Saint Xenia the Fool for Christ of St. Petersburg

St. Xenia the Fool of St. Petersburg (Feast Day - January 24)

Reading from the Synaxarion:

On the twenty-fourth of this month we commemorate our righteous Mother, Blessed Xenia, the Fool for Christ’s sake and Wonderworker of Saint Petersburg.

They that are at a loss invoke Blessed Xenia, Who having lost all things, won Christ as her bridegroom. On the twenty-fourth Xenia was in Heaven.

Our righteous Mother Xenia of St. Petersburg was born about the year 1730. She was married to a Colonel named Andrew; when she was twenty-six years old her husband died suddenly, having been drinking with his friends. Left a childless widow, Xenia gave away all that she had and vanished from St.Petersburg for eight years; it is believed that she spent this time in a hermitage, learning the spiritual life. When she returned to Saint Petersburg, she wore her husband’s military clothing, and would answer only to the name Andrew, that is, the name of her late husband. She took up the life of a homeless wanderer, and was abused by many as insane; she bore this with great patience, crucifying the carnal mind through the mockery she endured, and praying for her husband’s soul. She was given great gifts of prayer and prophecy, and often foretold things to come; in 1796 she foretold the death of Empress Catherine II. Having lived forty-five years after her husband’s death, she reposed in peace at the age of seventy one, about the year 1800. Her grave became such a source of miracles, and so many came to take soil from it as a blessing, that it was often necessary to replace the soil; when a stone slab was placed over her grave, this too disappeared over time, piece by piece. Saint Xenia is especially invoked for help in finding employment, lodging, or a spouse.

The Gravestone of St. Xenia

The only record of "vital statistics" that has been left to us concerning Blessed Xenia is the epitaph on her gravestone:

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Here rests the body of the servant of God, Xenia Grigorievna,
Wife of the imperial chorister, Colonel Andrei Theodorovich Petrov.
Widowed at the age of 26, a pilgrim for 45 years,
She lived a total of 71 years.
She was known by the name Andrei Theodorovich.
May whoever knew me pray for my soul that his own may be saved. Amen.

Blessed St. Xenia was a "fool-for-Christ," who, for 45 years, wandered around the streets of St. Petersburg, Russia. For the first 26 years of her life, Xenia had lived quite comfortably. However, after her husband suddenly died, the Holy Spirit led her to give away all her possessions to the poor. She put on her dead husband’s clothes and called herself by his name, saying that Xenia had died. Homeless, she lived in the streets all year round for 45 years, owning only the ragged clothes on her back. The Holy Spirit also led her to give away her mind and her heart to God. By giving everything away, she became rich in humility, simplicity, self-denial, kindness, and deep and profound love for all. By pretending to be insane, she showed how insane the world and its values are. By denying herself the comforts of a home, a bed, decent clothes, food, and the appearance of being "normal," she helps us to examine what really is important in life, and what really is "normal." By her self-denial, Blessed St. Xenia daily died to her old self and daily lived only for God. She trusted totally that God would provide for her, as He provides for the birds.

During the day she wandered the streets, dressed in rags, enduring heat and cold, snow and rain, mocked by people. At night she went out into the fields and prayed all night, and at other times she spent the night at the Smolensk Cemetery. It was at this cemetery that she helped the workmen build the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God (photo below), by secretly carrying bricks up the scaffold during the night.


One night the workmen hid to find out who was helping them, and discovered that it was "Crazy Xenia." Whenever someone gave her alms, she immediately gave it to the poor. As the years passed, the Holy Spirit filled Xenia with greater riches, and she became increasingly blessed. After a while, some people started to notice that "crazy Xenia" wasn’t so crazy after all, but was an instrument of divine grace, to whom had been given deep spiritual powers: she could see into people’s hearts and into the past and future, and appeared to people in visions. Anyone whom she touched was blessed. Because she gave up living for herself, she was able to live for others, helping those in need. She especially helped families, children and marriages, as she continues to do today.

After she fell asleep in the Lord, around 1803, she continued to help those who asked for her assistance. Throughout the 19th century, tens of thousands of people came every year to her grave, and countless miracles occurred. In 1902 a chapel was built over her grave in the Smolensk Cemetery, located on the western end of Vasiliev Island in St. Petersburg. This chapel has now been reconstructed (photobelow), again welcoming the pilgrims who come there every day, and the miracles continue to occur.


For 200 years people have been turning to the Blessed one, and she has been helping them. Her great spiritual power and her deep love for people transcend the grave and are manifested daily. One of the most popular of God’s "chosen ones," her canonization in 1988 was official recognition of what the faithful had long witnessed and experienced.


This is the actual icon of Blessed St. Xenia that is in the chapel over her tomb. In the background is depicted the Smolensk Orthodox Cemetery in northwestern St. Petersburg, where she spent much time, and where she is buried. The blue church and bell tower immediately behind the Blessed One is the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, which she helped the workmen build, as mentioned above. To the left of the Blessed One is a representation of the chapel over her tomb.

Source


Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Having renounced the vanity of the earthly world, thou didst take up the cross of a homeless life of wandering; thou didst not fear grief, privation, nor the mockery of men, and didst know the love of Christ. Now taking sweet delight of this love in heaven, O Xenia, the blessed and divinely wise, pray for the salvation of our souls.

Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
In you, O mother, was carefully preserved what is according to the image. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh for it passes away, But to care instead for the soul since it is immortal. Therefore, O Blessed Xenia, your spirit rejoices with the Angels.

Kontakion in Plagal of the Third Tone
Having loved the poverty of Christ, you are now being satisfied at the Immortal Banquet. By the humility of the Cross, you received the power of God. Having acquired the gift of miraculous help, O Blessed Xenia, beseech Christ God, that by repentance we may be delivered from every evil thing.


Documentary about St. Xenia the Fool of St. Petersburg


The Glorification of St. Xenia in 1978 by Metropolitan Philaret in New York City


For more information on this great Saint, see here, here, and here.

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The Ceremony of the Opening of the "Triodion"

To be resurrected into a new life in Christ requires one also to suffer with Christ through crucifixion. This is precisely what the entire season of the Triodion, Great Lent, Holy Week and Pascha mean to Orthodox Christians. The Triodion prepares us to undergo this annual renewal process of our life in Christ. It is four Sundays of psychological preparation to undergo a more intense level of fasting and prayer during Great Lent which will serve as a means towards an end that will bear spiritual fruit.

I just became aware of a fascinating teleliturgical tradition which takes place annually on the island of Zakynthos that I believe should become a tradition in all Orthodox parishes in initiating this exciting and intense period of preparation. This beautiful ceremony takes place in the Church of St. Nicholas the Stranger and involves the sacred moment when the liturgical book known as the Triodion is first opened. The liturgical book known as the Triodion contains all the Services and Hymns which constitute the liturgical commemorations throughout the period of the Triodion, Great Lent and Holy Week, ending right before the midnight paschal service of Orthros which is contained in the liturgical book known as the Pentecostarion.

Here is how the ceremony takes place at the Church of St. Nicholas the Stranger. During Great Vespers on the Saturday evening of the commemoration of the Publican and the Pharisee, the Triodion book is placed under the despotic icon of Christ to the right of the Royal Gate on the iconstasis. It is placed on a stool which is covered in a black covering bearing a white Cross. During Great Vespers, following the Resurrection hymns and before the hymns from the Triodion are to be chanted, a member of the clergy takes the Triodion from its place and gives it to the bishop who is standing at his episcopal throne. After the bishop venerates the book it is handed to all the clergy who also venerate it. In the end the book is handed over to the protopsalti, or lead chanter, who after venerating the book opens it and begins chanting the appropriate hymns, thus inaugurating the season of repentance. In olden times a tray was passed around the church during this time among the parishioners and this money constituted the salary of the priest, but this practice no longer takes place since the priest is now payed through the State.






