| The saint was undoubtedly forewarned of the day of his blessed repose. The last day of his life became a literal fulfillment of the Lord’s words. On June 9, 1715, after celebrating the Divine Liturgy, the saint unexpectedly ordered the table in his home to be laid. He offered a plentiful meal for all, during which, like the Savior, he girded himself and began to wait upon those eating. He then parted touchingly with the clergy, retaining two especially beloved priests for some time. What he spoke to them about remains unknown. Having dismissed them, he retired to his cell and shut himself in. The next morning Vladyka did not come out. The clergy meanwhile began to assemble in front of his residence, but they knocked and cried out in vain. When people began to assemble, the governor was called for. Once he had arrived, he crossed himself and ordered the doors to be broken. An extraordinary sight presented itself to the onlookers: having already given his soul to the Lord, Vladyka was kneeling before an icon of the Mother of God next to an extinguished candle. The prayer he had begun on earth was continuing in eternity before the Throne of God. This marvelous occurrence is testimony that the saint, following his repose, stands in prayer before God and His Most Pure Mother for all of us who live on earth and turn to him for help. Sincerely mourned by his orphaned flock, he, as befitting a monk tonsured in the Kiev-Caves Lavra, was buried in the side chapel of Sts. Anthony and Theodosius. How much he has in common with St. Ioasaph! Both came from the Ukraine, from ancient and noble families. Both fulfilled their obedience in the famous Kiev-Caves Lavra and graduated from the Kiev Theological Academy. Both had heavenly patrons in their early youth: for one, it was St. Athanasius of Constantinople; and for the other, it was St. Theodosius of Chernigov. Both were beloved by members of the Romanov dynasty. Both gained fame for their literary works. Both were numbered among the saints during the reign of Nicholas II. Both saints were preserved incorrupt following their repose, for the Lord keepeth all their bones [Psalm 33:20]. |
| John 16:33 Now for my part, be well assured, I should be highly interested in setting forth the details of the arguments and allegations used on that occasion, for indeed the discussion contains certain feats and elegances, which I dwell on with no slight pleasure; but this would be quite foreign to an occasion and discourse like the present. And when, after having torn to shreds all his opponent " s sophistries, and thrust aside as mere child " s play every assault, veiled or open, Cæsarius in a loud clear voice declared that he was and remained a Christian– not even thus was he finally dismissed. For indeed, the Emperor was possessed by an eager desire to enjoy and be distinguished by his culture, and then uttered in the hearing of all his famous saying – O happy father, O unhappy sons! Thus deigning to honour me, whose culture and godliness he had known at Athens, with a share in the dishonour of Cæsarius, who was remanded for a further trial (since Justice was fitly arming the Emperor against the Persians), and welcomed by us after his happy escape and bloodless victory, as more illustrious for his dishonour than for his celebrity. 15. Again another wonder concerning him is a strong argument for his parents» piety and his own. He was living in Bithynia, holding an office of no small importance from the Emperor, viz., the stewardship of his revenue, and care of the exchequer: for this had been assigned to him by the Emperor as a prelude to the highest offices. And when, a short time ago, the earthquake in Nicæa occurred, which is said to have been the most serious within the memory of man, overwhelming in a common destruction almost all the inhabitants and the beauty of the city, he alone, or with very few of the men of rank, survived the danger, being shielded by the very falling ruins in his incredible escape, and bearing slight traces of the peril; yet he allowed fear to lead him to a more important salvation, for he dedicated himself entirely to the Supreme Providence; he renounced the service of transitory things, and attached himself to another court. |
| Question 32. What is the second Article of the Faith? Answer. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of his Father before all Worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one Substance with the Father, by whom all Things were made. Question 33. What doth this Article of the Creed teach us? Answer. Chiefly two things. First, That the Son of God, Jesus Christ, is God eternal, of the same proper Nature with his Father, and equal to him in Glory and Honour: as he saith of himself (John.17:5), And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own Self, with the Glory which I had with thee before the World was. Secondly, That Jesus Christ is the Creator, not only of the Things which are made, but also of Time itself, in which all things are made (Heb.1:2), By whom also he hath made the Ages. But concerning permanent Beings, the Evangelist saith (John.1:10), The World was made by him, and the World knew him not. Question 34. What mean the words Jesus Christ, which we meet with in this Article? Answer. Jesus signifies Saviour, as it is interpreted by the Archangel, who said unto Joseph (Mat.1:21), She shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his Name Jesus, for he shall save his People from their Sins. Wherefore this Name cannot properly be given unto any one, save only unto our Lord and Saviour, who hath set free all Mankind from the Bondage of the Devil. Christ signifies Anointed: for that, in the old Law, those who were anointed were called Christs: namely, Priests, Kings, and Prophets, into which three Offices Christ was anointed; not after the common Manner of others, but after a superior Manner, above all others: As the holy Psalmist says (Ps.45:8), Thou hast loved Righteousness and hated Iniquity; wherefore God, even thy God, hath Anointed thee with the Oil of Gladness, above thy Fellows. Wherein is meant, the being anointed with the Holy Spirit, with which he was anointed according to the Prophet Isaiah (Is.61:1), The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath Anointed me, to preach good Tidings unto the Meek. |
