FOTOGRAFIA ZILEI: CUM SĂ NE PREGĂTIM PENTRU CRĂCIUN
Romanian
Sărbători, cadouri, mâncăruri, prieteni, alergătură… Însă în continuare veţi găsi o cu totul altă reţetă de pregătiri pentru Crăciun. Poate că aş fi dorit să scriu despre importanţa excepţională a acestei sărbători. Însă tocmai datorită acestei importanţe cruciale în corelaţie cu starea noastră duhovnicească actuală sunt nevoit să scriu alte lucruri care din păcate în cea mai mare parte s-au pierdut.
Întâi de toate ce înseamnă o sărbătoare mare? Înseamnă o zi în care harul lui Dumnezeu este mult mai mare decât în celelalte zile. Din cauza aceasta în ziua respectivă nu se lucrează, pentru a folosi harul respectiv în rugăciune, studiu duhovnicesc şi alte activităţi care apropie pe om de Dumnezeu. Trebuie ştiut că sufletul uman se foloseşte enorm din experienţa lui Dumnezeu celui viu nu numai în ziua respectivă ci pe o perioadă mai mare de timp, iar dacă harul găseşte un suflet pregătit, experienţa poate fi o piatră de temelie a unei întregi vieţi. Şi diavolul nu doreşte aceasta.
Din această cauză în special înaintea marilor sărbători cel rău aduce o sumedenie de ispite şi necazuri astfel încât să sărbătorim praznicul cu tristeţe. Este ceva foarte des întâlnit, însă nu trebuie să intrăm în panică însă nici să luăm în derâdere. Dacă ştim şi credem că Dumnezeu este viu, la fel credem că şi diavolul este viu şi încearcă să pună beţe în roate. Deci trebuie să-l luăm în calcul. Deci în aceste zile trebuie să avem o atenţie sporită şi să ne aducem aminte că mai mult de 95% din ispite sunt, de fapt, neînţelegeri. Dacă se naşte un foc de paie, încercaţi să-l stingeţi (răbdarea cu dragoste este un foarte bun instinctor) nu să turnaţi benzină peste el.
Ca un corolar, trebuie ştiut că există şi o a doua fază, cea după praznic în care iarăşi foate posibil să apară un val asemănător astfel încât tot ceea ce am agonisit în ziua cu har să risipim în tulburări şi mânie. Nu trebuie să ne lăsăm duşi de val şi să ne înecăm la mal.
Însă să ne întoarcem la pregătiri.
Datorită faptului că am postit în fiecare zi din postul Crăciunului (pentru că am postit, nu-i aşa?), din cauza aceasta trupul se supune mai uşor duhului şi mintea se limpezeşte putând să pătrundă mult mai uşor în înţelesurile adânci ale sărbătorii şi să perceapă mai bine dragostea şi harul lui Dumnezeu. Deci este o ocazie minunată să-L rugăm pe Dumnezeu să ne învrednicească să-L primim într-adevăr în ieslea sufletului nostru.
Naşterea Domnului nu este o amintire.
Este un fapt real la prezentul continuu care poate şi trebuie să fie trăit de fiecare dintre noi la modul concret iar nu intelectual. Asta e crucial.
“Hristos se naşte, slăviţi-L!” (prima catavasie din prima cântare a primului canon de Naşterea Domnului) sunt cuvinte scrise nu de un anonim ci de Sf. Grigorie Teologul. Iar canonul întreg a fost adaptat, scris şi pus pe muzică de către Sf. Ioan Damaschin. Adică de către doi mari sfinţi ai bisericii ce se disting prin înălţimea şi exactitatea extremă a teologiei lor. Deci când spunem “Hristos se naşte…” la prezent o spunem pentru că aşa este. Însă aceasta bineînţeles nu ca fapt istoric în planul material (fapt ce s-a întâmplat în trecut), ci ca fapt duhovnicesc. Însă nici un om nu poate realiza aceasta, decât dacă face poruncile lui Dumnezeu, care de fapt au exact acest scop: unirea omului cu Dumnezeu. Dumnezeu s-a făcut om ca să-l facă pe om dumnezeu.
Ar fi un păcat imens să ratăm ocazia.
Crăciun Fericit!
