NFTU: True Orthodox and Ecumenism News

Communion with Milan & GOC Dead; Milan Admits Allowing Pedophile to Serve

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:50:00 +0000

Bishop Porphyrios of Martyropolis released a statement from the Synod of the GOC of the Patristic Calendar under Metropolitan Anghelos of Avlona Tuesday indicating that communion with the Milan Synod was irreparably broken.

Referring to the level of control Bishop Abundius of Lecco holds over the Metropolitan, and indicating clearly that without his removal no communion was possible, the Synod referred to the determination as final.

After last week's announcement of communion, Bp Abundius placed a statement on the Milan Synod's website claiming that they were only in communion with the GOC-PC -- and only with the Greek Church, not the True Orthodox under Metropolitan Raphael-- "until communion with Moscow was achieved". In informal communications, Bp Abundius distorted the previous week's events, falsely claiming that "Metropolitan Evloghios had been handed a letter in Greek to sign" (photos clearly show the Metropolitan signing a document in English, in which he is fluent). The action prompted sharp exchanges between the parties; however, Metropolitan Evloghios chose to capitulate to the will of Bp Abundius.

In Milan-related news, Bp Abundius released a statement today indicating that they were cooperating with authorities in the matter of a Romanian New Calendarist priest who had been allowed to serve freely in the Italian Churches. Nicolae Sima, was convicted of prostituting and abusing two boys aged 14 and 17, and Bp Abundius stated that they "distanced themselves from this individual".

The statement from the GOC-PC reads as follows:

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

-FOR THE REASON THAT METROPOLITAN EVLOGHIOS CANNOT STATE WITH COURAGE HIS DECISION AND RESPECT HIS OWN SIGNATURE...
-FOR THE REASON THAT THE FALLEN "BISHOP" ABONDIOS INSISTS TO AFFECT AND INFLUENT THE COURSE OF MILAN SYNOD...
-...NOT ONLY, BUT ALSO TO INSULT THE GENUINE ORTHODOXY AND THE GREEK-RUSSIAN TOMOS OF COMMUNION...
-...ALL THE MOST, BECAUSE THIS ACTIONS ARE COMING FROM A "BISHOP" WHO DIS-HONORED HIS BISHOPRIC VALUE...

FOR ALL THESE SEVERE REASONS, WE ARE OBLIGED IN THE NAME OF TRUE ORTHODOXY AND IN THE NAME OF THOSE WHO WE HOLD DEAR, TO DECLARE THE MILAN SYNOD,

NON IN COMMUNION WITH US.

IN ANY FUTURE ATTEMPT OF METROPOLITAN EVLOGHIOS TO RENEW HIS COMMITMENT AND HIS SIGNATURE TO THE HOLY COMMUNION, WE WILL ACCEPT THIS, ONLY UNDER THE STRICT CONDITION THAT "BISHOP" ABONDIOS WILL NOT BE PART OF HIS SYNOD OR OUR COMMUNION.

THIS IS THE FIRM AND FINAL DECISION OF THE HOLY METROPOLITAN SYNOD OF THE PATRISTIC CALENDAR, GENUINE ORTHODOX CHURCH OF GREECE.

Holy Water from the Great Blessing, 8 Rubles a Liter

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:01:00 +0000

DJS: I am starting to wonder if we should have a "Rostov-on-Don" section on NFTU.

On the feast day of the Baptism of the Lord, in the main church of RPTsMP in Rostov-on-Don, for the first time in recent years parishioners were not able to obtain holy water for free, the "Rostov City Community" blog reports.

Photo Credit: Manahan

Previously, on the feast days of the Baptism of the Lord, several water taps worked in the courtyard of the cathedral. This year, even the wash basin inside the church itself was not working. Water was being sold for 40 rubles for 5 liters.

At the time when people in the line for water were cursing church "commercialization," the blog reports, inside the cathedral Metropolitan of Rostov and Novocherkassk Merkury, the chairman of the Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of RPTsMP, was preaching the holiday sermon on love and compassion. (Orignal Source: Portal-Credo; tr. by PDS, posted 20 January 2012)

Metropolitan Evloghios Wants Peace with Sister Churches: Abp Abundius Disagrees

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:05:00 +0000

IN apparent response to Metropolitan Evloghios repenting and restoring communion with his sister Churches and Greece and Russia, Abp Abundius, the admitted "prime mover" behind union attempts with the Moscow Patriarchate, has issued another statement, supposedly "from the Metropolitan", stating that they are only in communion with the Greek Church "until communion with Moscow", on the "Ihtis" website.

Source: ihtis.wordpress.com , 1/20 NS

This flies in the face of both the communion statement here signed by the Metropolitan as well as the fact of concelebration on Jan 1/14.

The bizarre (and occasionally misspelled in its original, which can be found here) statement reads: "In addition, until the conclusion of total unity of communion with the Patriarch of Moscow, we have relationships of communion and fellowship with the Synod of Metropolitan ONLY Anqhelos which ones were in communion with the first of our decision to enter into dialogue with the Moscow Patriarchate."

Metr Evloghios signing the Reunion Tomos 1/14 NS

According to the website, the document was "signed" by Metropolitan Evloghios; there is no original or photo of the original document.

We are at a loss to explain here at NFTU exactly what is Abp Abundius' problem with being in communion with the True Orthodox.

According to observers in Greece, Abp Abundius repented of his desire communion with World Orthodoxy alongside Metropolitan Evloghios, who not only signed the document recognizing union, but condemned the ecumenists in Moscow by name during the reception.

Abp Abundius in schema

Perhaps Abp Abundius didn't like this idea and reconsidered his own actions?

Our only explanation is that Abp Abundius, who recently took the great schema and announced his retirement before changing his mind, wants not so much retirement as deposition from his episocopal rank for the scandal he is causing the faithful throughout the world. He must be aware that that a canonical trial can be easily arranged due to the size of the True Orthodox communion between Metrs. Evloghios, Anghelos, Rafail and John, and -- through his apparent admissions here and elsewhere-- he can easily be brought on charges of publicly fomenting schism, so we do not understand why he would so openly challenge a sister Church just days after such a joyful announcement. Maybe he's just tired and wants a vacation?

We are following this story with interest.

HOTCA Building Scale Model of Hagia Sophia in New York

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:37:00 +0000

Since we are on the topic of real estate news, an interesting story has been developing in HOTCA (the American Metropolis of the TOC-Kallinikos): a 1/5 scale Church of Hagia Sophia is being attempted in Woodstock, New York, a long time dream of Metropolitan Pavlos of Astoria being fulfilled. In the video below, the Metropolitan expresses his wish to see this completed for the ages, though indicates that he may not be present when that occurs.

The project, which is being built at the site of the Monastery of the Holy Ascension in Woodstock, which be a replica of the Church of Holy Wisdom, which was taken from Orthodoxy after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Converted to a mosque and used as such until 1931, when it became a museum, Hagia Sophia was the largest Cathedral in the world until 1520. Hagia Sophia remains the pinnacle of Byzantine architecture, with a unique structure famed for the great dome sitting atop another dome, allowing a circular "halo of light" to form around the top dome due to the windows that meet at the conjunction of the two domes.

The Church will be a functioning Church-- not a museum-- and its cornerstone was laid in May. The builders travelled to Istanbul to personally inspect the structure so as to faithfully replicate it.

In other HOTCA news, the famed annual celebration of Theophany in downtown New York will take place at 1 PM. Unfortunately, at least two of the editors who like to show up will not be able to make it. Hopefully someone will be there to take pictures or video, and catch a glimpse of the fortunate individual who catches the cross in the waters, and if anyone would like to send us what they get, we'd much appreciate it.

Four Months before ROCOR-MP's 5th Anniversary, They Can't Keep the House

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:37:00 +0000

According to their Official Website and dated January 16, the ROCOR-Moscow Patriarchate-- which has spent a great deal of time engaged in court battles around the world for parish buildings belonging to ROCOR Churches and people who did not want to go along with union-- is now in danger of losing the main Synod building. This appears to largely be due to yearly losses of approximately $450-500,000 annually, according to the article, "in recent years".

Now available through your local broker?

While the article does not explain the reason for the losses, it is not difficult to guess at all. The "unionists" in ROCOR saw approximately 10-15% of its parishes depart with Metropolitan Vitaly from 2001-2003 and approximately (according to the earliest reports) 33% of its parishes lost to Archbishop (now Metropolitan) Agafangel after the 2007 union with the Moscow Patriarchate.

