A Poem On the Spirit Holy Meekness and Angerlessness

While Elder Athanasios of Grigoriou (+ 1953) was abbot of Grigoriou Monastery on Mount Athos, he took special care in teaching his spiritual children meekness and angerlessness. To do this he even became a poet to give them verses to read on the subject. One monk received from the Elder the following poem:

On Holy Meekness

By Elder Athanasios of Grigoriou

Sweet it is, most sweet of all,
To be meek and gentle.

When a man abuses me,
Why should I insult him?
Will his fury ever cease
If I return his curses?

His anger carries him away,
and I respond in kind.
Till through his harsh ferocity,
I am brought low.

In the hour of passionate rage,
I shall hold my peace.
The madness will cool and pass away
If I let it end with me.

Afterwards, by peace and sweetness
Do I strike the unjust one,
And I am better heard by him
Than if I had struck back in wrath.

From Contemporary Ascetics of Mount Athos (vol. 1) by Archimandrite Cherubim, p. 160.

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The Delusions of Catholic Mystics

Tell Me Who Your Saints Are, And I Will Tell You What Your Church IS

By Alexei Ilyich Osipov

In order to understand what one or another Christian Church is, it is enough, without even touching its doctrine, to look at its saints. The tree is known by its fruits, and any Church declares those people saints who embodied its ideal in their lives. A saint's canonization therefore reflects that Church's testimony not only about the Christian it is holding up as an example to follow, but it is also primarily the given Church's testimony about its own self. You can more accurately judge the authenticity, or false sanctity, of the Church itself by its saints.

Now, first of all, I will pause at the comparison between the saints of the largest Christian Churches—the [Roman] Catholic and the Orthodox Churches.

One of the major pillars of Catholic sanctity is St. Francis of Assisi (thirteenth century). His spiritual self-awareness is sufficiently clearly revealed from the following facts. One day, St. Francis prayed very long (the subject of his prayer is extraordinarily telling) "about two mercies." "The first is that I … could … experience all the sufferings that You, Sweetest Jesus, experienced in Your torturous passion. The second mercy … is that … I might feel … that boundless love with which You, the Son of God, burned." As we see, St. Francis was not troubled by a feeling of his own sinfulness, as all saints are; clearly seen here is his open pretension to equality with Christ in His sufferings and His love! During this prayer, St. Francis "felt himself completely become Jesus," and something happened to him that had never before happened in the history of the Church: painful, bleeding wounds (stigmata) appeared on him—the marks of "Jesus' sufferings."[1]

Here we must note that the nature of these stigmata is well known in psychiatry. Unceasing concentration of the attention on Christ's sufferings on the cross extremely arouse a person's nerves and psyche, and if practiced long enough, can evoke this phenomenon. There is nothing supernatural or miraculous here. In this "compassion" for Christ, there is not the true love about which the Lord spoke plainly: "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me" (Jn. 14:21). To the contrary, the substitution of dreamy experiences of "compassion" for the struggle with one's own sinful passions is one of the most serious mistakes in spiritual life, which has lead, and still leads, ascetics to self-conceit and pride — obvious prelest, often connected with outright psychological disturbance (see the "sermon" of St. Francis to the birds, the wolf, the turtle-doves, the snakes, the flowers, etc.; his reverence before the fire, the stones, the worms). It is no wonder therefore that St. Francis claimed to redeem the sins of other people through his imitation of Christ.

Also telling is the life's goal that St. Francis set for himself: "I labored and want to labor … because this brings honor."[2] Isn't this why he said openly at the end of his life, "I am not aware of any sin on my part that I have not redeemed through confession and repentance"?[3] All this testifies to his ignorance of his own sins, his unworthiness before God—that is, to total spiritual catastrophe.

By contrast, we cite the moment before death from the life of St. Sisoes the Great (fifth century). "Surrounded at the moment of his death by the brothers, at that minute when he was as if conversing with unseen beings, the brothers' asked him, 'Father, tell us, with whom are you conversing?' Sisoes answered, 'They are angels who have come to take me, but I am praying them to leave me for a short time, in order to repent.' At this the brothers, knowing that Sisoes was perfect in the virtues, protested, 'You have no need to repent, father.' Sisoes replied, 'Truly, I do not know if I have even begun to repent.'"[4] This deep knowledge of one's own imperfection is the main distinguishing characteristic of all true saints.

Here are passages from the notes of Blessed Angela (thirteenth–fourteenth centuries).[5]

"The Holy Spirit," she writes, says to her, "My daughter, My sweetness … I love you very much." "I was with the apostles, and they saw Me with their physical eyes, but they did not feel Me as you do." Then, Angela reveals about herself, "I see in the darkness the Holy Trinity, and it seems to me that I am standing and abiding in the center of the Trinity, which I see in the darkness." She expressed her relationship to Jesus Christ, for example, in such words: "I could bring myself entirely into Jesus Christ." Or, "From His sweetness, and from the sorrow of His departure, I shouted and wanted to die." At this, she began to beat herself so badly that the nuns had to carry her out of the church.

One of the greatest Russian religious thinkers of the twentieth century, A. F. Losev, made a biting yet true assessment of Angela's "revelations." He writes, "The seductiveness and delusion of the flesh leads to the point where the Holy Spirit appears to Blessed Angela and whispers these amorous words: 'My daughter, My sweetness, My daughter, My temple, My daughter, my delight, love Me, for I love you greatly, much more than you love Me." The saint is in a sweet languor, and can't contain herself from this love. Her beloved keeps appearing, enflaming her body, heart, and blood. The cross of Christ appears to her as a marriage bed… What could be more contrary to the Byzantine-Muscovite austere and chaste asceticism as these continual blasphemous statements: 'My soul was received into the uncreated light and carried up,' these passionate gazes at the Cross of Christ, at the wounds of Christ, and at different parts of His Body, this forced evoking of bloody spots on her own body, and so on, and so forth? Finally, Christ embraces Angela with His arm which was nailed to the Cross, and she, outside herself with languor, torment, and happiness, says, "Sometimes, from this close embrace, it seems to my soul that it goes into the side of Christ. And the joy that it obtains there, and the light, cannot be retold. They are so great that sometimes I could not stand on my feet, but lay there, unable to speak... and my limbs would go numb."[6]

Another outstanding feature of Catholic sanctity is Catherine of Sienna (fourteenth century), raised by Pope Paul VI to the highest rank of saint—"Doctor of the Church." I will read a few notes about her taken from the Catholic book by Antonio Sicari, Portraits of Saints,[7] published in Russian. These citations (emphasized by me) require no comment.

Catherine was about twenty years old. "She felt that a decisive turnaround should happen in her life, and she continued piously praying to her Lord Jesus, repeating that beautiful, tender formula, which became customary to her: 'Unite with me by marriage in faith!'"

"One day Catherine had a vision: her divine Bridegroom, embracing her, drew her to Himself, but then took her heart out of her chest in order to give her another heart, more resembling His own."

One day, they said that she died. "She herself later said that her heart was torn by the force of divine love, that she had gone through death, and 'had seen the heavenly gates. But "Return, My child," said the Lord to me, "You need to return… I will bring you to the princes and rulers of the Church." "And the humble girl began to send her epistles throughout the whole world—long letters, which she dictated with amazing speed, often three or four at a time, and for various reasons, so that the secretaries could not keep up."

"In Catherine's letters the repeated and insistent use of the phrase, 'I want' particularly stands out." "Some say that in an ecstatic state, she even addressed the insistent words 'I want' to Christ."

From her correspondence with Pope Gregory XI, who she had convinced to return from Avignon to Rome: "I tell you from the name of Christ … I tell you, father, in Jesus Christ… Answer the call of the Holy Spirit which has addressed you."

She writes to the ruler of Milan, "About the Pope, to whom she is entrusted ('even if he were the devil in the flesh, I should not lift my head against him.')"

"To the King of France she writes: 'Do God's will, and my will.'"

No less telling are the "revelations" given to the "Doctor of the Church," Teresa of Avila (sixteenth century) also made known by Pope Paul VI. Before her death, she exclaims, "O my God, my Spouse, finally I shall see You!" This exceedingly strange exclamation is not accidental. It is the logical result of Teresa's whole "spiritual" exercise, the essence of which is revealed in the following fact.

