Saint John the New Great Martyr of Suceava

Saint John the New Great Martyr of Suceava (Feast Day - June 2 and June 24)

The Holy Great Martyr John the New of Sochi, lived in the fourteenth century in the city of Trebizond. He was a merchant, devout and firm in his Orthodoxy, and generous to the poor.

Once, he happened to be sailing on a ship while pursuing his trading activities. The captain of the ship was not Orthodox, but got into an argument about the Faith with St John. Having been vanquished by the saint's words, the captain resolved to make trouble for him when they got to Belgrade. During the ship's stay at Belgrade, the captain went to the city ruler, a fire-worshipper, and suggested that on his ship was a studious man who also desired to become a fire-worshipper.

The city ruler invited St John to join the fire-worshippers and renounce his faith in Christ.

The saint prayed secretly, calling on the help of Him Who said, "When they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what you shall speak, neither do you premeditate; but whatsoever will be given you in that hour, speak that, for it is not you that speaks, but the Holy Spirit" (Mark 13:11). And the Lord gave him the courage and understanding to counter all the claims of the impious and firmly confess himself a Christian. After this, the saint was so fiercely beaten with rods that his entire body was lacerated, and the flesh came off in pieces. The holy martyr thanked God for being found worthy to shed his blood for Him and thereby wash away his sins.

Scenes from the life of St. John the New (Voronet Monastery, Romania)

Afterwards they put him in chains and dragged him away to prison. In the morning the city ruler ordered the saint brought forth again. The martyr came before him with a bright and cheerful face. The intrepid martyr absolutely refused to deny Christ, denouncing the governor as a tool of Satan. Then they beat him again with rods, so that all his insides were laid bare.

The gathering crowd could not bear this horrible spectacle and they began to shout angrily, denouncing the governor for tormenting a defenseless man. The governor, having the beating stopped, gave orders to tie the Great Martyr to the tail of a wild horse to drag him by the legs through the streets of the city. Residents of the Jewish quarter particularly scoffed at the martyr and threw stones at him. Finally, someone took a sword and cut off his head.

The Martyrdom of St. John the New

St John's body with his severed head lay there until evening, and none of the Christians dared to take him away. By night a luminous pillar was seen over him, and a multitude of burning lamps. Three light-bearing men sang Psalms and censed the body of the saint. One of the Jews, thinking that these were Christians coming to take up the remains of the martyr, grabbed a bow and tried to shoot an arrow at them, but he was restrained by the invisible power of God, and became rigid.

In the morning the vision vanished, but the archer continued to stand motionless. Having told the gathering inhabitants of the city about the vision and what was done to him by the command of God, he was freed from his invisible bonds. Having learned about the occurrence, the ruler gave permission to bury the body of the martyr in the local church. This occurred between the years 1330 and 1340. There is some question about the year of the saint's martyrdom. St Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain gives the year as 1642, while others say it was 1492.

The captain who had betrayed St John repented of his deed, and decided secretly to convey the relics to his own country, but the saint appeared in a dream to the priest of the church, and prevented this. After seventy years the relics were transferred to Sochi, the capital of the Moldo-Valachian principality, and placed in the cathedral church.

The archer who tried to fire at the angels over St. John's martyred body

On hearing of his death, Reiz resolved to dig up the body of the martyr and steal it as a further act of revenge, but the Orthodox priest in the city had a dream in which John who informed him of this crime and asked him to bring his body to the Orthodox Church. This was the first miracle of the great martyr. For years his relics were kept in Cetatea Albă, where they became famous for healings and other miracles, but eventually Prince (Voievod) Alexander the Good (Alexandru cel Bun) heard of the martyr's relics and, at the urging of Metropolitan Joseph (Iosif) Muşat of Moldova, arranged to have them brought to his capital, Suceava, on June 24, 1402. John's incorrupt relics have been kept at the monastery bearing his name in that city until the present.

In 1685 the Relics of St. John were taken by the Polish King Jan Sobieski to Stryy in Ukraine. They were later transferred to the Basilian Monastery in Zhovkva, also in Halychyna. The Austrian Emperor Joseph II returned them to Suceava in 1783. The Monastery that bears his name was the site of huge pilgrimages on the day of commemorating his martyrdom. Many people came from Bukovyna.

The translation of the Relics of St. John the New

St. John the New is one of the most venerated saints in Moldova, and many miracles are associated with his relics.

The Church of St. George at the Monastery of St. John the New, Suceava, Romania

For the Akathist and Paraklesis of St. John the New (in Romanian), along with his life and numerous icons of him, see: http://sfantulioancelnou.8k.ro/index.html

Apolytikion for a Martyr in Fourth Tone
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

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A Conversation between Saint Silouan the Athonite and a Hermit on Hell

Saint Silouan the Athonite

A hermit declared with evident satisfaction that "God will punish all atheists. They will burn in everlasting fire."

Obviously upset, the Staretz [Silouan] said: “Tell me, supposing you went to paradise, and there you looked down and saw someone burning in hell fire, would you feel happy?”

“It can’t be helped. It would be their own fault,” said the hermit.

The Staretz [Silouan] answered him in a sorrowful countenance: “Love could not bear that,” he said. “We must pray for all.”

* This excerpt was taken from the book The Monk of Mount Athos by Elder Sophronius Sakharov

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Real Stories of Vampires from Transylvania

The traditional vampire story has its origins in the folk beliefs of the Slavic Orthodox Christians. It was believed that any Orthodox who converted to Catholicism or any heresy was cursed. The sign of this curse could be observed after death if the body refused to be decomposed. This belief is still very popular in traditional Orthodox countries, but it has gone even further to a belief in actual vampires who would rise from their graves at night to steal the life blood and energy from people. One way villagers dealt with this issue was by driving a stake through the heart of the suspected vampire and decapitating it, among other things. This extreme ritual is still a fairly common practice in one of the largest Orthodox countries in the world - Romania.

Two American filmmakers went to Transylvania to collect stories of vampires (strigoi in Romanian), werewolves and ghosts. They find that belief in these creatures still exist in the small villages of the Carpathian mountains. This video showcases interviews with Romanian villagers who share their experiences about vampires.

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Miracle of Saint Nektarios: The Healing of Fr. Nektarios Vitalis of Cancer

Saint Nektarios the Wonderworker of Aegina

Fr. Nektarios Vitalis, well-known in Lavrio [a city in Attika, Greece] for his deeds and his sympathy to the poor and those written-off by the world in these difficult times, retells the following incident from when he was dying from cancer. What is said below has been told elsewhere, repeatedly, including in the book I talked to Saint Nektarios (Athens 1997, by the renowned writer Mr. Manolis Melinos).

Fr. Nektarios Vitalis recalls:

"I was suffering from a serious form of cancer. My chest was an open wound that was continuously running blood and pus. I would tear my undershirts from the pain. It was a tragic situation, and I was headed directly to death. So you understand, I had even prepared my grave clothes....

"On the 26th of March 1980, in the morning, I was talking in my office in the basement of the Church with Sofia Bourdoy (the church care-taker [a woman who cleans the church]) and the icon painter Helen Kitraki, when the door suddenly opened and an old, unknown man entered. He had a snow-white beard, was short and was slighty bald. He looked exactly the same as St. Nektarios appears in photographs. He took three candles without paying and lit only two. He venerated all the icons of the church, but passed over the icon of St. Nektarios without venerating it. He did not see me where I was. I had terrible pains when they pulled aside the curtain of the office and went to see the old man. He faced the Beautiful Gate [the Royal Doors in the Holy Iconostasion], crossed his palms and without looking around he asked: 'Is the Geronta [Elder] here?'


"The church care-taker knowing my disease wanted to protect me...: 'No, no...he is at home with the flu....'

"He replied: 'Never mind. Pray, and have a Good Resurrection,' [the traditional Orthodox greeting during Great Lent in anticipation of Pascha 'Kali Anastasi'] he said as he left.

"The church care-taker came running to me and said 'Father Nektarios, the old man who just left resembled St. Nektarios himself! His eyes flew flames. It seems to me that was St. Nektarios and he came to help you....'

"I thanked her thinking that she said this to console me. But deep down something was wrong. I sent her along with the icon painter to find the unknown man and quickly bring him back. I walked into the sanctuary and venerated the Crucified One [the icon of Christ on the Cross in every Holy Altar] crying, and once again asking Christ to heal me. Their footsteps stopped: 'Father, the Elder has come!'

