| Holy Father Symeon the New Theologin “Blessed Are Those Who Commune Each Day! They will be purified of all defilement of soul and body. If you think it is impossible to partake daily of the awesome mysteries, what ignorance! Vhat insensitivity!” Holy Father Symeon the New Theologin, + 1022 AD Published in the Feb. 2013 Trinitarian Tweet Donate Share Code for blog On the Need for Frequent Communion by Great Teachers of Orthodoxy Natalya Mihailova [caption id="" align="" width="" ] Holy Father Makarios of Corinth[/caption] " Some persons say: " Look, we fulfill the commandment of the Lord, for we commune two or three times a year, and this is enough to justify us. " We ... 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. For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir. If everyone reading Pravmir could donate 5 euros a month, they would contribute greatly to our ability to spread the word of Christ, Orthodoxy, life " s purpose, family and society. Donate Related articles Take or Receive? Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver As Orthodox Christians we know that the Sacrament of Holy Communion plays an extremely important role… Approaching the Holy Chalice Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh Every time we approach the holy chalice to receive Communion to the Body and Blood of… On the Prayer Before Communion Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh Let us reflect on them, because we cannot speak words of courtesy, words of empty politeness… |
| The greatest and most influential Russian Athonites have been saintly examples of humility, poverty, and prayer. The foremost of these were St Antony Pechersky, who came to Athos shortly after 1051, and St Paisy Velichkovsky, who was there from 1746 to 1762. Both made their way via Kiev to the Holy Mountain on foot. They were tonsured after they had arrived; they lived there in extreme self-denial, and then they left to continue the Athonite tradition in monastic communities at home. St Antony, the founder of the great Kievan monastery of the Caves, is considered the father of Russian monasticism. In the seventeen short years St Paisy spent on Mount Athos he became spiritual father to monks of many nationalities, one of whom was Patriarch Seraphim I. St Paisy’s personal qualities transcended ethnic barriers. He knew that the ability to maintain harmonious inter-ethnic relations was a gift others did not have. He was in charge of ethnically mixed brotherhoods: in the Prophet Elijah skete of Athos, 370 and, once he had left for the Danubian principalities, in the monasteries of Neam and Secul. In all three houses his brethren were Slav and Romanian; divine office was read and sung in both languages. St Paisy knew that maintaining harmony in an ethnically diverse community was possible only with great cenobitic discipline, and that only leaders with exceptional gifts could enforce it. 371 On Athos, St Paisy was at the forefront of spiritual revival: he espoused the traditionalists’ side in the Kollyvades debate and resurrected ancient patristic texts hidden away on dusty shelves of Athonite libraries. A little over a decade after his departure, Sts Nikodimos of the Holy Mountain and Makarios of Corinth were instrumental in reviving Greek Orthodox patristic traditions, the Philokalia, and cenobitic monasticism on the Holy Mountain. All three saints were crucially influential in the latter half of the eighteenth century when feelings of revolutionary independence were stirring in all Greeks. |
| With Saint Paul, the holy Silas preached the word of God, was flogged, and imprisoned. The Acts of the Apostles relates that Paul chose Silas and departed, confirming the churches. Silas became Bishop of Corinth and greatly labored proclaiming the gospel. After working numerous miracles, he departed to the Lord. Apostles Timoth, Silouan, and Paul. Miniature " Acts and Epistles of the Apostles. " Byzantium. End of 13th C., Moscow. XXIII. Saint Silvanus (July 30) Silvanus transcribed Saint Peter’s First General Epistle, as the chief Apostle states: By Silvanus, a faithful brother, I have written. In his Second Epistle to the Corinthians, Saint Paul testifies that Silvanus assisted him in teaching the word of God. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, he says, was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus. As Bishop of Thessalonica, Silvanus suffered much for the faith, then departed to Christ, the Ruler of the contest. XXIV. Saint Crescens (July 30) Saint Crescens is mentioned by Paul in his Second Epistle to Timothy. " Crescens, " he says, " I sent to preach in Galatia. " After serving as bishop in Galatia, he proclaimed Christ in Gaul and appointed his disciple Zacharias Bishop of Vienne. Returning to Galatia, he was martyred during Trajan’s reign. XXV. Saint Crispus According to the Acts of the Apostles, Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house. This Crispus is the same as the one referred to by Saint Paul in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. I baptized Crispus, writes the great Apostle. Crispus became Bishop of Aegina, an island near the Peloponnesus. XXVI. Saint Epaenetus (July 30) Saint Epaenetus, Bishop of Carthage, is mentioned by Saint Paul in the Epistle to the Romans, in which he writes, Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ. XXVII. Saint Andronicus (February 22, May 17, and July 30) Saint Paul says in the same epistle, Salute Andronicus, calling him his kinsman and fellowprisoner. Andronicus, eminent among the apostles, believed in Christ before Paul and was Bishop of Pannonia. |
| All the feuding among the Greek-Americans was exacerbated by their differing intense political views, with some siding with the Royalists back in Greece (supporters of King Constantine I, King Alexander I, and King George II), and others supporting Eleftherios Venizelos, the Prime Minister (from 1910 to 1915, then from 1917–1920, then for one month in 1924, and finally from 1929–1932). In 1930, Metropolitan Damaskinos of Corinth was sent as an exarch by the Ecumenical Patriarchate to bring to an end the feuding among the Greek-Americans. Through his strength of character and shrewd diplomacy, Metropolitan Damaskinos managed to unite nearly all the Greek parishes under the leadership of a new Archbishop from Corfu, the dynamic and visionary Athenagoras (Spyrou) (1886–1972), who was Metropolitan Damaskinos’s personal choice for the position. The regional bishoprics were eliminated (the bishops became auxiliaries to Archbishop Athenagoras), and the autonomous status of the Greek Archdiocese was lost, as all the Greek churches in America were brought under the direct supervision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. In 1933, Archbishop Athenagoras approached Metropolitan Platon of the Russian-American Metropolia with the idea of founding a pan-Orthodox seminary in America. Metropolitan Platon was open to this possibility, but after his death in the next year, his successor, Metropolitan Theophilus, rejected the idea. With that, Athenagoras worked on his own to establish a seminary for the Greek Orthodox in America. Thus, in 1937, the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Theological School was opened in Pomfret, Connecticut. It was moved to a prime site in Brookline, Massachusetts, overlooking the city of Boston, in 1946. Archbishop Athenagoras served in America until his installation as Patriarch of Constantinople in 1949. He did much to bolster the financial foundation of his Archdiocese, and to make Orthodoxy more visible in America. Other highlights of his period of leadership were the founding of the charitable organization called the Ladies’ Philoptochos Society, the establishment of a national periodical called The Orthodox Observer, and the founding of Saint Basil’s Teachers’ College in Garrison, New York, along with the founding of the theological school in Pomfret. |
| Saint Athanasios Parios (c. 1722–1813), was another leading churchman of this era. A disciple of Saint Makarios, he wrote this saint’s biography. Saint Athanasios was also deeply influenced by the revival of hesychasm. He taught at the Academy on Mount Athos, then in Thessaloniki, then on Chios for 25 years. There he had strong influence on hundreds of Greek youths. He loved to bring forth the wisdom of the great Eastern Fathers of the Church, and he especially tried to revive interest in the works of Saint Gregory Palamas. Saint Nikephoros of Chios (1750–1821) was another important Greek saint in this era. He taught at the famous school at Chios for 20 