| 289 It should be seen as indicative of this importance that the Canon of Neocaesarea, which is more or less contemporary with that of Ancyra, lays stress less on minimizing the importance of the chorepiscopi than on equating them with Bishops in the supreme ministry of the Divine Eucharist calling them “concelebrants” with the Bishops 290 A similar clear sign of the gradual decrease in the importance of the chorepiscopi appears in the 8th Canon of the Council of Antioch which deprives them of the right to issue “letters pacifical” 291 V.Stephanidis (op.cit., p.68) asks whether perhaps the concern here is with the name of Bishop being brought into disrepute because of quarrels between chorepiscopi and Bishops of the towns. But careful examination of the Canon makes it clear that the “degradation” is due to the smallness of the village: “but if there is a town that is growing so much in numbers of people that it is considered worthy of a bishopric, let it have [a Bishop]”. H.Alivizatos, op.cit., p.187 292 “It is not permitted simply to install a Bishop in a village or small town for which just one presbyter would suffice. For it is not necessary for Bishops to be installed there, in order that the name and authority of a Bishop may not be degraded” (ibid.) 293 Among this generation was St.Basil the Great, who contributed to the decrease in the importance of the chorepiscopi (Letter to a Chorepiscopus, in Alivizatos, op.cit., p.390f.) 295 The disappearance of the chorepiscopi is confirmed by the fact that, contrary to the prevailing view, the number of Bishops fell rather than rising as time went on. For the years immediately following the fourth century, it is worthwhile investigating this fall in the number of Bishops on the basis of sources such as the Acts of the Councils, Minutes etc., as well as the works of Gerland – Gelzer and G.Konidaris 296 In earlier times, no one considered that the small number of Christians was degrading to the name and authority of a Bishop as the Council of Laodicea later thought. It is indicative of how things had changed in the meantime that when, for instance, Gregory the Wonderworker became Bishop of Neocaesarea in Pontus his flock initially numbered 17 Christians (according to Gregory of Nyssa, Life of St.Gregory the Wonderworker, P.G. 46.953)! |
| 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 Are You a True Christian? Navigation We’re Being Robbed Spiritually, most of us are constantly being robbed--without so much as being aware of it. One of the most successful villains is called Distraction, and it " s time we took measures to protect ourselves. admin 17 June 2011 “You seem to regard attention as an excessive austerity, whereas in fact it is the root of all our inner spiritual life. This is why the enemy so particularly takes up arms against it, and uses every means to build up attractive images before the eyes of the soul, and suggests thoughts about special favors and distractions.” Bishop Theophan the Recluse, The Art of Prayer Gone are the days when people left theirs doors unlocked. Today we not only routinely lock the doors of our homes and our cars; we install alarm systems and time-activated lights; we rent “safe deposit boxes and buy theft insurance; we join neighborhood watch groups; before going on vacation we arrange to have someone mow the lawn and pick up our mail while we’re away. All of us take certain precautions against having our homes broken into and our possessions stolen. The more we value our property, the more elaborate measures we take to secure it. Alas, how few of us have the same concern for the safety of our spiritual wealth, and yet what value comparison is there between the smallest spiritual treasure and all the worldly possessions of the richest man alive? It is the difference between this life and eternity. Spiritually, most of us are constantly being robbed–without so much as being aware of it. One of the most successful villains is called Distraction, and it’s time we took measures to protect ourselves. Successful theft-prevention involves knowing the value of what is being protected, where it is vulnerable and having some knowledge of how a thief operates, being able to identify him. |
| 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 “Try not to write to people who haven’t asked anything.” Great Lent on Social Networks Source: Pravmir (Russian) Advice from blogger priests Veronika Slovokhotova 17 March 2021 Photo: gettyimages During Great Lent, it is better to abandon social networks, believes Fr. Anthony Smirnov. But not everyone can do that. Blogger priests told Pravmir.ru how to spend screen time with benefit and how not to show people despondency and grief. Don’t Tempt People with Your Instagram Posts Priest Vladislav Beregovoy said: “Install time trackers . Many social networks already have special time indicators. You can install them and periodically look at how much time you spent there during the day, as well as you can set a limit so that you will receive a reminder: “That’s enough.” We think that stealing is when we steal wealth. But we steal time from others and from ourselves and, submerging into social networks, do not notice how the day goes by. And then we complain, “Father, I have no time to read the Gospel, I have no time to be with my children.” If you look at the end of the week how much time you spent on social networks, and you will be horrified. It is estimated that if a person spends more than two hours a day on social media, he is addicted. Do not comment . During the fast, it is very important not to comment on anyone’s posts and not enter into discussions. Okay, you can put a ‘like’ or a few emoji, but do not try to argue or conflict with anyone: learn to live and not write to people who did not ask you anything specifically. And even more so beware of joining a righteous holy war. I think it will be a challenging feat. If you liked something, ‘like’ this post, but do not write a lot of text. Again, you will save a lot of time and will not run into an offensive comment in response. I can see it myself. Sometimes I write a relatively neutral comment, but people without a sense of humor come and start arguing. Therefore, in order not to fall into the temptation through social networks, it is better to leave everything without comment. |
