| Photo: romfea.gr Each week during Lent, as you know, I’ve been writing about the rich depth of our Orthodox spirituality. A few weeks ago, I talked about how fasting opens us up to others ( click here ), and, last week, I spoke about how confession allows us to experience God’s loving mercy ( click here ). But, the mystery, par excellence , is communion! If, as Orthodox Christians, we understand salvation as union with God (theosis or deification), then communion is the pinnacle of our spirituality! The word says it all—”communion” is a Latin word that means, “fellowship, mutual participation, or sharing.” When we commune, we take Christ into ourselves and we are transformed into the Body of Christ. Or, to put it another way, we find union with Christ and begin to share in his life. Sometimes, people ask me: “What’s the gospel … the Good News?” What it isn’t, is just an ethical system. It’s much more than that. The Good News is actually the proclamation of Christ’s triumph over death, which leads to the transformation of the world: new creation. This, brothers and sisters, is what we call the Kingdom of God. If God had a “mission statement” it would probably be something like: To destroy death by death so that everyone may experience new creation in the form of resurrection! Communion, therefore, is an opportunity to step forward and embrace God’s vision of new creation, to experience a foretaste of God’s new world. If we hold back, we’re not only excommunicating ourselves from God (yikes!), but we’re saying “no” to the Kingdom. In other words, we’ve excluded ourselves from the grand vision God has planned out for us. (F.Y.I., if a priest serves Divine Liturgy and doesn’t take communion, he is defrocked! And, isn’t the priest an example—though flawed by his own unworthiness—for us all?) Yes, the spiritual life begins with a change of heart (μετνοια or repentance, which finds it’s pinnacle in confession), but it is sustained through a regular encounter with Christ when we commune at the Heavenly Banquet (another name for the Divine Liturgy). |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy His Holiness Patriarch Kirill opens conference on primacy and conciliarity in Orthodoxy On September 16, 2021, the conference on “World Orthodoxy: Primacy and Conciliarity in the Light of Orthodox Teaching” began its work at the St. Sergius Hall of the Cathedral Church of Christ the Saviour in Moscow. The forum was organized and promoted by the Synodal Biblical-Theological Commission, the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Ss Cyril and Methodius Institute of Post-Graduate and Doctoral Studies. The event is held with the support of the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage. The conference was opened with the introductory remarks of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Pointing to the topicality of the theme under consideration, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church stressed, “The state of affairs in the family of the Local Orthodox Churches is of much concern. The situation as it has developed in the Orthodox world can be assessed as critical. An evident testimony to the crisis are serious differences among the Orthodox Christians over our understanding of the order of the Universal Orthodoxy - what we mean by primacy and conciliarity, how we correlate the canonical order of the Church and actions in the area of church governance”. His Holiness pointed out that an influence of certain political forces can be perceived in this crisis. “It cannot be denied that in the world there are those who would like to destroy the foundations of the Orthodox life, to sow division and enmity between nations and Churches”, Patriarch Kirill said, “And there is quite an evident trend to create a dividing wall, if not altogether to tear away the Greek Orthodoxy, the Mediterranean Orthodoxy fr om the Slavic Orthodoxy, and first of all, fr om the Russian Orthodox Church, that is to say, to reproduce the model of the 1054 schism and thus weaken the Orthodox Church, which carries out and is capable of carrying out the prophetic service - such service, I am not afraid to say. as few of other Christian confessions are able to do - first of all by assessing all that is happening to the human civilization”. |
