The day of October 31 is my birthday…and I reached at 32 years.  After 4 years of literature and painting, after 100 or so books, after 15 years of theology, after 4 years of priesthood, after 4 years of blogging, in 32 years … I feel everything from the beginning, all in a student’s life. Today I felt, that I was born again, or take to the top, because that life is a journey, that never ends, although you die…

God taught me to appreciate life, because life means property in which we saved. He taught me to respect life from the first moment of my life, because I was saved from death by an earthquake. An earthquake, earthquake in 1977, saved my life in order not to be aborted by my mother.

Continuously and learned that life is pointless, if your life means a work that fulfills you. And my life is a job and a prayer, which I celebrate myself, make myself beautiful, beautiful man. Therefore today I am happy, fulfilled…but feel that I have to take one from  beginning, I forget what I did and I concentrated on what to do.

Without this fresh start everything I have done not make sense.

Looking back and seeing the long line of miracles in my life. I see those who helped and those who I have avoided due to satanic or I was impaired. I see all sorts of people and great events in my life. This would have occurred, if not started…earthquake.

In Romania, died in 1977, in that earthquake, many people value…But I was born when, at the end of October and early November, in an ambiguous atmosphere. I have lived until about 13 years into full communism, for class 8th to begin to teach democracy, because of the revolutionary events of 1989’s Romania.

The year 1989 marked my conversion to the Church’s life, just because some young people, like me, who were dying in the streets, with flowers in their hands, because President Nicolae Ceauşescu, the communist dictator of that date. In 1989, in Bucharest, tank was passed over the young demonstrators, who had flowers in their hands.

Their faith and their courage have passed since then in my heart, for which I thank them and pray for their salvation. Therefore I say that no one comes by chance on this earth, but each one is born with a purpose, a purpose that God wants. And I think my vocation is to be a servant of the Church, a priest and a writer of the Church, a theologian, to speak about the wonders of God in the life and history of the Church.

I feel the same with all my being. Therefore I need, day by day, to do something more and more beautiful for me and for all together. And every day is an evocation of presence and work of God in our lives. His presence with us is that which makes us constantly changing life, to see our sins, we see errors, let us see our wickedness…but we while, to be others, to be His own.

Write it here, I do not evoke my person, but evokes person of God and I thank and publicly, in the eyes of all for the wonders of my life. And our Church has, in its Liturgy, prayers for the blessings of  God poured into our lives and encourages us to thank His with heart size. It teaches us to thank and to enjoy front of God.

And, if we live our lives before Him, all before Him and we should enjoy beautiful.

I thank, my God, for all!

I know, that I can not pray to Thee.

But I know You know my heart and understand my joy for You and that only You  are my joy completely.

Your will be with me, my God, to know what to do with my life!

This is the fulfillment of my, if I see what to do.

Fill me of Thy glory and Thy eternal joy, that Yours is the Kingdom and power and glory of the Father and the Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever and ever. Amen!

For my wife

You die with a smile
pressed on your face.
You die as a raindrop,
like a dragon-fly attached to the wings.

Therefore no one sees you, my darling,
nobody!
No one knows, because nobody loves you
like me.

I have loved you with all my heart.
I’ve loved you with all my life,
with all my blood,
that all my words…

And that is why your death is like a smile,
as a high breeze
for my eyes
because it makes me cry sweet …

And everything is so easy
and so hard at the same time.

Because I can not believe that your death is possible.
Because I believe that death
may be simpler and
so committed and love …

Love,
for it is God’s gift, is so triumphant,
passing many obstacles,
because he does not fear death.

And with all this, you die
as a dandelion blown in the wind.
You die as an irreplaceable friend of my heart.
You die with all that are you
and nobody,
but no one can replace,
never, your
beauty.

Enjoy only those who can forgive. Those who don’t know this emotion are the crow on the fence.

*

I am a man with a taste for friendship developed. For this reason very rarely find people, who feel friendship more important than air.

*

Toamna e o bucurie de decadență. E o bucurie de lucrurile care se destramă. Numai că în urma acestei destrămări încete rămâne speranța, că primăvara va aduce ghiocei tot la fel de albi, ca și până acum.

