Why A Chinese Buddhist Became an Orthodox Athonite Monk

By Fr. Libyos

On my last trip to Mount Athos I visited the Monastery of Simonopetra. It is a majestic monastery and the sky was fully blue. There I met a graceful novice monk from China. In truth, he surprised me by his presence. An Orthodox rason on a Chinese man? I was moved somewhat. I had never seen this before up close, only in pictures of missions. An inheritor of a great cultural tradition and for him to embrace Christianity? My friends and I got curious to ask him about this.

"Brother, how did you, a Chinese man, embrace Orthodox Christian monasticism coming from such a great cultural tradition? Were you a Buddhist?"

"Yes, of course, I was a Buddhist."

"What won you over to Christianity?"

"Divine companionship!"

"Excuse me?"

"Yes, yes, Father, hahahahaha!", he laughed, since with every three words the Chinese seem to laugh at two. "In Buddhism, my Father, you are very very much alone. There is no God. Your entire struggle is with yourself. You are alone with yourself, with your ego. You are totally alone in this path. Great loneliness Father. But here you have an assistant, a companion and a fellow-traveler in God. You are not alone. You have someone who loves you, who cares about you. He cares even if you don't understand Him. You speak with Him. You tell Him how you feel, what you would have hoped for - there is a relationship. You are not alone in the difficult struggles of life and spiritual perfection.

I realized things in those days. A severe cold bound me to bed. No doctor could find anything wrong with me. The clinical picture was clear, at least the doctors couldn't see anything. The pain was unbearable and there was absolutely no pain killer that could stop it. I changed three different pain killers and still the pain was not alleviated.

At this time I got the news that the brother of my father, whose name I bear, had an advanced form of cancer in the vocal cords and larynx. He had a largyngectomy. It was the result of chronic alcohol consumption and smoking. Generally he lived a bad life, without any quality.

Then I felt something a former Buddhist and now a Christian monk on Mount Athos told me, that you need to have a God you can talk to; to perceive and to feel someone besides yourself Who hears you.

I don't know if it's wrong or right. I only know it is a deep need of man. This is evidenced by life itself. Even these Buddhists, who are from a non-theistic religion, created various deities. Even in dream language and worlds. But they have a need to refer to someone, to something, someone beyond and outside themselves, even if it's dreamy. Besides, reality and truth is something very relevant and will always remain so. It is an enigma, a mystery."

At this I remembered the words of Saint Gregory the Theologian, who had a sensitive and melancholic nature, when he said: "When you are not well, or not feeling so, speak. Speak even if it is to the wind."

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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How Unusual Are These Animal Die-Offs?

Jenny Marder
January 4, 2011
PBS.org

On New Years Day, residents of Beebe, Ark., awoke to find some 5,000 dead blackbirds strewn across roads, lawns and rooftops. Three days later, 125 miles from Beebe, thousands of fish were found dead on riverbanks and floating along the Arkansas River. And Tuesday, the bodies of 500 redwing blackbirds, European starlings and cowbirds were found along a stretch of highway near Baton Rouge, La., after plummeting to their death.

All three mass die-offs are a mystery, but despite the proximity, they don't appear to be linked, scientists say.

So how unusual are these events?

LeAnn White, a wildlife disease specialist at the U.S. Geological Survey, said bird kills occur more frequently than the public realizes. The USGS database contains at least 16 cases in the last 20 years of large numbers of blackbirds dying in contained areas.

"We just think it's a rather strange coincidence," she said.

The most likely explanation for what caused the birds to plunge from the Arkansas sky is sudden trauma. Roosting birds probably panicked at the sound of holiday fireworks, flew into a frenzy and then crashed into each other at high speeds, scientists say. White said the Louisiana birds probably flew into a power line.

"Blackbirds will naturally, at this time of year, spend the night in large roosts, in thousands," said Doug Inkley, senior scientist at the National Wildlife Federation. "If they are frightened, which easily could be the case with fireworks, they could panic." And birds colliding at 40 miles per hour could easily kill each other.

Plus, preliminary reports released Monday by the Livestock and Poultry Commission Veterinary Diagnostic Lab show blood clots and internal bleeding in many of the birds, indicating that trauma had occurred before the fall. "These are not just dead birds lying on the ground," Inkley said. "These are damaged, dead birds lying on the ground."

The fish kill may be even more mysterious. Frank Leone, a fisheries management biologist at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission arrived at the bank of the Arkansas River after dark on Dec 29 to find nearly 2,000 freshwater drum fish washed up on a small stretch of sand and rocks. The next morning, on the main river channel, they found scores of fish floating dead in the main river channel.

"I knew then that it was a bigger kill than what we'd thought the night before," Leone said.

Scientists estimate that about 83,000 fish died along a 17-mile stretch of the Arkansas River, a kill bigger than any Leone has seen in his 10 years as a local biologist. Chris Racey, the commission's assistant chief of fisheries, also characterized the magnitude of the die-off as fairly rare.

But Inkley says that fish kills are more common than many realize and often human-caused.

Common culprits include toxic chemicals released into rivers and overfertilization, usually from farm runoff, he says. Both can cause oxygen depletion and dead zones in rivers and oceans. But such pollution would impact more than one fish, and in this case, 99 percent of the fish found dead were drum fish, with an occasional yellow bass, white bass and sauger fish affected.

Samples have been sent to the lab for analysis, and while results from the necropsies won't be complete for another three weeks, disease is considered a top contender. "Many diseases are host-specific, so it's a reasonable speculation on the part of the agencies," Inkley says.

Drum fish are bottom feeders; they feed on mollusks, mussels and aquatic insects. The average adult size ranges from 12 to 20 inches, and while most weigh in at about 33 pounds, they've been known to get much bigger. A 45-pounder was caught once in 2004.

"We're running a gamut of tests on the fish," Racey said. "I think the diagnostics we're conducting will help point us in a direction that may give us more answers as to why this occurred."

See also:

Hundreds of Bird Deaths in Louisianna

... while dozens die in Kentucky

... and up to 100 in Sweden

... Hundreds of snapper fish die on New Zealand beaches

... and 40,000 'devil' crabs wash up on Kent coast

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Scientists Create 52 Artificial Rain Storms in Abu Dhabi Desert

Josh Sanburn
January 3, 2011
TIME

Hail, lightning and gales came through the state's eastern region this summer thanks to scientist-puppetmasters.

As part of a secret program to control the weather in the Middle East, scientists working for the United Arab Emirates government artificially created rain where rain is generally nowhere to be found. The $11 million project, which began in July, put steel lampshade-looking ionizers in the desert to produce charged particles. The negatively charged ions rose with the hot air, attracting dust. Moisture then condensed around the dust and eventually produced a rain cloud. A bunch of rain clouds.

On the 52 days it rained in the region throughout July and August, forecasters did not predict rain once.

While fascinating, this is not the first time scientists have attempted to mess with Mother Nature. China has been tinkering with cloud seeding for years, not always successfully.

But the idea that countries in the Middle East could actually create rain in this water-poor region could go a long way to solving the area's problems with drought and is considered to be cheaper than desalination. But how controllable the weather can be is still in doubt, and the consequences of meddling with nature at this level are yet to be seen.

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Saint Romanos the New Martyr of Karpenesion (+1694)

St. Romanos the new Martyr (Feast Day - January 5 and February 16)

Romanos was from Karpenesi. He was totally illiterate. The only thing he knew was that he was a Christian.

One day he heard that some were going to venerate the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and he followed them. After he venerated all of the Holy Places, he also went to the Monastery of St. Savvas. There he heard the monks reading about the Holy Martyrs, how they suffered so many tortures for Christ preferring instead to receive the future good things. The Saint asked what were these future good things, and when he learned from the fathers about the life to come and Paradise, the desire to receive the future goods through martyrdom was born in him.

Because of this he went to Jerusalem and shared his idea with the Patriarch, who dissuaded him in case he couldn’t endure the tortures and might make matters worse for the Holy Sepulchre and the Patriarchate. This blessed one however who desired martyrdom could not keep within himself the fire that was kindled in his heart.

