| In truth God as a man was born on earth! Why? That we might live through him (1 John 4:9). For without the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, human life is wholly and completely a suicidal absurdity, and death is truly the most outright and horrible absurdity on earth. To comprehend death means comprehending life in all its depth, height, and limitlessness. This can only be done by the All-man-loving Lord, Who by His immeasurable love becomes man and forever remains the God-man in the human world. Only as God-life, life in God, can human life acquire its eternal meaning. But outside of God, life is the most ridiculous absurdity, filled with offense and bitterness. Your life, O man, can find its only reasonable, rational, logical meaning in God alone. And your thought, brother, your human thought finds its divine and immortal meaning only in God, only as God-thought. Human thought only becomes God-thought in the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the same with your senses, O man—only in God do they find their divine, immortal meaning. Without this, your senses are your most merciless torturers, continually crucifying you on an eternal cross, after which there is no resurrection. And the conscience? Where does this ferocious stranger come from in us, people? It too only unites with its divine and eternal meaning as God-conscience. Without this, human conscience is a ferocious and ghastly absurdity. And your death, and my death, and the death of all people—isn’t it the cruelest torture for human beings throughout the world? Yes, it truly is. But it too, only as the death of the God-man, gains its eternal meaning through the resurrection of the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ; for through Him and only through Him does victory over death happen and death in the human world can be comprehended. Thus also everything human, the entire human with all his innumerable infinities, only as the grace-filled God-man in the deified and all-vivifying Body of the God-man Christ—the Church—gains his divine, eternal, God-human, and higher meaning. |
| 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 DECR chairman and ROCOR First Hierarch celebrate Liturgy at Synodal residence of Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia in New York On July 12, 2021, the commemoration day of the Holy, Glorious and All-praised Leaders of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, and the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Outside of Russia, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Sign of the Russian Church Outside of Russia in New York. Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, the cathedral clergy and clergy of the Moscow Patriarchate parishes in the USA concelebrated. Greeting the DECR chairman after the service, the First Hierarch of the Russian Church Outside of Russia said, “Your Eminence, extending brotherly greeting to you on the commemoration day of the First Hierarchal Apostles Peter and Paul, I cordially thank you for the joint prayer that we have lifted up on the festive day and for your love, attention and words of exhortation. I cannot find sufficient words to express how special our feelings were when we celebrated the Divine Liturgy today. “Recalling the archpastoral feats performed by one of my predecessors, Metropolitan Anastasius (Gribanovsky), the author of popular conversations with his own heart, who was consecrated as bishop this day 115 years ago at the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Moscow Kremlin, we have prayed today so that the Chief Pastor Christ may continue and multiply His mercies for the spiritual unity between the Russian Church abroad and the Russian Church at home, which we had sought with brotherly love and great efforts”, Metropolitan Hilarion of Eastern America and New York noted. |
| Metropolitan Hilarion Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of His Episcopal Consecration Source: DECR Photo: mospat.ru January the 14th, 2022, the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the commemoration day of St. Basil the Great, marked the 20th anniversary of the episcopal consecration of Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. The Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate presided over the festive Divine Liturgy at the church of the Icon of the Mother of God ‘the Joy to All Who Sorrow’ in Moscow. His concelebrants were Metropolitan Dionisy of Voskresensk, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate; Metropolitan Niphon of Philippopolis, representative of the Patriarch of Antioch and All the East to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia; Metropolitan Zinovy of Saransk and Mordovia; Metropolitan Anthony of Chersonesus and Western Europe, Patriarchal Exarch for Western Europe; Metropolitan Leonid of Klin, Patriarchal Exarch for Africa; Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR vice-chairman; Archimandrite Philaret (Bulekov), DECR vice-chairman; Archimandrite Seraphim (Shemyatovsky), representative of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia to the Patriarchal See of Moscow; Archpriest Kakhaber Gogotishvili, a cleric of the Georgian Orthodox Church; and the clergy of the church. During the Prayer of Fervent Supplication, prayerful petitions were offered for the deliverance from the coronavirus infection. After the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Dionisy of Voskresensk read out a congratulatory message from His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Metropolitan Hilarion’s episcopal consecration. Then Metropolitan Niphon of Philipoppolis extended congratulations to His Eminence Hilarion on behalf of the representatives of Local Orthodox Church to the Patriarchal See of Moscow. He noted in particular, “In your youth you were given the gift of faith in God. Through the subsequent years, you have lived up to this faith, developing it and bearing in yourself the flame of love for neighbours. In ascending the stairs of the service of the Holy Church and accumulating knowledge and experience in carrying out various tasks, you have discovered how rich the Lord is in His mercy to us in His great love wherewith He loved us (Eph. 2:4). |