*

Autumn is a season with funeral arrangements. And, in despite this fact, desire for human life is a strong miss.

*

When you kill people false hopes then they wake up from sleep. But worth it to wake people from the sleep spiritual death!

*

Prostia e un elogiu adus Satanei. Numai proștii nu vor să vadă la ce slavă dumnezeiască dau cu piciorul, dacă rămân în orbirea lor spirituală.

*

I know, that great things have need for their eyes.

*

Cuvintele nu ascund răutatea și nici sfințenia din inimă! Cuvintele sunt cele mai drastice forme de supraviețuire ale propriei tale interiorități. Ele te vor scoate din mormântul uitării și din nedreptățile multiple pe care le-ai suferit în istorie.

*

Saints take revenge on us in every day. They show us, with great kindness, what we are not, my beloved.

*

Invidia e o sinucidere prostească în mijlocul bucuriei de-a găsi nod în papură.

*

Singura liniște a omului e să se împace cu Dumnezeul lui. Dacă nu există această împăcare unică și fundamentală poți să îi schimbi toate organele, pentru că  omul va rămâne tot la fel de nefericit.

*

The delight of a Christian Orthodox is that there is no death. Yes, and we will die! … Only that, our death is a joy and an eternal life.

*

The measure of the man is not the man but Christ God. But is a measure to which man tends, always tends, not how one can live totally.

*

Dacă nu îmi dovedești că ești profund…nu poți fii un creștin ortodox autentic! N-am văzut până acum ortodocși reali, care să fie mitocani sau fără inimă miloasă. Acestea fac diferența!

*

Holiness is a reality that can not be hidden. That is why only fools are to dirty with their own words.

*

Când Dumnezeu închide gurile celor care clevetesc, atunci adevărul e mai evident decât penibila decizie de a te arăta prost crescut.

*

Silence is the weapon of those who have the truth.

*

Cel mai înfiorător argument e cel care te face să te cutremuri…din cauza împunsăturii smereniei.

*

Am observat că orbii cred că fericirea e frazeologică. Până la urmă, de ce trebuie să ne întristăm, dacă oamenii vor să își roadă rănile precum urșii?

*

I prefer the man of God instead of praised by everybody. Why? Because with the man of God I have all heaven on our side.

*

In the Gospel of this sunday, we are dealing with the healing of the Gerasene demoniac. And „when he [the demon] saw Jesus, he cried out  and fell down before Him, and said with a loud voice: What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me!” (Lk. 8, 28).

Why speak the demons, from demonized, before Him? Why they not be giving strong before Him? Because demons are creatures, fallen creatures and are not on an equal footing  with God. Demons are against God, for they are free to do whatever they want, but they do not decide instead Him. And they talk, because He allows them.

So God’s power is not equal to that of demons. But they were allowed by Christ to enter into pigs. And in the pigs devils show wanted to make it man: to kill him. But God has not allowed to kill the man, but the herd of pigs allowed death, because it is contrary to the Law of Moses.

Id est, who does not gather with God scatters. And we lose, every time we lose, it does not look what we personalize, but choose what makes us sick. Demonization means the annexation of Satan. And the demonization is the opposite the deification, who is joining the Lord, that to be one spirit with Him.

In the Orthodox Church, at Baptism, who is baptized is exorcism of demons. Exorcisms are liturgical prayers. In the name of Holy Trinity, demons are commanded to leave the one, who comes to Baptism and then he is asked to forsake Satan and to be united with Christ, his God.

Therefore, the orthodox spiritual life is a life in God’s grace, a life of asceticism, the fight against our passions. Fighting with passions is a battle with demons, who push us to evil. And this fight is against demonization.

All sin makes us Satan’s room. It demands the confession of our sins, for their cleaning. And, as exorcisms,  the confession of sins is also a liturgical work. A work of liturgical renewal of our interiority. And, by the power of Christ Church, priests forgive men their sins, and makes them full of God’s grace again.

Renewing members of the Church is the great mystery of the world. This is done in silence. While the world sleeps in her sins, the Church deificates man, that changes continuously through the glory of the Trinity.

Therefore, the 23rd sunday after Pentecost is a sunday  of  holiness, because it is a sunday in that, the glory of God is proclaimed as  what rebuilds the man. For this reason, man should not be satanic, but Holy. Holiness is the fulfillment of human and that holiness is the holiness of our trinitarian God.

