Unbelief and the Indifference in Religion

On the morning of Sunday, February 9, 1873 — that is, 137 years ago today — a crowd assembled in Holy Trinity Russo-Greek Chapel in New York City. The priest, Fr. Nicholas Bjerring (depicted above), gave an address on “Unbelief and the Indifference in Religion.” The whole speech was printed in the next day’s New York Times. It is one of the few full Bjerring homilies that has survived, and it is reprinted below in full:

The subject about which, by the grace of God, I intend to speak today, is the perversion of this age in which the enemies of God and of man confuse the minds, corrupt the morals, undermine religion, and, rending asunder all bonds, seek to overthrow Divine and human order. It is the spiritual blindness of so many who attack Christianity, preach vice under the name of virtue, allow themselves everything with lawless audacity, proudly disregarding every authority, mislead the innocent, who poison the spirits and murder the souls. It is the deadly unbelief and the religious indifference which denies everything Divine and holy, the indifference, which is lukewarm and cold toward all that is good — this it is that troubles my heart and fills my soul with pain.

The greatest evil in the world is unbelief, the apostacy from God. This apostacy from God is the continual source of corruption. This is a law of the eternal justice. For the man who falls from God and recognizes infidelity is nothing more holy; for him ceases everything that religion highly esteems — family, property, fatherland. A nation in which skepticism gains the dominion is sure to meet perdition. Unbelief undermines all foundations of society, till finally regarding neither divine nor human authority it seeks seeks to upset everything existing. Thus teaches the history of all times.

Was it not during the rule of the Commune in Paris, as if there the angel of the Apocalypse had opened the abyss from which ascends scorpions? Was it not the lot of the Prince of Darkness to plunder and murder; was it not a picture of unspeakable misery, which there unfolded itself under the red, blood-steeped banner? God permitted for a short time of t his unlimited rule, in order to remind the nations again into what abyss apostacy from God does lead, and how everywhere, at all times, the truth of the law of eternal justice does stand, that unbelief is the source of all evil, and the end of corruption. “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” This eternal truth appears very clearly, when one considers more closely the watchwords and phrases of unbelief, and compares with them the deeds which were seen as the last consequences of the same in the days of the Parisian Commune.

The devil is only the ape of God; he knows no other inducements to allure to his kingdom than the promises which the Lord has made to His believers, only that he explains them in his way, and thus turns the divine truth into a lie. Man was created in the image of God, and “ye shall be as God,” were the words of the first temptation of the serpent, but it led, through sin, to corruption. To the Son of God was promised dominion over the world, and the devil endeavored to seduce Him through the promise of “all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.” The same value have the promises of the Internationalists and the communists. They incite men to their service through all that which God has named as the prize in His service.

“Liberty” is the first watchword that resounds from the ranks of these enemies of order and government, and the glorious liberty of the children of God is also the reward of those who follow the Gospel. But the evangelical liberty is freedom from slavery of sin, from the power of death; it is the sonship of God. The liberty at which the Internationalists aim is the despising [of] the commandments of God, the self-willed separating from His ordinances upon earth, as Church authority, family — these all are instituted to bring man into the service of God, or to preserve him in the same.

“Equality” proclaims the Internationale to its adherents eager after unjust good and enjoyment, and agreeably falls the word upon the ear of the envious multitude. The equality of men is also the doctrine of Christianity. All men are equal before God; all were created alike in His image; to all has appeared the same salvation. The equality of the Commune is the claim alike to the enjoyments of the world, possession, power, and the gratification of the passions. The desire after this equality is the opposite of the commandment, “Thou shalt not covet.” The motives are envy, disloyalty, and indolence, and the way to satisfaction is the putting aside of every authoritative order, the plundering of those who hold possessions, and the emancipation of the flesh.

“Fraternity” is the third word upon the red flag — the beautiful battlecry also of the Christian. The children of God are brethren, and are to be of one mind and soul, and to communicate among themselves that there be none among them that lacketh. The common love of man becomes among Christians brotherly love, and the standing salutation of the Apostle, “Beloved brethren,” is the language of every Christian heart. But what does the Commune understand by “fraternity”? The answer was given to the world in the howling of rage and murder, of petroleurs and petroleuses, even the names of which point to crime, because only the Commune had invented them.

The abuse of those words shows us that words in themselves are dead, and receive life only by the spirit that enters into them. “Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!” Only Christianity gives us the true meaning of these words, and never have the greatest philosophers of the world so highly spoken about the relations of men to each other as Christ has taught and His Church proclaims. The Christian Church with her doctrines and sacraments is, in this respect, to become the leader. She is the medium whereby the Divine life is communicated to each human being, in order to complete the Divine image in him and to unite him most intimately with God. Continually must we cherish the desire to be more and more in unity with the eternal, infinite Deity; and this bond of men with God will then also unite mankind into one family, and make them beloved children of God. That is the meaning of liberty, equality, and fraternity, in the Christian sense.

If we look around us, we cannot fail at the same time to perceive how religious indifference in so many families has also disturbed the Christian life. That faithful, pious mind, that strong trust in God, that content, experienced in former times, have severally disappeared. Acquisition, gain, employment are often the first items in the home, but the last is religion. Prayer has disappeared — nothing more is known of a lifting up of the soul to God. The cares of the body reign over all — religious indifference rules the home. Business flourishes, the master of the house is esteemed, the lady of the house is courted by society, but are we not deceived? The good fortune of such a family is only in appearance, and treacherous, because it is without a foundation. How will it be there when the plays of misfortune and sadness appear? How will it be there when the blessings of this world forsake such a house, for God’s blessing was never sought? Even if the children are so educated as to understand how to acquire with skill the goods of this world, can they endure the trialswhich life imposes upon them? Will they approve themselves in the hour of temptation, when sin with her seductions approaches near; when the excitement of vice decked with flowers misguides them, when the advantage of chrime blinds them? Surely not.

On the contrary, the certain end of an education without religion and the fear of God, will be that they do not approve themselves. And suppose it were not so; suppose God suffered such a family and their children’s good fortune until the end in the full enjoyment of earthly goods, because their whole heart was attached to them, yet this end must be at the last. Then such a family shall know by experience that they have sowed to the earth, also reaped only from the earth, for heaven they have done nothing, and shall also receive nothing. How often one meets in families a lukewarmness which stifles all Christian life. The faith is dead, the will without power; cold and indolent is the exercise of religion, the life spirit is vanished away. But the exterior practice of religion is nothing without a union with the inner, spiritual. The spirit giveth life, but the flesh profiteth nothing.

However many lights may be burning here in this chapel, and however beautiful the robes of the clergy appear, that will be of no avail either to me or to those that are present, if we are not converted unto repentance. Let us above all not forget prayer, this bond which joins in a mystical manner mankind to God, and the Saviour, who for us all died on the cross, will, let us hope, have mercy on us. For we are all bought with the blood of Christ; we are all to attain to the possession and the vision of God, to drink of the well-spring of eternal love and bliss. May we not forget this final object, but when we celebrate upon our terrestrial pilgrimage the Christian mysteries may we, looking for that heavenly home and spirit, exclaim: “O God, grant us that we may yet be filled with the enjoyment of thy Divinity, whose presence we here celebrate in the reception of thy body and blood.” Amen.

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That There Are No Contradictions in Holy Scripture

by Saint Peter of Damascus

Whenever a person even slightly illumined reads the Scriptures or sings psalms he finds in them matter for contemplation and theology, one text supporting another. But he whose intellect is still unenlightened thinks that the Holy Scriptures are contradictory. Yet there is no contradiction in the Holy Scriptures: God forbid that there should be. For some texts are confirmed by others, while some were written with reference to a particular time or particular person. Thus every word of Scripture is beyond reproach. The appearance of contradiction is due to our ignorance. We ought not to find fault with the Scriptures, but to the limit of our capacity we should attend to them as they are, and not as we would like them to be, after the manner of the Greeks and Jews. For the Greeks and Jews refused to admit that they did not understand, but out of conceit and self-satisfaction they found fault with the Scriptures and with the natural order of things, and interpreted them as they saw fit and not according to the will of God. As a result they were led into delusion and gave themselves over to every kind of evil (c.f. Romans 1).

The person who searches for the meaning of the Scriptures will not put forward his own opinion, bad or good; but, as St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom have said, he will take as his teacher, not the learning of this world, but Holy Scripture itself. Then if his heart is pure and God puts something unpremeditated into it, he will accept it, providing he can find confirmation for it in the Scriptures, as St. Anthony the Great says. For St. Isaac says that the thoughts that enter spontaneously and without premeditation into the intellects of those pursuing a life of stillness are to be accepted; but that to investigate and then to draw one's own conclusions is an act of self-will and results in material knowledge.

