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.

Feast of the Dormition

This month [today], Christians remember the Dormition—or falling asleep—of the Mother of God. Every day we celebrate those who have fallen asleep in the Lord because “the memory of the just is blessed” (Prov 10.7) and “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Ps 116.15), and what is precious to God is, or at least ought to be, precious to us. But this celebration is different. The Dormition is one of the twelve Great Feasts of the Church because it shows us again a glimpse of our own salvation.

It has been said that what is true of Mary ought to be true of us. Like her, we are born into a world corrupted by sin and need the salvation of Christ. And when we imitate her life of humility, purity, holiness, obedience and love, we too can expect to join her Son in Glory.

Nearly every religion in the world believes in the afterlife, but only in Christianity do we “look for the resurrection of the dead.” The feast of the Dormition affirms this belief. It is a celebration of hope in the Resurrection. It is a reminder that we can trace our destiny through the life and actions of Mary.

Those Christians who have forgotten about Mary—and, sadly, there are a few who have done just that—would do well to remember how our lives ought to reflect her unconditional “Yes” to God. They that “hear the word of God and keep it” (Lk 11.28), who commit themselves to heavenly rather that earthly things, who respond to the Lord's call with “be it unto me according to thy word” as Mary did, will also “participate in the divine nature” (2Pet 1.2-4). They whose “soul magnifies the Lord,” can rest assured that “the Lord will exalt the humble” and “fill the hungry with good things” (Lk 1.46-55). The Feast of the Dormition reminds us of this awesome reality.

Grosse Pointe News, 20 Aug 2009

Martyr and Archdeacon Laurence of Rome

The Martyrs Archdeacon Laurence, Pope Sixtus, Deacons Felicissimus and Agapitus, the Soldier Romanus were citizens of Rome, and suffered in the year 258 under the emperor Valerian (253-259). Holy Pope Sixtus, born at Athens, received a fine education, preached in Spain and was made bishop in Rome following the martyr's death of Holy Pope Stephen (253-257, commemorated on August 2). These were times when a pope occupying the Roman throne, was known to choose death for the faith. In a short while St Sixtus also was arrested and put in prison together with his deacons Felicissimus and Agapitus.

When the holy archdeacon Laurence visited Pope Sixtus, whom they held in prison, he cried out with tears: "Whither art thou gone, father? Why hast thou forsaken thine archdeacon, with whom always thou hast offered the Bloodless Sacrifice? Take thy son with thee, that I may be thy companion in having blood shed for Christ!" St Sixtus answered him: "I have not forsaken thee, my son. I am old and go to an easy death, but yet greater sufferings await thee. Know, that after three days upon our death thou shalt follow after me. And now go, take the church treasury and distribute it to the poor and needy Christians." St Laurence zealously did the bidding of the holy hierarch.

Having heard, that Pope Sixtus had been taken to trial with the deacons, St Laurence went there so as to witness their deed, and he said to the holy bishop: "Father, I have already fulfilled thy command, and distributed by hand thine treasury; forsake me not!" Hearing something about treasure, soldiers put him under guard, and the other martyrs were beheaded (+6 August 258). The emperor locked up St Laurence in prison and ordered the chief jailer Hyppolitus to keep watch over him. In prison St Laurence with prayer healed the sick gathered together with him and he baptized many.

Astonished by this, Hyppolitus himself believed and accepted Baptism from St Laurence together with all his household. Soon the archdeacon Laurence was again brought to the emperor and commanded to produce the hidden treasure. St Laurence answered: "Give me a period of three days, and I shalt show thee this treasure". During this time the saint gathered up a crowd of the poor and the sick, who ate only because of the charity of the Church, and bringing them he explained: "Here are the vessels in which is contained the treasure. And everyone, who puts their treasure in these vessels, will receive them in abundance in the Heavenly Kingdom".

After this they gave St Laurence over to fierce tortures, urging him to worship idols. The martyr was scourged (with a fine iron flail with sharp needles), they burned his wounds with fire, and struck at him with metal switches. At the time of the martyr's suffering, the soldier Romanus suddenly cried out: "St Laurence, I behold a bright youth, who standeth about thee healing thy wounds. Beseech thy Lord Christ not to forsake me!" After this they stretched St Laurence on a rack and returned him to prison to Hyppolitus. Romanus brought there a waterpot with water and besought the martyr to baptize him. And immediately after the Baptism of the soldier, he was beheaded (+9 August). When they took St Laurence to his final torture, St Hyppolitus wanted to declare himself a Christian and die together with him, but the confessor said: "Conceal for now thy confession in thy heart.

