| hieromonk Damascene (Christensen) Bibliography Afanasiev, Victor. Elder Barsanuphius of Optina. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2000. Aleksiev, Archimandrite Seraphim. The Meaning of Suffering. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman Brotherhood, 1994. Allen, Reginald E., ed., Greek Philosophy: Thales to Aristotle. New York: The Free Press, 1985. Anderson, Ken. Bold as a Lamb. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991. Athanasius the Great, St. On the Incarnation. Centenary Press, 1944. Revised ed. Crestwood, N.Y.: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1953. –. «Defense of Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria», «Against the Heathen». In The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 4. Reprint. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994. Augustine, Sr. The Confessions. New York: Collier-Macmillan, 1961. Barsanuphius and John, Sts. Guidance Toward Spiritual Life: Answers to the Questions of Disciples. Translated by Fr. Seraphim Rose. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1990. –. Questions and Answers (in Greek). Volos, 1960. Basil, St. The Fathers of the Church Series, Vol. 13. New York: Fathers of the Church, 1958. Calciu, Fr. George. Father George Calciu: Interviews, Homilies, and Talks. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 2010. Cavarnnos, Constantine. Meetings with Kontoglou. Belmont, Mass.: Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, 1992. Chang, Chung-yuan. Creativity and Taoism: A Study of Chinese Philosophy, Art, and Poetry. New York: Julian Press, 1963. Reprint. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1970. Chariton, Abbot of Valaam, comp. The Art of Prayer: An Orthodox Anthology. London: Faber and Faber, 1966. Chetverikov, Fr. Sergius. Elder Ambrose of Optina. Platina, Calif.: St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood, 1997. Christodoulos (Aggeloglou), Hieromonk, Elder Paisios (in Greek). Mount Athos, 1994. English version: Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain, Mount Athos, 1998. Cleary, Thomas, trans. and ed. The Essential Tao. San Francisco: Harper, 1991. |
| Let us pray today and in all the days to come to St. Sergius, that he might raise our prayers to the Throne of the Almighty: for our people, for our entire historical Fatherland, for the Russian land, and for our Church, that he might preserve it in oneness and keep it from enemy forces. On July 16 a procession with thousands of people went from the Stavropegial Monastery of the Protection in Khotkovo, a suburb of Moscow, where the relics of Sts. Cyril and Maria– the parents of St. Sergius – reside to the Annunciation field in Sergiev Posad. Photo: http://www.patriarchia.ru/ Therewith began the main Church-wide celebrations dedicated to the 700 th anniversary of the birth of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The procession was preceded by a moleben [supplicatory service] in the St. Nicholas Cathedral in the Monastery of the Protection. The divine services and procession were led by His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. An area for celebrating the divine services has been set up near the tent city that has been deployed on the Annunciation field. The Primate of the Russian Church celebrated a moleben and read a prayer to St. Sergius of Radonezh. After the completion of the divine service, His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill, addressed the faithful with a primatial sermon: Your Eminences, Your Graces, Dear Vladykas! Revered Fathers, Brothers, and Sisters! Respected state officials! I would like to greet you all cordially following the seventeen-kilometer procession with which we have opened the jubilee celebrations on the holy land of Sergive Posad. For many today’s journey was something special, something they have never before experienced in life. This was not simply a march, not simply a walk by foot, not simply a trek – it was a procession, accompanied by unceasing prayer. I would like cordially to thank the choirs that continuously performed the great hymns of our Church, helping the mind to focus on prayer. And we believe that the prayer during this procession reaches and reached the Throne of God, and that St. Sergius, our abba, has heard it. |
| Photo: mospat.ru On May 5, 2022, the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who was in Hungary with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, visited Szentendre town, where he met with the head of the local diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church headed by Bishop Lukijan of Budim. At the entrance to the Cathedral of the Dormition, Metropolitan Hilarion was welcomed by Bishop Lukijan and representatives of the Diocese of Budim clergy. They celebrated a thanksgiving in Serbian and exclaimed statuary Many Years. Welcoming the guest from the Russian Orthodox Church, Bishop Lukijan noted in particular, ‘Whenever you, Your Eminence, come to visit us, we feel the grace and blessing of Sts Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov and all the saints who shone forth in the Russian land. Therefore, we rejoice at our every meeting with you. You are known throughout the world as a peacemaker, for you have fulfilled God’s commandment: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ (Mt. 5:9). Therefore, we pray to the Lord that your every step on this path may be blessed. And we always say, ‘Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord’ (Lk. 13:35). And more, ‘The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace’ (Ps. 28:11). In his response, Metropolitan Hilarion stressed in particular, ‘Today is a special day for the Serbian Orthodox Church. Today His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije has granted Tomos of Autocephaly to the head of the Macedonian Orthodox Church thus overcoming the schism that had lasted within the Serbian Orthodox Church for many decades. We share the joy of the plenitude of the Serbian Orthodox Church and congratulate His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije and all the archpastors, pastors, monastics and the laity who are in Serbia, in North Macedonia, as well as in the diaspora, on this significant event – the restoration of unity and the granting of autocephaly by the Mother Church – the Serbian Orthodox Church to her daughter-Church’. |
