Fourth Century Image of St. Paul Uncovered in Roman Catacomb

Image of Saint Paul excavated in the Roman Catacomb of St. Thekla on June 19, 2009

[Interesting news on the day before the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The fourth century image was found in the Catacomb of Saint Thekla near the Constantinian Basilika of the Apostle Paul outside the walls along Via Ostiense in Rome. Interestingly the image of the Apostle Paul found there very closely resembles all contemporary Byzantine icons of the Apostle Paul as he is described in apocryphal accounts and as he was depicted throughout the history of the Roman Empire. The apocryphal book, The Acts of Paul and Thekla, describes the mighty apostle as "a man rather small in size, bald-headed, bow-legged, with meeting eyebrows, a large, red and somewhat hooked nose." Yet the power of the man was unmistakable. "Strongly-built," the account goes on, "he was full of grace, for at times he looked like a man, at times like an angel." The Ecclesiastical History of Nikephoros describes him as having a long curling beard, high forehead, pale face, prominent shoulders and deep piercing eyes.- J.S.]

Contemporary Byzantine Icon of Saint Paul

Rome Catacomb Reveals "Oldest" Image of St. Paul

Sunday June 28, 2009

ROME (Reuters) – Vatican archaeologists using laser technology have discovered what they believe is the oldest image in existence of St Paul the Apostle, dating from the late 4th century, on the walls of catacomb beneath Rome.

Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, revealing the find on Sunday, published a picture of a frescoed image of the face of a man with a pointed black beard on a red background, inside a bright yellow halo. The high forehead is furrowed.

Experts of the Ponitifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology made the discovery on June 19 in the Catacomb of Santa Tecla in Rome and describe it as the "oldest icon in history dedicated to the cult of the Apostle," according to the Vatican newspaper.

The discovery, which involved removing layers of clay and limestone using lasers, was announced a day before Rome observes a religious holiday for the Feasts of St Peter and St Paul.

Peter and Paul are revered by Christians as the greatest early missionaries. Converting on the road to Damascus following a blinding vision of Jesus, Paul took the Gospel to pagan Greeks and Romans and met his martyrdom in Rome in about 65 AD.

Early Christians in Rome buried their dead in catacombs dug into the soft rock under the city and decorated the underground walls with devotional images, often in the Pompeian style.

(Writing by Stephen Brown; Editing by Sophie Hares)

The Basilika of Saint Paul in Rome outside the city walls built over the site of his tomb and relics.

'Oldest' Image of St Paul Discovered
Archaeologists have uncovered a 1,600 year old image of St Paul, the oldest one known of, in a Roman catacomb.

By Nick Pisa in Rome
28 June 2009

The fresco, which dates back to the 4th Century AD, was discovered during restoration work at the Catacomb of Saint Thekla but was kept secret for ten days.

During that time experts carefully removed centuries of grime from the fresco with a laser, before the news was officially announced through the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

There are more than 40 known Catacombs or underground Christian burial places across Rome and because of their religious significance the Vatican's Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archeology has jurisdiction over them.

A photograph of the icon shows the thin face of a bearded man with large eyes, sunken nose and face on a red background surrounded with a yellow circle – the classic image of St Paul.

The image was found in the Catacomb of St Thekla, close to the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, which is said to be built on the site where he was buried.

St Thekla was a follower of St Paul who lived in Rome and who was put to death under the Emperor Diocletian at the beginning of the 4th Century and who was subsequently made a saint but little else is known of her.

Barbara Mazzei, the director of the work at the Catacomb, said: "We had been working in the Catacomb for some time and it is full of frescoes.

"However the pictures are all covered with limestone which was covering up much of the artwork and so to remove it and clean it up we had to use fine lasers.

"The result was exceptional because from underneath all the dirt and grime we saw for the first time in 1600 years the face of Saint Paul in a very good condition.

"It was easy to see that it was Saint Paul because the style matched the iconography that we know existed at around the 4th Century – that is the thin face and the dark beard.

"It is a sensational discovery and is of tremendous significance. This is then first time that a single image of Saint Paul in such good condition has been found and it is the oldest one known of.

"Traditionally in Christian images of St Paul he is always alongside St Peter but in this icon he was on his own and what is also significant is the fact that St Paul's Basilica is just a few minutes walk away.

"It is my opinion that the fresco we have discovered was based on the fact that St Paul's Basilica was close by, there was a shrine to him there at that site since the 3rd Century.

"This fresco is from the early part of the 4th Century while before the earliest were from the later part and examples have been found in the Catacombs of Domitilla."

Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the Vatican's culture minister, said:"This is a fascinating discovery and is testimony to the early Christian Church of nearly 2000 years ago.

"It has a great theological and spiritual significance as well as being of historic and artistic importance."

The Catacomb of St Thekla is closed to the public but experts said they hoped to be able to put the newly discovered icon of St Paul on display some time later this year.

St Paul was a Roman Jew, born in Tarsus in modern-day Turkey, who started out persecuting Christians but later became one of the greatest influences in the Church.

He did not know Jesus in life but converted to Christianity after seeing a shining light on the road to Damascus and spent much of his life travelling and preaching.

St Paul wrote 14 letters to Churches which he founded or visited and tell Christians what they should believe and how they should live but do not say much about Jesus' life and teachings.

He was executed for his beliefs around AD 65 and is thought to have been beheaded, rather than crucified, because he was a Roman citizen.

According to Christian tradition, his body was buried in a vineyard by a Roman woman and a shrine grew up there before Emperor Constantine consecrated a basilica in 324 which is now St Paul Outside the Walls.

St Paul's Outside the Walls is located about two miles outside the ancient walls of Rome and is the largest church in the city after St Peter's.

His feast day is on Monday along with St Peter and it is a bank holiday in Rome where they are patron saints of the city.

Officials are considering opening the tomb below St Paul's in the Basilica's crypt which is said to hold his remains.

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Greek New Martyrs Under Ottoman Rule: A Case Study

The Orthodox Church celebrates its New Martyrs, known and unknown, who refused to submit to Islam under penalty of death on the Third Sunday after Pentecost

The present article is based on a variety of sources and principally on the biographies (vitae) of 172 Greek Orthodox Neo-Martyrs.

According to several accounts, from the conquest of Constantinople to the last phase of the Greek War of Independence, the Ottoman Turks condemned to death 11 Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople, nearly 100 bishops, and several thousands of priests, deacons and monks (Bompolines, 1952; Paparounis, no date; Perantones, 1972; Pouqueville, 1824; Vaporis, 2000). It is impossible to say with certainty how many men of the cloth were forced to apostatise. Nevertheless, many preferred martyrdom to apostasy, and of the above thousands, several have been canonized and raised to sainthood by the Greek Orthodox Church.

The 172 cases can be classified in 5 major categories of martyrdom. Some martyrs were accused of being political offenders and traitors to the Ottoman state; others were charged with being agitators because they had advocated a better treatment of Christians or because they had spoken on behalf of justice. For example, in the Metropolitan of Corinth, Ζacharias, executed in 1684, was accused of maintaining a correspondence with the Venetians. At his trial Zacharias insisted that he was innocent of the accusation but the Turks beat him cruelly. He was offered pardon on condition that he apostatise to Islam. When the Metropolitan refused, the judge condemned him to death by torture (Delahaye, p. 704). There are 15 more neo-martyrs in this category.

The second category includes martyrs who were native Ottomans and were brought up in the Islamic faith. For some reason, however, either on their own initiative or through the efforts of missionaries they became Christians. Α Muslim was forbidden to deny his faith on pain of death. The same rule applied to all Muslims whether by birth or by conversion. The Roman Catholic missionary Francis Lucas of Smyrna recorded the extraordinary martyrdom of 23 Muslim Turks who were put to death in the year 1649 at Thyatira, Asia Minor. In addition to the anonymous martyrs in this category, we know of five more. Some may have been of Christian ancestry.

The third class of martyrs includes zealous Christians who conducted missionary activity either among Christians trying to sustain them in their faith, or among Muslims and Jews. For example, the monk Makarios, prompted by missionary enthusiasm, decided to preach before a large crowd of Muslims in a market place in Thessalonica. He was apprehended by the Turkish authorities and was thrown into the prison. After several tortures, he was offered pardon on condition that he embraces Islam. When he refused to apostatise; he was beheaded in the year 1527 (Perantones, 1972, 3:325-526). Ιn addition to Makarios, 15 more were put to death because of missionary activity.

