| Photo: antiochian.org These organizations show how individuals can join their ministries to help more women and children and show them God’s love. In June, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the 49-year-old Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion in all 50 states. With the high court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, the issue of abortion law was sent back to each individual state to be decided legislatively. Yet the inevitable protests, slogans, shouting, and angry social media posts all obscured the person who is at the heart of the abortion question: a woman who finds herself pregnant and alone. In this new era, Orthodox Christian providers of crisis pregnancy ministry consider the Dobbs decision an opportunity to increase outreach in loving, sacrificial ways. Photo: antiochian.org Fr. Adam Roberts of St. Paul Church of Katy, Texas , understands this. In 2019, he and producer Fr. John Finley, chairman of the Antiochian Archdiocese’s Department of Missions and Evangelism, released a nine-part documentary, “ In the Name of Choice ,” that raised the central question: how can we as Orthodox Christians show love and compassion to both the mother and the child, when she is struggling with a pregnancy in which she has neither the resources nor the support to see it through? “There is a lot of new interest in the documentary,” Fr. Adam said. “A number of people have told me that they want to do crisis pregnancy ministry full time when they retire after seeing the film.” “In the Name of Choice” profiles several established Orthodox crisis pregnancy ministries, including the Ohio-based Zoe for Life and The Treehouse in Wichita, Kan. These agencies provide a template for any parish or diocese interested in pro-life work that focuses on the needs of both mother and child. Photo: antiochian.org One organization that has been preparing for this new day is Orthodox Christians for Life (OCLife), a non-profit, nationwide movement dedicated to equipping parish communities for pro-life ministry and strengthening the commitment to the sacredness of human life from conception to death. |
| Freddie Gray: Baltimore’s Orthodox Churches Release Statement Source: Greek Reporter Natalya Mihailova 14 May 2015 The Baltimore Council of Orthodox Churches sent a statement to the city of Baltimore condemning violence, but “encouraging the faithful, and all Baltimore citizens, to engage their constitutional rights and to follow their conscience in regard to participation in lawful and peaceful assemblies addressing perceived injustice, inequity, or concerns and grievances with the status quo.” Photo: http://usa.greekreporter.com/ The Annunciation Cathedral faithful gathered for a special prayer service for the city, after the divine Liturgy on May 3, 2015. The following statement was composed and sent to Baltimore City Hall on May 2, 2015, after Baltimore-area clergy and laity met to discuss the city’s recent turmoil in the aftermath of the death of Freddie Gray. STATEMENT TO THE CITY OF BALTIMORE “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.” (Luke 11:17) Countless Orthodox Christians have called Baltimore their earthly home for more than a century. Many of our ancestors and contemporaries fled to this country to escape poverty, persecution, oppression, imprisonment, torture, and murder, and to find a new life in a land that held the promise of peace, prosperity, and the rule of law. As devoted citizens of this city, we have of course been moved by the tragic death of Freddie Gray and the events that it has sparked. It is with one voice that we Orthodox Christians add our prayers for healing, reconciliation, and peace in Baltimore. In the name of Jesus Christ, Furthermore, we commit ourselves to our duty of prayer and repentance, that we may ever be faithful stewards of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to fulfill His admonition to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” and to “love your neighbor as yourself.” We therefore humbly, but resolutely, call upon all our fellow citizens to join us in honest, dispassionate self-appraisal and reflection, to aspire to the greater good of self-emptying love and forgiveness, to encounter one another in dialogue with mutual respect so that we might, as a city, progress in a concerted movement toward the goal of lasting harmonious coexistence and genuine neighborly and brotherly love. |
