The Conversion of French Photographer Frère Jean (Gérard Gascuel) to Orthodoxy

March 22, 2011
Interfax

Photographer Gérard Gascuel who worked with Marcel Marceau and Salvador Dali and now is Hieromonk Gerasimos says he decided to become a monk after hearing an Athonite monk singing.

"I was 33 when the editor in chief of an influential Japanese magazine sent me to Greece to make a report about the life of Athonite monks," Father Gerasimos was quoted as saying by the Rossijskaya Gazeta daily on Tuesday.

Going around the monasteries he came upon a monastery where there is an ancient tradition to keep skulls of deceased monks.

"I went into the crypt and then life was divided: 'before' and 'after'. When I was going back I met a Greek monk and we talked about the meaning of life. His English was poor... And suddenly he started singing!" Father Gerasimos recalls.

According to him, it was then that he decided to become a monk.

"I made a decision in few seconds. Having returned to France, I delivered my report to the magazine, sold my estate and became an ordinary monk on Athos. I spent many years in the Holy Land at St. Savvas Monastery in the Judean desert. I met my spiritual father there. I realized that death is not the end," Father Gerasimos tells about his spiritual way.

He became a monk, but he is still a photographer, though he managed to found and become rector of an Orthodox monastery in the French town of Cévennes.

Frère Jean's (or Brother John, as he is known among artists under this name) exhibition will take places in Nizhny Novgorod.

Read more here.

See his official website here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Fr. Theodoros Zisis Responds To St. Justin Popovich

Panagioti Antoniou Andriopoulou, theologian
March 21, 2011
Amen.gr

In our days "anti-ecumenists" have a common reference point: the recently proclaimed saint in the Serbian Church, Father Justin Popovich. They use this saint to "brandish" the heads of "heretical ecumenists".

As has been written repeatedly and demonstrated de facto, the Emeritus Professor of Theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Father Theodoros Zisis has played a leading role in the "anti-ecumenist struggle" and is revered by "anti-ecumenists".

If someone researches Volume 9, No. II of the magazine Klironomia (Publication of the Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies, Thessaloniki, July 1977) they will find a very interesting and topical article (p. 433-460) of the lecturer of the University of Thessaloniki Theodoros N. Zisis, titled:

THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE AND ARCHIMANDRITE JUSTIN POPOVICH (A Positive Response)

Fr. Theodoros Zisis answers the criticisms of Fr. Justin Popovich concerning the role of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in preparation for the Great Council of Orthodoxy, which he had delivered as a relevant memorandum to the hierarchy of the Serbian Church. Fr. Theodoros refutes the objections of Father Justin, making a brief review of the history and contribution of the Ecumenical Patriarchate during the Turkish period. Attacking the Autocephaly of Greece he refers to the deduction of theology in Greece, and stresses that "Orthodoxy was protected by the Ecumenical Patriarchate also in the precincts of the ancient Patriarchates of the East under hardship, where foreign propaganda strongly clouded through proselytism."

Fr. Theodoros considers as "unfounded" the criticisms of Fr. Justin Popovich against the Ecumenical Patriarchate and bases the "unfair criticism" of Fr. Justin on a misunderstanding of his attitude towards Orthodox monasticism and "incomplete and incorrect information" by Fr. Justin.

Father Theodoros Zisis emerges in the pages of the article as a great champion of the entire "political" (ecclesiastical, that is) stance of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Patriarch Athenagoras, who was "anathematized" by the "anti-ecumenists" then and now, is, according to Fr. Theodoros, a personality "who is written about with golden letters in the pages of Orthodox history." The Ecumenical Patriarchate during Patriarch Demetrios also "treaded on this road of genuine observance of Orthodoxy." And to make it clear, Fr. Theodoros refers to a speech of Bartholomew of Philadelphia (now Ecumenical Patriarch) on the Sunday of Orthodoxy in 1976, to an interview with Damascene of Tranoupolis (later of Switzerland and now Adrianople) in an Italian magazine, and, finally, to a sermon of the late Meliton of Chalcedon, who explains the distinction between eastern and western piety.

In this article, Fr. Theodoros describes Moscow as "neopapist"! He writes: "And today Moscow is the only example of an Autocephalous Orthodox Church, which does not comply with the Orthodox stance, but treads according to a neopapist way considering itself correct."

In the Epilogue to the article, Fr. Theodoros summarizes his argument:

Fr. Justin had the right and duty to express his views on the "Great Council" and the actions of people working for its preparation. He was wrong however to place on the bench of the accused the Church of Constantinople. All decisions are received democratically and synodically, established jointly by the entire Orthodox Church. He ought by this to grind his teeth towards all directions, and even towards his Church, whose representatives participate always in relevant meetings, and not load everything on the shoulders of the Church of Constantinople, since the hard-hearted sees nothing good. Certainly he does not want to bend the knees of this historic center of Orthodoxy. This will prove a very heavy blow, since the collapse of this pillar will weaken the other foundations, the other institutions.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, loaded with the experience of centuries, proved the ability to maintain the unity of Orthodoxy through the multiplicity of national idiosyncrasies and to develop Orthodox culture, the essence of which is exactly plurality, diversity, and the democratic. What other Orthodox Church could fight to overcome this role without the danger of division, not only by its lack of historical experience, but also through the innovation of this change as well as the possibility of exalting ethno-phylatistic trends?

We will return to this timeless article by Fr. Theodoros Zisis.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

On the Revilers of Orthodox Faith and Greek History

March 10, 2011

By Metropolitan Jeremiah of Gortynos

My sermon today, Christian brethren, I write with much pain, but also with great indignation about things heard lately in our country.

And of course our Church should not remain indifferent to what is heard, because they harm the souls of our Greek Christians, particularly damaging our youth.

For this reason I ask that you please listen carefully to my sermon today, and I do not only seek your compassion in this, but also that you struggle together with us against this twisting of our holy and glorious history.

1. Lately, my beloved, there are some who want to show themselves off as educated and polymath's, but in fact they are ignorant and untrue.

They tell us that the history of our nation, for which we are proud and for which we are admired by all nations, is not - as they say - as we know it.

But how is it? They, as if they are employed by the Turks, tell us that when our nation was subjugated by the Ottomans, it was all nice and pleasant. We enjoyed privileges, we lived in peace and security, and we have achieved growth.

That is like telling us that it was good we were enslaved to the Turks and became organized! These gentlemen say these things to tell us that there was no reason to revolt against the Turks and the so-called Revolution of 1821 had a different meaning and different purpose.

But if, gentlemen, if it is true that under Turkish slavery there was freedom and all were roses, then how does this explain the harsh torture and the horrific suffering of so many many neomartyrs of our faith? The Turks didn't even allow us to become literate.

We, however, who learned from our ancient ancestors to love the sciences, even though enslaved, we found a way to educate the Greek children. Our Church created the "Secret Schools!" But,

2. As for the "Secret Schools" (Κρυφά Σχολειά), these pseudoscientists tell us this is a myth. And as an argument they tell us that there is no testimony for them. I tell you, however, my Christians, that the "Schools" in which Greek students were taught during slavery were not permitted by the Turks, and were not obvious with their permission, which is why they are called "Secret Schools". The monks did this at night in the monasteries. For this reason, during the period of slavery there is no testimony for "Secret Schools".

But when sweet freedom began to emerge, the same students of the "Secret Schools", men that is, spoke clearly in their correspondence and other writings about these schools. The many locations in our country, attested as "Secret Schools", would not be called so if they were all lies and myths.

