St. Theodore the Studite: Wednesday of Cheesefare

By St. Theodore the Studite

CATECHESIS 51: On Being Confident and Courageous in the Present Persecution

Delivered on Wednesday of Cheese Week

Brethren and fathers, the question for us to discuss today should be self-mastery, because the holy Lent is at our doors. However the common talk does not allow us to do this, as our thought and our talk is preoccupied with something else. For I have already told you in the previous instruction that the Emperor is commanding things against us, and now, so they say, is making threats against us through Nikomedes. If we were to meet them in a manner fitting God, he would not endure at all, but do what occurred to him. What more is to be said then? That to be persecuted again is to be crowned again; and that where sufferings are multiplied, there too the consolations of the Holy Spirit are multiplied; for the Apostle says, "For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering, and our hope for you is sure; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation and salvation, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation." See how by these words he showed that we are partakers with one another in sufferings and in consolations, "as being one body and one spirit, as we have also been called in one hope of our calling." So then, brethren, let us not fall, let us not lose heart, but let us all stand together, as good soldiers of Christ, bearing our arms, not physical ones, but ones empowered by God, for the destruction of strongholds, that is to say: prudence, courage, temperance and justice; and with them fulfilling that which was said by God, "When they persecute you in one city, flee to another." And as we depart there, let us not worry what we shall eat, or what we shall drink, or how we shall be clothed. For he himself has said, "I shall not leave you, or desert you." So that there too he would be opening a door for us and helping us in all ways. Do we not rejoice then, having such promises? Are we not leaping for joy that we are the Lord's disciples. Thus they persecuted the holy apostles also, to whom the Lord said, "Blessed are you, when they revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake; rejoice and leap for joy on that day." So the present situation is one for joy and gladness; for it is for us the cause of inexpressible joy and eternal life and the kingdom which has no end. "Do not go into the way of the nations," he says, "and do not enter a city of the Samaritans." This is to be understood of the heretics; then let us not enter their churches, nor their houses; but where the son of peace is, the seed of true religion, there let us stay, and there let us pass our time, as in times past. Let us guard ourselves from those who counterfeit the truth, from those who call themselves guides and are not guides, but deceivers who both "deceive and are deceived", mislead and are misled, "whose condemnation is deserved". Let us guard the faith unswerving and our way of life intact, not maltreating the one by the other, but being safe and perfect on either hand. The subject of the confession is about the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore one who does not confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is portrayed in picture is one who does not confess that he appeared in flesh; for it is the same to appear in flesh and to be portrayed in picture. One who does not worship his holy image, does not worship the Lord; for the prototype is revealed and worshipped in the image, and the image in the prototype of each person that is depicted. And if the Iconoclasts say that they worship, they lie; "for they profess," he says, "to know God, but by their deeds they deny him." We then worship Christ and his image, we worship the Mother of God and her image, the saints and their images. And this is the apostolic teaching, which we have received from our holy fathers; and this is the deposit which I entrust to you to guard unharmed and unperverted. For the rest pray for our humble selves, "that on opening our mouth the Lord may give us utterance," to answer according to reason; and that we may not be ashamed of our expectation and that we may without condemnation accomplish with you the contest now proposed and that we may all reach the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and might, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always and to the ages of ages. Amen.

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The Antidote To Psychological Pain

March 1, 2011

By Monk Moses the Athonite

While our era is characterized by abundance and over-consumption (the economic crisis put a little brake on this), high technology, scientific progress, many comforts and material pleasures, there is a severe exacerbation of psychological problems, where one sees gray faces, nervous, troubled, frightened, anxious, sad and upset.

Even young people suffer from acute problems and internal conflicts, and are at an impasse with a dark mentality and unbearable emptiness.

Young people who are beautiful, educated and wealthy are without laughter, downcast and pessimistic. We are in a time of acquisitions, revelations, profits and success, yet our people feel bereft, without mental health, peace and joy. Often the standards of our young people are depressive types of hard music, frantic and upset. Sometimes one even thinks they like to increase the sadness and pessimism. Instead of music resurrecting and gladdening the soul, it nails it to bitter pessimism. Sad faces are the fashion.

The provocative fashions of young people, the rough all-night parties, the seduction towards the terrible scourge of drugs, high alcohol consumption, the many-houred unhealthy dependence on the Internet, and many other similar things exacerbate the problem and in no way heals it. It's as if some willy-nilly want to destroy their health, shorten their lives, and are not at all interested in the future. The statistics are very sad. Worldwide 340,000,000 people currently suffer from severe mental health problems. In Europe and America, the World Health Organization reports that nearly half the population suffers from depression, melancholy and the lighter dysthymia.

One therefore observes today with honesty and pain that neither youth, nor beauty, nor the glory of success and growth, nor a lot of money and expensive clothes, always give expected joy and much needed happiness. Among these, perhaps the continuously present gloominess wants to influence them all, to make rich the industries of psychotropic drugs? Excessive despondency, say the holy fathers of our church, is the evil spirit of sorrow that leads to depression and melancholy. It has been aptly said that the situation of grief can sometimes be morbidly enjoyable, a mild form of sadomasochism. This habit of modern society reflects and expresses our great frustration from individualism and our lack of values.

Anybody can, if they struggle and really want to, dismiss from their life immediately that which does not give them true optimism, joy and pleasure. In this way will humanity have peace, quiet and serenity. Their conscience will be rested, their life calm, even their sleep will be sweet. The poet TS Eliot said, "Doing something useful, saying something true, gazing at something truly beautiful, are enough to enrich your life." Dostoevsky said, "Beauty will save the world." The fact is that evil, cunningness, and obscenity lures and entices, but good, kindness, holiness and the beautiful is always that which really captivates and moves a person deeply.

The Greek Orthodox tradition has power, strength, meaning, faith, consolation and hope. The attempt by some to uproot from the hearts of the people this rich and life-giving tradition will only be towards the increase of the depressed, the inconsolable, and the hopeless. This tradition gave birth to excellent figures of saints and heroes. The time has come for a meaningful search, to reconnect with history, tradition and its continuity. A time which is acceptable, appropriate and necessary for a new discovery of our tradition and the certainty it offers against despair, gloom, depression and melancholy. This is the antidote to the much psychological pain of our time. We need to move quickly towards treatment. No more meaninglessness and darkness in life. Is this not the way it should be? Am I exaggerating and outdated?

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Elder Paisios: On Those Who Accuse the Clergy

We once asked Father Paisios:

Father, you constantly tell us to have positive thinking. We would like you to give us some advice on how to deal with the following problem:

Often people come to us to tell us that some priests charge a lot of money for performing the Holy Sacraments; they say that they smoke, or hang around coffee shops; they even say that some priests are involved in immoral acts, and in general, make strong accusations against them and present evidence to justify them. What answers can we give to people who accuse the clergy?

The Elder started telling us:

I know from experience that in this life people are divided in two categories. A third category does not exist; people either belong to one or the other. The first one resembles the fly. The main characteristic of the fly is that it is attracted by dirt. For example, when a fly is found in a garden full of flowers with beautiful fragrances, it will ignore them and will go sit on top of some dirt found on the ground. It will start messing around with it and feel comfortable with the bad smell. If the fly could talk, and you asked it to show you a rose in the garden, it would answer: “I don’t even know what a rose looks like. I only know where to find garbage, toilets and dirt.” There are some people who resemble the fly. People belonging to this category have learned to think negatively and always look for the bad things in life, ignoring and refusing the presence of good.

The other category is like the bee whose main characteristic is to always look for something sweet and nice to sit on. When a bee is found in a room full of dirt and there is a small piece of sweet in a corner, it will ignore the dirt and will go to sit on top of the sweet. Now, if we ask the bee to show us where the garbage is, it will answer: “I don’t know. I can only tell you where to find flowers, sweets, honey and sugar; it only knows the good things in life and is ignorant of all evil.” This is the second category of people who have a positive thinking and see only the good side of things. They always try to cover up the evil in order to protect their fellow men; on the contrary, people in the first category try to expose the evil and bring it to the surface.

When someone comes to me and starts accusing other people and puts me in a difficult situation, I tell him the above example. Then, I ask him to decide to which category he wishes to belong, so he may find people of the same kind to socialize with.

From Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, Priestmonk Christodoulos (1998), pp. 43-44.

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Polish Film Director: "The Modern World Needs Orthodoxy"

March 3, 2011
Interfax

Polish film director Krzysztof Zanussi believes Christianity is the future of human civilization.

"It seems to me that it is the future of humanity, as thanks to Christianity we experience a rise of civilization and culture. Technical and scientific achievements of modern humanity is in many respects a product of Christian civilization," he said in his interview with the NG-Religii paper.

According to him, such liberation of a person that is offered in Christianity "where a person is God's child, gives courage and many fresh innovations."

"It gives courage to individual thinking. Thus, I believe that the future is in Christianity," Zanussi, who is also member of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said.

He confessed that he is keen on Russian Orthodoxy.

"I am interested in the history of Europe that originated from the Byzantine tradition. It seems to me that the modern world needs Orthodoxy: it is an important addition to worldviews. Western Europe has isolated itself and without this Eastern "lungs" it won't be able to breathe fully, easily and freely," the film director is convinced.

According to him, Orthodoxy helps him understand such things in the Gospels "that are not so forcefully expressed in Catholicism."

"The basis of holiness, the veneration of saints is much developed in Orthodoxy, both Greek and Russian. We, Catholics, also have a basis in holiness and Christian mysticism in the Western Europe, but in Orthodoxy it is more pronounced. It's interesting to me," Zanussi said.

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Science Not A Collection of Truths, But An Exploration of Mysteries

What does science mean? In the New York Review of Books, Freeman Dyson discussed information theory and the history of science under the headline, “How We Know.” In the body of his book review of The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood by James Gleick, Dyson, while trying to clear up some misinformation, exposed some embarrassments in science that call into question not only how we know, but what we know:

"The public has a distorted view of science, because children are taught in school that science is a collection of firmly established truths. In fact, science is not a collection of truths. It is a continuing exploration of mysteries. Wherever we go exploring in the world around us, we find mysteries. Our planet is covered by continents and oceans whose origin we cannot explain. Our atmosphere is constantly stirred by poorly understood disturbances that we call weather and climate. The visible matter in the universe is outweighed by a much larger quantity of dark invisible matter that we do not understand at all. The origin of life is a total mystery, and so is the existence of human consciousness. We have no clear idea how the electrical discharges occurring in nerve cells in our brains are connected with our feelings and desires and actions.

Even physics, the most exact and most firmly established branch of science, is still full of mysteries... Science is the sum total of a great multitude of mysteries. It is an unending argument between a great multitude of voices."

Scientists get a kick out of the endless quest: “The vision of the future as an infinite playground, with an unending sequence of mysteries to be understood by an unending sequence of players exploring an unending supply of information, is a glorious vision for scientists,” he said, but not to artists, writers, and ordinary people. Dyson worried about the flood of information around us being separated from meaning. “Now we can pass a piece of human DNA through a machine and rapidly read out the genetic information,” Dyson noted, “but we cannot read out the meaning of the information. We shall not fully understand the information until we understand in detail the processes of embryonic development that the DNA orchestrated to make us what we are.”

Claude Shannon, who felt “Meaning is irrelevant” to his information theory, started a “flood of information in which we are drowning,” Dyson said. Is our fate to look out upon, as Jorge Luis Borges portrayed the universe in 1941, a “library, with an infinite array of books and shelves and mirrors,” never knowing what it all means? “It is our task as humans to bring meaning back into this wasteland,” Dyson concluded. “As finite creatures who think and feel, we can create islands of meaning in the sea of information.”

While Dyson examined the definition of information in detail in his review, he left dangling an even more important definition: the meaning of meaning. Is meaning defined by the individual artist, writer, or ordinary person? Who decides when something is meaningful? Are islands of meaning grounded on a continent of truth, or are they adrift in an infinite sea of meaningless information?

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Scandalizing By Fasting?

By Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos

Some have over-interpreted the command of the Lord regarding one's refraining from showing others that we are fasting (c.f. Matt. 6:16-18), and when they are found among others who do not keep the fasts, they also do not fast, even though in their home they fast. "I ate meat", they say, "even though it was Friday, in order that I may not scandalize them!"

Of course, we must be very careful to not scandalize our fellow people, but this scandalizing which we must keep away from is the scandal which comes from violating the Law of God or the commands of the Church. Scandals which come from our keeping the Law of God or the commands of the Church (if in fact such "scandalizing" exists), should leave us completely indifferent!

If there exist (and surely there do) people who are scandalized when we blaspheme, swear, lie, do not keep the fasts, etc. etc., then our offense is doubled: we are offenders for both the sin which we committed and through this the scandalization of our brethren.

But if there exist people who are scandalized because we pray, we confess, we receive the Divine Mysteries, we keep the fasts, etc., let them be scandalized and let them say whatever they want!

We must understand well that it is one thing to expose and another thing to confess. The Christian who finds himself at a table with others which has foods one would eat on Pascha, though it is a fast day, should compose himself calmly and humbly, without pharisaical boasting and bragging, in denying the foods offered. This is not exposing, it is rather the basic consistency towards one's principles, it is a confession of one's character as a submissive child of the Orthodox Church. With this stance he will teach others that they are not keeping good standing with the legislation of the Church. If however this person also eats, he will in fact teach the others that they also can break the commands of the Church. "Since he", others will think, "who attends church often and confesses and communes, also eats, this means that fasting means nothing. We therefore do well also in not fasting."

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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An Unforgettable Baptism In Taiwan

In Tainan

Fr. Jonah Mourtos
November 18, 2009
Fragrance of Asia

This past Friday I went to Tainan, a large city of Taiwan. A Christian of ours urged me to go see a couple. The husband, around 42 years old, undergoes a kidney dialysis every week! The doctor told him he has no chance of living beyond ten years. This is the tenth year.

This Christian happened to meet them somewhere, and gave them the book The Way of a Pilgrim (it was translated by Catholics a while ago and recently republished). It should be noted that this couple were not Christians, and as the majority here they do not have a religion. In their younger years they went to the typical temples of idols as do all the Chinese. Slowly the book inspired them to start praying noetically, and this began to change them. The husband told me it gives him deep peace and calmness.

They had prepared a table for me in the office of their small company. I marvelled at their love. The wife had done everything in her power to bear the burdens of the office in order for her husband to peacefully do his work. They work together, you understand. They have two children.

They also bought a Holy Bible, but they didn't know where to begin, so they started reading the Acts of the Apostles!

They deeply moved me. Naturally, they were willing for me to read a prayer for the sick, and I wore my epitracheli (stole). In fact, the husband makes sketches out of the stories of the Holy Bible and he explains them to his 2-3 employees during break time! See below the story of Job! I thought it very unbecoming to take pictures of them, but I was touched and took a photo of this one.

I explained to them that God was not playing with the devil, making Job suffer without purpose, but the opposite, showing forth Job as a teacher of angels, men and even demons what it means to love God....

We spoke of noetic prayer. I told them that if they want me to come every one or two weeks to talk, to read from the book together, provided that they would pay me nothing, I would go completely for free, which is something unheard of here, as every pastor takes something. I told them on Saturdays, but the husband does his kidney dialysis then. I await their reply, and I ask that you pray for them, and for the health of the husband, and that at sometime they be baptized. I don't even know their name. I await their reply and your prayers.


An Unforgettable Baptism

Fr. Jonah Mourtos
February 26, 2011
Fragrance of Asia

Yesterday, Friday, we went to Tainan to baptize a couple. I had written of them in an old post dated November 18, 2009.

A few months ago these blessed people invited me. They felt the need to become Orthodox! I asked them why. They told me they felt like they loved someone and they desire to marry Him. Now is the end of hesitations.

I taught them twice a week through Skype and I visited them often. (See, this is why I write so little as I have no time). In the end we decided for the baptism to take place on a Friday after their work.

They confessed, but I cried. They had no sins! Such rare people.

The husband does kidney dialysis twice a week for the past ten years. It was not possible for them to come to Taipei. Besides, one year ago when we met the doctor told them that the husband didn't have any life left, but God gave it to Him.

They live by selling photovoltaics. See the photos. In the office reception room they have a Gospel book! How many companies do you know that do this?