Source

For more information on the Triodion, see here, here and here.

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Icon Made of 15,000 Easter Eggs

Famous Ukrainian artist Oksana Maks has crafted an amazing icon of the Virgin Mary out of painted wooden Easter eggs.

The icon is currently in the Holy Church of St. Sophia in Kiev.

The moasaic of eggs took 9 months to complete with 70 artists working on it, among whom were students of the local art school, a nun and many young children.

In the end, the masterpiece reaches 7 meters high, weighs appriximately 2.5 tons, and is worth about $80,000.

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"Attempts to Separate Orthodox Nations Futile"

Moscow, January 22, Interfax - Any attempts to set the nations united by Orthodox religious and cultural values at loggerheads are doomed to failure, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at an awards ceremony at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral on Thursday.

"Any attempts to cause the Orthodox nations to quarrel have ultimately proved to be futile," Medvedev said in his acceptance speech after being honored for his role in strengthening Orthodox unity and promoting Christian values.

"It is common spiritual and cultural values that are capable of bringing both states and peoples together," he said.

Medvedev mentioned "the Russian Orthodox Church's great contribution to an inter-church dialogue."

"By restoring its canonical unity, it showed an unprecedented example of overcoming mistrust and dissociation, displayed a true spirit of conciliarism, and showed a powerful consolidating principle," he said.

This was "a most important signal not only to people practicing Orthodoxy but also to the entire world, and it shows that there can be no insurmountable obstacles when a church, a state or several states, and society have a common goal, that is, desire for unity," Medvedev said.

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Church Fathers: On the Publican and the Pharisee

- Proverbs 27:202:

Let a neighbor praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger and not your own lips.


- Sayings of the Desert Fathers:

An old man much given to simplicity questioned Father Ammonas: “Three thoughts occupy me, either, should I wander in the deserts, or should I go to a foreign land where no one knows me, or should I shut myself up in a cell without opening the door to anyone, eating only every second day?” Father Ammonas replied, “It is not right for you to do any of these three things. Rather, sit in your cell and eat a little every day, keeping the word of the publican always in your heart, and you may be saved."


- Sayings of the Desert Fathers:

Mother Syncletiki said: “Imitate the Publican and you will not be condemned with the Pharisee. Choose the meekness of Moses and you will find your heart which is a rock changed into a spring of water."


- St. John Chrysostom:

When lately we made mention of the Pharisee and the publican, and hypothetically yoked two chariots out of virtue and vice; we pointed out each truth, how great is the gain of humbleness of mind, and how great the damage of pride. For this, even when conjoined with righteousness and fastings and tithes, fell behind; while that, even when yoked with sin, out-stripped the Pharisee's pair, even although the charioteer it had was a poor one. For what was worse than the publican? But all the same since he made his soul contrite, and called himself a sinner; which indeed he was; he surpassed the Pharisee, who had both fastings to tell of and tithes; and was removed from any vice. On account of what, and through what? Because even if he was removed from greed of gain and robbery, he had rooted over his soul the mother of all evils— vain-glory and pride. On this account Paul also exhorts and says "Let each one prove his own work"; and then he will have his ground of boasting for himself, and not for the other. He publicly came forward as an accuser of the whole world; and said that he himself was better than all living men. And yet even if he had set himself before ten only, or if five, or if two, or if one, not even was this endurable; but as it was, he not only set himself before the whole world, but also accused all men. On this account he fell behind in the running. And just as a ship, after having run through innumerable surges, and having escaped many storms, then in the very mouth of the harbour having been dashed against some rock, loses the whole treasure which is stowed away in her— so truly did this Pharisee, after having undergone the labours of the fasting, and of all the rest of his virtue, since he did not master his tongue, in the very harbour underwent shipwreck of his cargo. For the going home from prayer, whence he ought to have derived gain, having rather been so greatly damaged, is nothing else than undergoing shipwreck in harbour.

Knowing therefore these things, beloved even if we should have mounted to the very pinnacle of virtue, let us consider ourselves last of all; having learned that pride is able to cast down even from the heavens themselves him who takes not heed, and humbleness of mind to bear up on high from the very abyss of sins him who knows how to be sober. For this it was that placed the publican before the Pharisee; whereas that, pride I mean and an overweening spirit, surpassed even an incorporeal power, that of the devil; while humbleness of mind and the acknowledgment of his own sins committed brought the robber into Paradise before the Apostles. Now if the confidence which they who confess their own sins effect for themselves is so great, they who are conscious to themselves of many good qualities, yet humble their own souls, how great crowns will they not win. For when sinfulness be put together with humbleness of mind it runs with such ease as to pass and out-strip righteousness combined with pride. If therefore thou have put it to with righteousness, whither will it not reach? Through how many heavens will it not pass? By the throne of God itself surely it will stay its course; in the midst of the angels, with much confidence. On the other hand if pride, having been yoked with righteousness, by the excess and weight of its own wickedness had strength enough to drag down its confidence; if it be put together with sinfulness, into how deep a hell will it not be able to precipitate him who has it? These things I say, not in order that we should be careless of righteousness, but that we should avoid pride; not that we should sin, but that we should be sober-minded. For humbleness of mind is the foundation of the love of wisdom which pertains to us. Even if you should have built a superstructure of things innumerable; even if almsgiving, even if prayers, even if fastings, even if all virtue; unless this have first been laid as a foundation, all will be built upon it to no purpose and in vain; and it will fall down easily, like that building which had been placed on the sand. For there is no one, no one of our good deeds, which does not need this; there is no one which separate from this will be able to stand. But even if you should mention temperance, even if virginity, even if despising of money, even if anything whatever, all are unclean and accursed and loathsome, humbleness of mind being absent. Everywhere therefore let us take her with us, in words, in deeds, in thoughts, and with this let us build these (graces).


- Elder Ambrose of Optina:

Repentance and humility are more important and higher than all of the other virtues, continuing until the end of our life. Referring to the words of the Prophet David, Saint John Climacus writes, “I did not fast, I did not keep vigil, I did not sleep on the bare earth, but I humbled myself and the Lord saved me.”


- Saint John of Kronstadt:

When the foolish thought of counting up any of your good works enters into your head, immediately correct your fault and rather count up your sins, your continual and innumerable offences against the All-Merciful and Righteous Master, and you will find that their number is as the sand of the sea, whilst your virtues in comparison with them are as nothing.


- Saint Peter of Damascus:

If repentance is too much for you, and you sin out of habit even when you do not want to, show humility like the publican; this is enough to ensure your salvation.


- LITURGICAL HYMNS from the TRIODION: SUNDAY OF THE PUBLICAN & PHARISEE ~ SATURDAY EVENING VESPERS

Tone 1
Brothers, let us not pray like the Pharisee: He who exalts himself will be humbled! Let us prepare to abase ourselves by fasting; Let us cry aloud with the voice of the Publican: O God, forgive us sinners!

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

The Pharisee went up to the temple with a proud and empty heart; The Publican bowed himself in repentance. They both stood before you, O Master: The one, through boasting, lost his reward, But the other, with tears and sighs, won your blessing: Strengthen me, O Christ our God, as I weep in Your presence, Since You are the lover of mankind!

Now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Tone 8
I know the value of tears, almighty Lord: They delivered Hezekiah from the gates of death, And rescued the harlot from repeated sins. Tears justified the Publican instead of the Pharisee: I pray You, Lord: number me with the former, and have mercy on me!

