Saint Anthimos of Chios (+1960)

St. Anthimos of Chios (Feast Day - February 15)

St. Anthimos, who in the world was known as Argyrios K. Vagianos, was born on July 1, 1869 to devout peasants, Konstantinos and Argyra, in Chios in the region of St. Luke Leivadion. He left elementary school early to become a shoe mender. At the age of nineteen he visited the Skete of the Holy Fathers founded by the monk Pachomios, who had been the spiritual counselor of St Nektarios. With the blessing of the elder, Anthimos returned home and built himself a small hut and dwelt in it. His only help in his spiritual contests was an icon of the Mother of God given to him by his mother later known as Panagia Voithia (the Helper), which soon began to work miracles, drawing many to his hermitage. He had returned home to relieve the suffering of his parents and help the poor of his village as well. After a time he retired to the Skete, and it was here that he became a monk and took the name Anthimos given by Elder Pachomios. He fell ill there and his abbot sent him home to his parents for the sake of his health. At home, despite the fact that he was caring for his aged parents and practicing his shoe mender's trade, he continued to live as a monk, spending nights on end in prayer and sometimes living only on bread and water for extended periods. He took his inspiration reading about the lives of the great ascetics, and in this way he was able to conquer every assault of the devil.

Increasing numbers of visitors came to his hermitage and wonder-working icon of the Theotokos, and in 1909, at the age of forty, he received the Great Schema by the successor of Pachomios, Hieromonk Andronikos. The people of Chios wanted him to be ordained to the priesthood, but his bishop refused due to the Saint's lack of education. At the prompting of Anthimos' godfather, the Bishop of Smyrna ordained him instead in 1910. After a pilgrimage to Mt Athos in 1911, he returned to Chios, where he became chaplain to a leper hospital. Soon the hospital, which had fallen into corruption, became a spiritual center, as much like a monastery as a hospital. Saint Anthimos tended many of the sickest with his own hands, working many miracles of healing; some of his recovered patients became monks or nuns (such as Venerable Nikephoros the Blind).

With the notorious 'Exchange of Populations' of 1922-1924, refugees poured into Chios, many of them destitute nuns and girls. In response to a vision of the Mother of God, St Anthimos built a monastery in 1930, which opened with thirty nuns and grew rapidly, despite the opposition of many who said that setting up such a community was out of date. The Monastery of Panagia Voithia, as it came to be known, soon housed eighty nuns and was known throughout Greece as a model of monastic life. Father Anthimos served as priest to the nuns, and continued to receive the many faithful — often sixty or seventy per day — who came to him for prayer or counsel. He carried on this ministry for more than thirty years, working many miracles of healing. When he was too old to work with his hands, he retired to his cell and prayed that he be enabled to serve his neighbor until his last breath.

On January 27, 1960 St. Anthimos celebrated his final Divine Liturgy. He reposed in peace at the age of ninety-one on February 15th, mourned and revered by the whole island of Chios. The remains of St. Anthimos are in the church inside of the monastery he founded and still work miracles along with the holy icon of Panagia Voithia. He was canonized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate on August 13, 1992.

The following account is taken from an interview with Protopresbyter Andrea Dafnou who knew St. Anthimos:

"I have been found worthy to receive the blessing of two sacred personalities, while still alive, that were canonized. One of these is St. Anthimos of Chios. When I was a child, I injured my eye. I was afraid that, if my father found out, that he would beat me. I remember it had become bruised as well. What would I do? I thought that I should go to the holy man up at Panagia Voithia Monastery. I told him my problem. He read a prayer over me, crossed me, and healed me! Receiving his blessing, I left.

The other holy personality that I had the blessing to meet was another Saint of Chios, Saint Symeon, the abbot of Psaron. From the age of 8 I would go to the Monastery and learn letters studying the Psalms of David! I remember he was a strogly built man and upkept the monastery buildings with much love. At night they would hear him go to a gorge next to the Monastery and break stones, in order to, as he would say, tame himself through work and for the devil to not battle against him. In the morning he would be prompt for Services. I was blessed, from the age of five, to be near him" (ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΗ, num. 55, Winter 2003-04).

A Miracle of St. Anthimos is related here.

Sayings

- “Humble-mindedness will bring all the virtues.”

- “What do people do when their hands and faces are dirty? They turn on a tap and allow the water to clean away the stains. We should imitate them. Only, we should open two taps – our eyes, so that an abundance of tears of repentance pour out, which will wash out all the poisons of this futile world which have infected and dirtied our wretched souls."

- "The Panagia is the only mother of all Christians. And who does not call upon her? Because the sufferings of mankind are many in this vain world, nowhere else can we all find relief, except in the Panagia. When you are sitting there quietly, a thought suddenly comes to you and brings darkness. Where will you go to be loosed from this darkness? To the Panagia. All the Saints are our helpers, but above all is the Panagia.

She has the riches of great compassion. She has great love for mankind, especially for sinners. For this reason she never ceases to mediate to her Son, and the Son takes great joy when His mother intercedes on behalf of mankind. For this reason she brought us His mother and granted her to us that we may have her as a source of salvation."

Video on the Life of St. Anthimos of Chios




See also links here.

Apolytikion in the Third Tone

O new boast of Orthodoxy, and newly-adorned flower of purity, you shared the name of Anthimos of Nikomedia, and shared his virtues and way of life, O new seal and adornment of the venerable ones. O Father Anthimos, the boast of all Chios, entreat Christ God to grant us great mercy.

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Clean Monday and It's Traditional Observance

By John Sanidopoulos

Clean Monday (Greek: Καθαρή Δευτέρα) refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and non-fasting foods. The entire first week of Great Lent is often referred to as "Clean Week," and it is customary to go to Confession during this week, and to clean the house thoroughly.

Strictly observant Orthodox hold this day (and also Clean Tuesday and Wednesday) as a strict fast day, on which no solid food at all is eaten. Others will eat only in the evening, and then only xerophagy (lit. "dry eating"; i.e. eating uncooked foodstuffs such as fruit, nuts, halva, bread and honey, etc).

The theme of Clean Monday is set by the Old Testament readings appointed to be read at the Sixth Hour on this day. Isaiah 1:1-20 says in part:

"Wash yourselves and ye shall be clean; put away the wicked ways from your souls before Mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do good. Seek righteousness, relieve the oppressed, consider the fatherless, and plead for the widow. Come then, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: Though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow; and though they be red like crimson, I will make them white as wool. If then ye be willing, and obedient unto Me, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye desire not, nor will obey Me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (v. 16-20).

Genesis 1:1-13 is also read to imply that this is a time of renewal and new beginnings.

The reading from Proverbs 1:1-20 instructs us towards clean and sober living through the use of wisdom, the beginning of which is "the fear of the Lord." The clearest piece of advice given says: "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent."



The Three Day Fast (Ιερὸ Τριήμερο)

For those who are able and willing, it is encouraged by the Church to keep a three day strict fast where neither food or water (if possible) is consumed until Clean Wednesday when one partakes of Holy Communion at the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy. Some of the strictest monastics even go so far as to do this for the entire Clean Week, accepting only Holy Communion during the week. This is an excellent way to mark the beginning of a holy struggle against one's passions and weaknesses.

Abstaining from all food and drink for three days will help us approach the Lord on a deeper level than ever before. It will also help us to see and know ourselves on a deeper level. During these three days one will observe that they will be able to more clearly see their weaknesses, their passions, their spiritual poverty, and their nakedness of all the virtues, the dark abyss within, and the inner ugliness. Physically one will recognize how truly weak the flesh is even when the spirit is willing. This humbling attitude is a prerequisite to a successful fast. It is also a motivating factor for the rest of Great Lent as well as the entire spiritual life in general. And when one partakes of the Holy Mysteries after three days of such fasting, there is instilled in the individual a deeper appreciation for the Lord's presence within the Mysteries.

