St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Tomorrow, we come to the 4th Sunday of Lent, as we commemorate the writings of St. John Climacus, or also known as St. John of the Ladder. 

In the gospel passage from tomorrow’s Divine Liturgy, the Lord again is seeking faith. Today, even the best things erode the faith. Let us look at what challenged souls we have, and what evil is found within us! We hide it, disregard it and we accommodate things by having a simply external, false-belief. It is essential that you recognize your unbelief, so that you might confess it, but as much as depends on you, to also confess your faith: “I believe, Lord. Help my unbelief”. If we run in this way to the Lord, he will give us that which we need: he will heal our souls, will purify them, and we will feel this purification, this resurrection and revitalization of our souls which the grace of God brings.

Can we honestly and rightly say that whatever our soul most deeply yearns for – repentance, healing, purification, sanctification – happened and is happening? For us not to have this, means that we do not want to believe. Man is confused here. Asking forgiveness from God presupposes repentance; Repentance presupposes being conscious that you erred and are guilty, being conscious that you have responsibility. Put yourself down, judge yourself; somewhere you were deceitful. However, you don’t want to do this. You feel resistance, difficulty, as the spooks that exist within you wake up, all of the sinfulness, and they go to throw you into hell.

We need to enlist all of our strengths and to give them to this work, to this movement: to confess our unbelief, but as much as depends on us, to also confess our faith. And oh the miracle! From this initial moment, we will begin to feel the therapy of our souls, and everyday this will increase more and more However much life God gives to us – a little or a lot – it will suffice, in order for our souls to become sanctified, to be saved eternally.  – From the Holy Hesychasterion 

Fr. Anthony Savas
Protopresbyter

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

For the past several years, our parish has been accustomed to experiencing our Lenten Retreats toward the end of the season. This year, I wanted us to get a jump on our Lenten inspiration and literally start off as immediately as possible. Next Saturday, from Noon to 5:00 pm (with a bonus talk following Great Vespers at 5:00 pm) renowned author, professor, lecturer and theologian, Dr. Christopher Lockwood will lead our Retreat. This young man is one of the sharpest minds in the modern Orthodox Christian world. He is a graduate of our Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Thessaloniki. In fact, our own parish council member Sam Soter, while traveling in Greece was with Christopher as he defended his dissertation.

His latest book, “Types and Symbols in the Bible” is available in the Bookstore, and he will take the time to sign copies while here. Dr. Lockwood is also a teacher of Byzantine Music. He will be with us for the Sunday of Orthodoxy services; helping to chant the Orthros, and deliver the homily in the Divine Liturgy. Please, make every effort to be with us for this fantastic opportunity to learn and grown in our Faith. A light Lenten luncheon will be served. You really do not want to miss this!

With Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony Savas
Protopresbyter