| We remember the holy martyr St. Peter the Aleut, an Orthodox Christian convert who refused to allow Roman Catholic fanatics to re-baptize him, meekly declaring that he was already baptized and that he was already a Christian, as they dismembered and tortured him for his faith in Christ and the Orthodox Church. We remember the Holy Hierarch Nikolai of Zica, a gifted theological writer and orator who was known as the new John Chrysostom. He was an apostle and missionary to America and taught at St. Tikhon’s Seminary and St. Vladimir’s Seminary, leaving us a wealth of inspiring sermons and writings through which he posthumously continues to educate and evangelize. We remember St. Alexis of Wilkes-Barre, who emigrated as a widowed Uniate priest from his native Hungary and was consequently maltreated and rejected by his Roman Catholic bishop in America who did not even consider him to be a priest. Having suffered this abuse, he led his huge flock of 20,000 Uniates into the Orthodox Church and can be credited with being responsible for Pennsylvania and its environs becoming a major center of Orthodoxy in America. Lastly I will mention St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco, whose incorrupt relics can be venerated today in his cathedral in San Francisco. A glimpse of St. John’s great sanctity is revealed in a fragment from a letter written by his spiritual father, the famous theologian and Churchman Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky, which says, “In my place, I am sending you, as my soul, my own heart, Vladika John. In our times of worldwide spiritual weakening, this frail little man, well-nigh a child in appearance, comes forth as a miracle of ascetic steadfastness and strictness.”(2) We also remember today all the saints of Russia, from the Passion-bearers Prince Boris and Prince Gleb who meekly surrendered their lives without resistance when their elder brother had them murdered because he considered them to be political rivals, to the contemporary New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia whose blood covers the entire Russian land, suffering at the hands of the atheist Bolshevik and Communist regime. |
| Venerable Demetrius the Wonderworker of Priluki, Vologda Commemorated on February 11 Saint Demetrius of Priluki, Wonderworker, was born into a rich merchant’s family in Pereyaslavl-Zalessk. From his youth the saint was uncommonly handsome. Receiving monastic tonsure at one of the Pereyaslavl monasteries, the saint later founded the Saint Nicholas cenobitic monastery on the Saints Boris and Gleb Hill at the shore of Lake Plescheevo near the city, and became its igumen. In 1334 Saint Demetrius first met with Saint Sergius of Radonezh, who had come to Pereyaslavl to see Metropolitan Athanasius. From that time, he frequently conversed with Saint Sergius and became close with him. The fame of the Pereyaslavl igumen was so widespread that he became godfather to the children of Great Prince Demetrius Ioannovich. Under the influence of the Radonezh wonderworker, Saint Demetrius decided to withdraw to a remote place, and went north with his disciple Pachomius. In the Vologda forests, at the River Velika, near the Avnezh settlement, they built a church of the Resurrection of Christ and they prepared to lay the foundations for a monastery. The local inhabitants were fearful that if a monastery were built there, their village would become monastery property. They demanded that the monks leave their territory, and wishing to be a burden to no one, they moved farther away. Not far from Vologda, at the bend of a river in an isolated spot, Saint Demetrius decided to form the first of the cenobitic monasteries of the Russian North. The people of Vologda and the surrounding gladly consented to help the saint. The owners of the land intended for the monastery, Elias and Isidore, even trampled down a grain field, so that a temple might be built immediately. In 1371 the wooden Savior cathedral was built, and brethren began to gather. Many disciples of the monk came there from Pereyaslavl. Saint Demetrius combined prayer and strict asceticism with kindliness. He fed the poor and hungry, he took in strangers, he conversed with those in need of consolation, and he gave counsel. He loved to pray in solitude. His Lenten food consisted of prosphora with warm water. Even on feastdays, he would not partake of the wine and fish permitted by the Rule. Both winter and summer he wore an old sheepskin coat, and even in his old age he went with the brethren on common tasks. The saint accepted contributions to the monastery cautiously, so that the welfare of the monastery would not be detrimental to those living nearby. |