Such a fast should not be imposed, but only encouraged and accepted willingly. It is only in this way that it can be of benefit. If one has a spiritual father, his blessing should be given for this to be done. There is no danger to this fast, as it is a long-held tradition, but if one is on medication or has an illness or is pregnant or any other medical condition, such a fast is discouraged. But for healthy people, it has been known that even doctors have encouraged such a fast, at least for purposes of cleansing the body, which has great health benefits. It should also be mentioned that the fast is alleviated the more one is able to attend the Divine Services and keep a prayer rule.

There is an old Greek saying or joke which says: "Σάν συλλογιέται ὁ παπᾶς τό Τριήμερο, μαύρη Τουρνή (Τυρινή) τοῦ πάει." In other words, a few days before the fast, that is during Cheesefare Week, when the priest is contemplating the three day fast he is about to undertake, it is a Black Cheesefare - he is sad and mournful.

Overall, the joy of the three day fast will last the entire journey one undertakes throughout Great Lent and Holy Week. And it will help to bring us more joy on the holy day of Pascha. This is the spiritual fruit of the three day fast. An abundance of grace flows when the paschal mystery shines within the heart of an Orthodox believer.



Great Lent in Cappadocia

From the first day of the Great Fast the pious Orthodox of Cappadocia would enter a period where the soul was given priority over the body. Clean Monday for them was the first day for the cleansing of the soul.

Preparations for Clean Monday started from the day before. After Forgiveness Vespers all would go home and any celebrations of the past two weeks would cease. They would prepare for the long fast by eating a boiled egg. This was done so that they would eat the same thing last as they do the first time when the fast ends on Pascha and they eat the paschal egg. On Clean Monday the women of Cappadocia would boil hot water with ashes and thoroughly clean all their dishes, silverware, and cooking pots. This was done so that there would be no trace of previous foods on them lest they break the fast unknowingly, which they still considered a sin. The fasting during Great Lent was very strict and only those who fasted strictly approached Holy Communion. Engaged men would send their fiances a cake of halva decorated with pomegranates and nuts. Early on Clean Wednesday they would go to Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, receive Holy Communion after an especially strict fast, then proceed to their normal work. On the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) they would have a little relief from their fast, but continue through until Pascha.



Kyra Sarakosti (Η "Kυρά Σαρακοστή")

An old Greek tradition which would be incorporated to help devout Orthodox Christians keep the strict three day fast has to do with a woman named Kyra Sarakosti (Lady Lent). The women especially back then would keep the three day fast like nuns, eating and drinking absolutely nothing during that time. When the three days were up they would only eat dry foods for the rest of Clean Week.

Kyra Sarakosti was their calendar for Great Lent. On Clean Monday they would draw a woman on a piece of paper. They would not draw a mouth because the woman was fasting, and the hands were crossed as in prayer. She also had seven legs for the seven Sundays of Great Lent and Holy Week. Every Saturday a leg was cut off till she had no more legs after Holy Saturday. In Chios they would put these legs in a dried up fig or walnut tree and whoever found it would be considered blessed.

In other places Kyra Sarakosti was made out of fabric and they would fill it with feathers.

In Pontus they would boil a potato or onion, stick seven feathers from a chicken on it, and tie it to the ceiling in the house. There it would stay the entire time of Great Lent. Every week a feather would be plucked. It was known as the "rooster" (κουκουράς).

This is a tradition that is increasingly being revived today.



Modern Day Greece and Cyprus

Clean Monday is a public holiday in Greece and Cyprus, where it is celebrated with outdoor excursions, the consumption of shellfish, octopus, taramosalata (for the more lenient), and other fasting food, including a special kind of azyme bread, baked only on that day, named "lagana" (Greek: λαγάνα). This feast would be accompanied with the widespread custom of flying kites. Eating meat, eggs and dairy products is traditionally forbidden to Christians throughout Great Lent, with fish being eaten only on major feast days, but shellfish is permitted. This has created the tradition of eating elaborate dishes based on seafood (shellfish, molluscs, fish roe, etc). Traditionally, it is considered to mark the beginning of the spring season, a notion which was used symbolically in Ivan Bunin's critically acclaimed story, Pure Monday.

The happy, springtime atmosphere of Clean Monday may seem at odds with the Lenten spirit of repentance and self-control, but this seeming contradiction is a marked aspect of the Orthodox approach to fasting, in accordance with the Gospel lesson (Matthew 6:14-21) read on the morning before, which admonishes:

"When ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret..." (v. 16-18).

In this manner, the Orthodox celebrate the fact that: "The springtime of the Fast has dawned, the flower of repentance has begun to open..." (Aposticha, Vespers on Wednesday of Cheesefare Week).

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Climategate U-Turn's

"I am compelled to fear that science will be used to promote the power of dominant groups rather than to make men happy." ~ Bertrand Russell, Icarus, or the Future of Science, 1925

What the world is witnessing in the IPCC case is astonishing – perhaps unprecedented. Within a few months, a solid international consensus has unraveled. It began days before a huge international conference in Copenhagen that was to impose draconian measures on world governments to curb carbon emissions. Emails leaked or stolen revealed something rotten at the IPCC, the international clearinghouse for climate science. Climate skeptics immediately smelled blood; their criticisms went viral on the internet. It didn’t help that Copenhagen suffered one of its coldest winters as politicians traipsed through the snow and cold to figure out how to fight global warming. Relevant or not, the irony was not lost on the public.

At first, the response of the scientific community to the Climategate email scandal was to circle the wagons, underestimate the scandal’s impact, and blame the naysayers for their ignorance of the scientific facts. But then, additional scandals came to light, exposing failures in peer review, lapses in scholarship, and evident conflicts of interest. The disconnect between Big Science’s overconfidence and public skepticism has been growing steadily to the point where even staunch supporters of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) are calling for deep reforms. Here are a few recent data points in the ongoing saga.

1. American opinion about global warming is cooling, reported Science Daily.

2. The BBC News, originally in the wagon circle, has lately been more open about reporting breaches of ethics that have eroded public confidence in climate science.

3. The journal Nature, originally in a huff over climate skeptics, has started printing some papers that are not as confident about AGW, such as this paper Jan 28 that considered degrees of climate feedback throughout the medieval period.

4. On Feb 2, Nature acknowledged that the IPCC has been “flooded with criticism” and took note that some of the criticisms, including data flaws and conflicts of interest, are not easily dismissable.

5. BBC commentator Malini Mehra said that “The Copenhagen Climate Accord was a failure of historic proportions that is hardly worth the paper it is printed on.” The meetings led to a chaos of competing national self-interests.

6. BBC commentator Roger Harrabin has been growing more vocal about reform. On Feb 1 he called for embracing uncertainty rather than pretending that the consensus science is settled. On Feb 3 he discussed problems at the IPCC and entertained reasons why its leader should resign.

7. Richard Black’s commentaries for the BBC News have been evolving. From initial overconfidence, he has been having to admit the scientific consensus is taking a beating. He acknowledged on Feb 5 that skepticism is rising in the UK, noting several prominent British commentators speaking out and polls showing public discontent with the IPCC.

8. Science Magazine reported on the latest scandal, the misinformation about melting glaciers. The magazine also printed an Editorial preaching about the need for integrity in science.

