| About Pages Проекты «Правмира» Raising Orthodox Children to Orthodox Adulthood The Daily Website on How to be an Orthodox Christian Today Twitter Telegram Parler RSS Donate Navigation Who’s Lost that Paschal Feeling? Source: St. Mary Magdalene Orthodox Church Dcn. Michael Schlaack 09 May 2019 Photo: blogs.voanews.com Christ is Risen! Today’s lesson from St. John’s Gospel provides us a glimpse of the Church immediately following Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. This was a very precarious time for the young Church of Christ. Just a few days ago, their Leader was hailed as the Deliverance of Israel, the Son of David Who would inaugurate a great revival for the Jewish people. The foreign occupiers would be overthrown, and the Rightful Heir would once again rule over God’s people. The triumphant entry of Jesus and His disciples into the old capital city of Jerusalem proved that the words of the prophets were being fulfilled, and a King from the House of David would once again rule the people of Israel, with the blessings of God. But what a difference a week can make! Now we find Christ’s band of followers huddled behind locked doors, hiding and in fear for their lives. The crowds that were at first cheering Jesus, quickly became His persecutors, calling for His crucifixion and the release of the notorious criminal, Barabbas. Jesus’ disciples went from debating amongst themselves who will have power and authority in His earthly kingdom (Mark 10:37), to abandoning their teacher as He hung on the cross in agony and humiliation. These were certainly dark times for Christ’s infant Church. It would take the presence of Jesus over the next 40 days, and the Decent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, to move them from behind locked doors, to publicly preaching and proclaiming salvation through God’s Only Begotten Son. Seeing was indeed believing! It was not until Jesus appeared amongst them in the flesh—walking, talking and eating— where their eyes finally opened, and they were able to comprehend all the things they had been taught and experienced over the previous three years. But for now, they were just a band of rejected and dejected followers of a dead and humiliated messiah, a usurper to the throne of Caesar. |
| The Lord appeared to Saint Eudokia in a vision and said: “Arise, Eudokia, and pray for the resurrection of the dead man.” Through Eudokia’s prayers, Philostrates revived. Having been restored to life, the pagan begged the nun to forgive him. After he was baptized, he went back to Heliopolis. From that time he never forgot the mercy of God shown him, and he started onto the way of repentance. Some time passed, and another situation occurred. Inhabitants of Heliopolis reported to the governor Aurelian, that Eudokia had taken gold and silver out of the city and concealed it at the monastery. Aurelian sent a detachment of soldiers to confiscate these supposed treasures. For three days the soldiers tried in vain to approach the walls of the monastery, but an invisible power of God guarded it. Aurelian again sent soldiers to the monastery, this time under the command of his own son. But on the very first day of the journey Aurelian’s son injured his leg and soon died. Then Philostrates counseled Aurelian to write to Mother Eudokia, imploring her to revive the youth. And the Lord, in His infinite mercy, and through the prayers of Saint Eudokia, restored the youth to life. Having witnessed this great miracle, Aurelian and his close associates believed in Christ and were baptized. Photo: Days.Pravoslavie.Ru When persecutions against Christians intensified, they arrested Eudokia and brought her to the governor Diogenes to be tortured. While torturing the saint, the military commander Diodorus received news of the sudden death of his wife Firmina. In despair he rushed to Saint Eudokia with a plea to pray for his departed wife. The monastic martyr, filled with great faith, turned to God with prayer and besought Him to return Firmina to life. As eyewitnesses of the power and grace of the Lord, Diodorus and Diogenes believed in Christ and were baptized together with their families. Saint Eudokia lived for awhile at the house of Diodorus and enlightened the newly-illumined Christians. |