After some length of time I shall summon thee, and thou shalt hear and come unto me. Weep not for me, but rather rejoice, for I go to receive a glorious crown of martyrdom." They placed him in an iron cage, under which they set an intense fire, and the flames of the fire flicked towards the body of the martyr. St Laurence, glancing at the governor, said: "Here now, you burn only but one side of my body, turn over the other and do my whole body". Dying, he uttered: "I thank Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thou hast accounted me worthy to enter into Thy gates" -- and with these words he gave up the spirit.

St Hyppolitus took the body of the martyr by night, he wrapped it in a shroud with ointments and gave it over to the priest Justin. Over the relics of the martyr in the home of the widow Kyriake they made an all-night vigil and Divine Liturgy. All the Christians present partook of the Holy Mysteries and with honor they buried the body of the holy martyr Archdeacon Laurence in a cave on 10 August 258. St Hyppolitus and other Christians suffered three days after the death of St Laurence (13 August), as he had foretold them of this.

Troparion - Tone 4 Victorious martyr of Christ our God,by the sign of the Cross you gave sight to the blind;you distributed the riches of the Church to the poor;you were tried by fire and no evil was found in you.As you endured the burning,may your prayers extinguish the flames of our many sins,blessed Archdeacon Lawrence!

Kontakion - Tone 2 Your heart burned with divine fireas the flames of the passions died within you.God-bearing martyr Lawrence, the pillar of those who struggle,you cried out in the midst of your contest:"Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ."



From oca.org

Fifth Century Church in Connecticut

I thought the first Christians in the New World were Vikings, but I guess I was wrong. This is almost too incredible to believe. It comes from Ancient American via the Orthodox Christian Information Center:

In the stillness of Cockaponset State Forest, southern Connecticut, near the town of Guilford, masterfully carved from solid rock, stands North America’s oldest Christian church. Recent epigraphic evidence found here suggests that it is 1500 years old, and linked to a voyage of Christian Byzantine monks who fled from North Africa during the 5th Century, in the wake of the Vandal invasions. Greek and North African inscriptions, Greek cupule patterns in the form of Chrismons (monograms of Christ), baptismal fonts, a cathedra or throne, candelabras and an altar have been found at the site.

Read the rest here.

The Role of Icons

Icons are not about art. Icons are not about left-overs of Byzantine style. Icons are not about the idolatrous impulse within fallen humanity. Icons are about the very nature of our salvation. The history of Western theology, particularly the opposition to icons within the Protestant movement, has removed one of the most traditional components of Christian theology and handicapped the modern imagination and understanding of our relationship to God.
Our encounters with God, when icons are not present, are relegated to an imaginary world of “spiritual things,” or replaced by models of experience which can be highly delusional if not blasphemous (I am here speaking of some forms of pentecostalism). Thus the modern choice is between a God of the mental world or a God of the psycho-physical world – extremes that are brought about by the iconoclasm that has become inherent to our modern ways of thought.

Read the rest at Glory To God for All Things

Open Communion

Evidently, some people have expressed disagreement with the fact that the Orthodox Church does not practice open Communion. In other words, you have to be an Orthodox Christian (who has properly prepared) in order to receive Communion in and Orthodox Church.

From Touchstone Magazine:

I do not believe that open Communion has created the Christian unity it was supposed to. Some commentators have used the analogy of having premarital sex for sharing Communion before we are united in one church. I've altered that idea to suggest that it's more like a couple who have become estranged, separated, and divorced, some years later now reconciled and desiring to become married to each other again. Should they have relations before they are officially remarried?



Read the rest here.

For Homeschoolers

Education is a process of opening closed doors in the mind and heart to lead students to virtue and to a deeper understanding of God and His creation. Central to this process is to surround students with images of virtue, nobility, honor, purity, sacrifice, loyalty, and beauty. We all pray and work to do this by example, but as teachers we also seek to do this through the literature, poetry, art, music, science, and theology that we study with our students. At C.L.R.C. we understand that education is an act of love rooted deeply in the relationship between teacher and student and among students and their peers.
The Classical Learning Resource Center operates under the blessing of Bishop JOSEPH Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles and the West.