| 1) it cites the prayers of the deacon’s vesture, but omits those of the priest; 2) it opens the commemorations of the third prosphora with a mention of the Life-giving Cross and the angelic powers; 3) it welcomes the deacon to commemorate those he wants to right after the priest, instructing him to extract particles from prosphoras as had the priest. The reasons for the omission of the priestly vesting prayers are unclear. Actually, many of the manuscripts of the Athonite translation of the Diataxis contain them, but the number of the manuscripts without them is considerable (including the one I am discussing here, Athos Agiou Pavlou 149). These prayers are also omitted in the Greek Athos Pantel. 770 (49), so it is more probable that they were not cited in the original text (if Athos Pantel. 770 (49) is not the original text), and in the manuscripts which have them they are a later addition, made for convenience. The presence of only the deaconal vesting prayers in the original text of the Diataxis could mean that Philotheos Kokkinos composed his Diataxis while being a deacon – or at a request of some deacon. The commemorations of the third prosphora in current Slavonic practice open with the name of St. John the Baptist. In current Greek practice – with the names of Michael and Gabriel together with the angelic powers. This issue has been a subject of theological reflection in several publications 31 . One of the central questions concerning this is the following: What is the sense of commemorating the angels during the Prothesis if the sacrifice of Golgotha and, therefore, of the Eucharist was offered not for them but for the human race? I am not going to criticize nor praise any of the positions. The revised redaction of the Philothean Diataxis according to Athos Vatop. 133 (744) etc. supports the Slavonic practice and opens the commemorations with the name of St. John the Baptist. It is the initial redaction of the Diataxis where the angelic powers are commemorated, and not only they, but even the Holy and Life-giving Cross! 32 It seems that at first Philotheos had simply followed the common practice, which is also described in the earlier anonymous Diataxis («Hermêneia») 33 , but later decided to refine it. Yet the peculiarity from the initial redaction remained in some Greek manuscripts and had already passed to the Athonite Slavonic translation of the Diataxis. |
| There are numerous practical ideas available and readily accessible today for parishes and families that choose to become aware of their ecological impact on the planet and on people. Indeed, some of our Orthodox parishes – and even more of our sister Christian congregations – have already undertaken initial steps or else made considerable progress toward this goal. Seeking their counsel, or offering our advice to others, is undoubtedly a fundamental form of sharing and communion. Alternatively, parishes may consult professional environmental and energy auditors, often freely at the disposal of local communities. Parishes and parishioners can make a difference by becoming sensitive to what they use (energy-efficient light bulbs and heating/cooling systems), what they can reuse (recycled paper, bags, ink cartridges, glassware and cutlery), what they waste (electricity, water, heat, energy, even cups and plates), and what they do (carpooling or support of local products). Most importantly, however, we can all learn to do and live with less. In order to alter our self-image, what is required is nothing less than a radical reversal of our perspectives and practices. The balance of the world has been shattered. The ecological crisis will not be solved with sentimental slogans or smiley stickers but by proposing self-denial as a solution to self-centeredness or selfishness, by learning to exercise self-control or self-restraint, by the ability to say “no” or “enough.” Here, I think, lies the heart of the problem. For we are unwilling – in fact, violently resist any call – to adopt simpler lifestyles. We have misplaced the spirituality of frugality and abstinence. The challenge is this: How do we live in such a way that promotes harmony – not division? How can we acknowledge – daily – “the earth as the Lord’s” (Psalm 23.1)? This means that stewardship opens up more than simply our pockets and our hands to charitable institutions and tax-deductible options. It opens up our eyes and our hearts to proper and harmonious relations among all of God’s creatures. Learning to give up in a spirit of self-control implies learning to give in a spirit of sharing. It is learning to live in such a way that communicates gratitude and generosity, not avarice and greed. Am I Accountable? |
