Hymns from the Small Paraklesis (Supplication) Composed in the 8th century.(1) 1200 years ago!

 

“Deliver us, all of your servants from danger, O Theotokos; after God we all flee to you, for shelter and covering, as an unshakable wall and our protection. 

Spotless One, who by a word did bring to us the Word Eternal, in the last days ineffably; do you now plead with Him, as the one with the motherly favor.”        “Most Holy Theotokos Save Us”

Reflection:

The Theotokos is our protection and shelter, because of her relationship as mother to Christ Himself, He Who is our salvation. She is our first intercessor before God. She gave birth to God and no other saint has that relationship with God. Her life is an example for us, freely choosing God’s will each and every day.

The Theotokos has a twofold motherhood.  Her prayers are bold before God like in the wedding in Cana, being Christ’s mother, when she said, “Do whatever he tells you.”(2) without having discussed it further with Jesus, She told the servants to do whatever Christ tells them, implying that He will do something. This is her ‘motherly favor’ or ‘boldness’.    

She also is our Spiritual Mother as we see at the foot of the Cross(3) when Christ says to St John, “behold your mother”. We are like St John the Evangelist, since we receive ‘adoption’ through baptism(4).  The Theotokos endured the unthinkable, seeing her son beaten, crucified, dead and buried.  She faced these things with Faith, hope, love of God and neighbor, with certainty and joy in the Resurrection. When we cry out in our troubles and sorrows, she empathizes with us (she is human like us) and prays to her Son and our God for us as our compassionate mother.

She leads us to unity with Christ our God. The verb “save” aside from its principle meaning, also can be used for one who assists in saving, who is an instrument in salvation.  Just as St Paul can write, “I have become all things to all men, that I may save some.”(5) The Theotokos ‘saves’ as a vehicle of prayer to Christ, with the most unique relationship to Him. Reading through the Divine Liturgy, we see how significant her role is in our relationship with her son, and our God. The Ever-Virgin Mary the Theotokos is our advocate and cares for us like a mother, a mother that has been through so much, empathizing with our pain and sorrows, praying to her son and our God on our behalf whenever we ask her to.

The closer we grow with Christ and our neighbor, the more we realize the significant role of the Theotokos in our lives, and in our unity with Christ our God. May the Holy Spirit reveal to us the role of the Theotokos in our lives, since the better we understand her role and significance, the better we come to know Christ and the Mystery of His Church.

References: 1) History of the Small Paraklesis the Service Text and one version of recording Here . Buy the book by calling our Life Giving Spring Monastery 559-338-3110 or online Here or Here - both are same translation.

Here is a classic you-tube of the original setting. 

2) John 2:3-5 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

3)  John 19:25-27

4)  Galatians 4:4-5

5)  1 Corinthians 9:22

The All Holy, Ever-Virgin Mary, the Theotokos as the “New Eve”

“As Eve was swayed by the word of an angel and abandoned God, transgressing His word - Mary received the good tidings by the angel’s word and bore God within her, being obedient to His Word. 

Whereas the one was disobedient to God, the other accepted to obey God, so that the Virgin Mary might become the mediator for the virgin Eve.

By a virgin the human race had been bound to death, by a virgin it was saved, the balance being preserved: a virgin’s disobedience counterbalanced with a virgin’s obedience….and so the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary, for what Eve tied by disbelief, Mary united by faith.”

 

- St Irenaeus of Lyons

Reflection: 

As we approach the Fast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Aug 1-15), we turn our focus to the Ever-Virgin Mary, her role in our lives as intercessor, the Mother of God, as well as her example for us of freely choosing God’s will. To understand the Theotokos is to understand the Mystery of the Church. 

Those, on the other hand, who misunderstand the Theotokos, and who distort or ignore her role and significance, fundamentally misunderstand and distort the Christian Faith as a whole. To understand our Faith, we need all three - Scripture, theology, and the worship of the Church need to be seen as an organic, integral whole, like a living organism composed of parts.(1) The more we study the Theotokos; her life, the scripture concerning her, the hymnology and prayers in our services that make reference to her, the more we grow closer to and enter into a deeper relationship with her son and our God Jesus Christ.