"I tried to kiss his hand, but out of humilty he did not let me. He bent and kissed my own! I asked him: 'What is your name?'

"'Anastasios, my son,' he said, relating his baptismal name that he had before he become a monk....

"I led him to venerate the holy relics. He took out a pair of glasses with only one arm, and as soon as we saw them we were amazed! They were the same glasses of St. Nektarios that we had in the case with the holy relics. They were given to me by the old Gerontissa [Eldress] Nektaria of the monastery in Aegina.

"'Belief is everything!' said the stranger, as he put on his glasses.

"He began with reverence to embrace all the holy relics as the church care-taker showed, except for the relics of St. Nektarios, which he passed over....

"'Geronta, forgive me,' I said, 'but why don't you venerate the miraculous Saint Nektarios?'

"He turned and looked at me smiling. I asked him: 'Where are you staying Geronta?'

"He showed me the ceiling, where we were building the new church [dedicated to St. Nektarios], saying: 'My house is still not ready and I'm worried. My position does not allow me to live here and there....'

"'Geronta, I must confess, you were told a lie earlier. I have cancer! But I want to get well, to make the Holy Altar, to finish the Church first, and then I can die....'

"'Do not worry,' he told me. 'I'm leaving now. I'm going to Paros [an island in Greece] to venerate St. Arsenios and to visit Fr. Philotheos [Zervakos],' he added, starting to leave and passing by the big icon without giving it a second thought....

"I stopped him and put my hands to his face.

"'My Geronda, my Geronda, your face looks exactly like St. Nektarios who is honored here in our church....'

"Then, tears rolled from his eyes. He crossed me and embraced me with his hands. Taking courage I opened my hands to hug him. But when I spread out my hands, and while I was watching I could see him before my face, my arms closed back to my chest! The hairs then stood up on my arms and I crossed myself!

"I said again: 'O my Geronta, I beg you, I want to live to do my first Liturgy. Help me to live....'

"He left from being close to me and stopped in front of his icon and said: 'Oh, my child Nektarios, don't worry. It is a passing trial, and you will be well! The miracle which you are asking for will happen, and it will be told to the whole world. Don't be afraid....'

"Immediately he left us by walking through a closed door....

"The women ran to catch up to him. They reached him at the bus stop. He went inside and disappeared before the bus left!"

This story is always told by Fr. Nektarios Vitalis, a respected and reliable person, in the presence of witnesses. Fr. Nektarios eventually became well - to the amazement of doctors, radiologists, and forecasters of death. Because above all is Christ, our living God, and our intercessors before God, the Saints, plus our Mother the Panagia!

For "where God wills, the laws of nature are overcome...."

Icon of St. Nektarios embracing and healing Fr. Nektarios Vitalis, along with the two women bearing witness to this to the left, and the doctors confirming the miracle to the right. The icon is from the church of St. Nektarios in Aretaieion Hospital.

Fr. Nektarios Vitalis


Below is Fr. Nektarios recalling this great miracle (in Greek)

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A Guide to Russian Sects and Fringe Beliefs - Part 1 of 6

[Below is presented the first in a six-part series being run by RIA Novosti offering a brief overview of Russian sects and fringe beliefs. -J.S.]

The Schism and the Skoptsy

29/05/2009

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

RIA Novosti

Marc Bennetts

Russia has seen a colossal number of sects and fringe religions throughout its long history, from the 18th-century self-castrating Skoptsy to the modern-day doomsday cult whose members threatened to burn themselves alive in the Volga Region last year.

In this six-part series, RIA Novosti takes a look at the history of some of these groups and their leaders, and also asks why Russia has proved such fertile ground for the growth of new and bizarre beliefs.

Up until the mid 17th century, the Russian Orthodox Church enjoyed complete spiritual authority. However, in 1666, Patriarch Nikon decided to bring the Russian Church in line with Greek Orthodoxy, and ordered the rewriting of ecclesiastical tomes.

His move, in a country where dogma and tradition had always played a large role in religious life, caused an uproar.

Nikon's assertion that Orthodox believers should use three fingers instead of two to cross themselves led to him being labeled the Antichrist by opponents of his changes. Pious Russians had long feared the year 1666, with its satanic associations, and Nikon's actions seemed to them to be a sign that the Apocalypse was fast approaching.

The Old Believers subsequently fled to Siberia and other remote areas of Russia to escape persecution and await the end of the world. Some of the groups cut themselves off so effectively that isolated communities that knew little of developments in the modern world were still being found in the 1960s and 1970s by Soviet geological expeditions.

This 17th century rejection of the Church's authority laid the roots for a subsequent explosion of sects and cults, many of them fixating on a single piece of scripture, or an interpretation of scripture, and basing their entire belief system around it.

The two most notorious of these cults were the Khlysty and their offshoot, the Skoptsy.

Portrait of Kondratii Selivanov (c. 1732-1832), leader and founder of the Skoptzy movement.

The Khlysty believed that the way to salvation lay through the repentance of sins. The greater the sin, the greater the repentance, the Khlysty reasoned, and following this logic they rejected conventional doctrines of "right and wrong," indulging in actions that they could later confess to.

Grigory Rasputin, the mysterious monk who had a major influence on Tsar Nicholas II prior to the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, is also thought to have had links to the group, which was active from the 17th to the early 20th century.

"I whip myself, I seek Christ" ("Sebya khlyschu, Khrista ischu") the Khlysty chanted, while flagellating themselves. They were also famed for their dervish-like dances, during which they believed they were communicating directly with the Holy Spirit.

From the Khlysty came the Skoptsy, who believed that Adam and Eve were created sexless, and that reproduction organs only appeared after humanity had been tempted by Satan. Accordingly, in order "to avoid sexual temptation and sin" the group's men castrated themselves. Just to be on the safe side, they also cut off women's breasts.

The sect also distorted biblical texts, referring to Christ not as the redeemer (iskupitel) but the castrator (oskopitel), and stated that Jesus had himself been relived of his sexual organs by John the Baptist.

The late Russian academic Andrei Sinyavsky claimed in "Ivan the Fool - Russian Folk Belief" that the Skoptsy believed that anyone who castrated twelve people was guaranteed a place in heaven, irrespective of any other sins he may have committed. Soviet dissident Sinyavsky, in his quite remarkable study of Russian religious history, wrote that they even went so far as to pay peasants to let them "strike off the serpent."

The sect's leader and founder, Kondraty Selivanov, considered by his many followers to be a castrated Tsar Peter III, despite the latter's assassination in 1762, was granted an audience with a curious Tsar Paul I towards the end of the 18th century. Predictably, the Russian leader turned down Selivanov's proposal that he castrate himself and establish the Skoptsy belief as state religion, packing him off to an insane asylum instead.

Despite Paul I's unwillingness to embrace the group's teachings, the influence of the Skoptsy grew and by 1863 official state statistics showed that the group was some 110,000-strong. The Khlysty were also said to boast similar numbers.

Rasputin was said to have been a Khlysty, though his daughter refutes this in her biography of her father.

While the Khlysty and the Skoptsy were the most notorious of the new sects, they were not the only ones. Other sects included the Molokans (known for their habit of drinking milk on fast days), the Dukhobors (Spirit-Wrestlers) and the Beloritzy (who only wore white), to name but a few.

