"Mount Athos Is On Fire!"

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol relates below an extraordinary experience of an Athonite elder he knew personally:

"One day after vespers were over the elder went to his cell to continue praying on his own. While doing that, he marvelled at the thought that everybody - all two thousand or so monks of the entire Athonite peninsula - was praying during that very moment. Then, he wondered what the Holy Mountain looked like under such intense prayer.

At that very moment he experienced himself being catapulted by the Holy Spirit high up in the air. It was as if he were looking down from an aeroplane. From that high point, he saw the Athonite peninsula spurting out flames like an active volcano, as if the entire mountain was on fire. Some of the flames went straight up to heaven. Others seemed weak, like the flame of a small candle, while yet others were flickering and barely visible. Yet, there was one, this elder claimed, that was like a fiery river that went straight up. He then overheard a voice coming from heaven saying:

'What you have witnessed is the Holy Mountain and these are the prayers of the monks that go up to God.'

Then the elder asked: 'And whose prayer is this great river of fire?'

God replied that it was the prayer of a certain abbot of a certain monastery, whose name cannot be revealed since this abbot is still alive."

Excerpted from Gifts of the Desert: The Forgotten Path of Christian Spirituality by Kyriacos C. Markides, pp. 222-223.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

God Allows Even Holy Elders To Have Blind Spots

Often one will come across holy elders either on Mount Athos or elsewhere whose views on political or social issues will seem unenlightened, perhaps even having nationalistic tendencies or conspiratorial tones. Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol, who had Athonite roots and was a disciple of holy elders such as Elder Paisios, was specifically asked about this and gave an answer worth sharing.

Question: "How come there are such glaring blind spots in the development of people whom large numbers of devotees consider paragons of spiritual attainment?"

Answer: "This is of course a problem that troubles me personally. However, you must keep in mind that to be considered a holy elder does not imply that you are perfect. Spiritual elders are not infallible. Nobody is. There could be areas in their lives that may remain underdeveloped.

That's why people must develop critical discernment when they embark on a spiritual path. You must also keep in mind, however, that such a shortcoming on the part of an elder does not imply that he is prevented from attaining salvation.

The measure of his holiness is the depth of his metanoia [repentance] and humility, not his knowledge about world events or the advocacy of the right political ideology. He may be ignorant and misguided on many issues, but it is his humility that matters in the eyes of God. Do you see what I mean? God does allow for holy elders to have blind spots such as in the case of an elder who may have remained stranded in his nationalism."

Excerpted from Gifts of the Desert: The Forgotten Path of Christian Spirituality by Kyriacos C. Markides, pp. 128-129.

Read also:

A Question Regarding the So-Called "Prophecies" of Holy Elders

The Prophetic Elder Paisios and the Misuse of His Words

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Saint Maximus Kavsokalyvites

St. Maximus of Kapsokalyvia or the Hut-Burner (Feast Day - January 13)

Saint Maximus Kavsokalyvites was educated at the church of the Most Holy Theotokos at Lampsakos. At seventeen years of age he left his parental home, became a monk, and passed his obedience under Elder Mark, the finest spiritual instructor in Macedonia. After the death of his teacher, the saint pursued asceticism under the guidance of several desert Fathers of extremely strict life. Arriving in Constantinople, St Maximus was constantly at the Blachernae church of the Most Holy Theotokos, as though he had taken up his abode at the entrance.

From his youth, St Maximus had a great love for the Mother of God. He persistently entreated Her to grant him the gift of unceasing mental prayer. One day, as he was venerating her icon, he felt a warmth and a flame enter his heart from the icon. It did not burn him, but he felt a certain sweetness and contrition within. From that time, his heart began to repeat the Jesus Prayer of itself. In this way, the Virgin Theotokos fulfilled his request.

St Maximus fulfilled his obedience in the Lavra of St Athanasius on Mt. Athos. In order to conceal his ascetic deeds of fasting and prayer, and to avoid celebrity, he behaved like a fool. One day, he had a vision of the Mother of God, who told him to ascend the mountain. On the summit of the Holy Mountain, he prayed for three days and nights. Again, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to him surrounded by angels, and holding Her divine Son in Her arms.

Prostrating himself, the saint heard the All-Holy Virgin speak to him, "Receive the gift against demons... and settle at the foot of Athos, for this is the will of My Son." She told him that he would ascend the heights of virtue, and become a teacher and guide for many. Then, since he had not eaten for several days, a heavenly bread was given to him. As soon as he put it in his mouth, he was surrounded by divine light, and he saw the Mother of God ascending into Heaven.

St Maximus told his vision to a certain Elder living by the church of the holy Prophet Elias at Carmel. He was skeptical, but the saint turned his disbelief to good. He pretended to be slightly crazy in order to conceal his prodigious ascetic deeds, privations, his hardship and solitude. St Maximus did not live in a permanent abode, but wandered from place to place like a lunatic. Whenever he moved, he would burn his hut down. Therefore, he was called "Kavsokalyvites," or "Hut Burner."

Those on the Holy Mountain, knowing of the extreme deprivations and sorrows of St Maximus, for a long time regarded him with contempt, even though he had attained the height and perfection of spiritual life. When St Gregory of Sinai (August 8) arrived on Athos, he encountered the holy fool. After speaking to him, he began to call him an earthly angel. St Gregory persuaded St Maximus to stop behaving like a fool and to live in one place so that others might benefit from his spiritual experience. Heeding the words of St Gregory and the advice of other Elders, St Maximus selected a permanent dwelling in a cave near the renowned Elder Isaiah.

Knowing of his gift of clairvoyance, the Byzantine Emperors John Paleologos (1341-1376) and John Kantakouzenos (1341-1355) visited him and were surprised by the fulfillment of his predictions. Theophanes, the igumen of Vatopedi monastery, wrote about St Maximus: "I invoke God as my witness, that I myself saw several of his miracles. Once, for instance, I saw him travel through the air from one place to another. I listened as he made a prediction concerning me, that first I would be an igumen, and then Metropolitan of Ochrid. He even revealed to me how I would suffer for the Church."

St Maximus abandoned his solitude only just before his death, and settled near the Lavra of St Athanasius, where he surrendered his soul to the Lord at 95 years of age (+ 1354). After his death, as in life, St Maximus was glorified by many miracles.

Source


Read also:

Saint Maximus Kavsokalyvites on Noetic Prayer

St. Maximos Kavsokalyvites and St. Akakios the New

St Maximos of Kapsokalyvia and Fourteenth-Century Athonite Hesychasm

St. Maximus of Kapsokalyvia

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

In the fourteenth century, Maximus led an ascetical life as a monk on Mt. Athos in his own unique way. That is to say, he pretended to be a little crazy and constantly changed his dwelling place. His place of abode consisted of a hut made from branches. He built these huts one after the other and then burned them, for this he was called Kapsokalivitos, i.e., "hut-burner". He was considered insane until the arrival of St. Gregory Sinaites to Mt. Athos, who discovered in Maximus a unique ascetic, a wonder-working intercessor and "an angel in the flesh." He died in the Lord in the year 1320 A.D.


HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT MAXIMUS

Prayer in the heart beats as a heart,
Prayer in the heart, together with breathing,
Internal prayer, the light from within,
On Athos, was manifested by Maximus.
As a spirit without a body, Maximus was uplifted,
From prayer, completely radiated with light;
From prayer, was filled with joy
From prayer, was filled with satisfaction
Through prayer, saw the heavens opened.
Through prayer, the human being was glorified,
By prayer, felt the nearness of Christ,
The Holy All-Pure One openly appeared to him.
With heaven the soul of Maximus was sated.
Gregory of Sinai once asked him:
"Tell me, O righteous Maximus, from where do you know
That you have good and not evil visions,
And that all of these are not illusions of the devil,
False temptations and Satan's deceptions?"
"From this, I know," says he, "that they are not lies,
That these visions, the spirit and body console,
That my spirit always yearns after them
That, from the sign of the cross, they will not vanish,
By sweet joy, a temptation, I know it is not,
By blessed joy that warms me completely."

