| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Navigation Dcn. Michael: There Are No Secrets to God’s Mysteries Source: St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church Fr. Gabriel Bilas 23 October 2018 In today’s Gospel lesson from the book of St. Luke, we can see Our Savior pull back the vail of His teachings that are sometimes not so easily understood by His disciples. And like those men and women back in the first century we too are often unsure or confused about the message that Christ is trying to give to us. So many times, after reading a Gospel passage, I find myself asking, just like the disciples, “What does this parable mean?” And in the case of today’s parable, the answer may not be that obvious, either. To understand this parable, we must take a few moments and look at the whole event from which today’s reading was taken. When we restrict ourselves just to the verses included in a specific lectionary reading, or even worse, take a single verse out of the entire account and try to force an unintended understanding upon it, we run the risk of losing the true meaning behind the teaching. Originally, the Gospel was intended to be read as a book, without chapters or verses. This, of course, would be a bit impractical in the Church liturgical setting, so we rely on the guidance of the Church and our Orthodox tradition to help us understand the meaning behind the scriptural lessons. One part of today’s reading that needs further explanation is Jesus’ response to His disciples’ question regarding the meaning of the parable. Jesus said: “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see,and hearing they may not understand.’” We might ask: “Why does God want to hide the meaning of these teachings? Shouldn’t everyone be able to understand God’s Word?” This can be a difficult thing to reconcile if we do not fully comprehend what Jesus is trying to teach His disciples. It can be even harder to justify based on certain English translations that are available today. In some versions of this particular passage, the Greek word mysteria is translated as “secrets,” thus losing the Orthodox Christian understanding of the word “mystery.” The mysteries of God described in the Bible are not the same as those found in a “who-done-it” murder fiction, where the reader is encouraged to employ all his or her intelligence and logical deductive skills to come to a definitive, scientific explanation based on the evidence in the story. Instead, we understand mysteries to be the presence of the Kingdom of God which cannot be defined in human terms. The Church calls us to be more like St. Paul and less like Sherlock Holmes when discerning God’s Holy Word. |
| 2004am Address at Church of Ireland General Synod, St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh, 11 May 2004; http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1172 2004an Sermon to Mark the 10th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women, 16 May; http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1198 2004ao Sermon at the 350th Festival Service of the Son of the Clergy Corporation, 18 May; http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1201 2004ap Sermon at Eucharist Marking the 1400th Anniversary of the Re-Organisation of the Diocese of London, 22 May; http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1202 2004aq Sermon on the Occasion of the National Pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, 31 May; http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1203 2004ar Sermon at the Temple Church, 17 June; http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1184 2004as Oxford University Commemoration Day Sermon, University Church of St Mary the Virgin, 20 June; http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1205 2004at Sermon at Church Army Commissioning Service, Sheffield, 8 July; http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1063 2004au General Synod: interventions in the debates on (i) Clergy Discipline (Doctrine), 10 July ( http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1062 ), (ii) Rethinking Sentencing, 11 July ( http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1061 ), and (iii) Trade Justice, 12 July ( http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1059 ). 2004av Address at the Scottish Episcopal Church Provincial Conference, 3 September, http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1055 2004aw Service to mark the 175th anniversary of King’s College, London, Westminster Abbey, 19 October, http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1049 2004ax Evensong address given to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Archbishop Michael Ramsey, Magdalene College, Cambridge, 31 October, http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1049 ; reprinted in Glory Descending , pp.241-244 2004ay Address at Service to Mark the 300th Anniversary of Queen Anne’s Bounty, 4 November, Westminster Abbey, http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/1047 |
