A PARISH RESOURCE for REINTEGRATING ORTHODOX SOLDIERS and VETERANS RETURNING from WAR by the Rever

GROWING FROM DRAGON TO MAN:

A PARISH RESOURCE FOR REINTEGRATING

ORTHODOX SOLDIERS AND VETERANS

RETURNING FROM WAR

The Reverend James Parnell

Growing from Dragon to Man: A Parish Resource for Reintegrating Orthodox Soldiers and Veterans Returning from War

Originally submitted on April 25, 2013 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Divinity in St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Yonkers, New York.

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James Parnell 575 Scarsdale Road Yonkers, NY 10707

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ABSTRACT

After over ten years of war (not to mention the numerous wars and conflicts that stretch

back over fifty years), there is growing concern about the frighteningly high number of soldiers and veterans who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the United States. Massive spikes in the rate of suicides, sexual assaults, fratricides, and homicides among service members and veterans are symptomatic of a deeper problem: spiritual trauma. This reality is also referred to in terms of

“moral injuries” or “soul wounds.” Numerous mental health professionals and specialists in related fields have begun advocating for rites of return and reintegration for soldiers and veterans. Many of these have been based on Native American or shamanist traditions and are becoming commonplace in the field. One author in particular, Ed Tick, the author of War and the Soul, who advocates spirit- animals (totems), dream healing, and sweat lodges, was the main speaker at the United States Army’s

2013 Chaplain Annual Sustainment Training (CAST), an annual conference for chaplains across all components of the U.S. Army. These kinds of so-called “warrior rites,” ostensibly based on “warrior cultures” like the Samurai in Japan and the Plains Indians of America, are becoming increasingly popular within the military chaplaincy, even among Christians.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the longest sustained conflicts in American history, with the latter still going strong, yet the Orthodox response to service members returning from war has been almost nonexistent. Orthodox Warriors, as they are referred to in the Trebnik, are often expected to simply return to parish life and “go back to normal,” as though they had been on holiday. The aim of this paper is to help parishes reintegrate soldiers and veterans back into their communities by detailing the issues soldiers and veterans face, identifying ways in which the

Orthodox liturgical tradition has responded to soldiers during war, and providing resources for creating new rites for Orthodox Warriors.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For my family, Holly, Samuel, and Ariane, whose patience, love, and support during my own return from war has, for too long, gone unrecognized.

For my confessor, The Rev. Dr. Paul N. Tarazi, who never ceases to remind me that I’m not a big deal.

For my thesis supervisor, Dr. Albert S. Rossi, whose encouragement, presence, and advice, has made seminary bearable.

For my teachers, The Rev. Dr. Alexander Rentel, and Dr. Paul Meyendorff, whose lectures taught me the importance of learning, loving, and leading liturgy.

For my friend, Joe Domanick, a veteran whose love, humility, and wisdom has taught me more about Jesus Christ than even thirty years of seminary education ever could have.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE vi GLOSSARY viii INTRODUCTION: Slaying the Dragon 1 Priorities 3 Plan 8 I. FROM MAN TO DRAGON: On the Warpath 10 Toy Soldiers 12 Creeds 14 Real Warriors 17 An Ugly Affair 18 A Ministry of Healing 24 II. THE DRAGON’S FEN: Trauma and Ritual in the Trebnik 27 Reality in Ritual 28 Trauma in the Trebnik 29 Military Services 31 Coming Home? 37 III. FROM DRAGON TO MAN: Return and Reintegration 40 Penance 44 Healing 46 Story Telling 49 Engagement 53 Continued Service 56 Rituals and Reintegration 59 IV. APPENDIX A: Proposed Rites for Soldiers and Veterans 61 V. APPENDIX B: Resources for Parishes 68 Pamphlet 1: A Resource for Parish Clergy 69 Pamphlet 2: A Resource for Parish Faithful 71 Pamphlet 3: Moliebens for Warriors and their Families 73 VI. BIBLIOGRAPHY 75

PREFACE

The fruits of war are not pretty or easily made palatable. In war, great masses of ordinary people often work hard to kill one another. As a result many, including those not engaged in the fight, experience deaths that are far from “painless, blameless, and peaceful.”

Combat, not to mention the military culture in general, can foster a certain demeanor, mindset, and lifestyle that can be off-putting to those unfamiliar with the reality of war and service. At times, the reader may find that the choices made, the vocabulary and language used, and the stories shared by soldiers and their families are more than unpleasant to read.

As in any profession in our society, the members do not always reflect the pristine or model conception that one might have of them. I cannot fault them for their honesty in sharing with me, or another author, their thoughts, feelings, and opinions; and I do not think it right to censor their speech, inasmuch as their use of language reflects something about who they are. For accurately portraying the voice and verve of a person, I cannot apologize. I will ask forgiveness for any offense it might cause you as a reader, as it is not my intent (nor is it the soldier’s, veteran’s, or family member’s intent) to do so.

As a United States Army veteran with over a decade of service—almost half of my life—I am most familiar with the language of “soldiering.” I instinctively think of war- fighting as a soldier’s task, as seen in my vocabulary, despite being very aware, because of both my research of and my experience in joint operations, that the Army is not the only force fighting, dying, coming home, and suffering. When I use the term “soldier,” or “warrior,” which are largely Army-specific terms within official military publications (though, in them, the terms are normally capitalized, along with their families/family members) within the body of this work, I do not normally mean only Army personnel, unless clearly stated vi

otherwise within the context of the wider sentence or paragraph, such as when describing

Army-specific suicide statistics. Sailors, airmen, and marines have made truly heroic sacrifices

over the past ten years and beyond; we are all facing record suicide and divorce rates, among

the many other negative consequences of a decade of fighting. Similarly, though a veteran of

the Iraq War, I feel indebted to the numerous generations of military service men and

women who have served their nation bravely. I do not mean in any way to diminish their

own difficult homecomings by, at times, focusing on the most recent conflicts within our

nation’s history.

Finally, I realize that the overwhelmingly masculine language in the titles and the

abundance of masculine pronouns within the body of the thesis may give the impression

that I consider the issues of war and return to be largely male-centered questions. As the

spouse of a veteran, I would like to take this opportunity to assure the reader that I am well

aware of the fact that the number of female service members on the front lines is constantly

increasing. Though the changes in official policy within the Department of Defense are recent, this reality is old news. The language used within the chapter titles is an allusion to a concept of change ascribed to the main character of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, and it is not meant to ignore the great and honorable service performed by the numerous former and currently serving female service members. Their own struggles beyond the battle field, as publicized in a new movie, The Invisible War, will play a significant part of this thesis in highlighting the traumatic aspects of military service that can go far beyond the assumed

“norms” of engagement with enemy combatants.

For all of these, and any other perceived omissions, mistakes, prejudices, or

inaccuracies, please forgive me.

vii

GLOSSARY

It is difficult to write about the military, mental health, or Orthodox Christian worship without using a great deal of what others would simply consider jargon. Though this is a somewhat specialized topic, its intended audience is the general public, which may not have experience or training in any of the three aforementioned fields of study. This is not an exhaustive list or glossary, but it is intended to enhance the readability of the work for those unfamiliar with some of the language used within the text.

Acronyms

DOD – Department of Defense

OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom): The official designation for the U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan from October 2001 to the present.

OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom): The official designation for the U.S. military involvement in Iraq from March 2003 to August 2010, at which point the designation became Operation New Dawn.

OND (Operation New Dawn): The official designation for the U.S. military involvement in Iraq from August 2010 to December 2011, with the withdrawal of all U.S. military personnel (except those USMC personnel assigned to the U.S. embassy) from Iraq.

PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder): A mental health condition usually caused by a traumatic, terrifying, or deeply stressful event that impairs normal functioning. While many of the symptoms related to PTSD are “normal” reactions to stress, the severity, frequency, and duration of symptoms are important factors in diagnosing it as a medical condition.

TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury): An injury to the brain, caused by a bump, blow, fall, or explosive concussion, that changes or inhibits the way that the brain normally functions. The injuries can range from mild (MTBI) to severe (STBI) and can cause a range of symptoms, many of which parallel symptoms of PTSD.

VA – Veterans Affairs

viii

Orthodox Christian Liturgical Terms

Horologion – A book, literally “Book of Hours,” that contains the fixed portions of the daily office into which variable hymnography is inserted. It is essentially the skeleton of the daily services (e.g., Vespers, Matins, etc.)

Menaion – A book of hymns, literally “of the month,” arranged by each calendar day of the month, which commemorate various saints or feast days. It includes the variable hymnography for that saint or day, which is fit into the standard structure of the daily services. In the Russian tradition, the Festal Menaion is a book containing the variable texts only for the major feasts of the Lord and the Theotokos (literally, “the Mother of God,” i.e., the Virgin Mary).

Octoechos – a book of hymns, literally “Eight Tones,” arranged by day of the week, focusing on the commemoration for the day (e.g., the bodiless hosts/angels on Monday, the cross on Wednesday and Friday, the resurrection on Sunday, etc.) that follows a cycle of 8 weeks. There is a different “tone,” or distinctive melody, used for each week

Molieben – a service of prayer and/or supplication to the Lord, the Theotokos, or a specific saint. As a service of need, it can be sung to commemorate a specific day, event, or season, or as a supplication during times of distress, sickness, or trauma, or, alternatively, for thanksgiving. Relevant Psalms, epistle and gospel readings, and various hymns, and prayers are chosen based on the need and reason for the service. While there are numerous “standard” moliebens, which are already prepared and/or published, the general service can be adapted as needed.

INTRODUCTION Slaying the Dragon

The dragon, for millennia, has been a symbol of chaos and terror, whether the

Leviathan or dragon of Scripture, the Hellmouth or St. George’s foe in iconography, or characters in classical literature, like Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.1 These symbols of reptilian might are frequently utilized in reference to the issues of sin, sorrow, grief, shame, and trauma.2 The prayers and hymns of the Orthodox tradition often make use of this metaphor, which is taken from Scripture. At the Liturgy of the Pre-sanctified Gifts, the prayer before the ambo asks that the Lord might grant us “to fight the good fight, to complete the course of the fast … to crush the heads of invisible dragons, to be revealed victors over sin, and without condemnation to attain to the worship of the holy Resurrection.”3 Interestingly, for every

1 All scriptural references, unless otherwise noted, are from the RSV, and thus reflect the Hebrew chapter and verse numbering. In Scripture: Job 41:1-34 gives a lengthy description of the Leviathan. The Psalms frequently use the image of the dragon or Leviathan: 74:14, 91:3, and 104:26. In the Prophets: Isaiah 27:1 describes the dragon and/or Leviathan as the foe of God to be slain, butchered, and fed to the righteous, as in Psalm 74:14; In Ezekiel 29:3-5 and in Isaiah 51:9, God uses dragon and Leviathan imagery to describe the proud Pharaoh or Egypt (Rahab, in Isaiah, is the poetic name for Egypt as used in Psalm 87:4 and Psalm 89:8- 10), and in Jeremiah 51:34, Nebuchadnezzar, because of his plundering of Jerusalem, is described as a dragon. In the Septuagint and the Vulgate, Daniel (14:23-28) kills an apparently live dragon that was being worshipped by the Babylonians. This imagery is less ubiquitous in the New Testament, though dragons and dragon-like beasts are frequent symbols and characters in Revelation, where it is a dragon who attempts to devour the offspring of the woman clothed with the sun in 12:1-17, which borrows much from Isaiah 26:14-27:1. In Revelation 12:9 and 20:2, the Dragon is equated directly with Satan. St. George is depicted killing a dragon, though Theodore Tiron, and other warrior saints are found in similar motifs; see Christopher Walter, The Warrior Saints in Byzantine Art and Tradition (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003), 37, 48. Shakespeare’s Martius Caius Coriolanus is described, and at times describes himself, using imagery relating to a dragon. 2 Though it was in reading Shakespeare’s tragedy Coriolanus that I connected the symbolism of a dragon with combat-related and post-traumatic stress, I found, thanks to my wife’s studies in traumatic stress and families, that I was not the first to use this symbolism in regards to CS and PTSD. Susan M. Johnson discusses briefly its usage in her “Facing the Dragon Together: Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy with Trauma Survivors,” Handbook of Stress, Trauma, and The Family, Don R. Catherall, ed. (New York: Brunner- Routledge, 2004), 493-532. 3 This is Archimandrite Ephraim’s translation (emphasis mine) of the “Prayer before the Ambo.” See Ephraim Lash, “On Holy and Great Monday: Vespers,” Anastasis, http://www.anastasis.org.uk/HWMon- V.htm (accessed March 26, 2013). The usage of the term “dragon” matches Greek text when it translates the phrase “τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν ἀοράτων δρακόντων συνθλάσαι.” See The Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified of St. Gregory the 1

day during the octave of Theophany, there is at least one, if not two, references to Christ

overcoming or crushing a/the “dragon” (by way of his baptism) in the Menaion. The serpent

is a popular metaphor for sin or Satan within the canons of Octoechos, frequently referring

to the bite or poison of the serpent. In this way, the dragon/serpent is a polyvalent symbol

for that which is fearfully present, yet that which we praise Christ for having overcome.

Whether in the case of a soldier who has returned recently, a long-ago discharged veteran, or

the spouse or child of either, the dragon is a suitable symbol for the changes in personality

that can take place while one is away at war. God, in describing the Leviathan to Job,

describes this beast in ways not much different from how one might describe a veteran with

post-traumatic stress disorder:

Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord? Will he make many supplications to you? Will he speak to you soft words? Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on leash for your maidens? Lay hands on him; think of the battle; you will not do it again! Behold, the hope of a man is disappointed; he is laid low even at the sight of him. No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up…. Who can strip off his outer garment? Who can penetrate his double coat of mail? …made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth. In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him. The folds of his flesh cleave together, firmly cast upon him and immovable. His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the nether millstone. When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves.4

Dialogist: The Greek Text with a Rendering in English (London: Williams and Norgate, 1918), 75. Archbishop Dmitri’s Priest’s Service Book and The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts published by St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press translates the word as “serpents” instead of “dragons,” as does Archimandrite Ephraim in other parts of his website. Cf. “Lenten Vespers,” Anastasis, http://www.anastasis.org.uk/lenten_vespers_2.htm. (accessed March 26, 2013). 4 Job 41: 1, 3, 5, 8-11, 13, 15, 17, 19-24 (Revised Standard Version)

Priorities

The overwhelming number of traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder cases, not to mention the numerous other issues facing soldiers, veterans, and their families, has not been a major topic of research for Orthodox theologians, liturgists, or

(more sadly, and to the point) many clergy or faithful.5 Ministry to military service members, veterans, and their families is not generally considered a high priority, either in practice or in academia.6 The results of an online survey conducted from January to February 2013 by the

Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Continuing Education (in order to assess the priority of nine stated educational goals and objectives) illustrate the problem. Published as

5 This is not to discount the work of those who have put a great deal of time and effort into ministering to military service members, veterans, and their families. A number of individuals, especially Orthodox military chaplains, have written articles (like the three-part “Spiritual Lives of Soldiers” series in Jacob’s Well, the diocesan magazine of the OCA’s Diocese of New York and New Jersey), see Mark Koczak, "Part I - Preparing for War," Jacob’s Well (Summer/Fall 2008):28-29; David Alexander, "Part II - At War," Jacob’s Well (Spring 2011): 24-25; Jerome Cwiklinski, "Part III - After the Fighting is Over," (Winter 2012): 22- 23; all three are available at http://nynjoca.org/jacobswell.html. There have also been a number of recorded podcasts (especially, “On the Front Lines,” on Ancient Faith Radio), and a few chaplains have given talks highlighting the need for parishes to be involved with supporting returning military service men and women. A number of institutions have provided funding and publicity to the issue, most notably, St. Vladimir’s Seminary. The seminary used Orthodox Education Day 2011 as a forum for focusing on some of the issues facing military personnel, in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001, in an attempt to bring these to the fore within the national dialogue of Orthodox Christians. As far as jurisdictional and diocesan work, beyond a few articles posted here and there, there seems to be little in the way of funding or actively facilitating the development of programs, services (be they liturgical or social), or other resources for parishes, not to mention the returning service members themselves. This reflection is simply meant to indicate that although the effort and sincerity of those mentioned above (as well as those not mentioned, either because of ignorance or forgetfulness on my part) is to be commended, this ministry is not a priority for most Orthodox. 6 Despite the efforts mentioned in the previous note, there have been few, if any, scholarly works published that provide an Orthodox perspective on military ministry since September 11, 2001. To my knowledge, there have been no liturgical services developed in response to the trauma of the last decade of war or, for that matter, any of the many wars and conflicts in which American Orthodox military personnel have fought. While there may be extant services of healing for military personnel in the Orthodox tradition in some long-forgotten or unintelligible manuscript, I have found none, despite a great deal of research of both primary and secondary sources. I have been limited in my ability to search too deeply into the manuscript evidence, either due to lack of access or lack of linguistic knowledge. In those cases where I was able to find a military- related liturgical service in the Greek or Slavonic tradition, there was usually either a French or English translation available. Yet even within secondary sources, there is little evidence that leads me to believe there are extant works dealing with the contemporary issues that we are facing in the military. In the major articles about the religious services of the Byzantine military, Dennis, Taft, Verkamp, McGeer, McCormick, and others, as experts in the field of either liturgiology, Byzantine warfare or both, have made no mention of services specifically for military personnel other than those indicated in a subsequent chapter of this work. Of course, none of these deal specifically, or even obliquely, with the psychological healing, spiritual reengagement/reintegration, or even physical homecoming of soldiers. 3

one of the additional reports presented at the Spring 2013 meeting of the Orthodox Church

in America’s Metropolitan Council, the survey asked respondents to rate nine different

objectives for future continuing education curricula and found that the learning objective

entitled “Training in Responding to Needs of Military Families and Those Affected by War”

was ranked lowest as a priority by respondents. It was the least-ranked as a “Top Priority” by

respondents,” falling behind “Training in Rubrics for Lay Leaders and Ministers,” which,

though coming next to last, had nearly double the percentage of responses considering it

“Top Priority.” It also had the highest number of respondents marking it as the “Lowest

Priority.”7 This difference was even more pronounced among clergy over the age of fifty.

