A Sober Critique of Fanatical Anti-Ecumenists

Patriarchal and Synodal Encyclical On the Sunday of Orthodoxy

Prot. No. 213

February 21, 2010


BARTHOLOMEW

By God’s Grace Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch


To the Fullness of the Church, Grace and Peace From our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ:

Our most holy Orthodox Church today commemorates its own feast day, and – from this historical and martyric See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate – the Mother Church of Constantinople directs its blessing, love and concern to all of its faithful and dedicated spiritual children throughout the world, inviting them to concelebrate in prayer.

Blessed be the name of the Lord! Those who endeavored over the ages to suppress the Church through various visible and invisible persecutions; those who sought to falsify the Church with their heretical teachings; those who wanted to silence the Church, depriving it of its voice and witness; they all proved unsuccessful. The clouds of Martyrs, the tears of the Ascetics, and the prayers of the Saints protect the Church spiritually, while the Comforter and Spirit of Truth leads it to the fullness of truth.

With a sense of duty and responsibility, despite its hurdles and problems, as the First-Throne Church of Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate cares about protecting and establishing the unity of the Orthodox Church, in order that with one voice and in one heart we may confess the Orthodox faith of our Fathers in every age and even in our times. For, Orthodoxy is not a museum treasure that must be preserved; it is a breath of life that must be transmitted and invigorate all people. Orthodoxy is always contemporary, so long as we promote it with humility and interpret it in light of the existential quests and needs of humanity in each historical period and cultural circumstance.

To this purpose, Orthodoxy must be in constant dialogue with the world. The Orthodox Church does not fear dialogue because truth is not afraid of dialogue. On the contrary, if Orthodoxy is enclosed within itself and not in dialogue with those outside, it will both fail in its mission and no longer be the “catholic” and “ecumenical” Church. Instead, it will become an introverted and self-contained group, a “ghetto” on the margins of history. This is why the great Fathers of the Church never feared dialogue with the spiritual culture of their age – indeed even with the pagan idolaters and philosophers of their world – thereby influencing and transforming the civilization of their time and offering us a truly ecumenical Church.

Today, Orthodoxy is called to continue this dialogue with the outside world in order to provide a witness and the life-giving breath of its faith. However, this dialogue cannot reach the outside world unless it first passes through all those that bear the Christian name. Thus, we must first converse as Christians among ourselves in order to resolve our differences, in order that our witness to the outside world may be credible. Our endeavors for the union of all Christians is the will and command of our Lord, who before His Passion prayed to His Father “that all [namely, His disciples] may be one, so that the world may believe that You sent me” (John 17.21). It is not possible for the Lord to agonize over the unity of His disciples and for us to remain indifferent about the unity of all Christians. This would constitute criminal betrayal and transgression of His divine commandment.

It is precisely for these reasons that, with the mutual agreement and participation of all local Orthodox Churches, the Ecumenical Patriarchate has for many decades conducted official Panorthodox theological dialogues with the larger Christian Churches and Confessions. The aim of these dialogues is, in a spirit of love, to discuss whatever divides Christians both in terms of faith as well as in terms of the organization and life of the Church.

These dialogues, together with every effort for peaceful and fraternal relations of the Orthodox Church with other Christians, are unfortunately challenged today in an unacceptably fanatical way – at least by the standards of a genuinely Orthodox ethos – by certain circles that exclusively claim for themselves the title of zealot and defender of Orthodoxy. As if all the Patriarchs and Sacred Synods of the Orthodox Churches throughout the world, who unanimously decided on and continue to support these dialogues, were not Orthodox. Yet, these opponents of every effort for the restoration of unity among Christians raise themselves above Episcopal Synods of the Church to the dangerous point of creating schisms within the Church.