She was so caught up in her "revelations," that she did not see the devil's delusion even in such an outrageous vision as the one cited below. (The Valaam elder, Schema-Abbot John, assessed her spiritual state as follows: "Instead of deification [theosis], a passionate person will become a dreamer, like the Catholic Teresa."[8])

After his many appearances, "Christ" says to Teresa, "From this day forward, you shall be My spouse… From now on, I am not only your Creator and God, but also your Spouse"[9] "Lord, that I either suffer with You, or die for You!" prayed Teresa and fell down, writes D. Merezhovsky, "in exhaustion from these caresses…" (I cannot cite any more.) It is no wonder, therefore, when Teresa admits, "My Beloved calls my soul with such a penetrating whistle, that I cannot but hear it. This call acts upon the soul so that it is exhausted from desire." It is no accident that the famous American psychologist William James assesses her mystical experience as follows: "The main idea of her religion seems to be an amatory flirtation—if one may say so without irreverence—between the devotee and the deity."[10]

Yet another illustration of sanctity in Catholicism is Therese of Lisieux ("The Little Flower," or "Of the Child Jesus"), who, in 1997, the centennial of her repose, was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by the "infallible" decision of Pope John Paul II. Here are several quotes from the spiritual biography of Therese, who only lived to the age of twenty-two, which eloquently witness to her spiritual state (The Story of a Soul [Paris, 1996]).

"During a conversation before my tonsure, I gave a report of the activities I intend to undertake in Carmel. ‘I came to save souls, and first of all, to pray for priests.'” Not having saved herself yet, she came to save others!

She seemingly writes about her unworthiness, but then adds, '"I always harbor the bold hope that I will become a great saint.… I thought that I was born for glory, and sought a path to its accomplishment. And the Lord God … revealed to me that my glory would not be visible to the mortal gaze, and the essence of it consisted in the fact that I would become a great saint!” (See St. Macarius the Great, who was called by his co-ascetics "an earthly god," who only prayed, "God cleanse me a sinner, for I have never done anything good in Thy sight.") Later Theresa writes something even more frank: "In the heart of my Mother the Church I will be Love … then I will be everything … and through this my dream will come true!”

This teaching of Therese's about spiritual love is telling in the extreme. "This was the kiss of love. I felt beloved and said, ‘I love You and entrust myself to You forever.' There was neither forgiveness, nor struggle, nor sacrifice; already, long ago, Jesus and little, poor Theresa looked at each other and understood everything.… This day brought not an exchange of views, but a mingling, when there are no longer two; and Theresa disappeared like a drop of water lost in the depths of the ocean." There is no need to comment on this dreamy romance of a poor girl, who the Catholic Church has—alas! called its "Doctor."

The methodical development of imagination is based in the experience of one of the pillars of Catholic mysticism, the founder of the order of Jesuits and great Catholic saint Ignatius of Loyola (sixteenth century).

His book Spiritual Exercises is a mainstay in Catholic monasteries, and insistently calls upon the Christian to imagine the Holy Trinity and the conversation of the Three Persons, Christ, the Mother of God, the Angels, and so on. This is all categorically forbidden by the saints of the Universal Church. They testify that when an ascetic begins to live in his fantasies, to look at himself in his own "films," and believe them, instead of fulfilling Christ's commandments and struggling with his passions, he comes to complete spiritual and emotional disturbance.

The authoritative collection of ascetical writings of the ancient Church, The Philokalia, decisively forbids such "spiritual exercises." Here are few quotes from that book.

St. Neilos of Sinai (fifth century) warns, "Do not desire to physically see the Angels or Powers, or Christ, that you may not lose your mind from accepting a wolf instead of a shepherd, and worshipping our adversaries, the demons."[11]

St. Symeon the New Theologian (ninth century), discusses those who while praying, "imagine heavenly blessings, the ranks of angels, or habitations of the saints," stating plainly that "this is a sign of prelest (delusion)." "They are deluded who are on that path, who see light with their physical eyes, smell fragrances with their sense of smell, hear voices with their ears, and suchlike."[12]

How right was that nobleman (St. Ignatius Brianchaninov wrote about him), who, when seeing the Catholic book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas Kempis (fifteenth century) in his daughter's hands, tore it away from her, saying, "Stop playing romance with God." The examples cited above leave no doubt as to the reasonableness of these words. It is a great misfortune that in Catholicism, as we can see, people have ceased to differentiate between the spiritual and the emotional, sanctity and fantasy. This is the greatest calamity that can befall any Christian Church.

Notes:

1. M.V. Lodyzhensky, Unseen Light (St. Petersburg, 1915) 109.

2. St. Francis of Assisi. Works (Moscow, Franciscan publishers: 1995) 20; 145.

3. Lodyzhensky, 129.

4. Ibid., 133.

5. The Revelations of Blessed Angela (Moscow, 1918).

6. A. F. Losev, Sketch of Ancient Symbolism and Mythology (Moscow, 1930) 1:867–868.

7. Antonio Siccari, Portraits of Saints, (Milan, 1991).

8. Valaam Elder Schema-Abbot John (Alexeyev), Letters on the Spiritual Life (Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra, 2007), 268.

9. D. C. Merezhkovsky, Spanish Mystics (Brussels, 1988), 88.

10. William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience (New York: Barnes and Noble Classics, 2004), 304.

11. St. Neilos of Sinai, "153 Chapters On Prayer,"chap. 115, The Philokalia, 5:2 (Moscow, 1884), 237.

12. St. Symeon the New Theologian, "On Three Kinds of Prayer," The Philokalia (Moscow, 1900), 463–464.


Source: An excerpt from the article "Why Are We Orthodox?".

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The Child-Martyr Philothea of Romania

Virgin Martyr Philothea of Romania (Feast Day - December 7)

Saint Philothea (Philofthea or Philothei) of Argesh was born in Trnovo, the old capital of Bulgaria, around 1206. Her father was a farmer, and her mother was from Wallachia. She died when Philothea was still a child, and her father remarried.

The child was often punished by her stepmother, who accused her of being disobedient, and of giving their possesions away to the poor. Her father chastised her for this, but Philothea continued to attend church services and to do good to others, just as her mother had taught her. As she grew older, she was adorned with the virtues of prayer, virginity, and almsgiving.

St Philothea used to bring food to her father, who was out working in the fields. Not all of the food reached him, however, because the girl would give some of it to the poor children begging in the street. When he complained to his wife that she did not prepare enough food for him, she replied, "I send you plenty of food. Ask your daughter what she does with it."

Becoming angry with Philothea, her father decided to spy on her to see what happened to the food. From a place of concealment, he saw her giving food to the poor children who came to her. In a violent rage, he took the axe from his belt and threw it at the twelve-year-old girl, hitting her in the leg. The wound was mortal, and she soon gave her pure soul into God's hands.

The man was filled with fear and remorse, and tried to lift his daughter's body from the ground, but it became as heavy as a rock. Then the wretch ran to the Archbishop of Trnovo to confess his sin and explain what had happened. The Archbishop and his clergy went with candles and incense to take up the martyr's body and bring it to the cathedral, but even they were unable to lift it.

The Archbishop realized that St Philothea did not wish to remain in her native land, so he began to name various monasteries, churches, and cathedrals to see where she wished to go. Not until he named the Monastery of Curtea de Arges in Romania were they able to lift her holy relics and place them in a coffin. The Archbishop wrote to the Romanian Voievode Radu Negru, asking him to accept the saint's relics.

The Archbishop and his clergy carried the holy relics in procession as far as the Danube, where they were met by Romanian clergy, monastics, and the faithful. Then they were carried to the Curtea de Arges Monastery.

Many people have been healed at the tomb of St Philothea in a small chapel in the belltower behind the monastery church, and those who entreat her intercession receive help from her. Each year on December 7 there is a festal pilgrimage to the Monastery, and people come from all over Romania. The relics of St Philothea are carried around the courtyard in procession, and there are prayers for the sick.

The Holy Virgin Martyr Philothea is venerated in Romania, Bulgaria, and throughout the Orthodox world.

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Reflections On The Nativity Fast

Make ready, O Bethlehem; let the manger be prepared, let the cave show its welcome. The Truth is come, the shadow is passed away...(From the First Royal Hour of the Nativity).

It is the Eve of the Nativity when these words are sung. The transformation of the world, the birth of God, is but hours away, and it is through such words that the faithful are called to attentiveness and anticipation. 'Make ready, O Bethlehem.' We can see the radiant lights of the feast just beyond the horizon, we can taste the sweetness of the miracle that took place beneath a star; and through the words chanted in the Church, the coming of the birth of God is made a reality to us. We make ready, and we wait.

Why the Fast?