He therefore traveled to Thessaloniki, where he appeared before the judge, confessed Christ as true God, the Creator and Savior of the world, and called Muhammad an imposter and antichrist, and his religion an error filled with myths to laugh at. The judge ordered him to be tortured. They beat him mercilessly till the Muslims broke his ribs, they flogged off strips of skin from his back, they tore at his sides with horseshoes, and did many other tortures to force him to deny his faith. Because the Saint remained firm in his belief in Christ, he was ordered to be beheaded.

There happened to be at that time in Thessaloniki the Admiral of the fleet who sought the judge to give him the martyr to put him in a boat as an oarsman, telling him that this would be worse than death for the martyr. Because of his position as a rower on board he would be tortured throughout his life mentally and physically. He liked the idea and the Admiral took him, cut his hair and beard, and put him at the paddle.

After a short time however, some Christian friends of the captain bribed him, and he set the Saint free. The Christians sent him to the Holy Mountain, to the Skete of Kavsokalyvia, where he was near St. Akakios (April 12) who served as his elder. There he struggled continuously and superhumanly, but he had no peace. He lived like a stranger in this life, and he thought neither for food nor water; his mind was on martyrdom.

As the two of them fasted, elder and novice, and as St. Akakios received a divine revelation regarding the martyrdom of Romanos, he tonsured him a monk and with the prayers of the fathers he let him leave with the goal of confession and martyrdom.

At first he went to Jerusalem in his monastic garb, where he couldn’t complete his goal, because there was a fear that the Muslims would harm the Holy Sepulchre. Therefore he traveled to Constantinople. There he caught a little dog, tied it up to his belt and walked with him to the bazaar. The Turks seeing this asked why he was walking the little dog in such an odd fashion. He responded to them: “To feed him as the Christians feed you Turks.” As soon as they heard this they grabbed him and brought him to the Vizier, where he repeated the same words. Then the Vizier ordered them to torture him until he would deny his faith.

They threw him in a dry well, in which they threw their murderers. There the blessed one remained without food for forty days. Later they took him out and tortured him mercilessly in various ways without in any way convincing him. Then the Vizier ordered him to be beheaded by sword.

As they took him to the place of execution, he greeted any Christian he saw with great joy saying that he was going to a wedding and not a slaughter, a fact that stunned many. Passing by the mosque at the hour when the hodja called for mid-day prayer from the minaret, the martyr gazed and spat on him, for which cause the executioners immediately cut out his tongue, which he extended on his own for them to cut. And again he intelligently greeted the Christians with blood running from his mouth. When he reached the place of execution they beheaded him, as he thanked God, and his beheaded body on its own fell towards the east, as if it were still alive. Angered by this sign the Turks drove away the mass of Christians. This occurred in 1694 on January 5 or 6, though some say it occurred on February 16th.

The holy relic remained three days and nights at the place of execution and the divine grace illumined it with a heavenly light, which was seen by all, Christians and Turks. In the end the relic of the martyr was bought for five hundred piasters by an English captain whose shipped was stationed in Constantinople, and he took it to England.

One Christian witness of the martyrdom of St. Romanos, who was amazed at the joy and courage of the martyr, when the Turks were shoving and beating the Christians away from the body of the martyr, payed a Turkish child five piasters to dip a napkin into the blood of the martyr and bring it back to him. The child did this, but afterwards told this to a Turk, who then sent the child back asking for five more piasters. The Christian did not want to pay this, so he was betrayed to the Vizier to be put to death. However, the Christian was nobleman and friend of the Vizier, which spared him from death. Instead he was cast into a bleak dungeon where he languished for six months. Every night he would see a ray of light emanating from the spot where Romanos was martyred, and this strengthened him and consoled him; otherwise, "I should have perished from my extreme hardships". He was released later for four thousand piasters, after which he and his brother sold all their belongings to travel to Jerusalem and Mount Sinai. They then sailed to Mount Athos where they became monks. The older brother, Agapios, ended his life at the Monastery of Docheiariou, to which he donated the napkin with the blood of the martyr. The other ended his days at the Monastery of Koutloumousiou.

᾿Απολυτίκια. Εἷς ἦχον γ´ «Μέγαν εὕρατο....»
Σθένει Χάριτος τῆς Παναγίας ῥώμην ὤνησας τὴν πανολβίαν καὶ ῥωμαλέως ἠγωνίσω, Μακάριε· ὅθεν Χριστὸν ὡς Θεὸν ὡμολόγησας καὶ μαρτυρίῳ τὴν πίστιν ἐτράνωσας, ῾Ρωμανὲ ἔνδοξε, ᾿Ασπροπύργου τὸ σέμνωμα. Σωτῆρα Θεὸν ἱκέτευε δωρήσασθαι ἡμῖν τὸ μέγα ἔλεος.

Εἰς ἦχον πλ. α´ «Τὸν συνάναρχον λόγον...»
᾿Αθλητῶν καὶ μαρτύρων νέων τὸ καύχημα, ἀσκητῶν καὶ ὁσίων Εὐρυτάνων ἀγλάϊσμα ἀνεδείχθης, ῾Ρωμανέ, τῷ μαρτυρίῳ σου ὅτι ἐδόξασας Χριστὸν ἐν κριτηρίοις ἀσεβῶν τῇ ῥώμῃ τοῦ Παρακλήτου. Καὶ νῦν ὡς μάρτυς πρεσβεύεις ὑπὲρ πιστῶν τῶν εὐφημούντων σε.

Μεγαλυνάρια
῾Ρώμην ἐνεδύσω ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῇ πανοπλίᾳ τοῦ Παντάνακτος ᾿Ιησοῦ ἐχθρῶν τὰς μεθοδείας καί τῶν ὑπεναντίων κατῄσχυνας γενναίως, ῾Ρωμανὲ ἔνδοξε.

Τὸ τοῦ ᾿Ασπροπύργου σέβας λαμπρόν, ῾Ρωμανὸν τὸν νέον καὶ ἐν μάρτυσι θαυμαστόν, τὸν πίστει καὶ ἀνδρείᾳ κακίαν ἀναιροῦντα, ἄσμασιν καὶ ὕμνοις τοῦτον τιμήσωμεν.

Ode 8 of the Canon in praise of All Saints of Athos
Let us honour in songs the glorious Romanos, pride of ascetics and sweetness of the new martyrs of Christ, whom the Skete of the Lavra of Kavsokalyvia blossomed as a rose, and whom Akakios, young in years and old in asceticism had as his own disciple.

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Saint Syncletike of Alexandria

St. Syncletike or Syncletica (Feast Day - January 5). Fresco above by Elder Sophrony Sakharov at the refectory of St John the Baptist Monastery in Essex.

Our holy mother Syncletike was born at Alexandria in the course of the fourth century to rich and devout parents, who came originally from Macedonia. From her youth, she had been seen as an excellent match on account of her great beauty, intelligence and virtues, and she had many suitors; but she remained deaf and blind to every worldly attraction, for she aspired only to spiritual marriage to Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom. Bringing her flesh into subjection by fasting and austerities of every kind, she constantly gathered her spirit in the depths of her heart and cried out night and day: "My Beloved is mine, and I am His" (Song of Songs 2:16).

On the death of her parents, she distributed her great fortune to the poor and then, accompanied by her blind sister, she fled far from the city. She had her hair shorn by a priest and thus consecrated herself to God for ever, becoming the foundress of the monastic life for women as Saint Antony the Great was its instituter for men. Being already embarked on the works of ascesis, she made rapid progress on the course which brings monastics to live a heavenly life here below, and she took the greatest care to keep her contests hidden from human sight lest she lose the final reward. She died daily to the world and to herself in order to live with Christ, and she rebutted with intelligence and discernment all the temptations insinuated by the demons. She raised herself constantly towards heaven by the holy virtues, and her renown spread round about her like a spiritual scent and attracted, despite herself, a growing number of fervent young women who came begging for her instruction and counsels for their salvation. At first, the Saint refused out of humility to break her silence, but she was constrained at last by charity to give way to their entreaties. With deep sighs, watered with tears, she revealed to them the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge that the Holy Spirit had set in her heart.

