The Liturgical Richness of Great Lent

By Ioannis M. Fountoulis

If one wants to live the liturgical richness, the wondrous mystical greatness of Great Lent, he must try to avoid its surface. The surface is that which we all see and recognize on the Sundays of Great Lent. There is truly a distinction between these Sundays and other Sundays during the rest of the year. The special festal themes, the hymnography, the Liturgy of Basil the Great which is performed instead of the Liturgy of Chrysostom, give them a distinct color. However the Sundays of Great Lent are an oasis within itself. Essentially they are found outside of it. The real charm of Great Lent is felt within the "sea" or "barren desert", as the Fathers call Great Lent, or rather in its every day cycle, from Monday till Friday of the six weeks which it forms.

Our Church always saw the ideal form of worship in the monastic services, which is why over time the specifically old parish services were replaced with the monastic. However, especially during Great Lent it tried to move the worship of the monasteries to the churches in the world. After all, the faithful could not venture out into the desert, therefore the services of the desert moved to the cities. The Church wanted on these devout days to make its lay members taste the mystical beauty of the monastic services; to make the faithful laity into small monastics. And this was not without purpose. In the monastic system of services during the period of the Fast there is found the culmination of the entire year. Few people are able to follow them. They neither have the time available, nor the necessary disposition of soul. By contrast in the monasteries, where the worship of God is the center of monastic life and the primary interest of these dedicated people, the ecclesiastical services of the period of Great Lent become the nourishment and the only occupation of the fathers.

From Reasonable Worship. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

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Supporters of Artemije Build Chapel In Honor of St. Justin Popovich

March 8, 2011
Romfea.gr

According to information from Romfea.gr, a chapel has been established by the believers who follow the former Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije. The chapel is reportedly on the first floor of a house near Vracar, without permission from the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate.

The same report indicates that the chapel is dedicated to the new Serbian saint Father Justin (Popovich).

The chapel was done at the request of residents and the "exiled" Metropolitan Artemije will celebrate the Divine Liturgy every Sunday and all the services of Great Lent.

The first Divine Liturgy was celebrated by the former Abbot of the Monastery of Tserna Reka (Black River) Archimandrite Nicoli, and was attended by more than 30 people.

It should be noted that former Metropolitan Artemije is deposed by the Hierarchy of the Holy Synod of the Serbian Church, though he states that he is a lifelong Metropolitan of Raska and Prizren.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Greek Metropolitan Takes On Young Man Dressed As Priest At Carnival

Demetris Zoitsoudis
March 9, 2011
Romfea.gr

Metropolitan Amvrosios of Kalavryta and Aegialia has taken on a Carnival costume-wearing priest, appealing in his blog for him to repent.

He specifically stated:

"With pain in my soul, on Wednesday night of March 2 at 11:45 pm on channel TV Super live we saw the wretchedness. Among those dancing in their costumes was a young man vested as a priest, wearing a raso and stole! We express sadness at this sign of disrespect.

Scenes of mockery of the holy priesthood occurred in the past in communist Russia. It is unacceptable for this to take place in our Orthodox Greece. This young man, who had this unfortunate inspiration, ridiculed the goodness of our Lord. May he express repentance, to avoid the punishment of God."


Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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A Meditation on the Great Canon of St. Andrew

By Father Robert M. Arida

The Canon of St. Andrew is interwoven with two complementary strands. There is first the historical strand, in which St. Andrew skillfully uses the history of salvation as the foundation for his hymn of repentance. It is the loving and compassionate God, who reveals himself through his saving acts and who calls the listener to repentance. It is the triune and tripersonal God who reveals to the listener that the work of salvation continues here and now. Indeed, the Lord himself reminds those who accuse him of breaking the law for healing on the Sabbath that “My Father is working still, and I am working.” (John 5:17). This ongoing work of God forms the second strand of the canon which calls us to personal repentance and to acknowledge how we stand and respond to God’s healing activity.

These complementary strands in the Canon of St. Andrew remind us that Christians are called to be ascetics. Our baptism, our participation in the death and resurrection of Christ, makes us citizens of the Kingdom and strangers to sin and corruption. St. Paul teaches us that since we are participants in the Passover of the Lord, we are not to allow sin to reign in our mortal bodies. “Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourself to God as men who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.” (Rom. 6:12:14).

Through baptism, we are under grace, we have passed from death to life and therefore have become strangers to a world that rejects the overture of divine love. Yet who can deny the reality and temptation of sin? Yes, in baptism we have died to sin! (Rom. 6:11). But as St. Paul recognized, he did not do what he wanted, and sought after the very things he hated. The law of sin waged spiritual warfare against the law of grace. The law of sin continued in his members seeking to overcome the gift of new life.

Because St. Paul was aware of his own sin, he was able to recognize the fragmentation or disintegration of his own person. He recognized that the Paul who sinned was a caricature, a distorted image of the Paul bathed in the grace of baptism. “For I do not do the good that I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” (Rom. 7:19)

One can notice that the struggle described by St. Paul is the same struggle described in the Canon of St. Andrew. As the history of salvation unfolds through the troparia of the canon, we also are confronted with the distorted self, the self that has subordinated spirit to flesh because of a misguided will. Consequently, the passions, which are linked to our nature, become misdirected and twisted. Like the struggling apostle, the canon expresses the shocking self-discovery of its author, “…I am convicted by the verdict of my own conscience, which is more compelling than all else in the world.” (Ode 4).

The call to asceticism is the call to the true self which struggles to submit the flesh to the spirit. It is the ordeal which purifies the passions by allowing the gift of grace to guide and nurture the will. The call to asceticism places us on the path of transfigured life that has already been opened for us by the Lord’s great and holy Pascha.

When the passions are purified, when human nature and human will are in harmony with the divine will, the true self emerges as it develops according to the law of grace. St. Anthony of Egypt describes the wholeness or integration of the human person in this way: “What takes place according to nature is not sinful; sin always involves man’s deliberate choice. It is not a sin to eat; it is a sin to eat without gratitude, and not in an orderly and restrained manner such as will enable the body to be kept alive without inducing evil thought. It is not a sin to use one’s eyes with purity; it is a sin to look with envy, arrogance, and insatiable desire. It is a sin to listen not peacefully, but in anger; it is a sin to guide the tongue, not towards thanksgiving and prayer, but towards back biting; it is a sin to employ the hands, not for acts of compassion, but for murders and robberies. And thus every part of the body sins when by man’s own choice it performs not good but evil acts, contrary to God’s will.”

The ascetical life should be our repentant response to God’s love. Through this response, the icon of the true self will radiate with the uncreated light. Through the ascetical struggle the flesh will be transformed into the temple of the living God. This is the joyous news of the canon as it unites us to the great acts of God culminating in the Savior’s death and resurrection.

Source

The text of the Great Canon can be viewed here.

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St. Basil the Great's Homily On Fasting (2 of 3)

Continued from part one here.

5. But let our discourse proceed to history in reviewing the antiquity of fasting, and how all of the Saints, receiving it as an ancestral legacy, preserved it in the way that fathers hand things on to their children; thus, this possession has come down to us by a process of successive transmission. There was no wine in Paradise, nor any slaughter of animals, nor any consumption of meat. After the flood, there was wine; after the flood came the ordinance: “Eat all things as the green herb.”13 When hope of human perfection was abandoned, then enjoyment was permitted. Noah, who knew nothing about the use of wine, is proof that men had no experience thereof. For wine had not yet found its way into human life, nor had men become accustomed to it. Therefore, when he had neither seen anyone else drinking wine nor tried it himself, he unguardedly succumbed to the harm that comes therefrom: “For Noah...planted a vineyard; and he drank of its fruit, and became drunk”;14 not because he was a drunkard, but because he did not know how much wine he could imbibe. Thus, the discovery of wine-drinking is more recent than Paradise, so ancient is the dignity of fasting. Moreover, we know that Moses ascended the mountain while fasting.15 For he would not have dared to touch the peak of the mountain while it was smoking, nor would he have made bold to enter the darkness, had he not been armed with fasting. It was through fasting that he received the commandment inscribed on the tablets by the finger of God. Above, fasting ushered in the Law; below, gluttony led to the madness of idolatry. “And the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.”16 The forty days in which the servant of God waited on God in fasting and prayer were rendered futile by a single drinking bout. For the tablets inscribed by the finger of God that Moses obtained were shattered by drunkenness, since the Prophet did not judge the drunken people worthy to receive the Law from God. In one moment of time that people, who had been taught about God through stupendous miracles, plunged headlong, through gluttony, into the idol-madness of the Egyptians. Now juxtapose both of these facts: how fasting brings one close to God, and how indulgence drives away salvation. Once you descend to indulgence, you are on the road to perdition.