Though the ranking of the last two objectives was the same order as the average (rubrics at

# 8 and military ministry at #9), those ranking training in rubrics as a “Top Priority” was

nearly seven times the amount of those ranking ministry to military members and their

families as a “Top Priority.”

Despite our own slowness in recognizing the urgency of this growing crisis, there has

been a flood of scholarly works by authors outside the Orthodox Church, and indeed, those

who are not necessarily even Christian, over the past ten years. The increased emphasis on

studying and writing about these matters is seen most clearly in the mental health field

(especially in the United States), though in the last ten-to-fifteen years these works have

largely focused on Vietnam-era veterans, even as the United States has found itself in

constant war for almost a decade in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many recent works by

psychiatrists and psychologists have focused on ancient Greco-Roman literature, philosophy,

7 Department of Continuing Education, “Needs Assessment Survey,” Metropolitan Council Meeting – spring 2013: Other Reports, presented on February 28 to the Metropolitan Council of the Orthodox Church in America, under “Continuing Education Objectives: Lowest Priority,” http://oca.org/cdn/PDFs/metropolitancouncil/2013/spring-metcouncil/spring13other.pdf (accessed April 3, 2013).

and mythology, as in Shay’s usage of the Iliad and the Odyssey in his Achilles in Vietnam and

Odysseus in America, Sherman’s focus on Epictetus and stoicism in The Untold War, Tick’s The

Practice of Dream Healing, and Marlantes’ usage of Mars as a symbol for military-specific

spirituality in his What It’s Like to Go to War, or focus on so-called “warrior cultures,” as in

Tick’s reflections on the practices and culture of the Plains Indians and the Samurai in War and the Soul.

The story of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus hit me particularly hard. I read it for the first time during seminary in a desperate attempt to avoid reading anything mildly related to theology or seminary studies, except for the Bible and a prayer book, during a short break within a semester. Though not required to attend classes, I continued clocking in hours for

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at the Veteran’s Affairs New York Harbor Health

System’s Manhattan Campus, and read through the book on my coffee breaks. It’s no

surprise, perhaps, that the interpretive model I unintentionally used while reading it was one

based largely on my time ministering and listening to fellow veterans in severe spiritual,

emotional, and psychological pain. Within this short, but utterly tragic, story the issues inherent to the civilian-military relationship, the difficulty in keeping inner loyalties clear within a larger organization, the societal expectations of soldiers to “come back” and “act normal,” the simultaneous fascination with and aversion to death, battle wounds, and war stories, as well as the deep feeling of betrayal and loss that is often felt by those warriors and their families suffering from “soul wounds” and “moral injuries,” are among the themes easily drawn from the work that apply even today as we reflect on modern warfare and the human aftermath that lives in its wake.8 One can see similar aspects within the life of another

8 The idea of a wounded or “traumatized” soul is not unknown to the Orthodox tradition, as seen in the Aposticha at Vespers on the 5th Monday of Great Lent, or at Matins the next day. The terms “moral injury” and “soul wound” have gained significant traction in the field of PTSD treatment only within the past decade 5

life-long soldier: King David. In II Samuel, David’s life of hiding and fighting made for a

tumultuous personal and family life. Unlike the work of those mentioned previously, whose

work in the classics or sociology has been targeted at a largely academic audience, this

present work is not meant primarily for academics, philosophers, theologians, or mental

health professionals. It is meant to be a resource for the clergy and faithful of our Orthodox

parishes in North America in order to help them better receive and minister to soldiers,

veterans, and their families. The appendices are intended especially for their use, while the

thesis as a whole provides a more thorough rendering of those materials and various

critiques and suggestions as to how best to utilize the plethora of resources currently

available because of the aforementioned work of numerous academic, medical, and military

professionals.

While Shakespeare’s work is not the focus of this thesis, quotes from the play appear within the chapter headings as a type of marker for how the chapter will proceed. This is

largely because it was one of the catalysts that concretized the idea that to me was so clear,

yet somehow indefinable: the way which we commemorate the return of a soldier from war

in our modern American society—or more to the point for us: within the Orthodox

tradition as seen in the new world—is greatly lacking in moral and spiritual support. This

or so. The term “moral injury,” used in this context, appears first in Shay’s Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character and is refined in his sequel Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. The terminology of the “soul wound” in the context of PTSD is, to my knowledge, original to Ed Tick’s War and the Soul: Healing Our Nation’s Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Both of these are indicative of having experienced a “betrayal of what’s right.” While coined as terms dealing specifically with combat veterans, these terms have been widely misappropriated. There are blogs and websites that have used “soul wound” to refer to original sin, environmental pollution, the plight of Native Americans, marital troubles, and new ways of understanding obesity as part of a weight loss program. There are even “life coaching” websites offering online “Soul Wound Clearing Teacher Certification” programs, often with promises to teach you how to “cure” or “clear” them. As will be discussed later, traumatic stress, regardless of the terminology used, be it “soul wound,” “moral injury,” or “stress/identity disorder,” is, like addiction, not ever “cured” or “cleared” but rather, at best, in the process of being healed. No matter how much one engages in therapy, prayer, medication, or denial, any significant trauma will leave a permanent mark on that person’s identity; there will always be a certain degree of residue that cannot, and indeed should not be erased.

lack of any ritual, much less any real culturally-significant expression, of thanks, gratitude,

fear, pride, etc., beyond yellow ribbon bumper stickers, is partially due to a widening gap between the military, which is an increasingly small, professional, and all-volunteer force, and

the civilian population, which is increasingly unaffected by, if not ignorant of, declarations of

war, foreign hostilities, and even military casualties. Part of this disconnect is seen in

statistics that indicate that younger people are less likely to have an immediate family

member who serves in the military, reflecting a generation that knows little about the price of war. The gap among young adults is particularly significant: the bulk of military personnel on active duty are individuals from the very same generation, having an almost identical average age as those with the least direct contact with service members. Yet, this ignorance of military issues has not gone unnoticed, according to respondents to a Pew Research study on the military-civilian gap: 75% of those with an immediate family member who has served in the Armed Forces and 65% of those with no immediate family member in the military agreed with the statement, “The public doesn’t understand problems those in the military face.” 9

Beyond just a growing lack of personal acquaintance and familiarity of civilians with

military service members, there is both a perceived and actual gap, as to worldview and experience of civilians and former/ current service members in regards to the basic

differences of civilian and military lifestyles (not to mention life in combat). In order to help

rectify this intellectual gap, the first chapter after the introduction, “From Man to Dragon:

On the War Path,” will deal primarily with educating the reader on the realities of modern warfare and the numerous issues facing soldiers, veterans, and their families.

9 Pew Research, "The Military-Civilian Gap: Fewer Family Connections" Social and Demographic Trends, Released November 23, 2011, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/11/23/the-military-civilian-gap- fewer-family-connections/ (accessed March 3, 2013).

Plan

This first chapter, in which the realities of trauma and stress often casually

mentioned in the news will be brought closer to home, will also set the stage for the second

chapter: “The Dragons Fen: Trauma and Ritual in the Trebnik.” This second chapter will deal

almost exclusively with the liturgical and canonical tradition of the Orthodox Church in

relation to the traumatized, showing especially how prayer, ritual, and other liturgical services were the primary means to show care for those suffering because of past or current

traumatic events. Having dealt with the services of the Trebnik, especially within the

Byzantine military, in chapter two, the third chapter, which aims to hit at the heart of the

thesis’ objective as a parish resource, will focus on the necessary components of reintegration. In this final chapter, “From Dragon to Man: Reintegration and Return,” I will attempt to provide reasoning and resources for using ritual, worship, and community participation to help heal the wounds so clearly manifested in the lives of many who have gone to war, either personally or vicariously. In this chapter, a specific rite of return is not presented. While this work does contain exactly that, it is not included within the main body.

The reader is asked to see the first appendix for a sample of proposed rites for various occasions and situations. Rather, this final chapter focuses on an overall methodology, highlighting a number of foundational concepts which will be put forward in order to give parishes, chaplains, and other concerned parties the resources and abilities necessary to utilize the framework presented as they see fit. In this way, communities will be able to develop a specific rite (or rites), if not simply a regimen of more familiar services or activities, that will be most effective within their own specific liturgical, cultural, and social contexts.

Finally, in an effort to provide a usable resource rather than merely an academic work, I have also provided two appendices. The first appendix (Appendix A) includes sample variable material for liturgical services, such as psalm selections, prayers and Scripture reading. These will hopefully help facilitate moliebens and other services of need soldiers returning from war, veterans, and their families as well as other aspects of military life. The second appendix (Appendix B) is essentially a summary of the main points of this thesis in a more accessible and digestible format (one page, double-sided pamphlets) for parish clergy and faithful, as well as a pamphlet-sized version of the variable texts from Appendix A.

FROM MAN TO DRAGON On the War Path

SICINIUS Is’t possible that so short a time can alter the condition of a man? MENENIUS There is differency between a grub and a butterfly, yet your butterfly was a grub. This Martius is grown from man to dragon: he has wings: he’s more than a creeping thing. (Coriolanus 5.4.7-12)

War changes you. The best and worst aspects of the human condition are present as

the sounds of bullets ring in your ear, as the war machines rage. The United States Armed

Forces, like most military organizations, has special awards for valor and honor that one can

only receive as a result of gallant service during active hostilities; in doing this, the nation

recognizes that combat is a special time. Combat is an extraordinary time in a sense beyond

simply being “out of the ordinary.” For this reason, it is easily romanticized, though more

frequently by those who have not experienced it, and looked at with an almost nostalgic air.

It is a time of bonding, friendship, heroics, and honor. Yet, war is also easily demonized:

considered utterly unacceptable by many in all but the most extreme and dire cases. It is a

time during which the wholesale slaughter of fellow human beings, sons and daughters of

God, is systematized with bureaucratic efficiency. This reality, a manufactured serenity

amidst a massacre, can not only turn the stomach, but easily poison the soul.

As noted in the introduction, there is a simultaneous fascination with and aversion to death, killing, and war. While the hospice and funeral industries, which help to conceal the reality of dying and death respectively, are booming, so are action movies with high body counts and period war dramas. The most popular titles in the history of video games have

been war-related, with many marketed specifically as realistic simulations of modern or historical warfare in which you can engage your friends in “death matches.”1

Of course, neither war nor military service is very much like a video game or dramatic movie. A real soldier does not get to press the pause or reset button, and there is no “main character” that you know will not be killed during the patrol. Yet, for much of the civilian population, it is through these lenses of media—be they dramatized fiction either in written or video formats, 24-hour network news broadcasts, “realistic” video games, or even documentaries—that most Americans experience war. It is no longer a community event: it is a professional sport. The widespread ignorance about war has less to do with a lack of intelligence than it does with a lack of intimacy. Even during my time at St. Vladimir’s

Seminary, a graduate institution at which all students must have at least a bachelor’s degree to attend, I have encountered puzzled looks when speaking about my military service in the local National Guard unit and have had to answer questions like: “We still have people in

Afghanistan? Huh, I didn’t think we were at war anymore.” While initially taken aback at the lack of knowledge, I realized that this is an issue of disengagement, not a lack of intellectual capacity. This was not just a matter of not reading the news carefully: this was a lack of intimacy and a lack of engagement with military people.

1 The “reality” of these games is questionable. Rarely do these games focus on the psychological factors of killing and death, nor do they require in-depth thought as to how difficult a decision may be in reality. To decide whether or not to end someone’s life with the squeeze of a trigger or the push of a button is no game. One critique is that this constant action is not the norm in modern warfare. One can see this point, interestingly, in the form of a mock broadcast from parody news network that describes a new ultra-realistic game which, for the most part, has players hauling equipment, filling out paperwork, waiting around for orders, standing guard for hours at a check point, digging holes, filling sand bags, and doing vehicle maintenance. The parody also mentions a 28-pound controller shaped like an M-240B machine gun that you must carry with you at all times, but cannot shoot without explicit orders. See The Onion, “Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks," Video, http://www.theonion.com/video/ultrarealistic-modern- warfare-game-features-awaiti,14382 (accessed April 5, 2013). In response to the popularity of these games, the U.S. Army developed a video game called “Moral Combat,” that requires players to make difficult ethical choices within the context of this genre of game as part of its Profession of Arms campaign which, centered at the Center for Army Profession and Ethic (www.cape.army.mil) at West Point, is trying to teach ethical decision making and increase the level of professionalism throughout the Army.

Toy Soldiers

As noted in the introduction, there is an increasing lack of family ties, and I would

even argue, personal relationship, between most civilians and the military personnel who

serve them. Instead of engaging in a historical description of how the military has evolved

from a draft-based organization to an “all-volunteer” one, it might be more helpful simply to

discuss how one becomes a member of the military, and then a soldier/warrior in combat. It

stands to reason that certain changes, in both beliefs and lifestyle, have to happen in order

for an average civilian youth to become a combat-ready warrior. At least in the Army, this is

the goal of Initial Entry Training, or IET, which is consists of two components: Basic

Combat Training (BCT) and Advanced Individual Training (AIT). The former is the same

for just about everyone, and is essentially what most civilians would think of as “boot

camp,” inasmuch as your head is shaved, you do a bunch of push-ups, crawl through the

mud, shoot guns, and sleep in the woods; while the latter is centered on Military

Occupational Specialty (MOS), i.e., job-specific training. Of course, there is a lot more to

this training than just getting dirty and learning information.

The military’s initial training, be it “Recruit Training” for the Navy and Marine

Corps, “Basic Combat Training” for the Army, “Basic Military Training” for the Air Force,

or just “Basic Training,” as it is called by the Coast Guard, is mainly focused on “societal

initiation.”2 Imagine showing up to a military base in the dead of night, getting off the bus, and then being shocked to have people shouting at you, running you through various stations for in-processing, identification tags, medical screening, supply, drug test, clothing/uniform issue, immunizations, haircuts, etc. Before you know it, despite having come onto a bus full of distinctively dressed individuals, you find yourself waking up (after a

2 Karl Marlantes’ story about his own experience in USMC Boot Camp is indicative of the kind of “societal initiation” he references in his What It’s Like to Go to War (New York: Grove Press, 2011), 10-16. 12

couple of hours of sleep) in a room with 59 other people who “slept” on the same style bunk beds, with matching sheets and pillow cases. You all rush to go to the bathroom, shower, shave, and get dressed, and get downstairs (again as large scary people are yelling at you), where you find a few hundred people, standing in a square sea of camouflage, who are dressed just like you, with the same haircut, the same hideous brown glasses, and the same scared look in their eyes. After weeks of being yelled at, with little to no sleep for days on end, meager rations (not due to availability, but because of time constraints at meal times), while doing more physical activity than you’ve ever done in your life, you become quite proud of yourself. You’re waking up earlier and getting more done before “0900” than you used to get done all day, all the while being in the best shape of your life, having accomplished something very difficult as part of a team and having the pride and respect of

“civilians,” when you walk around off-post in your dress uniform.

