| At the Last Judgment, so St. Symeon the New Theologian writes, Christ will produce exemplary saints from every station in life and so demonstrate that it is possible for every person, whatever one’s work or employment, to attain to salvation and sainthood, rendering all excuses for what they are. Let us meditate from time to time on this teaching. Among the disciples of Jesus there were mostly Galilean fishermen and ordinary farmers. Matthew the tax collector may have been well educated and a trained professional in the Roman bureaucracy to do his job. John, the brother of James, was intellectually gifted in order to compose the magnificent Gospel of St. John, if he is indeed its author as handed down in tradition. In films Judas is sometimes portrayed as a Hamlet-lite figure, an intellectual with burning conceptual questions, but we know nothing of this from the texts of the Gospels. We have an astonishing variety of persons in the constellation of the saints, including men and women and children: from farmers to teachers, from lawyers to doctors, from ascetics to missionaries, from cooks to theologians, from charismatics to philosophers, from soldiers to kings, from deacons to bishops. St. Luke the Evangelist was a doctor. St. Paul was a missionary. St. Ignatius was a Bishop. St. Justin Martyr was a philosopher. St. Basil was a great philanthropist. St. Gregory of Nanzianzus was a preeminent theologian. St. Macarius of Egypt and St. Symeon the New Theologians were charismatics. St. John of the Ladder was an ascetic. St. Demetrios was a teacher. St. Theodore the Recruit was a soldier. St. Constantine the Great was an emperor. Born in a pagan family (ca. 272 AD), St. Constantine established a career in the military proving to be an exceptional leader and skillful politician. His life was one of continuous struggle for power and dominance, far from a solitary and peaceful climate conducive to sainthood. His inner circle involved intrigues for succession, including members of the imperial family who were executed as real or imagined plotters, under the reign of Constantine. |
| RTE: Could you enlarge now on the translating work of St. Herman, St. Innocent, and St. Jacob Netsvetov? We think of them as saints and missionaries, but most of us know little about their linguistic work. MIKHAIL: St. Herman, as one of the original members of the Valaam mission to Russian America in 1794, was something of a pioneer in the field of Alutiiq (Kodiak-Aleut) with Hieromonk Gideon. Together, at the mission school in Kodiak, they worked on a translation of the Lord’s Prayer and began compiling the first dictionary of the Alutiiq language. One of St. Herman’s disciples, Father Constantine Larianov, later compiled an Alutiiq prayerbook which exists in manuscript form in the Alaskan Russian Church archives of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. St. Innocent Veniaminov is rightly regarded as the giant among early translators in the Native Alaskan languages. From the time of his arrival in Unalaska (Dutch Harbor, Alaska) in 1824, St. Innocent dedicated himself to the process of acquiring the language and culture of the Aleut people. As early as 1828, he set to work on translations of the Holy Gospels, but much of this early work was spoiled by errors in typesetting the text back in Russia. In 1833, St. Innocent wrote his famous Aleut-language work, Indication of the Pathway to the Kingdom of Heaven, which became an instant classic. In 1840, when he returned to Russia, St. Innocent personally supervised the printing of his texts: The Holy Gospel According to St.Matthew, the Paschal readings, a lengthy Primer/Catechism, and the Indication treatise. Most of these texts were edited by Ivan Pan’kov, a Tigalda chief and friend of St. Innocent, and were annotated with footnotes in the Atkan-Aleut dialect by St. Jacob Netsvetov. However, St. Innocent’s work wasn’t