The departing parishioners long misrepresented as a tiny, angry minority, it is becoming clear that Moscow's "support" cannot compensate for the loss of almost half of the regular Church worshippers over a 15-year period. The rapidity with which new replacement priests were brought in to "bring up the numbers" as a face-saving mechanism has been of even less help, as ROCOR-MP witnessed an erosion of its credibility due to its "Western Rite" adventures and rapid ordinations of clergy who, in some cases, had not been fully catechized into Orthodoxy.

The ROCOR-MP report indicates that it is unclear how a resolution to the current situation would occur, but starkly reads that they are "aware of the need of the Cathedral worshipers in New York to continue their liturgical life should selling the buildings be the only viable option". It is ironic that less than four months away from the 5th anniversary of the union (when full integration into the MP will be required), the very stones seem hesitant to come along.

The full report is below (original source here):

NEW YORK: January 16, 2012
Statement from the Chancery of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia

On December 9, 2011, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, with the goal of averting imminent financial crisis, decided to investigate ways to preserve its building on Park Avenue in New York City.

The Synod building has for decades served as the symbol of the lone free voice of the Russian Orthodox Church, a function which has since changed. Still, the Synod Hierarchy prefers that ownership of the Baker and Palmer buildings (as they are known) not change hands. In order for the Synod of Bishops to continue to own the complex, three things are needed:

1) significant financing for urgently-needed capital renovation;

2) continued financial support to cover maintenance costs, and

3) a significant increase in annual revenue to fill a severe administrative budget gap.

The need for a thriving, efficient administrative center, wherever it is located, has grown since ROCOR now participates in the life of the entire Orthodox Christian World.

The Synod budget: The Synod has been running $450-$500k annual deficits in recent years. In addition to income from property rental, donations to the Kursk-Root Icon, candle and bookstore sales, one of the chief sources of revenue for the Synod has traditionally been parish dues. Parishes send 10% of their revenues to their regional diocesan administrations, which then transfer 50% of those dues received to the Synod. Many of our parishes, however, are barely able to provide adequately for their own priests or maintain their own church buildings. Likewise, diocesan administrations need revenue to function properly. Relieving some of the financial stress of maintaining the magnificent but decaying Synod building can free up resources for critical church needs on the local and regional levels.

Benefactor donations: Earlier hopes for donor funding were not realized, and the Fund for Assistance was unable to raise any money to speak of for this purpose. Still, the Synod Chancery is open to any new serious proposals for such aid. An exploratory group was formed to establish the amount of needed funding for renovation, maintenance and administrative expenses. In the interest of transparency, details are forthcoming.

Sale of the Synod building: As announced earlier, this group will also seek other ways of unlocking the value of the property, including the possible sale of the Baker and/or Palmer houses. The Synod Chancery is aware of the need of the Cathedral worshipers in New York to continue their liturgical life should selling the buildings be the only viable option. Funds from any such sale would be designated to finance new church space and rectory.

Timetable: The urgency of the situation leaves little time to find a resolution. God willing, viable solutions will be presented to the Synod of Bishops at its next winter session.

Proposals and serious inquiries can be addressed to the Synod Chancery.

Bulgarian Patriarchate Bishops were Spying on Foreigners, Other Clergy

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:04:00 +0000

If you think these were just "clergy getting state clearances", think again.

(Sofia Echo) The senior clergy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church named as having worked for the country’s communist-era State Security did not file denunciations of lay people but gathered information about what was going on within the church and wrote denunciations of other senior clergy.

This emerged in an interview given by Ekaterina Boncheva of the Dossier Commission to television station bTV on January 18 2012, a day after the commission disclosed that 11 out of 15 of the church’s metropolitans had been agents of State Security.

The metropolitans were involved with the Sixth Department of State Security, which was responsible for acting against "political subversion".

Boncheva said that the clerics’ co-operation had been voluntary and there was no evidence of subversion, while she added that priests had been aware that by co-operating with State Security, their chances of career advancement were enhanced. In one case a member of the clergy was paid for his services but this was not common practice, she said.

The reports turned into the communist state’s secret service covered characteristics of colleagues and also had passed on information about representatives of the Greek and Macedonian churches.

Clergy serving abroad had passed on information about emigres.

Funeral of Metropolitan Valentine of ROAC: Photo Gallery

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:32:00 +0000

A photo-gallery of images from the funeral of Metropolitan Valentine of Suzdal, first hierarch of ROAC, are available here: http://www.portal-credo.ru/site/?act=news&id=89249&cf

Milan Synod Returns to Communion with Sister Churches

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:26:00 +0000

Update. January 6/19 (Theophany): A Copy of the Acceptance of Communion has been placed online. We are reproducing it here.

According to both the website for the department of External Relations of the True Orthodox Church of Metropolitan Rafail of Moscow as well as the personal website of Bp Porphyrios of the True Orthodox Church of the Patristic Calendar under Metropolitan Anghelos of Avlona, Metropolitan Evloghios of Milan has returned in repentance and restored communion with Her Sister Churches throughout the world. According to further clarification, Metropolitan Evloghios accepted the Tomos of Unity which was signed between the Greek and Russian Churches, as well as Metropolitan John of North and South America and the British Isles.

The official statement from the TOC-PC was released in Greek and English, and is listed below.

ANNOUNCEMENT

The Holy Metropolitan Synod of the Patristic Calendar, GOC's Church of Greece, is pleased to announce the return to the one course and the one confession in favor of Orthodoxy and Tradition, of His Beatitude the Metropolitan of Milan mgr Evloghios. HB Evloghios, resisted to several proposals of his "environment" for joining the Muscovite Ecumenists and never prayed or served with them. He accepted with sincere joy the Tomos of Communion between Greek and Russian GOC's and join forces with us, in order to accomplish the great cause of the Genuine Orthodoxy's triumph. Further more, HB, came and CoCelebrated with us, the New Year's Liturgy. Praised be the Lord for such a precious Gift He made us!

ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΙΣ

Ἡ Ἱερά Μητροπολιτική Σύνοδος τοῦ Πατρώου Ἑορτολογίου τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ΓΟΧ Ἑλλάδος, εὑρίσκεται εἰς τήν εὐχάριστον θέσιν νά ἀνακοινώση τήν ἐπανάκαμψιν εἰς τήν Κοινήν Πορείαν καί Μαρτυρίαν ὑπέρ τῆς Ὀρθοδοξίας καί τῆς Παραδόσεως, τοῦ Μακαριωτάτου Μητροπολίτου Μεδιολάνων κ.κ. Εὐλογίου. Ἀντισταθείς σθεναρῶς ὁ Μακαριώτατος σέ προτροπές τοῦ περιβάλλοντός του γιά προσχώρησή του στούς Μοσχοβίτας Οἰκουμενιστάς, μή ἔχων συμμετάσχει σέ κανενός εἴδους Συλλειτουργία ἤ Συμπροσευχή μετ᾽αὐτῶν, συνένευσε εἰλικρινῶς εἰς τόν Τόμον Κοινωνίας μεταξύ Ἡμῶν καί τῶν ΓΟΧ Ρωσίας καί οὕτως ἐπανῆλθε χαρίεις εἰς τήν μεθ᾽ Ἡμῶν Κοινωνίαν. Εἰς ἐπισφράγισιν δέ, συνελειτούργησε μεθ᾽ἡμῶν ἐπί τῷ Νέῳ Ἔτει. Ἄς ἔχη δόξαν ὁ Κύριος διά τήν τοιαύτην δωρεάν!

11 out of 17 Bishops of Bulgarian Patriarchate Synod Communist Secret Service Agents

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:55:00 +0000

Surprise: even the American Bishop has a codename! Note the report says 11 have been found so far at the end. This is not over.

(Sofia Echo) Bulgaria's commission charged with announcing the names of people who collaborated with the country's former communist-era secret services announced on January 17 2012 that 11 out of 17 members of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church's governing body, the Holy Synod, had worked for State Security.

The commission also identified senior Roman Catholic clergy and Muslim leaders who had been communist secret service agents or who had collaborated.

Not among the Bulgarian Orthodox Church names was that of Patriarch Maxim, the church's spiritual leader, who has headed the church for more than 40 years.

Agent Nikolov
(pic source:albionfourthrome.blogspot.com)

But the names identified as former collaborators include some who spoke out publicly against the church being scrutinised by the Dossier Commission - including Varna Metropolitan Kiril, recently also caught up in controversy about the expensive hybrid car that he had been using.