This is especially the case if a person does not approach the Scriptures through the door of humility but, as St. John Chrysostom says, climbs up some other way, like a thief, and forces them to accord with his allegorizing. For no one is more foolish than he who forces the meaning of the Scriptures or finds fault with them so as to demonstrate his own knowledge - or, rather, his own ignorance. What kind of knowledge can result from adapting the meaning of the Scriptures to suit one's own likes and from daring to alter their words? The true sage is he who regards the text as authoritative and discovers, through the wisdom of the Spirit, the hidden mysteries to which the divine Scriptures bear witness.

The three great luminaries, St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom, are outstanding examples of this: they base themselves either on the particular text they are considering or on some other passage of Scripture. Thus no one can contradict them, for they do not adduce external support for what they say, so that it might be claimed that it was merely their own opinion, but refer directly to the text under discussion or to some other scriptural passage that sheds light on it. And in this they are right; for what they understand and expound comes from the Holy Spirit, of whose inspiration they have been found worthy. No one, therefore, should do or mentally assent to anything if its integrity is in doubt and cannot be attested from Scripture. For what is the point of rejecting something whose integrity Scripture clearly attests as being in accordance with God's will, in order to do something else, whether good or not? Only passion could provoke such behavior.

The Philokalia (vol. 3), "A Treasury of Divine Knowledge".

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Holy Martyr Nikephoros of Antioch

St. Nikephoros of Antioch (Feast Day - February 9)

Regarding St. Nikephoros of Antioch, St. Nikolai Velimirovich writes: "The biography of this martyr Nikephoros clearly demonstrates how God rejects pride and crowns humility and love with glory."

The Holy Martyr Nikephoros lived in the city of Syrian Antioch. In this city lived also the presbyter Saprikios, with whom Nikephoros was very friendly, so that they were considered as brothers. They quarreled because of some disagreement, and their former love changed into enmity and hate.

After a certain time Nikephoros came to his senses, repented of his sin and more than once asked Saprikios, through mutual friends, to forgive him. Saprikios, however, did not wish to forgive him. Nikephoros then went to his former friend and fervently asked forgiveness, but Saprikios was adamant.

At this time the emperors Valerian (253-259) and Gallius (260-268) began to persecute Christians, and one of the first brought before the court was the priest Saprikios. He firmly confessed himself a Christian, underwent tortures for his faith and was condemned to death by beheading with a sword. As they led Saprikios to execution, Nikephoros tearfully implored his forgiveness saying, "O martyr of Christ, forgive me if I have sinned against you in any way."

The priest Saprikios remained stubborn, and even as he approached death he refused to forgive his fellow Christian. Seeing the hardness of his heart, the Lord withdrew His blessing from Saprikios, and would not let him receive the crown of martyrdom. At the last moment, he suddenly became afraid of death and agreed to offer sacrifice to idols. In vain did St Nikephoros urge Saprikios not to lose his reward through apostasy, since he already stood on the threshold of the heavenly Kingdom.

St Nikephoros then said to the executioner, "I am a Christian, and I believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. Execute me in place of Saprikios." The executioners reported this to the governor. He decided to free Saprikios, and to behead Nikephoros in his place. Thus did St Nikephoros inherit the Kingdom and receive a martyr's crown.

This occurred in the year 260 A.D. during the reign of Gallienus. Nikephoros, whose name bespeaks a "victory bearer", won a double triumph over the passions and impiety.

Profuse are the passages of the Old and New Testaments urging us to love one another according to God, even as He who is mercifully most compassionate ofttimes enjoins upon us. The history of Saint Nikephoros teaches us that even if we should give away all our wealth as alms and surrender up all our bodily members to fire and wild beasts, even for the sake of piety, and endure ten thousand other torments, the sacrifice of one who remembers wrongs would not be accepted by Christ. By remembrance of wrongs, we mean those who bear resentment or harbor rancor. Saint John of the Ladder speaks of this vice, saying:

"Remembrance of wrongs is the consummation of anger, the keeper of sins, hatred of righteousness, ruin of virtues, poison of the soul, worm of the mind, shame of prayer, cessation of supplication, estrangement of love, a nail stuck in the soul, pleasureless feeling cherished in the sweetness of bitterness, continuous sin, unsleeping transgression, hourly malice" (Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 9:2).

For those who have difficulty with forgetting past injuries and offenses, hearken to St. John's further advice: "Let it be put to shame by the Prayer of Jesus which cannot be said with it" (Step 9:10). But, "When, after much struggling, you are still unable to extract this thorn, you should apologize to your enemy, even if only in word. Then perhaps you may be ashamed of your long-standing insincerity toward him, and, as your conscience stings you like fire, you may feel perfect love toward him" (Step 9:11). And, "You will know that you have completely freed yourself of this rot, not when you pray for the person who has offended you, nor when you exchange presents with him, nor when you invite him to your table, but only when, on hearing that he has fallen into spiritual or bodily misfortune, you suffer and weep for him as yourself" (Step 9:12).

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyr Nikephoros, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion in the First Tone
Bound fast with chains of love, thou didst mightily sunder the wickedness of hatred with manifest courage, and hence, O Nikephoros, when the sword had cut off thy head, thou wast shown to be a godly Martyr of Jesus, our Incarnate Saviour; pray Him for us who honor thy glorious memory.

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St. Peter of Damascus: Eight Types of Knowledge

St. Peter the Damascene (Feast Day - February 9)

St. Peter of Damascus was a great ascetic and hesychast about whom we know little, yet his writings occupy more space in the Philokalia than anyone else, save for St. Maximus the Confessor. In the words of St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite, his work is "a recapitulation of holy watchfulness...a circle within a circle, a concentrated Philokalia within the more extended Philokalia."

Having shown in detail the state of our fallen nature subject to the passions, St. Peter explains how to return to God through obedience to His commandments and practice of the virtues. By following to the end this path of sacrifice and self-denial, guided by an experienced Elder, one can attain blessed impassibility (apatheia) and rest for the soul. The purified intellect can then rise up in joy from contemplation to contemplation, from knowledge to knowledge until meeting with God Himself in a mingling of love.

A Hymn of Praise to St. Peter of Damascus

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Damascene numbers eight types of knowledge
for men of spiritual and divine background:

FIRST
The knowledge of sorrow and all temptations,

SECOND
The knowledge of the sum of one's transgressions;
one's transgressions and God's forgiveness.

THIRD
The knowledge of horror, pain and fear,
Before death, in death and after separation,
when before the righteous judgement, the soul stands.

FOURTH
The knowledge of Christ, the Savior,
His life and all the saints;
Of the saints, their deeds, patience and words,
Which, like a silver bell resounds throughout the ages.

FIFTH
The knowledge of natural attributes;
Of physical phenomenon, variation and change.

SIXTH
The knowledge of forms and things,
Natural phantoms and all sensory beings.

SEVENTH
The knowledge of the world, rational and spiritual;
The angelic world and the world of Hades, both good and evil.

EIGHTH
The knowledge of God,
The One, Holy, Mighty and Immortal.
This knowledge is called Theology
To it, few are rarely elevated;
The greatest purity, a theologian needs
For the impure heart, to heaven does not reach.

Damascene, the seven elementary knowledges appropriates,
And to the eighth, to the knowledge of God he reached.
And the eighth is given by God and by God bestowed,
This is neither learned nor deserved.

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Elder Paisios' Last Day At the Hospital

Eventually, Elder Paisios got cancer and was taken to the hospital in Thessaloniki. At the hospital, they looked after him as best they could. Nevertheless, his cancer spread so much that the end was very near. His departure for Heaven was a matter of time. He had been preparing himself for this journey all his life. Thus, for whatever time was left, he wished to stay at the monastery of St John the Apostle in Souroti. Mr. Christopher Oikonomou, now deceased, was near him and he describes in a letter Geronda’s departure from the hospital:

“Today, Fr. Paisios left the hospital. There were many people there. We were told that he would give his blessing in the reception. Lots of people, women, doctors, nurses, even the ailing, were swarming besides him. He lifted up his hand and said goodbye to those sick in the other rooms. There was this man, who had the drip on his hand, who bowed to kiss Fr. Paisios’s hand, but Fr. Paisios kissed his instead. While standing in front of the elevator, he blessed us all. He went into the elevator to go down to the street. We all ran down the stairs to see him for the last time. People surrounded the car while snowflakes danced on the street. The nurse was admonishing us so that people would let him get in the car, because he was sick and very weak.

