The Fervent Orthodox Faith of Greek Olympians

By John Sanidopoulos

Good news came to the Greek people when the Men’s Four Sculls Coxless rowing team qualified for the finals this Saturday. They ended second in their category with the time 6:02.61 after USA (6:01.72) and before Germany (6:04.61). These four men are Stergios Papachristou, Yiannis Tsillis, Giorgos Tsialas, and Yiannis Christou.

After their victory, Stergios Papachristou said: "This is the first time in a heavy category that Greece enters the finals at the Olympic Games. I want to mention Father Joseph of Mount Athos. He sent a letter with wise words, which we had with us today and it helped us a lot. We believe in God, we believe in people who are near us. We will give it all now in the finals."

Below is the letter which Fr. Joseph wrote the athletes:

Fr. Joseph, an ascetic from Mount Athos of the Hermitage of Saint Minas, is the spiritual father of the female Olympic rower Christina Giazitzidou. His letter is full of encouragement for the Greek athletes. It ends with the following words: "Children of Greece, immortal for both your victories and ethos, Olympic rowers who will become songs, examples and myths!!!"

Ilias Iliadis put aside his disappointment at missing out on a judo gold medal at the London Olympics and said he hoped the bronze he won on Wednesday will bring some joy to those suffering in crisis-hit Greece.

"Really I am happy for this medal because Greece needs this medal at this time. Greek people need this medal," he told Reuters. "Everybody knows about the hard times in Greece. I want to say thanks to everybody in Greece who was watching my fight. It would have been good if it was gold but no bad thing that it's bronze."

When Iliadies was asked by Greek reporters to whom he dedicated his metal, he said: "I dedicate it first to God, then to all the Greeks." Iliadis went on to say: "I thank God! This metal will go to Mount Athos."

Two months before winning the bronze medal in London, Ilias visited the Holy Monastery of Vatopaidi on Mount Athos, in order to "receive strength from the Panagia". He told Pemptousia in an interview that he would give his medal if he won to the Monastery as an offering to the Panagia. In the interview he also speaks of judo, athleticism, his love for Greece, his deep Orthodox faith, and his time living in Georgia. (see video here)

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Fr. Victor Potapov On the Pussy Riot Case

Natalya Rostov

August 2, 2012

Slon

Father Victor Potapov, rector of St. John the Baptist in Washington, was born in Germany and since 1951 he has been living in America. The church, in which he serves, belongs to the Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad. At the request of Slon, he expressed his opinion about what is going on in Moscow regarding the Pussy Riot case.

- I am an observer from the outside, and maybe I was not all that affected like people within the country. Of course, I am a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church, but I was born in the West, in Germany, raised in America, and the situation is cultural, social, all around me - of the other. So I apologize in advance if someone is offended or grieve, in their own words.

Of course, what these girls did was deeply immoral. This is not an ethical mistake, it's immoral. They came into the holy place in the temple, the main temple of Russia, and in that which has been desecrated by the Bolsheviks and then restored (and we know that in a financial sense, maybe not the best). Nevertheless, it has been restored and is again a monument to the heroes, a monument of victory over Napoleon's invasion of Russia. And what, they get up in front of the altar. It's not Putin, Putin is not here (the temple is no place for political demonstrations), and they spoke so many blasphemous things. Very little attention is paid to these words, saying only that they have insulted Putin, the Patriarch, but in fact they upset very many people. I want to say this first of all.

However, the noise which was raised around them is also upsetting. Before Russia there now faces great problems of moral character, and they deserve as much attention. But it seems the Church stuck to Pussy Riot (sorry, I pronounce this word, it is also offensive), stuck to this punk band, and I'm very sorry about this. On the other hand, the crisis caused by the group reveals huge flaws in modern society, as a believer and unbeliever.

- The girls just exposed the conflict between state, society and the Church, right?

- Yes. On the one hand, ensured are the democratic rights of such actions - it is deeply immoral. On the other hand, to punish them with long imprisonment - an obscurantist demand, almost dictatorial - it is immoral, too. I do not understand. I believe that the Church, we pastors, must appeal to the conscience. They sit there for a long time, some of them built up as martyrs, as often happens in such high-profile cases.

I am afraid that the time is lost, but of course it would be better to have a conversation with them, try to act on their conscience, tell the girls that what they've done is deeply offensive, immoral. To be punished, of course, would be necessary, but not so long sitting in a prison or jail, and even more so, not for a seven-year period, as many suggest. We should get them to work in any establishment: a shelter or a hospice.

- There is much attention focused on the court, and many go on calling it the Inquisition, and this creates bitterness all the more. What do we do with it, with the exasperation, which is reproduced?

- I hope that thinking people can see it. I hope that they will write, discuss this problem - the lack of mercy, the heating of cruelty which people are calling for. This should be discussed, but not how it was done so far - either-or. We must come to some compromise. Mindful people and the Church should think again, it is necessary to make the congregation settled down, and not contribute to the bitterness.

Frankly, I'm disappointed in the representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, shown on television. (Or, as they were before, because now I notice it less. Before the election, there often were programs on Russian television of interest - round tables, discussions - and now they have ceased to transmit). Their responses are inadequate in this case, and they have deeply disappointed me, unfortunately. I will not name names.

- They are known for these things. And it is clear who you mean. In 2007, the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the ROC came together and now it is a Church. Is there some way to bring this issue up to the Patriarch to his environment? Is there any way to influence them?

- We have to work? I think that we will not publicly call on the Patriarch to pardon or appeal to his conscience. I think it needs to be a man on his level. And I hope that our Metropolitan Hilarion, who was recently in Moscow, spoke on the topic. I do not know, but I hope so.

In any case, I as a priest of the capital of a parish, I tell you that I am deeply confused by the representatives of the Church in this matter, although, again, the act of the girls is deeply immoral. I have subscribed to Google - on my computer comes up to everything about Russian Orthodoxy, and I see that both the media and bloggers only talk about it. And what is the theme? The apartment of the patriarch, the patriarch consecrated the church of the FSB, that's all. At the same time I know that in Russia there is spiritual life, there are many dedicated pastors, priests, believers across the country, but nobody is paying attention, because all are eclipsed by the scandals. I do not want to say that the Church came up with these scandals, but somehow it has lost control of the situation. How to explain this, I do not know. But in the end, after eighty years of atheism, maybe it is all growing pains? Maybe we should expect that the bishops and pastors will make mistakes in the way of development? But I hope that we recognize this error and correct them.

- I wanted to ask this question to you, as someone who has lived in the West all your life. Now many people think about what would happen if the same did not happen in Russia. What the punishment should have been in America?