Apolytikion in Plagal of the First Tone
From your mother’s womb, O Righteous Maximos, you were chosen as a treasury by God, were made worthy of the divine darkness as Moses, and to see things far off as Samuel; you are the divine wonder of Athos, the mystic of the Theotokos, O Father, who interecedes for us.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

St. Maximos Kavsokalyvites and St. Akakios the New

Saint Akakios Kavsokalyvites [April 12, 1730] had many visitations of St. Maximus Kavsokalyvites. As is mentioned by his successor Fr. Ionas, St. Akakios saw St. Maximos Kavsokalyvites in a priestly stole during the time of the Holy Service in the Kyriakon censing around the Church and the Fathers, and following him were another forty venerable-looking and righteous ones with their epanokalymmavchi [monastic head covering].

When St. Akakios saw this, he asked St. Maximos: “Who are these, who are following you censing?” And he came and responded that they are those saved through him from the area of Kavsokalyvia.

The iconographer of the Kyriakon of this Skete, in the Narthex of the church has depicted, in confirmation of the revelation of St. Akakios, the following Saints in turn: Sts. Athanasios the founder of Great Lavra, Peter the Athonite, Neilos the Righteous, Maximus Kavsokalyvites, Nephon the Righteous and others kneeling, along with the Righteous Akakios the New, before the throne of the All-Holy Trinity and interceding for all of the Fathers and brothers who will complete their lives in a God-pleasing manner at that holy and blessed place, the Garden of the Panagia, Mount Athos.



The video above is a tour of Kavsokalyvia Skete (from the outside) and the Cave of St. Akakios

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Holy Martyrs Hermylus and Stratonicus of Belgrade

Sts. Hermylus and Stratonicus the Martyrs (Feast Day - January 13)

The Holy Martyrs Hermylus and Stratonicus, Slavs by origin, lived at the beginning of the fourth century during a persecution against Christians by the emperor Licinius (311-324). St Hermylus served as deacon in the city of Sigidon (Belgrade). Condemned by Licinius to imprisonment, he was long and cruelly tortured for Christ, but he remained unyielding.

Hermylus mocked the pagan gods, calling them deaf, dumb, and blind idols. In anger Licinius ordered more severe torments for him, saying that he could avoid them if he would offer sacrifice. The holy martyr predicted that Licinius would suffer terrible wounds himself because he worshiped idols instead of the Creator. His words came true, for Licinius was killed in 324.

After three days Hermylus was brought before the tribunal again and asked whether he would avoid more torture by offering sacrifice. The saint replied that he would offer worship and sacrifice only to the true God.

St Hermylus prayed that the Lord would give him strength to endure his torments and triumph over the pagans. A voice was heard saying, "Hermylus, you will be delivered from your suffering in three days, and will receive a great reward." The torturers fell to the ground in fear, and took the saint back to prison.

St Stratonicus was one of the prison guards and a secret Christian. Seeing the agonizing torments of his friend, he was unable to keep from weeping, and he revealed that he was a Christian. They also subjected him to punishment.

After the torture, they put both martyrs into a net and threw them into the Danube. On the third day, the bodies of the saints were found by Christians on the bank of the river and buried near Sigidon. Their venerable heads were in the Church of Hagia Sophia, where the Russian pilgrim Anthony saw them in the year 1200.

Source

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by their prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Kontakion in the First Tone
When ye received your death in the streams of the river, ye drowned the ruthless foe in the deep of your contest, O far-famed Stratonicus and Hermylus, thou men of God; wherefore, in your struggles ye were worthily guided to the water of true incorruption and glory, by Christ God, Who set your course.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Prophetic Elder Paisios and the Misuse of His Words

By Monk Moses the Athonite

Very much has been said and written about the blessed Elder Paisios the Athonite (1924-1994). Already 16 years have passed since his blessed repose. He passed away on 07/12/1994 in the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Souroti, Thessaloniki and is buried there. His tomb is a pan-Orthodox place of pilgrimage. People of all ages come from far away to light a candle and invoke help for their needs.

Those who mention his name today do so with emotion, respect and love together with the Holy Mountain. He was indeed a true man of God, ascetic, humble, modest, non-possessive, respected, loved and charismatic. Those of us who knew him remember well the grace of his words, his goodness, his kindness and his sincerity. He was never flattered, never falsely comforting, never fake and never chatty. His words were life, graceful, heaven-sent, substantial and significant. Even with some of his jokes he tried to comfort the listener's pain.

For this reason great attention is required in the distribution of his words. Sometimes his words were only for the person he was personally speaking with, and certainly not for everyone. It is not correct to generalize, distort, deform, and alter his words. Some of his prophetic words are magnified by some who love extremes and want to pass their own message by using the words of the ever-memorable Elder. There are always some who are inclined towards fanaticism, zealotism, terrorism and fearful eschatology.

The blessed Elder Paisios often spoke of "holy philotimo", "holy solitude", "holy silence", "holy humility" and "holy levendia". Throughout his life he was philotimos, ascetic, humble and a levendis. He would say: "The Gospel and secular logic are incompatible. In the Gospel there is love. In logic is self-interest." Is this not how it is? In difficult times we need to reconnect with the Divine. Elder Paisios is another bridge to heaven. He would say: "In our love towards our neighbor hides our love for Christ." He was always full of love for his neighbor. His words are kept carefully in books with high circulation. The world's search for true comfort has not ceased. His teachings illumine, quench the thirst, rouse, bring one back to their senses, and strengthen.

He would say thoughtfully and proactively: "People today suffer from cultures." Or: "We will see the most incredible things." Further: "If things are not shared with the Gospel they will be shared with a knife." Thirty years ago he said: "People will leave the cities because of culture. Culture now brings sicknesses." He advised: "God will allow a strong jolt. Difficult years are coming. Let us live spiritually. The choice is clear, we are with Christ or with the Devil. It is a storm and the struggle has value." He would knowingly admonish: "The current situation can only be addressed spiritually, not in a worldly way. In this situation you will see, some will have a salary and others will pay their debts. God will put things in their place, but each of us will answer for what we did in these difficult years...."

Is he not right? Is he too much? He is prophetic. Recent references to his appearance, in which he said to gather food, have no justification, no basis, but are fantasies of the naive....

Source: Protaton, Oct.-Dec. 2010.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

See also:

The Holy Community of Mount Athos Responds to the Alleged Appearance of Elder Paisios

A Question Regarding the So-Called "Prophecies" of Holy Elders

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Saint Tatiana the Martyr of Rome

St. Tatiana the Roman (Feast Day - January 12)

The Holy Virgin Martyr Tatiana was born into an illustrious Roman family, and her father was elected consul three times. He was secretly a Christian and raised his daughter to be devoted to God and the Church. When she reached the age of maturity, Tatiana decided to remain a virgin, betrothing herself to Christ. Disdaining earthly riches, she sought instead the imperishable wealth of Heaven. She was made a deaconess in one of the Roman churches and served God in fasting and prayer, tending the sick and helping the needy.

