Two Greek Shrines of Saint Katherine the Great Martyr

St. Katherine of Alexandria (Feast Day - November 25)

The Monastery of Saint Katherine in Aegina

By Archimandrite Haralambos Vasilopoulos

In Aegina there exists the Monastery of Saint Katherine, which is situated next to the Monastery of the Holy Trinity founded by St. Nektarios. Prior to the existence of the Monastery of Saint Katherine there was a chapel dedicated to St. Katherine where an icon of this same Saint was miraculously discovered. Unfortunately this chapel was owned by a man who was known as a great blasphemer. In 1908 two nuns bought this chapel and this pleased St. Nektarios very much. He thanked God the chapel was bought from the blasphemer and said: "This Monastery will be more beautiful than ours!" And truthfully this came to pass, since the Monastery of Saint Katherine is indeed more beautiful that the Monastery of the Holy Trinity built by St. Nektarios.

When the property was bought by the nuns, it did not have any water. In 1924 they dug 30 meters, but still could not find any water. At that time a priest-monk from Mount Athos was visiting the Monastery and prayed to St. Katherine with the nuns. At the same time, he lowered the miraculous icon of St. Katherine down the dry well, censed the area, and prayed with deep faith: "If, my dear St. Katherine, you do not bring forth water for us, we will not remove you from here!"

That night, as the nuns were in prayer, a loud noise was heard that was very strange, and the small monastery shook at its foundations. "The Saint is angry", they said, "and will destroy us, because we left her in the dirt." In the morning the priest-monk went down to the dry well to remove the icon. However, on the walls of the dry well he noticed a Cross stuck within. He noticed also that the bottom of the Cross was wet. As he was removing the icon he called to the nuns and proclaimed the miracle. From 1924 until today this well which was once dry has flowed abundantly ever since, and has adaquetly served the needs of the Monastery.

Many other miracles have occurred at the Monastery of Saint Katherines that are written in a book distributed by the Monastery.

The Monastery of Saint Katherine in Katarraktis Arta in Epirus

by John Foukas
Proinos Logos
August 29, 2009

John Foukas is the former president of the Association of Epirotes of Rhodes and native of the village in which the Monastery is located. To raise awareness of this Monastery and his village, at his own expense he recently took the initiative to issue a limited number of stamps with the image of the Monastery of Saint Katherine for it to gain wider profile throughout Greece.

The Holy Monastery of Saint Katherine in Katarraktis Arta, like a precious jewel, adorns the eastern side of Katarraktis, on a small hill called "Karaouli". It is a monastery which lived out many good old days with devoutness, yet mirth and joy would spree every year during the Feast of St. Katherine.

At the entrance of the Monastery the following is inscribed: "In the year 1827 on September 11, the Sacred and Honorable Monastery of Saint Katherine was founded and raised with the assistance of Abbot Gabriel...and the builders Georgakis Giannoulas and Panagiotis Antonious of the village Pramanta."

It is believed that prior to 1827 a smaller church dedicated to the Saint existed where the Monastery was built.

In the courtyard of the Monastery is a two-story building of Cells to serve the needs of the monks and to house visitors. Adjacent to this was a two-story building (Koulia) which was burned down by the Germans.

There is also an inscription on the silver covering of the miraculous icon of St. Katherine: "This Holy and Miraculous tablature was written by the assistance and cost of His Holiness the Abbot Lord Dionysios of the Holy Monastery Sihoretziani by the hand of Nicholas Apostolis Papageorgiou and his son Apostolos: 1820, November 20, Kalareites."

The silver covering over the image follows faithfully the iconography of the scene and is a valuable work of silver craftmanship. The icon itself remains in relatively good condition. It is miraculous and is in a shrine in the church of the famous Katholikon of the Monastery of Saint Katherine in Katarraktis.

The long history of the Holy Shrine lead to exist here besides the august silver miraculous icon of St. Katherine, holy relics and other icons of great worth and importance.

For many years, the pious from all over Greece visited the Monastery, kneeling before the august icon of St. Katherine, praying for her intercession, each individually offering their problems to St. Katherine so they may be freed. The people of Katarraktis as well as pilgrims come to piously venerate the holy icons as well as the holy relics.

In the past, the priest of the village, accompanied by some villagers, about ten days before the Feast of St. Katherine, would go door to door with the sacred relics to all the houses of the village, as well as the neighboring villages Sgaras, Scloupsas, Aloni Chioni, and Moutsiatras, so that all the households would receive the grace and blessing of St. Katherine. When the priest visited with the relics, the inhabitants of the village, because they had no money, would instead give corn, beans, lentils and nuts. An assistant of the priest would put all these into a sack and bring it back to the Monastery where it was distributed to the poor for free, and some was sold to help financially with the needs of the Monastery.

Today the holy relics along with the silver reliqueries in which they were kept, as a precious treasure, unfortunately no longer exist because two years ago some sacriligious persons violated the door of the Monastery and stole them, causing great distress to all the inhabitants of Katarraktis, among many others. Despite expensive investigations by the police, the sacred relics were never able to be found, and so the space exposed for the veneration of them by the faithful remains "orphan".

The Holy Monastery of Saint Katherine from early on became a place of worship and pilgrimage, not only for the residents of Katarraktis but for those of the entire area mainly because of the many miracles received by the faithful.

Important also was the multifaceted social contribution of the Monastery, which gave "present" whenever warranted by circumstances. Even in difficult economic times, which at times it was difficult to cover the costs of its own operations, the doors were open for the sick, the wayfarer, the poor family man, a destitute student, and every person who had a need was lead there, with the assurance that his request would be met, in other words, the Monastery was always a helper.

While it may seem strange, the Monastery of Saint Katherine was a kind of "mental hospital" in earlier years and as such continued to be until the 1950's. Since doctors and nurses, practitioners, clinics and institutions did not benefit them, the parents and relatives of the mentally ill took them to the Monastery with pain and grief and left them to the divine assistance of St. Katherine and the care of the monk in the Monastery. To get well, they would donate money, land, livestock and valuables. In the peaceful surroundings of the Monastery, together with prayer and fasting, and above all faith in St. Katherine, many of the patients after a long stay in the Monastery were cured completely and with joy and optimism, but also full of gratitude to the divine power of St. Katherine, they returned, now healthy, to their homes. There are cases where the mentally ill, after a long stay of treatment in the Monastery, not only were they very good, but in later life one became a teacher of theology and another an engineer.

The seriously mentally ill were tied with heavy chains that exist today. Apart from the chains were manganese, wooden handles and other practical tools, which the monk with the help of priests of Katarraktis adjusted depending on patients.

In the past there was much income driven into the Monastery and given out, which was mainly given by the faithful and the mentally ill. The offerings to the Monastery of money, land, oxen, horse, mule, sheep, goats and other animals clearly demonstrates that St. Katherines had many miracles so that the faithful donated generously, despite their poverty. The elders of the village report that at one time the Monastery with its shepherds had over 400 sheep, and one villager who was mentally ill and became well offered his two oxen to the Monastery.

Today the Monastery is not as it was in olden times, but it still does not cease to radiate spiritual life. The climate and atmosphere created in this sacred space, the faith which it refreshed, the love for St. Katherine, have been many times the cause for many - to those who had not Communed in many years, who in many years had not lived the Orthodox ecclesiastical life, yet came as pilgrims to the Monastery - to change their way of life, become good Christians, and faithful children of the Church.

At this time, the successful caretaking of the Monastery, I would say, is by Elder Metrophanes. Through the program "Pindos", the renovation of the church has been approved, as well as the Cells and the courtyard, and a contractor has been approved for the project. In a very short time the Monastery will change in appearance, like it merits.




Apolytikion in the Plagal of the First Tone
Let us praise the most auspicious bride of Christ, the divine Katherine, protectress of Sinai, our aid and our help. For, she brilliantly silenced the eloquence of the impious by the sword of the spirit, and now, crowned as a martyr, she asks great mercy for all.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
O friends of martyrs, now divinely raise up a renewed chorus, praising the all-wise Katherine. For, she proclaimed Christ in the arena, trampled on the serpent, and spat upon the knowledge of the orators.

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On the Death of My Husband: A Message from Matushka Yuliya Mikhailovna Sysoeva, Widow of Fr. Daniil Sysoev

Matushka Yuliya Mikhailovna Sysoeva and her daughters Iustina Daniilovna Sysoeva and Dorofei Daniilovna Sysoeva laying flowers on the grave of her husband, the murdered Fr Daniil Sysoev.