Although these groups have largely ceased to exist, their rejection of the mainstream Church had a massive influence on Russian religious life, and paved the way for the appearance of the myriad modern-day sects and cults that emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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The Martyrdom of Saint Justin the Philosopher together with his companions Chariton, Charites, Paeon, and Liberianus, who Suffered at Rome

Saint Justin the Philospher, Martyr and Apologist (Feast Day - June 1)

Chapter I.—Examination of Justin the Philosopher by the Prefect

In the time of the lawless partisans of idolatry, wicked decrees were passed against the godly Christians in town and country, to force them to offer libations to vain idols; and accordingly the holy men, having been apprehended, were brought before the prefect of Rome, Rusticus by name. And when they had been brought before his judgment-seat, said to Justin, “Obey the gods at once, and submit to the kings.” Justin said, “To obey the commandments of our Savior Jesus Christ is worthy neither of blame nor of condemnation.” Rusticus the prefect said, “What kind of doctrines do you profess?” Justin said, “I have endeavored to learn all doctrines; but I have acquiesced at last in the true doctrines, those namely of the Christians, even though they do not please those who hold false opinions.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Are those the doctrines that please you, you utterly wretched man?” Justin said, “Yes, since I adhere to them with right dogma.” Rusticus the prefect said, “What is the dogma?” Justin said, “That according to which we worship the God of the Christians, whom we reckon to be one from the beginning, the maker and fashioner of the whole creation, visible and invisible; and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who had also been preached beforehand by the prophets as about to be present with the race of men, the herald of salvation and teacher of good disciples. And I, being a man, think that what I can say is insignificant in comparison with His boundless divinity, acknowledging a certain prophetic power, since it was prophesied concerning Him of whom now I say that He is the Son of God. For I know that of old the prophets foretold His appearance among men.”

Chapter II.—Examination of Justin Continued

Rusticus the prefect said, “Where do you assemble?” Justin said, “Where each one chooses and can: for do you fancy that we all meet in the very same place? Not so; because the God of the Christians is not circumscribed by place; but being invisible, fills heaven and earth, and everywhere is worshipped and glorified by the faithful.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Tell me where you assemble, or into what place do you collect your followers?” Justin said, “I live above one Martinus, at the Timiotinian Bath; and during the whole time (and I am now living in Rome for the second time) I am unaware of any other meeting than his. And if any one wished to come to me, I communicated to him the doctrines of truth.” Rusticus said, “Are you not, then, a Christian?” Justin said, “Yes, I am a Christian.”

Chapter III.—Examination of Chariton and Others

Then said the prefect Rusticus to Chariton, “Tell me further, Chariton, are you also a Christian?” Chariton said, “I am a Christian by the command of God.” Rusticus the prefect asked the woman Charito, “What say you, Charito?” Charito said, “I am a Christian by the grace of God.” Rusticus said to Euelpistus, “And what are you?” Euelpistus, a servant of Caesar, answered, “I too am a Christian, having been freed by Christ; and by the grace of Christ I partake of the same hope.” Rusticus the prefect said to Hierax, “And you, are you a Christian?” Hierax said, “Yes, I am a Christian, for I revere and worship the same God.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Did Justin make you Christians?” Hierax said, “I was a Christian, and will be a Christian.” And Pæon stood up and said, “I too am a Christian.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Who taught you?” Pæon said, “From our parents we received this good confession.” Euelpistus said, “I willingly heard the words of Justin. But from my parents also I learned to be a Christian.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Where are your parents?” Euelpistus said, “In Cappadocia.” Rusticus says to Hierax, “Where are your parents?” And he answered, and said, “Christ is our true father, and faith in Him is our mother; and my earthly parents died; and I, when I was driven from Iconium in Phrygia, came here.” Rusticus the prefect said to Liberianus, “And what say you? Are you a Christian, and unwilling to worship [the gods]?” Liberianus said, “I too am a Christian, for I worship and reverence the only true God.”

Chapter IV.—Rusticus Threatens the Christians with Death

The prefect says to Justin, “Hearken, you who are called learned, and think that you know true doctrines; if you are scourged and beheaded, do you believe you will ascend into heaven?” Justin said, “I hope that, if I endure these things, I shall have His gifts. For I know that, to all who have thus lived, there abides the divine favor until the completion of the whole world.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Do you suppose, then, that you will ascend into heaven to receive some recompense?” Justin said, “I do not suppose it, but I know and am fully persuaded of it.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Let us, then, now come to the matter in hand, and which presses. Having come together, offer sacrifice with one accord to the gods.” Justin said, “No right-thinking person falls away from piety to impiety.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Unless ye obey, ye shall be mercilessly punished.” Justin said, “Through prayer we can be saved on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even when we have been punished, because this shall become to us salvation and confidence at the more fearful and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and Savior.” Thus also said the other martyrs: “Do what you will, for we are Christians, and do not sacrifice to idols.”

Chapter V.—Sentence Pronounced and Executed

Rusticus the prefect pronounced sentence, saying, “Let those who have refused to sacrifice to the gods and to yield to the command of the emperor be scourged, and led away to suffer the punishment of decapitation, according to the laws.” The holy martyrs having glorified God, and having gone forth to the accustomed place, were beheaded, and perfected their testimony in the confession of the Savior. And some of the faithful having secretly removed their bodies, laid them in a suitable place, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ having wrought along with them, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Apolytikion in Tone Four
O Justin, teacher of divine knowledge, you shone with the radiance of true philosophy. You were wisely armed against the enemy. Confessing the truth you contended alongside the martyrs, with them, ever entreat Christ our God to save our souls!

Kontakion in Tone Two
The whole Church of God is adorned with the wisdom of your divine words, O Justin; the world is enlightened by the radiance of your life. By the shedding of your blood, you have received a crown. As you stand before Christ with the angels, pray unceasingly for us all!

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Georgian Orthodox Church Marks St. Nina Feastday on June 1

On June 1, the Orthodox Church of Georgia marks the day of the entrance of St. Nina (also known as Nino), Equal to the Apostles, to Georgia.

St. Nina was born in the small town of Colastri, in the Roman province of Cappadocia. She was the only child of the famous Roman general Zabulon. On her father's side, Nina was related to St. George the Great Martyr and on her mother's, to the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Houbnal I.

St. Nina had a vision where the Virgin Mary gave her a Grapevine Cross and told her to preach in Iberia, the ancient name for Georgia.

On her way to Iberia, passing through Anatolia into the Caucasus, Nina managed to convert some villages to Christianity in Northern Anatolia and Armenia.

Saint Nina reached the borders of the ancient Georgian Kingdom of Iberia in about 323 A.D. There, she placed a Christian Cross in the small town of Akhalkalaki and started preaching the Christian faith in Urbnis and finally reaching Mtskheta (the capital of Iberia). The Iberian King Mirian III and his nation worshipped the syncretic gods of Armazi and Zaden. However, after Nina’s preaching and miracles, Queen Nana, followed by King Mirian and the whole nation were converted to Christianity.

In 326 A.D. King Mirian made Christianity as the official state religion of his kingdom.

The Georgian Orthodox Church marks St. Nina's feastday twice a year: on June 1 - the Entrance of St. Nina to Georgia and on January 27 – the day of her passing away.

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How Many Scientists Fabricate And Falsify Research?

The so-called "missing link" Ida

[After the flap over the “missing link” Ida last week, paleontologist Christopher Beard warned about how such stunts damage scientific credibility. “The only thing we have going for us that Hollywood and politicians don’t is objectivity,” he told Science magazine.1 Can the public trust the objectivity of scientists as a class? Do they get more credibility points than other groups of professionals? Do the processes of scientific publication warrant a higher level of trust?

Many of us have grown up with an unrealistic image of science. The scientist is supposed to be the honest, objective, unbiased, sincere seeker of the truth in a white lab coat, using a scientific method (whatever that is) guaranteed to sift the kernel of empirical fact from the chaff of subjectivity. And even if he or she fails, the scientific community, with its rigorous demands for PhD certification and its peer review process, catches any mistakes before publication. Don’t be deceived. Real scientists often wear denim and are as fallible as the rest of us. The same goals of integrity should apply to any professional endeavor, whether theology, philosophy, political science, economics, art, or car repair.

Real science is often rewarded according to what works. It’s not an ultimate source of understanding. If your model or equation gets you to the moon, great. If your pill cures a disease, terrific. Repeatability adds credibility. Science is probably the best method civilization has devised for finding workable answers to physical questions. When it comes to understanding the world, or ourselves, or our past, scientists (like other humans) often draw inferences that go far beyond the evidence (e.g., attempting to describe the “evolution of altruism"). Scientists are often chained to paradigms. Peer pressure and ingrained ideologies prevent them from straying outside the paradigm, or from even asking different questions than their peers consider worthwhile. Add to that the temptations of money and prestige, and the clear liberal bias of the scientific institutions and it’s a wonder you can trust anything the scientific community says.