In the first place, Saint Syncletike reminded her disciples that charity — perfect love of God and neighbour — is the fulfilment of the divine Law in both the Old and the New Testaments (Ex. 20; Rom. 13:10), and that for those who withdraw from the world it must be the origin and aim of every action. "We shall be blessed", she said, "if we make as much effort to please God and to win heaven as people in the world do to heap up riches and corruptible goods. The delicate flower of holy charity blossoms only in a body and soul kept chaste and pure, not only from sins of the flesh and of the senses, but also from all connivance at the impure thoughts with which the Devil relentlessly assails warriors in the army of Christ. Hence they must always be on their guard, showing themselves as wise as serpents, in order to foil the devices of the enemy and, by their purity, they must be as simple as doves (Matt. 10:16). Just as clothes are washed and cleansed by treading them underfoot and turning them over and over, we should give ourselves up to poverty and to the ascetic life with the same expectation, joining vigilance, discernment, earnest prayer and holy humility to mortification of the flesh, in order that the soul, receiving the Holy Spirit, may become like a clean, white dove which rises up to God."

The Saint herself had shown how to advance in humility — the basis of charity — by her hidden life, withdrawn from the world. "As treasure is seized and squandered by thieves as soon as it is discovered," she said, "so virtue fades and vanishes in the very moment that you make it known. Praise relaxes and enfeebles the soul like fire melting wax, while insults and scorn raise the soul to the height of virtue."

She added an evocative comparison of the ascetic life with fire: "When you light a fire, at first the smoke makes your eyes sting and stream with tears, but soon after you enjoy the welcome warmth; in the same way, we have to kindle within us, through tears and sufferings, the fire of divine love, which Christ has promised to bring on the earth (Luke 12:49), in order to rejoice afterwards in the consolation of the Holy Spirit."

The luminous teachings of the Saint filled the young women who listened to her with burning zeal; no longer willing to leave her, they desired to remain at her side day and night in order to contemplate in her person a living image of evangelic perfection. After resisting their pleas for some time, she resigned herself to the will of God, and guided her growing community along the narrow way to the Kingdom of Heaven, as one pilots a boat between reefs. She exhorted her disciples to adorn themselves with spiritual raiment in awaiting Christ with the same care as a bride devotes to preparing herself for an earthly union. She taught those who lived in community to prefer obedience and the casting away of their own opinions or judgements to feats of ascesis, and she exhorted them to encourage and to correct each other by word and, above all, by example in order to keep clear of the snares of the evil one — laxity on the one hand and vainglory on the other — because this is how to advance, with moderation and discernment, on the royal road of humility.

Although her body was weakened and withered by fasting, the soul of Syncletike was illumined by Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, and she shone brilliantly in her holy teaching, in her infallible discernment, before which all the illusions and machinations of the devil took flight, and above all in her constant progress towards perfection. In her latter years, to the free will offering of ascesis she added patience in illnesses, for she was put to the test by continual fevers and lung troubles, which like a file slowly wore down her body. When she reached the age of eighty-five, the devil put her to a final test, having obtained from God the power to submit her, for three and a half years, to sufferings such as righteous Job had endured for thirty-five years. While he attacked Job and the holy Martyrs from without, he struck at the Saint with the same savagery but from within, burning her entrails by a cancer as in a slow fire, which caused her excruciating pain. She bore these trials with patience and thanksgiving and even made use of them to instruct her disciples, saying, "If illness strikes us, let us not be distressed as though physical exhaustion could prevent us from singing God’s praises; for all these things are for our good and for the purification of our desires. Fasting and ascesis are enjoined on us only because of our appetites; so if illness has blunted their edge, there is no longer need for ascetic labours. To endure illness patiently and to send up hymns of thanksgiving to God is the greatest ascesis of all."

The devil would not admit defeat, and he took away her power of speech, depriving her of the formidable weapon of her word; but, simply to see the serenity of the Saint’s countenance amid such great sufferings, replaced every other teaching and strengthened those who approached her in the love of God. He then attacked her body with gangrene, and the stench of putrefaction was so great that in order for her disciples to stay near her they had to fumigate the air with much perfume and to anoint her decaying limbs with sweet spices, as if for a corpse. But nothing could subdue this weak woman who had become, by the Grace of God, more valiant than any warrior. Scorning death and the impotent devices of the evil one, she was ministered to by the angels and was able to contemplate with joy the glory beyond all utterance of the light of Paradise. In this way, at the end of a three-month martyrdom, she departed to the Lord to receive the crown of her contests, after having predicted the day of her death and consoled her disciples in her last words to them.

Note: The wonderful biography of St Syncletike [of which we read a summary above], attributed to St Athanasius of Alexandria, is one of the basic texts of Orthodox spirituality.

Source: The Synaxarion: The Lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church, volume three (January-February), Holy Convent of the Annunciation of Our Lady, Ormylia, 2001 (pages 56-59).

Sayings of Amma Syncletike

- "In the beginning there is struggle and a lot of work for those who come near to God. But after that there is indescribable joy. It is just like building a fire: at first it is smoky and your eyes water, but later you get the desired result. Thus we ought to light the divine fire in ourselves with tears and effort."

- "Those who put out to sea at first sailed with a favourable wind; then the sails spread, but later the wind becomes adverse. Then the ship is tossed by the waves and is no longer controlled by the rudder. But when in a little while there is calm, and the tempest dies down, then the ship sails on again. So it is with us, when we are driven by the spirits who are against us; we hold to the cross as our sail and so we can set a safe course."

- "There is an asceticism which is determined by the enemy and his disciples practice it. So how are we to distinguish between the divine and royal asceticism and the demonic tyranny? Clearly through its quality of balance."

- "It is dangerous for anyone to teach who has not first been trained in the practical life. For if someone who owns a ruined house receives guests there, he does them harm because of the dilapidation of his dwelling. It is the same in the case of someone who has not first built an interior dwelling; he causes loss to those who come. By words one may convert them to salvation, but by evil behaviour, one injures them."

- "I think that for those living in community obedience is a greater virtue than chastity, however perfect. Chastity carries within it the danger of pride, but obedience has within it the promise of humility."

- Someone asked Amma Syncletike of blessed memory, "Is absolute poverty perfect goodness?" She replied, "It is a great good for those capable of it; even those who are not capable of it find rest for their souls in it though it causes them anxiety. As tough cloth is laundered pure white by stretched and trampled underfoot, so a tough soul is stretched by freely accepting poverty."

- "Choose the meekness of Moses and you will find your heart which is a rock changed into a spring of water."

- "Just as a treasure that is exposed loses its value, so a virtue which is known vanishes; just as wax melts when it is near fire, so the soul is destroyed by praise and loses all the results of its labour."

- "Just as one cannot build a ship unless one has some nails, so it is impossible to be saved without humility."

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
In thee the image was preserved with exactness, O Mother; for taking up thy cross, thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, for it passeth away, but to attend to the soul since it is immortal. Wherefore, O righteous Syncletike, thy spirit rejoiceth with the Angels.

Kontakion in the Third Tone
O divine Syncletike, our righteous God-bearing Mother, thou didst shine forth as a lamp bright with unquenchable virtues, laying bare the dark devices of the deceiver; and thy light guided a multitude of wise virgins to the heav'nly bridal chambers; together with them, pray that we all may be saved.

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Theophany At the Athonite Monastery of Iveron in 2009

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Monument to Emperor Nicholas II Replaces Statue of Lenin

Paul Gilbert
January 1, 2011
Royal Russia News

History has come full circle to the town of Shushenskoye, a small town situated in the Krasnoyarsk Krai region of eastern Russia. On December 30th, a monument dedicated to Emperor Nicholas II was unveiled on the same spot where a statue of Vladimir Lenin had stood for decades. Ironically, Lenin lived in exile in Shushenskoye from 1897 to 1900.

