#Fr. Thomas Hopko
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Orthodox priest and teacher Fr. Thomas Hopko, who passed away eight years ago this week, wrote many wonderful things in his life. One favorite is this list of 55 Maxims for Christian Living. They're applicable, I think, to non-Orthodox Christians and, many of them, to non-Christians too
Here they are:
1. Be always with Christ.
2. Pray as you can, not as you want.
3. Have a keepable rule of prayer that you do by discipline.
4. Say the Lord’s Prayer several times a day.
5. Have a short prayer that you constantly repeat when your mind is not occupied with other things.
6. Make some prostrations when you pray.
7. Eat good foods in moderation.
8. Keep the Church’s fasting rules.
9. Spend some time in silence every day.
10. Do acts of mercy in secret.
11. Go to liturgical services regularly
12. Go to confession and communion regularly.
13. Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings. Cut them off at the start.
14. Reveal all your thoughts and feelings regularly to a trusted person.
15. Read the scriptures regularly.
16. Read good books a little at a time.
17. Cultivate communion with the saints.
18. Be an ordinary person.
19. Be polite with everyone.
20. Maintain cleanliness and order in your home.
21. Have a healthy, wholesome hobby.
22. Exercise regularly.
23. Live a day, and a part of a day, at a time.
24. Be totally honest, first of all, with yourself.
25. Be faithful in little things.
26. Do your work, and then forget it.
27. Do the most difficult and painful things first.
28. Face reality.
29. Be grateful in all things.
30. Be cheefull.
31. Be simple, hidden, quiet and small.
32. Never bring attention to yourself.
33. Listen when people talk to you.
34. Be awake and be attentive.
35. Think and talk about things no more than necessary.
36. When we speak, speak simply, clearly, firmly and directly.
37. Flee imagination, analysis, figuring things out.
38. Flee carnal, sexual things at their first appearance.
39. Don’t complain, mumble, murmur or whine.
40. Don’t compare yourself with anyone.
41. Don’t seek or expect praise or pity from anyone.
42. We don’t judge anyone for anything.
43. Don’t try to convince anyone of anything.
44. Don’t defend or justify yourself.
45. Be defined and bound by God alone.
46. Accept criticism gratefully but test it critically.
47. Give advice to others only when asked or obligated to do so.
48. Do nothing for anyone that they can and should do for themselves.
49. Have a daily schedule of activities, avoiding whim and caprice.
50. Be merciful with yourself and with others.
51. Have no expectations except to be fiercely tempted to your last breath.
52. Focus exclusively on God and light, not on sin and darkness.
53. Endure the trial of yourself and your own faults and sins peacefully, serenely, because you know that God’s mercy is greater than your wretchedness.
54. When we fall, get up immediately and start over.
55. Get help when you need it, without fear and without shame.
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31. Be simple, hidden, quiet, and small.
(The Holy Fathers say: “If you want to be known by God, seek not to be known by people.” And again, it’s simplicity, hiddenness, quiet, smallness.)
55 Maxims of the Christian Life, Fr. Thomas Hopko
(See the full list of maxims here and here)
#Orthodox Christianity#Christianity#orthodoxy#Fr. Thomas Hopko#maxims#simple#simpleness#simplicity#hidden#quiet#small#smallness
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The joy of the Messiah's appearance abounds in the Church's liturgical services of the Winter Pascha. When the "Hail" of the angelic salutation is translated "Rejoice," as it often is in the church services since in Greek that is what it literally means, there is an even greater presence of the "good news of great joy" for the faithful, since they, together with the whole of creation, are greeted with this salutation again and again in the songs of the festal celebration.
Let creation exceedingly rejoice,
For the Creator fashions himself as a creature.
And He who was before all things now manifests Himself as God newly revealed.
Let the wise men go to meet Him with their gifts;
Let the shepherds clap their hands in faith at the wonder;
and let mortal men join the angels with rejoicing.
Be joyful, O earth!
Behold, Christ draws near to be born in Bethlehem.
Be glad, O sea!
And dance for joy, O company of prophets,
For today you behold the fulfillment of your words.
Rejoice, all you righteous!