| Self-Knowledge as a Path to God: On Sts. Sergius and Herman of Valaam His Holiness, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, delivered the following sermon during the Divine Liturgy at Valaam Monastery’s Transfiguration Cathedral on July 11, 2011, at which Archimandrite Savva (Mikheev) was consecrated Bishop of Voskresensk. Today we celebrate the memory of the Holy Venerable Fathers Sergius and Herman, the great God-pleasers who came here in times of great difficulty for Rus’, when a formidable enemy had begun to ravage the south. With the once-flourishing centers of Russian Orthodoxy falling into ruin under this onerous occupation, the fact that the spiritual center began to move from the south to the north was of providential significance. Those who founded the monastery here did not face any external enemies, but they did face enormous difficulties in establishing the monastic life. The severe climate, the isolation, and the pagan surroundings all created practically insurmountable obstacles to spreading the word of God. The labors of the Holy Venerable Fathers Sergius and Herman were also overshadowed by the fact that Swedish missionaries had preached in these parts several decades before their arrival. They sought to convert the local pagan Karelians to Christianity, not hesitating to use military force to this end. The freedom-loving and peaceful Karelian people were so repulsed by this preaching of Christ that it seemed impossible to undo their firm rejection of the new faith. But little by little, through their personal labors – and, above all, because the monastery founded by Sts. Sergius and Herman had become a beacon to the world – everything changed. The local inhabitants, stern and suspicious of the preaching of the new faith, poured into the monastery. Valaam became a missionary center for the enlightenment of the north of historical Rus’ with Orthodoxy. Why did it come about this way? Was it a coincidence? Or was it because of the tactical mistake of the Western missionaries, who imagined they could convert people to Christ more quickly with the use of force? The fact of the matter is what I have just now said to the newly appointed bishop. The “word” of anyone taking upon himself the boldness to preach to others must come through the heart. It cannot be empty. No matter how beautiful, artistic, or expressive it may be, if it is soulless and not reinforced by one’s life, it turns into what the Apostle calls sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal (1 Corinthians 13:1). |
| Tweet Нравится Against the Myth of the Byzantine Gay Marriage Rite On October 7/20 the Orthodox Church keeps the memory of the saints Sergius and Bacchus, known for their great friendship, who held high positions in the Roman army under the emperor Maximian (284-305) and were eventually martyred for their refusal to renonce Christ and worship the false pagan gods. Unfortunately the memory of these illustrious saints is often perverted and blasphemed today by those who seek to force their own agenda upon the Church. In 1994 Yale professor John Boswell published the book " Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe " in which he argued that the Byzantine rite of adelphopoiesis, which mentions the martyrs Sergius and Bacchus, was in fact a Church-sanctioned service of homosexual marriage which the saints had undergone, and he even used an icon of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus on the cover of his book. Although his research has been debunked time and again, his argument is repeatedly resurrected by those seeking to introduce homosexual marriages into the Church. Fr. Patrick Viscuso is a priest and canonist of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America who has written numerous scholarly articles in the area of Byzantine marriage and canon law. In this present article, " Failed Attempt to Rewrite History, " Fr. Viscuso defends the truth of historical Orthodox practice against the claims of Boswell, and in doing so honors the memory of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus. Writing the history of a religious institution involves understanding concepts and language within their historical and cultural context. Yale professor John Boswell's book purports to find precedents for homosexual marriage, particularly in Eastern Orthodoxy during the late Byzantine period. His main contention is that the Byzantines regarded the rite of adelphopoiesis , a Greek term translated as " same-sex union " by Boswell, as a form of marriage contracted between two males and blessed by the Church. It is beyond dispute that there are rites for adelphopoiesis contained in Byzantine manuscripts dating from the ninth to the 15th century. The ceremony was conducted by a priest for two males in church, and contained symbols common to Byzantine marriage rites including holding candles, joining hands, receiving Communion, and processing three times around a table used in the celebration. Prayers used for the sacerdotal blessing referred to God establishing " spiritual brothers " ( pneumatikous adelphous ) and contained references to sainted pairs, including most notably SS Sergius and Bacchus, who were famous for their friendship. The order of the service varied, but appeared to possess a simple structure, usually including petitions followed by the central prayer(s) of benediction and a dismissal. |