But this is not the first moment of preparation for the Feast. For forty days the Church has been setting herself in readiness, drawing her attention to the mystery to come, waiting in expectation. In anticipation of the great joy that is to come on Christmas day, she has taken up the task considered by so many as the opposite of joy: fasting, with all its rigor, its harshness, its discomfort. For Orthodox Christians everywhere, the fast is that which leads to the radiant wonder of the Nativity of Christ.

Why do we often feel, that this fast 'stands in the way,' so to speak, of our arrival at Christmas rejoicing? The fast seems awkward because so often we see Christmas as joy alone and do not appreciate fully the deep and profound mystery that is at the heart of our rejoicing. 'Hark, the herald angels sing!' we are eager to remember, but we forget the universal significance of the event that is the cause of the angels’ singing. It is not just that a Babe is born, but He Who is without birth is born. He Who created all things is made a created Child. He Who holds the universe in the palm of His hand, is held in the hands of a tender mother.

Before Thy birth, O Lord, as the noetic hosts looked with trembling on the mystery, they were struck with awe: for Thou Who hast adorned the vault of heaven with stars, wast well pleased to be born as a little babe; and Thou wast laid in a manger of dumb beasts, Who holdest all the uttermost parts of the earth in Thy hand. For by such a dispensation hath Thy compassion been made known, O Christ, our great mercy, glory be to Thee (from the Third Royal Hour).

We do not tremble when we think of Christmas; we are not struck with the wonder of the Nativity. Instead, we buy gifts and plan parties, catching a glimpse of the joy of the Feast, but without a heart immersed in its wonder. Thus the fast becomes something we must 'get through' in order to reach that joyful day. When we arrive there, however, if this has been our attitude, we are spiritually bewildered by the hymns with which the Church fills our hearts. We find ourselves joined to a celebration of triumphal release from bondage, but we little understand what that bondage means. We sing songs of joy for deliverance, but we do not truly comprehend how we are enslaved. We find ourselves suddenly transported to the mountaintop, but unless we have climbed there from the valley far below, the scene we see is only another beautiful picture casually set before our eyes, and not the vision for which we have worked and struggled and longed with all our being. We may feel joy, perhaps even Christmas joy; but we will know, deep inside, that our joy is not like that which is exalted in the hymn:

Be glad, O ye righteous; ye heavens rejoice exceedingly; ye mountains, skip for joy, as Christ is born. Imitating the Cherubim, the Virgin becometh a throne, carrying in her bosom God the Word incarnate. Shepherds glorify Him that is born. Magi offer gifts unto the Master; and Angels sing praises, saying: 'O incomprehensible Lord, glory be to Thee’ (first sticheron of the Praises, Nativity Matins).

An Ascetic Journey

The fast of the Nativity is the Church's wise solace and aid to human infirmity. We are a spiritually forgetful people, but God knows our forgetfulness. We who run afar off from Him are called to return. We who fall far from God through the magnitude of our sins are called nonetheless to be close to Him. Through the fast that precedes the great Feast of the Incarnation, the Church helps draw us into the full mystery of what that call entails.

Like Great Lent, the fast of the Nativity is a journey—a journey toward that salvation first promised to Adam in God's curse laid upon the serpent (Gen 3.14-15). The One who will crush the head of the serpent, of sin and the devil is He to Whom the star leads us. Come, ye faithful, let us see where Christ the Saviour hath been born; let us follow with the kings, even the Magi from the East, unto the place where the star doth direct their journey. (sessional hymn, Nativity Matins). Let us 'join the Magi', let us 'follow' and 'behold.’ The fast of the Nativity is our journey into a new and marvelous life in the Holy Trinity.

A journey is, by its nature, naturally ascetic. Unless my life is already humble, I cannot take all my possessions on a journey. I can never be too reliant on the plans I have made for my journey. In this case, a control lying beyond the self, i.e., God’s grace, must be admitted and accepted. This is the spirit to which the fast calls us.

A journey is, by its nature, also, an act of movement, of growth. What is old is left behind; newness is perceived and embraced; growth of understanding takes place. And even if the journey comes to a close in the same physical location from which it began, that place is no longer quite the same. This is the importance of the fast. The Nativity is a life-changing miracle for each one of us.

Make ready, O Bethlehem: let the manger be prepared, let the cave show its welcome. The Truth is come, the shadow is passed away; God hath appeared from a Virgin unto men formed as we are, and deifying that which He hath assumed. Wherefore, Adam is renewed with Eve, as they cry out: 'Thy good will hath appeared on earth to save our race’ (sticheron from the First Royal Hour).

We are renewed

Adam and Eve, all of humankind, are renewed and made alive in the Incarnation of God in Christ, who 'appeared on earth to save our kind.’ Fallen flesh, so long bound to death, so long yearning for growth and maturation into the fullness of life, is sewn into the garment of Christ and at last made fully alive. There is a pleasing old saying, with perhaps more than a touch of truth to it, that humankind drew its first full breath at the infant Christ's first cry.

We are called, then, to approach this great mystery as God's condescension into our own lives, personally and collectively. The Second Canon for the Nativity explains it clearly: He layeth a path for us unto Heaven. The Nativity is not only about God's coming down to us, but about our rising up to Him, just as sinful humanity was lifted up into the person of Christ in the Incarnation itself.

We are called to arise, then, during the fast that is the journey to this Feast. O Blessed One, that lookest down and seest all; keep us above sin, who ever sing Thy praises, steadfast and unmoved on the foundation of faith (from the Second Canon of the Nativity.) The faithful take up this call by abandoning those things which bind, rather than free, in order that a focus on God might become ever more real and central to our daily life. Meals are lessened and regimented, that a constant, lingering hunger may remind us of the great need we each have for spiritual food that goes beyond our daily bread. The number of Church services is gradually increased, that we might know whence comes that true food. Sweets and drink are set aside, that we might never feel content with the trivial and temporal joys of this world. Social engagements are reduced, that we might realize that all is not so well with us as we often take it to be. Anything which holds the slightest power over us, whether television or travel or recreation, is minimized or, better, cast wholly aside, that we might bring ourselves to be possessed and governed only by God.

Through this time of asceticism, the Church strips away common stumbling blocks into sin, in order to provide us with the self-perception that we lack in our typical indulgence, and to help us begin to grow the seeds of virtue. We must take up the task of our own purification, achieved only through God’s grace, that we might approach Him on Christmas Day as did the Magi and the shepherds in Bethlehem:

Come, O ye faithful, let us be lifted up with divine inspiration, and let us behold the divine condescension from on high that is made manifest to us in Bethlehem. And being cleansed in mind, by our way of life let us offer virtues in the stead of myrrh, faithfully preparing our entry into the Feast of the Nativity, storing up treasure in our souls and crying: Glory in the highest to God in Trinity, through Whom His good will is revealed to men, that as the Friend of man He may deliver Adam from the ancestral curse (from the Sixth Royal Hour).

The Mystery Brings Joy

Resurrection unto life is the ultimate gift of the Incarnation. Those in the Church journey toward the birth of Christ God during the Nativity fast by struggling up the mountain that is too steep to climb without God’s grace, that they might learn that unless a man understands that he is dead, he will never know the meaning of resurrection.

The fast is a holy and blessed tool that brings us closer to such selfawareness. It reveals to us who we are, perhaps more importantly, who we are not, and makes us more consciously aware of what we desperately need. Then and only then, with eyes opened, even if only partially, by the ascetic endeavor, we will truly know the life-giving light of the Nativity of Christ. We will hear with awe the proclamation of the hymn at Vespers, perceiving the mystery presented therein as having become truly an inward part of us.

Come, let us rejoice in the Lord as we declare this present mystery. The middle wall of partition is broken asunder; the flaming sword is turned back, the Cherubim withdraw from the Tree of Life, and I partake of the Paradise of Delight, whence I was cast out before through disobedience. For the Identical Likeness of the Father, the Express Image of His eternity, taketh the form of a servant, and without undergoing change He cometh forth from a Mother that knew not wedlock. For that which He was, He hath remained, even true God; and that which He was not, He hath taken upon Himself, becoming man out of love for man. Unto Him let us cry: O God, Who art born of a Virgin, have mercy on us (first sticheron from Vespers of the Nativity).

We will never fully comprehend this ineffable mystery of God become man; some knowledge is properly God's alone. But by His grace, through the ascetic effort, we will come at least to some understanding of the salvation of Christmas Day, of our own salvation. And with this realization comes joy— joy far greater than a mere entrance into the temple on Christmas Day could ever bring us. And having come through the forty days of the fast, with this joy in our hearts, we shall embrace the hymnographer’s words as our own.

