| A typical newcomer to the Eastern Orthodox Church cannot help but come to the conclusion that Orthodoxy is a culture with a vengeance. Participating in the Orthodox way of life inevitably means adopting the very specific and conspicuous set of beliefs and practices that characterize this community. In the first place, becoming Orthodox means embracing the whole ‘gesture, motion and display’ of incensing, icon veneration, vestments, chanting, processions, bowing and crossing oneself. Outside of the liturgy, Orthodox Christians are expected to fast from all animal products at regular intervals, attend special services during the week, and practice a daily and prescribed rule of prayer. In the majority of Orthodox Christian communities, the cultural expectations are additionally bound up with ethnicity—to be Orthodox means to be Greek or Russian or Romanian or some other culture where Orthodoxy is a ‘native’ religion. In many Orthodox churches—especially those where new converts or old world ideals predominate—the culture of Orthodoxy may may even extend itself into clothing and personal appearance: beards on men, headscarves on women during the liturgy are two of the most prominent examples. While the Orthodox Church does not insist that all of the above practices are equally essential to one’s salvation, there is a sense that the culture of Orthodoxy—those conspicuous practices that can seem so strange upon first encounter—is integral to the fullest possible experience of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Indeed, the Orthodox Church would insist that its particular form of ‘gesture, motion and display’ is precisely what makes its understanding of Christianity fuller than those of other Christian communities. Many Orthodox Christians would take St. Vincent of Lerins’ words—’the rule of faith is the rule of prayer’—as a basic axiom. The form of our prayer is absolutely inseparable from what we believe—the essence of our faith. Only in the past half century has this assumption been tested as never before. With the flowering of historical scholarship in the West around the culture of Eastern Orthodoxy—the origins of its beliefs and practices—Orthodox believers have come face to face with an uncomfortable truth: that our culture has evolved over the centuries. Liturgy, icons, vestments, even rules of fasting and prayer have all developed and changed to the point that they bear little resemblance—at least superficially—to the practices of the first century Christians. |
| 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). |
| I. The epiclesis – a rule of faith? The problem of the epiclesis, its meaning, and its importance – or, alternatively, expendability – for the consecration of bread and wine during a Eucharistic prayer has long been a highly polemical issue 1 . Despite their differences, scholars and theologians have often taken for granted that it was the Byzantine Church that always believed in a consecratory power of the epiclesis. Indeed, from the fourth century on (i.e., from the very starting point of the development of the Byzantine liturgy), the Byzantine Eucharistic prayers contained explicit epicleses with strong consecratory statements. In this article I will demonstrate, however, that, while the Byzantines undoubtedly were very concerned about the epiclesis recited during their Eucharistic liturgy 2 , its mere existence did not always signify the importance it is ascribed in late- and post-Byzantine theological literature. For the Byzantines often pointed to some other elements of the rite as «consecratory», and were in nowise strangers to the idea of a Eucharistic consecration independent of an epiclesis. II. The Origins of the Epiclesis II.1. A Brief Overview The origins of the epiclesis are obscure and much debated. The earliest extant eucharistic prayers from the Didache contain no explicit epicletic petition 3 (though some scholars identify the acclamation «Maranatha» from Did. 10.6 with a proto-epiclesis 4 ). In pre-Nicaean Christian liturgical usage the words πικαλεν/πικαλεσθαι and πκλησις, as has been demonstrated 5 , referred more to «naming/applying the name» than to «calling forth in prayer» 6 . It is, therefore, tempting to suggest that the epiclesis in its later sense of «a call to God/Spirit/Logos to come and show/sanctify the bread and wine» is a result of the development of the early epicletic «naming the divine Name» formulae. This possibility comes to light when one compares Origen " s commentary on 1Corinthians 7:5, where he describes the Eucharistic bread as the one «over which the Name of God and of Christ and of the Holy Spirit has been invoked» (FragmCor 34) 7 , with a baptismal and a Eucharistic prayer from Acta Thomae: |