| The Rostov princes were distinguished by their particular characteristics of soul, inherited from their proto-ancestor, Constantine, the first prince of Rostov (†1218 ). The chronicles bestow a good deal of praise upon him. He was “Christ-loving and pious,” a zealous builder of churches, a respecter of “the priestly and monastic ranks,” well-read, a lover of enlightenment (it was during his reign that chronicles were first kept in the episcopal see), soft-hearted by nature, guileless, generous, and merciful. His death was bitterly mourned by the people as well as his widow, a typical ancient Russian “right-believing princess,” who received the tonsure over her husband’s coffin. This pious couple was a strong Christian root of the Rostov branch of the tree of Rurich. A reflection of its virtuousness fell also upon the handsome and brave Vasilko. Vasilko’s grandsons, Boris (Anna’s grandfather) and Gleb, who ruled the land of Rostov for forty years, resembled their grandfather by their soft-heartedness, yielding nature, and guilelessness. In everyday life this kind-heartedness expressed itself as peace-loving, taking care not to let others princes of the Rurich lineage draw them into their political exploits, and to make every effort to normalize relations with the terrible Horde. It’s true, that circumstances—very difficult ones—had an influence upon the Vasilok lineage. The murder of their father, Prince Vasilok; their maternal grandfather’s, Prince Michael Vsevolodovich of Chernigov’s (Vasilok was married to Maria Mikhailovna, the daughter of Prince Michael Vsevolodovich) perishing among the Horde in 1246 because he did not want to fulfill the Khan’s orders to worship fire, the bush and the vale. This cruel execution took place in the presence of the elder Vasilkovich brother, fifteen-year-old prince Boris, who had come with his boyars to pay his respects to the Khan. This gruesome spectacle (the Khan ordered that Michael be executed not by the sword, but by beating ); the fear that his grandfather’s open and implacable enmity towards the Horde might instill a vengeful suspicion towards the two living Rostov princes; their irreconcilable position…. All these events and conclusions decided the Vasilkovich brothers’ external politics, their resolve to orient themselves in the Horde’s direction and their expression of willingness to live peacefully with the Horde. |
| 519 Georgios Pachymeres. Συγγραφικαι ιστοραι/Rec. I. Bekker. (CSHB. T.18). Bonnae, 1835. T.l. Cap.V, 7. P.355–358. 520 Fischer J. Die Völkerwanderung im Urteil der zeitgenössischen Schriftsteller Galliens unter Einbeziehung des hl. Augustinus. Heidelberg, Waibstadt, 1948. 521 По поводу относительно хорошей изученности древнерусской агиографии см.: Stupperich R. Zur Geschichte der russischen hagiographischen Forschung von Kljuevskij bis Fedotov//Kyrios. 1936. Bd. 1. S. 47–56; Bprtnes J. Vision of Glory: Studies in Early Russian Hagiography. (Slavica Norvegica. 5). Oslo, 1988. 523 Там же. Стб. 181 (под 1072 г.). Вместо “2 мая” следует читать “20 мая” (см.: ПСРЛ. Т.2. Стб. 172 [под 1072 г.]; произошла путаница с событиями 1115 г.). 524 См. прежде всего: Poppe A. Chronologia utworów Nestora Hagiografa//SlOr. 1965. T. 14. 3. S. 287–305; он же. О роли иконографических изображений в изучении литературных произведений о Борисе и Глебе//ТОДРЛ. 1966. Т. 22. С. 24–45; он же. Предание о Борисе и Глебе в древнерусской письменности XI – начала XII вв.//СФ. 1966. Т.8. С. 55–57; idem. Opowie о mczestwie i cudach Borysa Gleba//SlOr. 1969. T.18. S. 267–292, 359–382; он же. О времени зарождения культа Бориса и Глеба//RM. 1973. Т.1. Р. 6–29; idem. La naissance du culte de Boris et Gleb//CCM. 1981. T.24. P. 29–53. 527 Так, ок. 1200 г. архиепископ новгородский Антоний видел большую икону Свв. Бориса и Глеба в Св. Софии в Константинополе (Лопарев Хр. Книга паломник: Сказание мест святых во Цареграде Антония, архиепископа новгородского, в 1200 г.//ПрПалСб. 1899. Т.51. С. 15 и сл.); см.: Dujev I. Slawische Heilige in der byzantinischen Hagiographie//SOF. 1960. Bd.l9, S. 71–86 (перепеч.: Dujev I. Medioevo [прим. 318]. Т.2. Р. 207–224); в 1094/1095 г. часть мощей Бориса и Глеба была доставлена в Сазавский монастырь (Fontes rerum Bohemicarum/Ed. J.Emler. Praha, 1871. T.2. P. 251); см. об этом: Рогов А.И. (прим. 344). С. 14; Sciacca F.A. The History of the Cult of Boris and Gleb. Columbia Univ. (Diss.), 1985. |
