What Could Orthodox Christians Say To New Agers?

By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

The New Age means so many different things. A great deal that goes by the name "New Age" is very contrary to Orthodoxy. There is a kind of neopaganism in much of the New Age that we should be deeply suspicious of. But I am unhappy when people make a global denial of the New Age. I say this because in what is called the New Age there is a genuine searching for a spiritual meaning in life. Many people are attracted to New Age groups precisely because they are dissatisfied with modern materialism. The institutional churches, including the Orthodox Church, have failed these people. We have presented Christianity in a way that doesn't interest them. We have made Christianity seem to be nothing more than moralistic teaching; often we say little more than what a sociologist might say. But people don't want to hear from us what they could hear elsewhere, often much better expressed. They don't want to come to church simply to listen to our views about social issues and politics. Often we Christians have failed to bear witness to the transcendent reality of the living God and to the divine kingdom hidden within the heart. At how many Orthodox churches in America, I wonder, do you hear a Sunday sermon about the Jesus Prayer or the Sacrament of Confession? All too often you hear the kind of things that could be said better by a liberal humanist. So, I think the New Age has behind it a real seeking for spiritual truth that institutional Christianity has failed to satisfy. The movement may have gotten into very dubious side alleys, but there is also a sincere quest that we should not simply dismiss.

From Gifts of the Desert: The Forgotten Path of Christian Spirituality by Kyriacos C. Markides, pp. 173-174.

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Orthodox Faithful of Japan Ask for Prayers

The strongest earthquakes have repeated several times in Japan these days. There was an explosion at a nuclear power plant, after which the authorities started a massive evacuation of the nearby areas. There are said to be more than 1700 victims; more than 10 thousand people missing.

Immediately after the explosion at the nuclear power plant, “Orthodoxy and the World” websites’s journalist had contacted Father Nicholas Katsuban, a Russian Orthodox Church priest in Japan.

We did not stop worship

When the earthquake started, we were in the church, worship had just began, and in spite of strong aftershocks we continued to serve, to pray more fervently, although we understood what was happening. For the first time a natural disaster of such scale occurred in this country, one could not keep footing, our church was shaking. But something even more terrible happened: according to unofficial sources, a nuclear reactor in Fukushima exploded. The shocks passed along the territory of several reactors, the roof of one of them was blown down, all the constructions collapsed and an explosion occurred.

The ground went from under our feet

What the people have survived through these days is awful. Sendai suffered the most, many territories of this city are practically wiped out, there are many victims and wounded, and thousands of people made homeless. I’m in Tokio, the city was almost not hurt, but the shocks we felt were the most powerful ever. The ground went from under our feet, though damage in the capital is not great, and there were no human losses.

The recent tsunami greatly aggravated the situation. A giant wave took away many people and caused considerable damage. For a long time communication has been down, the electricity was damaged, and transportation also stopped.

Our main task is to help those in need

Now we are trying to keep close contact with our congregation and the representative offices’ staff. I have not received message that any of our faithful was hurt, or that churches were destroyed. Our main task now is to help those who need help and to avoid mass panic. The people worry, the people are afraid, but everybody tries to take a hold of oneself, there is no panic or hysteria.

On the whole, the city tries to live its normal life, there is no food supply shortage, but the traffic jams are huge. In the places where the tragedy occurred there is quite a different situation. There people suffer. Mass evacuation of people from the afflicted areas is going on, and from Fukushima some 30 000 people have been evacuated.

The most terrible is the explosion at the nuclear plant

We are ready at any moment to start providing active help, but nothing is clear now and everyone is at a loss, so we have to realize what has happened and what steps are to be taken. I think that further on it will become clear what to do and who is to be given necessary assistance. Honestly, is it the explosion at the nuclear plant that causes the most alarm, and the evacuation as far as 20 km away won’t be enough. The problem of the safety of the whole country is still uncertain, and the first few days after explosion are going to be the most dangerous ones.

One should have one’s heart in prayer

Nobody knows what will happen next. I know one thing, one is to have one’s heart in prayer, and I’m asking you, dear brothers and sisters, compatriots, do pray altogether for us sinners.

Prayers against earthquakes and for the salvation of the suffering

Pray to the Lord, pray to Our Merciful Mother Theotokos, pray to all the saints of God and the angels of heaven for calming of the elements. Now is the Triumph of Orthodoxy Sunday, so may Orthodox Christian prayer triumph in the heart of everyone lifting up their supplication to the throne of God.

Matushka Maria Matsushima reports from Japan:

Nagoya, where I live is all fine. But northern Japan suffered much.

Vladika Seraphim of Sendai called our Tokyo office by his cell phone and said that the cathedral in Sendai is safe, but he cannot contact the parishioners or find out what is the situation and damage of his diocese, as telephone and electricity stopped. There are many small churches and chapels there, and many brothers and sisters. Fr. Vasili is old and sick, living near coast.

The TV says that the Tsunami is still coming to the coasts. And earthquakes happen in the other areas. A nuclear power station has trouble, and people worry about the effects of radiation.

In Tokyo, Fr. John says in the Cathedral [Nikolaido], damage is not so big, some lampada glass and other items were broken. Still, aftershocks still continues.

Please add in your prayer the people who suffered in this disaster.

Donate to IOCC Japanese Relief here.

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St. Benedict of Nursia: The Twelve Steps To Humility

Brothers, divine Scripture calls to us saying: "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:11; 18:14). In saying this, therefore, it shows us that every exaltation is a kind of pride, which the Prophet indicates he has shunned, saying, "Lord, my heart is not exalted; my eyes are not lifted up and I have not walked in the ways of the great nor gone after marvels beyond me" (Ps 130 [131]:1). And why? "If I had not a humble spirit, but were exalted instead, then you would treat me like a weaned child on it’s mothers lap" (Ps 130 [131]:2).

Accordingly, brothers, if we want to reach the highest summit of humility, if we desire to attain speedily that exaltation in heaven to which we climb by the humility of this present life, then by our ascending actions we must set up that ladder on which Jacob in a dream saw "angels descending and ascending" (Gen 28:12). Without doubt, this descent and ascent can signify only that we descend by exaltation and ascend by humility. Now the ladder erected is our life on earth, and if we humble our hearts the Lord will raise it to heaven. We may call our body and soul the sides of this ladder, into which our divine vocation has fitted the various steps of humility and discipline as we ascend.

The first step of humility, then, is that a man keeps the "fear of God always before his eyes" (Ps 35 [36]:2) and never forgets it. He must constantly remember everything God has commanded, keeping in mind that all who despise God will burn in hell for their sins, and all who fear God have everlasting life awaiting them. While he guards himself at every moment from sins and vices of thought or tongue, of hand or foot, of self-will or bodily desire, let him recall that he is always seen by God in heaven, that his actions everywhere are in God’s sight and are reported by angels at every hour.

The Prophet indicates this to us when he shows that our thoughts are always present to God, saying: "God searches hearts and minds" (Ps 7:10); again he says: "The Lord knows the thoughts of men" (Ps 93 [94]:11); likewise, "From afar you know my thoughts (Ps 138 [139]:3); and The thought of man shall give you praise" (Ps 75 [76]:11). That he may take care to avoid sinful thoughts, the virtuous brother must always say to himself: "I shall be blameless in his sight if I guard myself from my own wickedness" (Ps 17 [18]:24).

Truly, we are forbidden to do our own will, for Scripture tells us: "Turn away from your desires" (Sir 18:30). And in the Prayer too we ask God that his "will be done" in us (Matt 6:10). We are rightly taught not to do our own will, since we dread what Scripture says: "There are ways which men call right that in the end plunge into the depths of hell" (Prov 16:25). Moreover, we fear what is said of those who ignore this: "They are corrupt and have become depraved in their desires" (Ps 13 [14]:1).

As for the desires of the body, we must believe that God is always with us, for "All my desires are known to you" (Ps 37 [38]:10), as the Prophet tells the Lord. We must ten be on guard against any base desire, because death is stationed near the gateway of pleasure. For this reason Scripture warns us, "Pursue not your lust" (Sir 18:30).

Accordingly, if "the eyes of the Lord are watching the good and the wicked" (Prov 15:3), if at all times "the Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see whether any understand and seek God" (Ps 13 [14]:2); and if every day angels assigned to us report our deeds to the Lord day and night, then, brothers, we must be vigilant every hour or, as the Prophet says in the psalm, "God may observe us falling at some time into evil and so made worthless" (Ps 13 [14]:2). After sparing us for a while because he is a loving father who waits for us to improve, he may tell us later, "This you did, and I said nothing" (Ps 49 [50]:21).

The second step of humility is that a man loves not his own will nor takes pleasure in the satisfaction of his desires; rather he shall imitate by his actions that saying of the Lord: "I have come not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (John 6:38). Similarly we read, “Consent merits punishment; constraint wins a crown.”

The third step of humility is that a man submits to his superior in all obedience for the love of God, imitating the Lord of whom the Apostle says: "He become obedient even to death" (Phil 2:8).

The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, his heart quietly embraces suffering and endures it without weakening or seeking escape. For Scripture has it: "Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved" (Matt 10:22), and again, "Be brave of heart and rely on the Lord" (Ps 26 [27]:14). Another passage shows how the faithful must endure everything, even contradiction, for the Lord’s sake, saying in the person of those who suffer, "For your sake we are put to death continually; we are regarded as sheep marked for slaughter" (Rom 8:36; Ps 43 [44]:22). They are so confident in their expectation of reward from God that they continue joyfully and say, "But in all this we overcome because of him who so greatly loved us" (Rom 8:37). Elsewhere Scripture says: "O God, you have tested us, you have led us into a snare, you have placed afflictions on our backs" (Ps 65 [66]:10-11). Then, to show that we ought to be under a superior, it adds: "You have placed men over our heads" (Ps 65 [66]:12).

