| First Divine Liturgy in Smyrna Since 1922 Source: Greek Reporter Natalya Mihailova 20 August 2014 Members of the Greek Orthodox Community in Smyrna had a unique and memorable experience on Sunday, when they attended the first Divine Liturgy that has taken place in the area since the Catastrophe of Smyrna in 1922. The service was held at the renovated church of St. Voukolos. The church is dedicated to the patron saint of Smyrna and it is the only Greek Orthodox church that did not burn in the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922. St. Voukolos is located in the district of Basmane and was recently renovated by the City of Smyrna. After the Catastrophe of Smyrna, the church has been used as a warehouse, a concert hall for classical music and operas, an archaeological museum and an antiquities storage space, until recently, when it was renovated. The Greek Orthodox Community of Smyrna welcomed the event with excitement and joy as they always hoped to be able to use the temple for religious ceremonies. Tweet Donate Share Code for blog First Divine Liturgy in Smyrna Since 1922 Natalya Mihailova The church is dedicated to the patron saint of Smyrna and it is the only Greek Orthodox church that did not burn in the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922. St. Voukolos is located in the district of Basmane and was recently renovated by the City of Smyrna. After the Catastrophe of Smyrna, the church ... Since you are here… …we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong. Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable. |
| Lessons from Byzantium The Byzantine Empire’s long run — 1,100 years — may seem remote from the 21st century, but a reading of its history offers at least three timeless lessons. Understanding some of the fatal weaknesses in the Eastern Roman Empire may help clarify the political and economic problems that America faces today and the choices we have in responding to them. Founded in 330 by the emperor Constantine, the eastern half of the Roman Empire was centered in Constantinople, the New Rome. By the fourth century, the empire had endured more than a century of instability, internecine warfare, and economic decline. In that context Rome’s eastern lands, arcing around Asia Minor, the Levant, and northern Africa, were especially attractive, being richer and more settled than the comparatively backward parts of western Europe. It was in part to assure continued access to these sources of wealth that Constantine relocated his capital. By A.D. 476, Rome had been overrun by barbarian tribes, and before long only Constantinople in the East had a seat for the emperors. The first lesson for America to take from the history of Byzantium is about individualism and freedom. While it was no democracy, nonetheless Byzantium flourished when it allowed its citizens, and particularly its soldiers, greater individual freedom and responsibility. Beginning in the early 7th century, Emperor Heraclius moved from the traditional reliance on the provinces and their civilian governors and instead established large military zones, or “themes,” in Asia Minor, which was now the backbone of the empire. Centralization was maintained through the appointment of a single official with both civil and military responsibilities, but the real innovation of the themes was how the land was settled by imperial troops. In essence, the soldiers became permanent farmers who could be called on for military service yet would be self-sustaining. They relieved the empire of the necessity of recruiting and paying expensive and often unreliable foreign mercenaries. Moreover, while becoming the most effective frontier defense the state had ever known, as individual landholders they added enormously to the productive capacity and wealth of the empire by cultivating their tracts of farmland. |
| “Christ waits for faith from us” The life and instructions of Gerontissa Macrina (Vassoloulou) (1921-1995) Olga Rozhneva Gerontissa Macrina was the abbess of the Monastery of Panagia Hodigitria near the city of Volos, a spiritual child of Elder Joseph the Hesychast ( † 1959) and Elder Ephraim of Philotheou and Arizona. Gerontissa led monasteries founded with the blessing of Elder Joseph the Hesychast for more than thirty years, from 1963 to 1995. She acquired numerous spiritual gifts and was blessed with high spiritual states. “She was a person of unceasing prayer” Gerontissa Macrina Gerontissa lead a difficult life, full of sorrows. She was born in 1921 in a village not far from the infamous city of Smyrna in Asia Minor. Just a year after her birth the city and its surroundings suffered a terrible tragedy, becoming the final episode in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922. September 9, 1922 Turkish soldiers entered into Smyrna (modern-day Izmir) and organized a terrible slaughter of the Christian population of the city. During the slaughter and ensuing fire around 200,000 people were killed. The remaining Christians left Smyrna, and the city became completely Turkish. Gerontissa’s family miraculously survived a catastrophe in Asia Minor—the expulsion of the indigenous Greek population from these places, from their ancient homelands—and managed to relocate to Greece. The fate of around 1,500,000 Greek immigrants and refugees in war-torn Greece was very difficult. A great number of people died of starvation and sickness. Gerontissa Markella, from the Monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos “Lifegiving Spring” (Dunlap, CA) spoke about Gerontissa Macrina’s parents: “Her parents, mother and father, were very spiritual people. Once her father told her: ‘I will die this year, on Clean Monday. And your mother will die next year.’ And so it happened. Great Lent began, and he died, and a year later her mother died.” The ten-year-old girl was obliged to work for any amount in order to feed herself and her young brother. |
