Posted in Uncategorized on May 25, 2020| Leave a Comment »
![20180828_210944[1]](https://lessonsfromamonastery.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/20180828_2109441.jpg?w=500)
Revisiting the Exhibition Fair (a childhood favourite!) in 2018
Like our older brother, Kate has accomplished much in her life and we are very grateful to God for her successes! May God grant you MANY YEARS, Kate!
Here’s a picture of Kate helping our sister-in-law Pres. Catherine chant at St. Gregory Palamas ROCOR Church in Fredericton, NB (Fr. Matthew’s church):
Posted in Uncategorized on May 22, 2020| 5 Comments »
My big brother:
Whoop, whoop! I used to just call him Father-brother; now I’ll have to call him DOCTOR Father-brother!
From our hike in Flatrock, NL in 2018:
Posted in Uncategorized on April 12, 2020|
“We have arrived, O faithful, at the saving passion of Christ our God.”
Oops! I mistakenly refer to Righteous Joseph the Patriarch as “Joseph the Betrothed” the entire talk which I only realized after I listened to this.
Posted in Uncategorized on April 3, 2020|
I feel these words, written five years ago, are more pertinent now than ever before.
Good strength, friends! Don’t be discouraged. We have one week of Great Lent and one Holy Week still to come. There is still time to win the race and experience the joy of the Resurrection (whether we’re holding our paschal candles in our parish church or in our own homes)!
Today is Clean Monday, the beginning of our Lenten journey to the Feast of the Holy Resurrection. I am usually quite excited about Great Lent. I get excited about the Sundays in Great Lent and the special customs that go with them, excited about simplifying our lives and abstaining from certain foods and activities that draw our attention away from God.
This year I’m excited but also a little apprehensive. I’ve been feeling a little dismayed lately by all the wars and rumours of wars (Mark 13:7) and a question keeps forming in the back of my mind: What if this was the last Great Lent you ever got to participate in? That small but probing question seems to cause many thoughts follow after it and I begin an internal inquisition: What if this was your last chance to really make an effort, to keep the Fast with zeal and…
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Posted in Orthodox Theology, Orthodoxy in Different Lands, Saints, Uncategorized on January 11, 2020| Leave a Comment »
by Fr. John Palmer
Every second Thursday evening, with an open invitation to the public, members of our community meet in a public venue – a coffee shop – where we read aloud and then discuss a section of St Augustine’s beautiful work, the Confessions. This initiative, which I have aptly dubbed ‘Coffee House Theology’, has been one of the greatest joys and consolations in my work as a mission priest.
On the one hand, joy springs from the fact that our sessions have been relatively well attended and met with enthusiasm. Indeed, every priest rejoices to see the flame of holy learning kindled in the faithful committed to his charge. Moreover, I rejoice that in an age where Christ has been pushed into the background – both in broader society and in the lives of individual Christians – this remnant, this two or three gathered in his name, offers a small confession, setting our Lord before men without any regard for strange, disapproving looks.
On the other hand, joy has come from my re-discovery of the absolutely Orthodox heart of St Augustine. Yes, it is true, in places Augustine was tempted by his truly staggering intellect and fell; yes, on occasion he exchanged the revelation of God acquired by a pure heart for his own speculations, choosing a lowly, created light over the uncreated; yes, he seriously errs on occasions. Consequently, he needs to be read with a degree of discernment, plucking the rose from among the thorns, just as we see him approached by his strongest advocates within the Patristic Tradition. However, despite all this, when it comes to the vigilant attention to God’s Providence; when it comes to the struggle with the passions; when it comes to repentance; when it comes to Christian living, I continually stand in awe of him.
In the last section we read together this past Thursday, what particularly struck me was the witness he bears to the Orthodox tradition of Eldership in the Pre-Schism West. In Book VIII, Augustine is faced with a question with no obvious correct answer, at least in the abstract. He is torn between marriage and monasticism. “The voice of truth had told me that there are some who have made themselves eunuchs for love of the Kingdom of Heaven. But he also said, let only those take this in whose hearts are large enough for it.” (VIII.[1]) Unsure of what to do with respect to one of the fundamental question of life, he uneasily spun his tires, succumbing to listlessness.
Faced with this quandary, what does the Saint do? Addressing God he writes, “By your inspiration it seemed to me a good plan to go and see Simplicianus…” (VIII.[1]), the spiritual father of St Ambrose of Milan. And listen to how he describes this man: Simplicianus, “…I could see for myself,” he says, “was a good servant of yours [of Christ]”; “…the light of grace plainly shone in him…”; “…from boyhood he had always led a most devout life…”; and, “…in all the long years he had spent to such a good purpose in following your way he must have gained great experience and much knowledge”. And so Augustine hoped that if he put his problem to him, “…he would draw upon his experience and his knowledge to show me how best a man in my state of mind might walk upon your way.” (VIII.[1]) Simplicianus was deeply experienced in the spiritual life, had served Christ well, and had obviously acquired the grace of the Holy Spirit which shone in him. Is there any better definition of an Elder?
Augustine, in the midst of a dilemma which required the grace of discernment and insight and not just the reiteration of general principles, might have simply gone to the local parish priest, but he didn’t. Clearly, in his inherited Orthodox consciousness he knew that ordination itself does not render one an infallible guide in such matters; only experience and grace will suffice. And so he – often criticized as the ‘least orthodox’ of Holy Fathers – does something very Orthodox: he goes to an Elder.
And what is the result? The Elder recounts a story for Augustine which itself is a monument to his discernment, and not surprisingly his discerning words hit their mark, stirring the Saint from his listlessness. “When your servant told me the story of Victorinus, I began to glow with fervor to imitate him. This, of course, is why Simplicianus had told it to me.” (VIII.[5]) Words spoken in the spirit of discernment are the words of eternal life for an individual.
Posted in Uncategorized on December 16, 2019|
This post was originally publised on my blog after a pilgrimage I took to St. Anthony’s Monastery in October, 2017.
May we have his eternal blessing!
I feel only one thing rivals seeing and receiving the blessing of a living saint: being able to watch a crowd of people receive the same.
By the grace of God I was able to make a pilgrimage to St. Anthony’s Monastery in Arizona. While there I had the great blessing of seeing Elder Ephraim three times. He does not currently see people one-on-one like he used to, but he comes out almost every morning to greet the pilgrims. The fathers bring him in a car so that the elder (who is close to 90 years of age) can sit while greeting the people. Although the elder has become physically weakened in his old age the strength of his spirit, which is full of life and love for the people, in no way has diminished.
On the last day of our pilgrimage a significant crowd had gathered to wait for…
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Posted in Uncategorized on March 24, 2019|
A re-post for the Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas.
Here is a wonderful, animated, talk by my favourite (if only) brother, Fr. Matthew Penney. – co-founder of Lumination Press. The video has his name as Fr. Matthew Perry, but it’s a typo. This homily was delivered at the Russian Orthodox Church of Christ the Saviour, in London, Ontario.
Axios!
Posted in A Word from the Fathers/ Mothers, Contemporary Monasteries, Uncategorized on October 8, 2018| 8 Comments »
It was a tradition in our home to go around the table at Thanksgiving and say one thing we’re thankful for.
I’m thankful for the sacrifice, example, and holy prayers of our monastics (but also my husband of 13 years – today).
“Thanks to monastics, prayer continues unceasing on earth, and the whole world profits, for through prayer the world continues to exist; but when prayer fails the world will perish.” -St. Silouan the Athonite (pp. 407-408 in his biography)
Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted in Uncategorized on August 24, 2018|
Posted in Books, Orthodox Customs and Tradition, Saints, Uncategorized on March 4, 2018|
In honour of the Sunday of St. Gregory of Palamas, here is an excerpt from my second book, The Sweetness of Grace: Stories of Christian Trial and Victory published by Ancient Faith Publishing. It is from Chapter 7, “Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God”, pp. 214-216.
To read more stories, you can purchase an e-book or paperback copy from the publisher here or on amazon here.
In Praise of Thessaloniki
I would do a great disservice to the great saint and co-protector (together with St. Demetrios) of Thessaloniki if I were to write this whole book and not mention our father among the saints, Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki.
You can hardly go two paces in that Byzantine city without being reminded of the various local saints and historical faith of the Thessalonians. But two places in particular always occupied a special place in my heart: the church of Hagia Sophia, where St. Gregory preached against the Barlaamite heresy, and the Cathedral of St. Gregory Palamas, in which his relics reside in a side chapel covered in icons depicting his life. Any time I was downtown, I made a point to venerate his holy, fragrant relics.
In a city like Thessaloniki, the cloud of witnesses feel more like companions, such is the intimacy of their presence. In many respects, life there is a living continuation of the Scriptures, and the many churches, sites of martyrdom or imprisonment of saints, and holy relics are enough to make you forget the modern world and enter into the spiritual world.
Practically every night you can attend a vigil in the city. The vigil service according to the Greek Typicon begins with Small Vespers, followed by Compline, Great Vespers, Matins, Hours, Liturgy and finally the Ninth Hour. These vigils can last up to five, six, or more hours. They usually end well after midnight.
I remember one we went to in the heart of town for the feast of St. Gregory Palamas (November 14). During the Matins service, when the life of the saint is read from the Great Horologion, one of the chanters proceeded to the middle of the church to read a long version of St. Gregory’s life. Looking at this young man in his long, black chanter’s robe, standing before the royal doors with only vigil lamps and a lone candle stand illuminating the passage he read aloud, it was easy to be confused as to whether it was the first or twenty-first century, whether we were on earth or in heaven. Coming out of a vigil like that, you felt as though the whole city was more sanctified, as if the stones and stars themselves had participated in our celebration of the Bloodless Sacrifice.
O Thessaloniki, the city Apostle Paul wrote to, preached in, wept over; the city St. Demetrios fought for and continues to protect even after his martyric death; the city St. Gregory Palamas guided, instructed, reprimanded, and loved! Through the prayers of the great hesychast and of all saints of Thessaloniki, may you always remain blessed.
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One of the fathers, seeing someone sin, wept bitterly and said: "Today him, tomorrow me".
"He who is near God is most fortunate, though he might live on a rock." -Elder Amphilochios
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