| Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, Michael D. Peterson Скачать epub pdf THEOLOGY THEOLOGY. Theology in the Orthodox tradition has a considerably broader meaning than philosophical discourse about divinity. The latter applies, to be sure, when Christian thinkers were obliged to express and defend the faith in language borrowed from the Greek philosophical tradition of Plato and Neoplatonism (qq.v.). Nor, it must be added, did they feel the latter to be entirely at variance with the revelation in Christ. The history of Orthodox theology (as of Roman Catholic [qq.v.] and Protestant theology) is in great part the struggle against and in alliance with the inheritance of the great pagan Greeks. Borrowing a phrase from Fr. Georges Florovsky (q.v.), it is a wrestling with concepts in order to discover the words “most adequate” to the mystery of God (q.v.) become man (theoprepeis logoi). In this struggle one may discern two basic approaches in Orthodox Church Fathers, as the former were categorized by Dionysius the Areopagite (qq.v.). There is first and primarily apophatic theology. This phrase goes beyond the mere negation of concepts. It denotes the fact that the transcendent God (q.v.) is, indeed, transcendent, other, and thus “known,” in Dionysius’s famous phrase, only “by unknowing.” Classically apophatic theology insists on a particular content to this “unknowing,” i.e., the possibility of a genuine experience of the unknowable God revealed in the Incarnate Word and communicated to the believer in the action (energeia) of the Holy Spirit (q.v.). This is therefore the real mystical theology, the union beyond word and concept. The experience of the divine leads to the other approach of classical Eastern theology, affirmative or cataphatic theology. The Unknowable is revealed in his creation, in the words of the Scriptures (q.v.), and finally in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. These givens constitute the realm of the oikonomia, God’s self-extension into the universe for humanity’s creation and salvation. On the one hand, words and concepts must be assigned and accorded their full seriousness, though always with the proviso that they carry within themselves and point toward a presence that finally transcends both them and every artifice of the created intellect. On the other hand, certain concepts, or “names,” do carry a particular weight because they are revealed images, “notional icons” one might say, beyond which the believer cannot go. This applies with particular force to the names accorded the persons of the Trinity (q.v.). In the Trinity, and in the formulations of the Ecumenical Councils concerning Christology (qq.v.), apophatic and cataphatic can be seen to meet and fuse: not a man and a god, but the God-man, not One and not Three, but both, and beyond the categories of one and many. |
| Photo: ROCOR His Grace Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe made his first archpastoral visit to the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Bern, Switzerland, for the festive celebration of the parish’s 75th anniversary. The previous day, 18/31 October, 2019, His Grace visited the University of Fribourg, where he presented a lecture on the theme: ‘Christ and the Church: Responding to Currents in Contemporary “Trinitarian Ecclesiology”‘. The event was attended by representatives of the various Local Orthodox Churches as well as prominent Swiss and international theologians and professors interested in the Orthodox spiritual heritage, including many students of the University and its Orthodox Studies Centre. Following the lecture, a prayer service was held in the University’s Orthodox chapel dedicated to St Nicholas and led by the priest of our Diocese’s Bern parish, Priest John Ciurin, after which a reception was held in which Orthodox university students had a warm conversation with His Grace. The 75th Jubilee celebrations for the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Bern then began on Friday, October 19/1 November, with all-night vigil headed by the His Grace Bishop Irenei, Ruling Bishop of our Diocese, accompanied by the Diocesan Vicar, His Grace Bishop Alexander of Vevey and numerous clergy who had arrived to share in the joy of the occasion — from parishes in Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Moldova, Russia and Georgia. So great was the number of faithful present that the parish’s normal temple was insufficient in size to contain them, and thus a larger church nearby was made available for these days. Following the Vigil, Bishop Irenei and Alexander were accompanied by a group of clergy to a dinner hosted for the occasion by the Ambassador to Switzerland of the Russian Federation, His Exellency Sergei Viktorovich Garmonin, at the Embassy. During the meal, which included other members of the diplomatic department, the special place held by the Church Abroad within the Swiss Confederation and beyond, focused on the spiritual nourishment of the Orthodox diaspora, was emphasized by the Ambassador and discussed by His Grace and the clergy, and members of the Embassy diplomatic corps offered their official congratulations on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Bern Parish. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Bishops’ meeting approves document on the distortion of the Orthodox doctrine of the Church in the actions of representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople DECR Communication service, 19.07.2023. “We, the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, cannot pass over in silence the sad divisions we are now enduring in the Orthodox world generated by the incorrect actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the new doctrines which are being spread by its Primate and official representatives. We consider it our duty to raise our voice in defence of the Orthodox doctrine of the Church in appealing to both our God-loving flock and our brother bishops of the Orthodox world,” the document entitled On the Distortion of the Orthodox Doctrine on the Church in the Actions of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and Public Utterances of Her Representatives states. The document was approved by the members of the Bishops’ Convocation which took place on 19 th July 2023 at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity and Saint Sergius. The convocation noted that behind the schismatic actions of the bishops of Constantinople in Ukraine that has divided the Orthodox world family there stand innovations by the same bishops’ innovations in the doctrine on the Church that have been forcibly imposed and which are aimed at the destructions of existing canonical norms. “The new conception of the primacy of the Patriarch of Constantinople as the supposed earthly head of the Ecumenical Church accords to him rights and privileges that go far beyond the limits of any other Primate of the Orthodox Local Church and violate the canon laws of other Churches.” “As the illegal actions of Constantinople continue, and the ideas distorting the Orthodox doctrine of the Church are developed further, we consider it our duty to remind our flock of the fundamental principles upon which throughout the centuries Orthodox ecclesiology has been constructed and bear witness to the Fullness of Orthodoxy our fidelity to these unchanging principles. It is precisely their violation by the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew that has become the reason for the schism within world Orthodoxy,” the document states. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy Delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church monastics led by Metropolitan Dionisiy of Voskresensk arrives in Egypt DECR Communication Service, 28.04.2023. On April 28, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ and at the invitation of His Holiness Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II, a delegation of monastics of the Russian Orthodox Church arrived in Egypt to make a pilgrimage to the places related to the origin and flowering of Christian monasticism and to become better acquainted with the modern life of monasteries and convents of the Coptic Church. As a follow-up of dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church, the pilgrimage is included in the programme of mutual visits of the Russian and Coptic monastics as part of the work of the Commission for Interchurch Dialogue. The delegation is led by Metropolitan Dionisiy of Voskresensk, chancellor of the Moscow Patriarchate, first Patriarchal vicar and abbot of the Novospassky monastery in Moscow, and consists of Bishop Arseniy of Yuriev, vicar of the Novgorod diocese; hegumeness Iuliania (Kaleda), deputy head of the Synodal department for monasteries and monasticism and abbess of the Zachatyevsky convent in Moscow; hieromonk Smefan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations and secretary of the Commission for dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church; archimandrite Mitrofan (Pismensky), abbot of St. Anthony of Leokhnovo hermitage and dean of the monasteries in the Novgorod diocese; hegumen Damaskin (Leonov), abbot of the Dormition monastery in Staritsa, Tver metropolia; hieromonk Amvrosiy (Zhelyabovsky), abbot of the hierarchal metochion at the church of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, the former Holy Trinity Makariev monastery in Kalyazin, Tver metropolia; hieromonk Pavel (Gelyastanov), dean of the Novospassky monastery; hieromonk David (Legeida), head of the scete of the Smolensk icon of the Holy Theotokos and precentor of the choir of the brethren of the Valaam monastery of the Transfiguration; Rev. Ioann Ignatov, a cleric of the Novospassky monastery; hierodeacon German (Murog), assistant to the hegumen of the Valaam monastery; hierodeacon Petr (Akhmatkhanov) of St. Daniel’s stauropegic monastery in Moscow and a DECR staff member; sister Ioannikia (Zhdanova) of the Zachatyevsky convent; monk Mark (Zaikov), director of “The Light of Valaam” religious and educational centre; monk Afanasiy (Nikolayev) of the Information department of the Valaam monastery; A. Bespoldenov, a novice of the Novospassky monastery; and N. Pikulev, a subdeacon of Metropolitan Dionisiy. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy On the Feast of the Holy Trinity Italian Ambassador prayed at the Liturgy in the Church of the ‘Joy to All the Afflicted’ Icon of the Mother of God in Bolshaya Ordynka street On 23 June 2013, the Feast of the Holy Trinity, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, DECR chairman, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the ‘Joy to All the Afflicted’ Icon of the Mother of God in Bolshaya Ordynka street in Moscow. Concelebrating with Metropolitan Hilarion were clerics of the Church. Attending the festive Divine service was H.E. Mr. Antonio Zanardi Landi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Italian Republic to the Russian Federation. After the Liturgy, Metropolitan Hilarion addressed all those present with a homily, saying in particular: ‘In the prayer which we have just heard Pentecost is called a concluding feast. It concludes a long period of the liturgical year which began with the Feast of the Nativity of Christ; Great Lent, the Holy Week and the Feast of the Resurrection followed. And finally we, together with the whole Holy Church, have come to the Feast of Pentecost. It is called concluding because on the Day of Pentecost Jesus Christ completed his mission on earth. ‘During the Last Supper He promised His disciples to give them another Comforter and on the Day of Pentecost He sent Him down upon His holy disciples and apostles. An amazing miracle happened which cannot be described in any language: all the people who heard the apostles’ preaching, understood every single word, no matter what country they had come from. And on that very day the apostles themselves understood completely what the Lord had been telling them but for what their ears had remained closed: they are called to fulfill their apostolic mission. So, “their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psalm 19:4). Having begun their preaching in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost, the apostles preached Christ to the whole world. |
| Over 100 Thousand People Walk In Cross Procession In Memory Of St Alexander Nevsky Among the participants were representatives of the parishes of the St. Petersburg diocese, students of theological schools, and pilgrims. The citywide religious procession took place in honor of the 295th anniversary of the transfer of the holy relics of St. Alexander Nevsky in St. Petersburg on September 12, 2019. The cross procession was attended by 115 thousand people, reports Tass.ru . The procession consisted of two groups: a large one from the Kazan Church and a small one from the Holy Trinity Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra. The first group proceeded along Nevsky Prospect with the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. It was led by Metropolitan Barsanuphius of St. Petersburg and Ladoga. The second one passed with the saint’s holy relics. It was headed by the abbot of St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra, Bishop Nazarii of Kronstadt. The two groups met on the Alexander Nevsky Square, and a Service of Intercession took place. “The event was attended by representatives of the clergy of the St. Petersburg diocese, students of the city’s theological schools, believers from St. Petersburg, numerous pilgrims from the Leningrad region and other regions of Russia. A delegation from Serbia headed by the Minister for Religious Affairs Miletu Radojevic also took part in honoring St. Alexander Nevsky,” it was reported. The transfer of the holy relics of St. Alexander Nevsky was accomplished by an order of the Emperor Peter the Great. They were delivered from Vladimir to St. Petersburg from August 11, 1723 to August 30, 1724. The galley with the holy relics was met by the Nevsky fleet and Peter I personally. The emperor brought the galley to the shore, then carried the relics to the temple of the Holy Trinity Monastery established by him. A citywide procession in honor of the transfer of the relics was established in 1743 by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. The tradition, interrupted after the October Revolution, was renewed during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra’s foundation in 2013. |
| Molieben of thanksgiving marks the 170th anniversary of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem On the 170th anniversary of the establishment of the Russian Orthodox Church’s representation in the Holy Land, a molieben of thanksgiving and a requiem service for the late heads of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission and for all the brethren and sisters who had worked there were celebrated at the Church of the Holy Martyr Alexandra the Empress in Jerusalem. Archimandrite Alexander (Yelisov), head of the Mission, officiated at the services. Photo: http://mospat.ru The close ties had existed between Russia and the Orthodox East long before the Mission was created. The first Russian pilgrims came to venerate the shrines of the Holy Land shortly after Rus’ had embraced Christianity. On the 11 th /23 rd of February 1847, the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem was established by the decision of Emperor Nicholas I. The Mission was to become a sign of “visible unity of the Churches of Jerusalem, Antioch and Russia,” to take care of pilgrims, to carry out missionary activities, and to help organize schools and seminaries. Through the efforts of the heads of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission – Archimandrite Porphyrius (Uspensky), Archimandrite Leonid (Kavelin), Archimandrite Leonid (Sentsov), and, of course, Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin) – the Mission grew, developing its ecclesiastical and economic activities and gradually turning into the remarkable phenomenon known today as “Russian Palestine.” This year is marked by several memorable dates, such as the 135 th anniversary of the establishment of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, the 145 th anniversary of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Jerusalem, the 170 th anniversary of the foundation of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, and the 200 th anniversary of the birth of Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin), one of the most renowned servants of the Russian Church in the Holy Land. These memorable dates will be celebrated throughout the year, the Press Service of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem reports. |
| Accept The site uses cookies to help show you the most up-to-date information. By continuing to use the site, you consent to the use of your Metadata and cookies. Cookie policy DECR Chairman meets with the delegation of the Ethiopian Church DECR Communication Service, 15.02.2023. On February 14, Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations, with a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, met with the delegation of the Ethiopian Church who are in Moscow for the second meeting of the Commission for Bilateral Dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church. The meeting was held in the Department for External Church Relations. The Ethiopian side was represented by Archbishop Philipos of South Omo, rector of the Holy Trinity Theological Academy in Addis-Ababa, co-chair of the Commission; Rev. Daniel Sayfemichael, head of the Ethiopian Church Department for External Relations, secretary of the Commission; Archimandrite Uedejesus Sefugalato, deputy chancellor of the Ethiopian Church, dean of the parishes in Addis-Ababa. From the Moscow Patriarchate side, there were Metropolitan Leonid of Klin, Patriarchal Exarch for Africa, co-chair of the Commission; Hieromonk Stephan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations, secretary of the Commission; V. V. Kipshidze, vice-chairman of the Synodal Department for the Church’s Relations with Society and the Medea, member of the Commission; Deacon Dimitry Serov, director of the Moscow Theological Academy Publishers, member of the Commission; S. G. Alferov, a DECR staff member. Metropolitan Anthony warmly welcomed the church delegation from Addis-Ababa on behalf of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill and asked them to convey words of brotherly love and best wishes to His Holiness Abune Mathias, Primate of the Ethiopian Church. His Eminence Anthony recounted to the guest the history and today’s life of the Department for External Church Relations. One of the priority areas of the work of this oldest Synodal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate always has been the maintaining of contacts with the Oriental Churches including the Ethiopian Church the relations with which number more than one century. As for today, the dynamically developing cooperation of the two largest communities of the Oriental-Christian Church has a special importance amid the threats encountered by the peoples of Ethiopia and historical Rus’. |
| Bellingshausen Station (Antarctica), February 19, Interfax - Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia believes Antarctica is a representation of the ideal humanity where there is no weapon, no military actions, and people from different countries selflessly help each other. Photo by Roman Samsonov “Antarctica is the only place where there is no weapon, no military actions, no scientific research directed at working out new means of killing people (…). It is a kind of representation of the ideal humanity and evidence that people can live like this – without borders, without weapon, without hostile competitiveness, that they can cooperate and feel as members of one family,” the patriarch said speaking to the polar explorers at the Russian Antarctic Station Bellingshausen. According to him, polar explorers, no matter what country each of them represents, extend each other their helping hand in difficult moments giving the example of cooperation. The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted that it is not by chance that the only acting church in Antarctica is the Russian church at the Bellingshausen Station, which is called after the Holy Trinity. “Trinity is an ideal representation of unity,” the patriarch explained. He reminded that St. Sergius of Radonezh built the Holy Trinity Church not far from Moscow and this church became a foundation of the main spiritual center of Russia – the Holy Trinity – St. Sergius Lavra, and the Church links unity of Russian principalities in the 14th century and liberation from the Mongol-Tatar Yoke with his name. The patriarch added that St. Sergius used to say that “looking at the Holy Trinity, we can overcome divisions of this world.” “It is very nice that there is a church in Antarctica where polar explorers overcome hated divisions of this world. Antarctica is a place with special spiritual and humanitarian significance for the whole world. Thank you for the example, you are showing the world,” the patriarch told the scientists. |
| Archive Representatives of the Coptic Church’s academic circles visit Russia 22 November 2022 year 13:11 From November 12 to 18, 2022, with a blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church hosted lecturers of the Coptic Theological Academy in Cairo and Seminary in Al-Muharraq, church historians Hegumen Benjamin of el-Muharraq and Rev. Basil Samir Zaki. The trip took place in accordance with the agreements for developing cooperation between the theological schools of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church as part of work carried out by the Bilateral Commission for Dialogue. The aim of the visit was the participation of Coptic scholars in an international round-table organized by the Moscow Theological Academy’s Office on Oriental Studies on ‘Monasticism in Egypt: Past and present’. The program began with a visit to St. Sergius’ Laura of the Holy Trinity. The representatives of the Coptic Church venerated the honorable relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the crypt of the Cathedral of the Dormition and said the prayer for the repose of the late Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church who, in taking monastic vows was named in honor of St. Pimen the Great, an Egyptian Desert Father, one of the founders of Christian monasticism. The participants in the trip recalled the meeting between Patriarch Pimen and Coptic Patriarch Shenouda III (1971-2012), which took place exactly 50 years ago, in October 1971, when the latter became the first Primate of the Coptic Church to come in the fold of the Moscow Patriarchate. That meeting of the two First Hierarchs was an important landmark in the development of inter-church relations. On November 14, the delegation visited the Church Archeology Office, icon-painting department, library and other education and research centers of Moscow Theological Academy. The guests from Egypt met with members of the Working Group for Bilateral Theological Consultations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church, namely, Rev. Pavel Lizgunov, pro-rector for training, and Deacon Sergiy Panteleyev, as well as other representatives of the MTA leadership and faculty, as well as students. |
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