| Is Our Copy of the Bible a Reliable Copy of the Original? Introduction Many skeptics believe that the Bible has been drastically changed over the centuries. In reality, the Bible has been translated into a number of different languages (first Latin, then English and other languages, see History of the Bible). However, the ancient manuscripts (written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek) have been reliably copied over the centuries - with very few alterations. Old Testament How do we know the Bible has been kept intact for over 2,000 years of copying? Before the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, our earliest Hebrew copy of the Old Testament was the Masoretic text, dating around 800 A.D. The Dead Sea Scrolls date to the time of Jesus and were copied by the Qumran community, a Jewish sect living around the Dead Sea. We also have the Septuagint which is a Greek translation of the Old Testament dating in the second century B.C. When we compare these texts which have an 800-1000-year gap between them we are amazed that 95% of the texts are identical with only minor variations and a few discrepancies. New Testament There are tens of thousands of manuscripts from the New Testament, in part or in whole, dating from the second century A.D. to the late fifteenth century, when the printing press was invented. These manuscripts have been found in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Greece, and Italy, making collusion unlikely. The oldest manuscript, the John Rylands manuscript, has been dated to 125 A.D. and was found in Egypt, some distance from where the New Testament was originally composed in Asia Minor. Many early Christian papyri, discovered in 1935, have been dated to 150 A.D., and include the four gospels. The Papyrus Bodmer II, discovered in 1956, has been dated to 200 A.D., and contains 14 chapters and portions of the last seven chapters of the gospel of John. The Chester Beatty biblical papyri, discovered in 1931, has been dated to 200-250 A.D. and contains the Gospels, Acts, Paul's Epistles, and Revelation. The number of manuscripts is extensive compared to other ancient historical writings, such as Caesar's " Gallic Wars " (10 Greek manuscripts, the earliest 950 years after the original), the " Annals " of Tacitus (2 manuscripts, the earliest 950 years after the original), Livy (20 manuscripts, the earliest 350 years after the original), and Plato (7 manuscripts). |
| Bishop John Kallos, 84: First U.S.-Born Greek Orthodox Bishop Michelle E. Shaw 07 December 2012 Bishop John Kallos dedicated his life to the Greek Orthodox Church. During his nearly 60 years of service to the church, including more than 40 as a bishop, Kallos assisted in the church’s growth in Atlanta and beyond. “Bishop John was instrumental in bringing the diocese’s headquarters to Atlanta,” said the Very Rev. George Tsahakis, chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta. “He once told me, ‘Father George, every time I wanted to visit a parish in Florida, I had to go from Charlotte to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to Florida.’ ” So he recommended to the archdiocese in New York that the headquarters be moved to Atlanta because he seemed to spend a lot of time coming through Atlanta.” John Christodoulos Kallos, of Tucker, died Saturday after a brief decline in health. He was 84. Services have been scheduled Friday at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Annunciation as follows, 8 a.m. Orthros, 9 a.m. Hierarchical Divine Liturgy, followed by an 11 a.m. funeral. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery. A.S. Turner & Sons Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements. Kallos was well respected among the Greek Orthodox and other denominations, Tsahakis said. His love to, and commitment for, the church endeared the bishop to many. In a prepared statement, Archbishop Demetrios of America, the head of the church in America, said that Kallos had always been “a person with deep religious feelings and a desire to communicate his knowledge to the people for their edification and spiritual enrichment.” “We certainly will miss him as a witness of the eternal Orthodox faith,” he said. A native of Chicago, Kallos’ parents were from Alatsata in Asia Minor. An only child, he was reared in the Greater Boston area, where he studied religion and theology extensively. He earned his undergraduate degree from Boston College and studied at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological School in Massachusetts; the Divinity School, University of Athens in Greece; the Ecumenical Institute in Geneva, Switzerland; Huntingdon College in Alabama; Harvard Divinity School in Boston; and Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Mass. |
