| Worshipers take unorthodox turn to Orthodoxy SOURCE: Frederick News-Post (Frederick, Maryland) By David Frey Father James Hamrick sprinkles holy water as he walks amid the pews at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church. David Frey photo. LEWISTOWN — In an old red brick church down a winding road, Gregorian chants and incense rise up to the bell tower. “Kyrie eleison,” the congregants intone, while at the altar, a retired cop-turned-Orthodox priest performs rituals as old as Christianity. When he steps down to face the crowd, he delivers a sermon like a country preacher, sweat beading on his forehead. “Some of us here are former Methodists,” says the Rev. James Hamrick, wearing white vestments over a black cassock, addressing two-dozen worshippers scattered sparsely through the pews. “Some of us were former Lutherans. Some of us were former Episcopals. Evangelicals. Non-denominational Christians. Pentecostals. But the one single factor that is common to all of our journeys — no, not where we come from — is that fact that we pursued the truth of God’s self-revelation.” Saint John the Baptist Orthodox Church is a tiny congregation in a rural corner of Frederick County. Its members number about 50, most of whom left mainline Protestant congregations for what they believe is the closest they can come to the original Christian church. Traditionally, Orthodox churches in this country filled with immigrants maintaining their religion in their adopted country. But over the past 26 years, the Orthodox Church has swelled with dissatisfied Protestants and Catholics. Gilbert Kelbaugh, of Frederick, said he found in Orthodoxy the formality he remembered in the Episcopal church of his childhood. “When I got back from Vietnam, there was not much I recognized,” said Kelbaugh, who said he had given up church for years. The Orthodox Church remains small in this country. Just 1.5 million Americans are members, about as many as are Muslim. Its ranks are growing, though. Since 2000, the church has seen a 17 percent growth in the number of congregations, according to church statistics. That growth has been driven largely by converts. |
| Metropolitan Tikhon addresses World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians Source: OCA Natalya Mihailova 12 May 2017 Photo: oca.org His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, offered welcoming remarks at the opening session of “Martyrs for Christ,” the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians that opened here on Wednesday, May 10, 2017. “This Summit takes place during the season of the resurrection of Christ, in which we celebrate the victory of the Life-giver over death and the destruction of corruption by the Divine Physician,” said Metropolitan Tikhon. “As Christians, we participate in this victory and this destruction not by the external imposition of force and violence upon others, but rather through our struggle to attain the love of Christ in the Holy Spirit, which is accomplished through humility and patience.” The complete text of Metropolitan Tikhon’s remarks may be found below. The Summit is being sponsored by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association [BGEA], which recently noted that, according to the US Department of State, Christians in over 60 countries face persecution from their governments or surrounding neighbors simply because of their belief in Jesus Christ. This abuse can include beatings, physical torture, imprisonment, severe punishment, isolation, rape and even death. These types of attacks on such a large scale are unprecedented in modern history, as reported by Franklin Graham, BGEA President and CEO and the international Christian relief and evangelism organization Samaritan’s Purse. The gathering, which runs through Saturday, May 13, brings together representatives, many of them Orthodox Christians, from 130 countries. Among them is His Eminence, Metropolitan Hilarion [Alfeyev] of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, who will deliver the keynote address, “Defying Divisions,” at Plenary Session III on Thursday, May 11. Metropolitan Hilarion also will concelebrate the Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Tikhon; His Grace, Bishop John of Naro-Fominsk, Administrator of the Patriarchal Parishes in the USA; and His Grace, Bishop Daniel of Santa Rosa at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Washington, DC on Sunday, May 14. He will deliver the homily at the Liturgy. |
| Unnatural selection By Fr Mario Attard, OFM Gendercide is sex-selective abortion which is leading to an ever increasing sex-ratio imbalance. The United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women has denounced sex-selective abortions as “grave discrimination against women”. Besides the UN, media entities have stressed the seriousness of this problem. In March 2010, The Economist ran a cover story entitled ‘Gendercide: the worldwide war on baby girls’. In June last year, researcher Mara Hvistendahl published a book called Unnatural Selection: Choosing Boys Over Girls and the Consequences of a World Full of Men. Referring to pre-natal therapy undertaken with the aim of modifying the genetic composition of a population (eugenics), Blessed John Paul II condemned the immoral act of selective abortion as “shameful and utterly reprehensible, since it presumes to measure the value of a human life only