Thank you, dear ones, for your support and prayers. I can’t express my pain in words. It’s like the pain of standing by the Cross of the Saviour. Yet, it’s also a joy that you can’t convey by mere speech… it’s the joy of coming to the empty tomb. Where is thy victory, O death? Fr Daniil foresaw his demise several years before the crime.

He always wanted to be found worthy of martyrdom, and the Lord granted him this crown. Those who shot him, wanted to spit on the face of the Church, as once they spat on the face of Christ, but, they have not achieved what they wanted, because they failed to spit on the Church. Fr Daniil ascended his Golgotha right inside the church that he built and where he committed all his time and strength. They killed him as though he was an ancient prophet, between the altar and the place of sacrifice, and he rightly earned the title of a martyr. He died for Christ, Whom he served with all his might.

Very often, he told me that he was afraid that he wouldn’t make it; he thought that he wasn’t good enough. As a human being, he had his excesses and distortions, he stumbled and made mistakes, but, he was not mistaken in the main, his life was devoted entirely to HIM.

I didn’t understand why he was in a hurry. In the last three years, he worked constantly, without a break for weekends or holidays. I grumbled; I wished, just sometimes, that I would have the simple happiness of having my husband and the father of my children with me and the kids. However, he was called to walk another road.

He said that he’d be killed. I asked him with whom he would leave us with, that is, my three children and me. He replied that he’d leave us in good hands. “I’ll leave you with the Mother of God; she’ll take care of you”.


Over time, I forgot those words. He specified the vestments he wished to be dressed in for his burial. At the time, I joked that we shouldn’t talk about it, for we didn’t know who was going to bury whom. He said that I was going to bury him. Once we were talking about funerals, I don’t remember this conversation completely, but, I said that I had never been to a priest’s funeral. He replied, “Don’t worry about it, you can come to mine”.

I remember so many of our words together and I realise that I only now found out what they really meant. Now, my doubts are resolved; my misunderstandings are dispelled.

We didn’t say goodbye in this life, we didn’t ask each other’s forgiveness, we didn’t hug each other. It was a normal day… he went to serve the morning liturgy, and that was the last time that I saw him.

Why didn’t I go that day to meet him in the church? Indeed, I had thought I would, but, I decided that I should cook dinner and put the kids to bed. I didn’t go… I had to take care of the kids… it was as if a hand was holding me back. Often enough before, I went and met him in the church. I felt like clouds were looming over us. Over the last few days, I tried to be with him as often as possible. Last week, I thought only of death and of the life beyond the grave. I really couldn’t concentrate on either one. On that day, thoughts whirled in my head, “death blows to the head”. Last week was so difficult for me; it felt like a ton of bricks had fallen on me.

I didn’t break down. He supports me; I feel that he is near me. At that time, with so many tender words to each other, more than we spoke in the rest of our lives together. Only now, do I realise how much we loved one another.

The Fortieth Day {Editor’s note: Special prayers are served 40 days after a death, we believe that is the time when the soul stands before God’s judgement.} of Fr Daniil falls on the eve of his nameday and the patronal feast of the future temple, 29 and 30 December, the feastday of the Holy Prophet Daniel. As prophesied by an old woman, the church would be built, but, Fr Daniil wouldn’t be there to serve in it. The second part is now accomplished.

23 November 2009

Matushka Yuliya Sysoeva

Missionersky Portal Khrama Proroka Daniila (Missionary Portal of Holy Prophet Daniel Church)

As quoted in Interfax-Religion

Voices From Russia

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The Vision of Saint Peter of Alexandria

St. Peter of Alexandria (Feast Day - November 24); fresco from Dionysiou Monastery on Mount Athos

Life of Saint Peter, Bishop of Alexandria

Saint Peter illustriously occupied the throne of Alexandria for twelve years, and, as Eusebius says, "was a divine example of a bishop on account of the excellence of his life and his study of the Sacred Scriptures" (see Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., Book VII, 3 2; Book VIII 11, 13; and Book IX, 6). He excommunicated Arius for his sympathy with the Meletian schism. Melitius, Bishop of Lycopolos, rejected the idea that the lapsed could return to the Church and thus created a schismatic group.

When Arius learned that Saint Peter had been imprisoned, he sent many priests and deacons to him, asking that he receive him back into the communion of the Church before his martyrdom (he did this in the hope of becoming Bishop of Alexandria). When the ambassadors of Arius, among whom were Achilles and Alexander the presbyters, who had not, like Saint Peter, perceived the ruin he would engender, were astonished at the vehemence with which Saint Peter refused to receive Arius again, he revealed to them a dread vision he had seen. In the vision the Master Christ had appeared to him as an adolescent of 12 years of age wearing a white garment torn from head to foot which He held with His hands to His breast to cover His nakedness. When Saint Peter asked the Lord who rent His garment, the Lord answered that it was Arius, and that he must not be received back into communion because he rent and tore asunder His people in the Church. The Lord also told Peter to bless Achilles as his successor and Alexander as Achilles' successor so as to prevent Arius from coming to the episcopal throne of Alexandria. Eventually, the motif of the torn garment became a metaphor for schisms and for the Arian misinterpretation of the Trinity (see the Vespers for the Feast of the Fathers of Nicaea in the Pentekostarion).

The holy hieromartyr Peter was beheaded during the reign of Maximinus in the year 312; he is called the "Seal of the Martyrs," because he was the last Bishop of Alexandria to suffer martyrdom under the pagan Emperors. His successors to the throne of Alexandria, Saints Alexander and Athanasius the Great, brought to final victory the battle against Arius' heresy and Meletius' schism which Saint Peter had begun.

Eucharistic/Liturgical Connotation of the Vision

The earliest surviving depiction of the vision of St. Peter of Alexandria is in the famed Menologion of Basil II (c. 1000) accompanying the commemoration of St. Peter of Alexandria on the 24th of November.

But in the 11th century, the account took on a liturgical connotation at a time when there was an increase in the number and expansion of liturgical thematic scenes in general.

An image of the Vision appears in an 11th century liturgical roll (Jerusalem, Stavrou 109) where it forms the initial letter of the priestly prayer recited just before the "Our Father" which refers to receiving the Eucharist in a proper manner (i.e. unlike Arius but like Bishop Peter, faithful even unto death). Peter is preseted as a liturgical bishop and the young Christ appears on an altar as the real presence of the Eucharist. Both allude to the theme of Sacrifice and Offering - the purifying sacrifice of martyrdom and the sacrifice of Christ - themes echoed in the Cherubic Hymn (of offering and being offered). The image of the young Christ at this time parallels similar contemporary depictions of the young Christ in the scenes of the Melismos that were often placed in anctuaries from this point onward. The fracturing (melismos) of the Eucharist at the time of receiving was also likened to the fractured garment of Christ in the image.

A Few Fresco Examples of the Vision

1. Church of the Savior, Nereditsa, Novgorod (end of 12th cent.), on north wall of prothesis.

2. Church of St. Clement of Ochrid (1295), in the prothesis.

3. Church of the Virgin Olympiotissa, Thessaly (1295/96), in the diakonikon. The image in Holy Cross Chapel at Holy Cross School of Theology is modelled on this image and also placed in the diakonikon.

4. Church of the Virgin, Gracanica, Serbia (1321), in the diakonikon.

5. Chilandari, Mount Athos (14th cent.), in the diakonikon.

6. Church of St. Nicholas of Tzotza, Kastoria (14th cent.), north wall of prothesis area.

7. Church of the Holy Cross, Cyprus (15th cent.), north wall of prothesis.

8. Holy Trinity, Manasija, Serbia (15th cent.), in the prothesis.

9. Great Lavra, Mount Athos (1535), north wall of prothesis.

10. Dionysiou, Mount Athos (16th cent.), on north wall of prothesis.

Church of the Virgin Olympiotissa, Thessaly

Church of St. Nicholas of Tzotza, Kastoria

Holy Trinity, Manasija, Serbia

Church of the Holy Cross, Cyprus

Holy Cross Chapel, Brookline, Massachusetts (2009)

Church of the Virgin, Gracanica, Serbia

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The Tragedy of Oranki Monastery as Recounted by Father Dimitrie Bejan

Christ behind prison bars, depicted on the Cross which was erected at Oranki Monastery/Prison.

