The Premodern Christian

From Byzantine Tx:

On one level, many Orthodox converts are fleeing megachurch Christianity. They are coming because they want something on Sunday morning besides a rock band and a giant plasma TV screen. Converts are also fleeing from mainline Protestantism, which is in the midst of a three-decade statistical nosedive and demographic suicide.

At the same time, I believe that most of these converts are coming out of that core 20 percent of their former churches. They are active, highly motivated people. They read, they think, they sing, and they serve. That hunger for more, that hunger for sound doctrine, is sending them to Orthodoxy.

These Orthodox converts are seeking mystery. They want a non-fundamentalist approach to the faith, but they are not fleeing the faith of the ages. They are trying to get back to the trunk of the tree. All around them are churches that are either modern, postmodern, post-postmodern or post-post-postmodern.

Read the rest here

Holy Royal Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth

Saint Elizabeth was the older sister of Tsarina Alexandra [and grand-daughter of Queen Victoria of the U. K.], and was married to the Grand Duke Sergius, the governor of Moscow. She converted to Orthodoxy from Protestantism of her own free will, and organized women from all levels of society to help the soldiers at the front and in the hospitals.

Grand Duke Sergius was killed by an assassin's bomb on February 4, 1905, just as St Elizabeth was leaving for her workshops. Remarkably, she visited her husband's killer in prison and urged him to repent.

After this, she began to withdraw from her former social life. She devoted herself to the Convent of Sts Martha and Mary, a community of nuns which focused on worshiping God and also helping the poor. She moved out of the palace into a building she purchased on Ordinka. Women from the nobility, and also from the common people, were attracted to the convent.

St Elizabeth nursed sick and wounded soldiers in the hospitals and on the battle front. On Pascha of 1918, the Communists ordered her to leave Moscow, and join the royal family near Ekaterinburg. She left with a novice, Sister Barbara, and an escort of Latvian guards.

After arriving in Ekaterinburg, St Elizabeth was denied access to the Tsar's family. She was placed in a convent, where she was warmly received by the sisters.

At the end of May St Elizabeth was moved to nearby Alopaevsk with the Grand Dukes Sergius, John, and Constantine, and the young Count Vladimir Paley. They were all housed in a schoolhouse on the edge of town. St Elizabeth was under guard, but was permitted to go to church and work in the garden.

On the night of July 5, they were all taken to a place twelve miles from Alopaevsk, and executed. The Grand Duke Sergius was shot, but the others were thrown down a mineshaft, then grenades were tossed after them. St Elizabeth lived for several hours, and could be heard singing hymns.

The bodies of St Elizabeth and St Barbara were taken to Jerusalem in 1920, and buried in the church of St Mary Magdalene.

Troparion (Tone 4)

Emulating the Lord's self-abasement on the earth,
You gave up royal mansions to serve the poor and disdained,
Overflowing with compassion for the suffering.
And taking up a martyr's cross,
In your meekness
You perfected the Saviour's image within yourself,
Therefore, with Barbara, entreat Him to save us all, O wise Elizabeth.


From oca.org

See also:
Life of the Holy New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth
Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Jerusalem
Saints Martha and Mary
Life of the Holy Royal Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth
1917 Interview with Elizabeth
The Murder of Elizabeth
The Holy New Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth

Романов До свидания…

Frozen Tears

Israeli authorities threaten demolition of 500 church buildings in Jerusalem

From IMEMC News:

The Greek Orthodox and Catholic churches in Jerusalem released a statement Saturday that the Israeli authorities have threatened to force the demolition of 500 buildings owned by the churches in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Israeli forces have recently stepped up demolitions in the Old City of Jerusalem, in accordance with the Municipality's published E1 plan for the city, in which officials articulate a detailed plan to push out the Palestinian Christian and Muslim populations, while simultaneously increasing construction of Jewish-only homes and housing developments.

Read the rest here.

Kurds, Arabs Cooperate; Christians Suffer

BAGHDAD (UPI) -- Kurdish and Iraqi forces conducted joint patrols in Diyala province in a sign of growing civility, while Christians face threats in the wake of a U.S. deadline.