Greek
Διακοπές, δώρα, φαγητό, φίλοι , τρέξιμο … Όμως, στις παρακάτω γραμμές, θα βρείτε μια πολύ διαφορετική συνταγή της προετοιμασίας για τα Χριστούγεννα. Θα ήθελα να γράψω για την εξαιρετική σημασία αυτής της γιορτής, αλλά ακριβώς λόγω αυτής της, σημαντικότητας , σε σχέση με το σημερινό πνευματικό επίπεδο που είμαστε , είμαι αναγκασμένος να γρά ψω άλλα πράγματα που δυστυχώς ένα μεγάλο μέρος μέρος τους έχει χαθεί ( ή είναι άγνωστο )…
Πρώτα απ ‘όλα τι σημαίνει “μεγάλη γιορτή” ; Σημαίνει ημέρα κατά την οποία η χάρη του Θεού είναι πολύ μεγαλύτερη από ό, τι τις άλλες ημέρες. Γι ‘αυτό εκείνη την ημέρα πρέπει να είναι αργία για την χρήση του χρόνου μας στην προσευχή, την πνευματική μελέτη και άλλες δραστηριότητες που φέρνουν τον άνθρωπο πιο κοντά στον Θεό. Κάποιος πρέπει να γνωρίζει ότι η ανθρώπινη ψυχή κερδίζει σε ένα τεράστιο βαθμό από την εμπειρία του Ζώντος Θεού όχι μόνο εκείνη την ημέρα, αλλά για πολύ μεγαλύτερο χρονικό διάστημα, και αν χάρη βρίσκει μια έτοιμη ψυχή, τότε η εμπειρία μπορεί να είναι ο ακρογωνιαίος λίθος για μια ολόκληρη ζωή . Και ο διάβολος δεν το θέλει.
Για το λόγο αυτό, ιδιαίτερα πριν από τις μεγάλες γιορτές ο πονηρός φέρνει πολλούς πειρασμούς και προβλήματα για να μας κάνουν να γιορτάσουμε τη γιορτή με θλίψη. Είναι μια πολύ κοινή στρατηγική γι ‘αυτόν, αλλά εμείς δεν θα πρέπει ούτε να πανικοβαλόμαστε ούτε να τα λάβουμε επιφανειακά. Αν γνωρίζουμε και πιστεύουμε ότι ο Θεός είναι ζωντανός, τότε πιστεύουμε επίσης ότι ο διάβολος είναι ζωντανός και προσπαθεί να μας εμποδίσει. Έτσι πρέπει να το έχουμε αυτό υπόψη. Για το λόγο αυτό, αυτές τις μέρες θα πρέπει να είμαστε πιο προσεκτικοί και να θυμόμαστε ότι περισσότερο από το 95% των πειρασμών είναι πραγματικά παρεξηγήσεις. Εάν μια φωτιά στο άχυρο γεννιέται, στη συνέχεια, δοκιμάστε να τη σβήσετε ( η υπομονή και η αγάπη είναι πολύ καλό για αυτό) δίχως να μην ρίχνετε βενζίνη πάνω της .
Ως επιστέγασμα, θα πρέπει να σημειωθεί ότι υπάρχει και μια δεύτερη φάση, μετά τη γιορτή, κατά την οποία είναι πολύ πιθανό να εμφανιστεί ένα παρόμοιο “κύμα”, έτσι ώστε κάθε τι που έχουμε αποκτήσει από την ημέρα της χάρης να μετατραπεί σε διαταραχή και θυμό. Ας μην παρασυρόμαστε και να μην πνιγούμε κοντά στην ακτή μας.
Αλλά ας επιστρέψουμε στην προετοιμασία .
Επειδή νηστέψαμε τις ημέρες της νηστείας (ελπίζουμε), το σώμα υπακούει πολύ πιο εύκολα το πνεύμα και το μυαλό γίνεται πιο καθαρό . Έτσι, το πνεύμα μπορεί πιο εύκολα να διαπεραστεί από τα βαθιά νοήματα της γιορτής και έχει μια καλύτερη κατανόηση της αγάπης και της χάρης του Θεού. Για αυτό είναι μια θαυμάσια ευκαιρία για να ζητήσουμε από το Θεό να μας κάνει άξιους να λάβουμε Αυτόν πραγματικά στην φάτνη της ψυχής μας.
Η Γέννηση του Κυρίου δεν είναι μια ανάμνηση.