We did everything together during the Divine Liturgy, as was the order in the ancient Church:

Dedication
Beginning of Liturgy
Entrance
Baptism-Chrismation
Wedding
Trisagion ("All who have been baptized...")
Readings for a wedding and baptism
Great Entrance
Holy Communion
Dance of Isaiah around the small table which was the holy altar and holy communion, as in the ancient Church.

I was very moved and afraid because when I took the hand of the husband I felt the plastic tubes he had for veins...how would I do the triple circle procession? The same for the "All who have been baptized...."

Yet it happened and he felt better. Afterwards they had a dinner. The restaurant was called "Eureka" as you can see, but nobody knew why.

We missed the quick train. We returned to Taipei at four in the morning with the bus. Naturally, I will go very frequently to do a Liturgy.

Their names are:

Tien Hen (husband)
Li Tsin (wife)









Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Romanian Church in New Zealand Destroyed By Earthquake

March 2, 2011
Romfea.gr

Serious physical damage was suffered by the Orthodox Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos which belongs to the Romanian Orthodox Church, following the earthquake that struck the city of Christchurch of New Zealand.

According to the Bishop of Australia and New Zealand, Michael, 60% of the church is completely destroyed by the constant tremors.

Information indicates that the Church was purchased for one million euro and was built in 1864, having previously been a Protestant Church.

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Elder Philotheos Zervakos: Recollections of St. Nicholas Planas

By Elder Philotheos Zervakos

At the Vigils there used to come a certain man named Alekos who chanted, but who also used to drink; and when he was drunk, he chanted with compunction and with tears. Whenever he heard him chanting compunctionately, Papadiamandis, who knew him, used to say, "Alekos has wino-compunction," and many times he would chase him out of church. But in accordance with the words of the wise author of Proverbs, "a guileless man believeth in all" (Prov. 14:15). Papa-Nicholas, as one simple and guileless, used to say, "He's good, he's good, Alekos is a good man," and right after the Vigil, he would give him a small reward also. This became the cause for Alekos to become closer to Papa-Nicholas, and familiar with and inseparable from him. But for those of us who knew him, he was also the cause of scandal to certain brethren and to me, who was a young man of twenty-two or twenty-three years of age. Certain ones told Papa-Nicholas to get rid of Alekos, because he was a drunkard and a cause of scandal to the brethren. But with his customary simplicity, Papa-Nicholas would say, "He's good, he's good, Alekos is a good man; he loves the church, he chants well." As a result Alekos grew bolder, and would deftly put his hand into Papa-Nicholas' pocket and take the money which the pious Christians gave him for the commemoration of the names of their beloved parents, children, brothers, sisters and kinsmen during the Vigils and Liturgies. On one occasion, Papa-Nicholas had a considerable amount of coins in his pocket, and Alekos put his hand in and tried to take them all. Papa-Nicholas perceived this and without growing angry, without insulting him or rebuking him, was content only to say meekly, "Aleko, easy, easy; easy Aleko, I'm ticklish." Alekos continued fearlessly, and later began to enter even into the holy sanctuary and would take whatever he had. Since Papa-Nicholas was the parish priest of the Church of Saint John, he would often leave after the Vigil, and, in order to get to his parish on time, he was often obliged to go by cab. It so happened one day that he got down from the carriage, and prepared to pay the carriage-driver; he searched his pockets well. He couldn't find even an obol! Good Alekos had taken everything! He said to the cab-driver, "I don't have any money now. I'll have to pay you another time." "You're going to pay me now," said the cab-driver angrily. "But - since I don't have any?" "Since you don't have any, you shouldn't have asked to come by cab. I want you to pay me, and if you don't have any money, I'm going to take your raso." Papa-Nicholas took off his raso and gave it to him with pleasure, and they parted. As for Papa-Nicholas, he went on his way to church without a raso in order to serve the Liturgy. The carriage-driver, on the other hand, headed for home, contemplating how and where he might sell the raso and make a seven-fold profit from it. But after five minutes, at the very moment when Papa-Nicholas was entering the church, the carriage-driver returned hastily and shouted to him, "Papa-Nicholas, take back your raso, and I don't even want any money!" Who knows what happened to him!

Whenever he served the Liturgy, Papa-Nicholas had the habit of saying three or four Gospels. I would say to him, "The Typicon of the Church specifies one Gospel; in the monasteries they say two. Here, since the Vigils and services are celebrated as they would be in the monasteries, two Gospels should be said." And Papa-Nicholas replied, "Let's say one for this saint, and one for that saint, so that they'll be pleased!" Thus I would give in. When he commemorated names at the holy prothesis, he would commemorate for hours on end. When he commemorated the saints, he wished, if it were possible, to commemorate every single saint - as many as were found in the Synaxaristes, each one separately by name. Since much time was consumed, some would begin to cry out to him, "Papa-Nicholas! say '...and of all Thy saints!'"; but he, without becoming troubled in the least, would continue to the end.

From Papa-Nicholas Planas: The Simple Shephard of the Simple Sheep, by Nun Martha, 1981, pp. 95-96.

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Cheesefare Week

By Sergei Bulgakov

This week received its name because the holy Church, gradually leading believers into the ascetical deeds (podvig) of the holy Lent, with the approach of Cheese Fare Week puts them on the last step of the preparatory abstinence by prohibiting the partaking of meat and permitting the partaking of cheese and eggs, in order to accustom them to avoid pleasant foods and without grief to enter the fast. In popular speech it is called butter week or shrove tide (maslianitsi) week.

The holy Church calls it "the light before the journey of abstinence" and "the beginning of tenderness and repentance". Such a meaning of Cheese Fare Week is detailed and explained in its Divine services. Especially the canons and the stichera of these Divine services contain the praise of Lent and the representation of its saving fruits. During this week the Divine services enter into a closer relation with the Divine services of the Holy Forty Day Fast as the time of the latter approaches. Thus, the holy Church, highly honoring the time of the Holy Forty Day Fast as a sacred time for cleansing and immensely important for the Christian, with truly wise foresight and by sequence directs everything to lead us to "the most precious days of the Holy Forty Day Fast", cleansing us beforehand to prepare us for the fast and repentance.

In the sacred hymns for this week the Holy Church as mother appeals to all: "Let us now approach this week of cleansing before the all honorable sacred fast now at hand, illumining bodies and souls"; "Therefore let us hasten to cut off our evil deeds"; "Having come to the bright threshold of the holy fast, let us all with fervent hearts bring hymns of thanksgiving to Christ"; "Behold, all who love God, the door of repentance is already opened: come, let us hasten to enter therein, before Christ closes it, as if we were not worthy of it"; "The threshold to divine repentance is opened: let us fervently enter, purified in our bodies and observing abstinence from food and passions, as obedient servants of Christ, who has called the world into the Kingdom of Heaven"; "As we observe abstinence from meat and other foods, so let us also abstain from hatred of our neighbor, from lust and lies, and from all evil." "As we all stand at the entrance and threshold of the Fast let us all not begin this time of cleansing in a sinful way with self indulgence and drunkenness; but let us enter fervently with purity of heart that we may receive the immortal crowns and the worthy fruits of our labor".

To our deepest regret Cheese Fare Week is changed into a week of excesses in food and revelry in amusements because of our warped human understanding and customs. These earthly customs of ours which have transformed "the bright journey to the fast" and "the beginning of tenderness and repentance" into days of over-eating and incontinences, into days of every possible sort of soul destroying worldly amusements and recreation, are directly the opposite of the good intention of the Holy Church and shameful for its true children.

Really, by that measure as the Holy Church strengthens and ennobles its summoning voice for fasting and repentance, the world, as is known, today multiplies its amusements and entertainments, trying to take hold of the souls and hearts of the worshippers. How many seductions, temptations and dangers to the pure and undefiled heart are hidden under a seductive cover, even the so-called, innocent amusements and entertainments in these pre-lenten days! How many Christian souls are turned, so to say, in their whirlwind up to self-oblivion! What darkness and gloom covers souls, betrayed by passionate, seduced hearts or to unrestrained inclinations of the flesh! How many people for whom it will be necessary to wail many and bitter tears over a few hours of immediate fun and ecstasy of feelings! Can the most cautious be praised if they regret nothing and repent nothing, if they lost none of the beneficial gifts of a pure and undefiled heart, if none have suffered in the calmness of his conscience?