"He finally got in the car after crossing himself. Everyone was trying to touch him, some were holding his hand, and some were touching the glass of the window. The car began leaving very slowly because there was a lot of traffic. Even then, doctors, nurses, all came down to say goodbye and were touching the car’s windows, since the car was moving very slowly. His car passed in front of my house."

Mr. Christopher continues:

“What was that all about? People were following him as if he was the Messiah. It was like something out of Palm Sunday, except that we had a car instead of the donkey! Everyone was moved, some women were crying. He himself was also touched because of the abundant love that people were showering him with. It was as if he was saying that he would pay everyone back with a lot of praying."

And Mr. Christopher went on to reflect:

“Does our generation owe little to the prayers of this man? He is a saint amongst us. He is the embodiment of the fulfillment of the Gospel."

Fr Paisios died on the 12th July 1994.


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Fear Evil Like Fire

By St. John of Kronstadt

Fear evil like fire. Don't let it touch your heart even if it seems just or righteous. No matter what the circumstances, don't let it come into you. Evil is always evil. Sometimes evil presents itself as an endeavor to God's glory, or as something with good intentions towards your neighbor. Even in these cases, don't trust this feeling. It's a wrong labor and is not filled with wisdom. Instead, work on chasing evil from yourself. Evil, however innocent it looks, offends God's long-suffering love, which is His foremost glory. Judas betrayed his Lord for 30 silver pieces under the guise of helping the poor. Keep in mind that the enemy continuously seeks your death and attacks more fiercely when you're not alert. His evil is endless. Don't let self-esteem and the love of material goods win you over.

When you feel anger against someone, believe with your whole heart that it's a result of the devil's work in your heart. Try to hate him and his deeds and it will leave you. Don't admit it as a part of yourself and don't justify it. I know this from experience. The devil hides himself behind our souls and we blindly think we're acting by ourselves. Then we defend the devil's work as something that is a part of us. Sometimes we think that anger is a fair reaction to something bad. But the idea that a passion could ever be fair is a total and deadly lie. When someone is angry at you, remember that this evil feeling is not him. He's just fooled by the devil and is a suffering instrument in his hand. Pray that the enemy leaves him and that God opens his spiritual eyes, which have been darkened by the evil spirit. Pray to God for all people enslaved by passions because the enemy is acting in their hearts. Perhaps you hate your neighbor, despise him, don't want to talk to him peacefully and lovingly because he has been rude, arrogant, or disgusting in his speech or manners. You may despise him for being full of himself or proud or disrespectful. But you are to blame more than he is. "Physician, heal yourself!" (Luke 4:23). So, teacher, teach yourself. This kind of anger is worse than any other evil. How could evil be chased out by another evil? How can you take a needle from the eye of another person while having a log in your own? Evil defects must be fixed with love, kindness, resignation, and patience. Admit yourself as the worst of all sinners, and believe it. Consider yourself the worst one, chase away any boldness, anger, impatience and fury. Then you may start helping others. Be indulgent about defects of others, because if you see their faults all the time, there will be continuous enmity. "The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows" (Psalm 129:3). "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you" (Matthew 6:14). We can feel from time to time the most perfect love for God without loving each other. This is a strange thing, and only few care about it. But love for our neighbor will never come without our own effort.

A real Christian doesn't have any reason to be angry about anybody. Anger is the devil's deed. A Christian should have only love inside and since love doesn't boast, he shouldn't boast or have any bad thoughts towards others. For example, I must not think about another person that he is evil, proud etc; and I must not think that if I forgive his offense he would laugh at me or upset me again. We must not let evil hide in us under any pretense. Evil and anger usually have many different veils.

Don't yield to gloomy feelings in your heart but control and eradicate them with the power of faith and the light of the sane mind. These strengths will make you feel secure. "Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you" (Psalm 25:20). Gloomy feelings usually develop deep in the heart. Someone who didn't learn how to control them will be gloomy, pensive most of the time, and it will be hard for him to deal with himself and other people. When he comes close to you, sustain yourself with inner strength, happiness and innocent jokes: and they will leave you soon. This is from experience.

Lord, give me strength to love everyone like myself and never to get angry or work for the devil. Give me strength to crucify my self-esteem, my pride, my greed, my skepticism and other passions. Let us have a name: a mutual love. Let us not worry about anything. Be the only God of our hearts, and let us desire nothing except You. Let us live always in unifying love and let us hate anything that separates us from each other and from love. So be it! So be it!

If God showed Himself to us and lives inside us as we in Him (according to His eternal word), wouldn't He give us everything? Would He ever trick us or leave us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all—how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32). Now be comforted, my dear, and know nothing but love. "This is my command: Love one another" (John 15:17).

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Haitian May Have Survived 4 Weeks in Rubble

[An interesting story from Haiti; many questions to ponder. Can someone survive 4 weeks without water? Did a person bring this man water and do nothing else to rescue him? Was he hallucinating? Was it an angel or miraculous intervention? We may never know the truth, but what I found most interesting in this report is how the media covers it. - J.S.]

February 9, 2010
CNN

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- A man pulled alive from the rubble of a building in Haiti's capital Monday may have been trapped since the January 12 quake that leveled much of the city, doctors reported.

The 28-year-old man, identified as Evan Muncie, was found in the wreckage of a market where he sold rice, his family told staff at a University of Miami field hospital. He suffered from extreme dehydration and malnutrition, but did not appear to have significant crushing injuries, the doctors said.

"He was emaciated. He hadn't had anything in quite some time. He had open wounds that were festering on both of his feet," said Dr. Mike Connelly, of the university's Project Medishare.

The people who brought him to the hospital said they found the man while digging out the marketplace, Connelly said.

The man told doctors that someone was bringing him water while he was trapped, but doctors told CNN that he sounded confused and at times appeared to believe he was still under the rubble. Connelly said the man must have had some water during the past month to have survived, but Connelly wasn't sure how he would have had access to it.

"Initially, I'm sure he had his senses with him, so maybe he was able to find some kind of resources," Connelly told CNN.

The discovery came nearly a month after the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince on January 12. More than 200,000 deaths have been blamed on the quake.

Haiti's government declared search-and-rescue efforts over on January 23, but survivors still were being unearthed as late as January 27.

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Two Experiences of Death

A priest, Fr Theodoros, was called to give Holy Communion to two people who were near death. One was a rich man, hardened and stingy, and the other was a virtuous widow, who managed to bring up eight children in circumstances of acute poverty and hard work, in all honesty and prudence!!

Fr Theodoros was accompanied by Deacon Lavrentios. The sexton was leading the way, followed by Fr Lavrentios and Fr Theodoros, who were walking side by side. The priest was without his cap, carrying the Holy Chalice, and had the Aera (which covers the eucharist) on his shoulders, as it was the custom those days. They first visited the place of the rich man. He did not even want to hear about taking Holy Communion! He was only shouting:

“I am not dying!”

The priest tried as much as possible to talk sense to him but he would have none of this; he did not want to take Holy Communion.

Then the deacon asked the priest:

“Father, could you give me the Holy Chalice so that I can go and offer Holy Communion to Mrs. Maria while you can talk it over with the sick man until I return? If you manage to convince him, he can take Holy Communion afterwards.”

“Yes, my child, go with my blessing.”

The sexton was leading the way with the oil lamp and the deacon was following, carrying the Holy Chalice. When they entered the humble little house, they saw her children, grandchildren, and other relatives around the deathbed, all of them weeping for they were about to lose this wonderful mother, granny and relative.

When the deacon moved inside, he stood still! What was that he was seeing? Something untold! This saintly little woman was not just circled by people but also by Angels and Archangels, who were swarming inside the room. They were rushing around her; who to be the first to touch, who to console, who to wipe the sweat from the brow of this most blessed woman!

And it wasn’t just this! Exactly by the head of the bed, was the Holy Mother of God, who was holding a godly tissue and was wiping the sweat from her feverish forehead. The woman was whispering “Hail Bride Unwedded”.

And - lo! and behold! - all the angels fell face down and worshiped the Holy Chalice which was filled with the Holy Body and Blood of our Lord! All the angelic powers!! The Holy Mother, in some incomprehensible way, kissed the Holy Chalice and let the deacon go towards the dying woman.

After she took Holy Communion, the angels took the soul of this blessed woman, handed it over to the hands of the Holy Mother and all of them ascended to Heaven. The whole room shone and smelled beautifully, while the deacon, full of wonder and delight, left and returned to the house of the rich man.

