Mystagogy Update

Dear Mystagogy Readers and Friends,

Christ is risen!

I first of all would like to extend my appreciation to all who have thus far expressed their appreciation for my work by contributing financially to this website. Your generosity, no matter how small, has shown that this small labor of love here has not been in vain. Your contributions will ensure future upgrades to this site with easier usability, time for better quality posts and translations, and an overall better reading experience. Yet this is only a small portion of what I want this ministry to be, as more thorough time and research will be put into many studies, translations and publications, three of which I intend to publish by the end of the year if I am given the amount of time and contributions necessary to get this done. I am very excited about these projects and will be announcing them in the coming weeks and months.

I also want to make aware some user-friendly additions to this site which will be completed over the next couple of weeks. Above the Google Search bar (which allows readers to search for key words on my site) to the left are links that I have added according to the requests of many. The first is a HOME link which will always bring you to the main page no matter where you are navigating on the site. The second is my BOOKSTORE which I have started that contain little projects I worked on through the years and now making available to help with contributions for this ministry. The next link contains CONTACT information to get in touch with me with any questions, requests or comments. I often get personal questions from people about me and this site, so I have tried to answer those questions in a few words in the ABOUT section. The SAINTS AND FEASTS link has been my most requested feature, as many have informed me that my site contains one of the best resources on this subject in the entire web, yet until now was difficult to access or find conveniently. I have also included a link with the various RESOURCE pages that I have created, and will be creating in the future. Since I now have a SAINTS AND FEASTS link, I will no longer do the "Relevant Links For..." at the bottom of my page.

Also I will soon be updating my tabs under the TOPICS section to be more helpful in searching my site for various posts. Below is now a Greek Synaxarion page, since many Greek-speakers have requested that I add daily readings in Greek on my site as well. I will also allow for some advertising on my site soon to help financially with this ministry and will be posting more on Twitter as I do on my Facebook page. Some have requested that I look into making an app for iPhones, and since I have noticed that almost 2% of my readers read my page on their iPhones, I will look into it. A regular podcast may be in store also. Furthermore I will be going through the more than 4,000 posts on this site soon and deleting things that are no longer relevant, and updating individual posts where, for example, a video may no longer be available. Please email me for any other requests or suggestions. I have plans for more additions and enhancements; your continued gifts will help make them possible sooner.

I have received many orders for books and there has been a bit of a delay for many reasons getting them available, but they will be mailed out within the next few weeks as things are now coming together. I apologize for the delay.

Hundreds of people from all over the world access this site every day. I receive emails of appreciation and questions everyday from people of all nations and beliefs. Keep in mind that I am only a one man team with occasional and much-appreciated contributions here and there. This makes me feel a greater responsibility to put forward something better for everyone. Your future prayers and support are thus much requested and very appreciated, since by these you also are helping people all over the world. Thank you for your partnership!

With love in the risen Christ,

John Sanidopoulos

P.S. As a one man team, I often make grammatical errors in my posts and translations. Please forgive me and do not hesitate to point them out so that I may fix them as soon as possible. Thank you!

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The Patriarchate of Jerusalem Has Severed Communion With the Patriarchate of Romania

The Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem met on Monday 9 May 2011 regarding the resolution of the anti-canonical actions of the Patriarchate of Romania, which has built a church and hostel in Jericho without their permission.

The Holy Synod of Jerusalem, after an in-depth investigation, regretably decided to sever communion with the Patriarchate of Romania and crossed Patriarch Daniel out of the dyptychs.

In the 1990's during the days of Patriarch Diodoros of Jerusalem and Teoctist of Romania a church and hostel was being built by Romanians in Jericho without permission from the Jerusalem Patriarchate. The Patriarchate of Jerusalem protested these actions, but the Romanian Church continued the unlicensed building project, and today the church is even functioning liturgically.

It should be noted that despite the interruption of ecclesiastical communion, Romanian pilgrims are welcomed to visit the Holy Land and the Monasteries of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

For more details, read the original source in Greek here.

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6 Wackiest Osama bin Laden Conspiracy Theories

Josh Dzieza
May 9, 2011
Yahoo News

Prince William and Kate Middleton got a heads up about the raid and thus postponed their honeymoon. Osama Bin Laden worked for the CIA. He is not dead; no, wait—he was already dead. Josh Dzieza on six crazy theories about what really went on with the al Qaeda mastermind.

Al Qaeda's confirmation of Osama bin Laden's death will likely damp the conspiracy theories that flared up after the announcement of his killing, even without the release of photographs of the terrorist leader's body. A vast majority of Americans agree with President Obama's decision not to release the photos, according to a recent CBS poll, an indication that the public does not require further proof.

But theories continue to burble on fringe blogs and message boards, and given the nature of conspiracy theories, they probably won't ever disappear entirely. In fact, many of the theories are simply updates to ones that have existed since the September 11 terrorist attacks. The Daily Beast rounded up some of the most popular theories—and some of the strangest.

William and Kate Tipped on bin Laden Killing

Bin Laden's death bumped the birthers out of the news—it also bumped off the royal wedding. Could there be a connection between the two huge media stories? The Daily Mail thought so, and managed to track down a professor from the University of Buckingham who said he “would not be surprised” if Prince William and Kate Middleton had been forewarned about the top secret raid on bin Laden's compound. After all, the royal couple postponed their honeymoon just before bin Laden's death was announced. The Mail even asked a palace spokesman if there was a connection. He insisted there was none.

Bin Laden Worked for the CIA

Self-styled independent journalist James Corbett called the news of bin Laden's death a “retirement party for an old CIA asset, along the lines of Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963.” Like the theory that bin Laden has long been dead, it's another story from the 9/11 Truth movement that's been updated for the news of bin Laden's killing: bin Laden was always just a scapegoat for the September 11 attacks, and now that he was no longer useful, the CIA decided to tie up the loose ends. “Whether he actually did die yesterday or he's been dead for years, or whatever the case may be, this is simply discarding a war on terror bogeyman who's no longer scaring the populace,” according to Corbett. Iranian security official Javad Jahangirzadeh took a similar view, saying that bin Laden had been part of an American plot to create a violent image of Islam, and now that his work is done, he's been killed.

One wag suggests bin Laden was part of an American plot to create a violent image of Islam, and now that his work is done, he's been killed.

The CIA faked the new videos

If there was ever a question about whether photographs of bin Laden's body would convince skeptics, look no further than the response to bin Laden's home videos. In a post titled “Hoax,” a writer at libertarian Alex Jones' site, Info Wars, says the videos, which were released “in a desperate effort to bolster its crumbling official narrative,” are a bit too similar to other videos release in 2007 by a “Pentagon front group.” The Pentagon has a history of passing off old bin Laden videos as new and creating its own, the Info Wars blogger writes. Another blogger points out differences in bin Laden’s beard between the new videos and older ones, and wonders whether the videos are “the smoking gun conspiracy theorists have been looking for.” The CIA actually has faked a bin Laden video before, as the Info Wars blogger points out, though it's not one you've ever seen played on the news. The Washington Post reported last year that the CIA made a propaganda video showing a fake bin Laden sitting around a campfire “swigging bottles of liquor and savoring their conquests with boys.”

Osama bin Laden is not dead

Surprisingly, this seems to be the less popular of two main conspiracy theories. For obvious reasons, this version is more popular among the Taliban than in the United States. But even in the U.S., some raised doubts about whether bin Laden had really been killed. Fox Business News host Andrew Napolitano asked guests “whether the government is telling us the truth or pulling a fast one to save Obama’s lousy presidency.” On Facebook, a little over 2,000 people somewhat ambiguously “liked” a page called “Osama bin Laden NOT DEAD.” The posters on the wall seem to mostly think it was a ploy to get Obama reelected.

Osama bin Laden was already dead

A more palatable theory for those who want to believe both that bin Laden is dead and that the U.S. government is perpetrating a vast fraud, this one actually has been around for years. The gist of it is that bin Laden died of kidney failure or was killed by U.S. troops in Tora Bora and that his body has been frozen for a decade, held as a trump card that two different administrations have been waiting to play. Different people give different reasons for why Obama would play the card now, 17 months before the election. Some say to bolster his flagging ratings, others to distract attention from his birth certificate issue. Urging everyone to buy gold, one blogger claims bin Laden's death was faked in order to distract the public while Obama stole everyone's pensions to pay for the national debt. Iran's intelligence minister, Heidar Moslehi, also saying bin Laden had been dead for years, claimed that the terrorist’s killing was a hoax meant to distract people from an Islamic awakening.