6. What ruined Esau and made him a slave of his brother? Was it not a single act of eating, which caused him to sell his birthright?17 Was it not prayer combined with fasting that bestowed Samuel on his mother?18 What was it that rendered the mighty champion Samson invincible? Was it not fasting, with which he was conceived in his mother’s womb?19 Fasting gave birth to him; fasting suckled him; fasting made him grow to manhood, and an Angel enjoined this fast on his mother: “She shall not eat of anything that cometh from the vine, neither shall she drink wine or strong drink.”20 Fasting gives birth to prophets and strengthens the powerful; fasting makes lawgivers wise. Fasting is a good safeguard for the soul, a steadfast companion for the body, a weapon for the valiant, and a gymnasium for athletes. Fasting repels temptations, anoints unto piety; it is the comrade of watchfulness and the artificer of chastity. In war it fights bravely, in peace it teaches stillness. It sanctifies the Nazirite21 and perfects the Priest. For it is not possible to dare to perform sacred actions without fasting, not only in the mystical and true worship of the present era, but also in the symbolic worship offered according to the Law. Fasting made Elias a beholder of that great vision; for, having cleansed his soul by fasting for forty days, he was thus vouchsafed, in the cave in Horeb, to behold the Lord as far as it is possible for a man to do so.22 While fasting he restored to the widow her son, having been fortified against death itself through fasting.23 A voice that went forth from the mouth of one fasting shut the heavens for the transgressing people for three years and six months. For, in order to soften the untamed heart of his stiff-necked people, he chose to condemn himself to hardship together with them. Hence, he said: “As the Lord liveth, there shall not be water upon the earth, except by the word of my mouth.”24 He brought a fast upon the people through famine, so as to correct the evil caused by their dissolute life of luxury. What kind of life did Elissaios have? How did he enjoy hospitality from the Shunamite woman? How did he himself welcome the prophets? Did he not fulfill the duties of hospitality with wild greens and a little flour?25 At that time, after the gourd had been placed in the pottage, those who had tasted it would have been in peril, had not the poison been neutralized by the prayer of the faster.26 There is a physical substance called amianthus,27 which is noncombustible, and which, when placed in a flame, appears to glow like coal, but emerges purer when removed from the fire, as if it has been brightened and cleansed with water. Such were the bodies of those three Youths in Babylon, which, on account of their fasting,28 possessed the properties of amianthus. For in the fiery furnace, as if they were golden by nature, they thus proved to be invulnerable to the fire. In fact, they proved to be stronger than gold. For the fire did not smelt them, but preserved them intact. And yet, nothing could have withstood those flames, which were being fed with naphtha, pitch, and brushwood, to such an extent that they streamed forth forty-nine cubits into the air and, feeding on what surrounded them, consumed many of the Chaldæans.29 Entering that conflagration, therefore, armed with fasting, the Youths trampled it underfoot, breathing refined and dew-laden air in such a fierce fire. The fire did not dare to touch even their hair, because they had been nourished by fasting.30

7. Daniel, a man greatly beloved,31 who ate no bread and drank no water for three weeks,32 when he descended into the den, taught even lions to fast.33 The lions were not able to sink their teeth into him, as if he were made of stone, bronze, or some other harder material. Thus, fasting, as when iron is dipped in water, had toughened that man’s body and rendered it impregnable to lions; for they did not even open their mouths against the Saint. Fasting extinguished the power of fire and stopped the mouths of lions. Fasting sends up prayer to Heaven, becoming, as it were, a wing for it on its upward journey. Fasting is the enhancement of households, the mother of health, the guide of the young, the adornment of elders, the good companion of wayfarers, the steadfast comrade of married couples. A husband does not suspect a plot against his marriage when he sees his wife observing the fast. A wife does not pine with envy when she sees her husband embracing the fast. Who has ever diminished his resources during a fast? Count up today what is in your house, and after a fast count it again. You will not have run short of any household goods because of the fast. No animal laments death, nowhere is there any blood, no sentence is pronounced against animals by the inexorable stomach. The knives of cooks are checked; the table is content with foods that grow naturally. The Sabbath was given to the Jews, Scripture says, that your beast of burden and your servant might enjoy a rest.34 Let the fast be a rest from constant toils for the menials who serve you throughout the year. Give your cook a break, grant your footman a holiday; stay the hand of your cupbearer. Let your pastry cook have a vacation from time to time. Let your household at last have some respite from the never-ending commotion, smoke, the odor of fat, and people running hither and thither and ministering, as it were, to that implacable mistress, the stomach. In any case, even tax-collectors sometimes give small breaks to those who owe them money. Let the stomach give the mouth some rest, and let it make a truce with us for five days35—for otherwise it is always making demands and never desists, receiving today and forgetting tomorrow. When it is full, it philosophizes about abstinence; when it is deflated, it forgets such ideas.

13 Cf. Genesis 9:3.
14 Genesis 9:20-21.
15 Exodus 24:18.
16 Exodus 32:6.
17 Genesis 25:29-34.
18 I Kings 1:13-16, Septuaginta.
19 Judges 13:4.
20 Judges 13:14.
21 Another name for an ascetic; cf. St. Basil the Great, “Epistle 44,” §1, Patrologia Græca, Vol. XXXII, col. 361C.
22 III Kings 19:8-13.
23 III Kings 17:17-24.
24 III Kings 17:1.
25 IV Kings 4:39-41.
26 Elissaios, as a Prophet, was an ascetic and therefore a practitioner of fasting.
27 Amianthus is a fine, silky type of asbestos.
28 Daniel 1:8-16.
29 Daniel 3:46-48, Septuaginta.
30 Daniel 3:50, Septuaginta.
31 Daniel 10:11.
32 Daniel 10:2-3 (where it is stated that Daniel drank no wine).
33 Daniel 6:16-22.
34 Exodus 20:10.
35 During five weekdays in Lent, the Fast is observed with greater strictness than on weekends, when wine and oil are permitted.

Read part three here.

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Irenaeus I Unwilling or Unable to Leave Confinement?

Isabel Kershner
March 7, 2011
The New York Times

Like a figure in a medieval drama, the monk Irenaeus I has been cloistered for the last three years in a third-floor apartment in the compound of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate high above a narrow, bustling alleyway of Jerusalem’s Old City, unwilling or unable to leave.

Appearing at his barred window one recent morning, clad in the traditional black garb of the Greek Orthodox priesthood, Irenaeus mouthed greetings to some visitors in the street below and waved a silver cross in a silent blessing.

Irenaeus was once the patriarch of Jerusalem, the highest authority of this ancient branch of the Orthodox Church, until he was ousted from his position in 2005. His refusal to recognize the authority of his successor, Theophilos III, seems to be the reason for his current ordeal.

Yet the warring rivals and their counsels disagree on the question of how much Irenaeus’s confinement has been forced upon him, and how much it is by his own design. Irenaeus, 71, refuses to leave the apartment because, he says, he has no guarantee that he will be allowed to return. Until this is no longer in question, he says, communicating by fax and employing the majestic plural, “in essence, they compel us to remain within our cell.”

Daniel Robbins, a Jerusalem lawyer who is representing Irenaeus in this regard and in the additional matter of some icons in Irenaeus’s apartment that Theophilos wants, said, “Nothing here is self-imposed.”

Irenaeus “will be homeless” if he leaves the compound, Mr. Robbins said. “He has no property.”

Representatives of Theophilos, however, argue that Irenaeus is a captive by choice.

“The fact that he has decided to lock himself up in the apartment is his prerogative,” said Nadir Mughrabi, an adviser to the patriarchate. “Nobody is asking him to leave.” If he were to leave the compound, Mr. Mughrabi said, “there is no decision to stop him from coming back.”

This Byzantine saga mirrors the struggles over politics and real estate that have bedeviled the Holy Land for centuries. Competing interests within the church’s realm, which includes Israel, Jordan and, now, the Palestinian Authority, have only sharpened what one local member of the community described as a hundred years of infighting and intrigue.

Irenaeus was elected in 2001 as the patriarch of Jerusalem, normally a position for life. He was removed four years later amid allegations of shady property deals. Among other things, he was accused of selling long-term leases on prime properties owned by the patriarchate inside the Old City — in territory that Israel annexed after the 1967 war, but where the Palestinians and most of the world do not recognize Israeli sovereignty — to foreign companies acting as fronts for a Jewish settlers group.

As the owner of valuable tracts of land in the region, including prized locations in central Jerusalem, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem has long wielded power disproportionate to the size of its flock. Israel’s official prime minister’s residence is on Greek Orthodox land.

Defenders of Irenaeus say that he was manipulated by stronger forces on the property deals, which are being contested in the Israeli courts.

Elias Khoury, a Greek Orthodox lawyer in Jerusalem, was one of three members of a committee appointed by the Palestinian Authority to investigate the land deals. The commission concluded that Irenaeus had been misled and was the victim of a conspiracy, Mr. Khoury said.

As a result, Mr. Khoury suggested, Theophilos may have good reason to fear Irenaeus and keep him isolated. Irenaeus enjoyed 24-hour protection from the Israeli police, and with it free movement, until Israel finally recognized Theophilos’s election in the spring of 2007. The appointment has also been ratified by the governments of Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, as required by law and tradition.

Since then, Irenaeus, who was born on the Greek island of Samos and first came to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem at the age of 13, has remained in near total seclusion.

Life in the patriarchate compound is run along the lines of a strict order, and a doorman guards the entrance. A gate leading from the courtyard to Irenaeus’s apartment is usually locked, and he does not have the key. Mr. Robbins, his lawyer, has been able to visit him three times in recent months, but only with a court order.