In their polemical argumentation, these critics of the restoration of unity among Christians do not even hesitate to distort reality in order to deceive and arouse the faithful. Thus, they are silent about the fact that theological dialogues are conducted by unanimous decision of all Orthodox Churches, instead attacking the Ecumenical Patriarchate alone. They disseminate false rumors that union between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches is imminent, while they know well that the differences discussed in these theological dialogues remain numerous and require lengthy debate; moreover, union is not decided by theological commissions but by Church Synods. They assert that the Pope will supposedly subjugate the Orthodox, because they latter submit to dialogue with the Roman Catholics! They condemn those who conduct these dialogues as allegedly “heretics” and “traitors” of Orthodoxy, purely and simply because they converse with non-Orthodox, with whom they share the treasure and truth of our Orthodox faith. They speak condescendingly of every effort for reconciliation among divided Christians and restoration of their unity as purportedly being “the pan-heresy of ecumenism” without providing the slightest evidence that, in its contacts with non-Orthodox, the Orthodox Church has abandoned or denied the doctrines of the Ecumenical Councils and of the Church Fathers.

Beloved children in the Lord, Orthodoxy has no need of either fanaticism or bigotry to protect itself. Whoever believes that Orthodoxy has the truth does not fear dialogue, because truth has never been endangered by dialogue. By contrast, when in our day all people strive to resolve their differences through dialogue, Orthodoxy cannot proceed with intolerance and extremism. You should have utmost confidence in your Mother Church. For the Mother Church has over the ages preserved and transmitted Orthodoxy even to other nations. And today, the Mother Church is struggling amid difficult circumstances to maintain Orthodoxy vibrant and venerable throughout the world.

From the Ecumenical Patriarchate, this sacred Center of Orthodoxy, we embrace all of you lovingly and bless you paternally, praying that you may journey in health through the holy period of contrition and asceticism known as Holy and Great Lent in order that you may become worthy of celebrating the pure Passion and glorious Resurrection of our Savior Lord with all faithful Orthodox Christians throughout the world.

Sunday of Orthodoxy 2010

+ Bartholomew of Constantinople

Fervent supplicant to God for all

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Stone Smoothed By Centuries of Rhythmic Tides

This comment was made on May 3, 2010 by the First Radio Parish Church of America in Portland, Maine from a person who is not even Orthodox:

"We could take a cue from Orthodoxy, whose priests stand with their backs to their congregation, leading a liturgy that is neither clever nor impassioned, but simply beautiful, like stone smoothed by centuries of rhythmic tides. It's an austere ritual, in the sense of - there's nothing new here; it's sublime, in the sense of - creating a clearer view into Heaven. The priest can be any priest. Who he is, what he looks like, how he speaks, and what he thinks matter little. He hasn't written the service that he officiates. It isn't about him or his prowess. He's an interchangeable functionary draped in brocaded robes, obscured by incense, and, as such, never points to himself, a flawed human, pointing ever and only to the Perfection of the Mysterious Divine. That is the role of every priest or preacher - invisibility, while making God seen."

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10 Reasons I Believe the Holy Light Is a Miracle 1

Introduction

For nearly seventeen centuries an annual event has taken place at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Holy Saturday (according to Orthodox Christian reckoning) that is today reported by media outlets around the world and hailed by tens of millions as one of Christianity's greatest miracles. The event is known to non-Orthodox as the ceremony of the "Holy Fire", while Orthodox prefer to call it "Holy Light" because they claim without hesitation it has a divine origin and supernatural qualities.

Orthodox consider the ceremony of the Holy Light to be so sacred that for centuries it has been imitated in every Orthodox church throughout the world to usher in the celebration of Christ's victory over death through His Resurrection. They do this by extinguishing every light in their local church prior to midnight on Holy Saturday, and when midnight strikes and a new day dawns, the clergyman emerges from the darkened sanctuary (representing Christ emerging from His tomb) holding a single flame which he distributes to all the faithful assembled as they sing the joyous festal hymn "Christ is Risen!" This same ceremony is celebrated and has its origins in the Holy Light ceremony that takes place at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem amidst great enthusiasm and much reverence not only in the crowded church, but throughout the world as the faithful await news of the manifestation.

Of course, every miracle claim naturally has its skeptics and critics. Though most people would at least admit this event to be an unexplainable and extraordinary phenomenon, others who are strictly bound to their naturalistic biases simply dismiss this empirical manifestation as not sitting comfortable within their "enlightened" and "scientific" minds. Their agenda is to give a naturalistic explanation based on their naturalistic presuppositions, which often just end up being an elaborate conspiracy theory which requires more faith to believe in than the much simpler and coherent supernatural explanation.

To avoid cheapening what I personally consider a great miracle by systematically answering the absurdities of the objectors, I have instead decided to focus on ten reasons why I personally believe the Holy Light is both a unique and profound miracle of the Orthodox Christian Church. In this way the reader can compare their own reasoning with mine to form their own conclusions by weighing the evidence.

Continued...Reason One: The Insuffiency of All Skeptical Claims (Part One)

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St. Xenia the Newly-Revealed Martyr of Kalamata

St. Xenia of Kalamata (Feast Day - May 3)

One of the sweetest saints in all Orthodoxy remained for seventeen centuries in comparative oblivion unknown, unhonoured, and unsung -- until she chose, at the bidding of God, to reveal herself to a humble priest, in the bustling City of New York.

The name of this Greek girl, who had been sainted but ignored for altogether too many centuries, was Xenia; and the name of the devout Christian to whom she made herself known was the pious Father George Nasis, the highly respected priest of the Greek Archdiocese Annunciation Church in New York City.

Why Xenia remained screened from Greek Orthodoxy for so long a time is attributed to the will of God, the same will that selected a comparatively obscure twentieth-century priest as the herald of the unacknowledged saint. The amazing disclosure would have been more plausible had some archaeologist unearthed St. Xenia's earthly remains, but that was not the choice of the Lord whose acts often puzzle the will of man, but whose truth is borne out in one way or another. The comparative simplicity of the occurrence merely dramatises the way of heaven and the truth of Jesus Christ.

In yet another incredible incident, Father Nasis acquired laurels which he never wished for and which he thereafter chose to minimise rather than exploit. In one of his customary periods of meditation and prayer there appeared before him a very lovely girl who announced herself as Xenia, a martyred saint of the Church. Not only did she reveal herself for the first time in 1700 years, but she bade the good priest to paint her likeness, asking that in the icon her hands appear clasping a Cross.

At First Father Nasis kept the incident to himself, lest he be ridiculed; but finally he could contain himself no longer. He told his superiors about the appearance of St. Xenia with such conviction that scholars went in search of her in ancient manuscripts, even going back to the oldest of calendars in a vain effort to find the name Xenia mentioned. The credibility of the priest was on the wane when at long last St. Xenia was found in an ecclesiastical work entitled "O Megas Synaxaristes," comprising twelve volumes of the history of the saints of Orthodoxy by the scholar and monk, Victor Mattheou. In such a massive work Xenia was not easily found, but in the end Father Nasis was vindicated.

Mattheou's work describes Xenia as having long, golden-blonde hair, blue eyes (as witnessed by Father Nasis), and beautiful features. Moreover, when she was born in 291 AD, to parents named Nicholas and Despina, in the town of Kalamata, Greece, it was determined that she be raised in the faith of Jesus Christ. At maturity her depth of faith outshone her physical beauty, and she was looked upon with great admiration by the Christian community.

The roving eye of Magistrate Domitianos of Kalamata happened to fall on the lovely Xenia who stirred within him more than admiration. It was love at first sight and he soon offered a proposal of marriage. This proposal was rejected, however, because Domitianos had refused to accept Christ and clung to ancient idolatry with a tenacity which Xenia saw as folly and superstition. It was decided that a prison would change her mind. All else having failed, she was jailed on spurious charges with the stipulation that she could be released if she changed her mind.

When months of incarceration and abuse failed to move Xenia, she was put to death. Soon after, she was sainted because of the many miracles attributed to her, and was given a feast day on May 3rd. This date somehow failed to appear on the Greek Orthodox calendar, although it is a matter of record as indicated by the research of the Monk Mattheou.

The icon of St. Xenia still adorns the Annunciation Church and has for forty years been the site of miracles, and miracles in this twentieth century have been hard to come by. Father Nasis, who never sought public acclaim and managed to remain his humble self throughout, was a priest of the Annunciation Church for more than thirty years, passing on in 1974. His many writings, and supplications in honour of St. Xenia give testimony to his faith. His discovery remains in his beloved church, and many a gaze will be fixed upon the sweet St. Xenia who was cloaked in anonymity for seventeen centuries, but whose memory will now be honoured for as long as there is Greek Orthodoxy.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
O Lord Jesus, unto Thee Thy lamb Xenia doth cry with a great voice: O my Bridegroom, Thee I love; and seeking Thee, I now contest, and with Thy baptism am crucified and buried. I suffer for Thy sake, that I may reign with Thee; for Thy sake I die, that I may live in Thee: accept me offered out of longing to Thee as a spotless sacrifice. Lord, save our souls through her intercessions, since Thou art great in mercy.

From Orthodox Saints, v. 2, by Fr George Poulos, Holy Cross Orthodox Press.

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Saint Peter the Wonderworker of Argos

St. Peter the Wonderworker of Argos (Feast Day - May 3 and January 19)

St Peter the Wonderworker, Bishop of Argos in Peloponnesos, lived during the ninth and early tenth centuries, and was raised by pious parents in Constantinople. St Peter's parents, and later his brothers Paul, Dionysius, Platon and St Peter himself, all became monks. St Peter zealously devoted himself to monastic labors, and he excelled all his fellows. This came to the attention of the Italian bishop Nicholas I Mystikos (who from 895 was Patriarch of Constantinople), who wanted to elevate him to the rank of bishop. St Peter declined, accounting himself unworthy of such honor.

Bishop Nicholas consecrated Paul, St Peter's brother, as Bishop of Corinth, and St Peter went to his brother and lived with him, taking upon himself the spiritual struggle of silence. After a year emissaries came to Bishop Paul from the city of Argos, where the bishop had died, and they asked for St Peter as their bishop. After long and intense entreaties, St Peter finally gave his consent. As bishop, St Peter toiled zealously in guiding his flock. He was extraordinarily compassionate, concerning himself with those in need, especially orphans and widows.

The saint fed the hungry in years of crop failure. Through his prayers the food set aside for the hungry never ran out. The saint also ransomed captives, healed the sick and the afflicted, and possessed the gift of insight.

Before his death St Peter was called to Constantinople in 920 to participate in the Synod which addressed the fourth marriage of Emperor Leo.

The saint predicted the day of his death, and departed to the Lord at the age of seventy around 928 AD. At his funeral his face was illumined and he sweated as if alive.

His relics were placed in the Dormition of the Theotokos in Argos. His relics were transferred from Argos to Nafplion in 1421, exuding myrrh, and working miracles and healings. A Catholic bishop took them to Rome in the fifteenth century.

Since the early 1990s Argos churchmen have been trying to locate the relics. They were eventually found in a monastery chapel near Rome. On January 19, 2008 the relics were ceremoniously returned by Vatican clerics to the Cathedral of Argos. Thousands of faithful thronged the streets and church bells sounded as the relics were carried into the local cathedral and put on display.

On his feast day on May 3 the relics are processed throughout the city (as photos below from 2010 show).

Dormition Church in Argos, which originally held the relics of St Peter till 1421.

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Miraculous Icon of St. Mavra in Zakynthos

A church dedicated to St. Mavra can be found on the island of Zakynthos, Greece. St. Mavra's miracle-working icon is located there.

The icon was originally from Egypt. In Zakynthos, a shepherd from the village of Lagopodo had found the icon in a small ravine when he saw a bright light emanating from the area. Three times he took the icon with great reverence back to his village but each time it would miraculously return to the spot where he had found it. It was determined that it should be left there and a church should be built on that spot, where it still stands today (the village of Maherado).

The present church was rebuilt in 1631 after a great earthquake destroyed most of the original church. In 1953 another great earthquake damaged the church, but it was rebuilt by the devout Christians of the island.

Next to the church stands the 37 meter bell tower which was built in 1802 by the local Nikolaos Kivetou. The bells were fashioned in Venice.

In 2005 on December 8 the beautiful church was sadly ravaged by a fire of unknown origin and many of its treasures and icons were lost to the flames. Restoration is still being done, as the before and after photos below show.

Along with the feast day on May 3, the island of Zakynthos also celebrates another feast for the saints on the Sunday after Pentecost.

Panagia and St. Timothy

St. Mavra Church in 1968

Church Entrance

Bell Tower

Interior of the church prior to the fire.

Interior of the church prior to the fire.