You think back on your life before and reminisce about how much of “a punk” you were, and how far you’ve come. How much more responsible, honorable, loyal, selfless, etc. you are, and it is because the military gave you this opportunity. As you continue on in your military career, you increasingly lump civilians into this category of your mind where you put the old you, the way you identified yourself as a civilian: lazy, irresponsible, late, overweight, overpaid, and unaware of “reality,” i.e., life in the military. This degree of superiority is both taught in military training, but also reinforced by civilians who thank us for our service, talk about how proud they are of us, and how they support the military. There is a certain cult of the military member in the United States, and the two feed off of each other in this way.

Despite the numerous sexual and fraud/waste/abuse scandals in the military, not to mention a number of incidents that could best be described as war crimes, over the past

decade of war, the military is consistently the most trusted institution in the United States.3

Perhaps this trust is manufactured. Maybe this trust is simply founded on ignorance.

Creeds

As a former Army officer, turned seminarian, once stated, “Civilians are twice removed from combat veterans and currently serving soldiers returning from war. Number one, they have not been to combat and most have no idea what it is like to have to be constantly on edge. Number two, they have not served in the military and have no frame of reference even for the very different life that we lead.”4 So, beyond even the military-civilian divide, there is another dividing line in the form of combat experience, which even creates a certain degree of division within the military. This reality, or perceived reality, can make it very difficult for civilians even to know where to start in ministering to veterans and their families. To go a step further than just the change from civilian to military, we have to move beyond this media-driven understanding when looking at combat. To put it another way, given the familiarity with military-based video games, entertainment, and media, there is a significant difference between a toy soldier and a real soldier. The former is fun, safe, and relatively commonplace, while the latter is less so on all counts. To be more blunt, changes have to happen within one’s mind and heart that make killing not just a viable option in crisis, but a mission. Obviously that’s not all the military does. One might argue that killing is not the sole or even primary mission of the military, but one would be naïve to ignore documents and creedal statements that reflect the contrary:

3 Gallup, “Confidence in Institutions,” http://www.gallup.com/poll/1597/confidence- institutions.aspx (accessed April 8, 2013). The military, with 75% of respondents saying they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence, has twice the rating of churches or religious organizations, three times that of the presidency, five times that of Congress as of December 2012.

44 Nicholas Roth, interview by author, Sitka, Alaska, March 10, 2013. 14

My Rifle: The Creed of a U.S. Marine This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. My rifle, without me, is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless. I must fire my rifle true. I must shoot straighter than my enemy who is trying to kill me. I must shoot him before he shoots me. I will... My rifle and I know that what counts in this war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, or the smoke we make. We know that it is the hits that count. We will hit... My rifle is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will... Before God, I swear this creed. My rifle and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life. So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy, but peace!5

The Soldier’s Creed I am an American Soldier. I am a warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values. I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself. I am an expert and I am a professional. I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat. I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life. I am an American Soldier.6

5 William H. Rupertus, “My Rifle: The Creed of a U.S. Marine,” United States Marine Corps http://web.archive.org/web/20070310183121/http://www.lejeune.usmc.mil/2dmardiv/aabn/Rifleman.htm (accessed April 8, 2013), emphasis mine. This creed, supposedly written in 1941 or 1942, shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Major General William H. Rupertus, is currently in use as a text for memorization in USMC Boot Camp, similar, in regards to importance and usage, to the Soldier’s Creed in the U.S. Army, although the USMC Creed predates the Army’s Soldier’s Creed by about forty years.

6United States Army, “Soldier’s Creed,” Army Values, http://www.army.mil/values/soldiers.html (accessed April 8, 2013), emphasis mine. This creed, which came into use in 2003, is required to be memorized by both enlisted and commissioned military personnel. It is frequently recited during Basic Combat Training, the initial training for enlisted personnel, at Basic Officer Leader Course, the initial training for U.S. Army officers, as well as the officer commissioning training/transition programs, e.g. Reserve Officer Training Corps, Officer Candidate School, Civilian Initial Military Training (for Army Chaplains). 15

This creed, which came into use in 2003, is significantly different from the “Soldier’s Code,” which was developed in the late nineties.7 In 2003, a number of leaders the Army made a move to inculcate a more warrior-like ethos, as expressed in the Rifleman’s Creed of the

USMC, although any reference to the Marines was usually not spelled out. The pre-2003 creedal statement was significantly less war-focused:

Soldier’s Code (Pre-2003) I am an American Soldier. I am a member of the United States Army – a protector of the greatest nation on earth. Because I am proud of the uniform I wear, I will always act in ways creditable to the military service and the nation it is sworn to guard. I am proud of my own organization. I will do all I can to make it the finest unit in the Army. I will be loyal to those under whom I serve. I will do my full part to carry out orders and instructions given to me or my unit. As a soldier, I realize that I am a member of a time-honored profession—that I am doing my share to keep alive the principles of freedom for which my country stands. No matter what the situation I am in, I will never do anything, for pleasure, profit, or personal safety, which will disgrace my uniform, my unit, or my country. I will use every means I have, even beyond the line of duty, to restrain my Army comrades from actions disgraceful to themselves and to the uniform. I am proud of my country and its flag. I will try to make the people of this nation proud of the service I represent, for I am an American Soldier.8

7 This post-2003 version of the Soldier’s Creed is significantly more combative, both in its tone and content with a focus on being “a warrior.” The Soldier’s Code, makes frequent mention of national and organizational pride, focusing on standards and principles that reflect a generic sense of duty and honor, as in the phrase, “As a soldier … I will never do anything, for pleasure, profit, or personal safety, that will disgrace my uniform, unit, or my country [and] I will use every means I have, even beyond the line of duty, to restrain my Army comrades from actions disgraceful to themselves and to the uniform.” Comparing this change in 2003, in which such statements are simply subsumed under being “a professional,” without necessarily defining or giving details beyond keeping your weapons in good order and being victorious, one wonders what exactly the educational priority is. Frederick R. Kienle, an Army Colonel, argues that the pre-2003 Soldier’s Code was put into place in 1998 as a wallet-sized training card in response to scandals that occurred 1996-1998, e.g., the 1996 sexual assault of trainees at Aberdeen Proving Ground, in his "The Code of the Warrior and the Kinder, Gentler Army," MSS (Masters of Strategic Studies) Thesis, United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA, 2001. Colonel Kienle’s paper was part of a general push within the Army to develop a “warrior ethos” that was to contrast what some, like Kienle, had described as a “kinder, gentler Army,” reflective in the pre-2003 Soldier’s Code, sometimes also referred to as a “creed.” The Airman’s Creed, a new creed instituted in 2007 by the U.S. Air Force also focuses on this concept of being “a warrior,” and actually states that the goal of the Air Force is to “fly, fight, and win.”

8 U.S. Department of the Army, Values Card and Soldiers Code, Training Aid (Fort Monroe, VA: United States Army Training and Doctrine Command, 1998). See also, Department of the Army, “Initial Entry Training (IET) Soldier’s Handbook,” TRADOC Pamphlet 600-4 (Fort Monroe, VA: United States Army 16

Real Warriors

These creedal statements, as part of an initiation, are meant to ground a military

member within a certain values system which helps them know what they are to believe, feel,

and do, as part of that organization. This is purposeful and is not unlike that requiring the

recitation of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (ostensibly from memory) during the rites

of initiation into the Orthodox Church, which are often the foundation of the catechumen’s

pre-baptismal education. The development of this focus on being a “warrior” shortly after

the initiation of the Global War on Terrorism in 2001 in both its OIF and OEF iterations, is

indicative of a changing view on how the Armed Forces, and the U.S. Army in particular,

sought to become more effective and agile in their newly-rediscovered roles as warfighters.

This change in roles, from the Post-Vietnam period of the Cold War, in which “peace-

keeping” was the primary mission, to protracted counter insurgency warfare with non-state

actors, has become the assumed standard after over a decade of constant war.

Beyond the creedal statements that are required memorization, there is a certain

inculcation of an overall attitude. Despite the fact that the last bayonet charge executed in

combat by members of the American military was in 1951, bayonet training was a part of the

U.S. Army’s BCT (Basic Combat Training) curriculum until late 2010. This was specifically

to “develop in soldiers aggressiveness, courage, and preparation for close combat,” and

“basically to try to mitigate or eradicate the reluctance of human beings to kill each other,”

Training and Doctrine Command, 2003), Appendix E-1. Despite Kienle’s arguments in 2001 as to the Army being “kinder, gentler,” the 2003 IET Soldier’s Handbook, quite similar to the version of the same book I received in 2002, did contain the “kinder, gentler” Soldier’s Code, but also included rather graphic representations and descriptions of killing individuals in hand-to-hand (or “empty-handed”) combat. The Soldier’s Code as present in that 2003 “Soldier’s Handbook” is slightly different than the pre-2003 Soldier’s Code as quoted in the body of this work and is reproduced here, in five stanzas: “I.) I am an American soldier – a protector of the greatest nation on earth – sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States. II.) I will treat others with dignity and respect and expect others to do the same. III.) I will honor my Country, the Army, my unit and my fellow soldiers by living the Army Values. IV.) No matter what situation I am in, I will never do anything for pleasure, profit, or personal safety which will disgrace my uniform, my unit, or my Country. V.) Lastly, I am proud of my Country and its flag. I want to look back and say that I am proud to have served my Country as a soldier.” 17

according to Richard Kohn, professor of military history at the University of North Carolina

at Chapel Hill.9 Though I have not been issued a bayonet after over eleven years of military

service, six on active duty with half of that time assigned to the U.S. Army Special Forces, I

remember bayonet training quite clearly. While standing in a long rank of soldiers facing another long rank of soldiers, the Drill Sergeant would ask in a loud voice, “What is the spirit of the bayonet?” We would reply, in unison, “To kill, to kill, with cold hard steel.” We

would be asked rather curious questions like, “What makes the green grass grow?” to which

we were taught to reply, “Blood, blood, bright red blood! Bright red blood makes the green

grass grow!” While some, I remember, found this initially rather odd, if not downright

“sick,” most eventually began to have fun with it. At that point in Basic Training, after weeks

of being yelled at while getting little food or sleep, and having a great deal of pressure, both

from Drill Sergeants and from peers, to perform well (or risk causing corporate punishment

for the entire unit), most are happy to oblige out of necessity, if not just the raw pleasure and

excitement that this adrenaline-filled foreplay provides in preparation for the course in which

you run about trails stabbing men made of tires with the makeshift spear that has been

created out of your rifle and bayonet.

This in itself is an initiation. It is an initiation into a world of blood that does not

wash off easily. While relatively few members of the Armed Forces have actually engaged the

enemy and killed another human being, it is awfully hard to argue that they’re not quite well

prepared for such an event, at least physically. The moral socialization that is instilled in

American youth, from preschool on up, in which we are taught not to hit, bite, scratch, or

hurt others, is tweaked, in order that you’ll hit, bite, scratch and kill others in order to protect

9 Quoted by Anna Mulrine, in her article "One Less Skill for Soldiers to Master at Boot Camp: Bayonet Training," Christian Science Monitor, csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2010/0928/One-less-skill-for- soldiers-to-master-at-boot-camp-bayonet-training (accessed April 8, 2013). 18

yourself and your brothers and sisters. Basic Combat Training, as a preparation for combat,

is meant to be a traumatic situation that not only builds personal character, but a bond with

other soldiers and the organization as a whole. It is, in essence, identity building. Part of your

identity as a soldier is that you kill when necessary to protect yourself, your weapon, your

comrades, or the innocent, though these caveats are not always as stressed as one might

hope. Of course, teaching someone how to physically kill someone is not the same as

teaching someone how to deal with having to do it, or how to process seeing death “in

bulk.” That is where it gets a bit messy.

An Ugly Affair

Despite the significant social identity created within a member of the military, and

the great deal of physical, tactical, and technical training received, there is little or no

psychological preparation for warfare. This is changing, but only after ten years of war, which is probably a bit too late.10 The statistics and numbers related to veterans suffering

from war-related injuries are staggering testimonies as to how little control the military has

over this problem. As of 2008, over 20% of returning OEF/OIF veterans suffered from

PTSD, 19% suffered from a traumatic brain injury, while 7% suffered from both.11 As of

December 2012, over 253,300 were diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.12 At a rate of

10 This has become part of CAPE’s mission, inasmuch as it is thought that a significant amount of moral injuries are connected with having to make difficult choices without having the level of maturity necessary to make them. The Ethical Processing Model, and the courses mentioned above (APET and MAPET) are initial attempts at getting military personnel to talk about profession and ethic as well as “uprooting the passions,” although they would probably not use that language.

11 RAND Corporation, “One in Five Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Suffer from PTSD or Major Depression,” RAND Office of Media Relations, http://www.rand.org/news/press/2008/04/17.html (accessed April 8, 2013).

12 Hanna Fischer, "U.S. Military Casualty Statistics: Operation New Dawn, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom," CRS Report for Congress, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS22452.pdf (accessed April 9, 2013). 19

about one per day, the number of suicides in the U.S. military—349, a new record—was

higher than combat deaths, which totaled 295, in 2012. The U.S. Army, the largest branch of

the military, had the most suicides with 182.13 For veterans, the numbers are even higher,

with about one veteran committing suicide every hour in 2012. While there is no simple or

singular explanation for the great increase in suicides—the highest since the Department of

Defense began tracking them about sixty years ago—there are a number of factors that likely

contribute to this increase.

Because of the military being an all-volunteer force, numbers are limited. The lack of

a draft, while arguably creating a more professional military, has meant that the number of

individuals available for combat deployments is solely based on the number of volunteers.

Less than one percent of the U.S. population serves in the military, which, when fighting

multiple wars across the world, means more deployments for longer periods in order to meet

mission requirements. The duration and frequency of combat tours in the past ten years is

unprecedented; few if any veterans of the Vietnam War spent years in a combat zone. I’ve

personally met military personnel who have been through seven combat deployments, each

lasting 9-15 months, meaning that they’ve spent most of the last twelve years at war, in combat. Being in combat for that long is hard enough, but when the reality of having to help pick off bits of brain and bone from your friend’s ammo pouches, after another suicide bomber self-detonates himself in a dining facility nearby, becomes part of the “normal” day-

to-day life, that is something different.

The horrors of war, which have always been awful, take on a new weight when you can come home to your make-shift room in Iraq, after cleaning up what remained of your friends out of your vehicle, and call home using Skype and pretend everything is okay,

13 Robert Burns, "2012 Military Suicides Hit a Record High of 349," Associated Press, January 14, 2013, bigstory.ap.org/article/2012-military-suicides-hit-record-high-349 (accessed April 8, 2013). 20

talking about anything but what just happened. Telecommunication service has increased greatly as the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq turned into, essentially, an extended occupation. In 2005, I used phone cards on a land line to call a switching station in Kuwait in order to be connected with another switching station in Germany, being kept on hold for almost an hour, in order to talk to my wife for about 15 minutes. By 2007, I had enough internet bandwidth to utilize Skype with fairly decent results on most days; and in 2008 I had a voice-over-internet phone (VOIP) with which I could call my wife’s German cellphone directly. Now it becomes very hard to separate war from home; it can create a rather schizophrenic existence and mindset. If you’ve never fully left, how do you “come home?”

Beyond the difficulty of being at war constantly, and maintaining relationships back home, not with letters but with real-time video feeds, the most recent wars have been some of the most morally challenging to those fighting in them. While making no moral judgment on the actual declaration of war in Iraq (though a number of bishops in the Orthodox

Church did), the reality of insurgencies in both wars (in Iraq and Afghanistan) lead to increasingly ambiguous operational objectives. Soldiers are told their mission in life is to

“fight and win the nation’s wars,” and this makes counter-insurgency warfare extremely difficult to handle psychologically, if not simply organizationally: at any point, it is often unclear as to what the mission is, who and where the enemy is, whether or not “winning” is still an option, and even what “winning” means in this context. American military personnel are currently fighting as part of the Global War on Terror, but how exactly does one defeat an amorphous idea like “terrorism” anyway? Even if one were concerned with just one country or a specific region, what constitutes success? How does one stamp out such an obscure foe as global terror? With suicide bombers hiding among families, insurgents shooting from amidst women and children, and grenadiers firing from mosques, it became

increasingly difficult to maintain a boundary between friend and enemy, civilian and

combatant. For many military personnel, this distinction is blurred to such an extent that

normal rules of war seem to no longer apply. How can they? Suddenly, any lengths to secure

intelligence from detainees become acceptable, and even women and children begin to be

considered as part of the enemy force. Because of this distorted view of an already confusing

situation, a number of atrocities are committed by American forces, including the torture,

rape, and murder of civilians (including children).14 Obviously, this only makes things worse

for everyone involved.

