Striving For An Orthodox Way of Life
This life is a spiritual struggle. To conquer or to be defeated! If we conquer, we will enjoy the fruits of victory throughout all eternity; if we are defeated, we will endure the horrors of destruction throughout all eternity. This life is a duel between man and all that is contrary to the Divine. God is an Almighty ally to all who sincerely call upon Him for help. "This life is not a joke or a play thing," says Father John of Kronstadt, "but men turn it into a joke and plaything. But the capricious play around with time given to us for preparing for eternity, play around with empty words. They gather together as guests, they sit and chatter and after that they sit and play in this way or the other way; they gather in theatres and there they entertain themselves. All life for them is an amusement. But, woe unto them who are only entertaining themselves."
St. Nicholai Velimirovic
1. DAILY MORNING AND EVENING PRAYER
"Both public and private prayer are necessary in order that we may lead a truly Christ-like life, an that the life of the Spirit should not be extinct in us .... prayers at home are an introduction, preparation for prayers in Church. Thus he who is unaccustomed to pray at home can seldom pray diligently in Church.
"The only means by which you can spend the day in perfect holiness, and peace, and without sin, is most sincere prayer as soon as you rise from sleep in the morning. It will bring Christ into your heart with your Father and the Holy Spirit, and will thus strengthen your soul against any evil; but it will still be necessary for you to carefully guard the heart.
"Never sleep before saying evening prayers, lest your heart become gross from ill-timed sleep, and les the enemy should hinder it by a stony insensibility during prayer."
St. John of Kronstadt
2. DAILY READING OF HOLY SCRIPTURES
Read the daily Epistle and Gospel selections from the Church calendar.
"The soul should be provided with the Word of God for the Word of God, as Gregory the Theologian says, is the bread of angels which feeds the soul that is hungry for God. But, above all, one should read the New Testament and the Psalter. From this proceeds illumination of the mind... It is very beneficial to read the Word of God in solitude and to read the entire Bible with understanding. For such a practice, above other good deeds, the Lord gives His mercy to man and fills him with the gift of understanding. When man provides his soul with the Word of God then he is filled with understanding of what is good and what is evil."
St. Seraphim of Sarov
3. DAILY READING OF HOLY FATHERS, LIVES OF MARTYRS AND SAINTS
"If you read worldly magazines and newspapers, and derive profit from them, as a citizen, a Christian, a member of a family, then you ought still more and still oftener to read the Gospel and the writings of the Fathers; for it would be sinful in a Christian who reads worldly writings not to read divinely inspired ones. If you follow the events of the outer world, do not lose sight of your inner world, your own soul: it is nearer and dearer to you."
St. John of Kronstadt
4. DAILY CLEANSING OF ONE'S SOUL BY SINCERE REPENTANCE
"Penitent feelings are an essential element of true spiritual progress, and whoever evades them is deviating from the right way. Repentance is the starting point and foundation stone of our new life in Christ; and it must be present not only at the beginning but throughout our growth in this life, increasingly as we advance .... For repentance cleanses all pollution from the soul and makes it pure .... Therefore the duty of continual repentance is the same as the duty of keeping our conscience pure and irreproachable."
St. Theophan the Recluse
“When praying in the evening, do not forget to confess to the Holy Spirit, in really sincere and contrite prayer, those sins into which you have fallen during the past day. A few moments of fervent repentance, and you will be cleansed by the Holy Spirit from every impurity; you will be whiter than snow, and tears, purifying your heart, will flow from your eyes....”
St. John of Kronstadt
5. FASTING ACCORDING TO THE CHURCH CALENDAR AND TYPICON
This includes Wednesdays and Fridays, Great Lent and Holy Week, the Apostle's Fast, the Dormition Fast, the Nativity Fast and other special fast days noted in the Church calendar.
“Fasting varies greatly. For a person brought up in luxury fasting can be one thing, while for a person brought up in simple and rough conditions it is another thing. Therefore for one person it is nothing to use the roughest food and be healthy, or to live without food for a number of days; whereas for another a big change of food can be very noticeable, and even harmful. But for everyone in general fasting is above all temperance and strict moderation in the use of food. Consequently you should use food in moderation and try especially to bridle the desires of the body, and not satisfy its lusts at all, for they are unnecessary for the preservation of health and the prolongation of life and then your fast will be true.”
St. Innocent of Alaska, Indication of the Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven.