In truth, those who are patient amid hardships and unjust treatment are fulfilling the Lord’s command: "When struck on one cheek, they turn the other; when deprived of their coat, they off their cloak also; when pressed into service for one mile, they go two" (Matt 5:39-41). With the Apostle Paul, they bear with false brothers, endure persecution and bless those who curse them (2 Cor 11:26; 1 Cor 4:12).

The fifth step of humility is that a man does not conceal from his abbot any sinful thoughts entering his heart, or any wrongs committed in secret, but confesses them humbly. Concerning this, Scripture exhorts us: "Make known your way to the Lord and hope in him" (Ps 36 [37]:5). And again, "Confess to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy is forever" (Ps 105 [106]:1; Ps 117 [118]:1). So too the Prophet: "To you I have acknowledge my offense; my faults I have not concealed. I have said: Against myself I will report my faults to the Lord, and you have forgiven the wickedness of my heart" (Ps 31 [32]:5).

The sixth step of humility is that a monk is content with the lowest and most menial treatment, and regards himself as a poor and worthless workman in whatever task he is given, saying to himself with the Prophet: "I am insignificant and ignorant, no better than a beast before you, yet I am with you always" (Ps 72 [73]:22-23).

The seventh step of humility is that a man not only admits with his tongue but is also convinced in his heart that he is inferior to all and of less value, humbling himself and saying with the Prophet: "I am truly a worm, not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people" (Ps 21 [22]:7). "I was exalted, then I was humbled and overcome with confusion" (Ps 87 [88]:16). And again, "It is a blessing that you have humbled me so that I can learn your commandments" (Ps 118 [119]:71, 73).

The eighth step of humility is that a monk does only what is endorsed by the common rule of the monastery and the example set by his superiors.

The ninth step of humility is that a monk controls his tongue and remains silent, not speaking unless asked a question, for Scripture warns, "In a flood of words, you will not avoid sinning" (Prov 10:19), and, "A talkative man goes about aimlessly on earth" (Ps 139 [140]:12).

The tenth step of humility is that he is not given to ready laughter, for it is written: "Only a fool raises his voice in laughter" (Sir 21:23).

The eleventh step of humility is that a monk speaks gently and without laughter, seriously and with becoming modesty, briefly and reasonably, but without raising his voice, as it is written: “A wise man is known by his few words.”

The twelfth step of humility is that a monk always manifests humility in his bearing no less than in his heart, so that it is evident at the Work of God, in the oratory, the monastery or the garden, on a journey or in the field, or anywhere else. Whether he sits, walks or stands, his head must be bowed and his eyes cast down. Judging himself always guilty on account of his sins, he should consider that he is already at the fearful judgment, and constantly say in his heart what the publican in the Gospel said with downcast eyes: "Lord, I am a sinner, not worthy to look up to heaven" (Luke 18:13). And with the Prophet: "I am bowed down and humbled in every way" (Ps 37 [38]:7-9; Ps 118 [119]:107).

Now, therefore, after ascending all these steps of humility, the monk will quickly arrive at that "perfect love of God which casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Through this love, all that he once performed with dread, he will now begin to observe without effort, as though naturally, from habit, no longer out of fear of hell, but out of love for Christ, good habit and delight in virtue. All this the Lord will by the Holy Spirit graciously manifest in his workman now cleansed of vices and sins.

– St. Benedict of Nursia, RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English and Latin, Chapter 7.

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Metropolitan Atanasije Responds To Remarks In Support of Artemije

Aimilio Polygeny
March 12, 2011
Romfea.gr

The Church News Agency "Romfea.gr", spoke a moment ago to the former Metropolitan Atanasije of Herzegovina (Jevtic) of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

The former Metropolitan Atanasije of Herzegovina through "Romfea.gr" replied to Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythera, who, in his message on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, wrote among other things:

"In the sensational 20th century there raged along with other heresies and falsehoods the pan-heresy of Ecumenism, which was criticized and condemned by the modern saint of the Serbian Orthodox Church, who was recently proclaimed a saint, St. Justin Popovich.

But unfortunately, today a variety of spiritual children of St. Justin - who proclaimed that the fall of humanity focuses on three individuals: Adam, Judas, and the Pope - not only do not embrace opposition to the pan-heresy of Ecumenism according to the remarks of their holy Spiritual Father, but will tolerate the defenestration and demotion of their virtuous confessor and Brother Bishop, who wars against Ecumenism, the Canonical Bishop of Raska and Prizren Artemije, without indictment, trial and defense, proceeding to joint prayers during the time of the Divine Liturgy and the Service of Artoklasia with the Papal Archbishop and Nuncio, who presumptuously comes forward with Orthodox bishops and clergy to bread blessed by the Patriarch of Serbs! What else shall we see ...."

Mr. Atanasije talking to the director of "Romfea.gr" Mr. Aimilio Polygeni, said: "Greetings Mr. Polygeni, good Sunday of Orthodoxy to you! I received the news that His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythera in his message for the Sunday of Orthodoxy refers to the lies of the defrocked Archimandrite Simeon Vilovski and the former Metropolitan Artemije of Raskoprizrenis."

"To what do you refer Your Eminence?"

"I refer to what Metropolitan Seraphim writes concerning Artemije being convicted and deposed without trial. These lies are spread by that defrocked one Simeon Vilovksi.

But Artemios shunned for four years to appear before the court of the Holy Synod. The Church does not force our government to force him to come to court. Canonically according to the 74th Apostolic Canon, after rejecting three committees he suffered the legal consequences for economic and other offenses.

Artemios spreads that he was not tried as he awaited trial in a State court. Now he has sued me on charges of falsehood and slander, but I will bring forward all the data that he lied."

"Your Eminence, are you talking about money? What do you mean?"

"Currently he has 38 monks and twelve nuns and he has formed a conventicle! With the money he took and has in banks in Greece, Switzerland and Serbia, he lead the Metropolis of Raska to be indebted one million euro.

With this money he buys land, apartments and houses, as in Belgrade he bought a floor and has a chapel, and the tenants complain.

The same was done in a village in the Metropolis of Zikis and he is now trying to invade Kosovo. Is man God to not forgive a brother, but he lies because he is not prosecuted for being an anti-ecumenist. We have other more serious problems.

Also, the Holy One of Kythera says St. Justin was betrayed by us his students, but I have to say that we have not betrayed him but he was betrayed by Artemije.

Father Justin criticized the Ecumenism between Rome and Geneva, but supported the Orthodox theanthropic Ecumenism which is the truth of Christ's Universality of the Church.

Artemije lies because Father Justin condemned pseudo-Ecumenism which he called a pan-heresy according to what Patriarch Germanos II (1230) said. We conduct a dialogue in truth as the then Patriarch.

The lies spread by the Holy One of Kythira does not serve Orthodoxy, and I am really sorry to say this on the Sunday of Orthodoxy!

Orthodoxy is truth and honesty, not lies and hypocrisy. Artemije does not know the Canons and he compares himself to St. John Chrysostom, which is megalomania unprecedented."

"Your Eminence, I was in Geneva and briefed by the Metropolitan of Montenegro that there will come to Greece a delegation of the Patriarchate to inform the people?"

"Absolutely, there will come to Greece a delegation of the Serbian Church to inform the people concerning the conviction of Artemije.

We cannot celebrate tomorrow the Sunday of Orthodoxy with lies. The Metropolitan of Kythera is a victim of the lies of Vilovksi, a fatal man of Artemije.

We spoke to him, we wrote him, even the late Patriarch Pavle spoke with him. Since 2006 we struggled to put things in order and nothing was accepted.

Artemije is not aware of the sacred Canons, he is not aware of the tradition and he raises the flag of pseudo-Orthodoxy like the zealots of Esphigmenou, unfortunately."

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Why Lent Must Rise Again

Abandoning true sacrifice cheapens Christianity.

G. Jeffrey MacDonald
March 13, 2011
Boston Globe

This past Wednesday marked the start of Lent, the 40-day Christian season of fasting and sacrifice in preparation for Easter. Lent resembles the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, though with one big difference: Muslims actually take Ramadan seriously. American Christians talk about fasting and deprivation, but most practice nothing of the sort. For Christians in this country, self-denial makes life less pleasurable. So why do it?

The question goes to the heart of what’s happening to Christianity in America. Practitioners are purging the tradition of its sacrificial dimensions. We’re remaking it as a type of spiritual self-help whose effectiveness is measured by how well it entertains us and affirms what we already believe. Since Americans love parties and hate to do without, Christianity is evolving to deliver. The diminution of Lenten practices illustrates the trend and highlights what’s lost when religion becomes a consumer commodity.

To see how far we’ve come, let’s recall our roots. Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and other biblical figures used 40-day periods of self-denial to cultivate humility as they prepared to face major challenges. Lent itself began in the early fourth century during a time when Christians were being fiercely persecuted. Seeking divine strength in discipline, some ancient communities would fast during daylight hours for weeks. Others would eat a minimal diet – no meat, no dairy, scant oils – as the Orthodox still do today. Repentant prayer and alms-giving became other hallmarks of a serious season for pondering and practicing the costs of discipleship.

Today Lent is widely ignored in Christian America. Seasonal sacrifices, if observed at all, tend to be token. For Catholics, “abstaining” can now consist of sumptuous fish dinners on Fridays; even a Good Friday “fast” can include two small meals. Some Protestants conveniently eschew sacrifice altogether – if no one can earn divine favor, why bother? Still others bring a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, marked by promises to exercise daily or do without sweets for a few weeks. True deprivation is rare. As a pastor I know once told me, giving up something for Lent “is kind of a big joke.”

How did Christianity’s most serious season become a joke in this supposedly religious country? We let desire become our master, and desire has no use for sacrifice. For centuries, Christianity sought to temper primitive desire for addictive pleasures, dominance of neighbors, hoarding of resources, and other idols that ruin lives. But the broader culture has persuaded us to cut loose, to obey our lowest passions, lest they fester into perpetual frustration.

