Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Orthodox Observer/Claire Koen
Christ, the King of peace, breaks down the dividing walls within our hearts (Eph. 2:14). But how do we as Orthodox Christians cooperate with Christ in this endeavor? It was to this topic that each speaker at the 31st annual Fellowship of Saint Moses the Black conference spoke. Each elevated aspects of Orthodox theology and prayer through which we facilitate Christ’s in-breaking in our communities. Supported in part by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese’ African American Mission, which is led by Fr. Chrysostom Onyekakeyah, the conference attracted a pan-Orthodox milieu from across the country. Speakers included Mother Katherine Weston, Dr. Carla Thomas, Fr. Paul Abernathy, Dcn. John Gresham, Fr. Alexii Altschul, and Dr. Kathryn Bocanegra.
Mother Katherine Weston, an Orthodox monastic and mental health counselor, spoke about the ways that we learn the heavenly language of praise. Through the prayers of the services, the psalms, prayer books, and of course through the repetition of the Jesus prayer, we learn to speak this heavenly language. Nun Katherine relayed a story of the late Rev. Archpriest Moses Berry, which illustrated the uniqueness of the Orthodox liturgy in communicating the heavenly language: the first time that Fr. Moses visited an Orthodox Church, he felt like he was hearing a foreign language. This was the language of heaven.
Reflecting on the ways in which this language of praise can be expressed in our everyday lives, Nun Katherine reminded us of St. John of San Francisco, whose feast day we celebrated that day (Oct. 11). It’s easy to become buried in our own sub-cultures and to not know how to reach across cultural divides, but the prayers of the church are written by those who were fluent in the language of heaven. In his outreach to non-Eastern Christians, St. John researched Western saints and encouraged people to sing their praises. Due to his conviction of the ultimate dissolution of division between God and humankind, St. John went barefoot everywhere, and in all kinds of weather: he acted on his belief that God had blessed the earth with His incarnation in Jesus Christ. St. John sought to dismantle the walls whether between East and West or between Divine and created.
The Jubilee Liturgy, Mother Katherine’s arrangement of the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, is another example of the way that the services can serve to bridge cultural divides. The arrangement blends together the Spirituals that emerged from enslaved communities. Spirituals, which are a prayerful response to the sufferings of those who endured the horrors of slavery, were reclaimed by freed persons in Jubilee choirs. These organizations performed across Europe raising funds for freedmen’s schools in the era of segregation. As it blends the musical heritage of African Americans with the Eastern Orthodox liturgy, the Jubilee Liturgy removes the divide between the descendants of the enslaved and their early African Christian Roots. It uses the heavenly language to communicate to non-Black Orthodox Christians the very recent sufferings of their Black brothers and sisters in the Church. Through heavenly language the martyrs of the trans-Atlantic passage and American chattel slavery are joined with the martyrs of the Ottoman yoke, the Syrian martyrs, and all the innocents who have died at the hands of their oppressors. In his sermon during the Jubilee Liturgy on Saturday morning, Fr. Paul Abernathy proclaimed that “it is a wicked law that denies the image of God in a human person.” Instead, we must operate under the law of jubilee: “when the land has been soaked with the blood of the martyrs, we have to put an altar on it.” He went on to say that we are called to a different kind of triumph of Orthodoxy, in which the sons of slaves celebrate with their former masters. We are called to a different kind of unity: in Jesus Christ we are family with one another.
Remarking on the problem of violence in the US, Fr. Paul reminded us that as Christians, even though we often live amongst violence, we must be at peace. Violence, which is contagious, is fueled by sin: specifically, by the sin of greed. He recalled for us the fourth century Cappadocian theologian, St. Basil the Great, who wrote that though there are enough resources in the world for everyone to have enough, greed prevents the fair distribution (1). Fr. Paul noted the role of greed in the divestment of the US government from Black and Indigenous communities, and in the practice of red lining (2). Within the American context then, bringing down the walls of division requires repentance of the sin of greed. Fr. Paul recalled for us the hesychasts, who attained the inner peace that comes from being in the presence of God. For a recent example he pointed to Archimandrite Zacharia Zacharou who writes that the energies of God transforms us and brings about illumination and deification (3).
Building upon this last point, Dr. Carla Thomas, who runs the Abba Moses Free Clinic for the underinsured, spoke to us about the inner work to which each Orthodox Christian is called. Each of us is responsible for attaining Theosis—for becoming one with God, in God, by God. This is how we cooperate with the King of Peace to bring down the walls that divide neighbor from neighbor. But how do we do this? Turning to the well-developed practical theological tradition, Dr. Thomas called our attention to the tried and true three step path to Theosis. The first step is purification: we have to make ourselves into new wineskins that can hold the light of Christ. We purify ourselves by praying the Jesus prayer, attending the services, fasting according to our strength, and taking care of our neighbors). The second step is illumination, or Theoria: we become illumined when our minds and hearts are purified, and we are consumed by the thought of Christ. The final step, deification, is reached when we have the mind of Christ and thereby have access to the mystery of God’s will. The process of purification, illumination, and deification is a dynamic one. Though there is a physical change that takes place when someone becomes illumined by having the constant thought of Christ, we work throughout our lives to become ever more purified and illumined. Likewise, though God may give us an experience of the mind of Christ at moments in our lives, we must always return to the practices of self-purification.
But how do each of these theological reflections bring about real change in the world? Addressing this issue Dr. Kathryn Bocanegra, LCSW, spoke about her work in community violence intervention. When asked how parishes can help interrupt cycles of violence, she noted the problem of “dysfunctional philanthropy,” which is done at a distance and while remaining comfortable. Based on her 17 years of experience in community health and violence prevention, Dr. Bocanegra, Assistant Professor at the Jane Addams School of Social Work, created a user-friendly online resource. Based on Bocanegra’s research that explores “the occupational stressors experienced by 35 street intervention specialists and supervisors, the forms of trauma they are exposed to, and best practices to support them,” the site is a wealth of practical tools and advice (4). Dcn. John Gresham, author of Become All Flame: Lent with African Saints, drew from the writings of the desert fathers to speak about the power of prayer (5). Recalling Mother Katherine’s words on the role of our services in teaching us the language of heaven, Dcn. John said that “prayer is essential in aligning us with God.” He continued, saying that if we can align ourselves with God, then we are much more likely to be able to listen to those with whom we disagree. Christ has already brought down the wall that separates us both from God and from one another: it is our task to become like Christ so that we don’t rebuild it.
- St. Basil the Great, Ὁμιλία πρὸς τοὺς πλουτούντας (Sermon to the Rich).
- Richard Rothstein, The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, (Liveright Publishing Corporation), 2018.
- Archimandrite Zacharia Zacharou, Hesychasm: The Bedewing Furnace of the Heart, (Essex, Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist), 2023.
- https://www.streetsupport.org/
- Dcn. John Gresham, Become All Flame: Lent with African Saints, (Park End Books), 2022.
Photo credit: FSMB/Kevin Bryce