To put it mildly: combat can be an ugly affair. Yet, no matter how ugly it has gotten,

regardless of attempts to stave off future wars, war has never been far away. It is ubiquitous,

even in our “civilized world,” although the United States and other western countries have

been effective in keeping the fighting on different continents. With the speed and ease of

communication, it has been more and more difficult for those at war to separate the home

front from the frontlines, despite being, physically, thousands of miles apart. When a soldier

gets home from war, the most important thing is to reconnect, physically, with family or

friends; the last thing he or she wants to do is sit through more briefings, ceremonies, or

interviews. They want to be home, but more often than not, they are not ready. No matter

how many tours someone has performed, it is not easy to flip back and forth between war

and peace (indeed, the more often one deploys, the harder the transition can become). While

war can come to be seen as “just a part of life” for a career military family, that reality has

14 Cf., the” Haditha Incident,” (Nov 2005) in which a squad of marines killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians, including women, children, and elderly, in retaliation for an IED that killed a marine; the “Mahmudiyah Massacre,” (Mar 2006) in which five soldiers gang-raped and killed a 16 year old Iraqi girl, and murdered her entire family (including her six-year-old sister), burned their house down, with them inside, and reported it as an Al-Qaeda attack. The whistleblower, a member of the unit not involved in the attack, as well as the overall background behind the massacre is the subject of Jim Frederick’s Blackhearts (New York: Harmony Books, 2010). The most recent was the “Kandahar Massacre,” (Mar 2012) in which a single U.S. soldier left his base and murdered 16 Afghani civilians, including 9 children. The bodies were found partially burned after he returned to the base later that night. 22

enormous social, psychological, and spiritual consequences not just for the warrior and his or her family, but also the community in which they live and the wider society.

War has played a major role in the lives of human beings throughout history, so it is easy to ignore the fact that any war or combat tour is essentially an extended series of traumatic events. That is why war, both home and abroad, can easily cause significant repercussions in society, families, and in the personal lives of individuals. Individuals have different levels of resiliency, with everyone having differing timeframes and methods of processing trauma, yet there is a need for everyone to process that trauma, at some point, in some way. That which seems to be understood in the Orthodox understanding (or at least the praxis) is only recently being (re)discovered in the fields of psychotherapy and behavioral health. More and more, in the literature concerned with warfare and Post-Traumatic Stress

Disorder, this “disorder” is increasingly identified as “moral injuries” or “soul wounds,” indicating the trend to see PTSD, and especially combat stress, as an issue of a personality change, as opposed to a stress reaction that is somehow not normal (hence the argued misnomer: disorder) Ceremonies, rites, and other semi-liturgical acts are being considered as a helpful, if not necessary, component of healing these wounds. This may come as no surprise, as our liturgical texts indicate the great emphasis that is placed on spiritual healing and recovery from trauma in the Orthodox tradition. This is most clear during sacraments of healing, as will be discussed in the last chapter, and the hymns of the Triodion, which speak of our souls as wounded and traumatized:

Like the man who fell among thieves and was wounded I have also fallen because of my sin, and my soul has been wounded. To whom shall I fly for healing, but to Thee, Physician of souls and bodies? Pour out upon me Thy great mercy, O God.15

15 Aposticha at Vespers for the 5th Monday, emphasis mine. Mother Mary and Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, trans., The Lenten Triodion: Supplementary Texts (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 23

Lord, Physician of the sick, the Refuge of those in despair, Visit my ruined and wounded soul. For you are the Redeemer of the world, Who came to raise fallen man from corruption. In your great mercy, raise me up as I fall before you!16

A Ministry of Healing

Though somewhat removed from the daily lives of many in America, war and peace

are “basic human concerns,” and, like any fundamental part of our lives, they greatly impact

worship, especially in the Orthodox liturgical tradition.17 It is helpful to look at this aspect of

the tradition with a wider lens, focusing not just on military or war-related trauma, but

trauma within the wider human context. Trauma, in the Greek sense (τραῦμα), is literally “a

wound.” A “traumatic event,” is indicative of wounding, damage, pain, and hurt; it suggests a

certain degree of impairment or injury, the destruction or loss of something. It is a diminishment of overall health, not just physical well-being. Someone who loses a leg in a

car accident does not just experience trauma in the sense of being in physical pain because of

a laceration, but is (obviously) dealing with much more than just the tangible injury. A rape

victim, beaten, bruised, and violated in the worst way, has been scarred more deeply than any

visual inspection might show, and is wounded in a way that will not necessarily show up on a

2007), 243. In Greek: Ὡς ὁ περιπεσὼν εἰς τοὺς λῃστάς, καὶ τετραυματισμένος, οὕτω κᾀγὼ περιέπεσον, ἐξ ἐμῶν ἁμαρτιῶν, καὶ τετραυματισμένη, ὑπάρχει μου ἡ ψυχή, πρὸς τίνα καταφύγω, τοῦ θεραπευθῆναι, εἰ μὴ πρὸς σὲ τὸν ἰατρὸν ψυχῶν τε καὶ σωμάτων; Ἐπίχεε ἐπ ἐμὲ ὁ Θεός, τὸ μέγα σου ἔλεος. See Αναλογιαν «Τριοδιον: Ε’ Εβδομαδος, Δευτέρα», Ελληνικα Λειτοργικα Κειμενα της Ορθηοδοχης, http://analogion.gr/glt/texts/Tri/t72.uni.htm (accessed April 16, 2013).

16 Aposticha at Mattins on the 5th Tuesday of Great Lent. In Greek: Τὴν τετραυματισμένην μου ψυχήν, καὶ τεταπεινωμένην, ἐπίσκεψαι Κύριε, ἰατρὲ τῶν νοσούντων, καὶ τῶν ἀπηλπισμένων λιμὴν ἀχείμαστε· σὺ γὰρ εἶ ὁ ἐλθὼν Λυτρωτής τοῦ Κόσμου, ἐγεῖραι ἐκ φθορᾶς τὸν παραπεσόντα, κᾀμὲ προσπίπτοντα ἀνάστησον, διὰ τὸ μέγα σου ἔλεος. Emphasis mine. The Community of the Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery, trans., The Lenten Triodion, http://www.ocf.org/OrthodoxPage/prayers/triodion/lent5tue (accessed April 16, 2013); See Αναλογιαν «Τριοδιον: Ε’ Εβδομαδος, Δευτέρα», Ελληνικα Λειτοργικα Κειμενα της Ορθηοδοχης, http://analogion.gr/glt/texts/Tri/t73.uni.htm (accessed April 16, 2013).

17 Robert F. Taft, “War and Peace in the Byzantine Divine Liturgy,” in Peace and War in Byzantium: Essays in Honor of George T. Dennis, S.J., Timothy S. Miller and John Nesbitt, eds. (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1995), 17. 24

nurse’s exam. A terminally ill individual, who knows her headaches are because of an

inoperable brain tumor, must cope with much more than a little discomfort. This is obvious

to anyone who has seen or experienced any type of injury or sickness, yet it is so often

forgotten, despite attempts within the healthcare field to be “more holistic,” and to “treat the

whole person.” And it is in this sense that we pray, “O Christ our God, the Physician of our

souls and bodies...,” because it is not sufficient to heal a person by simply disinfecting the

laceration or binding up the fracture following a traumatic incident. Notice that it is the soul

that comes first, as though that which is not physical is the priority when it comes to healing.

It seems to indicate that there is more going on than what we see.

Healing is clearly a major part of Christ’s ministry as it is shown in the Gospels. The

Sunday Gospel lectionary in the Orthodox Church, especially on the Sundays after

Pentecost, is almost entirely focused on the miracles of Jesus, which are largely concerned

with healing.18 Christ’s healing of illness, sickness, and infirmity in the Gospel is consistently

connected with the forgiveness of sin, though not necessarily indicating a causative

relationship. Rather Christ’s acts of healing, in connecting sickness and sin, is a part of a

holistic and all-encompassing ministry that seeks the reconciliation not just between the sons

and daughters of God, but seeks—and, through his death, burial, and resurrection,

achieves—the reconciliation of creation with the Creator.

As the Body of Christ, the Church has a clear responsibility to not only encourage,

but engage in, the healing ministry of our Lord. Indeed, we begin the season of Great Lent

with a stark picture of what it means to be a follower of Christ: provide for the hungry and

thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the imprisoned. The norm

18 See Archbishop Dmitri’s reflection on the Sunday Gospel lectionary, where he argues that this is done purposefully to illustrate a theological reality. Dmitri Royster, The Miracles of Christ (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1999). 25

of the apostolic Church in the New Testament, and essentially the ideal for us, is consistently

one of healing and ministry to the needy. The rich tradition of the Christian healing ministry

by clergy, monastics, laity, wonderworkers, prophets, and unmercenary saints that fill our

liturgical calendar belie the contemporary state of this ministry as seen in most of our

parishes. The basic realities of sin, sickness, and death in our daily lives are not sugarcoated

or ignored in the worship and prayer of the Church. Indeed, the concerns of our lives, and

the services and petitions related to them, are an important aspect of our liturgical life.

The petitions and prayers are not meaningless, or just meant to be read through in

order to check a block. They reflect what we actually believe as Orthodox Christians! It is

our duty and responsibility to not just hear the words of Christ in the Gospels, or mumble

“Lord have mercy,” in response to the petitions, or say “God bless you,” as we walk away

from someone suffering and in need. Our life is to be concerned with doing what Jesus did:

incarnating him within our lives as the Church. As Meyendorff points out: we as Orthodox

Christians “are sorely lacking in this regard,” with few using the many avenues of healing

(whether liturgical services or simply visiting and being with the sick, the shut-ins, and the

dying) that are so abundant in our tradition.19 It is clear that in neglecting this important and

vital ministry, we have not only forgotten or disregarded the words of Christ and the social

teaching of the Church, but also our rich liturgical tradition of worship and prayer that deals

so much with the reality of sickness and sin.

19 Paul Meyendorff, The Anointing of the Sick (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2009), 9- 19. 26

THE DRAGON’S FEN Trauma and Ritual in the Trebnik

MARTIUS […] Though I go alone, Like to a lonely dragon, that his fen Makes fear’d and talk’d of more than seen… (Coriolanus, 4.1.29-31) —————————— AUFIDIUS Although it seems, and so he thinks, and is no less apparent To the vulgar eye, that he bears all things fairly. And shows good husbandry for the Volscian state, Fights dragon-like, and does achieve as soon As draw his sword; yet he hath left undone That which shall break his neck… (Coriolanus 4.7.19-25)

The basic concerns, fears, anxieties, and needs are consistently reflected in the daily, weekly, and yearly cycle of services within the Orthodox liturgical tradition. The various litanies, be they great or little, augmented or fervent, for the faithful or the catechumens, for the departed or for thanksgiving, constantly request that which we all know we need.

Though in a stylized format, we plead with God, beseeching him to grant us peace, salvation, community, safety, health, deliverance, and, above all, mercy. We pray for the sick and the sorrowful, for the dying, and for the dead. The psalms and collects of Matins and Vespers, the hymns and prayers of Compline and the Hours, give a liturgical shape to the day. While few if any communities engage in the complete cycle of daily services throughout the week as prescribed by the Typikon, even the services our parishes are more familiar with support this structure. From our morning and evening prayers said in the home, to the Liturgy of the

Pre-sanctified Gifts during Lent, and the weekly celebrations of Christ’s resurrection, with

Vespers/Matins and the Divine Liturgy, we pray to God regularly for that which we need as 27

part of our normal everyday life. It is a pattern that follows the pattern of our days and

weeks, while the yearly cycle of feasts and fasts, give shape and meaning to our experience of

the seasons and our day-to-day lives on the macro level. Indeed, this paschal/lunar cycle changes yearly, making the Menaion/solar cycle slightly different, as the situation of our lives, which can often seem very similar from year to year, are slightly different and charged with meaning as we grow. Beyond this daily and yearly cycle, there is a “cycle” of sorts within the “sacramental” life of the church: from birth (baptism/chrismation), to adulthood whether single (monastic tonsure) or married, ordained (ordination) or lay, in sin

(confession) and sickness (unction), throughout our lives (Eucharist) until our death

(funeral) and even after (memorials/pannikhidas).1 The liturgical services are a means to

show the reality of what they are, or as Schmemann argues: The world is to be a means of worship and of grace, revealing its meaning, restoring its essence, and fulfilling its destiny.

Our work as Christians is to live out the ministry of reconciliation—of Christ’s salvation of

the world—through doing exactly that which Schmemann described.

Reality in Ritual

Beyond the routine needs of life and the customary stages of life, there are very many

services that are not necessarily celebrated regularly, but fulfill an important role in our lives:

services of need. The Book of Needs, or Trebnik, is a priest’s service book, a collection of

1 While the funeral, pannikhida, and monastic tonsure are not generally numbered within the “seven sacraments” in contemporary piety, these services, and others (like the consecration of a church and the blessing of water) have been considered fundamental mysteries/sacraments within the life of the church. As an example of how, simply organizationally, such services are considered along with the “seven sacraments,” the first volume of St. Tikhon’s The Great Book of Needs is subtitled “The Holy Mysteries,” and includes, beyond the usual six sacraments other than the Eucharist, various entry points into the Orthodox Church beyond infant baptism (by chrismation, return from apostasy, and death bead) as well as the blessing of waters, and the tonsure of monastics ; beyond simply organizational issues, the conception of particular services being “sacramental” is less about being on an “official,” but rather is indicative of a reality: Fr. Alexander Schmemann argues clearly for this idea in his For The Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy, 2nd Ed., Rev. (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1973), 121. 28

prayers and services that specifically contain the sacraments, aside from the Divine Liturgy,

as well as other services “of need,” that a parish might seek from a priest. Some are focused

on services that come up during the different stages of life (though the sacraments are not

simply functional “rites of passage,” but rather illustrate God’s sanctification of our lives in

all of their unique aspects) from birth and baptism, to (for some) marriage, and (for all)

death.2 These three in particular are sometimes termed colloquially as “hatching, matching,

and dispatching.” Additionally, the Trebnik includes other services of blessing related to the

church building, ecclesiastical furnishings and their corollaries within the home (or icon corner) such as icons, crosses for hanging or wearing, as well as the blessing of various objects (e.g., first-fruits, eggs, flesh-meat, herbs, candles, etc.) that are traditionally brought to

the Church at specific points in the year. There are also services of blessing for those objects

that seem somewhat less related to liturgical needs, from the seemingly mundane and

commonplace services of blessing of all kinds (ambulances, beehives, construction of a boat,

the digging of a well, enclosures for cattle, fire engines, grapes, harvesting of a vineyard, etc.)

to personal services of thanksgiving or supplication for beginning school, the building of or

taking up residence in a new home, and for safe travels.

Trauma in the Trebnik

The services most directly related to the work of reintegrating veterans, military

personnel returning from war and their families (as well as other victims of trauma) into a

parish community are those services, not surprisingly, that are in response to traumatic

events, whether they are happening (drought), have already happened (miscarriage), or

simply have the potential to happen (fear of an earthquake). The most frequent service a

2 The services and prayers related to death and dying are particularly relevant to veterans, those returning from war (whether living or departed), and their families. These services will be explored below along with services in response to traumatic events that are, hopefully, less commonly served than funerals. 29

person might experience because of trauma is one that might not be initially apparent:

penance. While penance, as a necessary component of reintegration, will be discussed in

more detail in a later chapter, it is important not to lose sight of how the Orthodox liturgical

tradition looks at sin. Sin is, at its heart, a trauma. Beyond “missing the mark,” a basic

definition of the Greek ἁμαρτία, sin can, and often does, have a traumatic effect on the sinner as well as other individuals. Our sins can tempt, demean, humiliate, isolate, injure, crush, and even kill our neighbor. Even those sins that might seem harmless, innocuous, or unrelated to others (cf. the common defense: “I’m not hurting anybody”) have disastrous consequences in our communities, our families, and our very souls. It is for this reason that the forgiveness of sin played such an important role in Christ’s healing ministry, and continues to be prevalent in the language of services that might seem totally unrelated to sin, either as a specific action, or as a simple reality.