No Women in the Situation Room

While not exactly a conspiracy theory, this at least qualifies as a bit of unexplained intrigue: One Hasidic Jewish newspaper appears to be boldly proposing that no women were with the president and other security chiefs in the Situation Room during the raid on bin Laden’s compound. Most people are familiar with the now-ubiquitous photograph, which rocketed to the top of flikr within days of being released, showing Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and other administration honchos in the Situation Room. Well, the Brooklyn-based Hasidic newspaper Der Zeitung Photoshopped Hillary Clinton and administration official Audrey Tomason out of the photo. The paper had no comment on its photo, but many conjectured that the picture was doctored either because of editors’ concerns about immodesty or desire not to show women in positions of power.

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Saint Isidora the Fool For Christ

St. Isidora the Fool (Feast Day - May 10)

At the Convent of the Great Pachomios, in Tabennesis, there lived another nun, Isidora, who pretended, for Christ’s sake, to be insane and a demoniac.

To such an extent did the others abhor her, that they did not eat with her; this is something that she, herself, had chosen. She moved about the kitchen doing every sort of chore, and was, as they say, the scrubbing-cloth of the monastery, while she put into practice the command: “Whosoever of you believes that he is wise by the measure of this world, may he become a fool, so as to become truly wise.”

She served the Convent with a rag wrapped around her head, while all of the others had their hair cropped short and wore koukoulia.

Not one of the four-hundred nuns had ever seen her eat normally so much as once in her life. She swept the Trapeza and washed the pots; the crumbs and leftovers were sufficient for her, because she never sat at table nor touched a piece of bread.

Never did she insult anyone, never was she resentful, and never did she utter a superfluous word, despite the fact that they buffeted her, insulted her, railed at her and spit at her.


An Angel appeared to St. Piteroum, a man confirmed in virtues who lived in asceticism on Mt. Porphyrite, and said to him:

“Why do you boast that you are pious by remaining in this place? Would you like to meet a woman who is more pious than you? Go to the Convent of those of Tabennesis, and there you will find a nun who wears a crown on her head. She is superior to you. She contends with such a multitude, and yet her heart has never distanced itself from God. As for you, you sit here, but your mind wanders through the cities."

Hence, he who had never before left his cell arose and besought the spiritual Fathers to allow him to visit the Convent. Since he was a renowned Elder, they gave him leave.

When he entered, he asked to see all of the nuns, but St. Isidora did not appear. Finally, he said to them: “Bring them all to me. One is missing.” They answered him: “There is one more in the kitchen who is a fool.” (So do they call those possessed by a demon.) He said to them: “Bring her to me also. Allow me to see her.” They went and called her, but she did not submit, either because she understood what was about to happen or because it had been revealed to her. So they dragged her by force, telling her: “The holy Piteroum wishes to see you” (he was, to be sure, well known).


When she had presented herself, the Saint noticed the rag on her forehead (her “crown”), fell down before her, and said: “Bless me.” In the same way, she also fell at his feet, saying: “You bless me, my lord.”

Astonished, they all told him: “Abba, do not debase yourself; she is a fool.” Piteroum silenced them with the words: “You are the fools; she is my and your Amma—thus are spiritual Mothers called—, and I pray that I might be found to be her equal on the Day of Judgment.”

Having heard these things, the nuns fell at his feet, and each one confessed the ways in which she had affronted the Saint. One said that she poured filthy dish water on her, another that she struck her with her fists, and yet another that she had smeared her nostrils with mustard. All of them confessed the outrages they had committed against her. St. Piteroum prayed for them and departed.

Several days having passed, the fool was not able to bear the glory and honors shown to her by her sisters and, having wearied of their apologies, she left the monastery in secret. No one ever learned where she went, where she hid herself, or how she died.

Source: Demetrios Tsasmes, Meterikon, Vol. I (Thessaloniki: 1990), pp. 130-135.

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Pascha With Papadiamandis: Lessons from a Panegyrist

Christopher Tripoulas
May 04, 2011
The National Herald

There are few opportunities like Holy Week to gain empirical knowledge and partake in the Philokalic (love of beauty) Hellenic tradition that masterfully comes to life each year in Greek Orthodox churches and homes all over the world. The Orthodox Christian mentality is expressed in our persistent focus on the Resurrection. While various creeds follow the Passion, and even honor it, they view it within the narrow prism of “The satisfaction of God's divine anger,” and their churches remain silent after Good Friday. In the Orthodox Church, the Holy Passion is venerated, because it illuminates what is to come; because the faithful know that after the Cross comes the Resurrection! This was and will remain the good news that Orthodoxy preaches to the world. It’s this very “good news” that Greek tradition has sought to identify itself with. Since ancient times, Hellenism has stood out for its ability to “organically digest” new elements and incorporate them into its existence. It is no surprise that it lends its full passion and grace and abilities towards glorifying the greatest of all such elements: the voluntary self-sacrifice of the Incarnate God and His subsequent Resurrection, to save mortals from death. Famous Greek author Alexandros Papadiamandis (widely known as the Dostoevsky of Greece) – whose 100-year memorial anniversary is being widely commemorated this year – describes Holy Week most eloquently in so many of his short stories and articles: “… the incense drifts in blue fragrant wreaths and forms a fleeting surround for the girls, in their embroidered aprons and white sleeveless jackets, come bearing armfuls of roses and violets and sheaves of rosemary and proceed to heap mountains of flowers on the humble Epitaphios, which needs no further embellishment.” In her blog This Side of Glory, the author Grace discusses this beautiful short story (A Village Easter), noting, “Who doesn’t know what he means? The liturgical worship we have looks so serious to our Protestant friends that they never guess how very human it can be — laughter and tears and all the rest that are forever tinged in my memory with the most sacred and eternal aspects of worship.”

In an article on Pascha, Papadiamandis compares the joy that the Church feels over the feast of Pascha to an inexplicable “inebriety” that a bride feels upon regaining her groom. “The Greek people feel this sublime drunkenness in their hearts more than any other people. No other Christian holiday holds that place that Pascha holds for them. The Westerners have Christmas. We have Pascha. It is the queen of all holidays and the feast of feasts.” He goes on to note that “the Greek nation’s Pascha rises and sets with the noisy dispersion and supreme exultation of the people, who still have drops of blood running in their veins from their wild and unbridled ancestors, who are lulled by the love of freedom.”

Papadiamandis notes that, “When the Greek people say the word Resurrection, a secret chord is struck in the depths of their heart, reminding them of the Resurrection of the nation as well, and Christ and Country meet together, equally suffering and equally divine. And when the Greek people say the word Love (Agape), they are speaking the sweetest of words, preeminently underscored in the Gospel and proclaimed in the teachings of St. Paul, which has remained in the Greek language as the quintessential passionate and heartfelt word, by which every affection, and every romantic feeling, and every devotion are expressed. Nothing is separated in the Greek tradition. That’s why the Crucifixion cannot be seen separately from the Resurrection. That’s why there’s no place for Puritanism in Orthodoxy. Pascha is a combination of sublime hymns, prayerful devotion, drama, as well as fireworks, dancing, celebrations, delicacies, and local traditions that vary from village to village and parish to parish. Pascha encompasses our lives – and for one week, it becomes our life, pointing to a more perfect way of living. Papadiamandis sums it up the best: “For my part, as long as I live and breathe and am of sound mind, I will never cease, especially during these resplendent days, to praise and adore Christ, to depict nature lovingly, and to represent with affection those customs which are authentically Greek.” Christos Anesti!

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Trust God, Not Men

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

"Thus says the Lord: 'Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh, whose heart turns away from the Lord'" (Jeremiah 17:5).