confined to Aleut, but also included Tlingit and Alutiiq. A comprehensive dictionary of Tlingit and Alutiiq was printed in 1846. St. Innocent’s approach to language and inculturation of the Gospel was fully rooted in the Orthodox tradition, but it was a novelty among all other faith traditions. Rather than demand the use of a specific language for enforced religious indoctrination, Eastern Orthodox Christians have more often tried to sanctify a culture and its language — to bring out that which already contains the “seed of the Word” (spermatikos logos), and to encourage the native expression of the good news of Christ. This has been the experience of the Byzantine commonwealth, the African, Slavic, Georgian, Finnic, Japanese, and Siberian peoples as well. This is the gift of Pentecost that the Orthodox have shared. St. Innocent was heir to this glorious tradition and proved faithful to his calling. |
| Gregory the Theologian, St., Complete Works, Soikin ed., St. Petersburg, 1911. Lenten Triodion (Slavonic), Vienna, 1855. Lives of Saints (according to St. Demetrius of Rostov), Moscow, Synodal Printshop, 1902. St. Andrew the Fool for Christ of Constantinople (Oct. 2). St. Basil the New (March 26). Sts. Cyprian and Justina (Oct. 2). St. Mark of Thrace (April 5). St. Niphon of Constantia (Dec. 23). St. Patricius of Prussa (May 19). St. Perpetua (Feb. 1). St. Proclus (Nov. 20). Taxiotes the Soldier (March 28). Sts. Timothy and Maura (May 3). Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, Orthodox Dogmatic Theology, vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1883. Mark of Ephesus, St., First and Second Homilies on Purgatorial Fire, in Archimandrite Amvrossy Pogodin, St. Mark of Ephesus and the Union of Florence, Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, N.Y., 1963. Mitrophan, Monk, How Our Departed Ones Live, and How We Shall Live After Death, vol. 1, St. Petersburg, 1897. Octoechos (Slavonic), Vienna, 1855. Sederholm, Hieromonk Clement, Optina Elder Leonid, St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, Platina, Calif., 1976. Theophan the Recluse, Bishop, Commentary on the Second Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Corinthians, Moscow, 1894. – The One-Hundred-Eighteenth Psalm (Interpretation), Moscow, 1891 (reprinted by Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, N.Y., 1976). – Letter to a Dying Woman, in Soul-Profiting Reading, August, 1894. ORTHODOX SOURCES (IN GREEK) Cavarnos, Constantine, The Future Life According to Orthodox Teaching, Ekdoseis “Orthodoxou Typou,” Athens, Greece, 1984. Hierotheos (Vlachos), Metropolitan of Nafpaktos, Life After Death, Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery, Levadia, Greece, 1995. Livanos, Christos Constantine, Do the Toll-Houses Exist? Hellenic Orthodox Apostolic Brotherhood “St. Athanasios the Great,” Toronto, Canada, 1998. Vasilios (Bakogiannis), Archimandrite, After Death, Tertios Publications, Katerini, Greece, 1994. Vassiliadis, Nikolaos P., The Mystery of Death, The Orthodox Brotherhood of Theologians “The Savior,” Athens, Greece, 1993. ORTHODOX SOURCES (IN SERBIAN) |
| The monk St. Gabriel ministered to the infirm and elderly monks of Khandzta Monastery. St. Gabriel verbally recounted the Lives of the great Church Fathers and admonished his brothers to follow the same strict disciplines as the fathers who had gone before them. St. Demetre was raised by the blessed St. Pebronia and later became one of St. Grigol of Khandzta’s first disciples. He is commemorated among the holy fathers for having attaining the heights of the monastic struggle and for working wonders, both in this life and after he had been received into the bosom of Abraham. Sts. Arsen and Makar , “good monks full of wisdom and the gift of wonder-working,” were relatives of St. Eprem of Atsquri. They labored together at St. Sabbas Monastery in Jerusalem and corresponded