| On Glorification of the Saints. A talk with archpriest Georgiy Mitrofanov Glorification of saints is a very difficult issue. History of the Church is, first of all, the history of sainthood, and the twentieth century in this regard is one of the saddest periods of our church history. The Russian Church, having given the world an enormous number of saints, had no opportunity to complete the glorification . – Glorification of saints is a very difficult issue. History of the Church is, first of all, the history of sainthood, and the twentieth century in this regard is one of the saddest periods of our church history. The Russian Church, having given the world an enormous number of saints, had no opportunity to complete the glorification . From 1917 to 1988 only two ascetics were canonized, and that only because it was important for the international politics of the USSR (for example, the canonization of Nicholas of Japan emphasized the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church, of Russia, and therefore, of the Soviet Union in Japan). Glorification of saints became possible only in the 1980s when under the circumstances of perestroika, the government started to change the politics with respect to the Church. On the eve of the festivities for the 1000 year anniversary of the baptism of Russia, the government agreed to perform several canonizations. In 1987 a Synodal committee on the canonization of saints was formed. For the 18 years of the committee’s work, over 1500 saints have been glorified. These glorification s have demanded from us some very serious and, I will not be afraid of the word, innovative decisions. The Church lives by tradition, but the tradition does not always develop in an uninterrupted and peaceful way. Let us review what are the grounds for canonization. First of all, miracles connected with the life of a Christian and the miracles occurring after his death in connection with his commemoration. Secondly, the veneration of a Christian by the church people and, finally, his righteous life. Everything is clear, it would seem. Yet, here is the problem that we encountered almost immediately. Veneration by the people of many pious Christians is absent in our country. If you were to ask me: “Which of the saints canonized by your committee fully corresponds to the main criteria?” — I would give you only several names. |
| On Glorification of the Saints. A talk with archpriest Georgiy Mitrofanov Lives of Saints Last Updated: Feb 8th, 2011 - 05:50:02 On Glorification of the Saints. A talk with archpriest Georgiy Mitrofanov Feb 13, 2007, 04:34 Discuss this article Printer friendly page - Glorification of saints is a very difficult issue. History of the Church is, first of all, the history of sainthood, and the twentieth century in this regard is one of the saddest periods of our church history. The Russian Church, having given the world an enormous number of saints, had no opportunity to complete the glorification . From 1917 to 1988 only two ascetics were canonized, and that only because it was important for the international politics of the USSR (for example, the canonization of Nicholas of Japan emphasized the presence of the Russian Orthodox Church, of Russia, and therefore, of the Soviet Union in Japan). Glorification of saints became possible only in the 1980s when under the circumstances of perestroika, the government started to change the politics with respect to the Church. On the eve of the festivities for the 1000 year anniversary of the baptism of Russia, the government agreed to perform several canonizations. In 1987 a Synodal committee on the canonization of saints was formed. For the 18 years of the committee " s work, over 1500 saints have been glorified. These glorification s have demanded from us some very serious and, I will not be afraid of the word, innovative decisions. The Church lives by tradition, but the tradition does not always develop in an uninterrupted and peaceful way. Let us review what are the grounds for canonization. First of all, miracles connected with the life of a Christian and the miracles occurring after his death in connection with his commemoration. Secondly, the veneration of a Christian by the church people and, finally, his righteous life. Everything is clear, it would seem. Yet, here is the problem that we encountered almost immediately. Veneration by the people of many pious Christians is absent in our country. If you were to ask me: " Which of the saints canonized by your committee fully corresponds to the main criteria? " -- I would give you only several names. |