Don’t see me? How so? Why can not see me, if I a man like you? How can not see me, that I am on line in every day?

We can not we see each other, because we do not want to see. We refuse to see what is good in others.

And our refusal means mischief. Who does not want to see another, means he has evil in his eyes. He regards the bad. Regards with hostility, as Cain toward Abel.

And when we look only evil, only by stealth, only with hostility, we show that we are a society of people without team spirit, without communion.

As creator of online I understand human wickedness in continuous mode, malice free. Visitors are often indifferent or malicious, if they do not know, for that or are indifferent or are reluctant to your novelty.

Is false idea that people seeking novelty at online. Many do not seek anything. All those who read books, all those real searches everyday, to use the internet as the field of exploration. For others the internet is a continuous entertainment, a way to waste time for free.

But on Teologie pentru azi /  Theology for Today we seek to push people to create, make them know, to recognize, to remember that they need their relationship with God and with people, that are normal people.

Normality, for me, as orthodox, is only in relationship with God, our Creator. Therefore, work at online is not a play for us, but a way to gain time, to give value our time, that is so short.

Then why not see me, if I see you? Why I want to see you and you see your benefit, and you do not see me, when I only make you better?

Doesn’t exists real feed-backs to us. Because there is more envy and indifference. But these two causes us to be autistic. The autism in dialogue means the non-dialogue.

And when we are not in dialogue the meaning of life no longer exists, because selfishness is not a solution but a wall, a cage, a prison.

But the internet is a huge opportunity for dialogue and not closing itself! For this reason we must heal by selfishness, envy, of malice, for that we see our inner depths.

And we will see increasingly better. For that dialogue makes us grow in love. And love is understanding, mutual respect, joy of another.

Is it possible?  I think: yes!

We can communicate and knowing each other. Must only we have  availability for this.

I, the priest Dorin, always lived paradoxes that on my own existence. Because I felt, that things that appear in dissonance, can harmonize with each other.

As an essentialist artist, I wanted to express in my books and in my painting the essential things of the world, from my perspective.  For this reason I wrote more and soon. I wrote over 80 books in 4 years.

I lived a exhausted sister with folly after all this effort incredible and for me. But God thought otherwise things for me. I gave up art and I dedicated  theological research and the life of the Church, which absorbed me completely.

But art is not antagonistic to theology! Art is ancillary to theology, because you need to be prepared to see beautiful, the beautiful and ever deeper. Therefore literature, painting and languages have led me to an increasingly close and deep understanding of Orthodox theology.

To write theology, you need a plan and a beautiful disposition of ideas. You need as well as the spontaneity and the flexibility, for robustness but and conceptualization, but the looseness  and the brevity.

And so what seems difficult to understand, in practice, there is nothing difficult to understand, because it contains all the same man. Therefore I have lived and are living a perpetuum existential paradox.

Because I combines in my books the theology of the Church with the attention to slippages postmodernity, good sense with distance from all things deformity. And I try, like all orthodox christians before me, to live a life of holiness, because God asks us to be holy, although each day, I see more away good deeds.

Therefore things are not simple, because they are paradoxical. And because they are, so must we take as such and not want to simplify. If you simplify a lifetime to delete. But, if we take a human life in all its complexity, we learn how to give glory to God, because He did and do many miracles to His servants.

Eu am crescut în spiritul culturii reamintirii. Şi, prin această sintagmă, înţeleg faptul că în locul unde eu am trăit se punea acut problema istoriei noastre, mai degrabă decât a situaţiei noastre prezente sau a celei din viitor. Şi această cultură la care mă refer e percepţia americanilor sudişti despre propria lor istorie.

Însă, acest cult pentru reamintire era unul fals, de fapt, ca şi sentimentalismul care ne-a bântuit în secolul al 19-lea. Pentru că mi-am petrecut copilăria în anii 50 ai secolului trecut, pot să percep ce se întâmplă cu noi şi să constat, cum ultima parte a secolului, a devenit o normă pentru zilele noastre, în funcţie de care noi gândim, la care ne raportăm.