years, until 1802, when he became abbot of the Monastery called Nea Mone on Chios. After Saint Makarios of Corinth died, Saint Nikephoros wrote hymns honoring him. Russia The Holy Governing Synod The eighteenth century was a period of grave difficulty for the Orthodox Church in Russia. Peter I (the Great) (r. 1689–1725), taking the title of “emperor,” ruled Russia with an iron hand. He became fascinated with Western Europe, especially its advancements in scientific and military technology, and he encouraged the introduction and spread of such technology in Russia. He built the new city of Saint Petersburg on filled in swampland by the Baltic Sea to be Russia’s celebrated “Window to the West.” As part of his effort to modernize his nation through Westernization, Peter forced the Russian Orthodox Church to accept a radical structural reorganization based on the model of the various Protestant State-Churches in Scandinavia and England. After Patriarch Adrian died in 1700, Peter kept delaying giving his approval for the election of a new patriarch. Finally, in 1721, he issued the Ecclesiastical Regulation. Written by a very Protestant-leaning Ukrainian bishop named Theophan Prokopovich (1681–1738), this document officially abolished the patriarchate of the Russian Church. A standing synod of bishops, priests, and laymen was established in place of the patriarchal office as the highest ruling body in the Church. |
| 39 Это прибавление читается и в известном Евангелии Московского Архангельского собора Мстиславовом первой полов. XII в. 44 И прочие списки разнятся в переводе сих, слов в разных евангелиях: сп. 27. в Мф. хлеб наставшаго дне, Лк. бытный, сп. 25. Мф. хлеб. наставшаго дне, Лк. насыщь, сп. 24. Мф. хлеб достоин естеству, Лк. насущный. Такие же имеют разности списки 21. 23. 24. 28. 30. 31. в стихах Ин. 15:4. 5 ., читаемых в нед. 7 Ин. и в 1-е страстное Евангелие. 45 О таком чтении Евангелия равно как и Апостола, упоминает патриарх Константинопольский Филофей в послании к ученику своему, которое помещено в сборнике Троицкой Сергиевой Лавры XV в. под названием: Патерик Скитский. N 4. л. 319. 46 Как делились послания по гранесам, или стихам, можно видеть в сей ркп. из послания к Филимону, в котором стихи эти обозначены числительными буквами на поле. 47 Здесь при втором послании к Коринф. читается ещё особое краткое обозрение его содержится, нач. все слово е въ ептлии. се.е ра (на Греч. в изд. Маттнаеі ер. ad Corinth. р. 8). Оно помещается и в старинных изданиях Апостола, напр. Московских 7105 и 7129 г. 48 В сп. 40 просто: стхъ. г. прпбны ць, едора и пр. в. сп. 44 преставленіе блговрнаго кнз феодора и ча его. 50 Путешествие Стефана помещено в Сказаниях Русского народа кн. VIII. стр. 51–55. Здесь сказано стр. 53: ту лежит Феодор Студийский: из того бо монастыря в Русь посылали много книг: устав, триодь и иные книги. – И далее стр. 54: обретохом на пути Ивана ч Добрилу, своих Новгородцев, живут сипсаючи тут в монастыре Студийском от книг св. Писания, зане бо искусни зело книжному списанию. – Игнатий в своём путешествии 1389 г. упоминает о Русских в том же монастыре, иже, говорит он, добре упокоиша нас. Сказ. Русск. нар. стр. 100. – В том же монастыре переписал и митр. Киприан лествицу своею рукою в 1387 г. 51 Ещё Карамзин, (Ист. Г. Р. Τ. IV. пр. 227) заметно сходство последних выражений с известным словом о полку Игореве. 52 При этом будем ссылаться на N 96 хотя не древним (XVI в), но полными, тогда как в старшем списке N 95 содержатся только первые 4 послания Апостола Павла. 54 Обозревая отношение списков к тексту толк. Апостола, содержащего только Павловы послания в древнем виде, по удобству обращаем здесь внимание и на текст прочих книг Ап., при толковании находящихся. Читать далее Источник: Описание славянских рукописей Московской синодальной библиотеки : Отд. 1-3/[Александр Горский, Капитон Невоструев]. - Москва : Синод. тип., 1855-1869. - 5 т./Отдел первый. Священное писание. - 1855. - XIV, 342 с. Вам может быть интересно: Поделиться ссылкой на выделенное |