When Rome was ruled by the sixteen-year-old Alexander Severus (222-235), all power was concentrated in the hands of the regent Ulpian, an evil enemy and persecutor of Christians. Christian blood flowed like water. Tatiana was also arrested, and they brought her into the temple of Apollo to force her to offer sacrifice to the idol. The saint began praying, and suddenly there was an earthquake. The idol was smashed into pieces, and part of the temple collapsed and fell down on the pagan priests and many pagans. The demon inhabiting the idol fled screeching from that place. Those present saw its shadow flying through the air.

Then they tore holy virgin's eyes out with hooks, but she bravely endured everything, praying for her tormentors that the Lord would open their spiritual eyes. And the Lord heard the prayer of His servant. The executioners saw four angels encircle the saint and beat her tormentors. A voice was heard from the heavens speaking to the holy virgin. Eight men believed in Christ and fell on their knees before St Tatiana, begging them to forgive them their sin against her. For confessing themselves Christians they were tortured and executed, receiving Baptism by blood.

The next day St Tatiana was brought before the wicked judge. Seeing her completely healed of all her wounds, they stripped her and beat her, and slashed her body with razors. A wondrous fragrance then filled the air. Then she was stretched out on the ground and beaten for so long that the servants had to be replaced several times. The torturers became exhausted and said that an invisible power was beating them with iron rods. Indeed, the angels warded off the blows directed at her and turned them upon the tormentors, causing nine of them to fall dead. They then threw the saint in prison, where she prayed all night and sang praises to the Lord with the angels.

A new morning began, and they took St Tatiana to the tribunal once more. The torturers beheld with astonishment that after such terrible torments she appeared completely healthy and even more radiant and beautiful than before. They began to urge her to offer sacrifice to the goddess Diana. The saint seemed agreeable, and they took her to the heathen temple. St Tatiana made the Sign of the Cross and began to pray. Suddenly, there was a crash of deafening thunder, and lightning struck the idol, the sacrificial offerings and the pagan priests.

Once again, the martyr was fiercely tortured. She was hung up and scraped with iron claws, and her breasts were cut off. That night, angels appeared to her in prison and healed her wounds as before. On the following day, they took St Tatiana to the circus and loosed a hungry lion on her. The beast did not harm the saint, but meekly licked her feet.

As they were taking the lion back to its cage, it killed one of the torturers. They threw Tatiana into a fire, but the fire did not harm the martyr. The pagans, thinking that she was a sorceress, cut her hair to take away her magical powers, then locked her up in the temple of Zeus.

On the third day, pagan priests came to the temple intending to offer sacrifice to Zeus. They beheld the idol on the floor, shattered to pieces, and the holy martyr Tatiana joyously praising the Lord Jesus Christ. The judge then condemned the valiant sufferer to be beheaded with a sword. Her father was also executed with her, because he had raised her to love Christ.

Source

Brief Life of Saint Tatiana the Roman

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Tatiana was a Roman whose parents were of great nobility. She was a Christian and a deaconess in the church. After the death of Emperor Heliogabalus, Emperor Alexander, whose mother Mammaea was a Christian, reigned in Rome. The emperor himself was wavering and indecisive in the Faith for he kept statues of Christ, Apollo, Abraham and Orpheus in his palace. His chief assistants persecuted the Christians without the emperor's orders. When they brought out the virgin Tatiana for torture, she prayed to God for her torturers. And behold, their eyes were opened and they saw four angels around the martyr. Seeing this, eight of them believed in Christ for which they also were tortured and slain. The tormentors continued to torture St. Tatiana. They whipped her, cut off parts of her body; they scraped her with irons. So all disfigured and bloody, Tatiana was thrown into the dungeon that evening so that the next day, they could, again, begin anew with different tortures. But God sent His angels to the dungeon to encourage her and to heal her wounds so that, each morning, Tatiana appeared before the torturers completely healed. They threw her before a lion, but the lion endeared himself to her and did her no harm. They cut off her hair, thinking, according to their pagan reasoning, that some sorcery or some magical power was concealed in her hair. Finally, Tatiana along with her father were both beheaded. Thus, Tatiana ended her earthly life about the year 225 A.D., and this heroic virgin, who had the fragile body of a woman but a robust and valiant spirit, was crowned with the immortal wreath of glory.

HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT TATIANA

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

You grieve over the youth of your body, Oh, be reasonable!
Youth which passes, is it worthwhile to grieve over; you judge!
There is only one youth, youth in eternity,
That is the true youth, youth without aging,
This is worthwhile to ask for, and for it, to shed tears,
Even if you have to pay for it with the death of the body.
Tatiana purchased the costly with the less costly.
For dust and water, the Divine wine;
For the body that ages, eternal youth
And for a few tears, Cherubic joy.
Betrothed to Christ, the Immortal King,
She remained faithful to her Betrothed;
By the power of a pure spirit, crushed temptations
And bravely endured frightening tortures.
Around her were heard angelic footsteps;
As a wrinkled cloth, her body she shed,
And a soul free of earthly ties
Was raised to the wedding feast in the Kingdom without tears.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
O Lord Jesus, unto Thee Thy lamb doth cry with a great voice: O my Bridegroom, Thee I love; and seeking Thee, I now contest, and with Thy baptism am crucified and buried. I suffer for Thy sake, that I may reign with Thee; for Thy sake I die, that I may live in Thee: accept me offered out of longing to Thee as a spotless sacrifice. Lord, save our souls through her intercessions, since Thou art great in mercy.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Strengthened by the power of faith, thou didst contend for Christ our God, O glorious Tatiana; thou didst endure every affliction and by thy courage put Belial to shame. We beseech thee to deliver us from the power of the evil one.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Thou didst shine resplendently, Martyr Tatiana, in thy sacred sufferings and in the crimson of thy blood, soaring to Heaven like a fair dove; hence ever pray Christ for all them that honour thee.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Sexual Passions and Perversions of Muhammad

By Ralph H. Sidway

Even though the Koran was supposed to be the pre-eternal and unalterable word of God, many of the "revelations" came at just the right time to help out Muhammad when he wanted to: marry another wife, attack another tribe, refute another interlocutor, etc. Indeed, when many such convenient verses were "revealed", the child-bride Aisha would sharply remark to the "prophet" that, "Verily, your Lord (Allah) is ever quick to fulfill your whims and desires" (Hadith from al-Siyuti, v.6)....

A convenient "revelation" (Sura 33:50) allowed the "prophet" to have as many wives as he wished, though his followers could only have four (Sura 4:3), not counting "what your right hand possesses," that is, slave concubines captured as booty. When looking simply at the authorized hadiths and biographies, one counts that Muhammad had intimate relations with sixty-six females (adult women and young - even pre-pubescent - girls, both wives and concubines). Indeed, Fr. Zakaria Botros rips away the thin veil of piety Muslim apologists rip around Muhammad using Islam's own authorized hadiths and texts: "According to Sirat Al-Halabi, Muhammad can have a woman no matter what, even against her will; and if Muhammad desired a married woman, her husband would have had to divorce her. According to Ibn Sa'ad, who wrote another authorized biographical account of Muhammad, 'The prophet did not die till all women were permitted him'" (Kitab Al Tabaqat Al Kubra, v.8). Muhammad's compulsive preoccupation with women (and indeed, every imaginable sexual perversion) is documented in numerous hadiths, such as this "from Faid al-Qabir (3:371), wherein Muhammad is on record saying, 'My greatest loves are women and perfume: the hungry is satisfied after eating, but I never have enough of women.' Another hadith: 'I can hold back from food and drink, but not from women.'" (Fr. Botros). Indeed, the "prophet" had a rotating schedule to manage his conjugal relations with his wives, and if one of them was not available, he would quickly find one of his concubines with whom to satisfy his urges ("The Prophet was given the sexual strength of thirty men", Bukhari 1:5:268). Muhammad sometimes even had sex with all his wives (eleven or nine, depending on the hadith) sequentially in one night (Bukhari 1:5:268).

