The Pateritsa (Staff) of St. Savvas the Sanctified

By John Sanidopoulos

When St. Savvas the Sanctified was near his end (6th century), he told his monks to watch for one day in the distant future when an archbishop, a man of God bearing the same name, would come from a far-off western land. The monks were to give this man St. Savvas' pateritsa (pastoral staff) and an icon of the Panagia. They would know it was the right man when at the moment of his paying veneration to the tomb the tied up staff will fall to the ground. Two hundred years later, St. John of Damascus added his own wonderworking icon of the Panagia Tricherousa (Three Hands) to this inheritance.

When St. Sava of Serbia visited the monastery of his namesake some 700 years after St. Savvas' death, the monks had still maintained the prophesy of their founder, and now found its fulfillment in St. Sava of Serbia. While he was paying veneration to the saint’s tomb, the staff fell down. The miracle repeated the next day, and all doubts of the monks were gone. They knew for sure then that the Serb Sava was the one they had been waiting for. This is how the much-revered icon of the Panagia of Three Hands (through which the miracle of the restoration of St. John of Damascus' hand was accomplished), as well as the pateritsa, came to reside at the Serbian Hilandari Monastery on Mt. Athos.

Today in Karyes there is a Cell which belongs to Hilandari Monastery that goes by the name Pateritsa. The ebony staff, made from the tusks of an elephant, is within a cabinet of the north aisle of the Chapel of the Transfiguration of the Cell.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Metropolitan of Aitolia: Encyclical On the Old Calendarists

Press Release

In the Holy City of Messolonghi, the 20th of August 2012

Metropolitan Kosmas of Aitolia and Arkanania visited on Sunday 19 August 2012 Paliambela Vonitsa, where he liturgized in the parish of the Holy Church of Saint Athanasios and informed the faithful of the recent issue created in the region because of the desertion from the Orthodox Church and the transition of Archimandrite Anatolios Psychogios to "Bishop" of the schismatic Old Calendarists.

His Eminence, speaking on the issue of the Old Calendarists, said among other things: "I ask God to enlighten Fr. Anatolios to return. I have the responsibility as a Bishop to inform everyone and I encourage everyone to have no spiritual communication or relationship... And of the same I ask that he come to repentance."

Metropolitan Kosmas of Aitolia and Arkanania, having previously contacted and informed the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Constantinople, and explained the events competently to the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece, issued an Encyclical Note to inform the population, which was read in the Holy Churches of the region during the Divine Liturgy on 19 August 2012.

Also, the Metropolitan with the decision of Act no. 55/16.8.2012 revoked the granted license to liturgize in the private Holy Church of Saint Kosmas the Aitolos in Paliambela Vonitsa and "prohibits its liturgizing hereafter, duly ordering its closure."

Please find enclosed the text of the Encyclical, as well as the Act of the Metropolitan.

From the Press and Communication Office of the Holy Meteropolis.

+++

Encyclical

THE GREEK REPUBLIC

The HOLY METROPOLIS OF AITOLIA AND AKARNANIA

Archbishop Damaskinou 10

302 00 Mesolongion

Tel: 26310-22322, 22421

Fax: 26310-28701

Website: www.imaa.gr

E- mail: imaa@otenet.gr

In the Holy City of Messolonghi, the 17th of August 2012

Number Reference: 743

To All and Especially to the Parish Priests of the Most Sacred Regions of Amphilochia, Vonitsa and Katounes.

For the present, as your spiritual father, who loves you and ministers your salvation, I wish to inform you on a topic that arose recently in our region, and I ask that you listen carefully. I sincerely want to say and assure you that I am not moved by any agenda or personal ambition.

The only thing that stimulates me to update you is the glory of our Triune God and your salvation. Archimandrite Anatolios Psychogios is known to all. He originates from our region, and he previously founded and operated the "International Academy of Saint Kosmas Aitolos" in Paliambela Vonitsa, and many times we co-liturgized in various Holy Churches of our Holy Metropolis.

We honored him and received him with love in our Holy Metropolis. Unexpectedly however he joined the schismatic Old Calendarists, and was elected and ordained "Bishop" in the sectarian faction of "Archbishop" Auxentios.

We do not have the time right now to explain his joining the schismatics of the Old Calendar. But I have to acknowledge to you that the "Bishops" of the Old Calendarists neither have apostolic succession, nor canonical ordination, nor do their Mysteries have validity. So the salvation of Christians following them is dubious and weak.

Besides this, I ask and urge you all paternally, to have no spiritual relationship or dependence with the severed from our Church, Fr. Anatolios.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Divine Liturgy is the Greatest Mission of the Church

By Elder Sophrony of Essex

Our greatest missionary work in life takes place in the Divine Liturgy. The Fathers of the Church would always build an Altar of Sacrifice in whatever country or city they traveled to. And this is so, because when the heart is sweetened by the Divine Liturgy, it then seeks God. It then desires to live an Orthodox ecclesiastical life, the heart of which is the Holy Eucharist.

