Subject: Old historic photos of Sarov Monastery, etc. see captions please below... [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
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The Meeting of Our Lord
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When
the Egyptian king Ptolemy Philadelphus, founder of the glorious library
of Alexandria, wished to have the Old Testament books in the
Bible translated from Hebrew into Greek, the Jewish Sanhedrin (High
Council) chose 72 righteous men from among the Hebrews, six from each
tribe of Israel, who knew both languages well. Among these 72 men was a
certain elder named Simeon.
While translating the Book of Isaiah, he stopped at a prophecy well-known to him:
“Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son…” (Isaiah 7:14).
Simeon had doubts about the word “Virgin,” and after pondering for a
while, decided to replace it with the words “young woman,” as being more
understandable and believable. But suddenly
an angel appeared before him and, staying his hand, said: “Believe in
what is written. You shall see with your own eyes the fulfillment of
this incomprehensible prophecy.” This took place about 270 years before
the birth of Christ.
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And
so years, decades and centuries passed. Simeon patiently waited for the
fulfillment of God’s word, announced to him by the angel, and
daily visited the temple of Jerusalem. And thus, when the Most-Holy
Virgin Mary, in accordance with the law of Moses, brought the Infant
Christ to the temple on the 40th day after His birth, Simeon was
divinely inspired to recognize Them, together with the
prophetess Anna who lived at the temple. Piously he bowed down to the
Infant and His Mother, and taking the Infant God up in his arms, he
turned to Him with the following moving prayer: “Lord, now lettest Thou
Thy servant depart in peace…” (Luke 2:29-32).
We
read this prayer at the end of each vespers, at the end of the day,
which symbolizes the end of life, since sleep is the foreshadow of
death.
Thus
the holy prophet Isaiah’s words came to pass, and the righteous
Simeon’s expectation was fulfilled: in the temple he met Christ born
of a Virgin, and for this reason the holiday is called the Meeting of
our Lord.
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Meeting of our Lord
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For
many years afterwards the event of Christ’s presentation at the temple
of Jerusalem was commemorated, but after a while the memory of
this event apparently began to fade. And then in 542 A.D. there was a
terrible plague in the Byzantine Empire, so that many thousands died
every day, and the bodies of the dead lay for a long time without being
buried, while in the city of Antioch another
natural disaster was added – a severe earthquake. Many buildings were
destroyed, burying in their ruins those who had survived the plague. At
that time a certain pious person received a revelation from above that
people should begin celebrating the day of
the Meeting of the Lord, as well as other feasts of the Lord and the
Theotokos. Thus, on the eve of the 40th day after the Nativity of
Christ, i.e. the day of the Meeting of our Lord, when the all-night
vigil was served, followed by a procession with the cross,
– the plague and the earthquake immediately stopped. The joyful
inhabitants gave glory, praise and thanks to the Lord God and His
Most-Holy Mother.
The
meeting with the Infant Christ had great meaning for the elder Simeon.
But what meaning does it have for us and for our salvation?
To
understand the deep significance of this holiday we must turn to the
service for this day, because the Holy Church has expressed its
understanding
of Gospel events most fully in its services. “In the Law – in the shadow
and in the Scriptures – do we, the faithful, behold the symbol: every
male child opening the womb is consecrated to God…” (9th ode of the
canon). In the Old Testament law, which only
served to foreshadow the coming law, each first-born male from each
family of the chosen people was dedicated to God. This law was
established at the time when the Lord smote with death all the
first-born of Egypt, sparing the first-born of the ancient Jews,
who henceforth began to be considered as God’s property, and whom their
mothers were obligated to give over into full service to God, i.e.
consecrate to God, in other words – make them their priests and
intercessors before God. However, since many families
found it difficult to give up their first-born for service to God,
Moses, not without God’s approval, modified this law to some extent,
replacing the first-born from each family with a universal first-born
from the entire people – with the tribe of Levy, which
became totally dedicated to God and became the priesthood of the ancient
Jews. In order to authenticate this exchange, each mother had to bring
her first-born to the temple on the 40th day after his birth, offer a
sacrifice to God, and redeem her infant in
order to obtain the right to get him back, while transferring his
obligations to the priests.
Such
is the origin and the meaning of Old Testament priesthood. However, all
these institutions, though established with God’s approval, were
only human prerogatives and thus lacked grace, because they only served
to foreshadow the future. The service of the priesthood openly
prophesied to the people the forthcoming High Priest and the forthcoming
salvific Sacrifice. All Old Testament “gifts and
sacrifices… were imposed on them until the time of reformation… but
Christ the High Priest, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by
His own blood entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:9-12).
Faced
with the Infant Christ, the entire Old Testament priesthood could be
considered as having fulfilled its temporary foreshadowing service
and could say to Christ together with the elder Simeon: “Lord, now
lettest Thou Thy servant depart…,” and not only in terms of wishing
quick deliverance from earthly life, but also quick deliverance from its
priestly service which was inactive (i.e. lacking
grace) in the face of the eternal High Priest and the redeeming
Sacrifice.
The
content of the holiday service reveals to us the chief meaning of the
coming of the Son of God to earth, which lay not in a glorious
establishment
of a universal earthly kingdom of the Messiah, as the leaders of the
Jewish people wished it, but in His service as a High Priest to the
world and in His priestly sacrifice of atonement. The elder Simeon
speaks of this to the Most-Holy Virgin Mary, as he prophetically
views Her future station at the Cross and likens it to a sword piercing
Her heart. And the elder himself, already seeing in the Divine Infant
the beginning of the redeeming sacrifice for which He had been born,
expresses his desire to descend as quickly as
possible into hell, in order to proclaim to the prisoners languishing
there the great joy of the first rays of the Paschal Sun (7th ode of the
canon). Amen.
Protopriest Igor Hrebinka
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Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Land, Pray to God For Us!
Found on: <
http://internetsobor.org>
http://video.meta.ua/4298799.video
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Heads of Russian Orthodox Church and Roman Catholics to meet in Cuba -
tragic meeting that will bring ECUMENISM to the Russian land!!!
Regards Victor
It
is very easy with just a few links to demonstrate that there is NO TRUE
ORTHODOX INTENTION of Kyrill of Moscow in meeting with the Pope in Cuba
on the 12 of feb 2016, which will place just a few days from
now.
There
are those amongst us that are blind to this most obvious fact. Pls see
the 3 LINKS below that demonstrate this most clearly
1st
link - in which the Pope promotes love & unity amongst all faiths.
This is fully blown Dogmatic Syncretism (the heresy of interlife of
different faiths).
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vI0tiN88ldE
2nd link - is the promotion of the same heretical love/deception by Kyrill of Moscow
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxbNva4n-DiVYzQ2S3BqTVpxbmc/view?ts=5653d183
& this, again Kyrill of Moscow
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxbNva4n-DiVMjkyUzBSaVZNdW8/view?ts=5652810f
What is clear is that - ecumenism historically has 3 main types,
1
Protestant centric Ecumenism, championed by the WCC - in which no church
has the right to claim that, only it is the one true church, which is a
denial of Apostolic Orthodoxy
2
Papal centric ecumenism - dialogue between the Orthodox & Papist -
that states heretical Papists are a graceful sacrament bearing Apostolic
church - which is a denial that the 'One' Holy Catholic and Apostolic
Church is Synonymous only with the Orthodox Church
3
The assembly of world religions - which professes the cult of belief in
the One God of all religions and faith communities which are equal in
their capacity to unite man with God -- which is denial of the God/man
Christ as the only saviour of mankind.