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Gregory Palamas: On the Publican and the Pharisee

1. THE unseen patron of evil is full of evil ingenuity. Right at the beginning he can drag away, by means of hopelessness and lack of faith, the foundations of virtue already laid in the soul. Again, by means of indifference and laziness, he can make an attempt on the walls of virtue’s house just when they are being built up. Or he can bring down the roof of good works after its construction, by means of pride and madness. But stand firm, do not he alarmed, for a diligent man is even more ingenious in good things, and virtue has superior forces to deploy against evil. It has at its disposal supplies and support in battle from Him Who is all-powerful, Who in His goodness strengthens all lovers of virtue. So not only can virtue remain unshaken by the various wicked devices prepared by the enemy, but it can also lift up and restore those fallen into the depths of evil, and easily lead them to God by repentance and humility.

2. Here is an example and a clear proof. The Publican, as a publican, dwells in the depths of sin. All he has in common with those who live virtuously is one short utterance, but he finds relief, is lifted up and rises above every evil. He is numbered with the company of the righteous, justified by the impartial Judge Himself. If the Pharisee is condemned by his speech, it is because, as a Pharisee, he thinks himself somebody, although he is not really righteous, and utters many arrogant words which provoke God’s anger with their every syllable.

3. Why does humility lead up to the heights of righteousness, whereas self-conceit leads down to the depths of sin? Because anybody who thinks he is something great, even before God, is rightly abandoned by God, as one who thinks that he does not need His help. Anybody who despises himself, on the other hand, and relies on mercy from above, wins God’s sympathy, help and grace. As it says, “The Lord resisteth the proud: but he giveth grace unto the lowly” (Prov. 3:34 LXX).

4. The Lord demonstrates this in a parable, saying. “Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican” (Luke 18:10). Wanting to set clearly before us the gain that comes from humility and the loss from pride, he divided into two groups all who went to the Temple, or, rather, those who went up into the Temple, who are the ones who go there to pray. This is the nature of prayer, it brings a man up from the earth into heaven and, rising above every heavenly name, height and honor, sets him before the God Who is over all (cf. Rom. 9:5). The ancient Temple was set in a high place, on a hill above the city. Once when a deadly epidemic was destroying Jerusalem, David saw the Angel of Death on this hill, stretching out his sword against the city. He went up there and built an altar to the Lord, on which he offered a sacrifice to God, and the destruction ceased (2 Sam. 24:15-25). All these things are an image of the saving ascent of the spirit during holy prayer and of the forgiveness it brings - for these things all

foreshadowed our salvation. They can also be an image of this holy church of ours, which is indeed set in a high place, in another angelic country above the world, where the great, bloodless sacrifice, acceptable to God, is offered for the forgiveness of the whole world, the destruction of death and abundance of eternal life.

5. So the Lord did not say, “Two men went to the temple”, but “went up” into the Temple. Even now there are some who come to the holy church without going up. Instead they bring down the church, the image of heaven. They come for the sake of meeting each other and talking, or to buy and sell goods, and they resemble each other, for the latter offer goods, the former words, and all receive a fair exchange. As in those days the Lord drove them completely out of the Temple saying, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves” (Matt. 21:13), so He also drove them away from their conversations as they did not really go up into the Temple at all, even if they came there every day.

6. The Pharisee and the Publican went up into the Temple, both with the aim of praying. But the Pharisee brought himself down after going up, defeating his aim by the way he prayed. Both had the same aim in going up, both went up to pray, but they prayed in opposite ways. One made the ascent broken and contrite, for he had learned from the Psalmist and Prophet that “a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Ps. 5 1:17). The Prophet says of himself, with the knowledge of experience, “I was brought low and the Lord helped me” (Ps.11 6:6). But why am I talking about the Prophet, when the God of the prophets, Who for our sake became like us, humbled himself. “Wherefore”, as the Apostle says, “God hath highly exalted him” (Phil. 2:9). The Pharisee, by contrast, goes up bloated with pretensions to justify himself in the presence of God, although all our righteousness is like a filthy rag before Him (cf. Is. 64:6). He had not heard the saying, “Everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 16:5), or, “God resisteth the proud” (Prov. 3:34 LXX), or, “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight” (Isa. 5:21).

7. The two were different not only in their manner and way of praying but also in their type of prayer, for there are two kinds. Prayer is not only a matter of entreaty but also of thanksgiving. Of those who pray, one goes up to the Temple of God praising and thanking God for what he has received from him. Another asks for what he has not yet received, including, in the case of those of us who sin all the time, remission of sins. When we piously promise to offer something to God, that is not called prayer but a vow, as shown by the one who said, “Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God” (Ps. 76: 11), and the other who said, “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay” (Eccles. 5:4).

8. However, these two kinds of prayer can both be unprofitable for the unwary. Faith and contrition make prayer and supplication for the remission of sins effective, once evil deeds have been renounced, but despair and hardness of heart make it ineffectual. Thanksgiving for the benefits received from God is made acceptable by humility and not looking down on those who lack them. It is rendered unacceptable, however, by being conceited, as if those benefits resulted from our own efforts and knowledge, and by condemning those who have not received them. The Pharisee’s behavior and words prove he was afflicted with both these diseases. He went up to the Temple to give thanks, not to make supplication and, like a wretched fool, mingled conceit and condemnation of others with his thanksgiving. For he stood and prayed thus with himself: “God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers” (Luke 18:11).

9. Instead of the attitude of a servant, the Pharisee’s stance displays shameless self-exaltation, the opposite of that other man who, in his humility, did not dare to lift up his eyes to heaven. It stands to reason that the Pharisee prayed to himself, for his prayer did not ascend to God, although it did not escape the notice of Him Who sits upon the Cherubim and observes the lowest depths of the abyss. When he said “I thank thee”, he did not go on to say, “because in Thy mercy Thou didst freely deliver me, weak and unable to fight as I am, from the snares of the devil”. For he is spiritually courageous who manages to take refuge in repentance when caught in the snares of the enemy and fallen into the nets of sin. The circumstances of our lives are directed by a higher providence and often, with little or no effort on our part, by God’s help we have stayed out of reach of many great passions, delivered by His sympathy for our weakness. We should acknowledge the gift and humble ourselves before the Giver, not be conceited.

10. The Pharisee says, “I thank thee, God”, not because I have received any help from Thee, but “because I am not as other men are”. As though it was from his own resources and through his own ability that he was not an extortioner or unjust or an adulterer - if, indeed, he really was not. He did not pay attention to himself, or he would not have said he was righteous. He was looking more at everyone else than at himself and, in his madness, despised them all. Only one seemed to him to be righteous and chaste: himself. “I am not”, he says, “as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican” (Luke 18:11). Anyone could point out to him how foolish he was, by saying to him, “If all except yourself are unjust and extortioners, then who are the victims of extortion and injustice? What about this Publican, and the extra words you added about him? Since he is one of the rest, surely he was included in your general, your universal, condemnation? Or did he have to be condemned twice over because he was in your sight, even though he was standing far away from you. You knew he was unjust because he was obviously a publican, but how did you know he was an adulterer? Or perhaps you are entitled to treat him unjustly and insult him since he treated others unjustly?” But it is not so. With a humble mind he bears your arrogant accusation and, reproaching himself, he offers supplication to God and is delivered by Him from the condemnation of having treated others unjustly. You, however, will be rightly condemned for having arrogantly made accusations against him and all men, and deemed only yourself righteous. “I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers.”

11. These words show the Pharisee’s disdain for God and for everybody, but also for the standards of his own conscience. He openly despises everybody and ascribes his abstention from evil not to God’s strength but to his own. If he says that he thanks God, it is only because he considers all men apart from himself to be licentious, unjust and extortioners, as though God saw fit to grant virtue to him alone. However, if everyone were like that, all the Pharisee’s goods would be in their possession as loot. But this is not so, for he adds, “I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I gain” (Luke l8:12). He does not say that he gives tithes of all that he possesses, but of all that he gains, meaning the additions and increases to his fortune. So he kept what he possessed and also took without hindrance as much as he could over and above that. How could all except himself be extortioners and unjust? This is how self-confuting and self-deceiving evil is! Madness is always mixed with lies.