| Нажмите для раскрытия... Господи, упокой душу рабы Твоей Ирины! Даруй ей Царствие Небесное! Вечная память! Не знаю, как жить, не хочу жить. Понимаю, что внуку я нужна, но ничего не могу с собой поделать. С каждым днём всё больше плачу и страдаю, дочь очень жалко..... Нажмите для раскрытия... Господи, упокой душу рабы Твоей Леры! Даруй ей Царствие Небесное! Вечная память! Господи, спаси и сохрани младенца Михаила! Молитва об исцелении от уныния: Здравствуйте, я тоже потеряла 2 месяца назад единственного сына 9 лет ДТП,и ничего не может помочь что бы не сойти с ума!!Давайте поддерживать друг друга.А нашим деткам Царствие Небесного! Нажмите для раскрытия... Здравствуйте, Юлия три дня назад я потеряла своего сыночка 15 лет, 25 дней реанимации, ДТП, как я вам сочувствую. Ничто не сможет унять эту боль Здравствуйте, Юлия три дня назад я потеряла своего сыночка 15 лет, 25 дней реанимации, ДТП, как я вам сочувствую. Ничто не сможет унять эту боль Нажмите для раскрытия... Альвина , примите мои соболезнования,я понимаю каждую секунду ,которую вы сейчас проживаете ,нет тех слов ,которые вас сейчас успокоят . Слова держись ,крепись только вызывают еще большую боль . Но я скажу не держись и крепись ,а терпите эту боль пока ,просто терпите с молитвой о помощи к ГОСПОДУ ,Божьей Матери . По денечку ,по шажочку .Пишите Альвина , примите мои соболезнования,я понимаю каждую секунду ,которую вы сейчас проживаете ,нет тех слов ,которые вас сейчас успокоят . Слова держись ,крепись только вызывают еще большую боль . Но я скажу не держись и крепись ,а терпите эту боль пока ,просто терпите с молитвой о помощи к ГОСПОДУ ,Божьей Матери . По денечку ,по шажочку .Пишите Нажмите для раскрытия... Спасибо, вы правильно говорите, нужно терпеть эту боль. Спасибо, вы правильно говорите, нужно терпеть эту боль. Нажмите для раскрытия... Всё померкло, хочется просто выть.. 22 июля 2020 года умерла моя старшая доченька... пролежала в коме 19 дней под ИВЛ. Не знала как это пережить...спасали младшие сын и дочь... Только заплачу, они бегут, обнимают, утешают. Младшая Настенька говорила,, мамочка не плачь...мы у тебя есть.,, А 25 марта мир снова рухнул...Настеньки не стало...Какая то тварь пожалел свою машину и наехал на неё когда она садилась в автобус на остановке...ей было всего 11 лет...Как жить дальше...? Говорят кого бог любит, того и испытывает... Но за два года двух дочерей потерять...Старшая Викулька не дожила до 30 лет два месяца...Настенька почти три..6 июня ей было бы 12... ПОЧЕМУ?? ЗА ЧТО??? Я в отчаянии... |
| Phillips, «Samaritan Woman Meets Derrida» Phillips, Gary A. «The Ethics of Reading Deconstructively, or Speaking Face-to-Face: The Samaritan Woman Meets Derrida at the Wel1.» Pages 283–325 in The New Literary Criticism and the New Testament. Edited by Edgar V. McKnight and Elizabeth Struthers Malbon. Valley Forge, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1994; Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994. Philonenko, «Initiation» Philonenko, Marc. «Initiation et mystère dans Joseph et Asénath.» Pages 147–53 in Initiation: Contributions to the Theme of the Study-Conference of the International Association for the History of Religions Held at Strasburg, September 17th to 22nd 1964. Edited by C. J. Bleeker. Studies in the History of Religions, Supplements to Numen 10. Leiden: Brill, 1965. Philonenko, «Juda» Philonenko, Marc. «Juda et Herakles.» Revue d " histoire et de philosophie religieuses 50 (1970): 61–62. Philonenko, «Mystère» Philonenko, Marc. «Un mystère juif?» Pages 65–75 in Mystères et syncrétismesby Françoise Dunand et a1. Études d " histoire des religions 2. Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1975. Philonenko, «Qoumrân» Philonenko, Marc. «De Qoumrân à Doura-Europos: La vision des ossements desséchés (Ezechiel 37,1–1).» Revue d " histoire et de philosophie religieuses 74 (1994): 1–12. Pilch, «Lying» Pilch, John J. «Lying and Deceit in the Letters to the Seven Churches.» Biblical Theology Bulletin 22 (1992): 126–35. Pilch, «Ribs» Pilch, John J. « «Beat His Ribs While He Is Young» ( Sir 30:12 ): A Window on the Mediterranean World.» Biblical Theology Bulletin 23 (1993): 101–13. Pilch, «Sickness» Pilch, John J. «Sickness and Healing in Luke-Acts.» Pages 181–209 in The Social World of Luke-Acts: Models for Interpretation. Edited by Jerome H. Neyrey. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1991. Pilgaard, »Theios aner» Pilgaard, Aage. «The Hellenistic theios aner–a Model for Early Christian Christology?» Pages 101–22 in The New Testament and Hellenistic Judaism. Edited by Peder Borgen and Soren Giversen. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1997. |
