| During a monthly visit over coffee with a local pastor friend of mine, I was a bit disturbed to learn of a new store that went up in a neighboring community that was dedicated to selling items used for witchcraft and seances. As if that wasn’t enough, I was bombarded a day later with brochures describing an upcoming “Witches Ball” as well as invitations to a group that teaches people special dances to call upon the spirits for Halloween! All of these events have led me to offer this small word of warning to anyone reading this: Do not fall prey to this ignorance dear ones! Our society at large tends to think of witches, demons, ghouls, and spirits as harmless games and fun. Orthodox Christians understand from experience however, that these things are incredibly dangerous. When we are invited to events or parties that deal with spirits, whether it is organized in complete knowledge of what is being done, or out of ignorance in the spirit of fun, we have to ask ourselves: “ Why would I go to poke the bear?” As we get closer and closer to the end of October, allow me to give this annual public service announcement. Demons and Evil spirits are absolutely, positively, without a shadow of a doubt, REAL. They surround us like vultures, waiting to crash down on those who show either weakness in the spiritual life, or (worse yet) attacking those who playfully deny their existence. With that in mind, here are three things to remember about the existence of demons and how we are to react to them. 1.) If you look for them, they will very easily find you! In the very popular book “Everyday Saints”, the young student Tikhon talks about his experience with calling upon the spirits prior to his conversion to Orthodoxy. His group of friends spent time researching and learning how to do seances so that they could establish a connection with spirits, and eventually they were quite successful! In their seances, they would have conversations with entities that called themselves “Napoleon” or “Socrates”. These spirits would even tell them intimate details about their personal lives as well as details about the future. Tikhon and his friends didn’t truly know what they were getting into, but one thing was for certain…their moods changed after the seances began. Depression and darkness that could not be described in words had slowly started to creep into their lives, and what started with innocent curiosity eventually ended in a very scary situation. |
| Opinion on Same-sex Marriage But while keeping this in mind, it should be noted that it is hard to remain indifferent to living in Sodom or Gomorrah. Every normal Christian cannot but have a negative reaction when all that is holy is trampled and mocked, when the very bases of Christian life, built by Christians for centuries, traveling along the path of the cross to our day, are razed. For to destroy—not to build—does not take centuries. Source: Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia Priest Sergei Sveshnikov is the Rector of the New Martyrs of Russia Orthodox Church, Mulino, OR, near Portland. He shares his thoughts on the recent decision of the Council of Elected Commissioners of Multnomah County on the issuing of marriage certificates for homosexual marriages. We have recently witnessed the heightening of passions in America over so-called “same-sex marriages.” In those jurisdictions where such “marriages” have been approved (San Francisco, Portland), there were demonstrations, protests for and against, even to the point of arrests. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of Americans, having been reared on tolerance, look upon all of this with bewilderment. Television screens and newspapers are filled with images of men in passionate kisses and the stories of two older women who had spent their entire lives together, who only now have been given those same human rights which more traditional couples have had. On the other hand, having already achieved the division of church from the state (unfortunately, not of the state from the church), Protestant movements suddenly, as one (well, almost, for each family has an ugly duckling), are calling upon judges and politicians to heed what is written in the Bible, or at least not to break centuries-old Christian traditions. What are we to make of this turmoil? I do not wish to render an opinion on the position taken by the “gays” that they were ostensibly born this way and cannot do anything about it—I am not sufficiently educated in the natural sciences, but the dilettante in me feels that if we turn to the animal kingdom, we find that homosexuality may exist there, but it is a clear departure from “the natural order of things” (what would happen if Butch loved Fido and not Lassie?). Such a “gay” pedigree would quickly end in nature. |