12. He put forward the fact that he gave tithes of his wealth to prove his righteousness; for if someone gives tithes of his own wealth how can he be an extortioner of other people’s? He put forward fasting to show off his chastity because fasting gives rise to purity. For argument’s sake, then, let us say you are chaste, righteous, wise, sensible, brave, and whatever else you wish. If this has come from yourself and not from God, why do you deceitfully pretend to pray? Why do you go up into the Temple and give thanks in vain? But if it has come from God, you did not receive it so as to boast but for the edification of others to the glory of the Giver. You should have humbly rejoiced and given thanks both to Him Who gave and to those for whose sake the gifts were given. The lamp receives light for those who see it, not for itself. For “week” the Pharisee uses the word “Sabbath”, but he means not the seventh day but the seven days, on two of which he brags that he fasts. He is unaware that such fasts are mere human virtues, whereas pride is demonic. When pride is linked with fasting, however genuine, it annuls and destroys the virtues, and how much more so if the fasting is a sham.

13. These are the words of the Pharisee. By contrast, the Publican “standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). See the extent of his humility, faith and self-reproach. See the utter abasement of his thoughts and feelings, and, at the same time, contrition of heart mingled with this publican’s prayer. When he went up into the Temple to pray for the remission of his sins, he brought with him good advocates before God: unashamed faith, un-condemned self-reproach, contrition of heart that is not despised and humility that exalts. He linked attention to prayer most excellently. It says, “The publican standing afar off’. Not “stood”, as in the case of the Pharisee, but “standing”, to show that he was standing for a long time continuously praying and asking for mercy. Without any other intention or thought he paid attention only to himself and God, turning over and repeating the supplication of a single thought,’ the most effective of all prayers.

14. “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven” (Luke 18:13). As he stood he bowed down, and his bearing was not only that of a lowly servant, but also of a condemned man. It also proclaims a soul delivered from sin. Although still far from God, without the boldness towards Him that comes from good works, it hopes to draw near to him because it has already renounced evil and is intent on good. “Standing afar off the publican would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven”, showing his self- condemnation and self-reproach’ by his manner and appearance. He saw himself as unworthy either of heaven or of the earthly Temple, so he stood on the threshold of the Temple, not daring even to turn his gaze towards heaven, still less towards the God of heaven. In his intense contrition he smote upon his breast to show he was worthy of punishment. He sighed in deepest mourning, bowing his head like a condemned man, calling himself a sinner and begging with faith for forgiveness, saying, “God be merciful to me a sinner”. For he believed Him Who said, “Turn ye unto me, and I will turn unto you” (Zech. 1:3), and the Prophet who bore witness, “I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my heart” (cf. Ps. 32:5).

15. What happened then'? “This man”, says the Lord, “went down to his house justified rather than the other, for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:14). As the devil is conceit itself and pride is his own particular evil, it defeats and swallows up any human virtue with which it is mixed. Whereas humility is the virtue of the good angels, and defeats any human evil that comes upon fallen mankind. Humility is the chariot by which we ascend to God, like those clouds which are to carry up to God those who would dwell for endless ages with Him, as foretold by the Apostle: “We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thess. 4:17). Humility is the same as such a cloud. It is formed by repentance, releases streams of tears; brings out the worthy from among the unworthy and leads them up to unite them with God, justified by His free gift for the gratitude of their free disposition.

16. At first the Publican evilly appropriated other people’s goods; later he renounced dishonesty and by not justifying himself, was justified. The Pharisee did not lay claim to other people’s possessions, but by justifying himself he was condemned. What will befall those who do lay claim to other people’s possessions and attempt to justify themselves?

17. Let us leave them, as the Lord does, for words will not convince such people. Sometimes it happens that we humble ourselves when we pray, and we may imagine that we shall be rewarded with the same justification as the Publican. But it is not so. We must consider the fact that the Publican was despised by the Pharisee to his face, even after he had abandoned sin, and he condemned himself with contempt, not only not contradicting the Pharisee but joining in with his accusations against him.

18. When you abandon your evildoing, do not contradict those who despise or reproach you because of it. Join them in condemning yourself for what you are like and, through contrite prayer, take refuge in the forgiveness of God alone, realizing that you are a rescued publican. Many have called themselves sinners, and so do we, but dishonor tests the heart. The great Paul is far removed from pharisaic boasting, but he wrote to those in Corinth who were speaking in tongues, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” (1 Cor. 14:18). (He who elsewhere calls himself the off-scouring of all things, writes these words to restrain those who look down on those who did not have this gift, cf. 1 Cor. 4:13). If therefore Paul, who is far removed from pharisaic boasting, can write such words, it is also possible for someone to say the same words as the Publican and be humble in speech like him, but not to be justified as he was. To the Publican’s words must be added his renunciation of evil, his soul’s disposition, his contrition and his patience. David shows us by his actions that anyone who considers himself guilty before God and repents must believe that the reproach and contempt of others towards him is just and to be endured. After he had sinned, when he heard Shimei speaking ill of him, he said to those who wanted to retaliate, “Let him curse, because the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David” (2 Sam. 16:10). According to him, God’s forgiveness of David’s sin against him had posted the man there. Yet David was struggling at that time with a great and terrible calamity, as Absalom had just risen up in revolt against him (2 Sam. 15:7ff).

19. Leaving Jerusalem against his will and with unbearable grief, he fled as far as the foot of the Mount of Olives. There, to make the calamity worse, he met Shimei throwing stones at him, cursing him mercilessly and insulting him shamelessly (2 Sam. 16:5ff). He called him a bloodthirsty man and a criminal, as if to remind the King, to his disgrace, of the incident with Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Sam. 11:3-15). He did not stop after cursing him once or twice and throwing a few stones, and words that strike harder than stones. It says the King with all his men went on with Shimei going along the mountainside following the King, cursing him, throwing stones from the side and spattering him with mud. The King did not lack men to stop him. Abishai, his commander, unable to endure it, said to the King, “Why should this dead dog curse my lord and king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head” (2 Sam. 16:9). But David restrained him and all his servants, saying to them, “Let him curse. It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day” (2 Sam. 16:12).

20. The happenings which took place in those days are shown in the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, fulfilled for ever by righteousness. If someone really accounts himself guilty of eternal punishment, he will courageously endure not just dishonor but also harm, disease and, in fact, every kind of misfortune and ill-treatment. He who shows such patience, as though in debt and guilty, is delivered by a very light condemnation, temporary and ephemeral, saved from truly grievous, unbearable and unending punishment.16 Sometimes he may even he delivered from dangers threatening him now, because God’s kindness begins from that point, due to his patience. Someone chastened by God said, “I will bear the chastening of the Lord, because I have sinned against him” (cf. Micah 7:9 LXX).

21. May we, chastened not by the Lord’s wrath and anger hut by His mercy, not be cast down by God’s punishment, but like the Psalmist may we be raised up at the end by the grace and love towards mankind of Our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory, might, honor and worship, together with the Father and the life-giving Spirit, now and for ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

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Cyril of Alexandria: On the Publican and Pharisee

Homilies on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 120

Luke 18:9-14. And He spoke also this parable unto certain men who trust in themselves that they are righteous, and despise others. "Two men went up unto the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. And the Pharisee stood and prayed thus to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of mankind, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or as this publican. I fast twice in the week. I pay tithe of all that I gain.' But the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up even his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful unto me the sinner.' I tell you that this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For every one that exalts himself shall be abased, and he that abases himself shall be exalted."