This whole thread of "revelations" and authorized hadiths regarding Muhammad's insatiable lust for women and his desert soap-opera harem of wives and concubines (and there is much more and far worse than what we have taken time to survey here) cannot but lead a moral, thinking person inevitably to the unraveling of the entire false tapestry of the Koran and therefore of Islam itself.

As disgraceful as the foregoing references have been, the most obscene and vile claim in any of the recorded sayings of Muhammad must be from a hadith in al-Siyuti (6:395), where Muhammad asserts that: "In heaven, Mary mother of Jesus, will be one of my wives." No Orthodox Christian worthy of the name can regard such filth or the one who utters it with anything less than contempt.

From Facing Islam: What the Anceint Church Has To Say About the Religion of Muhammad, pp. 97-101.

Read also:

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet" Part I

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet," Part II

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet" Part III

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet" Part IV

Father Zakaria Botros on "The perverse sexual habits of the Prophet" Part V

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Popska Icon of the Mother of God in Hilandari

Popska Icon of the Holy Virgin (Feast Day - January 12)

The Popska Icon of the Mother of God ("of the Priest" or Popadiki) stands in the katholikon of Hilandari Monastery by the northeast column of the left kliros.

A certain heretical priest, having declared himself Orthodox, acted at the Hilandari Monastery with evil purpose, but he was punished. During the procession for the blessing of water he took this icon but stumbled, fell into the sea and drowned. Since that time the cross procession is always done with this icon, and invariably a priest carries it, so it was called "Priestly" by the Serbs.

Some say the heretical priest was rebuked for his heresy by Christ, which is why the hand of the Christ child is in an unusual position.

On its reverse side there is a painting of the Presentation of the Holy Virgin, by one of the best painters of the time. The same painter executed in 1360 the Great Deesis on the iconostasis of the Hilandari church, as well as the miniatures of the Evangelists in the Roman’s Gospel. The Virgin Popska was repainted in the 16th or 17th centuries, while the Presentation of the Virgin has retained its original form.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

"Icons of Evolution" 10th Anniversary Celebration

Ten years ago, a relatively unknown biologist published a little book called Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? Why much of what we teach about evolution is wrong (http://www.iconsofevolution.com). This book shook the allegedly rock solid evidentiary foundation of Darwinian evolution. One by one, Jonathan Wells exposed how many of the textbook examples of "evidence" for Darwinism are speculative at best and in some cases even based on falsified information. Ten years later, the book is legendary.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Former Patriarch Irineos Still Imprisoned in Jerusalem

Josh Lederman
January 6, 2011
The Associated Press

Six years ago, Irineos I was the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem with about 100,000 followers. Today, he sits behind locked doors in his Old City apartment, claiming he has been imprisoned by the successor who ousted him in a dispute over sale of church land to Israelis.

The only way Irineos could speak to The Associated Press Thursday was through a wireless microphone hoisted at the end of a rope to his roof — in the same black shopping bag supporters use nightly to deliver him groceries.

Reporters who tried to gain access to Irineos through the compound’s massive metal door were denied entry by church guards peering out through a crack.

“They allow nobody out and nobody in to visit me,” said Irineos. “They are afraid of the people because I’m loved by the people, and I love the people,” he said into the AP microphone, peering over the edge of his roof.

It is a harsh comedown for a man who ruled his flock for four years as a revered spiritual figure.

Irineos said his successor, Theofilos III, will not allow attorneys, doctors or visitors to enter the home he has lived in for almost 40 years, which sits inside a large church-owned complex. He said he’s been detained for three years over his refusal to concede the patriarchate.

Theofilos replaced Irineos in 2005 after allegations he sold church property to Israelis seeking to expand the Jewish presence in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim for the capital of a future state.

Palestinians consider sale of land to Jews a serious crime. Most Orthodox Christians in Jerusalem are Palestinians.

Irineos maintains he was unaware of the transactions and did nothing wrong. A report commissioned by the Palestinian Authority in 2005 concluded he didn’t participate in any of the sales.

“I ask God every day to reveal the truth,” he said. “There is no patriarch. I’m the patriarch.”


Political feuds inside the Greek Orthodox community, always complicated, have turned vicious in recent years. When Irineos was deposed, his defenders said the land sale charges were trumped up by his political opponents.

The number of Christians in the West Bank and Jerusalem has been dwindling for decades, as followers seek better economic opportunities elsewhere. Also, Christians speak of persecution by the Muslim majority in the West Bank, but always anonymously, fearing retribution.

Irineos’ replacement was not recognized by the three governments with jurisdiction over the patriarchate — Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority — until 2007.

A senior patriarchate official in Athens, Greece, denied Irineos is under house arrest, and several top aides to Theofilos declined to comment, other than to say Irineos is a liar. Theofilos made public Christmas appearances Thursday in Bethlehem, but was unavailable for comment.

Two officials close to the Jerusalem patriarchate, one a prominent bishop who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, confirmed Theofilos is holding Irineos against his will over their feud and fears Irineos will try reclaim his old position.

“The new patriarch is punishing the old one, keeping him behind closed doors to secure his position,” said Marwan Tubasi, head of the Council of Arab Orthodox Organizations and a Palestinian Authority official who works closely with church leaders.

Irineos said he spends his isolated days praying, reading and writing. He still wears the traditional black garb and hat of Greek Orthodox clergy.

As Orthodox Christians celebrated Christmas Thursday, Irineos said he performed Mass by himself, banned from entering a church just a few steps away. He offered blessings to supporters using a cell phone — his primary link with the outside world.


From time to time supporters would shout greetings up to him from the street, and he responded with wishes for a happy new year.

A Palestinian Muslim from Jerusalem’s Old City, who called himself Abu Amar, said he has been sending bread, vegetables and water up to the former patriarch, hauling it up by rope, for almost three years. Despite their difference in religion, he feels a humanitarian urge to provide for Irineos’ needs.

“I had a good relationship with him, and I still do,” Amar said. “I cannot neglect him.”

Israeli police said they haven’t responded to the alleged imprisonment because no complaint has been filed. Irineos believes his plight should be handled within the church and not through police intervention, and the power to free and redeem Irineos lies in God’s hands, said Daniel Robbins, an attorney who was able to visit Irineos twice in recent weeks.

Robbins said while representing a different client in a case in which Irineos was a witness, a court order forced church officials to allow him to enter his home.

“He has no family, no one that visits him and his life and everything is the patriarchate,” Robbins said.

___

Associated Press writers Fadwa Hodali in Jerusalem and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Eldress Evlambia Romanides

By Fr. Lambros Fotopoulou

Origins

Evlambia Romanides, mother of Father John Romanides, had her origins in Aravisso of Cappadocia, a region which never ceased to discuss theological matters, even after the great Cappadocian Fathers (Basil the Great and Gregory of Nyssa).

Born before the disaster (in 1895), she grew up in a place of deep faith. In this area, Orthodoxy was first in value, while language and origin was secondary. She belonged to the magnificent people of Karamanlis (or Karamanlides), who with their own unique Greek writing, their important monuments, and their unique customs and traditions were able to translate the experience of Orthodox ascetics and saints into everyday practice.

The theological model of the Cappadocians is the imitation of the strict hesychasts, such as the as stylite saints Symeon and Daniel, of Saint Alexis the Man of God, etc. The personality of St. Alexis, in particular, had a strong impression on the Cappadocians, due to his excessive fasting, vigils and hard asceticism, so that many songs written for him which are still sung today. Each Great Lent in Cappadocia there prevailed contemplation, memory of death, prayer and asceticism. The center of social life in Cappadocia was the church and intellectual achievement was to engage in mental prayer. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the breathing of Cappadocia was the rhythm of the Prayer "Lord Jesus Christ (inhalation), have mercy on me (exhalation)".

