Mary and Martha According to Saint Cyril of Alexandria

Icon of Saints Mary, Martha and Lazarus of Bethany (Feast Day for Saints Mary and Martha is June 4th)

SERMON 69 of Saint Cyril of Alexandria on the Gospel of Luke

Luke 10:38-42. "And it came to pass as they journeyed, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at our Lord's feet, and heard His word, but Martha was distracted with much service. And standing before Him, she said: 'Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her help me.' But our Lord answered and said to her: 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and busied about many things, but few things are required, or one, and Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.'"

You who love the virtues which adorn piety, and carefully practice every art which become the saints, again come and listen to the sacred doctrine, and let not the method of hospitality be unknown to you. For it is a great and valuable quality, as the wise Paul testifies, where he writes, "Forget not hospitality, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." Let us learn therefore of Christ, the Savior of all, this also, as well as all other things. For it would be a disgrace to us, that while those who desire worldly wisdom, and gather written learning, select the best teachers for their instructors; we who are encouraged to pay earnest heed to doctrines of such surpassing value, and may have as our instructor and teacher Christ the Giver of all wisdom, do not imitate this woman in her love of learning, even Mary, who sat at the Savior's feet, and filled her heart with the doctrines He taught, feeling as if she could never have enough of what so profited her.

For the Saviour lodged with the holy women, but Mary, it says, listened to Him as He taught; while the other, Martha, was distracted with much service. She therefore besought Him that her sister might share her carefulness with her. But Christ consented not, saying, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and busied about many things, only few things are required, or but one." And He further praised Mary, that "she had chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." For the acquisition of spiritual blessings is never lost.

The first thing however which we must examine is the manner in which the Savior again benefits His disciples, by setting Himself before them as an example, in order that they may know how and in what manner to behave in the houses of such as receive them. For they must not immediately on entering indulge themselves in relaxation, or suppose that this is the reason why they lodge with men, but rather that they may fill them with every blessing, and the divine and sacred doctrines. So somewhere the blessed Paul also sends a message to certain one: "For I desire to see you, that I may give you some spiritual gift, that you may be confirmed." Observe therefore, that our Lord Jesus Christ, on entering to lodge with these holy women, did not cease from giving instruction, but still grants them, without stint, the sober doctrines of salvation. And one of these women was steadfast in her love of hearing, but Martha was distracted with much service. Does any one then blame her for being occupied with careful service? By no means. For neither does the Savior chide her for having proposed to herself the discharge of this duty; but rather He blamed her, as one who was labouring in vain, by wishing to procure more than was necessary. And this He did for our benefit, that He might fix a limit to hospitality. For far better is that other part, of earnestly desiring the divine doctrine.

We do not then say that the wish to entertain strangers, when it does not aim at anything excessive, is to be despised, and is no service. The saints especially are bound to be content with little, and when they eat, and are prevailed upon to draw near to the table, they do so, rather to appease the infirmity of the body, in accordance with the laws of nature, than as caring about pleasure and relaxation. When therefore we lodge with the brethren, in wishing to reap their corporeal things, let us first sow for them things spiritual; and imitating therein careful husbandmen, let us lay bare their hearts, lest some root of bitterness spring up and injure them, lest the worm of human innovation attack them, and work in them secret decay. And if anything like this has happened, then thrusting forthwith into their minds the saving word of instruction, like the teeth of the mattock, let us eradicate the root of ungodliness; let us pluck up the heretical darnel from the very bottom; let us implant the knowledge of the truth; thus we may reap the corporeal things of those who have a superfluity, receiving them as a matter of debt: "for the workman", He says, "is worthy of his hire". And the law of Moses, hinting at the same truth, says somewhere in like manner, "You shall not muzzle the trampling ox." And as Paul said, "Does God care about oxen? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes?" You therefore will give things more valuable than those you receive from men for things temporal; you will give things eternal for earthly things things heavenly; for the things of sense, things intellectual; for the things that perish, things that endure. And thus much of those who receive hospitality.