But even in the most optimistic view of science (and science admittedly does have many practical successes in its win column), the practice of science is dead in the water without character. Honesty, integrity, love of the truth: these are fundamental requirements for science. Do you learn those things in science class? Do you discover them with the scientific method? Do you envision them as chance inventions of imaginary ape ancestors? Obviously not. Those things must be in place before you even begin following the desire to become a scientist. Maybe you just need a commandment which says: “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” -J.S.]

1. Ann Gibbons, “Celebrity Fossil Primate: Missing Link or Weak Link?”, Science 29 May 2009: 324:5931, pp. 1124-1125, DOI: 10.1126/science.324_1124.

How Many Scientists Fabricate And Falsify Research?

ScienceDaily (May 29, 2009) — It's a long-standing and crucial question that, as yet, remains unanswered: just how common is scientific misconduct? In the online, open-access journal PLoS ONE, Daniele Fanelli of the University of Edinburgh reports the first meta-analysis of surveys questioning scientists about their misbehaviours. The results suggest that altering or making up data is more frequent than previously estimated and might be particularly high in medical research.

Recent scandals like Hwang Woo-Suk's fake stem-cell lines or Jon Sudbø's made-up cancer trials have dramatically demonstrated that fraudulent research is very easy to publish, even in the most prestigious journals. The media and many scientists tend to explain away these cases as pathological deviations of a few "bad apples." Common sense and increasing evidence, however, suggest that these could be just the tip of the iceberg, because fraud and other more subtle forms of misconduct might be relatively frequent. The actual numbers, however, are a matter of great controversy.

Estimates based on indirect data (for example, official retractions of scientific papers or random data audits) have produced largely discrepant results. Therefore, many researchers have asked scientists directly, with surveys conducted in different countries and disciplines. However, they have used different methods and asked different questions, so their results also appeared inconclusive.

To make these surveys comparable, the meta-analysis focused on behaviours that actually distort scientific knowledge (excluding data on plagiarism and other kinds of malpractice) and extracted the frequency of scientists who recalled having committed a particular behaviour at least once, or who knew a colleague who did.

On average, across the surveys, around 2% of scientists admitted they had "fabricated" (made up), "falsified" or "altered" data to "improve the outcome" at least once, and up to 34% admitted to other questionable research practices including "failing to present data that contradict one's own previous research" and "dropping observations or data points from analyses based on a gut feeling that they were inaccurate."

In surveys that asked about the behaviour of colleagues, 14% knew someone who had fabricated, falsified or altered data, and up to 72% knew someone who had committed other questionable research practices.

In both kinds of surveys, misconduct was reported most frequently by medical and pharmacological researchers. This suggests that either the latter are more open and honest in their answers, or that frauds and bias are more frequent in their fields. The latter interpretation would support growing fears that industrial sponsorship is severely distorting scientific evidence to promote commercial treatments and drugs.

As in all surveys asking sensitive questions, it is likely that some respondents did not reply honestly, especially when asked about their own behaviour. Therefore, a frequency of 2% is probably a conservative estimate, while it remains unclear how the figure of 14% should be interpreted.

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Saint Leo the Great's Second Homily on the Ascension of Christ

Saint Leo the Great (Sermon 74 - On The Lord's Ascension)

I. The Ascension completes our faith in Him, who was God as well as man

The mystery of our salvation, dearly-beloved, which the Creator of the universe valued at the price of His blood, has now been carried out under conditions of humiliation from the day of His bodily birth to the end of His Passion. And although even in the form of a slave many signs of Divinity have beamed out, yet the events of all that period served particularly to show the reality of His assumed Manhood. But after the Passion, when the chains of death were broken, which had exposed its own strength by attacking Him, Who was ignorant of sin, weakness was turned into power, mortality into eternity, contumely into glory, which the Lord Jesus Christ showed by many clear proofs in the sight of many, until He carried even into heaven the triumphant victory which He had won over the dead. As therefore at the Paschal commemoration, the Lord's Resurrection was the cause of our rejoicing; so the subject of our present gladness is His Ascension, as we commemorate and duly venerate that day on which the Nature of our humility in Christ was raised above all the host of heaven, over all the ranks of angels, beyond the height of all powers, to sit with God the Father. On which Providential order of events we are founded and built up, that God's Grace might become more wondrous, when, notwithstanding the removal from men's sight of what was rightly felt to command their awe, faith did not fail, hope did not waver, love did not grow cold. For it is the strength of great minds and the light of firmly-faithful souls, unhesitatingly to believe what is not seen with the bodily sight, and there to fix one's affections whither you cannot direct your gaze. And whence should this Godliness spring up in our hearts, or how should a man be justified by faith, if our salvation rested on those things only which lie beneath our eyes? Hence our Lord said to him who seemed to doubt of Christ's Resurrection, until he had tested by sight and touch the traces of His Passion in His very Flesh: "Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed" [John 20:29] .

II. The Ascension renders our faith more excellent and stronger

In order, therefore, dearly-beloved, that we may be capable of this blessedness, when all things were fulfilled which concerned the Gospel preaching and the mysteries of the New Testament, our Lord Jesus Christ, on the fortieth day after the Resurrection in the presence of the disciples, was raised into heaven, and terminated His presence with us in the body, to abide on the Father's right hand until the times Divinely fore-ordained for multiplying the sons of the Church are accomplished, and He comes to judge the living and the dead in the same flesh in which He ascended. And so that which till then was visible of our Redeemer was changed into a sacramental presence, and that faith might be more excellent and stronger, sight gave way to doctrine, the authority of which was to be accepted by believing hearts enlightened with rays from above.

III. The marvellous effects of this faith on all

This Faith, increased by the Lord's Ascension and established by the gift of the Holy Ghost, was not terrified by bonds, imprisonments, banishments, hunger, fire, attacks by wild beasts, refined torments of cruel persecutors. For this Faith throughout the world not only men, but even women, not only beardless boys, but even tender maids, fought to the shedding of their blood. This Faith cast out spirits, drove off sicknesses, raised the dead: and through it the blessed Apostles themselves also, who after being confirmed by so many miracles and instructed by so many discourses, had yet been panic-stricken by the horrors of the Lord's Passion and had not accepted the truth of His Resurrection without hesitation, made such progress after the Lord's Ascension that everything which had previously filled them with fear was turned into joy. For they had lifted the whole contemplation of their mind to the Godhead of Him that sat at the Father's right hand, and were no longer hindered by the barrier of corporeal sight from directing their minds' gaze to that which had never departed the Father's side in descending to earth, and had not forsaken the disciples in ascending to heaven.

IV. His Ascension refines our Faith and the ministering of angels to Him shows the extent of His authority

The Son of Man and Son of God, therefore, dearly-beloved, then attained a more excellent and holier fame, when He betook Himself back to the glory of the Father's Majesty, and in an ineffable manner began to be nearer to the Father in respect of His Godhead, after having become farther away in respect of His manhood. A better instructed faith then began to draw closer to a conception of the Son's equality with the Father without the necessity of handling the corporeal substance in Christ, whereby He is less than the Father, since, while the Nature of the glorified Body still remained the faith of believers was called upon to touch not with the hand of flesh, but with the spiritual understanding the Only-begotten, Who was equal with the Father. Hence comes that which the Lord said after His Resurrection, when Mary Magdalene, representing the Church, hastened to approach and touch Him: "Touch Me not, for I have not yet ascended to My Father" [John 20:17]; that is, "I would not have you come to Me as to a human body, nor yet recognize Me by fleshly perceptions: I put you off for higher things, I prepare greater things for you: when I have ascended to My Father, then you shall handle Me more perfectly and truly, for you shall grasp what you can not touch and believe what you can not see." But when the disciples' eyes followed the ascending Lord to heaven with upward gaze of earnest wonder, two angels stood by them in raiment shining with wondrous brightness, who also said: "You men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This Jesus Who was taken up from you into heaven shall so come as you saw Him going into heaven" [Acts 1:11] . By which words all the sons of the Church were taught to believe that Jesus Christ will come visibly in the same Flesh wherewith He ascended, and not to doubt that all things are subjected to Him on Whom the ministry of angels had waited from the first beginning of His Birth. For, as an angel announced to the blessed Virgin that Christ should be conceived by the Holy Ghost, so the voice of heavenly beings sang of His being born of the Virgin also to the shepherds. As messengers from above were the first to attest His having risen from the dead, so the service of angels was employed to foretell His coming in very Flesh to judge the world, that we might understand what great powers will come with Him as Judge, when such great ones ministered to Him even in being judged.