"Cheese Fare Week", teaches St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, "is the threshold and the beginning of the fast. That is why for the true children of the Church it is necessary to act all the more temperate in Cheese Fare Week than in the previous days, although they should always do so. However, will the Christian listen to the sweet odes of his loving mother?" "She ordains to revere these days more, but they commit more excesses; she commands to abstain, and they betray less control; she makes rules to cleanse body and soul, and they defile them more; she orders to lament committed sins, and they add more iniquities; she inspires God to be merciful, and they all the more anger the Most High God; she appoints a fast, and they overeat and revel more; she offers repentance, and they become more violent. A worthy voice of pity and weeping: 'Sons are born and raised up, for you reject me! Listen, O heaven and inspire, O earth!' Children have turned away from their mother, Christians do not listen to the holy Church, those who renounced Satan and all his works are again converted to the works of an evil spirit, a lamentable and altogether terrible work! And whoever does not listen to the Church, is not the son of Church; whoever is not the son of the Church, Christ is not his shepherd; whoever Christ is not the shepherd, is not the sheep of Christ; whoever is not the sheep of Christ, vainly expects eternal life. Such are the results of a licentious celebration of Cheese Fare Week. The very celebration of butter week (Maslianitsi, Maslenitsa, Масленица) in the aforesaid manner is pagan work. The Pagan false god (the inventor of intoxicated drink) to whom they have established a special annual feast (so called Bacchanalia) was and spent these festivals in every dissolute abomination. Look, do not Christians also do the same in observing butter week (maslianitsi), and is the same for many of these festivals? I do not have to show it to you: see it in the light of the midday. And once again I will say, that whoever spends butter week (maslianitsi) in excesses, it becomes obvious that he is disobedient to the Church and shows himself unworthy of the name of Christian". "In order to spend Cheese Fare Week according to the Christian obligation, it is needful to act according to how the Holy Church commands during this time, namely: to drop every indecent care and to drop evil customs, remembering the Last Judgment and our ancestral Fall."

We don't do Liturgies on Wednesday and Friday of Cheese Fare Week. But if the Feast of the Meeting or the feast of the temple falls on Wednesday or Friday of Cheese Fare, we perform that service, except that at the end of Vespers, Matins and each of the Hours we do the three full prostrations; therefore although at the end of Vespers we also do three full prostrations, but Vespers is both Little Vespers and Great Vespers. In Matins on Wednesday and Friday if there is no feast day celebration, we do not sing the Great Doxology. If the Meeting falls on Friday (see page 64) we sing the Three Ode Canon for Friday on Wednesday of Cheese Fare Week at Compline. If these days fall on January 30 or February 24, see pages 57 and 95.

On Wednesday and Friday of Cheese Fare Week fasting is authorized and it is permitted to partake cheese, eggs and fish as well during all of Cheese Fare Week in contrast to the Jacobites (Copts), holding to the Monophysite heresy and fasting during Cheese Fare Week in memory of the fast of the Ninevites and the Tetradites, who received this name because they did not observe the fast on Wednesdays (Tetrada, the fourth day of the week) during the whole year, but fasted during Cheese Fare Week.

The Prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian (for Wednesday and Friday of Cheese Fare Week)

O Lord and Master of my life. Do not give me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power and idle talk, but rather give to your servant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love. Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions and not to judge my brother, for blessed are you for ages of ages. Amen.

Source

Read also: Let's Talk About Maslenitsa

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Christianity Is Not A Religion, But A Revelation

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

If someone loses his faith in God, he is recompensed with stupidity. Of all stupidities, it is difficult to say whether there is a greater one than this: that someone who calls himself a Christian and then proceeds to gather pathetic proofs for God and eternal life from other beliefs and philosophies. He who does not find gold among the wealthy; how will he find it among the poor? The revelation of eternal life, of facts, of proofs, of signs, and of actual visions of the spiritual world - all of these not only constitute the foundation of the Christian Faith, but constitute its walls, floors, ornaments, all the furnishings, the roof and the domes of the majestic building of the Christian Faith. A single ray from the spiritual world glistens through every word of the Gospels, not to mention the miraculous events, both in Evangelical and Post-Evangelical times as well as throughout the entire history of the Church for two-thousand years. Christianity has thrown open wide the gates of that world in so great a measure, that it should not be necessary to call it a religion, in order not to confuse it with other faiths and religions. It is a revelation! God's revelation!

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Why Only No Meat During Cheesefare Week?

By Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos

Cheesefare Sunday received it's name because the previous week we did not eat meat, but only dairy products, such as milk, cheese, etc., as well as eggs and fish.

Many find this rule of the Church to be "unreasonable", saying: "How is milk of a lamb allowed but not the meat of the lamb, since milk is produced by the lamb? How are eggs allowed and not chicken, since the first are produced by the second?"

Of course these people would have a point, if we maintained that the meat of the lamb or fowl was tainted and for this reason we do not eat it. Then we should not eat what is produced by them, since these also would be tainted. But through our Church no food is tainted. This is what is taught by the apostle Paul in his First Epistle to Timothy (4:3-5). Rather the Church simply divides food into greater or lesser consumption towards self-restraint and, at certain times, allows the one and forbids the other.

An accurate response towards those who say the above has been answered by Athanasios of Parios, a wise and important teacher of the Church, when he writes to a certain doctor:

"You criticize your friend because during Cheesefare he eats eggs, yet does not eat the chicken which gives birth to the egg...? But what similarity can be made between an egg, which is not alive, and a chicken, which is alive? The egg is much lower than the fowl. And as proof I appeal to your own opinion, that is, the opinion of a doctor. To whomever is sick and begins to approach the stages of recovery you prescribe as food small and delicate chicks and not tough fowl. For what reason do you do this? Because, you say, the fat and greasy foods will harm him who now begins to recover from his sickness, since his stomach does not have the strength to endure and digest heavy foods. If therefore there is a difference between a small chick and a big chicken and the chick is, as a food, much lower in strength than the chicken, and no doctor has ever said that the egg of a chick or chicken is the same food or equally suitable for the sick, is it not clear that unreasonable are those who criticize us for eating eggs and not fowl?... They criticize us also that we eat olives, but not olive oil, even though inside the olives is the olive oil. But within grapes is wine also. Yet however many grapes we eat we will not get drunk; at most we will become stuffed in our stomachs...."

Besides this, it is well-known that with olive oil we are able to cook innumerable and delicious foods, though olives are considered xerophagy (dry foods). Xerophagy is to not eat cooked foods, but unprepared ones, such as bread with olives or dry fruit, etc.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Saint Agapios the Hagiorite

St. Agapios of Vatopaidi (Feast Day - March 1)

Saint Agapios of the Holy Mountain, was a novice in obedience to a virtuous Elder who lived in silence at the Holy Trinity kellia at Kolitsa, within the boundaries of Vatopaidi on Mount Athos. He was taken into captivity by Turks who had landed on the shore of Athos. They took him to Magnesia and there he worked in chains for twelve years. But he did not lose hope for freedom and fervently he prayed to the Mother of God to free him from this bitter captivity.

The Queen of Heaven manifested Her Mercy to the patient sufferer. She appeared to him in a dream and ordered him "to go to his Elder without fear." When he awoke, he saw that he was free of his bonds, and the doors were open. Without hindrance, St Agapios departed from his master and returned to Mount Athos.

The Elder grieved when he saw his novice, for he thought that Agapios had secretly escaped from his master. "You have deceived the Hagarene," he said, "but no one can deceive God. If you wish to save yourself, return to your master and serve him." St Agapios returned to his master without complaint.

The Muslim was amazed to see Agapios after he had escaped. Hearing the story of what had happened, he was struck by the virtue of Agapios' Elder and the loftiness of the Christian Faith. The master and his two sons went to the Holy Mountain with St Agapios. There they were baptized and became monks, living in asceticism for the rest of their lives.

St Agapios lived in the thirteenth century.

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St. Nikolai Velimirovich writes the following:

Faithfulness and obedience to the will of God is necessary to adorn the life of every Christian. As is seen in the life of St. Agapios, God glorifies the faithful and the obedient.

When he was a young man, this saint was captured by pirates, was taken to Asia and was sold to a certain Arab. For twelve years Agapios remained quietly and obediently a slave of this Arab. For twelve years he prayed to the All-Holy Mother of God to help him gain his freedom from bondage.