| That same day, the delegation visited ‘Smolensk House for Mom,’ a regional Orthodox centre for the protection of family, motherhood and childhood wh ere they were welcomed by its director, Ms. Tatyana S. Stepanova, and by Archpriest Pavel Petrovsky, rector of the church of St. Michael the Archangel. The guests said that they had been very impressed by ‘the unique social institution operating under the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church.’ It is well known that an idea of setting up ‘houses for mothers’ belongs to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and is being successfully realized by the Russian Orthodox Church. On September 1, Metropolitan Isidor invited Metropolitans Zachariah Mar Nicholovos and Abraham Mar Stephanos to the Smolensk Orthodox Theological Seminary where they met with the faculty and students. The guests told them about the life of Christians in India and answered numerous questions about history, present-day developments and theology of the Malankara Church. The guests visited the place of death and burial of the princes-martyrs Boris and Gleb, the first saints canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, and worshipped the Memorial Cross on the bank of the River Dnieper. Also, the hierarchs from India visited the Boldino Monastery of the Holy Trinity, the largest in Smolensk region, and were warmly welcomed by its abbot, Archimandrite Antoniy (Mezentsev) and the brethren. The guests venerated the holy relics of St. Gerasimus of Boldino, a great saint of the land of Smolensk. Fr. Antoniy told them about the history of the monastery, which was almost raised to the ground by the retreating fascist troops, and shared his reminiscences of the restoration works carried out under the direct supervision and with the participation of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, now His Holiness Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus’. During their stay in Smolensk, the guests were accompanied with the blessing of Metropolitan Isidor by Rev. Vladislav Bagan and Rev. Dimitry Litvischenko, rector of the church St. Tatiana the Martyr. |
| In 1961, new decrees of the government gravely limited the powers of the parish priests by giving all legal and administrative authority in the churches to the lay councils, the “twenty” members required by Soviet law for the formation of a local corporation with the right to request a church building for worship. The pastors were thus reduced to mere liturgical functionaries who had no official authority to do any further ministry among their flocks. All of these “administrative” measures were an attempt to destroy religious faith-which, according to Marxist doctrine, should long ago have died a natural death in the USSR. Official atheist propaganda of the period shows a grave concern over the persistence of religion in the land. Churchmen Appeal to the Soviet Authorities Because the leading members of the hierarchy of the Russian Church were silent and passive in the face of this new persecution of the Church by the State, voices of protest began to arise from various Church members in what became known as the Dissident Movement. The most powerful appeals for just and proper action concerning the Church came from Archbishop Yermogen of Kaluga and the priests Nikolai Eshliman (1928–1985) and Gleb Yakunin (b. 1934). These spokesmen on behalf of the rights of the Russian Church sent open letters of criticism to both Church and State officials in December, 1965. These letters appealed to Soviet law that technically allowed for religious freedom, as well as to the statutes of the Russian Orthodox Church promulgated at its council in 1945. As a result, together with a number of lesser known colleagues, these priests were deprived of their ecclesiastical positions. Nevertheless, agitation among the clergy and laymen for reform in the Russian Church, for strong leadership and just treatment, continued until the fall of the Soviet government in 1991. Pasternak and Solzhenitsyn In addition to churchmen, men from academic and literary fields also made appeals in the name of faith and freedom in Russia. Boris Pasternak (1890–1960) and Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008), both Nobel Prize winning authors and Christian believers, were in this number. Solzhenitsyn addressed his famous Lenten Letter to Patriarch Pimen in 1972. This letter was extremely critical of the policies and actions of the Russian Church in the face of State control. It received great international attention, and caused much controversy within the Russian Church. It received, however, no official response from the Moscow Patriarchate. Patriarch Pimen |
