| Message by Patriarch Kirill on the Occasion of the Millennium of the Repose of the Holy Prince Vladimir Equal-to-the-Apostles His Holiness Patriarch Kirill His Holiness Kyrill, Patriarch of Moscow & All Russia, addressed an epistle to the archpastors, clergy, monastics, and all faithful children of the Russian Orthodox Church regarding the 1000th anniversary of the repose of the Holy Equal-of-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir. Most reverend archpastors, reverend priests and deacons, monks and nuns, dear brothers and sisters in Christ! This year, the whole Russian Church, and with it the whole Orthodox world, celebrates the 1000th anniversary of the repose of the Holy Equal-of-the-Apostles Great Prince Vladimir. What did this man bring us? Why is it that, after so many centuries, we triumphally celebrate his memory? The Holy Hierarch Hilarion of Kiev remarkably expressed the nature of the prince’s feat in his renowned " Sermon on Law & Grace: " " All countries, and cities, and peoples, " he writes, " honor and glorify each its own teacher, who has brought them to the Orthodox Faith. Let us also, according to our power … praise the one who did such great and wondrous things, our teacher and preceptor, the great prince of our land Vladimir. " His wise decision changed the whole course of our history, because he brought to us the glad tidings of Christ, the Savior of the world—the Unsetting Sun of Righteousness, Who with His Divine Light illumines the entirety of human being. Thanks to the Holy Equal-of-the-Apostles Vladimir, our people came under the protection of a fervent Intercessor and speedy Helper—the Most Pure Virgin Theotokos, who spreads her pure omophorion above our land. It was thanks to this holy ruler that the Russian Church was founded, which for more than a thousand years has been bringing the people the word of life, love, and peace, and in which we, like our ancestors before us, obtain the Kingdom of Heaven. Having received the Faith from the Eastern Roman Empire—Byzantium, Russia fully joined both in Divine Revelation, and in the great cultural tradition of the age, creatively adopting and developing it further. |
| Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, Michael D. Peterson Скачать epub pdf BURIAL PRACTICES BURIAL PRACTICES. Recently, it has been argued that the burial practices of the people of God since the Iron Age have been quite modest. The de-emphasis of material goods in tombs is thought to point to a recognition of an afterlife beyond the realm of earthly riches in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This attitude contrasts sharply with the elaborate and expensive funeral rites one may find in Egyptian, Greek, or Roman non-Christian cultures of the same period-and to a certain degree with the modern funeral industry of North America. Whether this argument holds from the Iron Age to the early Roman period, it does seem to be supported by the archaeological evidence and literature we have from the early and imperial church, that is, the late Roman and Byzantine periods. For example, the early Christian attitude toward the body and the Byzantine canons related to burial both show a sensitivity toward the witness of a transformed flesh, so to speak, and a proscription against the elaborate and expensive rites of cremation. The deceased was-and still is-buried facing the east so that he may arise facing Christ on the day of the general resurrection (q.v.). The resurrection of the body, rather than cultural rites and votive offerings of a material nature, became the focus of the Christian burial rite. The present-day liturgical rites of burial are thematic and include special times of prayer (q.v.). The liturgical themes, even when sung within funerary tones, speak primarily of salvation, the deliverance God provides his people, and resurrection. The liturgical colors are specified as bright. The Western Christian practices of meditating on the Cross and death and wearing dark liturgical colors for funerals, probably originating around the 8th c., are not indigenous to the Orthodox Church. These may even be considered inappropriate because the Cross and death are primarily baptismal themes, i.e., in Baptism (q.v.) the new Christian dies with Christ and takes on a new life through the Cross. On the pastoral and human level, the clergy of the Orthodox Church consider it inhumane to the surviving family and friends of the deceased to focus on the Cross and death, since they have experienced enough of this tragedy in their loss: The message they need is that of salvation, deliverance, resurrection, and hope. |
| Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, Michael D. Peterson Скачать epub pdf FREEMASONRY FREEMASONRY. 1) In eighteenth-century Russia: Origin of the Freemasons seems to go back to a twelfth-century English religious brotherhood formed to guard trade secrets. It has a varied history in different countries, sometimes professing an undoctrinal Christianity (England, Germany) and at other times being openly hostile to religion and the Church (France, Italy, Latin countries). In the 18th c. English Freemasonry embraced Deism, and from here (and other Western countries) it came to Russia during the reign of Tsarina Elizabeth, burgeoning under Catherine II. Members-the educated gentry in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and some provincial towns-numbered approximately twenty-five hundred. At this time in Europe Voltairianism was a spiritual and moral disease among those converted to Western values due to its complete lack of spiritual concentration and the moral bankruptcy that accompanied it. Two trends in Freemasonry addressed deficiencies in this Enlightenment culture. One was mystical, focusing on meditation and self-perfection. The other was ethical/social, reaching out to the world