He went inside and shuddered! He saw hundreds of demons around the deathbed of this stingy man, who were brandishing horrible tridents and were jabbing at his body in various places: At the knees, the feet, the hands, the palms, the tummy, the throat, the eyes, the head… They were poking at all the body parts with which he had sinned. This pitiful, rich man was screaming! The deacon handed over the Holy Chalice to the hands of the priest and passed out from fright.

The priest was still trying in vain to convince the rich man to prepare himself for the end. He would have none of this! Finally, he died without taking Holy Communion and without Confession.

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Greeks in Present-Day Istanbul

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Contemporary Greece and Westernization

[An interesting article written in 1997 that is proving itself to be rather prophetic the way things are progressing in present-day Greece. - J.S.]

by Chrestos Yannaras

A rather "incidental" item appeared in the magazine Economicos Tachidromos of 14 August 1997. It referred to a speech Henry Kissinger gave some three years prior, during which he said the following:

"The Greek people are a difficult if not impossible people to tame, and for this reason we must strike deep into their cultural roots. Perhaps then we can force them to conform. I mean, of course, to strike at their language, their religion, their cultural and historical reserves, so that we can neutralize their ability to develop, to distinguish themselves, or to prevail; thereby removing them as an obstacle to our strategically vital plans in the Balkans, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East."

Were such a condemnatory speech to appear in the Greek press today, regarding -- let us say -- Greece's inability to organize the 2004 Olympic Games (even if it were a reprint of something said years ago), there would be a storm of protest and much anger. It would make the front pages of the papers, and would no doubt be the lead story on all of the televised newscasts. The party in power would "strongly condemn" such a statement, and all of the opposition parties would issue their own caustic rejoinders. There would be a veritable "fiesta" of outrage; but, unfortunately, such a reaction would never occur over issues having to do with things that seriously impact the lives of contemporary Hellenes: such things as our language, our ecclesiastical tradition, our history, or the continuation of our culture.

By some strange coincidence, one week before the article in the E.T., the exceedingly "progressive" periodical, Samizdat, published ( 6 August 1997 ) an incognito article that predicted the inevitable and desirable Latinization of our Greek alphabet. It was declared, moreover, that such a development would have a "liberating" affect on contemporary Greek thought. It would seem that the author -- writing under a nom de plume -- has been mobilized to advance the political agenda that Kissinger so blatantly expounded. Are such people paid operatives of some dark conspiratorial power that is seeking to destroy Hellenism? Not really. Quite simply, these individuals are just our run-of-the-mill "progressive" Greek intellectuals, and nothing more.

The almost total indifference in Greece to the insulting and startlingly revealing declaration by Kissinger is something -- I must confess -- that I am beginning to understand. It is proof positive that the strategy outlined by "Henry the Great" [Kissinger] has been deployed and is already showing impressive results. I understand and await the Latinization of our alphabet as an example of things to come; This Latinization will be the result of the strategy that is working against Hellenism. But I was once young and have grown old, and have yet to understand just what kind of Hellas our native-born "progressives" have in mind. What kind of a country do they think will emerge as a result of their agitations on behalf of the Kissingers of the world?

What is it that they are pursuing and what is it that they fear? For years now I've been following the methodical war they've been waging -- virtually unchallenged -- in the Sunday pages of our "progressive" newspapers: the disdainful formality of their writing, the fanatical ironies and sarcasms, the jeering and the mockery concerning anything having to do with the continuance of our language or the ecclesiastical traditions of our people. We are dealing here -- it would seem to me -- with the psychological hang-ups of a backward peasantry burdened by a naked indifference as to whether our race continues, the quality of our lives, and the future of the native culture of our country. Do these people have an exemplary model, perhaps, of some "advanced" western nation, where the progressive mindset they espouse has worked to bring down the existing establishment? Maybe they have the same faulty vision of the West that [Adamantios] Korais had two centuries ago. Or they may even be anticipating the initial successes Marxism enjoyed in 19th century European thought.

Our "progressive" intellectualism, together with the political agitations of its adherents, are promoted by many who've been educated for years in the West; individuals who've taught in the universities of the West, and who've maintained continuous working relations and social contacts with the scientific and academic communities there. How is it that these people continue to ignore the growing threats against such vital and essential components of our civilization? Such things as our language, religion, and culture. I will contribute my personal observations concerning these questions. I have met, in western countries, Greek scientists and academicians with decades-long experience as professors and researchers, who are permanently afflicted with the inferiority complex of the backward peasant; the complex they carried with them when they left Greece to go to the West. Their main objective being to persuade the inhabitants of their new environment that "yes I had the misfortune of being born a Greek and an Orthodox Christian, but look at what a good westerner I've become." And because they've been taught that "western" means anticlerical, that it is synonymous with having a disdainful view of the falsely characterized "medieval Byzantium," that it requires that one display a sarcastic mockery of any metaphysical speculation, and that one be an ardent proponent of utilitarian rationalism, our "progressive" immigrants strive to embody all of these putative western concepts. This is how they have imperceptibly imprisoned themselves inside of their inbred peasant inferiority complex. They are perfectly capable practitioners of their particular disciplines, but totally incapable of correctly perceiving the spiritual ethos being promulgated all around them.

This particular malady -- the psychological complex afflicting our neo-Hellene "progressives" -- is a very difficult if not impossible illness to combat. It can't be cured by mere argument against it, no matter how compelling. I have only one suggestion to make to our political leadership (or to some enterprising private firm): let some responsible international polling company take a survey of European public opinion. How many agree or disagree with Kissinger's statement? How do our European partners envision our country in the future? Do they prefer us without our unique language? Without our religious traditions? Do they want us to be a colorless culture of consumer-drones, devoid of distinctive characteristics? Maybe from such a study our "progressive" political agitators will learn something new and useful.

Article by author, professor, and columnist, Chrestos Yiannaras, in Kathimerini, 24 August 1997.

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Obama's Favorite Theologian: Reinhold Niebuhr

How Obama's Favorite Theologian Shaped His First Year in Office

By John Blake
CNN
February 5, 2010

Obama called Reinhold Niebuhr his favorite philosopher, but few know about the controversial pastor today.

In the summer of 1943, when Adolf Hitler's armies marched unchecked across Europe, a pastor in a remote New England village decided to write a prayer.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change," he began, "the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

It is now known as the Serenity Prayer. It's been adopted by 12-step recovery programs and cited in numerous self-help books. Yet few people know who wrote it. His name is Reinhold Niebuhr, and he was a Protestant pastor in the mid-20th century whose words tended to unsettle people, not offer comfort.

Niebuhr is getting attention again because he has a fan in the Oval Office.

In a widely cited New York Times column, President Obama called Niebuhr his "favorite philosopher." But how precisely has Niebuhr's philosophy influenced Obama and his handling of everything from health care reform to fighting terrorists?

The answer may be seen by looking at Obama's first year in office, several scholars, and a relative of Niebuhr's, suggest.

Who was Niebuhr?

At first, there seems to be little resemblance between the cool, cerebral Obama and the pugnacious Niebuhr.

Niebuhr was a blunt critic of morally complacent Christians. He thought the church was full of idealists who believed that progress was inevitable and that love alone would ultimately conquer injustice, some Niebuhr scholars say.

"He said there was a difference between being a 'fool for Christ' and a plain damn fool," says Richard Crouter, author of the upcoming book "Reinhold Niebuhr: On Politics, Religion and Christian Faith."

Niebuhr lived during an age of global calamities. He was born in Missouri in 1892, the son of a German-born minister. He preached and taught theology during the Great Depression and World War II. He saw the suffering of workers at Henry Ford's auto plant -- lack of pensions, dismissals for sickness -- when he became a pastor in Detroit, Michigan, Crouter says.

"The greed of capitalism and the business class was huge in his mind," Crouter says. "It had to be combated."

So would other forms of evil. Niebuhr wrote movingly about the power of nonviolence. But when Hitler rose to power in the 1930s, Niebuhr drew criticism from Christian pacifists and others for urging the U.S. to enter the war, says Jordan Copeland, an assistant professor of religion at La Salle University in Pennsylvania.

Niebuhr would attract more criticism after the war for supporting "containment," the U.S. Cold War policy of using military, economic and diplomatic force to counter the influence of the Soviet Union, Copeland says.

"He criticized Christian idealists who thought force was never justified and who believed that the law of love was a simple solution to social and political problems," Copeland said. "At times, power must be challenged by power."

Niebuhr distilled his view of human nature in his monumental book, "Moral Man and Immoral Society." The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. cited the book in his "Letter from Birmingham City Jail." Former President Carter is also an admirer of Niebuhr's.

People are capable of doing good, but groups are driven by "predatory self-interest," Niebuhr wrote.

"As individuals, men believe that they ought to love and serve each other and establish justice between each other," Niebuhr wrote. "As racial, economic and national groups, they take for themselves, whatever their power can command."

How is Obama shaped by Niebuhr?

Tough talk, but how does it give us insight into Obama?

The president's political rhetoric reflects some of Niebuhr's world view, says great-nephew Gustav Niebuhr. He says Obama, like his great-uncle, avoids moral absolutes in his speeches: The U.S. is not always right, and its enemies are not always evil.

Niebuhr says he saw this attitude embedded in Obama's speech to the Arab world in Cairo, Egypt, last year. Obama acknowledged U.S. involvement in helping overthrow a democratically elected government in Iran during the 1950s and avoided "clash of civilizations" rhetoric that implied that the U.S. is free of moral taint.

"We can't see ourselves as the ultimate arbiter for what's good and moral," says Gustav Niebuhr, director of the Religion and Society Program at Syracuse University. "Reinhold would say to do that is to claim a perfectionism that doesn't belong to human beings."

When Niebuhr died in 1971, Gustav had just turned 16. But he still remembers the letters and toys his great-uncle sent him.

Gustav Niebuhr says he's gratified but not surprised that Obama would gravitate to his great-uncle.

"Obama is a very deep-thinking person, from what I can tell," Niebuhr said. "He is very attuned to nuance. I think he's found a philosopher that suits his temperament."

Crouter says he can see Niebuhr's pragmatism and moral complexity in Obama's governing style.

Some Americans became disenchanted by the apparent backstage tradeoffs Obama was accused of making in health care negotiations.

Niebuhr thought, however, that well-meaning people often couldn't get anything done because they preferred to appeal to people's altruism, not their self-interest, Crouter says.

"He thought that sometimes getting your hands dirty with self-interested folks is the only way to make progress," Crouter says. "If you don't believe the Kingdom of God is just around the corner, the best you can sometimes do is take baby steps toward justice."

What Obama said about Niebuhr

In a 2007 interview, Obama explained to David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, what he learns from Niebuhr.

He called Niebuhr his "favorite philosopher," Brooks wrote.

"I take away," Brooks quoted Obama as saying, "the compelling idea that there's serious evil in the world and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief that we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn't use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away ... the sense that we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swinging from naive idealism to bitter realism."

Obama's efforts to balance idealism with realism can be seen in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo, Norway, in December, other scholars say.

Obama, a student of the civil rights movement, declared that he was a "living testimony to the moral force of nonviolence." Yet force is necessary at times, he said.

"A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies," Obama said. "Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms."

"Niebuhr would have loved that [Oslo] speech," says John Danforth, an Episcopal priest and a former Republican senator who also admires Niebuhr.

"I was very impressed with that speech," Danforth says. "He said you need to deal with terrorists in a very hard-nosed, pragmatic way but hold to American standards."

Yet Danforth says there are critical differences between Obama and Niebuhr.

"I see in Obama's approach to politics, which is surprisingly partisan and ideological, a hubris that is not Niebuhrian," says Danforth, who is also a partner at the Bryan Cave law firm in St. Louis, Missouri.

Niebuhr may still have some lessons to teach Obama.

As the president pivots to his second year in office, there are reports that he is trying to connect better with ordinary Americans. Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer has been doing that for 60 years, says BJ Gallagher, author "It's Never Too Late to Be What You Might Have Been" and an admirer of the Serenity Prayer.

"He saw that religion and theology were real-word issues," Gallagher says. "Theology isn't just for people in church or academe. Theology is for people in their homes, their businesses, their government and their communities. It helps you live your life well."

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The Conundrum of the Parthenon Marbles

A Lost Civilization?

By Christos Yiannaras
November 19, 2002
Kathimerini

That is the logic behind the demand that the Parthenon Marbles, currently on display at the British Museum, be returned to Greece?

The spontaneous answer of most Greeks would be: “Those sculptures belong to us. They are the work of our ancestors, they are the expression of our history, the British stole them from our country.” And I imagine the automatic response from the British side (not the studied, polite version) would be: “Civilizations do not have natural heirs, heirs are those who prove themselves capable of developing this legacy.”

The Parthenon Marbles belong to those peoples sufficiently cultivated to appreciate their timeless value and significance for the whole of humanity — they belong to the peoples who proved themselves as heirs of classical civilization. According to the British, this has been Western European civilizations. It was they who cultivated the classics, who studied ancient Greek art, who interpreted ancient Greek literary texts, who used neoclassicism to transfer the rhythm and aesthetics of ancient Greece to the far corners of the earth. I could even imagine the British using the arguments of our own great thinker Adamantios Korais, who conceded that we modern Greeks have nothing in common with our ancient predecessors, and who maintained that only through “Westernization” could we become Greeks once again...

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The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates

Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates (Feast Day - February 8)

The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates came from the city of Euchaita in Asia Minor. He was endowed with many talents, and was handsome in appearance. For his charity God enlightened him with the knowledge of Christian truth.

For his bravery St Theodore was appointed military commander [stratelatos] in the city of Heraclea, where he combined his military service with preaching the Gospel among the pagans subject to him. His gift of persuasion, reinforced by his personal example of Christian life, turned many from their false gods. Soon, nearly all of Heraclea had accepted Christianity.

During this time Emperor Licinius (311-324) began a fierce persecution against Christians. In an effort to stamp out the new faith, he persecuted the enlightened adherents of Christianity, who were perceived as a threat to paganism. Among these was St Theodore. Licinius tried to force St Theodore to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. The saint invited Licinius to come to him with his idols so both of them could offer sacrifice before the people.

Blinded by his hatred for Christianity, Licinius trusted the words of the saint, but he was disappointed. St Theodore smashed the gold and silver statues into pieces, which he then distributed to the poor. Thus he demonstrated the vain faith in soulless idols, and also displayed Christian charity.

St Theodore was arrested and subjected to fierce and refined torture. He was dragged on the ground, beaten with iron rods, had his body pierced with sharp spikes, was burned with fire, and his eyes were plucked out. Finally, he was crucified. Varus, the servant of St Theodore, barely had the strength to write down the incredible torments of his master.

God, however, in His great mercy, willed that the death of St Theodore should be as fruitful for those near him as his life was. An angel healed the saint's wounded body and took him down from the cross. In the morning, the imperial soldiers found him alive and unharmed. Seeing with their own eyes the infinite might of the Christian God, they were baptized not far from the place of the unsuccessful execution.

Thus St Theodore became "like a day of splendor" for those pagans dwelling in the darkness of idolatary, and he enlightened their souls "with the bright rays of his suffering." Unwilling to escape martyrdom for Christ, St Theodore voluntarily surrendered himself to Licinius, and discouraged the Christians from rising up against the torturer, saying, "Beloved, halt! My Lord Jesus Christ, hanging upon the Cross, restrained the angels and did not permit them to take revenge on the race of man."

Going to execution, the holy martyr opened up the prison doors with just a word and freed the prisoners from their bonds. People who touched his robe were healed instantly from sicknesses, and freed from demonic possession. By order of the emperor, St Theodore was beheaded by the sword. Before his death he told Varus, " Do not fail to record the day of my death, and bury my body in Euchaita." He also asked to be remembered each year on this date. Then he bent his neck beneath the sword, and received the crown of martyrdom which he had sought. This occurred on February 8, 319, on a Saturday, at the ninth hour of the day.

The Saint's holy relics were returned to his ancestral home on June 8, which is also a feast of the Great Martyr Theodore.

St Theodore is regarded as the patron saint of soldiers.

Source

Short Life of St. Theodore

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

There are martyrdoms more precious than precious. The preciousness of martyrdom depends upon the greatness of the good which a Christian abandons and in lieu of that, accepts suffering; and still, it depends upon the greatness of the suffering which he endures for Christ's sake.

St. Theodore, a Roman commander in the army of Emperor Licinius and mayor of the town of Heraclea, scorned his youth, handsome appearance, military rank and the good graces of the emperor. In place of all that, he accepted horrible tortures for the sake of Christ.

At first, Theodore was flogged and received six-hundred lashes on his stomach. After this, he was raised on a cross and was completely pierced with lances. Finally, Theodore was beheaded.

Why all of this? Because, St. Theodore loved Christ the Lord above all else in the world. He abhorred the stupid idolatry of the superstitious Emperor Licinius.