| —The Church of Czechoslovakia is currently preparing for the sixty-year anniversary of its autocephaly. Why did the Church of Czechoslovakia receive its autocephaly from the Russian Orthodox Church? —The first contacts, which became the basis of the friendship between our Churches, go back to antiquity, in the tenth–eleventh centuries, when the recluse Procopius, like St. Sergius of Radonezh, founded a monastery in the forest wilderness not far from the Sázava river, which later became a large, famous monastery. During the time that the Sázava Monastery was active, the monks would go to Kiev, and the monks from Kievan Russia would visit the Sázava Monastery. Each time they would bring gifts of icons and manuscripts to each other… These gifts from the Sázava Monastery are still treasured in Kiev. The Kiev monks in their turn brought a piece of the relics of Sts. Boris and Gleb to the Sázava Monastery, where they were honored with great reverence. One of the monastery " s side altars was dedicated to these saints. In the eighteenth century, the Russian Orthodox Church also aided our country " s renewal of our Church. For nearly three centuries, Czechia did not have its own government, and was subject to the Austrian Hapsburg Empire. The people were Germanized, and had no rights. No one in the West wanted or was able to help us. Russia was a light, hope, and refuge for the Czechs at that time. Russian Slavophiles supported the Czech and Slovak patriot-renewers both ideologically and materially. With their help, in 1848 the first Slavic conference was conducted in Prague, which placed a beginning of the renewal in Czechia of Slavic culture and language. In 1867, the Slavic conference took place in Moscow, and on the streets of Prague people were singing, " God save the Tsar! " Russians helped the Czechs afterward, also. They sent money for the construction of Orthodox Churches, and Orthodox priests. One of these was, for example, the martyr for Orthodoxy and faithfulness to Slavicism Archpriest Nicholai Ryzhkov. The people of Czechia honor that man " s memory. The Czechs also received Russian refugees (during the years of the civil war in Russia and subsequent persecutions) as their own brothers. They helped them to establish themselves, to receive education… The young Czech government spent billions on that. |
| THE ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES Extensive studies dealing with aspects of the development of the Orthodox Church in the United States are few. Early movements toward greater unity up until 1970 are discussed in Serafim Surrency " s The Quest for Orthodox Church Unity in America (Saints Boris and Gleb Press: New York, 1973). A general history of the Metropolia/Orthodox Church in America with some references to other jurisdictions is Orthodox America: 1784–1976, ed. Constance Tarasar and John Erickson (Syosset, NY: Orthodox Church in America, 1975). Some aspects of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese are discussed in History of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, ed. Miltiades Efthimiou and George Christopoulos (New York: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, 1984) and in George Papaioannou " s From Mars Hill to Manhattan (Minneapolis: Light and Life, 1976). A brief account of the development of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese is found in Demetrios Constantelos, Understanding the Greek Orthodox Church: Its Faith, History and Practice (New York: Seabury Press, 1982). The same author has collected a number of documents related to the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in his Encyclicals and Documents of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, 1922–1972 (Thessaloniki: Patriarchal Center for Patristic Studies, 1976). Of historical value is the work done by the Historical Records Survey in its Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Armenian Church in America (New York: Works Project Administration, 1940). This text contains a number of general essays on various jurisdictions, together with a review of their activities in New York City prior to 1940. Although his text is somewhat outdated, Arthur Piepkorn provides a valuable introduction to various Orthodox jurisdictions in his Profiles in Belief: The Religious Bodies in the United States Volume I: Roman Catholic, Old Catholic and Eastern Orthodox (New York: Harper and Row, 1977). LATE EIGHTEENTH- AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY DEVELOPMENTS AND CONCERNS Valuable documents related to the Alaskan mission have been collected by Michael Oleska in his Alaskan Missionary Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 1987). For a historical introduction to the mission, see his Orthodox Alaska: A Theology of Mission (Crest-wood, NY: St. Vladimir " s Seminary Press, 1992). Also of importance are the works by Barbara Smith, Russian Orthodoxy in Alaska (Anchorage: Alaska Historical Resources, 1980); Orthodoxy and Native Americans: The Alaskan Mission (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir " s Seminary Press, 1980); and Russian America: The Forgotten Frontier (Tacoma: Washington Historical Society, 1990). Paul Garrett " s St. Innocent: Apostle to America (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir " s Seminary Press, 1978) is a comprehensive study that emphasizes the missionary activity of this major personality. |
