| How Unpracticed Faith Turns to Atheism Unpracticed faith—that is, faith without works—St. James writes, is dead. It has no transformative or sanctifying power; it is intellectual assent that descends into paralyzing doubt (or worse), which is no faith at all. That’s because faith is revealed, confirmed, and made perfect by our actions not affirmations ( for by their fruits you will know them ). Consider a child, standing nervously at the edge of the pool, coaxed by his father to dive into the water. He has a choice: plunge headlong into the pool where the able arms of dad are ready to receive him, or remain at water’s edge frozen in fear, dithering in doubt. He may sincerely believe that his father won’t let harm come to him, but until he jumps, fear holds him captive in functional unbelief, revealing that his faith is in a danger that his father cannot save him from. When the “rubber” of belief meets the “road” of decision, a choice has to be made. There is no middle road other than doubt, which defaults to unbelief and tosses us to and fro on the agnostic waves of uncertainty. Indeed, we will never walk on the troubled waters of life until faith moves us to get out of the boat! Functional Atheists Behavioral studies by various pollsters suggest that the vast majority of Americans who self-identify as Christian are functional non-Christians, if not atheists, with rates of divorce, sexual promiscuity, substance abuse, and other behaviors on par with those of their non-Christian neighbors. ( By their fruits you will know them. ) In his 2001 book Growing True Disciples , George Barna reported, “To the naked eye, the thoughts and deeds (and even many of the religious beliefs) of Christians are virtually indistinguishable from those of nonbelievers.” Six years later he similarly reported, “born again Christians are statistically indistinguishable from non-born again adults on most of the behaviors studied.” The studied behaviors included lying, substance abuse, and extra-marital sex. ( By their fruits you will know them. ) |
| Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, Michael D. Peterson Скачать epub pdf TRINITY TRINITY. According to the understanding of the Orthodox Church, the confession of faith in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (q.v.) is as old as Christianity. It is not the product of human reasoning, but the articulation of divine revelation, and it is embedded in the earliest Christian documents. The Apostle Paul, for example, closes 2 Cor with a Trinitarian blessing sometime in the A.D. 50s, and it seems to be the case that he is himself but repeating a formula already employed in Christian worship. The Gospel of Matthew concludes with the Trinitarian formula for Baptism (q.v.) already in use in that community ca. A.D. 80. The “Last Supper” discourse in Jn 14–16 contains four passages on the Holy Spirit which make it clear that the Spirit is regarded as a distinct person, “another Comforter/Advocate,” together with the Son. While profession of the three persons is from the earliest Christian scriptural witnesses, the Church also inherited the confession of God (q.v.) as one from the Hebrews: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Duet 6:4). There do not appear to have been any speculative attempts to square this circle earlier than the 2nd c. Father, Son, and Spirit were simply facts of primitive Christian experience; they were acknowledged as such in tandem with faith in the divine unity. The word, “trinity” (Greek trias and Latin trinitas), does not appear until Theophilus of Antioch (Greek) in the 180s and Tertullian (q.v.) (Latin) a decade or two later. The latter, together with Irenaeus of Lyons (q.v.), provide the first attempts at explaining the dual confession of God as one and three. Tertullian relies primarily on a Stoic model, the divine substance in three different and eternal modes of expression. Irenaeus uses the analogy of the human person, speaking on some occasions of Son and Spirit as the Father’s Word and Wisdom, and elsewhere as his “two hands.” In the 3rd c. Origen, borrowing from Platonism and the earlier work of Clement of Alexandria and Justin Martyr (qq.v.), arranges Father, Son, and Spirit in a descending hierarchy of hypostases (persons, or substances). His terminology was preserved in the Greek East during the great Trinitarian controversies of the 4th c. But his notes relating to subordination and hierarchy were rejected as a result of the ultimate victory of the Nicene Creed championed by Athanasius (qq.v.). It was the glory of the Cappadocian Fathers, especially Basil’s On the Holy Spirit, Gregory of Nazianzus’s Theological Orations, and Gregory of Nyssa’s (qq.v.) Against Eunomius and “On Not Three Gods,” to supply the language and concepts reconciling Origen’s terms with the Nicene homoousios (consubstantial) in such a way as to become the classical formulation of the Orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. |