V. We must despise earthly things and rise to things above, especially by active works of mercy and love

And so, dearly-beloved, let us rejoice with spiritual joy, and let us with gladness pay God worthy thanks and raise our hearts' eyes unimpeded to those heights where Christ is. Minds that have heard the call to be uplifted must not be pressed down by earthly affections, they that are fore-ordained to things eternal must not be taken up with the things that perish; they that have entered on the way of Truth must not be entangled in treacherous snares, and the faithful must so take their course through these temporal things as to remember that they are sojourning in the vale of this world, in which, even though they meet with some attractions, they must not sinfully embrace them, but bravely pass through them. For to this devotion the blessed Apostle Peter arouses us, and entreating us with that loving eagerness which he conceived for feeding Christ's sheep by the threefold profession of love for the Lord, says: "Dearly-beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul" [1 Peter 2:11] . But for whom do fleshly pleasures wage war, if not for the devil, whose delight it is to fetter souls that strive after things above, with the enticements of corruptible good things, and to draw them away from those abodes from which he himself has been banished? Against his plots every believer must keep careful watch that he may crush his foe on the side whence the attack is made. And there is no more powerful weapon, dearly-beloved, against the devil's wiles than kindly mercy and bounteous charity, by which every sin is either escaped or vanquished. But this lofty power is not attained until that which is opposed to it be overthrown. And what so hostile to mercy and works of charity as avarice from the root of which spring all evils ? And unless it be destroyed by lack of nourishment, there must needs grow in the ground of that heart in which this evil weed has taken root, the thorns and briars of vices rather than any seed of true goodness. Let us then, dearly-beloved, resist this pestilential evil and follow after charity , without which no virtue can flourish, that by this path of love whereby Christ came down to us, we too may mount up to Him, to Whom with God the Father and the Holy Spirit is honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.


Source: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360374.htm (with some corrections of my own)

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The Funeral Oration of the Roman Empire: Delivered by the Ethnomartyr Emperor Constantine IX Paleologos on May 28, 1453

On Monday, May 28, the Romans knew that their moment of truth was upon them. There was a weird calm from the Turkish camp. The Sultan had ordered a day of rest before the final assault.

Those in the city who could be spared from manning and patching up the battered walls took to the streets in prayer. Constantine ordered that icons and relics from churches and monasteries be carried round the walls while the church bells rang. Constantine lead the procession.

The walls of Constantinople today

When it was over he assembled his ministers, officers and soldiers and addressed them. There are three accounts of what he said. The first and shortest of them is contained in a letter of Leonardo of Chios, the Latin Archbishop of Lesvos, addressed to Pope Nicholas V on August 19, 1453. Leonardo had been present during the last weeks of Roman Constantinople and he reported to the pope some six weeks after the capture of the city, while his memory was still fresh.

The two other and longer versions of Constantine's speech are mainly elaborations and extensions of Leonardo's text. One purports to be from the pen of George Sphrantzes, who must certainly have heard the speech though he makes no mention of it in his memoirs. It is to be read only in the extended version of those memoirs compiled in the sixteenth century by Makarios Melissenos. The third version is given in the Greek Chronicle of the Turkish Sultans, also of the sixteenth century.

The speech as related by Leonardo of Chios is thus the most reliable account. This was Constantine's last public speech and can serve, as Gibbon observed, as 'the funeral oration of the Roman Empire.'

Saint Constantine XI the Ethnomartyr, Last Emperor of the Romans (reigned from 1449 - May 29, 1453 AD)

"Gentlemen, illustrious captains of the army, and our most Christian comrades in arms: we now see the hour of battle approaching. I have therefore elected to assemble you here to make it clear that you must stand together with firmer resolution than ever. You have always fought with glory against the enemies of Christ. Now the defence of your fatherland and of the city known the world over, which the infidel and evil Turks have been besieging for two and fifty days, is committed to your lofty spirits.

"Be not afraid because its walls have been worn down by the enemy's battering. For your strength lies in the protection of God and you must show it with your arms quivering and your swords brandished against the enemy. I know that this undisciplined mob will, as is their custom, rush upon you with loud cries and ceaseless volleys of arrows. These will do you no bodily harm, for I see that you are well covered in armour. They will strike the walls, our breastplates and our shiellds. So do not imitate the Romans who, when the Carthaginians went into battle against them, allowed their cavalry to be terrified by the fearsome sight and sound of elephants.

"In this battle you must stand firm and have no fear, no thought of flight, but be inspired to resist with ever more herculean strength. Animals may run away from animals. But you are men, men of stout heart, and you will hold at bay these dumb brutes, thrusting your spears and swords into them, so that they will know that they are fighting not against their own kind but against the masters of animals.

"You are aware that the impious and infidel enemy has disturbed the peace unjustly. He has violated the oath and treaty that he made with us; he has slaughtered our farmers at harvest time; he has erected a fortress on the Propontis as it were to devour the Christians; he has encircled Galata under a pretence of peace.

"Now he threatens to capture the city of Constantine the Great, your fatherland, the place of ready refuge for all Christians, the guardian of all Romans, and to profane its holy shrines of God by turning them into stables for fits horses. Oh my lords, my brothers, my sons, the everlasting honour of Christians is in your hands.

"You men of Genoa, men of courage and famous for your infinite victories, you who have always protected this city, your mother, in many a conflict with the Turks, show now your prowess and your aggressive spirit toward them with manly vigour.

"You men of Venice, most valiant heroes, whose swords have many a time made Turkish blood to flow and who in our time have sent so many ships, so many infidel souls to the depths under the command of Loredano, the most excellent captain of our fleet, you who have adorned this city as if it were your own with fine, outstanding men, lift high your spirits now for battle.

"You, my comrades in arms, obey the commands of your leaders in the knowledge that this is the day of your glory -- a day on which, if you shed but a drop of blood, you will win for yourselves crowns of martyrdom and eternal fame."

Aerial view of Hagia Sophia today

All the people of the City then gathered into the Church of Hagia Sophia to pray for deliverance and celebrate the Divine Liturgy. After everyone, including the Emperor, received Holy Communion, they asked forgiveness of one another. Many kept vigil the entire night, while others prepared for the final showdown against Sultan Mehmed and his Ottoman hordes.

Emperor Constantine himself then went back to his palace at Blachernai to ask forgiveness from his household and bid them farewell before riding into the night to make a final inspection of his soldiers at the wall. He then kept vigil at the palace the entire night praying to God.

Emperor Constantine crowned by Christ as a martyr (drawing by Photios Kontoglou)

The next day the decapitated head and body of the Emperor was found amidst other decapitated corpses. We know it was taken to the Sultan to affirm that he was the new ruler of the Roman lands and the conqueror of Constantinople. Then there are differing accounts as to what happened to the body. Some say it was given to the Christians to give an emperor his proper burial, while others say the Sultan packaged the head and sent it throughout the lands of Persia, Arabia and Asia Minor as a symbol of his victory. Maybe both accounts can be reconciled however.

The Lamentation of Greece and Orthodoxy over the body of Emperor Constantine painted by Photios Kontoglou

Since the erection of the statue of Emperor Constantine IX in Athens, every year on May 29th the Greeks gather and offer a memorial service in his honor. His reverence has reached the point where he is honored as a Saint of the Orthodox Church.

The statue of Emperor Constantine in Athens

"To deliver the city it is not my own right nor any other person of her residents, because it is our common decision to die all of us and not to spare our life."
- Emperor Constantine's reply to Sultan Mehmed when asked to deliver the City without a fight

"Breaking down the doors with axes, the Turks entered the Church [Hagia Sophia] and dragged the fugitives off to slavery. Two by two, the men were tied together with cords, the women with belts, without consideration for age or station. Scenes of indescribable horror ensued. The icons of Saints were shorn of their jewels and smashed. The gold and silver Church vessels were seized, the altar cloths used for caparisons. Topped with a Janissary's cap, the crucifix was paraded in mockery. The conquerors used the altars as tables; when they themselves had finished eating on them, they turned them over to the horses for feed troughs or used them as beds on which to assault boys and girls."