3. The revilers of our history are bothered that the Revolution of 1821 is tied to the great feast of our Panagia, the Feast of the Annunciation. And they are bothered again that the Church initiated the struggle.

Among other things, more than these two, my Christians, you need to understand that this offensive movement by these gentlemen essentially is a movement against Orthodoxy and against the Church. This is why it requires a battle, a fierce battle.

(A) In fact, brethren, 1821 is closely tied with our faith, the Orthodox faith. Kolokotronis told his students in Pnyka: "When we took up our weapons, we said first this is for faith and after for homeland"!

For this reason they decided to begin the Revolution on March 25, in order to believe that the miracle was done by the Panagia and the free nation would have as its patron our Lady the Theotokos.

Hence the Revolution of 1821 was a holy revolution of an Orthodox Christian nation against a nation of another religion, a revolution of faith and freedom that was not simply a class revolution for one's interests, as revilers want to show us.

(B) Regarding the other, which contrarians deny and are proved historically groundless, that the fight for freedom in our nation was initiated by the Church.

Yes, my Christian!, the threads of the struggle of the Revolution was kept secret by the Dimitsanitis saint Patriarch Gregory V, whom these wretched forgers of history swear at. Shame on them! The other Dimitsanitis, the Bishop of Patras, Germanos of Old Patras, hoisted the banner of the Revolution, and urged men to stream forth in the struggle.

Indeed, Bishop Germanos spared the fighters from the difficult fast of Great Lent, since it was the month of March when the struggle began. Along with the fighters there were fighting clergy, bishops, priests, deacons and monks.

The great French historian Poukevil said that 6,000 clergymen had fallen in the struggle for the liberation of our nation.

4. My Christians! As we should thank God because we are Orthodox, so we should also thank God because we are Greeks with the most glorious history. Our history is sacred because it is fermented with the faith of the Orthodox Church.

Some younger people want to cut the marriage between faith and homeland, who set out to make our country atheistic. We warn them that as we fought against the Turks and won, so we will fight against them and reduce them, because in our struggle we have as an advocate the Champion General the PANAGIA, the patron saint of the Greek nation, the Mother of our Jesus Christ.

The revilers of our Faith and Nation will be ridiculed. They deserve it!

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Saint Drosis, Daughter of Emperor Trajan

The Holy Martyr Drosis, together with Five Virgin-Martyrs Agalida, Apollinaria, Daria, Mamthusa and Thais (Feast Day - March 22)

St Drosis was daughter of the emperor Trajan (98-117), a fierce persecutor of Christians. In the year 99 he revived an earlier law which forbade secret gatherings and was indirectly aimed against Christians. In the year 104 he issued a special law against Christians.

Beginning in that year, the persecutions continued until the end of his reign. During this time the bodies of martyred Christians often remained unburied in order to intimidate others. Five Christian virgins: Aglaida, Apolliniaria, Daria, Mamthusa and Thais, took upon themselves the task of burying such Christians. They secretly gathered up the bodies of martyrs, anointed them with spices, wrapped them in shrouds and buried them. When she learned of this, Drosis, a secret Christian but not yet baptized, asked the holy virgins to take her with them when they went to bury Christians.

On the advice of the court dignitary Adrian, a guard was set over those who had been killed, to arrest anyone who tried to bury them. On the very first night, St Drosis and the five virgins were caught. Learning that one of the captives was his own daughter, Trajan gave orders to hold her separately, in the hope that she would change her mind.

The remaining holy virgins were sentenced to burning in a furnace for melting copper. They bravely accepted execution and were granted crowns of martyrdom. The copper, mingled with the ashes of the martyrs, was used to make tripods for a new bath of Trajan. But as long as these tripods stood in the bath-house, no man was able to enter it. Anyone crossing the threshold fell down dead. When the pagan priests realized why this happened, they advised that the tripods be removed.

Adrian told the emperor to melt the tripods and to make five statues of naked virgins, in the likeness of the Martyrs. Then he said that these statues should be placed before the entrance to the imperial bath. Trajan agreed. When the statues were set up, the emperor saw in a dream five pure lambs pastured in Paradise, and the Shepherd who said to him, "O most wanton and wicked Caesar! Those whose images you placed there to be mocked have been taken away from you and brought here by the Good and Merciful Pastor. In time your daughter, the pure lamb Drosis, shall also be here."

When he awoke, Trajan flew into a rage and ordered two huge furnaces to be heated. At the ovens an imperial edict was posted: "You who worship the Crucified, save yourselves many agonies, and spare us also from these labors. Offer sacrifice to the gods. If you do not wish to do this, however, then let each of you voluntarily cast himself into this furnace." Many Christians willingly went to martyrdom.

When she heard of this, St Drosis also decided to endure martyrdom for Christ. In her prison she offered prayers asking the Lord to release her. God heard her prayer, amd the guards fell asleep. St Drosis went off to the ovens, but began to wonder: "How can I go to God without a wedding garment (i.e., without being baptized), for I am impure. But, O King of Kings, Lord Jesus Christ, for Your sake I give up my imperial position, so that I may be the lowliest handmaiden in Your Kingdom. Baptize me Yourself with your Holy Spirit."

After praying in this manner, St Drosis anointed herself with myrrh [chrism], which she had taken along with her, and immersing herself in water [in a nearby lake] three times, she said: "The servant of God Drosis is baptized in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." For seven days the saint hid, spending her time in fasting and prayer. Christians found her and learned from her everything that occurred. On the eighth day, the holy Martyr Drosis went to the red-hot ovens and cast herself into the fire.

Source


"For a martyr's death is an encouragement to believers, the Churches' bold speech, Christianity's confirmation, death's dissolution, a proof of resurrection, ridicule of demons, the Devil's condemnation, an instruction in philosophy, advice to disdain the things of the present, also a path for desire for the things to come, a comfort for the disasters that restrain us, a pretext for patience, a starting-point for steadfastness, and a root and spring and mother of all blessings."

- St. John Chrysostom, Homily On Saint Drosis

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Honey and Cinnamon

Facts on honey and cinnamon: It is found that a mixture of honey and cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a “Ram Ban” (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of disease.

Today’s science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients. Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada , in its issue dated 17 January, 1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists:

HEART DISEASE:

Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada , various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

ARTHRITIS:

Arthritis patients may take daily, morning, and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 2 00 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

BLADDER INFECTIONS:

Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

TOOTHACHE:

Make a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching tooth. This may be applied three times a day until the tooth stops aching.

CHOLESTEROL:

Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chr onic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS:

Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses.& nbsp;

UPSET STOMACH:

Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.

GAS:

According to the studies done in India and Japan , it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM:

Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.

INDIGESTION:

Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

INFLUENZA:

A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ingredient which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY:

Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder and three cups of water and boi l to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans also increases and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

WEIGHT LOSS:

Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast on an empty stomach and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet.

CANCER:

Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three times a day.

FATIGUE:

Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than! than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Byzantine Frescoes of Ancient Philosophers

During the Ottoman occupation (15th-19th cent.) many churches and monasteries throughout Greece served as "secret schools" (Gr. "κρυφό σχολειό") where the writings of the ancients were studied in a private environment and taught by either monastics or clergy. Often these schools were in the narthex of churches, which is why these frescoes are often found in this area of the church. Because many ancient philosophers are said to have foretold the coming of Christ as well, they were revered by Christians for their wisdom, though not as saints (hence their depiction without halos).

The Wise Solon (ca. 638 BC – 558 BC) in the Great Lavra of Mount Athos.

The Wise Solon (c. 638 BC – 558 BC) in the Monastery of Prophet Elias in Siatista.

The Wise Hippocrates (ca. 460 BC – ca. 370 BC) in the National Library of France dating to 1342.

The Wise Sybil is found at the Monastery of Evangelistria in Zagorohoria and was painted in 1809.

The Wise Plato is found in the dome at the Monastery of Evangelistria in Zagorohoria and was painted in 1809.

In the main gate of the Monastery of Vatopaidi, the visitor is greeted by the Wise Apollonius on the right pillar and Thales the Greek King of Egypt on the left. They were painted in 1870.

The Wise Apollonius painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery ("ἐγώ γὰρ ἐφετμεύω, τρισένα μόνον ὑψιμέδοντα θεόν· οὗν λόγος ἄφθιτος ἐν ἀδαή κόρη ἔγκυμος ἔσεται·")

The Wise Thales painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery ("Ὁ πατήρ γόνος καὶ ὁ γόνος πατήρ, ἄσαρκος σαρκικός γέγονε, θεός ὑπάρχων.")

The Wise Sybil painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery ("Ἥξει οὐρανόθεν βασιλεύς αἰώνων, μέλλων κρῖναι πᾶσαν σάρκα, καὶ κόσμο ἅπαντα.")

The Wise Sophocles painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery ("Ἔστι θεός ἄναρχος ἀπλοῦς τῇ φύσει· ὅς οὐρανόν ἔτευξεν ἅμα καὶ χθόνα.")

The Wise Plato painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery (Gr. "Ὁ παλαιός νέος καὶ νέος ὁ ἀρχαίος, ὁ πατήρ ἐν τῷ γόνῳ καὶ ὁ γόνος ἐν τῷ πατρί. Τό ἕν διαιρείται εἰς τρία καὶ τά τρία εἰς ἕν." Eng. The old is new and the new is ancient. The Father is in the Offspring and the Offspring is in the Father, the One is divided into Three, and the Three constitute One.")

The Wise Aristotle painted in 1858 by Nikephoros in Vatopaidi Monastery (Gr. "Άκάματος φύσει Θεοῦ γέννησις ἐξ αὐτοῦ γὰρ ὁ αὐτός οὐσιοῦται λόγος." Eng. The begetting of God is by nature inexhaustible, for the Logos derives His substance from Him.")

The Wise Plutarch as depicted in the narthex of the church at the Monastery of Philanthropinon in Ioannina. The Monastery was founded in 1272 and painted in 1542.

The Wise Aristotle as depicted in the narthex of the church at the Monastery of Philanthropinon in Ioannina. The Monastery was founded in 1272 and painted in 1542.

Various ancient Greek philosophers depicted near the geneological tree of Christ in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani. The church was built in 1677.

The Wise Plutarch in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani.

The Wise Aristotle in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani.

The Wise Plato and the Wise Aristotle in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani.

The Wise Solon and the Wise Thucydides in Saint Paraskevi Church in Siatista of Kozani.

The four kings prophesied by Daniel the Prophet, among whom is Alexander the Great. Saint Achilleos Church in Kozani built in 1740.

Hippocrates holding the words to his oath.

Read more here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Third Week of Great Lent

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

In this week the Holy Church, as in the past weeks, inspires us with the necessity to offer "to Christ our God"; "gifts that are pleasing", "a pure fast and abstinence from evil", abstention from "anger, wrath and every sin", "tears and prayer, to works of compassion, and to a contrite way of life, to upright thoughts and a pure way of life".

In particular the Holy Church, calling us to avoid foods, as "the begetter of passions ", and to love fasting as "the mother of virtues ", in detail it opens, "if it is good, if it is great, if it is grace given by God", it is a fast.

"Let us love the fast", sings the Holy Church, "it makes the stubborn passions of the soul to wither, and gives us strength to do the works of God; it makes our mind ascend to heaven, and gains for us the forgiveness of our sins". "By fasting Elisha gave back to the Shunnamite her child alive", "Daniel in the den tamed the wild beasts with the muzzle of abstinence: let us also subdue the passions by fasting", "for this strengthens the body, and illuminates the mind and heart".

Together with this during all the days of this week the Holy Church prays to the Lord that He grant us to see His Cross. "With our flesh cleansed by abstinence," cries the Holy Church, "and our souls enlightened by prayer, O Lord, grant us to look upon Thy holy and honorable Cross" "and to reverence it uncondemned with fear and love", "to kiss it with undefiled lips", "in psalms and songs let us celebrate the light", "in our illumination". In such a way it follows that the third week is essentially a sort of Forefeast to the Cross of the Lord.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Video: Bishop Danilo Krstic On Orthodoxy and Civilization

Bishop Danilo of blessed memory was born on May 13, 1927 in Novi Sad. He studied law in Belgrade, and graduated from Sorbonne in literature in 1952. From 1954 to 1958 he studied theology at the Saint Sergius' Academy in Paris, whereas he gained doctoral degree at Harvard, USA in 1968. He took monastic vows in 1960, and in 1969 the Holy Assembly of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church appointed him the auxiliary bishop of the Serbian Patriarch, his official title being the Bishop of Moravice. From 1984 he was the administrator of the Diocese of Budim, and from 1988 he was appointed the hierarch of the Diocese of Budim.

Bishop Danilo was one of the most educated hierarchs of the Serbian Orthodox Church. While being in Belgrade as the auxiliary bishop of the Serbian Patriarch, he used to incite - mostly by his enormous erudition and pastoral words - great interest of young intellectuals, especially the students of the Belgrade University, for the Word of God and Christ's Gospel. Bishop Danilo's numerous theological and literary works are dispersed in numerous publications, magazines and books, published both in the Serbian Orthodox Church and in the issues of other sister Churches.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Why We Fast From Olive Oil and Not From Olives

By Dr. Ioannis Fountoulis

Why in times of fasting do we fast from oil and fish but not from olives and fish roe?

The old and true fast consists of total abstinence of food or xerophagia [only eating dry foods]. Since this cannot be maintained during long periods of fasting in the ecclesiastical year because of difficult living conditions or lack of zeal, several accommodations have been designed for the application of fasting by all believers.

In ancient times Christians after the ninth hour (3:00 pm) on Lenten days partook only of water and bread. Gradually, however, not only was the duration of complete abstinence from food limited to normal time, and on other days Lenten Vespers and the Presanctified Liturgy were moved to the morning because of this, but other types of food were used, such as fruits, legumes, crustaceans, mollusks, etc.

Within this context it can be understood why we eat olives on days you do not eat oil, and fish roe on days we abstain from fish. For the former we can invoke the fact that olives are eaten as fruit, while the ban on oil is on foods prepared with oil. For the latter justification is less reasonable, since the same is not allowed for milk or eggs, but they are prohibited in our fasts as "fruit and produce of animals" in the 56th Canon of the Quinisext Ecumenical Council. I know, however, devout Christians who understand this as "oikonomia", and on the days of great fasts and the night before Holy Communion they abstain from olives and fish roe.

It is true that we often hear this question from well-meaning believers and more than a few who view the fasts as an irony. In both cases we emphasize the flexibility and philanthropy of the customs and rules of the Church, which do not have a purpose to exterminate people but to help them to exercise restraint and dominate the passions. If these foods scandalize them, they can abstain from them without being in "contempt" or "judgement" against the Church for its benevolence, according to the Apostle (Romans 14:3). For the Church to struggle for the liquidation of relevant fasting customs and foods to be eaten or not is not necessary nor is it able to stay within the bounds of seriousness. What is primarily needed is to fast for the spiritual benefit that comes from this, and attempt as far as possible for the faithful to be in compliance with the relevant provisions of the Church, which have severely died down today.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Search For Perfection In Orthodoxy and Society

On March 18, 2011 the New York Times published an article titled "Our Imperfect Search for Perfection" by Carina Chocano. It is published in light of the two recent movies “Limitless” and “The Adjustment Bureau”. In the former "Bradley Cooper plays a failed writer named Eddie Morra who stumbles upon a stash of magical pills that allow him to blossom into the ultimate version of himself," while in the latter David, played by Matt Damon, "is the perfect politician — but he perfects himself only as a human being, the movie suggests, in his struggle for the transcendence of true love." Ultimately both movies present secular notions of perfection within ourselves to fill that dark void as we all long to do. They are about mastering our own destiny in a world where, to the ordinary individual, destiny cannot be mastered. The article goes on to examine the notion of perfection throughout history where "We’ve collectively moved away from thinking about perfection in ethical, moral, aesthetic or social terms, toward the more limited concept of self-perfection — the attainment of a personal competitive edge. Nobody believes that an eight-figure bonus and six-pack abs are achieved in some quest for the greater social good." The quest for perfection in our days has become soulless and a form of lust that only leads a thinking person to greater despair: "That you must outsmart, outwork, outrival and outdream everybody else or consign yourself to a life of frustrated obscurity or worse. Perfection has always held a kind of promise, but this conception of it sounds less like a promise than a threat."

In light of how perfection is currently being portrayed in our culture, the picture Orthodox Christianity gives of perfection is radically different. Whereas in the worldly way of thinking perfection has been reduced to a selfish passion and lust, in Orthodoxy perfection unites us with God's love which inspires the heart to love others in imitation of God's love. This is why Jesus says in Matthew 5:38: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." In context He says this after explaining how we are to love our neighbor with the same love God loves His creation.

Further quotes from Orthodox Christian Saints on the issue of perfection are also enlightening to steer us away from worldly notions of attaining a selfish form of perfection to a selfless love in imitation of Christ - Who is both perfect God and perfect Man.

- "A person is perfect in this life when as a pledge of what is to come he receives the grace to assimilate himself to the various stages of Christ's life. In the life to come perfection is made manifest through the power of deification." (St. Gregory of Sinai, Philokalia, Vol. 4)

- "When the intellect has been perfected, it unites wholly with God and is illumined by divine light, and the most hidden mysteries are revealed to it. Then it truly learns where wisdom and power lie... While it is still fighting against the passions it cannot as yet enjoy these things... But once the battle is over and it is found worthy of spiritual gifts, then it becomes wholly luminous, powerfully energized by grace and rooted in the contemplation of spiritual realities. A person in whom this happens is not attached to the things of this world but has passed from death to life." (St. Thalassios, Philokalia, Vol. 2)

- "While we are still in this life we shall often waver in our self-determining, hesitating whether to fulfill the commandments or give way to our passions. Gradually, as we struggle, the mystery of Christ will be revealed to us if we devote ourselves totally to obeying His precepts. The moment will come when heart and mind are so suffused by the vision of the infinite holiness and humility of the God-Christ that our whole being will rise in a surge of love for God." (Archimandrite Sophrony, His Life is Mine, Chapter 13)

- "But we also know that the fulfillment of the commandments of God gives true knowledge, since it is through this that the soul gains health. How could a rational soul be healthy, if it is sick in its cognitive faculty? So we know that the commandments of God also grant knowledge, and not that alone, but deification also." (St. Gregory Palamas, The Triads)

- "The dispensation of our God and Saviour concerning man is a recall from the fall, and a return from the alienation caused by disobedience to close communion with God. This is the reason for the sojourn of Christ in the flesh, the pattern of life described in the Gospels, the sufferings, the cross, the tomb, the resurrection; so that the man who is being saved through imitation of Christ receives the old adoption. For perfection of life the imitation of Christ is necessary, not only in the example of gentleness, lowliness, and long suffering set us in His life, but also of His actual death. So Paul, the imitator of Christ, says, `being made conformable unto His death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.' How then are we made in the likeness of His death? In that we were buried with Him by baptism." (St. John Chrysostom, On The Holy Spirit)

- "We unite ourselves to Him [God], in so far as this is possible, by participating in the godlike virtues and by entering into communion with Him through prayer and praise. Because the virtues are similitudes of God, to participate in them puts us in a fit state to receive the Deity, yet it does not actually unite us to Him. But prayer through its sacral and hieratic power actualizes our ascent to and union with the Deity, for it is a bond between noetic creatures and their Creator." (St. Gregory Palamas, On Prayer and Purity of Heart)

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Synaxarion For the Second Sunday of Great Lent

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

SECOND SUNDAY of LENT

On the same day, the Second Sunday of the Fast, we celebrate the memory of our Father among the Saints, Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica.

Verses

The Fountain of light leadeth unto the unwaning light
The radiant herald of the light and the truly great mind.


Synaxarion

This son of the Divine Light that knows no evening, a true man of God and wondrous servant and minister of Divine things, hailed from Constantinople. His parents were illustrious and notable people, who were zealous to adorn with virtue and education not only the outward and perceptible man, but also, and much more importantly, the inward and invisible man. When Saint Gregory was very young, his father, Constantine, reposed, and his mother, Kalliste, brought up and instructed Saint Gregory, his brothers, and his sisters, educating and admonishing them in the Lord and with sacred literature, and she also saw to it that they be furnished with secular wisdom by studying at school. Saint Gregory, combining eagerness with his innate intelligence, in a short time acquired every kind of philosophical knowledge, but when he was about twenty years old, reckoning all such things to be unspiritual and more illusory than dreams, he sought to ascend to God, the Cause and Bestower of all wisdom, and to dedicate his whole self to Him through a more perfect way of life. Hence, he disclosed to his mother his God-loving purpose and his great longing and ardent love for God; and he found her to be similarly disposed, for she had been thinking along the same lines for a long time, and she rejoiced as much as he did. She immediately gathered her children around her, and, saying with gladness, “Behold, I and the children which God hath given me,” attempted to determine what attitude they had towards good things and revealed to them the intention of their older brother. And he, speaking words of exhortation to them, succeeded in winning them over more quickly than one could reasonably expect, and they all eagerly entertained the same longing as he did, namely, to flee from the world.

Hence, after distributing his property to the poor, in accordance with the Gospel, and forsaking imperial favor and the honors and plaudits of the imperial court, Saint Gregory followed Christ. He settled his mother and sisters in a convent and, taking his brothers with him, went to the mountain that is the namesake of holiness, Mount Athos. But he persuaded his brothers to remain for a time in other monasteries, perhaps because they did not have the opportunity to pursue the spiritual life together. He placed himself under obedience to a wondrous man who lived as a Hesychast with God alone, near the Holy Monastery of Vatopedi, Nikodemos by name, from whom he learned every commandment and every virtue through practice and in humility of soul. There, through a mystical revelation, he received the help and invincible succor of the All-Pure Theotokos in all matters. After Nikodemos departed to God, Saint Gregory spent several years in the Great Lavra, where he lived with the greatest of zeal, having the mind of a venerable Elder, but attracted by love for silence, he withdrew from the Lavra and embraced the solitary life. Ever adding longing to longing and striving to abide with God unceasingly, he gave himself over to extreme austerity, and restraining his senses from all sides with scrupulous attentiveness and raising his mind to God, he devoted every moment to prayer and the study of theology. Living an exceptionally disciplined life and with God as his ally, he mightily conquered the demons that made war on him, and cleansing his soul by standing for whole nights and with fountains of tears, he became a choice vessel of the gifts of the Divine Spirit. He had frequent visions of God, and more wonderful still, even after moving to Thessalonica—on account of the Hagarene onslaughts—and establishing a skete in Berea, and being compelled to have contact with certain of the cities, not even then did he depart from his strict way of life.

After completely purifying both body and soul over a period of many years, he received the great anointing of the Priesthood by Divine decree. He celebrated the Divine Mystagogy like one without a body and, as it were, in a state of ecstasy, such that the mere sight of him aroused compunction in the souls of those who saw him; he was truly great and was known by those who lived godly lives as a Spirit-bearer. He showed himself to be such even to those who only looked at him from the outside, having power over demons, delivering the possessed from their deception and trickery, transforming unfruitful trees into fruitful ones, and foreseeing the future, and he was adorned with all the other gifts and fruits of the Divine Spirit.

Since acting virtuously lies within our power, whereas encountering temptations does not depend on us, and without temptations there is no perfection or demonstration of faith in God (for when, it is said, action and desire come together for the good, the godly man is made perfect), this great Saint was permitted to meet with diverse and constant temptations, in order that through all of these he might be proved truly perfect. What mind can comprehend what subsequently happened? What discourse could recount the machinations of the crafty Adversary, which were greater than before, the libels and slanders hurled against Saint Gregory by the newly-manifest fighters against God, and all the maltreatment that he endured at their hands while contending for the sake of piety, over a period of twenty-three years in all? For the Italian beast, Barlaam of Calabria, puffed up by secular wisdom and fancying in the vanity of his own thoughts that he knew everything, stirred up a terrible war against the Church of Christ, against our godly Faith, and against those who unwaveringly adhered thereto. For in his derangement, he taught that the Grace which is common to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; that the Light of the age to come, wherein the righteous will shine like the sun, as Christ revealed in advance when He shone on Mount Tabor; and, quite simply, that every power and energy of the Tri-Hypostatic Godhead, and everything that is in any way whatsoever distinct from the Divine Nature, is created. Those who piously profess that that most Divine light and every Divine power and energy are uncreated, since none of the attributes that belongs naturally to God is of recent origin, Barlaam called “ditheists” and “polytheists,” in lengthy orations and writings, as the Jews, Sabellios, and Arios also call us.

On account of this, the Divine Gregory, being an illustrious champion and defender of Orthodoxy, who fought, above all, for the sake of piety and who was slandered for doing so, was summoned by the Church to Constantinople. A Synod was convened by the most godly Emperor Andronikos, the fourth of the Palaiologoi, who was a defender of Orthodoxy. Barlaam came to this Synod, where he presented his heretical doctrines and his accusations against the pious. Filled with the Divine Spirit, the great Saint Gregory, girt with invincible power from on high, stopped that mouth which had been opened against God and finally, by his fiery orations and writings, put Barlaam to shame and reduced his heretical tinder to ashes. Wherefore, unable to endure the shame, this enemy of the true Faith fled to the Latins, whence he came. Immediately after this, before a Synod Saint Gregory confuted Akindynos—or rather, Polykindynos—and tore asunder his writings with refutatory discourses. Not even in the wake of this did those who shared their corrupt way of thinking cease to war against God’s Church. Hereafter, with much pressure from the Holy Synod and from Emperor John Cantacouzenos himself, and, above all, persuaded by Divine decree, Saint Gregory was elevated to the Episcopacy, being appointed Archpastor of the Holy Church in Thessalonica. In this capacity, he valiantly and steadfastly accomplished much greater struggles than before on behalf of the Orthodox Faith. For he destroyed the evil successors of Akindynos and Barlaam, who turned out to be many and vexatious, the frightful offspring of frightful wild beasts, and he refuted both their teachings and their writings in many different ways, not once, or twice, or thrice, but many times and through many discourses and not under one emperor or Patriarch, but under three successive emperors, an equal number of Patriarchs, and not a few Synods with Divinely-inspired orations and treatises, and he finally won a mighty victory over them. There were some who remained impenitent, taking no thought for Divine retribution; for there still exist remnants of all heresies, which speak with effrontery against the Saints who vanquished them, to say nothing of that most insolent Jewish race, which even now rages against Christ.

Such, in brief, and so many were the victories of this great Saint over the impious. God, in His ineffable ways, sent him out also as a teacher to the Orient. He was sent as an envoy from Thessalonica to Constantinople in order to reconcile the Emperors, who were at odds with each other; but when he arrived in Gallipoli, he was arrested by the Hagarenes and detained for an entire year, passing martyrically from place to place and from city to city, dauntlessly teaching the Gospel of Christ. Those who were steadfast he confirmed still more, beseeching them to be loyal to the Orthodox Faith, and he strengthened with Divine wisdom those who were confused about the Faith and who put various difficulties and questions to him regarding current events (that is, the astounding progress and expansion of the most ungodly race of the Hagarenes), applying the most effective remedy to what they had to say. To the rest, the infidels and those Christians who had fallen into pitiful apostasy, converted to Islam, and ridiculed our Faith, he spoke frequently and openly about the Incarnate OEconomy of our Lord and God and about our veneration of the Precious Cross and the Holy Icons; he also talked about Mohammed and about many other questions posed by them. Some admired him, but others were furious at him and stretched out their hands, and they would have put him to a martyric death had they not, by Divine Providence, seen fit to spare him, in the hope of receiving money in exchange for him—which is, in fact, what happened. The great Saint was freed by certain Christ-loving people, and the bloodless Martyr returned in triumph to his flock, being adorned, in addition to his many other great gifts and accomplishments, with the wounds of Christ, having in himself that which was lacking of the afflictions of Christ, according to St. Paul.

Let us indicate some of his characteristic traits. He was exceedingly meek and humble, insofar as the conversation did not have to do with God and things Divine; for in these matters he was very combative. He did not remember wrongs at all and was forbearing; he was eager to requite, as far as possible, with good things those who struck him as being in any way evil. He had a firm aversion to accusations made against other people; he displayed patient endurance and magnanimity in the face of difficulties; he was above pleasure and vainglory; he was always frugal and did not give excessive attention to his bodily needs, despite being in poor health for much of his life; in his patience, he was calm and peaceful, and he was always so gracious that it was quite evident to those who saw him; above all, he was pensive, attentive, and focussed, and as a result of this, his eyes were almost never devoid of tears, but poured forth fountains of tears.

So martyrically did he struggle, from the beginning of his life until its end, against the passions and the demons, driving heretics far away from the Church of Christ and expounding the Orthodox Faith in orations and writings, through which he confirmed practically all of Divinely-inspired Scripture, that his life and words constitute a kind of recapitulation and authentication of the lives and words of the Saints. Having shepherded his flock in an Apostolic and God-pleasing manner for twelve years, adorned it with moral sermons, guided it to the heavenly sheepfold, and proved himself to be, as it were, a fellow-worker with all the Orthodox, both living and yet to come, he was translated to the heavenly life in the year A.D. 1359, having lived for a total of sixty-three years. He committed his spirit into the hands of God, but to his flock he left his sacred body as a Relic, which is preserved in the Metropolis of Thessalonica and which, in due course, became extraordinarily distinguished and glorified as an inheritance and a most precious treasure; for it ever bestows miracles on any who approach it with faith and deliverance from all maladies, not a few of which are recorded in the story of his life.

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

Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
O light of Orthodoxy, teacher of the Church, its confirmation, O ideal of monks and invincible champion of theologians, O wonder-working Gregory, glory of Thessalonica and preacher of grace, always intercede before the Lord that our souls may be saved.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Now is the time for action! Judgment is at the doors! So let us rise and fast, offering alms with tears of compunction and crying: "Our sins are more in number than the sands of the sea; but forgive us, O Master of All, so that we may receive the incorruptible crowns."

Kontakion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
Holy and divine instrument of wisdom, joyful trumpet of theology, together we sing your praises, O God-inspired Gregory. Since you now stand before the Original Mind, guide our minds to Him, O Father, so that we may sing to you: "Rejoice, preacher of grace."

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Heart in the Hesychastic Treatises of St Gregory Palamas

By Monk Vartholomaeos

When one speaks about the heart, in an Eastern Christian context, one is somewhat obliged to talk about Hesychasm also. Furthermore, when one is talking about Hesychasm, St Gregory Palamas inevitably enters the equation.

The heart possesses a centrality few can claim. If one accepts that man is the centre and crown of creation,1 it would not be an exaggeration to say that the heart is at the centre of the world. If this can be applied to the material world, even more so does it appertain to the spiritual. For the heart is the meeting point between the Creator and creation, between God and man. St Augustine asks the following question. ‘Where can we find God?’, and continues in answer, ‘not on earth, for He is not here. And not in heaven, for we are no there. But in our own hearts we can find Him.’

St Gregory Palamas was a prolific writer. It was not until the second half of the previous century that his works were finally compiled and published by Professor Christou Panagiotis in Thessalonica, the city were St Gregory served as Archbishop. It is a voluminous corpus consisting of theological treatises, letters, ascetic writings, homilies, and prayers. I have chosen to focus on three of his works: the Treatises in Defence of those who Practise Holy Stillness (1338-40), commonly termed the Triads due to their structure, for they consist of three sets of triple tracts. This is, indisputably, St Gregory Palamas’s most important theological work, and another treatise To the Most Reverend Nun Xenia (1345/6), a statement of traditional Orthodox asceticism, written at Xenia’s request, and finally, for obvious reasons, one of Palamas’s briefest works, On Prayer and the Purity of Heart (1336/7).

Read the entire 19-page article here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

St. Gregory Palamas and the Second Sunday of Great Lent

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

The Holy Church calls the second Sunday of Great Lent the Sunday of the Light-Creating Fasts. In its Divine services, in line with the destruction of the sinful condition of man, it is descriptively and touchingly represented in the church hymns, which explains the Gospel parable about the Prodigal son, and praises the fast as a means to the beneficial inner light, and posits in this glorification a new impulse for the ascetic effort of the fast. The Orthodox teaching about fasting as a means for the beneficial inner light is opened with special power in the commemoration on this Sunday of St. Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessalonica and Wonderworker (see Nov. 14).

St. Gregory is known as the one who exposed the heresy of Barlaam, the Calabrian monk, who rejected the Orthodox teaching about the blessed light, which illuminates the internal person sometimes openly visible (as for example on Tabor and Sinai), and who did not admit the possibility to achieve this inner light through both prayer and fasting and other individual efforts. At the Council in Constantinople called in 1341 concerning this heresy, Barlaam, his disciple Akindynos, and their other accomplices were condemned for this false teaching. And during the subsequent time of his life St. Gregory zealously struggled for Orthodoxy, "not once", but "many times many" through his inspired speeches and writings denying the teachings and compositions of the evil followers of Akindynos and Barlaam.

For this ascetic effort for the benefit of the Holy Church, and also for the confession and witness for the Faith and Christ's flock, for the sanctity of the strict ascetic life and the deep edification for all ascetics through his works, St. Gregory is also glorified in the service on this day by the Holy Church. Thus the Holy Church, celebrating on the previous Sunday the triumph of Orthodoxy over all heresies, on the present Sunday celebrates the victory of Orthodox ascetic teachings over all false doctrines opposing it. The first celebration is in general for all Orthodox Christians; the second is for the use of ascetics, the monks.

Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinople composed the church service in honor of the originator of this latter celebration, for St. Gregory. In it St. Gregory is also glorified, as "the labor of theology, the flaming mouthpiece of grace, the honorable vessel of the Spirit, the unshakable pillar of the church, the great adornment of the universe", "the sword and arrows for the slanderers" that broke, "the pride of Barlaamites, and any heretical power", "like the web of spiders" he brushed away, "the preacher of the divine light, the initiate of the heavenly mysteries of the Trinity", "the healer of human infirmities", "the most holy father, the good shepherd", "you gave your soul for your sheep", "the firm sufferer and faster", "the advocate of the pious, and the opponent of the impious, the fervent defender of the faith, the great guide and teacher", "the adornment of monastic life, glorified in action and contemplation".

Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone
O light of Orthodoxy, teacher of the Church, its confirmation. O ideal of monks and invincible champion of theologians. O wonderworking Gregory, glory of Thessalonica and preacher of grace. Always pray to save our souls.

Kontakion in the Fourth Tone
Now is the time for action. Judgment is at the doors. So let us rise and fast, offering alms with tears of compunction and crying: "Our sins are more in number than the sands of the sea; but forgive us, O Creator of all, so that we may receive the incorruptible crowns."

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Elder Nektarios of Holy Trinity Lavra Has Reposed

On Friday 18 March 2011 at the age of 88, Elder Nektarios (Karamanli) of Holy Trinity Lavra on Mount Athos fell asleep in the Lord in Karyes.

Elder Nektarios is probably most famous around the world for a picture of him and his disciple Christoforos that was circulated in National Geographic in December 2009 in a report on Mount Athos. The caption under their photo said: "These two monks have shared the same small cell for more than 50 years. Humor helps maintain harmony, as does respect for seniority. Father Nektarios (at left) says of Father Christoforos, 'He's followed my will as the elder all these years.'"

The fathers of the new Esphigmenou Monastery also tell us this about Elder Nektarios, which they heard from Papa-Anastasi of the Cell of St. John the Forerunner:

"The elder Nektarios is a monk who lives in a Cell near Karyes. He is old, over 80. Father Christoforos is also with him, who is approximately the same age. They have a tractor with a coach to get to Karyes to make their commissions.

Every Sunday morning (4:00 AM) they go to Protaton, the main church of the Holy Mountain, to attend services, because both are simple monks. I met them one Sunday morning arriving by foot.

'What's going on Elder? Did the tractor break down?'

And I received the following reply:

'Tractor? With the tractor to the church? Never! Why the Angel counts even the footsteps which you make in order to attend services.'

How would I answer him now?"

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

What’s So Appealing About Orthodoxy?