- I heard that California has a law that punishes such an act with a year in prison. They may make a conditional sentence, to force people to go clean up in the church or to care for homeless people.

- A year?

- Yes. It would be good to find a law to quote it, but here it is, in California, a progressive state, as well as in other states - I do not know.

- You are not faced with such?

- Thank God, no.

If a teenager is guilty of something, drove a car without a license, disorderly conduct, the judge usually sentences up to 48 hours of community ministries. And, if it is a child of my parishioners, I suggest to them that he work with us in the church. They help to clean, and I am writing a letter that they had worked with us in the church, and it is accepted.

- Accepted by the state, you mean?

- Yes, and it is good. The child benefits society, and returns him to his duty in the temple, the holy place, which has a definite impact.

The Bolsheviks after the Revolution, every day, destroyed, desecrated churches. And what could the Russian Church do about it?...

It seems to me that the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is now safe to go to, but became the focus of some extremists. Honest! After the antics of these girls, as in any big city, it attracts strange people - again, to emulate.

- In Sevastopol yesterday already they tried.

- Well, you see. It's like during the mass murders in America, when people are afraid that someone wants to copy the murder.

- I found the quote. The Bishop of the Diocese of Ishim and Siberia Nikon called the current trial, "the result of merging the hierarchy of the Moscow Patriarchate and the State." You may also comment on this?

- I can not say so categorically, as he did.

I was born in the West, and I really like our system. I feel good, the government is no pressure on me. In this time as a member of "Voices of America" ​​I could be with the protesters near the White House to protest against the bombing of Yugoslavia in America, and did not fear that I would be dismissed.

We pray here, many American Orthodox, and it is - the best. And when the church was too close to the state, there is always a lot of temptations. The Church must be the conscience of the people, it should have the right to speak freely, without looking around, not depending on the bureaucrats. I am afraid that in Russia, unfortunately, there is the opposite. I do not like it.

- It seems that Orthodoxy becomes an instrument of policy.

- Maybe. I hope they come to their senses and will not allow it.

One reason for this - that the Church believes that the state must return what it lost. The current government considers itself the successor to the Soviet, which destroyed everything, and the Church wants the state to restore the loss. And then what? I do not know. Again, I do not live there, but I'm certainly interested in and root for Russia, even for the Russian athletes who are sick, no matter how strange....

- But perhaps such a separation of Church and state in America can not be there?

- Probably not. I hope that the system will be at least similar to that which exists in some European countries, at least at this formal level, such as in Finland. There it is the official religion - Lutheranism and Orthodoxy - and the state does not intervene, but give some privileges. Where to go? The Russian Church after all, is a church with thousands of years of history in Russian life, it certainly plays a role. The Church created the Russian culture and statehood. It should have some privileges.

- You've met with government officials in their lifetime. As these contacts were formed with you? How did you apply yourself?

- With great deference, with respect. When Reagan was president, I was invited as an informal adviser on religious affairs in the Soviet Union, it was a purely honorary title. The fact that they paid attention to the Orthodox Church, speaks of the deep esteem in which the American state has for the Church.

Of course, we also have problems, many social issues - the issue of gay marriage, homosexuality is being discussed. But I can not get to perform such marriages, it is an internal church matter. If I refuse to make such a marriage, my parish does not take away the special tax status (we are exempted from income tax), I will speak out, and no one will chase me for it. In America, the office is genuine, constitutional, and it is firmly secured.

- And you had to deny the commission of such marriages?

- No. Thank God, no.

- If they will come to you, you refuse, that's what you mean by that?

- If Orthodox come to me of the same sex, I will explain that this is totally unacceptable from our point of view, and they may not consider themselves Orthodox Christians and to enter into such a marriage. Plain and simple.

- But then there will be extensive discussion on this topic.

- My job as a priest is to have a heart to heart talk with people. If someone comes, I'm not going to raise a stink, I'll just explain our point of view.

- Last question. What's next for the Girls?

- I, like the church people, think that the Church should stand up for them, the Church should be merciful, but do not need to justify, of course, their actions. My opinion is that the Church must demand their release, or give another punishment. Other priests may disagree, but I think that most priests will tell you they can not be punished so severely, and it is completely inadequate. We must be merciful, and not to forget the teaching of Christ, and Christ from the cross saying to His torturers, "Lord, forgive them, they do not know what they do". Otherwise, what are we - heathen?

Translation by John Sanidopoulos

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Patriarch of Moscow Consecrates 64 Ton Bell

By John Sanidopoulos

On August 1, 2012 Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia arrived in Nizhny Novgorod.

On the square in front of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, His Holiness performed the rite of consecration of a 64-ton bell - the third largest in Russia.

Thousands of people attended the Patriarchal Divine Liturgy, and the Patriarch was joined by the Kira Moleva choir of the Cathedral.

Work on this bell began in 2007, with the blessing of Patriarch Alexy II. It is decorated with embossed icons of St. Seraphim of Sarov, St. Macarius Zheltovodsk, Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky and George Vsevolodovich, the founder of Nizhny Novgorod.

At the consecration, the Patriarch said:

"It gives me great pleasure, on the way from Moscow, to visit the Diveevo in Nizhny Novgorod, visit this sacred place close to my heart, and sanctify the third largest bell of Holy Russia.

You heard the powerful sound of this bell. What do we, the Russian Orthodox people, associate with that sound? On the one hand, this sound brings us to the past. It connects us with the previous generations, those who spared no effort to build churches, schools, almshouses, hospitals, who have spared no effort to fill the lives of our people Christian values, chief among them - love. This bell reminds us how great and wonderful our past was....

And these wonderful sounds of the bells will pay us well for the future. We are all responsible for ensuring that the spiritual potential of Holy Russia inseminate the next generation, and give them the power of faith, strength of moral feeling, the love his homeland, his people, his church, to resist every Diabolic temptations, to separate the lies from the truth, good and evil, light from darkness. And if we retain this ability, we do not just save our Fatherland - we will make it spiritually and financially strong."

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We Too Are Anxious As The Prophet Elijah!

There is a great lesson that we are given through the commemoration of the Prophet Elijah, those of us who have the Church at heart and thirst for its purity. We receive this lesson by reading chapter 19 of book III of The Kings. What is said in this part of the Old Testament is the following:

The fiery Prophet Elijah, with a soul exhausted and almost broken-hearted as a result of his struggles against the idolatry which plagued the state of Israel, is found in a cave of the mountain Horeb. He opens his heart in prayer before God and overflows with feelings of grievance: “I have served you with zeal,” he says to his Divine Master. “See, however, the reasons which have discouraged me. The sons of Israel betrayed me. And, in spite of all that I did for them, in spite of the castigation which I addressed to them, and in spite of the punishment of the priests of Baal which your power brought about, the same situation continues to apply. Your altars are still ruined. Your Prophets are assassinated. And I have remained alone but my enemies seek to put me to death.”