9. News outlets that a month ago seemed sold out to the AGW consensus are now showing some courage to give skeptical stories favorable press. Today, Science Daily printed a story that estimates of melt from Alaskan glaciers were largely overestimated, and another Science Daily article questioned scientists’ knowledge about orbital forcing: “The notion that scientists understand how changes in Earth’s orbit affect climate well enough for estimating long-term natural climate trends that underlie any anthropogenic climate change is challenged by findings just published.”

10. Another day, another embarrassment: PhysOrg reported that the Dutch found an inaccurate statement in the IPCC's 2007 report, claiming that half of the Netherlands is below sea level. “No evidence could be found to show the claim had been published in a peer-reviewed journal and reports in Britain have said the reference came from green group the WWF [World Wildlife Federation], who in turn sourced it to the New Scientist magazine.” Normally, scientific findings flow the other direction.

11. New Scientist, a cheerleader for the IPCC, nevertheless called to “Let the sunshine in” and embrace open debate, including dialogue with bloggers and skeptics. Notice how the editorial even suggested the possibility a naked emperor on the loose.

12. AfricaGate: Now another widely-quoted factoid about global warming has come under attack: that North Africa’s crop production would drop by 50% by 2020. The Times Online reported Feb 7 there was no basis in the IPCC report for such a claim, but it had been quoted by the IPCC chairman and by the UN Secretary-General. “A leading British government scientist has warned the United Nations’ climate panel to tackle its blunders or lose all credibility,” the article began.

13. The UN climate change panel admitted Sunday to having imprecisely stated in a key report that 55 percent of The Netherlands is under sea level, saying that is only the area at risk of flooding.

14. Daily Mail reported yesterday that the academic at the centre of the ‘Climategate’ affair, whose raw data is crucial to the theory of climate change, has admitted that he has trouble ‘keeping track’ of the information.

These are just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Time and space do not allow coverage of the torrent of articles dealing with the question: how reliable is the consensus about global warming? What does this tell us about scientific practice? It goes without saying that the skeptics are having a field day: sites like Climate Depot and SEPP are rushing to put out all the hot news with unmasked glee. But when even the ardent supporters of the consensus are calling for reforms and resignations, and are starting to print scientific papers challenging the consensus, it’s a hint that this is big. It may just turn out to put the Revolution back in Thomas Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions, the 1962 book that launched whole disciplines devoted to critically analyzing knowledge generation in science.

Kuhn’s book in particular launched or re-invigorated several disciplines that began to analyze scientific practice more critically:

A. History of Science changed from describing science’s march of progress to a different realization: that scientific knowledge itself is historical in character – i.e., it changes over time. Ideas claimed to be scientific facts in one generation can be fundamentally modified or overturned in the next.

B. Sociology of Science: Kuhn’s description of science as a guild locked in a paradigm led to renewed attempts to examine the human element of knowledge generation: the cliques, reinforcements, shared beliefs, taboos and other non-empirical aspects that influence conclusions in scientific institutions. Some took on the project of analyzing science scientifically, going into labs to describe the way scientists work in the way they would investigate a tribal culture. Postmodernism overlapped with these efforts.

C. Rhetoric of Science sprang up as a discipline after Kuhn to tackle the rhetorical character of scientific claims. How do scientists frame their theories? How do they communicate them to the public? To what extent do analogies, projection themes and shared language modes influence not only what scientists believe, but what direction science should go? In addition, how is rhetoric employed in scientific controversies?

The current hubbub over climate science could calm down, with the consensus stabilizing itself again, or we could witness its collapse. If the latter, the public image of science as objective and reliable could be severely damaged. To be true, the IPCC is a somewhat unique case. It is a centralized body invested with a special role for a single research domain. Nevertheless, all the major scientific organizations and nations placed unquestioned trust in its reports, because they assumed its methods guaranteed objectivity. Look at their initial knee-jerk reaction to skeptics. It was not just the IPCC, but Nature, Science, PNAS, the media, and a host of non-governmental organization that treated the AGW consensus as truth and the IPCC reports as revelation from heaven (the atmosphere, that is). Skeptics were treated as outsiders and pariahs. The resemblance to the Darwin consensus is apt.

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Greece Shows Euro Isn’t Working

Harvard’s Feldstein Says Greece Shows Euro ‘Isn’t Working’

February 12, 2010
Business Week
By Simon Kennedy and Thomas R. Keene

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Harvard University Professor Martin Feldstein, who warned in 1997 that European monetary union would spark greater political conflict, said Greece’s fiscal woes expose the fault lines of the single currency project.

A day after EU leaders promised “determined and coordinated action” to help Greece control its budget deficit, Feldstein said the weakness of having a single monetary policy and different fiscal policies is being revealed.

“It isn’t working,” Feldstein, 70, said today in an interview on Bloomberg Radio. “In Europe, they have a single monetary policy and yet every country can set its own fiscal and tax policy.”

Feldstein said European governments will have to find a new way to ensure budget deficits don’t get out of control.

“There’s too much incentive for countries to run up big deficits as there’s no feedback until a crisis,” he said.

While the European Central Bank sets interest rates for the region’s 16 economies, the practice until now has been that each country has to steer its economy and can set its own tax and spending policies.

In his 1997 article, Feldstein wrote that while it’s impossible to predict whether political clashes will lead to war, “it is too real a possibility to ignore in weighing the potential effects” of monetary and political union.

See also: Wall St. Helped to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis

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Study Shows Abstinence Education Works

No To Sex

The best way to keep kids from having sex may be (surprise): just tell them not to do it.

By Stephen Smith
Boston Globe
February 15, 2010

To a street-savvy 17-year-old, there isn’t much mystery when it comes to what will work - and what won’t - in a sex education class.

“When you preach abstinence, you sound like a parent,’’ said Hillary Little, who grew up in Boston and attends Worcester Academy. “I feel like my mom’s talking to me when adults come to me and say, ‘Abstinence is the only way. You shouldn’t have sex.’ That’s so unrealistic.

“People are going to do it.’’

Or maybe not.

Earlier this month, shockwaves rattled partisans of the long-flaring feud that has ensnarled sex education in the United States. A study by University of Pennsylvania researchers offered perhaps the most convincing evidence ever that young adolescents might actually heed messages to delay their first sexual encounters - especially if those messages aren’t preachy.

The study, appearing in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, showed that sixth- and seventh-graders in Philadelphia who attended abstinence-only classes were less likely to become sexually active than their peers who went to sessions emphasizing condom use exclusively or classes combining lessons on abstinence and condoms. Previous studies of abstinence education, sometimes lambasted for scientific shoddiness, had largely failed to show the strategy altered teens’ behavior.

The new research was robust. The scientists were fastidious. The findings were statistically significant.

And yet, the question is scarcely settled. Proponents of abstinence education hailed the study as proof they were right all along. Inveterate opponents of abstinence-only education said the Penn approach was different than its forerunners: less judgmental, never depicting sex outside of marriage as something inherently wrong.

The tinderbox that is sex education, it turns out, is as combustible as ever.

“It is a mini culture war, no doubt about it,’’ said Bill Albert, chief program officer for the nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy. “The reason why this is so fraught with controversy and elicits such passion is because it touches on some primal issues that people care deeply about - education of our children, when and under what circumstances to start a family, sex.’’

Teen pregnancy rates climbed steadily through the 1970s before leveling off and, then, starting to decline in the early 1990s. It was the age of AIDS, when the viral disease was viewed as a near-certain death sentence, sparking a profound change in sexual behaviors.

Starting with the Clinton administration and accelerating during the presidency of George W. Bush, federal health agencies favored sex education programs that championed abstinence until marriage. And it wasn’t just in the United States: Abstinence figured prominently in the Bush administration’s campaign to treat and prevent AIDS in Africa and Asia.

