The Holy Monastery of Mega Spelaion in Kalavryta (1)

On the Feast of the Holy Apostle Luke (October 18) we also celebrate the founders of the Sacred Monastery of Mega Spelaion, one of the most renowned monasteries in all of Greece. These founders are Saints Symeon, Theodore and Efrosyne. Mega Spelaion (Great Cave) is so renowned precisely because it has connections with the Apostle Luke. There is a firm tradition that the Apostle Luke founded churches in the region of Achaia, which is the exact region Mega Spelaion Monastery is located in Greece. It was revealed later on that in the Great Cave where the Monastery is located today, the Holy Apostle celebrated the Divine Liturgy and the faithful of the region would gather to receive Holy Communion from the Apostle's hands. Essentially therefore, the site where the Mega Spelaion Monastery is located today is a church with apostolic foundations dating to the first century and likely the oldest church in the world. Also, though it is not clear who the "Theophilus" is to whom the Apostle Luke's Gospel and Acts is addressed to, many believe he possibly held some high office in the region of Achaia. Both Julius Africanus and Jerome tell us, among others, that Luke lived in Achaia for a while converting many, and that he wrote the Gospel beariing his name in Achaia. In fact, it was revealed that the Gospel was written in the Great Cave itself, leading us to believe that it was a central location of the Apostle's ministry. There is also a firm tradition that the Holy Apostle Luke painted the first icons beginning with those of the mother of Jesus, the Holy Virgin Mary. Later revelation records that one of these wonder-working icons was discovered in the Great Cave by the three founders, and it is still housed in Mega Spelaion today. For all these reasons, this Monastery is renowned throughout the Orthodox world and bears a fascinating history which continues into our times.

When I visited Mega Spelaion in 1991 I was given a little booklet about the Monastery which was an updated version of a book published in 1957 written by Metropolitan Agathonikos. This series is a translation of this short book which covers the most important historical facts of this Monastery. It was already translated into English, but I have edited this translation a little bit for better readability. It is my goal to make this Monastery more well-known in English-speaking lands and encourage pilgrimage to this Holy Shrine of the Orthodox Church.

Below is the introduction written by Metropolitan Ambrose of Kalavryta and Aigialeia:


For the sake of the numerous, pious pilgrims to the historical Patriarchal and Royal Sacred Monastery of Mega Spelaion, who throng here from the ends of the world to venerate the sacred icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and Virgin Mary in order to receive her strength and grace and the health of soul and body, we undertake the publishing of this brief history of the founding of the Monastery for the following reason. Modern man needs brief narrations of the historic, sacred sites and religious monuments and shrines of our beloved fatherland, because on the one hand, he is daily flooded with masses of printed matter, and on the other hand, he no longer sets aside sufficient time for study.

Since we wished to remedy this need, we decided not to write a new history, but to publish a modern Greek translation of the well-known "Brief History of the Sacred Royal Monastery of Mega Spelaion" which was first published in 1957 under the auspices of our ever-memorable predecessor, the Metropolitan Agathonikos, and has had eleven successive editions, the latest in 1977. The tone of this little work is churchly, unaffected, and simple. Its purpose is to benefit the soul of the pilgrim and not to impress his intellect. Since we are of the opinion that modern man has a great need for precisely such a spirit of simplicity and evangelical innocense in order with humility to draw near to God in the heavens and to find his salvation, we decided to re-issue this already well-known text, translated by our esteemed associate, Mr. Evangelos Lekkos, a theologian and jurist. In addition, we are giving to this edition a more aesthetic form, in order to adjoin charm to edification.

We hereby deliver this text in English, for the sake of the foreign visitors to the Monastery. The translation is owed to the diligence and the labor of Mr. Peter Botsis, a writer, whom we cordially thank for his unselfish offer.

From what we have noted above, it becomes obvious this publication is not directed at researchers and archeoligists. It is offered only to those who arrive at the sacred cliff of the Great Cave as pilgrims to the sacred icon of the Most holy Theotokos and Virgin Mary, which was revealed miraculously centuries ago in this sacred Cave and which is named Speliotissa.

Turning our mind and heart piously towards Mary the Mother of God, we beseech in the words of our fathers: "O Lady, accept the petitions of your servants and deliver us from every necessity and distress."

+ Ambrose
Metropolitan of Kalavryta and Aigialeia

In the Sacred Monastery of Mega Spelaion,
August 15, 1988

To be continued...Part 2

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Movie: Mario Bavas' "The Wurdalak" Based on the Short Tale of Alexis Tolstoy

In 2001 a local independent theatre here in Boston was featuring a midnight movie marathon every weekend of October on the films of Italian horror director Mario Bava. I attended every one of these screenings as I'm a big fan of Mario Bava, but one film stood out for me and that was Black Sabbath. Released in 1963 it is a film of three short stories, one more frightening than the next ("The Telephone", "The Drop of Water" and "The Wurdalak"). Most people know of this movie because it inspired the naming of the rock group Black Sabbath, which was the first heavy metal band.

The last and longest is based on a short story of Alexis Tolstoy titled "The Wurdalak". It is a Russian vampire tale starring the great Boris Karloff. Since I will be posting other old vampire tales which originated in traditionally Orthodox countries like Greece and Romania, a Russian tale of Tolstoy will begin my series. Enjoy!

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A Russian Priest Also A Surgeon

Giouri Leonintovitch Sevtsenko was born in 1947 in Giakoutsk. He is a heart surgeon, a professor of medicine, and was the head doctor of the Russian army. He is now also an Orthodox priest.

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Oprah Winfrey Should Apologize for Promoting Dangerous Fraud James Arthur Ray

by Dr. Al Carroll
Wednesday October 14th, 2009
Indybay

Two people died in a distorted New Age version of a Native sweatlodge in Sedona. Dozens more were badly injured. They each paid over $9000 for a bastardized version of a ceremony which by tradition must never be charged for. Natives don't believe in "pay to pray," but apparently the New Age movement does. It is far more of a consumerist phenomena than a genuine spiritual movement. Many lost, misguided, and genuinely sincere seekers get caught up in the idea of paying cash for shortcuts to salvation, and Oprah Winfrey seems to be among them.

Winfrey promoted New Age leader James Arthur Ray on her program a number of times. It was Ray who jammed over sixty people into a "sweatbox." Traditionally perhaps a dozen people are in a sweatlodge. The lodge is made from natural materials so the heat will not be too intense. But not Ray's "sweatbox." It was sealed with heavy plastic tarp to deliberately make the heat as intense as possible. People even competed to see who could withstand the highest temperatures, making it a bizarre contest rather than a ceremony to heal. Traditionally most of those in a sweatlodge have been through it before so they could guide novices, but seemingly the clients/victims of Ray's outnumbered those conducting it by at least twenty to one.

Traditionally, you don't charge for spiritual ceremony. You also don't do it out of curiosity, because you think it would be "cool," or for any reason except to heal. Survivors of alcoholism or PTSD are often healed by a sweatlodge. Thrill seekers should go elsewhere, hopefully to some self examination.

Spiritual exploiters like James Arthur Ray should be ashamed of themselves, but rarely are. After all, they get rich and have cult followings of the naïve or lost. Ray may belong in prison for negligent homicide, along with others who conduct extremely dangerous false versions of a sweatlodge. Ray's operation likely knew that a sweatlodge, when run by anyone other than an extensively trained Native traditionalist, routinely results in deaths or injuries. There are deaths from phony New Age sweatlodges in Texas, Britain, Australia, and in California multiple times. The Australian Medical Association issued a warning about phony sweatlodges, something that American and European medical associations should do.

A sweatlodge that is not properly run can result in death from asphyxiation, heart attack, or dehydration. Hapless New Agers routinely get burned or scalded. There are also many cases of psychological damage. You can relive traumas in a sweatlodge, such as child molestation or rape, as well as manic episodes. The rocks heated in a sweatlodge, if not properly chosen, can explode. Finally, many of the worst exploiters sexually abuse their followers. It's easy to pass out in the heat of a sweatlodge. Many women (and men) are molested or raped. No one should trust any operator who insists on a sweatlodge alone or in the nude.

Don't trust anyone who advertises or charges for ceremony. There's a simple standard that non-Natives should use when thinking about going to an alleged "Native" ceremony: If the operators seek out non-Native peoples, they are frauds looking to take your money. Actual Native traditionalists neither seek nor want converts. Native ceremonies are intended for Native communities, always. They lose their power and meaning once taken outside that context.