| Syrian Rebels Destroy Orthodox Church in Al-Thawrah admin 10 August 2013 August 9, 2013 (AINA) — The Antiochian Orthodox church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus was a landmark of al-Thawrah (also known as al-Tabqah). It was an impressive, modern structure with a large yard, surrounded by a high wall and well-situated on a main street near the corniche — a well landscaped area hugging the southern bank of Lake Assad which was popular with locals going on an evening stroll. Its elegant dome, surmounted by a cross, could be seen from all parts of the Third Quarter (also known as Hayy al-Ishtirakiyah), where it was located. Spiritually, this church was under the jurisdiction of the archdiocese of Aleppo, the metropolitan of which, Boulos al-Yazigi, was kidnapped (and allegedly murdered) on April 22 of this year, along with the Syriac Orthodox metropolitan of the same city, Mor Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim. It was built between 1985 and 1994, on land offered by the al-Thawrah‘s city council, and could accommodate up to 300 worshippers. Moreover, not only did this church serve more than 250 Orthodox families, but it was also used by local Christian denominations which did not have their own places of worship, including the small Syriac Orthodox congregation. This was also one of only two Christian places of worship in the town, the other being the small church of St. George, which belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East. Built around 1973, along with a community hall, this was located in the older part of al-Thawrah, known locally as al-Qaryah (the village). Around 2000, a plot of land in the Third Quarter was purchased by this community in order to build a new church, closer to the three quarters that housed those working in the Euphrates dam — and where the bulk of the Assyrians lived. Due to lack of funding, however, this project never materialised and, perhaps, for the better. On February 11, rebel fighters from the Islamist Jihadist “al-Nusra Front” — designated by the USA, UN, Australia and UK as a terrorist organisation — took control of the city and its strategic hydroelectric dam, the largest of its kind in the country. They also seized control of the three quarters that housed dam workers and in which, of course, stood the Orthodox Church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, and in which most of the Christians were settled. |
| Battling with Blasphemous Thoughts and Despair One evening, while standing in the Church of Sts. Zosima and Savvaty during the Vigil, terrible, horrible thoughts of disbelief, doubt, and blasphemy suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in my head like lightening. This happened so quickly and suddenly that they, like lightening, burnt me with hellfire. The Holy New Hieromartyr Kronid (in the world Konstantin Petrovich Liubimov) was born in 1859 in the village of Levkievo, Volokolamsk uyezd, Moscow province. In 1915 Archimandrite Kronid was appointed superior of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, remaining in that position until 1920, when it was closed by the Bolsheviks. Archimandrite Kronid then lived for seventeen years in Zagorsk (known before and after the Communist period as Sergiev Posad, the town surrounding the Lavra), during which he continued to serve as de facto superior of the monastic brotherhood. Archimandrite Kronid was arrested in November 1937, by which point he had gone blind, and imprisoned in the Taganka prison in Moscow. He was tried with fifteen people, ten of whom were monks of the Lavra. Accused of “counter-revolutionary activities,” eleven were shot and four were sentenced to ten years of hard labor. To the question of how he related to the Soviet power, he replied: “I am by conviction a monarchist, a follower of the True Orthodox Church, and I recognize the existing Soviet power as a believer: it was sent to the people as a test of faith in God’s Providence.” Fr. Kronid was sentenced as the “leader of a counter-revolutionary monarchical group of monks and clergy.” He was shot in Butovo and buried in a mass grave. Archimandrite Kronid was glorified as a saint among the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia by the Moscow Patriarchate in August of 2000. The following is a remarkable, inspiring, and courageous first-hand account by St. Kronid about his battles with blasphemous thoughts and the despair that came with them: One evening, while standing in the Church of Sts. Zosima and Savvaty during the Vigil, terrible, horrible thoughts of disbelief, doubt, and blasphemy suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in my head like lightening. This happened so quickly and suddenly that they, like lightening, burnt me with hellfire. Then such thoughts poured like a river through my consciousness. I was dumb from fear and horror. Something indescribable and inscrutable, horrible and strange, took place in my soul. These thoughts did not leave me after I went from church to my cell. These sufferings were indeed nothing of this earth, but of hell. I was deprived of food and sleep. Then days, weeks, months passed; a year, two, three, four passed, but these hellish thoughts continued to flow involuntarily, continuing to haunt me. I could find not a place of relief from the anguish and sorrow; I, the sinner, in my despair, even asked the Lord for death. |