Critics charged the abstinence campaigns were thinly veiled morality lessons that misled teenagers about other methods of protection, spreading false notions, for example, about the reliability of condoms.

“They just didn’t get their scientific facts right,’’ said Dr. John Santelli, of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “Or they had a very strong moral tone that the world of ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ from the ’50s was right for everybody.’’

Advocates of abstinence education argue it’s people like Santelli who have it wrong.

The executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association, Valerie Huber, acknowledged in an interview that the Penn study released this month was more rigorous than earlier research. Still, she said that Santelli and other foes had been too harsh in their blanket denunciations of earlier studies.

“When opponents just repeat the same sound bites without a real understanding of what the broad abstinence field looks like, it can cast a much different view of what these programs really are,’’ Huber said. “That’s another reason I’m actually happy the conversation has been reopened as a result of this study.’’

That research was led by a husband-and-wife team, John and Loretta Jemmott. He’s a social psychologist at Penn, and she’s a nursing professor. A third researcher, Geoffrey Fong of the University of Waterloo in Canada, collaborated with the couple.

Long interested in sex education, the scientists decided to conduct a study modeled on the gold-standard principles of drug trials. They recruited 662 African-American adolescents whose average age was 12. The researchers decided to focus on black youths, John Jemmott said, because they tend to become sexually active at a younger age than other adolescents.

“We wanted to focus on a younger group that didn’t have a lot of sexual experience because we figured an abstinence intervention would have the best chance of being effective with them,’’ Jemmott said. “We also know that when people are older when they have sex for the first time, they are more mature, they are more responsible, and they are more likely to use a condom.’’

The students were assigned randomly to four kinds of sex education classes and a fifth class that addressed health issues more broadly and did not specifically cover sex education. Abstinence class instructors were told to eliminate any overtones of morality and to correct any false impressions students might voice about condoms.

Nearly 33 percent of the adolescents who had abstinence-only education said, when asked by researchers, that they had become sexually active during the two years following the classes. By comparison, about 42 percent of students whose classes emphasized a more comprehensive approach including abstinence and condom use responded they had engaged in sex. The students who reported the highest rate of sexual initiation - 52 percent - were those who attended lessons focused solely on safe condom use.

In their research paper, the study authors speculated that their abstinence-only class would not have met criteria the federal government used during the Clinton and Bush administrations to award grants because it did not emphasize remaining chaste until marriage. Their class did not deal in such absolutes; instead, through role playing and other well-tested techniques used to influence behavior, students explored how becoming pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted disease could dash dreams for the future.

The research emerges at a pivotal moment: For the first time since the early 1990s, teen pregnancy rates rose in 2006. At the same time, the Obama administration has shifted away from a singular emphasis on abstinence-only education. For the upcoming budget period, the administration has proposed spending $205 million on teen pregnancy prevention “through science-based prevention approaches,’’ according to a federal official.

Albert, of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, said he believes the Penn abstinence program would meet that standard, while cautioning there’s no guarantee that what worked in Philadelphia will translate to other neighborhoods or to older adolescents.

“But I don’t think we can let the perfect be the enemy of the good,’’ Albert said. “We now have a good program that’s been well-evaluated and well-tested. Let’s go try it elsewhere.’’

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Elder Ephraim of Katounakia

Elder Ephraim of Katounakia (Fell asleep in the Lord on February 14, 1998)

At the end of the month of February 1998, the tall cedar of the desert of Katounakia fell. He was the modern hesychast of Mt Athos, the embodiment of Orthodox Athonite Hesychasm, the embodiment of renunciation and departure, and of great obedience and ceaseless prayer.

The late spiritual father was one who approached the divine through the experience of personal struggle. He was a great teacher of our times and a faithful guide. He was the one who taught and practised Hesychasm, departure, obedience, prayer.

He came from the region of Thebes, but he never visited his relatives, as far as I recall, after being tonsured a monk. He was a disciple of true departure.

He placed himself under the guidance of the elder Joseph, from whom he learnt the mysteries and spiritual ascent of inner labour and prayer, the monk who became his father and whom he served as a son.

He was always eager to fulfil the rigorous discipline which harsh and strict elders required.

Father Ephraim's specialty was to speak, teach and advise others about such obedience. This was his beloved topic. On an almost daily basis, he would refer one thing to all and relate to all - obedience. And with that expressive tone of his strong voice, with the persuasion and experience of an old Biblical figure, he would often come back to the topic so dear to him with a new surge of refreshing ascetic demeanour, to the sweetest lesson and the unique matter - obedience. This is the requirement of sacred humility and the coming of the Grace of the Holy Spirit, the cause of all fruitfulness, the pretext of pure prayer. "Do you have obedience? You have prayer. If you don't have obedience, you do not have prayer", he would say, without his words receiving any objection (and Father Ephraim insisted correctly). For, according to St John of Sinai, "obedience means that we place our own discernment into the care of the rich discernment of the spiritual father".

Countless souls travelled the pathway to the ascetic dwelling of the Holy Father Ephraim of Katounakia - laity, monks, priests and bishops - visitors and beggars of spiritual mercy. The sick came and left healed. The burdened came and left feeling lighter. They came weak and left strong.

I remember the late spiritual father even before his fine monastic community was formed, when he was alone. When he made the seals for the prosphora loaves in his humble hut. With a cassock that was mended a thousand times. With spiritual vision and practical virtues, precisely as developed by St Isaac the Syrian in his ascetical works.

May we have your blessing, Holy Father, and may your worthy community follow your hesychastic "model". Amen!

From Voice of Orthodoxy, 1998, v. 19/4,
the official publication of the Greek Orthodox Archbiocese of Australia


On Suffering

Everyone has a cross to carry. Why? Since the leader of our faith endured the cross, we will also endure it. On one hand, the cross is sweet and light, but, on the other, it can also be bitter and heavy. It depends on our will. If you bear Christ’s cross with love then it will be very light; like a sponge or a cork. But if you have a negative attitude, it becomes heavy; too heavy to lift.

On Prayer

The best prayer is the one you say with your own words. Reading a prayer is not enough. For example, before receiving Holy Communion we read the Service of Preparation for Holy Communion: ‘From lips tainted and defiled, from heart unclean and loathsome…’, sometimes without even understanding the words. You yourself should pray with your own words. Then you will understand what you are saying to God. This prayer has great power; great power indeed!

[To see pictures of his cell and listen to audio lecture about Elder Ephraim (in Greek), see here and here.]

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"Forgiveness": A Poem by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

That God may forgive us, let us forgive men.

We are all on this earth as temporary guests.

Prolonged fasting and prayer is in vain

Without forgiveness and true mercy.

God is the true Physician; sins are leprosy.

Whomever God cleanses, God also glorifies.

Every merciful act of men, God rewards with mercy.

He who returns sin with sin perishes without mercy.

Pus is not cleansed by pus from infected wounds,

Neither is the darkness of the dungeon dispelled by darkness,

But pure balm heals the festering wound,

And light disperses the darkness of the dungeon.

To the seriously wounded, mercy is like a balm;

As if seeing a torch dispersing the darkness, everyone rejoices in mercy.

The madman says, "I have no need of mercy!"

But when he is overcome by misery, he cries out for mercy!

Men bathe in the mercy of God,

And that mercy of God wakens us to life!

That God may forgive us, let us forgive men,

We are all on this earth as temporary guests.