For her part in promoting the dangerous fraud James Arthur Ray, Oprah Winfrey should publicly apologize and vow to be more careful about who she endorses in the future. How many of the victims in Sedona would never have gone there had they not seen Winfrey's program? How wealthy did Ray become off of his victims because of Winfrey's repeated endorsement of Ray, both on her show and online? Why didn't her show's researchers take the time to look carefully and see what they should have known, that Ray was potentially dangerous to his followers?

Winfrey, I believe, is a good hearted person who sincerely wants to help her audience. She apologized for promoting an author who lied about the life he described in his books and strongly criticized him on her own show. Why can't she do the same to James Arthur Ray and confront him also? She should do the right thing and retract all endorsements of Ray and vow to take greater care in the future and never promote New Age exploiters again.

Bio: Al Carroll is a historian, Fulbright Scholar, and one of the founders of New Age Frauds Plastic Shamans (NAFPS) an activist group dedicated to warning the public about exploiters and imposters who pose as Native medicine people, located online at http://www.newagefraud.org/. His first book is Medicine Bags and Dog Tags: Native Veterans from Colonial Times to the Second Iraq War from University of Nebraska Press.

Two Die at US Spiritual Retreat

Third Person in Sweat Lodge Case Dies

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Why Did I Leave the Jehovah's Witnesses?

10/09/2009
The Jakarta Post

Referring to a letter titled "Protect rights of minority religions," (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 5), I would say that Jehovah's Witnesses (JWs) shun people that are still Christians (like me) and JWs who leave them after learning about the entire JW picture. This policy is not found anywhere in any scripture.

They forced JWs to avoid vaccinations for 19 years, calling it an abomination that causes cancers, syphilis etc. They forced JWs to avoid organ transplants for 13 years, calling it "cannibalism". They forced JWs to go to prison rather than accept alternative options to doing the military service for over 50 years.

Yet, all along, they claimed they were providing the "food at the proper time", from God Himself. Their predictions of the actual end of the world, many times, in writing; every one of these predictions, in writing, has proved false.

People sold homes, gave up opportunities to start families, secure employment, lost opportunities for an education and instead spread a message of doom that was simply untrue with each prediction made.

All of these failed. If this is God's true and only channel, how then can they be so wrong so often, on doctrine, medical issues, end of the world predictions, and yet still demand complete obedience from their members who otherwise face risk of complete shunning?

If any baptized Witness "expresses" thoughts (even if only as opinions) contrary to what is taught in the JW society's publication right now, they will be counseled, and if their opinions are not accepted, they will lose their fellowship for disrupting unity.

This "squelching mechanism", as people like to call it, instigates fear among regular members to make sure they stay in line. Losing all contact with friends and family is just too much to bear for many. Life as you know it is gone.

In addition, JWs are also told repeatedly not to even consider looking at outside sources. All of this "outside material" is called "apostate literature." The term "apostate" is based on one simple criterion. Is it critical of the organization? Most sources critical of the organization are not apostate. They are secular. And they are often simply stating the facts about this organization. Facts, that the society does not want its members to know anything about.

Examining the society can only be done, they are told, if it is done within the organization. So, by not being allowed to examine their own faith through outside sources, and by having the ever-present threat of losing their fellowship hovering over them if they were to speak critically of the organization, most JWs do not even know about these many issues that I have just posted above.

As a member for nearly 20 years, I too never knew many of these things (because we are told not to read anything from the "outside") until I finally decided to read an article on a national news website that allowed critical comments about the organization. Comments that shook my faith in the JWs so much I decided to investigate things further. Comments that I was not supposed to look at, not even think about, because they are called "apostate". So, in the end, we have what many would consider as extremely damaging, impossible to refute facts, which undermine the Watchtower Society's claim that it alone is God's one true faith on earth today.

That core belief is, in my opinion, the glue that keeps everything else together.

Vinny
Washington

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Doomsday (False) Prophet, Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Dead

Religious sect leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet Dies, Leaves Legacy of Armageddon Church Behind

By Associated Press
October 16, 2009
Bozeman, Montana

Elizabeth Clare Prophet, the spiritual leader of the Church Universal and Triumphant, which gained notoriety in the late 1980s for its followers' elaborate preparations for nuclear Armageddon, has died. She was 70.

Prophet suffered from advanced Alzheimer's disease or dementia for years, and was at her apartment when she died Thursday night, said legal guardian Murray Steinman. Steinman said he was not aware of any other complicating health issues.

"She just kind of wound down," Steinman said.

Prophet led the Park County church that once boasted 50,000 members. In the late 1980s, church members amassed assault rifles and armored vehicles in preparation for a nuclear missile strike that Prophet predicted was on the way. The plan brought national notoriety and a federal investigation.

The church's beliefs combined icons from the world's major religions, mixing western philosophy and mysticism. Despite her disease, videos and writings of Prophet continued to dominate church teaching, transformed into a New Age publishing enterprise and spiritual university.

The church was still prepared for Armageddon in recent years, and kept a bomb shelter stocked for 750 people deep in a forest near Yellowstone National Park. Gone are the weapons amassed in the late 1980s that got church leaders into trouble with federal authorities.

The church declined in the 1990s, after a doomsday prediction never materialized and Prophet's charismatic presence faded, but lived on with a smaller group of adherents and workers.

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The Cult of Ayn Rand is Re-emerging

Right-Wingers Believe Ayn Rand's Every Word, But They Forget She Wrote Fiction

The cult of Rand is resurgent -- two new biographies and maybe even a new film, are in the works. But her economic ideas were pure fairy tales.

Colin Greer
New World Foundation
October 10, 2009.

Ayn Rand is popular again. Her most popular novels Atlas Shrugged from 1957 and The Fountainhead from 1943 are still being bought in large numbers. While it's plainly fashionable for right wing activists and pundits to bandy about her ideas to discredit the Obama administration, it's worth remembering one thing...

The American right sees Atlas Shrugged as an almost prophetic masterpiece that describes "the economic lunacy" of the bailout and economic stimulus plan. As Stephen Moore (formerly of the CATO institute) explains in the Wall Street Journal, the warning of Atlas Shrugged is clear - the more government tries to fix things, the more they break. "When profits and wealth and creativity are denigrated in society, they start to disappear -- leaving everyone the poorer," he says, concluding that the abolition of income tax would be a much better policy idea.

Two new biographies of Rand and maybe even a new film, are in the works. The cult of Ayn Rand has inspired think tanks like the Ayn Rand Institute, and The Atlas Society, and she has numerous followers in high places, notably including Alan Greenspan (former chairman of the Federal Reserve and soloist for the out-of-tune hymn to the inexorable free market). A copy of Atlas Shrugged may have been one of the more popular accessories at recent TEA parties.

Ayn Rand was an immigrant from Russia who worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter. Ironically, her followers nowadays tend to hate both immigrants and Hollywood. If I could run a mandatory e-harmony, I’d have Lou Dobbs meet Ayn Rand. I’d have Glenn Beck meet Ayn Rand. She's the lady off the boat who invented a powerful free market imagery for them.

But remember: She wrote fiction!

In Rand’s novels the heroes pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. They made big profits in unfavorable economic climates. Try pulling yourself up by your shoelaces. It can’t be done. Its all story telling, with no basis in documented experience. And of course, she does not consider the collaborative context (school, roads, community) that make individual success possible. Rand's own life was a cauldron of broken connections, sexual indulgence, war on other people’s marriages, and narcissism of atomic proportions. Nothing new to show business. But pressing social issues are not show business. There is no real economics in Rand, and certainly no moral logic.

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15 'Dangerous' Religious Sects Active in Bulgaria

Small groups of Bulgarian nationalists have been staging intermittent protests against religious sects throughout the country in the recent months. Photo by Darik News.

October 18, 2009, Sunday
Novinite.com

There are about 15 "totalitarian and destructive" religious sects that are currently active in Bulgaria.

This has been announced by Prof. Ivan Zhelev, Chair of the Center for Research of New Religious Movements (CRNRM), an NGO, during an international seminar in Varna entitled, “Educational Institutions as a Main Target of Sectarian Activity”.

The seminar has been organized by the CRNRM and the Varna and Veliki Preslav Bishopric of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Zhelev said many of the 120 religions registered in Bulgaria were fictitious, and that if the state undertook a campaign to inspect them, their number would drop to no more than twenty.

