Simon Peter and Simon the Magician: A Battle of True and False Miracles

Simon Magus offers to buy the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the Apostle Peter

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The enemies of Christianity frequently like to cite examples of great miracle-workers among the pagans in order to deceive the gullible, to humiliate the Christian Faith and to elevate paganism, sorcery, soothsaying, Satanism and every other charlatanism. There is no doubt that Satan through his servants also attempted to perform miracles but all of the miracles of his servants do not emanate out of love for man, compassion and from faith in God but rather from pride, selfishness, vanity and hatred for mankind. A Christian should learn from the history of the apostles to differentiate divine miracles from satanic deceits and fantasies. Let the Christian only remember the Apostle Peter and Simon the Magician. Let the Christian compare the miracles of Peter with the so-called miracles of Simon. The apostle converted the stony hearts of men into noble hearts, cured the sick, and raised the dead and all of this by prayer and faith in the Living God. However, Simon the Magician amazed men with the devil's illusions. The Apostle Peter was a friend of God and Simon the Magician was a friend and protege of the perverted Emperor Nero who ended his life by suicide. The miracles of the pagan fakirs belong to the category of illusions and deceits of Simon the Magician. Just as from a distance hot sand resembles water so also the "miracles" of the fakir resemble the life-creating miracles of Christianity.

The fall of Simon Magus

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Documentary on Alexandros Papadiamandis

Alexandros Papadiamandis was born in Skiathos on 3rd March 1851 and was the son of the priest Adamantios Emmanouil and Angeliki who was the daughter of Alexandros Moraitidis. He completed the primary school and the first two grades of the Hellenic school in Skiathos. He later attended a school in Skopelos and in Piraeus and finally he graduated from Varvakio in 1874. In the same year in September, he registered in the Faculty of Philosophy in the University of Athens but he never graduated from it. At that time he wrote his first lyric poem about his mother. In 1879 he published his novel "The Immigrant" in the newspaper "Neologos". In 1882 he started publishing his novel "The Merchants of the Nations" in the newspaper "Mi hanese" (Don't vanish). At the same time he started working as a translator.

In 1884 he started publishing in the newspaper "Akropolis" his novel "Gypsy Girl". From 1892 to 1897 he worked as a regular correspondent in the same newspaper. From 1902 to 1904 he lived in Skiathos where he published his novel "The Female Assasin". On March 13, 1908 in "Parnassos" a celebration of his 25 years in the Greek letters was held under the patronage of the Princess Maria Vonaparti. Immediately after that he returned to Skiathos where he lived until the end of his life. He died because of pneumonia in the morning of 3rd January 1911. His funeral was held on the same day and the funeral oration was delivered by G. Rigas. On 22nd November 1912 his grave was visited by Maria Vonaparti and in 1925 his bust, which was created by Th. Thomopoulos, was erected.

The work of Alexandros Papadiamandis which is today internationally acclaimed, was influenced directly by his island; the island where he was born and died; the island which he loved and praised as much as nothing else. It was also influenced by the people of his island whose life-stories he recreated and enlivened in his writings. He was a perfect observer and student of human psychology and of the morals and manners of his time. His unparalleled, full of lyricism writing style gave birth to masterpieces of moral novels in modern Greece. As a result, his name reminds us of Skiathos immediately. At the same time, on hearing the word "Skiathos" we cannot help thinking of this great literary figure whose personality marked indelibly both his island and his work.

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Occultist Tries To Kill Patriarch Kyrill With 'Mind Powers'

Occult Enthusiast Charged in Patriarch Plot

29 June 2010
By Alexandra Odynova
The Moscow Times

A former Nizhny Novgorod doctor faces criminal charges for seeking co-conspirators online to help him kill Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill through a ritual using their “collective mind,” investigators said Monday.

Dmitry Shubin, a 42-year-old former pediatrician, has been charged with inciting hatred for statements he made on the Vkontakte.ru social network.

The charges were filed after a local resident reported the comments to police, and investigators turned the case over to a Nizhny Novgorod court Friday, a spokeswoman for the local branch of the Investigative Committee said Monday.

If convicted, the defendant faces a fine of up to 300,000 rubles ($9,700) or a sentence of up to two years in prison.

A local police source told The Moscow Times that Shubin was investigated in connection with a 1998 murder involving a satanist ritual.

For nearly a year, from March 2009 through this January, Shubin posted statements on his Vkontakte.ru page calling on Internet users to gather at his apartment at a set time to use the occult concept of the collective mind, known as egregore, against the patriarch.

In his pleas for support, Shubin wrote that only a large number of people can form a strong collective mind.

“I don’t consider myself guilty,” Shubin told The Moscow Times by phone on Monday. “I just wanted to express my opinion against the government’s policy on religious issues,” he said.

Shubin said he was targeting the state’s tacit support of the Russian Orthodox Church, rather than the church itself. He said he had no supporters and was acting alone.

His page on Vkontakte.ru was still accessible Monday evening, including invitations to meetings dating back to at least September.

In his profile, Shubin lists his main interests as “cabala, magic and women,” and among the pictures he posted were scans of a 1992 diploma from the Moscow School of Hypnosis and a 1993 certificate from the School of Practical Psychology.

Cabala is a school of thought emanating from mystical rabbinism.

Shubin, who lists himself as an atheist, is also a member of the group “Cabala and Magic,” which contained a survey he created asking visitors whether they considered the “topic of killing the patriarch relevant.”

About three-quarters of the more than 300 who voted said “no.”

Shubin first came to prominence in connection with a bizarre murder more than a decade ago. In 2000, a Nizhny Novgorod court sentenced Yevgeny Platov, then 17, to 10 years in prison for stabbing to death a 12-year-old member of their group as part of an occult rite.

A second suspect, 16-year-old Alexei Shevaldin, was found mentally unstable and ordered to receive psychological treatment.

At that time, investigators learned that Shubin, who was working at a city hospital, recruited the teens to join his sect though ads in a local newspaper, according to news reports from the time.

Shubin was not charged in the crime because police were unable to prove that he was involved in the killing, the reports said, but prosecutors warned him against trying to organize groups in the future. He has denied that he ordered the killing.

The Moscow Patriarchate said the case was another reminder of the danger occult groups pose to society.

“We look at their leaders with pity and pray for them,” a spokesman said Monday, asking that his name not to be mentioned because he was not aware of the Nizhny Novgorod case.

Patriarch Kirill conducted a liturgy on Monday in the Kremlin’s Uspensky Cathedral, the patriarchate said.

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Orthodox to Celebrate Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens

According to a report by Romfea.gr, Orthodox Christians will be allowed to celebrate a Divine Liturgy at the Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens on 3 July 2010. Talks of this have been going on since the 800th anniversary of the Fourth Crusade in 2004. The Divine Liturgy will be celebrated by Metropolitan Emmanuel of France in the French language.

Amien’s Cathedral is 2 hours to the north of Paris. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens is the tallest cathedral in all of France, and boasts the largest interior volume of any cathedral in Western Europe.

Amiens Cathedral is a classical French Gothic Cathedral. Construction was started in 1220 and finished around 1288. In 1981 the cathedral was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the 13th century, what brought the pilgrims to Amiens Cathedral was the alleged head of John the Baptist. The relic was brought to Aimes from Constantinople by the Crusaders. It was a popular attraction and was a large source of revenue for the cathedral. It still is a poplular attraction.

Another impressive feature of the cathedral is the stained glass. During both World Wars the stained glass was removed from the cathedral and stored. Unfortunately, during World War I much of the stained glass was destroyed by a fire in the storage shed.

Amiens cathedral has an impressive display of sculptures. This was one of the reasons that it was declared a World Heritage Site. Here is where you will find the statue of the weeping angel, which was made popular during World War I. Other must see sculptures are the “Handsome God, the “Sinners Enter the Jaws of Hell on the Last Judgement” and the “Sculpture of St. James the Greater”.

There are many opportunities to get a glimpse of how Amiens Cathedrals was during midieval times. Restoration efforts in 2000 found traces of the original paint. Every night during the summer and in December there is a laser light show which attempts to show how the cathedral looked when it was originally built. Also the cathedral is an active Catholic church. Mass is held every Sunday at 10:15am and includes Gregorian chanting.