| 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: Holiness is a constant striving to imitate the Lord Jesus Christ On June 27th, the 1 st week after Pentecost, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for external church relations (DECR) and rector of the Ss Cyril and Methodius Institute of Post-Graduate Studies (CMI), celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist in-the-Woods. The church is a part of the Patriarchal Chernigov Metochion, which houses the CMI. Among the archpastor’s concelebrants were the head of the doctoral department of the CMI, Archpriest Alexy Marchenko, the vice-rector for educational work of the CMI, Hieromonk Pavel (Cherkasov), clergymen of the Metochion. During the Litany of Fervent Supplication, petitions were offered up for deliverance of the coronavirus infection. After the Litany, Metropolitan Hilarion lifted up a prayer recited at the time of the spread of baneful pestilence. In his sermon at the end of the divine service, Metropolitan Hilarion said the following: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! On the first Sunday after the Pentecost, the Church commemorates all the saints. On the feast of the Pentecost, we remembered how the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles, and they spoke in tongues, and everyone from different nations began to recognize their dialect; how the illiterate Galilean fishermen became bold preachers of the Resurrection of Christ. And today, on the 1st Week after Pentecost, we remember how the Holy Spirit continued to work in the Church throughout the two thousand year period of its history. The Holy Spirit descended on the disciples of the Savior and inspired them to preach Crucified and Risen Christ. During the following centuries, up to the present time, the Holy Spirit has been acting and will continue to act in the Church. Thanks to His action and the assistance of people, the Church has never become impoverished and will not become impoverished in saints. |
| Synodal Tomos on the canonization of Venerable Saints Neophyte and Meletios from Stânioara Monastery and Daniel and Misael from Turnu Monastery Synodal Tomos of Canonization no. 1/2016, approved by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church through its decision ref. no. 2212/25.02.2016, and made public today, 28 September 2016, in the church of Saint Anthimos – Troianu Monastery, dedicated to the Life-giving Spring: The Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, To the most beloved clergy, the monastics and the true believing Christians in the Romanian Patriarchate, Grace, mercy and peace from God, and from us, hierarchical blessings! Blessed and praiseworthy is it to honor the memory of those who have fallen asleep in the Lord in holiness, who have gained confidence from God for their devout lives full of good deeds. The Most Holy Trinity has foreseen from eternity that they will grow in the likeness of God, partaking of the light of the grace of the Holy Spirit and numbering them in the Church of the first-born, in the ranks of the saints. Our Savior Jesus Christ says about them that because they have listened to His word, they have become His friends (John 15:16). The Church honors these saints with praises and hymns, as the God-inspired Prophet Daniel says: But your friends, O God, were greatly honoured by me, exceedingly were strengthened their beginnings (Psalm 139:17). The saints have truly fulfilled God’s word and will, as we read in the Psalms: As for the saints who are on the earth, They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight (Psalm 16:3). Among Gods chosen ones are numbered the venerable fathers from the hermitages of Stânioara and Turnu: Neophyte and Meletios from Stânioara Monastery and Daniel and Misael from Turnu Monastery.These great ascetics and lovers of God from Cozia Monasterym founded by the renowned Prince Mircea the Great, after dedicating themselves entirely to the anchoretic life life and reaching perfection, received from the Holy Spirit the gift of counsel and of spiritual guidance on the path to salvation. Being experienced laborers of the prayer of the heart, they have been honored together with the great hesychasts of Romanian monasticism, being also named hermits. Thus, they remain in the living memory of the Church, in the devoted memory of hierarchs, priests, monastics and lay people, as examples of sacrificial love, of restraint, humbleness and diligent spiritual guidance. |
| The Heresy of Constantinoplés Neo-Papism in Light of Orthodox Trinitarian Theology Скачать epub pdf Christ is the Head of the Orthodox Catholic Church In our day we are being challenged with the aggravation of the internal ecclesiastical problem, which may be designated as the “self-institution” of the Constantinople Patriarchate, the would-be head of the Orthodox Catholic Church. In fact, this has been a decades-long issue rooted in Church history. Evidently, it is associated with man’s inexhaustible inclination to the sin of pride, which sometimes may grow worse if one is granted the authority of being a priest. The terrible experience of Judas – who shared the Last Supper as well as many other meals with Christ – is a vivid example to all ages and nations. According to the testimony of many holy fathers, the sin of pride is at the root of every fall. And this sin causes enormous harm to the Church body, to all God’s people, actually headed by the Humblest and Meekest Jesus Christ our Lord. Many great saints of antiquity – specifically including primates in the See of Constantinople – would denounce the current theological speculation of the Constantinople Patriarchate, which identifies the Constantinople Patriarch as the «head of all the Orthodox». Truly, any Patriarch is the “Primate” rather than the “head” of the Church. In accordance with the Holy Scriptures, saints Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom would declare that we have only one head of the Church, and that is Christ. 