U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno, who commands U.S. and international forces in Iraq, presented commendations to Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers who took part in a combined military operation, the U.S. military reports.

Analysts had predicted that tensions between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government could push Iraq back toward civil war if left unresolved prior to the departure of U.S. forces.

U.S. combat troops under the terms of a bilateral security agreement with Baghdad pulled back to their military bases June 30. The level of violence in Iraq has increased in the period surrounding the deadline, with ethnic and sectarian attacks mounting.

In the latest spate of violence, six churches in the Baghdad area were attacked during the weekend, which the Voices of Iraq news agency reports claimed at least four lives and injured more than 30.

Meanwhile, a bomb injured three children at a Christian church in the northern city of Mosul on Monday.

Attacks on the Christian minority in Iraq are not uncommon. A spate of targeted attacks on the Christian community in Iraq in late 2008 displaced roughly half of the religious minority to neighboring Syria.

Courtesy of Christians of Iraq

Baghdad churches bombed

From CNN:

4 killed, 32 wounded as 6 Baghdad churches bombed

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least four people were killed and 32 wounded as six Baghdad-area churches were bombed within 24 hours, officials told CNN.

The first bombing took place Saturday night at St. Joseph's church in western Baghdad, according to an Interior Ministry official. Two bombs placed inside the church exploded at about 10 p.m. No one was in the church at the time of the attack.

Sunday afternoon, three bombs exploded outside churches, wounding eight civilians, the official said. The bombs detonated within a 15-minute span, between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m. Two of the churches are in central Baghdad's al-Karrada district, and the third is in al-Ghadeer in eastern Baghdad.

Sunday evening, a car bomb exploded outside a church on Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad just after 7 p.m., the official said. Four people died, and 21 were wounded.

And in southern Baghdad's Dora district, a bomb outside a church wounded three other civilians.

Most of the churches were damaged in the bombings, according to video footage.

One Christian Iraqi, interviewed outside Sacred Heart Church -- one of the two in al-Karrada -- said the bomb went off shortly before 5 p.m., as members were arriving for Sunday evening mass. No one was hurt, Sabhan George told CNN, but the bomb damaged the church building and some cars outside.

George said he is concerned about the church bombings. If this continues, he said, "there will be no Christians left in Iraq."

St. Joseph's was one of six churches hit by coordinated bombings of Christian houses of worship in Baghdad and Mosul in 2004. The church is in the al-Jamiaa neighborhood of Baghdad, a former stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq. There have been recent reports of an increase in targeted attacks in the area.

Many of Iraq's estimated 1 million Christians have fled the country after targeted attacks by extremists. In October, more than a thousand Iraqi families fled the northern city of Mosul after they were reportedly frightened by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists, who apparently ordered them to convert to Islam or face possible death. At least 14 Christians were killed in Mosul in the first two weeks of October.

Separately, gunmen shot and killed an official in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sunday morning, a local police official told CNN.

Using guns with silencers, the assailants opened fire on Rizko Aziz Nissan outside his home in central Kirkuk at 8:15 a.m.

Nissan was an Iraqi Christian, but the motives behind his killing were not immediately clear. Kirkuk is 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

The Holy, Glorious and All-praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul

On this present day Holy Church piously remembers the suffering of the Holy Glorious and All-Praiseworthy Apostles Peter and Paul.