6. BEARING ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS AND SO FULFILLING THE LAW OF CHRIST
"If we have true love with sympathy and patient labor, we shall not go about scrutinizing our neighbor's shortcomings. As it is said, 'Love covers up a multitude of sins', and again, 'Love thinks not evil ... hides everything', etc. As I said, if we have true love, that very love should screen anything of this kind, as did the saints when they saw the shortcomings of men. Were they blind? Not at all! But they simply would not let their eyes dwell on sin."
Abba Dorotheos of Gaza
7. ATTENDING SUNDAYS, FEAST DAYS, AND OTHER MAJOR CHURCH SERVICES
This includes Pascha and the Twelve Major Feasts: Theophany, Meeting of the Lord, Annunciation, Palm Sunday, Ascension Pentecost, Transfiguration, Dormition, Nativity of the Theotokos, Exaltation of the Cross, Entry of the Theotokos, Nativity of Our Lord, plus other special days such as patronal feasts, Lenten and Holy Week services, etc.
“The truth and saving properties of our holy faith are clearly revealed by the fact that not a single Sacrament, not a single faithful prayer are left fruitless in us, but they bring and manifest their power from heaven upon our souls and bodies, cleansing our sins, and giving peace to our souls in accordance with the words of our Savior: 'Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' (Mt.11:28); and delivering us from spiritual afflictions and bodily sicknesses! No, we never pray in vain to the Lord, or to the most holy Virgin, or to the angels and saints, but we receive all that we ask them for, and that tends to our salvation.”
St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ.
8. STRIVING WITH ALL ONE'S SOUL TOWARDS UNION WITH CHRIST THROUGH THE MYSTERIES OF CONFESSION AND HOLY COMMUNION
Preparation includes dedicating the day to God by attending Church services the evening before Divine Liturgy, fasting from food, drink, and marital relations upon arising on the day of Divine Liturgy, being reconciled with everyone, giving confession before receiving Holy Communion, and participating in the Prayers of Thanksgiving after Holy Communion.
"Tears and contrition have great power. But the Communion of the sanctified Gifts, above all, has especially great power and benefit, . . . I say that we should, out of our desire for Communion, purify ourselves as much as possible and make ourselves worthy of the Gift. For the Bread which came down from heaven is participation in life: If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world (Jn. 6:51). Again He says: He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him (Jn. 6:58).
St. Theodore the Studite
9. SUPPORTING THE CHURCH, FINANCIALLY AND ACTIVELY.
This includes supporting the local church, monasteries, missionary work, and ministries to the poor and needy. The Church is supported through your tithe and offering yourself in service. The tithe, one-tenth, is the ideal of stewardship set forth in Scripture in the Old Testament tithe, and in Tradition, represented by The Didache, St Irenaeus, and St John Chrysostom. St John Chrysostom contends that the tithe is more binding on us than on the Jews, “ . . . if it was a danger to neglect the tithe then, imagine how serious it must be now!”
Christ Himself “gave directions to His disciples to offer the firstfruits of His own created things not as if He stood in need of them, but that they might be themselves neither unfruitful nor ungrateful.”
St Irenaeus
10. TRUSTING IN GOD'S PROVIDENCE; GIVING THANKS TO GOD FOR ALL THINGS
"In God's providence everything is absolutely right and whatever happens is for the assistance of the soul. For whatever happens for us, He does out of His love and consideration for us because it is adapted to our need. And we ought, as the Apostle says, in all things to give thanks for His goodness to us, and ... to accept calmly with lowliness of mind and hope in God whatever comes upon us, firmly convinced, as I said, that whatever God does to us, He does always out of goodness because He loves us, and what He does is always right.”
Abba Dorotheos of Gaza
11. MAKE THE LORD’S COMMAND TO “SPREAD THE GOSPEL” PART OF DAILY LIVING
“Observe what Andrew says to his brother: ‘We have found the Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.’ You see how, as far as he had learned in a short time, he showed the wisdom of the teacher who persuaded them, and their own zeal, who cared for those things long ago, and from the beginning. For this word, ‘we have found.’ is the expression of a soul which travails for His presence, and looks for His coming from above, and is made overjoyed when the looked-for thing has happened, and hastens to impart to others the good tidings. This is part of a brotherly affection, of natural friendship, of a sincere disposition, to be eager to stretch out the hand to each other in spiritual things.”
St. John Chrysostom, Homilies of the Gospel of St. John.