Classical Learning Resource Center is now enrolling students in their fall online semester.

Although Orthodox Christians have at their disposal various institutions of learning such as schools, universities, and seminaries, and do hold “Sunday Schools,” at least in the USA, it is fair to say that the main catechetical vehicle for all Orthodox peoples is the Divine Liturgy. All the liturgical prayers are self-contained: they enshrine the history, the story, the meaning, and the practical application of what is celebrated every Sunday, major feast, and commemoration of angels, saints, and prophets. If one pays attention – and “Be attentive” is a common invitation made throughout the Divine Liturgy – the worshipper catches all that he or she needs to know and live the Orthodox faith without need for further specialized education. For this very reason, the Divine Liturgy, more than any other focus of “power and authority,” is the true locus of Orthodox unity and the principal explanation for Orthodox unity and resiliency throughout history.

From Orrologion

Orthodox Church in Antarctica

It's an old article, but interesting...

from BBC News:
Flat pack church for Russian workers
The Russian Orthodox church is so concerned about the spiritual well-being of workers in Antarctica that it is sending them a flat pack church and a priest.
A group of Siberian architects won a national competition to design the church.
They built it out of Altay cedar wood, which is considered a precious material, and incorporated 30 types of timber into it - a feature of old Russian churches.
The church was then dismantled and its different parts numbered and transported to the Kaliningrad port.
It took five cars nine days to reach the port, and the parts are now being loaded onto a ship bound for the Antarctic.
It will be more than two months before it reaches its final destination, the Bellingshausen research station on King George Island.
The church's architects will then fly there to help put it back together.
Yevgeniy Morozov, who is heading the expedition to the south, said the church would provide extra support for workers there, who usually have only themselves to rely on.
He said up to 64 people working in the area have died since Russia started occupying the region.
"So the Orthodox Church has decided to show some concern for their souls and build this little church."
Aleksiy II, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, has given the project his blessing and Father Georgy, who has 20 years of experience in the Polar regions, will conduct the services in Antarctica.

For more info

Trinity Church, Antarctica

The Holy Myrh-Bearer Equal-unto-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene

The Holy Myrh-Bearer Equal-unto-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene. On the banks of Lake Genesareth (Galilee), between the cities of Capharnum and Tiberias, was situated the small city of Magdala, the remains of which have survived to our day. Now at this place stands only the small village of Mejhdel.

In Magdala sometime formerly the woman was born and grew up, whose name has entered forever into the Gospel account. The Gospel tells us nothing about the youthful years of Mary, but tradition informs us, that Mary from Magdala was young and pretty, and led a sinful life. It says in the Gospels, that the Lord expelled seven devils from Mary. From the moment of healing Mary led a new life. She became a true disciple of the Saviour.

The Gospel relates that Mary followed after the Lord, when He went with the Apostles through the cities and villages of Judea and Galilee preaching about the Kingdom of God. Together with the pious women – Joanna, wife of Khuza (steward of Herod), Susanna and others, she served Him from her own possessions (Lk 8, 1-3) and undoubtedly, shared with the Apostles the evangelic tasks, in common with the other women. The Evangelist Luke, evidently, has her in view together with the other women, stating that at the moment of the Procession of Christ onto Golgotha, when after the Scourging He took on Himself the heavy Cross, collapsing under its weight, the women followed after Him weeping and wailing, but He consoled them. The Gospel relates that Mary Magdalene was present on Golgotha at the moment of the Lord's Crucifixion. While all the disciples of the Saviour ran away, she remained fearlessly at the Cross together with the Mother of God and the Apostle John.

The evangelists enumerate among those standing at the Cross moreover also the mother of the Apostle James the Less, and Salome, and other women followers of the Lord from Galilee itself, but all mention first Mary Magdalene; but the Apostle John aside the Mother of God, names only her and Mary Cleopas. This indicates how much she stood out from amidst all the women gathered round the Lord.

She was faithful to Him not only in the days of His Glory, but also at the moment of His Extreme Humiliation and Insult. As the Evangelist Matthew relates, she was present at the Burial of the Lord. Before her eyes Joseph and Nikodemos went out to the tomb with His lifeless Body; before her eyes they covered over the entrance to the cave with a large stone, behind which went the Sun of Life...