It was within this spiritual environment that Evlambia Romanides was raised.

Childhood Years

The childhood of Eldress Evlambia was one of pain. The pain was deep, but salvific. The twelve-year old girl saw the terrible slaughter of her parents, an event which imprinted itself on her young eyes and deep within her soul. However, this experience, rather than being catastrophic for Evlambia, was the heavenly message for her to choose the good path, to love Christ and the Church.

Socially Evlambia was left orphaned, but she gained powerful spiritual protection. The Queen of Heaven, the assistant of orphans, took her under her own protection. With admirable simplicity for so magnificent an experience the Eldress later spoke to her nuns the Panagia would appear to her, how she would take her by the hand and saved her from various psychological dangers. When celebrations took place around her it would trouble her, and she would distance herself. Then she would make herself very available for prayer. In this way a small child would communicate through prayer to God!

One wonders, what kind of prayer did the little orphan Evlambia say? In a written confession that she left, she said the following: "When I was twelve years old, the prayer that I said was this - Paraklesis, Six Psalms, Compline, Old and New Testaments. So I spent my time. Those words I would not allow to leave my mind night and day. Good Lord, do not deprive me of any of Your goods, and to listen to your words. From indecent things, with Your help my Lord, guard me. Lord, according to Your command, as you know Lord, whatever my throat utters is Yours. Our Queen the Panagia, with her intercessions and that of the saints ... And with all these You are blessed forever and ever. Amen."

In Exile

After the Asia Minor Catastrophe she came to Greece and settled in Piraeus. She married her fellow Cappadocian Savva Romanides and bore her first child, a boy. She dedicated him to the refugee Saint John the Russian. When the child was two years old, she was found worthy to fulfill her vow and to have him baptized, the future Father John, in Prokopi in Euboea, where his sacred relics were deposited.

Life in Greece was difficult for the Romanides family so they migrated to America in 1927.

In the United States of America Evlambia Romanides helped her husband in couture, a profession that enabled them to raise their two children. The multicultural society, with its colorful and different religious values, did not affect her, but rather gave the challenge for missionary work. She battled with any forces holding the Protestant milieu. The heat of her faith had made an impression. The heterodox foresaw that it would be a great success for them if they convert this Cappadocian with a lot of faith to their ideas. They did not recognize the well-trained opponent. They organized a real "project" for her conversion, involving 10-15 people. They visited her and tried through the Holy Bible, with their well-known arguments, to weaken her. Evlambia had other, greater and more compelling, arguments. Leaving them alone for awhile she resorted to the saints, which is the "icon-corner" of her room. She prayed fervently to God to enlighten her. And, O! the miracle! a loud noise came out of the icons. The Protestants heard this and frightened they stampeded out the door. Since then they never bothered her.

The Missionary

Eldress Evlambia was convinced that the only truth is the Orthodox Faith and there is no other way of salvation but by Orthodox Holy Baptism. So when she learned that her daughter was married in New Zealand to a heterodox named Malcolm, a senior government official, she realized what exactly was her task. She went to New Zealand and stayed there until she catechized properly the groom to be baptized Orthodox with the name Mark. She did not leave New Zealand before she fulfilled her other sacred purpose: To establish an Orthodox Church in Christchurch, the second largest city in this country.

A seamstress refugee from America, without missionary assistance, and incremental financial support, alone with only God in her heart, is Equal to the Apostles and established the Orthodox Church in the far reaches of the earth ....

The Nun

After the death of her husband she offered her services as a seamstress in the male Monastery of the Transfiguration in Boston while at the same time beginning to exercised by herself the monastic life. In this way she firmly decided to become a nun. The opportunity was not too late to give. Her son, Father John, returned with his family to Greece and the eldress followed at the same time informing him of her intentions.

With the aid of Father John and the assistance of the (now) Bishop of Tyroloë and Serention Panteleimon Rodopoulou and Father Polycarp Mantzaroglou she went to the Holy Monastery "Evangelist John the Theologian" in Souroti of Thessaloniki, where she became a novice on 1/17/1971. On 5/4/1973 she was tonsured to the Great Schema, without changing her baptismal name, at the request of Father John.

As a nun she never failed her monastic rule. At midnight she would pray continuously in the manner that she was used to as a youngster. She would explain in the following manner her characteristic habit: "Then, my child, the sky opens", she said.

In the monastery she lived until 1980, when she slept righteously in the Lord, as she constantly requested of God: "May my name be in the book of life. A Christian end to my life in peace grant me ...."

Having a knowledge of her death (in 1980) she spoke to the sisters who served her about events that would later come to pass (the building of Holy Archangels Church). Moreover, the fact of her death was the meditation of her heart from the age of twelve years: "May I not get death out of my mind, Lord grant to me", she said. God gave her the last months of life with all the necessary information to prepare for her great departure.

"An Everlasting Memorial"

How different is this eldress from all those artificial models "introduced" by the religious "star system" of our time.

Having the grace of the "humble and quiet" Holy Spirit she subjugated herself to the will of the Triune God. She endured being an orphan and refugee with faith in God and unceasing prayer. She lived in the world dedicated to her duties as a wife and mother, and when she decided to become a nun, opted humble obedience in an Orthodox monastery.

Source: (Extract from the magazine "Εφημέριος", June 2003, pp. 11-14)

Translated by John Sanidopoulos



A further note about Eldress Evlambia from the book Fr. John S. Romanides by Fr. George Metallinos (in Greek, p. 85):

"This blessed woman from Asia Minor was a person of prayer. She would pray and do many prostrations. Fr. John would see her as a small child and laugh, saying: "What are you doing, one prostration after another?" And she responded to him: "Joke little John ... you will become a priest."

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Meteorologists Cannot Explain the Miraculous Cloud of Mt. Tabor

January 11, 2011
Interfax

Science cannot explain a mystery of the cloud, that every year descends on Mount Tabor where, according to the Bible, the Transfiguration of the Lord took place.

Sergey Mirov, a participant in the research organized this summer by the working group on miraculous signs at the Synodal Theological Commission, the investigation was conducted by Russian and Israeli meteorologists, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily writes.

According to him, summing up the results, the experts concluded that fog cannot be generated in such dry air and temperature.

Mirov stressed that the "descending of the blessed cloud" takes place only in the territory of the Orthodox monastery. He said that during the festival service (the miraculous phenomenon happens on the Orthodox feast of Transfiguration) a glaring sphere rushes over believers, then the cloud appears above the cross of the Transfiguration Church, it grows in dimensions and descends on believers, covering them and pouring life-giving moisture over them.

In his turn Pavel Florensky, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences academician and head of the working group on miraculous signs, said that his team examined the appearance of the Holy Fire at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Easter eve with the help of modern highly accurate equipment.

"The conclusion is simple: the appearance of fire is accompanied with powerful piezoelectrical phenomenon in the church and adjacent territories similar to those that take place during thunderstorms, but there was no thunderstorm... Thus, it means that this event can be considered miraculous," he believes.

Read also: The Miraculous Holy Cloud of Mount Tabor

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Saint Theodosius the Great, Teacher of the Desert

St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch (Feast Day - January 11)

Saint Theodosius the Great lived during the fifth-sixth centuries, and was the founder of cenobitic monasticism. He was born in Cappadocia of pious parents. Endowed with a splendid voice, he zealously toiled at church reading and singing. St Theodosius prayed fervently that the Lord would guide him on the way to salvation. In his early years he visited the Holy Land and met with St Simeon the Stylite (September 1), who blessed him and predicted future pastoral service for him.