Însă, dacă e să fim juşti, modernitatea nu este o cultură a reamintirii ci, mai degrabă, a uitării/ a neatenţiei / a indiferenţei [modernity is not a culture of remembrance but a culture of forgetfulness]. Copiii mei mă mai întreabă din când în când: „În ce război a fost bunicul: în Vietnam sau în Cel de al 2-lea război mondial?” Ei uită repede, nu mai ştiu ce să spună când vine vorba de istoria familiei noastre, pentru că sunt nişte bieţi elevi ai istoriei – ca de altfel toţi elevii vremii noastre – fiindcă în cultura prezentului istoria joacă alt rol decât pentru mine, atunci când eram tânăr ca şi ei.

Soţia mea şi cu mine am trăit în spiritul copilăriei unui american sudist, care se juca de-a „Războiul civil” sau de-a „Războiul între state”. Şi jocurile noastre nu scoteau din calcul locul nostru de naştere, de unde suntem noi.

Soţia mea s-a născut în Washington D.C. – pentru că tatăl ei, născut în Carolina de Sud, a lucrat acolo un timp – şi, în mod logic pentru noi cei de atunci, ea se juca de-a războiul fiind de partea celor din nord, a americanilor din nord.

Însă, cultura reamintirii pe care noi o arborăm astăzi e una falsă. Noi ne amintim lucrurile greşite şi urâm ceea ce ni s-a făcut rău în trecut, adică avem aversiune faţă de urmaşii celor care au luptat cu strămoşii noştri. Nu am avut pe cineva din familie care să lupte în Războiul civil; nici din partea tatălui şi nici a mamei. Niciuna dintre casele strămoşilor mei nu a fost arsă în război şi nu am păţit nimic noi, ca familie… Dar nu acelaşi lucru se poate spune şi despre alţi compatrioţi.

Îmi aduc aminte de momentul când l-am dus pe copilul meu, pe atunci şcolar, la unul dintre monumentele care elogiază eroismul trecutului. Citind despre istoria parcului comemorativ a văzut ce s-a petrecut şi cu unii şi cu alţii dintre cei care au luptat atunci şi, cu adevărat, atunci şi-a reamintit trecutul. Şi, pentru a ne reaminti trebuie de fapt să cunoaştem astfel de istorii, astfel de istorii vii ale trecutului, fiindcă altfel avem o cultură falsă a rememorării, a reamintirii.

Pe glob există multe feluri de culturi ale reamintirii, unele propunând animozitatea cu trecutul şi mânia, răzbunarea. Multe dintre ele continuă tema violenţei şi a opresiunii.

Dar una dintre făgăduinţele Apocalipsei sfântului Ioan, cea de la 21, 4, ne spune următoarele: „ Şi Dumnezeu va şterge toate lacrimile de pe ochii lor; şi nu va mai fi moarte, nici întristare, nici suspin, nici vreun fel de durere, pentru că lucrurile dintâi au trecut”.

Aceasta este reala cultură a reamintirii: cultura care se naşte din mila şi iertarea lui Dumnezeu. Şi aceasta va rămâne atunci când toate cele dintâi, ale trecutului, vor trece. Reamintirea toxică este aceea în care îţi reaminteşti trecutul , mai degrabă relele trecutului, nu pentru a crea o cultură a vieţii, ci mai degrabă o cultură a morţii. Şi nu există lucruri rele pe care nu le putem ierta. Iar iertarea e mereu un dar şi niciodată o poruncă [forgiveness is always a gift, never a demand].

Creştinătatea ortodoxă practică reamintirea/ pomenirea în multiple feluri. Tainele Bisericii sunt întotdeauna reamintiri. Dar mereu aceste reamintiri sunt eshatologice, pentru că sunt focusate pe adevărul transcendent, Care coboară între noi, în sfântul altar.

Bisericile noastre sunt de obicei pline de icoane, de fresce, care ne amintesc întotdeauna de Hristos, de Mama Sa, de Sfinţi, de parabolele evanghelice…Iar icoanele sunt picturi făcute în a acord cu normele Tradiţiei şi nu sunt niciodată înregistrări, de tip pictural, ale istoriei şi ale acestor persoane în istorie.