| Panayiotis Christou Скачать epub pdf Foreword The selection of Professor Panagiotes Chrestou to give the Patriarch Athenagoras Memorial Lectures this year is a very happy one. Perhaps more than any other scholar , he can be linked with the great Patriarch. Born in the same village in Epiros, Greece, Professor Chrestou has known Patriarch Athenagoras from an early age. Considering himself a «spiritual child» of the Patriarch, Professor Chrestou has, during his academic career, done more for Patristic studies (a favorite with the late Patriarch) than any other modern Greek scholar. Professor Chrestou’s selection was equally felicitous for Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology where he began his long and distinguished teaching career. It is, therefore, with much pleasure and a great deal of pride that the present Patriarch Athenagoras Memorial Lectures are presented to our reading public. The Patriarch Athenagoras Memorial Lectures are under the patronage of His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos whose assistance makes these lectures possible, and whom we thank very much. Thanks are also due to President Thomas C. Lelon for his support and hospitality provided to our lecturer and participants. The faculty of Holy Cross, under the direction of its dean, Father Alkiviadis Calivas, has provided invaluable service to the Patriarch Athenagoras Memorial Lectures. Finally, many thanks are due to George and Chrystal Condakes for their generous support of the lectures. An endowment fund established by them in memory of their father, Peter J. Condakes, a Patriarchal Archon, provides the necessary financial support for this series. Fr. N. Michael VaporisDean, Hellenic College PROLOGUE I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who contributed to giving me the honor and joy of delivering these lectures: His Eminence Archbishop Iakovos, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Americas; Dr. Thomas C. Lelon, President of Hellenic College/Holy Cross ; Fr. Alkiviadis Calivas, Dean of Holy Cross ; and the Faculty of the School of Theology. |
| Exhortation on the Prayer Rule St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) Bishop Ignaty (secular name, Dimitry Aleksandrovich Brianchaninov; 1807-1867) was an outstanding ecclesiastical writer and ascetic of the nineteenth century. He had no special theological education. He studied at the main engineering college in St. Petersburg and in 1824 graduated from it, receiving an officer’s rank. During the following four years he fulfilled various obediences as a novice in several monasteries, after which he took monastic vows and was appointed in 1883 as Father Superior of the St. Sergei Hermitage of the St. Petersburg Diocese. He gained profound experience in the knowledge of God by studying the works of the holy fathers. In 1857 he was consecrated bishop of the Black Sea and the Caucasus. In 1861 he retired for reasons of health and settled in the Babaevsky Monastery of St. Nicholas. Besides his feats of prayer and extensive correspondence with his spiritual children, Bishop Ignaty devoted much of his time during these years to literary work. The reader of his works discovers in their author a pastor-ascetic engaged in an intense spiritual combat and who is tragically depressed by setbacks in this struggle. The main motivation behind his ascetic works is his awareness of the damage done to human nature by sin. He wrote: “Our nature is contaminated by sin so that it is quite natural for it to generate unnatural sin” (Essays of Bishop Ignaty Brianchaninov, 3 rd edition, St. Petersburg, 1905, Vol. 5, p. 435). “The Christian discerns within himself the human Fall inasmuch as he can see his own passions. Passions are the sign of the sinful mortal disease which afflicts the entire human race” (1.528). “In order to achieve success in the spiritual life, it is necessary for our passions to reveal themselves by coming to the fore. When passions reveal themselves in an ascetic he comes to grips with them” (1.345). These ideas are further elaborated in all of the works of Bishop Ignaty. In all of his writings on any subject, including practical pastoral advice, Bishop Ignaty takes the reader back to the understanding of the root cause of the misfortunes of the human race, which helps to combat each and every concrete manifestation of sin. Thus defining monastic self-reproach, he points out that it is “a good cause, counterposed to and counteracting the morbid condition of our fallen nature …” (1.345). Elsewhere he writes: “Speaking of books, one should say … that it is necessary to choose among them not the most elevated ones, but the ones that are nearest to our own condition, which describe actions pertinent to ourselves” (2.292). “When a person does not arrange his responsibilities in due order, does not attach to each of them the priority it deserves, then the fulfillment thereof cannot yield virtue, but will only produce sinful mistakes which are all the more dangerous because they have a virtuous appearance” (4.421). |
| His Holiness Patriarch Kirill sends a letter to the Acting General Secretary of WCC in connection with the events in Ukraine Source: DECR Photo: Oleg Varov/foto.patriarchia.ru In response to the letter dated from March 2, 2022, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia sent a letter to Archpriest Ioan Sauca, Acting General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, with regard to the dramatic events in Ukraine. The Very Reverend Archpriest Ioan Sauca Acting General Secretary World Council of Churches Dear Father Ioan, I thank you for your letter of March 2, 2022. Having known you for many years as a faithful steward of the Church of Christ and tireless worker in the field of education and formation of younger generations, I deeply appreciate your work as Acting General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, which is aimed at promoting accord and mutual respect between representatives of different Christian confessions. Our Church joined the WCC in 1961, having accepted its renewed basis as “fellowship of Churches” and the Toronto Statement that read, in particular, “The Council as such cannot possibly become the instrument of one confession or school the member churches should recognize their solidarity with each other, render assistance to each other in case of need, and refrain from such actions as are incompatible with brotherly relationship.” Since 1983, it has been one of the WCC’s priorities to engage its member churches in the process of acknowledging their shared responsibility for justice, peace and the integrity of creation within the world community. That is to say, our WCC membership, dialogues, discussions based on the principle of equality, and cooperation with the entire Christendom were not only an expression of our commitment to the cause of reconciliation between people, but also gave us confidence in the solidarity and support of the world Christian fellowship. These days, millions of Christians all over the world in their prayers and thoughts turn to the dramatic developments in Ukraine. |
| On Sunday 6th December 2015 His Beatitude Theodoros II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa conducted the ordination of His Grace Athanasios Bishop of Kisumu and West Kenya, at the Holy Patriarchal Church of St Nicholas in Cairo. On the evening before, he officiated at Great Vespers at the celebrating Patriarchal Church of St Nicholas and then the Great Messages of the recently elected Bishops of Mozambique Chrysostomos, Nieri and Mount Kenya Neofytos and Kisumu and West Kenya Athanasios. At the Eucharistic gathering on the feast day, as well as at the ordination of His Grace, His Eminence Elder Metropolitan Gabriel of Leontopolis, Patriarchal Vicar General, His Eminence Makarios Metropolitan of Nairobi, His Eminence Alexandros Metropolitan of Nigeria, His Eminence Nicholas of Ermopolis, His Eminence Nikodimos of Memphis, Patriarchal Vicar of Cairo, His Eminence Niphon Metropolitan of Pilousion, Abbot of the Holy Patriarchal Monastery of St. George in Cairo, His Eminence Metropolitan Ioannis of Zambia, and their Graces Chrysostomos Bishop of Mozambique and Neofytos of Nieri also participated. Many faithful came to the church for the celebrations from both the Greek and Arabic communities of the Egyptian capital. In his address, with deep emotion, His Beatitude said: Your Grace, elected Bishop Athanasios of Kisumu and West Kenya and beloved brother in the Lord, “My you be strengthened with all power giving thanks to the father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (Colossians 1:11-12). The hour of Missions in the vast and great country of Kenya “has indeed come.” The fullness of time has arrived, the time of sowing has come as has the time of reaping. At this sacred moment of your ordination as bishop, I wish to stand paternally opposite you and in a spirit of love and advice, to weave into your thoughts my expectations and visions for you, my beloved son Fr. Athanasios. Firstly I want to say to you that the theology of our Church is not only produced through the university desks and the amphitheatres of the theological faculties. The theology of our Church is not a double-headed theology. It is not academic. It does not begin and end in libraries and university laboratories. The theology of our Church begins at the Holy Altar! That is the greatest theological Table which produces the one theology – the theology of the Immaculate Lamb. On the Holy Altar is the sacrificial lamb. It is the broken, divided and never expended Christ. He is the centre “of the entire Church.” He is the lighting strength, the source of sanctity, from which all of creation, strengthened both in logic and intellect sends up the eternal doxology. |
| Egypt (MNN) — Last Friday, a Muslim mob looted and torched 80 Christian families’ homes in Egypt’s Al-Beida village. Christians were forced to flee the area. The mob was angry because of a rumor that a building under construction in the village was going to become a church. The Christians in the Al-Beida village currently have to travel four miles away to worship at the Holy Virgin and the Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church. When the nearby church’s priest, Father Karas Naser, heard of the violence he rushed to the scene. The mob set upon Father Naser’s car when he arrived. However, he was rescued by other moderate Muslims who protected him from the mob and got him out of the car. Open Doors USA’s Emily Fuentes says this type of violence, while not definitive of the whole country, tends to flare in rural areas where extremists incite some of the villagers against minority Christians. “It really does vary throughout Egypt. You might see a little bit more tolerance in cities, but in more rural areas or villages like this, you’re going to see a bit more tension, some misunderstanding; especially from neighbors [towards] Christians and what a threat they are as a minority group.” Christian Organizations Help Rebuild Open Doors works through partner ministries in Egypt. Fuentes says a few years ago, their partner ministries responded to a similar violent extremist mob attack. In that situation, 200 Christian homes were destroyed, and several churches and Christian buildings were looted and burned down. This mob was also incited with an inflammatory rumor against Christians started by the Muslim Brotherhood. “It was a horrific situation for these Christians. Not only did they lose their house and churches, but some lost their lives and then some lost their very livelihood. Many were farmers so they lost their livestock and had nothing to help them survive,” says Fuentes. “Through our partner organizations we were able to help rebuild many of these houses, farms, churches so the Christian community could restart again and continue to be a light even after a horrific attack like this.” Egyptian Christians Maintain Gospel Witness |
| Photo: greekamericangirl.com My fate brought me to Mexico City during Holy Week of 2019. Feeling a bit guilty that I would be missing the divine services for the most critical period of the Church calendar, what a relief it was when after a short Google search, I uncovered not one, not two, but three separate Orthodox denominations operating in the various corners of the megalopolis that is Mexico City. Mexico is a staunchly Catholic country, so the fact that the Orthodox can stake a claim of ground is nothing less than extraordinary. Down a quiet tree-lined street, in the Colonia Cuauhtemoc just south of the Avenida de la Reforma, stands a white stucco Spanish California-style mission house. It is unassuming and if you were not paying attention, you would miss the label on its iron gate: Monasterio de la Santisima Trinidad. The facade is made of white stucco buttressed by a central tower. The interior features traditional red clay glazed tiles, exposed wood beams, and earth tones. The central patio holds the nave with a curving stairway leading to the choir station and the cells of the monks on the second floor. The Church of the Holy Trinity, La Santisima Trinidad is home for the many Russians, Ukrainians, and former Soviets living in the city. While it started as a church, it has now become a monastery comprised of two brethren, Father Christophoros, a convert from Armenian who served in Cyprus, and Father Arseny, a Mexican convert to Orthodoxy who serves as an iconographer as well as chanter. However, the story of the monastery is entwined with the story of its Igoumen, Archimandrite Nektariy Haji-Petropoulos. His life’s journey with its many diversions, skips and stops, is a tale of traveling mercies that have culminated in the founding of this spiritual center, the heart of the Russian Orthodox presence in a country that once proved hostile to it. “Our existence is a miracle, veritable proof of the Grace and Mercy of God, in as much as, despite all of our needs and challenges, we have become the heart, the soul, and the conscience of the Russian Orthodox community in Mexico,” Igoumen Archimandrite Nectariy exclaims. Archimandrite Igoumen Nektariy Haji-Petropoulos |
| Saint Ninian of Whithorn, Apostle of the Southern Picts, Wonderworker Commemorated August 26/September 8 Dmitry Lapa Saint Ninian (Ninia), a Briton by origin, is one of the most venerated saints of Scotland. He is commemorated as “Apostle of the Southern Picts.” Although few details of the life and activities of St. Ninian are known, in addition to ancient traditions several early written pieces of evidence about the saint have survived. Our great authority, the Venerable Bede mentions St. Ninian in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731). In the ninth century, an anonymous author wrote an account of St. Ninian’s miracles. Ailred of Rievaulx in the twelfth century and the Irish archbishop James Usher of Armagh early in the seventeenth century wrote about St. Ninian as well. The future saint was most probably born in the second half of the fourth century—perhaps in about 360. He belonged to the so-called “Roman-British” tradition of early British Christianity. His native land was most likely Cumbria; at least it is nearly certain that he was born south of Hadrian’s Wall in today’s northern England. His father, according to some sources, was a local Christian ruler. While still very young, St. Ninian very clearly began to feel a calling to Christianize his native country. According to tradition, after the saint went to study in Rome, he then visited Gaul where at his monastery in Tours he met St. Martin—a great missionary and father of monasticism of Gaul. There is an opinion that St. Ninian was consecrated bishop either in Rome or Gaul (and, if the latter, the consecration was probably performed by St. Martin himself). Remains of St. Ninian " s Chapel on Whithorn. Inspired by St. Martin’s example, in about 394 St. Ninian returned to Scotland where he made the Whithorn peninsula in the present-day region of Dumfries and Galloway (south-western Scotland) the centre of his missionary activities. From here the hierarch successfully preached to the Southern Picts and converted many of them to Christ. He obviously preached to Irish settlers in Scotland as well and his work among them was fruitful. There is no doubt that St. Ninian established his see at Whithorn and also founded a church and a monastery dedicating it to St. Martin. Historians suppose that it was St. Martin who sent skilled masons from Gaul to help Ninian build the church at Whithorn. Whithorn derives its name from the main monastery church whose walls had been built of stone covered with lime plaster, which was a great rarity in Britain at that time. The very name “Whithorn” can be translated as “lime washed church”, or “white house”, and throughout the medieval period this splendid church together with the whole diocese was known as “Candida Casa” (“white house” in Latin). The church was built in a Roman fashion and according to the best standards of the time. |
| 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 Our Churches and our peoples have undergone many trials. Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa III on the Assyrian Church of the East and its ties with Russia The Primate of the Assyrian Church of the East, His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Mar Awa III , has headed this ancient sea for only two years and has already visited Russia twice. In November 2023, the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin signed a decree awarding the Catholicos " for his great contribution to the preservation and development of spiritual and cultural traditions, strengthening peace and harmony between peoples " with the Russian state award - the Order of Friendship. In an interview with the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate (No. 3, 2024), His Holiness Mar Awa spoke about the close ties between the Russian and Assyrian peoples, the dialogue between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East, and the goals of his ministry. Assyrians in Russia in the time of Nicholas II - Your Holiness, the Assyrian people have longstanding close ties with the Russian people, which was especially evident in the late 19th century and during the First World War. The best proof of this fact is your ancestors who served in the Russian army during those years. Tell us about them. - My maternal great-grandfather, Shmuel Khan, became a full Cavalier of the Cross of St. George. His father, my great-great-grandfather, Bejan, according to our family legend, also received the St. George Cross. He came fr om Targavar district, fr om the Urmia county¹, wh ere in the late 19th century there was a Russian vice-consulate, and in the early 20th century - the Russian military presence and the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Urmia. Bejan was killed by the Kurds in 1907. Shmuel Khan was a commander of the Targavar Assyrians " squad and served on the Persian-Turkish border. During World War I, in September 1914, he defended Urmia against the Kurds. In his detachment were 250 Assyrians, and with them was a detachment of 60 Cossacks. At the beginning of the siege, the Cossack commander was killed by a sniper, and Shmuel Khan took charge of the united detachment. The fighting went on for almost three days, and the Kurdish attack was repelled. Later he took part in a retaliatory expedition of Russian detachments, the Kurds were driven back. He then commanded the 3rd separate Assyrian cavalry centuria [a hundred men] as part of the Assyrian units fighting in the Russian army. |
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