The Relics of Saint Anna, Grandmother of our Lord

According to tradition, Anna, the ancestor of God, lived for sixty-nine years, and her spouse Joachim, for eighty; according to one account, Saint Joachim died two years before Saint Anna. The Theotokos had been orphaned of both her parents already when she was eleven years of age, when she was living in the Temple (see Sept. 8 and Nov. 21). Saint Anna is invoked for conceiving children, and for help in difficult childbirth.

According to Procopius, during the reign of Justinian the Emperor (527-565), a church was built to honor Saint Anna in Constantinople. Emperor Justinian II (685-695; 705-711) restored her church, since St. Anna had appeared to his pregnant wife. It was at this time that her body and maphorion (veil) were transferred to Constantinople. The canon of the Greek Office of St. Anna was composed by St. Theophanes (d. 817), but older parts of the Office are ascribed to Anatolius of Byzantium (d. 458). Her Dormition is celebrated in the East on the 25th day of July, which may be also the day of the dedication of her first church at Constantinople or the anniversary of the arrival of her relics in Constantinople. The relics of St. Anna were brought from the Holy Land to Constantinople in 710 and were still kept there in the Church of Hagia Sophia in 1333. Her primary feast day in the Orthodox Church is on September 9th.


The oldest and most revered Skete on Mount Athos is dedicated to "Yiayia" (grandmother), as the monks at the Skete of St. Anna affectionately refer to her. Inside the main church of the Skete is treasured the left foot of St. Anna. The left foot of St. Anna was brought to the Skete of St. Anna by Symeon the Righteous on 26 October 1666, according to a codex of the Skete. The relic is incorrupt and works many miracles, especially helping childless mothers with pregnancy issues. Also on Mount Athos, at the Holy Monastery of Koutloumousiou, is treasured the entire right leg of Saint Anna. The Holy Monastery of Stavronikita treasures her hand. The Patriarchates of Jerusalem and Antioch also have a portion of her relics, as well as Kykkos Monastery on the island of Cyprus and various Catholic and Orthodox parishes throughout the world.

Below is a video of the incorrupt holy relics of St. Anna at the Skete of St. Anna on Mount Athos. The blessed Elder Anthimos introduces the relics and speaks of the miraculous nature of her relics which are incorrupt now for over 2,000 years. Elder Anthimos lived at the Skete of St. Anna for around 70 years and passed away in 1996. His remains are still treasured there and his skull gives off a beautiful fragrance of divine grace.




Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
O Godly-minded Anna, thou didst give birth unto God's pure Mother who conceived Him Who is our Life. Wherefore, thou hast now passed with joy to thy heavenly rest, wherein is the abode of them that rejoice in glory; and thou askest forgiveness of sins for them that honour thee with love, O ever-blessed one.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
We celebrate now the mem'ry of Christ's ancestors, while asking their help with faith, that we may all be saved from all manner of tribulation as we fervently cry aloud: Be thou with us, O Lord our God, Whose pleasure it was to glorify them both.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Role of the Priest in the Parish and in a Secularized Society

by V. Rev. Petar Jovanovich

The service of the priest is compared to a shepherd in the Holy Bible. In the story of the good shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ teaches what is the nature of the pastor's service and what is the mission of the flock which the pastor serves. The shepherd who is concerned with and takes care of his flock is extolled. A good shepherd watches over his flock, he worries about finding grazing areas, he is not as an employee, he is also worried about the sheep from another flock, and he is ready to give his life for his flock. The shepherd's life belongs totally to his flock, he knows his sheep by name, and they recognize him. Because of a close relationship between the shepherd and his flock, the shepherd doesn't utilize force to drive his flock in front of him rather they follow him. When he releases his sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow, because they recognize his voice. (John 10:10-18)

To be able to carry out his mission, the priest is called, as the shepherd is concerned with his flock, to be concerned with the spiritual needs of his parishioners. He is called to be concerned with bringing every soul to God, that should be brought to God. That which brings harmony in a parish is love which should reign among the spiritual pastor and his flock, as exemplified by the love and sacrifice described in Christ's story of the good shepherd. Of that love as a unifying tie, for harmony in a parish community, St. Paul the Apostle writes to the Thessalonians, "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each". (I Thessalonians 1:3)

With respect to the evangelical story, the ideal role of the priest would consist of love, sacrifice, caring and concern for the salvation of all people, because it is necessary according to the words of St. Paul the Apostle, " who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (I Tim 2:4)

The secularization of the world and life presents the greatest obstacle to the priest's service and work for people's salvation. The Holy Gospel mentions in many places selected from the holy apostles that the world exists as two extremes. In His forgiveness sermon, before His crucifixion, the Savior promised His disciples that He will send to help them " the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him." (John 14:17)

The spirit of God's truth is contrary to the spirit of man's truth. The beginning of fleeing from God and His truth began at the time of the first ancestral sin. Because of moral decline, God's likeness in mankind became obscured and the conscience lost of his original and true identity. Life again received fullness of mind when through the Holy Incarnation, God became man so that man could become godlike and take on his likeness.

The world in the form of contemporary society toward the end of the 20th century is no longer opposed in some great and drastic way directly with God as one higher existentialism or power. The time of strict thought of atheistic societies is past. Today's society which offers mankind its secularistic teachings under various names promising people fortunes (such as: humanism, materialism, technology, new world order) is contrary to the God-man Christ who is referred to as "the way, the truth, and the life". (John 14:6)

Within the mind of today's man, it seems there is no room for God in the living Holy Trinity. Usually, people like to say today, there is but one God, meaning some common Supreme Being, but they don't mention one Lord Christ and one Holy Spirit. For Orthodox Christians, only Christ as being true God-man, is a true measure of all things. However, earthly man has his vision of life. This meaning of man's life is in my view, "the existence of one zero". Man mainly leads his life toward food and drink, entertainment, to consume goods, to stay in the race after life's success ... In all this activity, man sets himself as the final value and this is why he acts like the Great Inquisitor from Dostoevski's Brothers Karamazov who forbids the God-man to interfere in his affairs and life.

Today's man spends all his time balancing his "horizontals", without any ascent of the spirit up the steps and ladders of a higher life vertically toward God. For that type of person, Fr. Justin Popovich says that the world and life he "observes from his complaints, his love of sin and lowly perspective," (from the Interpretation of John, p. 115). From the life of today's person, it is seen that he still lives in the domain of the Old Testament, with its lost understanding, of the total awareness, of his two natures, soul and body. Man behaves in his life as though his body existed in parallel with his soul, but often, toward the contemporary philosophy of existentialism and without a soul.

Someone said that in whatever condition the world is, it permeates one's whole life. There is a lot of truth in this. Every person from birth until death lives and is surrounded by constant contact with people about himself. He influences others and they influence him. And an Orthodox believer represents a part of society in which he lives and stands in direct relationship with neighbors and people around him. While for the Orthodox Christian the vision of society represents a community of faithful in Christ as one body, the world has a community in which worth is measured by the interest of people. In relation to the faithful, secular society appears as an Old Testament monster, Leviathan. In the 17th century, Thomas Hobbs wrote a book about political philosophy entitled Leviathan. In it, a picture of society is portrayed which is totally created on the foundation of egotistical interest and struggle for dominance, where every person is an enemy to each other. A question can be asked, but how can man enter into some fortunate and enlightening future in the 21st century driven by the reality of society from Hobb's time.