Now religion is desire’s handmaiden. Americans routinely quit churches that fail to please them. And churches, anxious to survive, vie to offer what congregations want: happy, clappy celebrations; entertaining multimedia shows; supportive gatherings of like-minded people. Meanwhile, they jettison the harder and more edifying parts of Christianity, such as practicing repentance, sharing in others’ sufferings, and observing Lent.

In purging self-denial from the tradition, American Christians play into the hands of corporate merchandisers, who hope we’ll spend more and more year-round to quench unquenchable desires. Yet the highest price we pay is spiritual. Self-denial for a season fosters humility. It blunts the insidious delusion of entitlement. It shapes compassion for the poor and hungry by raising at least a measure of awareness of their circumstances. It breeds courage as we tell our lowest desires: No, you are not my master. I answer to a higher authority. With God’s help, it opens a way for higher desires to take root – for the creation of a new heart, in biblical parlance. To trade the inherited wisdom of this way for the cheap platitudes of self-help therapy is costly indeed.

Strangely, Americans recognize the value of sacrifice in pursuing material goals, such as prosperity via education. Yet we tell ourselves that spiritual growth can be cost-free.

It’s time for American Christians to reclaim the power of their tradition. Lent is the right time to start. The season beckons Christians to grow in character and compassion by walking in their ancestors’ footprints. Sure, we have no desire to fast, pray, or give alms this month. But that’s exactly why we should.

Swampscott-based G. Jeffrey MacDonald is a minister and the author of "Thieves in the Temple: The Christian Church and the Selling of the American Soul".

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The Icon In the East and In the West

March 8, 2010

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

We will consider the difference between the Orthodox-Byzantine icon and the Western icon according to two specific models found in the West and in the East.

The western style of the icon, such as prevailed in the West during the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, is best expressed in the paintings of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, which was painted in the 15th century by great artists, the most important of whom was Michelangelo.

Recently there was published a book which gives a new interpretation of the whole iconography of this church. This book is written by Professor Heinrich Pfeiffer, who tried to arrive at a theological interpretation of the iconography of the Sistine Chapel, the basis of which were the doctrines of Catholicism. It argues that in this work the choice of subjects, the details of the murals, the unity and harmony seen in the iconographic program, were not designed by the artists themselves, but by papal theologians at the time. On the subject of the Triune God, the iconography was based on the teachings of divine Augustine on the procession of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son.

It is remarkable that Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel as a sculptor and painted biblical personages as statues, founding "spontaneously anthropocentrism and the rule of classical antiquity."

Characteristic is the appearance of Judgement, which was painted by Michelangelo. Christ is presented with his right hand raised in a movement of rage and the entire performance is affected by the movement of the right hand of the Judge. And as a researcher has noted, "for the first time an artist appointed by the Pope of the Roman Church gives an image of Christ that departs from the standard iconographic type and refers to a pagan deity." Perhaps here he wanted to express the absolute power of the pope throughout the world, being the vicar of Christ on earth.

Elder Sophronios, an Orthodox iconographer himself, when he visited the Sistine Chapel, wrote: "The soul is not available at all for prayer, but only for various artistic and philosophical reflections." Regarding the representation of Christ as Judge, he specifically wrote: "It's as if he is a 'champion athlete' hurling into the abyss of hell all those who dared to resist him. The gesture is 'vindictive', raw ... And I'm certain that it is not the authentic evangelical Christ."


How different things are in Orthodox iconography, as shown in the icon of the Second Coming of Christ, but also in the image of the Transfiguration of Christ and the Resurrection. Inside the Sistine Chapel they could not fit in the images of the Transfiguration and the Resurrection, and this is characteristic.

Let us reflect on the hagiography of another Michael, Michael Panselinos, in the Protaton of Mount Athos. These paintings have caught the attention of all scholars of art, but also of ordinary people. The Holy Community of Mount Athos has said that "the frescoes of the 'Great Church of Protaton' is the fruit and essence of the internal monastic and liturgical life of the Holy Mountain. In this visual treasure of our holy land, theological profundity, spiritual depth and a classical aesthetic, are a fruitful harmony of the compositions, the beauty of the forms and the brilliance of the colors." According to an expert opinion on art: "The murals of Protaton reflect a conscious shift and renewed interest in the Byzantine world in the classic ideal of the harmonious, however, it is coupled with the spirituality of the Christian society it represents."

Archimandrite Sophronios writes that Orthodox icon painters act on the basis of their personal experience. Some of them eliminate analogies and disfigure the human form in order to distract the praying mind from the earthly and lead it to heaven, and others with the icon want to express the union of created and uncreated. This latest case presupposes a theoptic experience.

The differences between Byzantine and Western icons are clear. The Byzantine icons show Christ in glory, but with a deep peace, approaching man with philanthropic and kenotic love. They are images of love, affection, tenderness. At the same time, Orthodox icons reflect the inwardness of man, the union of uncreated and created, the transfiguration of man from the uncreated Light which entered into human existence and issues out of the body into all creation. It surrounds the man who sees this with tenderness, affection and love. At the same time the cheerful Light issues out of Christ and sanctifies the whole creation.

Antithetically, there can be observed in the religious icons of the Western Renaissance the anthropocentric worldview of ancient Greek civilization, the confidence of man in himself, the rule of logic, power and pleasure, and the challenge of traditional values in that the art has an anti-metaphysical realistic character. In the West there is created a plastic icon based on humanistic experience and knowledge, which translates into a form that signals a renewal of faith in human powers and his mundane destiny. Western religious art which is naturalistic and humanistic is the humanization of dogma and has human passions in its sacred scenes.

Source: Excerpt translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Synaxarion For the First Sunday of Great Lent

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

FIRST SUNDAY of LENT

On the same day, the First Sunday of the Fast, we commemorate the restoration of the Holy and Precious Icons, which was brought about by the ever-memorable Emperors of Constantinople, Michael and his mother Theodora, during the Patriarchate of the Holy Confessor Methodios.

Verses

I rejoice, on seeing the Icons that were unworthily
Banished being accorded fitting veneration.


Synaxarion

When Leo the Isaurian, from being a donkey-driver and a peasant, gained the scepters of the Empire, by God’s permission, our Father among the Saints Germanos, who governed the Church at that time, was immediately summoned by him and was told: “In my opinion, Master, the holy Icons do not differ in any way from idols; command, therefore, that they be removed from our midst; if they are true images of the Saints, let them be hung higher up, lest we who ever wallow in sins defile them by kissing them.” The Patriarch tried to dissuade the Emperor from such hatred, saying: “Do not do such a thing, O Emperor; for I hear that someone by the name of Conon is going to rage against the holy Icons.” “When I was still a child,” the Emperor replied, “that was my name.”

Since the Patriarch could not be persuaded to agree to the Emperor’s policy, he was sent into exile and replaced by Anastasios, who shared Leo’s views; thus was the latter emboldened to make war at that time against the holy Icons. It is said that this hatred for the Icons was first suggested to him by Jews; when he was poor and was making a living from donkey-driving with them, they had foretold by sorcery that he would ascend the imperial throne. After Leo died an evil death, Constantine Copronymos, the still more savage whelp that sprang from him, succeeded him as ruler, and even more, in his maniacal opposition to the holy Icons. And what need have we to say how many and what kind of evils the iniquitous man perpetrated? When Constantine died a still more horrible death, his son, Leo the Khazar, became his successor as Emperor. When he, too, died an evil death, his consort Irene and their son Constantine inherited the Empire. Guided by the most holy Patriarch Tarasios, they convened the Seventh OEcumenical Synod, and the Church of Christ received back the holy Icons. When they ceased to rule, Nikephoros, the Logothete of the Treasury, ascended to the throne, and then his son Stavrakios; after him reigned Michael Rangabe, and they both venerated the Divine Icons. Michael was succeeded by the bestial Leo the Armenian, who, corrupted through trickery by a certain impious recluse, stirred up the second wave of Iconoclasm, and once again the Church of God was deprived of her finery. Leo was succeeded by Michael the Amorian, and he in turn by his son Theophilos, who left the other devotees of Iconoclastic madness in second place.

It is said of this Theophilos, who had given many of the Holy Fathers over to outrageous torments and chastisements on account of the precious Icons, was keenly concerned about justice, that at one time he inquired whether there was anyone in the city who had harassed one of his fellow-citizens, and that, after many days had gone by, no one of this description was found.

After an autocratic reign of twelve years, he succumbed to dysentery, and, when he was about to die, his mouth opened up to such an extent that his entrails were visible deep inside. The Empress Theodora was greatly distressed over this incident; no sooner had she fallen asleep, than she beheld in a dream the immaculate Theotokos, holding the pre-eternal Infant in her arms, surrounded by shining Angels, and Theophilos, her husband, being scourged and rebuked by the Angels. When she awoke, Theophilos, recovering slightly, cried out: “Woe is me, the wretched one! I am being scourged on account of the holy Icons!” The Empress immediately placed the Icon of the Theotokos on him, beseeching her with tears. As for Theophilos, although he was in such a condition, when he saw one of those standing around wearing an Enkolpion, he grabbed it and kissed it, and at once, the mouth which had insolently raged against the Icons and the throat which was lying so wantonly open returned to their natural state. Theophilos, gaining respite from the violent pain that had gripped him, fell asleep, confessing that it is a good thing to honor and venerate the holy Icons. The Empress brought out the precious and holy Icons from her coffers and made Theophilos kiss and honor them wholeheartedly. After a short while, Theophilos reposed. Recalling all who were in exile or in prisons, Theodora bade them live in freedom, and John Grammatikos, nicknamed Jannes, who was more a mantiarch and demoniarch than a Patriarch, was deposed from the Patriarchal throne. Saint Methodios, the Confessor of Christ, who had previously suffered much and been confined alive in a tomb, ascended the throne.