Faithful to the Law in which she was trained, Mary together with the other women stayed all the following day at rest, because it was the great day of the Sabbath, coinciding in that year with the Feast of Passover. But all the rest of the peaceful day the women succeeded in storing up aromatics, to go at dawn Sunday to the Grave of the Lord and Teacher and according to the custom of the Jews to anoint His Body with funereal aromatics.

It is necessary to suggest that, having agreed to go on the first day of the week to the Tomb early in the morning, the holy women, having gone separately on Friday evening to their own homes, did not have the possibility to meet together with one another on Saturday, and how only at the break of dawn the following day did they go to the Sepulchre, not all together, but each from their own house.

The Evangelist Matthew writes, that the women came to the grave at dawn, or as the Evangelist Mark expresses, extremely early before the rising of the sun; the Evangelist John, as it were elaborating upon these, says that Mary came to the grave so early that it was still dark. Obviously, she waited impatiently for the end of night, but it was not daybreak when round about darkness still ruled – she ran there where lay the Body of the Lord.

Now then, Mary went to the Tomb alone. Seeing the stone pushed away from the cave, she rushed away in fear thither where dwelt the close Apostles of Christ – Peter and John. Hearing the strange message that the Lord was gone from the tomb, both Apostles ran to the tomb and, seeing the shroud and winding cloths, they were amazed. The Apostles went and told no one nothing, but Mary stood about the entrance to the gloomy tomb and wept. Here in this dark tomb still so recently lay her lifeless Lord. Wanting proof that the tomb really was empty, she went down to it – and here a strange light suddenly prevailed upon her. She saw two angels in white garments, the one sitting at the head, the other at the foot, where the Body of Jesus had been placed. She heard the question: "Woman, why weepest thou?" – she answered them with the words which she had said to the Apostles: "They have taken my Lord, and I do not know, where they have put Him". Having said this, she turned around, and at this moment saw the Risen Jesus standing about the grave, but she did not recognise Him.

He asked Mary: "Woman, why weepest thou? Whom dost thou seek?" She answered thinking that she was seeing the gardener: "Sir, if thou hast taken him, tell where thou hast put Him, and I will reclaim Him".

But at this moment she recognised the Lord's voice, a voice which was known from the day He healed her. This was the voice in those days and years, when together with the other pious women she followed the Lord through all the cities and places where His preaching was heard. She gave a joyful shout "Rabbi" that means Teacher.

Respect and love, fondness and deep veneration, a feeling of thankfulness and recognition at His Splendour as great Teacher – all came together in this single outcry. She was able to say nothing more and she threw herself down at the feet of her Teacher, to wash them with tears of joy. But the Lord said to her: "Touch me not, for I am still not ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and tell them: "I ascend to My Father and your Father and to My God and to your God".

She came to herself and again ran to the Apostles, so as to do the will of Him sending her to preach. Again she ran into the house, where the Apostles stayed still in dismay, and announced to them the joyous message "I have seen the Lord!" This was the first preaching in the world about the Resurrection.

The Apostles were obliged to proclaim the Glad Tidings to the world, but she proclaimed it to the Apostles themselves...

Holy Scripture does not tell us about the life of Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection of Christ, but it is impossible to doubt, that if in the terrifying minutes of Christ's Crucifixion she was the foot of His Cross with His All-Pure Mother and John, undoubtedly, she stayed with them during all the happier time after the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. Thus in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles Saint Luke writes: that all the Apostles with one mind stayed in prayer and supplication, with certain women and Mary the Mother of Jesus and His brethren.

Holy Tradition testifies, that when the Apostles departed from Jerusalem for preaching to all the ends of the earth, then together with them also went Mary Magdalene to preach. A daring woman, whose heart was full of reminiscence of the Resurrection, she went beyond her native borders and set off to preach in pagan Rome. And everywhere she proclaimed to people about Christ and His Teaching, and when many did not believe that Christ is risen, she repeated to them what she had said to the Apostles on the radiant morning of the Resurrection: "I have seen the Lord!" With this preaching she made the rounds of all Italy.