When
we see in the links above that both the Pope and Kyrill are equally
implicated and confess this 3rd and most evil of all constructs. THEN
WHAT SORT OF CHRISTIAN TRUTH IS WILL TAKE PLACE ON THE 12TH OF FEB
IN THIS MOST UNFORTUNATE YEAR OF 2016 - LET THOSE POOR & IGNORANT
SOULS WHO ENTERTAIN SUCH FOOLISHNESS HAVE EARS WITH WHICH TO HEAR - NO
SUCH THING WILL TAKE PLACE.
PLS FORWARD ON Sasha……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
A Clear Voice for Orthodoxy in the Twentieth Century
http://orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/ea_rocor.aspx
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The Tragic Results of the Church Union
In
arguing for the union of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad (ROCA) and
the Moscow Patriarchia (MP), the ROCA First Hierarch and bishops assured
the flock with
great confidence that they could “work from within” to influence the MP
and most notably, its ecumenist and sergianist policies. As is clear
for all to see, these assurances were at best optimistic and at worst
outright falsehoods. The MP’s ecumenism and
sergianism remains completely unchanged since the union and may possibly
be even more aggressive. The reality is that since the union in 2007
the episcopate and clergy of what is now the Russian Orthodox Church
Outside of Russia-MP (ROCOR-MP) has been completely
absorbed and drawn in by the MP and does everything possible to imitate
the ranks of MP clergy. Unlike the example of Met. Philaret and the
bishops of the past, the ROCOR-MP clergy and bishops of today
demonstrate the same sense of privilege as their Moscow
counterparts, to include an indulgence in expensive automobiles, fine
vestments, gourmet meals and many other luxuries incompatible with the
life of a monastic or clergyman. They have absorbed the mindset,
manners and approaches to the flock of the Moscow
Patriarchia. The ROCOR-MP clergy dutifully and publicly express their
support for the nationalist and revanchist policies of the Russian state
and remain silent on issues that would have been condemned in the past
by the ROCA.
In
another shameful example of the compliant imitation of their Moscow
rulers, the ROCOR-MP has time and again demonstrated the avarice and
lust for property that
so sadly distinguishes the MP. All the churches of ROCA clergy who
agreed to the union are kept under tight control, while the few churches
of those who did not agree are under direct attack and feel the
constant threat of legal action. The size of the individual
church, its condition, or how large or small the parish, are of no
consequence. The ROCOR-MP insists that every attempt be made to deprive
faithful church members, who decided against going down the path of
union and its attendant spiritual ruin, of a place
to worship. To add insult to injury, every manner of deceit and guile
is used to tear the church away from its rightful owners.
Examples
of this lust for property are many. The Holy Trinity parish in Oxnard,
California, spent thousands of dollars to resist relentless legal
attacks. The
Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos parish in Buena, New Jersey, spent
years in the courts. The Holy Trinity parish in Santiago, Chile, at
which Archimandrite Benjamin has been faithfully ministering in that
part of the world for decades, has also come
under attack. Recently ROCOR-MP Bishop John of Caracas and South
America managed to obtain the keys to the church and had the locks
replaced. In the presence of indifferent local police, he invaded the
church and took possession of it, barring the 89-year
old archimandrite from the church he lovingly tended to for over 35
years. One cannot help but think back on the MP seizure of ROCOR
property in the Holy Land and how at the time Archbishop Mark (then a
bishop in the ROCOR) howled in protest at those unlawful
and despicable actions of the MP. Now it is apparently a new day, for
Archbishop Mark and his fellow bishops readily and eagerly engage in the
same contemptible behavior.
The
latest target of ROCOR-MP is the Dormition parish in the Richmond Hill
section of New York City. The church is a storefront in woeful
condition, and the parish
is small and faces many financial difficulties. Yet, even such an
unassuming place of worship must be torn away from its parishioners and
ROCOR-MP has served them with legal papers demanding they relinquish
their home. The parish led by Fr. Sergey Klestov,
is under the authority of Bishop Stefan (Sabelnik), formerly of the
Russian True Orthodox Church. Our hearts and prayers go out to them in
their hour of need. These parishes are just but some examples. There
have been others and there will surely be more
to follow.
Little
account is made by the ROCOR-MP episcopate of how they spend the
thousands of dollars raised from their church members, who presumably
donate in the hope
that the monies will be devoted to doing good and not to fund attacks on
helpless parishioners. And where is the outrage among the senior
clergy of the ROCOR-MP? These are their brothers in Christ under
attack. They have known many of these rectors for
most of their lives, studied together at the Holy Trinity seminary in
the Jordanville, sharing the same school bench. How can they in good
conscience turn their backs on them? Why do they not speak out against
these injustices? Is this the age-old human
failing of thinking you can save yourself by sacrificing others? Do
they not understand that they can find themselves in the same position
very easily, if they do not continue to obey their new rulers in a
church that shows a false piety to the world, while
preying on the weak and helpless? Such are the bitter fruits of
surrendering and abandoning your principles. Who knows what parish will
be the next target of this avarice? It is said that the fire of the
Russian Revolution eventually consumed everyone including
those who sparked it. That ravenous beast lives on today and will in
time devour ROCOR-MP and those who succumbed to the union, until its
noble history becomes a mere footnote in history. God help us all.
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The wisdom of sorrows
Whatever
the reason for the sufferings that are sent us, they are all invariably
sent for our benefit – for the salvation of our souls, for the
remittance
of our sins, and in the case of innocent Christians – to merit a crown
in the Heavenly Kingdom. The elders Barsonuphius the Great and John say:
“Everything that happens to a man serves to test him on the road to
salvation, in order for him to endure and believe
himself to be unworthy. It is a good sign that you are sorrowing. Do you
not know that whenever someone asks the fathers to pray for him, or
asks God to give him aid, then his sorrows and temptations are increased
to test him? Thus, do not seek bodily rest
if the Lord does not send it to you, for bodily rest is vile in the eyes
of the Lord, Who said:
In the world ye shall have tribulation (John 16:33). Know that those who wish to have rest in everything will hear at a certain moment:
Remember that thou in thy lifetime received thy good things (Luke 16:25). The one who is unable to bear tribulation will not see glory. Do you not know that there are
many sorrows for the righteous and through them they are tested
like gold by fire? Therefore, if we are righteous, we shall be tried by
sorrow; if, on the other hand, we are sinful, we will suffer sorrows as
being worthy of them. Let us remember all
the saints and what they endured in doing good: they were hated and
reviled by other people until their very end. Accept the suffering of
sorrow in everything, in order to be the descendant of saints, and
whether you experience sorrow, or deprivation, or insult,
or illness, or physical labor, – for everything that befalls you give
thanks to God.”