Then, the Prophet Elijah heard a voice which said to him: “Tomorrow you must come out of your cave and you must stand at the peak of the mountain.” This is indeed what happened. The following day, the Prophet came out of his cave, and climbed up to the top of the Mountain. What a dreadful moment! A terrible thunderstorm had broken out. It seemed that its force would dissolve the rocky mass of Mount Horeb. At this moment he heard a voice which said to him: “The Lord is not inside this violent and destructive storm.” Then the storm passed and a terrible earthquake occurred. But again the voice informed him that the Lord was not inside this earthquake either. And then, the rocks of Horeb brought out flames. And the voice said to Elijah that the Lord was not in that fire either. After these breath-taking phenomena, a gentle Breeze began to blow. The Lord was in it. This is what the voice said to the Prophet, and he believed it and understood what God wanted to teach him. The lesson is this: that the presence of God is not expressed in any other way but as “a gentle Breeze”, as the sacred text calls it. This is an eternal lesson, which is addressed to us as well.

We, too, often become as anxious as Elijah. Our zeal makes us feel violent like the storm, and like the earthquake and vehement like the fire. Our sacred indignation pushes us to words and acts which do not have the freshness and the gentleness of the Breeze.

We believe that the Church, this new Israel, will not be cleansed from sin, unless we move vigorously, imitating the activity of Elijah, before he received this superb lesson on the mountain Horeb.

But the Lord loves His Church more than we do. He is concerned much more for her well being than we are. His grievance which he feels because of our sorry state is uncontainable not only in our heart, but also in our imagination.

And yet, He tells us that we must not be impatient and uncharitable. Rather we should be merciful and condescending as He is.

When God came down to the earth, and became a human being,  He repeated this lesson to us. We may recall here the verses from Isaiah which St. Matthew the Evangelist recalls in order to show the simplicity which characterizes the Son of God in his behavior towards those who exhibit an evil behavior in the Church. “He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; he will not break a bruised reed, or quench a smoldering wick” (Matth. 12:19-20). It is exactly because the Lord loves his Church more than us that he is genial and caring and delicate. He does not like screaming, lengthy expostulations of wild criticism, or unbridled victimization. He knows, because he is the only one who knows our heart, and so, even in the worst guises of evil, which stigmatize the body of the Church, there is always the hope of recovery. This recovery is accomplished only under the life-giving and distinctive breeze of the Spirit. Love, forbearance, meekness, humility, affection should distinguish the workers of the Church. The workers should imitate their divine employer, the Lord of the Vineyard. There is no room in them for rage, anger, or a judging tongue. What has to be gained on behalf of Christ on the earth will not be gained by force, but with love, harmlessness and non-aggressiveness.

Indeed, the Son of God himself teaches this most clearly in the Parable of the Weeds Among Wheat. We see the weeds among the wheat and this sight is unbearable to us. Our zeal pushes us to cut out the weeds. Nevertheless, this impulse is not the finger of God, but the finger of Lucifer. God does not want us to cut them out. Listen to what he says to us, when we take it to ourselves to strike persons and situations in His Church: “It is not I who inspires you to do so. This behavior is thoughtless and prejudicial. Because where you direct your beating, there are souls around which will be scandalized by your action, and you may damage them and even uproot them together with the evil which purportedly you tried to uproot.”

Do not misappropriate what is not your own task. I will purge my Church from all weeds on the Day of Judgment. Your judgment, your holy indignation, your anger will not bring only good, but also evil. You may uproot from the Church myriads of pharisees, vicious culprits and bribe-takers, but if with them you cast out even one soul which is scandalized by your behavior, for whom I shed my Blood, the damage to you will be infinitely greater than the benefit.

Do you want to bring glory to my Church, or to work for its progress and her purity? Imitate me. Do not run to cut out the weeds. Do not take recourse to violence. Become and remain to the end as “a gentle breeze,” because I am not present either in the storm, or in the earthquake, or in the fire. I am only present in the refreshing breeze.

Taken from the «Κιβωτός» - απάνθισμα, vol. 2. Translated from the Greek original by Fr. George Dion. Dragas.

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Elder Paisios' Favorite Icon of the Panagia

- Elder, which icon of the Panagia do you like most?

- I like all the icons of the Panagia. Even if I find Her name written somewhere, I embrace it many times with reverence and my heart leaps.

It is shocking, when you think about it! She was a young girl and said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, for He has looked upon the lowliness of His servant."

In a few words, so much meaning! You will be helped much, if you enter into the depths of these words. They are few and powerful. If you contemplate them, you will love humility. And if you become humble, you will see God enter within you and make your heart a Manger of Bethlehem.

From Πάθη και Aρετές: Γέροντος Παισίου Αγιορείτου. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.

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St. Cyprian of Carthage: On Martyrdom and the Maccabees

By St. Cyprian of Carthage

The Lord in the Gospel forewarns and foretells, saying:

“If the world hates you, know that it first hated me. If ye were of the world, the world would love what is its own: but because ye are not of the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I spoke unto you, The servant is not greater than his master. If they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”

And again:

“The hour will come, that every one that killeth you will think that he doeth God service; but they will do this because they have not known the Father nor me. But these things have I told you, that when the hour shall come ye may remember them, because I told you.”

And again:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”

And again:

“These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace; but in the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good confidence, for I have overcome the world.”

And when He was interrogated by His disciples concerning the sign of His coming, and of the consummation of the world, He answered and said:

“Take care lest any deceive you: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall begin to hear of wars, and rumours of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for these things must needs come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and earthquakes, and pestilences, in every place. But all these things are the beginnings of travailings. Then they shall deliver you up into affliction, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hateful to all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall seduce many; and because wickedness shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he who shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached through all the world, for a testimony to all nations; and then shall come the end. When, therefore, ye shall see the abomination of desolation which is spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him who readeth understand), then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let him which is on the house-roof not go down to take anything from the house; and let him who is in the field not return back to carry away his clothes. But woe to them that are pregnant, and to those that are giving suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, nor on the Sabbath-day: for there shall be great tribulation, such as has not arisen from the beginning of the world until now, neither shall arise. And unless those days should be shortened, no flesh should be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any one shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or, Lo, there; believe him not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, to cause error, if it be possible, even to the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things. If, therefore, they shall say to you, Lo, he is in the desert; go not forth: lo, he is in the sleeping chambers; believe it not. For as the flashing of lightning goeth forth from the east, and appeareth even to the west, so also shall the coming of the Son of man be. Wheresoever the carcase shall be, there shall the eagles be gathered together. But immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be moved: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and all the tribes of the earth shall lament, and shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory. And He shall send His angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the heights of heaven, even into the farthest bounds thereof.”