Closely related to the previous list, there were some idealistic men who aspired to earn the crown of martyrdom in imitation of the ancient Christian martyrs. The reading of martyrologies and lives of saints was popular in the Greek church under Ottoman captivity and it exerted an influence to the extent that some tried to imitate the early heroes of Christianity. For instance, Romanos, from central Greece, went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. While a guest at the Monastery of St. Sabbas, he was inspired by listening to the Acts of the Martyrs, which was read during a meal in the monastery. He desired to become a martyr himself and his desire was fulfilled in 1694 (Delahaye, 1921, pp. 705-07; Perantones, 1972, 3:443-47). Four more belong to this category.

The fifth and most numerous category includes men and women who, for various reasons and at different stages of their life, apostatised from Greek Orthodox Christianity to Islam and later decided to return to their ancestral faith. Guilt not as an aspect of personality structure as psychological theory advocates, but a guilt, which arose from a precise kind of behaviour and from specific circumstances and events. Many of them, seeking atonement for having denied their faith, became martyrs. For example, Demetrios of Tripolis in the Peloponnesos as an orphan entered the service of a Muslim who converted him to Islam. Upon becoming an adult and reflecting on his apostasy, he left Tripolis and sought the advice of a spiritual father. He confessed his apostasy and was received in secret by the church. Nevertheless, he had nο peace of mind and felt the need to atone for his sin with martyrdom. He returned to Tripolis, where he presented himself to his old master as a Christian ready to wash away the stain of his apostasy with his blood. The outcome was that he was put to death on April 14, 1803 (Perantones, 1972, 1:163-65; Delahaye, p. 707). We know by name 52 more who sought atonement by martyrdom.

No less important are the 48 additional neo-martyrs who were condemned to death for diverse reasons. Some were accused of insulting the Muslim faith or of throwing something against the wall of a mosque. Others were accused of sexual advances toward a Turk; still others of making a public confession such as "Ι will become a Turk" without meaning it (Delahaye, 1921, p. 708; Perantones, 1972, 3:409, 421, 470). There are several more whose reasons for condemnation are not stated by the sources. Their names are mentioned but very little else.

The existence of neo-martyrs attests to a religious revival in the Greek Orthodox Church, which however did not take place in the seventeenth century, as a modem scholar suggests (Vitti, 1963), but in the eighteenth. Ιn fact most neo-martyrs were put to death in the eighteenth and in the first half οf the nineteenth centuries. Six became martyrs between 1453 and 1499; 22 between 1500 and 1599; 38 between 1600 and 1699; 51 between 1700 and 1799; and 55 between 1800 and 1867.

Most of the neo-martyrs came from the lower classes and from the provinces. Several professions were represented, including physicians, teachers, and of course, the clergy. But the majority was from various ranks: farmers, artisans, traders, secretaries, merchants, barbers, gardeners, grocers, sailors, household servants, travelling vendors, coffeehouse keepers, and more. The three tables added to this article illustrate the chronological period, geographical origins, and professional background of the neo-martyrs.

Thus, evidence unmistakably indicates that the Turks used both systematic and circumstantial measures to attract Christians to Islam. High political and socially prominent positions were granted to apostates in order to entice Christians to Islamic conversion. Exemption from heavy taxes, including the poll tax, was no less powerful of an enticement. To influence people from lower social strata, apostates from poor Christian families were given riches and honours by the Turks. For men there were some additional allurements to Islam, sexual hedonism, for example. Polygamy was forbidden by the Christian Church but allowed by Islam; concubinage was condemned by Church canons but it was a lifestyle for many Muslims.

TABLE 1: Chronological Distribution (1453-1867)
1. 1453-1499 = 6
2. 1500-1599 = 22
3. 1600-1699 = 38
4. 1700-1799 = 51
5. 1800-1867 = 56

TABLE 2: Geographical Distribution (Place of Birth)
[Ρlace of birth is not always mentioned.]
1. The Capital Constantinople = 14
2. Asia Minor = 24
3. Thrace = 13
4. Macedonia = 15
5. Epiros = 12
6. Thessaly = 6
7. Central Greece (Attica, etc.) = 11
8. Peloponnesos = 16
9. Aegean Islands = 19
10. Crete = 12
11. Cyprus = 3
12. Ιοnian Islands = 2
13. Non-Greek states: Serbia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Rumania, Egypt Syria, Russia, Jerusalem) = 20

ΤΑΒLΕ 3: Distribution by Professions
A profession is not always mentioned. Only four were from wealthy and socially prominent families. Professions are listed as they occur in the alphabetical Arrangement of the neo-martyrs. Total number of professions represented is 35.
Artisans = 24
Clergymen = 34
Shopkeepers = 13
Civil Servants = 6
Physicians = 1
Merchants = 7
Ordinary labourers = 2
Servants = 11
Housewives = 5
Seamen = 5
Farmers = 12
Military men = 1

Apart from Turkish methods and means, there were historical events and religious trends that led Christians to embrace Islam. The progress of the Turks was perceived by some Christians as evidence that their God had abandoned them and was fighting on the side of the Turks. Religious syncretism was one of the most innocent seeming ways by which Christians were persuaded to change their religious creed. This trend was used extensively by dervishes in their religious mission. For example, Badral-Bin, Torlak, Hu-Kemal, and Burklud e Mustafa preached that there was harmony between Islam and Christianity (Vryonis, 1971, pp. 359-59; see also Delahaye 1921 for sources). Christians concluded that since there was a close affinity between the two, why not apostatise to Islam and enjoy worldly privileges as well?

Notwithstanding the material gains that Christians would have enjoyed by converting to Islam, the story of the neo-martyrs reveals that in the course of 400 years there were many who obeyed the dictates of conscience rather than the enticements of secular pleasures. The usual answer of the neo-martyrs to the courts, which offered them conversion as an alternative to death was: "Ι was born a Christian, Ι desire to die a Christian:" The story of the neo-martyrs indicates that there was no liberty of conscience in the Ottoman Empire and that religious persecution was never absent from that state. Justice was subject to the passions of judges as well as of the crowds, and it was applied with a double standard, lenient for Muslims harsh for Christians and others.

The view that the Ottoman Turks pursued a policy of religious toleration in order to promote a fusion of the Turks with the conquered populations (Bréhier, 1947; (Bruader, 1973, p. 769), is not sustained by the facts. Undoubtedly, many Christians, Jews, and members of other religious minorities converted to Islam voluntarily. But what alternative did they have if they wanted to improve their social status? These were those who did not want to be second-class citizens, rayahs or part of the subject class, and became Muslims in order to preserve their social status. That is, those people were not converted by the threat of the sword but by psychological and social constraints.

The relatively few neo-martyrs of the second half of the fifteenth century may be an indication of the rather tolerant attitude of Sultan Mohammed ΙI an attitude, however, determined much more by the horror, pillage, and the destruction which followed the capture of Constantinople. On the other hand, the small number of neo-martyrs between 1700 and 1760 reflects the better conditions and relative peace that prevailed in the Ottoman Empire.

Forced conversions, which also resulted in martyrdom, were often determined by the character and policies of individual Sultans, by internal problems, and by international events. For example, mass-forced conversions were recorded during the caliphates of Selim Ι (1512-1520), the madman's Selim II (1566-1574), and Murat III (1574-1595). On the occasion of some anniversary, such as the capture of a city, or national holiday, many rayahs were forced to apostatise. On the day of the circumcision of Mohammed ΙII great numbers of Christians (Albanians, Greeks, Slavs) were forced to convert to Islam (Finlay, 1877, p. 119). Of the 51 neo-martyrs of the eighteenth century, the overwhelming majority of them (39) were put to death between 1760 and 1796 that is during the Russo-Turkish wars. The great number of neo-martyrs of the nineteenth century is explained on the basis of international events, which affected the fate of the Ottoman Empire. The Greek revolt for independence provided additional ground and pretensions for persecution of Greek Christians. While at no time was toleration of Christians an established rule and it depended upon the arbitrary will of the Sultans and their subordinates, few judges and village rulers paid any attention to whatever privileges had been granted in theory to the rayahs.

Concluding Observations

Α few more observations. Α church, which was able to produce men and women with a living faith and a commitment to spiritual values and principles could not have been a moribund church, or a church involved only in ritual and concerned with barren tradition, as the Orthodox Church has been portrayed by Western Christendom in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was not solely an ecumenical brotherly gesture by the President of the Society of the Bolandists when he wrote: "The neomartyrs are the purest glory of the Greek Church, and before these generous witnesses to the faith which we hold in common every Christian should bow" (Delahaye, 1921, p. 712).

