Homily One on the Theophany of the Lord (St. Luke of Simferopol)

 By St. Luke, Archbishop of Simferopol and All Crimea

(Delivered in 1954)

All of you know that the people of Israel were the chosen people of God, but not everyone knows that this people in Holy Scripture is called the people with necks unbending as iron and foreheads as hard as bronze.

The brass-foreheaded people took the ardent calls of the great prophets for the correction of their ways and the great predictions about their Savior and the Messiah very hard and did not listen to them. They held their proud head high and did not bend their iron neck in repentance and humility.

The Son of God Himself descended to earth and incarnated in humble human nature. From His mouth the stiff-necked people of Israel heard the Divine message and the revelation of the mysteries of God; they saw many of His miracles.

My Day With a Holocaust Survivor

By John Sanidopoulos

In our days words like "Nazi" and "Concentration Camp" are used in a very ignorant fashion, especially by those in America who stand on the political left, which leaves me with the understanding that they have no clue what a Nazi or Concentration Camp was. On the other end you have holocaust deniers, who I would consider to possess the same ignorance. This has prompted me to write this brief article on a day I once spent with a holocaust survivor, and what he told me about his ordeal.

Holy Martyr Matrona of Thessaloniki

St. Matrona of Thessaloniki (Feast Day - March 27)

Verses

It is not meet for you to be unknown Martyr Matrona,
Even though you died secretly in prison.
On the twenty-seventh Matrona died in prison.

The Holy Martyr Matrona of Thessaloniki suffered in the early centuries of Christianity, when Christianity was a persecuted faith. She was a maidservant of the Jewish woman Pantilla (or Pautilla), wife of one of the military commanders of Thessaloniki. Pantilla constantly mocked her sservant for her faith in Christ, and tried to convert her to Judaism. Matrona, who believed in Christ from her youth, still prayed to the Savior Christ. When her mistress would go to the synagogue of the Jews, Matrona would not enter but she secretly sneaked away to the Christian church to worship there.

King of the Jews or King of Glory?

By John Sanidopoulos

When the Lord delivered the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt through the leadership of Moses, and led them into the Promised Land through the leadership of Joshua, it became customary after that for many generations to have leaders or judges over the tribes of Israel, who were also prophets, but never a king, for God alone was the King of the Jews, His chosen people, and He asked for nothing but their faithfulness, and in return He would make them victorious over their enemies and make them prosper in their new land. But in the days of the Prophet Samuel, the last judge of Israel, the people of Israel no longer wanted the Lord as their king, but they wanted to be like all the other nations, with a man as their king to lead them. When the Prophet Samuel brought their request before the Lord, He replied: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking Me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights" (1 Sam. 8:7-9). The Lord respected the choice of the people, but also warned them of the negative side effects of having a mortal man as their king over Himself. And when the people insisted on indeed having a king like all the nations, then the Prophet Samuel appointed for them a man named Saul, who went on to turn against the Lord in disobedience, and fall defeated by his enemies.

Holy New Martyr Symeon the Goldsmith from Trebizond (+ 1653)

Verses

For Symeon hanging was a step,

To enter Heaven by means of a plane tree.

Saint Symeon was from Trebizond, but at an early age he left for Constantinople, where he worked as a goldsmith. One day, while walking through a Jewish neighborhood with two other Orthodox Christians, they encountered a tall Jewish man. One of the companions of Symeon, who was short, made fun of him, so the tall Jewish man picked him up and began walking with him. The Christian in turn pulled out a knife and stabbed the Jewish man who, because he was slightly drunk, apparently did not feel the wound immediately. But he put down the Christian and walked away. It was then that the blood from the wound began flowing and the pain manifested itself.

A Prophetic Exegesis of the Healing of the Paralytic

By John Sanidopoulos

"For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of this mystery - that you may not be wise in your own conceits - that hardness in part to Israel has happened till the fullness of the nations may come in, and so all Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:25).

Beyond the historical interpretation of the healing of the Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda by Jesus, St. Cyril of Alexandria, in his Commentary on the Gospel of John (Bk. 2, Ch. 5), offers a most interesting spiritual interpretation of this healing to lay out in the open a hidden and deeper truth of these verses in John 5:1-15.

A Jewish Woman Who Survived the Holocaust With the Help of a Greek Priest

Before the Holocaust, Thessaloniki was home to 80,000 Jews. In 1943 under Nazi occupation some 60,000 Jews were deported to Treblinka and Auschwitz, approximately 90% of whom were murdered. A number of Thessaloniki Jews were involved in resistance acts both in the Warsaw uprising and the October 1944 attack and bombing in Auschwitz. Over 300 Greek Gentiles have been recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among The Nations for risking and giving their lives to help the Jewish people during this time.

When St. Gabriel the Fool Visited a Synagogue, a Mosque and a Baptist Church

Fr. Gabriel often visited people who had different religious views. He tried to share grace with everyone and lead them to the true faith. He says himself:

"Once, dressed as I was in my monastic schema, I went to the Synagogue. At the entrance hung a large portrait of Moses. I venerated it. The attendees liked this. Moses was a great prophet and I gave him his due respect. I had entered as they were reading from the Bible. Few were there and they looked at me with surprise. I began to preach, and when they heard about Christ they called for their High Priest. He came out but he did not stop me. Afterwards he invited me into his office. He listened with great interest and attention to what I said about Christ. Finally, he thanked me and we bid farewell.

Saint Epiphanios of Cyprus as a Model for our Lives

St. Epiphanios of Salamis (Feast Day - May 12)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Epiphanios came from Eleutheroupolis in Palestine and lived in the fourth century. His parents were poor farmers who were Jews and raised him in the teachings of Judaism. After their death he was baptized and became a member of the Church of Christ, after being catechized by two scholar ascetics, Lucian and Hilarion. He then went to the desert of Palestine and was taught near famous ascetics. The reputation of Saint Epiphanios reached Cyprus, where he was elected Bishop of Constantia (Salamis).

