We Ought Not To Tell Others How To Live

Wanting to show that it is not wise for one to intervene in another's life, Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos would tell the following anecdote:

Once, a father was riding a donkey along a road while his son followed him on foot. Someone saw them and told the father:

"Don't you pity your son? You are comfortable, whereas that poor thing is walking. Take him also on the animal!"

So he lifted him onto the animal.

Another saw them and told the father:

"Don't you pity the poor animal? You will kill it - two men on top of it. Get off the poor thing!"

The father got off.

A third person saw them and said:

"Aren't you ashamed even a little? You give such an upbringing to your child? He is riding and you an old man are walking on foot? Teach him to respect you. Take him down off it!"

Now both the father and son were off the animal.

A fourth person met them:

"Are you stupid? What do you have an animal for? Why doesn't someone get up onto it?!"

Then the father, frustrated, exploded:

"Will you finally permit me to do once what I want to do?!"

From Counsels For Life: From the Life and Teachings of Father Epiphanios Theodoropoulos, p. 240.

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The Holy Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Habibus: Patrons of Honorable Marriage

Sts. Gurias, Samonas and Habibus (Feast Day - November 15)

During the persecution against Christians under the emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (305-311). The two friends Gurias and Samonas, preachers of the word of God, were arrested in the city of Edessa.

The saints refused to offer sacrifice to the gods, and boldly confessed their faith in Christ. For this they were subjected to cruel tortures: they were beaten, hung up by their hands, heavy weights were tied to their feet, and they were cast into a stifling prison.

The martyrs endured everything with firmness and Samonas uttered a prayer to the Lord, which one of the witnesses to their death wrote down:

"O Lord my God, against Whose will not a single sparrow falls into the snare. It was You Who made room for David in his sorrow (Ps. 4:1), Who proved the Prophet David stronger than lions (Dan. ch. 6), and granted a child of Abraham to be victor over torture and flames (Dan. ch. 3, ch. 14). You know also, Lord, the infirmity of our nature. You see the struggle set before us. Our foe strives to snatch us, the work of Your right hand, away from You and to deprive us of the glory which is in You. With Your compassionate eye watching over us, preserve in us the inextinguishable light of Your Commandments. Guide our steps by Your light, and make us worthy of Your Kingdom, for You are blessed unto ages of ages."

By night, they took the martyrs out beyond the city and beheaded them (+ 299-306). Christians buried their holy bodies with reverence.

After some years, the last pagan emperor, Licinius (311-324), began a persecution against Christians. Habibus, a deacon of the Church of Edessa whom the emperor ordered to be arrested for his zealous spreading of the true Faith, presented himself before the executioners when he learned they were searching for him. The saint confessed his faith in Christ and was sentenced to be burned alive. The martyr went willingly into the fire and with a prayer surrendered his soul to the Lord. When the fire went out, the mother and relatives of the saint found his body unharmed. They buried the martyr next to Sts Gurias and Samonas.

Patrons of Honorable Marriage

After the death of the saints, numerous miracles were wrought by them for those who entreated their help with faith and love. Once, a certain Gothic soldier, sent to serve at Edessa, took the pious virgin Euphemia as his wife. Before this the barbarian vowed to her mother Sophia at the graves of the Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Habibus that he would do his spouse no harm, and would never insult her, but would always love and cherish her.

At the completion of his service in Edessa, he took Euphemia with him back to his native land. It turned out that he had deceived her, for he already had a wife at home, and Euphemia became her slave. Her evil husband threatened to kill her if she revealed to anyone that they were married. Euphemia suffered much abuse and humiliation. When she gave birth to a son, the jealous Gothic woman poisoned him. Euphemia turned with prayer to the holy Martyrs Gurias, Samonas and Habibus, the witnesses to the perjurer's oath, and the Lord delivered Euphemia from her suffering and miraculously returned her to Edessa, where she was welcomed by her mother.

After a certain while the Goth was again sent to serve in Edessa. The whole city learned of his misdeeds after he was denounced by Sophia. The Goth was executed by order of the prefect of the city.

In an Akathist, the Holy Church addresses the martyrs: "Rejoice, Gurias, Samonas and Habibus, Heavenly Patrons of honorable marriage." We pray to them for deliverance from family turmoil, and from marital difficulties, especially where one spouse hates the other without cause.

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

Kontakion in the Second Tone
You received grace from on high, all-praised martyrs, and you intercede for those in the midst of temptations! Therefore, holy ones, you freed a young woman from bitter death. You are indeed the glory of Edessa and the joy of the world!



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Elder Paisios Responds to Protestant Inquiries On Saints and Icons

Question: The Lord taught us to pray to God the Father. The Orthodox Church prays to the Theotokos and the Saints who were people. Is this correct?

Answer: Listen, all prayers go to God. We pray to the Panagia and the Saints, that is, we request that they pray also to the Lord for us; their prayer has great power.

Question: Yes, but the Panagia and the Saints were people and they died. They do not hear us, nor are they present everywhere. Perhaps God is angry that we pray to them.

Answer: My child, to God no one dies. When someone dies, they died to us who still live on earth. They do not die to God. And if that person has boldness before God, they learn from Christ that we are requesting their prayers, though Christ listens and rejoices. The prayer of the righteous has great power.

Question: The Lord says: 'I am the Lord your God. Do not make idols or images. Do not venerate these, nor worship them, for I am the Lord your God and I am a jealous God.' The Orthodox Church venerates icons. Is this correct?

Answer: Listen, the mother who has her child in a war fears for him day and night. She has much to worry about. Suddenly she receives a letter from her child with a photo inside. When she sees it, what does she do? She takes it into her hands and kisses it, she puts it to her chest to touch her heart. So what do you think? Such a mother with such passionate desire that she has for her child, do you believe she is kissing a photograph? She believes she is kissing her child. The same is believed by those who have a passionate desire for the Panagia and the Saint they are venerating. We do not venerate icons because they are icons, but because of the Saints. And these not because they are people who exist, but because they suffered for Christ. It is true that God is jealous. Not however for His own, but for the devil. The Father is not jealous of His children. Do not worry, the Lord rejoices when He sees you honoring and loving His Mother and His Saints.

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Patriarch Pavle's Humble Way of Life

Patriarch Pavle of Serbia reposed one year ago today on 15 November 2009. He was a righteous man who has been honored with stories of his way of life. The following is from a conversation between Nikolai Kokukhin and Deacon Neboisha Topolic concerning Patriarch Pavle:

"By God’s mercy we have such a spiritual pastor as His Holiness, Patriarch Pavle… He leads an ascetic life and is a living example of an evangelical pastor. He lives in Christ in the full sense of this word… As an Orthodox monk he fasts, that is, does not eat meat, and keeps a very strict fast on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays… He serves the Liturgy every morning in a small chapel in the building of the patriarchate. There is no choir there, and only parishioners sing…

He vests himself before the service and unvests after the service, he Confesses and Communes parishioners himself. He has worn the same raso and cassock from the time of his tonsure to the angelic order (and this was fifty years ago). He does not replace them. He washes, irons, and mends them himself. He prepares his own food. Once he told me that he had made himself a pair of good boots out of women’s boots. He has all the instruments for fixing boots; he himself can fix any shoes. He frequently serves in different churches, and when he sees that a priest has a torn raso or phelonion, he says to him: ‘Bring it, and I’ll fix it’… Being around such a person is a great benefit for the education of the soul, for spiritual growth."

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Istanbul Greek School Down To Just One Student

November 15, 2010
Hurriyet Daily News

If 10-year-old Valendi Mihailidis forgets his pen or notebook at home, there is no one at his school he can borrow one from. The fourth-grader is the only student at the Kadıköy Greek Primary School in Istanbul, one of 22 schools in the city serving just 214 pupils.

When asked if he ever gets bored without other students around, Valendi told daily Radikal, “I want to have friends too, but there are also good sides of being alone.”