| Hieromartyr Peter, Metropolitan Of Krutitsa Commemorated the day after St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow is Holy Hieromartyr Peter, Metropolitan of Krutitsa—one of the hierarchs whom the holy Patriarch had appointed to succeed him in case of his death. Metropolitan Peter did succeed St. Tikhon, but the schisms and tension between different factors of the Russian Church caused by the new reality of a government that consciously and systematically warred against God made this succession complicated and martyric. Leonid Trotsky had initiated a plan based on the thesis that the Church had to be destroyed from within, broken into smaller groups, and then these groups could be more easily liquidated one by one. But these plans were dashed against the rock of St. Peter of Krutitsa. From the periodical produced by the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville (ROCOR), Orthodox Life, we present the Life of St. Peter of Krutitsa—an article that also serves to describe what was happening in the Russian Church administration after the repose of Patriarch Tikhon. " I cannot refuse. If I refuse, then I will be a traitor of the Church... " Metropolitan Peter, in the world Peter Fyodorovich Polyansky, was born on June 28, 1862 (according to another source, 1863) in the village of Storozhevoy, Korotyansky uyezd, Voronezh province. Like the holy Patriarch Tikhon, he grew up in the family of a village priest. He studied in Voronezh theological seminary, graduating in 1885, and then in the Moscow Theological Academy. On graduating in 1892 as a candidate of theology, Peter Polyansky remained in the Academy as the second assistant of the inspector. Meanwhile he worked on a dissertation devoted to the first epistle of the holy Apostle Paul to Timothy. This major work, for which the author was awarded the degree of master of theology on March 4, 1897, is still considered one of the best works on the hermeneutics of the New Testament. Peter Fyodorovich Polyansky. After leaving the Academy, Peter Fyodorovich spent several years teaching in theological schools. From 1892 he was teacher in the Zvenigorod theological school, and from 1896—a supervisor of the Zhirovitsky theological school. Then, in 1906 (according to another source, 1916), he was invited to work on the Educational Committee of the Holy Synod, where he served until the revolution. As inspector of the theological schools, Peter Fyodorovich was in many dioceses and became well-known among the professors and senior clergy. Intelligent and sociable, tactful but firm, he greatly influenced the development of theological education in Russia. |
| The Life of Archimandrite Kyprian (Pyzhov) SOURCE: The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia From the Editors: Today, dear brothers and sisters, we prayerfully remember Archimandrite Kyprian (Pyzhov) on the anniversary of his death, prepared with the help of materials published by Holy Trinity Monastery and originally published as part of The History of Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville, NY. Kyrill Dimitrievich Pyzhov, tonsured Kyprian, was born in St Petersburg on January 7/20, 1904. Soon after, his father, Dimitri Mikhailovich Pyzhov, was appointed the zemsky (regional) Supervisor in Bezhetsk uezd of Tverskaya guberniya. There, in 1912, Kyrill " s mother, Alexandra Konstantinovna, nee Strinskaya, died. She was an artist who graduated the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture; she worked in the studios of Makovsky, Polenov, Perov and others. She inherited her talent from her father, who completed the Academy of Art in Florence. After the February Revolution, Dimitri Mikhailovich and his three sons, Evgenii, Kyrill and Georgii (later Hieromonk Gregorii), moved to Petrograd, where they were to endure hunger and cold. By the end of 1918, they left for Shchigri in the Kursk guberniya. Awaiting the arrival of the White Army, the Pyzhovs made their way to Simferopol. Here, 15-year-old Kyrill became a volunteer soldier and was sent to the front. From then on he endured the entire tribulation of the Volunteer Army—evacuation and Gallipoli. Here, Kyrill joined Alexandrov Military School, where he studied for three years until its dismantling in 1923. Kyrill left for France through Bulgaria to join his older brother. In Paris, Kyrill worked in a studio that made toy horses, then joined an atelier of designers in the Russian film studio " Albatross, " where he participated in creating the film Don Quixote, with Feodor Chaliapine playing the lead role. Soon after Kyrill moved to Parish, his father and brother George joined him. The three of them then began working as painters. During the evenings, the brothers attended Montparnasse School of painting and drawing, where professors from the Ecole des Beaux Arts taught. |