He smashed the idols of silver and gold and distributed pieces of them to the poor. He converted many to the Faith of Christ and called upon Emperor Licinius himself to reject idolatry and to believe in the One Living God. During the entire time of his tortures, St. Theodore said repeatedly: "Glory to You my God, glory to You!"

St. Theodore suffered on February 8, 319 A.D., at 3:00 p.m., and entered into the kingdom of Christ. St. Theodore is considered the Protector of Soldiers who call upon him for assistance. His miracle-working relics were translated from Euchaita to Constantinople and interred in the church of Balchernae.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
In truth enlisted with the King of the Heavens, thou didst become for Him a noble commander, O trophy-bearer and Great Martyr Theodore. With the weaponry of faith didst thou arm thyself wisely and didst utterly destroy all the hordes of the demons, as a triumphant athlete of the Lord; wherefore we ever do faithfully call thee blest.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
In courage of soul, and furnished with the arms of faith, thou tookest in hand the word of God as though a spear and didst put thy foe to flight, thou great boast of martyrs, O Theodore; now together with them, O Saint, cease not to entreat Christ our God for all of us.

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Prophet Zechariah the Sickle-Seer

Prophet Zachariah the Sickle-Seer (Feast Day - February 8)

The Prophet Zachariah the Sickle-Seer is the eleventh of the twelve Minor Prophets. He was descended from the tribe of Levi, and seems to have been a priest (Nehemiah 12:4, 16). He was called to prophetic service at a young age and became, in the wondrous expression of church hymnology, "a spectator of supra-worldly visions."

The Book of the Prophet Zachariah contains inspired details about the coming of the Messiah (Zach 6:12); about the last days of the Savior's earthly life with the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem on a young donkey (Zach 9:9); about the betrayal of the Lord for thirty pieces of silver and the purchase of the potter's field with them (Zach 11:12-13); about the piercing of the Savior's side (Zach 12:10); about the scattering of the apostles from the Garden of Gethsemane (Zach 13:7); about the eclipse of the sun at the time of the Crucifixion (Zach 14:6-7).

"Enlightened by dawnings all above," the Prophet Zachariah, "saw the future as it were the present." According to Tradition, this "most true God-proclaimer" lived to old age and was buried near Jerusalem, beside his illustrious contemporary and companion, the Prophet Haggai (December 16). The title "Sickle-Seer" given Zachariah comes from a vision in which he saw a sickle flying in the air, destroying thieves and perjurors (Zach 5:1-3).

The holy Prophet Zachariah died around 520 B.C. His tomb was discovered in 415 under the Emperor Honorius in a village near Eleutheropolis (Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. VI:32, IX:17). The Prophet appeared in a dream to a certain Calemerus, telling him where he would find his tomb. His body was found to be incorrupt (Eccl. Hist., Book IX, 17). At the prophet's feet was the body of a child dressed in royal accoutrements. His holy relics were transferred to the church of St James the Brother of the Lord (October 23) in Constantinople.

Source

Apolytikion in the Second Tone
As we celebrate the memory of Thy Prophet Zachariah, O Lord, through him we beseech Thee to save our souls.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
As a brightly-shining lamp that was illumined with the Spirit's fiery beams, O Zachariah most renowned, thou didst prefigure with clarity the Savior's great and untold condescension toward us.

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Saint Seraphim of Sarov: On Despair

Just as the Lord is concerned about our salvation, so does the devil, the slayer of men, concern himself about bringing the soul of man to despair.

Judas the betrayer was faint-hearted and inexperienced in struggle, which is why the devil, seeing him in a state of despair, attacked and persuaded him to hang himself.

Peter, the formidable rock, falling into great sin and experienced in struggle, did not despair and did not lose the presence of the Spirit, rather he shed bitter tears from a warm heart and, seeing that, the devil fled from him as though burned by fire.

Thus, brethren, the Venerable Antiochus teaches that when despair befalls us, we should not succumb to it but, strengthened and enveloped by Holy Faith, say with great bravery to the cunning spirit [the devil]: "What have you to do with us, O apostate from God, fugitive from heaven and a slave of evil! You are unable to inspire us to do anything; for Christ, the Son of God, has authority over us and over all. And you, O murderer, depart from us! Strengthened by His Honorable Cross, we trample upon your serpent's head."

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Elder Ephraim of Philotheou: On Temptations

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The Childhood Fasting of Hosios Loukas

St. Luke the Righteous of Mount Steirion (Feast Day - February 7)

Saint Luke, as a child, cannot be compared to other youngsters. While other boys love to play, laugh, and run hither and thither, Luke was quiet and well-behaved, and showed himself in every activity as one with the gravity of an old man. The child also manifested sober habits and a strong love for continence and self-control.

From his earliest years he rejected rich dishes. He refrained from eating not only meat, but also cheese and eggs. Any pleasing or fattening foods were refused by him. He even gave up eating fruits. He lived only on barley bread, and vegetables and legumes with water. On Wednesday and Friday, he abstained from everything until the setting of the sun. What was most marvelous about his diet and ascesis was that he learned such strictness from no one, but was moved from within himself to avoid fatty foods and sweets which please the palate. Of his own volition, he chose those labors that mortified his flesh. Though he often went hungry, he loved the fire of abstinence which reduced to ashes the fuel of the passions.

Now on one occasion, as the divine Luke was sitting at table with his parents, they did not perceive that his shunning of foods was done by him for the sake of God and bringing his mind and body under subjection. They imagined that he did it out of childish levity and ignorance. Nevertheless, they decided to put their son to the test in the following manner. They placed meat and fish together in one pot and prepared it. The pot was then placed on the table. Luke, meanwhile, was unaware of his parents' experiment. When the father put the fish on his son's plate, the lad partook of it. Luke then began sensing in the fish the presence of meat, which heaviness had been imparted when the foods were cooked together. Luke then perceived the artifice that his parents wrought upon him. He was so saddened and grieved by the ruse that he started vomiting that which he ate. As further proof of his long-suffering and patience, he remained fasting for three days. He wept all that time, as though he had willingly committed the act. His parents, thereupon, finally understood their son's intention and aim, which they did not deem human but divine. As a result, they left him to tread his own path as God enlightened him. And despite his exacting life, Luke did not neglect showing his parents proper respect and love and obedience in his daily chores.

Saint Luke continued and increased his strict mode of abstinence and fasting throughout his life.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
God, Who by judgments known to Him chose thee from when thou wast formed,
that thou, O Luke, mightest be right well-pleasing unto Him; from the womb made thee His own and He sanctified thee; as His own true faithful servant hath He shown thee forth and hath set aright thy footsteps, ever guiding thee as the Friend of man; thou rejoicest before Him now.

From The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church - February 7.

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Hosios Loukas and His Monastery

Lecture (in Greek) by Metropolitan George of Thebes at the Church of St. Nicholas in Patras. He is the current abbot of the Holy Monastery of Hosios Loukas.

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G. K. Chesterton on Religion and Darwinism

IN the days when Huxley and Herbert Spencer and the Victorian agnostics were trumpeting as a final truth the famous hypothesis of Darwin, it seemed to thousands of simple people almost impossible that religion should survive. It is all the more ironic that it has not only survived them all, but it is a perfect example (perhaps the only real example) of what they called the Survival of the Fittest. It so happens that it does really and truly fit in with the theory offered by Darwin; which was something totally different from most of the theories accepted by Darwinians. This real original theory of Darwin has since very largely broken down in the general field of biology and botany; but it does actually apply to this particular argument in the field of religious history.

The recent re-emergence of our religion is a survival of the fittest as Darwin meant it, and not as popular Darwinism meant it; so far as it meant anything. Among the innumerable muddles, which mere materialistic fashion made out of the famous theory, there was in many quarters a queer idea that the Struggle for Existence was of necessity an actual struggle between the candidates for survival; literally a cut-throat competition. There was a vague idea that the strongest creature violently crushed the others. And the notion that this was the one method of improvement came everywhere as good news to bad men; to bad rulers, to bad employers, to swindlers and sweaters and the rest. The brisk owner of a bucket-shop compared himself modestly to a mammoth, trampling down other mammoths in the primeval jungle. The business man destroyed other business men, under the extraordinary delusion that the eohippic horse had devoured other eohippic horses. The rich man suddenly discovered that it was not only convenient but cosmic to starve or pillage the poor, because pterodactyls may have used their little hands to tear each other’s eyes. Science, that nameless being, declared that the weakest must go to the wall; especially in Wall Street. There was a rapid decline and degradation in the sense of responsibility in the rich, from the merely rationalistic eighteenth century to the purely scientific nineteenth. The great Jefferson, when he reluctantly legalised slavery, said he trembled for his country, knowing that God is just. The profiteer of later times, when he legalised usury or financial trickery, was satisfied with himself; knowing that Nature is unjust.

