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Healing the Soul through the Sacraments - The Inner Person in the Orthodox Tradition | Christ the Saviour OC | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Healing the Soul through the Sacraments - The Inner Person in the Orthodox Tradition
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Summary
Core Theme
The core theme is the healing of the soul through the Orthodox Christian "Mysteria" (often translated as sacraments), emphasizing that these are not mere rituals but personal encounters with Christ's uncreated grace, which enable spiritual growth and transformation.
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this evening I would like to address the
topic healing the soul through the
sacraments and right away after I give
the topic I would like to say that
sacraments would probably not be the
most accurate term to use the term that
we use in the Orthodox Church actually
is Mysteria that would be the proper
term so healing the soul through the
Mysteria through the mysteries but when
you translate Mysteria into English as
mysteries there are certain problems
associated with that translation so I
use the word sacraments just to make it
absolutely clear what I'm talking about
even though an Orthodox theology the
word mysteries would actually be more
appropriate and more accurate each of
the Mysteria each of the mysteries allow
us to experience Christ's activity in a
particular mode that sounds like a very
modern way of describing them but I'm
almost citing word for word Saint
Nicholas kvass elos who sounds very very
contemporary when you read him each of
the mysteries allows us to experience
the activity of Christ in a particular
mode we're experiencing God's grace in
the mysteries but this grace as I've
mentioned before is personal its
uncreated it's not a thing it's the
Lord's activity that we experience in
the sacraments in the Mysteria it's the
Lord that we experience in baptism so we
are talking about about grace that is
personal and uncreated refers to the
activity of Christ like to speak first
about baptism of course and because it
isn't so much that we number the
Mysteria but that this is the first
mysterion that we experience before we
can experience any
the others so it's appropriate that we
discuss it first st. Gregory Palamas
says that baptism washes the image by
image he means the image of God that
every human person carries everybody has
the image of God but baptism washes the
image which has been made dirty by sin
and we could talk about the implications
of the washing of the image they would
include healing the Neuse remember we
spoke about the Neuse the spiritual
intellect or the mind and also the
healing of the powers of the soul that
we discussed previously as well
baptism gives birth gives new life
baptism confers the life of Christ which
is more than biological life in fact
quite different from biological life or
to use the very succinct language of st.
Nicholas kvass tell us again it confers
existence baptism gives us the grace to
fight sin the power and ability to pray
and the desire for holiness through
baptism we experience the reintegration
the healing of the inner person we've
been talking about the inner person for
the last number of weeks the restoration
of our original identity in Christ in
other words the way that we were created
to be carrying Christ's image in us that
image shows us the true identity of the
human person say Nicholas Kobashi less
in referring to the mysterion of baptism
says it it sharpens the image it's like
if you were to have an image
that still exists but has been worn down
a bit if you had an image and the artist
had the chance to go back to it and
sharpen it up freshen it up and make it
look the way it was supposed to be he
says that the image which he
acknowledges does not disappear through
sin needs to be sharpened up restored
but baptism also confers a death and
that's very important because when we
are fighting the passions we know that
the passions have to die and in order
for the passions to die the old person
or old man so to speak the man or the
person outside of Christ has to die if
there isn't going to be a death there
isn't going to be a birth there needs to
be both a death and a birth so there is
a death of the old person the old man
and there is a birth of what st. Paul
calls in his letter to the Colossians
the new man in Christ baptism is
followed immediately by chrismation
if baptism confers birth chrismation
confers life so through baptism we come
to be spiritually we come into existence
but chrismation gives us life and by
life I mean vitality dynamism movement
chrismation or more specifically the
Holy Spirit who is given in chrismation
opens new spiritual senses for us here
we see a rehabilitation reorientation of
the powers of the soul so we acquire for
example spiritual sight spiritual hearing
to put it in very simple language in
chrismation we received the holy spirit
as a gift because when the priest is
anointing the person who is newly
baptized the priest prays the seal of
the gift of the Holy Spirit these simple
words tell us that the gift of Chris
Mason is none other than the Holy Spirit
himself it is the Holy Spirit who forms
Christ in our hearts and the seal of the
gift of the Holy Spirit gives us the
mind of Christ you notice that the first
seal is placed on the forehead this
indicates to us not simply that that
part of the body is being sealed
although that is certainly true but that
the person is acquiring through
chrismation the mind of Christ to
acquire the mind of Christ means to
acquire his very thoughts his very
attitudes his way of looking at things
we also acquire through chrismation a
heart that is after God one of the seals
is placed on the heart again not simply
to sanctify that part of the body which
of course it does but also because the
spiritual heart is opened to God and
given the potential to have the vision
of God through the heart what the
fathers of the church called theoria
vision and so we receive in this
Mysterio and theoria or the vision of
God in full potential potential we
receive apotheon dispassion in full
potential II see here these are although
this is the language of the father's the
peace the rest the deeper peace arrest
of the Lord in full potential and I keep
repeating in full potential
because we baptism gives us the reality
the potential but it's up to us to use
it and a person who's baptized more
often than not a small child but not
always needs to grow whether it's a
child who's growing up or whether it's
an adult who is baptized and who also
needs to grow spiritually and physically
and intellectually and as we grow we
need to grow in Christ and that growth
requires ascetic effort and so we have
the full potential that is given in the
mysterion but we need human
participation and when we're talking
about the ascetic side it refers to to
great extent to the human will to our
participation to our reception active
reception of the grace of God we see in chrismation
chrismation
the beginning of the rehabilitation of
the passions I use the word rehabilitate
because as you recall from before it's
not that the passions need to be
obliterated but that they need to be
cured and if they're going to be cured
they need to be rehabilitated so that
they can become what they originally
were according to nature in other words
from creation which is what the father
is call the natural energies so this is
chrismation the Eucharist st. Nicholas
kvass Sheila's constant concentration on
these three Baptism chrismation and
Eucharist is the true food that gives
the true growth but in the Eucharist we
encounter the person of the Lord Himself
so when we are talking about true food
indeed the Eucharist is true food
because we feed on the Lord personally
personally in the sense that we are the
ones doing it and personally most
especially because he is the one who's
giving himself to us
that meal but as we look at the Fathers
of the Church and their writings on the
Eucharist universally the Eucharist is
referred to as fire you will recall from
the prayers in preparation for receiving
Holy Communion the seven or of the
twelve depending on what your prayer
book has some prayer books have seven
prayers in preparation for Holy
Communion and some have twelve prayers
in preparation for Holy Communion that
the Eucharist is referred to time and
time again has fire and it is the fire
that burns and purifies the passions the
cure that we receive in the Eucharist
because we are talking about the healing
of the inner person is not a thing not a
phenomenon the cure is a person this is
very important because when we talk
about healing in a general sense we
don't think about this but it is
becoming more deeply rooted in the
person of Christ that is the healing for
the Christian every aspect of the human
person is healed through the Eucharist
according to st. Maximus the Confessor
by being placed into contact into
contact with the analogous aspect in the
person of Christ let me put that in very
simple language by using an example the
Lord has a human will he also has a new
spiritual intellect a logos he has all
of the things all of the aspects not
things that make him absolutely fully
human and so if for example it's my will
that needs to be healed through the
Eucharist I am participating in his
deified humanity then my well is healed
by coming into contact by being
brought up against and into his human
will when my human will which is wounded
is brought to his human will my will or
your will is healed through his and this
is what is happening in the Eucharist we
need to learn to give ourselves to the
Lord more fully in the Eucharist because
he is fully divine and fully human
he is completely able to assimilate us
to his own humanity and he is as he
assimilates us to his own deified
humanity he heals all of those different
aspects of our own humanity our emotions
our will our noose the logistic on the
powers of the soul that we have he also
has powers of the soul you know because
he's fully human and he has a human soul
obviously one of the early heresies was
the was the teaching that that the Lord
appears as a man but doesn't have a
human soul or doesn't have a human noose
and of course the church rejected all of
these different heresies to struggle to
defend his own the Lord's full real
humanity we'll talk a little bit more
about this the next time we are together
but in the Eucharist we have a full
healing the noose our own noose or
spiritual intellect can return to the
heart to have the vision of the Lord the
logos can give voice to that experience
can express it the powers of desire are
turned towards God the irascible powers
that we were talking about are turned
against the devil and against sin that's
the correct orientation in both cases
the Panama the spirit the Panama that we
have is filled with the presence of the
Lord all of these things happen in the
Eucharist which is why we sing after we
receive the Eucharist in church we have
seen the true light that is the vision
the theoria we have seen the true light
because we have received Holy Communion
how do we see the true light people
would argue well I don't think I noticed
any more lights on in the church after I
took holy communion through our hearts
the news has returned to the heart and
we are able to see the Lord in our
hearts we see the true light because we
have received the heavenly spirit so
when we talk about the Eucharist we are
talking about deification becoming what
God is by grace we don't become what the
Lord is according to his divine nature
but we become what God is by grace and
the Eucharist and deification are 100%
because we have the benefit if I may put
it this way of the Lord's deified
humanity and we're talking about a real
person the healing that we're talking
about is not some theoretical state
because the ultimate healing is to
become a person in the person and in
part that is what we experience in the Eucharist
you may be wondering about some of the
other Mysteria and I thought I would
discuss them not in detail we don't
number them normally in the Orthodox
Church although we often think of seven
we have at least seven we have more but
if we keep moving forward and discussed
the mysterion of confession in
confession we confess our sins our
passions that need to be healed and our
disordered thoughts which are very much
connected with the passions it's an
opportunity for clarity for illumination
a moment of insight if you like a
charismatic moment the father's
described it as the second baptism both
because sins are remitted in this
mysterio and like in baptism I confess
one baptism for the remission of sins
and because the baptismal water is
indeed the tears of the penitent who is
coming to confession the passions are
revealed they are diagnosed and they
receive a therapeutic treatment that's
what the priest does in confession other
than then embodying the presence of
Christ for the person going to
confession I would just like to add that
it's important that confession be viewed
in the light that I've just described
because we ought not to confuse it with
the following venting reporting and
psychological relief or and this may
surprise you
the simple release of guilt all of these
things are things that we would like to
have on an emotional level but they
aren't confession
and when they're mixed in with
confession it sometimes creates a moment
of confusion true repentance leads to
true healing when we vent it doesn't
necessarily lead to healing when we give
a report on our life it might not lead
to repentance when we seek primarily
psychological relief not that there's
anything wrong in doing that by the way
that it's absolutely fine to do that but
it isn't repentance that's all
and when we're seeking primarily the
release from guilt it's sort of similar
to the psychological relief do we feel
guilty when we sin sometimes we do
sometimes we don't the point is we
repent whether we feel guilty or not so
I would just like to put the stress on
the fact that confession is an
opportunity - for us to reveal our
illness reveal our illnesses to the Lord
and ask him to heal them the priest will
help as much as he is able of course we
know some are able to do this more than
others that's simply the way it is
because priests also have to grow in
their vocation and their abilities and
transparency to the Holy Spirit but the
priest can help us with the diagnosis of
those particular sins or passions and
potentially with the possible cure or
therapy if we give him the time I'll
just leave that with you
because of course if a person vents for
15 minutes and then tells the priest do
you have anything to say I can you can
imagine what how much opportunity the
priest would have to respond but I don't
want to make you sort of overly
concerned about how you are confessing
your sins if you are confessing your
sins clearly and methodically and with a No
No
you're doing the right thing keep doing
it this the mysterion of anointing
anointing with blessed oil is for the
healing of soul and body we usually
associate it primarily with the healing
of the body and therefore anoint people
who are ill physically but when you read
the prayers of the Mysterio and it's
very clear that it's for the healing of
soul and body the Orthodox service makes
explicit mention in those prayers of the
passions and of the healing of the
passions in that particular mysterion
although we have to underline that it is
not a replacement for confession in
other words I don't want to go to
confession so instead I'll be anointed
it's in fact the two come together
because anointing is a complement to
confession it comes with it it's not
that one replaces the other and I should
point out because this is important that
the original context historically for
anointing was the Eucharist the oil was
sanctified during the Eucharist or the
oil was sanctified during Matins and
then the anointing was combined with the
Eucharist marriage you might ask the
question well how is marriage a healing
sacrament the couple are united in
Christ and in the Orthodox Church we use
crowns the crowns refer to the martyria
the witness of the couple but that
witness includes their common asceticism
that they practice together the
Christian life that they encourage each
other to obey the commandments of Christ
that they fast together that they endure
hardship together that together they put
to death Phil Athiya the
love of self self love and marriage we
see the rehabilitation of certain
passions lust for example is transformed
through marriage we hope and pray into
pure desire true eros so there is indeed
a healing that takes place at a marriage
in order for the two to become one it
isn't simply that they're becoming one
at that instance but that God uses the
marriage as a healing space for the rest
of their lives ideally that is the
vision of the Church of what marriage is
supposed to be that it is to be a
healing space for us where the passions
are challenged and where healing
particularly of love directed towards
self is that particular passion is
challenged and healed I couldn't stop
I don't think without talking about
ordination although you might find that
interesting because obviously it is not
a mysterio and that most people in the
church experience but it is a mysterion
of healing and the prayer of ordination
in the Orthodox Church makes that very
clear grace divine which heals all that
is infirm and fills all that is lacking
is the beginning of that prayer so the
reference is to the grace divine in
other words it's a personal reference
it's not a thing that heals the person
who is going to be ordained and it's not
actually the bishop you notice the
prayer doesn't say I ordained you says
grace divine that heals all that is
infirm and completes all that is lacking
you need a bishop for the ordination of
course but it is the bishop praying for
the for the
person who is being ordained that the
Lord would heal him
so we acknowledge in the church that
everyone arrives every man who arrives
for ordination to the doc in it where
the priesthood arrives ill arrives
incomplete and therefore the prayer that
that person be healed in order to
undertake ministry but there is another
healing going on a related healing that
is connected to the vocation itself and
that for the deacon or priest or bishop
is the healing of the desire to be
anything or anyone outside of Christ
that desire needs to be taken care of we
need to be rid of it if we're going to
be ordained while the priests pastors
the flock preaches serves the divine
services he must actually renounce the
desire to be a priest as something that
belongs to himself and instead clothe
himself in Christ to repeat that
wonderful statement made by Father
Alexander Schmemann
I think I'm paraphrasing it slightly but
here it is the priest is the only person
in the parish with no vocation no
calling which is to say no calling of
his own no desire to be something to be
someone only the desire to disappear and
that Christ be there you see we need to
be healed to do that that doesn't just
happen because if someone has a pious
feeling and loves the church and that's
why we have the prayer and that's why
there's an asceticism associated with
preparation for ordination the priest is
the only person in the parish who does
not have a vocation the priest is the
person who does not practice his vocation
vocation
for self-fulfillment the church this is
the Orthodox tradition
ordains only the priests that it needs
and not the ones who need it the church
ordains only the priests that it the
church needs and not the ones who need
it it the priesthood and I would tell
anyone who wants to be a priest that it
is a wonderful desire but if you're
seeking to be saved look elsewhere I can
unpack that later if you like if you're
seeking to be saved through that look
somewhere else I think I've got the
father's behind me a hundred percent
when I say that to sum up we are healed
through the Mysteria and we can add
through asceticism
I put the Mysteria first because it's
Christ who heals us Christ comes to us
we think a lot of the time we come to
him but if we come to him we're only
coming to him because he came to us first
first
if you come to confession it's because
he loves you and because he came to you
that is what gave you the ability to go
to confession in the first place so we
talked about the Mysteria first because
Christ comes to us nevertheless he's
gentle he's loving he doesn't impose
himself on anyone and in all of the
different modes we have discussed this
evening to use the language of st.
Nicholas kvass Aeolus that we experience
Christ his activity in different modes
in the Mysteria in none of those modes
does he ever force us or move against
our will and so we need asceticism
to receive the love of the Lord to
participate in this grace the grace is
given for participation it's not given
like a medicine would be given you know
an antibiotic or something it's given
yes you participate by swallowing an
antibiotic or receiving it by IV but in
this case you're doing much more than
that you have to say yes to the Lord in
every mysterion and the our availability
is sometimes compromised because we are
not always obeying the Lord's
commandments and so the ascetical part
refers to the human participation to the
yes to our preparation to receive and
participate in the Mysteria and to the
kind of asceticism that we practice
after we receive them st. Gregory
Palamas is famous for talking about
asceticism before receiving Holy
Communion and asceticism after receiving
Holy Communion when we are together next
time we will discuss in greater detail
exactly what a healed person or a new
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