Ceiling icon that survived fire

Ceiling icon that survived fire

Interior after fire

Interior after fire

Interior after fire

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An Honorable Marriage: Sts. Timothy and Mavra

Sts. Timothy and Mavra the Martyrs (Feast Day - May 3)

A holy couple, Saints Timothy and Mavra, suffered for the faith at the hands of idolaters. By this they became examples of sacrifice, love and dedication to our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.

During the Marriage Service, after the couple has been crowned, we sing the following hymn to all the Holy Martyrs: "O holy martyrs, who fought the good fight and have received your crowns: Entreat ye the Lord, that He will have mercy on our souls." We sing this because it characterizes marriage as a martyrdom, since it is a Mystery of love. Love by nature is martyric, it is a cross. For two strangers to come together from two different worlds with two different backgrounds and personalities, as well as different flaws, weaknesses and upbringings, and to live their lives with much patience and love towards each other, indeed requires much sacrificial and martyric love.

Saints Timothy and Mavra embody this love and their lives should be an inspiration for every married couple, with their icon hanging in their home as a reminder of what a Christian marriage is all about.

Lives of Saints Timothy and Mavra

Saints Timothy and Maura suffered for the faith during the persecution under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). St Timothy came from the village of Perapa (Egyptian Thebaid), and was the son of a priest named Pikolpossos. He was made a reader among the church clergy, and also a keeper and copyist of divine service books. St Timothy was denounced as a keeper of Christian books, which the emperor ordered to be confiscated and burned. They brought St Timothy before the governor Arian, who demanded that he hand over the sacred books. They subjected the saint to horrible tortures for his refusal to obey the command. They shoved two red-hot iron rods into his ears, from which the sufferer lost his eyesight and became blind.

St Timothy bravely endured the pain and he gave thanks to God, for granting him to suffer for Him. The torturers hung the saint head downwards, putting a piece of wood in his mouth, and they tied a heavy stone to his neck. St Timothy's suffering was so extreme, that even those who tortured him implored the governor to ease up on the torture.

About this time they informed Arian that Timothy had a young wife named Maura, whom he had married only twenty days before. Arian ordered Maura to be brought, hoping that with her present, they could break St Timothy's will. St Timothy urged his wife not to fear the tortures, but to follow his path. St Maura answered, "I am prepared to die with you," and she boldly confessed herself a Christian. Arian commanded that the hair be torn from her head, and to cut the fingers off her hands.

St Maura underwent the torment with joy and even thanked the governor for the torture, which she endured so that her sins might be forgiven. Then Arian gave orders to throw St Maura into a boiling cauldron, but she did not feel any pain, and she remained unharmed. Suspecting that the servants had filled the cauldron with cold water out of sympathy for the martyr, Arian went up and ordered the saint to splash him on the hand with water from the cauldron. When the martyr did this, Arian screamed with pain and drew back his scalded hand. Then, momentarily admitting the power of the miracle, Arian confessed God in Whom Maura believed as the True God, and he ordered her to be released. But the devil still held great power over the governor, and soon he again began to urge St Maura to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Having gotten nowhere, Arian was overcome all the more by a satanic rage and he came up with new tortures. Then the people began to murmur and demand a stop to the abuse of this innocent woman. But St Maura, turning to the people, said, "Let no one defend me. I have one Defender, God, in Whom I trust."

Finally, after torturing them for a long time, Arian ordered the martyrs to be crucified. For ten days they hung on crosses facing each other.

On the tenth day of martyrdom the saints offered up their souls to the Lord. This occurred in the year 286. Later, a solemn celebration of the holy martyrs Timothy and Maura was instituted at Constantinople, and a church was built in their honor.

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Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
O come, you believers all, and let us honor today the martyr Saint Timothy and his co-athlete and wife Saint Mavra the bride of Christ, praising their brave endurance. In their own crucifixion longingly did they follow in the steps of the Savior who was slaughtered for us and who nailed to the Cross the sins of all.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Since ye endured through divers woundings and tortures and have received from God the garlands of vict'ry, rise up in intercession with the Lord for us, who with longing celebrate this, your sacred memorial, O Great Martyr Timothy, and most glorious Mavra, that He grant peace to all His Church and flock, for He is truly the strength of all faithful flock.

A Reflection and Hymn from St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The fate of these two wonderful martyrs, husband and wife, is amazing! Because of their Christian Faith and only twenty days following their marriage, they were brought to court before Arrianus, the governor of Thebaid, during the reign of Diocletian. Timothy was a lector in his local church. The governor questioned him: "Who are you?" To that Timothy responded: "I am a Christian and a lector of God's Church." The governor further said to him: "Do you not see these instruments prepared for torture surrounding you?" Timothy replied: "And, do you not see all the angels of God who strengthen me?" Then the governor ordered an iron rod be pierced through his ears so that the pupils of his eyes protruded from pain. After that, they hung him upside down and placed a piece of wood in his mouth. At first, Maura was frightened because of Timothy's sufferings, but when her husband encouraged her, she also confessed her steadfast faith before the governor. The governor then ordered all the hairs of her head pulled out and after that severed the fingers from her hands. After many other tortures, from which they would have succumbed had not the Grace of God strengthened them, they were both crucified facing each other. Thus, hanging on the cross, they lived for nine days counseling and encouraging each other in perseverance. On the tenth day, they gave up their souls to their Lord for Whom they endured death on a cross and so were made worthy of His kingdom. They suffered honorably for Christ in the year 286 A.D.

SAINT TIMOTHY AND SAINT MAURA

Timothy and Maura, crucified and pale,
Through the Lord Christ, looked at one another,
And by the spirit see each other better than with the eyes,
By pain exalted, above all things.

And Timothy speaks: "Maura, my sister,
You are of a female nature, and your pain is greater!
By prayer be encouraged, do not despair sister,
All of your thoughts, affix to Christ."

Maura replied: "Brother Timothy,
The Spirit of God I feel, in my soul it waves.
He keeps me strong, and helpless He strengthens me,
And the Sweet Jesus, my pains alleviates,
But, about you, my glorious pride, I am concerned,
What kind of pains, with yours can be similar?
But just a little while, a little while, my sweet brother,
From the thorns of sufferings, then the roses will blossom,
To the entire heavenly host, the darling you will be,
Only endure, endure without sound and sobbing
Let us be alert brother, let us not fall asleep,
Perhaps the Lord might come, that we not be ashamed.
Behold, the entire heavens opened, I see
Unseen treasures for us prepared."

Then Timothy to Maura: "O sister, wonderful,
Bride of Christ, glorious martyr,
For His glorious mercy, let us glorify God,
That such an honorable death, He permitted upon us.
O glory to You O Savior, Who for us suffered;
Our spirit, we now commend into Your hands."

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Pictures of the Glorification of Two Serbian Saints

In a moving a joyous celebration, on 2 May 2010, a multi-hiearchical Divine Liturgy took place in the Cathedral of St. Savvas in Belgrade to confirm the sainthood of Fr. Justin Popovich and the abbot Fr. Simeon Popovich.

The Divine Liturgy was celebrated by Patriarch Irenaios of Serbia surrounded by twenty-two hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Amphilochios of Montenegro said in his homily: "The decision of the Hierarchy has as its aim the spiritual prosperity of the Serbian people."

The Metropolitan further said: "Fr. Justin and Fr. Simeon always had Christ as an example for their lives, Who glorified them by their life and works. Their names are written in the book of life."

Our Venerable Father Justin Popovich of Chelije (1894-1979) will be commemorated on June 1 on the Old Calendar (June 14 according to the New Calendar), and the commemoration of our Venerable Father Simeon Popovich, abbot of the Dajbabe Monastery near Podgorica (1854-1941), will be celebrated on March 19 on the Old Calendar (April 1 on the New Calendar).











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More pictures can be seen here.

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The Relics of Saint Athanasius the Great

The Relics of St. Athanasius the Great, in the Church of S. Zaccaria, in Venice, Italy. (Above)

Pope Shenouda III restored portions of the relics of St. Athanasius to Egypt on 15 May 1973, after his historical visit to the Vatican and meeting with Pope Paul VI. The relics of St. Athanasius the Great of Alexandria are currently preserved under the new St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Deir El-Anba Rowais, Abbassiya, Cairo, Egypt. (Below)


Apolytikion in the Third Tone
You became a pillar of Orthodoxy, strengthening the Church with divine dogmas, O Hierarch Athanasios. For by preaching that the Son is one in essence with the Father you put Arius to shame. O venerable Father, to Christ our God pray earnestly, entreating that great mercy be on us bestowed.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
Having planted the dogmas of Orthodoxy, thou didst cut out the thorns of false doctrine; and with the rain of the Spirit, thou didst increase the seed of the Faith, Wherefore, we praise thee, O righteous Athanasios.

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The 'Protocols': A Forgery of Plagiarized Fiction

"The only statement I care to make about the Protocols is that they fit in with what is going on. They are sixteen years old, and they have fitted the world situation up to this time. They fit it now." - Henry Ford, 2-17-1921, whose newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, cited the Protocols as evidence of an alleged Jewish threat until at least 1927

"To what extent the whole existence of this people is based on a continuous lie is shown incomparably by the Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion...." --Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a forgery made in Russia for the Okhrana (secret police), which blames the Jews for the country's ills. It was first privately printed in 1897 and was made public in 1905. It is copied from a nineteenth century novel by Hermann Goedsche (Biarritz, 1868) and claims that a secret Jewish cabal is plotting to take over the world.

The basic story was composed by Goedsche, a German novelist and anti-Semite who used the pseudonym of Sir John Retcliffe. Goedsche stole the main story from another writer, Maurice Joly, whose Dialogues in Hell Between Machiavelli and Montesquieu (1864) involved a Hellish plot aimed at opposing Napoleon III. Goedsche's original contribution consists mainly of introducing Jews to do the plotting to take over the world.

The Russians used big chunks of a Russian translation of Goedsche's novel, published it separately as the Protocols, and claimed they were authentic. Their purpose was political: to strengthen the czar Nicholas II's position by exposing his opponents as allies with those who were part of a massive conspiracy to take over the world. Thus, the Protocols are a forgery of a plagiarized fiction.

The Protocols were exposed as a forgery by Lucien Wolf in The Jewish Bogey and the Forged Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion (London: Press Committee of the Jewish Board of Deputies, 1920). In 1921, Philip Graves, a correspondent for the London Times, publicized the forgery. Herman Bernstein in The Truth About "The Protocols of Zion: A Complete Exposure (1935) also tried and failed to convince the world of the forgery.

The Protocols were published in 1920 in a Michigan newspaper started by Henry Ford mainly to attack Jews and Communists. Even after they were exposed as a forgery, Ford's paper continued to cite the document. Adolf Hitler later used the Protocols to help justify his attempt to exterminate Jews during World War II.

The Protocols hoax continues to fool people and is still cited by certain individuals and groups as the cause of all their woes.

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See also here, here and here.

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St. Athanasios of Lubensk and His Seated Relics

St. Athanasius of Lubensk, Patriarch of Constantinople (Feast Day - May 2)

Saint Athanasios III Patelarios, Patriarch of Constantinople, Wonderworker of Lubensk, in the world Alexis, was born in 1560 on the island of Crete, into the pious Greek family Patelarios. Despite his education and position in society, Alexis was attracted by the life of Christian ascetics. After his father's death, he became a novice in one of the monasteries of Thessalonica with the name Ananias. From there, he he later went to the Monastery of Esphigmenou on Mt. Athos, where he fulfilled his obedience in the trapeza (dining area).

From Athos he journeyed to the Palestinian monasteries, and he was tonsured with the name Athanasius. Upon his return to Thessalonica he was ordained presbyter and spread the Gospel of Christ among the Vlachs and the Moldovians, for whom he translated the PSALTER from the Greek. Sometimes, the saint went to Mt. Athos for solitude, and to ask God's blessing on his pastoral work. The holiness of his life attracted many Christians who wished to see a true preacher of the Orthodox Faith.

By his remarkable abilities and spiritual gifts he attracted the attention of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril I (Lukaris) (1621-1623). Summoning the ascetic, Patriarch Cyril appointed him a preacher of the Patriarchal throne. Soon St Athanasios was consecrated bishop and became Metropolitan of Thessalonica.

At this time Patriarch Cyril was slandered before the sultan and imprisoned on the island of Tenedos. St Athanasios assumed the Patriarchal throne on March 25, 1634, on the day of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos.

Patriarch Athanasios led an incessant struggle against heretics, Jesuits, and Muslims. After only forty days on the Patriarchal throne, he was deposed through the intrigues of the enemies of Orthodoxy, and Cyril I was returned.


The saint went to Athos, where for a certain time he pursued asceticism in solitude. Then he became Patriarch again, but was deposed after a year. After this, he returned to Thessalonica and renewed his connections with the Holy Mountain. In view of the intolerable persecution of Christians by the Muslims, St Athanasios was repeatedly (from 1633 to 1643) obliged to send petitions to the Russian tsar Michael (1613-1645) seeking alms for the hapless Church of Constantinople.

When living at Thessalonica became impossible for the saint, he was forced to journey to Moldavia under the protection of its sovereign, Basil Lukulos, and he settled there in the monastery of St Nicholas near Galats, but he longed for Mount Athos. He visited it often and hoped to finish his life there, but God ordained something else for him.

In 1652 after the death of Patriarch Cyril I, St Athanasios was returned to the patriarchal throne. He remained only fifteen days, since he was not acceptable to the Muslims and Catholics. During his final Patriarchal service he preached a sermon in which he denounced papal pretensions to universal jurisdiction over the whole Church.

Persecuted by the Muslims and Jesuits, physically weakened, he transferred the administration of the Church of Constantinople to Metropolitan Paisios of Laureia, and he withdrew to Moldavia, where he was appointed administrator of the monastery of St Nicholas at Galats.

Knowing the deep faith and responsiveness of the Russian nation, St Athanasios undertook a journey to Russia. In April 1653 he was met with great honor in Moscow by Patriarch Nikon (1652-1658) and Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich. While in Russia he set forth the procedure for the Divine Liturgy celebrated by a bishop that is still in use in Russia. Having received generous alms for the needs of the monastery, Patriarch Athanasios left for Galats in December 1653. On the way he fell ill and stayed at the Transfiguration Mgarsk monastery in the city of Lubno in February 1654.

Sensing his impending death, the saint wrote his last will, and he fell asleep in the Lord on April 5, 1654, which was the Wednesday of St. Thomas Week. Abbot Petronios and the brethren of the monastery buried the Patriarch. By Greek custom the saint was buried in a sitting position in full vestments, which is why in Russia they call him "the Sitting". Eight years after his death they uncovered his relics and found them to be incorrupt (only two fingers were missing from the right hand in which he held his staff), even though his clothes and chair had rotted. He was placed in new robes and a shrine was built to him. On February 1, 1662 St Athanasios was glorified as a saint and his Feastday was designated as May 2, the Feast of St Athanasios the Great. After this event the Saint began to appear in many peoples dreams, blessing, teaching and healing the sick, and many healings took place at the tomb of the Saint. In 1672 news began to spread concerning the miraculous healings through the relics of St. Athanasios, and eventually reached Moscow. To investigate the matter Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich immediately sent to the Ukraine the clerk M. Savin. Learning of four cases of miracles, Savin returned to the Tsar and made his report.

In 1922 Bolsheviks were in power and Commissar Sereda came from Kharkov with a letter from Petrovsky to remove the coffin on which St. Athanasios was seated which was made of pure silver. In response, people not only in Luben, but also in other regions of Poltava threw themselves into the monastery so as not to allow the atheists to approach the saint's relics. Surrounded the church was a ring of tens of thousands of people. The church services went on around the clock, the priests succeeded each other every 3-4 hours, and people arrived daily. Then the authorities began military exercises in the monastery with machine-guns and artillery fire and shouting "Hurrah", sending up to 3,000 soldiers and cadets, but the maneuvers were unable to disperse the people. The monks put the relics of St. Athanasios in a wooden coffin, and the silver coffin was taken to Kharkov by the atheists.

The relics of holy Patriarch Athansios, glorified by numerous miracles and signs, rest in the city of Kharkov, in the Annunciation Cathedral church till this day.

Annunciation Cathedral (early 20th century)

Annunciation Cathedral

Interior of Annunciation Cathedral in 1903

Shrine of St. Athanasios

An icon of Saint Athanasios from 1809

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