temptations and received the longed-for Mystical Supper, the Cup of Salvation, from the hand of St. Zozimas.
Judas Iscariot: left the Mystical Supper after betraying his Master, leaving behind an empty halo and a mere silhouette in the place of where he should have been had he not turned his back on Jesus Christ. He brought upon himself the despair of guilt without repentance.
St. Mary of Egypt and the Mother of God
St. Mary, telling of her struggle against the passions to Father Zosima :
“And how can I tell you about the thoughts which urged me on to fornication, how can I express them to you, Abba? A fire was kindled in my miserable heart which seemed to burn me up completely and to awake in me a thirst for embraces. As soon as this craving came to me, I flung myself on the earth and watered it with my tears, as if I saw before me my witness, who had appeared to me in my disobedience, and who seemed to threaten punishment for the crime. [1/2]
St. Mary, telling of her struggle against the passions to Father Zosima :
“And how can I tell you about the thoughts which urged me on to fornication, how can I express them to you, Abba? A fire was kindled in my miserable heart which seemed to burn me up completely and to awake in me a thirst for embraces. As soon as this craving came to me, I flung myself on the earth and watered it with my tears, as if I saw before me my witness, who had appeared to me in my disobedience, and who seemed to threaten punishment for the crime. [1/2]
[2/2] 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. But always I turned to the eyes of my mind to my Protectress, asking her to extend help to one who was sinking fast in the waves of the desert. And I always had her as my Helper. And thus I lived for seventeen years amid constant dangers. And since then even till now the Mother of God helps me in everything and leads me as it were by the hand.”
The icon before which St. Mary of Egypt turned to the Mother of God in repentance bears the name “Guarantor” or “Surety”. The icon resides in the Great Lavra of St. Athanasius on Mount Athos.
The icon before which St. Mary of Egypt turned to the Mother of God in repentance bears the name “Guarantor” or “Surety”. The icon resides in the Great Lavra of St. Athanasius on Mount Athos.
Our struggle is “not against flesh and blood, but against ... the rulers of the present darkness ... the hosts of wickedness in heavenly places ..." (Ephesians 6:12)
On the 4th Sunday of Great Lent, we commemorate St John Climacus (of the Ladder), abbot of St Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai (6th century). His book “The Ladder Of Divine Ascent” is intended for monks and the spiritually advanced, and is perhaps most beneficial to laypeople when slowly and carefully read in small portions. [1/2]
On the 4th Sunday of Great Lent, we commemorate St John Climacus (of the Ladder), abbot of St Catherine’s Monastery on Mount Sinai (6th century). His book “The Ladder Of Divine Ascent” is intended for monks and the spiritually advanced, and is perhaps most beneficial to laypeople when slowly and carefully read in small portions. [1/2]
[2/2] On loving God
"The man who really loves the Lord, who has made a real effort to find the future Kingdom, who is really pained by his sins, who is really mindful of eternal torment and judgment, who really lives in fear of his own departure, will not love, carry, or worry about money, or possessions, or parents, or worldly glory, or friends, or brothers, or anything at all on earth. But having shaken off all ties with earthly things and having stripped himself of all his cares, and having come to hate even his own flesh, and having stripped himself of everything, he will follow Christ without anxiety or hesitation. . .”
"The man who really loves the Lord, who has made a real effort to find the future Kingdom, who is really pained by his sins, who is really mindful of eternal torment and judgment, who really lives in fear of his own departure, will not love, carry, or worry about money, or possessions, or parents, or worldly glory, or friends, or brothers, or anything at all on earth. But having shaken off all ties with earthly things and having stripped himself of all his cares, and having come to hate even his own flesh, and having stripped himself of everything, he will follow Christ without anxiety or hesitation. . .”
[W]e may have already failed in our Lenten goals, perhaps many times over. … As St. John [of the Ladder] says, to fall is human, but to remain fallen is proper only to the demons. Thankfully, in the end, the victory in this battle lies not with us, but with Christ. As long as we keep on climbing, he waits patiently to receive us at the top. More than that, the Lord is at our side during this ascent, giving us the strength to keep climbing and catching us when we slip. To paraphrase St. John: Let us hasten, brethren, to make our ascent! —Met. Tikhon of America
Everything leads to the centre!
At the centre of this icon of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church is Pascha, the Feast of Feasts, celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The other 12 Great Feasts surrounding it in the icon all relate to the Resurrection, marking the major events leading up to it and after it. And so it is in the life of the Church and every Orthodox Christian. Everything leads to the centre: to Christ and His Glorious Resurrection.
At the centre of this icon of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church is Pascha, the Feast of Feasts, celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
The other 12 Great Feasts surrounding it in the icon all relate to the Resurrection, marking the major events leading up to it and after it. And so it is in the life of the Church and every Orthodox Christian. Everything leads to the centre: to Christ and His Glorious Resurrection.