| Word of a Pastor III: On Divine Revelation Natural revelation alone is not enough to explain the universe to everyone. It happens that observation of the surrounding world brings people to different and often opposite conclusions. Therefore it was the Lord’s good pleasure to give people other news about Himself: supernatural Revelation. We continue the serialization in English of an extensive series on the fundamentals of the Orthodox Faith by His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. A famous philosopher came to Abba Anthony the Great, an Egyptian solitary who lived in the fourth century, and asked him: “Abba, how can you live here, in the desert, deprived of the consolation of reading books?” Pointing with his hand at the blue sky, the scorching sun, the mountains, the desert sands, and the sparse vegetation, the solitary replied: “My book, O philosopher, is the nature of created things; and, when I desire to, I can read God’s works therein.” Our world is a great book of Divine Revelation. Looking at it, all endowed with reason, man’s power of observation and analysis cannot but marvel at the harmony, beauty, reasonableness, and rationality that are present in everything, from molecule to galaxy. The question involuntarily arises: could an irrational, chaotic, and unconscious beginning be the source of this sound and harmonious existence? People who deny God explain everything as an accident. Matter existed always and everywhere, they claim, and at some point it began to develop in such a way that, as a result, this wonderful world was born. Why do they think this way? Because, in our wisely-arranged and judicious world, no apparent source of reason is detectable. It would seem that there is a rational world, but no source of rationality. It is natural to assume that this source is outside our world, but then one must invariably recognize the existence of God. Otherwise, one needs to opt out of the search for an intelligent design of life. And then the only reason for the birth of the universe remains in recognizing some kind of random “spontaneous combustion,” some kind of unwitting impetus that initiated things by a random combination of circumstances that, in some inexplicable way, predetermined the fantastically complex process of the perfection of matter from the simple to the complex, from the inanimate to the living, from the irrational to the rational, and from lava to the human brain, conscience, love, and the sense of beauty. Thus, is the beginning of the world reasonable or inadvertent? Was it created, or is it accidental? |
| Patriarch of Jerusalem: The Annunciation of the Theotokos Announces the infinite love of God Photo: en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info On Wednesday, April 7, 2021, the Patriarchate of Jerusalem celebrated the feast of the Annunciation of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos in the city of Nazareth, at the holy shrine where this event took place. On this feast, the whole Orthodox Church in joy and gratitude towards God, commemorates according to Saint Luke the Evangelist (Ch. 1:26-36), that Archangel Gabriel was sent by God to the Virgin Mary and announced that She was going to conceive by the Holy Spirit and bear in the flesh His Only Begotten Son. With Mary’s reply, “behold the maiden of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to thy word”, the Bodiless was made flesh, He became incarnate, for the sake of the rebirth, renovation, and salvation of the humankind from the corruption of death. This festive divine service was officiated by Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem, during which the Patriarch of Jerusalem delivered the following sermon : “O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day” (Psalm 95:1-2), Prophet-King David chants. Beloved Brethren in Christ, Noble Christians “Today there is the true joy and gleefulness of the whole world,” Saint John Damascene says, praising the Annunciation to the Theotokos by Archangel Gabriel, in the holy place where the grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us all to celebrate in Eucharist the annunciation of the “salvation of God”, the joyful message of the incarnation of God the Word by the pure flesh of the Ever-Virgin Mary in the city of Nazareth. “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28) the Archangel Gabriel exclaimed. The interpreters of Evangelist Luke’s testimony on this say: “because God told Eve she was going to bear children in sorrows, Eva’s sorrow is dispelled through this joy”. “Through ‘Hail’, Christ came to dispel the sorrow”. “He called her ‘full of grace’, as she was granted the grace beyond logic”. And “because the snake brought Eve the sorrow, rejoice, because the Lord is with Thee”. “One should know that at the time of the annunciation the Virgin conceived immediately paradoxically”. |
