Photographs of the Right Hand of St. Spyridon in Russia

September 15, 2010
Romfea.gr

The right hand of St. Spyridon arrived in Moscow today, Wednesday 15 September 2010, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow and All Russia as well as that of His Eminence Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece.

The relic was received and prayers were said in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow amidst a large number of hierarchs, clergy and pious faithful.

Photos by С. Власов

Read more here.

Read also: The Right Hand of Saint Spyridon

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Orthodoxy is the Second Largest Church in Austria

It was the hope of Metropolitan Michael Stakos of Austria to make Orthodoxy in Austria more visible with the visit of Patriarch Irinej of Serbia to Austria between September 10-14.

He said that there are over 400,000 Orthodox Christians in Austria, and if including the Oriental Christians, the figure reaches half a million.

As a result, the Orthodox Church is the second largest in presence in the country after the Roman Catholic Church, said the Metropolitan to the Austrian Catholic news agency Kathpress.

For the past two hundred years, Austria also houses the Greek National School, the oldest Greek school outside Greece.

Patriarch Irinej visited churches in Vienna and Linz, and the Mauthausen concentration camp.

He also scheduled met with Austrian President Heinz Fischer, Vienna Mayor Michael Haeupl and Cardinal Christopher Schonborn, the archbishop of Vienna.

Read more here.

Read also: The Contribution of Orthodoxy on the Course Towards a United Europe by Metropolitan Michael (Stakos) of Austria

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Ecumenical Patriarchate Opposes the Liturgy in Hagia Sophia on September 17th

The Ecumenical Patriarchate has officially opposed the Divine Liturgy set to take place Friday, 17 September 2010, at Hagia Sophia in Constantinople by approximately 250 Greek-Americans of the International Congregation of Agia Sophia lead by Chris Spyrou.

During a press conference on September 1st the President of the International Congregation of Agia Sophia Chris Spyrou stated:

“On the 16th of September 2009, on behalf of the International Congregation of Agia Sophia, I wrote to Prime Minister Erdogan and informed him that on the 17th of September 2010, the day the Orthodox Christian religion celebrates the holy feast day of Sophia, Faith, Hope and Love, a delegation of the International Congregation will visit Constantinople. The aim of the visit of the delegation of the International Congregation in Constantinople is the celebration of Divine Liturgy in Agia Sophia.”

See also: A Divine Liturgy At Hagia Sophia on 09/17/2010?

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Russian Orthodox Pilgrim To Walk From Siberia to Jerusalem

14 September 2010
Interfax

Two residents of Irkutsk, who are carrying out a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on foot, arrived in Petropavlovsk in northern Kazakhstan, an Interfax correspondent reported.

Irkutsk Cossacks captain Vladimir Bragintsev, a former policeman now pensioner, started for a long journey on May 8 in Siberia; novice of St. Michael the Archangel Monastery Alexander Serebrennikov joined him a little bit later. For more than four months the pilgrims walked about 3,000 kilometers, visited Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Omsk and other Russian cities and towns.

The pilgrims are going to walk to Jerusalem and worship at Orthodox Christian shrines.

The pilgrims have an ordinary tourist set in their rucksacks – a tent, sleeping bags, a pot, matches, food supplies and a medicine box. They buy food on the way taking money from their banking card.

The pilgrims often sleep in the woods in their tent, but sometimes strangers give them a warm reception.

Bragintsev believes his trip to Jerusalem will take him not less that four years, but on his way he dreams of visiting Solovki and Valaam to pray for his relatives killed in World War II.

See also the article from June 25, 2010: A Siberian Pilgrim Goes on Foot to Jerusalem

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The Veneration of the Holy Cross in Cyprus

Cyprus is a significant landing post between the Holy Land and Europe when travelling via the Mediterranean. For this reason strong tradition relates that St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine I, stopped in Cyprus following her discovery of the Holy Cross on Golgotha on her return to Constantinople in 327 AD. It is said she anchored off in the southern shores of Cyprus, between Larnaka and Limassol, where even to the present day the place is named 'Vasiliko' (Basil - after the plant that grew over the spot where St. Helen discovered the Cross on Golgotha). Subsequently, the reverence and veneration of the Holy Cross was transmitted throughout Cyprus, with the most important places of veneration being the villages of Lefkara, Tochni, Anogyra and Kouka, all boasting important churches and monasteries; especially the village of Omodos, where the Monastery of the Holy Cross has preserved a piece of rope with which the soldiers bound Christ.

However, the fame of the Cross also spread to other parts of Cyprus, where important monasteries have been preserved: the Monastery of the Holy Cross of Agiasmati in Platanistasa; the Monastery of the Holy Cross Minthis in Tsada of the district of Paphos; and the Church of the Holy Cross in Pelendri.



The itinerary begins with Stavrovouni Monastery, situated at a height of 700 metres on the summit of a mountain that is at the easternmost point of the Troodos range. The monastery is inaccessible to women; however it can be admired from the area below the monastery, together with the superb view. This monastery was built, according to tradition, by a donation of St. Helen. According to the 15th century Cypriot chronicler Leontios Makhairas and the tradition he received from St. Kyriakos (Oct. 18), when St. Helen arrived in Cyprus the Cross disappeared mysteriously but was miraculously discovered when a light was shining on the summit of Olympos, as Stavrovouni [the mountain of the Cross] was then known, where there was a pagan temple. After the miracle and after a few failed attempts to remove it, St. Helen built the church and dedicated to it part of the holy relic. There are references from several sources which report that the Holy Cross used to stand unsupported in the air. Nowadays the part of the Cross is kept in a large silver Cross and it gives off a fragrance. Other relics left at the monastery by St. Helen include the Cross of the Good Thief, a nail and according to some, a part of the rope that Jesus was tied with on the Cross. Read more here and here.



Subsequently, one may visit the Church of the Holy Cross in Pano Lefkara to venerate the 13th century Cross that holds a small piece of the True Cross. Read more here, here and here.


The Church of the Holy Cross (or Sts. Constantine and Helen's) in Tochni is more recent, perhaps replacing an older one, but is the only church in Cyprus constructed over a bridge. According to Makhairas, both the original bridge and church were built by St. Helen. The Chronicle of Amadi records that Alix of Ibelin had a small speech impediment which was cured by a miracle performed by the Holy Cross of Tochni which had been rediscovered in 1340. See a video here and read more here.


Following a course to the west, one may visit the Church of the Holy Cross in Pelendri, whose magnificent wall paintings date to the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th centuries. Read more here and here.


The cruciform Church of the Holy Cross in Kouka dates to the 12th century in which beautiful wall paintings have been preserved. The church was once surrounded by monastery buildings, but all that now remains is a building to the west that formerly contained an olive press. The church, according to St. Kyriakos, is associated with the legend of the Holy Cross and on the north side is a small square chamber probably built to contain the original relic of the church, which was a quantity of sawdust from the Cross when it was chipped into pieces on the order of St Helen. See video here and read more here.



Not far from Kouka to the west is the famous Monastery of the Holy Cross in Omodos, where a small piece of the rope that the soldiers used to bind Christ is kept. This rope is described as red coloured and "stained by the blood of Christ". It is said a monastery already existed here prior to the arrival of St. Helen, so this rope was given as a gift. Also preserved in this church is the skull of St. Philip the Apostle.

