| That, therefore, which the whole Church of the true God holds and professes as its creed, that Christ shall come from heaven to judge quick and dead, this we call the last day, or last time, of the divine judgment. For we do not know how many days this judgment may occupy; but no one who reads the Scriptures, however negligently, need be told that in them day is customarily used for time. And when we speak of the day of God " s judgment, we add the word last or final for this reason, because even now God judges, and has judged from the beginning of human history, banishing from paradise, and excluding from the tree of life, those first men who perpetrated so great a sin. Yea, He was certainly exercising judgment also when He did not spare the angels who sinned, whose prince, overcome by envy, seduced men after being himself seduced. Neither is it without God " s profound and just judgment that the life of demons and men, the one in the air, the other on earth, is filled with misery, calamities, and mistakes. And even though no one had sinned, it could only have been by the good and right judgment of God that the whole rational creation could have been maintained in eternal blessedness by a persevering adherence to its Lord. He judges, too, not only in the mass, condemning the race of devils and the race of men to be miserable on account of the original sin of these races, but He also judges the voluntaryand personal acts of individuals. For even the devils pray that they may not be tormented, Matthew 8:29 which proves that without injustice they might either be spared or tormented according to their deserts. And men are punished by God for their sins often visibly, always secretly, either in this life or after death, although no man acts rightly save by the assistance of divine aid; and no man or devil acts unrighteously save by the permission of the divine and most just judgment. For, as the apostle says, There is no unrighteousness with God; Romans 9:14 and as he elsewhere says, His judgments are inscrutable, and His ways past finding out. Romans 11:33 In this book, then, I shall speak, as God permits, not of those first judgments, nor of these intervening judgments of God, but of the last judgment, when Christ is to come from heaven to judge the quick and the dead. For that day is properly called the day of judgment, because in it there shall be no room left for the ignorant questioning why this wicked person is happy and that righteous man unhappy. In that day true and full happiness shall be the lot of none but the good, while deserved and supreme misery shall be the portion of the wicked, and of them only. |
| Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers Commemorated on November 8 The Synaxis of the Chief of the Heavenly Hosts, Archangel Michael and the Other Heavenly Bodiless Powers: Archangels Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jehudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel was established at the beginning of the fourth century at the Council of Laodicea, which met several years before the First Ecumenical Council. The 35th Canon of the Council of Laodicea condemned and denounced as heretical the worship of angels as gods and rulers of the world, but affirmed their proper veneration. A Feastday was established in November, the ninth month after March (with which the year began in ancient times) since there are Nine Ranks of Angels. The eighth day of the month was chosen for the Synaxis of all the Bodiless Powers of Heaven since the Day of the Dread Last Judgment is called the Eighth Day by the holy Fathers. After the end of this age (characterized by its seven days of Creation) will come the Eighth Day, and then “the Son of Man shall come in His Glory and all the holy Angels with Him” (Mt. 25:31). The Angelic Ranks are divided into three Hierarchies: highest, middle, and lowest. The Highest Hierarchy includes: the Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones. The six-winged SERAPHIM (Flaming, Fiery) (Is 6:12) stand closest of all to the Most Holy Trinity. They blaze with love for God and kindle such love in others. The many-eyed CHERUBIM (outpouring of wisdom, enlightenment) (Gen 3:24) stand before the Lord after the Seraphim. They are radiant with the light of knowledge of God, and knowledge of the mysteries of God. Through them wisdom is poured forth, and people’s minds are enlightened so they may know God and behold His glory. The THRONES (Col 1:16) stand after the Cherubim, mysteriously and incomprehensibly bearing God through the grace given them for their service. They are ministers of God’s justice, giving to tribunals, kings, etc. the capacity for righteous judgment. The Middle Angelic Hierarchy consists of three Ranks: Dominions, Powers, and Authorities: |
| Скачать epub pdf The City of God (Book XXI) Of the end reserved for the city of the devil, namely, the eternal punishment of the damned; and of the arguments which unbelief brings against it. Chapter 1.