Yearning for the solitary life, Saint Theodosius settled in Palestine into a desolate cave, in which, according to Tradition, the three Magi had spent the night, having come to worship the Savior after His Nativity. He lived there for thirty years in great abstinence and unceasing prayer. People flocked to the ascetic, wishing to live under his guidance. When the cave could no longer hold all the monks, St Theodosius prayed that the Lord Himself would indicate a place for the monks. Taking a censer with cold charcoal and incense, the monk started walking into the desert.

At a certain spot the charcoal ignited by itself and the incense smoke began to rise. Here the monk established the first cenobitic monastery, or Lavra (meaning "broad" or populous"). Soon the Lavra of St Theodosius became renowned, and up to 700 monks gathered at it. According to the final testament of St Theodosius, the Lavra rendered service to neighbor, giving aid to the poor and providing shelter for wanderers.

St Theodosius was extremely compassionate. Once, when there was a famine in Palestine and a multitude of people gathered at the monastery, the monk gave orders to allow everyone into the monastery enclosure. His disciples were annoyed, knowing that the monastery did not have the means to feed all those who had come. But when they went into the bakery, they saw that through the prayers of the abba, it was filled with bread. This miracle was repeated every time St Theodosius wanted to help the destitute.

At the monastery St Theodosius built an home for taking in strangers, separate infirmaries for monks and laymen, and also a shelter for the dying. Seeing that people from various lands gathered at the Lavra, the saint arranged for services in the various languages: Greek, Georgian and Armenian. All gathered to receive the Holy Mysteries in the large church, where divine services were chanted in Greek.

During the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius (491-518) there arose the heresy of Eutychius and Severus, which recognized neither the sacraments nor the clergy. The emperor accepted the false teaching, and the Orthodox began to suffer persecution. St Theodosius stood firmly in defense of Orthodoxy and wrote a letter to the emperor on behalf of the monks, in which they denounced him and refuted the heresy with the teachings of the Ecumenical Councils. He affirmed moreover, that the desert-dwellers and monks would firmly support the Orthodox teaching. The emperor showed restraint for a short while, but then he renewed his persecution of the Orthodox. The holy Elder then showed great zeal for the truth. Leaving the monastery, he came to Jerusalem and in the church, he stood at the high place and cried out for all to hear: "Whoever does not honor the four Ecumenical Councils, let him be anathema!" For this bold deed the monk was sent to prison, but soon returned after the death of the emperor.

St Theodosiusaccomplished many healings and other miracles during his life, coming to the aid of the needy. Through his prayers he once destroyed the locusts devastating the fields in Palestine. Also by his intercession, soldiers were saved from death, and he also saved those perishing in shipwrecks and those lost in the desert.

Once, the saint gave orders to strike the semandron (a piece of wood hit with a mallet), so that the brethren would gather at prayer. He told them, "The wrath of God draws near the East." After several days it became known that a strong earthquake had destroyed the city of Antioch at the very hour when the saint had summoned the brethren to prayer.

Before his death, St Theodosius summoned to him three beloved bishops and revealed to them that he would soon depart to the Lord. After three days, he died at the age of 105. The saint's body was buried with reverence in the cave in which he lived at the beginning of his ascetic deeds.

Source

HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT THEODOSIUS

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Those who with fear stand before God,
Those who fear the Living God only,
Only they can witness
That the righteous one receives that for which he prays to God.
By true prayer, God does for people -
The dawn glows to the one who turns to the dawn.
Saint Theodosius, by his prayers
Helped many and also helped us.
For he lives even now as he once did
And works miracles, as he once did and does now -
The Lord bestowed upon him power, because of his faith,
And love for God; love immeasurable.
Wonderful Theodosius, zealot of truth,
Wondrous organizer of the monastic life,
Let him be praised by us, who is glorified by God,
Now a glorious citizen of the Kingdom of Christ

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, your labors have borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles you have become a light, shining upon the world. O Theodosius, our Holy Father, pray to Christ our God, to save our souls.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
As being planted in the courts of Christ thy Lord and God, with holy virtues thou delightfully didst blossom forth and didst multiply thy children amid the desert, who were watered with the showers of thy fervent tears, O chief shepherd of the godly sheepfold of our God. Hence we cry to thee: Rejoice, O Father Theodosius.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Bishop Teodosije Encourages Serbs To Return To Their Homes In Kosovo and Metohija

Dragana Zecevic, 9 January 2011

Conditions for the return of Serbs to Kosovo and Metohija are far from good and there are great difficulties and risks. We cannot, however, wait for others to create better conditions. Everyone should return to their homes and thus contribute to the return process. Examples of those who have done this, although rare, inspire hope that other displaced Serbs will follow them, said the newly enthroned Bishop of Raška-Prizren Teodosije (Šibalić) in an interview with Vecernje Novosti.

He gave a similar message to the people in the Province at the Christmas liturgy in the St. George Cathedral in Prizren. The bishop emphasized that the return of the historical and spiritual center of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren to the city on the Bistrica river, after 11 years of exile, is a kind of invitation to Serbs to return to where they belong.

—What are the prospects of rehabilitation and reconstruction of destroyed Orthodox holy sites in Kosovo?

—Reconstruction of the destroyed sites is our long-term task. By restoring the holy sites, we work on restoration of the church and spiritual life. By restoration of our sites in Pristina, Prizren and Istok, we have in recent months breathed new life into the previously extinguished parishes, and appointed there young priests. We are planning to reopen the parish in Pec, and continue the reconstruction of the Seminary compound in Prizren. We are planning to re-launch the religious educational work there, with God's help.

—The church has been the pillar of survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo and in most difficult times. How do you see the role of the Church in today's circumstances?

—The most important task will be to strengthen the spiritual work and resume humanitarian aid to the vulnerable population. It is also important that the soup-kitchens run by NGO, "Mother of nine Jugovic's," continue to work. Providing conditions, their number will increase. The Church needs to work on building harmony among the people, because only together and with solidarity towards one another we can survive.

—What is the situation in the monasteries, which are no longer protected by KFOR? How do you assess the cooperation with the Kosovo police?

—I think the time has not yet arrived to hand over protection of our most important and vulnerable sites to Kosovo police. In KP we still don't have that confidence which we had built with KFOR, which is more professional, and has established better relations with us. However, we are not in a position to choose, and are forced to accept what is being offered in order to preserve our holy sites and our people.

— More than a decade after the war in Kosovo-Metohija, the Serbs are still in a very difficult situation. They seem to be exhausted. How they can be encouraged to stay in the Province after so many ordeals?

—The Diocese will make every effort to help Serbs to remain in Kosovo. Unlike the previous diocesan administration which talked a lot about patriotism, but hardly worked with the people, we intend to intensify the spiritual life of our people. We cannot make things better if we are embittered with everyone around us. The faith in the crucified Christ, however, teaches us that evil is conquered by kindness, hatred by love, and despair with hope in the Lord. The return of our people to our faith will open new resources of strength.

—Among the Serbs in Kosovo there are also divisions, particularly regarding the recognition of institutions of the so-called state of Kosovo. How are they to overcome the differences that exist?

—The role of the Church is to discourage divisions among the people, regardless of existent political affiliations, and make them feel more that they are one people of God. The Church does not act as a political institution, because she would be reduced to a mere ideology. It is rather obligated to encourage awareness among the people and their leaders that personal interests must not be above the interests of the community. Do not expect that others will understand and support us if we are not to be able to do that for one another.

—The future of Kosovo in Serbia is seen differently. The majority believes that the Province must not be given up, but the voices are heard, and that it has been irretrievably lost.