| In Memoriam: Metropolitan Pitirim (Nechayev) On November 4, 2003, the day the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the Kazan icon of the Mother of God and the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, a legendary figure departed toward the Russian horizon upon the sunset of an era. Metropolitan Pitirim of Volokolamsk, after a serious illness that lasted four months, reposed in the Lord. All of Russia knew this tall, austere prelate with a formidable beard and moustache, because he was inseparable from the ecclesiastical life of the capital; his name is likewise inseparable from the late twentieth century development of a publishing arm of the Moscow Patriarchate—no simple task in a time when schoolchildren were still being taught that " there is no God. " Perhaps a mystery to the outside world, Vladyka Pitirim nevertheless related many details of his life and thought to those close to him. His stories were so engaging that resourceful and diligent assistants continually wrote them down, and after his death, respectfully published them in a volume entitled, Departing Rus'. The Stories of Metropolitan Pitirim. From its pages emerges a unique personality, a born clergyman, and a dedicated hierarch of the Church. The book also illustrates how a sincerely religious man had to maneuver in such complicated times. The result is a testimony to the enduring, timeless qualities of a strong hierarch in Christ's timeless Church, through times both bitter and sweet. These are the stories we will use to draw our little sketch. Vladyka himself categorically refused to write his own memoirs. " I won't write them. But I might speak… " he said, tacitly blessing those interested to record what he says. Then he added with a chuckle, " Only, if I see what you've written, I'll probably tear it up anyway. " He was always hypercritical of his own works, and as his assistants wrote, " We had to save them from him. " Early life. Metropolitan Pitirim was born Konstantine Vladimirovich Nechayev on January 8, 1926, in the town of Kozlov, later renamed Michurinsk, in Tambov Province. His father was a priest, as was his grandfather, and so on back to the seventeenth century. His father, Archpriest Vladimir Nechayev, would later be imprisoned for his faith. |
| The editorship of Orthodox Life is troubled by recent signs, even among certain members and clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, of a revisionist history taking hold regarding the tumultuous and tragic events of the early 20th century — namely, the controversial and enigmatic figure of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin. We therefore offer this thorough and sober investigation by a respected scholar and historian of the Russian Church. May this question be finally put to rest, so that without discord and tumult in the Church, we may worthily honor the life and sufferings of the Holy Royal Martyrs and all the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia, especially in the current and upcoming anniversary years. A version of this article first appeared in the March 2017 issue of Holy Trinity Monastery’s Russian-language journal Православная Русь . Russia is living through complicated times. The country is being reborn after disintegration and abasement. A torturous search for a national idea is afoot. All these processes are undergirded by a colossal, partly frenetic spiritual tension in our society. The huge number of magicians, astrologists, psychics, and healers who appear on television and in print are a clear indication that the populace is ill, and gravely so. " So this messenger of death stands between the throne and Russia... He kills because he is two-faced. " One symptom of this illness is the veneration in certain — albeit narrow — circles of Grigory Efimovich Rasputin . The facts of his life are so widely known there is no need to recount them here. For us, a different question is important — why has a movement appeared for this person’s canonization and what are the arguments, both for and against? This discussion is unavoidable in order to develop a firm position on such a complex question and so as not to fall under the influence of pseudo-ecclesial agitators and, in the final equation, to not do harm to our own spiritual state. Attempts to realize the canonization of Rasputin are fraught with several negative consequences. First, admirers of “elder Grigory” make of him a certain symbol of “folk Orthodox tradition,” set against the “bishops-bureaucrats.” The movement thereby carries an anti-ecclesial character. Even after the Commission on the Glorification of Saints of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has expressed its authoritative view against the glorification of Rasputin among the saints, his self-willed apologists nevertheless venerate him as a saintly elder and martyr. |