I told the brotherhood that it should always be a priority for it to perform the Divine Liturgy in the Monastery. The prayers of the Divine Liturgy should not be intoned for personal gratification because at that moment the priests are expressing the prayers of all those praying in Church. And for this reason the priests should not be praying with self-centered feelings. We do not celebrate as individuals.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Married Life and Praying Like Ascetics

By Elder Sophrony of Essex

There are some people who wish to incorporate married life with the sweetness of prayer, praying like the ascetics. But this effort cannot be accomplished. This is why married people become worried and distraught. The Prayer of the Heart requires purity of heart and body. We must discreetly guide and inform married couples that it is better to stop the Prayer of the Heart rather than to stop communicating with one another for the sake of the marriage. If the marriage fails then the husband will seek out another woman and most likely the wife will seek out another man, and if this happens, then all prayer is lost. When the family disintegrates then prayer is lost. Discreet coordination is required between the married and spiritual state guided by an experienced Spiritual Father.

Source

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Orthodox Christian Family Bullied in Uzbekistan

August 24, 2012

UZNews.net

Orthodox Christian Natalya Pleshakova, who is disabled from childhood, and her mother have been severely beaten up and tried in Tashkent.

Pleshakova, 26, disabled from childhood, will forever remember her day on 6 August.

At about 4 o'clock in the morning the gate of their house on Ok Yul Street in Tashkent was broken and six strong men with sticks and clubs stormed into their yard.

Natalya, who is on crutches, walked towards them hardly managing to cover herself. When she asked "Who are you?" she received a first blow and she was dragged to the kitchen.

What did the police look for?

What did six huge men who turned the house upside down need?

One of them looked for house documents while others collected icons, bibles, religious calendars and prayer books.

All this happened under the very eyes of a beat officer who filmed everything on his mobile phone, trying to catch Natalya or her mother Valentina Semenovna avoid hits or answer curses and insults.

Natalya, in handcuffs, managed to sneak into her room to make calls to police and an Orthodox church. When they saw her do that they seized her phone and beat her up again.

All this had lasted for four hours when a Damas minibus arrived with several officers with assault rifles in camouflage uniforms and balaclavas. Their leader said he was "Aziz from police". The women decided they were saved but not yet.

They were beaten up in front of neighbours who were called up as witnesses to represent a neighborhood committee.

Charges of missionary activities

The events unfolded in office 303 at Tashkent's Mirabad district police department where Natalya and her mother were taken.

There Natalya was offered to convert to Islam for its allegedly being better than Christianity, since it allows a man to have four wives. The young woman refused.

She then was threatened and beaten. Frightened and exhausted, Natalya was then forced to write a tender saying that she had stored 125 religious books and items, and "Aziz from police" dictated her titles which she heard for the first time.

"Aziz from police" said that there was nothing wrong in writing that it all belonged to a dead grandmother, and the knackered women were set free at about two in the morning.

Natalya called ambulance and was taken to hospital where her injuries were documented.

Trial

The following day the women went to the district prosecutor's office which refused to accept their complaint. Soon afterwards "Aziz from police" and the beat officer drove them to a court trial and the women were handed over to two officers.

Judge B Ermatov spent only five minutes on "hearing the case", the women said, and ordered them to go home without even reading out his ruling. Only a week later did they receive the ruling.

The judge decided that the women had resisted police and had stored the banned religious literature at home and conducted missionary activities. He fined them 20 minimum monthly wages each.

The Pleshakovs

Natalya's father died in the 1990s, and her brother lost sanity after a traffic accident. Her mother Valentina, who worked as a cashier at a barber's shop, had to deal with all this.

When her children got sick, Natalya could not help her mother or do housework, so Valentina had to give up her job to look after her children.

The family became impoverished, as Natalya's disability allowance is only 100,000 sums or $35 a month.

This money is not enough for essentials, let alone medicines Natalya badly needs. Now she has problems with her kidneys.

The women started frequenting Tashkent's Dormition Cathedral, where Valentina tries to be useful.

She washes dead bodies and reads the psalms. When they run short of money, Valentina, 54, begs outside the cathedral.

What is behind this horror?

The women said that someone wanted to appropriate a plot of land on which their house stands.

They have another property which costs tens of thousands of dollars.

The women, who have never seen such money, fear their house will be seized, especially after sanitary inspectors came to inspect their houses for the first time in decades. They may face fines.

Why should they be charged with being part of a sect being, or forced to change their faith?

Orthodox Christians were never persecuted in Uzbekistan in the past. On the contrary, President Islam Karimov personally ordered the expansion of the Dormition Cathedral.

The cathedral opened the country's first seminary, and there are now more Orthodox parishes in Uzbekistan than in tsarist times.

The Tashkent and Uzbekistan eparchy is against sects, and its Zhivoye Slovo and Vostok Svyshe publications prove it.

The current Metropolitan Vikentiy knows the women very well and allocated money for Natalya's treatment. He also complained to the State Religious Affairs Committee about the incident.

[I had to edit this article a bit to make it more readable, and eliminated the title which read: "Christian family converted to Islam, beaten, tried in Tashkent". In fact, the family never converted to Islam. I reposted this article to make these clarifications. - J.S.]

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Tomb and Relics of St. Kosmas Aitolos

By John Sanidopoulos

In the Albanian village of Kolikontasi of Great Mouzakia in Northern Epirus, in the historical Church of the Entrance of the Theotokos, lies the tomb of St. Kosmas Aitolos, the Equal to the Apostles. Today the Monastery surrounding the church goes by the name of St. Kosmas.