| The last Emperor: 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union July 16, 2013 Participants of meeting and public prayer commemorating murder of Tsar’s family in Kiev, 2002. Source: Alexander Polyakov/RIA Novosti Russia has been marking the 400 th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty , whose rule ended dramatically and tragically after the Bolshevik revolution of 1917. How do modern Russians view the royal legacy and what are their perceptions of the last Tsar, Nicholas II ? Public attitudes towards him have undergone several shifts since the collapse of the Soviet Union two decades ago, with the most recent studies showing an increase in appreciation of the monarch. A survey of 1,600 Russians by Moscow’s Levada Center polling organization found that 48 percent viewed Nicholas II positively. He still trailed Soviet-era leader Leonid Brezhnev as Russia’s most popular 20 th Century head of state, and even marginally behind Lenin and Stalin, but polled far more highly than either Boris Yeltsin , independent Russia’s first president, or Mikhail Gorbachev , the last Soviet leader, who polled 22 percent and 21 percent respectively. Nicholas also had the lowest negative rating among those questioned. President Vladimir Putin recently asked Russian historians to develop a cohesive – or as he put it “consistent” – history of Russia for use in school textbooks. How Nicholas’s rule will be judged is not yet clear. Consequently, the 400th anniversary of the House of Romanov house is being celebrated quietly this year, without a major cultural or official program. At the same time, the Kremlin has opted for prominent commemorations of another jubilee, the approaching centenary of the beginning of World War I, since military issues and the “prowess of Russian weaponry” is easier to fit into the present ideological requirements. Russia has yet to reconcile fully with its past and its history is not so much a “home” as a “battlefield”. Perceptions of the last Tsar already look different when compared with a survey in 1994 that asked which past leader could be regarded as a true Russian patriot. Only 5 percent of respondents chose Nicholas II, who did not even make the top ten. |
| A Homily offered by Deacon Michael Schlaack on the Strength of the Faith of the Centurion This morning’s Gospel reading teaches a very important lesson about salvation: It is not who you are, but how you believe that will ultimately determine your place in God’s Kingdom. The account tells us that Jesus encounters a Centurion in the city of Capernaum. The soldier, a Gentile, approaches the Lord concerning his slave who is paralyzed and, in St. Luke’s telling of this account, the slave is near death. Now if the story had stopped at this point it would have still been very remarkable due to the fact that the Centurion, an officer in the Roman army, was the muscle that enforced the oppressive rule of the Roman Empire against the people of Palestine. One would conclude that the Centurion’s plea to Christ was nothing more than a last-ditch effort to cure his beloved servant. But as with all of the Gospels, the true meaning behind the story goes beyond the act of the physical healing. So often our contemplation about the miracles of Christ recorded in the Gospels are limited to physical realm. We read about the miraculous, “long-distance” physical healing of the Centurion’s servant, and become satisfied that we fully understand the meaning behind the today’s account. Yes, the physical healing was important; to the Centurion as well as to the servant. I am sure that those who had the privilege of observing this event certainly benefitted as well from the miraculous physical healing. But it is because of the greater miracle for which Jesus commends the Centurion: The strength of his faith. In his commentary on this passage, St. John Chrysostom commented that the faith displayed by the Centurion was even greater than that shown by the four friends who lowered the sick man’s cot through the opening in the roof to place the friend in the presence of Jesus, as recorded in Saints Mark’s and Luke’s Gospels. The Centurion’s faith was so great that he did not need to have his sick servant brought into the physical presence of Christ. The Centurion’s prayer was heard and granted…and the servant was completely healed at that very moment. |
| St. John (Maximovitch) of Shanghai and San Francisco was a profound ascetic and man of prayer. Thousands of miracles have occurred through his prayers, both during his lifetime and after his repose. The sick were healed, family troubles ended, and life’s difficulties abated. But of his greatest miracles we must cite the building of cathedrals among an emigrant population that barely had enough money to get by—yet the churches they built have remained as the pride of their cities. In 1934, St. John was consecrated a bishop in Yugoslavia by The Russian Church Abroad Will Mark the 80th Anniversary of the Repose of Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky) of Kiev and Galicia of Blessed Memory By recommendation of His Grace Bishop Peter of Cleveland the Synod decreed that all churches of the Russian Church Abroad are to prayerfully commemorate the late First Hierarch of ROCOR on Sunday, August 14, 2016, for which a decree was issued. " > Metropolitan Antony (Krapovitsky) of blessed memory, and appointed to the diocese of