On this day the Virgin cometh to the cave to give birth to God the Word ineffably, Who was before all the ages. Dance for joy O earth, on hearing the gladsome tidings; the angels and the shepherds now glorify Him Who is willing to be gazed on as a young Child Who before the ages is God (kontakion of the Forefeast).

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Video: The Theology of the Body

These videos (in Greek) are a portion of a lecture on the Theology of the Body by Fr. Nikolaos Loudovikos, Professor of Systematic Theology at the University Ecclesiastical Academy of Thessaloniki.

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The Unfortunate Effects Apocalyptic Beliefs Can Have On Morality

Jonathan D. Fitzgerald
December 5, 2010
The Huffington Post

When I was a kid I knew The World was going to Hell in a hand basket. I didn't know what that phrase meant, still don't really, but I knew that it was one of the only times I could get away with saying hell, because it wasn't swearing. The World was actually going there.

Perhaps a couple definitions are necessary here at the outset. In my conservative, evangelical-before-we-knew-what-evangelical-was upbringing, Hell meant that very literal -- perhaps underground -- place where real flames burn real, bad people forever. And The World meant non-Christians, as in "be in the world, but not of it." Evangelicals often refer to any not-usses, any thems, as The World.

So, The World was on a steady decline to the pits of Hell, which began, well, when it all began, when the literal Adam and Eve ate the literal apple, handed them by the literal snake who literally was Satan in disguise and sin entered into the previously pristine world. The thing about this decline though, is that we were all okay with it. It's not that we wanted to live in a world that was getting worse; it was just that we didn't want to live in The World at all. And though there are many variations of this belief, typical evangelical eschatology says that in order for Jesus to come back the world has to get so bad that the only solution is to scoop up his followers, burn the whole place down and start again.

This being the case, we knew that what we were seeing around us, the fact that more and more swear words slipped through the FCC's slackening grip and made their way into our homes via our televisions, that more magazine covers revealed more skin, that PG movies were more like PG-13 movies, that a Democrat got elected, and then had a public affair, and then stayed in office; these were all signs that things were going according to plan.

The only problem, as far as my 8-year-old self was concerned, was that things weren't moving along quickly enough. My parents used to tell me stories about how in the 1970s they were certain that it was all coming to an end. But then Reagan became president and, I guess, things started looking up again for the good guys. I had to do something to help speed up the process.

My solution came in the form of one of the greatest evils of the 80s: MTV. I wasn't allowed to watch music videos, not even the harmless VH1 variety. Clearly, I concluded, the more viewers MTV had, the sooner Armageddon would happen. Therefore I resolved to make any and all of my non-Christian friends tune in often, and sometimes, even, when I was sitting on the couch beside them. I would hand a friend the remote to my family's old JC Penney television set, tell him to type in 3 and 6 and when MTV blinked on the screen and Axl Rose screamed "Take me down to Paradise City..." my friend would turn to me with a horrified look on his face and say something like, "But we're not allowed to watch this." To which I would respond, "I'm not, because I'm a Christian, but I think it's okay for you."

Diabolical, wasn't I? In the end, all this accomplished for me was a few spankings and an uncompromising love of popular culture.

Certainly this is religion as seen through a child's eyes, but it is also emblematic of the kind of Christianity I grew up in -- one so concerned with individual salvation that its very standards of morality are a means toward that end. This is the same morality that cares nothing for the earth because it will eventually be destroyed, or for those who are not receptive to evangelism as their fates are sealed.

This morality really is amorality, a void where actual care and concern for what is right should be -- rules and regulations in place of grace and virtue. If there is a list of activities that one must do or not do in order to achieve personal salvation, this list must necessarily trump everything else. I must do whatever is necessary to secure paradise for myself. My morality matters most; yours, very little.

As much as the people in my church hated the idea of relativism -- which they saw as a kind of ultimate evil that, if ever it were to take hold, would assure that there would be no ultimate evil - the relative nature of the preferred evangelical morality seems to have gone completely unnoticed.

But, Christianity is not really about personal salvation. As a Christian, my life should matter less to me than the lives of others. In this way, too, my sense of morality must reflect this understanding: it is not what I can do for myself that is of value, but how I can make life better for those around me. Or, as Hegel prescribes in his Lectures on the Philosophy of History, striving toward spiritual perfection in one's own life is not enough, rather the Christian believer must actively transform the physical world into a place more habitable for "free, spiritual beings."

This shift fortunately corresponds to a larger shift that is taking place among evangelicals, or post-evangelicals as many of us who have walked away from the warehouses and former department stores that served as the evangelical churches we were raised in are often identified as now. If evangelicalism was concerned, first and foremost, with personal salvation, we must make a conscious effort to shift our attentions outward; not to police the morality of others but to mind how our own actions help or hurt them, to ensure our motivations are right.

Granted, this outlook isn't going to speed up the onslaught of the Apocalypse, but it might make the time between now and Armageddon that much more pleasant for everyone.

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Why Few Disillusioned Anglicans Will Join the Orthodox Church

By Archpriest Andrew Phillips

Introduction

Currently the Church of England is racked by division concerning the ordination of homosexual clergy and female bishops. There are now Anglicans who have already left or who are planning to leave the Church of England because they cannot square such ‘modernisation’ with their consciences. Some speak of ‘the end of the Church of England’. Most who leave seem to join other Protestant groups or else go to Roman Catholicism. A third option is to start a new, or else join an old, ‘Continuing Anglican Church’, of which there are several. A fourth option, the least likely, is to join one of the Orthodox Churches. Why is this fourth option by far the least popular? There are several reasons:

1. Motivation

We must wonder about the motivations of those who object to ‘woman bishops’. The doctrine of the Church of England was largely moulded by a woman, Queen Elizabeth I, and the current head of the Church of England is her namesake, Queen Elizabeth II. The wider Anglican Communion has had ‘woman-bishops’ for years. And what logic is there in the concept that you can have ‘woman-priests’, but not woman-bishops? This is like saying that you can have woman-teachers, but not woman-headteachers. You cannot help suspecting a certain misogyny and clericalism in the opposition to ‘woman-priests’ in what is, after all, a Protestant, that is, non-sacramental, denomination. The reason why female clergy are unthinkable in the Orthodox Church is not because of misogyny, but because Christ-God did not appoint women as apostles. If Anglicans were going to leave the Church of England about female clergy, they should have left when female clergy were first introduced. However, if they wished to join the Orthodox Church because of this issue, then they needed a positive reason to join it, not a negative reason to leave somewhere else.

Again, there is much lack of logic with the question of homosexual clergy. They have existed for generations in the Church of England and relatively openly. A small section of senior clergy of the C of E long ago gained notoriety for sodomy and pedophilia in public schools. As one member of the C of E said to me a few years ago: ‘I can’t see anything wrong with it, as long as they are discreet’. In other words, everything is fine as long as you are hypocritical. Orthodox look for honesty, logic and consistency in the motivation of those who say that they wish to join the Orthodox Church. How otherwise will former Anglicans reach the next stage, when, having formally joined the Church, they actually have to become Orthodox, which can be a very different story.

2. The Tradition, the Liturgy and the Sense of the Sacred

Few Anglicans will join the Orthodox Church because our liturgical heritage is so radically different – the Orthodox Church is nearly 2,000 years old, the Church of England not yet 500 years old. Therefore, in the latter, standing up and singing Victorian or modern songs together and sitting down and listening to long speeches about current events (sermons) is very important. In the Orthodox Church we come to church to pray, following rites which have scarcely changed since apostolic times, as for example is witnessed to by baptism by immersion, confirmation given with baptism, communion in both kinds, communion given to babies, confession, our frequent use of the sign of the cross (and in its original form), the use of candles, incense, a screen, a veil over the altar doors and a seven-branched candlestick. For the same reason of apostolicity, we stand for worship, both our creed and calendar, confirmed in the fourth century, are zealously adhered to and we do not use the novelty of organs or other musical instruments.

Orthodox worship therefore comes as a culture shock to those who come from forms of worship which date back only few generations or at best, a few centuries. Moreover, Anglican worship, when not wholly moulded by modern secularism, is defined by its revolt against Roman Catholicism. And the latter, despite many abuses and deformations, is actually older than that of the Church of England and still has some liturgical sense - though at present its sense of the sacred, of holiness, is often utterly deficient. To be honest, it is clear that Anglicans have simply lost the sense of the Tradition (the inspirations of the Holy Spirit over nearly 2,000 years) and therefore they only have recent human conventions and customs to mould their worship. And in losing the Tradition, Anglicans have also lost the sacraments and sacramental sense. This can be the only explanation for their introduction of female clergy, who, in their case, are social workers – and some of them surely very good social workers - but not priests.