1 “We make up one Church, which is harmoniously represented by the members of one Head” – the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 The Twentieth Century Idea of Neo-Papism It was in the twentieth century, in the Church of Constantinople, that the idea of Eastern neo-papism was revived. As early as 1950, almost 70 years ago, Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) warned against the dangerous trends gaining strength in the Constantinople Patriarchate. “At present, in the depths of our Holy Church, lies a great danger of perverting the dogmatic teachings concerning Her, and therefore the danger of perverting Her being, because dogmatic thinking is organically connected with the whole course of inner spiritual life. Any minor change in dogmatic thinking would inevitably incur changes in the corresponding mode of one’s spiritual being. And vice versa: evading the truth of inner spiritual life would produce change in dogmatic thinking. The violation of dogmatic truth would inevitably lead to evading the possibility of true knowledge of God, the fullness of which is granted to the Church ... Any particular distortion would certainly affect the whole. If we distort Church doctrine now, and thus ... the mode of Her being, then how could She serve Her sons and provide the way to the Truth? You would ask, in which way is this distortion visible now? The answer is: in Constantinople’s neo-papism, which is quickly trying to move from the theoretical phase into the practical one.” 3 |
| ‘An Extraordinary Experience of Holiness’: Pilgrimage Through Orthodox Ireland Successfully Concludes Source: Orthodox Europe The castle and church atop the ancient Rock of Cashel. Photo: orthodox-europe.org The first pilgrimage through Ireland organised within the Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe concluded successfully on Sunday, bringing to a close a full week of prayerful visits to sites associated with the numerous Orthodox Saints who have shone forth on the island of Ireland. Organised by the Mission Parish of St John the Wonderworker in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the pilgrimage was well-subscribed despite the instability of international travels, with over twenty participants from various parts of the world, including Europe, the UK, the United States of America and the Russian Federation. The pilgrimage was pleased to welcome participants not only from the Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe, but also the German Diocese and American Dioceses of the Russian Church Abroad, as well as various dioceses of the Moscow Patriarchate in Europe, and the Orthodox Church in America. After commencing with Confession and the Divine Liturgy in the parish of St Colman in Stradbally last Sunday, on the summer feastday of St Seraphim of Sarov, the pilgrimage group set out by coach for the first of its visits – to Glandalough and various holy sites associated with St Kevin, the great ascetic and monastic founder, including the ‘monastic city’ of Glandalough and the near and far lakes where the saint practiced his asceticism. His Grace Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe joined the pilgrims, together with clergymen who were themselves pilgrims – Archpriest Michael Carney and Priest Patrick Burns – and spoke to the participants about the saints they were encountering and the sites on which they would set foot, as well as leading the group in various Divine Services and prayers at each. Following Glandalough, the southern-most holy well of St Patrick, the Apostle to Ireland, was visited and the Blessing of Waters performed there – participated in both by pilgrimage participants as well as local residents who came out to take part. The pilgrims then travelled to Ardmore, where the great St Declan founded his monastery, praying for the repose of their departed loved ones in its remains and before the site of the saint’s original grave – as well as visiting his far hermitage and holy well. At the remote lake hermitage of St Finbarr, the pilgrims again blessed the waters of a holy well and served a moleben upon the ruins of the saint’s cell – a prayerful pattern then repeated in the monastery of St Finian on Inishfallen Island, to which the pilgrims voyaged by way of a short boat journey. |