But let those who open to them their house, meet them cheerfully, and with alacrity, and as their fellows; and not so much as those who give, but as those who receive; as those who gain, and not as those who expend. And the more so as they profit doubly; for in the first place they enjoy the instruction of those whom they hospitably entertain; and secondly, they also win the reward of hospitality. Every way therefore they are profited. When however they receive the brethren into their house, let them not be distracted with much service. Let them not seek any thing beyond their means, or more than sufficient. For every where and in every thing excess is injurious. For often it produces hesitation in those who otherwise would be glad to receive strangers, and causes but few [houses] to be found fit for the purpose, while it proves a cause of annoyance to those who are entertained. For the rich in this world delight in costly banquets; and in many kinds of viands, prepared curiously often with sauces and flavours; a mere sufficiency is utterly scorned, while that which is extravagant is praised, and a profusion beyond all satiety is admired, and crowned with words of flattery. The drinkings and revellings are excessive; and the draining of cups, and courses of wines, the means of intoxication and gluttony. But when holy men are assembled at the house of one who fears God, let the table be plain and temperate, the viands simple, and free from superfluities: but little to eat, and that meagre and scant; and a limited sufficiency of drink. In every thing a small supply of such necessaries as will allay the bodily appetite with simple fare. So must men receive strangers. So too Abraham by the oak at Mamre, received those three men, and won as the reward of his carefulness, the promise of his beloved son Isaac. So Lot in Sodom honoured the angels, and for so doing, was not destroyed by fire with the rest; nor became the prey of the inextinguishable flame.

Very great therefore is the virtue of hospitality, and especially worthy of the saints. Let us therefore also practise it, for so will the heavenly Teacher lodge and rest in our hearts, even Christ; by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father be praise and dominion, with the Holy Ghost, for ever and ever, Amen.

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Boy Chosen by Dalai Lama Turns Back on Buddhist Order

Osel Hita Torres

[The Dalai Lama is known in our culture today as a man of peace and wisdom. But people don't understand the horrible fear-inducing teachings behind Tibetan Buddhism. It also can be accused of promoting child abuse, as the story below shows. Many times in interviews even the Dalai Lama himself has spoken of regrets in not having experienced things that had he not been faced with his similar dilemma he would have participated in - things such as love and romance. Finally a boy with a strong enough will to escape this abuse is speaking out and rebelling against being forced into a lifestyle he unwillingly has had to deal with since birth by the Dalai Lama who here proves to be a fales prophet. -J.S.]

Boy Chosen by Dalai Lama Turns Back on Buddhist Order

Dale Fuchs in Madrid
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 31 May 2009

As a toddler, he was put on a throne and worshipped by monks who treated him like a god. But the boy chosen by the Dalai Lama as a reincarnation of a spiritual leader has caused consternation – and some embarrassment – for Tibetan Buddhists by turning his back on the order that had such high hopes for him.

Instead of leading a monastic life, Osel Hita Torres now sports baggy trousers and long hair, and is more likely to quote Jimi Hendrix than Buddha.

Yesterday he bemoaned the misery of a youth deprived of television, football and girls. Movies were also forbidden – except for a sanctioned screening of The Golden Child starring Eddie Murphy, about a kidnapped child lama with magical powers. "I never felt like that boy," he said.

He is now studying film in Madrid and has denounced the Buddhist order that elevated him to guru status. "They took me away from my family and stuck me in a medieval situation in which I suffered a great deal," said Torres, 24, describing how he was whisked from obscurity in Granada to a monastery in southern India. "It was like living a lie," he told the Spanish newspaper El Mundo. Despite his rebelliousness, he is still known as Lama Tenzin Osel Rinpoche and revered by the Buddhist community. A prayer for his "long life" still adorns the website of the Foundation to Preserve the Mahayana Tradition, which has 130 centres around the world. The website features a biography of the renegade guru that gushes about his peaceful, meditative countenance as a baby. In Tibetan Buddhism, a lama is one of a lineage of reincarnated spiritual leaders, the most famous of which is the Dalai Lama.

