By Abbot Tryphon, April 3, 2020
How do we find healing when we think the hospital of the soul is closed?
Orthodoxy offers a very precise way in which to enter into communion with God. It is a way that must be learned, for simply “becoming Orthodox” will not lead the seeker into an inner life that will transform, and enlighten. Membership in the Church is simply not enough, for the Church is not about beautiful services, icons, or mystical theology. As a hospital for the soul, the Church is the place where we can receive healing for that which ails us. It is the place where we are cured, and made whole.
Like the emergency room of a local hospital, a patient can’t simply walk in, and expect to be healed. We have to submit themselves to examination by the ER staff (our confessor), who will ask us to describe what is going on, where we are hurting, run tests, and, finally, prescribe the necessary medication that will bring about healing.
Within the hospital of the soul, that is the Church, her priests act in the same capacity as the ER personnel. They interview the patient (parishioner), and examine the heart to find the sickness, and recommend the cure. The priest becomes the therapeutic guide, recommending what the patient (seeker) can do in order to be made whole.
A prayer rule, the daily reading of the Holy Scriptures, frequent confession and reception of the Holy Mysteries, are all part of the Church’s medicine that will bring about the cure. Just as the doctor will prescribe the proper dosage, after getting to know his patient, so too, does the priest prescribe that which will help his spiritual son or daughter.
The spiritual life is something that needs to be learned, perhaps more so now, than at any time in the history of our world. As godlessness increases, so do the obstacles to spiritual progress. The degradation of the whole of our society, and the depths of depravity that have become a normal part of our age, have made this a dangerous time. Going it alone can leave one vulnerable to spiritual delusion. We all need a trusted and experienced guide who can help us avoid the pitfalls of the pride and self-will that would lead us down to perdition.
That most of us are now unable to attend services in our churches, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is all the more important that we nurture our souls with the medicine that is, by its very nature, meant to bring about healing. Keeping a prayer rule, reading the Holy Scriptures, studying the Church Fathers, saying the Jesus Prayer, and reading the lives of the saints, are all comparable to taking the prescription medicine prescribed by one’s doctor. Just because the doors of the hospital (the Church) are closed off to us, should in no way be an excuse for setting aside the benefits that come from membership in the hospital of the soul.
Love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
~Abbot Tryphon, The Morning Offering, https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/morningoffering/2020/04/is-the-hospital-closed/
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