Saint Peter, the fervent follower of Jesus Christ, for the profound confession of His Divinity: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God", – was deemed worthy by the Saviour to hear in answer: "Blessed art thou, Simon... I tell thee, that thou art Peter (Petrus), and on this stone (petra) I build My Church" (Mt. 16: 16-18). On "this stone" (petra), is on that which thou sayest: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God", – it is on this thy confession I build My Church. Wherefore the "thou art Peter": it is from the "stone" (petra) that Peter (Petrus) is, and not from Peter (Petrus) that the "stone" (petra) is – just as how the christian is from Christ, and not Christ from the christian. Do you want to know, from what sort of "rock" (petra) the Apostle Peter (Petrus) was named? – Hear ye the Apostle Paul: "I do not want ye not to know, brethren, – says the Apostle of Christ, – how our fathers were all under a cloud, and all passed through the sea: and all in Moses were baptised in the cloud and in the sea. And all thus eating spiritual food, and all thus drinking spiritual drink: for they did drink from the spiritual accompanying rock: for the rock indeed was Christ" (1 Cor. 10: 1-4). Here is the from whence the "Rock" is Peter.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the final days of His earthly life, in the days of His mission to the race of man, chose from among the disciples His twelve Apostles for preaching the Word of God. Among them, the Apostle Peter for his fiery ardour was vouchsafed to occupy the first place (Mt. 10: 2) and to be as it were the representative person for all the Church. And therefore it is said to him, preferentially, after the confession: "And I give thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven: and if thou bindest upon the earth, it will be bound in the Heavens: and if thou loosenest upon the earth, it will be loosened in the Heavens (Mt.16; 19). Wherefore it was not one man, but rather the One Universal Church, that received these "keys" and the right "to bind and loosen". And that actually it was the Church that received this right, and not exclusively a single person, turn your attention to another place of the Scriptures, where the same Lord says to also all His Apostles: "Receive ye the Holy Spirit", – and further after this: "Whoseso sins ye remit, are remitted them: and whoseso sins ye retain, are retained" (Jn. 20: 22-23); or: "with what ye bind upon the earth, will be bound in Heaven: and with what ye loosen upon the earth, will be loosened in the Heavens" (Mt. 18: 18). Thus, it is the Church that binds, the Church that loosens; the Church, built upon the foundational corner-stone – Jesus Christ Himself (Eph. 2: 20) doth bind and loosen. Let both the binding and the loosening be feared: the loosening, in order not to fall under this again; the binding, in order not to remain forever in this condition. Wherefore "by the passions of his own sins, – says Wisdom, – is each ensnared" (Prov. 5: 22); and except for Holy Church nowhere is it possible to receive the loosening.

And after His Resurrection the Lord entrusted the Apostle Peter to shepherd His spiritual flock not because, that among the disciples only Peter alone was pre-deserved to shepherd the flock of Christ, but Christ addresses Himself chiefly to Peter because, that Peter was first among the Apostles and as such the representative of the Church; besides which, having turned in this instance to Peter alone, as to the top Apostle, Christ by this confirms the unity of the Church. "Simon of John, – says the Lord to Peter, – lovest thou Me? – and the Apostle answered: "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee"; and a second time it was thus asked, and a second time he thus answered; being asked a third time, seeing that as it were not believed, he was saddened. But how is it possible for him not to believe That One, Who knew his heart? And wherefore then Peter answered: "Lord, Thou knowest all; Thou knowest that I love Thee". "And sayeth Jesus to him" all three times "Feed My sheep" (Jn. 20: 15-17). Besides this, the thrice appealing of the Saviour to Peter and the thrice confession of Peter before the Lord had a particular beneficial purpose for the Apostle. That one, to whom was given "the keys of the kingdom" and the right "to bind and to loosen", himself thrice bound himself by fear and cowardice (Mt. 26: 69-75), and the Lord thrice loosens him by His appeal and in turn by his confession of strong love. And to shepherd literally the flock of Christ was acquired by all the Apostles and their successors. "Attend yourself to all the flock, – urges the Apostle Paul to church presbyters, – in which the Holy Spirit hath established ye as bishops, to shepherd the Church of the Lord God, acquired by His Blood" (Acts 20: 28); and the Apostle Peter to the elders: "Feed among you the flock of Christ, attending to it not by need, but by will and according to God: not for unrighteous profit, but zealously: not as commanding parables, but be an image to the flock. And when is appeared the Prince of pastors, ye will receive unfading crowns of glory" (1 Pet. 5: 2-4).

