Monday, January 17, 2005
The Venerable Anthony the Great
3rd Vigil of Theophany: Exodus 15:22-16:1 Epistle: Hebrews 13:17-21 Gospel: St. Luke 6:17-23
St. Luke 6:17-23, especially vs. 20: "Then He lifted up His eyes toward His disciples, and said: 'Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Among the Saints of God, St. Anthony is a shining example of the blessings of asceticism. He was born of well-to-do, Christian parents in Egypt, yet from his youth he displayed an unusual and singular desire to devote himself completely to the Lord Jesus. Whenever he heard the Scriptures read in Church, he immediately applied the teachings to himself in the most direct, practical manner.
When he was twenty, his parents died and he inherited the family fortune. Hearing in Church the Gospel of the rich, young ruler (Lk. 18:18-30), St. Anthony gave away his worldly possessions and fully embraced the ascetic disciplines. Through twenty years of struggle, he defeated every temptation. He reduced his diet to bread, salt and water, eating no more than once a day, sometimes only every other day, frequently even less often. He lived in absolute solitude all those years, maintaining unceasing prayer and overcoming every imaginable demonic wile.
By the grace of God, the ascetic blessings manifested in St. Anthony ignited, within the Church, the monastic movement, a permanent, visible witness to the value of utter self-surrender to the Lord. Today, the Church's monks and nuns continue to demonstrate the blessings that come from embracing poverty, hunger, tears, and austerity. The monastics continue to provide us with living models of what the Lord teaches in the present Gospel reading (Lk. 6:20-23). Let us read this passage with care, for there is a basic antipathy between the life which Christ offers through Orthodox ascetic practice and the consumerist "lifestyle" that everywhere surrounds us.
Consider the Lord's teaching. On the one hand, those who choose poverty are blessed with the kingdom of God (vs. 20). Quite to the opposite, secular society promotes convenience and comfort in abundance. Television and the other media repeatedly emphasize our "need" for things to fulfill our lives. However, Orthodox are blessed with the reminder in the funeral Liturgy: "All things are vanity and exist not after death. Riches endure not, neither doth glory accompany on the way: for when death cometh, all these things vanish utterly."
Still, in the "climate" of today's world, without the monastic example, who could imagine finding a blessing in poverty as did St. Anthony? And how do we embrace the blessings of ascesis amidst the lives we are leading? Surely there is nothing to prevent cutting back on conveniences, simplifying our lifestyles, and doing with less that we may give to the poor.
Also, the Lord teaches the blessing of hunger (vs. 21). The Fathers of the Church similarly insist on the necessity of fasting, and not by monastics only, but by all the Faithful. Beloved, how blessed we are: our Orthodox Faith has not sold-out to the modern, cultivated palate. The Church still teaches discipline for the stomach as the birthright of every Christian. Actually, how difficult is it for us to fast from fish, meat, dairy products, wine and oil on Wednesdays and Fridays or during the four seasonal fasts? God promises spiritual blessings if we will faithfully and diligently keep the fasting disciplines and train our appetites to serve Him. Finally, Christ teaches us to "weep now" in repentance (vs. 21), that we may join in the rejoicing of the widow of Nain, Jairus, the woman with the precious ointment, and the friends of Tabitha. Let us weep now that there may be joy and healing from our Savior. Let our Pastors guide us in self-examination, confession, and unleashing the tears of cleansing. Let us devote regular time to prayer and the struggle against the demons who aim to disrupt and mislead us.
O Christ our God, implant in us the fear of Thy blessed commandments that we may trample down all carnal desires, and enter upon a spiritual manner of living.