According to the foundation biography, another leader suspected Torres was the reincarnation of the recently deceased Lama Yeshe when he was only five months old. In 1986, at 14 months, his parents took him to see the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, India. The toddler was chosen out of nine other candidates and eventually "enthroned".

At six, he was allowed to socialise only with other reincarnated souls – though for a time he said he lived next to the actor Richard Gere's cabin.

By 18, he had never seen couples kiss. His first disco experience was a shock. "I was amazed to watch everyone dance. What were all those people doing, bouncing, stuck to one another, enclosed in a box full of smoke?"

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Can Animals tell Right From Wrong?

[Einstein said that at the beginning of the twentieth century only a few scientists had been philosophically minded, but today physicists are almost all philosophers, although "they are apt to be bad philosophers." He pointed as an example to logical positivism, which he felt was a kind of philosophy that came out of physics. We also know that biologists make bad philosophers, but we can now add ecologists to that list as well.

Animals can tell right from wrong, claimed The Telegraph. “Until recently, humans were thought to be the only species to experience complex emotions and have a sense of morality,” the article by Richard Gray said. “But Prof. Marc Bekoff, an ecologist at University of Colorado, Boulder, believes that morals are ‘hard-wired’ into the brains of all mammals and provide the ‘social glue’ that allow often aggressive and competitive animals to live together in groups.”

Gray did not explain what the moral standard was by which to judge moral behavior, nor why social glue is a good thing in his article. We know that some aggressive and competitive animals are loners. If morality is hard-wired, is it really morality? Can't it just be the instinct for survival? Is there an instinct for morality? Should morality be lowered to the level of mere instinct? If so, how are we then to ultimately judge right from wrong? The appeal to the instinct of one's own personal morality in a court of law would make an interesting defense, but without an appeal to a higher judge of behavior (God) there really can be no judgement against a personal interpretation of morality. Maybe scientists need to start asking the right questions, before answering really bad illogical questions. -J.S.]

Animals Can Tell Right From Wrong
Animals possess a sense of morality that allows them to tell the difference between right and wrong, according to a controversial new book.

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent for Telegraph
23 May 2009

Scientists studying animal behaviour believe they have growing evidence that species ranging from mice to primates are governed by moral codes of conduct in the same way as humans.

Until recently, humans were thought to be the only species to experience complex emotions and have a sense of morality.

But Prof Marc Bekoff, an ecologist at University of Colorado, Boulder, believes that morals are "hard-wired" into the brains of all mammals and provide the "social glue" that allow often aggressive and competitive animals to live together in groups.

He has compiled evidence from around the world that shows how different species of animals appear to have an innate sense of fairness, display empathy and help other animals that are in distress.

His conclusions will provide ammunition for animal welfare groups pushing to have animals treated more humanely, but some experts are sceptical about the extent to which animals can experience complex emotions and social responsibility.

Prof Bekoff, who presents his case in a new book Wild Justice, said: "The belief that humans have morality and animals don't is a long-standing assumption, but there is a growing amount of evidence that is showing us that this simply cannot be the case.

"Just as in humans, the moral nuances of a particular culture or group will be different from another, but they are certainly there. Moral codes are species specific, so they can be difficult to compare with each other or with humans."

Prof Bekoff believes morals developed in animals to help regulate behaviour in social groups of animals such as wolves and primates.

He claims that these rules help to control fighting within the group and encourage co-operative behaviour.

Recent neurology work has also revealed that distantly related mammals such as whales and dolphins have the same structures in their brains that are thought to be responsible for empathy in humans.

Other findings have also suggested that some animals may even be capable of showing empathy with the suffering of other species.

Prof Bekoff, who co-wrote the book with moral philosopher Jessica Pierce, also from the University of Colorado, added: "There are cases of dolphins helping humans to escape from sharks and elephants that have helped antelope escape from enclosures.

"While it is difficult to know for certain that there is cross species empathy, it is hard to argue against it."