If it is true that the blood of the early Christian martyrs, under Roman persecution, became the seed of Christianity, as Tertullian remarked in second century, (Tertullian, 1931, 50), the blood of the neo-martyrs was not shed in vain, for it inspired and nourished Greek Orthodox Christianity under Turkish persecution.

(Excerpts taken from this study by Fr. Demetrios Constantelos)

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Could the Ancient Quarry Discovered In Israel Be A Monastic Cave?

[A quarry? - probably; a hideout? - maybe but unlikely; how about a monastic cave? This story has really been buzzing for almost two weeks now most recently with headlines referring to a quarry discovered from the time of Jesus with christian symbols from about 350 AD. Most speculations have been limited to this cave being a possible quarry to build nearby early christian monasteries, and some have interpreted it in light of the Roman catacombs as being a possible refuge for early christians (even though there was no persecution of christians in the area in 350 AD, though it could have been used for such when there was). If speculation like this is going to be done, then scholars and archeologists should consider what the main historical phenomenon was of the Palestinian deserts in 350 AD - cave-dwelling anchorites. So along with all the other theories reported, I am speculating that this cave, afer serving as a quarry to build the nearby monasteries, was further utilized by desert solitaries, possibly with their disciples, to be used as a place of solitary prayer and strict asceticism. - J.S.]

Ancient Christian Quarry Unearthed

Reuters: JERUSALEM (June 23, 2009) - Israeli archaeologists said on Sunday they had discovered the largest underground quarry in the Holy Land, dating back to the time of Jesus and containing Christian symbols etched into the walls.

The 4,000-square-yard cavern, buried about 10 yards beneath the desert near the ancient West Bank city of Jericho, was dug about 2,000 years ago and was in use for about half a millennium, archaeologist Adam Zertal said.

The cave's main hall, about three meters tall, is supported by some 20 stone pillars and has a variety of symbols etched into the walls, including crosses dating back to about AD 350 and Roman legionary emblems.

Zertal said his team from Haifa University first discovered the site three months ago while they were putting together a detailed archaeological map of the area.

"We saw a hole in the ground ... and went down and discovered this giant cavern, originally a quarry, built uniquely with hall after hall," Zertal told Reuters.

The team believes the stones were used in buildings and churches in the region, but Zertal said further research was necessary.

The site may eventually be turned into one of the largest underground tourist sites in the Holy Land, he said.

Writing by Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Michael Roddy

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Righteous David the Dendrite of Thessaloniki

Saint David the Dendrite of Thessaloniki (Feast Day - June 26)

"With David of old art thou now united, O new David; For thou didst kill the carnal passions like Goliath. On the twenty-sixth, David passed through the gates of life."

The earliest written chronicle of the life of Saint David comes from his contemporary, Saint John Moschos, in his Leimonarion or Spiritual Meadow. Saint John together with his disciple and companion Sophronios the Sophist travelled to Egypt in order to record the great deeds and wise sayings of the Desert Fathers from the monastic authorities of the desert of the late 6th or early 7th century. He records how he met Abba Palladios in Alexandria and tells us the following:

We went to the same Abba Palladios with this request: "Of your charity, tell us, father, where you came from, and how it came about that you embraced the monastic life". He was from Thessalonika, he said, and then he told us this: "In my home country, about three stadia beyond the city wall, there was a recluse, a native of Mesopotamia whose name was David. He was a man of outstanding virtue, merciful and continent. He spent about twenty years in his place of confinement. Now at this time, because of the barbarians, the walls of the city were patrolled at night by soldiers. One night those who were on guard-duty at that stretch of the city-walls nearest to where the elder's place of confinement was located, saw fire pouring from the windows of the recluse's cell. The soldiers thought the barbarians must have set the elder's cell on fire; but when they went out in the morning, to their amazement, they found the elder unharmed and his cell unburned. Again the following night they saw fire, the same way as before, in the elder's cell - and this went on for a long time. The occurrence became known to all the city and throughout the countryside. Many people would come and keep vigil at the wall all night long in order to see the fire, which continued to appear until the elder died. As this phenomenon did not merely appear once or twice but was often seen, I said to myself: 'If God so glorifies his servants in this world, how much more so in the world to come when He shines upon their face like the sun?' This, my children, is why I embraced the monastic life."

Abba Palladios goes on to speak of another monk from Mesopotamia known as Adolas the Recluse. Saint John writes:

The elder also told us this: that after Abba David, there came to Thessalonika another monk, also from Mesopotamia, whose name was Adolas. He confined himself in a hollow plane tree in another part of the city. He made a little window in the tree through which he could talk with people who came to see him. When the barbarians came and laid waste all the countryside, they happened to pass by that place. One of the barbarians noticed the elder looking down at them. He drew his sword and raised his arm to strike the elder, but he remained there rooted to the spot with his hand stuck up in the air. When the rest of the barbarians saw this, they were amazed and, falling down before him, they besought the elder [to restore their comrad]. The elder offered a prayer and healed him and thus he dismissed them in peace.

From what we can tell from all the historical sources, including his biography written by an anonymous author of Thessaloniki between 715-720, Saint David was probably born in Mesopotamia around the year 450 AD and died in Thessaloniki sometime between 535 and 541. We don't know why either David or Adolas traveled from Mesopotamia to Thessaloniki, but both the Synaxarion of Constantinople and the Menologion of Emperor Basil II assure us that he did come from somewhere in the "east".

In Thessaloniki David became a monk at the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius, otherwise known as Koukouliaton (Κουκουλιατῶν) Monastery, at a young age between the years 465-470. It was known as Koukouliaton because the monks wore cloaks for which it was known and which is depicted in the icons of the Saint. In fact in January of 1944 a marble slab was found in the Jewish cemetery that depicted an icon of Saint David dating back to the 10th century in which he is wearing a cloak with the hood hanging off his shoulders.


We are told that the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius was next to the walls of the city at the gate known as Aproiton. We are further informed that there was another monastery next to this one known as Aproiton Monastery, though it is possible it could have been another name for the same monastery. The word "Aproiton" probably indicates the austere rule of the monasteries since it implies that the monks were not allowed to leave their monastery. This gate was probably located along the northern wall of the city to the west of the Acropolis which the Turks called during Ottoman times Eski Delik. It is believed that outside this gate along the wall was the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius where Saint David lived a monastic life. Others say the monastery was northeast of the Acropolis in an area known as the Garden of the Sheep, but this seems implausible since the Aproiton is too far west for this to be considered. However we still are not sure where the gate known as Aproiton was actually located for sure. To complicate matters further in locating the actual place of this monastery, one biography tells us that the monastery could be seen from the beach. If this is true, then the monastery would most likely have to be within the city walls to the west of the Acropolis along the northern wall.

At the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius Saint David lived a life of prayer, fasting, vigils, humility, meditation of the sacred Scripture and the cultivation of all the virtues. When the abbot of the monastery passed away, the monks of the monastery found David alone worthy to replace him due to his spiritual gifts. However David refused this honor, and instead decided to live his ascetic ordeals by climbing up an almond tree to the right of the church (the katholikon of the monastery) and living up there for three years. One source tells us that this tree was in between two churches within the monastery. For three years this Saint endured the most extreme trials like the Stylite Saints (some say he endured more because the tree offered him no rest due to its constant swaying in the high winds), enduring the bitter cold of the winter and the burning heat of the summer and fully exposed to all the elements of the weather.

It should be noted that although Saint David was the first ascetic known as a "dendrite" (one who lives in trees) in Thessaloniki followed by Adolas (for whom there is no other historical source other than John Moschos), this type of asceticism was practiced in places like Syria and Mesopotamia from which both David and Adolas came from (see the life of Saint Maro the Dendrite celebrated February 4th). Interesting studies concerning dendrites can be read here and here. The latest dendrite I know of was Saint Joseph the Hesychast who in the 1920's lived in Athens and would pray sitting in a tree in imitation of the Saints. Furthermore, an interesting comparison of trees was depicted in the Church of Chora in Constantinople in the fourteenth century in which Saint David is shown at the entrance to the funeral chapel, and is positioned equidistant between Christ Calling Zaccheus (who had climbed a tree in order to see Christ as he passed through Jericho) and Moses before the Burning Bush. In each, we witness an encounter with the divine – Old Testament, New Testament, Roman Empire.