You who love instruction, and are eager to listen, receive once again the sacred words: delight yourselves in the honey of wisdom; for so it is written, "Good words are honeycombs, and their sweetness is the healing of the soul." For the labour of the bees is very sweet, and benefits in many ways the soul of man: but the divine and saving (honey) makes those in whom it dwells skilful in every good work, and teaches them the ways of (spiritual) improvement. Let us therefore, as I said, receive again in mind and heart the Saviour's words. For He teaches us in what manner we ought to make our requests unto Him, in order that the act may not prove unrewarded to them who practise it; and that no one may anger God, the bestower of gifts from on high, by means of those very things by which he imagines that he shall gain some benefit. For it is written. "There is a righteous man, who perishes in his righteousness."

For see, I pray, an instance of this clearly painted, so to speak, in the parable set before us. One who prayed is condemned because he did not offer his prayer wisely. "For two men, it says, went up unto the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican." And here we must admire the wise arrangement of Christ our common Saviour, in all things whatsoever He does and says. For by the parable previously read to us, He called us to diligence, and to the duty of offering prayer constantly: for the Evangelist said, "And He spoke unto them also a parable, to the intent that men ought always to pray, and must not grow weary." Having then urged them to diligence in constant prayer, yet, as I said, lest by doing so sedulously but without discretion, we should enrage Him Whom we supplicate, He very excellently shows us in what way we ought to be diligent in prayer. "Two men then, He says, went up unto the temple to pray." Observe here, I pray, the impartiality and entire fairness of the unerring Nature: for He calls those who were praying men, since He looks not so much at wealth or power; but regarding their natural equality, He considers all those who dwell upon earth as men, and as in no respect different from one another.

And what then was the manner of their prayer? "The Pharisee, it says, prayed thus to himself. God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of mankind, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or as this publican." Many at once are the faults of the Pharisee: for first of all he is boastful, and without sense; for he praises himself, although the sacred Scripture cries aloud, "Let a neighbour praise you, and not your own mouth: a stranger and not your own lips." But, O excellent sir, one may well say to him, Behold, those who live in the practice of good and holy actions, as any one may see, are not very ready to listen to the words of flatterers: yes, and even if men extol them, they often are covered with shame, and drop their eyes to the ground, and beg silence of those that praise them. But this shameless Pharisee praises and extols himself because he is better than extortioners, and the unjust, and adulterers. But how did it escape your notice, that a man's being better than the bad does not necessarily and of course prove him to be worthy of admiration: but that to vie with those who habitually excel, is a noble and honourable thing, and admits a man into the number of those who are justly praised.

Our virtue therefore must not be contaminated with fault, but must be single-minded and blameless, and free from all that can bring reproach. For what profit is there in fasting twice in the week, if your so doing serve only as a pretext for ignorance and vanity, and make you supercilious and haughty, and selfish? You tithe your possessions, and make a boast thereof: but you in another way provoke God's anger, by condemning men generally on this account, and accusing others; and you are yourself puffed up, though not crowned by the divine decree for righteousness, but heap, on the contrary, praises upon yourself. "For I am not, he says, as the rest of mankind." Moderate yourself, O Pharisee: "put a door to your tongue, and a lock." You speak to God Who knows all things. Await the decree of the Judge. None of those skilled in the practice of wrestling ever crowns himself: nor does any man receive the crown of himself, but awaits the summons of the arbiter. Lower your pride: for arrogance is both accursed and hated by God. Although therefore you fast with puffed up mind, your so doing will not avail you: your labour will be unrewarded; for you have mingled dung with your perfume. Even according to the law of Moses a sacrifice that had a blemish was not capable of being offered to God: for it was said unto him, "Of sheep, and ox, that is offered for sacrifice, there must be no blemish therein." Since therefore your fasting is accompanied by pride, you must expect to hear God saying, "This is not the fast that I have chosen, says the Lord." You offer tithes: but you wrong in another way Him Who is honoured by you, in that you condemn men generally. This is an act foreign to the mind that fears God: for Christ even said, "Judge not, and you shall not be judged: condemn not, and you shall not be condemned." And one also of His disciples said, "There is one Lawgiver, and Judge: why then do you judge your neighbour?" No man because he is in health ridicules one who is sick for being laid up and bedridden: rather he is afraid, lest perchance he become himself the victim of similar sufferings. Nor does any man in battle, because another has fallen, praise himself for having escaped from misfortune. For the infirmity of others is not a fit subject for praise for those who are in health: nay, even if any one be found of more than usually vigorous health, even then scarcely does he gain glory thereby. Such then was the state of the self-loving Pharisee.

But what of the publican? He stood, it says, "afar off," not even venturing, so to speak, to raise up his eyes on high. You see him abstaining from all boldness of speech, as having no right thereto, and smitten by the reproaches of conscience: for he was afraid of being even seen by God, as one who had been careless of His laws, and had led an unchaste and dissolute life. You see also that by his external manner, he accuses his own depravity. For the foolish Pharisee stood there bold and broad, lifting up his eyes without scruple, bearing witness of himself, and boastful. But the other feels shame at his conduct: he is afraid of his Judge, he smites upon his breast, he confesses his offences, he shows his malady as to the Physician, he prays that he may have mercy. And what is the result? Let us hear what the Judge says, "This man, He says, went down to his house justified rather than the other."

Let us therefore "pray without ceasing," according to the expression of the blessed Paul: but let us be careful to do so aright. The love of self is displeasing to God, and He rejects empty haughtiness and a proud look, puffed up often on account of that which is by no means excellent. And even if a man be good and sober, let him not on this account suffer himself to fall away into shameful pride: but rather let him remember Christ, Who says to the holy apostles, "When you have done all those things, those namely which have been commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty to do.'' For we owe unto God over all, as from the yoke of necessity, the service of slaves, and ready obedience in all things. Yes, though you lead an excellent and elect life, don't exact wages from the Lord; but rather ask of Him a gift. As being good, He will promise it you: as a loving Father, He will aid you. Restrain not yourself then from saying, "God be merciful to me the sinner." Remember Him Who says by the voice of Isaiah, "Declare you your sins first, that you may be justified:" remember too that He rebukes those who will not do so, and says, "Behold, I have a judgment against you, because you say 560 'I have not sinned'." Examine the words of the saints: for one says, "The righteous is the accuser of himself in the beginning of his words." And another again, "I said, I will confess against myself my transgression unto the Lord: and you forgave the iniquity of my heart."

What answer then will those make to this, who embrace the new tenets of Novatus, and say of themselves that they are pure? Whose prayer do they praise? That of the Pharisee, who acquitted himself, or that of the Publican, who accused himself? If they say that of the Pharisee, they resist the divine sentence; for he was condemned as being boastful: but if that of the Publican, why do they refuse to acknowledge their own impurity? Certainly God justifies those who know well their transgressions, and are willing to confess them: but these men will have the portion of the Pharisee.

We then say, that in many things we "all of us offend," and that no man is pure from uncleanness, even though his life upon earth be but one day. Let us ask then of God mercy; which if we do, Christ will justify us: by Whom and with Whom, to God the Father, be praise and dominion, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever, Amen.

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Triodion Begins Today

The Pharisees were an ancient and outstanding sect among the Jews known for their diligent observance of the outward matters of the Law. Although, according to the word of our Lord, they "did all their works to be seen of men" (Matt. 23:5), and were hypocrites (ibid. 23: 13, 14, 15, etc.), because of the apparent holiness of their lives they were thought by all to be righteous, and separate from others, which is what the name Pharisee means. On the other hand, Publicans, collectors of the royal taxes, committed many injustices and extortions for filthy lucre's sake, and all held them to be sinners and unjust. It was therefore according to common opinion that the Lord Jesus in His parable signified a virtuous person by a Pharisee, and a sinner by a Publican, to teach His disciples the harm of pride and the profit of humble-mindedness.