One night, the Virgin Mother of God appeared to him and said, "Arise and go without fear to Mt. Athos to your elder." Agapios arose and came to his elder on Mt. Athos, the Holy Mountain. When the elder saw Agapios, he was saddened, thinking that Agapios had fled from his master. He said to him, "My child Agapius, you have deceived your master, but you can never deceive God. On the day of the dreadful judgment, you will have to render an answer for that money with which your master purchased you to serve him. Therefore, you must return and faithfully serve your master."

Agapios, faithful and obedient to the will of God, returned immediately to Asia, reported to his master, and informed him about everything that had happened. The Arab, learning all of this, was amazed and was overcome with the charity of Christians. He desired to see Agapios' elder. The Arab arrived at the Holy Mountain, accompanied by his two sons. Here, he and his two sons were baptized. All three of them were tonsured as monks. They remained there until their deaths, practicing the strict life of asceticism, at first, under the guidance of Agapius' spiritual father, and afterwards, by Agapios himself.

Thus, the one-time cruel masters became the obedient disciples of their former slave, faithful to the will of the God of the obedient Agapios.

Canon of the Saints of Mount Athos. Ode 1. Tone 8.
It is fitting to hymn the glorious Agapios of Vatopedi, because he heard the voice of the Mother of God and, though a slave, like a free man ransomed his own master with his sons from eternal punishment.

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The Evangelical Preacher Who Slandered the Theotokos

From The Athonite Gerontikon:

1. At one time Father B. went to a village on business for his monastery. The villagers came to him as soon as he arrived, asking him persistently to help them defend the Truth before an Evangelical preacher who, using quotations from the Bible, was bothering them greatly with slanders regarding the veneration of saints and the Theotokos. The monk was simple and almost illiterate, and he felt awkward. But after he had thought for a while, recalling all he had frequently read about the saints and their lives, he invited the Protestant preacher to meet with him and proposed this:

"Let us light a fire," he said, "in the middle of the village square. Each one of us will go through it and let God prove this way which from among the two of us has the Truth."

Very early the next morning the villagers gathered wood and piled it up in a great heap in the middle of the square. Father B. arrived, but the preacher did not come. He had fled, taking the first boat out at daylight. The whole village raised cries of joy for the glorious victory over the teachings of human deceit. When Father B. returned to the monastery, the other monks asked him: "Were you prepared to go through the fire?"

"I was anxious, but I did not doubt our faith, and I thought: 'On this earth you deserve nothing but to be in hell. It would be better if you were burned here on earth than to be burning through eternity. Let us then enter into the fire'."

Thus did this deeply humble, simple monk defend our Faith — just as had the first martyrs and the church fathers before him.

2. Very often our youthful heart was refreshed by the cool fountain of teaching which flowed from the venerable Hieromonk Athanasios the Iviritan. He would so often say:

"The Protestant North, through the professors of our two Greek universities, cooled our warm affections toward our sweetest Mother the Panagia. Thus for a time she was distanced from our prayers as direct intercessor and mediator for us to her Son. Even some clergy when discussing prayer, ignore the Theotokos and repeatedly refer to her as the 'first after the One,' meaning that she is the intercessor closest to God — whereas the hymnography of the Church through and through calls her by her blessed name. It is unacceptable that our Greek Orthodox Church should be influenced by such a rationalistic, Germanic, Protestant spirit.

I was once asked which is the right way: to say 'Most Holy Theotokos save us,' or to say 'Most Holy Theotokos intercede for us.' This question was influenced by some modernized, Protestant-minded Orthodox people whom I have considered most disrespectful enemies of the Panagia. I replied to them: The accepted way, always, is to say 'Save us'."

3. A Lutheran minister from Oslo came to me once. He was a friend and student of Orthodoxy. We talked about many things. He asked me about the Theotokos. My reply to him was:

"We worship God, we honor the saints, and we venerate the only Mother of God with pure filial emotions, for she is our sweetest Mother by grace. Oh, how you are deprived," I told him, "because you do not venerate her who is the second after God to administer His gifts to all mankind."

4. According to Augustine, three things could not have been more perfectly created by our omnipotent God than these: the Incarnation, the Virgin, and the blessed life of the just in the life to come.

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Photo: Archbishop Irenaios of Crete Planting Trees

On Friday, 25 February 2011, Archbishop Irenaios of Crete arrived in Syros. His purpose was to help plant 150 trees (100 of them being olive) at the Aegean Spiritual Center. The next morning the 78 year old Archbishop was hands on in helping plant the trees, as can be seen in the photo below which can be expanded by clicking on it. (Source)

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The Decani Monastery Relief Fund Needs Your Help

IC/XC
NI/KA

PRESS RELEASE

Please kindly share the following with others...

DECANI MONASTERY RELIEF FUND INC. USA

With your helping hands and love for the Decani Monastery Relief Fund

Beloved in Christ our Lord,

May our Gracious God always bless you!

The Decani Monastery Relief Fund needs your helping hands and love at this time.

Charitable donation have declined along with the economy in recent months and this certainly not surprising. If we think times are difficult for us in America we can well imagine how far more difficult it is for our Orthodox brothers and sisters in the region of Kosovo/Metohija.

People still need to have a daily balanced meal; electric bills have to be paid;schools need firewood assistance;necessary medical (and surgical) procedures; and the funding of 61 students who are attending University of Northern Kosovo also need scholarship assistance for Serbian youths. We also support four Serbian students at Boise State University, and at Hellenic College/Holy Cross Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. I humbly pray that you hear our appeal and loving prayers!

Thanks to God because of your kind and good heart our fund recently was able to purchase pigs for 200 families which means these families can have a decent meal for over a month. We as well as a fund where able to assist several local families including elderly with firewood, as well as help the students at the Universalities. The students are able to have three meals a day and if there where home their food would be limited. Assist also because of your kindness was offered to the soup kitchens.

The needs in Kosovo/Metohija continue to increase as events in the region continue to leaving many homeless and indigent. If you can please open up your loving heart and offer with your good hands any assistance to our fund we would be humbly thankful. Thanks to God!

All donations received are sent directly into a bank account in Pristina from Boise, Idaho in which the fathers of the Decani Monastery then offer assistance to the needs throughout the region.

Then I must tell you that our fund also not only assist four schools (with fire wood and daily lunch) we also try to support six soup kitchens in the region. Not more then a year ago we where supporting four soup kitchens and now their has been an increase of demand for more food so now we have six soup kitchens to support on a regular basis.

The Decani Monastery Relief Fund will not rest and continues to try for years now to address the appalling conditions of the increase of poverty and need visited on Kosovo's remaining Serbian Christians as a consequence of the Albanian conquest and takeover of the province. Many Serbians had to flee to the North and into the mountain regions and their living conditions are deplorable.

Let us all dear loving Christians reach out from our hearts and with your helping hands we can bring some comfort to our dear loving Orthodox brothers and sisters in the Region a ray of hope!

Please send your loving donation to the following address:

Decani Monastery Relief Fund
C/O Very Rev. Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
2618 West Bannock Street
Boise, Idaho 83702
USA

Humbly I pray that you will have a blessed and spiritual rewarding Holy and Great Lent! Forgive Me!

Peace to your soul!

God love and bless you!

Humbly in Christ our Lord,

Your Venerable brothers and Sisters in Christ our Lord,

+ Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes
President of The Decani Monastery Relief Fund, Inc. USA

+His Grace, Bishop Teodosije , Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Raska-Prizren & Kosovo-Metohija
First Vice President

+Very Reverend Archimandrite Sava (also known as Father Sava)
Second Vice President

Gioia Frahm
Secretary

Lois Fletcher
Treasure & Attorney

Who all prays for you and with you!

"I have run to the fragrance of your myrrh,
O Christ God, for I have been wounded by your love;
do not part from me, O heavenly Bridegroom."
- "Wounded by Love," The Life and The Wisdom of Elder Porphyrios

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Saint Kyranna the New Martyr (+1751)

St. Kyranna (Kyranni) of Thessaloniki (Feast Day - January 8 and February 28)

Our Orthodox Church today celebrates the memory of the New Martyr Kyranni or Kyranna. Saint Kyranna came from the village of Ossa near Thessaloniki. Because she was very beautiful, one day a certain janissary who came to the New Martyr's village in order to collect taxes, upon seeing her, wanted to make her his wife. Even though he tried to persuade her to change her religion with flatterings and gifts in order for her to marry him, the modest girl stubbornly refused to resign to his flattering. Then he began to bully and to threaten her that if she did not give up her faith, he would torture and kill her.