The number of students in the city’s Greek schools is decreasing day by day, the paper reported Monday. With a total population of Greeks in Turkey of around 3,000, just 10 of Istanbul’s Greek schools have students enrolled, some of them in similar situations to that of Valendi.

Under the terms of the Lausanne Treaty signed in 1923, only Greeks with Turkish citizenship, also known as Rums, can attend Turkey’s Greek schools, making it difficult to increase enrollment. The children of Greek citizens living in Turkey are not allowed to attend. Draft legislation was prepared four years ago to allow foreign students to enroll in the schools as well, but it faced a challenge by the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, and was not adopted into law.

As a result, the Greek Primary School in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district has had no students for the last six years. The Maraşlı Greek Primary School in the Fener neighborhood has just six students. The most crowded Greek school in the city is the Zapyon School, with 120 students. The Fener Greek Middle and High School has 60 students, while the 117-year-old Zoğrafyon School in the Taksim area has 41 students in its sixth, seventh and eight grades and high school classes.

“Do not let the curtain close. Let those schools be open to anyone who wants to learn Greek,” said Yani Demircioğlu, principal at Zoğrafyon School.

On Oct. 29, the Republic Day holiday, the windows of only one classroom at the Kadıköy Greek Primary School were decorated with flags. It is in that room that the school’s sole student receives his lessons. During break times, Valendi is alone as well. Sometimes he plays football with a teacher, sometimes he reads a book or paints.

The other classrooms have been abandoned and the lunch hall is used for storage. Within the last five years, the 139-year-old school has only had two or three students at a time. Two teachers currently work there, providing Valendi’s education. One of them, Hristo Peştemalcioğlu, who has been at the school for 18 years, is also the principal. With one secretary and one cleaning worker, the school’s total population is five people.

When Peştemalcioğlu, 46, started to work as a teacher at the Zoğrafyon School, there were 32 students. “[Now there are] no kids’ voices, no sounds of games, no competition between students,” he said. “But our student is very good; he is hard-working and never upsets us.”

Related article: More and More Greeks Seek Work in Turkey

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Award Winning Serbian Documentary on Mount Athos

The documentary by Goran Vukcevic The Holy Eucharist On Mount Athos was aired last Fall on Radio Television in Vojvodina, Serbia and has now won first prize at the Russki Pushkin Filmfestival near Moscow. It chronicles the pilgrimage of the Army Academy of Serbia to Mount Athos.

The entire documentary can be seen at this link: http://media.rtv.rs/sr_ci/specijali/177

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How To Fight Against Demons

By Fr. George Calciu

And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (Mt: 8:29)

Because the demon is a fallen angel, it is very difficult to be overcome by means of our intelligence and even by our (weak) faith and repentance. A demon possesses “intelligence” over us and greater power (to deceive) as it understands and sees things more clearly than us.

Prayer is one of the most powerful tools we have received from our Savior Jesus Christ, a weapon which the devil flees from. The prayer of St Basil (the Great) was so powerful that when the saint began to pray, all demons fled. God granted St. Basil this extraordinary power which He can also entrust to us – ordinary believers. Strive towards a deeper prayer, perhaps not one that would move “mountains”, but at least one that will clean us from sins and keep demons away. The way of fasting is also the way of purifying the flesh making it more transparent, for a gluttonous body is impenetrable to the (Holy) Spirit. The Spirit of God does not abide in a satisfied (fatty) flesh. For the fast that thins the flesh will make it hungry for the Word of God and, we’ll better understand His commandments and receive power to overcome the devil. However, the devil is not (always) defeated by everyone.

I have my own experience with this. Some years ago I had encountered a young (American) man possessed by an evil spirit. He was not acting evil; meaning by throwing himself down or by other frightful acts, but he had a total distrust in people. He feared God and the church but he was in much distress. When I was reading the prayers (exorcisms) of St. Basil over him, he was seized by a great tremor (fear). Perhaps – in those moments – his thoughts were in so much distress that he was responding by such inhuman/weird sounds. The demon (inside him) never attacked me; the man didn’t try to hit me or to escape from under the Epitrachelion. But he passed through these “states” (crises) which were from the demon that dwelt in him, and until he opened his soul to confession, he was not freed. When he falls again in temptation, he returns to me, and I pray over him these prayers (of St Basil). If the devil takes possession over his heart, he manifests in the (weird) way I’d mentioned above, but if not, then he’s only overcome by evil thoughts.


With time, the prayers began to work, but many temptations also aroused: he fights all sorts of images, distrustful thoughts that God had no power over him and that the prayers I read have not the same power as those of St Basil, al sorts of doubts to further distance him from the influence of prayer. But if you have a powerful prayer and have also fasted, know that the devil flees.

Our Lord Jesus Christ works in those who believe and received God’s grace through the sacrament of the priesthood, regardless of their virtues or sinfulness. Some are attracted to the intellect of the priest, others by the power of his prayers, while others by his counsel. There is always something that draws you to the priest and through this God grants him power. This is the Grace that was given to him by the “laying of hands” by which he can “bound all that can be bound on earth and absolve all that can be absolved” according to the Gospel. Amen.


Source: "To Serve Christ Means Suffering"

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Our Forefather Adam: A Russian Icon

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Bulgaria's Passion for John the Baptist: A Go-Nowhere Effort?

Milena Hristova
November 15, 2010
Novinite

The gilded domes of Bulgaria's largest cathedral reflect the rays of the setting sun as hundreds of the faithful line up for a chance to take a glimpse of relics that have made headlines all over the world. Once inside they touch the bones through cotton padding to avoid damaging them.

The John the Baptist relics hype exploded over the summer after their discovery, lagged during early fall, only to recapture Bulgarians' fancy in the winter in just one more proof that in post-communist Bulgaria religion often rubs up against superstition.

"I have come to pray for health and well-being. I am certain that the relics have miraculous powers and will protect my family from the evil and from disasters," explains Maria, an elderly woman, visibly exhausted, but radiant after the long hours spent outside.

Alexander, one of the very few young people waiting in the line says he really wanted to see the relics, but "you need to put up a tent to get there", there meaning Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

I consider myself a believer, why then the lofty smirk on my face as I pass by the long queue, winding up in the square in front of the cathedral?

Long queues have long been a rare sight in Bulgaria. The big deal about these relics is that they purportedly come from the Forerunner and Prophet John the Baptist, who heralded the coming of Christ and baptized Jesus. The remains, including a skull fragment and a tooth, were uncovered at the end of July during the excavation of a fourth-century monastery on St. Ivan Island, off Bulgaria's Black Sea coastal town of Sozopol. They were in a sealed reliquary buried next to a tiny urn inscribed with St. John's name and his birth date.

The excavation of a small alabaster box containing a few pieces of bone amid the ruins of a medieval monastery might easily have passed unnoticed as Bulgaria is rich with archaeological artifacts. But when Bulgarian archaeologists declared they had found relics of John the Baptist, their discovery became the subject of huge interest, much skepticism and even scam allegations.


My personal skepticism about the relics box-office draw potential and the possibility of turning Sozopol into a center of religious tourism and a second Jerusalem were nothing but fueled when I first saw them at Saint George church in the town of Sozopol shortly after their discovery. The display of the remains and the ambiance in the church was highly unimpressive. Two half-asleep policemen, a bag of cotton from the nearby pharmacy and the semi-dirty glass roof of the box the relics were in added to the gloomy and uninspiring picture.

My meetings with the people behind the discovery convinced me they were honest and genuine, but failed to dispel a lurking feeling of ill-ease.

I agree with excavation leader Professor Kazimir Popkonstantinov, a humble man, a strong believer and son of a preacher, that the discovery is a breakthrough and the Greek inscription on the tiny sandstone box is a very strong proof that the relics of John the Baptist are genuine.

I agree with Tsonya Drazheva, director of Burgas Regional History Museum and deputy head of the archaeological team, who dreamily says they have managed "to prove in the original milieu the existence of a legend".

I agree with the highly emotional Dimitar Nedev, director of the archaeological museum in Sozopol, who says it is important that these relics are not commercialized and purportedly belong to a saint respected not only by Christians, but by Arabs and Jews as well.

The problem is not even that their case for the relics mixes fact with hypothesis. I agree - what matters is that the relics had been acquired by the island's early monastic settlers in the genuine belief they were holy.

The problem is that brandishing someone's relics is not the best way to attract tourists and distract voters, especially when their discovery has been marred by a very public and vulgar row between a minister and archaeologists and their display has been that unimpressive and uninspiring.

The problem is that the government is in a hurry to get...somewhere. But it is barreling down the road without a map and is wasting all too often its energy on go-nowhere efforts.


These concerns apparently have not hurt the belief of many Bulgarians in the relics special – both economic and miraculous - powers.

Why?

Anything that has to do with miraculous healing, including relics, clairvoyants, soothsayers, fortune-tellers and astrologers with special powers, is booming in Bulgaria as never before on the back of the economic crisis, Bulgarians' despair and their predilection for mysticism and superstitions.

The communist era was a period of great persecution for the religious people in Bulgaria, turbulent times when religion officially did not exist and the entry into churches was banned. In recent years however Bulgaria's Orthodox church has been greatly discredited, leaving Christian believers nothing but disturbed.

People now try to rediscover faith in the intimacy of family and friends, in sudden surges of hope, kindness and joy, clairvoyants and ... relics. Despite the obvious fact that the Orthodox Church has been a little cavalier about the historicity of certain relics.

Cavalier is the last word one can use when it comes to the Bulgarian government plans to benefit from the box-office potential of the discovery. Officials of the recession-hit country believe the relics will promote religious tourism, hoping this will be the driver to prompt further the interest of the faithful people and translate into a tourist bonanza for the resort region.


"Catholic countries such as Italy, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Spain and even France all have well developed "shrine tourism" businesses on the back of someone's bones. As does Israel. So why not Bulgaria?", says Ivan Petrov, a veteran hotelier who runs a family hotel and complains that occupancy was down by 40% this year.

Why not? Because promises whispered in the heat of passion or without any follow-through are not worth anyone's time.

Related articles:

Hundreds Line up in Sofia to Pay Homage to St. John's Relics

Putin Pays Respect to St. John Relics, Honors Bulgarian Patriarch

Putin's Picture with St John Relics to Lure Russians to Bulgaria

Putin: Bulgaria to Attract 500 000 Russian Tourists 2011

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The Nativity Fast and Orthodox Tradition

For us, the Nativity Fast serves to refresh the last part of the year - mystically renewing our spiritual unity with God and preparing us for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ.

St. Leo the Great wrote: “Four periods [of the year] have been set aside as times of abstinence, so that over the course of the year we might recognize that we are constantly in need of purification, and that amid life’s distractions, we should always strive by means of fasting and acts of charity to extirpate sin, sin which is multiplied in our transitory flesh and in our impure desires.”

According to Leo the Great, the Nativity Fast is a sacrifice to God [in return for] the gathered harvest.

The Holy Hierarch stated, “Just as the Lord has generously granted us abundance of the fruits of the earth, so should we, during the time of this Fast, be generous to the poor.”

According to St. Symeon of Thessalonica, “…the Nativity Forty-day Fast represents the fast undertaken by Moses, who, having fasted for forty days and forty nights, received the Commandments of God, written on stone tablets [of the Law]. And we, fasting for forty days, will reflect upon and receive from the Virgin of the living Word - not written upon stone, but born, incarnate, and we will commune of His Divine Body.”

The Nativity Fast was established to allow us through repentance, prayer and fasting to cleanse ourselves before the Nativity of Christ, so that with clean heart, soul, and body, we might reverently meet the Son of God, Who has come into the world and so that in addition to bringing the usual gifts and sacrifices, we might bring Him our clean hearts and a desire to follow His teachings.

May God grant that we all spend the salvific days of the Nativity Fast in such a way as to be a great benefit to our souls.

Source

Related Links:

Why the Nativity Fast Has Been Established

The Nativity Fast, Otherwise Known As Advent, Has Begun

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Why the Nativity Fast Has Been Established

The Orthodox Church prepares its faithful to welcome the Nativity of Christ in a worthy manner by means of a 40-day Nativity fast, which lasts from November 15th to December 25.

Besides generally known reasons, the Nativity fast is also undertaken by Orthodox Christians in order to venerate the suffering and sorrow undergone by the Holy Mother of God at the hands of the scribes and the Pharisees just prior to the sacred event of Christ’s Nativity.


Holy Tradition tells us that shortly before the righteous Joseph and the Holy Virgin set off for Bethlehem, they were subjected to the following tribulation. A certain scribe by the name of Ananias, entering their home and seeing the Virgin pregnant, was severely distressed and went to the High Priest and the entire Jewish council, saying: “Joseph the carpenter, who has been regarded as a righteous man, has committed an iniquity. He has secretly violated the Virgin Who was given to him from the temple of God for safekeeping. And now She is with child.” Then the High Priest’s servants went to Joseph’s house, took Mary and Joseph, and brought them to the High Priest, who began to denounce and shame the Most-blessed Virgin Mary.

But the Holy Virgin, crying in deep sorrow, replied: “The Lord God is My witness that I am innocent and have known no man.” Then the High Priest accused the righteous Joseph, but the latter swore on oath that he was not guilty of this sin. Yet the High Priest did not believe them and subjected them to the trial that was customary in those times, (when a woman suspected of violation was given to drink bitter water that had been cursed by the High Priest). However, the trial just served to confirm the innocence of the Holy Virgin and the righteous Joseph. All those present were amazed at this, unable to understand how a Virgin could simultaneously be with child and yet remain inviolate.


After that the High Priest allowed the holy couple to go home in peace. The righteous Joseph took the Virgin Mary and went to his house, joyously glorifying God. But this was not the end of the Holy Theotokos’ trials. It is well known that afterwards she shared with Joseph the toil of a three-day journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. And in Bethlehem there was no place for the Holy Virgin either in an inn, or in some home, and since night was already approaching, She was forced to seek shelter in a cave which served as a resting place for cattle. In this humblest of shelters the Most-blessed Virgin remained in prayer and divine contemplation. It is here that She painlessly gave birth to our Lord Jesus Christ, Saviour of the world.


We can see from all of the above that the days immediately preceding the Nativity were not days of rest and comfort for the Holy Mother of God. In those days She suffered various sorrows and trials, but did not leave off her prayers and contemplation. The Holy Church appeals to the faithful to participate, at least to some small degree, in the Holy Theotokos’ spiritual labor, constraining one’s flesh during the Nativity fast and nourishing one’s soul with prayer. However, the Church warns us that external fasting only is not enough. We must also apply ourselves to internal fasting, which consists of shunning malice, deceit, wrath, worldly bustle, and other vices. During this fast, as at all times, we must show works of love and mercy to our fellow beings, doing all we can to help those in need and in sorrow. Only then will our fasting be genuine and not hypocritical, only then will it be God-pleasing, and only then will we know the true joy of the bright feast of Christ’s Nativity.


Source: “Orthodox Russia”, No. 21, 1999.

Related Links:

The Nativity Fast and Orthodox Tradition

The Nativity Fast, Otherwise Known As Advent, Has Begun

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Saint Constantine the New Martyr of Hydra

New Martyr Constantine of Hydra (Feast Day - November 14)

Saint Constantine of Hydra lived in the years of Ottoman rule. He was born and raised on the heroic island of Hydra. His parents were most pious Orthodox Christians and they nurtured him with the laws of faith and love towards Christ and his country.

The poverty and lack of work on the island forced him, despite the objections of his mother, to travel to Rhodes, to work towards securing the future and to help his home.

He was honest and hardworking, and because of this everyone loved him. Some friends introduced him to the Turkish governor of Rhodes, Hassan Kapitan, who gave him a job in his seraglio. He groomed Hasan Bey’s horse and did various other jobs always willingly.

At a great gathering Constantine got drunk and Hassan Kapitan asked the Hodjas to have a sounneti, in other words to circumcise him, and put on him the white turban, giving him the name of the governor, Hassan. When he woke up the next morning he realized what had happened, but it was difficult to react immediately. His concern grew when, having sent his mother money with someone, she heard that he had changed his faith, and in utter bitterness she threw away the money, locked her house and cried day and night, inconsolable for what happened to her child.

In Rhodes again all his friends distanced themselves from him and were sorry, because they saw him as a Janissary.

He went to Hydra to see his mother and as he approached his family home he asked for a drink of water from a woman of the neighborhood which she gave him, but as soon as she stepped away from him she broke the container that touched his lips. Arriving at the house he knocked on the door and to his mother’s question as to who it was he replied, “I am your son Hasan who has arrived from Rhodes." With a voice twisted in pain she replied: “I’m not opening to you. I don’t have any son Hassan. I only have a son Constantine.”

Only God knows the sorrow and pain of the young man from Hydra. Without losing time he returned to Rhodes and directly went to Rodini where in a cave an Elder lived in asceticism. Kneeling in front of his feet he confessed his sin and the Spiritual Father gave him forgiveness and the appropriate advice on what he should do thereafter.

He threw away the turban and Turkish clothes and taking a boat he first went to Crimea and then to Constantinople, where the Holy Ethnomartyr Patriarch Gregory V advised him to go to Mount Athos and stay there forever.

Having remained in the Monastery of the Iveron living with much repentance, prayer and ascesis, and having taken the monastic schema, with the permission of the abbot he returned to Rhodes with the firm decision to go to Hassan Capitan and tell him that he was a Christian and as a Christian he would die.

The blessed hour arrived. He went in front of his former boss, the terrible governor of Rhodes, Hassan. With faith and indescribable courage he said: "Hassan Bey I am your servant Constantine from Hydra who you fraudulently made a Muslim. I return you your false religion and tell you that I am a Christian and a Christian I will die.” Hassan was in a daze. Seeing Constantine throwing the Muslim turban to the flies he was incredibly angry and rushed at Constantine hitting him with fists and kicks. In the palace of the Knights was a dark basement which was called the prison of Zyntantou. Zintani in Turkish means darkness. There they began to terribly torture him day and night. In the end they tied him to a tree trunk putting his feet in two holes. He endured all with unceasing prayer. One night the jail shined with a heavenly light and his feet were freed from the locks. Turkish and Christian prisoners admired him.

After five months they brought him again before the Turkish commander and having the same faith and courage he again confessed the Christian faith and was returned to prison. On 14 November 1800, by order of the Sultan, Constantine suffered a martyr's death by hanging, which according to some took place at Kolona, and according to others at Mandraki. He kissed his small Cross and prayed, and when the executioner went to get Constantine he threw him on a plane tree, that he not fall into profane hands. Constantine was 30 years old when he was hung on the plane tree. Turks and Christians relate that on that night when Constantine was martyred a great bright Cross shone with its light on the plane tree. The next year a strong tornado tore down the plane tree and after a short time the commander Hassan Bey died from a bad illness.

The then Bishop of Rhodes Agapios and the clergy of Rhodes sought the holy relics of Constantine and buried it with great honors behind the Church of the Entrance of the Theotokos in Niochori. Later the marble plaque that was placed above the Saint’s grave by his fellow countryman Constantine Kafas was uncovered and today is in the wall of the same church:

"This is the tomb of the Holy Neomartyr Constantine Nydriotis, placed by Constantine Kafa of Hydra.”

This was written by the Saint’s fellow countryman on his grave. After three years the Saint’s mother came to Rhodes and took the relics of her son with her with a permission letter of the Metropolitan of Rhodes Agapios and transferred it to Hydra, placing it in the Monastery of Panagia where it remains to this day in a golden reliquary. The then Priest of Niochoriou Papagiannis kept the ulna of the arm of the Martyr which is preserved in a silver reliquary to this day in the altar of the Church. After a century the Ecumenical Patriarch officially ranked Constantine among the choirs of the Holy Neomartyrs, and ordered that his memory be celebrated on the 14th of November, the day he was hanged.

Source

St. Constantine is celebrated both on the island of Rhodes (see here and here) and on the island Hydra (see here) with much joy and pride.

Apolytikion in the First Tone
Constantine of Hydra, the most-precious shield, the boast of Neomartyrs, who contested on Rhodes, in hymns and spiritual odes, let us providently honor him O bretheren who suffered for Christ, and received death by hanging. Therefore he rules together with Christ, and he grants abundant healings greater in number than the sand to all who flee to him.

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The Message of St. Gregory Palamas For The World Today

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Constantinople's Greatest Tragedy

The Siege of Constantinople, Moldovita Monastery, Romania

“The greatest tragedy in its vast and glorious tapestry is not the way in which it fell, but that it has been consigned to irrelevance, its voices unheeded and its lessons unlearned. For those who have eyes to see, however, the lonely Theodosian walls still stand, battered and abused, marching the long miles from the Sea of Marmara to the waters of the Golden Horn. There they serve as a fitting testament to that epic struggle five centuries ago, an unwavering reminder that the Roman Empire didn’t expire in the humiliation of a little Augustus but in the heroism of a Constantine.”

- Lars Brownworth, Lost to the West

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Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Troy Polamalu

Patricia Sheridan
November 08, 2010
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Although he's known for his soft-spoken ways, Steelers' five-time Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu last week spoke out against National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell's crackdown on violent tackling and questioned whether the official had too much power. His comments came after Steelers linebacker James Harrison was fined $75,000 for what the league called illegal hits.

Mr. Polamalu is also known for his big hair and big plays and has attracted legions of fans who love to watch him fly around the field and see his hair balloon in those Head & Shoulders commercials. In fact, Lloyd's of London has insured his lush locks for $1 million.

Born in California of Samoan decent, he lived with his single mother until he was 9. After that he was raised by his aunt and uncle in Oregon. Now at 29, No. 43 is the father of two young sons and a devout convert to Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Christianity. He and his wife, Theodora, welcomed their second child, Ephraim, in September. He joined his 2-year-old brother Paisios. The family lives in Pittsburgh and California.

He spoke to Patricia Sheridan before he made his comments about the NFL's handling of the violent tackling issue.

How is everyone adjusting to the new baby?

Everybody is doing well, thank God. My wife is struggling. Obviously she isn't getting any sleep [chuckle]. But, she's got help around the house with her mother and grandmother.

Would you call yourself a superstitious guy? The camera often catches you crossing yourself and praying on the sidelines.

No, not at all, I would say most religions (me being Greek Orthodox) are the antithesis of what superstition is. I would say I'm more traditional than I am superstitious. I don't, for example, have to do things ritually before the game in order to feel comfortable going to the game. But I don't think I'm naturally a football player. I don't have that grit and that killer instinct. In fact, I see a lot of fear and a lot of traps, spiritually, for me in football -- as in any other part of my life. Whenever I do the sign of the cross, it always brings comfort in situations when you are faced with adversity and stress.

Do you use it as a way to concentrate or meditate?

I wouldn't call it meditation. People say prayer is a form of meditation. You can call it that, but no, it's just prayer.

Troy, how do you reconcile the Samoan warrior spirit you've talked about in other interviews, with your Christian, Greek Orthodox teachings?

Well, yeah that is a strange dichotomy. In one sense I do come from an ethnicity that is full of the warrior mentality. It is a struggle. But let's not separate what a physical warrior and a spiritual warrior can be. In one sense you can be a soldier. In another, you fight, as the Bible describes, bodiless powers. In one sense that's where my struggle is -- trying to be a valiant Christian warrior struggling against my own passions.

How did you come to Greek Orthodoxy? You and Theodora did it together, correct?

We did, yeah. I grew up as a kind of nondenominational Christian. I have two uncles who are Baptist ministers. I went to a Samoan church when I was younger. I went to a Catholic school, so I was actually able to experience a lot of different religions. Mormonism, as well. My father in-law, who I'm very close with, is a Muslim. I feel like that's been a huge gift. So I wasn't ignorant to a lot of other things that were out there. I went through a part of my spiritual journey, (my wife, I'm including in this) where I was like, there's just got to be one truth.

What triggered this? Was there something that happened?

There isn't, but if you want to talk about religion and one's existence, you can't really go into that gray area. You know? You can kind of try to be ignorant and say, "You know, I think God exists and I think I'm comfortable with where I'm at with God." But if you say you are a Christian and you really study what the Christian struggle is -- there is no gray area. There has to be the one truth and it has to be taken seriously. So I went in depth. What is Christianity? There are all these different religions -- where were they all founded? I wanted to get to the source, because if I saw there was a flaw in the source, then there's a flaw in the religion. I saw that Orthodoxy, without a shadow of a doubt, is a flawless religion.

Have you always been this focused and disciplined?

I guess in one sense I've kind of been obsessive compulsive. You know, if I fly fish, I want to be the best fly fisherman out there. I want to be able to get the best gear and do everything right. I've just never been a fan of just kind of dipping your toes into something and saying, "Ah, it's not for me." I've always tried to perfect everything I've been a part of. That's one thing that's beautiful about Orthodoxy, it's like an abyss of knowledge that just keeps getting deeper and deeper. It's endless.

Being a perfectionist, do you feel pressure from everyone's expectations?

I don't, because I never thought people could put higher expectations on me than I put on myself. Many times in my life people have said, "You had a good game." In my mind there are a lot of opportunities where, for example, I would say "I should have made this play and I didn't have the guts. I was too tentative. I was too scared to put myself out there and really make a play."

But it doesn't cause you stress?

No it doesn't. It humbles me more than anything.

You are often described as being humble and respectful. Was that something you learned growing up?

Honestly, I wouldn't say I'm very humble. If people could hear my thoughts ... [laughing] But I guess it's something I learned growing up, being raised by a lot of different family members, from aunts and uncles, to parents, to friends' families. It was just always to be respectful to your elders. It's just something that is within the Samoan tradition.

From what I read, Troy, your parents separated and you lived with your aunt and uncle.

My parents separated before I was 1 year old. I moved in with my aunt and uncle when I was in fourth grade. I was like 8 or 9 years old. I was getting in a lot of trouble when I was in Southern California. My older sisters were in gangs. My older brother was in gangs. My cousins were all in gangs. Well, not all my cousins. We actually went to visit my aunt and uncle in Oregon. I was always close with them. So, when I went up there and I saw sheep and cattle, trees, mountains, creeks, I was honestly in awe. I loved it. I asked my mom, "Can I just stay here? I don't want to leave." She let me stay for a couple more weeks. When she called for me to come back I cried. I said, "No, this is my home. I gotta stay here." I'm only in fourth grade. My aunt and uncle agreed. I stayed there and it was just so beautiful. You know when the sun is shining in Oregon there's no better place. But then it rains [laughing].

That changed the trajectory of your life. Was your mom OK with it?

Yeah, she was OK with it. It's nothing I could ever do with my children, I know that. By God's grace everything worked out. What's amazing about it is to see the opportunities and experiences I've had playing football at U.S.C. (University of Southern California) and playing football here and being part of successful teams and organizations. Meeting great football players and wondering what my life would be like had I not gone. You know? I might have been the complete opposite.

Polamalu is your mother's maiden name. Did you take it out of respect for that side of the family?

Yeah, it was out of respect for my aunt and uncle, Salu and Shelley Polamalu, who raised me. My father wasn't in my life that much. My mother obviously raised me from birth to third grade.

With all the news and new information about concussions does it make you think twice about letting your sons play football when the time comes?

I honestly don't care what they would want to do. I would like them to play athletics because there are a lot of lessons in athletics, and it's better to make mistakes in athletics than in real life. I continue to learn as a 29-year-old father in sports, that I don't have to go out in real life and make mistakes. I would just hope they would give everything they have to try to perfect whatever it is that they are in, whether it's music, sports, being a teacher, being a garbage man, whatever it is I would just hope that they would apply perfection to their job.

Speaking of that, I understand you're a big surfer. How does that skill translate onto the field?

Honestly, surfing is awesome. I'm not a very good surfer at all. I enjoy surfing and I try to surf a lot. It's awesome. To me it is great training. Just getting out there and having the inner struggle with Mother Nature. Football is different. You are playing against other people and that's even a greater challenge. People are way more dynamic. I just love being around the water and being around the ocean.

Now what about your hair? You just started growing it in college and never stopped? What would it take for you to cut it?

I don't know. I already know that I won't cut my children's hair. [laughing] So you are right it was just kind of college and going through a grungy stage. You know, you don't shave and you don't cut your hair. It started to just become a part of my identity.

It would be headline [pun intended] news if you cut it. It must be weird knowing your hair is so famous.

[Laughing] It is kind of weird. There's a lot of guys with long hair in the NFL.

Well, you kind of started that. Recently you were described as being as fast as a bolt of lightning. How does that feel and how do you keep your ego in check?

[Laughing] I think you have to put things in perspective. Like my first year here, I had a really horrible rookie year. I was scrutinized pretty heavily and I was called a draft bust and all these different things. I've never forgotten that. And I've never picked up a paper since. It helped me understand you can't really believe what everybody tells you whether it's good or bad. It's important not to pay any attention to any of that.

Speaking of that you've done some very funny commercials. Are you comfortable in that role?

I'm starting to get more comfortable. At first I was really uncomfortable. This last off-season we shot three commercials and the previous off-season we shot two with Head & Shoulders. I've had an opportunity with Nike and Coca-Cola to do some commercials. It gives me a whole new respect for what actors and actresses go through. For a 15-second commercial I'm there for eight hours. Yeah! [Laughing] With the hair, the wind, you know all that stuff. [laughing]. It's pretty fun. You are babied and treated like you are a superstar. You get your own trailer. Honestly being on the football field is something I feel has been natural to my path in life. But when I'm on the set, and I look at all these people running around like caterers and acting coaches that's when it hits me -- where in the world am I right now? That's kind of been more of a slap of reality to me than, you know, walking off the field holding the Super Bowl trophy.

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Is the Road to Hell Paved With the Skulls of Priests and Bishops?

A well-known idiom reads: "The road to hell is paved with good intentions". The origin of the imagery of this proverb, most popularly attributed to St. John Chrysostom, has many forms which has come down to us, but the most popular version is: "The road to hell is paved with the skulls of erring priests, with bishops as their signposts." The fullest form seems to be: "The road to Hell is paved with the bones of priests and monks, and the skulls of bishops are the lamp posts that light the path." Some even say that St. Athanasius wrote before this: "The floor of hell is covered with the skulls of bishops." The truth is, however, that no one can find the primary source for these quotes, as some even attribute it to later writers such as Alphonsus Ligouri, John Eudes, Teresa of Avila, and even Dante.

What is interesting is that all of these writers were critical of the clergy in their time. Yet for some reason, this is the quote that has been chosen to be attributed to them. The imagery certainly seems inspired by Dante, while the Early Fathers, with all their strong rhetoric, did not decorate language so strongly in their criticisms of the clergy so as to make such an over-generalized comment. The only thing we do find, which may also contribute to the origin of this quote, are certain tales in the Desert Fathers who provide frightful images of hell. There is even one saying which speaks of a lazy monk who died and was later seen in hell by a weeping Elder in a vision, to which the lazy monk comforted his Elder saying: “Abba, don’t be weeping like that, because I can tell you something really true that will cheer you up - I am standing on a bishop’s shoulders!” It should be noted, however, that some scholars do attribute this last tale to some time after the 6th or 7th century.