As examples of destructive religious sects, Zhelev pointed to the Church of Moon and Scientology who targeted high-level state officials, intellectuals, university professors and students. He also said the Jehovah’s Witnesses had become very active.

Among the most active “destructive” sects are the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Krishna Followers, and the Charismatists, according to Prof. Alexander Dvorkin, Director of the Center for Religious Research and of the Russian Association for Studying Religions and Sects.

In his words, several Russian sects including the Followers of Visarion, of Anastasia, and of Norbekov are also active in Bulgaria.

The Russian professor has warned that periods of crisis and stress increased people’s susceptibility to being influenced by destructive religious movements.

========================

See also: 101 Religious Groups in Bulgaria Include Satan Followers

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The Origins of Modern Day Wicca and Neopaganism

Did you ever wonder how much of Wicca can be traced to the Celts? Wicca is a religion based on ancient northern European Pagan beliefs in a fertility Goddess and her consort a horned God. The religion is a modern creation and some of its sources pre-date the Christian era by many centuries. Most Wiccans do not believe that their religion is a direct continuous descendent of this earlier religion. They see it as a modern reconstruction.

This is what Joanna Hautin-Mayer says: "We know tragically little about the actual religious expressions of the ancient Celts. We have a few myths and legends, but very little archeological evidence to support our theories. We have no written records of their actual forms of worship, and the accounts of their culture and beliefs written by their contemporaries are often highly biased and of questionable historical worth."

This is what Silver RavenWolf in 1998 relates about the Wicca culture: "Wicca, as you practice the religion today, is a new religion, barely fifty years old. The techniques you use at present are not entirely what your elders practiced even thirty years ago. Of course, threads of 'what was' weave through the tapestry of 'what is now.' ...in no way can we replicate to perfection the precise circumstances of environment, society, culture, religion and magick a hundred years ago, or a thousand. Why would we want to? The idea is to go forward with the knowledge of the past, tempered by the tools of our own age."

Writings that formed the basic foundation of Wicca are as follows:

Charles Leland (1824-1903) published a book in 1899 titled Aradia: Gospel of the Witches. Leland was the founder of the Gypsy Lore Society, editor of the Philadelphia Bulletin, and a prolific author and folklorist. Aradia deals mainly with the Goddess Diana. It is presented as an ancient document which recorded the doctrines of La Vecchia Religione (The Old Religion) -- Italian witchcraft. Leland claims to have received the information from an Italian strega (sorceress) named Maddalena. How much of this is a valid account of La Vecchia Religione is anyone's guess. However, the book played a significant role in the later development of modern-day Neopaganism.

Margaret Murray (1863 - 1963) authored The Witch Cult in Western Europe and The God of the Witches. These books promoted the concept that some of the Witches who were exterminated by Roman Catholics and Protestants during the "Burning Times" (circa 1450-1792) were remnants of an earlier, organized, and dominant pre-Christian religion in Europe. Her writings have not been well received by anthropologists. However, they were very influential in providing background material for the Neopagan traditions.

Gerald Gardner (1884 - 1964), a British civil servant, who has written that he joined an existing Wiccan Coven in 1939, taking the (then) usual vows of secrecy persuaded the coven to let him write a book in 1949 about Wicca in the form of a novel, High Magic's Aid. He carefully revealed a few of the Old Religion's beliefs and the historical persecutions that they endured, and added many rituals, symbols, concepts and elements from ceremonial magick, Freemasonry and other sources to "flesh out" the coven's beliefs and practices, most of which had been long forgotten. He also wrote Witchcraft Today in 1954 in which he described additional details about the faith. In 1959 he also wrote The Meaning of Witchcraft which described in detail the history of Wicca in Northern Europe.

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My Beef with PETA

By ChaToyya Sewell
Published Oct. 13, 2009
The Maneater

Full disclosure: I'm a vegetarian and have been for quite awhile. I'm not particularly political, but I do think more informed eating habits would help heal the environment, our bodies and our relationships with each other.

But I hate the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. I hate PETA's demonstrations, I hate its hypocrisy and I hate hate hate its advertising.

In its sphere of the world, animals are not creatures deserving of compassion, or are they even creatures deserving equality as some of the more radical animal rights groups believe. PETA constantly reminds us through its racist and sexist advertising animals are better than people, at least, some of us.

In 2003, PETA ignited the ire of many mammals across the world with its "Holocaust on your plate" campaign. Yes, it was exactly what it sounded like. Photographs of chickens in cages were positioned next to photographs of children behind bars at concentration camps. PETA completely ignored the hurt this could cause some survivors of the Holocaust as well as ignored the fact that, historically, ethnic minorities and people of color were compared to animals to cement their lesser status.

In 2005, PETA ran a campaign entitled "Are animals the new slaves?" If you are not already gagging, let me give a little background. In these campaigns, shots of chickens' gullets hanging open are contrasted with shots of African American lynching victims. PETA ran this campaign through 17 cities before suspending it because of public outrage. The negative publicity did not deter PETA's rampage of ignorance. It has followed with other beauties, such as having protesters dress like the Ku Klux Klan at rallies and trying to purchase space to advertise on the border wall.

If PETA's ignorance surrounding race isn't enough to turn your stomach, let's examine its use of gender or, as I like to call it, the "women are worth less than chickens" campaign. PETA is known for such cutting-edge performance art as having people sit in cages to shed light on the uncomfortably tight conditions used in factory farming and people protesting nude as part of their "I'd rather go naked than wear fur" campaigns.

Unfortunately, these people are nearly always women and always women who fit society's limited construction of beauty. I've never seen someone of Beth Ditto's size lounging languidly proclaiming "I'd rather go naked!" Or someone of Barbara Walter's age. These women are just not considered sexy enough for the male gaze's imperceptible eye.

For Valentine's Day this year, PETA held a public rally based around the premise being a vegetarian makes for a hotter body. I kid you not. Who better to show off these hotter bodies than two female models wearing red lingerie making out in public? Once again, this is not Rosie O'Donnell making out with her girlfriend, an act subversive enough I could endorse it. No, this is reminiscent of "Girls Gone Wild" provocation — the same male-gaze-approved images, simply without the cover of spring break.

I understand, I do. Vegetarianism is not viewed as hip. Far too often, vegetarians are seen as deluded hippies. But is this advertising working? Between the fake blood and the racism and sexism, are people getting any kind of adequate information about the factory farming situations that produce most of our food? Because to be honest, every time this vegetarian is presented with another advertising campaign by PETA, all I want is a cheeseburger.

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Handsome Muslim Men Accused of Waging 'Love Jihad' in India

Muslim fundamentalists in India have been accused of waging a "love jihad", using charming young men to lure girls into converting to Islam with promises of marriage.

By Dean Nelson in New Delhi
13 October 2009
Telegraph

Christian and Hindu groups, which have themselves clashed over the sensitive issue of religious conversions, have joined forces to combat the alleged campaign.

A Hindu helpline in southern India claims it has received more than 1,500 calls from parents who fear their daughters are being lured by the group into converting to Islam.

The high court in Kerala directed India's interior ministry and police to investigate the phenomenon.

So far, little is known about the group behind the "love jihad", but it is alleged to be linked to a fundamentalist Muslim group called the Popular Front of India and its student wing Campus Front - which they deny.

It emerged after two young Muslim men were arrested for luring two post-graduate students into marriage by "feigning love" to convert them to Islam.

They were arrested after the women told a court they had been "trapped" by the men and forced to convert. One of the girls said she had eloped with the older student at a college in Pathanamthitta who had taken her and her friend to a "conversion centre" in Malappuram where they were given extremist literature.

Now senior Christian leaders are launching their own campaign to counter the threat.

"It's shocking but it is happening. Many Christian families are getting affected. We are careful as this is a sensitive issue and could even lead to a religious conflict. But now that the Kerala High Court too has interfered in the matter, we have decided to take a stand," said Father Johny Kochuparambil, secretary of Kerala Catholic Bishops Council's Commission for Social Harmony and Vigilance.

The Popular Front of India denied it was waging a "love jihad".

"Religious conversion is not a crime; conversion takes place to Hinduism and Christianity also ... One cannot paint all love affairs as cases of forced conversions meant for extremist activity," said Naseerudheen Elamaram, the group's spokesman.