| Archive Пн Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church receives in audience the DECR vice-chairman and a delegation of the Foundation for Support of Christian Culture and Heritage 11 December 2021 year 13:23 On December 10, 2021, His Beatitude Metropolitan Sava of Warsaw and All Poland received in audience Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, vice-chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, and a delegation of the Foundation for Support of Christian Culture and Heritage led by the Foundation’s executive director, Ye. I. Skopenko. Archpriest Nikolay Balashov warmly greeted the Primate of the Polish Orthodox Church on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and the DECR chairman, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. His Beatitude Sava, in his turn, conveyed reciprocal greetings to His Holiness and the DECR chairman, expressing satisfaction with the successful progress of the work carried out with the help of the Foundation to adorn the interior of the St. Sophia Church in Warsaw visited by the delegation the day before. In their cordial talk, they dealt with a wide range of pressing problems of inter-Orthodox relations and cooperation between the Russian and Serbian Orthodox Churches in the sphere of culture. They were joined in their talk by Archpriest Adam Semeniuk, rector of the St. Sophia Church; Archpriest Andrey Levchak, chief prison chaplain of the Polish Orthodox Church; A. Yu. Khoshev, a staff member of the DECR Secretariat for Inter-Orthodox Relations; and staff members of the Foundation. Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, accompanied by Archpriest Andrey Levchak, visited the Cathedral of St. Mary Magdalene and the Church of St. John Climacus in the Wola district in Warsaw, located in the Orthodox cemetery where many archpastors and clergy of the Diocese of Warsaw of various times are buried. DECR Communication Service /Patriarchia.ru Календарь ← 21 апреля 2024 г. (8 апреля ст.ст.) воскресенье Неделя 5-я Великого поста. Глас 5-й. Прп. Марии Египетской (переходящее празднование в 5-ю Неделю Великого поста). Апп. Иродиона, Агава, Асинкрита, Руфа, Флегонта, Ерма и иже с ними (I). Свт. Нифонта, еп. Новгородского (1156). Прп. Руфа, затворника Печерского, в Дальних пещерах (XIV). Мч. Павсилипа (117–138). Свт. Келестина, папы Римского (432). Сщмч. Сергия Родаковского пресвитера (1933). Литургия св. Василия Великого. Утр. – Ев. 2-е, Мк., 70 зач., XVI, 1–8 . Лит. – Евр., 321 зач. (от полу), IX, 11–14 . Мк., 47 зач., X, 32–45 . Прп.: Гал., 208 зач., III, 23–29 . Лк., 33 зач., VII, 36–50 . 7 April 2024 year Share with friends |
| ‘For a long time the Russian Church bore the stamp of terrible divisions, but by God’s mercy and through the intercession of the Royal Passion-Bearers the spiritual, canonical and Eucharistic communion of the parts of the Russian Church divided by human ill will has been restored… Many believed that the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War was the end of the world, the coming of Antichrist, the end of history. One can imagine what our devoted ancestors felt seeing the destruction of churches, defilement of shrines, the triumph of the theomachist power who insulted people’s deepest religious feelings – the feelings which have always been inherent in our people. It seemed there was no deliverance. Later, it took only a few days to have the chains cast off and our Church was given an opportunity to unite and, most importantly, to bear witness to the inscrutable ways of Divine Providence. ‘Today our people, tempted by new attacks of godlessness based on a somewhat different ideology but having the same goal, face the risk of repeating the terrible mistakes of the past. Standing here we realize with special clarity how important it is not to repeat the same mistake, not to blaspheme holy places, not to destroy God’s cause which has been built by many generations in our Motherland’. Patriarch Kirill thanked Archbishop Mark of Berlin-Germany and Great Britain for his concern for the part of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission which is under the jurisdiction of the Synod of the Russian Church Outside Russia. Source: Official website of the Department for External Church Relations 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. |