Since we can confidently say that St. John Chrysostom never said these words, we must look to other sources. What seems most probable to me is that the post-Dantian imagery coupled with the over-generalization of criticism of the clergy in the quote evokes something one would find in the writings of the Protestant Reformers. If we look at the issue textually, we do find in the writings of John Wesley the attribution of the following quote to St. John Chrysostom: "The road to hell is paved with the souls of priests" (see here). In the book The Works of John Wesley (v. 26 p. 237, OUP 1982) there is a footnote that the word 'souls', "... is almost certainly a misreading of Wesley's tremulous writing of 'sculls'...." The note goes on to say that various Victorian writers agree in referring this proverb to St. Chrysostom, "...but so far this has not been traced in his writings." Though I have not confirmed it, it would seem probable to me that the possible source for this quote attributed to Chrysostom would be a corpus of later writings known as Pseudo-Chrysostom that are falsely attributed to the real Chrysostom. Perhaps it was from this that John Wesley, who was a Reformer well-read in the Church Fathers, got this quote.

According to T.J. Buckton in Notes and Queries (ser.1.V.117, 1852, p.92) it is “probably quoted at second or third hand, and with rhetorical embellishments - certainly not from the original direct - an expression of St. Chrysostom, in his third homily on the Acts of the Apostles: 'I know not if there be many in the priesthood who are saved, but I know that many more perish.'" An actual translation of this passage from Chrysostom's third homily of Acts more accurately reads: "I do not think there are many among Bishops that will be saved, but many more that perish." Chrysostom here is definitely talking about bishops, in context, and trying to deter men from corruptly obtaining high ecclesiastical office. We know that simony was a major issue in his time and he played a major role in making it cease.

I have posted before concerning the sin of rashly rebuking priests (here), but sometimes it is necessary. In the New Testament we have some provisions on how this is to be done:

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector” (Matthew 18:15-17).

“Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning" (1 Timothy 5:19-20).

There are also examples, as in Galatians 2:11-14 where St. Paul writes:

"And when Kephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he clearly was wrong. For, until some people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to draw back and separated himself, because he was afraid of the circumcised. And the rest of the Jews (also) acted hypocritically along with him, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not on the right road in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Kephas in front of all, 'If you, though a Jew, are living like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?'”

It is always important when reading the Holy Fathers and Holy Scripture to first consider the context in which they are speaking before applying it to our own situation. For example, when Chrysostom said what he really said, it is well known that simony was a major issue. Furthermore, within his memory was the Arian controversy of the 4th century when it is said that approximately one third of the bishops in the Church became Arian (even more in the area of Constantinople), along with countless priests and entire dioceses. Even in St. John's time Christological heresies were still very much in vogue among the clergy and laity. Within this context, we can very much understand the need to preach such things to the simple people of Constantinople so they not go astray and follow a false gospel.

And we should always consider that Chrysostom's words of caution were not only spoken about bishops and priests, but about lay people as well. He is noted to have also said in one public homily: "Out of this great number of people, how many do you think will be saved? Among so many thousands of people, we would not find a hundred who are."

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The Sarcophagus of St. John Chrysostom in Komani, Georgia

St. John spent three years in exile, and reposed as an exile on the Feast of the Elevation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross, September 14, 407, in the town of Komani in Georgia (Abkhazia). Before his repose, the Holy Apostles John and Peter appeared to him, as did the Holy Martyr Basilisk (May 22) in whose church he received Communion for the last time. His last words were, "Glory be to God for all things," and with that, the soul of the golden-mouthed patriarch was taken into Paradise.

The Church of St. Basilisk still exists in Komani where St. John received his final Communion, as well as the sarcophagus in which the relics of St. John Chrysostom originally rested before being transferred to Constantinople. The Monastery of St. John Chrysostom is the place of St. John's exile and his repose.


In July 1993 it also became a place of conflict when 500 natives were slaughtered, as the video below shows. More photos of the monastery can be seen here.

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Video: The Return of the Relics of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Theologian to Constantinople

In 2004, responding to the request of His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and recognizing the importance of St. John Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Theologian to Orthodox Christians around the world, Pope John Paul II agreed to return the relics of these two great Fathers of the Church and Ecumenical Teachers to their original resting place in the Ecumenical Patriarchate. This program (produced by GOTelecom and funded by the Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Order of St. Andrew) highlights the moving Ecumenical Service at the Vatican and the Service at the Ecumenical Patriarchate while informing the viewer of the historical significance of these saints.

Read more here.

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Saint John Chrysostom, Patriarch of Constantinople

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

John was born in Antioch in the year 354. His father, Secundus, was an imperial commander and his mother's name was Anthusa. Studying Greek philosophy, John became disgusted with Hellenic paganism and adopted the Christian Faith as the one and all-embracing truth. Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch, baptized John, and his parents also subsequently received baptism.

Following his parents' repose, John was tonsured a monk and lived a strict life of asceticism. He then wrote a book, On the Priesthood, after which the Holy Apostles John and Peter appeared to him, and prophesied that he would have a life of great service, great grace and great suffering. When he was to be ordained a priest, an angel of God appeared simultaneously to John and to Patriarch Flavian (Meletius's successor). While the patriarch was ordaining John, a shining white dove was seen hovering over John's head.

Glorified for his wisdom, asceticism and power of words, John was chosen as Patriarch of Constantinople at the behest of Emperor Arcadius. As patriarch, he governed the Church for six years with unequalled zeal and wisdom. He sent missionaries to the pagan Celts and Scythians and eradicated simony in the Church, deposing many bishops guilty of this vice. He extended the charitable works of the Church and wrote a special order of the Divine Liturgy. He shamed the heretics, denounced Empress Eudoxia, interpreted Holy Scripture with his golden mind and tongue, and bequeathed the Church many precious books of his homilies. The people glorified him, the envious loathed him, and the Empress, on two occasions, sent him into exile.

John spent three years in exile, and reposed as an exile on the Feast of the Elevation of the Precious and Life-giving Cross, September 14, 407, in the town of Komani in Georgia. Before his repose, the Holy Apostles John and Peter appeared to him again, as did the Holy Martyr Basilisk (May 22) in whose church he received Communion for the last time. His last words were, "Glory be to God for all things," and with that, the soul of the golden-mouthed patriarch was taken into Paradise. Chrysostom's head reposes in the Church of the Dormition in Moscow, and his body reposes in the Vatican in Rome.


Reflection

Punishment and reward! Both of these are in the hands of God. But, as this earthly life is only a shadow of the true life in the heavens, so punishment and reward here on earth are only a shadow of true punishment and reward in eternity.

The principle persecutors of the saint of God Chrysostom were Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria and Empress Eudoxia. After Chrysostom's martyric death, bitter punishment befell them both. Theophilus went mad, and Eudoxia was banished from the imperial court by Emperor Arcadius. Eudoxia soon became ill with an incurable disease - wounds opened up all over her body, and worms came out of her wounds. Such was the stench that she gave off, that it was not easy for a person on the street to pass by her house. Physicians used all the most powerful perfumes and incense if only to overcome the stench from the wicked empress, but had little success. The empress finally died in corruption and agony. Even after death, the hand of God lay heavy on her. The coffin containing her body shook day and night for a full thirty-four years until Emperor Theodosius translated the relics of St. John Chrysostom to Constantinople.

But what happened to Chrysostom after his repose? Reward - such reward as only God can give. Adeltius, the Arabian bishop who received the exiled Chrysostom into his home in Cucusus, prayed to God after Chrysostom's repose that He reveal to him where John's soul was to be found. Adeltius then had a vision while at prayer. It was as though he were out of himself, and was led through the heavens by a radiant youth who showed him the hierarchs, pastors and teachers of the Church in order, calling each of them by name - but he did not see John. Then that angel of God led him to the passage out of Paradise, and Adeltius was downcast. When the angel asked him why he was sad, Adeltius replied that he was sorry that he had not seen his beloved teacher, John Chrysostom. The angel replied: "No man who is still in the flesh can see him, for he is at God's throne with the Cherubim and Seraphim."