Saint
Isaac the Syrian writes: “God did not wish for His beloved to rest
while they are in the body, but wished that they, while living in the
world, live
in sorrow, hardship, labor, deprivation, solitude, need, illness,
insult, in sadness of the heart and exhaustion of the body. The Lord
knows that those who live in bodily comfort are unable to remain in His
love. However, when illness, need, bodily exhaustion
or fear of bodily harm trouble your mind and deprive you of joy and hope
in the Lord, then know that you are being ruled by the body and not by
Christ. Therefore, concerning all sorrows that befall you openly or
secretly, make a cautious judgment that this
has happened to you rightfully and justly. And be grateful for
everything.”
Thus,
in all cases suffering is meaningful. But we can also speak not only of
the wisdom of suffering, but also of its necessity for man. N. N.
Fioletov writes:
“The soul of a man who has never suffered, never gone through tempests,
agitation or struggles, often becomes covered with the crust of vanity,
banality, self-satisfaction; it faces the danger of becoming immersed in
a state of inertia and dullness. We can
see in everyday examples how often people who have not suffered through
anything are unable to understand the feelings of others, remain
indifferent to the suffering of others, how often they lose the
realization of the higher purpose and meaning of life,
and become immersed in a bog of triviality. This state of complete
self-satisfaction and dullness is commonly mistaken for happiness.”
Thus,
all suffering sent from God is not a violation of universal harmony,
but on the contrary, in all cases suffering is the manifestation of one
of the
forms of God’s constant Providence over man, proof of God’s love and
charity towards fallen mankind. In view of God’s benevolence and wisdom,
it could not be otherwise of course. Holy Matrona of Zadonsk often
said: “Sorrows in life are presents sent to us
from paradise.”
A
Christian must essentially reject the worldly understanding of the word
“misfortune,” for “all sorrow, united with patience, is good and
beneficial for us,”
– writes Saint Peter Damascene. There is no “misfortune” in a world
ruled by the benevolent Lord God, and that which people call misfortune
is rather a merciful admonition from God the Father, a testing by Him of
a Christian’s faith. Apostle Paul writes that,
in a Christian, tribulation engenders patience, and patience – experience, and experience – hope, and hope does not shame us (Rom. 5:3-5).
Saint
John of Tobolsk says the same: “If man’s will were directed towards
virtue and were truly submissive to and in accord with the will of God,
then hardships,
illness, sorrows, and other misfortunes which each man encounters in
life would not seem to him to be a punishment, for he would suffer them
with a joyous heart and love for God, reasoning and believing that they
had been sent to him by the will of God for
an unknown, but obviously good purpose.”
Moreover,
saints and righteous people reached a stage where they, understanding
the beneficial meaning of sorrows for man’s soul, not only suffered them
good-naturedly,
without grumbling or agitation, but joyously, and even hoping for them
and seeking them. Thus the wise Abbess Arsenia writes: “After the Lord
helps you get rid of passions, then sorrows become the greatest joy in
life for your soul; it rises above them, it
is not overcome by them, but only realizes and feels God’s great help,
which strengthens the spirit by means of life’s sorrows and
tribulations; realizes the great wisdom of God’s paths, which through
these sorrows lead man to freedom, purify him, and always
place him on the right path. Then the soul feels power and joy, and
gives thanks to God for these sorrows, which seem insignificant to the
soul in comparison with the blessings which it receives from the Lord
through these sorrows.”
And
another righteous one said: “The greatest joy in the world is the joy
of suffering.” The righteous priest John writes: “All of us can complain
when we
do not experience suffering, for nothing else makes us as comparable to
the Lord as the bearing of His Cross.” The philosopher Eckhart provides
the following spiritual aphorism: “A quiet and tranquil life, spent in
God, is good; a life full of tempests, spent
in patience, is better; but to find tranquility in a life full of
suffering is the best.”
We
must always remember that a good-natured endurance of suffering is
possible only with God’s help, and is God’s gift to Christians. St.
Peter Damascene writes
about it thus: “To endure insults with joy and meekness, to do good to
one’s enemies, to lay down one’s life for others, and similar qualities
are God’s gifts, which are sent to those who yearn for them, and who
earn them from God by means of suffering.”
Thus,
only he cannot endure “trials” and “tribulations,” who does not place
his trust in God, who is not aware of his sinfulness, who does not feel
the need
to purify his heart, to save his soul, and who is not aware of his
powerlessness to achieve this solely through his own efforts.
Elder
Siluan writes: “If misfortune befalls you, think of it this way: the
Lord sees my heart, and if He so wishes, everything will be well with
myself and
others, – and thus your heart will always be tranquil. But if anyone
should grumble: this is bad, and that is not good, – such a one will
never have peace in his heart, even though he keep the fast and pray at
length. Some people suffer greatly from poverty
and illness, but do not become humble, and so they suffer in vain… If
you humble yourself, you will see your woes turn into tranquility, so
that you will say to yourself: why have I tortured myself and sorrowed
so greatly up to now? But now you are joyous,
because you have attained humility and the grace of God has descended
upon you.”
The
same elder also says that “sorrows invariably accompany love and grow
in one’s soul just as Christ’s love grows in the soul. This is
understandable: Christ’s
love (in the soul of a Christian) encompasses the entire world, and
painfully and ardently co-suffers with all the sorrows of the world,
just as Christ suffered and shed tears, looking upon Jerusalem and
foreseeing its forthcoming destruction.” Therefore,
writes Schema-Archimandrite Sophronius, “whoever loves God, passes
through sufferings which the one who doesn’t have great faith in God is
unable to endure and spiritually falls apart.” But – “great faith and
love engender great courage.”
St. Isaac the Syrian writes: “Whoever lives in virtue without suffering sorrow, will see the door of pride open before him.”
But
the Lord’s care and aid to man in developing humility within himself
permeates the entire world. Abbot John says: “All the facts and
circumstances of earthly
life are designed to humble man, to erase the pride of his feelings and
his mind, enlightening him with an awareness of God’s mercy and
suppressing his egoism. In this lies the meaning of innumerable
illnesses, incurable ailments, humiliations, poverty, dependence
upon others, feelings of impotence concerning one’s past, present, and
future… At the same time this engenders gratitude to God and the
collapse of all futile faiths, all vain hopes and false ideals.
How
terribly would man’s pride grow were he not humbled by all that now
humbles him on earth: death, illness, physical suffering, helplessness,
frailty, moral
torment, humiliation, labor, ingratitude, unreason, an ugly exhibition
of inner passions, the judgment of one’s conscience…”
And
Bishop Varlaam Ryashentsev adds: “Only then do we begin earning some
merit in heaven when we, being innocent, undergo suffering with all
humility, without
grumbling, accepting it as God’s will and trial of us. In this manner
the soul is cleansed of spiritual corruption. Without deep and innocent
suffering, without a cross, no one can enter paradise. The path of God
is a daily cross.”
Father
Alexander Elchaninov writes similarly: “I often believe that all the
thorns and brambles of our earthly situation are expressly set up by God
to heal
our souls.
