Repentance and Resurrection

In the Orthodox Christian Church, the "Triodion period" refers to the liturgical season leading up to Easter (Pascha), including the pre-Lenten period and Great Lent, while the "Pentecostarion period" is the 50 days following Easter, celebrating the time until the Feast of Pentecost.  This book contains homilies given by St. Sofian at Antim Monastery, whose abbot he was from 1964 until his passing to the Lord in 2002. Saint Cleopa of Sihastria named St. Sofian the “Apostle of Bucharest” for teaching the Jesus Prayer to countless young people, encouraging them to strive in unceasing prayer and to attain inner peace. His teachings on prayer, directed to people living in a large city, are remarkable: “For modern life, it seems that God appointed this short prayer: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner;’ or at least this prayer in short: ‘Jesus, have mercy on me,’ for any rush of everyday life in which we find ourselves. If we are in class listening to a lecture, at the studio, factory, on the road, or communicating with someone, at any moment we can say—from time to time and as often as possible—this prayer: ‘Jesus, have mercy on me!’”  In the face of the inner fragmentation perennial to modern life, Elder Sofian the “Urban Hesychast” provides a clear path for the contemporary reader to follow. Amidst growing social alienation, psychological isolation, and anti-Christian sentiments, Fr. Sofian teaches us that we can and must pursue the Prayer of the Heart, that we can practice the teachings found in the Philokalia and Sayings of the Desert Fathers, that it does not depend on our outer environment, but on an inner environment of perseverance in prayer. In the vein of St. Seraphim of Sarov, he says that this is actually our duty to society, because “if we succeed in making space for God within us, all the better for us, but also for others.” Praying unceasingly with attention and zeal amidst the rush of contemporary life and purifying our hearts of passions, we become useful to society, able to benefit those around us, and “then without a doubt our inner life will be reborn and we will be a joy to all those are around us—through prayer we will be able to help those who cannot pray and are in need of prayer.”