The other top clergy identified by the commission were metropolitans Galaktikon of Stara Zagora, Dometian of Vidin, Ignatii of Pleven, Yoanikii of Sliven, Grigorii of Veliko Turnovo, Yosif of the United States, Canada and Australia, Kaliniki of Vratsa, Nataniel Nevrokopski, Simeon of Western and Central Europe and Neofit of Rousse.

Galaktikon was agent Misho; Domitian, agent Dobrev; Ignatii, agent Penev; Yoanikii, agent Kirilevich; Grigorii, agent Vanyo; Yosif, agent Nikolov; Kalinik, agent Rilski; Kiril was a secret collaborator with the code name Kovachev and was an agent code-named Vladislav; Nataniel was a collaborator code-named Blagoev; Simeon of Western and Central Europe was a collaborator, as Toris, and an agent, code-named Hristov; Neofit's code name as an agent was Simeonov.

The process of check-ups among top clergy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was continuing, the commission said.

REPOSE of Metropolitan Valentine of Suzdal, First Hierarch of ROAC

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:19:00 +0000

On the morning of January 16, 2012, Metropolitan Valentine (Rusantsov) of Suzdal and Vladimir, the First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church, reposed in Moscow during the Forefeast of the Theophany. He was 73.

Memory Eternal. Vichnaya Pamyat.

According to Portal-Credo.Ru, Metropolitan Valentine arrived in Moscow for routine treatment for diabetes from which he had been suffering for more than twenty years. He stayed with the Shtilmark family, who are spiritual children and friends, in the Orekhevo-Borisov area of Moscow, where he was found deceased the next morning. No official cause of death has been determined.

Per the Portal-Credo report, the deceased had expressed the desire to be buried underneath the Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia that he had constructed in Suzdal. It is our hope the authorities will not interfere with the request.

Originally made Bishop in 1991, Metropolitan Valentine led the Free Russian Church through the tumultous period when ROCOR abandoned the Free Russian Parishes for communion with the Moscow Patriarchate. February would have marked the 21st anniversary of his consecration to the Episcopate of the Church. A respected hierarch throughout True Orthodoxy, the Church his Episcopal reign was marked by rapid growth throughout the restructuring of the Russian state and in 2000, missionary work began parallel to the union of the ROCOR with Moscow.

When ROCOR's coming union with the Moscow Patriarchate required the disposal of the aging first-hierarch, Metropolitan Vitaly, it was Metropolitan Valentine, along with Fr Vladimir Shishkoff (+2009) who, on a visit related to missionary work in America, famously took upon himself the risk of rescuing Metropolitan Vitaly from Synod headquarters in 2001.

Archbishop Theodore (Gineevsky) of Otradnenskoe and the Northern Caucasus is
the senior hierarch of ROAC by consecration as well as the chancellor of the
Synod of Bishops; it is assumed he will administrate until the election of a successor.

I want to break with journalistic protocol for a second with a personal side note: having met and spoken at length with the Metropolitan between 2004 and 2006, I can honestly say that there were few Bishops of his calibre on earth, and our loss today, for those who realize it and those who don't, is incalculable.

Criticism of the Moscow Patriarchate Grows

noreply@blogger.com (FatherAugustine Fetter) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:42:00 +0000

CHRIST IS NOT AMONG THEM
One of the most important results of the 2011 political years is the moral collapse of RPTsMP
by Stanislav Belkovskii
Moskovskii komsomolets, 13 January 2012

Recently the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow patriarchate (RPTsMP) has sharply increased its social and political activism. It is evident that the comrades--also known as the "hierarchy of RPTsMP"--feel a need not to stand aside from the changes that are hanging over the country of Russia.

RPTsMP has already determined its principled position: it has decided to finally distance itself from the vital portion of Russian society and to turn itself into an appendage of the executive authority, that is, "the party of crooks and thieves." No doubt a church of crooks and thieves is a piquant thing although not completely novel in history. Even our own history, although the Borgia family is more significant in this sense.

Well, okay. Let's get specific.

Read More Here

OCA Seraphim's Trial This Month

noreply@blogger.com (FatherAugustine Fetter) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:19:00 +0000

The case of the orthodox archbishop facing sex-crime charges in Manitoba will be back in court next week, but his lawyer predicts it could be a month or more before a trial goes ahead.
Archbishop Seraphim Storheim was the highest-ranking Canadian cleric in the Orthodox Church in America until church officials suspended him in November, days after Winnipeg police laid charges against him. The former Winnipeg cleric faces sexual-abuse charges, the result of a lengthy police investigation this year into allegations Storheim sexually abused two teenage boys while he was a priest in Winnipeg 30 years ago.

Read More

MP Theologian Suggests Moving Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (FatherAugustine Fetter) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:01:00 +0000

Moscow, January 12, Interfax - Professor of the Moscow Theological Academy Protodeacon Andrey Kurayev suggests celebrating Christmas on January 1.

"No matter what church calendar Christians use when they celebrate Christmas, it is absurd. If you celebrate Nativity on December 25, why the year which begins from His Nativity starts only a week after? If the Nativity of Christ happens on January 7, why the new "year Anno Domini" starts a week before it?" Father Andrew wonders in his blog.

More

Nativity 2012 Epistles - Requests for Assistance

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:59:00 +0000

To see this year's Nativity Epistles so far, click this link!

Christ is Born! Glorify Him! (For those who think it's too early, remember... time zones!)

We have begun our yearly tradition of placing Nativity Epistles from various True Orthodox Hierarchs and Synods throughout the world.

We are still looking for Nativity Epistles for a number of Church jurisdictions, including:

Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece (Abp Nicholas of Athens)
Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece (Abp Makarios of Athens)
Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece (Metropolitan Kirykos of Mesogaia)
Genuine Orthodox Church of Greece (Metr Chrysostomos of Thebes)
Genuine Orthodox Church of the Patristic Calendar (Metr Anghelos of Avlonos)
True Orthodox Synods in Bulgaria

In general, while we have posted up primarily primatial epistles, we will publish those from Diocesan Bishops as well; however, as the Internet becomes a more common tool for information, these epistles are gradually increasing in number. Further, we will probably not add pictures until at least 48 hours after the feast, Eastern Standard Time. For these and other Synods we may have missed throughout the world, as well as individual Bishops who issue their own diocesan epistles, please use the contact form above. Let us know; as many readers here know, the sole purpose of putting all these epistles together is so that our readers may glean further insights from this Holy Feast and strengthen their faith.

The Feast! Christ is Born!

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: Bp Anastassy of Vladivostok (ROCOR-Vl)

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:45:00 +0000

For the life was manifested, and we have seen [it], and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life (1 John. 1,2)

In these words of the Apostle is the essence of Christian faith - the promise of a New Life. Our Lord who is the "Resurrection and the Life" came into the world to give life, renewal, transfiguration and enlightenment; to bring unto Himself the fallen human people into eternal life.

The Son of God became man so as to allow man union with God. The first obstacle of this union was the separation of two essences - God and man. This was cured by the act of Incarnation. Two obstacles remain, these are sin and death. The work of Christ is to conquer these - to banish their unavoidability from the cosmos. To simply remove these however, would be to forcibly act against free will. Rather, our Lord made death powerless and granted healing for sin, thus removing the obstacle of sin and taking from death her sting.

God became man that man could become God. We must continually protect the grace given us and wash our sins which separate us from Him with tears of repentance. Sin brings death to our spiritual lives while repentance grants new birth to the spirit.

Beloved of our Lord fathers, brothers and sisters! Let us continually thank God for all He does for us and grants us! Let us remain in faith and piety. "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20,31) . I pray that He, born in Bethlehem renews in each of us these blessed feelings.

Christ is Born Glorify Him! Let His wisdom dawn in each of our hearts, and our lips be filled with His praises!

+ Bishop Anastassy

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: Metr Agafangel (ROCOR-A)

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:36:00 +0000

Dear Fellow Archpastors, most honorable pastors, God-loving monastics and laypeople!

Since ancient times, the lives of communities have been interwoven with various historical periods, rises and falls that have their beginnings, their everyday life and continuation. Some gather to form nations, confess various faiths, live according to different calendars and ways to denote the passing of the years and have different spiritual destinies. For some, life is wrapped up in ongoing activities and busy concerns, while others believe in the existence of other worlds and an other life. For some, the entire world that surrounds them is limited to the frame of life and death, while others contemplate the infinite nature of life and existence. In this realm marked by enormous diversity of people’s lives and their understanding of creation, we Christians are also included. We are few in relation to the total number of people on earth (especially if out of those who call themselves Christians you only consider the Orthodox who live by the “old” Julian calendar and the teachings of the holy forefathers), and Christianity itself no longer determines the trajectory of human development. There was a time when Christianity subdued and vanquished paganism, but now we live in an opposite time, when paganism in its many forms is foremost in people’s minds. We constantly see proof of more divergences from Christ, but these divergences are not the result of people acquiring new knowledge and are not characterized by a new, higher plane of spiritual development. Just the opposite, these divergences are proof of the loss of faith and the debasing of mankind to the level of being driven by its instincts.