Orthodox faithful are always tempted to succumb to the influence of the community and society in which they live. Confused with various influences of materialism, to a man of faith it seems that life is somehow divided by his property and, in less of a degree, God's property. For example, one place serves as a place for the life of the soul and the other for the life of the body. Because of diversified religions, quite often with Orthodox people they are confused with the intent and organization of the church hierarchy, from which it first begins: down from the faithful or up from the bishops? The concept of freedom in the Church is mixed up with the concept of certain national or political freedoms. It is very dangerous for the Orthodox youth who succumb to the temptation of imitating the community in which it lives. One could cry watching how in many ways young people harm their bodies. In the name of today's fashion, they rebel against life or of the mentioned freedom, they commit terrible acts on their bodies. For the Orthodox faithful, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul the Apostle wrote to the Corinthians, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." (I Cor 6:19-20). Although quite often man's life is reflected in his soul which represents God's likeness in mankind, it is of great importance for the Orthodox faith to understand that he is called to live one undivided life everywhere and in every place. The faithful who are united in the Holy Body of Christ represent the living church wherever they may be: at home, at work, in the Holy Temple, and in the Church hall. St. Gregory Palamas says, "Man is not represented by just the soul or the body rather by both together, which God created in His likeness." (Participants in God's Nature, K.C., p.26)

What then is the role of the priest and how can he as good shepherd protect his flock from harm and negative influences of community and society? In the first place, the priest should not be afraid of the place and society in which he lives. He shouldn't say: I have a bad flock, so what can I do to change something? What farmer when he sows the field is afraid that the birds will eat the seed or that each seed won't sprout? Imagine how difficult was the time before the apostles than is our time! When before his death St. Seraphim of Sarov was asking forgiveness from his friend Fr. Timon, he told him, "Sow on good earth, sow on sand, sow on rocks, sow alongside the road, sow among the bushes. Maybe it will happen that the kernel will grow and bear fruit." (St. Seraphim of Sarov, p. 65)

St. Paul the Apostle in addition recommended how a priest can be successful in parish when he said, "... I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some" (I Cor 9:22) The same apostle gave advice to his most dear student and coworker Timothy with these words, "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching." (II Tim 4:2) Just as the shepherd opens the gate for the flock to enter, the priest needs to work on the heart of man, so it will open and allow Christ to enter. The Holy Gospel teaches that a good flock is a flock that has a good shepherd who isn't a mercenary. The fruits of one's work are not realized overnight. What is necessary is a lot of patience and work, sometimes as long as 20 years, so that a great harvest is realized in a parish. The parish, as a part of today's society and a concrete reality, presents a challenge to every priest. In our American society, there are two important factors of crucial significance for organizing a parish community. The first factor, parish community. The first factor, is expressed in the material condition and progress of our parish. Prestige in our secular society is expressed by material well-being, which is expensive and large: a large car, a large house, a large parking lot, a large church building, and a large church hall. If in a large church and hall, there is a large faith, then there is nothing wrong with any of this. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself also had rich friends. Of course, it is easier for a priest to achieve the first factor, even though there are many difficulties, but in that we have all more or less contributed for the good. Paralleling building up the material well-being of the church, the priest is faced with a great many problems in building and elevating the spiritual side of life, that is the "living" Church. In this instance, the good example of the life and work of St. Sava can be of help to the Serbian priest, as can our other great spiritual architects, while erecting our churches and monasteries, at the same time were successful to build within them our greatest centers of Orthodox spirituality and living faith.

In the story of the Good shepherd, the Holy Gospel points out that love is the main strength of the true shepherd. That is the driving force behind every spiritual shepherd. Based on experiences of priestly service the best manner is if he approaches people in a friendly manner. A child is easily led by the hand when trust is established. A man who becomes our friend is easier brought to Christ. Zaccheus felt great joy when the Lord said, "I must stay in your home today." (Luk. 19:5) St. Augustine, who lived a very sinful life until 32 years of age, became a Christian only after he was influenced by his friend Pontitias. Christ approached his first apostles as a friend, when He helped them to catch fish from Lake Galilee.

The priest's role additionally not only brings him to lively preaching during worship services God's word in the Holy Temple, but also on every occasion and gathering of people. Priest must minister his flock in many ways: as a teacher, an educator, family counselor. The task of the pastoral work is actually not a knowledge to be acquired, but a life to be lived according to God's will. Once when a person becomes a participant and member, other Holy Body of Christ and begins a liturgical life, he will be selected from the world by the Holy Spirit to enter the heavenly kingdom. Of that community with the God-man Christ, who is the one true measure in the world for everyone and all, St. John Chrysostom says, "For as the bread consisting of many grains is made one... so are we conjoined both with each other and with Christ" (Homily 24, verse 17, p.140)

Being a part of contemporary and secular society, parish is a challenge to every priest. The priest must be aware of the danger to succumb to the influence of the community. It may happen, instead the priest to lead people in his parish, that they might lead him. The stoics teach that one can achieve the happiness if one flows with the river, or in other words, by identifying one's will with the "world will". Orthodoxy does not follow the will of the world. God's will must be always above man's will. Priest must be like the salt, said Christ. "You are like salt for all mankind. But if salt loses its saltiness, there is no way to make it salty again." (Mat.5:13)

Someone once said in a discussion that Orthodoxy should protect itself from the community of godless people with destructive souls as did the Amish group who by their way of life isolated themselves from every civilization. Orthodoxy's nature is not to run away from the world, rather a way of life, constant and without fear to wrestle with the world. Archbishop Anthony Bloom said, "Neither the desert father nor ascetics, separated themselves from the world with the thought of running away from it, in order for man to find a better place of peace and tranquillity, rather it is just a better strategy among many others in worldly battles." (God and Man A. Bloom, p.73) In closing, let us remember Christ's words to His disciples, "In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

June 18, 1997, day of St. Petar of Korish
San Gabriel, CA

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

A Hidden Message In Jesus' Family Tree (Gen. 5)

Genesis 5: The Family of Adam (New King James Version)

1 This is the book of the genealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. 3 And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. 4 After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he had sons and daughters. 5 So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.

6 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. 7 After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. 8 So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

9 Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Cainan. 10 After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. 11 So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

12 Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. 13 After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. 14 So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

15 Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. 16 After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. 17 So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.

18 Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Enoch. 19 After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 20 So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.

21 Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22 After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23 So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

25 Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. 26 After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. 27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.

28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.” 30 After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. 31 So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.

32 And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

When translating the names from Hebrew to English, you get the following:

HEBREW / English

Adam / Man
Seth / Appointed
Enosh / Mortal
Kenan / Sorrow
Mahalalel / The blessed God
Jared / Shall come down
Enoch / Teaching
Methuselah / His death shall bring
Lamech / Despairing
Noah / Rest or comfort

Putting these names in translation into a sentence, it reads:

Man (is) appointed (to) mortal sorrow; (but) the blessed God shall come down teaching (that) his death shall bring (the) despairing rest.

Is this not the Gospel of our Lord!

John 3:16 says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Read more here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Power and the Efficacy of Good Works

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"For such is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" (1 Peter 2:15).

Brethren, it is difficult to argue with an atheist; it is difficult to talk with an unreasonable man; it is difficult to convince an embittered man. It is difficult to convince the atheist, the unreasonable man and the embittered man with words. You will convince them easier by deeds. "They may through observing you by reason of your good works glorify God" (1 Peter 2:12). Do good deeds to those who wish to argue with you and you will win the argument. One deed of compassion will bring the unreasonable man to his senses and will pacify the embittered man quicker than many hours of conversation. If atheism, unreasonableness and bitterness stem from ignorance, that ignorance is as a fury, which can quickly be restrained by good works. If you argue with an atheist in his own rabid manner, you strengthen the fury of atheism. If you converse with the unreasonable by derision, the darkness of unreasonableness is increased. If you think you will overcome the embittered man with anger, you will stir up a greater fire of bitterness. A meek and good deed is like water over a fire. Always remember the holy apostles and their successful methods of behavior with men. If an atheist provokes you, the man does not provoke you but the devil provokes you: man by nature is religious. If the unreasonable man scolds you, the man does not scold you but the devil scolds you: man by nature is reasonable. If the embittered one persecutes you, then it is not the man who persecutes you but the devil who persecutes you: for man by nature is good. The devil provokes you to lengthy arguments and unfruitful conversations and flees from good deeds. Do good work in the Name of Christ and the devil will flee and only then will you have dealings with men, with true men; religious, reasonable and good men. Therefore whatever you do, do in the Name of the Lord.