When those three difficult years passed, after instruction was given to him by an angel of the Lord to live in silence in a cell and he was foretold by this same angel that he would "accomplish one other act of love" before he died, Saint David came down from the almond tree and entered a cell that had been prepared by his disciples. Saint David entered his cell in the presence of Archbishop Dorotheos of Thessaloniki (c.497-c.520) along with many pious clergy and faithful who gathered to see this momentous event when the news had spread. John Moschos informs us that this cell existed outside the walls of the city "about three stadia beyond the city wall", that is, a little more than 555 meters beyond the wall no doubt very near his monastery. From the fact that Archbishop Dorotheos was present at this event, we can ascertain that Saint David entered his cell sometime within the first two decades of the sixth century.

Living as a recluse in his cell and for his unparalleled ascetic feats, this Saint was considered as an angel of God by the people. Many people came to seek his prayers and many healings of demonic possession, diseases and suffering are reported. We can assume it was during this time that the extraordinary events reported by John Moschos took place.

One such miracle that is reported bears an amazing resemblance to the account of St. John Moschos. We are told a certain youth had a demon and he came to the cell of the Righteous David crying out: "Release me, O David, thou servant of the eternal God, for fire comes forth from your cell and burns me." Upon hearing this David reached out his hand from his cell through a small window and held the youth, saying: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, commands you to go forth from His creature, O unclean spirit!" After doing the sign of the Cross over the youth, the demon was immediately released and all marvelled glorifying God who glorifies those who please Him with God-pleasing works.

Saint David's silence was interrupted sometime after 520 when Archbishop Dorotheos died. His successor, Archbishop Aristeides, together with a multitude of clergy and faithful came to the Saint's cell pleading that he travel to Constantinople so as to entreat Emperor Justinian (527-565) regarding the establishment of Justiniana Prima as the new capital of the Prefecture of Illyricum replacing Thessaloniki. Archbishop Aristeides was against this, since it would demote the status of Thessaloniki and divide Illyricum. Aristeides could not travel to Constantinople because he did not want to leave the city shepherdless with the impending threats of the barbarians.

From 318-379 Sirmium was capital of the Prefecture of Illyricum which encompassed Pannonia, Noricum, Crete, and the whole Balkan peninsula except Thrace. Since 379 Thessaloniki became the capital of the Prefecture of Illyricum. Justiniana Prima was built in 535 in Serbia at the place of Justinian's birth. Justinian's novel 11 announced the imminent transfer of the Illyrian prefecture to Justiniana Prima and the establishment of an archbishopric there making it the metropolis of Illyricum. Thus Eastern Illyricum was to be divided into two ecclesiastical regions under Justinian's law: the southern part belonged to the Archbishop of Thessaloniki and the northern was given autocephalous status under the Archbishop of Justiniana Prima. This was done in order to better protect the northern territories against the barbarians on the other side of the Danube.

David submitted to the pleadings of the Archbishop and the people of Thessaloniki in order to fulfill the prophesy of the angel that appeared to him while on the tree and out of obedience to the bishop and the love of the people of Thessaloniki. After many years of seclusion he emerged from his cell and saw the sun for the first time in many years. His appearance had changed as well. His hair had grown to his lower back and his beard fell all the way down to his feet. Together with his two disciples, Theodore and Demetrios, they left during the night for Constantinople.

The Archbishop pleads with David to see the Emperor

When they arrived in Constantinople his fame preceeded him and he was received with much reverence by the people of Byzantium and was especially well received with much respect and reverence by Empress Theodora who had him escorted into the palace and given hospitality as if he was an angel in the flesh. Justinian was occupied with other matters when he arrived, but was awe-struck at his holy appearance when he finally saw him the next day and listened to his case before the Senate. Before David spoke however the following miracle occurred leaving everyone astonished: David took a piece of live coal with incense in his bare hands and together with his disciples censed the Emperor and the entire Senate and his hand did not burn though he was praying and blessing for about an hour. After this David pleaded the case of Archbishop Aristeides, and Justinian submitted to his wishes so that the status of Thessaloniki remained uninterrupted. Though historians mention the fact that this division of Illyricum never actually took place, they tend to leave out the fact that this was because of the great impression Saint David had on Emperor Justinian.

The Saint returned by ship from Constantinople to Thessaloniki. However, when he arrived at Thermes at a place called Emvolos (about 126 stadia from the Saint's cell), he gave up his spirit to the Lord after making his request known to his disciples that he be buried at his monastery. The ship continued on to the port of Thessaloniki, but a strong wind escorted them as if by divine providence and landed at the spot where Sts. Theodoulos and Agathopodus were martyred on the west side of the city. Upon hearing the news of his falling asleep, the Archbishop with a large crowd gathered to pay their last respects and by procession lead him up to the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius where his relics were enshrined in a wooden coffin according to his wishes.

About 150 years after the Saint's death, in 685-690, the abbot of the monastery Demetrios opened his tomb in order to receive a portion of his relics. In doing so however, the plaque on the tomb fell and broke into many pieces. This was seen by the abbot as a sign that it was not the wishes of Saint David for his relics to be portioned. A monk under Demetrios by the name of Sergius eventually became Archbishop of Thessaloniki. He was present when as a monk they had tried opening the tomb of the Saint. Honoring this occurrence, Sergius opened the tomb which emitted a beautiful fragrance from the incorrupt relics and took care to only remove some hair from the beard and head of the Saint in order to distribute to the faithful to increase their faith and help aid in their salvation.

The tomb of the Saint remained undisturbed until the Fourth Crusade in 1204. In 1236 it was taken by Crusaders to Pavia, Italy and from there transferred to Milan in 1967. Finally on September 16, 1978 through the efforts of Metropolitan Panteleimon of Thessaloniki, the sacred relics of Saint David were triumphantly returned to Thessaloniki and housed in the Basilica of Saint Demetrios the Great Martyr. To celebrate this feast a Service was written by the renowned hymnographer Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis. Eventually the relics were transferred to the katholikon of the Monastery of Saint Theodora in the middle of Thessaloniki in a chapel surrounded by icons of the Saint's life.

The relics of Righteous David today

It should be pointed out here that the current Monastery of Hosios David in Thessaloniki has no association with the life of the Saint nor is it the site of the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurious. This is however the oldest monastery in Thessaloniki (only the katholikon currently exists) and in Roman times was known as the Monastery of the Prophet Ezekiel (some say Zachariah) though more popularly known as Latomou Monastery. The mosaics inside are the oldest in the city dating back to approximately the 5th-6th century, especially magnificent being the depiction of a beardless Christ flanked by the prophets Ezekiel and Hakkakuk along with a vision of Ezekiel of Christ surrounded by the symbols of the four Gospels (the angel, eagle, lion, and bull). This monastery was not named after Saint David until 1921 when it was returned to the Orthodox after serving as a mosque since 1430. Interestingly the faithful had the mosaic of the vision of the Prophet Ezekiel covered in mortar (some say the Turks simply white-washed it) all those centuries so that the Turks would not destroy it as was their custom. During the days of Iconoclasm it was covered in ox-skin to be protected. Its existence was lost to history after 1430 until discovered in 1921.

For more on the Latomou Monastery as well as the sources for the life of Saint David, see here and here (Greek only). For a translation of the life in English, see here. For the 8th century life of Saint David, see A. Vasiliev, ‘Life of David of Thessalonica’, Traditio: Studies in Ancient Medieval History, Thought and Religion 4 [1946], pp. 115-147.

Latomou Monastery, Thessaloniki

Mosaic depicting a vision of the Prophet Ezekiel in Latomou Monastery

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Father. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy David, your soul rejoices with the angels.

Kontakion in the Second Tone

An Angel on earth, and stranger to all earthly things, thou madest a tree thy dwelling like an eagle's nest, whence, O David, thou didst soar up to Heaven, where thou didst find that Tree which in Eden we lost of old. Remember us all, who keep thy memory.

Hymns in Greek along with some rare beautiful icons of Saint David

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Ark of the Covenant to be Unveiled In Ethiopia

[This is amazing news in light of the fact that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has always insisted they would never unveil the Ark of the Covenant. Only one monk at a time was ever allowed to see the Ark at the St. Mary's Church in Axum and remained there for life, and the military protected it with guns from outside the locked gates. Many of these monks have reported losing their vision from looking at the Ark too long, so I wonder how it will keep up in a museum. More about the Ark in Ethiopia can be seen here. - J.S.]


'Ark of the Covenant' about to be unveiled?
Ethiopian patriarch tells pope he will show artifact to world

June 24, 2009
WorldNetDaily

The Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia says he will announce to the world Friday the unveiling of the Ark of the Covenant, perhaps the world's most prized archaeological and spiritual artifact, which he says has been hidden away in a church in his country for millennia, according to the Italian news agency Adnkronos.

Abuna Pauolos, in Italy for a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI this week, told the news agency, "Soon the world will be able to admire the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible as the container of the tablets of the law that God delivered to Moses and the center of searches and studies for centuries."

The announcement is expected to be made at 2 p.m. Italian time from the Hotel Aldrovandi in Rome. Pauolos will reportedly be accompanied by Prince Aklile Berhan Makonnen Haile Sellassie and Duke Amedeo D'Acosta.

Abuna Pauolos, patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Ethiopia

"The Ark of the Covenant is in Ethiopia for many centuries," said Pauolos. "As a patriarch I have seen it with my own eyes and only few highly qualified persons could do the same, until now."

According to Pauolos, the actual Ark has been kept in one church, but to defend the treasure, a copy was placed in every single church in Ethiopia.

He said a museum is being built in Axum, Ethiopia, where the Ark will be displayed. A foundation of D'Acosta will fund the project.

The Ark of the Covenant is the sacred container of the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron's rod and a sample of manna, the mysterious food that kept the Israelites alive while wandering in the wilderness during their journey to the promised land.

The Bible says the Ark was built to the specifications of God as He spoke to Moses. It was carried in advance of the people and their army by priests. It was also carried in a seven-day procession around the walled city of Jericho.

The idea that the Ark is presently in Ethiopia is a well-documented, albeit disputed, tradition dating back to at least 642 B.C. The tradition says it was moved to Elephantine Island in Egypt, then to Tana Kirkos Island in Ethiopia and finally to its present site at St. Mary's of Zion Church in Axum.

Ethiopians believe it is destined to be delivered to the Messiah when He reigns on Mount Zion – the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Axum Zion Church/ St. Mary Church of Zion which has housed the Ark of the Covenant for centuries

Jeremiah 3:16 points to a time when the Ark will vanish not only physically, but from the minds of the people: "And it shall come to pass, when ye be multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith the LORD, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of the LORD: neither shall it come to mind: neither shall they remember it; neither shall they visit it; neither shall that be done any more."

The Book of Revelation says the Ark is in the temple of God in heaven (Rev. 11:19). Muslim scholars say it will be found near the end of times by the Mahdi – a messianic figure in Islam.

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Hindu Absurdity of the Week: Marry Frogs, Get Rain

Frog Marriage Solemnised For Rain Showers in Nagpur

By Sunil Kumar
New Kerala
June 20, 2009
Nagpur, India

A number of farmers seeking rainfall in Nagpur city organised the wedding of two frogs on Saturday to please the Rain Gods and hoped their region would soon receive monsoon showers.

People blew trumpets and sang songs, as the priest solemnized the marriage to the chanting of Hindu hymns by putting streaks of vermilion on the female toad's head.

The toads were picked up from different ponds, following the local belief among the farmers in this part of India that a frog marriage pleases the Rain Gods and ensure a good harvest with rains.

Locals hoped the marriage would help them to end the dry spell that the region is experiencing.

'Our forefathers believed that marriage of male and female frogs makes Lord Indra (Rain God) happy and that leads to rains. You can see that it is not raining in the entire Vidarbha, eastern region of Maharashtra state made up of Nagpur divison and Amravati division that has caused a drought like division. We are following this belief of our forefathers so that Lord Indra is pleased and it rains,' said Shailendra Awasthi, a participant in the marriage.

With temperatures soaring high and monsoons playing truant in northern and western parts of the country, people are praying hard for showers.

'It was sunny when we came in the morning for performing marriage. But now you can see the weather has changed. It means it will rain. We hope so,' said Ankita Bhatia, a participant in the frog marriage.

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Excerpts From Saint Athanasios Parios Concerning Philosophy

Saint Athanasios Parios (Feast Day - June 24)

Saint Athanasios Parios (b. Paros, 1722 - d. Chios, 1813) was one of the most significant ecclesiastical figures of the 18th and 19th century and is listed with Saints Nikodemos the Hagiorite and Makarios Notaras as the three most significant Kollyvades Fathers and defenders of traditional Orthodoxy. Saint Athanasios was especially influential in his confrontation with western models of doing philosophy and theology as a director of the Mount Athos Academy. More can be read about St. Athanasios here.


Theoretical and Practical Philosophy

- A great and wonderful gift has been given by God to man: the faculty of reason. This invents various sciences. Employing this faculty, man digs up from the earth various kinds of metals and precious stones. Then he examines the different species of animals: the quadrupeds, the bipeds; those that crawl on the earth, the birds, the terrestrial animals, the aquatic, and the amphibious; the wild and the tame, the viviparous and the oviparous. He examines the various kinds of trees: the evergreen and those that shed their leaves, those that are fruitless and the fruitbearing. He seeks to find out which trees are suitable for the needs of the various arts, and which are useful only as firewood.

Reason does not stop here. It leaves the globe and ascends to the atmosphere. And it rises much higher than the atmosphere, and investigates the heavenly bodies: which are immobile and which are mobile and are called planets. It investigates and observes the eclipses of the sun and of the moon, as well as of the other planets.

And since all these things which the rational faculty investigates are creatures of God, the philosophy which is knowledge of all these things is called by the ancients "knowledge of things divine". And this knowledge is called "the theoretical part of philosophy".

Distinct from the "theoretical part of philosophy" is the "practical part". The latter is concerned with the examination of human actions. For this reason it is called "knowledge of things human", such as the virtues and the vices. This part of philosophy shows man what are the things which he ought to do as a rational being, and what are the things he ought not to do, because he is a rational being.

Practical philosophy institutes laws in the cities, good order in things. It teaches how cities, homes and individuals can be saved.

It is the chief part of philosophy, for it promises to render men happy, insofar as this is possible to man. And indeed, the ultimate good of the human virtues, and briefly, the goal of man as man, is none other than happiness, that is, a blessed life.

However, we must confess that happiness, metaphysically understood - that is, in its full perfection - cannot be attained in the present life, as the facts themselves prove. But a moderate happiness is possible, analogous to man's nature, which is subject to various passions and changes. A life is possible which partakes more of ethical goods and less of ethical evils. The latter consist of bodily sufferings, misfortunes, and deaths. These are improperly called evils, because they cannot harm the rational soul, which chiefly constitutes a human being.


Divine Philosophy (Internal)

- Philosophy is distinguishable into the secular or "external" and the divine or "internal". The latter is also called philosophy "from God", "heavenly", and "true". Examples of secular philosophy are the writings of the ancient Greek philosophers and those of European philosophers.

Divine philosophy is contained in the Holy Scriptures, particularly in the New Testament - in the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles of the Apostles - and in the writings of the holy Church Fathers, the early as well as the later ones.

- Only divine or internal philosophy has rendered men happy, in the present life, as far as this is possible, and in the afterlife most completely. And this, because the teaching of Christ makes virtue something dear, freely espoused, not a product of constraint. This is the really true philosophy: to render free from passions those who are slaves of passions, to render heavenly those who are earthly, to render the vainglorious as godly-minded, to render the mortal immortal, sons of the heavenly Father according to grace.


Secular Philosophy (External)

- Secular or "external" philosophy is in its nature neither good nor bad. It becomes good or bad according to the use to which it is put by those who possess it. Logic, metaphysics, theology, and rhetoric, can be put to good use. I cannot understand why rhetoric is neglected. For the Church it is not simply useful, it is necessary. These subjects are both useful and valuable; and it is not necessary to go to Europe to receive instruction in them.

- Many, indeed, possessing "external wisdom", greatly benefited the Church; others, on the contrary, harmed and disturbed it.

- In his youth, St. Gregory Palamas devoted himself to the study and acquisition of external (secular) philosophy. For it was proper for his noble nature to be equipped with the instruments provided by philosophy. It did not take him long to become very proficient in Grammar and Rhetoric, to such a degree that he was greatly praised for his speeches and his writings by all the teachers of that time who were outstanding in these subjects. Then he became proficient in Physics and in Logic, and in other subjects on which Aristotle had written.

- In Western Europe exaggerated importance is ascribed to secular philosophy. There philosophers occupy themselves unceasingly with useless and completely vain subjects. They do this for the sake of praise for their genius. Among them many clergymen put aside their religious vocation, desert it, in order to learn teachings alien to their religious vocation. And worst of all, philosophy is used to judge and criticize the Holy Scriptures.


Ancient Greek Philosophy

- Regarding Pythagoras and Plato, they and their followers rightly held that the soul is immortal. However, lacking the divinely revealed teaching, they mythologized about the nature of the afterlife.

- Cebes, and before him Socrates, called true education that which effects a purification of the soul from the irrational passions, and the achievement of all the virtues: courage, justice, temperance, clemency, gentleness, compassion, and all the rest, which constitute the subject-matter of Ethical Philosophy. These virtues lead man to happiness.

- Plato the philosopher and after him all the later philosophers distinguish human goods into three kinds: (1) goods of the body, (2) goods outside the body, and (3) goods of the soul. The goods of the body are health, beauty, and strength. The goods outside the body are wealth, offices, and friends. The goods of the soul are the virtues and all kinds of learning, which taken together constitute the system of philosophy. Viewed in the hierarchy of goods, philosophy is given the first place, far surpassing in value the goods of the body and the goods outside the body.

- The chief and special good of Constantinople, which was "the queen of all cities", was that from the beginning she was the mother of discourses and wisdom, and the dwelling-place of the Hellenes, by having brought together the three famous schools of the Athenians, namely, the Stoic, the Aristotelian, and the Platonic into relation with the piety of Christianity. She adorned that secular wisdom with the true faith of the God of three hypostases, the Almighty and Ruler of All, with the preaching of the Cross and with the simplicity of the Gospel. And briefly, she rendered that secular wisdom a humble and grateful servant of the true and first philosophy.


Western Philosophy

- Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure are two very great enemies of our Church.

- The doctrines of the new European philosophers are not necessary for man's true happiness. They are either simply useless or pernicious.

- What lead the French to end up in a state of de-Christianization? It was the madness, the rage, the enthusiasm for freedom. This led to a rebellion against every principle and authority, not only earthly, but also heavenly. Scripture, God, Christ, the Apostles, the rulers, and the laws were banished. In their place were put Voltaire, Rousseau, La Mettrie, and others like them.

- All the teachers of the academies are atheists. They regard it as a big disgrace to appear as Christians. They want to be known as philosophers. This is their boast, their glory. Therefore, be careful with regard to those who come from France pretending to be brothers and friends, for the opposite is true. From cunning teachers come cunning lessons.

- Do not listen to these philosophers, or rather to these lovers of darkness. They are fools. Scripture says: "A fool said in his heart, 'There is no God'"; and "Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom."

- Voltaire is the most foolish of all men, having gone beyond all other atheists in impiety, striven to destroy all religion.

- Spinoza was most godless in that he held that the matter of the universe constitutes the essence of God.

(Taken from: Cavarnos, Constantine; Modern Orthodox Saints 15 - Saint Athanasios Parios; Institute For Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, Belmont, MA, 2006)

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Jesus Christ Walks By, And The Dog Does Not Bark

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Feast Day - June 24)

The Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist always reminds me of an incident that happened to me while on vacation in Greece when I was fifteen years old back in the summer of 1991. I had traveled to many places throughout Greece that summer with my mother and two grandmothers, but for one month I was alone with my grandmother Anastasia mainly spending our time in the city of Patras. During my travels that summer in many places the Greeks would keep unleashed wild dogs to protect their property. A few times these dogs came very close to attacking me if I overstepped near a property by mistake, and as an American where we have laws against this stuff it frightened me to travel through certain areas - especially in the villages.

One day I told my grandmother that I considered walking with a large stick in case I was attacked by dogs. My grandmother, being a pious and saintly woman, said it was unnecessary. She taught me instead to just pray the following prayer: "Ιησους Χριστος περναη και σκηλος δεν γαβ-γαη" or "Jesus Christ walks by, and the dog does not bark". In Greek the prayer sounds a bit poetic so I thought it was kind of funny, but I took her advice.

My grandmother lived in Agiou Ioanni Bratsika (Saint John District) and a block away from her apartment was a church dedicated to St. John the Baptist that celebrated its feast day on June 24th every year. In fact, the only time this church ever opened was on June 24th in order to celebrate its feast, remaining closed the rest of the year. I had always wanted to see what this church looked like inside, but when the feast day arrived there were so many people that I ended up listening to the service being blasted over an outdoor speaker from my grandmother's balcony.

This church was a special place to my grandmother. One day we went for a walk and as we passed the church she stopped and showed me a memorial stand* that she had placed at the front entrance of the church. She had placed it there as a memorial for my deceased grandfather whose patron Saint was St. John the Baptist, after whom I was named also. I never met my grandfather since he passed away about a year before I was born, so this was a special moment for me that I got to share with my grandmother.

Unfortunately I never found out the details behind the history of this church, but it is considered by locals to be a special shrine that contains a miraculous icon of St. John the Baptist. This icon was discovered in some miraculous manner in a cave that the present church was built over upon its discovery. After my grandmother and I lit the oil lamp in my grandfather's memory, since the church remained locked, we walked around to the side of the church where there were steps that descended into the cave under the church in which the miraculous icon was discovered. Today the cave has been transformed into a chapel and always remains open for the faithful to pray. The side of the chapel is on a private road and at the far end of this road were a pack of wild dogs barking like mad. Thank God they were leashed.

My grandmother lighting my grandfather's memorial box

In the chapel my grandmother told me about a local priest who served at the Church of St. Paul. She knew him as a young boy growing up in the area, and he was respected by all including my father with whom he grew up. Often at night this boy would come to this chapel and pray, sometimes keeping vigil all night. No doubt he was inspired by Elder Gervasios Paraskevopoulos who inspired a revival in the city of Patras back in the 1960's. When he got older he became a monk then was ordained a priest and became a fiery preacher very much loved and respected in the area and known for keeping strict order in his church during the divine services. This priest would never sleep the night before serving a Divine Liturgy, but instead kept vigil. I was told that in his zeal he was skeptical when the Pope returned the relics of the Apostle Andrew to the city of Patras after many centuries in 1966. After the procession with the relics through the streets of Patras lead by the King of Greece, they were interred in a very large cathedral built specifically to house these relics. That night this priest (he may have been a monk at the time) with others attempted to break into the church and verify if the Pope gave the real relics of the Apostle Andrew. Before he could do so he was apprehended by police and censured by the local bishop. I had a chance one Sunday to attend a Divine Liturgy served by this priest with my grandmother. He kept the church in traditional order with the men seated on the right and the women on the left. During the Axion Estin hymn he swung a very large chandelier with icons in the middle of the church to express the joy of the Saints in the Theotokos. And during communion he made sure the unruly Greeks were in proper order and that no woman was wearing lipstick as she partook of the Holy Gifts.

Since the Church of St. John the Baptist was only a block away from my grandmother's house, one late night I decided to go there by myself to pray. As I turned the corner towards the private road to get to the cave, the quiet night was suddenly interrupted with loud barks - but the dogs were not leashed and the barks were getting louder and louder. Panicked I ran towards the chapel, but the door was wired shut and it was too dark for me to untangle it. As the dogs got closer, I had no choice but to pray the prayer my grandmother taught me in Greek: "Ιησους Χριστος περναη και σκηλος δεν γαβ-γαη". As I was stuck in a corner I was easy prey for the dogs, but immediately after I said the prayer the dogs stopped barking, turned back and walked away. I was a bit amazed and thanked God when I fnally entered the chapel to pray.

One day we had the opportunity to visit the Monastery of St. Gerasimos in Kefalonia. We decided to spend the night in the hospitality rooms of the monastery since early the next morning was the Feast of the Transfiguration (Aug. 6). Because the Divine Liturgy was going to start very early I decided to not sleep that night. The monastery itself was locked so I just walked around the area all night. However the nuns of the monastery kept about 3 or 4 dogs for protection, but they seemed locked away behind the gates. They were barking all night though. At some point during the night as I stood in an open field near the monastery, these dogs were so determined to come after me that they somehow escaped from inside the gates and terrified I saw them running towards me barking at the top of their voice. As they got closer I prayed the prayer my grandmother taught me: "Ιησους Χριστος περναη και σκηλος δεν γαβ-γαη". Again, the dogs just stopped in their tracks right at my feet and stopped barking. One dog became as a puppy and just rolled on its belly pretty much asking me to pet it, while the other dogs just ran away. I petted the dog and it became like a protector to me and would not leave my side the rest of the night. At one point the dogs came back after me, but this dog chased them away. Now if I didn't believe in the power of this prayer before, I certainly believed after this.

And I offer it to those who may find themselves in a similar situation.