His ideas have met with some controversy in the scientific community, but many admit it is difficult to argue that animals do not share many of the psychological qualities previously only attributed to humans.

Professor Frans de Waal, a primate behaviourist at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, said: "I don't believe animals are moral in the sense we humans are – with well developed and reasoned sense of right and wrong – rather that human morality incorporates a set of psychological tendencies and capacities such as empathy, reciprocity, a desire for co-operation and harmony that are older than our species.

"Human morality was not formed from scratch, but grew out of our primate psychology. Primate psychology has ancient roots, and I agree that other animals show many of the same tendencies and have an intense sociality."


WOLVES

Wolves live in tight-knit social groups that are regulated by strict rules. If a pack grows too large, members are not able to bond closely enough and the pack disintegrates. Wolves also demonstrate fairness.

During play, dominant wolves will "handicap" themselves by engaging in roll reversal with lower ranking wolves, showing submission and allowing them to bite, provided it is not too hard.

Prof Bekoff argues that without a moral code governing their actions, this kind of behaviour would not be possible. If an animal bites too hard, it will initiate a "play bow" to ask forgiveness before play resumes.


COYOTES

In other members of the dog family, play is controlled by similar rules. Among coyotes, cubs which bite too hard are ostracised by the rest of the group and often end up having to leave entirely.

"We looked at the mortality of these young animals who disperse from the group and they have four to five times higher mortality," said Bekoff.

Experiments with domestic dogs, where one animal was given a treat and another denied, have shown that they posses a sense of fairness as they shared their treats.


ELEPHANTS

Elephants are intensely sociable and emotional animals. Research by Iain Douglas Hamilton, from the department of zoology at Oxford University, suggests elephants experience compassion and has found evidence of elephants helping injured or ill members of their herd.

In one case, a Matriarch known as Eleanor fell ill and a female in the herd gently tried to help Eleanor back to her feet, staying with her before she died.

In 2003, a herd of 11 elephants rescued antelope who were being held inside an enclosure in KwaZula-Natal, South Africa.

The matriarch unfastened all of the metal latches holding the gates closed and swung the entrance open allowing the antelope to escape.

This is thought to be a rare example of animals showing empathy for members of another species – a trait previously thought to be the exclusive preserve of mankind.


DIANA MONKEYS

A laboratory experiment trained Diana monkeys to insert a token into a slot to obtain food.

A male who had grown to be adept at the task was found to be helping the oldest female who had not been able to learn how to insert the token.

On three occasion the male monkey picked up tokens she dropped and inserted them into the slot and allowed her to have the food.

As there was no benefit for the male monkey, Prof Bekoff argues that this is a clear example of an animal's actions being driven by some internal moral compass.


CHIMPANZEES

Known to be among the most cognitively advanced of the great apes and our closest cousin, it is perhaps not surprising that scientists should suggest they live by moral codes.

A chimpanzee known as Knuckles – from the Centre for Great Apes in Florida – is the only known captive chimpanzee to suffer from cerebral palsy, which leaves him physically and mentally handicapped.

Scientists have found that other chimpanzees in his group treat him differently and he is rarely subjected to intimidating displays of aggression from older males.

Chimpanzees also demonstrate a sense of justice and those who deviate from the code of conduct of a group are set upon by other members as punishment.


RODENTS

Experiments with rats have shown that they will not take food if they know their actions will cause pain to another rat. In lab tests, rats were given food which then caused a second group of rats to receive an electric shock.

The rats with the food stopped eating rather than see another rat receive a shock. Similarly, mice react more strongly to pain when they have seen another mouse in pain.

Recent research from Switzerland also showed that rats will help a rat, to which it is not related, to obtain food if they themselves have benefited from the charity of others. This reciprocity was thought to be restricted to primates.


BATS

Vampire bats need to drink blood every night but it is common for some not to find any food. Those who are successful in foraging for blood will share their meal with bats who are not successful.