within the parameters of ‘normality’ and physical well-being, thus opening the way to legitimising infanticide and euthanasia as well” (Evangelium Vitae, 63). The effects of sex-selective abortions are devastating, and include increased violence and suicide, militant societies, prostitution, human trafficking, the sale of women, forced marriage, the rise of consumer eugenics, and a general degradation of women in society. These are the explicit consequences of a planned campaign against women. Such a disastrous outcome is the fatal corollary of ‘choice’. Globally, the sex ratio has changed dramatically. Nature has it that in every society about 105 boys are born for every 100 girls. Over the past 25 years, the sex ratio internationally has been drastically thrown off balance to differing degrees. In its 2010 Social Blue Paper, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said the average ratio in China today is 123 boys for every 100 girls. Likewise, in 2009, the British Medical Journal reported that six provinces in China had sex ratios of over 130. South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan also had sex-ratio imbalances. In India, 46 districts reported ratios over 125. |
| Getting to know America’s “Nones” Source: OCA Natalya Mihailova 27 July 2017 A newly released feature length documentary, Becoming Truly Human, offers an interesting and important glimpse into the growing number of Americans who consider themselves “religiously unaffiliated”—that is, those who check “none of the above” on religion surveys. “It is a well known fact that the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans has steadily grown over the last two decades,” says Priest John Parker who, as Chair of the Orthodox Church in America’s Department of Evangelization , highly recommends the film. “These are people who not only reject Christianity, but all religions, choosing instead their own spirituality and morality outside of ‘organized religion.’ Rather than identifying with a particular faith tradition, they choose ‘spiritual’ and ‘being a good person’ and ‘interconnectedness.’” According to Father John, the Pew Research Center discovered that an astonishing 25% of the American public in 2015—compared to a mere six percent just two decades ago—checks “none of the above” when asked to indicate religious affiliation, giving rise to the nickname “Nones.” And this is a phenomenon, he adds, about which Orthodox Christians should be aware and concerned in pursuing evangelistic ministry and outreach. “A quarter of our neighbors are rejecting religious faith, and it is out of this concern that Becoming Truly Human was conceived and developed,” says Father John. “The film offers a cinematic portrait of eight Nones , each of whom shares his or her journey from religious affiliation to religious non-affiliation. The film hears from each individually and as a group as they share their respective views about religion, the world, God, the afterlife, and much more. One None, Basil, describes how his exodus from religion and his quest for spiritual wholeness outside it ultimately led him to Orthodox Christianity.” Pre-screenings of the film indicate its tremendous success in terms of impact. [Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY, will host a public screening at 7:00 p.m. on September 24, at which writer/director Dr. Nathan Jacobs will be present.] |
| Faithful flock to grave of new Greek Orthodox saint/Православие.Ru Faithful flock to grave of new Greek Orthodox saint Souroti, Greece, January 18, 2015 Thousands of faithful have made the pilgrimage to the monastery of St. John the Evangelist in a small town in northern Greece to visit the grave of the Orthodox Church's latest saint, Saint Paisios. Paisios, a monk who spent most of his life in the nearby Mount Athos monastic community, was essentially made a saint by popular acclamation. Revered among the faithful as a wise man and a prophet, he was canonized last Tuesday by the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate bishops in Istanbul, Turkey, just over 20 years after his death, on July 12, 1994, at the age of 70. In the Orthodox Church, specific miracles aren't required to become a saint — instead the reputation of the faithful plays a major role. But Paisios' sainthood happened quickly according to church standards, and was the second-fastest sainthood in recent church history. The faithful who flocked to the monastery Sunday in Souroti, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) east of Thessaloniki, came from across the Balkans. The pilgrimage and liturgy were the culmination of five nights of continuous prayers in this women's monastery, which St. Paisios helped found in 1967 and in which he spent the final months of his life. The nuns are going to publish an official biography, as well as a multi-volume collection of his saying and alleged prophecies. Archbishop Damianos of Sinai, abbot of St. Catherine's Orthodox Monastery in Egypt's Sinai peninsula since 1973, was present at the ceremonies. " Saint Paisios spent two years with us (at St. Catherine's) ... We are praying for God's and St. Paisios' enlightenment, so that Greece may be saved, " he said. Pantazis Miteloudis, 57, was among those who had a close relationship with Paisios, whom he views as a spiritual guide. " He was a perfect human being ... I saw him every few weeks. He listened a lot to people and he answered to whatever concerns and worries they had. " |