| Christian Genocide in the Middle East and Public Apathy in America: Looking Back on 2014 and Before Source: Hellenic American Leadership Council One of the last diplomats to leave Smyrna after the Turks set the great Anatolian port city ablaze in September 1922 was the United States’ Consul General, George Horton. Reflecting on the carnage and depravity of the Turkish forces tasked by Mustafa Kemal to destroy Smyrna’s Greeks and every physical semblance of their three-millennial presence in the magnificent city on the western littoral of Asia Minor, Horton wrote that “one of the keenest impressions which I brought away from Smyrna was a feeling of shame that I belonged to the human race.” The shame that Horton expressed stemmed from his shock and disgust, both as a witness to the Turks’ genocidal frenzy and as a diplomat aware that several Western governments, including his own, had contributed to the horrors that took place in Smyrna. One of the chief reasons that Turkey escaped responsibility for its crimes against humanity was the complicity, albeit indirect, of several of the Western powers in those crimes. During the First World War, the Allies condemned the Turkish nationalist leadership that controlled the Ottoman Empire for its acts of genocide. However, once the war ended, various Western Allied powers (most notably France, Italy, and the United States), in pursuit of commercial concessions from the Turks, entered into diplomatic understandings with the Turkish nationalists, pushed aside and buried the issue of genocide, and even provided military aid and support to Kemal’s regime, thereby enabling the founder of the Turkish Republic to complete by 1923 the bloody “nation-building” project begun by his colleagues in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Despite the duplicitous postwar actions of several Western governments, popular sentiment in those same societies was deeply sympathetic to the plight of Christians in the Ottoman Middle East. A remarkable variety of international relief and aid efforts emerged throughout the West, especially in the United States, in response to the humanitarian crisis produced by Turkey’s policy of annihilating its large Christian population. The extermination and expulsions of Christians—Armenians, Assyrians, and Greeks alike—in Turkey were widely reported in the United States, producing strident calls by several prominent diplomats, politicians, influential religious leaders, scholars, and the press to respond decisively to the crisis as a moral imperative and a Christian duty. Two years before the US even entered the war, Americans had answered this call to action by organizing the highly publicized, nationwide charity that would become known eventually as Near East Relief, which channeled millions of dollars in aid to Christian survivors of the genocide. |
| Christianity flourished in antiquity in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. In defiance of odds of a different kind, the odds of chance, a pair of physician brothers came into the service of Christ. Less than five hundred years later they were followed by two different sets of brothers of identical name and purpose in the service of the Lord. The result is that all six have become saints of the Church. Evidence of divine purpose in this succession of saints demonstrates that the precise science of mathematical probabilities has a hand in the spiritual affairs of mankind. The original pair of brothers were born Cosmas and Damian during the early years of the Christian Church. They were raised in comfortable circumstances in a comparatively wealthy family which saw to their thorough training of mind and body in Asia Minor. Endowed with keen intellect, the brothers became inseparable in common pursuit of the science of medicine. Both firmly believed that “of the most high cometh healing” and were aided in their work by religious devotion. As students they vowed to supply their medical skill without charge to a suffering Christian community and thereby prince and pauper alike were to feel the balm of their healing art. Dubbed the “unmercenaries” for their refusal to accept money for their services, they also came to be acknowledged as miracle workers for the remarkable cures they were able to effect. Their parents’ estate had provided for their well being, but it was to last them only through strict austerity; they could not afford any of the comforts which could have been theirs if they had chosen to charge their patients for their services. As time went on, the brothers’ love of the Savior became more and more evident, subordinating even their great devotion to medical science. The word miracle had a literal meaning for their great work as physicians, for only through the power of the Lord could they have brought about such healing of those afflicted with serious and often terminal illnesses. |
| Greatmartyr Theodore Stratelates “the General” Commemorated February 8/21 and June 8/21 The Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates came from the city of Euchaita in Asia Minor. He was endowed with many talents, and was handsome in appearance. For his charity God enlightened him with the knowledge of Christian truth. The bravery of the saintly soldier was revealed after he, with the help of God, killed a giant serpent living on a precipice in the outskirts of Euchaita. The serpent had devoured many people and animals, terrorizing the countryside. St Theodore armed himself with a sword and vanquished it, glorifying the name of Christ among the people. For his bravery St Theodore was appointed military commander [stratelatos] in the city of Heraclea, where he combined his military service with preaching the Gospel among the pagans subject to him. His gift of persuasion, reinforced by his personal example of Christian life, turned many from their false gods. Soon, nearly all of Heraclea had accepted Christianity. During this time the emperor Licinius (311-324) began a fierce persecution against Christians. In an effort to stamp out the new faith, he persecuted the enlightened adherents of Christianity, who were perceived as a threat to paganism. Among these was St Theodore. Licinius tried to force St Theodore to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. The saint invited Licinius to come to him with his idols so both of them could offer sacrifice before the people. Blinded by his hatred for Christianity, Licinius trusted the words of the saint, but he was disappointed. St Theodore smashed the gold and silver statues into pieces, which he then distributed to the poor. Thus he demonstrated the vain faith in soulless idols, and also displayed Christian charity. St Theodore was arrested and subjected to fierce and refined torture. He was dragged on the ground, beaten with iron rods, had his body pierced with sharp spikes, was burned with fire, and his eyes were plucked out. Finally, he was crucified. Varus, the servant of St Theodore, barely had the strength to write down the incredible torments of his master. |
