How Shall We Live
How Shall We Live?
The Rhythms of Christian Life
Orthodoxy is the path toward freedom. To be free from sinful passions so that we can grow into who God designed us to be — this is the Orthodox way. And to rise into the radiant perfection of Jesus Christ — this is the goal and the joy of the Christian! Just as all the fullness of God dwells in Christ (Colossians 2:9), so is all the fullness of Christ intended to dwell in us. This and only this — bearing His image, growing in His likeness — is what it means to be truly human.
God embeds rhythms into nature to nurture biological life. Too, He embeds rhythms into His Church to nurture spiritual life. Through living these rhythms in the Body of Christ — daily, weekly, monthly, yearly — we, by the grace of God, heal from the horror of sin and grow in the likeness of God, “maturing into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Not rules but rather therapies, these rhythms provide for the well-being of “spirit, soul, and body” (I Thessalonians 5:23). God desires that we be ourselves, without pretense, and strive to love Him from our hearts.
The longer one is in the Church, the more accustomed to this path toward sanity one becomes.
The PRESENT
Moment by moment, the Christian strives to “belong to Christ” (I Corinthians 3:23), mindful that we are His and He is ours, practicing a gentle watchfulness over our senses, our thoughts, words, and actions, so that we “do all to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). Foundational virtues in every situation for the Christian are love, humility, repentance, thankfulness, stability, and honesty with oneself. Christianity is lived: it is spiritual and theological, yes, but it’s always “in the room” — sometimes, our faith is simply about whom we can serve, what we can tidy, how we can beautify.
The DAILY Rhythm (Prayer/Holy Scripture/Peace and Love)
The daily rhythm of Christian life involves prayer, Holy Scripture, serving others, thankfulness, striving for purity of heart by renouncing immorality, and a commitment to accept whatever the day brings with peace of soul and conviction that God is in all and over all.
Each day begins and ends with mindfulness of God, who is our Strength for handling all that both the day and night will bring. Morning and evening prayers, so necessary for growth, can also be adapted to circumstance. God’s energy is imparted to us through the daily reading — or listening — of Holy Scripture. And small acts of service and kindness — what we might call hospitality or almsgiving — beautify the soul and the world around us.
Throughout the day, other remembrances of God and our identity in Him can involve practicing silence, giving thanks, spiritual reading or listening, renouncing immorality, stepping outdoors, nurturing relationships, serving the poor, creative labor, finding joy, engaging uplifting art or music, or reciting The Lord’s Prayer or The Jesus Prayer.
The WEEKLY Rhythm
(Great Vespers/Matins/Divine Liturgy/Holy Communion/Fasting/Fellowship)
The weekly rhythm of Christian life centers around both the preparation for, and the reception of, the glorious “Medicine of Immortality” that is Holy Communion — typically at the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy.
Preparation to receive the Body and Blood of Christ begins with striving to live the daily rhythm described above, then continues with vital participation in Great Vespers on Saturday evening, and — either that evening or on Sunday morning — mindfully reading or listening to the Prayers in Preparation for Holy Communion. Following Sunday
Theosis: the deification of the entire human person in Christ to share in the very life of God. Morning and Evening Prayers can be found in most Orthodox Prayer Books, in the Orthodox Study Bible, or on our website https://stelizabethtn.org/prayers.
Daily Scripture readings can be found in the Orthodox Study Bible, or on-line by entering “Orthodox Daily Readings.” For suggestions for a daily prayer and Bible discipline, consult the parish priest. The usual form of the Jesus Prayer - “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” - can be adapted to fit a variety of circumstances: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, thank You for Your love,” or, “…give me patience,” or “…be with (name).”
The PreCommunion Prayers carry us along the way of the Cross and Empty Tomb: taking us down in humility then upward in the cry of faith.
Morning Matins and Divine Liturgy with the reception of Holy Communion, a joyful spirit of abundant thanksgiving — we’ve partaken of God! — is preserved in us through the Prayers of Thanksgiving After Holy Communion.
As the week continues, fasting on Wednesday (mindful of Christ’s betrayal) and Friday (mindful of Christ’s crucifixion) humbles the flesh, keeps us spiritually sensitive, and prepares us to receive again next Sunday the “Bread come down from heaven” (John 6:41).
And if one can attend a mid-week service at church, that’s a great boost, too!
The MONTHLY Rhythm
(Holy Confession/Forgiveness/Reconciliation and a Fresh Start)
The monthly rhythm of Christian life involves the Mystery of Reconciliation — or, the Sacrament of Confession.
When sin has broken our fellowship with God and others, the Church provides the Mystery of Reconciliation. Ideally, the Christian takes advantage of this healing sacrament every four to eight weeks or so, but also as the conscience needs. This monthly (or so) rhythm of regular confession — with a priest ordained to hear confessions and communicate the forgiveness of God — helps us take our spiritual sickness and healing seriously, and moves spiritual life away from mere feeling and emotion and into deeper practice.