The Monastery of Saint Kosmas Aitolos was built between August 1813 and June 1814 by Ali Pasha of Tepelena when he acquired the Pashalik of Berat. When Ali Pasha entered Berat he remembered Fr. Kosmas, who was martyred there, and invited Metropolitan Ioasaph II of Berat to build a Monastery in the Saint's name and transfer his relics there, because he considered him to be a true man of God.

The relics of St. Kosmas rest in the Archdiocese in Tirana for security reasons. They rest in a simple wooden coffin. The skull was stolen in 1917 by Austria-Hungarians and likely rest today in a museum in Vienna. The lower jaw is in the Monastery of Saint Nicholas in Andros. His right hand rests in the Church of Saint Kosmas in Konitsi. Also, portions of relics of his fingers and toes rest in many places, such as Ioannina, the Monastery of Dousikou, and other places. Portions of his relics were also given by Archbishop Anastasios of Albania to the Church of Greece, which rest in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. Another portion is in the Monastery of Saint Kosmas in Aitoloakarnania.

In 1984 Professors Panagiotis Christopoulos and P.B. Paschou visited the area by special permission of the Albanian regime, and brought publicity to the shrine.

As for how the Monastery survived the atheistic regime of Enver Hoxha, Christos Mitros from the city of Fieri, Albania has revealed the following, after his baptism as an Orthodox Christian:

"When in 1968 the law of the Albanian state prohibited any religious event, there came an order from Tirana to destroy the churches and for the crosses to disappear from the Christian graves. The Fieri police commander took with him a competent crew and went to the Monastery to destroy it. Knowing the devotion of the Greeks to St. Kosmas, he instructed to begin the work by demolishing first the tomb of the Saint. When workers gave the first blow to the church monument, then a loud roar broke the stillness of the area and a strong fire sprang from the grave of the Saint. Terrified bystanders fled and did not return despite threats coming from Tirana and despite the reassuring statement of the commander that supposedly a forgotten World War 2 bomb exploded. Therefore they did not desecrate the tomb of St. Kosmas and the grace-filled relics remained there as a balm on the wounds of Christians and the hope that the "the desirable will come" (Archimandrite Timothy Iliaki, The Supplication Canon to Saint Kosmas the Aetolian, New Philadelphia 1997, p. 61).

Read also: Προσκύνημα στον Tάφο του Αγίου Πατροκοσμά του Αιτωλού

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

St. Kosmas Aitolos and the Education of the Greeks

By John Sanidopoulos

One of the primary missions of St. Kosmas Aitolos (+ 1779) was to establish schools wherever he preached to prevent as well as reverse the Turkification of the Greek people and its future generations. His primary territory was in the regions of Epirus, Macedonia and Albania. At the time the majority of the Greek people were illiterate due to lack of schools, and education was seen as an essential tool in recovering their identity, remembering their history, and continuing their traditions. This eventually would help lead to the Greek Revolution of 1821.

St. Kosmas would say: "Open schools. You also, my brethren, be educated and learn letters, as much as you can. And if the fathers don't learn, then let the children be educated to learn Greek, because our Church is Greek. And if you do not learn Greek, my brother, you cannot learn what our Church confesses. It is better for you to have a Greek school in your land rather than springs and rivers, and as much as your child learns letters, then he is called a person."

Due to the efforts of St. Kosmas 210 Greek schools were established, and another 1,100 elementary schools operated so Greek children could learn to read and write. He did this while living in total poverty, having no home, no money, no clothes except for what he wore, and no bag to carry any belongings.

This was only one of the many contributions of St. Kosmas Aitolos to the Greek people, which ended with the sacrifice of his own life.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Beyond the Pussy Riot Sentencing

I will use this page as a resource for articles I find interesting and worth reading concerning the Pussy Riot case and its aftermath. It will be updated as new articles come forward.

Pussy Riot Sentences Split Russian Society

Pussy Riot's Crime and Unfair Punishment

Pussy Riot: A Complex View From Orthodox Moscow

Pussy Riot is the tip of the iceberg – 'there's a lot of intimidation going on'

Too Much Noise About Pussy Riot

Why Pussy Riot Is Not The Most Important Political Case In Russia

Pussy Riot Sentence Brings Dissent to the Masses

‘Jail for Sacrilege’: Vandalism by Pussy Riot supporters angers MPs

Pussy Riot as Modern Day Skomorokhi

Pussy Riot Trial Unleashes Putin’s Secret Weapon: The Orthodox Faithful

Pussy Riot, Holy Foolishness and Monk Punk

“Establishing an Orthodox Militia Will Lead to Civil War”

The Desecration of Crosses in Russia and the Russian Church

Pussy Riot Condemn the Cutting Down of Four Orthodox Crosses in Russia

After Pussy Riot Verdict, Christian Culture Warriors Run Riot in Moscow

"Free Pussy Riot" Written in Blood at Russian Murder Scene

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

What St. Kosmas Aitolos Asked For When He Preached

"I came to your village and I preached to you. It is thus just for you to pay me for my effort. With money perhaps? What would I do with it? My payment is for you to put the words of God in your hearts, that you may gain eternal life." - Saint Kosmas the Aitolos

«Ήρθα στο χωριό σας και σας κήρυξα. Δίκαιο είναι λοιπόν να με πληρώσετε για τον κόπο μου. Με χρήματα μήπως; Τι να τα κάνω; Η πληρωμή η δική μου είναι να βάλετε τα λόγια του Θεού στην καρδιά σας, για να κερδίσετε την αιώνια ζωή.» - Άγιος Κοσμάς ο Αιτωλός

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Panagia Demerliotissa of Farsala

The Church of Panagia Demerliotissa is found in Stavro Farsalon (in old Demerli, from which it is named). The icon of Panagia Demerliotissa is said to be one of the 70 icons of the Apostle Luke.