The prayer for the departed asks that the Lord would “give rest to the souls of thy departed servants, in a place … where all sickness, sighing, and sorrow have fled away.”3 The issue of theodicy is not a topic that can be dealt with sufficiently in a paper of this size, but one does not need to develop a deep theological argument to defend the fact that suffering is a reality for us as human beings. We suffer pain, sickness, sorrow, and death, as well as mental, physical, and psychological pain; at times this is caused by our own choices or the choices of others, while at other times it can seem senseless and without cause. This reality is plain enough to those who have spent any time living in this world. Times of sickness and injury, whether it be cancer or a car accident, are extremely stressful and distressing, so it is no surprise that the Trebnik contains a number of services that deal with sickness, illness, injury, as well as medical complications related to childbirth. These include, beyond Unction,

3 The Service Books of the Orthodox Church (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2010), 50. 30

which will be discussed in greater detail in a later chapter: moliebens during a plague or

epidemic, moliebens for the sick, prayers for the sick in general, for a fever, for sick children,

for when sickness increases, in preparation for surgery, after surgery, after an accident or

injury, after an attempted suicide, for those suffering from old age or incurable illnesses, for

those suffering from insomnia, and for a woman in hard labor at child birth.4 There are

related prayers for thanksgiving for recovery and for successful surgery, as well as prayers for

those who are dying, with special prayers for those who have suffered for a long time, and

prayers for a mother who had a miscarriage, and for those awaiting execution. Even death

itself is covered by a multitude of prayers and services, with funerals for different categories

of people (priests, monastics, laity, young children, the military, non-orthodox, and changes

for a funeral during Bright Week). Beyond the needs of specific individuals, there are

services for larger communities that seek God’s help and mercy in response to natural

calamities, storms, and other disasters, such as impending war and current hostilities.

Military Services

Beyond the day-to-day trauma of human existence, there are specific needs that are

exclusive to military personnel, as reflected in the development of religious services for

them. While on a campaign, religious rites and ceremonies were simply part of daily life,

according to various Byzantine military manuals (Strategika) ranging from the 6th to the 10th

century.5 Beyond a daily cycle of services, services of need were frequently celebrated: proper

4 See Book of Needs [Abridged] (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2002); The Great Book of Needs, Vols I-IV (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 1998/9); Evagoras Constantinides, Trans., Μικρον Ευχολογιον ἤ Αγιασματαριον (The Priest’s Service Book), 3rd Ed. (Merrillville, IN, 1997).

5 Military chaplains are found in the Byzantine army as early as the mid-5th century. Maurice’s 6th- century Strategikon makes mention of priests leading prayers before battle, along with the general and other officers, usually focusing on the recitation of “Kyrie eleison,” and “Nobiscum Deus.” See George T. Dennis, trans., Maurice’s Strategikon: Handbook of Byzantine Military Strategy (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 31

burial services, the blessing of flags and standards, penitential services, and the Divine

Liturgy in preparation for battle, as well as prayers of thanksgiving for victory.6 Almost all of the services are concerned with the temporal victory of the military in battle, but the primary services composed or celebrated in relation to soldiers and combat were essentially of two kinds: pre-combat services of a rogational nature and post-combat services focusing on either thanksgiving for victory and/or memorial services commemorating the deaths of comrades.7

One of the few examples in English of a pre-battle service is in the abridged Book of

Needs, published by St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press.8 The service opens with the usual beginning, then three psalms (140, 144, 146), followed by a prayer asking for “protection in righteousness and truth … that they kill no one unrighteously, but rather preserve all righteousness and truth; that they may fear You and honor justice … extending your love to those near them, serving … with justice.” This prayer is followed by a Gospel reading (Luke

1984), 33; 8-9. Maurice begins his work with a prayer for divine assistance and help from the Holy Trinity, and the Theotokos, going on to say that for a general, “the most important concern [should] be the love of God and justice …[striving] to win the favor of God, without which it is impossible to carry out any plan…”

6 George T. Dennis, “Religious Services in the Byzantine Army,” Eulogema: Studies in Honor of Robert Taft, S.J. (Rome: Studia Anselmiana 110, 1993), 107-117. For military regulations on prayer, fasting, and the pre-combat celebration of the Divine Liturgy, see Eric McGeer, Sowing the Dragon’s Teeth: Byzantine Warfare in the Tenth Century (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2008), 57-59; on the importance of priests, especially their purity and “incessant” performing of rites, see George T. Dennis, Trans., The Taktika of Leo VI (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2010) 638-641

7 See Dennis, Trans., The Taktika of Leo VI, 290-1 for generals requiring rogational services. See also related notes below (31n26-27) in reference to prayers of thanksgiving and memorial services. There are a number of extant services that, although not yet translated into English, are frequently referenced as indicative of such byzantine military offices. For general information about religious services and devotional practices, see Dennis, “Religious Services in the Byzantine Army,” 107-117; J.R. Viellefond, “Les pratiques religieuses dans l’armée byzantine d’après les traités militaires,” Revue des Études Anciennes 87 (1935): 322-30; “For an example of supplicatory service, focusing on the image of David defeating Goliath and requesting victory for the army and navy, see A. Pertusi, “Una acolouthia militare inedita del X secolo,” Aevum 22 (1948): 145-168; for a memorial service for those killed in action, see Detorakis and Mossay, “Un office byzantine inédit pour ceux qui sont morts à la guerre, dans le Cod. Sin. Gr. 734-735,” Le Muséon 101, No. 1-2 (1988): 183-209; for an example of a more lengthy prayer while marching towards the enemy line, see McGeer, Sowing the Dragon’s Teeth, 127.

8 “Office for the Blessing of Soldiers Going Off to War (or Battle),” Book of Needs [Abridged] (South Canaan, PA: St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2002), 349-355. 32

41:31-33, “What king, going to make war against another king…”) with a special note that the “soldiers hold their weapons in their arms,” during the gospel reading. The reading is followed by another prayer with a blessing with water, requesting “increase of justice,” and that their enemies be “turned back,” then the dismissal, invoking the “Angelic

Commanders,” and the standard warrior saints (Ss. George, Demetrius, Procopius,

Theodore the General, and Theodore the Recruit). The only other English example I found is in Abramtsov’s An Abridged Euchologion, which contains a substantially different service than that found in St. Tikhon’s Book of Needs.9 It also opens with the usual beginning, followed by the singing of the Troparion of the Cross, a prayer that uses the biblical figures of Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Constantine, within the anamnesis portion, asking, as a petition, for preservation from harm as well as “triumph and vigorous vanquishment over enemies.”

The priest then blesses the congregation (“peace be unto all”), and facing them says another prayer for protection and safety, blesses them again (“The blessing of the Lord be upon you all: do you take courage … and place your trust in the Lord, for he shall vanquish your foes.”), and then sprinkles them with holy water while a troparion about David’s defeat of

Goliath is sung, followed by the dismissal, which invokes the same persons, but inserts a request that the Lord might “strengthen you in the day of battle,” within the normal concluding phrase of the dismissal “have mercy on us … and save us.” Despite even the most pious preparations for combat, swords and spears are still quite dangerous, and as is the norm in warfare: soldiers sometimes die.

In response to this reality, memorial services specifically for “Orthodox Warrior,” were developed. One example in English can be found in Hapgood’s Service Book of the Holy

Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, which amends the standard text with several prayers

9 David F. Abramtsov, “The Blessing of Warriors Going into Combat,” An Abridged Euchologion (Philadelphia: Orthodox Catholic Literature Association, 1954), 111-115. 33

praying for the souls of those who fought for “the faith and the fatherland,” as well as a

unique canon for “Orthodox Warriors.”10 A previously unpublished service of supplication for soldiers who died in battle or captivity, of unknown authorship was discovered in a rare

Greek codex of the Triodion, and made available (with a parallel French translation) by

Detorakis and Mossay in 1988. The service, to be offered on the Soul Saturday before the start of Lent, follows the more ancient models of the canon. It forms an acrostic that forms a verse in iambic trimeter, and (more remarkably) is composed as a nine ode canon with four troparia, and also utilizes two heirmoi, in similar fashion to the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete. The office is especially interesting in that it frequently hints at an underlying message that soldiers who sacrificed their life in battle are to be ranked “among the choirs of the saints” as well as the usage of language and terminology usually reserved for monastics and martyrs:

You welcome the allies of your people, O All-powerful Christ, who have kept a firm faith in you … and are happy to die for you and bear long captivity without denying you, O Living Lord, count them among the choirs of the saints and the spirits of the just.

They proved themselves to be the foundations of their homeland and their entire race, despising life here on earth as a transient life, they purified their souls by shedding their blood, they suffered death by the edge of swords, they were laid low in captivity, and were happy to pass from this world to that which is beyond, Christ, Master, grant rest to their souls in the bosom of Abraham.11

Along with these services asking for victory and protection as well as memorial

services for the departed, came the exhortation of military commanders, like Leo VI in his

10 Isabel Florence Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church, 7th Ed., Rev. (Englewood, NJ: The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America, 1996), 473-463; Cf., Detorakis and Mossay, “Un office byzantine inédit pour ceux qui sont morts à la guerre, dans le Cod. Sin. Gr. 734-735,” Le Muséon 101, No. 1-2 (1988): 183-209.

11 My translation, cf. Detorakis and Mossay, “Un office byzantine inédit pour ceux qui sont morts à la guerre, dans le Cod. Sin. Gr. 734-735,” Le Muséon 101, No. 1-2 (1988): 187-191. 34

Tactika, who recommends promising spiritual rewards for bravery on the battle field during

the pre-combat stages of preparation:

The heralds should speak to the army in words exhorting them on to battle. First they should call to mind the reward for their faith in God and the benefactions of the emperor, and some of their previous victories. The struggle is on behalf of God and his love for them and on behalf of the entire nation. It is, furthermore, on behalf of their brothers and fellow believers and, if it applies, for their wives and children and their father land. Eternal indeed remains the memory of those who have valiantly striven against the foe on behalf of the freedom of their brothers, and who have struggled so bravely against the enemies of God.12

In the same work, Leo VI, like Maurice, also reminds generals to take care of his

soldiers and their families:

After the battle, O general, you are obliged to see to the comfort of the soldiers wounded in action, as well as to provide proper burial for those who have fallen. Constantly pronounce them blessed because they have not preferred their own lives over their faith and their brothers. This is a religious act and it greatly helps the moral of the living. If they have children or a wife and it is clear that they met their end struggling valiantly, then provide proper comfort to their children and wives. 13

In addition to soldier-specific pannikhidas and promises made to soldiers that sound

very much like the western practice of indulgences, Nikephoras II Phocas, in the mid-10th century, argued that Orthodox soldiers who died in battle should be commemorated as martyrs. The synod strongly resisted it and responded by dusting off a 5th-century canon

from St. Basil’s canonical epistles that suggested a temporary excommunication from

communion, although it is unclear how and when, if ever, this was enforced.14 He writes:

12 George T. Dennis, Trans., The Taktika of Leo VI (Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks, 2010), 248- 251; 444-445;

13 Ibid., 306-9.

14 John Haldon, Warfare, State, and Society in the Byzantine World, 565-1204 (Abingdon, England: Routledge, 1999), 27-33. For more detail as to the exact language of the proposed law, as well as more in-depth discussion on the issue of enforcement, see Patrick Viscuso, “Christian Participation in Warfare,” in Peace and War in Byzantium, 36-40.

τοὺς ἐν πολέμοις φόνους όι πατέρες ήμων ἐν τοὶς φόνοις ούκ έλογίσαντο, ἐμοι δοκεὶ συγγνώμην διδόντες τοὶς ύπὲρ σωφροσύνης καὶ έυσεβείας άμυνομένοις. Τάχα δὲ καλῶς ἔχει συμβουλεύειν, ώς τὰς χεῖρας μὴ καθαροῦς, τρῖων ἐτῶν τὴς κοινωνίας μόνης ἀπέχεσθαι.15

Basil seems to be arguing for the use of a pastoral tool—temporary abstention from communion for three years for those soldiers who had killed in battle—while clearly stating that killing in combat was never considered “murder.”16 This canon, and others like it, is indicative of an understanding that Orthodox Christians returning from war (and especially those who have killed in combat) are in need of reintegration and healing. More to the point, it points to an understanding within the Orthodox tradition that killing is always a sin, no matter the justification. Sincere repentance is vital for a person who kills in battle, no matter how honorably or dispassionately the action or how “just” the war is considered. In this context, the temporary excommunication from communion is not intended to be a punishment, and while there is obviously a degree of concern about ritual impurity based on the shedding of blood (as in St. Basil’s reference to unclean hands), it seems clear that this purification is not just ritual custom. Indeed, this is a purification of soul, “through tears and

15 St. Basil, Letter 188; Canon 13 of the 92 Canons, see Deledemou, ed., Pedalion, (Thessaloniki, 1987), 599 and Denver Cummings, The Rudder (Chicago, IL: Orthodox Christian Education Society, 1957), 801: “Our fathers did not consider killings committed in the course of wars to be classifiable as murders at all, on the score, it seems to me, of allowing a pardon to men fighting in defense of sobriety and piety. Perhaps, though, it might be advisable to refuse them communion for three years, on the ground that their hands are not clean.”

16 Blastares argues that this canon was never in force (cf. his argument that to do so would have essentially meant life-long abstention from communion, since the operational tempo created situations in which soldiers fought at least as often as once every three years. It stands to mention that St. Basil was not alone in this argument for purification and penance after killing in war, as in the case of the Canons of Hippolytus, though Hippolytus takes a harder line in regards to any Christian participation in warfare in 14.74. See Paul Bradshaw, ed. The Canons of Hippolytus (Cambridge, England: Grove Books, 1987), 34: “A Christian should not volunteer to become a soldier, unless he is compelled to do this by someone in authority. He can have a sword, but he should not be commanded to shed blood. If it can be shown that he has shed blood he should stay away from the mysteries (sacraments) at least until he has been purified through tears and lamentation.”

lamentation,” according to Hippolytus.17 Like any penitential discipline, this recommended

period of excommunication is not put forward as a method of retribution or punishment,

that it might be lorded over the penitent. This discipline is, instead, an opportunity for

reflection and repentance. Yet despite the presence of this discussion in the canonical

corpus, it is unclear as to what kind of further penance or spiritual disciplines a soldier who

killed in combat might have received, in conjunction with (or in addition to) the

recommended abstention from the Eucharist. There’s no mention as to whether or not his

return might be shaped by any special liturgical services or defined acts of contrition, and

even the extent to which any such proposals might have been in force is uncertain.18

Coming Home?

The services of return that we do see mentioned mostly deal with imperial victory,

though there seems to be a consensus that the purity of the warriors engaged in a battle

directly related to its outcome. If a unit sustained heavy losses, it was obviously due to sin,

whereas if a unit was victorious, the spiritual purity (not the tactical or technical proficiency)

of the soldiers was deemed a significant factor.19 This comes from an idea that it was God

who granted victory or caused defeat; this may help explain the almost-monastic level of

religious fervor (or superstition) of the Byzantine army, as seen in the plethora of religious

services as part of their preparation for, and even participation in, combat. It is unclear what,

if any, liturgical services were required after a defeat. While there are numerous services for

17 Bradshaw, Canons of Hippolytus, 34.

18 As mentioned in a previous note, Matthew Blastares, the late Byzantine canonist offers a very realistic, as well as pastoral, picture of how the canons of Basil were actually put into practice, i.e., the letter was not, though the spirit was. See Viscuso, “Christian Participation in Warfare,” in Peace and War in Byzantium, 33- 37.

19 Michael McCormick, Eternal Victory (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 189-230, passim.

going off to war, services for blessing banners and even weapons, as well as a number of

pannikhida (requiem) services for the departed or captured soldiers, little thought seems to

have been given to the difficulties related to returning home beyond the seemingly ignored

canonical tradition recommending a time of general penance, perhaps because of the

increasingly mercenary nature of the Byzantine army, or the extremely high operational

tempo throughout most of its latter history. One might think that there would be a veritable

stockpile of rites available to the military when the fighting was over, but that does not seem

to be the case. If there was a strong sense that warriors needed a period of transition back to

civilian life, best done in the contest of the liturgical life of the Church, as their war service

seems to have been, we have little or no record of it.20

In view of lex orandi est lex credendi, the psychological and spiritual welfare of returning

soldiers is not given ample attention in the Byzantine military sources. While this may have been due to ignorance of advances in the fields of psychology and neurology, perhaps the

focus on initial supplication and penance before and during battle, coupled with a possible

more natural and organic homecoming in the first place, which we can assume included a

great degree of pastoral care, either by the chaplains attached to military units, or by their

parish priest at home. Regardless of these accidental or deliberate lacunae, it is clear that

bishops, as well as commanders, were concerned with their wounded, both physically and

spiritually. While this chapter is not an attempt to create a direct correlation between

Byzantium and the United States, or to even hold up the Byzantine army as an example to

emulate, the structure, manuals, and records of the Byzantine military are helpful in better

understanding the waging of war in an Orthodox context. Regardless of any excessive

promises of spiritual rewards, or any atrocities committed, it is an example of an overtly

20 Dennis, Maurice’s Strategikon, 86 38

Orthodox military organization that utilized worship and liturgy as much as logistics in its

planning process. It is hard to argue with the advice given to Orthodox generals in one of the maxims of Maurice’s Strategikon: “It is right to be very concerned about the wounded. If we neglect them, we will find that the rest of the troops will deliberately not fight well, and our remissness will cause us to lose some who could have been saved.” Given the record rates of PTSD and TBI, as well as the ever-increasing rate of military deaths from suicide

and other high-risk behavior due to war-related psychological trauma, we should be

concerned with our own wounded. We can no longer let our remissness, in not exercising

the healing ministry of Christ in our churches, be a factor in losing those who can be saved.