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8) is not a rhetorical question, but constitutes a fact of what will occur and what is already occurring. All those on earth commonly believe that Christianity certainly cannot pretend to be more dominant above all other faiths. Just the opposite, Christianity as a whole surrenders its principles and attempts to strengthen its place in society with the desperation of a drowning person by, on the one hand, promoting the ecumenist movement among Christians and on the other hand, by the deadly policy of eliminating differences with other religions. Unfortunately, as a result we now have so-called “World Orthodoxy,” which has not been Orthodoxy for a long time already, and the “modernized” Christianity, where Christ does not exist. Globalism, which has overcome all of mankind, does not provide and cannot provide a different ideal other than the traditional humanistic ideal, that is, mankind itself, temporal and helpless before even the simplest of cataclysms of nature. The foundation of globalism includes one common keystone that distinguishes its essence – unbelief. That is why it is inevitably doomed, because it leads to a dead-end and cannot lead to anywhere else. Unfortunate are those who succumbed to the spirit of the modern world and do not trust in God in this life!

In this circumstance, it is faith that distinguishes us Christians – faith in Christ. Faith that God became incarnate and came to this world, bore witness of Himself through many miracles and His Holy teachings, died, resurrected and promised eternal life to all those who believe in Him. All the many different societies and worlds are bound up in one Figure, in Christ, and these words will remain real for us for eternity, “I believe and confess, Lord, that You are truly the Christ, Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners.” Only those who confess Christ will live on for eternity. The entire point of creation is bound up in this belief. Our lives, really our own, do not begin when we appeared on earth, but when we consciously utter the words, “I believe!” Therefore let us always hold on to the faith of the Holy Fathers, which is the beginning and essential condition of our entire lives!

I congratulate everyone with the Nativity of Christ and wish for all of us to grow and strengthen in the faith, “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

The Most Reverend

+AGAFANGEL
Metropolitan of New York and Eastern America
First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad

Odessa, Nativity of Christ, 2011

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: Synod in Resistance

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:35:00 +0000

ENCYCLICAL
for the Feast of the Nativity of our Savior Christ
͵βιαʹ • 2011
Participation in the Mystery of Divine Self-Abasement
The Eucharistic and Kenotic Ethos of Orthodoxy
Χριστὸς Γεννᾶται! Δοξάσατε! • Καλὰ Χριστούγεννα
Christ is Born! Glorify Him! • Happy Christmas
My Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Today—and especially today—we participate in the Feast of Reconciliation: the
things of Heaven and the things of earth embrace one another, giving each other the kiss of love and conciliation.

Glory to God! The Love of the Father, the Grace of Christ our Savior, and the
Communion of the Holy Spirit are now with us and vouchsafe us to live in the Light of the Holy Trinity.

The Righteousness of God, in His Condescension and in the outpouring of His
Mercy upon our fallen nature, already opens the gates to the Mystery of the Cross
and Hades, to the Glory of the Resurrection and Pentecost.

Stable (Σταῦλος) and Cross (Σταυρός)! Utmost poverty and extreme humility.
The Lover of our souls becomes incarnate: “He Who is full empties Himself,” that
we might partake of His “fullness.”

Christ, by His Incarnation, becomes poor today in the Stable of Bethlehem, albeit
a King, so as to descend tomorrow to Hades “marked by wounds,” yet “All-Power-
ful,” that He might “fill all things” with His resurrectional Love.

Our Lord, as Servant and Minister, reveals to us the entire depth of our existence,
since He is ultimately our true self; it is to Him that all of our sighings and expec-
tations are lifted up; it is He Who guides us to the discovery and realization of the
Image of the Trinity within us; it is He Who discloses to us the Mystery of our
Christification and Trinitification, for where the Son is, there too is the Father, there
too is the Holy Spirit, the one and indivisible Godhead.

My Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Glory to God for all things! “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory.” And we receive His exceedingly radiant and God-
befitting Glory when we partake of His Body and Blood.

The Word became flesh, became man, and His Body became—and remains—the
Church, so that through It mankind might share in the Mystery of Self-Abasement,
of the Stable and the Cross.

Through self-abnegation in Christ, through the unlading of our egotistic self, we
permit our Lord to fill us with Himself and to guide us from self-abasement to
renewal.

A kenotic outlook on life is the ethos of Orthodoxy. Ministry to our brother with
a self-sacrificial disposition and humility, the renunciation of self-justification, the
Eucharistic awareness that life and all things are gifts of the Love of Christ—all of these lead us to renewal and to the freedom of the children of God. Then it is that we have the power to humble ourselves, to love, to be filled with Him, and to be enriched by His Uncreated Glory.
***
May the prayers of our much-revered Elder, Metropolitan Cyprian, through the
intercessions of our All-Immaculate Lady, the Theotokos, strengthen, guide, and proect us in our sacred endeavor to participate in the Mystery of Self-Abasement, in the adoption of a Eucharistic and kenotic attitude, as a mode of existence, unto the glory of the Father, through the Son, in the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen!

+ The Holy Nativity of Our Savior Jesus Christ, 2011
Your humble intercessor before our Incarnate Lord,
† Bishop Cyprian of Oreoi,
Acting President of the
Holy Synod in Resistance
N.B.: The Reverend Parish Priests are asked to read the present Encyclical immediately after
the Holy Gospel for the Divine Liturgy of the Nativity, December 25, 2011, according to the
Orthodox Church Calendar (January 7, 2012, according to the secular calendar).
* Translated from the original Greek at the St. Gregory Palamas Monastery.

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: RTOC

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:30:00 +0000

His Eminence Tikhon, Archbishop of Omsk and Siberia.

President of the Synod of Bishops

True, the Russian Orthodox Church

Dear in the Lord, Father, Brothers and Sisters!

Christ is born, glorify him!

In these holy days, the Church proclaims to the whole universe, through holy angelic hymn: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will." These words express the spiritual essence of this great universal holiday, all its significance. Since the beginning of the world has been most amazing event that the Nativity of Christ. Is a great wonder and mystery, incomprehensible, not only for humans but also for the higher hierarchies of the angelic hosts What the Lord has come to earth? The answer can only be one - to save man, to carry out, the only purpose of Divine Providence - the salvation of humanity, nothing more. But that the Lord has done for man, proves that man has some sort of special value, as was done in a way, which would seem impossible to attain salvation.

What is man? Man is the image of the invisible God, who has in himself a "particle" of Divinity. The man was perfect before his fall, and even more - after their redemption by the Lord, to the point that saints of God, to whom were revealed heavenly mysteries, such as Macarius of Egypt, who said "There is nothing perfect on earth or in heaven, that the human soul." Man was destined for eternal bliss, but murderous envy of the devil, has fallen, has betrayed God, to go voluntarily to the side of the slanderer - the devil, having wanted to know not only what is good, who knew in paradise, but also bad, did not know. And God is departed from, it was subjected to pre-announced by God: "surely die." Killed the souls of Adam and Eve, their minds were darkened, their wills are corrupt, they have hardened their hearts, instead of heavenly bodies have received a gross meat, like that of irrational animals. The land and themselves have been cursed because of him, and in them, all his descendants, the whole human race was doomed to sadness. And then, to proliferate humanity has darkened even more men, and because of that, the dark sin grew most in the world.

Now, to find yet, under the imprint of the Nativity services, have been raised, temporarily, in the thoughts of the divine in us and there is no desire to return to petty, evil world that surrounds us everywhere where everything has been created to separate us from Christ.

But if this world around us and repels, is as distasteful to us Do you how much more then, it has been for Him, the Divine Christ Child, by coming to this world? In fact, he has come to this world, in which, as we have known, also lying and stealing, violence was exercised and killed. And, as we know, a few hours after the Nativity of the Divine Christ Child, the madman Herod, hoping to free the King of Kings, which has been announced by the prophets, commits the killing of innocent children multitude of in Bethlehem! When Christ came into the world, all was this petty and immoral, there was no preparation for his coming. And so, that the shepherds, who were anxious only for the small things of everyday life, simple everyday things they talked about a fire, possibly, in those moments did not think at all, in divine things, were the first to come to greet God on earth.