| The Orthodox Church The Orthodox Church is the unity of faith and love (St. Ignatius of Antioch) of all Churches which have preserved Orthodoxy , i.e., the Tradition of Faith, Order, Worship and Piety, as confessed from the beginning " everywhere, always and by all. " 11 January 2005 1. Orthodoxy THE ORTHODOX CRURCH is the unity of faith and love (St. Ignatius of Antioch) of all Churches which have preserved Orthodoxy , i.e., the Tradition of Faith, Order, Worship and Piety, as confessed from the beginning “everywhere, always and by all.” And, although historically she was for a long time confined to the Eastern part of Christendom after the separation of the Christian West from her, the Orthodox Church rejects the idea that hers is a “partial” or “oriental” expression of the Christian faith. On the contrary, she confesses her faith to be full, catholic, and universal. She sees herself as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Tradition of Faith stems from Divine Revelation as recorded in Holy Scriptures and understood and interpreted by the Church in the continuity of her teaching ministry: by her Councils, Fathers, Teachers, Saints, by her worship and by the whole of her Divinely inspired life. Of especial normative character are the dogmatical and canonical decisions of the Seven Ecumenical and Ten local Councils, the writings of the Holy Fathers, the testimony of the liturgical and iconographic tradition and the universal consensus of doctrine and practice. The Tradition of Order is based on the unbroken continuity of the Ministry and, above all, on the Apostolic succession of Bishops who are, in each Church, the guardians of the catholic fullness of faith and the Divinely appointed bearers of the Church’s priestly, pastoral and teaching power and authority. Their unity expresses the unity of the Church; their agreement is the voice of the Holy Spirit. They govern the Church, and in this they are helped by the priests and deacons. They are also helped by the whole body of the Church, for, according to Orthodox teaching, all the faithful are entrusted with responsibility for the purity of faith. Church order is preserved in the Holy Canons, which constitute an integral part of Tradition. |
| All About Angels Synaxis of the Leader of the Heavenly Hosts - Michael The Synaxis of the Leader of the Heavenly Hosts Michael, and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Hosts was established at the beginning of the IV Century at the local Laodician Council, which occurred several years before the First Ecumenical Council. The Laodician Council by its 35th Canon condemned and renounced as heretical the worship of angels as creators and rulers of the world and it affirmed their proper Orthodox veneration. A feastday was established in November -- the ninth month from March (with which month the year began in ancient times) -- in accordance with the 9 Ranks of Angels. The eighth day of the month was decreed for the intended Assemblage of all the Heavenly Powers -- in conjunction with the Day of the Dread Last-Judgement of God, which the holy fathers called the " Eighth Day " -- since after this age in which the seven days [of Creation] have elapsed will come the " Eighth Day " -- and then " shalt come the Son of Man in His Glory and all the holy Angels together with Him " (Mt 25:31). The Angelic Ranks are divided into three Hierarchies: highest, middle, and lowest. In the Highest Hierarchy are included the three Ranks: the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones. Closest of all to the MostHoly Trinity stand the six-winged Seraphim (Flaming, and Fiery) (Is 6:12). They blaze with love for God and impel others to it. After the Seraphim there stand before the Lord the many-eyed Cherubim (Gen 3:24). Their name means: outpouring of wisdom, enlightenment, since through them -- radiating with the light of Divine-knowledge and understanding of the mysteries of God, there is sent down wisdom and enlightenment for true Divine-knowledge. After the Cherubim, stand God-bearing through grace given them for their service, the Thrones (Col 1:16), mysteriously and incomprehensibly upholding God. They serve the uprightness of God's justice. The Middle Angelic Hierarchy consists of three Ranks: Dominions, Powers, and Authorities: |
| Metropolitan HIlarion of Eastern America and New York: War always leads to more war Source: ROCOR Epistle of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. We, the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, having convened a regular session of the Council of Bishops in the God-preserved city of San Francisco, hereby mark an important spiritual event in Church history. It was here, where by God’s will, the oldest cathedra of the Russian Church Abroad was established, and which is now the last hierarchal cathedra according to the world clock, once occupied by St John, Archbishop of Shanghai and then of San Francisco. We celebrate the 20 th anniversary of his glorification this year . Here also lie the holy relics of St John, here thousands and thousands of pilgrims gather. During these days, the All-Diaspora Russian Orthodox Youth Conference is convening, in which our hierarchs are also participating. Marking this anniversary on Sunday , June16/29, during Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow,” the nominee of the Council of Bishops, Archimandrite Nicholas (Olhovsky), was consecrated to the episcopacy as Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese, with