It is remarkable that Christ, having said to Peter: "Feed My sheep", – did not say: "Feed thy sheep", – but rather to feed, good servant, the sheep of the Lord. "For was Christ divided, or is Paul crucified according to you, or are ye baptised in the name of Peter or of Paul?" (1 Cor. 1: 13). "Feed My sheep". Wherefore "wolfish robbers, wolfish oppressors, deceitful teachers and mercenaries, not being concerned about the flock" (Mt. 7: 15; Acts 20: 29; 2 Pet. 2: 1; Jn. 10: 12), having plundered a strange flock and making of the spoils as though it be of their own particular gain, they think that they feed their flock. Such are not good pastors, as pastors of the Lord. "The good pastor lays down his life for the sheep" (Jn. 10: 11), entrusted to Him by the Prince of pastors Himself (1 Pet. 5: 4). And the Apostle Peter, true to his calling, gave his soul for the very flock of Christ, having sealed his apostleship by a martyr's death, now glorified throughout all the world.

And the Apostle Paul, being formerly Saul, was changed from a robbing wolf into a meek lamb; formerly he was an enemy of the Church, then is manifest as an Apostle; formerly he stalked it, then preached it. Having received from the high-priests the authority at large to throw all christians in chains for execution, he was already on the way, "he breathed with rage and murder against the disciples of the Lord" (Acts 9: 1), he thirsted for blood, but – "the Living One in the Heavens mocked him" (Ps. 2: 4). When he, "having persecuted and vexed" in such manner "the Church of God" (1 Cor. 15: 9; Acts 8: 5), he came nigh to Damascus, and the Lord from Heaven called to him: "Saul, Saul, wherefore persecutest thou Me?" – and I am here, and I am there, I am everywhere: here is My head; there is My body. There becomes nothing of a surprise in this; we ourselves – are members of the Body of Christ. "Saul, Saul, wherefore persecutest thou Me; it is terrible to thee to kick against the goad" (Acts 9: 4-5). Saul, however, "trembling and frightened", cried out: "Who art Thou, Lord?" I am Jesus, – answered the Lord to him, – Whom thou persecutest". And Saul suddenly undergoes a change: "What wantest Thou me to do?" – he cries out. And suddenly for him there is the Voice: "Rise up and go to the city, and it will be told thee, what thou ought to do" (Acts 9: 6). Here the Lord sends Ananias: "Rise up go upon the street" to a man, "by the name of Saul", and baptise him, "for this one is a vessel chosen by Me, to bear My Name before pagans and rulers and the sons of Israel" (Acts 9: 11, 15, 18). This vessel mustneeds be filled with My Grace. "Ananias however answered: Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he hath done to Thine saints in Jerusalem: and to be here to have the authority from the high-priests to seize all calling upon Thy Name" (Acts 9: 13-14). But the Lord urgently commands Ananias: "Search for and fetch him, for this vessel is chosen by Me: for I shalt tell him, how much mustneeds be for him to suffer about My Name" (Acts 9: 11, 15-16).

And actually the Lord did direct the Apostle Paul, what things he had to suffer for His Name. He instructed him the deeds; He did not stop at the chains, the fetters, the prisons and shipwrecks; He Himself felt for him in his sufferings, He Himself guided him towards this day. On a single day is done the memory of the sufferings of both these Apostles, though they suffered on separate days, but by the spirit and the closeness of their suffering they constitute one. Peter went first, Paul followed soon after him, – formerly called Saul, and then Paul, having transformed in himself his pride into humility, as means also his very name (Paulus), meaning "small, little, less", – demonstrates this. What is the Apostle Paul after this? Ask him, and he himself gives answer to this: "I am, – says he, – the least of the Apostles: but moreso than all I have laboured, yet not I, but the grace of God, which is with me" (1 Cor. 15: 9-10).

And so, brethren, celebrating now the memory of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, remembering their venerable sufferings, we esteem their true faith and holy life, we esteem the innocence of their sufferings and pure confession. Loving in them the sublime quality and imitating them by great exploits, "in which to be likened to them" (2 Thess. 3: 5-9), and we shall attain to that eternal bliss which is prepared for all the saints. The path of our life before was more grievous, thornier, harder, but "how great the cloud of witnesses enveloping us" (Hebr. 12: 1), having passed by along it, made now for us easier, and lighter, and more readily-passable. First there passed along it "the Founder and Fulfiller of faith" our Lord Jesus Christ Himself (Hebr. 12: 2); His daring Apostles followed after Him; then the martyrs, children, women, virgins and a great multitude of witnesses. Who acted in them and helped them on this path? – He that said: "Without Me ye are able to do nothing" (Jn. 15: 5).