| On the 10th Anniversary of Sretensky Theological Seminary. Priest Vadim Leonov: “At Seminary, you receive the leaven which will enliven the rest of your life.” In 1999 in Moscow’s Sretensky Monastery, a theological school was opened — Sretensky Orthodox High School, which was later reorganized as Sretensky Theological Seminary (STS). Instructors and students at STS talk about the choice of their life’s path and about their years within the walls of the seminary. Here we talk with Father Vadim Leonov, priest and instructor of Dogmatic Theology: Father Vadim, where did you receive your (educational) [ The usual word for “education” in Russian is “ obraz ovanie”, literally meaning “ image -formation” — trans ] I still haven’t received my formation, but I would very much like to. “Educational formation ” [literally “ image-ation ”] means the re-creation of the image of God in man. This goal is realizable, but is difficult to attain; or more precisely, is attainable in eternity with God. But you were probably not asking about that. You’re right; I wanted to know where you did your studies. Like everyone else, I first finished high school. Then, in 1984, I entered Moscow Machine-Tooling Institute; after the fourth year, I was sent for studies to the Budapest Engineering University, where I completed my training, receiving a degree from both institutions. I remember with gratitude this time of training; especially because, besides the specialty which I assimilated, there was always the possibility to travel around the world; during this time, I also managed to complete a three-year hitch in the navy. After finishing these studies, in 1993 I entered Moscow Theological Seminary; and then Moscow Theological which I finished in 2000. are at Holy Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Pasad. A “lavra” is a large monastery-trans.] And how did the desire to enter seminary take shape? When I was younger, it never would have entered my head to study in a seminary because I grew as an honest, self-respecting atheist, the product of Soviet ideology. Religion seemed to me to be the outmoded product of human foolishness. Nevertheless, there was something mysteriously attractive in it, and I hoped to come to grips with it in my spare time. |
| Syrian rebels destroy Orthodox church in Al-Thawrah/Православие.Ru Syrian rebels destroy Orthodox church in Al-Thawrah Al-Thawrah, August 12, 2013 The Antiochian Orthodox church of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus The Antiochian Orthodox church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus was a landmark of al-Thawrah (also known as al-Tabqah). According to a story by the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), it was an impressive, modern structure with a large yard, surrounded by a high wall and well-situated on a main street near the corniche -- a well landscaped area hugging the southern bank of Lake Assad which was popular with locals going on an evening stroll. Its elegant dome, surmounted by a cross, could be seen from all parts of the Third Quarter (also known as Hayy al-Ishtirakiyah), where it was located. Spiritually, AINA said, this church was under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Aleppo, the metropolitan of which, Boulos al-Yazigi, was kidnapped (and allegedly murdered) on April 22 of this year, along with the Syriac Orthodox metropolitan of the same city, Mor Gregorios Youhanna Ibrahim. It was built between 1985 and 1994, on land offered by the al-Thawrah " s city council, and could accommodate up to 300 worshipers. Moreover, not only did this church serve more than 250 Orthodox families, but it was also used by local Christian denominations which did not have their own places of worship, including the small Syriac Orthodox congregation. AINA said this was also one of only two Christian places of worship in the town, the other being the small church of St. George, which belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East. Built around 1973, along with a community hall, this was located in the older part of al-Thawrah, known locally as al-Qaryah (the village). Around 2000, a plot of land in the Third Quarter was purchased by this community in order to build a new church, closer to the three quarters that housed those working in the Euphrates dam -- and where the bulk of the Assyrians lived. Due to lack of funding, however, this project never materialized. |
| Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk Makes a Working Visit to Paris Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Photo: mospat.ru On June 30, 2022, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, arrived in Paris, France, on a working visit, reports the website of the DECR. On July 3, 2022, the 3d Sunday after Pentecost, Metropolitan Anthony and Archbishop Nestor of Madrid and Lisbon, acting administrator of the Diocese of Chersonesus, officiated a Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Church on Brainly Embankment in Paris. The liturgy was celebrated in Church Slavonic and French with a great gathering of the faithful, the website of the Diocese of Chersonesus reports . After the service, Metropolitan Anthony greeted those present. He thanked Archbishop Nestor for the warm welcome and expressed his gratitude to the clergy and laity of the diocese for the joy of praying together. In his response, Archbishop Nestor congratulated Metropolitan Anthony, who was appointed the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations in June, on the high duty and the special confidence shown by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church and wished him God’s help in his work as the chairman of the DECR. The archbishop presented Metropolitan Anthony with an Icon of Sts Sergius and Herman of Valaam. On June 4, 2022, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, at the conclusion of his working trip to France, met with the Apostolic Nuncio to France, Archbishop Celestino Migliore. Photo: mospat.ru On the occasion of the high-ranking guest’s visit to the representation of the Holy See in Paris, a dinner was given, during which the interlocutors, who have maintained good personal relations since Archbishop Migliore’s diplomatic service in Russia, discussed a wide range of issues concerning, among other things, the relationships between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. |
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