Reduce stress: Live the Liturgical Cycles

Modern life is full of stress and busyness. We have many worries and find it difficult to cope with all that comes our way. This is the modern normal. How can you break this stressful situation? The Church has a great secrete for this. It's not really a secrete but is not widely known or followed.

What I am going to tell you is something I have experienced for myself. I am well aware of the stresses of today's life having lived a life buried in the corporate world. But I chose many years ago to change my life and follow the way of Life taught by the Orthodox Church.

Aside from a solid faith in teachings of Jesus Christ and the reality of His Incarnation, worldly life as Man and God, Crucifixion and Resurrection, His Church from the early days has prescribed a way of life that provides cycles that can help us gain greater harmony. These cycles are prescribed in the Liturgical calendar of the Church. There you will find periods set aside for inner reflection and purification. There are also periods for great celebration. These all coincide with the celebration of His life.

One such cycle is the one we are currently in, Great Lent. When this period begins were are taught from Scripture about humility, mercy of God, and power of forgiveness, repentance and renewal. These lessons lead us to a rather long period of fasting. As we prepare to fast we begin with an awareness of our shortcomings in relation to the teachings of our God and develop feelings of remorse out of our love for Him that we cannot live up to the ideals He teaches us. 

In preparing for the fast the first thing we do is examine our calendar and make sure we remove all that is not necessary and eliminate any optional social activity so we can make time for being quiet, reflecting, praying and worshiping. We commit ourselves to self-sacrifice in the food we eat, restricting our diet to the most basic of foods. This is a discipline to help us gain control over our physical and psychological desires that can so easy enslave us in bad habits. This simple change in diet also helps us to think about all the virtues that require a bit of self-sacrifice. It's not easy to do this but engaging in this cycle brings us great rewards. After this five week period we are prepared for the most moving week reliving of the Passion of Christ, Holy Week.

The cycle deepens and we are prepared. This is definitely a period where we must make plans to attend ALL the services of this week. At the end is the glorious celebration of His Resurrection and the proclamation of His victory over death and our hope of eternal life, Pascha. Here the quiet period ends, even the colors in the church change to bright white and we enter into a week long period of celebration. The cycle shifts to an enjoyment of all the pleasures of food and drink and social activity with family and friends and all the goodness of this world that God has created for us to enjoy.

Such a cycle as prescribed by the church causes us to break with our normal routines and to examine the modern normal way of life that leads us to so much stress. If we engage in this cycle, we are likely to choose to make some changes for the rest of the year. Then, each year as we repeat this cycle, more improvements are made and step by step we are transformed into a new way of life that enables us to face all the realities of modern life with less stress and with Christ continually at our side. Think about how the Church in her great wisdom has given us the guidelines for including such a cycle in our life. Think about what a gift this is! It is important to examine it, and most importantly to choose to follow the guidelines. It creates a renewing experience that is for the health of our soul.

The Church also has other similar cycles during the year that also provide a break in our routine and renewal. There is the fast in preparation for the falling asleep of the Mother of God. It is shorter being only two weeks and comes at the peak of summer in August. Another which is not as strict is the preparation for the birth of Christ. The Church calls us to restrain our activities in the weeks leading up to Christmas and then to celebrate for 12 full days following. Today this cycle is missing from our lives and most of us find ourselves stressed by this over commercialized holiday period.

There are more, but what is important to think about is the wisdom the Church provides for our well being, for the health of our soul, for a life based on love and peace, for our preparation for eternal life with Christ in His kingdom.

You don't need self-help books, no TV guru to guide you, nor a yoga class to relieve stress. Simply follow what is hidden in the wisdom of the the Orthodox Church and follow it. It is that simple. It will bring you grace and you will gain strength you did not know you had access too. You will experience His presence and your life will become one that is closer to what He teaches.

Ten Points for an Orthodox Way of Life

Don't Cause Offense Over What Does not Harm You

This message is particularly important in this political season where tempers fly even over political rhetoric.

Saint Theophylact writes,

We should not take offense to anyone over things that do not harm us.

He wrote this commenting on a lesson Jesus taught His disciples when someone came to Peter and craftily asked if Jesus had paid the temple tax. (Matthew 17:24-27)

Jesus answered Peter, Of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? Of their own sons, or of strangers? Peter answers, Of strangers. Jesus continues, Then indeed sons are free.

What He was saying was that as the son of God, the King, He should not have to pay the temple tax. 

But he continued saying that even though He shouldn't have to pay this tax, least He should offend them, He performs a miracle where the fish have coins in their mouth, and He tells Peter to use them and pay the tax. 

Even though He did not owe the tax He thought it more important to make allowance for their misunderstanding and to not cause any offense.

Our lesson from this event, according to Blessed Theophylact, is that we must not cause unnecessary offense when others ask us to do something that will not cause us harm, even though we may not agree with or like it. They may not even be asking us to do something but merely offering their idea or assessment of a situation. We don't have to answer in a way that will only raise tempers.

Think about all the times you have gotten angry, upsetting yourself, causing stress in yourself because of actions or words of others. How did that feel? Then think of the times when you responded and caused the same reaction in the body of someone else. How did that make them feel? Always keep in mind the well being of others. Don't be always insistent on your view or your way of doing things. Don't get upset when others do things differently than how you would do them. If you follow this advice, you will find a growing peace within and then you will find you are more able to interact in helpful ways where all grow in Christ.