Noi nu ne mişcăm prin Biserică ca printr-un muzeu fotografic, care ne vorbeşte despre trecut, pentru că sfinţii – oricare ar fi ei - ar fi pictaţi după norme umane şi astfel ne-am introduce într-un mod pictural artistic. Nu! Ci noi privim prin icoane lumea care va veni, dar care…deja este aici, în această lume.

Anul acesta, când am vizitat Ţara Sfântă, m-am oprit şi în Mănăstirea Sfântul Sava şi aici am văzut craniile monahilor ce s-au nevoit aici şi care au fost martirizaţi pentru credinţa ortodoxă, în anul 618 d. Hr. Şi, când le-am văzut, nu m-am gândit prima oară la crima care s-a făcut atunci, în istorie, cândva… ci m-am bucurat ca să mă rog sfinţilor lui Dumnezeu. Noi ne-am închinat sfintelor moaşte şi nu am început să plângem şi să ne jelim la mormântul lor.

Şi mi-am notat atunci, pe timpul pelerinajului meu la Ierusalim, despre acest moment, ca despre unul al…reamintirii. În Ierusalim e calea pe unde a mers Hristos spre patima Sa cea de bunăvoie, care este cu 30-40 de picioare mai jos decât actualul terasament al oraşului. Iar cei care vizitează această cale merg pe jos, pe urmele lui Hristos şi văd însemnele, inscripţiile care au rămas de la romani, de la bizantini, de la musulmani, de la cruciaţi, de la turci, de la toţi la un loc.

De aceea Ierusalimul e un oraş central al pelerinajelor, pentru că găseşti aici pe toţi, din multe religii. De aceea, dacă eşti pelerin şi nu ai uitat trecutul şi greşelile istoriei e semn că nu ai iertat. Pentru că, pentru un creştin ortodox, drumul spre Sfântul Mormânt nu este unul al morţii, pentru care trebuie să plângi şi să te jeleşti, ci un drum al bucuriei.

Pentru toţi oamenii lumii, realitatea Mormântului sfânt e doar o cale spre înainte. Modernitatea nu avansează, nu merge spre înainte, pentru că nu iartă, ci uită. Iar uitarea nu e tot una cu iertarea. Trebuie să renunţăm la lacrimi şi văicăreli pentru trecut, pentru că morţii vor învia, nu vor fii aşa mereu!

Reamintirea adevărului, este, în ultimă instanţă, o reamintire a Sfârşitului tuturor lucrurilor, a lui Hristos Dumnezeu, care este Adevărul ce ni S-a revelat nouă, oamenilor. Lucrurile cele dintâi vor pieri, vor trece. Va rămâne numai ceea ce rămâne pentru veşnicie.

Rev. Mast. Stephen Freeman

A

I am taking the day off from the pilgrimage (my wife and others are in the vicinity of Jericho today). I have stayed behind to allow my back and some swollen feet to mend – they are already better after much needed sleep – and I wanted to use some free time to offer a reflection or so on my pilgrimage to date).

There has been at least one profound moment in each day of the pilgrimage – but yesterday and the early hours of this morning (Jerusalem time) were events almost beyond description.

We began the day in Bet Sahour – the “Shepherd’s Fields” near Bethlehem. The parish is a newly-built Orthodox Church with wonderful iconography. Beside it are the archeological digs on a series of Churches going back to the early 4th century.

Later we were in Bethlehem. Despite the onslaught of vendors whenever you leave the confines of the Church, the experience was profound. We have had tremendous freedom of access to sites (the presence of Met. Kallistos has likely opened doors for us). I have been able to enter the sanctuary and venerate the altar of every Church we have visited.

The shrine of Christ’s Nativity is that strange mix of knowing where you are and how important it is and yet also being aware of crowds and the crush of pilgrims. But there were many moments of especial significance.

In the late afternoon we were at the Monastery of St. John (Moscow Patriarchate) for the Vigil for the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Forerunner (everything is Old Calendar over here). To our great surprise and delight, after the Metropolitan entered the altar, a priest came out and invited the three OCA priests in our party to enter the altar.

