| His Holiness Patriarch Kirill visits Scete of Prophet Elijah founded by St. Paisius Velichkovsky on Mount Athos June 6, 2013 On 5 June 2013, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia proceeded to the Scete of the Prophet Elijah after visiting the Monastery of Pantocrator together with those accompanying him. His Holiness celebrated a prayer service in the scete. In his address to the worshippers he shared his joy of visiting the scete, which he called a pearl of the Holy Mount. “The scete was founded by a great ascetic – the elder Paisius Velichkovsky, who late became the founder of the tradition of eldership in many countries, including Russia. During one hundred and fifty years many Russian people, simple and well-known, came here to follow their monastic calling,” His Holiness said and continued: “One of the chapels here is dedicated to St. Metrophanes of Voronezh. Love and faith of our people are seen in its magnificent decoration. This church beauty has come into being donations. Sadly, there have been no Russian monks here since 1990s because of the well-known reasons. However, I believe and all Russian people together with our Church of many million believe that Russian monasticism will revive in this place, and the Greeks and the Russian will glorify God together. “The Russian Church and historical Rus’ – Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova – are in the process of revival, because Orthodox faith is reviving. Thousands of churches and hundred and monasteries and convents have been opened, and we can say that this revival is God’s miracle. You can see this revival even in the increasing number of pilgrims from Holy Russia to Holy Mount Athos.” His Holiness donated an icon of the Saviour to the scete, and archimandrite Joachim presented His Holiness with a copy of the icon of the Mother of God with which Russian Emperor Nicholas I did not part during war with the Ottoman Empire. The Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and his suite went to the Church of St. Nicholas the Miracleworker, sang troparia to the saint and to the Mother of God and venerated her icon called “Milkgiver.” |
| Venerable Paisius Velichkovsky Commemorated on November 15 Saint Paisius Velichkovsky was born in Poltava in Little Russia on December 21, 1722, and was the eleventh of twelve children. His father John was a priest, who named him Peter at his Baptism, in honor of St Peter the Metropolitan of Moscow, on whose Feast he was born. After the children’s father died, their mother Irene raised them in piety. Peter was sent to study at the Moghila Academy in Kiev in 1735. After four years, Peter decided to leave the world and become a monk. At the age of seventeen, he went in search of a monastery and a good spiritual Father. For seven years Peter visited various monasteries, including the Kiev Caves Lavra, but he did not feel drawn to any of the monasteries of Ukraine. After being made a rassophore monk (one blessed to wear the rasson, but not yet tonsured “into the mantle”) at the St Nicholas Medvedevsky Monastery with the name Platon, he found that there was no experienced Elder there who could teach him obedience or give him spiritual direction. Not wishing to begin his monastic life without such guidance, he left the monastery a week after his tonsure with the blessing of his Elder. At first, he went to Kiev, where he happened to meet his sister-in-law, the widow of his older brother Archpriest John. She informed him of his mother’s sorrow when he left Kiev, and her mind seemed to be affected by her grief. Then one day an angel appeared to her and told her that instead of loving the Creator with her whole heart and soul, she loved His creation (her son) more. Because of this excessive love, the angel went on, she was thinking of starving herself to death, which would result in her eternal condemnation. The angel said that by God’s grace, her son would become a monk, and that she should also renounce the world and become a nun. After this, she became calm and accepted God’s will. She entered a convent and was tonsured with the name Juliana. After about ten years, she departed to the Lord. |
| Christ Himself awaits us in His Father’s house: Metropolitan Nicolae at the summer patronal feast of Middletown Monastery Source: Basilica.ro tefana Totorcea 09 June 2022 Photo source: Metropolis of the Americas “Christ, Who has ascended to the heavens and is enthroned at the right hand of the Father, is the foundation of our hope that we also will eventually arrive in the house of the Father,” where Christ Himself awaits us, said the Romanian Orthodox Metropolitan of the Americas on Saturday, at the summer patronal feast of New York’s Middletown Monastery. “For this reason, when we serve a memorial service or a funeral, we speak about the dead as being asleep in the Lord or reposed in the Lord. They are not condemned to eternal non-existence , as some people say, but they are reposed in the Lord. Christ Himself awaits us so that He might receive us in His Father’s house,” the hierarch further explained. “Christ, Who is the Son of God come down to earth, passed through death so that He might conquer it, and now at His Ascension, He fulfills this dispensation. He ascends into the bosom of the Holy Trinity, bringing with Him our human flesh, which bears the wounds of His Passion on His palms and His side,” added His Eminence. “Therefore, we observe how this feast is not just one among many, but truly reveals to us many mysteries: first, that man just like us is at the right hand of the Father; second, that Christ awaits us in His Father’s house; and last but not least, that Christ will send His Holy Spirit Who by enlightening us all, enables us to become proclaimers of the word of the Gospel,” concluded the metropolitan. His Eminence Nicolae celebrated the Divine Liturgy with other nine clerics at the Middletown Monastery’s summer patronal feast, the Ascension of the Lord”. On the eve of the feast the service of Great Vespers with Litya was officiated. Metropolitan Nicolae offered all participants copies of an icon painted especially for the Commemorative Year of the Hesychast Saints Symeon the New Theologian, Gregory Palamas and Paisius (Velichkovsky) of Neam in the Romanian Patriarchate. |