For food and medicine, Irenaeus says he relies on the good will of a local resident — a Muslim who runs a nearby grocery store, and who places supplies in a basket that Irenaeus lowers to the street at night from a rooftop terrace abutting his apartment.

Mr. Mughrabi said this, too, was “a hundred percent his own doing.” Like the dozens of other priests who reside in the compound, Mr. Mughrabi said, Irenaeus is on the list to receive food from the central kitchen, but “he has chosen to make other arrangements.”

Irenaeus described his confinement as a kind of “martyrdom” imposed by hostile forces “aiming for our psychological and bodily annihilation.” It was the result of a scheme by interest groups, he said, that was “diabolical in its conception.”

He placed sole responsibility for his situation on Theophilos, his nemesis, “to whom ecclesiastical history will ascribe the name traitor!”

For many local members of the church, the goings-on in the patriarchate, particularly the land issues, have merely confirmed long-held grievances.

“The problem is that the patriarchs come from Greece,” said Khaled Ikhleif, a Palestinian taxi driver from Bethlehem in the West Bank. “They are foreign, not Arab, and they do not understand our problems.”

Mr. Ikhleif was attending epiphany celebrations at Qasr al-Yahud, a spot on the Jordan River where Jesus was said to have been baptized. The site, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is in a border area surrounded by minefields. After a procession and a ceremony led by Theophilos, pilgrims immersed themselves in the opaque, khaki-color water, momentarily oblivious to all dissension and discord.

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BBC Documentary: "Orthodoxy -- From Empire to Empire"

Episode 3 of 6 "Orthodoxy -- From Empire to Empire" explores Eastern Orthodox Christianity's fight for survival.

A History of Christianity is a six-part British television series originally broadcast on BBC Four in 2009. The series was presented by Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of History of the Church at St Cross College Oxford, and considers the evolution of the Christian faith and its four main forms: Orthodoxy, Oriental Christianity, Western Catholicism and Protestantism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_History_of_Christianity_%28TV_series%29

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Documentary: Saint Maximus the Greek

The documentary is in Greek.

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Video: Simeon the Russian Icon Painter

A submission for Life in a Day, the documentary project produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald. The location is Pittsburgh, PA. The Russian Orthodox icon painter, Simeon Larivonovoff, allows us into his home and explains his work. Shot July 24th 2010.

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St. Basil the Great's Homily On Fasting (1 of 3)

1. “Sound the trumpet at the new moon,” says the Psalmist, “in the notable day of your feast.”2 This injunction is prophetic. The Scripture readings indicate to us more loudly than any trumpet and more distinctly than any musical instrument the Feast that precedes these days. For we have learned from Isaiah the Grace to be gained from the fasts. Isaiah rejected the Jewish way of fasting and showed us what true fasting means. “Fast not for quarrels and strifes, but loose every bond of iniquity.”3 And the Lord says: “Be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance, but anoint thine head, and wash thy face.”4 Let us, therefore, exhibit the demeanor that we have been taught, not being doleful about the coming days, but maintaining a joyful attitude, as befits holy people. No one who desponds is crowned; no one who sulks sets up a trophy of victory. Do not be sullen while you are being healed. It would be absurd not to rejoice over the health of your soul, but rather to be distressed over a change of diet and to give the impression of setting more store by the pleasure of your stomach than by the care of your soul. For satiety brings delight to the stomach, whereas fasting brings profit to the soul. Be of good cheer, for the physician has given you a medicine that destroys sin. For, just as the tapeworms that breed in the intestines of children are obliterated by certain very pungent drugs, so also fasting — a remedy truly worthy of its appellation —5, when introduced into the soul, kills off the sin that lurks deep within it.

2. “Anoint thine head, and wash thy face.”6 This sentence summons you to mysteries. One who has been anointed has received unction; he who has been washed has been cleansed. Apply this injunction to your inner members. Wash your soul clean of sins. Have your head anointed with holy oil, so that you might become a partaker of Christ, and approach the fast in this spirit. Do not disfigure your face as do the hypocrites.7 The face is disfigured when one’s inner disposition is obscured by a sham external appearance, concealed by falsehood as if beneath a veil. An actor in a theatre is one who assumes someone else’s persona — if he is a slave, he often plays a master, and if he is a private citizen, he plays a king. Likewise, in this life, as if on some stage, the majority of people turn their existence into a theatre, entertaining one thing in their hearts, but displaying something else to men by their outward appearance. Therefore, do not disfigure your face. Whatever you may be, appear as such. Do not transform yourself into a sullen person, seeking the glory that comes from appearing to be abstemious. For there is no profit in trumpeting your good deeds, nor any gain in advertising your fasting. Things that are done for outward show do not yield any fruit in the age to come, but terminate in human praise. Run with gladness to the gift of the fast. Fasting is an ancient gift, which does not grow old or become outmoded, but is ever renewed and flourishes with vigor.

3. Do you think that I am resting the origin of fasting on the Law? Why, fasting is even older than the Law. If you wait a little, you will discover the truth of what I have said. Do not suppose that fasting originated with the Day of Atonement, appointed for Israel on the tenth day of the seventh month.8 No, go back through history and inquire into the ancient origins of fasting. It is not a recent invention; it is an heirloom handed down by our fathers. Everything distinguished by antiquity is venerable. Have respect for the antiquity of fasting. It is as old as humanity itself; it was prescribed in Paradise. It was the first commandment that Adam received: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ye shall not eat.”9 Through the words “ye shall not eat” the law of fasting and abstinence is laid down. If Eve had fasted from the tree, we would not now be in need of this fast. “They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.”10 We have been wounded through sin; we are healed through repentance, but repentance without fasting is fruitless. “Cursed is the ground.... Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth for thee.”11 You were ordered to live in sorrow, not in luxury. Make amends to God through fasting. Yet even life in Paradise is an image of fasting, not only insofar as man, sharing the life of the Angels, attained to likeness with them through being contented with little, but also insofar as those things which human ingenuity subsequently invented had not yet been devised by those living in Paradise, be it the drinking of wine, the slaughter of animals, or whatever else befuddles the human mind.

4. Since we did not fast, we fell from Paradise; let us, therefore, fast in order that we might return thither. Do you not see how Lazarus entered Paradise through fasting?12 Do not emulate the disobedience of Eve; never again accept the advice of the serpent, who suggested eating out of regard for the flesh. Do not use bodily sickness and infirmity as an excuse for not fasting. You are not offering such excuses to me, but to Him Who knows all about you. Tell me, you are unable to fast, and yet you are able eat to satiety throughout your life and oppress your body with the burden of what you eat? And yet, I know of doctors who prescribe for sick people not a variety of foods, but fasting and abstinence. How is it, then, that, while you are able to carry out doctors’ orders, you allege that you are unable to keep the fasts ordained by the Church? What is easier for the stomach? To pass the night after observing a frugal diet, or to lie in bed weighed down by an abundance of foods? Or rather, not lying down, but tossing and turning, heaving and groaning — unless you are going to say that it is easier for a helmsman to save a vessel weighed down with cargo than one that is less encumbered and lighter. The one that is laden with a multitude of goods will be submerged when any wave, no matter how low, rears up against it, whereas the one carrying a moderate quantity of freight easily rides the waves, there being nothing to prevent it from rising above the surge. Likewise, the bodies of men, when weighed down by constant surfeiting, easily become overwhelmed by illnesses, whereas, when they avail themselves of simple and easily-digested fare, they not only escape, as from the eruption of a tempest, the suffering that is to be expected from any disease, but also repel like the onslaught of a squall the sickness that is already present within them. In your view, I suppose, it is more laborious to rest than to run and to be still than to struggle — if, indeed, you assert that it is more appropriate for those who are ill to indulge in delicacies than to observe a frugal diet. For the force that governs living creatures naturally engenders moderation and frugality and adapts itself to that which is eaten; but when the body ingests sumptuous and varied foods, this force, being entirely unable to tolerate them, gives rise to a variety of diseases.

1 Translated from the Greek original in Patrologia Græca, Vol. XXXI, cols. 164A-184C.
2 Psalm 80:4, Septuaginta.
3 Isaiah 58:4, 6.
4 St. Matthew 6:16, 17.
5. “Νηστεία” literally means “not eating.” St. Basil is arguing, here, that fasting kills off sin by starving it of the aliment on which it feeds.
6 St. Matthew 6:17.
7 St. Matthew 6:16.
8 Leviticus 23:27.
9 Genesis 2:17.
10 St. Matthew 9:12.
11 Genesis 3:17-18.
12 St. Luke 16:19-31.

Read part two here.

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Clean Monday and the First Week of Great Lent

With Clean Monday begins Great Lent in the Orthodox Church and marks the end of feasting. Clean Monday is called as such because Christians are called to cleanse themselves spiritually and bodily. It is also a day of strict fasting with no work. The holy fast has a duration of 40 days in imitation of our Lord's fast in the desert.

On Clean Monday Greeks traditionally eat lagana bread (which is an unleavened bread only eaten on this day), as well as other fasting foods, especially beans, though without oil. It is also a custom to fly a kite on this day.

Clean Monday is 48 days prior to Holy Pascha Sunday.

Read also:

Clean Monday and It's Traditional Observance

"The Holy Forty Day Fast" by Sergei Bulgakov

Recipe For A Kyra Sarakosti Calendar Cookie (Greek)

A Child’s Lent Remembered: Clean Monday


The First Week of Great Lent

By Sergei Bulgakov

The first week of the Holy Forty Day Fast are "the days beginning the holy fast". The Holy Church during this week, inviting its children to begin "the all honorable abstinence", to work "for the Lord with fear", to fast "the pleasant fast pleasing to the Lord", to fast not only "in body" but also "in spirit" opens the purpose and meaning of "the all honorable fast". "The Fast has come", sings the holy Church in its hymns, "mother of chastity, accuser of sins, advocate of repentance, life of the angels and salvation of men". "For by this Moses was glorified, and he received the Law written upon tablets", "Elijah having fasted, was enclosed in heaven", "through fasting the youths were delivered from the furnace and the Prophet Daniel from the jaws of the lions"; and "taking as shield the strong armor of the Fast, let us repel every delusion of the enemy. Let us not be led astray by the lusts of passion, let us not flinch before the fire of temptation"; "let us quench the burning passions of the flesh", "Let us be pure before the Pure One, and seeking purity from all before the Only Savior of our souls"; "illumined by divine virtues, let us gaze with faith upon the radiance of the Passion of the Savior", and "let us receive from Christ God great mercy". Together with this the holy Church finds out in detail also the properties of true lent, as valid means for the cleansing of sin, as the basis of repentance, as the beginning of the return of the person to God. According to the teaching of the holy Church, "true fasting is to put away all evil, to control the tongue, to forbear from anger, to abstain from lust, slander, falsehood and perjury. If we renounce these things, then our fasting is true and acceptable". Therefore, inviting its children to true repentance and lenten ascetic efforts, the holy Church also sings: "Clothing ourselves in the shining raiment of the Fast, let us cast off the dark and hateful garment of drunkenness"; "let us love chastity, and let us flee from fornication, let us gird our loins with temperance", "let us wash our faces in the water of dispassion", "let us loose every bond of iniquity, let us terminate the knots of every contract made by violence; let us tear up all unjust agreements; let us give bread to the hungry and to our house welcome the poor who have no roof to cover them"; "let us brightly begin the all honorable abstinence; and let us shine with the bright radiance of the holy commandments of Christ our God, with the brightness of love and the splendor of prayer, with the purity of holiness and the strength of good courage."

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Περάσαν οι Αποκριές & Τώρα ν' Αγιά Σαρακοστή (Δόμνα Σαμίου)

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Saint Aimilianos the Roman

St. Aimilianos the Roman (Feast Day - March 7)

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

Aimilianos was born in Rome and committed many grave sins in his youth. When Aimilianos came to his senses [later in life], he refrained from sinning and began to tremble just thinking about the judgment of God. Aimilianos immediately entered a monastery and by fasting, vigils and obedience, he tamed and shriveled his body. He was an ideal example to his brethren in all virtuous acts of asceticism. Frequently at night, he would step out of the monastery and enter into a nearby cave to pray. Not knowing where Aimilianos was going, the abbot of the monastery secretly followed him one night. The abbot saw Aimilianos standing at prayer in reverence and in tears. All at once, a heavenly light, brighter than the sun, encompassed the entire mountain but especially the cave and Aimilianos. A voice was heard from heaven saying, "Aimilianos, your sins are forgiven you." Filled with fright, the abbot hurried back to the monastery. The next day, he revealed to the brethren what he had seen and heard the previous night. Great respect was shown to Aimilianos by the brethren. He lived long and died to the Lord.

A Reflection From the Life of St. Aimilianos

A thick rope is made from thin, fibrous strands of hemp. One thin fiber cannot hold you tied nor can it strangle you. For you will easily, as in jest, break it and free yourself from it. If you are tied by a thick rope, you can be held bound and even be strangled by it. Neither can you break it easily nor free yourself from it. As a thick rope consists of thin and weak fibers, so the passions of man consist of minor sins. Man can break off and turn away from the beginnings of minor sins. But, when sin after sin is repeated, the weave becomes all the more stronger and stronger until in the end a passion is created, which then turns man into some kind of monster as only it knows how. You cannot easily cut it off, nor distance yourself from it, nor can you divorce yourself from it. O, if only men would beware and take care of the beginnings of sins! Then, they would not have to endure much in freeing themselves from passions. "To cut off rooted passions is as difficult as cutting off the fingers," said a monk from the Holy Mountain. To free himself from sinful passions, St. Aimilianos was helped by thinking thoughts of death and, understandably, the Grace of God, without which it is extremely difficult to rid oneself of the fetters of passion. To think often of impending death, to repent and to implore Grace from Almighty God, these three save a man from the bondage of sin. St. Sisoes was asked, "At which time can passions be uprooted?" The saint replied, "As soon as one passion takes root in you, uproot it immediately."

HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT Aimilianos

Aimilianos, a grave sinner,
And from sin, the soul aches,
Aimilianos, disconsolate
For forgiveness, he prays to God:

O Most High, O Most wonderful,
From Whom the sun has light,
From Whom the angelic choir, its wakeful
Existence, joy and radiance receive!

For You only, O God, do I care,
Repentantly, I return to You,
Only to You do I offer thanks
That now, I truly comprehend life.

Tears, tears, tears, I shed,
Body and spirit now are fasting,
Vision of the world and hearing I conceal,
Forgive, O God, forgive, forgive!

For Your mercy I am a field,
Weed me and cultivate me,
Let my soul be alive,
And the flesh suffer and feel pain.

Of all men, I am the worst,
Behold, I judge myself,
Just do not judge me, O God,
I fear You, Only You!

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The Miraculous Icon of Jesus Christ At Agia Moni

March 6, 2011
Amen.gr

A festive celebration took place today in the Byzantine Monastery of Agia Moni for the discovery of the miraculously revealed icon of Christ. The festive vesperal service was officiated by the preacher of the Holy Metropolis of Argolida, Archimandrite Chrysostomos Papoulesis.

The Miraculous Icon of Jesus Christ At Agia Moni

The holy icon of our Lord Jesus Christ, lying in front of the left columns of the Church of the Life-Giving Spring (katholikon) at Agia Moni in Nafplio, was found on 6 March 1920 on a Friday at four in the afternoon, behind the sanctuary of the church, at a depth of 1.60 m in the soil, in a wondrous manner. After repeated visions and proofs by the Most-Holy Theotokos to the Greek-American lawyer Theodore Rogkopoulos, he came to Greece and arrived in Nafplio and Agia Moni accompanied continuously throughout the journey from the rail station in Athens to Nafplio and Agia Moni by a young man wearing a dress that was unknown to Rogkopoulos. The young man disappeared on their arrival at the monastery and it was generally believed to be the Archangel Gabriel, as was promised by the Panagia in his sleep.

Agia Moni

It is 3 km from Nafplio. Founded in 1144 by Bishop Leo of Argos and Nafplio, today the monastery has 10 nuns. The katholikon of the monastery is from the year 1149, and is a prototype of Byzantine architecture, as the French Byzantinist Charles Deal says, it is "the most beautiful of the second millennium". The architectural type of the church is a cross-in-square of the four columned type with dome. On the western entrance of the church is a marble slab, bearing the following inscription of dedication to the Virgin Mary by Bishop Leo:

Έπηξε βάθρα τω ναό Σου Παρθένε,
Λέων Αργείων αλιτρός θυηπόλος,
Ώπερ παράσχοις λύτρον αμπλακημάτων
Είς αντάμειψιν, ευλογημένη Κόρη.




For more photos and a virtual tour of Agia Moni, see here.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Synaxarion For Sunday of Cheesefare

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

SUNDAY of CHEESEFARE

On the same day, we commemorate the banishment of Adam, the First-formed man, from the Paradise of delight.

Verses

Let the world lament bitterly with our first ancestors,
for it fell together with those who fell by a sweet repast.


Synaxarion

Our Holy Fathers appointed this commemoration before the Holy Fast, as if to show in actual fact how beneficial the medicine of fasting is to human nature, and also how great is the shame of gluttony and disobedience. Passing over all the individual sins committed in the world on account of him, as being without number, the Fathers set forth how much evil Adam, the first-formed man, suffered from not fasting even for a brief time, and how much evil he thereby brought upon our race, clearly pointing out also that the virtue of fasting was the first commandment that God gave to mankind. Not keeping this commandment, but yielding to his belly, or rather, through Eve, to the deceitful serpent, Adam not only did not become God, but also incurred death and transmitted corruption to the whole human race.

Because of the self-indulgence of the first Adam, the Lord fasted for forty days and was obedient. For this reason, the present Holy Fast was designed by the Holy Apostles, in order that we might enjoy incorruption, through fasting, by keeping the commandment which he did not keep, thereby suffering the loss of incorruption. Furthermore, as we said previously, the aim of the Saints is to encompass in brief the works wrought by God from the beginning to the end. Since Adam’s transgression and his expulsion from the Paradise of delight were the cause of all our woes, for this reason they now set this transgression before us, so that, remembering it, we might avoid it and not in any way emulate his incontinence.

Adam was fashioned by the hand of God on the sixth day, being honored with His image through the Divine breath and at once receiving the commandment, concerning which fruits he should eat and which he should not, and he spent up to six days in Paradise; then, when he transgressed this commandment, he was driven out thence. Philo the Hebrew says that Adam spent a hundred years in Paradise; others say that he was there for seven days or seven years, because the number seven is accorded special honor. But that Adam stretched out his hands and touched the fruit at the sixth hour is shown by Christ, the New Adam, Who stretched out His hands on the Cross at the sixth hour and on the sixth day, remedying Adam’s destructive action.

Adam was created in between corruption and incorruption in order that, in whichever direction he should incline by his choice, he might gain the object of his desire. Now, it was possible for God to make him sinless; but in order that he might achieve this by his own choice, God gave him a law that he could touch all of the plants except one. By this we may perhaps understand the knowledge of Divine power that derives from all created things, but in no way knowledge of God’s nature, as does Saint Gregory the Theologian, who reasons that the former are the Divine conceptions, while the latter is the vision of God. That is, God allowed Adam to meditate on all the other elements and the other qualities, to recall them to mind, and to glorify God thereby—for this is what constitutes delight—and perhaps also to meditate on his own nature, but in no way to inquire into God, Who He is by nature, where He is, and how He brought the universe into existence from non-being. But Adam, leaving all the rest aside, inquired rather into God and scrutinized precisely the Divine nature, though he was still imperfect and very simple, and an infant in such matters; he fell after Satan suggested to him, through Eve, fantasies of deification. The great and Divine Chrysostomos says that that tree had a twofold power and that Paradise was on earth; he reasons that it was both noetic and sensible, just as Adam was, midway between corruption and incorruption, at the same time preserving the meaning of Scripture and not adhering to the letter.

Some say that that tree of disobedience was a fig-tree, and that, immediately becoming aware of their nakedness, Adam and Eve used its leaves to cover themselves. For this reason, Christ cursed the fig-tree as being the cause of their transgression. For the fig bears some resemblance to sin: first, it is sweet; secondly, its leaves feel rough; and thirdly, it is viscous on account of its juice. There are others who have understood—though incorrectly—that that tree represents Adam’s intercourse with Eve. After transgressing, then, Adam clothed himself in mortal flesh and received the curse, and was cast out of Paradise, and the Cherubim were assigned to guard its gate with a fiery sword. Adam sat before Paradise and bewailed how many good things he had been deprived of because he had not fasted for a time, and the entire race that sprang from him was subject to the same misery, until He Who created us, taking pity on our nature which Satan had corrupted and being born of the Holy Virgin, by His excellent way of life showed us the true way, through virtues that are contrary to Satan, namely, fasting and humility, and, having artfully overcome the one who had deceived us, led us back to our ancient dignity.

Wishing to present all these things to us, therefore, the God-bearing Fathers, through the entire Triodion, set forth the events of the Old Testament. First of these is the creation, and Adam’s fall from Paradise, which we are now commemorating, and then they set forth the rest, through the books of Moses and the Prophets and the words of David, and then, in order, the events of the New Testament, that of Grace. First of these is the Annunciation, which took place by God’s ineffable OEconomy, and which almost always falls within the Holy Fast. They continue with Lazarus Saturday, Palm Sunday, and Holy and Great Week, when the Holy Gospels are read, and the Holy and saving Passion of Christ, which is the subject of exquisite hymns; and then, with the Resurrection and the other Feasts, until the descent of the Holy Spirit, concerning which the Book of Acts relates how the Gospel was proclaimed and how the Spirit gathered all the Saints together; for the Acts of the Apostles confirms the Resurrection through the miracles worked by the Apostles. Since we have suffered such misery on account of Adam’s failure to fast just once, his commemoration is assigned to the beginning of the Holy Fast, in order that, remembering how much evil was brought about by not fasting, we might be eager to welcome the Fast with exceeding joy and to keep it, so that we might thereby gain what Adam missed, that is, deification, by lamenting, fasting, and humbling ourselves until God visits us; for without these things, it is not easy for us to gain what we lost.

It should be known that this Holy and Great Fast constitutes a tenth of the entire year; for since, out of slothfulness, we do not choose always to fast and to refrain from evildoing, the Apostles and the Divine Fathers handed down this Fast as a time of spiritual harvest, in order that, humbling ourselves now through contrition and fasting, we may blot out whatever wicked deeds we have committed during the course of the year, and we ought to keep this Fast more strictly than the others. But we should also keep the three other Fasts, those of the Apostles, the Theotokos, and the Nativity, which the Divine Fathers have bequeathed to us. We accord greater honor to this Fast on account of the Holy Passion, and because Christ fasted for forty days and, overcoming the Tempter, was glorified, and Moses, after fasting for forty days, received the Law, as did Elias and Daniel and all of the others who found favor with God. That fasting is a good practice is shown by the contrary example of Adam. For this reason, therefore, Adam’s banishment from Paradise was placed here by the Holy Fathers.

In Thine ineffable compassion, O Christ our God, vouchsafe us the delight of Paradise, and have mercy on us, O Thou Who alone lovest mankind. Amen.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal of the Second Tone
O Master, Prudence, Guide of Wisdom, Instruction to the foolish and Defender of the poor, strengthen my heart and grant it discernment. Give me words, Word of the Father, for behold, I shall not keep my lips from crying out to You, "O Merciful One, have mercy on me who has fallen."

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On Cheesefare Sunday

By Sergei Bulgakov

On this Sunday the Holy Church focuses on the memory of the exile of our ancestral parents from paradise for disobedience and intemperance in order that through misfortune it more evidently emphasizes the importance of the presented ascetical effort for all, and in the loss of the blessedness of paradise it specifies a subject, worthy of repentance and tears. The example of the ancestral parents shows us the whole weight of sin and its fatal consequences and teaches us to avoid intemperance as the beginning and the source of sin, and to turn to repentance, as to the unique means of deliverance from the anger and judgment of God. "Adam was cast out", sings the Holy Church on this day, "from the sweetness of paradise, when with bitter desire he broke the commandment of the Master, and he was condemned to work the earth from which he himself had been taken, and then to eat his bread with much toil; therefore let us love abstinence, that we may not weep outside of paradise as he did, but enter into it"; "Let us keep the fast offering tears, contrition and alms", "Let us still the passions of our soul, let us subdue the rebelliousness of the flesh"; "Girding ourselves for the good spiritual struggle of the fast" and "Taking up the armor of the cross, let us fight the enemy, having faith as an invincible wall, and prayer as a breastplate, and alms as a helmet, and fasting as a sword, which cuts away all evil from our heart"; "Let us brightly begin the season of fasting preparing ourselves for the spiritual struggle"; "Now is the favorable time, now is the season of repentance, let us cut off the works of darkness, and clothe ourselves in the armor of light: that having sailed across the great expanse of the Fast, we may reach the three-day Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Savior of our souls". With this tender, touching voice the Holy Church calls us as her children from the present day to forget everything that up to now occupied our thoughts and feelings and distracted them from "the one thing needful"; to reject everything from itself that serviced temptation and occasion for sin, that raised in us impure thoughts and feelings, that originated in us sinful desires and currents; to postpone for a while even our ordinary affairs and occupations, in so far as they soon distract our thoughts from a reverent deepening in our very selves, they irritate our heart with feelings of anger and envy, dreams of ambition and covetousness; to make itself thirsty for long prayerful vigils, fervent prayers and prostrations; to ignite in oneself an unshakable desire, voluntarily and vigilantly, thanking and glorifying the Lord to now enter the opening door of the saving fast, repentance and spiritual renewal; to kindle in itself a firm determination to pass the holy days of the fast fervently, reverently and joyfully. In the gospel and epistle readings, the Holy Church presents its final teachings about the spiritual efforts of the actual fast. The Fast should begin with the forgiveness by the people of their trespasses and their rejection of the deeds of darkness consisting of an unfeigned fulfillment of the rules of keeping the fast and not to judge their neighbor. Reconcilement with all, the pardon and remission of all our transgressions, is the first, main and necessary condition of our reconcilement with God, cleansing and correcting our sins. Without this reconcilement with all, without this putting an end to mutual conflicts and enmity among us, it is impossible to draw near to the Lord. It is impossible even to begin the holy journey to Lent and repentance. From here came a custom of Orthodox Christians to ask each other forgiveness, and is the same as when they to go to the graves of the dead for this purpose and is why the day is called in popular speech forgiveness and farewell. It is self understood, that not only with our mouth, but also mainly with our heart we should utter a full, complete forgiveness not only for something which insults us, but also for all that is hateful and offends us, all that condemns and curses us, all that makes every evil for us. We should try to bow with true - Christian humility for reconciliation and for which the devil, according to his evil and slander, had the misfortune to offend us in word and deed. Saint John Chrysostom teaches: "We should not forgive one another only by words, but with a pure heart so that our memory of the evil will not turn the sword against us. Our having been offended will not cause us evil as much as we cause ourselves, feeding the anger in ourselves and exposing ourselves to condemnation by God for that. If we love those who offend us, then evil will be turned on its very head, and it will continue to suffer severely; but if we will be indignant, then we shall continue to suffer all the same even in spite of ourselves."

Kontakion in Plagal of the Second Tone
O Master, Guide to wisdom, Giver of counsel, Instructor of the foolish and Defender of the poor: strengthen and enlighten my heart. O Word of the Father, grant me the words, for I will not restrain my mouth from crying to Thee: Have mercy on me, the fallen, O merciful One.

On this day, on the eve of the Holy Forty day Fast, ancient Christians, the inhabitants of monasteries, having done the evening service, and having venerated all the monastic holy things and having been comforted by the general evening meal, solemnly performed the rite of mutual forgiveness, and then left the for the desert (pustin) to keep silence and fast in deep solitude, to pray and repent and cry for those who sinned for all the past time. From that time on even until now there were also old customs honorably observed in some especially devout old cities and places of Holy Russia, for example, in Moscow and others. There pious Orthodox, on this day of Forgiveness, go to monasteries, to ancient cathedrals; they venerate the holy relics and especially those of the most revered saints; they come to receive the blessing from the bishops, the people present in the churches, the pious monks; they visit the homes of relatives and acquaintances, everywhere asking all for forgiveness and blessings; as a sign of mutual peace, forgiveness and concord, they give each other special breads which are prepared for this day, like the special kulich on Holy Pascha. And in the monasteries, cathedrals, as well as in all churches, the solemn Rite of Mutual Forgiveness is performed everywhere. In monasteries it is not always done and not everywhere in the churches, but after the Vesper Service is completed the farewell meal is served in the refectory, and after the Little Compline is read in the same refectory. During the Forgiveness Rite in some monasteries, cathedrals and churches the irmoi of the Canon of Repentance: "A helper and protector he is for me unto salvation", is sung, reminding all and everyone, that all of us are "sinners, transgressors, unrighteous" before our God, "lower than the keepers of the fast, lower than the creator, as He commanded" us. And in some places, according to local custom, during the Rite of Mutual Forgiveness they sing the stichera of Pascha with their refrains: "Today a sacred Pascha is revealed to us"; is sung not without purpose, reminding us, and on this day as on the Day of Resurrection, "Let us embrace each other, let us call 'brothers' even those that hate us and forgive all" and everything for the sake of our fasting for the sake of the suffering and the resurrection of Christ. It is truly and deeply a shame, that these good ancient customs disappear; that they so disappear in some places, in some circles there isn't a trace of them. They avoid the temple of God on this day and evening, they do not even glance at it, but will gather amusements in their apartments; there they betray themselves to satisfaction of any sort, an excess of stimulating pleasures, and so forth and so forth. It means that the people eat meat for the last time before Lent. For what, in what consideration do they eat meat for the last time before Lent? For this do they eat meat, in order to fast and pray tomorrow and the day after, to repent and cry for their sins? Nothing like this happened. They eat meat for the last time before Lent for its own sake of eating meat for the last time only on this holy Christian day and especially the night before the Holy Forty Day Fast to carry on in a pagan way as it may be noisier and more cheerful. Of the ancient customs of our Christ loving fathers there is in some circles only one that is pagan. Suppressed by pagan customs, the word "eating meat for the last time" has lost its primitive Christian meaning. "Eating flesh for the last time" is "the beginning of fasting"; and in our pagan times it has degenerated to meaning the strengthened satiation of any kind. And after the night spent in a pagan way eating flesh for the last time, growing dull from sleeplessness, and the eyes see exhaustion from satiation, at last, "it is the flickering morning of Holy Great Lent. Fatigue after a whole night of crashing music, simple speech, often off-color speech, noise and pounding ears resound at daybreak by the mournful toll of the Lenten bell inviting one to Morning Prayer of repentance. What more is there to do? Aging feet drag along a fragile heavy body, and dulled senses drags a soul which is exhausted from oppressing impressions not from the morning prayer of repentance for which it did not even consider, but in the heavy embraces, not refreshing, not encouraging, but sleeps an even more depressing sinful soul..." (See the details in The Instructions of Nicanor, Archbishop of Chersonese, Vol. 1, page 281). So we have changes all this century! So almost all the canons and Christian customs have weakened in our time! The duty of the pastors of the Church is to inspire the flock that they "were not conformed to this age" (Rom. 12:2), "but stand in their faith" (1 Cor. 16:1), "hold to the tradition" (2 Thess. 2:15), in the glory of God, for the benefit of one's neighbor and for the salvation of one's soul, observe the pious customs and Christian rules to which our good and devout ancestors followed.

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Service In Honor of the Ascetics of Thebaid Celebrated For First Time in Alexandria

Archimandrite Panteleimon Arathimos
March 6, 2011
Romfea.gr

On March 5 the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa Theodoros II officiated at the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Patriarchal Church of Saint Savva the Sanctified in Alexandria, where they sang for the first time the "Service of Praise for the Synaxis of the Righteous and God-bearing Fathers of the Thebaid in Egypt Who Shined in Asceticism".

The above mentioned Holy Service was written by Archimandrite Agathonikos Nikolaides, approved by the Holy Synod of the Alexandrian Church, and distributed by the Metropolis of Eirinoupolis and Seychelles Islands.

The Holy Abba's of the Thebaid desert are the honor and glory of the Patriarchate and of the Orthodox Church generally, since the Nile region and Africa was their homeland, as well as the fact that the Thebaid was the place where thousands of ascetics showed that perfection of spiritual life in Christ is not a utopia, but reality, which involves struggle, toil and sacrifice.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Synaxarion For Saturday of Cheesefare

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

SATURDAY of CHEESEFARE

On the same day, we commemorate all the Saints, both men and women, who shone forth in asceticism.

Verses

To the souls of the Righteous, whose memory abideth
forever, do I offer these my words as abiding oblations.


Synaxarion

Having led us gently through the preceding Feasts, the God-bearing Fathers have prepared us for the arena of the Fast and led us away from luxury and satiety. They have instructed us with fear of the future Judgment, and have skillfully cleansed us by anticipation during Cheesefare week, having placed two fast days in the middle of the preceding week, in order gradually to rouse us to fasting. Behold, they now set in our midst those who lived lives of sanctity, through their many labors and toils, both men and women, so that, by reminding us of their struggles, they might make us more vigorous for the contest, and so that, having their lives as an example and guide, and eliciting their alliance and aid, we might disrobe for spiritual exertions, taking it into account that they shared in the same nature as ourselves. For, just as generals, when their armies are arrayed and are already standing in line, stir up their own troops by recounting examples and memories of men of old who fought with distinction and valor, and the troops, stimulated thereby with the hope of victory, set out wholeheartedly for combat, so also do the God-bearing Fathers wisely act in our case. Encouraging both men and women to spiritual contests through the example of those who have lived in holiness, in this way they bring them to the arena of the Fast, in order that, looking to their lives as an excellent prototype, we might attain to the many different kinds of virtue, as each of us is able: first, love, and then conscious abstinence from unseemly works and deeds, and fasting itself, that is, not just from food, but also from the sins of the tongue, anger, sins of the eyes, and, to put it simply, refraining from all that is evil. For this reason, the Holy Fathers appointed the present commemoration of all the Ascetic Saints, adducing those who were well-pleasing to God for fasting and other good works, urging us to proceed, in their image, to the arena of the virtues, and exhorting us to arm ourselves valiantly against the passions and the demons, reckoning that if we show zeal equal to theirs, there is no impediment to our achieving all that they achieved and being vouchsafed the same rewards; for, they shared in the same nature as ourselves.

Concerning Cheesefare week, when it was previously permitted to eat meat, some say that Emperor Heraklios decreed its present form. After campaigning against Chosroës and the Persians for six years, he vowed to God that, if he prevailed against them, he would alter this week and make it intermediate between fasting and feasting, which he did. In my opinion, although this may have been the case, the Holy Fathers devised this week as kind of preparatory cleansing, lest we should become disgruntled at being led straight from consuming meat and overeating to extreme abstinence from food and damage our physical health, and so that, by abstaining gently and gradually from rich and delectable foods, we might, like recalcitrant horses, through a reduced intake of food, accept the bridle of fasting. That which they devised for the soul through parables, they also did for the body, little by little removing impediments to fasting.

By the intercessions of all Thine Ascetic Saints, O Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.

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Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
As preachers of true piety who silenced all impiety, Lord, Thou hast made the whole host of God-bearing Saints shine forth with splendour on the world. By their prayers and entreaties, keep all them that extol and sincerely magnify Thee in perfect peace, to chant and to sing to Thee: Alleluia.

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Constantine Cavarnos, Schemamonk and Professor, Has Reposed (1918-2011)

The following encomium was written by Archpriest Joseph Frawley in honor of the late professor and schemamonk Constantine Cavarnos.

The noted author and lecturer Schemamonk Constantine (Cavarnos) fell asleep in the Lord on the morning of March 3, 2011 at St Anthony's Monastery in Arizona, and was buried there the same day.

Dr Cavarnos was born in Boston in 1918, and graduated from Harvard University, where he also received a Doctorate in Philosophy. He taught at several colleges in America, and contributed articles and reviews to various publications through the years. In 1956, he founded the Institute of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies in order to promote interest in Orthodox spirituality, philosophy, and modern Greek culture.

He lectured in schools, seminaries, and parishes in this country and abroad, where his clear, lucid presentations were always well received.

Dr Cavarnos wrote nearly one hundred books including volumes on philosophy, theology, and the very popular series of Modern Orthodox Saints. His first book A DIALOGUE BETWEEN BERGSON, ARISTOTLE, AND PHILOLOGOS was published in 1949. His latest, THE PHILOKALIA, VOL. 2, was released just this year.

Although he began his career with philosophical studies, he progressed to the true philosophy, which is how the Church Fathers describe monasticism. Dr Cavarnos admired the monastic life, and wrote several books on the subject. Even while living and working as a layman, he seemed to be detached from the world. The late Greek Orthodox Archbishop Michael used to call him "a monk living in the world." Meeting him, one sensed that here was a man of true piety and prayer.

In the course of his career, Dr Cavarnos knew many prominent people. He has written of his long friendship with the Greek iconographer and writer, Photios Kontoglou, who brought about a revival of Byzantine iconography. He also knew some of the Orthodox Church's great Spiritual Fathers, such as Archimandrite Philotheos Zervakos.

When Dr Cavarnos lost his sight, he embraced the monastic life and was tonsured at St Anthony's Monastery in Florence, AZ. I believe he always intended to end his life in a monastery, and that this was the fulfillment of his fondest wish.

It was my privilege to know Dr Cavarnos for almost forty years. Whenever my wife and I would travel to the Boston area to visit family, we always tried to make time to visit him at his home in Belmont, MA. He was a major influence in my life through his books, lectures, and paternal counsel. Our conversations at his home were just like his books: uplifting, edifying, and soul-profiting. His books remain as his legacy, and will continue to inspire and instruct future generations of those who seek the heavenly Kingdom.

There was an understandable sadness when I heard that he had completed the course of his earthly life. However, there is also a sense of joy because he is, I believe, with God and with all the saints who ever lived.

May the Lord be merciful to the ever-memorable servant of God, Schemamonk Constantine, and give him rest in Abraham's bosom, and number him among the just.

Dr. Constantine Cavarnos lecturing at Holy Cross School of Theology in 1996.

My Memories of Dr. Constantine Cavarnos

By John Sanidopoulos

Dr. Constantine Cavarnos was a major Orthodox influence in my life. I first came to know of him working in my parents restaurant while in High School where they would receive the weekly Greek newspaper The Hellenic Chronicle. During down time I would read through this paper and took particular interest in the contributions of Dr. Cavarnos. When his travelogue book Anchored In God was released, there was a review in this paper that inspired me to read it. At the first opportunity I acquired this book and was so fascinated by his pilgrimage to Mount Athos that I stayed up all night reading it cover to cover with great attention. This was the first Orthodox book I ever read. Soon after a weekly series began in The Hellenic Chronicle on the topic of the immortality of the soul written by Dr. Cavarnos. When I read an announcement that he was to give a lecture on this topic at Sts. Constantine and Helen Church in Cambridge, MA I made sure to make plans to attend the lecture which was my first meeting with an Orthodox personality whom I admired.

While I was in Seminary Dr. Cavarnos was invited to give a lecture on the topic of Christian love (see photo above) in 1996. Soon after I visited his home with a friend named Peter and the then Fr. Savas Zembillas (now bishop), though only entered the first floor which had no furniture but a table with all his books. The only thing I remember in our conversation was his lamentation on the current translation of The Philokalia, which probably inspired him to begin his new translation, the second volume of which was his last published book.

I began a short correspondence with Dr. Cavarnos soon after on various topics of Holy Tradition and Iconography as I was studying at Seminary. By this time I had read many of his books. He eventually gave me his phone number and invited me to his home, which was actually in the town I grew up in nearby in Belmont, MA. Th first time I went alone and we had an interesting and pleasant conversation in his simple home, which looked like it had not changed in decoration since the 1950's, along with his sister whom he lived with. I was amazed that he was asking for my advice on who to include in his next volume on Modern Orthodox Saints, as he felt that he had run out of topics since he believed he had written on everyone he met. I encouraged him to explore new territory with either the people he had met or even who he had not met as in many of the previous volumes.

After this meeting I visited him a few other times by myself. The last time I visited his home was with my girlfriend at the time, since I wanted her to meet him as she was a relatively new convert from Catholicism. It was during this visit that I asked him what was the one thing lacking most among Orthodox in America who study Orthodoxy. He responded that it was the first principles of human thought - basic human logic. As a professor of philosophy he always tried to implement the study of logic in his students, since it is the foundation upon which human thought properly builds itself. As he spoke about it he offered my girlfirend and I to come weekly to his home and be taught logic from his old notes while he was a professor. We were excited for the opportunity, but unfortunately summer vacation was coming and it was to be put on hold since my girlfriend lived in Ohio. When she came back to Boston in the Fall we both became so busy with school and work and plans for our marriage, since we had become engaged, that we put off the class. Within a year we were married and had moved to North Carolina for three years, so the opportunity was regrettably missed.

In North Carolina we maintained an infrequent correspondence and he would send me his books signed by him, such as his book on Elder Gabriel Dionysiatis. Taking his advice however I did take a semester in North Carolina in Logic while studying for a Philosophy degree and saw how right he was in the need to understand the first principles of human thought in order to be a true thinker of deeper topics.

The last time I saw Dr. Cavarnos was when I returned to Boston to complete my Seminary studies around the year 2003. I was in the library when I began to hear someone in the next aisle praying the Jesus Prayer continuously with deep sighs here and there. I suppose he thought he was alone. I was in awe at his dedication to noetic prayer, a topic he often wrote about and even taught me much about. In all the years of studying theology, this was probably the most influential on me, as such a thing was rare to hear in a theological school. I didn't want to disturb him, but did talk to him later as he was leaving. Unfortunately life got in the way of my seeing him again.

Just a few days ago I was discussing something about Dr. Cavarnos in an email correspondence, of whom I had not discussed in a long time, and I first heard to my great joy that he was a monk at St. Anthony's Monastery in Arizona, no doubt for his admiration of Elder Ephraim. He was a great admirer of Elder Ephraim's spiritual father Elder Joseph the Hesychast, whom he met. I was also told he was frail and in a wheelchair now. A few days later I received the news that the previous day Dr. Cavarnos had reposed and was buried. His love for the ascetic tradition of the Church was fulfilled by being not only a monastic in the world, but as a tonsured monastic in a monastery in America. Though saddened by the news, I also felt a great joy that he ended his days in a monastery.

May his memory be eternal.

In the center is Greek literary figure Stratis Myrivilis. Next to him, on the right, is Dr. Constantine Cavarnos. Athens, 1958 (from the book "Meetings With Kontoglou").

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Saturday of Cheesefare: Commemoration Of All Ascetic Fathers and Mothers

By Sergei Bulgakov

On Saturday of Cheese Fare Week we commemorate "all the venerable Fathers and dedicated Mothers of the Lord, with the Hieromartyrs and Holy Women, known by name and unknown, who brightly shone forth living ascetically. Just as leaders before fully armed warriors and already standing in the front lines speak about the exploits of old heroes and that encourages the warriors, so precisely the holy Fathers entering into the fast direct the holy men, who have shone in fasting, and teach that fasting is not only abstaining from food, but also in controlling one's tongue, heart and eyes" (Synaxarion).[1]

In the hymns for this day the Holy Church appeals to her children: "Come, all ye faithful, let us praise the choir of the venerable fathers"; "Looking with awe at their valor, let us strive to equal them in virtue"; "Their radiance appearing in our souls, and through the brightness of their signs they have shed their light spiritually upon all the ends of the earth"; "They pray to the Lord for all the world to deliver us from the ancient curse, freeing us from torments".

Praising those who are well-pleasing to God, the Holy Church, turning from the face of their children exclaims in a melodious voice to them:

O Fathers of all the world, who among those born on earth can recount the wonder of your way of life? What tongue can express your holy efforts in the Spirit and your sweat? Was it your feats of virtue, the exhaustion of your flesh, your struggles against passions, in vigils, in prayers and tears? Truly you are shown to be like angels in the world, completely destroying the demonic powers, performing strange and wondrous signs. Therefore pray, most blessed Ones, that we may receive the never ending joy.

Together with these hymns the Holy Church, in view that this Saturday follows the commemoration of the Sunday of the Last Judgment, turning to us exclaims:

Let us cleanse ourselves, brethren, from all defilement of flesh and spirit, let us light the lamps of our souls by our love for the poor, not devouring one another by curses. For the time is nigh when the Bridegroom shall come to reward all according to their works. In the coming of the wise virgins, may we enter with Christ, crying to Him with the voice of the thief: Remember us, O Lord, when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom.

Kontakion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
As preachers of piety repressing impiety, You explained the assembly of the God-bearing Fathers making them shine on all under the sun. By their prayers, keep all who glorify and magnify Thee in perfect peace, singing to Thee, O Lord, Alleluia.

Notes:

1. The commemoration of some of these ascetics is celebrated at another time, and others are commemorated only on the present day.

In the service for this day we commemorate the following holy men and women:

Abbakyres (Egyptian, 6th century), Abramius (Oct. 29), Auxentius (Feb. 14), Agatho (Mar. 2), Acacius (July 7), Alonius (June 4), Anthony (Jan. 17) and his disciples: Nisthenor, the Sarmatian (killed in 357 by robbers in Thebaid, Aug. 30), Ammon (Oct. 4), Amonathas (Egyptian desert dweller, Dec. 12), Anubius (June 5), Aninas (Mar. 18), Antiochus (Dec. 24), Aris (Dec. 19), Arsenius (May 8) and his disciple Ammonius, Aphrodisius (Dec. 24), Athenodorus (Dec. 29), Apollos (or Apolonius, March 31), Achilles (Jan. 17), Athanasius (Jan. 18 and July 5), Athry (June 8), Ambrose (Dec. 7), Alexander (Aug. 30 and Dec. 12), Antipater (June 13), Amphilochius (Nov. 2_), Atticus (Jan. 8), Anatolius (July 3), Babylus (Dec. 28), Bassian (Oct. 10), Benedict (Mar. 14). Benjamin (Dec. 29), Bessarion (June 6), Basil (Jan. 1), Vitalis (Apr. 22), Vitymius (or Vitimion, venerable one of Egypt, 5th Century, Dec. 24), Gaius (Dec. 31), Gelasius (Dec. 31), Germanus (May 12), Gerasimus (Mar. 4), Gregory (Jan. 10 and 25 and Nov. 17), Gennadius (Aug. 31), David (June 26), Dalmatus (Aug. 3), Daniel (Dec. 11 and see Oct. 9), Dius (July 19), Dometius (Mar. 8), Dalmatou (or Matou, Cilicia, 5th century), Dionysius (Oct. 5), Diodochus (Bishop of Photicus in Epirus, teacher of the church in the 5th century), Eulabius (Bishop of Caesarea, 4th century, Aug. 30), Eulogius (the Egyptian, 4th century), Eusebius (June 22), Eustathius (Feb. 21), Euthymius (Jan. 20), Helladius (the hermit of the cells in Egypt, Nov. 9), Jerid (divine), Ephraim (Jan. 28), Epiphanius (May 12), Ennat (all-hymned), Zechariah (Dec. 5), Zoilus (of the Skete, 5th century), Zosimus (Apr. 4), Isaiah (an Egyptian hermit, 5th century), Elijah (the ascetic of the Jordan, 4th century), Hilarion (Oct. 21), Ischyrion (bishop, who died in peace, Nov. 23), Ivestion (Aug. 28), Hyperechius (Aug. 7), Hesychius (Jerusalem presbyter, 5th century), Ignatius (Dec. 20), Hierotheus (Oct. 4), Hierax (Nitrian hermit who died in 408), John (Mar. 30, Nov. 9 and 13), Ireneus (June 1), Joseph (June 17), Juvenal (or Juvenaly, June 2), Jerome (June 15), Karion (Dec. 5), Coprius (July 9), Castor (Aug. 12), Cassian (Feb. 29), his companion in Egypt. German (Bethlehem) and his contemporary Cassiana. Theonas (of the Skete), Callistus (June 20), Xenophon (Jan. 29), Cyprian (Aug. 31), Clem (or Clement, Nov. 25), Cyril (Mar. 18 and June 9), Laurence (May 10), Longinus (Nov. 17), Lot (Oct. 22), Leontius (Oct. 19). Maximus (Jan. 21), Marcian (Jan. 10), Mark (Mar. 5), Macarius (Jan. 19), Martinian (Feb. 13), Malchus (Mar. 26), Marcellus (Dec. 29), Milles (who raised the dead), Meletius (Feb. 12). Metrophanes (June 4), Michael (May 23), Moses (Aug. 28), Nilus (Nov. 12), Naucratius (June 8), Nikon (of Mount Sinai, 5th century), Nathaniel (Nov. 27), Nonus (Nov. 10), Nicephorus (June 2), Nectarius (Oct. 11), Nicholas (Dec. 6), Onuphrius (June 12), Horus (Aug. 7), Pambo (July 18) and his disciple Ammonium (Jan. 10), Paul (Jan., Oct. 4 and Nov. 6), Pachomius (May 15) and his disciple Silvanus, Palamon (Aug. 12), Proclus (Nov. 20), Palladius (Bishop of Helionopolis, author of Lausiac History, 5th century), Paphnutius (an Egyptian Bishop and confessor), Patermuthius (July 9), Passarion (Aug. 11), Petronius (Sept. 4), Peter (Nov. 25), Pinnuphrius (Nov. 27), Pitiron (Nov. 29), Poemen (Aug. 27), Pior (June 17), Porsyrius (the Great), Publius (Apr. 5), Psoes (Aug. 9), Rabulas (Feb. 19), Rufus (Oct. 22), Sisoes (July 6), Silvanus (Palestinian, 4th century) and his disciples: Mark and Zeno (June 19), Sabbas (Dec. 5) and his disciples: Agapetus, Anthimus and Dometian, Simeon (May, 24, Sept. 1, Stylite of Cilicia, 6th century, and July 21). Serapion (Nitrian, 4th century), Sophronius (Mar. 11), Spiridon (Dec. 12), Timothy (Feb. 21), Tithoes (Aug. 26), Tarasius (Feb. 25), Pharmuthius (Apr. 11), Flavian (Feb. 18), Phocas (hermit of the Skete, then of Palestine, 5th century), Phaidimus (the divine, Bishop of Amisus, 3rd century), Chariton (Sept. 28), Cherimon (Aug. 16), Theodore (Apr. 22, Dec. 27 and of the Thurman, 4th century), Theophanes (Oct. 11). Theodulus (Jan. 14), Theodosius (Jan. 11) and his contemporary (from obedience to him settled in a tomb) the priest Basil, Theoctistus (Sept. 3), Thalelaeus (May 20), Anastasia (Mar. 10 and Oct. 29), Vryaine (of Nisibis, Aug. 30, see June 25) and her disciple Thomaida (of Nisibis), Eupraxia (Jan. 12 and July 25), Euphrosyne (Sept. 25), Isidora (May 10), Julitta (Tabenna, June 14), Hiereia (June 3), Justina (the wise), Maria (Feb. 12 and Apr. 1), Marina (heavenly wise), Matrona (Nov. 9), Melania (Dec. 31), Platonida (Apr. 6), Pelagia (Oct. 8), Syncletica (Jan. 5), Sara (the Libyan, 4th century, July 13), Thais (Oct. 8), Febronia (June 25), Theodota (Nov. 1), Theodora (Sept. 11 and Dec. 30), Theodula (of Tabenna, a flame of fire in her way of life, died in 410).

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Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri Officially Included Among the Saints of the Orthodox Church

Aimilios Polygenis
March 4, 2011
Romfea.gr

According to information from the Church News Agency Romfea.gr, the Holy and Sacred Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate during its session has decided to induct Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri to its List of Saints of the Church of Greece.

The decision was taken following a letter sent by the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which called for the inclusion of Saint Ephraim into the List of Saints sixty years after the discovery of his relics.

A Synodical Bishop of the Ecumenical Throne, commenting on the decision to Romfea.gr, stressed that "the Righteous martyr Ephraim is honored by all Greeks as a saint, and he has also performed very many miracles, for which the Ecumenical Patriarchate has carefully considered the report and decided as necessary."

Also it should be noted that Metropolitan Kyrilos of Kifissia, Maroussi and Oropos arrived today at the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The information indicates that Metropolitan Kyrilos met at noon at the Phanar with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew where he was briefed on the decision of the Holy Synod.

Furthermore, attempts to induct St. Ephraim were attempted during the course of the Archbishopric of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos (1997) prompted then by Metropolitan of Attica Panteleimon Bezeniti.

Finally, according to information from Romfea.gr, at the Monastery of St. Ephraim of Nea Makri, at this time there were the ringing of the bells in celebration for the good news.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Read also:

Official Glorification Sought For St. Ephraim of Nea Makri

The Newly-Revealed Martyr Ephraim of Nea Makri

St. Ephraim of Nea Makri and the Atheist

An Icon of Saint Ephraim Preserved in the Fires of Nea Makri

The Woman From Kalymnos With the "Sacred" Slipper Reveals Her Intentions

Apolytikion in the First Tone
On Amomon Mountain, you shown forth like the sun, and O God-bearer, you left for God by martyrdom; you endured barbarians’ attacks, Ephraim, O great-martyr of Christ, because of this you ever pour forth grace, to those who piously cry out to you, Glory to Him who gave you strength, Glory to Him you made you wondrous, Glory to Him who grants through you, healings for all!

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