And these are not new or sudden things which are now happening to Christians; since the good and righteous, and those who are devoted to God in the law of innocence and the fear of true religion, advance always through afflictions, and wrongs, and the severe and manifold penalties of troubles, in the hardship of a narrow path. Thus, at the very beginning of the world, the righteous Abel was the first to be slain by his brother; and Jacob was driven into exile, and Joseph was sold, and King Saul persecuted the merciful David; and king Ahab endeavoured to oppress Elias, who firmly and bravely asserted the majesty of God. Zacharias the priest was slain between the temple and the altar, that himself might there become a sacrifice where he was accustomed to offer sacrifices to God. So many martyrdoms of the righteous have, in fact, often been celebrated; so many examples of faith and virtue have been set forth to future generations. The three youths, Ananias, Azarias, and Misäel, equal in age, agreeing in love, stedfast in faith, constant in virtue, stronger than the flames and penalties that urged them, proclaim that they only obey God, that they know Him alone, that they worship Him alone, saying: “O King Nebuchadnezer, there is no need for us to answer thee in this matter. For the God whom we serve is able to deliver us out of the furnace of burning fire; and He will deliver us from thy hands, O king. And if not, be it known unto thee, that we do not serve thy gods, and we do not adore the golden image which thou hast set up.” And Daniel, devoted to God, and filled with the Holy Spirit, exclaims and says: “I worship nothing but the Lord my God, who founded the heaven and the earth.” Tobias also, although under a royal and tyrannical slavery, yet in feeling and spirit free, maintains his confession to God, and sublimely announces both the divine power and majesty, saying: “In the land of my captivity I confess to Him, and I show forth His power in a sinful nation.”

What, indeed, do we find in the Maccabees of seven brethren, equals alike in their lot of birth and virtues, filling up the number seven in the sacrament of a perfected completion? Seven brethren were thus associating in martyrdom. As the first seven days in the divine arrangement containing seven thousand of years, as the seven spirits and seven angels which stand and go in and out before the face of God, and the seven-branched lamp in the tabernacle of witness, and the seven golden candlesticks in the Apocalypse, and the seven columns in Solomon upon which Wisdom built her house; so here also the number seven of the brethren, embracing, in the quantity of their number, the seven churches, as likewise in the first book of Kings we read that the barren hath borne seven. And in Isaiah seven women lay hold on one man, whose name they ask to be called upon them. And the Apostle Paul, who refers to this lawful and certain number, writes to the seven churches. And in the Apocalypse the Lord directs His divine and heavenly precepts to the seven churches and their angels, which number is now found in this case, in the seven brethren, that a lawful consummation may be completed. With the seven children is manifestly associated also the mother, their origin and root, who subsequently begat seven churches, she herself having been first, and alone founded upon a rock by the voice of the Lord. Nor is it of no account that in their sufferings the mother alone is with her children. For martyrs who witness themselves as the sons of God in suffering are now no more counted as of any father but God, as in the Gospel the Lord teaches, saying, “Call no man your father upon earth; for one is your Father, which is in heaven.”

But what utterances of confessions did they herald forth! How illustrious, how great proofs of faith did they afford! The king Antiochus, their enemy—yea, in Antiochus Antichrist was set forth—sought to pollute the mouths of martyrs, glorious and unconquered in the spirit of confession, with the contagion of swine’s flesh; and when he had severely beaten them with whips, and could prevail nothing, commanded iron plates to be heated, which being heated and made to glow, he commanded him who had first spoken, and had more provoked the king with the constancy of his virtue and faith, to be brought up and roasted, his tongue having first been pulled out and cut off, which had confessed God; and this happened the more gloriously to the martyr. For the tongue which had confessed the name of God, ought itself first to go to God. Then in the second, sharper pains having been devised, before he tortured the other limbs, he tore off the skin of his head with the hair, doubtless with a purpose in his hatred. For since Christ is the head of the man, and God is the head of Christ, he who tore the head in the martyr was persecuting God and Christ in that head. But he, trusting in his martyrdom, and promising to himself from the retribution of God the reward of resurrection, exclaimed and said, “Thou indeed impotently destroyest us out of this present life; but the King of the world will raise us up, who die for His laws, unto the eternal resurrection of life.” The third being challenged, quickly put forth his tongue; for he had learned from his brother to despise the punishment of cutting off the tongue. Moreover, he firmly held forth his hands to be cut off, greatly happy in such a mode of punishment, since it was his lot to imitate, by stretching forth his hands, the form of his Lord’s passion. And also the fourth, with like virtue, despising the tortures, and answering, to restrain the king, with a heavenly voice exclaimed, and said, “It is better that those who are given to death by men should wait for hope from God, to be raised up by Him again to eternal life. For to thee there shall be no resurrection to life.” The fifth, besides treading under foot the torments of the king, and his severe and various tortures, by the strength of faith, animated to prescience also and knowledge of future events by the Spirit of divinity, foretold to the king the wrath of God, and the vengeance that should swiftly follow. “Having power,” said he, “among men, though thou art corruptible, thou doest what thou wilt. But think not that our race is forsaken of God. Abide, and see His great power, how He will torment thee and thy seed.” What alleviation was that to the martyr! How substantial a comfort in his sufferings, not to consider his own torments, but to predict the penalties of his tormentor! But in the sixth, not his bravery only, but also his humility, is to be set forth; that the martyr claimed nothing to himself, nor even made an account of the honour of his own confession with proud words, but rather ascribed it to his sins that he was suffering persecution from the king, while he attributed to God that afterwards he should be avenged. He taught that martyrs are modest, that they were confident of vengeance, and boasted nothing in their suffering. “Do not,” said he, “needlessly err; for we on our own account suffer these things, as sinning against our God. But think not thou that thou shalt be unpunished, who darest to fight against God.”