| ‘We will not obey’: Christian leaders threaten civil disobedience if Supreme Court legalizes gay marriage April 29, 2015 “We will not obey.” That’s the blunt warning a group of prominent religious leaders is sending to the Supreme Court of the United States as they consider same-sex marriage. “We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross that line,” read a document titled, Pledge in Solidarity to Defend Marriage. “We stand united together in defense of marriage. Make no mistake about our resolve.” “While there are many things we can endure, redefining marriage is so fundamental to the natural order and the common good that this is the line we must draw and one we cannot and will not cross,” the pledge states. The signees are a who’s who of religious leaders including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, National Religious Broadcasters president Jerry Johnson, Pastor John Hagee, and Franklin Graham, president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse. The pledge was co-drafted by Deacon Keith Fournier, a Catholic deacon, and Mat Staver, the founder of Liberty Counsel. Also involved in the document were Rick Scarborough, the president of Vision America Action and James Dobson, the founder of Family Talk Radio. “We’re sending a warning to the Supreme Court and frankly any court that crosses the line on the issue of marriage,” Staver told me. He said that once same-sex marriage is elevated to the level of protected status – it will transform the face of society and will result in the “beginning of the end of Western Civilization.” “You are essentially saying that boys and girls don’t need moms and dads – that moms and dads are irrelevant,” Staver said. “Gender becomes pointless when government adopts same-sex marriage. It creates a genderless relationship out of a very gender-specific relationship. It says that it doesn’t matter and that two moms or two dads are absolutely equivalent to a mom and a dad.” |
| Tweet Нравится Venerable Ioane of Manglisi (†1751) Memory 28 March (5 April) Venerable Ioane of Manglisi (†1751) Venerable Ioane of Manglisi (†1751) Saint Ioane (Saakadze) of Manglisi was born in 1668 and spiritually nurtured in the Davit-Gareji Wilderness. Outstanding in virtue, Ioane was quickly ordained a hieromonk, and soon after consecrated bishop of Manglisi. In 1724 St. Ioane left Davit-Gareji for Derbend, Dagestan, where he constructed a wooden church and began to preach Christianity among the local people. He labored there with eleven other pious believers. St. Ioane’s humble life and the miracles he performed attracted the attention of the Muslim Dagestanis, and even the government took notice of his tireless evangelical activity. At that time the Georgian King Vakhtang VI (1703–1724) and Tsar Peter the Great of Russia were corresponding regularly about the evangelization of the Caspian seacoast. Both kings recognized the importance of St. Ioane’s activity in regard to this matter, and they generously contributed to his efforts. With their help, St. Ioane built one church in honor of the Nativity of the Theotokos and another in honor of Great-martyr Catherine. In 1737 Ioane left his disciples in Dagestan and journeyed to Astrakhan, near the place where the Volga flows into the Caspian Sea. There he constructed a church in honor of St. John the Evangelist, which was converted into a monastery in 1746. ArchimandriteGerman, one of St. Ioane’s disciples, was elevated as abbot of this monastery. Manglisi Cathedral. Manglisi Cathedral. While in Astrakhan, St. Ioane discovered that many ethnic Georgians were passing through the city of Kizliar in Ossetia, but they did not have a church in which to celebrate the divine services. So he traveled to Kizliar and, with help from his kinsmen, built a church and opened a preparatory school for clergy nearby. On March 28, 1751, St. Ioane reposed in Kizliar at the age of eighty. He was buried in the church that he himself had constructed. |
| Imprisoned Sudanese Pastors Facing Death Penalty Barred From Seeing Lawyers, Family Following Visit by American Pastor/Православие.Ru Imprisoned Sudanese Pastors Facing Death Penalty Barred From Seeing Lawyers, Family Following Visit by American Pastor June 14, 2015 Catholic priests and nuns arrive for a religious ceremony for late John Garang in New Site village in Southern Sudan August 2, 2005. [Southern Sudanese grieved their former leader John Garang around a simple bed on Tuesday and hoped the peace deal he struck would stick under his successor despite rioting over his death that killed 24 people.] Two Sudanese pastors who are potentially facing the death penalty after being arrested and imprisoned on trumped-up charges of alleged conspiracy and espionage, were removed from a low-security military prison and transferred to a more dangerous facility where they " ve been denied access to visitors, the pastors lawyers have said. Revs. Peter Yen Reith and Yat Michael, who " ve been detained since the winter and charged with violating seven laws including spying, undermining the government and insulting religion, were transferred from the Omdurman Prison for Men outside of Khartoum — where they were allowed to see their families and lawyers — to Kober Prison in North Khartoum, a high-security detention center. According to an advocacy group closely following the case, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, no one — not even their wives or lawyers — has been allowed to visit with the pastors since their transfer to Kober. Michael and Reith, who are clergymen from the South Sudan Evangelical Presbyterian Church, had been held in Omdurman Prison since March 1 and were last seen there on June 3, the day in which they were visited by three other Sudanese pastors and American pastor the Rev. William Devlin, who was detained for over an hour and prevented from visiting with the pastors after guards caught him taking photos and video inside the prison waiting room. Concerns were raised about the whereabouts of the pastors after family members were denied access to them on June 4, but prison officials confirmed on June 6 that the pastors were transferred. |
| Obama " Strongly Objects " to Religious Liberty Amendment Washington, USA, June 14, 2013 The Obama Administration " strongly objects " to a proposed amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have protected the religious rights of soldiers – including evangelical Christian service members who are facing growing hostility towards their religion. The amendment was authored by Rep. John Fleming, (R-La). It would have " required the Armed Forces to accommodate 'actions and speech' reflecting the conscience, moral, principles or religious beliefs of the member. " The Obama Administration said the amendment would have a " significant adverse effect on good order, discipline, morale, and mission accomplishment. " " With its statement, the White House is now endorsing military reprimands of members who keep a Bible on their desk or express a religious belief, " Fleming told Fox News. " This administration is aggressively hostile towards religious beliefs that it deems to be politically incorrect. " Fleming introduced the amendment after a series of high-profile incidents involving attacks on religious liberty within the military- including an Air Force officer who was told to remove a Bible from his desk because it might give the impression he was endorsing a religion. He said there are other reports of Christian service members and chaplains being punished for their faith. Last month Coast Guard Rear Admiral William Lee told a National Day of Prayer audience that religious liberty was being threatened by Pentagon lawyers and service members are being told to hide their faith in Christ. " Leaders like myself are feeling the constraints of rules and regulations and guidance issued by lawyers that put us in a tighter and tighter box regarding our constitutional right to express our religious faith, " he said. Fleming said the purpose of his amendment is to clarify ambiguities in the Pentagon's policies. " The bottom line is the military is bending over backwards to remove – even in the case of chaplains – expressions of faith and conscience, " Fleming said. |
| Tweet Нравится Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich: Serbia " s New Chrysostom A biography of Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, published in Belgrade in 1986, bears the title, Novi Zlatoust, A New Chrysostom.... Nearly thirty years earlier, Saint John (Maximovitch), who had been a young instructor at a seminary in Bishop Nikolai's diocese of Zica, had called him " a great saint and Chrysostom of our day [whose] significance for Orthodoxy in our time can be compared only with that of Metropolitan Anthony [Khrapovitsky]. ... They were both universal teachers of the Orthodox Church. " In another encomium, Bishop Nikolai's worthy disciple and preeminent Serbian theologian, Archimandrite Justin Popovic, extolled his teacher as " the thirteenth Apostle, the fifth Evangelist. " Bishop Nikolai was born December 23, the feast of Saint Naum of Ochrid, 1880, the eldest of nine children. His parents, Dragomir and Katarina, were pious peasant farmers in the small village of Lelich in western Serbia. As a child, he often accompanied his mother on the three-mile walk to the Chelije Monastery for services, and it was her precepts and saintly example, as he himself later acknowledged, that laid the foundation for his spiritual development. Hieromonk Nicholai (Velimirovich) Sickly as a baby, Nikola never developed a robust constitution, and failed the physical requirements in his application to military academy. With his superior intellectual abilities, however, he gained ready acceptance to the Seminary of St Sava in Belgrade - even before having finished preparatory school. Upon graduating, in 1905, he was chosen to pursue further study abroad, where he earned doctorates from the University of Berne (1908) and from Oxford (1909). Returning home, he became gravely ill with dysentery. He vowed that if the Lord granted him recovery, he would devote the rest of his life to His service. And so it was that later that year he was tonsured at Rakovica Monastery. That same day he was ordained to the priesthood. He spent the following year, 1910, studying in Russia, in preparation for teaching at the seminary in Belgrade. In addition to teaching courses in philosophy, logic, history, and foreign languages (he became fluent in seven), he produced an anthology of homilies that manifest his gift for being able to express profound thoughts in a way that made them accessible to the common man. |
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