It is a single-spaced, oblong church with a narthex divided lengthwise into three pseudo-aisles with the use of wooden pillars. The middle aisle is covered by an arch. The church bears wall paintings from 1786 in three zones. It was painted by the disciples of Dionysios of Fournas from Evrytania. The wood engraved icon-screen belongs to the Mt. Pelion style and has many similarities with the icon-screen of the church of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple of Venetos. According to the founding inscription above the south entrance, the church was built in 1778.

In the church are saved the chain links which the Turks placed during the years of occupation when they attempted to use the church as a stable for their animals. The Panagia did not allow her house to be desecrated, so the first time the Turks entered and began to tie their horses the bells began to strike loudly by themselves. This was the last time an attempt was made for the church to be used as a stable.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Feast of Panagia Enniameritisa on Paros

Panagia Enniameritisa (of the Nine Days), otherwise known as Panagia of Naousa, is found in the village of Naousa on the island of Paros. It celebrates its feast on August 23rd, which is nine days after the Dormition of the Theotokos.

On August 23rd there is a pirate festival with a big feast representing the assault of the pirates on the villages of Paros. Fireworks, traditional music, dances, local food and wine compose this great feast.

The Pirates of Paros

Everyone is aware of the "Pirates of the Caribbean", but how many have even heard of the "Pirates of the Aegean"? Well, all you need to do is get your tickets booked and head to the picturesque island of Paros. It is always advisable to coincide your trip to Paros at the time of the colorful Barbarossa Pirate Festival, which is held every year on the 23rd of August.

This unique festival is a classic case of reenacting of the entire episode of an infamous pirate attack on the island of Paros, which is rather skillfully represented by the enthusiastic locals. There is tons of fun and one can be assured of hilarious and chilling scenes during this unique Pirate Festival.

Unbelievably, the quaint fishing vessels who play a pivotal role in the Festival, act in the guise of pirate ships and energetic locals, particularly the youths of Paros undertake the roles of pirates, protectors and believe it or not - dancing damsels in distress. A lot of times the casualty of Greek pirates surprisingly used to be a Greek island itself, which may sound odd, but is very true.

The island of Paros in particularly was witness to wave after wave of pirate attacks. As a ploy to rebuff the pirates, the people of Paros built impregnable “Skiathos” which were nothing but traditional Greek fortresses principally meant to ward off pirate attacks. But even these unconquerable “Skiathos” weren’t able to withstand the fierce attacks of the heavily-armed pirates.

The islands of Greece in general and Paros in particular has a long history of pirate attacks. According to a popular Greek legend, heavily armed pirates once kidnapped a beautiful Pelekas bride on the day of her wedding. This act of cruelty so shocked the bride’s mother that she cursed the pirates and as per legend they all were turned into stones, including her daughter who was taken into captivity, due primarily to some inappropriate use of words that were uttered in the curse. (Source)

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Hermitage of the Panagia of Grava in Patmos

The Hermitage of the Panagia of Grava is built on the west side of Chora in between the hill of Kalamoti and the Evangelismos Convent. It was founded around 1790 from the monk Gregory of Nisyros (April 22), the monk Niphonas and other monks, who fled Mount Athos during the Kollyvades controversy and ended up on Patmos. The small church is dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos and celebrates on the apodosis of the feast, which is the 23rd of August, every year.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Elder Sophrony: The Basics of the Divine Liturgy

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos

Before I left the Holy Monastery I found an opportunity in a discussion to ask him [Elder Sophrony] about the Divine Liturgy, and he presented me with the basic teaching about it.

- "The Priesthood is not given to man as a reward for virtues, but as a gift for the edification of the Church. Someone becomes a Priest in order to celebrate the Divine Liturgy and to sanctify the people. Also, the Priesthood has a social significance, since he will deal with the construction of the church and the suffering of the Christians. So he also needs these qualifications, besides the spirituality."

- "The Divine Liturgy occurred one time forever. It has eternality. Every time the Divine Liturgy is celebrated, we rise up to its height. If we live some aspects of the Divine Liturgy, then we will understand its greatness, as happened with St. Seraphim of Sarov who saw angels coming to the church during the Small Entrance. We follow the Divine Liturgy, because we do not live it, or until we live it."

- "The Divine Liturgy teaches us to live with the heart. By celebrating the Divine Liturgy we keep the command of Christ: 'Drink this in remembrance of Me' (Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24). That's why we say: 'Remembering this saving command....' This is not a psychological fact, but spiritual. Thus, every time we celebrate the Divine Liturgy, we are obedient to the word of Christ, and we penetrate the Divine Mystagogy in the Liturgy of Christ.

What God did once, remains now forever. This happens with the Divine Liturgy. One time Christ celebrated it in the Upper Room with the Mystical Supper, and this remains forever. The Christian, depending on the sacrifice he makes and his infiltration of Grace with this 'spirit' of the Divine Liturgy, receives Grace from God, and is purified of the passions. The Divine Liturgy in its perfection is the supplication and prayer for the entire world. This is the so-called royal officiation-priesthood. Thus, man reaches the end of the age. He does not wait for the day of the Lord, but this day of the Lord comes to him. So by Grace he becomes timeless."