The Pascha of Isaac

By Fr. Konstantinos Stratigopoulos

This history, which sounds in one’s ears like a living synaxari of a neomartyr, my grandmother used to tell me, and it has been indelibly inscribed in my memory. Her father was a priest in one of the villages of the northern Bosporus, which is today called Beycoz. Fr. Antonios, that was the name of the priest, had many children, and among them one was called Christodoulos. Christodoulos was ten years old when these terrible events took place. One Good Friday the Jews kidnapped him and took him with them. On that very day they nailed the young child on a cross, like Christ. The next day, certain passers-by found Christodoulos lying unconscious on the road. A few days later, within the atmosphere of the feast of the Resurrection, the young child died. This story was utterly true.[1] Every year, when Pascha approached, similar stories and recollections emerged in our mind and we entered a war climate with Jews. The climax of this war climate was the burning of the Jew (an effigy of Judas) which took place on Good Friday evening, after the procession of the Epitaphios.

In our neighborhood, there at the Crossroads,[2] there were many Jews. During the whole year we had the Jewish boys grouped with us. Our opposition to the Turkish children united us. But on these holy days everything changed. The Jewish boys could not  play with us in our "Christian" games. Holy Week gave us a great chance for games to begin  from the sanctuary of the church of the Panagia and would continue into the church yard and its surroundings.

Isaac lived in a corner house at the long downhill, in Hamalbasi, a few meters from our house. He was  among those Jewish children who were our good friends. There was no cheating in which he did not participate. Indeed, his sharp mind proved important during difficult moments. I remember, once, when a neighbor came to protest, because we banged the bells on the doors of homes, and then ran away. Isaac would then say in a very serious tone:

"It was for your own good that we did this. It’s going to rain and we alerted you so that you can pick up the clothes which you had stretched out on the terrace to dry."

"Come here you brat, where did you see the rain?" Mrs. Katina Balou shouted.

"The weather broadcast on the radio said so," Isaac responded.

Isaac, then, with his sharp mind, who so many times got us out of difficult situations, this time was "ousted." He was a Jew. He could not be with us now. On this Holy and Great Week, he could not play with us. We regarded this natural. Isaac had to be punished, because the Jews had crucified Christ.

It was Good Friday. Day of the big game. The church  stayed open all day. We cut flowers, we sprinkled people with cologne, we kept order in the church, we did the procession of the Epitaphios around the courtyard of the church, and a host of other things that excited us.

During the Service of the Great Hours, the news arrived at the altar, where we were gathered: Isaac appeared at the courtyard. Isaac in the courtyard? This was unacceptable. On such a day?

"He certainly came in order to desecrate us," said Soulis the highhanded.

"Yes, certainly," shouted everyone else.

"He should learn that a Jew cannot go round here on such a day with his head up as if nothing is happening. The Jews crucified Christ and they want to benefit from games," cried Lambis the Go. They called him so, because he pronounced the letter R as Go.

"Deno,[3] are you going to tell him that he is undesirable? You know him much more. He is your neighbor, as well."

"Yes," I said. But I appeared to be rather reluctant.

"Are you afraid, stupid?" Soulis told me, and added: "He is a Jew; do you get it? This week we should not let them relax. They crucified Christ. We will crucify them."

"Christ, however, did not crucify the ones who crucified Him," I ventured to say.

"What are you saying, stupid? What are you saying, stupid? What is this that my ears heard? This is a Holy Day and you are with the Jews? Huh? Tell me?"

"No," I said.

"Leave behind the talk then and do what I say, because you are lost. You will not celebrate Pascha. You are also cut off from the game."

"Ok," I told him with fear, and I went out. Isaac was really there. I approached him, and with a severe look, I asked him: "Isaac, what are you doing here?"

"Why should I not be here? Who can prevent me from doing so?" Then, changing the tone of his voice, he whispered to me: "Deno, what happened to you? Where is our bosom friendship now?"

"Christ separates us, Isaac. You Jews crucified Christ. You cannot step on these grounds on such a Day."

"Your Christ, however, did not turn anyone away."

"Isaac, there is nothing we can do now. After Pascha we shall be friends again," I said, and I ran away, because I could not bear arguing with my bosom friend.

When the service ended and the traditional games started in the courtyard of the church, I felt that a great stone was pressing against my chest. I felt as if I was one of those who crucified Christ. Was I right, or wrong? I could not enjoy the Day. Then, I found a solution. I found it as I was standing by and gazing at the Epitaphios (the wooden replica of the Sepulcher of Christ decorated with flowers and used during Holy Week) and the Icon of the Extreme Humility (which depicts Christ being taken down from His cross following His death). I had to do something. He who was inside the Epitaphios had made such a great condescension. I made my decision. I went to Isaac’s house. He was sitting at the steps with a forbidding countenance. A spark passed through in his eyes, but his external appearance did not show it. So, I told him,

"Isaac, forgive me for what I did this morning. I was representing a group of young boys. You know their mindset. However, I thought of something important. We shall tell the boys that though you are a Jew, in your heart you love Christ and you feel sorry that the Jews crucified Him. You will say that you cannot change it."

Isaac was listening attentively. Looking at me straight in a penetrating and manly way, he said to me, "Deno, even if you were not a prophet, this is indeed how I think."

I took a deep breath.

"I will wait for you tonight at the procession of the Epitaphios. I will deal with the boys personally."

The boys, however, did not believe me at all. I tried hard. Nothing. They were obstinately unconvinced.

"But Christ forgave those who crucified Him!"

"No more words; stop, if you do not wish to be burned tonight along with the Jew," said Soulis.

At night, at the procession of the Epitaphios, there was a drizzle of rain. This is usually the case with every such procession. All of us, the Christian boys, were leading solemnly the procession of the Epitaphios around the great courtyard of the Church of the Panagia. I spotted Isaac among the crowd. Our eyes met. I could not distinguish whether it was drops of rain or tears that ran from the eyes of Isaac, my friend. If they were tears, were they shed because the boys did not accept his confession, or because he was sorry for their hardness-of-heart? After the procession I did not escape from the expected slap of Soulis the highhanded.