3. The Ascetic Sense

The Orthodox Church is the only original Church, therefore it is an ascetic Church, as it was in the times of St John the Baptist, of the apostles in Jerusalem, as it was in the catacombs, as it was in the deserts of Egypt, as it still is today. Our guardians are in monasticism, which has nothing to do with the secular criteria of the Church of England. The fact that we stand for worship is for example an almost impossible barrier for most Anglicans. The fact that we are called on to fast for half the year is another impossible barrier for most. For example, our whole ethos of preparation for communion, fasting, reading of prayers and confession, is alien to a group in which people are used to having a fried breakfast and then an hour or so later taking communion. It is clear to Orthodox (as also to many Anglicans) that our understanding of communion is totally different. For them it is a mere memorial with bread and wine, for us it is the burning presence of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Prayer, fasting, standing, confession – all these practices are alien to the Church of England and yet essential to the Gospel and therefore to Orthodoxy. Lifelong Orthodox actually believe in the Holy Trinity, the Incarnation and Divinity of Christ, the Resurrection, the Ever-Virginity of the Mother of God, the Cross, Providence, holiness (the Holy Spirit acting in the material world), the saints, the angels, relics, icons and miracles. Anglicans have produced no saints over nearly 500 years (though a very few do speak of St Charles I) and most of them tell me that they are proud of this and that they do not believe in saints. True, we Orthodox are not always very devout in our Orthodoxy and not very punctual at our services, but we would not think of abolishing any of the beliefs of the Church or the practices of prayer, fasting, standing and confession. The Church is the Church, regardless of our human weaknesses. We do not adapt the Church to the world (secularism), as Henry VIII did and as Archbishop Rowan Williams is in fact allowing through weakness. In Orthodoxy, the world adapts to the Church, not the other way round.

4. Becoming Orthodox

Some former Anglicans have in the past joined the Orthodox Church. Many have integrated the Faith and, after joining, have actually become Orthodox. Others, sad to say, having joined the Orthodox Church for negative reasons (disillusionment with the C of E) or for purely academic reasons and not for positive reasons (the realisation that without Orthodoxy their souls will die), and so not become Orthodox. As a result they have tended to split off from the mainstream, closing themselves off in little groups, where they practise what is in fact an approximate if very confused Orthodox rite with Anglican practices, a ‘make it up as you go along’ attitude. This means intercommunion, no confession, no fasting, sitting down during the services (indeed, virtually no services beyond the eucharistic liturgy), the use of Anglican hymns, the use of the Anglican calendar, no iconostasis, parish politics, and ‘protesting’ (= Protestant) attitudes towards Orthodox bishops and resulting divisions and boycotts of their respective cathedrals and bishops.

Another problem here is the refusal by many ex-Anglicans to accept that Orthodoxy is international. Unfortunately, Anglicans who are used to ‘uninational’ parishes find it very difficult to accept the multinational parishes, which are the reality of real Orthodoxy. Without the presence of other Orthodox nationalities, they will not learn Orthodoxy, they will not actually become Orthodox. The presence of ‘foreigners’ among them should be greeted by them and they should accommodate them, accepting parts of the service in ‘foreign’ languages (xenophobes must realise that every ‘foreign’ language is someone else’s native language). The nationalist exclusivity of many ex-Anglicans, to be frank, their phyletism or nationalism, and refusal to come to terms with the sometimes very, very dark national history of England/Britain (1), is not acceptable in the multinational Orthodox world. In our parish we have eighteen nationalities, from Russian to Greek, Romanian to Syrian, Australian to Latvian, French to Bulgarian – this is reality. History shows us that tiny ex-Anglican groups, unintegrated into the mainstream of the Orthodox Church, are basically just more ‘Continuing Anglican Churches’ and are not taken seriously by the rest of the Orthodox Church.

Conclusion

The chances are that most Anglicans will remain in the Church of England, though some will leave for Roman Catholicism and some for various sub-Anglican groups, perhaps headed by ‘African Anglicans’. It is not to be expected that many will wish to join the Orthodox Church – for the four reasons expressed above. Of course, all are welcome to come and see, as is everyone, whatever their background in this country, whether they belong to the 2% who are practising Anglicans or the 98% who are not. Some, as we know, not only do join our Church, but also find their spiritual home with us and in due course become Orthodox. If you can accept us, as we are, welcome! But please do not come with your own agenda or else you will also be disillusioned.

St Edith of Wilton
16/29 September 2010

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Miracles of Saint Nicholas in Andros

The Monastery of St. Nicholas in Andros was, according to tradition, built in the 8th century though it is not mentioned in any historical books until the 14th century. This monastery has an elaborate architectural structure, including a bell tower and complex arches completed during the recent restoration of the monastery in 1760.

The monastery houses wonderful frescoes and an architecturally superb wooden screen. The Byzantine icon of Panagia Blachernae, donated in the 15th-century by the monastery in Constantinople of the same name, is still kept in here, known in Greece as the Panagia of Andros, a miraculous myrrh-bearing and scented icon of the Virgin of the Root of Jesse.

The Panagia of Andros (the "Root of Jesse") is an ancient and myrrh-streaming icon, always surrounded with a powerful sweet-spicy fragrance. Great wonders occur from this holy icon and myrrh streams from it endlessly. There are even reports that people have been resurrected from the dead through the miracle-working icon.

There is also an ancient icon of the Virgin Mary that has significantly changed its facial expression over the last few years. The authorship has turned exceedingly sorrowful and tears have been flowing from her eyes. In 1999, this icon cried unceasingly coinciding with the bombardment of Serbia at that time.

The monastery also houses the icon of St. Nicholas, and some of his relics; the icon was authored by a nun named Leondia who wove her own hair into the icon. According to the locals of this metropolis, this icon is the most active in the entire of Andros.

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The Holy Oil

Every year on St. Nicholas’ feast-day, Abbot Dorotheos gives out little packets of blessed wheat from the lity in honor of the saint. A few years ago, just as he had given out the last packet, a local fisherman came in and hurried to the altar to receive his wheat. Instead, the abbot gave him a small bottle of oil from the kandili hanging over the saint’s icon. The fisherman put it in his coat pocket and left. A few weeks later he was at sea when a sudden storm arose. Although he was a skilled sailor, the storm became violent and, unable to get to shore, he feared that his boat would capsize. He began to pray to St. Nicholas, and remembering the holy oil, took the bottle from his pocket and poured it into the sea. Immediately the wind ceased, and in a short time the water around the boat was as smooth as glass. The fisherman sailed back to Andros, giving thanks for the saint’s intercession.

Fish for the Feast

In the 1980’s, Father Dorotheos was acquainted with the abbot of a small skete on Mount Athos near Karelia where there is a church dedicated to St. Nicholas. On one of the saint’s feast-days, however, there was no fish, and the monks were left with only beans and bread for the celebration. Fr. Damaskenos, the abbot, was unhappy about keeping such a poor feast, and prayed to the saint, “I’m sorry, but we have no fish to honor you with.” A few hours later a fi sherman walked into the skete carrying a large bag of fish. Setting the bag down, he said to the abbot, “These are for you.” The abbot asked where he had come from and the man replied that he was from the middle peninsula8, but had been blown off-course while fishing and landed miles away on the Athonite coast. Knowing that he was too far from any settlement to get his fi sh to market before they spoiled, the fisherman was surprised to see an old man suddenly emerge from the woods, who asked him where he was from. The fisherman told his story and the old man replied that he would buy the fish. He paid him, and told the fi sherman to take the fish to the skete “for my feast.” The simple fi sherman didn’t think about the strange words until the abbot asked him what the old man had looked like. Pointing to an icon of St. Nicholas, he replied, “Like that.” The monks celebrated the feast with great joy, and the abbot, in relating the story to Father Dorotheos, told him that to his great regret, he had not thought to ask the fisherman to trade him the money given to him by the saint.