| “There’s Plenty of Freedom, But Little Truth”: Solzhenitsyn Remembered Archpriest Nikolai Chernyshev 22 November 2012 Archpriest Nikolai Chernyshev Fifty years ago this month, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s story “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” was published in the journal Novy Mir (New World) . Both the author’s first work to appear in print and the first account of Stalinist repression to be openly distributed in the Soviet Union, it marked the beginning of Solzhenitsyn’s prophetic career. In celebration of his life and work, we offer an interview given shortly after the writer’s death by Archpriest Nikolai Chernyshev, cleric of the St. Nicholas Church on Maroseyka Street in Klenniky (Moscow), who served as the spiritual father of the Solzhenitsyn family during the final years of the writer’s life. Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn departed on his final journey in accordance with the Orthodox tradition. What was the writer’s path to faith? I would refer you to Ludmila Saraskina’s book about Solzhenitsyn that was recently published [in Russian, 2009] in the series “Lives of Great People.” The biography of the writer found in this book is the most complete and sober. Aleksandr Isayevich grew up in a deeply religious Orthodox family and was conscious of himself as an Orthodox Christian from the very beginning. These were the years of militant atheism, so he had trouble with his classmates and teachers at school. Naturally, he joined neither the Young Pioneers nor the Komsomol [All-Union Leninist Young Communist League]. The Pioneers would tear off his baptismal cross, but he would put it back on every time. At that time the churches in Rostov-on-Don (Rostov Oblast), where the writer was born and was then living, were closed one after another. By the time he was growing up there, not a single functioning church remained within hundreds of miles of Rostov. As we know, at that time the ideas of Marxism and Leninism were imposed not just actively, but aggressively. In educational institutions, the study of Diamet [dialectical materialism] was unavoidable. The young Sasha Solzhenitsyn took an interest in Marxism, in dialectical materialism, and this ran contrary to his childhood faith. An unbearable weight was placed on his fledgling soul. At that time many people were crushed by this burden. |
| In Memoriam: Laurie Paffhausen, Sister of Metropolitan Jonah admin 20 November 2012 Laurie Paffhausen, sister of Metropolitan Jonah The Funeral of Laurie Paffhausen, the younger sister and only sibling of His Eminence, Metropolitan Jonah, will be celebrated at Saint Nicholas Cathedral here [in Washington, DC] on Tuesday, November 20, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. The Divine Liturgy, followed by the Litia and interment at Rock Creek Cemetery, will be celebrated on Wednesday, November 21—the Great Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God in the Temple—at 10:00 a.m. Miss Paffhausen fell asleep in the Lord in hospital after a lengthy illness on Sunday morning, November 18. On behalf of the members of the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon sent condolences to Metropolitan Jonah and his family. The text reads as follows. “Your Eminence, Metropolitan Jonah, Dear Brother in Christ, “It is with deep sadness, yet firm hope in the Resurrection, that we extend our heartfelt prayers and thoughts upon learning of the untimely repose of your sister, Laurie, on Sunday, November 18, 2012. “Surely the death of a sibling—especially one with whom one has a close bond—is always a tragedy. And yet, in the midst of mourning, we can take comfort in our Lord’s presence and promise of eternal life. Laurie’s recent reception into the Church also offers a measure of consolation, that indeed her soul abides “where there is neither sickness, nor sorrow, nor sighing, but life everlasting.” “Please be assured of our brotherly prayers for Laurie’s repose, as well as for the comfort of you and your parents, at this sorrowful time. May her memory be eternal, and may the Kingdom of God, yet to be fully revealed but already fully present in our midst, consume her—and all of us—as she passes ‘from life to life.’ “Sincerely yours in the risen Christ, “+ Metropolitan Tikhon and the brothers of the Holy Synod with me.” Additional details will be posted as they are received. |