The bronze bust of Russia's last tsar was designed by the famous Krasnoyarsk sculptor Constantin Zinich. Located in the center of town, it stands in front of the head office of the largest producer of alcohol in the Shusha district. The idea of removing the statue of Lenin and replacing it with a monument to Nicholas II was that of company CEO, Viktor Ovanov, who also financed the project.

The monument, which is situated in the center of the village, was consecrated by Archimandrite Alexis and other members of the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church.


"Some things leave a mark in our personal and spiritual lives", said the archimandrite, "Nicholas II evokes a glorious page in Russian history. He was an example of one who lived a pious life and set a good example for which we, Russians, deem fit to remember".

"It is the urge of the heart and soul of the Orthodox faithful of Russia", as he explained the meaning behind the monument. "Contemporaries, historians and descendants of various political and religious views will refer to his great personality. I am sure of one thing about Nicholas II, and we still have much to learn. He was a true Christian, a wonderful family man, and most importantly of the Emperor, the glory and the good of Russia was always dear to him. Many to this day are unaware that our country enjoyed the strongest period of economic development during the reign of Nicholas II. Therefore, it is important that as we rejoice at the current achievements of our state, that we not forget similar achievements made in 1913".

Sadly, according to local authorities, the unveiling of the monument to Nicholas Romanov was apparently met with little enthusiasm. Sadly, this is further evidence of the negative attitude many Russians still have of the last Emperor of Russia, this is in part due to the smear campaign that the Bolsheviks launched against him before his abdication, and throughout the Soviet years.

After the Revolution, the Bolsheviks destroyed statues and monuments of the Romanov's all across Russia. The new monument in Shushenskoye is the latest in a series of monuments that have been erected in cities and towns across Russia in recent years, not just to Nicholas II, but other emperors and empresses as well. It is interesting to note that while most statues and monuments to Lenin have disappeared from the Russian landscape since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, many new monuments of the former Romanov rulers are returning. Perhaps Russians are at last coming to terms with their past and re-evaluating the life and times of Nicholas II and the role of the monarchy in the context of their fascinating but turbulent history.

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Serbian Church Wants Back Its Monastery-Turned-Disco Club On Hvar

January 5, 2011
Croatian Times

The Serbian Orthodox Church has asked for one of its monasteries that was turned into a nightclub to be turned back into a church.

The 16th century Monastery of Saint Paraskeva built in 1561 was handed over to the city of Hvar after WWII and last year taken on by investment company Veneranda for use as a disco.

But now the church says it wants it back.

"With regret we confirmed that a holy object was turned into a night club," the Eparchy (diocese) of Dalmatia told the Croatian daily Jutarnji List.

"Our dissatisfaction is shared with the Catholic bishop Mile Bogovic."

"We hope that the authorities will undertake all lawful measures in order to return this religious object to the Serbian Orthodox Church and its faithful," they added.

The church which is now called Veneranda Night Club is a popular nightspot for tourists.

Offical Site of Veneranda Night Club

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Muslims In Greek Cyprus Want Back Mosque Area

January 5, 2011
World Bulletin

The 20-member association takes back the property around Hala Sultan Tekke in Larnaca, which Greeks reportedly plan to build an entertainment center.

Muslims in on Greek Cypriot side established the "Cypriot Supreme Council of Muslims", demanding the property around the Hala Sultan Tekke, angering the Greek archbishop.

The 20-member association want to take back the property around Hala Sultan Tekke in Larnaca, which Greeks reportedly plan to build an entertainment center.

According to Turkey's Anadolu news agency, citing Greek Simerini newspaper, "the association's emblem carries 'flags of the Ottoman Empire, the Ottoman navy flag and a ship with Ottoman robe (kaftan).'"

The President of the Association, Imam Sakip, talked to Sigma TV and expressed uneasiness with the decicion that the Greek Cypriot administration allowed an entertainment center to be built 20 meters from Hala Sultan Tekke. He has accused the Greek Cypriot side of not showing respect for the Muslim places of worship.

Imam Sakip said, "I would like to give this message to the Republic of Cyprus (Greek part) that you need to be an example of a European country," he said. In order to show this, the Republic of Cyprus should hand over the keys of Hala Sultan Tekke and the property around it to the association," he said.

Applying for registration officially to the Greek Interior Ministry, the association will initiate the procedures necessary to request hundreds of acres of surrounding property to the Hala Sultan Tekke in Larnaca Salt Lake area.

Archbishop angry

On the other hand, the report says Greek Orthodox Church Archbishop Chrysostomos II reacted to the establishment of the "Cypriot Supreme Council of Muslims" and its demands, as well as the accusations that were directed towards him on the bad condition of Muslim places of worship.

Chrysostomos II claimed, if the members of the association visit him, he will show them "how well the Muslim churches on the Greek Cypriot side are and ready to be worshipped in at any time."

The Archbishop also said "he will show them that the Christian monuments from 12th, 13th and 14th centuries have been destroyed one after the other in the North."

Hala Sultan Tekke or the Mosque of Umm Haram is a very prominent Muslim shrine near Larnaca. Umm Haram was Prophet Muhammad's wet nurse.

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The New Years Day Suicide Bombing In Egypt Against Copts

January 4, 2011
Reuters

The death toll from a New Year bombing outside a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria has risen by two to 23, the official news agency MENA said on Tuesday.

Dozens of people were wounded when a presumed suicide bomber detonated a device during a midnight service.

No clear official account has emerged of how the attack was carried out but political analysts point to a small cell, not a large militant group such as those behind an Islamist insurgency that flared more than a decade ago.

A Health Ministry official said 18 bodies had been identified but put the possible number of dead at 22, based on studies of body parts found at the scene.

Billionaire Naguib Sawiris, chairman of Orascom Telecom, one of Egypt's biggest listed companies, has offered 1 million Egyptian pounds ($172,500) for information on those behind the January 1 attack, a state newspaper said on Tuesday.

The Dutch anti-terrorism agency NCTb has urged police to keep an eye on Coptic churches in three Dutch cities after they were included in Internet threats against Coptic churches in Europe, including France and Britain.

The bombing provoked protests and some clashes with police in Alexandria and the capital, Cairo, by young Christians calling for more protection.

Christians account for about 10 percent of Egypt's population of 79 million, which is mostly Muslim. Sectarian violence is rare but disputes on issues from church building to religious conversions and divorce have grown in the past year.

Early last year, a drive-by shooting of six Christians and a Muslim policeman at a church in southern Egypt led to protests.

Egyptian officials have said there are indications "foreign elements" were behind the January 1 blast. An Iraqi group linked to al Qaeda threatened in November to attack Egyptian Christians.

Read also: Anti-Christian Drumbeat Loud Before Egypt Attack


Inside Story - Egypt's Coptic Christians - Al Jazeera

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Rare Greek Dialect Alive In Turkey

January 5, 2011
Kathimerini

A Greek professor of linguistics at Cambridge University has been credited with identifying an endangered Greek dialect which is spoken in a remote mountainous region in northeastern Turkey and is believed to be a “linguistic gold mine” because of its close similarities to ancient Greek.

The significance of the Romeyka (Romeika) dialect was highlighted by Dr Ioanna Sitaridou, director of studies in linguistics at Queen’s College, following fieldwork in the area around Trabzon, on Turkey’s Black Sea coast. In a short film about her research, Sitaridou said the dialect was unique.

“Romeyka is a living language preserving structures only to be found in Classical Greek, which has been dead for more than 2,000 years,” she remarked. “What these people are speaking is a variety of Greek far more archaic than other forms of Greek spoken today.”

Sitaridou said religion was a major reason behind the dialect’s survival. The Romeyka speakers are devout Muslims and were therefore exempt from the large-scale population exchange between Greece and Turkey that took place in 1923, she said.

The Cambridge linguist’s research has involved trips to villages near the Black Sea (or Pontus) where Romeyka is spoken, where she has mapped the grammatical structures and variations in use. Information is gathered using audio and video recordings of the villagers telling stories.

The ultimate aim of the research is to explain how Pontic Greek evolved. “We know that Greek has been continuously spoken in Pontus since ancient times and can surmise that its geographic isolation from the rest of the Greek-speaking world is an important factor in why the language is as it is,” Sitaridou said.