But the saint did not change her mind, neither with the threats nor his bullying. He therefore captured her and brought her to the Muslim judge in Thessaloniki, where before the judge he lied by saying that Kyranna cheated him by promising him that she would become Muslim in order to marry him, but at the end she refused to do so. When the Saint was asked to defend herself, she confessed before all who were present her faith in Christ, and right after, the Turks imprisoned her.

Inside the prison, the Saint went through daily torture from the janissary and the prison guards. One would hit her with a stick, another with the flat of his sword, and another would kick or punch her. Then when they left, the jailer would come and hang her by her arms and beat her until he was tired out, despite the cries of outrage and rebukes of the common prisoners. Despite these torments, Kyranna would remain strong and courageous, and seemed unaffected by the pain as if someone else were suffering, and she refused the food offered her.

One night, after seven days of such torment, on the 28th of February 1751, Kyranna was severely beaten by the jailer with a piece of wood and he left her hanging dead. This was done because the jailer had illegally allowed others in to beat Kyranna, and one Christian prisoner threatened to reveal this to the pasha. In the morning the body of the Saint was covered by Holy Light and gave off a celestial fragrance, as her soul was delivered to God, and the Christian prisoners upon seeing that, started to glorify the Lord, but the Muslims and Jews were afraid because they thought it was fire. When the Christian prisoner went to bring down the body of the Saint and found out that she was dead, he took care of it, and the next day it was given to the Christians who buried it. This Christian reprimanded the jailer, who came to repent of his evil deed.

Today, in the village of Ossa, a great church exists dedicated to the New Martyr, Saint Kyranna, who is also the patron Saint of the community, and for this reason it is dedicated to her memory, since she was born and lived in Ossa. According to the historian Asterios Thilikos, the church was built in 1840, or according to its foundation date, it was built in 1868. The miraculous icon of Saint Kyranna is kept inside the church, which was painted around 1870, by Christodoulos Ioannou Zografos from the village of Siatista.

The church is a center of reverence for the villagers of Ossa, a place of worship throughout the region and her memory there is celebrated on January 8. In a Codex of Great Lavra her memory is listed for celebration on January 1. Generally her memory is celebrated on February 28th. The reason why her feast is celebrated in January is because it often happens that February 28th lands during the somber season of Great Lent when celebrations are discouraged.

Ἀπολυτίκιον Ήχος πλ. α'. Τον συνάναρχον Λόγον.
Χαίρε Όσσης ο γόνος και θείον βλάστημα, Παρθενομάρτυς Κυράννα Νύμφη Χριστού του Θεού, η αθλήσασα στερρώς υστέροις έτεσι, και καθελούσα τον εχθρόν, καρτερία σταθε­ρά. Και νυν απαύστως δυσώπει, υπέρ των πίστει τιμώντων, την μακαρίαν σου άθλησιν.

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Patriarchal Catechetical Homily On the Opening of Holy and Great Lent

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE

Prot. No. 195

CATECHETICAL HOMILY

On the Opening of Holy and Great Lent

+ BARTHOLOMEW

By God’s Mercy Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome
And Ecumenical Patriarch

To the Plenitude of the Church

Grace and Peace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

With our Prayer, Blessing and Forgiveness

Beloved brothers and children in the Lord,

“The arena of the virtues has opened; those who desire to compete may enter, girding themselves with the good struggle of fasting.” (Triodion, Cheesefare Sunday) Or, better, the arena has always remained open, from the time that the All-Merciful Lord of Glory deemed it worthy to assume our nature. Since then, through His Church, he invites every person to participate in the boundless gifts of the grace of the Holy Spirit, particularly during this blessed period of Holy and Great Lent.

Beloved children in the Lord, the boundless goodness of our God, who is truly worshipped in the Trinity, created the human race solely out of love in order to render us human beings – to the degree that is possible for human nature – sharers and participants of the grandeur of His sacred glory. This is the exclusive purpose of life at all times. Indeed, in order to achieve this purpose, the holy and inspired tradition of the Orthodox Church comes to our support, instructing, interpreting and including the entire spectrum of the spiritual life by means of various struggles, with which the faithful must always advance courageously.

Through the holy Sacrament of Baptism, each Christian received the grace of the Holy Spirit. If we begin to love God with all our heart, then this grace transmits to us in an incomprehensible way the wealth of its benefits. Whoever wishes to retain this experience of grace should strive with great joy to renounce from the soul the benefits of the present age in order to acquire the hidden wealth of true life. To the same degree that the soul advances in this spiritual struggle, the sacred gift of divine grace reveals the Lord’s goodness concealed in the depth of the soul in order to become the sure guide in the manifold spiritual struggle. (St. Diadochus of Photike, Century 77)

This spiritual struggle is ongoing for every faithful. Therefore, it requires us to start anew each day, each moment. “The time has come for the beginning of spiritual struggle, the victory of demons, the armor of virtue, the conduct of angels, the boldness before God.” (Lauds, Cheesefare Sunday) Great Lent precisely resembles a constant beginning of spiritual regeneration and renewal. This is why the hymnographer of the Triodion correctly orientates us toward its proper content, stating that bodily fasting by renouncing certain foods cannot result in remedy and is even despised by God as false, unless it is accompanied by purity that results from renouncing the spiritual passions (Lauds, Wednesday of Cheesefare Week).

Of course, focusing the intellect on the work of knowing God, in order to return it from passionate dispersion, comprises a toilsome and time-consuming labor. However, it is necessary and definitive for our spiritual wellbeing and social life. The way of virtue appears difficult and extremely unpleasant to those who undertake the journey; yet, not because it is actually like this, but because human nature has become accustomed to the ease of pleasure. For those who have succeeded in reaching the middle of this journey, in fact it appears pleasant and effortless (St. Diadochus of Photike, Century 93).

Frequently, those who cannot understand the great mystery of this piety consider the Orthodox ascetic tradition as negative and as leading to deprivation of creativity, of original initiative, of enjoyment in life’s pleasure. Nothing could be further from the truth. All that was created by God was created “very good” and offered to us in order to delight in and enjoy in order for us to give continual glory to our Benefactor. The commandments of God guide us and inform us in the proper use of these divine gifts, so that our body, mind and soul, together with all the material gifts, may be truly joyful and beneficial for our life. On the contrary, the arrogant, independent and contemptuous use of material gifts offered to us by the Creator result in entirely different goals to God’s expectations, leading us to depression, anxiety and misfortune, even though appearing to satisfy human pride momentarily.

Our Savior, who is truly divine and truly human, who is incomprehensibly known to the humble and those capable of receiving His uncreated grace, the Lord of glory and Lord of history, who directs our soul and mind, who contains the universe in His divine providence – from the smallest particle of His creation to the most inconceivable aspect of our world, is eternally the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14.6) Just as the hypostatic source of Life could not possibly be held by death, which was crushed through His resurrection, so too there could not possibly be any positive human life without participation in the life-creating Body of the Risen Christ, the Orthodox Church, and the inspired Holy Tradition. In brief, the Lord reigns forever, while the ideas of the proud are proved false. Or, as St. Diadochus so wonderfully says: “There is nothing poorer than a mind endeavoring to philosophize about God without God.”

Beloved children in the Lord, upon entering the arena of Holy and Great Lent, we paternally exhort you not to be afraid or lazy in assuming the most important task of your life, namely the spiritual arena of work. Instead, be courageous and strong, so that you may purify your souls and bodies of all sin in order to reach the Kingdom of God, which is granted already from this life to those who seek it with sincerity and with all their soul.

May the grace of God and His boundless mercy be with you all.


Holy and Great Lent 2011

+ Bartholomew of Constantinople
Fervent supplicant to God for all

END

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Priests Reissue Tsarist-Era Censored Pushkin Tale

February 28, 2011
The Moscow Times

A classic Alexander Pushkin fairy tale ridiculing a priest was reprinted by Krasnodar region church officials in a Tsarist-era censored version that replaces the clergyman with a merchant.