When we pray for her intercessions, we affirm Christ’s saving Incarnation, Passion, Death, and Resurrection.(2)  The first Eve came forth from Adams body(3), whereas Christ, the new and final Adam, came forth from the Virgin Mary (the new Eve)(4). Through the Virgin Mary’s free choice to follow God’s will(5), humanity was reunited with God and salvation came to the world. Christ is our salvation, the closer we unite ourselves to Him, the more clearly revealed is the role of His mother in our lives. Let us pray for help by the intercessions of the Theotokos every day and especially during the 15 days of August during the Paraklesis (Supplication) services for God’s help in our lives. So that by the example of the Theotokos and her prayers, we may learn how to freely align our will with God's, just as we pray the in Lord's prayer, "Thy will be done".

Resources:

1) V. Rev. Arch. Maximos Constas, pg. X. Mother of the Light.

2) St John of Shanghai and San Francisco once asked, “If God the Father chose her, God the Holy Spirit descended upon her, and God the Son dwelt in her, submitted to her in the days of His youth, was concerned for her when hanging on the cross: then should not everyone who confesses the Holy Trinity venerate her?”

3) Genesis 1-2 Creation of Humankind

4) Nativity Story Luke 2:1-20

5) Annunciation Luke 1:26

The Jesus Prayer | The Prayer of the Heart: 

“Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy on Me,
the Sinner.”

Reflection: 

This short prayer consists of praise, thanksgiving, theology, petition, and confession. It is our Faith’s ‘Prayer of the Heart’, which Sts Basil the Great and John Chrysostom have mentioned in their writings (4th/5th centuries).(1) Through worship, God stretches out to us, and we through prayer stretch out toward Him, our entire lives striving for our total union.(2)

“The Christian knows that Christ by His Passion, Cross, Death and Resurrection, willingly and sinlessly entered into the totality of human pain, transforming it into an expression of His perfect Love.(3)

When we feel human pain in our heart, in the core of our being, for ourselves and our neighbor, then we truly are praying from the heart. The mind (our thoughts and feelings) descends into the heart when the heart feels pain. 

When our heart pains for the other person, we put ourselves in their position, in true empathy, it is then that our prayer becomes of the heart.(4) It is from this place of empathy for others and the world, while recognizing God’s good works and our own shortcomings, that we pray the Jesus Prayer. Our prayer becomes a state of being.(5)

By its initial cry ‘Lord’: we glorify God...for He is the King of Israel, creator of all things visible and invisible.  ‘Jesus’: we bear witness to the fact that Christ, our savior, is present, and in gratitude we thank Him for granting us eternal life. The Lord tells us to pray in His name(6).  With the third word, ‘Christ’: we speak theologically, confessing Christ as the Son of God.(7)

Through the inward petition, “have mercy on me”: we fall down and implore God to be merciful, to answer our pleas for salvation, and fulfill the desires and needs of our hearts. 

And note that little word, ‘me’! What a breadth of meaning it contains! It designates not only myself, but all those who have been naturalized into the state of Christ, into His Holy Church; who are members of His Body(8) 

Finally, ‘the sinner’: by confessing that we are a sinner, like the saints who through such a confession became children of the light of Christ, we too begin to repair our relationship with God and neighbor through our repentance with this prayer.”(9)

References: 

1)  St Aimilianos of Simonopetra, The Church at Prayer, pgs 51.

2)  St Aimilianos of Simonopetra, The Church at Prayer, pgs 13.

3) Archimandrite Zacharias, The Hidden Man of the Heart, pg 98. 

4) St Paisios the Athonite, Spiritual Counsels V6 Περι Προσευχης, pg 130 and 187.  

5) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

6) John 15:16

7)  Hebrews 1-2

8)  Ephesians 5:25

9)  St Aimilianos of Simonopetra, The Church at Prayer, pgs 46-47.

“If the time at which you woke up is the time at which or near which you should get up, then without delay say, ‘In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,’ while doing the sign of the Cross.  

And then, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ Right after this, or at the same time, immediately get out of bed.”

Metropolitan Gregory of St Petersburg, How to Live a Holy Life, pg 10. 

Reflection: 

What Metropolitan Gregory suggests is a small action, to begin our day with this simple prayer and the sign of the Cross.  Notice how putting God on our mind and in our hearts is the first task of the day.  We begin our day with Him, giving thanks for a new day, a fresh start. 

This habit helps us to fulfill our Lord’s greatest commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’(1) When we direct our thoughts and orient our hearts toward Christ from the moment we wake up, it shapes our entire day around our relationship with God. 