HYMN OF PRAISE: Saint John Chrysostom

The Church glorifies St. John
The "Golden-mouth", blessed by God,
Christ's great soldier,
Who is the adornment and boast of the Church:
Profound of heart and mind,
And a golden-stringed harp of words.
He plumbed the depths of mysteries,
And found the pearl that shines as the stars.
Exalted in mind to heaven's height,
He expounded divine truth;
And his vision is true throughout history.
He gave all to the Son of God.
He revealed to us the horrors of sin,
And the virtues that adorn a man;
He showed us the most precious mysteries,
And all the sweet richness of Paradise.
Evangelist, interpreter of the Gospel
And bearer of spiritual joy,
Zealous for Christ like an apostle,
He would accept no injustice.
He was tormented like any martyr,
And received his torment as a pledge of salvation.
This servant of Christ showed himself true;
Therefore, the Church glorifies Chrysostom.

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
The grace of your words illuminated the universe like a shining beacon. It amassed treasures of munificence in the world. It demonstrated the greatness of humility, teaching us by your own words; therefore, O Father John Chrysostom, intercede to Christ the Logos for the salvation of our souls.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Second Tone
You received divine grace from Heaven, and by your own lips taught all to worship the One God in Trinity. All-blessed, venerable John Chrysostom, deservedly, we praise you for you are a teacher clearly revealing things divine.

A Note on the Feasts of St. John Chrysostom

The following feasts of St. John Chrysostom are celebrated by the Church:

November 13 - His repose (which was transferred from Sept. 14)

December 15 - His enthronement as Patriarch of Constantinople

January 27 - The transfer of his relics to Constantinople

January 30 - The feast of the Three Hierarchs

February 26 - His ordination as a priest

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Disgraced Serbian Bishop Artemije Threatens To Start "New Church"

November 12, 2010
EarthTimes

The disgraced Serbian Orthodox Bishop Artemije has demanded that he be reinstated as the Kosovo eparch, warning that he would otherwise start a "new church," the daily Blic said Friday.

The Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) stripped Artemije of authority over the Kosovo eparchy in February over his "inability to govern" and shortcomings in fiscal and material accounting.

He was also banned from performing services amid concerns within SPC that he may split the church.

A group of radical monks from two monasteries in the Kosovo eparchy, which also covers a part of southern Serbia, rebelled against SPC after Artemije's ouster.

Now Artemije, "writing from exile in the Sisatovac monastery" in northern Serbia, is alleging that he was "sentenced without court and sentence," Blic quoting his letter to the SPC synod as saying.

Artemije spoke for himself and the rebellious monks, the newspaper said. The group represents the far-right wing within the church and may have support from some of the SPC bishops.

Artemije's threats come ahead of a meeting of the SPC assembly on November 17. The SPC, which traditionally aims to keep the public out of its affairs, did not immediately comment on Artemije's letter.

The mutiny could further strain already fragile relations between reformists and hardliners within the SPC leadership, who have been unable to agree on issues ranging from ties with renegade orthodox churches in Macedonia and Montenegro to the form of the liturgy.

Read also: Retired Bishop To Establish "New Church"?

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A Mysterious Greek Orthodox Monastery In Arizona?

An investigation reported on February 9, 2006 of St. Anthony's Monastery in Arizona by KVOA Tucson is featured below which obviously and understandably shows a lot of misunderstanding about Orthodox monasticism, but also sheds light on some authentic concerns of how this monastery refuses to confront the concerns and possible misunderstandings of hundreds with open communication. If the monastery can't openly communicate its mission, then it only leaves one to wonder what it has to hide.




Related links:

St. Anthony's Orthodox Monastery in Arizona

A Greek Pilgrim Visits St. Anthony's Monastery in Arizona

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Saint Columba and the Loch Ness Monster

The event described below by St. Adomnan (c. 690) in his Vita Sancti Columbae is said to have happened in 565 AD:

Concerning a certain water beast driven away by the power of the blessed man's prayer.

Also at another time, when the blessed man was for a number of days in the province of the Picts, he had to cross the river Nes [Ness]. When he reached its bank, he saw a poor fellow being buried by other inhabitants; and the buriers said that, while swimming not long before, he had been seized and most savagely bitten by a water beast. Some men, going to his rescue in a wooden boat, though too late, had put out hooks and caught hold of his wretched corpse. When the blessed man heard this, he ordered notwithstanding that one of his companions should swim out and bring back to him, by sailing, a boat that stood on the opposite bank. Hearing this order of the holy and memorable man, Lugne mocu‑Min obeyed without delay, and putting off his clothes, excepting his tunic, plunged into the water. But the monster, whose appetite had earlier been not so much sated as whetted for prey, lurked in the depth of the river. Feeling the water above disturbed by Lugne's swimming, it suddenly swam up to the surface, and with gaping mouth and with great roaring rushed towards the man swimming in the middle of the stream. While all that were there, barbarians and even the brothers, were struck down with extreme terror, the blessed man, who was watching, raised his holy hand and drew the saving sign of the Cross in the empty air; and then, invoking the name of God, he commanded the savage beast, and said: "You will go no further. Do not touch the man; turn back speedily". Then, hearing this command of the saint, the beast, as if pulled back with ropes, fled terrified in swift retreat; although it had before approached so close to Lugne as he swam that there was no more than the length of one short pole between man and beast. Then seeing that the beast had withdrawn and that their fellow-soldier Lugne had returned to them unharmed and safe, in the boat, the brothers with great amazement glorified God in the blessed man. And also the pagan barbarians who were there at the time, impelled by the magnitude of this miracle that they themselves had seen, magnified the God of the Christians.


Source

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Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos On Psychiatric Illnesses and Demonic Possession

Elder Epiphanios was asked:

"Many Christians maintain that psychiatric illnesses are due to demonic influence and, with this viewpoint, they reject the use of psychiatric medicines. What do you have to say about this position?"

"A certain percentage and, furthermore, a small percentage of 'psychiatric patients' are really possessed. The majority, however, of psychiatric patients are not possessed nor are the manifestations of their psychiatric illnesses due to demonic influence."

"And how can we tell that there is a possession, when it is such?"

"The Church diagnoses possession from the position of the sufferer as regards the Sacred Sacraments: Divine Communion, Confession, etc. Or as regards the Gospel, the Precious Cross, the sacred relics or the holy icons and, in general, sacred things."

Father --- tells me that at Saint Gerasimos of Kefallonia they used to place the Holy Scripture or some icon on the back of a possessed person lying face-down - that is, without them seeing in order to exclude the possibility of suggestion - and then the possessed person would tremble, a thing which would not occur when they would place other types of books or objects on him."

"Do we have any example of psychosis among the saints?"

"Certainly. I will off hand mention to you Saint Olympia the Deaconess. After the exile of Holy Chrysostom, her Spiritual Father, she suffered depression and this saint consoled her with his letters reminding her of the divine reward for those who are persecuted in the name of the Lord."

"Do epileptics have a demon?"

"Not all. In many of these, the brain simply is ailing and this has as a result the manifestation of seizures, deafness, etc. - manifestations similar to the ones of those possessed, as they appear in the Gospels."

"Why did the Lord do so many miracles with the possessed?"

"So that the superiority of the Lord's power over the demons would be made manifest and so that the people would believe in Him. These miracles seem a lot in number, because it is likely that God allowed the devil to bother people more at that time, without the possibility being excluded that the number of the possessed people might have been the same as the number of those of all ages."

From Counsels For Life: From the Life and Teachings of Father Epiphanios Theodoropoulos, pp. 204-205.