The idea was pitched by Russian Orthodox priest Pavel Kalinin from the local town of Armavir, who has obtained an old censored edition of the tale, the regional news web site 93.ru reported Monday.

The book, which has print run of some 3,000 copies, was blessed by the region's bishop and recommended for use in Sunday schools, the report said.

The rhymed story, a staple of Russian children's literature, is called "The Tale of the Priest and of His Workman Balda" and tells of a niggardly priest who hires a man ready to work for the price of three blows to the employer's head. Later realizing how strong the worker is, the priest gives him difficult tasks to accomplish, but Balda fulfills them all and punishes the employer by making him lose his mind from the blows.

The censored story, which delivers a moral lesson about greed instead of satirizing the clergy, better highlights Pushkin's original intent, the publisher was quoted as saying. But a dean of the Armavir church behind the project said the censored version is better because it has no "godless mockery of the clergy."

The tale was not published during Pushkin's lifetime, and the first publisher, poet Vasily Zhukovsky, opted in 1840 to replace priest with merchant to spare Pushkin's heirs problems with the authorities. The uncensored version was not published until 1882.

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St. Theodore the Studite: Sunday of Meatfare

By St. Theodore the Studite

CATECHESIS 50: On the Great and Manifest Day of our Lord Jesus Christ

Delivered on Meat Sunday

Brethren and fathers, it is a universal law on this day for those who live in the world to stop eating meat and one may see among them great competition in meat-eating and wine-bibbing, and even spectacles of outrageous pastimes which it is shameful to speak about. It is necessary to participate with moderation and to give thanks to the Lord for what we have and to make worthy preparation for the banquet before us; while they possessed by the wiles of the devil do the opposite, demonstrating that they have accepted one rather than the other. Why have I mentioned these things? So that we humble monks may not direct our thoughts in that direction, nor desire their desire, which is not worthy of desire, but rather of misery; let us rather turn to consider the Gospel we are going to listen to, thinking, while the canon is being chanted, about "the great and manifest day" of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when the judge "will stand with the sheep on his right but the goats on his left". And to those on the right he will utter that blessed and most longed for invitation, "Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;" while to those on the left he will utter that most unwelcome and piteous sentence, "Depart from me, accursed, into the everlasting fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels." These words are full of dread, fear and alarm; they should make us, and them, as we reflect fall down and weep and make God merciful to us, before he has come to test those who listen. But although they are thus, let us, I beg, hear and heed the message of the Gospel, striving keenly to serve the Lord with fear and trembling, removing all wickedness from the soul, introducing instead all knowledge of good works, compassionate pity, goodness, humility, meekness, longsuffering, and whatever else is good and estimable, that when we have led lives worthy of the Gospel of Christ we may become heirs of the kingdom of heaven, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom belong glory and might with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.

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A Letter of Elder Ephraim of Katounakia To A Monk Suffering With Cancer

The following letter was written by Elder Ephraim Katounakiotis to a fellow monk who was dying of cancer. Elder Ephraim fell asleep in the Lord on February 14/27, 1998.

Katounakia (02/04/1993)

Beloved brother in Christ, Fr. Jeremiah:

It is with much brotherly love that I embrace you, praying that the Lord God send His angel and gift you with a spirit of patience, and a spirit of faith and trust towards God.

Yesterday I received your letter and this morning I come to answer you. Three months ago I went to Athens and had eye surgery for my cataract, and as of yet my sight has not returned and I do not see well, and I appointed N. to write what I dictate. Be worthy of your calling of "Theoklitos" [Chosen of God]. Among the saints you are chosen, and among the martyrs you are placed.

To tell you the truth, I laud and envy you, foreseeing the fruits of your trials. The much love of God toward you has driven you towards this Golgotha.

Saint Chrysostom knit two works of praise for the much-suffering Job. He doesn't praise him for his previous life, when before his trials he was pious, hospitable, and a stranger to all evil, but he praises the patience he showed during his ordeal which God sent him.

During the time of the Occupation an impoverished father, a shoe-maker, made a lot of shoes, and gave them to his daughter to sell around the villages. The little girl several times went barefoot into the villages and sold them. She would go sometimes hungry, sometimes barefoot, sometimes during the day and sometimes at night, and as a result the little girl came down with tuberculosis. Before she died they were able to make her a nun and named her Anysia the Nun. When they transferred her relics, they were fragrant. See, therefore, the result of patience in trials.

In my village there was a similar spirit; Vasiliki was her name. Because she was a strong girl, her father would take her to outside jobs with him. From her many hardships her health was seriously shaken and in the end died. A neighbor of hers, a very pious person, saw during his prayers five or six angels singing hymns to God. And in the middle was this soul. See, therefore, what patience made her worthy of.

And our Elder, your grandfather, Elder Joseph, would repeatedly tell us that his life was a martyrdom, and see what God has made him worthy of in that his relics are fragrant.

I pray that you, through the prayers of our Elder, receive "the same".

With brotherly love,

Papa Ephraim Katounakiotis

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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What Is Occultism?

By Valery Dukhanin

Let us begin with a short but true story. A child comes home from school and sees that the floor is sprinkled all over with rice. "Mama, what happened?" he says. "I am expelling bad energy from the house," she answers her son, explaining the practice of some Eastern mystic or other, where you sprinkle the "charmed" rice all over the floor. Who would have supposed that in the twenty-first century, alongside electronics, high technology and other scientific advances, the same old superstitious attraction to occultism would hang on. Everyone knows that many modern singers and actors are into Cabbala. For example, Madonna personally founded a center for the study of Cabbala in London, and others have followed her example — Elizabeth Taylor, Mick Jagger, Paris Hilton, Courtney Love, Phillip Kirikorov, Lolita Milyavskaya, to name only a few. The Norwegian Princess Martha Louise in 2010 announced her dedication to esoteric teachings and spiritualism. Businessmen attentively watch the astrology forecasts, and some politicians and athletes even go to psychics and other sorcerers before serious undertakings.

Occultism (from the Latin occultus, meaning secret, hidden) is the mysterious teachings and cults that express a longing to penetrate the spiritual world, learn about the powers there, and possess them. This seems to be just as mysterious as the creaking of an old door in an abandoned barn, when children peek in with a mixture of fear and curiosity. Occultism considers that in man, nature, and the cosmos there are mysterious, supernatural powers, which can be revealed and discovered. Occultism calls people to take possession of these powers and use them to reach a more perfect life on earth. But isn't that what religion also calls man to do? In religion (by which we mean firstly Christianity, as true religion), knowledge of the spiritual world comes after constant communion with God. In occultism, man attempts to break through to spiritual powers, bypassing God.

"When I started dabbling in occultism" — the author of these lines is a former sorcerer who possessed psychic abilities — "I was amazed at the effect and possibilities that magic opened to me. Those who came to me for advice or help were clearly convinced about the invisible power that worked for them through my practice." Occultism views the spiritual world itself as an instrument for personal gain — egoism is the fundamental motivating force of the occultist. The motto of the successful occultist is: "I am not like the others; I can get what is off limits to other people." Occultism is most obviously expressed in magic. Magic is the attempt to possess supernatural and natural powers through spells, rituals, and special mystical actions.

When did occultism appear?

There is an ancient monument, the Akkadian[1] seal, dated to the second millennium B.C. In the center of this cylinder is a depiction of a tree with seven branches and two fruits. On either side of the tree are two figures with outstretched arms — judging by the headdress, a man and a woman. Behind the woman rises a snake. This is an ancient depiction of the sin of our forefathers. The seduction of occultism is directly connected with man's first fall into sin. The devil tempted our fore-father and mother by telling them that if they taste of the forbidden fruit, they will receive secret knowledge that will make them powerful, like gods: "In the day you eat of it (the forbidden fruit) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5).

What could that tempter have offered the first humans? After all, from the very beginning, man was called to be like God, and God had given the first-created man and woman authority over the earthly world: "Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth'" (Gen. 1:28). True, retaining that authority and royal dignity was only possible on the path of union with God, and required that man force himself and work on himself accordingly. It seems that satan suggested a simpler, easier method. He suggested that the fruits themselves supposedly possessed some magical power that would make man equal to God. The woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise (Gen. 3:6). At the snake's suggestion, Eve tasted the forbidden fruit because she wanted to receive that special knowledge, which was supposedly hidden in the fruit. The mistake made by the first man and woman was that they regarded the tree in paradise as some sort of mysterious talisman, which they could take by force and instantly become independent rulers of the whole world.