| Образ Божий. Первый, кто из ранних христианских писателей обращается к этому вопросу, был св. Климент Римский. Он говорит (I ad. Corinth. c. XXXIII, 4–5): «После всех других, Бог Своими святыми и непорочными руками создал человека, самое превосходнейшее и величайшее по своему уму (существо), как начертание Своего образа; ибо Бог сказал: «сотворим человека по образу и подобию нашему» . Слова «по Своему уму» встречаются не во всех древнейших редакциях, почему в издании Funk–Bihlmeyer их не находим. Из этого отрывка можно заключить, что для Климента Римского образ Божий в человеке заключается в уме. Он и самое христианство понимает, как «бессмертное ведение» и «познание славы имени» Христова» . Идея сыновства, так ясно выраженная в проповеди ап. Павла и ев. Иоанна, значительно потускнела в писаниях мужей апостольских. Так, хотя св. Климент и называет Бога Отцом, но это больше в смысле «Отца, Творца и Зиждителя мира и всех людей», чем в смысле усыновления и единства в полноте таинственного тела Церкви . Говорится о христианах, как «сынах Божиих» у псевдо–Варнавы , но тоже без раскрытия этой идеи. Несколько больше находим у Игнатия Богоносца. Хотя он и не говорит самого слова «усыновление», «сыновство», однако, он знает, что надо «достичь Бога» или «достичь Иисуса Христа» . Это не только чисто нравственное уподобление, это мистика непосредственного единения с Богом . Христиане суть по посланию к Траллийцам «ветви Креста» . Для св. Игнатия эта мистика богообщения, а, следовательно, и обóжения осуществляется в том, что христианин есть храм Христа. Это совершенная традиция ап. Павла. Надо, чтобы Христос «жил в нас, и чтобы мы были храмы Его, и чтобы Он был в нас, Бог наш» . Таким образом, христиане становятся «богоносцами» , и они имеют часть с Богом . Достигается это стяжанием Святого Духа, «чтобы было единение плотское и духовное» . Об этом состоянии духовного совершенства говорит и псевдо–Варнава . Христиане делаются «духовными», «совершенным храмом Богу». Воплощение Сына Божия понимается им исключительно сотериологически . |
| Although the term leitourgia (“liturgy” or “ministry”) is used by Clement in various different ways 415 (it is noteworthy that in the case of the “presbyters” who had been deposed and those whom they had succeeded), it is used par excellence in the sense of “offering the gifts” 416 . The dismissed “presbyters”, then, had as their main task the offering of the Gifts. This alone is mentioned in connection with their dismissal which for this reason is considered “no small sin” (44:4). In its concern to preserve the characteristics of catholicity in the Church of Corinth, 1 Clement, like Ignatius, links her Bishop and clergy with the Lord through the Apostles 417 ; not in any abstract way or for any other reason, nor on a theoretical and theological level, but in relation to the Divine Eucharist which is offered by them. And, even if it is supposed that with 1 Clement certain Roman categories creep into the way the characteristics of catholicity are interpreted of (see for instance the use of the term “legitimate” in 40:4), this does not give the historian the right to speak of catholicity appearing with 1 Clement. On the contrary, from what we have maintained here, it is clear that there is no conceivable relationship, let alone identity, between the Roman spirit and catholicity around the time of Ignatius because catholicity arises out of the local Church’s consciousness of constituting the whole Christ. The external marks which express this consciousness are essentially and primarily the Divine Eucharist as the Body of Christ, and the Bishop who offers it (“with the presbyterium and the deacons”). These form the indisputable historical expressions of catholicity which 1 Clement does not invent, but upholds at a period which was, as we have seen, highly critical for the history of the Church. In consequence, 1 Clement is not innovating and does not, as has been maintained, introduce the Roman spirit into the teaching about catholicity. But in response to the urgent historical needs of its time, when the Apostles were starting to disappear, it connects two generations through an existing link, that of the Divine Eucharist with which the Bishops or “presbyters” who offered it had always been inseparably connected. |
| Soon, many disciples settled around Paissij and a monastic community was born. In order to take care of them, Paissij had to accept ordination into the priesthood. But since the number of disciples was always growing, the community had to move from place to place and finally, had to go back to Moldavia, to Dragomirna, where starets Paissij received the great schema. Eventually, they had even to split and settled in Sekoul and Niamets. The starets continued his work of translation and edition of the Slavonic Philokalia, and established around him a school of learned monks learning Greek and helping him in this gigantic work. In his community, the starets adapted the Hesychast method of prayer to the conditions of coenobite monastic life. The hesychast renewal in Russia inaugurated by starets Paissij may be compared to the Hesychast revival in XVIIIth century Greece thanks to the Collyvades, and especially Makarios of Corinth and Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain. This renewal is closely linked with the edition and diffusion of the Philokalia, the great anthology of patristic texts on prayer which has become since then the manual of every Orthodox monk. Paissij was in fact the initiator of this major undertaking. Makarios and Nicodemus used in fact some of the texts which were already collected by Paissij while he was still on Athos for their version of the Philokalia published in 1782. But Paissij’s version, published in 1793, has fewer treatises than the Greek one . But this spiritual revival inspired by Paissij dealt not only with the practice of the Jesus prayer. It is also at the origin of the renewal of the tradition of spiritual fatherhood, “starchestvo” . Paissij Velichkovskij became the father of Russian elders, and directly influenced Optina Pustyn’ and Sarov, two major centres of spiritual life in XIXth century Russia. The famous story called The Way of a Pilgrim (c. 1860) is testimony to the practice of mental prayer and obedience to a starets not only in monasteries, but also outside monastery walls, among lay pilgrims and solitary hermits. Among theologians, it initiated a “patristic renewal” which has led them to give up scholasticism and go back to the early sources. |
| (c) If we arrive at the importance of the episcopal succession via the idea of continuity of structure, we can appreciate the traditional assignment to the bishop of the role of the sole ordainer. 422 Because of his place in the structure of the community, especially in its eucharistic form, the bishop is the one through whom all charismatic manifestations of the Church must pass, so that they may be manifestations not of individualism but of the koinonia of the Spirit and of the community created by it. Extraordinary or (as they are called today) “charismatic” ministries have their place in the Church and must be encouraged. But it is only if they are parts of the structure of the community that they are not in danger of becoming the kind of individualistic manifestations which St Paul fought so vigorously in Corinth. All these extraordinary ministries, therefore, become integral parts of the apostolic continuity in the synthesis I am expounding here, if they go through the bishop, in whom the entire structure converges and the “many” become “one” in a particular existential milieu. (d) We can now consider the question of the Church’s relation with the apostles on another level, broader than that of the local community. One of the natural consequences of the historical approach to apostolic continuity is that through it the founding of churches acquires special significance. This, as we have noticed, forms an integral part of the theory of continuity elaborated by I Clement and is tied up with the idea of mission and of transmission of the apostolic kerygma. This leads naturally to the importance of the Churches which can claim apostolic foundation and origin. If an apostle preached or even died in a particular Church, this Church could claim special authority with regard to apostolic continuity. The argument of the special authority of apostolic sees was used very frequently in the course of the second century 423 and afterwards. 424 The point that interests us here is that this argument can make sense only if the apostles are understood as individuals, dispersed in the world as missionaries – which is precisely what the historical approach is about, as I have expounded it here. 425 But what happens when the eschatological perspective enters into the picture and the apostles are understood as a college surrounding Christ? |
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