Abbey-Roads2

Feeling foolish?  The following can be a litany of saints who were known as “Fools for Christ”:

• Anastasia Andretevna, Fool-for-Christ (March 1)
• Blessed Andrew the Fool-for-Christ of Constantinople (October 2) (d. 936)
• Blessed Andrew of Totma, the Fool-for-Christ (October 10)
• Blessed Anthony Alexseevich, Fool-for-Christ of Zadonsk (September 29 - repose of) (1851)
• Anthony Ivanovich, Fool-for-Christ of Valaam (June 7 - repose of) (1832)
• Saint Arsenius of Novgorod, Fool-for-Christ (May 8)
• Asenatha of Goritsky, Fool-for-Christ (April 19 - repose of) (1892)
• Blessed Athanasius Adrewyevich of Orel, Fool-for-Christ (April 12 - repose of) (1967)
• Blessed Basil of Moscow, Fool-for-Christ (August 2)
• Blessed Cyprian of Suzdal (October 2)
• Blessed George of Shenkursk, Fool-for-Christ (April 23)
• Saint Isidore the Fool of Tabenna in Egypt (May 10)
• Venerable Isidore the Fool-for-Christ and Wonder-worker of Rostov (May 14)
• Blessed John “the Hairy” the Fool-for-Christ at Rostov (September 3 and November 12)
• Venerable John the Ascetic and Fool-for-Christ
• Blessed John of Ustiug the Fool-for-Christ (March 14 and May 29 - repose of) (1893)
• Blessed John of Moscow, Miracle-worker and Fool-for-Christ (July 3)
• Jonah, Fool-for-Christ of Peshnosha Monastery (June 15 - repose of) [1838]
• Blessed Laurence the Fool-for-Christ at Kaluga (August 10)
• Blessed Maximus of Totma (Vologda), Fool-for-Christ (January 16)
• Venerable Maximus of Moscow the Fool-for-Christ (August 13 - opening of his relics)
• Venerable Michael the Fool-for-Christ of the Klops Monastery (January 11) (June 23 - translation of his relics)
• New-Martyr Michael (Misha), Fool-for-Christ (April 1) (1931)
• Blessed Michael and Thomas, Fools-for-Christ of Solvychegodsk (Vologda) (July 3)
• Blessed Nicholas of Salos of Pskov the Fool-for-Christ (February 28)
• Blessed Nicholas Kochanov, Fool-for-Christ at Novgorod (July 27)
• Blessed Paisius, Fool-for-Christ of the Kiev Caves (April 17 - repose of) (1893)
• Blessed Parasceva “Pasha of Sarov,” Fool-for Christ of Diveyevo Convent (September 22) (1915)
  • Blessed Praskovya Ivanovna (Pasha of Sarov)
• Saint Paul, Fool-for-Christ (November 6)
• Pelagia Ivanovna Serebrennikova
  • Pelagia Ivanovna a.k.a. Pelagia the Holy Fool
  • Blessed Pelagia Ivanovna
• Blessed Procopius of Vyatka, Fool-for-Christ (December 21)
• Saint Procopius the Fool-for-Christ and Wonder-worker of Ustiug (July 8)
• Righteous Procopius of Usya (Vologda), Fool-for-Christ (July 8)
• Venerable Symeon of Emesa the Fool-for-Christ (July 21)
• Blessed Simon of Yurievits, Fool-for-Christ (May 10)
• Blessed Theodore of Novgorod, Fool-for-Christ (January 19)
• Saint Theodore, Fool-for-Christ (February 25)
• New-Martyr Theoktista Michailovna of Voronezh (February 22) (1936)
• Blessed Schema-hieromonk Theophilus, Fool-for-Christ of the Kiev Caves (October 28 - repose of) (1852)
• Saint Thomas the Fool of Syria (April 24)
• Saint Xenia of St. Petersburg, Fool-for-Christ (January 24)

[Taken from Orthodox Wikipedia.]

Traveling without moving.

Sometimes the pilgrim will work amongst men, live amongst them - yet as a stranger in a strange land.  Sometimes he will appear to be a fool, and may in fact be one.  He will be poor and homeless - even though he may live in a house.  He will most certainly be poor in friends and family… without attachment, although not without loving sorrow.  He will strive to imitate his lover, whom he unceasingly seeks, “who was spurned and avoided by men, a man of suffering, accustomed to infirmity.  One of those from whom men hide their faces, spurned, and we held him in no esteem.”  If he achieves that, he will  find peace.

“Acquire the spirit of peace, and a thousand souls around you will be saved” - St. Serphim of Sarov

Happy birthday mon petite mere!  Priez pour nous!  (January 2nd, 1873.)

It is also the feast of St. Seraphim Sarovsky who died on this date in 1833.

And the Threefold Concupiscence. 

In my meditation, I wondered if the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience couldn’t be considered the perfect antidote to the threefold concupiscence mentioned in the First Letter of St. John, from which arise the seven deadly sins. 

For instance, the spirit of poverty is essentially the acknowledgement that everything we have belongs to God alone - that anything we have is pure gift.   Perhaps more radically, the renunciation of ownership and possessions may be considered a confession of faith that “nothing the world affords comes from the Father.”(1 John 2:16)  Whatever the case, the vow of poverty might be considered a remedy to the concupiscence of the eyes, which is characterized by the sin of avarice or the inordinate love of riches.

While the vow, or practice of chastity, gives to God the first fruits of our charity and love, placing the love of God before every carnal desire, affection, and gratification.  With this understanding, the vow of chastity might be considered the antidote against  the concupiscence of the flesh, which gives birth to the capital sins of sloth, gluttony, and most assuredly, lust.

The essential counsel of obedience, exemplified by the life of Christ, acknowledges God as Father; our first principle and last end.  Thus, by the vow of obedience we surrender our own will to the Father’s will, subjecting ourselves to those He has placed in authority over us.  Thus, the vow of obedience might be understood as the perfect weapon against the sin of pride, from which the capital sins of vain-glory, envy, and anger arise.

I wonder?

[Art:  From "The Painted Life of Mary Ward"]