The cathedral is open daily and admission is Free!

Read more about the Cathedral here.

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St. Peter of the Dominicans to Liturgize Again After 400 Years

It has been approximately 400 years since the Church of Ss. Peter and Paul celebrated a Divine Liturgy in Herakleion, Crete. Tonight a Great Vespers was served by Archbishop Eirinaios of Crete and tomorrow he will celebrate the Divine Liturgy to mark its restoration after all these centuries.

The Church of Ss. Peter and Paul was built in the first years of Venetian rule as the katholikon in the Dominican order monastery (Domenicani Predicatori). It is one of the oldest examples of 12th century Dominican architecture, both in Greece and the rest of Europe.

In Venetian times the church was used as a burial site for Candia dignitaries, but in the very first years of Ottoman rule was converted into a mosque dedicated to the memory of Sultan Ibrahim.

It is situated next to the sea wall, between the Venetian port and the Dermatas Gate, on what is now Sofoklis Venizelou Avenue, and is currently being restored for use as a feast day church.

Ss. Peter and Paul was originally a single nave church with a timber roof and a slightly projecting transverse nave in front of the sacristy. This was an oblong building covered by two low groin vaults and flanked by two rectangular chapels or pastophoria. Rather than forming a semi-circular sanctuary, the east end was square and decorated with a large tripartite opening covering one side.

By the 15th century four chapels had been added to the south side of the church, one of which still contains the only example of 15th century wall painting found in Heraklion. Burials have been found in all four chapels, one of which was in a marble relief tomb. The southwest chapel was added in the 14th century, and was so big that it had an entrance on the south side of the original chapel.

The church is one of the oldest monuments of its type. It is of wider interest in European terms, as regards both the course of 13th century architecture and its presence in Greece and the rest of the continent.

The two storey design of the original sanctuary chapels is a further distinctive feature unique among monuments of its type. On Crete, the Church of Ss. Peter and Paul served as a model for the Church of St. Nicholas in Chania, built in the late 13th or early 14th century.


The numerous unique features of the monument uncovered during restoration work reveal similarities with precisely contemporary 13th century buildings of the same architectural form at Silvanes, Venzone and Rieti in France and Italy.

Throughout the period of Venetian rule, distinguished political leaders and prelates from Candia were buried at the church, both in the interior and by the outside walls. In Volume II of his monumental work “Monumenti Veneti nell isola di Creta”, G. Gerola mentions that it was the burial place of Dukes of Crete Markos Grandonikos (1331), Ioannis Morosini (1338), Marinos Grimani (1348) and Philippos Dorio (1357).

At the very beginning of Turkish rule Ss. Peter and Paul was converted into a mosque dedicated to the memory of Sultan Ibrahim, and a minaret was added to the southwest corner.

Other features dating to the Ottoman period, uncovered during restoration work, were the mihrab (prayer niche), pebbled floors and a clay furnace.

It would appear that the daring scale of the monument’s architecture (54m long, 15m wide, with a 12m central nave) and the lack of any exterior buttresses on the north and south walls, led to its partial collapse in three different earthquakes, in the early 14th, early 16th and 18th centuries. The last of these led to the collapse of: 1) the roof; 2) the greater part of the north wall; 3) the 14th century chapel in the northeast; 4) the 15th century chapel in the southwest; 5) the east groin vault and part of the rose window; 6) the northwest buttress pier; and 7) the upper section of the west wall.


Significant remnants of earlier phases in the town’s history have been uncovered around the monastery, with its imposing katholikon and adjoining buildings, in the surrounding area known as Kastella. These derive from the period of Arab rule, the second Byzantine period and the early years of Venetian rule. The area is now named after a sultana factory that stood on the site before the antiquities were discovered. Both the factory and the entertainment venue that succeeded it were called “Kastella”.

The church was bought as exchangeable estate by the Parish of St. Dimitrios by the Port, for use as a church. The Ministry of Culture then decided that services should only be held there on feast days, and that it should remain a visitors’ monument. Over recent decades the main church and adjoining buildings have undergone restoration, while the surrounding area is being landscaped as an archaeological site linked to the Venetian monastery.

The internal restoration of the Church was finished and the Mayor of the City announced that it will be open to visit during the Christmas period.

The video here below was broadcasted by a local TV channel and you can see the internal of the Church today.



Source 1 and 2

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The Discovery of the Relics of Sts. Cyrus and John

Discovery of the Relics of Sts. Cyrus and John the Unmercenaries (Feast Day - June 28)

The transfer of the relics of the Holy Martyrs, Unmercenaries and Wonderworkers, Cyrus and John from the city of Canopus (or Conopa, Conopis, Konopa), near Alexandria (where they suffered in the year 311) to the nearby village of Menouthis (or Menuthis, Manuphin), took place in the year 414. This Egyptian village was the center of a popular healing shrine dedicated to the goddess Isis. Demons would often appear in the dreams of people here in the form of Isis and gave them oracles, and the shrine was a center of much debauchery. Patriarch Theophilus (385-412) wanted to cleanse this place of demons by building a church dedicated to the four Evangelists, but he died and the cult of Isis flourished. His wish was fulfilled by his successor in the See of Alexandria, the holy Patriarch Cyril (412-444). He prayed fervently in carrying out this project. An angel of the Lord appeared in a vision to the hierarch and commanded the venerable relics of the previously unknown Sts. Cyrus and John be transferred to Menouthis from Canopus where the two martyrs were buried in a mass grave at St. Mark the Apostle's. Patriarch Cyril did the angel's bidding and the relics were transferred on June 28, 414 and placed in the church of the four Evangelists. St. Cyril eventually had the Temple of Isis destroyed and established a shrine dedicated to Sts. Cyrus and John, perhaps in 427/8.

From that time Menouthis began to be purified of demonic influence, and by the prayers of the holy Martyrs Cyrus and John there began to occur many miracles and healings far outshining the power of Isis. Ammonius, the son of Julian the mayor of Alexandria, was healed of scrofula; a Theodore healed of blindness; Isidore of Menouthis was cured of a decaying disease of the liver; the wife of Theodore from poisoning; a Eugenia of dropsy as well as many other people were healed of various diseases and torments by the relics of these saints. As was done with the cult of Isis, many Christians would sleep near the tomb of the martyrs hoping to receive a vision of Cyrus and John (a practice known as incubation), and many Christians did. When the saints would appear, they would either prescribe a special treatment for the afflicted or heal them at once. With all this, it did not take long before the cult of Isis was replaced by the holy martyrs Cyrus and John. Thanks to the numerous healing miracles that occurred through the prayers of the martyrs, many people renounced paganism. The name of the city was changed to Abukyr (or Abu Qir), a name that it keeps till this day in honor of St. Cyrus. It was also during the reign of Cyril that the Archimandrite Shenoute of Atripe led a great campaign in uprooting paganism and destroying its temples in Upper Egypt, including the last remnants in Menouthis (which is recounted by the historian Zacharias).

So many remarkable healings took place at the shrine of the Holy Martyrs Cyrus and John that in the seventh century St. Sophronius of Jerusalem (Mar. 11), after he was cured of ophthalmia, which physicians had declared incurable, by an apparition of the two Saints, in order to show his gratitude, wrote a detailed account of 70 of their miracles as well as an Encomium in the saints' honour. Miracles 1-35 concern natives of Alexandria, 36-69 are about Egyptians and Libyans, and 51-70 are about 'foreigners'.

A favorite among the many is the 53rd miracle. This was told to Sophronius by a man from Eleutheropolis (Beyt Guvrin), about 50 km south of Jerusalem. It concerns a boy called Theodore, the servant of Procopius of Eleutheropolis. The boy had a growth above his nose. He went to the sea, seeking a cure from Cyrus and John. While swimming, he was seized by a shark (canis marinus), which grabbed him by the heel in its jaws. He called upon Sts. Cyrus and John to save him, and he was cast up on the dry land and cured of both the wound to his foot and his facial deformity, leaving us to wonder whether the shark bit the tumour off Theodore's face, and was thus an unwitting agent of divine intervention.