[In Russia there are millions of martyrs, victims of Bolshevism. For instance, as narrated by Father Dimitrie Bejan, there is a very special account of many thousands of Orthodox who had been killed in such significant circumstances. This Romanian father witnessed with his own eyes the uncovering of thousands of holy relics in a prison camp on the site of an old monastery named Oranki (not knowing such details at that time), and then, in the late 1940’s, he met a Russian monk, Teodot, the only survivor and witness to that massacre of 11,000 monks and priests, a terrible event that happened at that Oranki monastery, not far away from the Volga river. In 1918, these monks had been given by the Communist's in power, 24 hours to choose between Communism and our Lord Jesus Christ. They decided in ten minutes. After that decision, for one long month, these martyrs dug their own graves while they were executed one by one, that is 300 to 500 every day. Their bishop had told these monks and priests: "Brothers, it is time to wear the wreath of martyrdom. Are you with Satan or with Christ?" How strong was their faith! Not even one deserted! But God wanted that one alone to escape by running away, and later on to meet Father Dimitrie Bejan to tell this extraordinary story. This is His Divine will!

I want to thank Vlad Protopopescu for making the translation of this very important account to be made available in the English language. - J.S.]

From the book: Bucuriile suferinţei: Evocări din trecut, I, ( The Joys of Suffering: Memories from the Past), by Preot Dimitrie Bejan, FEP (Tipografia centrală) Cartea Moldovei, Chişinău, 1995.

The book was put together from a series of audio taped conversations with Fr. Bejan.

Fr. Dimitrie Bejan

Fr. Bejan talking to a group of intellectuals:

Q: Tell us something about the camp at the Oranki Monastery and about the monks who were martyred there by the Communists.

A: Oranki was the monastery of Russian nobility, in the centre of Russia, near the Volga. In the year 1918 the communists abolished it and transformed it into a camp for monks, where they interned 11,000 monks from all the monasteries in Russia. There were there hieromonks and parish priests and a bishop.

In 1918 a Communist military delegation arrived from Moscow and asked them:

“Are you with us or not? You have 24 hours to answer!”

And the Bishop told them:

“It’s too long a time till tomorrow. You will have the answer in 10 minutes!” And turning to the monks he asked them: “Brothers, you have the opportunity to become martyrs for Christ! Do you want to unite with the Communists? Or do you want to give your life for Christ and be counted in the host of holy martyrs? Don’t be afraid! Christ is with us! Christ calls us to Him!”

And all shouted with one voice: “We want to die for Christ!”

And so all were shot with the machine gun in the head, for a month, 300-500 a day, and then dumped in a ravine on the Monastery’s grounds. Some of them were digging the trench, then they were shot; others covered them with earth and continued digging and then it was their turn to be shot; they did this until they buried them all. At the very end they shot the Bishop and buried him sitting on a small stool among the killed monks.

It was a mass massacre, unique in the history of the contemporary Church, of which nobody said or wrote anything yet. I am the only Orthodox priest alive, eye witness of the discovery of the relics of those holy martyrs of Oranki, where I was a military priest/prisoner of war between 1942-1948. I have written a book called Oranki about this phenomenon, which is now ready for print in Bucharest. [Note: The book was published in Bucharest in 1998. Not a single word about the monks! It was published after the death of Fr. Bejan by Uniates!]

In the Oranki camp were 14,000 prisoners from Stalingrad, Romania, Germany and other European nations, and we needed latrines. The commander summoned some soldiers to dig a big trench behind the church, above a ravine. Digging there they came upon the bones of those monks. The soldiers came to me and said: “Father Bejan, we found a trench full of bodies of monks shot in the head piled one upon the other, all in monastic garb. What should we do?” I told them to continue digging and see what else they could find. After a while they came back to me.

“Father Bejan, we found an old priest and he is not decayed, sitting on a small stool among the other monks. You can see well how he was shot in the head. He has on the neck a chain with a Cross and a metal icon with the Mother of God!”

“Brothers”, I told them, “go to the commander and report this. This is a great miracle! All those monks with their incorrupt bishop are saints, mucenici [in Romanian mucenic = martyr] killed by the Communists in 1918-20. We must stop making a latrine here!”

On a small stool was seated an archbishop, abbot of a monastery, or a bishop. I knew that immediately because he wore an engolpion and a Cross like the bishops.

The Cross was stolen by the diggers. They cut it and shared it among themselves. I managed to save the engolpion, but it was eventually taken by the commander of the camp. I called him to the site. He said: “Why is he sitting on a chair? Take him out and bury him somewhere like all people!” And he gave me the task to do it.

I went to the camp workshop and they made a solid oak chair. I sat him on the chair and fastened him. I sprinkled him with holy water from head to toe, sprinkling all the skeletons that were around as well. Then I buried him after the custom for bishops, near a fountain in the yard of the Monastery.

He was a saint by all accounts!

This fountain is an izbuc [Romanian for a source that throws water up intermittently]. Water comes up according to the virtues of the people who take water. In the summer, on the day of the Transfiguration (6 August), many old priests, former prisoners in Siberia, many of them disabled, come and serve the Holy Liturgy there. We participated also.

At the commanders request we made a strong case of oak to protect the body. And I saw a miracle. He had been shot in the head, but when we took him out from among the other corpses, his incorrupt body relaxed at once as if he died just then.

I told this story to two young Russian intellectuals, one of them of Romanian background, and they were deeply impressed. They went to Oranki to check for themselves. But they could not approach the place because in the place where the prisoner camp was it is now a women’s prison and they were not permitted to go anywhere close. They tried to get permission for the exhumation of the bodies, but this is a very big thing! To exhume 11,000 skeletons and to bury them like Christians! It is the work of an entire village, what am I saying, more than that. Think of it, 11,000 bodies of monks make a whole army! This is the army of the Heavenly King! Saints of the Christ!

When we found them, we put them back. Of course, we made the latrines somewhere else. And things remained like that in God’s mercy and knowledge. The two students went there and did some digging and they found exactly what I told them. They found the bones but not the bishop, because they did not dig exactly according to my indications. They had the permission to dig only to two meters depth. They covered all the bones. They came back to me and confirmed my sayings. They still don’t have much religious freedom. The communist spirit is still strong.

Q: When did you find the relics?

A: I found them in the year 1942, in autumn. But they had been executed in 1918. Then all the priests and monks in Russia had been asked by the Communists: “Are you with us or not?” All had answered: “No we stay with Christ!” Then they were shot on the spot , as I told you already.

Q: It means then that these bones are the relics of saints!

A: Of course! True martyrs, like in the time of the Roman persecutions. Eleven thousands martyrs in all! Only monks and priests were there with this saintly bishop at their head. Not a single politician. Not since the Roman persecutions have so many martyrs been killed as under the Communists.

There was the custom at Oranki that every year on the 6th of August, the Feast of the Transfiguration, veteran priests, old and disabled , former political prisoners in Siberia, would perform the Divine Liturgy at the fountain, with all of us present. They were all priests with saintly lives. Near that fountain I buried the relics of that saintly bishop. I regret that I forgot his name.

Q: Have the authorities permitted the two youths to take any of the bones of the martyrs from Oranki?

A: No, nothing! Only to ascertain that here they were. Authorities pretended to know nothing. Why would they be concerned?

I sent them to an eyewitness from there, I don’t know whether he is still alive. In 1918 a rassofor monk managed to escape and he was making a living being a miller in the woods. He had a mill and people were going to his mill to grind their oats, because there was no maize, nor millet. His name was Teodot. I got in touch with him in 1944-45 and he gave me all the information about the mass murder, after we had found the bones. He was the only survivor. How did he manage to escape, I don’t know. He was a local. He might have known where to hide.

Q: How did you meet this monk Teodot?

A: It was a cold winter and we had been taken into a big forest to the north of the camp to cut firewood. As I was walking through the forest I came about a small house on the bank of a small river. I knocked at the door and an old bearded Russian opened the door asking me who I was and what I wanted.

I told him that I was a Romanian prisoner of war and an Orthodox priest. He had not seen a priest in thirty years. It was in the middle of the forest. He was living Christianity very well there at the mill. I was a stranger to him but soon he trusted me. He was a simple monk. He could not do anything as a priest, but he knew all the Order of Services. He had a book from which he did his Canon, in the evening after work.

He was very pious. I don’t think that he is still alive. Every time I was going there he was kneeling and enjoining me to do the same. We would pray together. He was saying what he could remember. We managed to get a Tchaslov [Romanian for tchasoslov] from a Russian.

The first time we met, he asked me:

“Are you an Orthodox priest?” And he started crying.

“Yes”, I answered.

“Then let me tell you a secret: I am a monk from the Oranki Monastery. My name is Teodot and in 1918, when I was young, I ran away not to be killed. I built this house and a water mill in this woods. I haven’t seen an Orthodox priest since I escaped from Oranki.”