Rod Dreher
March 17, 2011
The Washington Post

I came to Orthodoxy in 2006, a broken man. I had been a devoutly observant and convinced Roman Catholic for years, but had my faith shattered in large part by what I had learned as a reporter covering the sex abuse scandal. It had been my assumption that my theological convictions would protect the core of my faith through any trial, but the knowledge I struggled with wore down my ability to believe in the ecclesial truth claims of the Roman church (I wrote in detail about that drama here). For my wife and me, Protestantism was not an option, given what we knew about church history, and given our convictions about sacramental theology. That left Orthodoxy as the only safe harbor from the tempest that threatened to capsize our Christianity.

In truth, I had longed for Orthodoxy for some time, for the same reasons I, as a young man, found my way into the Catholic Church. It seemed to me a rock of stability in a turbulent sea of relativism and modernism overtaking Western Christianity. And while the Roman church threw out so much of its artistic and liturgical heritage in the violence of the Second Vatican Council, the Orthodox still held on to theirs. Several years before we entered Orthodoxy, my wife and I visited Orthodox friends at their Maryland parish. As morally and liturgically conservative Catholics, we were moved and even envious over what we saw there. We had to leave early to scoot up the road to the nearest Seventies moderne Catholic parish to meet our Sunday obligation. The contrast between the desultory liturgical proceedings at Our Lady of Pizza Hut and what we had walked out of in the Orthodox parish down the road literally reduced us to tears. But ugliness, even a sense of spiritual desolation, does not obviate truth, and we knew we had to stand with truth – and therefore with Rome – despite it all.

If Catholicism in America had been healthy, maybe we could have held on through the sex abuse trials. But my wife and I had been worrying for some time how we were going to raise faithful Christian children given the loosey-goosey moral teaching in Roman parishes. We considered ourselves orthodox Catholics, meaning we really believed what was in the Catechism, and struggled to live by it. We failed – everybody fails – but the point is, we looked to the church to provide clear moral leadership, and to help us live out the faith with integrity and joy. Here’s the problem: there is very little orthodoxy in the U.S. Catholic Church, and at the parish level, almost no recognition that there is a such thing as “right belief.” It wasn’t that I wanted to throw out all those who don’t live up to Catholic teaching – I would have been the first one shown the door if that had been true – but that I discerned no direction, and no real conviction that parish communities exist for any reason other than to affirm ourselves in our okayness. Though I didn’t have a term to describe it at the time, I was weary to the bone from an ersatz form of Christianity that sociologist Christian Smith calls “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.” I had been so hollowed out by despair over all this as a Catholic that when the strong winds of the abuse scandal began to blow, the structure of my Catholic belief did not stand.

I say all this not to disparage the Roman Catholic Church – which I still love, and to which I cannot be grateful enough for introducing me to ancient, sacramental Christianity – but to show why Orthodoxy was so attractive to me. When I interviewed him for my book “Crunchy Cons,” my friend Hugh O’Beirne, a convert from Catholicism to Orthodoxy, told me that for a Catholic wearied by the culture wars raging inside American Catholicism, it is blessed relief to find that in Orthodoxy, there is no “war footing.” The kinds of issues that are tearing apart many other American churches aren’t nearly as contentious in Orthodox practice. Though it would be foolish to pretend these conflicts don’t exist in Orthodox parishes, they simply aren’t nearly as much of an issue.

And then there is the liturgy and music. There is nothing comparable to it in other churches. It is overwhelmingly beautiful and deep, and is largely the same Divine Liturgy (though in the vernacular tongue) that St. John Chrysostom, the 5th century patriarch of Constantinople, formalized. The beauty of that liturgy is utterly transporting, and the reverence it inspires is tonic. And while I miss familiar old hymns (in Orthodox services, we chant prayers and Psalms), there’s a lot to be said for never having to endure “On Eagle’s Wings” and other shag-carpeted hymnody endemic to modern American Catholic worship.

The main reason why Orthodoxy is so attractive to converts, at least to this convert, is its seriousness about sin. I don’t mean that it’s a dour religion – it is very far from that! – but rather that Orthodoxy takes the brokenness of humankind with appropriate seriousness. Orthodoxy is not going to tell you that you’re okay. In fact, it will require you to call yourself, as St. Paul described himself, the “chief of sinners.” And Orthodoxy is going to tell you the Good News: Jesus died and returned to life so that you too might live. But in order to live, you are going to have to die to yourself, over and over again. And that will not be painless, and cannot be, or it’s not real.

Because of that, for all its dramatic beauty and rich feasting, Orthodoxy is far more austere and demanding than most American Christianity. The long liturgies, the frequent prayers, the intense fasts – all make serious demands on the believer, especially comfortable middle-class Americans like me. They call us out of ourselves, and to repentance. Orthodoxy is not interested in making you feel comfortable in your sins. It wants nothing less than for you to be a saint.

It’s common among American converts to hear that men were first attracted to Orthodoxy, and their wives followed. It’s not hard to see why. Many men are tired of a soft, bourgeois Christianity that doesn’t call them to much because it doesn’t ask much of them. Men love a challenge, and that’s exactly what Orthodoxy gives them.

Don’t be misled. Orthodoxy is not, at its core, about rules and practices. The more I progress in my Orthodoxy, the clearer it is to me that Orthodoxy is, above all, a way. It is not an institution, a set of doctrines, or a collection of rituals, though it contains all three. It is rather a way of seeing the world, and one’s place in it, and a map to holiness that is paradoxically both ancient and astonishingly fresh, at least to Western sensibilities. It is the way of liberation.

True, it is possible to find dreary parish life in American Orthodoxy, often among the ethnically-oriented older parishes that see themselves as little more than the tribe at prayer. And because Orthodox churches are full of ordinary American people, they are also filled with ordinary American problems. Anyone who comes to an Orthodox church expecting perfection will be disappointed. What you will find, though, is truth and beauty presented in a way that can be breathtaking to modern Americans, and an ancient Way grounded on doctrinal stability, sacramental reality, and practical Christian mysticism – a mysticism that has been marginalized in most other American churches.

I found in Orthodoxy what I thought I would find when I became Catholic. As my patron saint in Orthodoxy, I chose St. Benedict of Nursia, dear to both churches, and a sign of the unity we used to have, and that we might yet have again. The Catholic church needs to be more orthodox, and the Orthodox church needs to be more catholic. I pray, I really pray, that I will live to see that unity return. Until that time, though, I am grateful to God that He gave me a second chance in Orthodoxy, and showed me the Way I had been searching for all my life. When I first came in the door, a spiritually broken mess, I thought it would be impossible for me to learn to endure these long liturgies, this intense prayer, these prostrations, the strict fasting, and – how to put this? – the weirdness of Orthodox Christianity in an American context. Five years on, I can’t imagine how I ever lived without it. You can’t read your way into Orthodoxy. You have to come and see for yourself.

Rod Dreher is a writer in Philadelphia.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Paris Skyline To Change By Russian Orthodox Church

Cathedral with five onion domes to be erected next to Eiffel Tower will include cultural centre and public garden.

Kim Willsher
March 18, 2011
Guardian

It is one of the most recognisable skylines in the world, featuring one of the most famous monuments.

On the banks of the river Seine, Gustave Eiffel's iron tower, the symbol of France, juts high above the 19th-century Haussmann buildings and the trees of the Champ de Mars park that surround it.

But all this is about to change if the Russians have their way.