| Nicholas II’s doctor, servants may be canonized Source: Interfax-religion Natalya Mihailova 08 October 2015 Moscow, October 8, Interfax - The Russian Church may canonize the doctor of Russia " s last emperor Nicholas II Yevgeny Botkin and his three servants. Yevgeny Botkin A proposal to this effect was made by the Yekaterinburg diocese. The issue is expected to be discussed at a meeting of the Holy Synod, Archpriest Alexy Kulberg, first aide to Metropolitan of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye Kiril, told Interfax-Religion. “We have no information that the life of these four loyal servants of the tsar was sinful and that they did anything in the course of their lives that would tarnish them as Christians. Enough materials have been collected on their life an death, which indicate not only the highest quality of life of these people as citizens, but also the fact that they lived a good, righteous Christian life,” he said. “The loyalty that those people manifested by following the tsar’s family to Tobolsk and Yekaterinburg is not ‘just words’,” he said. “Read the story of the tsar’s family after the tsar’s abdication, how people who before that had come in crowds, trying to get the slightest benefit from the tsar’s family, instantly turned a way, disappeared, and shunned their acquaintance with the tsar’s family. They felt that it smelled of blood and retreated. But the four servants stayed loyal and voluntarily gave their lives, fulfilling the Christian commandment on love and faithfulness,” he said. The priest said that people in the Urals have a special attitude to Yevgeny Botkin, as well as the other three tsar’s servants who suffered together with the tsar’s family. “That attitude is reflected in the interior of the Church-on-the-Blood built on the site of the Ipatyev house. In the southern apse of this church, there are memorial boards with the names of the emperor, the empress and their children, and on the opposite, northern apse, there are memorial boards with the names of their faithful servants,” he said. |
| Optyna martyrs New Russian Martyrs Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2011 - 05:50:02 Optyna martyrs Jun 21, 2006, 23:18 Discuss this article Printer friendly page In the year 1993 the whole Orthodox world was shocked by a tragic event, which had happened in Optina Hermitage: three inhabitants of the monastery were brutely murdered on Easter night. They were hieromonk Vasily (Roslyakov), monk Ferapont (Pushkarev) and monk Trophim (Tatarinov). The Easter service in Optina began as usual. According to the existing tradition, the religious procession to the skete of St. John the Baptist,which is situated to the east of the Monastery, and back was coming to an end. The festive Easter peal was heard coming from monastery and skete belfries. The number of people was enormous—up to 10 thousand people (as the militia later reported, which were guarding the Monastery during the festive service,). After the Liturgy the monks went to the refectory to break the fast. After completing the meal, two of the bell-ringers, monk Ferapont and monk Trophim, returned to the belfry to continue the Easter peal. By then it was ten past six. Suddenly the bell ringing became uneven and then stopped completely. A terrible crime was committed on the belfry—the monks were villainously killed with stabs from a knife. Monk Ferapont expired at once. After the stabbing Monk Trophim uttered a loud shriek: “God, have mercy upon us!” and “Help!; having risen a bit, he rang the bell—and fell down. The murderer ran away to the skete, where hieromonk Vasily was also going in order to hear confessions. The criminal stabbed him in the back with the same knife. Then the murderer climbed over the monastery wall and threw away a blood-stained self-made knife. It was double-edged, five centimeters wide, and resembled a sword. It was engraved on its blade with “ 666” and “satan”. The same inscription was found later on a knife in the pocket of a greatcoat that was abandoned by the murderer. The murderer Nikolay Averin inflicted knife wounds to the back. According to the investigator, the injuries were inflicted with unusual professionalism “and deliberately—they were not too deep—to make the victim bleed to death over a long time”. In fact, hieromonk Vasily suffered for several hours, though monks Trophim and Ferapont died immediately. Averin killed monks Ferapont and Trophim while they were announcing to the world on the belfry the Resurrection of Christ. And hieromonk Vasily was killed when he was going to the skete to hear confessions. Having committed the murder, Averin slipped the edge of the monks’ robes to their heads and pulled their klobuks over their faces. It seemed that there was still life in monk Trophim. He was brought to Vvedensky Cathedral, but a few minutes later he passed away. |
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