Let the kings of the whole earth sing with rejoicing,
And let the nations be in exceeding joy!
Mountains, hills, and valleys,
Rivers, seas, and the whole of creation:
Magnify the Lord who now is born.
Rejoice, O Virgin,
The Theotokos who of the Holy Spirit
Has borne life into the world
For the salvation of all!
One of the most devastating accusations that can be made against Christians is that they have no joy. Joyless Christians are a contradiction in terms. People who are bitter, complaining, condemning, accusing, dissatisfied and depressed are certainly not Christians. They can only be people whose life is untouched by grace, people whose existence is confined to the suffocating limitations of "this world" whose "ruler" is the devil and whose "form... is passing away" (Jn 12:31; 1 Cor 7:31). They cannot possibly be those who belong to Christ and the kingdom of God. For Christians by definition have Christ's "joy fulfilled in themselves" (Jn 17:13). They are people whose joy, which no one can take away, is literally full and complete (Jn 15:11; 16:22, 24).
In his famous book For the Life of the World, Father Alexander Schmemann speaks about the joy of Christians. From its very beginning, he says,
Christianity has been the proclamation of joy, of the only possible joy on earth. It rendered impossible all the joy we usually think of as possible. But within this impossibility, at the very bottom of this darkness, it announced and conveyed a new all-embracing joy, and with this joy it transformed the End into a Beginning. Without the proclamation of this joy, Christianity is incomprehensible. It is only as joy that the Church was victorious in the world, and it lost the world when it lost that joy, and ceased to be a credible witness to it. Of all the accusations against Christians, the most terrible one was uttered by Nietzsche when he said that Christians had no joy.
Father Alexander goes on to say that before Christians can do anything else with all of their "programs and missions, projects and techniques," they "must recover the meaning of this great joy." he says that joy "is not something one can define or analyze. One enters into joy. 'Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord' (Mt 25:21)." And one enters into this joy, this exceeding great joy, he insists, only by entering into the liturgical, eucharistic life of the Church herself. Here, and only here, as in the celebration of the Nativity of Christ and His Epiphany in the world, can a person partake of that joyful reality for which the world itself was created in the beginning.
The above is an excerpt from The Winter Pascha, by Fr. Thomas Hopko
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“People feel unhappy and they don't know why. They feel that something is wrong, but they can't put their finger on what it is. They feel uneasy in the world, confused and frustrated, alienated and estranged, and they can't explain it. They have everything and yet they want more. And when they get it, they are still left empty and dissatisfied. They want happiness and peace, and nothing seems to bring it. They want fulfillment, and it never seems to come. Everything is fine, and yet everything is wrong. In America this is almost a national disease. It is covered over by frantic activity and endless running around. It is buried in activities and events. It is drowned out by television programs and games. But when the movement stops and the dial is turned off and everything is quiet. then the dread sets in, and the meaninglessness of it all, and the boredom, and the fear. Why is this so? Because, the Church tells us, we are really not at home. We are in exile. We are alienated and estranged from our true country. We are not with God our Father in the land of the living. Our hearts are made for God, St. Augustine has said, and we will be forever restless until we rest in Him. Our lives are made for God, and we will be unfulfilled and dissatisfied and frustrated until we go to Him.”
~Fr. Thomas Hopko
#Orthodox Christian#Chorale#Music#videos#YouTubes#St. Petersburg Russia#Fr. Thomas Hopko#we are in exile#St. Augustine#rest in God
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The Scripture is very clear: If you want to find yourself, lose yourself; you want to fulfill yourself, empty yourself; you want to be great, be the least; you want to be first, be last; you want to be rich, become poor; you want to be wise, become a fool. If you want to rule, become a servant.… really, Orthodoxy is paradoxy.
Fr. Thomas Hopko, of blessed memory
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55 Maxims of the Christian Life by Fr. Thomas Hopko
(Fr. Christopher: Below is a series of short phrases, or maxims, that I have found to be very practical and helpful. We can often times think that the spiritual life is very complicated and and hard to live. Fr. Thomas was asked to come up with a simple and concise list of the essence of our Life in Christ as we struggle on the path towards salvation. He came up with these 55 maxims. I would encourage you to post them somewhere where you can see them often.)
Be always with Christ and trust God in everything.
Pray as you can, not as you think you must.
Have a keepable rule of prayer done by discipline.
Say the Lord's Prayer several times each day.
Repeat a short prayer when your mind is not occupied.
Make some prostrations when you pray.
Eat good foods in moderation and fast on fasting days.
Practice silence, inner and outer.
Sit in silence 20 to 30 minutes each day.
Do acts of mercy in secret.
Go to liturgical services regularly.
Go to confession and holy communion regularly.
Do not engage intrusive thoughts and feelings.
Reveal all your thoughts and feelings to a trusted person regularly.
Read the scriptures regularly.
Read good books, a little at a time.
Cultivate communion with the saints.
Be an ordinary person, one of the human race.
Be polite with everyone, first of all family members.
Maintain cleanliness and order in your home.
Have a healthy, wholesome hobby.
Exercise regularly.
Live a day, even a part of a day, at a time.
Be totally honest, first of all with yourself.
Be faithful in little things.
Do your work, then forget it.
Do the most difficult and painful things first.
Face reality.
Be grateful.
Be cheerful.
Be simple, hidden, quiet and small.
Never bring attention to yourself.
Listen when people talk to you.
Be awake and attentive, fully present where you are.
Think and talk about things no more than necessary.
Speak simply, clearly, firmly, directly.
Flee imagination, fantasy, analysis, figuring things out.
Flee carnal, sexual things at their first appearance.
Don't complain, grumble, murmur or whine.
Don't seek or expect pity or praise.
Don't compare yourself with anyone.
Don't judge anyone for anything.
Don't try to convince anyone of anything.
Don't defend or justify yourself.
Be defined and bound by God, not people.
Accept criticism gracefully and test it carefully.
Give advice only when asked or when it is your duty.
Do nothing for people that they can and should do for themselves.
Have a daily schedule of activities, avoiding whim and caprice.
Be merciful with yourself and others.
Have no expectations except to be fiercely tempted to your last breath.
Focus exclusively on God and light, and never on darkness, temptation and sin.
Endure the trial of yourself and your faults serenely, under God's mercy.
When you fall, get up immediately and start over.
Get help when you need it, without fear or shame.
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Reading List Update, 12/7/2017
Read so far:
Rock and Sand: An Orthodox Appraisal of the Protestant Reformers and Their Teachings by Fr. Josiah Trenham
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
All Hallows Eve by Charles Williams
The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies by Robert Kirk
A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
Raising Them Right: A Saint’s Advice On Raising Children by St. Theophan the Recluse
The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams by Philip and Carol Zaleski
Everyday Saints and Other Stories by Tikhon Shevkunov
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Iliad by Homer
The Doors of the Sea: Where Was God in the Tsunami? by David Bentley Hart
The Devil and Pierre Gernet: Stories by David Bentley Hart
Icon by Georgia Briggs
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton
Micro by Michael Crichton with Richard Preston
Chronicles of History and Worship by Patrick Henry Reardon
The Apocalypse in the Teachings of Ancient Christianity by Averky Taushev
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
The Facade by Michael Heiser
The Portent by Michael Heiser
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L’Engle
Creation and the Patriarchal Histories by Patrick Henry Reardon
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Confession: Doorway To Forgiveness by Jim Forest
Wounded By Love by Elder Porphyrios
The Odyssey by Homer
Through New Eyes by James B. Jordan
Great Lent: Journey To Pascha by Alexander Schmemann
The Story of the Sacred Harp, 1844 - 1944 by George Pullen Jackson
Many Waters by Madeline L’Engle
The Northern Theba’id: Monastic Saints of the Russian North by Fr. Seraphim Rose
Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
The Wastelands by Stephen King
The Trial Of Job: Orthodox Christian Reflections On The Book Of Job by Patrick Henry Reardon
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying With Icons by Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King
Insomnia by Stephen King
Song of Susannah by Stephen King
A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans
Before the Feast by Saša Stanišić
Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King
What the Hell Did I Just Read? by David Wong
Black House by Stephen King
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
Little Sister Death by William Gray
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
The Father Christmas Letters by J.R.R. Tolkien
Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer by C.S. Lewis
Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica by Ana Smiljanic
On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius
The Winter Pascha by Thomas Hopko
The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation by Rod Dreher
The Orthodox Study Bible (full year-long read through)
Currently reading:
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
3 By Flannery O’connor by Flannery O’connoor
The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky
Unquenchable Fire: The Traditional Christian Teaching About Hell by Lawrence R. Farley
Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works by Damascene Christensen
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Memory Eternal Fr Thomas Hopko!!! The Names of Jesus podcast from Ancient Faith Radio is amazing!!! Very refreshing!!!!!