| 198 There are, it is true, three or four places where Justin, in passing, mentions details or sayings which are not contained in any of the four Gospels. For instance, he relates that on the night of Jesus’ birth Joseph and Mary took refuge in a cave in Bethlehem (Dial. 78.7 – 8). Jesus’ birth in a cave is not mentioned in the New Testament but is mentioned in a second-century book called the Protevangelium of James (18.1). But even Koester thinks it ‘highly unlikely’ that Justin is dependent upon this source. 199 Most probably Justin is simply reliant upon local Palestinian tradition. Origen informs us that there was a cave near Bethlehem which had attained local notoriety as the site of Jesus’ birth. With respect to the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, if any one desires, after the prophecy of Micah and after the history recorded in the Gospels by the disciples of Jesus, to have additional evidence from other sources, let him know that, in conformity with the narrative in the Gospel regarding his birth, there is shown at Bethlehem the cave where He was bom, and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And this sight is gready talked of in surrounding places, even among the enemies of the faith, it being said that in this cave was bom that Jesus who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians. (CCels. 1.51) The existence of the cave seems to have been common knowledge. Origen regards it as additional, confirmatory information, but not information related by any of Jesus’ disciples in a Gospel. Justin also refers to the Greek version of Isaiah 33.16, which speaks of a righteous one who will ‘dwell in a high cave of a strong rock’. That the worshippers of Mithras received initiation in a cave Justin saw as a devilish counterfeiting of the truth of Isaiah’s prophecy, which was fulfilled by Jesus. All this simply means that Justin’s belief that Jesus was bom in a cave is no firm evidence of his acceptance of any alternative Gospel. Justin’s knowledge of the Gospel of the Ebionites has been argued from one passage in particular. |
| 508 Source unidentified; but parallel ideas in Gregory of Nyssa, In Hex., PG XLIV, 88. The image of the mirror is also very common in Gregory of Nyssa. 512 For the distinction between «natural» and ordinary symbols, see chapters 13–14, 19–20, and the notes relating to these chapters. 513 To attain to the vision of the uncreated light is to see «light by light»; for only the light itself can transform the eyes of him who seeks to see. 514 Dispassion, humility, joy, love of God are all in some measure prerequisites of the vision of God; but these virtues are increased and perfected by the vision itself. 517 That is, the natural faculties of sense perception and intellection are not abolished (or even necessarily suspended) by the vision, but transcended (hence the terms «sense- above-sense», «mind-above-mind»). Sometimes, indeed, the contemplative is so overcome with wonder as to become oblivious of his surroundings, but at others, a heightened awareness of God can coexist with the usual operations of the senses and the mind (cf. Maximus, Cent. gnost. 11.83, PG XCI, 1164B: «The establishment of the mind of Christ in us does not involve depriving us of our intellectual faculties»). 525 Mt. 10:20 . Even though it might be possible for a philosopher to conceive of a transcendent One or First Essence without attributes, the data of revelation make it impossible for the Christian God not to be creator and redeemer. Hence, the divine attributes must always have subsisted in the essence, since by nature God is changeless. 526 On the spiritual senses, see Section B, note 33, above. The soul possesses a single sensorium (sometimes called by the Fathers to pathtikon, or the passionate part of the soul), but it contains without division the various spiritual faculties of sight, touch, etc. 527 Such powers as providence and creativity are present too in angels and men to various degrees, but their powers are necessarily created and contingent, as are their virtues. 529 Palamas is using the word «works» (erga) here, not in the sense of God " s creation (as in the O.T.) but in the sense of those powers such as providence and prescience that enabled Him eternally to foresee and foreplan His creation. By extension, «works» also refers to the pre-existence of creation as an idea in the mind of God (as «predeterminations»). |