But the dialect’s survival is at risk due to waves of emigration from Trabzon and the influence of the dominant Turkish-speaking majority. With as few as 5,000 speakers left in the area, Romeyka could soon be “more of a heritage language than a living vernacular,” Sitaridou said.

More can be read here.


A video with spoken Romeyka

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Pre-Festive Days of the Theophany

After the feast of the Circumcision (Jan. 1), the Church turns its gaze from our Lord's infancy and childhood to his public ministry, which will begin with His baptism (Matthew 3:13-17). The feast of our Lord's baptism is called the Theophany, meaning "the manifestation" or "appearance of God", and is celebrated on January 6.

During the days leading up to the Nativity, we sang the pre-festive troparion: "Bethlehem, make ready; Ephrathah, prepare youself." Beginning on January 2 at Vespers (that is, starting on the evening of January 1), we look to Galilee and the River Jordan and sing the pre-festive troparion of Theophany:

Zebulun, make ready; Naphtali, prepare yourself. O River Jordan, stand and leap for joy to receive the Master coming to be baptized. O Adam, rejoice with the first mother, Eve, and do not hide yourselves as once you did in Paradise. For, seeing you naked, Christ has appeared to put on the first robe. He has appeared to renew all creation.

Both events - the birth of Christ, and His baptism in the Jordan - were manifestations or appearances of God; in other words, theophanies. Each was a crucial step in God's plan of salvation for the human race.

The Saturday before Theophany

If one of the pre-festive days (January 2-5) falls on a Saturday, then the liturgical books appoint special readings for the day's Divine Liturgy. The Epistle (1 Timothy 3:14-4:5) contains an early statement of faith in Jesus, which emphasizes the theme of manifestation or theophany:

He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit; seen by the angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed in throughout the world, taken up in glory.

The Gospel (Matthew 3:1-11) describes the preaching and baptismal ministry of John the Forerunner.

The Sunday before Theophany

If one of the pre-festive days falls on a Sunday, then a special prokeimenon and alleluia are sung at the Divine Liturgy, asking God's blessing and assistance. In the Epistle (2 Timothy 4:5-8), Saint Paul refers to all those "who have looked for his appearing with eager longing." The Gospel is another account of the ministry and preaching of John the Baptist, taken this time from the very beginning of the Gospel according to Saint Mark (Mark 1:1-8).

The Royal Hours of the Theophany

Since December 25, there has been no fasting; we have kept festival in honor of our Lord's birth.

However, the Church does appoint a single day of fasting before the feast of our Lord's Theophany. Normally, this is on January 5, the "Paramoni" or "Vigil" of Theophany. However, if January 5 falls on a Saturday or Sunday - days on which we do not normally fast - then the fast day is transferred to the previous Friday.

On this day, a special service called the Royal Hours is celebrated. This service consists of the daytime services of the First Hour, Third Hour, Sixth Hour, Ninth Hour, and Typika, celebrated with special psalms and readings for the Theophany. (This service is called royal because, at one time, the Emperor himself always attended the service.) Each part of the service has an Old Testament prophecy, an Epistle reading, and a reading from the Holy Gospel.

The Vigil of the Theophany

Finally, we have come to the eve of the feast - the Paramoni or Vigil of Theophany (January 5). If it is a weekday, it is a day of strict fasting, with the Royal Hours celebrated during the day, and Vespers and the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil in the evening.

If January 5 is a Saturday or Sunday, the Divine Liturgy may be celebrated in the morning, and we sing the troparion of the Vigil:

After Elijah has been taken up, the River Jordan was parted in two by Elisha's mantle; and a dry path was opened in the waters as an image of true baptism by which we pass beyond this fleeting life. Christ appeared at the Jordan to sanctify the waters.

By tradition, a Holy Supper (meatless but festive) is held on the evening of January 5, after Vespers, just as on Christmas Eve. We have arrived at the brink of the feast of the Theophany - the baptism of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.

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Righteous Nikephoros the Leper: Hymns and Photos

Read about the saintly leper Nikephoros at this link: The Righteous Nikephoros the Leper (1890-1964)

Read more here and here in Greek.


Apolytikion in the Third Tone
Angels were awestruck by your struggles and your brave asceticism Righteous Nikephoros the Leper. As another Job in his pain you endured glorifying God and He arranged for you a glorious crown of miracles. Rejoice you who lead monastics by the hand, Rejoice projector of light, Rejoice joyful fragrance issuing forth from your relics.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
Shunning pain and bodily corruption. as a horse you lead towards the heavens, Righteous Nikephoros, the steadfast support of lepers. As a brilliantly lit temple of God, in sickness your body shined.

Megalynarion
You are a living icon of virtue, and similar, Father, to Job in patience. You endured sorrows and were well-pleasing to God, therefore posthumously you were fragrant.

Απολυτίκιο. Ήχος γ΄. Θείας πίστεως.
Θείον σμάραγδον ευρέ, ψυχή μου, ανιχνεύουσα εν ασθενείαις, Νικηφόρον σεμνόν και αθόρυβον· τον υπομείναντα πάθη του σώματος και ως χαράν την οδύνην δεξάμενον. Πάτερ όσιε, εκ θείου σταυρού, ως άγγελος, ελθέ και τους εν Γη νοσούντας ίασαι.

Κοντάκιο. Ήχος β΄. Τα άνω ζητών.
Εκ πόνου φυγών και της φθοράς του σώματος, ως έφιππος νυν οδεύεις προς ουράνια, Νικηφόρε όσιε, των λεπρών ακλόνητων στήριγμα, ως γαρ ναός υπέρλαμπρος Θεού εν ασθενεία το σώμα σου έλαμψεν!

Μεγαλυνάριο.
Έμψυχος εικών συ της αρετής, ομοιώθης, πάτερ, τω Ιώβ τη υπομονή, υπέμεινας θλίψεις Θεώ ευαρεστήσας, διό και μετά θάνατον ευωδίασας.

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Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles of Christ

The Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles was established by the Orthodox Church to indicate the equal honor of each of the Seventy. They were sent two by two by the Lord Jesus Christ to go before Him into the cities He would visit (Luke 10:1).

Besides the celebration of the Synaxis of the Holy Disciples, the Church celebrates the memory of each of them during the course of the year:

St James the Brother of the Lord (October 23); Mark the Evangelist (April 25); Luke the Evangelist (October 18); Cleopas (October 30), brother of St Joseph the Betrothed, and Simeon his son (April 27); Barnabas (June 11); Joses, or Joseph, named Barsabas or Justus (October 30); Thaddeus (August 21); Ananias (October 1); Protomartyr Stephen the Archdeacon (December 27); Philip the Deacon (October 11); Prochorus the Deacon (28 July); Nicanor the Deacon (July 28 and December 28); Timon the Deacon (July 28 and December 30); Parmenas the Deacon (July 28); Timothy (January 22); Titus (August 25); Philemon (November 22 and February 19); Onesimus (February 15); Epaphras and Archippus (November 22 and February 19); Silas, Silvanus, Crescens or Criscus (July 30); Crispus and Epaenetos (July 30); Andronicus (May 17 and July 30); Stachys, Amplias, Urban, Narcissus, Apelles (October 31); Aristobulus (October 31 and March 16); Herodion or Rodion (April 8 and November 10); Agabus, Rufus, Asyncritus, Phlegon (April 8); Hermas (November 5, November 30 and May 31); Patrobas (November 5); Hermes (April 8); Linus, Gaius, Philologus (November 5); Lucius (September 10); Jason (April 28); Sosipater (April 28 and November 10); Olympas or Olympanus (November 10 ); Tertius (October 30 and November 10); Erastos (November 30), Quartus (November 10); Euodius (September 7); Onesiphorus (September 7 and December 8); Clement (November 25); Sosthenes (December 8); Apollos (March 30 and December 8); Tychicus, Epaphroditus (December 8); Carpus (May 26); Quadratus (September 21); Mark (September 27), called John, Zeno (September 27); Aristarchus (April 15 and September 27); Pudens and Trophimus (April 15); Mark nephew of Barnabas, Artemas (October 30); Aquila (July 14); Fortunatus (June 15) and Achaicus (January 4).

