ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

Exarchate of Parishes of Russian
Tradition in Western Europe

A Letter of His Eminence Archbishop Gabriel of Comana for the Great Fast

Dear brothers in the priesthood, brothers and sisters in Christ,

During the coming weeks we will be giving ourselves over to fasting and prayer, for the Great and Holy Fast is an opportunity for us to purify ourselves in both body and soul. This purification is still necessary, even though we have ‘put off the old man’ (Col 3:9) and have ‘put on Christ’ at the time of our baptism (Gal 3:27). The passions have sprung up again in our hearts, stifling all the good seeds that were planted there by the heavenly Gardener (Lk 8:14) even though we have become children of the flesh (cf. Jn 1, 12-13). It is therefore essential for us to purify ourselves, for as the Lord himself has taught us, it is the pure in heart who will see God (Mt 5:8).

With this letter, brothers and sisters, I draw your attention to the older members of our parishes. I am not thinking only of priests and deacons, but also of all the faithful who have given themselves completely to their parishes, but of whom we have lost sight. Suffering the effects of old age or illness they are unable to get to church. The clergy regularly take them Holy Communion and we pray for them in church. Yet nevertheless, many of them feel quite alone. Scripture tells us that to reach a great age is a sign of God’s blessing: a long life is a very special gift from God. In Orthodoxy, old age - and the spiritual maturity that comes with it - has always been highly respected. It is not for nothing that spiritual fathers are called ‘elders’ (startsi).

I would therefore like to ask you to look more deeply into the role of older people in your parishes and in this way become more welcoming and loving towards the elderly among us. To welcome someone with love requires positive action. We should visit those who cannot any longer get to church, and tell them about the life of the parish in which they were active in their prime. We cannot just abandon them to a loneliness that can lead to bitterness and despair. Our attention and our care for them is tangible proof that God has not abandoned them. Care and love for the aged are such clear signs of the love of God.

As your Archbishop, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to those who work professionally with the elderly. Now more than ever our brothers and sisters who live in the retirement homes have need of our presence, for every Christian is a member of the Church, a precious gift to the Church, and at every stage of life each person, whatever the situation in which he or she may find themselves, needs to be loved. We should therefore bravely denounce the culture of death that surrounds us and seeks to suffocate life – from the womb to the grave – that life which is a gift from God and should be protected in every way possible. Sadly, it is a fact that in many countries of Western Europe, especially in the Netherlands and Belgium, euthanasia has become legal. But a parliamentary majority does not make euthanasia morally acceptable. First of all, we should live according to the commandments of God.

For as the Apostle says: ‘Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s’ (Rom 14:8).

Each one of us is the personal property of God. He has a relationship with each one of us. He knows us. He has written our name in the palm of his hand. He calls us from nothingness into being, and it is his will that we should live and be saved. To this end he sent his only Son. We must obey his commandments, that is, everything he has taught us, so that he may be able to save us. The whole work of salvation is admirably expressed in the anaphora of the Liturgy of St Basil that is celebrated each Sunday during the Great Fast, and I invite all of you to get hold of this magnificent text and to read it. All our needs, our desires, our questions - and even our weaknesses - are expressed in this prayer, but also the response of God to our fundamental questionings – a response that is full of love. Our response to his way of working with us for our salvation is expressed there in our giving of thanks.

At the beginning of Lent, therefore, I exhort you, dear brothers and sisters, to love your neighbour, and in particular to love those who are among the most vulnerable, our elderly brothers and sisters. For it is the Lord who said: ‘Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me’ (Mt 25:40).

+ Archbishop Gabriel of Comana

Paris

14 February 2007