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Meet Moscow's Punk Priest, the Rev. Sergei Rybko

A Russian Orthodox Priest Is Trying to Help Young Rockers Find God

By ALEXANDER MARQUARDT
MOSCOW, Oct. 16, 2009
ABC News

On a Tuesday night, a dark rec hall on the outskirts of Moscow is hosting its weekly "Rock Festival." It's really nothing more than an open-mic night for local hard rock bands to showcase their talents, something some of the acts could use a touch more of.

Teens and 20-somethings mill about, a handful in front of the stage, the rest scattered throughout the low-ceilinged room sitting at tables or standing in groups. Skinny jeans and studded belts are de rigueur.

At 8:30 p.m., the door to the hall opens and a man who decidedly doesn't belong here walks in. Bald and bearded, he walks with the gait of a large man and the confidence of someone familiar with his surroundings.

A cursory glance immediately identifies the black-cassocked man with an oversized gold cross around his neck as a Russian Orthodox priest.

The Rev. Sergei Rybko makes his way up through the middle of the room and plops himself down in a chair 20 feet to the right of the stage. For someone who is so clearly out of his element, he doesn't get many looks from the hipsters and headbangers. They've seen him here before.

As the alternative band OffiGella finishes its set, Rybko, 49, gets up and heads to the stage. He waits in the wings while his long-haired sidekick, Yuri, introduces him as a former hippy and regular rock festival attendee. The audience of 30 in front of the stage cheers when Rybko takes the microphone and flashes the peace sign.

He keeps his talk short, keenly aware that the crowd won't put up with a long religious discourse. They've come together this night because in a way, he tells them, they're a club of lonely-hearts, like "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Together here, their hearts are united but, afterward, they will be all alone.

"You don't have to be alone," he says. "If you reach out to God, you will never be alone."

Another peace sign, a slight bow, and the crowd cheers as Rybko leaves the stage. A heavy metal band starts up, with a "singer" whose roar could shatter windows.

The Rev. Sergei Rybko: Once a Rocker, Now a Priest

A young man makes a beeline for Rybko as he comes off the stage. "I wanted to say a big thank you for coming and for his support," the young man says afterward. "I had some questions I didn't know who to talk to about, so I asked him and he explained everything to me."

Rybko dallies for a few moments, watching a mosh pit form before making his exit. He leaves before Gella, the lead singer of "OffiGella," has a chance to talk to him. A pretty red-haired girl, she is pregnant and her bandmates had been urging her to ask him if it's OK to keep singing at these shows.

His mission comes by way of the church, asked by the patriarch (the head of the Orthodox Church) to reach out to young people in the rock subculture.

Despite the charge from on high, however, Rybko is realistic about how successful he can be. "At least they didn't throw anything," he says when asked for a self-assessment. "My job is to sow, it is up to God to cultivate.

"If what I say changes someone, if it makes someone purer, closer to God, then that's a successful evening," he says.

It's no coincidence that the patriarch picked him for the job. Rybko has some street cred with this group because they know that before he walked around in a cassock, he rebelled against Soviet communism in the 1970s by starting a band and leading a small group of anarchists before becoming a wandering hippy. "I used to be a rocker and I will always be one," he says. "For the average person behind the Iron Curtain, it represented the only truth that you could listen to."

His first job in the church was at 19 as a bell ringer where he would mix traditional ringing with Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin songs. The old ladies in the congregation loved it, he says. Working at the church wore off on him and, at 28, he was ordained as a priest.

Two days after Rybko's appearance at the hall, he's standing in front of an entirely different audience at the morning service at the St. Sergius of Radonezh church in the Moscow suburbs.

It's a full house, the congregation is older, mostly women with scarves covering their heads. They follow Rybko in prayer and take communion before the service culminates with the traditional walking of the icon around the church.

Rybko Has His Own Rock Club

"These people have already discovered Christ and the Orthodox world is the essence of their lives," he says near the gates of the church. "In the club, I talk to people who are far away from God, from Christ, from the Orthodox religion.

"If I open the Bible [in the clubs] and start to talk like a priest, they will all run away. So I have to use their language but make sure they understand that a priest is speaking to them and that Christianity will solve their problems," he adds.

When the worshippers leave, he heads around the back of the church to a small building where he has set up what he calls his own rock club.

It's the kind of small, dark room with a funky smell that any rebellious 16-year-old would have in his parents' garage. Instruments and amplifiers lie about, multi-colored lights flash and graffiti is spray-painted on the walls.

But, then, you spot the religious art and large cross on the ceiling.

"It's very unusual," says Dmitry Rock (his stage name), a long-haired guitarist with two piercings in his lower lip. "When I first came here, I couldn't believe a priest set this up. Then we got used to it."

Musicians are free to come here and rehearse; better they hang out here than on the streets, Rybko says.

Rock is not religious and Rybko's overt goal is not to make people like loyal churchgoers. But, as Rybko did when he was younger, they've now started helping out around the church.

Despite his colorful past, Rybko admits that, these days, he feels more comfortable preaching in church than hanging out at concerts and clubs.

"Thirty years ago [that] would have been my home," he says. "[Now] I feel more at home in church, that is closer to me. But it is my duty to go [to the clubs]. If I don't, who will?"

[For a video of this story, see here.]

And here is a story from a year ago:

Renowned Missionary Hegumen Sergei Rybko Compared the Opponents of Pastoral Work amongst Counterculture Youth to Pharisees

Moscow, 30 October 2008 (Interfax):

Renowned missionary Hegumen Sergei Rybko compared those who oppose missionary activity among counter-culture youth to Pharisees and he urged such people to follow the lead of the hierarchs of the Church. In an interview with Interfax-Religion on Thursday, Fr Sergei made the point, “Those folks who wish to fight rock-music and pastoral work amongst rockers are nothing but Pharisees”. He made these comments at a roundtable discussion on Orthodox mission in the youth subculture.

Sergei Chapnin, the editor of the newspaper Tserkovny Vestnik (The Church Herald), said that the Church could work amongst rockers and nonconformists, but, it should give more emphasis to missionary programmes oriented to college and high school students, which are larger groups. Another participant in the roundtable, Zhanna Grigoryev, the head of the division for scientific-theological literature for the MP and editor of the missionary journal Foma (Thomas), said, “Only recently, I heard those who say, ‘Rock is elemental, it is the language of philosophers, poets, thinkers, and honest people’. The beginning of this attitude was traced to people like Hegumen Sergei Rybko and some other lesser-known clergy. But, why rock music, in particular? What about the students at the conservatoire?”

In reply, Fr Sergei said, “The Pharisees very often blamed Christ for directing his preaching not only to the élite, but, to everyone without distinction, to gentiles, publicans, and whores, leading them to repentance. The Pharisees were people who respected the letter of law, stressed their élitism, and believed that Christianity was only for them. The apostles and martyrs heard the same reproaches. There’s nothing new under the sun. St Vitaly, who is listed in the Orthodox Menaion, preached in brothels. So, brothels are all right, whilst young people are under the ban?” he asked.

Fr Sergei urged his opponents “to be more obedient to the hierarchy. It can turn out that if you disparage someone, if you call what is holy sinful, you can unwittingly interfere with the preaching of the Word of God by your insinuations”, he reminded his listeners. In any case, Fr Sergei pointed up that his mission has the blessing of Patriarch Aleksei II. “I am a soldier. Where they send me, I will preach there. If they order me to go to Africa tomorrow… or, to any other place, for that matter… I will go there. As Metropolitan Antony of Surouzh said, ‘If I am ordered to preach in hell, I will preach in hell’”, Fr Sergei said.

He noted that he was nothing but a simple monk that went to the monastery in order to pray to God, to live in solitude, with a love of the church, the prayers, and the divine services. “The work at rock concerts is very tiring to me; I think that I could do as well at the altar celebrating the Divine Liturgy. My pastoral work is a heavy labour that I accomplish as an act of obedience. If they were to give me a different obedience tomorrow, it would gladden me”, Fr Sergei acknowledged. He expressed his exasperation that his critics did not note his publishing activity. “We have now published a collection of works by St John Chrysostom, and works by St Tikhon of Zadonsk. Actually, we have issued them in a single volume. I have a parish in Bibirevo that serves some 200,000 people, I use my own money, and we don’t have any “New Russians” (a slang term for affluent Russians: editor’s note). Why don’t they note this side of my activity?” he asked.