With the Descent of the Holy Spirit the Seventy Apostles preached in various lands. Some accompanied the Twelve Apostles, like the holy Evangelists Mark and Luke, or St Paul's companion Timothy, or Prochorus,the disciple of the holy Evangelist John the Theologian, and others. Many of them were thrown into prison for Christ, and many received the crown of martyrdom.

There are two more Apostles of the Seventy: St Cephas, to whom the Lord appeared after the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15:5-6), and Simeon, called Niger (Acts 13:1). They also were glorified by apostolic preaching.

There are discrepancies and errors in some lists of the Seventy Apostles. In a list attributed to St Dorotheus of Tyre (June 5) some names are repeated (Rodion, or Herodion, Apollos, Tychicus, Aristarchus), while others are omitted (Timothy, Titus, Epaphras, Archippus, Aquila, Olympas). St Demetrius of Rostov consulted the Holy Scripture, the traditions passed down by the Fathers, and the accounts of trustworthy historians when he attempted to correct the mistakes and uncertainties in the list in compiling his collection of Lives of the Saints.

The Church in particular venerates and praises the Seventy Apostles because they taught us to honor the Trinity One in Essence and Undivided.

In the ninth century St Joseph the Hymnographer composed the Canon for the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles of Christ.

Source

Read also: Synaxis of the Holy Seventy Apostles by St. Dimitri of Rostov

Apolytikion in the Third Tone
O Holy Apostles, intercede to our merciful God, that He may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
With hymns let us praise the chorus of the Seventy disciples of Christ, ye faithful; and in godliness, let us keep a feast, for we learned through them to worship the Trinity, Who is indivisibly one; for they are the lamps of our most godly Faith.


By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Besides the Twelve Greater Apostles, the Lord chose Seventy Lesser Apostles and sent them to preach the Gospel, "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place He intended to visit, He said to them, 'The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way: behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace be to this household'" (Luke 10:1-5). But, as Judas, one of the Twelve, fell away from the Lord, so it was with some of the Seventy who abandoned the Lord not with the intention of betrayal but because of human weakness and faintheartedness. "As a result of this, many of His disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied Him" (John 6:66). As Judas' place was filled by another apostle, "So they [the Apostles] proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, 'You, Lord, Who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two You have chosen to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place'. Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles" (Acts of the Apostles 1:23-26); so also were the places of these lesser apostles filled by others that were chosen. These Seventy Lesser Apostles labored at the same work as did the Twelve Great Apostles; they were co-workers with the Twelve in spreading and establishing the Church of God in the world. They endured many sufferings and malevolent acts from men and demons, but their strong faith and fervent love for the resurrected Lord made them victors over the world and inheritors of the Kingdom of Heaven.

HYMN OF PRAISE: THE SEVENTY HOLY APOSTLES

O knights of the Cross, sons of light,
You have not yet passed, O children of the future,
For you are not dead, as Christ is not,
But lives with life that never decays.
The Lord, You the Wreath-giver, beautifully crowned you
Because His Name, you loudly proclaimed
Before emperors and princes, before executioners terrible.
God, you served; but with torment, the world repaid You.
You walked after Christ, O bees of Christ!
The world you filled with honey; the vessels you filled!
Souls you alleviated; passions you calmed,
With Evangelical sweetness you sweetened life,
With the aroma of Christ, you censed the earth,
Salt, light and incense to the world, you were.
Seventy Companions, all with the same love,
As branches with the tree, with Christ, you were attached;
Seventy Stars, around the Sun - Christ,
And there, the angels are and the Virgin All-Pure,
There, unutterable delight, joy unseen,
Glorious victors of this transitory time.
Holy Apostles, glory and thanks be to you.
From your blood, justice blossomed.

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Saint Euthymios and the Twelve Holy Martyrs of Vatopaidi With Him

Saint Euthymios and the Twelve Holy Martyrs of Vatopaidi With Him (Feast Day - January 4)

Euthymios, the venerable martyr, and those holy fathers with him, flourished in 1280 when the Latin-minded Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259-1282) and Patriarch John XI Bekkos (1275-1282) dispatched troops and surrounded the Holy Mountain of Athos. The purpose of their mission was to enjoin the monks to follow them on their erroneous path of union with the papacy.

Since the holy Athonite fathers refused such a union many were made to suffer hardships and atrocities which lead to their martyric deaths. When the soldiers came to Vatopaidi, one of the larger monasteries atop a green slope built above a small inlet on the northeast side of the peninsula, the fathers rejected union with Rome. Some resisted, but many fled for refuge elsewhere. Those who were captured included the abbot Euthymios and twelve other monks. After the tyrants subjected them to diverse torments, the Unionists sought vengeance agaist the monks who defied them, by hanging them. Euthymios was drowned in the sea. They could not be persuaded to embrace strange and unorthodox doctrines, which were unacceptable to the Orthodox Church.

When the Latinizers began their hostilities at the Lavra, some of the monks, terrified at being condemned to death, accepted the Unionists. They handed over to them many holy vessels, including chalices, Gospels, censers, and other such sacred articles of the monastery. Thus the monastery was looted, and those monks agreed to commune with the Latin-minded. At their repose, their miserable bodies remained as solid as wood and blackened all over, emitting a foul smell, so that they could not be buried in the cemetery of the brethren, but instead were placed in an underground cave, which needed to be fenced off. Thus they died as foreigners and strangers of the holy Orthodox Church and her right-believing doctrines.

Read more here.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Your holy martyrs, O Lord, through their sufferings have received an incorruptible crown from You, our God. For having Your strength, they laid low their adversaries, and shattered the powerless boldness of demons. Through their intercessions, save our souls!

From The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church (January), translated by Holy Apostles Convent, pp. 135-136.

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Elder Dobri: The Greatest Donor of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia

Read about Elder Dobri at this link: Elder Dobri Dobrev of Baylovo, Bulgaria

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Serbian Soccer Player Confesses His Orthodox Faith On Turkish Field

The international Serbian soccer player Mateja Kežman is an aggressive player, yet off the field he is a devout Orthodox Christian. He displays this on the Turkish soccer field when he celebrates wearing a shirt with an icon of Christ, even though he plays for the Turkish side Fenerbahce.

30 year old Kežman has on his right arm many tattoos. One reads "Only God can judge me" in Serbian, a text from Elder Tadej, one of the foremost recent monastic elders in the Serbian Orthodox Church. Another is an icon of Christ. He has expressed his desire to play in Russia for various reasons, one of which is to be in a more Orthodox Christian environment.

Kežman has revealed that he loves the monastic way of life and thinks that when his career is over he will take the monastic path, preferably on Mount Athos.

In an earlier interview he said: "When I visited monasteries in the past I felt sorry for the monks. Now I envy their lifestyle. It is the ultimate sacrifice to the Lord. It is very difficult to live in this world, and be respectful of all the Commandments of God. I try to spend as much time as possible thinking about God Who allowed me to know the truth and being alongside people who serve Him... Others are addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, and women; in my case it is tattoos. Nevertheless, I feel that my passion is reduced day by day, with the help of God."

When he celebrated in Turkey with his shirt bearing the icon of Christ, it caught the attention of the international media and his picture was printed on the front-page news.

For an interview with him in Serbian about his devotion to Orthodoxy, see here.

Even if many athletes have substance abuse problems and will eventually need addiction counseling later, there are athletes who actually stay away from drugs.

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Elder Porphyrios: "We Ought Not To Fear the Antichrist Or 666"

One day Elder Porphyrios had told me:

"Father Athanasios (taking me by the hand tightly), I'm blind now, my eyes do not work physically because I have cancer of the pituitary gland, but I have spiritual eyes and see. Before you leave, I want you to tell me, what did Elder Aemilianos say about 666 and the Antichrist?"