"I saw you, stupid, I saw you; you were exchanging looks with the Jew." And he added: "You will not burn the Jew with us tonight."

I said to him: "It does not matter, I will take on all responsibility for Isaac."

I was watching from my house window the unofficial ceremony. At the end of the burning of the Jew, a person sent by Soulis came by. He stood under my window and shouted: "Listen Deno, this year you will not  celebrate the Anastasis (the Resurrection), neither the Jew."

The crucial point was the moment of the Anastasis. In Constantinople, for many years the moment of the Anastasis was not observed at midnight, but at 5 o’clock in the morning. The Anastasis was always a crucial moment. It was Christ coming face to face with Hades. It was the defeat of Hades; the emancipation of the dead.

We experienced all these that morning in the Liturgy of the Anastasis. The boys had arrived there with their pockets full of eggs and firecrackers. At the moment of the “Christos Anesti” (Christ is Risen), at 5 in the morning, there was a turmoil of celebration. Eggs and firecrackers traveled over our heads.

I had arrived there full of fear. I did not dare enter the sanctuary. In any case the boys looked down on me contemptuously. I stood by the platform, where the Anastasis would occur.

"Come and receive the Light! Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!"

What an ineffable joy. I forgot everything. I was in utter joy. I was not afraid of Soulis the highhanded, or anyone else. I was rejoicing unceasingly. The crackers created a polemic atmosphere. There was shouting; a pandemonium of joy. And in the midst of the noise I heard the shouts of some angry men, as if they were reprimanding or beating someone. I turned towards that direction along with the other boys, which was quite close to where we were. Yes there were true shouts. Isaac’s father had followed his son who left secretly from the house. At the time of "Christos Anesti" he began to hit Isaac mercilessly. How did he, a Jew, dare  to say: "Christ is Risen?”

It was a shame, a great shame, for his family. I saw Isaac being trampled by his father who was outraged.

"What did you say? What did you say? Christ is Risen?" He shouted in a state of frenzy.

Isaac was in an awful condition. Blood was running from his mouth and nose. He dared to say, "Yes father, Christ is Risen! Because we Jews crucified him. Christ is Risen!"

He was rolling over like a martyr, without grumbling.

"Christ is Risen!!!..."

He reminded us of the martyrdom of so many Christians who shouted this “Christ is Risen” in the blood-stained soil of Constantinople.

Then he remained unconscious. We did not dare approach him. The boys were frozen. Isaac’s father lifted him in his arms, or rather pulled him. We remained speechless. Soulis looked at me. I looked at him. He kissed me.

"Truly He is Risen!", he said with tears dripping from his eyes.

"Yes, He is Risen indeed!"

From then on, we lost Isaac. We learned that he remained in bed for months. They left our neighborhood.

Years later, someone spoke to me about a Hieromonk in a Skete of the Holy Mountain, who used to live in Constantinople and was a Jew, but later became a Christian. He was a Hieromonk who was curved because of an accident. He was always silent and said “Christ is Risen” to those who happened to meet him.

I was told that this is my friend Isaac, and I believe it.

Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!

1. Though this particular story may be true, it is a fact that from medieval times there were "Blood Libel" stories that were fabricated to justify the persecution of the Jews/ It may have been these stories that were circulated in this village after this tragic crime. See more on blood libels here.

2. A neighborhood in Constantinople.

3. Short name for "Konstantinos".

Source: From the book, The Crossroad of My Heart, p. 9, published by Philokalia, May 2002. Translation and Notes by John Sanidopoulos.

Bulgarian Church Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

March 16, 2013

Standart

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2013 on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during WW2.

The nomination was initiated by Mr. Lachezar Toshev, deputy chairman of the permanent delegation of the Bulgarian national assembly at PACE, and MP from the Blue Coalition. He is also an honorary associate member of PACE and one of the persons entitled to make nominations for this high prize.

The documents for the nomination were submitted at the end of last year in Oslo, where the Nobel Prize is awarded.

“The act of salvation of the Bulgarian Jews from the Holocaust is not known very well internationally, although there are enough documents to prove it. One such nomination will at least shed light on the issue in the course of the discussions,” Toshev said.

“This decision of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church is a world precedent and is also praiseworthy, because the church risked its own future in the name of the salvation of a minority of different religion,” he added.

Saint Gennadius, Archbishop of Novgorod (+ 1505)

St. Gennadii of Novgorod (Feast Day - December 4th)

Saint Gennadius, Archbishop of Novgorod, was descended from the Gonzov family and was, in the testimony of contemporaries, "dignified, intelligent, virtuous and learned in the Holy Scripture." His was made a monk at the Valaam monastery, under the spiritual guidance of St Sabbatius of Solovki (September 27). From the year 1472, he was Archimandrite of the Chudov (Miracle of the Archangel Michael) monastery in Moscow. Zealous for celebrating divine services according to the Typikon, he and Bassian, Archbishop of Rostov, and later his successor Joasaph, fearlessly rose up in defense of the ancient Rule during a dispute about moving "like the sun" (from east to west) at the consecration of the Dormition cathedral in Moscow during the years 1479-1481.

In 1483 St Gennadius began construction of a stone church at the Chudov monastery in honor of St Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow (February 12), the founder of the monastery. On December 12, 1484 St Gennadius was consecrated as Archbishop of Novgorod. Already in Novgorod, but still honoring the memory of St Alexis, Gennadius did not cease to concern himself with the construction of the church, even contributing silver for the completion of this temple.

The time of holy Archbishop Gennadius as hierarch at Novgorod coincided with a terrible period in the history of the Russian Church. In 1470, Judaizing preachers, who traveled to Novgorod in the guise of merchants, had already begun to plant the weeds of heresy and apostasy among the Orthodox.