| Another piece of software, some sort of alternative to JAWS, has appeared lately. It is called NVDA. It is recommended for blind users of the Windows operating system to install both these programs on computer because they can in some cases complement each other. Employers in Russia just have no experience of collaboration with such people and are afraid of additional problems. I was told more than once: " Well, we do not even know what to do with you, although you have a good education... " In reality, a disabled person only needs basic conditions in the workplace and respect. It is also very sad that there are no sincere initiatives by our government to create a united structure through which the disabled could find employment that have had any long-term positive results. So my problem, as one of numerous other people in my situation, is the basic lack of work, lack of communication, isolation, loneliness, very limited possibilities to move independently in the city or even no such possibility. As I said, I have addressed a huge number of institutions for several years, knocked on all possible doors, written to and called plenty of organizations, even deputies, various charities, Church organizations (I am now not talking about our disability organizations...)—everything is useless. I receive the same replies. Glory be to God, some people, however, did not refuse me. First of all, there is Pravoslavie.ru , to which I am grateful for a possibility of collaboration. Icon of the Synaxis of the Saints of Britain and Ireland. —What supports you in your life? —The Lord, the Mother of God and the saints. My mother—the most loving, kind, caring and selfless person—is always with me, our friends in Russia, Great Britain and Ireland, and our priests. The hope that all can change for the better does support me too; love of my work that I do, for foreign languages, translations, classical music, history, poetry support me too. — Do you have an opportunity to attend church services? If so, then what church do you go to? —Yes, of course! My mother and I began to go to church, to read spiritual literature and to take part in sacraments about eight or nine years ago. Unfortunately, at the moment we do not have an opportunity to attend services as often as we would like. We go to one of the parishes in the centre of Moscow or sometimes to the local parish here, where we live. |
| Archive Primates of the Church of Alexandria and Polish Orthodox Church issue appeal concerning the situation of Orthodoxy in Ukraine 22 September 2018 year 21:42 On 19 September 2018, His Beatitude Pope and Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and All Africa arrived in Poland at the invitation of His Beatitude Metropolitan Sawa of Warsaw and All Poland to begin his official visit to the Polish Orthodox Church. On September 21, the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Primates issued a joint appeal to the heads of the Local Orthodox Churches and the plenitude of the holy Orthodoxy, expressing, in the spirit of brotherly love, their deep alarm over the recent developments pertaining to the situation of Orthodoxy in Ukraine. The text of the appeal is given below. We, the Heads of two Local Churches – who meet on the Polish territory and are conscious for the responsibility for the life of the Holy Orthodoxy in the contemporary world, its peace, unity and maintaining the dogmatic and canonical order, facing the experience that the Orthodoxy in Ukraine lives nowadays – in the spirit of brotherly love, we appeal to all on whom depends the elimination of the church misunderstandings regarding the acquisition of autocephaly by the Ukrainian Church: please, do whatever is within your might to stave off the conflict concerning the question in order to install the church order on the Ukrainian territory. Celebrating the Divine Liturgy on the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Virgin Mary, we pray for the unity and peace of the Ukrainian nation. At the same time, we send our brotherly greetings to the Heads of the Local Orthodox Churches and the whole plenitude of the Holy Orthodoxy. +Theodore Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa +Sawa Orthodox Metropolitan of Warsaw and Poland Календарь ← 7 December 2023 year |
| As Orthodox Christians, we find healing in Christ, Who made us responsible for His sacred gift of life. God created us in His image and likeness, and we best reflect Christ – Who neither killed anyone nor blessed anyone to kill – by loving, helping, and forgiving. Friends help each other do good things, not evil things. We find echoes of holy friendship in the world’s unfolding reaction to events in Iraq. Many nations traditionally allied with America – along with many patriotic Americans – oppose an invasion of Iraq. They see how difficult a position the U.S. will assume by attacking Iraq, and seek instead a renewed program of weapons inspection. Iraq’s closest neighbors are far from supportive of the course the United States is pursuing, even though they are aware of Saddam’s shameful, destructive regime. Not having rallied to America’s side does not mean that they support Saddam. An attack on Iraq will be seen by many as an attack on all Arabic and Islamic states. America, despite the rhetoric, is perceived as seeing itself under attack by Islam. America helped install and maintain the despotic Shah of Iran, but withdrew its support when Iran became an Islamic republic (itself undemocratic in many ways). Now America is seen as the largely uncritical supporter of Israel, against the interests of Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian. Bombing Iraq will confirm these perceptions among Muslims. An attack by Saddam on any nation would be viewed as proper cause for a military response to Iraq by the attacked nation and its allies, as was the case with Kuwait. This may not be good, but it is true. Saddam now attacks only his own people, and they need help – but not the ‘help’ of being killed in an effort by other countries to bring about ‘regime change’ in Iraq. ‘Pre-emption’ (the notion that one nation may attack another because of what it might do) is philosophically, ethically, and pragmatically perilous. After all, an enemy may return the favor. Once ‘preemption’ is established as a valid principle for international relations, nations which invoke that principle will have no conceptual shelter. |
| A welder from Voronezh saved a child from a fire Yevgeny Filesh, a welder-locksmith from Voronezh, saved a child from a fire on August 20. For this, the Ministry of Emergency Situations will present him with an award. That day, Evgeny Filesh was on his way to work. He accidentally saw a fire in one of the apartments in a five-story building on the Shendrikov street. He stopped and heard a child calling for help. A seven-year-old boy was in a burning apartment. Evgeny Filesh The child was on the second floor, and the flames were already visible behind him. According to Evgeny, at that point, the neighbors had already found a ladder somewhere. The man climbed it and saved the boy. The boy was very frightened and could not speak. The child burned his hand and his hair. This is not the first time the welder from Voronezh saves someone’s life. It turned out that he saved a drowning person in his youth. His job skills helped the man to get in the fire to save the boy. — He was sitting by the window and crying that he was suffocating. The whole balcony was on fire, the stench was terrible, because it was the plastic burning. The windows were busting. It was better me crashing on the ground than the child falling out, – said Evgeny Filesh to “Voronezh news”. A Georgian businessman from Russia helped return nine children to their family In Georgia, due to poor living conditions, social workers took nine children from the Putkaradze family. The youngest was only five months old at the time. — The reason for the removal of children was the lack of a bath, a shower, and a stove. My husband worked part-time for private contract jobs and somehow provided for the family. Before making a decision, the social worker came to assess the situation several times, – remembers Madonna Putkaradze, the mother. At first, the woman was told that the children would be returned quickly. Then that it was necessary to improve the financial situation in the family, living in the west Georgia, in the village of Tkhilnari of the Khelvachauri district. |
| Bristol parish makes appeal for its own church building Bristol, February 19, 2016 A multi-ethnic Orthodox community in Bristol, England, is making an appeal for financial help in purchasing a building for worship: The Parish of The Holy Trinity is a Russian Orthodox community in Bristol, England, belonging to the Diocese of Sourozh of the Moscow Patriarchate. Since its foundation in 1997 by Metropolitan Antony of Sourozh, our parish has been worshiping in various rented accommodations. We began in a house of Ecumenical prayer, then moved to a cemetery chapel and now share the Catholic Church of St. John Fisher in the Frenchay suburb of Bristol. The building is used by Scouts and we can only have it on Sundays. This means that we cannot celebrate important dates of the Orthodox calendar on other days of week. Before each service we have to unpack and install the iconostasis, icons and other church objects needed for the service. We need to put them away afterwards. During these years the parish has developed a strong spiritual life. Our parishioners are Orthodox people from several countries including the UK, with a variety of nationalities and backgrounds. Bristol is a great university city and the capital of the west of England, visited by people from all over the world. We believe the presence of churches like ours, bearing a humble witness to faith, will enrich the spiritual life of the city. The church we hope to buy for our Orthodox parish is a highly suitable building close to the city center. Southville Methodist church at Stackpool Road (BS3 1NW) was built in 1934 in a neo-Gothic style. The stone building consists of two parts —the Church part with a bell tower on one side and the big church hall with amenities on the other. It is no longer used for church services. We aim to continue the lease of the church hall to Southville Community Center, which uses it as a nursery school. The property is registered as an “asset for the community under the localism act 2011.” We wish to maintain the church as a home of spiritual worship. |
| Building of a new Church proposed on the site of the monument to Pushkin on Pushkin square in the centre of Moscow Moscow, April 29, 2013 The monument to the poet Alexander Pushkin from Pushkin square in the center of the Russian capital may be moved from its current site, reported to Interfax a source in the Moscow State Duma. " It has been proposed to move the monument to Pushkin and to build a commemorative Chapel to the Strastnoi (of the Passion) Convent and to the first tsars of the house of Romanov: Michael Feodorovich (reigned from 1613 to 1645) and Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676) on its site, " said a spokesman of Interfax. He noted that the monument to A. Pushkin in 1880 was raised on the square at the beginning of the Tverskoy boulevard but in 1950 it was moved to another side of Gorky street (present-day Tverskaya street) and installed on the site of the Convent " s demolished belltower. The spokesman also added that the Commission at the Moscow State Duma had received a proposal to install a commemorative plaque to the human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and the journalist Anastasia Baburova on the site of their murder—near house on Prechistenka street. " Most probably, the Moscow State Duma " s Commission for Monumental Art will consider these proposals after the May holidays. It is still difficult to state what kind of a decision will be made on these two proposals, but the commission members are categorical as regards the moving of monuments, " said the agency " s spokesman. Orthodox Christians have been holding prayer meetings and Cross processions on the Pushkin square for years calling to restore the Strastnoi Convent. According to them, underground on the site are the remains of ascetic nuns from the Convent, as well as foundations of destroyed monastery buildings. In summer 2012, a commemorative plaque to the Strastnoi Convent was raised on the Pushkin square. The Convent was founded in the 17th century on the very historical site where the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of the Passion (which was brought to the capital from the Nizhny Novgorod region) had been solemnly met. This icon, famous for its healing of the sick, is thus called because two Angels with instruments of Christ " s sufferings (passion)—spears and the Cross—are depicted on it next to the Most Holy Theotokos. When the Napoleon " s army hastily left Moscow, it was in this Convent that the first thanksgiving service to the Savior for miraculous deliverance from the invaders was celebrated. Also, according to tradition, the first Church bell resounded from the belltower of the Strastnoi Convent after the enemy had gone away. The central anti-religious museum was opened on the territory of the Convent in 1929, and the buildings of the Convent were demolished in 1937. Pravoslavie.ru 30 апреля 2013 г. ... Комментарии Мы в соцсетях Подпишитесь на нашу рассылку |
| But as well as whole chandeliers moving, on the smaller scale flames themselves flicker and move in response to air currents. Theirs is a living light. This movement of light is enhanced when it is reflected off polished brass and silver, gilded icons and gold mosaics. Vatopedi Monastery, Mount Athos, showing how light becomes dynamic when reflected off polished brass and silver and the mosaic floors. The second century neo-Platonist Plotinus wrote that “beauty is symmetry irradiated by life”. This was interpreted by the Byzantines as symmetry irradiated by light, for light was regarded an image of divine, animating and transfiguring life. But this Byzantine aesthetic of moving rather than static light was ultimately rooted in Trinitarian theology. The uncreated light of divine love is One, but it is also dynamic, moving within the Trinity and moving down to creation. Of course the term moving is a human concept and is ultimately inapplicable to God, who has no need to move from place to place. But the term is applicable inasmuch as it reminds us that God is not a single monad, that God is love because He is Three. Christian beauty is therefore rooted in relationship rather than an abstract and static ideal. And this can be reflected in church lighting. The colour of light Anyone who takes photographs will know that light has colour. You can adjust the white balance on cameras to cater for the colour shift of a cloudy day, or for tungsten light, shade, and so on. The light from an oil lamp or wax candle is warm. So if you are to have electrical lighting try to find a bulb type which gives a warm light. LED’s are available which give a specific range of light. The best is an adjustable combination of warm white and cool white (WW/CW) so that you can install the lights and then fine tune their colour balance in situ. One can also control colour through a careful choice of tinted glass for any bowls you might use for lights. These can be bought, or if necessary one can commission hand-made bowls. I did this with sixteen brass chandeliers commissioned by St Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, Amsterdam. I had the glass bowls hand blown in India in a honey colour. As long as the dimmable lights are not turned up too high, these chandeliers create a gentle warm light to mitigate the otherwise stark white walls. |
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