in education and publishing. The latter was centered on the University of Moscow and Nicholas Novikov, 1744–1818, Catherine’s most active publicist. The Moscow Rosicrucian group became the most influential of the Russian centers, adding mystical and ascetical elements to disciplines of the lower forms of Freemasonry. The “occult sources” of Romanticism were derived from the higher levels of Freemasonry, and it shared with Romanticism a feeling of world harmony and anthropocentric self-awareness. Both trends, the mystical and ethical/social, are aspects of human nature that the Age of Reason could not adequately express. As far as Russia was concerned, the newly educated converts to the Western European spirit became true Western bureaucrats, understanding their existence in terms of their utility to the state, where they were placed on Peter I’s “Table of Ranks” (a fourteen-step government table of civil servants). This psychologically prepared and confirmed for them the many stepped ascent of the Masonic Orders. With the revolutionary character of the Enlightenment showing itself on the continent, Catherine the Great-clearly to safeguard the government and the wealthy-put an abrupt end to ideas and people that represented its ideals, among them the Masons. Nonetheless, a few scholars have seen the inspiration for and continuation of the movement in the later Slavophiles (q.v.). |
| The Sri Lanka Attacks Have Mainstream Media Interested in Christian Persecution — Finally Source: Faithwire Photo by Stringer/Getty Images The horrific attacks perpetrated against the Christian community in Sri Lanka over the Catholic Easter weekend have piqued the interest of the mainstream media in the persecution of those who follow Jesus. But will it last? The big-network media have a habit of only picking up on the issue when something of this magnitude occurs, electing to drop their reporting once the dust has settled. It is the relentless nature of our modern news cycle that forces the subject out of the spotlight in exchange for juicy political stories or scandal-breaking Hollywood. Unfortunately, just because a topic is not being adequately covered in the mainstream media does not mean it has ceased to occur. Followers of Jesus are still being tortured, imprisoned, raped and murdered by the thousands for the simple reason that they profess love for Christ. A significant increase, a lack of coverage It is good to see well-known journalists pen hard-nosed op-eds raising the issue of violence against Christians and imploring others to take note immediately. But these pieces often come across as though this is a totally unprecedented issue — and it’s just not. As part of our work here at Faithwire, we report on the most staggering incidents of Christian persecution imaginable, on an almost daily basis. Despite the abject brutality and fundamental abuse of human rights, our reports often fly under the radar and sit beneath the purview of big news organizations. Why? Well, that’s a difficult one to answer. The news cycle runs on the drama, and, simply put, there is plenty of it to go around. As you can see with the Sri Lanka attacks, it is only when something occurs on a colossal scale that the media are forced to drop their pens and pay attention. The problem is, every single significant incident of religious persecution should garner some level of coverage, so that we might not only become better informed on the issue, but that we would become more well-equipped in learning how to tackle these modern atrocities. |
| What child is this?” asks the famous nineteenth century Christmas carol. It’s a question posed since Christ first entered human history two thousand years ago and one that sometimes provokes vitriolic and even violent answers today. We’ve seen it in public tiffs over religion at home and brutal persecution abroad, but a glance to the distant past can provide both perspective and hope. The purpose of Christmas Few people exemplify and clarify the fight for the true meaning of Christmas as powerfully as does Athanasius of Alexandria. Born in Egypt at the close of the third century, Athanasius thought deeply and seriously about the mysteries of the faith. While contemplating the purpose of Christ’s advent, he penned an enduring Christian classic, On the Incarnation . “The Word of God,” said Athanasius, “came in his own person because it was he alone, the Image of the Father, who could recreate man made after the image.” This restoration of humanity by God himself in the person of Christ is the meaning of Christmas, and this understanding might have been lost had it not been for Athanasius. Shortly after Athanasius penned his book, the popular and winsome priest Arius emerged, teaching that Christ was not actually God in the flesh. “What child is this?” Not God, answered Arius. The fight for Christmas The emperor called a council to resolve the issue and keep the church from splitting over Arius’s teaching. Athanasius attended. The atmosphere was tense and heated. St. Nicholas (yes, that St. Nick) famously socked Arius during one session. But from the turmoil arose agreement about the divine nature of Christ, affirming the view that Athanasius advanced in On the Incarnation . Arius was anathematized and his supporters exiled. But despite appearances, the issue was far from settled. Shortly after the council, the bishop of Alexandria died and Athanasius was ordained to the office. The weakened Arian faction worked against him from the start. After false charges were levied against him, Athanasius appealed to the emperor. But the balance of power was shifting, and the new bishop was banished. |