--The Fall of the Roman Empire, A Chronicle by George Sphrantzes (translated by Marios Phillipides)

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Saint Leo the Great's First Homily on the Ascension of Christ

Saint Leo the Great (Sermon 73 - On the Lord's Ascension)

I. The events recorded as happening after the Resurrection were intended to convince us of its truth

Since the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the Divine power in three days raised the true Temple of God, which the wickedness of the Jews had overthrown, the sacred forty days, dearly-beloved, are today ended, which by most holy appointment were devoted to our most profitable instruction, so that, during the period that the Lord thus protracted the lingering of His bodily presence, our faith in the Resurrection might be fortified by needful proofs. For Christ's Death had much disturbed the disciples' hearts, and a kind of torpor of distrust had crept over their grief-laden minds at His torture on the cross, at His giving up the ghost, at His lifeless body's burial. For, when the holy women, as the Gospel-story has revealed, brought word of the stone rolled away from the tomb, the sepulchre emptied of the body, and the angels bearing witness to the living Lord, their words seemed like ravings to the Apostles and other disciples. Which doubtfulness, the result of human weakness, the Spirit of Truth would most assuredly not have permitted to exist in His own preacher's breasts, had not their trembling anxiety and careful hesitation laid the foundations of our faith. It was our perplexities and our dangers that were provided for in the Apostles: it was ourselves who in these men were taught how to meet the cavillings of the ungodly and the arguments of earthly wisdom. We are instructed by their lookings, we are taught by their hearings, we are convinced by their handlings. Let us give thanks to the Divine management and the holy Father who allowed the necessary slowness of belief. Others doubted, that we might not doubt.

II. And therefore they are in the highest degree instructive

Those days, therefore, dearly-beloved, which intervened between the Lord's Resurrection and Ascension did not pass by in uneventful leisure, but great mysteries were ratified in them, deep truths revealed. In them the fear of awful death was removed, and the immortality not only of the soul but also of the flesh established. In them, through the Lord's breathing upon them, the Holy Ghost is poured upon all the Apostles, and to the blessed Apostle Peter beyond the rest the care of the Lord's flock is entrusted, in addition to the keys of the kingdom. Then it was that the Lord joined the two disciples as a companion on the way, and, to the sweeping away of all the clouds of our uncertainty, upbraided them with the slowness of their timorous hearts. Their enlightened hearts catch the flame of faith, and lukewarm as they have been, are made to burn while the Lord unfolds the Scriptures. In the breaking of bread also their eyes are opened as they eat with Him: how far more blessed is the opening of their eyes, to whom the glorification of their nature is revealed than that of our first parents, on whom fell the disastrous consequences of their transgression.

III. They prove the Resurrection of the flesh

And in the course of these and other miracles, when the disciples were harassed by bewildering thoughts, and the Lord had appeared in their midst and said, "Peace be unto you" , that what was passing through their hearts might not be their fixed opinion (for they thought they saw a spirit not flesh), He refutes their thoughts so discordant with the Truth, offers to the doubters' eyes the marks of the cross that remained in His hands and feet, and invites them to handle Him with careful scrutiny, because the traces of the nails and spear had been retained to heal the wounds of unbelieving hearts, so that not with wavering faith, but with most steadfast knowledge they might comprehend that the Nature which had been lain in the sepulchre was to sit on God the Father's throne.

IV. Christ's ascension has given us greater privileges and joys than the devil had taken from us

Accordingly, dearly-beloved, throughout this time which elapsed between the Lord's Resurrection and Ascension, God's Providence had this in view, to teach and impress upon both the eyes and hearts of His own people that the Lord Jesus Christ might be acknowledged to have as truly risen, as He was truly born, suffered, and died. And hence the most blessed Apostles and all the disciples, who had been both bewildered at His death on the cross and backward in believing His Resurrection, were so strengthened by the clearness of the truth that when the Lord entered the heights of heaven, not only were they affected with no sadness, but were even filled with great joy. And truly great and unspeakable was their cause for joy, when in the sight of the holy multitude, above the dignity of all heavenly creatures, the Nature of mankind went up, to pass above the angels' ranks and to rise beyond the archangels' heights, and to have Its uplifting limited by no elevation until, received to sit with the Eternal Father, It should be associated on the throne with His glory, to Whose Nature It was united in the Son. Since then Christ's Ascension is our uplifting, and the hope of the Body is raised, whither the glory of the Head has gone before, let us exult, dearly-beloved, with worthy joy and delight in the loyal paying of thanks. For today not only are we confirmed as possessors of paradise, but have also in Christ penetrated the heights of heaven, and have gained still greater things through Christ's unspeakable grace than we had lost through the devil's malice. For us, whom our virulent enemy had driven out from the bliss of our first abode, the Son of God has made members of Himself and placed at the right hand of the Father, with Whom He lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Source: Translated by Charles Lett Feltoe. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 12. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. .

Hymns of the Feast of the Ascension of Christ

Apolytikion (Fourth Tone)
O Christ our God, You ascended in Glory and gladdened Your disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit. Your blessing assured them that You are the Son of God, the Redeemer of the world.

Kontakion (Plagal of the Second Tone)
O Christ our God, upon fulfilling Your dispensation for our sake, You ascended in Glory, uniting the earthly with the heavenly. You were never separate but remained inseparable, and cried out to those who love You, "I am with you and no one is against you."

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The Theotokos at the Resurrection of Christ

The Gospels and the tradition of the Church are pretty clear that two women first saw the risen Lord. We know one was Saint Mary Magdalene who is exclusively spoken of in the Gospel of John, and the other we know was another Mary but the identity initially is not told exactly which Mary this is. The tradition of the Fathers is clear that this Mary was the mother of Jesus, the Theotokos.

One way we know this is from the iconographic tradition of the Church where two women are depicted together as being first witnesses of the risen Jesus. The woman in red, the traditional cloak color for the Theotokos, is the Virgin Mary, who is also sometimes depicted with her name engraved near her halo. this depiction goes back centuries, the earliest of which that we know of comes from a miniature of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection in the Rabula Codex (Syria and Palestine, dated 586-587 A.D.). The scenes first show two holy women at the tomb and the second at the feet of Christ. One of the women has a halo, which indicates that she is the Blessed Virgin Mary. These scenes became the standard iconography on the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers during the Paschal season, and even flourished in the Middle Ages of the West as well.

We also have indication that the Theotokos was the first witness to the resurrection of Christ from several sources in the apocryphal literature of the early church. Though most of these writings are rejected as heretical or non-canonical, they still indicate a belief that was circulated among the early christians.

Origen (3rd cent.) speaks of a text named Gospel of the Twelve Apostles, and indicates that the following tradition existed already in the second century:

"She [the Virgin Mary] opened her eyes, for they were lowered in order not to view the earth, scene of so many dreadful events. She said to Him with joy, 'Rabboni, my Lord, my God, my Son, thou art resurrected, indeed resurrected.' She wished to hold Him in order to kiss Him upon the mouth. But He prevented her and pleaded with her, saying, 'My mother, do not touch me. Wait a little, for this is the garment which My Father has given me when He resurrected me. It is not possible for anything of flesh to touch me until I go into heaven.

"This body is however the one in which I passed nine months in thy loins ... Know these things, O my mother. This flesh is that which I received in thee. This is that which has reposed in my tomb. This is also that which is resurrected today, that which now stands before thee. Fix your eyes upon my hands and upon my feet. O Mary, my mother, know that it is I, whom thou hast nourished. Doubt not, O my mother, that I am thy son. It is I who left thee in the care of John at the moment when I was raised on the Cross.

"'Now therefore, O my mother, hasten to tell my brothers, and say to them... According to the words which I have told to you, go into Galilee: You shall see me. Hasten, for it is not possible for me to go into heaven with my Father, no longer to see you more.'"

A more known work, the Book of the Resurrection of Christ by Bartholomew the Apostle, known to Saint Jerome, and probably from the fourth century or late third century, contains a detailed account of Mary's search for the body of Jesus, and Jesus' subsequent appearance to her:

"And the Saviour appeared and in their presence mounted on the chariot of the Father of the Universe, and He cried out in the language of His Godhead, saying, 'Mari Khar Marih' whereof the interpretation is, 'Mary, the mother of the Son of God.' Then Mary, who knew the interpretation of the words said, 'Hramboune Kathiathaari Mirth'; whereof the interpretation is, 'The Son of the Almighty, and the Master, and Son.' And He said unto her, 'Hail, My mother. Hail, My ark. Hail, thou who has sustained the life of the whole world'....Then our Saviour stretched out His right hand, which was full of blessing, and He blessed the womb of Mary His mother... The womb of Mary is blessed by God the Father and by the Holy Spirit as well..."

