725 (PRAYER/ CHURCH/ WORLD) All people, regardless of country, colour or race, make up the one ‘humanity’, which lives and functions as one human being (hence the singular). The defeat of one person in the spiritual level by performing a sin (i.e., by falling into a passion) has a negative impact on all humanity.
Just as a victory in the spiritual struggle has a positive impact on humanity.
For, as I have said, all people as a whole make up and constitute the ‘one man’. As sin and apostasy increases, so does demonic energy and influence in the world (in the sense that the world becomes more vulnerable to it and becomes even more a subject of our mental enemy, the devil). On the contrary, with the increase of virtue, God’s grace increases and flows out richly into the world (in the sense that the world becomes more receptive to it) and thus divine graces and blessings reach out to it! With the above, we understand that the greatest national benefactors, and benefactors of all mankind, are the saints! As men who commune with God, they become the true social workers of the communion! We thus come to the conclusion that the role of the Church is the main catalyst in the reconstruction of society in general… All the prayers of our Church for the sake of the whole world, emanating from the earthly Altars everywhere, ascend as one prayer to the supra-celestial Altar. Referring to the level of a particular local Church (of one country), or even to a part of it, the altar of a church or of a parish; there, the prayers of the faithful are united into one prayer, which is then united with the prayers of all other Orthodox churches; from there, all prayers are united and ascend like one prayer to the supra-celestial Altar. Going still further down, we reach the person of a believer, whose prayers ascend from the altar of his heart to the Heavenly Father, united with the prayers of all other believers, in the person of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. As I mentioned before, the prayers of the faithful, both those made in private and even more so those made in the midst of the Church’s gathering, have a very great positive impact on the whole of the society… When we approach God in hymns, we commune with His grace and bring divine blessings to the world… Similarly, when we glorify God, we, ourselves, are in the end being glorified, by having His divine glory reflected in us and within us; something which is then diffused into the world… United to the one Body of our Church, let us all remain forever at the altar of our hearts, concentrating our ‘nous’ (mind) and our intellect on the words and the content of our prayers, and with love and divine zeal let us worship our Triune God in Spirit and in truth… The divine blessings then, both to us and to those around us, will be rich and plentiful!