| 44 Chiefly Eric Turner, The Typology of the Early Codex (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977). Turner’s data has been analysed insightfully by Hurtado, Earliest Christian Artifacts. 46 C. H. Roberts, Manuscript, Society and Belief (London: Oxford University Press, 1979), 10 – 11; Gamble, Books and Readers, 235 – 6. 47 D. Liihrmann and P. J. Parsons, in R. A. Coles et al. (eds.), Oxyrhynchus Papyri LX (London: Egypt Exploration Society, 1994), 1. 48 The dimensions of the existing fragment are 8.9 by 9.9 cm, but using C. H. Roberts’s calculations about the original length of the column, one may say that the original dimensions of the codex were about 8.9 by 13.4 cm. Hurtado, Earliest Christian Artifacts, 163, considers ‘compact’ codices, the next step up from ‘miniatures’, to be between about 10 – 15 cm wide and 15 – 20 cm high. 49 Harry Y. Gamble, Books and Readers in the Early Church: A History of Early Christian Texts (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995), 231 – 7, argues that most of the Christian texts which exist in the miniature format are apocryphal works. This, however, was denied by Thomas J. Kraus, at the meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, November 2007. There are more miniature codices of biblical than of non-biblical texts, just as there are more ‘regular’-sized codices of biblical than of non-biblical texts. 50 Even Ehrman has acknowledged that ‘most of the early Christian texts do appear to have been produced for public reading, as suggested, for instance, by their frequent employment of lectional aides: accents, breathing marks, and occasional separation of words’: ‘The Text as Window: New Testament Manuscripts and the Social History of Early Christianity’, in Bart D. Ehrman and Michael W. Holmes (eds.), The Text of the New Testament in Contemporary Research: Essays on the Status Quaestionis. A Volume in Honor of Bruce M. Metzger (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1995), 361 – 79, at 373. Study of the size of the manuscripts only seems to confirm this observation with regard to the Gospels. |
| Morris, Judgment Morris, Leon. The Biblical Doctrine of Judgment. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1960. Morris, Lectionaries Morris, Leon. The New Testament and the Jewish Lectionaries. London: Tyndale, 1964. Morris, Luke Morris, Leon. The Gospel according to St. Luke. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974. Morris, Romans Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988. Morris, Studies Morris, Leon. Studies in the Fourth Gospe1. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1969. Morris, Thessalonians Morris, Leon. The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians. New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1959. Morton and MacGregor, Structure Morton, A. Q., and G. H. C. MacGregor. The Structure of Luke and Acts. New York: Harper & Row, 1964. Moses, Transfiguration Story Moses, A. D. A. Matthew " s Transfiguration Story and Jewish-Christian Controversy. ISNTSup 122. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996. Mosley, «Reporting» Mosley, A. W. «Historical Reporting in the Ancient World.» NTS 12 (1965–1966): 10–26. Moss, «Lamp» Moss, L. W. «A Menorah Lamp from Atripalda.» IEJ 25 (1975): 156. Most, «Luke» Most, William G. «Did St. Luke Imitate the Septuagint?» JSNT 15 (1982): 30–41. Motyer, «Anti-Semitic» Motyer, Stephen. «Is lohn " s Gospel Anti-Semitic?» Themelios 23 (1998): 1–4. Motyer, Father the Devil Motyer, Stephen. Your Father the Devil? A New Approach to John and " The Jews.» Carlisle: Paternoster, 1997. Motyer, «Method» Motyer, Stephen. «Method in Fourth Gospel Studies: A Way out of the Impasse?» JSNT 66 (1997): 27–44. Motyer, «New Start» Motyer, Stephen. «The Fourth Gospel and the Salvation of Israel: An Appea-for a New Start.» Pages 92–110 in Anti-Judaism and the Fourth Gospel: Papers of the Leuven Colloquium, 2000. Edited by R. Bieringer, D. Pollefeyt, and F. Vandecasteele-Vanneuville. Assen: Royal Van Gorcum, 2001. Moulder, «Background» Moulder, W. J. «The Old Testament Background and the Interpretation of Mark X.45 .» NTS 24 (1977–1978): 120–27. |