The first reports about the heresy reached St Gennadius in the year 1487. Four members of a secret society, in a state of intoxication, opened up and told the Orthodox of the existence of the impious heresy. As soon as it became known to him, the zealous archpastor immediately began an inquiry and with deep sorrow became convinced that the danger was a threat not only to local Novgorod piety, but also in Moscow, the very capital of Orthodoxy, where the leaders of the Judaizers had journeyed in 1480.

In September 1487 he sent to Metropolitan Gerontius at Moscow all the material from the inquiry, together with a list of the apostates he had discovered, as well as their writings. The struggle with the Judaizers became the main focus of St Gennadius' archpastoral activity. In the words of St Joseph of Volokolamsk (September 9), "this archbishop, angered by the malevolent heretics, pounced upon them like a lion from out of the thicket of the Holy Scriptures and the splendid heights of the prophets and the apostolic teachings."

For twelve years St Gennadius and St Joseph struggled against the most powerful attempts of the opponents of Orthodoxy to alter the course of history of the Russian Church and the Russian state. By their efforts the Orthodox were victorious. The works of Gennadius in the study of the Bible contributed to this victory. The heretics in their impious cleverness used texts from the Old Testament, but which were different from the texts accepted by the Orthodox. Archbishop Gennadius undertook an enormous task: bringing the correct listings of Holy Scripture together in a single codex. Up until this time Biblical books had been copied in Russia, following the example of Byzantium, not in their entirety, but in separate parts - the Pentateuch (first five books) or Octateuch (first eight books), Kings, Proverbs, the Psalter, the Prophets, the Gospels, the Epistles, and other instructive books.

The holy books of the Old Testament in particular often were subjected to both accidental and intentional errors. St Gennadius wrote about this with sorrow in a letter to Archbishop Joasaph: "The Judaizing heretical tradition adheres to the Psalms of David, or prophecies which they have altered." Gathering around himself learned and industrious Biblical scholars, the saint collected all the books of the Holy Scripture into a single codex, and he gave his blessing for the Holy Books which were not found in manuscripts of the traditional Slavonic Bible to be retranslated from the Latin language. In 1499 the first complete codex of Holy Scripture in Slavonic ("the Gennadius Bible," as they called it after its compiler; photo above) was published in Russia. This work became an integral link in the succession of Slavonic translations of the word of God. From the God-inspired translation of the Holy Scripture by Sts Cyril and Methodius, through the Bible of St Gennadius (1499), reproduced in the first printed Bible (Ostrozh, 1581). The Church has maintained a Slavonic Biblical tradition right through the so-called Elizabethan Bible (1751) and all successive printed editions.

Together with the preparation of the Bible, the circle of church scholars under Archbishop Gennadius also undertook a great literary task: the compilation of the "Fourth Novgorod Chronicle." Numerous hand-written books were translated, corrected and transcribed, bringing the Chronicle up to the year 1496.

Dositheus, the igumen of the Solovki monastery who was at Novgorod on monastery matters, worked for several years with St Gennadius compiling a library for the Solovki monastery. It was at the request of St Gennadius that Dositheus wrote the Lives of Sts Zosimas (April 17) and Sabbatius (September 27).

The majority of the books transcribed with the blessing of the Novgorod hierarch (more than 20), were preserved in the collection of Solovki manuscripts. Ever a zealous advocate for spiritual enlightenment, St Gennadius founded a school for the preparation of worthy clergy at Novgorod.

The memory of St Gennadius is preserved also in his work for the welfare of the Orthodox Church.

At the end of the fifteenth century many Russians were concerned about the impending end of the world, which they believed would take place at the end of the seventh millenium from the creation of the world (in 1492 A.D.). Therefore, in 1408, it was decided not to compute the Paschal dates beyond the year 1491. In September 1491, however, the Archbishops' Council of the Russian Church at Moscow, with the participation of St Gennadius, decreed that the Paschalion for the eighth millenium be calculated.

Metropolitan Zosimas at Moscow on November 27, 1492 "set forth a cathedral Paschalion for twenty years," and asked Bishop Philotheus of Perm and Archbishop Gennadius of Novgorod each to compile their own Paschalion for conciliar review and confirmation on December 21, 1492. St Gennadius finished calculating his Paschalion, which in contrast to that of the Metropolitan, extended for seventy years. It was distributed to the dioceses, with the approval of the Council, as the accepted Paschalion for the next twenty years. Included with the Paschalion was St Gennadius's own commentary upon it in an encyclical entitled, "Source for the Paschalion Transposed to the Eight Thousandth Year."

In his theological explanation of the Paschalion, based upon the word of God and the holy Fathers, the saint wrote: "It is proper not to fear the end of the world, but rather to await the coming of Christ at every moment. For just as God might deign to end the world, so also might He deign to prolong the course of time."

No one knows when the world created by God will end, "not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father "(Mt. 24:36). Therefore, the holy Fathers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, explained the cycle of years from the creation of the world precisely as a cycle. "This occurs in a circular motion, not having an end." The saint contrasts the heretical methods of calculating the times with the way hallowed by the Church, a constant spiritual sobriety. St Gennadius expounded on the theological fundamentals of the Paschalion. He explained that on the basis of the cycle of years from the world's creation, it is possible to determine a Paschalion for the future, as may be required. The Paschalion of St Gennadius, by his own testimony, was not something new that he created, but rather was based on a former tradition; in part, on the basis of the Paschalion for 1360-1492 under St Basil Kalika, Archbishop of Novgorod (July 3).

In 1539, under Archbishop Macarius of Novgorod, a Paschalion was compiled for the eighth millenium, based on the principles of the Paschalion of St Gennadius.

A prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, which he composed in 1497, also demonstrates his deep spiritual life and prayerful inspiration. In addition to his letters to Metropolitans Zosimas and Simon, to Archbishop Joasaph, to Bishops Niphon and Prochorus, and a letter to the 1490 Council, Archbishop Gennadius also wrote a church "Small Rule" and the "Tradition for Monks," who live according to the monastic Rule of skete life.