When we begin our day like this, our life changes. It allows Christ to enter our hearts from the first moment we are awake and: “Loneliness disappears. You are peaceful, joyous, full...You become a different person...This is what preoccupies me. I try to find ways to love Christ.”(2)  One of our daily tasks as Orthodox Christians is to find ways to love Christ, this becomes easier when we begin our day with Him. 

The Metropolitan suggests for us to physically get out of bed immediately upon saying the prayer and doing the sign of the Cross, so that we do not lay in bed and let our minds wander.  It opens our hearts so that Christ may dwell freely within us and guide us throughout our decisions as the day goes on. This way we begin our day with this connection to God and purpose, which motivates us and provides the rest of our day with structure: constantly finding ways to love God and neighbor.(3)

References:

1) Matthew 22:37-40

2) St Porphyrios, Wounded By Love, pg 99. 

3) Matthew 22:37-40 To love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and our neighbor as yourself, letting this guide our words, deeds, and thoughts - always. 

“I know that love and empathy, implemented with the will to serve, can transcend all things and work incredible miracles; that one can overcome shyness, fatigue, fear, and even what seems to be uncontrollable physical repulsion, by a simple overwhelming longing to serve and be of use...I have learned where there is faith in the Lord, His work can be done.”     

Mother Alexandra, I Live Again, pg 82. 

Reflection:

Mother Alexandra, nun and founder of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Pennsylvania, was born Princess Ileana of Romania and later married as Archduchess of Austria. In her memoir, I Live Again, Mother Alexandra tells us of her journey living through WWI as a royal child and WWII as a royal mother of 6 and how she made it to America with her children. Mother Alexandra spent a lot of time locating and visiting the wounded Romanian soldiers of WWII, some who would heal and others who would not, and provided medical as well as emotional support. She even established a hospital for wounded Romanian soldiers in her castle in Austria. It was from this difficult and unimaginable environment of WWII that Mother Alexandra felt compelled to help in every way she could, and tells us about all she learned. What Mother Alexandra describes above is the Christian spirit, the vigor within the heart of someone united with Christ. She shows us the value and benefits of living in love(1), empathy(2), and the overwhelming longing to serve and be of use(3). With these qualities of a Christian that are rooted in our relationship with Christ, we can overcome anything. We can overcome what we perceive as weaknesses or even our circumstances, to rise and be of help to God and our neighbors.

We are facing a lot of challenges and instabilities these days with COVID-19 and civil unrest. May we take to heart Mother Alexandra’s words, to find the strength of Christ needed to thrive in our own difficult times.

References:

1) Mark 12:30-31 Love the Lord your God with all your soul, mind, strength and your neighbor as yourself...and Matthew 5:46 Love your enemies

2) YouTube on Empathy vs Sympathy

3) Matthew 20:16 - “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” - We are all servants of Christ, and of one another.

“Humility is to know that we have our being ‘on loan’ from God.” 

St Maximos the Confessor(1)   

Reflection: 

St Maximos the Confessor(2) helps us recognize that our very life, and everything in it are gifts from God. An acknowledgment that humbles us, naturally filling our hearts with gratitude. St Maximos also emphasizes the significance of gratitude saying:  

Gratitude Equals Humility(3) 

In order to say 'thank you', we must have the humility to recognize that someone did something for us, and we did not do it on our own. Our mind, soul, and body are gifts from God, and we are called to take special care of and tend to these gifts that make up our person. 

   

When we care for our entire being, we show gratitude toward God who created us.  It is like ‘self-care’, but rooted in God Who created our ‘self’. It is watching how we think about ourselves(4), caring how we speak/act towards others and multiplying our ‘talents’, like Christ describes in the Gospel(5).  We take all that we are given to improve ourselves, and allow with humility for Christ to fill in where we 'fall short'.

 

Humility is found in what St Paisios the Athonite defines as Philotimo(6), the Orthodox Christian disposition of the heart(7). Humility comes first from gratitude toward God for all He has done for us(8), and secondly by recognizing that we are not perfect.  This leads us to repentance, changing the way we live, and giving it all to God while giving our best efforts. 

Once we live in gratefulness each day, we cannot help but sacrifice our time and efforts for everyone.  Giving to God and others helps to heal our mind, soul, and body.  It is then that we are on the road to having a humble heart, wherein Christ will dwell. 

References: 

1) St Maximos the Confessor, On the Lord’s Prayer in Philokalia V2. pg 297.