| Image: damascenegallery.com On the Sunday after Pentecost, each local Orthodox Church commemorates all the saints, known and unknown, who have shone forth in its territory. Accordingly, the Orthodox Church in America remembers the saints of North America on this day. Saints of all times, and in every country are seen as the fulfillment of God’s promise to redeem fallen humanity. Their example encourages us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us” and to “run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). The saints of North America also teach us how we should live, and what we must expect to endure as Christians. Although it is a relatively young church, the Orthodox Church in America has produced saints in nearly all of the six major categories: Apostles (and Equals of the Apostles); Martyrs (and Confessors); Prophets; Hierarchs; Monastic Saints; and the Righteous. Prophets, of course, lived in Old Testament times and predicted the coming of Christ. The first Divine Liturgy in what is now American territory was celebrated on July 20, 1741, the Feast of the Prophet Elias, aboard the ship Peter under the command of Vitus Bering, near present-day Alaska. Hieromonk Hilarion Trusov and the priest Ignatius Kozirevsky served together on that occasion. Several years later, a Russian merchant, Gregory Shelikov, visited Valaam Monastery, and suggested to the abbot about sending missionaries to Russian America. On September 24, 1794, after a journey of 7,327 miles (the longest missionary journey in Orthodox history) and 293 days, a group of monks from Valaam arrived on Kodiak Island in Alaska. The mission was headed by Archimandrite Joasaph, and included Hieromonks Juvenal, Macarius, and Athanasius, the Hierodeacons Nectarius and Stephen, and the monks Herman and Joasaph. St. Herman of Alaska, the last surviving member of the mission, fell asleep in the Lord in 1837. Throughout the Church’s history, the seeds of faith have always been watered by the blood of the martyrs. The Protomartyr Juvenal was killed near Lake Iliamna by natives in 1799, thus becoming the first Orthodox Christian to shed his blood for Christ in the New World. In 1816, St. Peter the Aleut was put to death by Spanish missionaries in California when he refused to convert to Roman Catholicism. |
| The Greek government has been the cause of several recent scandals, including an attack on religious education , and notably the legalization of gay civil parternships just days before the great feast of the Nativity of Christ. The country has also been involved in an ongoing struggle over the issue of cremation. The city of Athens recently put out an invitation for bids for a building to house the first crematorium, and the western port city of Patra is now planning the same. Thankfully, through all these troubles, hierarchs of the Church of Greece have raised their voices and proclaimed the eternal truths of Orthodox Christianity. In regards to this latest battle over the dignity of the human body, Met. Seraphim of Piraeus, ever-faithful and never fearful to boldly stand for Orthodox salvific truths, has released a missive to his diocese, published on the website of the Monastery of the Pantacrator near Thessaloniki, explaining the Orthodox respect for the body, and the Church's consequent stand against cremation. Given the firmness of Orthodox conviction on the matter, Met. Seraphim declares that neither funeral nor memorial service be permitted in his diocese for one who has chosen cremation for himself. It is a known fact that certain indigenous circles of internationalist mockery, who, ignoring the long-standing Christian tradition of our spotless faith have been penetrating every form of mass media and through them, the conscience of contemporary man, poisoning it and buckling the foundations of the faith. As such, the indifference regarding the faith and Christian traditions, under the influence of the aforementioned, is putting down roots in the morally listless and religiously sick consciences. Having perceived the signs of the times, and the twists and turns of those moving suspiciously against Her, and in order to safeguard Orthodox tradition today now that the procedure of cremation of the deceased is being fully materialized and suitably prepared, our Holy Church, as a caring mother, has enlightened Her Christ-named flock in an appropriate manner (with Her Encyclical No. 2959/29.10.2014), for the instruction of the saints and the edification of the Body of Christ—per the God-inspired words of the Apostle Paul (Eph. 4:12)—and has stressed to Her members the spiritual dimensions and consequences of such a choice in the spiritual life of the faithful, by having rejected the cremation of the deceased as an act that is incompatible to Her tradition, thus demarcating Her faith and Her respect for the human person, and by extension, for the human body, which is a temple and a dwelling of the Most Holy Spirit. |