| Opinion on Same-sex Marriage Contemporary Issues Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2011 - 05:50:02 Opinion on Same-sex Marriage Priest Sergei Sveshnikov Oct 17, 2008, 10:00 Discuss this article Printer friendly page Source: Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia Priest Sergei Sveshnikov is the Rector of the New Martyrs of Russia Orthodox Church, Mulino, OR, near Portland. He shares his thoughts on the recent decision of the Council of Elected Commissioners of Multnomah County on the issuing of marriage certificates for homosexual marriages. We have recently witnessed the heightening of passions in America over so-called " same-sex marriages. " In those jurisdictions where such " marriages " have been approved (San Francisco, Portland), there were demonstrations, protests for and against, even to the point of arrests. At the same time, the overwhelming majority of Americans, having been reared on tolerance, look upon all of this with bewilderment. Television screens and newspapers are filled with images of men in passionate kisses and the stories of two older women who had spent their entire lives together, who only now have been given those same human rights which more traditional couples have had. On the other hand, having already achieved the division of church from the state (unfortunately, not of the state from the church), Protestant movements suddenly, as one (well, almost, for each family has an ugly duckling), are calling upon judges and politicians to heed what is written in the Bible, or at least not to break centuries-old Christian traditions. What are we to make of this turmoil? I do not wish to render an opinion on the position taken by the " gays " that they were ostensibly born this way and cannot do anything about it—I am not sufficiently educated in the natural sciences, but the dilettante in me feels that if we turn to the animal kingdom, we find that homosexuality may exist there, but it is a clear departure from " the natural order of things " (what would happen if Butch loved Fido and not Lassie?). Such a " gay " pedigree would quickly end in nature. |
| Pretty soon, the Ecumenical Patriarchate is set to begin an information campaign of why its actions in Ukraine were justified, and how “bad information” in social networks is misportraying this master plan of creating unity and “peace and love in Christ”. It is likely what I have to say here will be received by some as “Russian disinformation”, but I will dare to make my opinion known to my fellow Orthodox Greeks and others, in hope it will at least make them think more deeply about the potential consequences of what just happened this January in the Phanar. 1. The Ecumenical Patriarchate stepped into a civil conflict at the invitation of just one of the conflicting parties. This is not a mediation, it is an act of taking sides. Therefore, the Ecumenical Patriarchate cannot call itself a mediator in a conflict, it is a co-belligerent. History has shown that foreign parties that become involved in a civil conflict will not be looked upon favorably by either side if the conflict ever resolves. 2. The level of the Moscow Synod’s involvement with the affairs of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate does not affect either the day to day operations of the church, nor its strategic orientation. During the civil war in Ukraine, Metropolitan Onuphry called upon both sides to cease violence, whereas the schismatic jurisdictions that form the backbone of the new Ukrainian jurisdiction took a clear stance in the conflict and backed the new Ukrainian government’s assault on its own civilians in Donbass, with the false Patriarch Philaret (now carrying the honorary ‘patriarch’ title in the new church structure) calling for blood vengeance against the anti-government faction. This shows, clearly, that one side is more politicized than the other. There was no pressing need for the faithful of Ukraine to have a different church, the only reason for the existence of the schismatic jurisdictions was and remains political. There is no ‘loyalty to Russia’ required of the canonical Ukrainian church’s clergy or flock. |
| “We have more than once stated earlier, and we emphasize now, that the Georgian Church considers violence and discrimination to be unacceptable, since the Christian religion is a religion of love and its teaching is founded upon love and mutual respect.” Further on, the significance of this bill for Georgia’s development was noted, and it was specified: “The introduction into this bill of terms that are not contained in the Constitution, such as “sexual orientation” and “gender identity,” provokes the indignation of the people, since the individual rights of our fellow citizens even without it are equally protected in Georgia by existing legislation.” The Primate of Georgia pointed to the public outrage over the aforementioned bill and, basing his words on Holy Scripture, elucidated: “Based on the Commandments of the Lord, the society of the faithful rightly considers non-traditional sexual relations to be a mortal sin, and the Antidiscrimination Bill in its submitted form to be propaganda and legalization of this sin.” The Catholicos-Patriarch warned: “This bill casts doubt on the basic moral principles recognized by all religions, which in turn is fraught with the danger of the beginnings of discrimination against broad classes of society.” Describing the European Union, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II noted: “The European Union is a diverse space uniting different nations and religions; according to their Declaration, the European Union recognizes the culture and traditions of the various peoples, and with respect to Georgia is also prepared to take our values into account and to respect them.” And therefore, “The demands of this bill are at variance with these principles.” At the end of his statement the Head of the Church of Georgia respectfully addressed the Parliament of Georgia with a request and called upon it “to defer passing the bill in its submitted form, and to ensure the involvement of the Church and the general public in its consideration in order to attain mutual agreement, so that hasty actions would not negatively influence our country’s aspirations towards Europe.” |
| 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 HIS HOLINESS PATRIARCH KIRILL: “THE MEETING ON CUBA WAS AN IMPORTANT STEP ON THE WAY TO RESOLVING THE MORE RELEVANT ISSUES OF THE MODERN-DAY WORLD BY THE JOINT EFFORTS OF THE TWO LARGEST CHURCHES OF THE CHRISTIAN WORLD” Recent years have been marked by a development in the cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church in the sphere of social problems, noted His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in his presentation at the Episcopal Council taking place in Moscow. “A high degree of mutual understanding was shown during the course of my meeting with Pope Francis on the 12 th February 2016 in Havana,” said His Holiness, noting that in Russia and throughout the world this event had a broad positive resonance. The Patriarch expressed his belief that the meeting on Cuba would become an important step on the way to resolving the more relevant issues of the modern-day world by the joint efforts of the two largest Churches of the Christian world. His Holiness the Patriarch reminded his listeners that the main reason for organizing the meeting on Cuba was the tragic situation in which Christians in the Middle East and North Africa had found themselves. The Episcopal Council in February 2016 resolved “to do all that is possible that the genocide directed at Christians by extremists, who sacrilegiously justify their evil deeds with religious slogans, be halted,” and called upon 2016 to be the year of special efforts undertaken in this direction.” “The meeting in Havana became a concrete and genuine step towards carrying out this decision,” His Holiness Patriarch Kirill testified. “The joint declaration which Pope Francis and I signed at the end of our meeting contains a call to the world community to do all that is possible for an end to violence in the Middle East, which is impossible to achieve without the coordinated action of all forces opposed to extremism.” The First Hierarch of the Russian Church especially noted that soon after this joint appeal the tragedy in the Syria began to be called a genocide in the West. For example, similar declarations were made by the State Department and the US Congress. |
| St. Alexander Nevsky, Russia’s Knight in Shining Armor Commemorated November 23/December 6 and August 30/September 12 St. Alexander Nevsky was Russia’s “ knight in shining armor.” His reputation as a man of exceptional valor and surpassing virtue inspired a visit by a German commander who told his people when he returned: “I went through many countries and saw many people, but I have never met such a king among kings, nor such a prince among princes.” The Russians called him their “prince without sin.” He was born just four years before the fierce Tatars, under the leadership of Ghengis Khan, came galloping across the steppes of Kievan Rus. The once flourishing city state—whose social, cultural and spiritual achievements boasted few rivals in Western Europe—had been weakened by quarrelling princes and attacks of warring tribes, and it was an easy prey for the massacring and pillaging Asiatic aggressors. Fortunately, the Mongol Horde’s primary interest in conquest was financial gain, and although it imposed a heavy tax on its subjects, they were left to govern themselves and retained their traditions and religion intact, Nevertheless, the yoke of foreign sovereignty was burdensome; individual princes were reduced to acting as feudal landlords for their Mongol lords, and inclinations toward s national unity—the dream of Grand Prince Vladimir —were stifled. A strong leader was needed if the land of Rus’ was to have any hope of healing internal strife, of throwing off the Tatar yoke, and establishing its identity as a nation state. The baneful effect of internal dissension was a lesson which came early to Prince Alexander, as he witnessed his father, Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, struggle with the proudly independent spirited boyars of Novgorod, It was there that the boy grew up. Like most noble youth s of his time, he had barely learned to walk before he was lifted into the saddle. Training in the martial arts was combined with an education based upon the Scriptures. Under the influence of his mother, who was popularly called “the holy queen” on account of her piety and charitable deeds, the young prince developed a profound spiritual life. He engrossed himself for hours in reading the Old and New Testaments. |
| A couple of days ago‚ I was having a conversation with a friend of mine‚ a very accomplished Byzantine chanter‚about the interpretation of various pieces of liturgical music. During our conversation he made a comment that stuck with me: it is actually easier to manage a virtuoso interpretation than to chant a simple‚ yet profound‚rendering of the same hymns. The reason he said is that initially the chanter has a zeal to learn all the complicated items‚ to discover all the aspects of the music‚ but later on‚ when he understands that this is not regular music‚ but liturgical music‚ and‚ when he is finally able to join the meaning of the hymn with the melody‚ only at that point‚ true simplicity comes up on the surface on its own. Simplicity is not‚after all‚ a lack of skill‚ but comes out of a deeper understanding‚ out of a humility of the chanter who becomes now a humble instrument that transmits to others the truth that the Holy Fathers expressed in the hymnology that he interprets. In the desert of Egypt‚ during the times of St Anthony the Great‚ lived an elderly monk named Paul. Paul used to be a farmer and upon the leave-taking of his unfaithful wife‚ he sought monasticism with St Anthony. Initially St. Anthony rejected him‚ in order to test him‚ but after seeing his unwavering will (he waited three days outside of St. Anthony’s cell for an answer) he accepted him as a fellow laborer of Christ. Paul‚ who came from humble origins‚ lived a very modest‚ yet pious life‚ and so he was called The Simple. Being simple‚however‚ did not mean he was lacking spiritual knowledge‚ on the contrary‚ he received great spiritual gifts‚ including the power to cast out demons. It is said that at one-point St. Anthony‚ refused to heal a possessed young man saying‚ “I cannot help the boy‚ for I have not received power over the Prince of the demons. Paul the Simple‚ however‚ does have this gift.”‚ he did help the boy‚yet praying in the true simplicity : “Lord Jesus Christ‚ through the prayers of my father Anthony‚ cast out this demon”. |
| Buddhism and Eastern Asceticism Compared to Orthodox Christian Asceticism Statue of Buddha It is unfortunate that there is widespread confusion, not to mention delusion, in the inexperienced, whereby the Jesus Prayer is thought to be equivalent to yoga in Buddhism, or 'transcendental meditation', and other such Eastern exotica. Any similarity, however, is mostly external, and any inner convergence does not rise beyond the natural 'anatomy' of the human soul. The fundamental difference between Christianity and other beliefs and practices lies in the fact that the Jesus Prayer is based on the revelation of the One true living and personal God as Holy Trinity No other path admits any possibility of a living relationship between God and the person who prays. Eastern asceticism aims at divesting the mind of all that is relative and transitory, so that man may identify with the impersonal Absolute. This Absolute is believed to be man's original 'nature', which suffered degradation and degeneration by entering a multiform and ever-changing earth-bound life. Ascetic practice like this is, above all, centred upon the self, and is totally dependent on man's will. Its intellectual character betrays the fullness of human nature, in that it takes no account of the heart. Man's main struggle is to return to the anonymous Supra-personal Absolute and to be dissolved in it. He must therefore aspire to efface the soul (Atman) in order to be one with this anonymous ocean of the Suprapersonal Absolute, and in this lies its basically negative purpose. In his struggle to divest himself of all suffering and instability connected with transient life, the eastern ascetic immerses himself in the abstract and intellectual sphere of so-called pure Existence, a negative and impersonal sphere in which no vision of God is possible, only man's vision of himself. There is no place for the heart in this practice. Progress in this form of asceticism depends only on one's individual will to succeed. |
| Buddhism and Eastern Asceticism Compared to Orthodox Christian Asceticism The fundamental difference between Christianity and other beliefs and practices lies in the fact that the Jesus Prayer is based on the revelation of the One true living and personal God as Holy Trinity No other path admits any possibility of a living relationship between God and the person who prays. It is unfortunate that there is widespread confusion, not to mention delusion, in the inexperienced, whereby the Jesus Prayer is thought to be equivalent to yoga in Buddhism, or ‘transcendental meditation’, and other such Eastern exotica. Any similarity, however, is mostly external, and any inner convergence does not rise beyond the natural ‘anatomy’ of the human soul. The fundamental difference between Christianity and other beliefs and practices lies in the fact that the Jesus Prayer is based on the revelation of the One true living and personal God as Holy Trinity No other path admits any possibility of a living relationship between God and the person who prays. Eastern asceticism aims at divesting the mind of all that is relative and transitory, so that man may identify with the impersonal Absolute. This Absolute is believed to be man’s original ‘nature’, which suffered degradation and degeneration by entering a multiform and ever-changing earth-bound life. Ascetic practice like this is, above all, centred upon the self, and is totally dependent on man’s will. Its intellectual character betrays the fullness of human nature, in that it takes no account of the heart. Man’s main struggle is to return to the anonymous Supra-personal Absolute and to be dissolved in it. He must therefore aspire to efface the soul (Atman) in order to be one with this anonymous ocean of the Suprapersonal Absolute, and in this lies its basically negative purpose. In his struggle to divest himself of all suffering and instability connected with transient life, the eastern ascetic immerses himself in the abstract and intellectual sphere of so-called pure Existence, a negative and impersonal sphere in which no vision of God is possible, only man’s vision of himself. |
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