See also: Resentment and Forgiveness

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On Adam's Lament

INTRODUCTION

The anonymous Kontakion on Adam’s Lament is one of the earliest we possess and is probably of the fifth century and pre-dates those of St Romanos. It is still used in the office of Matins for the Sunday before Lent, where the Proemium is followed not, as is usual, by the first stanza of the hymn only, but by four, numbers 1 to 3 and 7. The text in the Triodion differs in places from that of the critical edition, notably in the refrain, which is in the first person, ’Have mercy on me who have fallen’. In the third line of stanza 7 the Triodion has, ’Implore God for the one who has fallen’, which does not scan.

The last four stanzas, which correspond to the word ADAM in the acrostic, are almost certainly spurious, though they occur in all but one of the MSS. Stanza 18, which begins, ’Now therefore, Saviour’ forms a concluding prayer, which is feature of the classic kontakion and the following stanzas are not really about Adam at all, but are simply a series of commonplaces of inferior quality.

ON ADAM’S LAMENT

Acrostic: On The First-Formed, [Adam]

Proemium

Guide of wisdom, Giver of prudence,
Teacher of the foolish and Defender of the poor,
Establish, give understanding to my heart, Master;
Give me a word, Word of the Father;
For see, my lips I shall not restrain from crying to you:
O Merciful, have mercy on the fallen.

1

Then Adam sat and wept opposite[1]
The delight of Paradise beating his eyes with his hands
And he said:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

2

As Adam saw the Angel pushing and shutting
The door of God’s garden he groaned aloud
And said:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

3

Share in the pain, O Paradise, of your beggared master
And with the sound of your leaves implore the Creator
Not to shut you:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

4

Bend down your trees like living beings and fall before
Him who holds the key, that thus you may remain open
For one who cries:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

5

I breathe the fragrance of your beauty and I melt as I recall
How I delighted there from the sweet scent
Of the flowers:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

6

Now I have learnt what I suffered, now I have understood what God
Said to me in Paradise, ‘In taking Eve
You steal away from Me’:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

7

Paradise, all virtue, all holiness, all happiness,
Planted because of Adam, shut because of Eve,
How shall I lament for you?
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

8

I am polluted, I am ruined, I am enslaved to my slaves;
For reptiles and wild beasts, whom I subjected by fear,
Now make me tremble;
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

9

No longer do the flowers offer me pleasure,
But thorns and thistles[2] the earth raises for me,
Not produce:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

10

The table without toil I overthrew by my own will;
And now in the sweat of my brow I eat
My bread:[3]
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

11

My throat, which holy waters had made sweet,
Has become bitter from the multitude of my groans,
As I cry out:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

12

How have I fallen? Where have I arrived? From a pedestal to the ground;
From a divine admonition to a wretched existence
I have been reduced:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

13

Now Satan rejoices having stripped me of my glory;
But this gives him no joy; for see, my God
clothes me:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

14

God himself pitied me, clothes my nakedness;
By this He shows me that He too cares
For me, the transgressor:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

15

The clothing signifies for me the state that is to come,
For the One who has now clothed me in a little while wears me
And saves me:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

16

Swiftly Adam you have understood the wish of My compassion;
Therefore I do not deprive you of this your hope
As you cry:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

17

I do not wish nor do I will the death of the one I fashioned;
But having chastened him enough I will glorify eternally
The one who cries:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.’

18

Now therefore, Saviour, save me also who seek for you with longing;
I do not wish to take you in, but I wish to be taken in by you
And to cry to you:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.[4]

[19][5]

O incomparable, all-holy, all-immaculate, look down
From heaven as compassionate and save me as unworthily
I shout:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

[20]

Rouse my mind to praise, raise up
The one who lies sick in bed, who unworthily, Saviour,
Cries to you:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

[21]

Raise up, make firm, O Lover of mankind, the one who has now
Stumbled as a profligate in life; draw near me, Saviour,
As I cry:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.

[22]

Unity, Trinity undivided unseparated, at the prayers
Of the Mother of God take pity on me and overlook the sins
Of those who cry:
O Merciful, have mercy on the one who has fallen.]

Notes

[1] Cf. Gen. 3:25 (LXX). The first line of Stanza 1 echoes the LXX text of Genesis 3:24, which reads ’And [God] settled Adam opposite the Paradise of pleasure and set in place the Cherubim’. This rendering has influenced both the liturgical and the iconographic traditions. The Hebrew has only one verb, 'And [God] settled east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim’. The Catholic New American Bible has adopted the LXX reading as the correct one.

[2] Cf. Gen. 3:18.

[3] Cf. Gen. 3:20.

[4] The trope in the second line of Stanza 18 is almost impossible to translate. The verb I have translated ’take in’ in both clauses is the same, and means both ’cheat’ and ’steal’.

[5] These stanzas, 19-22, are considered spurious by the editor, though they are present in all but one ms. 18 forms a final prayer, which is feature of the classic kontakion, and the final stanzas, which form the word ADAM in the acrostic seem to be an unnecessary addition. They are not really about Adam at all and greatly inferior in quality, being simply a collection of commonplaces.

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St. Theodore the Studite: Cheesefare Sunday

CATECHESIS 53

On fasting; and that the true fast of the obedient and the subject is the cutting off of one’s will.

Given on Cheesefare Sunday.

Brethren and Fathers, our good God who gives us life and brings us from year to year, has brought us also with love for mankind to this present time of fasting, in which each of the eager, as their choice directs, enters the contest; one devoting himself to self-mastery, eating only every two or three days, another to vigil, keeping vigil for so long or so long, another spending even longer in prostrations, and others in other ascetic actions. Quite simply during these holy days it is possible to see great zeal and attention. But the true subject behaves with obedience not at any particular time, but keeps up the struggle always. What is the struggle? Not to walk according to one’s own will, but to let oneself be ruled by the disposition of the superior. This is better than the other works of zeal and is a crown of martyrdom; except that for you there is also change of diet, multiplication of prostrations and increase of psalmody are in accord with the established tradition from of old. And so I ask, let us welcome gladly the gift of the fast, not making ourselves miserable, as we are taught, but let us advance with cheerfulness of heart, innocent, not slandering, not angry, not evil, not envying; rather peaceable towards each other, and loving, fair, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits; breathing in seasonable stillness, since hubbub is damaging in a community; speaking suitable words, since too unreasonable stillness is profitless; yet above all unsleepingly keeping watch over our thoughts, not opening the door to the passions, not giving place to the devil. If the spirit of the powerful one, it says, rise up against you, do not let it find your place. So that the enemy has power to suggest, but in no way to enter. We are lords of ourselves; let us not open our door to the devil; rather let us keep guard over our soul as a bride of Christ, not set about with tumult, unwounded by the arrows of the thoughts; for thus we are able to become a dwelling of God in Spirit. Thus we may be made worthy to hear, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Quite simply, Whatever is true, whatever noble, whatever just, whatever pure, whatever lovely, whatever of good report, if there is anything virtuous, if there is anything praiseworthy, to speak like the Apostle, do it; and the God of peace will be with you all, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, to whom be the glory and the might, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

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Sunday of Forgiveness: Cheesefare Sunday

The Sunday of Forgiveness is the last Sunday prior to the commencement of Great Lent. During the pre-Lenten period, the services of the Church include hymns from the Triodion, a liturgical book that contains the services from the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, the tenth before Pascha (Easter), through Great and Holy Saturday. On the Sunday of Forgiveness focus is placed on the exile of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, an event that shows us how far we have fallen in sin and separated ourselves from God. At the onset of Great Lent and a period of intense fasting, this Sunday reminds us of our need for God’s forgiveness and guides our hearts, minds, and spiritual efforts on returning to Him in repentance.