When man alienates himself from God in his heart he usually trusts in men and in himself, for in who else can he otherwise trust when he untied his rowboat from God's boat? Since he has already untied his rowboat from God's boat, nothing else remains for him except to trust in his rowboat or in the rowboat of his neighbors. It is a weak trust, but there is no other for him! It is a weeping trust above the abyss of destruction, but there is no other!

But, O heaven and earth, why did man untie his rowboat from God's boat? What happened to man that he flees from his security? What kind of calculation did he calculate when he discovered it would be better for him alone on the tempestuous waves than in the household of God and near the hem of God! With whom did he make an alliance when he breached the alliance with God? Is it with someone stronger than God? Foolishness, foolishness, foolishness!

"Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings." This God spoke once and men have repeated this thousands of times. Being disappointed in their trust in men, men have cursed thousands of times those who have trusted in man. God has said only that which men experienced only too well and confirmed by their experience, i.e., how indeed cursed is the man who trusts in man!

Brethren, that is why we should have trust in God Who is the stable boat on the tempest and Who does not betray. Let us have trust only in Him for all other trust is a devilish illusion.

In You do we trust, O Lord, our fortress and refuge. Tie us along side You and do not allow us to untie ourselves, if we, by our foolishness and cursedness, attempt to untie ourselves from You. To You be glory and thanks always. Amen.

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Russian First Lady Actively Promoting Orthodox Church

Paul Goble
May 9, 2011
Eurasia Review

Svetlana Medvedeva, Russia’s first lady, currently plays an active role in promoting the spread of the values of the Russian Orthodox Church not only in Russian society at large but in the Russian elite in particular, according to members of the Orthodox clergy who have known her for nearly 20 years.

In the current issue of “Sovershenno sekretno,” Aleksey Chelnokov surveys their opinions about what he calls “the phenomenon of the First Lady,” a woman whose role in the life of the Russian Federation is far larger than any of her immediate predecessors and far more important than most suspect (www.sovsekretno.ru/magazines/article/2786).

While much of his article is devoted to the Russian first lady’s childhood, first encounters with her husband, and his role in “glamorous” events like fashion shows and the promotion of particular Russian artists, Chelnokov devotes particular attention to her role in the Church not only in the 1990s but more recently.

It is said, Chelnokov notes, that Svetlana Medvedeva entered the church thanks to her “religious older sister already in the 1990s” when “fate, more precisely God, put her in touch with the pastor” of a church across the Moscow River from the Kremlin, Father Vladimir Volgin, a remarkable figure in his own right.

Not only is he the pastor of four different congregations but he is the son of the actress Yekaterina Vasilyeva and has been responsible for bringing into the church “Irina Abramovich, the mother of five children of the oligarch Roman Abramovich” and for making a pilgrimage with Svetlana Medvedeva.

The First Lady, he told “Sovershenno-Seketrno,” is “an individual of high morality and strong, I would even say, strategic mind,” adding that he was sure that her “experience of contact with holy things” has had an impact on her work in the program for the spiritual and moral training of young people.

Father Volgin said that he accompanied Russian First Family to Mount Athos in Greece and that “sometimes” he is invited to visit the couple “at the government dacha of the Administration of the Affairs of the President.” When that first happened, officials often looked at him askance, but now that has changed.

And he added that some of the senior officials he had met there now visit Mount Athos or other Orthodox pilgrimage sits “several times a year,” another indication of a change of attitude at the top. Father Volgin added that the Medvedevs are not shy about expressing their faith to those whom they know.

Another Orthodox priest with whom Chelnokov spoke was Father Kiprian who heads the Church’s Institute for Expertise on Educational Programs and Governmetn-Confession Relations. Born in 1953 into a family of atheists, he nonetheless became a monk in 1994 and since 1997, a member of the Academic Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church.

He has worked closely with Svetlana Medvedeva since 2007 when she was given the Church’s Olga Order and became a member of the advisory committee of the Spiritual-Moral culture Program for the Rising Generation of Russia, that was created at the behest of then-Patriarch Aleksii II.

At present, Kiprian, who serves as the secretary of this Church project said, “Svetlana vladimirovna is involved in the formation of a new membership” for that council and in the development of a program for its activities over the next decade. “The conception has not changed, but the extent of its activity has been significantly increased,” he added.

Under her influence, the group is promoting the Orthodox holiday of Sts. Peter and Fevronia as a counter to “the challenges of the Catholic Saint Valentine.” And the First Lady is involved in various projects including supporting religious communities and a home for mentally handicapped children.

And in a final comment, Father Kiprian made a remark about Vladimir Putin that may say even more about relations between the Medvedev’s and the prime minister than he intended. He called that Putin had suggested after the Manezh clashes that “Orthodoxy in many ways is even closer to Islam than let us say to the Catholics.”

“Perhaps,” Father Kiprian said laughing, “it is closer to Vladimir Vladimirovich personally. Islam is an Old Testament branch, a single religion which aspires to exclusiveness, by calling all others unbelievers.” Insisting on its similarities with Orthodoxy, the Orthodox churchman said, “is conditioned by some personal preferences” of Putin himself.”

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Video: Iconography of a Russian Church

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Saint Nicholas the New of Vounenis

St. Nicholas the New (Feast Day - May 9)

Saint Nicholas the New was born of pious and virtuous parents. When he came of age he joined the Imperial Army, and with the rank of Duke he trained his soldiers to be brave and fearless warriors. His primary training however was to teach his soldiers to have faith in God, to pray, to not be unfair with anyone, and to seek strength in Christ in their battles against their enemies.

Saint Nicholas was sent by either the Iconoclast Emperor Leo the Isaurian in the 8th century or by the Orthodox Emperor Leo the Great in the 9th century to Larissa with his soldiers to fight against the Avars. When the Avars arrived in Thessaly they spread death and destruction in their barbaric wake. Fearing that he may lose his life and even more his soul, Nicholas withdrew to Vounena of Thessaly with twelve of his soldiers. In this area lived many ascetics with whom they lived ascetically in unceasing prayer, fasting and vigils. Eventually they were arrested by the Avars and Nicholas with his soldiers were massacred.

With promises and flattery they tried to persuade Nicholas to renounce his faith, but were unable to do so. After piercing him many times with his own spear, eventually they beheaded him. The Avars abandoned his body where they slaughtered him, but it was not discovered until many years later by a Duke Euphymianos of Thessaloniki and it was both fragrant and incorrupt. Euphymianos was a leper and had sought healing from many doctors, but in vain. He began to pray to many saints and gave much to the poor and needy hoping in God's mercy. He went to St. Demetrios in Thessaloniki and prayed there, then he went to St. Achilles in Larissa. In Larissa St. Achilles appeared to him and told him to go to Vounena to find the body of the martyr Nicholas, to wash in a nearby well, and to believe after this that he would receive his healing. Upon the discovery and washing, his leprosy was healed and he buried the holy body of the martyr. The same also built a chapel on this spot and named it after the Holy Martyr Nicholas.

The trees on which the Holy Martyr was tied and tortured give off a red liquid which is called by the faithful "Blood". This liquid has healing properties, especially working many wonders for those with skin problems and severe headaches. It begins to flow on the 8th of May every year, the day before the feast of the Saint, until the morning of the 9th (reports also indicate the liquid flows on May 22nd, which is the feast of the Saint according to the Old Calendar). The faithful gather there early on the 8th with bottles to gather this holy liquid. An all-night vigil takes place for the feast, and at 5:00 AM every year a buzz sound can be heard from the trees for about ten minutes. The gold and silver offerings surrounding his holy icon are a testimony to the many miracles this Saint has worked for the faithful. It should be noted also that the holy water near the church does not flow except on the feast of the Saint.

The relic of the Saint is kept devoutly in the Holy Church of Saint Nicholas the New in Thebes (of the district Tichi), in a silver inlaid chest. Even today his holy relic is fragrant and the grace of God remains on his body for the strengthening and healing of the faithful. Every Wednesday a Supplication Service is chanted to the Saint. The treasure chest was given by the Holy Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Mazarakis Vagion by the Abbess Eupraxia in a modest celebration on 10 December 2000. The skull of the Saint is in the church dedicated to his name on the island of Andros.