the title of Bishop of Manhattan. The Council of Bishops congratulates His Grace Bishop Nicholas and wishes him Divine aid in his archpastoral service to the Holy Church, and asks the God-loving flock to remember the new Bishop Nicholas in their prayers. St John, the wonderful miracle-worker and Righteous saint of God was fated to become the first glorified Russian saint who shone outside of the borders of Russia, outside the borders of our Fatherland. The Lord manifested through him miracles of healing, here the love-filled heart of St John prayed for us with utter empathy, rejecting no one. The descendant of the southern Russian noble family of the Maximoviches, which had already given Rus a holy hierarch, Metropolitan John of Tobolsk, Vladyka John of Shanghai and San Francisco never forgot his earthly homeland—Kievan Rus. In his childhood and youth, he more than once visited Dormition of the Mother of God Lavra of Svyatogorsk, where in our days, almost within its very walls, blood is spilt by those who die in internecine war. |
| Patriarch Kirill: “Royal Passion Bearers from their Golgotha Entrusted Caring for Spiritual Life of People to Us” Photo: Press Service of His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill July 16, 2018. Pravmir . His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, officiated a Divine Liturgy at the Monastery dedicated to the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church in Alapaevsk. The monastery was build near the mine where the Holy Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna and Nun Barbara were killed. At the end of the service, His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill, delivered a sermon: Your Beatitude! Your Excellence and Your Eminence! Dear fathers, brothers, and sisters! I congratulate you all on the Lord’s Day! By historical circumstances, we had the opportunity to celebrate a Divine Liturgy here and consecrate the church in honor of the Theodore Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos which is associated with the Romanov dynasty: this church was built next to the site of the death of the Holy Martyr Elizabeth Feodorovna, Nun Barbara, and other representatives of the royal family. Looking at this place, this nearly buried mine, it is hard to imagine that fear and terror that engulfed the innocent people who were brought to this precipice to be thrown down. And the executioners had no hesitation! But the people in front of them were not criminals, but people who did not violate any law and who did not pose any threat, because they refused all political struggle and any claim to power. The only reason Elizabeth Feodorovna stayed in Russia and did not go abroad where she would live safely with her relatives, is that she could not leave the country that had become her second Motherland. Having established Sts Martha and Mary Convent and having taught many Russians to unite their Orthodox faith with real good deeds, she could not leave the Russian Church which she served faithfully and loyally. Leaving Russia was beyond her strength. There was no politics in it, but only her strong religious feeling and love for the country that had truly become her second Motherland. |
| Impulsivity, Self-Control, and Relying on Christ Hieromonk Alexis (Trader) The 12th century Ladder of Divine Ascent icon (Saint Catherine " s Monastery, Sinai Peninsula, Egypt) showing monks, led by John Climacus, ascending the ladder to Jesus, at the top right. Resisting temptation , ignoring unwanted thoughts, and altering one’s emotional state when under the onslaught of impulsivity may seem to some as a fool’s errand. Yet, holy men and women have achieved success at just such endeavors for more than two thousand years. They have done so, not because they had iron wills, fewer thoughts, or a permanent smile, though in time their wills did become more conformed to the will of God, their thoughts became more centered on their Savior, and their joy in Christ could no longer be contained. The secret to their success was very simple: they were victorious through their day-to-day, moment-to-moment communion with God, the source of their strength, life, and love. With His help, human efforts at self-control are transformed into a collaboration or synergy between God and man, not to overcome a problem, but to become a child of light. As for the human side of the equation, psychologists have mapped out the areas in which self-control can be used to achieve goals and refrain from impulsivity. For example, Andrew A. Lubusko notes in his dissertation on the subject that there are four primary categories of self-control: “1) impulse control, resisting temptations and refraining from acting on undesirable impulses such as overeating, aggression, etc.; 2) thought control, concentrating, regulating one’s reasoning or inference process, or suppressing unwanted thoughts; 3) affect regulation, efforts aimed at altering one’s emotional and mood states (e.g., escaping negative mood or maintaining positive mood); and 4) achieving optimal performance and controlling performance through efforts such as persistence, optimal management of exertion, and balancing speed and accuracy (Baumeister & Exline, 2000).” Put simply, self-control is about how we react, how we think, how we feel, and how we focus. Our ability to shift the way we react, think, feel, and focus in turn translates into our ability to control our actions and hence deal with impulsivity. |
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