2)  Read More about St Maximos the Confessor 7th Century Saint 

3)  “Continuous thanksgiving intercedes for our weaknesses.” St Barsanuphius (6th Century) / “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”   St Paul Colossians 3:15 / “If you increase your awareness of the presence of God, then you will increase your gratitude toward God. Now you say the “Our Father” and you don’t feel anything… but if you felt that God is indeed your Father, you wouldn’t be able to bear saying those words!” -St Paisios pg 287 V. 5 

4) “Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. If you ignore them, there is no problem. If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land.” - St Paisios the Athonite

5)Matthew 25 14-30 Parable of the Talents

6) For Philotimo: See My Orthodox Notebook entry from 07/10/2020 - Click Here

7) Matthew 10:5-8 “Freely you have received, freely give.”

8)  YouTube on relationship between Joy and Gratitude Gratitude invites joy into our lives, because true unending joy is unity with Christ and one another in the Church. 

Philotimo | Φιλὀτιμο: 

The spontaneous(1), self-sacrificing(2), love(3) shown by humble(4) people, from whom every trace of self has been filtered out(5), full of gratitude towards God(6) and neighbor.  Philotimo comes from a deep, abiding connection(7) with God, so that one is constantly moved to do and seek that which is good, right, and honorable. 

Out of spiritual sensitivity, such people forget all that they give, but remember even the slightest good that others do to them, and repay it 100 fold.  

- Spiritual Counsels V. 1 With Pain and Love for Contemporary Man, pg 18.

Reflection: 

St Paisios(8) Feast-Day is this Sunday, July 12th. St Paisios provides his own definition of Philotimo, a word he refers to often in his writings. This word(9) captures and puts a title to the Orthodox Christian disposition of the heart. A soul filled with Philotimo is that sense of not being able to ‘do’ enough for both God and neighbor. 

Acting with Philotimo is to “Live your spiritual life with your heart rather than your mind. And never do a job without putting your trust in God, with great humility. Otherwise you will agonize over it and end up exhausting your mind and soul.”(11)

Living, acting, thinking, and praying with Philotimo, makes life easier: “People ask to feel joy, but joy will not come without sacrifices. Sacrifice gives birth to joy. Real joy comes from Philotimo.”(10)

Each of the adjectives Saint Paisios uses to describe Philotimo reflect the qualities taught by Christ in His ‘Sermon on the Mount’(12) (the Beatitudes) as well as when Christ fulfills(13) the Judaic Law, to include what is in the heart.(14)

Philotimo, by this definition, expresses in one word: the internal disposition of our heart resulting in our relationship with Christ, our neighbor, and our daily life as an extension of living as the Church - the Body of Christ. The world will recognize our Faith, through our Philotimo.         

“You cannot cleanse the heart with detergent – it is Philotimo that does that”(15)

  “God rejoices in the Philotimo of His children”(16) 

References: 

1) Matthew 10:5-8 “Freely you have received, freely give.”

2) John 19 Crucifixion and Death of Christ on the Cross

3) Mark 12:30-31 Love the Lord your God with all your soul, mind, strength and your neighbor as yourself...and Matthew 5:46 Love your enemies

4)  Mat. 5:1-5 Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek...

5)  Philippians 2:3 "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

6) Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”

7) That they may be one...

8) Read More of the Life of St Paisios Here 

9)  As Orthodox Christians, we understand that we are One Body in Christ and in our humility, our hearts are open for Christ to bring us out of our comfort zone, away from  pride, through use of other languages in our Church life so that we may mature spiritually as human beings. Opening our hearts to the original text of the Scripture, Hymnology, and writings of Saints only benefits us. 

10) St Paisios Spiritual Counsels V1. pg 181. We must trust in God with every task in our lives, otherwise we are depending solely on ourselves and we are limited.  And we become frustrated with ourselves when we fail.

11) St Paisios Spiritual Counsels V1. pg 270. 

12) Matthew 5-7 Sermon on the Mount

13)  Mat 5:17-20 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” 

14)  Galatians 6:2  “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

15) St Paisios Spiritual Counsels V1. pg 429.

16) St Paisios Spiritual Counsels V1. pg 179

Official book on his life (1924-1994):

 

 'Panagouda' The cell/house-Church that St Paisios lived in for many years on Mt Athos, where many pilgrims came and sought his guidance and advice.

The Grave-site of St Paisios 
At the Monastery of St John the Evangelist Souroti, Thessaloniki, Greece

“True Christianity does not consist in intellectually abstract deliberations and teachings; rather, it is incarnate in life itself. Christ descended to earth(1) not to instruct people in new forms of knowledge, but to call them to a new life.

