Mount Athos

In Europe countries like the United Kingdom and Norway have official religions but it generally thought that most of the population has somesort of post-Christian mindset. Only Vatican City is thought of as a truly pious country that is a theocracy when it comes to governance in Europe. However, in Greece there is an autonomous state that is run by monks, has a closed border where only men can enter if they have permission, and time is based on Old Testament teachings.

The Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain, also known as Mount Athos, is under the sovereignty of Greece but has full governance over its internal affairs.

Read the rest at Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze!

The Elevation of the Venerable and Life-Creating Cross of the Lord

The pagan Roman emperors tried to completely eradicate from human memory the holy places where our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and was resurrected for mankind. The Emperor Adrian (117-138) gave orders to cover over the ground of Golgotha and the Sepulchre of the Lord, and upon the hill fashioned there to set up a pagan temple of the pagan goddess Venus and a statue of Jupiter. Pagans gathered on this place and offered sacrifice to idols there. Eventually after 300 years, by Divine Providence, the great Christian sacred remains – the Sepulchre of the Lord and the Life-Creating Cross were again discovered and opened for veneration. This occurred under the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) after his victory in the year 312 over Maxentius, ruler of the Western part of the Roman empire, and over Licinius, ruler of its Eastern part, becoming in the year 323 the sole-powerful ruler of the vast Roman empire. In 313 he had issued the so-called Edict of Milan, by which the Christian religion was legalised and the persecutions against Christians in the Western half of the empire were stopped. The ruler Licinius, although he had signed the Milan Edict to oblige Constantine, still fanatically continued the persecutions against Christians. Only after his conclusive defeat did the 313 Edict about toleration extend also to the Eastern part of the empire. The Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine, having with the assistance of God gained victory over his enemies in three wars, had seen in the heavens the Sign of God – the Cross and written beneathe: "By this thou shalt conquer".
Ardently desiring to find the Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine sent to Jerusalem his mother, the pious Empress Helen (Comm. 21 May), having provided her with a letter to the Jerusalem patriarch Makarios. Although the holy empress Helen was already in her declining years, she set about completing the task with enthusiasm. The empress gave orders to destroy the pagan temple and idol-statues overshadowing Jerusalem. Searching for the Life-Creating Cross, she made inquiry of Christians and Jews, but for a long time her searchings remained unsuccessful. Finally, they directed her to a certain elderly hebrew by the name of Jude who stated, that the Cross was buried there, where stands the pagan-temple of Venus. They demolished the pagan-temple and, having made a prayer, they began to excavate the ground. Soon there was detected the Sepulchre of the Lord and not far away from it three crosses, a plank with inscription having been done by order of Pilate, and four nails, which had pierced the Body of the Lord. In order to discern on which of the three crosses the Saviour was crucified, Patriarch Makarios alternately touched the crosses to a corpse. When the Cross of the Lord was placed to it, the dead one came alive. Having beheld the rising-up, everyone was convinced that the Life-Creating Cross was found. Christians, having come in an innumerable throng to make veneration to the Holy Cross, besought Saint Makarios to elevate, to exalt the Cross, so that all even afar off, might reverently contemplate it. Then the Patriarch and other spiritual chief personages raised up high the Holy Cross, and the people, saying "Lord have mercy", reverently made poklon/prostration before the Venerable Wood. This solemn event occurred in the year 326. During the discovery of the Life-Creating Cross there occurred also another miracle: a grievously sick woman, beneathe the shadow of the Holy Cross, was healed instantly. The starets/elder Jude and other Jews there believed in Christ and accepted Holy Baptism. Jude received the name Kuriakos (ie. lit. "of the Lord") and afterwards was ordained Bishop of Jerusalem. During the reign of Julian the Apostate (361-363) he accepted a martyr's death for Christ (Comm. of Priest-Martyr Kuriakos is 28 October). The holy empress Helen journeyed round the holy places connected with the earthly life of the Saviour – the reason for more than 80 churches – raised up at Bethlehem the place of the Birth of Christ, and on the Mount of Olives from whence the Lord ascended to Heaven, and at Gethsemane where the Saviour prayed before His sufferings and where the Mother of God was buried after the falling-asleep. Saint Helen took with her to Constantinople part of the Life-Creating Wood and nails. The Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine gave orders to raise up at Jerusalem a majestic and spacious church in honour of the Resurrection of Christ, including in itself also the Sepulchre of the Lord, and Golgotha. The temple was constructed in about 10 years. Saint Helen did not survive until the dedication of the temple; she died in the year 327. The church was consecrated on 13 September 335. On the following day, 14 September, the festal celebration of the Exaltation of the Venerable and Life-Creating Cross was established.
On this day is remembered also another event connected to the Cross of the Lord, – its return back to Jerusalem from Persia after a 14 year captivity. During the reign of the Byzantine emperor Phokas (602-610) the Persian emperor Khozroes II in a war against the Greeks defeated the Greek army, plundered Jerusalem and led off into captivity both the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord and the Holy Patriarch Zacharios (609-633). The Cross remained in Persia for 14 years and only under the emperor Herakles (610-641), who with the help of God defeated Khozroes and concluded peace with his successor and son Syroes – was the Cross of the Lord returned to Christians from captivity. With great solemnity the Life-creating Cross was transferred to Jerusalem. Emperor Herakles in imperial crown and porphyry(purple) carried the Cross of Christ into the temple of the Resurrection. Alongside the emperor went Patriarch Zacharios. At the gates, by which they ascended onto Golgotha, the emperor suddenly stopped and was not able to proceed further. The Holy Patriarch explained to the emperor that an Angel of the Lord blocked his way, since He That bore the Cross onto Golgotha for the expiation of the world from sin, made His Way of the Cross in the guise of Extreme Humilation. Then Herakles, removing the crown and porphyry, donned plain garb and without further hindrance carried the Cross of Christ into the church.
In a sermon on the Exaltation of the Cross, Saint Andrew of Crete (Comm. 4 July) says: "The Cross is exalted, and everything true gathers together, the Cross is exalted, and the city makes solemn, and the people celebrate the feast". (From Holy Trinity Church, Baltimore, MD)