In his opinion, his mission work amongst rockers is only one of his pastoral duties. “It’s probably the best-known, but, it is not the most important”. Speaking about rock-culture, Fr Sergei pointed out that rock “originally opposed many tendencies found in the world, evil, injustice… Rockers positioned themselves as fighters against the foundations of these things. However, the fact is that Christianity is also fighting against the evil in the world. We agree in it and I try to show rockers that their protest finds its answer in Orthodoxy. There’s a straight line way from nonconformity and protest to Christ”, Fr Sergei concluded.

Recently, the Moscow Patriarchate decorated Fr Sergei for his missionary work amongst counter-culture youth.

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Movie Trailer: "Saint Nino"

Above is the trailer for the St. Nino motion picture currently in production. St. Nino is the patron Saint of Georgia. It is directed and edited by Gia Kereselidze, co-edited by Matt Leiner, musical score by Levan Botumeli, and voice over by Rand Gardner.

http://www.stninofilm.com/


Kontakion Of Saint Nino
Let us sing praises to the chosen of Christ, Equal-to-the-Apostles and preacher of Gods word, the bearer of good tidings who brought the people of Georgia to the path of life and truth, the disciple of the Mother of God, our zealous intercessor and unwearing guardian, the most praised Nina.

Sung by: The Georgian Harmony Choir. Conducted by Nana Peradze.

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Ukrainian Prime Minister on Orthodox Pilgrimage

Ukraine's Yulia Tymoshenko Talks to God Before Running for President

Pravda.Ru
October 16, 2009

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is visiting the Vatican Friday, October 16. She will also visit Jerusalem before the presidential campaign in Ukraine.

"I will go to the Vatican at the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI. It is very important for me to hold all necessary discussions about cooperation between the government in Ukraine and the Council of Churches, and about what steps we have been making to help churches fulfill their mission. I think it is a very important discussion, because, in my opinion, only from spiritual revival can the country's economic revival begin," says a statement, posted on Tymoshenko's web blog.

The Ukrainian prime minister also plans to visit the holy sites in Jerusalem.

"I, as an Orthodox, want to see all the holy sites of great importance for the Orthodox believers, before a hard trial begins - the presidential elections and, most important, the restoration of order in the country after the presidential elections," Tymoshenko said.

“I want to worship the Lord’s Sepulcher, to visit the places connected with the name of Jesus Christ and just confess, commune, repent and go further, believing that the Lord has wonderful future in store for Ukraine,” she said.

As was reported, in July 2009 the Pope invited head of the Ukrainian government to visit Vatican, Interfax said.

The presidential campaign in Ukraine starts on October 19.

Below are photos of her meeting with the Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilus.

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"12 Byzantine Rulers" Audio Lectures

Lars Brownworth, author of Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization , offers an audio series of lectures on twelve Byzantine rulers that he delivered and now offers for free to familiarize people better with the Byzantine Empire.

They are free to download here.

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Russian Orthodox Priests Meet British Rock Band That Inspired Them

Renowned British Rockers Meet with Orthodox Priests, Their Fans When Youngsters, in Moscow

Moscow, 13 October 2009, Interfax - The British rock group Procol Harum met with Orthodox diocesan priests, who believe rock music inspired their spiritual search, in the Moscow Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in the Lazarevskoye cemetery.

"Group leader Gary Brooker was very glad. He was especially impressed there were about eight priests from various dioceses and other people who were youngsters in the sixties and seventies. They said "thank you so much" to the Procol Harum and to Gary for all they did for them. "Their music awoke us then," Hegumen Sergy (Rybko) told Interfax-Religion on Tuesday.

According to him, Gary Brooker is "a very intelligent person with a degree in philosophy."

He was deeply touched and even shed tears, saying "we never expected, we never knew that you'd understand us even better than in America and England."

He was very glad that their music inspired our spiritual search," Fr. Sergy said.

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On Vigils and Sleep

- When the righteous Akakios, who did his ascesis in a desolate skete of Kafsokalyvia (Mount Athos), was asked to speak on sleep and vigil, he replied: "Half an hour of sleep is enough for a true monk!" He himself either stood up all night long or knelt, praying and chanting with great courage, in spite of the fact that he suffered from a hernia and was very old. He would sleep very little in the mornings, sometimes leaning on his arm or on anything else, long enough not to lose clarity of mind from extreme sleeplessness. He viewed sleep as a treacherous and undermining enemy of the soul. He said that nothing increases sinful desires more than excessive sleep. And nothing subdues them as much as sleeplessness.

- One monk made a bed with thick, knotted tree branches nailed sparsely together, without a mattress, so that he could not rest his body as well as it would have liked, and so that he could be awakened easily. He slept no more than four hours a day.

- Even the blessed St. Gregory Palamas had an ongoing battle against the flesh and sleep. For three whole months in his hermitage above the Holy Monastery of Lavra he remained sleepless and in prayer. He did, however, then interrupt this ascetic labour so that his mind might not be harmed by too extended a vigil.

- The Athonite Russian, St. Silouan the New, who was canonized in 1987, was born in 1866 and died in 1938. He was a monk of St. Panteleimon's Monastery. He lived a righteous and pure life of universal love, unceasing prayer, and humility. His life came to a peaceful end in peace, and he left behind the memory of a holy man. His biography was written by Archimandrite Sophronios, the hegumen of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of the Honoured Forerunner in England.

St. Silouanos, among his many virtues, laboured especially for sleeplessness, as he knew from experience how much it contributes to attaining cleansing of mind, uplifting in prayer and cultivation of joyful mourning. He would not lie on a bed to sleep; instead he would spend the entire night praying, either standing up or sitting on a stool. He would sleep for only fifteen to twenty minutes and then rise again to pray. He would rest again later, intermittently. His entire sleep in twenty-four hours would total only two hours.

- We asked the blind elder Simeon the Kafsokalyvitan: "How can the soul be cleansed from impure thoughts, desires and other passions?" and he replied: "By not knowing what it is like to get any sleep."

- In an Iviritan skete there lived a most pious hieromonk, Gerasimos the Hymnographer. When he was to celebrate the Divine Liturgy the next day, he would stay awake all night long in reading and in prayer. God took him away at a young age. His brief life had been very full, for he had pleased the Lord.

- A struggling hermit said: "By sleeping a lot, our mind becomes opaque."

- Hadji-Giorgis rested standing up at his bench in the church all night long. He hardly knew his cell. He devoted his entire days to his suffering brothers and his nights to prayer.

- One day a young monk asked Father N., who was 86 years old: "Elder, how many hours should a monk sleep?"

"Listen, my brother: St. Theodore the Studite and St. Symeon the New Theologian say that four to five hours a day should be enough sleep. But Abba Arsenios in the Gerontikon declares that for a labouring monk, one hour of sleep should be sufficient. St. Akakios the Kafsokalyvitan used to say that 'I find half an hour of sleep not enough, but if the saints say so ... we should try it'."

"And you, how long do you rest?"

"My brother, what is the need for such a question?"

"For my benefit and for the love of Christ, tell me."

"I'll tell you. One hour in twenty-four is enough."

"Do you sleep one hour through or with interruptions?"

"With interruptions of course! A quarter of an hour, here or there."

"And how is your time spent?"

"Unfortunately, now that I have a double hernia, I do not stand to read the Psalter or the Gospels and to say the Jesus Prayer."

"The entire Psalter and New Testament?"

"Naturally, the entire ones."

"Every day?"

"Every day, every day. The only thing is, I cannot read standing up any more. That is what happens with old age."

- An elder said: "Sleep should become a servant, not a master."

- An Hagiorite conclusion:
It is not possible for a spiritual life to exist without vigil. According to his contemporaries, Elder Artemios the Gregoriatan never sat down on his chair during any service, including the all-night vigils. Until his death, he remained an upstanding steadfast pillar of the Church and of prayer.

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The Scandal of the Orthodox - Catholic Dialogue in Cyprus (16-23 October)

Most Orthodox in the West are unaware of the great scandal the Orthodox - Catholic Dialogue in Cyprus (16-23 October) is causing throughout the Church of Greece. Since the Church of Greece has no real voice in America, most Greeks being subject under the Ecumenical Patriarchate, I feel it is my duty to bring awareness to this very important issue that affects world Orthodoxy.

Thanks to the highly informative www.oodegr.com website, many of the most important texts circulating over this issue have been translated into English. The links are provided below with some of my own commentary.

It was announced back in June that the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholic and Orthodox would be meeting between October 16-23 in Cyprus "to examine a crucial aspect of relations between East and West: The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church During the First Millennium". It is to be represented by 30 Orthodox and 30 Catholics.