* In Greece, pious Orthodox place memorial stands, usually a metallic box with a small glass door sometimes standing on four thin legs, as memorials for loved ones in public places. These memorial stands usually contain an icon of the patron Saint of the deceased along with an oil lamp and maybe incense. Family members usually maintain these memorial stands, and other pious Orthodox make sure to keep the oil lamp lit as they pass by and make a prayer for the deceased as they cross themselves.

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Ultra-Orthodox Jews Throw Stones At Russian Orthodox in Israel

Parishioners of St. Nicolay Church

Tuesday June 23, 2009

ISRAEL: CHURCH SHOWERED WITH STONES IN NORTH
With attacks mounting, parishioners fear hostilities could escalate

MIGDAL HA-EMEQ, Israel, June 22 (Compass Direct News) – When the congregation at St. Nicolay church in this northern Israeli town gathered on that quiet Friday morning of May 29, they never expected to be showered with stones.

The Russian Orthodox worshipers, including many women, children and the elderly, had filled the small building to overflow with several outside when they were stunned by the rain of stones. Some were injured and received medical care.

"The church was crawling with people – the worshipers stood not only inside the church, but also outside, as the building is very small, when suddenly a few young men started throwing stones at the direction of our courtyard," Oleg Usenkov, press secretary of the church told Compass. "Young children were crying, everyone was very frightened."

The church had also been attacked earlier that week, during a wedding ceremony. Stones and rotten eggs were thrown from the street, hitting guests as they arrived.

The same night, the Rev. Roman Radwan, priest of St. Nicolay church, filed a complaint at the police station. An officer issued a document to confirm that he had filed an official complaint and sent him home, promising that measures would be taken. But within 24 hours, the attackers again appeared at the church's doorway and no police were present to deter them – although the police station is located a few dozen meters from the church.

The identity of the assailants is unknown – a police officer said the complaint "lacked the exact description of the attackers" – but eye-witnesses claimed they were ultra-orthodox yeshiva students who frequently cursed the church on their way to the school or synagogue.

"They often assault us verbally, curse and yell at us, although we tried to explain that this is a place of worship, a holy place," said a frustrated Usenkov, adding that the police inaction amounts to nonfeasance.

Another member of the congregation identified only as Nina, born in Moscow and now living in Nazeret Ilit, said that she didn't understand where all the hatred is coming from.

"They are heading to the yeshiva or going back home after praying at the synagogue – are they inspired to attack us during their prayers?" she said. "I hope not. We are all Israeli citizens, we pay taxes, serve in the army and are entitled to freedom of choice when it comes to religion."

She and other members of the congregation fear hostilities could escalate quickly if measures are not taken soon. Already the small building, which barely accommodates the worshipers, is surrounded by a stone fence by order of Migdal ha-Emeq officials following a series of arson attempts and other attacks.

Members of the congregation, a few hundred Christians from Migdal ha-Emeq, Afula, Haifa, Nazareth and other Israeli cities still remember how their building was vandalized in June 2006. Under cover of darkness, unidentified men broke in and broke icons and modest decorations, smashed windows and stole crosses.

The identity of those responsible remains unknown.

Established in 2005, the church building was constructed to meet the needs of Christians who do not belong to the Arab Christian minority, mostly Russians who came to Israel from the former Soviet Union in the 1990s. Besides the Christians, these immigrants included other non-Jews, as well as atheistic Jews and Jewish converts to Christianity.

No official data on religious make-up of the immigrants are available, especially since many fear deportation or persecution for talking openly about their faith, but Usenkov – a Russian Jew who converted to Christianity after immigrating to Israel in the 1990s – said he believes there are at least 300,000 Christians of Russian or Russian-Jewish origin who live in Israel today.

According to Israeli law, non-Jewish relatives of a Jew are also entitled to citizenship, but Jews who have converted to other faiths are denied it.


Most of the Russian and Russian-Jewish Christians in Israel belong to the Russian Orthodox Church and find it difficult to adjust to Greek or Arabic services common in the Greek Orthodox churches of Israel. Since St. Nicolay's church opened its doors, hundreds of worshipers from across Israel have visited it.

"Many people fear they might pass away without seeing a priest, or they dream of a Christian wedding service," said Radwan, an Israeli-Arab whose family once owned the land on which the St. Nicolay church is located. "Here we can answer their needs. We do not want to harm anyone and wish that no one would harm us."

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Proof For the Apollo Moon Landing Missions

JAXA’s Kaguya has 3-D images of the landing sites for Apollo 15 and 17. Without contemporary 3-D technology this picture would be impossible and the landscape would have remained unknown in the early 1970's.

When I was first presented evidence in favor of a moon landing conspiracy, I found it pretty convincing that we may in fact never landed on the moon. I wasn't totally convinced, but it opened me up to the possibility. NASA refused to respond to these doubts which were increasing among the American public. At one point between 40-60% of all Americans expressed doubts the moon landing never occurred. Since NASA refused to respond I looked into independent sources to prove whether or not the Apollo missions were real. It seems we may finally have received definitive proof that the Apollo moon landings were indeed real thanks to photographs from Japan’s Kaguya lunar orbiter.

Despite what PRAVDA says, here is a good video that may put the nail in the coffin of moon landing conspiracies (and the thousands of websites supporting this view):

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"Tsar": A New Russian Film by the Director of "Ostrov"

Peter Mamonov (Tsar Ivan the Terribe) and Oleg Yankovsky (St. Philip of Moscow) take the lead in the film 'Tsar'

This past May another film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival alongside Agora which prominently features an Orthodox Saint - the film is called Tsar. While from early reviews we know that Agora seeks to show the conflicts between Science and Faith through the personages of Hypatia the Philosopher and Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria, Tsar also presents a historical narrative in light of the contemporary conflict between the Church and the State in modern day Russia through the personages of Ivan the Terrible and Metropolitan Philip of Moscow. Both are relatively big budget foreign films (Tsar cost about $15 million to make) that received relatively good reviews and are sure to enjoy at least a limited release in the United States.

Here is the synopsis of the film:

"It is 1565 and Russia is ravaged by famine and war. Ivan Grosny, the first tsar of Russia, invites his childhood friend, Abbot Philip, to become a Metropolitan of Russia. Despite their close friendship, the new Metropolitan rebels against the cruelty and tortures of the tsar's policies."

The director of Tsar is Pavel Lounguine who is well-known in Orthodox circles for making what I consider perhaps the greatest film ever made about a Russian Orthodox monk who becomes a Holy Fool in Ostrov (2006), aka The Island. Peter Mamonov, who starred in Ostrov, this time takes on the role of the ruthless Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Opposite him is one of the great film actors of Russia, Oleg Yankovskiy, who plays St. Philip of Moscow as the man who dared to clash wills with Ivan and payed for it with his life. Unfortunately Yankovskiy passed away the day after the film premiered at Cannes, so Tsar is his final film and will surely raise its appeal in Russia and France where he was well known and loved.

I have not seen the film and eagerly wait for it. Below are some early reviews:

http://www.screendaily.com/reviews/cannes-reviews/tsar/5001305.article

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i9ffdbbfa915bd89ca7b5dfbe6ac4aa6a

http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_myblog&show=Pavel-Lungins-Tsar.html&Itemid=102

Yankovsky in his final screen role, as Metropolitan Philip in 'Tsar', to be released next year

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The Tourbillon As A Supplement to the Teleological Argument

The philosopher William Paley (July 1743 – 25 May 1805) is most famous for what is known as the Watchmaker Analogy which is a teleologial argument for the existence of God. By way of an analogy, the argument states that design implies a designer. He formulated this argument in 1802 and in 1838 Charles Darwin had Paley in mind when he formulated a counter-argument known as Natural Selection.

The Watchmaker Analogy can be simplified into two parts:

1. The complex inner workings of a watch necessitate an intelligent designer.
2. As with a watch, the complexity of X (a particular organ or organism, the structure of the solar system, life, the entire universe) necessitates a designer.

Richard Dawkins also wrote a book attempting to refute this analogy titled The Blind Watchmaker. Dawkins described Paley's argument "as mistaken as it is elegant". Dawkins also gives an explanation for complex artifacts, but one where a designer is not necessary. He demonstrated through computer simulation that "highly complex" systems can be produced by a series of very small randomly-generated yet naturally selected steps, rather than an intelligent designer. He therefore concludes, evolution is a fair contestant to replace God in the role of watchmaker.

Though both Darwin and Dawkins present a plausible refutation of Paley's argument, the truth of the matter is that there is no evidence to back up their claim. Their argument is only convincing to those who follow the presupposition that things evolved gradually over a long period of time, thus making the argument circular by nature.