The relics of Sts. Cyrus and John were transferred to Rome in 634, and placed in the suburban church of St. Passera (a corruption of Abbas Cyrus) on via Portuensis. This fact offers a clue to another purpose for the writing of St. Sophronius. At that time, Sophronius was in correspondence with Pope Honorius (625-638) over the monoenergist controversy, in which he hoped to gain Roman support against the Emperor Heraclius and Sergius, patriarch of Constantinople. Alexandria had gone over to 'the dark side' with the signing of the pact of union by its patriarch Cyrus in June 633, endorsing monoenergism. The text of the Miracles may have accompanied the relics to Rome in 634, a perfect gift to Pope Honorius, underlining the orthodoxy of these two Alexandrian martyrs, in stark contrast to the heresy recently embraced by the Alexandrian patriarch Cyrus. In that year, too, Sophronius may have been in Rome with John Moschus, who died in that city. In the same year, Sophronius issued his Synodical Letter, which contained a strong rejection of the imperially-sponsored doctrine of monoenergism. Unfortunately Honorius missed the point entirely and ended up initiating a new heresy, monothelitism, through his careless use of the term 'one will'. This term appeared in his letter of congratulations to Sergius for obtaining theological agreement with the Eastern churches on the basis of the pact of union. Thus the monothelite doctrine was born, and was only finally put to rest at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in 680-681.

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Since Thou hast given us the miracles of Thy holy Martyrs as an invincible battlement, by their entreaties scatter the counsels of the heathen, O Christ our God, and strengthen the faith of Orthodox Christians, since Thou alone art good and the Friend of man.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Second Tone
With a great voice, O ye faithful, let us hymn the great physicians of the world, the pair beloved of Christ, the luminaries who are radiant with the beams of healing; and as we stand in their temple, we cry out: Cyrus and John, the bestowers of miracles and healers of the ailing, shine forth to the ends of the world.

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As A Monk Attired, the Emperor For Battle Set Out

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

VENERABLE SENNUPHIUS, "THE STANDARD-BEARER"

Sennuphius was a great ascetic and miracle-worker of the Egyptian desert. He was a contemporary of Patriarch Theophilus and Emperor Theodosius the Great. He is called the "Standard-bearer" because by his prayers he once helped Emperor Theodosius to gain a victory over the army of his adversaries. When the emperor summoned Sennuphius to Constantinople, Sennuphius replied that he was unable to do so but sent him his tattered monastic habit and staff. Setting out to battle the emperor donned Sennuphius' monastic habit and carried the staff and returned victorious from battle.

REFLECTION

Protestants have rejected the miracles of God through material things. By doing this they thought to despiritualize the Christian Faith however, in doing this, they have impoverished and deformed Christianity. They have rejected the action of God's power through icons, through the relics of the saints, through the Cross and, finally, some of them even through the power of Holy Communion. If they were to follow this erroneous path, they would have to reject even the miracles which have occurred from the living body of the Lord Jesus, for His body was material; the same with the miracles by the touch of the apostles' hands and the hands of the saints, for these hands are also material and not even to mention the rod of Moses, or the vesture of the All-holy Birth-giver of God, of the handkerchief of the Apostle Paul and so forth. In their rejection, Protestants stand in contradiction to the entire ancient Church. Here is one out of thousands and thousands of proofs that God acts through things, especially when He wants to glorify His saints: there was a tall pillar erected in Alexandria bearing the statue of Emperor Theodosius dressed in monastic habit and with a monastic staff in his hand. This pillar served as a memorial of the emperor's victory which he, clad in the monastic habit of St. Sennuphius and with Sennuphius' staff in his hands, carried against his adversaries. When God wills, then even one garment of a saint conquers the powerful armies of unbelievers. Who would dare to limit the actions or the methods of action of the power of the Almighty God?

HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT SENNUPHIUS

Sennuphius the Elder, in the wilderness fasts,
His body passionless, as dry bones,
But from a dry stone, as water one time,
From him flows, the Grace of the Holy Spirit;
In a deadened body, is hidden a spirit powerful
That, the glorious Emperor Theodosius heard,
And, when to set out for war, the emperor wanted,
Invited the Elder Sennuphius to come,
His blessing to give, that the emperor the devil to crush,
Numerous gifts to him, the emperor promised.
The Elder Sennuphius, into tears broke out,
To Emperor Theodosius, a reply he sends,
The roads are too distant, that he cannot come,
And with worries, cannot confuse his prayer,
For every gift, gives thanks to the emperor
And to him [Theodosius], his old monastic habit he sends,
Along with the cassock, an old staff he sends,
This, to the emperor, the gifts from the monk were!
The staff, let the emperor to take, and the habit to don,
And, in battle, every adversary he will defeat.
As a monk attired, the emperor for battle set out
Glorious victor from battle he returned.
The emperor, a pillar of victory in the city erected,
His likeness as a monk on top of the pillar, he placed,
That the faith of Emperor Theodosius, the world remembers
And of Saint Sennuphius, the miraculous power.

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What Is A Saint?

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"But as the One who called you is holy, be you also holy in all your behavior" (1 Peter 1:15).

Brethren, holiness is a virtue which encompasses all other virtues. Hence brethren, a saint is a man adorned with all virtues. But if a man is prayerful and is not compassionate, he cannot be called holy. Or, if a man endures but without faith and hope he cannot be numbered among the saints. Or, if a man is very compassionate but without faith in God in truth, such a man cannot be numbered among the saints. A saint is a perfect man such as Adam was in Paradise; or even better, such as the New Adam was, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the Saint above the saints. This is the Sower of holiness on earth and the Nurturer of the saints in history. He called us to the dignity of the saints. He showed us the example of a true saint. He is the prototype of the saints as He is the arch-type of man. A true man, my brethren, does not mean anything else but a saint. A saint and a man, that is one and the same. He showed us what it means to be a man and what it means to be a saint. The Apostle Peter commands us: "Be you also holy in all your [living] behavior!" A saint is not a saint in one aspect of his life but rather in every aspect of his entire life. We must be holy in every work and aspect of our life in order to be numbered among the saints, i.e., among men according to the prototype of the saints and the arch-type of man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

O All-holy Lord, to You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

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Animation: Oscar Wilde's "The Happy Prince"

One of my favorite memories from elementary school was watching the various film strip movies that usually contained some sort of a moral tale for children. Many of these have become classics. The best of them all, in my opinion, was the very moving and beautiful tale of "The Happy Prince", based on the short story of Oscar Wilde. Even as a young boy my eyes would tear up watching this, and they still do today. An incredible tale of selflessness and loyalty, and it may be the greatest short story for children in the English language. It can be read here.

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St. Sampson the Hospitable, Founder of the Largest Free Clinic in the Roman Empire

St. Sampson the Innkeeper and Physician of Constantinople (Feast Day - June 27)

Saint Sampson the Hospitable was the son of rich and illustrious Roman parents. In his youth he received an excellent education, he studied the medical arts, and doctored the sick without charge. After the death of his parents St Sampson generously distributed alms and set his slaves free, preparing himself to go into the wilderness.

With this intent in mind he soon journeyed from Rome to the East. But the Lord directed him onto a different path, that of service to neighbor, and so St Sampson came to Constantinople. Settling into a small house, the saint began to take in homeless wanderers, the poor and the sick, and he attended to them. The Lord blessed the efforts of St Sampson and endowed him with the power of wonderworking. He healed the sick not only through being a skilled physician, but also as a bearer of the grace of God. News of St Sampson spread abroad. The Patriarch heard of his great virtue and ordained him to the holy priesthood.

It was revealed to the grievously ill Emperor Justinian (527-565), that he could receive healing only through St Sampson. In praying, the saint put his hand on the afflicted area, and Justinian was healed. In gratitude the emperor wanted to reward his healer with silver and gold, but the saint refused saying, "O Emperor, I had silver and gold and other riches, but I left it all for the sake of Christ, that I might gain heavenly and eternal wealth." Instead St Sampson asked Justinian to build a home for the poor and hospital for the sick. The emperor readily fulfilled his request. With the emperor's assistance Sampson founded the hospital which became the largest free clinic in the empire and served the people of Constantinople for 600 years.