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The Church of Saint Nilus the Myrrhgusher in Piraeus

In 1928, at the initiative of Helen Mamai, a resident of Piraeus who hailed from the village of Hagios Petros in Kinouria (the village from where St. Nilus was from), a club was formed called the "Brotherhood of the Lords and Ladies of Saint Nilus the Myrrhgusher" whose sole purpose was to build the first and only church dedicated to Saint Nilus in all of Greece. The land on which the church was built is in Hatzikyriakio of Piraeus, near Hatzikyriakio Orphanage and the Naval Academy, at the corners George Theotokis, Herodotus, Antonios Theoharis, Spyridon Trikoupis (Γεωργίου Θεοτόκη, Ηροδότου, Αντωνίου Θεοχάρη, Σπυρίδωνος Τρικούπη).

Construction on the church began in 1928 and was used for worship in 1931. Originally it was a private church, but at the instruction of the Archbishop of Athens it became a public parish in 1932. Because it was initially a small church, in 1956 the building was expanded and today it stands as one of the largest churches in the entire Metropolis of Piraeus.


For the life of St. Nilus, who is commemorated on November 12 and May 7, read also: Saint Nilus the Myrrh-Gusher and His Prophecies

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Remembering the Miracle of Saint Spyridon in 1718

Commemoration of the Miracle of Saint Spyridon in 1718 (Feast Day - November 12)

By Archimandrite Nektarios Ziompolas

After Corfu's deliverance from a siege by the Turks, owing to the protection of St. Spyridon the Wonderworker, on 11 August 1716, Andrea Pisani, the governor and general of Corfu, wished to do something in order to thank the saint for his great benefaction concerning the aforementioned deliverance. He consulted a papal theologian, Francisco Frangipani, as to what he should do and what would be best and well-pleasing to the saint.

The theologian said that it would be a very good and holy deed to build a precious marble altar inside the Church of St. Spyridon, so that they could perform a Latin Mass inside. He said: "Your Excellency can hear the Mass in your own language when you are present there." The theologian's counsel pleased the governor, and he ordered that the materials be prepared at once.

However, before the materials were made ready, it seemed appropriate to him to call the priests of that church (where the relics of the divine Spyridon were housed) and find out in what way they could be of assistance. As soon as they heard the unexpected news, they told him bluntly that this was a dangerous innovation, and they wished in no way to help him with his plan. The governor replied angrily that even if they were not willing to help, as the supreme authority he would do as he wished and would command that the materials be gathered outside the saint's church without fail. So there was gathered together asbestos, plaster, marble, and a slab from select marble, superbly crafted for an altar.

That night in a dream, the governor saw a man in a monastic habit saying to him: "Why are you bothering me, and why are you upsetting my children (i.e., the priests)? Know that what you are intending to do is not in your interest." At daybreak he called the theologian into his room (that is, the one who gave him the idea) and related to him the dream in detail. The theologian said: "As Christians, we are obliged in no way to believe dreams, nor are we to accept them at all as real. You should certainly consider this, my lord, to be an obvious temptation of the devil, with which the adversary troubles the good, in order to amuse himself and impede such a most-pious deed." The governor calmed down, fully convinced by the theologian's words.

That night, the governor again saw the same monk in a dream threatening him harshly saying: "Know, most certainly, that if you bother my holy house, you will regret it, as it is of no profit." The ruler was terrified by this steadfast decree. He did not again wait for daybreak, but straightaway called for the theologian. He told him every detail about the vision, described his faint-heartedness and said that he was overcome by such fear, that he not dare go through with the task. Then the theologian speaking up and poising himself nobly, said: "My lord, know, that if you grow timid from doing this holy deed that you have decided upon, you will appear to people as not being of proper judgement, since you believe in dreams conjured up by the devil."

The governor was filled with courage by these words and as day came on, which was the 11th of November 1718, he went to the church of the saint so as to venerate. He was accompanied by those of his court (along with the city's engineer) in order to measure the area according to length, width, and height for the construction of the altar. At that time, the oldest of the priests, Marinos Voulgaris Sakellarios, and the priest in charge, Spyridon Voulgaris (the great protopresbyter), stood before the governor and with humble voices begged him not to go through with such a modification, as it might not seem best to the saint. When he heard them, however, he flew into a rage, threatening that if they did not do as he wished and become silent, he would send them to Venice in chains, to be thrown into prison, never again to see the light of day. "I am not intending to do some unlawful deed," he said, "but to set up an altar, a holy and God-pleasing work!" The priests were cast into despair and terror-stricken by his threats, and with the other Orthodox present - who were not few - they ran towards divine assistance. Opening the holy reliquary of our great father, they chanted a Paraklesis, shedding abundant tears, hoping to hinder the governor's bad intention.

At around midnight on November 12th, the day on which the craftsmen expected to start their work, there was lightening and thunder - thunderbolts, one after the other. It was then that the guard of the governor's residence saw a monk approaching him holding a lit torch in his hand. The guard, according to procedure, asked him once, and then twice: "Who are you? Where are you going?" And seeing as he did not receive an answer, he lifted his musket in order to kill the visitor. But then the monk answered: "I am Spyridon." As soon as he said this he grabbed the guard by the arm and threw him with great force out into Spianada Square in the city of Corfu, close to the Church of the Crucifixion. There the guard found himself standing upright on both feet holding his gun as he had been before. Immediately following this, the saint lit the store house of the castle on fire. The extreme heat caused the buildings that were inside the governor's palace and everything around it to collapse. The governor was killed inside, his neck having been crushed between two beams in such a way that it was as though they had been placed there for that purpose. The theologian was found outside the walls of the citadel in a ditch, into which all the squalor of the city sewer drained and flowed, holding his private parts in his hand. Many others were also killed, both men and women, some belonging to the court and others not, about nine-hundred souls. Around that time two other fearsome signs also took place.

First: That same night, a large silver oil lamp that the governor had hung before the saint's relics as an offering fell to the ground and its base broke into pieces, in spite of having been hung with a very strong chain. None of the numerous other oil lamps fell or suffered anything similar. And what happened to the oil lamp (or rather, the base) is apparent still today, because it was again hung up in the same manner it was found as evidence of the incident.

Second: At the exact same moment (as was confirmed later by those who looked into the matter) a flaming arrow - a thunderbolt of lightening to be precise - struck the picture of the governor in Venice and burnt it up, without anything else in the house suffering any harm. His brothers and relatives immediately interpreted this as a bad omen concerning the governor.

The rest of the Latin laymen and clergy, or rather the "Prevedore" as they were called, the Latin bishop, other officials and private citizens, as many as lived in the city of Corfu (for it was the home of the bishop's palace and many others), these are who I call the rest, gave the command that the aforementioned building materials be taken from the Saint's church. They made use of the materials elsewhere, save the marble slab which had been cut for the altar. This was reverently taken to their so-called "duomo," that is the cathedral of their own metropolis, into the great altar. It can still be seen there today resting low on its side.

The soldier, who had been the guard at the castle on that day, was roused and crying out in a loud voice, declared: "Saint Spyridon did these great and fearful things." And he would tell the whole story in great detail. Therefore, the Latins, not wanting to bear the shame, sent him away to Italy three days later.

This is the story of the frightful and monumental event that took place in the city of Corfu, owing to the most-divine Spyridon - quick to listen and patron of the city and of the whole Church. We must now consider carefully and in detail those circumstances, which prove the event undeniable, so that the enemies of the truth cannot blather, saying that the arson at the store house was a coincidence, from which the governor and those around him died.

Ἀπολυτίκιον Ήχος α'
Της Συνόδου της πρώτης, ώσπερ πάλαι υπέρμαχος, ούτω νυν υψών ανεφάνης την εκκλησίαν Χριστού και γαρ μακράν του Ναού σου εξωθείς, και άρδην εν πυρί κατέστρεψας, και εις το άσβεστον απέπεμψας σαφώς, Λατίνων γόνους, ως στρεβλούντας την θεολογίαν σου δόξα τω σε βραβεύσαντι ημίν` δόξα τω σε δοξάσαντι` δόξα το διά σου υψώσαντι ημάς Σπυρίδων μέγιστε.

Source: Ouranou Crisis (Judgement from Heaven), Athens, 2007.

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