From I Knew A Man In Christ: The Life and Times of Elder Sophrony, the Hesychast and Theologian (Οίδα άνθρωπον εν Χριστώ: Βίος και πολιτεία του Γέροντος Σωφρονίου του ησυχαστού και θεολόγου) by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Eldress Konstantia of Arapissas

By John Sanidopoulos

The eldress Konstantia lived in the first half of the 19th century and came from the land of Africa. She served as a slave in the household of a Turk, who was a resident of the old city of Zaverda. For some unknown reason till this day, she was abandoned to her fate by the Turks who after the liberation of the Greek nation left the area. She possibly could have escaped by her own means, but found refuge in the Holy Monastery of Saint Demetrios of Zaverda (now Paleros Aitoloakarnania) in which she received Holy Baptism and later the Angelic Schema. She lived here for many decades, adorning her life ascetically with the virtues and helping her neighbor in every possible way. She highlighted the Monastery as a spiritual oasis in which all the downtrodden found refuge. Her physical and spiritual asceticism reached the height of the great male ascetics. God graced her with many gifts, such as that of clairvoyance and wonderworking. And Saint Demetrios, the protector of the Holy Monastery, made her worthy to see him visually and appeared to her and directed her in her spiritual struggle and in the struggle for the correct functioning of the Monastery through which many people were spiritually benefited. Her life ended peacefully in the Monastery she so loved and was buried within it.

The translation of her holy relics took place in 2004 and were stored in a wooden coffin in the Katholikon of the Monastery. On 2 February 2009 the holy relics of Eldress Konstantia were stolen from the Monastery of Saint Demetrios, but were later returned.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

For the Perfect, Evil No Longer Exists

By St. Nikolai Velimirovich

When a man once truly repents, he need not think any more about the sins he committed so that he will not sin again.

St. Anthony counsels: "Be careful that your mind not be defiled with the remembrance of former sins and that the remembrance of those sins not be renewed in you."

Again, in another place, St. Anthony says: "Do not establish your previously committed sins in your soul by thinking about them so that they not be repeated in you. Be assured that they are forgiven you from the time that you gave yourself to God and repentance. In that, do not doubt."

It is said of St. Ammon that he attained such perfection that from much goodness he was not aware that evil exists anymore. When they asked him what is that "narrow and difficult [sorrowful] path" (Matthew 7:14), he replied: "It is the restraining of one's thoughts and severing of one's desires in order to fulfill the will of God."

Whoever restrains sinful thoughts, does not think of his own sins or the sins of others, neither of anything corruptible nor of anything earthly. The mind of such a man is continually in heaven where there is no evil. Thus, in him, sin gradually ceases to be, even in his thoughts.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

What Elder Epiphanios Said About Pre-Marital Sex

By Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos

There are many devout Christians who foster the question: If we make love five minutes before our wedding it is a sin, but if we make love five minutes after we are okay?

This is exactly the nature and power and value of the Mysteries: to change things, to alter situations, to transform events, to make the sinner holy, to bless the forbidden, to raise the earthly to heaven.

"Five minutes" before the blessing of a priest we have on the Holy Altar "bread" and "wine", but "five minutes (to the second) after" we have from this the divinized Body and Blood of our Lord!

"Five minutes" before the baptism of catechumens it is a grave sin to convey to them the Divine Eucharist, but "five minutes after" the conveyance is an essential and holy act.

"Five minutes" before his ordination as Bishop the "elect" remains a Presbyter and cannot celebrate the ordination of a Cleric, but "five minutes after" the continuation of his ordination in the celebration of the Divine Liturgy he can ordain Presbyters and Deacons.

But why should we remain in the divine and supernatural Mysteries of our Church? Perhaps "within our" life, that is our earthly life, there are similar parallels.

"Five minutes" before the signing of a contract by a notary and the parties involved it is simply a paper, but "five minutes after" it remains an indisputable public document created with legal consequences (rights and obligations) sometimes to an unfathomable extent.

"Five minutes" before the signing of a covenant it is no different than wrapping paper, but "five minutes after" it has the strength to determine the fate of hundreds of millions of assets.

"Five minutes" before the inauguration of a President he is just an ordinary citizen devoid of any special power, but "five minutes after" he is given the power to dismiss the Government and dissolve the House.

Yes, "five minutes" before marriage the carnal relations of a couple is a sin, and "five minutes after" it is not a sin.

Source: Translation by John Sanidopoulos

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

A Strange Scene in the Icon of the Dormition

By John Sanidopoulos

In many icons of the Dormition of the Theotokos, one can see a strange scene near the bottom: an angel invisibly cuts off the two hands of a certain man.

What is the story behind this scene?

Bewailing their separation from the Mother of God, the Apostles prepared to bury Her all-pure body. A solemn procession went from Zion through Jerusalem to the Garden of Gethsemane. Unbelieving inhabitants of Jerusalem, taken aback by the extraordinarily grand funeral procession and vexed at the honor accorded the Mother of Jesus, complained of this to the High Priest and scribes.