St Sampson devoted the rest of his life to serving his neighbor. He survived into old age and after a short illness he departed peacefully to the Lord on June 27th, 530. The saint was buried at the church of the holy Martyr Mocius, and many healings were effected at his grave. His hospital remained open, and the saint did not cease to care for the suffering. He appeared twice to a negligent worker of the hospital and upbraided him for his laziness. At the request of an admirer of St Sampson the hospital was transformed into a church, and beside it a new edifice was built for the homeless. During the time of a powerful fire at Constantinople the flames did not touch the hospital of St Sampson. Through his intercession a heavy rain quenched the fire. St Sampson is known as one of the Holy Unmerceneries.

It was on his feast day that Peter the Great defeated Charles XII of Sweden in the Battle of Poltava. This led to St.Sampson's veneration in Russia, including the construction of St Sampson's Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Remains of the hospital of St Sampson with a colonnaded courtyard were excavated south of Hagia Eirene after World War II. The hospital itself lay in between the churches of Hagia Eirene and Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. See the reconstruction here.

"The Emperor fulfilled Sampson's wish and built a spacious hospital and house for lodging pilgrims. He appointed Sampson the director. It should be noted that such institutions were unknown to the pagans. They built grandiose edifices, temples to their gods, palaces, theaters, circuses, whose ruins amaze us even today by their enormous size. They spent huge amounts of money on luxury and pleasures, but nowhere do we see that they tried to ease the lot of the sick and suffering. Christ gave us a commandment to love our neighbor; He taught us to consider each person as our brother, and to serve and help one another. In His life on earth, He Himself showed us an example of what we should do, for He was constantly doing good for people. To emulate our Divine Teacher, to be like Him as much as possible, should be our principal concern in life, if we love our Lord Jesus Christ and wish to be true Christians. And the Lord will help us. In doing good-not for money or thanks but out of love for Christ-we shall find unspeakable happiness and peace for our souls." (A. N. Bakhmeteva, Selected Lives of Saints, Moscow 1872)

See also: National Healthcare and the Church-State Relationship in Romiosini

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
In thy patience thou hast won thy reward, O righteous Father. Thou didst persevere unceasingly in prayer; thou didst love the poor, and didst provide for them in all things. Wherefore, intercede with Christ our God, O blessed and godly-minded Sampson, that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
We come together, praising thee with hymns and psalms, O righteous one, as an unrivalled physician and as an intercessor pleasing unto God; O divinely-wise Sampson, ever having recourse to thy godly shrine for help, we glorify Christ Jesus, Who gave thee the grace to work thy cures.

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The Lesson of Saint Severus the Presbyter

Saint Severus the Presbyter (June 27) during the sixth century served in a church of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Interocleum in Central Italy. He was noted for his virtuous and God-pleasing life. One time, when the saint was working in his garden, cutting grapes in the vineyard, they summoned him to administer the Holy Mysteries for the dying. St Severus said: "Go back, and I'll catch up with you soon."

There remained only but a few more grapes to cut off, and St Severus dallied for awhile in the garden to finish the work. When he arrived at the sick person's home, they told him that the person was already dead. St Severus, regarding himself as guilty in the death of a man without absolution, started to tremble and loudly he began to weep. He went into the house where the deceased lay.

With loud groans and calling himself a murderer, in tears he fell down before the dead person. Suddenly the dead man came alive and related to everyone that the demons wanted to seize his soul, but one of the angels said, "Give him back, since the priest Severus weeps over him, and on account of his tears the Lord has granted him this man." St Severus, giving thanks to the Lord, confessed and communed the resurrected man with the Holy Mysteries. That man survived for another seven days, then joyfully went to the Lord.

Source

HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT SEVERUS

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

When a dead person came to life, men asked him;
"Tell us, where were you and who awakened you?"
"In the place of fear and horror, I was,
In the company of black ones, wolves and dogs,
In the depths, full of every uncleanness,
In the bottomless pit of darkness, without a single ray.
And when my soul, despair overcame
By the hand, a radiant young man took me.
Then, from the depths, a cool current blew
And against me charged black ones with heads of dogs:
'This one, he is ours, he is ours, where are you taking him now?
As a citizen of Hades, do you not recognize him?'
To that the angel said: 'Severus, for him, is praying!
And by the will of God, I am taking him,
In the body once more he must appear,
Behold, to confess him, Severus is seeking!
To confess him and Holy Communion to administer to him.
Armies of evil and recalcitrants, stay away!'
Thus the angel said and, with me, flew away
Throughout the cold Hades, throughout the bottomless darkness,
Until at holiness arrived, even to my body.
That is the history of me, the deceased."
O, to be confessed, what a treasure it is
And Communicated to enter into the world of eternity!

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The Testament of a Holy Man in 1853

St. Nikolai Velimirovich

There is no one so stupid as he who cannot see his own sins and cannot see the virtues of others. There is no one so enlightened as he who can see and recognize his own sins and the virtues of others. Those who only see the faults of others and criticize them, St. John Chrysostom equates them to flies that fall on the wounds of others, not in order to heal them but rather to gnaw and to poison them more.

"God has sent us here for penance [epitimia]"; these are the words of Blessed Theophilus of Kiev (+1853). He who knows and feels that he is here for repentance immerses himself in silence and contemplation about his own sin, which has brought him to repentance. The same Blessed Theophilus further said: "Weep also for the sins of your fellow man; without this not one created human being will be saved." To weep or to proclaim - how is it written my son? With Blessed Theophilus, it is written: "To weep over one's own sins, but with Satan to proclaim the sins of others." About himself, Blessed Theophilus at the point of death left this testament to his brethren: "Remember the odious Theophilus!" This is the testament of the holiest human being in Kiev in the year 1853 A.D.

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We Ought Not To Envy Sinners

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Be not envious of evil men" (Proverbs 24:1).

Does anyone envy the leper? No one envies him. Why then do some envy the evil man when evil is a greater sickness than leprosy? Leprosy is a disease of the flesh but evil is a disease of the soul. A leper can be healthy within while he is unhealthy on the outside. However, the evil man can be healthy on the outside but his interior is ill, his heart is sick. Greater value has a tree that is sick on the outside but has a healthy core than a tree that is healthy on the outside but has a rotten core. Thus, leprosy is a lesser evil than evil i.e., than sin. Because under evil, the All-Wise One thought of sin as evil.

Does the physician envy the sick person? He does not envy him. Neither does the righteous one envy the sinner. If you do not know whether you are righteous examine your heart: do you envy the sinner? If you envy the sinner then you are not righteous; if you do not envy the sinner, then rejoice, O righteous one of God. The sick person can envy the healthy one, but the healthy person does not envy the sick person. Neither does the righteous envy the sinner. A physician recognizes a fatal illness of his patient and, knowing that, he pities him but does not envy him. The righteous one recognizes the sickness of sin, horrifying and deadly, and does not envy the sinner but pities him.

O good and compassionate Lord, uproot envy from our hearts and implant love. To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

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On Enduring Tribulations and Slander

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

St. Mark the Ascetic said: "Whoever desires to eliminate future tribulations must bear the present tribulations with joy." Men consider slander as a great tribulation and there are few men who bear this tribulation without grumbling. O beautiful is the fruit of kindly endured tribulation! Tribulation is given to us for good spiritual commerce and we are missing the opportunity thus remaining empty-handed at the market place. Behold, even Athanasius, Basil, Chrysostom, Macarius, Sisoes and thousands of other followers of the Most-Slandered One were themselves slandered. But God, Who orders all things for our salvation, had so ordered that on the thorn of slander would sprout fragrant roses of glory for all those who are slandered for His Name. Had Stephen not been slandered would he have seen the heavens opened and seen the glory of God in the heavens? And the slander against Joseph the Chaste One, did it not serve to his greater glory?

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Saint David the Dendrite of Thessaloniki

Venerable David the Dendrite of Thessaloniki (Feast Day - June 26)

"With David of old art thou now united, O new David; for thou didst kill the carnal passions like Goliath. On the twenty-sixth, David passed through the gates of life."