Why regular confession?
"If we judge ourselves, we will not be judged” (I Corinthians 11:31). Because the Mystery of Reconciliation involves confession of personal sin, it’s our practical way of “judging ourselves” so that we might escape the judgment by God. By accepting Confession's gentle rebuke now, we escape the Judgment's great rebuke later; by enduring temporary shame now, we escape eternal shame later.
To unlock the great benefit of Confession, the Christian strives to repent of the sins confessed by, with the help of God, “replacing” them with virtue — such as silence instead of gossip, patience instead of outburst, gratitude instead of complaining, acts of love instead of acts of hostility.
The YEARLY Rhythm
(Pascha/Great Feasts/Seasonal Fasts/Great Saints)
The yearly rhythm of Christian life involves participating in at least the twelve Great Feasts and four Great Fasts of the Church Year, with Great and Holy Pascha as the radiant axis around which it all revolves. Participating in each of these feasts and fasts places us into the stream of Christ’s own life, enabling us to literally receive — because of the Holy Spirit in the Church — the grace of the events as they are happening.
The Twelve Feasts are:
The Four Fasts are:
The yearly cycle also includes commemorations of great saints and wonderworking icons - all reminding us that heaven is real and this life with its sorrows is not all there is. These daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly rhythms of the Church come together to form one life. They are not chores on a To-Do List or ways of earning God’s favor, but expressions of the search for divine life. And as the saints who’ve lived them show, they work.
This life of Christian rhythm is the same for all Orthodox persons, but each internalizes its grace differently, uniquely, personally. Together in community, each deep heart becomes a “partaker of the divine nature” (II Peter 1:4) and a healing presence in our broken world (Exodus 33:14).
------------
The Rhythms of Christian Life
Orthodoxy is the path toward freedom. To be free from sinful passions so that we can grow into who God designed us to be — this is the Orthodox way. And to rise into the radiant perfection of Jesus Christ — this is the goal and the joy of the Christian! Just as all the fullness of God dwells in Christ (Colossians 2:9), so is all the fullness of Christ intended to dwell in us. This and only this — bearing His image, growing in His likeness — is what it means to be truly human.
God embeds rhythms into nature to nurture biological life. Too, He embeds rhythms into His Church to nurture spiritual life. Through living these rhythms in the Body of Christ — daily, weekly, monthly, yearly — we, by the grace of God, heal from the horror of sin and grow in the likeness of God, “maturing into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Not rules but rather therapies, these rhythms provide for the well-being of “spirit, soul, and body” (I Thessalonians 5:23). God desires that we be ourselves, without pretense, and strive to love Him from our hearts.
The longer one is in the Church, the more accustomed to this path toward sanity one becomes.
The PRESENT
Moment by moment, the Christian strives to “belong to Christ” (I Corinthians 3:23), mindful that we are His and He is ours, practicing a gentle watchfulness over our senses, our thoughts, words, and actions, so that we “do all to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31). Foundational virtues in every situation for the Christian are love, humility, repentance, thankfulness, stability, and honesty with oneself. Christianity is lived: it is spiritual and theological, yes, but it’s always “in the room” — sometimes, our faith is simply about whom we can serve, what we can tidy, how we can beautify.
The DAILY Rhythm (Prayer/Holy Scripture/Peace and Love)
The daily rhythm of Christian life involves prayer, Holy Scripture, serving others, thankfulness, striving for purity of heart by renouncing immorality, and a commitment to accept whatever the day brings with peace of soul and conviction that God is in all and over all.
Each day begins and ends with mindfulness of God, who is our Strength for handling all that both the day and night will bring. Morning and evening prayers, so necessary for growth, can also be adapted to circumstance. God’s energy is imparted to us through the daily reading — or listening — of Holy Scripture. And small acts of service and kindness — what we might call hospitality or almsgiving — beautify the soul and the world around us.
Throughout the day, other remembrances of God and our identity in Him can involve practicing silence, giving thanks, spiritual reading or listening, renouncing immorality, stepping outdoors, nurturing relationships, serving the poor, creative labor, finding joy, engaging uplifting art or music, or reciting The Lord’s Prayer or The Jesus Prayer.
The WEEKLY Rhythm
(Great Vespers/Matins/Divine Liturgy/Holy Communion/Fasting/Fellowship)
The weekly rhythm of Christian life centers around both the preparation for, and the reception of, the glorious “Medicine of Immortality” that is Holy Communion — typically at the Sunday morning Divine Liturgy.