I told him how I discovered the trench with the shot monks and I asked him:

“What happened there, because I found a big trench full on dead monks?”
He told me crying:

“When the atheist Communists came to power they rounded 11,000 monks and priests from all the monasteries and gathered them at Oranki; I was there. One day a group of cavalry men came to the Monastery and asked us: ‘You come with us?’ But the bishop and all the monks answered: ‘We don’t want to go with you, because you are atheists! We want to die for Christ!’

“I managed to escape. The soldiers put the monks to dig a trench along of hundreds of meters and during the next month they shot them all, the last being the bishop. They were digging the trench and covering the bodies with earth. But they were full of faith in Christ and were fasting and praying until they were all shot.”

Fr. Bejan answers the questions of a group of parents:

Q: What special memories do you have from the big military prison of the Monastery Oranki?

A: It was not a military prison but an international camp for prisoners of war. In this camp situated in the forests of the Volga region, not far from Gorki, today Nijni Novgorod, were interned in three camps 10-15,000 officers from all European nations, even from Japan...In Oranki was a male monastery, all monks from noble families - intellectuals. The monastery had a large library and topography and was coenobitic. They were printing there very precious books for the services of the Church.

The Soviets shut down the monastery. The monks and priests were gathered from many monasteries and sketes, about 11,000, and were all shot during the years 1919-1920 and the corpses thrown into a ravine on the monastery’s grounds and covered with earth.

When we Romanians came to Oranki we were put to dig trenches [for latrines]. We found corpses, a long trench full of corpses. All were shot in the head because, at their bishops admonition, they refused to collaborate with the atheists. In the middle [of the corpses] sitting on a chair, incorrupt, a Bishop was in full attire, with the engolpion and the icon of the Mother of God on his chest. With the approval of the camp commander we covered them back with earth, after sprinkling them with holy water, blessed by me. Then we took out the relics of the sainted Bishop from the among the thousands of the martyr monks , put them into a coffin made by us Romanians, and buried them near a fountain in the monastery’s yard. I witnessed then a great miracle. The body of the saint relaxed as if he just died.

Q: Can those monks martyred for Christ be considered saints? And all the other Christians killed by the atheists during Communism, can they be counted as saints and martyrs?

A: Yes! All in mass! There are holy martyrs, priests and monks from Oranki. This is because they preferred death to abjuration. And in our country, in the woods and mountains, priests have been shot. They can be counted as national and Christian martyrs.

Recently two Muscovite researchers, guided by me, undertook research and confirmed the truth of my sayings. But the present authorities (1995) have not allowed them to continue because the monastery is now a prison for women [Note: since 2004 it is again a male monastery].

I have all this information from a former monk, called Teodot, who survived the massacre and hid in the woods, being a miller when I met him. The two researchers found him still alive and confirmed my testimony....

Q: What more beautiful memories do you have of the Russian people and how would you characterize this great Christian Orthodox people, always tortured by extremes?

A: Russians, in their vast majority – despite all the persecutions and left without priests and churches – have remained faithful to the “pravoslavnic” Church, and women carried on the tradition of this great Church. Presently, Orthodoxy is reborn in Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Siberia and the Caucuses. There are more priests, churches reopen, and many more are built...There is still a long way until this Church who gave so many martyrs, will be totally reborn, and we will be able to say firmly: “The Pravoslavnic Church is totally reborn like the Phoenix from its ashes”.... In our country, the monasteries and faithful women have saved the Orthodox faith. To them belongs all the merit.

Fr. Bejan talking about the Cross from Oranki:

The Monastery Oranki was built in the 18th century on the Volga and it was destined for Russian nobility. It functioned until 1918 when it was closed and transformed into a prison.

It was a prison for women. During World War 2 [beginning in 1942] it was used as a camp for prisoners of war. Now it is again a prison for women. The crosses from the cupolas have been thrown to the ground. I brought two of these crosses to Romania. I donated one of them to the Monastery Sihastria and the second will be layed on my chest when I die.

We hope that God will help the Russian faithful to rebuild here and in other monasteries the monastic life that shone in Russia until 1918. And for people from everywhere to come to Oranki and venerate, transfigured, the icon of the Resurrection which is above the iconostasis of the summer church. This icon was shot by the Bolsheviks; the bullet is stuck in the forehead of the Lord. It should remain like that, the icon of Christ shot and killed for the second time at Oranki, as a witness to the descent of man into savagery for all that will come.

I brought a copy of this icon to Romania. It was stolen when I was in jail [Fr. Bejan was jailed upon his return from the camp in 1949 for “anti-Soviet activities” until 1964]. It was the icon of the Resurrection with the mark of the bullet. Its loss was a terrible blow to me and a deep sorrow for all those who knew the icon at Oranki. All the Russian Tsars kneeled in front of it, as well also Dimitrie Cantemir, the learned voivode of Moldova, exiled in Russia with all the retinue that followed him in the Russian exile. Here lived also the daughter of the Moldovan Prince, Maria Cantemirovna, the one called “the uncrowned Empress of all Russians”.

Very often the Tsars were coming to Oranki to celebrate Pascha. The house where they were lodging is still standing. In front of it there was a source of water and a fountain. The custom was to kneel in front of the fountain, and if you were a good man the water would rise from the bottom of the fountain. If you were a sinner, the source remained deaf and dumb [still].

I testify to this reality. Here at this fountain I did a prayer service for rain together with an old Russian priest who lost an eye and a hand. There were present thousands of pravoslavnic Russians. The moment we finished the prayer the rain started. It happened in 1946 when the draught was ravaging Russia and Romania. [It is worth mentioning that Fr. Bejan also baptized hundreds of Russians.]

There in a ravine behind the altar I found the incorrupt body of a bishop, shot in the forehead because he refused to follow the atheists. In Romania we know about 20 Orthodox priests shot, but there at Oranki there are the bones of 11,000 priests and monks who answered “NO” to the call of the atheist government.

All these saintly monks, killed for their faith in Christ, are a part of a great number of martyrs offered by the Russian church in this turbulent century.

The undersigned testifies to the truth of all that was said. And now at the end of my earthly life I give written testimony and I sign with my own hand.

The Good God helped me to go to jail and to come out of the jail with my head high and illuminated. Amen!

Priest Dimitrie Bejan- Hârlău

Now for the good news:

In 2006 a group of pilgrims from western Romania (county Bihor) led by Fr. Eftimie Mitra, the abbot of Skete Huta, went on a tour visiting the monasteries of Ukraine and Russia. They visited also the Monastery Oranki and erected o Troiţă (a Cross) of black marble representing Christ behind bars, with the following text in Romanian and Russian: “Aţi suferit, aţi răbdat aţi plîns şi pentru noi, cei care nu am fost închişi...pentru păcatele noastre. Vă mulţumim” (You have suffered, you have endured, you have wept for us who have never been imprisoned...for our sins. We thank you!”). The cross was sculpted in Beiuş and transported by the pilgrims with them. They brought all the materials necessary for the erection and they erected it themselves. During the digging of the foundation they found fragments of a human body - a hand, ribs and the spine all of a yellowish color ”like the holy relics”. They took them with them. Part of them have been deposited at the Skete Huta, others have been distributed to various parishes and monasteries, especially to the Memorial Monument of Aiud [infamous political prison where Fr. Bejan was also an inmate] which contain the bones of former political prisoners, who died in jail and dumped in a ravine behind the jail. Fr. Eftimie Mitra, the abbot of the Skete Huta, called it ”the Antimension of Romania” paraphrasing Patriarch Alexei who said that Solovki is the ”Antimension of Russia”.

The Skete Huta is in the middle of a legal battle with the Uniate Protopopiate of Beius which attempts to have the property deeds of the Skete annulled, in other words to evict the two monks. I firmly believe that the miracle of the weeping icon (it is a lithographic copy, very modern, of the icon of Our Lady of Kazan) is an aknowledgement that the gift of the Cross to the Oranki monastery was well received.

For more information in Greek, see here.

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Interview with Fr. Daniil Sysoyev on His Apologetic and Missionary Activity in Russia

Below is an interview with Father Daniel Sysoev, the Moscow priest who was engaged in evangelism among Muslims as well as others of various beliefs and philosophies, and was shot dead last Thursday by a masked gunman:

"You Wish to See Many Miracles – You Should Become a Missionary or a Martyr." - Fr. Daniil

Fr. Daniel's Autobiography and the Interview with Him on the Occasion of the Opening of the Missionary Centre

Orthodoxy and the World

Nov 25, 2009
Translated by Pravmir.com

Autobiography of Fr. Daniel Sysoev

“I, Priest Daniel Alekseevich Sysoev, was born on January 12, 1974, in Moscow to a family of teachers and artists. My father, Priest Aleksei Nikolaevich Sysoev, is now rector of the Church of St. John the Theologian at the ‘Iasenevo’ Orthodox Classical Orthodox Gymnasium, and is also a clergyman of the Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Iasenevo. My mother, Anna Midkhatovna Amirova, teaches catechism at the same school.