Sorrows
erase our sins. ‘Where there are no sorrows there is no salvation,’ –
says St. Seraphim of Sarov. Not only the suffering that is sent by God,
but all
spiritual endeavors, all voluntary deprivations, all sacrifices are
immediately exchanged for spiritual wealth within us: the more we lose,
the more we gain. It is for this reason that ‘it is hard for the rich to
enter the Heavenly Kingdom,’ because they do
not undergo this exchange of earthly, temporal, corruptible benefits for
heavenly, incorruptible benefits. Thus, woe is unto those who are
satiated, laughing, merry – they will become deprived to the point of
complete spiritual poverty.
Brave
souls instinctively search for sacrifice and suffering, and become
spiritually strengthened by tribulations. There are numerous proofs of
this in the
Gospel and in the writings of the apostles, especially Apostle Paul.
Even non-Christian religions are aware of it: thus fakirs, yogis, and
dervishes torture themselves with cold calculation.
We
must ask God to send us trials, and we must feel concern when we live
prosperously. Children who grow up in luxury and satiation grow up with
spiritual
emptiness, while those who go through illness and poverty grow up with
great spiritual strength,
for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, earns us a far more exceeding and eternal glory (2 Cor. 4:17).
The
Lord pities us greatly, but sends us suffering: only if we are struck
by misfortune and calamity can we produce some sparks, some holy fire.
Therefore,
endure your sorrows with patience: even lower creatures do not live
without suffering, and the higher is man, the more he suffers.
Illness
has taught me much. It has strengthened my understanding that whoever
is with Christ lives with suffering, and that there is no other path for
a Christian
except through internal and external pain. And, thinking of the
multitude of suffering in the world, I have come to the realization that
it is by means of such innocent suffering that the invisible Kingdom of
God is built up, and His suffering Body – the Church
of Christ – is assembled. Great is the purifying power and the value of
suffering. Our spiritual growth depends primarily on how we undergo
suffering. Courage in the face of suffering, a willingness to undergo it
– such is the mark of a true Christian soul.
But we must not search for suffering or make it up.”
The
Lord often sends great suffering before one’s body dies. In this we can
also see the aptness of such suffering: the more suffering the soul
leaves on earth
as it passes into the other world, the greater joy it finds in that
world of “blessed repose.” Here we must remember the Lord’s words:
but woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your
consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto
you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep
(Luke 6:24-25).
It
is for this reason that spiritual people pity those who sin in this
world, who do not repent of their sins, and who live a life of amusement
and vanity.
It is said of such: “the Lord has abandoned them.” Of those who suffer
tribulation it is said: “the Lord has visited them.”
Those
who bask in earthly happiness lose their spiritual compass in life,
they are the most miserable of men: their personal life is in danger.
Thus, all wise
men, both the ancients and contemporaries, and not only Christian,
avoided earthly happiness, and their awareness of the world beyond
prevailed over the visible world, and their sense of responsibility for
their life was exceedingly developed… Wise people
do not try to become comfortably settled on their earthly path, in order
not to fall spiritually asleep and miss the Bridegroom’s coming at
midnight…
Neither
should a Christian’s mind be troubled at the sight of the suffering of
innocent children. Even here God’s wisdom and providence are present.
Most often
the Lord wishes, through the suffering of such innocent children, to
bring their parents or relatives to their senses, to impede the latter
from stepping onto the path of sin and to place them upon the path of
repentance. The children themselves will be subsequently
exalted by God to a much greater degree than the temporary duration of
their suffering.
At
this point we should recollect the Lord’s words to St. Anthony the
Great. St. Anthony once ruminated at length about the multitude of
trials and afflictions
which befell children, about the suffering of innocent children, and
about other matters that were difficult for the human mind to
comprehend. Then he heard the following words: “Anthony, such are the
fates that are sent by God. It is detrimental to the soul
to investigate them. Look rather to yourself.”
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Fr
Deacon Christopher Henderson, from Holy Cross Australian Orthodox
Mission in Sydney, Australia, has kindly agreed to allow us to post his
weekly
church bulletin in English on our site. If you would like to contact Fr
Christopher, his email address can be found in any one of the
Newsletters below
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The Light of Christ
(Homily for the Sunday after Epiphany)
Some time passed after the Lord Jesus Christ’s temptation in the
wilderness. He came to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, but He did
not stay there long. He saw that the arrogant scribes and Pharisees, and
together with them the commoner Jews, were less
ready to hear His divine teaching than the less educated but
simplehearted Galileans. The land of Galilee is the northernmost part of
Palestine, where the descendants of Jacob’s sons Zebulon and Nephthalim
lived. There were no educated scribes here, as there
were in Jerusalem and Judea, but the Galileans were not so infected with
various prejudices and false beliefs concerning the coming Messiah as
were the innate Jews. It was here that the Lord preached for the most
part, from here He chose His disciples, here
He performed many miracles.
Truth to say, there was a lot of ignorance in Galilee concerning the
teaching of faith, and many zealots, including the entire Judea, looked
upon the Galileans with disdain. The Jews even had a saying: “Can
anything good come from Galilee?” However, all
of the Galileans’ prejudices and errors in faith stemmed from ignorance,
whereas among the Jews they were the result of their Pharisaic pride
and vanity.
It is this land of Galilee that is spoken of in today’s Sunday Gospel:
“The
land of Zebulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea,
beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people which sat
in darkness saw great light, and to them which sat in the region and
shadow of death light is sprung up”
(Isaiah 9:1-2; Matt. 4:15-16).
“Before Christ’s coming mankind was in a most disastrous state:
surrounded by darkness and idol-worship, people did not know where to
go; according to the prophet they no longer even walked, but ‘sat in
darkness’: this means that they no longer had any hope
of being delivered from this darkness” (St. John Chrysostome).
In His life on earth our Lord Jesus Christ left us a perfect example of
piety. His entire life was a single expression of continuous, ardent
piety and fervor for piety. He was the ideal of perfection. And now this
ideal of perfection expressed His preference
for the ignorant land of Galilee with its simplicity and sincerity. The
historical consequences of this were such that, as you all know, Christ
was crucified by the proud experts in Mosaic law, while from Galilee
came the first apostles and the primary core
of the New Testament Church in general. Even the Roman Caesar Julian the
Apostate, three centuries later, called the Christians – Galileans.
Thus, humility and simplicity in faith and in life draw a person nearer
to God. At the same time, these humility and simplicity stem from a
realization of one’s insignificance in the face of eternity, and from
here it is only a single step to a mood of repentance.
It was precisely with this word – “Repent!” – that St. John the Baptist
began his preaching. With this same word the Lord Jesus Christ, too,
began His preaching. The mood of repentance is inherent in every
believing Christian. A repentant mood helps us grasp
the mysteries of faith, for man realizes quite clearly that he is
nothing without God’s help in everything. If the mood is not there, then
even simple things become difficult and often lead the worldly sage to
an impasse.
