ΤΗΕ ROLE OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH
Alteration
of the orthodox tradition – persecution of its acting body (the
monastics)
Back
to our story again.
Well,
our imaginary researcher has started to realize when this tradition
began in time, what its roots are, for how many centuries and where
it was applied successfully. In his quest for the truth, he discovers
why this tradition no longer exists among the majority of orthodox
believers today, and why Orthodoxy went through such an alteration.
It
was because Hesychasm and its best legitimate ambassador, the
traditional monastics, were both brutally persecuted and expelled
from our society!
Hesychasm
When
someone hears the word Hesychasm, their mind goes automatically to
the monks and nuns of Orthodoxy, to the hermits who live in silence
and peace. However, it is not only that.
Hesychasm,
as we mentioned earlier and, unfortunately, many people have a wrong
impression about it, is the healing method of Orthodoxy. We are all
supposed to apply Hesychasm.
It’s a whole “package”, we could
say, of therapeutic actions. In a few words, Hesychasm is a bundle of
all the means and methods suggested by our Orthodox Church for the
healing of our body and soul: ascetic life (actually orthodox
athletics), ceaseless prayer, repentance (Metany), and liturgical
life.
Urban
Hesychasm
Someone
could say: What do you imply, Father? Should we all become monks and
nuns?
Yes,
my brothers and sisters, we should all become monks and nuns, but not
necessarily dressed the same way, e.g. wearing black rasso (robe) and
being tonsured (κείρομαι).
What
I actually mean is that you (I am already) should become monks inside
your family, in your own home, in your own city. Because this life,
living according to and imitating the monastic life, can lead to a
total restoration of our human existence, we can regain our spiritual
and physical health.
f. Savvas Agioreitis
To be continued...
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