“I was found worthy of Baptism on October 31, 1977, in the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity at Vorobyovy Hills by Priest Eugene. From that time we were regular parishioners of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Kuznetsky Sloboda. Then we attended the small cathedral of the Donskoi Monastery, the Church of the Deposition of the Robe in Shabolovka. When my father was sacristan of the Church of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist I helped him in the altar and sang in the choir. In the summer of 1988, I took part in the restoration work at the renewed Optina monastery. When the restoration of the Church of All Saints at the former Novoalekseev Monastery began, I sang in a choir there and its rector, Fr. Artemii Vladimirov, recommended that I enter the Moscow Theological Seminary.

“After completing secondary school in 1991, I entered the Moscow Theological Seminary. While studying there I had the obedience of choir singer and as leader of a mixed choir. On December 19, 1994, His Eminence, Bishop Rostislav of Magadan and Chukotka, ordained me a reader.

“On January 22, 1995, I married Iulia Mikhailovna Brykina. The Mystery of Marriage was celebrated in the Church of St. John the Theologian by Priest Dionisii Pozdniaev. In the same year my first daughter, Justina, was born.

“On May 13, 1995, His Eminence, Bishop Evgenii of Verey, ordained me a deacon. I graduated from the Moscow Theological Seminary at the top of the class on June 14, 1995, and enrolled in the correspondence course of the Moscow Theological Academy, from which I graduated in 2000. On June 9, 2000, the council of the Moscow Theological Academy Council approved my candidate’s thesis, ‘Anthropology and Analysis of the Seventh Day Adventists and the Watchtower Society.’

“After graduation from the Seminary, by Patriarchal decree, I was appointed a clergyman in the church of the Dormition of the All-Holy Mother of God in Gonchary, the Bulgarian Metochian.

“From September 1995, I taught the Law of God in the senior classes of the ’Iasenevo’ Orthodox Classical Gymnasium. On May 24, 2000, I was awarded a Letter of Commendation for my teaching by the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis.

“From August 1996, with the blessing of His All-Holiness, the Patriarch, I held missionary Biblical conversations in the Kriutitsy Patriarchal Metochian with people who had suffered from the influence of sects and occultists. I began my work at the Rehabilitation Center of St. John of Kronstadt, directed by Hieromonk Anatoly (Berestov), after its creation.

“In 1999, with the blessing of His All-Holiness, the Patriarch, my book The Chronicle of the Beginning, dedicated to the defense of the patristic doctrine of creation, was published by the Publishing House of Sretensky Monastery.

“In 2000 I graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy as a Candidate of Theology. In 2001 I was ordained a priest. In the same year my second daughter, Dorofeya, was born.

“I served in the Church of Saint Apostles Peter and Paul in Yasenevo in Moscow. I was secretary of the ’Shestodnev’ missionary-educational center and a member of the rehabilitation centre for victims of totalitarian cults and pseudo-religious movements in the name of Saint John of Kronstadt. I am the author of the book The Chronicle of the Beginning (Moscow, 1999), editor of the anthology Hexaemeron Against Evolution (Moscow, 2000) and the anthology Divine Revelation and Contemporary Science. I have published over a dozen articles on creation and anti-sectarian issues.”

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

For his active missionary activity and polemics with Muslims he was often criticized by Muslims and received threats.

On November 19, 2009, he was mortally wounded in the yard of the Church of the Prophet Daniel (according to other reports, in the church itself) by two bullets fired from a pistol. The killers, who were wearing masks, escaped.

Fr. Daniel leaves behind a wife and three children.

Father Daniel Sysoev is the rector of the Apostle Thomas Church and the initiator of a growing community in honor of the Prophet Daniel. We met on the occasion of the opening of the missionary center in honor of Saint Thomas the Apostle. Olga Kurova talked to Fr. Daniel.

- Fr. Daniel the occasion for our meeting is the opening of a missionary center. It goes without saying that there was a great deal of preliminary work. Please tell us how it all began.

- If we are to recall from the very beginning, it would be 1993, when I was a missionary right on the streets. And from August of 1996 I have entirely officially, with the blessing of His All-Holiness, the Patriarch, led missionary Biblical conversations at the Krutitsy Patriarchal Metochion. These conversations were first intended for converting Protestants. Later more and more occultists and victims of different “sorcerers” appeared. And at last I turned to missionary work among Moslems. So, our center is open to victims of paranormalists and to young people who want to learn the basics of Christianity, as well as for those of other faiths.

- What are your goals?

- Not so long ago we consecrated a temporary church in honor of Saint Thomas the Apostle. A large missionary church in honor of the Prophet Daniel with a chapel to Saint Thomas the Apostle is being built now. This chapel is already functioning, for the moment as its own church. One of our goals is the conversion of non-Christians, mostly non-Russians. The Kantemirovskiy district of Moscow, where the church is located, is a district of different expatriate communities. Moreover, it is a place where different sects are very active. Near the church there is a large Mormon center, and in the area there are Baptists, Adventists, and occultists. But there were no Orthodox until quite recently.

We opened a catechetical school about the basics of Christianity. Every five weeks we conduct a course of five catechetical discourses for those who want to be baptized or just to know more about Christianity. A community of Orthodox Tartars is already functioning in the church and the information agency of Saint Akhmet is starting its activity.

Very soon we are planning to have an open house: we will paste up notices around the district saying that all those who wish may come to the church and ask the priest any question. Later we would like to have such days every three months.

We also work with youth. Beside our temple there is the Moscow Engineering and Physical University. Curiously enough, we were the first ones to hold a moleben (supplicatory service) before students’ exams. Molebens before the beginning of the academic year have already become traditional in all Orthodox churches, although exams are a more strained period for students. Somehow students do not go beyond lighting candles. Anyway, we hold molebens before the exams, after the Liturgy, and invite all the students.

- How can you alone cope with all you have to accomplish? Do you have any assistants, some sort of initiative group?

- Yes, we have an initiative group; it was already formed at the Krutitsy Patriarchal Metochion. In addition there is the Tartar Orthodox community, which has existed since 2003. And certainly many different Christians of different nations take part in mission. After the feast of the Theophany of Our Lord we hope to open missionary courses. Perhaps, later we will create a missionary institute based on it, and it will prepare preachers of the Gospel. There will be all kinds of preaching: on the streets, in universities. We want to deprive sectarians of their weapon.

- And how do you work with expatriate communities? Let us take the Azerbaijani, who live near Kantemirovskaya, for example. How can you enter their community? What can you talk to them about?

- I can not say anything about the Azerbaijani community, because I have not yet formed any contacts with them. But I can say a lot about the Tartar expatriate community. I have appeared time and again in a Tartar cultural center, and have gone to Kazan. Tartars are the third largest national group in Moscow. And our work is quite successful: many Tartars, especially young ones, are becoming Christians. Since 2003 I have performed molebens in the Tartar language for the conversion of those astray.

Our task is to break down the barriers that can be found in the cultures of different nationalities that prevent them from accepting Orthodoxy. The news that Orthodoxy is the universal faith, to which all nations are called, is still considered scandalous.

- How should a true young missionary behave talking to someone of the same age?

- A missionary should be the one to start the conversation about God, or else he is no missionary at all. But at the same time, he must soberly evaluate his own knowledge and skills. He should know the answers to the basic questions his counterparts usually ask about Christianity. He should remember that attack is the best form of defense. He should never hesitate to say that you are right and they are wrong. It is not necessary to bow and scrape before each listener. But at the same time, he must not injure somebody's pride in order to prove his case. Christ died for everyone. One should remember that one should respect a person, not his delusions. There should be rejection of falsity, but love for man.

It is difficult for a teenager to go against the collective, to become a black sheep, but it is essential to have that boldness. Previously, in the time of my youth, I considered it prestigious to differ from others. I believe we should restore that tradition. A black sheep is a noble animal. A real Christian should remember this. And if he does not have the strength, he should ask God for help. A young missionary should certainly be prepared for his words to arouse scandal and indignation. But he should not be afraid of that. Our mission consists in saying unpleasant things. Have you noticed that when reading the Bible you feel uncomfortable? The Book begins to judge you! But that does not mean that the truth should be kept away. The Lord Himself said: Woe to you, when all men speak well of you.