According to tradition, one night the inhabitants of the neighbouring villages Pano (Upper) and Kato (Lower) Koupetra, which do not exist today, observed a fire in some bushes at the area where the monastery stands today. When it dawned they went to the spot where the fire was seen but there was no sign. This phenomenon repeated for several nights. So they started to dig the earth, discovering a small cave in which they found the Cross. In order to thank the Lord, they constructed a chapel over the cave and kept their precious treasure there, which became a sacred place of adoration for them. With the passage of time the chapel expanded and was converted into a monastery with many monks and a vast fortune - not only in Cyprus but also abroad - maintaining a grange (monastery dependency) in Constantinople and real estate in Russia. Read more here and see video here.


The pilgrim can also visit Anogyra to visit the Monastery of the Holy Cross to the south of the village. Today's church is built over the remains of an early Christian basilica. At the end of the 15th century, the present church was built over the foundations of older churches, and is a barrel-vaulted church with a single nave and dome, decorated with exceptional wall paintings in the Paleologan style. Read more here.


In Paphos one should visit the 12th century Monastery of the Holy Cross Minthis a little way from the village of Tsada. Minthis Hills Golf Course is a golf course on the land owned by the monastery. Many players claim to have seen the ghost of a monk in the disused monastery when teeing off on the seventh, though it's generally assumed that this ghost story simply makes a jolly good excuse for a diabolical drive.

Thus from east to west this itinerary will lead the pilgrim to some of the various churches and monasteries in Cyprus linked with the veneration of the Holy Cross.


For more information on the Holy Cross brought by St. Helen to Cyprus, read here and here.

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Elder Arsenie Papacioc: Don't Judge Priests

Criticism is allowed, but passing judgement upon priests isn’t. As the saying goes, to criticize someone or someone’s work is to put a wreath upon it [and that is a good thing]. But to judge a person belonging to the clergy, to judge in a context where everyone tends to criticize precisely because the clergy are the ones who emanate the power and grace of God and everyone points at them all the time… well, let us not forget they are human, too. Moreover, they have the possibility to save themselves more easily than you, because they have the grace and the Church Mysteries and works/duties that have been given to them — and last but not least, they must have some conscience, too!, don’t you think?

And let me tell you this – no clergyman becomes so without the will of God. God directs such a person’s life.

But we are going back to our earlier point: we tend to criticize everyone else but ourselves!

Think about it – when you go up there and meet Christ and it is shown that you judged the priest – that he did that instead of the other, or whatever. Things of that sort… so what you did was to judge the priest’s deeds and movements through life and that is a big mistake.

I’m telling you this once again: no matter what sort of cup you drink your wine from – whether it’s crystal or pottery, it’s still wine that you’re drinking. One drinks wine from the Holy Chalice, which contains the Holy Blood and Body of our Savior. Because it is not the priest’s worthiness that is responsible for the wonderful transformations that take place then, when the wine changes into the Holy Blood and the bread into the Holy Body of Christ — but God’s grace!

So, whether he is worthy or unworthy, the priest’s work depends on grace, not on anything else. So don’t rush to judge him, because you’re making an enormous mistake. And here I must get back to a previous question – you should not judge anyone, not even some terrible murderer – let alone a priest! Why should you intrude in his life so! You will be condemned much more seriously because of that. You have come to Christ? Pray to Christ, to help him.

My dear ones, I repeat: we are responsible for all the mistakes that are done in this world – we are personally responsible for them, every one of us. There. So we must have this attitude of sacrifice. Because the mystery of man’s salvation, for everyone of us, is carried out on the Cross. What we should understand from that is that the Cross is the earth’s greatest gift, of the greatest utility.

So what should your “sacrifice” be? Sacrifice your judging the other one because of some mistake s/he has made. And if you go as far as judging people within the Church wherein dwells the grace of God and you judge the priest, you are making a terrible, terrible mistake! Make it a habit, all of you, to see Christ when you look at the Church, because there’s a prayer that the priest reads before the Cherubic Hymn, which goes like this: “Because You are the One Who brings, the One Who brings Yourself, the One Who is received, and the One Who is shared.” So what is the priest if he is in charge with such things? …It’s like… “Yes, but without you, my priest, I cannot do these things”, Christ replies – not without the grace of priesthood. And, ok, maybe that guy isn’t a terribly sophisticated person, as a priest, but he does have the grace, and that is a divine thing. So you condemn yourself terribly if you judge him. He is responsible for his deeds; but you, on the other hand, you will be held terribly responsible for your deeds and his deeds, too, because you have judged him.

There was this great hermit who one day, received the visit of a believer from his village, who had come to see him in the wilderness. In the hermit’s village was this very sinful man. The hermit asked the visitor: “Has that X fellow changed his ways or he’s just as I used to know him?” The man answered: “He hasn’t changed, Father.” And the hermit uttered only an: “Oh!” The next day, an angel came to the hermit and asked him: “God has sent me to ask you: where should He put the soul of that man, who just died last night – in Heaven or in Hell? Because you have judged him.” The hermit lamented and repented for the rest of his life to receive a sign of God’s forgiveness and still had none. And the man that he had judged had been a big sinner indeed! But he had judged him.

“God, please, have mercy for him. God, please protect him.”, he should have said instead. I repeat and I stress this, and please forgive me for being repetitive: WE are guilty for the other people’s mistakes. The whole tragedy of humanity depends on the mess in our own lives.

Because if one talks about love, it’s love! There is no going around it. Look at things as they truly are. It’s like: I am a human being, with hands, fingers etc, there is no question about it whatsoever. With a heart, too! One cannot go around these things. The Christian teaching is about the integrity of the human being. So we are not to negotiate a whole series of things that can pull us behind – or stall our lives. I’m telling you – this judging of others that we do is so serious that (I think I have written it somewhere, too) I believe that most of the souls who are in hell are people who have badmouthed others. They all excuse themselves by saying: “But I’m not the only one who badmouths.” or: “Doesn’t s/he deserve to be judged?” No. If someone is guilty, you, too, are guilty for his guilt, because you haven’t prayed for him – and, of course, if you have judged him, you have made an even bigger mistake.

Source

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Chapel Boat Begins Voyage on the Volga

September 13, 2010
ACN

A boat laden with the relics of eight saints from the first millennium of the Church has started a historic ecumenical journey along the Volga River.

The Chapel Boat set off on Monday, September 13th, transporting across Russia the relics of eight saints from the age of the undivided Church.

The ship carrying the relics is called ‘Fr. Werenfried’ after Aid to the Church in Need’s founder, who spearheaded the initiative to convert boats into chapels to allow services to be celebrated in places that have no church.

The relics are a gift from the Catholic Church to the Russian Orthodox Church.

ACN’s Russia expert Peter Humeniuk, who was involved in the organization of the project, said he believes that it will have a profound symbolic impact.

“Since the earliest days of Christianity, the Church has been seen as a ship, an ‘ark of salvation.’”

“On board the vessel, the relics of those saints from the era of the still undivided Church will be a powerful reminder of precisely those times when this image of the Church was first formed and when Christians were still united.”

The relics being carried are those of saints who are important to both Churches. The saints are Saint John the Baptist, Saint Anne, Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, the martyrs Saint Stephen and Saint Lawrence, Saint George, Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Cyril, the missionary to the Slav people.

The boat, whose ecumenical journey has received the blessing of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, will travel some 1,900 miles from the mouth of the River Volga to Moscow.

On the way the ship will stop at various towns and cities, including Saratov, Kazan, and Novgorod, as well as many smaller places, to enable as many people as possible to venerate the relics it is carrying.

There will be an Orthodox priest on board at all times to celebrate the Divine Liturgy in the boat’s chapel, dedicated to St. Vladimir, who baptized Russia.

The ship’s voyage will include stops in regions that suffered from drought and wildfires in July and August.

The Apostolic Nuncio to the Russian Federation, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, sent a letter expressing his hopes that those in the affected regions will find comfort and consolation through this visit.

Yesterday (Sunday, September12th), a service was held on the quayside in Kirovskij harbor, Volgograd.

It was led by Russian Orthodox Metropolitan German of Volgograd and Kamyshin.

Msgr. Visvaldas Kulbokas, the first secretary of the Holy See’s Apostolic Nunciature to the Russian Federation, also took part in the service and carried the relics on board the chapel boat.

In order to make its epic journey from the Volga delta to the upper reaches of the river, the chapel boat will first of all travel south, visiting the regions of Kalmykia and Astrakhan.

From there it will travel northwards along the river called “Highway of Russia.”

The chapel boats, which are still in use on the Volga and Don rivers, were called the “flotilla for God” by ACN’s founder Fr. Werenfried van Straaten.

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In Australia, Souls Should ‘Outweigh’ Salads In Cemetery Debate

September 14, 2010
Southern Courier

The Greek Orthodox Church has broken its silence to support a plan to expand the Botany cemetery into the neighbouring Chinese market gardens.

The parish priest at St Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in Kingsford and spokesman for Archbishop Stylianos, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in Australia, Father Steven Scoutas has become a voice for the concerns about diminishing burial space.

"It's of great concern to the church that vegetables are regarded to be of greater heritage value than that of human beings,” he said. “Nothing is more sacred than the human person.”

Father Steven, who blamed consecutive governments for failing to secure additional land for the cemetery during the past 30 years, said thousands of his parishioners had signed a petition on the issue.

“The Greek Orthodox Church has voiced serious concerns for many years about this acute shortage of burial spaces. Archbishop Stylianos, Primate of the Church in Australia, again raised the matter in 2006 with the State Government.

“This is vital, not only for Christians, but for our brothers and sisters of other religions as well.

“The deceased should be afforded every dignity. Their personal contribution to the shaping of the nation and the heritage of the world should not be devalued.”

A shortage of space in Sydney’s east has led management of the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, which incorporates Botany cemetery, to submit a plan to the State Government to acquire 60 per cent of the adjacent heritage-listed market gardens, a 7ha slice of crown land off Bunnerong Rd in Matraville.

The submission has divided the community between those who would prefer to see the land remain with the living, the three families who cultivate the gardens, and those more concerned about the diminishing space to bury their loved ones.

Chinese community and heritage groups are opposing the planned resumption of the market gardens at La Perouse for use as a cemetery.

The land on which the market gardens sit has been used for food production for more than 150 years, and managed by Chinese gardeners for more than a century.

The management of the cemetery has claimed that without the land transfer it will run out of burial space within 12 years.

The situation has been worsened by cultural sensitivities surrounding burial practices. Cremation is forbidden by some religions.

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Egyptian Security Forces Storm Monastery, Assault Monks

Mary Abdelmassih
September 10, 2010
AINA

On Tuesday, September 7, at 8 PM a 300-man security force, backed by a large number of cars and armored vehicles, attacked the Monastery of St. Macarius of Alexandria in Wadi Rayan, Fayoum province, 150 KM south of Cairo. The monks in the monastery were assaulted with tear gas, batons and stones. Three monks were seriously wounded.

The security forces prevented the delivery of limestone bricks to be used for the construction of cells for the monks within the grounds of the ancient Monastery. The forces also attempted to confiscate bricks already delivered but the monks sat on the bricks and refused to move.

The authorities claim that Wadi Rayan is a conservation area, while the monks say they are building cells within the grounds of the Monastery, which was built before the area was designated for conservation.

Security forced surrounded the Monastery until 12 AM the following day, but withdrew "after seeing the insistence of monks to assert their rights," said Father Boulos elMakkary, one of the 85 monks living in the monastery. "They left with the commander promising to be back soon."

Monk Mina elMakkary said the security forces surrounded the Monastery as "if we were terrorists. We are monks who left everything behind to come and worship God, and they come to attack unarmed monks."

The monks believe that the government wants to prevent any construction on the premises to prevent any increase in the number of monks living there, "though cells for the monks are badly needed," said Father Boulos. Presently 5-8 monks share one cell, when each should be living alone.

Gerges Bouchra of Copts-United said the incident started when the head of the police in Fayoum was passing by in his car when he saw three trucks loaded with limestone bricks, which had been sent as a donation to the monastery. He protested and removed the registration plates from the trucks. Later he sent a force and took away the trucks with their cargo and drivers. "I told the officer-in-charge, Islam Moawad, that we understand our rights and that he was breaking the law as he had no warrant supporting his actions," Father Boulos said. "Apparently this was not enough, so the forces came on Tuesday evening to confiscate what bricks we had offloaded."

Father Boulos said the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency has built a big rest house for its staff with a swimming pool within the Monastery grounds, under the pretext of watching rare birds, but more likely "to watch us," and the swimming pool is "just for conserving water" we were told. He added that two months ago the Agency had given permission to a private investor, Hany Zaky, to build a tourist attraction within the conservation area, 5 KM away from the Monastery, and he had stipulated that monks should not build there.

The Monastery of St. Macarius, also called the "Buried Monastery" as most of its cells are caves in the mountain, has been uninhabited for a long time due to desert conditions and being without electricity or water. Monks have, however, lived there from time to time until 1996, when they decided to remain there permanently and obtained permission from the Minister of Environment to live there.

Problems with the authorities started with the increase in the number of monks and the need for cells. Two years ago newly built cells were demolished on orders from the Environmental Affairs Agency. "We got fined 2 million Egyptian pounds for supplying the monastery with water, we went to court and won through reconciliation," monk Mina said. "Police in Fayoum, State Security and the Agency collude against the Monastery and they do not give us any permits. They want us to get a Presidential decree from President Mobarak," he added.

Father Boulos said that State Security might import Arabs to the area to get rid of them as they did in Abu Fana in the Minya province. "During a meeting with a top State Security one of our priests official in Fayoum was threatened and told the monastery might be destroyed, and people would be sent to the monastery to harm the monks."

Speaking on behalf of the monks, Father Boulos said that they are not afraid as they do not care about their lives. "We are ready for martyrdom. Maybe if we die now, the next generation can live in peace."

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Four Contemporary Miracles of the Holy Cross

The Cross of Preveli Monastery

1. The Cross of a Prosecutor

In a termination hearing, one of the last big trials, the Prosecutor Liberis Papandreou told me the following, when he noticed a cross around my neck. He also showed me a cross that he wore around his neck and told me the following:

"This cross saved my life. Without this I would have been dead in the Winter of 1943. It was the period when anyone who fell into the hands of the Germans and brought to the torturers, on the road Merlin, did not leave except to go to the cemetery.

During this time I also was arrested. I was accused by a senior official of the Municipality of Piraeus - a German organization - and a Mayor of a Settlement of Piraeus as a General Prosecutor of the Communists, because these two men I had arrested for the abuse of food, which was intended for the hungry. My refusal, in which I denied any "blame", infuriated my investigators.

For this reason I was brought to be tortured. On the third day of my martyrdom I was lead into a spacious room. This was hell on earth. Inside paraded five giant torturers, each of which exhausted all his powers upon me. Slowly I started to feel that soon I would be dead there.

After the huge torturers, I was taken by the investigator himself. In a furious moment he took me with both hands by the throat and began to squeeze. I felt that I would die of asphyxiation. He used all his power and I was freed from his hands. Immediately I tore my shirt for my chest to breathe. I had not even thought about what I did. At the same time I noticed my torturer become pale. He turned white, more white than the wall of the room. He tried to lift his hands but could not succeed.

He then began to cry... Yes, crying like a frightened baby! He then came near me, leaned on my chest and kissed this here cross! I confess that I could not believe what I saw with my eyes.

After a little while he called out to be brought a glass of water. With this he washed, with his own hands, which now could move, my wounds, and after he sat me on a chair to recover. He then left to return to several colleagues, to whom he recounted the following:

'Once this man opened his chest, lightning flashed before my eyes from this tiny cross. This flash formed a fiery "nein" [German for "no"]. Now that I've recovered, gentlemen, I can say that God is close to the faithful.'

Then he returned to me and said:

'I would ask you to offer this cross to me to protect me from this unjust crisis. Not from death, because I do not fear it. But I'm not worthy, I do not believe in God like you. Because if I believed...' and he stopped short the sentence.

So, my beloved one, it saved me from certain death thanks to my faith," said the Prosecutor Liberis Papandreou.

From Ν. Καπιτσόγλου, "Θαύματα που γίνονται σήμερα", περιοδ. Κιβωτός, αριθ. 21/ Σεπτέμβριος 1953, σελ. 347.

2. The Cross of Preveli Monastery

This miraculous relic constitutes the "Palladium" of the Monastery and is associated with many miracles especially related with eye diseases. It's a big silver cross (Dim. 0.56 x 0.25) with wider points at the ends and protruded decorative buttons and tokens in a wire working process. The Baptism of Jesus Christ is shown from one side. The Father on the upper part and the Angels beside the points of the cross. On the other side the crucifixion are the symbols of four Evangelists. A big crystal is attached to the handle of the cross and in the perimeter of the cyclical base the donation inscription appears: "The Fatigue And Hard Work Of Abbot Ephraim, Whom The Lord Saved From Hell Fire". The cross demonstrates the level of folklore silversmiths in Crete had during the second half of 18th century, when the active and energetic Abbot Ephraim Prevelis lived. The cross is kept in a shrine in the main church of the Monastery.

The Cross was carried in the front line of every battle thus greatly encouraging the fighters. In 1823, in the unequal battle against the Turks at Amourgeles, in Monofatsiou province, the Holy Symbol was lost. The Cross was found at the end of 1823 in the hands of Genoese sailors, who had purchased it in Heraklion. According to the legend, they returned the Cross to the Monastery when their ship simply stopped in the water, in a a quite mysterious way, while sailing in the Libyan Sea near the Monastery of Preveli, and was able to proceed only after the precious relic was given back. In 1941, German officers removed the Cross from the Monastery and attempted to send it to Germany. The airplane though which would transfer the Holy Symbol away could not take off. They put the Cross in another airplane without result, the second airplane could not start. They attributed this event to the Holy Symbol, so a few days after the looting, the Cross was back in its position. It was also September 13th, the eve of the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the feast day of the Monastery.

Source

3. The Hodja Who Became A Christian

According to reliable sources, a well-known Hodja of Egypt with his family abandoned Islam and were baptized Christians. As he says, it was because of a miracle.

The former Hodja, now a Christian convert, said that his daughter was suffering from an incurable disease. They went to every hospital and saw many doctors where they lived in Egypt, and even travelled abroad. They would recommend treatment, but did not have much hope. Indeed they would inform the desperate father to take his daughter home since there really was no treatment. The Hodja prayed daily to Allah for help.

A close friend saw the father's grief, and offered to put a cross on the pillow of his daughter. On hearing this proposal, the father responded: "It is not possible for me to do something like that..., I will not sell my faith." The idea however began to occupy his thoughts. Without telling anyone, he bought a cross and placed it on the pillow of his daughter. The days passed and his daughter entered a comatose state, losing all consciousness. The whole family and the people of the area served by the former Hodja waited for her death. The desperate father day and night sat next to her, crying. Inside, as he confesses now, there was a hope that something would happen.

One evening as the depressed father held the hand of his daughter, he saw the cross that was on the pillow to emit a bright light which spread all over the bed. Initially he thought that it was a dream or something wrong with his mind because of his sadness. However, the light he saw was obvious. Suddenly he saw his daughter getting up from bed and saying: 'Dad, I am hungry, bring me something to eat." The Hodja could not understand what had happened. He went to the kitchen overjoyed. The voices roused his wife and the neighborhood. Soon the house was crowded. He told and re-told what happened. He spoke about the miracle of the cross. He even phoned his friend who had proposed to put the cross on the pillow of the daughter and thanked him.

Neighbors and friends tried to ascribe the miracle to Saint George, who is accepted by Muslims. But he knew the power of the cross. He experienced the miracle. The daughter no longer had anything and physicians aware of the situation did not believe their eyes when they saw that the new tests did not show anything. A few days after the miracle the former Hodja had made a decision. He told his wife he would become a Christian. She initially was against this and thought of the persecution that will follow the entire family by Muslims. "They will kill us" she said. But he was already on his way. He notified her that they leave permanently from Egypt. "We will be baptized and live in another country." So it happened.

However, the news of his entering the Church of Christ, was widely circulated in the city he served, and to Muslim clergy. Today, the former Hodja and now Christian convert studies theology. For Muslims today, he and his family are outlaws. This is why we cannot publish more data.

4. The Miraculous Power of the Cross and Prayer - A Scientific Study

The Sign of the Cross and Orthodox Prayer Are Capable of Killing Microbes and Change the Optical Properties of Water - A Study

Read the rest here.

Translations by John Sanidopoulos

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On Unexpected Misfortunes That Befall Us

by St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Often unexpected misfortune befalls us, and in vain we ask "why"?

The Church of Christ alone knows how to explain the cause of every misfortune. The Church basically classifies misfortunes into two groups. Some misfortunes befall the sinner because of old, unrepented sins. Other misfortunes assault the righteous and serve, according to the words of St. John Chrysostom, "as a means of receiving a wreath, as was the case with Lazarus and Job."

The Empress Eudocia secretly agreed with the Eutychian heresy, having heeded the counsel of the perfidious eunuch Chrysaphius. But misfortune unexpectedly befell her. One day her husband, Emperor Theodosius, brought her an apple of unusual size. The empress sent the apple to the ailing senator Paulinus and he, out of love for the emperor, sent this same apple to Emperor Theodosius. This gave the emperor reason to suspect an illicit relationship between his wife and the senator. The emperor asked his wife to show him the apple he had given her. The empress lied and said: "I ate it!" This made the emperor's suspicion even stronger, and he banished Eudocia to Palestine. In time Eudocia cured herself of heresy, and through the counsels of the great Palestinian spiritual fathers returned completely to Orthodoxy.

The misfortune that befell the empress did not arise from an illicit relationship with Paulinus - in this, she was completely innocent - but because of her heretical disposition.

A second but different case: When he was still a military commander, the future Emperor Marcian was traveling near Philipopolis and saw the corpse of a murdered man on the road. Out of pure compassion, he got off his horse and started to bury the corpse. Just then someone came by and saw him burying the corpse, and reported him to the court as a murderer. Marcian would have been punished by death, had God not shortly revealed the true murderer. This kind of misfortune falls into that second category - "for the receiving of a wreath". Shortly after this, General Marcian was chosen to be emperor.

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The Spiritual Insignificance of the Church Calendar

Two Narrations on the Old Calendar vs. New Calendar Controversy By the Blessed Elder Cleopa Ilie of Romania:

First Narration On Why the Calendar Is Not Holy

The thing that happened once to a priest here, Calistrat Bobu, my God! He was a very good priest. Very good. But one day he dropped by to see a nun who was living in the forest (as at that time there were about fifty hermits living in the woods around here) and she told this young priest:

“Holy Grace doesn’t descend upon you people, because you have shifted to the New Calendar!”

Father Calistrat came back home and told our Elder. My Elder back then was from the Holy Mountain, Hieroschemamonk Ioanichie, from whom I received tonsure. He was the kind of monk that would only eat on Saturdays and Sundays, and during the rest of the week — nothing. On Sundays, he would only ask me: “Would you happen to have a little bit of cabbage juice and a bit of wheat broth?”

For twenty years he served the Holy Liturgy all by himself and took strength only through the Holy Eucharist. When the calendar was adjusted, he fasted for twenty-three days. He didn’t taste anything, until the Holy Three Hierarchs showed themselves to him and told him to listen to the Church! To keep the calendar as our Church would!

So one day this Father, Calistrat Bobu, was performing the service. I was a sexton back then. Now, every time our Elder would prepare the Holy Communion bread, it was white and sweet, while the one that Fr. Calistrat would prepare would always taste sour and have a greenish tinge. I asked our Superior:

"Elder, why is it that when Fr. Calistrat serves, his Communion bread is greenish and sour?"

"My boy, it’s because he serves with doubt in his heart! He’s been to see that mad woman, Isidora, who stirred up so many troubles in the monastery already, and she told him that the grace of the Holy Spirit doesn’t descend because of the calendar change. And I told him he would get into trouble because of doubting that the Holy Spirit descends!"

As I said, I was a sexton then. As Fr. Calistrat got to the point where he would invoke the grace of the Holy Spirit – lo and behold! – he saw the Lamb bread turning into meat and blood was running on the Holy Diskos and on the Holy Antimension. And when he looked into the chalice, he saw blood. He called to me:

"Costică! Come over here, son! What do you see?"

"Oh, Father! It’s turned into meat and blood! Our Superior told you that you would get into trouble if you lose faith in the calendar, because the calendar is neither a holy thing, nor a dogma! It’s just a 'clock' to measure time. It’s already been canonically adjusted a few times until now."

When our Elder came, he asked for the Book of Psalms to be read.

"Well now! Do you believe that the Holy Spirit comes down and turns the Sacraments holy?"

"Forgive me, Father!" And he fell to his knees.

"Look! The Holy Spirit has come! It’s turned into meat! It’s turned into blood! Do you have any more doubts now, Father?"

"I believe it, Father, forgive me!"

"Come on now — and let’s collect the Holy Mysteries!"

And he took a chisel and made a hole into the leg of the Holy Table – because the Holy Table is our Lord’s grave – and he buried the Sacraments in there. And he sanctified the chalice again and washed it and the Holy Antimension and everything else at the holy water place. And we stayed there until the whole Book of Psalms was read, all of it - four hours in all - and then he started the Liturgy from the Holy Proskomedi: “And one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side,…”; and continued from there. And he carried out the Holy Liturgy and the incident didn’t repeat.

"You see? Do you believe it now?"

"I believe it, Father!"

Our Elder gave him a 40-day penance.

“Why don’t you believe it when I tell you to, and instead, you go to old women to teach you about the calendar?” This was in 1932. I was here in the summer of 1932. I came to this place in 1929.


Second Narration On Why the Calendar Is Not Holy

Father, what’s going on with the folks in Slătioara? They say we’ve sold out our faith.

Stylists [Old Calendarists] are defrocked by the Holy Synod, because they care more about the calendar than about the dogmas of our Church and thus have fallen away from obedience.

The Stylists also boast that they have true faith and we don’t.

They have pride and disobedience in that faith. In the summer of 1992, the Elder of the Xeropotamou Monastery [Mount Athos], together with a few monks, visited Romania and toured the whole country while carrying the Holy Cross – a cross that was made in the fifth century by Emperor Martian and Empress Pulcheria – which preserves in it a large part of our Savior’s cross. And I kissed the Holy Cross, which had been stained with the blood of Christ. Twice, I kissed it.

The monks in Mount Athos follow the Old Calendar. Why didn’t they visit the Stylists in Slătioara and instead, they only visited our New Calendar Orthodox monasteries?

They went to many places in our country, and all the monks of the Holy Mountain follow the Old Calendar; they cursed the ones in Romania that still followed the Old Style. As Athonite monks, they didn’t break their obedience to the Church. They follow the Old Calendar but they listen to the Holy Synod of Greece* – and Greeks have all been New Calendar followers since 1924. They do not ordain deacons, priests, churches, they don’t do anything without the approval of their Holy Synod. And they told me: “Tell the Stylists in your country that they are heretics. They started to build their monasteries and churches without the permission of your Holy Synod.”

Why, wasn’t I there myself, at the Holy Mountain? Didn’t I perform the holy services with them? The Old Calendar people here won’t do that with us, but the monks of Mount Athos sure did! We partook in the Eucharist with them. They consider the Old Calendar folks in our country as pagans. These folks have remained just as the Lipovans of Russia here [in Romania]!

The calendar isn’t a holy thing! I went and held a speech about that when our Metropolitan was enthroned in Iaşi. There were Bishops and Metropolitans gathered there, yet they asked [unworthy] me to speak — in the refectory, where there were so many officials! I spoke for almost an hour.

The next day I spoke at the Faculty of Theology in Iaşi and I showed them how the Old Calendar had already been adjusted until now. I showed them the year, the month, the time, and how, when it falls behind again – as the Pedalion says – it will be adjusted again. The calendar is a mere time-keeper.

Are we going to argue about a calendar, now? Is it worth it?

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Is the Holy Sepulchre the Actual Tomb of Christ?

There are a few claims to the true burial tomb of Christ, but no claim has stronger evidence than the traditional site of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, whose consecration in the thirtieth year of the reign of Emperor Constantine in 335 AD the Orthodox Church celebrates annually on September 13th. For two excellent introductory resources to examine this issue I provide two links below, one a study of its authenticity from Biblical Archaeology Review and the other a documentary from the Secrets of the Dead series, as well as a homily on the feast of the dedication of the Holy Sepulchre we celebrate today. Of course, these two studies below are scientific studies that do not take account of the miracle of the Holy Light which annually takes place in this church on Pascha.

1. Does the Holy Sepulchre Church Mark the Burial of Jesus?

By Dan Bahat
Biblical Archaeology Review

Since 1960, the Armenian, the Greek and the Latin religious communities that are responsible for the care of the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem have been engaged in a joint restoration project of one of the most fascinating and complex buildings in the world.

In connection with the restoration, they have undertaken extensive archaeological work in an effort to establish the history of the building and of the site on which it rests. Thirteen trenches were excavated primarily to check the stability of Crusader structures, but these trenches also constituted archaeological excavations. Stripping plaster from the walls revealed structures from earlier periods. A new, modern drainage system was put in place, but the work itself was also used for archaeological research. Elsewhere, soundings were made for purely archaeological purposes.

The results of all this excavation and research have now been published in a three-volume final report by Virgilio C. Corbo, professor of archaeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. Father Corbo has been intimately involved in this archaeological work for more than 20 years, and no one is better able to report on the results than he.

Read the rest here.

2. Secrets of the Dead: The Tomb of Christ

This episode of the popular PBS series takes an in-depth look at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, long thought by many Christians to be the tomb of Christ before his eventual resurrection. An English couple investigates the truth behind the myths and tries to shed some light on the events of that long ago day, as well as other issues of the Crucifixion.

For centuries, visitors to the Church of the Holy Seplulchre in Jerusalem believed that they stood within what was merely a symbolic representation of Jesus' burial place. But what if the edicule within the church, and ancient crumbling structure, really does house Christ's actual tomb? Oxford archeologists Martin and Birthe Biddle reconstruct Jesus' final day and trace the history of the various incarnations of the edicule-looking for evidence that there is a tomb present, and trying to decipher whether or not Christ actually lay there. At the very center of Christianity, in one of the holiest cities on Earth, a mystery as old as the Christian faith is close to being solved. An academic couple from Oxford -- respected archaeologists both -- have within their grasp the proof as to whether or not Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher houses the place where Jesus Christ was crucified and buried.

Further resources can be read here and the DVD can be ordered here. The accompanying book also is worth a read as it goes into greater detail than the documentary, and it can be ordered here.

3. Homily on the Dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem by St. Dimitri of Rostov

A summary of some proofs and the history of the Holy Sepulchre can be read here.

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The Cross On the Greek Flag Controversy

In this video, the current Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Transports and Networks Nikolaos Sifounakis (current PASOK government) claims that the Holy Cross should be removed from the Greek flag and completely remove the Church from the State.

Here is a list of national flags with crosses on them.

For a history of the flag of Greece, see here.

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Who Gains Profit From Global Warming Myth?

by Anton Evseyev

The unusually hot summer that devastated Russia this year once again reminded of a trendy horror story called "global warming." Proponents of this hypothesis, talking about their cause, have entirely lost sight of an abnormally cold winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Their opponents said that single point cannot be used for plotting. However, reasonable arguments both for and against the warming have not been presented to the general public.

There is an old joke about a weather station in Chukotka.

Once the Chukchi came to their shaman and asked him whether it will be a cold winter. He replied that the winter will be cold, and told them to gather plenty of firewood. But after some time he decided to test his prediction, and went to the nearest weather station. Meteorologist looked out of the window, and told the shaman, that winter, no doubt, will be cold, since the Chukchi are actively collecting firewood.

Studies by many scientists who promise global warming are not much different from observations of that meteorologist. If you analyze all the methods they use, it is astonishing that at least something can be predicted on the basis of their findings.

Russia Today: Russia's brutal summer inspires green awakening

The focus of studies on global climate processes is traditionally given to the study of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Indeed, the increase in the proportion of these gases in the air envelope of our planet, according to scientists, leads to the so-called greenhouse effect, where CO2 is formed from a certain "film" that interferes with the transferring of heat from the ground to the cold outer space. Scientists in many countries are concerned that because of human emissions of this gas into the atmosphere is ever-increasing, which may result in greenhouse effect in the coming years.

Here it gets interesting. First of all, no one can say exactly how much CO2 is emitted to the atmosphere every year through human activity. American researchers name the number of 5.5 billion tons, Australian - 7.2 million tons, Russian - roughly $10 billion. The one who sees such a discrepancy immediately raises the question - but where do these numbers come from? How exactly the measurement of this "dangerous" gas is taken?

As it turns out, there is no single accounting method. Some count the amount of industrial and automobile exhausts of enterprises in industrialized countries and multiply it by the number of days per year, excluding weekends and holidays. Some measure the total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere within several years and then blame all carbon dioxide on human activities. Others generally calculate this number based on the dynamics of mining and fuel production.

It is obvious that the data obtained by some methods says nothing. Here is an example. Assume that we know exactly how much CO2 is emitted into the air by a specific factory. But it is unclear how much gas remains in the atmosphere, because soon, for example, a field of wheat can easily dispose of the entire exhaust (as we know, plants need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis). No one conducted research on how much carbon dioxide is produced by the man, or is consumed by plants and phytoplankton.

Much more reliable is the method of systematic measurements of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. But there are some difficulties. The man is not the only "polluter" of Earth's atmosphere; CO2 is duly delivered to the atmosphere by most living organisms on our planet, and volcanoes. The World Ocean alone, according to American researchers, annually emits approximately 90 billion tons of this gas. How can we distinguish between "man-made" CO2 and the "natural" one, is not quite clear.

Moreover, scientists still do not know anything about natural oscillations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Nobody knows anything about the reason why the ocean sometimes emits more, and sometimes less. But if so, why some researchers are adamant in saying that recently the quantity of "man-made" CO2 emissions has increased? What if it is not "technological" but "natural" emissions?

As you can see, there is no single system for calculating the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but also there is no unified methodology to interpret the data. And, most interestingly, the similar "chaos" is observed in studies of changes in average temperature on Earth.

Here scientists in each country mainly use their own weather station data, and then make conclusions of "planetary" scale. But it is not a secret that if a weather station, for example, in Moscow, recorded a steady increase in temperature, say, in the summer period, then such law will be followed throughout the world during the same time. The same weather station somewhere in Lima can, conversely, record a steady decrease in temperature. A consolidation of all data in one table is not done by anyone at least because many of the meteorological observations are made by the order of the military and, therefore, constitute a state secret.

The same can be said about other symptoms of the so-called warming - for example, rapid melting of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic. Satellites can only observe the process, but no one can explain why this happens, since this is registered for the first time. In addition, researchers often do not take into account other possible causes that lead to similar results. What if it is some warm unaccounted underwater current or a volcano are being mischievous?