How could he not mourn in diapers and have no regrets, no pain for his creation, which has fallen so low? How could he not then exclaim, "Oh faithless and perverse generation! How long will I be with you? "What will happen to him, then in the Garden of Gethsemane, when the best of the best - his disciples - will leave you crying just because of his creation?

And what is, in this case, his love, if you knew all this, if your eyes seeing-seeing, all lies, all meanness, all the moral filth of the human soul, has accepted his martyrdom on the Cross for each of us ? What will your heart that forgives and has compassion on this world? How do you know our thoughts, what we do in secret, and see us in the moments when we fall into sin, in the minutes of anger and malice, in moments of irritation and pride presumption - and to love more than anyone is capable of among the living?

How will we respond to His love? On his decision to come to this world and accept for themselves, human death, by reason of the people love what we feed, educate ourselves, that can resemble, even slightly, his magnanimous love? How necessary is to look for us, that He comes into our hearts, where there is so much pain and grief, as it has existed for two thousand years in this world, with their habits of cynicism and corruption, lies and betrayal.

Let us be vigilant, brothers and sisters, remember Him, Who has been here for us and died for us. Let us keep always in your heart, it is necessary to dwell in our hearts, which are often closed to him hasten to prepare our hearts, purifiquémoslos with fasting, confession and Holy Communion, as a house as a temple, as the refuge for the dispossessed Divine Christ Child, for whom a place has been found only in a lowly cave. For that to come, find your home neat, clean and do not be sad because of his creation.

I urge you all to resemble the Magi from the East, who have come from afar, only to see it. I urge you, to save the heart and understanding, this great event of the Nativity, the memory of this do not stop ever, and that the coming of God to the world, and the goal of this coming - the salvation of human - to become the starting point for all your thoughts and deeds, in making decisions in your judgments and emotions. May the memory of the Nativity, and because of it, the Crucifixion and Resurrection future, whether as a rudder along your Christian lives, purify your souls and prepare for the understanding of God in its essence.

Amen.

+ Archbishop Tikhon of Omsk and Siberia

President of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church-True

Nativity of Christ 2011/2012

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: Metr Valentine of Suzdal (ROAC)

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:28:00 +0000

CHRISTMAS MESSAGEMETROPOLITAN SuzdalAnd Vladimir V A L E S & T I N A
Fellow archpastors, pastors,honest in Christ monasticism, beloved flock,Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church ..
"Today, from the angelic voices (Lk.2, 11), the shepherds foundthe Savior's birth nature of our flesh and soul,and for the leaders of God's people initiated (new) \the image of the gospel, that we, echoing the ranks ofHeavenly host, proclaim: Glory to Godand on earth peace, goodwill among men "(Luke 2, 14))(The word six on Christmas Day, St. Leo of Rome).
Beloved in Christ Brothers and Sisters!
It's been two millennia since the single and for ever blessed night, when our salvation shone the light of heaven above the earth and the sun shone forth God's love for righteousness, for born - Christ is our God and Savior of the world.
Middle of the night reigned over the fields of Bethlehem, where shepherds shone in the light of heaven, and before the eyes of these simple and generous heart appeared "angel of the Lord and the glory of the Lord shone around them. (Luke, "9"). This heavenly messenger is short, but every word - a ray of light penetrating into the depths of the human heart and spirit.
Performed now the Old Testament prophetic promise of conduct. The Lord is born to "heal the brokenhearted, to let the oppressed go free."
In Bethlehem the cave is born the Divine Infant Jesus, bringing with them the most important miracle - a miracle of man's salvation.
In this holy night, a mysterious sky is connected to ground. And this holy rest, but the heavenly angels, lights up a bright star. It is intended to illuminate the path of three strangers - the wise men, going to Bethlehem to worship the Divine Infant, and in addition, it consecrates its radiance the darkness of the world, to whom was born Christ gives eternal life.
Based on this mysterious events of Christmas night, the great father of the Church of St. John Chrysostom says that Christmas Day is the most important of all the holidays, the mother of all holidays, the beginning and foundation of them. ... For what the forefathers were so keen, that the prophets predicted the then righteous men desired to see - all this was accomplished in a day of Christmas: God was manifest in the flesh and reside between people (of creation in the Russian perevode.t.1, St. Petersburg., 1895, s.541, St. Petersburg., s.387)
The Holy Orthodox Church annually celebrates the solemn reverence of this great and salutary for the human race event and preaches to people with love, "the great mystery of godliness: God who appeared in the flesh" (1 Tim.3, 16). What a great abyss of wisdom and condescension of heavenly love to the person is now the world: The very source and giver of life, the Son of God, partakes of the flesh and blood (Evr.2, 14 - 16) to update and save mankind. Lord, who teaches his divine teaching people leave him forever in the Church founded by Him, "Thou fair yuzhe courted his own blood." Therefore, the Eternal God of superabundance of love becomes a man and comes into the world weak and helpless child, where his weakness postyzhdaet the efforts of those who are trying to extinguish the light of God and joy in human hearts.
Today, for us Christmas greetings to the significant words: Christ is born, glorify! Christ from heaven sryaschite! For even now, and now Christ is born for every person and will zhitelstvovat in our souls, of course, if we open the doors of our hearts.
Throughout world history, the servants of darkness, at the behest of his zlonachalnika - the devil, created and continue to do their dark deeds, sometimes taking the guise of angels of light. They are trying to impose on people to other concepts and doctrine, which says in the Scriptures, and that even if an angel from heaven will come and say a different doctrine, distinctive from the previously taught, then you should not take it - let him be anathema.
Therefore, we are obliged to seek the truth and accept it, because the main complaint in today's Christians: "No one is interested in truth or true doctrine or true Church" (Bishop Gregory Grabbe). It is a reproach to all those on whom it is said: "You were neither cold nor hot." Indifference, lack of desire to explore the Bible in order to have eternal life, it is detrimental to man's salvation. It saddens and pleases the Guardian Angel of our eternal adversary and an enemy of human salvation - the devil.
Therefore, for each rule and a prayer for each of the Divine Liturgy, as we prepare to connect with our Lord and Saviour in the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist, the Holy Church calls us to express as clearly as possible the confession of our faith, through the adoption and the pronunciation of the Creed, which states that the birth Christ is the "Light from Light, true God from true God, birth, uncreated, consubstantial to the Father, all things were made Imzhe."From this stems and what our life is divided into life before Christ and after Christ. Times in which we live is truly difficult. Around the world are increasingly threatened by the man himself his unbridled sin and the need to have everything to live for today, take all the benefits for themselves and not leave anything else. Mankind reaps his work away from God, since the accession of any possible injustice in the world where is lacking prayer, love and truth of God. Our souls are imbued with the love of money, greed, lies, fornication, drunkenness, envy, vanity, pride, and many other shortcomings. All this is leading humanity to eternal damnation, and brings day of Judgement.
Today we with the angels of heaven sing their song: Glory to God and on earth peace, goodwill among men. The Holy Church today, as the most philoprogenitive mother, reminds us that our inner world must be based not on wealth, not on self-interest, and the love and devotion. Good is always good, and its goal is achieved, even when in good meet evil. In a generous and free from the leaven of the Pharisees' righteousness of God's grace is lacking fill, Heal the weakness and give peace and joy.
In a Christmas message of 1935 novosvyaschennomuchenik Damascene (Cedric) turned to his faithful flock, little flock, "agonizing night goes on, but the dawn is near. Here again the star of Bethlehem shines, calling us to worship Born in a manger Pre-eternal Infant. Come to meet its recruiting Light.
Beloved of Christ congregation in our homeland and in the diaspora sheer! All welcome you and congratulate you on Christ's Nativity vseradostnym holiday and new year coming of God's goodness!
Yes, enlighten us all Incarnate Christ our Saviour, povity now shrouds in a manger Bethlehem Light of the Divine mind. He may strengthen our faith and our standing in the True Orthodox Church.
Yes, and we will pass the earth's journey of our life's path, like the shepherds of Bethlehem, the shepherds, our generous standing for truth and purity of the Orthodox faith, and with wise men will acquire the spiritual knowledge, we daruyuschie foundation of holiness and good behavior, so necessary for our eternal salvation. Let them be the star that illuminates the path of our quest of holiness and purity. Let it be for us the basis and foundation of faith, which is built up and strengthened among the faithful uncompromising teachings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church.We will exercise caution and prudence and avoid anyone who sows hatred and rancor, so that we can through the acquisition of holiness and good behavior to recognize the lies and slander, for those who manifests them among the children of the church, the father of the devil, and they perform the lusts of their father, who abode not in truth.
Beloved in the Lord somolitvenniki and colleagues in the field of Christ!
I prayerfully wish you from the Divine Child Jesus health and mental and physical salvation! When will it be and everything else - just do your best to love Christ, do your best to live according to His commandments, to think of Him and seek Him, and not only read God's word, but incarnate in the life of His commandments!
Dear somolitvenniki and accomplices of the celebration! Attach your zeal to love Christ with all my heart love your family, to fulfill the commandment of Him who for our sake and for our salvation came into the world. Amen.
By the grace of God
________________________Metropolitan of Suzdal and Vladimir
Christmas 2012.Mr. Suzdal