regularly with the monks of Khandzta. Sts. Arsen and Makar possessed a profound love for Christ and a longing to serve their motherland and mother Church. St. Shio the Wonderworker “shone upon the land of Kartli like the North Star in the morning sky.” According to Basil of Zarzma, St. Shio was the spiritual father of St. Mikael of Parekhi. Sts. Basil and Markelaos , “abounding and brilliant in virtue,” were disciples of St. Mikael of Parekhi. St. Basil was buried in Parekhi next to his spiritual father. Both fathers worked miracles from their graves and healed the infirmities of the faithful who came to seek their blessings. Venerable Father Davit , “an image of the angels” and builder of many monasteries, labored as abbot of Midznadzori Monastery. He was the spiritual father of the holy catholicos Ilarion. Endowed with many gifts of grace, St. Iakob was a prominent figure in the tenth-century Georgian Church. He labored first in Shatberdi, and later near Midznadzori Gorge, where he shone forth as the brightest of stars. Venerable Sopron the Great was the restorer of the Shatberdi Church and a famous writer, but his literary works have not been preserved. St. Giorgi Merchule numbers him among the wise and holy fathers whose stories are worthy to be told. St. Grigol of Shatberdi labored at the same monastery. Several of the tenth-century manuscripts copied by him at Shatberdi Monastery have been preserved, including the Notebooks of the Shatberdi Wilderness and the Gospels of Hadishi, Jruchi, and Parekhi. |
| В.Я. Саврей Summary The Cappadocian school is a circle of like-minded persons with whom the Golden Age of Patristics is linked. The circle " s founders were the greatest Christian thinkers in the second half of the fourth century St Basil the Great, St Gregory the Theologian and St Gregory of Nyssa. In science they have been called " the great Cappadocians» because of the province of Cappadocia in the East Asia Minor where their bishoprics were located. Besides them, there also were St Amphilochius of Iconium, St Peter of Sebaste, St Macrina the Younger, etc; and it was at various times connected with a number of outstanding figures of the epoch, namely: Libanius of Antioch, St Ephraem Syrus, St John Chrysostom, Deaconess Olympias. St Basil the Great (c. 330–379 AD) and St Gregory the Theologian (326–389) got a splendid education in Athens, where they shared their studies with the future Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate; then they studied the Bible and Origen " s works on their own, living in a hermitage. Later on St Basil became Bishop of Caesarea, the then metropolis of Cappadocia, and consecrated St Gregory, who wanted to lead a solitary existence, Bishop of Sasima against his will. St Basil " s younger brother, the second Gregory (c. 335–394 AD) became Bishop of Nyssa. The time after the Council of Nicaea (325 AD) was a period of acute dogmatic contradictions, and St Basil " s main task was to consolidate the Orthodox teaching for which purpose one needed to have worked out a generally accepted set of philosophical and theological terms. The Cappadocians used to be called the Neo-Nicenes for their commitment to the Nicene Creed and, at the same time, an innovative approach to language; as well as the Neo-Alexandrians for their following the main principles of the Alexandrian school after St Athanasius the Great. The Cappadocian school set itself a goal of creating precise doctrinal formulae which should not be reconsidered after their acceptance by the General Council and be the basis for a further development of theological thought. |