– Of the Order of the Discussion, Which Requires that We First Speak of the Eternal Punishment of the Lost in Company with the Devil, and Then of the Eternal Happiness of the Saints. I Propose, with such ability as God may grant me, to discuss in this book more thoroughly the nature of the punishment which shall be assigned to the devil and all his retainers, when the two cities, the one of God, the other of the devil, shall have reached their proper ends through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Judge of quick and dead. And I have adopted this order, and preferred to speak, first of the punishment of the devils, and afterwards of the blessedness of the saints, because the body partakes of either destiny; and it seems to be more incredible that bodies endure in everlasting torments than that they continue to exist without any pain in everlasting felicity. Consequently, when I shall have demonstrated that that punishment ought not to be incredible, this will materially aid me in proving that which is much more credible, viz., the immortality of the bodies of the saints which are delivered from all pain. Neither is this order out of harmony with the divine writings, in which sometimes, indeed, the blessedness of the good is placed first, as in the words, They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment; John 5:29 but sometimes also last, as, The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things which offend, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of His Father; Matthew 13:41–43 and that, These shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Matthew 25:46 And though we have not room to cite instances, any one who examines the prophets will find that they adopt now the one arrangement and now the other. My own reason for following the latter order I have given. Chapter 2.– Whether It is Possible for Bodies to Last for Ever in Burning Fire. |
| Power in the Church is not about who kisses one’s hand but how many feet one can wash in the service of Christ. Pope Francis made this clear when he visited a youth prison in 2013 and chose to wash the feet of the offenders including one who is an Orthodox Christian. “Real power is service. The world will be watching from May 24-25, 2014 as Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Pope Francis welcome each other in Jerusalem to observe the anniversary of the historic encounter between Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras and the subsequent lifting of mutual anathemas. The main focus of the many scholars and reporters who will cover this event will be the elusive question of “Old Rome and New Rome” that is the question of unity between Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians. However, hidden amidst all this media coverage will be a unique opportunity for Orthodox Christians to follow the example of Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras of blessed memory and to meet the Pope of Rome again as if for the first time. At first glance, the idea of Orthodox Christians being able to learn from the Pope of Rome appears out of place if not altogether wrong. However, Orthodox Christians should pause before rushing to judgment about such matters and remember that prior to the Great Schism of 1054, the Pope of Rome was honored with reverence and respect throughout the Orthodox World. Today, Orthodox Christians honor many Popes of Rome as saints including St. Leo the Great, St. Gregory the Dialogist and St. Martin the Confessor. Orthodox Tradition celebrates the lives of many Popes throughout the liturgical year. Despite these facts, one of the present realities that is most disappointing is how some of our brothers and sisters have portrayed the Pope of Rome. “Dictator” and “anti-christ” are just some of the clichés that have been sadly used. While there have certainly been corrupt Popes throughout history (as there have been corrupt Patriarchs), Orthodox Christians must ask themselves whether or not the last 35 years have greatly challenged such stereotypes, especially when it comes to Popes such as John Paul II , Benedict XVI, and the current Pope of Rome, Francis. Orthodox Christians should especially pause and take notice of the unique witness of Pope Francis. He is in many ways a bishop who reflects the Christianity of the first millennium when the Church was undivided. Pope Francis also models a form of leadership that is greatly needed in Orthodox Christianity today. |
| Chapter II. The Predicament of the Christian Historian Veritas non erubescit nisi abscondi. – Leo XIII «Christianity is a religion of historians.» 1 It is a strong phrase, but the statement is correct. Christianity is basically a vigorous appeal to history, a witness of faith to certain particular events in the past, to certain particular data of history. These events are acknowledged by faith as truly eventful. These historic moments, or instants, are recognized as utterly momentous. In brief, they are identified by faith as «mighty deeds» of God, Magnalia Dei. The «scandal of particularity,» to use the phrase of Gerhard Kittel, 2 belongs to the very essence of the Christian message. The Christian Creed itself is intrinsically historic. It comprises the whole of existence in a single historical scheme as one «History of Salvation,» from Creation to Consummation, to the Last Judgment and the End of history. Emphasis is put on the ultimate cruciality of certain historic events, namely, of the Incarnation, of the Coming of the Messiah, and of his Cross and Resurrection. Accordingly, it may be justly contended that «the Christian religion is a daily invitation to the study of history.» 3 Now, it is at this point that the major difficulties arise. An average believer, of any denomination or tradition, is scarcely aware of his intrinsic duty to study history. The historical pattern of the Christian message is obvious. But people are interested rather in the «eternal truth» of this message, than in what they are inclined to regard as «accidents» of history, even when they are discussing the facts of the Biblical history or of the history of the Church. Does not the message itself point out beyond history, to the «life of the Age to come»? There is a persistent tendency to interpret the facts of history as images or symbols, as typical cases or examples, and to transform the «history of salvation» into a kind of edifying parable. We can trace this tendency back to the early centuries of Christian history. In our own days we find ourselves in the midst of an intense controversy precisely about this very matter. |