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| Icons of Mt. Sinai There is at least one icon from Mt. Sinai that even people far from the Church know: the famous Christ Pantocrator, one of the most ancient iconographic depictions of Christ, painted in Constantinople in the mid-sixth century and given to the monastery at Mt. Sinai. There is at least one icon from Mt. Sinai that even people far from the Church know: the famous Christ Pantocrator, one of the most ancient iconographic depictions of Christ, painted in Constantinople in the mid-sixth century and given to the monastery at Mt. Sinai. What is generally representative of icons from Mt. Sinai? The art scholar Galina Kolpakova, in one of her books, notes: “In the icons of Sinai there is no canonicity, no dependence on examples. And this is not only because there were no examples. Their spontaneity and individuality came as the result of a sort of clairvoyance; they are witnesses to a strong and living faith that could not be translated onto the plane of a calculated system.” We offer a few examples of icons from Mt. Sinai for your attention. Compiled from open sources. Christ Pantocrator. Encaustic icon from the mid-sixth century Christ Pantocrator Christ Pantocrator. Thirteenth century The Theotokos between Sts. Theodore and George. Sixth century. (There is an interesting visual parallel with the icon of the Ascension: two angels gazing at heaven, but in place of the apostles two of the most famous warrior saints of the East; it is evidentially an icon turned to in prayer during the many raids and sieges of the monastery by Muslims.) Icons of Mt. Sinai. The Theotokos with Child Icons of Mt. Sinai. The Theotokos with Child Icons of Mt. Sinai. The Theotokos with Child The Theotokos with John the Theologian. Seventeenth century The Nativity. Seventh century Christ’s appearance to Mary Magdalene. Seventh century The raising of Lazarus. Twelfth century Icon of the Holy Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus of Antioch Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus of Antioch. Thirteenth century |
| The Syrians were amazed by the solid scholarship of high-ranking nuns who had a good understanding of philosophy and logic and wrote their own works. Archdeacon Paul did not fail to describe the interior of the church, which abounded in gold, silver, gems and pearls; he added with amazement that saintly women were depicted on most icons: holy female martyrs, virgins, and righteous women. With still greater amazement he also described the sisters’ clothing (which was very traditional for these lands) along with the food and drink with which they entertained their visitors, including even horilka [an Ukrainian alcoholic beverage]. Lastly, the guest spotted the convent’s well with a two chain system that indicated a depth of several dozen meters. According to the traveler’s account, it took the Syrians a long time to get to the Lavra along the convent’s territory. It means (and other sources confirm this) that, apart from the cloister itself, the convent’s wall also surrounded its numerous orchards, flower gardens, and kitchen gardens, which stretched very far behind the rear façade of the present-day Mistetsky Arsenal, along what is now Tsitadelnaya Street. What is interesting here is that Archdeacon Paul (as opposed to Beauplan) decided that laymen were forbidden to visit the Maidens’ Convent of the Caves at all, whereas these may have been only temporary quarantine restrictions after the pandemic, which would have applied to all visitors. Abbess Mary-Magdalene The dedication of the Maidens’ Convent of the Caves is first mentioned in 1654. It was dedicated to the Ascension of the Lord. The six-domed wooden Ascension Church was presumably built there in the early 1640s, and its creation was associated with the name of St. Peter (Moghila), Metropolitan of Kiev. In the 1660s due to the Polish-Cossack-Tatar War (1666-1671) and the Russo-Polish War (1654-1667), the monasteries of the Kiev Caves became impoverished, and they appealed to the Tsar of Moscow for help. The aid was received—in 1669 a large amount of money was donated to the Maidens’ Convent of the Caves. |
| Gen., 1975r. P. 112). В 1049 г. церковь была освящена папой Львом IX в присутствии архиепископов Трира, Лиона и Безансона. В то же время в архиепископстве Безансона Гуго I из Салена (1031-1066) построил ц. М. М. В 1027 г., согласно Гуго, аббату Флавиньи и автору «Верденской хроники», в Байё (совр. деп. Кальвадос, Франция), напротив мон-ря М. М., произошло чудесное исцеление парализованного (MGH. SS. T. 8. P. 393). Вскоре после этого мон-рь сгорел и на его месте была построена часовня М. М., которая при еп. Филиппе д " Аркуре (1142-1163) стала приходской церковью ( B é ziers M. Mémoires pour servir à l " état historique et géographique de diocèse de Bayeux. Rouen, 1896. T. 2. P. 86). Между 1034 и 1043 гг. была построена ц. М. М. и св. Ремигия ( Chevalier U. Sacramentaire et martyrologe de l " Abbaye de Saint Remy: Martyrologe, calendrier, ordinaires, et prosaire de la Métropole de Reims (VIIIe-XIIIe siècles). P., 1900. P. 227). К 1-й пол. XI в. относится строительство ц. М. М. в Безансоне ( Saxer. 1959. T. 1. P. 63). Ист.: Faillon E.-M. Monuments inédits sur l " apostolat de sainte Marie-Madeleine en Provence et sur les autres apôtres de cette contrée. P., 1848, 18653. 2 vol.; Misrahi J. A Vita Sanctae Mariae Magdalenae (BHL 5456) in an XIth Cent. Manuscript//Speculum. 1943. Vol. 18. N 3. P. 335-339; Saxer V. La Vie de sainte Marie-Madeleine, attribuée au pseudo-Raban Maur, œuvre claravallienne du XIIe siècle//Mélanges saint Bernard. Dijon, 1954. P. 408-421; idem. Sermo in sollemnitate Sancte Marie-Magdalene//Mélanges en l " honneur de Mgr. M. Andrieux. Strasbourg, 1956. P. 385-401; MartUsuard. 1965. P. 271, 361; Cross J. E. Mary Magdalen in the Old English Martyrology: The Earliest Extant «Narrat Josephus» Variant of her Legend//Speculum. 1978. Vol. 53. N 1. P. 16-25; Dubois J., Renaud G. Le martyrologe d " Adon: Ses deux familles, ses trois recensions: Texte et comment. P., 1984. P. 230, 419; Lobrichon G. Le dossier magdalénien aux XIe-XIIe siècles: Édition de trois pièces majeures//MEFR.MA. |
| The Symbolism of the Paschal Table The Typikon calls every festive meal a “great consolation for the brethren.” Pascha, which in importance stands outside the ranks of the twelve main feast days and is called the “Feast of feasts and the Celebration of celebrations,” presupposes a particularly abundant and diverse trapeza. However, in allowing this consolation, the Church nonetheless does not particularly endorse refinements that require many components or dishes that are difficult to prepare, considering pretentious culinary novelties to fall under the sin of gluttony. On the Paschal table should be several simple, inexpensive, but remarkably tasty dishes that bear within them a deep symbolic meaning. From the very first week of the fast, the responsible housewife begins to save onionskins, which color eggs in the most proper reddish-brown color better than any imported powders. Painting Easter eggs is a real art. Miniaturist artists are able to depict churches and monasteries, fantastic bouquets, celestial lights, the sea, forests, steppes and mountains, saints and angels on the convex surface. Except that all this painting comes from the influence of the West, and true Easter eggs are always colored with onionskins! The explanation given for the custom of dying Easter eggs red comes from a rather late apocrypha that speaks of the Roman Emperor Tiberius’ conversion to Christianity. Wishing to put an end to the preaching of Mary Magdalene, he declared that he would sooner believe in a white egg turning red than in the possibility of the resurrection of the dead. An egg turned red, and this became the last argument in the polemic that culminated in the Roman Caesar’s Baptism. The custom of exchanging colored eggs entered the life of the Church. The symbolic meaning of the egg as the beginning of a new life was known even earlier. Christians saw in this symbol confirmation of their faith in the coming general resurrection. The Easter egg’s red color symbolized the all-conquering Divine Love, which alone could destroy hell! |
| The various resurrection narratives vary considerably in length, focus, and detai1. If Q included a resurrection narrative (a thesis that would probably be greeted with skepticism, since most of it is held to be sayings, but for which we lack concrete evidence either way), most of the Gospel writers treated it as one among many; given the many witnesses of the risen Christ ( 1Cor 15:6 ), it is hardly surprising that numerous accounts would exist and different Gospel writers would draw on different accounts. The four gospels differ in detail, but in all four the women become the first witnesses, and Mary Magdalene is explicitly named as one witness among them (also Gos. Pet. 12:50–13:57). 10388 The variation in length of the Gospels» resurrection narratives (Luke 24 is long though recapitulated briefly in Acts 1; Mark 16:1–8 and Matt 28 are quite brief; John includes both Judean and Galilean appearances) may represent the desire to make optimum use of the scroll length instead of leaving a blank space at the end (as sometimes happened, Diogenes Laertius 6.2.38). Josephus seems once caught unexpectedly by the end of his scroll (Josephus Ag. Ap. 1.320); Matthew, approaching the length limit of his standardized scroll (see introduction, p. 7), may hasten to his conclusion; Luke may have sufficient space remaining to provide further detail before his closing. John " s «second» conclusion (ch. 21) fits the Gospel if John employed a scroll of standardized length, but by early in ch. 20 it would be clear to either the Fourth Gospel " s author or a later disciple how much space would remain at ch. 20 " s completion. 2. Pagan Origins for the Christian Resurrection Doctrine? Supposed pagan parallels to the resurrection stories are weak; Aune even declares that «no parallel to them is found in Graeco-Roman biography.» 10389 Whether any «parallels» exist depends on what we mean by a «parallel»; but plainly none of the alleged parallels involves a resurrected person, probably in part because resurrection in its strict sense was an almost exclusively Jewish belief. Most pagans would have preferred to play down a savior " s human death (cf. Philostratus Vit. Apol1. 7.14). 10390 Ancients commonly reported apparitions of deceased persons (e.g., Apuleius Metam. 8.8; 9.31; " Abot R. Nat. 40A) 10391 or deities, and hence occasionally those of persons who had become immortal (e.g., Plutarch " s reports of Romulus more than half a millennium earlier), 10392 but these are not resurrection appearances. |
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