III

FROM DRAGON TO MAN Reintegration and Return

VOLUMNIA Take my prayers with you. I would the gods had nothing else to do But to confirm my curses! Could I meet ’em But once a day, it would unclog my heart Of what lies heavy to’t. MENENIUS You have told them home, And, by my troth, you have cause. You’ll sup with me? VOLUMNIA Anger’s my meat; I sup upon myself, And so shall starve with feeding. (Coriolanus 4.2.46-52)

As seen in the previous chapters, there is a definite need for reintegration and healing for members of the military, veterans, and their families. The massive amount of physical, psychological, moral, and spiritual injuries that our service men and women are facing is devastating, not only to the individuals and their families and the larger military organization, but to our parish communities and to society as a whole. Given that the standard response of the Orthodox Christian tradition to any need, trauma, injury, sickness, sin, trouble, danger, or even death is to pray, it makes sense then that this reality be brought before God in prayer, not only to verbalize the need for healing and help on the vertical level, but also on the horizontal level, so that the community may more fully understand the economy of salvation, the sanctification of our lives, in even the most dire circumstances, like war.

To look at lex orandi est lex credendi from another perspective, what we believe should be reflected in our prayer. Worship is not just prescriptive, but descriptive. Obviously, the services and prayers of the past were, at one time, nonexistent. Each one was written at a

specific time, in a specific place, based on a need or desire to communicate a reality, either to

God in the form of a supplication, or to the people of God, as in the case of the dogmatica, hymns in which the weightier matters of our theology are explained, or more often than not, marveled at in song. Yet, despite this reality, many Orthodox can be resistant to change and

“innovation,” which can make it difficult to create services, if not simply amend them to make them more relevant, as in the case of the prayers after a miscarriage that, for many years, if read exactly as written, have been less than restorative. Our own insularity and focus on “tradition” have been foundational elements in our remaining “pure” and “Orthodox”— though as a priest, I would argue that any continuity with the Church of Christ and the

Apostles, that we claim to have, has more to do with Christ than our own slavish clutching of “tradition,” i.e., “how my grandfather did it”—but has also limited our ability to minister to those in great need. The liturgical tradition must change. Yet, like a language which changes and gains new words to explain newly-discovered concepts, it changes organically and does so in order to retain its authenticity and truth. In essence, we grow and change in order to remain the same.

One of the realities that the Orthodox Church has not dealt with liturgically is the healing of returning veterans. While even a molieben in response to their return to a parish community would be a step in the right direction, it cannot stop there. What is needed is a program of reunion and reintegration. Numerous researchers, psychologists, psychiatrists, chaplains, and other professionals working to minister and heal military personnel and veterans as well as their families, have attempted to create methodologies, formulas, objectives, and strategies for healing. Many have utilized rituals from other traditions, often with some modification or reinterpretation, while some have even developed their own services/ceremonies based either on other models or simply on a perceived need. One of the

most prevalent models is that presented by Edward Tick in his War and the Soul: Healing Our

Nation’s Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, which recommends “four essential steps,”

based on a “close study of myths and rituals traditional people used,” focusing on his

understanding of Native American tradition: “Purification and Cleansing, Storytelling,

Restitution in the Family and the Nation, and Initiation as a Warrior”1 This methodology is

becoming increasingly widespread in the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, as Ed Tick was the

primary speaker at the 2012 CAST (Chaplain Annual Sustainment Training) events that act

as continuing education for Army Chaplains, Chaplain Assistants, and Chaplain Candidates.

His voice, being one of the few actively engaging with the military at this level, has become

the best known. His essential steps, and indeed his whole book, can be an extremely helpful

resource for veterans, their families, and those ministering to them, as this work is the fruit

born from years of study, research, and field work with veterans. Yet the overall

methodology of his book is one that confirms a romanticized view of “warrior cultures,” like

that of the warriors of the Plains Indians, the Samurai of feudal Japan, with seemingly little

critical thought as to the larger implications of a “warrior culture.” He makes almost no

mention of the great degree of dehumanization and brutality that marked the wider societies in which these groups fought and the implications of what a return to such an “ideal” might mean. While his emphasis on warriors being and acting honorably by being supported

through a societal structure that honors them and their sacrifice is welcome, it seems to

focus on a somewhat orientalist view of so-called “traditional peoples” or “warrior cultures.”

Despite this oversight, as well as his, perhaps undue, focus on Jungian archetypal concepts

of psychology, this four-part method is helpful. My critique of Ed Tick’s methodology in

developing his four-part method does not necessarily invalidate his conclusion, inasmuch as

1 Ed Tick, War and the Soul: Healing Our Nation’s Veterans from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 2005), 199; 201-268, passim. 42

he, like many of us who minister, pastor, and counsel veterans and their families, is trying to develop something that is relatively novel in our modern way of waging war: an emphasis on spiritual reflection, both before the declaration of war and after the armistice, by everyone involved, from politician to child, from general to private. Similarly, his focus on the need for healing and his understanding and description of the problem itself is a very valuable addition to the literature on the issue of war’s effect on the soul; indeed, he, along with Shay, is one of the first to delve deeply into this issue in our American context.

To be fair, my own work is similarly silent, in many ways, inasmuch as I have not made reference to the atrocities committed by countries and armies that considered themselves “Orthodox.” As noted previously, there have been attempts to turn all departed

Orthodox warriors into saints by virtue of their service and subsequent death. For the most part, soldiers do not behave in a manner that many would view as “saintly,” although the military does have its share of “saints,” as seen in the rather hagiographical citations that accompany the awarding of the Medal of Honor. This paper is far from arguing that we should commemorate all departed soldiers as “martyrs” and, as the author knows too well, being in the military is not a first-class ticket to sainthood. There are a bevy of temptations in the military, especially during war, that can tug at the heart: despair, lust (for both sex and power), anger, deceit, pride, sloth, cowardice, brutality, gossip, idolatry, apostasy –all are quite easy to succumb to while serving in a war zone as part of a meritocracy. Politics, inasmuch as it is often war with pens and policies instead of swords and shields, is also affected. This reality of sin and failure, even, if not especially, within the histories of

Orthodox governments and groups cannot be fully catalogued in this paper, but one need not look very deeply into a history book to find proof. Yet, it is because of this reality that

one of the major components of healing that this thesis advocates is penance, along with healing, storytelling, engagement, and continued service.

Penance

What then is the place of the Sacrament of Penance on a path towards healing for veterans? Like storytelling, confession is an integral part of identifying, processing, and dealing with the shame, anger, resentment, and guilt of war. Unlike some forms of storytelling that many have found helpful, in the sacrament of reconciliation this “public

confession” is not published, put on the web, televised, or shared with a large group of

people. That is not to say confession is private; it is clearly an ecclesial, and thus public, act.

It is called to be done in the church, not in a private room or at home. It is public, to the

extent that you can be seen by anyone present in the church, yet at the same time, it is a

semi-private setting with a priest, inasmuch as only he and God can hear the confession. In

this setting, the priest functions not as a judge, but as a witness. Despite the usage of the

first-person in the prayer of absolution as printed in the Russian/Slavonic usage, the priest is

not the one forgiving the penitent. Rather, he is a guide and a shepherd, encouraging and

helping the individual make the most fruitful confession to God as possible.

Within this framework, the penitent confesses to God their sins aloud. The importance of verbalizing an individual’s offenses is paramount, especially for those suffering from traumatic stress. While it can be emotionally painful, it aids in identifying and exposing those things that are more easily ignored when kept within one’s self. Sins of both commission and omission can be justified, explained away, hidden, and forgotten, by way of a constant inner dialogue and circular rationalization. If no else knows, if it does not have to be confessed, the individual can (try to) live and act as though it did not happen. Confession,

the actual naming and disclosing of offenses, makes them real, because the penitent is

opening himself up to scrutiny and examination, even unto judgment.

Just as there is a big difference between saying a formal and mechanical, “Forgive

me” to a stranger at the Vespers of Forgiveness Sunday and confessing to a close friend,

face-to-face, that you gossiped about them or betrayed them in some way, there is a clear

difference between feeling regret in your head and saying aloud in front of the priest and the

icon of Christ on the Gospel, “I cheated on my wife.” Each verbal disclosure of a specific

incident or offense to another person (albeit in confidence) can be extremely difficult, but is

an integral part of reconciliation and catharsis. This opportunity for reflection and self-

assessment is particularly helpful for those returning from war that have done things which

may have “accomplished the mission,” (according to military standards), but are grave sins

(according to spiritual standards). One notable example is killing or wounding another

human being. It is clear from the canonical tradition, that there is a precedent (even if not in practice) for recommending a period of Eucharistic abstinence as part of a returning soldier’s penitential discipline. Some soldiers, under the direction of their confessor, may find such a penance helpful, if not necessary, for their healing. This thesis, though, is not, by any means, recommending that pastors automatically institute an extended period of Eucharistic abstinence—especially not for three years—for all returning military personnel, or even all those that have killed or committed grave sins in war. Such a decision should only be made by a mature pastor that is intimately familiar with the penitent; it should not be made without taking into consideration the penitent’s level of spiritual stamina, as well as his or her overall personality, current psychological state, and a good understanding of the situation in which any applicable sins were committed.

Beyond any penitential discipline, whether they be additional prayers, acts of contrition, or periods of Eucharistic abstinence, the confession itself is beneficial in its own right. The honest disclosure of sins in confession is remedial, because it helps to relieve pain and the burden of guilt and shame, while simultaneously being preventive, when through pastoral counseling and in response to the forgiveness of Christ, one seeks to stop the injuring behavior or change the offending attitude. In regards to PTSD, it can be an opportunity for the veteran or family member to delve deeper into issues and concerns, especially in relation to their own culpability, that are either too personal or difficult to talk about as part of storytelling to a larger group or even with trusted friends. Despite such a confession being “private” in the sense that it is confidential, the healing that comes from such disclosure, reframing, and forgiveness, also goes beyond the individual and helps to heal tension in that person’s relationship with his or her family and friends, as well as with the parish or community. The overarching goal is to heal the whole community. Beyond the individual salvation of the individual, the long-term objective of the sacrament of confession is reconciliation. This need for reconciliation may be in response to a single traumatic event—as in the case of a trusted parish member embezzling from the church, or a member of the clergy abusing the faithful—or something less obvious, but no less traumatic: the sum total of all the “little” sins that help create the conflict and friction so often experienced in parish and community life. In this way, while the rite seems to be primarily dealing with specific individuals, the overall community is affected by repentance and reconciliation, just as it is affected by transgressions and discord.

Healing

Healing, within the Orthodox tradition, is much more than asking for physical restoration to health. The last chapter indicated how the liturgical texts themselves indicate a 46

much deeper conception of what one should seek when asking or praying for “healing.”

Beyond that reality, for which Paul Meyendorff makes a forceful argument in his The

Anointing of the Sick, there is another aspect of healing that is most clearly seen in that

foundational service of healing, which is often referred to as Unction, Anointing, or even,

incorrectly, “Last Rites,” that was not fully illustrated in the last chapter.2 It is an echo of the

argument made for the corporate aspect of penance: the fundamental importance of the

Eucharistic community as the foundation for individual healing and growth.

The sacrament of Holy Unction is a service of healing, most often served for an individual or a group of individuals. What stands out about this service of healing is that it is always (except in extremis) “performed in the church … and by the church [and] aims precisely at

reintegrating the sick person into the community.”3 The healing requested is one of “soul

and body,” asking not simply for physical recovery, but for “relief from every passion, from

every sickness of flesh and spirit, and from all evil.”4 This is in stark contrast to what seems

to be the U.S. military’s preferred method of dealing with psychological trauma: drugs.

According to a report that came out during the writing of this work, there was a “682

percent increase in the number of psychoactive drugs — antipsychotics, sedatives, stimulants

and mood stabilizers — prescribed to our troops between 2005 and 2011 … despite a steady

reduction in combat troop levels since 2008.”5 I do not deny in the present work that

medication can be extremely helpful in treating not just the symptoms, but even the causes,

of many mental health conditions; to do so would call into question years of empirical

2 Paul Meyendorff, The Anointing of the Sick (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2009), 10- 12, 64-70.

3 Ibid., 85.

4 Ibid., 130.

5 Richard A. Friedman, "Wars on Drugs," New York Times, April 6, 2013.

medical evidence, as well as my own personal experience dealing with patients suffering

from acute conditions that are greatly affected by imbalances in brain chemistry or function.

Yet, the problem is that there is no evidence that using antipsychotic drugs to treat combat

stress is effective or worth the risks associated with the drugs, and there seem to be no

ongoing studies to even evaluate this dramatic increase in prescriptions. Dr. Richard A.

Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry and the director of the psychopharmacology clinic at the Weill Cornell Medical College, sees a possible analogy “between the military’s use of psychoactive drugs and the practice of pumping athletes full of steroids so they can

continue to compete despite physical pain.” This chemically enhanced performance causes

both soldiers and athletes to “unwittingly sustain more serious injuries as a result.”6

Compare the way in which the physical, spiritual, psychological, and social aspects of

healing are presented in the prescription of the prayer/oil in the prayer of the fourth priest:

O good Lord, who loves mankind, compassionate and greatly merciful, abundant in mercy and rich in goodness, Father of mercies and God of all consolation, who through the apostles has given us power to heal the infirmities of your people through oil and prayer: make this oil to be for the healing of those who are anointed with it, for relief from every disease and all sickness, for deliverance from evil of those who in hope await salvation from you. Yea, O master, Lord, our God almighty, we entreat you to save us all. O only Physician of our souls and bodies, sanctify us all. You heal every disease: heal also your servant (name): raise him (her) up from the bed of sickness, through the mercies of your kindness; visit him(her) with your mercy and compassion; remove from him (her) every illness and infirmity; so that, having been raised by your mighty hand, he (she) may serve you with all thanksgiving; and that we too, who now share in your ineffable love for humanity, may hymn and glorify you, for you perform great and wondrous deeds, extraordinary and glorious. For you are merciful and save us, O God, our God, and to you we give glory, together with your only-begotten Son and your all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit: now and ever, and unto ages of ages.7

6 Ibid.

7 Meyendorff, Anointing, 152-3.

The prayer of the first priest, similarly, focuses on the wider healing beyond the specific

petition of that day; we’re not asking simply that God heal this one malady, this injury, or

just the acute illness of this person today, but are asking for so much more. We’re asking for

renewal, for joy, for peace (both within ourselves and within our communities), and we are placed within the context of our baptism as Christians: whether we are in illness or good health, living with a withered hand, a missing eye, or a double amputation, whether we live or die, it is Christ who has given life to the world and in whom death and sickness have been transformed into life, and life abundant. The prayer of the first priest, before the anointing, picks up on this theme:

Let this oil, O Lord, become the oil of gladness, the oil of sanctification, a royal robe, an armor of might, the averting of every work of the devil, an unassailable seal, the joy of the heart, an eternal rejoicing. Grant that those who are anointed with this oil of regeneration may be fearsome to their adversaries and that they may shine with the radiance of your saints, having neither stain nor defect, and that they may attain your everlasting rest and receive the price of their high calling.8

This language of regeneration and joy, of robe and armor, is taken from the service of

Baptism and Chrismation, in which the theme of being a “newly enlisted soldier of Christ” is

used as a metaphor for becoming a Christian. Our life is one of death and suffering, taking

up our cross, for “as many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ,” who lived

not in luxury, but in service, even unto death on the cross. “All of us have our crosses to

bear,” as the saying goes, and, as we have seen in previous chapters, the cross of a victim of

severe psychological and spiritual trauma is particularly heavy. It cannot be shouldered alone.