Since the chief weapon for virtue is humility, and the greatest hindrance to it is pride, the divine Fathers have set these three weeks before the Forty-day Fast as a preparation for the spiritual struggles of virtue. This present week they have called Harbinger, since it declares that the Fast is approaching; and they set humility as the foundation for all our spiritual labors by appointing that the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee be read today, even before the Fast begins, to teach, through the vaunting of the Pharisee, that the foul smoke of self-esteem and the stench of boasting drives away the grace of the Spirit, strips man of all his virtue, and casts him into the pits of Hades; and, through the repentance and contrite prayer of the Publican, that humility confers upon the sinner forgiveness of all his wicked deeds and raises him up to the greatest heights.

All foods are allowed the week that follows this Sunday.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. Let us cry out to the Savior, "Have mercy on us, for through You alone are we reconciled."

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Preparation for Great Lent

The preparation for Great Lent begins soon after the feast of the Theophany of the Lord corresponding to its historical commemoration that soon after His baptism Jesus Christ left for the desert for a fast, in commemoration of which the Holy Forty Day Fast was established. Beginning with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, the preparation for Great Lent comes to an end with Cheesefare Sunday. The Holy Church for a long time begins to prepare the faithful for Great Lent as a redemptive time for an all general spiritual cleansing and sanctification. This cleansing and sanctification are possible only under the condition of the complete remission of sins, the complete change of a life view in ideas, feelings and actions, the complete renewal and spiritual revival. But such revival requires the sustained, serious, painful and tenacious spiritual struggle, by which it gradually should revive to compel and ingrain itself. Besides this the determination for such a spiritual struggle and its persistence also depends on us, but it depends more on the mercy of God, who revives it in the heart and is accomplished by His all-acting grace. Therefore we should pray a lot and with diligence, so that the Lord will send us to the door of repentance, to break the hardness of our hearts and to stir up grief about our sins, without which there cannot be true repentance; to inflame our heart with love for Him, without Whom even the most sincere repentance would not be strong enough; to enliven and give wing to our spirit with sacred hope, without which the trembling heart would be suppressed with sorrow. That is why the Holy Church prepares us beforehand for our entrance into the sacred and redemptive days of lent and repentance, and beforehand makes an effort to remove everything that interferes with our coming to true repentance, and beforehand makes an effort to teach us that the sincere spirit of humility and contrition to be acquired is required from us. Preparing believers for the Holy Forty Day Fast, the Holy Church in its services, according to its own expression, acts as the commander who with timely and wise words encourages the warriors before doing battle with the enemy. Therefore in its preparatory services it does not forget to tell everything that may position the faithful for fasting and repentance. In its sacred commemorations it returns to the first days of the world and mankind, to the blessed condition of the forefathers and their fall, to show the beginning of sin and to awaken in us contrition for sins, and to the time of the coming on earth of the Son of God for the salvation of mankind in order to turn us to God. Continuing in the preparatory season, the Holy Church accustoms the faithful to the ascetical struggle of fasting and the gradual incorporation of abstinence. After eating meat all during the week following the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, it reinstates the Wednesday and Friday fasts and then builds up to the highest degree of preparatory abstinence by prohibiting the eating of all meat products but with the allowance to use cheese products. The special preparation for the Holy Forty Day Fast is undoubtedly an ancient established practice of the Holy Church. Thus, the already famous preachers of the Fourth Century Saints Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria and others left us their discussions and sermons, spoken by them in view of the fast not already come, but only expected.

S. V. Bulgakov, Handbook for Church Servers, 2nd ed., (Kharkov, 1900) p. 488

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The Triodion

Lenten Synaxarion: Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee

O Creator of all above and below,
as Thou receivest the thrice-holy hymn from the angels,
so also from mankind receive the Triodion.
He who lives like a Pharisee is far from the Church,
for Christ is received within, O ye humble of heart.

With God on this present day we begin the Triodion, the hymns of which were composed by many of our holy and God-bearing Fathers, inspired by the Holy Spirit according to their worthiness. The first of all was the great author Cosmas of Maiuma, who composed the three odes (symbolic of the Holy and Life-Creating Trinity) for the Great and Holy Week of the Passion of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. After him others of the Fathers, including Theodore and Joseph of the Studite Monastery, following his zealous example, arranged the services of the other weeks of the Holy and Great Forty-day Fast, reserving them at first for the use of the Studite Monastery. Furthermore they composed and arranged hymns, seeking them and collecting them from other books of the Fathers. Since, according to the Triodion, Sunday, the celebration of the Resurrection, is the first day of the week as well as the last or eighth day, they prescribed the first canticle of the canon to be sung on the second day of the week, i.e. Monday. The second canticle was prescribed for Tuesday, the third day of the week, the third canticle for Wednesday, the fourth canticle for Thursday, the fifth canticle for Friday, and the sixth and seventh canticles for Saturday. The rest, the eighth and ninth canticles, are prescribed for every day.

It must be known, however, that although it is called the Triodion, it does have services with other than three-canticle canons. It is so named because the majority of the services have three canticle canons, especially during Holy Week. For it was our Holy Fathers’ idea that through the entire Triodion would be commemorated in a concise form all God’s benefits to us from the beginning, using it as a reminder for all of us that we were created by Him, and were exiled from Paradise through the tasting of the fruit, rejecting the commandment that was given to us for our knowledge, and we were cast out through the envy of the arch villain serpent and enemy, who was made to crawl for his arrogance. That we remained cut off from the benefits of Paradise and were led by the devil. That the Son and Word of God, having suffered in His mercy, bowing the heavens, descended and made His abode in the Virgin and became man for our sake, showing us through His life the ascent into the heavens, through humility first of all then fasting and the rejection of evil and through His other deeds. That He suffered and rose from the dead and ascended once more into heaven, and He sent down the Holy Spirit upon His holy disciples and Apostles, who all proclaimed Him to be the Son of God and the most perfect God. And that once more the divine Apostles acted through the grace of the most Holy Spirit and gathered all the saints from the ends of the earth through their preaching, filling the world on high, which was the intention of the Creator from the beginning.

Now the purpose of the Triodion intended by the Holy Fathers on these three present feasts of the Publican and the Pharisee, the Prodigal Son, and the Second Coming is a kind of preparatory lesson and stimulation to prepare ourselves for the spiritual labors of the Fast, having put aside our usual corrupt habits. First of all they present to us the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee, and they call the week following precursory. For those who desire to go off to do military battle, first ascertain the time of the battle from the leaders, so that having cleaned and polished their weapons, and preparing well all their other matters, and having removed all obstacles from their path, they earnestly go forth to their labors, taking the necessary supplies. Often before battle they tell anecdotes and tales and parables to incite their hearts to zeal, driving off idleness, fear, despair and other inadequate feelings. So the divine Fathers herald the coming fast against the armies of demons as a passion which holds fast our souls to cleanse ourselves of the poison accumulated over a long period of time. Not yet possessing those benefits, let us strive to obtain them, and arming ourselves properly, so let us set off to the labors of the Fast.

Now the first weapon among the virtues is repentance and humility. And the temptation to attain the greatest humility is pride and arrogance. So they place before us first of all this present trustworthy parable from the Divine Gospel. It encourages us to shun the desire for the pride and arrogance of the Pharisee, and to cultivate the opposite desire of the Publican for humility and repentance. For the greatest and most grievous passion is pride and arrogance, since this is how the Devil fell from the heavens before the morning star and was cast into darkness. Because of this Adam, the father of our race, was driven from Paradise through partaking of the fruit. Through this example the Holy Fathers encourage all not to be proud of their successes, but always to be humble. For the Lord sets Himself against the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. Better a man who has sinned, if he knows that he has sinned and repents, than a man who has not sinned and thinks of himself as righteous. For Christ said, "I say to you that the Publican went down to his house justified rather than the Pharisee." This parable reveals that no one should exalt himself, even though he has done good deeds, but rather should always be humble and pray from his heart to God, for even if he should fall into the most serious sin, salvation is not far off.

