Great Fathers and Ecumenical Teachers of the Church

Fathers of the seven Ecumenical Councils

During the time of the Ecumenical Councils many pious Bishops were recognized as great teachers and defenders of the faith and were glorified by the Church as saints. St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia, was known for his zeal, wisdom, humbleness and charity. He assisted the poor, quickly protected unjustly condemned or any one suffering from abuses of the rulers of those days. His noblest act, the conviction of Arius at the first Ecumenical Council, brought him an eternal glory and was marked by special acknowledgment of the fathers of the Council. He died December 6, 343 A. D. When Saratzins were threatening the city of Myra, his relics were removed to Italy, where they repose to the present time in the city of Bari.

St. Athanasius, the great, of Alexandria, belongs to the school of Apologetics of the Church. When a deacon on the First Ecumenical Council, St. Athanasius was superior in his defense of the true faith against Arius’ heresy and as Archbishop of Alexandria during 46 years, proved to be steadfast pillar of the Church. He was accused by the heretics then in all kinds of crimes, including  treason, was exiled five times from Alexandria and only the last six years of his life he spent in the Cathedral city, arduously working for the peace and glory of the Church. He wrote many apologetics on behalf of the Church and died peacefully in 373 A. D., being 75 years old, and was given by the Church the title of “The Great.”

In the fourth century a most trying time for the Church, lived and worked the other three Ecumenical hierarch and teachers- Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom.

The Significance of the Sacrifice- By: St. Nicholas Cabasilas

St. Nicholas Cabasilas

The essential act in the celebration of the holy mysteries in the transformation of the elements into the Divine Body and Blood; its aim is the sanctification of the faithful, who through these mysteries receive the remission of their sins and the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven.

As a preparation for, and contribution to, this act and this purpose we have prayers, psalms, and readings from Holy Scripture; in short, all the sacred acts and forms which are said and done before and after the consecration of the elements. While it is true that God freely gives us all holy things and that we bring him nothing, but that they are absolute graces, he does nevertheless necessarily require that we should be fit to receive and preserve them; and he would not permit those who were  not so disposed to be thus sanctified. It is in this way that he admits us to Baptism and Christmation; in this way that he received us at the divine banquet and allows us to participate at the solemn table. Christ, in his parable of the sower, has illustrated this way that God has of dealing with us. “A sower went forth,” he says, “to sow”- not to plough the earth but to sow: thus showing that the work of preparation must be done by us.

Therefore, since in order to obtain the effects of the divine mysteries we must approach them in a state of grace and properly prepared, it was necessary that these preparations should find a place in order of the sacred rite: and, in fact, they are found there. There, indeed, we see what the prayers and psalms, as well as the sacred actions and forms which the liturgy contains, can achieve in us. They purify us and make us able fittingly to receive and to preserve holiness, and to remain possessed of it.

Excerpt taken from the book: A Commentary on the Divine Liturgy -By Nicholas Cabasilas

Two Dangerous Extremes in the Orthodox Church- By: Elder Paisius the Athonite

Elder Paisius the Athonite

The two extremes always weary Mother Church, as well as those who hold to them, because the two extremes as a rule stab one another… . In other words, it is as if the one extreme is held by a possessed man who is spiritually insolent (and feels contempt for everything), and the other extreme is held by a madman who is childishly zealous with narrow-mindedness. God forbid — these two ends could strike at one another continually and “an end to it all” no one will find.

Those who will be able to bend these two extremes and make them unite, will be crowned by Christ with two imperishable crowns.

We should neither create problems in the Church nor magnify the minor human disorders that occur, so as not to create greater evil and the wicked one rejoice.

Pray to God Unceasingly & With Attention- By: St. Macarius the Great

St. Macarius the Great

We ought to pray, not according to any bodily habit nor with a habit of loud noise nor out of a custom of silence or on bended knees. But we ought soberly to have an attentive mind, waiting expectantly on God until He comes and visits the soul by means of all of its openings and its paths and senses. And so we should be silent when we ought, and to pray with a cry, just as long as the mind is concentrated on God. For as when the body does any task, it is completely occupied with the word and all its members help one another, so also the soul should be totally concentrated on asking and on a loving movement toward the Lord, not wandering and dispersed by its thoughts but with concentration waiting expectantly for Christ.

And thus He will enlighten, teaching on how to ask, giving pure prayer that is spiritual and worthy of God and bestowing the gift of worship “in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:24).

Except taken from the book: Pseudo-Macarius: the fifty spiritual homilies and the great letter.

Carrying Your Cross- By: Elder Ephraim of Katounakia

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia

Everyone has a cross to carry. Why? Since the leader of our faith endured the cross, we will also endure it. On one hand, the cross is sweet and light, but, on the other, it can also be bitter and heavy. It depends on our will. If you bear Christ’s cross with love then it will be very light; like a sponge or a cork. But if you have a negative attitude, it becomes heavy; too heavy to lift.

Taken from the book: Elder Ephraim of Katounakia