| They are not waiting for the assemblies of great men or any general councils to proclaim him [a saint], for such things sometimes are a hindrance, a burden, an obstacle and a care, and are all too human, but they are content, as is laudable, with a proclamation from on high, with the luminous and irrefutable contemplation of his works, and with faith.” From the discourse of Patriarch Philotheus it is clear that: 1) St. Gregory Palamas was numbered among the saints because of the miracles performed at his tomb, and 2) his glorification was performed by the Metropolitan of Thessalonica. Decrees of much later origin clearly speak of special inquiries of synods relative to glorification. Thus, in a decree of Patriarch Cyril I (reigned 1621–23, 1624–32, 1632–33, 1633–34, 1637–38) concerning the glorification of St. Gerasimus of Cephalonia, following a dogmatic explanation of the Orthodox teaching concerning the Saint, we find: “And we, on the one hand,ready before God to render unto divine men the honor that befitteth them in recompense, and on the other hand, caring for the common good of the faithful, in accordance with the divine fathers that were before us, and following the universal practice of the Church, we do synodally resolve, appoint and command in the Holy Spirit, with the approval also of the blessed Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem who live in Constantinople, of the most sacred metropolitan, and our beloved brethren, the archbishops and bishops, most honored in the Holy Spirit, of the most worthy and learned clergy, that the above-named St. Gerasimus be venerated yearly with sacred services and psalmody, and be reckoned in the number of the venerable and holy men, henceforth and forevermore, not only on the island of Cephalonia, but throughout the Church of the pious, from one end of the world to the other. But he that doth not accept this synodal decision, or that hath in general dared to gainsay it, after the first and second admonition let him be cut off from the community of the pious, and let him be unto all as a heathen and a publican, in accordance with the word of the Gospel.” There follows the signatures of the three patriarchs and seven other hierarchs. |
| The whole human race in general therefore is without exception subject to this law. For there is no one, however saintly, who does not take the bread mentioned above with the sweat of his brow and anxious efforts of his heart. But many rich men, as we see, are fed on that common bread without any sweat of their brow. Chapter 12. Of this also: But we know that the law is spiritual, etc. And this law the Apostle also calls spiritual saying: But we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. Romans 7:14 For this law is spiritual which bids us eat in the sweat of our brow that true bread which comes down from heaven John 6:33 but that sale under sin makes us carnal. What, I ask, or whose is that sin? Doubtless Adam " s, by whose fall and, if I may so say, ruinous transaction and fraudulent bargain we were sold. For when he was led astray by the persuasion of the serpent he brought all his descendants under the yoke of perpetual bondage, as they were alienated by taking the forbidden food. For this custom is generally observed between the buyer and seller, that one who wants to make himself over to the power of another, receives from his buyer a price for the loss of his liberty, and his consignment to perpetual slavery. And we can very plainly see that this took place between Adam and the serpent. For by eating of the forbidden tree he received from the serpent the price of his liberty, and gave up his natural freedom and chose to give himself up to perpetual slavery to him from whom he had obtained the deadly price of the forbidden fruit; and thenceforth he was bound by this condition and not without reason subjected all the offspring of his posterity to perpetual service to him whose slave he had become. For what can any marriage in slavery produce but slaves? What then? Did that cunning and crafty buyer take away the rights of ownership from the true and lawful lord? Not so. For neither did he overcome all God " s property by the craft of a single act of deception so that the true lord lost his rights of ownership, who though the buyer himself was a rebel and a renegade, yet oppressed him with the yoke of slavery; but because the Creator had endowed all reasonable creatures with free will, he would not restore to their natural liberty against their will those who contrary to right had sold themselves by the sin of greedy lust. |
| Finally the Church will and always has encountered people who are strongly drawn to homosexual acts and commit them.. They need help and love to encourage and assist them to change their lives to bring them back into proper balance. As do we all, for we are all sinners. Over and over again let spiritual fathers remember the great canon 102 0f the Quinisext Council (692): “For the whole account is between God and him to whom the pastoral rule has been delivered, to lead back the wandering sheep and to cure that which is wounded by the serpent: and that he may neither cast them down into the precipices of despair, nor loosen the bridle towards dissolution, or contempt of life; but in some way or other, either by means of astringency, or by greater softness and mild medicines to resist this sickness and exert himself for the healing of the ulcer, now examining the fruits of his repentance and wisely managing the man who is called to higher It is to this higher illumination that we are all called by the Orthodox Church, and just as all sin, so all are made alive in Christ: His life, the Life of God Himself, and to Him be the glory, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. ___________ Cold Comfort Farm is a bucolic satire on the works of the author Mary Webb. King John of England married his second wife Isabella of Angouleme