They are more likely to share with bats who had previously shared with them. Prof Bekoff believes this reciprocity is a result of a sense of affiliation that binds groups of animals together.

Some studies have shown that animals experience hormonal changes that lead them to "crave" social interaction.

Biologists have also observed a female Rodrigues fruit-eating bat in Gainesville, Florida, helping another female to give birth by showing the pregnant female the correct birthing position – with head up and feed down.


WHALES

Whales have been found to have spindle cells in their brains. These very large and specialised cells were thought to be restricted to humans and other great apes and appear to play a role in empathy and understanding the feelings of others.

Humpback whales, fin whales, killer whales and sperm whales have all been found to have spindle cells in the same areas of their brains.

They also have three times as many spindle cells compared to humans and are thought to be older in evolutionary terms.

This finding has suggested that complex emotional judgements such as empathy may have evolved considerably earlier in history than previously thought and could be widespread in the animal kingdom.

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Why are Ethnic Russians Converting to Islam?

[I thought this was an interesting question in todays news published by The Georgian Daily. Various answers are given that I would agree contribute to these conversions, but there was another story published today that I also think is contributing to this factor. I wonder how much they relate. Could the article below be one reason people in Russia are leaving Orthodoxy for other religions? -J.S.]

Patriarch Kyrill Calls for Eliminating Crude Behavior from Parishes

Patriarch Kyrill called for eliminating crude behavior, which sometimes takes place in the parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church, and deters people from Orthodoxy, reports Interfax-Religion.

"I've spoken with people who had completely lost their faith, because upon entering the church for the first time, they encountered brutality, anger, irritability," - said Patriarch Kyrill on June 3 when presenting diplomas to graduates of the Sretensky Theological Seminary in Moscow.

According to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, the blame for the rudeness and lack of civility of church staff often rests with the priest, who is unable to live in such a way as to be an example for others. "

"Personal example - this is something without which the priest can not carry out his service", - underscored the Patriarch.

In our time, "when people no longer believe in spoken words, the life of the priest must be a constant sermon by its acts", - believes the head of the Moscow Patriarchate.

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Lady Gaga Almost Arrested At Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow

[Lady Gaga is currently one of the most popular female pop stars in America today known not only for her pop hits, but also for her skimpy outfits. Her outfits are not only skimpy on the stage, but off the stage as well. This has caused her to be fined by police for public indecency.

On her recent trip to Moscow, for some reason she decided to visit the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Basil. Anyone familiar with Orthodox churches in Russian knows that they have strict dress codes to enter these places that require a certain decency. In Greece it is the same and even I as a male have been prohibited from entering certain places for wearing shorts into a church while visiting as a tourist. Which is why I was not surprised to hear that Lady Gaga was almost arrested when she entered the Cathedral in indecent leather attire. -J.S.]


Lady Gaga Almost Arrested in Russia for Wearing Leather

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

LiveNews

"They tried to arrest me in Russia, for leather at St. Basil's. But all is calm in the red square, as I leave the east Parisbound." -Lady GaGa

Lady Gaga was almost arrested during a trip to Russia – because she was wearing leather.

The ‘Poker Face’ singer was approached by officers when she visited St. Basil's Cathedral, in Moscow, over her choice of outfit.

She wrote on her Twitter page at the weekend: “They tried to arrest me in Russia, for leather at St. Basil's. But all is calm in the red square, as I leave the east Parisbound. (sic)”

The 23-year-old pop star is well known for her skimpy outfits, and is regularly seen wearing just underwear on evenings out.

She has previously admitted her wacky fashion sense has caused her problems with the law, explaining a Chicago policeman once took exception to her tiny shorts.

She previously revealed: "I was outside the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago and this policeman came up and told me my hotpants were too short. They weren't really pants at all, but he got upset and I got a citation. All people will have seen is this half-naked girl on the street yelling, 'It's fashion! I'm an artist!'"

