Tag: Prayer for Enemies

Face to Face

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 14 Leave a Comment on %s
There are few joys of a blogosphere writer greater than to meet face-to-face with his readers. Such has been my experience at my time at the 16th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America. To embrace someone who can say that my articles on the death of my parents helped them to endure the death of their own parents is beyond anything I can express in words – for the love…

Why Would Anyone Want to Forgive an Enemy?

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 39 Leave a Comment on %s
That Christians are commanded by Christ to forgive their enemies is common knowledge. We often take this at face value – discover immediately that it is very hard (often impossible) and conclude that the commandment is an unachievable ideal. For non-Christians, forgiveness of enemies may, in some cases, be a shared ideal (most people believe in “peace”), but many if not most non-Christians would recognize immediately the dangers involved in forgiving an…

The Mystery of Love

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 25 Leave a Comment on %s
It is common to both the writings of Dostoevsky [particularly in the Brothers Karamazov] and in the teachings of the Elder Sophrony and St. Silouan, that each man must see and understand himself to be responsible for the sins of all. This can be a statement that troubles some – as if doing this were a mere spiritual game – or a violation of others’ responsibility. It is, in fact, a profound understanding…

Praying for the World

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 21 Leave a Comment on %s
We must pray for other people with contrition and pain in our soul. We can only achieve this, if, due to our humbleness, we consider ourselves the cause of all the problems in the world. The Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain +++ This insightful but “hard” saying of the Elder Paisios is very similar to a statement made by the literary character, the Elder Zossima, in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, who…

The Heart of Forgiveness

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 16 Leave a Comment on %s
Nothing is more difficult to our heart than forgiveness of our enemies. I cannot complete this small series on the heart without a few words on this topic. This post was written last March. I cannot think that any of my readers is a stranger to forgiveness, either the need to be forgiven or the need to forgive. The need to forgive, according to the commandment of Christ, extends well beyond those…

Winners and Losers

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 19 Leave a Comment on %s
We are a great society for competition – and America is not unique in this. What America thinks is competitive in her “Super Bowl,” pales in comparison to the frenzy engendered elsewhere by the “World Cup.” Several years ago I was in London when England was playing Ecuador in the World Cup. It was a Sunday afternoon. With my companions we walked across London heading to the museums, assuming that the afternoon…

My Sins Pour Out Behind Me

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 8 Leave a Comment on %s
Abba Moses [one of the desert fathers] hesitated to accept a summons to be part of a council that would pass judgment on a brother who had committed a sin. A delegation approached him insisting that all the others were waiting for him. Reluctantly, he got up and went with them. He took a jug of water that leaked all along the path. The council came outside to greet him. Puzzled by…

Short Prayer for Enemies

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 19 Leave a Comment on %s
These two petitions are found in Orthodox Daily Prayers. Both give a model for our prayers on these topics: Save, Lord, and have mercy on those whom I have caused to stumble, turning them away from the path of salvation and leading them to evil and unseemly deeds. Return them to the path of salvation by thy Divine Providence. (a prostration is made) Save, Lord, and have mercy on those who hate…

The Fascination of Wickedness

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 21 Leave a Comment on %s
For the fascination of wickedness obscures what is good (Wisdom 4:12) Man has such powers that he can transmit good or evil to his environment. These matters are very delicate. Great care is needed. We need to see everything in a positive frame of mind. We mustn’t think anything evil about others. Even a simple glance or a sigh influences those around us. And even the slightest anger or indignation does harm.…

“And For Thy Whole World”

· Fr. Stephen Freeman 20 Leave a Comment on %s
Anyone familiar with Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazovshould remember the teaching in that novel of the Elder Zossima. He states that “each man is responsible for the sins of every man,” and holds this realization as the key to the life of paradise. The great novelist is not inventing a new idea, but simply allowing one of his characters to give voice to a teaching that is essential to the Orthodox life. We…