Leaving his archpastoral service in 1504, the saint lived in retirement at the Chudov monastery, where he peacefully fell asleep in the Lord on December 4, 1505. In the Stepen-Ranks book we read: "Archbishop Gennadius served as archbishop for nineteen years, beautifying the churches, improving the behavior of the clergy, and proclaiming the Orthodox Faith among the heretics. Then he lived at Moscow for a year and a half at the Chudov monastery, dedicated to the Miracle of the Archangel Michael and to St Alexis the Metropolitan and wonderworker, where he had been Archimandrite, and then he fell asleep in the Lord."

The holy relics of St Gennadius were put into the church of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael at Chonae (September 6), in that place particularly venerated by him, where the relics of St Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow rested. St Gennadius is also commemorated on the third Sunday after Pentecost, when the Church remembers all the Saints who shone forth at Novgorod.

Source

Nicolae Steinhardt: A Jewish Convert to Orthodoxy

Nicolae Steinhardt (July 12, 1912 - March 29, 1989) was a Romanian writer, Orthodox hermit and father confessor.

Early life

He was born in Pantelimon commune, near Bucharest, from a Jewish father and a Romanian mother. His father was an engineer, architect and decorated World War I participant (following the Battle of Mărăşti). Due to his lineage from his father side, he was to be subject to anti-semitic discrimination during the fascist governments of World War II Romania.

Between 1919 and 1929, he attended Spiru Haret primary school and college in Bucharest, where, despite his background, he was taught Religion by a Christian priest. His talent for writing was first noticed when he joined the Sburătorul literary circle.

Early career and World War II

In 1934, he took his license diploma from the Law and Literature School of the University of Bucharest. Under the pseudonym Antisthius, one of La Bruyères Caractères, he published his first volume, the parodic novel În genul lui Cioran, Noica, Eliade... ("In the Manner of Cioran, Noica, Eliade..."). In 1936, he took his PhD in Constitutional Law, and between 1937 and 1938, he traveled to Switzerland, Austria, France and England.

In 1939 Steinhardt worked as an editor for Revista Fundaţiilor Regale (a government-sponsored literary magazine), losing his job between 1940 and 1944, during the ethnic cleansing under the Iron Guard regime (the National Legionary State) and the Ion Antonescu one. Despite his problems with the latter, he would forgive Antonescu, and even praise him for allegedly having saved several hundred thousands Jews (which he claimed had occurred after a face-to-face debate with Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden).

Communist persecutions and imprisonment

In 1944 he was reinstated at the Revista Fundaţiilor Regale, and held his job until 1948, when King Michael I was forced to abdicate by the Communist Party of Romania.

From 1948 until 1959, he witnessed a new period of deprivation, this time from the Romanian Communist regime - when non-communist intellectuals were deemed "enemies of the people". In 1959, during the kangaroo court trial of his former school colleague Constantin Noica, he refused to take part as a witness against him. As a consequence, he was accused of "crimes of conspiracy against social order", he was included in the "batch of mystical-Iron Guardist intellectuals", and sentenced to thirteen years of forced labor, in gulag-like prisons. He would serve his penalty at Jilava, Gherla, Aiud and other communist jails.

While in prison, he was baptized Orthodox Christian, on March 15, 1960, by fellow convict Mina Dobzeu, a well known Bessarabian hermit, having as godfather Emanuel Vidraşcu, a former chief of staff and adjutant of Antonescu. Witnesses to the event were also Alexandru Paleologu, two Roman Catholic priests, two Greek-Catholic priests and a Protestant priest. He would later state that his baptism had had an "ecumenical character". This episode would be the base for his best-known and most celebrated work, the Happiness Diary.

Later years

After his release in 1964, he had a successful and notable activity as translator and publisher. His first celebrated literary works, Între viaţă şi cărţi ("Between Life and Books"), and Incertitudini literare ("Literary Uncertainties") were published in 1976 and 1980, respectively.

A new chapter in Steinhardt's life began in 1980, after being accepted in Rohia Monastery. He worked as the monastery’s librarian, while at the same time dedicating himself to writing. During this time, his fame as a counselor and father-confessor had grown, attracting dozens of visitors weekly to Rohia.

He died at Baia Mare city hospital. His funeral, under surveillance by the Securitate, was attended by many of his close friends and admirers.

The Happiness Diary

The first edition was confiscated by the Securitate in 1972, and restituted in 1975, after censorship intervention. Meanwhile, he had finished writing a second version of the book, which is in its turn confiscated in 1984. In the end, Steinhardt edited several versions, one of which had reached Monica Lovinescu and Virgil Ierunca in Paris; Monica Lovinescu would later broadcast the book in a series of episodes, via Radio Free Europe.

Source

Samson Mosaic Discovered in Galilee Synagogue

July 2, 2012

Israel Antiquities Authority

A monumental synagogue building dating to the Late Roman period (ca. 4th-5th centuries C.E.) has been discovered in archaeological excavations at Huqoq in Israel’s Galilee.

The excavations are being conducted by Jodi Magness of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and David Amit and Shua Kisilevitz of the Israel Antiquities Authority, under the sponsorship of UNC, Brigham Young University in Utah, Trinity University in Texas, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Toronto in Canada. Students and staff from UNC and the consortium schools are participating in the dig.

Huqoq is an ancient Jewish village located approximately two to three miles west of Capernaum and Migdal (Magdala). Thissecond season of excavations has revealed portions of a stunning mosaic floor decorating the interior of the synagogue building. The mosaic, which is made of tiny colored stone cubes of the highest quality, includes a scene depicting Samson placing torches between the tails of foxes (as related in the book of Judges 15). In another part of the mosaic, two human (apparently female) faces flank a circular medallion with a Hebrew inscription that refersto rewards for those who performgood deeds.