The earliest written chronicle of the life of Saint David comes from his contemporary, Saint John Moschos, in his Leimonarion or Spiritual Meadow. Saint John together with his disciple and companion Sophronios the Sophist travelled to Egypt in order to record the great deeds and wise sayings of the Desert Fathers from the monastic authorities of the desert of the late 6th or early 7th century. He records how he met Abba Palladios in Alexandria and tells us the following:

We went to the same Abba Palladios with this request: "Of your charity, tell us, father, where you came from, and how it came about that you embraced the monastic life". He was from Thessalonika, he said, and then he told us this: "In my home country, about three stadia beyond the city wall, there was a recluse, a native of Mesopotamia whose name was David. He was a man of outstanding virtue, merciful and continent. He spent about twenty years in his place of confinement. Now at this time, because of the barbarians, the walls of the city were patrolled at night by soldiers. One night those who were on guard-duty at that stretch of the city-walls nearest to where the elder's place of confinement was located, saw fire pouring from the windows of the recluse's cell. The soldiers thought the barbarians must have set the elder's cell on fire; but when they went out in the morning, to their amazement, they found the elder unharmed and his cell unburned. Again the following night they saw fire, the same way as before, in the elder's cell - and this went on for a long time. The occurrence became known to all the city and throughout the countryside. Many people would come and keep vigil at the wall all night long in order to see the fire, which continued to appear until the elder died. As this phenomenon did not merely appear once or twice but was often seen, I said to myself: 'If God so glorifies his servants in this world, how much more so in the world to come when He shines upon their face like the sun?' This, my children, is why I embraced the monastic life."

Abba Palladios goes on to speak of another monk from Mesopotamia known as Adolas the Recluse. Saint John writes:

The elder also told us this: that after Abba David, there came to Thessalonika another monk, also from Mesopotamia, whose name was Adolas. He confined himself in a hollow plane tree in another part of the city. He made a little window in the tree through which he could talk with people who came to see him. When the barbarians came and laid waste all the countryside, they happened to pass by that place. One of the barbarians noticed the elder looking down at them. He drew his sword and raised his arm to strike the elder, but he remained there rooted to the spot with his hand stuck up in the air. When the rest of the barbarians saw this, they were amazed and, falling down before him, they besought the elder [to restore their comrad]. The elder offered a prayer and healed him and thus he dismissed them in peace.

From what we can tell from all the historical sources, including his biography written by an anonymous author of Thessaloniki between 715-720, Saint David was probably born in Mesopotamia around the year 450 AD and died in Thessaloniki sometime between 535 and 541. We don't know why either David or Adolas traveled from Mesopotamia to Thessaloniki, but both the Synaxarion of Constantinople and the Menologion of Emperor Basil II assure us that he did come from somewhere in the "east".

In Thessaloniki David became a monk at the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius, otherwise known as Koukouliaton (Κουκουλιατῶν) Monastery, at a young age between the years 465-470. It was known as Koukouliaton because the monks wore cloaks for which it was known and which is depicted in the icons of the Saint. In fact in January of 1944 a marble slab was found in the Jewish cemetery that depicted an icon of Saint David dating back to the 10th century in which he is wearing a cloak with the hood hanging off his shoulders.


We are told that the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius was next to the walls of the city at the gate known as Aproiton. We are further informed that there was another monastery next to this one known as Aproiton Monastery, though it is possible it could have been another name for the same monastery. The word "Aproiton" probably indicates the austere rule of the monasteries since it implies that the monks were not allowed to leave their monastery. This gate was probably located along the northern wall of the city to the west of the Acropolis which the Turks called during Ottoman times Eski Delik. It is believed that outside this gate along the wall was the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius where Saint David lived a monastic life. Others say the monastery was northeast of the Acropolis in an area known as the Garden of the Sheep, but this seems implausible since the Aproiton is too far west for this to be considered. However we still are not sure where the gate known as Aproiton was actually located for sure. To complicate matters further in locating the actual place of this monastery, one biography tells us that the monastery could be seen from the beach. If this is true, then the monastery would most likely have to be within the city walls to the west of the Acropolis along the northern wall.

At the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius Saint David lived a life of prayer, fasting, vigils, humility, meditation of the sacred Scripture and the cultivation of all the virtues. When the abbot of the monastery passed away, the monks of the monastery found David alone worthy to replace him due to his spiritual gifts. However David refused this honor, and instead decided to live his ascetic ordeals by climbing up an almond tree to the right of the church (the katholikon of the monastery) and living up there for three years. One source tells us that this tree was in between two churches within the monastery. For three years this Saint endured the most extreme trials like the Stylite Saints (some say he endured more because the tree offered him no rest due to its constant swaying in the high winds), enduring the bitter cold of the winter and the burning heat of the summer and fully exposed to all the elements of the weather.

It should be noted that although Saint David was the first ascetic known as a "dendrite" (one who lives in trees) in Thessaloniki followed by Adolas (for whom there is no other historical source other than John Moschos), this type of asceticism was practiced in places like Syria and Mesopotamia from which both David and Adolas came from (see the life of Saint Maro the Dendrite celebrated February 4th). Interesting studies concerning dendrites can be read here and here. The latest dendrite I know of was Saint Joseph the Hesychast who in the 1920's lived in Athens and would pray sitting in a tree in imitation of the Saints. Furthermore, an interesting comparison of trees was depicted in the Church of Chora in Constantinople in the fourteenth century in which Saint David is shown at the entrance to the funeral chapel, and is positioned equidistant between Christ Calling Zaccheus (who had climbed a tree in order to see Christ as he passed through Jericho) and Moses before the Burning Bush. In each, we witness an encounter with the divine – Old Testament, New Testament, Roman Empire.

When those three difficult years passed, after instruction was given to him by an angel of the Lord to live in silence in a cell and he was foretold by this same angel that he would "accomplish one other act of love" before he died, Saint David came down from the almond tree and entered a cell that had been prepared by his disciples. Saint David entered his cell in the presence of Archbishop Dorotheos of Thessaloniki (c.497-c.520) along with many pious clergy and faithful who gathered to see this momentous event when the news had spread. John Moschos informs us that this cell existed outside the walls of the city "about three stadia beyond the city wall", that is, a little more than 555 meters beyond the wall no doubt very near his monastery. From the fact that Archbishop Dorotheos was present at this event, we can ascertain that Saint David entered his cell sometime within the first two decades of the sixth century.

Living as a recluse in his cell and for his unparalleled ascetic feats, this Saint was considered as an angel of God by the people. Many people came to seek his prayers and many healings of demonic possession, diseases and suffering are reported. We can assume it was during this time that the extraordinary events reported by John Moschos took place.

One such miracle that is reported bears an amazing resemblance to the account of St. John Moschos. We are told a certain youth had a demon and he came to the cell of the Righteous David crying out: "Release me, O David, thou servant of the eternal God, for fire comes forth from your cell and burns me." Upon hearing this David reached out his hand from his cell through a small window and held the youth, saying: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, commands you to go forth from His creature, O unclean spirit!" After doing the sign of the Cross over the youth, the demon was immediately released and all marvelled glorifying God who glorifies those who please Him with God-pleasing works.

Saint David's silence was interrupted sometime after 520 when Archbishop Dorotheos died. His successor, Archbishop Aristeides, together with a multitude of clergy and faithful came to the Saint's cell pleading that he travel to Constantinople so as to entreat Emperor Justinian (527-565) regarding the establishment of Justiniana Prima as the new capital of the Prefecture of Illyricum replacing Thessaloniki. Archbishop Aristeides was against this, since it would demote the status of Thessaloniki and divide Illyricum. Aristeides could not travel to Constantinople because he did not want to leave the city shepherdless with the impending threats of the barbarians.