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: Metr Rafail of Moscow (TOC-R)

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:26:00 +0000

And the angel said unto them, Fear not!
For behold, preach the gospel to you great joy,
which will be all the people
you born in the city of David a Saviour,
Which is Christ the Lord (Luke 2:10-11).
Saint Luke the Evangelist, giving birth to the world his only Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, tells us how to Holy Family, for a "census of the universe" that is, throughout the Roman Empire, arranged by Caesar Augustus, went from the Galilean town of Nazareth in the Jewish town of Bethlehem, also known as the "City of David," because it was the birthplace of St. Joseph the Betrothed - the descendant of the inspired prophet - King David, whom God had promised to erect a kind of his King-Christ, whose kingdom will be established forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16). Traveling is not been arranged by comfort, which is now provided to pilgrims visiting the Holy Land.
The Evangelist says further that, because it is time the Blessed Virgin Mary to give birth to the Divine Child, "... She gave birth to her firstborn Son, and swaddled him and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the hotel" (Luke 2:6-7). So, in a place where shepherds kept flocks, there was a great mystery of the Incarnation.
We see that the Prince of Peace, Father of the century (Isaiah 9:6) comes to mir this not as one of its rulers, but as a poor outcast, giving us to understand that giving mercy to the poor and miserable, we take him - which is able to save us from eternal death. Because even in his glory Christ the Savior say to those who walked in His commandments and inherited the kingdom prepared for Him from the foundation of the world: "Verily I say unto you, making for one of these my brethren, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40).
And then, in Bethlehem, an angel appeared to shepherds in a blaze of glory of the Lord, plunged them into the holy fear. Angel of them were written the words that we heard and that now, even for us, hear the gospel: Do not be afraid!
The word inspiration of our glorious predecessors - the witness of faith, more than eight decades ago and later thrown in their lot with our True-Orthodox Church. They were not afraid nor unprecedented persecution or inhuman suffering or painful death for the sake of Christ and His eternal inheritance of the kingdom. Their prayers and now we are strengthened in the same salvation of the Orthodox faith, that by abiding by it, always be ready - in the words of the Apostle, - an answer to everyone who asks a report to our hope (1 Peter 3:15).
The past year has been for us another year of creative work in the vineyard of Christ. Church of Our National, now as a two-year gained its new dioceses in Latin America, established last year a complete prayer-canonical communion with the True-Orthodox Church in Greece and North America. Day Saints Cathedral and the famous Twelve Apostles vsehvalnyh (30 iyunya/13 July), when in our Stavropigialny St. John the Baptist monastery was signing Tomos of communion between the sister Churches, is now included in our church calendar as a memorable date. It was truly a joyous day of fraternal union local churches, true believers of Christ. This brings to mind the words of the Psalmist: "How good and pleasant to meet with the brothers" (Psalm 132:1).
And now, bless the Lord's crown of summer goodness (Ps. 64, 12), we pray to our Savior, He stablish His Church in the vast suffering of our Fatherland and "to limit the earth" (Acts 1:8), so as to be her salvation as a beacon for all seeking God and His holy name calling.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen (2 Cor 13:13).

† humble Raphael
Grace of God Archbishop of Moscow,
Russian Metropolitan,
The Primate of the True Orthodox Church

City of Moscow,
Christmas 2011/2012 year

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: Bp Akakije of Resava and Shumadiya

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:21:00 +0000

CHRISTMAS EPISTLE
AKAKIJE
By the Mercy of God
True Orthodox Bishop of Resava and Shumadiya
SERBIAN TRUE ORTHODOX CHURCH

To All the Faithful Children of St. Sava’s Church,

By the mercy of God, one more joyous and comforting feast of the descent of
God the Word to earth, that is, of His most wondrous birth by the Holy
Spirit and Virgin Mary, has arrived. For our sake and our salvation, Christ
was born, took flesh, and dwelt among us, and we on earth beheld His glory,
as the Only-Begotten Son of God, full of grace and truth. All God’s
creation rejoices today and hastens to worship the King Who has been born,
their Creator: Angels offer their singing, the sky – a star, the Magi –
gifts, the shepherds – pious delight, the earth – a cave, the wilderness
– the manger, and the race of man – the Virgin Mother. And we True
Orthodox offer God the preservation of the True Faith given to us by our
fathers, at the head of whom is Saint Sava, and a sacrifice of thanksgiving
– the fruit of lips who glorify His name.

God came to save His creation from evil and destruction. Christ the Savior
came down to Earth, as He said Himself, to witness to the Truth (Jn. 18:37)
only by which it is possible to win salvation. All His faithful followers,
and even more the pastors of the Church, are obliged to follow His example,
to witness to the Truth, not allowing any falsehood, either in words or in
deeds. Today we celebrate the Incarnation of Truth, as Christ Himself is
Truth. We celebrate the birth of the Founder of the Church, which is the
only and irreplaceable instrument of the salvation of mankind. Along with
this, the Church is a treasury of divine truth; She is, according to the
Holy Apostle Paul, the pillar and ground of the Truth. She is overflowing
with divine truth, and everything in Her is only truth, and truth is one, as
is the ONE, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. There are not many truths,
nor do many churches exist outside the bounds of the truth of Holy
Orthodoxy. The Orthodox Church is one, but within the confines of Orthodoxy,
She is at the same time “many” (Local Churches).

In Orthodoxy, that is what is most important, that it confesses the only
True Faith, that which God revealed, which was not invented by people making
guesses about God and faith, but rather that which was brought from Heaven
to Earth by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, God’s Logos,
Power, and Wisdom. This is the essential dogma of the Orthodox Church of
Christ, especially today, when “Orthodox” Ecumenists recognize grace
outside the borders of the Orthodox Church. We must humble ourselves before
this explicit teaching of the Church, that outside of Christ’s Truth there
is no salvation. The Orthodox Church is the indestructible keeper of the
truth, and those who are outside of it (heretics), as St. Cyprian of
Carthage says, could be saved only in the case that some were saved who were
outside Noah’s ark.
In our unfortunate and confusing times of the apostasy of the pan-heresy of
ecumenism, a life-or-death battle is being waged between light and darkness,
truth and falsehood. In the beginning of the 20th century a great division
appeared (similar to that in the 11th century), which one can now say is
fully accomplished: the so-called “World” or Sergianist,
New-Calendarist, Ecumenist “Orthodoxy,” separated itself from the
Orthodox Church – it lost its bond with the Church of the Holy Fathers,
the Holy Ecumenical Councils, and Holy Tradition. The foundation of the
“World Orthodox” consists of a hierarchy which has apostatized from
Christ, and which drags with itself people who consider themselves Orthodox,
but who do not know what Orthodoxy is in fact. For those people who
substitute mere appearances and some kind of Eastern-flavored Papism or
Protestantism for the patristic teachings about the Church, a bishop’s
significance boils down mainly to the function of church administrator, or
to the role of some kind of authority without backing, i.e., a bishop who is
not a link in the unbreakable chain of patristic catholicity. He can be a
heretic, or in communion with heretics, yet not fall under the judgment of
the canons because of his heterodoxy. For such people, the fullness of the
church is in a bishop if he is: “official,” if the mighty institution of
the state church stands behind him, and his seat is in some ancient
monastery or cathedral. According to the patristic teaching, however, as
expressed by St. Maximus the Confessor, the Church is comprised of “a
genuine and salvific confession of faith,” and therefore, of every man who
is a bearer of that faith. Still, it is true, that without a right believing
bishop, there is no fullness of the church; so, as long as the church on
earth exists, there will exist Orthodox bishops. God promised that the gates
of hell will never prevail against His Church, meaning solely that the true
Church of Christ will not disappear from the face of the earth until the
very end of this age, at the second coming of Christ; but this does not
exclude the appearance of a false church in Christian society, the church of
the wicked, which bears only the exterior marks of the Church, but is devoid
of Her spirit. The true Church of Christ will be preserved on Earth, even if
She has only one bishop with only a few priests and believers.