| (в обитуарии мон-ря Сен-Виктор названа др. дата - 23 сент.). И. был похоронен в крипте монастырской церкви, где сохранилась надгробная плита (70-80-е гг. XI в.) - памятник романской скульптуры. Пространная эпитафия из 10 строк занимает основную часть плиты, перекрывая рельефное изображение тела И. так, что видны лишь голова и ноги святого, а также верхняя часть аббатского посоха. Почитание И. возникло сразу после его смерти. Во 2-й пол. XI в. ему поклонялись как главному святому мон-ря Сен-Виктор, новому основателю обители и наследнику св. Иоанна Кассиана. Однако широкого распространения почитание И. не получило, и вскоре вновь стали молиться «древним» святым мон-ря - мч. Виктору и св. Иоанну Кассиану. В 60-х гг. XIV в. Римский папа Урбан V , бывш. аббат Сен-Виктора, канонизировал И. и перенес мощи святого из крипты в верхнюю церковь. Во время Французской революции 1789-1799 гг. мон-рь был закрыт, надгробие И. помещено в городском музее (впосл. возвращено в церковь). До кон. XIX в. почитание И. сохранялось в еп-ствах Памье и Марсель, где его память праздновалась под соответственно 25 и 26 сент. Ист.: BHL, N 4477; ActaSS. Sept. T. 6. P. 736-749; Guérard B. E. Ch. Cartulaire de l " abbaye de St.-Victor de Marseille. P., 1857. T. 2; Favreau R. Corpus des inscriptions de la France médiévale. P., 1989. Vol. 14: Alpes-Maritimes, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var. P. 99-102. Лит.: Histoire littéraire de la France. P., 1749. T. 7. P. 556-558; Guérard B. E. Ch. Cartulaire de l " abbaye de St.-Victor de Marseille. P., 1857. T. 1. P. xxiii-xxiv; Rey G., de. Les saints de l " église de Marseille. Marseille, 1885. P. 185-204; Rouillard Ph. Isarno//BiblSS. Vol. 7. Col. 945-946; Amargier P. Les «Scriptores» du XIe siècle à St.-Victor de Marseille//Scriptorium. Brux. etc., 1978. Vol. 32. Pt. 2. P. 213-220; idem. Un moine pour notre temps. Marseille, 1982; S igal P.-A. Le travail des hagiographes aux XIe et XIIe siècles//Francia, 1987. Zürich etc., 1988. Bd. 15. P. 149-182; Lauwers M. Un écho des polémiques antiques?: À Saint-Victor de Marseille à la fin du XIe siècle//Inventer l " hérésie?: Discours polémiques et pouvoirs avant l " Inqisition/Éd. M. Zerner. Nice, 1998. P. 57-66; Mazel F. La noblesse et l " Église en Provence, fin Xe - début XIVe siècle. Aix-en-Provence, 2002. P. 164-169. В. С. Ярных Рубрики: Ключевые слова: ДОМИНИК († 1072 или 1073), католич. св. (пам. зап. 20 дек., перенесение мощей - 5 янв. (с 1954 - 11 сент.)), настоятель мон-ря Силос (близ г. Бургос, Испания) ЕВГЕНД (ок. 450 - ок. 510), прп. (пам. зап. 1 янв.; в архиеп-стве Безансон и еп-стве Сен-Клод - 4 янв.), настоятель мон-ря Кондадискон ЕВСТАСИЙ (ок. 560-629), ученик прп. Колумбана, настоятель мон-ря Луксовий (на месте совр. г. Люксёй-ле-Бен, Франция), прп. (пам. зап. 29 марта) |
| 95 Irenaeus calls Victor’s attention to Florinus’ books, ‘that for the sake of your reputation you may expel these writings from among you, as bringing disgrace upon you, since their author boasts himself as being one of your company. For they constitute a stumbling-block to many, who simply and unreservedly receive, as coming from a presbyter, the blasphemy which they utter against God’ (Fragment 51, ANF; Syriac Fragment 28). 96 It was not, then, simply that Irenaeus disapproved of the contents of Florinus’s writings–he disapproved of the contents of any number of heretical books, as we know from Against Heresies. Florinus’ books were not rival Gospels; they were not books which were in any sense contenders for inclusion in the canon. What was it, then, that moved Irenaeus to advise that Victor ‘expel’ these particular books from his midst? Evidently it was that Florinus was still passing himself off as a presbyter of the Roman church in fellowship with Victor, thus gaining for himself an illegitimate endorsement, as well as bringing notoriety to the church in Rome. This fits a pattern noticed by Irenaeus and confirmed by other evidence, that Valentinians considered themselves free to confess in public the doctrines of the mainstream church but to teach in private things which were diametrically at odds with them (AH 3.15.2). Irenaeus requests that Victor ‘expel’ this man’s writings from