—Kosovo is not only a political and territorial issue. It is a place of our covenant with God. If we keep returning to this covenant, with Christian faith and hope, no one can take it away from us. The political situation has changed through history, and it will do so in future. If we look at Kosovo-Metohija only as an issue of national ideology and territory, it may seem lost. If, however, we turn to it with our heart, the answer is quite the opposite.

—Do you believe in what politicians announce as a compromise between the two peoples through dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina?

—Dialogue is the only way to solve the problems in Kosovo and Metohija. We cannot wait for others to find a solution to our problems. Most Kosovo Albanians do not currently see the future in any way connected with Serbia. The Serbian people, however, are the first whom they should address to discuss their long-term interests. In the upcoming negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina, the priority should be the real interests of the people and peace, and not transient ideologies. It is therefore important that people of good will distance themselves from all those who think to achieve happiness (of their people) by violence.

LOVE IS GREATEST GOOD

—There is an impression that our nation is disoriented. There are also many false goods that are promoted as a true ...

—God has given man the gift of freedom, but to use it reasonably and responsibly and not for personal enjoyment and lust. When passions take control over the soul and body, one becomes incapable of communion with God. Instead of being part of a community, one becomes a loner, suffocated in his own ambitions to find earthly happiness. We can find true joy and happiness only when we realize that service to our neighbor in love is not our loss, but the only good gain. This is the essence of the Church and life in it.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND A SECT

—We hear that a part of the defrocked monks, which the SOC calls a sect, has returned to the Diocese you lead. What will you do about this issue?

—As the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church advised, it is about a sect, which, fortunately, does not have popular support. If necessary, we will be undertaking additional canonical and legal measures in order to preserve the SOC's name, integrity and property. We will not allow such sectarian activities in our Diocese. Divisions are the last thing we need in this moment. It is essential that our people know how to distinguish the Church from the sect, a priest from an impostor, the faith in Christ from a religious and political ideology.

PRESERVE THE FAITH

—What is your message to the Serbian people in Kosovo?

—Our only hope is Christ. We should be more attached to the Church and preserve mutual love and harmony. The Lord is glorified in weakness and suffering, and therefore we must not lose hope in Him. Let us stay in our homes and holy sites, and above all, preserve our faith.

From the official website of the Diocese of Raska-Prizren

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Patriarch Kyrill On the Reason Behind the Economic Crisis In Russia

January 11, 2011
Interfax

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia decisively disagrees with those who believe that Orthodoxy is a reason for the economic failures and low living standards of Russians.

In particular, last year renowned TV anchor Vladimir Pozner addressed such reproaches to the Orthodox Church.

"It's a rather strange discussion, people with poor knowledge of history probably participated in it," the Patriarch said in his interview with Rossija 24 TV channel.

To illustrate his words he pointed out to Byzantium that was a center of culture, education and sciences and "reached such heights in the Middle Ages that no other country had reached, especially Western, which at that time was still barbarian peoples."

Patriarch Kirill noted that Orthodox Russia, that was sometimes still called nation in bast shoes, in the 19th century had the world highest GDP competing with America "as they put it, neck to neck."

Russian peasants did not drink "as it was a sin to drink during the week, it was allowed on feasts, or at least on Sunday after the Liturgy," the Patriarch reminded saying that "there was not any supervisors nearby", but "inner self-control was rooted in the moral tradition of the nation."

"And then everything was broken. Eventually with great efforts, including terror, high economic indicators were reached," the Patriarch said explaining the further collapse of the USSR with the fact that the "backbone of national life was destroyed" in the years of revolution.

"Today our life is worse not because we are Orthodox, but because we ruined our country and spiritual foundation of our life two times during one century. Protestant countries live better not because they are Protestant, but because these countries have not been at war, they developed their economy staying in rather favorable conditions," the Patriarch summed up and wished so that God "gives us reason to save our political, social stability and develop ourselves both spiritually and economically."

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Keeping Our Eye On Eternity

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"We look not to what is seen but to what is unseen" (2 Corinthians 4:18).

We see this material and transient world, but we look to that spiritual and immortal world.

We see earthly joy, often interrupted by tears and sighs and, in the end, always concluded in death; but we look to spiritual joy among the angels and saints of God in the heavens, to joy uninterrupted and eternal.

We see sufferings and failures of the righteous in this life; but we look at their glory and celebration in that world.

We see many successes, glory and honor of the unrighteous in this life, but we see their defeat, condemnation and indescribable torment in eternity.

We see the Church of God often humiliated and persecuted in this world, but we look to the final victory of the Church over all of her enemies and adversaries both visible and invisible.

Brethren, we often see tyrants and abductors as rulers and wealthy men in this age, and we see saints as poor, dejected and forgotten, but we look at the other kingdom, the Kingdom of God, eternal, sinless and immortal in which the saints will reign without one, no, not one tyrant or abductor.

O Lord, most patient and most merciful, open our spiritual vision that we may see that which awaits us after this short-lived life and that we endeavor to fulfill Your law. To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Teaching of Gregory of Nyssa On the Eternality of Hell

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

In many of his texts St. Gregory speaks of man's freedom of choice, which is not abolished by God, and also about the perpetuity of Hell. Both these positions of his remove every notion of the theory of the restoration of all things as affirmed by Origen.

In his great catechetical oration, in which he refers to the Catechism and the value of Baptism, at the end he continues the subject of the change in a man's whole existence which comes about by his choice. He writes that holy Baptism is called birth from above, that is, it is man's rebirth and reconstitution, but it does not alter his characteristic features. This human nature does not of itself admit of any "change by Baptism", and neither is his reason or intelligence changed, nor his cognition nor any other characteristic of human nature. This must take place through man's struggle before and after Baptism. The grace of God which we receive through Baptism does not bring about our rebirth unless we ourselves play a part in it.

St. Gregory reaches the point of making a bold statement, as he himself says. If in spite of Baptism the soul has not removed the stains - which means if our life after Baptism is the same as it was before - then the water of the sacrament is simply water, "because the grace of the Holy Spirit did not appear". In other words, it is as if a man had not received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Whoever trumpets his rebirth through Baptism, but still has the same way of life should listen to the word of God who says: "If anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself"and "As many as received him, to them he gave the right to become children of God". If anyone asserts that he has received God, he must demonstrate it by his choice. "Manifest in yourself Him Who begot you". And he asks very incisively: "Do you not know that a man becomes a son of God in no other way than by becoming holy?". To become a child of God one must be holy.

Those who do not change their way of life will have many punishments. The life of sinners in the next life will not be similar to the tribulations of the earthly life. St. Gregory speaks of the punishing fire which the sinner will encounter, and not of a rebirth in the next life. He writes incisively: "When you hear the word fire, you have been taught to think of a fire other than the fire we see, owing to something being added to that fire which is not in this. "The fire which man will experience in the next life will be different from the fire of the present life. The fire of this life is extinguished in various ways, whereas the fire of the next life remains unextinguished." That fire, therefore, is something other than this.

If, again, a person hears about a worm which will devour man, it is meant in a completely different way from the worm that lives in the earth. For "the addition that `it does not die' suggests the thought of another reptile than that known here".

From this brief presentation of the teaching of St. Gregory about choice and Hell several truths emerge. First, that the grace of the Holy Spirit, through Baptism, does not regenerate the person if choice is not put into action. Therefore a man's choice has great significance. Secondly, that there exists Hell, in which fire and worm which do not resemble sensory realities hold sway. They are uncreated realities. Indeed, the fact that the things of eternal life will not be like the present day, and that the worm "does not die", shows that both the purifying fire and the tormenting action of the worms is the uncreated energy of God, which will be experienced by those who have not been purified in this life. The combination of the pains of the life after death with endlessness shows that there will be no end to purification, as the studies of St. Gregory suggest.

In other texts of his we read about participating in the light, that is, God. Analysing the life of Moses and regarding Moses as a prototype of perfection for every Christian, he says that Moses saw God in the burning bush that was not consumed, because he had first taken off his sandals.

He applies this to the vision of God, which every man can have. God is truth and this truth is light. The life of virtue leads to this knowledge of the great light. And lest it be thought that St. Gregory is speaking of a human and humanistic virtue, we must say that he links virtue with purity of the soul. It is not possible for sandaled feet to ascend that height where the light of truth is seen. Therefore the soul must be freed from these foundations. It is not a matter of putting off the body, but of freeing the soul from the garments of skin in which nature was wrapped after its insubordination. Thus the light of truth will be seen and the knowledge of being will come about through purifying our opinion about nonbeing, since nonbeing is false and a fantasy. According to St. Gregory, being outside God is nonbeing, from the point of view that it is falsehood and fantasy and not that it is non-existent.

And in this interpretation it is obvious that through purification man attains knowledge of being and casts away nonbeing, which is falsehood and fantasy. This interpretation will be useful when we later study his view of evil, which is nonbeing. It does not mean that the person who experiences evil disappears, but precisely because he lives far from being, which is truth, he lives in falsehood. The man exists, but he does not live according to God. There is a difference between existing and living according to God.

St. Gregory of Nyssa links Paradise and Hell with man's choice. He knows clearly that there is eternal Paradise and eternal Hell. Moreover, even those who are still critical of him do not deny that St. Gregory at many points in his teachings accepts the eternity of Hell. We have already seen one such case before, when he spoke of the worm that never dies. But placed organically within the teaching of the Church, he teaches that Paradise and Hell do not exist from God's point of view, but from man's point of view. It is a subject of man's choice and condition. We can understand the teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa only if we study it within these orthodox presuppositions.

Referring to the double effect of light on the Hebrews and the Egyptians, he says that while the sun of righteousness illuminated them in the same way with its rays, yet "the Hebrews delighted in its light, but the Egyptians were insensitive to its gift". The Egyptians too received the grace of God, but since they were insensitive, they perceived it as darkness.

The same thing happens with other men as well. The same grace, the same light, sends its rays to all men, but some wander in darkness because of evil deeds and the darkness of evil, and others shine, living in the light of virtue.

The Egyptians were punished because their choice worked in that way, when they themselves called forth God's punishment. "The Egyptians' free will caused all these things according to the above principle, and the impartial justice of God followed their free choices and brought upon them what they deserved".

The same is true with tribulations, which we think come from God. The creator of sorrows and tribulations is each person through his own choice. "Each man makes his own plagues through his own free will". The same will be the case in the eternal life. To the one who has lived without sin there is no darkness, no worm, no fire. The same place is a calamity for one and not for another. This means that it is a matter of their choice. Therefore "it is evident that nothing evil can come into existence apart from our free choice". Evil cannot exist without our choice.

This analysis shows clearly that St. Gregory does not deny the existence of Hell, but he says that it is a matter of man's choice. For God, Hell does not exist, nor did God make man for Hell but it is man's free choice.

In the works of St. Gregory it is stated that evil must be thrown out of man's existence, and "that which does not exist in being must cease to exist at all". This does not mean that there will be a period in which beings which have no share and communion with God will cease to exist. In any case, evil does not have being in itself, but it is the deprivation of good. In other words, the person who has been darkened will be deprived of the illuminating quality of God, and so he will be like not existing, while he will live eternally. The illuminating action of God will not be received, but only its caustic and punishing quality. He writes: "Since evil does not exist by its nature outside of free choice, evil will suffer a complete annihilation, because no receptacle remains for it".

The problem arises: what will happen if man does not yield his free choice to God? This is a question for those who are convinced that St. Gregory teaches the restoration of all things in accordance with the views of Origen. And they think that the saint is inconsistent. But there is no contradiction in his work, his teaching can be understood within the tradition of the Church. It means that everyone who does not give his choice to God will have no share of God. They will exist but they will not participate in God. And since God is life and being, therefore those, although they will exist, will live in nonbeing, they will not have communion with God.

Likewise the existence of the punishing fire, which is the purifying grace of God, will be a permanent development and healing for the saint which will go on also in the next life. The purifying fire, as we have indicated, according to the teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa, is uncreated and unending. It is the grace of God, which will purify and sanctify man increasingly, since perfection is unending, as he himself teaches. In this sense he speaks of a purifying fire for the righteous.

Consequently the teaching of St. Gregory of Nyssa about Paradise and Hell is a part of the patristic framework. At least I personally have not discovered any departure from the orthodox teaching. It is only that St. Gregory's speech is more difficult than that of the other Fathers of the Church.

To read more details on this topic by the same author, read the rest of chapter 8 from "Life After Death" here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

St. Gregory of Nyssa on Ghosts and Demons

In his treatise On the Soul and the Resurrection, St. Gregory of Nyssa is said to have been taught by his sister St. Macrina regarding eschatological topics as she lay on her death-bed following the repose of their brother, St. Basil the Great. Commenting on the details of the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, St. Macrina makes the following observation:

"Why, seeing that Lazarus' soul is occupied with his present blessings and turns round to look at nothing that he has left, while the rich man is still attached, with a cement as it were, even after death, to the life of feeling, which he does not divest himself of even when he has ceased to live, still keeping as he does flesh and blood in his thoughts (for in his entreaty that his kindred may be exempted from his sufferings he plainly shows that he is not freed yet from fleshly feeling)—in such details of the story (she continued) I think our Lord teaches us this; that those still living in the flesh must as much as ever they can separate and free themselves in a way from its attachments by virtuous conduct, in order that after death they may not need a second death to cleanse them from the remnants that are owing to this cement of the flesh, and, when once the bonds are loosed from around the soul, her soaring up to the Good may be swift and unimpeded, with no anguish of the body to distract her. For if any one becomes wholly and thoroughly carnal in thought, such an one, with every motion and energy of the soul absorbed in fleshly desires, is not parted from such attachments, even in the disembodied state; just as those who have lingered long in noisome places do not part with the unpleasantness contracted by that lengthened stay, even when they pass into a sweet atmosphere. So it is that, when the change is made into the impalpable Unseen, not even then will it be possible for the lovers of the flesh to avoid dragging away with them under any circumstances some fleshly foulness; and thereby their torment will be intensified, their soul having been materialized by such surroundings. I think too that this view of the matter harmonizes to a certain extent with the assertion made by some persons that around their graves shadowy phantoms of the departed are often seen. If this is really so, an inordinate attachment of that particular soul to the life in the flesh is proved to have existed, causing it to be unwilling, even when expelled from the flesh, to fly clean away and to admit the complete change of its form into the impalpable; it remains near the frame even after the dissolution of the frame, and though now outside it, hovers regretfully over the place where its material is and continues to haunt it."

Thus we see a possibility from these observations that the spirits of the dead who had fleshly or worldly attachments in this life could be so attached to their life in the flesh that their spirits remain near the bodies from which they separated. We should note that this is set down as a possible theory of why spirits seem to make their appearance near their graves.

Yet St. Gregory also warns that demons can be behind such apparitions. In his Letter Concerning the Sorceress to Bishop Theodoxios, he explains that the so-called spirit of the Prophet Samuel which appeared by the witchcraft of the witch of endor (1 Sam. 28) to King Saul was in fact a demon rather than his actual spirit. This view was held by other Church Fathers also, though some also proposed that this may indeed have been his spirit.

Read the entire letter here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr