My Translation of the Patriarchal Decree Against Vassula Ryden

A few days ago I received an anonymous email telling me to correct my translation of the patriarchal decree denouncing Vassula Ryden, which can be read here along with the original Greek below it. The email simply said: "Attached is a more correct translation of the announcement of The Ecumenical Patriarchate... Please post this correct one......" They thus offered me an alternative translation to post which for the most part was similar to mine though certain words were more an interpretation rather than a literal translation.

Of particular interest to this person (or people) was that I correct the two lines which I translated as "rejects from the Mother Church Vasiliki Paraskevis Pentaki" and "who henceforth are not admitted to ecclesiastical communion". Essentially they thought my translation was too strong, and that a more accurate translation would in fact deflate the intensity of the statement. Of the first they wrote in a footnote: "In the original Greek text, the word αποδοκιμάζω means disapproved, not reject." Of the second they wrote: "The Greek word κοινωνίαν does not mean Holy Communion (Eucharist), but communion in the sense of community."

Now I don't consider myself a Greek scholar in any sense, but I do know Greek good enough to be able to translate things. I do make errors and always welcome corrections. For example, after I published my translation of this decree on my blog the day after it was issued by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, a few days later I received an email telling me that I made an error in one word in my translation. It was in the last paragraph where I translated: "We express, lastly, the profound sorrow of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the acts of nine...." The number "nine" was pointed out to me to be a mistranslation of ἐνίων, which is an ancient Greek word thrown into the text and would be better translated as "some". Glad to be corrected in my error, I made the correction.

However, the correction offered to me did not sound reasonable, especially in the context of the decree. There was obviously an agenda at play here by a sympathizer of Vassula. This is the letter with which I responded to the anonymous email:

I think your translation is more interpretation than an exact translation. For example, your translation of λαμπρόν as "glorious" is a mistranslation. "Shining" or "bright" is more accurate. Also, Ὑπό τό πνεῦμα τοῦτο is not "In this light" but rather "In this spirit". There are others, but I hope you see my point.

Your first footnote is a bit too soft compared to the literal translation. I would agree however that the word "denounced" is more accurate and will change this.

Your second footnote is a copy of my translation, where the meaning is both communal and sacramental, as one cannot be separated from the other.

I accept corrections on translations I make as I usually do them very quickly and without an editor, but my approach is to always provide literal translations (especially on official texts) rather than try to interpret the spirit of something which often leads to rewriting a text.

Thank you,

John

I received no response.

This morning I received an email from a woman named Maria Laura Pio who runs the website http://www.infovassula.ch/. She is an ex-follower of Vassula and the website is critical of her teachings and activities primarily from a Roman Catholic perspective. Maria expressed her appreciation for my translation and even had it checked by a Greek friend of hers. She further told me the following: "As was to be expected, and following the same logic used to twist the Vatican documents, Mrs Ryden's association is not only challenging the validity of the decree, but they are also internally circulating a different translation of it." This put everything in better perspective for me.

In the email was included the translation, though it was a bit different from what was sent to me. They in fact took my advice and made the text closer to a literal translation in the parts I mentioned, but they still altered the words and meaning they particularly asked me to change in the footnotes to their text.

It should be noted as well that it seems Vassula is not only denying her denouncement and excommunication, but even the validity of the decree itself. Introducing the text of their translation there is written as an introduction the following:

An announcement has appeared on the website of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (Constantinople) regarding Vassula and True Life in God. A translation is copied at the bottom of this email.

Vassula states that the document is not signed nor does it contain the seal that it comes from the Patriarch himself. Normally the Patriarch signs it and adds his seal with his signature. Nevertheless, Vassula believes that the Patriarch will be aware of the document.

As in the case of the Notification of 1995 from the Vatican, there has been no dialogue between the Patriarchate and Vassula. Vassula invites all who read and love the True Life in God messages to write and complain to Patriarch Bartholomew at the following address:

His All Holiness Bartholomew
Archbishop of Constantinople
Rum Patrikhanesi,
342 20 Fener- Haliç
Istanbul, Turkey

The document however was in fact issued by the Ecumenical Patriarchate and is posted on their official website. Vassula and her followers are seeking to soften and deny this reality. The reality however is clearly written in the official document which I translated here.

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The Face of Christ Appears In A Church In Kalymnos

Last night, Sunday 3 April 2011, at 9:30 pm, in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Kalymnos, the face of Christ crowned with thorns appeared in the icon of the Virgn Mary on the iconostasis.

Metropolitan Paisios of Leros and Kalymnos was immediately notified of this and came to the church to see for himself. He told the people that God sends these signs in order to draw His people closer to Him.

Thousands of clergy and faithful have come to the church to see this miracle in the middle of Great Lent. It was originally seen by women who were in the church chanting the lamentations to the Virgin Mary. When the image appeared the oil lamp above the icon began to move, though the many others stood still.

Source 1 and 2

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The Fifth Week of Great Lent

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

In the Divine Services for the fifth week of Great Lent the Holy Church continues to call us to an active bearing of the Lenten efforts, appealing: "Through abstinence the faithful have a fortress with God, through others let us youthfully run the holy course". "In fervent faith let us burn up the lustful passions with abstinence, and flee from the icy cold of sin; with the streams of our tears let us quench the eternal flame". "Let us make our own pure fasting, tears, meditation on the divine things, and every other virtue; and let us now offer our Panagia to Christ". The general consolation is encouraging to the bearing of the Lenten effort, and the Holy Church presents us the idea that half of the effort is already accomplished and that its end, Christ's Resurrection, is near. "Having passed the middle point," hymns the Holy Church, "in this dedicated way of fasting, let us go forward joyfully to the part that still remains, anointing our souls with the oil of good deeds. So let us be worthy to venerate the divine Passion of Christ our God, to attain His dread and holy Resurrection". Together with this the Holy Church motivates her children to fervent continuation of bearing the Lenten efforts and reminds them about "the most glorious grace" "the most honorable fast, through which the prophet Elijah found the fiery chariot, and Moses received the Tablets; Daniel was magnified, and Elisha raised the dead, the Children quenched the fire, and all men are reconciled to God", and inspires us that "good fasting feeds our hearts, ripening within us thoughts pleasing to God, and causing the abyss of our passions to dry up, and with the rain of compunction it cleanses those who in faith offer praise to the Almighty", and that "the fasting of the ascetics receives their reward" from God: "Peace and illumination and the healing of our broken souls", "mercy on our souls", "a sweetness that grows not old". Such exhortations strengthening us in the ascetic efforts of fasting, the Holy Church inspires us to pray to the Lord that He grant, "The season of Lent will end peacefully". The intensification at the end of the Lenten expanse of promoting an unrelenting way of life pleasing to God, the Holy Church even during the present week continues to remind us that we have run into sin, similarly to running into robbers, and inspires us to expect mercy from the Lord. In particular Thursday and Saturday of this week are marked with special destination.

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Saint Zosimas of Palestine

Righteous Zosimas of Palestine, also called Zosima, is commemorated as a saint on April 4.

Saint Zosimas was born in the second half of the fifth century, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius the Younger. He became a monk in a monastery in Palestine at a very young age, gaining a reputation as a great elder and ascetic. At the age of fifty-three, now a hieromonk, he moved to a very strict monastery located in the wilderness close to the Jordan River, where he spent the remainder of his life.

He is best known for his encounter with St. Mary of Egypt (commemorated on April 1). It was the custom of that monastery for all of the brethren to go out into the desert for the forty days of Great Lent, spending the time in fasting and prayer, and not returning until Palm Sunday. While wandering in the desert he met Saint Mary, who told him her life story and asked him to meet her the next year on Holy Thursday on the banks of the Jordan, in order to bring her Holy Communion. He did so, and the third year came to her again in the desert, but he found that she had died and he buried her. St Zosimas is reputed to have lived to be almost one hundred years of age.

All that we know of Zosimas' life comes from the Vita of St. Mary of Egypt, recorded by St. Sophronius, who was the Patriarch of Jerusalem from 634 to 638. This Vita is traditionally read as a part of the Matins of the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, on the fifth Thursday of Great Lent.

Apolytikion in the First Tone

Let us the faithful praise Zosimas the offspring of the wilderness, the angel in the flesh and the boast of monastics. With him, let us acclaim holy Mary of Egypt whose life transcended the limits of nature. Together, let us cry to them: Glory to him who strengthened you! Glory to him who sanctified you! Glory to him who through you works healing for all!

Kontakion in the Third Tone

Let us all praise the righteous Zosimas, the boast of monastics, and with him, Mary who in the desert lived the angelic life. Let us cry to them in faith: deliver from harm and corrupting passions, those who celebrate your radiant memory!

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Holy Martyrs Theodoulos and Agathopous

Saints Theodoulos and Agathopous (Feast Day - April 4)

Theodoulos was the younger of these two martyrs. On the other hand Agathopous was old but they both came from Thessalonica. They stood before governor Faustinus because of their faith in Christ. When they were not convinced to deny Christ but instead they stood firm on their faith, they were both thrown to the bottom of the sea and, thus, the blessed men died and received the crown of martyrdom.

Before they died, it had been revealed to them in a vision what was going to happen to them. They dreamt that they went aboard a ship and that they sailed. Then there was a tempest and the ship was torn in two. Whoever was on the ship drowned but they were the only ones who were saved from the tempest and rose up to heaven.

This vision announced what was going to happen to them later on in the sea as well as how they would rise from the sea to heaven. The same thing had enigmatically been made known to St. Theodoulos through a ring, before he was arrested to suffer martyrdom. It seemed to him that somebody put a ring on his hand. This meant that he was engaged to martyrdom (which he finally suffered).

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Bulgarian Church Canonizes Victims of Ottoman Atrocities in 1876

April 3, 2011

Novnite

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has canonized the martyrs of massacres committed against Bulgarian civilians by Ottoman irregulars and troops in the April Uprising of 1876.

Thousands of Bulgarian freedom fighters rebelled against the authorities of the Ottoman Turkish Empire in April 1876 seeking to liberate their nation and create an independent nation state.

The so called April Uprising was crushed with great violence by Ottoman forces but its coverage in the European press – facilitated primarily by American journalist working for British papers Januarius MacGahan – led to an international outrage and a humanitarian intervention in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 that liberated the Bulgarian nation-state.

A total of 30,000 Bulgarians, mostly civilians including women, children, and elderly, are estimated to have been slaughtered by the Ottoman forces in April and May 1876.

Between 4000 and 5000 Bulgarians were butchered in the Batak Massacre – in the southern town of Batak – described by MacGahan in a shocking account, while some 700 were slaughtered in the region of Novo Selo, Kravenik, Batoshevo, and Apriltsi – villages in Northern Bulgaria near Lovech.

While thousands of Bulgarians were murdered by the Ottoman Turkish forces, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church has canonized the victims of the Batak and Novo Selo massacres in particular as martyrs and defenders of the Christian faith as they sought refuge from the troops dispatched against them in local churches and monasteries.

In the case of the Novo Selo massacre, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church canonized in particular two monks and seven nuns from a local monastery who were tortured and murdered by the Ottoman troops.

Thus, the martyrs of the Batak Massacre will be honored by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church on May 17, and the martyrs of Novo Selo – on May 9.

The canonization performed Sunday in the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia by Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim was followed by a street procession honoring the newly proclaimed saints. Patriarch Maxim consecrated specially designed icons of the martyrs authored by icon artists Miroslav Asenov and Vladimir Avramov. The icon of the Holy Martyrs of Batak will be kept to Plovdiv, north of Batak, and the icon of the Holy Martyrs of Novo Selo will be kept in the town of Apriltsi.

This is the first canonization performed by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church since 1963 and the first one ever performed by Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim since he took over in 1971.

"We accept the decision of the Holy Synod and believe that the martyrs of Batak and Novo Selo deserve to be canonized," declared Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The canonization of the martyrs of the 1876 April Uprising was also welcomed and attended by Bulgarian Parliament Chair Tsetska Tsacheva, Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova, and hundreds of Bulgarians including MPs.

"We are here to pay our respects to the martyrs for the faith and freedom of Bulgaria," Tsacheva declared.

Dozens of residents of the town of Batak also came to Sofia for the canonization.

Read also: Bulgarian Church Canonizes Batak Massacre Victims

On The Massacre Of The Christians In Bulgaria

By Oscar Wilde

Christ, dost thou live indeed? or are thy bones
Still straightened in their rock-hewn sepulcher?
And was thy Rising only dreamed by Her
Whose love of thee for all her sin atones?
For here the air is horrid with men's groans,
The priests who call upon thy name are slain,
Dost thou not hear the bitter wail of pain
From those whose children lie upon the stones?
Come down, O Son of God! incestuous gloom
Curtains the land, and through the starless night
Over thy Cross the Crescent moon I see!
If thou in very truth didst burst the tomb
Come down, O Son of Man! and show thy might,
Lest Mahomet be crowned instead of Thee!

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Oscar Wilde and the Greek New Testament

Oscar Wilde was sometimes called the "apostle of beauty"; he once said "the Greek text of the Gospels was the most beautiful book in the world."[1]

From a young age Wilde showed a remarkable flair for the classics. At the Portora Royal School, where he’d been sent in the autumn of 1864, just before his tenth birthday, he won the classical medal examination with his extempore translations from Aeschylus’ Agamemnon (the tragedy he loved above all others) and the Carpenter Prize for his superior performance on the examination on the Greek New Testament.

A popular anecdote says that in his viva voce examination for Divinity at Oxford, Oscar Wilde was required to translate from the Greek version of the New Testament, which was one of the set books. The passage chosen was from a very difficult passage, Acts 26, which is full of obscure nautical terms relating to St Paul's shipwreck [some say it was from the Passion of Christ]. Wilde began to translate, easily and accurately. The examiners were satisfied, and told him that this was enough. Wilde ignored them and continued to translate. After another attempt the examiners at last succeeded in stopping him, and told him that they were satisfied with his translation. "Oh, do let me go on," said Wilde, "I want to see how it ends."

His interest in the New Testament is shown by the fact that the book he put first on a list of books he requested when imprisoned was a Greek New Testament. It seems the English translation could not satisfy him, for he said: "When one returns to the Greek, it is like going into a garden of lilies out of some narrow and dark house."

1. Peter Levi, The Hill of Kronos (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1981), p.10:

"But I came late to Greece, at the age of thirty-two, in 1963. I had started to learn ancient Greek as a schoolboy, at a school where Greek was hardly taught. All I knew about Greece then was the Elgin Marbles, of which I treasured some sepia-tinted and forbidding postcards, and the fact that Oscar Wilde, who in the summer of my fourteenth birthday had just become my literary idol, said the Greek text of the Gospels was the most beautiful book in the world. So I demanded to learn Greek, and changed schools in consequence. From that time I have never ceased to study the Greek language."

For Further Interests:

Oscar Wilde and Greece

Oscar Wilde as a Classicist

Oscar Wilde's Review of Modern Greek Poetry

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An Image of Death's Relentless Approach

One of my all time favorite movies is the 1922 German Expressionist silent horror film Nosferatu, an early cinematographic take on the Dracula story that includes many haunting images. One of them is a mantelpiece clock that strikes the hours by an automated hammer-wielding skeleton. It's a classic memento mori, a reminder of death's relentless approach and a stimulus to the wisdom that comes with that knowledge. People once decorated their homes with such objects for the purpose of attuning the mind to ultimate questions that we might otherwise treat lightly.

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Saint John Climacus and the "Ladder of Divine Ascent"

By Metropolitan Philaret

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

More than once, brethren, the fact has been mentioned that on each Sunday in the Great Fast (i.e., Lent) there are other commemorations besides that of the Resurrection. Thus, on this day, the Church glorifies the righteous John of the Ladder, one of the greatest ascetics, which the Church, in speaking of them, calls "earthly angels and Heavenly men."

These great ascetics were extraordinary people. They commanded the elements; wild beasts willingly and readily obeyed them. For them, there were no maladies they could not cure. They walked on the waters as on dry land; all the elements of the world were subject to them, because they lived in God and had the power of grace to overcome the laws of terrestrial nature. One such ascetic was St. John of the Ladder.

He was surnamed "of the Ladder" (Climacus) because he wrote an immortal work, the "Ladder of Divine Ascent." In this work, we see how, by means of thirty steps, the Christian gradually ascends from below to the heights of supreme spiritual perfection. We see how one virtue leads to another, as a man rises higher and higher and finally attains to that height where there abides the crown of the virtues, which is called "Christian love."

Saint John wrote his immortal work especially for the monastics, but in the past his "Ladder" was always favorite reading in Russia for anyone zealous to live piously, though he were not a monk. Therein the Saint clearly demonstrates how a man passes from one step to the next.

Remember, Christian soul, that this ascent on high is indispensable for anyone who wishes to save his soul unto eternity.

When we throw a stone up, it ascends until the moment when the propelling force ceases to be effectual. So long as this force acts, the stone travels higher and higher in its ascent, overcoming the force of the earth’s gravity. But when this force is spent and ceases to act, then, as you know, the stone does not remain suspended in the air. Immediately, it begins to fall, and the further it falls the greater the speed of its fall. This, solely according to the physical laws of terrestrial gravity.

So it is also in the spiritual life. As a Christian gradually ascends, the force of spiritual and ascetical labours lifts him on high. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: "Strive to enter in through the narrow gate." That is, the Christian ought to be an ascetic. Not only the monastic, but every Christian. He must take pains for his soul and his life. He must direct his life on the Christian path, and purge his soul of all filth and impurity.

Now, if the Christian, who is ascending upon this ladder of spiritual perfection by his struggles and ascetic labours, ceases from this work and ascetic toil, his soul will not remain in its former condition; but, like the stone, it will fall to the earth. More and more quickly will it drop until, finally, if the man does not come to his senses, it will cast him down into the very abyss of Hell.

It is necessary to remember this. People forget that the path of Christianity is indeed an ascetical labour. Last Sunday, we heard how the Lord said: "He that would come after Me, let him take up his cross, deny himself, and follow Me." The Lord said this with the greatest emphasis. Therefore, the Christian must be one who takes up his cross, and his life, likewise, must be an ascetic labour of bearing that cross. Whatever the outward circumstance of his life, be he monk or layman, it is of no consequence. In either case, if he does not force himself to mount upwards, then, of a certainty, he will fall lower and lower.

And in this regard, alas, people have confused thoughts. For example, a clergyman drops by a home during a fast. Cordially and thoughtfully, they offer him fast food (i.e., food prepared according to the rules of the Fast), and say: "For you, fast food, of course!" To this, one of our hierarchs customarily replies: "Yes, I am Orthodox. But who gave you permission not to keep the fasts?" All the fasts of the Church, all the ordinances, are mandatory for every Orthodox person. Speaking of monastics, such ascetics as St. John of the Ladder and those like him fasted much more rigorously than the Church prescribes; but this was a matter of their spiritual ardour, an instance of their personal ascetic labour. This the Church does not require of everyone, because it is not in accord with everyone’s strength. But the Church DOES require of every Orthodox the keeping of those fasts which She has established.

Oftentimes have I quoted the words of Saint Seraphim, and once again shall I mention them. Once there came to him a mother who was concerned about how she might arrange the best possible marriage for her young daughter. When she came to Saint Seraphim for advice, he said to her: "Before all else, ensure that he, whom your daughter chooses as her companion for life, keeps the fasts. If he does not, then he is not a Christian, whatever he may consider himself to be." You see how the greatest saint of the Russian Church, Saint Seraphim of Sarov, a man who, better than we, knew what Orthodoxy is, spoke concerning the fasts?

Let us remember this. Saint John Climacus has described the ladder of spiritual ascent: then let us not forget that each Christian must ascend thereon. The great ascetics ascended like swiftly-flying eagles; we scarcely ascend at all. Nonetheless, let us not forget that, unless we employ our efforts in correcting ourselves and our lives, we shall cease our ascent, and, most assuredly, we shall begin to fall. Amen.

From St. John Climacus, "The Ladder of Divine Ascent," (Boston: Holy Transfiguration Monastery, 1978), pp. xxxi - xxxiii.

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Hundreds Venerate "the Undefiled Passion" in Kilkis

April 3, 2011

Romfea.gr

"The Undefiled Passion", a unique treasure of the Holy Archangels Monastery in Aigialia, was venerated on March 30th to April 4 by hundreds of faithful in the Holy Metropolis of Polyani and Kilkisios.

The Holy Monastery of St. George on Kilkis Hill in view of the Great Feast of the Resurrection, welcomed "the Undefiled Passion" Wednesday, March 30.

"The Undefiled Passion" is composed of fragments of the True Cross, the Sponge, the Mantle, the Crown of Thorns and the Stone of the All-Holy Sepulchre of our Lord.

So, last Wednesday, Metropolitan Emmanuel with the Brotherhood of the Monastery, the clergy of the town of Kilkis, and pious people, welcomed "the Undefiled Passion" and then conducted the Service of the 9th Hour in the presence of the Regional of Central Macedonia, Panagiotis Psomiades.

There they remained until Friday, after which took place the Small Compline and the Salutations of the Theotokos, with a procession under the escort of the City Philharmonic, contingent soldiers and the Christian crowd moving the relics to the Cathedral of the Holy Transfiguration.

Today, Sunday, April 3, 2011 will be celebrated Matins and the Divine Liturgy officiated by His Eminence Emmanuel of Kilkis, and Monday, April 4 at 11 am they will depart for the Holy Archangels Monastery.

"The Undefiled Passion"

They are the treasure and pride of the Holy Archangels Monastery of Aigialia. They are a gift of Thomas and Demetrios Palaeologos to the founder of the monastery, their nephew, Saint Leontios.

In the post-byzantine box is kept large fragments of the honorable wood, thorns, mantle, and stone from the Holy Sepulchre.

The Christians of the region nourish great devotion to this great treasure of the faith, to which they take refuge when they have problems, epidemics, drought, etc., asking for the transfer of "the Undefiled Passion" to their village, and it has an immediate effect.

Read more here and here about this unique relic.

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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The Erroneous Teachings We Follow

By St. Luke of Crimea

We accept only those teachings that nourish our self-love and ego and help us follow our own way, the way of sin. We fight against anything that comes in contrast with our goals, anything that rebukes the futility of our erroneous path. We fight truth because we follow the teachings that we ourselves have created or that we have heard from others; the ones that are in agreement with our desire, to live well in this temporary life.

Whatever is in agreement with our goals and the path that we have chosen we regard as true. We unquestionably accept it and project it as grounds for defending our own convictions and the mistaken teachings we follow, which do not agree with what Christ taught and for which we know deep in our heart are incorrect... May the Lord help us always follow the way of righteousness within Christ's light. Amen.

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Video: Underground Church In the Odessa Catacombs

This video is a documentary of the Odessa Catacombs, more of which can be read here. The part about the underground church begins at the 11 minute mark.

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Synaxarion For the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

FOURTH SUNDAY of LENT

On the same day, the Fourth Sunday of the Fast, we celebrate the memory of our Holy Father John, the author of The Ladder.

Verses

John, who when alive in the flesh was dead,

Liveth eternally, though he appeareth a breathless corpse.

He left a writing, in which he showeth a

Ladder of Ascent, the journey of his own ascent.

Synaxarion

This Father, at the age of sixteen, and being shrewd of mind, offered himself as a most sacred sacrifice to God, after making the ascent to Mount Sinai. He then arose after nineteen years and entered the arena of hesychasm, five semeia away from the place where Saint Kyriakos had struggled in asceticism. He took over a monastery by the name of Thola, where he spent forty years in perpetual yearning, ever ablaze with the fire of Divine love. He would eat everything that was permitted, without reproach, by the monastic profession, but in very small quantities and not to satiety, and in this way, I reckon, he very wisely broke the horn of vanity. But what mind could recount the fountain of his tears? He partook of sleep as much as was necessary to avoid damaging the fabric of his mind by keeping vigil; his way of life consisted of unceasing prayer and unimaginable longing for God. Having lived a God-pleasing life by all these accomplishments and written The Ladder, in which he set forth most beneficial teachings, he reposed worthily in the Lord at the age of eighty, in the year 603 A.D., leaving behind many other writings.

His memory is celebrated on the 30th of March; but it is also celebrated today, perhaps because in monasteries it is customary to read The Ladder from the beginning of the holy Fast.

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

Source

Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone

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

Kontakion in First Tone

As ever-blooming fruits, you offer the teachings of your God-given book, O wise John, most blessed, while sweetening the hearts of all them that heed it with vigilance; for it is a ladder from the earth unto Heaven that confers glory on the souls that ascend it and honor you faithfully.

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The Hymnography of the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent

By Sergei V. Bulgakov

In the Church services for the fourth Sunday the Holy Church offers us a great example of the life of fasting in the person of the Venerable John of the Ladder, who, "having overcome the flesh through fasting" and "by the sweat of his ascetic efforts quenched the fiery arrows of the enemy" and "renewed the strength of souls " and, "ascending to the height of virtues", "received in his soul the divine wealth of the Spirit, undefiled prayer, chastity, modesty, continuous vigil", "was deified through heavenly glory", "was revealed as a physician to those sick through sin" and was the author of The Ladder of Paradise. According to the expression of the Holy Church, how the profoundly granted ascetic life of the Venerable John "gives us a pleasure sweeter than honey", and so his Ladder "brings to us the ever flowering fruits of his teaching, pleasing the heart with vigilant heeding: for souls are rising up the ladder from earth to heaven and abiding in glory". Approving fasting with the example of the Venerable John, the Holy Church offers us a new consolation in the Gospel and Epistle readings of this Sunday. In the first she shows that fasting and prayer defeats the very spiritual enemy of the salvation of man, and predicted this victory in the circumstances of suffering, the death and the resurrection of Christ; and in the second she reminds us of the inalterability of God's will for the salvation of man, in order that we have a firm hope.

Besides the hymns praising the Venerable John, during the fourth week other hymns are chanted, in which the repentant soul resembles the man, who fell into the hands of the thieves, and whom both the priest and the Levite passed by, not offering help. Testing one's conscience the Holy Church inspires the soul to turn to the Lord with prayer: He cleans off the sinful scabs.

Having concentrated in the hymns of the fourth Sunday on the diverse motives for the zealous bearing of the lenten spiritual struggle, the Holy Church at the end of the Matins service with a tender voice appeals to her children: "Come, let us work in the mystical vineyard, making fruits of repentance work in it, let us not labor for food and drink, but through prayer and fasting let us gain virtue. And the Lord of the vineyard, pleased by our labor, will provide the denarii by which He delivers souls from the debt of sins, for He alone is rich in mercy".

Apolytikion in Plagal of the Fourth Tone

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

Kontakion in First Tone

As ever-blooming fruits, you offer the teachings of your God-given book, O wise John, most blessed, while sweetening the hearts of all them that heed it with vigilance; for it is a ladder from the earth unto Heaven that confers glory on the souls that ascend it and honor you faithfully.

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Video: The Holy Skull of Saint Raphael In Rhodes

Metropolitan Iakovos of Mytileni arrived at the Holy Metropolis of Rhodes Friday evening April 1 with the miraculous skull of Saint Raphael the Newly-Revealed. The skull will be brought throughout various places of the island for a blessing and return to Mytileni on April 4th.

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Bulgarian Church Canonizes Batak Massacre Victims

April 2, 2011

Novinite

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church will canonize over Saturday and Sunday those massacred by Ottoman forces in Batak and Novo Selo during the 1876 April Uprising.

A memorial service will be held 18.00 Saturday at the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, after which a canonization service will be held at 9.30 Sunday morning, followed by a church procession.

After that act, the victims will become saints of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

During what became infamously known as the Batak Massacre, thousands of Bulgarians, including women and children, were killed by armed Ottoman forces in the wake of the failed 1876 April Uprising that aimed at Bulgaria's liberation from the Empire.

The atrocities drew some serious attention in the West, raising an outcry, and creating some sympathy with the Bulgarian cause.

Read more: Wikipedia: Batak Massacre

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Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen: "The World Will End, But Not Now"

April 1, 2011

Interfax

The Vicar of the Astana and Alma-Ata Diocese Bishop Gennady of Kaskelen urged Orthodox believers to strengthen their faith instead of waiting for the Apocalypses.

"We can't prevent apocalyptic events - we can only save ourselves and help save those people with whom the Lord gives us a chance to communicate with, delivering them from fears, inspiring the spirit of love, peace, kindness," the Bishop said in his interview with Interfax-Religion.

He noted that the New Testament, especially the Revelation of John the Theologian, points out to signs of the end of human history that echo with current events in some countries but "we can say for sure that some prophesies of Revelation have not been completed yet."

"World history, as the Apostle John predicts, will end up with setting one universal political regimen on Earth, the Kingdom of Antichrist, and God will allow him to have power over every tribe and nation, people and race," the bishop said.

The other "important argument" proving that "we don't live in apocalyptic times" is words from Gospel according to Luke, which says that there would be few Christians in the end of human history.

"Seeing how the Russian Orthodox Church is reviving, so many people are coming to newly open churches, you start thinking - perhaps Russia hasn't said its last word in Christian history? And how intensive is spiritual life on Athos! And so many people convert to holy Orthodoxy in the West!" the interviewee of the agency said.

According to him, "the world will come to its end" and Christ says it "absolutely clearly." However, the bishop further said, "it is not an event of the natural order, but supernatural interference of the Almighty Lord in the life of the universe He created."

"Natural human history ends up with complete apostasy, expressed in the triumph of the Antichrist's global state. This triumph of evil and vice will end up with the second glorious coming of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," he said.

Talks about the coming Apocalypse have recently intensified in connection with natural calamities in Japan and instability in Arabian world.

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Silent Movie: "The Flight Into Egypt"

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Historic Monastery In Cyprus Today A Spa Resort

The Monastery of the Holy Unmercenaries (Agioi Anargyri) in Miliou of Paphos is a historic monastery. It was established in 1649 by St. Panaretos who was then Metropolitan of Paphos. It played an important role in the region in the few centuries of its existence. Even throughout the 1980's it operated as a female convent. By 2009 the Monastery was purchased and converted into a spa resort, apparently by permission of the local bishop.

The Monastery prior to becoming a spa resort.

The Monastery today as a spa-resort.

The holy water of the Monastery.

The pools of the spa resort.

The Monastery as it was a few years ago.

The cells of the monastics today.

Read more about the Monastery here.

The spa resort website can be viewed here.

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Early Christian Catacombs Among the Most Popular Sights in Rome

April 1, 2011

Catholic Online

The Early Christian catacombs are among the most popular sights in Rome. Forming an underground maze in the outskirts of the city, the catacombs provide a rare glimpse into the earliest centuries of Christianity. The catacombs are home to some of the earliest examples of Christian art.

The burial custom of most ancient Romans tended to be cremation, with ashes stored in urns. Christian belief in the physical resurrection led the early Christians to bury their dead instead. Burial requires significantly more space and the early Christians did not own much land. The catacombs became a practical and necessary, solution for burial of the faithful.

In addition, the catacombs were an ideal way to strengthen the sense of Christian community and they provided quiet, out-of-the-way places for memorial ceremonies and displaying Christian symbols.

The first large-scale Christian catacombs were excavated in the 2nd century A.D.; all located outside the city walls as Roman law forbade burial within the city limits. The catacombs were also used for memorial services and celebrations of the anniversaries of Christian martyrs.

The catacombs have often been depicted as hiding places for Christian populations during times of persecution -- but there is little evidence for this. It probably only occurred in exceptional cases during the persecutions, when the catacombs were the only safe place to celebrate the Eucharist.

After Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire in 381 A.D. and the cult of relics became an established part of Christian worship, the catacombs became a place of pilgrimage. Within centuries, the saints began to be buried in churches rather than catacombs and the faithful dead joined them in church cemeteries. By the 6th century catacombs were used only for martyrs' memorial services. The Ostrogoths, Vandals and Lombards that sacked Rome also violated the catacombs, taking whatever valuables they could find.

By the 10th century the catacombs were mostly abandoned and they remained forgotten until their discovery in 1578. Antonio Bosio spent decades exploring and researching them for his Roma Sotterranea (1632) and, two centuries later, the archeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi (1822-1894) published the first extensive professional studies about catacombs. In 1956 and 1959 more catacombs were discovered near Rome.

Some of the catacombs are open to the public and they are one of the most popular stops in Rome for tourists and pilgrims alike.

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Historic Monastery of Saint George In Cairo Begins Restoration

Marianna Kourti

March 31, 2011

Greek Reporter

The historic Monastery of Saint George in the old city of Cairo  ̶  also known as “Rotonda” of the East  ̶  has already begun renovations. Yesterday afternoon, the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, his Beatitude Theodoros II, officially received from the Patriarchate the study concerning the renovation of the Africa Christian monument by Mr. George Penelis and by Civil Engineer Mr. Gregory Penelis. During the delivery of the study, Metropolitan Alexios of Carthage, Bishop of Nitria Nikodemos, Bishop Niphon of Babylonos and Greek Ambassador in Egypt Mr. Christodoulos Lazaris were present. Referring to the project of monastery’s renovation, the Patriarch of Alexandria underlined the importance of the monument and mentioned that it was the shelter of the Holy Family in Egypt, which protected them from King Herod. It was also the place where St. George was jailed, while its architecture history started hundreds of years B.C.

Read more on the Monastery here.

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The Fourth Salutations To The Theotokos

Theotokos, O Virgin, you are the fortress for virgins and all who to you run for refuge. For the Maker of heaven and earth, O immaculate Maiden, thus constructed you. He inhabited your womb and instructed all how to address you:

Rejoice, O pillar of the virgin station.

Rejoice, O portal of man’s salvation.

Rejoice, initiator of interior renaissance.

Rejoice, administrator of God’s beneficence.

Rejoice, for you regenerated those who were shamefully conceived.

Rejoice, for you reeducated those whose intellects had been seized.

Rejoice, incapacitator of the deflowerer of sanity.

Rejoice, procreator of the Sower of chastity.

Rejoice, of ungamic union the bridal room.

Rejoice, who unite believers to the Lord as Groom.

Rejoice, O beautiful nursemaid of virgins.

Rejoice, O bridesmaid of souls that are holy.

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Unsuccessful is every hymn that hastens to pay tribute to the multitude of Your tender mercies. For even if we offer You odes in number equal to the sands, O holy King, yet we do nothing worthy of what You have given us who cry to You: Alleluia.

Viewing the holy Virgin, we see a light-bearing lantern that shone upon those who were in darkness. For she lit the immaterial light, and to divine knowledge thus conducts everyone, enlightening the intellect, and honored by such acclamations:

Rejoice, the ray of the intelligible daystar.

Rejoice, the beam of the unwaning luster.

Rejoice, flash of lightning that brightly illumines souls.

Rejoice, who like thunder have stunned our enemies.

Rejoice, for you cause the rising up of the light that brightly glows.

Rejoice, for you cause the gushing up of the stream that mightily flows.

Rejoice, who illustrate the baptismal font’s image.

Rejoice, who eliminate the stain of sin’s stigma.

Rejoice, the laver washing out consciences.

Rejoice, the krater serving what gladdens hearts.

Rejoice, the fragrance of Christ’s aroma.

Rejoice, the life of mystical feasting.

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

Wishing to grant remission of ancient obligations, He who cancels the debts of all people came himself as a stranger and dwelt among those who were from His divine grace estranged; and tearing up the bond of sin, He hears from everyone, Alleluia.

Extolling your birthgiving with songs, we all praise you as a live temple, O Theotokos. For the Lord who encompasses all in His hand, having made His abode in your womb, sanctified you and glorified you and taught all people to cry to you:

Rejoice, O tabernacle of God the Logos.

Rejoice, O holier than the holies.

Rejoice, ark that was gilt by the Spirit.

Rejoice, life’s inexhaustible treasure.

Rejoice, exquisite diadem of kings with true beliefs.

Rejoice, reverential pride of profoundly pious priests.

Rejoice, the Church’s unshaken citadel.

Rejoice, the Empire’s fortress that never fell.

Rejoice, through whom rise trophies of victory.

Rejoice, through whom fall enemies utterly.

Rejoice, my bodily health’s restoration.

Rejoice, my soul’s everlasting salvation.

Rejoice, O unwedded Bride.

You, all-laudable Mother who gave birth to the Logos Who is holiest of all who are holy: (thrice; in a low voice by a chanter: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us.”) O accept this offering now, and from calami­ties all deliver everyone, and redeem from the future torments of hell those who cry out with zeal: Alleluia.

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Greek

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Saint Barsanuphius of Optina (+ 1913)

St. Barsanuphius of Optina (Feast Day - April 1)

Paul I. Plikhanov was born in the city of Samara on July 5,1845, the son of John and Natalia Plikhanov. His mother died in childbirth, and his father later remarried so that his son would have a mother. Although his stepmother was very strict, she was a real mother to him, and he loved her very much.

As a descendant of the Orenburg Cossacks, Paul was enrolled in the Polotsk Cadet Corps. He completed his studies at the Orenburg Military School and received an officer's commission. He later graduated from the Petersburg Cossack Staff Officers' School, and also served at the headquarters of the Kazan military district and eventually rose to the rank of colonel.

Once, as he was sick with pneumonia, Paul sensed that he was about to die. He asked his orderly to read the Gospel to him, and passed out. Then he had a vision in which the heavens seemed to open, and he was afraid because of the great light. His whole sinful life passed before him, and he was overcome with repentance. A voice told him he should go to Optina Monastery, but the doctors did not think he would recover. His health did improve, however, and the colonel visited Optina. In August 1889 the Elder of the Monastery was St Ambrose (October 10), who told Paul to set his worldly affairs in order. Two years later, St Ambrose blessed him to cut all ties to the world and told him to enter Optina within three months.

It was not easy for the colonel to resign his commission within the specified three month period, because obstacles were placed in his way. In fact, he was offered a promotion to the rank of general, and was asked to delay his retirement. Some people even tried to arrange a marriage for him, laughing at his intention to go to the monastery. Only his stepmother was happy that he wished to become a monk. On the very last day of the three months he concluded his affairs and arrived at Optina. However, St Ambrose was already laid out in his coffin in the church.

St Anatole I (January 25) succeeded Fr Ambrose as Elder, and he assigned Paul to Hieromonk Nectarius (April 29) as his cell attendant. He was accepted as a novice in 1892, and tonsured as a rassophore in 1893. Over the next ten years he advanced through the various stages of monastic life, including ordination as deacon (1902), and as priest (1903). The monk Paul was secretly tonsured into the mantiya in December of 1900 because of a serious illness. When they asked him what name he wished to receive, he said it did not matter. They named him in honor of St Barsanuphius of Tver and Kazan (April 11). Although he recovered, they did not give him the mantiya until December of 1902 after the Liturgy when it was revealed that he had been tonsured on his sickbed.

On September 1, 1903 Fr Barsanuphius was appointed to assist Elder Joseph, the skete Superior, in the spiritual direction of the skete brethren and the sisters of the Shamordino convent.

At the beginning of the Russo-Japanese war in 1904, Fr Barsanuphius was sent to the Far East as a military chaplain, where he ministered to wounded soldiers. The war ended in August 1905, and St Barsanuphius returned to Optina on November 1, 1905.

Since Elder Joseph had become too old and frail to administer the skete's affairs, Fr Barsanuphius was appointed as Superior of the skete in his place. Fr Barsanuphius soon reestablished order and discipline, paid off debts, repaired buildings, etc. As Superior, he combined strictness with paternal concern and tenderness for those under him.

St Barsanuphius, like the other Elders of Optina, possessed the gifts of clairvoyance and of healing people afflicted with physical and spiritual ailments. One of his spiritual sons, Fr Innocent Pavlov, recalled his first Confession with the Elder. He became fearful because Fr Barsanuphius seemed to know his innermost thoughts, reminding him of people and events which he had forgotten. The saint spoke gently and told him that it was God who had revealed to him these things about Fr Innocent. "During my lifetime, do not tell anyone about what you are experiencing now," he said, "but you may speak of it after my death."

St Barsanuphius loved spiritual books, especially the Lives of the Saints. He often told people that those who read these Lives with faith benefit greatly from doing so. The answers to many of life's questions can be found by reading the Lives of the Saints, he said. They teach us how to overcome obstacles and difficulties, how to stand firm in our faith, and how to struggle against evil and emerge victorious. Although the Lives of the Saints were widely available, it saddened the Elder that more people did not read them.

St Barsanuphius commemorated many saints each day during his Rule of prayer, and this was not accidental. Each saint, he once explained, had some particular importance in his life. If, for example, some significant event took place, he would look to see which saints were commemorated on that day, then he would begin to commemorate them each day. Later he noticed that on their Feast Day, they would often deliver him from some danger or trouble. On December 17, 1891, the commemoration of the Prophet Daniel and the three holy youths, he left Kazan and never returned. That was the day he decided to leave the world, and St Barsanuphius felt that God had delivered him from a furnace of passions. Just as the three youths were delivered from the fiery furnace because they would not bow down before idols, the Elder always believed that he left the world unharmed because he refused to bow down before the idols of lust, pride, gluttony, etc.

By 1908, St Barsanuphius seemed to fall ill more frequently, and began to speak of his approaching death. In April of that year, someone sent him a package containing the Great Schema. Fr Barsanuphius had long desired to be tonsured into the Great Schema before his death, but he had told no one of this except for the archimandrite. Therefore, he regarded this as a sign that he would soon die.

One night in July 1910, the Elder became so ill that he had to leave church during Vigil and return to his cell. The next morning, July 11, he was so weak that he could not sit up by himself. That evening he was tonsured into the Great Schema.

Fr Barsanuphius began to recover, but there were new problems in the monastery. New monks came in from spiritually lax environments. They did not understand the ascetical nature of monasticism or the whole notion of eldership, and so they began to clamor for reform and change. They wanted to assume positions of authority, and to close the skete. Because of their complaints, Fr Barsanuphius was removed from Optina and assigned as igumen of the Golutvinsky Monastery. When he arrived to take up his duties, Fr Barsanuphius found the monastery in a state of physical and spiritual decline. Nevertheless, he did not lose heart, and soon the monastery began to revive. More people began to visit, once they heard that an Optina Elder had come to Goluvinsky, and the monastery's financial position also began to improve. However, the rebellious brethren caused him great sorrow, and he had to expell some of them

At the beginning of 1913, St Barsanuphius became ill again and asked Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow for permission to retire to Optina, but that was not to be. He fell asleep in the Lord on April 1, and his body remained in the church of Golotvino until April 6 (which was also Lazarus Saturday). After the funeral, his body was placed on a train and sent to Optina for burial. The train arrived at Kozelsk Station on April 8, and the coffin was carried to Optina by clergy.

The Moscow Patriarchate authorized local veneration of the Optina Elders on June 13,1996. The work of uncovering the relics of Sts Leonid, Macarius, Hilarion, Ambrose, Anatole I, Barsanuphius and Anatole II began on June 24/July 7, 1998 and was concluded the next day. However, because of the church Feasts (Nativity of St John the Baptist, etc.) associated with the actual dates of the uncovering of the relics, Patriarch Alexey II designated June 27/July 10 as the date for commemorating this event. The relics of the holy Elders now rest in the new church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.

The Optina Elders were glorified by the Moscow Patriarchate for universal veneration on August 7, 2000.

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Apolytikion in the First Tone

Abiding in unceasing prayer, embracing both the good and the wicked with love, O holy elders of Optina, ye did serve both God and neighbor. Through vigils, tears, and fasting ye did receive the gift of all manner of miracles. Glory to Him Who hath given us such intercessors. Glory to Him Who hath glorified you. Glory to God Who is wondrous in His saints.

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Venerable Mary the Egyptian

St. Mary of Egypt (Feast Day - April 1 and the Fifth Sunday of Great Lent)

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

The biography of this wonderful saint was written by St. Sophronios, the Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Once, during the Honorable Fast [Great Lent], a certain hieromonk, the Elder Zosimas, withdrew into the wilderness beyond the Jordan, a twenty-day trek. Suddenly, he caught sight of a human being with a withered and naked body whose hair was as white as snow and who began to flee from the sight of Zosimas. The elder ran for a long while until this person crouched down in a brook and cried out: "Abba Zosimas forgive me for the sake of the Lord. I cannot face you for I am a naked woman." Zosimas then tossed his outer garment to her which she wrapped around herself and then showed herself to him. The elder was frightened upon hearing his name spoken from the mouth of this woman he did not know.

Following his prolonged insistence, the woman related her life story. She was born in Egypt and at the age of twelve began to live a life of debauchery in Alexandria where she spent seventeen years in this perverted way of life. Driven by the adulterous flame of the flesh, one day she boarded a boat which was sailing for Jerusalem. Arriving at the Holy City, she wanted to enter the church in order to venerate the Honorable Cross, but some invisible force restrained her and prevented her from entering the church. In great fear, she gazed upon the icon of the All-Holy Mother of God in the vestibule and prayed that she be allowed to enter the church to venerate the Honorable Cross, all the while confessing her sinfulness and uncleanness and promising that she would go wherever the All-Pure One would direct her. She was then permitted to enter the church.

Having venerated the Cross she again entered the vestibule and, before the icon, gave thanks to the Mother of God. At that very moment she heard a voice saying: "If you cross over Jordan you will find real peace!" Immediately she purchased three loaves of bread and started out for the Jordan where she arrived that same evening. The next day she received Holy Communion in the Monastery of St. John and crossed over the Jordan river.

She remained in the wilderness for forty-eight years in great torment, fear and struggle with passionate thoughts as though with wild beasts. She fed on vegetation. Afterward, when she stood for prayer, Zosimas saw her levitate in the air. She begged him to bring her Holy Communion the following year on the shore of the Jordan where she would then come to receive it.

The following year, Zosimas arrived on the shore of the Jordan in the evening with Holy Communion. He wondered how this saint would cross the Jordan. At that moment, in the light of the moon, he saw her as she approached the river, made the sign of the cross over it and walked upon the water as though upon dry land.

After Zosimas administered Holy Communion to her, she begged him to come the following year to the same brook where they had first met. Zosimas came and discovered her lifeless body on that spot. Above her head in the sand was written: "Abba Zosimas, bury the body of the humble Mary on this site; render dust to dust. I died on April 1, the same night of the saving-suffering of Christ, after having received Communion of the Divine Mysteries." From this inscription Zosimas first learned her name and the other and awesome miracle was that, she, on that same night the previous year, when she received Holy Communion, arrived at this brook which took him twenty days to travel. Thus, Zosimas buried the body of this wonderful saint, Mary the Egyptian.

When he returned to the monastery Zosimas related the entire history of her life and the miracles which he had personally witnessed. Thus, the Lord knows how to glorify penitent sinners. St. Mary is also commemorated on the Fifth Sunday of the Honorable Fast (Fifth Sunday in Lent). The Church holds her up as an example to the faithful during these fast days as an incentive for repentance. She died about the year 530 A.D.

A Reflection From the Life of St. Mary the Egyptian

Why is it that much is said and written about the sufferings of holy men and holy women? Because the saints, alone, are considered victors. Can anyone be a victor without conflict, pain and suffering?

In ordinary earthly combat, no one can be considered victorious nor heroic who has not been in combat, tortured much or suffered greatly. The more so in spiritual combat where the truth is known and where self-boasting not only does not help at all but, indeed, hinders it. He who does not engage in combat for the sake of Christ, either with the world, with the devil or with one's self, how can he be counted among the soldiers of Christ? How, then, can it be with Christ's co-victors?

St. Mary of Egypt spoke about her savage spiritual combat to the Elder Zosimas: "For the first seventeen years in this wilderness I struggled with my deranged sexual desires as though with fierce beasts. I desired to eat meat and fish which I had in abundance in Egypt. I also desired to drink wine and here, I did not have even water to drink. I desired to hear lustful songs. I cried and beat my breasts. I prayed to the All-Pure Mother of God to banish such thoughts from me. When I had sufficiently cried and beat my breasts, it was then that I saw a light encompassing me on all sides and a certain miraculous peace filled me."

HYMN OF PRAISE: SAINT MARY THE EGYPTIAN

Penitent wonderful, self-tormentor,

Mary hid herself from the face of men.

Oh yes, sinful me,

By passion, darkened.

Passions are beasts which eat at our heart,

In us as serpents, secretly they weave a nest.

Oh yes, sinful me,

By passion consumed!

In order to save sinners, You suffered O Christ,

Now, do not loathe impure me!

Hearken to the cry of Mary,

Of all, the most-sinful!

The Lord showed compassion, Mary He healed,

Her darkened soul, He whitened as snow.

Thanks be to You, O All-Good One,

Oh Lord, most dear!

An impure vessel You cleansed and,

With gold you gilded it,

Filled it to overflowing with Your grace -

That is true mercy,

To you O God, be glory!

And Mary became radiant with the Spirit

As an angel of God, by strength girded,

By Your power, O Christ

Mercy, Most pure!

What smells so in the awesome wilderness,

As beautiful incense in a chest of the temple?

That, Mary breathes -

With holiness, she exudes!

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone

In thee the image was preserved with exactness, O Mother; for taking up thy cross, thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, for it passeth away, but to attend to the soul since it is immortal. Wherefore, O righteous Mary, thy spirit rejoiceth with the Angels.

Kontakion in the Second Tone

By the toils of thy struggles, O God-inspired one, thou didst hallow the harshness of the desert. Wherefore, we glorify thy memory, as we honour thee with hymns, O Mary, glory of the righteous.

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