| The Martyrs of Cordoba: A Lesson for the Present Day Image of St. Eulogius of Cordoba There is a multitude of little known western saints within the Orthodox Church. With the official addition of the saints of Spain and Portugal to the liturgical calendar of the Russian Church, it is important to reflect on the importance of the martyrs within this group. What lessons can be learned from their lives? The lives of the saints have so much to offer in terms of pearls of wisdom for living a holy life. Virtually everything we can learn from the saints has a contemporary application. Therefore it is crucial to read the lives of the saints as often as possible. The saints of the Iberian peninsula, modern day Spain and Portugal, are not very well known in the Orthodox Church. Despite this, they are not exceptions, especially those who were martyred under Muslim oppression. THE BACKGROUND Beginning in 711 AD, the Umayyad caliphate invaded Visigothic Iberia. Once in control, the caliphate replaced Orthodox Christianity with Islam as the official religion of the land. Christians and other minorities were forced to accept Islamic superiority, avoid preaching to Muslims, and pay jizya, a tax for being a non-Muslim. Under Islamic law, apostasy and blasphemy were punishable by death. Life as a Christian in Iberia during this period was less than ideal. There was pressure to assimilate to Islamic culture and even convert to Islam. This led to many practicing their Christian faith in secret. The following is a brief survey of the martyrs who lived under the caliphate in Cordoba, al-Andalus (Muslim Iberia). THE SAINTS Aurelius, Sabigotho (Natalia), and George Aurelius was born of a Muslim father and a Christian mother. Aurelius was a Christian by faith, but under Islamic law he was considered a Muslim therefore he practiced his Christianity in secret. Sabigotho (Natalia) was born of Muslim parents, however, after the death of her father, her mother remarried a secret Christian. Her stepfather’s influence caused her mother to adopt Christianity. This in turn eventually led to Sabigothos conversion. When she married Aurelius the two practiced their Christian faith secretly in fear of the Muslim authorities. |
| A relatively modern term deriving from the Latin Patres, or “Fathers.” It was also known as patrology up to the mid-20th century, though this latter designation has now been restricted mainly to signify reference manuals dealing with the works of the fathers of the church. The fathers were the bishops, outstanding theologians, and leading monastic elders ofthe early church, who left behind them authoritative bodies of spiritual, biblical, liturgical, and dogmatic writings. The age of the fathers is generally seen as extending from after the apostolic era (beginning of the 2nd century) to the 8th and 9th centuries, whose great luminaries then included St. John of Damascus and St. Photios the Great. John is, in many ways, a certain sign of the closing of the patristic age, with his works gathering together as a kind of encyclopedia of the earlier authoritative materials to form a synthesis of patristic theology for the later church’s reference. In terms of Latin patristics, the traditional cut-off point has been significantly extended beyond this time, even up to the medieval western theologian Bernard of Clairvaux, who is sometimes called, in the Catholic Church, the “last of the fathers» Even so, there is not a hard and fast historical line, as Orthodoxy understands it, for some of the late Byzantine writers such as St. Symeon the New Theologian of the 11th century, or St. Gregory Palamas (1296–1359), for example, certainly enjoy a high “patristic status” in contemporary Orthodoxy. The word generally means, in Orthodox circles, those definitive and highly authoritative theologians of the church in its classical ages who represent purity of doctrine allied with great holiness of life; a life that manifests the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in their acts and their consciousness, such that they are not merely good speculative thinkers, or interesting religious writers, as such, but rather substantial guides to the will of God, and Spirit-bearers (pneumatophoroi) whose doctrine and advice can be trusted as conveying the authentic Orthodox tradition of faith and piety. This does not mean that every single thing any one of the fathers ever wrote is given “canonical” status. Orthodoxy admits that the general rule of human authorship applies even among the saints, for as the adage tells, “even Homer nods,” but it does mean that collectively, and by the consensus of the fathers among themselves, and by the manner in which they stand in a stream of defense of the ecumenical faith of the church, they together comprise a library of immense prestige and authority. They are thus collectively strong and concrete evidence for the central tradition of the Orthodox Church. This is why the church affords them a very high theological authority, not as great as the Scriptures or the ecumenical councils, but certainly alongside the latter; for it was from their writings that the doctrine of the great councils generally emerged. |
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