The Sunday of Forgiveness, the last of the preparatory Sundays before Great Lent, has two themes: it commemorates Adam’s expulsion from Paradise, and it accentuates our need for forgiveness. There are obvious reasons why these two things should be brought to our attention as we stand on the threshold of Great Lent. One of the primary images in the Triodion is that of the return to Paradise. Lent is a time when we weep with Adam and Eve before the closed gate of Eden, repenting with them for the sins that have deprived us of our free communion with God. But Lent is also a time when we are preparing to celebrate the saving event of Christ’s death and rising, which has reopened Paradise to us once more (Luke 23:43). So sorrow for our exile in sin is tempered by hope of our re-entry into Paradise.

The second theme, that of forgiveness, is emphasized in the Gospel reading for this Sunday (Matthew 6:14-21) and in the special ceremony of mutual forgiveness at the end of the Vespers on Sunday evening. Before we enter the Lenten fast, we are reminded that there can be no true fast, no genuine repentance, no reconciliation with God, unless we are at the same time reconciled with one another. A fast without mutual love is the fast of demons. We do not travel the road of Lent as isolated individuals but as members of a family. Our asceticism and fasting should not separate us from others, but should link us to them with ever-stronger bonds.

The Sunday of Forgiveness also directs us to see that Great Lent is a journey of liberation from our enslavement to sin. The Gospel lesson sets the conditions for this liberation. The first one is fasting—the refusal to accept the desires and urges of our fallen nature as normal, the effort to free ourselves from the dictatorship of the flesh and matter over the spirit. To be effective, however, our fast must not be hypocritical, a “showing off.” We must “appear not unto men to fast but to our Father who is in secret” (vv. 16-18).

The second condition is forgiveness—“If you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you” (vv. 14-15). The triumph of sin, the main sign of its rule over the world, is division, opposition, separation, hatred. Therefore, the first break through this fortress of sin is forgiveness—the return to unity, solidarity, love. To forgive is to put between me and my “enemy” the radiant forgiveness of God Himself. To forgive is to reject the hopeless “dead-ends” of human relations and to refer them to Christ. Forgiveness is truly a “breakthrough” of the Kingdom into this sinful and fallen world.

The Sunday of Forgiveness is also known as Cheesefare Sunday. This is the last day that dairy products can be eaten before the Lenten fast. The full fast begins the following day on Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent. On the evening of the Sunday of Forgiveness the Church conducts the first service of Great Lent, the Vespers of Forgiveness, a service that directs us further on the path of repentance and helps us to acknowledge our need for forgiveness from God and to seek forgiveness from our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is the first time that the Lenten prayer of St. Ephraim accompanied by prostrations is read. At the end of the service all the faithful approach the priest and one another asking for mutual forgiveness.

Orthodox Christians are encouraged to enter Great Lent in repentance and confession by attending these services, coming for the Sacrament of Confession, and dedicating themselves to worship, prayer, and fasting throughout the Lenten period. The first day of Lent, Clean Monday, signifies the beginning of a period of cleansing and purification of sins through repentance.

Exapostelarion of Matins in Tone Two
Wretch that I am I disobeyed Your good commandment, O my Lord. And being stripped of Your glory, alas, with shame I am laden. And I have been evicted from the pure delights of Paradise. O merciful and compassionate, have mercy on me who rightly has been deprived of Your goodness.

Exapostelarion of Matins in Tone Two
We were expelled of old, O Lord, from the Garden of Eden, for wrongly eating from the tree. But, O my God and Savior, You once again have restored us through Your Cross and Your Passion. Thereby, O Master, fortify and enable us purely to finish Lent and to worship Your holy resurrection, Pascha our saving Passover, by the prayers of Your Mother.

Prokeimenon of Vespers in Tone Plagal Fourth
Turn not away Thy face from Thy child for I am afflicted; hear me speedily. Draw near to my soul and deliver me.

Stichos
Thy salvation, O God, hath set me up. The poor see and rejoice.

Kontakion in Tone Plagal Second
O Master, Guide to wisdom, Giver of prudent counsel, Instructor of the foolish and Champion of the poor, make firm my heart and grant it understanding. O Word of the Father, give me words, for see, I shall not stop my lips from crying out to Thee: I am fallen, in Thy compassion have mercy on me.

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The Protestant Canon Refuted

By Jay Dyer

Many reformed acquaintances have, on various occasions, sent me different challenges relating to the canon of Scripture. One of these was a list of arguments proposed by Reformed theologian Dr. Ian Paisley against the canonicity of the 7 Deuterocanonical Books (or, the "Apocrypha," from here on titled "DB"). Another challenger stated the traditional Orthodox arguments for the necessary involvement of a Spirit-led Church in the formation of a definitive canon is not a valid argument, since the Old Testament believer needed no extra-scriptural, infallible authorities, in any sense, to recognize the veracity of the OT books. This second objection is true in principle, but I have decided to kill two birds with one stone. If it can be shown that the Protestant canon of Scripture itself is erroneous, then both of these non-Orthodox challenges fall to the ground, since the question of who has the right canon is obviously prior to one's right to quote this or that text.

Thus, if 2 Maccabees is part of Scripture, then prayer for the dead is a biblical doctrine: but almost no Protestant holds this doctrine, thus demonstrating for "sola scriptura" the implications of rejecting books of the Bible. It will be shown, then, that the Protestants are the real violators of the written Word of God, having cut out books that did not fit their preconceived notions. This is ironic, since Protestants are always accusing those that do not adhere to sola scriptura, of violating the "Word of God." One Reformed acquaintance of mine likes to think his grammatico-historico syntax arguments cannot be defeated. Rather than go into their maze of texts (as Tertullian recommends against), since they puts on a show of appearing to follow the written Word of God alone, this erroneous position will actually be shown to be violating the Word of God. Just as the Protestant follows a man-Luther-in hypocritically cutting out 7 books of the Word that didn't fit with his heretical presuppositions, we will cut out from under this view its foundation—the wrong Bible. Until the serious-minded Protestant deals with this question, the sola scriptura claim has no force.

First, I will give the basic arguments of reformed theologian Dr. Ian Paisley as they were presented to me, and I will respond, demonstrating that each argument is entirely false with specific responses exclusively from noted Protestant scholarly sources. The following points of Dr. Paisley are the strongest standard arguments most Protestants give. If someone has others they are welcome.

1. First argument of Paisley: The Jews never accepted the DB and they were not part of the oracles committed unto them (Rom. 3:2) Furthermore, they are not written in Hebrew.

Response:

This is totally false. Paisley makes no distinction between Jews of the diaspora and Palestinian Jews. Palestinian Jews rejected the DB, but the Septuagint, which is the Greek version of the OT composed in the 2nd-3rd century B.C. at Alexandria, Egypt by 70 or 72 Jewish scribes, was used by non-Palestinian Jews. It is a well known fact that the Septuagint (LXX) was both the Bible of the diaspora Jews and the Bible of all the early Christians, as will be proven below. Further, it's also a fact that the LXX contained the DB, as will also be proven below.

Protestant scholars admit the LXX was the bible of the diaspora Jews who were far more numerous at the time of Christ than Palestinian Jews.

1. Oxford University church historian Paul Johnson, in his book A History of Christianity, writes:

"There was already [in the first century] a huge Jewish diaspora, especially in the great cities of the eastern Mediterranean-Alexandria, Antioch, Tarsus, Ephesus, and so forth…The Greek adaptation of the Old Testament, or the Septuagint, which was composed in Alexandria was widely used in diaspora communities…" (pg. 10-11).