O All-good Lord, help us to do good and by good to conquer in Your Name.

To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

On Orthodox Tradition, Liturgical Arts, and Customs

An Interview With Metropolitan Hierotheos Vlachos of Nafpaktos

The Orthodox Tradition is connected with cure

You have spoken a lot about the Orthodox tradition. I believe that the Orthodox tradition, is, primarily life and not an ideology. It is tradition and not conservatism, as you said. Now that we are almost at the end of these conversations, can you enlarge on this subject? said Fr. Philip.

I think I became clear with what was mentioned previously. The word tradition means that which is handed down. And who hands down? The spiritual father. What does he hand down? Whatever he received and whatever was revealed to him. Thus, tradition is connected with Revelation. God reveals, man receives the Revelation from God and passes it on to his spiritual children. The Saint receives and passes on not an abstract teaching about God - of course, he may do this as well in the beginning - but, first and foremost, he passes on the way-method by which we attain to communion with God. I believe that the basic point which distinguishes Orthodox tradition from any other is the method through which man is cured. The background of the dogmas, of Orthodox arts, of social work, etc. is purification, illumination and theosis. When we reject this background, then we see the dogmas, the liturgical arts and all the external life of the Church, even the life of worship in a conservative way. The Councils which took place at the time of St.Gregory Palamas (1341-1351) demonstrate that hesychasm - which is basically a method of cure - is the foundation of all the dogmas of our faith. For the first time in Church history these Councils studied in depth under what presuppositions the Westerners and in general all the heretics theologize; and the presupposition based on which the Holy Fathers theologize. For this reason, I repeat, they are basic and significant Councils. And it is in these Councils that we see the great value of St.Gregory Palamas, who championed in all of them. He proved that when we do not follow the therapeutic method of the Church, we shall be definitely led to heresy. Whereas when we lead our life according to the Orthodox tradition, we shall remain in the Church and we may attain to the vision of God and to theosis. Hesychasm is the backbone of Orthodox theology. The controversies which then took place were a blessing, because the Orthodox people thrived on them under later grave circumstances. Hesychasm brought forth the Neomartyrs, who revealed the existence of the Church. And it is the revival of the hesychastic spirit experienced by many people nowadays which will protect us from future temptations. It is the hesychastic method which inscribes on our heart the seal of the Lamb of the Revelation.

Liturgical arts and man's cure

Yet, in what way are the therapeutic method and the stages of perfection the background of liturgical arts?

This is a right question, because there is a trend nowadays to chant in a Byzantine way, to make icons in a Byzantine manner, to build churches according to Byzantine architecture, etc. This is good. Yet, it must be done in parallel with the effort to find and use the therapeutic treatment of the Church. For, liturgical arts as well as the entire teaching of the Church are the expression of this inner life. In other words, liturgical art was developed by sanctified people who had personal experience of the stages of spiritual perfection. In their attempt to create art they infused into their art all the experiences they had. The iconographer passed down in the Byzantine icon the therapeutic method and the way in which man reaches to theosis; he even imparted the state of theosis itself. When he paints the Saint in glory, he also renders the transfiguration of the human body. The same thing applies to the sacred hymns, the church building, the chanting. The healed person, he who has acquired the experience of noetic worship, knows how the intellectual worship must be expressed, so that it is attuned, as much as possible, with the inner state of the soul. I think that the revival of the liturgical arts which do not express and do not lead to purification, illumination and theosis is not Orthodox despite its external conformity. It is just a culture of the tradition and of art. The Apostle Paul, for example, lived the whole rabbinical tradition of his age, however he fought Christ. He had zeal for God but his zeal was not according to knowledge. The same thing may happen with us. Also, it is possible that a contemporary deified person may express tradition differently, concerning the liturgical arts, without naturally being estranged from the basic structure of the Byzantine tradition. This occurs because the Saint obtains the tradition, he is a bearer of tradition and, therefore, he creates tradition.

Customs and how they are related with man's cure

There are many people today who pursue the revival of old, traditional customs. How do you see this?

I cannot reject it. Man has realized that the invasion of the western spirit has mortified feelings and has broken off the interpersonal relationships. Thus, he attempts to revive old ways of life, which are more human. Yet, both the ethos and the customs of our people as much as the various objects which they used were not independent of the method of the Church, through which man is led to theosis. Of course, this is said with reservation, because many of these customs are products and remnants of idolatry as well as superstitions of the people. For, unfortunately, in old times just as nowadays, many superstitions prevailed. We feel the Church and God as Him who will help our businesses go well. Thus we do the holy water service so that we shall have a good harvest. And, indeed, we do not reject this too. But when this is detached from the whole method of the Church, from the stages of spiritual perfection - purification, illumination and theosis - they are dead forms incapable of helping man. They give a self-sufficiency and many illusions about therapy. They think that they will find beauty in life in this way and they are frustrated when they do not. On the contrary, I believe that the man who lives the hesychastic tradition of the Church - which, I repeat for another time, is concentrated on purification, illumination and theosis - can live the Orthodox tradition even in a flat, even in contemporary urban cities with the most unfavourable external conditions. Many new martyrs were servants of Turkish commanders. They externally served the Turkish empire, which fought Christianity. Even so they preserved this tradition and reached to the vision of God, martyrdom and theosis. For, many neomartyrs, as we see in their biographies, had theoria of God prior to the martyrdom and this is why their martyrdom was the fruit of theoria.

Conclusion

Thus I can conclude with what I said in the sermon at your Church a few days ago: "What makes man an Orthodox is not only the persistence on the external aspects of tradition, but the experience of its inner life, which is the ascetic method - purification, illumination and theosis. This method, these stages of spiritual life are the foundation of the dogmas, the basis of ecclesiastical art, but also the creative cause of the ethos and customs of our people, because this theology saturated our forefathers prior to our westernization. For this reason we must struggle to keep this inner aspect of tradition, the method of Orthodox piety, through which we are healed. Then we are really zealots of patristic traditions. For, even if we have good intentions, outside this ascetic therapeutic method we run the risk of becoming enemies and adversaries of Orthodoxy".

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Impure, Impudent and the Self-willed (2 Peter 2:18-20)

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean and escaping from them who live in error" (2 Peter 2:18).

The holy apostle knows men better than the learned scribes for he is a saint and an apostle. A saint and an apostle penetrate deeply into the heart of man. About whom does the apostle speak? He speaks about the "impure, impudent and the self-willed", whom he earlier called "wells without water and clouds and mist" (2 Peter 2:17). The "impure, impudent and self-willed" are men of many and high sounding [high falutin] words. They speak proud and false words to men. By these proud and false words, they both conceal and reveal their hearts concealing it for the uneducated and for those who do not understand and revealing it for those who are steadfast in the Faith and enlightened by Grace.

When the impure speak of their purity, by that they are declaring their impurity; when the impudent defends his character, by that he reveals his impudence; when the self-willed interprets the will of God, by that he shows his self-will. Whoever attentively follows his words can sense the stench of their bodily desires. The inattentive and uneducated cannot sense this stench but believe and are deluded. Those "who have just begun to escape" from the illusion of the body, the world and the devil are ensnared by proud and false words, as a fish in an invisible net. The fish does not know that it is in a net, until the net is pulled out on the hot sand. Then it knows but then it is too late. O may it not be too late for those pitiful souls of mankind who are ensnared in the net of proud and false words! Brethren know that every teacher who, by his teaching, condones bodily desires and who yields to sinners in bodily desires, is false.