his midst. Irenaeus’ words may mean that if some of Florinus’ books should have somehow slipped into the Roman church’s library, they ought to be removed. Perhaps Victor would go as far as to issue a public disavowal of the writings and a warning to house churches in fellowship with Victor not to read or be taken in by them. Yet not even here is there any instruction, much less any ‘demand’, to destroy these books. At this point in history, as Raymond Starr points out, even the emperor had trouble pulling off such a demand. Because books were all copied by hand and privately circulated, ‘suppression or official discouragement could never be entirely successful nor were they expected to be. When a book was removed or barred by order of the emperor from the imperial public libraries, the author would be disgraced, but his writings were not destroyed, since they could still circulate in private hands.’ 97 Needless to say, no church – not Irenaeus’s church in Lyons nor the church in Rome – had anything resembling the kind of imperial power (the kind which would later be exercised against Christians by the Roman government) to search out private copies of a detested book, seize them, and destroy them. In sum, Irenaeus did not demand that congregations destroy any Gospels, alleged apostolic letters, or revelations he had not ‘chosen’ for them. Sex, Lies, and Anti-heretical Tracts |
| Gregory of Nyssa, St (c.330 – c.395): Greek Father. Extracts from his writings: From Glory to Glory, ed. J. Danielou and H. Misurillo (London, 1962; St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, New York, 1979). Gregory Palamas, St (1296–1359): Archbishop of Thessalonica, Greek Father, defender of the Hesychast tradition of prayer. See J. Meyendorf, A Study of Gregory Palomas (London, 1964; St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, New York, 1974) and St Gregory Palamas and Orthodox Spirituality (St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, New York, 1974). Gregory the Theologian, St (329–89): commonly known in the west as ‘Gregory of Nazianzus’, one of the three ‘Great Hierarchs’. His celebrated Theological Orations may be found in Eng. tr. in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. vii (Oxford, 1894). Hermas (2nd century): author of The Shepherd, to be found in J.B. Lightfoot (tr.), The Apostolic Fathers (London, 1891). Ignatii (Brianchaninov), Bishop (1807–67): Russian spiritual writer, author of On the Prayer of Jesus (London, 1952) and The Arena (Madras, 1970), both translated by Archimandrite Lazarus (Moore). Ioannikios, St (c.754 – c.846): Greek ascetic, monk at Mount Olympus in Asia Minor, opponent of the Iconoclasts. Irenaeus of Lyons, St (c.130 – c.200): Greek Father, a native of Asia Minor; knew St Polycarp of Smyrna; in later life Bishop of Lyons. Besides a long work Against the Heresies, he wrote a short Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, tr. J.A. Robinson (London, 1900). Isaac the Syrian, St (late 7th century): Bishop of Nineveh, Syriac Father. His Mystic Treatises are tr. by A.J. Wensinck (Amsterdam, 1923). Isaias of Sketis, St (died 489): Greek monk, first in Egypt and subsequently in Palestine. John Chrysostom, St (c. 347 – 407): Archbishop of Constantinople, Greek Father, one of the three ‘Great Hierarchs’. The best known of his many writings is On the Priesthood, tr. G. Neville (London, 1964; St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, New York, 1977). John Climacus, St (?579 – ?649): also known as ‘John of the Ladder’; Greek spiritual writer, abbot of Sinai, author of The Ladder of Divine Ascent, tr. Archimandrite Lazarus (Moore) (London, 1959). |