Anyway, if we recall that the systematic study of the climate began just over 100 years ago, we can confidently say that people still know very little about its effects on our world. The likelihood that a scientist, focusing on observational data of the past years, will be able to make an accurate prediction of global climate change is approximately equal to the probability that a child of three, who barely learned to stammer, will suddenly prove the Pythagorean Theorem.
So, talks about global warming, as of a proven fact, are perhaps a bit premature, if only because there is no single method of investigation of this phenomenon. We must first develop it, then create an international group of researchers equipped with its standard equipment and leave them alone for 50 years that way. Let them work.

After this period, ask the group to report on progress and then decide if the Earth is warmer or colder on the basis of the results. Then, there will be at least some basis for such global conclusions.

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Saint Chrysostomos of Smyrna: An Ecclesiastical and National Martyr

St. Chrysostomos of Smyrna and those with him, the hierarch Sts. Gregorios Kydonion, Amvrosios Moschonision, Prokopios Ikoniou, Euthymios Zilon, as well as the clergy and laity of the Asia Minor Catastrophe are commemorated on the Sunday before the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross (Sep. 14) according to the Encyclical of the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (2556) dated July 5th 1993.

English:

St. Chrysostom Metropolitan of Smyrna the New Ethno-Hieromartyr, and those with him

Chrysostomos of Smyrna: Wikipedia

The Slaying of Metropolitan Chrysostomos: Testimonies of Chrysostomos' Death

Remembering Chrysostomos: A Modern Day Martyr

Slain Archbishop Foresaw Massacre: Chrysostomos Sent Letters To Foreign Officials Predicting Smyrna Disaster (New York Times article from September 24, 1922)

CITY A MASS OF WRECKAGE; Foreign Quarter Leveled but Turkish Section Untouched. STREETS STREWN WITH DEAD 900 Armenians Were Driven Aboard a Lighter and Killed by Fusillade From Shore. OUR BLUEJACKETS POLICING But the Host of Homeless Christians Are in a State of Terror. (New York Times article from September 15, 1922)

The Whispering Voices of Smyrna

SMYRNA 1922 - PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE


My Sons, sons of Hellenism! Today you see the miracle of God. The time for Liberty and religious freedom has arrived! Please rejoice but also be respectful to our Muslim and Jewish brothers.

- Metropolitan Chrysostomos in 1919 in a speech welcoming the Greek army

I seek a great Cross, upon which I will put my pleasure to trial, I am called and I don’t have anything else of my own to give towards the salvation of our worshiping homeland, other than to give my blood. Thus I perceive of my life and the arch-priesthood...and the miter, which your holy hands placed upon my head, if it is called for, may the radiance of its stones never be destroyed; it will be converted to the crown of thorns of martyrdom of a hierarch.

- St. Chrysostom's prophetic statement at his consecration as Metropolitan of Drama in 1902





Greek:

Μνήμη Νεομαρτύρων Μικράς Ασίας Κληρικών τε Μοναχών και Λαϊκών τελειωθέντων τω 1922

Άγιος Χρυσόστομος Σμύρνης

Η Αγιότητα του Χρυσοστόμου Σμύρνης

Χρυσόστομος Σμύρνης μάρτυρας της Εκκλησίας και του Έθνους

Ο ΕΘΝΟΜΑΡΤΥΣ ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟΛΙΤΗΣ ΣΜΥΡΝΗΣ ΧΡΥΣΟΣΤΟΜΟΣ ΚΑΙ Η ΜΙΚΡΑΣΙΑΤΙΚΗ ΚΑΤΑΣΤΡΟΦΗ

Εισήγησις του Μητροπολίτου Πατρών Νικοδήμου προς την Ιερά Σύνοδο της Εκκλησίας της Ελλάδος περί αναγνωρίσεως του Μητροπολίτου Σμύρνης Χρυσοστόμου ως Ιερομάρτυρος

Το Mαρτύριο του Σμύρνης Χρυσόστομου

Ο Μητροπολίτης Κυδωνιών Γρηγόριος (1864-1922)

Η μνήμη των Ιερομαρτύρων της Μικρασιατικής Καταστροφής

Νέας Σμύρνης Συμεών "Ο Μικρασιατικός Ελληνισμός έδωσε εκατόμβες μαρτύρων και ηρώων"

Η Δράμα τιμά τον ‘Αγιο Χρυσόστομο Σμύρνης

Ιερός Ναός Αγίου Χρυσοστόμου Μητρ. Δράμας-Σμύρνης


Η Θεία Πρόνοια, δοκιμάζει την πίστιν μας και το θάρρος μας και την υπομονή μας την ώραν αυτήν. Αλλ’ ο Θεός δεν εγκαταλείπει τους χριστιανούς. Εις τας τρικυμίας αναφαίνεται ο καλός ναυτικός και εις τας δοκιμασίας ο καλός Χριστιανός. Προσεύχεσθε και θα παρέλθη το ποτήριον τούτο. Θα ίδωμεν πάλιν καλάς ημέρας και θα ευλογήσωμεν τον Θεόν. Θαρρείτε ως εμπρέπει εις καλούς χριστιανούς.

- Από τελευταίο κήρυγμά του Μητροπολίτου Σμύρνης Χρυσοστόμου

Ζητώ μεγάλον Σταυρόν, επί του οποίου θα δοκιμάσω την ευχαρίστησιν, καθηλούμενος και μη έχω έτερον τι να δώσω προς σωτηρίαν της ημετέρας λατρευτής πατρίδος, να δώσω το αίμα μου. Ούτως εννοώ το έπ’ εμοί την ζωήν και την αρχιερωσίνην”… “…και η μίτρα, την οποίαν αι άγιαι χείρες σου εναπέθεσαν επί της κεφαλής μου, εάν πέπρωται, να απολέση ποτέ την λαμπηδόνα των λίθων της θα μεταβληθεί εις ακάνθινον στέφανον μάρτυρος ιεράρχου.

- Χρυσόστομος Σμύρνης

Ο Ελληνισμός της Μ. Ασίας, το Ελληνικόν κράτος, αλλά και σύμπαν το Ελληνικόν Έθνος καταβαίνει εις τον Άδην, από του οποίου καμμία πλέον δύναμις δεν θα δυνηθή να το αναβιβάση και το σώση . Της αφαντάστου ταύτης καταστροφής, βεβαίως αίτιοι είναι οι πολιτικοί και προσωπικοί Σας εχθροί, πλην και Υμείς φέρετε μέγιστον της ευθύνης βάρος, διά δύο πράξεις σας.

Πρώτον, διότι απεστείλατε εις Μ. Ασίαν ως Ύπατον Αρμοστήν ένα τουτ' αυτό παράφρονα και εγωιστήν, φλύαρον, απερροφημένον εν τω αυτοθαυμασμώ και καταφρονούντα και υβρίζοντα και δέροντα και εξορίζοντα και φυλακίζοντα όλα τα υγιή και σώφρονα στοιχεία του τόπου, διότι εν τω φρενοκομείω του βεβαίως δεν είχον τόπον, και εις το τέλος αποδώσαντα αυτούς τους αγλαούς καρπούς της τελείας του Μικρασιαστικού λαού καταστροφής, τους οποίους νυν θερίζομεν.