Below is one of the more interesting Lady Gaga interviews

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Winchester Mystery House to Star in Hollywood Movie

The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California

[It was inevitable that movies about some of the most famous haunted houses in America would be released at a time when belief in the paranormal is steadily rising. Earlier this year The Haunting In Connecticut was featured, and now the story behind the Winchester Mystery House by the same director. If done right, I anticipate this movie to be very interesting, though I expect it to overly focused on the paranormal aspects of the house as the previous feature was. A true story of Sarah Winchester, the builder of the house, would be more interesting. It should be noted that even though many would consider this house to be the most haunted in America, no real evidence that I know of has been found for it being haunted. We know Sarah Winchester believed in the haunting of the house, but when the crew from Ghosthunters visited a few years ago they found no evidence of paranormal activity. Of course, this doesn't rule out the possibility of paranormal activity. Still, the house that I consider to be most haunted in America is one that I have visited many times in Salem, Massachusetts - the Joshua Ward House (the topic of a future blog). -J.S.]

Aerial view of the Winchester Mystery House

Winchester Mystery House to Star in Hollywood Movie

By Karen D'Souza
Mercury News
06/02/2009

The Winchester Mystery House had better get ready for its close-up because San Jose's most iconic haunt has been cast as the star of a new horror movie.

The first major motion picture to be shot in San Jose in ages, the "Winchester Mystery House" movie will be produced by Saratoga native Andrew Trapani, best known for the Lionsgate hit "The Haunting in Connecticut." The filmmaker, who attended Saratoga High School and Santa Clara University, says he has been fascinated by the valley's original monster home since childhood.

"I must have toured the house a dozen times. The question isn't what is fascinating about the Winchester but what's not fascinating about it," says Trapani, who now lives in Los Angeles. "As a kid, it was a big scary place that terrified me. As an adult, it's something I want to research and investigate."

Hundreds of thousands of people flock to the 160-room mansion, one of the most popular haunted houses in America, each year. Originally built by eccentric rifle heiress Sarah L. Winchester in the late 1800s, the house is also considered a center of spectral activity by many. Over the years apparitions have been reported by staff and visitors alike. The seance room, where Winchester nightly tried to commune with the afterlife, is among the hot spots.

"It's the great American haunted house," Trapani says. "It's also a great mystery. What motivated her to do what she did? That's what we want to explore with this movie. The reports of paranormal activity are so numerous that it's certainly worth investigating."


Legend has it that Winchester was so wracked with guilt over the deaths caused by the Winchester rifle, the gun that won the West, that she thought legions of ghosts were after her. Some say she believed that if she never stopped building, the spirits could never find her. Construction on the 24,000-square-foot Victorian mansion went on 24 hours a day for 32 years until her death in 1922. Among the byzantine house's infamous architectural oddities are doors that open onto nothing and stairways that lead to ceilings.

Trapani is currently brainstorming the plot, which will probably entail "a contemporary tale about the house with flashes into the past." Nothing has been decided on who might distribute or star in the picture.

For the record, Shozo Kagoshima, manager of the Winchester, says he has never seen any evidence of the supernatural in his 33 years on staff. "I don't doubt people who say they have seen things," he says. "But I think you have to believe before you can see."

The publicity is expected to raise the profile of not just the city's biggest tourist destination but also the city at large.

"A major motion picture would be a major boost to our local economy and tourism industry by showcasing San Jose to a broader audience," says Dan Fenton, CEO of Team San Jose. "We welcome the chance to put San Jose on the big screen."

Other movies shot in the city include the sci-fi flick "The Terminator," with its shots of Interstate 280, as well as "Mad City," starring John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman, and "The Rookie," with Clint Eastwood.

Over the years, the house has inspired countless TV segments. San Jose Repertory Theatre even staged a musical about the house. But producers are quick to note that this will be the very first feature film granted permission to shoot on location. Filming is slated to begin by the end of the year.

"They wanted to make sure that the movie would be handled with care," Trapani says, "that nothing would be done to defame the legacy. We want to honor it."

Contact Karen D'Souza at kdsouza@mercurynews.com or 408-271-3772.

Sarah Winchester

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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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