Nuns in the sacristry provided vestments and we shared in the Vigil, taking part particularly in the Polieley. The choir of nuns were utter ethereal in their beauty – the service in Slavonic perfection. It is very hard to describe the sense of arriving at a holy place and suddenly being extended such hospitality. It was like the welcome of the Prodigal Son.

After a light supper and brief nap, we walked across Jerusalem (after midnight), arriving at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We were expected. Met. Kallistos concelebrated with Archbishop Aristarchos, one of the members of the Holy Synod in Jerusalem and an old acquaintance of the Metropolitan. Again, the hospitality and access granted to us was overwhelming. I was able to enter the Holy Sepulchre of Christ, as were many of our group, kneel by the priest who was performing the Proskomide (the preparation of the gifts) and give him the names of all those I wanted remembered in the Liturgy.

There is a very small chapel at the entrance to the Sepulchre with an altar. At the Little Entrance, the Bishops and clergy processed into that chapel and the Liturgy continued from inside the structure that surrounds the Holy Sepulchre itself. The clergy, both those in our group as well as priests of other pilgrim groups, were able to enter the small altar area and receive communion. The inner experience of this unimagined privilege is beyond my words.

We shared refreshments with the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre after Liturgy and were shown the room containing the holy relics – which is beyond description. Several of us found our way up to the chapel of Golgotha and were able to venerate the rock beneath the altar that marks the spot where the Cross of Christ stood. I can only describe the evening as a Pascha. For though every Liturgy everywhere is always a Pascha, it is also inescapably and palpably so to receive communion at the tomb of Christ. It will doubtless be an image that will feed my heart for a long time to come.

My wife and I, finally returning to our residence at St. George’s College at 5 a.m., reflected together on the day. It was a journey from Christmas to Pascha, Bethlehem to the Holy Sepulchre, with an utterly heavenly visit to the Monastery of St. John, which marks both the birthplace of the Holy Forerunner, as well as the site of the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth (all of which are very special in our family). It was a day that neither of us could fathom and only gave us the reminder that the past 10 years of our lives (the years we have been Orthodox) have been blessed beyond anything we every dreamed when we began this journey.

Our focus has not been on our own “experience” of the places we visit, but rather on the prayers we are carrying with us. And yet continual unexpected joys meet us with a kindness and hospitality I would never dream of demanding.

One of our party last night commented as we left the Church of the Holy Sepulchre that we had been blessed indeed. He recalled the experience of St. Mary of Egypt who had not been able to cross the threshhold of that holy place because of her sins. The hand of God held her back. It became the occasion of her conversion.

“We actually crossed the threshhold!” he commented, recognizing in that simple act the mercy of a good God towards sinners such as ourselves.

The wonder of this land is very much like the wonder of the world everywhere. The Holy is given to us constantly, even though we find ourselves surrounded in tragedy and confusion that seems insolvable. Everywhere you look the political reality of this troubled place is evident, and yet the places most Holy on this earth are here. It truly is like the human heart – where the treasuries of everything are to be found – both of evil – and of paradise itself. The struggle for everyone in this place – as the struggle for everyone, everywhere – is to enter paradise rather than to make of their life and this world a living hell. May God have mercy on us all.

Cf. source.

B

We traveled today to the Monastery of St. Saba, in the Judean desert. Founded in the 5th century, it is the longest continually functioning monastery in the Orthodox world. There are 15 monks there today, though during its height, there were as many as 5,000 in the cliffs surrounding the monastery and the monastery itself. In the 7th century, the Persians invaded and martyred a number of monks, but the monastery survived, and monks returned. It is said by the monks that the Theotokos promised that St. Saba’s would remain a living monastery until Christ returned.

As we have found all over the Holy Land, the hospitality was overwhelming. I sat in the cave that was the cell of St. John of Damascus and prayed – venerated the incorrupt relics of St. Saba (and those of the many martyrs of the monastery).

The monk who was guiding us through the monastery was asked the question about the difficulties the monastery encountered with the political situation in the area (it is situated in the Palestian Authority area). He said, “We have been here since the 5th century and have seen many political situations. We are monks. We have no enemies.”

I immediately grabbed his hand and kissed it and told him, “You’re the first man I’ve met in the holy land who proclaimed that he had no enemies. You are a blessing.”

I realized that the great peace of the monastery came not only from the holy relics and the many prayers offered in that place through the centuries, but that the monks who are there now have found paradise. For to live in the midst of so much strife but to have no enemies is indeed paradise itself!

Leaving that place has been one of the hardest things I’ve had to do since coming here.

Cf. source.

Father Dorin

Discourse 2

4 November 2006

In our course heading enter three technical terms, expositive, which should begin lecture today.

First, most often interpretable and revile word, is that of Theology. Although we wanted to enter directly into mystical terminology, we must insist that in this preamble, these three terms.

So, first, what is Theology from point of view of Saint Parents of Church? It’s easy to say that in terms of language, the word is accomodation after Old Greek, a translation to the letter and that means: Speech / word / discourse about God.

The term does not explain anything but the content of Theology. That is why it is interpretabil to peak. We have in the same time Roman Catholic theology, Muslim theology, Hebrew theology etc. Anyone who feels entitled, by deceit, of course, is to affirm that he makes theology.

From the Orthodox point of view, of orthodox accuracy, that is trenchant orthodox, without ambiguity [as we say up to this level] to make Theology or to write Theology means talking about the reality of God because you shared it. Theology, however, much attention!, is not rational, nor can be rationated.

As something to be rational, in common sense of the term means to have a connection with our way of thinking. If we see that something is recurrent, that something is repeated, that there are some laws in repetitive nature, in us and that there is something in a certain way, because all our human history has seen that work in that way, it means think that something in mind the limits of reason.

But God is not a reality, an object or a person to whom we can reach with our mind. If anyone imagined a God and begins to pray to what they think and believe that God is, we say to them that’s imagination. But God can not be imagined or understood with our mind. If it would be so, if knowing God with our mind through our own thoughts, would mean the knowledge of God, then Theology becomes literature, philosophy, a part of culture but not revelational foundation of the Church.

But this speech about God, which the word Theology proposes, does not mean: I read about God, so I know who God is and I think I am great, but speaking of God, who speaks with accuracy, clearly, in real mode about God, is the one who saw God. The problem sight of God is the subject of our discussion in this course.

But to reach to the essence of the problem and to pass through such ecstatic terminology we should discuss the reality of the word mystic. We already have a Theology, which is not a creation of our autonomous mind, but who is mystical. This Theology, which is a big secret to us at this time, is mystical, namely mysterious. Mystic is also a Greek word. In Old Greek, when something was μυστικος [we are dealing with an adjective] means that we are dealing with something that is mysterious, deep, kept in with something that is intimate. I prefer the title of intimate [a Latin word], which means the most deeply held from our being, our most deeply being.

If we make Theology or someone who makes Theology means that doing something which is his most deep love. Theology is mystical in Saint, in the spiritual man who writes Theology, because that is his most deep experience. And so, one that gives theological books to light, does nothing else but to give from the heart of the most beautiful and sacred love, feeling and thinking of him.

Hidden Theology, which is mystical. A speech about the God of those that you live in the depths of your heart. You say these of your life with God. You give testimony of those who are mysterious, intimate, inward, you discover from your God.

When we talk about Theology and put it next to her mystical adjective actually we talking about a personal knowledge of God, which comes to us from Saints, who have confessed their intimacy with God.

If St. Apostle Paul was pretending he didn’t had time and not writing any letter, and if St. Irineus of Lyon that it was not care or St. Simeon New Teologien did not confess anything to us about his mystical experiences, meaning hidden, we would not know anything about living Saints. We would have thought that these people feel like us, think like us, they act like us, and they are not doing too many things.

But we are talking today about the Mystical Orthodox Theology it was need that they, our Parents and Saints, that we love so much, write for us their mystical experiences. If they did not write, we would have lost the subject of our course. If all the Saints would be quiet and would have thought all of them that they are humble, sinful, incapable in everything, we would not know anything about God.

The work has not occurred and we are blessed with the most possible, because we have all the things in the computer, a giant library and we don’t know how rich we are, that we are very-very-rich.

We have Theology, this is mystical and we have a third unknown, namely the apellative of orthodox.

Again it’s easy to understand that ορθοδοξος in the Greek language, in ancient Greek, which means the one who glorifies / lauds right or rightfully. But the title of Orthodox does not tell us anything about what it means actually.