We make ours and others lives stressful and difficult by insisting that everyone behave according to our expectations, our rules and resist going along with others when there is no harm to us.

Learning to love one another requires that we learn to be very careful about what we object to in what others ask of or say to us. If we are careful we can make this world one that is more peaceful with less stress. Remember how Jesus did not insist on His right not to be taxed, but chose instead to pay the tax so He would not create an issue.

Respond always with kindness and love with Christ ever in your mind.

Dealing with Job Stress

A major issue highlighted in a recent WSJ article is job stress.  They say that job pressures are the No. 2 cause of stress after financial worries. Many companies are taking action to address this issue using what are termed "Mindfulness-based tress reduction" programs like those developed at the University of Massachusetts Center for Mindfulness.

The essence of these programs is training in the use of mindfulness meditation.  This is an approach of training the mind to become aware of the present moment without trying to judge or strive.  There is what they call formal and informal practice.  The formal is private time sitting in meditation and the informal is carrying this practice into our daily life.  The research shows that these programs can effectively deal with many psychological symptoms such as chronic pain, depression, anxiety and other medical issues. They show that it increases one's ability to relax, increases energy and enthusiasm for life, enhances self-esteem and an increases ability to cope with both short and long-term stressful situations.

Does this mindfulness process sound familiar?
Orthodox Christians have known of such an approach for thousands of years, but it is one which has even more power because it is based on faith in Jesus Christ.  This is the Jesus prayer: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me."  This ancient prayer also involves formal and informal practice. The formal leads to the informal.

This not just a prayer for stress reduction or self-improvement, but is much more. The Church Fathers tell us that it is essential for our spiritual growth and that such a prayer practice helps us learn how to cooperate with God for our salvation. Metropolitan Anthony Bloom says the "more than any other" prayer, it helps us to cultivate the ability to "stand in God's presence." With humility this prayer has power because we are calling on Jesus Christ for mercy.

When one makes a practice of praying this prayer over and over each day, praying for one half an hour daily, the prayer eventually becomes part of our being and then is always in our heart and mind. When we have cultivated this prayer over a period of time, then, when we find ourselves in a stressful situation, the prayer is immediately on our lips bringing God's grace to calm us. It also helps us follow Christ's will in this situation. Instead of simply dealing with stress, we advance our faith in God as we deal with the many stressful situations in our lives.  In this way it is much more powerful than any stress reduction technique.

To learn more about the use of the Jesus prayer as part of our daily prayer rule go to our website on Orthodox prayer at OrthodoxPrayer.org. You will find there links to numerous books and articles and videos from our Church Fathers as well as a brief brochure you can download.

Orthodox Christians have a wealth of inner practices that guide us towards a union with God.  It is this union we long for. It is our separation from God that is the underlying cause fo all our anxiety and stress. This is all part and parcel of the Orthodox Way of LIfe. 

Avoiding Nervous Breakdowns

According to a 2000 report published in American Psychologist, 26% of Americans felt "an impending nervous breakdown." Many say this is a feeling most people nowadays experience periodically. This seems frequently to be triggered by a divorce, a death, or financial and job stress. In addition to the feeling of going crazy, some of the symptoms include heart palpitations, chest pains, shortness of breath, uncontrollable crying, dizziness, disorientation, exhaustion. Unfortunately this condition is becoming more normal. We live in times when personal crisis are quite common. Such anxiety is a result of our separation from God. To cope with today's tumultuous world we must grow spiritually.


With a strong Orthodox faith we can better deal with this over stressed condition. This requires a faith that is more than the notion of "Faith Alone" preached in many Protestant churches. It is a faith that is linked with works, with our personal effort, working in cooperation with God's grace. It is a faith where we desire and have great zeal to be with God. It is faith of unbounded love of God.


The Orthodox way of life provides a time proven structure for developing such faith. With the ongoing practice of repentance and forgiveness it demands, one does not keep as much "stuff" bottled up inside. One who lives a true Orthodox way of life when faced with stressful uncertainties learns to call on God for help when faced with uncertainties. One who lives a life of repentance learns humility and is ever aware of their fallen and sinful condition, knowing they cannot cope with life's trials and tribulations alone. They know death is at the end of this earthly life, but beyond is what they hope for, eternal life in Paradise. They learn to seek forgiveness, to admit their weaknesses and know that God will help them. They participate in Confession and regularly partake of Communion, the true Blood and Body of Christ, by properly preparing themselves. They develop self-disciple through fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays as well as the special fasting periods like Great Lent. They have a daily prayer life and are able to communicate with God for help in times of need. They have a Spiritual Father for guidance and a spiritual family of believers whose love they can count on. They have developed a spiritual relationship with several saints, who now reside in heaven near the throne of God, who they also call on for help, especially Mary, the Mother of God. They are never alone.


Stress comes when we lose hope in a situation, become fearful, and do not have faith that we will be able to work through the difficulty we face. We only see our limitations and believe that all things are dependent on our own efforts which seem inadequate. We feel alone. We lose our vision of the spiritual aim of life. We no longer see the struggles of life as part of the ongoing development of our faith in God. We forget that God loves us no matter what and supports us by His promise of eternal life with Him if we only continue to act out of love for Him as well as others.


The Orthodox way of life is like an insurance policy against stress where we feel like we cannot cope. Like an insurance policy we have to remember to pay the premiums. In the Orthodox way of life, this involves prayer, fasting, worship and participation in the Sacraments. It is a life of repentance lived with a zeal, a desire, an intense love of God.


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