AS YOU LABOR THE FLESH, SO LABOR THE SOUL

A Homily for Holy Tuesday

St. Theophan the Recluse

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“As the Lord went to His voluntary Passion, He said to His apostles on the way: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed, as it is written of Him.” Come, then, and let us also journey with Him, purified in mind; let us be crucified with Him and die for His sake to the pleasures of this life” (Holy Monday Matins, Praises).

Thus the Holy Church invites us to journey, to co-suffer and be co-crucified with the Lord on these days, dedicated to the memory of His Divine Passion and death. As obedient children, you have heeded this maternal calling and entered the indicated path that leads to the Lord. And now my task is not to persuade you to obey, but, finding comfort in your obedience, to merely wish that you complete more fully and perfectly what you have already begun.

WHAT IS AN ANATHEMA?

Rarely does the Rite of Orthodoxy, which is now being performed, take place without censures and reproaches on somebody's part. And no matter how many sermons are given explaining that the Church here acts wisely for the salvation of her children -- still the malcontents just keep repeating their line. Either they do not listen to the sermons, or these sermons do not strike home as regards the latters' perplexities, or perhaps they have formed their own conception of this rite and do not want to abandon it, no matter what you tell them.