“This discovery is significant because only a small number of ancient (Late Roman) synagogue buildings are decorated with mosaics showing biblical scenes, and only two others have scenes with Samson (one is at another site just a couple of miles from Huqoq),” said Magness, the Kenan Distinguished Professor in the department of religious studies in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences. “Our mosaics are also important because of their high artistic quality and the tiny size of the mosaic cubes. This, together with the monumental size of the stones used to construct the synagogue’s walls, suggest a high level of prosperity in this village, as the building clearly was very costly.”

Excavations are scheduled to continue in summer 2013.

The IAA has released three photos of the mosaic floor, but none of them show Samson or the fox tails. Amit describes the scene: the "mosaic contains a description of the biblical Samson and two pairs of foxes with a flaming torch connecting their tails." The story is recorded in Judges 15:3-5.

Israel Honors Greeks Who Saved Jews

People who risked their lives to save Greek Jews from Nazi persecution during WWII were honored in a special event that took place on 25 June 2012, hosted by the city of Veria, in northern Greece, in cooperation with the embassy of Israel in Greece.

Giorgos and Panagiota Lanaras and Fr. Nestoras Karamitsopoulos posthumously received the title of “Righteous among the Nations” for rescuing Greek Jew Yosef Danielli, his wife Buena and their 10 children from the Nazi occupiers. The awards were received by the Lanaras and Karamitsopoulos families. Yosef’s son, Shimon Danielli, now in his 80s, traveled to Veria from Israel especially for the event.

Shimon Danielli was only 13-years-old in 1942 when he and his parents and nine siblings sought refuge in the home of Giorgos and Panagiota Lanaras in the village of Sykia. The village protected 50 Greek-Jews, and when the Nazis came they questioned Fr. Nestoras Karamitsopoulos on their whereabouts. He refused to give them up. The Nazi's proceeded to search the homes, and in eight houses they found Jews. The Nazi's proceeded to burn those houses down and cut off the beard of the priest and tortured him. The Danielli family survived and eventually made it back to their home in Barbouta, yet they sadly learned that 450 fellow residents were killed in the ovens of the concentration camps.

Shimon Danielli has visited his home town often over the years, and fondly remembers his childhood: "I was young when the Germans came and spread death, but I always maintain gratitude and love for our three heroes."

The honorees received a diploma and medal from Yad Vashem, the Institute and Museum established in Jerusalem by the State of Israel to perpetuate the memory of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The names of the “righteous” are engraved on a plaque at the premises of the museum in a ceremony held in Jerusalem.

Roughly 300 Greek citizens have been honored by Yad Vashem, among them, the late Archbishop of Greece Damaskinos, the chief of Greek Police during the Nazi occupation Angelos Evert, the late Metropolitans of Zakynthos and Dimitriada Chrysostomos and Ioakim, respectively, and the former mayor of the island of Zakynthos Loukas Karrer.

The Rabbi Who Converted On Pentecost In 1952

The synagogue in Arta.

Among the many converts to Orthodox Christianity was the Jewish rabbi Paul Fotiou from the Hebrew community of Arta in Greece, who converted from Judaism and was baptized as an Orthodox Christian together with his family.

To read a little about the Jews of Arta, see here.

Archimandrite Nektarios Ziompolas writes the following about Paul Fotiou:

"I came to know Paul Fotiou from places and environments of holy churches in Athens where he preached, and repeatedly in conversations I heard him talk about his conversion from the Hebrew religion to the Orthodox Christian faith. When he spoke we heard him with awe and emotion and we had general questions. He intensely lived the sacramental life of the Church. His face and his character breathed respect, "smelling" like incense. I will mention one particular incident from my acquaintance with Paul Fotiou, of which I witnessed. From what I remember it happened between the years 1960 and 1962 in Athens.

It was Holy Thursday night and we were in a church in Athens for the Service of the Holy Passion. I was a layman then and I was found at the side of Paul Fotiou, next to the iconostasis before the icons of Christ and the Forerunner. When the beautifully voiced priest read the Gospel passage: "When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. 'I am innocent of this man’s blood,' he said. 'It is your responsibility!' All the people answered, 'His blood is on us and on our children!'" (Matthew 27:24-25), Paul Fotiou fell sharply to the ground unconscious. And while the priest continued reading, we transferred him to the sanctuary. A doctor in the congregation immediately saw him and he did what was necessary, and soon he was recovered and did not want to leave before finishing the Service. Of course, the crowd of the congregation pretty much got news of what happened, and thought he fainted from standing. Few knew this happened at that moment when he heard the terrifying Gospel. In other words those words spoke within him, and he was quite touched, having lived after two thousand years the then foolish confession of his then patriots the Jews .... His heart converted from one lost to the real Messiah Jesus; he broke and realized the horrible crime in history that happened on Golgotha...."

Paul Fotiou wrote about his conversion in a booklet in Greek titled My Conversion to Christ, from which an excerpt is given below:

MY CONVERSION TO CHRIST

By Paul Fotiou

You are probably familiar from the newspapers of the great event which happened a decade ago, by the grace of the Lord, to me and my family, but perhaps not. It regards my return to Christ and my baptism on the feast of Pentecost in the year 1952 in the Holy Metropolis of Arta, of myself and my entire family. For me and my family this was a big milestone in our lives, so we always thank God, through Jesus Christ His Son and our God, for His grace and honor which He did to us, to invite us in His way to His salvation. Our gratitude to Him as well as our obligations for others is great, primarily to our brothers the Israelites, who by misinterpreting the Holy Scriptures violently reject and hate the already come Messiah Christ. Him whom our fathers handed over to a shameful death and His Father raised Him on the third day from the dead according to the Scriptures. Indeed, very exceptionally for them I write this booklet, to facilitate this with the help of the Holy Scriptures to bring them to want and come back and accept as their Savior Jesus, Who now will not come to save but to judge the living and the dead.

Appearances of the Lord Towards My Illumination

The first appearance of the Lord

It was the period of the Triodion, namely the second week of the Prodigal Son, a time when God calls us to repent and fast in order to celebrate the horrors of the Passion and Crucifixion. So then I saw in my sleep the following. I saw that I was doing Saturday Vespers while studying the Pentateuch from the parchment, from the passage of the Exodus from Egypt, and I saw there three Greek words in gold ink, which said: "Faith Freedom Nation".