The Jewish priest Jephonias (or Athonios), out of spite and hatred for the Mother of Jesus of Nazareth, wanted to topple the funeral bier on which lay the body of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, but an angel of God, some say the Archangel Michael, invisibly cut off his hands, which had touched the bier. Seeing such a wonder, Jephonias repented and with faith confessed the majesty of the Mother of God. He received healing and joined the crowd accompanying the body of the Mother of God, and he became a zealous follower of Christ.

According to Elisheva Revel-Neher, in her study of "The Image of the Jew in Byzantine Art", the earliest known artistic depictions of the scene are from Cappadocia around the ninth and tenth centuries, with subsequent examples from much later periods.

The Theotokos is all-pure and ever-virgin, and her conception of the Son of God was foreshadowed in the Old Testament by the Ark of the Covenant. The procession of the body of the Theotokos by the Apostles is thus also seen as a foreshadow of a particular event in the Old Testament, when the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines, and eventually brought to Jerusalem.

In 1 Samuel 5:1-5 we read:

After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.

Here the pagan god Dagon is depicted as not being able to stand in the presence of the Ark, to the point that it fell and its head and hands broke off. Numerous other disasters were said to have befallen the Philistines for stealing the Ark, until they finally gave it back to the Jews out of fear.

Years later King David desired to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, and a great procession followed the Ark. In 2 Samuel 6:3, 4, 6 and 7 we read:

They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it... When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.

This incident is said to have struck fear in the heart of King David, and it made him realize how great and significant the Ark of the Covenant truly was.

This iconographic scene in the icon of the Dormition, therefore, is an illustration to serve as a warning to believers and unbelievers who question and despise the mysteries of God, and do not hold the proper reverence for these sacred mysteries.

A miracle recorded by St. John Moschos in The Spiritual Meadow (Leimonarion) further details the moral described above. It concerns a certain actor named Gaianas who blasphemed the Holy Mother of God in the theatre. He writes:

Heliopolis is a city of Lebanese Phoenecia. There was an actor there named Gaianas who used to perform at the theatre an act in which he blasphemed against the holy Mother of God. The Mother of God appeared to him, saying: "What evil have I done to you that you revile me before so many people and blaspheme against me?" He rose up and, far from mending his ways, proceeded to blaspheme against her even more than before. Three times she appeared to him with the same reproach and admonition. As he did not mend his ways in the slightest degree, but rather blasphemed the more, she appeared to him once when he was sleeping at mid-day and said nothing at all. All she did was to sever his two hands and feet with her finger. When he woke up he found that his hands and feet were so afflicted that he just lay there like a tree-trunk. In these circumstances the wretched man confessed to everybody (making himself a public example) that he had received the reward for his blasphemy. And this he did for love of his fellow men.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Elder Sophrony and the Union of Churches

By Elder Sophrony of Essex

- There is a great difference between East and West. A Westerner who is baptized Orthodox for many years will be within the Orthodox Church under the guidance of an experienced Spiritual Father to obtain a pure Orthodox phronema and ethos.

Until then, he can not and must not play the teacher to people who have Orthodox bones, who were born and raised as Orthodox.

That is why there cannot be a "Union of Churches". With discussion an acquaintance can be made that can help the "political", without harming Orthodoxy. But the "union of Churches" is difficult, if not impossible. Those who speak of "union of Churches" do not know the mindset of the heterodox nor the height of Orthodoxy. Some of the heterodox hate the Orthodox. Proof is that if some Westerner becomes a Buddhist or Marxist, his household does not extract him from the family, but if he becomes Orthodox, then they extract him. If this mindset did not exist, then many Westerners would become Orthodox.

- I do not want, at least now, the "Union of Churches", because the Romans (Latins) will not change, and the Orthodox will not be corrupted.

From I Knew A Man In Christ: The Life and Times of Elder Sophrony, the Hesychast and Theologian (Οίδα άνθρωπον εν Χριστώ: Βίος και πολιτεία του Γέροντος Σωφρονίου του ησυχαστού και θεολόγου) by Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Early Christian Church Discovered in Kakhetia, Georgia

August 13, 2012

Pravoslavie.ru

Archaeologists have discovered a church that was built in Kakheti in the 5th century and destroyed in the 14th century. This is a conclusion made by the experts who have recently announced the news about the unique discovery. Specialists of the National Agency of Cultural Heritage Protection have arrived to the valley of the river Duruji, territory of Dolochopi, where an early Christian-era church was found, reports Blagovest-info portal with the reference to internet.ge.

According to the preliminary estimates, the church parameters are not inferior to the ones of the massive monument of the Christian architecture in Georgia, Sioni Bolnisi. Graves of historic significance were also found on the church territory, but they had been robbed.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Pussy Riot Controversy: Nothing New Under the Sun

By John Sanidopoulos

Three members of the punk band Pussy Riot – Maria Alyokhina, 24, Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22 – were sentenced to serve two years in a penal colony on Friday after being found guilty of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred". A Moscow judge rejected the defence's argument that the band's performance of an anti-Vladimir Putin "punk prayer" was a form of political protest and found that it was motivated by hatred for Russian Orthodoxy.

Unfortunately the prosecution has not read its history to know that such an extreme reaction to a protest only vindicates and fuels the growth of the movement and ideology, and creates a deeper controversy than what could have been prevented.

