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“For He hath looked upon the lowliness of His handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”

n this book, Oliver Clement comments on three traditional prayers. The first, which is known to us all, is the ""Our Father."" The author's intention is not to rival prestigious works but to discern, within the depths of the text itself, a Trinitarian revelation, the ways of communion--the ""prayer of fire"" of which St John Cassian spoke.

St Maximus the Confessor (c. 580-662) beautifully expounds the meaning of the Divine Liturgy in this work, which had a profound influence on the subsequent tradition, beginning with St Germanus of Constantinople (PPS 8). Maximus' vision of the liturgy contemplates the interpenetrating relationships of all things with each other and with Christ, in whom all things cohere. The church building and the human being and the cosmos are all mutually related and symbolically reflect each other. Further, in the liturgy we enter into the mystery of Christ. As St Maximus puts it, "Let us not be absent from the holy Church of God because she contains such great mysteries of our salvation according to... and she reveals the gift of adoption that is given through holy baptism in the Holy Spirit and that perfects each one into the image of Christ."

Preface - "Meanings in Gospel discourse are formulated in the Holy Spirit and therefore with enduring value and a view to eternityl. Every teaching, parable, story and description, as well as every phrase, every words, and every 'detail' contained in the Gospel of Christ is of greatest depth and significance. These are not exhausted by a mere superficial interpretation, the most our own poor spiritual measure can conceive. this is also true of the God-given prayer known to us as 'Our Father,' which the Lord Himself gave to His Church as an example of prayer for all of us. Our Holy Fathers lived the Gospel of Christ. They kept His holy commandments. Their life, their discourse, became extensions of the Gospel, and their experience in the Spirit of God enriches the holy Tradition of the Church. They reveal the great depth of the saving words of the Lord Jesus Christ and prove that His commandments 'are not heavy' but can be applied by Christians in any age, and thus they keep control over our lack of faith, neglect, and sloth..."

This work by Nicholas Cabasilas is a remarkable product of Byzantium's last great flowering of theology. At a time when secular humanism was increasingly asserting man's complete autonomy, Cabasilas proclaimed that man's true life lies not in himself, but in Christ. For him, man's redemption in Jesus Christ is not just a matter of history, which can be elucidated simply by scholarly endeavor; it is a saving event in which man is called to participate here and now, in body and spirit as well as intellect, through the sacramental life of the Church.

Mother Maria Skobtsova died on Good Friday, 1945, in Ravensbrück concentration camp near Berlin. The “crime” of this Orthodox nun and Russian refugee was her effort to rescue Jews and others being pursued by the Nazis in her adopted city, Paris, where in 1932 she had founded a house of hospitality.

The good things of this world intoxicate a person; vanity despoils the soul and the mind, and sobriety is lost. The most wise Ecclesiastes understood that the soul is not capable of finding peace and perfect wisdom in this world. And though the meaninglessness of the world oppresses a person, inattentive people fail to notice the terrible maelstrom into which we are all caught up. The only escape from it is Christ.