FRIENDS OF MOUNT ATHOS BOOK REVIEWS

© 1999

The Deification as the Purpose of Man's Life. By Archimandrite George, Abbot of the Monastery of St Gregorios. Mount Athos: Holy Monastery of St Gregorios, 1997. 64 pages. Price not given. ISBN 960-7553-11-X.

The Lord's Prayer. By Archimandrite George, Abbot of the Monastery of St Gregorios. Mount Athos: Holy Monastery of St Gregorios, 1997. 46 pages. Price not given. ISBN 960-7553-09-8.

The highly repected abbot of Gregoriou, Archimandrite George, has now published in English two small works which sum up the teaching of the monastic tradition on matters which are of importance for us all. In Deification he points out that the divinization is the ultimate goal of human existence, and that God does not wish us simply to become 'better people', but to live our lives immersed in the divine life of the Holy Trinity. This is something which the Orthodox Church teaches and offers to its members, whether they are able to 'bear' it or not.

The basis for this, as Fr George explains, is the Incarnation, for with the Incarnation and Christ's subsequent Ascension, 'human nature is now enthroned in the bosom of the Holy Trinity'. But even more fundamental is the attitude of God himself, who 'wants and desires our deification'. God's desire (for God 'has fallen in love with the world') is to be matched by our desire, for the image of God in us seeks its archetype and years for union with its Creator. The 'tears of love for God, tears of divine eros' are greater and higher than the tears of repentance shed for our sins, and lead us 'to view things, the world and people from a different perspective'. Fr George points out that it was Mary who 'first achieved deification', though 'in an exceptional and unique way'. We ourselves, through the sacraments, 'become gods by grace', and the Church in which the sacraments are made available is therefore much more than an 'institution'. We may, of course, fail to fulfil our calling; but for Fr George it is the struggle itself which is everything.

The second book takes the reader through the Lord's Prayer phrase by phrase. Fr George regularly gives us the comments of St Maximus the Confessor, Gregory of Nyssa, St Nektarios, and others to help us to penetrate the depth which the prayer contains. It is the most frequently used prayer in all Christian communities and occurs (we are told) sixteen times daily in the standard cycle of services in Orthodox monasteries (twenty-two times each weekday in Lent).

In a very helpful way Fr George suggests that the prayer to the Holy Spirit, 'O heavenly King', should be understood as an expansion of the petition 'thy Kingdom come'. Maximus the Confessor and other Church Fathers link this petition with the coming of the Spirit and our cleansing from the passions, something which must take place if God is to reign in our lives. For only then do Christ's words, 'the Kingdom of God is within you', become true for us. Fr George understands 'daily bread' to refer both to material and to spiritual bread, and rightly points to the position of the Lord's Prayer just before communion in the Orthodox Liturgy.

Both books have unfortunately suffered at the hands of their translators, editors, and proofreaders. This is a pity, as they are an excellent introduction to the best of contemporary Orthodox monasticism's approach to 'the life of Christ'.

BISHOP BASIL OF SERGIEVO

Oxford