What differentiates this dialogue from others is the topic of the role of the papacy. It is this topic which is a cause of concern to many Orthodox as there can be no compromise on this subject either from an Orthodox or a Catholic perspective. This concern is best expressed in the following article:

On the Recognition of Universal Primacy for the Pope of Rome During the First Millennium

When this dialogue was announced, the Holy Synod of Bulgaria immediately made its disapproval known:

A Bulgarian "NO" to the Orthodox-Catholic Dialogue

Together with the announcement of this dialogue, the following document was circulating throughout Greece to various clergy and theologians and was fairly well-received:

A CONFESSION OF FAITH: Against Ecumenism

Rumors began circulating that there was a secret intention behind the dialogue in Cyprus. It is believed by some that a statement of union will be signed sort of like that of Balamand back in the 1990's which caused a great disturbance in the Church. One particular hierarch responded:

Announcement by Metropolitan Andrew Regarding the Committee for the Dialogue with the Latins in Cyprus

An official position was also taken by the entire Athonite community:

The Sacred Community of the Holy Mountain on the Dialogue with the Papists

Between the Confession of Faith being circulated and widely accepted, together with the rumors and the protests of clergy and hierarchs, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew responded with a stern letter:

Your Holiness, WHAT "pan-Orthodox decision"?

Among the hierarchs mentioned by Patriarch Bartholomew was the vocal Metropolitan of Piraeus Seraphim. To understand his views on the matter, here is a link of his recent letter to the Archbishop of Athens:

Metropolitan Seraphim's Letter to Archbishop Hieronymos: Regarding the Committee for the Dialogue with the Latins in Cyprus

To prevent schism and encourage the proper and concentual ordering of this dialogue, at least one Metropolitan proposed the dialogue be postponed:

Metropolitan Seraphim of Ioannoupolis Proposes the Postponement of the Cyprus Convention

Greek theologians were also expressing concern:

The Pancyprian Union of Greek Theologians Expresses Its Concern Regarding the Dialogue with the Latins in Cyprus

Together with the stern letter of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, a letter was also sent by Metropolitan John Zizioulas from the Ecumenical Patriarchate to all the Metropolitans of Greece regarding the ecumenical dissent of many throughout Greece:

The Letter by Bishop John Zizioulas of Pergamon to all Metropolitans of the Church of Greece

Finally, just last week, eminent clergy throughout Greece responded by drafting a statement and censured both Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and Metropolitan John Zizioulas for encroaching on their right to dissent.

A Letter by the Clergy to the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece Concerning the Letter by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

With heated tensions, the dialogue is set to begin today. Let us pray that our leaders be given the wisdom to guide us into all truth, and avoid all compromises and schism for the sake of the unity of the Body of Christ and our witness to the world.

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The Orthodox Prosperity Gospel According to Elder Paisios the Athonite: "Injustice is a Sin, and the Just Are Rewarded"

Injustice Draws the Wrath of God

It is important for a man to have God's blessing. It is great wealth! What God blesses will stand firm; it will not crumble. Whatever is not blessed, will crumble. Injustice is a great sin. All sins have some "ex­tenuating circumstances", but injustice has none. Injust­ice draws the wrath of God. It is a tremendous thing! Those who commit injustice set their heads on fire. You see them do all kinds of injustices, and then their loved ones die and they seem not to care at all. How can people who are so unjust prosper? They do the things they do, they give the devil rights over them, and for this reason they suffer so much, they get sick and so on and then they come to you and say, "Pray that I get well!"

Most bad and harmful things happen when we wrong other people. For example, when a fortune is made un­justly, the owners may live a few years like royalty, but, in the end, they will spend all their money on doctors. Remember the saying: "What is gathered by the wind is also scattered by the wind." Or remember what the Psalm says, “Better is a little that the righteous hath than the abundance of many wicked” (1). What they collect is spent, blown away. Rarely will an illness, a bankruptcy and so on be sent as a trial from God. In such cases, one's reward will be great, and he will later become richer, as hap­pened with Job. Some people are buried and their bodies do not decompose; it's usually because they have done some kind of injustice.

The Unjust Person Is Tormented

An unjust person and in general all those who commit injustice and do not ask for forgiveness, end up haunted by their conscience and the indignation of those they have treated unjustly. For if the wronged do not forgive and complain, then the unjust are tormented and suffer very much. They cannot sleep. They feel like they are at the mercy of crashing waves that twist them around from every side. It's a mystery how the perpetrator is informed of this! When we love somebody and think about him in a good way, he knows it. So too, in this case, the victim's pain tears the unjust into pieces! It does not matter where he may be, in Australia or in Johannesburg; as long as the person he has treated unfairly is indignant with him, he cannot find peace.

- And what happens if he is insensitive?

- Do you think that insensitive people do not suffer? The best they can do is resort to some sort of entertainment to be distracted. Then again, those wronged may have forgiven the offender but still harbour some resentment. In this case, the victim suffers to a degree, but the wrongdoer suffers to an even greater extent from his victim's indignation. But if the perpetrator seeks forgiveness and his victim refuses to forgive him, then it's the victim that suffers. There is no greater fire than the inner burning of the soul by the conscience. Unless one repents in this life for the injustices he has committed and makes reparation, his soul will be tortured and eaten away by woodworm and in the eternal life by the "sleepless worm". Even if he has no other way of showing repentance, the least he can do is have the right intent.

I remember how this one lawyer, who committed many injustices, suffered at the end of his life. He practised his profession in a province with many stockbreeders. Naturally, their herds would damage the fields, and many shepherds would hire him because he could convince the Justice of the Peace or the agronomist with his cunning arguments. The poor farmers could rarely find justice for damage done to their crops, and they even found themselves in trouble. Everyone knew this lawyer and no honest man went near him. I should tell you about the advice that a Spiritual Father gave a sensitive shepherd.

This shepherd had a small herd and a sheep dog. The dog had given birth to puppies and he gave them all away except one that he kept for the mother. It happened that this ewe had gone missing leaving behind its little lamb that was still suckling. With its mother missing, the little lamb would run after the dog to find nourishment, some­thing that relieved it as well. Thus, the two animals had got used to each other and one would find the other. As hard as the poor shepherd tried to separate them they would not part. Because the shepherd was a sensi­tive man, he thought of asking his Spiritual Father if the lamb's meat would be edible or not. Knowing how poor the shepherd was, the Father thought for a while and then said to him, "My son, this lamb is not edible because it fed on the dog's milk, but you know what you should do? Since all the other shepherds bring gifts of lambs and cheese to this certain lawyer, you should bring him this lamb to eat. He is the only one who has a blessing to eat it, since everyone knows what an unjust man he is."

When this unjust lawyer reached old age, he became bed-ridden and suffered from nightmares for years and could not sleep. He also suffered a stroke and could not even speak. The Father tried to make him at least write down his sins, but he had lost control of himself. The Spiritual Father was thus forced to read him the blessing of the Seven Youths (2) so that he could close his eyes and get some sleep. He would even read exorcisms to give him a little peace, until finally the man passed away and was laid to rest. May God grant him the true rest.

- Geronda, many people believe that they are under a magical spell. Is it really possible to put a spell on some­one?

- If a person repents and goes to confession, such spells are not effective. For witchcraft to stick, a person must be guilty of some injustice, such as harming someone or fooling a girl. In this case, he must repent and ask for for­giveness, confess, settle spiritually and restore the wrong he has done. Otherwise, even if all the priests in the world would read an exorcism for him, the spell would still not go away. But even if no witchcraft is involved, the resentment borne by the soul he has treated unjustly is enough to torment him.

There are two forms of injustice: material and moral. Material is when we harm another person with regard to material things. Moral injustice is when the wrong is of a moral nature, such as when a man deceives a woman; and if she happens to be an orphan, the burden on his soul is five-fold. Do you know that bullets will go after wrong­doers in war? There you can clearly see the justice and protection of God. There's no room for dishonour in war. A bullet will find its way to an immoral person.

Once, my company was on its way to replace a bat­talion. On the way, we got hit and returned fire. I remem­ber that one man from my company had actually com­mitted a dishonourable act the day before. He had raped a pregnant woman, poor woman. And guess what? He was the only one who got killed that day! Horrible, isn't it? Everybody was saying, "This beast deserved to die." In the end, the devious and cunning try to escape one way or another, but they are not spared. We know from experi­ence that those who truly believe and, as a result, live an honest, Christian life, have their honest bodies protected from enemy fire; it's like they carry a relic of the Holy Cross and even more than that.

One’s Descendants Are Also Tormented by Injustice

- Geronda, when I left to join the Monastery, my family was unjust to me. Should I ask for what legally belongs to me?

- No, that's not the proper thing to do.

- I fear that something bad may happen to them as a result of this injustice.

- Now, this is what I call pure philotimo. If I were you, I would tell them, "I want nothing for myself. But I would like you to give the share that is rightfully mine to the poor, with your own hands, starting with our poor rela­tives. I am asking for this because I don't want the wrath of God to fall on your children". You see, sometimes a father may give away his fortune for the good of his soul, to create a charitable institution for example, and leave nothing to his own child.

The grandparents in a family may have done some­thing wrong and still live a good life, without conse­quences. But their children or grandchildren may suffer. They become sick and are forced to give the money their ancestors made unjustly, to doctors, to pay back the injus­tices of their grandparents.

A family I once knew was going through many dif­ficulties. The head of the family got very sick first, went through a lot, was bed-ridden for a few years, and then passed away. Then his wife died and later his children, one after the other. His fifth and last child passed away recently. Even though they were a very rich family, they lost everything and ended up poor, because they had to sell their property to pay the doctors and the various ex­penses. I used to wonder why all these horrible things, sickness and accidents, were happening to them. I hap­pened to know some of the members of the family and it did not seem to me to be the good kind of trial, the kind that God sends to those He favours. Rather, it seemed to me that God's spiritual laws were put into effect. I wanted to be certain, so I tried to find out more about the family from reliable sources, namely, some old folks who lived in the same town.

I learned that the man had inherited a certain fortune from his father which he increased by doing all sorts of wrong things. So, if a widow, say, were to ask him for a loan to pay for her daughter's wedding, and promised to return the money once she had harvested the crops, he would ask for a piece of land she owned. And, as she was in great need, she would have to sell him the land at any price he offered. Another man would ask him for a loan to pay the bank and promise to repay him after having harvested the cotton. He would demand the poor fellow's land and would get it for nothing, as the farmer was afraid the bank would come after him. When someone else asked him for a small loan to pay the doctors, he would seek to take his cow from him, for pennies. This is how he made his fortune. The pain he caused to all these poor people was returned not only to him and his wife but also to his children. So, the spiritual laws came into effect and caused them to suffer the very same things that their ac­tions had caused to others. In order to pay all their medi­cal expenses, and so on, they sold their land for nothing and after becoming poor, they left this life for good one after the other. God, of course, with His love and sense of justice will judge them accordingly. The others who were harmed, all the poor folk who were forced to sell out their belongings to pay off the doctors, all these people will be rewarded for the injustices they endured. And, of course, the unjust will also pay their due.

The One Who Wrongs Us Is Our Benefactor

- Geronda, how should we consider someone who treats us in an unfair way?

- How should we consider him? We must treat him like a great benefactor who makes deposits on our behalf in God's Savings Bank. He is making us eternally wealthy. This is not a matter of minor importance. Are we not sup­posed to love our benefactors? Shouldn't we express our gratitude to them? In the same way, we must love and feel grateful to the person who has treated us unjustly, because he benefits us eternally. The unjust receive etern­al injury, whereas those who accept injustice with joy will be justified eternally.

A pious family man had suffered many injustices in his work. But he was full of kindness and endured it all without complaining. He came to the Kalyvi once and told me all about it and then asked me, "What do you advise me to do?"

"What you should do," I said, "is to expect the divine justice and the divine return and to be patient. Nothing is lost. In this way, you are putting 'money' in God's 'Savings Bank'. You will surely receive dividends in the next life, for all the trials you are going through now. You should know that the Good Lord rewards the unfairly treated person even in this life. And if He does not always reward him, He will surely do so with his children. God knows. He has providence for His creature. Where there is patience, things fall into place. God provides. We need patience, not logic. Since God is watching, He is observing us, we must surrender unconditionally to Him. You see, the Righteous Joseph did not say a thing when his brothers sold him into slavery. He could have said, 'I am their brother'. But he said nothing, until God spoke and made him king (3). But when one has no patience, he suffers. From that point on he wants things to come his way, as it suits him, and as is comfortable for him. But, of course, he does not find comfort that way, and things don't come out the way he wants them to come."

When someone is wronged in this life either by men or by demons, God does not worry, because the soul bene­fits as a result. Many times, however, we say that we are wronged, while in reality we are the ones causing the harm. We must be careful to distinguish the two.

"Render Therefore to All Their Due” (4)

- Geronda, when we purchase something for the Monastery, some people don't want to issue us a receipt. What must we do?

- They should always issue you an invoice and you should limit your needs and demands. This is what I would do. God will provide for what you need. If we monks ask people not to issue invoices, we make others sin. They think to themselves, "Since the Monasteries are doing it..." When we, who are supposed to obey the commandments of God, operate in this fashion, what will people think? Won't they be scandalized? The Holy Scripture reads, "Render therefore to all their due". Even when I send a letter with a person and not through the post office, I still put a stamp on it. Lay people may justify their ac­tions, but if the Monasteries act like them, there will be little honesty left and the Gospel will be put aside. When we do not give from our possessions - and if any one would sue you and take thy coat, let him have thy cloak as well (5) - we are giving a negative sermon, a negative ex­ample, that allows the secular people to find an excuse for their faults. They are looking for a way to comfort their conscience. We must be careful because we will have no justification for our actions on the Day of Judgment. Our goal should be primary to defend the spiritual principles and not only the material things. When, for some reason, they do not give you an invoice, you must consider this a spiritual loss.

- Geronda, it happens sometimes that someone gives a small amount as a donation to the Monastery and wants a receipt for a bigger amount in order to present it as a tax-deductible expense. What must we do in this case?

- You must tell them, "We don't issue receipts for a big­ger amount. If you don't agree, we will return your money and you may find someone else who may accommodate you." Be careful not to catch this disease.

- Geronda, a workman asked us to fire him so that he would collect unemployment benefits while still working for us.

- Oh no, that is not right. Even a person with only a bit of conscience left in him would not do such a thing. It does not become a Monastery to get involved in such matters. It is better that you pay the workman a double wage, even if you are in financial difficulty, in order to discourage him from such behaviour. It's that serious. Blessed deeds bring more blessings, while injustice brings disaster. You should be very careful with these matters. Avoid bargaining with the workmen either. This is why we have fires and other catastrophes in Monasteries.

An employee takes an oath to perform his job in an honest way. For us monastics, this oath is twice as de­manding. The promise we make is spiritual, and if we break it, the sin for us is twice as bad. Be careful to strike a balance, and create a different, a higher standard. I de­tect a wound swelling. It will break and clear up. God will not give His Grace in a wrong situation, because the only one being helped in that case would be the devil. Be careful to put sincerity and honesty first. Otherwise, you will end up like a drunken man who cannot walk straight. Can anyone in that condition stand on his own two feet? God's wrath will come and we'll be put to the test. In the first phase, gold will be separated from brass. In the sec­ond phase, it will become clear how many carats of gold each one of us is worth.

The world is full of lies. People now grow into liars. They have made up a new kind of conscience. I will not become a liar and turn into something I am not, because society demands it. I'd rather tell the truth and suffer. One must be careful not to enter in the orbit of secularism. Of course, our financial system today is of little help. People are forced to declare a smaller income.

Once, I scolded some income tax officials who hap­pened to be believers. "What are you doing?" I asked them. "You must make sure to keep some of the yeast intact. I know of too many things that go wrong! Some­one comes to the Revenue Service and says, 'I have an income of one million drachmas.' The official declares that the man has an income of three million drachmas. He assumes that he is revealing only a part of his income, as is common practice, and that this hike will make up the difference. If, however, he is dealing with a conscientious person, tripling his income in this manner will backfire; it will make the man cheat on his taxes the next year. In other words, instead of helping change the situation for the better, you are making things worse." "But we don't know when they are telling us the truth," the income tax person said. "When you start leading a spiritual life, you will know," I replied. "Then you will be able to under­stand and discern the difference. God will inform you, and you will know."

How the World Has Cheapened

People's malice has exceeded all bounds. They try to deceive one another and they consider it to be an achieve­ment! Our world has become so cheap! Everything they make these days is a fake. And imagine that today people make more money than their parents and grandparents who were poor and only made a little. The quality of most things is so cheap. One day someone brought me some tomato plants. Each plant was inside a very small bag containing coarse soil, and some coarse sand to keep the moisture. They didn't even bother to pour some water or manure; they had sprinkled some on the top like salt and pepper! When I took them out of the bag, I realized that their roots were rotten. I had to put a layer of soil on top, so that the plants could grow new roots.