| The icon, which tradition ascribes to the hand of the Evangelist Luke, was brought to the US in 1949 by the late Archbishop John [Garklavs], who saved the icon from Nazis and communists and served as its guardian until his death in 1982. His adopted son, the Very Rev. Sergei Garklavs, guarded the icon after Archbishop John’s repose while awaiting the day when the Church in Russia would be free and the icon could be returned to its original home in Tikhvin, northern Russia. “The return of the icon reminds us of the close bond between the Churches of Russia and America, of our common ministry in proclaiming the Gospel to all who would receive it and in bringing the fullness of truth to those who, while separated by distance and language and culture, are united in the Holy Orthodox Faith,” Metropolitan Herman said as the icon arrived at the cathedral. “Just as the wonderworking Tikhvin Icon sanctified the Russian lands, so too it sanctified, during its brief sojourn in America, the North American continent, strengthening the faithful and pious Orthodox Christians who have inherited the fullness of truth first proclaimed by the missionaries who planted Orthodoxy in America in 1794.” While in Moscow, Patriarch Aleksy and Metropolitan Herman signed an official Act acknowleding the icon’s return and highlighting its historical and spiritual significance. After its departure from Chicago on Sunday, June 20, the Tikhvin Icon was flown to Riga, Latvia. His Eminence, Metropolitan Alexander of Riga and All Latvia, Metropolitan Vladimir, Bishop Seraphim, and members of the Garklavs family accompanied the icon to the city’s Nativity of Christ Cathedral where for the next two days an estimated 300,000 faithful venerated the icon before its transfer to Moscow. The following day, Metropolitan Herman, Archbishop Job, Bishop Nikolai, and an official OCA delegation arrived in Moscow in anticipation of the icon’s arrival. From Moscow, the Tikhvin Icon was taken to Saint Petersburg, where some 30,000 faithful per day venerated the icon at Holy Trinity Cathedral in the Saint Alexander Nevsky Lavra. On Sunday, July 4, a massive procession with the icon, led by His Eminence, Metropolitan Vladimir of Saint Petersburg and Ladoga, made its way down the city’s main thoroughfare to the Cathedral of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God, where endless lines of faithful continued to offer prayers before the icon for three additional days. |
| Take a look, for example, at the history of the Patriarchs of Constantinople in the seventeenth century. The Turkish sultans appointed the Patriarchs and they selected only those who were able to make the larger contribution to the Sultan " s treasury. Some Patriarchs held the Patriarchal title for a year, some for a few months, and some for only a few days. There were on the Patriarchal throne even secret Jesuits and Protestant sympathizers. The Sultan used to remove one Patriarch and place another only because the other promised to contribute more money to the Sultan " s treasury. How fast and unexpected these changes would occur can be seen by the fact that from 1598 to 1654 there were fifty-four Patriarchs. What a temptation to the faithful! The life of the Greek Christians at that time was one of continuous suffering. Nevertheless, they did not separate themselves from their pastors and bishops. They also did not avoid attending the churches where the names of Patriarchs, appointed by the Moslem Sultan, were commemorated. Among the Patriarchs of that time was St. Athanasius Patelarius, who had been appointed three times to the Patriarchal throne after paying each time the appropriate amount of money to the Sultan " s treasury. He reposed in the Lord in Lubna, Russia and was canonized as a saint. Also, what a temptation to the Orthodox Russian people was Tsar Peter I’s associate, the head of the Synod, archbishop Theophan Prokopovich—a drunkard and a womanizer. His tempting behavior could have driven some zealots into schism. Nonetheless, it was not the schismatics, but those who prayed in the churches where the archbishop Theophan " s name was commemorated who remained in the Orthodox Church and received grace and blessings. There are many temptations in our days as well. And despite of all the temptations we do not have any valid right to avoid being in communion with the clergy that are in a canonical relationship with Patriarch Alexiy. The current status of the church administration absolutely does not resemble the one when the affairs of the Russian Church had been administered by Metropolitan Sergiy as a deputy to Metropolitan Peter and by his (the latter " s) order (commission). When Metropolitan Sergiy declared that his authority had arisen from Metropolitan Peter " s authority, and that he, Metropolitan Sergiy, was totally dependent on Metropolitan Peter, then all of us recognized Metropolitan Sergiy as a lawful leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, of which Metropolitan Peter still remained the First Hierarch. |