| Fasting I call the eating of a little bit once a day. Getting up from the table when still hungry, having his food, bread, and salt, and his drink-water, which the springs themselves bring forth. Behold the royal way of receiving food, that is, many have been saved by this path, so the Holy Fathers have said. To refrain from food for a day, or two days, three, four, five, or a week, a man cannot do always. But, so as every day to eat bread and drink, one can always do this; only, having eaten, one should be a little hungry so that the body will be submissive to the spirit and capable of labors and sensitive to mental movements, and so the bodily passions will be conquered. Complete fasting cannot mortify the bodily passions as well as poor food mortifies them. Some fast for a time and then give themselves over to delicious foods, for many begin fasting beyond their strength and also other severe labors, and then they grow weak from the lack of measure and unevenness of this labor, and they seek tasty foods and repose for the strengthening of the body. To act in this way means to build and then again to destroy, since the body through thinness from fasting is yearning for sweet things and seeks consolation, and the sweet foods ignite the passions. But if someone establishes for himself a definite measure as to how much poor food to eat in a day, he will receive great profit. However, concerning the quantity of food, one must establish a rule that it be as much as is necessary for the strengthening of oneself. Such a one can perform every kind of spiritual work. But if someone fasts beyond this, at another time he will give himself up to repose. Ascetic labor according to measure is priceless. For certain of the great Fathers also took food in measure, and everything they used in its right time, and everything had measure-ascetic labors, bodily needs, cell possessions: everything according to a definite, moderate rule. Therefore, the Holy Fathers do not command one to begin to fast above one's power and to make oneself weak. Take as your rule to eat every day; thus one may refrain in a more firm way, but if one fasts more than this, how will he refrain later from eating to the full and overeating? In no way will he be able to. Such an immoderate beginning comes either from vainglory or lack of understanding, while continence is one of the virtues, which aids in the subjugating of the flesh. Hunger and thirst are given to man for the purification of the body, from preservation from unclean thoughts and lustful passions. Everyday to eat poorly is a means to perfection, as certain ones have said, and one who eats every day at a definite hour in no way is lowered morally nor undergoes any harm of soul. St. Theodore the Studite praises such ones in his instruction on the Friday of the first week of the Great Fast where he cites in confirmation of his words the Holy God-bearing Fathers and the Lord Himself Thus we also should act. |
| Orthodox Bulgarians Venerate Piece of St. Seraphim of Sarov " s Relics Given to Bulgarian Church as a Gift/Православие.Ru Orthodox Bulgarians Venerate Piece of St. Seraphim of Sarov " s Relics Given to Bulgarian Church as a Gift July 23, 2015 In the evening of July 16, 2015, the holy relics of St Seraphim of Sarov were taken out to the court of the Metropolia of Sofia for public veneration. The chest with a piece of the saint’s relics was given by the Moscow Patriarchate as a gift on the occasion of the 1150th anniversary of the Baptism of the Bulgarian people and the 1145th anniversary of the foundation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. The request for this gift had been made to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia by Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria and the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. With the blessing of Patriarch Kirill, the shrine was brought to Bulgaria by Metropolitan Georgiy of Nizhniy Novgorod and Arzamas. On May 12, in accepting the relics of St Seraphim of Sarov, an ascetic loved and honoured by Bulgarians, Patriarch Neophyte said, ‘We hope that this precious gift will contribute to the further strengthening of the faith and devotion of the Orthodox Bulgarian people and our God-commanded unity in Christ.’ He asked to convey to Patriarch Kirill profound gratitude for the precious gift to the Bulgarian Church, for brotherly love and consideration. The decision concerning the permanent place for keeping the chest with St Seraphim’s relics will be made by the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. 24 июля 2015 г. Предыдущий Следующий Смотри также Greek Miracles of St. Seraphim of Sarov Greek Miracles of St. Seraphim of Sarov As our Greek friends explained to us, very many people now know of Fr. Seraphim in Greece. Furthermore, the Russian Seraphim has become so dear to the hearts of simple believers that they take him to be their own Greek saint, and the less educated might even say that Sarov is somewhere in Greece. Nevertheless, it was not clear what made this particular church venerate him so, especially since it was located in “the boondocks”. From the Life of St. Seraphim of Sarov Helen Kontsevich From the Life of St. Seraphim of Sarov Helen Kontsevich As a beginning, Prokhor set off with five companions to the Kiev Caves Lavra, desiring to receive the blessing of the Kiev Elders. Among the ascetics of that monastery was the famous elder Dositheus (who was found to be a woman after she died). That clairvoyant elder had been in continual contact with the blessed Elder Paisius Velichkovsky, and with those monastics who were of one mind with him. Dositheus gave Prokhor spiritual instruction, counselled him to study the ancient Holy Fathers on the work of interior prayer, and directed him to go to Sarov Monastery and remain there until death, for there he would find salvation. Комментарии © 1999-2015 Православие.Ru |
| Patriarch Daniel: Even offered in solitude, a Christian’s prayer is solidary, not solitary Source: Basilica.ro Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro/Mircea Florescu Opening the works of the Spring Pastoral-Missionary Conference of the clergy of the Archdiocese of Bucharest on Monday, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel stressed that prayer is an act of communion: “A Christian’s prayer, even offered in solitude, in one’s home or cell, is not a solitary prayer, but a solidary prayer, in communion with the whole Church in prayer and enlightened by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “As members of the Mystical Body of Christ, believers are united by grace to one another, the suffering of one being borne by the whole ecclesial community, according to the apostolic exhortation,” the Patriarch of Romania said June 6. “In this regard, Professor Rev. Dumitru Staniloae says that prayer can also be considered as people’s means of transcending from a life enclosed in selfishness and the world to a life of communication in God, as His kingdom,” His Beatitude explained. 2022 – Solemn Year of prayer in the Church’s life and the Christian’s life The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church proclaimed 2022 as a Solemn Year of Prayer in the Church’s and the Christian’s life and a Commemorative Year of the Hesychast Saints Symeon the New Theologian, Gregory Palamas and Paisius (Velichkovsky) of Neam. The knowledge of God as the primary condition for gaining the Kingdom of God – “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17: 3) – is closely related to prayer, because only through assiduous prayer can man attain to the knowledge of God by grace and union with Him. Being created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), man can be perfected only through close communion with God. And Christ the Lord, true God and true man, is mystically present in the hearts of those who are in the communion of love with Him, according to His promise: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20). |
| The Lord made him an emulator of St Anthony of the Caves, also a native of Little Russia. And like St Anthony, who wandered and finally settled on Mt Athos, where he assumed the angelic monastic rank, and, after laying down many years of labor there and earning great spiritual gifts, then returning to his fatherland to sow and multiply monastic life; so did St Paisius, gaining heavenly treasures, returned to his home, to Moldavia, to renew the monastic ranks, to reestablish the fallen common monastic life and plant within it thrice-blessed obedience, illuminating through his teaching the darkness of the ignorant, to grant wisdom through the correction and new translations from the Greek into his native tongue of the Holy Fathers and theological texts. " Hieromonk Tryphon went to the Holy Mountain with Fr Platon. They arrived on Mt Athos on July 4, on the eve of the feast day of St Athanasius of Athos, who lived as a hermit on the Holy Mountain, and then established the first coenobitic monastery. Today his monastery on the Holy Mountain is the main one, the first one among twenty other monasteries. Resting for a few days at the lavra of St Athanasius, the travelers headed for the Monastery of the Pantocrator, nearby which Slavic monks lived. The road to Pantocrator Monastery was long and difficult. The travelers, weary, sat down to rest, and drank some cold water. From this they caught colds. Hieromonk Tryphon grew delirious, and died soon after arriving at Pantocrator Monastery. Platon remained to live at Pantocrator Monastery. Gradually he came to know the neighboring monasteries, visiting the local monks and hermit, seeking a spiritual father. It was difficult for him, since he lived in poverty for some four years. In 1750, the spiritual father of Fr Platon from Moldavia, Schema-monk Vasilius, came to Mt Athos, who tonsured Platon to the mantle with the name Paisius. Soon Paisius was joined by his first students, Vissarion and Cesarius; eventually their number grew to 12. |
| The Lord made him an emulator of St. Anthony of the Caves, also a native of Little Russia. And like St Anthony, who wandered and finally settled on Mt Athos, where he assumed the angelic monastic rank, and, after many years of labor there and earning great spiritual gifts, then returning to his fatherland to sow and multiply monastic life; so did St Paisius, after gaining heavenly treasures, return to his home, to Moldavia, to renew the monastic ranks, to reestablish the fallen common monastic life and plant within it thrice-blessed obedience, illuminating through his teaching the darkness of the ignorant, to grant wisdom through the correction and new translations of the Holy Fathers and theological texts from the Greek into his native tongue. " Hieromonk Tryphon went to the Holy Mountain with Fr. Platon. They arrived on Mt Athos on July 4, on the eve of the feast day of St. Athanasius of Athos, who lived as a hermit on the Holy Mountain, and then established the first coenobitic monastery. Today his monastery on the Holy Mountain is the main one, the first one among twenty other monasteries. Resting for a few days at the lavra of St. Athanasius, the travelers headed for the Monastery of the Pantocrator, near to where the Slavic monks lived. The road to Pantocrator Monastery was long and difficult. The weary travelers sat down to rest, and drank some cold water. From this they caught colds. Hieromonk Tryphon grew delirious, and died soon after arriving at Pantocrator Monastery. Platon remained to live at Pantocrator Monastery. Gradually he came to know the neighboring monasteries, visiting the local monks and hermits, seeking a spiritual father. It was difficult for him, because he lived in poverty for some four years. In 1750, Fr. Platon’s spiritual from Moldavia, Schema-monk Vasilius, came to Mt Athos and tonsured Platon to the mantle with the name Paisius. Soon Paisius was joined by his first students, Vissarion and Cesarius, and eventually their number grew to 12. |
| Elder Makary did not tolerate idleness among the brethren. He introduced various handcrafts: bookbinding and woodworking. He also adorned the skete with mass planting of flowers. His greatest contribution to Optina, however, to initiate its work of publishing patristic texts. This was historically significant since Peter’s reforms had greatly curtailed such activity which subsequent laws restricted to ecclesiastical print shops. The result was that many works of Holy Fathers existed only in manuscript form or in very limited editions. Meanwhile, the secular press was churning out translations of mystical-philosophical works from the West, some of them plainly hostile to Orthodoxy. With the blessing and earnest support of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, and the active collaboration of the Orthodox writer and philosopher Ivan Kireyevsky, Elder Makary began meticulously editing manuscripts translated from the Greek by Paisius Velichkovsky, which he had acquired in Ploshchansk, and other patristic manuscripts donated by various individuals, thus launching an undertaking which, in 50 years, produced more than 125 books in 225,090 copies. These were sent to libraries and seminaries all over Russia, putting into circulation the works of St. Isaac the Syrian, St. Symeon the New Theologian, St. Nil of Sera, Elder Paisius and others, and inspiring a growing circle of religiously inclined intelligentsia. Hieroschemamonk Hilarion Elder Hilarion was born on Pascha night and baptized Rodion. In the world he was a tailor and ran a clothing store, devoting his spare time to missionary work among the schismatic Skoptsy. He spent a year visiting various monasteries before settling in Optina in 1839, drawn by the presence of Elders Leonid and Makary. When the latter was appointed skete superior, he chose Rodion as his cell attendant, an obedience he fulfilled for 20 years, until Elder Makary’s repose. In addition he worked in the gardens, made kvass, baked bread and looked after the apiary He was characterized by simplicity, goodwill and a readiness to help. With his missionary background he showed special concern for those outside the Church. Although he remained for posterity in the shadow of his more famous fellow elders, his spiritual greatness may be judged by the fact that Elder Makary entrusted to him, as well as to Elder Ambrose, his spiritual children. |
| Hieroschemamonk Macarius Elder Makary " s face was scarred by smallpox, he stuttered and was always poorly dressed, but he was distinguished by a very refined personality. He was born to a landed gentry family, loved music and was a talented violinist. After some years " experience in the world as a bookkeeper, in 1818 he entered upon the monastic path at the Ploshchansk Hermitage. There he formed ties with Elder Leonid and followed him to Optina. With Elder Leonid " s repose, the burden of the spiritual guidance of the skete fell to Elder Makary. He was soft-spoken and emanated a quiet joy in the Lord. Like Elder Leonid, he used his gift of spiritual discernment to work numerous healings, especially of the demon-possessed. also carried on a tremendous correspondence: his letters of counsel fill two volumes, each numbering a thousand pages. Elder Makary did not tolerate idleness among the brethren. He introduced various handcrafts: bookbinding and woodworking. He also adorned the skete with mass planting of flowers. His greatest contribution to Optina, however, to initiate its work of publishing patristic texts. This was historically significant since Peter " s reforms had greatly curtailed such activity which subsequent laws restricted to ecclesiastical print shops. The result was that many works of Holy Fathers existed only in manuscript form or in very limited editions. Meanwhile, the secular press was churning out translations of mystical-philosophical works from the West, some of them plainly hostile to Orthodoxy. With the blessing and earnest support of Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, and the active collaboration of the Orthodox writer and philosopher Ivan Kireyevsky, Elder Makary began meticulously editing manuscripts translated from the Greek by Paisius Velichkovsky, which he had acquired in Ploshchansk, and other patristic manuscripts donated by various individuals, thus launching an undertaking which, in 50 years, produced more than 125 books in 225,090 copies. |
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