Another mistake that can lure a missionary is the attempt to direct mission to some definite group of people. There appears a mission for children, a mission for youth… Many smart, deep young people do not accept it. Why so? That is because when we talk to young people using their own language, as if condescending to them, we fix them at this level. But we should elevate them, raise them to wisdom, and not leave them at a level they have probably already grown out of. It is even better to talk to children as if they were grown-ups. Do you remember Makarevich singing in a very Christian way; “It’s not worth being weighed down by the fickle world”? That should be a motto not only for missionaries, but for all Orthodox Christians.

And certainly we must not forget about prayer and going to church, because sometimes an incorrect missionary outreach can enthrall someone so much that he does not pray or go to church.

- And why must we go to church every Sunday?

- Because Christ gave us such a commandment: six days are for you, and the seventh is for the Lord God. He can demand us to return part of our time as our sacrifice. And the second thing: we should remember our Heavenly Master, our Heavenly Motherland.

If you will, all we Christians are terrorists. We are the members of a rebellious army, which is revolting against the prince of this world (the devil). Churches are linking stations. There we get information from our governing body: ciphers (New Testament), reinforcement (Holy Communion), and we get support through mutual communication. We master all kinds of tricks in order to commit terrorist attacks against the prince of this world, that is, we learn how to do good. Obviously if an agent of the Holy Kingdom shirks attending the headquarters and does not keep in touch with the command center, he can easily get lost, lose his power, and fall in battle. According to the rules of the Church, someone who without sufficient cause goes three Sundays without attending the Divine Liturgy is exempted from Communion.

Often those who do not attend church tend to get tired very quickly. If someone thinks that he will sleep in on Sunday to make up for the rest of the week instead of attending the Liturgy, he will very soon understand that Sunday sleep does not bring pleasure. You can eat a ram, but remain hungry, or you can sleep for twenty-five hours, but still feel sleepy. If God does not give you power, you will never find it in any other place.

If you are in love with someone, you constantly wish to see your loved one, to communicate. You do not have to force such a one to go on a date, do you? Christianity is built on the love between God and man.

It is still very important not to search for justifications if you miss a church service. We can find one thousand justifications, but this will only make things worse. It is necessary to struggle ruthlessly with sin, with laziness. Christians are beings of another kind. There are Homo sapiens, and there is Homo Christianus. Christians should communicate with their like.

- Why do Christians have a different nature?

- A Christian is a person plus the Divine force given to it in Baptism. A non-Christian is simply a person, besides being enslaved by the devil. Either the Holy Spirit is in your heart or the devil is in your heart – can you see the difference?

- Everyone has his way to church. But as a missionary you must have some amazing stories about people’s conversion.

Why go far? We have a member of our parish, Tatyana Imranovna, my closest assistant. She converted from Islam to occultism, and from there, having encountered unpleasant things that frightened her, to Orthodoxy. She came to Christ – at first simply as a way to rescue. Then she began to “churchify.” And the closer she came to the Church, the worse her parents condemned her. It is strange – the worse they behaved towards her, the more problems they had. For example, they cursed her, they threw out her icons – and the same night their dacha burnt down. Here is an example for you of how God protects His own.

There are also examples of miraculous healings. Once the parents of a child, Pentecostals, came to me. They had taken their child to see all kinds of "psychics." As a result the child had a fever up to 39 C for three months. Nothing could help. We Baptised him very solemnly at the Baptismal Liturgy. He stood, of course, very weakly, but showed interest in everything. We gave him Holy Communion and they went home. He went to sleep, woke up – and his temperature was 36.6. He has not been ill for several years since then.

Quite often it happens that everything is explained to someone. He agrees with you in mind, but does not accept it with his heart. But pray for him, and he changes. It always happens that after a moleben for the return of the erring that several people are Baptized.

So if you wish to see many miracles – you should become a missionary or a martyr. They say that if you wish to anoint someone with myrrh you should pour it into your hand and smell it yourself, and only then anoint another person. It is the same thing here: if you wish to tell another about the power of God, you should first feel the power of God yourself.

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News Report on the Killing of Fr. Daniil Sysoyev

Read more here: Controversial Priest Gunned Down in Church

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Glorification of Saint Philaret of Chernigov

For pictures and information about the glorification of St. Philaret, see here.

Short Biography of Saint Philaret Humilevsky of Chernigov

Finally, one of the great Orthodox Fathers and Teachers living in the 19th century was glorified a saint, Philaret (Humilevsky), Archbishop of Chernihiv (whose feastday will be August 22nd).

St Philaret belonged to the “group of the three Holy Philarets” of that time which included St Philaret Metropolitan of Kyiv and St Philaret Metropolitan of Moscow.

Born Dmitry Hrihorievich Humilevsky in 1805 as a son of a priest, he received his surname (in truth, his real family name was “Konobeiv”) in theseminary as a play on the word “humility” owing to his short stature and humble character. Having completed his seminary studies with the highest possible scholarly acclamations, he was tonsured a monk as “Philaret” and was appointed Theology and History professor. Since he read widely, he could teach numerous theological and secular subjects and was not only an accomplished historian but also an archaeologist.

He founded the academic journal The Writings of the Holy Fathers: Translated From the Ancient Languages. In 1841, he was consecrated as Bishop of Riga in Latvia.

While in the Baltic countries, he was sympathetic to the desire of the Latvians and Estonians to have spiritual literature available to them in their own national languages. Philaret the scholar then went back to his study desk and soon mastered those languages himself. He also expected Orthodox priests working in Latvia and Estonia to be fluent in all three Baltic languages and began translating and publishing religious literature for his Baltic flock.

In 1848, St Philaret was transferred to Kharkiv in Ukraine and in 1857 he was consecrated as Archbishop and assigned to Chernihiv where he continued to upgrade the theological and cultural education and development of his flock.

It was in Chernihiv that the Holy Hierarch Philaret produced his Orthodox Dogmatic Theology and his History of the Church of Rus’ as well as a volume on literature.

A great practitioner of the Jesus Prayer and reader of Holy Scripture, St Philaret was an ascetic in the best traditions of Orthodox Patristic spirituality. His great devotion to study earned him the respect of both religious and secular scholars of his day. And he came by his new surname quite naturally.

His deeply moving spirituality and humility can be seen in his eyes in the pictures of him that are extant. Covered in the robes of his high Archiepiscopal office with Crosses and Panaghias hanging from his shoulders with many books and papers in his hands, St Philaret’s “heart-piercing” piety made a great spiritual impression on his flock throughout Eastern Europe.

No wonder tens of thousands lined the streets and roads to pay their last respects to their great Pastor during his funeral and begin his local veneration that has continued to this day, culminating in his formal Glorification as a new Hierarch-Saint of our Church on October 25, 2009!

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Vatican Cross Given By Emperor Justin II Restored

The restored cross. According to experts, it is the oldest known reliquary containing the purported fragments of the true cross on which Jesus was crucified.

Golden Cross in Vatican’s Collection Gets New Look

By The Associated Press
Saturday, November 21, 2009

VATICAN CITY (AP) — One of the gems of the Vatican’s priceless religious art collection — a 6th century reliquary containing what is revered as fragments of the cross on which Jesus was crucified — has been restored to its Byzantine-era glory.

The Vatican on Thursday unveiled the restored Crux Vaticana, a foot-high jewel-encrusted golden cross containing what tradition holds are shards of Jesus’ cross inside.

The Associated Press was given an early look at the piece, and Byzantine art experts said the restoration rendered the cross much closer to what it would have looked like at the time the Byzantine Emperor Justin II gave it to the people of Rome.

Most significantly, the restoration corrected a botched 19th century restoration that threatened to corrode the piece. And it replaced the brightly colored gems that were added in previous centuries with the large, imperfect pearls that are emblematic of Byzantine-era imperial masterpieces, said restorer Sante Guido.

A circle of 12 pearls now surrounds the relic, and pearls around the cross’ edge now alternate with emeralds and sapphires — the two other gems most often associated with Byzantine emperors, he said.

While there are purported fragments of Christ’s cross in churches around the world — including at Paris’ Notre Dame and even across town at Rome’s Holy Cross basilica — the Crux Vaticana is considered the oldest reliquary of the cross. It is the crown in the Vatican’s Treasury of St. Peter’s collection of religious and historic artifacts.

In addition to the relic inside, the cross itself is an important piece of early Christian art. Measuring 15.75 inches by 11.81 inches, it’s a rare example of an imperial gift and an expression of the emperor’s Christian faith. Across the piece is written in Latin: “With the wood with which Christ conquered man’s enemy, Justin gives his help to Rome and his wife offers the ornamentation.”

“It’s the most important reliquary of the ‘true cross’ that we have,” Guido told the AP. “It’s particularly important because it’s the only reliquary that came from an emperor, so there are various levels of religious and historic significance.”