Thus, the first-created man's fall into sin was the initial source of occult practice, the basis of magic and the search for secret knowledge. If before sin man and woman abided in a very close inner communion with God, and their well-being depended upon this, then in their fall, God ceased to be the dearest, inmost good that hallowed life from within. Now, the forbidden fruit — that external yet alluring object — became a "golden key" for man, by which he thought to achieve independent happiness and become a self-sufficient ruler of his own existence. If the first-created man's authority over the world could only be realized in the presence of his personal harmony with God, now man was trying to reach perfection "through the back door." From that time on, we have people who want to possess mystical powers and abilities, and come up with various magic rituals or verbal formulas in order to influence the world — to become "like gods" without God. People acquire mystical knowledge, are proud of it, and then, like our fore-parents, lose absolutely everything.

In the office of a psychic you will find a particularly mesmerizing atmosphere — mysterious semi-darkness, candles in candlesticks, a crystal ball; the visitor is also given a special relaxing tea. In this lulling atmosphere, a person lets down his guard, and his initial mistrust of the psychic is dulled. Then the psychic makes some motions to get the visitor to concentrate, focus his attention, and interact with him. The psychic then makes a visible display of his authority and capability. The patient feels completely dependent upon the "miracle-worker" and quickly agrees to every recommendation that the "specialist" convincingly makes. This is how the psychic gradually casts his spell over the visitor, just as the snake cast his spell over first-created Eve.

Just what practices are related to occultism are set forth quite clearly in the Church's rite of renouncing occult practices. After a thorough confession of occult practices, before the prayer of absolution is read, the priest asks questions which the penitent answers using the proscribed phrases. In the rite, we read:

Question: Do you admit that the practice of the various forms of occultism, such as psychics, bioenergetics, contactless massage, hypnosis, folk healing, non-traditional medicine, coding, removal of hexes, sorcery, magic charms, fortunetelling, contact with spirits, invoking poltergeists, spiritualism, astrology, contacting the "higher reason," UFOs, tapping into "cosmic energies," parapsychology, telepathy, "deep psychology," yoga and other Eastern cults, meditation, and other forms of occultism lead to a deepened association with fallen spirits?

Answer: I admit it, and repent of those practices.

Thus, all psychics, folk healers, psychotherapists using hypnotic suggestion, bioenergetics therapists who work on people through their "biofield," sorcerers, witch doctors, psychic healers, ufologists, astrologers, fortunetellers, and the like are all occultists.

Psychics themselves insist that they heal people using special powers they possess, which they call biological current, bioenergetics, accumulated cosmic energy, and so on. Many of them regard themselves as possessing a power given them by God Himself. In fact, occultism is essentially a connection with the world of evil spirits that is forbidden by God; as is stated in the rite, occult knowledge "leads to a deepened association with fallen spirits."

So, is occultism an authentic way of knowing the spiritual world?

If we want to see what is in a picture gallery, we can go through the entrance accessible to all, providing we have fulfilled all the necessary conditions and paid the fees, and then we will see authentic masterpieces. We could also go there at night, after hours, sneak through the window of a back corridor and follow where it leads. No unlawful method has ever led to a true vision of art, because a completely adequate review requires an appropriately lofty emotional disposition, and not the curiosity of a thief, who might see the exhibit of true art from afar but not comprehend its depth, or perhaps limit himself to a vision of mortars and pestles, brooms, and cheap horseshoes over the doors of the outbuildings. Occultism has never lifted people to true spiritual heights; it has only limited their participation to spheres, which, although non-material, are still very far from holy. The inhabitants of that world are just as fallen as man himself is.

Occultism is foreign to Divine Revelation. If it uses the Bible, it uses it only as one of the mysterious books over which occultists might even tell fortunes, but which they do not consider to be the irrefutable word of God. The famous occult theorist and practitioner Rudolf Steiner wrote: "When the occultist speaks, he does not give dogmas; he gives his living experiences. He tells what he has seen on the astral and spiritual planes, or what was revealed to him by his teachers who he has recognized as such."[2] For example, the authoritative sorcerer Aleister Crowley wrote his Book of the Law in a trance-like state, at the dictation of an unseen spirit. The famous [Russian] psychic Allan Chumak writes in his book, For Those Who Believe in Miracles, that he was taught in a special way by voices speaking in his head, "working in turns to give dictation." He summarized the "revelation" and used it as a guide to his healing practice. Furthermore, as Chumak insists, the voices only taught him to use his own methods to heal people and supposedly never cause them any harm; they also told him about how the world is ordered.

Occultism is largely a distorted spirituality in which a person strives to affirm himself with the help of "hidden" powers, instead of by communion with God and by strengthening himself through God's grace. Therefore, occultism always appears in those places where there is little or no knowledge of true spiritual life. In Russia in the 1990's, occultism came in as a replacement for materialism and flooded the length and breadth of our native land like a burst sewer pipe. [This replacement of materialism happened several decades earlier in the West, while the occultists Steiner and Crowley whom the author mentions lived at the turn of the twentieth century. —Ed.] Surges of occultism can always be observed during periods of crisis and social upheaval, when people want to solve their plight through some kind of invisible help, know the future, avert disaster through simple magic, and other people take advantage of the situation for their own easy gain. Although the acute phase of this attraction to "secret knowledge" has passed, the attraction has remained in its chronic form. It comes up in everyday life as spells and talismans, superstitious signs and astrological forecasts, and as all possible methods of expanded consciousness and discovery of inner, hidden abilities.

Occultism has its own technology: do this or that, and you will definitely get what you are after. Unfortunately, this is often transferred to religion, when Church rites and prayers are viewed as preventative rituals, which by themselves provide a person with every possible benefit. The first child of Adam and Eve, Cain, already regarded religion as a magical protection against earthly problems. Having lost God's blessing, he said, "Now, anyone who finds me will kill me: (Gen. 4:14). That is, if I had not come under Your wrath I would not have lost the special protection, and my earthly life would be immune from any danger. He regarded religion itself as nothing more than a means of obtaining earthly well-being, like a certain magical key that opens the lock on earthly happiness.

People who have a magical consciousness at the expense of religion think to obtain earthly comfort, while God Himself is superfluous to them. Christ said of such people, "You seek Me … because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (Jn. 6:26). A person with a magical consciousness would like to receive that golden key, the magic wand, and use it to obtain various benefits. For example a modern cabbala adept (or of any kind of magic) can be recognized by the red woolen yarn on his wrist. They consider that a person who loves you should tie seven knots into a piece of yarn and pronounce a special incantation that is supposed to protect you from jealousy, evil eye, and other negative charms. It all boils down to a particular ritual or verbal formula as a kind of tool or instrument that helps you to turn your life's switch from sickness to health, or from suffering to well-being.

Christian spiritual life, on the other hand, is founded upon completely different principles. The most precious thing a man has is his eternal soul, and therefore spiritual well-being comes before fleshly well-being. Heavenly treasure has more meaning than earthly treasure. Man is created in the image of God, and therefore he can only be truly happy with God. Living converse with God with a penitential renunciation of sin is the stabilizing core of spiritual life. Keeping God's commandments with sincere, warm prayer, and confession with participation in the Church services gives the soul a freedom and joy which nothing in this world can give. If occultism lures by flattery into powerfulness but then enslaves the soul to merciless demons, Christianity makes a person who fulfills God's will truly strong, for when one is with God, he lacks nothing—the inner treasure fills the outer lack. Of course, there is no breathtaking mystical flight here, as when the soul caught up in occultism thinks that it is fluttering upwards, while it is in fact plummeting into an abyss. True spiritual life comes about peacefully, naturally, simply — gradually transforming the soul and inspiring it towards a pure, clear, and sensible life. It is the path of ascent upon which we regain that paradisal harmony and union with the Lord, once lost through the flattering seduction of occultism.

[1] Sumeria and Mesopotamia.
[2] Priest Pavel Khondzinsky, Against Steiner: about the Waldorf schools (Moscow, 2001), 17.

Source: Pravoslavie

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