These apocryphal texts indicate the love and reverence for Mary by the early writers. Their romanced accounts attempt to put into words Christ's own gratitude to Mary. There is another body of literature, however, that deals with this theme from the perspective of speculative theology. These are the catechetical and homiletic sources of the early centuries.

Tatian was the first writer in the second century to indicate that the Theotokos saw the risen Lord on the day of His Resurrection. However, he seems to have confused the Virgin Mary with Mary Magdalene in his account of the episode of the "Noli me tangere" or "Do Not Touch Me" (the title given to iconography of Christ's encounter with Mary Magdalene). More significantly he also raised the point what was to become the fundamental thesis of all the most orthodox writers touching the subject - that a meeting at which Christ announced his resurrection to his mother was no less than a logical necessity in the completion of his ministry.

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem (ca. 315- ca. 386) wrote a Discourse on Mary Theotokos in which the Virgin is made to speak to the Apostles James, Peter, and John, ten years after the Resurrection:

"Ye saw the sufferings which the Jews inflicted upon Him when He was raised up on the Cross, and that they put Him to death, and that His Father raised Him up from the dead on the third day. And I went to the tomb, and He appeared unto me, and He spake unto me, saying, 'Go and inform My brethren what things ye have seen. Let those whom My Father hath loved come to Galilee.'"

Among the Greek-speaking Fathers, John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nyssa identify the Virgin Mary as one of the women in the post-resurrection scene. In the West, St. Ambrose (4th cent.) notes that Mary deserved to see Christ after his Resurrection. Ambrose's discussion is particularly interesting in that he relates the symbolism of Christ's unused tomb to that of the Virgin womb; so he remarks that Christ's rising from the dead repeats the Virgin birth. Sedulius the Poet (5th cent.), takes up this theme and expands the imagery of the womb and the tomb.

In the East, the theme begins to be more prominent in the ninth century. The earliest known source is found in a homily of George, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, on the Presence of the Virgin at the Sepulcher. As Breckenridge writes:

"George of Nicomedia avoided the pitfalls of scriptural inconcordance by suggesting that the Virgin can be assumed to have been present at the sepulcher on Easter morning before the other women arrived; he intimated that the reason she was not mentioned is that the texts speak only of the women who came to the tomb; while she was already there. In other words, Christ's mother, the only one of his followers to have had perfect confidence in his ultimate triumph, remained at his tomb from the time of its sealing until that of the arrival of the other women on Easter morning. George described the long vigil by the silent tomb, and finally the prayer of Mary to her Son, in which she expressed complete faith in his glorification, requesting only that he vouchsafe her a glimpse of him when he did arise from the dead: "When you have come, and the joy of Resurrection is accomplished, first of all, appear to announce this to your Mother." And so, although, as George readily acknowledged, the Scriptures say nothing of it... George proceeded to describe it, not at all in terms of the sort of encounter between two people given by the gospels in the case of Mary Magdalene or the other women, but as a mighty vision of glory, worthy only of an apocalypse... His solution is essentially the one employed by several later Byzantine writers such as Metaphrastes, Theophanes Krameus, and Gregory Palamas."

Saint Gregory Palamas, in his Sermon on the Sunday of the Myrrhbearing Women, addresses the issue directly and offers an apologetic for the case that the Theotokos indeed appeared first at the tomb of Christ. Below is a detailed account given in the book by Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos in his book Gregory Palamas As A Hagiorite:

"In the homily of St. Gregory Palamas for the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women, analysing the holy texts of the Scriptures with many reasonings, he ends by concluding that the Theotokos saw the Risen Christ and indeed saw him before the other women, and she alone was granted to clasp his feet. But let us look more analytically at this teaching.

"The Myrrh-bearing Women followed Christ 'with the Mother of the Lord' and remained with her and made ready to anoint the Body of Christ with spices. According to Mark the Evangelist, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sat in front of the tomb and watched the burial of Christ. The phrase 'the other Mary' meant 'the Mother of God herself in any case'. The Panagia was also called Mary the mother of James and Joses, who were children of Joseph her betrothed, by another woman.

"According to St. Gregory Palamas, the Panagia was the first to come to the tomb with Mary Magdalene. 'First of all the Theotokos came to the tomb of the Son of God...'. The other Mary 'was the Mother of God in any case'. All the other myrrh-bearing women went to the tomb after the earthquake and the flight of the guards, and therefore they found the tomb opened and the stone rolled away. However, 'the Virgin Mother was present when the earthquake took place, and when the stone was rolled away and the tomb opened, and the guards were present'. The guards fled after the earthquake, 'but the Mother of God was elated at the sight'. At the same time St. Gregory Palamas teaches that that life-bearing tomb was opened for the Theotokos and it was also for her that the angel of the Lord flashed like lightning because it is for the Theotokos and through the Theotokos that all the good things were opened. According to St. Gregory, this angel was the archangel Gabriel, the one who at the Annunciation said to her: 'Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God' (Luke 1, 30). As soon as he saw her hastening to the tomb, he too hastened to announce to her the resurrection of her Son.

"The women fleeing from the tomb were seized with fear and great joy. According to St Gregory Palamas, fear was in the other women and Mary Magdalene, while the word joy is said about the Mother of God 'because she understood the words of the angel and surrendered completely to the light, being completely purified and divinely favoured, and with all these things she knew the truth and believed in the archangel since he had for a long time appeared credible to her because of his deeds'. The Panagia was favoured, she had been made pure and had attained deification; she had also seen the archangel Gabriel and been assured at that time of the credibility of his word, and therefore also now she was granted this great experience.

"With the information about the resurrection of Christ which was given by the archangel Gabriel, the Panagia, 'joined by the other women', went back to where she had been. Then Christ appeared and said 'Greetings'. The Evangelist says: 'They came to him, clasped his feet, and worshipped him' (Matt. 28, 9). St. Gregory Palamas says that just as the Theotokos alone of all the women understood the meaning of the angel's words, so also she was the first of the women 'both to see and to know the risen one, and she was the first to fall down and clasp his feet and become his apostle to the Apostles'.

"Mary Magdalene was not with the Mother of Christ when the Lord met her. This is seen first from the fact that when Mary Magdalene had just met the Apostle Peter she said to him: 'They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him'; second from the fact that she was weeping, because she thought that they had taken Christ, she did not recognise Christ, and Christ did not let her come near Him. So therefore the ever-virgin Mary was the first to come to the tomb and she first received the message of the resurrection. Then came the other myrrh-bearers as well.

"St. Gregory Palamas uses all these things to interpret the related accounts of the Evangelists. But he adds that the Panagia was the first to see the resurrected Christ, was counted worthy of divine conversation, became an ear-witness of his, touched him with her hands, 'as was right and just'. Actually this is right and just. For, on the one hand, we cannot believe that all the other women went to the tomb but not His Mother, nor that Christ gave the joy of his appearance to all the others first and not to His Mother. Therefore it was both 'right' and 'just' that his first appearance was to be to the Panagia.

"But the point is why did the Evangelists not speak clearly, but wrote it in a shadowy way. And at this point St. Gregory indicates that the Evangelists did not refer to it openly, 'not wanting to offer the Mother as witness, lest they give unbelievers reason for suspicion'. There was a possibility that the unbelievers, as soon as they heard that the Mother of Christ saw Him first, might doubt the resurrection. St. Gregory says that now that is not the case, because this is being said to the faithful."



Sources:
1. James D. Breckenridge, "Et Prima Vidit: The Iconography of the Appearance of Christ to His Mother," Art Bulletin, 39 (1957);
2. http://www.vic.com/~tscon/pelagia/htm/b1.en.saint_gregory_palamas_as_a_hagiorite.09.htm#s13d;
3. http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/eastertriduum.html#item2.