For example, when the news first reported on the Pussy Riot performance in Christ the Savior Cathedral a few months ago, my mind immediately went to a performance in 1977 by the English punk band the Sex Pistols. That year they had released the single "God Save the Queen", amidst very much scrutiny, criticism and protest. By chance it coincided with Queen Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee celebrations. Hardly anyone would sell it, let alone play it on the radio, and the band were prevented from playing at any venues. Till this day it is the "most heavily censored record in British history". In England the monarchy is considered a God-established institution, and to mock the Queen is seen as a form of sacrilege.

On June 7 that year it was arranged by the record label for a private boat to have the Sex Pistols perform while sailing down the River Thames, passing Westminster Pier and the Houses of Parliament. The event, a mockery of the Queen's river procession planned for two days later, ended in chaos. Police launches forced the boat to dock, and constabulary surrounded the gangplanks at the pier. While the band members and their equipment were hustled down a side stairwell, many of the band's entourage were arrested. Soon after they were released on bail.

Watch Video: Remembering the 1977 Sex Pistols' Jubilee Boat Trip

After 35 years it was announced this year that "God Save the Queen" was being re-released in honor of Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, and surely the Pussy Riot trial makes it just as relevant as ever. But this likely would not have been so if everything was handled much more wisely and the Russian courts learned from history rather than repeated it, and even now have gone beyond it.

It may be a good thing however that the Pussy Riot girls will be in jail for the next two years, unless the courts give in to the overwhelming pressure from around the world and release them sooner. History also tells us what happened to the Sex Pistols after their controversial trip along the Thames. Violent attacks on punk fans were on the rise. In mid-June lead singer Johnny Rotten himself was assaulted by a knife-wielding gang outside Islington's Pegasus pub, causing tendon damage to his left arm. Jamie Reid and Paul Cook were beaten up in other incidents; three days after the Pegasus assault, Rotten was attacked again. Everywhere they played there were huge protests, sometimes even outnumbering those who attended the concert. The band eventually only released one album and broke up during their first tour of the United States, which began with strong protests in the Bible-belt states. Maybe two years in prison will be enough time to calm everyone down a bit, but only the future will tell. However, it was within those two years that the Sex Pistols had already broken up and gone their separate ways.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

The Snakes of the Panagia in Kefallonia (Videos and Photos)

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Patriarch Bartholomew Against Hagia Sophia in Trebizond Becoming a Mosque

August 17, 2012

AsiaNews

There is "no need" to transform the ancient church of Hagia Sophia in Trabzon into a mosque, it is better that it remains a museum open to all religions: Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, expressed with clarity his opposition to the idea supported by the Deputy Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent Arinc who would like to turn this monument of Christianity into an exclusive place of worship for Muslims.

The church of Hagia Sofia (Saint Sofia) is a gem of ancient architecture and dates back to the era of the Comnenus Emperors (1204-1461). It testifies to the ancient presence of Christians from Pontus on the Black Sea, wiped out as a result of various genocides and purges first by the Ottomans, then by the neo-Turks.

Yesterday, the Ecumenical Patriarch visited the church and met with the mayor of the city, Genc. In front of reporters, Bartholomew said: "We respect all mosques and all places of worship, but in this case - turning Hagia Sophia into a mosque - I see no need for worship."

He added: "We are in favor of maintaining the church of Hagia Sophia as a museum. Moreover, as stated by the head of the local [Islamic] community [here] there are already many mosques to meet the needs for worship of the faithful, and they remain largely partially empty."

The Patriarch recalled the recent statements by the President of the Muslim community of the place, Zeki Baytar, who reacted strongly to the Arinc proposal, even threatening a revolt, and said: "First we must fill the mosques, then, if necessary, transform Saint Sophia into a mosque."

"If Hagia Sophia in Trabzon is converted into a mosque - continues Bartholomew I - it will be made available only to our Muslim brothers. Conversely, if it remains as a museum, it can offer its services to the entire international community, with sizeable profits for its inhabitants."

Among the journalists present, many remember the words of the same Bulent Arinc during his visit to the Phanar - the seat of the patriarchate - in January 2011: "As a government we have a duty to meet the needs of these citizens who have a centuries old presence in these lands."

Therefore, the position of the Ecumenical Patriarch is hardly surprising. What is of wonder however, is the Turkish government policy towards minorities of "one step forward, one step back", depending on the circumstances and political conjunctures. Precisely for this reason anti-conformist courageous groups voicing anti-conformist sentiments are on the increase in Turkey.

Trabzon, in the far north-east of Turkey, is inhabited by a population of almost 300 thousand inhabitants. Of these few are Christians. On 5 February 2006, Italian priest Andrea Santoro was murdered by a young nationalist Islamic.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr

Arab Spring Turns to Christian Winter

William Dalrymple

August 9, 2012

Real Clear World

Wherever you go in the Middle East today, you see the Arab Spring rapidly turning into the Christian winter.

The past few years have been catastrophic for the region's beleaguered 14-million strong Christian minority.

In Egypt, the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood has been accompanied by anti-Coptic riots and intermittent bouts of church-burning. On the West Bank and in Gaza, the Christians are emigrating fast as they find themselves caught between Benjamin Netanyahu's pro-settler government and their increasingly radicalised and pro-Hamas Sunni Muslim neighbours. Most catastrophically, in Iraq, two thirds of the Christians have fled the country since the fall of Saddam.