For centuries, the cross was used in the Vatican’s most solemn ceremonies at Christmas and Easter. But 1,500 years of candle wax and smoke had dulled the gems and the cross’ warm golden hue — grime that has been removed following a two-year restoration.

The work was paid for by an anonymous donor who didn’t want the pricetag to be made public, officials said.

Ioli Kalavrezou, a Byzantine art history professor at Harvard University who has taught classes on the cross, said the restoration clearly rendered the cross closer to what it would have looked like when it was presented to Romans sometime between 565-578.

“I can’t say it’s exactly as it would’ve been, but it comes much closer to what an object like that would’ve looked like,” she said in a phone interview.

The exact circumstances of why Justin gave Rome the relic are unclear. Guido noted that even though the eastern Byzantine Empire gained prominence in Constantinople after the 476 fall of the Roman Empire, Rome remained a religious capital because it was the “city of martyrs” — where Saints Peter and Paul were buried.

Emperor Justin clearly wanted to give the pope and people of Rome “a recognition of Rome as a city of Christianity,” Guido said. At the time, most parts of Christ’s cross were in the hands of the Byzantine emperor in Constantinople after being moved from Jerusalem in the 4th century, Kalavrezou noted.

“This is one of the earliest examples of this imperial gift, where he (Justin) shows the power he has in his hands — to control the most important relic in Christiandom and to have the luxury to make a gift of that,” she said from Washington, where she is a visiting scholar at the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine research library.

The cross will be on public display inside St. Peter’s Basilica through April 12.

The front of the Crux Vaticana (Vatican Cross) before restoration.

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The Letter of the Law Can Be Quite Deadly

by Elder Paisios the Athonite

I once asked someone: "What type of warrior do you consider yourself to be? Christ's warrior or temptation's warrior? Are you aware that the evil of temptation also has its own warriors?"

A Christian must not be fanatic; he must have love for and be sensitive towards all people. Those who inconsiderately toss out comments, even if they are true, can cause harm.

I met a theologian who was extremely pious, but had the habit of speaking to the (secular) people around him in a very blunt manner; his method penetrated the listener so deeply that it shook them severely. He told me once: "During a gathering, I said such and such a thing to a lady." But the way that he said it, he crushed her. "Look," I said to him, "you may be tossing golden crowns studded with diamonds to other people, but the way that you throw them can smash heads, not only the sensitive ones, but the sound ones as well."

Let's not stone our fellow-man in a so-called "Christian manner." The person who — in the presence of others — checks someone for having sinned (or speaks in an impassioned manner about a certain person) is not moved by the Spirit of God; he is moved by another spirit.

The way of the Church is love; it differs from the way of the legalists. The Church sees everything with tolerance and seeks to help each person, whatever he may have done, however sinful he may be.

I have observed a peculiar kind of logic in certain pious people. Their piety is a good thing, as is their predisposition for good; however, a certain spiritual discernment and amplitude is required so that their piety is not accompanied by narrow mindedness or strong headedness. Someone who is truly in a spiritual state must possess and exemplify spiritual discernment; otherwise he will forever remain attached to the "letter of the Law," and the letter of the Law can be quite deadly.

A truly humble person never behaves like a teacher; he listens, and, whenever his opinion is requested, he responds humbly. In other words, he responds like a student. He who believes that he is capable of correcting others is filled with egotism.

A person that begins to do something with a good intention and eventually reaches an extreme point lacks true discernment. His actions exemplify a latent type of egotism that is hidden beneath this behavior; he is unaware of it, because he does not know himself that well, which is why he goes to extremes.

Quite often, people begin with good intentions, but look where they may find themselves! Ihis was the case with the "icon-worshippers" and the "icon-combatters" in the past: both cases were extremes! The former had reached the point of scraping icons of Christ and placing the scrapings into the Holy Chalice in order to "improve" Holy Communion; the latter, on the other hand, burnt and totally discarded all icons. That is why the Church was obliged to place icons in higher places, out of reach, and, when the dispute was over, lowered them so that we can venerate them and thus confer the appropriate honor to the persons portrayed therein.

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On the Entrance of the Virgin Mary Into the Temple

For an animation about this Feast, see here.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Today is the prelude of God's pleasure and the proclamation of man's salvation. The Virgin is clearly made manifest in the temple of God and foretells Christ to all. Let us also cry out to her with mighty voice, "Hail, fulfillment of the Creator's dispensation."

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Today, the most pure temple of the Savior, the precious bridal chamber and Virgin, the sacred treasure of God, enters the house of the Lord, bringing the grace of the Divine Spirit. The Angels of God praise her. She is the heavenly tabernacle.


About the Festival

The Feast of the Entrance of the Virgin in the Temple is believed to be not among the most ancient festivals of the Church. However, indications that the Feast was observed in the first centuries of Christianity are found in the traditions of Palestinian Christians, which say that the holy Empress Helen (May 21) built a church in honor of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple. St. Gregory of Nyssa, in the fourth century, also mentions this Feast, along with Sts. Jerome and Epiphanius. St. Andrew of Crete ( c. 660-740) had known about it and his hymns are found throughout the Service books for this Feast. Saint Germanos I, Patriarch of Constantinople from 715 to 730, wrote two homilies for the Feast. Saint Tarasios (+ 806), the Patriarch, introduced it at Constantinople a century later as an official Feast, though it had already been celebrated. St. George of Nicomedia (9th cent.) wrote three sermons on the subject which address every detail of the Feast, including a beautiful homily which addresses rhetorically the temple itself.

The festival blossomed forth from the Tradition of the Church, which made use of the second century apocryphal source, the Protoevangelium, in order to emphasize the fulfillment of the economy of the Creator and the self-consecration of the chosen Virgin to a life in the service of God. The Church breaks the silence of the canonical Gospels that we may behold the incomprehensible ways of Providence which prepare Mary, the receptacle of the Word and the Mother predetermined before the ages. She who was preached by the prophets is now introduced into the Holy of Holies, like a hidden treasure of the glory of God. "God has sanctified all things by her entry and has made godlike the fallen nature of mortal men" (Vespers Sticheron).

DISCOURSE ON THE FEAST OF THE ENTRY OF OUR MOST PURE LADY THEOTOKOS INTO THE HOLY OF HOLIES

by Saint Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica

If a tree is known by its fruit, and a good tree bears good fruit (Mt. 7:17; Luke 6:44), then is not the Mother of Goodness Itself, She who bore the Eternal Beauty, incomparably more excellent than every good, whether in this world or the world above? Therefore, the coeternal and identical Image of Goodness, Pre-eternal, transcending all being, He Who is the pre-existing and good Word of the Father, moved by His unutterable love for mankind and compassion for us, put on our image, that He might reclaim for Himself our nature which had been dragged down to uttermost Hades, so as to renew this corrupted nature and raise it to the heights of Heaven. For this purpose, He had to assume a flesh that was both new and ours, that He might refashion us from out of ourselves. Now He finds a Handmaiden perfectly suited to these needs, the supplier of Her own unsullied nature, the Ever-Virgin now hymned by us, and Whose miraculous Entrance into the Temple, into the Holy of Holies, we now celebrate. God predestined Her before the ages for the salvation and reclaiming of our kind. She was chosen, not just from the crowd, but from the ranks of the chosen of all ages, renowned for piety and understanding, and for their God-pleasing words and deeds.

In the beginning, there was one who rose up against us: the author of evil, the serpent, who dragged us into the abyss. Many reasons impelled him to rise up against us, and there are many ways by which he enslaved our nature: envy, rivalry, hatred, injustice, treachery, slyness, and so forth. In addition to all this, he also has within him the power of bringing death, which he himself engendered, being the first to fall away from true life.

The author of evil was jealous of Adam, when he saw him being led from earth to heaven, from which he was justly cast down. Filled with envy, he pounced upon Adam with a terrible ferocity, and even wished to clothe him with the garb of death. Envy is not only the begetter of hatred, but also of murder, which this truly man-hating serpent brought about in us. For he wanted to be master over the earth-born for the ruin of that which was created in the image and likeness of God. Since he was not bold enough to make a face to face attack, he resorted to cunning and deceit. This truly terrible and malicious plotter pretended to be a friend and useful adviser by assuming the physical form of a serpent, and stealthily took their position. By his God-opposing advice, he instills in man his own death-bearing power, like a venomous poison.