Storytelling

It is hard to return to civilian life. Even though it has been years since I was in Iraq,

weapons in hand, it is hard to shake. Beyond the physical tinnitus, there is a certain spiritual

8 Ibid., 87-89. 49

or psychological residue, a ringing in the ears of my soul, that increases and decreases in volume, but is never totally silent. That faint hum of war is always there, like a sleeping dragon. Post-traumatic stress is something like a residue. It is hard to explain, but it is something like having a song you can never get out of your head for very long, or still smelling feces long after thoroughly cleaning animal droppings from your shoe, or like an oily feeling on your hands that you just cannot wash off. Now take that feeling or sensation in your mind, which normally might last a few minutes, and think about how both annoying and intriguing it is, about how distracting such a feeling might be. Now make it last for years on end, and you’ll have a sense of what post-traumatic stress is like. For good and for ill, the constant rhythm—the beating of the war drum—remain in our ears long after the banners have stopped flapping, and the weapons have been put away. It is not just because of the high operational tempo, the rapid succession of combat deployments with minimal rest or

“refit” time in between, that many units throughout the United States military have come to see as normative. That drumbeat continues, in a positive sense, through storytelling. Sharing stories, either with trusted friends or other vets, in a way helps turn the roaring boom into a melody that one can reflect on and learn from.

War stories are those special myths, handed down with reverence and awe, which tell of a truth that really was not; one inflates, embellishes, and exaggerates so as not to understate the reality, which if told in “actuality,” would be missing so much. To tell a story of a rocket landing close-by and surviving with no injury states plainly what, for the one in the midst of a rocket attack, seems like a personal Independence Day fireworks show concentrated in his 96-square-foot trailer. The smoke and the fire, darker and brighter in the memory of a soldier than can be seen in the lens of a camera, come alive as spirits of confusion and chaos.

Storytelling is an integral part of our lives as human beings, especially when dealing

with the sacred, the infinite, the horrible, and the strange. The scientific method has little

credence here; the story—the drama of a reality made even more real, a story told in truth,

even if not with journalistic accuracy—is a mechanism of speaking and understanding that which is, oddly enough, beyond words. One of the most dramatic accounts of story-telling

done in order to help someone see reality more clearly than might occur by simply stating

the facts as in II Samuel, when Nathan tells a story to King David.9 The prophet comes to

David shortly after the king’s affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah,

and describes an event that did not actually happen, yet was essentially true. He tells the king a

story about a rich man with much livestock who, desiring to render hospitality to a guest

without actually sacrificing his own possession, steals the one precious lamb owned by a

poor neighbor. King David flies off in a rage, declaring that the rich man must pay back

fourfold for the offense, going on to say that, in truth, this man deserves to die for his

ruthlessness. At that point, the prophet replies simply: “You are the man.”10 It is in this context that Psalm 50 is said to have been written, which in itself reflects the degree to which a soul can be truly wounded, especially by the confrontation of one’s own actions.

A priest visiting St. Vladimir’s Seminary, having picked up on the fact that I was in the military, asked if I had ever read The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. I had read it a couple of times and told the priest as much, to which he replied: “That book always stood out to me, especially that part where he is reflecting on how he answered his daughter’s question: ‘did you ever kill anyone?’ It is kind of like the Gospels: all of it is true, but none of

9 II Samuel 12:1-7. 10 A retired U.S. Army Chaplain, Herman Keizer, reflected on how moving this biblical story, and the corresponding psalm, was to groups of soldiers he ministered to in Vietnam. He also mentions the resonance soldiers found in the imprecatory psalms, as well as the surprise they showed when they found out that these texts were in the Bible! See Rita Nakashima Brock and Gabriella Lettini, Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War (Boston: Beacon Press, 2012), 26-27.

it is true.” This exchange, rather scandalous to a young and intrepid seminarian, caught me

off guard. Yet as I pondered what he said, especially in light of Tim O’Brien’s description of

his time in Vietnam—which I found and reread in light of this conversation—I realized

what I think he meant. In the Gospels, our Lord often speaks in parables—these are

stories—that go far beyond some desire for historical or factual accuracy in describing some

event; he speaks truth that if said plainly, would not have the same force. Yet, even more

relevant to this issue are the Gospels themselves. The Gospels are, at their core, stories about events and, more to the point, a person, which cannot really be told truthfully if they are told

“accurately.” This story, which cannot be described properly as a historically accurate (in the

modern sense) and objective description of exactly what happened on such-and-such a day,

is, at the same time, a completely true and faithful account of what really happened. Without

going into the fact that the modernist tendency to seek out “objectivity” simply was not as

much at work in ancient histories, a journalistic history is simply not what the Gospels are

meant to be. This is not to denigrate the Gospels as inaccurate or ahistorical—nor am I

arguing that the events, as portrayed in the Gospels “did not happen”—but rather to

highlight the importance of storytelling, especially in cases of life-and-death situations, as

more than just describing “facts,” but rather focusing on sharing real truth.

In war, this is arguably a prerequisite for healing, if not survival.11 The muddled mayhem with its fog and fissures are mended through both memory and myth. This is so the emotion and experience, not necessarily the factual details surrounding the event itself, are clearly and vibrantly expressed to the hearer. In some cases, one must (technically) lie in

11 Marlantes, Tick, Shay, among others, are vocal proponents of storytelling as an integral part of a warrior’s life, especially in regards to processing past events, and helping others (family, friends, and the wider civilian and military population) to better understand the experiences that they’ve been through and thus find healing. Marlantes also notes the importance of storytelling to prepare other warriors for the same reality; a prophylactic of sorts against the dangers of war (which, in noting both the thrill and the danger, he compares to “unsafe” sex).

order to tell the truth. Otherwise, one might mistake this legend as being just a war story.

The telling of this story provides more than just an outlet for the storyteller, or an interesting diversion for the hearer, but a chance to reflect and process what actually happened, specifically beyond the event itself.

Engagement

It is in this vein that Karl Marlantes begins his book, What It Is Like to Go to War. The opening lines of his preface are rather simple and straightforward, but are prime examples of exactly how storytelling can be enormously helpful to both the veteran/warrior seeking healing, but also the community in which they live, and beyond. Marlantes begins:

I wrote this book primarily to come to terms with my own experience of combat. So far—reading, writing, thinking—that has taken more than forty years. I could have kept my thoughts in a personal journal, but I took on trying to get these reflections published so that I could share them with other combat veterans. Perhaps, in some way, I can help them with their own quest for meaning and their efforts to integrate their combat experiences into their current lives. I also want to share my thoughts and experiences with young people who are contemplating joining the military or who are about to enter combat themselves, sort of like providing them with a psychological and spiritual combat prophylactic, for indeed combat is like unsafe sex in that it’s a major thrill with possible horrible consequences. Finally, this nation is now engaged in three wars simultaneously, two with both air and ground forces and one from the air only. I am quite certain these are not the last. All conscientious citizens and especially those with the power to make policy will be better prepared to make decisions about committing young people to combat if they know what they are about to ask of them.12

Such an objective is a worthy one, and applicable to those who hope to minister to veterans and their families. By knowing what they have been through, if even at a basic level, clergy, lay leaders, and family members are better able to understand (though they likely never will be able to understand totally), if not simply be able to engage in meaningful dialogue.

12 Karl Marlantes, What It Is Like to Go to War (New York: Grove Press, 2011), xi.

Story telling cannot and should not be a one-time tell-all. It must be based on consistent and

regular engagement with the reality of what happened. This is not to say one should become

obsessed with the past, or war, or any traumatic event, to the point that it totally consumes

them and their life; what this work is arguing for is that ignoring that aspect of one’s life and

shutting it up inside is much more detrimental than perhaps being too engaged with others

about that part of one’s life. Like an addiction, it will never go away; one cannot go back to

“who they were before the war.” Victims and communities can continue telling their stories

and hearing the stories of others, processing and learning more about themselves and each

other, in order to live their lives as who they are now, and who they are becoming, instead of

trying to get back to some phantom of normalcy that will always escape them. Life after

trauma is not an attempt at becoming normal again, but learning that there is a “new

normal.”13 This process is not an easy one, and it cannot be accomplished alone.

If not obvious from the start, these five goals or stages build upon each other and

help to inform and strengthen the individual and the community for the next phase of

healing. The concept of traumatic stress as a kind of residue that cannot simply be washed

off is an important one to grasp. As noted above, shutting up the story inside only makes

this residue harden and create an impenetrable shell, like the tightly-woven shields of the

Leviathan, the symbol of chaos. Only by opening up those defenses, by constant

remembering and engaging with the story and other people, in a community, can one keep

that hard layer from forming. Proper engagement with very difficult and traumatic issues

must be done in a safe, trusting environment, which, of course, can be very difficult to create

or even maintain. It is especially true in cases of moral injury that are related to real or

perceived betrayal. While engagement within a community can be a shield against isolation, it

13 I heard this language of the “new normal” from an Army psychologist during a redeployment interview after my second tour in Iraq. 54

can be difficult on both sides. For the victim, opening up can be very difficult, while for those listening there is a chance of vicarious trauma, in which hearing gruesome stories or embarrassing details can cause a traumatic reaction in the hearer. Obviously, to do this properly and safely requires some degree of supervision by a very mature individual or group of people, be they clergy, mental health professionals, or, in the case of war trauma, a very wise and stable veteran who can guide discussion and sharing, either in small or large groups, or even one-on-one.

Engagement, within this context, is essentially a term for what happens at that point of transition from the first weeks and months of a veteran’s homecoming—during which penance, healing, and initial storytelling plays a vital role in their reintegration and transition—to the more long-term life within a Eucharistic community and within the veteran’s family. It would be within this stage that one would begin to transition to fuller participation in the Eucharist, if they were under any penance that was instituted during the first stage, as in the case of killing in war. It must be stressed, again, that not all individuals returning from war will need, or even benefit, from any extended Eucharistic abstention, but this period of engagement is the point in which the veteran can return to a more active participation in the Eucharistic life of the Church. As with the other goals, the specific application will differ from person to person, and may be descriptive more than prescriptive of their own journey home. The goal of engagement is most clearly tied to a return to the full liturgical life of the parish community, which will focus heavily on the Eucharist. While other services of healing, remembrance, and continued story-telling will be a part of this transition, the goal is for the diverse members, both soldiers and civilians, to reunite and reintegrate, building up again the Body of Christ as seen in their local Eucharistic community.

Continued Service

The final two phases are much harder to accomplish; indeed, there is no rite, except for perhaps the Eucharist, that immediately correlates to it. There is not a definite set of objectives to complete in order to finish the mission in any of these cases, yet it can seem most nebulous when the real work of transitioning from homecoming to being at home in the community begins. Engagement with a veteran’s self, story, and his or her community— and vice versa: the community’s collective and individual self/selves, story/stories, and their/his/her veteran(s)—is a lifelong process that is not ever “complete,” in the sense that there is a service with a dismissal that might indicate that this step is over, though such a conception of the sacraments of Confession or Unction would be rather shallow indeed.

Veterans and those who have experienced trauma are vital to our communities. They are a voice of reason, wisdom, and experience. They have a particular level of insight into the realities of both suffering and strength that most mental health professionals, counselors, and even members of the clergy, simply do not have. Even if a veteran has not found his or her voice, they have great potential to become one of those voices, because of their military and/or combat service. The voices, both individual and collective, of veterans and victims of trauma can and do change our society for the better. A group of military sexual assault victims (both male and female) were interviewed as part of a documentary called The Invisible

War. This film about military sexual assault, released in 2012, essentially blew the lid off of the inadequate response of military leaders to sexual assault across all of the branches of the

Armed Forces. According to one of the many statistics cited in the film, all of which, the opening scene states, are from U.S. government studies: Women who have been sexually

assaulted have a higher rate of PTSD than males who have been in combat.14 Not only has

this led to a change in DOD policy, it has helped to educate the public on the extent to

which sexual assault happens in the military, and the apparent lack of justice. Aside from the

harrowing stories of pain, hurt, loss, and the search for meaning and justice, the movie

documents an attempt by the victims to bring suit against the Department of Defense,

including a meeting of the women, all of whom had been raped or sexually assaulted by

other service members while in uniform. During the course of this meeting, at which the

individuals not only wrote down their testimony but spoke to each other about their

suffering, Kori Cioca, a Coast Guard veteran and victim of rape, stated: “Being here and,

like, knowing that me wanting to commit suicide: I’m not alone. Me being hit and raped: I’m

not alone. Everything. The way they treated me. The way that they made me feel. And we

have all you guys. It’s awesome.”15 This illustrates more than the great importance of

storytelling as catharsis and engagement within a community. This illustrates the importance

of continued service on the part of veterans and their families. They have to take a leadership role, not only for their own sake and healing, but because they are able to speak to a reality that most others simply cannot. Whether it is serving the wider civilian community

in some capacity, working with children, or even just serving, guiding, and mentoring

veterans, the best veteran is one still serving his or her nation and countrymen.

This is where Tick’s concept of what a proper “warrior” is really comes into play.16

Too often our veterans are relegated to being “disabled vets,” instead being given honor as

wise and mature people who have lived a lifetime in a relatively short time. Despite having

14 Kirby Dick, Tanner King Barklow, and Amy Ziering, The Invisible War, DVD (Sausalito, CA: Roco Films Educational, 2012).

15 Ibid.

16 Ed Tick, War and The Soul, 249-268, passim. 57

years of military service, including long periods of combat, many young veterans simply do

not have the maturity level necessary to guide another veteran in coming home. Of course,

these young soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, or coast guardsmen could be mentored in a

way that gives them the ability and desire to do exactly that in the future. This will mean

something different for each veteran: some may have a lot to offer to a parish council or a

committee on helping the poor, while others might find an outlet for their leadership skills

by mentoring young children in the community. Others may find their niche by volunteering

to lead or participate in group therapy for veterans, or working as an activist for this or that

cause related to his or her service. Some may lead in less visible ways, by endeavoring to heal

their families. Simply by being a model for others who are facing, or have faced trauma and

loss, is a powerful ministry that is desperately needed within many of our communities. The

suffering and pain that veterans and victims of trauma go through gives them a well of

service for others. Our job is not to fix people. Instead, we are to suffer alongside one

another, healing with our wounds. Suffering builds compassion, and thus an ability to see our neighbors and hear their voice with new clarity. Our own “woundedness,” the reality that we all suffer and go through hell, gives us the ability to become a source of life and healing for each other. Far from making saviors out of ourselves or veterans, in this, we realize the reality of Jesus Christ, who by his death conquered death. And our service to veterans, and

their service to us, is one of mutual learning and healing through shared suffering.

It is not the task of Christian leaders to go around nervously trying to redeem people, to save them at the last minute, to put them on the right track. For we are redeemed once and for all. Christian leaders are called to help others affirm this great news, and to make visible in daily events the fact that behind the dirty curtain of our painful symptoms is something great to be seen: the face of God in whose image we are shaped.17

17 Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society (1972; repr., New York: Random, 1972), 48. 58

That is what each stage or goal is: an affirmation, in visible events, that declares a reality beyond that which we normally see. That reality is the person of Jesus Christ. He, not we, is the Physician of our souls and bodies, and it is through our common work together, our

“liturgy,” that we engage in the healing ministry of Jesus Christ, and being healed ourselves, increasingly realize the extent to which we are broken and need that healing presence of our

Lord.

Rituals and Reintegration

These five stages or objectives of reintegration with in an Orthodox context are largely based on concepts already familiar to us in parish life. Obviously penance and healing are closely bound up with the sacraments of confession and unction. Storytelling, engagement, and service have perhaps less apparent liturgical outlets, though they may give rise to other services of need, like a pannikhida for departed comrades or even enemy combatants, or a molieben of thanksgiving. Though the Eucharist is celebrated within the

Divine Liturgy, the daily and weekly cycles of services within a community are equally

“sacramental.” The community’s liturgical life is one of the main ways for soldiers and their families to stay engaged. Yet, for Orthodox Christians, our “liturgy” is not only what we do while wearing vestments or standing in the nave. Storytelling, engagement between veterans and the community, and continued service and leadership on the part of the veteran, is less liturgically tangible, but is also a common work within the community. Moliebens, adult education, coffee hour, rites of forgiveness, and the like are all sacramental aspects of a community’s continued “liturgical” life together. All five aspects of reintegration should be sought after and seen both inside and outside the walls of the church.

These objectives are, of course, very general, and this is intentional. They are also not all-encompassing; the return and reintegration of a veteran is not a matter of checking boxes,

or following certain methodologies. This work is meant to be a guide for parish clergy and

faithful, veterans, and their families. It is not a set of sure-fire instructions, as though

ministering to victims of trauma is somehow similar to repairing a car or computer. This

methodology, like any single work or component of ministry, is not a magic pill or panacea.