| At the Last Judgment, so St. Symeon the New Theologian writes, Christ will produce exemplary saints from every station in life and so demonstrate that it is possible for every person, whatever one’s work or employment, to attain to salvation and sainthood, rendering all excuses for what they are. Let us meditate from time to time on this teaching. Among the disciples of Jesus there were mostly Galilean fishermen and ordinary farmers. Matthew the tax collector may have been well educated and a trained professional in the Roman bureaucracy to do his job. John, the brother of James, was intellectually gifted in order to compose the magnificent Gospel of St. John, if he is indeed its author as handed down in tradition. In films Judas is sometimes portrayed as a Hamlet-lite figure, an intellectual with burning conceptual questions, but we know nothing of this from the texts of the Gospels. We have an astonishing variety of persons in the constellation of the saints, including men and women and children: from farmers to teachers, from lawyers to doctors, from ascetics to missionaries, from cooks to theologians, from charismatics to philosophers, from soldiers to kings, from deacons to bishops. St. Luke the Evangelist was a doctor. St. Paul was a missionary. St. Ignatius was a Bishop. St. Justin Martyr was a philosopher. St. Basil was a great philanthropist. St. Gregory of Nanzianzus was a preeminent theologian. St. Macarius of Egypt and St. Symeon the New Theologians were charismatics. St. John of the Ladder was an ascetic. St. Demetrios was a teacher. St. Theodore the Recruit was a soldier. St. Constantine the Great was an emperor. Born in a pagan family (ca. 272 AD), St. Constantine established a career in the military proving to be an exceptional leader and skillful politician. His life was one of continuous struggle for power and dominance, far from a solitary and peaceful climate conducive to sainthood. His inner circle involved intrigues for succession, including members of the imperial family who were executed as real or imagined plotters, under the reign of Constantine. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Eschatology WENDY PAULA NICHOLSON Eschatology (from the Greek, “doctrine of the last things”) is concerned with mysteries which will be revealed at the Judgment. However, in the Orthodox faith, eschatology is a reality now as well as in times to come. The uncreated energies of God transform the created order at any point in time, fulfilling the promise of the kingdom even before the end of our age. It is, above all, in the church and its sacraments, particularly in the divine liturgy, that this fulfillment is realized, when uncreated grace breaks through the limits of our fallen temporal existence, offering healing and a foretaste of Eternity. As Vladimir Lossky put it: “Eschatology becomes present at the moment when man becomes capable of cooperating in the divine plan” (Lossky 1989: 224). The extent to which this cooperation is reached in the created realm is believed to determine the experience of entry into the uncreated realm of God after death: what will become an individual’s judgment of paradise or hell. Orthodoxy practices a notable level of caution in interpreting the biblical apocalyptic narratives. It is generally accepted that apocalyptic literature uses coded expressions equal to the mystery of the age to come, something beyond our experience. The practice of Nipsis (watchfulness) and the “remembrance of death” are ways in which the majority of the faithful will more profitably heed Christ’s instruction: “Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” ( Mt. 24.42 ) After the time of St. Augustine (5th century), the church came to regard “chili- asm” or “millenarianism” (the idea that before the Last Judgment Christ will return for a thousand year earthly reign), as an error in the interpretation of Revelation 20.4. Augustine rejects the idea as “carnal” and interprets the thousand year reign as the current age of the church, over which Christ already reigns with the saints (Augustine 1993: 426–31). There is scant evidence that chiliasm has ever been condemned by an ecumenical council (pace Pomazansky 1983: 344) and the idea is present in the writings of early Latin fathers, as well as in St. Justin Martyr, St. Irenaeus, and St. Hippolytus. However, by reducing the kingdom to a finite duration analogous to an earthly regime, chiliasm runs counter to the Orthodox belief and experience that we are already invited to enjoy uninterrupted and unending participation in God’s uncreated grace. |
| 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 Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk celebrates Divine Liturgy at Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Vienna On 11 February 2018, Sunday of the Last Judgment, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations, celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in the capital of Austria. Concelebrating with the archpastor were Archbishop Antony of Vienna and Budapest, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Administration for Institutions Abroad; Archpriest Vladimir Tyshchuk, rector of the church; Hieromonk Stefan (Igumnov), DECR secretary for inter-Christian relations; Protodeacon Viktor Shilovsky, secretary of the diocese of Vienna and Austria, and clergy of the diocese. After the divine service Archbishop Antony greeted the DECR chairman on behalf of the clergy and parishioners. Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk addressed all those present with a homily, saying in particular: “It is a great joy for me today to visit again the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, where I served for six years. I am happy to see its clergy, which has increased in number over the past years, but increased by the people whom I know well. “The delegation which I lead has come to this city in order to follow up on what had been said at the meeting in Havana by His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and Pope Francis, that is, to discuss how we, Orthodox and Catholic Christians, can help together our persecuted brothers and sisters in the Middle East: in Syria, Iraq and other countries where they are being subjected to the most severe persecutions. Perhaps, it is not fortuitous that today the Gospel has called us to do good: we have to remember not only about those people who are near us, but also about those who geographically may be far from us, but who spiritually are our brothers and sisters. They are Christians, just like we are, but they are suffering the gravest afflictions and persecutions, and it is our duty to do all we can to help them. |
| John Anthony McGuckin Judgment WENDY PAULA NICHOLSON Orthodoxy teaches two judgments: “particular” and “general” or “Last Judgment.” Particular judgment occurs immediately after death ( Lk. 16.19–31; 23.43 ) The newly departed experience either a foretaste of the eternal blessedness promised to the righteous at the Last Judgment, or a foretaste of punishment if there has been incomplete or no repentance of sin before death. Plate 38 The western outside wall of the 16th- century church at Voronets, Romania, depicting the Doomsday. The golden gate depicts the entrance to Paradise guarded by an Archangel. Photo by John McGuckin. The Last Judgment will occur at the second, glorious coming of Christ, when he will resurrect the dead. The effect of this judgment will be eternal. The subject of judgment is not limited to these two critical moments, but is pervasive in Orthodox thought, finding its strongest expression in the ascetical writings. There are two notable features, which appear, at first, contradictory. The first is the insistence that God’s judgments are designed for healing and regeneration, not for retribution: He takes “no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn back from his way and live” ( Ezek. 33.11 , cf. St. Basil the Great 1987: 338). The second is the call frequently to bring to mind death and judgment. Liturgically and iconographically, judgment is remembered in vivid scriptural images of hell-fire, punishment, and eternal torment (Ware 1984: 150–67). The first feature, merciful judgment, corresponds to healing and deification at the heart of Orthodox soteriology, as opposed to the idea of Christ’s appeasement of the wrath of God, which came to dominate western theology and was built largely upon the Augustinian doctrine of Original Sin. According to Augustine of Hippo, the human being, from conception, is so corrupted that he has no freedom with respect to God or his salvation (St. Augustine 1993a: 247). In Orthodoxy, conversely, “it is not God who punishes, but a person who punishes himself because he does not accept God’s gift” (Hierotheos 2000: 252). Christ is hardly envisioned as passing judgment upon the sinner. Judgment is generally regarded as occurring in the actual encounter of the unrepentant sinner with Christ, and is thus always an essential element of the divine-human relationship. Every word of God will be experienced as judgment by those living in opposition to the “Truth and the Life” ( Jn. 14.6 ). It is in this sense that Christ, the incarnate Word, is the one entrusted by the Father with all judgment ( Jn. 12.46–50 ). |
| Can One Consider the Death of Father Daniel Sysoev to be a Martyrdom? Fr. Daniel Sysoev Death is the last event in a person’s earthly life. For a missionary, death is the last homily, the last message preached, the last witness for Christ, Whom the missionary loved with complete readiness to sacrifice his or her life for the sake of the triumph of the Faith. Father Daniel Sysoev had prepared himself for this sacrifice long before. Even in his younger years when studying at the Moscow Theological Seminary where this writer taught Fundamental Theology, Father Daniel was pierced through with the fiery conviction that only Orthodoxy contained the fullness of saving truth. Possessed of great talents, as a seminarian he already knew the church canons, and passionately contested with students and instructors when they allowed themselves the slightest compromise. To people who were indifferent to the spreading and deepening of the faith, his aversion to compromise seemed strange; and some of them fell into judgment and condemnation—but his death as a priest in the church which he himself had built, gave proof of his earnestness, his zeal, his single-minded commitment to Jesus Christ and His Church. From the very beginning of his priesthood, Father Daniel chose the most difficult form of ministry—missionary outreach, which was initiated by the Apostles. In the early Church, missionary work was identical with martyrdom. “The martyrs were preachers of Christianity, continuers of the Apostolic ministry; and this mission they fulfilled precisely as that is, presenting themselves as witnesses.” (Bolotov V.V., Lectures on the History of the Early Church. 1. The Post-Apostolic Church and the Roman Empire. in Russian). After the Bolsheviks seized power in 1918, their first blow was directed specifically against missionaries. Murdered were the missionary Bishop Ephrem Kuznetsov, Protopriests John Kochurov, John Vostorgov, Konstantin Golubev, diocesan missionary Nicholas Varzhansky and other such missionaries. [ : the Greek root μρτυς (martys) means “witnesss”.] |
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