Turning the next page I saw that I found myself in a big house and at the gate stood two soldiers.

At that moment our Lord Jesus Christ appeared. The Lord knocked on the gate and immediately I descended and opened it. Entering through Christ took from his pocket a picture with 360 people and gave it to me. Since I could not comprehend the interpretation of this photograph, He said: "So many of you left as hostages and so many of you returned from Arta, 360. It is time to repent for the sin of your fathers, which was My Crucifixion." He then showed me the holes in His hands. And having illumined the interpretation of the 26th chapter of Leviticus, He disappeared....

The second appearance of the Lord

After two months and since I continued to study various books of the Orthodox Church and followed the Divine Liturgies, we arrived at Holy Thursday. On the night of Holy Thursday I fell asleep very upset, because of what I had heard in church. And for the second time I saw Christ as follows.

I saw that I was with my family, that was exterminated in Germany, and we ate together in the hallway of my house. In an instant the door knocked and entered the postal distributor of Arta and he gave me a letter. I opened the letter and saw inside the photo that the Lord gave me the first time and a waiver of the Rabbi of the Jewish community. Again I was ecstatic with the photograph of 360 people. Then an unfamiliar voice sounded through the house, which told me: "So many of you left and so many of you returned. It is time to not hear anyone. Take your family and come with Me, the sin of your fathers is torturing you. Repent and come with Me to be saved."

From that moment my faith was inflamed further and announced to my family urging us all to go as soon as possible to Metropolitan Seraphim for catechesis and baptism. The next day I learned from a friend that my then brother Israelites had devised a plan to remove me from the synagogue if I went to synagogue on Saturday, as other Scribes and Pharisees in the days the Lord. So I avoided it and the third day of Easter we went to the Metropolitan for family catechism, giving promise to His Eminence that we will notify him ten days before our baptism.

The third appearance of the Lord

Forty days passed between Easter and Ascension eve evening, at which time is celebrated the Pentecost of the Israelites, and we had the habit of spending the night in different houses of more than twenty people each, to study the tradition of the Mosaic Law at Sinai. That night, along with my family, we were studying a book that had the conversation of St. Gregory the Archbishop with a Rabbi named Erwan, who had been invited by a king of Ethiopia to discuss Christ. The Chief Rabbi requested forty days time to study the Holy Bible and then discuss. After the end of the period he presented and discussed for three days and nights with seventy teachers. Eventually, the Israelites said they would believe, on the condition that the Lord would appear to them, which was done. But because of the small faith of the Jews, as soon as the Lord appeared to them "while the doors were shut" (He came on a cloud in the middle of the room) the Archbishop prayed and they were blinded. Then, while they were blind, the Archbishop urged them to be baptized. After baptism the eyes of their soul were opened and they believed in the Savior of mankind Christ together with the King and his court, a total of 1500 people around the city. It was midnight when I studied them, and I heard three knocks on the roof of my house and fearfully closed the book and went to lie down. Then I heard the door knock in my room and in came our Lord Jesus Christ, holding in his hand a piece of cotton smeared with oil and with it anointed me crosswise on the face and told me: "Paul, Paul, from tomorrow you will be mine. Whoever appears, do not be shaken, I will be in you." Immediately I got up and said to my wife and told the incident to all my family members to watch and not be shaken by any cowardice or the offering of money, as much as it may be, which unfortunately came the next day.

The Bribery Attempt

The next day, the first day of the Jewish Pentecost, there appeared the whole of the Community Council in my home around eleven o'clock in the morning to convince me with offering huge sums. This was even done by my relatives who arrived from Corfu. But forewarned by my Lord I was steadfast, along with my family, in the future correct faith with my baptism in the name of the Triune Godhead of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The 8th of June 1952

The next day I notified the Metropolitan of Arta Seraphim to baptize us. So Sunday, June 8, 1952, the day of Pentecost of the Orthodox Church, at 12 noon was my baptism along with the three members of my family before the clergy and the authorities of the city and many people, calculated at over three thousand.

The Epistle of Paul Fotiou, former Rabbi of Arta, to the Rabbi's and Leaders of Israel.

"Those who survive in the lands of your enemies will waste away because of their sin; they will also waste away because of their fathers’ sins along with theirs. But if they will confess their sin and the sin of their fathers — their unfaithfulness that they practiced against Me, and how they acted with hostility toward Me..." (Leviticus 26:39-40).

My beloved Jews, behold the wonder of our daily destruction from the Germans, who unfortunately took us and annihilated us because of the sins of our fathers, who twisted the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and crucified the Messiah Christ, and the sin of the crucifixion was thrown upon us, when the avid Pharisees said before Pilate: "His blood upon us and upon our children" (Matt. 27:25) and the rest of the mob agreed saying "Amen" and He was taken away....

Finally, my beloved, we see in the Hebrew tongue one word greater in writing than any other words, which we shout out with melodic power and tone: "Remember the Law of Moses which was spoken at Horeb", etc. It is necessary to study every bit of this chapter together with the 26th chapter of Leviticus in which is written all the catastrophes of the Jews for disobeying the Law of God, to the point that we are a people accountable....

Beloved, I do not speak out of material interest, but I speak by the grace of the Holy Spirit which I received within me by our Lord Jesus Christ on the day of my baptism. I speak to you through repentance, both for me and for all of mankind unto our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Messiah and Savior of all repentant sinners, and may we all one day become a flock under one Shepherd - Christ. Amen.

With love in Christ,

Paul Fotiou

Source: Translations by John Sanidopoulos

Greeks, Jews & Hanukkah - A Story That Still Needs To Be Told

Presented by: The American Jewish Committee and The Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston. 15 Dec 2011 at Hebrew College, Newton, MA.

Opening welcome and remarks by Rob Leikind - AJC Boston Director, Panayota Katsarou - Acting Consul General of Greece, and His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston.