This was in the days of Chernobyl. People were upset by this and went by the dozens every day, particularly to Elder Porphyrios near Athens, asking: "What will happen? Will the Antichrist come and stamp us with 666"?

The Elder asked me: "Tell me, my child, what did Elder Aemilianos say about 666 and the Antichrist?"

I told him: "He told us in a gathering a few days ago to not worry. We should be interested in having a vibrant relationship with Christ and not give much attention to the Antichrist, because then he will become the center of our lives and not Christ."

Immediately the Elder hit his hands against his bed and said: "What did you say, my child, what did you say?! Glory to You, O God, that I found a spiritual father who agrees with me! My child, these spiritual fathers here in the world, what have they done?! They have upset souls and created many problems psychologically and with families with the 666. People in the world cannot sleep and are taking psychiatric drugs and sleeping pills in order to sleep. What is this thing? Christ does not want these things, my child. And can I tell you something?"

"What Elder?" I said.

He told me: "For us Christians, when we experience Christ there is no Antichrist. Tell me something, on this bed I sit here, can you also sit on it?"

I said to him: "No, Elder."

He asked: "Why?"

I responded: "Because if I sit on you I will crush you."

He asked again: "Will you never be able to sit here?"

I said to him: "When you leave, Elder, I can sit."

He said to me: "Precisely, my child. The same happens with our souls. When we have Christ inside us, can the Antichrist come? Can anything opposite this enter our souls? For this reason, my child, today we do not have Christ within us and because of this we worry about the Antichrist.

When Christ is within us, everything becomes Paradise. Christ is everything, my child, and the Opposer we should not fear; this you should always tell people. And let me tell you something. If the same Antichrist came now with a device that shot laser beams and sealed me by force with 666, I would not be upset. You will tell me, 'Elder, is this not the seal of the Antichrist?' Yes, but even if he wrote 666 on me a thousand times with laser beams, indelibly, I would not be upset.

Why? Because, my child, the first martyrs they cast to the wild beasts, and when they did their cross the wild beasts became like lambs. They cast them in the sea, but when they did their cross the sea became like dry land and they walked on it. They cast them in the fire, but when they did their cross the fire was cooled. My blessed child, what have we become today? Do we believe in Christ? In our cross? Why did Christ come? Didn't Christ come to strengthen us in our sicknesses?

This is what you should say to the Elder, my child. And you should tell the people to not fear the Antichrist. We are children of Christ, we are children of the Church."

All this made quite an impression on me.

And he added: "Can I tell you something?"

I said: "Please, Elder."

"Patriarch Demetrios, how did he come to Athens?"

"With an aeroplane", I said.

"Well, yes, I know he came with an aeroplane. Did you think the man swam over? With what documents?"

"With a passport, Elder", I said.

"Greek or Turkish?"

"I don't know", I said.

"Well, you play the wise man. He came with a Turkish one. And what is the emblem of Turkey, you know?"

I said: "I don't know, Elder."

"Now you have overdone it, not knowing the emblem of Turkey? It is the crescent. And do you know what the Fathers of the Church called the crescent after the appearance of Muhammad?"

"No, Elder", I said.

Jokingly he said: "Well, I should take your degree and tear it up. What kind of a theologian are you?

The crescent is a symbol of the Antichrist. If the crescent is a symbol of the Antichrist and the passport of the Patriarch has a symbol of the Antichrist (and in their seals, how many seals do they put inside and out?), does this mean our Patriarch is the Antichrist?

No, my child, no! Do not restrict the Gospel message so much! Christ is not as narrow-minded as us people who want to defend our opinions.

This is what you should tell the Elder and this is what you should tell the people: We ought not to fear the Antichrist or 666."

Source: Ανθολόγιο Συμβουλών Γέροντος Πορφυρίου, σελ. 71, 72-75, δ΄ έκδ. 2003.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Saint Thomaïs the Righteous of Lesvos and Patron of Marriage

St. Thomais of Lesvos (Feast Day - January 3)

St. Thomais was from the island of Lesvos and was born between 910-913 AD from pious and rich parents. They were childless, but by the Grace of God and the intercessions of the Panagia, they brought Thomais into the world. The Saint, pressured by her parents, was married to a man named Stephanos. And because she was very pious and virtuous, she endured the barbaric behavior of her husband, who beat her severely every day [for thirteen years]. The Saint countered this temptation with prayer, patience and charity. God made her worthy of the grace of wonder-working.

St. Thomais righteously fell asleep in peace at the age of 38 and was buried in the convent named “Mikra Romaiou”, or “Romaiou”, which was between Selyvria and Polyandriou on the seventh hill of Constantinople. Forty days after her burial, her holy relic was uncovered and placed in a luxurious reliquary inside the church of the monastery. [Her body] was incorrupt and on her precious hands bore wounds inflicted from her husband. In older times her memory was celebrated on January 1st, but after the tenth century the celebration of her memory was transferred to January 3rd, as the day of her death was the same as the feasts of Christ's Circumcision and St. Basil the Great. Her precious body was lost, most likely during the sack of Constantinople by the Latins (1204).

Her grave and her sacred relic became a spring of miracles. A demon-possessed man named Konstantinos, who approached her tomb, was healed. A paralytic named Eutychianos, who prayed and embraced her tomb stood on his feet. A nun with terrible pains in the head was healed and another with epilepsy was also healed. A fisherman found his torn nets in the sea filled with fish. A woman with terrible stomach pains was healed and from gratitude built a magnificent arch above her grave. It should also be noted that her husband, who after her death became possessed, was healed. They placed him in chains and lead him to the Saint's tomb and he was healed.

Source

For her complete life and many miracles, read here.

For more details on her life and miracles in Greek, read here.

For a modern miracle of St. Thomais, read here.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
The troubles of your life, as a rational offering, you offered to Christ, and the strength of miracles, O Righteous one, shone forth. Therefore as a a divine example of marriage, we praise you O Thomais, and faithfully cry out, 'Hail pure boast of the island of Lesvos!'

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Saint Genevieve, Patron Saint of Paris

St. Genevieve of Paris (Feast Day - January 3)

THE FIFTH CENTURY, during which St. Geneviève graced the city of Paris, was the century par excellence of the radical transformation of Western Europe, and of France in particular.

Although Gaul (present-day France) still constituted a thriving part of the glorious Roman Empire, the continual incursions of barbarian tribes desolated it, and, towards the end of the fifth century, the tribes of the Franks, Visigoths, and Burgundians, among others, having installed themselves in various parts of the country, were at war with each other over the conquest of the entire country. This century, however, though so very turbulent, constitutes one of the most glorious in the history of the Church in France.

Receiving the first seeds of Christianity in the second century, France had been completely Christianized by the end of the fourth century. The newly-enlightened people already honored many Holy Martyrs and wonderworking Bishops. The most renowned among them, St. Martin the Wonderworker, probably founded the first monastic brotherhoods towards the end of the fourth century. Monasticism developed rapidly in the next century throughout the country; and for many centuries after, the monasteries would constitute virtually the sole centers of civilization in France, which was suffering from the barbarity of its new inhabitants.

ONE OF the greatest saintly figures of the fifth century is St. Geneviève. She was born around 422 in the village of Nemetodorum [present-day Nanterre—Trans.], several kilometers west of Paris, to wealthy and pious parents, Severus and Gerontia. In her childhood, she pastured her parents’ flock on the wooded hills on the banks of the Seine.

When she was around eight years old, God summoned her to dedicate her life to Him in the following manner. Responding to Britain’s requests for aid in opposing the Pelagian heresy, a local Synod in France decided to send the most saintly and wonderworking Bishops Germanus and Lupus to that country.

On their journey, the two Bishops passed through Nemetodorum. The pious people greeted them with holy enthusiasm and asked them to celebrate Vespers together.

While blessing the people, the saintly Germanus saw the blessed young girl, and, enlightened by Divine Grace, prophesied to her astonished parents that she would become “great in the eyes of the Lord” and that “many will find salvation through her.” He then asked Geneviève: “My girl, do you wish to dedicate yourself to Christ as an immaculate bride?” The Saint replied: “That, Master, is precisely my heart’s desire. May God fulfill it for me.”

The holy Bishop kept his hand on Geneviève’s head throughout Vespers and told her parents to bring her to the Church very early the next day.
In the morning, the Bishop asked her: “ Geneviève, my child, do you remember the vow you made yesterday?” “Yes, holy Master,” she answered. “I promised to dedicate my soul and body to God to the end of my life.”

Then St. Germanus found a coin on the ground that was marked with the sign of the Precious Cross, and he gave it to her to hang around her neck as a reminder of her vow, instructing her never to wear expensive garments and jewelry.

On a certain Feast Day shortly thereafter, her mother was going to go to Church and told Geneviève to remain at home. Her pious daughter protested, reminding her of her promise. Her mother then slapped her and...was immediately blinded! Later, the Saint brought water to their house, prayed for the healing of her mother, and made the sign of the Cross over the water. When her mother, Gerontia, washed her face with the blessed water, she regained her sight!

When she was around fifteen years old, Geneviève went to the Bishop with two other virgins to receive the monastic tonsure. Despite the fact that she was the youngest, the Bishop, inspired by God, tonsured her first.

At that time, women’s monasteries had not yet been established. Thus, when her pious parents reposed a short while later, she moved to her godmother’s house in Paris, on the top of the hill across from the Seine, which now bears her name.

There, she engaged in very strict asceticism, eating only on Thursdays and Sundays a little barley bread and beans, which she boiled every two or three weeks.

The Lord permitted for a dreadful paralysis to come over her entire body, so that she could not move any of her members, and for three days remained as one dead. When she had recovered somewhat, she recounted that an Angel had taken her and shown her Hell and Paradise. The holy maiden dwelt particularly on the description of the indescribable good things awaiting the righteous.

The blessed Geneviève soon reaped the succulent fruits of such an asceticism, acquiring in abundance the gifts of the Holy Spirit: the gifts of tears, clairvoyance, prophecy, and wonderworking.

AS ALWAYS HAPPENS, when the Evil One saw that it was not possible to vanquish the Saint, he incited people to slander and condemn her.

When, in 445, the most saintly Bishop Germanus was again going to Britain and passed through Paris, the Saint’s enemies criticized her to him. The God-bearing Hierarch took no account of the slander, but prayed with her and showed the Parisians the tears that the Saint had copiously shed as an indication of the gift she had received from the Lord.

From then on the inhabitants of the region began to respect her and to seek her enlightened advice and her wonderworking prayers.

One of the Saint’s prophecies, which was fulfilled, contributed much to establishing firmly in everyone’s conscience that she truly was a Saint. When Attila and his barbarian hordes drew near to Paris, the inhabitants were seized with panic and prepared to abandon the city. The Saint told them that the Lord would free them from danger, that they should not panic, but pray and fast. Not accepting her advice, the Parisians rose up against her and were ready to stone her. In the end, the Lord preserved her from the fury of the crowd, and the barbarian Huns suddenly and without apparent reason changed direction, and shortly afterwards were defeated by the relatively feeble Roman army under General Aetios, two hundred kilometers from Paris on the Champs Catalaniques (451).

The anonymous biographer of the Saint relates multitudes of miracles in her Life, which was written just eighteen years after her holy repose: she expelled demons, healed paralytics, and gave light to the blind.

Once, a sorrowful mother brought her the dead body of her four-year-old son. The Saint covered him with her cloak and prayed for many hours with tears, until the child was resurrected.

Every year, following the Eastern ascetic tradition, she remained in reclusion from Theophany until Great Thursday. One nun attempted to observe what she did in reclusion in her cell, but when she reached the door, she was blinded. After the Great Fast was over, the Saint went to the cell of the blinded nun and, praying, made the sign of the Cross over her and restored her sight.

St. Geneviève especially revered St. Dionysius, the first Bishop of Paris, who had been martyred several kilometers to the north of the city.

She therefore persuaded several Priests to build a Church over the grave of the Holy Martyr. Objections were raised however, because there was no limestone for the construction. The Saint sent them to the city bridge. There, they encountered two shepherds who were discussing the fact that they had found a source of limestone in the forest!

The Church was soon built, and the blessed Geneviève regularly went there to pray, particularly on Sundays, when she would spend the entire night in vigil.

One Saturday evening, she set off for the Church of St. Dionysius with her Sisterhood, even though a violent thunderstorm had erupted. Suddenly, their lantern went out from the strong wind. The nuns were overcome by great fear, finding themselves abandoned to the darkness and mud, without any orientation. The Saint heartened them, then prayed and made the sign of the Cross over the lantern. It miraculously lit up on its own and, guided by the miraculous light, they safely reached the Church for the Vigil.

The Saint, together with the Sisterhood that had gathered around her, made many pilgrimages to the grave of St. Martin the Wonderworker in Tours, approximately two hundred kilometers from Paris, during which she worked many miracles.

Yet another time, the Saint saved her city. When the Franks besieged Paris and the inhabitants were in danger of starvation, the Saint guided a fleet of ships to the regions that had not been destroyed by the Franks and brought them back loaded with wheat to feed the Parisians.

We should mention the very important testimony of the great Saint of Antioch, the heroic St. Symeon the Stylite (†30 April 459), concerning the boldness of St. Geneviève before the Lord.

Some Parisian merchants had gone to the East, and, attracted by the renown of the wondrous St. Symeon, who had been practicing asceticism for nearly forty years on a pillar in Antioch, they visited him in order to receive his blessing. But what was their surprise, when the most admirable ascetic told them to convey his greetings to St. Geneviève, and with great reverence asked for her prayers!

The Saint was also renowned for her compassion, especially for the imprisoned, of whom there were many in that turbulent period.

Many times she successfully interceded with the barbarian King of the Franks, Childeric, to liberate them. The King was unable to refuse her this, overcome by her fervent entreaty.

One day, Childeric wanted to execute numerous prisoners of war. He secretly exited the city and ordered the gates to be locked behind him. The Saint was informed of the plot and ran to the place of execution. When she reached the locked gates, she made the sign of the Precious Cross and they automatically opened. She forestalled
the execution, and yet one more time the idolatrous King, who deeply respected her, spared the prisoners for her.

The God-bearing and wonderworking St. Geneviève reposed in the Lord, in the fullness of years, on 3 January, probably in the year 512. Her Grace-imbued Relics were initially placed in the Church of St. Dionysius, and later in the Church of St. Stephen in Paris, on the hill where she had offered her ascetic labors and her tears of love as a most precious dowry to Christ, her Heavenly Bridegroom.

Through the holy intercessions of St. Geneviève, O Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Source

Note: Most of her relics were dumped into the Seine by the radical atheists of the French Revolution, but others were collected from churches around France to which they had already been distributed and placed in the reliquary pictured above.


Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Through thee the divine likeness was securely preserved, O Mother Genevieve; for thou didst carry the cross and followed Christ. By example and precept thou didst teach us to ignore the body because it is perishable, and to attend to the concerns of the undying soul. Therefore, doth thy soul rejoice with the angels.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
Out of love for the Lord thou didst suppress the desire to rest, O venerable Geneviève, making thy spirit radiant through abstinence. Wherefore, thou didst tame wild beasts by thy power, and by thy supplications thou didst put down the uprisings of the enemy.

More hymns here.

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The Merry Cemetery of Sapanta, Romania

The Merry Cemetery (Romanian: Cimitirul Vesel) is a cemetery in the village of Săpânţa, Maramureş county, Romania. It is famous for its colourful tombstones with naïve paintings describing, in an original and poetic manner, the persons that are buried there as well as scenes from their lives. The Merry Cemetery became an open-air museum and a national tourist attraction. The Merry Cemetery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The unusual feature of this cemetery is that it diverges from the prevalent belief, culturally shared within European societies – a belief that views death as something indelibly solemn.

The cemetery's origins are linked with the name of Stan Ioan Pătraş, a local artist who sculpted the first tombstone crosses. In 1935, Pătraş carved the first epitaph and, as of 1960s, more than 800 of such oak wood crosses came into sight.

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