Shanghai, China. There he inherited a construction project that had reached a stalemate, due to the loss of the former bishop and internal parish divisions. St. John brought peace to that community, and the A Photo Exhibit Titled “Russians in Shanghai: 1930’s” Opens at the Cathedral of the Mother of God “Surety of Sinners” in Shanghai Forming the basis of the exposition are materials from the photo album Russians in Shanghai, published by VD Zhiganov in that city in 1936. That edition consisted of three hundred copies. This unique encyclopedia of the Russian emigre community in Shanghai in the 1920’s and 1930’s was reprinted by Alfaret Publishers of St Petersburg in 2008. " > Cathedral of the Mother of God “Surety of Sinners” was completed. The Russian Orthodox Church of the Mother of God " Surety of Sinners " , Shanghai. Photo: Russky Shanghai. When communist rule came to China, the Russian flock was forced to find new homes. St. John took his people to When the Philippines welcomed Russian refugees Tubabao Island hosted around 6,000 ‘White Russian’ refugees, who fled China in 1948, when they were in danger of being forcibly repatriated to the USSR. |
| The Serbian Church and Milosevic Скачать epub pdf Содержание Patriarch Pavle Patriarch and Peacemaker Church, People and The Serbian Orthodox Church has consistently criticized and opposed the Milosevic government. The «open letter» of Bishop Artemije of Ras-Prizren in Kosovo written on Orthodox Good Friday is no exception. It rather testifies to what has been the unwavering rule of Serbian Church leadership toward the Milosevic government since the fall of marxism. Speaking of the «crimes» of President Milosevic, Bishop Artemije relates in his letter how he and lay leaders of an «embryonic» democratic movement in his country visited world leaders in The US, France and Russia five times between February 1998 and February 1999. He describes their written and verbal pleas to the highest-ranking officials, including US Secretary Albright, to give democracy a chance in his country. He underlines their warnings of the disastrous consequences of all military solutions, including NATO intervention. And he laments with indescribable sorrow how their hopes have been buried in the rubble of the NATO attacks and the savagery which it inevitably produced. Patriarch Pavle Most of the bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church have been installed since the end of Marxist domination in former Yugoslavia. Many of them, including the present Patriarch, were staunch anti-communists who were greatly persecuted in communist times. They were fervent followers and co-workers of the confessing priest Fr. Justin Popovich, already venerated by many as a saint, who spent his adult life imprisoned in a monastery. To insure that there would be no government interference in the election of the new patriarch in 199O, and even no possible charge of such interference, the Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church elected three candidates for the Church " s primatial see. The names of these candidates were placed in a sacred vessel. After vigil, fasting and prayer Bishop Pavle of Ras-Prizren in Kosovo, the compromise third candidate elected by the Synod, was chosen by lot to be patriarch. |
| Venerable Joasaph of Snetogorsk, Pskov Commemorated on March 4 The Holy Hieromartyrs Joasaph of Snetogorsk and Basil of Mirozh suffered under the Germans at two of the most ancient of the Pskov monasteries during the thirteenth century. Saint Basil directed the Savior-Transfiguration Mirozh monastery, founded in the year 1156 by Saint Niphon, Bishop of Novgorod (April 8), and by Saint Abraham of Mirozh (September 24). Saint Joasaph was igumen (and according also to some Pskov Saints’ Lives, the founder) of the monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos on Mount Snatna. The ascetics devoted much labor and concern to both the outer and inner welfare of the monasteries. In accord with the strict rule of cenobitic monastic life, introduced into his monastery by Saint Joasaph, the life of the monks was filled with prayer, abstinence and work. (Almost ninety years after the death of Saint Joasaph, his monastic Rule was reintroduced in the new monastic Rule of the Snetogorsk monastery by Archbishop Dionysius of Suzdal). The Snetogorsk monastery traced its origins from the efforts of Saint Euphrosynus of Pskov (May 15) and Saint Sava of Krypetsk (August 28). Both these monasteries were outside the city walls and did not have any defenses. On March 4, 1299, the Germans fell upon Pskov and burned the Mirozh and Snetogorsk monasteries. During the burning of the churches, Saints Basil and Joasaph and the other monks endured an agonizing death. There was at that time much suffering in the city, and for the monks of other monasteries, and also for the women and children, but “through the prayers of the holy monk martyrs, the Lord preserved the fighting men.” Under the lead of the Pskov prince, Saint Dovmont-Timothy (May 20), they came out against the enemy and near the church of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, they defeated the invaders at the banks of the Pskova River. Saints Basil and Joasaph were buried with their fellow ascetics beneath crypts at the churches of their monasteries. The venerable head and part of the relics of Saint Joasaph were preserved in the open in a special reliquary in the church of the Snetogorsk monastery. Holy Prince Dovmont “out of his rightful inheritance” built a stone church at the Snetogorsk monastery in place of the one that had burned, and he facilitated the restoration of monastic life at the ruined monasteries. |