Panel discussion with:

Shaye J.D. Cohen, Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy, Harvard University

Fr. George Dragas, Professor of Patristics, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology

Jewish Public Figures Apologize To Jerusalem Patriarch For Spitting Incidents

Oz Rosenberg
November 23, 2011
Haaretz

Last Friday, a group of Jewish public figures and intellectuals paid a visit to the leadership of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem with one simple goal in mind, asking for forgiveness. The group took the step following a report in Haaretz about two weeks ago describing the practice of some ultra-Orthodox Jewish young people of spitting when passing church clergy on the street.

One member of the delegation, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, who is general secretary of Rabbis for Human Rights, noted that on Yom Kippur, Jews traditionally atone for transgressions between themselves and God, but wrongs committed between people cannot be atoned for, even by God, until the wrongdoer asks forgiveness. Ascherman added that in contacts with Christian and Muslim clergy, his group of rabbis condemns the acts of spitting.

The delegation met in the Old City of Jerusalem with the Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, Theophilos III, who spoke of the spitting phenomenon that he and his church colleagues have been confronting, but said in Christianity, it was considered a good deed to show restraint under such circumstances. In that spirit, he added, he also directed his colleagues to exercise restraint. He said the spitting was a reflection of ignorance on the part of people who don't really understand the significance of religion and faith.

Among the members of the Jewish delegation were Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Yosef ("Pepe" ) Alalu of the Meretz faction and Meretz city council members Laura Wharton and Meir Margalit. "Since we love this city, we felt that anything that happens here affects us," Margalit said. "We came to apologize despite the fact that we had no part in the spitting, because we believe in mutual responsibility."

Margalit noted that almost all of the members of the delegation who visited the Greek Orthodox Patriarch were born abroad. "We fervently believe that what the ultra-Orthodox Jews are doing to Christians here, Christians do to Jews in the Diaspora. We know what they are feeling and we have vowed that in the Jewish state such things will not reoccur."

Next week, a similar delegation is due to visit with representatives of the Armenian Orthodox Church, whose clergy have also experienced the spitting phenomenon.

Elder Epiphanios Theodoropoulos on the Old Testament

"Elder, some say about the Old Testament that 'we should not meditate on the history of the Jews'."

It is not a history of the Jews. It is the history of our Lord Jesus Christ. They must understand this. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob may have been ancestors of the Israelites according to the flesh, but according to the spirit they are ours. Saint Paul says this (Gal. 3:7-9). And the Lord said to the Jews: "And think not to say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father': for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Matt. 3:9).

The Christian people are Israel according to the spirit. Whichever Christian imitates the faith of Abraham, such is a child of Abraham. Not the Jews, who put the Messiah on trial, whom Abraham believed in and expected. All the righteous of the Old Testament expected the Messiah, including Jacob and all the Patriarchs. As well as the God-seeing Moses, who said: "A prophet from among your brethren...the Lord your God will raise you" (Deut. 13:15).

The saints of the Old Testament are, therefore, our ancestors according to the spirit. The notion that the Old Testament is a history of the Hebrew people is distorted. The truth is that it is a history of Christianity. It is the history of our Lord Himself.

The Jews have now become against Christ. They are not a chosen people. They fell. Do we not sing on Pentecost: "The Jews...suffering from disbelief, fell from divine grace."

Translated by John Sanidopoulos

Father of Israeli President Owes Life To Greek Monks

Greer Fay Cashman
July 13, 2011
The Jerusalem Post

At state dinner, Peres says that his late father, Yitzhak, as a soldier in the British Army, had been stationed in Greece.

The Second World War and the Holocaust figured in the official addresses by both President Shimon Peres and his Greek counterpart President Karolos Papoulias at the state dinner that Peres hosted on Monday night in honor of the president of the Hellenic republic.

Peres said that his late father, Yitzhak, as a soldier in the British Army, had been stationed in Greece and had been captured by the Germans.

He had managed to escape, but finding shelter was difficult because he knew no one in Greece, and not a word of Greek. But he had found his way to a Greek monastery, where for two years, he and six other British soldiers had been hidden by the priests who, at great risk to their own lives, fed them and ensured their safety.

After two years in hiding, Yitzhak Perski and the other soldiers decided to make another bid for freedom, and attempted to sail out of Greece on a small dinghy that was quickly intercepted by the Luftwaffe. They were again taken captive by the Germans, who brought them to a POW camp not far from Auschwitz.

During the period in which he had been in hiding, Perski had learned to speak Greek and sing Greek songs.

When he returned home after a four-year absence, he would frequently gather his children and grandchildren around him to tell them Greek folk tales and sing Greek songs to them.

Whenever he hears Yehuda Poliker, the son of Greek Holocaust survivors sing Greek melodies, said Peres, it fills him with emotion, and he is reminded of his late father.

Poliker, in fact, was chosen to sing for Papoulias at the dinner, and the Greek head of state later embraced him.

Papoulias, who during his visit to Israel met with Greek Holocaust survivors and visited Yad Vashem, said that during the Nazi occupation of Greece, Jews and Christians joined forces in the struggle against the barbarous destruction wrought by the Germans and their cohorts.

In the village of Ionnina where he was born, the Nazis murdered ten Jewish families with whom he had grown up.

Among the victims was his first girlfriend from elementary school. His voice broke as he recalled how the Nazis had locked the Jews in the synagogue and set fire to it while they were still alive.

Greece had paid a heavy toll in blood during the Holocaust, he said.

More than 65,000 Greek Jews had been murdered, and the number would have been even higher, had not so many simple Greek Christians put their own lives at risk in order to save the lives of their Jewish friends.

He had been very moved, he said, when meeting Greek Holocaust survivors in Jerusalem.

The Holocaust is more than the number six million, he said. Behind each victim is a name, a life, a tragedy. This is the reason, he said, that the Greek people, state and community do not turn a blind eye to any incident of anti- Semitism, racism or religious incitement.

Read also: Peres Thanks Greek President For Help On Flotilla