This being the situation, a Divine visitation was made to Saint Ioannikios the Great, who dwelt on Mount Olympos; for the great ascetic Arsakios came to him, saying: “God sent me to you, so that we may go together to the most holy recluse Isaiah in Nicomedia and learn from him what is pleasing to God and fitting for His Church.” And indeed, they went to the most holy Isaiah and heard from him the following: “Thus says the Lord: Lo, the end has come for the enemies of Mine Icon; go, therefore, to the Empress Theodora and also to Patriarch Methodios and tell them this: ‘Curb all of the ungodly, and may you thus offer Me a sacrifice, together with the Angels, venerating the Icon of My countenance and that of the Cross.’”

On hearing this, they went straight to Constantinople and reported what they had been told to Patriarch Methodios and all the elect of God. After gathering together, they went to the Empress, and found her amenable in every way, for from her childhood she had been pious and God-loving. At once the Empress took out the Icon of the Theotokos that was hanging round her neck and kissed it in the sight of all, saying: “If anyone does not venerate and kiss these Icons out of love, according them relative honor, not worshipping them, and honoring them not as gods, but as Icons of their archetypes, let him be anathema.” They all rejoiced greatly. She in turn asked them to make supplication for her husband Theophilos. On seeing her faith, although they disowned Theophilos, they were nonetheless convinced. Saint Methodios assembled all the people, all the clergy, and the Hierarchs in the Great Church, and went there himself. Leading figures from Olympos, Saint Ioannikios the Great, Arsakios, and Navkratios, and also the disciples of Saint Theodore the Studite, the Confessor Theophanes the Branded, Michael Synkellos from the Holy City of Jerusalem, and very many others, made supplication to God all night long for Theophilos, all praying with tears and fervent entreaty; and they did this throughout the first week of the Fast. Empress Theodora did the same together with the women of the court and rest of the people.

This being so, Empress Theodora fell asleep at dawn on Friday, and it seemed to her that she was standing beside a large Cross and that certain men were traversing the road and creating a tumult, carrying various instruments of torture; in the midst of them, the Emperor Theophilos was being led in fetters, with his hands tied behind his back. On recognizing him, she followed after those who were leading him. When they reached the Bronze Gate, she saw there a Man of magnificent appearance, seated in front of the Icon of Christ, before Whom they placed Theophilos. Grasping His feet, the Empress entreated Him on behalf of the Emperor. Opening His mouth with reluctance, He said: “Great is your faith, O Lady; know, therefore, that on account of your tears and your faith, and also on account of the supplication and entreaty of My servants and My Priests, I am granting forgiveness to your husband, Theophilos.” He then said to those who were leading him away: “Release him and hand him over to his wife.” After receiving him, she departed, rejoicing; and at once she awoke. Such was the vision of Empress Theodora.

After the prayers and supplications for her husband had finished, Patriarch Methodios took a clean piece of parchment, and wrote on it the names of the heretical emperors, inserting that of Theophilos also, and placed them all beneath the Holy Table. On Friday, he, too, saw an awesome Angel entering the Great Church, who said to him: “Your entreaty has been heard, O Bishop, and Emperor Theophilos has obtained forgiveness. Henceforth, therefore, cease to trouble God about him.” Wishing to find out whether what he had seen in the vision was true, he descended from his throne. Taking the scroll, he unrolled it and—O the judgments of God!—found that the name of Theophilos had been completely erased by God.

On learning of this, the Empress rejoiced exceedingly and sent a message to the Patriarch that he should assemble all the people, with Relics of the Precious Cross and holy Icons, in the Great Church, so that the adornment of the holy Icons might be restored to the Church and that the wondrous miracle might be made known to all. And indeed, almost everyone assembled in the Church with candles, and the Empress arrived with her son. Starting from there, they all processed with the holy Icons, the Relics of the Precious Cross, and the Holy Gospel, until they reached a place called Milion, crying out: “Lord, have mercy.” Thereafter, they returned to the Church and celebrated the Divine Liturgy, the holy and venerable Icons having been put back in place by the aforementioned holy men. Those who were pious and right-believing were acclaimed, while the impious enemies of the Faith, who did not accept the veneration of the holy Icons, were denounced and consigned to anathema. These holy Confessors appointed that this sacred solemnity thenceforth be celebrated annually, lest we should ever fall again into such impiety.

O Thou Who art the exact Image of the Father, by the intercessions of Thy holy Confessors, have mercy on us. Amen.

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Apolytikion in the First Tone
O Christ our God, begging forgiveness of our sins, we venerate your pure image O Good One. Of Your own will You condescended to ascend upon the Cross in the flesh and delivered those you created from the bondage of the enemy. Wherefore, thankfully we cry out: When You came to save the world You filled all things with joy, O our Savior.

Kontakion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
The undepictable Word of the Father became depictable when He took flesh of you, O Theotokos; and when He had restored the defiled image to its ancient state, He suffused it with divine beauty. As for us, confessing our salvation, we record it in deed and word.

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The First Sunday of Great Lent Prior To the 9th Century

The first Sunday of Great Lent, since the 9th century, has been called “The Sunday of Orthodoxy.” This is due to the fact that on the first Sunday of Great Lent in the year 843, (a purely historical coincidence, having little to do with our journey to Pascha per se) the icons, frescoes, mosaics and other liturgical graphic art as well as relics were restored to the churches after nearly 95 years of iconoclasm between 730 and 843 (there was a respite of about 25 years in the middle).

Prior to the ninth century, Great Lent was primarily used for catechesis, especially for the preparation of catechumens for baptism. Sundays would present themes for their benefit and these themes were reflected in the Epistle and Gospel readings for the day.[1] The first Sunday commemorated the Prophets, especially Moses, Aaron and Samuel; on this day, the catechumen would learn how they foreshadowed the coming of Christ.

Today, the Divine Liturgy contains elements of this tradition, especially in the readings chosen for the day: both the Epistle and the Gospel suggest that Christians, living in the time when the words of the prophets have been fulfilled, have access to greater things than the prophets could ever have imagined.

After speaking of the faith and sacrifices of the Old Testament righteous, the author of Hebrews concludes: “And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect” (Heb. 11:39-40).

The Alleluia verses are then chanted in Tone 4 (from Psalms 99:6; 34:17): "Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among them that call upon His Name." "They called upon the Lord, and He hearkened unto them."

The Gospel makes this real clear: it presents Jesus as the expectation of the prophets, the Messiah:

At that time, Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip and said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, "We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!" Jesus answered him, "Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these." And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (John 1:45 -51).

At the deepest level, the focus of Great Lent was (and should still be) catechetical preparation of the catechumen for the Paschal Mystery of Baptism. Thus, the first and essential theme of the first Sunday of Great Lent is the proclamation that New Life in Christ comes after a long period of preparation. The Epistle and Gospel reading for Liturgy that day affirms — even promises — that the catechumens who are preparing themselves for Baptism at Pascha will behold great things: they will lay aside the Old Creation and embrace the New Creation; they will leave behind the Old Aeon and enter into the New Age; they will give up the kingdom of this world, replacing it with the Kingdom of which the Old Testament Righteous, by faith, experienced only as a foreshadowing. The catechumens (and all the faithful) will experience not in shadow but in truth. We are surrounded by the cloud of witnesses who urge us to throw off everything that weighs us down and clings to us. We will see the heavens open up and we will behold the Lord Jesus.

Now, when most Orthodox Christians are baptized as infants, and Christianity has entered the mainstream, the time of Great Lent means something else. Certainly the educational practice remains – it is, of course, always helpful to remind ourselves of the truths of our faith, because each time we encounter them, the more they penetrate our lives. But the themes have changed, they are now emphasizing different aspects of the Christian faith - as we find, for example, with the first Sunday of the Great Fast. It’s now the Sunday of Orthodoxy, and it celebrates the restoration of the icons in Hagia Sophia on Feb. 19, 842, issued by the Synod of Constantinople in 842 on that date, and declared, by that Synod, to be remembered every First Sunday of Lent. It was seen as the triumph of the true faith over heresy, because the veneration of images was not only allowed, but proclaimed, and those who wanted to explain why the practice is in accord with the Christian faith could do so without without fear of persecution. The veneration of the images became, itself, an image of Orthodoxy, for orthopraxis and orthodoxy are intricately linked: when one is rejected, how it is explained entails a rejection of the other. Unorthoprax iconoclasm was fueled by unorthodox Christology and Soteriology. It sponsored a gnostic understanding, not only of the incarnation, but of the Christian life, because, by its dictates, the physical could no longer be seen as united with the spiritual.

No one could describe the Word of the Father; but when he took flesh from you, O Theotokos, He accepted to be described, and restored the fallen image to its former beauty. We confess and proclaim our salvation in word and images (Kontakion, Sunday of Orthodoxy).

1. The Epistle and Gospel readings are done at the point in the Divine Liturgy prior to the dismissal prayers for the catechumens. This ended the Liturgy of the Word in which the catechumens could participate, while the Liturgy of the Faithful was exclusively for the baptized Christians.

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Why the Holy Church Proclaims "Anathema"

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

The terrible word anathema, by which the Holy Church punishes those who betray the right belief, means excommunication and exile from the society of believers, cutting off from the spiritual and mystical body of Christ, deprivation of all spiritual rights which the faithful children of the Church are used to. To be cut off from the Church means to lose everything that the Heavenly Father through the incarnation of His Only-begotten Son and that were granted to us through faith in Him, to lose the grace of baptism and adoption by God the Father, the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, by which we were signed in the Sacrament of Chrismation; to lose the most heavenly meal of the Body and Blood of the Son of God, without which there is not nor can there be eternal life for us; to lose the favor of the Father of Heaven, even the very right to pray to Him and to ask Him for anything; to lose hope itself for eternal life, to lose the hope of eternal salvation itself, beforehand to be confident in its everlasting destruction (Full Collection of the Sermons of Demetrius, Archbishop of Chersonese, vol. 4, page 250 ff.).

