Living Sermons on the Mount
“The most interesting thing about Christianity is the ascetics, because they make all of Christ’s talk about the Kingdom of God make sense.” (From Not of This World, St. Herman Press)
monks
Adoring the Cross
“Hail! life-giving Cross, unconquerable trophy of the true faith, door to Paradise, succour of the faithful, rampart set about the Church. Through thee the curse is utterly destroyed, the power of death is swallowed up, and we are raised from earth to heaven: invincible weapon, adversary of demons, glory of martyrs, true ornament of holy monks, haven of salvation bestowing on the world great mercy.” – From the Great Vespers on Saturday Evening before the Third Sunday of Lent, The Adoration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross.
Runway Lights in the Desert
“Angels are the light of monks, and monks are the light of men.”
Comment: Orthodoxy is not actually a belief system; it’s more closely understood as an asceticism. The essence of the Faith, in every aspect, is ascetic. Even our theology is apophatic – or negative theology – a theology of prayerfully removing from our minds all false images. In fact, standing in prayer is our most basic ascetic activity and study of theology, and the Church’s prayers are monastic prayers. Our fasts, likewise, are the monastic fasts. So it is with the many pious labours of the faithful. Our Bishop, who stands with us as our champion, like David calmly facing the giant Goliath, is usually a monastic. Unlike him, we may be married, but even marriage, lived out in an Orthodox manner, is an ascetic feat. With the monks, we are all engaged in a continual war with the passions, remembering that, in a war, it is possible to be defeated. The Orthodox are at war with Death, the ultimate affliction, the Enemy, the ultimate foe of creation, and the World, the ultimate delusional system. The monks are the warrior caste among us, training us in the strategies and tactics of battle. The monks go before us in theosis, as runway lights in the desert for all we “lay-ascetics’. We refer to the monks as earthly angels, the earthly hosts, surrounding us at all times with prayers, amid more angels than stars. There are banners in the invisible world, trumpets in this seeming silence, incense thick in the air, and the din of heroes. – DD
Monastics
The monks keep unceasing watch, as sentries, at hours when I sleep, ever looking for the coming of the Lord. And indeed He does come to them, and they ring bells and cry aloud “Hosanna”. Honor to the vigilant, who will see the light from the East break across the earth. The monks do combat with demons that never reach me because they are stopped. St. Nikolai likened the monks to ninja among us. Angels invisibly surround them. When they do battle, the banners stretch to Heaven, and the trumpets echo in the distance. The demons are shaken and crumble and are driven back. The field is full of incense, dispelling the smoke of the enemy. God fights for his people. The archangels are mighty and their countenance is fierce. The monks, both men and women, are the brave ‘men’ who make a human wall, and I am a child behind them; therefore I call them “father” and “mother”.