From a sermon by St Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (courtesy of Holy Trinity Church)

Apostle to the Apostles

Those of us who observe the Old Calendar remember today my mother's patron saint, Joanna the Myrrh-bearer. The following is from Logismoi:

Today, 27 June on the Church’s calendar, we celebrate the memory of St Joanna the Myrrh-bearer. In today’s entry in The Prologue from Ochrid, Vol. 2: April, May, June, trans. Mother Maria (Birmingham: Lazarica, 1986), St Nicholas (Velimirović) summarises the tradition concerning St Joanna as follows:

She was the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward (Lk. 8:3). When Herod had John the Baptist beheaded, he cast the head out into an unclean place. Joanna took the head and buried it with honour on the Mount of Olives, on Herod’s land. Later, in the reign of Constantine the Great, the head was found. St Joanna is also remembered because she was present at both the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. She died peacefully. (p. 366)

Looking at the passage St Nicholas cites in context, that is Luke 8:1-3, we get some interesting additional information:

1 And it came to pass afterward, that He went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with Him.

2 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,

3 And Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto Him of their substance.

Thus the passage seems to suggest that St Joanna was among those who ‘had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities’, and also apparently includes her among those women who ‘ministered unto him of their substance’. Commenting on this, Bl Theophylact writes (The Explanation by Bl Theophylact of the Holy Gospel According to St Luke, trans. Fr Christopher Stade [House Springs, MO: 1997], p. 82-3):

There were also women who followed Jesus; this teaches us that the female sex is not hindered by weakness from following Christ. See how these women, despite their great wealth, gave up everything and instead chose poverty with Christ and for Christ. To understand that they indeed were wealthy, listend [sic] to the words of the Gospel: they ministered unto Him from their own substance, not with the money of others, or with money gained by wrongdoing, as is often the case.

But there is also an additional passage (Lk. 24:8-11), not cited but alluded to in the Prologue, where we learn further:

8. And they remembered His words,

9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.

10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.

11 And their words seemed to them as idle tales [λῆρος], and they believed them not.

Thus, as Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky) of blessed memory once noted in a wonderful homily, the Myrrh-bearing women became ‘Apostles to the Apostles’, demonstrating even more faith than the men to whom they witnessed. This fact is highlighted by the sticheron in Tone 4 at Lauds for the Sunday of the Myrrh-bearers: ‘Convinced by this they proclaimed what they had seen. But the good tidings seemed an idle tale, so dull were the disciples still’ (from Fr Ephrem’s translation). Interestingly, this article, the religion of the author of which I unfortunately cannot commend, identifies in the passage grouping St Joanna with the Myrrh-bearers a chiasm, printed as follows:

a) They told all these things to the eleven [‘the apostles’],
b) and to all he rest [‘others’].
c) Now they were Mary Magdalene,
d) and Joanna,
c1) and Mary the mother of James:
b1) and the other women with them
a1) told these things unto the apostles.

I don’t know if there’s anything in it, but the author of the article argues that St Joanna’s presence at the centre of the chiasm suggests a certain ‘prominence’ among the other Myrrh-bearers—which observation, in turn, leads to another passage believed by some to refer to St Joanna: Romans 16:7. There, we read, ‘Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note [ἐπίσημοι] among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me’ (‘Junia’ being a Latinisation of ‘Joanna’). And on this passage, we have St John Chrysostom’s wonderful comment (The Orthodox New Testament, Vol. 2: Acts, Epistles, and Revelation, trans. and ed. Holy Apostles Convent [Buena Vista, CO: Holy Apostles Convent, 1999], p. 146, n. 207):

Think what an encomium it was to be considered notable among the apostles. They were distinguished by their works and achievements. Bless me, how great the philosophy of this woman to be counted worthy to be addressed also as one of the apostles! But the praise did not stand still here, but again he praises them, saying, ‘They have been in Christ before me’ [Hom. 31, PG 60.747 (669-670)].

Meeting between US President Barack Obama and Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia KIRILL

On July 7, 2009, in the Grand Kremlin Palace, His Holiness, Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Russia met with visiting US President Barack Obama.