Through the prayers of all Thy holy hymnographers, O Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

Translated from Triodion, siest' Tripesnets: Triod' Postnaya, Moscow, 1904, by Robert Parent.

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The Himalayan Glacier Melt Error Exposed

Sphere.com reports the following expose of the doomsday predictions IPCC Chairman Rajendra Pachauri made regarding the Himalayan glacier melt. Read an excerpt below:

"It sounds like the plot of a Hollywood disaster movie: Central and Southern Asia are hit by biblical floods when the Himalayan glaciers suddenly melt. After that cataclysm, water no longer flows from the mountains, leaving rivers like the Mekong and Ganges dry and millions facing permanent drought. That was the picture painted by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report, which said there was a "very high" chance that these glaciers would disappear by 2035 if the world kept warming.

"But the IPCC, the U.N. body charged with investigating climate change, retracted that claim after it emerged that its predictions of a sudden melt weren't based on peer-reviewed evidence, but instead on an article that appeared in the popular science magazine New Scientist in 1999..."

To read the rest of this article, see here.

For more information, see here.

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Luminous Cross In Skies Over Russia

A few days ago the following celestial phenomenon appeared in the skies over Russia.

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Your Political Compass

Thought I would share this with my more politically minded friends. It is a quiz that will test your political compass.

Take the test here.

Compare your results to mine here.

Economic Left/Right: -4.62
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.90

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Poll: Most Blasphemous Movie in Theatres

I have just posted a poll on the sidebar, something which I will do more and more in the future (suggestions welcome for topical subjects), which addresses the question as follows:

"What movie in theatres now with a religious theme is the most blasphemous?"

The choices are:

Avatar
The Lovely Bones
Legion
The Book of Eli
Sherlock Holmes
The White Ribbon
Creation

I have seen all of these movies except two - The White Ribbon and Creation. I hope to see both tomorrow or sometime this week. You can change your vote as you see them all, but voting ends on my birthday which is February 15th.

I was inspired to publish this poll because I have seen a theme of religious content in movies in theatres today, and some are good though others are horrible. This opens up the possibility of producing blasphemous content, as so far all of these movies posted have some sort of blasphemous content in my opinion, though some are not completely bad. Therefore, with the Oscars approaching (March 7th), I thought this was the most appropriate subject to produce a poll on.

My personal choice for most blasphemous movie is one I just saw a few hours ago in the theatre. It blows the other one's away by far in blasphemy that I have so far seen. My opinion may change when I see the two movies I have not seen, but for now the most blasphemous movie in theatres today is by far "Legion". It is so irredeemably blasphemous I just don't recommend watching it. But for those who have and those who are curious, this can be one of your choices.

After submitting your answer and would like to give your reason, I recommend you do so in the COMMENTS section on this post. I encourage it.

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Russian Orthodoxy in Asia Today

The entire interview with various parish priests throughout Asia can be read here. Below is an excerpt:

– What is the future of Orthodoxy in Asia?

Archimandrite Oleg (Cherepanin) (Thailand): We have to work regardless of the prospects. The future is in God's hands. We can only pray God to grow the fruits, which we now are planting. We have no other means to win the hearts of people adhering to different faiths, but the love, the love that manifested itself in the fullness of God, devoting himself to the Passion for the salvation of mankind. And for God nothing is impossible.

Archpriest Dionisy Pozdnyaev (Hong Kong): I think there is every chance that the Orthodox Church will develop, but it is necessary to exert sufficient effort on the part of the Orthodox Church.

Priest Alexis Trubach (Mongolia): I think, of course, there are prospects, and large prospects. As in Mongolia, and Thailand there are many opportunities not used, but with time they should be used. The main issues that stand on that road are the same as were in the XIX century - the problem of funding the mission and the problem of getting staff missionaries from Russia. These problems are open and required solutions. As for the conversion of Asians to Orthodoxy ... we have before our eyes a magnificent example of Indonesia. Here, in Bangkok, I met with Father Ioasaph, who created a magnificent parish in a rather complicated non-Christian environment, he has already more than fifty members, and he is going to continue to develop it. And I think our meeting in Bangkok was important precisely for this opportunity to learn the missionary experience of each other. Indonesian congregations are encouraging optimism in the future development of Orthodoxy in Asia. Their experience is valuable to all of us. I think maybe we're not going to convert people as fast, as Protestants, but this process, which is already in progress will continue.

Hieromonk Ioasaph (Tandibilang) (Indonesia): I find it difficult to talk about the whole of Asia, but I think that Orthodoxy — is a mercy for Indonesia. I see that in other Christian denominations there is not very much change in a person's life for God's sake. But when people become Orthodox, they are changing for the better, and it's obvious to all. Therefore, it is difficult not to say that the Orthodox — are different people, because we all look not so much on who is saying what, but rather on who leads a different life. And people say: why adopt a religion, if it does not change a person's life? And thank God that the Orthodox Church gives person the power to change, and this is God's blessing for Indonesia.

Priest Alexander Dondenko (Singapore): I believe that there are enormous opportunities for development, but much depends on people - both on the pastor, and on the parishioners. As soon as we pray, as soon as we prepare our hearts to accept God's grace, then God will grant it. Of course, despite our unworthiness, the Lord gives us much. We have to approach this task which was entrusted to us very responsibly, and Orthodox Christians must realize that they are missionaries. Not only is the priest a missionary, but every Orthodox Christian, and if he is aware of this and will live according to the commandments and become a vessel of God's grace, this will become the best sermon for our foreign-language neighbors, who do not understand the language and do not know the services are judging our faith, by observing our lives. If they see from our actions that God exists, then it will help them to convert to Orthodoxy. Now the natives are converting one by one, but as soon as we can find the way to their hearts, then they can convert en masse, as we know from Japan's example, where St. Nicholas worked. But, of course, for this a heroic deed is needed.

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Thoughts on Yoga Day USA, January 23, 2010

[To confirm what Hank says is true, that yoga cannot be divorced from its Hindu roots and is not merely just excercise, see this article titled "The Meaning and Purpose of Yoga." See also this article from The Boston Globe a few days ago which describes a typical journey into practicing yoga in contemporary America. To read an Orthodox Christian perspective of yoga, see here and here. - J.S.]

by Hank Hanegraaf

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?” (1 Corinthians 6:14–18 NIV)

Since Swami Vivekananda first introduced yoga to the West more than a hundred years ago, yoga has steadily gained in popularity, becoming as American as apple pie. In fact, you can find classes at the local gym as well as the local church! And according to the Columbia Journalism Review,

"Everybody loves yoga; sixteen and a half million Americans practice it regularly, and twenty-five million more say they will try it this year. If you’ve been awake and breathing air in the twenty-first century, you already know that this Hindu practice of health and spirituality has long ago moved on from the toe-ring set. Yoga is American; it has graced the cover of Time twice, acquired the approval of A-list celebrities like Madonna, Sting, and Jennifer Aniston, and is still the go-to trend story for editors and reporters, who produce an average of eight yoga stories a day in the English-speaking world.….Consumers drop $3 billion every year on yoga classes, books, videos, CDs, DVDs, mats, clothing, and other necessities."

With the growing attraction of yoga and its “rock-star status,” I have put much thought into the appropriate Christian response. In short, believers need to “think Christianly” about yoga; to facilitate this understanding, I have created the acronym Y-O-G-A.

“Y” reminds believers that the word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit word “yogah,” which means “to yoke or to unite.” Indeed, the goal of yoga is to uncouple oneself from the material world and to unite oneself with the God of Hinduism, commonly understood to be Brahman, the impersonal cosmic consciousness of the universe. Put another way, yoga is the means by which the user’s mind is merged into the universal mind.

