Psalm 39
I said I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue
(Psalm 39:1)
Saint Nikolai Velimirovich (1881-1956), or Saint Nikolai of Zicha, the great Serbian bishop who suffered under the Nazis and after the war ended his days living at Saint Tikhon’s Monastery, was a prolific speaker and writer. But he taught that one who seeks to speak God’s words and do God’s works can only do so by being vigilant over the tongue and paying attention to inner silence. Here is one of his “Prayers by the Lake.”
People carry on foolish conversations as soon as they move away from
Your presence, My Wisdom. Those without faith speak about works, and those without works speak of faith.Each disparages what he does not have, and what he does have he proclaims throughout the marketplace…
And so I teach those around me who are carrying on the debate: whoever has true faith in the Living God prefers to remain silent. And whoever performs a true work of God prefers to remain silent . But whoever shuts up his faith with his mind, gladly squabbles about faith. And whoever does his own work and not God’s gladly boasts of his works.
Deep is the tranquility of the soul of the man of faith, deeper than the tranquility at the bottom of the sea. For God’s Wisdom is born and resides in deep tranquility.
Deep is the tranquility of the tongue of one who does God’s work, deeper than the tranquility of the iron in the heart of a mountain. For whoever does the work of another listens to instructions and carries them out, moreover he listens, and has no time to speak.
In J. Manley, Grace for Grace: The Psalter and the Holy Fathers (Menlo Park, CA: 1992), 133.
Chancery Update
Father Alexander Schmemann, whose 30th anniversary of repose is commemorated on December 13th, said that the communion we receive in the Eucharist ought to be the crowning of a personal communion among us.
I returned from France and the enthronement of Archbishop Job once again confirmed in the conviction that every level of church life requires us to make the effort to reach out and connect with others. Only this kind of often repeated formal and informal communication and being together, liturgically, in conversations, at meals, builds over time the genuine fabric of communion that is the Church.
Week 3: Recruiting 300 Stewards for the Orthodox Church in America
This is the start of the third and last week of the campaign to begin once again recruiting Stewards for the Orthodox Church in America after a number of years when that fell by the wayside. A few stalwarts (24 is the exact number) continued to be Stewards through the ups and downs of the past. In the intervening years there were many other ways that people have being supporting the Church, especially through their parish assessments and tithes. But now, if you are willing to do just a little bit more to support the ministries of the OCA, if you believe in the mission of the Orthodox Church in America that goes beyond parishes and dioceses, then your gift of joining the Stewards will be very much appreciated.