In greeting the Most Holy Patriarch KIRILL, the President of the United States of America stated his pleasure in meeting with the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, inasmuch as religious institutions, and in particular, the Russian Orthodox Church, have great importance in the Russian society.

In turn, His Holiness, Patriarch KIRILL stated that he also highly regards the possibility of a meeting with the President of the United States. According to the words of His Holiness, not only political contacts between their two leaders are important for the development of relations between two countries, but also sincere relationships between the peoples of the nations.
His Holiness stated that “there is great potential for removing anti-American feelings in Russia and anti-Russian sentiments in America, and that is to include the feelings of the heart. The Russian Orthodox Church brought Orthodoxy to the American continent, and now there are good relations between our Orthodox American brothers. Even in the most difficult years of the Cold War we tried to maintain these good relations.”

The Patriarch continued, “It is very important that the Peoples of America and Russia preserve the system of Christian ethics. We are the most religious of nations and it is very important for us to have constant dialogue between the Christians of our countries and that our two nations must be friends.

In his response, Mr. B. Obama noted the labors of Patriarch KIRILL in strengthening Christian Unity and stated his willingness to cooperate with the Russian Orthodox Church.

In prayerful memory of the meeting, the Most Holy Patriarch KIRILL presented the US President with an icon of the Most Holy Virgin Theotokos.


Courtesy of St Catherine the Great Orthodox Church

'Watch out, missionaries!'

I'm really beginning to wonder why it is that so many Christians in this country are so infatuated with Israeli Jews. Perhaps they don't realize that the affection is not mutual. By the way, isn't "Messianic Christian" redundant?

The term "bastard" is also popular with the Gur Hassidim seen in the videos, but it's usually in reference to Jesus. "They took some bastard and they believe he rose from the grave," says one haredi filmed last year taunting the Messianics who were giving away second-hand clothes outside the chess club. "Where is your bastard?" the man demands, laughing quietly.

Read the entire article here

Mobile Church

Now, why don't we have one of these??? I'm going to have to write my Congressman.

Mobile church on the move with Russian Army
From mosnews.com

The Russian Orthodox Church has ordered a mobile church from the Volgograd Heavy Transport Equipment Plant, Politonline.ru has noted. The new church will join rail churches and floating churches already in service. It is built on a converted KamAZ truck.

The church is square and olive-drab in color when it is mobile, in keeping with government standards for military vehicles. But it opens up into a chapel that meets all the canonical structural requirements of the Russian Orthodox Church. A system of pivots and hinges allows it to unfold a cross-topped steeple. Inside, there is an altar and confessional. The total area inside the church is 40 square meters, room enough for about 50 people. There is also churchyard with a folding fence.

The mobile church has its own generator, air conditioner and heating system. It can be broken down and made mobile again within four hours, by two people. “Our church will be able to travel to the farthest military units and subdivisions in the most severe climatic zones and inaccessible locations,” boasted its chief designer.

The mobile church made its battlefield debut earlier this month at exercises in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

St Alban, Protomartyr of Britain

Saint Alban was a pagan soldier in the Roman Army stationed in Britain. His exact background is unknown, but popular tradition declares him a native Briton. Bede says he lived during the religious persecutions of the Emperor Diocletian (c.AD 304), though modern historians have argued for similar circumstances which arose some years earlier, during the reigns of Decius (c.254) or Septimus Severus (c.209).

During these dangerous times, Alban received into his house and sheltered a Christian priest, supposedly named Amphibalus, and was so struck by the devotion to God and blameless life of this man whom he protected, that he placed himself under his instruction and became a Christian. A rumour having reached the governor of Verulamium (now St. Albans), that the priest was hiding in the house of Alban, he sent soldiers to search it. Alban, seeing them arrive, hastily threw the long cloak of the priest over his own head and shoulders and presented himself to the soldiers as the man whom they sought. He was immediately bound and brought before the governor who, at that moment, was standing at one of the civic altars, offering up a sacrifice.

When the cloak, which had concealed Alban's face, was removed, it was immediately revealed that he was not the priest whose arrest the governor had ordered. The latter's anger flamed hot and he ordered Alban, immediately, to sacrifice to the gods or to suffer death.