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Saint John the Russian, a New Confessor and His Incorrupt Relics

Saint John the Russian (Feast Day - May 27)

The Life of Our Father Among the Saints

John the Russian

Whose Venerable Relics Repose in New Prokopion on the Greek Island of Evvia

"Undeteriorated relics are, in our tradition, the indisputable evidence of theosis, or in other words the fulfillment of the Church’s ascetic therapy." - Fr. John Romanides

The Holy Confessor John the Russian was born in Little Russia around 1690, and was raised in piety and love for the Church of God. Upon attaining the age of maturity he was called to military service, and he served as a simple soldier in the army of Peter I and took part in the Russo-Turkish War. During the Prutsk Campaign of 1711 he and other soldiers were captured by the Tatars, who handed him over to the commander of the Turkish cavalry. He took his Russian captive home with him to Asia Minor, to the village of Prokopion.

The Turks tried to convert the Christian soldiers to the Moslem faith with threats and flattery, but those who resisted were beaten and tortured. Some, alas, denied Christ and became Moslems, hoping to improve their lot. St John was not swayed by the promise of earthly delights, and he bravely endured the humiliation and beatings.

His master tortured him often in the hope that his slave would accept Islam. St John resolutely resisted the will of his master saying, "You cannot turn me from my holy Faith by threats, nor with promises of riches and pleasures. I will obey your orders willingly, if you will leave me free to follow my religion. I would rather surrender my head to you than to change my faith. I was born a Christian, and I shall die a Christian."

St John's bold words and firm faith, as well as his humility and meekness, finally softened the fierce heart of his master. He left John in peace, and no longer tried to make him renounce Christianity. The saint lived in the stable and took care of his master's animals, rejoicing because his bed was a manger such as the one in which the Savior was born.

From morning until late evening the saint served his Turkish master, fulfilling all his commands. He performed his duties in the winter cold and summer heat, half naked and barefoot. Other slaves frequently mocked him, seeing his zeal. St John never became angry with them, but on the contrary, he helped them when he could, and comforted them in their misfortune.

The saint's kindness and gentle nature had its effect on the souls of both the master and the slaves. The Agha and his wife came to love him, and offered him a small room near the hayloft. St John did not accept it, preferring to remain in the stable with the animals. Here he slept on the hay, covered only by an old coat. So the stable became his hermitage, where he prayed and chanted Psalms.

St John brought a blessing to his master simply by living in his household. The cavalry officer became rich, and was soon one of the most powerful men in Prokopion. He knew very well why his home had been blessed, and he did not hesitate to tell others.

Sometimes St John left the stable at night and went to the church of the Great Martyr George, where he kept vigil in the narthex. On Saturdays and Feast days, he received the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

During this time St John continued to serve his master as before, and despite his own poverty, he always helped the needy and the sick, and shared his meager food with them.

One day, the officer left Prokopion and went to Mecca on pilgrimage. A few days later, his wife gave a banquet and invited her husband's friends and relatives, asking them to pray for her husband's safe return. St John served at the table, and he put down a dish of pilaf, his master's favorite food. The hostess said, "How much pleasure your master would have if he could be here to eat this pilaf with us." St John asked for a dish of pilaf, saying that he would send it to his master in Mecca. The guests laughed when they heard his words. The mistress, however, ordered the cook to give him a dish of pilaf, thinking he would eat it himself, or give it to some poor family.

Taking the dish, St John went into the stable and prayed that God would send it to his master. He had no doubt that God would send the pilaf to his master in a supernatural manner. The plate disappeared before his eyes, and he went into the house to tell his mistress that he had sent the pilaf to his master.

After some time, the master returned home with the copper plate which had held the pilaf. He told his household that on a certain day (the very day of the banquet), he returned from the mosque to the home where he was staying. Although the room was locked, he found a plate of steaming pilaf on the table. Unable to explain who had brought the food, or how anyone could enter the locked room, the officer examined the plate. To his amazement, he saw his own name engraved on the copper plate. In spite of his confusion, he ate the meal with great relish.

When the officer's family heard this story, they marveled. His wife told him of how John had asked for a plate of pilaf to send to his master in Mecca, and how they all laughed when John came back and said that it had been sent. Now they saw that what the saint had said was true (Compare the story of Habakkuk, who miraculously brought a dish of pottage to Daniel in the lions' den [Dan. 14:33-39] in the Septuagint).

Toward the end of his difficult life St John fell ill, and sensed the nearness of his end. He summoned the priest so that he could receive Holy Communion. The priest, fearing to go to the residence of the Turkish commander openly with the Holy Gifts, enclosed the life-giving Mysteries in an apple and brought them to St John.

St John glorified the Lord, received the Body and Blood of Christ, and then reposed. The holy Confessor John the Russian went to the Lord Whom he loved on May 27, 1730. When they reported to the master that his servant John had died, he summoned the priests and gave them the body of St John for Christian burial. Almost all the Christian inhabitants of Prokopion came to the funeral, and they accompanied the body of the saint to the Christian cemetery.

Three and a half years later the priest was miraculously informed in a dream that the relics of St John had remained incorrupt. Soon the relics of the saint were transferred to the church of the holy Great Martyr George and placed in a special reliquary. The new saint of God began to be glorified by countless miracles of grace, accounts of which spread to the remote cities and villages. Christian believers from various places came to Prokopion to venerate the holy relics of St John the Russian and they received healing through his prayers. The new saint came to be venerated not only by Orthodox Christians, but also by Armenians, and even Turks, who prayed to the Russian saint, "Servant of God, in your mercy, do not disdain us."

In the year 1881 a portion of the relics of St John were transferred to the Russian monastery of the holy Great Martyr Panteleimon by the monks of Mount Athos, after they were miraculously saved by the Saint during a dangerous journey.

Construction of a new church was begun in 1886, through the contributions of the monastery and the inhabitants of Prokopion. This was necessary because the church of the holy Great Martyr George, where the relics of St John were enshrined, had fallen into disrepair.

On August 15, 1898 the new church dedicated to St John the Russian was consecrated by the Metropolitan John of Caesarea, with the blessing of the Ecumenical Patriarch Constantine V.

In 1924, an exchange of the populations of Greece and Turkey took place. Many Moslems moved out of Greece, and many Christians moved out of Turkey. The inhabitants of Prokopion, when they moved to the island of Evvia, took with them part of the relics of St John the Russian.

For several decades the relics were in the church of Sts Constantine and Helen at New Prokopion on Evvia, and in 1951 they were transferred into a new church dedicated to St John the Russian. Thousands of pilgrims flocked here from all the corners of Greece, particularly on his Feast, May 27. St John the Russian is widely venerated on Mount Athos, particularly in the Russian monastery of St Panteleimon.

St John's help is sought by travelers, and by those transporting things.

SOME MIRACLES OF SAINT JOHN

The Saint performed many wonders even after his blessed repose. A descendent of the Agha told many of the following miracle: "My children would not live except for a short time, and would die while yet infants. Their unfortunate mother, after she had lost hope in the wisdom of medicine, fled without my knowledge to the relics of the slave John, so that be might grant her a little child which would not die while yet young, so that we also might rejoice to see it as a young man or even a young girl .... In truth the righteous John heard the supplication of my wife. God granted us a strong little boy whom we called, as you know, Kole Guvan Oglu (that is, "Son of the Slave John"), and he lives through the power of God and the prayers of John even until today."

Several times St. John has appeared in dreams and visions warning of impending dangers. Once he warned some Greek school children that the roof was about to fall; they had time enough to jump underneath their desks and when the roof fell, its beams came down upon the desks without striking even one of the children.

More recently we have heard about the miraculous healings of two severe cases of meningitis – one a 19 year old shepherd boy in southern Greece and the other a 3-year old boy in London.

Today a part of the right hand of St. John is enshrined in a special silver reliquary in the Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Boston, where many people come to venerate it and to ask the prayers of this simple Confessor of the Christian faith, knowing that the Lord – Who resisteth the proud – hears speedily the prayers of the meek.

(Based on a Life by Photios Kontoglou. The Orthodox Word, June-July, 1967)


Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
He that hath called thee from earth unto the heavenly abodes doth even after thy death keep thy body unharmed, O righteous one; for thou wast carried off as a prisoner into Asia wherein also, O John, thou didst win Christ as thy friend. Wherefore do thou beseech him that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
The holy memory, O righteous father, of thine illustrious contests hath come today gladdening the souls of those who venerate thee with reverence and faith, O John.

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