Troparion (Tone 1): O Lord, save Thy people/ and bless Thine inheritance./ Grant victory to Orthodox Christians over their adversaries,/ and by virtue of Thy Cross, preverse Thy habitation.

Kontakion (Tone 4): O Christ our God,/ Who wast voluntarily lifted up on the Cross,/ grant Thy mercies to Thy new people named after Thee./ Gladden with Thy power Orthodox Christians/ and give them victory over their enemies./ May they have as ally/ that invincible trophy, Thy weapon of peace.

Historic Baloukli Cemetery Vandalized

Ninety tombs were desecrated by vandals in the beginning of September, at Baloukli cemetery [Istanbul], bringing to mind the tragic pogrom of the Greek community in September 1955. The vandalisms were ascertained in the morning of September 2nd by the guards of the nearby historical Monastery of the Life-giving Spring of Baloukli. The unknown individuals, who committed the sacrilege act, entered by the stone fence of the cemetery that faces the road. (Source)


The vandals broke in pieces the tombstones that were bearing the cross, the names and dates of birth and death of those who died. The authorities are looking into the case. This incident, which has not yet been widely known, has created great concern among the Greek minority in Istanbul. (Source)

"epic tapestry"

Brilliant!!! Why didn't I think if this???

See the rest at Flow of Consciousness

St Nicholas Church, NYC

Pictured here is St Nicholas Orthodox Church, which was destroyed eight years ago today.



For more information:
St Nicholas Orthodox Church website
"Archbishop Demetrios to hold memorial service at Ground Zero"
Article from wirednewyork.com

Bishops, Part 1

It doesn't require a whole lot of examination to discover that there are many profound differences between Orthodox Christianity and every other Christian tradition in the world today. Some of those differences are of course more obvious than others. Part of the purpose of this blog has been to address those differences and consider their consequences.

One of the more apparent differences between Orthodoxy and most Protestant and Evangelical bodies is in the matter of church government, which in the Orthodox Church includes a very clearly defined hierarchy composed of bishops, priests, deacons and laity. The hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church was something that annoyed me in my youth (when I didn't even know the Orthodox Church existed), particularly in light of St Peter's mention of the "royal priesthood," which I--like all good Baptists--took to mean that any hierarchy in the church was redundant and in violation of the belief that there is "one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." The use of bishops and priests looked to me like the "traditions of men" that St Paul warned us about.

I have since revised my opinion of the office of bishop.

So, with that in mind, I will begin a series of posts dealing with each of the levels of clergy in the Orthodox Church, beginning with that of bishop. Specifically I will be answering questions that I myself asked as I was investigating the Church:

What is a bishop anyway?
Why don't I see bishops in the Bible?
What is the purpose of a bishop?
Are they really necessary?
And what is the difference between an archbishop and a metropolitan?

The word "bishop" is derived from the Greek word episkopos (ἐπίσκοπος), which is a combination of the words epi (ἐπί), meaning "on" or "over" (as in "epiphyte"), and skopos (σκοπός), which means "seeing" or "looking" (as in "microscope"). The literal translation of ἐπίσκοπος would therefore be "overseer," which is how it is rendered in the NIV and ESV translations of the Bible. The KJV and RSV both translate it as "bishop." Either way is valid.