“O” represents the Hindu mantra “Om” — a sacred Sanskrit syllable cherished by Hindu yogis as the spoken quintessence of the universe. Repeating such mantras as "Om" over and over is a principal means by which participants work their way into altered states of consciousness with the objective of dulling the critical thinking process. As noted by the late Indian guru Bhawan Shree Rajneesh, the mind is an obstacle to enlightenment.

Shockingly, what was once relegated to the kingdom of the cults is now being replicated in churches. In the ashrams of the cults there is no pretense. Despite such dangers as possession or insanity, Hindu gurus openly encourage trance states through which devotees tap into realms of the demonic and discover their “higher selves.” Whether experiencing involuntary movements or encountering illusory monsters, all is written off as progress on the road to enlightenment.

“G” recalls the gurus who developed and disseminated yoga for the express purpose of achieving oneness with the impersonal God of Hinduism. Most noteworthy among the Guru’s is Patanjali — the Hindu sage who founded Yoga around the second century B.C. Of particular significance in the West is the aforementioned guru, Swami Vivekananda, a disciple of the self-proclaimed “god-man” Sri Ramakrishna. In 1893 Vivekananda used the Parliament of World Religions to skillfully sow the seeds for a new global spirituality. Second only to Vivekananda in the Westernization of yoga was Yogananda — proudly hailed as “Father of Yoga in the West.” In 1920 he founded the L.A. based Self-Realization Fellowship, a principal means of disseminating Yoga to multiplied millions of Americans. Finally, of special note is Swami Muktananda, popularizer of kundalini yoga, a method by which divine energy thought to reside as a coiled serpent at the base of the spine is aroused; ascends through six chakras; and aims for union with the Hindu deity Shiva in a seventh center allegedly located in the crown of the head.

Finally, the “A” in Y-O-G-A brings to mind the Hindu word asana. As repetition of the word “Om” is used to work devotees into altered states of consciousness, so too a regiment of asanas — or body postures — are used to achieve a feeling of oneness with the cosmic energy flow of the universe. Coupled with breathing exercises and meditation practices, asana positions are considered to be the pathway to serenity and spirituality. According to the Yoga Journal, “asanas are their own type of meditation; to perform difficult postures you have to focus on your body and breath and relax into the pose.” While multitudes are being seduced into believing that asanas are spiritually neutral, nothing could be farther from the truth.

In sum, while an alarming number of American Christians suppose they can harmlessly achieve physical and spiritual well-being through a form of yoga divorced from its Eastern worldview, in reality attempts to Christianize Hinduism only Hinduize Christianity.

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St. Basil the Fool for Christ: A Russian Cartoon

It's in Russian, but you'll understand it nonetheless.

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The Dogmatic Atheist

If someone says to you "There is no God", firmly respond saying "There is a God indeed, yet for you He does not exist."

It would be more accurate for an unbeliever to humbly say, "I have no God", since the majority of people do acknowledge belief in God and consider it a statement of utter arrogance to assert that one could come to an absolute belief that God does not exist.

When an unbeliever dogmatically states "There is no God",...:

... it is like a sick person saying that health does not exist.

... it is like a blind person saying there is no vision to see light.

... it is like a beggar saying there are no riches in the world.

... it is like an evil man saying there is no goodness among men.

Rather,...:

... the sick person should say "I have no health".

... the blind person should say "I have no vision".

... the beggar should say "I have no riches".

... the evil man should say "I have no goodness".

Just because someone doesn't have something or doesn't understand something or doesn't believe something, it doesn't mean everyone lacks what they lack. So instead of an atheist dogmatically stating his lack of God should be lacked by everyone, he should acknowledge his lack is merely only a personal loss compared to those who do believe in God and live a fuller and richer life because of it.

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Saint Nektarios and the Military Officer

While the Saint was alive in his latter years in Aegina he would encourage a faithless military officer to have faith, that is, that there is a God, to repent, to Confess, to go to church, and to receive Communion. However the military officer did not believe.

For the next twelve years the military officer had moved from Aegina and lived in Macedonia. He returned to Aegina after those twelve years and at the port saw St. Nektarios again, who told him the same thing he had told him about faith twelve years prior.

Still obstinate, he went to the coffee shop where he came into contact with many of his old friends. He said to them: "I'm impressed that the abbot of Holy Trinity [St. Nektarios established Holy Trinity Monastery] is still alive."

"Which abbot?" they asked curiously. "The abbot of Holy Trinity died three years ago."

This perplexed the military officer, who retorted: "What do you mean that he died three years ago? I just met him on the road and we had a chat!"

Upon hearing this everyone was drawn to divine compunction, and the military officer came to believe that St. Nektarios appeared to him in his mercy to draw him once more to repentance from beyond the grave. Remorseful for his sins, he went to the Monastery of the Holy Trinity to worship God and venerate His saint, Nektarios.

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An Abortion Survivor

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Hinduism In Modern India

Source

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The Fathers of the Orthodox Church on Abortion

The following represent the teaching of the Orthodox Church from the [early] second century through the fifth century.... Note that penalties, when they are given, are neither civil nor criminal, but ecclesiastical and pastoral (excommunication for the purpose of inducing repentance). Also note that the these quotes deal with both surgical and chemically induced abortion, both pre- and post-quickening.

From the Letter to Diognetus:
(speaking of what distinguishes Christians from pagans) "They marry, as do all others; they beget children but they do not destroy their offspring" (literally, "cast away fetuses").

From the Didache:
"You shall not slay the child by abortions."

From the Letter of Barnabus:
"You shall not destroy your conceptions before they are brought forth; nor kill them after they are born."

From Clement of Alexandria:
"Those who use abortifacients commit homicide."

From Tertullian:
"The mold in the womb may not be destroyed."

From St. Basil the Great:
"The woman who purposely destroys her unborn child is guilty of murder. The hair-splitting difference between formed and unformed makes no difference to us."

From Augustine:
"Sometimes their sadistic licentiousness goes so far that they procure poison to produce infertility, and when this is of no avail, they find one means or another to destroy the unborn and flush it from the mother's womb. For they desire to see their offspring perish before it is alive or, if it has already been granted life, they seek to kill it within the mother's body before it is born."

From St. John Chrysostom:
"Why do you sow where the field is eager to destroy the fruit? Where there are medicines of sterility? Where there is murder before birth? You do not even let a harlot remain only a harlot, but you make her a murderess as well. Indeed, it is something worse than murder and I do not know what to call it; for she does not kill what is formed but prevents its formation. What then? Do you condemn the gifts of God, and fight with His laws? What is a curse you seek as though it were a blessing. Do you make the anteroom of slaughter? Do you teach the women who are given to you for a procreation of offspring to perpetuate killing?"

Canon XCI:
As for women who furnish drugs for the purpose of procuring abortions, and those who take fetus-killing poisons, they are made subject to penalty for murderers.

Canon II:
"A woman who aborts deliberately is liable to trial as a murderess. This is not a precise assertion of some figurative and inexpressible conception that passes current among us. For here there is involved the queston of providing for the infants to be born, but also for the woman who has plotted against her own self. For in most cases the women die in the course of such operations, But besides this there is to be noted the fact that the destruction of the embryo constitutes another murder.... It behooves us, however, not to extend their confessions to the extreme limit of death, but to admit them at the end of the moderate period of ten years, without specifying a definite time, but adjusting the cure to the manner of penitence."

Canon XXI:
"Regarding women who become prostitutes and kill their babies, and who make it their business to concoct abortives, the former rule barred them for life from communion, and they are left without resource. But having found a more philanthropic alternative, we have fixed the penalty at ten years, in accordance with the fixed degrees. ..."

"As for women who destroy embryos professionally, and those (non-prostitutes) who give or take poisons with the object of aborting babies and dropping them prematurely, we prescribe the rule that they, by economy, be treated up to five years at most."

All quotes are from "The Church Fathers on Social Issues," Department of Youth Ministry of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America.

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