when she was 12, he was 33. Although it was said that they had intercourse with her from their marriage – his courtiers complained at how late into the morning they remained in bed, she did not actually conceive until she was 18. Likewise Mahomet is supposed to have had a wife aged 10. While one can now be very uncertain about any events of Mahomet’s life, what is certain is that when the story came to be written in the 9th century, to take a wife so young was not considered odd. Parts of the Kinsey Reports regarding diversity in sexual orientations are frequently used to support the common estimate of 10% for homosexuality in the general population. However, the findings are not absolute, and Kinsey himself avoided and disapproved of using terms like homosexual or heterosexual to describe individuals, asserting that sexuality is prone to change over time, and that sexual behavior can be understood both as physical contact as well as purely psychological phenomena (desire, sexual attraction, fantasy). Instead of three categories (heterosexual, bisexual and homosexual), a seven-category Kinsey Scale system was used. |
| Rosemary Kromidas Hendrix 24 октября 2016, 00:00 A very interesting article. I have met a new Russian friend, wed to an American and now living in America. She was raised by her grandparents at a time when Stalin " s Communism was in full force. She was raised to know that " there is no God " , so that she would not go outdoors, meet with friends and tell them that her family was practicing Orthodoxy in their basement. Propaganda? yes indeed. Do the Russians really know about what we do with those who break our laws? I don " t think they know the truth and I don " t think we even know the truth, just what the politicians have told us, which is their truth. In my opinion, every country " s politicians, those in power, tell the common people what they want them to know. To me, my opinion, is that power is the ruling God to them. I hope to think that Orthodoxy in both Russia and in the world will be shown to be the REAL and ONLY church since 33 A.D. Will I live to see this? Most likely not. Rosemary Kromidas Hendrix, a cradle Orthodox. David Sanders 23 октября 2015, 17:00 I was intrigued until I read the line " nor that it runs a torture camp resembling Guantanamo Bay,... " . I know a former guard from there. This is utterly false. Along with other false accusations directed against the US it " s obvious this article is anti-American, especially making it sound like we execute someone every day, minors to boot! I do not believe Russia is as bad as the US portrays it. However it " s not paradise either. This is a lousy piece of propaganda on a website with otherwise awesome articles. manuel petavrakis 23 октября 2015, 03:00 Thank you so much for your edifying article. I fear orthodoxy in the West is facing a much more insidious enemy than even Russia faced with her cruel Bolshevism. God bless Russia and her orthodoxy, and may he guide her leader(s) to do good. May she become the lighted lamp shining for all (and the West) too see. Manuel Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| В «Церковной истории» Евсевия Кесарийского (нач. IV в.) делается такое вступление: «Хотя, очевидно, мы народ новый и имя христиан действительно недавнее, только что узнанное всеми народами, но жизнь наша и весь наш образ поведения, согласный с догматами благочестия, не недавно придуманы нами, но были соблюдаемы с самого возникновения человечества; древние боголюбивые люди по естественному побуждению жили именно так… Авраамову веру, подтверждаемую делами — а они значительнее слов, — в настоящее время соблюдают по всей вселенной только христиане». Очевидно, что христиане рассматривают себя как наследников ветхозаветных праведников, и историю до рождения Христа также считают своей. Нужно заметить также, что с самого раннего времени христиане вписывали события евангельские в исторический контекст эпохи. Так св. Лука пишет о начале проповеди св. Иоанна Крестителя: «В пятнадцатый же год правления Тиверия кесаря, когда Понтий Пилат начальствовал в Иудее, Ирод был четвертовластником в Галилее, Филипп, брат его, четвертовластником в Итурее и Трахонитской области, а Лисаний четвертовластником в Авилинее, при первосвященниках Анне и Каиафе, был глагол Божий к Иоанну, сыну Захарии, в пустыне» (Лк. 3,1—2). Рождение Христа тот же Евангелист связывает с переписью при римском императоре Августе и сирийском наместнике Квиринии (Лк. 2,1). Здесь возникают немалые трудности при соотнесении евангельской хронологии с принятыми датами. Получается, что Иисус родился за 4-6 лет «до Рождества Христова». Впрочем, нужно отметить, что расчет времени рождения Христа, предпринятый в VI в. римским аббатом Дионисием Малым, был изначально примерным, основанным не столько на исторических данных, сколько на пасхальных вычислениях. Сомнительные подсчеты Дионисия стали, однако, основой летоисчисления «Anno Domini» («лета Господня»), принятого в католическом мире на рубеже I тысячелетия. В России эта система отсчета была введена в 1700 г. императором Петром I ради единообразия летоисчисления с Европой. Однако такое единообразие может завести довольно далеко. Под влиянием секуляризации на Западе, начиная с XIX в., стало утверждаться иное название — Common Era, Before the Common Era (CE, BCE), т.е. «принятая/общая эра», «до принятой/общей эры». В странах советского блока утвердилось еще более неудачное название — «наша эра», отголосок пролетарского «мы наш, мы новый мир построим». |
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