St. Alban steadfastly refused to offer to idols. Then the magistrate asked, "Of what family and race are you?""How can it concern thee to know of what stock I am?" answered Alban. "If thou desirest to know what is my religion, I will tell thee - I am a Christian and am bound by Christian obligations.""I ask thy name, tell it me immediately.""I am called Albanus by my parents," he replied, "and I worship and adore the true and living God who created all things." Then the governor said,"If thou wilt enjoy eternal life, delay not to sacrifice to the great gods." Alban rejoined,"These sacrifices which are offered to devils are to no avail. Hell is the reward of those who offer them." The governor ordered St. Alban to be scourged, hoping to shake his constancy by pain. But the martyr bore the stripes patiently and even joyously, for our Lord's sake.

When the judge saw that he could not prevail, he ordered Alban to be put to death. On his way to execution, on 20th June, the martyr had to cross a river. "There," says Bede, "he saw a multitude of both sexes, and of every age and rank, assembled to attend the blessed confessor and martyr; and these so crowded the bridge, that he could not pass over that evening. Then St. Alban, urged by an ardent desire to accomplish his martyrdom, drew near to the stream, and the channel was dried up, making a way for him to pass over."'

Then the martyr and his escort, followed by an innumerable company of spectators, ascended the hill above Verulamium, now occupied by the abbey church bearing his name. It was then a green hill covered with flowers, sloping gently down into the pleasant plain. However, the executioner refused to perform his office and, throwing down his sword, confessed himself a Christian also. Another man was detailed to deal the blow and both Alban and the executioner, who had refused to strike, were decapitated together.

St. Alban's body was buried in the adjoining cemetery and, when Christianity was legalized by the Emperor Constantine the Great, not long afterwards, he was well remembered by the local community who erected a martyrium above his grave. This almost certainly became a place of pilgrimage, even in Roman times. It was famously visited by St. Germanus of Auxere, in AD 429, and, as a small church, survived the pagan Saxon expansion, until the present abbey church was founded on the site, by King Offa of Mercia, in AD 793. Alban's relics were reverred by the devout for centuries, before they eventually disappeared during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

From EBK

"Turns out Christianity is an Eastern religion"

From examiner.com:

There's a tendency for us Orthodox to stammer a bit when asked to describe what our worship services are like. "They're uh... I mean, it's... Well...like..." and that's about as far as we get, hands waving, eyes a bit vacant as we try to search for the right words. We do well to remember the emissaries of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, who returned from their visit to the Hagia Sophia in the late 10th century and reported, "We did not know if we were in heaven or on earth."

Orthodox worship is not articulated. It's experienced. It's something performed with the entire body, all your muscles and thoughts and heartbeats and sweat glands and...everything.

But perhaps Rev. Atkinson [from the Real Live Preacher blog] really did have some advance warning. In his raw, gritty autobiography of sorts, posted years ago on his blog, he writes, "Turns out Christianity is an Eastern religion. The earliest Christians were Hebrews. Semites. People of the East. They did not know how to separate mind from body. They were holistic before holistic was cool."

Wait. Did he just call me "cool?" That's cool!

Pictures from last weekend

click picture to link

Scripture and the Church

Below is part of my response to a Christian who argued against the inclusion of the "apocryphal" books of the Old Testament (which you can read about here):

We believe that when Christ promised to send His "Spirit of Truth" (Jn 14.26, 15.26, 16.12-13) that He was promising the guidance of the Holy Spirit to the whole Church, not to a particular individual (as the Roman Catholics believe), or to every individual, to determine or interpret Truth as they see fit (as Protestants believe), but to the Church, collectively, as the Body of Christ. In the Orthodox Church the truth isn't determined by what a single man says, or by what I feel inside as an individual, but it is what the whole Church accepts, and every member of the Church is responsible for guarding the true faith. Not even ecumenical councils are regarded as infallible until their findings have been accepted by the whole Church.