Just as clergy have to use their pastoral experience and sense to discern the spiritual needs of

any parishioner, traumatized individuals must be pastored, not “fixed.” Each individual

parishioner, whether or not they’ve experienced a moral injury, soul wound, or any type of

psychological or spiritual trauma, is in need of pastoral care properly suited to them. An

amputee is not going to have the same needs as someone suffering from a traumatic brain

injury; a war veteran who experienced sexual assault is not going need the same focus on

penance that a war veteran who sexually assaulted another soldier will; a Marine rifleman will

have different concerns and pastoral needs than an unmanned aerial vehicle pilot, though

both might be suffering from PTSD. Those who engaged the enemy in combat are not

necessarily more traumatized or more in need of healing and/or penance than someone who

“just sat in an office.” It is a difficult and time-consuming task to care for another person, to

listen to them, to forgive them, and to admit your own responsibility for the reality of sin

and death in this world. Yet this is our calling. As Orthodox Christians, we are all to be concerned with reconciliation and healing. We can no longer ignore the pain and suffering of our veterans and their families any longer. It is time to do the work.

APPENDIX A Proposed Rites for Soldiers and Veterans

Perhaps the simplest rite to develop and perform is a molieben. It requires only

minor preparation, but it can also be made highly specific to the particular need or person.

Moliebens can be performed with chosen or standard psalmody, with or without readings

from the Old and/or New Testament, with or without a canon and/or akathist, and even

with or without a choir. Obviously, this work argues that any rite that is intended to be part

of a soldier’s reintegration should be done as part of the ecclesial community, but if “mission

dictates,” they can be done with just the priest and the veteran, and/or his family, as well as

without a priest at all.

A sample of prayers, readings, and other variable material depending on situation,

context, and need is provided here. Yet, it must be noted that because the Orthodox have a

prayer for almost any eventuality, most service books provide generic prayers for the

blessing of “any object” and a general molieben for any need.1 In this way, one can

substitute a name, object, or event that is relevant to the petition. One can also create new

prayers, as is often done for various occasions, like the blessing of a gymnasium at a

seminary, or the blessing of an office instead of a home, as is normally done in the period

after Theophany. While this might seem out of reach for many, writing prayers in an

Orthodox context is straightforward.

1 A molieben is a service of supplication and/or thanksgiving, based on Matins, that entreats Christ, the Theotokos, a particular saint (e.g., St. Nicholas, St. Herman of Alaska, St. Michael the Archangel, etc.), or group or class of saints (e.g., warrior saints, unmercenary saints, virgin-martyrs, the Three Hierarchs, the Enlighteners of North America, etc.). 61

Prepare a Prayer

Almost every prayer in the Orthodox tradition follows a standard four or five-part rubrical

pattern:

1. Invocation: The Holy Trinity, one of the Persons of the Holy Trinity, or the relevant saint (most often the Theotokos) is invoked with a relevant naming convention, often in the vocative (O Lord…), e.g., “O Gracious Lover of Mankind…,” “O Merciful God…,” “O Almighty Master, Physician of our souls and bodies…,” or “O Most Sovereign Lady…” and is praised for his/her great power, strength, mercy, or other relevant quality (or in the case of saints, is invoked as an effective and relevant intercessor). 2. Anamnesis and Praise: A relevant situation or event in Scripture, or occurrence in nature, or an event in history (usually as indicated in a hagiographical text) is recalled aloud—usually with a “who did/does…”—construction in order to acknowledge God’s ability to fulfill the petition and establish an association with that event or character with the supplicant and his/her petition, e.g., “who was born from the holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary, and as a child, was laid in a manger,” “who has empowered us through your holy apostles to heal the sicknesses of the people through oil and prayer,” or “who, in ancient times, through Moses didst free Israel from the bitter bondage of Pharaoh,” 3. Petition for Specific Action: A request for specific action is made that in relation to the remembered event or action, e.g., “who has [anamnesis]; Do thou now also [petition]…” 4. Related Goal/Reason: Often, though not always, a specific end state, or other objective related to the petition will conclude the petition, i.e., “in order that he/she/we may [overall objective]…,” though this can also be more indicative of the reason behind asking a specific saint. 5. Concluding Entreaty: Either in place of, or related to the fourth part of the prayer, God (or the saint being invoked) is appealed to as the only possible fulfiller of this petition, because of a certain attribute or quality relevant to the request, e.g., “for thou only art without sin,” or “for thou art merciful.” The conclusion almost always ends with one of a few standard doxological structures.

In hopes of augmenting the two English-language services for those going off to war, and the two services for departed service members (one English-language and one French- language) mentioned within the body of this work, I have provided three psalms, and at least one prayer, Epistle reading, and Gospel reading for each for the following five situations: (1)

For Those Away at War and Their Families; (2) Thanksgiving for Those Returning from

War; (3) For Forgiveness and Strength for Those Returning from War; (4) Those Joining the

Military; (5) For Enemies. 62

Variable Texts for Military Related Moliebens

The variable materials below are presented in such a way as to facilitate the

preparation of a military-specific service by building upon the basic outline of the general

molieben. Within a molieben, psalmody normally follows the usual beginning (“Blessed is

our God” through “Come let us worship…”). Moliebens will normally have either a single

psalm (in which case it is often Psalm 143, the last of the Six Psalms at Matins, which

focuses on the theme of supplication to God), or a group of three relevant psalms (as at the

Hours). These psalms are followed by “Glory…” and “Alleluia…”, and then the Great

Litany and/or “God is the Lord…” Though there are many other possibilities, I have

selected three psalms per situation that I thought were appropriate.

For Those at War and their Families Psalm 91 Psalm 130 Psalm 145 Thanksgiving for Those Returning from War Psalm 116 Psalm 124 Psalm 138 For Forgiveness and Strength Psalm 42 Psalm 44 Psalm 46 for Those Returning from War For Those Joining the Military Psalm 33 Psalm 144 Psalm 146 For Enemies Psalm 23 Psalm 25 Psalm 35

Relevant prayers, refrains (to Christ, the Theotokos, or saint), and troparia follow “God is the Lord.” The refrains are standardized within the general molieben (generally the same as the refrains used during the canon at Matins, e.g., “O Sweetest Jesus/Most holy Theotokos,

save us!” or “O Holy Great-martyr George, pray to God for us!”), while troparia are chosen

based on the need (penitential troparia, thanksgiving, for the sick, etc.) or the one being

supplicated (St. George, the Theotokos, etc.). I have provided prayers for the same five

eventualities as the psalms. Notice that they generally follow the above rubrical guide, and

are intended as examples which may be adapted to the specific need.

Prayers for Those at War and Their Families

O God, our aid and defense, who are merciful and compassionate and are quick to hear the fervent supplications of those who call on your name, look down upon us, your sinful and unworthy servants, and have mercy on us. Be our deliverer and protector, the shade on our right hand, vouchsafing that your servant ______, might be granted protection against visible and invisible enemies seeking to do him/her harm. Grant that he/she may return to us whole and unharmed in body and soul, that he/she (and his/her family, ______) might gather together with us and praise your mighty deeds, and extol your mercy and loving-kindness. For you are our God, the Lord of Hosts, and to you do we send up glory and thanksgiving and worship: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen

O Mighty Lord, through whom and for whom the world was created, you rebuked the storm and calmed the raging seas with a word when your disciples called unto you in fear for their lives. And so now, do we cry out to you, in the midst of our distress, that you might have mercy on your servant ______, who has gone off to war (and on your servants ______, his/her family who remain here). Guard, protect, and deliver him/her from all the snares, weapons, and plots of visible and invisible enemies. Visit, bless, and strengthen him/her on the day of battle, that he/she might fight the good fight, defending the weak and helpless, protecting the young and old, and doing only that which is pleasing in your sight, in the service of your glory. Bring him/her home again (to his family and) to us, that we might glorify you in songs and hymns, thanking you for your goodness and praising your power and might, O Christ our God, and unto you do we ascribe glory, together with your Father who is from everlasting, and your all-holy, good, and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving for Soldiers Returning from War

O Prince of Peace and King of Righteousness, you granted victory and help to your servant Abraham when he fought against Ched-or-laomer and the kings who were with him. As the righteous Abraham gave tithe to Melchizedek, the King of Salem, and offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving to you, the Most High God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, so do we now come before you with hymns of praise and songs thanksgiving. We thank you, O Lord, for you have brought home your servant _____, from war in safety and in honor, in order that he/she may glorify, with us, your mighty name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

O Mighty God who brought your people through the Red Sea and routed their enemies, we thank you because you have given ear to our supplications and in your loving- kindness have vouchsafed unto this, your servant, the Soldier of Christ ______, mercy and safety. Grant unto him/her a prosperous and peaceful life, health, salvation, and furtherance in all blessed things, for he/she has fought the good fight, having kept the faith and defended righteousness and truth. You, O Lord, are Him who saves and delivers us, and unto you do we ascribe glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayers for Forgiveness and Strength for Those Returning from War

O Most merciful Lord, our Redeemer and strong Deliverer: You commanded your servant Moses to send all the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, those who shed blood, those who touched the slain, and all those who had come from service in war outside the camp that they might be purified. O Long- suffering Lord, who sent your prophet Nathan to call David to repentance after he slew Uriah the Hittite, grant to us, your servants, compunction of heart, a thirst for repentance, and a hunger for righteousness, that we might run to you for mercy and forgiveness: for every evil deed done: every violent act committed in anger, every wrathful thought, every deceitful word and every good deed left undone: every faint-hearted flight from danger, every wrong not righted, every injustice not redressed. O Compassionate Lord, you forgave the sin of David when he cried out to you with a contrite heart. Cleanse, wash, and purify this Soldier of Christ (N.). Cleanse him/her and us, your servants, from every stain, every blemish, and every defilement, for we come before you, trusting in your great mercy and loving kindness, asking forgiveness for all of our transgressions committed in action or inaction, knowledge or in ignorance, of word or deed, of thought or intention. You, O God, are our Purification, our Sanctification, and the remission of our sins, and in you have we put our hope, for yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

O Lord, great in mercy and power, who forgives the sins of all who call on your name with their whole heart: Grant pardon and remission of sin to this/these Soldier(s) of Christ, who has/have put down his/her/their weapon(s) for a time, and has/have ceased fighting against flesh and blood. O King Invisible, as you strengthened your servant David who, having put down his earthly master’s armor because of its weight, trusted in you alone for victory: fortify and protect this/these warrior(s), your servant(s), ______, that having your might and signing him/herself with the sign of the holy cross of your Son, he/she/they may fight against powers, principalities, and spiritual hosts of wickedness. Guard them against every wile of the devil and every invisible foe that seeks to do him/her harm. For you are the Fortress, the High Tower, the Deliver and the Shield of all those who trust in you, and unto you do we send up glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen

O Lord of Hosts, King of Heaven, Mighty in Battle, you command the leader of your bodiless hosts, the Archangel Michael, to make war against the arrogant dragon. And he fought against that Old Serpent and his angels, throwing them down by the power of the cross of your Son. Send forth your heavenly hosts, your host of angels and archangels, and slay the dragon rising up within us: quench the fires of war, strife, anxiety, and anger that burn within us. Cultivate in us peace, harmony, stillness of mind and calmness of heart. Our soul waits for you, O Lord, for you are our help and shield. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. For our hearts are glad in you and we trust in your holy name. For yours it is to show mercy and save us, O our God, and unto you do we send up glory: to the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayer for Those Joining the Military

O Lord, God Almighty, who sent your angel to your servant Gideon, and reduced his army to but three hundred men, that Israel would be unable to boast, saying, “My own hand has delivered me.” Look upon this/these, your servant(s) ______, who has/have joined the military. May (he/she/they) serve you and our nation with integrity and honor, fighting for justice and in righteousness. Let not his/her/their hearts be turned away from you, but let them always trust in you alone, for a warrior is not saved by his great strength and the weapons of war are vain hopes for victory. Your eyes, O Lord, are on those who fear you and who hope in your steadfast love and mercy. Be their help and their shield and make their hearts glad in you, for we trust in your holy name: of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Prayers for Enemies

O Christ our God, who taught us to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, and to bless those who curse us and to pray for those who abuse us: You blessed those who persecuted you and forgave those who crucified you. Grant that we may forgive those who have wronged us, wounded us, and warred against us. Forgive us for any thought, word, or deed by which we dehumanized our enemies. Grant peace, health, and salvation unto us all, for you are a good God and love all mankind, and unto you do we send up glory: with your unoriginate Father and your all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, always now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

This initial prayer (a second, related prayer follows the Triple Litany after the

Gospel) is normally followed by Psalm 51, and if desired, a canon.2 The refrains, as

mentioned above are repeated, followed by the Little Litany (and an akathist, if desired).

Many moliebens, at this point, like other services of need, include one or more relevant readings from Scripture. Many of these readings pick up on a single word, phrase, or idea, or an overall theme within the text and are often connected to the anamnesis portion of the related prayers. Though some moliebens also include a paremia (Old Testament reading), I have only provided the more common combination of the Epistle and Gospel.

The readings are introduced with a prokeimenon, normally based on the one being supplicated. If an Epistle is read, it comes between the prokeimenon and an alleluia, which

2 The singing of a canon (for instance, for departed soldiers as in Hapgood) changes the overall structure of the molieben: an additional Triple Litany is placed after the third ode, a Little Litany (and akathist, if desired) after the sixth ode, followed by the Gospel sequence, then the ninth ode with “It is truly meet…” and the rest as described below. Regardless of whether or not a canon is sung, the relevant refrains are sung. 66

precedes the Gospel, as at the Divine Liturgy. If only a Gospel is read, the gospel sequence

follows the pattern as at Matins when the Gospel is read (e.g., at Vigil in the Russian

tradition): “For holy art thou…,” “Let everything that breathes…,” “And that we may be

accounted worthy…,” etc.

Scripture Readings Service Epistle Gospel For Those at War II Timothy 2:1-10 Matthew 24:6-8, 21-35 and Their Families Philippians 4:4-13 Matthew 7:7-11 For Thanksgiving Hebrews 11:32-35; 12:1-2 Luke 17:11-18 For Forgiveness and Strength James 5:10-16 Matthew 8:5-13 1 John 1:1-10 Luke 4:16-22 For Those Joining the Military Ephesians 6:10-18 Luke 3:1-3, 10-14 Colossians 3:5-17 Matthew 10:16-39 For Enemies Romans 12:14-21 Matthew 5:43-48

The Gospel sequence is followed by the aforementioned standard refrains, “It is truly meet,” the Trisagion, and the “Our Father.” This is a transition to another supplicatory section, in which the Troparion of the feast or relevant saint is sung, and is followed by the

Litany of Fervent Supplication (with special petitions related to the need), a second relevant prayer (similar to the prayer before Psalm 51), followed by the dismissal sequence.3

It is helpful to keep in mind that a molieben is essentially an abbreviated and

modified version of Matins. While jurisdictional and/or unique parish practice may follow

slightly different service rubrics, the variable materials presented here are easily inserted into

most existing service texts. These materials are mainly meant to be examples for how to

modify existing prayers/services based on the needs of the faithful and, when necessary, to

create new ones. The psalms, readings, and prayers provided above can (and likely should)

be adapted or replaced in order to meet the specific needs for which the service is being

offered. Of course, if the texts as presented are at all helpful for your situation: use them!

3 Some molieben texts also include a prayer of inclination appended to the litany while others include the doxology and/or praises, although the latter is not common in the Russian tradition. 67

APPENDIX B Resources for Parishes

This second appendix is essentially a summary of the main points of this thesis in a more accessible and digestible format (one page, double-sided pamphlets) for parish clergy and faithful, as well as a pamphlet-sized version of the variable texts from Appendix A. The pamphlets provided below are standard tri-folds, but have been resized in order to fit within the margins. If copies of these pamphlets are desired, the reader may use the contact information provided on the versions below. One can also make their own pamphlets. The templates for the pamphlets are used with permission from Microsoft, while the icons and photographs used in the pamphlets are in the public domain.

The contents are as follows:

Pamphlet 1 – A Veteran’s Homecoming: A Resource for Parish Clergy (Pages 69-70)

Pamphlet 2 – A Veteran’s Homecoming: A Resource for Parish Faithful (Pages 71-72)

Pamphlet 3 – Moliebens for Warriors and their Families (Pages 73-74)

Pamphlet 1 – A Veteran’s Homecoming: A Resource for Parish Clergy (Exterior)

Pamphlet 1 – A Veteran’s Homecoming: A Resource for Parish Clergy (Interior)

Pamphlet 2 – A Veteran’s Homecoming: A Resource for Parish Faithful (Exterior)

Pamphlet 2 – A Veteran’s Homecoming: A Resource for Parish Faithful (Interior)

Pamphlet 3 – Moliebens for Warriors and their Families (Exterior)

Pamphlet 3 – Moliebens for Warriors and their Families (Interior)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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