Such a terrible penalty for apostates from the right belief is based on the words of our Lord Jesus Christ: "If he refuses even to hear the Church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector" (Mt. 18:15-17). The Apostles, following the sayings of the Lord, put away unworthy people from the society of the faithful (see 1 Cor. 5:13; 1 Tim. 1:20), using excommunication, as the last measure of severity for the explanation of the guilty, when all means for their correction were unsuccessful and when the advantage of an excommunication both for the excommunicated and for the Church was expected (1 Cor. 6:5). The Holy Church, having established to annually do the Rite of Orthodoxy in which the anathema to the heretics is proclaimed, has in view to show them the depth of the evil to which their sophism has thrown them. To be tolerated in the bosom of the Church, they could ease their conscience that their errors do not in themselves exclude the inevitable destruction for their souls, that the image of their ideas can be still combined with spirit of the Gospel, that they, at least, have not so far avoided the general way in order that they honor already those who have completely strayed. And here the Holy Church, using the shame of those who strayed, takes away from them the attraction of the special wisdom from the errors, by which they are deceived. Struck by the name of God, she takes away their hope for security. Opposing the established confession of the true faith through the sophism of individuals exposes the insignificance of the latter. In such a way the anathema proclaimed by the Holy Church is its last warning voice for those who have strayed.

Together with these the Holy Church by its proclamation of the anathema to the heretics has in view a warning to its faithful children from the fall. Its thousand-year experience witnesses that no wound is spread so quickly, is so opposed to all efforts of healing such as free thought, self-will and depravity. That no kind of afflictions, no kind of persecution have torn away so many souls from the faith in Christ and have ruined it for ages as heresies and schisms. Therefore even its motherly love motivates the Holy Church against such danger, to raise its voice of judgment and foreboding in order to warn all about threatening perdition. By such action of highest love the Church judgment now made, it is possible to see also from this, that before, rather than to start from the decision of its court, the Holy Church not one-sidedly and fervently prays that the Lord, according to His mercy without end, showed His love even to those who strayed from the true faith. In order that the love without end of God does not allow the devil and His fierce enemies to blind to the end and to destroy forever. In order that the grace of the All Holy Spirit abound where hardness and persistence abound, their reason became enlightened in the knowledge of truth, their heart burned with the warmth of love, their hardened hearts were broken by the fear of the judgment of God, and turned him from his error and he entered into the saving rampart of the Church of God. Already after this act of mercy the Holy Church with bitter sorrow proclaims not a curse like some people wrongly understand, but a cutting off of the unfortunate from the society of the faithful, who by their false belief and stubbornness, by their words cut themselves off from this sacred society. In such a way the Holy Church now does not show excessive strictness, but the necessary judgment of truth, made together with love and mercy for her enemies who caused her countless grief. She did not seek their destruction, but their conversion and salvation. Eternal damnation does not betray them, but excommunication offers them forgiveness and mercy if they will understand and repent.

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The Litany in Mykonos On the First Saturday of Great Lent

March 12, 2011
Romfea.gr

The entire island of Mykonos gathered for a three-hour walking litany with the icon of Panagia Tourliani from the Monastery in Ano Mera in Hora to enthrone it in the parish Church of Saint Kyriaki, where she will remain until the Saturday Lazarus. This is an old custom of the island.

The processional parade, nine kilometers long, was led by Metropolitan Dorotheos, the priests of the island, the Mayor of Mykonos, the Harbor Master, the Deputy Governor of 6 MSEP, students from the elementary school Ano Mera, the municipal band, flags and banners of patriotic associations and local clubs.

Metropolitan Dorotheos said the following at the Church of Saint Kyriaki:

"... Our Panagia, our Mother, made us worthy again today to accompany her on the annual holy pilgrimage from Ano Mera in Hora, of the blessed island of our nation in Mykonos, because she gave us a bright and sunny day after the snowstorm of the previous three days!

Who ordered you to walk for three-hours to bring you here with us? No one! The voice of internal intention and disposition served as our companion! And God sees this and rewards!

This is what our parents passed on to us, what we deliver to our children today, the hundreds of which spontaneously processed with us... And let us inform those who criticize Mykonos, because they do not really know that here lives a people who do not depart from faith and tradition, and who does not allow anyone to change the Orthodox Cycladic identity and steal from the tabernacle of its heart the precious jewel of the faith of the Church and its tradition ... "

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The Glories of Byzantium

Maligned for centuries, the empire that checked the Ottoman advance into Europe is today being celebrated.

Judith Herrin
March 12, 2011
The Wall Street Journal

One of the world's great empires is on the move, in our imaginations and in the place that it occupies in our understanding of the modern world. Byzantium used to call to mind a sterile, bureaucratic and yet violent society, corrupted by fatuous complexities. The worst failings in our own societies would be described as "Byzantine."

But over the past 20 years this image has begun to shift in important ways. Two great exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (in 1997 and 2004)— and more recent ones in Paris, London and Bonn—brought a large audience face to face with a thousand years of riveting artistic achievement. And a new generation of scholars has emerged, re-evaluating the very idea of Roman decline or Dark Ages and arguing that the barbarian forces that occupied the empire's western provinces adopted, adapted and thus perpetuated many of the Roman methods of administration. The term "Late Antiquity" embodies this long period of transition, which transformed the Roman world while integrating aspects of Latin culture with the Christian hierarchy of bishops and monks, who were themselves often recruited from the senatorial classes. At the same time, the recent emergence of an Islamic challenge to the West has urged our engagement with the Christian power that first withstood Muslim attacks and defended Europe's eastern frontier for centuries.

Byzantium is unusual among empires in having a precise beginning and end. Constantinople was inaugurated by Emperor Constantine I in 330 and fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. And across that long millennium it developed from being the eastern half of the vast Roman Empire into a brilliant medieval state that expanded into the Balkans, the Caucasus and southern Russia before being split into three separate units when Constantinople was occupied by the Latin crusaders between 1204 and 1261. It was restored to Byzantine rule, but the state gradually shrank to just the city and a few outposts in mainland Greece.

The excellence of Byzantine administration—hardly Byzantine at all by our usage—is nowhere clearer than in the power of the Byzantine standard gold coin, the solidus (known as the bezant in medieval Europe). First issued by Constantine I in the early fourth century, it retained its 24-carat value and was the coin of choice in international trade for more than 700 years. It took a self-conscious and creative government to manage this extraordinary achievement: one that puts to shame our present devalued currencies and monetary instability.

Even after Byzantium's conquest by the Ottomans in 1453, its culture and traditions continued to be felt far and wide. Czarist Russia claimed to have replaced Constantinople as the leading patriarchal see and styled Moscow as the "Third Rome." The court rituals of Louis XIV's Versailles mimicked the Byzantine imperial ceremonies, creating an elaborate pyramid of family relations with court officials in fixed proximity to the monarch and distinguished by specific costumes and weapons. Even the British coronation ceremonies can trace their origin back to Byzantium. And in many regions the Orthodox Church still sustains the Greek liturgy, so richly endowed by Byzantine contributions.

In this way, an enormous pile of booty "transformed the crusading paupers into the richest citizens," as one Western monk put it. The famous horses of San Marco were robbed from Constantinople's Hippodrome and mounted on the façade of the cathedral of Venice—which is itself a tribute to the Byzantine architecture of the dome, perfected six centuries earlier in the cap ital's great cathedral, the Hagia Sophia ("Holy Wisdom"). In the years after 1204, a vast number of Byzantium artifacts, silks, ivories, enamels and jewels found their way into western cathedral treasuries.

The very designation "Byzantium" is a further complication (specialists dispute the name to be given to this empire). During the life of the empire, the term was reserved for Constantine's city, originally a Greek colony called Byzantion, whose inhabitants liked to vaunt their identity as "Byzantines." All the others who lived within the vast imperial borders called themselves "Romans," and they knew that their empire was Roman. Yet the adjective "Byzantine," first adopted by 16th-century humanists to distinguish east from west, is more than just a convenience; it recalls the city's original pride and draws attention to the extraordinary vitality of an empire that perdured with such success after the western empire's collapse. Constantine I's decision to be buried in a Christian mausoleum in the city set in train the process that helped to make Byzantium a Christian Roman Empire. All his successors wanted to be interred beside him, eventually creating a shrine to the Christian rulers of the Roman Empire.

So why has this remarkable empire for so long been perceived as abhorrent and rebarbative, when not being dismissed? The neglect of Byzantium by historians may be traced to the sack of Constantinople in 1204 by members of the Fourth Crusade. The crusaders justified their plunder and desecration of churches and monasteries by projecting onto the city and its civilization all their own worst faults: The eastern Christians were condemned as schismatics or even heretics; their wealth was therefore ill-gained and undeserved.

From the beginning, Byzantium manifested highly creative and original impulses to re-fashion rich, pre-existing traditions. Its inner Greek fire came from a unique combination of traits. When Constantine created his new capital, he brought together Roman administrative skills, law and military traditions; the Hellenic wisdom long sustained by ancient Greek education; and the dynamic new Christian belief (which later became the state's driving force). As he fought his way from York to Rome and on to the east, Constantine came to know these strengths at first hand. Like most Romans, he appreciated the superiority of ancient Greek culture, which provided the essential education for all ambitious men—and some women, like Hypatia, the fourth-century philosopher and mathematician. By the fifth century, Constantinople had schools to rival those of Athens and Alexandria (and Beirut for law), with teachers paid directly from the imperial treasury. This re-fashioning genius can be physically experienced today in the Hippodrome of Istanbul—the Roman race track, almost in the shadow of the Hagia Sophia— where Greek and Latin inscriptions appear on the base of an obelisk that originally commemorated a pharaonic military victory of the second millennium B.C.