| Light Up a Fire Inside Yourself and Serve! Photo: optina.ru – Father, I struggle with prayer! I do it mechanically. I know all the prayers of the prayer rule by heart and all the prayers of the service. I say the words, but my mind… – Your mind is with the vanities of the world? – asked the confessor raising his head. – Exactly, Father, exactly. I know myself that it’s wrong, but when it comes down to practice, I can do nothing about it. It must be burnout. – Now, let’s have no more of this fashionable nonsense! – the confessor suddenly reacted sternly. What a wonderful excuse for spiritual sloth! Burnout, indeed! So, you’re saying that God abandoned His servant, right? First, He ordained him, then decided to abandon him? Do you actually understand what you’re saying? – But, Father, everyone says that a person can become indifferent to the service. – If you don’t believe in God, you will become indifferent. Do you believe in God? – Of course, I do! I believe! – Then light up a fire inside yourself and serve! Burnout, indeed! What will they come up with next! – I can’t do it, Father. I don’t seem to care about anything anymore. The confessor became thoughtful. Crossed himself. Looked carefully at the priest, whose confession he was listening to, and suddenly said: – You’re coming with me after the service. – Where to? – the priest asked, surprised. – We’re going to light up a fire in your soul… The cemetery was wet and empty. Who’d want to be there, especially when it was such a wet spring? During the few hours of sunshine, people had managed to tidy up the graves and make everything neat in time for Pascha and Radonitsa, but on the commemoration day itself, they had to serve the panikhida and congratulate their departed relatives with the Bright feast of the Resurrection with umbrellas in their hands. |
| Russia is a recent example of an Orthodox Christian nation, which, as noted above, has more in common with America than first meets the eye. Ilya Glazunov. Eternal Russia. 1988 If there is a country in the world that is akin to America in spirit, it is Russia. Both countries possess wide expanses of land, and people who exude awareness of that breadth. Both contain a variety of colorful cities, each with its own flair. Both have inhabitants who love to travel, and who have a sense of unity through ethnic diversity. In other ways, however, Russia differs profoundly from America. Most importantly, America is philosophically rooted in Enlightenment thought, with man as the measure of things, while Russia is traditionally rooted in Orthodox Christianity. Nations are no more perfect than are people. Still, just as we look to experienced people for advice, so we converts to Orthodoxy should look to historically Orthodox nations to see how Orthodoxy can pervade all of life and not merely our holy days and church services. One of the most urgent messages American converts need to hear is this: American culture is not Christian. If we are to become Christ-like, allowing the Holy Spirit to regenerate us, we will have to reject familiar and beloved things. Most converts to Orthodox Christianity know this. Still, conversion is not as simple as rejecting one’s old church. We must reject our old anti-Christian thoughts, attitudes, philosophies, and ways of life, especially those which are nearly unconscious, ingrained into our daily lives, and sometimes even labelled “Christian.” Accomplishing this change, of course, requires adherence to a personal rule of prayer and spiritual reading. Finding Christian thoughts, attitudes, and ways of life with which to replace the old is also crucial. Russia is a recent example of an Orthodox Christian nation, which, as noted above, has more in common with America than first meets the eye. As such, it has been an excellent place for me to pursue my search. Exploring the history of Holy Mother Russia leads naturally to Byzantium, Rome, the Apostolic Age, and finally to Jesus Christ Himself. This exploration has given me a sense of the centuries-long continuity of the Church; myriad saints, scholars, families, and even institutions throughout the ages provide examples how to fill one’s life with Christian activity and thought. There are men in the history of Russia who are so evidently illumined by the Holy Spirit, acquired through much prayer, fasting, humility, and obedience, that even secular historians cannot hide their holiness. |
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