Dn. Christian Azarias

The Indefectibility of the One Church: A Response to Schismatic Rhetoric

The Church’s Indefectibility

If we regard the account of Apostolic and Patristic witness to be credible, and therefore true; then we shall acknowledge that both regarded the Church as Christ’s Mystical Body. St. Paul: “… Him is who is the head – Christ – from Whom the whole Body, joined and knit together…” (Ephesians 4:15-16, OSB); “And He is the head of the Body, the Church…” (Colossians 1:18).

The Church is also the spouse of Christ, and as His spouse, She is one flesh with Him (cf. Genesis 2:24). So, just as Christ is pure, spotless, and without blemish (Heb 4:15; 9:14) His Church, being His Body, is likewise thus since He is her head.

Describing her chastity, St. Augustine likened her to the Theotokos and Ever- Virgin Mary with the following words:

“Surpassing all the sons of men in beauty, He (Jesus), the Son of Holy Mary and Spouse of Holy Church, has made it a mother for us and kept it a virgin for Himself.” 1

In sequence, he continues:

The church is like Mary; her perfection was never defiled, and her fertility was never corrupted. What Mary was made worthy of in the flesh, the church received it spiritually. The only exception to that is that Mary gave birth to one son (Jesus Christ) but the church gave birth to many children for them to be gathered together in the one body in the one (Christ). 2

Unceasing Prayer through the Spirit and its Fruit: A Homily of St. Macarius the Great

That we need a great zeal for prayer, and that the Spirit who dwells in our spirits brings it about, is clearly shown by the words of the Apostle, who exhorts us: “Pray all the time, asking for what you need, praying in the Spirit on every possible occasion”(Eph 6:18).

Whoever of the brothers dedicates himself to this, namely, unceasing prayer, possesses a beautiful treasure, which becomes the greatest possession of one who loves God with a firm and right conscience.” He never willingly strays away into distractions, nor does he have an unwonted debt that needs paying; but rather he fulfillsthe love and desires of his spirit, displaying to all the brothers the good fruits that come from perseverance.

It is necessary, however, that the others in the community also make time for such unceasing prayer and rejoice in persevering in prayer so that they become sharers of such a life. The Lord himself will surely give to those who ask how they must pray, according to what is said: “He gives to him what he has asked for” (Ps 106:15). Therefore, we ought to ask and to know that the better one makes an effort in the work of prayer, the more he must sustain the battle with great care and all virtue.
Continue reading “Unceasing Prayer through the Spirit and its Fruit: A Homily of St. Macarius the Great”

Preview: The Office of the Deaconate: Apostolic Order, Spiritual Maturity, and the Misuse of a Holy Office.

Our brother Deacon Nathaniel has written a well articulate and detailed analysis on the history of the Diaconate and its current place, misuse, and even misunderstanding within the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Churches respectively. This can be seen on our sister channel ‘Good & Faithful’.

Preview:

“This discussion matters because the Sacrament of Holy Orders is one of the most important and vital parts of the life of the Church, which is one with the Body of Christ, lives eternally with Christ, and was established by Christ. The Church was made one with Him through His sacrifice, His teachings, and the authority given to the apostles, who carried on the mission of the Church throughout history. For 2,000 years, the offices of priesthood, deaconhood, bishop, and patriarch in the Oriental Orthodox Church have seen “changes” depending on geographical and historical reasons, these are not major changes that affect communion with other changes or shake any core belief it’s still one church but culturally separate.

I intend to do is study, pick apart, and make sense of without diving too deep where this authority comes from and why it is so important in the Church, in hopes of correcting some misunderstandings and issues found in the Church. The intention is not to gossip, judge, or make an example of anyone. Rather, what this is meant to do is, by God’s grace, bring some correction and, hopefully, some solution to a few issues that seem to have gotten worse over time. A lot of people would agree that the office of the deaconhood has, in many ways, changed in the last ten years.

What I mean is that in some ways the changes are good, but in many ways they are not. We are seeing a significant increase in the number of people being ordained into the office at a very young age, and that can eventually lead to a very dangerous path. We are seeing a rise in deacons not understanding their role, the reverence their position holds, and how that then begins to affect things like how they speak both in and out of church. It has reached a point where people no longer respect the office.

It seems, as absurd as it may sound, oversaturated at times. There is also something that I think people often overlook, and those are what I would call the enablers, and this goes as far as the office of the bishop in that general area or archdiocese. We are seeing laymen command younger deacons with authority that they do not possess, which is unfortunate. It is not fully their own fault, because these deacons are ordained so young that those who are much older, in many cases, command and scold them while forgetting what authority these deacons have…”

For the full article, please see here.

God bless.