| Life of St Nicholas the Wonderworker Commemorated May 9/27, December 6/19 'The truth of things hath revealed thee to thy flock as a rule of faith, an icon of meekness, and a teacher of temperance; for this cause, thou hast achieved the heights by humility, riches by poverty. O Father and Hierarch Nicholas, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.' So reads the troparion of St Nicholas, hierarch of the Church of Myra in Lycia (now Demra in Turkey), known as 'wonderworker' and 'father' throughout the Christian world. He is beloved in the Orthodox Church, and indeed far beyond, for his kindness, almsgiving and aid, meted out both during his earthly life and after. As one of the multitude of English lives of the saint joyously proclaims, 'he is one of the best known and best loved saints of all time.' And in another: 'The name of the great saint of God, the hierarch and wonderworker Nicholas, a speedy helper and suppliant for all hastening to him, is famed in every corner of the earth, in many lands and among many peoples. In Russia there are a multitude of cathedrals, monasteries and churches consecrated in his name. There is, perhaps, not a single city without a church dedicated to his honour.' Childhood and early life St Nicholas was born (c. 270) in the the region of Lycia (southern Asia Minor), in the city of Patara. His parents, Theophanes and Nonna, were both pious Christians, and being childless until his arrival, consecrated Nicholas to God at his birth (the name Nicholas meaning 'Conqueror of nations'). His birth considered by both an answer to their prayer, and especially the prayer issued during Nonna's illness, his mother was said to have been healed immediately after giving birth. Nicholas would always remember his parents' love and devotion to God, and in his later years promised to come to the aid of those who remembered them in their prayers. Various traditions recount signs of Nicholas' future glory as 'wonderworker' (Gr. thaumatourgos), apparent already in his earliest childhood. One recalls that as an infant in the baptismal font, Nicholas stood on his feet for three hours in honour of the Trinity. Another proclaims him a childhood faster, not accepting milk from his mother until after the conclusion of evening prayers on Wednesdays and Fridays. |
| May 19, Pontian Greek Genocide Remembrance Day Stella Tsolakidou 19 May 2013 May 18, 2013 In 1994, May 19 was selected by the Greek parliament as the day to commemorate the Pontian Greek Genocide by the Turks. The Pontic Genocide is one of the darkest moments inhistory not only for Greeks, but also for mankind. The Genocide vanished from its ancestral and historic homeland in Pontus a culturally vibrant and unique part of the Greek population that had been fighting for its survival for about 3,000 years. Records show a minimum 350,000 Pontian Greeks exterminated through systematic slaughter by Turkish troops, deportations involving death marches, starvation in labor and concentration camps, rapes and individual killings. Entire villages and cities were devastated, while thousands were forced to flee to neighboring countries. The Ottoman government’s plan to annihilate the Christian populations living within Turkey, including Greeks, Syrians and Armenians, during World War I was set into force in 1914 with the decree that all Pontian men aged between 18 to 50 would have to report to the military. Those who refused to do so, were ordered to be shot immediately. Among the causes for the Turkish campaign against the Greek population was a fear that the population would aid the Ottoman Empire’s enemies, and a belief among nationalist Turks that in order to form a modern nation state it was necessary to purge from the territories of the state those national groups who could threaten the integrity of a modern Turkish nation. With the guidance of German advisers the Turkish regime created the so called amele taburu (labor battalions) were the Pontian Greeks who did not enter the Ottoman army would have to work under inhuman conditions in mines, construction works and quarries. The Ottoman regime feared the Pontiac population not only because of their rapidly growing numbers that had reached 700,000 by the early 20th century, but also because of the cultural and economic growth of the minority. Cities like Samsous, Trapezous and Kerasous displayed a remarkable growth with dozens of schools, newspapers, theaters and other amenities. The rise of the Young Turks movement, however, would put a brutal end to the thriving Greek community of the area. While the Greek state was busy solving out the Crete problem and in no position to open new fronts with Turkey, the Pontians and many other Greeks across Asia Minor were dislocated and systematically exterminated. |
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