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If you want to be wise, become a fool.
Fr. Thomas Hopko
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47. Give advice to others only when asked to do so or when it is your duty to do so.
(This is very important. You don’t go around giving free advice or counsel. If people ask us, we tell them. I was asked, “Father Tom, say some things on Ancient Faith Radio. I say: “Okay, cause you asked me.” So when we’re asked, we can answer. If it’s our duty, if it’s our job—like a parent or a pastor or a supervisor in operation or a teacher—then we must do it. That’s our work. But we never give counsel or advice, unless we’re asked or unless it’s our duty to do so.)
55 Maxims of the Christian Life, Fr. Thomas Hopko
(See the full list of maxims here and here)
#Orthodox Christianity#Christianity#orthodoxy#maxims#Fr. Thomas Hopko#advice#counsel#critiques#criticism
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There’s that wonderful story in the Desert Fathers about Abba Sisoes who is dying and he’s filled with the Holy Spirit and he exudes the divine, uncreated light, and his face is shining, and he’s filled with joy and truth, and he’s humble and he’s peaceful and he’s meek and he’s merciful and he’s strong, and all the marvelous virtues of God Almighty. And then when they gather around him when he’s dying and they know that he’s dying because they smell the fragrance of the Holy Spirit all through the desert, they see the light over his cave, they hear the angels singing, and all this stuff—the story is built up. Then when they’re finally at his deathbed, they say to him, “Abba, Father, give us a word before you depart and be with the Lord.” And the holy abba doesn’t say, “Accept Jesus as your personal savior or you will go to hell.” He doesn’t say, “Repent of your sins.” He doesn’t say, “Why are you still so weak and lowly.” You know what he says? He says, “Pray for me, brothers. I have not yet begun to repent. Pray for me, that the Lord will receive me into paradise.”
When I first read that, I have to actually say, I thought, “What kind of baloney is this? Why didn’t he say something more prophetic, more judgmental, more incisive?” I even thought it was kind of like what they call a pious fraud, like false humility and all that kind of stuff. But as a matter of fact, as I learned, when I grew up and matured, that he was probably one of the few people who really could say it. The holier you are, the more sinful you know you are. So he’s probably… We all say, “I’m a sinner, I’m a sinner.” We don’t even know what the heck we’re talking about! So you’ve got to be pretty holy to know you’re a sinner.
Fr. Thomas Hopko, "The One True Church"
#fr. thomas hopko#ancient faith radio#orthodox#christianity#ecclesiology#repentance#worm theology#humility
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“The Kingdom of Heaven is Christ Himself. Paradise is not a place but way of life.
Paradise is Christ. The Messiah is born and the gates of Eden are opened. The Savior comes and the tree of life blossoms.
Paradise is not a place on the map. It is a condition of spirit. When a person knows God and lives in communion with Him, this is paradise.”
~Fr. Thomas Hopko
(Art by Simon Dewey)
#Paradise#Lord Jesus Christ#Fr. Thomas Hopko#Orthodox Christian#Kingdom of Heaven#Messiah#tree of life#know God#abide in Him#Communion with God
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It is precisely the presence of God’s mercy and love which cause the torment of the wicked. God does not punish; he forgives… . In a word, God has mercy on all; whether all like it or not. If we like it, it is paradise; if we do not, it is hell. Every knee will bend before the Lord. Everything will be subject to Him. God in Christ will indeed be ‘all and in all,’ with boundless mercy and unconditional pardon. But not all will rejoice in God’s gift of forgiveness, and that choice will be judgment, the self-inflicted source of their sorrow and pain.