Είναι ένα πραγματικό γεγονός του παρόντος η οποία είναι δυνατή και πρέπει να τη ζήσει ο καθένας μας με ένα πολύ συγκεκριμένο τρόπο και όχι στο “πνευματικό ” επίπεδο . Αυτό είναι κρίσιμο.
“Χριστός γεννάται· δοξάσατε!” (Η πρώτη καταβασία από την πρώτη ωδή του πρώτου κανόνα των Χριστουγέννων) είναι λέξεις που δεν γράφτηκε από έναν απλό ανώνυμο, αλλά από τον Άγιο Γρηγόριο τον Θεολόγο. Και όλος ο κανόνας έχει προσαρμοστεί και μελοποιηθεί από τον Αγίο Ιωάννη τον Δαμασκηνό . Με άλλα λόγια, από δύο πολύ σημαντικούς άγιους της εκκλησίας οι οποίοι διακρίνονται από το ύψος και την εξαιρετική ακρίβεια της θεολογίας τους. Έτσι, όταν λέμε “Χριστός γεννάται …» σε ενεστώτα χρόνο το λέμε γιατί είναι έτσι . Και αυτό βεβαίως όχι ως ένα ιστορικό γεγονός που συνέβη κάποτε στο παρελθόν, αλλά ως μια πνευματική πραγματικότητα. Αλλά κανείς δεν μπορεί να το κάνει, παρά μόνο αν ακολουθεί κανείς τις εντολές του Θεού, η οποία στην πραγματικότητα έχει ακριβώς αυτό το σκοπό: την ένωση του ανθρώπου με το Θεό. Ο Θεός έγινε άνθρωπος για να κάνει τον άνθρωπο Θεό .
Θα ήταν ένα μεγάλο κρίμα να χάσουμε την ευκαιρία.
Καλά Χριστούγεννα!
English
Holidays, gifts, food, friends, running around … But in the following lines, you will find a very different recipe of preparation for Christmas. Ι would like to write about the exceptional importance of this feast , but precisely because of this , crucial importance , in connection with our current spiritual level, I’m forced to write other things that sadly a big part part of them is lost ( or unknown).
First of all what does ” a big feast ” mean? It means a day in which God’s grace is much greater than on other days. That’s why in that day it should be a holiday in order to use that grace in prayer, spiritual study and other activities that bring the man closer to God. One must know that the human soul benefits in a huge degree from the Living God’s experience and not only that day, but for a longer period of time, and if grace finds a prepared soul, then the experience can be the cornerstone for an entire life. And devil does not want it.
For this reason, especially before major feasts the evil one brings a lot of temptations and troubles in order to make us to celebrate the feast with sorrow. It’s a very common strategy for him, but we should neither panic neither take it superficially. If we know and believe that God is alive, then we also believe that the devil is alive and tries to impede us. So we must take this into account. For this reason, these days we should be more attentive and remeber that more than 95% from the temptations are actually misunderstandings. If a straw fire is born, then try to extinguish it (patience with love is very good for this) not to pour gasoline over it.
As a corollary, it should be noted that there is a second phase, the one after the feast in which it is very probable to appear a similar ” wave ” so that everything that we have acquired on the day of grace to dispel in disorder and anger. Let us not be carried away and drown by our shore.
But let us return to preparations.
Because we fasted every day of the Advent ( hopefully ), the body obeys much more easier to the spirit and the mind gets more clear. Hence the mind can more easily penetrate the deep meanings of the feast and has a better understanding of God’s love and grace. So it’s a wonderful opportunity to ask God to make us worthy to really receive Him in our soul’s manger.
Lord’s nativity is not a memory.
It is a real fact at the present which is possible and must be lived by each of us in a very concrete way and not on the ” intelectual ” plane. This is crucial.
“Christ is born, glorify him!” (the first catavasy from the fist ode of the first canon of Christmas) are words not written by an anonymous but by St. Gregory the Theologian. And the whole canon has been adapted and put in music by St. John Damascene. In other words by two very important saints of the church which are distinguished by the height and extreme accuracy of their theology. So when we say “Christ is born…” at the present tense we say it because it is like that. And this of course not as a historic fact which happened once in the past, but as a spiritual reality. But noone can do it, unless he follows the commandments of God, which in fact have exactly this purpose: the union of man with God. God became man in order to make the man god.
It would be a big pity to miss the opportunity.
Merry Christmas!