They are so clever in tricking people! Listen to this. Someone had brought me a big box with pastries. "I will open it," I said to myself, "when I have a large company.
If I open it now, it will attract ants." So, one day, I had a large gathering and I figured that the box should be enough and I should even have some left-over. As soon as I opened it, I saw that it was full of wrappings ... and the actual container with the sweets was so tiny. The rest of the box was empty. Another time, they brought me a fancy box with pastries, all wrapped in ribbons. "I will keep it," I thought, "for the students of the Athonias Academy” (6). Well, inside there were Turkish delights, stale and hard as a rock! I would never treat people with this kind of sweet!

- Geronda, don't they see that this is a type of injus­tice?

- No! They consider it to be an achievement. Sin has become fashionable nowadays and cheating someone is considered to be a sign of cleverness. Unfortunately, the secular spirit sharpens the mind in deception and peo­ple consider it a clever achievement to wrong their fel­low human beings. There's even an expression, "He's as smart as a devil; he gets things done." Inside, of course, the man suffers from the checks of his conscience, his little hell.

The Just Person Has God on His Side

Not all people fit well in the world today, especially those who want to lead spiritual and honest lives; they seem to have such a hard time.

- Geronda, why don't they fit?

- When someone is sensitive and finds himself in a harsh environment and people make his life hell, how can he put up with it? Either he has to begin cursing, or he must leave. But that's difficult because one needs to make a living. His boss tells him, "I trust you because you don't steal, but put some rotten produce among the fresh. Take these fresh clover bales and stick some fermented ones in the package." He even makes him manager in order to keep him on the job and the poor man has to do as told to stay employed. And of course, he cannot sleep at night and starts taking sleeping pills. Do you know how hard life is for honest people? They run into all kinds of difficulties and have to take all kinds of abuse from their employers. Life becomes hell for them. And they cannot quit because they have a family to feed. If they stay on, it's trouble everyday. They are between a rock and a hard place. Wherever they turn their eyes, they see a dead end. It makes one go crazy. So, they carry on and try to man­age as best they can.

In another case, one employee did all the work while another colleague would only show up to collect his pay check. I know of someone who was department head somewhere. When the new government came to power, they removed him from the post and replaced him with a party member who had not even graduated from High School. They made him department head but he knew nothing about the work and so they could not really send the previous manager away to some other position. What did they do? They just added a second desk in the office. The old boss did the work and the new one was just sitting there smoking, chatting and drinking coffee ... and being completely shameless. And in addition to this, he would say whatever came to his mind while all responsibility fell on the other employee who was doing all the work, until he finally couldn't put up with the situation anymore and left the job, the poor soul. "Maybe I should go some­where else, there's not enough space for two desks," he said one day and got up and left, because the new head was making his life hell. We are not talking about one or two days. It is unbearable to have someone like that over your head every day.

The just person is usually given the worst position, or may even lose his position to others. They abuse him and step all over him. Don't we have the saying, "They walk over corpses; they stop at nothing?" But the more people push the just and righteous person down, the more the Good God lifts him up, like a cork. It's not easy though and it takes a lot of patience. Patience clears up so many things. The person who wants to live a virtuous life and be honest in his work, be it a labourer, a merchant, or whatever else, must accept the fact that, once he begins work, he may have to reach the point of not being able to even pay the rent, for example, if he has a store, for the blessing of God to come to him. But he should not have this as his goal: "If I should reach that point, then I will surely have plenty of customers." One must not think that way or aim at that, because then, God will not bless him. But when he decides to live as God wills and resolves not to cheat or overprice things, God will not abandon him.

Another person may gain much profit by overpricing. At first, he makes a lot of money and becomes rich, but then people find out that he is dishonest, and his busi­ness goes stony broke. On the other hand, the honest mer­chant gains customers and hires more employees. So he is tested in the beginning, but wins in the end. The good person is tried and tested by evil and cunning people; he has to pass through the card (7).

When someone follows the devil's path, and comes up with tricks and all kinds of deceptive schemes, God will not bless his work. Schemes of deception don't work; they appear to flourish, but they collapse in the end. It's important that we start with God's blessing in everything we do. A just man has God on his side. And if he has some boldness before God, then miracles hap­pen. When someone lives according to the Gospel, he is entitled to divine help. He walks with Jesus Christ. What can we say? The man has earned His blessing. This is the foundation of it all. Once that is given, there is nothing to fear. The important thing is that Christ, Panagia and the Saints should find rest in everything we do, and when that happens, we will have their blessing and the Holy Spirit will overshadow us. Honesty is the most precious Holy Cross. If someone is dishonest even if he has a piece of the Honorable Cross on him, it's like he has nothing. But if one is honest, he has God's help even though he doesn't have a piece of the Honorable Cross. Now, if he has both, well, then he's got everything!

The Just Person Is Rewarded in This Life

I have seen injured souls who have endured injustice with good thoughts, and have been showered with God's Grace in this life. Many years ago a pious, simple and good-natured Christian man came to see me. He asked me to pray so that Christ may enlighten his children when they grow up, to endure without grudges a great injustice done against them by their relatives. He told me the af­fair. As far as I could see, he was really a man of God.

He was the oldest of five children. After the untimely death of his father, he stood by his younger siblings like a good father. He worked hard, increased the family for­tune, bought more property, land and so on, and helped his two sisters get married. His younger brothers got mar­ried too and they took all the good fields, the olive groves and so on, leaving him with a few useless, barren and sandy fields. In the end he got married too, and had three children. By that time, he was older, and was worried about his children, that they may be bitter over the in­justice when they would grow up. He used to say to me, "I am not concerned about it for myself, because I read the Psalter. I do one reading in the afternoon and two be­fore dawn. I almost know it by heart. You don't read any­where in the Psalms that the unjust prosper. God looks after the just. You see, Father, I am not sad for the land I lost, but for my brothers who are losing their souls." He went away at that time, and visited me again some ten years later.

He was very happy: "Remember me, Father?" he asked, "remember me?" "Of course," I replied and asked how he is doing. "I am wealthy now," he said. "And how did you get rich, my good brother?" I asked him. "Well, all that useless, sandy land of mine appreciated greatly because of its location on the beach. This time, I have come to ask your advice about how I should spend my money." "You should make sure your children have a home to stay and put aside enough money for their edu­cation." "I have enough for that," he said, "and more." "Well, then give some to your poor relatives and to other poor people that you know." "I have done so, Father," he said, "but it's still a lot." "Then, you should give some to repair the Church in your village and the Chapels in the countryside." "I have done that too," he said, "and I still have plenty." "Then," I told him, "I pray that Christ guides you to do good to those who really need it." I asked him about his brothers. He started weeping. "I don't know, Father, I have lost track of them. They sold their land in the village, the olive groves and the fields, and I have no idea where they are now. They had gone to Germany first, then to Australia and that's the last I've heard of them." I was sorry I had asked about his brothers. I hadn't realized how sad he would get. I tried to console him and he left at peace. I told him that we should both pray to get good news from them. Later I remembered the Psalm, "I have seen a wicked man overbearing, and towering like a cedar of Lebanon. Again I passed by, and, lo, he was no more; though I sought him, he could not be found" (8). That's exactly what happened to this man's brothers.

There's nothing worse than the injustice. Make sure you have God's blessing in whatever you do.
_________________

1. Ps 37:16

2. Seven Youths of Ephesus (252 A.D.). Their Feast Day is commemorated on 22 October and 4 August.

3. Cf. Gen 37:20 f.

4. Rom 13:7.

5.Mt 5:40.

6. The Athonias was established in 1748 on Mount Athos as an Academy of Greek studies. Today it functions as an Ecclesiastical High School.

7. Card is a wire-toothed brush or a machine fitted with rows of wire teeth, used to disentangle fibres, as of wool, prior to spinning.

8. Ps 37:35-36.


(ELDER PAISIOS OF MOUNT ATHOS SPIRITUAL COUNSELS "WITH PAIN AND LOVE for Contemporary Man", Part 1, Chapter 4, p. 87-104, Holy Monastery "Evangelist John the Theologian" SOUROTI, THESSALONIKI, GREECE)

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