Lord Jesus, Holy and All Pure, send Your Holy Angels to defend all beginners and fledgings in Your Faith from proud and false lips.

To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants (slaves) of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage" (2 Peter 2:19).

The apostle still speaks of "the impure, the impudent, and the self-willed", reminding the faithful, to beware of their misleading "proud and false words". He first said about them that: "they speak evil of dignities of the glory of God" and second: "that they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness" (1 Peter 2:18). Now he further speaks about how they promise liberty i.e., they promise something which they themselves do not possess, for being overcome by impure passions, they are slaves to their own passions, submissive slaves to the greatest tyranny of this world. O my brethren, how relevant for us are these apostolic words written some nineteen hundred years ago! Behold, how everywhere around us they get carried away declaiming liberty, those who do not have even a little bit of liberty! Listen to the cry of the despairing slaves of passions and vices; how deceived, they are deceiving; how blinded, preaching light. Passions are a woven net, woven by the devil, to ensnare mankind. Captured in this net, they refer to other men as slaves and themselves as freemen to the laughter of the devil, who silently gathers in the net hauling it toward his shore. O brethren, guard yourselves from those desperate ones who call themselves the heralds of liberty, while they serve their master and lord, the devil, day and night. Their poverty they call wealth and the wealth of others they call poverty, as does the ignorant one calls the entire world ignorant and himself intelligent. Thus, those who are least free call others enslaved. Service to God and to fellow men out of love, they call slavery, while service to the devil, they call liberty. They are malicious both to God and to men, as is the devil himself malicious to God and to men. Whenever you hear anyone who speaks to you of liberty, question him well, as to whether he is not a slave of some passion or vice. By the impurity of their life, by their impudence and their self-will, you will recognize all false teachers of liberty. The apostle reminds you of this.

O Lord, the only Giver of true liberty, safeguard us from the net of all those who are malicious toward You and us.

To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants (slaves) of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage" (2 Peter 2:19).

The apostle still speaks of "the impure, the impudent, and the self-willed", reminding the faithful, to beware of their misleading "proud and false words". He first said about them that: "they speak evil of dignities of the glory of God" and second: "that they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness" (1 Peter 2:18). Now he further speaks about how they promise liberty i.e., they promise something which they themselves do not possess, for being overcome by impure passions, they are slaves to their own passions, submissive slaves to the greatest tyranny of this world. O my brethren, how relevant for us are these apostolic words written some nineteen hundred years ago! Behold, how everywhere around us they get carried away declaiming liberty, those who do not have even a little bit of liberty! Listen to the cry of the despairing slaves of passions and vices; how deceived, they are deceiving; how blinded, preaching light. Passions are a woven net, woven by the devil, to ensnare mankind. Captured in this net, they refer to other men as slaves and themselves as freemen to the laughter of the devil, who silently gathers in the net hauling it toward his shore. O brethren, guard yourselves from those desperate ones who call themselves the heralds of liberty, while they serve their master and lord, the devil, day and night. Their poverty they call wealth and the wealth of others they call poverty, as does the ignorant one calls the entire world ignorant and himself intelligent. Thus, those who are least free call others enslaved. Service to God and to fellow men out of love, they call slavery, while service to the devil, they call liberty. They are malicious both to God and to men, as is the devil himself malicious to God and to men. Whenever you hear anyone who speaks to you of liberty, question him well, as to whether he is not a slave of some passion or vice. By the impurity of their life, by their impudence and their self-will, you will recognize all false teachers of liberty. The apostle reminds you of this.

O Lord, the only Giver of true liberty, safeguard us from the net of all those who are malicious toward You and us.

To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

"For if after they have escaped the pollution's of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them then the beginning" (2 Peter 2:20).

Brethren, bright is the sun but brighter still are the words of the apostle. Brethren, the sun illumines bodies but it cannot illumine souls, while the apostolic words illumine the souls. The apostle clearly sees the heights and depths of a soul and he illumines it for us out of fervent love, in order to lead us on the pure path of salvation. In a few words, he gives us two great instructions. The first instruction: one cannot flee from the impurity of this world in any other way except through the knowledge of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. First of all, without knowledge of the Lord Jesus one is unable to see or to know the impurity of this world, and second, man is unable to be cleansed from this impurity without the knowledge of the Lord Jesus. The second instruction: when man flees from the impurity of this world by knowing the Lord Jesus and, again, becomes entangled in it, then for him "the latter end is worse than the beginning." For knowing the light, he again returns into the darkness and the darkness becomes even darker, and, recognizing justice, he again sinks into injustice and his punishment is more severe; and recognizing holiness he again falls into beastliness and the animal is still more furious. The holy apostle does not hesitate to equate this turning back with a dog who returns to his own vomit and with the sow, who having been washed returns to wallow in the mire.

Whoever recognized the Lord Jesus Christ also recognized all that is needed for his salvation; he received a binocular to see the impurity, lies and injustice and received the power to flee from all of that. Therefore let him not turn back so that eternal death does not swallow him up. Let him not tempt God countless times. For if God was quick to save him the first time He will be slower the second time, and even slower the third time. My brethren, illuminating are the apostolic words.

O Lord Jesus, Savior, Almighty and All-Good, do not depart from us in the hours of our weaknesses and deliver us when the impurities of this world again draw us to themselves.

To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Saint Polycarp of the Kiev Caves Lavra (July 24)

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Polycarp possessed "love toward God and his fellow men, joy because of an untainted conscience, peace because of victory over all passions, patience in time of temptation and misfortune, goodness in submission toward all, benevolence toward the poor, undoubting faith in fulfilling the commandments, truth in fulfilling his vows, meekness in not knowing anger, restraint and so forth." So well did he govern the Lavra of the Caves in Kiev that, after his death, a worthy successor among the monks could not be found (for those who were worthy did not want to accept the rank of abbot out of humility), so that the brethren were compelled to take Basil, a secular priest, as their abbot. St. Polycarp reposed in the Lord in the year 1182 A.D.

The Faith of Christ mostly sanctifies and illumines the souls of men when the preachers of the Faith shine in their own lives. Blessed Polycarp, the abbot of the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev, was so completely illumined with the Faith of Christ, both in words and in deeds and in his entire being. Because of this, he had an unusual influence not only on ordinary people but also on princes and noblemen. Listening and seeing this godly man the Prince of Kiev, Rostislav Mstislavitch, became so illumined with the Faith of Christ and thus became so subdued and gentle, that he became a model of life in his immediate surroundings and to his entire people. During the Great Lenten Fast Season, Prince Rostislav received Holy Communion every Sunday and, in all places, sought out those who were in need and those less fortunate and helped them. In the end, he resolved to embrace the monastic order and spoke to Saint Polycarp about this: "Holy father, princely rule in this world cannot be without sin and it has already embittered me and has rendered me incapable." Polycarp answered him: "If you desire this monastic state from your heart, then let it be God's will." Once while in Smolensk, the prince became ill and close to death and ordered that he be quickly taken to Kiev, so that before his death he may receive the monastic tonsure. However he died before his wish was fulfilled.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

AGORA: An Atheistic Propaganda Piece Serving An Atheistic Agenda

My final verdict:

On July 23, 2010 I finally saw AGORA at a local theatre. Historical inaccuracies aside, of which there are more than historical truths, I thought the movie was nothing more or less than an atheistic propaganda piece that uses a dim historical event to promote an atheistic agenda. I was hoping to like it, but can't say I did. Rachel Weisz was pretty good though. The review below still stands as my favorite, though unfortunately it does not get into the atheistic arguments presented in the movie. For this, see the review here and here.

Historical Inaccuracies of the Movie "AGORA"

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Quotes on Philosophy and Christianity

The difference between Christian thinking and the non-Christian philosopher has always been at this point. The non-Christian philosopher has always said that man is normal now, but biblical Christianity says he is abnormal now.

