On Reading St. John of the Ladder during Lent

St. John of the Ladder (Greek: Κλίμακος) became a monk at Sinai when he was the age of 16. He lived in solitary asceticism and neptic hesychia (i.e. watchfulness, and stillness); later in life he became abbot of St. Catherine's monastery.

His monastic tradition and training is believed to have come through the pilgrim trails that brought monastic culture from the deserts of Egypt into the deserts of Gaza. Much of the Ladder speaks to these monastic traditions. This life then came from deserts of Gaza to form the monastic culture around Sinai.

"Orthodox tradition states that on the very day St. John became the Abbot of the monastery on Mt. Sinai, a miracle took place: while six hundred people were sitting and eating, St. John noticed a man dressed like a Hebrew, wearing a white tunic. He observed this man walking around like a manager, giving instructions to the cooks, servers, and volunteers. When all the pilgrims departed, the servants were sitting by a table wondering where the stranger went. St. John addressed the group and, being full of the Holy Spirit, he informed them that the man in the white tunic was none other than Moses himself."

During his time as Abbot, he wrote The Ladder of Divine Ascent. St. John received much supplication from monks, other elders to write his spiritual experiences and then later received great appreciation from all over the Christian world for his work, including St. Gregory the Dialogist in Rome.

Not long into his abbacy, he resigned with a fervor to return to his hesychia and prepare for his death (which occurred in 603 A.D.).

Met. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos writes of him, saying: "he demonstrated that stillness of nous purifies the nous from various external influences, and then man becomes clairvoyant and foresighted and can perceive the problems that exists in other people and in the world. When this is achieved, then the purified nous finds itself in another dimension and sees things clearly... St. John of the Ladder acquired such a pure nous, not by studying at the great centers of learning of his day, but by learning from the stillness of the desert, where the passions particularly howl and seek to accomplish man's destruction. His nous became godly and God-like. Thus, St. John became the pre-eminent man formed by God and renewed by the Holy Spirit in Christ Jesus."

His impact on helping the Christian tread the life of the Gospel into the Kingdom of Heaven has been deemed so great, the Holy Spirit brought every Christian's remembrance of him each Fourth Sunday in Lent. This is probably the greatest testimony the Church could give to St. John to encourage the faithful that they have a sure guide in St. John (it should go without saying that all must be under the observant and therapeutic eye of one's spiritual father, to avoid delusion). Many parallels are given between him and the great Prophet Moses, most commonly that at Sinai they both led Israel out of slavery. The Prophet Moses led the physical Israelites from their physical slavery under the physical tyrant of Pharaoh in Egypt. St. John led the spiritual Israel, i.e. Christians, from their spiritual slavery to sin and death under the noetic tyrant of Satan.

And now we look at the book itself: The Ladder of Divine Ascent.

The book has, historically, always been popular. It was translated into many languages and was even the first book printed in the New World (early 1537, Mexico City), even before the Bible. The book was of profound influence on all monasteries and consequently became arranged into a Lenten Lectionary (see below). The monks make it a point to read through the text each year over the course of Great Lent. Specific saints that give it great praise based on their admitted influence the book had on them is St. Photios the Great and St. Symeon the New Theologian.

It was written for his monks and in this context we must remember to keep it; but as we shall see, it is of benefit to all Christians who prayerfully study it. We mentioned the influence it had on St. Symeon the New Theologian, but this influence came from it while he was in the world, serving an aristocrat, who had it in his library. We are speaking of a busy layman. While clearly written for the monastic, St. John mentions monastic life and rules, but does not dwell on them, seeking to grasp the spirit behind the cenobitic asceticism.

St. Justin Popovich describes the "ladder" in this way: "We see him [St. John] ascend quickly and wisely the ladder of paradise, which he made to stand between earth and heaven. As a teacher, as a holy guide, he gives us Christians his Ladder as a model so that we may ascend from hell to Paradise, from the devil to God, from earth to Heaven." He also explains that the participation in the Christian life is the building of our own ladder. Virtue by virtue we build it, by the grace of God. St. John explains how he built his Ladder, ours will look different.

This brings us next to a common concern some have with the book. In English, the book is divided into "steps." I am not sure how this word-choice came about, but it is a little misleading. Very often I find others have an intimidation by the book. I often hear such things as "I read the first step, and have a long way to go." So such a person barely starts, then abandons the book. Or when seeing an outline of the book or reading parts of it they are tempted to ask themselves "I wonder what step I'm on." This is the wrong approach to the book. We do not spy on ourselves (as Fr. Zacharias Zacharou answered when asked a similar question). Instead, we are watchful (a bit more on this later). In Greek, each chapter is not called a step, but a λόγοι (logoi) or word/teaching. The Ladder, as a book, is not a step by step guide. Rather, it is the spiritual experience of St. John, divided into teaching for his monks, on what he learned to attain Paradise.

This being said, there is a basic structure to the work, let us say a beginning, a middle, and an end. Each of these areas are universal to the saints experience, but the specific steps (so to speak) will be different than how St. John chronicled his journey. However, inside these chapters, you also see some universal patterns such as this sin, like a mother, gives birth to these sins and are her children. These are great universal insights into how sin works in human souls. Therefore, some chapters, easily flow one to another, in this way. But The Ladder is not a systematic work as we might be used to in the West.

To be specific, the first three chapters are about leaving the world. While essential to the monastic, again there is much the layman can learn and can motivate him to think of himself as a pilgrim in this world journeying to his heavenly home. Next, as the middle part of the book and the bulk of the book is Orthodox Christian praxis, i.e. practicing the virtues. St. Justin Popovich writes on this aspect of this book by teaching us "Each virtue is a small paradise. Each virtue nourishes your soul, making it blessed, and brings down into your soul divine, heavenly rest. Each virtue is a gold and diamond step on the ladder of salvation, the ladder that unites earth and heaven, that stretches out from your own hell to your own paradise... every virtue is alive through the other. And when one virtue resides in your soul, all the others follow, all will slowly emerge and grow through it and with it." Towards the end of this section on practical virtues (i.e. chapters 24-26), we see the perfection of virtue taking place. This precedes the end section of St. John's Ladder. Then in this end section we reach the chapters on theoria. These are contemplative and communal experience of the angelic and heavenly realm, revealing divine knowledge.

There are two points I wish to present when reading how Church Fathers approach the message of St. John's Ladder. 1) The importance of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and vigil. St. John's is a guide for watchfulness. 2) The ascetical struggle ought to have its basis in love (i.e. eros).

The Fathers always stress the importance of three important practices for the Christian: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Vigil is often added, especially for the monastic; others sometimes consider it as prayer. To acquire divine grace we need to purify our souls which is accomplished by His mercy but also showing our intention with these little things (prayer, fasting, and almsgiving) so that we are strengthened to receive bigger things, humility, temperance, fortitude, etc. Prayer means to at the very least keep our prayer rule (canona and it includes prayer ropes and prostrations). Fasting means to at the very least follow the prescribed fasts of the Church (this means the seasonal fast and definitely the Lenten Wednesday/Friday fasts). Almsgiving means mercifulness; i.e. you give to the point of sacrifice which is a great expression of love. Everyone can give in some way: those with money can give money; those with time can give their time; those who are sick can pray for others. Giving is about putting others before yourself to the point it becomes a state of being. With prayer, fasting, and almsgiving and with divine mercy, we begin to re-create our humanity. So this is the presupposition behind reading St. John's The Ladder. The book itself is to strengthen our watchfulness. By knowing what a sin really is, how it works in a man, and how it is born, this leads us to strengthen our watchfulness with the benefit of seeing the a truer or deeper working of our soul. To speak plainly, we see how much sin we have and how strong its influence is that we are humbled. This is when we read it partnered with heart-felt prayer.

The Christian embraces his cross. This means he loves asceticism. This does not happen overnight. At first we learn the rules of Christian morality and the value of man and his high calling. We are humbled by this and realize we grieve God. Then our asceticism changes. We have eros for God and desire Him, making our asceticism a labor of love. This is manifest by wishing to crucify ourselves by the struggle to put our pride and ego to death and pray for God to give us humility and love.

One who studies this treasured book will inevitably come across St. John's conundrum. "A certain learned man put a serious question to me, saying: 'What is the gravest sin, apart from murder and denial of God?' And when I said: 'To fall into heresy,' he asked: 'Then why does the Catholic Church receive heretics who have sincerely anathematized their heresy, and consider them worthy to partake in the Mysteries; while on the other hand when a man who has committed fornication is received, even though he confesses and forsakes his sin, the Apostolic Constitutions order him to be excluded from the immaculate mysteries for a number of years?' I was struck with bewilderment, and what perplexed me then has remain unsolved" (Ladder 15:48). John Sanidopoulos of the Mystagogy Resource Center has an excellent post collecting the answers to this conundrum that have been given over the centuries since St. John posed it. You can read that here.

To end, buy this book. Buy the Ladder of Divine Ascent. Then download the lectionary (I have it as a tri-fold bookmark) and read the full days readings with your prayer rule. It can transform this season of repentance. I did this last year and it changed my life. I plan to do it again this year, because The Ladder is one of those books that you can read over and over with more and more being discovered.

Pdf Lectionary here.

CELESTIAL HIERARCHIES: according to the Orthodox Sacred Tradition

Why did I write this post? I had recently discovered another of the multitude of poisonous ways the formation by our modern culture seeks to divorce or tear us from the reality of God's established hierarchies. This has to do with how truth is revealed to us and our participation in the natural order of the cosmos created by God. I would feel safe to guess that most Christians out there have an understanding of heaven that is us singing on clouds to God with cute angels or something hardly much better than that. When we look at the Church Fathers, we see that heaven is a realm that man is tasked to unite to the earth through his heart (i.e. bringing together or symbolizing the expanses of meaning to material). This opens up the idea of heaven as more than just some happy place, but rather (as the Fathers show) is the expression of the Lord's revelation, the manifesting of truth, the expression of the providence of God, the understanding of the divine will for all aspects of creation, and the source of all things intelligible in Creation. The Scriptures and the other parts of Orthodox Tradition are clear that God uses creation itself to accomplish the course of history (from world history to our own history). This is the role of the Angels.


UPDATE (9/1/2018):

I added information on how the celestial hierarchies relate to the heavenly council we see mentioned a few times in the Bible and is clear in the Hebrew use of the word elohim.

ORDERS OF THE HEAVENLY RANKS

FIRST ANGELIC HIERARCHY (also called CHOIR or SPHERE)

• SERAPHIM (Hebrew original: “flaming/burning/fiery ones”)
• CHERUBIM (Hebrew original: "fullness/plentitude" i.e. of wisdom/knowledge)
• THRONES (Greek: θρόνοι / Latin: thronus)

SECOND ANGELIC HIERARCHY:

• DOMINIONS or LORDSHIPS (Greek: κυριότης / Latin: dominatio)
• VIRTUES or STRONGHOLDS (Greek: δύναμις / Latin: virtus)
• POWERS or AUTHORITIES (Greek: ἐξουσίαι / Latin: potestas)

THIRD ANGELIC HIERARCHY:

• PRINCIPALITIES or PRINCEDOMS/RULERS (Greek: ἀρχή / Latin: principatus)
• ARCHANGELS (ἀρχάγγελος, Greek original: “chief messenger” / Latin: archangelus)
• ANGELS (ἄγγελος, Greek original: “messenger” / Latin: angelus)

FIRST ANGELIC HIERARCHY

“…in every respect like, to the first Beings, who are established after the Godhead, who gave them Being, and who are marshaled, as it were, in Its very vestibule, who surpass every unseen and seen created power… always unmoved; and again, as "contemplative," not contemplators of intellectual symbols as sensible, nor as being led to the Divine Being by the varied texture of holy representations written for meditation, but as being filled with all kinds of immaterial knowledge of higher light, and satiated, as permissible, with the beautifying and original beauty of super-essential and thrice manifested contemplation, and thus, being deemed worthy of the Communion with Jesus, they do not stamp pictorially the deifying similitude in divinely-formed images, but, as being really near to Him, in first participation of the knowledge of His deifying illuminations; nay more, that the imitation of God is given to them in the highest possible degree, and they participate, so far as is allowable to them, in His deifying and philanthropic virtues, in the power of a first manifestation; and, likewise as "perfected," not as being illuminated with an analytic science of sacred variety, but as being filled with a first and pre-eminent deification, as beseems the most exalted science of the works of God, possible in Angels” (St. Dionysios the Areopagite).

The Fathers seem to suggest that this hierarchy of the heavenly spirits are responsible and bringers of purification, illumination, and deification/perfection. This hierarchy does not directly interact with mankind; nor do they have any indirect influence on mankind except for what they communicate to the second hierarchy.

SERAPHIM

“Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire” (Psalms 103:4).

“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:1-3 KJV).

The rank of the Seraphim are closest to the throne of God. They are fiery since they rank so high and close to God that the grace is so great it can only be described as lightning or fire. According to St. Dionysios the Areopagite: “The appellation of Seraphim plainly teaches their ever moving around things Divine, and constancy, and warmth, and keenness, and the seething of that persistent, indomitable, and inflexible perpetual motion, and the vigorous assimilation and elevation of the subordinate, as giving new life and rekindling them to the same heat; and purifying through fire and burnt-offering, and the light-like and light-shedding characteristic which can never be concealed or consumed, and remains always the same, which destroys and dispels every kind of obscure darkness.”

CHERUBIM

“And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire. Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings. And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass. And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings. Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward. As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went. As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning. Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel. When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went. As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up. Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings” (Ezekiel 1:4-25 KJV).

The rank of the Cherubim are second in proximity to God and brighter than all other ranks below them. Through the Cherubim, does God make His wisdom available to men. They pour out God’s wisdom to the rest of creation. They make wise and illumine the noetic eyes of those who ascend to look on God. St. Dionysios writes concerning them, “the appellation of the Cherubim denotes their knowledge and their vision of God, and their readiness to receive the highest gift of light, and their power of contemplating the super-Divine comeliness in its first revealed power, and their being filled anew with the impartation which makes wise, and their ungrudging communication to those next to them, by the stream of the given wisdom. The appellation of the most exalted and pre-eminent.” The historic understanding of the Hebrew word given to them as their name is “fullness” or “plentitude” of knowledge. This is due to their possession, more than any other creature of the knowledge of God (considering that the Seraphim transcend knowledge).

THRONES

“And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices... The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:4-5a, 10-11 KJV).

“Thou hast sat upon a throne, O Thou that judgest righteousness” (Psalm 9:4).

The rank of Thrones are third in proximity to God and the last ranking of the first heavenly choir. St. Maximos the Confessor mentions them when he writes that God sits on an intellectual (i.e. noetic) thrones. St. Basil the Great explains they are God-bearing but not by essence, by grace (or energy) which is done in an inexplicable manner. From the thrones does God distribute justice to the cosmos. St. Dionysios the Areopagite writes concerning them, “The appellation of the most exalted and pre-eminent Thrones denotes their manifest exaltation above every groveling inferiority, and their super-mundane tendency towards higher things; and their unswerving separation from all remoteness; and their invariable and firmly-fixed settlement around the veritable Highest, with the whole force of their powers; and their receptivity of the supremely Divine approach, in the absence of all passion and earthly tendency, and their bearing God; and the ardent expansion of themselves for the Divine receptions.” The Thrones is by whom the lower ranks receive the revelation of God.

SECOND ANGELIC HIERARCHY

“For each appellation of the Beings above us manifests their God-imitating characteristics of the Divine Likeness... The middle Order of the Heavenly Minds... is purified and illuminated and perfected in the manner described, by the Divine illuminations vouchsafed to it at second hand, through the first Hierarchical Order, and passing through this middle as a secondary manifestation. No doubt, as regards that message, which is said to pass through one angel to another, we may take it as a symbol of a perfecting completed from afar, and obscured by reason of its passage to the second rank” (St. Dionysios the Areopagite).

The second hierarchy of heavenly spirits seem responsible to use the energy of God to govern creation according to the will of God. Creation is subject to the natural order of God’s providence which occurs and is maintained through the work of this second hierarchy. This middle hierarchy has no direct contact with mankind but indirectly relates to them by ordering the good things which influence us and protecting against the evil things which seek to act upon us.

DOMINIONS

“Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21 KJV).

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16 KJV).

The rank of Dominions regulate the energy and knowledge of God to the ranks of Angels below them which reveal the commands of God to govern Creation. St. Dimitry of Rostov writes of them saying, “[Dominions] send down power for prudent governing and wise management to authorities on the earth set up by God. Further they teach how to control the senses, how to subdue in oneself dissolute desires and passions, how to enslave the flesh to the spirit, and how to rule over one’s will and be above all temptations.” St. Dionysios the Areopagite speaks of them by saying, “I think, then, that the explanatory name of the Holy Lordships denotes a certain unslavish elevation, free from all groveling subservience, as becomes the free, not submitting itself in any way whatever to one of the tyrannical dissimilarities, as a cruel Lordship; superior to every kind of cringing slavery, indomitable to every subservience, and elevated above every dissimilarity, ever aspiring to the true Lordship, and source of Lordship; and molding, as an image of goodness, itself, and those after it, to its Lordly bearing, as attainable, turning itself wholly to none of the things that vainly seem, but to the Lordly Being, and ever sharing in the Lordly Likeness of God, to its utmost ability.”

VIRTUES

“Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21 KJV).

“Who [Jesus Christ] is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers [KJV mistranslation] being made subject unto him” (I Peter 3:22 KJV).

The Virtues are the middle rank in the second hierarchy. By the word virtue, we mean the old English meaning of “strength” (which is how the Greek word dynamis is translated today). They execute the orders given to the Dominions and control the bodies (particularly the heavenly bodies), the seasons, and the elements of Creation. They provide divine energy to man in the form of strength to struggle with our cross in godly manner. St. Dimitry of Rosotv writes on them: “[Virtues are] filled with divine strength, quickly fulfill the will of the All-High and Omnipotent Lord, strong and powerful. They both work very great miracles and send down the grace of miracle-working to God’s saints, who are worthy of such grace, in order that these may work miracles, such as heal every sickness and foretell the future. The holy virtues also help people laboring and those overburdened by the bearing of an obedience placed on them by someone – by which their names ‘virtues’ is explained – and they bear the infirmities of the weak. They also strengthen every man in patience, so that he does not faint away in affliction but rather bears all misfortune with a strong spirit, courageously, and with humility, giving thanks for everything to God, arranging all for our benefit.” St. Dionysios considers “the appellation of the Holy Powers [to] denote a certain courageous and unflinching virility, for all those Godlike energies within them----not feebly weak for the reception of any of the Divine illuminations vouchsafed to it----vigorously conducted to the Divine imitation, not forsaking the Godlike movement through its own unmanliness, but unflinchingly looking to the super-essential and powerful-making power, and becoming a powerful image of this, as far as is attainable, and powerfully turned to this, as Source of Power, and issuing forth to those next in degree, in gift of Power, and in likeness to God.”

POWERS

“Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21 KJV).

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16 KJV).

“Who [Jesus Christ] is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities [KJV mistranslation] and powers being made subject unto him” (I Peter 3:22 KJV).

St. Dimitry of Rostov describes the Powers as having “power over the devil, in order to restrain the power of the demons, to repulse the temptations brought upon people by them, and to prevent the demons from harming anyone to the degree that they would wish. The powers strengthen the good ascetics in spiritual struggles and labors, protecting them so that they may not be deprived of the spiritual kingdom. They help those wrestling with passions and vices to cast out evil thoughts and slanders of the enemy and to conquer the devil.” Not only are the Powers the defenders of men from evil spirits, but due of man’s weakness they also tasked to protect of the whole cosmos against demons. The fallen angels would wreck chaos and destruction from the sin man brings upon all of God’s creation were they not kept in check by God’s providence through the work of His choir of Powers. Therefore, the Powers are responsible for protecting God’s providence from those wills not aligned to it. St. Dionysios the Areopagite further explains them by explaining that “the appellation of the Holy Authorities, of the same rank as the Divine Lordships and Powers, (denotes) the beautiful and unconfused good order, with regard to the Divine receptions, and the discipline of the super-mundane and intellectual authority, not using the authoritative powers imperiously for base purposes, but conducted indomitably, with good order, towards Divine things, and conducting those after it benignly, and assimilated, as far as permissible, to the Authoritative Source of authority, and making this visible, as is possible to Angels, in the well-ordered ranks of the authoritative power within it.”

THIRD ANGELIC HIERARCHY

“the revealing order of the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, presides, through each other, over the Hierarchies amongst men, in order that the elevation, and conversion, and communion, and union with God may be in due order; and, further, also that the procession from God vouchsafed benignly to all the Hierarchies, and passing to all in common, may be also with most sacred regularity” (St. Dionysios the Areopagite).

This is the hierarchy of angels which are the messengers (by one way or another) of God. They are the guides and guardians of men. These have a direct connection with the affairs of mankind and the needs of men. To understand how this hierarchy interacts with man, we need to understand the truth about mankind and dismantle the lies of the so-called “Enlightenment.” Man exists in hierarchies. He is part of the hierarchy of his family and receives his identity from his father. He exists in a culture which receives identity from the principles which move it. He exists in the world and receives his ideas from these angelic principalities (which can be aligned and pointing to the Supreme Principle, i.e. God, or corrupt by the fallen angelic principalities which tears the hierarchy apart creating conflict). So, this third angelic hierarchy might rule over cities. They might reveal virtue. These ranks of angels are those aspects of a man or a community’s awareness that leads them to God. However, in a fallen world and due to the War that took place in heaven (Lucifer’s rebellion), the dark spirits influence cities towards its destruction. They prompt towards passion and vice (this is why Orthodox Tradition speaks of the demon of pride, or lust, etc.). They also lead a man or community away from God by the participants willful following. Moving down the ranks of this hierarchy we see a particularization of these things. Principalities are more universally shared, i.e. kingship, or humility, or temperance perhaps. Archangels are charged with particular groups of people, nations, etc. (e.g. the Archangel Michael is guard over Israel). Angels are sent to particular individuals (most popular example is the guardian angel).

PRINCIPALITIES

“Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Ephesians 1:21 KJV).

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him” (Colossians 1:16 KJV).

The rank of Principalities are charged with the direct care of the more universal guardianship and guidance of men. St. Dimitry of Rostov explains the rank of Principalities by explaining that they “are named thus because they have command over the lower angels, directing them to the fulfilment of divine orders. The management of the universe and the keeping of all the kingdoms and princedoms, of lands and all peoples, races and nations, is also entrusted to them since each kingdom, race and people have for themselves a special deeper and manager from the heavenly order called the principalities, for all their country. Further, the service of this angelic order (according to the explanation of St Gregory the Dialogist) consists in teaching the people to requite each person in authority according to his calling. Finally, the angels of this order raise worthy people to various honorable offices and direct them so that they take power not for the sake of their own gain and benefit, nor for the sake of love of honor and vain renown, but for the sake of honor from God, for the sake of spreading and augmenting of His holy glory, and for the sake of the benefit of their neighbors – as serving the general needs of all their subordinates.” St. Dionysios the Areopagite explains the Principalities as those who “manifests their princely and leading function, after the Divine example, with order religious and most befitting the Princely, and their being wholly turned to the super-princely Prince, and leading others in princely fashion, and being moulded, as far as possible, to that prince-making Princedom Itself, and to manifest its superessential princely order, by the regularity of the princely powers.” The Principalities are sometimes divided by their function. Some are tasked to administer; others to assist. We can place to origin of “germinal ideas” with the rank of the Principalities. Interestingly, the Greek word for this angelic rank (ἀρχή) is the same word used by St. Maximos the Confessor to describe the “beginning” of the logoi. This suggests that the meaning behind creation that man observes is revealed to one in a state of illumination by the ranks of the Principalities. To be brief, those godly virtues which a culture honors towards becoming good Christians (and for the West, by extension, good citizens) are those particular Principalities giving us assistance. The opposite is true too: those sins which we lament are tyrannizing our culture and point to its sad death are the influence of evil and fallen principalities on those (who we might say) "sold their soul to the devil).

ARCHANGELS

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (I Thessalonians 4:16 KJV).

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:7-9).

“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:26-28 KJV).

The rank of the Archangels are proclaimers of the Gospel. St. Dimitry of Rostov summarizes the Fathers teaching concerning the Archangels when he writes that they “are called the great heralds of good news, announcing the great and most glorious. Their service (as the great Dionysios the Aeropagite says) consists in revealing prophecies, knowledge, and understanding of God’s will which they receive from the higher orders of angels and announce to the lower order, i.e. the angels, and through them, to men. St. Gregory the Dialogist says that the archangels strengthen people in the holy faith, enlightening their mind with the light of knowledge of the holy Gospel and revealing the mysteries of devout faith.” St. Dionysios the Areopagite explains the role the Archangels serve as the middle of this third hierarchy. “Archangels occupies the middle position in the Hierarchy between the extremes, for it belongs alike to the most holy Principalities and to the holy Angels; to the Principalities because it is turned in a princely fashion to the super-essential Princedom, and is molded to It as far as attainable, and unites the Angels after the fashion of its own well-regulated and marshaled and invisible leadings; and it belongs to the Angels, because it is of the messenger Order, receiving hierarchically the Divine illuminations from the first powers, and announcing the same to the Angels in a godly manner, and, through Angels, manifesting to us, in proportion to the religious aptitude of each of the godly persons illuminated.”

At least seven Archangels are popularly known in Holy Tradition (in my own arrogant opinion, I suspect there are more, but seven seems to be the traditional favorite number). They are commemorated on November 8. Quotes taken from the OCA explanation for this feast: the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and other Bodiless Powers. “On icons the Archangels are depicted in according to the character of their service.”

• MICHAEL (Who Is Like God?). Chief among the heavenly host. He cast Lucifer from heaven and mocked him while doing so by asking “Who is like God?” “We invoke Saint Michael for protection from invasion by enemies and from civil war, and for the defeat of adversaries on the field of battle. He conquers all spiritual enemies.” In his icon, “Michael tramples the devil underfoot, and in his left hand holds a green date-tree branch, and in his right hand a spear with a white banner on which is outlined a scarlet cross, or sometimes a fiery sword.” The Book of Enoch mentions him as being "set over the best parts of mankind and over chaos" (1 Enoch 20:5; 40:4, 9); i.e. he is guardian of Israel against the powers of evil which seek to corrupt Israel.
• GABRIEL (The Man of God or the Strength/Power of God). The Angel of the Annunciation and guardian/guide of the Theotokos. He is the “herald and servitor of Divine omnipotence (Dan 8:16, Luke 1:26). He announces the mysteries of God.” In his icon, “Gabriel with a branch from Paradise, presented by him to the Most Holy Virgin, or with a shining lantern in his right hand and with a mirror made of jasper in his left.”
• RAPHAEL (The Healing of God). The one who bears our prayers to the Lord. He is the “the curer of human infirmities (Tobit 3:16; 12:15) and "over the spirits of men" (1 Enoch 20:3; 40:5, 9). In his icon, “Raphael holds a vessel with healing medications in his left hand, and with his right hand leads Tobias, carrying a fish for healing (Tobit 5-8).”
• URIEL (The Fire/Light of God). The interpreter of prophecies. He is considered as the “enlightener (3 Esdras 5:20). We pray for him to enlighten those with darkened minds.” I Enoch says he "is over the world and over Tartarus" (1 Enoch 20:2). In his icon, “Uriel in his raised right hand holds a naked sword at the level of his chest, and in his lowered left hand ‘a fiery flame.’”
• BARACHIEL (The Benediction or Blessings of God). He is the “distributor of the blessings of God for good deeds, entreats the mercy of God for people.” In his icon, he “is shown with a white rose on his breast.”
• SALATHIEL or SELAPHIEL (The Command, Communicant, or Prayer of God). Command and prayer represent the two forms, or types, of communication: the first one being descendant and the second ascendant. He is the force for “impelling to prayer (3 Esdras 5:16). He prays to God for mankind.” In his icon, he is “in a prayerful posture, gazing downwards, hands folded on the chest.”
• JEHUDIEL (The Glory, Laudation or Praise of God). He encourages “exertion for the glory of the Lord and interceding for the reward of efforts.” In his icon, he “holds a golden crown in his right hand, in his left, a whip of three red (or black) thongs.”

ANGELS

“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10 KJV).

“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Christ’s prophecy of the end times, Matthew 24:31 KJV).

This lowest rank of angels is specifically the heavenly beings charged to go from heaven to bring things to men. St. Dionysios the Areopagite explains, “For the Angels... complete the whole series of Heavenly Minds, as being the last Order of the Heavenly Beings who possess the Angelic characteristic; yea, rather, they are more properly named Angels by us than those of higher degree, because their Hierarchy is occupied with the more manifest, and is more particularly concerned with the things of the world.” Guardian angels are those of this rank assigned at birth or baptism to a particular human being for their protection from evil and for their encouragement to do good. As St. Dimitry of Rostov details further, “The Angels are the lowest of all the orders in the heavenly hierarchy and the closest to man. They announce the lesser mysteries and intentions of God and teach people to live virtuously and righteously before God. They are appointed to guard each of us who believe: they sustain virtuous people from fallen, and never leave us though we have sinned, but are always ready to help us, if only we ourselves want it.”

A REFLECTION

Given all these things, we see how the Ascension of our Lord is the most awesome event to ever occur in Heaven. Human flesh is brought to the throne of God! The flesh of the Lord now gives man access to all the ranks of angelic revelation and deeper participation into the Mysteries of God and life of the Trinity. This is beyond even the Seraphim who cover their faces. This is also why the angels are in constant amazement at the Theotokos. To be “more honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the Seraphim” is no small praise. She exceeds the glory of the angels who are so infused with the grace of God that it is indescribable.

CONCERNING THE HEAVENLY COUNCIL

ELOHIM (Hebrew original: god, but in the sense of our word “spirit”; i.e. it can be used as “Spirit” to refer properly to God or “spirit” to refer to one of the heavenly hosts. Context and the singular/plural usage indicate this.)

“God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods” (Psalm 82:1 KJV).

“And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD? God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him” (Psalm 89:5-7 KJV).

“They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not” (Deuteronomy 32:17 KJV).

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD… Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou? And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown… Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said… Where wast thou…When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7; 38:1, 4a, 7 KJV).

“And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him. And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so. Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee” (I Kings 22:19-23 KJV).

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart” (Genesis 6:1-6 KJV).

See also Daniel 4; Daniel 7; Daniel 10; and I Samuel 28:13 KJV

Therefore, the celestial hierarchies do not only distribute the energy of God to the cosmos but they also serve the will of God into the world’s affairs. The energy of God and will of God are sometimes used synonymously by the Fathers. God decrees His will from the Highest of Heaven and the heavenly council execute it through their own hierarchies.

The Scriptures make it evident, however, that the heavenly council is more than the celestial hierarchies. It includes them, the demons, and even the souls of men. Our saints now are at work in the heavenly council (in our Tradition we find countless stories of them assisting the faithful in salvation, strengthening, rescuing, etc.).

I suspect this is primarily done through the use of virtue or vice by the Principalities who then use the archangels and angels who are obedient to manifest that decision to those whom they are assigned on earth. For example, a city begins to manifest a certain virtue (or conversely a sin). That Principality (or conversely fallen Principality) assigned to that city calls on the angel (conversely demon) corresponding to that virtue (conversely passion) to bring such a change to that city. The lowest rank of angels (conversely demons) who are assigned to the individuals in that city and making up the reality and ethos of that city are then strongly prompted in that direction. With the example of King Ahab, the spirit of lying (named Diablos), I suspect told the demons under his charge (whose work is obedience to him for the increase of the sin of lying in the world) to go to each prophet and tell them the lie. This harmonizes the hierarchy we clearly see in our Tradition concerning the spirit realm and their participation in the heavenly council. I admit, this is speculation on my part. However, I can come to no other conclusion than this but admit some details may not be exact.

A note on the text in Job. Obviously, God knows where Satan is, since God is omniscient. This exchange seems to force Satan to confess his banishment as an articulated reminder for himself and/or the heavenly council. We also learn that God still uses these fallen spirits in the execution of His will on the earth, but their abode is closer to the earthly realm than to the heavenly realm.

MISCELLANEOUS

A Sermon of Pope St. Gregory the Great. September 29th -- St. Michael the Archangel:

“It must be realized that ‘Angel’ is the name of their office, not of their nature. For the holy spirits of the heavenly homeland are always spirits, but they cannot always be called Angels; they are Angels only when they are announcing something... Those who announce less important things are called Angels, and those who announce the highest things are called Archangels.”

“The 35th Canon of the Council of Laodicea [accepted in Nicaea at the Seventh Ecumenical Council] condemned and denounced as heretical the worship of angels as gods and rulers of the world, but affirmed their proper veneration” (OCA). This canon reads, “Christians must not forsake the Church of God, and go away and invoke angels and gather assemblies, which things are forbidden. If, therefore, any one shall be found engaged in this covert idolatry, let him be anathema; for he has forsaken our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and has gone over to idolatry.”

CAPUT X from St. Dionysios the Areopagite’s Celestial Hierarchies:

“Section I: ...the most reverend Order of the Minds around God, ministered by the perfecting illumination through its immediate elevation to it, is purified, and illuminated, and perfected by a gift of light from the Godhead, more hidden and more manifest—more hidden, indeed, as being more intelligible, and more simplifying, and more unifying; more manifest, as being a first gift and a first manifestation, and more complete, and more affused to it as transparent. And from this (Order) again, in due degree, the second, and from the second, the third, and from the third, our Hierarchy, is reverently conducted to the super-original Origin and End of all good order, according to the self-same law of well-ordered regularity, in Divine harmony and proportion.

“Section II: Now all Angels are interpreters of those above them, the most reverend, indeed, of God, Who moves them, and the rest, in due degree, of those who have been moved by God. For to such and extent has the superessential harmony of all things provided for the religious order and the regulated conduct of each of the rational and intellectual beings, that each rank of the Hierarchies, has been placed in sacred order, and we observe every Hierarchy distributed into first, and middle, and last Powers. But to speak accurately, He distinguished each Division itself, by the same Divine harmonies; wherefore the theologians say that the most Divine Seraphim cry one to another, indicating distinctly, as I think by this, that the first impart their knowledge of divine things to the second.

“Section III: ...each heavenly and human mind has within itself its own special first, and middle, and last ranks, and powers, manifested severally in due degree, for the aforesaid particular mystical meanings of the Hierarchical illuminations, according to which, each one participates, so far as is lawful and attainable to him, in the most spotless purification, the most copious light, the pre-eminent perfection. For there is nothing that is self-perfect, or absolutely without need of perfecting, except the really Self-perfect and preeminently Perfect.”

The book of Enoch has some helpful insights into the relationship between the angelic realm (fallen and steadfast ranks) and humanity. However, this is a book which can trip us up. St. Nikolai Velimirovich explains that the workings of heaven were not revealed to men (only vaguely in rare cases) but the workings of the earth were, which is why Moses opened with "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..." then proceeded to explain the creation and history of the earth, but not heaven. Therefore, the Hebrews only speculated about what the angelic realm was like until it was revealed in truth to the privileged Christians whom God willed to understand and participate in angelic life. The Book of Enoch makes clear that the Watchers are the "sons of god" and that mankind is the "daughters of men" in Genesis 6:4. There is reason to believe the early Church believed in this speculation of the Hebrews, understandably so. However, the Holy Spirit has revealed to the Church that angels cannot have relationships with humans. Therefore, we understand the "sons of God" to refer to the Sethites and the "daughters of men" refer to the Cainites. The Book of Enoch the Church claims is pseudepigraphical and containing errors. Therefore, it was not included in the list of Scriptures (and was never part of the Septuagint). It is probably correct in that the fallen angels or Watchers taught men forbidden knowledge (notably the use of makeup and instruction in occult thinking), but as was explained, confused how far these relationships went. By the time the cult of angelic worship was condemned at the Council of Laodicea (397 A.D.) and the Scriptural canon was basically established, the message of "Enoch" was of no concern to the Church. Therefore, we should be careful with a book that contradicts Church doctrine, even if highly regarded in the past.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT

Understanding this as the reality of creation's structure makes the notion of “just me and Jesus” totally impossible. To ignore these things makes the “just me and Jesus” adherent in a sorrier condition than an idolater. How? The idolater at least was consciously aware of his idolatry. If he were a soldier and possessed by the passion of violence, he would pray to the god (demon) of war to satisfy him. He embraced this as his religion and knowing this could repent of it (as we see in the lives of many saints). However, the “just me and Jesus” ignores this hierarchical manifestation of the grace and will of God, leaving his own selfish energy and willfulness to fill the vacuum. He then interprets the Scripture and his tradition through that lifestyle or rather consciousness in understanding or praying to God. We cannot separate ourselves from those forces which have formed or possessed (be they good or evil) our souls. These forces are exactly that which is the “plank” or “splinter” for the “eye” of our soul which will clarify or obscure any words concerning the revelation of God. Therefore, Jesus becomes totally arbitrary according to our own vision. This is one of the many meanings behind the vision of Jacob’s ladder; the angels mediate the works of God between those in heaven and those on earth.

The mystics of the Church becoming purified, illumined, and perfected often describe meeting God and experiencing Him as escorted by the celestial hierarchies (this is even in the Divine Liturgy: “That we may receive the King of All, invisibly escorted by angelic hosts. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia.”). The Doxastikon hymn after the Vespers Aposticha to St. Maximos the Confessor states he "ascended the orders of the angels." If we wish to participate in Orthodoxy's mystical life (and we should since it is exactly out salvation), then it helps to know how to interact with heaven. Angels are how man is lead to God; they distribute His divine energy to us and to the cosmos in good order. By studying each of the Angelic ranks and what our Tradition knows of them, we begin to retrain our understanding towards the Orthodox phronima concerning how we truly participate in God's creation. Humility is needed to abandon those idols we place in our hearts and obscure our vision of God. This allows for us to see the path of our salvation. If we embrace humility then the angels are pleased to come and show us those heavenly gifts in store for us.

St. Cyprian of Carthage's Sixteen Axiomatic Virtues

St. Cyprian of Carthage left us an axiomatic list of sixteen virtues he wanted hung on the walls of churches but primarily in the hearts of Christians. Each describes a particular virtue:

1. Humility in life (in being and action)

2. Unshakable courage in faith

3. Modesty and discernment in our spoken words and other expressions of our thoughts and feelings

4. All actions must be righteous and true

5. Mercy must govern interactions with others

6. To constantly improve one's way of life

7. To never insult another

8. To patiently endure all insults

9. To live with everyone in peace

10. To love God with one's whole heart

11. To love God, for He is our Father

12. To fear God, for He is God

13. Never to compare Jesus Christ with anyone else (i.e., with no other reasoning, free beings, either human or angelic)

14. To unite with Him in love of heart

15. To be attentive to His glorious Cross, passion, and death; to worship Him with fear, repenting of our sins with hope that His Cross will redeem us

16. In conversations with others concerning the most holy name and dignity of Christ our Savior, to be firm and constant in all that concerns the confession of our faith. To answer all questions concerning our faith firmly, with no trepidation, as the absolute truth. In the hour of our death, to have unshakable courage, through which we will deserve the crown of Christ's confessors. This means that we must live as true sons and daughters of God, as co-inheritors of Christ, that is, to follow the commandment to fulfill in all things the will of the Heavenly Father.

Solving the Political Issues of Today: The example of King Alfred

I should preface this post by stating that the Hegelian dialectic of history is an absolutely absurd "philosophical" thought. This thinking has been the source of much social upheaval and bloodshed since its formation. Social advancement is not a force of history; we are not advancing towards any utopia. Christian truth teaches us there is movement but towards God's salvific will for mankind or towards the machinations of the evil one. This is why statements like, "It's [insert current year here]! We should have moved on from this!" are ridiculous statements. We will never get past anything, no matter if it is the current year, as long as the issue in question leads us away from communing with our Creator, Jesus Christ. Just because it is the current year, does not take away from the reality that there is a way of light and a way of darkness and that God gives reality and existence to all things.

Add to this that "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). With this proper understanding of history, one can now see why we can learn from the past. History does repeat itself just with different actors, different stages, and different props. It is also interesting to note that the ancient world did not speak of "economic crisis" or used the word "crisis" at all like we use it today. Instead there it was the "judgement of God" the ancients used to describe any disaster. Of course to the modern and secular mind, this sounds superstitious. However this is simply because they are atheists and have no knowledge on how the cosmos really is sustained.

Judgement of God is falsely understood in the West (from my experience, in ALL the Christian denominations or "non-denominations") and has been for sometime. The judgement of God is NOT mankind breaking the rules of God then God sending punishment for our crimes. No! God is Love and is unchanging. He is not angered one day then happy with us another. This is anthropomorphizing God and such a god does not exist; this is a false God. Instead, the judgement of God is the created order, being out of order, entering back into proper order. If one looks at how St. Symeon the New Theologian described the Fall, one can understand the behavior of creation better. See his Ethical Discourses.

So God actually is sparing society at large from the full consequences of our sins. He is holding back creation desiring to purge itself of the sickness and corruption we bring upon it by not pursuing God's way of Light and Life. God is not the author of evil. He is the Savior from evil. Enough of the folly of the atheist and his egomania.

So, how do we go about solving the huge social, economic, political disaster we experience today? Well first we have to look at everything around us as the Lord would like us to see it. The plethora of problems we face is the judgement of God to lead us to repentance. Other people have been able to turn away from this judgement or wrath of God. Therefore, I am strongly convinced of two things.

One, our problems are the accumulation of so much anti-Christian thought and activity (originally coming from the "churches" and sometimes still coming from Western Christian thought). The only thing that can save us from such a buildup of hostility to authentic and true Christian life is repentance in the Orthodox Church. The Orthodox Church alone equips Her Christians with all the necessary tools to accomplish salvation in full while still in this world. I know it seems so far fetched, but if we are really going heal, if this is something we actually want to achieve, then repentance in the Orthodox Church is the only way. She alone produces Saints (i.e. men who have been healed from sin).

Two, in our own history, we have an excellent example how to proceed: the life of King Alfred the Great.

"Somebody once called Sir Winston Churchill the greatest Englishman ever. No, Churchill corrected him, the greatest is King Alfred." Source.

King Alfred was a great lawgiver, diplomat, a military organizer par excellance, statesman, war-chief, noblest of nobleman, a serious scholar, and most importantly: a devout Orthodox Christian.

Here is how the English affectionately describe him:

"ALFRED The Light of a Benighted Age

Was a Philosopher and a Christian

The Father of his People

The Founder of the English

MONARCHY and LIBERTY."

       -- Anonymous dedication on King Alfred's Tower (1772).

"We discern across the centuries a commanding and versatile intelligence, wielding with equal force the sword of war and of justice; using in defence arms and policy; cherishing religion, learning, and art in the midst of adversity and danger; welding together a nation, and seeking always across the feuds and hatreds of the age a peace which would smile upon the land."

       -- Winston Churchill

"Alike for what he did and for what he was, there is none to equal Alfred in the whole line of English sovereigns; and no monarch in history ever deserved more truly the epithet of Great."

       -- Encyclopædia Britannica (1911), Volume 1

How does Alfred the Great help us today? A summary of his life is here. First, let me share how his age parallels our age. Then, his solutions will give us direction for our own problems.

King Alfred's world was one of illiteracy. While we are not illiterate, we may as well be illiterate. Think of why we want to have a literate society: increase of knowledge, engage in critical thinking, effective communications. Right? Well with our literacy rate as high as we see it (granted is a great achievement), what advancement has that brought to our reading material. Walk into bookstores, I venture to guess most of it is garbage. Especially in the children's section, utter garbage (the popularity of vampire romances should be enough of an indication). If one takes away the percentage of the population that does not use their literacy to truly increase in knowledge (this would include most of the media, politicians, bureaucrats, entertainers, propagandists in education, bums/welfare cases) or those who use their literacy for the epidemic time wasting (i.e. entertainment), then I bet we are closer to a literacy rate of a few centuries ago than the figure we have today.

Literacy concerns reading ability but just as true regarding writing abilities (see here showing how much greater writing style was between the Victorian era and the modern era). Schools are doing an abysmal job of instilling knowledge compared to only a century ago. See here. The fact that we use less words today than the English did in Shakespeare's day should tell you exactly how well society has done for itself. Instead of exploring new realities, defining things in more detail or giving a larger expression of concepts (all of which would require new words), we do none of these things and avoid them (which means words would drop out of use quicker than new words come into being). Greeks have a huge vocabulary because they were philosophers and theologians for thousands of years. We are not a people of philosophy or theology, but instead entertainment so naturally are vocabulary becomes more primitive.

Literacy is to allow man to engage in critical thinking. Our ability to critically think in the post-modern age is a joke. I think everyone knows it. See here and here. So we are better off than the illiterate world of King Alfred, but still, we are in a dire educational and literary situation.

The other aspect of King Alfred's time was invading pagan hoards that were wrecking havoc in England. The Viking Danes had conquered every English kingdom, except King Alfred's Wessex. The Danes were pagans, they came to England with their idol worship. They had the immortality typical of pagans. The situation was dark and it was a time of war. As the Danes advanced on King Alfred's Wessex. He was faced with the problem of protecting Wessex from the advancing hoard of Danes which had violated all rules of diplomacy. This is where King Added found himself. Yet, he tuned the course of England completely around to affect the whole course of history. He Christianized the pagan, brought peace to the whole of England, and became the king of all the English. What a change! Like today, especially in Europe, you have "refugees" abusing our laws to fool our incompetent leaders that an invasion is not taking place. They are more susceptible to engaging in violent and sexual assaults against each other and (now that they are here) their hosts. Crime statistics clearly show this. They do not contribute to our culture which insane governments now encourage this entry of non-contributors by not considering "liable for public charge" when considering entry. The flow had increased in staggering numbers. Some countries are taking these types of immigrants into their borders by over a million a year. Million plus a year! This is an invasion, they are all young healthy military aged men that have just enough women and children for photo ops.

How did King Alfred approach these problems? Or it would be more accurate to ask: how did he not only solve these problems but completely reverse them to establish himself as sole Ruler of the Saxons (never united as they were until King Alfred) and the Danes (the enemy which had been on the brink of conquering the whole nation)?

When King Alfred had turned the course of English history and defeated Guthrum and the Danes, it was required that he become baptized and join the Church. No doubt King Alfred viewed the war between Saxon and Dane as a matter conflict of Christian and barbarian heathens. King Alfred knew from history and experience there would be no peace in England while the barbarians lived there. He knew of only two solutions. Drive them out or make them Christians. This was multiculturalism in King Alfred's day although being a great man, he knew it had to end or else England would perish. King Alfred, as soon as he could call the shots, made brilliant decisions that showed his greatness. He diplomatically and mercifully allowed the Danes to keep their land (Danelaw) where they had been long settled but on the condition that they be baptized into the Church. Guthrum and many with him submitted to this with King Alfred standing in as his sponsor and god-father.

These elements may seem just like historic points, but there is much that is going on here that truly brought peace to England. A low-Church Protestant would not see it and would probably disagree with King Alfred's decision of a "forced conversion." However, this disagreement is only a result of ignorance about historic and liturgical Christianity, which is the Christianity guided by the Holy Spirit from Christ and His Apostles. So let me explain in two points what is happening here for those who are not Christian or inside denominations (especially "non-denominations") that have never received an authentic and full Christian worldview. A third point will cover King Alfred and education.

First, he was committed to driving them out, but let them stay on their conversion to Christianity. Saxons and Danes were killing each other and the Danes were absolutely brutal and the English were in a struggle for their survival. Today, when enemies enter into our land and come among our people we say they are "enriching our society". People who say this are insane. Well, the Danes were enriching English society and making it diverse by their violence, blood-lust, and inclination towards rape. As they spread across England, King Alfred was the only one to drive them into the sea. However, he never did drive them into the sea and still achieved peace. As a great warrior but also diplomat he was always offering the olive branch towards the Danes and willing to let them stay in England. But King Alfred knew that God is one, therefore to receive the peace of God, a people must be one. One, not only in name but mind and heart. This oneness only occurs in Christ. We only receive the peace of God if we unite to God. This is done by our organic and true union to the Body of God, the Body of Christ, i.e. the Church. The act of baptism joins one to this Church and usher in peace. This is the Church's message to bring peace to society. Since Guthrum and the Danes now could participate in the peace and oneness of the Christian English people, they preserved the English nation and made it greater than it had been since anyone could remember without having to expel the Danes.

Second, the requirement of baptism did not really make Guthrum a Christian, some might argue. This line of thinking is the same thinking that rejects infant baptism. An infant cannot really be a Christian since they have not made a rational and conscious decision to be a Christian. These concepts of an "age of accountability" or "age of reason" are foreign viruses in the Christian worldview. They came about from the atheist line of thinking found in the "Enlighenment" (which was not enlightening). The historic and proper perspective and worldview regarding infant baptism (the same understanding that would bring King Alfred to require Guthrum's baptism) is that the mature Christian knows what is good for a person and under illumination from the Holy Spirit can bring men to salvation. Christians have the light of God and with this light sees the spiritual conditions that are best for people whether they realize it or not. So, maybe not understanding entirely what is happening, we baptize them. They must be free to choose to accept the road to salvation every day, every hour, every moment, just like any other Christian. However, due to the conditions that brought them into the Church, they have sponsors or godparents. The remarkable thing about King Alfred is that he personally put this responsibility on himself.

King Alfred as Guthrum's godfather also speaks to the greatness of King Alfred. By doing this, King Alfred put himself into a position as personally responsible for the soul of Guthrum and helping him into salvation. This speaks the the devoutness and the seriousness King Alfred had towards making the Dane's Christian for the health of English society and personal care for these new subjects. The ancient practice of sponsors was a result of so many people entering into the Church that a bishop could not get to know so many people well enough to see if they were ready to receive baptism. So he took trusted and holy deacons and virgins to vouch for their readiness. These were the first godparents. Due to their sanctity, the bishop could trust their judgement. Infant baptisms quickly received these same men and women of the Christian community to step in as sponsors because the bishop could rely on them and their spiritual advancement to do well in guiding the growing infant into a Christian adulthood. This is the history of sponsors and godparents. It is a great responsibility because the Church expects the godparent to make a Christian. King Alfred understood these things and he accepted this fearful role to personally commit his soul to Christianize his former enemy.

Third, King Alfred revitalized learning by gathering resources all over England and from abroad. He gathered books, he gathered scholars and formed a court school and curriculum for English education. He used English for the education as many as he could educate, but those who wished to enter into the clergy would continue their education in Latin. King Alfred believed that without education, there would be little Christian wisdom and no success in English endeavors, the nation would fail and he was seeing this unfold before his eyes.

This is a most excellent model in dealing with our societal brokenness. I am convinced nothing in King Alfred's solution cannot be applied to today. I am convinced Orthodoxy is the only cure for society, there is no doubt in my mind. The Orthodox Church needs to grow spiritually so that we produce our own saints. The Orthodox Church needs to grow in numbers so the we have workers for this harvest and can shine the light of Christ into men's souls. It does not matter one bit that this happened many centuries ago, it is a completely irrelevant point. This is because (as mentioned at the beginning) there is not dialectic of history and we are not advancing towards any great progressive utopia.

We must drive out any foreign elements that do not share our values or we will have not peace, it will be a culture of chaos, violence, and death. Driving out that which is alien often does require aggression. The point is, these things are here now anyway. How many victims, who look to their leaders for security must be sacrificed, in their own homeland, to accommodate the foreign and alien. Diversity in food, music, and skin color is not a price worth paying if the poverty, violence, and illiteracy of the third world comes along with it (granted this part is only my opinion). This is the politics of today. Diversity, understood today, is not a value it is a destructive agent. Oneness is a value since God is one. We are not nations of immigrants. Some families settled this land, fought for independence or freedom, gave birth to the nation, created our local, state, and national governments, and wrote our first laws. No one ought to have a greater say in the direction of our nation than them. This is their home.

I know this sounds mean. We cannot fall into the trap of being nice people. I have become convinced that nice is simply a word to control people and/or hinder real communication. What is nice? Not mean? Well what is that? Nice is a word that has no meaning. If someone is calling a person nice or mean, all they consciously or subconsciously are saying is how well they conform to the secular and atheist values of today. If you do not speak to women about abortion, that is nice of you. If you welcome foreign invaders into your homeland you are being nice to them. You are a nice person. We need to wake up and come to our senses. Stop caring what the evil powers tell you and follow the example of King Alfred! Pray for the salvation of the foreigner that invades your home! While they resist you, take care to achieve victory in driving them out. It is both together until peace is reached.

We should work to save them and bring them to Christ and His Church at every moment. We must stress the importance that we will not have peace while we have diversity. We should unite all things to the oneness of Christ since he is the true source of peace. We will not longer have  the necessity of driving anyone out if we can do this. Meanwhile, we must also look to ourselves. Our education is the result of those who wish to control us and initiate us into the kingdom of Satan. Yes, the schools are this bad, the question is whether you have the eyes to see it. Some things were universally believed in the ancient world. Largely because when not followed the awful consequences that occurred would convince everyone of the truth of these things. Now, you only find it in small portions of Christianity since what passes for Christianity follows the world into darkness it is just a generation or two removed. Look to the ancient paths, as the Prophet Jeremiah exhorts.  We need to learn from the wisdom we have abandoned from the past. To keep moving blindly towards an imaginary non-existent utopia by casting aside the accumulated wisdom of the past (we are more advanced than them! attitude) then we will completely self-annihilate our culture and society. Since we find ourselves reaching an existential debate on to whom this nation will belong in the future. I offer the example of King Alfred to show us the way. His situation was much more dire but he achieved things greater than many in the history of Kings and Nations.