If Adam had been sufficiently strong to keep the divine commandment, then he would have shown himself the vanquisher of his enemy, and withstood his deathly attack. But since he voluntarily gave in to sin, he was defeated and was made a sinner. Since he is the root of our race, he has produced us as death-bearing shoots. So, it was necessary for us, if he were to fight back against his defeat and to claim victory, to rid himself of the death-bearing venomous poison in his soul and body, and to absorb life, eternal and indestructible life.

It was necessary for us to have a new root for our race, a new Adam, not just one Who would be sinless and invincible, but one Who also would be able to forgive sins and set free from punishment those subject to it. And not only would He have life in Himself, but also the capacity to restore to life, so that He could grant to those who cleave to Him and are related to Him by race both life and the forgiveness of their sins, restoring to life not only those who came after Him, but also those who already had died before Him. Therefore, St Paul, that great trumpet of the Holy Spirit, exclaims, "the first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45).

Except for God, there is no one who is without sin, or life-creating, or able to remit sin. Therefore, the new Adam must be not only Man, but also God. He is at the same time Life, Wisdom, Truth, Love, and Mercy, and every other good thing, so that He might renew the old Adam and restore him to life through mercy, wisdom and righteousness. These are the opposites of the things which the author of evil used to bring about our aging and death.

As the slayer of mankind raised himself against us with envy and hatred, so the Source of life was lifted up [on the Cross] because of His immeasurable goodness and love for mankind. He intensely desired the salvation of His creature, i.e., that His creature would be restored by Himself. In contrast to this, the author of evil wanted to bring God's creature to ruin, and thereby put mankind under his own power, and tyrannically to afflict us. And just as he achieved the conquest and the fall of mankind by means of injustice and cunning, by deceit and his trickery, so has the Liberator brought about the defeat of the author of evil, and the restoration of His own creature with truth, justice and wisdom.

It was a deed of perfect justice that our nature, which was voluntarily enslaved and struck down, should again enter the struggle for victory and cast off its voluntary enslavement. Therefore, God deigned to receive our nature from us, hypostatically uniting with it in a marvelous way. But it was impossible to unite that Most High Nature, Whose purity is incomprehensible for human reason, to a sinful nature before it had been purified. Therefore, for the conception and birth of the Bestower of purity, a perfectly spotless and Most Pure Virgin was required.

Today we celebrate the memory of those things that contributed, if only once, to the Incarnation. He Who is God by nature, the Co-unoriginate and Co-eternal Word and Son of the Transcendent Father, becomes the Son of Man, the Son of the Ever-Virgin. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8), immutable in His divinity and blameless in His humanity, He alone, as the Prophet Isaiah prophesied, "practiced no iniquity, nor deceit with His lips" (Is. 53: 9). He alone was not brought forth in iniquity, nor was He conceived in sin, in contrast to what the Prophet David says concerning himself and every other man (Ps. 50/51: 5). Even in what He assumes, He is perfectly pure and has no need to be cleansed Himself. But for our sake, He accepted purification, suffering, death and resurrection, that He might transmit them to us.

God is born of the spotless and Holy Virgin, or better to say, of the Most Pure and All-Holy Virgin. She is above every fleshly defilement, and even above every impure thought. Her conceiving resulted not from fleshly lust, but by the overshadowing of the Most Holy Spirit. Such desire being utterly alien to Her, it is through prayer and spiritual readiness that She declared to the angel: "Behold the handmaiden of the Lord; be it unto Me according to thy word" (Luke 1:38), and that She conceived and gave birth. So, in order to render the Virgin worthy of this sublime purpose, God marked this ever-virgin Daughter now praised by us, from before the ages, and from eternity, choosing Her from out of His elect.

Turn your attention then, to where this choice began. From the sons of Adam God chose the wondrous Seth, who showed himself a living heaven through his becoming behavior, and through the beauty of his virtues. That is why he was chosen, and from whom the Virgin would blossom as the divinely fitting chariot of God. She was needed to give birth and to summon the earth-born to heavenly sonship. For this reason also all the lineage of Seth were called "sons of God" (Gen. 6), because from this lineage a son of man would be born as the Son of God. The name Seth signifies a rising or resurrection, or more specifically, it signifies the Lord, Who promises and gives immortal life to all who believe in Him.

And how precisely exact is this parallel! Seth was born of Eve, as she herself said, in place of Abel, whom Cain killed through jealousy (Gen. 4:25); and Christ, the Son of the Virgin, was born for us in place of Adam, whom the author of evil also killed through jealousy. But Seth did not resurrect Abel, since he was only a type of the resurrection. But our Lord Jesus Christ resurrected Adam, since He is the very Life and the Resurrection of the earth-born, for whose sake the descendents of Seth are granted divine adoption through hope, and are called the children of God. It was because of this hope that they were called sons of God, as is evident from the one who was first called so, the successor in the choice. This was Enoch, the son of Seth, who as Moses wrote, first hoped to call on the Name of the Lord (Gen. 4:26).

In this manner, the choice of the future Mother of God, beginning with the very sons of Adam and proceeding through all the generations of time, through the Providence of God, passes to the Prophet-King David and the successors of his kingdom and lineage. When the chosen time had come, then from the house and posterity of David, Joachim and Anna are chosen by God. Though they were childless, they were by their virtuous life and good disposition the finest of all those descended from the line of David. And when in prayer they besought God to deliver them from their childlessness, and promised to dedicate their child to God from its infancy, by God Himself, the Mother of God was proclaimed and given to them as a child, so that from such virtuous parents the all-virtuous child would be raised. So in this manner, chastity joined with prayer came to fruition by producing the Mother of virginity, giving birth in the flesh to Him Who was born of God the Father before the ages.

Now, when Righteous Joachim and Anna saw that they had been granted their wish, and that the divine promise to them was realized in fact, then they on their part, as true lovers of God, hastened to fulfill their vow given to God as soon as the child had been weaned from milk. They have now led this truly sanctified child of God, now the Mother of God, this Virgin, into the Temple of God. And She, being filled with Divine gifts even at such a tender age, ... She, rather than others, determined what was being done over Her. In Her manner She showed that She was not so much presented into the Temple, but that She Herself entered into the service of God of her own accord, as if she had wings, striving towards this sacred and divine love. She considered it desirable and fitting that she should enter into the Temple and dwell in the Holy of Holies.

Therefore, the High Priest, seeing that this child, more than anyone else, had divine grace within Her, wished to set Her within the Holy of Holies. He convinced everyone present to welcome this, since God had advanced it and approved it. Through His angel, God assisted the Virgin and sent Her mystical food, with which She was strengthened in nature, while in body She was brought to maturity and was made purer and more exalted than the angels, having the Heavenly spirits as servants. She was led into the Holy of Holies not just once, but was accepted by God to dwell there with Him during Her youth, so that through Her, the Heavenly Abodes might be opened and given for an eternal habitation to those who believe in Her miraculous birthgiving.

So it is, and this is why She, from the beginning of time, was chosen from among the chosen. She Who is manifest as the Holy of Holies, Who has a body even purer than the spirits purified by virtue, is capable of receiving ... the Hypostatic Word of the Unoriginate Father. Today the Ever-Virgin Mary, like a Treasure of God, is stored in the Holy of Holies, so that in due time, (as it later came to pass) She would serve for the enrichment of, and an ornament for, all the world. Therefore, Christ God also glorifies His Mother, both before, and also after His birth.

We who understand the salvation begun for our sake through the Most Holy Virgin, give Her thanks and praise according to our ability. And truly, if the grateful woman (of whom the Gospel tells us), after hearing the saving words of the Lord, blessed and thanked His Mother, raising her voice above the din of the crowd and saying to Christ, "Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the paps Thou hast sucked" (Luke 11:27), then we who have the words of eternal life written out for us, and not only the words, but also the miracles and the Passion, and the raising of our nature from death, and its ascent from earth to Heaven, and the promise of immortal life and unfailing salvation, then how shall we not unceasingly hymn and bless the Mother of the Author of our Salvation and the Giver of Life, celebrating Her conception and birth, and now Her Entry into the Holy of Holies?

Now, brethren, let us remove ourselves from earthly to celestial things. Let us change our path from the flesh to the spirit. Let us change our desire from temporal things to those that endure. Let us scorn fleshly delights, which serve as allurements for the soul and soon pass away. Let us desire spiritual gifts, which remain undiminished. Let us turn our reason and our attention from earthly concerns and raise them to the inaccessible places of Heaven, to the Holy of Holies, where the Mother of God now resides.

Therefore, in such manner our songs and prayers to Her will gain entry, and thus through her mediation, we shall be heirs of the everlasting blessings to come, through the grace and love for mankind of Him Who was born of Her for our sake, our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory, honor and worship, together with His Unoriginate Father and His Coeternal and Life-Creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

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