I beseech the Lord God to help me and strengthen me to actively labor until death for the sake of the Truth.”
Homily by St John Maximovitch(2) of Shanghai and San Francisco(3)
On the occasion of his ordination as bishop of Shanghai May 27th 1934.

Reflection:

St John’s proclamation while approaching the great task of leading the faithful in Christ as bishop is no different than our approach to the great task of living a life in Christ.  

We often listen-to, read, and talk about who Christ is and what we believe. St John reminds us that Christ and His teachings should not remain an intellectual idea or simply 'moral teachings' but we should humbly choose to allow Christ to transform us so that we live a completely new way of life(4).

St John began his ministry with that prayer and he continued asking God for help and strength the rest of his life.  Combined with his self-sacrifice and life in Christ (plus many other things -read his life), God worked and continues to work miracles through this saint.

St John shows us that even the saints require humility to live as Orthodox Christians, and that we all need to ask for God’s help each day of our lives in order to love God and neighbor. It is this humility, knowing that as strong as we are, we still need Christ's help and strength to ‘complete the race’(5)

Let us take St John’s words to heart, asking God for His help and strength each day with that kind of humility.  Through Christ and by the intercessions of St John, may we be transformed in newness of life and assist in God’s new creation: living as the Church in the world.

References:
1) John 1
2) Read More about St John Here St John passed in 1966
3) His relics are in San Francisco at Holy Virgin Cathedral
4) Romans 2:10-16 Having been introduced to Christ and His Church, we are responsible before God for living the Faith. 

5) Hebrews 12:1-3

St John's Relics at the Holy Virgin Cathedral

When we visit to venerate, we write names of loved ones and a letter to St John because during his earthly life, he had letter correspondence with his spiritual children all over the world.  Often times the same day that they sent their letter to him, they received a letter from him responding to all they had written, guidance and answers to questions.  St John knew their hearts through the Holy Spirit.  So the tradition continues today, and we submit our letters in the reliquary below. 

St John's Mandea - Bishop's vestment - At the Old Cathedral in SF

We can have a prayer read over us as we kneel before it and are wrapped 
underneath it for a special blessing from the Saint.

Saint Peter was an uneducated fisherman(1) and had denied Christ 3 times(3)    

Saint Paul had been a persecutor of Christians(2)              

But now are known by Christ and His Church as the:

“Holy, Glorious, All-Praised, and Paramount of the Apostles”(4)

Reflection: 

Saints Peter and Paul were not always the “Paramount of the Apostles”.  Their past was not perfect(5), and yet through repentance in Christ, they reached their fullest potential. Both fulfilled the Image and Likeness of God within them in different ways, since each person created by God is completely unique and irreplaceable.

St Paul had persecuted Christians, and Christ appeared to him and illumined his heart(6). St Peter was not educated and yet, through the Holy Spirit, was able to teach many about the Faith in Christ.  Through Peter, the very same person who made the mistake of denying Christ three times during the Passion and Crucifixion, Christ shows us how repentance can fully restore someone - even closer to God than before, “Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”(7)

Even when we make mistakes, through repentance, Confession, and love for Christ we can be united with Him closer than we previously were.  Our repentance does not simply heal the relationship with God and neighbor, it strengthens it and brings us even closer than we ever were.
How many saints had mistakes(8) in their past(9) and yet, now they are saints(10)? Only Christ is sinless. Miracles of God have been worked and continue to be worked through the imperfect people of the Saints. The Saints are people like us, who chose and kept choosing to live in Christ. As a result Christ lived and worked through them, transforming them into His Light in the world. 

If Christ can take His own persecutor, and an uneducated person who denied Him three times, and transform them into the “Paramount of the Apostles”, imagine what might happen when we allow Christ to transform us by turning to Him in prayer and repentance, even for a moment each day.   

Resources:
1) Matthew 4:18-22 Peter called by Christ
2) Acts 8 Saul Persecuting the Church / Acts 9 Saul Converted into Paul
3) Luke 22:54-62 Peter denies Christ 3 times
4) Read More About Sts Peter and Paul
5) Read the Lives of Sts Peter and Paul
6) Acts 8 Saul Persecuting the Church / Acts 9 Saul Converted into Paul
7) Matthew 16:18
8) Read more about Saint Mary of Egypt
9) Read more about St Fotini the Samaritan Woman
10) Read more about St Mary Magdalene