Preparation to receive the Body and Blood of Christ begins with striving to live the daily rhythm described above, then continues with vital participation in Great Vespers on Saturday evening, and — either that evening or on Sunday morning — mindfully reading or listening to the Prayers in Preparation for Holy Communion. Following Sunday
Theosis: the deification of the entire human person in Christ to share in the very life of God. Morning and Evening Prayers can be found in most Orthodox Prayer Books, in the Orthodox Study Bible, or on our website https://stelizabethtn.org/prayers.
Daily Scripture readings can be found in the Orthodox Study Bible, or on-line by entering “Orthodox Daily Readings.” For suggestions for a daily prayer and Bible discipline, consult the parish priest. The usual form of the Jesus Prayer - “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me” - can be adapted to fit a variety of circumstances: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, thank You for Your love,” or, “…give me patience,” or “…be with (name).”
The PreCommunion Prayers carry us along the way of the Cross and Empty Tomb: taking us down in humility then upward in the cry of faith.
Morning Matins and Divine Liturgy with the reception of Holy Communion, a joyful spirit of abundant thanksgiving — we’ve partaken of God! — is preserved in us through the Prayers of Thanksgiving After Holy Communion.
As the week continues, fasting on Wednesday (mindful of Christ’s betrayal) and Friday (mindful of Christ’s crucifixion) humbles the flesh, keeps us spiritually sensitive, and prepares us to receive again next Sunday the “Bread come down from heaven” (John 6:41).
And if one can attend a mid-week service at church, that’s a great boost, too!
The MONTHLY Rhythm
(Holy Confession/Forgiveness/Reconciliation and a Fresh Start)
The monthly rhythm of Christian life involves the Mystery of Reconciliation — or, the Sacrament of Confession.
When sin has broken our fellowship with God and others, the Church provides the Mystery of Reconciliation. Ideally, the Christian takes advantage of this healing sacrament every four to eight weeks or so, but also as the conscience needs. This monthly (or so) rhythm of regular confession — with a priest ordained to hear confessions and communicate the forgiveness of God — helps us take our spiritual sickness and healing seriously, and moves spiritual life away from mere feeling and emotion and into deeper practice.
Why regular confession?
"If we judge ourselves, we will not be judged” (I Corinthians 11:31). Because the Mystery of Reconciliation involves confession of personal sin, it’s our practical way of “judging ourselves” so that we might escape the judgment by God. By accepting Confession's gentle rebuke now, we escape the Judgment's great rebuke later; by enduring temporary shame now, we escape eternal shame later.
To unlock the great benefit of Confession, the Christian strives to repent of the sins confessed by, with the help of God, “replacing” them with virtue — such as silence instead of gossip, patience instead of outburst, gratitude instead of complaining, acts of love instead of acts of hostility.
The YEARLY Rhythm
(Pascha/Great Feasts/Seasonal Fasts/Great Saints)
The yearly rhythm of Christian life involves participating in at least the twelve Great Feasts and four Great Fasts of the Church Year, with Great and Holy Pascha as the radiant axis around which it all revolves. Participating in each of these feasts and fasts places us into the stream of Christ’s own life, enabling us to literally receive — because of the Holy Spirit in the Church — the grace of the events as they are happening.
The Twelve Feasts are:
- The Nativity of the Theotokos (September 8);
- The Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14);
- The Entrance of the Theotokos in the Temple (November 21);
- The Nativity of Christ (December 25);
- Theophany, or the Baptism of Christ (January 6);
- The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (February 2);
- The Annunciation (March 25);
- Palm Sunday; (ii)
- The Ascension of Christ; (ii)
- Pentecost ((ii) all of which fall on different dates from year to year)
- The Transfiguration of Christ (August 6);
- The Dormition of the Theotokos (August 15).
The Four Fasts are:
- The Nativity Fast (the forty days before Christmas);
- Great Lent (the forty days before Holy Week and Pascha);
- The Apostles’ Fast (after Pentecost);
- The Dormition Fast (from August 1 to August 14).
The yearly cycle also includes commemorations of great saints and wonderworking icons - all reminding us that heaven is real and this life with its sorrows is not all there is. These daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly rhythms of the Church come together to form one life. They are not chores on a To-Do List or ways of earning God’s favor, but expressions of the search for divine life. And as the saints who’ve lived them show, they work.
This life of Christian rhythm is the same for all Orthodox persons, but each internalizes its grace differently, uniquely, personally. Together in community, each deep heart becomes a “partaker of the divine nature” (II Peter 1:4) and a healing presence in our broken world (Exodus 33:14).
------------
- Fasting is abstaining from - or limiting, depending on circumstance - food, drink, and extraneous activities while engaging in activities profitable to the soul. Typically on Wednesdays and Fridays, Orthodox Christians fast from meat, fish, eggs, dairy, olive oil, and various amusements.
- A Guide to Preparing for Confession is available from the church.
- “Participating” means attending the church services celebrating the feast, and looking for ways to “embody” the event at home through iconography or other beautifications or acts of charitable service.