Today I was given the gift of visiting a prison for the first time. This prison is a minimum security facility. In fact, I was told that it was once a monastery over a century ago! So it was that another priest and I came as "chaplain volunteers" and, at the request of a catechumen and the sole Orthodox inmate of the prison, prayed the prayers of the Third and Sixth Hours. In Lent these prayers of the Hours are considerably longer than at other times of the year. But this was a great blessing, since the content of our faith and form of our worship were so evident.
There were half a dozen or so other inmates present from Protestant and Orthodox backgrounds. We visitors found ourselves, therefore, in a discussion about the differences between Orthodoxy and everything else, and answering questions about calling Mary "Birthgiver of God" (emphasis on OF GOD), and questions about veneration of icons.
Most interesting, though, was the explanation of the monastic life as a kind of voluntary incarceration for the glory of God. This was grasped well by the prisoners, I think, all of whom gave me the impression of being earnest believers (in whatever tradition) in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we spoke of Great Lent and asceticism in general there was a shared "uh-huh" of understanding when one of us priests said, "When we come to the end of our human power, only there do we encounter true Divine Power."
And so we believers are each and all truly "prisoners" when we follow Him on the Way of the Cross, the way of utter, extreme, and humble love.
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