The True Orthodox Church separated from the Apostasy, staunchly holding fast
to the Orthodox teachings about Bishop and Church, as part of Holy
Tradition. We wish to be faithful children of the Holy Fathers, the teachers
of Orthodoxy, and to live in the very same Church in which live the Holy
Apostles, prophets, martyrs and all saints: that is why we will not go with
the apostate “Orthodoxy” of this world which arrogantly tramples the
Church teachings and mocks the saints, who spilled their blood and gave
their lives defending the stronghold of the Faith. We will not go with
so-called “patriarchates” with their hierarchy and “spiritual
elders” who emulate them, with their lost pastors and flock, because we
have been taught by the saints that there are two paths: the way of life and
the way of death; the way of light and the way of darkness; the way of the
holy fathers and the way of apostates and heretics, persecutors and haters
of the truth and lovers of lies. The way of Truth is the way of Golgotha,
the narrow, thorny path which is taken by the minority, just as in ancient
times a minority of people recognized and venerated the Divine Child Who was
born in Bethlehem. More than that, for Him, there was no room in people’s
homes, and when the shepherds who heard the singing of angels came to see
the One Who was glorified by Heaven, they found a child lying in a manger,
just as the divinely-inspired Prophet Habbakuk prophesied long ago: “O
Lord, I have heard Thy word and was afraid; between two living creatures
will I recognize Thee.” Between two animals lay the Heavenly King Who had
come to save the world, for people had abandoned Him completely. As the One
born of the Most-Blameless was persecuted, so in the same way His blameless
Bride, the Holy Church, is persecuted.

The battle which began in Bethlehem between the One Who brings heavenly
peace to earth and the terrestrial and sub-terrestrial forces of evil has
been conducted without ceasing and grows ever fiercer. Today we especially
feel this division which was proclaimed by the One Whose glory today angels
sing – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among
men.” As then it pleased the Incarnate Almighty to lie in a manger, so
today the Lamb of God lies on the modest altars in the little nest of the
Serbian True Orthodox Church. He is not in the sumptuous basilicas, sky-high
sanctuaries, cathedrals, in ancient, glorious memorials and churches adorned
with precious artistic treasures, gold, wealth, and ancient relics, which
are ruled by apostates from Holy Tradition and the Orthodox Faith, whether
from the East or West, because God does not abide where there is no truth,
or where truth is mixed with lies. Let us go, faithful children of St. Sava,
to the cave of Bethlehem hidden from this world, which our sanctuaries
represent, for the God-Child Christ, born of the Virgin, does not lie there
in appearance only, but in truth. Let us worship Him, removing ourselves
from evil and doing good. Let us offer Him as a gift repentance for our
sins, confessing them, and taste His Most Pure Body and Blood. Let us fall
before Him in fear, humility, and joy, for the radiant star of Bethlehem has
shown forth! “Glory to God in the highest, and on the earth, peace, good
will among men.”

May the peace of God be with you! Christ is born!
A very happy and blessed year of 2012!
Bishop Akakije
Nativity 2011

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: Metr Damascene of Moscow (RusOC)

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:20:00 +0000

CHRISTMAS MESSAGEMetropolitan of Moscow and All-Russiaarchpastors, pastors, monastics, and all the faithfulRussian Orthodox Church

My dear hierarchs, priests, monks and nuns, brothers and sisters - loving and honorable children of the Russian Orthodox Church!
Christ is born - glorify Christ from heaven - sryaschite Christ on earth - ascend. Sing to the Lord all the earth and joy Sing lyudie, Thou glorified (Heirmos first ode of the canon at Christmas).
Let us rejoice, brothers and sisters, for the Creator and Ruler of the universe - Christ is our God in this vsepamyatny day, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man.
I congratulate you with Christmas and the Epiphany!
In the darkness of a fallen world Vifliemskaya star shone with divine light and pointed the way to the holy Magi Infant Christ Jesus. And through them, and all of us - men. The light of Christ has not died out. And thousands of years later he is burning and calls us to salvation. But the weak and infirm people. Because few people see His divine light and follow Christ.
Temptations and temptations, the sins and vices, lack of faith and faithlessness have become the norm for many. Thank God that not all! The world has the Divine Child Jesus in a cattle cave. Other place for him was not. And after a little while and has no place in the Promised Land. From birth to the crucifixion of Christ was persecuted in human flesh, leaving us with His Love and Salvation New Testament Church - the Orthodox Church.
We are a small flock of Christ. And in the words of the Savior - not afraid of this. We have lived and will live with Christ. Today, as always, we rejoice and celebrate His coming into this world. We cherish and protect the purity of Orthodoxy with the help of God the flock of Christ from the encroachments of the powerful.
"God with us, reason, yazytsy and pokaryaytesya, God is with us, you will hear until the last of the earth; capable, pokaryaytesya. If ye bo packs able to finish, and again the losers will be. And others like ashche soveschavaete board, bankrupt the Lord. And the word, hedgehog ashche vozglagolete, does not abide in you. Fear is your not fear, here he was troubled, God is with us "(Isaiah 8:10).
Rejoice, brothers and sisters! And let all the evil spirits tremble and fear born of their destruction of Jesus Christ. Is low this time. Coming soon Second Coming. We must prepare for Him. In fasting and praying to stay awake. Because we do not know the day nor the hour in which the Son of man cometh.
For the Russian people to Christmas - a great and very special holiday. Feast of the Epiphany, winter freshness and purity of the divine. Today he came into our souls and our hearts, opening the gates of eternity, blurring the boundaries worlds - the world natural and supernatural, and giving hope of salvation and the kingdom of heaven.
Christmas angels of His glory. He donated the Magi and the shepherds with the witness and worship.
Zasvidetelstvuem same worship and receive the grace of Christ and the Divine Child is begotten us - faithful followers of His flock and - children of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Merry Christmas to you and the Epiphany!

+ Mitropolit Damaskin,Moscow and Russian.
Christmas 2011 - 2012 city of Moscow.

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: Bp Stefan of Trenton (RTOC)

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:20:00 +0000

By God's mercy we have once again obtained the opportunity to renew our glorification of the King of Glory for His great condescension, for His incarnation “for the sake of us people and for the sake of our salvation”. The King of the heavenly hosts, the King of the archangels and angels, becomes the Son of a Virgin. The Uncontainable God; Whom nothing limits, contains, is limited by the womb of the Virgin, “and takes upon Himself the image of a servant”, and this Blessed Infant is born in a wretched, earthly cave and is placed in the manger.
We, who have become accustomed to a life of material well-being, do not value, do not realize the grandeur of this joyous, triumphant solemnity. In order that we should duly comprehend the significance of this event and give glory to Christ God for His good will toward us, sinners, let us imagine the opposite: what would it have been, had Christ not been born on this blessed night? One must remind oneself, that God was not obligated to become incarnate for the sake of our salvation. But, because of His Great goodness, God willed to become incarnate, and in the form of a human to be the redemptive sacrifice for us.

Let us imagine, for example, that we live in Old Testament times: In what a woeful state are we all living! We do not offer up any bloodless sacrifice (liturgy), and Holy Communion does not exist for us. Our feasts are crowned with the bloody slaughter of innocent (pure) lambs. Our prayers consist mostly of the reading of the Psalms. We cannot turn to the saints, asking for their help and intercession, nor can we call upon our most reliable intercessor, the Holy Theotokos. The words: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us” do not exist! We do not make the sign of the cross over ourselves in our warfare against the devil. The “Cross” as a sign of victory and salvation, exists only prefiguratively as the “serpent lifted up in the wilderness” (John 3:14,15). Our Pascha is the remembrance of the by-passing of the angel of death (Passover), and through this, the deliverance from Egyptian slavery, which is merely a prefiguration of the salvific Pascha of the resurrected Christ Life-Giver. Such a life is sorrowful and difficult for us, but we do not lose hope that the time will come, when all will change for the better. We have studied the Holy Scriptures and the prophecies and we know, that God had yet in Paradise laid the foundation for our salvation. We know that “God who many times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets.” (Heb.1:1), heralding to us the coming of the Messiah – Redeemer.