The “Old Grandfather”

One woman from Thessalonica came to the monastery a few years ago and told Abbot Dorotheos and the monks that one day, while walking to church with her four year-old son, the child was attracted by something in the road and letting go of her hand, darted into the busy street. A huge truck was approaching, and just before it hit him she screamed out for St. Nicholas. After the truck passed over her son’s body, she ran terror-stricken into the road, expecting to find him dead. Instead, he stood up seemingly unscathed, and when she asked him if he was hurt he said matter-of-factly, “Oh no, the old grandfather laid on top of me in the road.”

The Guardian at the Gate

About twenty years ago, when Father Dorotheos was living alone in the monastery, two of the monastery’s tenant farmers became dissatisfied and irrationally demanded that they be granted clear title to their farms. If this didn’t happen, they threatened, they would make trouble for the monastery. They were as good as their word and one night showed up intending to break in. As they approached the big front gate (now fitted with a heavy wooden door and iron bars, but then only an open archway) they were met by an old man, slightly balding, with gray hair and beard, wearing a long brown cloak. He stopped them and said, “Go away, I’m here.” The men rudely replied, “What’s that to us? Out of the way, old man!” and started to push past him. He answered with the compelling command, “Look at me!” Surprised, they turned, and as they looked at him, rays of light shot from his eyes. Terrifi ed, they ran to Apikia, the nearest village, where they told everyone they had seen the saint.

On the next St. Nicholas Day, not long after, one of the men brought a huge artos for the feast, and the abbot, smiling, asked him, “Are you still planning to make trouble for me?” Embarrassed, the man replied softly, “No,” and gave the abbot his offering for the saint.

Read more about this monastery in the article: St. Nicholas Monastery and the Island of the Winds

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Nicholas of Myra: The Motion Picture

Synopsis of the Film Currently In Production:

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. In New York, December 1822, Dr. Clement Moore -- a professor of world literature -- is inspired to pen a whimsical Christmas poem for his young children. Influenced by the folklore of Old World culture, Moore crafts his poem into a magical tale about a kind and generous gift-bearer that secretly visits homes on Christmas Eve. It is while musing about this mythical character that Moore first learns of the ancient legend of a gift-bearer from the Greco-Roman Era -- one that he comes to believe may be the origin of all the similar myths throughout the world. What Moore finds is a story that ironically would one day be lost to the lore he was about to create. He soon discovers the surprising tale of a mighty empire at the crossroads of history, an enigmatic emperor who would forever leave his mark on the world, and an orphan boy named Nicholas, who one day -- in the face of boundless greed and persecution -- would prove that not every hero swings a sword.

It is the story of Christmas origins, the story of selflessness and sacrifice, yet ultimately, it is about the power of storytelling and the hope it can bring. It is the now forgotten tale of a legendary saint named Nicholas... Nicholas of Myra.

See more at the official site for the film here and see the trailer below, as well as an interview with lead actor of Nicholas of Myra -- Matthew Mesler -- on playing the role of St. Nicholas.

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Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia

St. Nicholas of Myra (Feast Day - December 6)

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

This glorious saint, celebrated even today throughout the entire world, was the only son of his eminent and wealthy parents, Theophanes and Nona, citizens of the city of Patara in Lycia. Since he was the only son bestowed on them by God, the parents returned the gift to God by dedicating their son to Him.

St. Nicholas learned of the spiritual life from his uncle Nicholas, Bishop of Patara, and was tonsured a monk in the Monastery of New Zion founded by his uncle. Following the death of his parents, Nicholas distributed all his inherited goods to the poor, not keeping anything for himself.

As a priest in Patara, he was known for his charity, even though he carefully concealed his charitable works, fulfilling the words of the Lord: "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth" (Matthew 6:3).

When he gave himself over to solitude and silence, thinking to live that way until his death, a voice from on high came to him: "Nicholas, for your ascetic labor, work among the people, if thou desirest to be crowned by Me." Immediately after that, by God's wondrous providence, he was chosen archbishop of the city of Myra in Lycia.

Merciful, wise and fearless, Nicholas was a true shepherd to his flock. During the persecution of Christians under Diocletian and Maximian, he was cast into prison, but even there he instructed the people in the Law of God. He was present at the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea [325] and, out of great zeal for the truth, struck the heretic Arius with his hand. For this act he was removed from the Council and from his archiepiscopal duties, until the Lord Christ Himself and the Most-holy Theotokos appeared to several of the chief hierarchs and revealed their approval of Nicholas.

A defender of God's truth, this wonderful saint was ever bold as a defender of justice among the people. On two occasions, he saved three men from an undeserved sentence of death. Merciful, truthful, and a lover of justice, he walked among the people as an angel of God. Even during his lifetime, the people considered him a saint and invoked his aid in difficulties and in distress. He appeared both in dreams and in person to those who called upon him, and he helped them easily and speedily, whether close at hand or far away. A light shone from his face as it did from the face of Moses, and he, by his presence alone, brought comfort, peace and good will among men.

In old age he became ill for a short time and entered into the rest of the Lord, after a life full of labor and very fruitful toil, to rejoice eternally in the Kingdom of Heaven, continuing to help the faithful on earth by his miracles and to glorify his God. He entered into rest on December 6, 343.

A Reflection From His Life

In icons of St. Nicholas, the Lord Savior is usually depicted on one side with a Gospel in His hands, and the Most-holy Virgin Theotokos is depicted on the other side with an episcopal omophorion in her hands. This has a twofold historical significance: first, it signifies the calling of Nicholas to the hierarchical office, and second, it signifies his exoneration from the condemnation that followed his confrontation with Arius.

St. Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople, writes: "One night St. Nicholas saw our Savior in glory, standing by him and extending to him the Gospel, adorned with gold and pearls. On his other side, he saw the Theotokos, who was placing the episcopal pallium on his shoulders." Shortly after this vision, John the Archbishop of Myra died and St. Nicholas was appointed archbishop of that city. That was the first incident.

The second incident occurred at the time of the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea. Unable to stop Arius through reason from espousing the irrational blasphemy against the Son of God and His Most-holy Mother, St. Nicholas struck Arius on the face with his hand. The Holy Fathers at the Council, protesting such an action, banned Nicholas from the Council and deprived him of all emblems of the episcopal rank. That same night, several of the Holy Fathers saw an identical vision: how the Lord Savior and the Most-holy Theotokos were standing around St. Nicholas - on one side the Lord Savior with the Gospel, and on the other side the Most-holy Theotokos with a pallium, presenting the saint with the episcopal emblems that had been removed from him. Seeing this, the fathers were awestruck and quickly returned to Nicholas that which had been removed. They began to respect him as a great chosen one of God, and they interpreted his actions against Arius not as an act of unreasonable anger, but rather an expression of great zeal for God's truth.

HYMN OF PRAISE: Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia

Holy Father Nicholas,
The four corners of the world glorify you
As a knight of the powerful Faith,
The Faith of God, the true Faith.

From the cradle he was devoted to God,
From the cradle until the end;
And God glorified him-
His faithful Nicholas.

Famous was he throughout his life,
And even more renowned after death;
Mighty on earth was he,
And even more mighty is he in heaven.

Glowing spirit, pure heart,
He was a temple of the Living God;
For this the people glorify him
As a wondrous saint.

Nicholas, rich in glory,
Loves those who honor him as their "Krsna Slava'';
Before the throne of the eternal God,
He prays for their good.

O Nicholas, bless us,
Bless your people
Who, before God and before you,
Humbly stand in prayer.

For a more complete life of St. Nicholas, see this version by St. Dimitri of Rostov.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, an icon of meekness, and a teacher of temperance; for this cause, thou hast achieved the heights by humility, riches by poverty. O Father and Hierarch Nicholas, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Kontakion in the Third Tone
Saintly One, in Myra you proved yourself a priest; for in fulfilling the Gospel of Christ, venerable One, you laid down your life for your people and saved the innocent from death. For this you were sanctified as One learned in divine grace.

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Saint Nicholas the Merciful and Recent Miracles in China

By Metropolitan Saint Philaret

Homily Delivered on December 6

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

When we commemorate whole groups of Saints, we usually mention the great hierarchs among the first, and we have become used to the three great universal hierarchs and teachers — Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and John Chrysostom — always being at the head of the hierarchical assembly. They belong there, because each of them contributed precious gifts [e.g. their writings] to the Church’s theological and moral treasury. So the Church honors them in particular and has established a feast for the three of them together, in addition to the solemn services for their individual feast days. But the feast of the great hierarch whom we commemorate today, the hierarch and wonderworker Nicholas, has a special place of its own.