Και δεύτερον, διότι πριν αποπερατώσητε το έργον Σας και θέσητε την κορωνίδα και το επιστέγασμα επί του αναγερθέντος αφαντάστως ωραίου και μεγαλοπρεπούς δημιουργήματός Σας, της καταθέσεως των θεμελίων της περικλεεστάτης ποτέ Βυζαντινης μας Αυτοκρατορίας, είχατε την ατυχή και ένοχον έμπνευσιν να διατάξητε εκλογάς κατ' αυτάς ακριβώς τας παραμονάς της εισόδου Σας εις Κωνσταντινούπολιν και της καταλήψεως αυτής υπό του Ελληνικού Στρατού προς εκτέλεσιν των όρων της -οίμοι- δια παντός καταστραφείσης συνθήκης των Σεβρών.

- Επιστολή του Χρυσοστόμου Σμύρνης προς τον Ελευθέριο Βενιζέλο δύο ημέρες προ του μαρτυρικού του θανάτου.


Απολυτίκιο του Αγίου Χρυσοστόμου Σμύρνης
υπό Μητροπολίτου Πατρών ΝΙΚΟΔΗΜΟΥ (Βαλληνδρά)

Μέγαν μάρτυρα η Εκκλησία, μέγαν ήρωα το έθνος σύμπαν, τον της Σμύρνης υμνούμεν Χρυσόστομον. Kαι γάρ γενναίως αθλήσας υπέμεινεν υπέρ πατρίδος και πίστεως θάνατον. Ιεράρχου τε υπόδειγμα εαυτον ανέδειξε τον στέφανον λαβών τον αμαράντινον.

Apolytikion of St. Chrysostom of Smyrna in the Third Tone

A great martyr of the Church, a great hero to the whole nation, let us hymn Chrysostomos of Smyrna. Bravely struggling patiently for homeland and faith until death, he showed himself a model hierarch, receiving the unfading crown.

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Panagia Tsambikas: Sacred Shrines Which Honor the Nativity of the Theotokos (3)

Centuries ago the icon of Panagia Tsambika was located at the Holy Monastery Panagia Kykkos in Cyprus. In a miraculous manner, the icon would leave Cyprus and go to the mountain Zambiki of the Archangel in Rhodes. This would upset the monks of Kykkos and they went to all lengths within their power to confine the icon.

On Mount Zambiki the icon hid in a cypress tree. In the opposite region near the spring of Aimahiou a humble shepherd lived and he saw a strange light coming from Zambiki. At first he ignored it, but after three days of seeing the light he decided to climb the mountain to see what it was. Afraid that it might be thieves, he first notified the men of the village who grabbed their guns and went with him.

When they reached the top of the mountain they saw to their amazement that the light came from the icon of the Virgin Mary on the cypress tree, and it lit the icon like a vigil light. It was from this that the icon received its name, as the word tsamba in the local dialect of Rhodes means "spark" or " small fire"; the word has Turkish origins. The villagers brought the icon to the village, but the icon would leave and go to the spot it was found. After three repeated attempts it was figured that it was the will of the Panagia to have a church built on that spot.

This cypress tree is still there and can be viewed by the faithful. On its root there is a hole which sometimes releases warm or cold air, depending on the weather.

It should be underlined that the miraculous icon of Panagia Tsambika came from Cyprus three times. The monks of Kykkou Monastery located the icon in Rhodes and they took it back to Cyprus, but the icon returned to the same spot in Rhodes. In order to verify that the icon really left Cyprus the monks burned the back of the icon. This burned part can be seen very clearly till today.

From that time the icon has never left Rhodes. There were attempts to bring it to other parts of Greece for it to be venerated by the faithful, but each time in a miraculous manner the icon would return back to Rhodes. However in 2002 a chapel was built in honor of Panagia Tsambikas in Pera Horio of Cyprus, and the faithful asked for the consecration to take place in July 24th. The icon of Panagia Tsambikas was brought from Rhodes by Metropolitan Kyrillos of Rhodes with three priests. For three days the icon remained in Cyprus and was returned back to Rhodes by the Metropolitan.

The Holy Monastery of Panagia Tsambikas celebrates its feast day on September 8th to honor the Nativity of the Theotokos, and on the Third Sunday of the Great Fast when we also commemorate the Holy Cross.

One of the oldest miracles associated with Panagia Tsambika is tied around the buildings which surround the Monastery. These buildings belonged to a Turkish Pasha whose wife was unable to bear children. Learning of Panagia Tsambika, the wife of the Pasha prayed to her and ate the wick which burned the fire of the vigil lamp before the holy icon. Soon thereafter she found out she was pregnant, though the Pasha did not believe it and even believed the child was from another man. When the child was born, however, it held within its hand the wick the mother had eaten. As a thank offering, the Pasha gave all his property surrounding the Monastery to the Monastery.


Lower Panagia Tsambika

Panagia Tsambika is unique but she is honored and venerated in two places. The one monastery is high on the Sacred Hill, where the Higher Panagia, or the Lady (Kyra) is venerated. The other monastery, which is also a center of religious joy and consolation for the believers, is by the highway and it is called Panagia of Lower Tsambika.

In the region that the well-known and old Panagia Tsambika monastery lies today, there was a temple of the goddess Artemis in the classical period, as it is stated in an Epigram, that is a Sacred Law, where sacrifices and oblations to the goddess Artemis, the patron of hunting, are mentioned. An ancient necropolis has been located, with tombs dating from the Mycenaean and the Hellenistic periods. An ancient inscription was also found, which describes the offering of sacrifices by a woman to the goddess Artemis.

On the 8th of September every year thousands of believers come from all over the island to honor Virgin Mary. The church itself is of the Dodecanese type and it is covered externally with concave tiles. The floor of the church is covered with pebbles, as it was common in older times to cover the yards and the floors of houses and churches with black and white sea pebbles in various religious patterns. This fine church has an excellent wooden icon screen. The icons date from the 19th century, while the icon screen is older.


Higher Panagia Tsambika

Whilst sunning yourself on a sunbed at Tsambika you may notice a tiny white building atop the hill on the left hand side of the bay (as you face the sea). This is Panagia Tsambika Monastery, sometimes also known as Kyra (Our Lady). To visit it and admire the tremendous views there from the top, then you have to navigate a concrete road that twists and turns steeply up from the main road. The rest of the journey has to be made on foot - 307 stony stairs. The Monastery itself is tiny but has a reputation for helping women conceive - on its feast day barren women climb on their knees or barefoot up here to pray for children and when the happy event occurs the child is often called Tsambiko (boy) or Tsambika (girl). This name is unique on Rhodes. If you doubt this habit, just call this name out on a busy street in Rhodes, and you will see how successful the Monastery is. For a contemporary and detailed account of this miracle, read here.


Ἀπολυτίκιον (Σύνθεση του Μητροπολίτου Ρόδου κ.κ. Κυρίλλου)
Κρήνην έχουσα των δωρεών σου την εικόνα σου, η νήσος Ρόδος, Θεοτόκε Τσαμπίκα γεραίρει σε, και καυχωμένη ενθέως σοις θαύμασι, τον ασπασμόν του Αγγέλου προσάδοι σοι, Χαίρε κράζουσα, Παρθένε θεοχαρίτωτε, λαού του χριστωνύμου το διάσωσμα.

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