But, however that may be (and of course the moral malady has survived scientific mistake) the people who talked thus of cannibal horses and competitive oysters, did not understand what Darwin’s thesis was. If later biologists have condemned it, it should not be condemned without being understood, widely as it has been accepted without being understood. The point of Darwinism was not that a bird with a longer beak (let us say) thrust it into other birds, and had the advantage of a duelist with a longer sword. The point of Darwinism was that the bird with the longer beak could reach worms (let us say) at the bottom of a deeper hole; that the birds who could not do so would die; and he alone would remain to found a race of long-beaked birds. Darwinism suggested that if this happened a vast number of times, in a vast series of ages, it might account for the difference between the beaks of a sparrow and a stork. But the point was that the fittest did not need to struggle against the unfit. The survivor had nothing to do except to survive, when the others could not survive. He survived because he alone had the features and organs necessary for survival. And, whatever be the truth about mammoths or monkeys, that is the exact truth about the present survival of religion. It is surviving because nothing else can survive.

Religion has returned; because all the various forms of scepticism that tried to take its place, and do its work, have by this time tied themselves into such knots that they cannot do anything. That chain of causation of which they were fond of talking seems really to have served them after the fashion of the proverbial rope; and when modern discussion gave them rope enough, they quite rapidly hanged themselves. For there is not a single one of the fashionable forms of scientific scepticism, or determinism, that does not end in stark paralysis, touching the practical conduct of human life. Take any three of the normal and necessary ideas on which civilisation and even society depend. First, let us say, a scientific man of the old normal nineteenth-century sort would remark, “We can at least have common sense, in its proper meaning of a sense of reality common to all; we can have common morals, for without them we cannot even have a community; a man must in the ordinary sense obey the law; and especially the moral law.” Then the newer sceptic, who is progressive and has gone further and fared worse, will immediately say, “Why should you worship the taboo of your particular tribe? Why should you accept prejudices that are the product of a blind herd instinct? Why is there any authority in the unanimity of a flock of frightened sheep?” Suppose the normal man falls back on the deeper argument: “I am not terrorised by the tribe; I do keep my independent judgment; I have a conscience and a light of justice within, which judges the world.” And the stronger sceptic will answer: “If the light in your body be darkness–and it is darkness because it is only in your body–what are your judgments but the incurable twist and bias of your particular heredity and accidental environment? What can we know about judgments, except that they must all be equally unjust? For they are all equally conditioned by defects and individual ignorances, all of them different and none of them distinguishable; for there exists no single man so sane and separate as to be able to distinguish them justly. Why should your conscience be any more reliable than your rotting teeth or your quite special defect of eyesight? God bless us all, one would think you believed in God!” Then perhaps the normal person will get annoyed and say rather snappishly, “At least I suppose we are men of science; there is science to appeal to and she will always answer; the evidential and experimental discovery of real things.” And the other sceptic will answer, if he has any sense of humour: “Why certainly. Sir Arthur Eddington is Science; and he will tell you that science cannot destroy religion, or even defend the multiplication table. Sir Bertram Windle was Science; and he would tell you that the scientific mind is completely satisfied in the Roman Catholic Church. For that matter. Sir Oliver Lodge was Science; and he reached by purely experimental and evidential methods to a solid belief in ghosts. But I admit that there are men of science who cannot get to a solid belief in anything; even in science; even in themselves. There is the crystalographer of Cambridge who writes in the Spectator the lucid sentence: ‘ We know that most of what we know is probably untrue.’ Does that help you on a bit, in founding your sane and solid society?”

We have of course seen just lately the most dramatic exit of great material scientists from the camp of Materialism. It was Eddington I think, who used the phrase that the universe seems to be more like a great thought than a great machine: and Dr. Whitney as reported, has declared that there is no rational description of the ultimate cosmic motion except the Will of God. But it is the perishing of the other things, at least as much as the persistence of the one thing, that has left us at last face to face with the ancient religion of our fathers. The thing once called free thought has come finally to threaten everything that is free. It denies personal freedom in denying free will and the human power of choice. It threatens civic freedom with a plague of hygienic and psychological quackeries; spreading over the land such a network of pseudo-scientific nonsense as free citizens have never yet endured in history. It is quite likely to reverse religious freedom, in the name of some barbarous nostrum or other, such as constitutes the crude and ill-cultured creed of Russia. It is perfectly capable of imposing silence and impotence from without. But there is no doubt whatever that it imposes silence and impotence from within. The whole trend of it, which began as a drive and has ended in a drift, is towards some form of the theory that a man cannot help himself; that a man cannot mend himself; above all, that a man cannot free himself. In all its novels and most of its newspaper articles it takes for granted that men are stamped and fixed in certain types of abnormality of anarchical weakness; that they are pinned and labeled in a museum of morality or immorality; or of that sort of unmorality which is more priggish than the one and more hoggish than the other. We are practically told that we might as well ask a fossil to reform itself. We are told that we are asking a stuffed bird to repent. We are all dead, and the only comfort is that we are all classified. For by this philosophy, which is the same as that of the blackest of Puritan heresies, we all died before we were born. But as it is Kismet without Allah, so also it is Calvinism without God.

The agnostics will be gratified to learn that it is entirely due to their own energy and enterprise, to their own activity in pursuing their own antics, that the world has at last tired of their antics and told them so. We have done very little against them; non nobis, Domine; the glory of their final overthrow is all their own. We have done far less than we should have done, to explain all that balance of subtlety and sanity which is meant by a Christian civilisation. Our thanks are due to those who have so generously helped us by giving a glimpse of what might be meant by a Pagan civilisation. And what is lost in that society is not so much religion as reason; the ordinary common daylight of intellectual instinct that has guided the children of men. A world in which men know that most of what they know is probably untrue cannot be dignified with the name of a sceptical world; it is simply an impotent and abject world, not attacking anything, but accepting everything while trusting nothing; accepting even its own incapacity to attack; accepting its own lack of authority to accept; doubting its very right to doubt. We are grateful for this public experiment and demonstration; it has taught us much. We did not believe that rationalists were so utterly mad until they made it quite clear to us. We did not ourselves think that the mere denial of our dogmas could end in such dehumanised and demented anarchy. It might have taken the world a long time to understand that what it had been taught to dismiss as mediaeval theology was often mere common sense; although the very term common sense, or communis sententia, was a mediaeval conception. But it took the world very little time to understand that the talk on the other side was most uncommon nonsense. It was nonsense that could not be made the basis of any common system, such as has been founded upon common sense.


“THE RETURN TO RELIGION” from THE WELL AND THE SHALLOWS, by G. K. Chesterton

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Angels Appear on Icon to Children in Ukraine

Kiev, 4 February 2010, Interfax – Depictions of angels appeared in the icon of St. Mitrophan of Voronezh in the Vitovka village not far from Poltava after the icon visited a children’s camp, Ukrainian edition of the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reports.

This small icon with St. Mitrofan’s relics was found at the cemetery in 2003. Parishioners brought it to the church and soon the halo around the saint’s head started glaring.

However, strange events have not stopped occurring. After the icon was consecrated and parishioners started venerating it as the main church shrine, many residents of the region wanted to see the wonder. Last summer, the icon was taken to the children’s camp in the village of Golovach.

“The icon was there for several days, and just before the departure, children showed me that some new elements appeared in it – a small church and an angel above the cloud,” the priest told.

St. Mitrophan died on November 23, 1703 and was buried in the Protection Cathedral of Voronezh. People say that Emperor Peter I carried his coffin. His tomb was twice opened in 1831 and 1989. When his body was found uncorrupted, the saint was canonized.

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Meatfare Sunday: Sunday of the Last Judgment

The foregoing two parables -- especially that of the Prodigal Son -- have presented to us God's extreme goodness and love for man. But lest certain persons, putting their confidence in this alone, live carelessly, squandering upon sin the time given them to work out their salvation, and death suddenly snatch them away, the most divine Fathers have appointed this day's feast commemorating Christ's impartial Second Coming, through which we bring to mind that God is not only the Friend of man, but also the most righteous Judge, Who recompenses to each according to his deeds.