He did not leave us as rich a spiritual heritage as these three great men, but we all know how greatly the Church reveres him. The Feasts of Saint Nicholas are so splendid that they even remind us of the 12 Great Feasts. Why is that so? Because he lived a life of virtue incarnate: an accessible, comprehensible virtue, close to every man and every heart, even the heart that rejects every other holy thing. That virtue is love; love and compassion.

The Russians like to call Saint Nicholas “Nikola the Merciful” because his miracles are as numerous as the stars of heaven. I would like to remind you of one touching miracle that shows his mercy. This did not happen once upon a time, long ago; it happened in our time, in the city of Harbin [China], where I lived for over 40 years. At the train station in Harbin there was a large icon of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, and it was especially venerated by all the travelers. Hundreds of candles were always burning in front of it. People departing by train and the people who came to see them off would light candles, and prayers were constantly going up to the great hierarch for his protection during trips. There was always a crowd in the station because the rail traffic was very heavy.

One day the people who happened to be there (they related this themselves, this is their own story; it was early spring, when the ice breaks up on the Sungari, on which Harbin is located) they saw a Chinese man rush in, soaked from head to toe. He ran up to the icon, threw himself down in front of it, and stretched out his arms to it, saying something in Chinese. The people who knew Chinese said he was thanking the saint for saving him from death.

Here’s what happened: for some reason he was in a terrible hurry to cross the river. But the river is wide, and the ice was flowing along it. He decided to take a chance. As he ran across the ice, jumping from one floe to another, he slipped, lost his balance, and fell under the ice. He was drowning, dying, when he remembered the wonderworking icon. His pagan countrymen revered it too, just as the Russian Orthodox did. As he was drowning, he cried out in despair, “Old man from the train station, help me!” He lost consciousness and went under completely; and he was about to perish…when all of a sudden he was on the riverbank, soaked but alive and unharmed! So he took off and ran — the train station was far away — and he rushed in to the icon and thanked the great hierarch for this evident and amazing miracle of his mercy and love.

The entire Far East, the entire land of China, has a great veneration for Saint Nicholas, you know. Once a Russian hunter had wandered far, far, into the taiga or steppe, and there he came upon a Chinese farmstead where he asked shelter. The friendly master and mistress of the house invited him in, and over their door he saw an icon of Saint Nicholas. He thought to himself, “What can these heathen be doing with it? What do they need it for?” And he wanted to take it. His host was offended and said, “Why do you want to take the Old Man away from us? He’s so kind, he helps us so much. We won’t give him up for anything!”

So not only the Orthodox Church but practically the entire human race honors this great hierarch. Whenever anyone is in trouble or has some need, he turns to Saint Nicholas. This great hierarch hears and fulfills each of the hundreds of petitions that fly to him in Heaven, as long as we ask with firm, strong faith. That’s why the Russian people love Saint Nicholas so much and constantly entreat him: “O Father and Hierarch Nicholas pray to God for us!” Amen.

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Restoration On Hagia Sophia's Canvasses Completed

December 6, 2010
Hurriyet Daily News

Canvasses on the walls of Hagia Sophia bearing the names of Muslim holy figures have been repaired and restored following a year of work. The iconic canvasses, which are each about eight meters in diameter, were placed there during 19th-century restoration conducted by two Italians. Modern restorers also repaired chandeliers and stained-glass windows.

The Hagia Sophia’s iconic circular canvasses with Arabic writing have been returned to their former glory following recently completed restoration.

The canvasses, which feature the names of Allah, the Prophet Mohammed, the first four caliphs – Abu Bakr, Omar, Osman and Ali – as well as the Prophet’s grandchildren, Hasan and Husayn, were restored with funding from the 2010 Istanbul Capital of Culture Agency.

The agency also supported the year-long restoration of the museum’s large, wrought-iron chandeliers for candles and oil lamps, as well as the building’s stained-glass windows in the sanctuary.

Canvasses a 19th-century creation

Contrary to popular belief, the canvasses were not affixed in the upper portions of the edifice following the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, but were placed there during 19th-century restoration by Giuseppe Fossati and Gaspare Fossati, two Italian brothers who were commissioned to do the work by Sultan Abdulmecid II and financed by an Arab sheikh.

Gaspare Fossati had originally gone for work to St. Petersburg, where he was named an architect to the Russian court. From there he was asked to design and build the Russian Embassy in Istanbul. The series of events led from one commission to another until 1847, when the Ottoman sultan asked the Fossati brothers to restore Hagia Sophia. The work lasted two years and employed 800 workers.

The Fossati brothers did nothing to the structure of the building itself, with the exception of filling in cracks and placing an iron chain around the dome to strengthen it. They left extraordinary drawings of the structure and the interior while also modernizing the mihrab and the loge, where the sultan could worship unseen by the worshippers on the floor of the mosque. The pair further repaired the imperial köşk, through which the sultan could enter the mosque from the palace side, thus avoiding contact with the general public.

At the sultan’s request, the brothers also reportedly uncovered and repaired some of the mosaics that had been covered with plaster; although the sultan is said to have admired the work, he later ordered them to be recovered, according to historians.

The eight canvasses are made of wood and leather and measure roughly eight meters in diameter. The names of Allah and Mohammed can be found over the apse, while the four caliphs mark the four corners of the dome. Hasan and Husayn, meanwhile, are found in the nave.

The canvasses, meanwhile, were painted by calligrapher Kazasker İzzet Efendi. The large pieces are so securely attached to the walls that they reportedly cannot be removed without risking damage to the walls. Some have also said the canvasses replaced panels that were there before the middle of the 19th century, but it is unknown what these panels were, or whether they actually existed.

Other calligraphic panels have been taken out over time and placed in the Sultanahmet Mosque and the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, now located at Ibrahim Paşa Palace.

İzzet Efendi is remembered for his fine calligraphy, having mastered several different styles of writing – an unusual feat since it often takes years to master just one. He is also revered as one of the finest composers of music from the 19th-century Ottoman Empire and is said to have first attracted attention for his beautiful voice. He rose rapidly in the ranks of the judiciary and eventually served as the chief justice of the Anatolian and the European sides of the empire.

Read more here.

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Nearly 1,000 Faithful Gather At Ground Zero For St. Nicholas Feast Day

December 5, 2010
CBS New York

New York’s Greek Orthodox community gathered in Lower Manhattan Sunday afternoon at the site of their church, which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.

Though they have no church building, they celebrated the Feast of St. Nicholas at ground zero, reports WCBS 880’s Ginny Kosola.

About 1,000 people gathered in the bitter cold for the annual service marking the Feast of St. Nicholas.

Father Mark Arey said talks with the Port Authority over rebuilding there broke off last year and have not been restarted.

Archbishop Demetrios, leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, said he is optimistic that the church will be rebuilt.

“We have no doubt whatsoever that the work will be done with the new government,” Archbishop Demetrios said.

St. Nicholas Church was destroyed when one of the World Trade Center towers collapsed on top of it.

The church had stood at the site since 1916. It was the only house of worship destroyed on September 11.



See also:

Congregants of Church Destroyed on 9/11 Return to Ground Zero to Pray

Church left out of 9/11 renewal

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30,000 Orthodox Churches Now Operating in Russia

December 6, 2010
Interfax

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia cited the statistics that 23,000 Orthodox churches have been restored in Russia over the past two decades.

"We got used to it somehow, it has become a commonplace: reconstructed, adjusted, restored. But let us just think about one figure: 23,000 churches have been restored in these 20 years," he said at a meeting of the Patriarchal Council for Culture at the Christ the Savior Cathedral.

"No other country has ever seen anything like that," he said.

Patriarch Kirill emphasized that this had been done against the backdrop of economic, political and social confrontation, rather than at a time of economic and political security and social well-being.

"The world should be aware of the Orthodox Russia's potential - we are capable of performing a great feat of recreating the destroyed and desecrated things out of oblivion," he said.

By 1991, the former USSR had 7,000 active churches, whereas the current number of churches has reached 30,000, Patriarch Kirill said.

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Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker (Various Links)

As an offering for the feast of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, below are various links I have posted on this great Saint since I began this site for those who wanted to read about his many wonders and relevance for Orthodox Christians.

- A Strange Miracle of Saint Nicholas in 1956

- The Holy Monastery of Saint Nicholas in Spata

- The Healing of St. Stefan of Decani by St. Nicholas

- Turkey Wants Relics of Saint Nicholas Back

- Archbishop Irenaios Encourages Christians To Imitate Saint Nicholas

- A Miracle of St. Nicholas In My Family

- Weeping Icon of Saint Nicholas in Hempstead, New York

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The Holy Icon of Panagia "the Seafaring"

By Evangelos Misaelides

Our great-grandfather, the shipowner Georgios Vasileiades (or “Captain Katifes,” as he was known to all, on account of the flower that he used to pin to his lapel) from Kasos, was accomplishing one of his customary trading voyages from Constantinople to the Dodecanese, some time between 1790 and 1810.