| O’ empty town of Bethlehem: a trickle of visits to the site of Christ’s birth thanks to intifadas and ongoing tensions SOURCE: Independent.co.uk For years, Palestinian Christians have been quietly abandoning the place where Jesus is said to have been born in a manger. Middle-class residents here have packed their bags for less chaotic lives in Latin America, Europe and the US. Tourism ground to a halt more than a decade ago, during the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, and is now experiencing a comeback. But Palestinians say major challenges remain: the Israeli military checkpoints and security barrier that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem, a 10-minute drive away; the shuttered homes and shops that are symbols of a stagnant economy; and the Israeli settlements that are growing around Bethlehem on land claimed by the Palestinians for a future state. Vera Baboun, Bethlehem’s first female mayor, wants to make her city open to all, especially to Christian pilgrims – and those Palestinians who have left. A Christian whose late husband spent three years in an Israel jail during the first intifada, Ms Baboun wants to lure back former residents and roll out the red carpet to encourage Christian pilgrims to extend their stays. Borrowing a tactic from American retailers, the mayor lit the Christmas tree in Manger Square two weeks earlier than usual this year, added singers and dancers to the daily festivities and kept the crafts market open for eight days instead of one. She is expediting permits for five boutique hotels that will add 300 rooms to the existing supply of 3,700, which are filled during Christmas week but often sit empty during the rest of the year. Efforts are under way to improve handicapped accessibility to the town for ageing visitors and to renovate the Church of the Nativity, which Unesco says is the oldest Christian church still in daily use. “This is the place where the message of peace was born with Jesus Christ,” Ms Baboun said. “When they talk about reviving the message, you need to revive the city.” |
| The tribal cult required human sacrifice, and at age eleven the boy went through a special initiation: he stood naked near the altar while the elders led a girl to him, undressed her, and wiped her body with clay. Then Joshua cold-heartedly sliced open the girl, took her still beating heart out of her bleeding chest, and ate it. He ate the rest of the victim over the course of three days. After this, having been prepared by occult practice and gone through the initiation, Blahyi had a particular mystical experience—on some very subtle level he came into contact with the devil, who told Joshua that he would become a great warrior, but in order to do so he would have to continually offer human sacrifices and eat the hearts of children. We recall that the ability to enter into contact with the demonic world comes when a person crosses over a specific spiritual boundary. The initiation murder and the occult rituals themselves constituting his crossing over that boundary, where he was met by satan’s pitiless grin, were masked at first by promises of military glory. Blahyi fulfilled the devil’s order unquestioningly for fourteen years. The chief shaman’s dark essence especially came to the fore on the backdrop of serious social upheaval. In general, Liberia is a country with a tragic, broken history. In 1822, certain freed black slaves came to this territory from America, traded trinkets for land from the local chieftains, and succeeded easily in turning much of the native population into their slaves. So it happened that a group of slaves who obtained freedom then went and enslaved others. Slavery continued here until practically the end of the twentieth century. Child soldiers in Liberia. In 1980, members of the Kran tribe overthrew the government and took power into their own hands. The chief shaman Joshua Milton Blahyi became a very important and high profile figure overnight—his task was to protect President Samuel Dohu with magic charms. But soon a civil war began in which there could clearly be no victor. In civil war, everyone fights against everyone else, uprooting even themselves and losing what, unfortunately, the pagan could not earlier foresee. Magic charms didn’t help, and in 1990, after the president’s death, Joshua Blahyi became the “field marshal,” actively participating in military actions. Strange as it seems, in his battalion were many youths and even children, to whom he gave cocaine along with food. Himself having committed his first murder at age eleven, Joshua considered that every child has the potential to become a good murderer—he only needs to try. |
| Perhaps that is the best way to sum up his service – his success in turning weakness into strength. The major success that no one can take away is that he managed to maintain the unity of the church, which was tested not just during the years of the schism, but during the communist era as well. Patriarch Maxim failed to meet another public expectation – that the Bulgarian patriarch should be should resemble the Roman Catholic Pope, or at least the Russian Patriarch, in ruling his church nearly autocratically, consulting the Holy Synod, but imposing his opinion in it. However, the statute of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, as well as Eastern orthodox tradition, maintains that the Patriarch is merely the first among the bishops, who are equal to him, and has almost no administrative power over the other metropolitans. The real power in the church belongs to the Holy Synod, made up of the metropolitans in charge of their respective dioceses. His path before the patriarch elections in 1971 is well known. Born in 1914 with the lay name Marin Naidenov Minkov, Maxim graduated from Sofia Seminary in 1935 and received his degree in theology from Sofia University in 1942. He was tonsured a monk in 1941 and, over the next decades, would advance to the highest ranks of the clergy. His spiritual path is linked to the Troyan Monastery, the abbot of which, Kliment, would encourage him to further his education. The Metropolitan of Vratsa, Paisii, guided him towards monkhood and became his spiritual mentor. In 1950, as Archmandrite Maxim, he became the representative of the Bulgarian church at the Moscow patriarchate. At that point, the communist regime described him as “reliable and with progressive views”, but, more important is his “provenance from a poor rural family”. He returned to Bulgaria in 1955 and a year later was ordained bishop of Branichevo, serving as chief secretary of the Holy Synod until 1960, a position in which he witnessed the last days of the former Exarch Stefan, who died incarcerated in 1957. In 1960, he was picked as the next Metropolitan of Lovech, becoming only the second metropolitan appointed during the communist regime (unless one counts the ordainment of Nikodim, Metropolitan of Sliven, in 1947). The first was Pimen, Metropolitan of Nevrokop, chosen in 1952 and confirmed after protracted debates in the Synod. Already then the difference between Maxim and Pimen could be seen – the former avoiding confrontation and public rows, the latter does not. |
| In the autumn of 1927 representatives of the authorities announced the closure of Diveyevo Convent. On the night before September 22 the hierarch together with Bishop Zinovy, Abbess Alexandra, senior sisters and the clergy were arrested and confined to Arzamas Prison. On October 8 the bishops and the abbess were released, but several days later the hierarchs were suddenly summoned to Moscow. In order not to be a convenient tool of the Unified State Political Directorate, St. Seraphim filed a petition to Metropolitan Sergius that he (St. Seraphim) be retired. Hieromartyr Seraphim had unshakeable faith and fortitude. He was an implacable opponent of the so-called “Renovation schism” and the clergy of “the Living Church.” At the same time, he showed apparent disapproval of Metropolitan Sergius’ policy. Neither creating a new schism nor joining the opposition led by Metropolitan Joseph, St. Seraphim (like his friend, Bishop Arseny) was among those who refused to remember Metropolitan Sergius at the Liturgy. In April 1932 he was arrested again and sentenced to three years of exile in Kazakhstan, later he was transferred to Uralsk and then to Omsk. After the exile Bishop Seraphim took up residence in Ishim. There, on June 24, 1937, among other churchmen the saint was arrested again and sentenced to execution by firing squad. On August 26, the sentence was carried into effect. Bishop-Martyr Seraphim (Zvezdinsky) was canonized among the Synaxis of the New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Church at the Jubilee Bishops’ Council in August 2000. The Holy New Martyrs Yakov (James) (commemorated: December 16/29) and Mikhail (Commemorated: November 7/20) Gusev Priest Yakov Ivanovich Gusev The brothers Yakov and Mikhail were sons of Archpriest Ioann Feofanovich Gusev from Diveyevo Convent, a descendant of Archpriest Vasily Sadovsky—the first priest to serve at the convent whom Father Seraphim entrusted with the care of “the Diveyevo orphans.” Yakov Ivanovich was ordained a priest in 1911 and sent first to the Khudoshino village, and soon after that—to St. Nicholas Church of the Elizaryevo village, close to Diveyevo. Elizaryevo residents loved Fr. Yakov and his family very much; in particular, they liked his sermons which were short but heart-penetrating. In difficult times his house was full of relatives who were in need of shelter. |
| But the Zagros mountains to the east of Babylon create no serious problems. The higher parts of the range begin about 230 kilometers east of Babylon with Kuhe Varzarin at about 9500 feet above sea level. Mountains “about 12,000 feet above sea level” lie considerably farther away. Due to the distance and the curvature of the earth, the Zagros mountains are not visible from Babylon, at least not from the ground, as can be testified by anyone who has been there. Professor Hermann Hunger, for example, says: I have been there [in Iraq], three years, of which two months were spent in Babylon. There are no mountains visible from Babylon. 592 It is possible, of course, that an observer atop the 90meterhigh Etemenanki ziggurat in Babylon (if the observations could have been made from there) could have seen a very thin, irregular line of mountains far to the east, although this, too, is doubtful. This might have affected the arcus visionis to some degree (the smallest angular distance of the sun below the horizon at the first or last visibility of a heavenly body above the horizon), which in turn could have changed the date of the first and last visibility of a heavenly body by a day or two. It should be emphasized that this might possibly be a problem with astronomical texts that report only phenomena close to the horizon. Observations of lunar and planetary positions related to specific stars and constellations higher in the sky would not be affected, and it is usually these that are the most useful for chronological purposes. Most of the about 30 lunar and planetary positions recorded on the astronomical tablet VAT 4956 belong to this category. None of Furuli’s “potential sources of error” weakens the reliability of VAT 4956. I am aware of only one scholar who has tried to overcome the evidence provided by this diary, namely, E. W. Faulstich, founder and director of the ChronologyHistory Research Institute in Spencer, Iowa, ENA. Faulstich believes it is possible to establish an absolute Bible chronology without the aid of extraBiblical sources, based solely on the cyclical phenomena of the Mosaic law (sabbath days, sabbath and jubilee years) and the cycle of the 24 sections of the levitical priesthood. One consequence of his theory is that the whole NeoBabylonian period has to be moved backward one year. Because this conflicts with the absolute dating of the period based on the astronomical tablets, Faulstich argues that VAT 4956 contains information from two separate years mixed into one. This idea, however, is based on serious mistakes. I have thoroughly refuted Faulstich’s thesis in the unpublished article, “A critique of E. W. Faulstich’s Neo Babylonian chronology” (1999), available from me upon request. |
| Christ saved wise men, called shepherds, made crowds of infants martyrs, glorified old men and aged widows, whose deeds and life, my soul, thou hast not emulated. But woe unto thee when thou art judged! ( Mt.2:12 ; Lk.2:9-12 ; Mt.2:16 ; Lk.2:25-38 ) When the Lord had fasted for forty days in the wilderness, He at last became hungry, showing His human nature. Do not be despondent, my soul, if the enemy attacks thee, but let him be beaten off by prayer and fasting. ( Mt.4:1-11, 17:21 ; Mk.9:29 ) Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: To The Trinity: Let us glorify the Father, exalt the Son, and faithfully worship the Divine Spirit, inseparable Trinity, Unity in essence, as the Light and Lights, the Life and Lives, giving life and light to the ends of the earth. Now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen. Theotokion: Protect thy city, spotless Mother of God, for in thee it faithfully reigns, and in thee is made strong, and through thee it conquers and routs every trial and temptation, and spoils its foes and rules its subjects. Refrain: Holy father Andrew, pray for us. To St. Andrew of Crete: Venerable Andrew, thrice-blessed father, shepherd of Crete, cease not to pray to God for those who sing of thee, that He may deliver from anger, oppression, corruption and our countless sins, all of us who faithfully honor thy memory. And again the Eirmos: Ineffable is the childbearing of a seedless conception, unsullied the pregnancy of a Virgin Mother, for the birth of God renews natures. So in all generations we magnify thee in orthodox fashion as Mother and Bride of God. As chanted on Tuesday of the First Week As sung on Clean Tuesday On Tuesday of the First Week of Lent, during Great Compline, after Ps.69 , the Canon is sung. The Eirmosi are sung twice, at the beginning and end of each Song. Before each Troparion we make the sign of the Cross and bow three times. Song 1. Tone 6 Eirmos: He is my Helper and Protector, and has become my salvation. This is my God and I will glorify Him My father’s God and I will exalt Him. For gloriously has He been glorified. ( Ex.15:2, 1 ; Ps.117:14 ) |
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