It is the aim of the holy Fathers, through bringing to mind that fearful day, to rouse us from the slumber of carelessness unto the work of virtue, and to move us to love and compassion for our brethren. Besides this, even as on the coming Sunday of Cheesefare we commemorate Adam's exile from the Paradise of delight -- which exile is the beginning of life as we know it now -- it is clear that today's is reckoned the last of all feasts, because on the last day of judgment, truly, everything of this world will come to an end.

All foods, except meat and meat products, are allowed during the week that follows this Sunday.


Sermon On The Last Judgment

by St. John Maximovitch

The day of the Last Judgement! That day no one knows — only God the Father knows — but its signs are given in the Gospel and in the Apocalypse of the holy Apostle John the Theologian. Revelation speaks of the events at the end of the world and of the Last Judgement primarily in images and in a veiled manner.

However, the Holy Fathers have explained these images, and there is an authentic Church tradition that speaks clearly concerning the signs of the approach of the end, and concerning the Last Judgement. Before the end of life on earth there will be agitation, wars, civil war, hunger, earthquakes… Men will suffer from fear, will die from expectation of calamity. There will be no life, no joy of life but a tormented state of falling away from life. Nevertheless there will be a falling away not only from life, but from faith also, and “when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” (St. Luke 18:8).

Men will become proud, ungrateful, rejecting Divine law. Together with the falling away from life will be a weakening of moral life. There will be an exhaustion of good and an increase of evil.

Of these times, the holy Apostle John the Theologian speaks in his God-inspired work, the Apocalypse. He says that he “was in the Spirit” when he wrote it; this means that the Holy Spirit Himself was in him, when under the form of various images, the fate of the Church and the world was opened to him, and so this is a Divine Revelation.

The Apocalypse represents the fate of the Church in the image of a woman who hides herself in the wilderness: she does not show herself in public life, as today in Russia. In public life, forces that prepare the possibility for the appearance of Antichrist will play the leading role.

Antichrist will be a man, and not the devil incarnate. “Anti” means “old,” and it also signifies “in place of” or “against.” Antichrist is a man who desires to be in place of Christ, to occupy His place and possess what Christ should possess. He desires to possess the attraction of Christ and authority over the whole world. Moreover, Antichrist will receive that authority before his destruction and the destruction of the world.

What is known of this man — Antichrist? His precise ancestry is unknown: his father is completely unknown, and his mother a foul pretended virgin. He will be a Jew of the tribe of Dan. He will be very intelligent and endowed with skill in handling people. He will be fascinating and kind. The philosopher Vladimir Soloviev worked a long time at presenting the advent and person of Antichrist. He carefully made use of all material on this question, not only Patristic, but also Muslim, and he worked out a brilliant picture.

Before the advent of Antichrist, there was a preparation in the world, the possibility of his appearance. "The mystery of iniquity doth already work" (II Thes. 2:7). The forces preparing for his appearance fight above all against the lawful Imperial authority.

The holy Apostle Paul says that Antichrist cannot be manifested until "what withholdest is taken away" (II Thes. 2:6-7). St. John Chrysostom explains that the “withholding one” is the lawful pious authority: such an authority fights with evil. For this reason the “mystery,” already at work in the world, fights with this authority; it desires a lawless authority. When the “mystery” decisively achieves that authority, nothing will hinder the appearance of Antichrist any longer.

Fascinating, intelligent, kind, he will be merciful — he will act with mercy and goodness; but not for the sake of mercy and goodness, but for the strengthening of his own authority. When he will have strengthened it to the point where the whole world acknowledges him, then he will reveal his face.

For his capital, he will choose Jerusalem, because it was here that the Savior revealed His Divine teaching and His person. It was here that the entire world was called to the blessedness of goodness and salvation. The world did not acknowledge Christ and crucified Him in Jerusalem; whereas, the whole world will acknowledge the Antichrist’s authority and Jerusalem will become the capital of the world.

Having attained the pinnacle of authority, Antichrist will demand the acknowledgement that he has attained what no earthly power had ever attained or could attain and then demand the worship of himself as a higher being, as a god.

V. Soloviev describes the character of his activity well, as “Supreme Ruler.” He will do what is pleasing to all — on the condition of being recognized as Supreme Authority. He will allow the Church to exist, permit her Divine services, promise to build magnificent churches…, on the condition that all recognize him as “Supreme Being” and worship him. Antichrist will have a personal hatred for Christ; he will see Him as a rival and look upon Him as a personal enemy. He will live by this hatred and rejoice in men’s apostasy from Christ.

Under Antichrist, there will be an immense falling away from the faith. Many bishops will change in faith and in justification will point to the brilliant situation of the Church. The search for compromise will be the characteristic disposition of men. Straight-forwardness of confession will disappear. Men will cleverly justify their fall, and gracious evil will support such a general disposition. There will be the habit of apostasy from truth and the sweetness of compromise and sin in men.

Antichrist will allow men everything, as long as they “fall down and worship him” and the whole world will submit to him. Then there will appear the two righteous men, who will fearlessly preach the faith and accuse Antichrist.

According to Church tradition, they are the two Prophets of the Old Testament, Elijah and Enoch, who did not taste of death, but will taste it now for three days, and in three days they must rise. Their death will call forth the great rejoicing of Antichrist and his servants. Their resurrection will plunge them into great confusion and terror. Then, the end of the world will come.

The Apostle Peter said that the first world was made out of water — an image of the primordial chaos, and perished by water — in the Flood. Now the world is reserved unto fire. The earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up (II Peter 3:5-7, 10). All the elements will ignite. This present world will perish in a single instant. In an instant all will be changed.

Moreover, the Sign of the Son of God, the Sign of the Cross, will appear. The whole world, having willingly submitted to Antichrist, will weep. Everything is finished forever: Antichrist killed, the end of his kingdom of warfare with Christ, the end, and one is held accountable; one must answer to the true God.

“The end of the world” signifies not the annihilation of the world, but its transformation. Everything will be transformed suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye. The dead will rise in new bodies: their own, but renewed, just as the Savior rose in His own body and traces of wounds from the nails and spear were on it, yet it possessed new faculties, and in this sense it was a new body. It is not clear whether this new body will be the same as Adam was made, or whether it will be an entirely new body.

Afterward, the Lord will appear in glory on the clouds. Trumpets will sound, loud, with power! They will sound in the soul and conscience! All will become clear to the human conscience.

The Prophet Daniel, speaking of the Last Judgement, relates how the Ancient of Days, the Judge sits on His throne, and before Him is a fiery stream (Daniel 7:9-10). Fire is a purifying element; it burns sin. Woe to a man if sin has become a part of his nature: then the fire will burn the man, himself.

This fire will be kindled within man: seeing the Cross, some will rejoice, but others will fall into confusion, terror and despair. Thus, men will be divided instantly. The very state of a man’s soul casts him to one side or the other, to right or to left.

The more consciously and persistently man strives toward God in his life, the greater will be his joy when he hears: “Come unto Me, ye blessed.”

Conversely: the same words will call the fire of horror and torture to those who did not desire Him, who fled and fought or blasphemed Him during their lifetime!

The Last Judgement knows of no witnesses or written protocols! Everything is inscribed in the souls of men and these records, these “books,” are opened at the Judgement. Everything becomes clear to all and to oneself.

Moreover, some will go to joy, while others — to horror.

When “the books are opened,” it will become clear that the roots of all vices lie in the human soul. Here is a drunkard or a lecher: when the body has died, some may think that sin is dead too. No! There was an inclination to sin in the soul, and that sin was sweet to the soul, and if the soul has not repented and has not freed itself of the sin, it will come to the Last Judgement with the same desire for sin. It will never satisfy that desire and in that soul there will be the suffering of hatred. It will accuse everyone and everything in its tortured condition; it will hate everyone and everything. “There will be gnashing of teeth” of powerless malice and the unquenchable fire of hatred.

A “fiery gehenna” — such is the inner fire.

“There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Such is the state of hell.


Doxastikon of Matins in Tone One
Let us go before, O brethren, and cleanse ourselves for the Queen of virtues; for behold she hath come bringing to us fortune of good deeds, quenching the uprisings of passion and reconciling the wicked to the Master. Let us welcome her, therefore, shouting to Christ God, O thou who arose from the dead, keep us uncondemned, who glorify Thee, O Thou who alone art sinless.

Kontakion in Tone One
When Thou comest, O God, upon the earth with glory, the whole world will tremble. The river of fire will bring men before Thy judgment seat, the books will be opened and the secrets disclosed. Then deliver me from the unquenchable fire, and count me worthy to stand on Thy right hand, Judge most righteous.

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