Mystical Theology, hidden, about whom we said it is also Orthodox, ie is full of right, it’s really exciting experience, or is the experience of one who is living right / holy, who has a deep-sea relationship with God, who can speak any time. Of course, if he want to talk about it. If anyone has it, can talk about it.

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When we talk about ecstatic terminology, we refer to the terms that are designating our hidden experience, to our spiritual experience. One of the most current terms is the ecstasy.

And this word comes from Greek and means changing status / exit from itself. When we have a εκστασις, namely an ecstasy, something intimate is happening with us, so intimate, that what we see is totally different from any other experience we had before. Ecstasy is something that is-with-everything-otherwise, which we can not imagine it with all our efforts, if God doesn’t give us to have one.

Synonym with ecstasy and which means its contents is the word θεορια [also Greek], which means contemplation / sight. If ecstasy means, in the morphematicaly terms, left / besides στασις, namely state, the current state of human, θεορια means the sight of God, the sight of the glory of God. In the Romanian language, if you tell ecstasy or you say the spiritual vision, in definitive, you say the same thing.

Usually I prefer the sight/ vision, because it indicates that we have something that we’ve seen, that we have experienced, that it is a reality to which we arrived. Besides these two terms, we have αποκαλυψις [all Greek], which indicates a discovery / a revelation / a sight happened in our inner. If the last book of Scripture is called Revelation, this is because it is a book of divinely views, discoveries.

We have so far ecstasy, sight / contemplation and discovery: three words, to reach to talk about the purpose of God. When a Romanian says vision, it concerns the divinely sight, the ecstasy. But vision is not a halucination, an illusion, a phantom.Vision does not mean dream or unforeseen occurrence, in the form of specific apparence before us.

For us vision is a discovery of a capital truth from God. And especially, the vision does not come because I want, but because God wants this. We can not, therefore, to have scheduled visions or ecstases.

We, however, distinguish between vision and ecstasy. If when we talk about a vision, we talk of a series of ecstatic events, which God reveles to us (example: the vision of bones, cf. Eze. 37), but when we talk about ectasy or spiritual vision most often we indicate the view of divinely light, id the ecstatic sight.

But we have not reached to the exhaustion of the ecstatic terminology. Because not to turn our course into something boring (I refer to those who are not dealing all day with it), we will analyze other terms when we discuss the text as such, related to discoveries, ecstasis and visions.

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Self-killing as life is the third point of today disertation and this part is, in direct mode, in relation with the mystical experience. In Mat. 16, 24, the Lord speaks about of renunciation, about disunion of yourself, about the old man from you, and about taking the cross, of askesis for the cleaning of passions, talking about the death of the man, that is ressurection for him. Cleaning from passions is own death, for our old self.

To become a new man, you must no longer be the one who you were. The cleaning we talk about, is not a random movement in our lives. Ascetic life, life involving fight with our passions can not be done unless you have the grace of God, if you do not stay in His Church and if you do not have in focus, in your prospective, the reaching to the light of God, to His sight.

Our killing of the old man, of our passinons is unique and is the only way to life, to view, to holiness. So, if you stay at the table with his hand to head and dream that to reach a well after dying, this does not mean progress. Progress means to die for the past, to be living by grace, to God.

If you do not die with your whole being to the passed then you have great problems of understanding the spiritual life. For instance, if we want to stop cursing today, but we do not want to start and fast today, then we shall observe that both virtues are in inner connection in our life.

If it seems to us that we should only fast and praye and make worship, but should not read spiritual books, to confess and to take Holy Sacrament then we are goind in retrogression, we think we have became very smart, we will look with the wicked eye to these who enjoy and we will be sad.

That is, if we do not want to die with our minds, and feeling, and willingness, and our body for past, we will not be able to fully enjoy, completely, the joy that God reserve one of those who are cleaning their heart from passions. And everyone knows that in Mat. 5, 8, only those with clean heart, only them, can see God.

The thing about death that makes us alive, it is not either so simple. In our belief nothing is as simple as it seems. In fact nothing is as simple as it seems. But the weight of looking at the reality, in appearance, is following the lectures.

Father Dorin Octavian Picioruş

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