2. Baptist textual scholar Lee McDonald, in his book The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon, writes:

"It is most likely that these [DB] books were considered by the Jewish community holy or sacred well before the time of Christ, and that they were simply received by the early Christians as part of the sacred collection they inherited from Judaism. There is evidence that at least some non-canonical books had their origin in the land of Israel and were translated and transported from Israel to Alexandria and probably wherever Jews lived in significant numbers in the Roman Empire . The grandson of Ben Sirach [the writer of the deuteroncanonical book Ecclesiasticus]…lets us know he was translating for the Jews in Alexandria . The NT also has many allusions to some [deuterocanonical] literature found in the LXX, and the oldest Christian collections of OT scriptures contain much of that literature" (page 90).

3. Furthermore, the Protestant Fausset's Bible Dictionary, under "Apocrypha" states:

Apocrypha= "…the writings added in the LXX, I and II Esdra, Tobit, Judith, the sequel to Esther, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Song of the Three Children, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon…" (page 42)

4. Furthermore, the Protestant Nelson's New Christian Dictionary, under "Apocrypha" says:

"The Septuagint incorporates all of them (with the exception of 2 Esdras), and they are not differentiated in any other way from the other books of the OT" (page 40).

5. Renowned evangelical scholar F.F. Bruce writes also of this well known point in his The Canon of Scripture:

"However much the wording of Stephen's defense in Acts 7 may owe to the narrator, the consistency with which its biblical quotations and allusions are based on is the Septuagint is true to life….As soon as the gospel was carried into the Greek speaking world, the Septuagint came into its own as the sacred text to which preachers appealed. It was used in the Greek-speaking synagogues of throughout the Roman Empire " (page 49).

6. Renowned Protestant patristics scholar, J.N.D. Kelly, wrote in his well-known Early Christian Doctrines:

"It should be observed that the Old Testament thus admitted as authoritative in the church was somewhat bulkier and more comprehensive than the 22 or 24 books of Hebrew Palestinian Judaism. It always included, though with varying degrees of recognition the so-called Apocrypha, or deuterocanonical books. The reason for this is that the Old Testament which passed in the first instance into the hands of Christians was not the original Hebrew version, but the Greek translation known as the Septuagint…most of the scriptural quotations found in the New Testament are based upon it rather than the Hebrew" (page 53).

7. As to whether any were ever written in Hebrew, which Paisley denies, scholarship says quite different:

F.F. Bruce writes:

"…Yeshua ben Sira…in Egypt in 132 B.C, translated his grandfather's book of wisdom, commonly called Ecclesiasticus or Sirach from Hebrew into Greek" (Canon, page 31).

Baptist Lee McDonald quoted above (no. 2) agrees the DB were transported from Israel and translated from Hebrew into Greek at Alexandria.

Furthermore, it is well known that the Dead Sea Scrolls found at the Qumran community contain DB books that are in Hebrew, as Charles Pfeiffer's book The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible demonstrates (pages 16-17), as does McDonalds Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon on page 81, where he notes that Ecclesiasticus was found in Hebrew in caves 2 and 11 (page 81).

Besides, it wouldn't matter if there were no DB in Hebrew at all (though there are), since I can simply ask upon what grounds does Paisley and the Protestant say that a book "must be written in Hebrew to be canonical"? Says who? Does the Bible say that? Of course not, and it's obviously an assumption that is totally irrelevant. Dr. Paisley: the New Testament is not written in Hebrew, so does that disqualify it? Of course not.

2. Second argument of Paisley : the New Testament never quotes the DB and early Christians never used it.

Response:

This is totally false, and can be shown to be incorrect by a few simple examples:

1. Ecclus. 11:31 and 2 John 10.

2. Ecclus. 11:18-20 compared with Christ's parable of the wealthy farmer in Luke 12:19.

3. Further, Jesus' statements about the eye making the whole body dark in Matthew 6:22 seem to clearly refer to Ecclus. 14:8-11.

4. Further, Wisdom 12-13 is almost exactly parallel with Romans 1.

5. Wisdom 2 contains a lengthy, clear prophecy of Christ.

6. Hebrews 11:35 refers to women and children who refused to be delivered from death (martyrdom) that they might receive a better resurrection. Now, there is nothing like this in the Protestant canonical OT (based on the Palestinian Jewish canon), where a woman refuses to have her children saved in order to merit for them a more glorious resurrection. But there is exactly that situation in 2 Maccabees 7, where the mother and her seven sons refuse to be delivered so that they might obtain a better resurrection.

There are several more examples than these, but these suffice to prove Paisley and the Protestant wrong.

Furthermore, a book's being quoted in the New Testament cannot be a criterion of canonicity, since Song of Solomon, Esther, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah are never quoted in the New Testament, yet Protestants accept them. Aside from that, the Book of Enoch and the Assumption of Moses are quoted in the canonical book of Jude, and no Protestant accepts these two as canonical. Thus, New Testament citation is not the end all criterion.

As to whether early Christians after the Apostles ever used them, note Kelly again:

"It should be observed that the Old Testament thus admitted as authoritative n the church was somewhat bulkier and more comprehensive than the 22 or 24 books of Hebrew Palestinian Judaism. It always included, though with varying degrees of recognition the so-called Apocrypha, or deuterocanonical books. The reason for this is that the Old Testament which passed in the first instance into the hands of Christians was not the original Hebrew version, but the Greek translation known as the Septuagint…most of the scriptural quotations found in the New Testament are based upon it rather than the Hebrew" (Early Christian Doctrines, page 53).

And the Protestant Nelson's New Christian Dictionary:

"…the early church Fathers, including Clement of Rome, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen cite them [the DB] frequently. Christians made extensive use of them for apologetic purposes, because some of the texts referred to the Incarnation, Logos, and the Son of God. But the reformation leaders were instrumental in completely rejecting them, and refused to ascribe to them the status of inspired word of God" (page 41).

Anyone who spends a few hours in the post apostolic fathers sees very quickly that each of them (Clement, Ignatius, Origen, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Cyprian, Irenaeus and others) clearly cites various DB texts as authoritative.

3. Final Paisley argument: the synod of Laodicea (341-381) did not accept the DB and that the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451) supposedly ratifies Laodicea.

Response:

Once again Paisley is entirely incorrect and does not know what he is talking about. The Synod of Laodicea was a regional, and therefore not universally binding, series of mini-synods that took place over a period of several years. Laodicea 's canons are quoted at least 3 or 4 times in Chalcedon 's canons, but what is the evidence of Chalcedon defining a non-Deuterocanonical canon, as Paisley attempts to say? There is none.

But these points aren't the most devastating on this issue: Paisley apparently hasn't read what the canon of Scripture Laodicea lists is: it's a canon that no one follows: it excludes Revelation and Esther, while it includes Baruch! No one—Protestant, Orthodox or Catholic--accepts this list of books, so Laodicea provides absolutely no support for the Protestant canon whatsoever. Anyone who doubts these claims can look up online the "Synod of Laodicea" and see what Scriptures it lists. Paisley really should have done this.

This terrible argument is further blown away when one actually reads the Letters of Pope St. Leo the Great: the Pope who presided at the Council of Chalcedon. In St. Leo's letters you find him frequently citing the DB as Scripture. Furthermore, he quotes the book of Revelation as Scripture, which Laodicea also omits. So, clearly, St. Leo and Chalcedon afford Paisley no evidence.

Why do Protestants quote Chalcedon , as if they hallowed it? Session III calls the Bishop of Rome the "universal patriarch," in tandem with the Patriarchate of Alexandria. In other words, Apostolic Sucession. The canons of that council teach Apostolic Succession, hierarchical church government, monasticism, tradition, vows of celibacy, etc. Need I say more?

