The Hermitess Photini {discussion part two}

Xristos Anesti!  Christ is Risen!!

A bit later than expected, but here is the second part of our discussion on The Hermitess Photini.  Since I ran a little late posting this discussion, we'll push the deadline for the first discussion of The Purple Mantle to Wednesday, May 2.  Thanks for being patient with me, I didn't factor in the busyness of Holy Week when I set the date and then with Sprout's birthday partyand my family visiting, I'm running a bit late.

1. Some of you have emailed me or commented on facebook that you’ve finished the entire book. That’s awesome! Just please keep in mind that members were only required to read through page 72, so no spoilers. We’ll only discuss what happened in the assigned chapters.
2. Be courteous and respectful of others opinions. While opinions will differ and certain things might/should be debated, the discussions need to remain friendly and professional.
3. From now on, I think it would be fun for each member to come up with one question. It should be open-ended and debatable, but specific enough to promote a focused discussion. This will help keep the conversation well-rounded, instead of it being based on my perspective alone. Email your questions and I’ll choose several of them for each discussion.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! If you’re not familiar with a term or saint or whatever, please ask. We’re all here as a family, hoping to learn and grow together.
5. My thoughts are below, some of them just things to ponder, others are prompts and questions for you to answer. The questions are bold and italicized. Answer one of them or all of them in the comment section for others to read and discuss. Feel free to comment on anything mentioned in this post, even if not a “question”.

I really enjoyed re-reading this book.  Reading about the simple lifestyle of Photini, made me want to try and simplify my life.The second half of the book focused more on her inner or spiritual life more than her physical one.On page 74 she says, "The more a person distances himself from God--not physically, as we said, but spiritually through sin--the more unhappy he becomes."  She goes on to say that Hell is essentially the complete deprivation of divine grace.  Perhaps this is why so many people today struggle with depression issues.  What are some of the ways you think we distance ourselves from God?On page 75, we read that the purpose of man is to work at the virtues and distancing oneself from God is the most terrible punishment.  The holy fathers tell us that fasting and self control are the foundation of acquiring virtue.  How else can we attain virtues? Virtue unites man with God and makes him inherit the kingdom of heaven (pg. 78).I always marvel at the joy the saints experience in the face of death.  On page 76, they mention St. Ignatios the God-bearer and how he was happy and rejoiced as he was being led to martyrdom.  May God grant us this same strength and grace for the trials we are to endure in our lives.They briefly discuss prayer of the heart.  Prayer of the heart is the Jesus prayer.  There is no power greater than the name of Jesus and what better thing to do ceaselessly as St. Paul commands (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), than to invoke the name of our Lord and Savior.  Photini told Fr. Joachim how the name of Jesus burns the devil.  It was also interesting to note that she mentioned that often when the devil tried to tempt her, he would do so by quoting scripture.  This is why the holy fathers also tell us to be careful of false prophets. It is one thing to know the bible well enough to quote it, and another entirely to understand it. Prayer of the heart, we read on page 89, is the only way to attain complete dispassion.  And to do this a person needs persistence and patience.  The devil will constantly be working to distract us.  We are instructed to breathe in saying, Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, and exhale saying, have mercy on me, a sinner (pg. 102).   How many of you pray daily with a prayer rope?  Enter your name in the comment section to win a 50-knot prayer rope.  I'll email the winner what colors I have and I will make it from your favorite one!  Winner will be chosen on May 6.

We read different examples throughout the book about nature being in perfect harmony with God.  I love how she mentions, on page 100, that the nightingales become delighted when she chants and they begin to sing along.  It was also amazing how they came at the same time every day.  This story reminds me of the time we celebrated Pascha in Arizona.  There was a 4:00 am liturgy in the chapel of St. Panteleimon and just as Elder Ephraim came out with the chalice after communion, dawn broke and I was standing in front of a little window.  There must have been a nest right outside and as soon as he began chanting Xristos Anesti, the birds began singing like crazy and the sunlight poured in through the window.  It was absolutely beautiful.

On pages 96-97, Fr. Joachim asks Photini if she believed confession to be mandatory for someone who has changed their life and abandoned their old ways.  He tells her, " I asked you this question because there are many people who avoid confession because they think they are absolved of a sin simply by not repeating it."  To this she responded, "Such people are wrong in thinking like that, because, besides the fact that this was of thinking has hidden pride in it, they dispute the authority of the Church, which as we have said, has received the authority to bind and loose.  Confession is mandatory even if one has led a clean life after repenting and even if one has done good deeds, because confession contains humility, which is the sure anchor of salvation."   This is a good reminder to confess as often as possible. 

We should always be striving to look at life through a Christian standpoint.  Photini said (pg. 117), "Nothing troubles the Christian who lives in Christ because he sees everything with his spiritual eyes, not his physical eyes."At the end of the book (pg. 130), Photini reminds us that, "Ye are not of the world; therefore the world hateth you."  We should keep this words of Christ in our minds at all times when we, as modern day Christians, are faced with situations that force us to speak against the tide or the spirit of political correctness.  We should never be ashamed to speak Christ's truth.In Counsels from the Holy Mountain, we read chapter one On Salvation and Paradise.Geronda Ephraim begins the chapter talking about how in the springtime, nature wears its most beautiful apparel, and the joy a person experiences when beholding the beauties of it.  He goes on to write, "If here in exile, in this accursed land of weeping, our holy God has given us so much beauty to enjoy, I wonder how much there will be in the place where God Himself dwells!  Truly, 'the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory and bliss.' (Romans 8:18)He goes on to describe the blessedness that awaits those souls who find salvation and tells us to meditate on these things.  But he also warns us of two thoughts that will ruin this meditation for us.  The first one is thinking that we will not participate in this glorious blessedness--at first it will be just a though, but later will materialize.  We need to be watchful that we do not fall into this despair like Judas did.  The second thought is that people will live their lives in ignorance and give rise to separation from God and suffer spiritual death.  I took this to mean, that we will ignore the commandments of God and not constantly be striving for spiritual perfection.  This should be a lifelong struggle, and God knows we will be constantly falling short, and that's okay, because all He asks us to do is get up, repent and continue fighting.

My favorite part of this chapter is section 4, where Geronda tells us that "Everything will pass and will end as if had never existed, whereas works done in God will remain with the soul that worked them so that the worker may reap eternal life from them.  Blessed are the spiritual philosophers of God, who give away transient things and store up eternal things, so that when they depart, they will find their treasures in God's treasury with accrued interest.  Blessed are they who clean their hearts from the weeds of sin and cultivate the good seed, for the time will come for them to reap sheaves of eternal life!  Blessed are they who sow tears with spiritual fasting, that is, always hungering and thirsting for good works, for they will reap eternal joy!"

His words on Paradise and Salvation were so inspiring to me.  This has been one of my favorite books for many years, but I honestly had not read much of it lately and going back and reading his counsels and thoughts encouraged me so, so much.  I hope you felt the same way.  Did any passages touch your heart? We will be meeting again on May 2 to discuss chapters 1-8 of The Purple Mantle.   See you then!**PLEASE NOTE: OrthodoxChristianChildren.com is offering a 20% discount on book club titles for members. Please see this post for details…