A Miracle of the Saint In 1943

It was October of 1943. The Germans were determined to spread death before leaving Thebes, leaving the district of Tachi deserted. They had been informed that hidden ammunition was there which insurgents were going to use against them. This was true. In the area where the bell tower is today, a storage space was filled with weapons and ammunition. The Germans ordered everyone to gather outside the church, especially requesting a list of men 16 years old and over, and anyone not present was to be executed on the spot.

Across from the unfortunate inhabitants, the firing squad was ready for the signal to send a hot bullet through the skulls of hungry bodies. Screening was done everywhere: in homes, warehouses and even underground. They even checked the church for ammunition. It should be noted that the massacres of Distomo (June 1943) and Prodromou (August 1943) had already taken place by the Germans, and they were ready to do the same here.

The entrance of the room where the ammunition was hidden was shut with a wooden door, which opened and closed with the smallest blow from the wind, prolonging the agony of the hopeless men. They watched the bloodthirsty officer reach that spot two and three times, but neither military intuition nor human curiosity made him look through the door.

Soon after the Nazi's left empty-handed. Tears of emotion poured from the eyes of all. The people lit candles, knelt and prayed, thanking Saint Nicholas for preventing the German officer from identifying the cluster and saving them from certain death. If it wasn't for this miracle, the last Sunday of October would not be a celebration in Thebes of a miracle, but a commemoration of a massacre.

The Service of Praise to St. Nicholas can be viewed here. From p. 81-100 many photos and icons can be seen.

The Supplication Service can be viewed here.

Απολυτίκιον. Ήχος α΄. Της ερήμου πολίτης.
Εξ Εώας εκλάμψας ως αστήρ ουρανόφωτος, Νικόλαε παμμάκαρ εν Βουνένοις ενήθλησας· διό και δοξασθείς παρά Χριστού, θαυμάτων αναβλύζεις δωρεάς, τοίς προστρέχουσι τη θεία σου αρωγή, Οσιομάρτυς ένδοξε. Δόξα τώ δεδωκότι σοι ισχύν, δόξα τώ σε στεφανώσαντι, δόξα τώ ενεργούντι διά σού, πάσιν ιάματα.


The "blood" which flows from the trees can be seen in this video:

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Saint Christopher, Patron Saint Of Agrinio

Saint Christopher the Martyr is the patron saint of Agrinio, where there are two churches built in his honor. The old church was founded in 1847 and the new one was founded in 1920 and consecrated in 1937.

The old church is found east of the city choked by the grove. This was the first parish of the village of Vrachori near Agrinio, as is evidenced by the location of the first cemetery of Agrinio near the church. The people of Vrachori chose to name their church after St. Christopher for the following reason.

Vrachori was known for producing an excellent quality tobacco. Most families lived off of tobacco. For this reason they greatly feared the hail which would fall in the Spring which would always come from the east and destroy the crops. For this reason they had to "shield" themselves from these eastern storms, hence the position of the old church.

But why St. Christopher?

In an eleventh century Life of St. Christopher, it is written that as the Saint was being led to his martyrdom, he lifted his hands and eyes to heaven and prayed: "Lord, since many sought me from the city or the country or the fields or whatever type of land, I pray Master that no disaster befall them, neither hail, nor anger, nor barren vine...protect their land."

This is how St. Christopher became the patron of Agrinio.

Years later, as people moved towards the center of the city, the old church on the outskirts of the city seemed remote, and it was too small to fit the needs of the growing population. For this reason a location was chosen for a new church in the city, in Triantafyllia, on three acres of land donated by Anastasios Rokas.

Work on the new church began in September of 1920 and the church was consecrated on 20 March 1938. A great feast to Saint Christopher is celebrated on May 9 annually.

The video below is from the feast in 2011. The first two photos below that are of the old church, while the two photos below that are of the new church.

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Icon-Smuggling Ring Uncovered

May 8, 2011
Kathimerini

Scotland Yard has identified the alleged mastermind behind a ring that has been stealing religious icons from churches and monasteries in Epirus and Thessaly which subsequently ended up at European auction houses.

According to the Greek authorities, police in Athens were informed of the identity of the mastermind, who is from Thessaly, by their British counterparts. The person has yet to be taken into custody, however, as his or her whereabouts are currently unknown.

The information that led to the ring leader’s identification was provided by a London gallery following the online identification of six Byzantine icons that the gallery was planning to sell. The icons were recently returned to the monasteries they belong to in the area of Ioannina, northern Greece. It is believed that the alleged ring leader had claimed the icons were family heirlooms from his father’s personal collection.

Besides the aforementioned relics, the London gallery has also handed over another 10 icons to the Greek Embassy in the British capital which have also been identified through photographs as having been stolen from monasteries in Epirus and Western Macedonia. Meanwhile, the gallery has removed another 60 icons from its Internet site that had been heading for auction and had been supplied by the illicit Greek dealer.

It appears, however, that the smuggling ring had been supplying various art spaces around Europe. Another nine Byzantine icons, all taken from churches and monasteries in Epirus and Grevena, were identified and seized at two auction houses based in Amsterdam.

The international search for the icons began after an electronic database of stolen Byzantine treasures was posted online by the former Ioannina prefecture.

Initially, Greek police located a number of works at secondhand stores in Athens, before extensive investigation in collaboration with Interpol led them to Berlin, London and Amsterdam.

According to sources, the police are confident that the information they have gathered will help them to smash the ring, which is believed to be behind the disappearance of hundreds of Byzantine icons and other religious objects, including pieces of icon screens and communion cups.

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Another Orthodox Misreading of the Old Testament

Few Orthodox theologians have read and studied the Old Testament in its entirety, and this shows how badly they interpret it. It also reveals the profound ignorance they have of Patristic texts, which are abundant with Old Testament references. You cannot claim to be a scholar of the writings of the Church Fathers or even the New Testament without having a thorough knowledge of the Old Testament. That many Orthodox theologians have not studied or even read the Old Testament, a basic text of the Orthodox tradition, is proven by the fact that some have even admitted it to me personally.

This is what makes the article posted below so interesting. It is written by a Protestant who is supporting a well-known and vocal atheist for his critique of Orthodox Christian theologian David Bentley Hart. Though the Orthodoxy of Hart is questionable based on his theology alone in his other writings, in this article is revealed his profound ignorance of the Old Testament with a reading of it that I have personally heard in a similar way by many an Orthodox theologian. It reveals the intellectual laziness many Orthodox demonstrate when confronted with difficult questions, and in the case of the Old Testament they dissect texts to make something literal into pure allegory. And a shameful, inconsistent and anti-patristic reading it is.

Read the post here.

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Patriarch Bartholomew On Contemporary Holy Elders

His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, in a speech at the opening ceremony of the Church of St. Nicholas in Havana, Cuba (25 January 2004), stressed that the Orthodox Church has always highlighted their Saints. Having said several names who were declared saints recently, he went on to say:

"There are even those who through the unanimity of the Church are recognized as saints, even though the work of official recognition of their holiness has not yet been issued, such as Elders Paisios, Porphyrios and Ephraim, the compatriot of St. Nicholas the elder Iakovos of Evia, Philotheos Zervakos and so on. Around such personalities as these thousands of souls found peace, sweetness, joy and life. The elements of nature obeyed them. The animals reverenced them. Everyone and everything felt the love and the grace of the Holy Spirit residing in them. To gaze at them was to gaze at Christ. Their hands were hands of philanthropy. Their hearts were full of sacrificial love. Their minds were peaceful. Their phronema was holy. Their daily life was 'love, joy, peace, longsuffering, uprightness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance'. Many have benefitted from these genuine people of God a lot. They are our greatest benefactors. Their prayers dispelled the wills of Nations, brought the mercy and the help of God to the world, expelled unclean spirits, restored to health the sick, and solved insoluble problems of humanity."

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

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Videos: St. John the Theologian and Patmos

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The Monster Within: Where Horror and Theology Meet

- "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man." (Jesus in Matthew 15:19-20)

- "Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win." (Stephen King)

- "In each of us, two natures are at war – the good and the evil. All our lives the fight goes on between them, and one of them must conquer. But in our own hands lies the power to choose – what we want most to be we are." (Robert Louis Stevenson in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde")

- "The heart is but a small vessel; and yet dragons and lions are there, and there likewise are poisonous creatures and all the treasures of wickedness; rough, uneven paths are there, and gaping chasms. There also is God, there are the angels, there life and the Kingdom, there light and the apostles, the heavenly cities and the treasures of grace: all things are there." (St. Macarius the Great in Homilies 43:7)

- "Within the heart is an unfathomable depth. There are reception rooms and bedchambers in it, doors and porches, and many offices and passages. In it is the workshop of righteousness and of wickedness. In it is death, in it is life.... The heart is Christ's palace... There Christ the King comes to take His rest, with the angels and the spirits of the saints, and He dwells there, walking within it and placing His kingdom there." (St. Macarius the Great in Homilies 15:32-33)

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Synaxarion For the Sunday of the Myrrhbearers

By Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos

SUNDAY of THE MYRRH-BEARERS

On this day, the third Sunday of Pascha, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing women; and we also commemorate Joseph of Arimathæa, who was a secret disciple, and also Nicodemos, who was a disciple by night.

Verses

The women disciples bring myrrh unto Christ.
And I bring a hymn as it were myrrh unto them?


Synaxarion

Of these Saints, the women were the first and unerring witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ, while Joseph and Nicodemos were witnesses of His burial, which are the primary and most essential elements of our dogmatic teaching. For Nicodemos was expelled from the synagogue as soon as he decided to part company with the Jews, while Joseph, after burying the Lord’s body, was cast by the Jews into a pit, from which he was snatched up by Divine power and brought to Arimathæa, his homeland. After arising, Christ appeared to him while he was still in fetters, and gave him greater assurance of the mystery of the Resurrection. Although Joseph suffered greatly at the hands of the Jews, he was no longer able to keep silent about this mystery, but boldly recounted to everyone what had happened. It is said of Nicodemos that, by virtue of his writings, he was the first to explain in detail the events surrounding the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, because, coming from the synagogue, he was better informed about the schemes and deliberations of the Jews, and, in short, he knew everything about them. And because, as we have said, Joseph and Nicodemos were reliable witnesses of the Lord’s burial, they were ranked together with the women who beheld the Resurrection.


These women were the first to behold the Resurrection, and it was they who announced the glad tidings to the Disciples; for it was fitting that the sex which had first fallen to sin and had inherited the curse should be the first to behold the Resurrection and to hear the joyous greeting, having formerly heard the words: “in pain thou shalt bring forth children.” They were called Myrrh-Bearers, because Joseph and Nicodemos, being in a hurry to bury the body of the Lord on the Friday, since the next day was the great day of the Sabbath, anointed it according to Jewish custom, but not as they ought to have done; they only anointed it with aloes and spices, wrapped it in a winding-sheet, and committed it to the grave; for this reason, having an ardent love for Christ, as disciples of His, these women purchased costly myrrh and came by night, both for fear of the Jews and because the Law permitted them to mourn earlier in the day and to anoint the body, thereby making up for a deficiency that had been due to pressure of time. When they arrived at the tomb, they saw different sights: the two shining Angels inside the tomb, and the other sitting on the stone; after this, they beheld Christ and worshipped Him; St. Mary Magdalene asked Him about Himself as if He were the gardener.


Many were the Myrrh-Bearers, but the Evangelists mentioned only the important ones, leaving the others aside. First of them all was Mary Magdalene, from whom Christ had cast out seven demons; after the Ascension of Christ, she went to Rome, as the story has it, and delivered Pilate and the High Priests to an evil death, after relating to the Emperor Tiberius the events surrounding Christ; she later reposed in Ephesus and was buried by St. John the Theologian; her Relics were translated to Constantinople by Emperor Leo the Wise. The second was Salome, who was a daughter of St. Joseph the Betrothed and whose husband was Zebedee; she gave birth to St. John the Evangelist and St. James. For Joseph had begotten four sons: James, called the Less, Joses, Simon, and Jude; and three daughters: Esther, Thamar, and Salome, the wife of Zebedee. Hence, when you hear in the Gospel about Mary, the mother of James the Less and Joses, keep in mind that she is the Theotokos; for the Theotokos was reckoned to be the mother of the sons of Joseph, and, as it turns out, St. John the Evangelist was a nephew of Christ, since he was the son of a sister. The third of the Myrrh-Bearers was Joanna, the wife of Chuza, the administrator and steward of King Herod’s household. The fourth and the fifth were Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. The sixth was Mary, the wife of Clopas, whom some call Cleopas. The seventh was Susanna. And there were very many others, as the Divine Luke records, who supported Christ and His Disciples from their own resources.


Because these women proclaimed the Resurrection and contributed greatly to assuring us, with utter certainty, of Christ’s Resurrection, the Church of God received the tradition of celebrating them after St. Thomas, for they were the first to see Christ risen from the dead, preached the message of salvation to all, and most excellently pursued the life according to Christ and as befitted women who were disciples of Christ.

By the intercessions of the Holy Myrrh-Bearers, O God, have mercy on us. Amen.

Source


Apolytikion in the Second Tone
When Thou didst descend unto death, O Life Immortal, then didst Thou slay Hades with the lightning of Thy Divinity. And when Thou didst also raise the dead out of the nethermost depths, all the powers in the Heavens cried out: O Life-giver, Christ our God, glory be to Thee. Glory... The noble Joseph, taking Thine immaculate Body down from the Tree, and having wrapped It in pure linen and spices, laid It for burial in a new tomb. But on the third day Thou didst arise, O Lord, granting great mercy to the world. Both now... Unto the myrrh-bearing women did the Angel cry out as he stood by the grave: Myrrh oils are meet for the dead, but Christ hath proved to be a stranger to corruption. But cry out: The Lord is risen, granting great mercy to the world.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
When you said to the Myrrh-bearers, "Rejoice!", O Christ our God, You ended, by Your Resurrection, the lament of Eve, the first mother. And, You commanded Your Apostles to proclaim, "The Savior has risen from the grave."

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St. Anthusa's Letter To Her Son St. John Chrysostom On Ideal Friendship

Written By Saint Anthusa For Her Son, Saint John Chrysostom

'A faithful friend is an elixir of life' (Ecclesiasticus 6.16).

'A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter' (Ecclesiasticus 6.14).

For what would a genuine friend not do? what pleasure would he not create for us? what benefit? what safety?2 Though you were to name a thousand treasures, there is nothing comparable to a real friend.

First let us say how much pleasure friendship brings. A friend is bright with joy, and overflows when he sees his friend. He is united to him in a union having a certain ineffable pleasure of the soul. If he merely thinks of him, he rises and is carried upwards in his mind. I speak of genuine friends, who are of one accord, of those who would choose to die for their friends, of those who love warmly. Do not imagine that you can refute what I say with the example of those who love lightly, or who lunch with you, [lit. 'who are sharers of your table', Ecclesiasticus 6.10], or with whom you have a nodding acquaintance. If any one has a friend such as I describe, he will understand my words; and, though he should see his friend every day, it is not often enough for him. He makes the same prayers for his friend as for himself. I know a certain man, who, when asking for the prayers of a holy man on behalf of his friend, asks him to pray first for the friend and then for himself.

A true friend is such that places and times are loved on his account. For, as shining objects shed a lustre upon the adjoining places, even so friends impart their own grace to the places they have been. And oftentimes, when standing in those places without our friends, we have wept and groaned, remembering the days when we were there together.

It is not possible to express in language the pleasure which the presence of friends causes, but only those who have experienced it know. One can ask a favour, and receive a favour, from a friend without suspicion. When they make a request of us, we are grateful to them; but when they are slow to ask, then we are sad. We have nothing which is not theirs. Often, though despising all earthly things, nevertheless, on their account, we do not wish to depart from this life; and they are more desirable to us than the light. Yes, indeed, a friend is more desirable than the light itself. (I speak of the genuine friend.) And do not object; for it would be better for us for the sun to be extinguished than to be deprived of friends. It would be better to live in darkness than to be without friends. And how can I say this? Because many who see the sun are in darkness. But those who are rich in friends could never be in tribulation. I speak of the spiritual friends who set nothing above friendship. Such was Paul, who would willingly have given his own soul, without having been asked, and would have willingly fallen into Hell for his brethren (Romans 9.3). With so burning an affection is it proper to love. Take this as an example of friendship. Friends surpass fathers and sons, that is, friends according to Christ.

Friendship is a great thing, and how great, no one could learn by study, nor by any words of explanation, but only by the experience itself. For the absence of love has brought heresies, it causes the heathens to be heathens. He who loves does not wish to command nor to rule, but he feels more grateful being subject and being commanded. He wishes to confer favours rather than to receive them, for he loves, and feels as if he had not gratified his desire. He is not so much delighted at experiencing kindness as at doing kindness. For he prefers to hold his friend bound to him, rather than he should be indebted to his friend: or, rather, he wishes to be indebted to him, and also to have him as a debtor. He wishes to confer favours, and not to seem to confer favours, but to be his debtor.

When friendship does not exist, we embarrass with our services those whom we serve, and we exaggerate small things. But when friendship does exist, we conceal the services and we also wish to make great things appear small, in order that we may not seem to have our friend as a debtor, but that we ourselves may appear to be debtors to him while actually he is our debtor. I know that many do not understand this, but the reason is that I discourse of a heavenly thing. It is as if I spoke of some plant growing in India, of which no one had experience. Language could not represent it, although I were to utter ten thousand words. Even so now; whatever I may say, I shall speak in vain. For no one will be able to represent it. This plant has been planted in Heaven, having its branches loaded, not with pearls, but with abundant life, which is much more pleasing than pearls.

But what kind of pleasure do you wish to speak of? Is it of disgraceful pleasure, or of virtuous pleasure? Now the sweetness of friendship exceeds all other pleasures. You might mention the sweetness of honey, except that honey can become cloying, and a friend never does (so long as he is a friend); the desire is rather increased the more it is gratified, and this pleasure can never leave us sated. A friend is sweeter than the present life. Therefore, many have not wished to live any longer after the death of their friends. With a friend anyone could willingly endure banishment; but without a friend no one would choose to inhabit even his own country. With a friend even poverty is bearable, but without him health and wealth are unbearable.

To have a friend is to have another self; it is concord and harmony, which nothing can equal. In this, one is the equivalent of many. For if two, or ten, are united, none of them is merely one any longer, but each of them has the ability and value of ten; and you will find the one in the ten, and the ten in the one. If they have an enemy, attacking not one, but ten, he is defeated, for he is struck, not by one, but by ten . Has one fallen into want? Still he is not desolate; for he prospers in his greater part; that is to say in the nine, and the needy part is protected; that is, the smaller part by that which prospers. Each one of them has twenty hands, and twenty eyes, and as many feet. For he sees not with his own eyes alone, but with those of others; he walks not with his own feet, but with those of others; he works not with his own hands, but with those of others. He has ten souls, for he alone is not concerned about himself, but those other nine souls are concerned about him. And if they are a hundred, the same thing will take place again, power will be increased.

See the excellence of godly love! How it causes one individual to be unconquerable and equal to many. How the one person can be in different places. How the same person may thus be in Persia and in Rome, and how what nature cannot do, love can do. For one part of the man will be there, and one part here; or rather, he will be altogether there and altogether here. Or if he have a thousand friends, or two thousand, think to what a pitch his power will advance. Do you see how productive a thing love is? For this is a wonderful thing: to make the individual a thousand-fold. So the question is, why do we not take possession of this strength, and place ourselves in safety? This is better than all power and virtue. This is more than health, more than the light of day itself. And it is a joy. How long shall we confine our love to one or two?

Learn from considering the opposite. Suppose there were someone who had no friend -- a thing which is of the utmost folly. ("A fool will say, 'I have no friend'" [Ecclesiasticus 20.16].) What kind of life does such a person live? For even if he were rich a thousand times over; even if he were to live in abundance and luxury, and possess a multitude of good things, he is absolutely destitute and naked. But in the case of friends this is not so; but even if they are poor, they are better provided than the rich; and what a man will not venture to say for himself, a friend will say for him. And the things which he is unable to grant by himself, those he can grant through another, and much more, and thus he will be to us a cause of all pleasure and enjoyment. For it is impossible that he should suffer hurt, being protected by so many bodyguards. Not even the Emperor's bodyguards are as careful as one's friends; for the former guard through fear of discipline, but the latter through love. And love is much more commanding than fear. Indeed, a king may fear his guards; but the friend trusts to them more than to himself and, because of them, fears none of those who plot against him.

Let us, therefore, procure for ourselves this commodity -- the poor man, that he may have a consolation of his poverty; the rich man, in order that he may possess his riches in safety; the ruler that he may rule with safety; the subject, that he may have well-disposed rulers.

Friendship is an occasion of benevolence and a source of clemency. Even among beasts, the most savage and intractable are those which do not herd together. Therefore we inhabit cities and we hold markets, that we may have intercourse with each other. This also Paul commanded, when he forbade 'neglecting to meet together' (Hebrews 10.25). For there is nothing so bad as solitude, and the absence of society and of access to others.

What about monks, then, one might ask, and those who live as hermits on tops of mountains? They are not without friends. They have fled from the tumult of the marketplace, but they have many of one accord with them, and are closely bound to each other in Christ. And it was in order that they might accomplish this that they withdrew. For, since the zeal of business leads to many disputes, they have left the world to cultivate godly love with great strictness. The sceptic then might say: What? If a man is alone, may he also have friends? I, indeed, would wish, if it were possible, that we were all able to live together; but, in the meantime, let friendship remain unmoved. For it is not the place that makes the friend. Furthermore, the monks have many who admire them; but no one would admire unless they loved. Also, the monks pray for the entire world, which is the greatest evidence of friendship.

For the same reason we embrace each other in the Divine Liturgy; in order that being many, we may become one. And we make common prayer for the uninitiated, for the sick, for the fruits of the earth, and for travellers by land and by sea. Behold the strength of love in the prayers, in the holy mysteries, in the preaching. This is the cause of all good things. If we apply ourselves with due care to these precepts, we shall both administer present things well and obtain the Kingdom.

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The Diligence and Love of the Myrrhbearing Women

The diligence of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women is truly great and their fervent love for the Lord is constant. Free from every earthly predilection their hearts lived and breathed only for the Lord: all their thoughts, desires and hope were concentrated in Him and all their blessings and treasure consisted in Him. For the sake of their beloved Teacher they willingly leave their homes, their close and known relatives, forget the weakness of their gender, are not frightened by the cruelty of the numerous enemies of the Lord, steadily follow Him everywhere, long-sufferingly pass through the cities and villages with Him and minister to Him from their means. They do not abandon their beloved Teacher during His suffering and His death. Trailing behind with love, they accompany the Lord also to Golgotha and they look upon the Crucified One, taking measure of the compassionate feeling of His extreme suffering. Having disdained all the dangers of the frantic enemies of Christ, they finally come nearer, to His very cross, and by their participation ease the unquenchable grief and illness of His All-pure Mother. Having fervently served the Lord with their means during His lifetime, they do not stop serving Him even after His death. According to their internal burning love of their Divine Teacher they will zealously render Him the final burial honor: the anointing of His body with aromatic spices (Mk. 15:40, 47, 16:1-2; Mt. 27:55; Lk. 23:28-31, 49-56, 24:1; Jn. 19:25). In a holy impulse to see and to visit the tomb of the Lord they forget about themselves, about their need for rest, do not remember the obstacles and dangers, and even the weakness of their gender does not stop them. Such is the true love of the holy women for the Lord. It is continual, pure and simple, deep and strong. The burning continual love, the sincerest unquenched diligence of the holy women was worthily rewarded by the Lord Himself. The Holy Myrrhbearing Women, who preceded every one to the tomb of the Lord, also went before everyone in the joy of the Resurrection (Mt. 28:1-10; Mk. 16:6; Lk. 24:1-11). From this time the holy women have become true witnesses equally with Holy Apostles to the resurrection of Christ for all the people.

The ardor and continual love of the Holy Myrrhbearers for the Lord also serves as an example for our love for Him. By the example of the holy women, we also should strengthen in our hearts the true self-denying love for our Savior. Even the strength of our love for Him should be like those, as the holy Apostle says, that nothing could separate us from Him, neither things present nor things to come, neither life nor death, neither angels nor men (Rom. 8:38-39). Besides this, in the example of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women the Holy Church presents a spiritual healing for all Christians tempted with sorrows, leading to depression. Like the holy women, wounded with fierce grief during the scene of their Lord and Savior, crucified on the cross and buried in a tomb, however searched for unique comfort in that tomb where all their happiness and life were hidden and found this desired comfort, so it is that each Christian soul should seek consolation in the sorrows and grief at the tomb and cross of the Savior.

Together with this, the life and labors of the Holy Myrrhbearing Women themselves represent an example of the true-Christian pursuit of the Christian woman. Her calling on earth is to privilege a life of the heart in all its lawful displays. An example of the Holy Myrrhbearers and the contemporary Christian woman is likewise called to serve the indigent from their means, to ease the situation of the disabled by their labor, comfort the sorrowful and the sick and, to care "not for the beauty of the body, not for the external braiding of the hair, not about gold finery and elegance in clothes, but about the secret heart of the person in the incorruptible beauty of the gentle and taciturn spirit, that is precious before God" (l Pet. 3:З-4; 1 Tim. 2:9-12), i.e. about the development and improvement in the Christian spirit of internal spiritual qualities, especially of the good and loving heart.

Source: Rukovodstvo dlia Seljskikh Pastirej (Manual for Village Pastors) 1892, 15; Smolenskiia Eparkhialniia Vestnik (Smolensk Diocesan Messenger), 1891, 9).

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The Zhirovits Icon of the Mother of God

The Zhirovits Icon of the Mother of God (Feast Day - May 7)

The Zhirovits Icon of the Mother of God appeared in the year 1470 in the vicinity of Zhirovits on the Grodnensk frontier. In the forest, belonging to the Orthodox Lithuanian dignitary Alexander Solton, shepherds beheld an extraordinarily bright light, while peering through the branches of a pear tree that stood over a brook at the foot of a hill. The shepherds came closer and saw a radiant icon of the Mother of God on the tree. With reverence, the shepherds took the icon to Alexander Solton. Alexander Solton did not pay any attention to the report of the shepherds, but he took the icon and placed it in a chest.

On the following day Solton had guests, and he wanted to show them what had been found. To his amazement, he did not find the icon in the chest, although he had seen it shortly before this. After a certain time the shepherds again found the icon in the same place, and again they brought it to Alexander Solton. This time, however, he received the icon with great reverence and vowed to build a church in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos at the place of the icon's discovery. Around the wooden church a settlement soon gathered and a parish was formed.

Around the year 1520 the church was completely burned, despite the efforts of the inhabitants to extinguish the blaze and save the icon. Everyone thought that the icon had been destroyed. However, some peasant children returning from school beheld a miraculous vision. The Virgin, extraordinarily beautiful and radiant, sat upon a stone at the burned church, and in Her hands was the icon which everyone believed had been destroyed. The children did not dare approach Her, but they hastened to tell their relatives and acquaintances about the vision.

Everyone accepted the story about the vision as a divine revelation and they went to the hill with the priest.The Zhirovits Icon of the Mother of God, totally unharmed by the fire, stood on a stone with a burning candle before it. For awhile they placed the icon in the priest's house, and the stone was fenced in. When they built a stone church, they placed the wonderworking icon there. A men's monastery later grew up around the church. Its brethren headed the struggle for Orthodoxy against the Unia and Latinism.

In 1609, the monastery was seized by the Uniates and remained in their hands until 1839. During this time the Zhirovits Icon of the Mother of God was venerated by both Uniates and Catholics. In 1839, the monastery was returned to the Orthodox and became the first place where Orthodox services were restored on the West Russian frontier.

During the First World War, they brought the Zhirovits Icon of the Mother of God to Moscow, and at the beginning of the 1920s it was returned to the monastery. At present it is in the Dormition cathedral of the Zhirovits monastery, Minsk diocese, and it is deeply revered for its grace-filled help. The icon was carved in stone and measured 43x56 cm.


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Saint Alexis Feast Day In Wilkes-Barre

John Krispin
May 7, 2011
The Times Leader

St. Alexis brought the power of communication to the Wyoming Valley when he became the first priest of Holy Resurrection Orthodox Cathedral in Wilkes-Barre more than a century ago.

The 102nd anniversary of the Repose (death) of St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre will be observed today, with Bishop Tikhon, of the Diocese of Eastern Pennsylvania of the Orthodox Church in America, as a main celebrant.

It was the power of the written word that helped bring St. Alexis’ Austrian-Hungarian people, who came to the Wyoming Valley to find work in the mines and mills, together to a religious welcoming not only in the Wyoming Valley but also in North America.

“He came to America, and there was no bishop for the Eastern Rite,” said the Rev. Martin Browne, of St. John’s Orthodox Church, Edwardsville, who will lecture on the life and history of St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre at today’s service. “This was the late 1870s, and at that time people were talking about how American the church shall be.”

At this point, St. Alexis was working with immigrants in Minneapolis, Minn. Browne said this was the first step in St. Alexis’ duties in America, known officially as Alexis of Wilkes-Barre, Confessor and Defender of Orthodoxy in America.

“The consensus is, by his efforts, 15,000 people came into the Orthodox Church in 18 years. That’s nearly 1,000 new members a year,” said Rev. Browne.

He didn’t just do his duties in Wilkes-Barre. From the Midwest states through the New England states, he spread and professed the faith at “a great personal cost.”

“He suffered by virtue of becoming. There was a lot of name-calling and accusations made against him, and that gave him the title of confessor after suffering for his faith,” said Browne. “He defended the church, therefore giving him the name ‘defender’ of the faith in his name.”

The service will start at the main altar, where the liturgy is celebrated, and reliquary that holds a relic of St. Alexis will be used during a song or prayer. He was a mitered arch priest, which was the highest level of priesthood before becoming a bishop.


“They (his altar and relic) provide a physical connection and manifest his connection in a physical way. As a sign of respect and love, the hymn will be sung before his essence.” Browne said.

“This event is a way to localize the day of prayer for saints, but because he is one who is here in our midst, this is a special feast.”

St. Alexis was canonized in 1994. Every year since, the church has celebrated this day as its feast day. To Browne’s knowledge, St. Alexis is the only Orthodox saint from Wilkes-Barre.

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Metropolitan Hilarion Interviewed In "Christianity Today"

From Russia, with Love

Orthodox Metropolitan Hilarion offers evangelicals more than an olive branch.

Timothy C. Morgan
May 5, 2011
Christianity Today

Hilarion Alfeyev, the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, located 80 miles northwest of Moscow, has a very big job. As head of external relations for the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Hilarion is responsible for talking to global Christianity on behalf of the 150 million people in Russian Orthodoxy worldwide.

Given his gift for languages, Hilarion arose as an easy pick for the job by Russian Patriarch Kirill. This year, the Russian-American Institute, a faith-based educational and support organization (formerly the Russian-American Christian University), helped Hilarion interact with a cross-section of evangelicals around the United States for the first time. Christianity Today deputy managing editor Timothy C. Morgan interviewed Hilarion while he was in Washington, D.C.

What's the purpose of your trip?

To establish contacts and to find common positions. Often we are in circles in our own ecclesiastical environment and don't communicate with those who might be our allies.

With regard to evangelical leaders, until recently we didn't have any systematic collaboration or dialogue or conversation. Many evangelicals share conservative positions with us on such issues as abortion, the family, and marriage.

Do you want vigorous grassroots engagement between Orthodox and evangelicals?

Yes, on problems, for example, like the destruction of the family. Many marriages are split. Many families have either one child or no child.

There are many incomplete families, not to speak of various homosexual unions, which are equated with the family. This completely changes the whole picture of human relationships. It directly affects the future of many nations. The sign of a spiritually healthy nation is that it expands—it grows. If it shrinks, it is a very clear sign of unhealthiness.

There is a perception that religious freedom is declining in Russia. Is the perception true?

It's a completely wrong perception. We have to ask what we mean by religious freedom. If it's a freedom for the sects, including dangerous sects, to buy time on television and to propagate their ideas, then I think we no longer have the freedom that existed in the beginning of the 1990s. But I think freedom was sometimes not used in a proper way. For example, I remember how every morning Shoka Asahara would preach on Russian television. He was later condemned to death in Japan for organizing a terrorist attack in the Tokyo underground.

With regards to traditional churches and religions: They have complete freedom of action. There is the law on the freedom of conscience, which makes a subtle distinction between traditional churches and religions that never existed in Russia. Religious communities are given a 15-year probationary period precisely for the reasons I described. They can act freely during this period. They can organize services. They can publish literature. They can do missionary activities. But they are not registered with the juridical status. After 15 years, they can be registered.

Is it the government's role to regulate minority groups like Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Scientology? Or should the Russian Orthodox Church have influence there?

We should have some influence in this process, and we have a mechanism of dialogue within our government. For example, there is the interreligious advisory council to the Russian president. This includes representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, Protestants, Islamic leaders, Jews, Buddhists, and others, who gather on a regular basis. One of their tasks is to monitor the development of religious freedom. They can give advice, if asked, to the president or to the government about how to deal with various sectarian movements and so-called new religious movements. Of course, they have only advisory status.

What about the activity of Christian groups coming into Russia, setting up shop, and trying to reach people who have not heard the gospel?

In many cases, the activity of foreign missionaries in Russia might be profitable to people, because there are many social problems. But whoever comes with missionary purposes to our country must first learn our history, our tradition, and see how to correlate with the existing Christian churches. We distinguish between mission and proselytism. Mission, for example, is when you go to a foreign country where Christianity was not preached and you preach Christ. But when you come to a country where there is an established church that has existed for centuries, then you have to respect it. Ideally you have to come into contact with her and work together with her. Such work brings very positive fruits.

Generally after the election of Patriarch Kirill, the ecumenical climate and inter-Orthodox climate changed drastically. He made a direct appeal to the Patriarch of Constantinople to come to work together on various issues that are still dividing us, to come to a new type of relationship built on mutual trust rather than competition. And I think so far it's worked well.

How do you describe the model for church-state relations in Russia, and how could it be improved?

I don't represent the Russian Federation. I represent the Russian Orthodox Church, which includes other countries—Ukraine, Moldova, Belorussia, Kazakhstan. And in each of these states, the model of coexistence between the church and the state differs.

Our relations with the Russian political authorities are now based on two principles.

One principle is the separation of the church from the state, a mutual noninterference in internal affairs. This means that the government doesn't interfere with our life. And, we do not interfere with political processes. For example, we do not and cannot support one particular party against another party; we cannot say that this party is ours and this party is not ours, because we have to be inclusive. We are prepared to include members of all political orientations, except for extremists. And this is why, for example, some members of the Communist Party are Orthodox believers. This was not possible 20 or 30 years ago.

The other basic principle is collaboration. We build our relationship with the state to collaborate in those areas that are related to people's lives, and where such collaboration is necessary and welcome. For example, on all the issues I mentioned—family, demographics, education—we have a constant dialogue with the government in order to assist each other and people in their daily lives.

For example, the demographic crises cannot be addressed only from an economic or social point of view. They have to be addressed also from the spiritual point of view; we cannot change the declining demographic unless we address it from different angles, unless the whole society and all healthy forces of the society are involved. And this includes the government. If we succeed in creating an alliance between at least four pillars of society—politics, education, the church, and mass media—then we can change this tendency.

Do you believe the government is staying within the boundaries?

Yes. We don't feel any pressure coming from the political authorities.

How do you view Russia's Soviet period? Some say church leaders made the wrong choices in that difficult time.

Well, when I became a priest, the Soviet Union was still in existence. I didn't live in the time of the severe persecutions, when the church was being exterminated, when priests and bishops were killed or imprisoned or sent into exile, when churches were ruined, monasteries closed. But I started my ministry in the time when the church was still under very strict control by the state, and I remember how difficult it was for Christians to be Christians on a daily basis. Many were hidden Christians.

What insight do you draw from that period?

Some people say that the church made wrong choices. I don't think this was the case, because the church had to exist under the conditions that were set without consulting her.

This was the same situation that existed in the first centuries of Christianity. For example, we read how the early fathers tried to prove that they were loyal citizens of the Roman Empire in spite of its pagan character. Addressing the pagans, they said, "We do not bow to the emperor's statues, because this is not allowed by our tradition, but we pay honor to him in all other respects, and we are loyal citizens of the state." This is what the Russian Orthodox Church from the time of Patriarch Tikhon on tried to tell the Soviet authorities, that a person can be a believer and at the same time be a loyal citizen of the state. Of course, the situation of total control of church life by the Communist regime was a very unhealthy situation. But this was the only situation in which the church could live.

Sometimes official representatives of the church had to pay the price in order for the church to exist. For example, in the 1960s and '70s, the church was heavily involved in ecumenical activities, in what were called peacemaking activities. Representatives of the church went abroad. They engaged in various meetings, for example, dedicated to disarmament. If asked whether there were persecutions of the church in Russia, they strongly denied it. But in exchange, the church had the possibility to exist. Theological seminaries functioned. Monasteries functioned.

A choice between two evils—is that how you would describe it?

It was a choice between two evils.

What role can the Russian Orthodox Church play in world evangelization?

Christ created his church not just for private use but also for missionary purposes, and the church has a missionary imperative that must be embodied in the concrete forms of preaching and evangelizing.

Some say you can be a practicing Christian in your home and your family, but you should in no way exhibit your Christian commitments in your public life, especially if you are a politician. I believe that a Christian should be a Christian everywhere. And if he is a Christian and a politician at the same time, then his political agenda should be motivated by Christian values.

In our country, some people say the church exists in order to provide certain services to people when they need them: to baptize children, to marry couples, to organize funerals, and to do services in the church.

I believe that the role of the church is much more inclusive. For example, very often nowadays our church will publicly express positions on what's happening in the country.

Some people ask, "Why does the church interfere? It's not their business." We believe that the church can express its opinion on all aspects of human life. We do not impose our opinions on the people, but we should be free to express them. And people will have to choose whether to follow or not to follow, whether to listen to what we say or to ignore it.

Church leaders worldwide are challenged by secularism and Islam. Which do you see as a greater threat to global Christianity?

If we speak about Islam (and of course if we mean moderate Islam), then I believe there is the possibility of peaceful coexistence between Islam and Christianity. This is what we have had in Russia for centuries, because Russian Islam has a very long tradition. But we never had religious wars. Nowadays we have a good system of collaboration between Christian denominations and Islam.

The picture is different in many other countries, and recently, even the European Parliament publicly recognized that Christians are persecuted and discriminated against in many countries, including in Islamic countries. This is a problem we have to address. Yet I believe that on many essential points, especially in many aspects of moral teaching, Christianity and Islam are allies, and we can cooperate in those fields.

Secularism is dangerous because it destroys human life. It destroys essential notions related to human life, such as the family. One can argue about the role of the church. One can even argue about the existence of God; we cannot prove that God exists to those who don't want to believe that God exists. But when the difference in the world outlook touches very basic notions such as family, it no longer has to do with theological truths; it has to do with anthropological issues. And our debate with secularism is not about theology; it's about anthropology. It's about the present and the future of the human race. And here we disagree with atheist secularism in some areas very strongly, and we believe that it destroys something very essential about human life.

What is the way forward to address secularism?

We should be engaged in a very honest and direct conversation with representatives of secular ideology. And of course when I speak of secular ideology, I mean here primarily atheist ideology.

Of course, one has to distinguish between those representatives of secularism who are atheists and those who are believers, because some of them are believers. And here there is another problem: the influence of secularism on contemporary Christianity, the problem of liberalization of theological and moral standards within many Protestant communities.

But if we speak about atheist secularism, we must have a dialogue with these people, and we must say to them that of course you have the right to believe in what you believe, but we also have the right to believe in what we believe. And we have the right to teach people and to openly proclaim our system of values. There should be no ideological monopoly of secularism in contemporary society. This is one of the themes, maybe the main theme, of our dialogue with the European political structures.

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