Recently a story appeared in the press about a gathering on the West
Coast of professors of science, who teach that man is superlative to
nature, i.e. that man influences nature and his environment. And then,
as an experiment, a group of such scientists
was placed in the most elementary conditions of life, wherein they did
not have such basic amenities as electricity, telephone, etc. And so
these people came face-to-face with real nature. Their general
conclusion was that nature’s influence upon us is immeasurably
greater than our influence upon it. We have become used to having nature
under our control, but no one thinks or talks about what would happen
if it were to go out of control… To some degree this can be evaluated as
a “repentant mood,” if one notices the fact
that more and more often we hear of man’s inferiority and of the
superiority of machines. And that is true: without faith man can fall
very low. Such was the state of mankind before the coming of Christ.
However, a man who has faith in God, who has a living faith in his
Creator, is far from such comparisons. There are examples of this in the
history of the Christian era. The light of Christ illuminated all those
who exhibited even the slightest response
to His appeal. I think that each one of us has had bright examples of
faith in our lives, has experienced the warmth of faith.
Unfortunately, many people do not have living faith, to which all of us
can attest, and the consequences of such lifeless belief are heavy
indeed. But I would like to note that there are live offshoots of faith
too, that the “Great Light” shines also in
our holy churches. These churches themselves were built through the
living faith of their parishioners.
Let the turbulent sea of life rage around us, let the waves of the world
rise high, but the Light of Christ will shine as long as He, the Lord
Jesus Christ, allows it, and He will be with us until the end of time.
Thus, let us build our lives and maintain them on a church foundation,
gear them to our churches. One can live a church life under any
condition whatsoever, as long as one’s faith is not lifeless. If we walk
before God in the light of faith, in the light
of knowledge of God’s truths, – we will feel our entire being fill up
with spiritual joy, and we will glorify God with the words: Glory to
Thee Who has shown us the light! Amen.
Protopriest
Igor Hrebinka
********************************************************************************************************************************************
What is Orthodoxy and does it even have a future?
In 1976 the late Father Seraphim (Rose) wrote the following: “Orthodox
Christians live today in one of the great critical times in the history
of Christ’s Church. The enemy of man’s salvation, the devil, attacks on
all fronts and strives by all means not
merely to divert believers from the path of salvation shown by the
Church, but even to conquer the Church of Christ itself, despite the
Saviour’s promise (Matt. 16:18), and to convert the very Body of Christ
into an organization preparing for the coming of
his own chosen one, Antichrist, the great world-ruler of the last days.
Of course, we know that this attempt of Satan will fail… But the great
question of our times for all Orthodox Christians to face is a momentous
one: the Church will remain, but how many of us will still be in it,
having withstood the devil’s mighty attempts
to draw us away from it?”
“Orthodoxy” or “Orthodox Christianity” has come to mean a number of
different things to different people in different Orthodox
jurisdictions. There are all kinds of “Orthodoxy” around today. Some of
it is recognizable; some of it seems very strange, very
abnormal. For some, Orthodoxy is just a “place we go to” on Sunday
mornings – just like other Christians. For others, Orthodoxy is an
ethnic club, where one can hear the cherished language and music of
one’s youth in the old country – in itself, not wrong.
For still others, Orthodoxy is a career, a way of making money, of
meeting friends. But for a few, a very few, Orthodoxy is the very Ark of
Salvation, created by the Living God Almighty in order to bring us
safely through this world to the next.
So before we can talk about the future of Orthodoxy, we must first have an understanding of the term “Orthodox.”
Orthodoxy is an “other-worldly” faith
Most Orthodox, converts included, tend to think of the faith as
something very eastern, very Russian, or perhaps Greek, or Byzantine.
Actually, this is correct only as far as it goes. But if asked, it’s
unfortunately unlikely that most of us would say that
Orthodoxy has to do with holiness, with sanctity, or with a peculiar
concept called “other-worldliness.”
While on a trip to Russia in 1998, I had the privilege of venerating the
holy relics of Saint Innocent of Alaska. Although he had died, full of
years and honors as Metropolitan of
Moscow,
a great deal of his life had been spent as a married priest, Fr. John
Veniaminov in Alaska,
and then, later, as a bishop. In his journal, kept over a period of
years while he was a missionary, he tells a remarkable story about his
visit, unannounced and unexpected, to a particular island one day in
April of 1828. As he stepped ashore he saw all of
the natives standing there in a festive and joyous mood. They told him
that they had been expecting him. And although some of them had been
baptized into Orthodoxy many years before, they have been given no
instruction in the Faith whatever. Where Orthodoxy
was concerned, they were functionally illiterate. But an old man of
their village had told them that a priest would come on this day and,
when he came, he would teach them how to pray. The old man had also
carefully described the priest – and indeed this was
a description of Fr. John Veniaminov himself.
When he met the old man, the missionary was amazed at his knowledge of
Scripture and Orthodox Christian doctrine – especially since he could
not read or write and, like the other natives, had been taught nothing
about the Faith. “There was no ‘normal’ way
for him to know these things… The old man replied quite simply that two
companions had informed him of these things. ‘And just who are these two
companions of yours?’ he asked the old man. ‘White men,’ he replied…
‘They live nearby, in the mountains. And they
visit me every day.’ The old man then provided a description which
tallied very closely with the way in which the Holy Archangel Gabriel is
portrayed on icons: in a white robe with a rose-colored band across the
shoulders.” As this story unfolded, Saint Innocent
learned that the old man had been visited regularly – daily, in fact –
over a period of thirty years by two angels of God, who had taught him
the depths and mysteries of Orthodox theology. When Fr. John asked if he
could himself meet these spirits of God he
was informed that he could. But “something unexplainable” then happened
to Fr. John, as he reports to the bishop:
“I was filled with fear and humility, and thought to myself: ‘What if I
really were to see them – these angels? I’m a sinful man, unworthy of
talking to them. If I were to decide to see them it would be nothing but
pride and presumption on my part. If I
were to meet real angels, I might exalt myself for having such great
faith, or start thinking too highly of myself… No, I’m unworthy; I’d
best not go’.”
In this account we glimpse the element of the supernatural, the
“other-worldly”; the fact that there is another world besides this one,
and another life, different from the life we lead here; and this other
world sometimes, according to God’s will, impinges
upon us here in this life, in this world. This means that in order for
us to have true Orthodoxy, and in order for Orthodox Christianity to
have any kind of future at all, we must ourselves first of all have some
sense, some awareness of that other world and
its closeness to us.
Knowing about “other-worldliness” isn’t about having supernatural or
some kind of “occult” experiences. But it is about remembering that this
life is only very temporary, a pilgrimage in fact, and we should not
hold onto it tightly because, ultimately, all
of it will be taken away from us at death, anyway, and then we will have
only the virtues that we have managed, by God’s grace, to acquire.
This is an extremely important message for us Orthodox Christians to
bring to the world: that there is indeed another world, that this is not
myth or a fairy tale but something which is real, and that this present
life here on earth is a preparation for
that life which is to come, that there is accountability and
responsibility and judgment, as well as reward or punishment awaiting us
after death, and that the saints and angels are aware of us (as are
also the fallen angels, the demons) and are longing to
help us join them finally in the Kingdom of Heaven. In spite of
appearances to the contrary, the world really does want to know this,
wants to know the truth of this, and is longing to hear it from us in a
convincing way.