Let us also imagine, that our great grandfather, lying on his deathbed, called everyone together and with profound faith and hope said: “My children, do not lose hope – even if now it seems to you that I am merely repeating to you the same thing concerning the Redeemer that my great grandfather told me. There is a new prophesy that He will indeed come soon. I will not see Him, but my heart rejoices knowing that you and your generation will see the Glory of God. There are rumors circulating that there is a pious elder in Jerusalem by the name of Simeon, “and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.” (Luke 2:26).

That which was long awaited has come to pass! During the night in the small town of Bethlehem the heavens opened up and man for the first time heard the wondrous words: “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10,11). For the first time man heard the Angelic song glorifying God and the news of joy. Until then mankind did not know at all what true joy was. This joy is the joy “in the Lord and in Christ” - and no longer will anyone be able to take that joy away from us. We have nothing more to despond over, and no longer should anything make us afraid, for God is with us !

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace: good will among men!

†Bishop Stefan, of Trenton and North America

Nativity Epistle 2011/2012: GOC-Kallinikos

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:18:00 +0000

To the entire Church

“Be glad, O ye righteous; ye heavens, rejoice exceedingly; ye mountains, skip for joy, as Christ is born.”

Beloved children in the Lord,

In the midst of a dark night, when the frost of spiritual coldness and the palpable darkness of pessimism prevail in our daily life, we find ourselves in a situation similar to that of the Prophet-King David. In the Psalms he describes being chased by his enemies: ”Flight hath failed me, and there is none that watcheth out for my soul.” (Psalm 141) There is no way of escape, we feel that we are at an impasse and no one is concerned with saving us. But even if confusion surrounds us, if we find no recourse from men, there is always recourse from God, as the Prophet David continues “I cried unto thee, O Lord, and said, Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living.” (ibid) Hence, let us also turn to our God and Saviour Who alone is able to aid us in our difficulty.

The Lord became incarnate in order to aid us. On this wise we chant today: “From the heights our Saviour is come to visit us”, for truly the Sun of Righteousness shone forth in the cave, and we “who once were in the shadow and the dark, have now found the truth”, the path of salvation. In another place we chant: “When the Lord Jesus was born of the holy Virgin, all things were enlightened (…) For God hath appeared in the flesh, the Saviour of our souls.” The message of Christ’s Nativity is joyous and luminous and it fills our souls with hope, something which we especially need today.

Let us therefore glorify the King of the universe born today and let us learn from His example of humility which He teaches us. Let us see where He is born, according to the hymn: “Come, ye faithful, let us see where Christ the Saviour hath been born; let us follow with the kings, even the Magi from the East, unto the place where the star doth direct their journey. For there, the Angels’ hosts sing praises ceaselessly; shepherds in the fields offer a fitting song, while saying, Glory in the highest to Him this day born within the cave from the pure Virgin and Theotokos in Bethlehem of Judaea.” Seeing the humility of the creator and fashioner of all things, let us temper our ambitions. Let us set aside every passion born of selfishness and let us humble our hearts so that we also may also receive His infinite grace, because the aim of our existence is to reach divinization and to become like God: “God becomes man in order to make Adam God”. This is also the goodwill of God as the angelic hymn proclaims:

“Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. “

Goodwill is understood as the "antecedent" will of God, His good, perfect and acceptable will which God truly wills without the interference of intermediate factors. The interference of intermediate factors causes the action of God's "consequent" will which is also called permission. For example, God desires that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, this is His "antecedent" will, His goodwill. However, since He has created man free, if some people make ill use of their freedom, and they do not desire to be saved, then God permits their own will to be enacted and He permits them not to be saved. God wills that we all be saved, but in order to be saved we also must will it. The Lord’s incarnation is the goodwill about which the angelic hymn speaks. God’s good will is the salvation of us all.

Let us unite our will with God’s goodwill and let us cooperate with the Saviour so that we obtain our aim. Therefore, bestowing on you all the prayers and blessings of our Holy Synod, we pray that He who was born in a cave and laid in a manger, the King of Glory, Christ our God grant you all His saving grace and a peaceful new year according to His goodwill. Amen. So be it.

On December 13/26 the year of our Lord 2011

THE HOLY SYNOD

The Archbishop
+ KALLINIKOS of Athens and all Greece

MEMBERS
+ Metropolitan AKAKIOS of Attica and Diauleia
+ Metropolitan MAXIMOS of Thessalonica and Demetrias
+ Metropolitan ATHANASIOS of Larisa and Platamon
+ Metropolitan JUSTIN of Euripus and Euboea
+ Metropolitan PAVLOS of America
+ Metropolitan GERONTIOS of Piraeus and Salamina
+ Metropolitan CHRYSOSTOMOS of Attica and Boeotia
+ Metropolitan MOSES of Portland and the western United States
+ Bishop GREGORY of Christianoupolis
+ Bishop PHOTIOS of Marathon
+ Bishop THEODOSIOS of Bresthena
+ Bishop CHRISTODOULOS of Theoupolis
+ Bishop SERGIOS of Loch Lomond
Greek

A Request For Support from the General Editor, 2011/12

noreply@blogger.com (Deacon Joseph Suaiden) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:07:00 +0000

Dear Readers:

This is Deacon Joseph Suaiden-- I hope the fast is going well as we approach the feast. First off, to those of you who sent Nativity Epistles, thank you. Please keep them coming: they will be posted from the eve throughout the feast of Nativity as time permits.

2011 was an interesting year: We had some interesting programs on the radio show, as erratic as its programming went, and I hope that we can keep that going and be of use in further broadening our readers' knowledge and understanding of the situation among True Orthodox throughout the world. Our map has proven useful throughout the United States. I want to see if we can make a worldwide map. We doubled our total readership from 2009, and have every intention of doubling it repeatedly until the world ends, the internet ends, or everyone involved dies and there is no way to sustain it.

Our mission is to let our readers know that when people become Orthodox, they don't need to choose an ecumenistic bargain between truth and falsehood in place of the Church, but they can choose what those who seek truly want: the True Church from the time of Christ to the present day, uncompromised.

I thought I would ask you all a question, since NFTU's readers have proven to be some of the kindest and most generous readers I have ever seen over the years. These past couple of years have been two of the hardest in our history because our mission has been tested, from within and without. And it hasn't been easy. Between secular work (and lack thereof) and other priorities, NFTU has never been more than a volunteer effort, but it produced results, and I hope positive ones for our readers and supporters.

I've been posting less on NFTU these days because frankly I've been involved with a lot of worldly efforts. (Thankfully, I've also been busy with a number of Church-related activities, so that has been a net positive.) I want to see if I can change this, and focus again on NFTU. I want to put more focus to the site to keep increasing its growth, and keep reaching out to thousands more readers. More importantly, I want our readers to have a more even comprehensive experience of traditional Orthodoxy available online.

So here are some, God willing, goals for 2012:

1) Help create and sponsor sites that make for a complete explanation of Orthodoxy to both the experienced and newcomers.

2) Create and help support the creation of global True Orthodox Directories so that we can fill a need which has been expressed over the years, bringing True Orthodox closer together throughout the world in local languages, et cetera.

3) Bring the radio show to a regular monthly (and eventually weekly) schedule with more and broader guests and topics.

4) Radically updating our Content Management System to improve the site's function, visibility, and usablity for our readers.

So, because of this, I am asking your support with two things:

1) I want to see if I can encourage people to donate to NFTU to keep it going. Having discussed it, the proceeds of all donations will be split evenly among our volunteers to help with various expenses. We can now accept donations through PayPal, the easiest and safest method I've seen; the button is available on the front page or click the button below. We also will provide monthly accounting of what we are gaining so that you can see what your money is going to.

2) I've also added an Amazon Recommended Books section (I've started with 20 or so books and will add more every few days) on the front page and it is available below as well. Our eventual goal is to make sure that every reader has access to as complete a library of good reading material as possible, since no one should live on news alone. And, you can help NFTU, because a percentage (less than 10% of total sales, but everything helps) will go to NFTU!

In the end, our goal is always the same-- to ensure the growth of our readers, from those with since 2004 to today, eight years later-- strong in True Orthodoxy and their reinforcement. I hope that this appeal for support is not taken with offense, and that you remember us, so that we can not only devote more time, but quality to the task at hand--ever better and more productive work in reporting the truth, exposing ecumenism and Sergianism, and bringing souls to Christ.

In Christ,
Deacon Joseph Suaiden
General Editor, NFTU True Orthodox and Ecumenical News