But what if there was a watch so complex that the Watchmaker Analogy takes on a whole new meaning? That it presents a step in its design where natural randomness in its make-up becomes virtually impossible? Maybe something like the tourbillon.

William Paley published Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature in 1802. In 1801, Abraham Louis Breguet, called the “watchmaker of kings and the king of watchmakers,” patented a watch mechanism called the Tourbillon, which is French for “whirlwind,” revolutionizing watchmaking. The tourbillon has approximately 100 parts, and weighs only 0.296 grams.



Among the many Breguet clients have been folks such as Marie Antoinette, Napoleon Bonaparte, Sir Winston Churchill, and George Washington.

William Paley considered the conclusion of Design appropriate if one had stumbled upon a watch in the woods and wondered of its origin:

"In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone, and were asked how the stone came to be there; I might possibly answer, that, for anything I knew to the contrary, it had lain there forever: nor would it perhaps be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place; I should hardly think of the answer I had before given, that for anything I knew, the watch might have always been there…Every indication of contrivance, every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature; with the difference, on the side of nature, of being greater or more, and that in a degree which exceeds all computation."

And of course he was right. Microbiology has confirmed that the cell is much, much more complicated than even the tourbillon, and on a much smaller, nano-technological scale. A modern formulation of the argument, given what we know of microbiology and the complexity of the cell, could be:

"But suppose I had found a cell upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the cell happened to be in that place; I should hardly think of the answer I had before given, that for anything I knew, the cell might have always been there."

Keep in mind also that Charles Darwin considered the cell to be nothing but a glob of jelly, as Michael Behe has pointed out and beautifully refuted in his book Darwin's Black Box.

Paley also claimed that something might come to be known about the intentionality of the Watchmaker by his design:

"...when we come to inspect the watch, we perceive. . . that its several parts are framed and put together for a purpose, e.g. that they are so formed and adjusted as to produce motion, and that motion so regulated as to point out the hour of the day; that if the different parts had been differently shaped from what they are, or placed after any other manner or in any other order than that in which they are placed, either no motion at all would have been carried on in the machine, or none which would have answered the use that is now served by it. . . . the inference we think is inevitable, that the watch must have had a maker — that there must have existed, at some time and at some place or other, an artificer or artificers who formed it for the purpose which we find it actually to answer, who comprehended its construction and designed its use."

Those familiar with the complexity of watches will not believe that they can be brought about blindly and randomly, as, hopefully, this video illustrates. This watch has a tourbillon escapement. Who would like to venture the inference that this watch was constructed through blind randomn processes?

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An Astonishing Correspondence

[A few weeks ago I received an email asking for further information regarding my blog on Saint Xenia the Martyr of Kalamata. The blog is here and the question with my answer can be found in the comments section below. Following my reply this lady was kind enough to respond back giving me background information behind the purpose of her question. I thought it was interesting enough to share in a seperate blog along with my brief reply for edification purposes. - J.S.]

John

Thank you for your prompt response and the information. My family is from Kalamata and I speak the language very well, so will have no trouble in communicating with the nuns…. Yes I am referring to St Xenia Martyr of Kalamata…

I have been dealing with breast “c”(don’t like using that word)… And a chain of circumstances lead me to believe that it had something to do with healing a previous life… I consulted a friend who is a spiritual light worker who does past life work, and asked her to look at what issue from a past life related to this life… since I had also divorced my husband I was curious to know what relevance it had too… That was not a priority, but if it showed up on anything then so be it.

In short…this lady told me that in a past life my name was Xenia and my ex-husband came up and he was Domentianos. He couldn’t have me so he incarcerated and tortured me by burning my breasts etc, and eventually killing me. I was a real believer of the Lord. I died at age 27/28… It was in the 1400's and Argos came up....

Somehow my ex-husband carries Domentianos energy and I Xenia’s.

This was 6 months ago, and felt, that if I ever went to Greece I will look it up… 2 weeks ago out of the blue, in the presence of this lady I felt compelled to google the name Domentianos. A few things came up, but after googling Domentianos & Xenia, to my amazement saw the exact story documented and sent shivers up my spine…. There in writing was the exact description of the torchure she described to me. I feel a strong sense to connect with her and need to track down anything I can....

I will keep you posted, and please should any more information cross your path, please inform me. It will be greatly appreciated.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vicki:

Thanks for letting me know the circumstances relating to your inquiry and I'm sorry to hear about your illness. May the Lord grant you healing according to His will.

One thing I wanted to point out to you however concerns the information you received from your friend. I don't know what circumstances lead you to believe that your illness had something to do with a previous life, but I can assure you that such thoughts are a temptation to distract you away from the heart of the issue. I assume you are an Orthodox Christian, and if so you need to know that the Church rejects such theories that speak of a pre-existence of the soul and reincarnation. By consulting a New Age psychic or medium you are only doing yourself a disservice and inviting greater harm into your life, which I'm sure is something you don't want on top of everything you are dealing with. Obviously she told you things that seem to fit nicely into a tight package that can be confirmed through a google search, but for someone trained to spot such hoaxes like I am they are very unimpressive. I'm not necessarily saying she is purposely deceiving you, but I truly believe that there is a demonic element in her advice to you that is in essence very deceptive.

From an Orthodox Christian perspective, the New Age uses occultic elements to tap into a world of demonic illusions. By telling you that you were Saint Xenia in a previous life she is feeding you with the greatest harm possible to live a proper spiritual life in Christ. A proper spiritual life in Christ requires humility and love, not the arrogance and hate she is trying to feed you. First, there is no pre-existence of souls and no reincarnation as I said, both of which are doctrines that have been condemned not only in Scripture but in all the writings of the Saints throughout the centuries. I know for a fact that the priest to whom Saint Xenia appeared in New York, Fr. George Nassis, would have rejected this doctrine as well. Secondly, for her to tell you that you were a Saint in a previous life tempted by a ruthless tyrant that supposedly was your husband is probably the most cruel and ruthless thing I have ever heard. I don't know your husband, but do you seriously believe that in a previous life he was a ruthless murderer of thousands of Christians and that this explains your divorce and your illness? Listen, I'm a divorced man myself, but not even I would believe such things about my ex-wife to justify my divorce. The truth of the matter is that people get divorced for either justifiable or non-justifiable reasons that have everything to do with our decisions in this life. By making you a victim of a previous life, your friend is imprisoning you to a fate that you did not choose thus eliminating your free-will which is a gift of God to humanity. Obviously demons would rather you were a victim of fate than free-will, but no clear thinking christian would find this acceptable.

Furthermore, people get sick, sometimes for reasons we cannot know. If you choose to be a victim of fate, then I would suggest you do nothing about it and let fate decide what happens to you. If you choose to be liberated and implement your free-will however, then I would advise you to get a more reasonable explanation from your physician. And if you're physician can't help you, then accept it as God's will and seek healing from him through the prayers of Saint Xenia (with the understanding of course that you are not Saint Xenia).

I can go on and on about the bad advice you received from your friend that I truly believe with all my heart was inspired by demons. If you don't believe me, then evaluate the fruit of her advice. She is teaching you to believe in phony doctrines (reincarnation and fate), telling you that you were someone you never were (a Saint well known for her miracles to this day that was martyred in the 4th century for Christ), which in turn elevates your arrogance in a subtle way to the point that you were a persecuted victim and above all a Saint, and falsely justifying your divorce (whether it is justified or not) by inciting you towards greater anger and a sense of cruel victimization on the part of your husband. Let alone the fact that she got her facts wrong, since Saint Xenia lived in the 4th century not in the 15th century as you were told and she has nothing to do with Argos which is further north of Kalamata. Furthermore, its easy to advise someone who is divorced and has breast issues to compare them with a person they can google on the internet that has similar issues (though not the same by any means).

Forgive me for being so brutally honest as I know you are desperate for answers. I've dealt with many issues like yours in the past and I see the greater harm such advice brings people and I don't want you to be a victim as well. During trying times we all want and seek answers, but there are some places we don't go for answers, among which are psychics and mediums who will always give you answers that are very deceptive and thus distracting. My advice for you is to go to Kalamata and visit the monastery I wrote to you about. Tell the nuns there your story and see what they have to say about it. Don't leave out the details. And the most important thing for you to do meanwhile is, instead of believing that you carry the energy of Saint Xenia, seek her prayers for you and request God's will for your healing from her. Go to your local Orthodox Church also and seek out a priest to confess your sins to as well and seek his advice. I hope you will consider my advice, as it comes from years of experience and much love.

Be well and you are in my prayers. If you have any further questions let me know.

John

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