| Pannenberg, W. Jesus – God and Man. London: SCM Press, 1968. Pannenberg, W. Toward a Theology of Nature: Essays on Science and Faith. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 1993. Peacocke, A. Theology for a Scientific Age: Being and Becoming – Natural and Divine. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993. Pelikan, J. Christianity and Classical Culture: The Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993. Penrose, R. The Emperor’s New Mind. New York: Oxford University Press, 1989. Penrose, R. “Singularities and Time-Asymmetry.” In General Relativity: An Einstein Centenary Survey, ed. S. W. Hawking and W. Israel, pp. 581 – 638. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979. Penrose, R., with A. Shimony, N. Cartwright, and S. Hawking. The Large, the Small and the Human Mind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997. Petrosky, T., and I. Prigogine. “Thermodynamic Limit, Hilbert Space and Breaking of Time Symmetry.” Chaos, Solitons and Fractals 11 (2000) pp. 373 – 382. Plass, P. C. “Timeless Time in Neoplatonism.” Modern Schoolman 55 (November 1977): pp. 1 – 19. Poincaré, H. Méthhodes nouvelles de la mécanique céleste. 1892. Reprint, New York: Dover, 1957. Polkinghorne, J. Belief in God in an Age of Science. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998. Prestige, G. L. God in Patristic Thought. London: SPCK, 1955. Prigogine, I. From Being to Becoming. New York: Freeman, 1980. Prigogine, I. “La redécouverte du temps.” L’Homme 28:4 (1988): pp. 5 – 26. Prigogine, I. “What Is Time?” In Metaphysics as Foundation: Essays in Honor of Ivor Leclerc, ed. P. A. Bogaard and G. Treash, pp. 285 – 294. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. Prigogine, I. “Why Irreversibility? The Formulation of Classical and Quantum Mechanics for Nonintegrable Systems.” International Journal of Quantum Chemistry 53 (1995): pp. 105 – 118. Prigogine, I., and I. Stengers. Order out of Chaos. London: Heinemann, 1984. Russell, R. J., N. Murphy, and C. J. Isham, eds. Quantum Cosmology and the Laws of Nature. |
| 45; 13 (spring 1990): pp. 1 – 5. C. General Bibliography Allchin, A. M. “The Appeal to Experience in the Triads of St. Gregory Palamas.” In Studia Patristica, vol. 8, pp. 323 – 328. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1966. Armstrong, A. H., and R. A. Markus. Christian Faith and Greek Philosophy. London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1964. Arnold, V. I., and A. Avez. Ergodic Problems of Classical Mechanics. New York: Benjamin, 1968. Balaguer, M. Platonism and Anti-Platonism in Mathematics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Balas, D. “Metousia Theou: Man’s Participation in God’s Perfection according to St. Gregory of Nyssa.” In Studia Anselmiana, vol. 55, pp. 1 – 185. Rome: Herder, 1966. Balashov, Y. V. “Resource Letter AP-1: The Anthropic Principle.” American Journal of Physics 59:12 (1991): pp. 1069 – 76. Balashov, Y. V. “Transcendental Background to the Anthropic Reasoning in Cosmology.” Man and World 25 (1992): pp. 115 – 132. Barbour, I. G. Religion in an Age of Science. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990. Barbour, I. G. “Ways of Relating Science and Theology.” In Physics, Philosophy and Theology: A Common Quest for Understanding, ed. R. J. Russell et al., pp. 21 – 48. Vatican City State: Vatican Observatory, 1988. Barrow, J. D. The Artful Universe. Oxford: Clarendon, 1995. Barrow, J. D. Between Inner Space and Outer Space: Essays on Science, Art and Philosophy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Barrow, J. D. “Unprincipled Cosmology.” Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astrological Society 34 (1993): pp. 117 – 134. Barrow, J. D., and F. J. Tipler. The Anthropic Cosmological Principle. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Berthold, G. C., trans. Maximus Confessor: Selected Writings. New York: Paulist Press, 1985. Bohr, N. Atomic Physics and Human Knowledge. New York: Wiley, 1959. Bolgar, R. R. The Classical Heritage and Its Beneficiaries from the Carolingian Age to the End of the Renaissance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1954. Brilluoin, L. Science and Information Theory. New York: Academic Press, 1956. |
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