On the Words of the Lord's Prayer: "Lead Us Not Into Temptation"

One of the Saints said:

"When we pray to the Lord and say: 'Lead us not into temptation', we are not saying this so that we shall not be tried; that would be impossible. We are praying not to be overcome by temptation to the extent of doing something displeasing to God. That is what it means to not enter temptation. The holy martyrs were tried by their torments but, as they were not overcome by them, they did not enter into temptation, any more than someone who fights with a beast and is not devoured by it. When he is devoured, then he has entered into temptation. So it is with every passion, so long as one is not overcome by that passion."

From The Spiritual Meadow by St. John Moschos (No. 209).

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6th Century Mosaic Map – St. George’s Church – Madaba, Jordan

Madaba is best known for its superb, historically significant Byzantine era mosaics. Madaba’s most famous site is the Mosaic map in the 19th century Greek Orthodox St George’s Church. Unearthed 1864, the mosaic was once a clear map with 157 captions (in Greek) of all major biblical sites from Lebanon to Egypt. The mosaic was constructed AD 560 & once contained more than 2 million pieces, only 1/3 of the whole now survives.




Where is Madaba?

Madaba, مادبا, is a capital city of Madaba Governorate of Jordan, which has a population of about 60.000. Madaba is the fifth most populous town in Jordan. It is best known for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, especially a large Byzantine-era mosaic map of Palestine and the Nile delta. Madaba is located 30 miles south-west of the capital Amman.




What is the Mosaic Map?

The Madaba Map is the oldest extant map of the Holy Land and is dated to the middle of the 6th century AD. It was discovered late in the 19th century, during an excavation and reconstruction of a mosaic floor in St George’s Church in Madaba, Jordan. The mosaic is a detailed map of Jerusalem as it appeared at the height of the Byzantine period. The map depicts some famous Old City structures such as the Damascus Gate, St. Steven’s Gate, the Golden Gate, the gate leading to Mount Zion, the Citadel (Tower of David), the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Cardo Maximus.




How were the mosaics found in Madaba?

The first mosaics were discovered, purely by chance, during the building of the new permanent dwellings using squared-up stones from the old monuments. The new inhabitants of Madaba, made conscious of the importance of the mosaics by their priests, made sure that they took care of and preserved all the mosaics that came to light.

The mosaic Map of Madaba was discovered in 1896; the findings were published a year later. This discovery drew the city to the attention of scholars worldwide. It also positively influenced the inhabitants who shared the contagious passion of F. Giuseppe Manfredi to whose efforts we owe the discovery of most of the mosaics in the city. Madaba became the “City of Mosaics” in Jordan.

The northern part of the city turned out to be the area containing the greatest concentration of mosaic monuments. During the Byzantine-Umayyad period, this northern area, crossed by a colonnaded Roman road, saw the building of the Church of the Map, the Hippolytus Mansion, the Church of the Virgin Mary, the Church of Prophet Elijah with its crypt, the Church of the Holy Martyrs (Al-Khadir), the Burnt Palace and the Church of the Sunna’ family.

The Madaba Mosaic Map is an index map of the region, dating from the sixth century CE, preserved in the floor of the Greek Orthodox Basilica of Saint George. With two million pieces of colored stone, the map depicts hills and valleys, villages and towns in Palestine and the Nile Delta. The mosaic contains the earliest extant representation of Byzantine Jerusalem, labeled the “Holy City.” The map provides important details as to its 6th century landmarks, with the cardo, or central colonnaded street and the Holy Sepulchre clear visible. This map is one key in developing scholarly knowledge about the physical layout of Jerusalem after its destruction and rebuilding in AD 70.

Other mosaic masterpieces found in the church of the Virgin and the Apostles and the Archaeological Museum, depict a profusion of flowers and plants, birds and fish, animals and exotic beasts, as well as scenes from mythology and everyday pursuits of hunting, fishing and farming. Hundred of other mosaics from the 5th through the 7th centuries are scattered throughout Madaba.




A Virtual Trip through the Madaba Map Holy Places - a fascinating trip through the Holy Places as they had been represented on the mosaic floor of the ancient church at Madaba (Jordan).

Read also: The Discovery of the Madaba Mosaic Map: Mythology and Reality



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Tropical Rainforests and Climate Change

By David Tyler
November 13, 2010
ARN.org

Abstract: Temperatures in tropical regions are estimated to have increased by 3 [deg] to 5[deg]C, compared with Late Paleocene values, during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 56.3 million years ago) event. We investigated the tropical forest response to this rapid warming by evaluating the palynological record of three stratigraphic sections in eastern Colombia and western Venezuela. We observed a rapid and distinct increase in plant diversity and origination rates, with a set of new taxa, mostly angiosperms, added to the existing stock of low-diversity Paleocene flora. There is no evidence for enhanced aridity in the northern Neotropics. The tropical rainforest was able to persist under elevated temperatures and high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, in contrast to speculations that tropical ecosystems were severely compromised by heat stress.