Orthodoxy is an ascetic faith
Several of the 20th-century teachers of the Church – men like St. John
of Shanghai, Metropolitan Anthony Khrapovitsky, Fr. Seraphim Rose, and
others – have explained to us more than once and in several ways that
Orthodoxy is, above all, an “ascetic” faith.
What does this mean? The future of Orthodoxy – if it actually even has a
future at all – depends on whether we understand the essence of
Orthodoxy, which is asceticism.
Our word “ascetic” comes from the same root as the word “athlete,” and
this is not a coincidence, for the ascetic and the athlete have some
common characteristics.
The athlete works out, trains hard, and exercises in order to develop
the muscles of his body so that he can compete in various kinds of
sports or special events. He works very hard. He may go to an exercise
gym every day and work for several hours. He follows
a special diet and in every possible way takes good care of himself.
The ascetic is an athlete, too – an athlete of the spirit rather than of
the body. The ascetic also exercises; however, he exercises not his
biceps or other physical muscles, but the various dimensions and
faculties of his soul. He “works out,” spiritually,
through prayer and fasting, through standing at vigil, and by preparing
properly to receive the sacraments. He, too, must compete, but not in a
sports arena with a javelin or in some other event; no, the ascetic
competes in the wide arena of this world, and
his adversary, his opponent, the Devil, is quite real – as Holy
Scripture teaches us. The athlete runs a race, but we, too, as Saint
Paul tells us, run a race, a race to obtain the crown of immortal life
with Christ in heaven. But to run this race, we must
be athletes of the spirit.
It is this ascetic dimension of Orthodoxy that makes Orthodox
Christianity different from every other Christian religion on the face
of the earth. But from what I’ve said thus far, “asceticism” is still
just an abstract concept. What does it mean in practice?
Again I turn to Saint Innocent of Alaska. While he was working with the
Aleut and Klingit Indian tribes of the Alaskan peninsula, he was very
anxious to properly communicate to them this “essence” of Orthodoxy. So
he wrote a little booklet that has become
a kind of classic and is widely read and studied today by people like us
who are otherwise very far removed from the Native Americans of the
Northwest. The little book is called
The Indication of the Way to the Kingdom of Heaven. In this
important little book Saint Innocent talks about asceticism in the same
way that our Lord Himself does: he compares it to the carrying of a
cross. Our Lord said: “If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For
whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his
life for My sake shall find it” (Matt. 16:24-25), and: “Whosoever doth
not bear his cross, and come after Me, cannot
be My disciple” (Luke 14:27).
Now in life there are two kinds of crosses, Saint Innocent explained.
The first kind of cross consists of those daily annoyances, temptations,
and difficulties that come to everyone just because we are human
beings. Ill health, financial setbacks, misunderstandings
with others, various kinds of afflictions – all of these are crosses,
but they are what Saint Innocent calls “involuntary crosses.” That is,
they come to us according to God’s will, whether we want them or not. If
we bear these crosses without complaining,
without murmuring, then they become ascetic labors that are for our
salvation; but if we complain and murmur, then they are for our
condemnation. It is extremely important to understand this.
The second kind of cross, according to Saint Innocent, is what he calls
“voluntary crosses” – that is, those special ascetic exploits or labors
that we voluntarily take upon ourselves, such as strictly keeping the
fast days and seasons of the Church year,
standing for long hours at vigil services, and other kinds of asceticism
or crosses that we may, with the blessing of our spiritual father, take
upon ourselves.
These are some of the ascetic aspects of our Holy Faith which are signs
of true and authentic Orthodoxy, ancient Orthodoxy, the Orthodoxy of the
saints.
The need for “holy zeal”
But to this concept of asceticism must be added one other element, which
we call “holy zeal.” Here is what the late Archbishop Averky of
Jordanville had to say about this:
“The chief thing in Christianity, according to the clear teaching of the
word of God, is the fire of divine zeal, zeal for God and His glory –
the holy zeal which alone is able to inspire man in labors and struggles
pleasing to God and without which there
is no authentic spiritual life and there is not and cannot be any true
Christianity. Without this holy zeal Christians are Christians in name
only… Meekness and humility do not mean spinelessness and should not
yield before manifest evil… a true Christian
should be far from sugar-sweet sentimentality…” (
The Orthodox Word, 1975).
But this does not mean that we should be rigid and uncharitable towards
others, or that we should have no discernment. Archbishop Averky himself
pointed out that we must avoid what Scripture calls “zeal without
understanding.” Especially, he said, we must
avoid what he called a “false, lying zeal, behind the mask of which is
concealed the foaming of ordinary
human passions – most frequently pride, love of power and honor, and the interests of a party politics…
for which there can be no place in spiritual life.” (
The Orthodox Word, 1975). True Orthodoxy walks a thin line between fanaticism and looseness, between self-righteousness and “spinelessness.”
Orthodoxy in the West today
Concerning the extremes of the “right” and the “left,” Fr. Seraphim
(Rose) said that “zeal not according to knowledge” was simply “an excuse
for pharisaic self-satisfaction, exclusivity, and distrust” of others –
something to be avoided at all costs, and
it is the exact opposite of what Archbishop Averky called “being in step
with the times.” The future of Orthodoxy should belong to neither of
these two extremes, neither of the right nor the left, for “holy zeal”
is not extremism, it is simply true and authentic
Orthodoxy.
Therefore, in order to see the future and its possibilities, we must
know something about what’s going on with Orthodox Christianity in both
the East – in the historic countries of our origin such as Greece and
especially Russia, – and we must be fully aware
of what’s going on in the apostate West, too. Shortly I will speak in
some detail about Orthodoxy in Russia, but first we should look briefly
at what is going on with Orthodoxy in the West today.
In the United States, in particular, there is a kind of broad
“spectrum,” from left to right. On the extreme right we have a
relatively small number of Greek Old Calendarist groups. Many of these
otherwise very sincere and pious believers often squabble
among themselves, sometimes for good reason, sometimes not. Fr. Seraphim
(Rose) called the extremist Greek Old Calendarists “exclusivists.”
Partly because of this, and partly because of the disagreements among
themselves, in America they have been relatively
ineffective at reaching the Western mind and soul, often presenting
(perhaps without intending to do so) a very rigid and even haughty face
to prospective inquirers into the Faith. In my opinion, these groups are
not the future of Orthodoxy.
On the “left” we have several groups that follow the New Calendar, and
they have quite consciously accepted the principles of liturgical
reform, innovationism, and modernism. One of these groups, in
particular, is anti-monastic, which means that it vigorously
opposes traditional Orthodox spirituality; repeatedly there is a call
for what is called “American Orthodoxy.” Just exactly what this means,
however, is difficult to say, but it is a contradiction in terms.
America and its culture are by definition liberal,
constantly changing, and unstable, interested in keeping her citizens
comfortable and entertained and distracted from spiritual realities and
needs. America also embraces everything that is modern and fashionable.
True Orthodoxy, on the other hand, is by nature
conservative, stable, and unchanging, even reactionary, and concerned
with eternal verities, focused not on what is comfortable and
perishable, but on the carrying of crosses as the only way to enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. Some of these Orthodox groups are
very open to missionary opportunities – and in this sense they can be
very creative – but what are they bringing new converts to? Authentic
Orthodoxy or some kind of “Eastern Rite Protestantism”? In other words, a
church which more and more resembles the culture
of the Anglican or Episcopal Church and is no longer Orthodox but
something that is attractive on the outside, looking and smelling and
sounding like the “real thing,” but inside it is an empty shell,
incapable of giving the abundant life our Saviour promised
in the Gospels.
The very fact that these modernist Orthodox are involved in liturgical
reform and modernization – which often means drastically shortening or
even completely eliminating some of the services, (and it also now means
abolishing fasts and the churching of women
after childbirth, it means the use of girl acolytes, and the tonsuring
of female readers) – all of this is already a very serious and dangerous
attack on our holy Faith, and virtually no one is objecting, no one is
criticizing, and no one has the courage to
stand up and cry out, “The Emperor has no clothes!” Our Blessed
Metropolitan Philaret of holy memory would speak out, were he with us
today, just as he spoke out courageously in his famous “Sorrowing
Epistles” in the late 1960s. And our Saint John of Shanghai
and San Francisco would have spoken up, too. Decades ago he reminded us
that we cannot and must not tamper with the Divine services because
these “church services contain in themselves the fullness of the
Church’s dogmatic teachings and expound the path to
salvation. They embody a priceless spiritual wealth. The more fully and
properly they are done, the greater the benefit received by those who
participate in them. Those clergymen who perform the services
negligently and abbreviate them out of laziness are
robbing their flock, denying it vital bread, and abducting from it a
valuable treasure…”
It is true that in some of these New Calendar Churches there was an
initial burst of missionary growth, some of it healthy, some not. But
that time is now passing as many of their new faithful discover the
lives of the saints, the traditional spirituality
of the Church, and other things that they had not been given when they
first converted to Orthodoxy. They now want something deeper, something
capable of sustaining and nurturing a profound and lasting spiritual
life. Many of these seekers find their way to
us, to the Church Abroad. So, clearly, the future of Orthodoxy – in
spite of appearances just a few years ago – does not lie with the
modernists. History shows that those who are too far to the right or to
the left do not, in the end, carry the day either
and, ultimately, will not even survive. Is there another way, another –
“middle” – path to the future of Orthodoxy? I believe that there is.
“The Royal Path”
Between these two extremes of right and left is the “balance point,” or
what the Fathers of the Church themselves called “the Royal Path.” As
Fr. Seraphim (Rose) wrote: “This true
Orthodox
moderation is not to be confused with mere lukewarmness or
indifference, or with any kind
of compromise between political extremes… Its emphasis is constantly on
the spiritual side of true Orthodoxy,” which neither the extremists of
the left or the right know or completely understand. As Fr. Seraphim
wrote unequivocally: “The Russian Church Outside
of Russia has been placed, by God’s Providence, in a very favorable
position for preserving the ‘royal path’.” He continued:
“Living in exile and poverty in a world that has not understood the
suffering of her people, she [the Church Abroad] has focused her
attention on preserving unchanged the faith which unites her people…
Today, – Fr. Seraphim continues, – more than at any
other time, we must struggle to preserve Orthodox tradition in an age of
apostasy, so that the voice of true and uncompromising Orthodoxy could
be heard throughout the world and have a profound effect on the future
course of the Orthodox Churches… It is of
critical importance, therefore, that this voice be actually one of true,
that is, patristic Orthodoxy.” (
The Orthodox Word, 1976).
Fr. Seraphim also observed – and this is very important – that “the
‘royal path’ of true Orthodoxy today is a mean that lies between the
extremes of ecumenism and reformism on the one side,
and a zeal not according to knowledge
on the other.” (
The Orthodox Word, 1976).
Father Alexey Young
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Subject:
General Sharing, in human-English and with the link to the original-Russian captions: Old historic photos of Sarov Monastery, etc.
Date: 16 January 2016 20:34:25 GMT
Original Russian language captions with these photos:
http://internetsobor.org/russkaya-pravoslavnaya-tserkov/tserkovnye-novosti/russkaya-pravoslavnaya-tserkov/pamyati-prp-serafima-sarovskogo-fotografii-sarovskoj-pustyni-nachala-xx-veka
In memory of Venerable Saint Seraphim of Sarov.
Photos of Sarov, at the beginning of the XX century Author: Vera nun
incl. January 16, 2016 . Published in the Russian Orthodox
Church (Views: 34)Tags: Orthodox shrines, Sarov, photosBlack and white
photographs of Sarov, at the beginning of the XX century.
Many photos are from 1903, made during the canonization of St. Seraphim
of Sarov, by MI Gribov, a hereditary Moscow photographer.
The chapel and 'swimming pool' at the spring of Venerable Fr.
Seraphim (This is where many pilgrims, to this very day in 2016, take
a holy-bath in this sacred pool, to receive blessings). Place of the
stone, upon which, for 1000
nights, St. Seraphim prayed . The newly consecrated Holy Trinity
Church, built over the cell of the Venerable St. Seraphim Near his
holy 'pustinka'/desert, of Fr. Seraphim Procession at the
Seraphim-Diveevo monastery to Sarov Hermitage, July 17, 1903 The
arrival of the procession from the Seraphim-Diveevo monastery to the
Sarov Hermitage Present were Their Imperial Majesties, on the border
of the province of Tambov, with deputations of bread and salt, to
greet them. Arrival of Their Imperial Majesties
in Sarov, July 17, 1903 Meeting
of Their Imperial Majesties by Metropolitan Anthony of Sarov, 17
July 1903 Exit of Their Imperial Majesties from the Assumption
Cathedral, July 17, 1903 The Emperor walking on the way to the spring
of Venerable Seraphim Their Imperial
Majesties visit the stone upon which Ven. Seraphim prayed 1000
nights Their Imperial Majesties visit the Far Hermitage of Venerable
Seraphim, July 18, 1903 Presented was the icon from [or to?], Their
Imperial Majesties, of the horugvenostsev [?] icon,
July 18, 1903 Translation [transferring] of Holy relics of St.
Seraphim from the Church of Sts. Zosima and Sabbatius during vespers,
July 18, 1903, to the Cathedral of the Assumption Removal of the
relics from the Assumption Cathedral, 19 July 1903 The
procession with the Holy relics of St. Seraphim of Sarov, July 19,
1903 The procession to the altar of the Assumption Cathedral July 19,
1903 The procession with the Holy relics of St. Seraphim. Return of the
procession to the Cathedral of the Assumption Exit of
Their Imperial Majesties from the Assumption Cathedral, 20 July
1903Departure of Their Imperial Majesties from Sarov. Their Majesties,
preceded by the clergy, go to the Holy Gate, July 20, 1903 Visit of
Their Imperial Majesties, to the bogomolcheskogo
[?], town of Sarov, July 20, 1903 General view of Sarov Palace of
Their Majesties in Sarov The Cathedral - dedicated to The Life-Giving
Spring and The Assumption Shrine of the relics of St. Seraphim of
Sarov, a gift of
their Imperial Majesties The chapel over the tomb of Holy Venerable
Seraphim Tomb of Holy Father Seraphim, in its present form Outside
view of the cell of the Venerable St. Seraphim, where the Monk
Seraphim died(over this cell
there was built a new large temple in the name of the
Holy Trinity) Interior view of the chapel, where there is the
spring of the Venerable St. Seraphim Seraphim-Diveevo nunnery (left
side) - the refectory, the parish church, the bell tower and the
Cathedral Sarov Hermitage The miraculous icon of the Holy Virgin of
Tenderness, before which The Righteous Venerable St. Seraphim died. A
source Tags: Orthodox shrines Sarova photo
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Observations on the Text Prepared for the Pan-Orthodox Council:
“Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World”
Dr. Dimitrios
Tselengidis
Another source:
http://www.pravoslavie.ru/english/90489.htm *Also found in a Russian translation on:
http://internetsobor.org
Source: Impantokratoros
February 3, 2016
Professor of the Theological School at the Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, Dr. Dimitrios Tselengidis has sent his first theological
observations to the Orthodox hierarchs of several Local Orthodox
Churches (including those
of Greece, Russia, Serbia, Georgia, Bulgaria, Alexandria and Antioch)
concerning the text: “
Relations of the Orthodox Church with the Rest of the Christian World.”