In conclusion, then, the Protestant is the one who violates the written Word of God. I am speaking specifically here to my Reformed acquaintances who want to talk all day long about Greek exegesis. One can throw "sola scriptura's" all day long, but this is meaningless when your policy for canonicity is the drunk monk (Luther) who cast seven books out of the Bible because he didn't feel they "preached the Word." One must admit that if this is correct, then Protestantism is built on a faulty foundation. The summits of conservative Protestant scholarship support these facts.

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Cheesefare Saturday: The Ascetic Fathers and Mothers

Commemoration of the Holy Ascetic Fathers and Mothers (Feast Day - Cheesefare Saturday)

On this day, we commemorate all the righteous and God-bearing Fathers and Mothers, both known and unknown, who shone forth in asceticism. With these two weeks of Meatfare and Cheesefare, the Church gradually eases us into the full fasting which begins on Monday.

The holy acetics are virtuous men and women who contended against the devil and their own passions. By examining their lives and their struggles against the Enemy, we take courage from the victory they have achieved, and are inspired to imitate their God-pleasing conduct. They also teach us that fasting is not merely abstinence from food, but involves refraining from inappropriate speech and unseemly actions.

Since these holy ascetics share the same human nature that we have, their example is an encouragement to us as we embark on our own spiritual struggles Their lives are a model for us to follow as we seek to acquire and practice the various virtues and to turn away from everything evil. If we undertake these same struggles of prayer, fasting, and good works, we shall receive from God the same reward they did.

Most of the holy ascetics commemorated today have their own separate Feast Day during the year, while some are remembered only on this day.

- From OCA Website

The God-bearing Fathers, after preparing us through the preceding feasts for the stadium of spiritual struggles, now set before us the men and women who have passed their lives in a manner pleasing to God, so that by their example they might make us more eager in the work of virtue and more courageous against the passions. And as experienced generals, when they prepare their soldiers for battle, urge their soldiers on by recalling for them the heroic exploits of excellent men, so that the soldiers take courage and charge wholeheartedly against the enemy; even so the God-bearing Fathers do for our sakes now, by appointing this day as a common memorial and feast of all those Saints who by many labours overcame the passions and became well-pleasing to God; so that we too, looking to the life of the righteous, might imitate them as far as possible in contending courageously against the passions and accomplishing the virtues, having it always in mind that the Saints were of the same nature and of like passions with us.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
As preachers of true piety who silenced all impiety, Lord, Thou hast made the whole host of God-bearing Saints shine forth with splendour on the world. By their prayers and entreaties, keep all them that extol and sincerely magnify Thee in perfect peace, to chant and to sing to Thee: Alleluia.

- From the Synaxarion of Holy Transfiguration Monastery

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Saints Martinian the Righteous, With Zoe and Photine

Saint Martinian the Righteous, Together with Zoe and Photine (Feast Day - February 13)

Saint Martinian, who was from Caesarea of Palestine, flourished about the beginning of the fifth century. He struggled in the wilderness from his youth. After he had passed twenty-five years in asceticism, the devil brought a temptation upon him through a harlot [Zoe], who when she heard the Saint praised for his virtue, determined to try his virtue, or rather, to undo it. Coming to his cell by night as it rained, and saying she had lost her way, she begged with pitiful cries to be admitted in for the night, lest she fall prey to wild beasts. Moved with compassion, and not wishing to be guilty of her death should anything befall her, he allowed her to enter. When she began to seduce him, and the fire of desire began to burn in his heart, he kindled a fire and stepped into it, burning his body, but saving his soul from the fire of Gehenna. And she, brought to her senses by this, repented, and, following his counsel, went to Bethlehem to a certain virgin named Paula, with whom she lived in fasting and prayer; before her death, she was deemed worthy of the gift of wonder-working. Saint Martinian, when he recovered from the burning, resolved to go to some more solitary place, and took a ship to a certain island, where he struggled in solitude for a number of years. Then a young maiden [Photine] who had suffered a shipwreck came ashore on his island. Not wishing to fall into temptation again, he departed after helping her, and passed his remaining time as a wanderer, coming to the end of his life in Athens.

This occurred around the year 422.

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Thou didst quench the flame of temptation with the streams of thy tears, O blessed Martinian; and having checked the waves of the sea and the attacks of wild beasts, thou didst cry out: Most glorious art Thou, O Almighty One, Who hast saved me from fire and tempest.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
As is meet, let us praise with hymns the ever-venerable Martinian as a tried ascetic that struggled for piety, as an honorable athlete by deliberate choice, and a resolute citizen and inhabitant of the desert; for he hath trodden upon the serpent.

(From the Synaxarion of Holy Transfiguration Monastery)

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Saint Symeon the Myrrhgusher of Serbia

St. Symeon the Myrrhbearer (Feast Day - February 13)

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Stefan Nemanja [Nehemiah], the great ruler [Great Zupan] of the Serbian people, the consolidator of Serbian lands, creator of the independent Serbian state, defender of Orthodoxy and exterminator of heresy.

At first, he was baptized in the Latin Church but later left this Church and embraced the Orthodox Church. In the beginning, he was dependent on the Greeks with regard to the State, but later he freed himself from this dependence and became completely autonomous. When Stefan consolidated the State and the Orthodox Faith in the State, then, following the example of his son Savva, received the monastic tonsure in Studenica Monastery in the year 1195 A.D., and received the name Symeon. His wife Anna withdrew to a convent, embraced the monastic tonsure and received the name Anastasia.

After two years as a monk in Studenica, Symeon traveled to Athos, the Holy Mountain. There he took up residence in the Monastery Vatopaidi together with his son Savva. Father and son spent their days and nights in prayer. There, they built six chapels dedicated to: the Savior, the Unmercenary Saints, St. George, St. Theodore, The Forerunner and St. Nicholas.

They purchased the ruins of Hilandari and erected a glorious monastery in which Symeon lived only eight months and then died. When Symeon was on his deathbed, Savva, according to his father's wishes, placed him on a simple mat. With eyes directed toward the icon of the Mother of God and the Savior, the blessed elder spoke these last words: "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." (Psalm 150:6), and took up habitation with the Lord on February 13, 1200 A.D.

More on the Repose of St. Symeon

The great Stefan Nemanja, whose authorative words everyone unconditionally heeded to and at whom people and emperors trembled, became a monk and served the monks of the Holy Mountain [Athos] as an ideal example of meekness, humility, goodness and piety.

Even his death was the death of a truly godly man and spiritual director. He became bedridden on February 7. He summoned St. Savva, placed his hands on him and blessed him saying: "My beloved child, the light of my eyes, comfort and protector in my old age! Behold the time of our separation has arrived. Behold the Lord is releasing me in peace. But you, my child, do not mourn because of our separation. For parting is the common cup of all and everyone; here we part from one another but we will meet there where there is no separation."

On February 12, St. Symeon asked Savva to clothe him in a burial cassock, to spread a mat on the ground, lay him there and place a stone under his head. He then summoned all the monks and asked their forgiveness. At dawn, on February 13, while the monks were chanting the Office of Matins in church and the voices were reaching the cell of the dying one, St. Symeon, once more his face radiated and he gave up his soul to his God.

Apolytikion in the Third Tone
Illumined by divine grace, even after death thou dost make manifest the radiance of thy life; for thou pourest forth fragrant myrrh for them that have recourse to the shrine of the relics. Thou didst also guide thy people to the light of the knowledge of God. O our Father Symeon, entreat Christ God that we be granted great mercy.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Second Tone
Living the angelic life on this earth, thou didst abandon the world and worldly dominion and didst follow Christ by fasting, O Symeon. In an apostolic manner, thou didst guide unto Christ them that loved thee and didst cry: Love ye the Lord even as He hath loved you.

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