| -From the “Primary Chronicle” The envoy’s impression of Orthodox Christianity was so profound that they not only advised St. Vladimir to adopt Orthodoxy as the faith of Russia, they announced that, having fulfilled their mission, they would now return to Constantinople to live where God dwells with men. At this report, we understand that Prince Vladimir eventually decided to accept Orthodox Christianity himself and requested that priests and bishops be sent from Byzantium to baptize his people. This event was truly a turning point, a new beginning for Kievan Rus’, a new beginning that led to such a flowering of holiness that to now recount all the saints of Russia is not at all an easy task. Referring to the first flowering of Christianity in the ancient Roman empire, the Church father Tertullian famously said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church”, and what was true in Ancient Rome turned out to be equally true in Russia. Beginning with the martyrdom of Sts. Boris and Gleb, and continuing on to the countless Russian ascetics who were martyrs of a different type, those who became dead to their passions through a life of spiritual struggle, the land of Russia became a spiritual meadow, with radiant examples of holiness appearing everywhere. As with the flowering of monasticism in ancient Egypt, the wilderness areas of the Russian North became filled with hermits and ascetics who shone as examples of holiness inspiring the faithful in their own struggles. In turn, churches and monasteries appeared everywhere, lanterns set on the hill of Russia calling all the faithful to the life of holiness. This entire edifice was led by princes, and eventually tsars, who took the words of the Savior to heart, “if you would be great, you must become the servant of all”. Indeed, many rulers, such as the great St. Alexander Nevsky, were also great examples of piety and holiness, showing the example of Christ by sacrificing themselves for their people. When we look back at the sacred history of Russia, it is sometimes tempting to think that there was something very different between their circumstances and ours… Of course, we can’t be expected to become holy like they did, because everything has changed, modern life is so complicated, we are all busy and preoccupied with the complexities of modern life, whereas they had simple lives with nothing to do to occupy themselves except prayer and fasting… |
| In Ryazan, the First Citywide Paschal Procession Will Be Held The faithful will proceed from six of the city’s churches. April 16, 2014. PRAVMIR. In the city of Ryazan, the first citywide Paschal procession will be held, at the completion on which the Holy Fire will be met. The event will begin on the evening of April 20. The procession will begin after the evening service from the Sts. Boris and Gleb Cathedral, the Ascension Church, the St. Catherine Church, the Annunciation Church, the Monastery of Christ’s Entrance into Jerusalem, and the Kazan Monastery, the press service of the Ryazan Diocese relates. Participants with banners and Paschal chants will proceed to the Ryazan Kremlin, where at 5PM (local time) Paschal Great Vespers will be held, along with the meeting of the Holy Fire, on the cathedral square in front of the Dormition Cathedral. Metropolitan Benjamin of Ryazan and Mikhailov will lead the service. Bishop Dionysius of Kasimov and Sasov, Bishop Vladimir of Skopinsk and Shatsk, as well as clergy of the Ryazan Diocese, will accompany him. Code for blog 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. For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir. If everyone reading Pravmir could donate 5 euros a month, they would contribute greatly to our ability to spread the word of Christ, Orthodoxy, life " s purpose, family and society. Also by this author Today " s Articles Most viewed articles Functionality is temporarily unavailable. Most popular authors Functionality is temporarily unavailable. © 2008-2024 Pravmir.com |
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