| Endnotes Quoted in Archbishop Basil Krivocheine, In the Light of Christ (Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1986), p. 386. Clark Carlton, The Life: The Orthodox Doctrine of Salvation (Salisbury, Mass.: Regina Orthodox Press, 2000), pp. 163-64. Harry M. Boosalis, Orthodox Spiritual Life according to St. Silouan the Athonite (South Canaan, Pa.: St. Tikhon’s Seminary Press, 2000), p. 19. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans, in The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), First Series, vol. 11, Homily 20, p. 496. Ibid. Abbess Thaisia: An Autobiography (Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1989), pp. 167-69. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans , Homily 20, p. 497. St. Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homilies , Homily 2, quoted in St. Ignatius Brianchaninov, The Arena: An Offering to Contemporary Monasticism (Jordanville, N.Y., Holy Trinity Monastery, 1983), pp. 169-70. St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Romans , Homily 20, pp. 497-98. Ibid., p. 498. Ibid. See, for example, St. Gregory Palamas, “Topics of Natural and Theological Science,” and Nikitas Stithatos, “On Spiritual Knowledge,” in The Philokalia, vol. 4 (London: Faber and Faber, 1995), pp. 357, 139-40). St. Diadochos of Photiki, “On Spiritual Knowledge and Discrimination,” in The Philokalia, vol. 1 (London: Faber and Faber, 1979), p. 260. St. Theophan the Recluse, The Path of Prayer (Newbury, Mass.: Praxis Institute Press, 1992), pp. 6-7. St. Theophan the Recluse, The Spiritual Life and How to Be Attuned to It, third edition (Safford, Arizona: St. Paisius Serbian Orthodox Monastery, 2003), pp. 191-93. Cf. Fr. Seraphim Rose, “ In Step with Sts. Patrick and Gregory of Tours ,” The Orthodox Word, no. 136 (1987), pp. 272-73. Abbot Jonah (Paffhausen), “A Vision of Contemporary Monasticism: Valaam and Fr. Sophrony, from Psychology to Spirituality,” Divine Ascent, no. 9 (2004), pp. 9-10. Source: Orthodox Christian Information Center Code for blog Since you are here… |
| c. 1296–1359 St Gregory Palamas, Archbishop of Thessaloniki, defender of the Hesychasts c. 1314–92 St Sergius of Radonezh, founder of Holy Trinity monastery near Moscow c. 1322–90 St Nicolas Cabasilas, lay theologian, Hesychast 1340–96 St Stephen of Perm, scholar and missionary to the Zyrians 1341, 1347, 1351 Councils in Constantinople uphold Gregory Palamas " s teaching Patriarchate of Pe (Serbia) established by St Sava Battle of Kulikovo: Russian prince St Dimitri Donskoi defeats Tartars Battle of Kosovo: Serbian prince St Lazar defeated by Turks 1433–1508 St Nil Sorsky, Hesychast, «Non-Possessor» 1438–9 Council of Florence-Ferrara: official end of schism between Rome and Eastern Churches (but overturned in 1484) 1439–40 – 1515 St Joseph of Volokolamsk, abbot, «Possessor» Autocephaly of Church of Russia Constantinople falls to Turks Serbia falls to Turks Ottoman Turks occupy Syria and Egypt 1572–1638 Cyril Loukaris, author of Calvinist-leaning «Confession» 1573–81 Lutheran scholars in correspondence with Patriarch Jeremias II First Patriarch of Russia elected Union of Brest: creation of uniate church in Ukraine; establishment of lay " brotherhoods» in Kiev to defend Orthodoxy 1597–1646 Peter Mogila, Westernising metropolitan of Kiev 1625–72 Various «Orthodox confessions» Liturgical reforms of Patriarch Nikon of Moscow: " Old Believer» schism Moscow Patriarchate abolished by Peter the Great 1722–94 St Paisius Velichkovsky, translator of the Philokalia into Slavonic (1793) Schism in Antioch: " Melkites» unite with Rome 1749–1809 St Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain: publication of the Philokalia and the Rudder 1759–1833 St Seraphim of Sarov, monk, spiritual father Russian mission to Alaska: St Herman Greece liberated from Ottoman empire " Slavophile» movement in Russia; Alexei Khomiakov, 1804–60 Ottoman massacres in Syria prompt emigration of Christians 1853–1900 Vladimir Soloviev, religious philosopher Russian mission to Japan: St Nicholas (Kasatkin) of Tokyo late 19th century |
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