It was Syria that took in many of the 250,000 Christians driven out of Iraq. Anyone who visited Damascus in recent years could see lounging in every park and sitting in every teahouse the unshaven Iraqi Christian refugees driven from their homes by the sectarian mayhem that followed the end of the Baathist state. They were bank managers and engineers, pharmacists and businessmen - all living with their extended families in one-room flats on what remained of their savings and assisted by the charity of the different churches.

"Before the war there was no separation between Christian and Muslim," I was told on a recent visit by Shamun Daawd, a liquor-store owner who fled Baghdad after he received Islamist death threats. I met him at the Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus, where he had come to collect the rent money the Patriarchate provided for the refugees. "Under Saddam no one asked you your religion and we used to attend each other's religious services," he said. "Now at least 75 per cent of my Christian friends have fled."

Those Iraqi refugees now face a second displacement while their Syrian hosts are themselves living in daily fear of having to flee for their lives. The first Syrian refugee camps are being erected in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon; others are queuing to find shelter in camps in Jordan, north of Amman. Most of the bloodiest killings and counter-killings that have been reported in Syria have so far been along Sunni-Alawite faultlines, but there have been some reports of thefts, rape and murder directed at the Christian minority, and in one place - Qusayr - wholesale ethnic cleansing of the Christians accused by local jihadis of acting as pro-regime spies. The community, which makes up about 10 per cent of the total population, is now frankly terrified.

For much of the past 100 years, and long before the Assads came to power, Syria was a reliable refuge for the Christians of the Middle East: decades before the Iraqis arrived the people of Syria welcomed the Armenians escaping the Young Turk genocide of 1915. In 1948 they took in the Palestinians, both Christian and Muslim, driven out of their ancestral homes at the creation of Israel; and during the 1970s and 80s their country became a place of shelter for Orthodox Christians and Maronites seeking a refuge during Lebanon's interminable sectarian troubles.

For while the regime of the Assad dynasty was a repressive one-party police state in which political freedoms were always severely and often brutally restricted, it did allow the Syrians widespread cultural and religious freedoms. These gave Syria's minorities a security and stability far greater than their counterparts anywhere else in the region. This was particularly true of Syria's ancient Christian communities. The reason for this was that the Assads were Alawite, a syncretic Shia Muslim minority regarded by Sunni Muslims as heretical, and disparagingly referred to as Nusayris, or Little Christians: indeed, their liturgy seems to be partly Christian in origin. Alawites made up only 12 per cent of Syria's population and the Assads kept themselves in power by forming what was in effect a coalition of Syria's religious minorities, through which they were able to counterbalance the weight of the Sunni majority.

In the Assads' Syria, the major Christian feasts were national holidays; Christians were exempt from turning up to work on Sunday mornings; and churches and monasteries, like mosques, were provided with free electricity and were sometimes given state land for new buildings. In the Christian Quarter of Old Damascus around Bab Touma, electric-blue neon crosses would wink from the domes of the churches and processions of crucifix-carrying boy scouts could be seen squeezing past gaggles of Christian girls heading out on the town, all low-cut jeans and tight-fitting T-shirts. This was something unknown almost anywhere else in the Middle East.

There was also widespread sharing of sacred space. On my travels, in a single day I have seen Christians coming to sacrifice sheep at the Muslim Sufi shrine of Nebi Uri, while at the nearby convent of Seidnaya (recently shelled by government forces) I found that the congregation in the church consisted not principally of Christians, but instead of heavily bearded Muslim men and their shrouded wives. Now that precious multi-ethnic and multi-religious patchwork is in danger of being destroyed for ever.

As in Egypt, where the late Coptic Pope Shenouda supported Hosni Mubarak right up until his fall, the established churches of Syria marked the beginning of the revolution by lining up behind the regime. My friend Mar Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, the urbane and multilingual Syrian Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, was quoted as saying: "We do not support those who are calling for the fall of the regime simply because we are for reform and change."

Initially many of the flock were unsure of the wisdom of that position, and young Christians were among those calling for the end of the Assad regime, hoping for a new dawn of freedom, human rights and democracy. But, a year on, pro-revolution Christians are much harder to find. There are more and more reports of violent al-Qa'ida-inspired salafists fighting alongside the Free Syrian Army, while Turkish backing for the opposition Syrian National Council has terrified the Syrian Armenians.

As criminality, robbery, lawlessness and car-jacking become endemic, even in places where outright fighting is absent, and as the survival of the regime looks daily less and less likely, the Christians fear they will soon suffer the fate of their Iraqi brethren.

As ever, the Christians here remain mystified by the actions of Christian America. When George W. Bush went into Iraq, he naively believed he would be replacing Saddam with a peaceful, pro-US Arab democracy that would naturally look to the Christian West for support. In reality, nine years on, it appears that he has instead created a highly radicalised and unstable pro-Iranian sectarian battleground. Now US support is being channelled towards opposition groups that may eventually do the same to the minorities of Syria.

As in 80s Afghanistan, a joint operation between the CIA and Saudi intelligence could end up bringing to power a hardline salafist replacement to a brutally flawed but nonetheless secular regime. If that happens in Syria, the final death of Christianity in its Middle Eastern homelands seems increasingly possible within our lifetime.

William Dalrymple is the author of "From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium". His new book "Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan 1839-42" will be published by Bloomsbury in February.

Tweet

Share on Tumblr