Yes, the Scriptures are indeed infallible. But what good are infallible Scriptures without an infallible interpreter? Not very much, as evidenced by 30,000+ conflicting Christian "denominations" who have all dropped the notion of an infallible authoritative Church (but who, interestingly, all believe that the Scriptures are the final word on all matters of faith and worship).

There is one means by which we come to an understanding of the saving knowledge of Christ crucified, and one earthly conduit through which we know God communicates His good and perfect will: the Church.

"No, it's the Bible," you may say. To which I would respond, The Bible didn't just drop from the sky on the day of Pentecost, leather-bound, with a concordance and cross references. It was given to us by the Church (or by God through the Church, if you prefer). It was written, compiled, and approved by the Church. The Bible is not the "Pillar and Foundation of the Truth." The Bible is not the "Body of Christ" or "the fullness of him who fills all in all." It was not the Bible to which Christ gave the power to bind and loose. The Bible is a product of the Church (not vice versa). If we can't trust the Church, then we can't trust the Bible, which was written, delivered, and preserved, not despite the Church, but by, through, and within the life of the Church.

The Church is the body through which Christ brings salvation to the world. When we choose to jettison the tools the Church uses to accomplish this task (including determining for ourselves which books of the Bible we wish to accept), we do so at our own peril. (Prov 12.15; 14.12)

The canon of Scripture isn't a dogma of the Faith. It wasn't delivered to the Church on Pentecost. It is the list of books that the Church determined (with the guidance of the Holy Spirit) were the perfect written testimony of the "Faith once for all delivered to the saints." The Faith exists (and has existed) independent of the Scriptures. But not independent of the Church. The Faith was delivered to the Church, not to the Scriptures. The Church, not the Scriptures, is the Pillar and foundation of Truth. Christ did not say "I will build by Bible and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." He made that promise to the Church.

The Church didn't decide what the Faith was, but it did decide which books were true to the Faith and which were not. It's because of this decision that we have the 27 books of the New Testament. But if the Church had decided to canonize only three Gospels, guess what? We'd have only three Gospels. If the Church had decided to accept only 10 of Paul's epistles rather than 13. We'd have ten Pauline Epistles. Would that have diminished the Faith? Heck no! The Faith had already been delivered to the Church, and had been preached and lived out in its entirety for centuries beforehand.

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest.
To Thee is due praise, O God.
Praise Him, all ye His angels; praise Him, all ye His hosts.
To Thee is due praise, O God.
Praise Him, O sun and moon; praise Him all ye stars and light.
Praise Him, ye heavens of heavens, and thou water that art above the heavens.
Let them praise the name of the Lord; for He spake, and they came to be;
He commanded, and they were created.
He established them for ever, yea, for ever and ever;
He hath set an ordinance, and it shall not pass away.
Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all ye abysses.
Fire, hail, snow, ice, blast of tempest, which perform His word.
The mountains and all the hills, fruitful trees, and all cedars.
The beasts and all the cattle, creeping things and winged birds.
Kings of the earth, and all peoples, princes and all the judges of the earth.
Young men and virgins, elders with the younger;
let them praise the name of the Lord, for exalted is the name of Him alone.
His praise is above the earth and heaven, and He shall exalt the horn of His people.
This is the hymn for all His saints, for the sons of Israel,
and for the people that draw nigh unto Him.
Sing unto the Lord a new song;
His praise is in the church of the saints.
Let Israel be glad in Him that made him,
let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.
Let them praise His name in the dance;
with the timbrel and the psaltery let them chant unto Him.
For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people, and He shall exalt the meek with salvation.
The saints shall boast in glory, and they shall rejoice upon their beds.
The high praise of God shall be in their throat, and two-edged swords shall be in their hands.
To do vengeance among the heathen, punishments among the peoples.
To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron.
To do among them the judgment that is written.
This glory shall be to all His saints.
Praise ye God in His saints, praise Him in the firmament of His power.
Praise Him for His mighty acts, praise Him according to the multitude of His greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of trumpet, praise Him with the psaltery and harp.
Praise Him with timbrel and dance, praise him with strings and flute.
Praise Him with tuneful cymbals, praise Him with cymbals of jubilation.
Let every breath praise the Lord.
(The Lauds [Praises] from Matins)