St Ignatius, who, as I have mentioned before, was a disciple of the Apostle John, wrote a letter to the church in Philadelphia (in Asia Minor, not Pennsylvania!) in which he told them that nothing in the church is to be done without the consent and guidance of the bishop ("Χωρις του επισκοπου μηδεν ποιειτε." Letter to the Philadelphians 7.1 [see here for the Greek version]). In the same letter, he wrote that "The Lord forgives all who repent—if, that is, their repentance brings them into God's unity and to the bishop's council" ("...του επισκοπου." ibid. 8.1).

To the Christians in Ephesus, St Ignatius wrote: "It is right, then, for you to render all glory to Jesus Christ, seeing he has glorified you. Thus, united in your submission, and subject to the bishop and the presbytery [i.e. priests], you will be real saints." ("...υποτασσομενοι τω επισκοπω...." Letter to the Ephesians 2.2 [Greek version])

St Ignatius in his epistles reminds the Christians of Asia Minor to

"act in accord with the bishop's [επισκοπου] mind" (ibid. 4.1),
"avoid resisting the bishop [επισκοπω]" (ibid. 5.3),
"regard the bishop [επισκοπον] as the Lord himself" (ibid. 6.1),
"heed the bishop [επισκοπω] and presbytery attentively" (ibid. 20.2),
"respect [the bishop, επισκοπου] as fully as you respect the authority of God the Father" (Letter to the Magnesians 3.1),
"let the bishop [επισκοπου] preside in God's place" (ibid. 6.1),
"not do anything without the bishop [επισκοπου] and presbyters" (ibid. 7.1),
"defer to the bishop [επισκοπου] and to one another as Jesus Christ did to the Father" (ibid. 13.2),
"obey the bishop [επισκοπω] as if he were Jesus Christ" (Letter to the Trallians 2.1),
"act in no way without the bishop [επισκοπου] " (ibid. 2.2),
"submit to the bishop [επισκοπω] as to [God's] law" (ibid. 13.2)
"follow the bishop [επισκοπω] as Jesus Christ did the Father" (Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8.1),
"[do not] do anything that has to do with the Church without the bishop's [επισκοπου] approval" (ibid. 8.1).

He further states that "where the bishop [επισκοπος] is present...there is the Catholic Church [καθολικη εκκλησια]." (ibid. 8.2); and that "he who pays the bishop [επισκοπον] honor has been honored by God. But he who acts without the bishop's [επισκοπου] knowledge is in the devil's service." (ibid. 9.1)

An article I once read used the epistles of St Ignatius (particularly ch. 8, v. 2 of his letter to the Smyrnaeans) to demonstrate how quickly the early Church fell into error. The writer of the article, apparently suffering from a bad case of Romaphobia, took the position that, because the modern churches that he felt had gone astray--specifically the Roman Catholic and Anglican/Episcopal--had bishops and his did not, then any mention of bishops by the Fathers of the early Church could only be evidence of error/apostasy/heresy. And besides that, he didn't see bishops mentioned in his Bible.

First of all, I find it difficult to believe that a pupil of the Apostle and Evangelist St John, would disregard or misunderstand or distort the teachings of his mentor so quickly and blantantly. Especially considering that Polycarp, another student of St John, and Clement, a student of St Peter, also both wrote letters encouraging Christians to follow the spiritual guidance of their bishops. Were the Apostles really such ineffective teachers?

Secondly, the word "bishop" (ἐπίσκοπος) does, in fact, appear several times in the Bible:

"Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [ἐπισκόπους]" (Acts 20.28),
"To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers [ἐπισκόποις] and deacons..." (Phil 1.1),
"Now the overseer [ἐπίσκοπον] must be above reproach..." (1Ti 3.2),
"Since an overseer [ἐπίσκοπον] is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless... (Titus 1.7), "...you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer [ἐπίσκοπον] of your souls" (1Pt 2.25 ).

At least twice the word is used to refer to the office of bishop:
"'May another take his place of leadership [ἐπισκοπὴν]'" (Acts 1.20)*
If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer [ἐπισκοπῆς], he desires a noble task (1Ti 3.1) (KJV translates this as "...if a man desire the office of a bishop..."

*Here St Peter quotes Psalm 109:8, which in the Septuagint reads: "γενηθήτωσαν αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ὀλίγαι καὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λάβοι ἕτερος." (note: the numbering of the Psalms is different in the LXX than in those copies of the OT deriving from the Masoretic manuscripts. Therefore, what is identified as Psalm 109 in the NIV, is Psalm 108 in the LXX)

So the bishop was clearly an important component of the Church from very early in its history, and existed even in the Church of the New Testament.

Next time I will take a look at the role of bishops in the Orthodox Chuch.

WARNING: Offensive Material!!!

The image below appeared in the Points section of the August 3oth issue of the Dallas News. It is scandalous. In other faiths, a sacrilegious image of this sort would lead to violence and destruction. (But Christians aren't evil and malicious...at least they're not supposed to be).

You can read more about this on the Contemporary Orthodoxy blog.