The city quickly generated a highly sophisticated work force. Its artisans produced the Mediterranean world's most elegant silks, carved ivories and gold enamels. Its engineers constructed the immense walls that kept all enemies out of Constantinople until 1204. The recent excavations of the harbor of Theodosius (today Yenikapi) have yielded more than 30 boats and their cargoes and shown how the capital attracted traders and craftsmen from across the Mediterranean. Venice, Genoa and Pisa established quarters within the city, while Syrian and Russian merchants stayed in particular residences when they came to trade. In the 1090s, as the western forces of the First Crusade arrived at Constantinople, they were overcome with awe at the wealth and sophistication of the eastern capital, the like of which they had not even imagined. The city was larger than any in Western Europe, with a population of about 500,000— a level not attained by Paris until the 17th century.

Byzantine innovations began attracting the interest of modern historians between the wars. Among the most notable was Robert Byron, whose discovery of the neglected empire produced the highly romantic and alluring views of "The Byzantine Achievement" (1929). In contrast, Jack Lindsay, in "Byzantium Into Europe" (1952), emphasized how Byzantium acted as a buffer between Islam and Europe. Steven Runciman's well-researched and elegantly phrased books established a sympathetic appreciation of Greek Orthodoxy, particularly notable in "The Fall of Constantinople, 1453" (1965) and "The Great Church in Captivity" (1968). (It also permeates his great three-volume "History of the Crusades," an eminently readable account now criticized precisely for its fluency.) Runciman's "Byzantine Civilization" (1933) remains a short, accessible account that still repays reading after 75 years. Such historians established, half a century ago, how difficult Byzantium's position was between aggressive states east and west.

Academic authors have been less skilled at presenting their research in accessible ways—though I hope that my "Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire" (2007) is an exception. But the contemporary interest in east-west conflict and how empires collapse has brought new readers to major reassessments of Byzantium's historical significance and helped to extend the study of the "barbarian" forces that sought to bring down empires. Both Peter Heather's "Empires and Barbarians " (2009), although it only treats the first millennium A.D., and John Darwin's "After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000 " (2007) consider Byzantium in such a comparative perspective.

It was the rise of Islam that ultimately undermined the dominion of Christian Byzantium. The empire checked the first great wave of Muslim expansion in the 630s, and by 740 a more secure border with the caliphate in Damascus was established at the Taurus mountains in southeastern Turkey. The empire had lost the rich provinces of Egypt, Palestine and Syria but over the years restored imperial control in areas of Armenia and northern Syria. Challenged by the Bulgars in the west, Byzantium also fought many campaigns in the Balkans; it always had to balance the two very distant fronts with the immense lines of communication and logistical support extending from the Caucasus to the Adriatic.

The last phase of Byzantine power, from 1261 to 1453, was marked by military failure and shrinking control but also by a great cultural explosion. Architects and painters constructed and decorated churches and monasteries with brilliant mosaics and frescoes in all parts of the empire: the Chora monastery in Constantinople and those of Mount Athos, churches at Trebizond on the Black Sea and Mistras in the Morea (in southern Greece). Icon painters, silversmiths and manuscript illuminators produced exquisite liturgical objects (for example, the manuscripts commissioned by Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos in the 1350s).

In intellectual pursuits, Byzantine scholars learned Latin and translated works of Augustine and Aquinas, leading to greater knowledge of western theology; they also copied and added to the Byzantine repertoire of epigrams, scientific writings and collections of letters. Jonathan Harris's new study, "The End of Byzantium" (Yale University Press, 298 pages, $40), shows expert knowledge of the Greeks in the west and of cultural trends in humanistic thought and explains the attraction of Latin theology for many Byzantine intellectuals. Mr. Harris provides a sympathetic reading of the civil wars and conflicts engendered by the empire's fundamental problem in this era: how to balance Byzantine traditions with the need for military aid from the West in order to confront the Ottoman Turks.

Although emperors continued to look west for help, in 1453 the Byzantines faced vastly superior forces (armed with the latest in cannon technology) supported by only a few loyal Venetians resident in the city and a body of archers recruited by Isidore of Kiev and Bishop Leonard of Chios. It was a very unequal battle. In the end the Byzantines had to chose between east or west. While many aristocratic families fled to Venice, the peasants, who could not move, accepted Ottoman rule. It has been argued that their lives did not change much with the arrival of Mehmet the Conqueror.

We can celebrate today a great civilization that stretched from Novgorod to southern Egypt, and from Spain to the Euphrates. The millennium of Byzantine civilization profoundly influenced our modern world. Its achievements resonate and become clearer with every new excavation and major exhibition and historical analysis sympathetic to its surprising and lively character.

Ms. Herrin is professor of late antique and Byzantine studies at King's College London and the author of "Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire" (Princeton).

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Oldest Christian Church in Thessaloniki Discovered

Apostolos Papapostolou
March 12, 2011
Greek Reporter

Among the highlights of the newly discovered church was the mosaic floor uncovered when structures of the later basilica were removed. This was showed a white field with a clematis theme, dominated by a phoenix with a halo and 13 rays in the centre. On either side are a number of birds, of which seven still survive, two of the right and five on the left.

Archaeologist surmise that there were originally 12 birds, six on either side of the phoenix, and that the picture allegorically represents Christ and the 12 apostles. The mosaic is unique in Thessaloniki and is dated sometime toward the end of the 4th and start of the 5th centuries A.D.

The small, one-room church was converted into a larger basilica in the 5th century, paved in marble, its naves separated by collonades and its walls decorated with marble panels and murals. In the 7th century the church suffered extensive damage and was poorly renovated, while it was finally abandoned in the 8th to 9th century.

According to archaeologist Melina Paisidou, who announced the find at the 24th Meeting for Archaeological Work in Macedonia and Thrace, the church’s position and very early age, as well as its duration and renovations, place it among the most important Early Christian churches of the city and its foundation may well be linked with one of the city’s martyrs. She said that a site north of the school of theology was being considered in order to transfer the monument.

Other finds unearthed during construction of the metro include a richly carved Roman-era marble sarcophagus and the base of what was probably a storage area.

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Synaxarion For the First Saturday of Great Lent

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

FIRST SATURDAY of LENT

On this day, the Saturday of the First Week of the Fast, we celebrate the wondrous miracle wrought through Kollyva by the holy and glorious Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit.

Verses

The Recruit entertaineth the city with the nourishment of Kollyva,
Thereby rendering the polluted delicacies ineffective.


Synaxarion

When Julian the Apostate, who ruled over the Empire after Constantios, the son of Constantine the Great, had departed from Christ to idolatry, a mighty persecution was stirred up against Christians, both openly and secretly. Refraining from inflicting savage or inhuman punishments on them, the ungodly Emperor tempted the Christians in the following way: feeling shame, and at the same time suspecting that more might be added to their numbers if he persecuted them openly, the crafty and impious man plotted somehow to pollute them secretly.

Observing that our Christian race purifies itself and devotes itself to God more during the First Week of the Fast, he summoned the Eparch of the city and ordered him to remove the food that was usually for sale and to set out other comestibles in the marketplace, namely bread and beverages, having first mixed these with the blood from his sacrificial offerings, polluting them in the process, so that, when the Christians purchased them during the Fast, they might be defiled rather than cleansed. The Eparch carried out his order immediately and set out all over the marketplace the food and drink that had been polluted with blood from the sacrifices.

But the all-seeing eye of God, Who catches the wise of this world in their cleverness and ever provides for us, His servants, destroyed the loathsome devices directed against us by the Apostate. He dispatched His Great Trophy-bearer, Theodore the Recruit, to Evdoxios, the Archbishop of the city, who had obtained this office improperly.

Standing before Evdoxios, not in a dream, but while he was awake, St. Theodore spoke words such as these: “Arise with all speed and gather together the flock of Christ, and order them under no circumstances to buy any of the items set out in the marketplace; for they have been polluted by the most impious Emperor with blood from his sacrificial offerings.” Puzzled by this, the Archbishop asked: “And how can those who do not have abundant provisions in their homes easily avoid buying food from the marketplace?” “Provide them with Kollyva,” the Saint replied, “to relieve them in their time of need.” Puzzled again, and not knowing what Kollyva was, Evdoxios asked the Saint for an explanation. The great Theodore replied: “It is boiled wheat; for this is what we are accustomed to calling it in Evchaïta.” When the Archbishop inquired who precisely this provider for the Christian people might be, the Saint answered: “I am Theodore, the Martyr of Christ, Who has just now sent me to aid you.”

The Archbishop arose at once and announced what he had seen to the multitude. By acting thus, he preserved Christ’s flock unharmed by the machination of their enemy, the Apostate. When Julian saw that his trickery had been exposed, that he had accomplished nothing, and that he had been sufficiently put to shame, he ordered the usual comestibles to be put back in the marketplace.

At the end of the week, the Christian people gave thanks to their benefactor, the Martyr, and joyously celebrated his memorial on this Saturday with Kollyva. Ever since then, and up until now, we faithful revive this miracle, lest the Martyr’s great deed become forgotten with the passage of time, and celebrate the memory of the Great Theodore with Kollyva.

By his intercessions, O God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen.

Source

Friday and Saturday of the First Week

By Sergei Bulgakov

Friday Evening of the First Week

Friday begins the commemoration of St. Theodore the Recruit. At the Presanctified Liturgy, after the Prayer before the Ambo, the Molieben with the Canon to St. Theodore is sung before the "offered Koliva" and the Koliva is blessed. The Order of the Blessing of the Koliva is in the Typicon (Ustav), in the order for Friday of the First Week. The prayer for the blessing of the Koliva is found in the Priest's Service Book (Sluzhebnik), in the order of blessing of the Koliva on feasts. Concerning food on this day the Typicon (Ustav) reads: "Entering the refectory; we partake of wine and oil for the holy saint. For this is done in the Laura of our Father among the Saints Sabbas and in the Coenobium of the Ven. Euthymius the Great. But we do not do this now in honor of the day, and moreover we eat plum preserves without oil and food." They also voluntarily eat xerophagy as on Wednesday.

Saturday of the First Week

On this day the Holy Church commemorates St. Theodore the Recruit, "great among martyrs, spiritual athlete, illustrious and renowned, glorified for his miracles, from one end of the earth to the other". By this commemoration the Holy Church inspires the faithful that lent is pleasing to the God and that fasting is under the special protection of God.

On all Saturdays of Lent, except for Passion Saturday, there is a liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. On Sundays, except for Palm Sunday, the liturgy is that of St. Basil the Great.

In the refectory on Saturday of the First Week "we eat scalded beans, with white and black olives and preserves with oil. We drink a cup of wine in honor of the Saint. This practice agrees with that of the Laura of Our Venerable Father Sabbas and with our God-bearing Father Euthymius".

Source

Apolytikion in the Second Tone
Great are the achievements of faith! In the fountain of flame, as by the water of rest, the holy Martyr Theodore rejoiced; for having been made a whole-burnt offering in the fire, he was offered as sweet bread unto the Trinity. By his prayers, O Christ God, save our souls.

Kontakion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Having received the Faith of Christ in thy heart as a breastplate, thou didst trample upon the enemy hosts, O much-suffering champion; and thou hast been crowned eternally with a heavenly crown, since thou art invincible.

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St. Theodore of Tyron Day In Bulgaria

March 11, 2011
Quest Bulgaria

March brings a host of traditional celebrations, which make life in Bulgaria both culturally rich and tremendous fun. Todorov Den is celebrated during the first week of the Orthodox Church's Long Lent and is often known as ‘Horse Easter.'

St Todor

Theodore of Tyrone, was known as a martyr from Amassia in Asia Minor. He lived during the time of the emperor Maximian and was born into the Christian faith. As a Roman legionary, his troop was stationed at Euchaita. The legion's commander instructed his men to make a sacrifice to some of the pagan gods. This being against Theodore's religious beliefs he spoke out and said, ‘I adore only Christ. It is only to him that I'm willing to offer a sacrifice.' His love of Christ was so strong that he burnt a pagan temple to the ground one night and was caught by other soldiers who took him to the governor Publius. After questioning he was put into jail on the governors orders. He was not treated badly at first, he was offered bread and water to eat, but he refused it. Publius even offered him the post of high priest, but Theodore said that his love of Christ was such that he would withstand any torture given to him rather than betray God. Publius feared that other Christians may follow Theodore's example so he sentenced him to die at the stake.

In 361, fifty years after Theodore's death, Emperor Julian the Apostate a confirmed pagan was attempting to stamp out Christianity. He ordered that during the Christian Lenten 40-day fast all food sold in Constantinople should be sprinkled with the blood of those people sacrificed to the pagan gods, his reasoning was that this would mean that everyone in the city was actually participating in the worship of the pagan gods. The Church holds that at this time, God sent Theodore to see Eudoxius, Patriarch of Constantinople to urge him to tell all of the Christians not to buy any of this food, but to make their own kolyva, which was made from grain. The Orthodox Church has celebrated this event on the first Saturday of Lent ever since. Reverend Vassil Kotsev says, "The story of the holy Martyr Theodore of Tyrone is indeed amazing. A professional warrior, otherwise a staunch Christian, Theodore stood up against the inhuman attitude to the Christian faith in his time. Professing fearlessly his faith, Theodore was subjected to inhuman tortures and met with death at the stake. Ever since, he's been one of the holy martyrs of Christianity."

The Bulgarian Celebration

Todorov Den is celebrated in many different ways across Bulgaria, but first and foremost anyone with a name deriving from Todor celebrates this as their name day. Traditional kolyva is taken to church and blessed by at a special service to honour the saint. Horses play a leading role because they are still a central part of working village life. Many towns and villages hold horse races and tests of the horse's strength in the main streets. These races are not dogged by issues of health and safety; riders often ride bare back without the need for helmets. The tests of strength require the horses to pull a felled tree and the distance is measured, this is the type of work that these horses do on a daily basis in parts of Bulgaria. The famous 19th century Bulgarian historian Dimitar Marinov once noted, "The fastest horse, all decked in wreathes, paced ahead, amidst drums and whistles. Everyone would gather at the hub of the village where lasses and lads start a grandiose horo dance encircling the horses and the riders. The horse-race winner would then reach his home and, there, a maid or his young bride would welcome him with a white pot of water or wine." Even today in towns like Chepelare in the Rhodope Mountains , the tradition has not changed.

In Western Bulgaria, newlywed winter brides rise early and bake kolyva, which they take straight to the church. All of the bread is arranged in a pattern and a special ceremony takes place; the girls wear long white scarves around their heads, they must bow three times in front of their mother-in-law. This act ends the traditional period of silence observed by new brides as a mark of respect to their in-laws. The group of brides and mothers then join hands and dance. In the eastern part of the country, young girls go out into the fields to invite the spring to come by singing and dancing. They do this over three days, one of which coincides with Todorv Den. In kindergartens small children learn the songs and dances relevant to the celebration and often put on a performance with wooden horses.

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The Place of Holy Relics In The Orthodox Church

By St. Justin Popovich

Without doubt, matter is represented in the human body in a manner which is most puzzling, most mysterious, and most complex. The brain: What wondrous mysteries pass between its physical and spiritual parts! How vast is the experience of the human race. In no manner can one ever fully comprehend or grasp these mysteries. Indeed, little of this is accessible to the human senses or intellectual investigation. So it is also with the heart of man, formed as it is entirely and solely from cosmic mysteries. So formed, too, are every cell, every molecule, every atom. Everyone and all are set on their mystical path toward God, toward the God-Man.

Inasmuch as it was created by God, the Logos, matter possesses this same theocentricity. Moreover, by His advent into our earthly world, by His all-embracing condescension as God and Man for the redemption of the world, the Lord Christ clearly demonstrated that not only the soul, but matter also was created by God and for God, and that He is God and Man; and for it, matter, He is all and everything in the same manner as for the soul. Being created by God, the Logos, matter is, in its innermost core, God-longing and Christ-longing.

The most obvious proof of this is the fact that God the Word has become Incarnate, has become man (St. John 1:14). By His Incarnation, matter has been magnified with Divine glory and has entered into the grace- and virtue-bestowing, ascetic aim of deification, or union with Christ. God has become flesh, has become human, so that the entire man, the entire body, might be filled with God and with His miracle-working forces and powers. In the God-Man, the Lord Christ, and His Body, all matter has been set on a path toward Christ —the path of deification, transfiguration, sanctification, resurrection, and ascent to an eternal glory surpassing that of the Cherubim. And all of this takes place and will continue to take place through the Divine and human Body of the Church, which is truly the God-Man Christ in the total fullness of His Divine and Human Person, the fullness “that fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:23). Through its Divine and human existence in the Church, the human body, as matter, as substance, is sanctified by the Holy Spirit and in this way participates in the life of the Trinity. Matter thus attains its transcendent, divine meaning and goal, its eternal blessedness and its immortal joy in the God-Man.

The holiness of the Saints—both the holiness of their souls and of their bodies—derives from their zealous grace- and virtue-bestowing lives in the Body of the Church of Christ, of the God-Man. In this sense, holiness completely envelopes the human person—the entire soul and body and all that enters into the mystical composition of the human body. The holiness of the Saints does not hold forth only in their souls, but it necessarily extends to their bodies; so it is that both the body and the soul of a saint are sanctified. Thus we, in piously venerating the Saints, also venerate the entire person, in this manner not separating the holy soul from the holy body. Our pious veneration of the Saints’ relics is a natural part of our pious respect for and prayerful entreaty to the Saints. All of this constitutes one indivisible ascetic act, just as the soul and body constitute the single, indivisible person of the Saint. Clearly, during his life on the earth, the Saint, by a continuous and singular grace- and virtue-bestowing synergy of soul and body, attains to the sanctification of his person, filling both the soul and body with the grace of the Holy Spirit and so transforming them into vessels of the holy mysteries and holy virtues. It is completely natural, again, to show pious reverence both to the former and to the latter, both to soul and body, both of them holy vessels of God’s grace. When the charismatic power of Christ issues forth, it makes Grace-filled all the constituent parts of the human person and the person in his entirety. By unceasing enactment of the ascetic efforts set forth in the Gospels, Saints gradually fill themselves with the Holy Spirit, so that their sacred bodies, according to the word of the holy Apostle, become temples of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19; 3:17), Christ dwelling by faith in their hearts (Ephesians 3:17) and by fruitful love also fulfilling the commandments of God the Father. Establishing themselves in the Holy Spirit through grace-bestowing ascetic labors, the Saints participate in the life of the Trinity, becoming sons of the Holy Trinity, temples of the Living God (II Corinthians 6:16); their whole lives thus flow from the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit. By piously venerating the holy relics of the Saints, the Church reveres them as temples of the Holy Spirit, temples of the Living God, in which God dwells by Grace even after the earthly death of the Saints. And by His most wise and good Will, God creates miracles in and through these relics. Moreover, the miracles which derive from the holy relics witness also to the fact that their pious veneration by the people is pleasing to God.

The pious veneration of holy relics, based on their miraculous nature, originated from Divine Revelation. Even in the Old Testament God deigned to celebrate with miracles the holy relics of certain of those who were well-pleasing to Him. Thus, by the touch of the holy relics of the Prophet Elisea, a dead man was resurrected. The tomb and bones of this Prophet, who had prophesied to Jeroboam the destruction of idolatrous altars, were greatly revered in Judea. The Patriarch Joseph also left a testament to the sons of Israel to preserve his bones in Egypt and, during their exodus, to carry them to the promised land (Genesis 50:25).

The New Testament raised the human body to the sublime and divine heights, endowing it with a glory which the Cherubim and Seraphim do not possess. The Good News of the New Testament concerning the body—the significance and goal of the human body—is that, together with the soul, it achieves and inherits immortal life in Divine eternity. The Lord Christ has come to deify, to make Christ-like, the entire man, that is, the soul and body, and this by the resurrection, insuring thereby victory over death and eternal life. No one ever elevated the human body as did the Lord Christ by His bodily resurrection, the ascension of His body into heaven, and its eternal session at the right hand of God the Father. In this way, the Resurrected Christ extended the promise of resurrection to the nature of the human body—”having made for all flesh a path to eternal life.” Thus man now knows that the body is created for eternity through union with the God-Man and that his divine work on earth is to struggle, with the soul, for eternal life; to struggle, with all those means that convey grace and virtue, to make himself grace-filled, fulfilled by Divine grace, and created anew as the temple of the Holy Spirit, the temple of the Living God.

Bearing in mind that this New Testamental notion of the human body has been achieved and realized in the persons of the Saints, Christians show a pious veneration for the bodies of the Saints, towards holy relics, the temples of the Holy Spirit, Who by God’s grace abides within them. But Holy Revelation indicates that by God’s immeasurable love for man, the Holy Spirit abides through His grace not only in the bodies of the Saints, but also in their clothing. So it is that the handkerchiefs of the holy apostle Paul healed the ill and expelled unclean spirits (Acts 19:12). With his mantle the Prophet Elias struck the water, separating the waters of the Jordan, and along the dry bed of the river crossed the Jordan with his disciple Elisea (IV Kings 2:8). The prophet Elisea did the very same thing, himself, with the same mantle, after the taking-up of Elias into heaven (IV Kings 2:14). All this has its verification and source in the Divine power that rested in the garments of the Savior, which encompassed His most pure and Divine body. Moreover, by His inexpressible love for man, the Divine Lord allows the servants of His Divinity to work miracles not only through their bodies and clothing, but even with the shadow of their bodies, which is evident in an occurrence with the holy apostle Peter: his shadow healed an ill man and expelled unclean spirits (Acts 5:15-16).

The eternal good news of Holy Revelation about sacred relics and their pious veneration is proved, and is continually being proved, by Holy Tradition from Apostolic times to the present day. Innumerable are the sacred relics of the holy Chosen Ones of God throughout the Orthodox world. Their miracles are innumerable. The pious veneration of these relics by Orthodox Christians is everywhere to be found. And without doubt this is because the holy relics, through their miracles, incite the Orthodox toward their pious veneration. From the very beginning, in Apostolic times, Christians piously preserved the honored relics of the Holy Forerunner and the holy Apostles, so that these could be preserved even for us. As well, during the times of persecution the sacred remains of the bodies of the holy Martyrs were taken away by Christians and hidden in their homes. From that time until now, the sacred relics of the holy Chosen Ones of God have, by their miracles, poured forth the immortal joy of our faith into the hearts of Orthodox Christians. The proofs concerning this are countless. We shall cite only several.

The way that the holy relics of the Saints were translated and greeted is in a touching manner described by St. Chrysostomos in a eulogy on St. Ignatios: “You, inhabitants of Antioch, have sent forth a bishop and received a martyr; you sent him forth with prayers, and received him back with crowns; and not only you, but all the cities which lay between. For how do you think that they behaved when they saw his remains being brought back? What pleasure was produced! How they rejoiced! With what laudations on all sides did they beset the crowned one! For as with a noble athlete, who has wrestled down all his antagonists, and who comes forth with radiant glory from the arena, the spectators receive him, and do not suffer him to tread the earth, bringing him home on their shoulders and according him countless praises. So also every city in turn received this Saint from Rome, and bearing him upon their shoulders as far as this city, escorted the crowned one with praises, hymning the champion…. At this time the holy Martyr bestows grace to the very same cities, establishing them in piety, and from that time to this day he enriches this city.”

Speaking of the miraculous power of holy relics, Saint Ephraim the Syrian relates the following concerning the holy Martyrs: “Even after death they act as if alive, healing the sick, expelling demons, and by the power of the Lord rejecting every evil influence of the demons. This is because the miraculous grace of the Holy Spirit is always present in the holy relics.”

During the finding of the relics of Saints Gervasius and Protasius, St. Ambrose, in speaking to his listeners, relates this with pious enthusiasm: “You know—indeed, you have yourselves seen—that many are cleansed from evil spirits, that very many also, having touched with their hands the robe of the Saints, are freed from those ailments which oppressed them. You see that the miracles of old times are renewed, when through the coming of the Lord Jesus grace was more abundantly shed forth upon the earth, and that many bodies are healed as it were by the shadow of the holy bodies. How many napkins are passed about! How many garments, laid upon the holy relics and endowed with the power of healing, are claimed! All are glad to touch even the outside thread, and whosoever touches it will be made whole.”

Speaking of the miracles produced by holy relics, the blessed Augustine says: “To what do these miracles witness, but to this faith which preaches Christ risen in the flesh and ascended with the same flesh into heaven? For the martyrs themselves were martyrs, that is to say, were witnesses of this faith…. For this faith they gave their lives, and can now ask these benefits from the Lord in whose name they were slain. For this faith their extraordinary constancy was exercised, so that in these miracles great power was manifested as the result. For if the resurrection of the flesh to eternal life had not taken place in Christ, and were not to be accomplished in His people, as predicted by Christ…, why do the martyrs who were slain for this faith which proclaims the resurrection possess such power? …These miracles attest this faith which preaches the resurrection of the flesh unto eternal life.”

Saint Damascene, summarizing the life-giving teaching of Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition concerning the pious veneration of holy relics, preaches in a Cherubic manner from the altar of his God-bearing and Christ-like soul: “The Saints have become according to grace that which the Lord Christ is according to nature. That is, they have become gods according to grace: pure and living habitations of God. For God says: ‘I will dwell in them, walk in them, and I will be their God’ (II Corinthians 6:16; Leviticus 16:12). The Holy Scriptures likewise say: ‘the souls of the righteous are in God’s hand, and death cannot lay hold of them’ (Wisdom of Solomon 3:1). For death is rather the sleep of Saints than their death. Further: ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints’ (Psalm 119:6). What, then, is more precious than to be in the hand of God? For God is life and light, and those who are in God’s hand are in life and light. Further, that God dwells even in their bodies in a spiritual manner the all-divine Apostle attests: ‘Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you?’ (I Corinthians 3:16). And, ‘the Lord is Spirit’ (II Corinthians 3:17). Thus, the evangelical truth: ‘If anyone destroy the temple of God, him will God destroy—for the temple of God is holy, and ye are that temple’ (I Corinthians 3:17). Surely, then, we must ascribe honor to the living temples of God, the living dwelling-places of God. These, while they lived, stood with boldness before God. The Lord Christ granted us the relics of the Saints to be fountains of salvation unto us, pouring forth manifold blessings and abounding in sweetly fragrant oil. Let no one disbelieve this! For if water burst in the desert from the steep and solid rock according to God’s will (Exodus 17:6), and from the jawbone of an ass to quench Samson’s thirst (Judges 15:14-19), is it then unbelievable that fragrant oil should spring forth from relics of the holy Martyrs? By no means, at least to those who know the omnipotence of God and the honor which He accords to His Saints. According to the Old Testament law, everyone who touched a dead body was considered impure (Numbers 19:11). However, the Saints are not dead. For from the time when He Who is Himself Life and the Author of life was counted among the dead, we do not call those dead who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and with faith in Him. For how could a dead body work miracles? And how, through the holy relics, are demons driven off, diseases dispelled, the sick made well, the blind restored to sight, lepers cleansed, temptations and tribulations overcome; and how does every good gift come down from the Father of lights (St. James 1:17) to those who pray with sure faith?”

The universal faith of the Church concerning the pious veneration of holy relics was confirmed by the God-bearing Fathers of the Seventh Œcumenical Synod in its decrees: “Our Lord Jesus Christ granted to us the relics of Saints as a salvation-bearing source which pours forth varied benefits on the infirm. Consequently, those who presume to abandon the relics of the Martyrs: if they be hierarchs, let them be deposed; if however monastics or laymen, let them merely be excommunicated.”

….That a pious veneration of the holy relics is a constituent part of the salvation rendered by the God-Man is also evidenced by the following facts: from the depths of sacred antiquity, churches were built on the graves and relics of Saints, and the holy Liturgy is performed only on antimensia, in which are placed parts of the holy relics. Moreover, the divine service books, especially the Menaion, are replete with prayers and hymns which refer to the pious veneration of holy relics….

All in all, the mystery of holy relics is at the heart of the universal mystery of the New Testament: the incarnation of God. The full mystery of the human body is explained by the incarnation, the embodiment of God in the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, then, the Gospel message concerning the body: “The body for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (I Corinthians 6:13). And through a human body also the entire creation, all of matter, received its divine significance, the universal meaning of the God-Man. By man, who is sanctified in the Church by the holy mysteries and the holy virtues, the creation and even matter are sanctified, united to Christ. There accrues to this also a joy—the myrrh-streaming property of many relics. This wonder of myrrh has been given to the holy relics in order to indicate that Christians are truly “a sweet-savour of Christ unto God” (II Corinthians 2:15), sweet-smelling to God and to heaven. The truth of the Gospel is that the sin of man is a foul odor before God and every sin pleases the devil. Through the holy mysteries and holy virtues, Christians become “a sweet-savour of Christ unto God.” For this reason, then, the holy relics of the Saints pour forth myrrh.

Source: Orthodox Tradition, Vol. VII, No. 1, p. 9.

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