Also the admirable mother, who, neither broken down by the weakness of her sex, nor moved by her manifold bereavement, looked upon her dying children with cheerfulness, and did not reckon those things punishments of her darlings, but glories, giving as great a witness to God by the virtue of her eyes, as her children had given by the tortures and suffering of their limbs; when, after the punishment and slaying of six, there remained one of the brethren, to whom the king promised riches, and power, and many things, that his cruelty and ferocity might be soothed by the satisfaction of even one being subdued, and asked that the mother would entreat that her son might be cast down with herself; she entreated, but it was as became a mother of martyrs—as became one who was mindful of the law and of God—as became one who loved her sons not delicately, but bravely. For she entreated, but it was that he would confess God. She entreated that the brother would not be separated from his brothers in the alliance of praise and glory; then only considering herself the mother of seven sons, if it should happen to her to have brought forth seven sons, not to the world, but to God. Therefore arming him, and strengthening him, and so bearing her son by a more blessed birth, she said, “O son, pity me that bare thee ten months in the womb, and gave thee milk for three years, and nourished thee and brought thee up to this age; I pray thee, O son, look upon the heaven and the earth; and having considered all the things which are in them, understand that out of nothing God made these things and the human race. Therefore, O son, do not fear that executioner; but being made worthy of thy brethren, receive death, that in the same mercy I may receive thee with thy brethren.” The mother’s praise was great in her exhortation to virtue, but greater in the fear of God and in the truth of faith, that she promised nothing to herself or her son from the honour of the six martyrs, nor believed that the prayer of the brothers would avail for the salvation of one who should deny, but rather persuaded him to become a sharer in their suffering, that in the day of judgment he might be found with his brethren. After this the mother also dies with her children; for neither was anything else becoming, than that she who had borne and made martyrs, should be joined in the fellowship of glory with them, and that she herself should follow those whom she had sent before to God.

And lest any, when the opportunity either of a certificate or of any such matter is offered to him whereby he may deceive, should embrace the wicked part of deceivers, let us not be silent, moreover, about Eleazar, who, when an opportunity was offered him by the ministers of the king, that having received the flesh which it was allowable for him to partake of, he might pretend, for the misguiding of the king, that he ate those things which were forced upon him from the sacrifices and unlawful meats, would not consent to this deception, saying that it was fitting neither for his age nor nobility to feign that, whereby others would be scandalized and led into error; if they should think that Eleazar, being ninety years old, had left and betrayed the law of God, and had gone over to the manner of aliens; and that it was not of so much consequence to gain the short moments of life, and so incur eternal punishment from an offended God. And he having been long tortured, and now at length reduced to extremity, while he was dying in the midst of stripes and tortures, groaned and said, “O Lord, that hast the holy knowledge, it is manifest that although I might be delivered from death, I suffer the severest pains of body, being beaten with scourges; but with my mind, on account of Thy fear, I willingly suffer these things.” Assuredly his faith was sincere and his virtue sound, and abundantly pure, not to have regarded King Antiochus, but God the Judge, and to have known that it could not avail him for salvation if he should mock and deceive man, when God, who is the judge of our conscience, and who only is to be feared, cannot at all be mocked nor deceived.

If, therefore, we also live as dedicated and devoted to God—if we make our way over the ancient and sacred footsteps of the righteous, let us go through the same proofs of sufferings, the same testimonies of passions, considering the glory of our time the greater on this account, that while ancient examples may be numbered, yet that subsequently, when the abundance of virtue and faith was in excess, the Christian martyrs cannot be numbered, as the Apocalypse testifies and says: “After these things I beheld a great multitude, which no man could number, of every nation, and of every tribe, and people, and language, standing in the sight of the throne and of the Lamb; and they were clothed in white robes, and palms were in their hands; and they said with a loud voice, Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb! And one of the elders answered and said unto me, Who are those which are arrayed in white robes, and whence come they? And I said unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they who have come out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.” But if the assembly of the Christian martyrs is shown and proved to be so great, let no one think it a hard or a difficult thing to become a martyr, when he sees that the crowd of martyrs cannot be numbered.

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The Search for the Tomb of the Maccabees

Is the Maccabees’ ancient mystery close to solution?

New impetus in the 150-year search for the spectacular tomb of the famed Judean rebels.

Matti Friedman

July 9, 2012

The Times of Israel

Few ancient sites in the Holy Land have ignited the imagination like the lost tombs of the Maccabees, the family that led a Jewish rebel army to victory against Seleucid religious repression in the second century BCE.

Beginning more than 140 years ago, travelers, clergymen and enthusiastic scholars of varying levels of religious fervor and competence have been looking for the tomb site – described in contemporary sources as a magnificent Hellenistic monument that included pyramids and ships of carved stone and could be seen by sailors on the Mediterranean Sea, 18 miles away. The complex was one of the greatest man-made landmarks in ancient Judea.

No trace of it has ever been found.

For the early archaeologists who arrived in Ottoman Palestine with shovels, Bibles, and a thirst for the physical traces of the events described in Scripture, the tombs were a tantalizing mystery. More than a century later, so they remain.

Today, archaeologists have their eyes on a site that might — just might — provide an answer.

Maccabean Graves?

Many locals and visitors probably don’t realize there is a mystery at all. Off a road near the city of Modi’in in central Israel is a sign in English and Hebrew pointing unambiguously to the “Maccabean Graves,” and a path leads to 20 stone tombs cut deep into the rock on a nearby hillside. Prayers are held here every year on Hannukah, the holiday that celebrates the triumph of Mattathias the Priest and his five sons, who rededicated the Temple in Jerusalem in 165 BCE and established the Hasmonean royal dynasty.

But while it is not clear precisely who was buried in these tombs, it is entirely clear that it was not the Maccabees. The graves are pagan or Christian, and were made centuries after the time of the Maccabees. First mistakenly linked to the Maccabees in the 19th century by a European explorer, the graves were later embraced by early Zionists as physical remnants of the ancient Jewish heroes they saw as role models. This is not exceptional: In modern Israel, religious sentiment, wishful thinking and a kind of cheerful disregard for the inconveniences of historical research have often led to grave sites being blithely misidentified, aggrandized and converted to Judaism.

Written descriptions that survive from the time of the Maccabees make clear that this particular tomb complex did not resemble an ordinary burial cave.

“And Simon built a monument over the tomb of his father and his brothers; he made it high that it might be seen, with polished stone at the front and back,” reads the description of the tombs in the Book of Maccabees, a text written in Judea several decades after the Maccabees’ revolt. Simon was a brother of Judah the Maccabee and one of the five sons of Mattathias.

For archaeologists looking for the tombs, passages from the Book of Maccabees provide three crucial clues

“He also erected seven pyramids, opposite one another, for his father and mother and four brothers.

“And for the pyramids he devised an elaborate setting, erecting about them great columns, and upon the columns he put suits of armor for a permanent memorial, and beside the suits of armor carved ships, so that they could be seen by all who sail the sea.

“This is the tomb which he built in Modi’in; it remains to this day,” reads the text.

The historian Josephus Flavius, writing nearly two centuries later, recorded a similar description.

For archaeologists looking for the tombs, those passages provide three crucial clues.

The site, a reader learns, was located on high ground from which it was possible to see the Mediterranean. The original tomb contained seven bodies – those of Mattathias, his wife, and their five sons – as well as other scions of the dynasty who were added later on. And it was near Modi’in, the Maccabees’ hometown. The location of ancient Modi’in has been lost, but scholars agree that it was in the same area where the modern-day city of that name now stands.

The early searchers

The first flurry of interest in finding the lost tombs began in earnest in 1866, as biblical archaeology became popular in Europe. The name Modi’in, a French Catholic priest suggested that year, was preserved in the name of an Arab village in the area – al-Midiya. This is still largely considered to be a logical conclusion. The tombs, it stood to reason, could be found nearby.

In 1869, another explorer came to the area asking about the tombs of the Maccabees, and local villagers pointed him to a cluster of ancient graves they called Qubur el-Yahud, or the “Jewish tombs.” Though these tombs matched none of the ancient descriptions – the sea was not visible, for example, and there were no signs of monumental construction – the explorer declared that he had found the site. This identification was never taken seriously by scholars, but it has nonetheless proved resilient, bequeathing to us the “Maccabean Graves” that are signposted along the road from Modi’in to Tel Aviv, misleading casual passers-by more than 140 years later.

The next year, 1870, saw the arrival of another Frenchman, Victor Guérin, who was interested in a different location nearby — a site home to a domed Arab tomb of fairly recent vintage and known as Sheikh el-Gherbawy. Guérin discovered the remains of an ancient rectangular structure that was divided, he thought, into seven crypts. That, he noted, matched the correct number of tombs.

His excitement rising, he went on to find pieces of stone that he identified as traces of the complex’s pyramids. Then he found fragments of bone and declared, in the enthusiastic archaeological style of those times, that these were no less than “the ashes of the heroic and holy old man Mattathias.”

The next to arrive was Charles Clermont-Ganneau, a meticulous French scholar who would go on to author a classic 1896 text on Holy Land archaeology, “Archaeological Researches in Palestine.” He showed up at the same site the following year, having set out from Jerusalem in the rain on horseback with a French companion, a rubber raincoat and a revolver. “Palestine was devastated by famine, many peasants had died of hunger, and the roads were hardly safe,” he wrote. “We followed an ancient Roman way which here was easily recognizable with its pavement and its edging of large blocks still in a good state of preservation. We left it to turn northwards and direct our course to el Midieh.”

Reaching Guérin’s site, he carried out a short excavation, then returned two years later with a work team and conducted a more extensive dig. He found a substantial building, but nothing he thought suggested any connection to the Maccabees. After several days of clearing rubble, he reached a mosaic floor, and when the dirt was cleared away the floor design was revealed – a Christian cross that could have been made no earlier than the fifth century CE.

Far from being the Maccabees’ tombs, the building at Sheikh el-Gherbawy was almost certainly a Byzantine-era church or monastery, one of many in the area. The find, he wrote, directing a scholarly jab at his giddy predecessor Guérin, “naturally calls in question the too hasty conclusions which had been arrived at from insufficient observation.”

During Israel’s War of Independence the same site – then known as Outpost 219, a small ring of trenches next to the old Arab tomb – was the scene of a battle between Israeli and Jordanian troops, and changed hands several times before it was recaptured by Jewish forces and remained on the Israeli side of the line after the armistice. The village of al-Midiya remained under Jordanian control, and is now under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority.

At some point, Jewish believers seem to have decided that the Ottoman-era Arab tomb at the site was in fact a Jewish holy place. A gravestone inside the building currently declares, with no apparent irony: “Mattityahu, son of Yohanan, the High Priest, is buried here.”

Coming full circle

One hundred and twenty-nine years after Clermont-Ganneau’s visit, archaeologists are still looking for the tombs. Leading the search these days is Amit Reem, the Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist in charge of central Israel. For a digger in this part of the country the Maccabees are nearly inescapable – the Holy Land’s archaeological mega-celebrities, King David and Jesus of Nazareth, lived elsewhere, and there are no greater ancient stars under his purview. And identifying their graves would also serve a second purpose — helping scholars to conclusively identify ancient Modi’in.

In recent years, interest in the area’s history has grown along with the influx of residents into the city of Modi’in, a tidy middle-class suburb of 80,000 built from scratch on hills that were empty until the 1990s. In 2000, archaeologists excavating outside a new neighborhood found a Hasmonean-era Jewish village centered on a synagogue, and some raised the possibility that this was ancient Modi’in and that the famous tombs could be nearby. No evidence has been found to support that idea.

A few years before, a bulldozer clearing the way for a new road near the city accidentally uncovered a 2,000-year-old burial cave with stone ossuaries, one of which seemed to bear lettering that suggested the word “Hasmonean.” This led to another burst of public interest, though the inscription had been misread and the grave could not be linked to the Maccabees – ossuaries were used by Jews for burial only more than a century after the Maccabees’ lifetime.

Others have suggested a possible link to a high point near the city known as Titura Hill, where a Crusader fort sits atop the ruins of a large and as yet unidentified Roman-era building. Nothing on the hill, however, suggests a link to the tombs.

All of which has led Reem and other modern scholars back to the same site that drew the interest of the French diggers all those years ago.

Though Clermont-Ganneau conclusively established that the structure at Sheikh el-Gherbawy was Christian – the mosaic cross left no doubt about it – his finding might actually strengthen the possibility that the tombs are there, Reem said.

Early Christians saw the Maccabees as martyrs and would certainly have venerated their graves, he believes: In this version, the structure could have been constructed atop the lost tombs to mark their place.

In 2009, Reem made an effort to clean and investigate the site. Many of the remains the Frenchmen had seen all those years before had been long since looted, but the team used radar to peer under the ground and detected massive walls and subterranean chambers of considerable size.

The site, he noted, has remains of monumental construction; proximity to al-Midiya, which has the best claim to be ancient Modi’in; and a clear sightline to the sea. In other words, it would seem to match the criteria from the ancient writings.

Since then, Reem has been trying, without success, to drum up funding that would allow the site to be properly excavated for the first time.

“Neither I nor my colleagues are saying that this is the site of the tombs, but it’s the leading candidate,” he said. “Only a large, methodical excavation would prove or disprove the idea and solve the riddle of this place.”

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The Reformation and the Rejection of Monasticism

By Fr. George Florovsky

The writings by or attributed to St. Paul form a critical point in the entire great divide between the churches of the Reformation and the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church. The Epistle to the Romans is one of the most important references of this controversy. This epistle and the Epistle to the Galatians formed the base from which Luther developed his doctrine of faith and justification, a doctrine that he himself characterized in his preface to his Latin writings as a totally new understanding of Scripture. These two works continue to be the main reference points for contemporary theologians from the tradition of the Reformation. It was this new understanding of the Scriptures that the rejection of monasticism obtained in the Reformation. In general it is not an exaggeration to claim that this thought considers St. Paul as the only one who understood the Christian message. Moreover, it is not St. Paul by himself nor St. Paul from the entire corpus of his works, but rather Luther’s understanding of St. Paul. From this perspective the authentic interpreters of our Lord’s teaching and redemptive work are St. Paul, as understood by Luther, then Marcion, then St. Augustine, and then Luther. Marcion was condemned by the entire early Church. St. Augustine indeed does anticipate Luther in certain views but not at all on the doctrine of justification and Luther’s specific understanding of faith. It is more St. Augustine’s doctrine of predestination, irresistible grace, and his doctrine of the total depravity of man contained in his "novel" - to quote St. Vincent of Lerins — doctrine of original sin that influenced Luther, who himself was an Augustinian monk.

The rejection of monasticism ultimately followed from the emphasis placed upon salvation as a free gift of God. Such a position is completely accurate but its specific understanding was entirely contrary to that of the early Church. That salvation was the free gift of God and that man was justified by faith was never a problem for early Christianity. But from Luther’s perspective and emphasis any type of "works," especially that of the monks in their ascetical struggle, was considered to contradict the free nature of grace and the free gift of salvation. If one was indeed justified by faith, then — so went the line of Luther’s thought — man is not justified by "works." For Luther "justification by faith" meant an extrinsic justification, a justification totally independent from any inner change within the depths of the spiritual life of a person. For Luther "to justify" — dikaion — meant to declare one righteous or just, not "to make" righteous or just* — it is an appeal to an extrinsic justice which in reality is a spiritual fiction. Luther has created a legalism far more serious than the legalism he detected in the Roman Catholic thought and practice of his time. Morever, Luther’s legalistic doctrine of extrinsic justification is spiritually serious, for it is a legal transaction which in reality does not and can not exist. Nowhere was the emphasis on "works" so strong, thought Luther, as in monasticism. Hence, monasticism had to be rejected and rejected it was. But Luther read too much into St. Paul’s emphasis on faith, on justification by faith, and on the free gift of the grace of salvation. St. Paul is directly in controversy with Judaism, especially in his Epistle to the Romans. It is the "works of the law," the law as defined by and interpreted by and practiced by Judaism in the time of St. Paul. Our Lord has the same reaction to the externalization and mechanical understanding of the "law." Indeed, the very text of the Epistle to the Romans revels in every passage that St. Paul is comparing the external law of Judaism with the newness of the spiritual understanding of law, with the newness of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ through the Incarnation, Death, and Resurrection of our Lord. God has become Man. God has entered human history and indeed the newness is radical. But to misunderstand St. Paul’s critique of "works," to think that St. Paul is speaking of the "works" commanded by our Lord rather than the Judaic understanding of the works of the "law" is a misreading of a fundamental nature. It is true, however, that Luther had a point in considering the specific direction in which the Roman Catholic merit-system had gone as a reference point similar to the Judaic legal system. As a result of Luther’s background, as a result of his theological milieu, whenever he read anything in St. Paul about "works," he immediately thought of his own experience as a monk and the system of merit and indulgences in which he had been raised.

It must be strongly emphasized that Luther does indeed protect one aspect of salvation, the very cause and source of redemption and grace. But he neglects the other side, the aspect of man’s participation in this free gift of Divine initiative and grace. Luther fears any resurgence of the Roman Catholic system of merit and indulgences, he fears any tendency which will constitute a truly Pelagian attitude, any tendency that will allow man to believe that man is the cause, the source, or the main spring of salvation. And here Luther is correct. Nygren’s Agape-Eros distinction is correct in this context, for any spirituality that omits Agape and concentrates only on Eros, on man’s striving to win God’s influence, is fundamentally non-Christian. But the issue is not that simple. Both extremes are false. God has freely willed a synergistic path-of-redemption in which man must spiritually participate. God is the actor, the cause, the initiator, the one who completes all redemptive activity. But man is the one who must spiritually respond to the free gift of grace. And in this response there is an authentic place for the spirituality of monasticism and asceticism, one which has absolutely nothing to do with the "works of the law," or with the system of merit and indulgences.

* For a primary source treatment of the Patristic concept that the grace of God makes one righteous, see On the Incarnation of the Word of God by St. Athanasius the Great. (Note by Fr. John Romanides)

From THE ASCETIC IDEAL AND THE NEW TESTAMENT: Reflections on the Critique of the Theology of the Reformation.

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Life-Sized Noah's Ark Open to the Public

Audrey Barrick

July 30, 2012

Christian Post

A life-sized replica* of Noah's Ark is now open to the public in the Netherlands.

Dutch millionaire Johan Huibers constructed the ark, following the measurements recorded in the Bible. It is complete with animals (plastic).

The ark took four years to build and though Huibers had planned to sail it to the London Olympics, which opened last week, he wasn't able to make it after being asked to clear everything with the fire department first, according to Sky News.

Huibers had built a smaller version of the biblical ark in 2007. That first ark drew hundreds of thousands of visitors.

The successful construction company owner has stated that his goal with the ark is to point people to the Bible and God.

Deborah Venema-Huibers, manager of the ark, noted to Sky News that they have been receiving requests from people worried that the world will end this year, according to conspiracies related to the Mayan calendar.

Dec. 21, 2012, marks the end of the Mayan calendar, and some believe the end of the world will fall on that day. Meanwhile, Christians have emphasized that no one can know the date of the end times, as stated in Scripture.

The Huibers have rejected the requests for space on the ark, telling them that it is a museum and not a "rescue boat."

The account of Noah's Ark is recorded in the first book of the Bible. Noah, deemed the only righteous man in the wicked world, was given detailed instructions by God to construct an ark that would save him, his family and two of every kind of animal as God would send a flood to destroy all living creatures on earth.

* It was built approximately to scale, however is 1/2 the length and 1/3 the width of the Biblical dimensions. It was built to show the world how massive the Ark was and how so many animals could have been housed for a long time. It was built in smaller scale so it would be able to travel around Europe, navigating the canals, bridges, and rivers en route. The historical Ark had the same capacity as more than 500 train boxcars.

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The Cave Church of Hagia Sophia in Kythira

Pictured above are some frescoes from the 13th century Cave Church of Hagia Sophia, inside a cave under the same name, close to Mylopotamos village, on Kythira island. The frescoes are very well preserved because of the great conditions (steady temperature and humidity) inside the cave. There is a newer tiny church of the 19th century, right behind (photo below).

Deeper inside the cave, during a tour of about 250 metres (the total lenght of the cave is more than 2.000 metres), you can see some beautiful "halls". This cave is connected with many legends. They say that this is the exact place where Paris and Helen found their first "love shelter" before leaving for Troy. In one of the halls inside a cave you will see a small lake, called "Aphrodite's bath". Inside the lake you will see hundreds of coins thrown by people who were wishing for better luck in love.

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Pussy Riot Trial: Muscovites Reflect on Divisive Case

Daniel Sandford

July 29, 2012

BBC News

In St Nicholas' church in a historic district of Moscow, a Russian Orthodox priest wafts incense over icons, marking the start of his service.

It has a sort of mesmeric quality. Outside, recent rainfall freshens the air, and many in the congregation are happy to engage in conversation on the case of the Pussy Riot three.

Their controversial trial will begin on Monday. Having already spent the past five months in prison, for briefly singing a political protest song in Moscow's main cathedral, they now face up to seven years in jail.

It is a case that has divided Russia between those who think the women have been treated far too harshly, and those who feel their action grossly offended the Orthodox faith.

'It was blasphemy'

The women are accused of being among a group who danced in brightly-coloured balaclavas near the altar of the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour while calling on the Virgin Mary to rid Russia of Vladimir Putin.

"It was blasphemy. And they need to go to prison," one serious-looking young woman from the St Nicholas' congregation said.

A middle-aged man added: "You wouldn't insult your parents, and in the same way you wouldn't defecate in a church."

He was referring to the strong language Pussy Riot used in their song, and the fact that they danced so close to the altar.

But a young man in army uniform took a different view. "Our Lord said 'Judge not that you be not judged'. I don't think they should be in prison."

The official Russian Orthodox Church view is decidedly harsher, as spokesman Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin outlines.

"For Orthodox Christians their holy places, holy objects and holy names are the most precious things in the world," he said. "You know very well how explosive were the acts of burning the Koran. And I am deeply concerned about the future of any society in which extremely divisive actions are ignored."

Political trial?

But this case has political overtones.

Pussy Riot staged their cathedral stunt as a protest at Patriarch Kirill's open support for Vladimir Putin in the build-up to the March Presidential election.

The Russian Orthodox church has always walked a moral tightrope throughout its long history, and has been criticized for its involvement with successive leaders from the Tsars to Stalin, and now, Vladimir Putin.

Pyotr Verzilov - himself a radical artist from the Moscow faction of the Voina group - is the husband of Nadia Tolokonnikova, one of the three members of Pussy Riot behind bars.

He claims that the course the church, police, prosecutors and courts have taken has been strongly influenced by the Kremlin.

"It's personally Putin and his closest assistants basically leading this case," he said.

"And it shows that on the twelfth year of controlling Russia, Putin is starting to lose the boundaries. He no more understands the limits of what he can do and what he cannot do."

At successive court hearings the judge has turned down the three women's repeated requests to be given bail while they waited for the trial.

Two of them have young children. Nadia Tolokonnikova's daughter Gera is just four years old.

Broken butterflies

Their treatment has caused deep disquiet among many Russians, who feel the women are - to coin a phrase from the 1967 trial of members of the Rolling Stones - butterflies being broken on a wheel.

Among the intellectuals who signed a letter calling for their release were some surprises. For example Sergei Shargunov is a novelist with close links to the Church.

"I will be very sad if I know that the Church asked somebody to take them and put them there," he said. "There are a lot of people in the Church who say that prison is not the place for these girls."

Pussy Riot's fate has gained international attention. Superstar musicians like Sting, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Franz Ferdinand have supported their cause during visits to Moscow this summer.

But that will not help them in this trial. The three imprisoned women's supporters believe pressure from the Kremlin will be far more influential.

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The Church the Communists Could Not Destroy

The Church of Saint Paraskevi (Saint Petka) is located in the central avenue of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia. It dates from the 14th century and has withstood the test of centuries when Turks were unable to bring it down. The last time an attempt to demolish it took place in 1965 when the Communists, under the pretext of widening the highway, wanted to flatten the road. When the excavator moved his vehicle forward to demolish the church, it suddenly stopped. As many times as workers attempted to fix the issue, they could not approach the church. As they got near, the vehicle would just stop. The next day a family member of the machine operator died, who had insisted on trying to demolish the church.

The foreman of the project to demolish the church, seeing that the job was delayed and the team was overcome by "stupid superstition", told his workers: "You believe these myths and aren't capable of anything! I will demolish it tomorrow!" He came the next day, angry, and mounted the vehicle for the demolition. Immediately the vehicle broke down and the foreman died on the spot. The workers were frozen in fear and the authorites abandoned their plan. This is how the Church of Saint Paraskevi was saved from the Communists.

More About the Church

The Church of St. Petka of the Saddlers is a small one-naved building partially dug into the ground located in the very centre of both the modern and the antique city, in the TZUM subway. The church features a semi-cylindrical vault, a hemispherical apse, and a crypt discovered during excavations after the Second World War. The walls are 1 m thick and made from brick and stone.

The church was first mentioned in the 16th century and was constructed at the place of a former Roman religious building. It is today a monument of culture known for its mural paintings from the 14th, 15th, 17th and 19th century depicting biblical scenes.

The church is dedicated to St Petka, an 11th century Bulgarian saint. The Church of Saint Petka acquired its present name due to it being a patron of the saddlers during Ottoman times, when it used to be maintained by the guild of the packsaddle makers in Sofia.

According to one theory, Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski is buried in the church. The theory was supported by the noted research worker of Levski Nikolay Haytov and to an extent backed by the 1956 excavations that discovered several skeletons in the crypt, as well as by press reports from 1937 retelling the stories of those who carried out the burial. The Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Institute of Archaeology, however, does not support the view, which led to a harsh controversy in the 1980s that did not end with a conclusive decision.

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St. Paraskevi in the Valley of Tempe

The Valley of Tempe (near Larisa) is a gorge in northern Thessaly, Greece, located between Olympus to the north and Ossa to the south. The valley is 10 kilometers long and as narrow as 25 meters in places, with cliffs nearly 500 meters high, and through it flows the Pineios River on its way to the Aegean Sea. In ancient times, it was celebrated by Greek poets as a favorite haunt of Apollo and the Muses. On the right bank of the Pineios sat a temple to Apollo, near which the laurels used to crown the victorious in the Pythian Games were gathered. In the thirteenth century AD a church dedicated to Saint Paraskevi was erected in the valley.

In the early 1910's, along with the opening of the railway, a church was built in the area of the old church to St. Paraskevi. It is linked to the National Highway with a bridge which passes over the Peneus River, called St. Paraskevi Bridge. The beauty of the area is truly unique.

Before the bridge was built in the 1960's, people could only visit this church by boat. Near the cave-church is a large spring, and through a small hole one could access ancient holy water.

Thousands of believers visit this holy shrine every year, and it is celebrated on July 26.

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