Fr. Thomas Hopko of Blessed Memory, “Foreword,” in Bulgakov, Orthodox Church, xiii
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Reading List, Final 2017 Tally
Read (81):
Rock and Sand: An Orthodox Appraisal of the Protestant Reformers and Their Teachings by Fr. Josiah Trenham
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien
All Hallows Eve by Charles Williams
The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies by Robert Kirk
A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
Raising Them Right: A Saint’s Advice On Raising Children by St. Theophan the Recluse
The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams by Philip and Carol Zaleski
Everyday Saints and Other Stories by Tikhon Shevkunov
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
The Iliad by Homer
The Doors of the Sea: Where Was God in the Tsunami? by David Bentley Hart
The Devil and Pierre Gernet: Stories by David Bentley Hart
Icon by Georgia Briggs
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton
Micro by Michael Crichton with Richard Preston
Chronicles of History and Worship by Patrick Henry Reardon
The Apocalypse in the Teachings of Ancient Christianity by Averky Taushev
Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
The Facade by Michael Heiser
The Portent by Michael Heiser
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L’Engle
Creation and the Patriarchal Histories by Patrick Henry Reardon
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Confession: Doorway To Forgiveness by Jim Forest
Wounded By Love by Elder Porphyrios
The Odyssey by Homer
Through New Eyes by James B. Jordan
Great Lent: Journey To Pascha by Alexander Schmemann
The Story of the Sacred Harp, 1844 - 1944 by George Pullen Jackson
Many Waters by Madeline L’Engle
The Northern Theba’id: Monastic Saints of the Russian North by Fr. Seraphim Rose
Roadside Picnic by Arkady Strugatsky
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
The Wastelands by Stephen King
The Trial Of Job: Orthodox Christian Reflections On The Book Of Job by Patrick Henry Reardon
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Wizard and Glass by Stephen King
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying With Icons by Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Wolves of the Calla by Stephen King
Insomnia by Stephen King
Song of Susannah by Stephen King
A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans
Before the Feast by Saša Stanišić
Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King
What the Hell Did I Just Read? by David Wong
Black House by Stephen King
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
The October Country by Ray Bradbury
Little Sister Death by William Gray
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
The Father Christmas Letters by J.R.R. Tolkien
Letters to Malcolm, Chiefly on Prayer by C.S. Lewis
Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica by Ana Smiljanic
On the Incarnation by St. Athanasius
The Winter Pascha by Thomas Hopko
The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation by Rod Dreher
The Orthodox Study Bible (full year-long read through)
Bleak House by Charles Dickens
The Cricket on the Hearth by Charles Dickens
The Chimes by Charles Dickens
The Battle of Life by Charles Dickens
The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Orthodox Veneration of the Mother of God by St. John Maximovitch
Currently reading going into 2018:
Father Seraphim Rose: His Life and Works by Damascene Christensen
Devils by Fyodor Dostoevsky
3 By Flannery O’connor by Flannery O’connor
The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church by Vladimir Lossky
Unquenchable Fire: The Traditional Christian Teaching About Hell by Lawrence R. Farley
Broad 2018 Goals:
The Chronological Bible (to be read entirely via audiobook during Lent)
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Increased consumption of Ancient Texts such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and Greek, Roman, and Hindu Myths.
Increased consumption of works by Orthodox Saints
At least one nonfiction history book.
More Dickens.
At least one Mark Twain.
Hamlet and the rest of the major Shakespeare works.
Something from the Western canon outside of my comfort zone.
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The Interpretation of the Bible, by Fr. Thomas Hopko
The Interpretation of the Bible, by Fr. Thomas Hopko
The Bible is the book of sacred writings for God’s People, the Church. It was produced in the Church, by and for the Church, under divine inspiration as an essential part of the total reality of God’s covenant relationship with His People. It is the authentic Word of God for those who belong to God’s chosen assembly of believers, to the Israel of old and to the Church of Christ today and…
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#Bible#Fr. Thomas Hopko#Holy Spirit#interpretation of the Bible#Jesus Christ#OCA#Orthodox Church in America (OCA)#the Church of Christ#The Interpretation of the Bible
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