| ‘Gay marriage’ is against human nature and Europe’s human rights convention: Greek justice minister December 11, 2014 Any proposal to install “gay marriage” in Greek law would be contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, said Haralambos Athanasiou, the country’s justice minister, this week. He added that his country should not comply with EU demands to create civil unions or legally recognized same-sex partnerships. When the Convention “speaks about marriage it speaks [of it being] between a man and woman,” Athanasiou told Greek television. “We are a country that respects traditions, respects human nature, and it’s not possible at least with this government and this ministry, to permit marriage [for same-sex partners.]” “It’s a little dangerous to simply speak of civil unions. The matter is not easy. The problem is what are the consequences going to be? … Are we going to go as far as talking about adoption [by same-sex partners] next?” he asked. The fact that most other EU countries have created such laws is no reason for Greece to do so, he said, adding that a committee has been formed to examine the issues of social security insurance, pensions and inheritance. The adoption and custody of children will have to be looked at from a religious, political, and societal perspective, he said. “Our country has structures,” he said. “We have to look at it from the religious point of view, the political point of view, the social point of view. The ministry of justice will not, under the pressure of anyone, examine such an issue without calmness and composure.” The denunciation from Athanasiou comes in the midst of a parliamentary push for a change in the law. In November last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Greece in a complaint from homosexual activists, ordering the country to start registering same-sex partnerships. The socialist coalition government responded with a bill to extend the existing law to same-sex partners. Although that first bill failed, the government announced again in November 2014 that the Greek Family Code would be amended to include same-sex partners. |
| Where does humanistic culture lead? St. Justin Popovic St. Justin Popovic (April 6, 1894-April 7, 1979) survived two world wars in Serbia, and in this treatise on European culture he discerns the problems with the European worldview that led to such a human disaster, and touches upon the probable future. Theanthropic culture transfigures man from within, and thereby likewise influences his external condition. It transfigures the soul, and by way of the soul, it transfigures the body. According to this culture, the body is the temple of the soul, and it lives, moves and has its being through the soul. Take away the soul from the body and what will remain other than a stinking corpse? The God-man first of all transfigures the soul, and subsequently also the body. The transfigured soul transfigures the body; it transfigures matter. The goal of Theanthropic culture is to transfigure not only man and humanity, but also all of nature through them. But how is this goal to be attained? Only by Theanthropic means: through the evangelic virtues of faith and love, hope and prayer, fasting and humility, meekness and compassion, love of God and neighbor. It is by means of these virtues that Theanthropic Orthodox culture is fashioned. Pursuing these virtues, man transfigures his deformed soul, making it beautiful; it is transformed from something dark into something light, something sinful into something holy, something with a dark countenance into something Godlike. And he transfigures his body into a temple that can accommodate his Godlike soul. It is through the ascetical labor of acquiring the evangelic virtues that man acquires power and authority over himself and over nature around him. Banishing sin both from himself and from the world that surrounds him, man likewise banishes its savage, destructive, ruinous force; he fully transfigures himself and the world, and subdues nature, both within and without and around himself. The finest examples of this are the saints: having sanctified, having transfigured, themselves through the ascetical labor of attaining the evangelic virtues, they likewise sanctify and transform nature around them. There are many saints who were served by wild beasts and who, simply by the mere fact of their appearance, could subdue and tame lions, bears and wolves. They treated nature prayerfully, mildly, meekly, compassionately, and gently, being neither harsh, nor stern, nor hostile, nor ferocious. |
| The Treatment for Suffering is Love Source: Notes on Arab Orthodoxy Fr. Georges Massouh 21 October 2018 Man’s inevitable fate is, sooner or later, bodily death. Young and old stand equal before death. Death does not distinguish between children and the elderly. Is there a solution for this inevitable fate that is death? No, even if medical science and new drugs could prolong human life and reduce suffering, they will not reach the point of ending the inevitability of bodily death. If bodily death is inevitable, then what about suffering? Why does man suffer? Is suffering part of human nature or is it something alien to it? There are many questions that both believers and unbelievers have about the suffering that all humans experience without exception. To start with, it must be said that suffering does not only result from illness, but rather it results from many factors, so the source of suffering is not single but multiple. There is suffering that afflicts those who are physically healthy but who suffer from emotional, psychological, financial or intellectual (not achieving desired intellectual ambitions), or spiritual disappointments… Man does not live without suffering: this is the golden rule. According to the Christian faith, death and suffering are alien to human nature. God, the source of every good thing, created man eternal. That is, not dying and not suffering… but man, in his rebellion against God– that is, in his rejecting the source of life and departing from Him– sentenced himself to death, suffering and torment. The coming of Christ, His submitting to death on the cross and His resurrection restored the relationship between God and man. But suffering and death remained the two-edged sword at the throat of all mankind. Metropolitan Georges Khodr states that God is not the cause of everything that happens to us on the face of this earth. Khodr says in his conversation with Samir Farhat , “There are factors in nature and in the essence of humanity. If God liberated us from the responsibility of suffering, then it would be possible for us to be liberated from the dark image of this god, the god who delights in tormenting humankind. The natural inclination, particularly in the East, is that the good and the bad in life comes from God. In the New Testament, after Jesus bears mankind’s suffering, God is no longer the cause of human suffering. We are transported from a purely philosophical, theoretical position to a position of participating in Christ (This World is not Enough, Ta’awuniyyat al-Nur al-Orthodoxiyya lil-Nashr wal-Tawzi’, p. 207). |
| Economics, the Environment and the Orthodox Church’s Eucharistic Vision Rev. Gregory Jensen As he has done in the past, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in his encyclical for the beginning of the Orthodox Christian ecclesiastical year (September 1) meditates on “the ongoing and daily destruction of the natural environment.” Environmental damage is the poisoned fruit of “human greed” and the pursuit of “vain profit,” the patriarch writes. Given our place in creation, human sinfulness results in not only a dissonance within the human heart but also a “turbulence in nature,” fracturing as it does nature’s “crown, namely human existence.” Fallen out of love with God, Bartholomew continues, human existence is fractured, our physical survival is threatened. So profound is our estrangement from nature and nature’s God, that we risk His “imminent wrath.” Bartholomew goes on to say Christians and all people of good will must cultivate a “continued vigilance, consciousness and mobilization of their resources in order to return to the state that reflects – if not the absolute Eucharistic and doxological condition of Adam and Eve – at least the condition inspired by God’s grace and mercy.” What is not as clear is how the Church’s vision is to be translated into practical personal action and effective public policies on the local, national, and international levels. As the Orthodox scholars Fr. Michael Butler and Professor Andrew Morriss remind us, “progress in solving environmental problems” will not “come about in response to naïve invocations of Orthodox Tradition.” What Bartholomew leaves out of his analysis are the positive effects of the free market in solving environmental problems in Europe, Australia, and North America in the last 50 or so years. This is also likely to be the case in Asia, Africa, and South America, if markets in these countries are allowed to grow and create wealth there as well. While the marketplace too is marred by human sinfulness, people using their talents there have been able to create the wealth that has contributed mightily to the “fruitful and noteworthy activities” undertaken to clean the air and water on which all life depends. And this wealth is not merely financial but technological and, most importantly, social. In this sense, it is emphatically not “vain profit.” |
| " I Believe in the Future of Orthodoxy in Indonesia " A Conversation with Archimandrite Daniel (Byantoro) Archimandrite Daniel Byantoro at Sretenksy Monastery On Monday June 15, Archimandrite Daniel Byantoro arrived in Moscow with his fellow priest Fr. Alexios. Fr. Daniel is the first Indonesian convert to Orthodoxy and the founder and heart of the struggling Orthodox Church there. He came to Russia for several days to visit holy sites, hierarchs and friends, and to spread the word of his mission to his spiritual brothers and sisters in Russia. On Wednesday he sat down for an interview with Pravoslavie.ru in which he spoke about his country and its Christian history. At a public lecture the night before given at the Fund of Slavic Culture Fr. Daniel spoke more about his own conversion experience. Raised in an entirely Islamic village, all that he knew of Christianity came from the Koran: as Christians worship three Gods, turned a prophet into God and made God weak, unable to save His prophet from crucifixion, they are going to hell. Islam denies that Christ is the Son of God; they deny the Trinity as well as the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, and therefore, as Fr. Daniel noted, they deny the entirety of Christian teaching (see Koran 5:72, 73, 98:6 which Fr. Daniel referenced easily from memory). According to Islamic belief, all the prophets from Adam to Christ were Muslims—Judaism and Christianity are but deviations from the pure religion of Islam. And what’s more, as Fr. Daniel expounded the night before over dinner, Muslims believe that everything in creation is naturally Muslim, submitting to the will of God. Apart from any outside influences everyone would naturally grow up to worship the God of the Muslims. Orthodox Christianity also teaches that human will naturally finds its telos in Christ, although we inherit a fallen mode of human nature. Conversely, Islam teaches that to leave the religion is to wholly forfeit your human nature—that is, Christians, Jews, and others are not human, and therefore it is permissible to deceive and terribly abuse them when expedient and for the desired end of their conversion. As Fr. Daniel emphasized, these are two competing systems—both cannot be true. We are called to make a firm decision and be educated in our decision to lead others to true human fulfillment in Christ. |
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