Tradition relates, that in Italy Mary Magdalene visited the Emperor Tiberias (14-37 AD) and proclaimed to him about Christ's Resurrection. According to tradition, she took him a red egg as a symbol of the Resurrection, a symbol of new life with the words: "Christ is Risen!" Then she told the emperor about this, that in his Province of Judea was the innocently condemned Jesus the Galilean, an holy man, a maker or miracles, powerful before God and all mankind, executed on the instigation of the Jewish High-Priests and the sentence affirmed by the procurator named by Tiberias, Pontius Pilate.

Mary repeated the words of the Apostles, that believing in the Redemption of Christ from the vanity of life is not as with perishable silver or gold, but rather the precious Blood of Christ is like a spotless and pure Lamb.

Thanks to Mary Magdalene the custom to give each other paschal eggs on the day of the Luminous Resurrection of Christ spread among Christians over all the world. On one ancient hand-written Greek ustav, written on parchment, kept in the monastery library of Saint Athanasias near Thessalonika (Solunea), is an established prayer read on the day of Holy Pascha for the blessing of eggs and cheese, in which it is indicated, that the Hegumen (Abbot) in passing out the blessed eggs says to the brethren: "Thus have we received from the holy fathers, who preserved this custom from the very time of the holy apostles, wherefore the holy equal-unto-the-apostles Mary Magdalene first showed believers the example of this joyful offering".

Mary Magdalene continued her preaching in Italy and in the city of Rome itself. Evidently, the Apostle Paul has precisely her in view in his Epistle to the Romans (16, 6), where together with other ascetics of evangelic preaching he mentions Mary (Mariam), who as he expresses "has done much for us". Evidently, she extensively served the Church in its means of subsistence and its difficulties, being exposed to dangers, and sharing with the Apostles the labours of preaching.

According to Church tradition, she remained in Rome until the arrival of the Apostle Paul, and for two more years still, following his departure from Rome after the first court judgment upon him. From Rome Saint Mary Magdalene, already bent with age, moved to Ephesus where unceasingly laboured the holy Apostle John, who with her wrote the first 20 Chapters of his Gospel. There the saint finished her earthly life and was buried.

Her holy relics were transferred in the IX Century to the capital of the Byzantine Empire – Constantinople, and placed in the monastery Church of Saint Lazarus. In the era of the Crusader campaigns they were transferred to Italy and placed at Rome under the altar of the Lateran Cathedral. Part of the relics of Mary Magdalene are located in France near Marseilles, where over them at the foot of a steep mountain is erected in her honour a splendid church.

The Orthodox Church honours the holy memory of Saint Mary Magdalene – the woman, called by the Lord Himself from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.

Formerly immersed in sin and having received healing, she sincerely and irrevocably began a new life and never wavered from the path. Mary loved the Lord Who called her to a new life. She was faithful to Him not only then – when He having expelled from her the seven demons and surrounded by enthusiastic crowds passed through the cities and villages of Palestine, winning for Himself the glory of a miracle-worker – but also then when all the disciples in fear deserted Him and He, humiliated and crucified, hung in torment upon the Cross. This is why the Lord, knowing her faithfulness, appeared to her first, and esteemed her worthy to be first proclaiming His Resurrection.

Courtesy of Holy Trinity Church, Baltimore, MD

Things You'll Never See in an Orthodox Church, Part 17

الله

For those of my readers who don't know, "Allah" is the Arabic word for God. It is--and has been since long before Islam even existed--used by Arab Christians all over the world to refer, not to the Mohammedan perversion of "god," but to the God of the Bible. It also happens to be the Malay word for God. What Malaysia therefore is doing is forbidding Christians, both those of Arabic and of Malaysian heritage, to pray to God in their own language. Wait a minute...that sounds like Islamoppression! Nah...Couldn't be.

From Christianity Today:

Agnes Monica is the Miley Cyrus of Southeast Asia. The Indonesian teen singer's face is ubiquitous. Her performances are packed out. But in Selangor, Malaysia, no one is allowed to play her song "Allah Peduli" ("God Cares"). Monica is a Christian, and Malaysian law bans non-Muslims from referring to God as Allah.

The ban on "God Cares" is one application of state laws widely opposed by the island nation's Christians and other non-Muslims. Few question whether Allah is the God of the Bible—to Malaysian Christians, Allah is simply the word for God.

Read the rest here.

Candle Making

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)