From 318-379 Sirmium was capital of the Prefecture of Illyricum which encompassed Pannonia, Noricum, Crete, and the whole Balkan peninsula except Thrace. Since 379 Thessaloniki became the capital of the Prefecture of Illyricum. Justiniana Prima was built in 535 in Serbia at the place of Justinian's birth. Justinian's novel 11 announced the imminent transfer of the Illyrian prefecture to Justiniana Prima and the establishment of an archbishopric there making it the metropolis of Illyricum. Thus Eastern Illyricum was to be divided into two ecclesiastical regions under Justinian's law: the southern part belonged to the Archbishop of Thessaloniki and the northern was given autocephalous status under the Archbishop of Justiniana Prima. This was done in order to better protect the northern territories against the barbarians on the other side of the Danube.

David submitted to the pleadings of the Archbishop and the people of Thessaloniki in order to fulfill the prophesy of the angel that appeared to him while on the tree and out of obedience to the bishop and the love of the people of Thessaloniki. After many years of seclusion he emerged from his cell and saw the sun for the first time in many years. His appearance had changed as well. His hair had grown to his lower back and his beard fell all the way down to his feet. Together with his two disciples, Theodore and Demetrios, they left during the night for Constantinople.

The Archbishop pleads with David to see the Emperor

When they arrived in Constantinople his fame preceeded him and he was received with much reverence by the people of Byzantium and was especially well received with much respect and reverence by Empress Theodora who had him escorted into the palace and given hospitality as if he was an angel in the flesh. Justinian was occupied with other matters when he arrived, but was awe-struck at his holy appearance when he finally saw him the next day and listened to his case before the Senate. Before David spoke however the following miracle occurred leaving everyone astonished: David took a piece of live coal with incense in his bare hands and together with his disciples censed the Emperor and the entire Senate and his hand did not burn though he was praying and blessing for about an hour. After this David pleaded the case of Archbishop Aristeides, and Justinian submitted to his wishes so that the status of Thessaloniki remained uninterrupted. Though historians mention the fact that this division of Illyricum never actually took place, they tend to leave out the fact that this was because of the great impression Saint David had on Emperor Justinian.

The Saint returned by ship from Constantinople to Thessaloniki. However, when he arrived at Thermes at a place called Emvolos (about 126 stadia from the Saint's cell), he gave up his spirit to the Lord after making his request known to his disciples that he be buried at his monastery. The ship continued on to the port of Thessaloniki, but a strong wind escorted them as if by divine providence and landed at the spot where Sts. Theodoulos and Agathopodus were martyred on the west side of the city. Upon hearing the news of his falling asleep, the Archbishop with a large crowd gathered to pay their last respects and by procession lead him up to the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurius where his relics were enshrined in a wooden coffin according to his wishes.

About 150 years after the Saint's death, in 685-690, the abbot of the monastery Demetrios opened his tomb in order to receive a portion of his relics. In doing so however, the plaque on the tomb fell and broke into many pieces. This was seen by the abbot as a sign that it was not the wishes of Saint David for his relics to be portioned. A monk under Demetrios by the name of Sergius eventually became Archbishop of Thessaloniki. He was present when as a monk they had tried opening the tomb of the Saint. Honoring this occurrence, Sergius opened the tomb which emitted a beautiful fragrance from the incorrupt relics and took care to only remove some hair from the beard and head of the Saint in order to distribute to the faithful to increase their faith and help aid in their salvation.

The tomb of the Saint remained undisturbed until the Fourth Crusade in 1204. In 1236 it was taken by Crusaders to Pavia, Italy and from there transferred to Milan in 1967. Finally on September 16, 1978 through the efforts of Metropolitan Panteleimon of Thessaloniki, the sacred relics of Saint David were triumphantly returned to Thessaloniki and housed in the Basilica of Saint Demetrios the Great Martyr. To celebrate this feast a Service was written by the renowned hymnographer Elder Gerasimos Mikragiannanitis. Eventually the relics were transferred to the katholikon of the Monastery of Saint Theodora in the middle of Thessaloniki in a chapel surrounded by icons of the Saint's life.

The relics of Righteous David today

It should be pointed out here that the current Monastery of Hosios David in Thessaloniki has no association with the life of the Saint nor is it the site of the Monastery of Sts. Theodore and Mercurious. This is however the oldest monastery in Thessaloniki (only the katholikon currently exists) and in Roman times was known as the Monastery of the Prophet Ezekiel (some say Zachariah) though more popularly known as Latomou Monastery. The mosaics inside are the oldest in the city dating back to approximately the 5th-6th century, especially magnificent being the depiction of a beardless Christ flanked by the prophets Ezekiel and Hakkakuk along with a vision of Ezekiel of Christ surrounded by the symbols of the four Gospels (the angel, eagle, lion, and bull). This monastery was not named after Saint David until 1921 when it was returned to the Orthodox after serving as a mosque since 1430. Interestingly the faithful had the mosaic of the vision of the Prophet Ezekiel covered in mortar (some say the Turks simply white-washed it) all those centuries so that the Turks would not destroy it as was their custom. During the days of Iconoclasm it was covered in ox-skin to be protected. Its existence was lost to history after 1430 until discovered in 1921.

For more on the Latomou Monastery as well as the sources for the life of Saint David, see here and here (Greek only). For a translation of the life in English, see here. For the 8th century life of Saint David, see A. Vasiliev, ‘Life of David of Thessalonica’, Traditio: Studies in Ancient Medieval History, Thought and Religion 4 [1946], pp. 115-147.

Latomou Monastery, Thessaloniki

Mosaic depicting a vision of the Prophet Ezekiel in Latomou Monastery

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

The image of God, was faithfully preserved in you, O Father. For you took up the Cross and followed Christ. By Your actions you taught us to look beyond the flesh for it passes, rather to be concerned about the soul which is immortal. Wherefore, O Holy David, your soul rejoices with the angels.

Kontakion in the Second Tone

An Angel on earth, and stranger to all earthly things, thou madest a tree thy dwelling like an eagle's nest, whence, O David, thou didst soar up to Heaven, where thou didst find that Tree which in Eden we lost of old. Remember us all, who keep thy memory.

Hymns in Greek along with some rare beautiful pictures and icons of Saint David

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Patristic Studies Requires Both Study and Practice

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

One of the differences between the eloquent philosophy of the Greeks [Hellenes] and the Christian Faith is that the entire Hellenistic philosophy can clearly be expressed with words and comprehended by reading, while the Christian Faith cannot be clearly expressed by words and even less comprehended by reading alone. When you are expounding the Christian Faith, for its understanding and acceptance, both reading and the practice of what is read are necessary.

When Patriarch Photios read the words of Mark the Ascetic concerning the spiritual life he noticed a certain unclarity with the author for which he wisely said: "That [unclarity] does not proceed from the obscurity of expression but from that truth which is expressed there; it is better understood by means of practice (rather than by means of words) and that cannot be explained by words only." And this, the great patriarch adds, "It is not the case with these homilies nor only with these men but rather with all of those who attempted to expound the ascetical rules, passions and instructions, which are better understood from practice alone."

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Georges Vasilievich Florovsky: Philosopher of the Orthodox World (8 of 8)

Continued from Part Seven

Georges Florovsky was indeed “la grande voix” of Orthodoxy from the early 1930s in France, and he continued to be that throughout his long life and career. Now, twenty-three years after his death, he is still regarded as the preeminent Orthodox theologian of the twentieth century whose writings are being published and republished in English, Russian, French, German, Greek, and many other languages as well. There is also considerable research being done in his unpublished writings, which have been deposited in the archives of the St. Vladimir’s Library and the Princeton University Library. Through his own many writings and the writings of his students, the voice of Florovsky is still being heard and listened to with profound respect and appreciation. Every year the Orthodox Theological Society in America faithfully sponsors the annual Georges V. Florovsky Lecture. His influence has been wide and deep in the Orthodox world, particularly among the generations of Greek Orthodox theologians who have taken up his challenge for a Neo-Patristic Synthesis to restore the Patristic criterion in Orthodox theology and to revitalize the true meaning of Christian Hellenism.

A new and potentially very significant area for the influence of Florovsky and his thought, particularly as expounded in his Ways of Russian Theology, is in the revived theological work being done in Russia today, where his writings are becoming increasingly known and deeply appreciated by those who will hopefully continue where he left off in the area of Russia’s cultural history.

In a handwritten address found among his papers after his death,13 Florovsky spoke about a “theological will” which he did not complete, but which would have included three main points, which effectively summarize his thought: 1. Orthodox theology must be a historical theology. Christians do not believe in ideas, but in a Person, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior who is a historical Person. Our God is the God who acts, who has acted in history, from the creation of man, who is still acting, and who will act at the end of time. Theology is the study of divine acts. 2. In studying the Acts of God, we see “the scandal of particularity,” that is to say, salvation has come “from the Jews” and has been propagated in the world through the medium of Hellenism. To be a Christian means to be a Greek, since our basic authority is forever a Greek Book, the New Testament. The Christian message has been forever formulated in Greek categories. The old Hellenism was dissected, baptized, regenerated, converted to become the Christian Hellenism of our dogmatics — from the New Testament to St. Gregory Palamas in the fifteenth century, and even to our own times. One cannot revert back to Hebraism or even to pre-Christian Hellenism, and all attempts to reformulate the historical dogmas of the undivided Church in categories of modern philosophies should be resisted as misleading and fruitless. 3. Theology must be carried out not merely to satisfy our intellectual curiosity, but in order to live, to have life abundantly in the Truth of God, which is not a system of ideas, but a Person—Jesus Christ. In this task the Fathers of the Church can be only sure and safe guides.

All of Florovsky’s endeavors throughout his life were in fact guided by this theological program which is also guiding present and, hopefully, future generations of theologians seeking to know and live by the abiding Truth of the Christian Faith. From the beginning of his life Florovsky had a philosophical bent; he sought not only to know things but to understand their meaning for himself. He had a responsible worldview and was able to project and to defend it consistently. His interest was focused on problems and their solutions. His books and essays on the Fathers of the Church focused on the theological struggles of the early Church to define the faith and the truth of Revelation in Sacred Scripture. His aim was a genuine theological awakening that could truly begin when not only the answers but also the real questions of the past were recalled and reexamined for our time. Florovsky was certainly not an “archaist”; his call for a return to the Fathers was not merely to quote them, but to enter into their mind and into the spirit of the great Christian Tradition. By apprehending the approach of the Fathers to the problems they confronted — the classic problems of interpreting the Christian Faith to an alien world — we equip ourselves for creative resolutions to our own living problems and tasks, within an equally complex and alien world. The rare gift of historical intuition made Father Georges Vasilievich Florovsky feel “at home in all ages” and, one might add, in all places as well. This too, no doubt, was the aim of his life’s work as he journeyed as a faithful pilgrim from East to West: to revive and restate the Orthodox theological tradition of the Una Sancta and to make it relevant and meaningful not only for our present modern age, but for all ages.

Notes:

1. See Andrew Blane, “A Sketch of the Life of Georges Florovsky,” in Georges Florovsky: Russian Intellectual and Orthodox Churchman, ed. Andrew Blane (Crestwood, N.Y., 1993), 11–217. This is by far the most complete biographical study to date on Florovsky. An earlier study in the form of an intellectual biography by George H. Williams, “Georges Vasilievich Florovsky,” in The Greek Orthodox Theological Review, Vol. XI, No. 1 (1965), 7–107 focuses on the first part of his American career (1948–1965) with a general introduction to his earlier life in Russia and Europe.

2. The Collected Works of Georges Florovsky, ed. Richard S. Haugh (Belmont, Mass., and Vaduz, Liechtenstein, 1972–1989), Vols. I-XIV. While this publication of Florovsky’s writings is not yet complete and has experienced certain difficulties, it is presently the most available. Of the 376 published titles in the Florovsky corpus of writings, only 123 titles are included in Volumes I-IV and XI-XIV of the Collected Works: I. Bible, Church, Tradition: An Eastern Orthodox View; II. Christianity and Culture; III. Creation and Redemption; IV. Aspects of Church History; XI. Theology and Literature; XII. Philosophy, Philosophical Problems and Movements; XIII. Ecumenism I, A Doctrinal Approach; XIV. Ecumenism II, An Historical Approach. Volumes V and VI contain the Ways of Russian Theology, and Volumes VII-X contain the Fathers of the Church from the 4th to the 8th Centuries.

For a chronological list of Florovsky’s works see The Heritage of the Early Church: Essays in Honor of the Very Reverend Georges Vasilievich Florovsky, ed. David Neiman and Margaret Schatkin (Rome, 1973), 437–451. For a more complete list of his writings with information on original languages, translations and types of writing see Georges Florovsky: Russian Intellectual and Orthodox Church Churchman, 341–401, but also 407–429 for a general description of the Georges Florovsky Archives at Princeton University (53 boxes), and 431–436 for the Archives at St. Vladimir’s Seminary (89 boxes).

3. Blane, 153.

4. Ibid., 33.

5. Blane, 39.

6. See The Collected Works, Vol. XII, “Philosophical Problems and Movements.”

7. Volume VII in The Collected Works.

8. Volumes VIII and IX in The Collected Works.

9. Volumes V and VI in The Collected Works.

10. Blane, 61.

11. See The Collected Works, Vol. XIII, “Ecumenism: A Doctrinal Approach,” and Vol. XIV, “Ecumenism: An Historical Approach.”

12. These scholars are too numerous to mention here individually. Indicative of a renewed interest in the Fathers of the Church, which Florovsky so consistently promoted, can be seen in the current, many-volume Bible Commentary in progress: Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, General Editor, Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove, Ill.), which focuses on the reading of Scripture with the Church Fathers.

13. See Blane, 153–155. A recent publication in German develops the full scope of Florovsky’s thought: Christoph Kunkel, Totus Christus: Die Theologie Georges V. Florovskys (Göttingen, 1991). In pp. 448–454 there is a helpful list of literature on Florovsky that includes the European sources. Another recent publication from Greece: Synaxe: A Quarterly Journal of Orthodox Studies, Vol. 64 (Oct.-Dec. 1997), contains seven studies in honor of Father G. Florovsky and his on-going Neo-Patristic Synthesis.

Source: Written by John Chamberlain in First Principles, (MA 45:1, Winter 2003).

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An Icon of the Saints of Africa

From an original painting by priest and iconographer, Fr. Jerome Sanderson. Print title is same as book entitled Saints Of Africa, ISBN: 0916700577 by Fr. Jerome Sanderson and Carla Thomas, MD. Part of the African Saints Series. Other title in this series is St. Moses the Ethiopian, ISBN: 0916700542.

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4th Century Icons of the Apostles Andrew and John Found

Vatican: Oldest Known Images of Apostles Andrew and John Found

June 22nd, 2010
CNN

The oldest known image of the apostles Andrew and John have been discovered in catacombs under the city of Rome, dating back to the 4th century A.D., archaeologists announced Tuesday.

The paintings were found in the same location where the oldest known painting of St. Paul was discovered last year, the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology said Tuesday.

They are part of a group of paintings around an image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd on the ceiling of what is thought to have been a Roman noblewoman's tomb, experts said.

A painting of St. Peter makes up the fourth member of the group, but older images of him are thought to exist, Vatican experts said.

Their inclusion in the tomb shows the aristocrats were among the last Romans to convert to Christianity, archaeologist Fabrizio Bisconti said.

The Roman matron must have been very rich, he said, as the colors and richness of the decoration show.

The images of the apostles' heads and shoulders against a deep red background were uncovered after two years of work, Vatican experts said.

Archaeologists used a new laser technology to remove layers of white carbon calcium deposited on the frescoes over the centuries without disturbing the paintings.

They are located in the catacombs of St. Tecla, one of the 40 Roman catacombs under Rome. It sits under a modern eight-story building in a working-class neighborhood. It is closed to the public and its entrance is mostly hidden.

The Vatican spent about 60,000 euros (about $74,000) on the archaeological work, it said. The apostles were a group of a dozen men, according to Christian tradition, who spread the gospel of Jesus after his crucifixion.

See photos here.

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Italian Priest Develops App to Celebrate Mass With iPad

June 18, 2010
Associated Press

ROME -- An Italian priest has developed an application that will let priests celebrate Mass with an iPad on the altar instead of the regular Roman missal.

The Rev. Paolo Padrini, a consultant with the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Social Communications, said Friday the free application will be launched in July in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Latin.

Two years ago, Padrini developed the iBreviary, an application that brought the book of daily prayers used by priests onto iPhones. To date, some 200,000 people have downloaded the application, he said.

The iPad application is similar but also contains the complete missal -- containing all that is said and sung during Mass throughout the liturgical year. Upgrades are expected to feature audio as well as commentaries and suggestions for homilies as well as musical accompaniment, he said.

"Paper books will never disappear," he said in a phone interview from his home parish in Tortona, in Italy's northern Piemonte region. But at the same time "we shouldn't be scandalized that on altars there are these instruments in support of prayer."


Padrini, 36, said he expected priests who have to travel a lot for work would find the application most useful, noting that he recently had to celebrate Mass in a small parish where the missal was "a small book, a bit dirty, old."

"If I had had my iPad with me, it would've been better than this old, tiny book," he said.

Pope Benedict XVI, a classical music lover who was reportedly given an iPod in 2006, has sought to reach out to young people through new media: the Vatican has a regularly updated presence on You Tube and Facebook. Based on the success of the iBreviary, Padrini was recruited by the Vatican to oversee its youth outreach program in the new media, www.pope2you.net.

He stressed that the iPad application, like the iBreviary, was launched at his own instigation and with his own money and is not an official Vatican initiative. Vatican officials have previously praised the iBreviary as a novel way of evangelizing.

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Atheism's (Not So) Hidden Assumptions

Cornelius Hunter
June 23, 2010
Darwin's God

Evolutionist Jerry Coyne thinks atheism is true. But if atheism (in addition to evolution) is true, then how could Coyne know it? For if atheism and materialism are true, then Coyne's brain is nothing more than a set of molecules in motion. Its various configurations are simply a consequence of its beginning, subsequent inputs, and some random motion here and there.

What Coyne thinks is knowledge would merely be certain molecular states, not necessarily having any correspondence with truth. How do evolutionists reconcile their atheism with their convictions of knowledge and truth? This Hobbesian predicament is particularly ironic in light of the atheist's strong theological convictions and arguments. We know atheism is true because god wouldn't have created this world. Do you see why atheism is parasitic on (and much less dangerous than) theism?

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4th Century Icons of the Apostles Peter and Paul Discovered

Early Evidence of Devotion to Apostles Found in Rome Catacombs

22 June 2010
The Catholic Spirit

In the basement of an Italian insurance company's modern office building, Vatican archaeologists -- armed with lasers -- discovered important historical evidence about the development of Christian devotion to the apostles.

At Rome's Catacombs of St. Thecla, in the burial chamber of a Roman noblewoman, they have discovered what they said are the oldest existing paintings of Sts. Peter, Paul, Andrew and John.

Technicians working for the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology discovered the painting of St. Paul in June 2009 just as the Year of St. Paul was ending.

Barbara Mazzei, who was in charge of the restoration work, said June 22 that she and her team members knew there were more images under the crust of calcium carbonate, but excitement over the discovery of St. Paul in the year dedicated to him led them to announce the discovery even before the rest of the work was completed.

Presenting the complete restoration of the burial chamber to reporters a year later, Msgr. Giovanni Carru said that the catacombs "are an eloquent witness of Christianity in its origins."

Into the fourth century, Christians in Italy tried to bury their dead near the tomb of a martyr. The walls of the tombs of the wealthy were decorated with Christian symbols, biblical scenes and references to the martyr.

At the Catacombs of St. Thecla, the noblewoman's burial chamber -- now referred to as the Cubicle of the Apostles -- dates from late in the fourth century. The arch over the vestibule features a fresco of a group of figures the Vatican experts described as "The College of the Apostles."

The ceiling of the burial chamber itself features the most typical icon found in the catacombs -- Christ the Good Shepherd -- but the four corners of the ceiling are decorated with medallions featuring the four apostles, said Mazzei.

Fabrizio Bisconti, the commission's archaeological superintendent, said that in the decorations of the catacombs one can see "the genesis, the seeds of Christian iconography," with designs from the very simple fish as a symbol of Christ to the resurrection image of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead.

The discovery of so much attention to the apostles in the Catacombs of St. Thecla documents the fact that widespread devotion to the apostles began earlier than what most church historians believed, he said.

"This is the time when the veneration of the apostles was just being born and developed," he said, and the art in the catacombs no longer presented just the martyrs or biblical scenes.

The burial chamber also features frescoes of Daniel in the lion's den, the Three Wise Men bringing gifts to Jesus, Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac and a very large wall painting of the noblewoman herself -- jeweled, veiled and with "an important hairstyle," a symbol of status in ancient Rome, he said.

Mazzei said that when restorers first went into the burial chamber in 2008, all the walls were white -- completely covered under the crust of calcium carbonate that ranged from a millimeter thick to 4-5 centimeters deep. The Vatican, however, had watercolors and diary descriptions from the 1800s testifying that there were paintings on the walls.


In the past, she said, restorers would use tiny scalpels and brushes to remove the white crust, but some of the paint always came away with it. Restorers were left trying to find the right balance between removing enough to see a faint image of a catacomb fresco and destroying it.

Then along came the laser, Mazzei said.

After attending an art restoration conference and listening to presentations on how lasers were being used on frescoes in buildings above ground, she said she suggested to the Vatican that they gather a team of experts to see how lasers would work in the extremely humid catacombs where almost no air circulates.

"We went slowly and basically set up an experimental laboratory" in the catacombs, she said.

The restoration project was just as painstaking as the scalpel-and-brush method because it involved firing the laser pinpoint by pinpoint across the surface of the cubicle, "but the result is totally different," Mazzei said.

She said the two-year project to restore the tiny cubicle cost only about $72,000 because many of the consultants donated their time and the laser company gave the Vatican a steep discount.

Bisconti said the Vatican has no plans to open the Catacombs of St. Thecla to the public, although the pontifical commission occasionally gives permission for groups to visit as long as they are willing to pay a licensed guide and escort.

June 22, 2010
Associated Press

ROME - The earliest known icons of the Apostles Peter and Paul have been discovered in a catacomb under an eight-story modern office building in a working-class neighborhood of Rome, Vatican officials said Tuesday.

The images, which date from the second half of the 4th century, were discovered on the ceiling of a tomb that also includes the earliest known images of the apostles John and Andrew. They were uncovered using a new laser technique that allowed restorers to burn off centuries of thick white calcium carbonate deposits without damaging the dark colors of the original paintings underneath.

The paintings adorn what is believed to be the tomb of a Roman noblewoman in the Santa Tecla catacomb and represent some of the earliest evidence of devotion to the apostles in early Christianity, Vatican officials said in opening up the tomb to the media for the first time.


Last June, the Vatican announced the discovery of the icon of Paul — timed to coincide with the end of the Vatican's Pauline year. At the time, Pope Benedict XVI also announced that tests on bone fragments long attributed to Paul "seemed to confirm" that they did indeed belong to the Roman Catholic saint.

On Tuesday, Vatican archaeologists announced that the image of Paul discovered last year was not found in isolation, but was rather part of a square ceiling painting that also included icons of three other apostles - Peter, John and Andrew - surrounding an image of Christ as the Good Shepherd.

"These are the first images of the apostles," said Fabrizio Bisconti, the superintendent of archaeology for the catacombs, which are maintained by the Vatican's Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology.

The Vatican office oversaw and paid for the two-year, euro60,000 restoration effort, which for the first time used lasers to restore frescoes and paintings in catacombs. The damp, musty air of underground catacombs makes preservation of paintings particularly difficult and restoration problematic.

In this case, the small burial chamber at the end of the catacomb was completely encased in centimeters (inches) of white calcium carbonate, which under previous restoration techniques would have just been scraped away by hand. That technique, though would have left a filmy layer on top so as to not damage the paintings underneath.

Using the laser, restorers were able to sear off all the layers of calcium that had been bound onto the painting because the laser beam stopped burning at the white of the calcium deposits, which when chipped off left the brilliant darker colors underneath it unscathed, said Barbara Mazzei, the chief restorer.

See also: Fourth Century Image of St. Paul Uncovered in Roman Catacomb

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