Suddenly, north of Mytilene, his ship sailed through assorted floating objects. Were they the result of a shipwreck or a jettison?

The sailers then caught sight of an Icon!

At the Captain’s command, they reverently took it up and gave it to him.

Painted on the Holy Icon (27.5 x 40 in.), which was executed in the “popular” style of the time, were the following seven holy Persons, in two rows.

Upper row: our Lord Jesus Christ in the arms of His Most Holy Mother; our Panagia, holding our Lord as a child, and indicating him in the well-known manner of the “Directress”; the Archangel Michael at her right, standing in piety; and to her right, in a similar posture, the Venerable Forerunner.

Bottom row: in the center, St. Nicholas as a Bishop, blessing and holding the Gospel, between the two well-known soldierly Saints on horseback, St. George (right) and St. Demetrios (left).

When the Captain took up the Holy Icon and was embracing it with uncovered head and great piety, a sailer wished him:

“May our Panagia be your aid, Captain, and may she protect you and your family....”

They continued their voyage with success. On Captain Katifes’ return home, he brought the Icon with all honor and reverence and gave it to our great-grandmother, telling her:

“Guard it as the apple of your eye. Revere and honor it greatly, and light an ever-burning vigil lamp before it. It will be the guardian and protector of our family. Before you die, pass it on to our eldest daughter, and then she to hers....”

Thus, passed on from mother to daughter, the Icon reached our own mother, the ever-memorable Marika Misaelides of the Vasileiades family, who did not, however, give birth to any daughters, but only to three sons.

Our late mother kept the Icon near her for seventy-five years — always with the same care and reverence and the ever-burning vigil lamp — wherever she went during the many times that it was necessary for her to move.

She gave no instructions as to who should take over the heirloom after her repose, but left that to the discretion of her sons, whom she had brought up under the Icon’s protection and in whom she had instilled great reverence for it.

And so it is that, by the common consent of all three brothers, the Icon is handed over to Your Eminence and your monastery, with the assurance that this is the best place for it to be preserved and honored.

We must add the following truly wondrous event to the historical account of the Icon.

On the cursed day of 25 August 1866, the “great slaughter” of Greeks by Turks took place in Iraklion, Crete.

Our terror-struck great-grandmother was holding the Icon in her arms and was beseeching the Panagia with tears for the salvation of her family and for all of her compatriots at that frightful hour.

Suddenly, they heard violent pounding on the door, which gave way, and two agitated and bloodthirsty Turks charged in.

They immediately took hold of our great-grandmother, who continued praying, and threw the Icon to the ground! One of the two then brought our great-grandmother to her knees and put her head on the Icon, cursing and threatening her that he would kill her if she did not call out: “Great is Allah!”

At precisely that moment, the Panagia worked a miracle!

A Cretan-Turkish officer, who was a compatriot and childhood friend of my great-grandfather, unexpectedly appeared.

He straightaway intervened in an authoritative manner and did not allow the bloodthirsty barbarian to slaughter the defenseless woman. The other two Turks then let out all of their rabid rage on the holy heirloom. They began furiously hitting it with their yataghans [Turkish sword]!

Our Panagia — O, the wonder! — intervened a second time.

Despite all of the gashes the Icon received, it was not shattered, though its wood is delicate and is not secured with braces.

The marks left by the sword strokes are still clearly discernible today, as a reminder of the incident and of the Panagia’s miracle.

This icon was given by the two brothers Evangelos and Alexandros Misaelides, with the consent of their elder brother Christos, to the Monastery of Sts. Cyprian and Justina outside Athens. The account above was written by Evangelos at the request of Metropolitan Cyprian. They honor the feast of the icon on December 6th.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
The assembly of the four servants of Christ encircles thee, O All-Pure one, in thine Icon, together with the Archangel. Thou hast appeared as a gift and a calm haven for those submerged in the dangers of life; and now do thou deliver from afflictions those who honor thee.

Source

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The Miraculous Return of the Relics of St. Savvas the Sanctified

St. Savvas the Sanctified during his lifetime told his disciples that his incorrupt body would be removed from his monastery and later would rest in the Lavra, which he founded. He said this return of his relics would come before the end of the world. This prophecy was fulfilled when the holy relics of St. Savvas were stolen by the crusaders of the First Crusade (1096 - 1099) together with many other relics and brought to Venice, Italy where he was enshrined in a church dedicated to St. Anthony. Nearly nine centuries later his relics were returned to Israel.

On 10 October 1965 the relics of St. Savvas were returned by Pope Paul VI to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. The reception was made, at the direction of Patriarch Benediktos of Jerusalem, by Bishop Vasilios of Jerusalem, Fr. Theodosios the Abbot of Bethany, Fr. Seraphim the Abbot of St. Savvas Lavra, and the Hierodeacon (and future Metropolitan of Nazareth) Kyriakos.

Though it is commonly recorded that this gesture on behalf of the Pope was made merely as an ecumenical gesture, such as that of the skull of St. Andrew in Patras, with regards to the return of the relics of St. Savvas there is more to the story. In fact, it was St. Savvas himself who was urging Pope Paul VI to have his relics returned, appearing first to his predecessor Pope John XXIII in his dreams and causing a scene in his reliquary.

Fr. Seraphim, the Abbot of St. Savvas Lavra, explains everything as follows:

"The Pope did not give us the holy relic because he loved us, but because he [St. Savvas] would constantly appear to him [Pope John XXIII] and would bother him to have his relics returned to his monastery. When the Pope died he did not take the wishes of the Saint into account, so he appeared again to his successor [Pope Paul VI]. Even in the church where his holy relics were treasured in a glass coffin, he would hit the glass and cause trouble, frightening the guards and the Latin monks."

Patriarch Benediktos had insisted that Fr. Seraphim attend the reception of the relics. He even told the Abbot: "In your days, Fr. Seraphim, Saint Savvas has returned!" Fr. Seraphim responded: "No, in your days, Your Holiness."


When the Orthodox representatives arrived at the Church of Saint Anthony in Venice they wondered if indeed these were the relics of Saint Savvas. Fr. Seraphim observed every inch of the incorrupt relic to see if he could see a sign of authenticity. He noticed that one of the eyes of St. Savvas was missing. This proved it for him, since in his biography it is said that the Monophysites removed one of his eyes. Moved by this Fr. Seraphim would not leave the side of the relics till they arrived at his monastery. Even when the holy relics arrived in Athens where they were to be venerated by the faithful prior to the return, Fr. Seraphim stood all night guarding the holy relics while everyone else was sleeping. Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth describes the scene as if Fr. Seraphim and St. Savvas were having a conversation that night.

A problem arose when it came time to dress the holy relics in Orthodox vestments, since the Latins had dressed him in Latin vestments. After nine centuries it would be impossible to manoeuvre the body so as to put on the rason, the monastic schema and epitrachelion among other things. To further complicate matters, the hands of St. Savvas were crossed over his chest. Metropolitan Kyriakos of Nazareth describes what then happened as follows: "We then saw Abbot Seraphim kneel before the holy relics and pray for a good amount of time. At one point he arose and did prostrations and lifted the arms of Saint Savvas as one would a living man before the amazed eyes of us all." They were able to change the vestments without a problem in Venice before the return to Jerusalem.

When the glass coffin arrived at the Piazza San Marco on the pier, there was a gondola that transported it by escort to an area near the airport. In a strange coincidence it was the same pier the sacred relic had disembarked centuries ago. Countless pigeons were gathered there, as if they were there to honor the event. Even many years later, when Fr. Seraphim and Metropolitan Kyriakos would reminisce about those days, they would always talk about the pigeons.

When the holy relics finally arrived in Jerusalem it was first brought to the Church of the Resurrection for many days. Here the women could venerate the holy relics prior to being brought permanently to the all-male monastic Lavra of St. Savvas. Fr. Seraphim tells of a certain miracle at this time in Jerusalem. An Orthodox nun who was waiting to venerate the holy relics had doubts over whether or not the Latin's had indeed given the authentic relics to the Orthodox. It was then that she saw the head of St. Savvas lift and turn to her, then it returned again in its place. Her joy removed all doubts.

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