Read the entire article here.

See also:

Milton, J. Rapid warming boosted ancient rainforest, Nature News, 11 November 2010 doi:10.1038/news.2010.604

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All Christians Are Called To Pray Without Ceasing

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart" (Luke 18:1).

Does the Lord's command about ceaseless prayer that men ought always to pray (Luke 18:1), apply only to monks or to all Christians in general?

If it applied only to monks, the Apostle Paul would not have written to the Christians in Thessalonica to pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17). The Apostle repeats the Lord's command, word for word, and issues it to all Christians without distinction, whether monks or laymen.

St. Gregory Palamas lived a life of asceticism for some time as a young hieromonk in a monastery in Beroea. The elder Job, a well-known ascetic whom everyone respected, lived in that monastery. It happened that, in Elder Job's presence, St. Gregory quoted the Apostle's words, asserting that ceaseless prayer is the obligation of every Christian and not just for monks. However, Elder Job replied that ceaseless prayer is the obligation of the monk only, and not for every Christian. Gregory, as the younger of the two, yielded and withdrew in silence. When Job returned to his cell and stood at prayer, an angel in great heavenly glory appeared to him and said: "O Elder, do not doubt the truthfulness of Gregory's words; he spoke correctly and you should think likewise and pass it on to others." Thus, both the Apostle and the angel confirmed the commandment that all Christians must pray to God without ceasing.

Not only without ceasing in church, but also without ceasing in every place and at all times, and especially in your heart. For if God does not for a moment tire of giving us good things, how can we tire of thanking Him for these good things? When He thinks of us without ceasing, why do we not think of Him without ceasing?


"… that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye [may be] rooted and grounded in love" (Ephesians 3:17).

With faith, Christ comes into the heart, and with Christ comes love. Thus man is rooted and grounded in love. First then, there is faith; then with faith comes Christ's presence in the heart; then with Christ's presence, the presence of love; and with love, all ineffable goodness.

In a few words, the Apostle delineates the whole ladder of perfection. The beginning is faith and the end is love; and faith and love are joined in a living, undivided unity by the Living Lord Jesus Christ's presence in the heart. By strengthening faith, we further abolish the distance between ourselves and the Lord Jesus Christ. The stronger one's faith, the closer one is to Christ.

Ultimately, one's heart is filled with Christ and cannot be separated from Christ, just as one's lung cannot be separated from the air. Then a man may, with tears of joy, communicate with Christ by the prayer of the heart - "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner" - and the heart is imperceptibly filled with light and ardent love.

In this way, love is united with faith and hope; and when they are united, the boundaries between them are lost, so that man cannot even think of determining of how far faith goes, and where hope and love begin.

When the living Christ dwells in a man, then he no longer perceives faith, hope or love in himself, nor does he name them. Instead, he sees only Christ and names only Him. This is just like a fruit-grower in autumn who considers the ripe fruit on the tree, and speaks no more of blossoms and leaves but of fruit, ripe fruit.

O Lord Jesus Christ, supreme height of all our endeavors and the destination of all our travels, draw near to us and save us. To Thee be glory and praise forever. Amen.

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Patriarch Kirill Seeks a "Second Christianization" of Russia

November 16, 2010
Interfax

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia urged believers to establish a consistent and efficient Church mission which will produce a revolution in the mind of Russian people.

"What is happening in the Church now may be called the 'second Christianization'. This country with a thousand years of Christian tradition, which gave birth to many saints and deserved the name of Holy Rus, has denied its historic heritage and ruined the tradition," the Patriarch said Tuesday at an opening ceremony of the Fourth All-Church Congress of Diocesan Missionaries in Moscow.

According to him, "a new generation has grown on the spiritual ruins of Orthodoxy" and it's impossible today "to preach Christ just by appealing to tradition and inherited memory, we need to make specific missionary efforts."

He emphasized that the Church's goal is to make an impact on people; this goal is comparable to the one pursued by the revolutionaries (with the opposite sign); the goal is to "restructure Orthodox tradition."

"What huge resources were spent, what kind of organization was established! Today, we need even more powerful organization with a greater potential, challenge, courage and sacrifice," the Patriarch said.

At the same time, he continued, "even a monk is unwilling to go to Chukotka, i.e., a person who has made a vow - you ask him to come and start talking to him, but he just makes faces and says there is not enough oxygen in Chukotka."

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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.

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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.

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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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