* * * This text displays recurrent theological inconsistency and
contradiction.
Thus, in the first article it proclaims the ecclesiastical
self-identity of the Orthodox Church, considering Her—and very
rightly—as the “One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.” In
article six, however, there is a contradiction with respect to the
formulation of the above article (1). It notes characteristically that
the “the Orthodox Church recognizes the historic existence of other
Christian Churches and Confessions not in communion with Her.”
Here the reasonable theological question arises: If the Church is
“One” according to our Creed and the Orthodox Church’s own
self-identity (art. 1), then how is there mention of other Christian
Churches? It is clear that these other
Churches are heterodox.
Heterodox “Churches”, though, cannot at all be called “Churches”
by the Orthodox. Considering things from a dogmatic perspective it is
not possible to speak about a plurality of “Churches” with different
dogmas, and this, indeed,
with regard to many different theological issues.
Consequently, as long as these “Churches” remain firm in the
erroneous beliefs of their faith, there is no theological justification
to grant them ecclesial recognition —and this officially —outside of
the “One, Holy, Catholic,
and Apostolic Church.”
In the same article (6), there is another serious theological
contradiction. At the beginning of the article the following is noted:
“According to the ontological nature of the Church, it is impossible
for [Her] unity to be shattered.”
At the end of this same article, however, it is written that, by Her
participation in the Ecumenical Movement, the Orthodox Church has as
its “objective aim the paving of the way which leads toward unity.”
Here the question is put: Given that the unity of the Church is an
acknowledged fact, what type of unity of Churches is being sought in
the context of the Ecumenical Movement? Does it perhaps mean the return
of Western Christians
to the ONE and only Church? Such a meaning, though, does not emerge
either in the letter or the spirit of the entire text. On the contrary,
indeed, the impression is given that there exists a long-established
division in the Church and that the prospects
of the [Ecumenical] dialogues focus on the disrupted unity of the
Church.
Theological confusion is also caused by the ambiguity in article
20, which reads: “The prospects of the theological dialogues of the
Orthodox Church with the other Christian Churches and Confessions shall
always be determined on
the basis of Her canonical criteria of the already established
ecclesiastical tradition (canon seven of the Second Ecumenical Council
and canon 95 of the Quinisext Council).”
But, canon seven of the Second Ecumenical Council and canon 95 of
the Quinisext address the reception of specific heretics that had
demonstrated their desire to join the Orthodox Church. However, it is
apparent from the letter and
spirit of the text, as judged from a theological perspective, that
there is no discussion whatsoever of the return of the heterodox to the
Orthodox Church, the only Church. Rather, in the text, the baptism of
the heterodox is considered an accepted fact
from the outset—and this without a Pan-Orthodox decision. In other
words, the text endorses “Baptismal Theology.” Simultaneously, the
text deliberately ignores the historic fact that the contemporary
heterodox of the West (RC & Protestant) have not one,
but heaps of dogmas that differ from the Orthodox Church (besides the
filioque, created grace in the sacraments, the primacy of the pope,
papal infallibility, the rejection of icons, and the rejection of the
decisions of the Ecumenical Councils, etc.).
Article 21 also raises appropriate questions, where it notes that,
“the Orthodox Church ... has a favorable view of the documents adopted
by the Commission [referring to the Committee for ‘Faith & Order’]
. . . for the rapprochement
of the Churches.” Here it must be observed that these documents [of the
Committee] have never been adjudged by the Hierarchs of the Local
Orthodox Churches.
Finally, in article 22 the impression is given that the Upcoming
Holy and Great Council is prejudging the infallibility of its
decisions, since it considers that, “the preservation of the authentic
orthodox faith is ensured only
through the synodical system, which has always rested in the Church and
which constitutes the appropriate and final judge on all matters of
faith.” In this article, the historic fact is ignored that in the
Orthodox Church the final criteria is always the
living dogmatic consciousness of the fullness of the Church, which in
the past confirmed even Ecumenical Councils considered robber councils.
The synodical system by itself does not mechanically ensure the
correctness of orthodox faith. This only happens
when the Synod of Bishops has the Holy Spirit and the Hypostatic
Way—Christ—working within it, and thus as “syn”—“odikoi” [i.e.,
“traversing together on the way”] they are, in practice, “following the
Holy Fathers.”
General Assessment of the Text
With all that is written and what is clearly implied in the text
above, it is clear that its initiators and authors are attempting the
institutional and official ratification of Christian
Syncretistism-Ecumenism by means of a Pan-Orthodox
Synod. This, however, would be catastrophic for the Orthodox Church.
For this reason I humbly propose the text’s total withdrawal.
* * * In closing, one theological observation on the text, “The
Sacrament of Marriage and its Impediments.” In article 5.i, it
notes: “The marriage of an Orthodox person with a heterodox person
is not permitted according to canonical akrivia [the ‘rule’] (canon 72
of the Quinisext Council in Trullo). However, it is possible to be
blessed through condescension
and love for man under the express condition that the children of this
marriage will be baptized and raised in the Orthodox Church.”
Here, the express condition that, “the children of this marriage
will be baptized and raised in the Orthodox Church” clashes with the
theological guarantee of marriage as a sacrament of the Orthodox
Church. The reason for this: because
child-bearing shows itself—in connection with the baptism of children
in the Orthodox Church—to legitimize the service of mixed marriage,
something clearly forbidden by a Canon of the Ecumenical Councils
(canon 72 of the Quinisext). In other words, a synod
that is not Ecumenical, such as is the upcoming Holy and Great Council,
explicitly turns a decision of an Ecumenical Council into something
relative. This is unacceptable.
And finally this: If the blessed marriage does not provide
children, is this marriage theologically legitimized simply on account
of the intention of the heterodox spouse to place any possible children
in the Orthodox Church?
For the sake of theological consistency, article 5.i, needs to be removed.
Dr. Dimitrios Tselengidis Translated by Rev. Fr. Matthew Penney with assistance by Fr. C. AImpantokratoros09 / 02 / 2016
Wed, Feb 10, 2016 at 12:06 AM
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