Moscow has unveiled plans to build a large Orthodox cathedral complete with five golden onion domes next to the Eiffel Tower. The building on the sought-after site will include a cultural centre and public garden, and was agreed directly by the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his Russian counterpart, Dmitri Medvedev.

Architects' drawings show the domes sitting on an undulating roof of glass panels, with the tower in the background.

At 27 metres from the top of the highest dome to the ground, the cathedral is unlikely to detract from a structure that rises to 324 metres. City authorities say they will need to be sure it "fits into its surroundings and is built to last" before giving their approval for the building.

The winning design was unveiled on Friday after an international competition won by a Franco-Russian company.

When Moscow bought the site, formerly the HQ of the French weather service, last year, it was a diplomatic coup as at least two other countries were vying for the land. However, Le Nouvel Observateur magazine reported French concerns that it could be used as a front for spying as it is near a diplomatic complex.

Russian officials in Paris said work on the project was planned to start in 2012 and was likely to cost about €34.5m (£30.1m). Moscow has already paid around £60 million for the site.

"We wanted to find a combination of Orthodox tradition and contemporary architecture to stand out in the heart of Paris," said a spokesman for the church.

For other proposed designs for the church, see here.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

European Courts Allow Crucifixes In State Schools

Strasbourg judgment overturns 2009 ruling that crucifixes violate secular principles, calling them an 'essentially passive symbol'.

Riazat Butt
March 18, 2011
Guardian

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that crucifixes are acceptable in the continent's state school classrooms, describing them as an "essentially passive symbol" with no obvious religious influence. In its judgment, handed down in Strasbourg, the court found that while the crucifix was "above all a religious symbol" there was no evidence that its display on classroom walls might have an influence on pupils.

The ruling reverses their earlier, unanimous decision from 2009 in favour of a Finnish-born mother who said that state schools in the Italian town of Abano Terme, where she lives, refused to remove the Roman Catholic symbols from classrooms.

Soile Lautsi said the crucifix violated the secular principles that state schools were meant to uphold. The court agreed, saying children were entitled to freedom of religion and that although "encouraging" for some pupils, the crucifix could be "emotionally disturbing for pupils of other religions or those who profess no religion".

It said the state had an obligation "to refrain from imposing beliefs, even indirectly, in places where persons are dependent on it or in places where they are particularly vulnerable".

But the decision caused uproar in some European countries, especially Italy, which argued that the cross was a symbol of the continent's cultural and historic roots.

Their interventions led to the grand chamber of 17 judges overturning the 2009 ruling. In their judgment they observed that "a crucifix on a wall was an essentially passive symbol whose influence on pupils was not comparable to that of didactic speech or participation in religious activities."

They added there was nothing to suggest that "the [Italian] authorities were intolerant of pupils who believed in other religions, were non-believers or who held non-religious philosophical convictions." Nor was there evidence that the presence of a crucifix had "encouraged the development of teaching practices with a proselytising tendency".

Italy's foreign minister, Franco Frattini, welcomed the verdict, declaring that "popular sentiment in Europe" had won.

All countries that are members of the Council of Europe will be required to obey the ruling.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Podcast: Before Grace - Saints of the Old Testament

In this Great Lent Series for iEcclesia, the official podcast of the Department of Youth and Internet Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto (Canada), I was interviewed by host Patricia Rackopoulos on the topic "Before Grace - Saints of the Old Testament".

Apparently there was some noise interference during the podcast and a few parts here and there became cut, which is why there are some cut off moments and background noise.

Listen to the podcast here. (Transcript available through Mystagogy Bookstore.)

Summary of Podcast:

From Adam and Eve, we have some famous characters in the Old Testament. The program begins with host Patricia asking our guest to discuss which figure he believes had the most profound impact. Next, John offers a comparison on the spiritual state/condition of the Old Testament believers and the Christians of the New Testament. We usually hear of the holy men of the Old Testament (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Job, Jonah, etc.). The discussion continues with a word on what famous women can Christians see as examples of faith. The title of the podcast is, "Before Grace: The Old Testament Saints". The period of "Grace" began with the coming of Jesus Christ. Before then, the people of God were guided by the Law and prophets. Patricia asks if there's a profound difference in approaches to God or if it is the same message preached differently. The program concludes with thoughts on how these Saints were able to get their message across to those who believed in the Truth in a period of history where communication did not exist in the same way as it does now.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Second Salutations To The Theotokos

Gloriously extolling the incarnate appearance of Christ did the shepherds hear the Angels. And running as though to a shepherd, they perceived Him to be as it were a blameless lamb that had been pastured in the womb of Mary whom they lauded saying:

Rejoice, O Mother of the Lamb and Shepherd.
Rejoice, O sheepfold of sheep with reason.

Rejoice, who ward off invisible enemies.
Rejoice, who open the portals of Paradise.

Rejoice, for the things of heaven are now exulting with the earth.
Rejoice, for the things of earth along with heaven dance for joy.

Rejoice, indefatigable voice of the Apostles.
Rejoice, undefeatable valiance of the Martyrs.

Rejoice, the mighty foundation of faith.
Rejoice, the bright indication of grace.

Rejoice, through whom is Hades divested.
Rejoice, through whom we are vested in glory.

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.


Having visibly sighted the star proceeding Godward, the Magi followed after its brightness; and thereto clinging as to a light did they search thereby for a mighty King; and reaching the Unreachable they rejoiced and shouted to Him: Alleluia.


In the hands of the Virgin saw the Chaldeans’ children Him who fashioned mankind with His own hand; and perceiving that He was the Lord, even though He had taken the form of a slave, they hastened to pay tribute with gifts and salute the blessed Maiden:

Rejoice, O Mother of the unsetting Star.
Rejoice, O dawn of the mystical Day.

Rejoice, who extinguished the furnace of fallacy.
Rejoice, who enlighten initiates of the Trinity.

Rejoice, for you have deposed the inhuman tyrant from his reign.
Rejoice, for you have disclosed Christ the Lord who is humane.

Rejoice, O redeemer from the Magian18 religion.
Rejoice, who deliver from the clay of the burdens.19

Rejoice, for the cult of fire you terminate.
Rejoice, from the flame of passions you liberate.

Rejoice, the guide of believers to temperance.
Rejoice, the gladness of all generations.

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.


Keeping to the oracles that bore on You, the Magi, having now become God-bearing heralds, proclaimed to all that You are the Christ as they journeyed back to their own country Babylon, abandoning Herod as a babbling king who knew not how to sing, Alleluia.


Lightening in Egypt the true illumination, You dispelled the darkness of delusion; O Savior, for the idols thereof, unable to endure Your might, tumbled down, while they who were delivered from them shouted to the Theotokos:

Rejoice, man’s rehabilitation.
Rejoice, the demons’ ruination.

Rejoice, who crushed the delusion of fallacy.
Rejoice, who uncovered the ruse of idolatry.

Rejoice, sea that caused the spiritual Pharaoh to drown.
Rejoice, rock that gave those thirsting for life to drink.

Rejoice, pillar of fire that guides those in darkness.
Rejoice, shelter of the world that is wider than the cloud was.

Rejoice, supplanting manna as edibles.
Rejoice, supplying holy delectables.

Rejoice, for you are the land of promise.
Rejoice, from you flow the milk and the honey.

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.


Master, You were presented as a babe unto Symeon on the threshold of being transported out of this present beguiling age, but also perceived by him to be perfect God; for which cause did he marvel at Your ineffable wisdom, crying: Alleluia.





Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr