FYI…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

From time to time the title of this blog may be puzzling to some. What does “150 Knots” mean?

Well, it’s not about ships or planes it’s about prayer ropes. Orthodox Christians can carry prayer ropes each knot of which can be used to guide the person as they pray the “Jesus prayer” (Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner).  A rather lengthy one would have 150 individual knots, each of which who be one supplication.

In these days there are all kinds of arguments over what should be done about the state of things. I can think of only one, pray. Enter into deep prayer and the Holy Spirit will guide us into what we need, how to live in this world, and what God would have us do.

When I’m overwhelmed it’s the least and the best I can do. Grab a prayer rope, say the Jesus prayer for myself, for the world, for everything, and then rest in God. Sometimes its about a few knots. Lately its about 150.

The Truth Is…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ 1 Comment

I’ve gotten tired of all the shuffling and moving and behind the scenes stuff that seems to characterize the Orthodox headlines these days. It just seems like it’s all about keeping the Church in stasis through continued organizational crises. It’s a perfect plan. Keep the Church immobilized with questions of titles and politics while the rest of the world slides off the deep end without any help.

Imagine how different things would be if we were arguing about how best to serve the poor and needy. What if our debates were about strategies for the conversion of America? What if our mighty struggles were about how best to deepen our knowledge and practice of the Faith? How would it be if we just prayed a minute for each minute spent on Facebook or blogs arguing the minute details of who gets what?

I think there’s only one viable solution. All of us removed from the trappings of power simply  need to do and be what we except our leaders to do and be and let the holiness and sense of purpose in us flow until its sweet water washes over our parishes and the greater culture.

Don’t wait to be led to pray, pray now. Serve the poor. Witness to the Gospel. Grow in your faith. Do good. Give alms. Worship with passion. Seek holiness in your own life and in doing so it will create a climate of holiness that will trickle up, through, and around the Church.

In time if the people will lead the leaders will follow.

Wise Thoughts…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

From St. John of Kronstadt...

“When you are praying alone, and your spirit is dejected, and you are wearied and oppressed by your loneliness, remember then, as always, that God the Trinity looks upon you with eyes brighter than the sun; also all the angels, your own Guardian Angel, and all the Saints of God. Truly they do; for they are all one in God, and where God is, there are they also. Where the sun is, thither also are directed all its rays. Try to understand what this means.”

“There is nothing impossible unto those who believe; lively and unshaken faith can accomplish great miracles in the twinkling of an eye. Besides, even without our sincere and firm faith, miracles are accomplished, such as the miracles of the sacraments; for God’s Mystery is always accomplished, even though we were incredulous or unbelieving at the time of its celebration. “Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” (Rom. 3:3). Our wickedness shall not overpower the unspeakable goodness and mercy of God; our dullness shall not overpower God’s wisdom, nor our infirmity God’s omnipotence.” — My Life in Christ

“Oh, what great happiness and bliss, what exaltation it is to address oneself to the Eternal Father. Always, without fail, value this joy which has been accorded to you by God’s infinite grace and do not forget it during your prayers; God, the angels and God’s holy men listen to you.”

“The enemy of our salvation especially strives to draw our heart and mind away from God when we are about to serve Him, and endeavours to adulterously attach our heart to something irrelevant. Be always, every moment, with God, especially when you pray to Him. If you are inconstant, you will fall away from life, and will cast yourself into sorrow and straitness.”

“Do not be despondent when fighting against the incorporeal enemy, but even in the midst of your afflictions and oppression praise the Lord, Who has found you worthy to suffer for Him, by struggling against the subtlety of the serpent, and to be wounded for Him at every hour; for had you not lived piously, and endeavored to become united to God, the enemy would not have attacked and tormented you.”

“Do not fear the conflict, and do not flee from it; where there is no struggle, there is no virtue. Our faith, trust, and love are proved and revealed in adversities, that is, in difficult and grievous outward and inward circumstances, during sickness, sorrow, and privations.”

“Prayer for others is very beneficial to the man himself who prays; it purifies the heart, strengthens faith and hope in God, and arouses love for God and our neighbor.”

 

All the Lyrics of the American National Anthem..

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ Leave a comment

O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave![1

Wise Thoughts…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ 1 Comment

Humility in Russian means a state of being at peace, when a person has made peace with God’s will; that is, he has given himself over to it boundlessly, fully, and joyfully, and says, “Lord, do with me as Thou wilt!” As a result he has also made peace with all the circumstances of his own life—everything for him is a gift of God, be it good or terrible. God has called us to be His emissaries on earth, and He sends us into places of darkness in order to be a light; into places of hopelessness in order to bring hope; into places where joy has died in order to be a joy; and so on. Our place is not necessarily where it is peaceful—in church, at the Liturgy, where we are shielded by the mutual presence of the faithful—but in those places where we stand alone, as the presence of Christ in the darkness of a disfigured world.

Tattoos…

~ Fr. John Chagnon ~ 1 Comment

Interesting. Read more here.

Yet there’s more going on here than questionable aesthetic tastes. With tattoos, the emphasis is all on the self, and the centrality of the self, rather than anything outside of the body. You may not be in a position to make a mark on the outside world, or even on your local community, but at least you can leave a mark on your own body. In a deeply narcissistic age, self-aggrandising tattoos have become the body badge of choice for thousands. But by enlarging ourselves with tattoos, we’re belittling ourselves in the process. It’s a sign of our low expectations that having control over flesh decorations is considered to be the limit of our capacities as an individual. So while shaping the outside world seems near impossible, you can at least shape barbed-wire patterns on your arm.