- Francis Schaeffer

Nowhere is salvation conceived of as a flight from history as in Greek thought; it is always the coming of God to man in history. Man does not ascend to God; God descends to man.

- George Eldon Ladd
The Last Things (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans: 1978) 43

A little philosophy inclineth a man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion.

- Francis Bacon

Unfaith turns Christianity into only a philosophy. Of course, Christianity is a philosophy -- though not a rationalistic one because we have not worked it out from ourselves. Rather, God has told us the answers. In this sense it is the true philosophy, for it gives the right answers to man's philosophic and intellectual questions. However, while it is the true philosophy, our Father in heaven did not mean it to be only theoretical or abstract. He meant it to tell us about Himself -- how we can get to heaven, but equally, how we can live right now in the universe as it is with both the seen and the unseen portions standing in equal reality. If Christians just use Christianity as a matter of mental assent between conversion and death, if they only use it to answer intellectual questions, it is like using a silver spoon for a screw driver. I can believe that a silver spoon makes a good screw driver at certain times. But it is made for something else. To take the silver spoon that's meant to feed you, moment by moment, and keep it in your tool box to use only as a screw driver is silly.

- Francis Schaeffer
Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 139-40

It is terrible to find how little progress one's philosophy and charity have made when they are brought to the test of domestic life.

- C.S. Lewis

When we listen to the religion that is largely preached in our generation, we hear the same thing the unbelieving philosophers and sociologists are saying. The only difference is that theological language is used. But, God says, "It will not do. This brings you under My judgment."

- Francis Schaeffer
Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 53

There is a philosophy which is a noble exercise of our reasonable faculties, and highly serviceable to religion, such a study of the works of God as leads us to the knowledge of God and confirms our faith in him. But there is a philosophy which is vain and deceitful, which is prejudicial to religion, and sets up the wisdom of man in competition with the wisdom of God, and while it pleases men's fancies ruins their faith; as nice and curious speculations about things above us, or of no use and concern to us; or a care of words and terms of art, which have only an empty and often a cheating appearance of knowledge.

- Matthew Henry

Writers like Aldous Huxley and George Orwell have imagined the sort of scientific utopia which is coming to pass, but already their nightmare fancies are hopelessly out of date. A vast, air-conditioned, neon-lighted, glass-and-chromium broiler-house begins to take shape, in which geneticists select the best stocks to fertilise, and watch over the developing embryo to ensure that all possibilities of error and distortion are eliminated.

- Malcolm Muggeridge

Our calling is to enjoy God as well as glorify Him. Real fulfillment relates to the purpose for which we were made, to be in reference to God, to be in personal relationship with Him, to be fulfilled by Him, and thus to have an affirmation of life. Christianity should never give any onlooker the right to conclude that Christianity believes in the negation of life. Christianity is able to make a real affirmation because we affirm that it is possible to be in personal relationship to the personal God who is there and who is the final environment of all He created. All else but God is dependent, but being in the image of God, man can be in personal relationship to that which is ultimate and has always been. We can be fulfilled in the highest level of our personality and in all the parts and portions of life... There is nothing Platonic in Christianity... The whole man is to be fulfilled; there is to be an affirmation of life that is filled with joy.

- Francis Schaeffer
Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 26

Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered.

- C.S. Lewis

To be a Professor of Theology is to have crucified Christ.

- Soren Kierkegaard

The secular humanist, although he would never dream of committing the social faux pas of calling a black man a negro, feels perfectly free to castigate Christians and their leaders in any way he likes.

- Franky Schaeffer

Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable.

- C.S. Lewis

Marx and Freud are the two great destroyers of Christian civilization, the first replacing the gospel of love by the gospel of hate, the other undermining the essential concept of human responsibility.

- Malcolm Muggeridge

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning.

- A.W. Tozer

Our generation has nobody home in the universe, nobody at all. Eventually, let us understand this: only a personal comforter can comfort man who is personal, and only one Comforter is great enough, the infinite-personal God who exists, that is the God of Judeo-Christian Scripture. Only He is the sufficient Comforter.

- Francis Schaeffer
Death in the City (Downers Grove, InterVarsity Press: 1969) 27

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Chrysostom's Homily On Saint Phocas of Sinope

Saint Phocas, bishop of Sinope, was known for the many miracles he worked and for his apostolic zeal in shepherding the flock of Sinope. He contested for the Faith during the reign of the Emperor Trajan, in the year 102, when he was burned to death in a bath-house. A homily in his honour was composed by Saint John Chrysostom on the occasion of the translation of his relics to Constantinople. The translation of his holy relics from Pontus to Constantinople about the year 404 A.D. is celebrated on July 23. His primary feast is on September 22.

Today, one miracle of this saint is also commemorated. The Arabs captured a man named Pontinus. The Arabs shackled him, bound his hands to his back and left him to die. Lying on his stomach on the ground, and not being able to move, Pontinus cried out: "O Holy Martyr Phocas have mercy on me and save me!" Saying this he fell asleep and, in a dream, saw Saint Phocas approaching him, touched him by the hand and said: "The Lord Jesus Christ forgives you!" When the man awoke, he found himself loosed from all bonds and free. He arose and departed for his home and took St. Phocas as the patron saint of his household.

St. John Chrysostom's homliy speaks little of the life of St. Phocas. He begins by speaking of the festival that is being celebrated encouraging everyone to participate and come and venerate his holy relics. The Psalm read for the occasion leads him to digress onto the issue of Christ's nature and to address the heresy of the Anomoeans that Christ and God are not equal. This takes up the bulk of the homily.

Table of Contents:

1. Yesterday a martyr from Pontus was escorted through the main areas of the city; today he is being escorted across the sea to his own resting place. Not everyone was present yesterday to receive his blessing.

2. John encourages everyone to attend today's festival and make their way to the tomb, where the imperial couple will participate. The power of the martyrs is such that it draws people of all backgrounds and is the Church's crown. The martyrs are not honored by the size of the crowd; rather the crowd is blessed by them.

3. Today's festivities involve setting out on the sea with lamps which will reflect in the water. The church is packed. The Church is likened to a merchant ship.

4. Today's Psalm leads us into battles against heretics. The attack is not against the person but the heresy. In doing this, John imitates Christ.

5. The example of King Jeroboam.

6-8. The audience is asked to pay attention, as John is about to wrestle with heretics. The heretics interpret Scripture in a way that suits them. Christ's true nature is not affected by their claims.

9-11. Scripture is not responsible for the heretics' interpretation, but the mind of those doing the interpreting. In their desire to show that the Son is less than the Father, they attribute different labels, saying that "God" refers to the one, and "Lord" to the other. John uses logic to show that "God" and "Lord" are one and the same.

12. The audience is asked to remember what has been said and to take the arguments of the sermon home to their wives for the dinner table.

Read the complete homily of St. John Chrysostom here.


Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
As a sharer of the ways and a successor to the throne of the Apostles, O inspired of God, thou foundest discipline to be a means of ascent to divine vision. Wherefore, having rightly divided the word of truth, thou didst also contest for the Faith even unto blood, O Hieromartyr Phocas. Intercede with Christ our God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
The Master hath established thee as a divinely-radiant, luminous, and spiritual sun shining upon the multitude of the church's faithful, O glorious Martyr Phocas; for He hath accepted thy life, faith, and contests as fragrant myrrh, since He alone is abundant in mercy.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

A Few Miracles of the Incorrupt Left Hand of St. Mary Magdalene

Among the many holy relics of Simonopetra Monastery on Mount Athos is the left hand of the Myrrh-bearing woman, St. Mary Magdalene. It is the most sacred treasure of Simonopetra. This hand is incorrupt, exudes a beautiful heavenly fragrance, gives off a bodily warmth as if it is still living, and works many miracles. Because of these many miracles, St. Mary Magdalene is held with great reverence by the monks of Simonopetra, who consider her to be the second foundress of the Holy Monastery. Below are a few examples of the grace which issues forth from this holy relic:

1. In 1945 a great fire took place in the forests of the Holy Monastery of Iveron. The wind was very strong so that within a few hours the fire reached the ridge bordering the monasteries of Iveron, Philotheou, Xeropotamou and even the forest of Simonopetra. Everyone believed the forests would be destroyed. The monks of Simonopetra ran to the forest where the fire was. Two pious hieromonks named Neophytos and Panteleimon took with them the holy relic of St. Mary Magdalene. None of the monks dared approach the fire, lest they be encircled and unable to escape. However, as the two brothers approached the fire with the holy relic, the fire was held back. The priests began a Holy Water Service then chanted a Supplication Service to St. Mary Magdalene. By the time the services were done, the fire was completely extinguished, to the great wonder of the fathers who were all gathered there as witnesses.

2. A similar miracle to the one above occurred in the forests of Simonopetra with the holy relic of St. Mary Magdalene in 1947.

3. In the region of Galatista of Thessaloniki in 1911 plant eating worms appeared destroying the plants. Residents asked for the holy relic of St. Mary Magdalene and a Holy Water Service. Immediately the worms began to disappear.

4. In 1912 in the region of Epanomis of Thessaloniki many locusts appeared. Residents asked for the holy relic of St. Mary Magdalene. After the completion of a Holy Water Service as well as a Supplication Service to St. Mary Magdalene, the locusts left. Residents highly honor St. Mary till this day for that miracle.

Read also: Saint Mary Magdalene Returns To Zakynthos Island

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

What Does the Zombie Genre Say about the Modern West?

The article below presents a psychological and sociological analysis of what the prevalence of zombies in popular culture might mean for us in the late modern Western world. The reader may not agree with everything the author of this open salon piece puts forward, but it does make for interesting food for thought as our fascination with the zombie (as well as [post]apocalyptic) functions as a mirror for our psychological and social state of affairs.

The ever-changing currents of a nation's cultural fibre, social mindset and mass psychology can often be traced by engaging in an in-depth examination of the popular culture prevalent at any given point in time.

Oftentimes, fictional pieces, whether in magazine, novel/novela, musical/opera, movie or television show, when created during said period of time can often reveal more about mindset of contemporaries than most nonfictional accounts, even those written during the time period in question by so-called cultural observers and academics. A poor, 1880s-era, B-grade novel from Great Britain about some fictional character living in the ancient Roman Empire can sometimes and in some ways tell you more about Victorian Britain than it can about the realities of ancient Rome. Further, it can often tell you more about the lives and concerns of Victorians than a modern non-fictional account, or modern fictional account of this time period could. Not always, but often.

When we look at movies and cultural themes, I am struck by the prevalence of zombie movies and novels. They are exploding all over the place. I have read World War Z, the Zombie Survival Handbook, seen all the various Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, 28 Days Later, Omega Man, and various spinoff undead films, played video games like Left for Dead and Resident Evil. I notice that various survivalists and military-minded people interested in spacial and situational/circumstantial strategy are also falling in love with the genre, publishing a myriad of underground, "what-if" e-novels and short stories online. What will literary analysts think, 100 or 200 years from now when they analyze this current trend in American culture? What does it say about us?

Read the rest of the article here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

World Reacts to ICJ Advisory Ruling on Kosovo

Hisashi Owada, President of the ICJ, delivers the court's opinion on the legality of Kosovo's independence

23 July 2010
Balkan Insight

The ICJ's advisory opinion in favour of Kosovo’s declaration of independence has been welcomed by top US and EU officials, but several countries that have not recognised Kosovo have said they will maintain their stance, as this latest development in the Balkans continues to capture headlines around the world.

In a much anticipated decision, on Thursday the International Court of Justice, ICJ, found that Kosovo’s declaration of independence did not violate international law or UN Resolution 1244.

A number of states which have recognised Kosovo have welcomed the decision and urged other countries to move forward with recognition.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the court's ruling as “decisive” support for the independence of the youngest Balkan state. She urged all countries, whcih have not recognised Kosovo’s sovereignty, to do so.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that both Kosovo and Serbia belong in the EU so the two countries should focus on European future.

"I urge political officials in both Belgrade and Pristina to now focus on their European future and start working in a constructive and pragmatic way on daily coexistence, in the interests of their people," the minister announced.

His French counterpart Bernard Kouchner argued that Kosovo's independence is irreversible.

"The [ICJ's] opinion clearly shows that Kosovo's declaration of independence is not contrary to any international law or resolution 1244, as France has always argued, and this pleases me," Kouchner said in a written statement.

Hannes Swoboda, the head of the Austrian Social Democrats in the European Parliament, said that Kosovo's independence "is a problematic, but unavoidable step for the region", which completes the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, and marks the establishment of a new order in the Balkan region.

Montenegrin Foreign Minister Milan Rocen has said that the advisory opinion will provide answers to a number of dilemmas.

In an interview with TV Montenegro, Rocen stressed that regional stability is of key importance.

"The stability of the region is something that will bring us all together to progress faster on the path towards European integration," the broadcaster quoted him as saying.

Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief, said in a statement: "The EU welcomes the publication of the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice...

"The EU is therefore ready to facilitate a process of dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade. This dialogue would be to promote cooperation, achieve progress on the path to Europe and improve the lives of the people. The process of dialogue in itself would be a factor for peace, security and stability in the region."

The International Steering Group, ISG, echoed Ashton's call for dialogue. The ISG, made up of states which support Kosovo's independence and aim to guide Pristina in its development, gathered on Thursday and stated that the ICJ opinion represents an important opportunity for Kosovo and Serbia to open a new phase of relations.

“The ISG hopes for a sincere, respectful and constructive dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo, as independent and sovereign states, to identify and resolve practical issues of mutual interest to the benefit of the people of both countries,” the ISG press release reads.

Meanwhile, many countries which have not recognised Kosovo's independence said that they will maintain their stance on the issue, and some have argued that there is still room for new status talks.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement which explained that the country's stance remains the same following the ICJ opinion.

"We believe that the solution to the Kosovo issue lies only in the continuation of negotiations between the interested parties based on the provisions of UN Security Council resolution 1244, which, as underlined by the International Court of Justice, remains the universally recognised international legal basis for settlement," he said.

Beijing also announced that China would continue to respect Serbia's territorial integrity.

Chinese MFA spokesman Qin Gang has said that China believes that negotiations within the UN framework are the best way to find an acceptable solution for both sides.

"China firmly believes that the respect of national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the basic principle of international law, and the basis of today's global legal system," he said.

European Union member Romania reaffirmed its position that it will not recognize Kosovo's independence in a press release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry on Friday.

"Our position on the non-recognition of the independence of Kosovo remains unchanged. We believe the resolution of the problem of Kosovo is possible only through negotiations between the interested parties,” the Ministry said.

“The ICJ had taken in consideration only the legality of Kosovo’s act of declaring its independence and not the question and consequences of the act of appeareance of a new state,” the statement continued.

Possible Implications for Other Separatist Movements

Some have voiced concern that the decision in favour of Kosovo's independence may have far-reaching implications for other separatist movements in the world.

According to British daily The Guardian, separatists and secessionists from Taiwan, to Somaliland to Georgia, have welcomed the court's opinion, which they argue sets a precedent.

James Ker-Lindsay from Kingston University London told daily Blic that that the opinion of the Court will be quite relevant for other cases of secessionism in the world.

"The court has said with this [advisory ruling] "anyone can declare independence," he said expressing his expectation that other regions in the world will do so, relying on the opinion of the court.

According to Edwin Bakker, a Dutch specialist in international relations, the ICJ's opinion is of great importance because it "blessed" secession, expressing support that has not been seen in the last four decades.

He noted this was the first time since the division of Pakistan in the mid 1970s that an independent state has been created despite loud opposition from the country from which it is seceeding, thus increasing separatist ambitions in the world.

Sergei Bagapsh, president of the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, told Reuters news agency that "the decision of the International Court once more confirms the right of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to self-rule."

Regional Implications, Concern for Bosnia

There have been mixed opinions in recent weeks as to whether the ICJ opinion will have an impact on Bosnia, where officials of one the two entities that make up the state, Serb majority Republika Srpska, have indicated in the past that the entity might consider seceding from the country.

Politicians in Bosnia were quick to react to the court's decision on Thursday.

The Croat member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, Zeljko Komsic, said that the ICJ’s ruling was “expected”.

“I hope that this ruling will help everyone in the region to understand that the time of conflicts is over and that we must move on. This was the final chapter of the breakup of (former) Yugoslavia,” Komsic said.

Komsic said that there will be some “political lunatics” who will try to draw parallels between the Republika Srpska and Kosovo, but that “political fanaticism and dangerous policies always end badly, as exemplified by how Hitler and Milosevic ended”.

He added that unlike Kosovo, the Republika Srpska was not a product of history or a long historical process. “It came into being as a result of war and it never enjoyed the status of a state, while Kosovo was an autonomous province of the former Yugoslavia and it had its government, parliament, judiciary and police as did all federal republics.”

Bosnian Serb Prime Minister Milorad Dodik, meanwhile, said that the ICJ’s opinion could serve as a “guideline for our struggle for (legal) status and the future” of Republika Srpska.

“For quite some time, we have not been happy to be a part of Bosnia-Herzegovina….we will not exclude the possibility of additional political struggle for status which, in line with this (ICJ) opinion, would not be in contradiction with international law.”

Dodik said that the ICJ opinion amounted to “ridiculing Serbia and Serbs, ridiculing history, violating international law and creating new international law”, and warned that it will have “far reaching consequences”.

He added that the ruling was “a new underestimation and humiliation of Serbia and a new message for the Serbs that only the politics of force and legal violence have a chance to succeed.”

The Serb president of the upper house of Bosnia’s central parliament, Dusanka Majkic, echoed Dodik's statement. She said that Republika Srpska “now has all it needs to follow the same road Kosovo took if it decides to do so”.

“As painful as this (ICJ) decision is, one way to interpret it is to say that if the RS decides to take the same road as Kosovo did, it too will be supported,” Majkic said.

Meanwhile, the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Haris Silajdzic, said that the ICJ ruling was “a result of wrong policies, particularly the policy of Slobodan Milosevic’s regime”.

“Bosnia-Herzegovina was not pursuing such a policy, we were the victims of such a policy, (also) including genocide,” Silajdzic said.

“The integrity and sovereignty of Bosnia-Herzegovina are guaranteed and any attempt to undermine them will be prevented,” he added.

For more informationa, please see Balkan Insight's analysis: Kosovo, Serbia Prepare for Post-ICJ Battle, and From Racak to the ICJ Ruling: Kosovo Timeline Since 1999

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Byzantium’s Role in the Formation of Early Medieval Civilization

Byzantium’s Role in the Formation of Early Medieval Civilization: Approaches and Problems

By Michael McCormick

Illinois Classical Studies, Vol.12:2 (1987)

Introduction: Until recently, Europe from the collapse of Roman power in the fifth century to the Carolingian achievement in the ninth—the early Middle Ages—has been the poor step-child of modem historical research. The reasons are not hard to find. Contemporary sources are few and difficult, their language is laced with obscurity, and lingering prejudice against the “dark ages” can still be perceived, especially in North America. But because a problem is difficult does not mean that it can be ignored. And it is increasingly difficult to deny that the long twilight period on the edges of Antiquity and the Middle Ages was fertile and even decisive for the destiny of medieval—and modem—civilization.

These centuries prepared the ground on which the high Middle Ages would build and out of which the modern world would grow. Not a few salient characteristics of contemporary westem civilization appear there for the first time. It was then that Christianity conquered northem Europe and that the Germanic, Slavic and Arab peoples emerged as key players on the world stage. It is here that we find the direct ancestors of phenomena as diverse as Europe’s modem nation states and today’s “Roman” alphabet, a style of writing invented by the scribes of Charlemagne’s kingdom in the eighth century.

While many factors which shaped early medieval Europe must be sought, of course, within that civilization’s internal development, there is little reason to think that outside stimulus was less influential here than in other, comparable cultures. And few would deny that the diffusion of a civilization’s culture beyond its frontiers is of great historical significance to understanding both that civilization and its beneficiaries. In the case before us, Byzantium’s contribution beyond its boundaries has been detected in domains as diverse as the music, art, thought, political symbolism and language of the early medieval West. Thus, it was Byzantium that supplied the organs which Carolingian rulers first introduced into church services. Early and middle Byzantine masterpieces inspired Carolingian and Ottonian book illuminators, while the court of Constantinople provided the very manuscript which stands at the beginning of western theology’s neoplatonizing mysticism. The extent to which the medieval West and its heirs have assimilated their Byzantine inheritance is suggested by the surprise one feels at discovering that this legacy includes state welcome ceremonies such as we now see at airports, or that Byzantium gave us words—and the realities behind them—like “ink,” “pasta,” “bronze,” “boutique,” and “diaper.”

Click here to read/download this article (PDF file)

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Blessed Are They That Mourn

"Blessed are they that mourn" (Matthew 5:4), said the Lord. Blessed are they who mourn asking for the Kingdom of God. Blessed are they who mourn suffering for the Faith in Christ. Blessed are they that mourn repenting of their sins. There can be no true repentance without tears. With what shall we wash away our sins if not through tears or through blood, the blood of martyrdom? The monks of Nitria sent a petition to St. Macarius the Great asking if he would come to them rather than they all come to him. Macarius obeyed and came to them. All the monks gathered around St. Macarius and begged him for a word of instruction. Macarius began to weep and through his tears said: "Brethren, let tears flow from your eyes before you go over there where our tears will fry our bodies." Then all the brethren began to weep.

- St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Orthodox Church to Train Own Youth to Guard Faith and Country

23 July 2010
By Natalya Krainova
The Moscow Times

Vladimir Batrakov, 45, a retired military officer, enrolled in courses on how to be an Orthodox youth leader because he was disappointed with the lack of young people in church.

After receiving his diploma last Friday, he started to work full-time at a Moscow church, where he is supposed to advise young people on religious issues and organize Orthodox youth rallies and other activities.

"The main aim is to divert young people from drugs, alcohol and sexual promiscuity," Batrakov said.

A second goal is to inform the public about the church's stance on contemporary issues through the youth rallies, he said.

Batrakov is one of the first foot soldiers in a campaign by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill to train leaders to create youth groups in every prominent locality nationwide.

On the surface, there is nothing surprising about the Orthodox church reaching out to young people. Many Christian denominations in Western countries have their own youth groups, and in 1991 the Russian church itself created the All-Russia Youth Orthodox Movement, an understaffed organization that works mainly with children and early teens.

What makes the new youth groups stand out is their planned promotion of a blend of religion, anti-Western philosophy, politics and patriotism — values that will be passed on by youth leaders like Batrakov, who is among 100 people who signed up for a two-month crash course on Orthodox youth leadership in Moscow that started in May. Church representatives said the number of such leaders might reach into the thousands.

Religion analysts said the youth groups might be Kirill's attempt to boost his political influence. But some said the project, which is supposed to produce a conglomeration of local groups not linked with one another, might be little more than a publicity stunt by Kirill.

A group of newly trained youth leaders made an appearance at the pro-Kremlin youth camp at Lake Seliger this month.

Both at the camp and in their churches, the youth leaders are supposed to promote the Ten Commandments, fight "so-called European values” and possibly prepare young people to take to the streets in the name of "national security," youth organizers said.

The promise to fight for national security echoes the public activities of established pro-Kremlin youth groups like Nashi, Young Russia and Young Guard — albeit with a religious slant.

Kirill first called for church-trained Orthodox youth leaders at a meeting with senior clergy in December. He declared "the moral upbringing" of young people "the priority direction of modern church life" in a society filled with "moral relativism," "all-permeating hedonism," "moral permissiveness" and "the cult of personal success," according to a transcript of the speech published on the church's web site, Patriarchia.ru.

The Moscow courses, organized by the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs and the Patriarch's Center for Spiritual Growth of Children and Youth, are a first step toward fulfilling Kirill's call.

The courses, said Yulia Pavlyuchenkova, deputy head of the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs, will provide future youth leaders with the skills necessary to draw youth away from "so-called European values" promoted through the mass media such as convenience, free love, irresponsibility and egoism, which she said lead young people to drug abuse, alcoholism, promiscuity, early pregnancy and even imprisonment.

Pavlyuchenkova said the courses promote "values that are traditional for our Orthodox country such as the Ten Commandments."

Yury Belanovsky, deputy head of the Patriarch's Center for the Spiritual Growth of Children and Youth, said many young Russians live without spiritual or moral guidelines.

"The youth have become a tidbit for everyone who wants to eat them, be it religious sects or companies that make money on products for young people," Belanovsky said.

Some youth leaders will work in churches, advising young people, gathering them to help the needy and organizing activities like rallies, pilgrimages, film discussions and the restoration of historical buildings, Pavlyuchenkova said.

Other youth leaders will not be attached to specific churches but will develop projects for the mass media, she said, without elaborating.

As part of the course, the future youth leaders attended lectures on "the necessity of street missionary activity" by Boris Yakemenko, leader of the Orthodox wing of the Nashi youth group. Yakemenko said the youth leaders needed to understand that they had to go out onto the streets to find young people, rather than waiting for the them to come to church.

"Modern mission has to go beyond the church fence because most people won't go to church and we can't attract them if we don't go to them," Yakemenko told The Moscow Times.

Street activities could also include rallies "to attract attention" to social or political issues, such as "a threat to the country's national security or historical heritage," Yakemenko said.

The church is financing the training and work of youth leaders with money from parish churches and sponsors. The cost of training a group of 30 to 70 leaders starts at 300,000 rubles ($9,700), Belanovsky said.

Pavlyuchenkova said the youth leaders would cooperate with the All-Russian Youth Orthodox Movement by coordinating its work and by covering parishes where it has no representatives.

Pavlyuchenkova also said she hoped that Orthodox youth leaders would become a nationwide phenomenon in two years. There are more than 14,000 Orthodox churches in the country, but Pavlyuchenkova could not say whether every one of them will ever get its own youth leader.

Religious experts said the church lacks the money to train and pay that many people.

Nikolai Mitrokhin, a researcher at the Center for East European Studies at Bremen University and an expert on the finances of the Russian Orthodox Church, said that even though 100 students had enrolled in the first courses, Moscow alone has more than 300 parishes.

He also said the church is ideologically split, making it impossible to standardize the ideals promoted to young people in all parishes across the country.

Gleb Yakunin, a priest who was defrocked in 1993 for his political activity, agreed that the church could not afford a nationwide youth network and suggested that the patriarch was planning to create a "religious guard" to increase his political clout.

"The patriarch may want to join the tandem as an ideological leader," Yakunin said, referring to the ruling duo of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

"He is offering a national idea that could unite the people and that the authorities have so far failed to find," Yakunin said.

Mitrokhin, who once headed the Moscow-based Institute for Religious Studies in the CIS and the Baltic states, dismissed the Orthodox youth group as a PR stunt.

"The patriarch is a mass media person who voices ideas for the church's modernization that are in tune with the times," Mitrokhin said. "The state needs variants of Nashi."

Two students of the courses, Batrakov and Anna Yevdokimova, 31, a psychologist on maternity leave, said they were eager to take young people to the streets if told to do so.

But both Yakemenko and Pavlyuchenkova insisted that rallies were not a priority and that the main emphasis would be placed on social outreach programs and activities like pilgrimages and the restoration of historical buildings.

"The goal is to bring up young people who will be active as citizens and who will not be indifferent to the events that happen in our country," Pavlyuchenkova said.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Russian Church Ready To Raise Abandoned Children

Saving an unborn child from abortion is more important than building churches, Moscow priest believes

July 22, 2010
Interfax

The chairman of the Russian Church Department for Church Charities and Social Service Archimandrite Panteleimon (Shatov) believes that philanthropists should spare no expense to save unborn children from being killed, because it is more important than building churches.

"There are rich people ready to support mothers-to-be. I think we can find many of them. There are a lot of business people who fund different church projects, however, saving children's lives seems much more important than building another church," he said Thursday at a press conference in Moscow on the eve of the First International Festival For Life 2010.

Besides, Archimandrite Panteleimon believes that such help needs legal support.

He offered to open Russian baby hatches where a mother can bring her newborn when she cannot afford to raise her baby.

"Our department is ready to help all women who have no means and are afraid that they will not be able to raise their baby. We can take a newly born baby to church and raise him/her there or bring him/her to a church orphanage," Archimandrite Panteleimon said.

According to him, one million abortions are made every year in Russia, that is, every one of seven children is killed "en ventre de sa mere". Twenty five percent of women become infertile after the first abortion.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Patriarch Kirill: "Life Becomes Dangerous Without a Sense of Humor"

Life Becomes Dangerous Without a Sense of Humor - Patriarch Kirill at Meeting With Odessits

Most bad people are deprived of a sense of humor

July 23, 2010
Interfax

Odessa (Ukraine) - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia believes sense of humor is a useful quality.

"Life becomes dangerous without humor," Patriarch Kirill said on Thursday at his meeting with public figures in the Odessa National Opera and Ballet Theatre answering the questions of the participants.

Residents of Odessa hailed his words with a storm of applause.

The Patriarch believes that "most bad people are deprived of a sense of humor." According to him, humor "levels up human conflicts, takes the heat out of the situation," and get people into a good mood.

Patriarch Kirill also noted that the quality of humor always depends on person's culture, and his ability to avoid vulgarity in his jokes.

"It's very important for humor to be light, indeed leveling up human conflicts and just forming an optimistic attitude to the world around," the Primate believes.

He confessed that he had liked to read Anton Chekhov since childhood and it was the only author the future Patriarch had read from "cover to cover."

Sense of humor refined by Chekhov helped the Russian Church Primate in his school years as it helped the young believer to take oppression of atheist teachers easy.

Read also:

Patriarch Kirill Believes Official Atheism in Europe Will Lead to Ghetto of Religious Fanatics

Patriarch Kirill Condemns Artists Whose Art Inflicts Sufferings on Others

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Elder Porphyrios On Speaking To Others About Christ

Elder Porphyrios would say: "I do not speak about Christ, unless others want to, unless they ask."

The Elder would say this not because of his ego, but because of his respect for the freedom of each individual.

He would further explain: "I pray for those people, I will even work miracles for them, but I do not speak to them. I want their soul to open up and to ask me."

People would say, especially the youth: "This is the first time we have seen a priest who says nothing to us about God."

When a young girl confronted him on this, the Elder responded to her: "I beg you, my child Georgia, do not misunderstand me as to why I did not speak to you about Christ. I did not do it out of disrespect, but out of respect, because I do not speak with anyone about religious matters unless I am asked."

By asking to hear something, a person willingly listens. And to these beginners the Elder would give a very light spiritual rule to follow to make sure they execute it with joy.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr